Shadow Hearts 2 FAQ/Walkthrough Version 1.0 Zhou Tai An (kamenriderkirby@yahoo.com.sg) This document is copyright Zhou Tai An. Any use anywhere requires my permission. ****** Many thanks goes to maskrider for his excellent, comprehensive SH2 page, (check it out at http://felixmcli.org/shadowhearts2.html) and the Shadow Hearts Series Strategy VR Lab (http://vrlab.info/sh2/) - which you should also visit if you can understand Japanese. Both were invaluable while writing this guide. I have used some information from maskrider's page to save readers the trouble of switching back and forth, but where the information seems similar, it came from his page. Some notes : 1. This guide contains very very slight spoilers (in the Character Section), both of which will be marked. No major plot information will be divulged. 2. I won't be listing exactly where to find all the items (as in, no search the bookshelf at the left of the door etc) because I think that if you search hard enough, you should be able to find everything. Also, I won't be listing any strategies for normal encounters because none of them are that hard. However, if you want any of these things or other stuff, just ask and if there is enough feedback and reader response I'll start adding more. 3. This is written with regard to the Japanese version - I have no intention of buying the English version when it comes out. The names for the most part should stay the same, especially since I have played the English SH1 and am using it's names here. However, if someone were to send me the English version names and such (for items, skills etc) I will have them put in. ****** Long time no see. This is my first FAQ in years...4-5 years I believe. And I wouldn't even be writing it if I didn't think that Shadow Hearts 2 is a game that NEEDS a FAQ. It's the best RPG on the PS2 IMHO. Anyway, just read the review. On with the FAQ. ****** Some rantings and thoughts (not related to the FAQ, skip if you wish) Great games tend to be ignored - that's a sad fact. Spectral Force 2 on the Playstation (tactical wargame with superb story that never made to it to US), Valkyrie Profile (which I still believe never received the critical acclaim that it deserved), and many more...even the PC game market isn't immune to this trend. Games like Loom and Planescape : Torment get tossed aside and relegated to niche markets. It seems that if a game doesn't boast incredibly high graphical quality, a massive marketing campaign and ease of gameplay, it just doesn't succeed that well. Things like storyline, innovative systems, music, and more subtle aspects such as art direction, character design...how the game "flows" together, each part interweaving to create something greater than the sum of it's parts - they all seem to be ignored by the mass market. Perhaps I sound defeatist and pessimistic here, but this is my honest perception of most of the gaming world today. Well, I'm here to at least try to make Shadow Hearts 2 a game that will NOT be ignored. Yes, it's no Final Fantasy, nor Xenosaga or Suikoden. It may not sport a big-name license. It probably won't receive many rave reviews (this one excepted ^_^) But it's a great game nonetheless. Graphics, music, characters, and most importantly, storyline - they're all here, executed wonderfully. There's even some of funniest scenes in videogame history, if the above isn't enough. And while I'm on this track...Shadow Hearts 2 is just ONE of the great games that will probably go under the radar. Go find them. Ignore the howling of the multitudes for graphics and try and find games that excel as games and not simply eye candy. They're out there - you just have to search for them. So do that, feed a kitten, bring some joy into this world. Buy Shadow Hearts 2, and have fun reading the FAQ. :) ****** Contents : 1. Copyright Information, Notes, Rant 2. Basic Tips and Strategies 3. Walkthrough 4. Character Information 5. Sidequests and Additional Information 6. Endgame Sidequests 7. Credits ****** Basic Tips and Strategies : 1. The 4 different Ring sets are there for a reason...use them. If you're think you're good with the Ring, then by all means go with Technical to maximize your potential. Not too confident? Use Normal. Really scared? Practice. I wouldn't recommend Gamble unless in certain situations though. Practice is really good if you are new to SH2...it allows you to continue to hit areas even if you make a mistake, and it makes spells and special moves much easier to activate. Just don't select the auto Ring option, since that only gives you one (count it, ONE) hit. 2. On the same note, it is often wiser to use less powerful skills/Fusions if you aren't certain of the hit areas on the tougher Rings. At least you will succeed, instead of shooting for the moon and failing. Some of the later Fusions have really tough Rings areas (at least for newbies). 3. Try to get big combos on bosses. The game awards bonuses based on : No Ring Miss xxx Hit Combo Ring Perfect Victory xxx Enemy Actions No Damage Victory so if you get a big combo, you'll often get Seals in the process, which can't be obtained by either Lotteries or from random enemies (i.e, there are a finite number of them) 4. While on the subject of Seals, always, ALWAYS use Seals in battle, since if you use them in the status screen you will always get the weakest effect possible. Switch to Normal Ring and equip a Coral Pendant to ensure you succeed, save and reload if you don't. 5. Don't be afraid to use skills and magic in normal battles. There will always be a Save Point next to any boss fights, so feel free to expend your MP and try to get bonuses from random encounters. 6. It's probably better to stick to 4 main characters out of the 8 you will get, because switching characters around robs them of experience. (Though characters not participating in battle still get experience, they don't get as much as those in the actual lineup.) 7. If you are good with the Ring, consider using a Mind's Eye on your most powerful attacker, switching Ring type to Practice if necessary. The doubled physical damage is really quite powerful. I personally used Joachim since his hit areas are equally spaced from each other, and of course he can turn into Grand Papillion. ^_^ 8. The hits done later in a combo will do much more damage than the ones earlier on, so make your heavy hitters move last. Also, pay attention to what direction skills/magic attack in - some only work at the beginning of a combo if the first hit makes the enemy fly up etc. Striking a wall means the combo will break. ****** Walkthrough (no spoilers, I will not detail story scenes so you can enjoy them yourself) - Tower of Adonai (Obtainable Items : Medi Leaf, Talisman of Protection, Mana Leaf, Hit Area Increase, Ring Soul, Pure Leaf, Tent) Nothing too hard. Take this opportunity to get used to the Ring system if you're new to SH. Boss : Gargoyle - Simple, just have Kallen attack and Nichol use Bless. Combo if you want. Be aware that his Evil Ray causes your SP to drop, so you might need to use a Pure Leaf here. - Village of Doremy (Obtainable Items : Mana Leaf, Medi Leaf, Hit Area Increase, Talisman of Protection, Striker Area Increase, Tent, Medi Seed) Just make your way through the forest and village. Note that you can't away run in the village, though why you should need to run against such easy enemies is beyond me. - Forest of Aldenne (Obtainable items : Mana Leaf, Battery, Balbatos (Crest), Hit Area Increase, Spirit's Blessing, Medi Leaf, Tent, Leather Cap.) A bit tricky here. Search the notice near the elevator for the Hit Area Increase. You'll need to go to the other side of the forest and lower the bridge to get all the items...search the middle of the bridge for one of them. You can come back later if you miss any. Boss : Arachne - The only Malice monster in the whole game. Love the design. Pretty easy, Crest magic with Blanc and Zepetto, attacks with Uru, link them all together. Heal if you need to. - Paris (Obtainable Items - Crosel (Crest), Medi Leaf, Hit Area Increase) Lottery No.9 is here later in the game. Talk to Koche in the bar, then go to the Champs Elysee station to enter the subway. - Champs Elysee (Obtainable Items - Physical Defense Down Lv 1, Medi Leaf, Haures (Crest), Tent) - Subway (Obtainable Items - Strike Area Increase, Phoenix Tail, Talisman of Fortune, Pure Leaf, Ring Soul, Special Defense Down Lv 1, Pocket Watch, Ami (Crest) Quite a maze here. Be careful not to get lost, some of the passages look incredibly alike. Hit the switch (there's only one, don't worry - it's at the far right) and go through the area it opens to get to the Junk Shop (pick up the Spirit's Blessing there) and a Fuse. Go back down and use the Fuse. Boss : Kaltos and Voluxx - Again, nothing too hard. Hit the water one first since Kallen's first Sword Skill is fire elemental. Then rinse and repeat. - Le Havre (Obtainable Items - Seal of Spirit, Pure Leaf, Medi Seed, Ring Soul, Wool Coat, Hit Area Increase, Lottery Ticket, Medi Leaf) You'll be forced to play the Lottery when you go talk to the Lottery Member there, so be sure to save and win the Crest from him. Talk to the mayor and join the militia, then after the events there go to the Wine Cellar. Boss : Grand Papillion - Fortunately for you this fight is not for real, if not Grand Papillion would whip all your sorry asses. ^_^ Just combo him with magic (his physical defense is higher) and it should be over soon. I actually got a Ring Perfect Victory for this fight. - Wine Cellar (Obtainable Items - Aromatic Wood Bracelet, Seal of Intelligence, Medi Seed, Silver Ash Bracelet, Mana Seed, Lottery Ticket, Pure Seed, Roim (Crest) Boss : Veronica - It's Grand Papillion one-on-one with Ero-Ero Queen! But never fear, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL! It's really not too tough, just attack and heal if necessary. After all, it's the power of GRAND PAPILLION! You can come back here after finishing this quest to find Wolf Bout 2 (Kelly - equip a Pocket Watch before fighting him) and the box-matching mini-game. - Southampton (Obtainable Items : Hit Area Increase, Mr Dedicated (Builder Card), Leonardo's Bear, Lottery Ticket, Seal of Spirituality, Army Locker) You meet Grand Gama for the first time here. You should be able to get Grand Slam from him if you equip Joachim with a Leonardo's Bear and fight him. If you want Destron Hammer as well you're going to have to use a Voodoo Doll or come back later. Pick up a Nibelung Chapter from a guy here, and play Lottery 15. Talk to the people in the bar. You can also start the Item Trading event here by talking to the guy on the rampants to get the Straw. Also pick up an Army Locker for Joachim. - Ronda Mines (Obtainable Items - Lottery Ticket X 2, Medi Seed, Kajual Horn, Ring Soul, Pure Seed X 2, Ribbed Belt, Seal of Movement, Fine Rapier, Seal of Strength) Another maze area. Don't get lost. One of the Lottery Tickets is on the floor here, search carefully or you'll miss it. You can also find Lottery Member 14 here, be sure to talk to him even if you don't play the Lottery, since you need to talk to all members to get to the Chairman. Boss : Grimlock - He'll use Slow and Gale, but you don't really need to worry about those, just pound him and he'll go down soon enough. - Wales (Obtainable Items : Hit Area Increase, Seal of Life, Bear Claw, Forunes (Crest), Lottery Ticket, Ring Soul, Red Post) Save before exiting Roger's house, because you'll get into a boss fight. Pick up a Red Post later on. Boss : Rene - Combo him with magic, he's resistant to physical. Equip Aromatic Wood Bracelets to ward off his Paralysis attacks. - Firenze (Obtainable Items : Strike Area Increase, Medi Seed, Vipal (Crest), Lottery Ticket, Bat Gold, Nibelung Chapter 7, Mr Matador) Wolf Bout No.3, Jerome, is here (he's a pushover) You can exchange the Straw for New Type Film here as well. Pick up Chapter 7 of the Nibelung from the unlucky guy who got his fortune told. You'll also get a Pedometer here, which I highly recommend equipping on an active party member (no, you can't cheat by putting it on people not in the actual lineup) - Manmariara Isle (Obtainable Items - Hit Area Increase, Pure Seed, Seal of the Soul, Lottery Ticket, Ring Soul, Stone Lv 1) The Ring Soul here is in a corner of one of the rooms, be sure not to miss him. Check maskrider's site for the solution to the doors. For the blood-type doors, Zepetto is the one you want. Go back and get Pulsom (Crest) from Kalera afterwards. Boss : Andre - Kill him quick before he steals all your money. That's about it...he's not tough, but he will rob you blind if you let him. - Sapientes Gradio Italian Branch (Obtainable Items : Delay Lv 1, Ubal (Crest), Medi Rizoom, Lottery Ticket, Hit Area Increase, Seal of the Vessel, Stealth Roid, Talisman of Love) Set the clock to 9 after checking all the books. Search the walls for secret rooms, obtain and input the passwords when you find them. You'll need to backtrack to the computer room at one point. Go back to Wales and Roger's House to grab the ladder and head to the Neam Ruins. Boss : Hideout Boss - Wow, what an imaginative name. This guy can be tough, though. You might want to consider having people with Cure and Arc Cure here, and watch your SP as well. Also, Defense Reduction Ring Effects can be useful. - Neam Ruins (Obtainable Items : Face Guard, Mana Seed, Talisman of Fortune, Hit Area Increase, Medi Seed, Lottery Ticket, Finex (Crest), Leonardo's Bear, Pindacchi V, Berit (Crest), Ring Soul, Mana Refine) Lots of items here, though you'll have to be patient and rearrange the switches to get then. With some time and effort you should be able to figure all of them out, so I'm not going to list the methods here. Boss : Grey Rugeizer, Geizer Bit X 2 - The Geizer Bits use Instant Death attacks, so either take them out quick or equip Leonardo's Bears. Slow can be useful here. - Cannes (Obtainable Items : Seal of Spirit, Lottery Ticket, Glass Oil, Mr Samurai, Western Belt) You can start the Treasure Hunting sub-quest here. Lottery Member No. 13 is here as well. Equip Blanc with your good Crests (include healing!) before continuing. - St Margritte (Obtainable Items : Kamio (Crest), Lottery Ticket, Face Guard, Pifron (Crest), Tent, Strike Area Increase, Special Defense Reduction Lv 2, Ring Soul, Dafune Seed, Seal of Strength, Earthern Pipe, Pure Rizoom, Lottery Ticket, Seal of Luck) It's time for the world's greatest secret agent...SOLID BLANC! Apparently the contents of one of the chests changes depending on how many times you get caught by the guards, but I don't know exactly what it is. Lottery Member 12 is here in one of the rooms. You can save just before being tortured by Veronica to see how everyone reacts (I especially like Zepetto and Uru's scenes ^_^) The dial number is 8-6-4. Components for the key : 1. Adhesive - storeroom near to the exit 2. Coiled Wire - forest where the wolves are, use Blanc to go back inside 3. Fountain Pen - Room with the Pure Refine, above the stairs Boss : Phillip - Not too tough. Be sure to equip healing magic on Blanc, and watch out for your MP, since Phillip will try to inflict Mental Breakdown status on you. Poison works well here. Be careful of your SP too. Boss : Oscar - It's another wolf to wolf battle. (Or wolf to freaky vaguely dog-like creature, actually.) This can be tough if you're not careful. Use Gale to make Blanc faster so he can act twice. A Shell Bracelet to prevent Poison is a must, and you should seriously considering using Poison as well. Watch your SP. Boss : God Hand - Your first big battle. Equip some anti-stone accessories if possible, since he will try to Stone you, and if attacked while Stoned you will shatter and die instantly. Go for big combos. Use Knockdown in your attacks since he's heavy, and be careful of your SP if the fight drags. - Elmitarge Castle (Obtainable Items : Seal of Life, Physical Attack Reduction Lv 2, Mana Rizzom, Estgarda, Lottery Ticket, Bell Bracelet, Circlet, Pirate Earrings, Empress (Tarot Card) Check the teddy bear for the Empress Card. Talk to Ivan for an event, go back and sleep, then go out for more events. Be sure to Snap the first enemy Anastasia fights for Aqualize. _ Petrograd (Obtainable Items : Pure Rizoom, Hit Area Increase, Seal of Intelligence, Fulkas (Crest), Physical Defense Reduction Lv2, Strike Area Increase, Lottery Ticket, Erigos (Crest) Get a Lottery Ticket from Edgar's shop and a Nibelung Chapter from Old Man Boris. Another Wolf Bout (R-3) is here as well. Go into the castle to proceed. Boss : Victor and Pendulums - They have reasonably strong magic, so Arc Barrier and Arc Cure could be useful. Victor is fire element, so use your newly acquired Aqualize. - Valley of Goreme (Obtainable Items : Motelus (Crest), Seal of Spirituality, Lottery Ticket, Blue Cape, Evade Down Lv 2, Ring Soul) The Ring Soul is once again hiding in the corner of the altar room (room where you first meet Yofis) - don't miss it. Be sure to equip Kallen with your good Crests (include healing) before continuing on. - Castle of Mirrors (Obtainable Items : Third Key) Go back to where you first started in the reverse castle (once you're through the mirror the first time) to get the Third Key. Not all the mirrors have to be broken to proceed. Once back in the Valley, search the place where Kallen and Uru had their talk to find Seele (Crest) the second Treasure Hunting item. (Note that you can only find it if you have triggered that sub-quest) Boss : Amon - He'll only attack Uru, so use Kallen to heal. Not too hard if you are careful. Once again, watch your SP. - Corridors of the Dead (Obtainable Items : Medi Rizoom, Lottery Ticket, Leraie (Crest), Ring Soul, Magician (Tarot Card), Leonardo's Bear, Andomarius (Crest), Seal Lv 2, Talisman of Fortune, Stealth Roid, Prastron) Pick up Nibelung Chapter 3 from the skeleton on the ground in the very first screen of this dungeon. Another maze-type area, but not as bad as the previous 2. Just run around and keep hitting whatever switches you can - the areas look pretty distinct from each other so you shouldn't get lost easily. Another Wolf Bout here, Necros. Equip Blanc with the Pocket Watch and Bell Bracelet and you should own him easily. Grab the Silver Locket to proceed. - Elmitarge Again (Obtainable Items : Talisman of Love, Ipos (Crest), Chilled Tuna) Both items are in the area before climbing the stairs to chase Rasputin. Boss : Night Queen (Veronica) + Peryuton X 2 - BE SURE TO EQUIP LEONARDO'S BEARS, or you will regret it. Besides her irritating Instant Death attacks, Veronica isn't really dangerous. Arc Cure is useful here. Afterwards, a soldier (Kyle to be exact) has Mr Swan (Builder Card) Go back to Rasputin's and Veronica's room to pick up the Purple Bondage Suit and Tissues. Search the place where you fought Veronica to get a Silver Angel, and finally, head back to Edgar to pick up the Panorama Lens. You can also get a Chilled Tuna here. - Idar Flamme (Obtainable Items : Mana Rizoom, Jupiter, Silver Ash Bracelet, Medi Rizoom, Sexegenary Bracelet, Spirit's Blessing, Strike Area Increase, Paralysis Lv 2, Bat Gold, White Wing Bracelet, Hit Area Increase, Third Key, Willpower, Pure Rizoom, Seal of Movement, Voodoo Doll) Once you complete this dungeon, you won't be able to come back again, so make sure you get as many items as you can first. Don't worry, there are no essential items (Tarot Cards, Crests etc) in this dungeon. I can't really remember my way through the dungeon...just continue forwards. ^_^ At the end, you'll see the Mazymell brothers. (like Uru says, I have NO IDEA how they got into Idar Flamme, considering it's in the air) Stock up on items, and/or take their car back to the entrance. Mini Boss : Giga Filaria - These guys may LOOK weak, but hit them hard and hit them fast, if not they will use Arc Gale and start moving like crazy. Don't bother slowing them down - just use your most powerful attacks and waste them ASAP. Boss : Mother Filaria - They are basically bigger versions of the Giga Filaria, but not as dangerous since they are only 2 of them. Fight them the same way. Boss : Asmodeus - Considering he's one of the Trio of Destruction, he's not THAT tough. Bring along adequate healing and you should be fine. One thing to watch out for is his nasty SP Lowering attack, though...he can shave off 20+ SP in a single strike, so equip Willpowers to prevent that. - Tower of Adonai (Obtainable Items : Belial (Crest), Strike Area Increase, Ring Soul, Pure Rizoom, Seal of the Soul, Hit Area Increase, Paimon (Crest) You won't be able to come back to Europe for some time after this dungeon, so if there is anything important you have to get there, do it now. For the scales, use the Arson and Murder weights. For the chains and pulleys area, put the first one up, the second one down, and the last one up (you may need to do a bit of shifting around first) Be sure to collect the Belial Crest after the final gondola shift. Boss : Astarot - Not terribly tough for the boss of the first disc. He does have strong magic, so consider Arc Barrier. Buff up with some Arc spells and go to town on him. Shouldn't be too hard. - Yokohama Warehouses (Obtainable Items : Smart Clothes, Naberius (Crest) Lottery Ticket, Small Bottle, Hit Area Increase, Central Pillar, Seal of Movement, Mana Rizoom) You'll have to fight after the second battle whether or not you choose to jump in, so you should be a good doggie and save the nice cute boy. ^_^ ( Besides, you'll lose the game if Kurando dies.) The shopkeeper here sells the Kimeiyes (Crest), and you can pick up the Bear Doll here for Zepetto. You can also come back later to get the Bune (Crest) Also, grab the Central Pillar for Joachim. - Yokohama Streets (Obtainable Items : Soul Drop, Ring Soul, Mr Doctor (Builder Card), Amdushias (Crest) Sun (Tarot Card) Shine Oil) Talk to the woman with the hat on the streets for the Shine Oil. From where you enter Yokohama on the World Map, go straight up to get the Sun Card. - Warship Mikasa (Obtainable Items : Ring Soul, Vabura Crest (Uru Team - Lottery Ticket, Instant Death Lv 2 - Kurando Team - Lovers (Tarot Card, Vine (Crest), Tent) Check maskrider's page for the solution to the warship puzzles. You can find another Wolf Bout (Kiborin) here after completing this area. Boss : Commander Terada + 4 Akashiro - They can be pretty dangerous if you allow them to gang up on you, since their attacks combo and Slow you to boot. Hit the Akashiros with area attack spells ASAP to thin out their ranks, then focus on Terada. He has high physical attack power, so combo him quick before he Rapid Fires you too many times. - Training Grounds (Obtainable Items : Mana Rizoom, Spirit Blessing)@ I forgot if the items you get here transfer to Uru and Co. or not. Anyway, it's not too tough, just forge onwards, and don't shoot Kato unless you feel especially vindictive :) - (or hate Dracula-esque capes ^_^) Hien and Raiden are easy, just attack, heal. Boss : Minatsuki - Easy. Just combo him. Heal if necessary. - Foreigner's Graveyard (Obtainable Items : Special Defense Down Lv 3, Pure Rizoom, Strike Area Increase, Pindacchi V, Soul Drop (after clearing), Ring Soul (after clearing) You will enter a dungeon and be unable to return once you enter, so be careful (although for some reason the Mazymell brothers will be there...AGAIN) Boss : Tsukiyomi - He has high attack power, so be careful. Either physical or magic works here, just be wary. Shouldn't be too hard. In the spirit world, basically just trigger the first talisman to break the ward and be careful not to get stuck in the neverending circle on the right side. The Pindacchi V is in off the screen chest in the circle loop, use the map to spot it. Boss : Garan - He will Mind Assault one member of the party on his first turn, stealing all his/her MP. Use a Mana Seed/Rizoom if you need to. He has high magical attack power, so you might need to Arc Barrier. Besides that, just whack him with strong physical attacks and he'll go down in no time. - Nihombashi (Obtainable Items : Dafune Seed, Seal of Intelligence, Mana Refine, Broadcast Seat, Puel (Crest) You'll get into some battles after meeting Grand Gama, so be careful. Nothing you can't handle. When playing as the enemy trio, grenades work wonders. Boss : Tyranosaurus Rex (forgot his real name ^_^) - Stronger than when you first fought him. He will use Instant Death attacks, so Leonardo's Bears are good to have. He's light element (for some reason) so dark Fusions work well. About 4000 HP. - Kato's Lab (Obtainable Items : Loincloth, Evade Down Lv 3, Lottery Ticket X 2, Dragonhead Katana, Strike Area Increase X 2, Pure Rizoom, Triple Accelerator, Special Attack Down Lv 3, Dafune Seed, Seal of LUck, Fifth Key, Tent.) You won't be able to come back here after clearing this area, so get everything you can now. One item that you shouldn't miss is the Triple Accelerator - be sure to grab it. This is the area you cleared as Ouka. Search every screen or you might miss stuff (though some screens have nothing) The Triple Accelerator on the floor in the crossroads on the 7th screen. Boss : Fugaku - Can be tough. Dismantling is an Instant Death attack, so you know the drill by now - Leonardo's Bears. His Whirlwind is also pretty dangerous. Bring along powerful healing if you use low HP characters, if not, just hit him hard. - Forest of Wind (Obtainable Items : Malfas (Crest) (inside Forest) Hit Area Increase, Mana Rizoom, Strike Area Increase (inside dungeon) To get through this area, go left first, make a triangle shape around the middle, then continue onwards (you end up making a star with a triangle inside) Boss : Garan + Flame Mouth X 3 - Once again, he will Mind Assault a character for all MP during his first turn, so recover as necessary. Take out the Flame Mouths ASAP so they don't bother you. Besides that it's much the same deal - high magic power, Arc Barrier if necessary, hit him with powerful physical attacks. - Inugami Village (Obtainable Items : Soul Drop, Silver Angel, Ring Soul, Valefour (Crest), Star (Tarot Card), Lottery Ticket, Seal of Spirituality, Haniwa) Don't miss the bugs on the tree near to the Save Point, actually a Lottery Member (go figure). You'll get into a boss fight when going to see Saki at the waterfall. Another Wolf Bout (Matsunaga) is there after clearing it. Boss : Kouenhime - She will try to Seal you - protect yourself accordingly. When she uses Energy Charge, have everyone block or she WILL one-hit kill someone. Besides that, not too strong. - Mt Fuji (Obtainable Items : Pure Refine, Samijina (Crest), Ring Soul, Seal of Life, Medi Refine, Kotorimaru, Mana Refine, Netherworld Fan, Small Bottle, Orias (Crest) (from maskrider's page) Simplest path the get to the boss at Living Mountain (Mt. Fuji) : 1. Get Red crystal (from a treasure box) and put it on the first portal, warp 2. Get Blue crystal and put it on the portal without a save point next to it, warp 3. Get Yellow crystal, warp back to where you put your blue crystal 4. Remove the blue crystal, put it on the portal next to a save point, warp 5. Put the yellow crystal on the only portal, warp 6. Go straight through the middle path and you will get to the boss. To get the Orias Crest, place the Golden Crystals at the first area (where it was Red before), then place Red in the area you arrive at. To get to Robo (Wolf Bout) use Red, Blue then Gold. Boss : Last Astarot - Stronger than last time. He has some nasty area-effect spells, so prepare accordingly (with Arc Barrier/Cure/Northern Lights) - Secret Mansion (not sure how to translate the name) (Obtainable Items : Lottery Ticket, Pure Refine, Seal of Strength, Mind's Eye) To open the lockers, beat the soldiers, search their bodies, then come back when you get the keys. Lottery Member 8 is in one of them once you clear the area. Boss : Mobile Weapon Kaminatsuki - One of the most irritating bosses in the game, because he CAN ONLY BE DAMAGED BY MAGIC. Bah. Be sure to include Anastasia in your party so you can Snap him for the Album entry (or if you want you can wait till he appears in the Solomon Trials) Try for Combo Magic if you can, if not just hit him with all the magic you have. Be sure to bring along magic-using characters for this battle (Joachim probably has to sit this one out). If you want to try using the Hyper Wave Cannon Anastasia gets in this battle, be sure to initiate a combo with it, since it will break if used later. (since it hits high) - Queen's Garden (Obtainable Items : Hit Area Increase, Medi Refine, Paralysis Lv 3, Lottery Ticket, Flamberge, Geshion (Crest), Seal of the Vessel) Grab the Pawn Piece from the left room, use it to unlock the room with the different rooms puzzle, grab the Queen Piece and use it on the chess board (answer is the bottom choice), then use the King's Piece on the furnace in the first room. The solution to the different rooms puzzle : Portrait of man is sideways Table faces the bookshelves Blue Banner Picture on the wall faces the banner Sofa faces the entrance Vase on the chest of drawers The Flamberge is in a hidden chest near the billard table. Boss : King Tamakos - Anastasia can get Spirited Off by using Snap on this boss - don't worry if you miss it though, he appears in the Solomon Trials later. Speaking of which, he will use it on you when he's low on HP (though the person affected still will get full experience from the battle) so if you want to avoid it, finish him off quick. You can come back here to where you fought the boss after obtaining all the previous Nibelung Chapters in order to receive Kallen's final skill. It's time for the final dungeon! But before that...SIDEQUESTS! I'll detail all the many sidequests in a separate section, for now I'll continue with the last part of the game. - Final Dungeon (Doutaku) Your goal here is basically to line up all 4 circles so they all fit - once you do that, you can proceed up or grab the rest of the treasures. Basically just rotate the circles on each floor so they fit - you can do it any amount of times, so it's just trial and error. Before you go up to, you get a final scene with Janne, where she will ask Uru the question that determines the ending. First Choice = Good Ending Second Choice = Bad Ending Decide as you see fit...I haven't translated the choices so as to avoid spoilers. Boss : Fuujin and Raijin - They can actually do upwards of 500 damage if you let them combo you, so be careful. Fujin has a little less HP then Raijin, so you should go for him first. Since this is the second last battle of the game, you can afford to use some Keys if you feel the need. Last Boss : (forgot the actual name ^_^) - I must say, he's a worthy foe for a last boss. Stuff to keep in mind : 1. The Sword attacks for about 250 physical damage. 2. The Mirror will use Frenzied Pulse for 100-150 magic damage to all targets. 3. The Gem will heal and use support magic. 4. The true form uses Divine Slaying for about 350 null elemental damage as well as status effects. 5. If you don't kill any of them, they will combine and pull of a deadly combination attack...which if you don't block probably means goodbye for you. So what do you do? Well, first off, take out the Gem so it can't heal, then the Sword, then the Mirror (if you feel confident, you can try attacking the Mirror first, but it has the most HP of the three) Kill at least one of them so they can't combine. If you want to buff yourself, you should do it after the three items are dead...just to be safe. As for the final form, it has about 10000 HP, but shouldn't be too hard once the other 3 are gone. Be sure to bring along someone who can heal all status and HP (Blanc's Full Moon/Northern Lights, Tsukiyomi, Neo Amon) Either that or equip enough Crucifixes to ward off status ailments. And since it's the final battle of the game, use all your Keys. ****** Character Overview : --- Urumnauf Bort Hyuga : The main character of SH1 and SH2. His rough and badass exterior belies a gentle heart and incredible resolution. Able to fuse with monsters due to his Harmonixer bloodline. Also incredibly handsome. ^_^ (IMHO) Well, Uru is once again the strongest character in the game, due to his multiple Fusions, although unlike in SH1 you aren't required to have him in your party all the time. He gets 5 attacks, making him a frontline damage dealer, and because you can Fuse between ANY monsters at ANY time (even in Combos), he's useful in almost any situation. Probably the only downside to Uru is that his SP drains pretty fast due to Fusions, but then again, he also has the highest SP in the game. Fusions : Fusions gain new spells at Level 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 (nothing at 10, boo) Special Attack, Small GRADE.2 LEVEL.1 Support Healing, Small GRADE.3 LEVEL.3 Special Attack, Medium GRADE.3 LEVEL.5 Status Up, All GRADE.MAX LEVEL.6 Support Healing, All GRADE.MAX LEVEL.8 Special Attack, Large GRADE.MAX LEVEL.9 Notable Fusions include Misrati (final Light Fusion, has an 18 hit last spell) Gaudion (final Earth Fusion, has all-party SP recover) - well, basically all of them are good in some way. ^_^ To obtain Grade Max for your Fusions, you'll need Soul Drops, which you can only start collecting after you get Amon. Each Soul Drop unlocks one element's Grade Max. Here are their locations : 1. Church at Doremy Village 2. Talk to Lawrence at Valley of Goreme 3. Win from box game at Wine Cellar (second stage) 4. At Foreigner's Graveyard 5. In City of Yokohama (one of the shops) 6. In Inugami Village, the small shop just straight after you enter Amon only has 3 skills, at Level 1, 3, and 5. In case you are wondering, Grade Maxed Fusions are stronger than Amon, so don't spend too many Spirit Points on him. However, his levels DO transfer over to Neo Amon. Neo Amon can be obtained via the Tiffagues Castle sidequest. Read the sidequests section for more details. Obtaining the Seraphic Radiance - The following conditions must be met : 1. All Fusions (including Neo Amon and Amon) must be Grade Max, meaning you must have obtained all Soul Drops and fully levelled them up. 2. You must have Kurando's second fusion. (do Kurando's sidequest for that, see sidequest section) 3. You must have visited the last dungeon - just going in and coming out is ok. (you must enter the dungeon itself, not just the outside teleporter) Once these conditions are met, enter the Graveyard and you'll find the Drop of Rebirth near the Uru tree. Head into the door which you previously couldn't enter (Door of Doubt) and continue on until you get story scenes. You'll battle the Seraphic Radiance again, much like in SH1. Not too hard a fight, use Neo Amon with the Flare Brooch to reduce SP drain, just attack and heal with items or Mind/Body Revival. Once defeated, you'll have Uru's ultimate Fusion! Strongest Weapon : Nightbird Claw Obtained after you clear the Neam Ruins a second time. (Anastasia's sidequest.) Roger will make you run like a hamster AGAIN. No strategies or tricks for this bit, just try until you succeed. Strongest Armor : Hell Riders You'll have to track down Rene to get this. Here's how. 1. Talk to the kids at the beach in Canne. 2. In Petrograd, talk to the old woman near the bridge. 3. In Champs Elysee in Paris, talk to the former Iron Claw member. 4. Talk to the man at the stairs in Canne and do some simple arithmetic. 5. Finally, head to St. Margritte and where you last fought Rene. Unique Item : Flare Brooch The boss at Mt Fuji and the Doll Manor each have one. One can also be found in Mt Fuji. --- Kallen Koenig : The red-haired swordswoman who's the first playable character. Love her hair. Not spoiling anything else. :) Kallen is a fighter-mage hybrid much like Blanc...she has decent spellcasting ability and 4 attacks, making her able to fulfill either role pretty well. Her Sword Skills are an ok skill set - they are mostly fire-based, but her Geshpento allows her to rack up some serious hits on bosses, making her an asset if you're going for big combos. In the late game, she's also the only character able to equip Anne's Cross, the best defensive accessory in the game, so that's something to think about as well. Nibelung Chapter Locations - (these are mentioned in the Walkthrough where you can obtain them, but here is the master list) 1. From Zepetto, automatic. 2. From St Margritte, automatic. 3. From man in Southamption. 4. From Jones in Firenze. 5. From Old Man Boris in Petrograd. 6. From first screen in Corridors of the Dead, search the skeleton. 7. From first sailor you see aboard the Mikasa. 8. From man at Foreigner's Graveyard. 9. From man in bar in Southampton (must have all previous volumes) Final - Mural where you fought the boss in the Queen's Garden. Upon searching it you will get into a boss fight with the Guardian. (He's not too tough.) (must have all other volumes) Effects of Chapters : Chapters 1-3 Fire Break power up Chapters 4-6 Brenfogel power up Chapters 7-9 Geshpensuto power up Final Chapter Zonnestark obtained Strongest Weapon : Durandal Obtained from Castle of Confusion sidequest (see sidequest section for details) Strongest Armor : Kurtz Granse Obtained from walking 10,000 steps (you get it for free, i.e, you keep your steps) Unique Item : Anne's Cross Obtained from visiting Alice's grave (story sequence, you can get this once you clear the Queen's Garden) Unique Item : Matahari Dress Complete the Trading subquest (any item you get is fine, you just have to complete it) and get Uru's Nightbird Claw, then talk to Roger at Wales. --- Zepetto : Old dude with a cute doll, wanders around with Uru. Nice glasses and beard. Has funky attacking moves. Zepetto is the obligatory spellcaster of the game. He has easily the highest DHP of anyone in the group, and high magical power as well. Unfortunately... his Marionette skills aren't the most useful - most of them are simply mid-range area attack spells of differing elements. The final 3-4 are quite powerful, but by the time you get them, you should already have access to the final moves of the OTHER characters, which far outshine the Marionette skillset. I myself didn't use Zepetto at all except for the beginning of the game, actually, Still, if you want a spellcaster, he's your man. Builder Card Locations - No. Card Name How to Obtain 01 Mr Sommelier Zepetto's Apartment 02 Mr Dedicated Inn in Southampton 03 Mr Doctor Yokohama, behind a sign 04 Mr Matador Firenze, from Beccy 05 Mr Swan From a soldier in Elmitarge Castle 06 Mr Chef Box game in Wine Cellar, first level 07 Mr Sax Solomon Trials, Entry Level 4 prize 08 Mr Samurai Bar of Cannes 09 Mr Pro-Wrestler Nihombashi, man at left of Grand Gama (story has to progress first) EX Mr Baigen Box game in Wine Cellar, final level (must have SH1 save) Special Dress materials - After the first 6 dresses, you'll need special materials (as well as a Builder Card) to get any more dresses. Purple Bondage Suit - Room where Veronica and Rasputin are in (unlocks Queen of Darkness) Bear Doll - Sold at Yokohama Storage (unlocks Prince of a Hundred Beasts) Uru's Picture (if you can call that a picture...^_^) - Obtain all previous dresses and talk to Pierre (unlocks Azure Maiden) If you have the Mr Baigen Builder Card and all previous dresses, talk to Pierre in Champs Elysee and he will unlock Beautiful Fool, the final dress. Strongest Weapon : Red Thread Obtained by clearing the Doll Manor sidequest. Strongest Armor : Jester's Inpanes Obtained by clearing the Solomon Trials. Unique Item : Silver Seat Can be bought at the Junk Shop after a certain point. --- (slight spoilers!) Joachim Valentine : Vampire by day, sentai hero by night! Fighting evil with awesome wrestling powers (and assorted huge clunky objects) whereever it may appear, he's the one and only JOACHIM! ...one of THE FUNNIEST videogame characters in existence. I swear. Joachim will have you in stiches, I guarantee it. ^_^ On the tactical side, he's another strong attacker, having 5 attacks, but his spellcasting ability is practically nonexistent. (One trick is to give him spells like Arc Barrier, Arc Gale, Ressurection etc, which don't rely on a high Magic stat) His Muscle Arts, however, are no pushover, all being quite strong, and he also has Destron Hammer to rack up hits if you should need them. The only downside to them is that you might not be able to get many of them early on in the game unless you can beat Grand Gama. Joachim is also able to get free weapons (with accompanying hilarious scenes) in many locations, making him somewhat easier on the wallet. (list below) Lastly, his unique Joachythm lets him transform into either Invisible Form, the Golden Bat, or the messenger of love and justice, GRAND PAPILLION! Invisible is frankly not terribly useful...except maybe in boss battles to ensure that one character is not targeted at all. (for healing/restorative purposes) The Golden Bat is GREAT for normal encounters because of the doubled physical damage, but might be hazardous against bosses due to it's lack of HP. Grand Papillion is of course good against anything...pity it's so hard to get him to transform into that form. Muscle Arts - Drain Dacchi - Joachim starts with it. Grand Slam - Fight Grand Gama in Southampton and win. Equip a Leonardo's Bear so he doesn't send you into the stratosphere. Destron Hammer - Three ways to win this. 1) Change into Golden Bat and kill him before the 3rd turn 2) block on the 3rd turn 3) use a Voodoo Doll. Or you can simply wait until you're so powerful you take no damage from his attacks. ^_^ Though I wouldn't wait so long to get Destron Hammer, it's a great skill. Ultimate Buster - Same deal as with Destron Hammer, this time it's the 5th turn. Strongest Weapon : Nautilus Obtained by completing the Castle of Confusion sidequest. Second Strongest Weapon : Demon Structure Building (the joke doesn't come across in English) After Mt Fuji, you can return to Le Havre to fight the Pink Bat. Although she SAYS she will only attack on the 5th turn, she'll actually do so on the 4th, so you have to defeat her by then. She will do about 6000 damage, so blocking will do nothing. ^_^ Strongest Armor : Rose Bondage Win it from the last Lottery. Unique Item : Prism Wrist Win it from Lottery No. 11 in Petrograd. Unique Item : Gold Wrist Prize for completing Solomon Trials - The Faithful 3. Unique Item : Erect Wrist (ERECT? I don't want to know...) Prize for completing Solomon Trials - The Embodiment 2. Unique Item : Mask of Hatena? Beat Grand Hatena? in the Ring Tower. Free Weapons for Joachim : (Don't miss any, the scenes are hilarious. ^_^) Name Location Army Locker Near Grand Gama's ring in Southampton Red Post Roger's House in Wales Earthern Pipe St. Margritte, where you fought Oscar Chilled Tuna In Petrograd, foyer of the castle, after you stop Rasputin Central Pillar Yokohama Warehouses Broadcast Bench Near Grand Gama's ring in Nihombashi Haniwa Inugami Village, screen between waterfall and village Nautilus Automatically obtained when you finish Castle of Confusion subquest A final note about Joachim...don't waste those Pindacchi V's! They're good to use when fighting major foes like the last boss, Solomon etc. --- Blanc : The "Red Co...I mean, "White Devil of Doremy." ^_^ (His voice should be unmistakable to Gundam fans...) Not Pochi. Has a cool sigil on his brow. IMHO, Blanc is the second-best character in the game, because his Supernatural Phenomena are GODLY when powered up. Full Moon heals all status and Ring effects for the entire party, and Northern Lights is an all-member full HP regen! What's not to like? Even if you DON'T use Blanc in your party (for some reason) you should attempt the Wolf Bout anyway, because you can get great items from it. In any case, Blanc also can attack 4 times, and he also has pretty good spellcasting ability, making him...the second-best character in the game. :) Wolf Bout Locations and How to Defeat : Name Location How to Defeat Tetsu Monmarte Easy Jerome Firenze Easy Kelly Wine Cellar (where the boss was) Pocket Watch Anri SG Italian Branch, 3F at boss area Pocket Watch Phillip St Margritte Watch your MP, heal Necros Petrograd, Corridors of the Dead Bell Bracelet R-3 Petrograd Pocket Watch, Bell Bracelet Maiyer Doremy Protect against poison, kill the 2 others first Kiborin Warship Mikasa Upper Deck Protect against Stone Eleanor Nihombashi, right side park Pocket Watch Matsunaga Inugami Village waterfall Increase phys. defense OR kill him fast Robo Mt Fuji (blue, red, gold gems) Leonardo's Bear Anri (again) Tiffagues Castle Pocket Watch Robo (again) Forest of Wind Leonardo's Bear Beastman Wolf Monmarte Defend when he charges, be above Level 50 For the last 3 Wolf Bouts, you must have filled out all previous stamps. Return to R-3 and Anri after completing the Wolf Bout for more events. Learned Skills - R-3 Full Moon Maiyer Come Back Robo Northern Lights Beastman Wolf Soul Comet becomes Red Comet Others Soul Comet powers up Stamp Prizes (go to Monmarte to collect) - 3 stamps Medi Refine 6 stamps Zagan (Crest) 9 stamps Emperor (Tarot Card) 12 stamps Seventh Key 15 stamps Mark of the Beast King Note that certain Crests, Tarot Cards etc can only be obtained from the Wolf Bout. Strongest Weapon : Mark of the Beast King Finish the Wolf Bout. Second Strongest Weapon : Pochi's Bone Search the pond near the house where Yoshiko and Kawashima stay, it's the 3rd Treasure Hunting item. Strongest Armor : Blessing of the Maiden Go back to Doremy church after the last dungeon appears. Unique Item : Tortoiseshell Comb Automatically obtained in Yokohama Warehouse. --- Lucia : Dusky skinned dancer/fortuneteller from Italy. Quite attractive, really (boy can she dance!) but I don't like the voice much. Your mileage may vary. Lucia, with only 3 attacks, falls squarely into the "mage" category, with slightly less spellcasting power than Anastasia. Like the Russian princess, her tactical value is also dependant on how far into the game you are...with the proper Oils, Lucia's Aromatherapy is a potent healing/defensive tool. The Tarot Cards can be a lifesaver in the proper situations, but are really too much of a gamble for me to trust (you might think differently of course) Aromatherapy basically is an all-purpose support skill, able to recover SP for the whole party, recover HP, MP, and give various status buffs if you have the proper Oils. Basically, Lucia is a support character, but quite a useful one. Tarot Card Locations (I won't list the ones you start with or obtain automatically) - Name Location Justice SG Italian Branch Temperance St. Margritte Wheel of Fortune St. Margritte, it's part of the Treasure Hunting subquest Empress Sofa in Anastasia's room (Elmitarge Castle in Petrograd) Magician Corridors of the Dead Lovers Warship Mikasa, dead end at one of the passages Tower Nihombashi, near Lottery Member Sun Inugami Village, right of the mansion garden Death Inside final dungeon Devil Tiffagues Castle Fool Wolf Bout, Maiyer Emperor Wolf Bout 9 stamps prize Chariot Schwartzbalt Oil Locations : Name Location Glass Oil On ground in Cannes Shine Oil Talk to girl with hat in Yokohama Streets 3 times Sunrise Oil Inugami Village mansion, 2nd floor, hidden near the wall in the room Aurora Oil Complete Schwartzbalt sidequest Aromatherapy Combinations : Marin + Name Effect Cost Misty Small HP Recovery, 20 MP Glass For one turn, Small HP Recovery 25 MP Night For one turn, Medium HP Recovery 30 MP Moon For two turns, Small HP Recovery 30 MP Sunrise Medium HP Recovery 25 MP Aurora For two turns, Large HP Recovery 70 MP Shine For two turns, Medium HP Recovery 35 MP Misty + Marine For one turn, protect against status 20 MP Glass For two turns, protect against Ring status 25 MP Night For three turns, protect against status 30 MP Moon For two turns, protect against status 25 MP Sunrise For three turns, protect against Ring status 30 MP Aurora For three turns, protect against ALL status 60 MP Shine For one turns, protect against Ring status 20 MP Glass + Marine For three turns, Phys. Defense Up (Medium) 25 MP Misty For three turns, Special Defense Up (Medium) 25 MP Night For three turns, Phys. Defense Up (Small) 20 MP Moon For three turns, Phys. Defense Up (Small) 20 MP Sunrise For three turns, Special Defense Up (Large) 30 MP Aurora For three turns, Special + Phys. Defense Up (Large) 60 MP Shine For three turns, Phys. Defense Up (Large) 30 MP Night + Marine For one turn, Small MP Recovery 25 MP Misty For two turns, Small MP Recovery 30 MP Glass Small MP Recovery 20 MP Moon For two turns, Small MP Recovery 35 MP Sunrise For one turn, Medium MP Recovery 30 MP Aurora For two turns, Large MP Recovery 70 MP Shine Medium MP Recovery 25 MP Moon + Marine For one turn, Strike Effect Up by 1.5 60 MP Misty For one turn, Evade Doubles 25 MP Glass For one turn, Critical Rate Up by 1.5 30 MP Night For one turn, Critical Rate goes to 100% 100 MP Sunrise For one turn, Evade Up by 1.5 20 MP Aurora For one turn, 3rd Key effect on all 750 MP Shine For one turn, Critical Rate Doubles 25 MP Shine + Marine For three turns, Phys. Attack Up (Large) 30 MP Misty For three turns, Special Attack Up (Small) 20 MP Glass For three turns, Sppecial Attack Up (Large) 30 MP Night For three turns, Phys. Attack Up (Small) 20 MP Moon For three turns, Phys. Attack Up (Medium) 25 MP Sunrise For three turns, Special Attack Up (Medium) 25 MP Aurora For three turns, Phys. Special Attack Up (Large) 60 MP Sunrise + Marine Small SP Recovery 20 MP Misty For two turns, Small SP Recovery 30 MP Glass For two turns, Medium SP Recovery 35 MP Night For one turn, Small SP Recovery 25 MP Moon Medium SP Recovery 25 MP Aurora For two turns, Large SP Recovery 70 MP Shine For one turn, Medium SP Recovery 30 MP Aurora + Marine For two turns, Medium HP Recovery + SMall MP/SP Recovery Misty For two turns, Small HP/MP/SP Recovery + All Status Defense Glass For two turns, Medium HP/MP/SP Recovery + Phys Def Up Medium Night For two turns, Small HP/SP Recovery + Medium MP Recovery Moon For two turns, Small HP/MP/SP Recovery + 3rd Key effect Sunrise For two turns, Medium SP Recovery + Small HP/MP Recovery Shine For two turns, Small HP/SP Recovery + Phys Attack Up Medium (all 70 MP except for Aurora + Moon, which is 900) Strongest Weapon : Nemesis Complete the Trading sidequest by meeting Margarete, OR (if you failed to do that) purchase from the Junk Shop for 500,000 Cash. Strongest Armor : Stella Vested In chest in final dungeon. Unique Item : Seventh Dance Enter Schwartzbalt again after clearing it. Go to the right, then center, and it will be on the ground in the center tunnel (don't talk to the flowers, and don't go too far up or you will have to reenter and try again) Unique Item : Flower Bride Altinam Clear the Schwartzbalt sidequest, talk to Karera, then talk to Lawrence at the ramparts in Southampton. Anastasia : Spunky, bossy-boots Russian princess. Actually pretty cute if you don't mind getting kicked every few seconds. I want the hat. Anastasia's value as a combatant depends on where in the game you are at...in the beginning, when she doesn't have access to many Album entries, she's mainly a backup spellcaster, not being as strong as Zepetto in the magic department. Later on, when you get access to the Solomon Trials and other locales, she becomes pretty powerful in her own right. With only 3 attacks, she's not a heavy hitter by any means. Whether or not you include her will probably depend on 1) whether you simply HAVE to see enemy HP and weakpoints 2) whether she has gained useful Album skills yet and 3) whether you need a backup spellcaster. (Once again, I personally didn't use her much.) Album Entries - Name of Spell Monster Name Location Aqualize Pendulum Petrograd Direct Press Hati Idar Flamme (or Solomon Trials) Cash Tail Andre Solomon Trials, The Faithful 4 Ristol Oscar Solomon Trials, The Ascetic 4 Gale Steal Tofu Tanuki Solomon Trials, The Faithful 4 Escape Dance Tenguu Forest of Wind, Alarm must be equipped, appears rarely Hyper Wave Cannon Kaminatsuki Mansion Boss Spirited Off King Tamakos Queen's Garden Boss Nightmare Buggy Doll Manor Euthanasia Olpas Neam Ruins sidequest Boss Spell Effects (there wasn't space above) Aqualize Medium water damage, 6 hits Direct Press Halves one enemy HP Cash Tail Steal Cash Ristol Remove all status effects from target Gale Steal Steals item Escape Dance Escape from battle Hyper Wave Cannon Null elemental damage, 17 hits, hits high Spirited Off One enemy disappears from battle Nightmare Reduce enemy to 1 HP Euthanasia Large Water Damage + Status effects, 1 hit Strongest Weapon : Gold Angel To get this, you'll need to bring 5 Silver Angels to Edgar. Here are their locations : 1. In Petrograd, top of Elmitarge Castle where you fought Veronica 2. Inugami Village, near the back of where the radishes are growing 3. Builder Quiz in Nihombashi (near end of game) 4. Behind sofa in the 2nd floor of Doll Manor 5. Prize from Solomon Trials, the Worshipful 1 Strongest Armor : Plachie of Prayer After the final dungeon has appeared, go to the queen's bedroom (behind the throne room) to obtain it. Unique Item : Panorama Lens (allows Snap to target all enemies) Return to Edgar after clearing Elmitarge Castle the second time. Unique Item : One Layered Autumn Coat Talk to Saki in the mansion in Inugami Village once Kurando has gotten his second fusion. Kurando Hyuga : (slight spoilers!) Red-eyed Harmonixer from the Inugami Village, Uru's cousin on his father's side. Polite, reserved and great with a sword. Really cute. ^_^ Kurando is pretty crappy when you first get him...since he doesn't have access to his Demon Transmutation (or Fusion, if you prefer) at that time. Later on, with Tsukiyomi and 5 attacks, he's quite decent as an attacker...Tsukiyomi's 3rd skill also hits 18 times, so that's good for combos as well. However, Kurando only really comes into his own when he gets Karitendouji...he becomes blazingly fast as well as getting powerful spells and mad attack power (the 7 SP per turn drain can be a killer, though - better equip a Flare Brooch) He does have lower SP than the other Harmonixer in the party, though, and only 2 forms means basically that he only has access to 6 spells, and no Crest Magic either. To sum it up, Kurando's an attacker, and also needs Karitendouji to be truly powerful. Still, how can you resist those cute red eyes? :) Getting his second fusion (Karitendouji) Fulfill the following conditions : 1. Last dungeon must have appeared, you must have entered it at least once (similar to getting Seraphic Radiance, just enter it and leave, but you must enter the actual dungeon and not just the outside area from the teleporter) 2. You must have all of Uru's Fusions (excepting Seraphic Radiance) at Grade Max. Go back to talk to Saki at Inugami Village and you will be able to access Kurando's sidequest. Complete it to get the fusion. Strongest Weapon : Nameless Wolf Automatically obtained when completing Kurando's sidequest. Strongest Armor : Demon's Loincloth (actually Demon's Fundoshi) Found in chest in final dungeon. Unique Item : Flare Brooch The boss at Mt Fuji and the Doll Manor each have one. One can also be found in Mt Fuji. ****** Sidequests and Additional Information : --- Pedometer Service - You get the Pedometer from a man in Firenze, return there to claim your prizes. Steps Item 500 Mana Refine 1000 Pure Refine 2000 Voodoo Doll 3000 Willpower 4000 Stealth Roid 5000 Bat Gold 6000 Hit Area Increase 7000 Strike Area Increase 8000 Pindacchi V 9000 Ultimate Loincloth 10000 Kurtz Granse You don't need to expend steps to obtain the Kurtz Granse, he'll give it to you for free once you reach 10000 steps. I'd recommend getting Pindacchi V's and Ultimate Loincloths as those are good items that can't be bought from stores (you can get most of the rest from stores) --- Useful/Powerful Accessories List : White Cotton Panties (cuts physical damage in half) - Return the Shanghai Angels erotic magazine (found in the Underground Ruins of Neam) to Roger. (Please explain to me WHY ZEPETTO CAN EQUIP THEM.) Black Silk Panties (cuts special damage in half) - Talk to Lawrence at the Valley of Goreme with a full monster collection. (Since the last boss and minions count as monsters, you can only get this item the second time around.) Crucifix (protects against all status) - Obtainable at 1. Tiffagues Castle 2. Underground Ruins of Neam 3. Doll Manor 4. Final Dungeon One for each character in the battle lineup. Kallen can of course use Anne's Cross instead. Mind's Eye (doubles physical damage dealt) - Obtainable at 1. Secret Mansion (return to locker after getting keys from soldier) 2. Castle of Confusion, Lottery Member No.3 3. Prize at Solomon Trials, The Ascetic 4 Ultimate Mind's Eye (triples physical damage) Talk to Kawashima at his house with over 95% Ring Success Rate and 65% Ring Perfect Rate. Buy Strike Area Increases from the Junk Shop at the Chapel and equip a Coral Pendant to help with the latter - Hit Area Increases for the former. Pirate King Earrings (money gained after battle and item drop chance both up 20%) Obtainable from Lottery Member No.2. Demon Ward Necklace (halves encounter rate) Obtainable from Lottery Member No.4. (Tiffagues Castle) Alarm (prevents you from being surrounded in battle, needed to find Tengu - must be equipped on active party member) Obtainable from Lottery Member No.7. (Nihombashi) Triple Accelerator (Triples number of steps recorded on Pedometer) Near a passage in Kato's lab where Ouka first awakens. Be careful - once you clear this area you can't get it anymore, so you only have one chance to obtain this item. --- Other Hints and Tips : When the final dungeon appears, you can buy Hit and Strike Area Increases from the Junk Shop, and Third Keys and Refines from the Mazymell brother in the throne room of Elmitarge Castle (once again I have no idea what he's doing there...) You can actually get more Lottery Tickets as rare item drops by Tengu, a hard-to-find enemy in the Forest of Wind. (Anastasia can Snap the Tengu to get Escape Dance) Equip the Alarm or you won't encounter them - it will take about 10 fights on average to find some. Be sure to equip the requisite Earrings to raise your chances of getting an item drop, and kill them quick before they can use Escape Dance. If you hit a Gamble Ring while using a Key, it will consider all the subsequent revolutions to be completed as well (i.e, you will get all the other 6 spins of a Seventh Key) This does NOT work with the Key of Eternity. ^_^ Speaking of which, you can potentially defeat the last boss in one turn by having one character load up on Strike Area Increases (you can get 99 max), switch to Normal Ring, and equip a Coral Pendant. My record is 50 hits so far. Use Aromatherapy/buffing spells to further increase your damage. Placing 2 Crests with the same magic on a character allows him/her to cast that spell at half the cost. Subsequent repetitions reduce it to 1/3, then 1/4. A bit of a cheat here...if Kallen is equipped with Anne's Cross and is the fourth member of a Combo Chain, you can repeatedly select and cancel her turn to regenerate all your HP. --- Solomon Trials - (all status ailments that the Trial specifies cannot be cured) The Initiate : 1. Win 5 battles. (Sabnock (Crest) - Easy. 2. Do a combo that is 28 hits or more. (Blood Shell) - Use skills like Geshpensuto, Destron Hammer, or wind magic. 3. Win 4 battles with Reverse Ring status and no misses. (Third Key) - Not TOO hard. Equip Coral Pendants and change your Ring to Practice if you are having difficulty. 3. Win 6 battles with uncurable Poison and no Items. (Mr. Sax (Builder Card) - Easy. Bring Arc Cure. The Ascetic : 1. Without using individual skills, do a combo that is 18 hits or more. (Golden Bracelet) - Just use Crest Magic, especially Wind spells. Start a combo with Pearl Spark and just tack on normal hits after that. 2. Win 3 battles with Tight Ring and no misses. (Fifth Key) - The first hard one. Equip Coral Pendants and change your Ring to Practice. Spells are good to take out many enemies at one shot so you have less Rings to hit. 3. Win 5 battles with 3 people. (Accelerator) - The last fight will be Night Queen, so bring Leonardo's Bears to counter her Instant Death attacks. Besides that, easy. 4. With 5 battles with Blind Ring. (Mind's Eye) - Equip Coral Pendants and change your Ring to Practice...again. ^_^ I'd use characters whose Rings I was familiar with. You'll be able to do it with some practice. The Faithful : 1. With Reverse and Tight Ring, win 2 battles with no misses. (Magician's Earrings) - Can be tough. Once again, I recommend equipping Coral Pendants and changing your Ring to Practice. The enemies are easy though. Much like The Ascetic : 4. 2. With Fake Ring and Poison, win 5 battles. (Shax (Crest) - Not as hard as some of the others because Practice Rings will help a LOT. If you are familiar with your character's Rings, it will be easier since you won't be fooled by the Fake Ring - if you aren't, Practice Rings are there so you don't fail the whole thing just because you hit the wrong area (i.e you'll still get some hits it) Try not to use magic much since you won't be able to tell which area is the correct one. Arc Cure is probably a necessity to recover your HP - attack furiously and it will be all over before you know it. 3. With Small Ring and no misses, win 4 battles. (Gold Ring) - The Ring just gets smaller, not really a big deal. If you have problems, you know what to do - equip Coral Pendants and change your Ring to Practice. 4. Win 12 battles with 4 people. (Seventh Key) - Just like fighting normally. Tons of bosses here, so be careful. 3 Album entries for Anastasia can be gotten here. Be careful - the boss that can only be hurt by magic appears here too. The Worshipful : 1. With Zepetto, Blanc, Lucia and Anastasia, win 4 battles without using the Attack command. (Silver Angel) Since you have 3 mages, you're not going to use Attack anyway...easy. Blanc heals, the rest just cast away. 2. With Uru, Kallen, Joachim and Kurando, win 5 battles without using Crest or Combo magic. (Ultimate Loincloth) Also easy. Since 2 of the characters can't use Crest magic ANYWAY, just heal with their Fusions and whack away. 3. With Fast Ring, 3 people and no Items, win 5 battles. (Dragon Vessel Tooth) A Coral Pendant will reduce the Fast Ring to normal speed. No Item use is not a big deal - just use magic to heal. Not very hard. The Embodiment : 1. One character, win 6 battles. (Fallen Angel Earrings) Can be hard if you're doing this at a low level, you can be Rapid Fired into submission easily. You might want to wait for Joachim to become Grand Papillion before taking this on. I myself used Kallen with a Mind's Eye, Anne's Cross and White Cotton Panties (at a low level) Of course once you are high-level enough this becomes cake. 2. 4 characters, win 4 battles. (Erect Wrist) Much the same deal as the above, if you're strong enough you will win easily. Some tough bosses here at lower levels. The Creator : 1. 4 characters, win 4 battles. (Jester's Inpanes - Zepetto's ultimate armor) You're screwed unless you know the trick to this Trial...bring Joachim and use Drain Dacchi on Prikin for an easy win. If not, the only other way to kill him is to be lucky and Stone/Instant Death him with a normal attack. Everything else (including Melt Crest) will just do 0 damage. Crest Locations : Royal Castle of Sin - Astarot - Defeat Last Astarot Olbas - Defeat Olbas in Underground Ruins of Neam Garp - Defeat Garp in Schwartzwalt Baal - Defeat Baal in the Doll Manor Asmodeus - Buy it for 10,000 Cash from a man near the bridge in Petrograd after defeating Asmodeus Amon - Defeat Neo Amon in Tiffagues Castle Sea of Glamor - Vipal - Firenze Crosel - Paris Forneus - Wales Fokarol - Forest of Aldenne Ubal - SG Italian Branch Forest of Passion - Fulful - Forest of Aldenne Gremory - Start with it Andlas - Forest of Aldenne Zepal - Underground Railway of Paris Shitry - Underground Railway of Paris Salos - Wine Cellar Vassago - Forest of Aldenne Hill of Fallen Heaven - Paimon - Tower of Adonai, in cage (use pulleys) Malkoshias - Lottery Kamio - St Margritte Finex - Ruins of Neam Pulson - Manmaria Isle Roim - Wine Cellar Balbatos - Forest of Aldenne Agales - Start with it Desert of Conflagration - Ami - Underground Railway of Paris Peret - Manmarie Isle Patin - Lottery Haures - Paris Aime - Start with it Graveyard of Conclusion - Grasharapolas - Defeat Garan in Foreigner's Graveyard Bune - Buy from Yokohama Storage after a certain point in the game Pifron - St Margritte Samijina - Mt Fuji Mulmul - Ronda Mines Fulkas - Petrograd Fields of Battle - Dantarion - Anastasia starts with it Relaie - Corridors of the Dead Halpas - Defeat Victor in Petrograd Berit - Ruins of Neam Ipos - Elmitarge Castle Erigos - Elmitarge Castle Palam - Anastasia starts with it Aloses - Lottery in Paris Zabnock - Clear Solomon Trials, The Initiate 1 Fortress of Treasure - Andromarius - Corridors of the Dead, near save point Valefour - Inugami Village Belial - Tower of Adonai Zagan - Prize from clearing 6 Wolf Bouts Shax - Clear Solomon Trials, The Faithful 2 Malfeas - Forest of Wind Hahgenty - Defeat Night Queen in Petrograd Dekarabia - Win from box matching game in Wine Cellar Seele - 2nd Treasure Hunting prize Kimeyes - Buy from Yokohama Storage Spring of Intelligence - Vapra - Warship Mikasa, back of stairs when you first enter Solas - Wolf Bout in Nihombashi Botis - Anastasia starts with it Naberius - Yokohama Storage Folas - Clear Captain's Quiz Gushion - Defeat boss in Queen's Garden, return and search the area where you fought him Puel - Bottom-right of park in Nihombashi where Grand Gama is Orias - Mt Fuji (see Mt Fuji section for how to obtain) Malpas - Defeat Garan in Forest of Wind Ronovue - Tiffagues Castle Barak - Defeat Tsukiyomi in Foreigner's Graveyard Androlearufus - Anastasia starts with it Vine - Warship Mikasa Molax - Valley of Goreme Amdushias - Chest in Yokohama Streets Trading Subquest - Item Location New Item Straw Guy sitting in Firenze New Type Film New Type Film Visitor to Cannes Writhe in Agony Boy in Cannes Empty Ash Tablet Empty Ash Tablet Guy near to Mazymells in Petrograd Ultimate Piroshiki Writhe in Agony Edgar in Petrograd Holy Easter Egg Guy in open space in Petrograd Ultimate Piroshiki Holy Easter Egg Man at entrance to Valley of Goreme Pure Rizoom Ultimate Piroshiki Fat man in Valley of Goreme Burning Candle Man standing in Champs Elysee Talking Doll Epicure in Firenze Tea Set Burning Candle Woman near Grand Gama's Ring in Nihombashi (*) (* = Pindacchi V) Tea Set Woman in Yokohama Streets Talking Doll Man in Yokohma Warehouses Stealth Roid Talking Doll Woman in Nihombashi park (the left side one) Third Key Man in front of cave in Inugami Village (*) (* = Ten Days Old Rice) Ten Days Old Rice Man near warehouse in Le Havre Fifth Key Man in second floor of Southamption inn (*) (* = Dangerous Research Materials) Dangerous Research Person who gives medicine in Southamption 10,000 Cash Materials (refuse once for 30,000) Margarete near the Chapel (last dungeon Nemesis must have appeared) Ring Soul Locations : 1. Tower of Adonai - automatic 2. Paris Subway - after returning from pressing the far right switch 3. Le Havre - near tree near Sea Cat shop 4. Ronda Mines - corner after going down first lift 5. Manmaria Isle - Near altar and chest of the right-hand side rooms 6. Neam Ruins - Bottom-right of the room the Mazymell brothers are in 7. Wales - Right hand side of Roger's house 8. St Margritte - Upper right of floor you go down to after obtaining Prisoner's key 9. Valley of Goreme - Right-hand side of room you first meet Yofis in 10. Corridors of the Dead - Corner near where you fight Necros (Wolf Bout) 11. Tower of Adonai - Screen before the sealed door 12. Yokohama Streets - Near the lamppost at the T-junction you see after going straight in 13. Warship Mikasa - To the left of the barrel in the first screen (outside the Warship itself) 14. Foreigner's Graveyard - First tree at bottom of screen (you can only get this after clearing the area once) 15. Inugami Village - Near the chest with Valefour (Crest), in front of the vegetables 16. Mt Fuji - Near the save point you reach after placing the crystals in Red-Blue order, right-hand side --- Quiz Answers : If you are playing the Japanese version, check out maskrider's page for screencaps of the answers, these will be of no use to you unless you can read and understand Japanese. Amazingly enough, I'm actually doing these for the English version...probably one of the few times in my FAQ-writing career I do so. Life is strange. :) Captain Quiz : 1. Which item recovers a fallen character in battle? - Talisman of Love 2. What kind of weapon is Joachim's "Timber?" - Squared timber (this question was probably harder for Japanese people who didn't know what Timber meant in English, since they only had katakana to go on) 3. What is Zepetto's weapon Fil Que Ibure plated with? - Copper 4. What is the effect of the attractive men-only Loincloth? - Attack Up 5. What is Uru's weapon "Phantom Claw" made of? - Bones of unknown origin 6. Which of the following cures all Ring and abnormal status? - Dafune Seed 7. What is the name of Blanc's weapon which is renowned among the whetstones of the world - Fit Stone 8. Which of the following is the accessory that prevents Stone? - Water Mirror Bracelet 9. Which of the following recovers MP? - Mana Leaf 10. What is drawn on the Seal of Strength that increases POW? - An angel 11. What is name of the practice sword that Zepetto lent Kallen? - Frey Revue 12. Which of the following is the accessory that prevents Poison? - Shell Bracelet 13. Which of the following of Lucia's weapons has a full moon drawn on it? - Luna Pienna 14. Of the following always helpful items, which has the greatest effect? - Medi Refine 15. The high-level accessory that doubles attack power and causes Hit Areas to disappear? - Mind's Eye 16. Which of the following raises a character's maximum SP? - Seal of the Soul 17. How many sheets are in one pack of Tissues? - 8 18. Which of the following is the accessory that prevents Instant Death? - Leonardo's Bear 19. Which of the following groups of animals is Anastasia's Blue Serpent the egg of? - Reptiles (again, probably harder for Japanese people) 20. What is the name of the organization that gives out prizes for winning the lottery? - World Lottery Association Monster Quiz : 1. Phoenix, which is found in Mt Fuji, has how many feet? - 1 2. The "Limestone Path" formed of Astarot's fallen power, has energy flowing through what animal? - ADog 3. The earthworm-like monsters who function as Idar Flamme's antibodies are - Giga Filaria 4. "Ponmaru", which appears in Doremy Village, is a toy monster that looks like - A duck 5. The lower-ranked members of the Iron Strike Squadron that appear in the Mikasa are - Akashiro (Red Castle) 6. What is the name of the monster that appears in Manmaria Isle that was bought by Karera? - Andre 7. Veronica's pet Oscar, formed of a synthesis of monsters, is synthesized from what animal? - A Doberman 8. In the alternate world of the Foreigner's Graveyard, the monster that is a Yin-Yang flag with it's own will is - Pera Pera 9. "Damz", which appears in the Ronda Mines, is thought by humans to resemble - A scorpion 10. The gangster that appears in Le Havre brandishing a wooden club is a - Hoodlum 11. "Jil", which appears in the Corridors of the Dead, is the soul of what turned into an earth spirit? - A young girl 12. The name of the unmanned flying machine created by the Imperial Army that appears in the Mikasa is? - (something) Aki/Fall (my dictionary doesn't have the first kanji!) 13. What is the favorite thing of Veronica's summoned monster, "Mulsou"? - Alcohol 14. Who is the highest ranked in Rene's secret organization? - Rene 15. What is the other one of Veronica's summoned monster pair, Kaltos and...? - Voluxx 16. The "Snail" that appears in the Forest of Aldenne carries what on it's back? - A skull 17. "Catherine", which appears in Manmarie Island, is a spirit of a...? - Poisonous Moth 18. What is the object tied around the head of the "Iron Claw Admiral" that the younger members of the assassin organization admire? - A red scarf 19. The body of "Peryuton", found in Russia, is that of a bird. It's head is that of a...? - Deer 20. What is the name of the machine that Dr. Kato constructed for himself? - Fugaku Builder Quiz : 1. Mr Samurai, who represents Japan. Today too he goes to town naked, his name is...? - Ogasawara 2. The last samurai, Brother Ogasawara. What is the color of the loincloth he wears? - Red 3. Doctor Oliver, who represents Germany, is in what medical field? - Midwifery 4. Mr. Doctor, Oliver. What is he carrying in his right hand? - Medical file (clipboard) 5. Mr. Oblai, who represents America. What is his soulful hairstyle called? - An afro 6. The popular musician, Mr. Oblai. What's his instrument? - Saxophone 7. Mr. Mikkoli, who represents Italy. What's his occupation? - Chef 8. Mr. Mikkoli, the owner chef. What's in his right hand? - A frying pan 9. Mr. Prowrestler, who represents India. What are the color of his underpants? - Black 10. The masked wrestler who's just a little shy. What's the smell from his waistcoat? - Curry 11. Mr. Enrique, who represents Spain. People call him the "xxx of Northern Iberia?" - Crimson Wind 12. The ultimate matador, Mr. Enrique. What's in his mouth? - A rose 13. Mr. Calvin, who represents Russia. What's his occupation? - A ballerino 14. The incredible ballerino, Mr. Calvin. What is the play he acted all by himself? - Swan Lake 15. The skilled detective who represents England. His name is? - Ashley 16. The skilled detective, Mr. Ashley. What does he do on his days off? - Read books 17. Mr. Malsel, who represents France. What's his occupation? - A sommlier 18. The world's largest sommlier, Mr. Malsel. What's in his right hand? - A wineglass 19. How many Builders do NOT have something in their hands? - 2 20. How many Builders face backwards? - 1 --- Seal of Solomon Locations : The indomitable maskrider has a graphic file of all the locations, so check out his page for it. Once you complete the Seal AND all of the Solomon Trials, talk to Sara and you will be able to fight Solomon, probably the hardest boss in the game. Don't even bother thinking of taking him on if you have less than 600 HP. Equip everyone with as many Crucifixes as possible and ensure that you have party healing and status curing for those without Crucifixes (which you shouldn't need with this FAQ ^_^) and then go take the old geezer on. Basically, Solomon is dangerous for one reason and one reason only...Melt Crest. This does massive non-elemental to all members and tons of Ring ailments. You'll need Northern Lights or something similar to heal your HP and Crucifixes for the latter. Besides that, just hit him as hard as you can. You might want to use Pindacchi V's, Keys etc. Once you beat him, you get the Solomon Crest, which lets you use Melt Crest. --- Lottery Members : Most Lotteries can be done with enough patience - the Ring will continue to spin indefinitely, so take your time. This is NOT true for 2 and 3, though, so be warned. Equipping a Pocket Watch does nothing to the Rings this time around. What to spend your Lottery Tickets on? It really depends on you. All the Crests that are prizes cannot be gotten anywhere else except from the Lottery, so if you want to complete the Seal of Solomon you'll have to save tickets for them. Same goes for some items like the Demon Ward Necklace and Alarm - they are Lottery only. You will probably get around 25 Lottery Tickets in the course of the game (average number), so plan accordingly. You can get more if you are patient (see Other Hints and Tips section) 16. A man near the save point at Le Havre - Normal Ring Red Patin (Crest) Yellow Hit Area Increase Blue Dafune Seed Green Pure Leaf 15. A women near Mazymell brothers at Southampton - Normal Ring Red Slow Lv1 Yellow Hit Area Increase Blue Talisman of Love Green Medi Seed 14. A man at 2nd lowest level of Abandoned mine of Ronda - Mask Ring Red 3rd Key Yellow Hit Area Increase Blue Dafune Seed Green Pure Leaf 13. Near the bar at Cannes - Small Ring Red Malkoshias (Crest) Yellow Face Guard Blue Hit Area Increase Green Pure Seed 12. One of the prisoners at Iles Saint Marguerite - Speed will change Red Slow Lv2 Yellow Western Belt Blue Talisman of Love Green Medi Seed 11. A Maid in the Hermitage at Petrograd - Reverse Ring Red Prism Wrist Yellow Voodoo Doll Blue Hit Area Increase Green Mana Seed 10. A women at worn out apartment of Geppetto - Super Fast Red Aloses (Crest) Yellow Willpower Blue Hit Area Increase Green Pure Seed 9. A worker at the warehouse at Yokohama - Normal Ring Red Large Bottle Yellow Water Mirror Bracelet Blue Medi Refine Green Medi Rizoom 8. A sailor in Warship Mikasa at Yokohama (lower level, near the center of the ship) - Normal Ring Red Phys. Attack Down Lv3 Yellow Warrior's Mask Blue Hit Area Increase Green Mana Rizoom 7. The man at the entrance of the Japan Bridge - Normal Ring Red Alarm Yellow Zodiac Bracelet Blue Hit Area Increase Green Pure Rizoom 6. The bugs on the tree near the save point at Inugami Village - Small Ring Red Fallen Angel Earrings Yellow Sexegenary Bracelet Blue Medi Refine Green Hit Area Increase 5. The man inside the locker #5 in the store room at Ishimura's place - Reverse Ring + small Red area Red Slow Lv3 Yellow Jounin Garb Blue Mana Refine Green Hit Area Increase 4. A little girl at Tiffauges castle - All areas invisible To get around this, put your finger where you want to hit just before the Ring starts and the areas disappear. Sounds obvious but it works. ^_^ Red Demon Ward Necklace Yellow Stealth Roid Blue Pure Refine Green Hit Area Increase 3. A ghost at the underground prison at Iles Saint Marguerite - Fast and Limited No. of Spins He will disappear after 3 tries, whether you fail or succeed. Red Mind's Eye Yellow Bat Gold Blue Strike Area Increase Green Medi Refine 2. Yoshiko Kawashima at Kawashima's place in the Capital (after #3 was discovered) - Gets faster each spin Red Pirate King Earrings Yellow Pindacchi V Blue Strike Area Increase Green Mana Refine 1. The silver bat at Le Havre (after #2 was discovered) - Ring is completely random Red Rose Bondage (Joachim's ultimate armor) Yellow Comet Mask Blue Strike Area Increase Green Pure Refine All Red and Yellow items cannot be gotten twice. To get No. 1 and 2, you have to speak with all previous Lottery Members (just talking to them is ok, you don't need to play the Lottery) --- Treasure Hunting sidequest (from maskrider's page) 1. Get the first hunting note from the man standing in front of the bar at Cannes - The treasure is near the end of the chain in the room where Blanc fights Oscar during the rescue. 2. Get the 2nd note from the same man - The treasure is near the pillar at the Valley of Goreme, where Kallen and Uru sat and talked. 3. Get the 3rd note from the same man - The treasure is at the uniform in the room where you find the switch at Warship Mikasa. 4. Get the 4th note from the man, but he will now be in Yokohama streets - - Go to Forest of Wind, on the branch to the cliff where Uru and Albert talked, on the way back from the branch, right at the position where the scene changes from the branch to the main, don't move after the change, tap the "O". 5. Get the final note from the man at Yokohama streets - Go to the place where Nanio Kawashima and Yoshiko Kawashima stays, you will find the last treasure at the stone lantern. After that, the man disappears. If you go back to where he was, the little boy will tell you what happened to him. ^_^ --- Strange/Interesting Stuff in the Game : For SOME REASON, Zepetto is the only male who can equip the White Cotton Panties. I'm not kidding, go try it out. Wear them and switch Cordelia to Queen of Darkness for the ultimate in sexual perversity...a cross-dressing old geezer with a doll of his daughter in S&M garb! ^_^ When Berserk, certain characters do weird stuff. Blanc will attack enemies with a 1 HP attack called Marking (no points for guessing what he does). Joachim will pose. Anastasia will search the ground at her feet for items. The Game Over screen changes in certain locations, like the Ring Tower sidequest. You have to see that one. ^_^ ****** Endgame Subquests : All these can be accessed after the final dungeon appears (some can be done earlier, but I forgot which). --- Tiffauges Castle : Talk to a fat man at Firenze to access this dungeon. Stuff to do here : 1. Obtain Neo Amon. (main) 2. The 3rd last Wolf Bout. 3. Lottery Member No. 4. (Obtainable Items : Ronovie (Crest), Stone Lv 3, Devil (Tarot Card), Dafune Seed, Crucifix, Seal of the Vessel) maskrider has a hand-drawn map of the castle which will probably be helpful, check it out. The mirrors and one of the doors are one-way, so be careful. Lottery Member No. 4 is FAR away from any save points and has invisible areas on her Ring to boot, so place your finger at the area which you're aiming for before it disappears. It works, trust me. ^_^ (took me 4 tries to get the Demon Ward Necklace) There is only one exit out of here, near the boy who talks about being lost here forever (kinda ironic). You will also automatically exit once you defeat Neo Amon. Boss : Neo Amon - Actually not that hard. He can do about 400 physical damage though. If you are around Level 50 or higher you should be fine...basically it's a battle of strength. --- Doll Manor : Talk to a man at the Yokohama streets to access this dungeon. Stuff to do here : 1. Defeat boss and get Zepetto's final weapon (main). 2. Get Silver Angel from 2nd floor 3. Get Album entry for Anastasia (Nightmare) (Obtainable Items : Lottery Ticket, Stone Lv 4, Silver Angel, Crucifix) The password is Bridget if you don't want to work it out for yourself. The Silver Angel is on the sofa of the room with the diary, the Crucifix is in the other room on the 2nd floor. Boss : Baal - It will use Gale and Mental Breakdown. Really not too tough as long as you are above Level 50. Dog Cage : You must have all grade 3 fusions, Amon and Neo Amon. Level them up to acquire all their skills, talk to Saki in Inugami Village and a new place will be unlocked, finish that dungeon and go back to Saki to trigger one more event. Stuff to do here : 1. Complete dungeon and get Kurando's final weapon and access to second fusion (main) 2. Gain access to Anastasia's second costume. (Obtainable Items : Talisman of Love, Poison Lv 4, Stealth Roid, Seal of the Vessel, Ultimate Loincloth, Mana Refine) maskrider saves the day again with an excellent walkthrough for this section, complete with graphics. Go check it out. Boss : Garan (AGAIN...at least this is the last time) - He will Mind Assault you. Again. Same deal. He can't be hurt by magic, so it's physical all the way. He has pretty powerful spells though, so you might need to assign someone as a healer. After returning to Saki, you will fight another battle with Kurando's transformed form against his mother's transformed form. Boss : Kouenhime - Not too tough IF you prepare beforehard. Firstly, the Flare Brooch is a must have since Karitendouji drains 7 SP per round. A Mind's Eye (if you're confident of it's use) will make the fight much easier. Basically, attack, heal, attack, heal. You should get 2 moves for every one of hers, but don't get careless. If she does Energy Charge, block on the next turn unless you like seeing Game Over (yes if you lose here it's Game Over - save beforehand!) Don't bother with magic, just attack normally. --- Schwarzwald : Talk to the drunk at Joachim's place at Le Havre to access this dungeon. Stuff to do here : 1. Beat boss and get Aurora Oil for Lucia. 2. Gain access to Lucia's second costume. (Obtainable Items : Pure Refine, Chariot (Tarot Card), Slow Lv 4, Seventh Dance) (from maskrider's page) The Solution - 1. Ask Red, then Blue : Go Left, then Middle 2. Ask White : Go Right, Right, then Left 3. Ask Blue, then Yellow : Go Left, Middle, Middle, then Right 4. Ask White : Go Right, Middle, Right, Left, Left 5. Ask Yellow, then Red : Go Left 6 times 6. Ask Blue : Go Right, Left, then Center 7. Go Left (Black flower path), you will meet the boss Note that if you go right at the last part (where there is the black flower and white flower) you will get a GAME OVER (yes, instant Game Over!) so don't. Or save first if you really want to see the death screen. Boss : Garp - All it has is a ton of HP. Besides that, no problem. The Seventh Dance is obtainable once you clear the area. Go to the right, then center, and it will be on the ground in the center tunnel (don't talk to the flowers, and don't go too far up or you will have to reenter and try again) --- - Underground ruins of Neam Talk to Roger at Wales to access this dungeon. Stuff to do here : 1. Beat and snap the boss and get the ultimate Album entry for Anastasia. 2. Get Shanghai Angels erotic magazine. 3. Get Hieroglyph to complete Castle of Confusion sidequest. 4. Get Key of Eternity (only one in whole game) 5. Gain access to Uru's ultimate weapon and Kallen's second costume. 6. Laugh your ass off at hilarious sequence with the boss. ^_^ (Obtainable Items : Seal of Intelligence, Medi Refine, Delay Lv 4, Strike Area Increase, Shanghai Angels, Pure Refine, Seal of Movement, Seventh Key, Hieroglyph, Dafune Seed, Bat Gold, Sexegenary Bracelet, Key of Eternity) As you can see this is one of the more important sidequests, with lots to do. Okay, I can't remember the exact sequence of raising/lowering the pedestals...you'll just have to keep at it if you want all the items. I do remember that in order to get the Key of Eternity you have to backtrack one whole screen after fiddling with some blocks. Don't miss the Shanghai Angels magazine, it's hidden in an alcove near to where you find the Strike Area Increase. If enough people really need help here I will replay the area to find out how to get all the treasure, so mail me if you want me to include that. Boss : Olbas - After you finish laughing at the sequence, you'll need to fight this bugger. Be sure to Snap him to get Euthanasia, which you will need to protect against by bringing plenty of Crucifixes, since it causes all status ailments (Kallen can use Anne's Cross) If you don't have enough Crucifixes, bring someone who can heal status and equip a Crucifix on him/her (Blanc is a good choice because of his Full Moon, you can use Lucia's Aromatherapy too) He will also use Demise on you, which will reduce a character's HP to 1, so be ready with Cure All. --- - Castle of Confusion (Underground Prison at Iles Sainte Marguerite) Check the store room where you got the adhesive to gain access to this dungeon. Stuff to do : 1. Get Kallen and Joachim's ultimate weapons. 2. Lottery Member No.3. Solutions to the ghost's requests (from maskrider's page) 1. The man that gave you a Ring - Give the ring to the wandering old women near Joachim's place at Le Havre. 2. The man in a prison cell - Give him a pack of tissues (from lottery or Rasputin's room) (this man had not yet cleaned his butt as he died in a toilet during an earthquake) 3. The girl that gave you a Mask - Give the mask to the man in white suit standing in front of the junk store at the Chapel in Paris. 4. The sailor that gave you a broken watch - Give that watch to an old man at Foreigners' Graveyard in Yokohama 5. The lottery guy - Play the lottery 3 times, doesn't matter if you win or lose. He will then disappear, so you can't get any more items out of him. (Which means you have only 3 chances at the Mind's Eye) 6. The Ghost Professor - - Talk to an old man at the beach at Cannes - Go back and talk to him - Get Hieroglyph from Underground Ruins of Neam - Go back and give it to the Professor - Get Joachim's ultimate weapon from the beach at Cannes - Go back and talk to the Professor You will be at the final room in this dungeon and get Kallen's ultimate weapon. --- - Gama's Ring Tower Just talk to Grand Gama to access this...dungeon? Stuff to do here : 1. Get Grand Hatena? mask for Joachim. 2. Roll on the floor laughing at one of the funniest scenes in videogame history. 3. EAT CURRY! (just kidding ^_^) Pretty easy going until you reach the 93 floor. Then it's one on one battles which you might need to prepare a bit for. Losing any battle here means Game Over, so be careful. (Though you might want to check out the unique Game Over screen. :) Floor Character Enemy will use How to Beat 93 Kurando Fast Ring Pocket Watch 94 Zepetto Deadly Poison Shell Bracelet 95 Lucia Up Ring Pocket Watch 96 Kallen Fake Ring Pocket Watch/Anne's Cross 97 Blanc SP Lowering Willpower 98 Anastasia Instant Death Leonardo's Bear 99 Uru High Phys. Damage Amon's Mind/Body Revival, Shura Earrings 100 Joachim Instant Death + Seventh Key Leonardo's Bear + Voodoo Doll Boss : Grand Hatena? - This is it, the ultimate wrestling battle - Grand Papillion versus Grand Hatena?! He will use Grand Slam and a Seventh Key on the 7th turn, so defend accordingly, or if you feel confident, defeat him before the 7th turn. (use Mind's Eye/Third Keys) ****** Credits : 1. As stated in intro, maskrider and the Shadow Hearts 2 VR Strategy Page. Couldn't have done it without them. 2. Sacnoth, Aruze and Nautilus for making this superb game. 3. Myself, for being the bomb. (After all I wrote this thing, didn't I? ^_^) 4. My sister, because she's just great. END OF FAQ ******