[top] Radiata Stories Detailed Checklist
Version <#history> 4.9 � 2006-2008 by Bill Pringle, all rights reserved.
In addition to being a FAQ/Walkthrough, the purpose of this document is
to help you determine how best to recruit people for the RPG video game
*Radiata Stories* by Square-Enix. If you aren't familiar with the game,
it is a combination of Final Fantasy, Zelda, Suikoden, and a few other
games. What makes this game so neat is the large number and variety of
characters that can be recruited.
Pre-Split <#presplit> Human Path <#path-human> Non-Human Path
<#path-fairy> Groups <#groups> Post-Game <#post> Misc <#misc>
[toc] Table of Contents
* Introduction <#intro>
o Purpose <#purpose>
o Game Play / Battles <#gameplay>
o Leveling Up <#level>
o Skills <#skills>
o Weapons <#weapons>
o Radiata Knight Overview <#knight>
o Theater Vancoor Overview <#vancoor>
o Recruitment Requirements <#reqs>
o Initial Party <#party>
* Before the Split <#presplit>
o Friends List Created <#friends>
o Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
o First Missions <#first>
o Jack's Promotion <#promotion>
o Large Man in Vancoor Square <#square>
o Ridley's Birthday Party <#birthday>
o Jack's Choice - Human or Non-Human Path <#split>
* Human Path <#path-human>
o Meeting at Castle <#castle>
o Leave for Wind Valley <#leavewind>
o Wind Valley <#windvalley>
o Duel Gawain <#duel>
o Meet with Dynas <#dynas>
o Meet Genius in the Sewers <#genius>
o Ganz's Letter <#ganz>
o Fight at Lupus Gate <#lupus>
o End of the World <#end-human>
* Non-Human Path <#path-fairy>
o Meeting with Parsec <#parsec>
o Goblin Haven <#goblin-haven>
o First Fight with Gawain <#gawain1>
o Defeat Gawain <#gawain2>
o Escort Gawain to Fort Helencia <#helencia>
o Fight Elwen <#elwen>
o Cross and the Fire Dragon <#fire>
o End of the World <#end-fairy>
* Post Game <#post>
* Members of Each Group <#groups>
o Theater Vancoor <#groups-vancoor>
o Olacion Order <#groups-olacion>
o Vareth Institute <#groups-vareth>
o Void Community <#groups-void>
o Non-Guild Humans <#groups-non-guild>
o Non-Humans <#groups-non-humans>
* Miscellaneous <#misc>
o Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter>
o Fireworks Date <#fireworks>
o Gotchas <#gotcha>
o External Resources <#sites>
o Thanks / Credits <#tnx>
o Version History <#history>
Top of Page <#top>
[intro] Introduction
* Purpose <#purpose>
* Game Play / Battles <#gameplay>
* Leveling Up <#level>
* Skills <#skills>
* Weapons <#weapons>
* Radiata Knight Overview <#knight>
* Theater Vancoor Overview <#vancoor>
* Recruitment Requirements <#reqs>
* Initial Party <#party>
This page can be found in two forms: an HTML (web) page at
http://BillPringle.com/games/radiata_checklist.html, and as a text file
on http://www.gamefaqs.com/. The HTML page will probably be updated more
often, and tend to be the latest version. The HTML web page will include
hyperlinks, so you can click on a link to find the appropriate section.
The text file was created by the FireFox browser, which inserts
hyper-links inside angle brackets (<like-this>). To find that location
with a text editor, use the search feature to find the target name in
square brackets ([like-this]). The link inside angle brackets will
always start with a pound sign (#), indicating that the target is on the
current page. The square brackets won't have that pound sign. For
example, to find the target of link <#intro>, search for [intro]. If you
are going to have an electronic copy of this FAQ, I recommend that you
get the HTML version instead of the text file.
Not all details of recruitment are included, but enough to help you plan
who to recruit and when. For a more detailed description of how to
recruit a specific character, I had recommended that you use the web
site http://www.divinemight.com/rs_recruitment/index.php/Main_Page. This
wiki seemd to have gone away, which is a shame. As a result, I have
taken the contents of this FAQ as the basis of a walkthrough at Strategy
Wiki <http://strategywiki.net/wiki/Radiata_Stories>, a side project of
wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>. (If you aren't
familiar with Wikipedia, you should be.)
If you find any problems and/or have any questions, you can e-mail me at
[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Radiata_Stories_CheckList>. Make sure
you have "Radiata Stories" in the subject. I get a lot of spam, and will
delete things without looking at them if I don't recognize the sender
and the subject line doesn't stand out as legit (for example, a message
with a subject of "a question" will probably get deleted without me
looking at it.)
Top of Page <#top>
[purpose] Purpose
Although you can use this document as a walk through, that isn't its
main purpose. The game is pretty good at telling you what you can/should
do next, so a traditional walk through is less important. If you are
ever in doubt, press R1 to bring up the map. You will see a green swirl
where you should be headed. There are several places in the game where
if you try to go into an area you shouldn't, Jack will make a comment
and retreat. The hard (and most enjoyable) part of the game is
recruiting characters. There are a number of resources that will tell
you how to recruit a given character, but not so many that will tell you
when and why you should recruit them.
I also recommend that you buy the Official Strategy Guide, since they
have some good maps, plus complete bestiary statistics. There are,
however, a number of errors in that guide, and I will point out the ones
I've noticed.
I have tried to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there are times that you
need to know something else will be happening later. I don't explain the
content of cut scenes, which should reduce spoilers a bit. Actually, the
game is relatively easy to follow. If you ever get stuck, hold down R1
to see the map. Your current destination will be shown with a swirl. If
there aren't any swirls, then you probably need to sleep or enter your
house to progress the game.
For each phase of the game, I will tell you what missions you will have,
with a comment on what you will get from each mission. I will not give
you step by step instructions because, frankly, you probably don't need
them. The game is pretty good at making sure you are doing what you
should be doing. For example, when you are on your first few missions,
if you try to turn away from the path to your destination, the leader of
the group will stop you and tell you that is not the way. If there are
some optional side quests, I will mention them and give you enough
information to succeed with those quests.
One of the things I enjoy about this game is the sense of discovery as I
wander around the world. Even though I had the official strategy guide,
I didn't bother with all the items that could be found, etc. Take time
to explore each area of the world. Talk to everyone you see. Kick
everything available looking for items. Try every door and see what's
behind it. An RPG is like a fine meal: the goal should be to enjoy the
game, not see how fast you can finish it.
I do give you detailed step by step instructions for the final dungeon
of the game, since the map in the official strategy guide is confusing
and has errors, and I haven't seen an accurate map of that area that was
generally available.
Top of Page <#top>
[gameplay] Game Play / Battles
A word of warning: avoid button mashing. If you are the kind of person
that keeps mashing the "X" button during a battle, get out of that
habit. The problem is that each time you click the button, it queues an
attack. If you kill an enemy and there are still attacks queued, the
target of the remaining attacks is the next one in the list of monsters.
That might be the one right next to you, or it could be the one clear
across the battle field. If you think you are close to killing an enemy,
click the "X" button and wait to see what happens. If it drops, approach
the next closest enemy and press "X" again. That way, you can
concentrate on the enemies you want to defeat next, and avoid running
clear across the field, past a bunch of enemies, to get somebody over in
a corner that you hadn't even noticed, let alone was interested in. ;^)
You will sometimes see one of the enemies with what looks like lightning
bolts over them. This indicates that they are calling for more help. If
they succeed, another enemy will appear and join in the fight. Since
each enemies gets you a certain amount of experience, you might want to
give them time to call somebody before you take them out.
The game has its own internal time system, which is roughly one hour of
game time every minute of real time. This means that a new day starts
every 24 minutes, or about once every half hour. The day is divided into
day and night, with day running from 6AM to 6PM, and night from 6PM to
6AM of the following day. You need to pay attention to the time of day
for a number of reasons. Each character has their own schedule which
doesn't vary from day to day, until they are in your current party, or
if they are involved in a current mission. Some character recruitment
can only occur during specific time periods (such as when they are in
their room, or at some other location). Some characters behave
differently or have different abilities, depending on the time of day.
For example, those who have either the King of Day or King of Night
skills. One of the more interesting characters is Cornelia / Rachel, who
transforms between a little girl and a young woman. If she is in your
party, she will change appearances and fighting styles, depending on the
time of day or night. Her name on the friends list is always where
Cornelia should appear, but is listed as Rachel during her transformation.
There are also times when, if you enter your house between a certain
time period, it will cause an event to trigger, which will progress the
game. By avoiding your house except late at night / early in the
morning, you can avoid triggering these events, allowing you to do
things like level up and recruit people until you are ready for the next
stage of the game. (And, when you are in your house, don't sleep, or
that will also trigger an event.)
Monsters regenerate at midnight. Other things reset at midnight as well,
such as who you have dueled, and some recruitments require things
happening on different days. You can use this to your advantage
sometimes. For example, if you need to talk to or duel someone on two
different days, you can do it just before midnight, wait a minute or two
until after midnight, and then do it again. If you clear out an area
just before midnight, you can wait until the monsters are reset, and
then clear it out again. Of course, that means you will have to wait
until the following day if you need to do it a third time.
There are certain times in the game when the next phase happens when you
enter your house during a certain time period (usually during the day).
At other times, you need to sleep in your house to trigger the event. I
generally tell you when you want to avoid your house if you don't want
the game to progress. You can take your time to level up, earn money for
items, etc. as long as you avoid your house during the day. What I
usually do is enter my house late at night (after 10pm), save the game,
and then leave to do whatever I want. A good rule of thumb is that you
don't want to enter your house if Flau isn't sitting on the wall of the
steps. (Of course, if you have Flau in your party, check the time instead.)
You will find a record player in your house, as well as in Fort Helencia
if you choose the non-human path. You can insert records into the
player, and then play whatever songs you want. Records carry over
between games, so you only have to buy them once. If you need them in a
later game, go to your house (or fort) and take them out.
Take time to explore the world. You can have a fun time just following
certain characters around all day and seeing where they go, what they
do, etc. Take time to admire the attention to detail that is throughout
the game. See the section Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter> for
some suggestions on things to do and things to look for.
Top of Page <#top>
[level] Leveling Up
Like many role playing games, leveling up can make the fights easier.
One of the unique things about this game is the ability to duel
characters. You don't have to go out into the world or a dungeon to find
a fight. Just kick somebody. If you kick somebody twice, they should
fight you one-on-one. Some characters won't duel, so if they keep saying
the same thing, try somebody else. You can only duel someone once per
day. Fortunately, they don't seem to remember that you kicked them,
other than a brief comment immediately after the fight. If you lose a
duel, don't worry, the game isn't over, but you will have an HP of 1, so
don't forget to heal (or talk to Miranda) before you get into a real fight.
When fighting in dungeons and in the world, you will notice that if you
see more than one monster, that after the first fight, some of the other
monsters may not be there. If you leave the area and come back, they
will re-appear. In general, stronger monsters will be less likely to
disappear than weaker ones, but it isn't always that way.
If you do a lot of leveling up like I do, then you can pretty much
ignore all the strategy hints you read about for the boss fights. Just
plow in and start hacking, telling your healer to concentrate on you,
and it will be over in no time.
If you don't level up, then links will be more important. Using a link
allows all members of your party to share the combined skills of
everyone in your party. I only tend to use links when I need to learn a
new skill or early in later games when my party members are still weak,
but that's me; you might like to experiment with links. There's no "one
right way" to play this game; if you're having fun, then you're doing it
the right way.
I like the Septem Cave the best for leveling up before the split. In the
very early stages of the game it might be a challenge, but as long as
you have a good spear, you should be able to get through that area just
fine, especially if you have the "Prevent Freeze" skill equipped. When
you are in the second part of the cave, just before the exit, you will
run into a large iceburg. Once in a while, after it is defeated, there
will be another larva-like monster. This is the rare Killer Queen, who
will give you a lot of experience, gold, and berries if you defeat it.
Be careful, though, because she is tough. Don't be afraid to use your
volty on it. Sometimes, after the fight with the iceburg, she doesn't
show up. If that happens, exit the cave and come back in to fight her.
If you are at a low level and keep getting killed in Septem Cave, then
you should start off in the sewers below Theater Vancoor. That is a good
place to kill a few minutes, and pick up some gold and experience at the
same time. Once you are strong enough, you can do whatever you need to
do during the day, and then clear out Septem Cave, and get home before
daybreak to save your game.
After the split, your best experience comes from battling members of the
other group. If you pick the human path, use the Travel Pig to the Dark
Elves location (Mikey won't fight you, but won't let you in, either.)
Travel east, then southwest around the lake, and then head towards Fort
Helencia. You can then use the pig to get to the Goblin village and
wander around there. Towards the very end of the game, the Blood Orc
homeland becomes available. You can get some great experience there.
What I often do during the non-human path is use the Travel Pig to Lupus
Gate, and then walk from there to Earth Valley, taking all the side
roads, including doubling back to the other gate at Radiata City. Be
careful when you run into Godwin and Fernando (he is actually on the
bridge); their volty blast can take out one of your characters. As long
as it isn't Jack, that's not a problem, so if you see one of them
flashing, just have Jack defend until the character is beaten or has
used his volty. When you get to Earth Valley, take the Travel Pig to the
Tria Region and fight the troops around there. That should get you a lot
of experience and money. I can usually level the entire party up a
couple of levels each day.
Top of Page <#top>
[skills] Skills
One of the reasons you want to recruit characters is so that you can
learn their skills. If you link with a character that has a skill that
you don't currently have, then after some number of links you will learn
that skill. Once you have learned the skill, you need to fight with it
equipped some number of times in order to level up the skill. Leveling
up doesn't require links, any fights will do. You can go down to the
sewers under Theater Vancoor to get into a lot of easy fights. This is
useful since the character you are trying to learn the skill from is
probably a low level character. Since the monsters in that area stay
fairly weak, the low level characters have a better chance to survive a
fight.
You can fill your party with characters having skills that you don't
know yet, then equip yourself with Auto Cure and link your party
together for each fight until you have learned the skills. Some skills
are learned faster than others, so if you are in the sewers under
Theater Vancoor, you can go to the first floor and swap out the
character with the skill you just learned for someone who has another
skill you need. You can keep this up until you learn all the available
skills, or you run out of monsters in the basement. Remember that there
are times when you don't want to go back to your house to sleep to force
a new day.
The skills that I like the best are:
Auto Cure
You can learn this from Kain, Genius, Mason, or Stefan
When you start a new game (other than the first time), equip this
skill and you will almost never get killed. You will be able to go
into the dwarf caves on your own when a knight, and duel all the
characters in Earth Valley.
When you set up your initial party, use links a lot with auto cure
equipped so that each character keeps getting healed. This will let
you level up your characters without having to spend a lot of time
explicitly healing them.
Absorb HP
You can only learn this from Donkey, which is why you might want to
recruit him if you don't have it, even if you are planning on
chosing the human side.
This skill heals you a percentage of the damage you do to the enemy.
If you keep hitting fast enough and hard enough, you won't need
healing very often.
Tri-Emblem
After you have beaten the Ethereal Queen, you will get this skill.
It boosts all your parameters, similar to King of Day and King of
Night combined. Remember, if you use links, it will boost your
party's stats too. This is very handy at the beginning of the game,
when your party has low levels.
If you don't have this skill, you can use King of Day or King of
Night, as long as you remember to switch them when the time changes.
Full Power
You can learn this from Gruel, Fernando, Galvados,or Sebastian
Equip this skill just before you use your volty attack. It increases
the damage. For stronger bosses, you might want to use Save Volty
instead.
Save Volty
You can learn this from Curtis or Gobrey
Your volty attack won't use up all of your volty meter. Equip this
skill just before you use your volty attack on a very powerful boss
that will require multiple volty attacks. That way, you will be able
to launch your next volty attack in less time than normal. You
probably only want to use this for weaker bosses, or if you have
another boss fight coming up soon.
Fierce Defense
You can learn this from Edgar, Interlude, Leban, Leona, or Wal.
This skill will reduce the damage you take when you are blocking. If
your enemy is about to use their volty attack, quickly use an herb
to get to full HP, equip this skill, and hold down the "X" button.
You should be able to survive the attack.
I use this skill to beat strong characters with fierce volty attacks
like Gerald, Elwen, etc.
Status Cure
You can learn this from Ardoph, Flora, Morfinn, or Rika
This reduces the amount of time that you are inflicted with any
status ailment. You might want to use "Stop Afflictions" to reduce
the chances of getting afflicted, but if that doesn't work, you may
not be able to switch to "Status Cure", which is why I tend to use
this rather than the other.
100t Body
You can learn this from David, Gabe, Jill, or Walter
This reduces the chances of you being knocked down. It will allow
you to continue to attack rather than keep getting back up and
attacking again. You probably want to instruct your healer to
concentrate on you if you do this.
King of Day / Night
You can learn King of the Day from Elwen, and King of the Night from
Nyx or Gawain
These skills increases your stats during the specified time period.
If you don't have Tri-Emblem, then these are the ones you want to
use. Just remember to switch to the other skill when the time changes.
If you need to attack a character that has one of these skills, it
is a good idea to time it so that you fight them when their skill
isn't in effect. (Fight Elwen at night, and Nyx during the day.)
There are lots of other skills, and you might prefer some others,
depending on your fighting style. As I keep saying, there is no "one
true way" to play this game. If you are having fun and not getting
killed off, then you are playing it just fine.
Top of Page <#top>
[weapons] Weapons
Like many RPGs, you have a selection of weapons you can use. You can
also learn various attacks for each weapon. Once you have learned an
attack, you always have it across all the games you play. You learn the
various attacks by using a training dummy. Kick the dummy while you are
holding the weapon you want to work on and you will be given a challenge
(e.g., defeat enemy). If you succeed, you can learn a new attack.
*Note: * If the challenge is "Receive no damage", all you have to do is
run around avoiding the enemies so that you don't take any damage. (You
don't have to defeat the enemies without taking damage, just avoid
getting hit.)
There are two training dummies in the training room of the castle, two
in Theater Vancoor, and one just outside Fort Helencia. If you haven't
built up skills by the time you first get to Fort Helencia (the
Crocogator mission), take some time there, since you have a healing spot
and a save flag available.
Each weapon has a CP value, and each type of attack also has a CP value.
You can select a series of up to 5 (combo) attacks as long as the total
CP value of the attacks is less than the value of the weapon. Each time
you press the circle button the next attack is performed. Unlike similar
games, button mashing can cause problems. If you queue up four hits on
an enemy, and kill it after two hits, Jack will still perform the
remaining hits, swinging at thin air. In the meantime, another enemy can
be attacking you.
You can change the weapon as well as the attacks at any time during the
battle. At the beginning of a battle with a number of enemies, you can
select a spear and wide circle attacks that will hit a number of enemies
at once. When there is only one enemy left, you can change the attacks,
or you can switch to a sword or axe, and use strong attacks. Available
weapons are swords, two-handed swords, axes, and spears.
At a minimum, you should use the training dummies through enough levels
so that you can release your volty attack. You only have to do this
once. Your weapon attacks are carried over from one game to the next.
You can sometimes get items during training fights. The one you should
know about is the "Defeat a Blood Orc" during the Axe training.
Sometimes the enemy will drop a Blood Orc Horn, which is a key item you
need to recruit a couple of characters. Since you can only carry one of
them at a time, since it doesn't carry over from one game to the next,
and since you don't get to fight Blood Orcs in the field until later in
the game, if you want to recruit those characters early in the game, you
need to use this training mission to get that item and recruit the
characters.
Top of Page <#top>
[knight] Radiata Knight Overview
Most of this document deals with the game after you have been fired from
the knights and join Theater Vancoor, when you are able to start
recruiting characters. The beginning of the game pretty much leads you
through whatever you need to do. There are some things you can do once
you have arrived at some location for a mission, as well as some things
you can do in the castle.
The important thing to remember is that whenever you have a chance, you
want to level up your character as much as possible. This can be done by
kicking characters to get them into a duel, as well as defeating various
monsters in the field (or basement of the castle). Since the monsters
regenerate at midnight, you can clear out an area, then wait until
midnight, and clear it again. Most missions have a time limit, but it
only kicks in once you have arrived and reported to whoever you were to
visit. If you delay that meeting, you can prolong the time you have to
level up. The higher your level, the better you will do when you start
your own missions, and the easier it will be to recruit certain characters.
Kicking isn't limited to people. You can find items by kicking objects.
Get in the habit of kicking everything and everyone in sight.
Part of the replay value of Radiata Stories is that the game has such a
rich world with a diverse collection of characters. By selecting
different characters in your party, the fights will take on different
flavors. There is a lot of detail throughout the game, and a lot of fun
things you can do in addition to the basic game. Look at the section on
Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter>
Top of Page <#top>
[vancoor] Theater Vancoor Overview
The basic flow of the game is that you have some missions with your
squad that you must take (there are only a few of these at the start of
the game), and you can take a number of solo missions. In general, once
you receive orders for a mission, you are expected to travel to some
location, complete the mission task, and then report back to Theater
Vancoor and speak to Thanos. If the client is known, then you would
usually speak to them before and after the mission task to get
instructions and report the results to the client. Once this is done,
you can speak to Thanos to get your pay and see if there are any more
missions you can take on at this time. Usually you want to perform all
the missions in the order they are listed, although you can accept them
in any order if you prefer. You need to be a little careful if you
change the order of the missions, because some missions are only
available during certain stages of the game, and some missions will
trigger events that might make the rest of the missions unavailable. I
will usually tell you if there are any reasons you might want to perform
any missions in a certain order. If there are no more missions, then you
probably have to sleep to progress the game.
If you want to recruit Thanos (which is needed if you want to recruit
Elwen and/or Nyx), then you must accept all missions and report back to
Thanos at the completion of the mission. To prevent missing any
missions, avoid going into your house during the day, and only save when
you get there; don't sleep. Wait until 9pm before you go in and save. If
Flau isn't sitting on the wall, don't go in. If you were waiting for
her, wait a few minutes after she gets there before you go in, since she
gets there a few minutes before 9pm. Don't sleep unless you want to
progress the game. Once Thanos tells you there aren't any more jobs,
then you probably need to sleep to make the game progress. You can do
that right away, or you can take time to go out and level up your party,
recruit more people, earn some more money, etc.
If you recruit every possible character (which takes at least two times
through the game), you will be able to view a picture of the main
characters. If you will be taking the human path, you probably want to
recruit the guild leaders, which means you want to recruit all the
members of the different guilds. The only reasons to recruit any of the
farmers are to be complete, or possibly for a specific skill.
Top of Page <#top>
[reqs] Recruitment Requirements
There are actually two different "Friends List": one you can access from
the options menu, and another located either next to Thanos in Theater
Vancoor, or on a desk in Fort Helencia. The one in your menu is the
total number of friends that you have recruited, including any previous
games. The one on the desk is the list of people you can use for your
party in this game. So, if you want to use a given character at some
point in the current game, you will have to recruit them during this
game, even if they appear in the friends list in your menu.
It is a good idea to check out who you have recruited already. every so
often, especially before the game progresses. Go to the Friends List on
the desk and click on L1 to sort the list alphabetically. Then look over
the list of people who you wanted to recruit, and make sure they are all
on the list. If you are trying to recruit several people at the same
time, it is very easy to forget something, especially if you remember
doing that in a previous game.
There are a number of requirements that can affect your ability to
recruit a specific character. In every case, you will at least have to
talk to them. You should continue to talk to them until either they join
or they start to repeat themselves. If they repeat, then something isn't
right and you can't recruit them at that time. Check all the
requirements for recruiting them and make sure they have been done.
Also, if the character is involved in a mission, they may not be
available for the rest of the day. For example, after training the
monks, you will have to wait until the following day before you can find
any of them to talk to.
In most cases, once a character becomes available, they remain available
for the rest of the game (or to the split). If you try to recruit
someone, but you find out that you are missing something, do whatever
you need to and go back and try to recruit them again. There are a few
characters, though, that are only available for a certain period of
time, and if you don't recruit them by then, you will not be able to
recruit them during that game.
A number of characters are recruited by beating them in a fight. In most
of these cases, if you lose, you can try again the following day. You
can continue trying until you win a fight.
The criteria for a specific character can be any combination of the
following conditions:
Major Game Events
A number of characters can only be recruited after some specific
event has occurred in the game. For example, you can only recruit
Flau and Rynka after you have received Ganz's letter. Some of the
events will always occur (e.g., Link Tutorial), but others may not
(e.g., Nocturn's letter to Gerald). If you don't cause an event to
happen, then you won't be able to recruit that character until
another time through the game.
Time of Day
Some characters can only be recruited between certain times in the
day. Since each character has their own schedule, this implies it
will happen at a specific location. In this document, if the time is
important, I will usually tell you the approximate time range, and
where it will take place. The actual time may be off by a few
minutes, depending on when the character arrives and/or leaves. The
official strategy guide gives their schedule to the minute, but I
have found a number of cases where I think the times are close, but
wrong.
If a character is involved in a cut scene and/or the plot events,
then the character usually won't follow their schedule until their
involvement is done. Obviously, if a character is in your party,
they won't follow their schedule either, but of course you have
probably already recruited them.
Character Level
You can only recruit certain characters if Jack's level has reached
some criteria, either absolute (e.g., level 22 for Lilly), or
relative (e.g., no more than 5 levels below Jarvis for Jarvis) Some
characters can only be recruited after you raise the level of some
other character. For example, to recruit Cecil, Aidan must be level 32.
Recruit Other Characters
Some characters will only join if you have already recruited some
list of other characters. For example, to recruit the head of a
guild, you must first recruit all the other members of the guild.
Sometimes the recruited people have to be in your party (e.g., talk
to Cecil with Aidan in your party and at least level 32). Other
times (e.g., guild leaders), you need only to have recruited them,
but they don't have to be in your party at the time.
Sometimes recruiting will happen in several steps, possibly spread over
a fairly long period of time. For example, a character will ask you for
something, but you can't get it yet. You will just have to wait until
the item(s) become available, and then finish the recruiting. In some
cases, you can wait to talk to them after you have obtained the item
they want, and then give it to them when they ask.
Some recruiting has to be done over two days, like Alba, and others you
want to take more than one day, like Joaquel. Since midnight is when the
days switch, you can use this to your advantage. For example, Alba hangs
out in the Void Community area all night. Speak to him just before
midnight, fight him, and then just stand there for a few minutes until
midnight passes. Then speak to him again, fight him, and you can recruit
him. For Joaquel, when he asks you to guard the storeroom, do that just
before midnight. As soon as he leaves, enter the room and take all the
treasure. When he comes back, he will yell at you. Wait a few minutes
until midnight passes, then talk to him again, but this time stay put
and you will recruit him.
You can recruit one character at a time if you want, but you will find
yourself doing a lot of running back and forth. I get a lot of enjoyment
out of planning how I can recruit several characters in a group. For
example, your initial human party should be Flau or Edgar as the healer,
and Cosmo as the fighter. All of these are from the Olacion order. So,
during the morning, go there and look for Flau. Talk to her and find out
about her father, then look for Edgar cleaning windows. If he isn't
there, remember you have to talk to him later. Go find Cosmo and talk to
him to recruit him. Run down to the clinic and get the picture, stop in
Fernando's room to kick the waste basket and get the belt. Give the
items to Flau and Edgar. You have just recruited three characters with
basically one trip to the Olacion Order shrine.
Make a list of what characters you want to recruit next. Add any times
of day and locations. Then plan your trip to get the most number of
characters recruited with the least amount of running around. This is
great practice for having to multi-task in real life.
Top of Page <#top>
[party] Initial Party
In general, you should recruit characters based on which path you will
choose. If you will be selecting the human path, then your early party
should be all humans (with possible exceptions like Donkey based on
skills the first time through the game.) If you are going to select the
non-human path, then recruit and include non-humans in your parties as
early as possible.
You can keep the same characters in your party as much as possible
(until a stronger character becomes available), or you can select
characters for specific tasks based on their capabilities (e.g., skills
or types of attack.) I tend to keep the same people in my party because
I have leveled them up so much, they outperform any other character that
might have more appropriate skills, attacks, etc. In general, you always
want to have a healer in your party. The other two can be another
fighter and a mage.
If you are choosing the human path, then Flora is your best starting
healer. You will automatically have Clive, but he isn't very good. If
you will be choosing the non-human path, then recruit Romaria as your
healer. Not only is she the best non-human healer (IMHO), but she is a
decent fighter. I put Romaria in my party at the start of the game, and
she was able to hold her own up through defeating Gabriel Celesta. She
wasn't able to keep the party alive during the battle with the Ethereal
Queen, however. For that battle, you want to have Kain in your party,
since his spells affect all party members, while Romaria (and most other
healers) can only affect a single character. Actually, I might be able
to win with Romaria by having Jack stay in the background and issue
commands.
A good starting party for the humans path is:
* Jack
* Lily (start with Alba or Cosmo if you aren't level 22)
* Aidan (so you can get Cecil later)
* Flora (The best human healer available right now)
For the non-human path, a good starting party is:
* Jack
* Martinez
* Sanchos
* Romaria (Keep her in your party for the whole game)
You probably want to "trade up" as stronger characters become available.
At first glance, it might look like your current characters are the best
available because you have leveled them up so much. However, you should
consider the strength and defense of the characters, and the type and
strength of any spells, rather than just HP.
Once Aidan reaches level 32, you can swap him out for his father, Cecil.
I kept Lily in as the fighter up until I had Elwen and Nyx, and she held
her own. You might want to replace the mage with Gerald when you recruit
him (if you can stand him saying "What's wrong?" over and over).
Certainly when you get the heads of the guilds, you want to replace most
of your party with them. If you are going to take the human path, you
should at least recruit Elwen and Kain, who are the best fighter and
healer available within the first part of the game. This means you want
to recruit all of Theater Vancoor and all of the Olacion Order. Nyx is a
nice addition, but not essential; you could probably keep your best
fighter to round off the party. The reason for this is that in the
post-game dungeon, when you get Valkyrie, you probably want to replace
that character with her. If you want Nyx, however, you need to recruit
all members of all the guilds, since you need to speak to Nyx with
Elwen, Kain, and Curtis in your party to get him to join. This means
that you not only have to recruit all of Vancoor and Olacion in order to
get Elwen and Kain, but all four guilds if you also want to get Nyx.
For the non-human path, put Gil in your party as soon as you recruit
him. He is already at a pretty good level, and he has an attack that hit
all enemies. When you recruit JJ, you probably want to include him as
well. Ganz has to be in your final party, and he isn't available until
later in the game. You can either take time to level him up when you get
the chance, or you can just ignore him and basically fight with three
characters.
Top of Page <#top>
[presplit] Before the Split
* Friends List Created <#friends>
* Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
* First Missions <#first>
* Jack's Promotion <#promotion>
* Large Man in Vancoor Square <#square>
* Ridley's Birthday Party <#birthday>
* Jack's Choice - Human or Non-Human Path <#split>
This section deals with the initial part of the game. You will do the
following tasks, regardless of which path you will be taking after the
split.
At the very beginning of the game, it is mostly cut scenes, with some
minimal ability to control Jack. Sit back and enjoy the movie; it will
help set up the characters. The next time you play this game, you will
recognize most of the characters in the selection tournament.
You can't win the fight with Ridley, so don't bother trying. If you put
up enough of a fight, you will see her use her volty command. You will
eventually get accepted by the Knights and placed in the Rose Crochon
(French for Pink Pig) Squad with Ganz and Ridley.
Later in the game, Ganz and Ridley will at times be able to appear in
your party (actually, be required to be in your party), but they won't
be in the final battle, so don't bother spending a lot of time leveling
either up, or get too attached to how they fight.
When you finally get control again, you will be in your room. Save your
game. You don't want to go through all those cut scenes again if
something goes wrong.
Your first task is to go to a meeting on the third floor. If you try to
wander somewhere else, Jack will remind you. (This is typical throughout
the game, when there is a specific task to be done.) Another good habit
to get into is to press R1 to look at the map. It will show you where
you are (sort of), where any save points might be, as well as a swirl to
indicate your destination. If you are in a building or dungeon, you can
use the up and down buttons on the directional pad to see the other
floors. The map is very handy, but it seems to be a bit off. If you
compare your location on the map with your location in the world, there
seems to be some differences.
When you get to the meeting room, another set of cut scenes will take
over. There is no way to cancel a cut scene, but if you click "X" during
a dialog, it will cancel the rest of the dialog. So, if you keep mashing
the "X" button, you will reduce the total time a bit.
When all the cut scenes are over, you will get some training from Ganz
(if this is the first time you played the game.) Followed by some more
cut scenes. (The number of cut scenes gets much less further into the
game. Don't get too discouraged at this point.) Eventually you will be
starting off on your first mission. You won't be able to explore the
castle until you get back.
You will be given some missions to accomplish:
Escort a Dwarf
This mission will take you to the Dwarf Village in Earth Valley.
This is the first real chance you get to fight and level up. Take
your time getting there, fighting everything you can. If you come
across some people, you can kick them to duel them. If you lose a
duel, don't forget to heal before you get into another fight, since
your HP will only be 1.
Once you get to Earth Valley, go to the large gold building, and
then save your game. You can spend as much time as you want leveling
up at this point, as long as you don't sleep. You should start out
by dueling the shop owners. The blacksmiths and miners are much
stronger. If you are brave (or already have the Auto Cure Skill),
you can wander into the Dwarf Caves and gain some experience. After
your first game, this is a great way to level up in the early parts
of the game. By equiping the Auto Cure status, you can duel just
about anyone. If your HP gets low, then just run around for a while
avoiding getting hit until your HP is back up. If you got the
Tri-Emblem skill, you probably want to keep that equipped most of
the time, and only switch to Auto Cure if your HP gets low. You can
stretch this mission out indefinitely if you don't sleep or talk to
Ridley and Ganz.
Visit the pub to get a solo mission and earn an item. Talk to the
bartender, agree to help, visit the bar when it is closed, and go
back and talk to the bartender. When asked, be honest. When you get
back to the Castle, you can wander around kicking things. Make sure
you get the Knight's Edge sword in the locker next to the training
room, and the Strength Berry in the sub-basement "Path of the Spider".
When you have done everything you want to get done, or you get
bored, you can sleep to progress the story.
Deliver a Letter
You will be asked to deliver a letter to the leader of the Light
Elves. You will be told to meet with Genius, who is on the way
there. Genius will be in your party, but you can't recruit him until
much later on the human path.
After you pass through Fort Helencia, double back. There is a
recover spot, a Knight Edge in a chest, a training dummy, and a guy
selling items.
Talk to Ganz when he is standing near the cellar in the Dark Elf
village to get some money. Talk to Chatt, and answer "Rich", "No
way!", "Master Chef", and "Veggie Soup".
Most of the elves are magic casters, so when dueling them, keep
hitting them so they can't cast their spells. A few fight like
monks, so be prepared for a good battle from them. You can't recruit
anyone at this point in the game, so don't bother trying.
This is also the mission that causes you to get fired from the
Knights and sets up the plot for the split later in the game.
Once you get back from your first mission, you can explore the castle
kicking things to find items, but the most important ones are the Knight
Edge in the locker near the training area, and the strength berry at the
end of "The Path of the Spider" in the sub-basement of the castle. Don't
forget to kick everyone in sight so you can level up by dueling people.
Even characters you think won't be much of a challenge can be a
surprise. If you kick one of the little kids in the castle, they will
call some guards to fight you. (See if you can find the ghost.)
At some point after your second mission, when you leave your room you
will run into Al, who is acting strange. Follow him west and down the
stairs to the next door. (These are the same stairs that lead to the
Path of the Spider). Go into the dungeon for a cut scene; you can then
leave. If you don't see Al, then go to the dungeon yourself and see if
you can trigger the cut scene. Before you progress the game, visit the
store room (item shop) to get another solo mission.
When you get strong or bored enough, sleep in your room to progress the
game. This is a normal way to progress this game. If it doesn't work,
try sleeping again. Some things take several days before they trigger.
The game will progress by Ganz visiting you in your room. Just watch a
series of cut scenes and save if you ever see a small blue flag. (This
is another good general rule to follow.) The first fight with Jarvis
will be very easy (he only has a small percentage of his HP remaining).
The fight with Gerald you can't win, so don't worry.
After another series of cut scenes, you will end back at Theater Vancoor
and get assigned to a squad led by (you guessed it?) Jarvis. You will
have to fight Daniel I'm not sure what happens if you lose this fight,
so you might want to make sure you have saved at some point before this.
He isn't very strong, and his HP is only around 300, so you shouldn't
have any trouble, assuming you did at least some leveling up.
Top of Page <#top>
[friends] Friends List Created
The beginning of the recruitment period starts when Clive shows up and
writes his name on your Friends List. You can then recruit a number of
humans in Radiata City, as well as farmers and some non-humans (e.g.,
dark elves). The complete list of characters you can recruit at this
time are listed below. The earlier you recruit a character and put them
in your party, the higher level they will be later in the game. For
example, when you first recruit Aidan, he isn't very useful, but as he
gains levels, he becomes a decent mage.
You can't start recruiting characters until Clive turns up and writes
his name in your Friends List. Clive is recruited automatically, and
signals the start of the recruitment process. Work on getting your
starting party first. Once you are happy with your party, you can work
on recruiting the other characters. Most of the characters in this group
can be recruited at any time, even towards the end of the game, so it
isn't imperative that you recruit them now, but it is best to get them
out of the way before you forget about them.
Once Clive has joined, you can continue to recruit people for about a
day and a half, at which time you will be automatically sucked into the
Crocogator mission. However, once you start on that mission, you can
still take some time to recruit people, and wander around and level up.
You will only have Jack and Jarvis in your party, however.
You won't be able to use any of the people you recruit until you get
some solo jobs, which will be after you return from the Crocogator mission.
You might want to start out by buying better armor and weapons, buy and
read some books so you can give commands to your party, and probably
some cure items. (You will have to buy books each game, since the
commands don't carry over.) The Dead End Armory in the Void Community
has the Wind Garb, which is the best armor. Buy that and the best weapon
you can afford. I find the lance to be very good when fighting monsters,
since you can use a wide sweep and hit multiple enemies with one swing.
For boss fights, I tend to use the sword, but you might want to
experiment with other weapons to see which ones best fit your fighting
style.
When choosing weapons, don't concentrate strictly on the attack value,
but look at the side effects as well. A weapon that causes some status
affliction can, in the long run, do more damage than a weapon that has a
higher attack value but no side effect. This is especially true for
afflictions such as petrify, which takes the enemy completely out of the
battle for a while as you continue to hit them, and poison, which will
continue to drain HP from the enemy. In fact, once you have poisoned an
enemy, you might want to go and attack a different one, and let that one
die a slow death.
Another factor to weapons is the types of attacks that you use. Some
attacks will affect all enemies within a certain area. This makes it
easy to get rid of a bunch of enemies in short time. You can switch
weapons and/or attacks several times in the middle of a battle, so if
one approach isn't working, try either a different set of attacks, or a
different weapon. For example, you can start with a lance and wide swing
(like wild spin) at the beginning of a battle. Then, once you have a
single strong enemy left, you can switch to more powerful attacks, or
knockdown type attacks.
At some point in the game, you will have to decide on the human or
non-human path. Once this choice is made, no characters in the other
group can be recruited, and none of the other type that you previously
recruited will be available. Remember this before you spend a lot of
time to build up a character that you will later lose.
Once the game is over, there is a bonus dungeon where you can recruit an
additional character. She will only be available during post-game
events, but she is a great fighter and will join at a high level.
Even though a character may become unavailable later in the game, there
are still times when you might want to recruit them. This is especially
true the first time you play the game and are trying to learn skills.
(Once you learn a skill, it will be available for all subsequent games.)
For example, Donkey is the only character available at the start of the
game that has the "Absorb HP" skill. This is a very useful skill to
have, so you should think about recruiting him and using him long enough
to learn that skill.
While you are recruiting people, you will be required to go on a few
missions with your squad. Normally, you will have some time between
missions when you can recruit characters, but you can often do some
recruting while you are on the mission as well. For example, during the
Crocogator Mission, you will be able to travel anywhere and recruit
characters before you encounter a Crocogator. If you get into any
fights, you will only have yourself and Jarvis in your party, so if you
didn't level up Jack earlier in the game, you might want to put off any
of the more difficult areas.
Here is the next squad mission you will take part in:
Crocogator Mission
This is the first mission, and will start automatically at some
point. No matter where you are and what you are doing, Jack will say
something about checking out Theater Vancoor and you be taken back
to there.
You will only have yourself and Jarvis for this mission. Daniel
refuses to go.
Like most missions, you will be told where to go and what to do. You
can usually talk to Thanos and get some hints as well. If you are
inside the city and use the map, it will show you which gate you
want to use. Once in the world, use the map to see the actual
destination.
Just go where the map tells you and do what Jarvis says, and you
should do fine. How much you get is supposed to be random, but I
have always gotten the low pay.
Once you have completed this mission, you should go to Morfin's
Clinic and talk to the sick kid. Keep this up if you want to recruit
everyone from the Olacion Order.
Once you are done with this mission, you can work on solo missions
with your party. Check with Thanos each time to see what is
available. Just remember to not sleep at Jack's house until there
are no more missions available, or you might miss some.
Even if you are going to take the non-human path, these missions are
a good way to get experience and money. You can have all non-humans
in your party, which means you can be building up your party before
the split.
[init-friends] Initial Friends List
Here are the characters you can recruit at the beginning of the game,
grouped by categories:
* Vancoor Theater <#init-vancoor>
* Olacion Order <#init-olacion>
* Vareth Institute <#init-vareth>
* Void Community <#init-void>
* Non-Guild Humans <#init-human>
* Non-Human Characters <#init-fairy>
Top of Page <#top>
[init-vancoor] Theater Vancoor Characters
If you want to recruit Elwen (the best fighter in the game), you have to
recruit the rest of Vancoor. (Make sure you take Nocturne's letter to
Gerald).
Aldo
Aldo is a book worm who is always looking for something to read.
Talk to him to find out he is looking for the Book of Faries.
You can find the Book of Fairies near the house in the Septem Region
located between the two houses just beyond the Septem Cave. The
monsters in this area are fairly strong, so you probably won't get
him until later in the game during your first play-through.
Bruce
Bruce is the character who runs the Theater Vancour infirmary. Talk
to him when your HP is less than 50%.
(You can get into a duel, and let the other person keep beating you
until you get under 50% before you finish them off, and go talk to
Bruce.)
After you recruit him, remember to talk to Miranda to get healed.
Carlos
Carlos is pounding his fist on the table in the lobby of Theater
Vancour. Talk to him and find out that he lost his contact lens.
Enter the Path of the Spider (sewer) through far-right cell in the
second basement of Theater Vancoor. Keep heading left, following the
water flow to find his contact, then give it to him.
While you are in the sewers, make sure you get the feathered
earring, which will allow you to walk much faster. This is great for
those of us who are too impatient to put up with Jack walking around
slowly.
Dennis
Talk to him in the Triton Locker Room between 8 and 11 AM or 6 and 8
PM. He will tell you about a flower that glows
Take the travel pig at night to near the City of Flowers and go left
to the end of the path to find the flower, then give it to him
before sunrise. (He will probably be just outside of the Lupus Gate
when you get back.)
Gene
Talk to his mother in the hotel just south of Theater Vancoor, and
then talk to him until he repeats himself. Do that for five
different days. (Talking to both his mother and him.)
Gregory
Talk to him to find out he wants some elvin wine.
Take the journey pig to Earth Valley and get the wine from the
bartender. (The one you helped out when a knight)
If you don't get to Earth Valley until after it is deserted, then
you can take a bottle from the nearby store left of the bar. You can
find a bottle on the shelf to the right of the doorway.
*Note: * Don't wait too long to complete this mission, or the wine
will no longer be available. You won't be able to recruit Elwen if
that happens.
Paul
Paul is the guy who beat Lord Star during the Knight Trials. Talk to
him with a female in your party. (Non-human females work fine.)
Rolec
Go into the bathroom when he is there. He should be standing in
front of the mirror. Kick him, and he will join you (without having
to duel him).
Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
Top of Page <#top>
[init-olacion] Olacion Order Characters
If you want to recruit Kain (the best healer in the game), you will need
to recruit everyone from the Olacion Order.
Clive
Clive automatically joins your party by signing your friends list.
Cosmo
You have to be level 10 to recruit him.
Talk to him and he should join.
Edgar
Talk to him when he is washing windows outside the Olacion building
(between 2 and 5pm) to find out he wants Fernando's old belt.
Enter Fernando's room and kick the waste basket to find the belt.
Ask Fernando and he will tell you to keep it, then give the belt to
Edgar
Once Edgar tells you about the belt, don't wait too long before you
get it. Supposedly, the trash might get emptied if you wait too long.
Eugene
Catch him drinking in the pub between 8pm and 2am. Keep talking to
him until he joins.
Flora
Talk to her to find out her father's picture is missing
Talk to Synellia, the receptionist at the Morfin Clinic until she
gives you the picture. (She should be looking at the picture.) Give
the picture to Flora
Lulu
Talk to her to find out that her cat is missing.
The correct cat is at the end of the path to the Void Community, on
the trash heap that Zeranium checks each day. You will see a bunch
of cats, but when you take most of them back to her, she will
complain that it isn't the right one. Just ignore all the others.
If you check the sign near the Inn south of Theater Vancoor at
different times, you will see it changes depending on where you are
on this quest. (See *Signs and Posters* in Easter Eggs and Silly
Things <#easter> for more info.)
Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
Top of Page <#top>
[init-vareth] Vareth Magic Institute
If you want to recruit Nyx, you will need to recruit the heads of all
the other guilds, which means all of their members. You can't recruit
Curtis (the head) until all the other characters have joined. If you
don't care about getting Nyx, then you may not care about recruiting
Curtis, either.
Aidan
If you want to recruit Cecil, you need to recruit Aidan early and
keep him in your party until he reaches level 32.
To recruit Aidan, just talk to him. If that doesn't work, recruit a
few more people and try again.
Cecil
Talk to him with Aidan in the party at level 32 or greater
Christoph
Get 5 Gobpakken Seeds and 5 Pointura Threads. (The seeds come from
plants near the City of Flowers, and the threads come from the
spiders near the Dark Elf area.
Talk to them when they are alone in their room (between 11am and
2pm), and agree to give them the items.
Keep talking to Christoph until he joins, then talk to Jill (see Jill)
Claudia
To recruit her, you need to get a Blood Orc's horn. You can get
these later in the game from Fire Mountain, but you can also get
them during the training exercises for the axe. Blook Orc Horns
don't carry across between games. If you also want to recruit Zida,
make sure you show him the horn first, since Claudia will take it
from you.
Talk to her in the bottom room of the Moon Tower between 5pm and
7pm. The first time, give her the horn, then return three nights.
Each time you return, talk to the large glass tube (that originally
read "Caution Do Not Touch") The first night, the body will twitch,
the next night it will say "Clau", and finally "Claudia".
(Apparently it is the body of her boyfriend who was killed.)
Cornelia / Rachel
This is a very interesting character. During the day, she is a very
young girl, but in the evening, she is a sexy night club singer.
Once you have recruited her, her name will appear where Cornelia
should be, but during the evening hours it will read "Rachel". If
you have her in your party, she fights as a little girl during the
day, and as Rachel during the night.
Talk to her when she changes personalities to the right of the
lottery booth in the Void Community. You have to be talking to her
when she does the actual change, not before or after, so keep
mashing the circle button until you see her change.
Ernest
Talk to him and lend him "Earth Valley" or probably any other upbeat
record.
Talk to him the next day to get your record back and to recruit him
Faraus
Talk to him in the infirmary at the Vareth Magic Institute between
4am and 2pm or 7pm and 10pm to find out he left his medical text at
the Olacian Order.
Talk to Kain to get the book, then return the book to Faraus
Jill
After Christoph joins, talk to Jill, who will also join.
Johan
Talk to him on five different days until he repeats himself. He will
tell you big lies each time, but then finally will join you.
Marietta
Go to the bottom door in the Vareth Institute's Star Tower. You will
see a bunch of boxes and somebody calling for help. Just keep
clicking "X" and she will join.
Morgan
Contrary to the Official Strategy Guide, you must be level 32. You
will need 43,000 gold to finally get her, but you can start with
"only" 1,000, followed by 3,000, then 9,000, and finally 30,000. You
need to talk to her when she is in her lab in the tower, between
11:30AM and 5:30PM.
Talk to her and she will complain about needing money and ask you
for a donation of 1,000. Come back on a second day and she will ask
you for 3,000. The third day she will ask for 9,000, and then
finally 30,000. She might not ask if you don't have enough, so if
that ever happens, go out and make some more money.
You don't have to do this four days in a row. If it takes you a few
days to get enough money for your next payment, that isn't a problem.
Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
Top of Page <#top>
[init-void] Void Community
If you want to recruit Nyx, you need to recruit everyone in the Void
Community (as well as all the other guild leaders)
Alba
He is a decent fighter, and fairly easy to recruit, although it
takes two days.
Talk to him each day until he challenges you to a fight. Defeat him
on another day. You can fight him just before midnight, then wait a
few minutes and fight him shortly after midnight.
Butch
Talk to him with Golye in your party
Golye
Talk to him in the Void Community Casino (between 9pm and 3am) until
he fights you. Defeat him and he will join.
Jared
Talk to him in the Void bar between 8 am and noon. Keep talking
(actually, listening) until he joins.
Lily
You have to be level 22 to recruit her. She is an excellent fighter,
so even if you don't want to recruit Nyx, she is worth recruiting. I
had her in my party from the start, and by the end of the game when
it was Jack, Lily, Elwen, and Kain, Lily not only held her own, but
actually dealt the final kill every so often.
Wait outside the chapel / devotional room in the sewer beneath
Theater Vancoor. (Follow Elwen or Alicia into the sewers to find it.
Elwen enters the sewers around 8am, so you can follow her the day
you want to recruit Lily.)
When Elwen is sitting inside the room, Lily will crouch just outside
from 1-3pm (this is at the base of the stairs, just outside the
room). Keep talking to her until she fights you and loses. (A
kicking duel won't count, nor will talking to her at any other place)
Pinky
Pinky is the watchman outside of the Void club. Kick him when he is
sleeping there between 9pm and 7am.
Solo
Talk to Felix in the Vareth Magical Institute Library between 10am
and 3pm. (He is the feminine looking person facing you on the left
under the stacks.) He tells you that somebody has been stalking him.
Solo is hiding near the stairs going up to the stacks. Talk to him
and tell him Felix is a guy, not a girl. He will join you.
Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
Top of Page <#top>
[init-human] Non-Guild Humans
The only reasons to recruit these characters are either for a skill or
because you want to recruit all possible characters (which will let you
see a "special" picture on the Friends List.)
In some ways, these are the hardest characters to recruit. This is
because of the small window of opportunity to contact them. In some
cases, you can only talk to them for the brief time they walk from their
house to their fields, and then when they come home for dinner. These
periods can be as short as a few seconds that you have to talk to the
character.
Dan
Talk to him in the Void kitchen (in the back of the bar) to find out
about a soup recipe. (He is there from 4pm until 9am.)
Go to Tria village and ask the elder's wife for the recipe, then
return it to Dan
Garcia, Bran, Wal
Talk to Garcia outside the house just past Septem Cave between
7-10am or 5-10pm. He will mention his two friends are missing and
wonders if they are in the cave.
Enter the cave, find the two men, and fight the moster. (You might
as well finish your trip through the cave, it is a great place to
level up.)
Talk to the three of them when they are outside their house. Talk to
Garcia first, and then the other two until they all join.
Gonber
Pass through Tria Village and find a man splashing in the water.
Keep talking to him until you rescue him
Howard
Talk to him in Nuevo Village, just to the left of the houses, around
noon, or around 8pm. He will tell you he wants Tria Milk
Recruit Tarkin and get Tria Milk, then give it to Howard
Leban, Keaton, and Wyze
Talk to Tarkin in Tria Village and learn that Leban is late. Walk
east until you find him (just past the travel pig) surrounded by
monsters. Beat the monsters to recruit him.
Talk to Keaton after Leban has joined You might have to recruit
Tarkin before getting Keaton.
Talk to Wyze after Leban joins
Mook
Mook's house is on the road to Earth Valley where you fought the
Goblin Trio. Talk to him around 7am, noon, or 6pm to find out that a
monster has been bothering him.
Take the side path near his house to the end and beat the monster.
You should also open the chest for a Defense Berry.
Talk to Mook again, and he will join you.
Morfin
Talk to Morfin when he is in his clinic between midnight and 6am, or
around 10am. Agree to try his medicine.
Go through the same thing on another day, and he should join
I usually visit him after midnight, since there are less other
things to do then.
Nick
Nick is Bruce's son. Talk to him with Bruce in your party, and he
will join.
You can find Nick in Vancoor Square during the mornings, and with
Godwin and the other kids outside the Olacion Order Shrine. It is
usually easier to talk to him in the morning, since there are so
many kids close together in the afternoon, you have to keep moving
around until you are able to talk to any particular kid.
Sarval
Sarval is the guy feeding pigs in your home town. Talk to him and
find there are three piglets missing.
Find the pigs south of the Travel Pig, in your house, and north of
the town at the top of the steps on the road towards Tria Village.
Stefan
Stefan is a big fan of vegetables. Impress him with your knowledge
and he will join you. When he asks you questions, answer "yes", and
then "no".
The best time to catch him is 4-8pm to the right of the houses in
Nuevo Village. You can catch him when he first wakes up and goes to
the field around 7am, but that is much harder.
Sunset
Sunset is the little kid in your home town that runs around with a
butterfly net. Talk to him and he will join.
Synelia
She is the receptionist at the Morfin Clinic. Talk to her and take
the Radiata Quiz and answer three questions correctly in a row.
If you miss a question, you can take the quiz on a following day. If
you are in the middle of recruiting Flora, she won't ask you the
quiz. Come back after you are done recruiting Flora.
Tarkin
He is the dairy farmer in Tria Village
Talk to him in the barn and agree to get him some medicine. He is in
the barn from around 8am until 3pm, and then from 6-8pm.
Talk to Nask in the Waldo General Store to get the medicine. (The
store is near the gate south of the Olacion Order Shrine.)
Take the medicine back to Tarkin and he will join. If you ask him,
he will also give you some Tria Milk, which you can use to recruit
Howard.
Yack
Talk to him when you have a tsuchinoko dumpling. The easiest time is
when he leaves his house in Nuevo Village around 7am, or returns
around 10pm
I read someplace that you only need to have seen a Tsuchinoko, and
didn't need to have the dumpling.
Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
Top of Page <#top>
[init-fairy] Non-Human Characters
If you are going to choose the non-human path, you want to recruit these
characters as soon as possible so you can level them up. If you don't,
then when the split occurs, you will have a lot of weak characters to
work with. You can use them on any mission before the split, so there is
no real reason to go out of your way to recruit a human chacter unless
you need one of their skills.
The reverse is true if you will be choosing the human path. You will
want to recruit some of these characters for their skills your first
time through the game, but if you are going to choose the human path,
there is no other reason to recruit them.
Chatt
Talk to Chatt, and he will lead you on a wild goose chase.
Talk to Chatt in the brewrey and agree to drink
Talk to Clarence on a following day, who will tell you to talk to
Chatt. Go to the store room in the Elder's room and defeat the
"monster"
Hyann
Agree to gamble with him in the morning, making sure you have around
12,000 gold. Guess even or odd on each throw. If you win four times,
he will give you back your money and join you.
If you do this early in the game, even, even, even, odd seems to
work best. If you do it later, then four odds seems to work. The
best approach is to save the game, take the Travel Pig and talk to
him. If you lose too much, then reload the game and try again.
At other times, he does a lottery where you can buy a ticket. You
can't recruit him that way.
Lufa
The Official Strategy Guide claims that PolPo's soup will carry over
across games, so if you have done that, you can recruit her now.
See Defeat Gawain <#gawain2> for details on how to recruit her later
in the game.
Martinez
You have to be level 22, and have completed at least one solo mission.
Give him a record (you won't get it back, so buy one from Chic
Records), then talk to him on a following day.
Rika
Talk to her and take her music quiz. The Official Strategy Guide has
the questions and answers. If you don't have the guide, save the
game before you take the quiz, and reset it if you mess up.
Romaria
Beat her at a kicking duel and then talk to her until she joins. If
you are going to take the non-human path, recruit her as early as
possible and keep her in your party for all battles so she can level
up with you. She is the best non-human healer, and a very good fighter.
Santos
Talk to him with Martinez and Rika in your party
Zida
Talk to him in the cellar between 1-4pm, and show him a Gobpakken Seed.
Talk to him and show him a Blood Orc's Horn
*Note:* Zida won't keep the horn, but Claudia will. So, if you want
to use the same horn to recruit both characters, show the horn to
Zida first, and then give it to Claudia. (Of course, if you are
doing that, then you have ignored what I said about recruiting
people from both paths. ;^)
Initial Friends List <#init-friends>
Top of Page <#top>
[first] First Missions
Once you get back from the Crocogator mission, you will have some free
time on your hands. At various points during these missions, you will
see some cut scenes about Ganz. During this time, Flau and Rynka may not
be keeping their normal schedule, since they are part of the cut scenes.
You can take any (or all) of three missions:
A Masterpiece of Fantasy
(Pick Up Weapons from Earth Valley)
This is very simple and straight forward. Simply talk to the owner
of the weapons shop just across from the front door of Vancoor Theater.
Talk to Gregory before you leave, and you can work on recruiting him
at the same time.
Travel to Earth Valley and pick up the packages. Get the Elfin Wine
if you talked to Gregory. Return back to the weapons shop and give
him the packages.
Smilodon Fang
(Collect Smilodon Fang)
Go to the Ocho Region, follow the path until you see a bone arch.
Take the path under the arch and fight the tiger-like monster. I
seem to remember that one time I got a fang earlier on the path, but
you should at least be able to find one there.
Jack talks about coming back to make money. Don't bother, you can't
sell them. (Actually, you won't get them.)
This region is fairly tough, so if you haven't leveled up much,
consider going to Septem Cave a couple of times first.
Beasts by the Bridge
(Monsters at the Bridge)
You will battle a king snake and some trees. Take out the trees
first, and then the snake.
You must accept this mission to recruit Elef, Hip, and Ryan, who are
non-guild humans. Talk to these guys after the mission is over, and
keep checking in with them every so often. You will eventually get
asked to find some plans for them, which is explained later.
You probably want to do these missions in the above order, since the
first one doesn't involve any fighting, and the third is probably harder
than the second. Avoid going to your house during the day to prevent the
game from progressing before you are ready. Enter your house after 9pm
and leave before 8am to save your game. Remember not to sleep until you
are ready.
If you go to the top floor of the Morfin Clinic, you will see a sick kid
on a bed. Talk to him, and he asks you to come back again and tell him
stories. The stories he wants to hear are the Crocogator mission, the
Smilodon Fang mission, and the Rats in the Vareth Institute mission
(which won't happen for a bit.) These stories are a critical part of
recruiting his sisters Adina and Elena, who are from the Olacion Order.
Having gone on your own mission opens up a few more recruits, or at
least you can start recruiting them.
Anastasia (Olacion Order)
Talk to Anastasia in her room between 2-9pm to find out a key is
missing. If she doesn't, make sure you have 10,000 gold and try again.
Talk to Lulu who admits she threw it out
Talk to Zeranium (the garbage picker) to find out that he sold it to
Thyme at the Faid General Store. (This is the first store in the
Void District, behind the lottery.)
Buy it from the store for 10,000 gold and return it to Anastasia.
This will let you get into her treasury, but I can't figure out
anything you can do in there.
Dwight (Olacion Order)
Enter the confessional (the small door at the end of the hallway in
the Olacion order where Dwight and Anastasia are located) between
6-10pm, and listen to Dwight confess to stealing the proceeds. (You
have to enter the confessional during that time. You can't be wating
inside or it won't trigger the event.)
Exit the Olacion Order using the nearby door, turn east to the next
screen and enter the large door to catch Dwight in the confessional.
Keep talking to him until he joins.
Grant (Olacion Order)
After the Smilodon Mission, talk to Grant, who will ask you to
deliver some church bulletins to the Void Community
Deliver them to the people who run the Mysterious Creatures Inn,
Dead End Armory, Chic Records, the bar at Club Vampire, and the
casino at Club Vampire.
Return and talk to Grant until he joins
Elef, Hip, and Ryan (Non-Guild Humans)
Accept the mission to defeat the beasts on the bridge. If you don't
do this, you won't be able to get these characters, who are the
workmen on the bridge.
Keep checking back at the bridge between missions until they
complain about needing their spare set of blueprints.
Get the blueprints from the inn south of the Olacion Order Shrine
(right behind the lottery stand.)
This recruitment will continue later, after the Large Man in Vancoor
Square <#square>
To continue the game, enter your room during the day. Yuri will wake
Jack up from a nap and take him to Vancoor Square. Defeat Sheila, and
then return to Theater Vancoor to continue the game. This will open up a
new mission concerning the rats in the magic institute (which is the
final story for the sick kid.) Leave a space open in your party, since
Daniel will automatically join you once you get there.
Elena
After you have told the sick kid all three stories, talk to Elena
(his sister) and she will join
Adina
Speak to Adina with Elena in your party and she will join
Walter (start)
You can start to recruit Walter at this point, but you won't be able
to finish until after the split.
Talk to Walter (he leaves his house in Vancoor Square at 6:45) and
he will ask you to look for his wife Sheila if you ever get into the
castle. Tell him yes.
You won't be able to finish this until later on the human path
When you return to Theater Vancoor, you will be given a new mission with
Jarvis and Daniel. This will be your last mission with the Hecton Squad.
It is pretty straight forward: you are to escort the princess, who will
be kidnapped, and you have to find them. Look in the abandoned house
between the two gates near the Vareth Magic Institute and the Olacion
Order. You will see a healing spot and a blue save flag, so use them
both. There is a switch upstairs that will open a secret door on the
ground floor. When you are in the sewers, take time to explore and
collect the treasures that are available. When you are ready to progress
the game, look for a large hole in the wall, which is a sewer pipe, that
will take you to the Void Community. You get there by taking the "01"
exit from the second square room. When the mission is finally completed
(sort of), you will be made sergeant and have your own squad (i.e., your
own party).
Top of Page <#top>
[promotion] Jack's Promotion
Once you are promoted, you will no longer be dragged into any missions
with Jarvis and Daniel. This is much like the free-time missions your
took earlier, but it opens up a number of new recruits, since you are
more famous (and respected) now.
You should avoid Vancoor Square for a while, since that will trigger a
new event. If you talk to Thanos, he will mention a strange man there,
but ignore it for now. Also, stay away from your house during the day;
don't enter until after 9pm, and don't sleep there. (The only reason you
should ever sleep is when you want to force the game to progress.)
Here is who you can now recruit:
Gareth (Theater Vancoor)
Talk to him when training between 3-6am or 5-10pm. Defeat him and he
will join.
*Note: *When you regain control after the Link tutorial, you will be
in the training room with Gareth training, so recruit him right away.
Conrad (Theater Vancoor)
Talk to him, and he will join and give you 1,000 gold to buy better
clothes
Daniel (Theater Vancoor)
Talk to him
David (Theater Vancoor)
Talk to him and he will ask you to deliver a letter to Mint
Give the letter to Mint, who is just west of the house in the Septem
Region before 10am, and in Tria Village after 10am
Return to David and talk to him when he is not training until he joins
Eon (Void Community)
Talk to him in the Void Basement between 11pm and 3am. He will
mention his rats are sick, and wonder if Morfin can help
Talk to Morfin, who refers you to the Waldo General Store (which is
south of Morfin's clinic, near the gate.) (*Note:* This step is
optional.)
Talk to the owner of Waldo General Store to get rat meds.
Give the medicine to Eon and talk to him until he joins
Franklin(Vareth Magic Institute)
Talk to him with a female in your party
Gordon (Theater Vancoor)
Talk to him and defeat him
Iris (Void Community)
Talk to her and double her pay (you will pay her 40,000 gold)
She is expensive to recruit, but she attacks groups of enemies,
similar to a lance. If you are going to pick the human path, and
want to recruit Nyx, you will have to recruit her. The choice is
yours all the other times through the game.
Jarvis (Theater Vancoor), Giske (Non-Guild)
You can't be less than five levels below Jarvis. (Of course, I would
be really disappointed in you if you are more than five levels below
Jarvis.)
Make sure you have less than 5,000 gold. Buy the best armor and
equiment available, and if you still have money, buy berries at
Alkaico General Store in the Void Community. If you still have too
much, get some strong cure medicines until you come under 5,000 gold.
Talk to Giske (the bartender at Carl's pub) who asks you to collect
some tabs for him.
Talk to Jasmine in Sun Patty accessories (around the corner) who
will give you the money.
Talk to Jarvis who will ask for more time. Agree to give him more time.
*Note: *make sure you don't have more than 5,000 gold. Report back
to Giske. He will ask you to pay for Jarvis's tab. Since you don't
have 5,000 gold, you can't pay it right then.
Also, make sure you don't talk to Jarvis a second time, or he might
give you the money for his tab.
Go fight someplace to get at least 5,000 gold, and then give it to
Giske. This will let you recruit Giske.
Speak to Jarvis, who will figure out you paid his tab, and you will
recruit him.
*Note: * If you have already been told by Thanos about a strange man
in Vancoor Square, it will trigger a cut scene when you attempt to
go into Carl's Pub. Don't worry, you will still be able to recruit
Giske and Jarvis once the cut scenes are over.
Top of Page <#top>
[square] Large Man in Vancoor Square
When you want the game to progress, enter Vancoor Square, where you will
find a large man wandering about. The game will walk you through most of
this.
Once you have met this large man, you have a couple days before the next
part of the game will kick in. You can postpone this by not going into
your house during the day. Wait until at least 9pm before you enter the
house, and you can postpone the game from progressing. You can use this
trick to make sure you complete all the missions before the game moves on.
Be very careful about avoiding Jack's house during the day. If you mess
up, you could lose the opportunity to recruit Gerald, which in turn
means you won't be able to recruit Elwen and Nyx.
You will have these missions available:
Visit the Bridge that was being built
This isn't an official mission, but you should do this if you want
to recruit the builders.
They will ask you to fetch a copy of their blueprints. Their hotel
is right behind the lottery in the Olacion Order section (across
from the general store).
You can actually do this before this point in the game, but if you
haven't done it yet, now is an excellent time. ;^)
Visit Club Vampire
(aka Chains of Fate)
This is another "unofficial" mission, but you need to do it if you
want to recruit Gerald. If you don't trigger a cut scene, try again
later.
See the recruitment details for Gerald.
Creatures of the Sewer
If you have been exploring the sewers, you have probably wondered
what was the purpose of that large dead end area you get to from the
right door near the fountain area. It is for this boss fight.
This mission will allow you to recruit Tony.
Treasure of the Goblin Cemetery
The recruitment suit that you get at the end of this mission
continually heals you, which is a nice feature. It is also essential
for recruiting a few black goblins on the non-human path, so don't
skip this mission. (The black goblin area isn't available except on
the non-human path.)
When you first get to the green goblin area, you will get an
opportunity to recruit the Goblin Trio. When given the chance,
decide to let them go.
Before you go to the cemetery, I suggest you take the first left
branch to reach the Travel Pig. This will let you return here easily.
If you go past the Travel Pig, through the village, and across the
bridge towards fire mountain, you will be able to fight some flame
lizards once. They won't appear on subsequent visits. (Check out the
photo cut-out just before the bridge. See the Easter Egg section
<#easter> for more details.)
Shortly after you get back to the main path towards the cemetery,
you might see a yellow glow. If you do, stand near it and kick to
fight the Dagol Turtle, who will give you a lot of money. It isn't
there that often, so make a habit of looking for it each time you
are there.
Explore the various paths and look for treasures or use the map to
go directly to the cemetery. When you get the rainbow crystal, don't
sell it if you are taking the non-human path. You will need it to
recruit Row. If you are taking the human path, then you can sell it.
The Ultimate Battle
The first of two fun fights with the latest "ultimate weapon". If
you keep doing these challenges, you will get some nice armor, and
be able to recruit Ursula.
Gonovitch's Dilemma
If you wondered what that large empty area at the end of the dwarf
tunnels was for, it was for this boss fight. Use the lower entrance
for this mission, not the one you used earlier in the game. There
will be a dwarf at the cave entrance who will acknowledge you as the
person from Vancoor.
You can now (or soon be able to) recruit the following people:
* Theater Vancoor <#square-vancoor>
* Void Community <#square-void>
* Non-Guild Humans <#square-nonguild>
* Non-Humans <#square-fairy>
Top of Page <#top>
[square-vancoor] Theater Vancoor
Caesar
Talk to him in Vancoor Square when he is staring at the fountain
(between 6-11pm) with Gareth and Aldo in your party.
Gerald
*Note: * It is easy to miss Gerald, so make sure you start this
before the game progresses.
Enter the Vampire Club in the Void Community. This will trigger a
cut scene where Nocture will ask you to deliver a letter to Gerald.
It will be pretty obvious what to do, although you will gain control
of Jack a few times between the various cut scenes. You can use
these chances to go and save if you want.
Some time after Nocturne and Gerald fight it out, speak to Gerald,
who will tell you that if you can beat him he will join you. If you
lose, don't worry, you can try again (once per day)
One strategy I saw on the recruitment wiki was to poison Gerald and
then run around avoiding him until he dies from the poison. I don't
care for that approach, but you should at least be aware of it.
The method that I use is to equip "Full Power", which increases your
volty strength, and equip the Rune Sword, which has a side effect of
Petrify. Start the duel by hitting him with the sword. If you
paralyze him, that is great, keep hitting him until he becomes
unparalyzed. Lock onto him and use your volty.
If at any time, Gerald starts to sparkle, indicating that he will
soon use his volty, immediately equip the "Fierce Defense" skill and
use an herb to bring Jack to full HP. Then hold down the X button
and wait for his volty. If you are at 100% HP and your Fierce
Defense skill is up the whole way, you should have a few HP left
after Gerald's volty attack. Quickly feed Jack another herb to
restore his HP to max again.
Keep this up until you win.
Top of Page <#top>
[square-void] Void Community
Nocturne
Talk to him with Gerald in your party. Then defeat him in a duel.
Put Nocturne in the party and keep him there until you get the guild
leaders. The reason for this is that, besides being a very good
fighter, Nocturne steals items. You can build up quite a nice
inventory without having to spend any money.
Top of Page <#top>
[square-nonguild] Non-Guild Humans
Bligh
This is a pain since it is hard to catch him. The actual recruitment
is fairly easy, though. You can talk to Bligh when he first gets up
around 6am. He walks from his house directly to the field, so be
standing in the narrow passage way between the two houses. You can
also talk to him after he comes home for dinner, from 6-10pm.
Talk to Bligh and find out his pipe is missing.
Go to the Goblin Village, walk through the town, and fight Brie. If
you win, he will tell you he tossed it in the rubbish heap (which is
inside the town)
Find the pipe (it will be sparkling), and return it to Bligh.
Finish recruiting Elef, Ryan, Hip (Non-Guild Human)
You had to have accepted the mission to defeat the monsters at the
bridge.
You had to have gotten them the spare blueprints
Talk to them after the bridge is finished in their inn where you got
the blueprints.
Lyle
Talk to him with Conrad in your party.
Tony
Speak to him after you beat the boss in the sewers beneath Theater
Vancoor.
Top of Page <#top>
[square-fairy] Non-Humans
Aesop, Gob, and Monki (Goblin Trio)
When you first cross the bridge into the Goblin country, you will
meet them again. Beat them in a fight, and then decide to let them
go, and they will join you.
Ben
Kick him three times when he is sleeping (9am - 3pm). When he sits
up, talk to him. Answer "Sure" when asked, and then don't hit any
buttons until he joins you. He is inside the Goblin Town near the
fork in the path.
Brie
Apparently, Brie wants to be a mage.
First, you have to recruit Bligh,.
After Bligh has been recruited, talk to Brie with two mages in your
party (magicians from Vareth Institute). If you haven't been
recruiting any humans, Jill and Christoph are two easy mages to get,
since you probably have five seeds and threads by now.
Den
You will find him wandering around on the platforms above the Goblin
Town. Kick him a total of five times in one day.
Donkey
*Note: * You want to recruit him during your first pass through the
game so that you can get his "Absorb HP" skill.
Buy all his records and he will join you.
During subsequent games, just remove the records from the player and
have them in your inventory, so you don't have to buy them again.
Gabe
Gabe is a shop keeper in the Goblin Town. He will ask you to give
him some items (50 panic powder). Buy them and give them to him.
Gobrey
He is a ghost who is looking for a Tsuchinoko Dumpling. Give him one.
Golly
Golly is Donkey's biggest fan. Talk to him with Donkey in your party.
Gonn
Talk to him five times in one day. (They can be right after
another). The best way to do this is to talk to him when he is near
the chest to the right of where you recruited the Goblin Trio. He is
there between 5am and 5pm.
Goo
Talk to him when you have an empty bottle, and agree to give it to him.
Lin
Talk to him and he will ask you some questions. Answers are:
"Handsome", "Responsible", and "Sergeant Lin". (Honesty is not
always possible in RPG games. ;^)
Mason
Kick him three times, and then agree to play a game.
He has hidden three things, and gives you a peek at where they are.
If you have explored the area much, you should be able to recognize
the locations.
He moves pretty fast, so it is hard to chase him and kick him. You
might want to stand still and kick him each time he goes by rather
than trying to chase him. I found that standing on the narrow path
at the far right of his route worked best. It might take you a few
trys to get the timing down.
Top of Page <#top>
[birthday] Ridley's Birthday Party
When you are ready to progress the game, enter your house during the
daytime. You will get a visit from Leonard, who will give you an
invitation to Ridley's birthday party.
You will have a little bit of time before you will automatically go to
the castle. Hopefully, you have already done everything you could have
before this event.
After the party, you will be able to recruit two characters from the
Void Community:
Elmo
Talk to him and defeat him.
Joaquel
Talk to him shortly before midnight when he is guarding a door in
the basement of Club Vampire. Agree to guard the door while he goes
somewhere.
As soon as he leaves, enter the room and kick things until you find
the treasures, including a couple of berries.
Exit the room and talk to Joaquel, who will yell at you.
Wait until midnight passes and talk to Joaquel again. This time,
don't move until he comes back. He will then join you.
You will also have some new missions available, once you get another cut
scene with Genius and Ridley and Zane. (Remember to keep away from your
house during the day.)
Stone of Miracles
If you haven't already recruited Garcia, Wal, and Bran, now is a
good time to do it.
If you took my advice and have been visiting the Septem Cave often
to level up, things should go pretty easy for you. Even if you are
blinded by the monster, you will still be able to continue hitting it.
This mission will kick off some cut scenes once Jack returns the
stone to Kain.
Top Secret Mission
You will have to fight several robbers on your own. They look like
the ones near Earth Valley. If you have a spear equipped, this
battle will be much easier, provided you are using wide swings.
Go to Dwarf Valley with Donovitch
This isn't a normal mission. Once you are done with the above
missions, go to sleep at Jack's house to initiate this event.
Most of this is cut scenes, so sit back and watch. When it is over,
check with Thanos for a new mission.
Build that Body
If you aren't sure you can beat Achilles, then you should save
before you try this mission. (That means you should wait until dark
before you can save.)
This mission will allow you to recruit Vitas, Miranda, and Achilles.
It also opens the possibility of recruiting Rocky, who is an
optional character from the Olacion Order.
If you haven't talked to any of the characters before in this game,
Achilles will give a short bio of them, otherwise, they will just
say hello to each other.
After the training mission, you can start to recruit more people:
Achilles (Olacion)
If you beat all the monks during the training mission, you will have
to fight Achilles.
You won't be able to recruit Achilles yet. Wait until after the
meeting in the castle, and Kain will assign Achilles and Alvin to
assist you.
Beating Achilles will enable the duel with Rocky. The strategy guide
claims it won't be available until after you return from Wind
Valley, but I got it sooner. I don't remember exactly, but I'm
pretty sure it was after the split.
Vitas (Olacion)
Speak to her after the training mission when she is training in her
room (between 10am and 5pm). She will challenge you to a duel. Beat
her and she will join.
Alvin (Olacion)
After the meeting in the castle, speak to Kain, who will tell you
that Achilles and Alvin have been assigned to you. Then speak to Alvin.
Miranda (Olacion)
After the training mission, talk to Miranda when you are less than
100% HP so she can heal you. Do that on four separate days, and she
will join. (You can kick somebody in the area and let them do some
damage before you beat them. You could even duel Miranda, but I
could never bring myelf to do that.)
As soon as you recruit Miranda, put her in your party in place of
Flora. There are two reasons for this:
* Miranda is a better healer than Flora
* You need to get Miranda up to level 35 in order to recruit Godwin
Once you are done doing everything you want, you can enter Jack's house
during the day to progress the game.
Top of Page <#top>
[split] Jack's Choice - Human or Non-Human Path
If you enter Jack's house during the day, the game will progress. This
will be the set-up for a major decision: which path will you take in the
game. You will get an invitation to go to the castle that evening. You
have until around 7pm before things kick in automatically. You will be
back in your room, deciding to leave for the castle. Before you leave,
Ridley will show up and tell you she is going to the City of Flowers.
This is where you decide whether you will take the Human Path (Go to the
Castle), or the Non-Human Path (Follow Ridley). I recommend taking the
Human Path the first time through the game, and then the Non-Human path
the second time.
If you are thinking of saving the game someplace else, and then
reloading it to take the other path, don't. The only way you get credit
for recruiting all characters will be to start a new game using an
already completed game. For the second game, you will start out with all
your money, all your skills, and some of your items. This will make it
much easier to get through it the second time around.
In this walk through, the Human Path is presented first, followed by the
Non-Human Path.
Top of Page <#top>
[path-human] Human Path
* Meeting at Castle <#castle>
* Leave for Wind Valley <#leavewind>
* Wind Valley <#windvalley>
* Duel Gawain <#duel>
* Meet with Dynas <#dynas>
* Meet Genius in the Sewers <#genius>
* Ganz's Letter <#ganz>
* Fight at Lupus Gate <#lupus>
* End of the World <#end-human>
This part of the game is only available after the split, and only if you
chose to go to the castle rather than follow Ridley.
Any non-human characters that you previously recruited in this game will
no longer become available for missions. They will still remain in your
friends list in the menu section, but not on the list next to Thanos in
Theater Vancoor.
Top of Page <#top>
[castle] Meeting at Castle
If you chose to go to the castle, you will show up for a strategy
meeting. After a series of cut scenes, you will gain control outside of
the castle. Make sure you don't sleep at Jack's house until you are
ready to progress to the next part of the game.
You are now free to recruit some more characters, buy new weapons, etc.
If you are short of money, just buy the weapons instead of the armor.
You will be getting two sets of new armor for free shortly.
Once you are done recruiting who is available, you might consider
leveling up some of the new characters. On the other hand, if you have
been leveling up a lot, it will take a long time to raise the new
characters to the current level of your party. Since will you probably
be replacing them with the guild leaders eventually, you might want to
keep that in mind.
Thanos will tell you about a guy in Carl's Pub who turns out to be Jasne
crying about Ridley leaving. You should visit Kain, Ortoroz, and Ray C.
Ross (who is the owl in the president's office of the Vareth Institute).
Each of them will assign two members to work with you. You should
recruit them at this time, along with some additional characters that
are now available:
Achilles (Olacion)
Speak to him after you speak with Kain.
Adele (Non-Guild)
You can't recruit her yet, but make sure you talk to her if you want
to recruit her later.
Alicia (Vancoor)
Talk to Elwen when she is at the shrine in the sewer (from noon to
3pm.)
Talk to Alicia in the shrine (between 10 and 11pm.)
Alvin
Speak to him after you speak to Kain.
Godwin (Olacion)
Talk to him with Miranda in your party at level 35 or better.
Fernando (Olacion)
After you recruit Godwin, you should be able to recruit Fernando,
assuming you recruited everyone else that you could.
You need to have recruited Fernando's people, which is basically
everyone on the right side of the Olacion Shrine. They were probably
recruited in the following order: Edgar, Flora, Achilles, Vitas,
Miranda, Alvin, and Godwin.
Kain (Olacion)
If you have recruited everyone in the Olacion Order (except perhaps
Rocky), talk to Kain. He will thank you for pulling the members
together, and join you.
Derek (Vareth)
Speak to him after being told he will work with you.
Felix (Vareth)
He is another character from the Vareth Institute that will be
assigned to you. Talk to him and he will join.
Herz (Void)
If you read the sign in the Void Community area, you know that Herz
is a master of disguise. You have probably encountered her several
times in one of her disguises. To recruit her, you have to uncover
them by talking to her with the real character in your party. You
can do this in any order, but each time has to be on a different day.
* Go into Blade Pharmacy (near your house) between 4 and 6pm
with Conrad in your party.
* Go into Verontier Armory (in Vancoor Square) between 7-8pm
with Caesar in your party.
* Go into Carl's Pub with Alicia in your party between 8pm and 2am.
Just for fun, before you reveal her disguises, go into these stores
during those times. If you stand outside before the start time, you
will see Herz going into the store, then go inside and you will see
the disguised character. If you are standing inside the store when
she enters, you will see the disguised character enter. In other
words, she magically changes characters while entering the store.
If you remember, during the very beginning of the game, when you got
kicked out of the Knights, and went into Carl's Pub with Ganz, you
saw Alicia there. It was really Herz.
After you have discovered her disguise, when she goes into the
store, she stays as herself.
Interlude (Void)
Talk to him after he is assigned to you. Keep talking until he duels
you. After you beat him, keep talking until he joins.
*Note: * Make sure you keep talking to him. The first time I played
this game, I stopped after the duel, thinking he had joined. It
wasn't until I was most of the way through the non-human path before
I discovered he was not on my friends list.
Ortoroz (Void)
Talk to him and he will ask you to find some meteorite fragments.
There are four of them, and they can only be found between midnight
and 6am. Don't be standing in the area before midnight, or it may
not be there. If that happens, try leaving the area and coming back.
If you have the feathered earring equipped, you can get all four
fragments during a single trip.
Sonata (Void)
He plays hide and seek with you. Talk to him, and he flies off. Find
him and talk to him again. You will eventually recruit him. He will
be on the bridges outside of the following gates: Heliforde,
Echinda, and Lupus Gate.
Top of Page <#top>
[leavewind] Leave for Wind Valley
When you are ready to progress the game, sleep at Jack's house. You will
not be able to leave Radiata City by any other gate until you return
from Wind Valley, so make sure you've done everything you need before
this. You will see some cut scenes with Ganz, Flau, and Rynka, and then
Al will wake you up and tell you about Wind Valley.
When you wake up, some new missions will be available. You can do them
either before or after your trip to Wind Valley. I like to do them
before since both missions give me some nice armor that can come in
handy. Before you leave, read the note on recruiting Dynas in the next
section.
Here are the missions that are available to you:
Please Stop Lord Star
This mission will allow you to recruit Lord Star and Sebestian, and
get some armor that will prevent all status afflictions. Complete
this mission before the battle golem and it can help you with that
fight.
The Real Ultimate Battle
This mission will allow you to recruit Ursula
Instead of getting paid, you will get some new armor that resists
all status afflictions. Personally, I think this is the best armor
available; it has decent defense, and the lack of all status
ailments more than makes up for anything else. If you are taking
damage, equip the Auto Cure skill, and you should be fine.
Here is how to recruit those characters:
Star (Vancoor)
After the mission, talk to him.
Sebastian (Non-Guild)
Talk to him with Star in your party.
Ursula (Vareth)
Talk to her after the mission. (That would be after you reported
back to Thanos, not just after the battle)
Top of Page <#top>
[windvalley] Wind Valley
You can fight the fake transporters for experience, collect the various
treasures, or go directly to the Wind Dragon.
The Strategy Guide has a map that can show you which are real and which
are monsters. There might also be a map available from gamefaqs, but you
really don't need any maps to tell the difference. If you approach a
real transporter, the camera will turn to show you where you will be
blown across to. If you approach a fake transporter, this doesn't
happen. Kicking a real transporter will send you to another spot;
kicking a fake transporter will start a battle.
Read the notes about recruiting Dynas before you approach the back area
with the Wind Dragon. I never had any problems with the Wind Dragon,
even with only three in my party. Remember, however, that I tend to
level up a lot, so if you don't do that, you might want to be more careful.
Dynas (Non-Guild)
If you have an empty place in your party, Dynas will join you for
the start of the battle (which will add him to you Friends List). He
will be defeated before the second half, so if you already have
recruited him from a previous game, you probably don't want to keep
a space open for him.
Top of Page <#top>
[duel] Duel Gawain
After the Wind Dragon has been defeated, you will get some cut scenes
and end up near Fort Helencia, where you will encounter Sir Gawain. You
won't be able to win this battle, so don't worry about it.
Next will be some more cut scenes where Jack is in the Castle Infirmary.
After this will be a touching cut scene with Ganz and Cody. When its all
over, you will gain control of Jack outside of the castle.
When you get back from Wind Valley, you can do the previous missions if
you decided not to do them before. You will also have some new missions
available:
Letter of Defiance
This mission will allow you to recruit Rocky. (The strategy guide
claims you can get this after the duel with Gawain, but I got it
after the monk training mission.)
Even though Rocky is part of the Olacion Order, you don't need to
recruit him in order to get Kain.
Alien Monster
(Algandars Castle, which is on the back road past Septem Cave)
This will allow you to recruit Ardoph and Dimitri, and get the Demon
Armor, as well as the Book of Angels that Leona is looking for.
The Demon Mail has a very high defense, but continually drains Jack
of HP. Personally, I don't care for it, but others think it is
great. If you wear it, then you should either have Auto Cure
equipped or have the healer concentrate on healing you.
Here are the characters you can recruit at this time:
Adele (Non-Guild)
You can't recruit her yet, but make sure you talk to her if you plan
to recruit her later.
Ardoph (Vareth)
Talk to him after you get back from Algandars Castle
Dimitri (Vareth)
Talk to him after you get back from Algandars Castle
Leona (Vareth)
Talk to her in the Vareth Institute Library (noon-7pm) and find out
she is looking for a book. Check with the librarian who tells you
Aldo has it checked out. Talk to him and give it to her. (You can do
this step earlier in the game.)
Next she is looking for the Book of Angels (that you got from the
Algandars Castle) Give it to her and she will join.
Rocky (Olacion)
*Note: *Rocky doesn't have to be recruited in order to get Kain.
Go to the lake north west of the Dark Elves' place. You can take the
Travel Pig, go east, and then south west when you get a chance. Talk
to Rocky and defeat him.
After your first fight, talk to Rocky near the ruins beyond Septem
Cave (the same place where you got the meteorite and/or tsuchinoko),
and he will join.
Top of Page <#top>
[dynas] Meet with Dynas
When you are ready to progress the game, sleep at Jack's house. You will
be invited to meet with Dynas. Then you will meet the large man from
Vancoor Square again, who wants you to help him get into the castle.
(Great timing, huh?) Go to the castle for the meeting, watch the movies,
and you will gain control outside of the castle when the meeting is over.
At this point, you will be allowed to enter the castle. This means you
can recruit some new characters, and finish recruiting Walter. Remember
that you need Walter if you want to get Elwen; the rest of these
characters are optional, and you only need them if you want to recruit
all available characters. If you have already done that in a previous
game, you probably don't want to bother with any of them except for
talking to Sheila in the prison. You should probably go right back
inside the castle and recruit the following.
Astor (Non-Guild)
He is the cook of the castle, and remembers when he cooked for your
father. Talk to him and he will join. You can talk to him across the
counter when he is in the kitchen, or while he is walking in the halls.
Charlie (Radiata)
Talk to him. Put him in your party with Nina and watch how the two
behave the same.
Nina (Radiata)
Talk to her while she is training and agree to duel. Do this again
on a following day and she will join.
Patrick (Radiata)
Catch him drinking in the dungeon watchroom around 8pm and promise
not to tell. (If he isn't drinking when you go in, go back out and
try again.)
When done, go next door and recruit Putt.
Putt (Radiata)
Catch him sleeping one room to the right of Patrick around 9pm and
promise not to tell.
The Official Strategy Guide claims he is in the watchman's room, but
he is actually in the next room.
Walter (Vancoor)
After recruiting Patrick and Putt, find Sheila's cell and talk to her
Talk to Walter to give him Sheila's message.
Zeranium (Non-Guild)
Talk to Lord Larks until he tells you about a former fighter. The
easiest way to find him is around 8am in the audience chamber.
Talk to Zeranium until he joins.
If you sleep twice at Jack's place, you will be ready to leave for Fire
Mountain. There will be some cut scenes, of course, so sit back and take
note. If you look at the face of the fire dragon when he takes off, you
might notice a resemblence to a previous character. You will have to
travel through the Goblin town, so either avoid the goblins or fight
them for experience. (You will have to fight some, but there are others
you can avoid.) The map in the strategy guide doesn't show it, but there
is a recovery circle at the north east section of the first area of Fire
Mountain.
There are two areas to Fire Mountain. In the first area, rocks will rise
and fall periodically. This means that you can't move forward or back
for a certain period of time. If you get to a ledge, wait a few seconds
to see if a passage opens up. If you are on a section that goes up and
down, it won't go down as long as you are standing on it.
If you didn't get the Blood Orc's Horn earlier using the training
method, here is where you can find one. You will see a Blood Orc on a
side path as you first enter, and there is another one on top of a
vine/branch at the west end of the first area. Once you enter into the
second area (climb down a vine at the north west corner of the first
area), you will find some more.
When you get close to the Fire Dragon's home, a cut scene will take
over. Also, after you beat the Fire Dragon, you will automatically be
taken back to the castle. This means you want to come back later and
open a couple of chests that you couldn't get on your first trip.
Top of Page <#top>
[genius] Meet Genius in the Sewers
A new mission will be available concerning the sewers again. Be very
careful before you take on this mission. It will trigger two events:
Ganz's Letter, and the Fireworks Date. If you don't want either of them
to kick in, you should avoid finishing the mission.
If you wondered about the shrine that Elwen and Alicia visit every day,
there is another strange thing down there. Head there, but this time you
will see a cut scene when you get to the square room. It appears that
the original builders of the city constructed some things down there.
Genius will show you some strange paintings and explain a few things. He
is trying to figure some things out, but is stumped. You will actually
give Genius a clue to solving his riddle.
When the cut scenes are done, you will be outside of the place where
Genius is staying. Go back inside and talk to him to recruit him.
Once the mission is complete, you can recruit the following:
Genius (Vareth)
When the cut scene is over, go back in and talk to him.
Curtis (Vareth)
Genius should finish out the Vareth Institute. If you recruited
everyone else, talk to Curtis in the Observatory from noon to 9pm.
Thanos (Vancoor)
If you completed all missions and reported back to him, he should
join you at this point.
Elwen (Vancoor)
Thanos should complete recruitment of Theater Vancoor. Talk to Elwen
and beat her in a duel. If you lose, you can try on another day (for
as many days as you need)
Since Elwen has King of Day, fight her at night.
Nyx (Void)
Talk to him with Curtis, Kain, and Elwen in your party, then beat
him in a duel. (I'm not sure what happens if you lose, so save
before you fight him.)
Since Nyx has King of Night, you should fight him during the day.
If you haven't met Nyx yet, talk to Ortoroz after you completed the
mission to find meteorite fragments. He will eventually take you in
to meet Nyx. Once this is done, you can go in there any time.
Top of Page <#top>
[ganz] Ganz's Letter
At this point, the Blood Orc homeworld is accessible. That is a great
place to level up if you need to. That is the area next to the Ocho
region. If you tried to go there earlier in the game, Jack would stop
and say something about coming back later. This is later. None of the
other new areas that you visit from the non-human path are available.
If you haven't done the non-human path, near the Travel Pig is a rock
with a rope hanging down. Use it to descend to the Orc Caves. One of the
things you can get there is a Kings Toadstool, which isn't of use
(except you can sell it), but it is used to recruit some black goblins
on the non-human path. It doesn't carry over between games, but I have
been told that if you sell it to the first store in the Void Community,
it will be available for sale during the next game. This will let you
recruit one black goblin early, but you actually need more than one to
recruit all the black goblins. Maybe you can sell the store more than
one, or maybe more than one store will have it for sale during the next
game, which could help.
If you sleep at Jack's house, you will receive a letter from Ganz,
followed by some other cut scenes. The following new characters will
then be available:
Flau (Void)
Talk to her.
Rynka (Void)
Talk to Cody and he will tell you he lost his mother's necklace
Find the neclkace in the Path to the Beast Pit (in the corner near
where Rynka hangs out.) and give it to Cody
Talk to Rynka, who will thank you.
Talk to Rynka on another day, and she will ask you if you know what
Cody (her son) wants for his birthday.
Talk to Cody in the Levante Store in the morning (7-10am). He will
tell you he wants one of the swords there.
Talk to Rynka, and she will admit that she would rather not buy him
a sword
Talk to Cody at least a day later.
Talk to Rynka until she joins
If you then pass your mailbox (possibly a day later), you will notice a
letter inviting you to the fireworks. This is a cut scene type event.
The person you will be watching the fireworks with depends on which
female has been in your party the most. (For this date, Charlie counts
as a female.) Obviously, this only includes the characters you could
have recruited by this point in the game (so, for example, Natalie isn't
available). Not all females are listed in the strategy guide (Elwen
isn't, for example.) See the separate section on the Fireworks Date
<#fireworks>.
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[lupus] Fight at Lupus Gate
If you sleep, you will set in motion a number of cut scenes, ending in a
battle at Lupus Gate. You are going to have to do two battles in a row,
so you might want to save your volty for the second fight (or equip
"Save Volty" so you don't use it all up on the first attack.)
When all the cut scenes are over, you are standing outside of Lupus
Gate. You probably want to go back and save before you start the end of
the game.
At this point you can recruit two more characters:
Natalie (Radiata)
Talk to her
Leonard (Radiata)
Talk to him with Natalie in your party
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[end-human] End of the World
Leave the Lupus Gate and make your way to the Ocho Region. There will be
orcs guarding that area. Follow the main path to the end of the area,
and you will be in the Desneuf Region. The really nice thing is that
there is a Travel Pig there, so coming back will be much easier.
Adele (Non-Guild)
You can't recruit Adele until after your final duel with Gawain and
you enter the End of the World.
Keep talking to her until she joins. She is pretty weak, so I'm not
sure you will be able to use her, since it is so late in the game.
But, if you want to recruit all the characters, it only takes a
Travel pig to the Tria Area.
The idea was that you were to talk to her after a number of events
and tell her what has been going on. The first time I played this
game, I never talked to her much during the actual game, and Jack
kept telling her all the things that had happened, one after
another. At other times, she didn't join, so you have some freedom
when recruiting her, but don't push your luck.
The City of White Nights is a series of ladders and sand falls,
something like chutes and ladders. Some ladders will take you to the
next level, while others will break and drop you down to some level
below. Likewise, if you walk into a sand spill, you will get knocked
down a level or two. Walk slow to avoid them. They only flow for a short
time, and then you can move past them. As you saw when you first
entered, the path is actually circular, so if you move off the right
side of any map you are using, will you be located somewhere on the left
side.
The Strategy Guide has a map with one glaring omission (well, several,
but one that will seriously impact you if you are using it.) Around the
first blue arrow indicating falling from a broken ladder above you is a
sand spill that isn't indicated in the map. The first couple times I
kept forgetting and kept getting knocked off. I then had to figure out
where I was and continue from there.
Actually, you want to get knocked off at a certain place so that you can
move to the next area. The only way to get from the entrance area to the
final boss is to drop down to a different level at some point. The
gamefaqs website has a map that has some stuff missing, but will show
you some things that aren't on the map in the Strategy Guide. I will
provide instructions on how to get all the treasures, since there really
isn't any good map that I know of for this area. Walk slowly so you can
see the sand falls, otherwise you will fall off and probably have
trouble figuring out where you are and how to get back.
When you enter the actual area, walk up the only ladder, and head right.
Ignore the first ladder and then walk slowly (avoiding the sand fall) so
you can go up the second. Work your way to the top to find a Tsuchinoko
Dumpling. Go left, up, right, up, left, up, and left, up for the
dumpling. The dumpling is at the left end of the top level, even though
the Strategy Guide claims otherwise. (Remember that they will carry over
between games, so even if you don't think you need it, you can save it
for a later game.
Go back down four levels, then travel to the far right and go up the
last ladder. To the left of you should be a healing spot that isn't in
the Strategy Guide map. At this point, you want to fall down to a lower
level. The first ladder to your right will collapse. Climb it and you
will fall down a few levels, or walk a few more steps and let the sand
fall take you to the same place.
The Falvern is at the far right of the current level. Walk slowly, but
if you get knocked down to the next level, you can take either ladder
back up. You will have a small fight when you open the trunk, but you
get experience and gold when it is over, followed by the sword. Equip
the sword, since it has a higher attack power (127) than what you
probably have, plus a side effect of death, and a CP of 15, which is
very handy.
The remaining sections have lots of sand falls, so make sure you walk
slowly to avoid them. If you mess up, then hunt around until you find
the healing point or the empty chest for the Falvern to get your bearings.
From the Falvern chest, head back to your left, ignoring the first two
up ladders, and avoiding the sand fall, then go up the third (or fourth)
ladder. Go right (watch for a sand fall), up, right, up, left, up, left,
up, right, up. It isn't as confusing as it sounds, since in many cases
there is only one ladder going up.
You will be standing on a platform where you can go either left or
right. If you don't want to Monk Bangle, skip to the next paragraph. If
you want the Monk Bangle, go right and take the second ladder up, and to
the far right (watch for a sand fall) for the chest. After you get the
bangle, head left (again, watch for the sand fall), down, and then left
until you get to the first down ladder (watching for a sand fall), which
will bring you back to where you started. (Don't go down the ladder).
Move left (avoiding the sand fall) and up the first ladder, you can see
the stairs, but read the next few sentences before you move. By this
time, you might have developed a bad habit of standing close to a sand
fall, then running across the area when it stops. Don't do that here.
There are two sand falls right in a row. Walk left, wait until the first
one stops, then walk through the area and stand just to the left of the
first sand fall. Wait until the second one finishes before you move on.
The first one is right when you get to the top of the ladder. You will
be standing between two sand falls if you do it right. When the left one
finishes, go left and up the stairs.
Step in the healing spot and save at the flag. You might want to put the
controller down, get up and walk around a bit, patting yourself on the
back for getting to the end of the game. All that's left is the final
boss. Keep an eye on the health meters, commanding Kain to heal as soon
as someone takes any significant damage. Whenever the volty meter fills
up, instruct Elwen to use her volty, which is much stronger than Jack's.
Watch the ending and the credits, and then confirm that you want to save
your game. This will allow you to visit the post-game bonus dungeon,
and/or start a new game, keeping some of the stats from this one. See
the Post-Game section <#post> for what to do next.
Top of Page <#top>
[path-fairy] Non-Human Path
* Meeting with Parsec <#parsec>
* Goblin Haven <#goblin-haven>
* First Fight with Gawain <#gawain1>
* Defeat Gawain <#gawain2>
* Escort Gawain to Fort Helencia <#helencia>
* Fight Elwen <#elwen>
* Cross and the Fire Dragon <#fire>
* End of the World <#end-fairy>
These parts of the story are only available after the split, and only if
you chose the follow Ridley instead of going to the castle. Obviously,
all the characters you can recruit from this point forward are non-human
(except for a few like Gawain, Ganz, and Ridley). Any human characters
you might have recruited will be removed from your Friends List, which
is now located in Fort Helencia. All the humans will still be in the
Friends List from your menu.
Instead of getting missions from Thanos, you will now be getting them
from the council room. If you aren't sure what to do next, go in there
and talk to everyone.
You want to head towards the City of Flowers. You can't take the Travel
Pig, which means that you will be fighting with just you and Ridley. If
you have been leveling up, that won't be a problem. You probably want to
save your game in a different slot before you leave town. If you didn't
recruit that many non-humans, you might run into problems with too weak
of a party. If so, then you will want to level up a bit.
You will see a number of cut scenes on your way there. The healing spot
outside Fort Helencia is gone, but the save flag is still there.
When you arrive, you will see a cut scene. When you get control, travel
to Fort Helencia. You will be fighting any critters along the way on
your own. The healing spot will be back, and you probably want to save
before you approach the fort.
More cut scenes, some fights, rinse, repeat. When it all ends, you will
wake up inside Fort Helencia, and Ridley will tell you to come to the
strategy meeting. This is your new room, with all the comforts of home:
a save point, a bed, and a record player.
Top of Page <#top>
[parsec] Meeting with Parsec
There will be a cut scene of a strategy meeting, where you will learn
the background story from the fairy creatures' point of view. If you
took my advice and have already chosen the Human Path in a previous
game, you might notice that many of the major story events in the game
still happen, but you get the see the other side of the story. In both
paths, Cross is obnoxious.
Before you take off on your first mission, you should talk to everyone.
You will get a chance to recruit some more characters, and to set up two
shops. Talk to Keane and Marsha, each of whom want to set up a shop. Ask
around for advice, and eventually they will both be able to set up shops
in separate rooms.
Once the two shops are set up, you can buy items and also recruit the
shop owners. If you have already played the human path and the bonus
dungeon, you should have a lot of money which you can use to recruit the
two shop owners. If you are short of money, after you recruit one shop
owner, you can sell back all the items you bought (at a loss, of course)
to get some of your money back.
You will be stuck with Ridley and Coco, so you can pick one other
character to be in your party. You will notice the Friends List in the
Courtyard of the fort. I recommend Romaria, your healer, as the fourth
member of your party, but you could also include Gil after you recruit
him. Since Gil attacks all enemies at once, and if you have been
leveling up, you might not need healing that much.
Franz
Talk to him
Gil
Talk to him and beat him in a duel
Grigory
Talk to him. He is outside the fort drinking a lot
Keane
Buy 10,000 worth of items from him
Marsha
Spend 10,000 in her store
Naom
Talk to him. He is outside the council room.
Serva
Talk to him when he is training between 9am-noon, or 2-7pm, and
agree to fight him.
Beat him on three different days and he will join.
Top of Page <#top>
[goblin-haven] Goblin Haven
After you have recruited everyone possible, you can set off for Goblin
Haven. The Travel Pig isn't working, so you will have to walk. Stop off
at Wind Valley if you want some experience and money.
When you get to the Goblin Haven area (across the bridge), take some
time to wander around and get used to the area. There are a lot of
dead-ends, and a few loops as well. Kick the mushrooms to go up and
down. Coco will leave your party once you arrive at the actual place.
If you run across Ricky before you arrive, you can recruit him if you go
back to the bridge and find his wolf.
Once you arrive at Goblin Haven, use the Save Point. you will be able to
start recruiting some more characters:
Ricky
Find and talk to Ricky to find out that he is missing Happy (his
wolf. Ricky is a wolf rider). Find Happy near the bridge that you
used to get to this area and give him an herb
Go back and talk to Ricky.
Technically, you can do this before you get to Goblin Haven, but
there is no big advantage of doing this. If you run into Ricky on
your way to Goblin Haven, then recruit him; if you don't, find him
on your way back home.
Remember where you found him, since you will have to find Dominic in
the same location later with Ricky in your party. Fortunately, by
that time the Travel Pig should be working.
Georgio
Talk to him with a two-handed sword equpped when he is staring at
his toadstool. (Between 4-10am or 2-11pm) If you have something else
equipped, he will mention a two-handed sword.
Fight him and win.
Jan
Talk to him, then fight him and win. He will ask you a question
before the fight.
Niko
Talk to him when he is spaced out (11am-2pm, or 10-11pm)
Pietro
Talk to him and then immediately defeat him three times in a row.
(He isn't hard, but you can always save before hand.)
Top of Page <#top>
[gawain1] First Fight with Gawain
You can't beat Gawain the first time, but you can then fight him as
often as you want. He doesn't recover HP between fights, so eventually
you should be able to beat him. Take advantage of the healing circle
between fights.
Danny
Danny is apparently bi-polar. Sometimes he is normal, and sometimes
he is crazy. It isn't always easy to tell the difference, however.
Talk to him when he is spaced out. On another day, talk to him when
he is normal
Danny sells Life and Mystery Berries between 7am-9pm.
Giovanni
Talk to him when you are wearing the recruitment suit you got from
the Goblin Cemetaey.
Luka
Talk to him while wearing the recruitment suit.
Sonny
Talk to him while wearing the recruitment suit
Top of Page <#top>
[gawain2] Defeat Gawain
After you defeat Gawain, more folks are available for recruiting:
Alan
Talk to him. He wants five Matango larvae from the Sediche Region.
Find five larvae, then give them to Alan.
Bosso
You will find him being attacked by two Matangos
Defeat the Matangos, then defeat Bosso in a duel
Gawain
He joins automatically as part of the game. (Similar to Ganz and
Ridley on the human side.)
*Note: *If you don't have the King of the Night skill, fight enough
link battles with Gawain so you can learn it.
Lufa
Lufa is the cook in the Dark Elf Village
Talk to her and learn she wants some of Polpo's soup
Give her some soup. You can get it from Polpo
*Note: *Polpo's soup is supposed to be one of the things that carry
over from game to game. So, if you have previously played the
non-human path, you can collect the soup, and then give it to her
the next game after the Friends List is created.
Pitt
Talk to him
Polpo
Talk to him while he's cooking his soup, and find out he needs three
Deathclover Larvae
Find them in the area outside of Goblin Haven.
Go back to Polpo and give him the larvae
Row
Talk to him and find out he wants a rainbow crystal
Give it to him. (It is in the Goblin Cemetery area if you don't
already have it.)
Shin
Shin hates humans. You need to soften him up.
Talk to him and beat him on four separate days.
You can find him outside the house that is just before the Elder's
house around 5am and several other times during the day.
Top of Page <#top>
[helencia] Escort Gawain to Fort Helencia
After you have recruited as many characters as you want, you can head
back to Fort Helencia for some cut scenes. If you don't already have the
skill "King of the Night", do enough link fights to learn it from
Gawain. When you get back, take everyone out of your party, then talk to
Coco, so you can recruit him. (Make sure you don't talk to Mikey before
this; otherwise, he will be stuck in your party until you get back from
Algandars Castle.
At this point, the following characters should be available:
Coco
Talk to him when you have an empty party (you are all alone)
Dominic
Talk to him with Ricky in your party. He will be at the same place
you originally found them.
Fan
Talk to her near the entrance to the City of Flowers (which is
anytime except 2am-9am) and agree to a race.
Run to the tree at the top of the hill outside of the Eastern
entrance to Fort Helencia. If you don't normally have the Feathered
Earing equipped, you probably want to put it on for this race.
(Fortunately, she doesn't travel during any fights, but you might
want to clear out that path before you accept.) If you lose, you can
go back and try again on the same day, as long as she is still there.
Few
Talk to her when you have a party consisting of a dark elf, a green
goblin, and a black goblin.
Mikey
Mikey is my favorite dark elf. He refuses to hate humans, even if
you pick the Human Path. You won't be able to recruit him until
after you go to Algandars Castle with him.
Talk to him when he is reading in the brewery (10pm-2am) and he will
ask for a story
Tell him a story. Repeat this on three separate days.
Clarence
Talk to him after you have recruited all of the dark elves
You won't be able to recruit him until after you get Mikey, who is
after Algandars Castle. Don't forget to recruit Lufa and Zida, if
you didn't to that at the beginning of the game.
Here are the missions you will have available:
Algandars Castle
Talk to Mikey, and he will ask you to take him to Algandars Castle
to look for a possible cure to the disease. The inside of the castle
is basically the same as it was during the Human Path, including the
boss fight.
Goblin Cemetery
If you talk to Marco, who sells books just outside the upper
entrance to Goblin Haven, he will ask you to find a book in the
Goblin Cemetery. He will be surprised that you know the secret
password. Most of the monsters in the cemetery are too weak to be of
much use for leveling up, so just run through to the boss room and
then run back out. (it's times like this that I wish the game had an
"Exit" spell.)
When you give the book to Marco, he will pay you a reward. He isn't
available for recruiting yet, but he will be available shortly.
Special Ore
Talk to Dyvad in Fort Helencia, who is looking for some very special
ore in Earth Valley. Use the Travel Pig to get there and find it for
him in the mine. Go straight through the first room, then take the
exit in the back wall in the second room.
As with the Goblin Cemetery, the monsters here aren't worth fighting
too much, so just run through the area and get the treasure. Of
course, you will have a boss fight at the end, but it isn't that
tough. When you give the ore to Dyvad, he will give you a Deep Lance
(which you probably already have). Talk to him again and you can
recruit him.
Top of Page <#top>
[elwen] Fight Elwen
When you are ready to progress the game, sleep in Jack's room and watch
some cut scenes. When it is over, you should head towards Fire Mountain.
Before you go, though, you can revisit Goblin Haven to recruit Marco.
(You can use the Travel Pigs, which makes this easy.)
When you start across the bridge past the Green Goblin Village, you will
run into Elwen. You don't have to beat her, but if you want to try, it
won't be easy. For starters, you want to fight her at night, since she
has King of the Day. What makes this easier is that your whole party
will be fighting her, not just you. If she starts to flash, then defend
and let your party fight her until she has used her volty. (Sometimes
she uses her volty to cure herself.)
If you aren't at around 2,000 HP, then consider leveling up before you
try. If you have a lot of money, you can buy some Life Berries from
Danny at Goblin Haven. Take the Travel Pig to Lupus Gate, then walk to
Earth Valley, taking all the side roads. (See the discussion on leveling
up <#level> in the intro.) Use the money to buy more Life Berries. Keep
this up until you are either 2,000 HP or too bored to continue.
After the fight, the following should be available:
Dyvad
Talk to him.
Marco
Talk to him when he is reading (not selling) a book (10pm to 6am).
Answer "Ignore it", "Save them", and finally, "That person is crazy."
The Official Strategy Guide claims you can't recruit him until after
fighting Elwen, but I was able to do it before then.
Top of Page <#top>
[fire] Cross and the Fire Dragon
If you didn't get a Blood Orc Horn for Zida yet, here is where you can
get one fairly easily. This area is basically the same as when you are
on the Human Path, so read that section if you haven't done that yet.
You can't beat Cross, so don't worry about the fight. As with the Human
Path, there are two chests that you won't be able to get to this time
through the area (because of cut scenes, and you being returned to the
fort). Don't forget to come back later and get them.
At the end of the fight, sit back and watch a bunch of cut scenes. You
won't get Parsec's match for the Non-Human Path.
Ganz and Ridley are available for your party for a while. If you have
been leveling up, you probably don't want to consider them. Ganz will be
in the final party, so if you haven't been leveling up, now might be a
good time to put Ganz in your party and get into a bunch of fights.
When you want to game to progress, speak to Gawain. When you next get
control, you probably want to equip your new sword. Speak to Zane to get
your next assignments. J.J. is near the City of Flowers. Use the Travel
Pig, then go west, north, then north and east. (This is where a
Tsuchinoko can be found sometimes.)
It doesn't matter how you answer his question. You will have to go to
the Blood Orc home world in order to get J.J. to join. There is a Travel
Pig nearby, which makes returning easy. Go down the rope and keep making
your way down to the bottom where you will fight Galvados, the head
Blood Orc. On your way down, find the King's Toadstool, which you need
to recruit a few black goblins. You can only carry one at a time, so you
will have to come back each time you need one. If you have trouble
finding it, see the section on finding the King's Toadstool <#toad>.
When you are all done, talk to J.J., and then report back to Zane.
At this point, the following are available for recruiting:
Doppio
Talk to him while you have a Kings Toadstool. Beat him in a fight.
After the fight, you will give him the toadstool.
You can get a King's Toadstool from the Blood Orc's area. You can
only carry one at a time. You can actually get one during the human
path, but they don't carry over to the next game.
Drew
Talk to him when you have a Kings Toadstool and give it to him.
Galvados
Talk to him, agree to fight, and beat him.
Gruel
Talk to him after you have recruited all the Black Goblins
JJ
Talk to him and get the Blood Orcs to agree to join (and release the
Green Orcs). After you beat Galvados, go back and tell J.J., and he
will join you.
When you are ready to progress the game, sleep in your room. You might
want to save your game, just in case. You will have one fight and a
bunch of cut scenes. When you get control again, talk to everyone,
ending with Zane.
You will get a letter from Ridley. You will automatically be sent to the
meeting place when the time comes, so you can spend time leveling up,
recruiting, or whatever. After the cut scenes, sleep to progress the
game. You will have to include Ganz in your final party. If you have
been fighting with him already, then fine, but if the rest of your party
is a lot above Ganz, you might want to level him up a bit. You will run
into Gerald, but again, it will be your entire party fighting, not just
you.
[end-fairy] End of the World
Except for the cut scenes, this is basically the same ending as the
human path. And, except for Ganz, I think it is a better ending than the
human side, which is one of the reasons I recommend that you save this
ending for last.
Read the section from the human path <#end-human> for instructions on
how to get through the City of White Nights. As I mentioned before, I
haven't found any good explanation, and the Official Strategy Guide has
a number of mistakes, so you can find detailed instructions there.
Top of Page <#top>
[post] Post Game
Once you have finished the game, wait until the end of the credits. You
will be asked if you want to save the game. Say "yes", and save the game.
When you go to load your saved game, it will have a red mark on the save
slot. You will have the following choices:
Continue
This will allow you to beat the final boss again, or wander around
doing whatever else you want to do. All your money, items, and
experience will be intact.
You will also be able to access a bonus dungeon. The Travel Pig map
will include a new location, which is the bonus dungeon.
Strong from the Start
This term is confusing, since it sounds like "Game Plus" from Chrono
Trigger. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. It will begin a
new game, but your HP and experience are reset to the beginning of
the game. You will keep all of your skills, money, and some of your
items. All weapons, equipment, etc. are not retained, with a few
exceptions (e.g., Feathered Earing).
New Game
Start a new game, but don't retain anything from the previous game.
Probably the only reason you would ever use this option is because
the saved game was from somebody else.
When you go into the bonus dungeon, you will be in the center of a
pillar that is inside a circular room with four doors around the outside
of the room. If you walk back into the center column, you will be given
the opportunity to leave.
The bonus dungeon has two parts. The second area isn't available until
you have cleared out the first area. The first area has four branches,
one for each element. At the end of each path is the corresponding
dragon. There are a number of side paths, and some nice items. Once all
four dragons have been defeated, a fifth path will open up to a new
dragon. This last dragon looks silly, but it is pretty tough.
After you have defeated the fifth dragon, the second area opens up. If
you walk into the center column, an additional option appears that will
allow you to proceed to the second area.
The second area will take some getting used to. It is basically a set of
dungeons connected together. Just like the outside world, all the
monsters are regenerated at midnight. This means that if you run back
and save the game, you can return to where you left off with little or
no fighting. Of course, you might also want to spend time fighting so
you can level up more. At this point in the game, you can sleep at
Jack's house if you want to reset all the monsters in the dungeon.
The first area is a series of screens with stairs that look pretty much
the same. You enter from the south east corner, and can exit through
either the north or west sides. If you pick the wrong exit, you will be
returned to the starting screen, which you can easily recognize because
of the red switch in the southeast corner. Stepping on the switch will
return you to the previous area. (If you have the Official Strategy
Guide, the west exit of area 1 connects to area 3.)
The first time in this area, take the north, north, then west exits, and
you will find a Tsuchinoko Dumpling. Either back up, or take a wrong
exit to return to the starting location.
After getting the dumpling and returning to the starting point, take the
west, north, and north exits. From this location, there is a strength
berry through the north exit. Going west then north will take you to a
new area that looks similar, but slightly different. The screen will be
enclosed within a dark margin, and the exits are different. From this
new area, take the west exit, and you will find yourself reappearing in
a new set of steps in the southeast corner. Keep walking and you will
eventually end up in a different looking area.
This new area starts with a long corridor. Take the western exit and you
will end up riding across a chasm on a moving platform. While riding the
platform, you will see a series of symbols. Make a note of them, since
they are the key to getting through this area. You will go up some
stairs and enter a series of rooms with four exits, each marked with a
different symbol. Choose the symbols in the same order as you saw
earler. If you mess up, you be returned to the starting area and see the
symbols again. When you get to the last room, before you go out the last
exit, take a detour through the south door to find the Valiant Mail.
Once you get through the maze of rooms, you will find a healing spot.
When you exit to the southeast you will encounter Valkyrie. If you beat
her, she will join you. This is a great time to go back and save, and
put Valkyrie in the party in place of Nyx, or whoever your weakest
fighter is. Your final party should be Jack, Valkyrie, Elwen, and Kain.
When you get back to where you beat Valkyrie, step on the transporter to
get into yet another area. In this area, there are hidden doors. If you
walk near the spot on the wall where a hidden door is located, you will
see a swirling pattern. Kick the wall and the door will appear. The maps
for this area in the Official Strategy Guide are all messed up, do don't
blindly believe them. You want to make your way west when possible until
you find the Boundary Crest, which is the seal for the exit from this
area. (The exit is towards the east).
You will find two special doors that are only open during either day or
night. If you can't get through one, come back after the time of day
changes. Just before the actual exit you will encounter a character
called Lezard who you will have to beat.
You will exit to an area with a long corridor. At the end of the
corridor is a boss. Once you beat that boss, the same area will look
messed up, and a second boss will be encountered.
The first boss is Gabriel Celesta. The hard part of this battle is you
start out confused. You probably want to equip the "Status Cure" skill
before you enter the area, which will allow you to start fighting
sooner. These last two bosses are much harder than the ones you've
encountered before. When your volty guage is full, you probably want to
command Valkyrie to use her volty, which does much more damage than Jack's.
After you beat Gabriel Celesta, you should return to Jack's house and
save. The Etheral Queen is much harder. The way I finally managed to
beat her was to keep Jack far away from the Queen and not fight at all.
Keep an eye on everyone's status. As soon as the volty guage is full,
command Valkyrie to use it. If anyone's health gets down a bit, have
Kain cure them. Keep this up, and eventually she will be defeated. She
will occassionally move over to where Jack is, so simply move away to
the farthest section of the area. A number of the queen's attacks will
cause formations to appear on the floor. Avoid those patterns and you
should be fine.
I didn't work out this approach until my third time through the game,
taking the human path. It might also work for the non-human path: keep
Jack out of the way, and keep directing Romaria to heal whoever is the
lowest character in your party. This means the other two party members
(probably Valkyrie and somebody like JJ), will be doing all the
fighting. There is no time limit, so just be patient and play
conservative. It is much harder for the non-human path.
Once the Ethereal Queen has been beaten, the bonus dungeon is reset. The
first area has only four paths, and the dragons are back. You can go
through the bonus dungeon again. The only difference is that instead of
Valkyrie, you will be fighting the golden dragon.
Since money is carried over between games, you can spend time fighting
and earning money. If you buy the Pluto Trophy from San Patty
accessories, you will win more gold than otherwise. The bonus dungeon
lets you earn a lot of money, which you can then carry over to your next
game. If you start off the next game with a lot of money, it makes the
game easier since you can afford the most expensive weapons and armor.
Another good use for money is to buy berries from the Alkaico General
Store in the Void Community. I generally like to buy the Strength and
Defense Berries.
Top of Page <#top>
Members of Each Group
* Theater Vancoor <#groups-vancoor>
* Olacion Order <#groups-olacion>
* Vareth Institute <#groups-vareth>
* Void Community <#groups-void>
* Non-Guild Humans <#groups-non-guild>
* Non-Humans <#groups-non-humans>
This section can help you if you aren't sure that you got everyone is a
given group, or if you can't find how to recruit a particular character.
For example, if I said you should be able to recruit Curtis now, and you
talk to him but nothing happens, then you probably missed somebody in
Vareth Institute. You should then look at your friends list (not from
the main menu, but from the book at either the Theater Vancour or Fort
Helencia) and compare the list of members in this section to your
friends list. You should be able to identify who is missing, and then
try to recruit them.
If you find someone that you need to recruit, but don't remember how to
recruit them, find them in the following list, and click on the
character's name to be taken to the section in the game when you can
recruit that character. If you are using the text version of this FAQ
instead of the HTML version, you will see a link next to the name of the
character. Compare that link with the table of contents at the top of
the FAQ to find out when then can be recruited.
There are some people who you can only recruit at a certain time, or
that have other requirements such that you might not be able to recruit
them. (For example, to recruit Thanos, you had to have reported back to
him after each mission, and finished all the missions.) There are others
where you will have to perform several steps before you can recruit
them. For these characters, the link is to each step of their recruitment.
Theater Vancoor
You need to recruit everyone else in Theater Vancoor in order to recruit
Elwen.
* Aldo <#friends>
* Alicia <#castle>
* Bruce <#friends>
* Caesar <#square>
* Carlos <#friends>
* Conrad <#promotion>
* Daniel <#promotion>
* David <#promotion>
* Dennis <#friends>
* Elwen <#genius>
* Gareth <#promotion>
* Gene <#friends>
* Gerald <#square>
* Gordon <#promotion>
* Gregory <#friends>
* Jarvis <#promotion>
* Paul <#friends>
* Rolec <#friends>
* Star <#leavewind>
* Thanos <#genius>
* Walter <#first> (finish <#dynas>)
Groups <#groups> Top of Page <#top>
Olacion Order
The Olacion Order is divided into two factions headed by Fernando and
Anastasia. You need to recruit all the other members of a faction before
you can recruit the leader. You need to recruit both leaders in order to
recruit Kain.
* Achilles <#birthday> (finish <#castle>)
* Adina <#first>
* Alvin <#birthday> (finish <#castle>)
* Anastasia <#first>
* Clive <#friends>
* Cosmo <#friends>
* Dwight <#first>
* Edgar <#friends>
* Elena <#first>
* Eugene <#friends>
* Fernando <#castle>
* Flora <#friends>
* Godwin <#castle>
* Grant <#first>
* Kain <#castle>
* Lulu <#friends>
* Miranda <#birthday>
* Rocky (optional) <#duel>
* Vitas <#birthday>
Groups <#groups> Top of Page <#top>
Vareth Institute
You need to recruit everyone else in the Vareth Institute in order to
recruit Curtis.
* Aidan <#friends>
* Ardoph <#duel>
* Cecil <#friends>
* Christoph <#friends>
* Claudia <#friends>
* Cornelia & Rachel <#friends>
* Curtis <#genius>
* Derek <#castle>
* Dmitri <#duel>
* Ernest <#friends>
* Faraus <#friends>
* Felix <#castle>
* Franklin <#promotion>
* Genius <#genius>
* Jill <#friends>
* Johan <#friends>
* Leona <#duel>
* Marietta <#friends>
* Morgan <#friends>
* Ursula <#leavewind>
Groups <#groups> Top of Page <#top>
Void Community
In order to recruit Nyx, you need to have Curtis, Kain, and Elwen in
your party, which means you have to recruit everyone from the other
groups before getting Void the leader.
* Alba <#friends>
* Butch <#friends>
* Elmo <#birthday>
* Eon <#promotion>
* Flau <#ganz>
* Golye <#friends>
* Herz <#castle>
* Interlude <#castle>
* Iris <#promotion>
* Jared <#friends>
* Joaquel <#birthday>
* Lily <#friends>
* Nocturne <#square>
* Nyx <#genius>
* Ortoroz <#castle>
* Pinky <#friends>
* Rynka <#ganz>
* Solo <#friends>
* Sonata <#castle>
Groups <#groups> Top of Page <#top>
Non-Guild Humans
There is no requirement to get all these, but there are some you
probably want to recruit for the skills they possess. Also, if you
recruit everyone you get to see some artwork in your friends list.
* Adele <#castle> (also <#duel>) (finish <#end-human>)
* Astor <#dynas>
* Bligh <#square>
* Bran <#friends>
* Butch
* Charlie <#dynas>
* Dan <#friends>
* Dynas <#windvalley>
* Elef <#first> (finish <#square>)
* Garcia <#friends>
* Giske <#promotion>
* Gonber <#friends>
* Hip <#first> (finish <#square>)
* Howard <#friends>
* Keaton <#friends>
* Leban <#friends>
* Leonard <#lupus>
* Lyle <#square>
* Mook <#friends>
* Morfinn <#friends>
* Natalie <#lupus>
* Nick <#friends>
* Nina <#dynas>
* Patrick <#dynas>
* Putt <#dynas>
* Ryan <#first> (finish <#square>)
* Sarval <#friends>
* Sebastian <#leavewind>
* Stefan <#friends>
* Sunset <#friends>
* Synelia <#friends>
* Tarkin <#friends>
* Tony <#square>
* Wal <#friends>
* Wyze <#friends>
* Yack <#friends>
* Zeranium <#dynas>
Groups <#groups> Top of Page <#top>
Non-Humans
* Dark Elves <#groups-darkelf>
* Light Elves <#groups-lightelf>
* Green Goblins <#groups-greengoblin>
* Black Goblins <#groups-blackgoblin>
* Dwarves <#groups-dwarf>
* Others <#groups-misc>
If you choose the non-humans path, you have the chance to recruit all of
these folks. They are not divided like the humans groups (except by
race), although there are certain characters you can't recruit until you
recruit specific others, and in a few cases, all the other members of
their race.
Dark Elves
* Chatt <#friends>
* Clarence <#helencia>
* Coco <#helencia>
* Hyann <#friends>
* Lufa <#friends> (or here <#gawain2>)
* Marsha <#parsec>
* Martinez <#friends>
* Mikey <#helencia>
* Rika <#friends>
* Romaria <#friends>
* Santos <#friends>
* Serva <#parsec>
* Zida <#friends>
Light Elves
* Alan <#gawain2>
* Fan <#helencia>
* Few <#helencia>
* Franz <#parsec>
* Gil <#parsec>
* Keane <#parsec>
* Pitt <#gawain2>a\
* Row <#gawain2>
* Shin <#gawain2>
Green Goblins
* Aesop <#square>
* Ben <#square>
* Brie <#square>
* Den <#square>
* Donkey <#square>
* Gabe <#square>
* Gob <#square>
* Gobrey <#square>
* Golly <#square>
* Gonn <#square>
* Goo <#square>
* Lin <#square>
* Mason <#square>
* Monki <#square>
Black Goblins
* Bosso <#gawain2>
* Danny <#gawain1>
* Dominic <#helencia>
* Doppio <#fire>
* Drew <#fire>
* Georgio <#goblin-haven>
* Giovanni <#gawain1>
* Gruel <#fire>
* Jan <#goblin-haven>
* Luka <#gawain1>
* Marco <#elwen>
* Niko <#goblin-haven>
* Pietro <#goblin-haven>
* Polpo <#gawain2>
* Ricky <#goblin-haven>
* Sonny <#gawain1>
Dwarves
* Dyvad <#elwen>
* Grigory <#parsec>
* Naom <#parsec>
Others
* Galvados (Blood Orc) <#fire>
* Gawain (Human) <#gawain2>
* JJ (Green Orc) <#fire>
* Valkyrie <#post>
Groups <#groups> Top of Page <#top>
[misc] Misc.
* Easter Eggs and Silly Things <#easter>
* Finding the King's Toadstool <#toad>
* Fireworks Date <#fireworks>
* Gotchas <#gotcha>
* External Resources <#sites>
* Thanks / Credits <#tnx>
* Version History <#history>
This section is a catch-all for things that I think are worth
mentioning, but don't really fit anywhere else.
[easter] Easter Eggs and Silly Things
In the programming world, the term "Easter Egg" is used for silly little
things that can happen unexpectedly under certain conditions. In the
very early games, and even some other electronic devices (like Palm
Pilot), programmers added little cute things that you could cause to
happen if you did certain things.
As a programmer myself, I am very impressed with the programming staff
for this game. I'm a long time Final Fantasy fan, so I wasn't surprised
with the quality of the game, but I was very pleased with the attention
to detail. (Of course, many of the games by Square have similar things,
but I think this game has far more than any other.)
In addition to "Easter Eggs", there are a number of silly things you can
do while in the game if you start to get bored. For one thing, you can
try to follow a character around and see what they do throughout the
day. I am amazed at the complexity of this world, and all the little
things that are there. I keep finding new things, and expect to find
more. You will probably find a few surprises, and have some fun at the
same time. Here are some of the things I have found:
People Watching
Spend some time to closely watch the characters in the game. Follow
a couple of characters around for a while and see what all they are
doing. There is a great deal of attention to detail, especially
considering how many characters there are. Watch their mannerisms,
and the detail in the outfits. I keep noticing new things every time
I look.
Right after I finished this game for the first time, I started
Dragon Quest VIII. Although I liked the game, I was disappointed by
the lack of variety of the NPCs. Each town had the same dozen or so
characters. There was a crowd scene at one point, and you could see
the same identical character many times throughout the crowd. Quite
a shock after this game with all the wide variety of characters.
Flau and Godwin
Two characters you can't follow around all day are Flau and Godwin.
This is because they can do things you can't. But, if you are in the
right place at the right time, you can see what they do.
Godwin transports himself into the castle every morning around 9am,
and back to the city at around 11. He transports himself to Morfin's
clinic around noon, and then to the Olacion Order area around 2pm.
(Perhaps that is why Miranda is always running around trying to find
Godwin.)
Flau is even more interesting. She will be walking along, and
suddenly jump over a fence, bridge, or wall and out of sight. If you
are lucky, you might also see her jumping over a fence or something
onto a path. If you get bored, and are waiting for some later time
to recruit somebody, walk along side her and watch her.
Picture Taken
If you go through the Goblin City towards the bridge to Fire
Mountain, you will find one of those plywood figures with a cut-out
where people can stand behind and get their picture taken. You can
get your picture taken here, too.
Try all the doors and stairs
Some doors will never open. Others will only open at certain times.
And still others will sometimes have the occupant talk to you in the
doorway. Sometimes you will find treasures behind a door or up a set
of stairs.
Signs and Posters
Read the posters that are placed on the various walls of the city.
Some will change.
For example, near Lupus Gate is a poster for the Olacion Order. When
you start recruiting Lulu's cat, the poster will say that her cat is
missing. If you look after you have returned it, the poster has
changed.
If you read a sign just behind where Lily hangs out near the
entrance to the Beast Pit, you will see some entrance exam math scores.
Bathroom Humor
Following people into the bathroom can yield some interesting (and
funny) results. You won't see anything X-rated, but you will
encounter some "bathroom humor".
BTW - Some men wash their hands after going, while others don't.
When you are in the castle, try going into the women's bathroom in
the castle. It's near the south entrance.
Misc <#misc>
Top of Page <#top>
[toad] Finding the King's Toadstool
I get enough questions on where to find this, that it is worth a special
section. It isn't obvious when you first see it, which is why so many
people miss it. During your trip to the bottom, try all the side passage
ways. At one point, you will come in from the left and the path with
curve around to the right and dead-end. Along the front of the path are
some dark things sticking up that you might assume to be rock
formations. When you get to this area, face south (towards you) and keep
clicking "X" while you walk along the path. Once you do this, you will
probably remember where to click and it will be easy from then on.
If you still can't find it, then go to the bottom of the cave. Now, take
the rope back up one level, and then walk left, around the curve, fight
the orc and get the toadstool. It will be to the left of a series of
formations sticking up. (If you have a Hi-Def TV it will probably be
obvious, but on a regular TV it is harder to see.)
Misc <#misc>
Top of Page <#top>
[fireworks] Fireworks Date
[fireworks_list] List of Fireworks Dates <#fireworks_list>
One of the interesting features of this game is the Fireworks Date. At
some point after you meet Genius in the sewers, you will find a letter
in your mailbox. It will be an invitation to see the fireworks at the
castle. The person that shows up to watch them with you is the female
that has been in your party the longest time. (Charlie is a possible
fireworks date.) You won't see any X-rated stuff. For the most part, you
see the two characters who are watching the fireworks, and at some
point, the female looks at Jack and usually smiles. Jack, however, never
looks at the date; he keeps staring at the fireworks.
The other place where this matters is at the very end of the game. There
is a cut scene with Jack leaving Radiata, and you can see the "fireworks
date" watching him go. One person claimed that somebody other than your
fireworks date can appear here, if you have increased the affection
level of a different character. I haven't seen any evidence of this,
however.
A word of warning: it is possible for this event to not happen. Once
through the game, I had no females in the party up until just before the
fireworks date. I had planned on putting the different women in my
party, avoid my house for a while, and then trigger the event. This way,
I could keep reloading the game and picking a different woman, so I
could report on all the dates without having to keep playing the game
over and over again. Well, it backfired on me, because when I did that,
I couldn't get the fireworks date to trigger. Somebody else had the same
problem for the same reason. Apparently, there is some minimum amount of
time you need to have females in your party in order to trigger the
invitation.
The second time I tried it worked much better. Whenever I got several
women added to my friends list, I took them out long enough to raise
their skills a couple of levels. During fights, I kept giving them
commands. If I had more than one woman in the party, I made sure their
commands were balanced. Then, just before accepting the "Secret of the
Sewers" mission, I saved the game in a special location. Then I loaded
that game, added the woman I wanted for the Fireworks Date, and spent a
day or so with her giving her commands and letting her level up. For
lower level women, I started out with the small bugs on the way to the
Septem Cave, and then took her through the cave. As long as you are
careful not to trigger the cut scenes in the sewer, you can level them
up there as well. Depending on who it was and how well they handled
themselves, I either had them back away or attack the enemy. I also
commanded Kain to heal the woman, which caused him to continue casting
healing spells on her. When I thought she was ready, I saved the game
(just in case), went into the sewers, and went to Jack's house. This
kicked off Ganz's letter. I walked outside, checked the mailbox for the
Fireworks Date, and then slept to kick off the fireworks.
If you try this yourself (and I have to wonder about you if you do. ;^),
then I suggest you don't try to recruit Godwin until after the Fireworks
Date. The reason for this is that you need Miranda in your party for a
long time to get her to level 35, which means you will have to have the
other women in your party for even longer. This meant that I wasn't able
to actually get Flau or Rynka on the date because (I think) the
affection level happens after the sewer rather than when you trigger the
invitation.
There is no shortage of theories and claims about this event. There is a
site that claims to have some details behind how your date is chosen.
Supposedly, there are a number of things you can do to increase the
affection level for each girl. Go to
http://forums.4seiya.com/showthread.php?p=56085 for more details.
According to the author, this information is based on the official guide
for the Japanese version of the game, so it isn't necessarily accurate
for the American version. Others who e-mailed me about this issue seemed
to think who the fireworks date was depended on a number of things,
including issuing commands during battles, the number of times they
leveled up, and the total amount of time in the party.
From my experiments, it seems that the amount of time in the party is
the biggest factor, although some minimal amount of levels (and/or
possibly HP) is also necessary. Giving the person commands during battle
sometimes seems to help, but at other times doesn't seem to matter. I
had Miranda in my party so that she could level up 10 levels. I never
gave her any commands, so she was simply in the party. Since Miranda was
levelled up during an early part of the game, it would have taken longer
than when fighting orcs, goblins, and dark elves. When I was trying to
get Charlie, I had him level up 12 levels, but got Miranda. I then had
Charlie go up 20 levels, and still got Miranda. I then loaded the game
and left Jack in his room with Charlie in the party, and let the game
run for several hours before trying again. This time I got Charlie.
But time alone isn't enough. When getting Elena, I got her up about 7
levels and tried, but got Miranda. I then let the game run over night,
with Jack in his room. When I tried in the morning, I still got Miranda,
so time alone isn't enough. I had to get Elena up a few more levels
before I got her on the date.
The Strategy Guide has a list of possible dates. Most are fairly
straight forward, but a few of them are tricky, namely: Flau, Rynka, and
Natalie. While Flau would be possible if you hadn't left Miranda in the
party long enough to recruit Godwin, Rynka takes three days, and Natalie
can't be recruited until after the battle at Lupus Gate, which is long
after the Fireworks Date normally happens. Somebody claimed that
Valkyrie was a possible fireworks date, but I have my doubts. I don't
think you can get the fireworks date after Lupus Gate.
The trick to getting Flau, Rynka, (and maybe Natalie) lies in the fact
that the fireworks happen at 10pm, and when Jack gets the letter, he
comments that the fireworks are "tonight". So, only go past your mailbox
between 10pm and midnight, and you can postpone the invitation to the
fireworks past the day after Ganz's letter. Wait outside until 10pm, go
in and save, and get back out before midnight. (You can actually go in
as early as 9pm, but don't push your luck.) When you are finally ready
to trigger the invitation, you can go past your mailbox another time. I
suggest that you go in between 10pm and midnight, save your game, and
then leave after midnight to trigger the invitation. That way, if you
mess up, you can reload the game and try again.
If you had Miranda in your party enough to recruit Godwin, you probably
won't be able to get Flau or Rynka for the date. I had Flau and Rynka up
tons of levels with huge HP increases, but I still got Miranda. I then
played it another time where I didn't recruit Godwin, and was able to
get them for the fireworks date. The other problem is that who invites
Jack to the fireworks is calculated at the end of the Sewers mission,
not when you get the invitation.
This means that for Flau, Rynka, and possibly Natalie, you need to get
their affection level up quite a bit before you start the "Secret of the
Sewers" mission. The only way you can do this is by talking to them a
lot throughout the game. You will help if you ignore all the other women
in the game.
I'm not sure that you can have Natalie at the fireworks. I postponed
getting the invitation until after Lupus Gate, but then couldn't trigger
the letter. Unless somebody has a bright idea, I'm guessing that she
can't be recruited.
List of Fireworks Dates
Here is the date list from the Strategy Guide, along with my comments
about the actual date. The programmers seem to like cloaks/large
collars, lace, and long gloves.
Adina
She has a sleeveless green dress with white lace and a green
headband trimmed in lace, and long gloves.
Alicia
She wears a black sleeveless dress with long gloves. She has a braid
down her back, covered in black netting, even though she has a
page-boy haircut.
Anastasia
She has a purple dress, and her hair is in a large bun wrapped with
straps or coarse netting. She has a large smile with lots of lipstick.
Charlie
He wears purple armor over a black/dark-blue shirt. He gives a brief
smile.
Claudia
She wears a red dress with black trim. She looks at Jack for quite
some time, but with no trace of a smile.
Cornelia/Rachel
She actually appears as Cornelia (even though the fireworks are
during the night). She is wearing a tan dress with a large white
collar and white apron, and a brown bow.
Elena
She has a black dress with a pink cape and large white collar. She
gives Jack a quick smile, and looks at him for a while.
Flau
Remember to only leave your house between 9pm and midnight.
She has a blue dress with a white collar, and looks at Jack for a
long time. If I didn't know it was her, I'm not sure I would have
recognized her.
Flora
She has a light green dress with a white cape trimmed in green. Her
hair is in pig tails.
Herz
She has a pink shirt and tan jumper, and is wearing a red and white
cap with a pom-pom on the top. I didn't notice a smile when she
looked at Jack.
Iris
She wears a black sleeveless dress with a purple boa-type collar.
Iris looks at Jack, knits her eyebrows, and then her expression
softens as she continues to look at him.
Jill
She has an orange striped top with a jean jumper. She doesn't really
smile at Jack.
Leona
She has a tan jumper and white blouse. There wasn't much of a smile
when she looked at Jack. She was one of the hardest ones to get. It
took a lot more time and leveling up than most of the others.
Lily
She wears a white and blue top with her midriff showing, and a pair
of blue shorts. She has red sunglasses on.
Lulu
She has a peach colored dress with a large white collar. With all
that lipstick, it was hard to tell if she was smiling at Jack or not.
Marietta
She wears a white Chinese style top with black trim, and something
white covering her ponytails. She looks at Jack for a long time and
smiles.
Miranda
She wears the same white gown she changes into before going to bed.
If you've seen her near the lamp post around midnight, that is the
outfit. Miranda looks at Jack for a long time.
Morgan
She wears a long black evening dress with a fanny pack.
Natalie
I can't figure out how Natalie could end up on the date, since you
can't recruit her until after the battle at Lupus Gate, which is
after the fireworks scene.
Nina
She wears her armor. She looks at Jack for a while, and then gives
him a little smile.
Rynka
Remember to only leave your house between 9pm and midnight.
Recruiting her takes patience, since you have to wait several days
before she joins. You can't sleep to hurry that along, since it will
trigger the Lupus Gate fight, which will cause you to miss the
fireworks altogether.
She wears a white peasant blouse with a black waist band and edging
on the neck and sleeves, with a loose fitting chain belt, and one
long black glove on her right hand. Her hair is loose with nothing
on her head. She looks at Jack for a while, and a gives him a very
small smile.
Synelia
She has on a white robe with a blue collar and a blue cap. She looks
at Jack and smiles, raising her eyebrows.
Ursula
She has on a white patterned blouse with a green jumper, a brown
broach, and a green cap. She looks at Jack for quite a while and
gives him a small smile.
Vitas
She wears a pink top with a green dress and a purple belt. She looks
at Jack and smiles for some time.
Misc <#misc>
Top of Page <#top>
Gotchas
This section is a collection of things to look out for when playing the
game. There are a few things that, if you mess up, you can't fix.
Hopefully this section will help you avoid the pain and agony of having
to go through the entire game again to fix one mistake (like I did. ;^)
Don't read the /Book of Fairies/
You need that book to recruit Aldo. It is in a chest between two
houses near the Septem Cave.
Don't sell the /Rainbow Crystal/ if you are taking the non-human path
You will need it to recruit Row
Don't miss the letter from Nocture on the humans path
If you don't enter the Interlude Club and miss the letter from
Nocturne, you will miss recruiting Gerald.
Don't go into your house during the day
Unless, of course, you want to progress the game.
It is best to enter late at night and leave before dawn. Don't
sleep, or that might progress the game.
Keep talking to Nocturne until you recruit him
The first time through the game, I stopped talking after he
mentioned working with me, but before he actually joined. I didn't
realize this until the next iteration of the game during the
non-human path.
Don't wait too long after Edgar tells you about the belt
Supposedly, if you wait too long, the waste basket might be emptied.
Don't forget to visit the bridge
After you beat the mosters at the bridge, you want to stop out there
every so often. Eventually they will ask you to get some plans for
them.
If you miss this, you might not be able to recruit Elef, Hip, or Ryan.
Don't talk to Giske if you have more than 5,000 gold
If you have that much, Giske will demand money from you, and you
won't be able to recruit everyone.
Hang on to the recruitment suit
Especially if you want to pick the non-human route.
It is also a pretty good armor, since it keeps healing you.
Misc <#misc>
Top of Page <#top>
[sites] External Resources
The following web sites might be of use:
http://BillPringle.com/games/radiata_checklist.html
The HTML version of this page. I think this is the best version to
use because of hyper-links. It should also have the latest version
of this file (except for the master copy on my PC.)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/game/924323.html
The gamefaqs FAQ/Walkthrough page for Radiata Stories. You can find
a text version of this file there.
http://www.divinemight.com/rs_recruitment/index.php/Main_Page
This web site is the original recruitment wiki for Radiata Stories
that I mentioned in this FAQ. Unfortunately, it seems to have
disappeared. If anyone finds out what happened to it, please let me
know.
strategywiki.net/wiki/Radiata_Stories
<http://strategywiki.net/wiki/Radiata_Stories>
This is an offshoot of Wikipedia that deals with strategy guides. I
initialized this wiki with the material from this FAQ. I have not
gone through and updated anything since that first time, however, so
it is a bit out of date, unless somebody else has fixed it up.
http://forums.4seiya.com/showthread.php?p=56085
This web site claims to provide the details for how the Fireworks
Date is chosen. I don't know where they got the information, and I
can find any confirmation anywhere. Take it with a grain of salt,
but if you find out anything more about this, please let me know.
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Radiata_Stories_CheckList>
If you have questions and/or comments, you can e-mail me.
Make sure the subject contains "Radiata Stories", or it might get
deleted as spam
Misc <#misc>
Top of Page <#top>
[tnx] Thanks and Credits
Thanks to the following, who helped with typos, corrections, omissions,
suggestions, etc.
Pi Threeonefour
Sara Potter
Paul Metcalf
ChaosTyrantX
William Thomas Tran
Aaron Hill
Cam Dawson
AgtOrnge7
CURTIS HOFFMANN
Andrew Toth
escorpion milo
Rudy Herlambang
Woozie66
scryndemios
Dungeonmaster17
John E Warren
Niko Weilacher
Meera
risingdragon18
donald scharf
4seiya
Misc <#misc>
Top of Page <#top>
[history] Version History
17 Feb 2008 - Version 4.9
More details for non-human side
Created cross-references from Groups to FAQ for recruiting
1 Feb 2008 - Version 4.8
More on fireworks date, typos
30 Jan 2008 - Version 4.7
Added more details during yet another pass through the game. Filled
in most of the fireworks date section.
2 December 2007 - Version 4.6
Typo, Fireworks date
12 Oct 2007 - Version 4.5
Added reference to web site that claims to know how the Fireworks
date is chosen.
27 June 2007 - Version 4.4
Minor typos
Added list of recruitable characters for each group. (If you think
you recruited everyone in a group, compare these lists with your
friends list.)
11 Mar 2007 - Version 4.3
Changed Goyle to Golye (I must have had Harry Potter on the brain. ;^)
A few other minor changes
16 Jan 2007 - Version 4.2
Added "Gotchas" Section
15 December 2006 - Version 4.1
More corrections based on reader feedback
Added directions to find King's Toadstool
Corrected a number of typos and added some details
18 July 2006 - Version 4.0
Added a lot more content: suggestions and walk-through type text
Added thanks/credits section <#tnx> and the Game Play / Battles
section <#gameplay>
Probably the last release for a while, unless people point out some
mistakes. (But that's what I said for Version 2.0, too. ;^)
2006 - Version 3.2
Minor corrections based on feedback from readers.
Used walkthrough for strategy wiki
Fixed HTML errors.
19 Mar 2006 - Version 3.1
Tweaked HTML version
13 Feb 2006 - Version 3.0
General reformatting of page
11 Feb 2006 - Version 2.2
Added rest of missing characters (I hope)
10 Feb 2006 - Version 2.1
Added some missing characters (Morgan and Rolec), and some
additional information.
23 Jan 2005 - Version 2.0
Added details for non-human side
Guide completed. Future changes will probably be limited to typos
and clarifications, based on reader feedback.
I'm moving on to Wild Arms 4.
17 Jan 2005 - Version 1.5
Added details for Post Game
Added details for before split and beginning on non-human path
11 Jan 2005 - Version 1.4
Filled in some more details
Added content for the Fireworks Date section
Added content to Easter Eggs and Silly Things
Human path mostly complete at this point
7 Jan 2005 - Version 1.3
All recruitable characters listed in the proper order
Filled in details of story, tips, etc.
6 Jan 2005 - Version 1.2
Added more detail.
5 Jan 2005 - Version 1.1
Added some characters I missed
Added more recruiting details
Added section on skills
4 Jan 2005 - Version 1.0
Initial Release.
All recruitable characters are identified, and high-level outline
included.
Misc <#misc>
Top of Page <#top>
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