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Stat Maxing FAQ

by Dave4202

==============================================================================
              Kingdom Hearts 2 - Stat Maxing FAQ/Guide
==============================================================================

==============================================================================
Table Of Contents
==============================================================================

001. About
002. Why Stat Max?
003. The Setup
004. Let's Get Started.

	0041. Level 99 Trick
	0042. Lucky Lucky's
	0043. Treasure Hunting
	0044. Money Trick

005. Synthesis

	0051. Collecting / Buying Gems
	0052. Collecting Mythril
	0053. Info You Will Need
	0054. Collecting Synth Items

006. FAQ
007. Special Thanks
008. Info

==============================================================================
001. About
==============================================================================

This guide is meant to hopefully save people some time when trying to stat
max. Stat maxing is a long task that takes alot of time and patience.I am
going to help you minimize the time spent stat maxing. This guide will cover
everything you need to know, but will not cover any of the story so spoilers
should be minimal. This guide follows the US version, not Final Mix.

==============================================================================
002. Why Stat Max?
==============================================================================

There is nothing in this game that needs to be stat maxed for. You can beat
everything with normal stats, but maxed stats just looks good, and it gives
you that true 100% feeling =).

==============================================================================
003. The Setup
==============================================================================

This guide assumes that you have completed the game up to at least the Alter
of Naught. If you are not to the Alter of Naught do so before continuing with
this guide. I will cover everything else you need to know.

==============================================================================
004. Lets Get Started
==============================================================================

Stat maxing is a very long drawn out process with alot of repetition. If you
want to dominate, this FAQ is for you.

==============================================================================
0041. Level 99 Trick
==============================================================================

Now you have a choice, you can either level up to 99 now using a simple trick
and make farming items faster or you can just level up while your farming.
It's your choice.

-------------------
What you will need:
-------------------

Gullwing Keyblade
Experience Boost Ability
Magnega
Critical HP


Go to the Pride Lands. From the ship go to the Stone Hollow. Make sure you
remove any healing abilities from your party and go get your health down to
critical. Exit there and take a right, the door to the Kings Den is on the
right side. Go through to Pride Rock. There will be hundred's of Thrusters up
here to kill. Stand in the middle of them and cast Magnega. Now jump and help
 take a few of them out till you can cast again. Continue doing this until all
the thrusters are gone. Exit the area then come right back and they respawn.
Once you get to about level 54 you can just stand and cast Magnega and not
worry about running out of magic.

==============================================================================
0042. Lucky Lucky
==============================================================================

The next step to stat maxing is to get all the available Lucky Lucky abilities.
There are 7 all together, 3 gained from upgrades, 3 from weapons, and 1 from an
accessory. With all 7 stacked it makes farming for items alot more bareable.

-------------------
Sora
-------------------

When Sora gains the Lucky Lucky ability from leveling depends on if you picked
the sword, the shield, or the staff during Dive Into The Heart

Level 41 if you picked the sword.
Level 53 if you picked the shield.
Level 99 if you picked the staff.

Sora's next Lucky Lucky comes from the Sweet Memories keyblade, you can get
this by completing the Spooky Cave minigame in 100 Acre Woods.

Sora's third Lucky Lucky comes from the Lucky Ring, you can get this by
completing the Pain and Panic Cup in the underworld.

-------------------
Donald
-------------------

If you already beat the game you should already have Donald's Lucky Lucky
ability. But just incase you didn't. It is a bonus level after you defeat
the Nobodies with The King in Twilight Town.

Donalds second Lucky Lucky comes from a weapon. The Meteor Staff, it is
obtained in a chest at Port Royal. (Ship Graveyard - Seadrift Keep)

-------------------
Goofy
-------------------

Again, you should already have this but just incase. You get it as a bonus
level after you beat Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed on the first trip to The Pride
Lands.

Goofy's second Lucky Lucky comes from weapon. The Genji Shield, it is
obtained by completing the Titan Cup in the underworld.

==============================================================================
0043. Treasure Hunting
==============================================================================

Alright now, before we start farming and synthing like crazy, there are a few
chest that need to be found. Heres a list of everything you will need from
them. Well your collecting these chests it might also be a good idea to fight
everything you see. Might as well start collecting synth materials now and
kill two birds with one stone.

-------------------
Recipes
-------------------

Gaurd Recipe - 100 Acre Woods - The Expotition - Makes defence/attack boost.
Skill Recipe - Radiant Garden - Ansem's Study - Makes ap boost/magic boost.

-------------------
AP Boosts
-------------------

Twilight Town - Market Street : Tram Common
Twilight Town - Underground Concourse
Twilight Town - Sunset Terrace

Radiant Garden - Burough
Radiant Garden - Postern
Radiant Garden - Corridors
Radiant Garden - Restoration Site
Radiant Garden - Crystal Fissure

Land Of Dragons - Village Cave
Land Of Dragons - Ridge
Land Of Dragons - Throne Room x 2

Beast's Castle - Courtyard
Beast's Castle - The West Hall
Beast's Castle - Dungeon

Olympus Coliseum - Cave of the Dead Passage
Olympus Colliseum - Underworld Cavern Entrance
Olympus Colliseum - Underworld Cavern Atrium
Olympus Colliseum - The Lock

Disney Castle - Courtyard
Timeless River - Waterway

Port Royal - Town
Port Royal - Isle De Meurta Powder Store x 2
Port Royal - Ship Graveyard Seadrift Keep

Halloween Town - Hinterlands
Halloween Town - Santa's House

Agrabah - Agrabah
Agrabah - Bazaar
Agrabah - Cave Of Wonders Valley Of Stone
Agrabah - Cave Of Wonders Chasm Of Challenges
Agrabah - Cave Of Wonders Treasure Room

Pride Lands - Elephant Graveyard
Pride Lands - Wildebeast Valley
Pride Lands - Oasis

100 Acre Wood - Pooh's House
100 Acre Wood - Piglet's House
100 Acre Wood - Rabbit's House
100 Acre Wood - Kanga's House
100 Acre Wood - Spookey Cave x 2

Space Paranoids - I/O Tower Hallway
Space Paranoids - Central Computer Mesa

The World That Never Was - Fragment Crossing
The World That Never Was - Memory's Skyscraper
The World That Never Was - Ruin And Creations Passage

-------------------
Power Boost
-------------------

Olympus Colliseum - Underworld Entrance

-------------------
Defence Boost
-------------------

100 Acre Wood - Piglet's House

-------------------
Magic Boost
-------------------

100 Acre Wood - Kanga's House

-------------------
Mythril Gem
-------------------

Twilight Town - Underground Concourse

Radiant Garden - Postern

Port Royal - Town

Halloween Town - Candy Cane Lane

Agrabah - Bazaar

Pride Lands - Wildebeast Valley

100 Acre Wood - Piglet's House
100 Acre Wood - Spookey Cave

Space Paranoids - Canyon

The World That Never Was - Nothing's Call
The World That Never Was - Naught's Skyway

-------------------
Mythril Crystal
-------------------

Twilight Town - Underground Concourse
Twilight Town - Tunnelway
Twilight Town - Sunset Terrace
Twilight Town - Mansion Foyer
Twilight Town - Mansion Dining Room

Radiant Garden - Corridors

Land Of Dragons - Throne Room

Port Royal - Ship Graveyard Seadrift Row

100 Acre Wood - Rabbit's House
100 Acre Wood - Spookey Cave

Space Paranoids - Pit Cell

The World That Never Was - Fragment Crossing
The World That Never Was - Memory's Skyscraper
The World That Never Was - Naught's Skyway
The World That Never Was - Ruin And Creations Passage

==============================================================================
0044. Money Trick
==============================================================================

You won't need to know this till later but when it comes time you'll need alot
of $. I figured I should explain this now before I get to into explaining the
synthesis.

Recomended : Jackpot Ability
Location : Tower - Sorcerer's Loft

Start at the Sorcerer's Loft and go down the Wayward Stairs to the Moon Chamber
Once in the Moon Chamber you will come across 4 Gambler Nobodies. Look at them
carefully, some of them will begin flying with cards rotating vertically under
them, ignore the rest and watch the ones doing this. If none are doing this,
exit the room, and re enter and it`ll reset there actions.

When one of the Gamblers doing this action land they are about to start the
dice game. Get somewhat close to him and a reaction command will appear saying
"Stop Dice". Use the stop dice command and a mini game will come up, all you
have to do is press triangle whenever the reaction command is showing O. You
might mess this up a few times, but with a little practice you`ll be getting
it everytime. Everytime you get it each Gambler will drop up to 250$. Thats
1000$ everytime you do this. After you get the money, go back to keeping an
eye on the one doing the action.

If there is more then one doing the action watch them all, if one does his
first, it might not make the other ones doing it give money, so while your
collecting the money keep an eye on the ones still doing it. Give priority to
playing the mini game, not collecting the money. I`ve had times when 3 of them
were doing the action, one lands, i get it, another lands, i get it, the third
lands and i get it, and when i collect the money i`d get 2250$.


==============================================================================
005. Synthesis
==============================================================================

Now it's time to start the longest part of stat maxing, the synthesis. By now
you should have alot of items to start synthesis with. If not just run through
all the levels right quick, with all 7 Lucky Lucky's equipped and you should
have a decent number of synthesis items after this. I recommend you get your
synth mog to level 9 before starting.When your leveling up your Mog try not to
use Serenity Stones/Crystals and Energy Crystals, you'll thank me later. It
will save you quite a bit of time, just synth what ever you can and make sure
you always use Bright materials while synthing to level up your moogle.

==============================================================================
0051. Step 1 - Collecting / Buying Gems
==============================================================================

The first thing I recommend doing is making it so you can purchase Twilight 
and Dense Gems. These a very important part of stat maxing and its easier to 
buythem then find them, now that you know the money trick. You will need to 
find 25 of each to make them available for sale. Heres the best ways to find 
them.

-------------------
Dense Gem
-------------------

Dropped by Samurai

The best room to find Samurai is Naught's Skyway in The World That Never Was.
There is 7 of them in this room, thats the most there are in any room they are
in. See below for collecting strategy.

-------------------
Twilight Gem
-------------------

Dropped by Assassin

The best room to find Assassin is Hall of Empty Memories in The World That
Never Was. There is 4 of them in this room. I'm pretty sure it's the only room
you can find them in. See below for collecting strategy.

-------------------
Collecting Them
-------------------

The best possible way to collect these is to enter TWTNW at the Twilight's View
save point. Go through the level till you get to Proof Of Existence. Exit the
World and reenter at Twilight's View. Repeat till you have 25 of each gem. If
you get all the Dense Gems before the Twilight Gems, you don't even need to go
to Naught's Skyway anymore. You can just use the Proof Of Existence save to get
close to The Hallway Of Empty Memories.

==============================================================================
0052. Step 2 - Collecting Mythril
==============================================================================

Mythril plays a huge role in stat maxing, they are by far the most annoying.
Here's the synth recipes for the mythril's we'll need.

-------------------
Mythril Gem
-------------------

2 Dense Gems
1 Dense Crystal
2 Twilight Gems
1 Twilight Crystal

-------------------
Mythril Crystal
-------------------

2 Dense Gems
1 Dense Crystal
2 Twilight Gems
1 Twilight Crystal
1 Serenity Stone

Now do you see why I showed you the $ trick and how to be able to buy the gems?
You will need ALOT of them since every AP and Magic Boost need a Mythril Gem
and every Power and Defence Boost need Mythril Crystal.

Now that the gems are easily excessible, i'll show you the best way to get the
other needed items.

==============================================================================
0053. Step 3 - Info You Will Need
==============================================================================

Ok, here's some last minute info your going to need before stat maxing. Here
i'll cover the synth recipes and synth item locations. See Step 4 for the best
possible ways to get the synth items.

-------------------
AP Boost
-------------------

1 Mythril Gem
2 Power Crystals
2 Dark Crystals
2 Frost Crystals

-------------------
Magic Boost
-------------------

1 Mythril Gem
2 Power Crystals
2 Dark Crystals
2 Frost Crystals
1 Serenity Crystal

-------------------
Defence Boost
-------------------

1 Mythril Crystal
2 Blazing Crystals
2 Lightning Crystals
2 Lucid Crystals

-------------------
Power Boost
-------------------

1 Mythril Crystal
2 Blazing Crystals
2 Lightning Crystals
2 Lucid Crystals
1 Serenity Crystal

As you can see it's going to take ALOT of Mythril and Crystals to do this. Only
use your Energy Crystals when making AP and Magic Boosts since Dark Crystals
are so hard to get. Remember earlier I said to save your Energy and Serenity
Crystals? This is why. The only thing more annoying to get then those is the
Dark Crystals >.<

Here is a list of the enemies that drop the needed synth items. Check Step 4
for specific strategies. I'm not going to list the serenity's since you
shouldn't have to spend much time looking for them.

-------------------
Power Crystal
-------------------

Morning Star :

Beast's Castle - Ballroom, Entrance Hall, The West Hall
                     
Olympus Coliseum - Cave Of The Dead Entrance, Underworld: Caverns Atrium
                     
Port Royal - Isle De Meurta Powder Store, The Black Pearl, Ship Graveyard
Seadrift Keep
                     
Radiant Garden - Borough, Castle Gates, Ravine Trail, Restoration Site, The
Dark Depths

-------------------
Dark Crystal
-------------------

Air Pirate :

Land Of Dragons - Encampment, Checkpoint, Village Cave

-------------------
Frost Crystal
-------------------

Living Bone :

Pride Lands - Elephant Graveyard, Savannah, Wastelands
                                                                            
-------------------
Blazing Crystal
-------------------

Crescendo :    

Olympus Coliseum - Cave Of The Dead: Passage, Underworld: Caverns The Lost Road

Crimson Jazz :

Agrabah - Agrabah, Sandswept Ruins, Cave Of Wonders: Valley Of Stone

Beast's Castle - Ballroom, Bridge, Entrance Hall, The West Hall, The West Wing
 
Olympus Coliseum - Cave Of The Dead: Entrance, Underworld: Caverns Atrium

Radiant Garden - Bailey, Corridors

-------------------
Lightning Crystal
-------------------

Devastator :

Space Paranoids - Canyon, Dataspace, I/O Tower: Hallway

Strafer :

Space Paranoids - Canyon

-------------------
Lucid Crystal
-------------------

Neoshadow :  

Agrabah - Agrabah

Beast's Castle - Courtyard, Bridge

Halloween Town - Halloween Town Square, Graveyard, Candy Cane Lane

Land Of Dragons - Encampment, Mountain Trail, Ridge

Olympus Coliseum - Cave Of The Dead : Passage, Underworld Caverns : The Lost
Road

Port Royal - Town, Isla de Meurta : Powder Store, Isle de Meurta Moonlight Nook

Pride Lands - The Savannah, Elephant Graveyard, Wildebeest Valley, Wastelands,
Jungle

Radiant Garden - Borough, Bailey, Corridors, Castle Gate

The World That Never Was - Memory's Skyscraper

-------------------
Dense Crystal
-------------------

Berserker :     

Twilight Town - Tower: Wayward Stairs

The World That Never Was - Naught's Skyway, Addled Impasse, Naught's Approach

-------------------
Twilight Crystal
-------------------

Sorceror :

The World That Never Was - Nothing's Call, Ruin and Creation's Passage

-------------------
Energy Crystal
-------------------

Book Master : 

Radiant Garden - Borough

==============================================================================
0054. Step 4 - Collecting Synth Items
==============================================================================

Now that you have all the info you will need it's time to start collecting
synth items.You can use the synth item locations listed above, they work fine,
but from my experience (stat maxed 3 times) these are the best ways to get the
synth items. I'll just list what worlds and what areas to farm in, these are
the absolute best spots available. By best i mean the number of enemies that
drop is greatest in that area.

-------------------
Things To Remember
-------------------

1. ALWAYS have all 7 Lucky Lucky equipped.

2. ALWAYS kill the enemy as fast as possible, I find the faster you kill them
the better the drop.

3. Pick which stat you want to upgrade first and go for those Crystals. Pick 2
or 3 of the worlds listed below.

4. Magnega is your best friend, I recommend doing magic first cause spamming
magnega makes farming ALOT quicker.

5. The best method i found is stick to one world till you get a good # of them,
then go to the other world and try to get the same #, switch back and forth
until you have a good supply of them.

6. When your switching back and forth between worlds collecting Crystals,
always stop at Radiant Garden and do that area a few times to collect Energy
Crystals. For every 1 Energy Crystal you get its 3 less other Crystals you need.

7. There are a few Crystals not listed here but don't worry, the only reason I
didn't list them is because they will come naturally if you follow my steps.

-------------------
Best Areas
-------------------

-------------------
Beast's Castle :
-------------------

Enter at Beast's Room and fight every room till you arrive at The Entrance 
Hall (don't bother with The Secret Passage theres nothing useful
there) Once you get to The Entrance Hall kill the enemies in The Ballroom then
walk out to The Bridge and kill the enemies there, then go back to the entrance
hall and exit through The Parlor. Sometimes The Entrance Hall and the Bridge
have nobodies instead of heartless, just exit and re enter the room till
heartless appear. (Power Crystal/Blazing Crystal)

-------------------
Radiant Garden :
-------------------

Enter at Merlin`s House, go outside and defeat all the Bookmasters, there 
are 4 outside the door, then go straight then left and theres 2 more, then 
get up on the ledge to find 3 more. (Energy Crystals)

-------------------
Space Paranoids :
-------------------

Enter at Pit Cell, go to The Canyon and defeat all enemies here. Then go to 
The Database, clear this room, back track and go to the I/O Tower: Hallway, 
clear this room and thats it for this area.(Lightning Crystals)

-------------------
The World That Never Was :
-------------------

Enter at The Brink Of Despair and go through every room killing everything 
till the Alter of Naught, even the side rooms in Proof Of Existence. There 
are a few small things you don`t have to kill, you`ll figure it out. You'll
get ALOT more Dense then Twilight so once you have a good stock of Dense you 
can start entering at Proof of Existence instead of Brink Of Despair. 
(Dense Crystals/Twilight Crystals)

-------------------
Pride Lands : 
-------------------

Enter at Stone Hollow, kill everything in the Elephant Graveyard,
exit to Savannah, kill the enemies that appear when you enter the Savannah
then go to the Wildebeest Valley entrance, kill the enemies by this entrance
then enter Wildebeest Valley, kill the enemies here, go to The Wasteland and
kill the enemies here. Once your finished with The Wasteland run right to The
Oasis and your finished. (Frost Crystals)

-------------------
Land Of Dragons : 
-------------------

Enter at Bamboo Grove, go to The Encampment, fight everything go to The 
Checkpoint, go straight to the other side, kill enemies, exit from
that corner then come right back to The Encampment, go to other corner, kill
these enemies, exit area and come right back again, return to The Encampment
and if you left and returned in the areas I specified the enemies in The
Encampment should be back. (Dark Crystals)

-------------------
Finishing Points
-------------------

1. Remember to do these area's over and over till you have a good stock of 
each crystal.

2. The Crystals that I didn't list should come to you naturally while
collecting the ones I did list.

3. Even with these time saving tricks this is still a long drawn out process.
Good Luck.

==============================================================================
006. FAQ
==============================================================================

Q. Why would you write a guide for stat maxing?

A. It took me so long to figure out the best way to stat max, why spend all
that time figuring it out not to share it?

Q. How long did it take you to stat max Sora?

A. About 20 hours my first time with no help, this guide should make it a 
little quicker.

Q. Whats the point in Stat Maxing? Nothing needs it

A. Well i'm an avid 100% goer and it makes the Paradox Cups a joke.

==============================================================================
007. Special Thanks To :
==============================================================================

1. Me =) for actually commiting to something and seeing it through.
2. The people at GameFAQ's for having such a great site.
3. The people who wrote the great FAQ's that helped me 100% the game in the
first place.
4. The people at Square Enix for making such a great game.
5. All the idiots on the message boards who said this FAQ wasn't worth the
time.

==============================================================================
008. Info
==============================================================================

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, 
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed 
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
website or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.

This guide is only available at www.gamefaqs.com

E-Mail : [email protected]
Forum Name : Dave4202

Copyright 2009 David Ellis

Any questions, comments, things you'd like to add, feel free to contact me.