Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu FAQ

Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu FAQ by Zewing

Any%

Q: What minions do you get?
A: I get Arpartron (level 1) from Koris's Capture Tutorial.  He's a pure Water elemental minion with a Water Horn Special Attack.

I also get Mardregg (level 3) from Dragonfly Forest.  He's a pure Air elemental minion with a Wind Horn Special Attack.

Q: What is with the Hunter's Earring?
A: The Hunter's Earring primary function is to recall you to the entrance of a forest.  Though, there is a glitch we can utilize, appropriately named the Hunter's Earring Glitch.

Q: What does the Hunter's Earring Glitch do?
A: By using the Earring very close to a loading zone transition, we can effectively wind up at another loading zone instead of the intended one.  Think of it as a wrong warp in broad terms.

Q: Where do you use the Hunter's Earring Glitch?
A: The current route does this glitch in Beetle Forest (completes the forest instantly), Dragonfly Forest (to skip a long sequence of button press triggers), Spider Forest (to skip a very long sequence of fetch quest items, aka Champion's Belt / Capture Amulet skip), Dark Beetle Forest (to get to Fire Boss faster), Dark Dragonfly Forest (to skip Wind Boss and end up at start of Dark Spider Forest), and finally Dark Spider Forest (to get near the end of the forest).

In addition, there are 2 side effects of using this glitch successfully (since a failure just means you use the Earrings intended purpose).  The first is, prior to the Neatherworld Forests, you will automatically reappear from the forest you activated this glitch in when you enter the Barrier Gate (instead of entering the place from above the save point, you appear at the gate as though you used the Earring "correctly.")

The 2nd side effect only occurs after you perform this glitch during the Dark Beetle Forest.  After defeating the Fire Boss, you return to Nagi Village and encounter a dialogue with Ni, only you're invisible during the entire dialogue.  Once he's finished you will reappear.

Q: What item drops are there?
A: I can get some or all of the following (not sure if this is all but it's what I've got from going through route):

3 Great Walnuts, 1 Shab Liquor, 1 Excellent Liquor, 1 Divine Garb 1 (prior to Nagi Village)
2 Special Liquor, Tendai Uyaku, Bloody Garb (Dark Forests)

The route I use can be done consistently if you do not have to throw in any extra item usage than what I've listed in my route notes.  Though if you do have to use an extra item, keep in mind great walnuts net you 375 Yan for Nagi Village shopping, Excellent Liquors are kept (free 200 Yan and less buying menu time), and the Divine Garb 1 (incredibly rare drop) is an instant equip since it raises both defense a lot more, plus gives more speed.  By getting the Divine Garb 1, you can then sell Riketz Garb for 1500 Yan which lets you skip selling any weapons, armor, or necklaces (essentially faster menuing).

The Dark Forests item drops aren't really worth worrying about unless it's a Tendai Uyaku, this could save your run if you encounter a second (or third) Spiral before the Earth Boss, so keep them on hand.

Q: Why did the run die?
A: The route I'm using isn't particularly bad, it's just my preference on how to get a fast time.  Almost every fight I do is winnable comfortably if I use safety strats, but my money route is so tight that I'd have to rely on item drops just to complete the run if I deviate.  In addition I am going for a fast time, and with the game being sub 1 hour, I kinda have to just eat the run enders and go again.

Specific instances my run can die for me

1) Missing any Earring's Glitch.

2) Getting crits against me prior to Nagi Village

3) Getting my attacks blocked

4) Having to use more items than what my route intends and NOT getting any item drops to replace them

Battle specific run enders

1) Mardregg - I must capture him, however I'm at capture level 1 whilst he is level 3.  To make matters worse, the easiest way to capture him is to attack him until his health is in the red zone, though he will promptly use his Wind Horn special attack on you.  A crit here will KO Levant, you must capture him in 1 try, and in addition if you took 2 turns of damage during the Beetle Forest, I have to attempt to capture him before his health is in the red, which is very unlikely to happen.

2) Kikinak - Apparently he likes to crit a lot, this is pretty bad if you factor in he double turns you a minimum of once

3) Poacher - Terrible fight, I need to KO Poacher himself with my level 1 Arpatron, so him blocking that or if Levant crits him when he has low health (so I can net experience for Arpatron)

4) Fire Boss - Blocks are really bad, and if he just spams his mana drain it becomes horrible

5) Dark Spider Encounters - I must fight a Spiral in the Dark Spider Forest, however sometimes the enemy gets a turn off before I summon Mardregg.  So even if I do the Spiral encounter, there are still 2 more that I can encounter before the Earth Boss.  At this point I am out of healing items since I must have 2 Excellent Liquors specifically to defeat the final boss.

6) Earth Boss - Same as fire boss pretty much, blocking is really a harsh thing to overcome

7) Cushidra - When he's in his Water form, he can restore his HP.  This adds a couple turns to the fight, not really a fight ender but the time bleed this late is a possibility.  Optimally he dies the same turn he makes the field Water, however this is only possible if Mardregg has decent Attack and Speed by this point.  Over the course of 20 levels, even a stat point of 1 or 2 makes a big difference