Wandering Dungeon Guide by Kashell Triumph Copyright 2012 Philip Traylor Email: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Legal Information and Introduction 2. At a Glance 3. Preparing for the Wandering Dungeon 4. Pick your Vacation Package 5. Understanding the Oddities of Odd-Numbered Floors 6. Getting Dolled Up for the Even-Numbered Floors 7. Enter! If You Dare 8. Conclusion 9. Acknowledgements *************************************** *1. LEGAL INFORMATION AND INTRODUCTION* *************************************** First off, if you want this guide to be put on your web page or anything else, just email me and ask for my permission. Should I find out who took this guide without my permission, the law will deal with you. The use of this guide on any web site other than GameFAQs.com is a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. If you find something from here and it's on another site without the proper credit given, let me know. Also let me know if I have made a mistake. I am human, so I make mistakes at times. Yes I know it's hard to believe that the fabulous, glamorous me is human, but what can you do? Greetings, readers! Welcome to my Star Ocean: The Last Hope Wandering Dungeon guide! In this guide you'll find all you need to know about the most despised bonus dungeon in all of tri-Ace history: the Wandering Dungeon. Everything that you have heard about it is true: it sucks and shows no mercy. Thus, this guide will hopefully make your voyage through its 20 floors a bit more bearable. Use ctrl+F if there is a particular topic you're looking for. Chances are you'll find it because I am pretty sure I covered as much as I could. Now then, onto the guide! **************** *2. AT A GLANCE* **************** So, you want to try the Wandering Dungeon, eh? The Wandering Dungeon is the second of two postgame dungeons. To gain access to it, you�ll have to defeat Gabriel Celeste in the Cave of the Seven Stars, which is the first postgame dungeon. Warp to the Elevator Room on EN II. Select to go to the Old Road Sanctuary. Talk to the man you see and pick the answer that says you're ready. The Wandering Dungeon is awful. Seriously. In order for you to have a successful journey, you need to realize what you're getting into. Unlike the enjoyable Cave of the Seven Stars, the Wandering Dungeon involves painful tasks and difficult bosses to match. There are several factors that make the Wandering Dungeon difficult, even with this guide: - The floors' layouts are randomly generated, so I can't guide you with specific directions. - Every floor has an objective that needs to be completed in order to proceed. Each odd-numbered floor requires that one of three possible objectives be completed, and each even-numbered floor requires that a boss be defeated. I will describe the objectives and the bosses in detail later. - There are no save points or recovery spheres, so you have to come in fully stocked with healing supplies and put aside enough of your time to deal with the 20 floors. You�ll need at least two hours if you�re lucky; however, if you�re unlucky, you�ll need five or more hours to complete it. - All enemies appear as black corpses surrounded by smog, so you won't know which type of foe you're about to face until you get into battle. - Nearly every item in the game can be obtained from random treasure pods that appear all over the place. These treasures can include worthless ingredients like Empty Bottles and Raw Fish or amazingly rare items like Dragonblood Crystals and Lezard�s Flasks. In addition, some items can be obtained only in the Wandering Dungeon, and such items appear exclusively on specific floors. There is no guarantee that they�ll appear during any given trip through the dungeon, though. Some of those exclusive items are weapons, which you�ll need to find if you want to complete your Weapon Data. - Unlike the Cave of the Seven Stars, where you can skip levels once you�ve cleared them, the Wandering Dungeon completely resets every time you exit. When you re-enter it, all of the floor layouts, locations and contents of the treasure pods, and objectives on odd- numbered floors will be re-randomized. All of the bosses on even- numbered floors will be revived, and you�ll have to start all over on the first floor. One more word of caution: be careful using Arumat's Dragon Roar. As awesome as this skill is, especially for dealing with hordes of foes, it has a tendency to cause the game to freeze between ambushes. At least that's how it was in my experience and in those of many other players. The last thing you want to happen is to be on floor 19 and to have your game freeze all of a sudden. If all of this scares you, stop reading now. If not, then proceed on to go over some preparations. **************************************** *3. PREPARING FOR THE WANDERING DUNGEON* **************************************** Before heading to the Wandering Dungeon, I suggest getting to level 200 or so. Maxing your level at 255 is even better if you feel inclined to do so. In my personal experience, I was at level 255 due to farming Metal Scumbag kills for Lymle. Come with 20 of each healing item, especially Perfect Berries, Ripe Berries, and Resurrection Units. These three items can be made via Item Creation or they can be found at harvesting points or purchased at the shops of En II. For item creation, the required ingredients can be purchased from Li�l Vending Machine No. 1. Don�t forget MP restoration items! You must have all seven elemental rings, including the Water Ring from behind Gabriel Celeste's platform in the Cave of the Seven Stars. You�ll want 20 Disintegration Stones before you enter. During your time in the Wandering Dungeon, you may have to recharge the rings several times by using the Disintegration Stones with Lymle�s level 10 Charge skill. Disintegration Stones can be mined in the Pulsating Bog, the second part of Aeos, the Miga Insect Warren, and the EN II Sanctuary. If you aren't having much luck with mining, consider using Magical Clay to make copies of what you do have. Next, head to a sorceress and have her recharge all of your magic rings. DON'T USE YOUR DISINTEGRATION STONES FOR RECHARGING YOUR RINGS!!! While some of the monsters in the Wandering Dungeon drop Disintegration Stones, farming for them means fighting more battles and spending more time in the Wandering Dungeon than is necessary. Character choice is up to you for building your battle party, but I suggest having Myuria with Fast Cast and Faerie Star. If you gave Faerie Star to someone else, include that person in the party. For equipment, you'll obviously want the strongest available weapons. I preferred to synthesize them with HP Damage% factors, which you can get from bombs. This bonus doesn�t affect damage output when skills are used, but by this point in the game, I had all of my characters at 9999 ATK. If you aren�t reaching 9999 ATK, you might be better synthesizing your weapons with Saber- Tooth Tiger Fangs. Armor should be synthesized to the max with DEF up factors. Finally, I suggest making Super tri-Emblums for when you want to face the Ethereal Queen. During initial runs, you should be fine without Super tri-Emblums (not to mention, you can�t make them until you meet Santa for the first time). You will find the instructions for Super tri-Emblums further down in the guide, but for now, just remember that I suggest that you give one to each character. You may need to switch out characters here and there so you might as well have them properly geared up. However, your characters have two accessory slots. Synthesis lets you pile on bonuses to your accessories. The most important thing you�ll want for facing the Ethereal Queen is something that nullifies stun. Regarding what to do with the rest of your bonuses, here is a recommendation from DarkElf99: �I think it�s critical for every member of your party to have an accessory that has an anti-void factor and a �survive incapacitation via Fury� factor. Void status wipes out ALL bonuses, including all factors that are present on your equipped gear. The Fury factor can really save you some trouble during the Ethereal Queen�s Supernova attack because it increases the likelihood that you�ll survive it. In addition, I would recommend an anti-stun factor for fighters and anti-silence for the others. Remaining slots can be filled with DEF+ or HP+ factors. I would use Green Talismans as base items. Use something with no factors as your synthesis item, load it up with the factors you want, and then synthesize that to the Green Talismans. Then synthesize any high-stat items (like tri- Emblems) to the accessories to use up the remaining synthesize slots once they have the factors you want.� Finally, if you�re planning to face the Ethereal Queen, make sure you have at least two Otherworldly Cuisines in your inventory. If attempting to obtain Lymle�s two Ethereal Queen related battle trophies, bring three. You'll want to make sure that she isn't setting her sights on your healer (or on Lymle). ******************************* *4. PICK YOUR VACATION PACKAGE* ******************************* One of the problems with the Wandering Dungeons is that you�ll have to re- enter it repeatedly if you want to get everything. Various types of trips are recommended to make it so you remain in the dungeon (as well as re-enter the dungeon) as little as possible. `````````````````` `THE SANTA TRIP ` `````````````````` With better equipment, you can make it through the Wandering Dungeon more easily. This is why your first trip should be the Santa trip. Find Santa, buy his stuff, fulfill his shop orders if you're interested, and get the heck out of there. Starting as early as the eighth floor, you're going to want to search boss-type rooms (further explained later) in the hopes of finding this joker. Here are tables of what he offers for sale and what his shop orders are. Note that the prices of the items that he sells will be discounted 10% if you complete all of his shop orders. *------------------------------------------------* | THE SANTA MARIA � Items for Sale | *------------------------------------------------* | ITEM | PRICE | |------------------------------------------------| | Binding Sword "Shiho Murasame" | 1,200,000 Fol | | Fierce Bow "Reppu Shingetsu" | 980,000 Fol | | Sky Sword "Ama-no-Murakumo" | 1,500,000 Fol | | Nightmare Wand | 30,000 Fol | | Divine Wand "Empyreal Reverie" | 2,000,000 Fol | | Ogre Cannon "Legion's Howl" | 1,000,000 Fol | | Conqueror Scythe "Asura Vajra" | 1,200,000 Fol | | Battle Armor "God of Hellfire" | 800,000 Fol | | Electroshock Gear "War Deity" | 1,300,000 Fol | | tri-Emblem | 2,000,000 Fol | | Skill Manual "ATK Boost" | 6,000 Fol | | Skill Manual "INT Boost" | 6,000 Fol | | Skill Manual "Divine Wave" | 1,000,000 Fol | | Natto | 300 Fol | | Disintegration Stone | 30,000 Fol | | Aramid Fiber | 800 Fol | | Carbon Fiber | 1,000 Fol | | Rivet | 20 Fol | | Laser Oscillator | 3,000 Fol | | Sighting Unit | 500 Fol | | Mystery Electronic Circuit | 1,300 Fol |*--------------------------- ---------------------* *----------------------------------* | THE SANTA MARIA � Shop Orders | *----------------------------------* | ITEM | # REQUESTED | |----------------------------------| | Attack Seeds | 1 | | Intelligence Seeds | 1 | | Defense Seeds | 1 | | Accuracy Seeds | 1 | | Protection Seeds | 1 | | Health Seeds | 1 | | Magic Seeds | 1 | | Fermented Sushi | 10 | *----------------------------------* Since these prices are insane, you're going to either want to do the 99,999,999 Fol trick (found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d4zJhtHjms_) or buy the weapons needed for your collection data and sell them back. Depending on who you use, you may want to keep some of them. Definitely invest in ATK Boost and INT Boost for the characters that need them. Divine Wave is a wonderful spell for Myuria (and Faize if you have him). Also, pick up any Disintegration Stones for your rings in case you're running low. Most importantly, though, you'll want to buy a minimum of eight tri-Emblems in order to synthesize what is known as a �Super tri-Emblum,� which is the best accessory in the game. I highly recommend making a Super tri-Emblum and duplicating it seven times so that all of the characters can equip one. The following section, taken directly with the permission of the darling sakurayule from her Post Game Content FAQ on GameFAQs.com, provides details for creating a super tri-Emblum. Since they only cost one Magical Clay to duplicate, you only need to create one. A special thanks goes to sakurayule for this recipe. SUPER TRI-EMBLUM CREATION ------------------------- Requirements: Duplication Skill - Found on Floor 7 of the Cave of the Seven Stars (max out at Lv10) Magical Clay - To use the Duplication Spell (Farm in the Sanctuary) Alchemist's Cloak - Cursed Horrors in the Sanctuary drop them very commonly. Duel Armor - Sold on EN II in Centropolis' Armor Shop. Darkness Charm - Item Creation; Crafting Section 8 tri-Emblems - Buy from Santa 1 tri-Emblum - Drop from Thieving Scumbags (Edge's -ology drop) Note- The following strategy can be applied to any Armor or Accessory to bump up its resistances, and you can use any accessory besides the tri-Emblem that has no negative resistances. This strategy is explained using specific examples for simplification purposes. Step 01) Creating an Armor with +20 to all Resistances that can be duplicated with only 1 magical clay. The Duel Armor has +2 to all Resistances except Darkness. The Darkness element has -8 (Negative Eight). We need to bump this up to +2 to match the other Resistances. This is where the Darkness Charm comes into play; has a +4 to Darkness, and because the Duel Armor and the Darkness Charm both only have 4 Synth Limit Slots, we'll need to abuse the Duplication Skill. -Take a Darkness Charm, Duplicate it, and Synth it onto the original Darkness Charm. You now have a Darkness Charm with +6 to Darkness. -Duplicate this new charm 4 times. You now have 4 Darkness Charms with +6 to Darkness. -Synth all four of these charms onto your Duel Armor. You now have a Duel Armor with +2 to all Resistances. -Duplicate your Duel Armor (the one with +2 to all Resistances) so you have two of them. -Synth both of those Duel Armors onto your Alchemist's Cloak. The reasons we do this instead of using the Duel Armor is because the Duel Armor takes 3 Magical Clay to Duplicate, while the Alchemist's Cloak only takes 1. Once you do this, you'll have an Alchemist's Cloak with +2 to all Resistances. -Duplicate your Alchemist's Cloak (the one with +2 to all Resistances) TWICE. You now have 3 Alchemist's Cloaks with +2 to all Resistances. -Synth two of those Alchemist's Cloaks onto the third Alchemist's Cloak. You now have an Alchemist's Cloak with +4 to all Resistances. -Duplicate the +4 Cloak, and Synth it back onto the original +4 Cloak. You now have a Cloak with +6 to all Resistances. -Duplicate the +6 Cloak, and Synth it back onto the original +6 Cloak. You now have a Cloak with +9 to all Resistances. -Duplicate the +9 Cloak, and Synth it back onto the original +9 Cloak. You now have a Cloak with +13 to all Resistances. -Duplicate the +13 Cloak, and Synth it back onto the original +13 Cloak. You now have a Cloak with +19 to all Resistances. -Duplicate the +19 Cloak, and Synth it back onto the original +19 Cloak. You now have a Cloak with +20 to all Resistances. Make absolutely sure to create a duplicate of this Cloak, as it will be used quite often in this strategy. Step 02) Synth a bunch of the "+20 Cloak"s to your tri-Emblems. The 8 tri-Emblems will be used to power up your tri-Emblum, and since we can use this to add resistances, we need to change the resistances of them. Since Resistances are always cut in half through every Synth, we need to make the 8 tri-Emblems hold a total of +40 to all Resistances. This is because when they are Synthed onto the tri-Emblum, the Resistances are cut in half, down to +20, which is the maximum Resistance you can have. For this, we will need four of the "+20 Cloak"s. So... -Duplicate the "+20 Cloak" 4 times. -Synth one of them onto tri-Emblem #1. You now have a tri-Emblem with +10 to all Resistances. -Synth one of them onto tri-Emblem #2. You now have two tri-Emblems with +10 to all Resistances. -Synth one of them onto tri-Emblem #3. You now have three tri-Emblems with +10 to all Resistances. -Synth one of them onto tri-Emblem #4. You now have four tri-Emblems with +10 to all Resistances. You now have 8 tri-Emblems to be used as Synth items for your Super tri-Emblum, and they all have a combined total of +40 to all Resistances. Step 03) Finalize your Super tri-Emblum -Synth all 8 tri-Emblems to your tri-Emblum; this includes the four with +10 to all Resistances. You now have a super tri-Emblum. Duplicate it seven times with Arumat�s Duplication skill so that you have one per character. As you can see, both time and money will be needed in order to make these. However, it is definitely worth it. This is why a Santa Trip is recommended for your first Wandering Dungeon trip. ````````````````````````````` ` THE WEAPON COLLECTOR TRIP ` ````````````````````````````` Trying to get the Arms Addict Trophy? On your later trips through the Wandering Dungeon, I suggest going with the intent of finding the weapons you need for the weapon collection data. I'll list what you'll potentially find on each floor of the dungeon during the main guide, but here�s a quick glance at each floor�s secret weapons. I recommend doing this because if you want to open every chest in every room, you'll be there longer than necessary. Trust me when I say you do not want that. This is why a collector run is recommended. Note that none of these items are guaranteed to appear at all during any given run through the Wandering Dungeon, so you probably will have to exit and re- enter multiple times to complete your data. Floor 4: Artifact Bow Floor 6: Artifact Bow Floor 7: Infinity Saber and Blazing Wand Floor 8: Blazing Wand Floor 9: Trident Harpoon Floor 10: Hidden Claws �Crimson Falcons� Floor 11: Infinity Saber Floor 12: Hidden Claws �Crimson Falcons� Floor 13: Trident Harpoon Floor 14: Blood Scepter Floor 15: Blood Scepter Floor 16: Ultimate Cannon Floor 17: Demon Sword �Levantine� Floor 18: Ultimate Cannon Floor 19: Demon Sword �Levantine� One thing to point out during your quest for 100% weapon completion is that during the later floors, usually starting at floor 15, the treasure pods start to carry some better items. People have found Philosopher�s Stones, Red Dragon Scales, Symbol Boosters, Laser Weapons and many more goodies. ``````````````````````````` ` THE ETHEREAL QUEEN TRIP ` ``````````````````````````` If you want to fight the Ethereal Queen, then this is the trip where you will get through the floors as quickly as possible. Ignore treasures. Ignore monsters unless you need Geostones. Efficiently go from floor to floor and knock out the bosses as quickly as possible. The Ethereal Queen appears on the 20th floor and on every even floor beyond that, should you venture deeper. The first time you meet, she will have two wings, her weakest form and the least amount of HP. The second time, you will see her with four wings signifying her increased capabilities. From the third point on, she will have six wings and will be a flying nightmare to the unprepared. Preparations and strategies can be found in the section below that describes Floor 20. Regardless of what type of trip you wish to take, the tasks and voyage through the Wandering Dungeon will be the same. Let�s go over the nuances of the dungeon. ****************************************************** *5. UNDERSTANDING THE ODDITIES OF ODD-NUMBERED FLOORS* ****************************************************** As mentioned above, the odd-numbered floors will have one of three randomly assigned objectives explained to you by the obelisks. As soon as you examine them, you'll hear what needs to be done in order to advance. 1. DEFEAT OUR ASSASSINS: When you get this objective, you'll thank whichever deity you worship. This simply entails fighting anywhere from four to eight battles in a row. No strings attached and simple to do. If you�re going for battle trophies, consider putting in characters whose rare ��ology� drops align with the enemies you�re fighting, which will also make for easy Geostone harvesting. 2. DESTROY THE ABHORRENT CRYSTALS: Remember those crystals outside the Palace of Creation? You had to use your Earth Ring and then they would vanish. Well, that is sort of how it is here, except that each room on the particular floor (except for the entrance and exit) will have anywhere between one and four crystals that must be destroyed, and each crystal will be color-coded to indicate which ring must be used to destroy it. Thus, if you get this objective on later floors, you'll be using your magic rings like there�s no tomorrow. This is why it's crucial to have 20 Disintegration Stones. Remember, the Light Ring has only one charge and the Darkness Ring only has three. On the initial floors, this isn't bad. However, as you progress, you'll have to pay careful attention to which rooms you have and have not entered. Otherwise, you'll drive yourself crazy searching for crystals that you�ve missed. Systematically go through each room and make a mental note of where you have been. 3. BRING TO US AT LEAST <X> GEOSTONES: This is, in my opinion, the worst task you can get. Geostones are rare drops from many of the enemies in the Wandering Dungeon. Botany, entomology, parapsychology, demonology and zoology Geostone drops can all be found in the WD. Thus, if you do get this objective, you'll want to make sure your active party includes characters that have corresponding �-ology" skills, especially if you also want to make a dent in the -ology drops battle trophies. You'll also want to get surprised and ambushed as much as possible in order to have more enemies in battle. Having Meracle with Ocarina isn�t a bad idea either so you don�t have to exit a room and come back. Geostones can also be found randomly in some of the treasure pods scattered throughout the Wandering Dungeon. They cannot be duplicated, so get ready to buckle down and fight it out when given this task. Here�s another note about Geostones. You cannot efficiently hoard Geostones to save yourself time later. For example, if the floor you�re on requires 8 Geostones, you might feel ambitious and obtain 20 so that you�ll have a 12- Geostone head-start for the next objective that requires Geostones, especially if you�re on an early floor where the enemies are relatively easy. Unfortunately, activating the obelisk while possessing the required number of Geostones in your inventory will completely wipe out any remaining Geostones. To add insult to injury, any Geostones you may have will vanish whenever you leave the Wandering Dungeon. One more thing to mention about Geostones: while they are considered rare drops and can help with acquiring battle trophies, I do not recommend using them for obtaining Sarah�s zoology drops. There are much weaker enemies to fight if you�re trying to obtain as many battle trophies as possible. *********************************************** *6. GETTING DOLLED UP FOR EVEN-NUMBERED FLOORS* *********************************************** On every even-numbered floor there is only one task: bring the obelisk a Seraphic Doll. Where can you get one, you ask? Well, by defeating the boss on that particular floor, of course. Find it, kick its butt, and pull the doll from its cold, scaly hands. Okay, not really, it'll be available as a drop. Luckily, bosses are only found in one of five types of rooms. Thanks to the loverly (yes, I said �loverly�) sakurayule for these descriptions. The Cross Room: shaped like a...wait for it...cross! The Four Pillar Room: a large room with four pillars. Look for four dots on a large square. The Three Square Room: three squares come together to look like a shamrock. The C-Shaped Room: this room looks like a jagged, crude letter C. The Popsicle Room: a room that looks like an ice-cream bar. No, seriously! For more information, check out this link: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/939441-star-ocean-the-last-hope- international/faqs/57168 *********************** *7. ENTER! IF YOU DARE* *********************** ======= Floor 1 ======= The first floor of the Wandering Dungeon will give you your first objective, as well as a general idea of what to expect. Notice those giant cubes that are periwinkle in color and clear? Those can be removed simply by examining the circle emblem on them; a habit you may want to get into when the objective involves destroying the crystals. ENEMIES: Adephaga Prox: An insect enemy that resembles those you found on Aeos. Nothing to worry about, unless you fear the poison status. They are excellent targets for farming Arumat�s Entomology drops because they drop Geostones frequently. Trinity Tusk: A chimera type enemy that can freeze you. Avoid Blindsides because of its scorpion tail. Attack from a distance with Reimi or with a symbologist. Jade Golem: A stone-demon enemy. These are great for farming Myuria's Demonology drops. They also drop Moonstones from time to time. Myconid: A mushroom enemy. Have Reimi pick them off with her bow for Botany drops. Acid Gerel: Like most Gerels, they can multiply and spray a small diameter with acid. Having Reimi in the party makes them worth killing because the Geostones that they drop count toward her Botany drops. Misfortuner: An undead grim-reaper. These appeared the least for me. They can cause void status, so try to eliminate them quickly. Kobold Ranger: Typical kobold type of foe. Quick, but rather weak. They always appear with Trinity Tusks and can be easily taken down with a few strong attacks from a melee fighter. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: None, thankfully. Move on to the next floor. ======= Floor 2 ======= As mentioned above, every even-numbered floor requires you to defeat a boss and use the Seraphic Doll you obtain from the boss to advance. ENEMIES: Same as floor 1. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Again, nothing to look for. Find the boss room so you can get out of here. BOSS: Prehistoric Psynard For a first boss, this giant bird should give you little trouble. I suggest controlling a melee fighter and constantly Blindsiding it. If you're not having much luck with that, switch to a symbol user for healing duty or switch to Reimi and blast away while your front line fighters absorb most of the damage. Heal when necessary, which shouldn't be often seeing as though this boss is similar to the Sand Bird you fought back on Roak and the Pysnards you found in the EN II Sanctuary. ======= Floor 3 ======= Your second odd-numbered floor. You're not getting tired yet, are you? We're just beginning! ENEMIES: Same as floor 1. I will point out that Jade Golems seem to appear more frequently here than they do on floors 1 and 2. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Plate of the Lost Monarch. This is a piece of armor for Bacchus. Since it doesn't add anything to your collection data, it won't be that big of a deal if you happen to never find one. Furthermore, the status upgrades it adds aren't as beneficial as some of the armor pieces you can make via Item Creation. Seek it out if you want to. Otherwise, finish your objective. ======= Floor 4 ======= Looks like the floors are getting larger, doesn't it? Head towards those boss- type rooms I mentioned above if you want to fight the boss as quickly as possible. ENEMIES: Same as floor 1. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Artifact Bow. This is a wonderful weapon for Reimi. Her Mediumistic Bow requires a Philosopher's Stone, something you won't find until further down the dungeon. Thus, if you enjoy having Reimi in your active party, consider looking through each chest in hopes of finding this weapon. BOSS: RING BEAST (+2 Lizard Tyrants) Another easy boss battle. Due to its size, it is very easy to have multiple party members beat the crap out of it all at once. I usually take Arumat or Meracle and Blindside it. Then, I just spam his/her attacks while everyone else goes to work. The Ring Beast does not fight alone. It comes with two Lizard Tyrants. If you want, consider putting Sarah in the active party in hopes of getting Geostones when the battle ends. Other than that, just a standard fight with a foe you're quite familiar with. The Ring Beast is weak to darkness, but I don't recommend spamming Shadow Needles due to its slow activation time. ======= Floor 5 ======= We are about a quarter of the way done! Well, floor-wise, anyways. ENEMIES: Antlered Tortoise: If you engage these beasts from the front, you'll be able to juggle them. Don't bother attacking from the back due to their hard shells being impenetrable. The rest of the enemies are those you encountered on the previous floors. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Plate of the Lost Monarch. Again, no biggie if you miss it. ======= Floor 6 ======= If you're attempting to obtain as many battle trophies as possible, floor 6 is the perfect spot for Lymle's parapsychology drops. The Misfortuners from before are still around. You'll also meet two new foes alongside the Antlered Tortoises you met on the fifth floor. ENEMIES: Ghostkeeper: A slow moving zombie type of enemy that is covered in black mist. Terribly weak, these are perfect for Lymle's 999 undead kills as well as the parapsychology drops that come with them. They drop Disintegration Stones frequently. Arch Spellmaster: Typical undead wizards that love to cast Terra Hammer, Thunder Flare, and other high level spells. They have a very useful Monster Jewel for magic users, too. Take them out first. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Artifact Bow. If the fourth floor didn't have one, maybe the sixth floor will. Never hurts to look. BOSS: CHIMERA BEAST (+2 Arch Spellmasters) Another chimera type of enemy that does what you'd expect. It will charge at you, try to freeze you, try to burn you, and it has a tail that makes for difficult Blindsides. It also fights alongside two Arch Spellmasters. Take out these two wizardly foes first, and then focus on the chimera. Long range attacks work best. If you are using Faize, use his earth magic in a chain combo in order to cause extra damage. In all honesty, if you have fought one chimera before, you've fought them all. It shouldn't be difficult as long as you keep it at a distance. ======= Floor 7 ======= Chances are that the floors are getting more and more labyrinthine. Stay focused! ENEMIES: Same as floor 6. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Blazing Wand. This wand for Lymle is a good piece of equipment if you are trying to enhance her fire magic. It adds fire to each attack, +15% for fire symbols and shoots a blast of fire when attacking. However, for the Ethereal Queen battle, you will want to equip something without an elemental property since she is immune to all elements. Infinity Saber: If you have Faize in your party, this is a good choice for him. More importantly, this is a wonderful weapon for synthesis. It can be duplicated for only one piece of Magical Clay so even if you don't have Faize, the Infinity Saber is a great find. ======= Floor 8 ======= Alright, another boss floor. Let's get that Seraphic Doll! ENEMIES: Same as floor 6. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Blazing Wand. Hopefully you can get this if you didn't get it on the previous floor. BOSS: IMPERFECT ARMAROS If you are trying to get Faize's �Defeat 55 Grigori� battle trophy, I suggest bringing him in for this fight. Imperfect Armaros starts with a hard shell that will slowly deteriorate as you damage him. My strategy involves taking a fighter like Arumat or Meracle, performing a Blindside, performing a combo on his shell while he has the �?!� above him and repeating. He will attack with his tendrils and with a laser beam, but neither of these attacks will be very damaging. When you deal enough damage to him, half of his shell will be gone and his special spot will be exposed. Use earth magic or continue your attacks as normal. You'll see a huge increase in damage as long as you hit his weak point. This battle isn't hard, but it can be a bit long because of the foe's shell. ======= Floor 9 ======= The floors keep getting bigger and bigger, don't they? *sigh* Anyway, this floor is an important one. Read below to find out why. ENEMIES: Same as floor 6. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Trident Harpoon. For some reason, I had the trickiest time getting this weapon for Sarah. While not very good in comparison to her Victory Lance, it still adds to the weapon collection data and, in my experience, is a rare find. Li�l Vending Machine No. 3. Yes, that's right. There is a third vending machine for the Calnus. While it doesn't add anything out of the ordinary, it is essential for making Symbology Cards. You know, the 80-some spell cards you can make with Lymle's artistry skill? This vending machine has all the necessities: paints, parchments, brushes, etc. One of the shops on EN II asks for a variety of these cards and instead of having to go back and forth to get the ingredients, Li�l Vending Machine No. 3 has all you will need. It only appears on this floor so be thorough in your search if you want to get this helpful item. ======== Floor 10 ======== Halfway floor! Awesome! Hopefully your eyes aren't getting tired yet. One thing that I will mention about this floor is that Santa first appeared for me in one of the boss-type rooms. Some stated that they got him as early as floor eight, but I never had that happen to me. Thus, now is a good time to start looking for Santa if you need him. Remember, tri-Emblems are only found in his shop. ENEMIES: Same as floor 6. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Hidden Claws "Crimson Falcons." These are an excellent pair of claws for Meracle. If you enjoy using her, these are absolutely worth hunting down. They grant high attack power and increase critical hit chance; perfect for the obstacles ahead. BOSS: ARMAROS MANIFEST II (+ Bloodtails) No matter what you say, you have to fight this boss. This fight can go either way. Some people suggest fending off the Bloodtails that accompany the boss, but I find that to be counterproductive because Armaros Manifest II will create more. Therefore, I suggest the following. Take your favorite fighter and give him/her something that prevents silence. In my case it was Arumat. Put Sarah in your party and make it so her only available spells are Cure Condition, Faerie Light, and Resurrection. Give her something that prevents silence, too. The other two characters are up to you. When the battle begins, lock your fighter onto the boss. Taunt it if necessary, and Blindside it. Now, unleash as many hits as you can. With each Blindside, Armaros Manifest II's tail is exposed, which happens to be the weak point. If you are successful, you'll be able to repeat this process over and over until the foe falls. I was able to finish her off in five minutes with this tactic. Remember, ignore the Bloodtails and make sure you don't get silenced. If you get poisoned, Sarah should be able to help with that. If you continue to have trouble, you may have to synthesize some gear that prevents both silence and poison. No Guard comes highly recommended because of the boss� wide attack radius. ======== Floor 11 ======== Alright! Let's keep this pace up! On this floor, you'll encounter a bunch of new enemies and the potential to obtain Philosopher's Stones. ENEMIES: Damascus Forts: These demons are similar to those cyclops, pinwheel things that you first encountered in the Astral Caves. With Myuria or Meracle, you can try to steal Philospher's Stones from them. Or, you can fight them in groups and continue to get ambushed by them. As long as Myuria is in your party with maxed out Demonology, you should be able to get a few Philosopher's Stones. They are resistant to magic, so take them out with powerful physical attacks. To create everything in the game, you will need a total of twelve Philosopher�s Stones. Little Mutant: Another demon, only they resemble those little alien buggers you saw on Alternate Earth. Weak and prone to being tossed around, these aren't much to worry about. They may try to silence you, so try to get rid of them quickly. Keep Myuria in the party while fighting them. These losers will drop Micro Heavy Ion Colliders. These are used for Bacchus' final item creations, and you�ll need two to create everything that uses it. Augmentoid: A crawling demon corpse that loves to poison foes. Oddly enough, they aren't weak to light. Take them out as you normally would with a swift Blindside, followed by a few critical attacks. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Infinity Saber. If you missed it before, hopefully you can get it now. Remember, this is a great weapon for synthesis. Absolute Protector. Definitely worth hunting down, despite the fact that it doesn't add anything to collection data. This powerful piece of armor is great for Reimi or Meracle. ======== Floor 12 ======== Don't you love it when the only objective on the floor is to kill a boss and to use a Seraphic Doll? ENEMIES: Same as floor 11. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Hidden Claws "Crimson Falcons." If you missed this on floor 10, hopefully you can get them now. Meracle just isn't the killing machine she could be without this weapon. BOSS: RUNAWAY DRAGON After Armaros Manifest II, this boss comes as a relief. Like any dragon, it can leap into the air and come crashing down, shoot some energy spheres, and charge. That said, this big doofus can be easily killed with Blindsides and water magic. You can take control of a melee fighter, take control of Myuria and spam Ice Needles endlessly, and/or take control of Reimi while your frontliners do the dirty work. The dragon has a ton of HP, but the damage it causes is nothing to worry about and its huge size makes it easy to juggle. ======== Floor 13 ======== Yay, lucky number 13! Hanging in there? ENEMIES: Same as floor 11. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Absolute Protector. Feeling lucky? Well, hopefully your feelings are correct! Whether or not you found this set of armor on the other floor, having two is awesome. I�m a fan of having both Reimi and Meracle in my party, therefore I made sure to have them both equipped with one. Trident Harpoon. Only worth hunting down for the collection data if you missed it before. ======== Floor 14 ======== I think by this point I was starting to get angry with the creators at tri-Ace. Seriously, these floors are getting to be too damn big. One save point wouldn't have hurt at all! ENEMIES: Same as floor 11. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Blood Scepter. This is a nice weapon for Myuria. Since the Wizard's Staff requires Philosopher's Stones, you may want to hunt this down if you enjoy controlling Myuria. Some enemies in the Wandering Dungeon are weak to ice, so having this will help. BOSS: KOKABIEL RISEN Before you do anything to this foe, ask yourself if you want to get 100% of the battle trophies. If the answer is yes, then read on. If no, then go to the next paragraph. You will want to switch everyone to manual and take control of Bacchus. For one of his battle trophies, he needs to kill 100 Kokabiel Spawn, the enemy that this boss spews. If you missed your chance at the Sanctuary, now is the time to try again. Kokabiel Risen usually lets five to ten spawn loose at a time, so getting to 100 shouldn't take very long. I didn't have much luck with Black Hole Sphere. Instead, spam skills like Termination and Blessed Buster. With everyone on manual and Bacchus only focusing on the spawns, this should let you get 100 of them quickly. If you don't care about battle trophies and the like, take control of a heavy hitting melee character. Lock on the boss, and continue to Blindside it. Once behind the foe, let loose your favorite combos. Sometimes, there won't be any damage due to the fact that you have to get rid of the boss' minions first. Keep doing the above tactic and you'll eventually kill her. Her attacks are so weak, they hardly do any significant damage. She can cast Arctic Impact, so put on some Anti-Freezing Amulets if you�re worried about freezing. Still, because of her lack of power, you don�t have to worry about damage. ======== Floor 15 ======== Three-quarters of the way there in terms of floors! ENEMIES: Same as floor 11. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Blood Scepter. See above. Try to get this if you enjoy using Myuria and haven't had the chance to craft her best staff yet. ======== Floor 16 ======== The home stretch! New enemies and new treasures and a new chance for some battle trophies. ENEMIES: Lizard Tyrant: The standard, armored lizard foe with a giant meat cleaver for a weapon. You already fought a pair of these guys with the Ring Beast on floor 4. Nothing to worry about, but they have a high drop rate for their Geostones. Have Sarah in the party if you need some Geostones. Grim Reaper: This is the second enemy that drops Philosopher's Stones. They�re weak to light, and they have an arsenal of magic at their disposal. However, they fall relatively quickly. If you want some of those stones, put Lymle in the party. Bloodtail: Remember those annoying insects that would silence you when facing Armaros Manifest II? Well, they're a regular enemy now. Arumat/Faize needs bug kills, so you might as well take them on with him. There shouldn't be a need to wear anti-silence gear as long as you're efficient in killing them. Hell Clown: Ick. I can't stand these types of enemies. If you have faced these demonic morons before, you know what to expect. They will roll you over with their balance balls, throw confetti that will turn you into a pumpkin, and throw a ring that can paralyze you. If you ever face these, focus on them first. They don't even drop Geostones, so don't bother facing them unless you really, REALLY want their Monster Jewel. Dominator Dragon: No dungeon is complete without giant dragons! Make sure you have Myuria in the party while facing these enormous foes. First, they are the only enemies that drop Dragon God Scales, an ingredient required for the best armor in the game. They can be duplicated for one Magical Clay, so once you get one, you don't have to worry about getting more. For those who really want complete monster data, their demonology drop is Valkyrie's Garb. Fans of Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria will squeal in delight when they see how this armor looks and, more importantly, how awesome its defense is. Any of the females can equip it. So, if you are in the mood for some extra time in the Wandering Dungeon, keep Myuria in the party and fight your heart out against the Dominator Dragons. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Absolute Protector. Third time's the charm, am I right? If you are getting frustrated grinding for Valkyrie's Garb, another Absolute Protector will do the trick. Ultimate Cannon. This mighty weapon for Bacchus grants high ATK but lowers DEF by 300. I say it�s a fair trade. If you're a fan of Bacchus, this will do very well until you can make his ultimate weapon. BOSS: DOPPELGANGERS- SHADOW EDGE, SHADOW MYURIA, SHADOW BACCHUS: By now, you probably realize that every character will get a battle trophy for killing their respective shadow. Of the three fights to do so, this was the easiest. Controlling a heavy hitter like Edge, Arumat or Meracle, begin the battle by going all-out on Shadow Myuria. When her HP gets low, set everyone to Manual and put Myuria in the party. Use Enlighten and/or Mind Flare if you feel it necessary, and let loose with a barrage of Ice Needles and Lightning Blasts. She'll go down without much of a struggle since the only attack she seems to use is Lightning Blast. Turn everyone back on to Auto and keep track of the other two foes' HP. When they start dwindling, put in the respective team mates. For Edge, a Blindside plus Raging Strike after Raging Strike will do his shadow in. Bacchus should use Termination followed by Blessed Buster for his shadow. As long as you kill Myuria first, this battle won't be very difficult. If you don't care about the battle trophies, then turn your party on to Auto and have a blast as you kill these foes. ======== Floor 17 ======== Phew, only four more floors! ENEMIES: Same as floor 16. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Demon Sword "Levantine." Much to my dismay, this is not Edge's best weapon. Furthermore, it has Darkness attached to it. Most foes at this point have some sort of resistance to Darkness. Still, it can be worth hunting down if you are sick of Edge's Moonstone Sword and/or have yet to make the Imperial Sword. ======== Floor 18 ======== So close! Can't you just taste the sweetness of victory? No? Well, your loss. ENEMIES: Same as floor 16. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Ultimate Cannon. Again, if you missed it before, it will hopefully be here on this floor. I never cared for Bacchus in my party, but I still prefer him to have only the finest in equipment. If you enjoy using him, this is good to have. BOSS: DOPPELGANGERS - SHADOW LYMLE, SHADOW FAIZE, SHADOW MERACLE This is the most difficult of the alter-ego battles. Take Arumat or Edge and start beating the living tar out of Shadow Lymle. If you want Lymle's shadow battle trophy, put her in and have her chain Fire Bolt over and over when her shadow is running low on HP. Volcanic Burst won't juggle her shadow if she's in Rush Mode, and her other spells take too long to finish. If you wish, you can use Cerberus to finish her off. I just had more luck with Mind Flare followed by non-stop Fire Bolts. With Lymle gone, things become more manageable. Shadow Meracle is easy to defeat with Meracle, especially if you got her exclusive weapon in the Wandering Dungeon. A Blindside, followed by non-stop X Claws, will take care of her in no time. That leaves Shadow Faize. Personally, I prefer to take Meracle or Edge and lower his HP. Faize isn't effective at killing a foe with his rapier, but with a chain of Mind Flared Stone Rains and Ice Needles, it should go down without much trouble. Remember, do this only if you want to get some battle trophies. If not, then take your favorite melee fighter and have everyone set to go all out. Pick off Shadow Lymle first, and the rest will fall. ======== Floor 19 ======== Your last floor with a crazy objective! By now, you're probably praying for a "Defeat our assassins" request. I got lucky in all my travels through the WD and got this each time I got to floor 19. ENEMIES: Same as floor 16. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Demon Sword "Levantine." The sad thing about this sword is that you have to travel alllllll the way down to find it. If you missed it before on floor 17, pray to whatever it is you pray to in hopes of getting this here. ======== Floor 20 ======== We�re here! Finally! Now then, we need to go over some things before facing the Ethereal Queen. First things first: preparation. Initially, I highly recommend having enemy voices turned on and having the voices be set to English. I know, I know: the voice actors aren't great, but you'll want to make sure that you understand what the boss of this floor is saying when you face her. ``````````````````````````````` ` CHARACTER SETUP SUGGESTIONS ` ``````````````````````````````` If you�re planning to give your healers (Sarah and/or Myuria) an Otherworldly Cuisine, it only lasts for three battles, so you're going to want to avoid all enemy encounters here as you search for the boss. Set Myuria on Manual and make sure her HP is as high as possible. Sarah should have all of her spells turned off except for Faerie Light and Resurrection. Have her AI set to "Stay Out of Trouble� and make sure her HP is as high as possible, too. Some folks think that having two healers is unnecessary. I suggest trying your luck with one healer if you feel this way. For me, having two folks keeping my party alive wasn�t overkill; it was a necessity. If you want to use Meracle, increase her defense and set her to Beat S. Some prefer to use Beat B, but I�d rather have Meracle perform a Taunt, and then have the ability to Double Blindside. I like having her only skill be X Claw. Also, give her No Guard and Critical Hit. Hopefully her attack is at 9999. If you want to use Reimi, you may want to consider feeding her an Otherworldly Cuisine. Set her to Beat B and crank her ATK power up as high as possible. The skills I enjoy using with her are Crimson Squall and Savage Sparrows. Having her battle trophies at 100% allows you to put more skills in her slots, but if you don't have 100%, it's not a big deal. Critical Hit works wonders with Reimi if you don�t feel like using Focus every 30 seconds. Reimi works well at stunning the Ethereal Queen. If you want to use Edge, set him to Beat B. Like everyone else, you'll want to make sure his HP and DEF are as high as possible. Avoid having skills that involve multiple hits like Rising Blade and Scintillant Stream. Raging Strike and Aura Spark are good choices. If you want to use Bacchus, put him on Beat B. Skills don't matter too much because he'll be the one who, hopefully, gets most of the attention. Just avoid Black Hole Sphere. If you want to use Arumat, put him on Beat S and make sure his ATK and DEF are super high. Some people like to have Dragon Roar in three slots so it can gain the 180% damage bonus. Personally, I prefer to have Unholy Maelstrom followed by two Dragon Roars. This way, I was able to fit No Guard in a skill slot. I suggest not using Faize or Lymle. Of course, if you want to obtain Lymle's two Ethereal Queen battle trophies, you'll need to make sure she's ready to put on the hurt. Feed her an Otherworldly Cuisine, put her on Beat B, and make it so her only skill equipped is Hound Grenade. Also, set her to Manual. You don't want her running around when you switch characters. Make sure her INT is as close to 9999 as possible. Kokabiel Spawn Jewels, INT Boost, etc. are the way to go. As for Faize, well, I'll leave that to you if you really want to use him. His AI has a tendency to rush into the fray despite the fact that he has an arsenal of non-elemental spells, his attacks are weak, and his defense tends to be on the lower side. I know that one of his battle trophies involves defeating 130 types of enemies, but if you were diligent from the start of the game, you should have this by now and shouldn't need to make the Ethereal Queen your 130th kill. ENEMIES: Same as floor 16. EXCLUSIVE TREASURES: Some say that this floor, and later floors, has the possibility of carrying a Demon Sword �Levantine� for Edge. I never bothered to look because I wanted to get the hell out of there. BOSS: THE ETHEREAL QUEEN It wouldn't be tri-Ace without two things: bonus dungeons and the angelic bosses that reside within. The most powerful foe in the game, The Ethereal Queen, is more than happy to kick your butt. So, let's get started on what to expect and what to do to finish her. The Ethereal Queen has a variety of attacks. ``````````` ` ATTACKS ` ``````````` Divine Wave: A non-elemental spell that will be cast in the blink of an eye. Obviously, this will knock you down. However, if you are in Rush Mode, you will remain on your feet and can continue your assault. You'll be happy to see this when you're nearing the end of the fight. Empress Massacre: A ruthless combo on a character. You will hear her say "Face the dance of death!" before she begins her assault. This is easy to dodge, but your AI won't be as smart. If it looks like your character is hurting, get ready to heal and/or revive. Seraphic Wings: This attack does both HP and MP damage. She will send out energy beams around her that move in an erratic pattern. This is a pain because you will need as much MP as possible. It covers a semi-wide radius, so if you see the skill pop up on the screen, dash away, wait for it to finish, and resume your assault. Supernova: *sigh* The attack that will make you wish for a Save Point. The worst part about this is that she will start to use it frequently when she gets to about three-fourths to one-half of her HP. When you hear her say, "Cease to be!" you will want to take your character and run as far away from her as possible. Supernova summons dark clouds above the Ethereal Queen that cause instant death to a huge area. It is for this reason that you want your healers as far away from the action as possible and your fighters to be the ones with all of the attention. Supernova's range is variable. Even if you are far away from the attack, you may still get sucked into it and one hit KO'd. When she starts using Supernova, wait until you see her next attack before you decide to use a Resurrection Unit. If by chance your character survives Supernova, have Myuria ready with Faerie Star. Or, simply use a set of Ripe or Perfect Berries. ```````````` ` STRATEGY ` ```````````` As soon as the battle begins, take control of Myuria and put her as far into a corner as possible. Again, make sure she's on Manual. You'll be switching to her frequently to Fast Cast Faerie Star. Next, take Sarah to another far corner. She'll be hanging out until a friend needs healing or reviving. Unlike Myuria, the computer will do a good job of keeping her safe. Myuria has a tendency to rush into the action and attack with her staff if she�s not set to Manual. I know, I know; the fact that she�s made of cardboard doesn�t stop her from running into the fray. Now, take your two other characters and go to work. As a user of Arumat, I made sure to taunt the Ethereal Queen often so Arumat was the primary target. Taunt her 10 times and you�ll get a battle trophy, which is always nice to have. My other character was Reimi, set to �Gang up on foes with full force!� You�ll be happy to know that, unlike Gabriel Celeste, the Ethereal Queen flinches from getting hit. Thus, attacking from the front can be done. However, I don�t recommend it. Begin the battle with a ruthless assault. Your controlled character needs to be the one she focuses upon. Taunt, attack, and do whatever it is you need to do in order to get her attention. You�ll then want to Blindside her and unleash a furious combo. Arumat should use Dragon Roar. Meracle should use X Claw. Edge should use Aura Spark followed by Raging Strike. If Reimi is in the party, she should be lending support with an endless assault of arrows. Bacchus should be using skills like Irradiation and Termination if he�s fighting at a distance OR using Godslayer if he�s the one performing the Blindsides. Continue this Blindside/super combo assault until she breaks away. She�ll enter Rush Mode in a matter of seconds, but keep performing a Blindside. She�ll flinch as long as the �?!� is above her halo- wearing noggin. Keep this up. With Super tri-Emblums equipped, you can expect your rush gauge to increase drastically. Don�t enter a Rush Mode Combo unless you need a break. Staying in Rush Mode will allow you to do more damage and not get pushed back by her Divine Wave. When you see your HP start to fall a bit, switch to Myuria for a quick Faerie Star. Sarah�s Faerie Light will help, too. When her HP starts to fall, you�ll notice that her rush gauge will increase quicker and quicker. In fact, once half of her energy is gone, the rush gauge will increase without you even touching her. This will also be the time when you see her start to use Supernova. Remember to keep your healers as far away as possible. In terms of what to do if caught by Supernova, watch to see which character Sarah revives first. Immediately switch to Myuria and have her use a Resurrection Elixir/Restoration spell on the other character. In the event three of your four characters get hit by the Supernova, let the remaining character use a Resurrection Unit after you ensure her next attack is a Divine Wave, Empress Massacre or Seraphic Wings. Usually, she would fly around because of the Otherworldly Cuisine I used on my healers combined with the distance they were from her. If all four of your characters get hit, switch the one furthest away from her to someone with high HP. Have that character dodge and back up as far away as needed in case she uses Supernova again. Immediately have that person use a Resurrection Unit. You�ll know when you�re near the end of the fight when her rush gauge is stuck and she remains in Rush Mode the rest of the fight. Continue to keep her sights on one character as you fight away from your healers. Blindsides are still potent, but if she uses Supernova, you�ll get caught in the blast. Remember, knowing that her gauge is permanently stuck means that you�re nearing the home stretch. With two healers and two attackers, you should be able to kill her. It�ll be a tough fight, but if you have the essential items and gear, you can survive. `````````````````````````````````````````````` ` LYMLE�S TWO ETHEREAL QUEEN BATTLE TROPHIES ` `````````````````````````````````````````````` If you�re going for Lymle�s two Ethereal Queen-related battle trophies, you�ll want to put Lymle in for someone else when the queen�s gauge stops moving and she�s in Rush Mode constantly. For me, it was Reimi since you don�t want anyone attacking. Have her run away from the Ethereal Queen and use Hide, followed by Mind Flare. Take your only melee character and have him/her lure the Ethereal Queen towards a corner. Perform a Blindside, and let loose with a few more powerful attacks. Switch this character to Manual, and have him/her equip something that prevents void status. Hopefully, the Ethereal Queen will use something like Divine Wave or Empress Massacre. Have Sarah or Myuria use a Fainting Potion on this character. At this point, she will be trying to get rid of this character, but the Fainting Potion will nullify all damage. Supernova won�t damage him/her either because void is nullified. If Supernova is used, Lymle might get caught in the blast. Let Sarah revive her if this happens. Using Lymle, chain nothing but Hound Grenade. Trust me, I tried attacks like Hatchet Reel and Trinity Blaze, but Hound Grenade is the only one capable of actually hurting the Ethereal Queen. Some people have tried to give Lymle a Laser Weapon with %HP Factors and use her regular, long-range attack. That didn�t work for me. Others will tell you to use Extinction+ Cards on her in-between Hound Grenades. If you have them, you�re welcome to try it. For me, using non-stop Hound Grenades did the trick and finished her off. I got both of these trophies on my first try with a level 255 Lymle. If you have trouble killing her in ten minutes, I recommend leaving the Wandering Dungeon, saving the game over a different slot, and trying again with her weakest form. If you�re having trouble in general with the Ethereal Queen, I suggest increasing everyone�s attack and defense as close to 9999 as possible with synthesis. For attack increases, use Saber-Tooth Tiger Fangs. Faeries of Aggression work, but they require rare ingredients. For an increase in protection, use Red Dragon Scales. You can use Faeries of Fortification but, again, they require rare ingredients. Levels help a bit, but gear is the key to success. This is why I recommend a Santa Run before heading to battle this angelic anarchist. *************** *8. CONCLUSION* *************** With the Ethereal Queen defeated, you�ll get an Ethereal Queen�s Feather. Now, you have two options. - Exit the Wandering Dungeon so you can save your progress. Once you exit, talk to the man who took you there. He�ll give you a recipe memo that teaches you how to make Valkyrie�s Garb. - For those of you who are brave, or perhaps foolish, enough to continue down, every even-numbered floor beyond 20 will house another Ethereal Queen. Each subsequent even-numbered floor will have the same layout as floor 20 whereas the odd-numbered floors will have the same layout and objectives as floor 19. If you�re looking to get 100% item creation, you�ll need to beat her four more times in order to get the five Ethereal Queen�s Feathers required to make everything. Another thing to point out is that you need to find Santa again. With the Ethereal Queen defeated, you�ll get a recipe memo from Santa that shows how to make tri-Emblems. Regardless of what you do, one thing remains certain: you finished the most obnoxious dungeon in all of tri-Ace creation! Those who are trying to get all of the trophies will have to go in again and again to find the exclusive weapons and to obtain enough Ethereal Queen�s Feathers. The same strategies will apply, but by this time, you should have plenty of new equipment. ********************* *9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS* ********************* - Myself, for being sadistic enough to write this thing and go through the dungeon a few hundred times. Well, not �a few hundred� but it was still more times than I cared for. - sakurayule, for allowing me to use some amazing information from her guide. Be sure to check out some of her other guides on GameFAQs.com! - o0Zero0o, for editing my spelling errors, making the guide seem more �flowy,� and for contributing some excellent information that I forgot to mention. - DarkElf99 for providing the guide with GORGEOUS tables for Santa�s shop, adding some awesome information, and contributing to the feng shui of the guide. He�s got some great work on GameFAQs.com, so check it out! - The folks on the Star Ocean: The Last Hope -International- board for being some of the most helpful and responsive group of posters I have seen on GameFAQs.com in a while. They were my motivation for getting the platinum trophy! - The Brady Games guide. Despite all of its errors, there is some good information in there. - tri-Ace, for making a hit! Next time, though, make it so your bonus dungeons aren�t so despicable? Thanks! - GameFAQs.com, for still being the number one website on the Internet.