SECRET OF MANA, for the Super Nintendo ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FAQ/Walkthrough, rev. 1.05, September 8th, 2003 (c) Phoenix 1911 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hi, and welcome to my Secret of Mana guide. This game is the second part in the Seiken Densetsu series, a series probably not as well-known but definitely equally wonderful to the Final Fantasies. Even though it is nothing compared to today's standards, it's a classic, having brought many people into the RPG-world. Including me, that is; I've decided to distort GameFAQs' FAQ-page on this game by burping out yet another FAQ! If you haven't played the game yet, what are you waiting for? Grab a friend and experience this gem altogether! And of course, I'm here to help the suckers... er, I mean, the dedicated gamers who are stuck on particular parts in the game, to completely beat the crap out of this game. Before we start, please take these three points in mind: 1. This FAQ is copyrighted. Don't gain any profit of it--reproduction and modification are prohibited, except for personal, private use. If you're a FAQ author and wish to use parts of my FAQ in any way, please contact me first. 2. The latest version of this FAQ can always be found at GameFAQs. Wanna host this file? Great! You have to drop me a line requesting permission, and most likely you will get it. I especially encourage fan-sites to list this document. 3. I get almost no e-mail concerning this game, so I'll probably reply if you drop me a line. If I don't, it's either my laziness, or a technical problem (I didn't receive it, etc.). Make sure to see section 5 first before contacting me! Thanks for your courtesy, and have fun. Note that I changed e-mail addresses; everything sent to my @hccnet.nl after September 2004 was not received by me. See above for my new address, and sorry for any inconvenience. Table o' Contents: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. THE GAME BASICS 1-A: Introduction 1-B: Getting Acquainted 1-C: Combat 2. WALKTHROUGH 2-A: A Rusty Sword 2-B: The Journey Begins 2-C: Gaia's Navel 2-D: Kick Some Witch Butt 2-E: The Water Elemental 2-F: The Underground Palace 2-G: Beyond the Ruins 2-H: Water Seed Missing 2-I: The Upper Land 2-J: The White Dragon 2-K: Damn You, Cannon Man! 2-L: Brrr... Cold! 2-M: The Fire Seed 2-N: The Fire Seed (Part Two) 2-O: The Resistance 2-P: Phanna and Dyluck 2-Q: A Truce...? 2-R: The Palace of Darkness 2-S: Gold Isle 2-T: The Moon Palace 2-U: The Imposter 2-V: The Test of Courage 2-W: Rise of the Sunken Continent 2-X: The Grand Palace 2-Y: The Pure Land 2-Z: The Mana Fortress... 3. APPENDICES 3-A: World Map 3-B: Leveling Up Weapons/Magic 3-C: Secrets, Bugs and Glitches 4. CHARTS 4-A: Items 4-B: Weapons 4-C: Equipment 4-D: Magic 4-E: Shops and Inns 4-F: Monsters 5. FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS 6. THE FAQ'S REAR BUTT What's New?!: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Cosmetic change for the most part; the layout is now similar to my recent works. It's still not ideal, but it's easier to work in. Plus I didn't really like the non-indented stuff. - Small changes here and there. - Sword of Mana (GBA) is out! Well, the Japanese version (Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu) that is... it's gonna take a while before we see a glimpse of the US release; December 2 this year is the scheduled release for North America. ======================================================================== PART 1: THE GAME BASICS ======================================================================== You know, yeah, a bucket of random stuff varying from a completely useless breakdown of the series to a magnificent (*cough*) analysis of the game's mechanics. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1-A: Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SEIKEN DENSETSU? WHOSE MOTHER? -------------------------------------- Secret of Mana is titled "Seiken Densetsu" in Japan. A splendid series, I tell ya: SD 1 -- The first in the series is Final Fantasy Adventure. It originally appeared on the GameBoy, and I have nothing more to tell as I haven't played (finished) it... SD 2 -- In Japan, this game (Secret of Mana) was released as Seiken Densetsu 2 (the literal translation of Seiken no Densetsu is "Legend of the Holy Sword"). SD 3 -- If you like this game, you WANT to play the sequel Seiken Densetsu 3. Squaresoft was stupid and didn't release this game to the US, and trust me, this is a superb game. Your best bet is to download the ROM and play the wonderful translation by Neill Corlett and his great team. SD 4 -- Though not officially a Seiken Densetsu game, Legend of Mana, on the PlayStation. I personally enjoyed this one, but it is more complicated than Secret of Mana. SD 5 -- Sword of Mana (Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu), released in Japan on the GameBoy Advance. It is a total remake of Final Fantasy Adventure (SD 1), and has elements of Seiken Densetsu 3 and Legend of Mana in it. The game has yet to hit the US stores, but when it does, you can sure as hell expect a FAQ for this game from me. STORYLINE ------------------------------------------------------------ Long ago (as usual), there was a terrible war between the ancient ones and the gods. The ancient ones grew powerful and they used the power of Mana to threaten the gods... this was, of course, not good. A great hero, wielder of the Mana Sword, showed these ancient people kung fu and destroyed their civilization. Peace has returned to the world, and Mana was in balance. "But time flows like a river... and history repeats..." The Mana Sword was jammed deep in a trunk nearby Potos Village, to protect it from bad stuff. However! One certain person (uh, YOU) pulled the damned thing free, releasing all sorts of unwanted power. And thus, monsters appeared everywhere. But the pull of the sword isn't the main problem, because meanwhile, mysterious figures are seeking the eight Mana Seeds in this world. They are intending to break the seals that guard these eight seeds, and are so trying to transform Mana into a handful of evil. Like, EVIL. Meaning that if they succeed, the world will go bye-bye. Therefore, it is in your best interests to bring that trippin' Mana Sword with you and use it to slaughter them evil fools like a man possessed. You must visit all palaces in the world of Secret of Mana, seal the Mana Seeds and gain their power, and return peace to this world. After all, what'd you expect? CAST OF CHARACTERS --------------------------------------------------- A breakdown of the game's characters is pretty useless in this case, since everything is explained perfectly during the game. Worth a mention is that all three playable characters don't have an assigned name, meaning that you should make up your own names. Most websites featuring this game use the names "Randi" (boy), "Purim" (girl) and "Popoie"/"Popoi" (sprite). I can't really say whether these names are official and acknowledged by Squaresoft or not, which means that I'll be using boy, girl and sprite to refer to these characters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1-B: Getting Acquainted ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTROLS ------------------------------------------------------------- Pretty simple, really. Directional buttons make you move (and that is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth), and here's what the other buttons are good for: X -- Access menu of ally. Press again to switch allies. Y -- Access menu of controlled character. A -- Dash (into the direction you're facing). B -- Attack. Hold this button to charge your weapon. Start -- Press on another controller to jump into the game. Select -- Switch characters. L/R -- If you hold R while holding B, you will "strafe". You can reset the game by holding L + R + Start + Select, as seen in many other Squaresoft-games. THE NUTS 'N BOLTS ---------------------------------------------------- RPG. That's role-playing game, I guess, and this genre involves gazing at your television screen or PC monitor while controlling a bunch of people. The A-B-C is simple: your goal is to walk around and visit wacky places, slapping together a team of super-skilled personages, and accomplishing a certain goal (which is most likely saving the world for the thirty-seventh time). But wait; that's not all! While doing this, you have to explore dungeons and slay monsters the monsters inside. By doing this, you will get better (a.k.a. gaining experience), so that you can slay more monsters, so that you can slay the boss of the monsters (who usually resides near the end of a dungeon), and so that you can eventually slay the boss of the bosses. Isn't that fun?! To be frank, it's not. Fortunately, there is a storyline that makes you forget most of this essential RPG-element. A bit more on that gaining experience: another typical RPG-element is leveling up; fighting monsters willingly to get stronger, making future enemies a breeze. In this game, as long as you don't escape from most battles, it's not absolutely necessary to spend hours of leveling up, but staying ahead a couple of levels DOES make the game a tad easier. Of course, not only your experience level determines your strength in battle--you'll have to equip your characters with weapons as well. Besides dungeons, RPGs contain places where special events occur, and towns. If you wanna save the world, it doesn't help much to stay in the same place the whole game, eh? Therefore, you have to move on. Towns consist mostly of houses, shops and inns. Shops make it possible to buy and sell things, and inns are sowed just about everywhere to recover every single lost bit of HP and MP. EVEN if you've been roasted to a pile of nothingness, or attacked brutally by a madman, or just lost a few limbs... an inn instantly cures ANYTHING. The price of an inn, contrary to equipment, varies from town to town. It's mostly not much, trust me. You will also have to buy new armor and upgrade your weapons; like I said above, leveling up alone won't be enough to sustain the damage you take from newer enemies. Stronger equipment is acquired as you go; a handful is hidden in chests, and there are always shops that put these things up for sale. These stores are your main source of equipment, and monsters will be your main source of income (as well as selling your older gear). Defeating them will result in the acquisition of GP (gold pieces; currency in the game), to reimburse the costs, or to sleep at inns to recover your health. There you go. THE MENU RING -------------------------------------------------------- Items: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ A listing of items you carry with you, varying from healing items to hammers that shrink you. Select the item you want and press B to utilize it. Select your target by pointing what the game's manual calls the "Hand of Fate" (bahaha) to the respective person. Weapons: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Same as the item ring, in fact, except that this one deals with (prepare for a shock) weapons! Access the menu of the one you wish to change the weapon of, target a weapon, and press B twice to confirm your choice. If you press B once, the weapon will flicker, sort of like the game is waiting for a confirmation. (Totally useless, if you ask me.) If you try to equip a weapon already equipped by someone else, the two concerned will swap weapons. Magic: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ Unlike the rest of the rings, only the girl and the sprite have access to this ring, and they'll GAIN access once you actually take delivery of magic. Select the element of your choice (there are eight in total) to go down to a subcategory with the three spells, which you can cast till you run out of magic points (MP). Setup: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ Ah yes, the screen where you configure your game. I suppose you know how to select and stuff, so I'll go straight to the sub- descriptions, if you don't mind: + EQUIP ARMOR: Here, you can equip armor you've bought. There are three sub-rings for this. To equip something, select the gear of your choice and press B twice. Each sub-ring is armed with a trash; to throw away armor (it's better to SELL armor, by the way), select a piece of equipment by pressing B once, and move it to the trashcan. Kinda like moving files to the Recycle Bin in Windows operating systems. Lovely. + TARGETING: While it may seem completely useless aside from learning the name of a certain monster, this function can detect enemies not seen by your optical lenses. You can also target an enemy from an ally's menu ring, and they'll focus each of their strikes on the targeted victim. This is very beneficial when you wish to get rid of certain monsters before laying a finger on others. + STATUS: This is a status-screen, displaying a character's stats (level and HP) and values such as strength, intelligence and defense. And the amount of money you have, experience points, and how many Mana Seeds you have sealed (a very rough indication of how far your in-game progress is). Hit B to switch people. I had planned to include a list of the statistical values in this FAQ, but after testing what they actually affect, I have noticed that some are just there "for the show". That, and my unmatched laziness are factors for the idea be dropped. So... ha. + WEAPON/MAGIC LEVEL: This shows you what weapons you've got, what level they are, and how much experience you've with them. Press B and select a weapon to find detailed info. Press L/R to switch to magic (if the selected character _has_ magic, that is to say), where you'll find basically the same things. See section 3-B for the mechanics and tips on upgrading these stats. + ACTION GRID: Now this is a handy feature... This sets someone's behavior in battle. Move them to the block of your choice (e.g. lower-left, if you want them to attack--but avoid getting attacked as well), then set the level you want your character to build his or her weapon to. It is best to keep this at 0. Charging takes a while, and multiple quick hits are mostly better than one charged attack. + CONTROLLER EDIT: This is where you can tell your buttons what to do. Hold the button you want to modify the function of, then press Left and Right to change the function, and voila! + WINDOW EDIT: And of course, if you're REALLY bored, you can change the way the game displays the text. Press Up and Down to change the window frame, or Left and Right for altering the background pattern. Hold A, Y and X while you press Left and Right to change the background color (Red, Green, Blue respectively). Have fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1-C: Combat ------------------------------------------------------------------------ HOW TO FIGHT --------------------------------------------------------- The battle screen consists of three easy-to-distinguish things: you, the enemy, and the environment. Under on screen are three bars that represent the health of your characters (or one/two if you only have one/two party members). (Okay, so that's four things.) (Whatever.) I'm sure you know all the nitty-gritty... in battle, you have an attack gauge that determines your power for the instant. Doing an attack (e.g. swinging your sword) requires your strength, and as in real life, you're not able to continually attack without getting tired. That's why there's an attack gauge; if it's 100%, then it denotes that you can do an attack (press B) or run (press A). Doing one of these will deplete the gauge to 0%, meaning you'll have to wait (one or two seconds) until it's full. It IS possible to attack when the gauge is below 100%, but you will do negligible damage because you're still exhausted from the last whoosh with your weapon. Second, if you press and hold the attack-button, you'll charge your weapon. Once it's full, release the button while standing before a very unfortunate baddy, and watch your foe suffering. You can't charge your weapon in the beginning of the game, 'til you've leveled it up to level 1 (kill a bunch of enemies). Killing more monsters will raise your sword to level 2, which means a brand new and more powerful attack! Remember that there's a maximal level you can level- up your weapon to; to raise this maximum, you'll have to forge the weapon with special orbs acquired throughout the game. In case you haven't heard, you can play this game with two players, or three if you have this multi-tap device thingy (or an emulator). Playing with a friend makes the game SO much easier... trust me, because in this game, the computer-controlled allies aren't exactly *smart*. Their main occupation seems to be... taking damage. METHODS OF DESTRUCTION ----------------------------------------------- Secret of Mana offers a full arsenal of weapons to Bruce Lee the enemy's J-Lo. Sword: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - The first weapon you'll acquire in the game. This can be used to cut down bushes and grass. It's powerful, and short-range, so I suggest walking to the enemy, BLAM, and jumping away (just like they do in those turn-based RPGs). - Found in the trunk at the beginning of the game. Spear: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Ah, the spear. It's a short-range weapon, though the range is longer than the Sword's. Best of all, it hurts. The Spear is the strongest weapon you will get in the game--so strong that a fully- charged attack sends monsters flying to outer space (ATTENTION: contrary to popular belief, the sky is NOT the limit). I'd recommend letting the boy specialize in this weapon, and the Sword. - Given to you by Luka the first time you meet her. Boomerang: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - A boomerang; I bet you always wanted a boomerang in real life, but in this game, there's not much reason to use this one. It's quite... weak. It's long-range, however, so that's probably the reason. I always let the sprite specialize in this weapon (along with the Bow). - The sprite comes with this equipped when you recruit him. Bow: ¯¯¯¯ - Of the projectile-weapons, the Bow is my favorite. I don't know why, but if there's a monster on a ledge or below you, the Bow almost always hits it, contrary to the Boomerang, the Javelin, or any other weapon. It's stronger than the Boomerang and Javelin as well (but not THAT strong) too but the charged attacks aren't exactly really spectacular. - Given by the Elder, right after the sprite joins your party. Axe: ¯¯¯¯ - The third of the hard-hitting weapons. This weapon can be used to mow down rocks/stone that are blocking your path, but you can also employ it on monsters and hear that HACK-roll-sound ("roll" being the head of a zombie rolling away). Not sure what gives, but the Axe doesn't seem to be as powerful as the Spear or the Sword, but if you want all three of you to shave the hell out of anyone blocking your path, here's your weapon. - You'll get this after defeating Tropicallo; talk to Watts and buy it for 100 GP. Glove: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Kung fu! This weapon has the shortest range of all weapons, and the strength of it isn't really great. However, charged attacks look definitely spiffy. - The girl comes with this equipped when you recruit her. Whip: ¯¯¯¯¯ - Another weak weapon, though it has a very long range. Unless you use this weapon all the time, this is mainly used to cross chasms when a ravine is blocking your path and when there are poles available. You can also use one of those charged attacks to get unstuck, but all in all, this weapon isn't exactly my favorite. - In a chest; granted by Elinee after defeating Spikey Tiger. Javelin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - The Javelin is as weak as the Whip. However, the Whip makes a pathetic "PSK!"-sound while this one sounds like "BSHK!". Which is why I prefer the Javelin over the Whip. Which is why my preferences aren't exactly reliable. Which is why you should never trust a guy like me. - Given by Undine after defeating the Biting Lizard. MAGIC AND THE ELEMENTS ----------------------------------------------- Magic is not bought or learned. Instead, eight different elements exist, granting you their powers to apply throughout your journey. Each element has six magical spells; three for the girl and three for the sprite. (The boy doesn't receive any magic; apparently he's too dumb for it.) Here is a list of the elements, including where you will get them. For descriptions of the spells themselves, check out section 4-D. Undine: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of water (or ice). Spells vary from Freeze and HP Absorb for the sprite and healing spells for the girl. Healing is essential in an RPG, so you'll probably summon Undine much. She is found in her cave, close to the Water Palace. - You'll find Undine after showing Elinee a piece of your sword. Gnome: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of earth. The girl gets a saber and defensive spells, while the sprite gains heavy attack-magic. - Found in the Underground Palace. Sylphid: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of wind. Noteworthy is the girl's exceptionally useful (unless you have this guide, feh) Analyzer-spell; with this piece, you can Pokédex the enemy. That basically means you'll learn how much HP it has, what you'll receive, and any weaknesses. - Sylphid is received from the old guy in the Wind Palace, Upper Land. Salamando: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of fire. Salamando is an offensive type--both the girl and the sprite get attack spells (which is rare). - He resides, oddly enough, in the Ice Country. Shade: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of darkness. Only the sprite can handle Shade; he gets a semi-useless spell accompanied by an attack-spell and handy magic to get rid of monsters' special statuses. - This one is in the Palace of Darkness, which is atop the Lofty Mountains. Lumina: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of light. This exclusive-to-the-girl element knows the uber-powerful (and expensive; 8 MP) spell known as Lucent Beam, which is a BRUTAL spell you WILL use much. - Lumina will bestow her powers upon you shortly after getting Shade. She's findable in the Light Palace. Luna: ¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of moon. Luna has a wide variety of spells, and definitely a favorite. The sprite gets the feared Magic Absorb and some other weird stuff; the girl gains useful effect-spells (e.g. attack power up; this rocks). - Found in the Moon Palace; in the Sea of Wonders. Dryad: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Element of Mana. The last element you'll get comes with a revive- spell and the useful Burst-attack. Initially, Dryad's most useful magic is disabled, until a certain event... - You will obtain this element in the Tree Palace, near the end of the game. TIPS AND TRICKS (...SOMEWHAT) ---------------------------------------- + If you have the time, level up! Not only will you beat future enemies easier, but you will also reduce the chance of dying. Make sure you vary the use of weapons and magic, and try not to stick to the same weapon all the time. It's even more important to vary magic, because you will need each element! A strategic move is to upgrade Undine for the girl, because this is the elemental that has Cure Water, and healing is crucial if you want to survive. + While fighting, mashing the B-button doesn't help! Go to the enemy, attack, and quickly get away before the monster bites. As you know, if you hit a monster, it'll be stunned for a little while (for about the same time you need to recover to 100%). If you want to escape from an enemy, it's best to attack them (once) first and then getting away. + Don't give the enemy a chance to attack! This works best if you're with allies and against a single monster. Once you're 100%, quickly attack again to prevent them from moving. + The same can be done with magic, once you acquire it. The trick can be done by casting the spell of your choice, and RIGHT AFTER the element (Undine, Gnome, etc.) disappears, go into the menu of the caster and you will be able to use magic again. If you do this correctly, no damage counter will pop up between the castings, but once you stop, the cumulative amount of injury will most likely kill the monster. + Use the strafe-button while charging your weapon! Hold R while you hold B; this will let you face the same direction while you move, and if you master this, it helps. While charging, you obviously want to be as far away to the enemy as possible, and strafing contributes to a quick attack. STATUS EFFECTS ------------------------------------------------------- Just like any other RPG, Secret of Mana has a few status effects. Here are the ones I can come up with at the moment: Balloon -- You are paralyzed and can't do anything. Engulfment -- You can't move while you lose HP gradually. Entanglement -- You can't run. Frosty -- Turns you into a snowman! You can't move and are more vulnerable to incoming damage. Mooglization -- This means you're a helpless pig-faced creature. Petrifaction -- Same as Frosty, except that you're "stoned". Hah. "Stoned". Funny. Pygmy -- You're smaller, can't attack worth a crap, and your defense is down. Silence -- Controls are reversed (confusion), and magic cannot be cast. Annoying. All of these status effects can be cured by using a Medical Herb (item) or by using Remedy (spell, Undine). The Midge Mallet and the Moogle Belt can also reverse the effects of Pygmy and Mooglization (nice word, eh?) respectively. ======================================================================== PART 2: WALKTHROUGH ======================================================================== A few notes... * There are many more FAQs available for this game. If you cannot find what you need in my guide, I personally recommend having a look at Snow Dragon's FAQ, which is organized and stuff. Those others caught my eye as well (hell, every one of them is worth a view), but Snow Dragon is a particular favorite of mine. * Remember! North is up, west is left, east is right, and south is down. I use this quite often throughout the FAQ. * And finally, by reading further, you agree that you shall *not* send me e-mails consisting of roughly 3/4 of any abusive words- dictionary because I have ruined your gaming experience. Obviously, this is a walkthrough full of SPOILERS. I have not made an effort in excluding every plot-revealing bit of text--something happens, I tell you what. Remember that a solution to a problem is a spoiler as well; always try by yourself before you resort this or other guides. Just don't read more than what you need and you'll be fine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-A: A Rusty Sword ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Sword, Sword's Orb, 50 GP Monsters -- Rabite, Mantis Ant A MYSTERIOUS LIGHT --------------------------------------------------- First off, of course, select from "New Game" and "Game File". The former is to initiate a new game; the latter is to continue from a previously-saved game. Select New Game now, and a name for the hero (the boy). I don't think there is a "real" name for the hero, so I will just refer to him as "hero" or "boy". Carefully pick out your name, as it cannot be changed later on. After you press Start, watch the cheery crap that sort of shows you the plot in Secret of Mana. PATH TO POTOS VILLAGE ------------------------------------------------ Next, you'll find yourself and two friends playing around. The boy falls off the tree they were on, and lands a MASSIVE distance below; how he could survive that is beyond me. You should find a way to get up again, so let us explore by going south. While you follow the path, you see a sword in a trunk in the river! Also, the screen suddenly brightens and your name is called. You, of course, have no idea what the heck is going on, and move onward. The boy says that he needs something to cut away the bushes to return to the village, so-- THIS IS TOO OBVIOUS--circle around into the river and whip the sword out of the trunk. After some weird thing with a ghost and stuff, go, hack, and onward. There are Rabites here... but what are they doing here? A mystery. While cutting your way through bushes (and unlucky Rabites), work your end to the village. It might be wise to slay each Rabite you encounter, since that will result in your Rusty Sword leveling up. When a weapon levels up, you'll be able to "charge" it by holding B. As of yet, you can only level-up to a max of 1, but as you upgrade your weapons, you'll be able to advance further. Eventually, you'll wind up in Potos. POTOS VILLAGE -------------------------------------------------------- Explore, if you wish. Or not... it's your call. To continue, talk to the crowd in front of the house in the upper-right corner (that is the Elder's house). The Elder goes trippin' and says you are the clown that has apparently released some sort of power by grabbing that sword (which he refers to as the Mana Sword). For some reason, that made monsters attack the village. Elliott freaks out too and wants to beat you up. Suddenly, however, an earthquake occurs, and a hole emerges... Both Elliott and you fall in it. Boss Strategy -- Mantis Ant: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 3 HP: 150 EXP: 10 TYPE: Metallic MP: 20 GP: 100 ELEMENT: Gnome There's a man above watching your back. The spiffy thing about him is that should you "die" (HP down to zero), he'll revive you. So, no worry, and save your candies for when nobody's looking. Just hack at him (charge up your sword by holding B) and be sure not to attack when your power is not 100%. Use this opportunity to get used to the controls in this game, and when you defeat this boss, you'll receive a Sword's Orb! As of now you can't do anything with it, but patience, my young apprentice... The man will pull you up in the end. He says it's the Mana Sword you've got in your hands, and tells you that it's losing its power, and that only you can recharge it. Fine! He says that you must go to Sage Luka in the Water Palace, and introduces himself as Jema. Timothy tells you that the Elder is waiting for you inside his house-- go there. Inside, it seems the villagers don't give a crap about you, and want you to get the hell outta here. Before you do, you can hitch the 50 GP out of the treasure chest downstairs. But wait--there's more! You can still shop if you haven't done so before... I suggest getting and equipping the Bandanna. You can sleep at the inn for 5 GP (thought they wanted to get rid of you as soon as possible?) and save, too. When you're done with everything, be off, by talking to the nerd in the lower-right section of the village, whose goal in life is to kick naughty people out and stand there forever to prevent them from entering again. Freak. The adventure... begins. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-B: The Journey Begins ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Spear Monsters -- Rabite, Lullabud, Mushboom WATER PALACE --------------------------------------------------------- There are two methods to reach the Water Palace. You can go for the simple way by having a ride via the Cannon Travel Center (go into the first passage); it's free, since Jema paid for you already. The longer way is by foot. Just follow the path, while beating Rabites, Lullabuds and Mushbooms. Be sure not to take the path to Pandora (south at the intersection), since you can't enter it. You can stop by at Neko's place, where you can sleep, save and shop. Neko is a freaking swindler, though (prices are doubled), so you should only buy things you cannot get elsewhere. As of this moment, you don't need anything. In front of the Water Palace is Major Dyluck with a gang of soldiers who are about to leave to splat Elinee, a witch. But that's later and none of your business as of yet, so head into the Water Palace. Jema's been waiting for ya. Now that you're inside, head all-forward... by doing absolutely annoying things to form bridges and everything. Geez. Meet up with Sage Luka, who tells you about the weird things happening, and more. After Jema leaves, say hello to Luka again. Choose any options for different dialogues, but at the end say okay, to do some trippy effects with your sword. When you're about to leave, Luka heals you and lets you save, and grants you the Spear, my personal favorite weapon. Next goal: Gaia's Navel. On your way back, you will get captured by Goblins (this will only occur if you saw Major Dyluck and co. go off). If so, watch the sequence (you're about to get cooked, then some chick rescues you and leaves). Back on the path you were on a while earlier, travel back to the fork and go south. Follow the path (note that when you notice a yellow thing while fighting a Mushboom, DON'T step on it unless you wish to go back), and you'll arrive in the... KINGDOM OF PANDORA --------------------------------------------------- The guard who'd block you earlier now lets you pass, by permission of Jema. He says not to talk to the villagers. The boy, of course, talks to the villagers, only to find out that most of them are a bit silent... like they're a bit... dumb, or something... Fortunately, you can sleep and save. Unfortunately, you can't shop. Now, you can go to the castle and dig up info there, but it's not necessary (yet), so let's head to Gaia's Navel. Note: You can recruit the girl in Pandora. However, if you go to Gaia's Navel with her, she'll refuse to go with you and cruise the Haunted Forest by herself. Or, if you help her and head for the forest, you'll only find out that you'll need an axe to continue from there, upon which she'll agree to explore Gaia's Navel for a blacksmith. This stuff takes up time and all, so I'll just go to Gaia's Navel without the girl. She can be taken into recruitment at any time, so don't worry about that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-C: Gaia's Navel ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Magic Rope, Spear's Orb, Boomerang, Bow, Axe Monsters -- Rabite, Lullabud, Mushboom, Buzz Bee, Blat, Kid Goblin, Green Drop, Tropicallo, Brambler PATH TO GAIA'S NAVEL ------------------------------------------------- In Pandora, go to the western portion of the town and head left. On the fields, I suggest using the Spear--it is stronger than the Sword and the range is better. Just follow the path until you get to a split in the road; go left here into Kippo Village. In the shop, buy the boy (say that three times fast) a Chain Vest (strongly recommended) and if you took some serious damage, sleep at the inn for 10 GP. When you're done, let us proceed. The next area is absolutely annoying. If you've got a really bad sense of direction, sit down and listen up: go left and then north until you reach a signpost (which points you to the Haunted Forest... scary). From there, go down the stair set. From here, circle around this damn place while squashing many Lullabuds and Buzz Bees, and you will eventually end up at a waterfall. There are two entrances situated here; if you want to stop by at Neko's and stock up on items, go into the right one, and otherwise take the left entrance. GAIA'S NAVEL --------------------------------------------------------- In this dungeon, you'll find Blats, Kid Goblins and Green Drops. Blats have this ultra-annoying attack ("Balloon") that stops you and leaves you vulnerable for a brief moment. Try to splat them before they get a chance to cast this spell. Kid Goblins in this area are usually asleep, but walking near them wakes them up. Green Drops have the ability to multiply; great for leveling up, annoying if you get trapped in a corner. So watch out, now! Cross the first screens, 'til you descend down some stairs. In the next screen, a large room with lava, walk all the way to the left and go into a small room. Three Kid Goblins are asleep here. Bust them up, and then aim any weapon on the skull-thing at the end; this will make the previous room passable. This means, of course, you must go through the now-accessible passage. Beware for the two Kid Goblins that guard the end of it. In this room, first go left into a small room with two Kid Goblins... and a chest! Slay the two goblins and claim the Magic Rope, an important item that lets you return to the entrance of any dungeon you entered. No need to use it now, though, so go back to the previous room and go south. Here, go south again (to the right is a dead-end with a Green Drop). Follow the path and you'll eventually reach a set of stairs. Descend and go all the way to the right. Ascend here, and then bury your weapon in the Kid Goblin that sleeps in front of another skull-switch. Hit the switch; it seems to be connected with the platform over there that falls down. Go back one area (the other paths are blocked for the time being) and climb the ladder, leading to the entrance to the Dwarf Village! Original name, eh? THE ONE AND ONLY RABITEMAN! ------------------------------------------ Alright! Be sure to have a look in the shop, where powerful armor is to be found. Also, recover if you're low on health--you likely do not have over 100 HP, so buying a Candy (10 GP) is cheaper than the inn (15 GP), for the same effect. But, seeing as 5 GP is nothing... forget I said anything. Two things need to be done in order to proceed (any order): 1. Go to the unlabeled door with at least 150 GP in your pocket. You'll get to a fork (pick it up! ^_^;), from which you should go left. You will witness a show here, featuring the ONE, the ONLY... RABITEMAN! You'll have to disburse 50 GP for this, though. Pay it, and the show begins. A sprite will then appear who's in need of money. 100 GP is asked; grant it. Now, re-enter the place but use the door to the right. It appears they ripped you off, but they also realize you've been overhearing them, and fortunately they refund the 150 GP. 2. Find Watts, the blacksmith (westernmost door). Talk to him; he'll ask for your sword and offers to reforge it for the low, low price of 100 GP. Pay the money, and Watts realizes it's the Mana Sword he's dealing with! Some sort of power somehow souped up his hammer, and Watts thinks he can forge an axe. Come back later, he says. Take note that the Rusty Sword is now the Broad Sword, and that upgrading a weapon costs an orb (in this case, the Sword's Orb you've acquired after beating the Mantis Ant). Now, go back to the main hall again, and suddenly, an earthquake occurs. Boss Strategy -- Tropicallo: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 7 HP: 315 EXP: 80 TYPE: Plant MP: 0 GP: 132 ELEMENT: Dryad There are two things you need to watch out for; the Bramblers (vines) that lunge for your head, and the downright annoying pumpkin bombs he spits at you. It's the combination of the two that's irritant, but the good side is that you can get rid of the vines. When you get the chance, hack the source of the Brambler. When you don't, it's probably best to frantically run around to avoid both a vine and a bomb down your throat. When you've gotten rid of both vines, you can focus on the fruity thing. Tropicallo itself occasionally pops out. When there's no danger, charge up your Sword or Spear. Try to stay in the middle of the room as much as possible, since you don't know where Tropicallo is going to pop out. When he does, unleash the weapon's power, while avoiding the pumpkins. Those pumpkins bounce around until they hit you; this can be avoided by waiting 'til the last second and then swiftly moving away. After a few slashes (315 HP for Tropicallo, 78 HP for each Brambler), Tropicallo's dead meat (err, I mean, fruit), and you will acquire a Spear's Orb! The Elder and sprite will come in. You'll learn that the sprite has lost his memory, and that gaining some of the Mana energy might help. Getting it isn't an easy job, so the Elder asks you to take the sprite with you. Accept (you can't refuse anyway), and name the sprite. I'll take the name "sprite", for the sake of this FAQ. The sprite comes with a Boomerang, and by talking to the Elder you will additionally receive the Bow! You'll find out that the way to the palace you'll need to go to is blocked by lava, because of Elinee, who is our next stop. Before you go, stop by at Watts's place. He's finished making the axe and offers it for 100 GP. Buy it, and then he'll tell you that if you have any orbs, you can bring them to him to upgrade your weapons. You just received a Spear's Orb from Tropicallo, so I suggest to have him reforge the Spear (200 GP) too! When you're finished with all, Watts shows you a shortcut, leading to the entrance (where Neko's hanging around). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-D: Kick Some Witch Butt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Glove, Boomerang's Orb, 50 GP, Whip Monsters -- Chobin Hood, Eye Spy, Werewolf, Polter Chair, Spikey Tiger BEFORE YOU GO... ----------------------------------------------------- Before you go, it is suggested to change sprite's behavior in battle. Go into the sprite's menu (by pressing X), and find the Action Grid option. Remove the sprite from the lower-right corner and dump him on the lower-left block; this lets him attack monsters carefully. On the field, be sure to equip different weapons and level them up. Once you find the girl (or if you already recruited her), repeat this for her. Note that while going through the game, you should move the characters one block higher--this lets them approach the enemy instead of staying away of them. BLAIR WITCH PROJECT -------------------------------------------------- It's suggested to have any controlled character with the Sword or the Axe, so you can cut away the flowers (or whatever those things are), and you'll be able to reach them Chobin Hoods and bury your short- ranged weapons in them. The Haunted Forest is north of Gaia's Navel. There's a signpost somewhere that points you to the right direction. Waste the Chobin Hoods on your way, move on, and find Neko. Be sure to have plenty of healing items now; you'll need them. Also, don't forget to save. Step into the warp on the platform above. Now, if the girl isn't in your gang (she either left your party or didn't join at all), you'll have to fight two Werewolves, which are harder than the regular enemies. Kill them (watch out for their attacks!) to save the trapped girl, who joins you. You'll reach another area. Here, go to the right (not left yet) and follow the trail, while fighting a couple of enemies. Step into the warp at the end, and then kill off an Eye Spy. This dude spawns Chobin Hoods, so try to kill him as quickly as possible. Step on the platform to change the rock formation, enabling you to continue. But to do that, you'll have to go back; return all the way back to the area with a Mushboom and take the previously-ignored left path. Bonk the bones away with the Axe, then move on, into the warp. Follow the path AGAIN, and step into the warp (you'll find a cliff on your way with two poles, but there's nothing you can do with it now). Here, the place forks like hell, but it eventually leads to the same place; the last warp. Whee! Be prepared for the Werewolf that launches itself right into you in the beginning. After you give it a pack of beating, don't go up, but follow an S-shaped trail. At the end are another Werewolf and the entrance to the Witch's Castle. Enter. WITCH'S CASTLE ------------------------------------------------------- Step on the switch to open the gate. Now I wonder; WHAT is the use of a gate when there's a button in front of it to open it? Logic... Continue to the next room, where you'll discover all stairs but one are enemies (Polter Chairs)! They won't attack unless you touch them, so you can leave them be right now. Walk north to the next screen, and beat up the Eye Spies and any Chobin Hoods they spawn. After you get rid of them, take the left path (step on the switch); NOT the right path as it leads to a dead-end with nothing but three Polter Chairs. The other room, of course, isn't free of danger either. A duo of Werewolves finds it necessary to lunge for your head, so give them a piece of your sword in return. After you kill them (or if you've managed to outrun them), move on, and you'll find a switch! However, stepping on it does not appear to have an effect, so ignore it for now. Continue south, to the prisons. Save the soldiers, who are as ignorant as the people in Pandora, though one of them is nice and hints you that stepping on the previously-ignored with three people altogether causes something to form a bridge. A-ha! Before you do so, check the prisons to the right for Neko, who for some odd reason got caught. Be sure to save, and trust me; having the maximal number of Candies and Chocolates with you is paramount. Buy Royal Jams/Cups of Wishes too, if you can afford them. Now return to the mysterious switch, and your three characters will automatically populate it altogether. Walk north and avoid the Eye Spy. In the next room, go through the middle door (other two are trapped). Follow the path you can take, watch out for the Eye Spy, and step on the switch. Return to the split and go left. In the next room, fight or avoid the Polter Chairs and talk to Elinee. Give chase when she leaves, then you'll find Dyluck! Elinee sends him to Thanatos, the leader of some secret organization that does naughty, naughty stuff. When she's done rambling, prepare to fight one of the hardest boss battles in the game... Boss Strategy -- Spikey Tiger: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 10 HP: 520 EXP: 210 TYPE: Animal MP: 21 GP: 288 ELEMENT: Salamando Spikey will either be on the ground or on one of the two ledges. Use the Spear, Sword and Axe while he's on the ground, since those two are the most powerful, and use the Bow when he's up, since it is the only weapon that can reach him there. You might want to revive a computer-controlled character if all allies get knocked out, because if the main character gets knocked unconscious, you can press Select and fight/cure with the other one. Don't bother reviving both; you NEED the Cups of Wishes and they probably won't do anything useful anyway. It is highly recommended to bust up this boss with a friend! When Spikey is below, attack, but don't charge up your weapon; it takes too much time and when you're done charging it might be too late already. Avoid his rolling attack, since it can beat you unconscious, and be sure to run freakin' around when he's in the air, as he's gonna land soon. Also, don't get too close to him, or he'll eat you (or at least do something that looks like that). When Spikey flies to the ledges, equip the Bow and attack, or charge up your weapon. Pray that he won't use many of those fire-spells or you're dead meat. When he's below again, resume attacking him. Winning will net you a Boomerang's Orb. If you managed to overcome Spikey's aggressive attacks, head back. Talk to Elinee, who turns back to normal! She tells you that you must go to Pandoran Ruins to find Dyluck, and that the magic of ice can take care of the Crystal Orb in the Underground Palace. Take the contents of the two chests; 50 GP and the Whip! Go all the way back outside. There are no enemies anymore, making life much easier. Still, it's quite stupid that the Magic Rope doesn't work. Once you reach outside, Luka telepathically summons you as something appears to be wrong. The girl and sprite decide to come with you. Go back and trudge through the forest again; monsters still populate it so be careful. Go on 'til you reach the warp. In the next screen is a platform with stakes that did not seem to have any use before... but now, you've got the Whip! Line up and everything, then use the Whip to pull yourself to the other side. This leads to a warp that warps you to the warp in front of the Water Palace (Dyluck went in there when you first met him). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-E: The Water Elemental ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Glove's Orb, Javelin Monsters -- Iffish, Tonpole, Biting Lizard WATER PALACE --------------------------------------------------------- In this chapter, you will finally acquire magic! Ho ho ho! Inside the palace, go north and talk to Luka. Restore and save, then you'll discover that Undine, the Water Elemental, who lives in a cave behind the waterfall, east of the steps leading to this palace, comma, is in danger! Luka is uh, too old, to take care of this herself, so it's you who's gotta do the dirty work. YOUR FIRST MAGIC ELEMENTAL ------------------------------------------- Go outside and to the right of the screen, to reach the waterfall. Three Iffishes are here. They might be too powerful for you now, so if they manage to clock up a few numbers of damage, swiftly run into the cave... to find... more Iffishes. The room ahead, then, contains a pink happy thing. Boss Strategy -- Tonpole: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 11 HP: 600 EXP: 50 TYPE: Lizard MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Undine Meh, the Tonpole's just a bonus thing that jumps around and only attacks if you're as stupid as he is himself. It seems you'll get damaged if you stay to close to him, so don't do that. 600 HP is what you need to deplete, and once you accomplish your task, he'll poof into the Biting Lizard, being obviously a tad harder. If you lost, I truly pity you. Boss Strategy -- Biting Lizard: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 11 HP: 770 EXP: 210 TYPE: Lizard MP: 6 GP: 348 ELEMENT: Undine The Biting Lizard now uses his tongue to swallow you or your allies. This should be avoided because it deals quite a bit of damage, but should someone still get caught, let someone else (press Select to switch characters) hit the lizard to free the one that is probably realizing why to respect food. Or, to avoid being drawn in, try to attack from an angle, and don't stay in front of the lizard for too long. The Biting Lizard uses Cure Water constantly too; though this doesn't make the battle harder, it makes it quite long, which isn't cool. Oh! I actually discovered that if you have just a little bit of luck and let the computer-controlled allies attack him, you'd probably win too. Better yet, if you stand still and do nothing, he'll sometimes stand still too. This means that if you don't move and if the lizard is in your weapon's reach, you can attack, wait, and repeat, without taking any hits! Make sure your allies don't pull of anything now (configure them using the Action Grid). The Tonpole-form has 600 HP, and the Biting Lizard 770 HP. After you win, you'll get a Glove's Orb! An entrance will open up, too. Head inside, and talk to Undine, the Water Elemental. She'll grant you her powers: recovery and defense magic for the girl, and attack magic for the sprite. The hero gets... nothing, since he is apparently too dumb to handle magic. But to compensate, you will get a hold of a new weapon, the Javelin! It is the last weapon you will acquire of Secret of Mana's variety of butt- smacking artillery. Go back outside. If you use your new magic now, you will notice that it doesn't really lash out much as of yet... nevertheless, that is because it isn't leveled up yet. As with weapons, you need to whomp monsters (with magic, thus) and yadda blah; I'm sure you know the grubby details. If you wish to learn about the dirty mechanics, see section 3-B. Otherwise, head to Gaia's Navel; Luka says that you need to apply the magic of Undine on the Crystal Orb in the Underground Palace, so let's do so. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-F: The Underground Palace ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Axe's Orb Monsters -- Goblin, Ma Goblin, Chess Knight, Blat, Green Drop, Fire Gigas UNDERGROUND PALACE --------------------------------------------------- If you were in a pitch-black cave for the last couple of hours: the entrance to the Underground Palace is in the Dwarf Village. You can get there via Cannon Travel (shorter, costs 50 GP). Once you get in front of Gaia's Navel, be sure to take entrance to the right for Watts's shortcut! Speaking of Watts... be sure to have him forge all those orbs you've got now. Then, find the spot where you crushed Tropicallo; there should be an entrance somewhere. Go inside and have sprite use Undine (Freeze) on the Crystal Orb; this freezes the lava, making it now possible to go through the Underground Palace. Kill the (Ma) Goblins near the door, and then open that door. The stairs straight ahead are blocked by a pot of fire; to get rid of this, take both the left and right path and step on the switch that is at the end. On your way are two Chess Knights; though they aren't as aggressive as the Goblins, they have high speed/evade, so avoiding them is best for now. Go up the stairs and step on any of the two switches to activate the bridge. Continue north, follow the trail, and equip the Whip. In the next room is a duo of stakes. Whip yourself to the other side, but watch out for the Green Drop that awaits you on the other side--you might want to take care of it before by firing a long-range weapon (NOT THE WHIP, THANK YOU). Go all the way north from there. In the next room, go north again, and keep the sprite alive. Move on, and you'll eventually reach the stage room. Gnome is here, but is a little unfriendly, and cowardly runs off (HA) once he notices something cometh. Boss Strategy -- Fire Gigas: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 13 HP: 850 EXP: 326 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 66 GP: 360 ELEMENT: Salamando If sprite has max MP, this boss is a cookie. Cast Freeze over and over (re-cast it as soon as possible to prevent Fire Gigas from doing an attack), and if sprite's magic is level 1, the boss is dead after five castings. If sprite's magic is level 0, you might need someone to finish the job with a weapon (use the girl's Ice Saber magic on the attacker to improve the damage done). Really, it's that simple. However, if you think all of the above is cheap and want to beat him without using magic, be my guest. I still recommend using Ice Saber if you prefer a weapons-only approach. Anyway, don't charge your weapon, unless Fire Gigas turns into a buttload of fireballs flying around (which is no threat). Use that opportunity to heal, too. Once the bloke returns to his original form, he'll make use of his wide variety of fire-spells. These inflict heavy damage if you aren't leveled up, so make sure to counter them with healing-items/- spells. Fire Gigas has 850 HP. You will receive an Axe's Orb for winning. After defeating this boss, head north. Here is, besides Gnome, a seed just like in the Water Palace! Talk to Gnome, who in return for getting rid of Fire Gigas bestows his magical abilities upon the girl and the sprite. When you're finished, go to the Earth Seed and gain its powers (you can now build your magic to level 2). Sprite will regain his memory by doing that, and indicates that the Upper Land is his home. Our next stop, however, is Pandora. To exit the Underground Palace, you can go by foot (there are no monsters anymore), or use the Magic Rope to immediately return to the entrance. While it is tempting to use Cannon Travel (located near the entrance of the Haunted Forest), the path to Pandora is overflowed by feeble monsters, and although weapons will only gain half the amount of experience, a level-up-treat is always useful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-G: Beyond The Ruins ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Bow's Orb, 50 GP (x4), Sword's Orb, Spear's Orb Monsters -- Tomato Man, Zombie, Chess Knight, Evil Sword, Wall Face, Chamber's Eye PANDORA -------------------------------------------------------------- I bet you remember the ruins in Pandora. On your way to that icky place, you'll meet Phanna, who appears to be the girl's best friend... Talk to her, and she disappears! Oh my! Go south to the ruins and discover Phanna in front of them. Talk to her, and she heads inside. Follow her. The girl mentions that Dyluck might be here too, so bizarre stuff is going on here... Note: Reminder; it is, by the way, recommended to have upgraded both the girl's and sprite's magic leveled to the max. Refer to section 3-B for quick methods to boost magic levels. I'm so cool. PANDORAN RUINS ------------------------------------------------------- The path is pretty linear. No splits, things to cut away, or anything of that pretty stuff, so it is in your best interests to utilize the A- button whenever possible. Because I am The Laziness, I will not crank out a guide for you, so hah. The side-rooms contain, beside enemies, nothing. Eventually, you will reach a large room with guards all over the place and Thanatos on a platform in the middle... Heal if needed, and then approach Thanatos. He reveals that he drains people's energy to create a new world, and you appear to be his next victim. You're dumped in a hole, where the Wall Face awaits you. Yikes... Boss Strategy -- Wall Face: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 16 HP: 920 EXP: 580 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 720 ELEMENT: Sylphid Fortunately in the world of role-playing games, bosses are always weak against something you've acquired JUST a while earlier. So, have the sprite continuously cast Earth Slide and/or Gem Missile on the middle face. There are two strategic approaches you can make use of: 1. Attack the eyes 'til they die to prevent them from attacking and then aim for the face, or... 2. Launch all of your attacks to the face to get rid of it as soon as possible. If you take the second approach, remember that magic can be cast upon the face even when it's closed, and that you should charge the weapon of the hero if so. The girl should heal when the need arises. This approach is a bit harder than the first, so if you can't win, go for the eyes first. To get rid of an eye, make sure to focus on a single one. Have your other party members do so too by making use of that nifty Targeting-function in the menu and selecting your victim. Note that if you kill an eye, it might get revived soon after (but luckily doesn't receive full HP). After you accomplish in closing both eyes, the Wall Face tries to push you against the spikes by moving the wall, while not attacking. Now be careful--if you get squashed, du bist dead meat! So, attack from afar (or else you will get pushed back while attacking, meaning you'll miss) using non-charged attacks, and have the sprite unload his bag of magic spells on the face (take THAT!). Each Chamber's Eye has 300 HP. Winning will net you a Bow's Orb. Oh, and if you want to attack an eye, it seems that the "target" is not the eye itself, but the area next to it (use the Targeting-function to see exactly where). Thanatos will see that you're the one from the Mana Sword and gives up the villagers, except for Dyluck and Phanna. Leave the ruins, by finding and talking to Jema. He says that you must go to the Water Palace, but I'm sure you definitely want to take a trip to Pandora's Castle first. Definitely. OPTIONAL / RANDOM BITS 'N PIECES ------------------------------------- Head to the King's room, and talk to the King. He'll be grateful for all you've done, and slaps you access to the treasure room! Forget his speech and plunder the room right away: four chests contain 50 GP, but the other two contain a Sword's Orb and a Spear's Orb! Cha-ching! Furthermore, the armor shop in Pandora now actually sells armor. You should have plenty of money now, so buy some Cobra Bracelets (280 GP apiece). Other armor is optional, unless of course, you've been wearing the initial equipment all the time. See the shops-section (section 4-E) for a listing. OPTIONAL / WATER PALACE ---------------------------------------------- If you visit Luka, you'll learn that the Water Seed has been stolen! The "water told her" (give me a break) that the thieves went to Gaia's Navel, so that's where you gotta go now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-H: Water Seed Missing ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Whip's Orb, Javelin's Orb, Bow's Orb, Whip's Orb, Midge Mallet Monsters -- Kilroy, Iffish, Water Thug, Jabberwocky GAIA'S NAVEL / THIEVES' SHIP ----------------------------------------- To get to Gaia's Navel from the Water Palace, use the Cannon Travel near Potos (50 GP). Take Watts's shortcut, and talk to Watts to reforge your weapons. Next, go to the main hallway to find Jema, the Elder, and a big hole. Jema says that the thieves are down the hole and that you should give them a big spankin'. To leave the thieves' ship, you must use the Magic Rope. I don't know of any other way of leaving it, but I'm sure I overlooked something. Go down the stairs, circle around, and you'll find a chest! It contains a Whip's Orb, so grab it and continue. Behind the door is the boss of the Scorpion Army and two flunkies, and the Water Seed! They plan to use the Water Seed to complete their new robot, Kilroy. Go through the door in the back to face it. Boss Strategy -- Kilroy: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 17 HP: 900 EXP: 686 TYPE: Metallic MP: 18 GP: 650 ELEMENT: None Nothing to worry about. The fight is divided into two parts; first, he'll just slowly approach you and use one of his two hammer-attacks to damage/moogle you. This should be avoided at all costs, but should you be unlucky to get turned into a Moogle, whip out a Medical Herb right away or use Remedy. Using long-range weapons helps you avoid his attacks, but they're mostly not too powerful. Magic isn't too great either; if you want to use it, use either elemental, depending on the one you leveled up more. But you might want to save it 'til the second part of the battle, which is SLIGHTLY harder. Now, once you deplete 450 of Kilroy's 900 HP, he'll go haywire and a wheel magically appears under him. His speed is about twice as much now, but you're faster than him even when you're charging a weapon. Repeat the process, except be a little faster. Win the battle to receive a Javelin's Orb. After winning, the uber-unsuccessful thieves will run off, and you'll recover (notice the typo in the game) the Water Seed! Let us bring it back. THE THIEVES, PART TWO ------------------------------------------------ In front of the entrance are... many Iffishes! And inside the palace are also blood-thirsty creatures with forks! Something's up. Fight your way to the end of the palace, where Luka is held captive by people from the Empire, lead by a person named Geshtar. He aims for the Water Seed that you've got... SHEESH, it's quite damned popular, eh? You have the option of giving it or trying to run off. And as you know, in an RPG like this it doesn't matter what you choose. This option is no exception; they'll get the Mana Seed and feed you to Jabberwocky, Geshtar's pet. Boss Strategy -- Jabberwocky: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 18 HP: 950 EXP: 800 TYPE: Lizard MP: 90 GP: 768 ELEMENT: Undine Jabberwocky has two heads, each attacking anyone that comes close and knocking people unconscious. You must move away from the heads while charging your weapon for best results, while you let the sprite cast Gnome's spells on the dragon--Gnome is more powerful than Undine in this case. After depleting 475 HP, one head will disappear, halving this boss's threat and denoting you're halfway done. Be prepared to heal after Jabberwocky's attacks. "Poison Gas" is not a threat, but really annoying. "Acid Storm" (level 3!), on the other hand, is something to fear--it usually kills someone when the spell is concentrated on a single person (for me, that is--it might differ if you leveled your characters). Fortunately, spells aren't cast upon you constantly, which means this battle can be over with soon. For winning, you'll get a Bow's Orb. Go to Luka. Jema's there, who brags about he defeating the monsters in Pandora, etc., etc. The better thing is that he gives you a Whip's Orb! Luka says you must reseal the Mana Seed, so run up to it and gain its power again. Jema said that he'll be going home to take care of any business there, and that you must go to the Upper Land via the Cannon Travel Center near Potos. Luka says also that you must visit Sage Joch in the Lofty Mountains to learn about courage... this is where the REAL journey begins. *music* OPTIONAL / RANDOM BITS 'N PIECES ------------------------------------- Before you go flyin' high to the UPPER Land (ha I funny), stop by in the Dwarf Village! Because the Cannon Travel near Potos doesn't bring you to Gaia's Navel anymore, you must go there by foot... but the good side is that the enemies are weak, so that means your weapons will level-up a bit. In the village, talk to the Elder (in front of the hole he's still amazed by). In return for saying hi, he'll give you a Midge Mallet! This piece shrinks and un-shrinks people, which is useful later. You can also use it now, if you want it so badly. Your call. You can also visit Watts and have your stuff upgraded. When you're done with everything, go back en route to Potos, pay 50 GP to the Cannon Travel madman, and get blown far, far, far... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-I: The Upper Land ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Glove's Orb, Axe's Orb, Boomerang's Orb Monsters -- Silktail, Steamed Crab, Water Thug, Nemesis Owl, Pebbler, Spring Beak, Crawler, Kimono Bird GREAT FOREST --------------------------------------------------------- Right away, you'll see you've landed in a pig-faced creatures-infested place. Those creatures are Moogles, pretty much helpless moving things that pop up in many Squaresoft-games. Anyway, sprite bumped his head again by not landing right, and cannot remember anything now. Great! You'll learn that Pebblers have taken over the Moogles' village, and it's you again to take care of everything. If you want to forge stuff, Watts is your friend here (north in this screen). The steps: 1. First, talk to any Moogle. Required! 2. Go southwest, through the passage, leading to spring (pink trees all over the place). Neko resides here, allowing you to save, and buy his expensive stuff--it's suggested to get Quill Caps for the girl and sprite, if you have the money. In spring, go all the way east, past the Steamed Crab, to reach summer. There are three ways you can go now: southeast to the Cannon Travel dude, northeast to autumn, or northwest to a village. That village is where you got to go. 3. Three Pebblers are here! Waste all three of 'em (Freeze: effective) to free the village. After accomplishing your task, walk near the exit for the Moogles (and Watts and Neko) to change their habitat. Two chests appear, containing a Glove's Orb and an Axe's Orb. Take them both (and reforge them), and talk to any Moogle. The sprite will regain his memory, and it is puzzle time. Unfortunately. 4. "Walk the seasons from spring to winter, spring again and we can enter..." This is perhaps Secret of Mana's most confusing part, but hey, I'm here! Your objective is to walk a counter-clockwise circle, starting in spring (go south into summer, and then go left). Go back to summer, go north to autumn, and go west to winter, then south to spring again. Confused? ...just read again. 5. You'll hear a sound, and a textbox appears on-screen denoting that it came from the right. So, go to the right, then north to arrive in the sprite's village! But, it is in shambles. Bummer. Soon after, boss-music plays. Get ready, and go north to find... Boss Strategy -- Spring Beak: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 20 HP: 720 EXP: 1090 TYPE: Bird MP: 99 GP: 864 ELEMENT: Sylphid Short-range weapons nearly always miss, so equip the Boomerang, the Bow, and the Javelin. If you leveled up sprite's Gnome-magic and initiated this battle with full MP, this is a breeze; just bounce a few Earth Slides at the bird and you're done. Otherwise, cast them until you run out of MP, at which point you should either use a Faerie Walnut or attack with Earth Saber-enhanced weapons. Be careful not to get anywhere near Springbeak or you'll get damaged! Springbeak has a wide variety of wind-type spells, of which every damage-inflicting one, most especially "Thunderbolt", should be countered by a casting of the girl's Cure Water. If you keep a close eye on your HP, this battle should be no problem. You will get a Boomerang's Orb for your troubles. WIND PALACE / PATH TO MATANGO ---------------------------------------- After the Springbeak's defeat, a path opens up, leading to the Wind Palace. Enter it, talk to the old man, and learn that he is the sprite's grandfather. He'll tell you what happened, and grants you Sylphid's powers! Now you can use wind-attacks! Also, make sure to save your game. While you're at it, seal the Wind Seed to gain its powers, allowing you to build your magic to level 3. The man said you can use the Analyzer-spell to see how to get rid of the Crystal Orb in the forest, opening up a path to Matango. Time to go. Head back to spring. Here, search the lower-left corner for a path, and use the girl's Analyzer-spell on the orb. It will say that Sylphid works on it (what a surprise), so have the sprite use Air Blast on it. Continue. Defeat the Crawlers if you want, and head left. In the next screen, go for the upper-left corner to reach the next screen, in which you must go all the way north for the entrance to a cave. Inside this cave is a Kimono Bird... it spawns Pebblers all the time and uses strong spells, so use your most powerful spells to kill it. Or run, as it's actually best to ignore it for now. Use the Axe to wear down the spikes (stalagmites, I believe), and exit the cave to the left. You'll arrive in Matango--the mushroom-looking guys (no wait, they ARE mushrooms!) are friendly, so you put aside those feelings of battle lust. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-J: The White Dragon ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Javelin's Orb, Sword's Orb Monsters -- Water Thug, Steamed Crab, Crawler, Kimono Bird, Pebbler, Great Viper MATANGO / FUNG CASTLE ------------------------------------------------ Find your way to Fung Castle, home of King Truffle. Two entrances are situated here; left is an equipment shop, and right the entrance to the castle. If you want your armor to be optimum, have a look in the shop and buy Fancy Overalls (x3), a Steel Cap (x1) for the boy (you should have two Quill Caps for the girl and the sprite already; buy otherwise two of them here). Wolf's Bands aren't too much of a help if you have Cobra Bracelets, so buying those is optional. If you don't have enough money, sell your old stuff first. When you're finished (don't forget to equip everything!), head into the castle. Watts is in the main room, if you need him. Go to the throne room and talk to the mushroom with a moustache. He welcomes you and stuff, and tells you a story about a white dragon appearing here and there. He asks you to go check it out, sort of. Before you go, go upstairs to find a chest with a Javelin's Orb. Then go back to the entrance hall, and go to the right. Go north for an inn--be sure to save! When you're ready, take the south path into the cave. Note: A note about the inn; if you walk to the lower-right corner of the room, you will walk through the wall! You can get behind the counter that way... it's useless, I know, but so is much more in life. WHITE DRAGON'S CAVE -------------------------------------------------- First is the open area. Slice 'n dice your way north, and enter the cave. If you wish to boost your levels first, do so; the girl's Sylphid-magic can be leveled by using Analyzer on every enemy there is, the sprite should cast Air Blast consecutively until he runs out of MP. If you want the upcoming boss to be not-so-hard, at least get Sylphid to level 2 for the sprite, or level 3 if you plan to have dinner while fighting it. And Faerie Walnuts--having a few is important! Inside the cave, go up the stairs, and circle around until you reach a duo of poles placed on parallel cliffs. Use the Whip to reach the other side, and continue. A Kimono Bird awaits you after you go down one floor. They should be avoided, so quickly go to the poles and go to the other side, safe from the bird and those damn Pebblers it spawns. Take the stairs, as the other path leads to a dead-end with Water Thugs. The path forks; take a left. From here, follow the path until you reach a room with Pebblers and a Crystal Orb. Our friend Analyzer indicates that Gnome's magic works. Have the sprite use Earth Slide, for the earth to slide... how appropriate. Go back one room and discover there's a new path (south). Cross the next room too, and land in the Great Viper's lair. Boss Strategy -- Great Viper: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 22 HP: 1330 EXP: 1410 TYPE: Lizard MP: 8 GP: 1056 ELEMENT: Gnome I remember that as a kid, I found this boss hard. That was of course because I haven't upgraded Sylphid's power then... so if you wanna get this over with quickly, bombard the snake with Thunderbolts all the time. Use Faerie Walnuts when needed. Have the girl cast Thunder Saber on the attacker. Now, if you used up sprite's magic and have no Faerie Walnuts left, it's best to switch to the boy, arm him the strongest weapon available, and attack him while paying zero attention to your allies (unless, of course, they're controlled by a friend). Employ Candies and Chocolates when your HP is low. And remember not to touch the snake itself, unless you feel the odd sensation of wanting to get pygmized (while I'm not sure if that word actually exists, it means getting shrunk). Counter this with the Midge Mallet, or use Medical Herbs/Remedy if you don't have it. Besides hysterically moving around, Great Viper occasionally makes use of Gem Missile (level 5). He features 1315 HP to deplete, and after doing so, you'll earn a wicked Sword's Orb. An entrance opens up north. Follow the path into the cave, and work your end to the back. Gladly, no enemies are around. You'll find a white dragon, which (though not as big/powerful/hungry as expected) apparently lost his parents. Because he probably won't survive on his own, King Truffle will take care of him. The King gives the dragon the name "Flammie", and tells you that you can use the Cannon Travel south to blast to the Fire Palace, near the Desert of Kakkara. So, go back. Forge any weapons with Watts if you need to do so, save at the inn, and head back into the forest; after you exit the cave with the Kimono Bird, go south and then east to reach the Cannon Travel Center. For the usual 50 GP, you can reach Kakkara or the Ice Country. Now, it doesn't really matter whether path you take--the Ice Country is only a bit faster. Because monsters are stronger there, I only recommend going there if you've taken the time to level up. If you plan to go to the Ice Country, head down to section 2-L. Otherwise, read on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-K: Damn You, Cannon Man! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Whip's Orb Monsters -- Sand Stinger, Pebbler, Spider Legs, Pumpkin Bomb, Mech Rider 1 THE DESERT ----------------------------------------------------------- Unfortunately, mister cannon man missed Kakkara by a great distance (I demand a refund!). You'll land somewhere in the desert, and have two options: (1) find your way to a village or anything and be happy, or (2) dry out until you die. It's most likely the first option you choose. Now, I have taken the courtesy of figuring out the mechanics behind this desert--so whoo, I'm a rocket scientist! Alright; the area consists of six (actually seven) screens, broken up the following way: | | 1. Bricks, rocks, cactuses and Sand Stingers. --(1)--(2)--(3)-- 2. A T-split with Sand Stingers and Pebblers. | | | 3. Pools of quicksand containing Spider Legs. --(4)--(x)--(5)-- 4. Rocks/bricks, quicksand, Pumpkin Bombs. | | 5. Bricks, cactuses, and Sand Stingers. You just imagine it's a puzzle, of which each piece is the same; if you go up from screen (1), you end up in (4), and if you go to the left from (4), you arrive in (5). Simple enough? Excellent. Now here's the deal: (x) is the starting point, AND is the finishing line. If it's the starting point, there's only one way out: north. In order to continue, you must enter spot (x) from either (4) or (5), thus NOT from (2). If you don't understand all of this, just go up, then left, then up, then right. Once you've accomplished this, your characters will automatically walk to the middle of the screen. Completely dehydrated, they see something north... is it a fata morgana? Let's find out. Watch out for the Spider Legs that are hidden under the ground (use the Targeting-function to see where). Once the party reaches the next area, they'll see a huge ship, and enter it. Hurray, saved! SAND-SHIP ------------------------------------------------------------ ...or not. You are Imperial spies, according to the guards. Luckily, the Commander says it's possible you're just lost, and he lets you work for him. The boy gets to whip the engines, the sprite takes care of the food, and the girl gets a... hmmm... special assignment ("...and she comes with me...!"). Even though you're safe, you're a slave (that rhymes). There's pretty much nothing to do except for talking to the other slaves. One of them is Sergo (pirate and scourge of the eight seas!)--talk to him twice. He will help you escape. Once you talk to the guards, Sergo will yell that there's a fire, letting the guards move away from their post and "find the fire" (just look at them; what a laugh) and allowing you to escape. So what are ya waiting for?! Get outside! On the deck of the ship, you can go either left or right. Unless you're that type of tourist that wants to see everything, go left because there's nothing unbelievably interest to the right. Move on until you reach a stairway leading inside the ship. Go in the door south to find where the sprite's hanging. After you discover he's eaten just about every bit of food, talk to the sprite for him to join you... much to those people's delight. Now it's time for the girl; head back to the deck of the ship. Go south from here and go in the door. There's a fork; go left to reach a soldier that can create a log entry (save your game, that is), or take the right path to find two soldiers blocking a door. Talk to them, and the sprite will reveal what he really is... a rat! Even the soldiers are shocked; fortunately they leave, leaving the door unguarded. Enter. After the dialogues inside, the girl finds the opportunity to escape with you. Soldiers try to stop you, until the ship trembles. It appears to be the Empire, aiming to take over the ship. The soldiers are frightened to death, meaning you won't be able to watch them fight, but rather have to do the dirty stuff again... *sigh* Go to the deck of the ship again (did I just exit the engine room?), to discover it's Geshtar (you know, the dude that captured Luka once). Talk to him, and he apparently needs you to redirect Mech Rider 1 to the nearest scrap yard. Boss Strategy -- Mech Rider 1: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 23 HP: 980 EXP: 1595 TYPE: Metallic MP: 18 GP: 1055 ELEMENT: None This boss isn't terribly hard, but can be a pain in the ass if you fight terribly stupid. The point here is to slash, avoid and repeat; Mech Rider will only drive to the sides (trying to hit you), stay there for a while, while firing those DAMN! ANNOYING! MISSILES! that don't really inflict much damage. But getting hit means you can't attack, so try to avoid these. Spells are ineffective, but so are weapons, so combine the hero's weapon skills with the sprite's magic. The girl should heal, as always. Despite having 980 HP, this battle will be over sooner than you think. A Whip's Orb will be your reward after Mech Rider 1 gets away. To be continued...? After the ship explodes/gets stolen/whatever, you will all land in the desert. Talk to Meria and Morie. To leave, talk to the soldier that says, "A rescue team's coming. Are you leaving?" and say yes. You'll be in the desert again; the soldier said to go north, so go north. Kakkara awaits thee! KAKKARA -------------------------------------------------------------- But, there's no water around here. If you talk to the two important- looking guys north in the village (King Amar and someone else), you'll learn that the Fire Seed's been stolen, as well as Salamando (another elemental). Besides an inn (50 GP), Watts (forge the Whip), and a shop, there's pretty much nothing of interest, so head down to the Cannon Travel Center (to the right of the village). Pay 50 GP to get blown to the Ice Country. There IS a Fire Palace around here, but since you aren't supposed to be there now, you will not be able to completely explore it yet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-L: Brrr... Cold! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Spear's Orb, Bow's Orb Monsters -- Howler, Pebbler, Shellblast, LA Funk, Boreal Face, Brambler TODO VILLAGE --------------------------------------------------------- If you have enough money, buy Chest Guards for everyone, and the next areas will be a breeze. If you don't have the money, sell stuff, or buy the weaker equipment. Watts has taken over the blacksmith's house, so you can reforge your weapons there. There's an inn, too (50 GP), and when you're ready with all your business here, head west to the desert's antithesis. FROSTY FOREST -------------------------------------------------------- Right in the first screen, take any path you like; they all lead to the same place. There are many Howlers here; they are not hard to kill and appear in great numbers, so if you wish, massacre these babies to score mucho experience. Go to the next screen to find... Rudolph? It friggin' TALKS, so talk to it to learn that his master (Santa, obviously) has been stolen. Go into his house and steal what he probably planned to put under some kid's Christmas tree, a Spear's Orb. Put aside, those feelings of guilt, and head south. Move on, till you reach an intersection; to the right is the Cannon Travel Center, and the other paths lead to the area of the forest. Left is a bit faster than going south, so go left. In the next area, go south at the fork. You'll meet LA Funks--these avoid every single physical attack of yours, so have the sprite bombard them with magic. Evading them is better, of course. At the second fork (left/south), make left, unless you wish to cross a path with monsters all over the place. Speaking of monsters... Boss Strategy -- Boreal Face: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 26 HP: 1100 EXP: 2245 TYPE: Plant MP: 12 GP: 1040 ELEMENT: Dryad Right off the bat, this is just a souped-up version of Tropicallo, complete with Brambler, new spells, and again, those STUPID ANNOYING PUMPKIN BOMBS. On top of that, magic doesn't hurt him. Rely on your weapons now (equip the strongest ones). Because of the CPU- controlled allies' absolutely outstanding AI (WHY are you so stupid, WHY!!!?), configure them to attack the Brambler only. The girl should heal when needed; keep her alive. Since the battlefield is one open area, it isn't too hard to avoid those pumpkin bombs. However, if they miss you they just try to hit you again. To prevent them from hitting you, wait until the last sec and swift away. Note that you must hit the face when it appears or it will spit out those bombs non-stop. If you're playing with a friend, it's probably best to have one concentrate on the Brambler, and the other reserve a piece of his weapon for the face. You COULD just let your allies die and kick some face single-handedly, but this is only doable if you have a respectable amount of HP and an above-average level. The Bramblers have 78 HP (but they'll be down after only one hit), and winning will result in the acquisition of a Bow's Orb. After the Boreal Face is down, you'll automatically go north to this game's version of Hawaii. MEGA-POPULAR TROPICAL RESORT ----------------------------------------- Yes my friend, it is abnormally warm here. In the middle of the village is a stove that appears to be the cause of all that's good here. You can talk to everyone in this village to learn what's obvious and some stupid facts ("I moved from Gold City.") nobody gives a crap about. And in the residences, you'll find--eh?--fireplaces and ultra-thick bedspreads?! I mean, um. But to go on with the game, you gotta talk to the jester in front of the stove. You've met him before... ah yes, the Kilroy clowns. Luckily, he doesn't remember and leaves you guarding the stove. Now, examine it and you'll hear something. Reply with yes once it's asked whether you wish to open it or not, and Salamando comes out! He'll be eternally grateful for setting him free and grants you his fiery powers (whoo!) ABANDONED AND COLD VILLAGE ------------------------------------------- Now that the village has been abandoned, the Scorpion Army leaves town. It's perhaps wise to show Salamando around and level him up to level 2 or 3. Once you're done with that (or didn't do it all, of course), head for the north to more snow and ice. Go left, up, and right. Here's a fork; go up to reach Neko (save your game only; don't buy as you'll get friggin' RIPPED OFF), or take the path to the right to reach the Ice Palace. Now, collect your senses, ready your sword, and head inside. Oh wait! You'll need to take care of a few monsters first. In front of the entrance is a duo of Shellblasts, too. When you're finished, burst in. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-M: The Fire Seed ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Glove's Orb, Boomerang's Orb Monsters -- Shellblast, Blue Drop, LA Funk, Specter, Weepy Eye, Mystic Book, Tonpole, Biting Lizard, Frost Gigas ICE PALACE ----------------------------------------------------------- Now, the first thing you don't want to do is barrel straight ahead, or a Shellblast will smacka yo face. There's a stair set north of you, and three closed entrances with a switch in front of them. One of them looks like it's broken (left), the other (middle) creates a passageway that shuts once you try to pass it, and the last one (right) is the one you should have. Watch out for the other Shellblasts, and head to the next area. Here are two Blue Drops, which, like the Green Drops, have the ability to multiply. Don't get close to them or they'll attack and turn you into a... snowman! Your best bet is to avoid them and swiftly maneuver into the next room. Fork. To the right is a path to a treasure, so go right first. Step on the switch to create a path, walk around into the now-accessible room, and claim a Glove's Orb! The Specters in this room cannot be hit by your regular weapons and need to be pumped full of magic if you wish to get rid of 'em. Return to the fork and take the left path. Repeat the same process, except that there's a Blue Drop guarding the switch and the room does not contain any prize. Instead, it features three Specters and two switches. The left switch does a whoppin' nothing, while the right bumps the wall away to uncover a door. If you don't want to waste MP, quickly head to the next room before a Specter casts a spell. Next is another wee space introducing the Weepy Eye. Kill it, and then trudge on to the library featuring a new enemy: the Mystic Book. Note: If you wait a moment while fighting them, Mystic Books will turn to a page featuring a naked woman! Then they hurriedly flip to another page. ^_^; Now I have your complete attention, let me state that Mystic Books have powerful spells to their potential. Because of their low defense, try to kill them as fast as possible. Then, try to find your way around this friggin' place... to eventually reach a room with MORE Mystic Books; you will be trapped once you enter this place. At the end are two switches. Step on them, and it appears to be another trap, dropping you below onto a small isolated platform populated by three Tonpoles! Boss Strategy -- Biting Lizard (x3): ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 11 HP: 770 EXP: 210 TYPE: Lizard MP: 6 GP: 348 ELEMENT: Undine I strongly advise you to focus on a SINGLE ONE of them at a time. If you let all three of them evolve, you will not only lose, but also throw your controller/keyboard to the screen out of frustration, being completely embarrassed by the fact that you have been beaten by three stupid lizards. Thus, use the Targeting- function again and let the computer-controlled allies concentrate on the monster you're trying to beat silly. Tonpoles have 600 HP; the Biting Lizards have 770 HP. See the strategy in section 2-E of the walkthrough for details, though I don't think you will need it... After beating these three, you'll be at the switches again, except that there's an entrance now. Go north. (Don't worry, you're ALMOST there!) Kill the Blue Drop, equip the Whip, and get yourself to the other side of the room. Watch out for the enemies and follow the trail into the warp. Three Weepy Eyes await you. The door in front of you leads to what looks like a throne room, with the exception that an icky voice tells you to be gone, followed by "Well?" and a yes/no- choice. The stupid thing is that if you say no, you gain control over your party and you're free to explore every corner of the room. But if you say yes, you'll be sent directly to the Frost Gigas's room. Go figure. Oh yeah, a boss. Boss Strategy -- Frost Gigas: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 29 HP: 1140 EXP: 3045 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 99 GP: 1200 ELEMENT: Undine Obviously, Frost Gigas does not like Salamando. If you've taken the time to level Salamando up to 3, and if you have enough MP (and some of those walnuts), you are downright gonna slaughter this boss. The girl has some attack-spells now, so double her with the sprite and unleash. The boy should, err... watch. If you've got the best armor available, you will take barely any damage, so healing is not even necessary. The Frost Gigas acts exactly the same as the Fire Gigas, except that Undine-spells are used. Now, don't bother using weapons; he will cast Ice Saber on all of you to minimize damage done, and even with the Flame Saber cast upon you it will not be enough--only use them when your MP runs out and there're not much HP left within this boss. 1140 HP is what you need to melt down, and winning will net you a Boomerang's Orb. (If you lose, the game's not over, but you'll be sent to the entrance of the palace.) You will meet Santa Claus. He will explain that he was turned into that Frost Gigas thing, because kids no longer believed in him (hahaha). A Mana Seed transformed him, so it's important not to let those seeds fall into the wrong hands! Speaking of seeds, Santa will hand you the Fire Seed, and of course, we've gotta bring it back to the Fire Palace near Kakkara. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-N: The Fire Seed (Part Two) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Note: This chapter is connected to chapter M. Because uh... N goes after M. Items -- 1000 GP, 1000 GP, Axe's Orb, Javelin's Orb Monsters -- Spider Legs, Mad Mallard, Pumpkin Bomb, Sand Stinger, Robin Foot, Dark Funk, Red Drop, Minotaur PATH TO FIRE PALACE -------------------------------------------------- In the Frosty Forest, navigate your way to the Cannon Travel Center and buy a trip straight to Kakkara. There'll be a signpost pointing you to the center, so you can't miss it. Fortunately, you'll land where you need to land. Go talk to the people if you want, have Watts reforge any weapons you can upgrade, then make for the Fire Palace to return the Fire Seed to its original place. Make sure to have plenty of Faerie Walnuts and sleep at the inn. (F) (K) K. Kakkara. | | | P. Path to Fire Palace. (P) (1)--(1)--(2) F. Fire Palace. | | | | 1. Bunch of pools (quicksand). (2)--(2)--(2)--(1) 2. Monsters (Mad Mallards, Pumpkin Bombs). Yeah--I, your personal rocket scientist, have gone through the trouble of listing the paths and stuff. What's above should be simple enough for you: first, leave Kakkara (by going south). In the desert, go south, then left, then north. Here's the path to the Fire Palace. Beat the crap out of the Sand Stingers, then head up a platform. Watch out, though; there're Spider Legs lurking right in front of the stairs. And guarding the entrance are Robin Foots (ah, I GEDDIT! ROBIN FOOT! Ha ha ha) trying to launch arrows in you! Best to avoid them... or show them the TRUE power of a Bow. Note: You can see in the "map" above that you can go north from the area in the upper-right corner. It's a bug of some sorts, actually, that enables you to go to a certain place when you're not supposed to. The trick is to stand in the upper- left corner and run while facing the upper-left direction. There's not much to do, but anyway.) FIRE PALACE ---------------------------------------------------------- Inside, watch out for the two Robin Foots that attack you from both sides. After you beat them, you'll see that you have to go north, but that the passage is impassable. There is a path to the left and to the right; go left first. Move on, and you'll ultimately arrive in a large area that appears to be the core of a volcano, but... it's not. Anyway, ah look, a Crystal Orb! Get rid of it. If you don't know how, I ain't helping ya. ... ...okay, just have the girl use Sylphid's Analyzer-spell on it to discover Salamando works on it and use Exploder to continue (use fire to blow out the fire??). Shouldn't have told you, though. Watch out for the Dark Funks (powerful versions of the LA Funks you met earlier, give them a taste of Undine's Freeze) and continue to the next room. Here's a Red Drop; quickly waste it. As for the room, there are many, many paths you can take. The upper-left/-right areas are empty, and in the middle, you can go north to continue, or south to return to the entrance. And in the lower-left corner is a hidden passage; it appears to be a dead-end, but leads in fact to a chest with 1000 GP! So be sure to take it, and then take the north path. Another Crystal Orb. This time it's Fireball you have to use, so use it. After you open up a long path, move on 'til you reach a split. Go north first, as there's more cash waiting! After you get another bag of 1000 GP, head back and take a right, up the stairs. Here, ready Undine and cast away! Most are weak to Freeze (or to magic in general... too lazy to figure out). The path forks like hell, but is simple; first take the stairs in the upper-left corner. It leads eventually to an Axe's Orb! Once you have it in your possession, return and go down the other set of stairs. A large portion from here on is pretty much following the trail. In the room with a platform and a switch, step on that switch. The wall to the right disappears, enabling you to continue. Ready your Whip, and cross chasms. Go up the flight of stairs, and again. Huge room. There are fire bowls all over the place; step on the switch and they'll all light up! A Crystal Orb appears as well, which is vulnerable to Undine (Freeze). After using Freeze, all bowls dim, except for two. Stand in-between them, and the platform very unrealistically makes place for stairs, leading to a platform that gives me an icky Zelda 3-déjà vu. Boss Strategy -- Minotaur: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 30 HP: 1200 EXP: 3348 TYPE: Animal MP: 99 GP: 1440 ELEMENT: Gnome Simple, trust me. Minotaur has level 7 Gnome-spells to his disposal, which HURT. Aside from that, he's pretty much no threat. You should attack him whenever possible, not giving him the chance to use Earth Slide... if you do have to feel one, use Cure Water shortly after it. Attack, attack... and don't get too close unless you think getting thrown around feels good, and have the sprite cast a few Thunderbolts. Even if you didn't level-up Sylphid, it'll do much damage (at least over 100), and with 1200 HP, this fight will be over with sooner than you think. Mid-way (after you deplete 600 HP), Minotaur will get mad and turn all red, and actually try to attack you. Still easy though. Don't worry. Your reward will be a Javelin's Orb. After winning, the path to the stage will open. Go up and interact with the Fire Seed, gaining its powers and enabling your magic to go up to a level of 4! Alright! Use the Magic Rope to leave and return to Kakkara. There are no enemies in and around the Fire Palace, but there are some in the desert. KAKKARA -------------------------------------------------------------- In Kakkara, the water hasn't returned! Great. The old guy says that a Sea Hare's tail would help, but you don't have it. Forge any weapons with Watts, and go to the Cannon Travel Center. Take a flight to the Empire. "Keep a low profile while in the Empire!" Now what could that mean? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-O: The Resistance ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- (none) Monsters -- Iffish, Dinofish, Blue Drop, Mad Mallard, Pumpkin Bomb EMPIRE SOUTHTOWN ----------------------------------------------------- Now then, there're several places of interest in Southtown. There's an Inn (100 GP) located in the center (somewhat), and the shop is in the same building. An old hag named Mara lives in a residence west in the village, and there's a mysterious passage guarded by someone in the east part. Even if you have the money, I do not recommend buying armor in the shop. There's better stuff in a town you'll get to soon, and there are little monsters you'll meet in the meantime. To continue, head to Mara's house. Once she spots you, she'll hastily retreat in her house. Enter also and talk to her. She knows that you're friends of Jema and reveals that she's actually a Tasnican spy. She will also tell you to enter Northtown via the sewers, and that the password to enter is "634". Now, go to the eastern part of the town and talk to the guard. Input the password, and enter the sewers. SEWERS --------------------------------------------------------------- Kill the Iffishes, and watch out for the Dinofish (the fish freakin' launches MISSILES). There are Blue Drops in this place too; don't get too close to them or they'll frosty (whee!) you. Head up a platform and go down the set of stairs. Here are more monsters; from the stairs down (into the water), head south all the way until you reach the next area. And in here, make your way to the lower-left corner, and head into the entrance. Here, kill the Dinofishes; remember they can't hit you from below with their missiles, and that the Bow/Javelin CAN hit them from above. Head south, meet a Mad Mallard, and reach the next area. Kill the Dinofishes you'll come across and head north (the south part is a dead- end). Beat the Blue Drop and circle around, entering the entrance that is the exit of this damn place. EMPIRE NORTHTOWN ----------------------------------------------------- You'll arrive in the Resistance's base. You will get to meet Krissie, the female leader of the opposition, and you'll learn that a certain "Dyluck" is draining people's energy in the Northtown Ruins, like in the ruins near Pandora. As you see, something's up. Talk to the people in this house if you wish, and then exit to see you're in Northtown. As a small note, you can walk through the trees in the southernmost part of this town (useless, to be frank). Sell all equipment you have and spend every piece of gold you've got at the shop. If you have enough (26,750 GP), buying the optimal armor is strongly recommended--Tiger Cap (x3), Tiger Suit (x2), Tiger Bikini (x1), Frosty Ring (x3). If you don't have enough, you'll have to do with Ruby Vests. If you have some business with Watts, he's in the inn. Pump up any weapons you have orbs for (each one should be level 4 now), and save. Once that's done with, head to the northeast part of the town and go right. In the ruins, head north to find Phanna. Talk to her. She tells you to scram and does not seem to be okay... Krissie takes her to the doctor in town, and you've gotta beat the crap out of everything inside that daunting place, accompanied by creepy music. Note: Or if you want to level-up your characters quickly, head for the Emperor's castle (upper-left corner of Northtown). Right now, the path is blocked by a group of three Armored Men-- kick the hell out of the first (which is able to hit you), then use long-range weapons to take out the last two (which are safe behind a blockade). It's not very hard to defeat these monsters at this place so I regard this a great leveling-up opportunity. Take advantage of it! A downside is that you can't reach the items they drop, but I'm sure Candies and Cups of Wishes aren't THAT exciting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-P: Phanna and Dyluck ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Spear's Orb, Bow's Orb, Sword's Orb, Whip's Orb, Boomerang's Orb Monsters -- Ghoul, Wizard Eye, Imp, Grave Bat, Blue Drop, LA Funk, Tomato Man, Zombie, Specter, Red Drop, Green Drop, Robin Foot, Doom's Wall, Doom's Eye, Vampire NORTHTOWN RUINS ------------------------------------------------------ I'll be frank: I hate this place. The monsters are a bit strong (so it is of utmost importance to have strong armor) and the dungeon is long. But the reward is everything you see in the "ITEMS"-list on top of this chapter! First off, the Spear's Orb and a Bow's Orb. At the start, don't go directly north, but take one of the side-passages, leading up. Beat up any monsters you'll meet and go into the small door. Follow the path. Left leads eventually to a Spear's Orb, and right to a Bow's Orb. If you plan to use those weapons throughout the dungeon, better forge 'em right away. Once you have the orbs in your possession, head north from the entrance. Beat up the Wizard Eye and its spawns (Weepy Eyes), or avoid them and run through the door. Here are Ghouls and Specters. Kill (re-kill) them, and head north to reach a room with a Wizard Eye and two Weepy Eyes. After this is a room with three Grave Bats. And after that is a room with a Blue, Red AND Green Drop! Ready a sharp weapon and slash your way through this room (while saying, "die, die, DIE!"--it helps). In this hallway, go ALL THE WAY to the left. The door in the middle, guarded by a Robin Foot, leads to a dead-end. Inside the other room, kill the drops and go north. Defeat the Ghouls and Imp here, and go down the stairs. You will come out of a door (eh?) and be attacked by a Ghoul. After taking care of him, take a look at this large room. There are Robin Foots all over the place, and there are two doors blocked by spikes. And a regular door in the southeast corner of the chamber; enter it. Work your ass through the many doors, while whooping the various enemies you will encounter. There's a switch; step on it and you will hear a distant noise... Go back to that large chamber with the spikes and all, and hey what! The spikes are gone! Now, you first want to go through the door in the upper-left corner, as there's a Sword's Orb wanting to hop in your inventory. After letting it do so, go back to the large room. Go down the stairs (south of the door that you've used to enter this for the first time, if you remember). Head south all the way and step on the switch. A door will appear behind you. Enter. Kill the enemies here, and go through the door. Then go south into a small room with two Imps. Kill them both and go down the set of stairs. Next is a maze sort of thing--navigate your way to the switch, step on it, the spikes will disappear, go through the large door, blah blah blah... You should've learned what to do by now, I guess. Go through a few more rooms, and it's time for a boss. Noticed Squaresoft recycling a good chunk of monsters in this dungeon? Well, here's no exception. Boss Strategy -- Doom's Wall: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 34 HP: 1180 EXP: 4750 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 648 ELEMENT: Shade Here's the offspring of the Evil Wall! The Doom's Wall fears Lumina. But how unfortunately unfortunate, you don't have that elemental at the moment. If you want to use magic now, I just recommend using the one that's leveled up most. Anyway, there are two strategies: (1) beating down the head (eyes will go down too if you destroy the head) or (2) get rid of those pesky eyes first. After you close the eyes, they will be revived (but will not have their max HP), and unlike the Evil Wall, this boss will not push you against spikes. I suggest going for the eyes first. This is, in my opinion, easier because getting rid of the head is a piece of cake when there are no eyes using attacks on you. Better yet, the head will waste some time by casting Revivifier on the eyes. And, seeing as a fully- charged attack kills those eyes in one hit, huzzah. Initially, the eyes have 425 HP so unleash a few charged attacks to let them bite the dust (oh wait, SEE the dust!). The head constantly uses Cure Water on itself, which is his main annoyance and the reason you should hack at the eyes first. Also, it has many powerful spells (and an ANNOYING one that grabs a character and throws it around, leaving the victim unable to do anything). Try to kill this boss as soon as possible. The eyes have 425 HP. Your reward will be a Whip's Orb. Destroying the Doom's Wall leads into the appearance of an entrance. That entrance leads to a large, familiar chamber with a big platform in the middle; Dyluck is standing on it! Go talk to him. He doesn't seem to be 100% at this moment and kills the girl. The boy then whips out his hammer to knock some common sense into Dyluck ("...thanks, I needed that!"), and he tells you to enter the room in the back to find the girl. Thanatos is there, with the girl. Dyluck lends a helping hand and gives some life force to the girl, and whoo, a boss! You will have to confront a vampire, named, suitably, Vampire. Boss Strategy -- Vampire: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 35 HP: 2550 EXP: 5148 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 696 ELEMENT: Shade Chain-casting works extremely well against him, so if you don't want to bother fighting, do that. Vampire uses Undine-spells (Absorb and Freeze), can knock you unconscious, and uses Sleep Ring (that knocks you asleep). You can also get poisoned if you let a claw hit you, and Vampire can grab you and eat you like Spikey Tiger did. It's important to keep everyone alive; if you take him on solo, Vampire will cast numerous spells on you and you're outright gonna die. Weapons are not effective until he opens his wings, so charge your weapon while they're closed. You'll receive a Boomerang's Orb for defeating him. Good luck! Dyluck is gone already; what a shame. Leave the place by using the Magic Rope (the door to the north won't open anymore, by the way)--if you took one of the treasures on the balconies then you will end up there. Head back to the town. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-Q: A Truce...? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Glove's Orb, Axe's Orb, Whip's Orb, Javelin's Orb, Flammie Drum Monsters -- Metal Mantis, Emberman, Armored Man, Dark Ninja, Mystic Book, Mech Rider 2 EMPIRE NORTHTOWN ----------------------------------------------------- You can visit the doctor's house and hear that Phanna's vital signs are WAY off, but that she'll be alright. His house is left of the first fountain you'll encounter, and under the doc's house is the Resistance's base. Enter it. After you tell Krissie about what has happened, she'll (I still have to familiarize myself with using "she" when I'm talking about Krissie, so bear with me if I forget the "s" in the future) say that the Emperor might wants a truce... that, in fact, has been the Resistance's goal since it was established, so the group will head to the castle for negotiations. Follow them. NORTHTOWN CASTLE ----------------------------------------------------- After saving and sleeping at the inn, head to the castle, which is in the upper-left corner of the town. There's pretty much only one path you can take, as soldiers block the others. When you get to the dining room, nobody's there. Strange. Suspicious. Mysterious. Talk to the Emperor and he reveals that you're screwed--it's a trap. How... expected. You're dumped in a cell along with your buddies from the Resistance, and to leave, you'll have to talk with the guard. He lets you out, although he then throws you into a hole with a walking thing that likes to wave with razor-sharp cutting edges. Groovy. Boss Strategy -- Metal Mantis: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 34 HP: 1220 EXP: 4749 TYPE: Metallic MP: 40 GP: 1464 ELEMENT: None Yet ANOTHER recycled boss. Fortunately, Metal Mantis is easy. Have the sprite unleash with a few castings; it is also very possible to beat this boss without the help of magic, as Metal Mantis isn't too much of a threat. He uses a Fire Beam-attack that doesn't exactly hurt much, Gem Missile and Lunar Boost. Counter any attacks directed to you with Candies or Cure Water and you should be safe. Metal Mantis has 1220 HP and you will receive a Glove's Orb upon winning. How about that. Oh, and I wouldn't recommend using a Faerie Walnut this time, but just continue with weapons after your MP runs out, or use no magic at all. He's so easy. Step on the tile when it appears. Go to the left and make use of the yellow thing to do a Whip-jump without a Whip to the other side. Get 1000 GP on top of a platform when you see it, then enter the passage to your left. Three Embermen (Embermans?) await you here; though they are not hard to kill, they can duplicate and have strong Salamando- spells that knocked my party silly, so watch out. Free the members of the Resistance (I didn't though, and that deed did not have any noticeable effect) and go west. Go up the stairs, watch out for the Embermen and head outside. Kill the Armored Men and head all the way to the right (don't go inside via the entrance in the middle). Enter the door and head north. Kill the Armored Men, step on the switch to open the gate, and enter the small door. Though it seems there is only one Armored Man guarding the two chests, there are actually two extra hidden ones! So be careful, and after kicking some rust, open the two chests for two well-deserved treasures: an Axe's Orb and Whip's Orb! Return to get some fresh air and enter the large door in the middle. Remember that two guards, on your way to the Emperor, were blocking a flight of stairs to the left so you had to take the right one? Those guards are gone, so take the left stairs now. Watch out for the Dark Ninjas... they're hazardous to your health, as you've seen in various movies. Walk around until you get outside again, and then go inside by taking the big door. Inside, fight the Dark Ninjas and Mystic Books, and then step on the switch. A door appears. Enter, waste the Dark Ninja, and go up a room. Make a right. Defeat the Armored Men if they get in your way, and walk into the next area. Here, if you just go north and step on the two tiles, you will get blown back by DA FORCE. Instead, go right-left-up and step on the warp, and go left-up-right. But if you now step on the other tile, you will also get pushed back! What now? I'll tell you. The programmers are very mean, you know, so they put in a hidden switch on the wall north of you. Easy to miss. Plant your weapon in it and DA FORCE will disappear. You're now able to walk on the tiles and enter the door. The door leads to a room with four bad guys awaiting you... Geshtar pleads for another chance to finish you off. That wish is granted, so you will head to a long yet narrow area on top of the castle. Boss Strategy -- Mech Rider 2: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 37 HP: 1258 EXP: 6013 TYPE: Metallic MP: 30 GP: 1500 ELEMENT: None Geshtar will constantly ride left and right trying to bore that sharp point in you. This, in case it wasn't already apparent, must be avoided. Do so by not letting him go out of sight, watch where he's going and go out of his way to keep away from any damage (and getting knocked unconscious). Don't charge your attacks... once it's ready to chunk out a fair amount of damage, Mech Rider is gone already, and if you walk to the other side while charging, the same applies. To defeat him, use magic (utilize the elemental you leveled up most). It seemed to work much better than physical attacks, so... there you go. Fortunately, Mech Rider doesn't have THAT much HP. He'll use the ride-in-your-face-attack and fires hard-to-avoid missiles, mostly after you hit him. Infrequently, he'll also use Wave Cannon. This one hurts; trust me. Also, Geshtar uses Speed Up; note that when he uses this, get the hell out of his way because he's going to ride soon after he finishes. Mech Rider drops a Javelin should you manage to beat him. Oops. Looks like Geshtar's a bit pissed you demolished his lovely bike yet again, so for revenge he's gonna blow up the whole place. Just right when it looks like it's time for the curtains, you hear a sound... the sound of... King Truffle! Go to the right and have a chat with him. He will tell you that he came here by Flammie! Apparently, Flammie thinks you are his parents, so Truffle gives you the Flammie Drum. Pound on it anytime, anywhere, and Flammie will pick you up and fly off. Handy, that. But before you go explore the vast world of Secret of Mana, Truffle wants you to bring him back home to Matango, southwest of where you are now. Here are the controls for riding Flammie: A -- Go up (ascend). B -- Go down (descend). L/R -- Switch to overhead view, or vice-versa. Start -- Look at the map. If you're low enough, the screen will automatically shift into overhead view. To land, just hold the B-button--if nothing happens, you can't land. You can also press Start to look at the World Map in globe-form. If you now press L or R, the World Map will change to map-form, if you know what I mean. Be aware that I've got a sketch of the World Map in section 3-A, so look there if you're helplessly disoriented! You're welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-R: The Palace of Darkness ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Sea Hare Tail, Moogle Belt, 1000 GP, Glove's Orb Monsters -- Bomb Bee, Trap Flower, Eggatrice, Fierce Head, Dark Knight, Dark Ninja, Emberman, Imp, Lime Slime OPTIONAL / I BELIEVE I CAN FLY --------------------------------------- King Truffle can wait. ^_^; Fly to a small isolated island in the middle of the ocean (see the map in section 3-A if you have trouble finding it--look for the Sea Hare Island). The inhabitants of that island moved there because of the Empire, but they live quite poor over there. If you enter the big house in the middle you'll arrive in a merchant's shop. However, he's got nothing for sale but Sea Hare Tails. Surprised that you actually came here to get one, you'll get it gratis. Darrr... he's sitting in his store waiting ALL DAY for a customer to walk in to buy some Sea Hare Tails--which in reality will never happen--and he'll give his first and most likely only purchaser a tail for FREE? Ahem. Now, let's head to Kakkara, which is just north of you. Be sure to land in Kakkara (green place with houses and stuff) and not somewhere else, or you'll disembark in the desert. Talk to the two important- looking guys and they'll notice you've got a tail with you. Then, magically, water appears! In return for this favor, Amar grants you a Moogle Belt. This item can turn you into a Moogle, if you insist. WOW. How crap. You can also use it to transform back into a human if you're in trouble. If you haven't done this before, you can get the Midge Mallet. This works the same as the Moogle Belt, except that it shrinks and un- shrinks people. Get it by talking to the Elder in Gaia's Navel (the dwarf that stands in front of the big hole). OPTIONAL / MATANGO --------------------------------------------------- Fly to Matango, which looks like a castle with three purple circles and orange dots humping in and out. King Truffle says that you seek the Lofty Mountains, and that they're southwest of here. Before you go, head inside the castle and speak with Watts and upgrade your weapons. If you collected every single orb on your way, all weapons should be at level 5 now, with the exception of the Whip, which should be 6. If time allows, I recommend working on the most-used weapons and getting every elemental to the maximal level. OPTIONAL / MANDALA/MOUNTAIN ROAD ------------------------------------- When you're ready, board Flammie and head to the Lofty Mountains--it's the rocky part of the large island. There are two places where Flammie can land; in the center of the mountains lies the entrance to the Palace of Darkness, and somewhere near the ocean is the village Mandala. The palace is pretty much the center; Mandala is left of it, a few steps away. Obviously, the Palace of Darkness is where you HAVE to go now, but Mandala should not be missed either. Inside, head to the armor shop and buy the best stuff available: 3 Ivy Amulets, 3 Magical Armors, and 2 Circlets. It's expensive (44,725 GP!), but rewarding. Equip your party members and head to the tower north of the village. Head inside and talk to what the ancients called "Veedios" (*British accent* funny, ha ha). You will "learn" about the Mana Fortress war. When you're done here, leave. We've also got the Sage's Cave (to the right of the palace). If you for some reason want to go there, equip the Whip, because you'll be needing that often. Neko will appear mid-way (somewhere between two cliffs... he will come into sight after you walk a bit further); he stocks the same stuff as in Mandala, which you can buy if you wanna (you stupid person you). Inside the cave, a bird (Jehk) will say that Sage Joch went to the palace and that you must scram. Great. PALACE OF DARKNESS --------------------------------------------------- Get here by either summoning Flammie and landing in front of the cave, or walking that short, short distance on the Mountain Road. In the first room, defeat the Fierce Head (and any monsters it spawns). In the next room you can go left or right; take the right path after you give the Dark Knight a beating. Go north (avoid the ninjas) and ready the Axe. Whomp the stalagmites to your right; left is ignored for now, but I'm sure we'll have to return here because there's a crack in the wall... hmmm. Go south (north leads to a dead-end with two Fierce Heads). Note: Be sure to bust every Dark Knight you encounter 'cause they might drop Magical Armor. These pricey items sell for good cash or are of good use if you don't have them yet. Also, they might even drop GAUNTLETS!! These babies provide 90 defense, while the best ring obtainable 'til now provides only 20... Remember that enemies will disappear after beating the last boss of a dungeon, so you might want to spend some time here messing with those knights. Go to the left and through the passage. Tap the switch for a pole to appear (you cannot reach it with your Whip from here). Return and take the path leading south. In the next area (which is the second area of the palace, by the way), walk left and step on the switch. This opens up the gate you see in the lower-left corner of the screen- -the chamber that is now accessible contains a Glove's Orb (and two Fierce Heads). Ignore it for the moment. Take the stairs leading to the floor below and go through the passage. Watch out for the Dark Knight and walk through all those narrow passages. Pick the 1000 GP outta the chest and walk on, to arrive at the other side of the "second room". Don't go through the passage but go up the stairs. Don't attend the Dark Knight; just go through the passage. Here, avoid the enemies again and keep pressing the Up- button. You'll arrive in the cave-like area again. Kill the Embermen, don't go in the room above, and use the Whip on the stake you've let appear earlier. Step on the switch to reveal an entrance on the wall that had cracks in it. Obviously, that's where you need to go now, so run all the way back there. I personally use the Magic Rope now and pick up the previously-ignored Glove's Orb while trudging to the entrance. In the new area, head all the way north. Step on the switch and flames will appear on your left, making an invisible bridge. Walk on and repeat the process with another switch, and another one. Eventually, you will enter a dark room with a GIGANTIC blob, and a voice will tell you that he, Shade, is going to test you. Unfortunately. Boss Strategy -- Lime Slime: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 41 HP: 3470 EXP: 8000 TYPE: Slime MP: 99 GP: 3000 ELEMENT: Undine The blob's size is an indication of how much HP the slime has left. Bigger means more, smaller means he's weak. Magic does not have much effect if you didn't level it up, but if both the girl and sprite have a level 4-Salamando to their disposal, you will breeze through the fight. Use Exploder and Fire Bouquet continually, or do the chain-casting trick for 999s to appear. Lime Slime has many shadow-attacks that painfully hurt you, so let the girl reserve some MP to heal. If you're low in the levels, though, let her heal ALL THE TIME... those attacks will give you hell if you're weak. As for the boy, I would suggest not charging his weapon but just let him hitting the substance as soon as his meter reaches 100%. Another problem in this battle is that you can barely move around here; there are invisible walls and it's impossible to be in motion if you are IN the blob of slime. Note that once he changes colors, his slime-throw attacks inflict various status effects (engulf, frosty). However, these attacks are easily avoided once the slime gets small. All in all, the main thing you should keep an eye on is your HP; when this drops, heal immediately. If you do this, it's hard to lose. The After you win this battle, you will get a Javelin's Orb. After defeating Shade's monster, you will arrive in a room with the next Mana Seed, and an elemental in front of it. Talk to it, and you'll learn that it is Shade, the elemental of darkness. In return for sending that creature back to hell, the sprite will gain its powers. The sprite ONLY, but don't worry; the girl will receive an exclusive-to-her elemental soon. Before you leave, hit the Mana Seed on the pedestal to gain its powers and the possibility to up your magic's level to 5. OPTIONAL / SAGE'S CAVE ----------------------------------------------- If you talk to the bird-weirdo, he'll say that Sage Joch went to Gold Isle, northeast of here. Blargh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-S: Gold Isle ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Gold Tower Key, Spear's Orb, Boomerang's Orb, Axe's Orb, Bow's Orb Monsters -- Beast Zombie, Dark Ninja, Wizard Eye, Blue Spike, Emberman, Gorgon Bull GOLD CITY ------------------------------------------------------------ Call Flammie, turn 45 degrees to the right, and press forward until the sea is right below you. Turn 45 degrees to the left and fly ahead until you reach a small island, which is the Gold Isle. Find Watts in the lower-left shop he plundered, and get your weapons upgraded. Sleep at the inn (200 GP) if you need to. In the upper-left corner is a normal shop where you can buy lotsa goods... If you have the cash and want the finest stuff available, buy this: Dragon Helm (x3), Duck Helm (x2), Battle Suits (x3), Lazuri Ring (x3). Equip your characters. Now, north of the town is a tower, but the entrance to it is locked... In the city, if go up the wall, loop around the damn thing and talk to the guy at the end, you will learn that the key has been stolen by a Tasnican spy from Southtown! Hmmm... Mara was a Tasnican, and a spy, AND from Southtown! Let's check out if she knows more. Board Flammie and go east. Enter Mara's house and talk to her. She'll say that her husband was caught stealing a secret key on Gold Isle (what a coincidence!) and she finds it before you know it. More importantly, she'll give it to you, so you can continue your quest! (Note that she won't give the key to you or even mention it if you haven't talked to the guy on top of the wall in Gold City.) GOLDEN TOWER (PALACE OF LIGHT) --------------------------------------- Now you have the key, you can freely enter the palace. In the first room, beat the two Beast Zombies, and take the Spear's Orb out of the chest. Return to Gold City to forge it, and return. Go to the next room. Fight the Dark Ninja and the Wizard Eye, go through the door and up the stairs, and it's immediately boss time. Boss Strategy -- Blue Spike: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 43 HP: 1980 EXP: 9150 TYPE: Animal MP: 99 GP: 3840 ELEMENT: None It's the return of Spikey Tiger! Except he's blue and stuff. The main difference between the battles is that you now have access to magic. Actually, this is a very easy battle if you have bought the best equipment available--most of the tiger's attacks are blocked or very little damage is taken. But if you didn't buy the stuff yet, two attacks mostly means knock-out. I really recommend having the latest armor, as it REALLY shows... not only for this battle, but for the rest of the palace too. Blue Spike uses the same attacks of Spikey Tiger: dropping from the ceiling into your characters, rolling around, eating those that get close, and jumping on the platforms to cast spells (use the Bow if you can't reach him). If you get Moogled, quickly counter with the Moogle Belt. Cure when your HP gets below, say, 50 (or 150 if you don't have optimal armor), and charge your weapon while other party members are casting spells. Note that when you deplete 2/3 of his HP, you'll see a death-animation but he's still alive. You will get a Boomerang's Orb upon winning. Once you defeat Blue Spike, a stairway pops up. Take it, and you'll arrive in a familiar room... beat the enemies and circle around, up the stairway, to meet Gorgon Bull. Boss Strategy -- Gorgon Bull: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 44 HP: 2470 EXP: 9755 TYPE: Animal MP: 99 GP: 4800 ELEMENT: Gnome He has the ability of kicking your ass royally, but is practically really easy. He fears Sylphid, so pump him full of Thunderbolts-- each use (it Sylphid is level 5) should deplete about one fifth of his HP. In return he uses Earth Slide (level 8!), but that does only about 1 damage IF it's distributed to all of you. If two are alive, damage will skyrocket to the triple digits, and if a single person eats the spell, it's a super-speedy tour to the game-over- screen! So, keep an eye on your HP and heal when needed, if at all. Just attack, attack and attack while the sprite casts Sylphid over and over. Keep him busy (or else he'll cast Defender). After you hack away half of his HP (I think), he goes mad and his attacks are slightly stronger. Just be a bit more careful. A Bow's Orb will be your reward. A stairway similar to the one that appeared after defeating Blue Spike emerges out of the floor. Go up. Talk to Lumina, the elemental in front of the pedestal and the girl will gain her (it's her, right?) power! Now you totally own evil enemies... be sure to level-up the girl's magic to the max because you sure gotta whoop a lot of dark monsters... Steal some of the seed's powers and use the Magic Rope to get out of here. OPTIONAL / SAGE'S CAVE... AGAIN -------------------------------------- Go back to Gold City and have Watts reforge your weapons. Also upgrade your magic levels (see section 3-B for stuff). When you're done, head to the Sage's Cave. Jehk will say that the Sage went to the Moon Palace, which is in the Sea of Wonders. The Sea of Wonders is that big black hole (the "eye" of the desert of Kakkara). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-T: The Moon Palace ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- (none) Monsters -- Marmablue THE SEA OF WONDERS --------------------------------------------------- If you fly Flammie over the big black circle, you will find out that you cannot land in the middle of it; in front of the Moon Palace. Instead, you'll have to land near the border of it. Do so. (You can also get here without the aid of Flammie. See section 2-N for the how- to; it's not terribly special, though.) Go north and enter Karon's ferry--a friendly Robin Foot brings you to the Moon Palace. MOON PALACE ---------------------------------------------------------- Karon will be waiting so you can go inside the palace. Avoid the Marmablues; they have a Magic Absorb spell. When you go through the door, you will arrive in a seemingly-empty, black, full-of-Marmablues area. There has to be something here... and yes, it's a Crystal Orb! To find it, you'll have to walk around until you stumble upon it. Or, from the entrance, head one screen up (walk north until the purple flames are off-screen) and go all the way left/right. Sylphid's Analyzer indicates that Lumina's magic will work (how surprising); let the girl cast Lucent Beam for the room to turn "normal". The next room is the stage room! Head north and you'll find an elemental again. This time it's Luna, the moon elemental. Without hesitation, she bestows her powers upon both magic users, and a warm, fuzzy feeling of joy will go through you: the sprite has MAGIC ABSORB! Now you can (1) unload the sprite's spells on monsters without having to worry about MP and (2) give those Marmablues payback time. Masterful. Be sure to raise the Mana Seed, so that you can raise your magic levels to a max of 7. We're done here, by the way! Short, trouble-free. Lovely. OPTIONAL / SAGE'S CAVE... UNFORTUNATELY ------------------------------ If you NOW go to the Sage's Cave, the freakin' bird will tell you that Sage Joch went to Tasnica. Tasnica is the kingdom southeast of the Empire--see the map in section 3-A to see where to go. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-U: The Imposter ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Sword's Orb Monsters -- Dark Stalker CASTLE OF TASNICA ---------------------------------------------------- Contrary to before, guards won't be blocking your path now. Head inside the castle and you will meet Jema--he says that there's an Imperial spy inside, so you gotta be careful. Ignore the dumb soldiers (they say, "Where's the spy?" while walking around mindlessly) and just follow the path to end up in the throne room. Once you're there, talk to the King. He freaks out and thinks you're spies, following into a badly messed-up dialogue and an easy boss fight. A pathetically easy boss fight. So pathetic it isn't a boss fight anymore. Boss Strategy -- Dark Stalker: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Stats -- LV: 43 HP: 510 EXP: 1219 TYPE: Undead MP: 60 GP: 900 ELEMENT: Shade Ah yes, this is just a normal enemy that you will encounter later in the game. But for the sake of thoroughness, here's what you would call "filler material". ^_^; Um, just attack a few times or dump an amply leveled-up Lucent Beam to do away with him. He's got only 510 HP. Err... yo. After you let the Dark Stalker go poof, talk to the King to let him snap out of it. The King will give you a well-earned reward: a Sword's Orb! Jema then says that your journey is not over; you will have to do the Test of Courage (*echo*) by talking to that Sage Joch guy. Before you have the chance to tell him about your current misfortune concerning him, Jema heads off to give the Empire a foot in the below. Before you head to the Sage's Cave yet again, you can explore the castle. People are walking around now and there's a merchant hidden somewhere; in the "heart of theca stle" (second room south of the throne room), walk behind the counter and go southeast, through the wall. Even though the merchant offers a bunch of crap that you most likely do not need, he is the only person in the game that sells Royal Jams and does not have the name "Neko". Stock up on any healing items you need (don't buy equipment) and leave. And that's the end of another short chapter. Next is another shorty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-V: The Test of Courage ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- (none) Monsters -- Nitro Pumpkin, Shape Shifter, Marmablue, Shadow X1, Shadow X2, Shadow X3 SAGE'S CAVE... FOR THE LAST TIME ------------------------------------- Board Flammie and go to the Sage's Cave. This time, the bird will tell you go get the hell outta here again, but then the Sage appears. Go talk to him and he'll talk random garbage, which Jehk translates: "You must undergo a test. Conquer the ones within, and you'll find... courage." Say yes when he asks whether you want to try or not, and a path will open up. Enter. The Nitro Pumpkins are very hard to hit with weapons, so you're going to need magic to destroy them. However, they cast Wall initially, meaning that offensive magic will be bounced back to one of your characters. To damage them, you have to cast Dispel Magic (Shade) and follow with any strong, leveled-up spell. You'll want to save the sprite's MP, though, so be sure to throw in a few Magic Absorbs as well. There are also Shape Shifters in this dungeon. They, like the colored drops, multiply, but create other monsters instead. Try to prevent this; most generated monsters are those that you will also find in the final dungeon of the game. As for walking through this place, equip the axe as there are a lot of stalagmites you have to bunk down. There are a few intersections: at the first, go right, and at the second, take the lower path. Equip the Whip to get yourself on the other side, and then walk on. Eventually, you will enter a platform with your three doppelgangers! Jehk says that this is the real test... Boss Strategy -- Shadow X1/X2/X3: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 0 HP: 999 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Shade You are fighting against X1 (boy with Sword), X2 (girl with Gloves) and X3 (sprite with Boomerang). They seem to utilize charged attacks often, so be careful (unless you're adequately leveled-up and have the optimal armor). They won't employ magic on you, which is a plus. The minus is that your offensive magic isn't effective here, except for Evil Gate (which does damage based on the doppelgangers' HP). Use it one or two times if you want, then continue using regular weapons. I recommend equipping the "heavy" weapons, the Sword, Spear and the Axe, because they mostly hit (attacks from the other weapons are easily evaded by them) and inflict respectable damage. To make this fight plain unfair for them, cast Moon Saber on the party (or only on the boy if the other characters don't seem to do a crap). I suggest going for one shadow at a time; set the Targeting- function for that. Have the girl cast Lucid Barrier on everyone to minimize damage done if you're low in the levels, and heal when necessary. X1 has 999 HP, X2 and X3 have 800 HP. They're not too hard, trust me. You cannot leave the arena until you've thrashed all three mirror images, 'cuz "You can't escape your fears!" After you accomplish your task, head back. Joch will be gone, but you'll find out that it was all an illusion--Jehk is Joch! He was faking you all the time! Now anyway, Sage Joch tells you that the Empire is now ready to raise the sunken land and revive the Mana Fortress, which is indeed, a very, very bad thing. Prepare yourself, bring that big rocket launcher, and let's go put the boot in Empire arse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-W: Rise of the Sunken Continent ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Spear's Orb, Boomerang's Orb, Whip's Orb Monsters -- Aegagropilon, Dark Knight, Shape Shifter, Metal Crawler, Steelpion, Kimono Wizard, Basilisk, Marmablue, Hydra, Captain Duck, Fierce Head, Dark Stalker, Ghoul, Eggplant Man, Kettle Kin TREE PALACE ---------------------------------------------------------- You know that big purple island in the lower-right corner of the map? Fly Flammie there. Previously, you couldn't enter because a strong force was pushing you back. That force is no more now, so you can enter. Inside, the characters will automatically run to the three people that are already inside: the Emperor and his flunkies. Sheex, who was the Dark Stalker from Tasnica, wants revenge for what you've done to him... Boss Strategy -- Aegagropilon: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 46 HP: 3016 EXP: 11050 TYPE: Plant MP: 99 GP: 1800 ELEMENT: Dryad Aegagropilon is uh, French for "walking melon". Initially, he will cast Wall on himself, which reflects spells onto your party members. In order to get rid of this, cast Dispel Magic. Then, continue your regular boss-routine (which you should use for every boss from now on) by having the girl casting Luna's spells on everyone. The Burst- attack hurts, so you'll want to minimize damage done. Or, have the sprite use Magic Absorb all the time to completely drain his MP and preventing him from casting Wall AND Burst. Handy, that. Only do that if you leveled Luna's magic, though. While fighting him, be sure to stay the hell away from him. Touching any part of his body results into damage in the triple digits if you aren't careful. Use the hard-hitting weapons (Spear, Sword) from afar (don't bother charging attacks for this fight) while the girl cures and uses Luna's spells, and the sprite unloads with the most powerful spells to his disposal (Sheex doesn't have any weakness). Eventually, you will win. You will net a Spear's Orb should you win. After the battle, go left-down-right-up to enter the stage room. Run up to the Mana Seed to seal it... but it's too late! The seal is melting, which means that the continent that is underneath you will rise... Dryad, the tree elemental, appears. He tells you that you must get the hell out of here, and sprite encourages him to give the party his powers. Dryad says that his "Mana Magic" was sealed by Thanatos, though, meaning his help will be limited. After gaining his powers, the party will call Flammie and watch from above the Grand Palace rise. The music while riding Flammie has changed. Instead of a happy tune, you will have to listen to a sad melody. Whatever the case, land Flammie. LOST CONTINENT ------------------------------------------------------- Talk to Jema after you beat the Dark Knights. He'll tell you what's going on: the sunken continent has surfaced, on top of that is the Grand Palace, and below there is the Ancient City. You need to find a way through the palace to reach the city, but if you go inside, you'll see that the main entrance has no paths. So, you'll have to find a way TO the Grand Palace as well. Depressing. Head down the stairs while you do away with the Dark Knights, Shape Shifters and Metal Crawlers. At the foot of the tower are two stairs, leading to the ground; the right way leads to a pool with nothing but a Dinofish, so best to go left. Well, left brings you to a pool too, but this one is bigger and there's a stairway at the end. Go down it. QUICK NOTES ---------------------------------------------------------- A few enemies (in this chapter AND in the next one, thus enemies in and around the Grand Palace) might drop super-duper equipment. Be sure to fight the monsters if you meet them. Here's the noteworthy: Monster: Spoils: Stats: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯ Basilisk -- Cockatrice Cap -- Head, DEF +142 Dark Knight -- Gauntlet -- Arm, DEF +90 Dark Stalker -- Ninja Gloves -- Arm, DEF +91 Eggplant Man -- Watcher Ring -- Arm, DEF +93 National Scar -- Amulet Helm -- Head, DEF +143 THE SUBWAY (OR WHATEVER IT IS) --------------------------------------- I'm not sure what the name of this location is, but I thought "Subway" was appropriate. Hit me. Kill the Steelpion and go left. You see those purple and blue spikes there? You can't walk through them until you whack them away with the Axe, so equip the Axe (leave it equipped because there's a lot more). Step on the yellow face to jump to the upper level, and run to the right to cross the waterfall; remember that if you walk, you will flow back to the first floor. Open the chest for a Boomerang's Orb, and go through the entrance to your left. Hack 'n slash your way through the field. How tempting it may be, try not to step on the tile surrounded by blue spikes (or plants, whatever); it makes all the obstacles rematerialize. Go all the way north, avoid the Kimono Wizard, and go left when you hit the wall (ouch! :P). There's a cascade of which the current is too strong for you to run to the path left of it. These waterfalls can only be passed by flowing with the stream and attacking a red button on your way; hold the Up-button to make sure you don't miss it. If you do miss it, you'll have to go all the way back to retry. Repeat the process with the third waterfall; the second has no switch. Remember that the switches on the left are fake; the real one is to the right. Go through the passage that is in the end, and get ready. Boss Strategy -- Hydra: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 48 HP: 3382 EXP: 12439 TYPE: Lizard MP: 99 GP: 3600 ELEMENT: Undine If you remember Jabberwocky at the Water Palace, you know how to handle this one. However, there's one new factor you ought to take note of: Hydra can grow his heads back! This is annoying. Hydra's weakness--and he's REALLY weak against it--is Salamando. Have the sprite cast Exploder and the girl use Fire Bouquet. If you leveled the sprite's Salamando to 4 or 5, each casting should wham 300-400 damage apiece. Let the girl cast Fire Saber on the boy, the boy charge his weapon, and the sprite casts his spells, and this boss should go down in a flash. The reward for your troubles is a Whip's Orb. After clearing the room, you'll find the Emperor with a buddy of his, Fanha, and a regular soldier to substitute that guy you gave a six- pack of beating earlier. They leave before you have the chance to take 'em on. Continue. Ignore the Kimono Wizard and its spawns, and go down the stairs. In the next room is a handful of monsters. Fight them and move on to what appears to be a wall with three entrances, but only the one in the middle takes you to the next area. You will turn up in a room with Captain Ducks (gotta love 'em) and two conveyor belts. Walk over the one to the left (the one that makes you walk slowly) while hugging the left wall; you will enter a hidden chamber. In here is a switch. Step on it, and proceed to the rest of the room (there should've been something here blocking your path but you just got rid of it). Watch out for the Fierce Heads (they're easy to kill, though) and walk forward. Head into the first door you see. It's the Watts guy! I so happy. Upgrade your weapons (most should be level 5 now, some level 6). Go north and you'll find Krissie, too. Talk to her (updated in rev. 1.0 of the FAQ from "him" to "her"-- arghable!) to restore your HP (not MP), and then speak to the soldier that is walking around as well. He'll tell you a secret code that he learned from an enemy: Red-Blue-Yellow-Green. Naturally, you have to remember this. Or you just commit fraud by using this guide. Head outside and trudge on. When you get to an intersection, go left, since there's a brick wall to the right. A brick wall means you can go down it but not back up! This is one massive splotch of suck if you happily went down one and realized you're back in the beginning and have to start over again. Note: However, it's possible to get up there by exploiting an unintentional bug. You know those charged attacks, right? A few of them make the performer walk forward and attack (e.g. Sword, level 1). Now, if you do this in front of the bricks facing north, you can pass it. You'll have to do this with all three characters individually. This way, you can skip a big (but not THAT large) portion of this maze... there's isn't anything you'll miss, so it's a quick time-saver. If you're planning to do this, do so, and walk on until you reach four buttons. Skip the paragraph directly below and read on. Go left and through the passage. Follow the conveyor belt up, kill the Fierce Heads, and jump down the bricks. Take a right and move onward, past the Dark Knight. When you find a switch, step on it and go back to where the Dark Knight was. The barrier has been removed, allowing you to go through the passage. Loop around the damn place and you'll see four switches situated in the form of a plus. Walk in the center of it and the barrier will go bye-bye. Follow the path, and you will ultimately see four colored buttons on the wall. Kill the Dark Stalker, which is a normal enemy now. Remember the code that the soldier gave you? Red-Blue-Yellow-Green... ah. You have to hit the buttons in that order. Do so, and the barrier below will vanish. Go through the entrance and continue. Use Gnome on the Kimono Wizards to clear the path and you'll get to a switch. Step on it (for some reason, that is only possible AFTER doing the four-button- code, meaning the shortcut-trick could not be applied for this). Walk all the way to the right and go through the passage that was blocked earlier. Eventually, you'll find a Fierce Head in front of two conveyor belts. Take the one to the right. Avoid the Dark Stalkers (or kill them; they MIGHT drop Ninja Gloves!) and you'll arrive at... eh, a subway station? What...ever. Enter the train (check the windows--is the train RIDING?) and run ALL THE WAY to the right. Don't mind the Ghouls, unless you want to fight them for the experience. An Eggplant Man should be at the end somewhere; this guy is best avoided since he poops out Needlions (super-Pebblers) and has a level 7-Lucent Beam in his bag of magic spells. On the other side of the subway station, kill the Shape Shifters, and run all the way south. There should be two H-shaped structures here; walk through the right one to open up the door south. In this new area, whack the Dark Stalker and jump all the way down (or do the shortcut-trick on the bricks to your left). Make your way to the doorway you see in the lower-left corner and go through it. Those wacky guys from the Scorpion Army are here, and in order to get their hands on that lovely sword of yours, they release Kettle Kin on you. Boss Strategy -- Kettle Kin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 52 HP: 1230 EXP: 15555 TYPE: Metallic MP: 33 GP: 3360 ELEMENT: None 1230 HP? What a laugh. You won't even NEED the girl and the sprite here... just equip any strong weapon (I did it with the Sword) and do the usual thing: run to him, slash, and get the hell away. The only problem is that he casts Lucid Barrier on himself, which protects him from physical attacks. You should either not give him the chance of doing this by attacking him repeatedly or let the sprite cast Dispel Magic. If you want to use magic, Burst (Dryad) seemed to work best for me. Watch out for his hammers; they knock you unconscious. You will acquire a Bow's Orb when you beat this scrap. If you die, I guess that if you had a gun, you couldn't even hit the side of a barn FROM THE INSIDE. You will appear outside after you show the Scorpion Army who they were messing with. Find the big door and go inside (hey, did the area here change?). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-X: The Grand Palace ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Sword's Orb, Javelin's Orb, Whip's Orb, Spear's Orb Monsters -- Heck Hound, Doom Sword, Turtlance, Gremlin, National Scar, Marmablue, Snap Dragon, Hexas, Mech Rider 3 GRAND PALACE --------------------------------------------------------- Ah, the Grand Palace. This is anything BUT a straightforward place, so sit down and listen. There are various Crystal Orbs everywhere that all need a roast. If you miss one, you're easily lost, so it's suggested to bust through this place in one go and in the following order (which is summoning the spirits in the order that you've gotten those elementals). It's not THAT complicated, but here are the steps. Remember that you can cast any spell (e.g. even Acid Rain, or Silence), as long as you use the appropriate elemental. 1. Walk forward (not up the stairs) and go through the door in the middle. Ditch the Gremlins and go into the room on your right. If you want, defeat the Doom Swords (remember that magic barely hurts them). Go up and slice the National Scar as well (if it's there), then use Undine on the Crystal Orb. You'll hear a distant sound... 2. Repeat the process with the orb-room to the right, except this time use Gnome. 3. Go back to the first room and go up the stairs, past the Turtlance (slay them if you wish). Go up another staircase, and conquer two Gremlins. Equip the Whip and cross chasms twice; first down, then left. Go through the doors that you see (which you can't reach if you didn't do the previous orbs) and scat Sylphid on the Crystal Orb. 4. As expected, you'll have blow another orb in the room all the way to the right. To reach it, head south through the passage, go to the right, head north through the passage, and enter the door. Make sure you cast Salamando this time. 5. Remember a wide stairway on your way to this room? Go back to that place and go up. There's a gate in front of you, but ignore it for now. First, head to the right and then south through the passage (it is actually very hard to see THAT you can go through there...). In the next orb-room, utilize Shade. 6. Yep, you guessed it; you'll have to ask for Lumina's help to whomp the orb in the opposite room. On your way, be sure to get the Sword's Orb from the chest... this one sometimes disappears, so get it if you see it! Re-enter the place if you have rotten luck. Oh, and remember that if you see a door or a passage and I never tell you to go there, it's probably a dead-end or a loop. 7. One orb left... Go back to the area with the gate. See that switch there? You CAN go around and hit it, but using a long- range weapon works as well and is faster. Run through the opened gate and go up. In this chamber, go to through the narrow passage in the upper-left corner and walk down the stair set. Run down, right and up and enter a big room with many switches. Left on a plateau is one. Step on it, go down the stairs that appear, walk on another one, and equip the Whip. Get on the other side, go through the door, and let the sprite use Luna's magic on the Crystal Orb. 8. Return to the big room and go to the opposite side. Repeat the process with the switches and the poles (note that there is no pole if you haven't gotten rid of the last orb) and go up the stairs. Step on the switch, and... LET'S KICK SOME BOSS BUTT -------------------------------------------- First victim is a familiar little lizard. Boss Strategy -- Snap Dragon: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 56 HP: 1215 EXP: 19200 TYPE: Dragon MP: 6 GP: 12480 ELEMENT: Undine Aw, how cute. This is similar to the Biting Lizard except that this one skipped the Tonpole-form. Snap Dragon appears to have the same problem: if you don't move, he'll eventually don't do a crap too and just look around. If he's in your weapon's range, then that means a clean victory. If that takes too long, pile a few fire-spells on him. Snap Dragon will use Cure Water three times (he's only got 6 MP you know) when his HP runs low, so either attack some longer or use Magic Absorb (recommended). This baby, who's just a warming-up for the next battle, has to be defeated if you want a Javelin's Orb. Hi-ho. After beating this li'l dragon, go up to the stage room (you've been here before, remember?). In front of the seed, however, you'll find... the Emperor? Is he... dead? Hmmm. Wondering who could've done such an awful thing (HE WAS MINE!!), the party will notice that there's now a back entrance. Head through. In the next area, you'll find Fanha. She (it's a she, correct?) tells you that "they" want the Mana Fortress to rule the world. Soon after, you'll discover that the other part of the "they" is Thanatos... it's all a conspiracy! Thanatos heads to bump the fortress out of the earth to sequentially conquer the world, and you will have to fight Fanha. Boss Strategy -- Hexas: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 57 HP: 3465 EXP: 20103 TYPE: Undead MP: 69 GP: 14400 ELEMENT: None Hexas is fond of using Pygmus Flare repeatedly, which pygmizes a character (and drastically decreases defense; quickly use the Midge Mallet!). She'll also draw on Dispel Magic much, which nullifies any special effects (e.g. charged weapon, saber). On top of that, you will undoubtedly have a few Freeze/Acid Storm-combos down your through. Worst of all, she's freaking UGLY. Every magical attack seems to inflict 1 or very little damage, aside from Burst. Because Hexas uses her attacks over and over again, chain-casting is your friend here... When the sprite's MP runs out, have him use Magic Absorb repeatedly (chain-casting again) for a few times (depends on how much you leveled it up). Alternatively, you can drain her MP completely, so that she'll only be able to use Pygmus Flare, which makes the battle a LOT easier if you have the Midge Mallet. It's not a very hard battle... and you won't even need to heal if you follow the above instructions. Enjoy. You will receive a Whip's Orb if you manage to deplete enough HP and overcome her "KICK ME IN THE FACE"-expression. So ugly. Now, go north all the way. Step on the green button at the end and you will be transported to another area. Mech Rider 3 is here, and it seems that it's not Geshtar controlling it, but that Thanatos created a living fighting machine using ancient magic. ("How utterly evil...") Boss Strategy -- Mech Rider 3: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 58 HP: 4327 EXP: 21104 TYPE: Metallic MP: 38 GP: 16000 ELEMENT: None The boy should attack with his strongest weapon, and preferably with the aid of Lunar Boost and Moon Energy. The girl should cure when needed, and the sprite use magic. Have him cast Dispel Magic when you see the word "Wall" on the screen, then chain-cast any high- level magic. Mech Rider will ride left and right while casting Wall and Speed Up (and Thanatos somehow wrongly configured him, since I saw him using many Speed Ups WHEN HE HAD THE WALL-BARRIER UP). Don't stay in his horizontal range, for you might get knocked unconscious. The combinations of weapons and magic will eventually lead into a triumph, and a reward for that is a spankin' Spear's Orb. After kicking yet another butt (next!), Thanatos activates the Mana Fortress! Once the party barely gets away, they see from above the place sinking again. Riding Flammie, you can also see a round mini- planet thingy in the air. That, mister, is the Mana Fortress everyone's talking about. You can enter it by flying Flammie slowly over it, but for now, entry is impossible. Instead, land in front of the Tree Palace. Or Grand Palace, whatever. TREE PALACE ---------------------------------------------------------- Jema, the Resistance, and a few other people are here now. Talk to Jema, who tells you that soon, the Mana Beast will come and bust the fortress and destroy the world... He says that you must go to the Pure Land, in order to revive the Mana Sword; only then you will have a chance to survive. After he's done rambling, find the other people, talk to them, and most importantly, buy the newest goods from Neko! It's extremely expensive (almost 400,000 GP if you buy everything!), but you WILL need it... trust me. If you don't have the cash, sell all of your old stuff. Of course, don't buy things if you have substitutes (the good stuff the enemies dropped). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-Y: The Pure Land ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- Axe's Orb, Bow's Orb, Javelin's Orb, Glove's Orb, Sword's Orb, Boomerang's Orb Monsters -- Needlion, Griffin Hand, Mushgloom, Ice Thug, Dragon Worm, Snow Dragon, Eggplant Man, Ghost, Axe Beak, Red Dragon, Thunder Gigas, Blue Dragon I CAN'T SEE THE FOREST THROUGH ALL OF THEM TREES --------------------- Note: I've said it before and I'll say it again: wear Neko's spankin' armor! If you don't do so, the monsters' attacks will do 200-300 damage per hit, but if you do, the counter will mostly not even reach 25. Quite a difference, eh? Alright then. Note: The above note is très important. The Pure Land is located on the only island you haven't been to yet; the "volcano"-like round land mass in the upper-left corner of the world (see the map). Land Flammie, and you will hear a voice saying, "...I've been waiting. Come here, quick! I've got milk and cookies!" Alright. Head north to the next screen, after you defeat the Needlion and the Griffin Hand. The Griffin Hands are easy to take care of, and they drop Griffin Helmets (strongest helmet for the boy), so it's a wise thing to kill every single one you encounter. Ready the Sword or the Axe and cut away the bushes. Go north again (actually, there are two paths you can take; take any). While finding your way around the place (it's all pretty straightforward), obliterate the Mushglooms, Ice Thugs (Ice Thugs sometimes drop Dragon Rings, which are pretty too) and Griffin Hands. Eventually, you will reach an entrance to a cave. Enter, and you will arrive in a place that is not a cave, but does hold a boss. Boss Strategy -- Dragon Worm: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 61 HP: 3525 EXP: 24290 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 17460 ELEMENT: Gnome Dragon Worm is very similar to his grandpa Great Viper in many ways. Take his appearance, for instance. Furthermore, his movements. And his elemental: Sylphid. Needless to say, pile Thunderbolts on the worm while keeping physical assaults to a minimum, because he moves around like mad. And getting hit may result in getting turned into a Moogle, so be careful. During the battle, Dragon Worm uses Balloon Ring (balloons you), Petrify Gas (petrifies you), and a strong Earth Slide that deals immense damage if you aren't at optimal strength. On the other hand, if you ARE well-equipped, then you needn't worry. Just swift through the fight by using Thunderbolts to deplete a total of 3525 HP and this fight is over with. Victory will yield you an Axe's Orb... ...as well as a new path. Head north and north again, and you will find a special structure. If you go through the gate-like thing, though, a voice says that you need to exterminate the dragon to the left... and before you face this fiend, the voice asks you to save the game. Once you're done and stuff, head left and... no boss. Kill some Griffin Hands and head to the upper-left corner. There lies the entrance to the place where Snow Dragon resides. Boss Strategy -- Snow Dragon: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 63 HP: 2800 EXP: 26588 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 18360 ELEMENT: Undine You don't need Analyzer to discover this guy's weakness. Have the sprite and the girl double up to pump him full of Salamando and you will win in no time--if you leveled Salamando to the max then the fight is plain unfair. If you didn't, or don't have MP... well, bad luck. Snow Dragon uses Balloon Ring and Freeze Breath, which turns you into a snowman plus damages you. In addition, he has a powerful Freeze to his potential which does about the same damage as the Earth Slide from the Dragon Worm earlier. And the thing you should really watch out for is Breath Wing, which hurts. The Salamando- strategy works best here, but if you, the tough guy that you are, want to take him on with a melee weapon, be my guest. Try to keep distance and use charged attacks, and you will ultimately claim a Bow's Orb. Leave the arena and head back to the gate. You can now continue and you will be asked again to save your game. Do so if you wish and move on. At the fork, go to the right (left leads to a dead-end) and find a cave. Go in. In the new area, just run through the damn place (Ghosts cannot be hit with weapons, also) and you will eventually enter Axe Beak's nest. Boss Strategy -- Axe Beak: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 64 HP: 2800 EXP: 27784 TYPE: Bird MP: 99 GP: 20400 ELEMENT: Salamando Yawn... a really easy battle. Axe Beak is a fiery version of the Springbeak you've met in the Upper Land earlier and his daily occupation seems to be jumping around. Another problem is that he's not exactly easy to hit with physical attacks, so I suggest forgetting about weapons in the first place and kicking sprite before him. Axe Beak uses Salamando-attacks that don't hurt you at all if you're decently leveled-up and his weakness is obviously Undine. Have sprite unleash with a few doses of Freeze and you'll be finished before you know it. Healing is rarely needed, if at all. You'll win a Javelin's Orb once you win. After killing this bird, an entrance opens up to the north. Go through. In the next small room, immediately go outside of the cave because the enemies will give you hell should you get trapped in a corner. Once you're outside, cut your way through the bushes and make your way north. You will eventually reach another gate that cannot be gone through before defeating the dragon to the left. Alas. However, you'll be asked to save the game if you try, so save the game, then head left into the cave. Find an entrance, and... Boss Strategy -- Red Dragon (tm): ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 65 HP: 3000 EXP: 29000 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 21800 ELEMENT: Salamando Red Dragon is the yang of the yin you've met earlier (Snow Dragon), and the only real difference is his use of magic attacks. He won't throw with Freezes and all, but makes use of Salamando's magic to kick the heck out of you. Unlucky for him, you have an elemental named Undine right there, and whaddaya know--he's weak against her! See the strategy of the Snow Dragon for more info if you're stuck. You'll acquire a Glove's Orb once you win. Once you're able to continue, make sure you save your game! Then, just walk forward through the path--if the path forks it doesn't matter which way you go. Eventually, you will arrive in a "+"-shaped path with two Griffin Hands and a Mushgloom. You either came from the west or the east. South is actually not even a path, so north is the only option left... enter. Boss Strategy -- Thunder Gigas: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 66 HP: 4462 EXP: 30277 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 99 GP: 30600 ELEMENT: Sylphid Since you've met some Gigas dudes earlier, this guy's attack pattern is predictable. He punches the ground to do damage to everyone near him and uses several Sylphid-spells. These do very little damage and a Cure Water will quickly recover health. As always, he'll also turn into little orbs that fly around--use this moment to heal! Healing is paramount in this boss battle, the hardest in the Pure Land. Reason for that is his Blitz Breath-attack. Even with Neko's super-sexy armor, this will do damage that makes the previous bosses absolutely nothing--400+ HP of damage is not unheard of. I haven't taken the time to level-up in my game, so these were instant kills for me. A good Dryad may be of use (Revivifier), and if you've never used a Cup of Wishes in your entire play-through, that might change with this fight. Fortunately, a sufficiently leveled-up Gem Missile or Earth Slide does about as much damage as his Blitz Breath. Keep piling these spells on him and he will eventually bite the dust. Remember not to use weapons; he is (1) hard to hit and (2) he might cast Thunder Saber upon you, and thunder SO happens to be his favorite elemental. Later in the battle, he'll transform in those orbs more and more often; you must be quick with casting spells or he'll be gone once the spell kicks off, resulting in approximately zero damage. Try to keep him busy (in order to keep his use of Blitz Breath to a minimum) and you'll eventually win. Your well-deserved Sword's Orb shall be the prize. And we, sadly, aren't finished yet. Only one boss left, though, and it's a dragon. Walk through the new entrance and go on till you see a gate. Save your game if you want, and then head left. You need to use the Sword or the Axe to cut through the bushes (ignore the monsters; they are hiding under the trees and), and once you head through the entrance in the north, you will arrive on a wide open space what seems to be a castle rooftop, with the Blue Dragon. Boss Strategy -- Blue Dragon: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 67 HP: 3200 EXP: 31570 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 28560 ELEMENT: Sylphid The Blue Dragon is also weak against Gnome. Use Gem Missiles or Earth Slide all the battle and this'll be over with shortly. Er... if you can beat Snow and Red, this shouldn't be any problem at all. Blue has a Blitz Breath attack, but luckily, it is nowhere near Thunder Gigas's one. Blue follows the same attack pattern as the previous dragons, so... there you go. Boomerang's Orb. After defeating Blue Dragon, head back to the gate and save. Go through. You will appear on a spot from where you can see the Mana Tree! Alright! Time to revive the Mana Sword and teach the bad guys a lesson! At that moment, though, the Mana Fortress shows up and Thanatos does a trippin' BOOM!-effect on the tree... You will appear unconscious near the tree and once you wake up, she'll talk to you. You'll discover a few very important things; the ghost you've seen when you released the Mana Sword near Potos is Serin, your father! And your mother, in fact, is this big beheaded tree. These revelations result in an "OMG WTF"-reaction by the boy, but your companions snap you out of it, and it is time to teach Thanatos who's THE MAN. Note: By finishing these events at the Mana Tree, you will now gain the ability to build your magic up to level 8. Did you upgrade the orbs in your weapons already? And your magic? It is highly recommended to upgrade each elemental to the max level, as well as weapons. There is only one area left to clear, and you better attempt to take it down in optimal form. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-Z: The Mana Fortress... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Items -- (none) (but the enemies drop HIGH-QUALITY stuff) Monsters -- Captain Duck, Dark Stalker, Kimono Wizard, Fiend Head, Metal Crab, Turtlance, Tsunami, Wolf Lord, Marmablue, National Scar, Doom Sword, Whimper, Buffy, Shape Shifter, Basilisk, Dread Slime, Master Ninja, Terminator, Dark Knight, Dark Lich, Mana Beast MANA FORTRESS -------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you're reading this (and most obviously you do, making this sentence sound exceptionally stupid), bear in mind that the strong enemies in this place occasionally drop treasure chests, and if you're lucky, they might contain the last weapon orb that you need to get your weapon to the max level! Also, some monsters drop ultimate armor that are the best available in the game; be sure to fight every single enemy! See section 4-B if you're missing orbs, to see what beasts you will have to kill. Be on Flammie and find the flying thing that looks like a piece of scrap. Slowly ride Flammie to it and the dragon will hover above the mini-planet and enter it. On the exterior of the fortress, find your way to the entrance while watching out for the various monsters, and go inside. Okay; you will need the Whip quite a few times in this level so equip it. Head north after defeating the Metal Crabs and defeat the other monsters. Whip yourself to the other side, step on the pink tile, and walk north over the created path. Watch out; there is a Fiend Head with a Dark Stalker here. In the next area is a Heck Hound and a Wolf Lord (watch out for him!). Eliminate anyone that comes in your path, and resume north. Now, you will need the Axe. Utilize it on the diamond-like green things that block your way (you have to hack more than one time) and step on the switch. It creates a path leading to the right (and regenerates the diamond-things). Step on the other switch, and a path to the left will appear, requiring you to use the Whip to continue. Bust the National Scar and head south. Here, you can either go west, or use the Whip to go south. The path to the left leads to a dead- end, so cross chasms via any of the two poles. Again, walk all the way south, stepping on two switches, and beating down the foes you'll encounter. You'll turn up at a place filled with a buttload of those diamonds. Equip the Sword/Axe and hack your way through the place; be sure NOT to touch the switch or else everything you mowed down will grow back. Kick the hell out of the Metal Crab and continue your kung fu on the Tsunamis north. Circle around the corner and ready the Whip. Pull yourself to the other side, and after you get rid of the Captain Ducks (stupid name), enter the big door. Inside is a Whimper guarding a warp; enter the warp and you will arrive in a big dark place housing a big dark vampire. Boss Strategy -- Buffy: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 70 HP: 4200 EXP: 35686 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 22200 ELEMENT: Shade They inappropriately gave the vampire its slayer's name! Whatever the case, ready the girl's magic skills; the significant difference between this and the battle between the other Vampire is that you now have access to the magic both bosses are weak against. Lucent Beam is your comrade--cast a bunch of 'em and big numbers will appear. Buffy will cast Wall at some point, in which case you should throw him (her/it?) a Dispel Magic. You can also stick to physical attacks; charged attacks empowered by Light Saber hurt as well. But I still prefer a powered-up Lucent Beam, which does whoppin' damage. Buffy's attacks aren't exactly something to watch out for; you will occasionally eat an Energy Absorb, and this is mostly followed by a Dispel Magic. Other spells in Buffy's bag of spells include Freeze, Dark Force and Leaden Glare. There are also the old-school physical attacks (claw, grab 'n eat, jump on you from above). These attacks do not inflict major injury, but be sure to heal whenever it is needed. Should you win this battle, you will not gain an orb! Damn! Oh well... After you win, you can return to the warp (good if you want to fight the Whimper to get his items). But to continue, step on the switch north and you will arrive in an intersection with Heck Hounds left and right. This place is a simple maze, and I drew a complete map of the place. I do not know why I had the sudden urge to do this... sorry. (d)----+ +--+ a. The start. Heck Hound left and right. | | (e) | b. Two poles situated; need Whip to cross. (d) +--+ (f) c. Dead-end; just a bunch of diamonds to mow. | | d. You need the Whip to cross these areas. +--+--+ + e. A mini-maze! Maddening. | | (b) f. The last warp... | +--+ +--+ g. Secret door leading to porn images. | | | | (c) +-(a)-+ +--+--+ As you can see, the optimal way of crisscrossing through this area is going right at first, then right again when you get to a split, using the Whip to go up, and right yet again. Cross the mini-maze and step on the warp to find... Boss Strategy -- Dread Slime: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 71 HP: 5000 EXP: 37000 TYPE: Slime MP: 99 GP: 26400 ELEMENT: Lumina Dread Slime is the opposite of Lime Slime; instead of shrinking in size with every hit, this one is baby-blob that grows to an ENORMOUS splotch covering the entire screen when you give it a good beating. It may be very hard to believe, but Dread Slime is actually WEAK against darkness. Have the sprite use Dark Force (which is cheap and does respectable damage) continually (chain-casting might help). The others can watch. Or, align them horizontally to the core of the slime and employ long-range charged attacks. As for his attacks, he's quite weird. He will counter most elemental spells with a level 7-version of it on a random party member. On top of that, he will throw around with Acid Storms like there's no tomorrow, and this will hurt you if you don't watch out, OR... if you don't have Wall! This spell bounces back most spells directed to you and seriously, this saves your huge ass. So the strategy is: Wall plus Dark Force. Effortless. You will need to deplete a total of 5000 HP if you want to remove the "r" in Dread Slime's name. You can now go north. Be careful now! The last part of the Mana Fortress is filled with tough and VERY hard-hitting monsters (namely, the Master Ninja, Terminator, and the Wolf Lord). When you meet a group of these, you better run off if you're low in the levels, since a game-over is not unheard of in this place. Go north, kill the Dark Stalkers, and go past the Master Ninja. You will then arrive in a room where Terminators are introduced; they are weak against Shade so poof them with a Dark Force. Next is a Wolf Lord, which you've met earlier. Unleash with Lumina here, but try to conserve the girl's MP and save a few walnuts. You will need it for the next boss battles. Note: These three ultimate monsters drop the ultimate equipment, too. Terminators drop Faerie Crowns (DEF +145, girl/sprite only), Wolf Lord drop Faerie Rings (DEF +100, all), and Master Ninjas drop Faerie Cloaks (DEF +250, girl/sprite only). For the boy, you will need a Griffin Helm (dropped by Griffin Hands) and a Power Suit (dropped by Whimper) to get his ultimate equipment. Whip yourself to the other side and go left and down. Kill the now relatively easy Fiend Head and move on; Master Ninjas and Terminators will block your way. Follow the path all the way while fighting more monsters and you will in due course end up by some of those diamonds. Hack them away and ready Shade, because three Terminators await you! They are easy to kill as long as you target Dark Force on a single one at a time. Walk north and you will be in a NO-shaped room... funny. Walk into the warp and you'll wind up on the platform where you put the boot in Mech Rider 3; enter the warp to the right and you will meet Thanatos. Remember; it's a point-of-no-return here! If you continue from here, you will resume to the final battles of the game, without there being some sort of exit leading back to the earth! THE SHOWDOWN --------------------------------------------------------- Accompanied by Dyluck, he will tell you that he was looking for a body like Dyluck's for a long time. The girl doesn't accept this and attacks Thanatos, with success, it seems... but then you'll discover he resides in Dyluck's body already! Dyluck himself uses his last strength to talk to you, and yeah, what'd you expect? A boss fight! Boss Strategy -- Dark Lich: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 72 HP: 6666 EXP: 38600 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 27000 ELEMENT: Shade Thanatos isn't as hard as you'd expect. Dark Lich is, well, dark, and dark means that he detests light, so pummel away with Lucent Beam! That spell, even though it's expensive, does uber damage. Don't you even bother using weapons; they only hit when they're charged and Light Saber doesn't help much. Instead, keep firing Lucent Beams and let the sprite cast Burst (that spell seemed to work best for me). If you want an almost-guaranteed victory, have the sprite chain-cast Magic Absorb, since Dark Lich is pretty much helpless without MP. His only attacks will then be Leaden Glare and those other beams. Speaking of attacks, he has a lot of them! Occasionally, of course, he will use Shade-spells, but he has other elements to his possession. They don't really hurt much, but make sure you heal when it is needed. Dark Lich will, after a li'l while, disappear and let his hands do the dirty work; do NOT stand in-between them or you will go shish kebab. Instead, cast spells over and over again, and/or charge your best weapon. He will eventually rematerialize, and ultimately bite the dust when you reduce all 6666 of his HP. You won't get an orb, but instead, the seal on Dryad's Mana Magic will be gone! Hooray! But it is not yet time for a party, as the Mana Beast attacks the fortress and announces a social gathering. Leave via the warp below and a dialogical sequence follows, and that results in the party wipin' some big bad Flammie in order to, yes, save the friggin' world. LET'S-A SAVE THE WORLD! ---------------------------------------------- Boss Strategy -- Mana Beast: (*echo*) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 73 HP: 9990 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 99 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Dryad The girl and sprite will say that you should whip out the Sword and that they use Dryad's Mana Magic in order to revive the Mana Sword. The only weapon that can hurt the beast is the Sword, and only when both of your followers have cast Mana Magic upon you. The effect of it will expire after a while, so you will have to cast it several times. With the Mana effect, your damage easily hits the triple digits, even if the attacks aren't charged. Speaking of that, don't charge your weapon at all; just jam the sword in the Mana Beast when the gauge is 100%. The beast has two attacks; turning into a swirling fireball and flying into you, or just flying across the screen hitting you as well. He will, after attacking a few times, fly slowly from the bottom to the top of the screen and sit there in front of you using spells (Wall and Lucent Beam mostly). This is also the moment when you can attack, but make sure you're enhanced by Mana Magic! I would recommend letting both allies cast Mana Magic as soon as you see the Mana Beast at the bottom of the screen, so that the effect of it will not stop right when you don't want it to stop. And remember not to cast Wall in order to repel the beast's magic, as it will prevent you from gaining Mana Magic's power as well! And you wouldn't want that, eh? That is the battle, actually. You will have to repeat the above process until the beast dies--don't forget to heal (and remember to conserve your allies' MP; use items to heal when you have them). You can also cast Lunar Boost and Moon Energy if you feel like it; it will help. The Mana Beast has 9990 HP, and after a rather simple yet lengthy fight, you will have beaten the game. How cool. ENDING (SUPER-ULTRA-MEGA *SPOILERS*, NATURALLY) ---------------------- So, yeah, you've beaten the Mana Beast and saved the world yet again. Unfortunately, sprite died during the battle, having given up all of his energy in order to give the beast a HARD kick. Dyluck isn't here as well, but like the girl says, we must be strong. The Mana Fortress is no more and the Mana Beast has turned into snow, and it's time to party! The credits will roll while the remaining of the party visits many places they've been to. The boy eventually ends up in Potos, where he fortunately gets a warm welcome. The sprite will reappear in his village and the Mana Sword gets dumped in the trunk again, and until another stupid moron gets to be "chosen", the world in Secret of Mana is a world of peace. About time! ======================================================================== PART 3: APPENDICES ======================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3-A: World Map ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's a not-exactly-perfect ASCII-drawing of the World Map. I'm not really good at drawing line-draw pictures, so pardon this rough map. But it should do the trick, eh? Remember: north is up, south is down, west is left, and east is right. __ __/ \_ __ ____ / \ ___/ \/ \ ) (z) ) ( (l) (k)\_ ( ( ) \ \__ __) (_ / \__/ \_ ( \_____ / /) () \___/ (/ __ __/ \___ (\_ () / ) _ ___ \_) / (p)(o)( __ _/ \__/ \ ___ _/ (n) \_/ ) ( (w) \_ /(v)\ / /\_ / _)(j) \ \___/ / __ ) ) / _/ \ \__/ \__/ / ( / ) _____/(m) ) / \ _____/ / \_____ _ \_____ ___ (_ / \/\__/ \___ \__/ \_ \ \ ) \ ) ) (_ (i) \_ \__ _/\___/ \ (g) \__ \___/ (q) _ \_ \ _ _/ \___) (h) (_ / ) () \ (s) \ (_/ _ ) (f) (b) ) ___ / \_/ (t) (a) ( () (_ \ \ (u) / ____) ) / (e) ( / (x) / (__ \/\ ___/\_ \_/\__/ \____ (d) ) ( \___ \__ (c) _/ () ) _) \__ __ / / (y) ( \_/ \__ _/ ( \ \_ ____/ \ _ \ \__/ \__/ \____/ (r) Legend: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ (a) -- Potos Village (n) -- Empire Northtown (b) -- Water Palace (o) -- Northtown Ruins (c) -- Kingdom of Pandora (p) -- Northtown Castle (d) -- Kippo Village (q) -- Sea Hare Island (e) -- Gaia's Navel (r) -- Lookout Tower (f) -- Witch's Castle (s) -- Mandala Village (g) -- Upper Land (t) -- Palace of Darkness (h) -- Wind Palace (u) -- Sage's Cave (i) -- Matango (v) -- Gold City (j) -- Kakkara (w) -- Moon Palace (k) -- Todo Village (x) -- Castle of Tasnica (l) -- Ice Palace (y) -- Tree Palace (m) -- Empire Southtown (z) -- Pure Land ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3-B: Leveling Up Weapons/Magic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you go to the Level-screen via the menu ring, lots o' things appear: - Press L to switch to weapons, or R to go to the elementals. - The number before the colon (":") represents the weapon's or element's power; the higher this is, the more damage. - The other number is the amount of experience you have with that weapon or elemental. This number increases as you use them. After the number reaches 100 or more, the counter will reset to 0 and the number before the colon goes up by one. - The maximal level you can upgrade weapons to is the amount of orbs you have forged into that weapon plus one. - For magic, it's the amount of Mana Seeds you've sealed plus one. When you get the last seed, you can upgrade magic to level 7, but after finishing business in the Pure Land, magic can go up to 8. For weapons, the amount of experience you will gain is described here (thanks to Zach Keene): - The one who delivers the finishing blow will receive (9 - weapon's level) experience. - If his or her level is two or more higher than the enemy he or she killed, then only ((9 - weapon's level) / 2) is received. This number is rounded down. - Companions (those that did not kill the monster) will receive half of the experience that the killing character gets (also rounded down). - The best way of leveling up quickly is to have a companion use a low-level weapon while others employ the stronger ones. For magic, the amount of experience you will gain is described here: - With each casting, your experience will go up by (9 - element's level). It does not matter what spell you use; using a 10 MP-spell will give you as much experience as a 1 MP-spell. - If weapons are holstered (villages, etc.), you will gain ((9 - element's level) / 2) experience, rounded down. This sucks. The best place to level up magic for which no enemies are required seems to be the Wind Palace (weapons out and free MP). And the fastest ways to upgrade magic, which you probably came for: Girl: ¯¯¯¯¯ Undine -- Cast Remedy repeatedly. Gnome -- Cast Defender repeatedly. Sylphid -- Go to a place with monsters and make sure they cannot reach you. Cast Analyzer repeatedly. Salamando -- Chain-cast Fire Bouquet repeatedly. Lumina -- Cast Lucid Barrier repeatedly. Luna -- Cast Lunar Boost repeatedly. Dryad -- Cast Wall repeatedly. Takes LONG; be sure to bring some food, or coffee if it's already late. Sprite: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Undine -- Freeze. Try to chain-cast this so that the targeted enemies will not die, meaning you don't have to search for new monsters over and over again. When you run out of MP, refill. Gnome -- Go to a place with monsters and make sure they cannot reach you. Cast Speed Down repeatedly. Sylphid -- Go to a place with monsters and make sure they cannot reach you. Cast Silence repeatedly. Salamando -- Cast Fireball (see Undine). Shade -- Cast Dark Force (see Undine). Luna -- Cast Magic Absorb repeatedly. If Gnome, Sylphid or Dryad still needs to be leveled up, don't work on Luna yet but do them, and use Magic Absorb to get the MP you need. Dryad -- Make sure enemies can't reach you (well, doesn't matter anyway), and let loose Sleep Flower. Note: Switch to the boy and press X to access your allies' ring. This works faster than controlling the girl/sprite themselves. Make sure that the girl doesn't cast spells upon herself, or you will not be able to chain-cast; chain- casting is necessary if you want to level-up magic as quickly as possible. If there are no "instructions" on WHERE to level up, it's near a source of MP (inn, or Wind Palace). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3-C: Secrets, Bugs and Glitches ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is everything I know from the top of my head; more secrets are forthcoming. Feel free to submit more information... + If you fly around with Flammie to the corners of the world, you will see a FACE somewhere! It's... obscure, yet funny. On the World Map, it is in the upper-right corner. + You can get back in Potos! This is possible after you get a second party member. It's simple--hug the guy blocking the entrance and repeatedly press Select. The two (or three) characters will each press, move a pixel forward. Ultimately, you'll be HOME! It's not tremendously exciting, though. Don't save if you don't have Flammie, because it can be nearly impossible to leave using the same method. + The girl has these wicked stat-up spells (e.g. Defender); it is very possible to keep these effects permanently! Go to any inn or save point and cast the spell. Immediately save, reset, and load up your game. The system will have "forgotten" to undo the spell and you'll be lastingly stronger! + When an enemy is about to cast a spell upon you, you can completely evade any damage to you by casting a curative spell at the right moment. The healing animation will appear, instead of being damaged. Yeah! This is great in boss battles, and especially the last one... + To get the last, "missing" Sword's Orb, you'll have to follow a certain sequence of actions (I've gotten the info from JD Cyr's FAQ). Remember that this is a glitch and THIS CAN HEAVILY SCREW UP YOUR SAVE-GAME DATA. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK: - Load the game you want the last orb on. - Fly over the Ice Country and land on one of the small islands behind it; not on the Ice Country itself. - You should appear in front of Neko; if not, restart. Create a save-game. - Reset (L + R + Start + Select). - Start a new game, and play on 'til you fight Mantis Ant. - When the fight begins, hold the reset button combo for about five seconds. - Load the original save log (the one at Neko's). - Fight and whoop Mantis Ant's ass, claim the Sword's Orb, and fly off! ======================================================================== PART 4: CHARTS ======================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4-A: Items ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the charts, my dear reader. + Consumable Items: GP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Restores 100 HP. Chocolate -- 30 -- Restores 300 HP. Royal Jam -- 100 -- Restores 999 HP. Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Restores 50 MP. Medical Herb -- 10 -- Removes bad status effects. Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Revives knocked-out character. Barrel -- 900 -- Invulnerability (can't attack/run). + Key Items: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Magic Rope -- Returns you to where you entered the dungeon; that is mostly the entrance, unless you came in via the back or whatever. Found: Gaia's Navel. Midge Mallet -- This pygmizes you, or vice-versa. You can get this from the Elder in Dwarf Village after you recover the Water Seed from the Scorpion Army. Flammie Drum -- Summons Flammie, so you can fly around the world! This is the only item that is not optional, and is acquired automatically. Moogle Belt -- Turns you into a Moogle, or vice-versa. FUN! You will get this after you bring back water to Kakkara by getting them a Sea Hare's Tail, obtainable on Sea Hare Island (see map). Note: Consumable items can be bought in nearly every shop; the better goods are usually available later in the game. The Barrel however, can only be bought at Neko's. Everything can only be applied on a single party member at a time. Items are mostly sold for 2/3 of the original price, with the key items taking exception, as they cannot be sold. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4-B: Weapons ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTIONS --------------------------------------------------------- Descriptions are the in-game descriptions, complete with typos and grammar issues. I can't vouch for the accuracy of these descriptions, but I'll just assume they are correct. + Sword: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Rusty Sword -- 3 -- Broad Sword -- 8 -- Raises agility/evade %. Herald Sword -- 14 -- Effective against slimes/lizards. Claymore -- 20 -- Inflicts damage on insects, etc. Excalibur -- 27 -- Effective on evil/non-living enemies. Masamune -- 35 -- Raises % of critical hits. Gigas Sword -- 44 -- Increases strength 2 pts. Dragon Buster -- 52 -- Effective against dragons. Mana Sword -- 127 -- The top sword! + Spear: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Spear -- 4 -- Heavy Spear -- 11 -- Sprite's Spear -- 16 -- Balloons enemies. Partisan -- 23 -- Effective against slimes/lizards. Halberd -- 29 -- Confuses enemies. Oceanid Spear -- 38 -- Puts enemies to sleep. Gigas Lance -- 47 -- Increases strength 2 pts. Dragon Lance -- 54 -- Effective against dragons. Daedalus Lance -- 56 -- The top spear! + Boomerang: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Boomerang -- 2 -- Chakram -- 6 -- Effective against slimes/lizards. Lode Boomerang -- 12 -- Slows enemies down. Rising Sun -- 17 -- Red Cleaver -- 24 -- Inflicts damage on insects, etc. Cobra Shuttle -- 30 -- Poisons enemies. Frizbar -- 38 -- Effective against slimes/lizards. Shuriken -- 47 -- Raises % of critical hits. Ninja's Trump -- 53 -- The top boomerang! + Bow: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Chobin's Bow -- 3 -- Short Bow -- 8 -- Long Bow -- 12 -- Use against animals/birds/beasts. Great Bow -- 20 -- Confuses enemies. Bow of Hope -- 27 -- Effective on evil/non-living enemies. Elfin Bow -- 35 -- Raises intelligence/wisdom. Wing Bow -- 43 -- Confuses enemies. Doom Bow -- 52 -- Raises % of critical hits. Garuda Buster -- 54 -- The top bow! + Axe: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Watt's Axe -- 4 -- Lode Axe -- 11 -- Effective against plants/fish. Stout Axe -- 16 -- Increases constitution by 2 pts. Battle Axe -- 23 -- Effective against plants/fish. Golden Axe -- 29 -- Inflicts damage on insects, etc. Were-buster -- 36 -- Use against animals/birds/beasts. Great Axe -- 46 -- Effective against plants/fish. Gigas Axe -- 59 -- Increases strength 5 pts. Doom Axe -- 56 -- The top axe! + Glove: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Spike Knuckle -- 2 -- Power Glove -- 6 -- Inflicts damage on insects, etc. Moogle Claws -- 11 -- Puts enemies to sleep. Chakra Hand -- 17 -- Raises intelligence/wisdom. Heavy Glove -- 24 -- Inflicts damage on insects, etc. Hyper-Fist -- 29 -- Effective against slimes/lizards. Griffin Claws -- 38 -- Poisons enemies. Dragon Claws -- 47 -- Effective against dragons. Aura Glove -- 53 -- The top glove! + Whip: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Whip -- 2 -- Black Whip -- 6 -- Slows enemies down. Backhand Whip -- 14 -- Raises agility/evade % Chain Whip -- 17 -- Effective against slimes/lizards. Flail of Hope -- 24 -- Effective on evil/non-living enemies. Morning Star -- 30 -- Inflicts damage on insects, etc. Hammer Flail -- 38 -- Slows enemies down. Nimbus Chain -- 47 -- Inflicts damage on insects, etc. Gigas Flail -- 53 -- The top whip! + Javelin: Att.: Description/Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Pole Dart -- 2 -- Javelin -- 6 -- Light Trident -- 12 -- Use against animals/birds/beasts. Lode Javelin -- 17 -- Balloons enemies. Fork of Hope -- 24 -- Effective on evil/non-living enemies. Imp's Fork -- 30 -- Balloons enemies. Elf's Harpoon -- 38 -- Raises intelligence/wisdom. Dragon Dart -- 47 -- Effective against dragons. Valkyrian -- 53 -- The top javelin! WEAPON'S ORBS -------------------------------------------------------- First off, here are the costs for reforging your weapons with Watts: Level 1 to 2 -- 200 GP Level 2 to 3 -- 400 GP Level 3 to 4 -- 800 GP Level 4 to 5 -- 1600 GP Level 5 to 6 -- 3000 GP Level 6 to 7 -- 6500 GP Level 7 to 8 -- 12500 GP Level 8 to 9 -- 25000 GP Note: The first time you meet Watts, he will do the Sword for you for the low, low price of only 100 GP. Sword: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. Earned after defeating Mantis Ant, the first boss. 2. In a chest in Pandora's treasure room. After ditching Evil Wall in the ruins, talk to the King for the guard to move away, allowing you to enter the room. 3. Earned after defeating Great Viper, the tenth boss. 4. In a chest in the Northtown Ruins. 5. Given by the King after defeating Dark Stalker. 6. In a chest in the Grand Palace. 7. Earned after defeating Thunder Gigas, the thirty-fourth boss. 8. Cannot be found! See the section 3-C... Spear: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. Earned after defeating Tropicallo, the second boss. 2. In a chest in Pandora's treasure room. After ditching Evil Wall in the ruins, talk to the King for the guard to move away, allowing you to enter the room. 3. In a chest in Santa's house, in the Ice Country. 4. In a chest in the Northtown Ruins. 5. In a chest in the Golden Tower. 6. Earned after defeating Aegagropilon, the twenty-fourth boss. 7. Earned after defeating Mech Rider 3, the twenty-ninth boss. 8. Rarely dropped by Tsunami (Mana Fortress). Boomerang: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. Earned after defeating Spikey Tiger, the third boss. 2. Earned after defeating Spring Beak, the ninth boss. 3. Earned after defeating Frost Gigas, the thirteenth boss. 4. Earned after defeating Vampire, the sixteenth boss. 5. Earned after defeating Blue Spike, the twentieth boss. 6. In a chest in the subway (area around the Tree Palace). 7. Earned after defeating Blue Dragon, the thirty-fifth boss. 8. Rarely dropped by Master Ninja (Mana Fortress). Bow: ¯¯¯¯ 1. Earned after defeating Wall Face, the sixth boss. 2. Earned after defeating Jabberwocky, the eighth boss. 3. Earned after defeating Boreal Face, the twelfth boss. 4. In a chest in the Northtown Ruins. 5. Earned after defeating Gorgon Bull, the twenty-first boss. 6. Earned after defeating Kettle Kin, the twenty-sixth boss. 7. Earned after defeating Snow Dragon, the thirty-first boss. 8. Rarely dropped by Metal Crab (Mana Fortress). Axe: ¯¯¯¯ 1. Earned after defeating Fire Gigas, the fifth boss. 2. In a chest in Moogle Village (Great Forest). 3. In a chest in the Fire Palace. 4. In a chest in Northtown Castle. 5. In a chest in the Golden Tower. 6. Earned after defeating Dragon Worm, the thirtieth boss. 7. Rarely dropped by Fiend Head (Mana Fortress and more). 8. Rarely dropped by Fiend Head (Mana Fortress and more). Glove: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. Earned after defeating the Biting Lizard, the fourth boss. 2. In a chest in Moogle Village (Great Forest). 3. In a chest in the Ice Palace. 4. Earned after defeating Metal Mantis, the seventeenth boss. 5. In a chest in the Palace of Darkness. 6. Earned after defeating Red Dragon, the thirty-third boss. 7. Rarely dropped by Kimono Wizard or Wolf Lord (Mana Fortress and more). 8. Rarely dropped by Kimono Wizard or Wolf Lord (Mana Fortress and more). Whip: ¯¯¯¯¯ 1. In a chest aboard the thieves' ship, before facing Kilroy. 2. Given by Jema after defeating Jabberwocky. 3. Earned after defeating Mech Rider 1, the eleventh boss. 4. Earned after defeating Doom's Wall, the fifteenth boss. 5. In a chest in Northtown Castle. 6. Earned after defeating Hydra, the twenty-fifth boss. 7. Earned after defeating Hexas, the twenty-eighth boss. 8. Rarely dropped by Terminator (Mana Fortress). Javelin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. Earned after defeating Kilroy, the seventh boss. 2. In a chest in Fung Castle (Matango). 3. Earned after defeating Minotaur, the fourteenth boss. 4. Earned after defeating Mech Rider 2, the eighteenth boss. 5. Earned after defeating Lime Slime, the nineteenth boss. 6. Earned after defeating Snap Dragon, the twenty-seventh boss. 7. Earned after defeating Axe Beak, the thirty-second boss. 8. Rarely dropped by Whimper (Mana Fortress). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4-C: Equipment ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the "WHO"-column, "B" stands for boy, "G" is girl, and "S" is sprite. + Body: Who: Def.: Buy: Sell: ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Battle Suit -- B G S -- 139 -- 30000 -- 20000 Chain Vest -- B G S -- 10 -- 120 -- 80 Chest Guard -- G S -- 28 -- 1000 -- 666 Faerie Cloak -- G S -- 250 -- -- -- 43332 Fancy Overalls -- B G S -- 22 -- 675 -- 450 Flower Suit -- G -- 115 -- 21000 -- 14000 Golden Vest -- B G S -- 34 -- 2250 -- 1500 Kung Fu Dress -- G -- 17 -- 350 -- 232 Kung Fu Suit -- G -- 4 -- 25 -- 16 Magical Armor -- B G S -- 78 -- 11500 -- 7666 Midge Robe -- S -- 7 -- 22 -- 14 Overalls -- B -- 3 -- 20 -- 12 Power Suit -- B -- 245 -- -- -- 35332 Ruby Vest -- B G S -- 43 -- 4500 -- 3000 Spiky Suit -- B S -- 13 -- 260 -- 172 Tiger Bikini -- G -- 64 -- 7100 -- 4732 Tiger Suit -- B S -- 52 -- 6375 -- 4250 Tortoise Mail -- B S -- 95 -- 14850 -- 9900 Vampire Cape -- G S -- 243 -- -- -- 31332 Vestguard -- B G S -- 240 -- 65550 -- 21832 + Head: Who: Def.: Buy: Sell: ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Amulet Helm -- G S -- 143 -- -- -- 24000 Bandanna -- B -- 2 -- 50 -- 32 Circlet -- B S -- 38 -- 2300 -- 1532 Cockatrice Cap -- B G S -- 142 -- -- -- 15000 Dragon Helm -- B G S -- 66 -- 7500 -- 5000 Duck Helm -- G S -- 78 -- 11250 -- 7500 Faerie Crown -- G S -- 155 -- -- -- 38666 Golden Tiara -- G S -- 17 -- 350 -- 232 Griffin Helm -- B -- 145 -- -- -- 29666 Hair Ribbon -- G -- 3 -- 55 -- 36 Head Gear -- B -- 7 -- 70 -- 46 Needle Helm -- B G S -- 140 -- 30000 -- 10000 Quill Cap -- G S -- 10 -- 110 -- 72 Quilted Hood -- G S -- 26 -- 700 -- 466 Rabite Cap -- S -- 5 -- 45 -- 30 Raccoon Cap -- B G S -- 21 -- 550 -- 366 Ruby Armet -- G -- 43 -- -- -- 2266 Steel Cap -- B -- 13 -- 180 -- 120 Tiger Cap -- B G S -- 32 -- 1100 -- 732 Unicorn Helm -- B G S -- 55 -- 5625 -- 3750 + Arm: Who: Def.: Buy: Sell: ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Amulet Ring -- B G S -- 95 -- -- -- 32000 Cobra Bracelet -- B G S -- 6 -- 280 -- 186 Dragon Ring -- B G S -- 92 -- -- -- 20666 Elbow Pad -- B G S -- 2 -- 90 -- 60 Faerie's Ring -- B G S -- 100 -- -- -- 36666 Frosty Ring -- B G S -- 16 -- 1200 -- 800 Gauntlet -- B G S -- 90 -- 37500 -- 12500 Gold Bracelet -- B G S -- 24 -- 3750 -- 2500 Golem Ring -- B G S -- 13 -- 750 -- 500 Guardian Ring -- B G S -- 41 -- -- -- 8332 Imp's Ring -- B G S -- 94 -- -- -- 28332 Ivy Amulet -- B G S -- 20 -- 1875 -- 1250 Lazuri Ring -- B G S -- 35 -- 8800 -- 5866 Ninja Gloves -- B G S -- 91 -- -- -- 16000 Power Wrist -- B G S -- 4 -- 150 -- 100 Shield Ring -- B G S -- 29 -- 5100 -- 3400 Silver Band -- B G S -- 10 -- 525 -- 350 Watcher Ring -- B G S -- 93 -- -- -- 25000 Wolf's Band -- B G S -- 8 -- 400 -- 266 Wristband -- B G -- 1 -- 45 -- 30 Note: Some rings/bracelets/whatever they are provide protection to various status effects: Amulet Ring -- Petrifaction Faerie's Ring -- Silence; pygmy; balloon Frosty Ring -- Frosty Imp's Ring -- Engulfment; frosty Ninja Gloves -- Entanglement Watcher Ring -- Moogle ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4-D: Magic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is sorted on elemental. Remember, the first three spells are those of the girl, the last three are at the sprite's disposal. Descriptions given here, vague as they are, are copies of the in-game text. + Undine: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Ice Saber -- 2 -- Weapons gain the power of water! Remedy -- 1 -- Recovers status Cure Water -- 2 -- Recovers HP Freeze -- 2 -- Causes a freezing ice storm Acid Storm -- 2 -- Acid rain lowers enemy's defense Energy Absorb -- 3 -- Takes away enemy's HP + Gnome: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Stone Saber -- 4 -- Weapons gain the power to petrify Speed Up -- 3 -- Raises evade % and speeds attack Defender -- 2 -- Raises defense/decreases damage Earth Slide -- 3 -- Covers enemies in rock slide Gem Missile -- 2 -- Rains jagged diamonds on enemies Speed Down -- 1 -- Lowers evade % and slows attack + Sylphid: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Thunder Saber -- 3 -- Weapons gain the power of wind! Balloon -- 2 -- Lowers wisdom/confuses enemies Analyzer -- 1 -- Detects traps/enemy's weak point Air Blast -- 2 -- Wind-burn damages the enemies Thunderbolt -- 4 -- Strikes the enemies with lightning Silence -- 2 -- Confuses the enemies + Salamando: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Flame Saber -- 2 -- Weapons gain the power of fire! Fire Bouquet -- 3 -- Scalds enemy/lowers battle power Blaze Wall -- 4 -- A wall of fire engulfs the enemies Fireball -- 2 -- Sends fireballs at enemies Exploder -- 4 -- An explosion rocks the enemies Lava Wave -- 3 -- Magma engulfs the enemies + Lumina: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Light Saber -- 5 -- Weapons gain the power of light! Lucent Beam -- 8 -- Evil foe hit with pure light Lucid Barrier -- 4 -- Protection from weapon attacks Note: The girl is the only one that has Lumina to her disposal; the sprite doesn't. + Shade: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Evil Gate -- 8 -- Wave of darkness hits the enemies Dark Force -- 2 -- Enemy's energy explodes Dispel Magic -- 4 -- Sets enemy's gauge to 0/halts magic Note: Conversely, the sprite is the only one that can handle Shade. A small note on Evil Gate; this spell does damage based on the enemy's HP: Damage = (Current HP + Max HP) / (20 - 2 * Sprite's Magic Level). + Luna: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Moon Saber -- 3 -- Weapons gain the power to take HP! Lunar Boost -- 2 -- Raises battle power Moon Energy -- 2 -- Raises critical hit % Change Form -- 5 -- Transforms enemy to weaker level Magic Absorb -- 1 -- Takes enemy's MP Lunar Magic -- 8 -- Makes enemy/you do curious things + Dryad: MP: Effect: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Revivifier -- 10 -- Sends the reaper running Wall -- 6 -- Makes a barrier to ward off magic Mana Magic -- 1 -- Secret Sleep Flower -- 2 -- Lulls enemies to sleep Burst -- 4 -- Hidden energy strikes enemies Mana Magic -- 1 -- Secret Note: Mana Magic cannot be used until you actually need it. Note: And a little note on magic (couldn't find any other place to fit this in). If you level it up to level 8, it'll do the same damage as it'd do if you cast a level 7-spell. However, sometimes you will get a bigger animation (e.g. bigger blocks with Freeze), and then it'll do level 8- damage. Very, very rarely, you will get a super-enhanced animation (e.g. Shadow Zeroes run around the screen with Evil Gate). This is uber-cool to look at, but sadly does the same damage as level 8-magic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4-E: Shops and Inns ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The lowercase letter in front of the location of the shop refers to the chapter in the walkthrough in which you will encounter it. I'm so smart. Note that Neko's shops are expensive; you'll have to fork over twice as much, so I would recommend only buying when it's really needed or if you cannot get what you want elsewhere. Locations with Neko (and thus double prices) are marked with an asterisk ("*"). + Potos Village: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Bandanna -- 50 -- Head -- B -- +2 Overalls -- 20 -- Body -- B -- +3 + Neko's (*): Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 20 -- Item Chocolate -- 60 -- Item Royal Jam -- 200 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 1000 -- Item Medical Herb -- 20 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 300 -- Item Barrel -- 900 -- Item Bandanna -- 100 -- Head -- B -- +2 Hair Ribbon -- 110 -- Head -- G -- +3 Rabite Cap -- 90 -- Head -- S -- +5 Wristband -- 90 -- Arm -- B G -- +1 + Pandora: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Hair Ribbon -- 55 -- Head -- G -- +3 Kung Fu Suit -- 25 -- Body -- G -- +4 Wristband -- 45 -- Arm -- B G -- +1 Note: There is another shop in this town, but the instant you arrive in Pandora, it's not open. The list for that other shop is somewhere below. + Kippo Village: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Hair Ribbon -- 55 -- Head -- G -- +3 Chain Vest -- 120 -- Body -- B G S -- +10 Kung Fu Dress -- 350 -- Body -- G -- +17 Elbow Pad -- 90 -- Arm -- B G S -- +2 + Dwarf Village: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Rabite Cap -- 45 -- Head -- S -- +5 Head Gear -- 70 -- Head -- B -- +7 Midge Robe -- 22 -- Body -- S -- +7 Chain Vest -- 120 -- Body -- B G S -- +10 Spiky Suit -- 260 -- Body -- B S -- +13 Wristband -- 45 -- Arm -- B G -- +1 Elbow Pad -- 90 -- Arm -- B G S -- +2 Power Wrist -- 150 -- Arm -- B G S -- +4 + Pandora: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Head Gear -- 70 -- Head -- B -- +7 Spiky Suit -- 260 -- Body -- B S -- +13 Kung Fu Dress -- 350 -- Body -- G -- +17 Elbow Pad -- 90 -- Arm -- B G S -- +2 Power Wrist -- 150 -- Arm -- B G S -- +4 Cobra Bracelet -- 280 -- Arm -- B G S -- +6 + Moogle Village (*): Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 20 -- Item Chocolate -- 60 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 1000 -- Item Medical Herb -- 20 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 300 -- Item Head Gear -- 140 -- Head -- B -- +7 Quill Cap -- 220 -- Head -- G S -- +10 Spiky Suit -- 520 -- Body -- B S -- +13 Kung Fu Dress -- 700 -- Body -- G -- +17 Power Wrist -- 300 -- Arm -- B G S -- +4 Cobra Bracelet -- 560 -- Arm -- B G S -- +6 + Fung Castle: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Quill Cap -- 110 -- Head -- G S -- +10 Steel Cap -- 180 -- Head -- B -- +13 Fancy Overalls -- 675 -- Body -- B G S -- +22 Wolf's Band -- 400 -- Arm -- B G S -- +8 + Kakkara: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Golden Tiara -- 350 -- Head -- G S -- +17 Raccoon Cap -- 550 -- Head -- B G S -- +21 Chest Guard -- 1000 -- Body -- G S -- +28 Golden Vest -- 2250 -- Body -- B G S -- +17 Silver Band -- 525 -- Arm -- B G S -- +10 + Todo Village: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Golden Tiara -- 350 -- Head -- G S -- +17 Raccoon Cap -- 550 -- Head -- B G S -- +21 Chest Guard -- 1000 -- Body -- G S -- +28 Golden Vest -- 2250 -- Body -- B G S -- +34 Silver Band -- 525 -- Arm -- B G S -- +10 + Southtown: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Golden Tiara -- 350 -- Head -- G S -- +17 Raccoon Cap -- 550 -- Head -- B G S -- +21 Chest Guard -- 1000 -- Body -- G S -- +28 Golden Vest -- 2250 -- Body -- B G S -- +34 Ruby Vest -- 4500 -- Body -- B G S -- +43 Silver Band -- 525 -- Arm -- B G S -- +10 Golem Ring -- 750 -- Arm -- B G S -- +13 + Northtown: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Quilted Hood -- 700 -- Head -- G S -- +26 Tiger Cap -- 1100 -- Head -- B G S -- +32 Ruby Vest -- 4500 -- Body -- B G S -- +43 Tiger Suit -- 6375 -- Body -- B S -- +52 Tiger Bikini -- 7100 -- Body -- G -- +64 Silver Band -- 525 -- Arm -- B G S -- +10 Golem Ring -- 750 -- Arm -- B G S -- +13 Frosty Ring -- 1200 -- Arm -- B G S -- +16 + Mandala Village: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Circlet -- 2300 -- Head -- B S -- +38 Magical Armor -- 11500 -- Body -- B G S -- +78 Ivy Amulet -- 1875 -- Arm -- B G S -- +20 + Gold Isle: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Unicorn Helm -- 5625 -- Head -- B G S -- +55 Dragon Helm -- 7500 -- Head -- B G S -- +66 Duck Helm -- 11250 -- Head -- G S -- +78 Flower Suit -- 21000 -- Body -- G -- +115 Battle Suit -- 30000 -- Body -- B G S -- +139 Shield Ring -- 5100 -- Arm -- B G S -- +29 Lazuri Ring -- 8800 -- Arm -- B G S -- +35 + Tasnica: Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 10 -- Item Chocolate -- 30 -- Item Royal Jam -- 100 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 500 -- Item Medical Herb -- 10 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 150 -- Item Dragon Helm -- 7500 -- Head -- B G S -- +66 Duck Helm -- 11250 -- Head -- G S -- +78 Tortoise Mail -- 14850 -- Body -- B S -- +95 Battle Suit -- 30000 -- Body -- B G S -- +139 Gold Bracelet -- 3750 -- Arm -- B G S -- +24 Lazuri Ring -- 8800 -- Arm -- B G S -- +35 + Tree Palace (*): Cost: What: Who: Def.: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ Candy -- 20 -- Item Chocolate -- 60 -- Item Royal Jam -- 200 -- Item Faerie Walnut -- 1000 -- Item Medical Herb -- 20 -- Item Cup of Wishes -- 300 -- Item Barrel -- 900 -- Item Needle Helm -- 30000 -- Head -- B G S -- +140 Vestguard -- 65500 -- Body -- B G S -- +240 Gauntlet -- 37500 -- Arm -- B G S -- +90 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4-F: Monsters ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The type of an enemy can help you deciding which weapon you should use (some weapons are effective against certain types) and don't mistake "element" for "weakness"! Zach Keene originally dumped the stats from the game's ROM, and I thank him for allowing me to use these 100% accurate stats. Now, without further ado, here's the stuff: Aegagropilon: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 46 HP: 3016 EXP: 11050 TYPE: Plant MP: 99 GP: 1800 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-W of the walkthrough. Armored Man: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 34 HP: 250 EXP: 633 TYPE: Metallic MP: 20 GP: 540 ELEMENT: None Info: Armored Men are slow and don't have very much HP. They drop a fair amount of experience points too, so it is recommended to destroy these people to level up. They have many attacks to their disposal, so continually assault them with weapons to prevent them from harming you. Axe Beak: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 64 HP: 2800 EXP: 27784 TYPE: Bird MP: 99 GP: 20400 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Y of the walkthrough. Basilisk: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 49 HP: 580 EXP: 1755 TYPE: Lizard MP: 41 GP: 1200 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: Cute, helpless-looking frogs. They are fairly easy to kill. If you plan to do so, do it quick, for they can spawn Eggatrices. Oh wait! Those are fairly easy to kill too, so here's a fine source for experience points. Whatever. Beast Zombie: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 41 HP: 320 EXP: 1065 TYPE: Undead MP: 48 GP: 708 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Just like the Howlers, these folks charge at you. They're just about as dangerous as they were in the Ice Country. Biting Lizard: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 11 HP: 770 EXP: 210 TYPE: Lizard MP: 6 GP: 348 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-E of the walkthrough. Blat: ¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 5 HP: 55 EXP: 7 TYPE: Bird MP: 18 GP: 10 ELEMENT: None Info: These bats use the Balloon-spell, which makes you paralyzed for a little while. Kill them before they do so. Blue Dragon: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 67 HP: 3200 EXP: 31570 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 28560 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Y of the walkthrough. Blue Drop: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 27 HP: 380 EXP: 330 TYPE: Slime MP: 0 GP: 216 ELEMENT: Undine Info: Remember the Green Drop? This one is... well, blue, and does exactly the same and is a tad more powerful. This guy has the ability to frosty you, and that's not cool. Well, okay, it's cool, but not "cool". (Whatever.) Blue Spike: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 43 HP: 1980 EXP: 9150 TYPE: Animal MP: 99 GP: 3840 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-S of the walkthrough. Bomb Bee: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 38 HP: 310 EXP: 863 TYPE: Insect MP: 40 GP: 528 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: Acts the same as the Buzz Bee you've encountered WAY earlier (unless you are reading this section for fun without having played the game, in which case he's below). They aren't any harmful, they have MP but cast no spells, and still use that annoying sting plugged onto their ass. Boreal Face: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 26 HP: 1100 EXP: 2245 TYPE: Plant MP: 12 GP: 1040 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-L of the walkthrough. Brambler: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 7 HP: 78 EXP: 2 TYPE: Plant MP: 99 GP: 24 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Part of Tropicallo and Boreal Face. Buffy: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 70 HP: 4200 EXP: 35686 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 22200 ELEMENT: Shade Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Z of the walkthrough. Buzz Bee: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 4 HP: 65 EXP: 4 TYPE: Insect MP: 0 GP: 11 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Not easy to hit when you meet them for the first time. They poop out needles that can poison you. They're annoying and hard to avoid when in large numbers, so killing them is the best option. Captain Duck: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 50 HP: 523 EXP: 1850 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 22 GP: 1440 ELEMENT: None Info: A souped-up army duck with grenades to make your life miserable. Ah yes. Stupid name. Chamber's Eye: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 16 HP: 300 EXP: 2 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: Part of Wall Chamber. Chess Knight: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 12 HP: 135 EXP: 36 TYPE: Insect MP: 15 GP: 38 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Has high evade at the point you meet him. Either avoid them or continually attack them while evading his charging attack. Chobin Hood: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 7 HP: 60 EXP: 12 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 0 GP: 17 ELEMENT: None Info: Most of them are "imprisoned", meaning they can fire arrows at you while being out of reach. Cut your way through the bushes to bury your short-ranged weapons in them, or attack them with the Boomerang or Bow from afar. Crawler: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 19 HP: 100 EXP: 124 TYPE: Insect MP: 16 GP: 97 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: A monster that sort of looks like Pokémon's Caterpie that crawls. Watch out for its attack that puts you to sleep. (My hands hurt because of all this typing.) Crystal Orb: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 0 HP: 1 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: None Info: Er... This thing is "targetable" and because it has 1 HP, I dumped this piece right here in this monster list! Now my list is the most complete of them all! GAH HAH HAH! This one also appears in other places, except with other "weaknesses". Dark Funk: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 25 HP: 100 EXP: 268 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 20 GP: 192 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: Same as the LA Funk. This one blows fire instead of ice. Undine is your friend here; one Freeze distributed to several Dark Funks will usually waste them. Dark Knight: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 40 HP: 200 EXP: 996 TYPE: Metallic MP: 56 GP: 1020 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Kill every single one of these! They drop Magical Armor and Gauntlets, which are uber-1337 items you simply want. They aren't much different from the Armored Men except that they are stronger and cast Barrier. Dark Lich: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 72 HP: 6666 EXP: 38600 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 27000 ELEMENT: Shade Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Z of the walkthrough. Dark Ninja: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 36 HP: 300 EXP: 740 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 22 GP: 600 ELEMENT: None Info: Avoid them is what I'd suggest... as you may have learned from various movies, these peeps are dangerous. If they don't hold up a mirror (or whatever it is) to make themselves invisible, they use stat-up and stat-down spells before they give you a piece of their sword. Dark Stalker: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 43 HP: 510 EXP: 1219 TYPE: Undead MP: 60 GP: 900 ELEMENT: Shade Info: A normal enemy now (if you read this after the Tasnica King fiasco). He uses a variety of ninja-attacks (throw shuriken, slashes, etc.) and is pretty good at evading your attacks. If you want to get this over with quickly, use Lucent Beam, otherwise I'd suggest just evading them. Dinofish: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 29 HP: 240 EXP: 400 TYPE: Fish MP: 25 GP: 264 ELEMENT: Undine Info: This is a beefed-up Iffish that is able to launch missiles-- how that is possible is beyond me. They can also cast spells, but I already forgot which. They're not hard to kill, so don't worry. Doom Sword: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 53 HP: 411 EXP: 2190 TYPE: Metallic MP: 32 GP: 2640 ELEMENT: None Info: Like that other sword (Evil Sword), this one is stationed on a standard of some sorts and attacks when you get near. Little damage is done until it moves, and yeah, it's a sword. Swords are painful. Doom's Eye: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 34 HP: 425 EXP: 1 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Part of Doom's Wall. Doom's Wall: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 34 HP: 1180 EXP: 4750 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 648 ELEMENT: Shade Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-P of the walkthrough. Dragon Worm: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 61 HP: 3525 EXP: 24290 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 17460 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Y of the walkthrough. Dread Slime: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 71 HP: 5000 EXP: 37000 TYPE: Slime MP: 99 GP: 26400 ELEMENT: Lumina Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Z of the walkthrough. Eggatrice: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 39 HP: 185 EXP: 928 TYPE: Bird MP: 0 GP: 720 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: Cute monster that is an egg, until legs and a head pop out. It can attack, but they're probably dead already before they do so. Think Rabite. Eggplant Man: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 62 HP: 300 EXP: 3390 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 99 GP: 2444 ELEMENT: None Info: They should be killed as soon as possible! Reason is, they can summon Needlions, powerful critters that beat the crap out of you if you don't watch out. I would suggest firing your best magic (the element that you leveled up most) against them, for they have no real weakness. Emberman: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 35 HP: 125 EXP: 685 TYPE: Slime MP: 36 GP: 516 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: They are able to continually regenerate, similar to the various drops you've met earlier. They look like the Grimer/Muk from the Pokémon games and clap their hands to hurt you. They also have mighty Salamando-spells, so kill them before they either cast this or duplicate. An enough- leveled-up Undine distributed will usually kill a group of these. Evil Sword: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 15 HP: 125 EXP: 64 TYPE: Metallic MP: 24 GP: 60 ELEMENT: Luna Info: When you meet multiple of them, avoid them. If you meet a lone one, you CAN attack it, but be prepared because Evil Swords dodge many attacks of yours. Also, they shed Moon Saber upon themselves, allowing them to gain HP equal to the amount of damage they do to you. Eye Spy: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 8 HP: 100 EXP: 28 TYPE: Lizard MP: 15 GP: 30 ELEMENT: Undine Info: Eye Spies spit out Chobin Hoods until destroyed. They can also use a ray-attack that Moogles you, which is funny until you realize that you take damage and can't do anything worth a crap. They also use Cure Water. Kill them as soon as possible. Fiend Head: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 65 HP: 1150 EXP: 3868 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 2280 ELEMENT: Shade Info: They have so many HP! They're very powerful, have a nasty sting sticking on their head, and know voodoo. They are not ultra-hard to get rid of, but avoiding them is what you should do until you're satisfactorily leveled-up. And, they can summon Dark Stalkers. Fierce Head: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 39 HP: 308 EXP: 928 TYPE: Undead MP: 80 GP: 864 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Be careful when you meet these foes. They can do mucho damage if you don't watch out--the horn on their head can pygmize you and they use strong attacks. Although not as "fierce" as the Fiend Head above, you should take care. Fire Gigas: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 13 HP: 850 EXP: 326 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 66 GP: 360 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-F of the walkthrough. Frost Gigas: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 29 HP: 1140 EXP: 3045 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 99 GP: 1200 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-M of the walkthrough. Ghost: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 63 HP: 632 EXP: 3540 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 99 GP: 2160 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Lumina, Lumina, Lumina! You can't hit them with weapons; use that attack gauge for escaping instead or summon that nice light-elemental. Waiting too long may result in a Freeze or Evil Gate in your face. Ghoul: ¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 31 HP: 230 EXP: 450 TYPE: Undead MP: 32 GP: 288 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Ghouls have a charging attack which you should avoid. They are a Shade-elemental monster, but use Gnome-spells instead (only status-affecting magic). Goblin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 12 HP: 130 EXP: 42 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 18 GP: 60 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: A Goblin that uses a boomerang to hit you. The irritating thing is that it spawns Ma Goblins. ...but shouldn't Ma Goblins spawn _them_? Gorgon Bull: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 44 HP: 2470 EXP: 9755 TYPE: Animal MP: 99 GP: 4800 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-S of the walkthrough. Grave Bat: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 30 HP: 210 EXP: 446 TYPE: Bird MP: 25 GP: 258 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Not a real threat. They're not big so it might be hard to hit them. Just use normal attacks or spread out spells to get rid of them. Great Viper: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 22 HP: 1330 EXP: 1410 TYPE: Lizard MP: 8 GP: 1056 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-J of the walkthrough. Green Drop: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 6 HP: 40 EXP: 10 TYPE: Slime MP: 0 GP: 12 ELEMENT: None Info: Green Drops can multiply themselves. While this might be a quick source for experience points, be sure not to get caught in a corner! Gremlin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 52 HP: 423 EXP: 2074 TYPE: Undead MP: 64 GP: 1620 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Like the Imp, this guy throws his fork at you, flies around, and... stuff. Griffin Hand: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 60 HP: 600 EXP: 3090 TYPE: Animal MP: 99 GP: 2560 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: A walking foot (or hand?) that knows the flying kick. He'll occasionally jump into you and damage you greatly if you don't have the best armor you can get at the moment, but the only real way to lose against them is getting trapped in a corner. Sometimes, they also cast Silence upon you, which means getting trapped is an easy-to-fulfill job, so watch it. Heck Hound: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 51 HP: 550 EXP: 1964 TYPE: Animal MP: 40 GP: 2450 ELEMENT: Shade Info: A grey hound that charges at you and doesn't do anything else really... except summoning other dogs (Beast Zombies or Howlers). Hexas: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 57 HP: 3465 EXP: 20103 TYPE: Undead MP: 69 GP: 14400 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-X of the walkthrough. Howler: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 24 HP: 190 EXP: 240 TYPE: Animal MP: 16 GP: 180 ELEMENT: None Info: While they are easy to kill, if they manage to outnumber you, you are most likely going to collect a few hits. Be on your guard. Hydra: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 48 HP: 3382 EXP: 12439 TYPE: Lizard MP: 99 GP: 3600 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-W of the walkthrough. Ice Thug: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 57 HP: 440 EXP: 2680 TYPE: Fish MP: 40 GP: 2850 ELEMENT: Undine Info: A reused Water Thug with higher stats. The fork they have is like your Bow; sometimes, they throw multiple forks at you at once (like a charged attack of the Bow). Besides this, they cast Undine-spells, varying from Cure Water to Freeze. Iffish: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 10 HP: 140 EXP: 35 TYPE: Fish MP: 18 GP: 29 ELEMENT: Undine Info: Spits water at you for a lotta damage. Appears in groups of three; it's not unlikely if you get away damaged. Imp: ¯¯¯¯ LV: 33 HP: 138 EXP: 582 TYPE: Undead MP: 64 GP: 312 ELEMENT: Shade Info: A small flying demon with a sharp fork that has annoying abilities to disappear and reappear somewhere else. Besides doing this, they might also blow Salamando at you. Jabberwocky: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 18 HP: 950 EXP: 800 TYPE: Lizard MP: 90 GP: 768 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-H of the walkthrough. Kettle Kin: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 52 HP: 1230 EXP: 15555 TYPE: Metallic MP: 33 GP: 3360 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-W of the walkthrough. Kid Goblin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 5 HP: 64 EXP: 8 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 0 GP: 14 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: They're asleep, but wake up when you get near them. Avoiding them is the best option, but if you try to kill them, watch out for their axes! Kilroy: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 17 HP: 900 EXP: 686 TYPE: Metallic MP: 18 GP: 650 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-H of the walkthrough. Kimono Bird: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 20 HP: 160 EXP: 145 TYPE: Bird MP: 48 GP: 120 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: While these birds aren't too spectacular on their own, they can spawn Pebblers! Either quickly attack and dump magic- attacks on them or run away in fear. Kimono Wizard: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 48 HP: 408 EXP: 1660 TYPE: Bird MP: 80 GP: 1080 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: Instead of summoning Pebblers, this one creates Metal Crawlers. Fairly hard to kill with weapons, so use Gnome to win the fights quickly. La Funk: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 25 HP: 100 EXP: 265 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 20 GP: 190 ELEMENT: Undine Info: Clouds. As you know, putting a sword in clouds does not help you, so let sprite cast magic on them. Do NOT get close to them; you do not want to be spit upon with snow that turns you into a snowman, leaving you, besides extremely stupid- looking, very vulnerable. Lime Slime: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 41 HP: 3470 EXP: 8000 TYPE: Slime MP: 99 GP: 3000 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-R of the walkthrough. Lullabud: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 2 HP: 36 EXP: 3 TYPE: Plant MP: 10 GP: 8 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Appears to be a normal flower, but lunges at you when you get near it. It uses Sleep Flower too, which is annoying, so try to waste it before it gets the chance to. Mad Mallard: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 23 HP: 200 EXP: 215 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 0 GP: 174 ELEMENT: None Info: My personal favorite of Secret of Mana's enemies! Who doesn't love 'em? Run away and leave them alive. Ma Goblin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 11 HP: 150 EXP: 38 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 8 GP: 36 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: Like the Goblins, mamas use a boomerang also. They carry an axe for close-combat. If you're looking for level-up opportunities, Ma Goblins are your best bet here, if you can handle them. Mana Beast: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 73 HP: 9990 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 99 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Z of the walkthrough. Mantis Ant: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 3 HP: 150 EXP: 10 TYPE: Metallic MP: 20 GP: 100 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-A of the walkthrough. Marmablue: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 45 HP: 324 EXP: 1385 TYPE: Lizard MP: 30 GP: 816 ELEMENT: Luna Info: They don't appear to do much, but they do have the ability to cast Magic Absorb... I suggest either killing them as soon as possible and hoping they don't use their magic (or cast it on the boy), or going *meep meep*. Master Ninja: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 68 HP: 400 EXP: 4388 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 44 GP: 2760 ELEMENT: None Info: DEADLY. They are *SO* damn powerful; considering them bosses is no over-exaggeration. They act like the Dark Stalkers you have fought earlier but are ten times as strong. It is best to avoid them entirely or attacking them from a distance with your best spells (they have no weakness). UGH. Mech Rider 1: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 23 HP: 980 EXP: 1595 TYPE: Metallic MP: 18 GP: 1055 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-K of the walkthrough. Mech Rider 2: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 37 HP: 1258 EXP: 6013 TYPE: Metallic MP: 30 GP: 1500 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Q of the walkthrough. Mech Rider 3: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 58 HP: 4327 EXP: 21104 TYPE: Metallic MP: 38 GP: 16000 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-X of the walkthrough. Metal Crab: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 61 HP: 533 EXP: 3230 TYPE: Metallic MP: 28 GP: 2846 ELEMENT: None Info: They use bubble-attacks and have their ultra-irritating claw- assault again. Paired with Light Saber, they try to snip you into pieces. Metal Crawler: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 47 HP: 450 EXP: 1563 TYPE: Metallic MP: 44 GP: 1020 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Like the crawlers you've met in the Upper Land, they... crawl. Metal Mantis: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 34 HP: 1220 EXP: 4749 TYPE: Metallic MP: 40 GP: 1464 ELEMENT: None Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Q of the walkthrough. Mimic Box: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 36 HP: 290 EXP: 740 TYPE: Plant MP: 30 GP: 399 ELEMENT: Luna Info: This is a "trap"--a treasure chest that is actually a monster. He is pretty strong and knows some attacks, so kill this one as soon as possible. And yes, you might even get a treasure from this one. ^_^; Minotaur: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 30 HP: 1200 EXP: 3348 TYPE: Animal MP: 99 GP: 1440 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-N of the walkthrough. Mushboom: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 3 HP: 60 EXP: 3 TYPE: Plant MP: 0 GP: 7 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Much HP. Watch out for his rolling attack, and especially for his attacks that knock you unconscious. Mushgloom: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 56 HP: 628 EXP: 2550 TYPE: Plant MP: 38 GP: 3200 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Much HP. Watch out for his rolling attack, and especially for his attacks that knock you unconscious. Mystic Book: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 28 HP: 190 EXP: 370 TYPE: Plant MP: 99 GP: 264 ELEMENT: None Info: A book gone insane, casting spells on itself and you while flying around. Quickly shred them to pieces or you will regret it... or not, as they sometimes flip to a page with a naked woman! National Scar: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 55 HP: 630 EXP: 2425 TYPE: Plant MP: 58 GP: 2600 ELEMENT: Shade Info: I've seen them in front of those orbs in the Grand Palace and never really bothered to fight them. They look like the Mystic Books, and this time, they're weak against Lumina. They still haven't removed the 18+ page and can summon Imps. Needlion: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 58 HP: 599 EXP: 2800 TYPE: Animal MP: 28 GP: 2430 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: BLARGH. They are annoying; at the moment you meet them first (Grand Palace), they're too strong for you. Their powerful attacks (see Pebbler) crush you if you're not too powerful, especially if there is an Eggplant Men around that summons other Needlions. Better run away and obliterate them too hell when you're stronger. Nemesis Owl: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 18 HP: 122 EXP: 100 TYPE: Bird MP: 24 GP: 88 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: While they should be no threat to you, they have the ability to cast the "Silence"-spell on you. This confuses you (Left- button is walking to the right) and should be countered by switching to any sane character. That is all. Nitro Pumpkin: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 44 HP: 420 EXP: 1300 TYPE: Plant MP: 20 GP: 468 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: They look like the kamikaze-Pumpkin Bombs, but act no way like them. I don't think they're dangerous physically, but their magic owns you if you're slapdash. Use Dispel Magic when they use Wall in order to get rid of the reflect-status, and then pump him full of magic. You can't really hurt him weapon-wise. Pebbler: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 19 HP: 186 EXP: 125 TYPE: Animal MP: 0 GP: 96 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: You're going to meet Pebblers, blue brutal hedgehogs, much more. They occasionally dig under the ground to attack you from below and have a powerful attack that throws dirt to anything in the Pebbler's range. Also, they spin quite a lot around, and it's best to avoid them if you're not high in the levels. But the Pebblers in Moogle Village (where you'll meet them first) aren't avoidable, so... never mind. Phoenix: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 77 HP: 7777 EXP: 6671 TYPE: Bird MP: 77 GP: 4653 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: "This firebird is going to be a real pain in the ass for everyone who is dumb enough to cross him... He will rise from his ashes every time you have the luck to kill him and then he will come after you to burn your butt to a crisp!" -- Kr@ze Polter Chair: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 8 HP: 128 EXP: 21 TYPE: Plant MP: 0 GP: 22 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Just a chair. Like the Lullabuds, they are harmless when you don't do anything, but they attack when you get near them. Not hard to beat. Pumpkin Bomb: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 21 HP: 160 EXP: 1 TYPE: Plant MP: 4 GP: 12 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: A Halloween-pumpkin. Not filled with a candle, but with a bomb that you not wish to explode in your face. Avoid them; the rewards you get are pitiable. Rabite: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 1 HP: 20 EXP: 1 TYPE: Animal MP: 0 GP: 2 ELEMENT: None Info: Just spins and bites and jumps. Nothing really to worry about, but you know the saying, "Never underestimate to power of stupid people in great numbers." Red Dragon: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 65 HP: 3000 EXP: 29000 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 21800 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Y of the walkthrough. Red Drop: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 27 HP: 380 EXP: 330 TYPE: Slime MP: 0 GP: 216 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: Squaresoft must be recycling--the Red Drop is exactly the same as the Blue Drop except a bit more powerful and able to engulf you in flames if you touch it. Robin Foot: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 28 HP: 125 EXP: 368 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 16 GP: 240 ELEMENT: None Info: Basically a palette-swap of the Chobin Hood with a new name, new suit, and more powerful. They will sometimes cast Flame Saber upon themselves, but are probably killed already before they get to make use of it. Sand Stinger: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 21 HP: 200 EXP: 170 TYPE: Insect MP: 10 GP: 144 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: Scorpions... and you know, scorpions are dangerous because of their stinger. Do the attack-and-go-away-strategy and you should be able to leave unscathed. Shadow X1: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 0 HP: 999 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Shade Info: It's... you! Shadow X2: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 0 HP: 800 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Shade Info: And her! Shadow X3: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 0 HP: 800 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Shade Info: And him! See the appropriate boss strategies in section 2-V of the walkthrough. Shape Shifter: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 42 HP: 350 EXP: 1140 TYPE: Slime MP: 0 GP: 1500 ELEMENT: None Info: They're a dark-colored drop, and like drops, they multiply. They don't replicate into other Shape Shifters, but the produced monster will be another monster--varying from a Rabite to the most powerful foes you will face in the final dungeon of the game. Duplicating monsters are annoying, and in many cases deadly, so be on your guard/avoid them. Shellblast: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 26 HP: 180 EXP: 300 TYPE: Lizard MP: 16 GP: 204 ELEMENT: Undine Info: A turtle-Pebbler. They are sometimes hard to hit (and won't take damage while they're spinning) and have hard-hitting attacks. Run, or attack them carefully. Silktail: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 17 HP: 130 EXP: 91 TYPE: Animal MP: 40 GP: 79 ELEMENT: None Info: Ah, the pink Rabite! Basically, it's just... a pink Rabite. Nothing really to worry about, except if you're low in the levels. Silktails jump around, spin around, and try to bite you. Well, bite back then. Snap Dragon: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 56 HP: 1215 EXP: 19200 TYPE: Dragon MP: 6 GP: 12480 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-X of the walkthrough. Snow Dragon: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 63 HP: 2800 EXP: 26588 TYPE: Dragon MP: 99 GP: 18360 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Y of the walkthrough. Specter: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 27 HP: 200 EXP: 330 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 99 GP: 213 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Like the LA Funks, they are immune to physical attacks. Sprite should smack them down with a bunch of spells, unless you meet multiple of them, in which case you should be on the run. Spider Legs: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 22 HP: 230 EXP: 188 TYPE: Insect MP: 21 GP: 156 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: Spider Legs appear in pools of quicksand, and sometimes they are hidden under "normal" sand. They mostly cast "Earth Slide" on you and aren't attackable with weapons when they're underground. To do away with them, have sprite use magic. Spikey Tiger: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 10 HP: 520 EXP: 210 TYPE: Animal MP: 21 GP: 288 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-D of the walkthrough. Spring Beak: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 20 HP: 720 EXP: 1090 TYPE: Bird MP: 99 GP: 864 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-I of the walkthrough. Steamed Crab: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 18 HP: 110 EXP: 110 TYPE: Metallic MP: 25 GP: 180 ELEMENT: None Info: A small crab, with an attack that hits everyone in a circle around it. Also uses Thunder Saber on itself, but this seems to do pretty much nothing. And if you carefully study this monster's name... you'll realize it's quite stupid. Steelpion: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 46 HP: 390 EXP: 1472 TYPE: Insect MP: 52 GP: 960 ELEMENT: Gnome Info: Watch out for their stinger and you should be fine. I am rubber, you are glue. Terminator: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 69 HP: 300 EXP: 4570 TYPE: Metallic MP: 99 GP: 3600 ELEMENT: Lumina Info: Arnold Schwarzeneggers with a super-powerful mace that blows yo arse and are super-good at evading your attacks. HOWEVER! They are super-weak against Shade; give 'em a Dark Force, and this time you'll be the one saying, "hasta la vista, baby." Thunder Gigas: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 66 HP: 4462 EXP: 30277 TYPE: Non-corporeal MP: 99 GP: 30600 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-Y of the walkthrough. Tomato Man: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 14 HP: 40 EXP: 65 TYPE: Demi-human MP: 46 GP: 96 ELEMENT: Salamando Info: No! Don't attack them; you won't hit them unless the attack is charged. On the other hand, they have not much HP. But because they spawn Zombies, stay away from them. Tonpole: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 11 HP: 600 EXP: 50 TYPE: Lizard MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: Undine Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-E of the walkthrough. Trap Flower: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 37 HP: 144 EXP: 800 TYPE: Plant MP: 50 GP: 532 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: Kill these as soon as possible! They don't pose a threat, but they have the ability to cast Sleep Flower... and sir, this is truly annoying. Treasure Chest: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 0 HP: 0 EXP: 0 TYPE: None MP: 0 GP: 0 ELEMENT: None Info: Not a monster per se, but it is targetable and analyzable. Using Analyzer on it results in the chest glowing red--this ensures you will not be shocked to death by an unpleasant item inside... literally, sometimes. Tropicallo: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 7 HP: 315 EXP: 80 TYPE: Plant MP: 0 GP: 132 ELEMENT: Dryad Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-C of the walkthrough. Tsunami: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 64 HP: 388 EXP: 3700 TYPE: Slime MP: 99 GP: 2100 ELEMENT: Undine Info: Tsunamis are like the Embermen you've met earlier, except that they're snow-white. They regenerate (but, fortunately, are not hard to kill) and have big hands to slap your face till it hurts. And they constantly use Acid Storm and Energy Absorb, which is annoying. Turtlance: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 54 HP: 560 EXP: 2300 TYPE: Lizard MP: 44 GP: 2965 ELEMENT: Undine Info: A turtle with wheels (what the?) and a spear, and able to cast some sabers. Vampire: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 35 HP: 2550 EXP: 5148 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 696 ELEMENT: Shade Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-P of the walkthrough. Wall Face: (boss) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 16 HP: 920 EXP: 580 TYPE: Undead MP: 99 GP: 720 ELEMENT: Sylphid Info: See the appropriate boss strategy in section 2-G of the walkthrough. Water Thug: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 16 HP: 145 EXP: 77 TYPE: Fish MP: 10 GP: 65 ELEMENT: Undine Info: A frog-like thing with a trident that functions like both a spear and a javelin. Not hard to kill, though. Weepy Eye: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 28 HP: 165 EXP: 370 TYPE: Plant MP: 80 GP: 264 ELEMENT: Lumina Info: A stupid eye floating around. Use the Spear, because it looks downright painful to get hit by one. Ha. I love video games. Werewolf: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 9 HP: 140 EXP: 30 TYPE: Animal MP: 6 GP: 36 ELEMENT: Luna Info: Difficult earlier in the game. They have obviously played a bit too much Street Fighter, and now practice their fighting skills on you. They also use Cure Water after taking a few hits. They're fast also, so watch out. Werewolves only appear in the Haunted Forest if you haven't recruited the girl by then, and make their reappearance at Elinee's. Whimper: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 66 HP: 230 EXP: 4036 TYPE: Insect MP: 99 GP: 2280 ELEMENT: Lumina Info: Whimpers are the umpteenth in the line of enemy eyes and they continue the tradition of Moogling those that dare to face them. Unfortunately, cuteness does not equal strength. Wizard Eye: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 32 HP: 200 EXP: 530 TYPE: Lizard MP: 50 GP: 504 ELEMENT: Undine Info: Notable is that Wizard Eyes spawn Weepy Eyes. And they can frosty you (if I remember correctly). I would suggest keeping away from them or running amok with Salamando. Wolf Lord: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 67 HP: 280 EXP: 4210 TYPE: Undead MP: 50 GP: 2400 ELEMENT: Shade Info: Do you remember the Werewolves? That when you first met them, they awfully punched everything out of you? Well, here they are, back with more karate skills. They are still hard to defeat, so if you don't want to bother fighting them, show 'em a ray of Lucent Beam and they're done for. Zombie: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ LV: 13 HP: 150 EXP: 50 TYPE: Undead MP: 20 GP: 48 ELEMENT: Shade Info: The monsters spawned by Tomato Men are a bit easier to get rid of, compared to Tomato Men themselves. They are easy to hit and don't really do anything to hurt you, but don't let them get too close. ======================================================================== PART 5: FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS ======================================================================== Q: Argh! What's with this "walk the seasons"-crap! Help! A: "Walk the seasons from spring to winter, spring again and we can enter..." With the seasons, the verse refers to the colors of the trees. If it's winter, there's snow everywhere; if it's spring, the trees are pink, etc. You have to walk a counter-clockwise circle, starting in spring (pink trees). Go right, into summer, then up to autumn, then left to winter, and lastly, down to spring. You will hear a sound... Q: What do I gotta do in the fire palace? I searched everywhere but every place leads to dead-ends! A: You're not supposed to be there. In order to get rid of a Crystal Orb that blocks your path, you'll have to acquire an elemental that resides in the Ice Country. Find a Cannon Travel Center and launch yourself into the snow. Q: The entrance to the light palace is blocked! Where's the key? A: Ah yes, the key... If you talk to the guy on top of the mini- Chinese wall in Gold City, he'll say that a Tasnican spy stole it. Go to Southtown and talk to Mara (the old hag that gave you the password earlier); she'll give you the key you're looking for. Note that she WON'T give it if you haven't spoken to that guy on top of the long wall in Gold City. Q: Whoa...! I opened a chest, got a weapon orb out of it, and then the chest reappeared! Not complaining or anything, but how come? A: If you missed an orb earlier, it will return later in the form of a double chest. So if you, for example, forgot the Whip's Orb in the Thieves' Ship, you will receive an extra one in Northtown Castle. So thoughtful. ======================================================================== PART 6: THE FAQ'S REAR BUTT ======================================================================== Legal Junk: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Copyright (c) 2003 R.D. van Heuven van Staereling The FAQ is entirely unofficial, and may not be reproduced and/or altered (in part or in whole) without permission, except for personal, private use. No complaining or breaking the rules, boy, or your ass and my foot will have an appointment. Furthermore, all copyrights and trademarks contained within this document are owned by their respective holders--any usage of them in this file does not comprise a challenge to those rights. If you wish to host this file on your website, that's great--I only ask from you that you drop me a line first, asking me for permission (and you will almost always get it). This way, I know where my work floats around on the Internet, and I will be able to send you any updates when I revise the FAQ. Special Thanks: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ - Zach Keene for allowing me to use some of his Secret of Mana- related articles (100% accurate stats for the monsters and the mechanics of weapons leveling up). And some general corrections here and there. - JD Cyr, for making a FAQ for this game; it contained a method to get a Sword's Orb, which I've taken over. Revision History: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 0.0 -- 10/25/02 -- Started on this document on October 25th... 0.9 -- 01/25/03 -- ...and it was submitted exactly three months later. I know it took long; blame laziness. 1.0 -- 02/21/03 -- Completed sections. Somewhat. 1.01 -- 02/22/03 -- Snipped out one stupid error... 1.05 -- 09/08/03 -- Cosmetic change for the most part. Final Words...: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Phew! I have nothing funny left to say, sorry. Not that I had anything funny to begin with, so... whatever. I hope this FAQ's been of some use for you and that you had a wonderful time experiencing this guide (YADDA YADDA YADDA). -- phx Thanks for reading! SHAMELESS PLUG--other FAQs written by me, myself, and I: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/19734.html