SSSSSSS TTTTTT A RRRRRR OOO CCCCC EEEEEE A N N SS TT A R R OO OO CC E A NN N SS TT A A R R OO OO C E A A N N N SS TT AAAAA RRRRR OO OO C EEEEEE AAAAA N NN N SS TT AA AA R R OO OO C E AA AA N N N SS TT AA AA R R OO OO CC E AA AA N N N SSSSSSS TT AA AA R R OOO CCCCC EEEEEE AA AA N NN ssss eeee ccc oo n n ddd eeee v v oo ll u u tttt ii oo n n s e c o o nn n d d e v v o o ll u u tt ii o o nn n s eee c o o n nn d d eee v v o o ll u u tt ii o o n nn s e c o o n nn d d e v v o o ll u u tt ii o o n nn ssss eeee ccc oo n n ddd eeee v oo llll uu tt ii oo n n FAQ/Walkthrough for Star Ocean: Second Evolution for Playstation Portable Region: NTSC/PAL ============================================================================== FAQ/Walkthrough made by Damage_dealer (Igor Sheludko) E-mail: [email protected] Version 0.75 This entire document is (C) 2008-2009 Igor Sheludko. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. No section of this guide can be used without my permission. This includes, but is not limited to posting on your website, making links to my guide, including parts of my guide in your own, or making reference to any material contained within. Only GameFAQs has permission to post this guide. ============================================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS ============================================================================== I. BEGINNING & BASICS IA. STORY INTRODUCTION IB. MAIN CHARACTERS IC. PRIVATE ACTIONS ID. BATTLE SYSTEM BASICS IE. CONTROLS II. WALKTHROUGH IIA. CLAUDE WALKTHROUGH IIB. RENA WALKTHROUGH III. SIDE-QUESTS, SECRETS AND POST-GAME STUFF IV. ITEM LIST V. EQUIPMENT LIST VI. SHOP LIST VII. SKILL SYSTEM, SPECIALTIES AND ITEM CREATION VIII. SPECIAL ARTS/SYMBOLOGY IX. RECRUITMENT GUIDE X. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS XI. VERSION HISTORY XII. CREDITS XIII. CONTACT INFO Use Ctrl+F feature for easier navigation. ============================================================================== I. BEGINNING & BASICS ============================================================================== Following the exploits of humankind�s journey across the stars, the STAR OCEAN saga comes to life in the completely remastered STAR OCEAN: Second Evolution, exclusively for the PSP system. Now with a revised game engine, an improved battle system and fully voiced, all-new animated scenes displayed in 16:9 widescreen, players can experience their journey through the rich STAR OCEAN universe like never before. ============================================================================== IA. STORY INTRODUCTION ============================================================================== Space Date 366 A young man transported by accident to an uncharted world during a survey of an underdeveloped planet. The son of a hero, with much to prove, he finds himself on the path to greatness. A young girl watches disasters befalling her worls and the arrival of a mysterious meteorite. She waits for the arrival of a legendary hero. Child with a good heart and the ability to use powerful magic, she waits for the savior of her world. What twist of fate brought these two together? ============================================================================== IB. MAIN CHARACTERS ============================================================================== Claude C. Kenny Age: 19 Height: 174 cm Weight: 68 kg Race: Human Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 1.23 A Galactic Federation Junior Officer who has a hero for a father. At his young age, he has already achieved the rank of ensign. However, due to great expectations from his father, Admiral Ronyx J. Kenny, and the envy from his peers, he is unable to believe in his abilities and is becoming rebellious. Favorite Food : Steak Rena Lanford Age: 18 Height: 161 cm Weight: 45 kg Race: Expelian Type: Symbologist Date of Birth: 5.13 A young girl with healing powers whose origin is unknown. She lives in the village of Arlia. However, due to her unusual appearance and the fact that she possesses healing powers, she has suspicions regarding her birth. Favorite Food: Shortcake Celine Jules Age: 23 Height: 167 cm Weight: 50 kg Race: Expelian Type: Symbologist Date of Birth: 9.18 A princess symbologist who enjoys treasure hunting, she chooses money and training over romance. She likes revealing clothes but her sense of style is rather eccentric. Favorite Food: Baby Rabbit Risotto Ashton Anchors Age: 20 Height: 180 cm Weight: 80 kg Race: Expelian Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 9.28 A young swordsman whose innate cowardice brought him misfortune; as a result, he became haunted by a double-headed dragon. Despite his humble personality his sword skills are first class, and he fights using sword arts that integrate symbology with his two swords. (Weight includes the double-headed dragon.) Favorite Food: Hamburger Dias Flac Age: 25 Height: 192 cm Weight: 82 kg Race: Expelian Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 8.5 He was a childhood friend of Rena, but a certain incident has left a deep scar within him. Traveling in search of strenght, he became a vagrant sword fighter. Cool-headed and unable to trust others , his skills as a swordsman are considered to be the greatest. Favorite Food: Chicken Skewers Precis F. Neumann Age: 16 Height: 155 cm Weight: 43 kg Race: Expelian Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 2.29 A cheerful and perky expelian, descendent of the large dynasty of inventors who a desire to travel and explore the world, finding new friends along the way. She joins the party because of a little crush on Claude and a strong will to journey through Expel. Favorite Food: Chocolate Crepe Opera Vectra Age: 23 Height: 160 cm Weight: 50 kg Race: Tegragenesian Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 8.24 A three-eyed woman who lands on Expel in search of her boyfriend, Ernest. She has a strong personality which aids her in finding the one she loves - that nasty archaeologist. Favorite Food: Apple Cider Bowman Jeane Age: 27 Height: 175 cm Weight: 78 kg Race: Expelian Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 12.30 Bowman is a pharmacist, a man of science. But, despite his calm appearance sleeps a spirit of a true hero who is longing for a real life adventure. He is also a friend of Keith, the translator, who lives near the university of Linga. Favorite Food: Daikon Miso Soup Leon D.S. Gehste Age: 12 Height: 135 cm Weight: 36 kg Race: Fellpool Type: Symbologist Date of Birth: 11.25 This is a truly mysterious character, who is said to be a child prodigy, who creates powerful weapons from rare materials. He works in the labs of Lacour Castle, and eventually joins the party to find rare materials for his weapon research. Favorite Food: Carrot Juice Noel Chandler Age: 24 Height: 173 cm Weight: 74 kg Race: Nedian Type: Symbologist Date of Birth: 2.16 Noel is from planet Nede, and he joins the party in the Cavern of the Red Crystal on the journey to tame the last living Synard. He is fully opposite to what Chisato is. Favorite Food: Big Tuna Chisato Madison Age: 22 Height: 164 cm Weight: 52 kg Race: Nedian Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 10.22 Chisato is a nosy female reporter who is said to have outstanding stealth abilities, but it proves to be wrong after the team learns more about her. Chisato joins the party in Nede itself, and decides to write a chronicle about Claude's travels. Ernest Raviede Age: 35 Height: 190 cm Weight: 90 kg Race: Tetragenesian Type: Warrior Date of Birth: 8.31 An archaeologist from Tetragenes, boyfriend of Opera. He arrives at planet Expel to do particular research, but eventually joins the party after Opera convinces him to do so. Favorite Food: Hassaku Tea Welch Vineyard Age: 16 Height: ??? Weight: ??? Race: It's a secret! Type: Warrior Date of Birth: ??? A cheerful inventor girl, who enters planet Expel at unknown circumstances. She is a clever chatter-box, and says that she runs an Inventor Guild at some faraway planet, supposedly named Elicoor II. ============================================================================== IC. PRIVATE ACTIONS ============================================================================== Private Actions (PA)feature is a trademark of tri-Ace's Star Ocean series. PAs are mini side stories starring certain characters. During PA sequences, the party splits up for a time, and the characters go off individually. You control your main character alone, and special events will occur, triggered by talikng to a certain character or going to a certain location. PAs give you the chance to befriend certain characters to recruit them into your party. Depending on where you are in the story, the PA may be very different. Sometimes your characters split up and you can see the scenes between some of them I advice you to try to explore this feature with differnt setups of characters. The system of PA's is quite complex, so obviously more than one playthrough is needed to trigger them all. Note that you can complete the game without doing a single PA, but it will be your mistake, as you'll miss out on so many things. I advice to do as much PA's as you can. However, I will not include the contents of the PA's in this FAQ, as they may contain huge spoilers. I will only mark some plot points where they can be triggered. In the near future I am going to make a Private Action FAQ of this game. (About Degrees of Feelings) How other characters feel about you is important. This Degree of Feelings is affected by choices you make during Private Actions and the way you treat your fellow team members. Another character's degree of feelings for you will affect how they act towards you, how they assist you in battle, and can even alter the ending of the game. ============================================================================== ID. BATTLE SYSTEM BASICS ============================================================================== SO:SE features a real-time combat system which will be familiar to SO2 veterans. In battle, player can individually control any character in the party. You can move characters around with the control pad, and perform different types of attacks. Basic attacks are easy to perform, and do damage with your equipped weapon. Multiple hits can result in a combo. Basic attacks get the job done, but they are not the strongest techniques which you can get. There are actually more advanced moves and skills out there to master. Another thing to take note of is a "Special Arts" feature. Special Arts are powerful melee attacks that require MP to use. The more the certain Special Art is used, the more powerful it becomes. Casting spells is done by symbologists and, like Special Art attacks, these use up MP. However, spell-casting is timed, and can be easily interrupted, so if you're controlling a magic user, be careful with close enemies. A key to winning is having an organised group of characters with properly set tactics. Strategy commands can be pre-set before any battle starts, and also changed in the middle of the battle. All characters in the party fight according to the set strategy. Keep in mind that there will be many different situations in the game which will require a whole different strategy plan to use. Experimenting is the way to go. ============================================================================== IE. CONTROLS ============================================================================== _____________________________________________________________ ,' L ,' `. R `. /-----' .-----------------------------------------. `-----\ / | | \ / __ | | .-. \ / | | | | (/_\) \ | __ \/ __ | | .-. `-' .-. | | |__ > < __| | | ([ ]) ( O ) | | /\ | | `-' .-. `-' | | |__| | | ( X ) | | | | `-' | | .--. | | | \ ( ) | | / \ `--' '-----------------------------------------' / \-----. [Home] [Select] [Start] ,-----' `.____`.___________________________________________________,'____, L Button - Rotate Camera (while on World Map) R Button - Rotate Camera (while on World Map) D-pad - Move Thumbstick - Move Select - N/A Start - Switch Map (while on World Map) X Button - Confirm (Menu)/Examine/Hit (Battle) O Button - Back (Menu)/Change member (Battle) Square Button - Private Action (while on World Map)/Pickpocket Triangle Button - Menu/Battle Menu ============================================================================== II. WALKTHROUGH ============================================================================== ============================================================================== IIA. CLAUDE WALKTHROUGH ============================================================================== ============================================================================== SPOILER WARNING This walkthrough of Star Ocean: SE may contains some spoilers which can ruin the game experience for you. I will try to cut their number to minimum, although I'm not the one to blame if you see something you don't want to see (yet). Nevertheless, I will try to cut down the spoilers to minimum. ============================================================================== Space, the realm of infinite possibility. It has long inspired the dreams of billions. These dreams, countless in number, spread infinitely throughout the universe...though some of these dreams are nightmares. A race of sentient being from Planet Lezonia discovered in Sector Gamma, declared war on the Terran Alliance, igniting the flames of ferocious warfare across the galaxy. S.D. 342. The battleship Calnus received a commendation for excellence in command for its victory in the battle against Lezonia. S.D. 346. The captain of the Calnus and his second-in-command successfully contained a mysterious virus outbreak on the underdeveloped frontier planet Roak. They were also able to prevent the tyrannical Jie Revorse's diabolical plan to conquer Earth. Thanks to his achievements, my father was promoted to admiral at the unprecedented young age of 38. I respected him more than anybody else in my life. I know that being a Federation officer is among the greatest accomplish- ments anyone can hope to achieve in this universe. But I am my own man. I'm no puppet; I'm not just the son of Admiral Ronyx J. Kenny, hero of the Pangalactic Federation. So what am I doing here, of all places? S.D. 366. The gears of the universe continue to turn... - Ensign Claude C. Kenny And now the story begins... After watching the introduction scene in Milokeenia, you'll find yourself in the Sacred Forset of Arlia, trying to save some girl's life. Fight a pretty easy battle and get yourself familiar with the battle system. You'll jump to level 2 immediately :) Anyway, you have to go to the village of Arlia. ============================================================================== Arlia Village Recommended level: 2 Items: Strawberry Jam, Blueberries, Rose Hip, Leather Armor, 200 Fol, Blackberries, Resurrection Elixir Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== After the scene, go to NE house to find STRAWBERRY JAM. The north-westernmost house has BLUEBERRIES and ROSE HIP. Near the item shop you can find 3 chests with LEATHER ARMOR, 200 FOL, and a RESURRECTION ELIXIR. After exploring the town (talking with everyone) go to Rena's house. Scene follows. Wander around the room to wait for Rean to come. After a long scene go to Rena's house, 2nd floor to open the chest with BLACKBERRIES. Buy some Spectacle from the shop. Afterwards, exit the village via north exit. You'll be in the overworld map. A few words about it - you can save anywhere you want here, and sometimes use to level up. Now I'd suggest you to level up to at least level 5 here. The town of Salva is just north of Arlia. ============================================================================== Salva Recommended level: 5 Items: Hefty Ring, Portrait B, Rena's Hairpin Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Find a HEFTY RING between the two shops. Go to the mayor's house and open the chest on the 2nd floor to find PORTRAIT B. Explore the town a little bit, talk to everyone. Note that you can't go to the Salva Mines yet. Go back to Arlia. A scene follows. Return to Salva. Approach the mayor's house for another scene. Enter Allen's mansion AKA mayor's house, go to the east room on the 1st floor to find RENA'S HAIRPIN. Touch the golden thingie in the NE corner to open a secret passageway. ============================================================================== Salva Mines Recommended level: 5 Items: Rose Hip, Blackberries, Iron, Spectacles, Blueberries, Gold, Gold Enemies: Lizard Axman, Kobold, Vorpal Bunny, Thieving Scum ============================================================================== After talking with a worker, save at the savepoint. Go north. Get ROSE HIP and BLACKBERRIES. Go norht for IRON. Keep on keeping on west, then go north to save again. Do not go east yet, go west instead to find SPECTACLES, then return to the savepoint and go south a little and them west again for some BLUEBERRIES and GOLD. South and west again to the nest screen. Get GOLD from the chest. Read the sign. This is where you'll be able to get a secret party member later in the game. Turn back for now and head to the savepoint. Save and finally head east. ================= BOSS: Allen Tucks ================= HP: 400 MP: 0 Difficulty: Very Easy 75 EXP, 300 Fol This boss is a joke. Just keep on mashing him while Rena heals you when needed and he'll go down in 20 seconds or less. Scene follows. You'll be back at the mayor's mansion. Back in Arlia, talk to the mayor before bedtime. After the scene go outside and to the left screem to find Rena standing on the bridge. After the scene, you can now go to Krosse. Private Actions also become available now. To reach Krosse City, go to Salva, and use the NW exit out of the town. ============================================================================== Krosse City Recommended level: 8 Items: Wooden Shield, Leather Helmet, 500 Fol Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== First, go sleep at the inn. When the next day comes, go to Krosse West, to the Skill guild "Wisdom of Kings". This is the first skill guild you'll find in the game. Buy all the skill sets, they cost almost nothing. Afterwards, go to Krosse castle, which is to the north. At the castle, talk to the left receptionist. Go downstirs to the armory to find WOODEN SHIELD and LEATHER HELMET. Go to Prince's Chamber to find 500 FOL in the chest. Then talk to the soldiers at the 1st floor. Go north for a scene with the king of Krosse. You will get 600 Fol and a Travel Permit from him. Go back to the city. You'll meet Celine at the plaza. After the scene, agree to go with her to the Krosse Cave (you can't decline her offer anyway). Celine will temporarily join you. You'll also get a Treasure Map key item. Your next destination is Krosse Cave, which is east of Krosse City. ============================================================================== Krosse Cave Recommended level: 8 Items: Blueberries, Blackberries, Iron, Antidote, Artemis Leaf, Syrup, Lavender, ?Mineral, The Scream, Magic Canvas, ?Item, Antidote, Blackberries, Resurrection Mist, 600 Fol, Feather Pen, Lavender, Sweet Syrup, Stink Gel, Ancient Text, 700 Fol, Green Beryl, Walls of the Soul Enemies: Alraune, Armored Knight, Landworm, Slime ============================================================================== Go north to the next screen. Go west to get BLUEBERRIES. Return to the fork, go east and north. You'll come to a three-way fork here. First head strictly right to get BLACKBERRIES and IRON. Then return to the fork and go northeast. Nab ANTIDOTE from a chest. Go west two screens to get ARTEMIS LEAF and SYRUP. Return two screens right and go north into the hole. Get LAVENDER and ?MINERAL on your way. From here, go right, then right again to get THE SCREAM and MAGIC CANVAS. Back one screen, go left to get ?ITEM. Go west and south to get ANTIDOTE and BLACKBERRIES. Return to the last fork and go south for three chests with RESURRECTION MIST, 600 FOL and FEATHER PEN. Go back to the fork where you found Lavender and ?Mineral. From here, take the path west all the way, grab another LAVENDER from a chest. From that place, go north and west to get SWEET SYRUP and STINK GEL. Back east, east again, east one more time to reach a savepoint and a weird stone. A scene takes place. Save afterwards. Heal yourself and enter the passageway with a green light. You'll see five chests. Open the leftmost one to find ANCIENT TEXT. Another scene. The other chests contain 700 FOL, GREEN BERYL, WALLS OF THE SOUL and the last (northern) one contains an enemy... ================= BOSS: Gargoyle x2 ================= HP: 1500 each MP: 0 each Difficulty: Easy 333 EXP, 1700 Fol With Celine's spells this boss is a joke. Keep hitting them with Claude, and have Celine casting her magic to quickly dispose of these little bastards. Return to the beginning of the dungeon. Here, you'll have an option to say goodbye to Celine or ask her to stay with you. The choice is yours. Anyway, our next destination is Kurik, which is pretty far away from where we are now. To get there, read the sign near the Krosse Cave to find out that Kurik lies north of Krosse. Follow the north road from that sign until you reach this port town. ============================================================================== Kurik Recommended level: 12 Items: Lyre, Vegetables, Grains, Seafood Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== If you want to fight an uber-hard boss much much later in the game, do a PA in Kurik involving Philia. This Private Action MUST be done before the town is destroyed. Go to the mansion on the hill near the town's entance to get LYRE. Go to the western part of town. Enter the restaurant and open the chests for VEGETABLES, GRAINS, and SEAFOOD. Go to the dock on the south and talk to the ship captain. Scene follows. Go back north for another scene. Oops, out of money! Run around the town, visiting all areas until you find a boy in the eastern area near the weapon shop. After the scene, visit Ketil's house (near the entrance), the restaurant, the tailor shop and finally go speak with the kids playing at the dock for a scene. Talk to the ship captain, go north again. Dammit, the whole town is ruined. On the hill overlooking town, speak with the captain and go up to speak with Ketil. You'll get your Travel Permit back. Looks like now you have to go to Lacuer. But first we need to get to Marze. Marze is to the east of Krosse City. ============================================================================== Marze Recommended level: 12 Items: Silk Robe, Sour Syrup, Purple Amulet, Silence Card Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Go to Celine's house at the west side of the town, enter it and get a SILK ROBE from a chest. Now, use the shops if you want and remember the place near the inn, where an old man is. You can pickpocket him (assuming you have Thief Gloves), and if your Pickpocketing specialty is at a high enough level, you can steal a Goodie Box from him. Goodie Box can rarely give you powerful items early in the game. Remember that you can buy Thief's Gloves at Hilton for a whopping sum of 40000 Fol. But enough of that crap; go to the elder's house near the west entrance and witness a long scene. Rena will leave your party for a while. Return to the elder's house, and in the back room you'll find SOUR SYRUP, PURPLE AMULET, and a SILENCE CARD. When you're done, talk to the village elder and choose to rest. You'll get Mud Shoes eventually. It's time to enter the Forest of Symbols. ============================================================================== Forest of Symbols Recommended level: 12 Items: ?Herb, Amber Robe, Smelling Salts, Illusion Doll, Mandrake Enemies: Witchette, Bugbear, Garuda Eagle, Robber Axman ============================================================================== Save beforehand. Go west at the intersection for a ?HERB. Go east thebn until you run into a fight with three bandits. It's easy, and gives a decent amount of EXP points. Keep following the only path, and you'll fight another group of bandits. When you'll come to an area covered with mud, equip the Mud Shoes to get past it. In this very area, turn north for an AMBER ROBE. Go back and continue left. Another group of bandits will ambush you. After taking care of them, go east for SMELLING SALTS. Go north and a little east for an ILLUSION DOLL. Then go north again. Take the east path to save. North again. On this screen, head east for MANDRAKE. Then go all the way west for a scene. =============== BOSS: Snow Ogre =============== HP: 3000, MP: 0 Difficulty: Easy 500 EXP, 1000 Fol Another joke of a boss, only now it has a decent amount of HP. Treat it like that Allen Tucks guy. With Celine's help, it should be quick and painless. Have her casting Energy Arrow/Fire Bolt to quickly end the fight, while you hit him with eerything you've got. You'll be back in Marze. Try to leave the village and Celine will stop you. Ok, looks like now you have to go to Harley to get to Lacuer from there, but I highly advice you to start working on recruitment of some new party members from this point. If you want Ashton, go to Harley, speak with the two men near the entrance to find out about some dragon trouble in Salva Mines (Harley is west from Marze). Then head for the Mines. Note that you can't get Opera and Ernest if you get Ashton. On the other hand, if you want Opera/Ernest, go to Krosse City and do a PA involving Ernest, the three-eyed man. It's the first step to getting Opera. So, assuming you want Ashton, go talk to those two men in Harley and return to Salva Mines. Enter the dungeon from the town. ============================================================================== Salva Mines Revisited Recommended level: 15 Items: Blueberries, Silver, Maple Syrup, Brigandine, Cinderella Glass, Star Ruby, Diamond, Gold Earring, Iron, Aquaberries Enemies: Gerel, Sandglass, Green Gelatin, Scylla, Werewolf, Beastmaster ============================================================================== Take the path west for BLUEBERRIES and SILVER, if you haven't opened these chests already. Then go to the savepoint near the place where you fought Allen and save. From there head south till you can't anymore and go west. Now you can pass the previously unpassable point. Go north immediately for some MAPLE SYRUP. Then west. On this screen, go north for a BRIGANDINE. Then take the west exit. You'll see a running man. Go west for CINDERELLA GLASS. Then head south to save. Go right for a scene. You'll have to make a choice of "Take responsibility/Avoid responsibility". Choose to take responsibility to get Ashton, or avoid it, if you want Opera. Anyway, after the scene, go right to get STAR RUBY and DIAMOND.Go back north TWO screens. Keep going north for a GOLD EARRING, and then east till the end for IRON and AQUABERRIES. Leave the Mines now, you're done here. When you attempt to leave Salva, a scene will be triggered if you have Ashton. That means you can now start his exorcising quest. Go back to Harley now. You can do some optional dungeons now, but we'll leave them for later. Head to Harley now (east of Marze). ============================================================================== Harley Recommended level: 19 Items: Ring of Sadness, Leather Boots, 1200 Fol, Ring Mail, Sinclair Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Go to Eleanor's home to get RING OF SADNESS. Don't forget to visit the Skill guild. Enter the Zandor's mansion on the top of the town. Right room on the first floor has LEATHER BOOTS and 1200 FOL, and the right room on the second floor has RING MAIL and SINCLAIR. You're done here, so take a ship to Hilton for 120 Fol. ============================================================================== Hilton Recommended level: 19 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Pay a visit to the inn to watch a scene at night. Visit the Skill guild to upgrade you skill sets to level 2. Exit Hilton and go to Lacuer City, which is east of Hilton. ============================================================================== Lacuer City Recommended level: 20 Items: Star Ruby Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== This town is pretty big like Krosse, has 4 weapon shops but sadly has only one chest item :( You can sign up for an Armory Contest at Lacuer Castle which is to the north. Talk to the receptionist and you'll need to choose one shop as your sponsor. Go to the east part of town pick one of four shops. Your new shiny Armory Contest Badge helps here. Whenever you're ready fo the contest, go to the inn and sleep there. After the scene, go to the Lacuer castle Arena on the 2nd Floor (Note that you can also find a STAR RUBY here on the first floor). After the scene go to the waiting room to the left and talk to a few combatants. Your first match is up next. It's very easy. Go talk to Celine or Ashton after the match. Soon you'll fight your second match which is no big difference from the first. The third match is a tad hard. Use all of your items here if you need. The sasquatch can hit for 400 HP damage so beware. Your final match is against Dias Flac. You're destined to lose here. After the fight, go to your sponsor shop to claim the second place prize. You can also go Gamgee's shop now on the west part of town. You'll be rewarded with DEADLY EDGE sword! Your next destination is Linga, but now would be a good time to do Ashton's quest if you want. Refer to the Side-quests section for details. You can also recruit Welch in Lacuer now, if you have 4 or more party members. ============================================================================== Linga Recommended level: 27 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== During your first visit to this town you'll run into Precis. If you want to recruit her, exit the town and do a PA in it. Run to the Bowman's house for a scene. Voila, you can have Precis now! Note that you can't get Bowman if you have Precis. To advance the plot, go into the center house in the south part of the town. After the scene, go to the house in the left part of the northern part of town. Speak with Bowman there. Looks like you need to go to the Linga Sacred Grunds to prove that you've indeed been to Krosse Cave. Sacred Grounds are situated right next to Linga. ============================================================================== Sacred Grounds of Linga Recommended level: 28 Items: Lavender, Ruby, Mixed Syrup, Wolfsbane, Maandrake Rainbow Diamond, Clarisage, Chain of Might, Amulet of Antivenin, Rose Hip, Drill Puncher, Lavender, Lavender, Twin Splicers, Athelas, Athelas, Artemis Leaf, Bubble Lotion, Cinderella Glass, Medicine Bottle, ?Armor Enemies: Wolfhead, Coquettish Whip, Ooze, Blood Hound, Mandrake, Killer Rabbit ============================================================================== Sheesh, from this point the dungeons will get more and more frustrating. Grab LAVENDER from the bush, descend the west stairs to a chest with RUBY. Go back east. At the next screen, go northeast to get MIXED SYRUP. Then head west under the bridge to WOLFSBANE. From this place, go north, then continue north at the intersection. Descend the stairs to MANDRAKE. From here run south for RAINBOW DIAMOND and CLARISAGE. Looks like we've found an unknown herb. But we're not done here yet. Return to the last intersection, go south, at the next fork go east. Keep going east until you find CHAIN OF MIGHT. Run up the stairs and head immediately north. Keep going north, and you'll come to a three-way fork. Take the center path. Grab AMULET OF ANTIVENIN. From here go west making a turn around the dragon skeleton and grabbing ROSE HIP along the way. Continue east, take DRILL PUNCHER and go south in the tunnel. Head east for LAVENDER. Return west. Go west this time and then north. Descend to the dragon skeleton. Run under it for another pathetic LAVENDER. Go back the way you came and go immediately east for ATHELAS and TWIN SPLICERS. From this chest, go right through the rock wall to the savepoint. Continue north for a scene. ================ BOSS: Visseya x3 ================ HP: 10000 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Easy 3150 EXP, 21000 Fol This boss is not hard at all. Keep spanking th larvas with Claude (and Ashton if you have him), while Celine kills them from afar. Thet might swallow your characters which looks funny, and you won't be able to move your character for a while. Just hit the larvas with another characeter, and they'll spit you out. After the battle, nab three chests with CINDERELLA GLASS, MEDICINE BOTTLE and ?ARMOR. Go back to the place with Twin Splicers and go west. Now run south. At the three-way fork, take the right path for ATHELAS. Now take the left path to descend the stairs. Run east for ARTEMIS LEAF. Go back west and south for a BUBBLE LOTION. You're done here, so backtrack to the entrance. Return to Linga and talk with Bowman again. Go to Keith's house for a scene. At Bowman's house, go to the 2nd floor and talk to Bowman in the bedroom. Now's the time to go to Lacuer. If you want to get Welch, do a PA here, cause soon enough she'll be unavailable. In the Lacuer castle, open the chest with 10000 FOL in the Royal Bedchamber. Go to the Symbological Weapons Laboratory on the ground floor (accessible through the east hall). Leon will give you a Combo Link and join the party temporarily. Your next destination is Hoffman Ruins place. Go to Hilton and talk with a man in blue armor. Choose "We're all set! Let's go!". From the Hoffman coast, go through the woods to the place. ============================================================================== Hoffman Ruins Recommended level: 36 Items: Stone Cure, Ricochet Bracelet, Angelic Headband, White Clip, Holy Mist, Green Beryl, Tedious Hand Stick, Breeze Earring, Orichalcum, Custard of Life, Gold, Primavera, Diamond, Medicine Bottle, Blackberries, Green Beryl, Storm Ring, Primavera, Amulet of Freedom, Sour Syrup, ?Herb, Fruit Syrup, Hot Syrup, Hammer Charm, Mechanic's Toolbox, Daze Bomb, Aquaberries, Hexagram Card Enemies: Protector, Bowlady, Black Slime, Axman of Doom, Whelp ============================================================================== Dammit, this place is even more frustrating than the Sacred Grounds of Linga. Run up the stairway. After a little scene, go through the newly opened door. Head immediately east to a savepoint. Go back, enter the first door on the left for STONE CURE. The second door has RICOCHET BRACELET. Go further north- east for ANGELIC HEADBAND and WHITE CLIP. Back at the savepoint, enter the green elevator. At the intersection go northeast for HOLY MIST and GREEN BERYL. Continue south east. Get TEDIOUS HANDY STICK for Welch from the chest. Go northeast and pull the lever to blow up the rocks. You HP will be halved, so heal right away. Go northwest for BREEZE EARRING, then northeast for ORICHALCUM and a little further south for CUSTARD OF LIFE and GOLD. Go back to the explosion site and run southeast. Grab PRIMAVERA here. Don't pull the lever, there's nothing there. Go south. On this screen, take DIAMOND and MEDICINE BOTTLE from the chests. Run southwest for BLACKBERRIES. Then head south for GREEN BERYL. Keep going south, and then move a little east for a STORM RING. Go south again. At the next screen, grab PRIMAVERA and save. The boss is up ahead, but let's get all th remaining chests. Go southwest, making a little turn. Don't blow up the rocks take AMULET OF FREEDOM from the chest and go west for SOUR SYRUP and ?HERB. Return northeast. The northeast again, then east. Keep going east, then northeast again. Continue east again. Take the FRUIT SYRUP. Go southwest for HOT SYRUP and HAMMER CHARM. Now go southeast. In this area open the chests for MECHANIC'S TOOLBOX and DAZE BOMB. Return north. Then go northwest. Then head north again. Keep following the northwest path for 2 screens. Now head south- west to the chest with AQUABERRIES. And finally move down south to HEXAGRAM CARD. Backtack to the savepoint by going south, south, southwest and east. Save and go north for a scene. ================ BOSS: Halfynx x2 ================ HP: 36700 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Medium 10000 EXP, 10000 Fol Treat these two baddies like any other boss. Keep using Helmetbrak, Rock Explosion and everything else that you feel will help. Keep them away from Rena, so that she won't fall from their attacks. There's nothing more to say, really, just hack away and heal when needed. You will obtain the Energy Stone after the battle. Return to the entrance. If you already have Opera, and have seen the crashsite in the Sacred Forest, then you'll run into Ernest, possessed by a ghost. Win a quick battle and you will have an option to leave Ernest in the group. If you choose not to, he AND Opera will leave the party forever. Run to the coast and return to Lacuer. Head for the castle throne room for another scene. The Lacuer Front Line Base is north from Lacuer. ============================================================================== Lacuer Front Line Base Recommended level: 43 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== The weapon shop here has some good weapons. Go left on the second screen. Then go norhtwest. Enter the commander's office for a scene. Go talk to Dias after it. After the conversation talk with Rena. On the next day, run back to the first screen to save. Talk to the people in the general store and go up for a scene. =========== BOSS: Cynne =========== HP: 21000, MP: 200 Difficulty: - 0 EXP, 0 Fol You can't win this battle. You have to survive for 1 minute and it will end. Just keep healing yourself until you're through with it. Go to the hospital room, and another scene takes place. You'll fight three Stone Statue first, that aren't hard at all, and then you'll fight Cynne once again. You're destined to lose, so just let him smite you off. Claude will come to his senses on an unknown seashore. After the scene with Leon, go north on the world map to reunite with your party in the village of Eluria. ============================================================================== Eluria Recommended level: 43 Items: Metal Fang, Rune Cap, Fists of the Giant, Shield Swords, Silver Robe, Silver Robe, Silver Greaves, Silver Greaves, Plate Armor, Plate Armor, Veil Piercer, Fine Shield Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== After the scene, talk to the village chief in the norhteastern house. Then go to the Armory and check the barrels all over the place to find METAL FANG, RUNE CAP, FISTS OF THE GIANT, SHIELD SWORDS, SILVER ROBE x2, SILVER GREAVES x2, PLATE ARMOR x2, VEIL PIERCER and FINE SHIELD. As you leave, the youth will give and ID Card key item. After you leave Eluria, you'll see an interesting scene involving Ronyx. Now go to the Eluria Tower, northeast of Eluria village. ============================================================================== Eluria Tower Recommended level: 43 Items: Holy Mist, Amulet of Flexibility, Steel Helmet, X Clip, Meteor Ring, Aquaberries, Sapphire, Music Editor, Paralysis Cure, Pixie's Bracelet, Crested Shield, Stone Cure, Star Ruby, Crystal, Super Puncher, Refreshing Syrup, Crested Shield, ?Armor, Gale Earring, Splinter, Medicine Bottle, Murasame, Fists of the Giant Enemies: Darth Widow, Orange Gelatin, Elder Witchette, Goathead, Timekeeper, Defender ============================================================================== Go north and use the ID Card. 1F Go north for HOLY MIST, AMULET OF FLEXIBILITY, STEEL HELMET, X CLIP and METEOR RING. Take whichever stairs you want to 2F. 2F Open the chests with AQUABERRIES, SAPPHIRE and PARALYSIS CURE. Go left for MUSIC EDITOR, PIXIE'S BRACELET and CRESTED SHIELD. Go back east and continue north to the savepoint. 3F Go west and north for STONE CURE and STAR RUBY. Take the eastern teleporter. 4F Open the chests with CRYSTAL and SUPER PUNCHER for Precis. Take the west exit to 5F. 5F Get REFRESHING SYRUP, CRESTED SHIELD and ?ARMOR. Talk to the minister statue and spell D-E-A-T-H. You'll obtain the Key Card. Take southwestern teleporter. 4F Take western teleporter. 5F Use the Key Card on the red pillars. After the scene, go west. Onboard Calnus, talk to Ronyx, when you'll gain control of Claude again. You will be sent back to Eluria Tower soon after. Take the northeastern teleporter to 6F. 6F Save. Head north to meet an old friend. ============================= BOSS: Cynne & Stone Statue x2 ============================= Cynne: HP: 21000, MP: 200 Stone Statue: HP: 2200 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Easy 11350 EXP, 52100 Fol Now you can kick Cynne's ass finally. Get rid of Stone Statues and focus all of your attacks on the flying bastard. Soon enough he will die, since he has no potentially dangerous attacks and pathetic defense. Take the teleport which Cynne was blocking. The right door has SPLINTER and MEDICINE BOTTLE. The left door has MURASAME and FISTS OF THE GIANT. Run to the center room from the left room, open the chest with GALE EARRING and take the right exit. ============== BOSS: Metatron ============== HP: 100000, MP: 100 Difficulty: - 0 EXP, 0 Fol Yet another battle you cannot win. Just let him destroy you. He will pay for that later. After some shocking events happening at the top of Eluria Tower, you'll find yourself on a different planet. The mayor of th city, Nall, will welcome you. After the scene, get out of the building and explore the city. ============================================================================== The Centropolis of Nede Recommended level: 51 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== First, pay a visit to the shops around the place. They have a very nice selection of weapons and items for you. Beside, you should have enough Fol by now to buy all of the new equipment. The Skill guild here sucks. Don't forget to buy Lezard's Flask in the item shop, you'll need it. You can encountet Chisato in the west part of town, but the process of recruiting her is yet to begin. Exit the city in the south. Ok, our next stop is North City, to the north (of course). ============================================================================== North City Recommended level: 52 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== You'll run into Chisato again. Go to the north to the library, the Nedepedia. Run the materials about the history of Nede and Ten Wise Men here by talking to the operator. Then go east to get yourself a Psynard. A scene follows, and a boss battle begins. ============= BOSS: Psynard ============= HP: 43000, MP: 200 Difficulty: Easy 20000 EXP, 20000 Fol Yet again, non-hard boss that wants to get his ass kicked. 'Yawn'. Just keep using Helmetbreak to finish him off. You'll be transported to the Endangered Species Protection Area, i.e. Noel's home. He'll join your party for a while. Open the chests with 50000 FOL, PET FOOD and LIFE IN NATURE. Go north og Noel's house into the cavern. ============================================================================== Cave of Crimson Crystals Recommended level: 53 Items: Resurrection Elixir, Dream Bracelet, Theory of Symbology, ?Mineral, Cinderella Glass, Eagle's Shawl, Chisato's Card, Fruit Syrup, ?Mineral Enemies: Peryton, Hellhound, Shockray, Red Balloon ============================================================================== Go north. Turn to far east for RESURRECTION ELIXIR. Return to the fork and go straight north into the tunnel with yellow light. Get DREAM BRACELET, THEORY OF SYMBOLOGY and ?MINERAL here. Go back and run northwest this time. Grab CINDERELLA GLASS in the northwest corner and keep on running east. Exit this screen in southeast. Go straight east and descend the stairs. Chisato will appear yet again. Take EAGLE'S SHAWL from the chest, go back up and take the bridge. Pick up CHISATO'S CARD that she lost. You'll need it if you want to recruit her later. When you'll see a Psynard, keep going east and take the 1st bridge south you'll see. Go south and west in the end. Save at the savepoint. Go sout hagain for FRUIT SYRUP and ?MINERAL. Go north for a boss battle. =================== BOSS: Arachnovia x2 =================== HP: 40000 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Medium 19500 EXP, 52000 Fol This boss isn't as hard as it may look, but keep an eye on your mages, though. They may die if they get in the way of Arachnovias. So all you need to do is not let the spiderwomans get to the back. Use every Special Art at your very disposal to take them out. You'll have an option to let Noel permanently join you. You also have Psynard now! Get back to the Centropolis and go into the north building. If you still have an empty spot in your party, you can recruit Chisato now. Speak to her at 2F (at the desk) to have her join you. Go talk to Nall at the top floor. He'll give you a Rune Code and a Combo Link. The next four dungeons can be hard, so make sure you're leveled properly. The first one we will visit is the Field of Wisdom, north of Centropolis. ============================================================================== Field of Wisdom Recommended level: 56 Items: Faerie Elixir, Tiara of the Arc, Alpha Clip, Mirror of Knowledge, Majestic Puncher, Fruit Syrup, Rune Metal Enemies: Rikka, Wizard, Magic Defender, Controller, Niquia HG ============================================================================== Touch the center mirror to be teleported to anoother area, to the true Field of Wisdom. Go back using the mirror, and now take the right mirror for FAERIE ELIXIR. Go back and use the left mirror for TIARA OF THE ARC. Step on yellow tile. Examine the sphere to make it spin. Step on yellow tile again. Then step on west yellow tile. Touch the sphere and go back. Step on east yellow tile. Touch the sphere and go back. Step on southeast yellow tile this time. Touch the sphere and go back. Return to the starting three mirrors. Go through the left one again. Step on yellow tile. Go through the north mirror to find ALPHA CLIP and MIRROR OF KNOWLEDGE. Go through center mirror to MAJESTIC PUNCHER, FRUIT SYRUP and RUNE METAL. Go bakc. Touch the right mirror. Get on the west yellow tile. Examine the sphere and go back. Step on east yellow tile. Touch the last sphere to make it spin. You'll see a flash of light. Go back. Use the mirror. Then touch the left mirror. Get back to the entrance. Go through the middle mirror again. Step on the final yellow tile to be teleported to the altar. ===================================================== BOSS: Magic Hand, Force Box, Guard Box & Magic Box x2 ===================================================== Magic Hand: HP: 60000, MP: 100 Force Box: HP: 30000, MP: 100 Guard Box: HP: 30000, MP: 100 Magic Box: HP: 30000 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Hard 20200 EXP, 82200 Fol Ok, it seems we now have a worthy enemy to deal with. Your first aim in this battle would be the boxes. Get rid of the Magic ones first, then kill the Guard and Force ones. The boxes have 30000 HP each, so it's gonna take quite a while. The main threat in this battle is the big Magic Hand, as it shoots the white laser beam in front of itself. Anyone who gets in the way will die in seconds. Bring a whole lot of Resurrection Elixirs and Resurrection Mists here. If Rena already knows Raise Dead, it's gonna be a little easier then. Do not let your character stay in front of Magic Hand for long, run to the sides every now and then. Once the boxes are dead, you can fully focus on the Magic Hand. Use Helmetbreak to your advantage. Do not let the boss act by hitting ALL the time and you'll emerge victorious soon enough. You will obtain the Orb of Wisdom. Backtrack to the entrance. Field of Might is situated northwest of Centropolis, in the snowy mountains. ============================================================================== Field of Might Recommended level: 57 Items: Assault Bomb, Melt Potion, Armor of the Arc, Knuckles of the Moon, ?Armor, Sword of Marvels, Blackberries, Ring of Might Enemies: Athul Athul, Dark Crusader, Yeti, Ghast, Insane Lord ============================================================================== Head all the way right. Fight three Yetis and don't let them get to the lever behind you. After the fight continue to the chests with ASSAULT BOMB, MELT POTION, and ARMOR OF THE ARC. Go back and take the northwest path into the cave. On the lower level, defeat three Yetis again (you get 54000 Fol every time you successfully defeat such group). Go south and east. Climb the ladder for KNUCKLES OF THE MOON. Keep going east. Head for the upper cave. Go north for ?ARMOR. Go left to find another pack of Yetis. Keep going west into the cave for a SWORD OF MARVELS. Make absolutely sure you don't miss this awesome weapon for Claude! Then return east into another cave for BLACKBERRIES. Keep going east for another pack of Yetis. Exit this screen in southeast. Now go east and enter the upper cave again. At the fork where you found ?Armor, head right this time. Exit the are via southeast. On the next screen, take the northwest exit. Go west, climb the ladder. When you'll see two ladders, take the right one first for a RING OF MIGHT. Then take the left one. Save at the savepoint. Cross the bridge for a scene. ============== BOSS: Guardian ============== HP: 130000, MP: 0 Difficulty: Hard 37500 EXP, 64000 Fol This boss is even harder than the previous one. He packs quite a punch, plus he can hit you multiple times, not letting you character heal properly. Keep Rena far from him, make sure you hold him in the corner with Claude. When you are low on health, run away to heal. Nevertheless, bring some Resurrection Elixirs with you so you can revive someone who has died. The hardest part of the battle comes when the boss is at 1/3 HP and activates his Final Form. He dives into the ground and buffs his defense by a lot. This is where you'll be dying the most. He will be returning each hit with a little blast, severely damaging your characters. Don't rush in now, or you'll be gone in a flash. The battle is quite long, but with proper healing you'll make it. Proceed north to the altar. Orb of Might is yours. Return to the beginning of the dungeon. If you haven't succeeded in the battles with Yeti and levers and lost all of them, then you won't be able to exit the dungeon by normal means. Go to the area where you found Knuckles of the Moon, and look for a place to call an echo. You'll be taken out of the dungeon by an avalanche. Field of Courage is next on our list. It's southeast from the Centropolis. ============================================================================== Field of Courage Recommended level: 63 Items: Sour Syrup, Medicine Bottle, Shield of the Arc, Idol of the Warrior, Luminous Slicers, Mithril Greaves, Amulet of Flexibility Enemies: Dark Crusader, Rikke, Otiph, Fenrir Beast ============================================================================== A great place for leveling up, if you're underleveled. Read the sign, go left. Grab SOUR SYRUP in this area, go back. Proceed northwest for a MEDICINE BOTTLE and then continue west for a SHIELD OF THE ARC. Go north. At the intersection take the left path to the little altar with an IDOL OF THE WARRIOR. Take it and run back east. Go east at the intersection for LUMINOUS SLICERS. Exit this screen via southeast. Get MITHRIL GREAVES from the chest and go west. At the next screen exit southeast. Go east for AMULET OF FLEXIBILITY, then continue southeast. Finally, go east to the elevator. Save afterwards. Choose to place the statue on the altar when you're ready. ============== BOSS: Guardian ============== HP: 130000, MP: 0 Difficulty: Medium 375B00 EXP, 64000 Fol This Guardian is not as hard as the previous one, fortunately. It doesn't have a Final Form mode (or maybe I just killed him too quick), but it can do almost everything that the previous Guardian did. Either way, his defense is not high enough, so I recommend you to equip the Chain of Might/Ring of Might accessory combo on Claude. Coupled with the mighty Sword of Marvels, Helmetbreak can do 9999 damage easily. Just keep repeating the Special Art until the boss is no more. Orb of Courage is yours now. Retrace your steps to the exit. The last Field is high up in the sky, close to the Field of Wisdom. ============================================================================== Field of Love Recommended level: 69 Items: Serpent's Tooth, Holy Rod, Resurrection Mist, Hot Syrup Enemies: Master Wizard, Magic Defender, Nihua HG, Rikki, Joypad, Clear Gelatin ============================================================================== I hate this dungeon with a passion. It's fairly small (only five areas), but the random battles here happen every three steps or so. And I'm not kidding about this. Be sure to have someone with a Scouting Specialty at a maximum level. Otherwise, it's a good place for EXP farming. Once you enter through the blue door, you'll see a chest in the east. Get to it for SERPENT'S TOOTH. Then go northwest. Continue going west. In the next area, touch the red orb to form a bridge, but don't cross it, go north. Take the HOLY ROD and RESURRECTION MIST from the chests and touch another red orb. Now go back, cross the little bridge and exit the screen in northwest. Keep going north, grabbing HOT SYRUP along the way. You'll come to a savepoint. Save and go north for a scene. ============================= BOSS: Lavarre & Sunbreaker x2 ============================= Lavarre: HP: 60000, MP: 0 Sunbreaker: HP: 30000 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Easy 13800 EXP, 34000 Fol This is the easiest battle out of all the Four Fields boss fights. Go straight for Lavarre and finish her off with you sword. Then focus on the Sunbreakers and they'll die fast. A pushover battle, no less. As you lay your hands on the Orb of Love, congrats on beating the Four Fields! But we're still far from beating the game, though. Go back to the Centropolis, restock on supplies, and speak with Nall on the top floor of the city hall. Some scenes will take place, and you'll be taken to L'Aqua. From here, your party and Nall travel to Phynal, the final dungeon of the game. This is just the first visit, and it's going to be short. First you'll fight Takikodus and Mirre 64 two times in a row, and then... ============== BOSS: Zaphkiel ============== HP: 150000, MP: 100 Difficulty: - 0 EXP, 0 Fol This is just like the Metatron fight. You simply can't win. Let him finish you off. Your group will retreat back to Centropolis. Now it's time to go Armlock, to the Sealed Door. Armlock is southeast on the Energy Nede map. ============================================================================== Armlock Recommended level: 75 Items: Mind Ring Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== After speaking with Nall's minion, explore the town for a bit. Visit the shops and the Skill Guild. Now you have finally obtained all of the Skills guild skill sets. When you're ready, meet Nall in the north to travel to the sealed Symbological Weapons Laboratory. Save when you'll have a chance. Go north. Navigate your way to mayor Nall for a scene. After it, go southwest, south, south, east, into the door with a chest containing MIND RING, back west, south and south for another scene. Back in Armlock, enter the house on the east (the that has a lot of steam coming out of it) to meet Dr. Mirage. You'll get Minae Cave Key Card from Nall. To get to the Minae Cave, fly a little west from Armlock. ============================================================================== Minae Cave Recommended level: 77 Items: Fruit Syrup, ?Mineral, Encyclopedia, Refreshing Syrup, Smelling Salts, Mithril Mesh, Medicine Bottle, Smith's Hammer, Wonder Drug, Meteorite, Lightning Gun, Athelas, Illusion Doll Enemies: Orange Balloon, Sunbreaker, Dark Water ============================================================================== Go up and use the key card. Go immediately northeast for FRUIT SYRUP. A little further northeast is ?MINERAL. Go northwest afterwards. Go west a little for ENCYCLOPEDIA. Run north to get REFRESHING SYRUP. Head north again. Now walk west for SMELLING SALTS, then north for MITHRIL MESH, which is a very nice piece of armor. Equip it on Claude. Proceed east a little to find a hidden chest with a MEDICINE BOTTLE. Go north for SMITH'S HAMMER. Go back south. On this screen, run south then northeast for WONDER DRUG and METEORITE. Exit east then. Take the LIGHTNING GUN from a chest, go south and east for ILLUSION DOLL and even further north for ATHELAS. Exit this screen in the north part. Keep on going north, exit via northwest. Save and proceed up for a boss battle. ============== BOSS: Barchian ============== HP: 150000, MP: 400 Difficulty: Medium 14950 EXP, 55000 Fol This boss has only one attack, Pain Release, that hits you party for 3000-3500 damage. If Rena won't succeed in using Fairy Light between the hits, you're as good as dead. But, don't be afraid, Barchian only starts using this attack faster when he's near to his death. I was even able to survive two consecutive hits with Claude without healing. If you heal when needed, and keep mashing him with Mirror Blade/Helmetbreak, you'll be fine. Looks like now you've got yourself some LEA Metal. That means Mirage can now craft us some kickass weapons, so return to Armlock as fast as you can. Mirage will also give N.P.I.D. Go to the Fun City, which is north of Armlock. Before going there, make sure you have at least 3 Amulets of Flexibility. Have 'em? Good, then enter the area for a scene. You'll get a Godslayer, Knuckles of Hope and Void Matter from Dr. Mirage. Save at the savepoint, talk to the man and choose "Visit mayor Nall". A scene will take place, and look who's here. It's... ============== BOSS: Zaphkiel ============== HP: 150000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Medium 18000 EXP, 50000 Fol The first of the Ten Wise Men comes to play. It's Zaphkiel, and he has a nasty attack called Cruel Bludgeon which he uses constantly. Well well well, I guess it WOULD be a mighty attack, if it weren't for our defense. At level 80, and with things like Mithril Mesh/Cloak of the Stars equipped, it'll be doing 1500 or 2000 damage per hit, which is counterable with Fairy Light. That said, I can't see how you can lose this battle, only if you're extremely underleveled will you have trouble with Zaphkiel. Keep using Mirror Blade for a quick win. Equip your party with Amulets of Flexibility now. Exit the Arena to face the second Wise Man... err, Robot. ============= BOSS: Jophyel ============= HP: 160000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Hard 20750 EXP, 54000 Fol Now THIS is a whole different story, people. Pretty much like Zaphkiel, Jophy uses only one attack - Energy Rain. Hopefully you have those Flexibility amulets, or else you're stoned literally. Energy Rain hits for about 3500-4000 damage and petrifies the character. I don't think it works 100% of the time, but somewhere close to it. Even with the Amulets you'll have a pretty hard time staying alive here. Get to Jophyel as fast as you can and start working on him with Mirror Blade. He uses Energy Rain like crazy, not stopping even for a moment. Fortunately you can cancel his attack if you're lucky. So rely on brute force and stay close to him, and use Resurrection Elixirs/Mists when needed. Save at the world map. Get back to Armlock ASAP. Approach Mirage's house for a scene. ============== BOSS: Metatron ============== HP: 170000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Easy 24750 EXP, 58000 Fol Surprisingly, Metatron is too weak for a real Wise Man. His main feature is using Metablock or Metaguard for like 30 seconds. You can't damage him during this phase. Once the shield goes off, destroy the bastard with Mirror Blade. It's easy to stun Metatron, and when he's stunned, he's dead meat. After the scene, leave Armlock. You'll be told to go to L'Aqua. This is it, my dear reader, it's time to head for the final storyline dungeon of the game. L'Aqua is in the center of the map, a little northwest of the Field of Love. Once there, proceed north for a scene. Go into the infirmary on the right and talk to Nall. Choose "Yes, we're ready". From the Phynal pier, enter Phynal from the world map (save beforehand). ============================================================================== Phynal Recommended level: 80 Items: Mithril Shield, Symbology Dictionary, Nuclear Bomb, Spark Whip, Shadow Cross, ?Item, Resurrection Mist, Beta Clip, Lotus Eaters, Atomic Puncher, Mithril, Sylvan Boots, Fists of the Titan, Rune Shoes, Bouro, Medicine Bottle, Refreshing Syrup, Gigawatt Stunner, Thunderclap Rod, Dueling Helmet, Potion of Epiphany, Philosopher's Stone, Athelas, Dueling Suit, Goddess Statuette, Stone Cure Enemies: Takikodus, Erikodus, Niquia LM, Mirre 64, Medusa Lizard, Succubus, Dark Crusader, Master Wizard, Quidonya, River Slug, Phantom Phoenix ============================================================================== Go north on the bridge to enter the Phynal tower. As you enter, you'll be thrown into a fight with another three of the Ten Wise Men. =============================== BOSS: Zadkiel, Raphael & Camael =============================== Zadkiel: HP: 105800, MP: 200 Raphael: HP: 85000, MP: 180 Camael: HP: 45500, MP: 150 Difficulty: Hard 18000 EXP, 70000 Fol This battle is HARD. We have three enemies here, and all of them are quite deadly. Your first target should be either Camael or Raphael. Camael has low HP, but Raphael can make your characters possessed for a LONG time. That being said, I would go for Raphael first. Keep using Mirror Blade until he bites the dust. Camael will occasionally heal his allies, but his healing powers are weak - they will recover about 1200-1500 HP per use. Once Raphael is gone, quickly take out Camael. This won't take long. Once only Zadkiel is left, start working on his HP and look out for his spells. You should win the battle eventually. Go back to the world map to save. It's safer that way:) Once back in Phynal, go north. Take northeast exit. Enter the red door to find MITHRIL SHIELD and SYMBOLOGY DICTIONARY. Go back south. Go through the far west door. Enter the first room you see for NUCLEAR BOMB, SPARK WHIP and SHADOW CROSS. Go back and take the path northwest straight to the teleporter. 2F Go north. Enter the northwest door, go north again for ?ITEM and RESURRECTION MIST. Go back. Go through the northeast door now. Head northeast again to the teleporter. 3F Go north. Keep on keepin' on north until you arrive at the four-way fork, go south. Keep going south to the teleporter. 2F Follow the only way to BETA CLIP and LOTUS EATERS. Return to 3F. 3F Go north 2 times. Run north again at the 4-way fork to the teleporter. 4F Go north. You can find MITHRIL, SYLVAN BOOTS and FISTS OF THE GIANT in the north room, ATOMIC PUNCHER in the western, and RINE SHOES in the eastern. Return to 3F. 3F Go north. Exit the fork west this time. Keep going west to the teleporter. 4F Follow the only path there is to another teleporter. 5F Go north. Follow the single path to the savepoint. There's no point in going east this time. If you go north, you'll face a boss. Prepare for the fight by equipping your characters with Amulets of Flexibility/Anti-petrify armor and fire-damage-reducing accessories such Ruby, Star Ruby, Shadow Cross, etc. ====================== BOSS: Michael & Haniel ====================== Michael: HP: 180000, MP: 300 Haniel: HP: 140000, MP: 200 Difficulty: Very Hard 46250 EXP, 65000 Fol The last three wise men were NOTHING compared to this battle. You'll be facing only two this time, but believe me, they're hard as hell without proper preps and strategy. Your one and only goal in this fight - destroy Michael as quick as possible. He uses fire spells like Eruption and Explode, but he also has a very damaging one - Spicule. Spicule does around 6000-6500 damage without fire protection, and a little less with protection. Haniel uses Blood Scylla and a laser beam that petrifies all that it touches. Since you don't want to die in a matter of seconds, rush to Michael and start using Mirror Blade and Mirror Blade only. Helmetbreak is bad because it can give him an opportunity to cast a spell. Set your other attacker to assault Michael as well. I also recommend equipping Ring of Might on Claude instead of Amulet of Flexibility, since he will be focusing mostly on Michael. With Mirror Blade doing about 5000-6000 damage per hit, Michael should go down in about 2 minutes. Once he's gone, you almost win the battle. Just continue crushing Haniel till he dies, and watch out for Blood Scylla, of course. Go back to save. Then proceed north to the teleporter. 6F This floor has no random battles, but it's annoying nonetheless. I'll cut down the explanation to only telling you the directions. East, then north. Press the middle button on the apparatus. East, press the right button. Go north two times for BOURO, MEDICINE BOTTLE and REFRESHING SYRUP. Go south two times. Press the middle button. Go west. Press left button. South, west, west. Press the switch. East, east, north. Press middle button. West twice. Press the switch. East two times. Press left button. North and east. Press right button. West, north. Press the switch. South, east. Press left button. East, south. Press middle button. East, south, press the switch. You'll hear a short melody now. North, west. Press left button. North, west, north. Press middle button. East and north to the teleporter. 7F Go north. Head west at the fork. Go west and north for a GIGAWATT STUNNER. Go back south, east and east again at the intersection. Run northeast for a save- point. Walk west and north for yet another boss. ============= BOSS: Lucifer ============= HP: 300000, MP: 5900 Difficulty: Medium 115000 EXP, 80000 Fol Suprisingly, Lucifer is way easier than Michael and Haniel. Maybe it's because he's alone, I don't know. The only spell you have to watch out for is Demon's Gate that can hit for 5500-6500 damage. Other than that, he can teleport all over the battlefield, so just keep Mirror Blading him to prevent it and maybe even stun him. Once you'll corner him, the job is almost done. Now that the traitor scum is dead, go north and east for THUNDERCLAP ROD. Then west and northto the teleporter. 8F Go north to another teleporter. 9F Go north. Enter the red door to obtain DUELING HELMET (one of the best helmets in the game) and PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. Keep going east and then south to the teleporter. 8F Go north. South and west. Save at the savepoint, it will change it's color to blue. That means that you've opened an optional dungeon, a voice gallery and you can now return to Nede to turn off Gabriel's limiter and make him an uber hard boss. But let's leave that for later. Go west till you see two red doors. Get POTION OF EPIPHANY, ATHELAS, DUELING SUIT (one of the best armors in the game), GODDESS STATUETTE, STONE CURE. Go back west to the savepoint. Prepare well to face the final boss. Once ready, go north 3 times. After the FMV scene you'll face HIM at last. =================== FINAL BOSS: Gabriel =================== HP: 500000, MP: 10000 Difficulty: Hard 150000 EXP, 90000 Fol Gabriel is a formidable foe even WITH the limiter. He'll be using Star Flare for 6000-7000 damage, Time if Truth and Divine Wave. He'll also start using Explode and Angel Feather once you deplete his HP by 250000. The same strategy you used for Lucifer applies here. Mirror Blade him to death, and if manages to pull off Star Flare, heal right away. Use Resurrection Elixirs when needed, set all of your comrades except the healer to go all-out on Gabriel. With this assault, the final boss of Star Ocean: Second Evolution will fall. Congratulations on beating the game. The ending you'll get is based on AR with the other characters. Once the credits roll, you'll see a FIN screen. You can not save, unfortunately, so just restart the game. If you have defeated 2000 monsters total, you can start a new game on Galaxy/Universe difficulty. To unlock the remaining movies/voices, enter Virtual Expel (through the Old man in Fun City's arena), save there, go back to Phynal and save again. -------THEIR ADVENTURE HAS JUST BEGUN.-------- FIN ============================================================================== IIB. RENA WALKTHROUGH ============================================================================== ============================================================================== SPOILER WARNING This walkthrough of Star Ocean: SE may contains some spoilers which can ruin the game experience for you. I will try to cut their number to minimum, although I'm not the one to blame if you see something you don't want to see (yet). Nevertheless, I will try to cut down the spoilers to minimum. ============================================================================== Space, the realm of infinite possibility. It has long inspired the dreams of billions. These dreams, countless in number, spread infinitely throughout the universe...though some of these dreams are nightmares. A race of sentient being from Planet Lezonia discovered in Sector Gamma, declared war on the Terran Alliance, igniting the flames of ferocious warfare across the galaxy. S.D. 342. The battleship Calnus received a commendation for excellence in command for its victory in the battle against Lezonia. S.D. 346. The captain of the Calnus and his second-in-command successfully contained a mysterious virus outbreak on the underdeveloped frontier planet Roak. They were also able to prevent the tyrannical Jie Revorse's diabolical plan to conquer Earth. Thanks to his achievements, my father was promoted to admiral at the unprecedented young age of 38. I respected him more than anybody else in my life. I know that being a Federation officer is among the greatest accomplish- ments anyone can hope to achieve in this universe. But I am my own man. I'm no puppet; I'm not just the son of Admiral Ronyx J. Kenny, hero of the Pangalactic Federation. So what am I doing here, of all places? S.D. 366. The gears of the universe continue to turn... - Ensign Claude C. Kenny And now the story begins... ============================================================================== Arlia Village Recommended level: 2 Items: Strawberry Jam, Blueberries, Rose Hip, Leather Armor, 200 Fol, Blackberries, Resurrection Elixir Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== After the scene, go to NE house to find STRAWBERRY JAM. The north-westernmost house has BLUEBERRIES and ROSE HIP. Near the item shop you can find 3 chests with LEATHER ARMOR, 200 FOL, and a RESURRECTION ELIXIR. After exploring the town (talking with everyone) go to Rena's house. Scene follows. Wander around the room to wait for Rean to come. After a long scene go to Rena's house, 2nd floor to open the chest with BLACKBERRIES. Buy some Spectacle from the shop. Afterwards, exit the village via south exit. Save and go to the Sacred Forest to for a cutscene. You'll meet Claude here. He will level up, and you will return to Arlia together. You'll be in the overworld map. A few words about it - you can save anywhere you want here, and sometimes use to level up. Now I'd suggest you to level up to at least level 5 here. The town of Salva is just north of Arlia. ============================================================================== Salva Recommended level: 5 Items: Hefty Ring, Portrait B, Rena's Hairpin Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Find a HEFTY RING between the two shops. Go to the mayor's house and open the chest on the 2nd floor to find PORTRAIT B. Explore the town a little bit, talk to everyone. Note that you can't go to the Salva Mines yet. Talk to the people around the village. ============================================================================== Salva Mines Recommended level: 5 Items: Rose Hip, Blackberries, Iron, Spectacles, Blueberries, Gold, Gold Enemies: Lizard Axman, Kobold, Vorpal Bunny, Thieving Scum ============================================================================== After talking with a worker, save at the savepoint. Go north. Get ROSE HIP and BLACKBERRIES. Go norht for IRON. Keep on keeping on west, then go north to save again. Do not go east yet, go west instead to find SPECTACLES, then return to the savepoint and go south a little and them west again for some BLUEBERRIES and GOLD. South and west again to the nest screen. Get GOLD from the chest. Read the sign. This is where you'll be able to get a secret party member later in the game. Turn back for now and head to the savepoint. Save and finally head east. ================= BOSS: Allen Tucks ================= HP: 400 MP: 0 Difficulty: Very Easy 75 EXP, 300 Fol This boss is a joke. Just keep on mashing him while Rena heals you when needed and he'll go down in 20 seconds or less. Scene follows. You'll be back at the mayor's mansion. Back in Arlia, talk to the mayor before bedtime. After the scene, you can now go to Krosse. Private Actions also become available now. To reach Krosse City, go to Salva, and use the NW exit out of the town. ============================================================================== Krosse City Recommended level: 8 Items: Wooden Shield, Leather Helmet, 500 Fol Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== First, go sleep at the inn. When the next day comes, go to Krosse West, to the Skill guild "Wisdom of Kings". This is the first skill guild you'll find in the game. Buy all the skill sets, they cost almost nothing. Afterwards, go to Krosse castle, which is to the north. At the castle, talk to the left receptionist. Go downstirs to the armory to find WOODEN SHIELD and LEATHER HELMET. Go to Prince's Chamber to find 500 FOL in the chest. Then talk to the soldiers at the 1st floor. Go north for a scene with the king of Krosse. You will get 600 Fol and a Travel Permit from him. Go back to the city. You'll meet Celine at the plaza. After the scene, agree to go with her to the Krosse Cave (you can't decline her offer anyway). Celine will temporarily join you. You'll also get a Treasure Map key item. Your next destination is Krosse Cave, which is east of Krosse City. ============================================================================== Krosse Cave Recommended level: 8 Items: Blueberries, Blackberries, Iron, Antidote, Artemis Leaf, Syrup, Lavender, ?Mineral, The Scream, Magic Canvas, ?Item, Antidote, Blackberries, Resurrection Mist, 600 Fol, Feather Pen, Lavender, Sweet Syrup, Stink Gel, Ancient Text, 700 Fol, Green Beryl, Walls of the Soul Enemies: Alraune, Armored Knight, Landworm, Slime ============================================================================== Go north to the next screen. Go west to get BLUEBERRIES. Return to the fork, go east and north. You'll come to a three-way fork here. First head strictly right to get BLACKBERRIES and IRON. Then return to the fork and go northeast. Nab ANTIDOTE from a chest. Go west two screens to get ARTEMIS LEAF and SYRUP. Return two screens right and go north into the hole. Get LAVENDER and ?MINERAL on your way. From here, go right, then right again to get THE SCREAM and MAGIC CANVAS. Back one screen, go left to get ?ITEM. Go west and south to get ANTIDOTE and BLACKBERRIES. Return to the last fork and go south for three chests with RESURRECTION MIST, 600 FOL and FEATHER PEN. Go back to the fork where you found Lavender and ?Mineral. From here, take the path west all the way, grab another LAVENDER from a chest. From that place, go north and west to get SWEET SYRUP and STINK GEL. Back east, east again, east one more time to reach a savepoint and a weird stone. A scene takes place. Save afterwards. Heal yourself and enter the passageway with a green light. You'll see five chests. Open the leftmost one to find ANCIENT TEXT. Another scene. The other chests contain 700 FOL, GREEN BERYL, WALLS OF THE SOUL and the last (northern) one contains an enemy... ================= BOSS: Gargoyle x2 ================= HP: 1500 each MP: 0 each Difficulty: Easy 333 EXP, 1700 Fol With Celine's spells this boss is a joke. Keep hitting them with Claude, and have Celine casting her magic to quickly dispose of these little bastards. Return to the beginning of the dungeon. Here, you'll have an option to say goodbye to Celine or ask her to stay with you. The choice is yours. Anyway, our next destination is Kurik, which is pretty far away from where we are now. To get there, read the sign near the Krosse Cave to find out that Kurik lies north of Krosse. Follow the north road from that sign until you reach this port town. ============================================================================== Kurik Recommended level: 12 Items: Lyre, Vegetables, Grains, Seafood Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== If you want to fight an uber-hard boss much much later in the game, do a PA in Kurik involving Philia. This Private Action MUST be done before the town is destroyed. Go to the mansion on the hill near the town's entance to get LYRE. Go to the western part of town. Enter the restaurant and open the chests for VEGETABLES, GRAINS, and SEAFOOD. Go to the dock on the south and talk to the ship captain. Scene follows. Go back north for another scene. Oops, out of money! Run around the town, visiting all areas until you find a boy in the eastern area near the weapon shop. After the scene, visit Ketil's house (near the entrance), the restaurant, the tailor shop and finally go speak with the kids playing at the dock for a scene. Talk to the ship captain, go north again. Dammit, the whole town is ruined. On the hill overlooking town, speak with the captain and go up to speak with Ketil. You'll get your Travel Permit back. Looks like now you have to go to Lacuer. But first we need to get to Marze. Marze is to the east of Krosse City. ============================================================================== Marze Recommended level: 12 Items: Silk Robe, Sour Syrup, Purple Amulet, Silence Card Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Go to Celine's house at the west side of the town, enter it and get a SILK ROBE from a chest. Now, use the shops if you want and remember the place near the inn, where an old man is. You can pickpocket him (assuming you have Thief Gloves), and if your Pickpocketing specialty is at a high enough level, you can steal a Goodie Box from him. Goodie Box can rarely give you powerful items early in the game. Remember that you can buy Thief's Gloves at Hilton for a whopping sum of 40000 Fol. But enough of that crap; go to the elder's house near the west entrance and witness a long scene. Rena will leave your party for a while. Return to the elder's house, and in the back room you'll find SOUR SYRUP, PURPLE AMULET, and a SILENCE CARD. When you're done, talk to the village elder and choose to rest. You'll get Mud Shoes eventually. It's time to enter the Forest of Symbols. ============================================================================== Forest of Symbols Recommended level: 12 Items: ?Herb, Amber Robe, Smelling Salts, Illusion Doll, Mandrake Enemies: Witchette, Bugbear, Garuda Eagle, Robber Axman ============================================================================== Save beforehand. Go west at the intersection for a ?HERB. Go east then until you run into a fight with three bandits. It's easy, and gives a decent amount of EXP points. Keep following the only path, and you'll fight another group of bandits. When you'll come to an area covered with mud, equip the Mud Shoes to get past it. In this very area, turn north for an AMBER ROBE. Go back and continue left. Another group of bandits will ambush you. After taking care of them, go east for SMELLING SALTS. Go north and a little east for an ILLUSION DOLL. Then go north again. Take the east path to save. Go west from the savepoint to find FLAME SWORD. Back and north again. On this screen, head east for MANDRAKE. Then go all the way west for a scene. ============================== BOSS: Azam Gille & Shielder X4 ============================== Azam Gille: HP: 21000, MP: 0 Shielder: HP: 2200, MP: 0 Difficulty: Medium 920 EXP, 3750 Fol This boss is not hard, just keep on mashing him while controlling Dias and keep Rena healing you when needed. Chaos Sword should do the job. You'll be back in Marze. Try to leave the village and Celine will stop you. Ok, looks like now you have to go to Harley to get to Lacuer from there, but I highly advice you to start working on recruitment of some new party members from this point. If you want Ashton, go to Harley, speak with the two men near the entrance to find out about some dragon trouble in Salva Mines (Harley is west from Marze). Then head for the Mines. Note that you can't get Opera and Ernest if you get Ashton. On the other hand, if you want Opera/Ernest, go to Krosse City and do a PA involving Ernest, the three-eyed man. It's the first step to getting Opera. So, assuming you want Ashton, go talk to those two men in Harley and return to Salva Mines. Enter the dungeon from the town. ============================================================================== Salva Mines Revisited Recommended level: 15 Items: Blueberries, Silver, Maple Syrup, Brigandine, Cinderella Glass, Star Ruby, Diamond, Gold Earring, Iron, Aquaberries Enemies: Gerel, Sandglass, Green Gelatin, Scylla, Werewolf, Beastmaster ============================================================================== Take the path west for BLUEBERRIES and SILVER, if you haven't opened these chests already. Then go to the savepoint near the place where you fought Allen and save. From there head south till you can't anymore and go west. Now you can pass the previously unpassable point. Go north immediately for some MAPLE SYRUP. Then west. On this screen, go north for a BRIGANDINE. Then take the west exit. You'll see a running man. Go west for CINDERELLA GLASS. Then head south to save. Go right for a scene. You'll have to make a choice of "Take responsibility/Avoid responsibility". Choose to take responsibility to get Ashton, or avoid it, if you want Opera. Anyway, after the scene, go right to get STAR RUBY and DIAMOND.Go back north TWO screens. Keep going north for a GOLD EARRING, and then east till the end for IRON and AQUABERRIES. Leave the Mines now, you're done here. When you attempt to leave Salva, a scene will be triggered if you have Ashton. That means you can now start his exorcising quest. Go back to Harley now. You can do some optional dungeons now, but we'll leave them for later. Head to Harley now (east of Marze). ============================================================================== Harley Recommended level: 19 Items: Ring of Sadness, Leather Boots, 1200 Fol, Ring Mail, Sinclair Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Go to Eleanor's home to get RING OF SADNESS. Don't forget to visit the Skill guild. Enter the Zandor's mansion on the top of the town. Right room on the first floor has LEATHER BOOTS and 1200 FOL, and the right room on the second floor has RING MAIL and SINCLAIR. You're done here, so take a ship to Hilton for 120 Fol. ============================================================================== Hilton Recommended level: 19 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== Pay a visit to the inn to watch a scene at night. Visit the Skill guild to upgrade you skill sets to level 2. Exit Hilton and go to Lacuer City, which is east of Hilton. ============================================================================== Lacuer City Recommended level: 20 Items: Star Ruby Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== This town is pretty big like Krosse, has 4 weapon shops but sadly has only one chest item :( You can sign up for an Armory Contest at Lacuer Castle which is to the north. Talk to the receptionist and you'll need to choose one shop as your sponsor. Go to the east part of town pick one of four shops. Your new shiny Armory Contest Badge helps here. Whenever you're ready fo the contest, go to the inn and sleep there. After the scene, go to the Lacuer castle Arena on the 2nd Floor (Note that you can also find a STAR RUBY here on the first floor). After the scene go to the waiting room to the left and talk to a few combatants. Your first match is up next. It's very easy. Go talk to Celine or Ashton after the match. Soon you'll fight your second match which is no big difference from the first. The third match is a tad hard. Use all of your items here if you need. The sasquatch can hit for 400 HP damage so beware. Your final match is against Dias Flac. You're destined to lose here. After the fight, go to your sponsor shop to claim the second place prize. You can also go Gamgee's shop now on the west part of town. You'll be rewarded with DEADLY EDGE sword! Your next destination is Linga, but now would be a good time to do Ashton's quest if you want. Refer to the Side-quests section for details. You can also recruit Welch in Lacuer now, if you have 4 or more party members. ============================================================================== Linga Recommended level: 27 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== During your first visit to this town you'll run into Precis. If you want to recruit her, exit the town and do a PA in it. Run to the Bowman's house for a scene. Voila, you can have Precis now! Note that you can't get Bowman if you have Precis. To advance the plot, go into the center house in the south part of the town. After the scene, go to the house in the left part of the northern part of town. Speak with Bowman there. Looks like you need to go to the Linga Sacred Grunds to prove that you've indeed been to Krosse Cave. Sacred Grounds are situated right next to Linga. ============================================================================== Sacred Grounds of Linga Recommended level: 28 Items: Lavender, Ruby, Mixed Syrup, Wolfsbane, Maandrake Rainbow Diamond, Clarisage, Chain of Might, Amulet of Antivenin, Rose Hip, Drill Puncher, Lavender, Lavender, Twin Splicers, Athelas, Athelas, Artemis Leaf, Bubble Lotion, Cinderella Glass, Medicine Bottle, ?Armor Enemies: Wolfhead, Coquettish Whip, Ooze, Blood Hound, Mandrake, Killer Rabbit ============================================================================== Sheesh, from this point the dungeons will get more and more frustrating. Grab LAVENDER from the bush, descend the west stairs to a chest with RUBY. Go back east. At the next screen, go northeast to get MIXED SYRUP. Then head west under the bridge to WOLFSBANE. From this place, go north, then continue north at the intersection. Descend the stairs to MANDRAKE. From here run south for RAINBOW DIAMOND and CLARISAGE. Looks like we've found an unknown herb. But we're not done here yet. Return to the last intersection, go south, at the next fork go east. Keep going east until you find CHAIN OF MIGHT. Run up the stairs and head immediately north. Keep going north, and you'll come to a three-way fork. Take the center path. Grab AMULET OF ANTIVENIN. From here go west making a turn around the dragon skeleton and grabbing ROSE HIP along the way. Continue east, take DRILL PUNCHER and go south in the tunnel. Head east for LAVENDER. Return west. Go west this time and then north. Descend to the dragon skeleton. Run under it for another pathetic LAVENDER. Go back the way you came and go immediately east for ATHELAS and TWIN SPLICERS. From this chest, go right through the rock wall to the savepoint. Continue north for a scene. ================ BOSS: Visseya x3 ================ HP: 10000 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Easy 3150 EXP, 21000 Fol This boss is not hard at all. Keep spanking th larvas with Claude (and Ashton if you have him), while Celine kills them from afar. Thet might swallow your characters which looks funny, and you won't be able to move your character for a while. Just hit the larvas with another characeter, and they'll spit you out. After the battle, nab three chests with CINDERELLA GLASS, MEDICINE BOTTLE and ?ARMOR. Go back to the place with Twin Splicers and go west. Now run south. At the three-way fork, take the right path for ATHELAS. Now take the left path to descend the stairs. Run east for ARTEMIS LEAF. Go back west and south for a BUBBLE LOTION. You're done here, so backtrack to the entrance. Return to Linga and talk with Bowman again. Go to Keith's house for a scene. At Bowman's house, go to the 2nd floor and talk to Bowman in the bedroom. Now's the time to go to Lacuer. If you want to get Welch, do a PA here, cause soon enough she'll be unavailable. In the Lacuer castle, open the chest with 10000 FOL in the Royal Bedchamber. Go to the Symbological Weapons Laboratory on the ground floor (accessible through the east hall). Leon will give you a Combo Link and join the party temporarily. Your next destination is Hoffman Ruins place. Go to Hilton and talk with a man in blue armor. Choose "We're all set! Let's go!". From the Hoffman coast, go through the woods to the place. ============================================================================== Hoffman Ruins Recommended level: 36 Items: Stone Cure, Ricochet Bracelet, Angelic Headband, White Clip, Holy Mist, Green Beryl, Tedious Hand Stick, Breeze Earring, Orichalcum, Custard of Life, Gold, Primavera, Diamond, Medicine Bottle, Blackberries, Green Beryl, Storm Ring, Primavera, Amulet of Freedom, Sour Syrup, ?Herb, Fruit Syrup, Hot Syrup, Hammer Charm, Mechanic's Toolbox, Daze Bomb, Aquaberries, Hexagram Card Enemies: Protector, Bowlady, Black Slime, Axman of Doom, Whelp ============================================================================== Dammit, this place is even more frustrating than the Sacred Grounds of Linga. Run up the stairway. After a little scene, go through the newly opened door. Head immediately east to a savepoint. Go back, enter the first door on the left for STONE CURE. The second door has RICOCHET BRACELET. Go further north- east for ANGELIC HEADBAND and WHITE CLIP. Back at the savepoint, enter the green elevator. At the intersection go northeast for HOLY MIST and GREEN BERYL. Continue south east. Get TEDIOUS HANDY STICK for Welch from the chest. Go northeast and pull the lever to blow up the rocks. You HP will be halved, so heal right away. Go northwest for BREEZE EARRING, then northeast for ORICHALCUM and a little further south for CUSTARD OF LIFE and GOLD. Go back to the explosion site and run southeast. Grab PRIMAVERA here. Don't pull the lever, there's nothing there. Go south. On this screen, take DIAMOND and MEDICINE BOTTLE from the chests. Run southwest for BLACKBERRIES. Then head south for GREEN BERYL. Keep going south, and then move a little east for a STORM RING. Go south again. At the next screen, grab PRIMAVERA and save. The boss is up ahead, but let's get all th remaining chests. Go southwest, making a little turn. Don't blow up the rocks take AMULET OF FREEDOM from the chest and go west for SOUR SYRUP and ?HERB. Return northeast. The northeast again, then east. Keep going east, then northeast again. Continue east again. Take the FRUIT SYRUP. Go southwest for HOT SYRUP and HAMMER CHARM. Now go southeast. In this area open the chests for MECHANIC'S TOOLBOX and DAZE BOMB. Return north. Then go northwest. Then head north again. Keep following the northwest path for 2 screens. Now head south- west to the chest with AQUABERRIES. And finally move down south to HEXAGRAM CARD. Backtack to the savepoint by going south, south, southwest and east. Save and go north for a scene. ================ BOSS: Halfynx x2 ================ HP: 36700 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Medium 10000 EXP, 10000 Fol Treat these two baddies like any other boss. Keep using Helmetbrak, Rock Explosion and everything else that you feel will help. Keep them away from Rena, so that she won't fall from their attacks. There's nothing more to say, really, just hack away and heal when needed. You will obtain the Energy Stone after the battle. Return to the entrance. If you already have Opera, and have seen the crashsite in the Sacred Forest, then you'll run into Ernest, possessed by a ghost. Win a quick battle and you will have an option to leave Ernest in the group. If you choose not to, he AND Opera will leave the party forever. Run to the coast and return to Lacuer. Head for the castle throne room for another scene. The Lacuer Front Line Base is north from Lacuer. ============================================================================== Lacuer Front Line Base Recommended level: 43 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== The weapon shop here has some good weapons. Go left on the second screen. Then go norhtwest. Enter the commander's office for a scene. Go talk to Dias after it. Talk to the people in the general store and go up for a scene. =========== BOSS: Cynne =========== HP: 21000, MP: 200 Difficulty: - 0 EXP, 0 Fol You can't win this battle. You have to survive for 1 minute and it will end. Just keep healing yourself until you're through with it. Go to the hospital room, and another scene takes place. You'll fight three Stone Statue first, that aren't hard at all, and then you'll fight Cynne once again. You're destined to lose, so just let him smite you off. Dias will join the party finally. Rena will come to her senses on an unknown seashore. After the scene, go north on the world map to the village of Eluria. ============================================================================== Eluria Recommended level: 43 Items: Metal Fang, Rune Cap, Fists of the Giant, Shield Swords, Silver Robe, Silver Robe, Silver Greaves, Silver Greaves, Plate Armor, Plate Armor, Veil Piercer, Fine Shield Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== After the scene, talk to the village chief in the norhteastern house. Then go to the Armory and check the barrels all over the place to find METAL FANG, RUNE CAP, FISTS OF THE GIANT, SHIELD SWORDS, SILVER ROBE x2, SILVER GREAVES x2, PLATE ARMOR x2, VEIL PIERCER and FINE SHIELD. As you leave, the youth will give and ID Card key item. After you leave Eluria, you'll see an interesting scene involving Ronyx. Now go to the Eluria Tower, northeast of Eluria village. ============================================================================== Eluria Tower Recommended level: 43 Items: Holy Mist, Amulet of Flexibility, Steel Helmet, X Clip, Meteor Ring, Aquaberries, Sapphire, Music Editor, Paralysis Cure, Pixie's Bracelet, Crested Shield, Stone Cure, Star Ruby, Crystal, Super Puncher, Refreshing Syrup, Crested Shield, ?Armor, Gale Earring, Splinter, Medicine Bottle, Murasame, Fists of the Giant Enemies: Darth Widow, Orange Gelatin, Elder Witchette, Goathead, Timekeeper, Defender ============================================================================== Go north and use the ID Card. 1F Go north for HOLY MIST, AMULET OF FLEXIBILITY, STEEL HELMET, X CLIP and METEOR RING. Take whichever stairs you want to 2F. 2F Open the chests with AQUABERRIES, SAPPHIRE and PARALYSIS CURE. Go left for MUSIC EDITOR, PIXIE'S BRACELET and CRESTED SHIELD. Go back east and continue north to the savepoint. 3F Go west and north for STONE CURE and STAR RUBY. Take the eastern teleporter. 4F Open the chests with CRYSTAL and SUPER PUNCHER for Precis. Take the west exit to 5F. 5F Get REFRESHING SYRUP, CRESTED SHIELD and ?ARMOR. Talk to the minister statue and spell D-E-A-T-H. You'll obtain the Key Card. Take southwestern teleporter. 4F Take western teleporter. 5F Use the Key Card on the red pillars. After the scene, go east to the elevator. Save. Head north to meet an old friend. ============================= BOSS: Cynne & Stone Statue x2 ============================= Cynne: HP: 21000, MP: 200 Stone Statue: HP: 2200 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Easy 11350 EXP, 52100 Fol Now you can kick Cynne's ass finally. Get rid of Stone Statues and focus all of your attacks on the flying bastard. Soon enough he will die, since he has no potentially dangerous attacks and pathetic defense. Take the teleport which Cynne was blocking. The right door has SPLINTER and MEDICINE BOTTLE. The left door has MURASAME and FISTS OF THE GIANT. Run to the center room from the left room, open the chest with GALE EARRING and take the right exit. ============== BOSS: Metatron ============== HP: 100000, MP: 100 Difficulty: - 0 EXP, 0 Fol Yet another battle you cannot win. Just let him destroy you. He will pay for that later. After some shocking events happening at the top of Eluria Tower, you'll find yourself on a different planet. The mayor of th city, Nall, will welcome you. After the scene, get out of the building and explore the city. ============================================================================== The Centropolis of Nede Recommended level: 51 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== First, pay a visit to the shops around the place. They have a very nice selection of weapons and items for you. Beside, you should have enough Fol by now to buy all of the new equipment. The Skill guild here sucks. Don't forget to buy Lezard's Flask in the item shop, you'll need it. You can encountet Chisato in the west part of town, but the process of recruiting her is yet to begin. Exit the city in the south. Ok, our next stop is North City, to the north (of course). ============================================================================== North City Recommended level: 52 Items: N/A Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== You'll run into Chisato again. Go to the north to the library, the Nedepedia. Run the materials about the history of Nede and Ten Wise Men here by talking to the operator. Then go east to get yourself a Psynard. A scene follows, and a boss battle begins. ============= BOSS: Psynard ============= HP: 43000, MP: 200 Difficulty: Easy 20000 EXP, 20000 Fol Yet again, non-hard boss that wants to get his ass kicked. 'Yawn'. Just keep using Helmetbreak to finish him off. You'll be transported to the Endangered Species Protection Area, i.e. Noel's home. He'll join your party for a while. Open the chests with 50000 FOL, PET FOOD and LIFE IN NATURE. Go north og Noel's house into the cavern. ============================================================================== Cave of Crimson Crystals Recommended level: 53 Items: Resurrection Elixir, Dream Bracelet, Theory of Symbology, ?Mineral, Cinderella Glass, Eagle's Shawl, Chisato's Card, Fruit Syrup, ?Mineral Enemies: Peryton, Hellhound, Shockray, Red Balloon ============================================================================== Go north. Turn to far east for RESURRECTION ELIXIR. Return to the fork and go straight north into the tunnel with yellow light. Get DREAM BRACELET, THEORY OF SYMBOLOGY and ?MINERAL here. Go back and run northwest this time. Grab CINDERELLA GLASS in the northwest corner and keep on running east. Exit this screen in southeast. Go straight east and descend the stairs. Chisato will appear yet again. Take EAGLE'S SHAWL from the chest, go back up and take the bridge. Pick up CHISATO'S CARD that she lost. You'll need it if you want to recruit her later. When you'll see a Psynard, keep going east and take the 1st bridge south you'll see. Go south and west in the end. Save at the savepoint. Go sout hagain for FRUIT SYRUP and ?MINERAL. Go north for a boss battle. =================== BOSS: Arachnovia x2 =================== HP: 40000 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Medium 19500 EXP, 52000 Fol This boss isn't as hard as it may look, but keep an eye on your mages, though. They may die if they get in the way of Arachnovias. So all you need to do is not let the spiderwomans get to the back. Use every Special Art at your very disposal to take them out. You have a Psynard now! Get back to the Centropolis and go into the north building. If you still have an empty spot in your party, you can recruit Chisato now. Speak to her at 2F (at the desk) to have her join you. Go talk to Nall at the top floor. He'll give you a Rune Code and a Combo Link. The next four dungeons can be hard, so make sure you're leveled properly. The first one we will visit is the Field of Wisdom, north of Centropolis. ============================================================================== Field of Wisdom Recommended level: 56 Items: Faerie Elixir, Tiara of the Arc, Alpha Clip, Mirror of Knowledge, Majestic Puncher, Fruit Syrup, Rune Metal Enemies: Rikka, Wizard, Magic Defender, Controller, Niquia HG ============================================================================== Touch the center mirror to be teleported to anoother area, to the true Field of Wisdom. Go back using the mirror, and now take the right mirror for FAERIE ELIXIR. Go back and use the left mirror for TIARA OF THE ARC. Step on yellow tile. Examine the sphere to make it spin. Step on yellow tile again. Then step on west yellow tile. Touch the sphere and go back. Step on east yellow tile. Touch the sphere and go back. Step on southeast yellow tile this time. Touch the sphere and go back. Return to the starting three mirrors. Go through the left one again. Step on yellow tile. Go through the north mirror to find ALPHA CLIP and MIRROR OF KNOWLEDGE. Go through center mirror to MAJESTIC PUNCHER, FRUIT SYRUP and RUNE METAL. Go bakc. Touch the right mirror. Get on the west yellow tile. Examine the sphere and go back. Step on east yellow tile. Touch the last sphere to make it spin. You'll see a flash of light. Go back. Use the mirror. Then touch the left mirror. Get back to the entrance. Go through the middle mirror again. Step on the final yellow tile to be teleported to the altar. ===================================================== BOSS: Magic Hand, Force Box, Guard Box & Magic Box x2 ===================================================== Magic Hand: HP: 60000, MP: 100 Force Box: HP: 30000, MP: 100 Guard Box: HP: 30000, MP: 100 Magic Box: HP: 30000 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Hard 20200 EXP, 82200 Fol Ok, it seems we now have a worthy enemy to deal with. Your first aim in this battle would be the boxes. Get rid of the Magic ones first, then kill the Guard and Force ones. The boxes have 30000 HP each, so it's gonna take quite a while. The main threat in this battle is the big Magic Hand, as it shoots the white laser beam in front of itself. Anyone who gets in the way will die in seconds. Bring a whole lot of Resurrection Elixirs and Resurrection Mists here. If Rena already knows Raise Dead, it's gonna be a little easier then. Do not let your character stay in front of Magic Hand for long, run to the sides every now and then. Once the boxes are dead, you can fully focus on the Magic Hand. Use Helmetbreak to your advantage. Do not let the boss act by hitting ALL the time and you'll emerge victorious soon enough. You will obtain the Orb of Wisdom. Backtrack to the entrance. Field of Might is situated northwest of Centropolis, in the snowy mountains. ============================================================================== Field of Might Recommended level: 57 Items: Assault Bomb, Melt Potion, Armor of the Arc, Knuckles of the Moon, ?Armor, Sword of Marvels, Blackberries, Ring of Might Enemies: Athul Athul, Dark Crusader, Yeti, Ghast, Insane Lord ============================================================================== Head all the way right. Fight three Yetis and don't let them get to the lever behind you. After the fight continue to the chests with ASSAULT BOMB, MELT POTION, and ARMOR OF THE ARC. Go back and take the northwest path into the cave. On the lower level, defeat three Yetis again (you get 54000 Fol every time you successfully defeat such group). Go south and east. Climb the ladder for KNUCKLES OF THE MOON. Keep going east. Head for the upper cave. Go north for ?ARMOR. Go left to find another pack of Yetis. Keep going west into the cave for a SWORD OF MARVELS. Make absolutely sure you don't miss this awesome weapon for Claude! Then return east into another cave for BLACKBERRIES. Keep going east for another pack of Yetis. Exit this screen in southeast. Now go east and enter the upper cave again. At the fork where you found ?Armor, head right this time. Exit the are via southeast. On the next screen, take the northwest exit. Go west, climb the ladder. When you'll see two ladders, take the right one first for a RING OF MIGHT. Then take the left one. Save at the savepoint. Cross the bridge for a scene. ============== BOSS: Guardian ============== HP: 130000, MP: 0 Difficulty: Hard 37500 EXP, 64000 Fol This boss is even harder than the previous one. He packs quite a punch, plus he can hit you multiple times, not letting you character heal properly. Keep Rena far from him, make sure you hold him in the corner with Claude. When you are low on health, run away to heal. Nevertheless, bring some Resurrection Elixirs with you so you can revive someone who has died. The hardest part of the battle comes when the boss is at 1/3 HP and activates his Final Form. He dives into the ground and buffs his defense by a lot. This is where you'll be dying the most. He will be returning each hit with a little blast, severely damaging your characters. Don't rush in now, or you'll be gone in a flash. The battle is quite long, but with proper healing you'll make it. Proceed north to the altar. Orb of Might is yours. Return to the beginning of the dungeon. If you haven't succeeded in the battles with Yeti and levers and lost all of them, then you won't be able to exit the dungeon by normal means. Go to the area where you found Knuckles of the Moon, and look for a place to call an echo. You'll be taken out of the dungeon by an avalanche. Field of Courage is next on our list. It's southeast from the Centropolis. ============================================================================== Field of Courage Recommended level: 63 Items: Sour Syrup, Medicine Bottle, Shield of the Arc, Idol of the Warrior, Luminous Slicers, Mithril Greaves, Amulet of Flexibility Enemies: Dark Crusader, Rikke, Otiph, Fenrir Beast ============================================================================== A great place for leveling up, if you're underleveled. Read the sign, go left. Grab SOUR SYRUP in this area, go back. Proceed northwest for a MEDICINE BOTTLE and then continue west for a SHIELD OF THE ARC. Go north. At the intersection take the left path to the little altar with an IDOL OF THE WARRIOR. Take it and run back east. Go east at the intersection for LUMINOUS SLICERS. Exit this screen via southeast. Get MITHRIL GREAVES from the chest and go west. At the next screen exit southeast. Go east for AMULET OF FLEXIBILITY, then continue southeast. Finally, go east to the elevator. Save afterwards. Choose to place the statue on the altar when you're ready. ============== BOSS: Guardian ============== HP: 130000, MP: 0 Difficulty: Medium 375B00 EXP, 64000 Fol This Guardian is not as hard as the previous one, fortunately. It doesn't have a Final Form mode (or maybe I just killed him too quick), but it can do almost everything that the previous Guardian did. Either way, his defense is not high enough, so I recommend you to equip the Chain of Might/Ring of Might accessory combo on Claude. Coupled with the mighty Sword of Marvels, Helmetbreak can do 9999 damage easily. Just keep repeating the Special Art until the boss is no more. Orb of Courage is yours now. Retrace your steps to the exit. The last Field is high up in the sky, close to the Field of Wisdom. ============================================================================== Field of Love Recommended level: 69 Items: Serpent's Tooth, Holy Rod, Resurrection Mist, Hot Syrup Enemies: Master Wizard, Magic Defender, Nihua HG, Rikki, Joypad, Clear Gelatin ============================================================================== I hate this dungeon with a passion. It's fairly small (only five areas), but the random battles here happen every three steps or so. And I'm not kidding about this. Be sure to have someone with a Scouting Specialty at a maximum level. Otherwise, it's a good place for EXP farming. Once you enter through the blue door, you'll see a chest in the east. Get to it for SERPENT'S TOOTH. Then go northwest. Continue going west. In the next area, touch the red orb to form a bridge, but don't cross it, go north. Take the HOLY ROD and RESURRECTION MIST from the chests and touch another red orb. Now go back, cross the little bridge and exit the screen in northwest. Keep going north, grabbing HOT SYRUP along the way. You'll come to a savepoint. Save and go north for a scene. ============================= BOSS: Lavarre & Sunbreaker x2 ============================= Lavarre: HP: 60000, MP: 0 Sunbreaker: HP: 30000 each, MP: 100 each Difficulty: Easy 13800 EXP, 34000 Fol This is the easiest battle out of all the Four Fields boss fights. Go straight for Lavarre and finish her off with you sword. Then focus on the Sunbreakers and they'll die fast. A pushover battle, no less. As you lay your hands on the Orb of Love, congrats on beating the Four Fields! But we're still far from beating the game, though. Go back to the Centropolis, restock on supplies, and speak with Nall on the top floor of the city hall. Some scenes will take place, and you'll be taken to L'Aqua. From here, your party and Nall travel to Phynal, the final dungeon of the game. This is just the first visit, and it's going to be short. First you'll fight Takikodus and Mirre 64 two times in a row, and then... ============== BOSS: Zaphkiel ============== HP: 150000, MP: 100 Difficulty: - 0 EXP, 0 Fol This is just like the Metatron fight. You simply can't win. Let him finish you off. Your group will retreat back to Centropolis. Now it's time to go Armlock, to the Sealed Door. Armlock is southeast on the Energy Nede map. ============================================================================== Armlock Recommended level: 75 Items: Mind Ring Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== After speaking with Nall's minion, explore the town for a bit. Visit the shops and the Skill Guild. Now you have finally obtained all of the Skills guild skill sets. When you're ready, meet Nall in the north to travel to the sealed Symbological Weapons Laboratory. Save when you'll have a chance. Go north. Navigate your way to mayor Nall for a scene. After it, go southwest, south, south, east, into the door with a chest containing MIND RING, back west, south and south for another scene. Back in Armlock, enter the house on the east (the that has a lot of steam coming out of it) to meet Dr. Mirage. You'll get Minae Cave Key Card from Nall. To get to the Minae Cave, fly a little west from Armlock. ============================================================================== Minae Cave Recommended level: 77 Items: Fruit Syrup, ?Mineral, Encyclopedia, Refreshing Syrup, Smelling Salts, Mithril Mesh, Medicine Bottle, Smith's Hammer, Wonder Drug, Meteorite, Lightning Gun, Athelas, Illusion Doll Enemies: Orange Balloon, Sunbreaker, Dark Water ============================================================================== Go up and use the key card. Go immediately northeast for FRUIT SYRUP. A little further northeast is ?MINERAL. Go northwest afterwards. Go west a little for ENCYCLOPEDIA. Run north to get REFRESHING SYRUP. Head north again. Now walk west for SMELLING SALTS, then north for MITHRIL MESH, which is a very nice piece of armor. Equip it on Claude. Proceed east a little to find a hidden chest with a MEDICINE BOTTLE. Go north for SMITH'S HAMMER. Go back south. On this screen, run south then northeast for WONDER DRUG and METEORITE. Exit east then. Take the LIGHTNING GUN from a chest, go south and east for ILLUSION DOLL and even further north for ATHELAS. Exit this screen in the north part. Keep on going north, exit via northwest. Save and proceed up for a boss battle. ============== BOSS: Barchian ============== HP: 150000, MP: 400 Difficulty: Medium 14950 EXP, 55000 Fol This boss has only one attack, Pain Release, that hits you party for 3000-3500 damage. If Rena won't succeed in using Fairy Light between the hits, you're as good as dead. But, don't be afraid, Barchian only starts using this attack faster when he's near to his death. I was even able to survive two consecutive hits with Claude without healing. If you heal when needed, and keep mashing him with Mirror Blade/Helmetbreak, you'll be fine. Looks like now you've got yourself some LEA Metal. That means Mirage can now craft us some kickass weapons, so return to Armlock as fast as you can. Mirage will also give N.P.I.D. Go to the Fun City, which is north of Armlock. Before going there, make sure you have at least 3 Amulets of Flexibility. Have 'em? Good, then enter the area for a scene. You'll get a Godslayer, Knuckles of Hope and Void Matter from Dr. Mirage. Save at the savepoint, talk to the man and choose "Visit mayor Nall". A scene will take place, and look who's here. It's... ============== BOSS: Zaphkiel ============== HP: 150000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Medium 18000 EXP, 50000 Fol The first of the Ten Wise Men comes to play. It's Zaphkiel, and he has a nasty attack called Cruel Bludgeon which he uses constantly. Well well well, I guess it WOULD be a mighty attack, if it weren't for our defense. At level 80, and with things like Mithril Mesh/Cloak of the Stars equipped, it'll be doing 1500 or 2000 damage per hit, which is counterable with Fairy Light. That said, I can't see how you can lose this battle, only if you're extremely underleveled will you have trouble with Zaphkiel. Keep using Mirror Blade for a quick win. Equip your party with Amulets of Flexibility now. Exit the Arena to face the second Wise Man... err, Robot. ============= BOSS: Jophyel ============= HP: 160000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Hard 20750 EXP, 54000 Fol Now THIS is a whole different story, people. Pretty much like Zaphkiel, Jophy uses only one attack - Energy Rain. Hopefully you have those Flexibility amulets, or else you're stoned literally. Energy Rain hits for about 3500-4000 damage and petrifies the character. I don't think it works 100% of the time, but somewhere close to it. Even with the Amulets you'll have a pretty hard time staying alive here. Get to Jophyel as fast as you can and start working on him with Mirror Blade. He uses Energy Rain like crazy, not stopping even for a moment. Fortunately you can cancel his attack if you're lucky. So rely on brute force and stay close to him, and use Resurrection Elixirs/Mists when needed. Save at the world map. Get back to Armlock ASAP. Approach Mirage's house for a scene. ============== BOSS: Metatron ============== HP: 170000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Easy 24750 EXP, 58000 Fol Surprisingly, Metatron is too weak for a real Wise Man. His main feature is using Metablock or Metaguard for like 30 seconds. You can't damage him during this phase. Once the shield goes off, destroy the bastard with Mirror Blade. It's easy to stun Metatron, and when he's stunned, he's dead meat. After the scene, leave Armlock. You'll be told to go to L'Aqua. This is it, my dear reader, it's time to head for the final storyline dungeon of the game. L'Aqua is in the center of the map, a little northwest of the Field of Love. Once there, proceed north for a scene. Go into the infirmary on the right and talk to Nall. Choose "Yes, we're ready". From the Phynal pier, enter Phynal from the world map (save beforehand). ============================================================================== Phynal Recommended level: 80 Items: Mithril Shield, Symbology Dictionary, Nuclear Bomb, Spark Whip, Shadow Cross, ?Item, Resurrection Mist, Beta Clip, Lotus Eaters, Atomic Puncher, Mithril, Sylvan Boots, Fists of the Titan, Rune Shoes, Bouro, Medicine Bottle, Refreshing Syrup, Gigawatt Stunner, Thunderclap Rod, Dueling Helmet, Potion of Epiphany, Philosopher's Stone, Athelas, Dueling Suit, Goddess Statuette, Stone Cure Enemies: Takikodus, Erikodus, Niquia LM, Mirre 64, Medusa Lizard, Succubus, Dark Crusader, Master Wizard, Quidonya, River Slug, Phantom Phoenix ============================================================================== Go north on the bridge to enter the Phynal tower. As you enter, you'll be thrown into a fight with another three of the Ten Wise Men. =============================== BOSS: Zadkiel, Raphael & Camael =============================== Zadkiel: HP: 105800, MP: 200 Raphael: HP: 85000, MP: 180 Camael: HP: 45500, MP: 150 Difficulty: Hard 18000 EXP, 70000 Fol This battle is HARD. We have three enemies here, and all of them are quite deadly. Your first target should be either Camael or Raphael. Camael has low HP, but Raphael can make your characters possessed for a LONG time. That being said, I would go for Raphael first. Keep using Mirror Blade until he bites the dust. Camael will occasionally heal his allies, but his healing powers are weak - they will recover about 1200-1500 HP per use. Once Raphael is gone, quickly take out Camael. This won't take long. Once only Zadkiel is left, start working on his HP and look out for his spells. You should win the battle eventually. Go back to the world map to save. It's safer that way:) Once back in Phynal, go north. Take northeast exit. Enter the red door to find MITHRIL SHIELD and SYMBOLOGY DICTIONARY. Go back south. Go through the far west door. Enter the first room you see for NUCLEAR BOMB, SPARK WHIP and SHADOW CROSS. Go back and take the path northwest straight to the teleporter. 2F Go north. Enter the northwest door, go north again for ?ITEM and RESURRECTION MIST. Go back. Go through the northeast door now. Head northeast again to the teleporter. 3F Go north. Keep on keepin' on north until you arrive at the four-way fork, go south. Keep going south to the teleporter. 2F Follow the only way to BETA CLIP and LOTUS EATERS. Return to 3F. 3F Go north 2 times. Run north again at the 4-way fork to the teleporter. 4F Go north. You can find MITHRIL, SYLVAN BOOTS and FISTS OF THE GIANT in the north room, ATOMIC PUNCHER in the western, and RINE SHOES in the eastern. Return to 3F. 3F Go north. Exit the fork west this time. Keep going west to the teleporter. 4F Follow the only path there is to another teleporter. 5F Go north. Follow the single path to the savepoint. There's no point in going east this time. If you go north, you'll face a boss. Prepare for the fight by equipping your characters with Amulets of Flexibility/Anti-petrify armor and fire-damage-reducing accessories such Ruby, Star Ruby, Shadow Cross, etc. ====================== BOSS: Michael & Haniel ====================== Michael: HP: 180000, MP: 300 Haniel: HP: 140000, MP: 200 Difficulty: Very Hard 46250 EXP, 65000 Fol The last three wise men were NOTHING compared to this battle. You'll be facing only two this time, but believe me, they're hard as hell without proper preps and strategy. Your one and only goal in this fight - destroy Michael as quick as possible. He uses fire spells like Eruption and Explode, but he also has a very damaging one - Spicule. Spicule does around 6000-6500 damage without fire protection, and a little less with protection. Haniel uses Blood Scylla and a laser beam that petrifies all that it touches. Since you don't want to die in a matter of seconds, rush to Michael and start using Mirror Blade and Mirror Blade only. Helmetbreak is bad because it can give him an opportunity to cast a spell. Set your other attacker to assault Michael as well. I also recommend equipping Ring of Might on Claude instead of Amulet of Flexibility, since he will be focusing mostly on Michael. With Mirror Blade doing about 5000-6000 damage per hit, Michael should go down in about 2 minutes. Once he's gone, you almost win the battle. Just continue crushing Haniel till he dies, and watch out for Blood Scylla, of course. Go back to save. Then proceed north to the teleporter. 6F This floor has no random battles, but it's annoying nonetheless. I'll cut down the explanation to only telling you the directions. East, then north. Press the middle button on the apparatus. East, press the right button. Go north two times for BOURO, MEDICINE BOTTLE and REFRESHING SYRUP. Go south two times. Press the middle button. Go west. Press left button. South, west, west. Press the switch. East, east, north. Press middle button. West twice. Press the switch. East two times. Press left button. North and east. Press right button. West, north. Press the switch. South, east. Press left button. East, south. Press middle button. East, south, press the switch. You'll hear a short melody now. North, west. Press left button. North, west, north. Press middle button. East and north to the teleporter. 7F Go north. Head west at the fork. Go west and north for a GIGAWATT STUNNER. Go back south, east and east again at the intersection. Run northeast for a save- point. Walk west and north for yet another boss. ============= BOSS: Lucifer ============= HP: 300000, MP: 5900 Difficulty: Medium 115000 EXP, 80000 Fol Suprisingly, Lucifer is way easier than Michael and Haniel. Maybe it's because he's alone, I don't know. The only spell you have to watch out for is Demon's Gate that can hit for 5500-6500 damage. Other than that, he can teleport all over the battlefield, so just keep Mirror Blading him to prevent it and maybe even stun him. Once you'll corner him, the job is almost done. Now that the traitor scum is dead, go north and east for THUNDERCLAP ROD. Then west and northto the teleporter. 8F Go north to another teleporter. 9F Go north. Enter the red door to obtain DUELING HELMET (one of the best helmets in the game) and PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. Keep going east and then south to the teleporter. 8F Go north. South and west. Save at the savepoint, it will change it's color to blue. That means that you've opened an optional dungeon, a voice gallery and you can now return to Nede to turn off Gabriel's limiter and make him an uber hard boss. But let's leave that for later. Go west till you see two red doors. Get POTION OF EPIPHANY, ATHELAS, DUELING SUIT (one of the best armors in the game), GODDESS STATUETTE, STONE CURE. Go back west to the savepoint. Prepare well to face the final boss. Once ready, go north 3 times. After the FMV scene you'll face HIM at last. =================== FINAL BOSS: Gabriel =================== HP: 500000, MP: 10000 Difficulty: Hard 150000 EXP, 90000 Fol Gabriel is a formidable foe even WITH the limiter. He'll be using Star Flare for 6000-7000 damage, Time if Truth and Divine Wave. He'll also start using Explode and Angel Feather once you deplete his HP by 250000. The same strategy you used for Lucifer applies here. Mirror Blade him to death, and if manages to pull off Star Flare, heal right away. Use Resurrection Elixirs when needed, set all of your comrades except the healer to go all-out on Gabriel. With this assault, the final boss of Star Ocean: Second Evolution will fall. Congratulations on beating the game. The ending you'll get is based on AR with the other characters. Once the credits roll, you'll see a FIN screen. You can not save, unfortunately, so just restart the game. If you have defeated 2000 monsters total, you can start a new game on Galaxy/Universe difficulty. To unlock the remaining movies/voices, enter Virtual Expel (through the Old man in Fun City's arena), save there, go back to Phynal and save again. -------THEIR ADVENTURE HAS JUST BEGUN.-------- FIN ============================================================================== III. SIDE-QUESTS, SECRETS AND POST-GAME STUFF ============================================================================== ================================= SIDE-QUEST: EXORCISING THE DRAGON ================================= You can start this quest after getting Ashton. Go to Marze, enter the elder's house and go to the backroom. Climb the little ladder and read a book about exorcism. This will trigger a scene. Go to the Krosse castle and speak with the king to get a permission to enter the Mountain Palace. You'll also get 3000 Fol. The Mountain Palace is southwest of Kurik. Just head left instead of crossing the bridge that leads to Kurik. ============================================================================== Mountain Palace Recommended level: 23 Items: Crystal, Lunar Charm, Crested Rod, Emerald Ring, Faerie Statuette, Amber Robe, ?Mineral, Damascus, Faerie Cologne, Wolfsbane, ?Herb, Resurrection Elixir, ?Jewelry, Cestus, ?Mineral Enemies: Thieving Scum, Slime Pool, Archer, Fudd, Petri Gevel, Sandglass, Hound ============================================================================== Open the chests for CRYSTAL and LUNAR CHARM. Talk to the soldier guarding the door and he'll let you through. At the intesection go up, and then go north- east at another. At the next intersection go east. Take the stairs in front of the door down to FAERIE STATUETTE and EMERALD RING. Go to the last fork and head up. At the next fork go up again. Three chests with CRESTED ROD, AMBER ROBE and ?MINERAL. Go back and right. Follow the path till the end to get to three chests containing DAMASCUS, FAERIE COLOGNE and WOLFSBANE. Go all the way back to the 2nd intersection, take the northwestern path, then follow this way further. In the tunnel you'll find ?HERB and ARTEMIS LEAF. Back out of the tunnel and go up in the other tunnel till the end for RESURRECTION ELIXIR, GLITTERING EARRING and ?JEWELRY. The nest room has a savepoint. Go further right. Open the chests for CESTUS and ?MINERAL. Then go up for a scene. =============== BOSS: Nightmare =============== HP: 9000 MP: 100 Difficulty: Medium 1000 EXP, 2200 Fol This boss is not that hard, but it's fast and this may be a problem. It does not have weaknesses to exploit, so rely on brute force. Have Claude and Ashton bombard it with a set of attacks. Helmetbreak is very good here, if it hits the target. Do not let the boss reach Rena/Celine, as it may kill them in a matter of seconds. Otherwise you'll be fine. You have Sacred Chalice now. Back to the entrance. Your next point of interest should be Lasgus Mountains, where you supposedly can find King's Tears. So go there. Lasgus Mountains are a little west of Krosse. ============================================================================== Lasgus Mountains Recommended level: 26 Items: N/A Enemies: Black Balloon, Sorceress, Savant, Cockatrice, Flyray, Kobold King ============================================================================== The path is pretty damn straightforward here, just press X to climb the trails up and you'll get to the nest and a savepoint. Heal up and prepare for a boss. =========== BOSS: Zinae =========== HP: 20000 MP: 300 Difficulty: Semi-Easy 2075 EXP, 3200 Fol This boss is not hard at all if you know what you're doing. First off, it's a bird, and it's flying, so use Helmetbreak often. It's basically everything you need to do, as Ashton will help you out form the ground. Just lock the darn bird into a corner and keep using Helmetbreak repeatedly until it dies. Woohoo. Looks like now you have everything you need to perform the exorcism ritual. Go back to the Salva Mines, to the place where you met Ashton for a scene. Heh, looks like he likes Creepy and Weepy after all... Anyway, quest completed. ======================================= SIDE-QUEST: RECRUITING OPERA AND ERNEST ======================================= You can start this quest after doing the PA with a three-eyed man in Krosse City. Go to Hilton, and speak with a three-eyed woman in the bar. Go to the Krosse castle and speak with the king to get a permission to enter the Mountain Palace. You'll also get 10000 Fol. The Mountain Palace is southwest of Kurik. Just head left instead of crossing the bridge that leads to Kurik. ============================================================================== Mountain Palace Recommended level: 25 Items: Crystal, Lunar Charm, Crested Rod, Emerald Ring, Faerie Statuette, Amber Robe, ?Mineral, Damascus, Faerie Cologne, Wolfsbane, ?Herb, Resurrection Elixir, ?Jewelry, Cestus, ?Mineral Enemies: Thieving Scum, Slime Pool, Archer, Fudd, Petri Gevel, Sandglass, Hound ============================================================================== Open the chests for CRYSTAL and LUNAR CHARM. At the intesection go straight, then straight again. You'll find Opera here. Agree to help her out. Descend the stairs and go north. Save and go into the room. ==================== BOSS: Fire Lizard x2 ==================== HP: 5000 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Medium 2000 EXP, 8000 Fol This battle is quick. Focus at one Lizard at a time, and look out for its fire breath. Keep piercing them from all sides and you should be done in no time. At the next intersection go east. Take the stairs in front of the door down to FAERIE STATUETTE and EMERALD RING. Go to the last fork and head up. At the next fork go up again. Three chests with CRESTED ROD, AMBER ROBE and ?MINERAL. Go back and right. Follow the path till the end to get to three chests containing DAMASCUS, FAERIE COLOGNE and WOLFSBANE. Go all the way back to the 2nd intersection, take the northwestern path, then follow this way further. In the tunnel you'll find ?HERB and ARTEMIS LEAF. Back out of the tunnel and go up in the other tunnel till the end for RESURRECTION ELIXIR, GLITTERING EARRING and ?JEWELRY. The nest room has a savepoint. Go further right. Open the chests for CESTUS and ?MINERAL. Return to the entrance. Go to the Sacred Forest now that you have Opera, and witness the crashsite there. Ernest will join you soon enough in Hoffman Ruins. ====================================== SIDE-QUEST: GETTING THE SCUMBAG SLAYER ====================================== After the Lacuer Armory Contest, go to Salva and find Ruddle there. Tell him "Go north". Travel to Marze, find Ruddle in the item shop and tell him "It's further east of here". Then go to Hilton and find Ruddle near the bar. Tell him "You just need to travel by boat again". Finally go to Harley, and find Ruddle in the west part of the inn. He will reward you with a Scumbag Slayer sword, which is very useful in Maze of Tribulations. =============================================== SIDE-QUEST: CLASSIFIED INFORMATION OF NEDEPEDIA =============================================== You must recruit Chisato for this quest. Once you have been to North City and have read all the materials in Nedepedia, go to the Princebridge town in the west. ============================================================================== Princebridge Recommended Level: 55 Items: Faerie's Elixir Enemies: N/A ============================================================================== This is Noel's hometown. Explore the city, visit the shops and head to the Princebridge University second floor. In the westernmost room you'll find a chest with FAERIE'S ELIXIR. Talk to director Leifath, then with professor Parel on the first floor. Speak with Leifath again and go to Centropolis. With Chisato in your party, do a PA here. Find her at the third floor of Nede Times and return to North City. Go to Nedepedia and speak with the operator. Go to Princebridge again and talk to Leifath. Choose "That's actually us" and "Tell him". Talk to Leifath again, read all th files. After the scene, go talk to professor Parel. He'll give a PANDORA'S BOX. Give it to Leifath. Exit the town and do a PA. Leave the town again and enter it normally. Speak with Leifath. Now you have all the materials about Ten Wise Men. ==================================================== POST-GAME SIDE-QUEST: EXPLORING THE OPTIONAL DUNGEON ==================================================== Once you have reached the final savepoint in Phynal (8F), the optional super hard dungeon becomes available. It is called the Maze of Tribulations. This maze is situated in Expel. How do we get to Expel, if we're in Nede? Go to the Fun City arena, and speak with an old man in the back of it. He offers you to go to Virtual Expel. Accept the proposition and you will be back in Expel, in the village of Arlia, the place where it all started. The maze is situated in the southwest corner of the map, surrounded by mountains. Before going there, make sure to restock on healing items, spectacles and everything else you might need. The most important part is equipment, though. I will list the characters I used for beating this dungeon and their equipment. Also, take note that I used Celine and Ashton, who are by all means NOT the best party members in the game. To have a better party, I advice you to swap them for Opera (if you have her) and Chisato (or Dias, if you're on Rena's playthrough) so that you'll be more successful in beating the dungeon. Claude (Level 90) Rena (Level 90) HP: 7365/7365 HP: 7269/7269 MP: 478/478 MP: 489/489 Weapon: Godslayer Weapon: Knuckles of Hope Armor: Dueling Suit Armor: Robe of Deception Shield: Mithril Shield Shield: Rune Buckler Helmet: Dueling Helmet Helmet: Tiara of Isis Greaves: Star Greaves Greaves: Laced Boots Acc 1: Ring of Might Acc 1: Star Guard Acc 2: Chain of Might Acc 2: Faerie Ring Celine (Level 90) Ashton (Level 90) HP: 7321/7321 HP: 7489/7489 MP: 538/538 MP: 486/486 Weapon: Rod of Snakes Weapon: Holy Cross Armor: Robe of Ishtar Armor: Dueling Suit Shield: Hand of Kali Shield: Gauntlet of Air Helmet: Tiara of Isis Helmet: Dueling Helmet Greaves: Rune Shoes Greaves: Star Greaves Acc 1: Star Guard Acc 1: Talisman Acc 2: Emerald Ring Acc 2: Berserker Ring The majority of this equipment is created via the Blacksmith Super specialty and the Customization item creation. To increase the success of creation, use Orchestra Super specialty during the process. Not to mention that you must have the Magical Rasp item in your inventory. You can buy it in the Shady shop for 350000 Fol. The Shady shop is found on the island between Field of Might and Princebridge town on planet Energy Nede. A few more words about the Maze of Tribulations: it has 13 floors, that are not very big, but all have puzzles in them. There is a boss on each floor, and each floor has different random enemies. There's a shortcut to B9 on B1, and a teleport to B1 on B6 and B13. Oh, and also - the dungeon has NO savepoints, meaning you'll have to backtrack a lot (each two floors or so) to save. You can also use Jewels of the Frog that teleport you out of the dungeon. You can buy them from Santa the Merchant who is found randomly at floor 6. Be aware that they are costly (300001 Fol), so keep enough money to buy a few. Well, now that I have informed you of everything you need to know, let us begin the journey through the Maze of Tribulations, starting from basement floor 1. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B1: Ruins of Symbols Recommended Level: 90 Items: Nectar, Combo Substitute, Nuclear Bomb, tri-Emblum, Sirloin, Wonder Drug, Blueberries Enemies: Living Armor, Grim Wing, Phantom Knight, Enchantress ============================================================================== All hail to "Mission to Deep Space", baby! Yeah, that brings back memories... Go north. You can find NECTAR here in the north room. Go east, making a little curve fot a COMBO SUBSTITUTE. Head south now, and then east for NUCLEAR BOMB. Return west and take the path south. Walk into the south room for TRI-EMBLUM. Go back north and through the north door for SIRLOIN an WONDER DRUG. Return south, and go west this time. Ignore the switch, keep going west and then go north. Enter the northwest door for BLUEBERRIES. Go back south and east. Now flip the switch. Enter the door that has been opened, and face the first boss of the dungeon. ========================================== BOSS: Dark Enchantress & Phantom Knight x2 ========================================== Dark Enchantress: HP: 160000, MP: 500 Phantom Knight: HP: 23000 each, MP: 60 each Difficulty: Easy 93000 EXP, 20000 Fol The Dark Enchantress is a joke if you have the equipment I listed above. Get rid of the Knights first, and move on to the witch. She'll go down soon enough after taking a few Mirror Blades in the face. She'll give you Bunny Shoes as a reward. Go north and descend the stairs to B2. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B2: Lover's End Recommended Level: 90 Items: Combo Link, Organic Vegetables, Reflecting Plate, Resurrection Mist Enemies: Phantom Axman, Giant, Hunter Slime ============================================================================== Go north a bit and read the tablet. This should give you a hint on how to effectively complete the puzzle. Go east two times, then south. Turn Milena statue south and Luke statue north so that they face each other. Examine the floor between them to find COMBO LINK. Go back north, and west. Turn south, making a little curve for ORGANIC VEGETABLES. Go back north and west to the tablet room. Go west, then south. A little further south, turn Yuffie south. Go south again, turn Lloyd east. Go east, turn Cistina south. Return north, turn east to get to Feila. Turn her east. Go into the room above her for REFLECTING PLATE and RESURRECTION MIST. Go back south and head west. Keep going south to find Sharon. Turn her west. You'll hear a sound. Go back north and west. Enter the northwest room and go east. Now enter the big red door and prepare for a boss. =================================== BOSS: Blood Gerel & Hunter Slime x4 =================================== Blood Gerel: HP: 60000, MP: 0 Hunter Slime: HP: 20000 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Easy 23750 EXP, 41000 Fol This is laughably easy. All of the enemies here are pretty much similar, only that the Gerel here has 3x more HP. But that shouldn't be a problem, since he is no different from the slimes. Just hunt them down one by one and heal when needed. You will the Seraphic Garb armor, which is best armor available at the moment. Hopefully, we'll be getting more of these soon:) Descend the stairs to B3. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B3: One-way Cave Recommended Level: 95 Items: Ring of Lightspeed, Nectar, Nectar, Dream Crown, Sirloin, Wonder Drug, Sylvan Mail Enemies: Phantom Goathead, Enchantress, Blood Gerel, Lesser Devil ============================================================================== Read the tablet, go north, then north again, west and finally south. Here, go south a little for RING OF LIGHTSPEED and NECTAR. Then continue south and south again for another NECTAR. Run east three times for DREAM CROWN, SIRLOIN and WONDER DRUG. Go north four times, then west and south to the next screen to grab the last treasure on this floor which is SYLVAN MAIL. Go south and west to return to the entrance of this floor. If you have been following the directions I gave you, then the puzzle is completed, so take the path west and into the newly opened door for a boss. ==================== BOSS: Dreamcaster x3 ==================== HP: 35000 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Medium 45000 EXP, 90000 Fol This battle can be quite challenging due to the Dreamcasters' ability to stop time for a short bit and attack you while you are stunned. I suggest using Helmetbreak here, cause during this Special Art Claude jumps in the air, and the time-stopping gas can't reach him. After a few Helmetbreaks each Dreamcaster will go down, cause they have small HP. You'll get Magic Gumdrop after the battle. Proceed to B4. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B4: Altar of the Dancer Recommended Level: 100 Items: Extinction, Nectar, Onyx Earring, Mallet Charm, Resurrection Mist, Organic Vegetables, Seraphic Garb, Mystical Shamisen Enemies: Jabberwabbit, Hunter Slime ============================================================================== Go through the east wall to get Leon's EXTINCTION spell, and through the west one for NECTAR. Go north and speak with the mistaken warrior. Go into north- west room for ONYX EARRING and into northeastern for MALLET CHARM. Go east for RESURRECTION MIST and ORGANIC VEGETABLES. In this area, go north into a room. Go through the wall and raise the lever. You'll hear a door opening somewhere. Go back, further east and north for SERAPHIC GARB. Return south, and go west two screens. You're supposed to be back in the area with the mistaken warrior. Take note that the center north door is open now. Enter it, and play a song for the goddess. Choose a character with Music specialty at level 10, and who knows Listening and Rhythm Sense talents. In my case, it was Claude. You'll get MYSTICAL SHAMISEN instrument as a reward for you song. Go back, continue west and north, Go through the wall again for a boss. ============== BOSS: Mirre 32 ============== HP: 190000, MP: 0 Difficulty: Medium 100000 EXP, 50000 Fol This little critter can fire lasers at you that can chain hit for thousands of damage. That's about the only somewhat dangerous attack it has, so counter it with Mirror Blade. Once engulfed in the Mirror Blade torrent of hits, Mirre won't be able to live long. Be aware that this level is great for level building, if you lack them. Once in the fight with Blood Gerels, wait for them to multiply and finish the battles with hundreds of thousands of EXP. Be careful with the Lesser Devils, though, as they can totally slay you if they'ere in large group. Anyway, continue to B5. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B5: Woman's Revenge Recommended Level: 105 Items: Refreshing Syrup, Ring of Lightspeed, Wonder Drug, Sirloin, Nectar, Faerie Ring, Seraphic Garb, Phantom Slayer Enemies: Lady Chimera, Mighty Ape, Dragon Axman, Greater Goathead ============================================================================== Go north for a bit to get REFRESHING SYRUP and RING OF LIGHTSPEED. Proceed north for a scene. When prompted, choose the answers "Puffy!" and "Beasts". You'll fight a Phantom Salamander next, but you must run away for now, as you will be doing 1 HP damage to it per hit. Go northeast (the upper exit), go north for a WONDER DRUG, then south, making a curve to SIRLOIN. Go 2 screens south and west (go through the wal) to NECTAR and FAERIE RING. Go two screens back to the place where you found Sirloin and go east. Enter the north room for SERAPHIC GARB, then continue south and east. Keep going south dor another scene with Puffy. Choose "Help her" and fight three Dreamcasters. After the battle, examine the floor to get PHANTOM SLAYER. Equip it on Rena. Go west until the door behind gets closed, then west again and north. Exit this area in northwest. Now take the lower east exit to face the Salamander again. ======================== BOSS: Phantom Salamander ======================== HP: 811200, MP: 0 Difficulty: Very Easy/Hard 41313 EXP, 52000 Fol With Phantom Slayer equipped, take control of Rena, approach the boss and do one hit. You have won the battle. If you somehow DON'T have it, then you're in for a long ride, taking away Salamander's 811200 HP one by one. Heh heh. You will obtain the Orb of Fire. Go back to the previous area. Exit it via upper east exit, go south, east, south, east to a red door. Use Orb of Fire on it and descend the stairs to B6. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B6: Nest of Thieves Recommended Level: 110 Items: Dream Crown, Antidote Enemies: Dreamcaster, Dragon Axman, Metal Scum, Thieving Scum, Jabberwabbit ============================================================================== Exit the starting screen in northwest, go west and north. At the intersection go west for DREAM CROWN, east for ANTIDOTE. Go back south to the area with stone statues. You may run into Santa the Merchant here, so buy some Jewels of the Frog from him, and if you have the money - tri-Emblems, the best accessory in the game. Press the switch at the southeasternmost thief statue to open a door. Go west and north to face a boss. If you have the Scumbag Slayer from the Ruddle's quest, equip it. ======================================================== BOSS: Thieving Scum LV99, Thieving Scum x3 & Dreamcaster ======================================================== Thieving Scum LV99: HP: 40000, MP: 0 Thieving Scum: HP: 3 each, MP: 0 each Dreamcaster: HP: 35000, MP: 0 Difficulty: Medium 65004 EXP, 50030 Fol Ignore the regular Scum, as they will die immediately without your help, and focus on Dreamcaster. The strategy from the previous battles applies here too. Once it is gone, prepare to attack the LV99 Scum. If you have Scumbag Slayer, it will be a breeze, and if you don't, try to keep up with his incredible speed by equipping Bunny Shoes that you got on the 1st floor. He'll go down pretty quick, as he has measly 40000 HP. Ok, the northeastern exit here is the stairs to B7, and the northwestern is the teleport to B1. Use it to save, especially if you haven't been saving till now. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B7: Altar of the Goddess Recommended Level: 115 Items: Organic Vegetables, Mallet Charm, Phantom Slayer, tri-Emblum, Marenne Oysters, Refreshing Syrup, Resurrection Mist, Flawed Orb, Bunny Shoes, Sunset Island, Crazy Cow Enemies: Crimson Beast, Thieving Scum LV99, Magus, Robinette, Ultimate Avenger ============================================================================== Go north twice. Read the tablet. Go east and north into the room for ORGANIC VEGETABLES. Go back, then south a little and east into another room for MALLET CHARM. Finall, go south and through a wall for a second PHANTOM SLAYER weapon. Go east from the tablet, making a little curve south to find TRI-EMBLUM. Go further east, take the first path south you see, amke a little curve for a chest with REFRESHING SYRUP. South again for MARENNE OYSTERS and RESURRECTION MIST. Go back north two times and east again. Then keep going south, approach the south wall and walk through it for a FLAWED ORB. Craft it with one of your characters to get Orb Of Fire. Go back north, then west two times. Place the orb at the altar to open the north door. Proceed through it to meet another obstacle. =================== BOSS: Mithril Eater =================== HP: 600000, MP: 400 Difficulty: Medium 60500 EXP, 60000 Fol Much like the boss from the Minae Cave, this one uses only Pain Release, which can hit for whopping 8000-8500 damage, so be ready to interrupt him with your attacks/spells of your mages. As I have noticed, Pain Release tends to hit only the characters that are close to the Mithril Eater, so your casters will be left unharmed for the most time. The quickest strategy to defeat this fella would be to get behind its back and use Mirror Blade like there's no tomorrow. The Eater is stunnable, so use that to your advantage. You'll get Mindhealer, the best rod for Celine, Leon or Noel after the battle. Go northwest for BUNNY SHOES, SUNSET ISLAND and CRAZY COW. Go northeast to B8. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B8: God of Food Recommended Level: 120 Items: Lavender, Amoeba Soup, Seraphic Garb, Scumbag Slayer, Legendary Otoro, Mallet Charm, Refreshing Syrup, Wonder Drug, Marenne Oysters, Mindhealer, Ooze Cocktail, Slimy Gelatin Enemies: Star Protector, Killer Ape, Dreamcaster, Vile Hound, Phantom Devil ============================================================================== Grab LAVENDER on the immediate right and go north two times. Take the first east path you see, go east again and walk through a wall for AMOEBA SOUP and SERAPHIC GARB. Go back west, south and east for SCUMBAG SLAYER. Back north and northwest. Take the northwestern exit now. Go west and north for LEGENDARY OTORO and MALLET CHARM. Go back south and follow tha way south for the next two screens. Open the chests for REFRESHING SYRUP, WONDER DRUG and MARENNE OYSTERS. Go back north, open the chest with MINDHEALER in the northwest corner and go through northern and southern walls for OOZE COCKTAIL and SLIMY GELATIN respectively. Exit screen by going north. Then keep going east and a little north in the end to meet the God of Food. Feed him the food you are proposed to. Keep repeating it until you have the opportunity to feed him with non-food and him something that is not food for a scene. Go south through the newly opened door to meet you final opponent on this floor. ================== BOSS: Elysian Slug ================== HP: 450000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Easy 75000 EXP, 42000 Fol This boss is laughably easy, if you know what you're doing. Keep using Mirror Slice or even Helmetbreak for a quick win, as this boss does nothing except swallowing your characters and spitting them out petrified. Use Condition Cure or Stone Cure items to heal them and repeat the process until it's dead. You'll get Gelatin Steak as a reward. Yeah, not a very good reward >_> Anyway, now that you've beaten first 8 floors, you can safely use Jewel of the Frog to return to the entrance, or you can go back to floor 6's teleport. Do so to get back to the world map to heal and restock on items. We will be using the short cut to B9 from now on, so don't be afraid to leave. To get to B9 from B1, from the entrance to the Maze of Tribulations go north, the west and south. Enter the northwest door and walk on the tiles (not the red ones) until you fall down to B9. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B9: The Sealed Casket Recommended Level: 125 Items: Artemis Leaf, Valiant Boots, Resurrection Mist, Wonder Drug Enemies: Brigand Ogre, Cockatrice King, Phantom Mollusk, Robinette Captain ============================================================================== Alright, kids, the games are over now. From here on out, you'll be facing the toughest and deadliest random enemies in the game. On this floor, beware of the Cockatrice Kings who can petrify with EVERY single hit. Also, Brigand Ogres and Robinette Captain hit very hard and have a pretty high guard rate. Open the right chest for ARTEMIS LEAF. Go through the wall for VALIANT BOOTS, that are the very best piece of leg armor. Go back and west for two times, and north for RESURRECTION MIST. Go north and east. Keep going east till you can't anymore and move south for WONDER DRUG. Go back north, and exit this screen northwest. Immediately go south, then west. Go through the north door, ignore the coffin and keep going to north to reach the stairs to B10. Where's the boss, you say? Ah, we'll deal with him later. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B10: Moment of Courage Recommended Level: 130 Items: Scumbag Slayer, Bunny Shoes, Valkyrie's Boots, Refreshing Syrup, Rainbow Diamond, Valkyrie's Boots, Philosopher's Stone, Valiant Boots, Meteor Swarm, Mindhelaer, Organic Vegetables Enemies: Dreamcaster, Manic Gunner, Mirre 128, Gastric Slug, Mind Flayer, Life Flayer ============================================================================== Ok, this floor is even more frustrating than the previous one. First of all, it has some nasty enemies such as Mind Flayers (will rob you of your MP in seconds), Life Flayers (will destroy your HP in seconds, if you're not careful enough) and Manic Gunners. Secondly it represents a 4x4 grid. To enter the other rooms, you must step on tiles in the first room that are representing those rooms. The grid looks like this: .---------------. | | | | G | G - green tiles (normal rooms) |---------------| | | | | | R - red tiles (rooms with increased enemy encounter rate) |---------------| | | | | | Y - yellow tiles (rooms with HP-sap effect) |---------------| | G | | | | '---------------' G are the green tiles. The southwestern shows the room where you are right now and the northeastern shows you the room that has the stairs to B11. Ok, as you probably want to nab all the chests, we'll be using two routes. The first one looks like this: .---------------. | R | | | G | |---------------| | Y | G | R | | |---------------| | G | | | | |---------------| | G | | | | '---------------' Step on the corresponding tiles and go through the northern door. Go north again for a SCUMBAG SLAYER. Then north one more time for BUNNY SHOES. Go back south and east two time to get VALKYRIE'S BOOTS. Go back west two times and south to the first room with the grid. Return to B9 and back to reset the grid again. Now step on the tiles like this: .---------------. | | | | G | |---------------| | | | | R | |---------------| | | | | Y | |---------------| | G | Y | R | R | '---------------' Go east for REFRESHING SYRUP, then east again for RAINBOW DIAMOND, VALKYRIE'S BOOTS and PHILOSOPHER'S STONE. Go east one more time to get VALIANT BOOTS. Go north, grabbing ORGANIC VEGETABLES, MINDHEALER and Celine's METEOR SWARM spell along the way. In the northeasternmost room you'll face a boss. If you don't want any trouble getting the treasures, use this route: .---------------. | | G | G | G | |---------------| | | G | | | |---------------| | G | G | | | |---------------| | G | | | | '---------------' I recommend at least getting Valkyrie's Boots and Meteor Swarm, though. ================== BOSS: Geo Guardian ================== HP: 400000, MP: 100 Difficulty: Easy 75000 EXP, 100000 Fol This is just like the Guardian from the Field of Courage. It's slow, easily stunnable, but has some decent HP. Keep it busy with Mirror Blade or any other Special Arts till it's gone. Descend the stairs to B11. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B11: Dragon's Den Recommended Level: 135 Items: N/A Enemies: Mind Flayer, Aulbear, Gastric Slug, Phantom Mage, Hellmaster ============================================================================== Equip your characters with something that protects from petrification and proceed north to face the boss of this little floor. =================== BOSS: Dragon Tyrant =================== HP: 550000, MP: 1000 Difficulty: Hard 450000 EXP, 1200000 Fol Ok, this guy here is no pushover. He can hit a lot, and he hits hard + he can petrify you. But since you have those Amulets of Flexibility, that shouldn't bother. Remember that if he can chain hit you - he WILL kill you. Be ready to use Resurrection Elixirs/Mists when needed. He flies around the battlefield a lot, so getting to him might be a little chore. Once you've locked in the corner, keep on using Mirror Blade and replenishing your MP with Blackberries. That being said, he should go down pretty soon, giving you some nice EXP and Fol. You will get a Backstab combat skill as your reward. This is a very useful skill, so level it up to 10 as fast as you can. For now, you can't proceed to B12, so escape the dungeon via the teleporter. Once you have saved, enter the Maze again. You'll have an option to split your party. IF you're on Claude's playthrough, go with Rena, if you're on Rena's playthrough, go with Claude or Dias. Now only two of you party members can enter B12. Go ALL the way to it, using the shortcut (and yeah, I recommend escaping from battles for the time being). ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B12: Warrior's Temple Recommended Level: 135 Items: Valkyrie's Bracelet, Battle Suit, Battle Suit, Bunny Shoes Enemies: Dreamcaster, Hellmaster, Gastric Slug, Phantom Mage, Aulbear, Mind Flayer ============================================================================== Go north. Then west for VALKYRIE'S BRACELET and BATTLE SUIT. Return east, and go east for BATTLE SUIT and BUNNY SHOES. Go back west. Once ready, take the north path here to face another boss. ============= BOSS: Phoenix ============= HP: 350000, MP: 6300 Difficulty: Medium 500000 EXP, 500000 Fol Since there's only two of you, be extra careful when attacking and heal a lot. I was using Claude for attacking, and Rena for healing. Phoenix is just like Zinae, but use a few more dangerous attacks like Crushing Charge and Magnum Tornado. Both are easily interruptable, and the Charge is easily guardable. He also uses Blood Scylla rarely. Keep using Mirror Slice until you win. You will obtain an awesome Holy Sword Farewell. Equip it on Claude, and go back to B11, since you can't go to B13 now. Use the teleporter to get back to floor 1. Regroup with your party and take the shortcut to B9. On the way to B10, examine the coffin to initiate a boss battle. =============================== BOSS: Sorcerer & Dreamcaster x3 =============================== Sorcerer: HP: 700000, MP: 30000 Dreamcaster: HP: 35000 each, MP: 0 each Difficulty: Hard 295000 EXP, 300000 Fol Quickly get rid of the Dreamcasters so they won't get in the way, while taking some serious damage from the Sorcerer. He can petrify with his regular spells, and he can use Shadow Flare for 7500-8000 damage. To prevent getting hit, get behing (Backstab should kick in sooner or later), and start slaying him with Mirror Blade. He can be stunned, too, so use that to your advantage. He has a lot of HP, so you might need to use Blackberries once or twice. After the battle, you will get the Demon Sword Levantine, the best sword in the game. Equip it on Claude, and give the Farewell to someone else, like Ashton. Alright, now the path to the final boss of this dungeon is open, but I still advice to go to B1, save and restock on items. If you've been collecting all the treasures in the Maze, you should be well ready to face your final opponent. Keep in mind that levels doesn't matter here as much as the equips. Go to B12, examine the northmost door to open the way to B13. ============================================================================== Maze of Tribulations B13: Cave of the Archangel Recommended Level: 140 Items: Valiant Mail, Valiant Shield, Archangel's Bracelet Enemies: Soul Master, Rock Demon, Dreamcaster, Hell Savant ============================================================================== This floor contains the nastiest enemies in the world. Soul Master can cast a bloody Extinction to wipe your party completely in about two hits. I mean, be very careful on this floor. The path here is pretty straightforward. Go all the way west to raise a lever (grabbing a VALIANT MAIL along your path), then go all the way east and raise another lever (grabbing VALIANT SHIELD along your path). Job done. The north door to the final boss of the dungeon is open now. Heal your HP/MP fully and enter it for a scene. Also, make sure you have all the equipment from Maze of Tribulations at your disposal. ======================= BOSS: Gabriella Celesta ======================= HP: 1000000, MP: 20000 Difficulty: Hard 550000 EXP, 80000 Fol Gabriella is damn fast. Really fast. While she moves, she sprays some kind of electric beams all around herself that hit for whopping 5000-5500 damage. Her spells are pretty deadly too, but you can interrupt her with your own ones. Your Special Art of choice here would be Mirror Blade yet again. Spam it like there's no ****ing tomorrow. With some help from your other melee character, Gabriella will losing her HP pretty rapidly. But don't think it's that easy - she can easily fly away from you, and you'll have to catch her again to keep spamming Mirror Blade. Heal when needed, replenish your MP in time and there's no doubt that you will emerge victorious soon after. After the battle, she will give you the Silver Trumpet. What's it for? I'll tell you later. Open the chest for ARCHANGEL'S BRACELET and leave the dungeon for good, if you've gotten all the treasures, that is. There will be no random enemies for this only time, but once you'll reenter the Maze, they will return again. Congratulations on beating this accursed dungeon, ironically called the Maze of Tribulations! Now that was indeed a tribulation. =================== UBER-LEVELING TRICK =================== This is almost like the Arch Phoenix trick from Star OCean: First Departure. Once you have obtained the Silver Trumpet, learn the melody called The Devil Aria. Have someone with Music Specialty at level 8 play it while being in the world map to summon Dragon Tyrant, the boss from Maze of Tribulations B11. It gives you 450000 EXP upon defeating, which can multiplied by using Experience Cards, created via the Art item creation. Apply the strategy above to defeat him with ease and watch your levels skyrocket to 200 and beyond. ================================= SIDE-QUEST: SPANKING ISERIA QUEEN ================================= Iseria Queen is a hidden boss, that is summonable from playing The Devil's Aria melody at the world map with Music specialty at level 10. Beating Iseria Queen is not easy, and requires certain preparation. Once again, it's not about the levels, it's all about the right equipment and strategy. I have managed to defeat her once by sheer luck, and I'm gonna tell you how I did it. My team was the same that I used for the Maze of Tribulations - Claude, Rena, Celine, Ashton. Here are their setups: Claude (Level 151) Rena (Level 151) HP: 9999/9999 HP: 9999/9999 MP: 822/822 MP: 840/840 Weapon: Demon Sword Levantine Weapon: Knuckles of Hope Armor: Seraphic Garb Armor: Seraphic Garb Shield: Valiant Shield Shield: Valkyrie's Bracelet Helmet: Dueling Helmet Helmet: Tiara of Isis Greaves: Valiant Boots Greaves: Valkyrie's Boots Acc 1: Ring of Might Acc 1: Amulet of Flexibility Acc 2: Chain of Might Acc 2: Faerie Ring Celine (Level 149) Ashton (Level 149) HP: 9999/9999 HP: 9999/9999 MP: 870/870 MP: 828/828 Weapon: Mindhealer Weapon: Holy Sword Farewell Armor: Seraphic Garb Armor: Seraphic Garb Shield: Hand of Kali Shield: Valiant Shield Helmet: Tiara of Isis Helmet: Dueling Helmet Greaves: Valkyrie's Boots Greaves: Valiant Boots Acc 1: Amulet of Flexibility Acc 1: Amulet of Flexibility Acc 2: Faerie Ring Acc 2: Archangel's Bracelet Even though Iseria Queen is strong against darkness, Demon Sword Levantine is just fine, if Claude's attack is 9999 or somewhere near it. I was still doing 9999 damage per hit despite her resistance. I have equipped everyone with the Seraphic Garbs, the best armors in the game, and Amulets of Flexibility to prevent petrification. Note that I didn't put it on Claude, as I needed all the power he has with Ring of Might/Chain of Might combo. With equipment out of the way, let's start the battle. ================== BOSS: Iseria Queen ================== HP: 3300000, MP: 20000 Difficulty: Very Hard 1000000 EXP, 50000 Fol In terms of speed, Iseria Queen is like Gabriella Celesta. She moves fast and hits hard. Just like Celesta, she sprays light beams all over the battlefield, along with some pillars of light, instantly petrifying the characters (without the required protection). The beams can hit for 6000-7000 damage, so heal right away. If we could use Mirror Blade on Celesta at least 50% of the time, Iseria is a whole different story. She guards every hit like crazy, so in order to damage her significantly, you must assault her from both sides with your melee characters. Hopefully, the Guardbreak should kick in, and you can pull off some nifty 60000-70000 damage on her. With that out of the way, let's talk about the spells she uses. It's either Shadow Flare or Meteor Swarm that can instanlty cause 9999 damage to the WHOLE party. To find some protection from that onslaught, I had to cast Celine's Reflection all the time, along with other magic-resistance-increasing items. Fortunately, Rena or Claude were surviving the attack every time it hit, so I that could revive my party back. However, you must focus all of your strenght on preventing Iseria Queen from using her spells, as some time she CAN wipe out the whole party, if you're not lucky enough. This will probably be your longest battle in the whole game, but with enough skills, you should be able to make it. One more thing. If everything else fails, and Iseria Queen keeps killing your party, you can use the cheap Bloody Armor strategy. Bloody Armors are the kind of armors that keep reducing your HP throughout the battle while you take zero damage from everything. Just set Rean to heal you all the time, while your melee fighters are beating the crap out of Iseria Queen and taking no damage at all. The Bloody Armors are dropped by Dark Crusaders in the Field of Might, Field of Courage and Phynal. ====================================== THE FINAL CHALLENGE: GABRIEL UNLIMITED ====================================== This is a version of the final boss, turned into the hardest boss in the game. To turn Gabriel's limiter off, you must do the following: 1. Do a PA in Kurik with Philia BEFORE the earthquake and the destruction of the town. 2. After saving at the final savepoint, do a PA in the Centropolis of Nede, so that Philia will make Gabriel more powerful. It will also add some bonus conversations before/after the battle. Preparations for Gabriel Unlimited should be precise and thorough. Here's my party, and my stats: Claude (Level 202) Rena (Level 203) HP: 9999/9999 HP: 9999/9999 MP: 999/999 MP: 999/999 Weapon: Demon Sword Levantine Weapon: Knuckles of Hope Armor: Seraphic Garb Armor: Seraphic Garb Shield: Valiant Shield Shield: Valkyrie's Bracelet Helmet: Dueling Helmet Helmet: Tiara of Isis Greaves: Valiant Boots Greaves: Valkyrie's Boots Acc 1: Ring of Might Acc 1: Ring of Fusion Acc 2: Berserker Ring Acc 2: Faerie Ring Celine (Level 200) Ashton (Level 200) HP: 9999/9999 HP: 9999/9999 MP: 999/999 MP: 999/999 Weapon: Mindhealer Weapon: Demon Sword Levantine Armor: Seraphic Garb Armor: Seraphic Garb Shield: Hand of Kali Shield: Valiant Shield Helmet: Tiara of Isis Helmet: Dueling Helmet Greaves: Valkyrie's Boots Greaves: Valiant Boots Acc 1: tri-Emblem Acc 1: tri-Emblem Acc 2: Faerie Ring Acc 2: Archangel's Bracelet *I got the second Demon Sword Levantine by defeating Iseria Queen (she drops them with 11% probability) **I've also equipped Celine and Ashton with tri-Emblem, as I felt they needed some serious increasement in stats ***You might want to equip Reflecting Plates to negate his Explode and Song of the Gods attacks. Now that you have done those two PA and saved at the final savepoint, go north a few times to meet your final enemy. This time, the REAL final enemy. ============================= FINAL BOSS: Gabriel Unlimited ============================= HP: 1500000, MP: Difficulty: Very Hard 1237250 EXP, 60000 Fol Luckily, Gabriel is not as fast as Gabriella/Iseria, but he can cast spells WHILE MOVING. And this is a major problem. When using your Special Arts, your timing must be precise in order to not let him escape and continue casting his spells. There are many spells at his disposal: Star Flare, Southern Cross, Explode, Stone Rain. They do great damage, up to 9999. The most dangerous ones I consider Song of the Gods (9999 physical damage) and Divine Wave (instant death to all party). You REALLY have to hope for the Guts effect to kick in, otherwise it's game over. Hopefully, I haven't seem him doing this attack more than twice per battle, or maybe I was just lucky to defeat him quickly. You absolutely have to master you Mirror Blade usage here, cause it's the only way to stop him from using those attacks and inflicting maximum damage on him. He doesn't have as much HP as Iseria Queen, so it should be faster. You might want to bring Resurrection Elixirs/Mists, Stone Cures, Potion of the Wind to this battle too. Don't hold out on any of the items you have, cause this is the last battle in the game. If you have mages, have them cast Reflection and Angel Feather. These spells are a must throughout the whole battle. One more thing. If everything else fails, and Gabriel keeps killing your party, you can use the cheap Bloody Armor strategy. Bloody Armors are the kind of armors that keep reducing your HP throughout the battle while you take zero damage from everything. Just set Rean to heal you all the time, while your melee fighters are beating the crap out of Iseria Queen and taking no damage at all. The Bloody Armors are dropped by Dark Crusaders in the Field of Might, Field of Courage and Phynal. You still have to watch out for the Divine Wave, though. Once you have defeated him, you can congratulate yourself on beating every challenge the game has thrown at you. You have now truly beaten Star Ocean: Second Evolution!!! ============================================================================== IV. ITEM LIST ============================================================================== IN PROGRESS... ============================================================================== V. EQUIPMENT LIST ============================================================================== IN PROGRESS... ============================================================================== VI. SHOP LIST ============================================================================== ARLIA ----- Arlia Goods ITEM PRICE Sandals 10 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Lavender 490 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol SALVA ----- The Faerie's Tear The Jeweled Dagger ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Necklace 1200 Fol Longsword 200 Fol Ruby Earring 6000 Fol Twin Fury 850 Fol Silver Barrette 1300 Fol Brass Knuckles 110 Fol Iron 200 Fol Leather Helmet 50 Fol Silver 200 Fol Leather Armor 300 Fol Gold 300 Fol Sandals 10 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Leather Greaves 50 Fol Athelas 660 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Spectacle 8 Fol The Kicking Dolphin ITEM PRICE Strawberry Jam 50 Fol Raspberry Jam 60 Fol Apple Jam 70 Fol KROSSE ------ The Rare Trinket The Fattened Goose ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Aquaberries 105 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Grains 145 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Meat 300 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol The Royal Hunt ITEM PRICE Broad Sword 400 Fol Venomous Stingers 2000 Fol Rod 10 Fol Leather Helmet 50 Fol Padded Helmet 120 Fol Padded Armor 600 Fol Robe 10 Fol Wooden Shield 120 Fol Boots 40 Fol Iron Greaves 110 Fol KURIK ----- The Border Guard Street Stand #1 ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Sinclair 860 Fol Banana Crepe 90 Fol Hard Knuckles 300 Fol Chocolate Crepe 115 Fol Rod 10 Fol Padded Armor 600 Fol Robe 10 Fol Wooden Shield 120 Fol Round Shield 500 Fol Boots 40 Fol Boots of Happiness 80 Fol Iron Greaves 110 Fol Milly's Favorites Street Stand #2 ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Aquaberries 105 Fol Orange Sherbet 15 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Vanilla Ice Cream 30 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Anklet 400 Fol Mandrake 150 Fol Wolfsbane 360 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Gold 300 Fol Harmonica 500 Fol Magic Canvas 1000 Fol Magical Clay 600 Fol Bakery ITEM PRICE Hotcake 340 Fol Egg Sandwich 250 Fol Grains 145 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol MARZE ----- The Newt's Eye The Golden Cauldron ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Flame Blade 4800 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Cestus 1400 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Ruby Wand 600 Fol Grains 145 Fol Open Helmet 500 Fol Meat 300 Fol Magical Cap 600 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Ring Mail 1200 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Silk Robe 1800 Fol Radish Miso Soup 300 Fol Round Shield 500 Fol Suede Boots 200 Fol Iron Greaves 110 Fol Deadly Poison Bomb 300 Fol Flare Bomb 450 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 600 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol HARLEY ------ The Sunken Vessel Oceans of Fire ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Aquaberries 105 Fol Ruby Wand 600 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Silk Robe 1800 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Knight's Shield 1000 Fol Magic Canvas 1000 Fol Boots of Happiness 80 Fol Magical Clay 600 Fol Plate Greaves 800 Fol Thief's Gloves 40000 Fol Brigandine 3500 Fol Anklet 400 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol Red Dragon ---------- ITEM PRICE Luxury Grape Juice 100 Fol (100 Fol + (250 x minutes played)) Seafood 500 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Grains 145 Fol Meat 300 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Bean Paste Bun 140 Fol Gyoza Dumplings 280 Fol Shumai Dumplings 280 Fol Tuna Sashimi 2000 Fol Sashimi 2800 Fol HILTON ------ Seaside Knickknacks Bender Instruments ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Aquaberries 105 Fol Harmonica 500 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Cembalo 8000 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Feather Pen 20 Fol Iron 200 Fol Conductor Baton 85 Fol Silver 200 Fol Gold 300 Fol Ruby 400 Fol Sapphire 800 Fol Green Beryl 500 Fol Feather Pen 20 Fol Thief's Gloves 40000 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Mandrake 150 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Artemis Leaf 720 Fol Wolfsbane 360 Fol Lavender 490 Fol Athelas 660 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Antidote 140 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol The Trusty Harpoon ITEM PRICE Venomous Stingers 2000 Fol Cestus 1400 Fol Splinter 1300 Fol Iron Helmet 1200 Fol Ring Mail 1200 Fol Silk Robe 1800 Fol Round Shield 500 Fol Leather Boots 105 Fol High Heels 120 Fol Brigandine 3500 Fol The Whale's Belly ITEM PRICE Luxury Grape Juice 100 Fol (100 Fol + (250 x minutes played)) Steamed Bun 360 Fol Bean Paste Bun 140 Fol Chicken Shish Kebab 500 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Grains 145 Fol Meat 300 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Cola 300 Fol LACUER ------ The Smith's Source Culinary Carnival ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Aquaberries 105 Fol Luxury Grape Juice 100 Fol (same as before) Blackberries 200 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Amulet of Antivenin 5000 Fol Grains 145 Fol Fountain Pen 460 Fol Meat 300 Fol Mandrake 150 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Artemis Leaf 720 Fol Wolfsbane 360 Fol Lavender 490 Fol Athelas 660 Fol Strength Bottle 230 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Smith's Hammer 250 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol The Counterpunch ITEM PRICE Sinclair 860 Fol Plate Helmet 7000 Fol Brigandine 3500 Fol Buckler 650 Fol Silver Greaves 5200 Fol Sweet Syrup 300 Fol Mixed Syrup 500 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol The Knockout ITEM PRICE Farcutter 12300 Fol Leather Helmet 50 Fol Leather Armor 300 Fol Wooden Shield 120 Fol Leather Greaves 50 Fol Sweet Syrup 300 Fol Mixed Syrup 500 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Twin Splicers 3000 Fol The Straight Jab ITEM PRICE Guthgwine 4500 Fol Padded Helmet 120 Fol Padded Armor 600 Fol Knight's Shield 1000 Fol Plate Greaves 800 Fol Sweet Syrup 300 Fol Mixed Syrup 500 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Crested Rod 1200 Fol The Savage Slayer ITEM PRICE Walloon Sword 3900 Fol Iron Helmet 1200 Fol Ring Mail 1200 Fol Round Shield 500 Fol Iron Greaves 110 Fol Fruit Syrup 600 Fol Refreshing Syrup 800 Fol Strength Bottle 230 Fol Violence Pill 140 Fol Heavy Whip 3000 Fol LINGA ----- The Academy Co-Op CSV Pharmacy ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Mechanic's Toolbox 1200 Fol Apple Jam 70 Fol Reference Book 2300 Fol Aloe Jam 80 Fol Amber Robe 4000 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Magic Canvas 1000 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Magical Clay 600 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Feather Pen 20 Fol Magical Camera 9800 Fol Magical Film 900 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Fountain Pen 460 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Thief's Gloves 40000 Fol Smith's Hammer 250 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Premium Paper 150 Fol Jeane's Medicine House ITEM PRICE Mandrake 150 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Artemis Leaf 720 Fol Wolfsbane 360 Fol Lavender 490 Fol Athelas 660 Fol Antidote 140 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol Strength Bottle 230 Fol LACUER FRONT LINE ----------------- Armory Lacuer Shop ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Farcutter 12300 Fol Walloon Sword 3900 Fol Crested Rod 1200 Fol Guthgwine 4500 Fol Plate Helmet 7000 Fol Taloned Knuckles 1400 Fol Brigandine 3500 Fol Heavy Whip 3000 Fol Knight's Shield 1000 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Buckler 650 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Silver Greaves 5200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Plate Armor 13400 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Fine Shield 6800 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Crystal 500 Fol Green Beryl 500 Fol Sapphire 800 Fol Ruby 400 Fol ELURIA ------ Armory ITEM PRICE Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Grains 145 Fol Meat 300 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol CENTROPOLIS OF NEDE ------------------- Hyperion Weapons ITEM PRICE Searing Sword 17000 Fol Luminous Slicers 18000 Fol Cestus of Poison 15000 Fol Hecaton's Punch 16200 Fol Silver Rod 9800 Fol Majestic Puncher 14000 Fol Light Whip 14000 Fol Theory of Symbology 7000 Fol Megawatt Stunner 15000 Fol Steel Helmet 16000 Fol Silver Robe 10000 Fol Plate Armor 13400 Fol Fine Shield 6800 Fol Silver Greaves 5200 Fol Tense Handy Stick 15000 Fol Gracy's ITEM PRICE Lezard's Flask 120000 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Mandrake 150 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Artemis Leaf 720 Fol Wolfsbane 360 Fol Lavender 490 Fol Athelas 660 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Magic Canvas 1000 Fol Magical Clay 600 Fol Fountain Pen 460 Fol Beret 40000 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Amulet of Antivenin 5000 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol Premium Paper 150 Fol Thief's Gloves 40000 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Conductor Baton 85 Fol Magical Film 900 Fol Empyrean Cuisine ITEM PRICE Seafood 500 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Grains 145 Fol Meat 300 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Steak 600 Fol Flat Soda 200 Fol NORTH CITY ---------- The Blue Flask Clone Foods ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Lezard's Flask 120000 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Mandrake 150 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Rose Hip 230 Fol Grains 145 Fol Artemis Leaf 720 Fol Meat 300 Fol Wolfsbane 360 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Lavender 490 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Athelas 660 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Strength Bottle 230 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Cembalo 8000 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Harmonica 500 Fol Pipe Organ 12000 Fol Piano 30000 Fol Lyre 5000 Fol Violin 21000 Fol Feather Pen 20 Fol Conductor Baton 85 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Mechanic's Toolbox 1200 Fol Luxury Grape Juice 100 Fol Smith's Hammer 250 Fol Iron 200 Fol Gold 300 Fol Silver 200 Fol Green Beryl 500 Fol Sapphire 800 Fol Ruby 400 Fol Crystal 500 Fol Diamond 9000 Fol The Noble Psynard ITEM PRICE Eagle's Claws 20000 Fol Cestus of Poison 15000 Fol Hecaton's Punch 16200 Fol Light Whip 14000 Fol Steel Helmet 16000 Fol Tiara of the Arc 8600 Fol Mithril Coat 15000 Fol Steel Armor 52000 Fol Crested Shield 36600 Fol Laced Boots 4100 Fol Silver Greaves 5200 Fol Safety Shoes 3200 Fol ARMLOCK ------- Peddler The Kitchen Knife ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Aquaberries 105 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Fruit 80 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Grains 145 Fol Smith's Hammer 250 Fol Meat 300 Fol Mechanic's Toolbox 1200 Fol Vegetables 30 Fol Iron 200 Fol Eggs and Dairy 10 Fol Silver 200 Fol Gold 300 Fol Ruby 400 Fol Sapphire 800 Fol Green Beryl 500 Fol Crystal 500 Fol Diamond 9000 Fol Magic Canvas 1000 Fol Magical Clay 600 Fol Thief's Gloves 40000 Fol Fountain Pen 460 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Potion of Lilith 150 Fol The Weapon Factory ITEM PRICE Force Sword 50000 Fol Blade of Ruin 190000 Fol Lotus Eaters 188000 Fol Knuckles of the Moon50000 Fol Grizzly Clasp 140000 Fol Ruby Rod 80000 Fol Atomic Puncher 170000 Fol Spark Whip 160000 Fol Encyclopedia 50000 Fol Lightning Gun 158000 Fol Alpha Box 139900 Fol Annoying Handy Stick45000 Fol PRINCEBRIDGE ------------ Fernes & Gable The Pridgey ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Antidote 140 Fol Seafood 500 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Meat 300 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol Eggs & Dairy 10 Fol Resurrection Elixir 3600 Fol Hamburg Steak 200 Fol Faerie Statuette 400 Fol Beef Croquette 420 Fol Mirror of Knowledge 1200 Fol Steak 600 Fol Amulet of Antivenin 5000 Fol Amulet of Freedom 6000 Fol Amulet of Flexibility 7000 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Merchant of the Snow ITEM PRICE Dictionary 20000 Fol Holy Cloak 30000 Fol Beret 40000 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Magic Canvas 1000 Fol Magic Clay 600 Fol Feather Pen 20 Fol Conductor Baton 85 Fol Magic Camera 9800 Fol Magic Film 900 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Fountain Pen 460 Fol Pet Food 10 Fol Thief's Glove 40000 Fol Smith's Hammer 250 Fol Iron 200 Fol Premium Paper 150 Fol Mechanic's Toolbox 1200 Fol Weighty Ring 800 Fol FUN CITY -------- Fun City Giftshop Fanfic Convertion ITEM PRICE ITEM PRICE Keen Kitchen Knife 12000 Fol Fanfic 800 Fol Feather Pen 20 Fol Fanfic! 3000 Fol Fountain Pen 460 Fol Fanfic!!! 10000 Fol Magical Camera 9800 Fol Fanfic X 10000 Fol Magical Film 900 Fol Premium Paper 150 Fol Mechanic's Toolbox 1200 Fol Conductor Baton 85 Fol Beret 40000 Fol Aquaberries 105 Fol Blackberries 200 Fol Blueberries 60 Fol Crown 1600 Fol Harmonica 500 Fol Spectacles 8 Fol Evening Gown 5000 Fol Pin Heels 300 Fol Antidote 140 Fol Paralysis Cure 180 Fol Stone Cure 450 Fol Strawberry Jam 50 Fol Raspberry Jam 60 Fol Apple Jam 70 Fol Aloe Jam 80 Fol Rainbow Cafe ITEM PRICE Luxury Grape Juice 100 Fol (100 Fol + (250 x minutes played)) Chicken Doria 520 Fol Orange Soda 110 Fol Apple Crepe 200 Fol Hotcake 340 Fol Chicken Shish Kebab 500 Fol Egg Fried Rice 300 Fol Gyoza Dumplings 280 Fol Strawberry Rice Cake2250 Fol Cola 300 Fol MAZE OF TRIBULATIONS -------------------- Santa ITEM PRICE Moonstone 1500 Fol Orichalcum 10000 Fol Meteorite 5200 Fol Mithril 15000 Fol Damascus 6400 Fol Rune Metal 7000 Fol Green Beryl 500 Fol Sapphire 800 Fol Ruby 400 Fol Star Ruby 10000 Fol Crystal 500 Fol Philosopher's Stone 50000 Fol Diamond 9000 Fol Rainbow Diamond 14000 Fol Santa's Boots 10000000 Fol tri-Emblem 5000000 Fol Jewel of the Frog 300001 Fol ENERGY NEDE ISLAND ------------------ Shady Shop - For a Few Fol More ITEM PRICE Wizard's Cap 65200 Fol Mithril Helmet 83400 Fol Mithril Mesh 250000 Fol Wizard's Armor 240000 Fol Steel Armor 52000 Fol Crested Shield 36600 Fol Gauntlet of Air 105000 Fol Mithril Greaves 76000 Fol tri-Emblum 31419 Fol Wyrm King's Ribbon 12000 Fol Magical Rasp 350000 Fol ============================================================================== VII. SKILL SYSTEM, SPECIALTIES AND ITEM CREATION ============================================================================== There are four basic skill "schools", or, as the game refers to them, sets of skills in Star Ocean: Second Evolution. They are called Knowledge, Sense, Technical and Combat skill sets. There are largely three reasons for learning skills. The first is to acquire the bonus provided by each skill. For example, learning certain skills will boost your INT. The second reason is to acquire specialties that you can learn by combining certain skills. There are over 10 of them, such as Crafting and Compounding, but it can take a lot of work to learn them all. The last reason for learning skills is to improve your combat abilities. Combat Skills (CS) will give you advantage in battle and will make some tough fights a lot easier. To acquire specialties, make sure you visit the Skill Screen and press Triangle. This will display a window indicating how close you are to acquiring various specialties. As a test, try learning a skill and see how far along you are towards acquiring a related specialty. You should see a specialty displayed: "Cooking ***". Each star indicates a different skill you need to learn before you can acquire the specialty. A filled star indicates a skill you have learned. As you will see from the Skill System, each specialty requires 1 to 3 skills to be learned. Once a specialty is displayed, you'll know exactly which skills you'll need to acquire and imrove it. The specialty level depends on the levels of the skills which are needed to learn this specialty. I.e., if you see Art Specialty is LV 2, it means that your Sketching and Aesthetics skills are at LV 2. For example, when you've just started your game, I advice you to learn the Herbology skill. This skill increases the amount of health recovered when using Blueberries and Blackberries. You also have to note that the skills you need to learn are sometimes not displayed. That means you need to visit other towns and purchase skill sets that contain the missing skills. You can only have up to 999 unused skill points at any time. Don't keep saving these points or you might end up wasting them and later in the game you'll find yourself lacking those valuable points. There is also a thing called Item Creation, a trademark of the Star Ocean series. You can create useful and even invaluable items using Crafting, Compounding, Customization, Machinist, etc. Machinist in particular lets you create items that boost your success rate in Item Creation (you may want to master this Specialty as soon as possible), while Customization lets you create powerful weapons from the ones you already have by adding different materials (such as Sapphire, Green Beryl, Orichalcum, etc.) to them. My advice is to ALWAYS save the game before starting Item Creation and reload if you fail, as you don't want to lose rare and great items so easily. ============ SKILL GUILDS ============ KROSSE CITY ----------- Wisdom of Kings Knowledge 1 300 Fol Sense 1 400 Fol Technical 1 400 Fol HARLEY ------ Neptune's Wisdom Knowledge 2 1500 Fol Sense 2 1600 Fol Technical 1 400 Fol Combat 1 400 Fol KURIK ----- The Wise Mariner Knowledge 1 300 Fol Sense 1 400 Fol Technical 1 400 Fol Combat 1 400 Fol HILTON ------ Ocean Survival Knowledge 2 1500 Fol Sense 2 1600 Fol Technical 2 1600 Fol Combat 2 1600 Fol LACUER ------ Sense 3 2700 Fol Combat 1 400 Fol Combat 2 1600 Fol Combat 3 4500 Fol LINGA ----- Brain Flare Knowledge 1 300 Fol Knowledge 2 1500 Fol Knowledge 3 2700 Fol Technical 3 3600 Fol THE CENTROPOLIS OF NEDE ----------------------- Celestial Sapience Knowledge 1 300 Fol Knowledge 2 1500 Fol Sense 1 400 Fol Technical 1 400 Fol NORTH CITY ---------- Knowledge 3 2700 Fol Sense 2 1600 Fol Technical 2 1600 Fol Technical 3 3600 Fol ARMLOCK ------- Sharpened Skills Sense 3 2700 Fol Combat 1 400 Fol Combat 2 1600 Fol Combat 3 4500 Fol ========== SKILL LIST ========== Sketching Music Knowledge Performance Item Knowledge Mineralogy Herbology Eye for Detail Aesthetics Penmanship Effort Determination Resilience Danger Radar Biology Mental Science Knife Recipe Keen Eye Whistling Animal Training Smithing Technology Faeriology ESP Piety Purity Aesthetic Design Courage Poker Face Imitation Machinery Operation Guardbreak Backstab Counter Feint Power Burst Hasten Speech Body Control Qigong Sidestep Godspeed Trance Concentration Recast SKETCHING - The ability to exactly replicate the shape of an object on paper. MUSIC KNOWLEDGE - A general knowledge of music. Raises AGL by 1 per LV. PERFORMANCE - The ability to play instruments. Raises AGL by 1 per LV. ITEM KNOWLEDGE - Knowledge of various items. Raises sell prices by 3% per LV. MINERALOGY - Knowledge of precious metals. Raises INT by 3 per LV. HERBOLOGY - Knowledge of various herbs. Raises the restorative effects of Blueberries/Blackberries by 3% per LV. EYE FOR DETAIL - The ability to do detailed work with your hands. Raises AGL by 1 per LV. AESTHETICS - The ability to find pleasure in studying objects of beauty. PENMANSHIP - Intellectual manual labor needed for creating written works. Raises DEX by 1 per LV. EFFORT - The will to push one's self towards one's goals. Lowers EXP needed to level up. DETERMINATION - The will to meet all challenges. Lowers SP needed for each skill. RESILIENCE - The will to withstand pain and suffering. Raises CON by 2 per LV. DANGER RADAR - The ability to detect immediate danger. Raises STM by 3 per LV. MENTAL SCIENCE - Knowledge of the mind and supernatural powers. Raises MP by 5 per LV. BIOLOGY - Knowledge of all living creatures. Raises HP by LV-squared x 10. KNIFE - The ability to cut with a knife required by all aspiring chefs. Raises STR by 10 per LV. RECIPE - Knowledge of how to make food. Boosts the effects of eating a favorite dish. KEEN EYE - A keen eye for good ongredients. Raises the restorative effects of cooked dishes. WHISTLING - The ability to put your fingers in your mouth and blow hard to produce a piercing sound. ANIMAL TRAINING - The ability to train an animal to do specific tasks. SMITHING - The ability to forge metals. Raises DEX by 2 per LV. TECHNOLOGY - The ability to distill liquids and use lab equipment. Raises STR by 10 per LV. FAERIOLOGY - Knowledge of faeries and the source of life. Raises INT by 2 per LV. ESP - The ability to receive messages from an otherworldly presence. Could they be signs? PIETY - Knowledge of the gods. Raises a random ability value. PURITY - A mind that is open to the whims of the Gods of Creation. AESTHETIC DESIGN - Balancing beauty and might. Raises STR, INT, AGL and DEX by 6 per LV. COURAGE - Courage can help one keep one's nerves, even in front of a crowd. POKER FACE - The ability to act cool ander any circumstances. Raises GUTS by 3 per LV. IMITATION - The ability to correctly grasp the details of an object and make them your own. MACHINERY - Knowledge of machines. OPERATION - The ability to use machines properly. GUARDBREAK (CS) - Randomly ignores an enemy's defense when attacking. BACKSTAB (CS) - Randomly teleports character behind enemy's back. (This skill can be found ONLY in the Cave of the Seven Stars). COUNTER (CS) - Trigger a counterattack when button pressed while blocking. FEINT (CS) - Randomly guarantees attack to land, regardless of hit accuracy. POWER BURST (CS) - Randomly boosts attack power. HASTEN SPPECH (CS) - Cuts casting time for spells. BODY CONTROL (CS) - Reduces daze time. SIDESTEP (CS) Randomly evades enemy attacks. GODSPEED (CS) - Increases movement speed with each level. Randomly teleports character into attack position. QIGONG (CS) - Randomly boosts defense. TRANCE (CS) - Randomly increases spell damage. CONCENTRATION (CS) - Randomly prevents incantation to be interrupted by enemy attacks. RECAST (CS) - Cuts waiting time between spells. ============== SPECIALTY LIST ============== !!!!!To be learned, Specialties first need some certain skills to be bought and learned. For example, if you want to learn Survival Specialty, at first you must buy (and learn) Herbology and Resilience skills.!!!!! SPECIALTY SKILLS NEEDED TO LEARN Art ** Sketching, Aesthetics Oracle *** ESP, Piety, Purity Music ** Performance, Music Knowledge Customization *** Eye for Detail, Smithing, Aesthetic Design Appraising *** Item Knowledge, Mineralogy, Herbology Crafting *** Mineralogy, Eye for Detail, Aesthetics Writing * Penmanship Train *** Effort, Determination, Resilience Scouting * Danger Radar Compounding *** Biology, Herbology, Mental Science Cooking *** Knife, Recipe, Keen Eye Familiar ** Whistling, Animal Training Alchemy *** Technology, Mineralogy, Faeriology Survival ** Herbology, Resilience Pickpocketing ** Courage, Poker Face Replication * Imitation Machinist ** Machinery, Operation And now, a detailed explanation a what each specialty does: =================== ART (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to breath life into paintings and sculptures created by yourself. Via Art, you create battle cards and such. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Graphic Tool (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Magic Canvas, Magic Clay ====== ORACLE - The special ability to pick up useful (or not) messages from the Tria, the Gods of Creation. A joke specialty where you get messages from tri-Ace developers. You'll only need it at the end of the game to use it in the Oracle Room. Be sure that this specialty is LV 10. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ===== MUSIC - The special ability to write music and play instruments. This ability is very useful. If you wanna know why, check the UBER-LEVELING TRICK section and the section about Gabriella. It also helps you in other various situations. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Music Editor SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Fountain Pen SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Conductor Baton ============================= CUSTOMIZATION (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to modify one's weapons into something new and improved. This is the ability which you'll want to master first. Use it to make super weapons from synthesizing them with various minerals. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Magical Rasp SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ========================== APPRAISING (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to identify items with names that begin with a question mark. Useful specialty. Whenever you an item with ? (for example, ?Mineral), appraise it and see what you'll get. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Element Analyzer (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Spectacles ======================== CRAFTING (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to craft gems and precious metals into original accessories. You'll need this specialty, believe me. You can make great accessories from the minerals, such as Berserker Ring, Regeneration Ring, Ring of Might, Earring of Frenzy and such. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Soldering Iron (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ======================= WRITING (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to pen books in skills you have learned that raise the reader's skill level. With this specialty, you can teach the skills one character had learned to other character. Not very useful, but it helps sometimes. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Word Processor (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Fountain Pen ===== TRAIN - The special ability to lower one's attributes in return for gaining more EXP in battle. Quite a good specialty, especially if you want to level up faster. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ======== SCOUTING - The special ability to raise or lower the frequency of battles at will. This specialty is not very needed as it sometimes doesn't affect the battles frequncy at all, no matter how much times you use it. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A =========================== COMPOUNDING (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to compound two herbs to create medicine. This specialty will let you make useful healing herbs, which will aid you when you'll run out of items. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Steril Glove (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ======================= COOKING (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to process raw ingredients into food. This specialty will let you cook supporting dishes, although IMO Master Chef is better. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Keen Kitchen Knife SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ======== FAMILIAR - The special ability to train an animal to leave dungeons and other places to go shopping. This is a must, if you're constantly running out of items for healing. Just send a bird and it will bring the shop to you, and you won't even have to exit the dungeon! REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ======================= ALCHEMY (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to turn iron into gems and other precious metals. One of the most valuable specialties. You can make Orichalcums, Mithrils, Moonrock and even Philosopher's Stones with it. These metals will then help you make powerful weapons, armors and accesories. So, literally, Alchemy is the fundament of making equipment in SO: SE. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Triangle Flask (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Iron ======================== SURVIVAL (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to forage an area of the world map for useful items. Costs 4MP per attempt. Survival is almost the same as Cooking. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Survival Set (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Only MP =========================== REPLICATION (ITEM CREATION) - The special abilities to create an exact replica of an item. replication is good, because you can duplicate diffent using it. Too bad some REALLY good items like Philosopher's Stones can't be duplicated. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: RIRICA (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Magic Camera ========================= MACHINERY (ITEM CREATION) - The special ability to create a variety of useful machinery for an adventurer. Quite a good specialty. Let's just say that it lets you make items which increase success rate for almost all other kinds of specialties. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Mechanic's Toolbox ==================== SUPER SPECIALTY LIST ==================== !!!!!To be learned, Super Specialties (SS) first need some certain specialties to be learned to an average level by the members of your party. For example, if you want to learn Orchestra Super Specialty, a couple of your characters must first learn Music and Art Specialties!!!!! SUPER SPECIALTIES SPECIALTIES NEEDED TO LEARN Master Chef Cooking, Compounding Orchestra Music, Art Enlightenment Train, Survival Bunny Call Familiar, Scouting Publication Writing Technology Group Appraising Appraising , Crafting Blacksmith Customization, Alchemy Contraband Pickpocketing, Replication =========== MASTER CHEF - An SS where everyone works together to cook up luxurious food and drinks. Via this SS, you can make very good dishes which will restore your HP/MP. Especially good when you're in Seven Star Ruins. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Keen Kitchen Knife SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ========= ORCHESTRA - An SS where everyone plays their instruments together in an orchestral performance led by a conductor's bacon. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Conductor Baton ============= ENLIGHTENMENT - An SS where everyone makes a few sacrifices to earn more skill points per level. A good SS, especially in the beginning of the game. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A ========== BUNNY CALL - An SS where everyone shouts out Bunny's name as loud as they can. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: N/A =========== PUBLICATION - An SS where everyone contributes to an amazing book that they can all be proud about publishing. I don't really understand the point of this one. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Word Processor (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Fountain Pen ================ GROUP APPRAISING - An SS where everyone works together to determine the correct value of an object. Very valuable SS which will help to lower prices in shops. Use it whenever you buy expensive items. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM APPRAISING: Spectacles ========== BLACKSMITH - An SS where everyone works together to craft armor from various precious metals. No comments. Making powerful armors via Blacksmithing is the only way to go, if you're going for Gabriella or Seven Star Ruins. REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: Magical Rasp (Create via Machinery) SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Smith's Hammer ========== CONTRABAND - An SS where everyone conspires to create items that aren't quite legit. Will crime pay in the end? Contraband lets you make some good cards which are used in battle, but most of the time it's the infamous Bounced Checks that keep eating your Fol like Crazy. BTW, if youhave a Bounced Check in your inventory, sell it as fast you can! REQUIRED SUPPORT ITEM: N/A SPECIAL SUPPORT ITEM: Premium Paper ============ TALENTS LIST ============ Talents are additional "specialties" which give you 100 SP bonus when you learn them. You can acquire the talent with practice. By repeatedly performing a certain specialty, you may eventually acquire the necessary talent. They also improve your success rate in item creation type which is related to the learned talent. For example, learning Design Sense boosts your success rate in Art. Each character has starting talents and secret talents which have to be learned. The maximum amount of talents one character can have is 10. IN PROGRESS... ============================================================================== VIII. SPECIAL ARTS/SYMBOLOGY ============================================================================== IN PROGRESS... ============================================================================== IX. RECRUITMENT GUIDE ============================================================================== There is a total of 12 original playable characters from the PSX version of SO, and one completely new - it's Welch Vineyard from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. The mandatory characters are Claude and Rena. !!!!!I highly recommend you to read this before doing any recruiting in order to not get frustrated and lose characters you wanted to have!!!!! Celine Jules - after talking to the king of Krosse, you'll find her at the main street of the Krosse City. After the scene, agree to help her explore the Krosse Cave, and after finding the Ancient Text, you'll get an option to let her join your party permanently. Ashton Anchors - wait until you'll be needing to go to Lacuer, and go to Harley. Speak with a sailor and an old man there, and they'll tell you about some dragon problems going on in Salva. Go to the Salva Mines and get to the point which you couldn't pass earlier (the one where the warning sign about dragons is), head left until you see Ashton. After the conversation, he will ask you to join him. Note that you CANNOT get Opera and Ernest if you'll get Ashton. Precis F. Neumann - simple. Do a Private Action in Linga, and find Precis in: a) a house in the southwest corner of Linga, if you're doing a Rena walkthrough; b) Bowman's pharmacy in Linga, if you're doing a Claude walkthrough. After the scene you get an opportunity to let her join you. Opera Vectra - well, Opera is a nasty character to recruit. You'll have to perform a number of events in order to successfully obtain her. First off, you can't get her if you already have Ashton, and vice-versa. 1st step: Do a Private Action in Krosse early in the game, and meet a three- eyed man in this PA. 2nd step: After the Armory Contest, go to the Hilton tavern and you'll meet Opera there. She'll ask you if you've seen a three-eyed man in Krosse. Tell her you did, and she'll run off. 3rd step: Go to Krosse and speak with the King. He'll give you permission to go to the Mountain Palace where Opera went. Go to the Palace, head north and then left to find Opera and get her to join you. Bowman Jeane - he will ask you to join automatically if you don't have Precis. Ernest Raviede - he will automatically join after completing the Hoffman Ruins if: - you already have Opera - you have explored the Mountain Palace to find signs of Ernest's past residence - you have seen the PA in Arlia involving Opera and the spaceship crash site in the Sacred Forest. Leon D.S. Gehste - available only in Claude's walkthough. Automatically joins when you finally reach the Ell Kingdom. Dias Flac - available only at Rena's walkthrough. Automatically joins at the Lacour Front Line. Noel Chandler - automatically joins you. Chisato Madison - find her ID Card in the Cave of Crimson Crystals and speak with her in the mayor's house in the Centropolis of Nede to get her join you. Welch Vineyard - after the Armory Contest, if you have at least four party members, go to Lacuer and do a PA there. Speak with her on your way to the castle. It is recommended to recruit her before entering the Hoffman Ruins. Well, you can technically get her AFTER entering them, but not after defeating the boss of the Ruins. ============================================================================== X. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ============================================================================== 1. What is this game? - This is a remake of Star Ocean: Second Story (PSOne), which was created by tri-Ace and published by Enix in year 1999 and proclaimed the best Star Ocean game ever, even after SO: Till the End of Time came out. 2. Is this game turn-based or real-time? - Real-time action RPG. 3. Does this game have any connection to Star Ocean: First Departure? - Yes, a little. One of the main protagonists in SO: First Departure, Ronyx J. Kenny, is the father of Claude C. Kenny, the main character of SO: Second Evolution. 4. When was this game released? - In Japan - 04/02/2008 In United States - 01/19/2009 In Europe - 02/13/2009. 8. How many characters are there? - 2 mandatory and 11 optional. 9. I heard there is a new character. Who is it? - Welch Vineyard from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. 10. What is the max amount of characters who can be in your party? - 8. 11. What is the max level? - 255. 12. Does this game have a 9999 HP cap? - Yes. 13. How long is this game? - The main story is about 30 hours. The optional stuff is 10 hours more at most. 14. So who ARE the Ten Wise Men? - Play the game. You'll find out. ============================================================================== XI. VERSION HISTORY ============================================================================== November 20, 2008 (Version 0.1) - The skeleton of the FAQ created. November 21, 2008 (Version 0.15) - Beginning & Basics completed. June 24, 2009 - (Version 0.2) - Recruitment guide added. June 24, 2009 - (Version 0.25) - Claude walkthrough started. June 25, 2009 - (Version 0.27) - Shop List added. June 25, 2009 - (Version 0.29) - Skills/Symbology FAQ added. June 25, 2009 - (Version 0.3) - Claude walkthrough updated. June 25, 2009 - (version 0.31) - Rena walkthrough started. June 25, 2009 - (Version 0.32) - Side-quests/secrets section added. June 27, 2009 - (Version 0.35) - Claude walkthrough updated. June 28, 2009 - (Version 0.37) - Claude walkthrough updated. June 28, 2009 - (Version 0.4) - Side-quests/Secrets section updated. June 29, 2009 - (Version 0.45) - Claude walkthrough completed. June 29, 2009 - (Version 0.5) - Rena walkthrough started. June 30, 2009 - (Version 0.52) - Item Creation section updated. June 30, 2009 - (Version 0.55) - Rena walkthrough completed. July 1, 2009 - (Version 0.6) - Maze of Tribulations walkthrough started. July 2, 2009 - (Version 0.65) - Maze of Tribulations walkthrough completed. July 2, 2009 - (Version 0.7) - some mistakes in Rena's walkthrough fixed. July 3, 2009 - (Version 0.75) - Side-quests/secrets section completed. ============================================================================== XII. CREDITS ============================================================================== Thanks to all the users of the GameFAQs message board of this game. Some information was taken from A l e x's walkthrough for PS One version and from http://na.square-enix.com/starocean/secondevoltion/. Also, my thanks go to: FoxyAreku - for the Recruitment guide which was very helpful, when I was playing the game myself; noz3r0 - for some info on side quests; VeghEsther - for providing a handful of helpful tips; Prima's Official Strategy guide - for some info on equipment (since I have not been able to get the Bradygames guide). ============================================================================== XIII. CONTACT INFO ============================================================================== This guide is copyright (c) Damage_dealer 2008/2009. It is only meant to be posted on www.gamefaqs.com I am aware this guide is incomplete in terms of some content, but I will try to update it every now and then. Send any questions, corrections, suggestions or feedback to [email protected] Not everything has been verified in the American version before being included in the FAQ, so if you've found a mistake, feel free to e-mail me at any time.