Baten Kaitos: Auras guide

In Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, there is a very interesting set of 6 cards, called the Auras, that are unfortunately very easy to miss. The more auras you have, the better they are. So even if they are purely optional, it's always a good feature to obtain them all. Because even if you don't find them useful when you pick them up (and I can't blame you this early in the game), they can really be life saving later on.

It all begins in the Elnath Castle. Ideally, you want to save before going there.
Inside, when talking to the Head Knight, he gives you the “Diadem Royal Crest” which will be useful in a few minutes. He also gives you some Knights:
- 1 Senior Knight ( 上級騎士 )
- 1 Knight ( 騎士 )
- 1 Apprentice Knight ( 騎士見習い )
- 1 Squire ( 従者 )

You can only use them once, but the “Diadem Royal Crest” that you also obtain will allow you to recruit more Knights later on.



=== Part 0/6 ===
Start by going downstairs. When asked to send Knights, dispatch 1 Apprentice Knight and 1 Squire. You will be rewarded with the "Butterfly" magnus, a paddle for Gibari.

At this point, your remaining Knights are:
- 1 Senior Knight ( 上級騎士 )
- 1 Knight ( 騎士 )



=== Part 1/6 ===
(Bonus items: There are 6 statues in this room. If you check the 2nd and the 6th one, you will obtain "Flare Lv 2" attacks for Xelha.)

Go to the stairs on the left. There will be a cutscene showing many small things happening in the room you just arrived in.
Start by going directly on the left, to the door. DO NOT GO DOWN THE STAIRS YET.
Enter the door to reach a small room where you have to dispatch 1 Knight. You will be rewarded with the “Chronos Aura” magnus.

At this point, your remaining Knight is:
- 1 Senior Knight ( 上級騎士 )



=== Part 2/6 ===
Exit the room you were in, then go downstairs and directly to the left. You will have a forced fight.
(If you are into 100% completion: Try to take a picture of one of those red knights, because there are only 2 of them you can fight in the entire game. Same for the upcoming black knight, that is the only one you will fight.)

After the fight, go to the left, and enter what we are gonna call “The chamber”. This room is very important because it's where we're gonna recruit Knights with the “Diadem Royal Crest” from before.
NOTE that the knights you can recruit are basically never the same between each playthrough. But some of them are always guaranteed. The recruits I'm writing below are the MINIMUM you need. If I ask you to recruit 1 regular Knight and there is none, it means there has to be a Senior Knight that you can recruit instead.

In “The Chamber”, recruit 1 Senior Knight and 2 Knights

Get back in the previous room.
(If you are into 100% completion: This is where you can fight the black knight just after the stairs and take a picture of it. Otherwise, this fight is optional, do as you like.)

On the right, just before the stairs that go down, you have to dispatch 1 Knight. You will be rewarded with the “Fire Aura” magnus.

At this point, your remaining Knights are (at least):
- 2 Senior Knight ( 上級騎士 )
- 1 Knight ( 騎士 )



=== Part 3/6 ===
(Bonus item: On the very right painting here, you can find a “Dark Yell Lv 1”)
Go right down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, you will have a forced fight.
(If you are into 100% completion: That's your second and last attempt to take a picture of the red knights.)
Now, you are just in front of the Great door, and you have to dispatch 1 Senior Knight. You will be rewarded with the “Light Aura” magnus.

At this point, your remaining Knights are (at least):
- 1 Senior Knight ( 上級騎士 )
- 1 Knight ( 騎士 )



=== Part 4/6 ===
Go downstairs immediately, and don't go near the knights on the right yet.
(Bonus items: 2 hidden chests between the stairs and the dragon statue: left "Flash Armor", right "Shadow Suit")
Go to the left and take a safety save, and breath a few seconds if that made you nervous.
Now face the knights on the right, and dispatch your remaining knights. You will be rewarded with the “Dark Aura” magnus.



=== Part 5/6 ===
Go back to “The Chamber”
If there are 2 Senior Knights, recruit them.
Else if there is only 1 Senior Knights, recruit it and 2 Knights.
Else recruit 3 Knight and 1 Apprentice Knight.

Go back in front of the Great Door, then go upstairs to the right.
Here, you're gonna have to dispatch 1 Senior Knight, or 1 Knight and 1 Apprentice Knight. You will be rewarded with the “Aqua Aura” magnus.

At this point, your remaining Knights should be:
1 Senior Knight ( 上級騎士 )
OR
2 Knight ( 騎士 )



=== Part 6/6 ===
(Bonus item: On the very right painting here, you can find a "Light Yell Lv 1"

Take the door to the right
Here, you're gonna have to send Knights. dispatch your remaining knights. You will be rewarded with the “Wind Aura” magnus.


Congratulations, you got all the Auras!










Now, what do Auras do?
Well, their description is very deceptive. It basically says that it "blocks" enemy attacks.
What it TRULY does is interrupting the enemies combos. So, if you manage to use one just before the enemy uses its Finisher, you're gonna save a ton of damage received. Especially on Bosses!
To use them, you need an elemental defense card of the same element as the aura. You can see that the auras are "Combo 3", that means they can be used as your 3rd card at the EARLIEST. Which means you need to use the matching elemental defense card 1 step earlier, so as your 2nd card at the earliest.
Basically, use any card to defend as your first card (including a "Miss" defense), then use your elemental armor as your second card, then your aura as your third card. Do that, and you're gonna interrupt the enemy's combo. And if in this example, the enemy was going to use its finisher as its 4th card, then congratulations: you just cancelled it!

Now, why did I say "The more auras you have, the better they are"?
Because if you have at least 3, you can put 1 per fighting character. If you have them all, you can use 2 per fighting characters, making you need way less armors in your decks since now you only need to defend against the most important attacks. Which means you can put more weapons, so you can attack more, destroy the enemies more easily, and so on!