Star Ocean: The Last Hope (XBOX 360) Walkthrough I-----------------------------------------------------------------------------I I Star Ocean: The Last Hope Walkthrough I I Version .01 I I Author: Jesse Richmond I I [email protected] I I-----------------------------------------------------------------------------I This file is best viewed with a fixed-width font (Courier, etc.) and at least a 80-character-wide window. All the numbers below should appear in a single line: 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 If you need to side-scroll to view every number, you may want to make your window larger. *==============================================================================* I------------------------I I Table of Contents I I------------------------I To find and jump to any topic in this FAQ, press Ctrl+F to FIND, then type in the code for a specific section, like so: "Roman Numeral + Period + Letter + Period + Number + Period". Ex. The "Introductions" for this game (Star Ocean: The Last Hope, in case you don't know what game you're reading about) would be "I.b." (without the quotes). Also keep in mind that a single roman numeral will also have a period after it. Ex. "Game Mechanics" is "II." (again, no quotes). I. Introductions a. This Guide b. The Star Ocean Series and Star Ocean: The Last Hope c. Methods of Organization 1. Indicators 2. Abbreviations II. Game Mechanics a. Basic Gameplay Controls 1. Field & Menus 2. Battle b. Advanced Battle Strategies III. Walkthrough a. Getting Started *==============================================================================* I------------------------I I Introductions (I.) I I------------------------I ===About This Guide (I.a.)=== Hello reader! Welcome to OdinOurSavior's (Tri-Ace much?) FAQ for Star Ocean: The Last Hope (which shall henceforth be called SO4 for the purpose of simplicity), the fourth (not counting that freaky GBA release that nobody could play due to the Japanese's game snobbery) entry into Tri-Ace's Star Ocean series. This is actually my first guide, so bear with me. In this FAQ I will do my best to outline everything you will need to know to make it through this game with the most comfort possible (I may at some point get around to writing separate Chaos Mode --the "uncomfortable" difficulty setting-- strategies, but don't hold your breath). Now, here's a little bit about me. I've been an -avid- gamer since I was about five years old. I played mostly action/adventure/etc. games for about two years until *gasp* Pokemon Blue *gasp* took over my life for a while. That was the beginning of what I consider my true gaming career; now I generally refuse to play anything other than RPGs. I started playing Tri-Ace's masterpieces when I picked up a cheap, used and *collector's edition* version of Star Ocean: 'Til the End of Time (A.K.A. SO3 or SOTET) at my local GameStop(TM). Since then I've played Radiata Stories, Valkyrie Profile, and, of course, the original Star Ocean (regrettably, I haven't gotten around to SO2 yet...). I've been wanting to write a guide for quite some time now, but circumstances in school haven't permitted me to do so. When I heard the release date for SO4, I just knew it would finally be the right game at the right time (it tends to quiet down a bit for me near late February). I consider myself a somewhat organized person, so I'll break down the methods I'll use to organize this FAQ in a little bit. I also like to inject some *sometimes humorous* commentary into my work. I hope that will keep you entertained. If you don't get some of it, don't worry. Most of it will probably be directed towards Star Ocean veterans. I'll try and keep as many spoilers out of my guide as possible. Other than what you'd find in the instruction manual, any spoilers will hopefully be minor mistakes on my part (please email me if I leave any obvious ones). So, without further ado, onto the appetizer! (That was the salad...) ===About Star Ocean (I.b.)=== Hmmm...where to start? Star Ocean is what I guess you'd call a "Space Opera", officially speaking (In other words, a fancy term that Sci-Fi Buffs Anonymous uses way too much). The first Star Ocean, published in ^^^^ by Tri-Ace, which was then called ^^^^^^^^, was one of the largest and most complex RPGs released before the end of the SNES' lifetime...too bad North American gamers didn't get to play it (Japanese bastards strike again). We all had to wait either for a translated ROM, or spend months learning tid-bits of Japanese so that we could understand an imported version. For those of you who have a desire to play it, I suggest investing $20-25 for the PSP remake. It is actually much better than the original (in my humble opinion), and has extra bonus features. Star Ocean: The Second Story was released for the Playstation in ^^^^ by (can you guess?) Tri-Ace. Many North American gamers got their first taste of Star Ocean's plethora of customization options and great replayability with SO2. Like SO1, SO2 was re-released for the PSP with the subtitle "Second Evolution". Again, I haven't picked it up yet, but I'm sure it's another good investment. My personal favorite, Star Ocean: 'Til the End of Time, was released later in the Playstation 2's lifetime; 2004. SOTET brought back tons of *heart warming* cameos from the past 2 games, as well as Tri-Ace's *debatable* masterpiece, Valkyrie Profile. With fully 3D gameplay, an *arguably* epic storyline, and -tons- of content, gamers have constantly been posting clips from their games on YouTube since it's release. Star Ocean: The Last Hope... The moment you've all been waiting for... Well, I'll be writing this guide as I go, so I can't tell you that much about the game yet, other than that it was released on Tuesday, February 23, 2009. For your knowing pleasure, games aren't available until the day after they're released. Yes, I learned that the hard way. Here's a general timeline of events in the Star Ocean universe, starting with SO4, then going in order from SO1-SO3 (I'm quoting from SO1, SO3 and SO4's instruction manuals, and, my friend and yours, Wikipedia for SO2): "A.D. 2064...Planet Earth was on the brink of destruction. Clashes between the World Republic Federation and the various nations that opposed it sparked the outbreak of World War III. Weapons of mass destruction, employed with complete impunity, razed the land in the blink of an eye. People believed it was the end of the world. The dire situation forced the two opposing factions to negotiate a cease-fire, reaching an agreement in only two weeks. But while the war may have ended, it's effects remained. With the deteriorating environment, Earth's population was drastically reduced. Those who survived the conflict lived a confined existence, trapped in underground cities. Countries joined together to form the Greater United Nations, and turned their eyes skyward...to space. With the establishment of the USTA, or Universal Science and Technology Administration, man began to seek new worlds beyond the stars. Fast-forward to A.D. 2087, the first year of the new Spacedate calendar. Thanks to the success of Professor Trillas Bachtein's warp drive experiments, mankind's dream inched ever closer to reality. The USTA secretly began to implement its SRF Project...the Space Reconnaissance Force. S.D. 10. At last, the first official SRF mission..." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -SO4 chronicles the main character, Edge Maverick's, journey to explore space? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Roak is an underdeveloped planet filled with abundant nature and diverse forms of life. On the southernmost tip of the continent of Muah, stands the tiny, remote border town of Kratus. And in that town, a girl named Millie runs down the country lane. Her destination: the town's defense force headquarters where she will find her friends Roddick and Dorne. Despite being in the so-called "defense force", Roddick and Dorne are simply killing time, bored in a town where there are never any accidents, incidents, or tasks in general. Millie, hardly in a position to pass them over, takes them along to patrol around the town And then, the story begins..." -SO1 begins with Roddick's journey to rescue a certain friend. He then becomes sucked into a world of intergalactic conflict, along with many characters recruited in the story. ^^^^^Star Ocean 2's story + an outline ^^^^^Star Ocean 3's story + an outline ^^^^^Timeline with dates ===My Methods of Organization (I.c.)=== Throughout this guide, I will use many different indications for new and important topics. I will also use some abbreviations and figures of speech throughout. I have explained these methods below (in no particular order): ---Indicators (I.c.1)--- *==========* ----------> Designates a major topic or section break. I----------I I TEXT I ----------> Used to introduce a new section. I----------I ===TEXT=== ----------> Introduces a sub-section. ---TEXT--- ----------> Introduces a sub-sub-section. ^o^ -TEXT- ----------> A word with hyphens on both sides is either stressed or highly emphasized. *TEXT* ----------> I'll use this to denote one of three things: 1. Something I find interesting/amusing 2. Something I want you to notice 3. Other such random things I deem worthy of note (TEXT) ----------> If you've been through the 3rd grade, you should know how to use parentheses by now. On the off chance that you don't, I'll use them to include information I feel is necessary but doesn't work in a sentence. ^o^ /~~~~~~~~~~~\ * BOSS NAME * ----------> There's a boss coming up! \___________/ # OBJECT NAME # --------> This is a collectable object (item, ability, etc.)! It may even be missable. Get it! >``````````````< > OBTAINABLES < -------> The list that I will put at the beginning of every >______________< new area walkthrough. I won't detail how to get every item during an area walkthrough (only very important or missable items), so refer to this list to make sure you're getting everything. .................. . PA with "name" . -----> A distinguishing, and recurring, feature in every .................. Star Ocean is the "Private Action" system. I'll interrupt the action to warn you about Private Actions (henceforth PAs). !!!!!!!!! ! GRIND ! -------------> I recommend you level up/farm the recommended item if !!!!!!!!! you see this. I will most likely include a strategy for the most efficient way to do so at the moment. $$$$$$$$$ $ Welch $ -------------> After you see this I will detail the most efficient $$$$$$$$$ way I know of to create a certain item or items. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Name of Collection Object % -> The "Collection" system has a variety of %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% collectable trophies, spaceships, monster info and weapon info. I will only put the names of collection items in this box. & Cameo! & ----------> I'll sometimes mention cameos -appearances or otherwise- from previous games. [Name of Battle Trophy] --> This means that what you're about to acquire is a battle trophy. ---Abbreviations and Figures of Speech (I.c.2)--- SO1 - Star Ocean 1 (SNES) or Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP) SO2 - Star Ocean: The Second Story (PSone) or Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP) SO3 & SOTET - Star Ocean: 'Til the End of Time SO4 - Star Ocean: The Last Hope PA - Private Action IC - Item Creation LAS - Left Analog Stick RAS - Right Analog Stick D-pad - Directional pad LT - Left Trigger LB - Left Button L3 - Left Analog Stick Button (push down LAS) RT - Right Trigger RB - Right Button R3 - Right Analog Stick Button (push down RAS) A - The Green "A" Button B - The Red "B" Button X - The Blue "X" Button Y - The Orange/Yellow "Y" Button Start - The "START" Button Back - The "BACK" Button Left - Left button on the D-pad, A.K.A. "Left Directional Button" Right - Right button on the D-pad, A.K.A. "Right Directional Button" Up - Up on the D-pad, A.K.A. "Up Directional Button" Down - Down on the D-pad, A.K.A. "Down Directional Button" NMG - The "No Movement Glitch" HUD - The "Heads Up Display"; In other words, all of the data and information you see on the screen Cross - In this guide, I'll call intersections crosses for the well-being of my own fingers !! - Double exclamation marks indicate a red exclamation mark that appears on the minimap N - North in relationship to the map, not the compass or the character's default position S - South in relationship to the map, not the compass or the character's default position E - East in relationship to the map, not the compass or the character's default position W - West in relationship to the map, not the compass or the character's default position 1st - First 2nd - Second 3rd and Etcetera - Duh! Rinse and Repeat - Return to the first step of a method or strategy than repeat it To Infinitum/Nauseum - Literally, "To Infinity or Nausea". You should repeat the event in question "forever" or until you get tired of doing it over and over again. *Please don't do anything forever. I don't need any lawsuits because some fool decided their death of choice was playing a video game until they die.* ^o^ SS - A "Save Sphere" where you can save the game. NPC - A non-playable character Etc. - "Etcetera". Used to signify that there is more to a list than what is mentioned. Example: Weapons, armor, etc. *3rd grade, people* A.K.A. - "Also Known As" Rec. Room - The Calnus' Recreation Room ++ - Represents the "door/entrance" symbol on the minimap. EXP - Experience Points HP - Hit points MP - Magic Points ATK - Base attack rating; affects attack's power DEF - Base defense rating; affects amount of damage taken HIT - Base hit, or accuracy, rating; affects the % chance you have of breaking through an enemy's guard GRD - Base % of guarding an enemy's attack; affects the % chance you have of taking no damage from an enemy's attack INT - Base intelligence rating; affects power of magic "symbols" and INT-reliant special arts LCK - Base luck rating; affects % chance character will critical a hit or be revived via "Fury". CRT - Base critical hit calculation; affects damage a character will do with a critical hit. Expressed as CRT*DMG. DMG - The base amount of damage a regular physical attack will do. DE - "Dead-end" HS - Healing Sphere *==============================================================================* I--------------------------I I Game Mechanics (II.) I I--------------------------I In this section I'll explain everything you'll need to know to be able to play the game. Later, in my "Advanced Battle Strategies" section, I'll give you some tips to make battles more fun and strategical. ===Basic Gameplay Controls (II.a.)=== ---Field and Menus (II.a.1)--- Field. LAS - Move character RAS - Change camera angle RT - Toggle between walking and running modes LT - ^^^Nothing?^^^ RB - Makes the camera revert to a default angle LB - ^^^Nothing?^^^ X - Sprint for a short distance when in running mode A - "Examine" object character is facing B - Cancel; in some cases it will cancel your examination of an object Y - Opens main menu R3 - Makes camera face the direction the character is facing L3 - ^^^Nothing?^^^ Left - ^^^Nothing?^^^ Right - ^^^Nothing?^^^ Up - ^^^Nothing?^^^ Down - ^^^Nothing?^^^ Start - Toggles between regular HUD and an enlarged map Back - Toggles on/off individual HUD features, starting with the compass, then the minimap Menus. ^^^ Ugh. I'll fill this out later. ^^^ ---Battle (II.a.2)--- LAS - Moves currently controlled character RAS - Adjusts camera A - Attacks currently targeted enemy LAS + A - Performs a situation-dependent attack Hold B - Ready up for Jump or Blindside; also charges up the Rush Gauge LAS while holding B - Jumps in direction you press LAS; also initiates a "Blindside" attack if enemy target appears around currently controlled character X - Activate Rush Mode RB - Toggles controlled ally in order LB - Toggles controlled ally in reverse order Right or Left on D-pad - Toggles between manual and auto modes on currently controlled ally R3 - Toggles on/off "Angle Lock" camera mode L3 - Locks on/off your currently targeted enemy LT or RT - Activates Special Art or Symbol assigned to respective trigger X + LT or RT with full rush gauge - Activates a Rush Combo Start/Back - Toggles minimap on and off Y - Menu, or "Command Circle" *==============================================================================* I------------------------I I Walkthrough (III.) I I------------------------I ===Disc One (III.a.)=== ---Getting Started (III.a.1.)--- Congratulations on your purchase of Star Ocean: The Last Hope! First things first, pop in disc 1. Now watch as epicness unfolds during the opening cutscene. Once that gets over with, pres the magical start button. Damn, this is gonna be a good game! Feel free to mess with the Settings or try out the Battle Simulator if you want to get a head start in battle. Once you've done everything you want there... press *NEW GAME*! The first thing you'll need to choose is your preferred difficulty setting. Only the Earth and Galaxy Modes are available right now, so take your pick. Earth mode is the easiest, though you ^^^*won't get battle trophies*^^^ The other option, Galaxy, is normal mode. I'll be writing this guide for the Galaxy difficulty, so all the strategies I detail will work for Earth mode (law of superposition, anyone?). ---The Battle Simulator (III.a.2.)--- >```````````````````< > Obtainables < > < > NONE < >___________________< After watching a short cutscene that introduces the game and it's first two main characters, you'll be taken to the Battle Simulator. If you already experimented with it before you started the game, great. If you didn't though, you should definitely do it now. Start by selecting option A, Basic Curriculum. Then choose option 1, Moving. *In case you miss something* (like I did the first time by getting trigger happy and pressing A too many times), you can look back at the "Game Mechanics" section in my guide for all the information. Once you finish a lesson, like the "Moving" lesson you should have just finished, simply select the "Next Lesson" option (or you can retry the lesson if you need to). When you finish Curriculum A, "Basic Curriculum", you won't be able to choose "Next Lesson". Choose "Change Curriculum" and pick Curriculum B, "Blindside Curriculum". Repeat this one like the last one. By the way, do you notice how if you retreat far enough from the enemy, it seems to forget about you?...remember the NMG, anyone? Finish off all the curriculums before moving on. Once you've finished all of the curriculums you can try out everything you've learned in the "Battle Practice" option. -Phew-. That was tedious. Exit the Battle Simulator. Watch a cutscene. & Cameo! & And now, ladies, gentlemen and gamers, the game truly begins (A.K.A. "The Main Course")! ---The Calnus (III.a.3.)--- >````````````````````````< > Obtainables < > < > -Weapon Data 122 < > -Recipe Memo 5 x 1 < > -Spaceship Data 1 < > -Spaceship Data 4 < >________________________< You'll find yourself playing as Edge. The game will give you a basic overview of how to move around in the field. *If for some reason you want/need to revisit the Battle Simulator, it's right behind you* Run E to a cross. Examine the !! to learn that Edge's room is number 01. The most important thing to do right now is to find Edge's room and save. Head E again to a 2nd cross. If you look at the panel above the N door, you'll see that it says 01. Enter this room. The flashing purple and white sphere is an SS. SS's appear as *purple circles* on the minimap (I'm quite the poet...). Go ahead and save now. You can go *try and peek* into the women's room in the most SE room in this area, but Edge won't let you. Other than that, there's nothing more to do on the upper floor. Backtrack to the 2nd cross that you came to and go down either set of stairs to the Recreation Room. They're the green "plus sign" icons on the minimap. Once in the Recreation Room, you'll find *NPCs!* Nobody has anything particularly interesting to say, so don't bother talking unless you're that kind of person (A.K.A. a completionist). There's another SS at the W side of the room, just in case. Turn around and head through the E ++ to enter the Meeting Room. Head straight E and examine the !! to get a foreshadowing of Item Creation. Now head through the N door and examine one of the boxes on a shelf to get... %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Weapon Data 122: SRF-Issue F98 Assault Rifle % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% There's nothing more to do in the S room, so go back to the Recreation Room. Head back W toward the SS and enter the ++ to the Flight Deck. The man sitting in the chair, Bawles, isn't important. Just talk to Reimi. When prompted, answer "Yeah. We should get moving." (unless you want to keep exploring the ship...who would want to do that now?) to initiate a cutscene. & Cameo! & Talk to Reimi, who's lying on the floor right now. Once the cutscene is done, you'll be standing on the Planet Aeos...but don't go anywhere yet! Immediately turn around and go back into the Calnus for a couple more obtainables. Talk to Van, the guy standing next to the entrance to the Meeting Room. He'll give you # Recipe Memo 5 #. Now head into the Flight Deck and examine the two computer terminals on the W side for... %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Spaceship Data 1: SRF-003 Calnus % % and % % Spaceship Data 4: SRF-001 Aquila % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% You can talk to Bawles here for the Battle Simulator...bah! Save if you really want to, but there's an SS right outside in Aeos. Leave the Calnus. ---Planet Aeos: Landing Point (III.a.4.)--- >``````````````````````````````````````< > Obtainables < > < > -Sniper's Bangle x 1 < > -Broken Metal Cutting Blade x 1 < > -Blueberries x 3 < > -Blackberries x 2 < > -Iron x 1 < > -Insect Egg x 2 < > -Bigberries x 1 < > -Wind Gem x 1 < > -103 Fol < > -Iron x 2 < > -Insect Leg x 1, Warped Carapace x 1 < > -Weapon Data 118 < > -Harvesting points x 3 < > -Aquaberries < > -Blueberries < > -Insect Egg < > -Lemon < > -Pickled Plum < > -Vegetables < > -White Rice < > -Mining points x 2 < > -Iron < > -Silver < >______________________________________< Walk E and save at the SS. Find the NPC Rich NW of the SS. After talking, he'll hand over a # Sniper's Bangle #. Equip it now by opening up the main menu, going to the "Items" section, then "Equip Items". Choose Edge and equip it on his Wrist Accessory slot. Before you go on your merry way, talk to Reimi next to the SS. This leads to you first real battle with... /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ * Adephaga x 2 * \______________/ Okay. There's absolutely nothing challenging about this battle. Take this chance to practice all of the battle skills, like jumping, chaining your attacks efficiently, blindsiding, etc. Also take the time to get familiar with the Adephaga's attack patterns. You'll notice that every time an Adephaga initiates an attack, it rears back and lifts its claws; if you see this, try pressing B and LAS at the same time to jump away. Just keep attacking and you'll do fine. You'll get 2 EXP, 32 Fol and your monster data entry for Adephaga will fill up 6% when you beat them. Congratulations on your first *likely* satisfying victory. Pro Strategy - I can guarantee you 2 to 3 battle trophies from this battle, depending on your skill and, like with most, a good bit of luck. As soon as the battle starts, lock on to your current target with L3 (this will only be efficient if you do it very, very quickly. If you can't, that's all right. It's optional). Immediately run forward (but don't attack just yet). When your range becomes "close" start an AAA combo. Once all 3 attacks have landed, start holding up on the LAS while continuing to tap A. If you're lucky you'll [Land 10 consecutive hits unassisted] if the untargeted enemy doesn't interrupt your combo (called juggling in this case). As soon as you kill the 1st Adephaga, begin trying to get a long A combo against the next one, *from the front* This will net you [Land 10 consecutive hits from in front]. Now you've got the two hard parts out of the way. The only thing to do now is press LT or RT to initiate Edge's special art Rising Blade. If a 1st Rising Blade doesn't kill the last Adephaga, just use one more to [Defeat an enemy using a special art]. If you can't get it the first time, simply reload your save and try again. *You can skip the cutscene by pressing Start* And there you go! Three early-game battle trophies. *I'll bet that if you're skilled enough, you could squeeze a 4th trophy out of the two Adephagas. There's really no need, though* Board the Calnus yet again and head for the Flight Deck to watch a cutscene. Reimi will join your party afterwards. *W00t!* Back out on Planet Aeos, play it safe and save again. With Reimi in your party, you can now use her "Harvesting" field skill to harvest items from any green glows you see around the field. You should also remember that because now you have two party members, you can switch between them with LB and RB in battle. Head NW of the SS and open the chest for the # Broken Metal Cutting Blade #. You'll get 2 EXP and 2 Party SP from getting the loot. EXP and Party SP are obtained whenever you pick up goodies or complete quests, etc. Just N of where you are, there's a shining green orb that contains # Blueberries x 3 #. Keep heading N into a large area with three more green orbs that contain # Blackberries x 2, Iron x 1, Insect Egg x 2 #. Once you've picked up all of those, head back towards the Calnus. Just to the E of the SS is a green glow that you can now harvest because you have Reimi. *Note that while the contents of chests and orbs -don't- respawn, harvesting points -do-, but only if you enter the Calnus then come back. The EXP you gain from harvesting this glow will be enough to level up Edge. !!!!!!!!! ! GRIND ! !!!!!!!!! As you probably guessed, now is a great *but very cheap* time to level up and get some SP and item creation ingredients. *By the way, Welch's item creating shop is now available at the !! in the meeting room of the Calnus* Here's how to grind right now: make the most of the harvest point that's so close to the Calnus. After you harvest, just enter the Calnus then come right back out. Rinse and repeat to infinitum/nauseum. Also, with all the SP you'll be getting, you can go to the "skill" menu and level up Reimi's harvesting level so that you'll start getting items faster. Unfortunately, you're not actually getting a chance at -better- items, only a higher acquisition rate. I recommend at least getting both Edge and Reimi to level 3 for the SP gaining. Level up Smithery (Edge) to level 2. Also level up Cooking and Harvesting (Reimi) to level 2. You can level up both of their respective special arts if you want, but it's not necessary yet. Take a moment to go to the meeting room and do the tutorials for the item creation interface. Before you do, though, save at the SS in the Rec. Room. After you take the tutorials, select "Launch Interface". Welch will "say hi". Press B to go back one menu and you'll get... %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Weapon Data 118: Gesture Rod % & Cameo! & %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Here comes why I had you save. Launch the interface a 2nd time, the choose to create new recipes. Put both Edge and Reimi in the Group 1 area, then press Start. What you've just begun is the classic art of Star Ocean Item Creation. ^o^ $$$$$$$$$ $ Welch $ $$$$$$$$$ You'll see a pointer start rotating clockwise. For every rotation of the pointer you have a chance of inventing a new recipe. There's only one recipe that you can create now, and that's # Pickled Plum Rice #. *For every rotation of the pointer you also lose 1 Party SP* So, if you don't get the Pickled Plum Rice on the first rotation, reload your last save. -Never- waste even 1 Party SP if you can help it. Now, if you go to the "Create Items" section, then choose Cooking, you can see the required ingredients for the Pickled Plum Rice. We don't have any seaweed yet, so therefore we can't make it right now. Seaweed comes near the end of Planet Aeos, so we'll sadly have to wait a while. Note also the recipe (5) for the Storm Blade that you can create with smithery. You should have the Broken Cutting Blade, but neither of the other two ingredients. The Wind Gem is coming up relatively soon, but the repair kit comes, again, at the end of Planet Aeos. That's all that can be done with item creation right now, so go back outside the Calnus. It's time to keep going. Remember the piece of wreckage that was blocking your way to the N? Well, now it's gone. N we go! As soon as you pass the spot where the wreckage was, you'll see a cutscene where Reimi totally owns Edge. Head all the way W to get an orb with # Bigberries x 1 #. If you head into the N DE here, you may see an Adephaga walking around on the field. You should fight all the enemies you find at this point in the game; if you get badly hurt, *don't use a healing item*, just return to the Calnus and rest in Edge's Room! Don't go off trying to find anymore chests or orbs just yet. We're gonna have some fun with Battle Trophies. You should go to Reimi's BEAT menu and change her to BEAT: B. She is more efficient this way when you're not using her. Leave Edge on BEAT: S. If you want, you can switch back and forth between Edge and Reimi to try and get more of their individual battle trophies like... [Defeat an enemy with a knockdown attack] (Edge) [Pull off five Blindsides] (Edge) [Deal at least 100 points of damage] (Edge) [Win without being targeted] (Reimi) [Land four consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land nine consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land 15 consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land 22 consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land 30 consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land 39 consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land 49 consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Defeat an enemy using only jump attacks] (Reimi) And, once Edge levels to 4, you should get [Deal Exactly 55 points of damage] (Edge) without trouble. Trophies like that one are always fairly automatic. Just keep blindsiding and you'll pull off five Blindsides -and- deal at least 100 points of damage. Pretty sweet, if you ask me my own humble opinion. Now that you got all of Edge's, go to the tactics menu and switch your leader to Reimi. Get all of the ones I listed for her that have "consecutive" in their title by just tapping A at long range all the way through a few battles. To defeat an enemy using only jump attacks, turn Edge's battle tactic to "Don't do anything", then just use Reimi to defeat one enemy with only jump attacks. Turn Edge back to "Gang up on foes with full force" once you're done. Know that if you run out of enemies to fight, you can go back into the Calnus and they'll all respawn. *You may also get more battle trophies if you're lucky* I got [Register 10 preemptive attacks] (Edge) and [Attack first time five times in a row] (Edge). Phew. From the DE where you fought you first "field" Adephaga, go E and hug the E wall until you find a green orb under a giant cobweb. Open it to get # Wind Gem x 1 #. Keep heading N and pass the 1st cross. When you come to a 2nd cross go NW and follow the path all the way N, then turn east into the small DE to nab an orb with # Iron x 2 #. Go back to the 2nd cross and go E. Straight E you'll get # 103 Fol # from the orb under the "log bridge" you see above you. Now head N around the rock to find a harvesting point. Keep going E. There are two S-facing DEs with glowing brown mining points, but we don't have a character with the field skill "Mining" yet. So, keep going straight E until you run into the far-E wall. Head N to find a third mining point, then come back south hugging the E wall to find an orb with # Insect Leg x 1, Warped Carapace x 1 #. Before moving on, I was level 6 (I recommend at least being level 4). Now you have two choices. Go back to the Calnus and rest once more if you need to, or continue into the ++ which leads to... ---Planet Aeos: Urd Falls Cave (III.a.5.)--- >``````````````````````````````````````````````````````< > Obtainables < > < > -203 Fol < > -Iron x 2 < > -Seasonings x 2, Warped Carapace x 1 (Earth Barrier) < > -Attack Seeds x 1 (Earth Barrier) < > -Fresh Sage x 2 < > -Blackberries x 2 < > -Blackberries x 2 < > -Blueberries x 3 < > -Harvesting point x 1 < > -Aquaberries < > -Bizarre Fruit < > -Blackberries < > -Blueberries < > -Insect Egg < > -Seaweed < > -Vegetables < > -White Rice < > -Mining points x 5 < > -Iron < > -Silver < >______________________________________________________< There tends to be an Adephaga lurking right at the entrance. If you fight it, you'll notice a bat enemy. In addition to the Adephaga, Adephaga Drus and Killer Wasp enemies from the Landing Site, you'll also be pitted against two new kinds of enemies: Giant Bats and Gerels. Giant Bats are nothing to be worried about, but the Gerels can reproduce when they have critical HP by using their "Schism" skill. Watch out for that. I got [Attack first 10 times] (Edge) from my 2nd battle in here. Head to the most SW DE and grab two orbs for # 203 Fol # and # Iron x 2 #. Now it gets rather simple; just follow the trail due N. Fight any enemies along the way. If you feel like it, set Reimi to "Don't do anything" and start a battle off with a special art to get [Attack first with a special art] (Edge). Make sure to turn Reimi back afterwards. I also got [Defeat 100 enemies] (Edge) a bit later. Keep going N until there's a Gerel on the field. Fight it, then look at your minimap. See how there's a large room just off to the E? There's some loot in there, but we'll have to get it later since it's blocked of by fallen rocks. *Have you gotten Seaweed as a drop from a Gerel yet?* We can use it later to create Pickled Plum Rice. Keep heading N until you see the two Gerel that are close to each other. Wait until they're very close, then score a preemptive attack on the one closest to you. Not only are you getting a preemptive attack, but once you beat the 1st group, you'll ambush the 2nd too! Once that's done head W into the small DE that looks out over the waterfall and score # Fresh Sage x 2 # from the orb. Head S...okay, I lied. Head N again. ^o^ Hug the E wall until you see a glowing green hole in the wall. Examine it for # Blackberries x 2 #. *Don't get greedy* and reach in again; it'll spray you with poisonous gas and remove a small amount of your precious HP. Go N. At the cross, go E. At the end of this DE you'll find another green hole with # Fresh Sage x 1 # and the cave's only harvesting point. Hopefully you get a Bizarre Fruit from the harvesting point (I'll explain why later), but if not don't worry. Back at the cross, go NW. Hug the E wall as you make your way N to find an orb and a "poisonous item hole" right next to each other. Get # Blackberries x 2 # from the orb and snatch # Defense Seeds x 1 # out of the hole. You've gotten everything available to you right now in the cave, so you have two choices again: 1st choice is go back to the Calnus with and make a new armor for Reimi, and 2nd is to do a bit of grinding. You should make the armor if you like using Reimi. *If you got the Bizarre Fruit*, congratulations! You just got one of the rarest "food" items in the game. In addition to healing you a bit, like most foods, the Bizarre Fruit also generates a stat-boosting seed when a character eats it. Stat-boosting seeds permanently increase a party members' respective stats. Example: Defense Seed boosts DEF stat. $$$$$$$$$ $ Welch $ $$$$$$$$$ Before you get all giddy about creating a new armor for Reimi, check your items to make sure you have all five possible irons. If not, check my lists and see where you missed one. Save in the Rec. Room (you may as well rest later, too). Head to the Launch interface in the Meeting Room. *Note that Edge's smithery level should be at least level 2. You should also use all/most of your Party SP right now to get Reimi's harvesting to level to level 5. You'll want it later. There's no point in getting her cooking level higher, since you can't cook 99% of anything there is yet. Note that you'll be making Reimi's # Iron Protector # which requires her current SRF Protector and 4 irons. Unequip her SRF Protector now. Open up the launch interface and invent a new recipe with Edge and Reimi in group 1. Hopefully you'll come up with the recipe for the Iron Protector immediately. If not, you should know what to do by now, right? Now go to the creation menu and create the Iron Protector. Congrats! Equip the armor on Reimi. You can also create the Pickled Plum Rice now, if you want. Now head all the way back through the Urd Falls Cave. This time, head out W into... ---Planet Aeos: Northern Coast (III.a.6.)--- >```````````````````````````````````< > Obtainables < > < > -Natural Water x 2 < > -Attack Seeds x 1 < > -Wind Gem x 1 < > -81 Fol < > -Seaweed x 1, Warped Carapace x 1 < > -Iron x 3 < > -Fresh Sage x 2 < > -Seaweed x 1 < > -Bigberries x 1 < > -Protection Seeds x 1 < > -19,800 Fol (Dark Barrier) < > -Harvesting points x 4 < > -Blueberries < > -Defense Seeds < > -Fresh Sage < > -Insect Egg < > -Lemon < > -Pickled Plum < > -Seaweed < > -Vegetables < > -Mining points x 4 < > -Iron < > -Silver < >___________________________________< Save at the SS SW of you! In the Northern Coast, 2 new monsters are introduced: Polyphaga and Killer Chelae. Head N then W to find a Polyphaga blocking your way to # Natural Water x 2 #. Man, that Polyphaga is quite a bit tougher than anything we've encountered thus far. Kill it's Killer Wasp cohorts first, then charge up a Blindside to do nice damage to it. Also keep practicing jumping away from it; it hits hard. There's nothing to gain in the SE loop, so head W of the SS. When you get to the cross, take the NW path and you'll find a -dah-da-da-daahh- healing sphere. HSs are great places to grind at. So let's... !!!!!!!!! ! GRIND ! !!!!!!!!! HSs restore all of your HP and MP, so now's the time to get those red tiles on your bonus board. Do you remember how? I didn't think so. All you have to do is get a "Skill-only finish"; basically, kill an enemy with a special art. You can use all of your MP in one battle then come back to the HS for a tune-up. Red tiles restore 1% of your HP and MP after battles, so I recommend racking up 5. Then start getting "critical finishes"(EXP) by lowering an enemy's HP then Blindsiding it. Fill in the remaining slots on your bonus board with blue tiles and green tiles. Get as many ambushes as you can for the green SP boost tiles. You should... [Pull off 20 Blindsides] (Edge) [Defeat 200 enemies] (Edge) [Win 20 battles without using MP] (Reimi) [Land a critical hit from behind] (Reimi) [Land three critical hits in a row] (Reimi) [Win with the Rush Gauge maxed out] (Reimi) [Defeat an enemy using a close-quarters attack] (Reimi) [Land four critical hits in a row] (Reimi) [Defeat an enemy using a wake-up attack] (Edge) Edge's trophies should come naturally if you're fighting enough battles and Blindsiding lots of enemies. Reimi's are a bit trickier. Winning 20 battles without MP is simple; just don't use her special art for 20 battles while you're doing her other trophies. To land a critical hit from behind, approach an enemy from the front then do a Blindside and attack from the back; easy. To land 3, then 4 critical hits in a row, you'll need to turn Edge to do nothing. Now just do four successful Blindsides in a row; don't forget to attack once, and only once! Reimi's critical Blindside attacks can't be combo'd. Winning a battle with the Rush Gauge maxed out will probably come naturally if you play as Reimi every now and then. Just keep attacking and try to keep it at 100% (you may also have to turn Edge to "manual"...no, you don't have to make him "Don't do Anything". Yes, I just remembered that from SO3. Sorry). To defeat an enemy with a close-quarters attack (you remember how, don't you? Get to *very close* range and press the LAS toward the enemy while pressing A) you'll need to have Edge on auto just long enough to kill all of the enemies except one. Then turn him to manual and go up with Reimi to finish off the last enemy with a close-quarters attack. Back to Edge. To defeat an enemy with a "wake-up" attack, you'll need to be knocked down first. Common sense, really. So, this is actually a pretty dangerous trophy to get right now because it involves purposefully getting hurt. It's not that hard though, once you get the hang of it. 1st, find a Polyphaga wandering around on the field; you need a Polyphaga to get knocked down. When you enter the battle, turn Reimi to manual. You can kill -one- of the Polyphaga's cohorts, but certainly not two. You need enemies other than the Polyphaga. Get one, preferably both, of the Polyphaga's cohorts to low health. Now comes the hard part. Run around to get oriented before you try this. Stand safely in front of the Polyphaga. Have you noticed it's two different attacks yet? If not, here you go. It's first attack makes both of it's claws glow red; it'll swipe once with it's right claw, then once with it's left. This is not the attack you want it to do (jump away if you can). It's 2nd attack is the one you want; it's claws will glow purple. If you're standing in front of it when it does this, you'll be knocked down. Once knocked down, wait 1-2 seconds (any more and Edge will get up without doing a wake-up attack) then press A. If you timed it right, you should have one of the Polyphaga's cohorts right next to you when you do a wake-up attack. You'll know it's a wake-up attack if Edge jumps up and spins his sword around. The wake-up attack will kill the enemy closest to you and you'll get that battle trophy! Now turn Reimi back to auto. Congrats. Now that you're done getting trophies, I recommend getting to level 8-10 here if you're not already. If you have the patience to get to level 10, Edge will learn his 2nd special art, Stampede Slash. Raise it to level 2 and set it to both special art slots in the "Battle Config" menu. Try it out. ^o^ *Okay!* Back to the game at hand. From the HS start heading S. Harvest the 1st point at your right. Now head all the way S until you get to a cross; head E and get # Attack Seeds x 1 # from an orb. Go W, then SW until you reach another orb in a DE for # Wind Gem x 1 #. Go N out of the DE to a cross and go NW here. Hug the W wall to find another harvesting point and an orb with # 81 Fol #. Go E to a cross, then go N. Head W at a 2nd cross to find a 3rd harvesting point by the !! ledge that you can't jump up on to. That's it on the upper part of the coast. Go save...there's a boss coming up soon. If you don't have many tiles on your bonus board, take the time to get at least a lot of blue ones on it right now. Green tiles are also great. Head to the HS to heal one last time, then jump off the N !! ledge. There are some Killer Chelae down here, which you should definitely fight. Go SW to find a harvesting point at a DE, then an orb N of it that has # Seaweed x 1, Warped Carapace x 1 #. Hug the shore as you move W to find # Iron x 3 # in another orb. I got [Register 50 preemptive attacks] (Edge) in a battle against Killer Chelae at this point. You might also get [Land 1000 hits in total] (Edge) at this point. Don't worry if you don't, it's automatic. Also try to [Pull off 50 blindsides] (Edge). Keep going E until you approach the yellow icon on your minimap. You'll see a cutscene and meet a new character. This character will help you in a battle against... /~~~~~~~~~\ * Armaros * \_________/ This guy can be pretty tough depending on your level. If you got to level 8-10 like I suggested it won't be too bad though. The 1st thing you'll need to know about Armaros is that he has a giant shell on his back that absorbs most of the damage you try to deal to him. I suggest turning Reimi and your new character, Faize, to manual as soon as the battle starts, because Edge is the character you'll be using to destroy this guy's shell. Before using Edge for the shell though, toggle with LB so that you're controlling him, then just tap LT or RT once to make him use his special art (which is actually a symbol) Earth Glaive. @ Cameo! @ Armaros is weak to Earth, so by using *Earth* Glaive you'll get [Use an earth symbol against an enemy weak to earth] (Faize). Now switch back to Edge. Here are two ways to destroy Armaros' shell without trouble. The first involves using Edge to Blindside, then combo, the enemy. I'll detail this method now. With the other characters on manual, move forward with edge and use a blindside on Armaros. When it begins being slo-mo, do a 3 combo of A, then use a close-quarters attack to knock him into the air. Immediately after that, start tapping A again to initiate an aerial combo. On the 3rd hit, use Rising Blade. Rinse and repeat until the shell-fish's protection is destroyed. The second way can only be done if you're level 10 and you set Stampede Slash to one (preferably both) of your special art slots. Start this method the same way of the previous method. Initiate a blindside and do a 3 combo with A. But now, instead of doing a close-quarters, press RT to start doing Stampede Slash. When Edge starts doing the 1st Stampede Slash, start tapping LT. As soon as Edge finishes the 1st Stampede Slash, he'll do a 2nd one. At the outset of the 2nd Stampede Slash, start tapping A. Once done with the 2nd Stampede Slash, Edge will do a 3 combo. *Do the 2nd method in Rush Mode for best results* Both methods will destroy Armaros' shell efficiently and without risk to the very weak (level 3!) Faize. Like the quintessential RPG boss, Armaros gets slightly harder once you've destroyed his barrier. He starts using a special move called Electric Fist that does quite a bit of damage. Evade it at all costs. *Turn Reimi and Faize back to auto* Keep doing the same thing with Edge that you did to destroy the shell, and eventually he'll go down. If you kept all of the tiles on your bonus board, expect every character to level up. Pro Strategy - We're gonna be gettin' -lots- ah trophies now! Turn -everyone- to manual. I'm assuming that because you're reading the pro strategy, you know how to do everything I tell you, so I'm going to tell you -what- to do, not always how to do it. I'm also assuming that you did these things before the battle: 1. Got Edge and Reimi to level 10. 2. Got Edge's BEAT: S level and Reimi's BEAT: B level to 10. 3. Leveled up Edge's Stampede Slash to 2, but not higher. 4. Set Stampede Slash on both of Edge's special art slots. 5. Lastly, and somewhat leastly, healed at the HS before jumping down to fight. Alrighty, let me count...here come 16 battle trophies in -one- battle! Good luck! I'll try listing these in the order that you should get them, but there's always wiggle room. Here they are: [Land 10 consecutive hits unassisted] (Faize) [Land 20 consecutive hits unassisted] (Faize) [Land 30 consecutive hits unassisted] (Faize) [Land 60 consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land 72 consecutive long-range attacks] (Reimi) [Land 20 hits during Rush Mode] (Edge) [Land 20 consecutive hits unassisted] (Edge) [Land 30 consecutive hits unassisted] (Edge) [Land five critical his in a row] (Reimi) [Land six critical his in a row] (Reimi) [Land seven critical his in a row] (Reimi) [Deal at least 100 points of damage] (Reimi) [Land a critical hit on an enemy's weak point] (Reimi) [Deal at least 100 points of damage] (Faize) [Use an earth symbol on an enemy weak to earth] (Faize) [Land a hit on an enemy's weak point] (Faize) Sound fun? There's actually one I didn't list, but that's because -I- couldn't get it (it's to deal 500 points of damage with Edge). I won't list anything in this guide that I can't do myself. Instead of listing strategies in a paragraph, like I usually do, I feel this requires a "bulleted" format. Without further ado... 1. To get the first 3 trophies listed, switch to Faize at the beginning of the battle. Make sure that Armaros is targeting another character, then go to town with his *amazing* A combos. Remind you of a certain half-clothed man with a katana? *Don't let Faize die!* 2. Switch to Reimi and make Armaros forget about Faize and target you. Now do 72 consecutive long-range (that just means that you can't do any short-range attacks in between) attacks. 3. Switch to Edge and make Armaros target you. Charge up your Rush Gauge to 100% using the "holding B" method. Armaros' Rush Gauge should now be at 0%. Initiate a blindside and during the slo-mo part, go into Rush. Do a 3 combo, chain it into an RT Stampede Slash, then an LT Stampede Slash, then into another 3 combo. Repeat until you [Land 30 consecutive hits unassisted] (Edge). 4. Switch back to Reimi. Now do 7 blindsides with one A attack. After the 7 blindsides, destroy Armaros' shell if it hasn't been already. Do one Rush'd blindside and you should do a critical hit that hits it's bright blue weak spot. You'll do 100 damage too. 5. Switch to Faize and use his special art-that's-really-a-symbol Earth Glaive. It should do all 3 of the last battle trophies at the same time. If not do it again. 6. If Earth Glaive doesn't kill Armaros, do what I couldn't. *I do -know- how to do it, though* Switch once again back to Edge, charge up his rush gauge, then do a blindside with no A attacks; instead use only Stampede Slash. If the last hit of Stampede Slash lands before Armaros dies, it will [Deal at least 500 points of damage] (Edge). If your bonus board gets destroyed, or if Faize dies (you'll want him to get the EXP from your blue bonus board), reload your save file. Note that you'll *have to regain all your blue bonus board tiles if that happens!* Not fun. I know firsthand. -Yeah-! That was fun!!! You'll see another cutscene once you beat Armaros, then be back at the Northern Coast, exactly where it left off. You can't go back the way you came, so head E and hug the N shore again. If either Edge's or Reimi's respective BEATs become Rank 12, switch them to the opposite. Leave Faize on BEAT: B. Faize also has a battle skill called Pride that you can set in the Battle Config menu. As you continue to make your way E towards the Urd Falls Cave, you'll find # Fresh Sage x 2 # and # Seaweed x 1 # in two orbs...just kidding! The 2 Fresh Sage are in a real chest! At this area I got 13 battle trophies, all of which by playing as Faize. I got [Defeat an enemy using only weapon attacks] (Faize) by not using his special art-that's-a-symbol Earth Glaive in a battle. To [Defeat an enemy using a close-quarters attack] (Faize), I did exactly that. I also got [Reduce an enemy's HP to 2] (Faize). You can reduce an enemy's HP to any number between 1-9 for other trophies. [Reduce an enemy's HP to 1] (Faize) [Reduce an enemy's HP to 3] (Faize) [Reduce an enemy's HP to 4] (Faize) [Reduce an enemy's HP to 5] (Faize) [Reduce an enemy's HP to 6] (Faize) [Reduce an enemy's HP to 7] (Faize) [Reduce an enemy's HP to 8] (Faize) [Reduce an enemy's HP to 9] (Faize) The easiest way to get all of the following trophies is to turn Edge and Reimi to manual...who'd have guessed? Find and engage a trio of Gerel. Flee to remove five tiles from your bonus board. Now engage that trio again. Kill one of the Gerel, but not the other 2, by using only Earth Glaive. This gets you [Defeat an enemy using only symbols] (Faize). Here's how to... [Get 3 bonus board tiles in one battle] (Faize) [Get 4 bonus board tiles in one battle] (Faize) [Get 5 bonus board tiles in one battle] (Faize) Kill one of the remaining two Gerel with a critical to get one blue tile. Now get the only remaining Gerel's HP very low, but don't kill it. Leave it alone now and let it split twice using Schism. Kill the low HP one with a critical for another blue tile. Rinse and repeat until you get five blue tiles in a row. All done here! Head into the Urd Falls Cave at the NE corner of the field. Once inside, hug the E wall all the way S. At the bottom get # Blueberries x 3 # from the orb, then jump down at the !!. Now make your way all the way back to the Calnus. *Don't forget to save as soon as possible!* When you enter the area that used to be called the Landing Point, notice that it's now... ---Planet Aeos: Base Area (III.a.7.)--- Wait a minute...where's the Calnus? Oh. Save at the SS just outside the giant military base, but don't go in just yet. Remember that upper !! ledge in the Northern Coast that you couldn�t get up on? Go as far N as you can to find... a...-bridge-! ^o^ What wonderful things technology can do for us! Cross the bridge, then hug the W wall to find # Bigberries x 1 #. Keep hugging the W wall N until you see a large purple mist. There's a chest in it, but you can't get it for a while. Keep hugging the wall to get # Protection Seeds x 1 #. Head back to the base.
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