Operation Darkness Walkthrough 05/15/09 v3 - [email protected] Contents 1a - Revision History 1b - Rules of this Walkthrough 1c - Hints/Info 1d - Rare Item List 1e - Valhalla Reports 1f - Character Profiles 1g - Skill List 1h - Armored Recon Missions 1i - Campaign Walkthrough 1j - EX Missions/Eagles Next 1a Revision History 14/07/08 - First Version 16/07/08 - Finished Campaign & EX Missions, added skill lists from OriginOfTime on gamefaqs 17/07/08 - Fixed a few mistakes and made minor revisions. 1b Rules of this Walkthrough This walkthrough is based on playing with the following self-limitations: 1. No Auto-Restoration Skill 2. Only play each Armored Recon mission one time - no repeating them, no level grinding. 3. No co-op play. If you choose to use Auto-Restoration, you do not have to be as cautious as this guide sometimes recommends. It's completely possible to complete the game without equipping Auto-Restoration or level grinding, and there is not much luck involved if your strategy is sound. 1c Hints/Info 1. Most projectile based MS powers (Flare, Sniper Rain, etc.) can pass through trees, benches, and allies, but not large objects like buildings or vehicles. Melee based MS powers require clear line of sight. 2. Cover move is useful for traversing long distances to reach cover or close in on an enemy. Cover attack is useful for ganging up on a high HP unit. 3. Try to get everyone as light-weight as possible - only carry one weapon and a minimum of ammo and healing, unless a character needs an extra weapon (sword, pistol, etc.) for their MS skill. 4. Leave one weak enemy around at the end of a stage when possible, so you can spend time looting dead bodies. Loot as many enemy bodies as possible - loot is usually randomized. You can often get items that are not yet sold in stores until several missions ahead, or not sold at all. 5. Don't be afraid to put non-essential characters in harms way, as long as Herbert can revive them later. 6. You never need to recruit any generic soldiers - they suck. 7. Almost always aim for the centre of a vehicle. That way, even if you misfire, it's more likely the rocket will hit anyway. 8. Enemy reinforcements always have a significant delay to their turns, giving you an opportunity to strike first. 9. Later in the game when everyone has powerful MS skills unlocked, you can consider relying on grenades and MS attacks for most of your characters. 10. You can fire in between two tightly spaced tanks/vehicles and hit both of them, as long as the rocket coverage is under the tank treads. Firing at the ground is less accurate than aiming directly at a target, though. 11. Skill levels are tied to a characters level limit. For example, you will never get Attack Boost to level 4 until the character is at least lv 35. 12. Stay away from enemy Magiers so they can't stun your units. 1d Rare Item List M01 - Thompson MG on the corpse of the Commander M05 - Shotgun carried by Lewis (drop it onto a corpse then have one of your allies pick it up) M07 - Shotgun carried by a soldier from the 1st reinforcement wave M10 - PPSh1941SMG machine pistol on one of the vampires M11 - Muramasa Blade on one of the Magiers in the north group of enemies M16 - PTRS1941 Custom Rifle on a 5th wave reinforcement sniper coming from the east M20 and 22 - Dragonslayer on a Magier reinforcement M23 - Shotgun on a dead American soldier SW of the tent M25 - Excalibur on a vampire reinforcement 1e Valhalla Reports - All reports are carried by enemies initially on the map unless indicated. Collecting these will give you access to the EX Missions aka Eagle's Nest. M13 - W Heer Schutze in the NW group. M14 - W Heer Schutze in the NW group. M15 - Waffen-SS Magier in the NW group. M16 - Waffen-SS Schutze M17 - Waffen-SS Schutze M18 - W-SS Panzer Demon M19 - Waffen-SS Vampire M20 - Waffen-SS Schutze M21 - Waffen-SS Vampire M22 - Waffen-SS Schutze next to the west watchtower. M23 - Reinforcement Waffen-SS Magier coming from the NW. M24 - Waffen-SS Magier 1f Character Profiles Edward - Two of his MS skills are based on weapons (a Sten MG, and a 2H sword). He can also equip sniper rifles, which will allow him to stay out of danger. You can't equip a sniper rifle, sten MG, and 2H sword on him at once without loading him down, so you have to choose which 1-2 weapons work best with the mission. As soon as he unlocks Assail, dump the sniper rifle. Bestial Fury: Default MS ability. Area Attack. Uses 9 MS. "Hit all enemies in an area with a sonic wave." Crimson Slash: Level 21 MS ability. Single Enemy. Uses 19 MS. "Fire a lightning arrow." (Two-handed sword required.) - Nearly full damage to vehicles. Assail: Level 29 MS ability. Area attack. Uses 22 MS. "Rush at an area and attack." (Sten SMG required) Jude - Jude is a generic 400 HP recruit in disguise, and his death means game over on most missions. It's best to give him a powerful long ranged weapon so he can hit from a distance while staying out of trouble, like an assault rifle, machine gun, or bazooka. If you are on a mission where you need to leave your starting position ASAP, just give him grenades and/or a shotgun. He leaves the party at the end of M13. James - He's got good stats for firing off Bazooka rounds and running around as a wolf. You can't be as reckless with him since his death means game over. He is one of the only units that should use bazookas the whole game through. Wolf Claw: Default MS ability. Area attack. Uses 10 MS. "Slash at all enemies in an area with claws." Evil Eye: Level 21 MS ability. Single Enemy. Uses 26 MS. "Glare at an enemy, slowing it down. This causes the affected enemy to take turns more slowly." Silent Kill: Level 33 MS ability. Single Enemy. Uses 18 MS. "Charge forward and strike at an enemy." Keith - A great offensive powerhouse character - expect to throw him into harms way often since his death is not a game over. Be careful not to over-level him as he is uber compared to the rest of your team in mobility, taking hits, and dealing damage early-mid game. Late in the game you should drop his bazookas and rely on modified explosives. Wolf Claw: Default MS ability. Area attack. Uses 10 MS. "Slash at all enemies in an area with claws." Bestial Fury: Level 21 MS abilitiy. Area attack. Uses 15 MS. "Hit all enemies in an area with a sonic wave." Modified Explosives: Level 34 MS ability. Area attack. Uses 30 MS. " Attack all enemies in an area." (Hand Grenade required.) - Full damage to vehicles. Frank - He does well with bazookas or other heavy arms, although his turn rate suffers worse than James or Keith when wielding them. Saddling him with a bazooka is usually appropriate for the task. Once Frank reaches lv 37, disarm him and start using his awesome Mjolnir's Hammer skill to obliterate large groups of enemies. Fortify: Default MS Ability. Single Ally. Uses 14 MS. "Raise an ally's DEF temporarily." Magni's Fist: Level 14 MS Ability. Single Enemy. Uses 16 MS. "Hit an enemy with a powerful attack from above." - Full damage to vehicles. Morale Boost: Level 28 MS Ability. Area. Uses 20 MS. "Raises all allies' DEF temporarily." Mjolnir's Wrath: Level 37 MS Ability. Area attack. Uses 60 MS. "Smite all enemies in an area with a divine hammer." - Full damage to vehicles. Herbert - He's the healer in the group, he's difficult to level up without exposing himself to danger, and he's a pain to level up if he falls behind. There are three ways to level him up, depending on the mission. You can use grenades, which is useful sometimes when you're facing a lot of infantry and it's safe for him to get close (and you need him as mobile as possible). You can use assault rifles which are not too heavy, and give him a balance between turn rate, damage, and attack range. Or you can give him a bazooka with no ammo (along with a grenade or two), and have him fire it early in the mission then discard it. Giving him the Enrage buff will help him do higher damage to tanks and get more XP out of his shots. Revival Experiment: Default MS Ability. Single Ally. Uses 13 MS. "Revive an Ally" Mystery Vial: Level 10 MS Ability. Single Ally. Uses 4 MS. "Cure an ally's status effect(s)" Invocation: Level 22 MS Ability. Area. Uses 6 MS. "Restore HP to an Ally." Song of Avalon: Level 32 MS Ability. Area. Uses 48 MS. "Restore HP and SP to all allies in an area." Cordelia - She's the 'magic user' of the group, able to do lots of damage from a safe position. Her Flare passes through trees, benches, and people, and her Blaze Wall ignores line of sight completely. Late in the game she gets a nice healing ability. Flare: Default MS ability. Single enemy. Uses 12 MS. "Hurl a fireball at an enemy." - Full damage to vehicles. Blaze Wall: Level 21 MS ability. Area attack. Uses 18 MS. "Attack all enemies in an area with a wall of fire." Inferno: Level 27 MS ability. Area attack. Uses 25 MS. "Attack all enemies in an area with a firestorm." - Full damage to vehicles. Song of Taliesin: Level 34 MS ability. Area ability. Uses 6 MS. "Restore HP and cure status effects of all allies in an area" Cynthia - Her stats and MS skills are built for sniping. None of her MS skills allow her to pierce vehicle armor effectively, but Lightning Shot has the farthest range of any MS skill. Sniper Rain: Default MS Ability. Area Attack. Uses 10 MS. "Shoot at all enemies in an area." (Sniper Rifle required) Eagle's Eye: Level 20 Ms Ability. Single Enemy. Uses 20 MS. "Deal Severe damage to an enemy." (Sniper Rifle required.) Lightning Shot: Level 35 MS Ability. Single Enemy. Uses 30 MS. "Critically wound an enemy." (Sniper Rifle required.) Jack (joins M08), Van Helsing (joins M10) - These two are best given their basic bayonet/killer sword, plus a grenade or two, then let loose. They are fast enough to run circles around most enemies and also make good early game healers with their high mobility. They are great for high mobility attacks with grenades, neutralizing an enemy group before they have a chance to spread out and become harder to kill. Jack Death Slash: Default MS attack. Single Enemy. Uses 10 MS. "Charge forward and slash an enemy." (bayonet required) Dancing Dagger: Level 32 MS Ability. Area attack. Uses 20 MS. "Slash at all enemies in an area." (bayonet required.) Van Helsing Vanquish: Default MS ability. Single Enemy. Uses 10 MS. "Cleave an enemy, Instant Kill if undead." (Killer Sword required) Gouge: Default MS ability. Single Enemy. Uses 12 MS. "Lower an enemy's HIT, temporarily." (Doesn't work on Vehicles.) Blade Dance: Level 35 MS ability. Area Attack. Uses 16 MS. "Slash at all enemies in an area." (Killer Sword required.) Lewis (joins M12) - Give him either a pistol and grenades, or a pistol and a sniper rifle. It depends on how fast you want his turn rate to be. His Enrage is a great buff to throw on Keith or James. Quick Draw: Default MS Ability. Area attack. Uses 18 MS. "Fire dual hand guns at targets in an area." (Only one handgun required.) Enrage: Level 25 MS Ability. Singly ally. Uses 10 MS. "Raise an ally's ATK, temporarily" Archangel Call: Level 35 MS ability. Area attack. Uses 50 MS. "Call the Air Force to bomb all enemies in an area." - Full damage to vehicles. Max (on M19, shoot him with Edward and he will retreat, then on M21, kill all enemies but him and he will join) - He's got great stats and is nearly immune to bullets. His Assault skill isn't that good, especially since he needs a ridiculously heavy weapon to use it. His sonic slash is pretty good and it can pierce tank armor. He can either run around with a 2H sword and grenades, or with a bazooka. Assault: Default MS Ability. Area attack. Uses 12 MS. "Attack all enemies in an area." (HMG required.) Sonic Slash: Default MS Ability. Single Enemy. Uses 20 MS. "Send a sonic slash at an enemy." (Two-Handed sword required.) - Full damage to vehicles. 1g Skill List Speed Boost, HP Boost, and Attack boost should be equipped on everyone at all times, although you can leave Attack boost off Herbert. The other important skills for most characters to max out are Focus, Providence, Expose Weakness, and Light-footed. Focus+Providence or Light-footed is a good combo for unarmed MS skill usage, while Expose Weakness+Light-footed is good for bazooka users. Attack Boost and Focus are the only skills that will work with MS attacks. All other attack based skills only affect normal attacks. Some MS skills will pierce tank armor effectively, like Edward's Crimson Slash and Cordelia's Flare/Inferno. Some gun-based MS skills are effective against skeletons and panzer demons, but still not against tank armor, like Cynthia's Eagle's Eye. Auto Restoration: Character automatically uses a healing item whenever HP drops below 20%. You get it after clearing Mission 01. (They still will use the skill to heal, even if their HP is knocked down to 0.) Attack Boost: Raises ATK. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max Level is 4. Raises 8% ATK per level. You get it after clearing Mission 03. Speed Boost: Raises SPD. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max Level is 4. Raises 3 SPD per level. You get it after clearing Mission 02. Hit Boost: Raises HIT. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 4. Raises 5 HIT per level. You get it after clearing Armed Recon 02. HP Boost: Raises HP. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 4. You get it after clearing Mission 10. MS Boost: Raises MS. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 4. You get it after clearing Mission 06. Gunslinger: Raises ATK (guns only). Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 04. Blade Master: Raises ATK (Swords & Knives/Bayonets only). Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 05. Precision: Grants the chance of landing a critical hit, dealing double damage. Higher levels of this skill grant you higher chances. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Mission 05. Focus: Strengthens MS Attacks, but also raises cost of MS Attacks. Higher levels of this skill grant stronger boosts at greater costs. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Mission 09. Assassin: Grants the chance of instantly killing an enemy with a sword or bayonet/knife after successfully landing a hit with one. Higher levels of this skill grant you higher chances. Max level is 3. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 06. Marksman: Grants the chance of instantly killing an enemy with a gun after successfully landing a hit with one. Higher levels of this skill grant you higher chances. Max is level 3. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 07. Providence: Reduces the MS cost of Special Attacks. Higher levels grant additional reductions. Max level is 3. You get this after clearing Mission 11. Endurance: Increases DEF against gunfire. Higher levels grant of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 3. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 08. Toughness: Increases DEF against sword and knife/bayonet attacks. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 3. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 09. Guard: Grants chance of reducing damage taken by a character by 1/2. high levels grant higher chances of damage reduction. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 11. Light-footed: Increases movement. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 3. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 12. Avoidance: Increases a characters chances of dodging an enemy's attack. (Note that certain attacks are unavoidable and will bypass this skill completely). Higher levels of this skill grant higher dodge rates. Max level is 4. you get this after clearing Armed Recon 14. Find Weakness: Increases damage dealt against all enemy types, including vehicles. Higher levels of this skill grant higher boosts. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Armed Recon 14. Aegis: Enemy attacks may be nullified by the character. Higher levels of this skill grant a higher chance of successful nullification. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Mission 20. Sharpshooter: Increases Accuracy of attacks. Higher levels of this skill grant higher increases of accuracy. Max level is 4. You get this after clearing Mission 17. 1h Armored Recon Missions AR 01 - North Africa #01 Unlocked after clearing Mission 1. Sniper rifles and other high range weapons are best here, given how far you are away from the enemy. Don't waste your bazooka ammo on these guys, just give Keith and James machine guns. AR 02 - North Africa #02 Unlocked after clearing Mission 1. Toss bazooka rounds into the tanks, then snipe/long range SMG the rest. AR 03 - North Africa #03 Unlocked after clearing Mission 2/AR 02. Although this map is a clone of AR 01, there are now mines on the ground near the razor wire, so be very cautious. Search carefully with your cursor to find mines and blow them up. Other than that, use sniper rifles to take out the far right of the map while your close up units move in on the left side. AR 04 - France #01 Unlocked after clearing Mission 03. You will likely have trouble with the tanks + RPG toting soldiers unless you have MS attacks and revive available post mission 05. It is possible to win, though, if you kill the RPG soldiers fast and the tanks are distracted by cannon fodder or miss their attacks. 12 zombies will show up as reinforcements, but they are very easy to take out with grenades. AR 05 - France #02 Unlocked after clearing AR 05. There are 3 tanks so just make sure you can spare the bazooka ammo. These tanks are pretty soft by the time you've cleared mission 6-7 and have faced 6k HP tanks. AR 06 - France #03 Unlocked after completing Mission 8. You've got 3 tanks and a recon vehicle to deal with, so bring along lots of bazooka and MS attack power. Fire Bazookas every which way to clear out the tank mess - throw some cannon fodder at the tanks as a distraction (revive them later if needed)no. A 4th tank arrives as reinforcements, but your guys should be fast enough to wreck it before it moves. AR 07 - France #04 Unlocked after clearing AR 06. The same map as one of the previous France ARs, except with more tanks. Two more tanks come in as reinforcements as well. I recommend getting this one done ASAP to unlock the sniper skill. Transform and cover move behind the tree lines as you approach the tanks for a kill. You can use cannon fodder to draw the tanks in closer as well. AR 08 - Netherlands #01 Unlocked after clearing mission 15. At this point in the game, tanks and skeletons are more of an annoyance than anything - almost everyone has MS attacks that are effective against armor or skeletons. Both tanks are close enough for anyone to drop bazookas or MS attacks on. This is a good stage to get Herbert a few levels from tossing bazookas into tanks and skeleton groups. AR 09 - Netherlands #02 Unlocked after clearing AR 08. It's you vs a whole mess of tanks and vehicles, with two more as reinforcements from the east. Send someone fast up to nail the group of mobile bombs, which will set off a chain that destroys the two left tanks. That will leave a few tanks left, neither of which are very strong. This is another good mission to let Herbert get off a bunch of bazooka shots for some levels. AR 10 - Ardennes #01 Unlocked after clearing mission 17. Pretty standard forest cover mission here. Wreck all of the Schutzes and some tanks show up from the N. Wreck those reinforcements and two more tanks show up from the N. AR 11 - Ardennes #02 Unlocked after clearing AR 10. Another standard forest cover mission, with mines near the dead Heer soldiers. This is mostly a long range cover fight with lots of snipers and machine gunners. Two tanks and some infantry arrive as reinforcements from the SE, then another tank and skeletons from the N after that. AR 12 - Ardennes #03 Unlocked after clearing AR 10. These vampires are fast and deal a lot of damage, try to blow them up in groups as fast as possible. Don't expect Herbert to be doing anything but healing and reviving. AR 13 - Bastogne #03 Unlocked after clearing mission 18. Tanks everywhere! This AR is easier if your party has all of their MS skills unlocked, or you've got Max in your party. At the time you unlock it, though, you are not likely to have either of those, so it'll be tough, but still possible. It's possible to complete it even if most of the tank shots hit your characters, as long as you're spread out and behind cover. Throw non game-over units in front of tanks so they might use their machine guns or be unable to move very far. Don't even bother with weapons or MS skills that can't pierce armor. Since Cynthia and Jack have no MS skills that can pierce armor, give them bazookas. Lewis should only have a pistol and spam enrage on your heavy damage dealers. Herbert should be unarmed and in full heal mode. Any character that's armed is going to move after the 7 tanks, so you are basically sitting ducks. You should be able to take out 3 nearby tanks with your first player turns. By your next set of player turns, the NE tanks should be mid-field along with some magiers next to them. Try to take out at least two more tanks and damage another one. Don't let any of the magiers get close enough to stun anybody - blow them up ahead of the tanks if needed. Once you blow up the last tank (not the last magier), 4 more tanks show up in the NW and NE corner, so make sure your team is nearby to start blasting away immediately. AR 14 - Bastogne #04 Unlocked after clearing AR 13. This is a fairly standard mission, just plow down the zombies/snipers (two of the weakest enemy units in the game at this point), and fire rockets/MS attacks into the tanks. NE reinforcements are a bit tougher - 3 tanks and 18 vampires. You should be able to get the first strike on them before they can cause any harm. AR 15 - France #05 Unlocked after clearing mission 23. As annoying as the dragon is, the magiers behind it are more dangerous. Blast away at least the magiers before focusing on the dragon. Once those are down, infantry and a tank come from the W/SW, and 2nd reinforcements are 2 tanks and some skeletons from the SE. There are some good items on these guys like black crystals, etc. so loot thoroughly. 1i Campaign Walkthrough Mission 01 - lv 1 Throw away Edwards weapons immediately to lighten up. Loot the Commanders corpse with Edward and pick up the A1M1 and grenade. Head in and kill the sniper, then loot his corpse for the Mauser sniper rifle before the mission ends. You can then use this sniper rifle for the early missions before being able to purchase one. Mission 02 - lv 1-2 Conserve your bazooka ammo early on when supplies are limited. Use bazookas only to take out the vehicles (2 for the tank, 1 for the recon), and toss grenades at the infantry. Snipe the west soldiers and focus your movements towards the centre and east areas. Mission 03 - lv 2-3 There is a mine on the field off the road, so pick it off to get some better ground coverage. Cover Move in aggressively and try to hit multiple enemies with area attacks. Once the zombies show up, throw lots of grenades at them. Mission 04 Avoid killing the two Gestapo until your forces are in position to attack the reinforcements coming from the west. Just toss grenades and bazookas into the vehicles and soldiers. Once the zombies show up, toss grenades into them before they get a chance to move. Unload into the boss before he gets a 2nd turn. Mission 05 Long range weapons will dominate the early part of the mission before you close in on enemies. Snipe the soldiers up on the hill while advancing with heavy artillery on the beach. Mission 06 Now that skills are unlocked, you should disarm Cordelia and give Herbert a lighter weapon like the shotgun. Giving Frank a bazooka and Jude a heavier machine gun is also an option. Send Keith, James, Jude, and Herbert west to grenade and bazooka the incoming reinforcements from the west, and the rest of the team north. The SS reinforcements arrive after you kill 2 enemies, so you may want to wait until everyone is in position before firing. Once the two tanks show up, hide behind the buildings until you're ready, and then jump them with transformed bazooka attacks and MS attacks. Mission 07 Send Frank, Gallant, Keith, and Cordelia north towards the tanks, and everyone else east to toss grenades/MS attacks at the incoming reinforcements. Once Carmilla arrives, use the tank wreckage as cover until she moves in close enough. As long as you stay out of line of sight, she will not use her MS skills. It's possible if you transform before she arrives and start running north that you can one shot her in werewolf form before she does anything. Even if Frank or Keith dies, you can just revive them after there's only a few zombies stumbling around. The vampires can carry some nice loot including Blood Plasma and Lili Marleen Records (not sold in stores until around M18). Mission 08 - lv 13-15 Skirt around the edges of the map/behind the nearby car to avoid line of sight from the tank - just taking a couple turns will cause the next part of the mission to begin. Once the reinforcements show up, transform James and Keith, then rush them and Cordelia towards the tanks. Take down the tanks quickly then focus on the remaining vampires and magiers. There's Morphine on a bunch of enemies, so try to pick it up - it's just about the only thing that can heal a werewolf effectively at this point. Mission 09 - lv 14-16 Regroup everyone in the tree area where Herbert and Jude start out - try to get this done quickly with cover move before enemies close in. Aim your heavy bazooka units and Cordelia at the NE corner with the vehicles. Aim your snipers SE at the incoming enemies, and aim Jude and Herbert at anything they can hit from the forest cover with an M1 Garand or Bren 303 MG. Try not to use Jack too much as he is still lv 18 and your party should be 14-16. Once the vehicles are destroyed, transform and move out into the open to hit the incoming reinforcements before they can act. There are 3 additional waves of reinforcements, all of them in the NE corner. Once the 3th wave arrives, the mission ends, so be sure to revive everyone by that time. Mission 10 - lv 15-17 Close in with long range attacks on groups of enemies or vampires. Once you kill enough vampires the skeleton reinforcements show up, and if you kill enough combined enemies, tanks will show up from the east. If you kill almost all of the soldiers then kill a few vampires, you are likely to get both the tanks and skeletons showing up at the same time. Try to blast the skeletons with bazookas and grenades asap as they have a high turn rate and like to get into melee range to start using MS attacks. Transform just before most of the soldiers/vampires are dead, then run and try to kill the tanks as quickly as possible. You can shoot in between the tanks and hit two at the same time with one bazooka shot. Your wolves should be fast enough to demolish the tanks without them firing a shot. Mission 11 - lv 16-18 The North tank is going to move first, then the south one. Try to take the south one out first - it's not likely you'll take the north one down before it attacks. Hide your weaker units behind the solid parts of the fence to avoid tank fire. Once the north and south tanks are taken care of, transform and Keith and James around to hit the last tank in the corner, then send them in on Carmilla along with others hitting her. If you don't take her out quickly she will heal herself or one of her vampire allies will. Try to kill as much as possible before Carmilla gets close - stick Jack or Van Helsing in her LOS so she has a convienent target for her bazooka. Mission 12 - lv 18-21 The advantage you have to this stage is that you start close to the bosses. Equip lightly (only 2x Bazooka ammo) and rush the bosses, tossing bazookas, MS attacks, and anything you have at them. Getting rid of Vlado first is recommended so he doesn't go around healing. You also need to get rid of the nearby incoming skeletons. Don't be afraid to use a few buffs like Vitamins on your faster characters if you have stocked up a ton of them from looting bodies. Be ready to fire bazookas or MS attacks at the reinforcements. Mission 13 - lv 21-24 Charge forward with guns blazing. All you have to do is mow down units towards the NW corner. 3 tanks and mobile bombs will show up as reinforcements, but your wolves should be strong enough to one shot the two south tanks, and two shot the NW tank. Just keep your team safely behind cover if you don't manage to kill the tanks before they attack. Mission 14 - lv 22-26 This is a heavy cover fight - even though you're facing soldiers, there are a lot of them spread out, they hit very hard, and they have a very high turn rate. From this mission onward, enemies will have a much faster turn rate than before - they will move twice for every one of your armed characters, especially bazooka toting ones. Everyone needs a long range weapon including Van Helsing and Jack. Wait for the crowd to thin out before transforming and moving out to take out the train - you have enough time. Patience is a virtue here as moving out too soon will get your units shredded. Once you destroy the tank, two 16k hp tanks show up. Make sure you are transformed before you destroy it, so you can immediately take out the two large tanks. An Enrage buffed Keith or James should be able to one shot the tanks with a bazooka. Keep a Blood Plasma on both of them in case they need to extend werewolf form. Mission 15 - lv 25-29 Bring 5x bazooka ammo on Keith, James, and Frank.. they will need it. Send Van Helsing and Jack north towards the soldiers with a Geballte Ladung, supported by sniper fire from Edward, Lewis, and Cynthia. Helsing and Jack will be taking a lot of cannon fire and gun fire - just revive them when they go down. Van Helsing and Jack should chuck a grenade into the groups of magiers and Soldiers, taking out a majority of them. Give enrage buffs to Keith and James while they are near Lewis. Send Cordelia, James, Frank, and Keith east/northeast towards the tanks and bosses. Once the tanks are down, transform and move James and Keith to the SE, then north towards the NE to toss a bazooka into the vampire reinforcements and the missile. Destroying the missile will cause Vlado to retreat. Send Frank NW to help bazooka down the vampire reinforcements. Fire down Carmilla and Jude once the vampires/soldiers aren't threatening to overwhelm your backlines. Both bosses have Blood Plasma to heal themselves with, so try to take them down before they can act twice. Mission 16 - lv 27-31 1st wave (already on map) - infantry to the NE 2nd wave - NW 6 infantry, 1 recon 3rd wave - NE large amount of infantry bunched up 4th wave - SE 2 tanks and 5 infantry 5th wave - SE 2 tanks, NW/NE snipers This is a fairly short mission where all you have to do is bombard enemies as they show up. Arm Helsing and Jack with grenades to shell the infantry coming from the north side. Transform and send James, Keith, and Frank south to deal with the tanks. Try to let Herbert toss in a grenade two. Keep your snipers and Cordelia safe but still firing away. You may want to enrage James so he can one shot the 17k HP tank, but it's not necessary. After there's just one soldier left, try to pick up the Valhalla report and custom sniper rifle. The PTRS1941 Custom Rifle is a sniper rifle that can be equipped by almost anyone, has great damage and pierces tank armor, but weighs 150. This makes it very hard to setup with since enemies will be taking 3-4 turns over anyone equipping it. Mission 17 - lv 28-32 Send everyone east towards the SE corner where reinforcements will show up, while the enemy soldiers close in from the north. Find the Valhalla report, then transform and enrage buff James and Keith just before killing the last soldier. Make sure everyone is ready to attack with grenades, bazookas, and MS attacks. James and Keith should do 17-18k of damage to each tank. Toss grenades into the magiers before they can act, and ignore the snipers until the tanks and magiers are dead. After the boss is left, throw everything you have at him before he can act twice and heal himself. Mission 18 - lv 29-33 This mission is very easy, just watch out for the mines all over the ground and near corpses/wreckage. Panzer demons are basically skeletons with a lot of HP and ranged weapons. Only bazookas, some MS attacks, and melee weapons are effective against them. Unlike skeletons, however, they have a very slow turn rate. This makes them easy to blow up. After taking out a couple of them, reinforcements arrive in the SE and SW. Have your units waiting to blast them. Once those go down, more reinforcements show up from the north. Mission 19 - lv 31-34 Van Helsing and Jack should run up and grenade some enemy forces. Try to kill the magiers first before they stun anybody. Being surrounded makes it easy to find targets to hit. Stick Herbert and Cordelia on healing duty. The reinforcements are a bunch of Panzer Demons, and they are still slow and barely do any more damage than a normal soldier. If you get too close they will use Ghost Hunt which does a little extra damage. Use standard boss tactics on Jude, who is still a pushover. Just shoot Max once with Edward and he will retreat. Panzer Demons are so slow you can run in with an unarmed Herbert to toss a grenade for a level up, then run back out. Mission 20 - lv 32-35 Focus on taking out the two nearby tanks while Jude makes his way towards your forces. Having Expose Weakness makes blowing up tanks even easier. The magiers and soldiers are dangerous as usual, taking about 2 turns for every 1 turn over your characters that are carrying weapons. After killing enough magiers. Skeletons and magiers arrive as reinforcements from the south, and a tank from the east. Have someone ready to blast the reinforcement magiers and skeletons away while they are close together. You will have to go around Jude to reach any tanks that have decided to hang back in the corners. Once all of the tanks are down, close in on Jude with enraged MS attacks and bazookas. Mission 21 - lv 33-36 After kicking a couple vampires around, Panzer Demons show up. Keep picking off the vampires while sending bazookas at the bunched up Panzer Demons. Take out the tanks after most of the infantry are dead. Mission 22 - lv 34-37 You can play this mission by stealth, or you can just run in and take on a huge number of reinforcements. Of course, not being much for stealth tactics, I prefer to charge in and attack, after getting close enough to the reinforcements of course. Just move along the southern wall until you get caught. If you don't blow the magiers up ASAP, expect things to get messy. You can find some good healing items on the magiers like Dragon Scales, Philosopher�s Stones, and Black Crystals, so loot as much as you can. Mission 23 - lv 35-38 The main difficulty of this mission comes from the fact that enemies now have turn rates double or triple your characters, even the dragons. The only way to get an even match in speed is to go almost completely without weapons and rely on MS skills. Give everyone two Medical Kit 3, Sulfanilamide/Mandragora, and Stimulants/Vitamins. Hopefully everyone has all of their MS skills unlocked, including Archangel Call and Mjolnir's Wrath. Edward/Max Neumann - 2H melee weapon, Focus and Providence skills Jack/Van Helsing - bayonet/killer sword, Focus and Light-footed skills Cordelia/Frank/Herbert - Unarmed, use MS attacks, Focus and Providence skills James/Keith - Bazookas, Find Weakness and Light-footed skills Cynthia - Sniper Rifle, Focus and Providence skills Lewis - Pistol - spam Enrage and Quick Draw the skeletons, Focus and Providence skills Your first task is clearing out the skeletons. Focus all of your attacks on them, don't transform until most of them are down. Kill Carmilla in one turn with a full round of attacks after most of the skeletons are down - use Fool's Gold or a Marleen Record if you need to slow her down or weaken her. You will be taking a lot of damage, so Cordelia and Herbert should be healing exclusively unless Cordelia can nail 3+ skeletons at once. Move up to the dragons and throw everything you have at them. Once the reinforcements arrive, they will start moving very quickly. Don't give them a chance to spread out. Mission 24 - lv 38-42 Once you start this mission, you can't access any supplies until finishing mission 26, so bring all the gear you need. Stock Keith and James with a 2x and 3x bazooka ammo. Try to save bazooka ammo for tanks in mission 24, and don't use any on mission 25. Your skill/gear setup should be the same as mission 23, except give Edward a Sten SMG so he can use Stay under cover until you've taken out at least 2 of the tanks and the vehicle using Mjolnir's Wrath, Archangel Call, and Cordelia's attacks. Transform Keith and James as soon as their turn comes up and have them one shot a tank each. Trade long range shots with the magiers and soldiers, but don't stick your neck out too far into the open - it's just an invitation to get stunlocked and torn apart by gunfire and cannon blasts. Reinforcement soldiers will arrive near your starting position - they take a long time to act so you have some leeway before destroying them. Mission 25 - lv 39-43 An even easier mission than 24. Simply cover move behind the tank wreckage then toss out devastating MS attacks. Reinforcement vampires and skeletons will show up for more slaughter. If you don't care about picking up items or Excalibur, just nuke Himmler and he will go down fast. Mission 26 - lv 39-43 Ignore hitler and focus on killing everyone else first. Transform asap and try to nail the troops with MS attacks before they get a chance to spread out. There are usually Panzerfaust 100s on the skeletons running towards your party, so loot them and fire away. Once you kill enough troops a tank shows up - if James or Keith have 4 star Find Weakness, they will one shot it. Once there's only Hitler and a few soldiers left, take him out the 1st time. Kill the dragon then take hitler out a 2nd time. Once again there is some great loot to be had on the corpses lying around. Mission 27 - lv 41-45 or 45-47 after clearing EX missions You can tackle this mission immediately, or go through the Eagle's Nest. It's worth noting the enemies are lv 43-44, so you're probably expected to take it on right away before doing the EX missions. Either way, the store has a ton of the best items in the game newly available. Bring the best consumables, since this is the last battle and your game doesn't save when you finish the mission. The first part of the mission is pretty standard, head in and destroy their small number of forces. Once Vlado and dragons arrive, take Vlado out asap - that will make the vampires and dragons disappear. Fire everything you have into the big nasty monster and that's that. 1j EX Missions/Eagles Next The EX missions are a series of indoors maps with no reinforcements, and enemies are often placed near your starting position. The floors start out with basic soldiers, then slowly move up the nazi food chain to dragons. When you run across tanks/dragons put on a little heavier gear like bazookas, otherwise just keep light with shotguns, melee weapons, and grenades. A skill combination of Focus and Light-Footed works well in taking out enemies quickly. Whenever there's barbed wire or sandbags lying in the way, you can blow them up if you need to get through. Eagle's Nest 10 has 2 Dragons, 11 has a Tank and Recon, 13-15 have 2 Tanks, 16 has 1 Tank, 17 has 1 Dragon, 18 has two Tanks, 19-20 have 2 Dragons (bring healing items for these ones). On the maps with dragons, take out the dangerous infantry like skeletons and magiers before focusing on the dragons. Ex 20 - Bring your best healing items and Hand of Death grenades to toss at the Panzer Demons. Have Herbert and Cordelia almost exclusively reviving. You need to hold out against the dragon attacks while taking out the infantry with MS skills and grenades, until you have a clear aim at both dragons. It's a long battle with a lot of reviving.