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Claude Solo Walkthrough

by StarGundam2

Star Ocean: The Second Story

Claude Solo FAQ/Walkthrough
Author: Star (Scott)
Date: June 24, 2007
Last Updated: June 26, 2007
[email protected]


Table of Contents for Claude Solo
-What's this about?
-Tips and Suggestions
      -Characters and Recruiting:
      -Save Often:
      - Items, Talents, and Specialty: 
             - Unlocking Hidden Talents
             - Learning how to use Specialties and Item Creation
             - Necessary Items
      - Suggested Skills: 
             - Levels 1-30
             - Levels 31-60
             - Levels 61-100
             - Levels 100-255
      - Killer Moves Suggested:
- Disc 1 Walkthrough
      - Welcome to Expel:
      - Cross Castle:
      - Cross Cave: 
      - Port town of Clik: 
      - Mars and the Heraldry Forest: 
      - Herlie and Getting to Lacour: 
      - Continent of Lacour: 
      - Linga: 
      - Lacour tournament of Arms: 
      - Sanctuary of Linga: 
      - Hoffman Ruins: 
      - Lacour Frontline:
      - The Continent of El:
      - Eluria Tower:
- Disc 2 Walkthrough
      - Welcome to Nede
      - Central City
      - North City: 
      - Cave of Red Crystal: 
      - Things to do on your Synard: 
      - Field of Courage:
      - Field of Power:
      - Field of Intelligence:
      - Field of Love:
      - Mihne Cavern:
      - Fun City:
      - Arm Lock:
      - Fienal Showdown:
- Cave Of Trials
      - Level One
      - Level Two
      - Level Three
      - Level Four
      - Level Five
      - Level Six
      - Level Seven
      - Level Eight
      - Level Nine
      - Level Ten
      - Level Eleven
      - Level Twelve
      - Level Thirteen
- Legal Stuff
- Big Thanks



----------------------------- What's this about? -----------------------------



This guide is a walkthrough and a couple of tips for anyone wishing to beat
Star Ocean the Second Story with using only Claude C. Kenni.  Also, proving
that you only need Claude, the hero of light, to win.  First off, beating the 
game with only one character is almost an impossible feat, but I've done it
and I'm willing to pass on my knowledge to how I accomplished this.  Also I
have added a Claude and Rena Solo for Cave of Trials.  I'd like to give a big 
thanks to tri-Ace for creating such a great game.  It's one of my first loves
as well as Star Ocean 1, Star Ocean till the end of time, Radiata Stories and 
Star Ocean EX.  Thank you tri-Ace for the Star Ocean Series.



---------------------------- Tips and Suggestions ----------------------------



Here's some tips and suggestions to make your Claude Solo game a much easier 
experience.  Pay careful attention to everything I list, it will be crucial
when you go try it for yourself.



------------------  Characters and Recruiting ------------------



First of all, your obviously only going to use Claude in this game.  So pick 
Claude's Story, or otherwise you could end up using Rena and not doing a 
successful Claude Solo.  I already know that Rena Lanford is an automatic 
character so you should shove her in the back of the party.  I also suggest
that you do not recruit anyone, for obvious reason your can only hold up to 
four characters, including Rena, on your reserves.  If you recruit more than 
three, someone will end up in your battles.  Also, don't recruit more than two
because there are a lot of scenes where you are forced to travel with people 
like 
Celine, Leon, and Noel.  In order for you to create a successful Claude solo, 
you must put all of your characters in your reserves.

- How do I switch out my characters?

Press triangle to bring up your status menu, go to combat, click on
replacement, and put Rena in the last slot.  The last slot is the bottom right
corner.



------------------ Save often ------------------



I can't stress enough how important that is.  If you've headed really far in
the game, it's a good hint that you should go ahead and save.  I save before
and after every dungeon and long conversation with scenes.  It can get very 
frustrating because with only one character, as soon as he's dead the game's 
over.



------------------ Items, Talents, and Specialty ------------------



Well another thing you might want to know is what items it would be best for 
Claude to acquire.  This is will majorly affect your success in your solo 
game.  Always save before using any customization, that way you can reload if 
you have failures.  Check for talents by clicking status on Claude and
pressing triangle in the status menu.


---------- Hidden Talents -----------


To acquire hidden talents you have to constantly use a certain item creation 
until the hidden talent unlocks.  For example if you want to acquire 'Sense
of Taste' you will need to constantly cook with that character until it
unlocks.  Unlocking skills will provide your character with a bonus 100 sp to 
play around with

- Getting the Hidden Talent Dexterity

Its pretty simple, all you have to do is a bunch of metalworking until the 
talent unlocks.  Basically you need a one in the skill level's of Craft, 
Mineralogy, and Esthetic Sense.  Of course metals aren't cheap, so waste your 
money only one Silver and Iron ore.  Only 200 fol a piece.

- Getting the Hidden Talent Originality

Originality is one of the Talents besides Dexterity that will allow you to
Make a successful Customization.  Claude should automatically receive it
during the game, so you won't have to work for this one.  Lucky you.


----------- Learning how to use Specialties and Item Creation -----------


Item Creation a is must during Star Ocean games.  Some are classified as Item 
Creation including skills like customize, cooking and compounding, and others 
are classified as specialties like pickpocketing, oracle, and practice.
There are some that are classified as Super Specialty Skills that uses the 
skills of everyone to create good items, but during your Claude Solo, you 
won't be getting any of these.

- Learning how to Customize

First you have to increase all of your skill levels in Functionality, Metal 
Casting, and Craft.  But in order to create successful Customizes you must
have Dexterity on Claude.  

- Learning how to Pickpocket

All you have to do is build up your Courage and Poker face skills.  In order
to pickpocket you must either have the Bandit's Gloves or the Magician's Hand 
and press square near a NPC or party member (during Private Actions) 
Pickpocket is guaranteed to be successful if you have the talent of Dexterity 
and a level 10 in pickpocketing.


------------ Necessary Items------------


Here's a list of all the necessary items in the game that you need to make
your Claude solo successful.  Missing out on some of these items could
seriously hinder your chances at beating the game.  When I played my Claude 
solo, I did something stupid and forgot to get the Sharp Edge, it's very easy
to miss, and you can't go back in time to get it.  Luckily I made it with the 
Windsley sword.  Also, if you already have the Eternal Sphere, getting the 
Windsley sword is pointless.  I didn't add the Levantine in this guide 
because you get it in the Cave of Trials, but as long as you defeat
Indalecio, you beat Claude solo.  So adding in info on the Cave of Trials
isn't necessary.

- Trickster

Trickster can be acquired on the continent of El inside of Eluria tower.  
Trickster is essential because when your on Energy Nede you can pick up 
Mithril's needed to Customize the Eternal Sphere.  When you first enter
Eluria Tower run up the left stair case and head left through a hidden
doorway to acquire the trickster in a treasure chest.  Place the trickster on 
Rena so it doesn't waste an accessory slot on Claude.

- Paralysis Check

Paralysis Check is an accessory that can be acquired in chests or from
enemies.  Stores also sell them, well some of them do.  You shouldn't have
any trouble getting your hands on one of these, it'll be necessary when
battling enemies that cause paralysis.  If you get paralyzed during a fight, 
it's game over and you have to start over.

- Stone Check

Stone Check is an accessory that can be acquired in chests or from enemies.  
Stores also sell them, well some of them do.  You shouldn't have any trouble 
getting your hands on one of these, it'll be necessary when battling enemies 
that cause stone.  If you get petrified during a fight, it's game over and you
have to start over.

- Sharp Edge

After losing to Dias in the Lacour Tournament of Arms go to Gamgee the sword 
smith on the West side of town and pick up the Sharp Edge.  Do not customize 
or sell this weapon until later in the game.

- Windsley Sword

Until you get the Eternal Sphere, the Windsley Sword is a great weapon to use.
The Windsley Sword can be acquired through Fun City battle arena.  You must 
Win Rank A in the solo battles.

- Eternal Sphere

Always save before using any customization, that way you can reload if you 
have failures.  First, make sure you have a talent of Dexterity.  If not, use 
metalworking until you do.  After you have a customization skill level of 10 
by increasing craft, functionality, and metal casting, you must customize the 
Sharp Edge with a Mithril to get the Minus Sword.  Customize the Minus Sword 
with another Mithril to get the Eternal Sphere.  Only thing stronger than the 
Eternal Sphere is the Levantine, but you don't get that till Cave of Trials.

- Bunny Shoes

Bunny Shoes are a must.  They give your character incredible speed during 
fights, and there are only a few you can get in the game.  First off, if your 
lucky, you can win one in the bunny races, but if you don't want to waste your
time you'll do this.  Since your only using one character, Claude, you should 
pickpocket the bunny inside of fun city near the bunny race counter.
First, you must have a level 10 pickpocket and Dexterity talent.  Save before 
you enter Fun City incase you fail.

- Resurrection Bottles, Resurrection Mists, 1-Up Puddings

Guess what?   When your doing a Claude Solo, if Claude dies, it's game over.
The only good thing about that is that you don't have to waste your money on 
items that cure Incap.  Including but not limited too: Resurrection Bottles, 
Resurrection Mists, 1-Up Puddings.



------------------- Suggested Skills -------------------



Here's a set of the skills I suggest increasing at certain levels during the 
game.  If it looks like you got a lot of extra skill points you should focus 
more on some of the battle skills like  Below the Belt, Flip, Counterattack, 
Feint, Body Control, Mental Training, Parry, Cancel, and Gale.


------- Lower Levels (1-30)


Perseverance - I recommend that you don't spend any skill points towards 
anything until you get persverance.  Perservance lowers the cost for leveling
up in skills, which will allow you to spend those needed points towards other 
things.  Max out Peservance as soon as you can.

Herbal Medicine - Herbal Medicine will increase effectiveness of Blackberries 
and Blueberries outside of battle.  When maxed out, berries will cure you 100%
instead of 20% saving you money and time.  It can waste a lot of time running 
back and forth to Inns and blackberries can cost a pretty penny at lower
levels. I recommend at least a level 5 for Herbal Medicine.

Kitchen Knife - Kitchen Knife will work miracles in lower levels.  It'll will 
save you time and take out enemies quicker.  For each level of Kitchen Knife 
it'll will add 20 pts to base strength.  I recommend at least a level 5.

Effort - Effort will lower the amount of experience needed to increase levels.
It'll save you time as well, and allow you to get sp points quicker and build
up Claude more.  I recommend as least a level 3

Strong Blow - Increasing this will allow you to stun you enemies more giving
you an advantage in battle.  Also increasing it in level shouldn't be too hard
When Perservance is maxed, Strong Blow only takes 55 sp to max out.

Spirit Force - This will allow your defense or AC to increase a bit during 
battle.  When fully maxed out you take no damage if you successfully perform 
this skill.  Which is usually like a 30% chance so Spirit Force is strongly 
recommended.  I recommend at least a level 3

Skill Level Suggested at Lower Levels
Perservance - 10
Herbal Medicine - 5
Kitchen Knife - 5
Effort - 3
Strong Blow - 10
Spirit Force - 3


------- Mid Levels (31-60)


Functionality - I call this skill the god skill.  It's necessary to get maxed 
out as much as it's necessary to max out perservance.  Reason is simply
because it's one of the main skills in customization and the fact that it adds
points to Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Intelligence.  I recommend getting
a level 10 functionality before you reach level 60.

Craft - And I call this skill the servant skill.  It serves purpose for 
Metalworking and Customization. If your trying to get the Dexterity Talent, or
your trying to get the Eternal Sphere, your going to need points towards this 
skill.  Craft will also increase your agility somewhat. I recommend getting at
least a level 5 in Craft.

Metal Casting - I call this one the pain in the ass skill. 
It serves purpose in Customization but it's usually the last skill maxed out 
because of it's high SP requirement. It also increases your Dexterity somewhat
I recommend trying to 
get a level 3 in Metal Casting.

Herbal Medicine - Increase to level 10 for more effectiveness of berries.

Kitchen Knife - In the lower 30's it's good to have more attack power, 
Increase to level 10.

Effort - Increase to level 6 gradually when you can to lower your experience 
requirement.

Spirit Force - Its good to have a level 6 spirit force to increase your chance
of blocking out attacks.

Skill Level Suggested at Mid Levels
Functionality - 10
Craft - 5
Metal Casting - 3
Perservance - 10
Herbal Medicine - 10
Kitchen Knife - 10
Effort - 6
Strong Blow - 10
Spirit Force - 6


------- Higher Levels (61-100)


Tool Knowledge - Tool Knowledge will increase your selling prices for items so
you can get more fol back in the end. It will also allow you to identify items
more. Increase this to a level 10

Courage - This will allow you to build up for pickpocketing.  Maximize this 
before you get your Synard so you can get your bunny shoes.

Poker Face - This will allow you to build up for pickpocketing.  It also 
increases your guts allowing you to stun enemies more.
Maximize this as soon as you can as well.

Below the Belt - Increase this to a level 10 as soon as you can as well.  It 
will allow you to get more hits in on the enemy and stun them a lot more often

Feint - When your fighting a lot of attacks miss because the enemy blocks them
Increasing this will prevent that.  Get it to at least 5 or higher

Mental Training - Mental Training will increase your attack power allowing you 
to do more damage saving you more time in battle.
Get this one to a level 10 as well.

Gale - This will increase your speed during battle, it's essential when your 
wearing bunny shoes because your attacks will be slow without it.  Bunny shoes
only increase your movement speed, but it doesn't speed up how fast you swing 
your sword.  Get this one to at least 5 or higher.

Craft - Go ahead and Max out Craft, your going to need it for item creation.

Metal Casting - I know it's a pain in the ass, but it's necessary for creating
the Eternal Sphere.

Effort - This will help you out a lot, you'll gain levels much quicker if the 
experience 
required is lowered more.

Spirit Force - Trust me, maxing this out helps a lot.

Skill Level Suggested at High Levels
Tool Knowledge - 10
Courage - 10
Poker Face - 10
Below the Belt - 10
Feint - 5
Mental Training - 10
Gale - 5
Functionality - 10
Craft - 10
Metal Casting - 10
Perservance - 10
Herbal Medicine - 10
Kitchen Knife - 10
Effort - 10
Strong Blow - 10
Spirit Force - 10


------- Anything above 100, Cave of Trial Levels (101-255)


What I mean by Cave of Trial Levels is any level higher than 100, because your
usually that high after you enter the Cave of Trials.
But during a Claude solo it will become apparent you will reach level 100
before you even enter Fienal if not before then.
I was at level 90 and I hadn't even gotten the LEA Metal yet.  
After you reach level 100 your really don't need any guide on distributing 
skills.  Basically just max everything out, firstly starting with the combat 
skills because they will help you out a lot.



------------------ Killer Moves Suggested ------------------



Basically your going to use only two killer moves throughout the whole game.  
It's is very necessary to have these two moves especially since you don't have
Rena with you.  And only one will take you a little while to get.  

------- Energy Sword ------

You will acquire Energy Sword at level 20 with Claude.
Quickly equip this move as soon as you can and start building it up, it will 
provide a lot of health at later levels. It only costs about 11 MP per use and
it will save your arse time and time again during battles.
Since you don't have Rena to cast her healing magic you will need something 
other than items to keep Claude alive in battle.  
Energy Sword will power up at 200 uses.

------- Ripper Blast ------

The god of all killer moves.  The move explains itself, I really don't have to
say anything good about it.  If you use it long range it will attack all 
enemies within the perimeter of range.  Increased usage will unleash several 
hits on all opponents at long range and explode in their face.
This is Claude's best move and I love it sooooo freaking much, 'TEAR INTO 
PIECES!!'  Ripper Blast will power up at 270 uses



----------------------------- Disc 1 Walkthrough -----------------------------



Okay. This is the main part of the walkthrough, I won't discuss all the events
that happen in the game because it will create spoilers as well more typing
for me.  I will mostly focus on how to get rid of characters so you don't have
to recruit them and I will also go into depth on how to defeat bosses with 
Claude only.  



------------------ Welcome to Expel ------------------


I will start the walkthrough right after Rena gets captured by Alen Tax.  
Basically all you have to do is run north from Arlia and enter the mining town
of Salva Drift. Go all the way towards the mansion at the top and use your gun
to blast down the door.  Enter the room on the left and pick up the hair pin. 
Touch the switch and open the door towards the back.  Run all the way through 
the caves fighting enemies and stuff like you'd normally do during a normal 
game.  Find Rena and battle Alen Tax.  Unlucky us, the game forces us to 
battle with Rena in the party. To feel good about yourself, you can get Rena 
killed or just beat the crap out of Alen and switch her arse out later.  
After these events it will follow another longerific story.


------------------ Cross Castle ------------------


Lovely, now your ready to start your adventure.  Don't forget to grab the 
Portrait B inside of Alen's room in Salva, sells for a pretty penny.  Maybe 
after you sell it you can stock up on Blueberries and Blackberries, cause your
going to need them.  Head to Cross Castle from Salva Drift which is pretty 
obvious because it's that large Castle coming into view from the sunset. Go to
sleep at the Inn, wake up and go to the castle to get an audience with the 
King. Run out and find this new girl battling someone.  Go with Celine to the 
Cross Cave.  No matter how many times you tell Celine No I don't want to go
with you, you'll have to say yes in the end.   Go to the Skill Guild in the
Town and buy some skills.


------------------ Cross Cave ------------------


Lots of good items in here for the beginning.  If you haven't done so already,
throw Celine in the back of your party so she doesn't appear in battle.  Also 
steal the earrings off of her by unequiping them, they sell pretty good as
well.  Cross Cave is pretty straight forward, run east from Cross to find it, 
it's that largerific Cave sticking out there next to that gooberish sign in 
the middle of the road.  I recommend using Shooting Star acquired at level 7 
until you can get Burst Knuckle.  Beat the snizzle out of the enemies here, 
run towards the back and use the codes to unlock the room with five chests.  
The one in the back contains gargoyles.  If you haven't saved on the save 
point, do so before opening the one on the back of the star.  Gargoyles can be
pretty tough for Claude only, watch their pattern of attack.  They usually run
up to you and do a multiple red acid spit attack with their tongue.  
Run around until you catch them doing that in a spot away from you and get 
behind them and attack.  Rinse and repeat this process making sure you don't 
get caught between two of them.  Once one is down, taking out the other should
pose no problem.  When leaving the cave, tell Celine that you don't want her 
to come with you.  After that, you've successfully denied Celine rights to 
your party.


------------------ Port town of Clik ------------------


Well we could start off by heading to Clik, but I recommend running to Port 
Herlie first.  Go all the way past Mars and into port Herlie.  Head all the 
way north in the town and find Zand's Mansion.  Inside Zand's Mansion you can 
acquire a stronger sword called the Flame Sword in a chest throughout the 
mansion.  There's a bunch of other good items in there as well that will help 
you out a lot earlier in the game.  Don't forget to hit the Skill guild on 
your way out, it's south of Zand's Mansion and next to the bar.

Now head towards Clik.  Go to the skill guild towards the west part of town 
and get your skills.  Talk to the guy that's supposed to take you to El.  From
there walk away and get your pocket picked by Ketil.  Talk to the girl and boy
near the harbor.  Find Ketil near the warehouse towards the front of Clik.  
Bring Ketil to the boy and girl.  Walk away and run around in a frenzy due to 
an earthquake.  Talk to the captain to get your Passport back and go up the 
stairs and talk to Ketil.  Leave Clik for good, and never come back.


------------------ Mars and the Heraldry Forest ------------------


Enter Mars and quickly head up towards the council meeting room to get a 
longerific scene with Celine and Dias.  After the scenes are over I suggest 
stocking up at that tool store right south of you.  When your done, run back 
into the meeting room and talk to the guy so you can rest.  When your in the 
forest, throw Celine in the back of your party, equip the Mud Boots manually
and save the game.  From there you'll have to head through the not so
difficult maze and battle bandits that should be rather easy to beat.  I hope 
you bought a lot of Blueberries, or at least you have the tech called energy 
sword because you're about to face Varmillion.  Varmillion is really tough,
at this level, and since you threw Celine out, it's going to be tougher.  My 
only suggestion is to use long range Shooting Star a lot and try to get
behind him.  He's going to get a lot of hits in, but if your high in level
it's not going to matter.  My favorite seen comes up next:

Dias: "Did you slay this one?"
Claude: "Yes, but with Celine's help."
Me: "You idiot, I didn't use Celine."

Lol, I always hated how contradicting those scenes were.  After all of this 
more long scenes come and after Rena comes back try to leave the village.  
Celine will bring you back for more longerific scenage.  

After you exit Mars, you'll probably have to throw Rena in the back of your 
party again.


------------------ Herlie and getting to Lacour------------------


Pretty straight forward, run to Herile and buy a boat to Lacour.  You'll end
up in Port town Hilton.  Don't forget to hit the Skill Guild on your way out.


------------------ Continent of Lacour ------------------


Okay, the continent of Lacour has lots of enemies you should be careful of.  I
recommend when you face an unbeatable enemy that you run.  I will list the 
enemies that you shouldn't battle.  Mostly, don't ever go towards the Lacour 
Frontline.  You'll face a fierce enemy called Salamanders (I like to call them
Flare Lizards)  and they are not fun to fight.  Also, if you don't have 
Paralysis Check already, don't fight certain enemies inside of the Sanctuary 
of Linga.  Those enemies are the flying birds, the pigs, and the giant head 
with teeth.  You can fight the jumping bunnies and the jellies, those aren't 
hard to fight.  In the common field of Lacour and Sanctuary of Linga, you face
an enemy that has a wolf girl and a pack of wolves.  I would suggest running 
from this enemy until you are a higher level.  The wolf girl will cast black 
saber before you can reach her which will likely kill you.  Save often, and 
train a little bit before participating in the Lacour Tournament of Arms.


------------------ Linga ------------------


Just go ahead and get here, and get the Precis scene out of the way. That girl
is annoying.  Precis: "OHHH TAAAY" Me: "SHUT UP!! CRETIN!!!"  Just visit the 
skill guild and see if you missed any skills.  Then I recommend scouring the 
university, maybe you might learn something.  Lol, probably not, but you might
find some useful items in there.  Other than that, you can visit Bowman's 
pharmacy to stock up on items as you try to increase your level and gain SP.  
Don't do a private action here, unless you want to feel really bad about 
Denying Precis a recruitment slot, even though I never felt bad.


------------------ Lacour Tournament of Arms ------------------


During a regular game, it would normally recommend a level 25 Claude before 
entering, but that wouldn't be too hard to achieve with a solo Claude, 
especially since you're the only one getting experience.  And the fights won't
seem as scary because you've been fighting alone for along while.  And since 
you get Energy Sword at level 20 you should have it already so equip it if you 
haven't already done so.

Run into Lacour, and head for the castle.  Enter the tournament and find some 
shop near the east part of town to host your weapon.  Go to the Inn and sleep.
First fight is simple, just a normal enemy you've faced before.  Second fight,
okay your getting a bit tougher, it's the monkey guy, beat the crap out of him
and get ready for the third.  Hmm, this is as tough as it gets, see not that 
tough. Just shooting star him to death and run around screaming death wails if
your hurt and use energy sword.  Dias is up next, just sit there and let him 
pulverize you, unless you still want to resist like me and put up a fight. 
After you lose, make sure you pick up your second place prize at your weapons 
shop and go to the east part of town to visit Grandpa Gamgee. Gamgee's got the
Sharp Edge for you to use, one of the best swords up until this part of the 
game. Don't sell it now it or ruin it through customization.  Keep it till you
can make the Eternal Sphere.


------------------ Sanctuary of Linga ------------------


Go to Linga again.  Try to enter Keith's house again and go to Bowman's 
Pharmacy.  Talk to Bowman and head for the Sanctuary of Linga. Pretty much the
whole deal here is just to search for a rare herb.  Not that hard really, you 
should hit level 38 around here and get Ripper Blast. Then all of your battles
will be easy.  You can also face the demons of the netherworld in here if your
up for the task, but it's rather hard to find and it's hard to explain.  Let's
just say the walls are hidden and it's near the chest where you acquire 
Ashton's Twin Edge.  The location of the Rare Herb is random, so I can't 
Really say where it's going to be at.

Once you get the Herb, find Bowman again and talk to Keith.  After you end up 
in Bowman's house at Night, find Bowman in the back and talk to him. Make sure
you Deny him, although I soooo wanted to recruit him. I love his Poison Pills.
Tell him he needs to look after Nineh and he'll leave you alone.


------------------ Hoffman Ruins ------------------


Go to Lacour.  Register at the desk.  Run towards the right part of the castle
and head down the stairs to find Leon.  Get Caught by the guard.  Head for 
Hilton with Leon.  Make sure you throw the kid into the back of your party.  

And go to Hilton and ride the boat towards Hoffman Ruins.  Hoffman Ruins will 
Be incredible hard if you don't have Paralysis Check.  Head for the gigantic 
ruins in front of you and run up the stairs.  Head through the door that Leon 
had trouble opening and head right to the save point.  Save here, and go down.
Fighting the Flare Lizards and the big heads with teeth will cause you 
Paralysis in this dungeon.  There is a Paralysis Check in a chest throughout 
The Hoffman ruins, so happy hunting for it. You won't have to pull switches to
find it, so don't go blowing the place up. Your main mission is to find the 
Material known as Energy Stone so head towards the right and south all the way
until you find a save point that heads upwards. 

 I can't stress enough why it's important you at least be between levels 50-60
before fighting these thunder beasts.  I also recommend wearing a Reverse doll
and Emerald ring or Talisman.  Reverse Doll is a must because it will cut the 
attacks of thunderstorm in half.  These beasts will be really freaking tough, 
unless you pull a smart one like I did.  
It costs MP for them to be able to keep up that thunder attack, so go to the 
left top corner of the battle field and hide behind the wooden posts that 
sticking up from the ground.  Nice hiding spot huh?  Sit there and use energy 
sword every time you get hit until they run out of MP, then you can rip them 
to shreds. If your still getting injured by their stupid biting attack go back
behind the wooden posts and heal yourself.  They won't be able to attack you 
there because they can only attack from the side, just like you.  And without 
any MP, they can be pretty stupified.

After they are dead, run out of the cave and save the game.  After defeating 
those beasts, everything should be pretty easy, make sure you put your 
Paralysis check back on again because the enemies will get your arse into a 
game over if you don't.  Leave that forsaken place and head back to Lacour.  


------------------ Lacour Frontline ------------------


After some more lovely scenes in Lacour Castle, you actually get a chance to 
get rid of the bratty Leon.  Even though I love Leon as a character, his 
fighting skills suck, even extinction isn't that great.  Your better off with 
fighting characters in higher levels anyway, because they deal out more damage
Now, exit Lacour and head for the Lacour Frontline that's near the port of 
Hilton.

Make sure you equip Paralysis Check when running around here because the  
Salamanders will take you out quickly if you don't.  Enter the front line and 
save the game. First off run to the commander's room next to the hospital that
has Dias Flac wandering about. Run off and find Dias back towards the entrance
Run back to where the Lacour Hope is resting to talk to Rena. Then go save the
game.   Run towards the back hall again and talk to everyone including the 
people in the medical facility, and all the generals.  Exit the back room and 
enter again to get attacked by monsters.  This will be tough, you're fighting 
Shin.

First off, this is not a battle for you to win, it's a battle for you to make 
A Time Out.  You won't be able to do any damage to him.  I suggest running up 
and down avoiding his spinning razor attack, and every time you see Spoiling 
across the screen, run in the opposite direction.  Foehn is the only attack 
you can't run from, after he performs it, just do an energy sword right there 
and keep running from him.  Eventually you'll see a message that says, "Out 
of Time"  Lucky you.

After this, your fighting in Lacour Frontline is pretty much over with.  Run 
into the Medical Facility and talk to everyone.  Then rest up, when you wake 
up, talk to everyone again and try to leave only to get attacked by monsters 
again.  Let Leon handle the rest right?  ;)  Too bad Precis isn't in your 
group, you won't be getting Thunder Punch, tsk tsk, too bad.  Everything from 
this point on will be pretty much automatic storyline.  Eventually you'll end 
up on a boat towards the continent of El.  Prepare for another Shin battle 
here.

First up, you got little Gargoyles trying to bite at your ankles.  Make sure 
Rena gets killed off by them, so she doesn't advance in level.  Stupid game 
automatically puts her in your party.  Just play these Gargoyles the same way 
you dealt with them in Cross Cave, but this time you have an Ace up you sleeve 
Long Range Ripper Blast them to death, because essentially Ripper Blast does 
double damage to flying enemies if you haven't noticed already. After you make
short work of them, your best friend will come, Shin's back for more.

This is a simple Shin battle. Basically just stand there and get owned. That's
that, do nothing and let Claude lose, or try putting up a fight like me and go
down hard.


------------------ The Continent of El------------------


My favorite scene of all time comes up pretty soon.  Leon will get bitch 
slapped, lol I love it.  After exiting the shoreline, make sure you take Leon 
out of your party by switching him towards the back.  

Run towards that gigantarific looking building and meet up with your love.  
After some long scenes, make sure you leave Leon with the village elder.  That
way you won't recruit him. Poor kid must love you by now. After learning about
Eluria Tower, enter the weapons shop and grab the weapons out of the 
barrel-o's.  There's lots of stuff to collect-o.   Don't forget to talk to the
guy that sell's tool-o's.  Buy something.  When you leave, you'll acquire the 
ID Card that allows you to get into Eluria Tower.


------------------ Eluria Tower ------------------


You can reach Eluria Tower without having to face any monsters on El 
Continent.  Besides the monsters inside of Eluria provide you with more 
experience than you could ever imagine.  Your first step is too acquire the 
Trickster.  Trickster is essential because when your on Energy Nede you can
pick up Mithril's needed to Customize the Eternal Sphere.  When you first 
enter Eluria Tower run up the left stair case and head left through a hidden 
doorway to acquire the trickster in a treasure chest.  Place the trickster on 
Rena so it doesn't waste an accessory slot on Claude.  

Also, when your running about, don't bother talking to the lifeless Statues, I
already know the password, it's APOCA.  Head through the middle and up the 
transportation beam me up Scotty. Run to the left and get beamed up again. Now
head to the right and get beamed up again. Talk to the statue and give him the
password APOCA.  Beam back down from where you came, and head all the way left
to get beamed up. Touch the pillars to the south and unlock them with the card
key.  

Lovely scenage coming up right about now.  There's also a place where you can 
pickpocket some of the strongest armor you can get if you can snatch it from 
one of Ronixis' crew.  It's called a Battle Suit and it provides 500 AC.  BTW,
Ronixis is my hero, he was the man in Star Ocean 1, not as good as Ratix 
though. KU-HA-ZAN!  *cough* cough* sorry getting off track there.  After the 
scenage, run to the other pillar that was locked before and get beamed up.
Save the game.

After you head up you'll be facing Shin, so now's your chance to get some last
minute training in. I tell you, Shin was one of the hardest monsters to fight,
rather than the thunder beasts in the Hoffman Ruins. You'd think Shin would be
easy, trust me, he is when you have more party members. I suggest first taking
out the little gargoyles with a single ripper blast to the face.  Try saving 
your MP, until you get him in a corner, then constantly wail on him by mashing
the ripper blast button. If he casts Foehn and your low of health, immediately
use energy sword.  You'll have to produce some blackberries for this fight, 
because the constant MP usage and Spoiling combined will wear you down. You'll
beat him, if your lucky.

When you beat him, do the smart thing and run back to save the game.  It's not
that far away, and it's sure a hella worth it. Especially when your chances 
are riding on you being able to escape Berle's grasp.

After saving, head up towards the beam up pad and basically run towards the 
back.  Go through the middle and then to the right door.  Hit the beam up pad 
and learn about what planet you're from.  Your going to hear me say it a 
thousand times, so you better listen now.  Decus is the best villain boss ever
in existence, he should of led the god's ten wise men, and he should be able 
to join your party so you can Spicule people to death.  God I love him.  

Guess your fighting Berle first, lucky you. Well I guess I should say, 
unlucky. This is another "Time-Out Battle"  You won't be able to do any damage
to him, so don't try. I suggest running around in circles trying to avoid him.
Note: He runs slower up and down than left and right, so take that to your 
advantage.  If you see him casting Meta-Guard, that's your cue to do an energy
sword if you're hurt.  

Save the game, and switch out the Star Ocean: The Second Story Disc 1 with 
Disc 2. 



---------------------------- Disc 2 Walkthrough -----------------------------



If you gotten this far.  Congratulations, pat yourself on the back, so far 
you've done what most Star Ocean 2 players would never be able to accomplish. 
Now allow me to guide you through the rest of the game and onto your final 
victory.



------------------ Welcome to Nede ------------------


Yep, you guessed it.  You're now on the planet called Energy Nede. Don't freak
out too much. If you have trickster it'll be easy for you to pick up mithril's
now.  The wild enemies shouldn't pose you to much trouble. Seriously, you just
took down Shin, bare handed.  


------------------ Central City ------------------


After the longerfic scenes with that stupid Narl.  Exit the large building by 
running down all the stairs.  Make sure you head right and straight down 
instead of left so you don't run into the crazy Chisato.  If you haven't 
already, go in to the tool shop and by a pair of bandit's gloves you penny 
pincher.  Stock up on some tools as well, and head to the other shops to pick 
up stuff like Steaks and the Ignite Sword.  If you have customize already up, 
you can give it a mithril and get the Sawed.  It's not as powerful as the 
Windsley sword, or no where near the power of the Eternal Sphere, but it's 
good for now.  You also might want to reconsider, especially since your saving
mithril's for your Eternal Sphere.  You can also somehow create the Force
Sword with an Orihalcum, it's not as powerful, but it saves you the mithril.  

Leave Central City and go to the only other town on that island.


------------------ North City ------------------


North City has some pretty interesting stuff in it.  Towards the back you'll 
find a Library that you could do the secret file quest with.  To the right of 
that is the Town Synard lab with Artis as it's professor and mayor of the
city. Talk to the receptionist and go in the back and talk to him.  You'll go 
through a series of events that envitably ends up fighting a Synard.  This one
shouldn't be two bad. Especially since it's a flying type monster, Ripper
Blast will do double damage to it. Some of his attacks like the breathing blue
flame breath can get rather annoying, but if you time it right, you can 
totally whack him good after he is done launching that attack.  You should be 
able to make short work of him.

After this you'll be transported somewhere else to get another Synard.


------------------ Cave of Red Crystal ------------------


You'll be transported straight into Noel's house.  Lovely, he tries to be a
jerk about it. Too bad you have to take his arse with you, I'd much less leave
him behind.  Throw him in the back of your party with Rena.  Okay now's the 
time to re-equip your paralysis check and stone check if you don't already 
have them on.  Cave of Red Crystal is full of monsters that will cause those 
status affects.

You can train before you enter that black cave with the red crystal's sticking
out from it, or you can just do like I did and go in their full force.  
Basically head up and left through the next part. Head right into a hole. Head
down the stairs and to the right.  You should see a Synard in the next room.  
Continue down the path that leads you into the next room. Follow the path down
and up to the left side as you get to the save point.  This would be a lovely 
time to save.  

God.. your in for a treat up ahead.  Fighting the spider ladies are very 
dangerous especially if your alone.  Two of them ganging up on you is no 
laughing matter.  But I have a simple solution that will make your life 
easier.  First of all, never get caught between both of them.  Try getting to 
the side of one of them and ripper blasting them.  If your starting to get 
low on heath, see that giant pillar in the middle of the battle field?  Use 
that thing to your advantage, if you circle around it, sometimes the spider 
girls will get caught 
on the edge and won't be able to attack you.  That's a good sign to use Energy
Sword. There will be lots of times when they teleport around the battle field,
use that to your advantage and attack them when they are separated. When one 
of them is down, the other should go pretty fast if you keep healed up around 
the pillar.

After you win, tell Noel to stay with his stupid animals and fly out of their.


------------------ Things to do on your Synard ------------------


Now that you've got your Synard, you should be very happy, because your 
freedom just increased ten fold.  And since you can't run into enemies on it, 
it can be a shelter as well.  First up, you should head for Fun City.  Make 
sure you have the bandits gloves equipped, Level 10 pickpocketing, and the 
Dexterity Talent.  Save the game and enter fun city to buy some tickets.  Go 
all the way towards the back where the bunny races are being held.  Pick 
pocket the stuffed bunny, if you fail, reload and try again.  Eventually
 you'll get the bunny shoes.  When you do, immediately equip them on Claude 
and never take them off, I don't care how much something else is higher in 
armor, nothing compares to the bunny shoes.

Other than that, there's not much else to do other than the battle tournament. 
If you've already gotten the eternal sphere it's pretty much just pointless 
except for the SP and exp received battling.  Cooking Master is also 
interesting, but if you suck at cooking there's no point.

You've got, Giveaway, Armlock, Field of Power, Field of Love, Field of 
Intelligence, Field of Courage, North City, Central City, La Aqua, and the 
well hidden Fake Gallery located on an island near Field of Power.

Go back and talk to Narl to learn your next mission.


------------------ Field of Courage ------------------


Field of Courage is located between Central City and Armlock.  Save before you
go in, monsters also have the ability to paralyze and petrify by the way. Save
your self time by equipping the check accessories. Your basic mission when you
enter is to run up and left through the cave to find the statue and make your 
way back to the entrance. Pretty simple. Now head right to the elevator. Save
the game and put the statue on the pedestal.

Now your going to fight the guardian, which can be pretty tough at first.  
It's not, it's rather simple, just by attacking it head on you can flip 
around it lots of times and get behind him.  Long range is good, but you have 
to watch out for the missiles.  Soon you'll blow his arms off and he'll try 
an electric attack, which it's not fun to get hit by,  you can dodge it 
easily too.  Once you blow his body to shreds, you'll face the head.  You 
can't damage the head until it's antenna raises above it's helmet.  Then you 
can full blasted it, watch out for the shooting lasers though.  With Bunny 
Shoes, they should be fairly easy to dodge.  Extermination is what you have 
to worry about, it can blow up in your face and give you peeps.  Not a fun 
experience when your low on health.  Luckily it can't move from that place 
and you can run away from it to use your Energy Sword.  Pulverize him and 
leave the place.


------------------ Field of Power ------------------


Field of Power is that large mountain thingy over there by giveaway. It's safe
from status causing monsters so you don't have to worry about equipping the 
check accessories.  Try a Reverse Doll, and a talisman to raise your AC 
(defense).  Doesn't matter which path you take, but your main mission is to 
head up.  Every time you see a monkey standing next to a switch.  Go to your 
skills menu, and press square on the skill that says "Flip"  that way you 
don't flip around the monkey, enabling him to hit the switch a roo.

If you find that place where you can make an echo, do yourself a favor and 
don't say nothing.  Unless your curious and you like to run in fear.

Eventually you'll head to the top and you'll find a save point.  Save the game
and proceed across the bridge to the next guardian.  It's the same guardian as
the one in the field of courage, so use the same strategy and leave that 
forsaken place.


------------------ Field of Intelligence ------------------


This one will be more confusing than hard. Field of Intel is near Giveaway but
on the other side. When you first enter touch the mirror on the left and every
time you step on a yellow square you'll be transported to another room where 
you light up a spinning ball.  Light up all six balls to open the panel in 
the middle.  Go back to the entrance, go outside and save.  Re enter and 
touch the middle mirror.  

Your going to fight the defense system, concentrate on that big thing in the 
middle first.  If  you luckily, you'll be able to get behind him and start 
ripper blasting him.  But be careful to watch out for it's beam attack, that 
will surely wipe you out if you get hit by it.  Watch his movements carefully 
and get the heck out of there if he looks like he's going to do it. Eventually
the hand will die and the other little balls around the room should be simple.

Leave that place and head for that big floating island to the last field.


------------------ Field of Love ------------------


Continue down the path on the field of love until you see a split.  Head the 
right path first and touch the ball. Then go back to the left side and head up
to the save point.  Save the game and face the enemy known as Lover. I usually
saw other people getting captured by lover, but jeez, I've never seen Rena get
captured, that was great.

Oh god this is simple, first make sort work of those annoying thunder beasts 
with long ranged ripper blast.  Then pretty much Lover is on her own and she 
can't cast spells when you're wailing on her, she'll eventually just die, and 
you've taken down all four fields.  Congrats, the worst is yet to come.


------------------ Fienal First Attempt ------------------


After finishing all four fields go back to Narl and speak with him.  After a 
long drawn out spoilerific conversation, you'll fight two sets of monsters 
that should easily be disposed of.  Next Marsilio will try you on for size, 
just run up to him and let him pull a Cruelty Rushes on you so you can die 
and move on to the next scenage.  Don't worry, it's not a game over.  You 
have to die.


------------------ Heraldry Weapons Lab ------------------


Fly to Armlock and find the Ninjay Narl in the back where the Sealed Portal is
at. Save the game. Go through a bunch of rooms towards the left until you find
Narl.  Run back to where the portal is and talk to Rena. Run back to that same
room and finish talking to Narl.  Now go through Armlock next to the bar and 
find Mirage's house.

Go to Mihne Cavern


------------------ Mihne Cavern ------------------


Mihne Cavern can be sort of dangerous. Mainly because the monsters will try to
cast Star Flare on you. But if you have the Eternal Sphere equipped, Star 
based attacks should heal you. Also watch out for the green jellies called 
Evilwater, they will paralyze and stone you, so either equip your 'Check' 
Accessories or run from them.

You might want to train as hard as you can before fighting Barke.  Because all
the monsters will disappear after Barke is dead and you won't have a good 
place to train before entering Fienal.  

Barke is straight towards the north from the entrance.  You'll find a save 
point and enter.

When I fought him I just sat there and mashed the Ripper Blast button till he 
died.  You might have some trouble if you don't have good battle skills so you
might want to recover after he uses an attack called 'Lost Patience.'

After acquiring the LEA metal, exit and go back to Mirage in Armlock for more 
Scenage.

You'll get the N.F.I.D. card so you can enter Fun city for free.  I dunno if 
this card has a meaning but I like to call it the "NoFuckingIDea what to name 
it, so we called it N.F.I.D."

------------------ Fun City ------------------


Okay now head to Fun City and flash your NoFuckingIDea, well you probably wont
be able to Flash it because the guy will show you around.  After awhile you'll
get your Sacred Tear and Fallen Hope along with the Void Matter. Unfortunately
Mirage will have to leave, because she has to write an essay.  BTW, why the 
freak would someone be writing an essay during the intimate destruction of the
Universe.  Mirage is sooo cool.

If you don't have the Eternal Sphere, by like accident you missed it, the 
Sacred Tear is actually better than the Windsley sword.  Although it might 
not look it, it cuts your MP usage in half and raises a lot more stats for a 
mere sacrifice of 100 attack.  Phooey, too bad.

Now time to fight Marsilio. Lovely. I was level 97 and I had no problem making
short work of him.  Cruelly Rushes should be fairly easy to dodge with bunny 
shoes just wait for him to get near you then run away and long range ripper 
blast him. You might have a little trouble with Initial Slay, but stay on your
guard and keep your health up with Energy Sword.  If I'm right, you shouldn't 
be taking much damage from his hits, especially if you have a lot of good 
combat skills.

After winning, Run out and save the game.  Also, put on your Stone Check, 
because the next boss is deadly.   

Shigeo is up next and he has a fair amount of attacks up his sleeve, with this
shiny ball of light that he charges up.  He also runs around the battle field 
at a fast speed that only bunny shoes can keep up.  Also the attack that 
petrifies you is called Infringement.  I found that out annoyingly after 
getting stoned

After fighting Shigeo the second time, I learned the trick to beating him.  
Basically when you hear the sound of Shigeo forming that giant ball of energy,
quickly mash Ripper Blast where ever your standing to get a great blow in on 
him.  Since he does it a lot, you'll have plenty of opportunities to attack. 
Soon, he'll be lying on the floor, dead.

Now you should exit Fun City and save the game.  Pretty much do what ever you 
need to get done in other cities before running off to Armlock


------------------ Arm Lock ------------------


Berle's going to be a pain in the arse.  But there is a simple way to pin him 
to the ground.  First of all he will cast Metaguard an impentratable shield 
that allows him to take no damage.  But if you wait for him to get within 
striking distance and as soon as he swings run. Run until it says Long Range, 
and wait again, then when he strikes again, run and run long range until you 
can press the Ripper Blast button.  Then he will be caught in a trap, because 
his Guard will be dropped.  Then you can get several normal hits on him, but 
likely you will get a bit hurt, so run back and use energy sword.  Rinse and 
Repeat until dead.

Prepare for the final showdown and head to L'Aqua


------------------ Fienal Showdown ------------------


After lot of scenes you will be transported to Fienal via Herush. Save the 
game before entering and prepare for a tough fight.  So far when I played them
I didn't experience a lot of damage being given to me.

Ruprecht - He will hit you with that stupid magnet weapon and use mind 
Absorber to take your mp
Jibril - will cause some kind of wave disturbance and produce a thundercloud, 
and healing
Nicolus - He's the one you got to worry about, he can caste healing and also 
he can slow Claude down, which is not what you want, it will be the death of 
you if you get slowed.

Take down Nicolus first, because he's got the lowest HP and he proposes the 
biggest threat.  Jibril should be next on you list, because that thundercloud 
and healing thing is going to be a pain in the arse, then Ruprecht should go 
down really easily after you can focus all your attention on him.  

All in all, I'm very surprised how easy this fight went for me, I only died 
once, cause I got slowed by Nicolus.  But when I had a party of four I 
remembered how tough this fight could be, as well as the Vesper and Decus one 
coming up.

Up ahead you basically have to go up five elevators till you reach a save 
point. There's a few enemies you should beware of.  First it's the green 
lizards that cause paralysis and petrification.  Use the Check accessories 
when fighting them, or run.  Also, run from the slugs that eat you, if you 
don't you'll just get owned.  There's a few good treasure chests but most 
just suck.  When you reach the save point, I suggest you train using Practice 
skill until you get to level 120.  Because fighting Decus and Vesper solo is
no joke.  It's hard as balls.  I had to fight them 15 times or so, but when I 
got to level 120 I took them down with ease.

First off, while your training, I suggest you constantly use Mirror Slice 
instead of Ripper Blast and try to get it up to at least a proficiency of 300.
You have to wear the Stone Check or Vesper's Mind Blast will petrify you. Also
I suggest you wear the Pyre Tear or Fairy Tear if you have them. Vesper's Mind
Absorber will take your MP.

These are the basics

Vesper's attacks all need MP to use
Mind Blast - Burninates you
Mind Absorber - Take's your MP and raises his
Blood Sucker - Take's your HP and raises his
Tractor Beam - lift you in the air and bring you down

Decus's attacks all need MP to use except for Spicule
Spicule - Burninates you bad
Explode - Zomg
Eruption - You can't run
Fairy Heal - I never knew he had this till now

Basically it's your choice who you want to target first, but it will be really
hard until one of them goes down.  Spicule really won't do as much damage to 
you as if they were all wailing on you with random crap.  Decus will run out 
of MP and will only be able to use normal attacks and Spicule if you fight 
long enough.  Vesper won't, because heal will steal your MP through Mind 
Absorber.  But you have a counter measure called Pyre Tear or Fairy Tear that 
allows you to regenerate MP after getting hit with magic. During this battle, 
you're going to have to use items, Mirror Slice, and Energy Sword to it's 
maximum potential.  As well as a lot of luck.

Here's a couple of hints.  If you see Mind Blast pop up at the bottom of the 
screen, or a familiar Vesper voice, get the fuck out of the line of fire.  Try
getting them together and mirror slicing them at the same time.  It keeps them
from casting Heraldry.  

If you're lucky, you might defeat them, if not, I suggest you give it a couple
of tries and then train more.  The higher level you are, the less damage you 
will take.

Run up a few more levels until you reach another save point.  Save the game 
here and make sure you still have Mirror Slice on.  As much as I love Ripper 
Blast, it's not effective fighting the ten wise men when your alone.  When 
fighting Cyril, it can be very easy to kick his ass if you constantly use 
Mirror Slice on him.  But he will get a wind of destruction in there so I 
suggest you heal with Energy Sword.  And watch out for word of death, on hit 
from that and it's KO baby.  Cyril's a pansy, and he should go down ten times 
faster than Decus or Vesper.

At the nine floor you'll find a save point. Up ahead is the biggest problem in
the game.  It took me at least 20 times to finally take Indalecio down solo. 
It's really ridiculously hard and you will need a lot of luck.

First of all I recommend turning on practice and training up to level 140 
making sure your saving the game along the way.  Also while your at it, get 
Dragon Howl up to 500 proficiency or more.  Dragon howl is going to be your 
best buddy when facing Indalecio.  After you get to 142 you should be able to 
max out every skill on your list, because I remember I was 141 when I finally 
was able to beat him.  First of all, I recommend having either Berserk Ring 
or Reverse Doll in one accessory slot, and Pyre tear or Fairy tear in the 
other.  Berserk Ring will double your attack, and Reverse Doll will reduce 
your damage to Magic.  The tear accessories will make sure you always have 
MP ready.  Equip Crestier Guard as a shield so you'll deflect his Divine 
wave.  Now take off Practice and save the game and head up three sets of 
stars to fight Indy (Indalecio).

First form of Indy is really simple to defeat. First of all he will use Divine
wave that purple thing to drain your health. When ever you reach 6000 or below
you should use energy sword.  If you can get in there with Dragon Howl, you'll
stun him and keep wailing on him.

Attacks - 
Star Flare - If you have Eternal Sphere equipped this will heal you.  It 
produces bombs from the heavens that rain down upon you.
Noah - Same thing that happened to Clik, large rushing waves will come down to
own you.
Divine Wave - This shit hurts, but you need to get through it to reach Indy

After you lower his health enough he will call upon the "Time of Truth" and an
angel will come down.

Divine Wave - Hurts twice as much now
Explode - Worse than Decus', it can kick your arse
Earthquake - You can avoid taking damage if your in the air.  Only way to do 
that is to be performing a Head Splitter, Sword Bomber, Twin Slash, or the 
final slash of Mirror Slice.
Southern Cross - Just like Celines, except worse.
Fairy Heal - Heals about 8000 of his health back, not much if you ask me.
Angel Feather - Will raise his stats so he can pwn you more
Star Flare - Powerful than the first
Noah - Powerful than the first
Divine Comedy - His signature move..  If your below 5000 health your dead.  I 
call it his signature move because he casts it so quickly immediately after 
spells.

His second form will likely kill you off, unless you get lucky. I've tried all
the killer 
moves, including trying to jump down on him with Head Splitter. The problem is
that he moves too fast and he can cast spells while moving.  And there isn't 
much time between spells, especially when you have to heal yourself with 
Energy Sword.  I recommend finding an opening when he does Fairy Heal or 
Angel Feather.  Dragon Howl is the only thing that works here, because 
Claude can launch it extremely quick and keep it going.  If you keep mashing 
it, you'll likely keep him in one place until he is no more.  That's how I 
defeated him.  I've also tried waiting till all of his MP was drained, it's
just too hard because he'll find away to double cast really fast or get 
you with a Divine Wave.



------------------------------- Cave of Trials -------------------------------



First of all the Cave of Trials is located on Expel, and only can be accessed 
after saving the game right before you get to Indalecio.  Head to Fun City and
go to the battle tournament.  Run across to the other side of the stands where
you can see a old man and woman.  Talk to the old man and relive your past 
memories.  You'll be on Expel.  To go back talk to that pig behind you.  Now 
exit Arlia and take your Synard past the laguss mountains an into a desert 
island with a pyramid.  That's the Cave of Trials

I'm willing to share some tips on doing the Cave of Trials Solo with Rena and 
Claude. I believe it is almost impossible to complete the COT (Cave of Trials)
with only Claude, because on levels such as number 8, you are required to use 
Master Chef Super Speciality Skill.  So I recommend you put Rena in your party
if you want to beat the COT. 

There are some spots on the COT that will freeze your game after a battle, I 
have found a few of them and it's frustrating indeed.  It's a problem with the
games programing that usually freezes to a black screen after a battle, but I 
think it only happens in certain areas. Those areas I will name the COT Plague
area, and I recommend that you don't linger around these areas.

There are many enemies that will cause Stone and Paralysis.  Mainly on Level 8
and 9.  But I recommend you always have a stone check on when fighting Bird 
enemies and archers, they cause stone, a lot!

On each level, there's a certain level requirement you have to be in order to 
run from enemies quickly and effectly.  So if you are planning on running from
every enemy on a level, I recommend you put Rena in the back, especially if 
she's a low level, she will slow you down even if she gets killed.  I will put
the average level you must be on each floor to run from enemies.

I also recommed before entering COT that you stock up on Blueberries, 
Blackberries, Resurrection Bottles, Cure Stones, Cure Paralysis, and every 
Food item



------------------ Leveling up Rena ------------------



You're going to have to level up Rena if you want to make it through COT.  It 
shouldn't be too hard.  Just put her into battle and try keeping her alive.  
If she dies, just resurrection bottle her.  You are also going to have to 
distrubute Skills properly.  Since you are going to need Master Chef to get 
through Level 8

I recommend Leveling this First

1. Perservance

Master Chef
2. Cooking:  Kitchen Knife, Recipe, Good Eye
3. Compounding:  Biology, Herbal Medicine, and Mental Science

Identify All
4. Identify: Mineralogy, Tool Knowledge, Herbal Medicine
5. Metalwork: Craft, Esthetic Sense, Mineralogy 

Battle Skills
6. Body Control
7. Spirit Force
8. Parry

Then the rest is up to you.



------------------ Level One ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 120

This level is very basic, but it's one of the first to have COT Plague.  The 
monsters are some of those spell casters, soldiers, and those shield guys that
have meta guard as well as birds that cause stone.  But this floor is really 
simple.  Basically just run Up, then head left, Then down and down again. This
room right here is the one with COT plague so don't stick around. Run Down and
Right.  You should find a switch. Flick it on and fight the boss monster. This
fight should be pretty simple, basically you just have to use Ripper blast 
long range to take out the Knights quickly, then stop the women sucubus lady 
from casting any spells, even if she does get one off, it doesn't do much 
damage. This fight should be as easy as picking up chicks from a drunk party 
compared to Indalecio. If you're scared, you can run back and save, but I 
would just keep going down.  



------------------ Level Two ------------------



Average Level to Escape : Level 130

The monsters on this level shouldn't be that bad, it's just slimes that shoot 
stuff at you, just stay focused and tear into pieces.  Basically the goal of 
this level is to Face each person to who they are in love with.  Here's the 
list:

Milene: South
Cristina: South
Feria: East
Sharon: West
Lloyd: East
Yufie: South
Luke: North

The door back at the beginning should open up after you move the last one. 
From there, this level will be easy to pass through, with only getting into 
one battle or so.  The boss will be kinda hard at first, it's a thing with 
teeth and shoots it's teeth at you at long range, but it's a common enemy on 
the floor below.  It shouldn't be too hard to beat, and If you want to save
now, it would be wise, just for safety measures.  So head back up and save 
after beating it.



------------------ Level Three ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 140 

I wouldn't recommend having Rena in your party, because some of the monsters 
on this level are really strong until you get to a higer level.  Those 
thunder glowing beasts I would run from instantly on first sight of them, 
because they could be trouble some if you get caught stunned.  Those other 
ones with the teeth are pretty simple tho, as long as you keep ripper 
blasting them

This level can be pretty confusing at first, but the basic goal is to go to 
every room without going to the same room again twice.  And come back right 
were you started at.

Okay here's the floor plan.  

Up, Up, Left, Down, Down, Down, Right, Right, Right, Up, Up, Up, Left, Down, 
Down, Left.  

Then you should be back where you started, and the boss door should open up.

This boss can be a little tough, but Basically if you keep focusing on ripper 
blasting them, you can get them stunned for a long time. Dream Peace is a move
that will freeze you in your tracks, enabling them time to hit you, but if you
leveled up, you shouldn't have too much trouble with damage, so just get out 
of it, and use Energy Sword, or have Rena heal you.  After the boss is 
finished, you should get magical drops.. Save these, they help sometimes.  
If you found this boss easy, you can head down without worry of dying 
because they are the common enemy next level.



------------------ Level Four ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 145

The enemies on this level are those Bunnies you found all the time in the 
Sanctuary of Linga and that hourglass monster you found as the boss before.  
They are pretty easy to beat.  There is a Seraphric Garb on this level, so 
search the chests for it.  You can also unlock a door to the Music God with a 
switch to the right.  The door is in the center of the main room.  Play 
something nice and she'll give you Illusive Shaman.  The room with the switch 
has a hidden path in the wall.  

The way to the left is the way down.  It also has a hidden path in the wall up
at the top, and you'll face the boss.  It's one of those spider things.  This 
boss can be pretty quick.  If it starts attacking Rena, just provoke it with 
Select and Tear away shards of his armor with your iron clad attack of Ripper 
Blast.  He should be smokin in no time. I'd also recommend saving, because the
enemies below here are no joke.  



------------------ Level Five ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 150

The monsters on this level can be hard.  First of all, if you see a Flare 
Lizard, automatically run unless you think you can defeat it.  Other enemies 
like Apes and Big Guys can be easy.  But if you see a whole group of mages, I 
suggest you run because when they all start casting it's not good until you 
have tri-Emblems

Basically just go up until you find Puffy.  Here just Answer some stupid 
questions and face Puffy's pet.  Just run, no damage can be done to it.  From 
here Puffy runs off. Follow her. Go right. You'll find a way to go down, but
just keep going right till you meet down inside a room where Puffy is being 
attacked by hourglass monster.  Help her and Defeat it.  She'll drop a Weird 
Slayer.  Equip Rena with this.  Now go back to the starting room.  Head right 
through a doorway and the monster you faced before should be there. 
Immediately control Rena with Circle and strike the beast once to kill it 
with the Weird Slayer.  You should pick up the key.  

Grab all the chests in here.  There's a Seraphic Garb in here as well. Go down
that path before that I told you not to go down, then head right past a door, 
then down, and right to another door. Open the Door and continue down the 
stairs. 

Don't bother saving since the next floor might have Santa on it.  Go down



------------------ Level Six ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 150 or Level 40

The monsters on this level are usually burglars. The common ones are the brown
ones that take one hit to kill.  They pose no threat.  The metal ones are 
unbeatable until you get the Funny Slayer.  Just don't worry about them, Run 
from them and Go to the next big room.  In here Santa might be walking down 
between the statues.   If he is, run up to him and buy some stuff.

First of all, the main foremost thing you need is two tri-Emblems for Claude. 
If you have enough Fol you can get two for Rena. Now buy as many Go Home Frogs
as you can.  Also note, that the prices are really expensive.  Heres some tips
on how to make santa cough up tri-Emblems without coughing up your Fol

First of all tri-Emblems cost 5,000,000 fol. If you use Identify All skill you
can lower the price to 4,100,000 fol.  But make sure you first Raise the price
with Identify All and sell all your stuff that you don't need.  Then Lower the
price to buy tri-Emblems You can get Identify All by leveling up Tool 
Knowledge, Mineralogy, Herbal Medicine, Craft and Esthetic Sense on Rena.  All
of Claude's skills should be maxed already.  

From there, if you have any Cinderella Glasses, you can use one to cut the 
price even more.  We are talking around 2,500,000 fol per tri-emblem.. WOW, 
half price.

Go-Home Frogs allow you to escape automatically to the beginning of a dungeon,
so get about 20.  Don't use one yet.  This boss should have a Teleporter to 
escape with.  

To Activate the boss room, talk to the metal statue at the bottom right 
corner. Then head left. 

This boss is fairly easy. It's just a Blue Funny Thief.   Just keep wailing on
him and eventually he will parish.  Giving you a funny slayer.  Now equiping 
Claude or Rena with the Funny Slayer, you can now instantly kill Blue and 
Metal Funny Theives and Get a lot of Exp!!!!  Good training here.  

Escape with the Teleporter, and save. If Santa wasn't there, he might be there
when you come back.



------------------ Level Seven ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 160

Lots of monsters on this floor.  Nothing worth running from, except those eat 
you monsters. Blue Funny theifs roam around and they are easy to kill with the
slayer.

Basically Head up until you see an Alter, From there make a right.  And go all
the way right till you can go down. Then Go up through a hidden passage way to
get a Cracked Gem.  Do metal working on the Cracked Gem with Claude and get a 
Red Lotus Gem.  Head back to the alter room and place the gem on it.  The door
should open.  The boss is the same monster from the Mihne Cavern.

He's so simple it's laughable.  Bascially just keep ripper blasting him, you 
don't have to worry about trying to find long range, because Claude will stay 
long range.  You might even be able to wail on him so much that he doesn't get
an attack off. If he does, it'll be lost patience, and you can quickly recover
with Rena, or Energy Sword if she dies.  After you make quick work of him.  
Don't forget to get those extra pair of bunny shoes to the left.  Then head 
down.



------------------ Level Eight ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 170

The food God, I hate this level.  Basically you need Master Chef to make a lot
of good stuff.   Bascially try combining Grain and Meat.  Or Fish and Grain.  
See what you can come up with.  Get a lot of dishes prepared.  Then maybe a 
spoiled milk on the side. Head up and feed the food god. I fed it a Meat Fried
Rice.  Then it tells you is that all you eat, you don't eat very good do you? 
Then I gave it a spoiled milk, you can give it any thing nasty like mandrake 
And Puffy will fall out.  Opening the door.  If you want to save now before 
fighting the boss, I wouldn't tell you otherwise.  The boss is no joke.  

There's a Million Staff on this level.  Believe it or not, you can sell this 
For 10 million if you have trouble getting tri-Emblems.  If you have Celine, 
you can give it to her, but there's more than one Million Staff in COT so 
don't be afraid to sell it.

The boss is a eat you up monster, but it runs really fast.  I recommend 
controlling Rena and trying to make him eat her.  Then Ripper blast him to 
death.  If he coughs her up, I recommend you revive her instantly, cause if he
eats you it's game over.  If Rena is alive and he eats claude.  Quickly take 
control of Rena and run around the battle field till he coughs Claude back up.
Let him eat Rena, Ripper blast, revive, rinse and repeat until dead.  



------------------ Level Nine ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 180

This level is the level of hate.  Some of the monsters on this level cause 
stone. So I recommend you wear stone check. There isn't a boss tho, yet. Just
keep heading to the left, Up, then to the right.  Down.  And to the Right, and
up into a room where you see a sealed coffin.  Hence the name of the room.  If
you haven't saved in a while. Use Go-Home Frog and get out now, since the next
level does have some COT Plague as well as it's really really hard.



------------------ Level Ten ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 190

I really really hate this level. First of all, it's hard to fight the monsters
because they keep firing missles, but if you have the Valiant Guard from level
13, you can deflect them. This first room that you are in has COT Plague. So I
recommend just touching the tiles in the patter you want to go to get to the 
end and getting the heck out of there.  Watch out tho.  Flashing rooms cause 
you to have damage over time, so don't stay in one area, make sure you keep 
checking your damage and healing when necessary.  When you make it to the 
end, you'll be at one of the coolest bosses.

Like the Guardian from Nede, it's just like one of those.  And there's nothing
more effective against him than good ole fashioned Ripper Blast. Tear him a 
new soul, and if he fires a missle at you, you should probably heal yourself 
or use Rena. He will usually be stunned the whole match. But if he explodes 
and turns into a small form.. wait for him to start using extermination 
before attacking. He should pose no trouble at all. If you want to save 
after this, I recommend you don't and continue.



------------------ Level Eleven ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 200

Don't run from the Monsters on this Level. Just keep fighting.  They are 
usually bosses from other levels, and they give good exp, as well as they are 
too hard to run from and could be dangerous.  You might face Shin like 
creatures, but since they are air based, ripper blast should have no trouble 
making them meet their maker.   The boss, lucky for you is a Synard.  Good 
gosh, this boss is easy as heck. Just spam Ripper blast again.  After 
winning you should get Float skill. Here, you have the choice of going 
back.  Which is an okay idea, since you have a unlocked a secret passage 
to level Nine on the first floor.  

After saving, just head up.  Left.  Down.. Then go through the left door.  
You'll be in a room with red tile. Behind that red tile is light. Step around
that light till you hear four clicks. After the fourth click you'll land on 
floor 9.  Easy, you can use this trick any time now.



------------------ Level Twelve ------------------



Average Level to Escape: Level 210

The room to the boss is straight ahead of you, and I say he's one of the 
Easiest bosses again.  With Ripper Blast you should be able to stun and take 
down this wicked beast in seconds.  No trouble at all.  It's just like those 
birds from Fienal Tower, the ones with Master Attack and Xene.  After 
winning, you'll get the Holy Sword Farwell

Battle Suits can be found on this level.

Go back to Level 9, either by running, or using go home frog and the portal 
trick.  Get to the sealed coffin while wearing the holy sword and the boss 
should appear. It's a mage that can easily be beaten if you just keep him from
casting.  After winning you get the Levantine. Not bad. The Levantine and the 
Holy Sword Farwell will Unlock the door to level 13.



------------------ Level Thirteen ------------------



-Incomplete-



------------------------------- Legal Stuff -------------------------------



This Guide is Copyright (c) 2007.  Star or StarGGundam2 (Scott)  Everything 
within this guide has been written by me. It may not be reconstructed, posted,
or used at any site without my permission.  

If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to [email protected]



------------------------------- Big Thanks -------------------------------



I'd like to thank tri-Ace for making such a wonderful game, it's been a great 
enjoyment in my life.
 
Also I give a big thanks to my friends for telling me that I couldn't do a 
Claude Solo or I probably wouldn't of tried it for myself.  

Thank you readers for reading my faq, especially if your reading this line 
right now.  Without you my guide is meaningless.

And I thank Claude for being one of my favorite characters of all time.