Secret of Mana WT

Secret of Mana  (Seiken Densetsu 2)

Platform: Snes / SFC
Released (d.m.y):
 06.08.1993 (J)
 03.10.1993 (NA)
 24.11.1994 (PAL)

Based on: NTSC-U/C-version (SNS-K2)



                                 Game Basics


- SoM/SD2 is turn-based/Action-RPG hybrid. While you engage enemies
directly on the field with no transition screen, attacking requires
an ATB charge.
- In typical RPG fashion, subjects that take part in battle have stats
that define their performance. The playable characters (PCs) exhibit
stat growth as they level up. Leveling up occurs once a character has
gained a certain amount of Experience Points (Exp). Exp is gained from
killing enemies, with all active characters gaining the same amount
regardless of who kills the enemy. Killing enemies also gives you money,
with the in-game currency being called Lucre, and sometimes enemies
leave behind a treasure chest with an item (or a trap).
- Expect to do a fair bit of leveling up (or 'grinding') on a somewhat
regular basis.
- In many RPGs, there's at least some random variation in stat gains,
and leveling up beyond the "intended" level gives you a significant
advantage. This is not the case with SoM. It does mean you can fight a
lot of enemies without the enemies becoming trivial as a result of all
the xp you're gaining. Some people may prefer that.
 - The "intended" level is generally the same level as the enemies are,
 if the enemies actually have a level stat, as they do in SoM. I prefer
 to be above the intended level.
- Derived stats are affected by your base stats as well as your equipped
weapon and armor. There are three different armor types: body, headwear,
and handwear. You'll need to buy new armor as you progress through the
game. Some enemies may drop armor as well.
- Most RPGs have you buying new weapons as well, but Secret of Mana uses
a weapon upgrade system instead. There are 8 different weapons that you
can upgrade once you've obtained an "orb" for a specific weapon, typically
from defeating a boss. Upgrading weapons does cost money, thus making it
functionally similar to buying new weapons.
- While enemies have the same base stats as you, most of their derived
stats (all except ATP) are defined arbitrarily.
- Two of the three PCs are able to use magic for the purpose of healing,
support, and offense. However, using magic consumes MP, so you'll need
to use it sparingly.
- Bosses can be defeated very easily with the help of offensive magic,
but I find them much more interesting without the use of any magic.
- When you level up or defeat a boss, your HP is restored. Your MP,
however, is not.
- If all characters are dead, it's game over.
- The game doesn't feature the typical save points that are objects you
step on or interact with. Instead, certain characters (mainly innkeepers
and Neko) will offer to save your game. You will rarely be able to save
the game in dungeons. This can lead to some frustration, as a game over
means losing all your progress since the last save (with a few exceptions).

- Stats:
 HP                 | Hit Points   (needed to stay alive)
 MP                 | Magic Points (needed to cast magic)
 Strength     (Str) | Base ATP (Attack Power)
 Agility      (Agi) | Base Hit% (Agi/4), base Evade (Agi/4)
 Constitution (Con) | Base DFP (Defense Power)
 Intelligence (Int) | Magic damage & base Magic Hit% (Int/4) (Sprite)
 Wisdom       (Wis) | Base MDF (Magic Defense), base Magic Evade (Wis/4),
                       Magic damage & base Magic Hit% (Wis/4) (Girl)

- Total ATP = base + weapon ATP
- Total DFP/MDF = base + armor DFP/MDF
- Total (Magic) Hit% = base + weapon/spell Hit% (75)
- Total Eva = base + armor bonus
 - Magic Evade is a hidden stat.


- Physical damage calculation is based on ATP - target DFP with the
following modifiers:

      Hit roll

 - Hit% vs Target Eva   (Hit > Eva/2~Eva)
    Success: Proceed.
    Fail:    Do not proceed. Target evades. Only possible if Hit<Eva.

      ATP modifiers

 1 Charge attack: ATP = (1,0 + l*0,5)ATP
    l = Charge level

 2 Saber enchantment bonus
    ATP = ATP + (ATP/(10-MLv))      [no bonus at MLv0]

 3 Hit%  roll (vs 0,101)    (fail: stat < roll)
    Success: ATP = ATP + ME^2 + 0,((ATP + ME^2)/16 - 1)
    Fail:    ATP = ATP*Hit/100
     ME = Mana Energy

 4 If ATP>999, then ATP=999

      Target DFP modifiers

 - Evade roll (vs 0,100)
    Success: Target DFP = DFP + 0,(DFP/16 - 1)
    Fail:    Target DFP = DFP*Eva/100

      Final damage

 1 ATP*c - Target DFP
    c: Critical hit bonus (2,0)(can exceed 999)

 2 If Dmg>999, then Dmg=999


- The calculations use integers only. Figures are rounded down as needed.
- If damage towards a PC is less than 1, an evade animation occurs.
- All enemies have 99 Hit%. As such, the initial evade roll only really
applies to attacks made by PCs.
- All enemies have either 0 Evade or 99 Evade (with one exception).
- Enemies don't have any ME.
- Critical hit rate = (Weapon Skill Lv*3 + 5)/256
- Enemies can do critical hits as well with certain attacks, but the odds
are very low.
- Enemies (including bosses) can have 99 MP at most. All bosses have 99
MP unless otherwise specified (a few have infinite MP).
- Normal enemies have two "weapons," often just two of the same. When
they're not the same, the enemy will briefly "switch" weapons to execute
a different attack. Bosses can have multiple different "weapons." Enemies
can inflict ailments like poison with their attacks.
- Later in the game, enemies start getting ATP multipliers. The enemy
list with xp and Lucre figures and the walkthrough already show the
multiplied values.
- The four melee weapons have a few different normal attacks, but they
all have the same ATP. Eg. the knuckles can do a punch or a kick, and the
sword can do a slash or a thrust. It's kind of random, but the enemy's
position relative to yours is also a factor.

- Elemental sabers do *not* cause your attacks to inflict elemental
damage. They merely provide a proportional ATP bonus and also allow you
to inflict status ailments. Technically, they *do* add an element to
your attacks, but this value is not used in physical damage calculation.

- Some weapons are suggested to deal increased damage to certain types
of enemies ("Effective against x"), but this attribute is non-functional,
likely intentionally as with the saber elements. Were it functional,
those weapons would also deal less damage to some other type of enemy.

- Elevation is a factor in hit detection. Some areas feature different
levels of elevation, and you won't be able to hit enemies with melee
weapons unless they're on the same level as you (the whip being a possible
exception, whether intentional or not). The three ranged weapons - bow,
boomerang, and javelin - can hit enemies regardless of elevation. The
boomerang is the slowest of three, as you have to wait for it to return
before cooldown begins, but, in contrast to the bow and javelin, it can
hit multiple enemies and pass through walls and other obstacles.
- Besides elevation, hit detection is very simple and two-dimensional:
a hit occurs so long as the attack hit box makes visual contact with an
opponent's body hit box. Eg. one boss has very long legs that aren't part
of the boss's body hit box, but you can still easily hit the boss with
melee weapons by simply aiming at the body.

- Many enemies can only face left or right, which doesn't affect their
movement, however. Some enemies have sprites for all four cardinal
directions, while some (mainly bosses) only have one, south-facing sprite.
- There are a few enemies that can only be physically damaged by hitting
them in the "back." For instance, if the enemy is facing south, you need
to hit the top portion of their sprite, meaning you're basically aiming
at the head. The three ranged weapons ignore these immunities.

- Whenever you attack, you may get a delay of up to 5 or so frames before
the action is executed. This is because of the 'action metronome' that
dictates when an action can be executed. When you enter an attack command,
the game has to wait for the character's metronome to tick before running
the action. The metronome aims to tick every 5 frames, but it can stretch
to 6-7 due to technical limitations. Each subject has their own metronome,
and they're mostly out of sync to reduce CPU load or something like that.
Such a small delay isn't easy to notice, but it's there. The metronome
also applies to receiving damage.

- Magical damage calculation:

 1 MagOffense = (1 + MLv*0,5)(Mag1 + base\Mag2)
     MHit = base (75) + (Mag1)/4
     e = Elemental variable (1,0; 0,5; 2,0)
     p = Potency modifier
     n = Number of targets

 2 MHit roll  (vs 101)
    Success: MagOffense = MagOffense + ME^2 + 0,((MagOffense + ME^2)/16 - 1)
    Fail:    MagOffense = MagOffense*MHit/100

 3 MagOffense = MagOffense * e / p / n

 4 If MagOffense > 999, then MagOffense = 999

 5 Target MEva roll  (vs 101)
    Success: Target MDF = MDF + 0,(MDF/16 - 1)
    Fail:    Target MDF = MDF*MEva/100

 6 Dmg = MagOffense - Target MDF

- Using magic (or items) does not cause or require an ATB charge.
- All spells have a base power value. Enemies don't use it, however.
They use their secondary magic stat instead. Check the magic list for
more information spells.
- An additional potency modifier is used for healing and status effects.
Eg. Cure Water potency is doubled at the end.
- When a spell inflicts a status ailment or status effect, the duration
is determined by the spell's potency, much like damage. Both stat up and
stat down effects ignore magic defense, as do healing spells.
- Using draining attacks on undead enemies is not a good idea.
- There are eight elements in the game: the three opposing pairs - Fire
and Water, Wind and Earth, Light and Dark - as well as Moon and Dryad.
Most enemies have an elemental affinity that determines their elemental
resistance. Eg. a Water-affinity results in the enemy being weak to Fire
(2,0x power) and resistant to Water (0,5x power). No enemy is weak to
Moon or Dryad, but they can still be resisted. The elemental variable
applies even to the duration of status ailments and effects.
- There's no way to get elemental resistance for PCs.

- Below your HP is the ATB/cooldown gauge. After attacking, you have
to wait 117 - Agi/2 frames (about 1-2 seconds) for the meter to charge.
Attacking while in cooldown results in a severe ATP and accuracy penalty.
The percentage figure seen only roughly represents a build up of power,
and you have to wait until it disappears before you can avoid the penalty.
Attacking when the figure is at or near 100% gives you, at best, 50% ATP,
usually around 25%. If you're not even close to 100%, you get around
5-10% ATP. Once enemies start having more than 0 Evade, you won't even
be able to hit them if you attack them during cooldown. Until then, you
could feasibly use semi-powered attacks to finish off enemies very low
on health.
- Normal enemies also have an ATB charge: 100 - Agi/2 frames. The formula
is technically the same for both player and enemy alike, but there are
some extra steps beyond the ATB calculation that adds about 17 frames
for the player and possibly the enemy as well, not that the enemy has
a habit of attacking at the earliest frame possible.

- Each character has weapon skill levels that determine critical hit rate
(3*SLv/256) and the maximum level of a charge attack. You can increase
the skill level up to the current level of the weapon, and each level
requires 100 SP (Skill Points). All characters gain weapon SP when an
enemy is killed with a physical attack. The amount equals 9 - SLv for
the character that deals the finishing blow and half of that for the
other two characters. SP is also halved if the character is at a higher
level than the enemy.
- Critical hit rate is halved for the three ranged weapons (boomerang,
bow, javelin).
- There's one special occasion at the end of the game where Randi's
weapon skill levels have a drastic impact on his damage output. For
this reason alone, he should level up many different weapons.
- If you're above the enemy's level and the character that lands the
killing blow has a weapon skill level above 5, other characters won't
gain any SP ((9-6)/2 = 3[,5]. 3/2 = 0[,5]).

- Hold down the attack button (I set it to Y) to perform a charge attack.
Each charge level takes as long as your regular ATB charge. You move slow
while charging, leaving you rather vulnerable. Hold L or R while charging
to hold the direction you're facing at.
- You could use a charge attack if you're coming up to a particularly
tough enemy that you want to take out as quickly as possible, or if you
just happen to feel like it. You should at least use them against bosses
who are invulnerable or out of reach at times and enemies with such high
DFP that your normal attacks are doing little to no damage (not too many
enemies like that, though).
- Many charge attacks feature more than one strike, but they can't
actually hit a single enemy more than once (with the boomerang and
javelin having some exceptions).

- Magic skill levels increase from simply casting spells. The amount
of SP you gain from each casting is 9 - current level. The amount is
halved in areas where your weapons aren't drawn. Max level of magic
is defined by the number of Mana Seeds you've found.

- Receiving damage results in hitstun. There are two types of hitstun:
stun and knockdown. The latter occurs when the damage is greater than
1/4 of one's max HP. Your characters will be pretty much knocked down
even when the damage is less than 25% of their max HP, but if it's
greater than 25%, they'll be knocked down even harder.
- The enemy's knockdown recovery time is 105 frames minimum (1,75s),
but can last longer if damage is substantial enough (176+). In that
case, the number of 5 frame "ticks" (5-7f; again, it's not always
consistent due to technical limitations) required to recover equals
dmg/8.
- Enemies are often immune to physical damage when stunned or knocked
down, stun immunity being much more common. It would be optimal for
you to learn which enemies are invulnerable when under hitstun.
- Flying enemies can't be stunned and will be knocked down from any
damage. Some enemies aren't visibly knocked down when you break the
25% threshold, but the usual knockdown rules still apply.
- If a stunned or knocked down subject receives further damage before
the damage figure disappears (which takes 105 frames), the damage gets
queued and isn't sustained until the damage figure disappears. Landing
multiple hits during this period will add up all the damage, which is
then sustained in one "hit." If an enemy is going through an extended
hitstun recovery with no queued damage, hitting them after the damage
figure has disappeared will damage them instantly and cancel the hitstun.
- If you attack an enemy just as they're knocked down, you'll perform
a different type of attack (identical to the Lv1 charge attack). It's
just as powerful as a normal attack, however. The window for triggering
this attack is quite short, at only 30 frames (0,5s).
- Bosses only exhibit one type of hitstun or none at all and they tend
to be invulnerable during it. As such, and with three characters, many
of your attacks will be inconsequential, since you can only land one hit
per 'cycle.' However, one character can cover for another one if they got
hit or the boss evaded the attack. If you're not getting evaded much, you
should also get in some charge attacks. That's the best way to increase
dps (damage per second) against a boss (besides using magic, which I do
*not* recommend).

- The chances of getting a chest from an enemy are 4/64. Each enemy has
two items they can drop: common and uncommon (7/64). The dropped chest
may also give you a trap, in which case the content is lost. Traps vary
depending on enemy level and become more dangerous as you progress in the
game. The odds of getting a trap are determined by a roll involving the
character's Agility value. Since the Boy has the highest Agi, you should
generally use him to open any dropped chests. If the character's Agi is
high enough, there's no chance of getting a trap. There's also a spell
that can be used to disable traps.
- The traps are:
  1-10 | Punch Glove, Poison needle, Bomb
 11-15 | Bomb
 16-25 | Riot Gas
 26-30 | Petrification
 31-36 | Mimic Box
 37-99 | Shinigami Trap (7/8) or Shadow Zero (1/8)

- There are quite a few useful rare drops near the end of the game. When
getting these, I like to wait a bit before opening the chest. I can't
exactly prove it helps, but if you're struggling with unfavorable RNG,
maybe give it a try.

- In addition to the PCs, only three "objects" (enemies, chests, NPCs,
crystal orbs) can exist at a time on the battlefield. Even when you
have fewer than three characters, the limit is three. Some areas have
priority objects that always use one slot (until removed in the case
of orbs and chests), leaving 2 slots for enemies and dropped chests.
- Enemies have specific spawn points. Enemies will only spawn within
your range of view upon first entering an area. Otherwise, enemies will
spawn when they're between 2-8 tiles outside of the edge of the screen
(on the x or y-axis). If a spawned enemy is more than 2 tiles beyond
the edge of the screen, they can despawn in favor of another enemy. If
it's a regular spawn, the despawn is temporary, and the game remembers
the enemy's location, although their HP and MP will reset. If an enemy
is despawned in favor of an enemy spawned by another enemy, the despawn
is permanent. There are several enemies that spawn more enemies, so if
you like killing all the enemies in an area, you'll just have to accept
that you can't easily accomplish that in *many* areas.
- There are a few areas where enemy spawn points can vary depending on
which path you entered the area from.
- With a few exceptions, enemies that spawn more enemies have a spawn
limit. For enemies that spawn themselves, the limit is 3. For enemies
that spawn different enemies, it's usually 10.
- Enemies spawned by enemies and dropped chests always permanently
despawn once beyond ~2-4 tiles off of the edge of the screen.
- Spawns reset when you "refresh" (ie. leave and re-enter) an area.

- You can push enemies, which is mainly useful for grouping together
enemies, so you can hit multiple enemies with a single attack. There
are also situations where pushing the enemy makes it easier for the AI
to land a hit.

- You can switch the character you control with Select.
- Once you have more than one character, you should have a look at the
AI settings in the Act menu. The settings are represented by a grid,
where up or left is more aggressive and down or right is more avoidant /
less aggressive. AI-controlled characters may also receive minor stat
modifiers based on their position.
- I'd recommend A2 for the Boy and the Girl and A3 for the Sprite.

    ABCD         A1/4: Str +1    D1/4: Con +1
   1             A2/3: Str +2    D2/3: Con +2
   2             Ax:   Con -1    Dx:   Str -1
   3             1x:   Agi +1
   4             4x:   Agi +1

- The AI-controlled PCs follow behind you, which often leaves them a bit
too far away to detect and engage an enemy. To mitigate this, you need to
herd them closer to the enemy by moving in a certain way. Simply getting
closer to the enemy might not be safe or, even if it is, it might not be
enough. It's often best to use perpendicular movement instead. If you just
moved left or right, you need to move up and down. If you just moved up or
down, you need to move left and right.
- Limiting movement to cardinal directions also helps prevent the AI from
getting stuck in the landscape. Sometimes you have to wiggle around a bit
to get them unstuck. Doesn't work if there are enemies nearby, though.
- AI-controlled characters can't move beyond the point at which the screen
would scroll.

- To excel in combat, you'll want to pay attention to frame advantage/
disadvantage and act accordingly. When the enemy has the advantage, you
can move around and stall for time or, if you're feeling brave, bait the
enemy into attacking and dodge it. Not every attack can be dodged, though,
and the AI isn't likely to dodge much of anything.
- Here's some footage I captured that shows how things work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ehdHCvqN0

- Instead of a typical menu screen, the game features a ring menu with
icons. Press up or down to switch between different rings. The four main
rings are Status, Weapon, Magic, and Item. The Status Ring features the
following items:
 Stat   | Status screen (press Confirm for next character)
 Level  | Weapon & Magic status
 Act    | AI setting
 Edit1  | Button config
 Edit2  | Window edit
 Equip  | Armor rings
 Target | Specify AI's target

- Regarding button config, I like to set Attack to Y and own Menu to B.

- Healing items:
   Candy          | 100 HP       Faerie Walnut  | 50 MP
   Chocolate      | 250 HP       Medical Herb   | Heal status
   Royal Jam      | 100% HP      Cup of Wishes  | Revive with full HP

- Status ailments:
   Poison      | Gradually sustain 19 points of damage over 7s.
   Sleep       | Unable to act or move for a while. Incoming Crit% up (2x).
   Balloon     | Unable to act or move for a while.
   Slow        | Reduced movement speed (PCs only), minor Hit penalty
   Confuse     | Directional input is reversed & can't cast magic.
   Moogle      | Unable to act for a while.
   Chibi       | ATP=1 & DFP/4. Requires healing.
   Snowman     | Unable to act or move, invulnerable, 7s.
   Ablaze      | Unable to act or move. Gradually sustain 19+ pod over 7+s.
  Petrification| cHP halved and incapacitated for 7s.

- Status effects:
   Saber       | Augment physical attacks
   ATP Up/Down | ATP +/-25%
   DFP Up/Down | DFP +/-25%
   Hit Up/Down | Hit +/-25%
   Eva Up/Down | Eva +/-25%
   Barrier     | Nullifies a certain amount of damage
   Reflect     | Reflect magic
   Barrel      | Invincible, unable to attack

- When a character is chibified, their AI is set to a basic aggressive
level.
- When a subject is petrified, cHP (current HP) is halved first, then
damage from the actual attack is applied.
- Remedy removes ailments, but not status effects. Dispel can remove
status effects but only from an enemy.
- When an attack destroys a barrier (which features no visible indication),
it doesn't deal any actual damage yet. It simply destroys the barrier.

- The game doesn't track or show you your play time. Consider tracking
it manually.
- You can do a soft reset by hitting L, R, Select and Start.
- The selling price of items is 2/3 of their retail price.
- You can only carry up to 4 of each usable item.
- You can carry up to 11 pieces of a particular armor type.
- When buying the soundtrack, make sure you get an official release.

       Bugs (just a few notable ones)

- When an enemy is off-screen to the left or right, the sounds they make
may come from the wrong side.
- Upgrading a weapon that's equipped and then switching the weapon with
someone will result in the new form not actually registering. Unequip
the weapon to solve the issue.
- Saber glitch: The way a saber enchantment is prematurely removed (when
switching weapons, when inflicted with certain ailments, or when hit with
Dispel) is flawed, and, as a result, the saber's ATP bonus will remain
indefinitely. The only way to remove it is by replacing it with another
saber effect. I would recommend against abusing it. Enemies that cast
sabers can trigger the glitch as well.
- There have been some scattered reports of people finding invisible
chests that contain extra weapon orbs. I found one in the ancient ruins
in the Empire. Others have found them in places like the Underground City.
- This seems to be exclusive to the NTSC-J-version, but occasionally the
game may softlock after defeating a boss. After the 'Yatta' or power up
message, nothing happens. Whatever event is supposed to play out afterwards
simply isn't triggered. Apparently, it has something to do with switching
characters after opening the ring menu.
- The 2018 remake suffers from frequent crashing. However, the game makes
an auto-save every time you enter a load zone, so you don't really lose
much, if any, progress because of it.


  --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 Walkthrough



        Forest Path / Potos
        Pandora Fields North / Water Palace
        Pandora / Pandora Fields West / Kippo / Haunted Forest
        Gaia's Navel
        Haunted Forest / Witch's Castle
        Waterfall Cave
        Underground Palace
        Ancient Ruins of Pandora
        Gaia's Navel / Water Palace
        Great Forest / Wind Palace
        Matango / Dragon's Hole
        Kakkara Desert 1 / Sand Ship
        Todo / Crystal Forest / Ice Palace
        Kakkara Desert 2 / Fire Palace
        Empire Southtown / Sewers
        Empire Northtown / Ancient Ruins / Emperor's Castle
        Palace of Darkness / Golden Tower
        Moon Palace / Tasnica / Lofty Mountains
        Underground City / Grand Palace
        Pure Land
        Mana Fortress





 ¤~~~~~~¤   Forest Path   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                   Default (Boy Lv1):
   Rusty Sword             Overalls

- When you start a new game, you'll be asked to name the main character
(his semi-official name is Randi).
- Grab the sword, then head towards the village.
- If you die here, you'll respawn at the waterfall.
- The Rabites have three different attacks: two different jump attacks (a
regular one and a spinning one) and a bite attack. Once below 10 HP, they
flee from you and no longer attack.
- The Rabi is the only enemy in the game to have an 8/64 drop rate.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Potos   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:                             Item:                 Boss:
  Overalls            20 Lucre       50 Lucre (/ GP)       Mantis Ant
  Bandanna            50 Lucre

- You'll fight the boss when you approach the elder in front of the
northeast building, Before you do that, you should buy a Bandanna and
build up to Lv3.

[Boss]
- 150 HP, 20 MP, 0 DFP, 10 Exp, 100 Lucre, Sword Orb #1
- Attacks:
    Slash:         15 ATP
    Scythe Throw:  18 ATP + 99% Sleep  (unavoidable)
    Acid Breath:   20 ATP              (unavoidable)
- Magic (Lv0, 24 base): Gem Missile (2 MP) (unavoidable)
- The unavoidable attacks are only used when you're not in close quarters.
Acid Breath is only used when you're just out of reach, so try to avoid
that position. If you're behind him, he'll jump back, so he'll be facing
you again.
- He has three different melee attacks, although they're functionally
very similar: a left swing, a right swing, and a double swing. The left
and right swings are primarily used when you're on his side. These reach
active frames on frame 25 (about 0,42s). The double swing is primarily
used when you're in front of him. It reaches active frames on frame 35
(about 0,58s). The left/right swings have ~27 active frames, whereas the
double swing has 32. Try not to just walk into the hitbox after already
avoiding it. He can also block to become invulnerable.
- The boss always counters after receiving damage (common for bosses).
Otherwise, he'll attack about every 5 seconds.
- If you die, you'll just respawn, so there's really no need to get too
optimized, although you can still do it if you happen to feel like it.
- The no damage approach involves staying close to avoid triggering any
unavoidable attacks while moving away briefly to avoid his close range
attacks.

- Get the chest from the elder's house, then leave. You will never be
able to return to Potos once you do.
- There will be no more respawning. If you die, it's game over (with
a couple of exceptions).


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Pandora Fields North   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:
  Chocolate           60 Lucre
  Royal Jam          200 Lucre

- Once you're on the field, it's time to head for the Water Palace.
You can either walk or take the cannon. Don't bother heading south
yet (unless you just want to fight more enemies). They won't let you
into Pandora until you've been to the palace.
- Don't forget that enemies have an attack cooldown as well (about 1,6s
early in the game).
- Only two enemies spawn at most at the same time here because of the
Springball.
- Lullabuds generally don't start moving until you've attacked them or
until you get close enough for them to hit you. Their first attack has
no cooldown. You can try to find the sweet spot where you can safely
attack them or you can step in briefly and faint them. Either way, you
have to be pretty precise, since their attack reaches active frames
almost immediately. It has a 25% chance to inflict poison. They always
attack to the right on waking up, so they're safe to approach from the
left. If you're close to them when they enter cooldown, they'll start
to back away from you. If you pursue them and press them against a wall,
they'll just do nothing.
- Mushbooms have a basic tackle, a breakdance attack, and a spore attack
(21 ATP + 99% Sleep). They may use the spore attack immediately after
getting hit, interrupting the hitstun animation, so try to keep your
distance.
- Getting the Girl to join before the Sprite is optional, but I'll be
telling you how to do that.
- You can stop by Neko's shop (aka Nikita) to save. He has some new gear,
but his prices are always double of what they normally are, so you should
try and get it elsewhere if possible. Some of the stuff simply isn't
available elsewhere, though (such as Royal Jam or Barrel). In any case,
you'll be running into him in various locations throughout the game.
- You'll run into some soldiers near the palace. Make sure you talk to
them until they leave (otherwise you can't get the Girl early).


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Water Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                   Special:
   Spear                   Mana Level Up (Lv1)

- There will be some dialog options while talking with Luka. On the
third one, you have to choose the second one.
- You'll obtain your second weapon, the spear. It has a little more
power and reach than the sword. The knockdown attack and Lv1 charge
attack are fairly slow, though, and you can't use it to cut grass.
Only the sword and the axe can cut grass. It's also a terrible choice
for the AI, as they often fail to move close enough to the enemy and,
thus, whiff. The AI settings don't help with that.

      -- Pandora Fields North --

- As you head south past Neko's shop, you should be ambushed by Goblins.
The Girl will rescue you, then run off.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Pandora   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:                                   PC:
  Candy                10 Lucre            Girl Lv1 (Purimu)
  Medical Herb         10 Lucre
  Cup of Wishes       150 Lucre          Default (Girl):
  Wristband            45 Lucre            Spike Knuckle (Glove)
  Kung Fu Suit         25 Lucre            Kung Fu Suit
  Hair Ribbon          55 Lucre

- You can talk to the NPCs (non-playable characters) if you want, but
it's not necessary unless otherwise specified.
- Visit the castle and the Girl (aka Purimu) will join. Buy a Hair
Ribbon and a Wristband for her. (You can trigger this event even after
the events at the Dwarf Village, but there's really no reason not to
trigger it now.)
- The Girl won't join you here if you didn't trigger the scene where
she rescues you from the Goblins.
- The knuckle is probably the worst weapon in the game. It has nothing
going for it that would compensate for the lack of range.
- You can't use Cannon Travel if you have any dead characters.
- Keep in mind, you don't actually have to spend the night at an inn in
order to save your game. You'll get the prompt whether you stay or not.
- Take the path heading west from the village. Before you reach the
entrance to Gaia's Navel, you'll find another town.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Pandora Fields West   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

- You'll now start running into enemies with chest drops that require
25 Agi to open safely. The Boy won't have 25 Agi until Lv13 (or Lv12
with the Lv2 sword equipped). The traps may not be dangerous (yet), but
when the items are so unimpressive, it's not worth the risk.
- Buzz Bees use a stinger stab (23 ATP + 25% Poison) and a stinger shot
(24 ATP + 25% Poison). The stinger shot is aimed diagonally "down."

 Shop:                                          \\\ Kippo ||
  Chain Vest          120 Lucre
  Kung Fu Dress       350 Lucre
  Elbow Pad            90 Lucre

- Kung Fu Dress, Chain Vest, (2 Elbow Pads) = 470 Lucre (+ 180)


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Gaia's Navel - Field   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

- In order to actually keep the Girl in your party, you must *not* enter
Gaia's Navel yet. You need to keep heading north to the Haunted Forest.
If you do enter the cave, you'll be given the choice to either keep
going (in which case the Girl will leave) or turn back. If you enter
while controlling the Girl, you'll turn back automatically. If she
leaves, you can pick her up again at the Haunted Forest, but you'll
have to fight two Werewolves. These are normal enemies, but at this
point they can be incredibly tough. This is also what happens if you
never met the Girl or you didn't hook up with her at Pandora.
- If the Girl didn't join you in Pandora and you pick her up at the
Haunted Forest without getting the Sprite, then get rid of her by
entering Gaia's Navel without checking the blocked path, the Girl will
leave, and you'll have to fight the Werewolves *again*. That will be
the last time, though, and you won't have to check the blocked path.

      -- Haunted Forest --

- Chobins attack by using a bow and will flee when you approach them.
- In the second area, try to attack the skull things blocking your way.
After that, you can enter Gaia's Navel without the Girl objecting.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Gaia's Navel - Cave   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:                                Items:
  Spiky Suit          260 Lucre         Magic Rope
  Midge Robe           22 Lucre         Chobin's Bow
  Head Gear            70 Lucre         Watt's Axe [sic]
  Rabite Cap           45 Lucre
  Power Wrist         150 Lucre       PC: Sprite Lv1

 Boss:                                Default (Sprite):
   Tropicallo                           Boomerang
    (+ 2x Brambler)                     Midge Robe

- Blats are pretty passive. They can cast Lv0 Balloon.
- The Green Drop is the first enemy with more than 0 DFP and 99 Eva.
Combined with their splitting habit, they can be a nuisance. They can
poison you (80% chance) and also deal damage when splitting. No need
to fight them if you don't feel like it.
- Kid Goblins start off unwary, so you can easily get the jump on them.
They mostly attack with their axe, but may rarely use a boomerang as
well (31 ATP), which does not cause an ATB charge.
- This is the first dungeon where you'll encounter switches that are
triggered by attacking (instead of stepping on them).
- The Magic Rope can be used to warp out of dungeons. Try not to use
it unintentionally during a long dungeon.
- Hitting the second switch allows you to access the Dwarf Village.
This is the one place in the game where you *might* want to hit that
mute button.
- 2 Spiky Suits, Head Gear, Rabite Cap, 3 Power Wrists = 1085 Lucre
 × You should also get at least a couple of Cups of Wishes.
- Go talk to Watts and have him work on your sword (100 Lucre).
- You can catch a show for 50 Lucre in one of the dwellings. You'll
have to give 100 Lucre more at the end of the show (if you have that
much - doesn't matter if you don't). Afterwards, go backstage to get
your money back. The boss will then appear.

[Boss]
- 315 HP, 45 ATP, 0 DFP, 80 Exp, 132 Lucre, Spear Orb #1
- Brambler: 78 HP, 40 ATP + 33% Poison, 0 Exp, 0 Lucre
- The boss will burrow up from one of three possible spots. It's not
vulnerable until it pops out from its shell and starts attacking. It
attacks by spitting out pumpkin bombs that bounce around and home in
on the character who was closest to the boss when the boss launched
the bomb. They blow up when close to a PC, and the explosion reaches
active frames on frame 5 and lasts a total of 40 frames (active until
the end). It starts off small and reaches full size after 15 frames.
You can still avoid the blast if you're not too close to the center
when they go off.
- The boss goes back underground after taking a hit. You can't reach
it with the knuckles.
- Accompanying the boss are one or two small sub-units that reach out
to you with long vines that damage on contact.

- The Sprite (aka Popoi) will join after the battle, and you'll also
receive the Bow.
- Talk to Watts and buy the Axe for 100 lucre. The axe can be used to
smash rocks and those things that were blocking your path in the Haunted
Forest. Upgrade your spear before leaving. You can either take the
shortcut or go back the way you came from. The Sprite could use some
levels, so I suggest the latter. Even then, though, you can expect him
to deal the least (physical) damage while receiving the most. If you
just can't keep him alive, then don't. Either way, you should level
up near the area where you found the Magic Rope. Let the slimes divide
as much as you can. Or just fight whatever you want. It doesn't have
to be that precise.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Haunted Forest   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 PC:                     Boss:
  (Girl)                  (2× Werewolf)

- As I already explained, if you didn't get the Girl to join you, you'll
fight two Werewolves when you take the teleporter to the second area,
and she'll join after that. Not an easy fight, even with two characters.
The main issue is that they like to use combos that hit you multiple
times and, thus, stunlock you. They can cast Lv0 Cure Water (74 HP) and
Lunar Boost (ATP +25%, ie. 43 to 52). At least Neko's there to save your
game right before the battle.
- The forest consists of four areas. There's a teleport that takes you
to the Water Palace in the third area, but you can't reach it until you
take out the next boss.
- Eye Spies start spawning Chobin Hoods once fully visible on screen.
They attack using an eye beam and also damage you on contact when spawning
Chobins (50% chance of Moogle). They can also cast Lv0 Cure Water (64 HP)
and Remedy but only on one specific Chobin (CW when below 50% HP).


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Witch's Castle   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Items:                  Boss:                 Party:
   50 Lucre                Spikey Tiger          Lv10-13
   Whip

- You need to be careful with both the Werewolves and Polter Chairs.
As I'm sure you noticed if you fought them in the forest, Werewolves are
fast and highly aggressive, and you can't stunlock them easily. Polter
Chairs attack by jumping forward once or twice. The double jump covers
a fair distance, so move out of the way rather than backing away.
- You have to fight two Werewolves at the same time in the area before
the cells. You might want to just run past them if you see the opportunity.
- Once you've saved the soldiers, you can activate the switch in the
previous area. Buy some supplies from Neko and have him save your game
before venturing forth. The boss is not far.

[Boss]
- 520 HP, 21 MP, 0 DFP, 210 Exp, 288 Lucre, Boomerang Orb #1
- Attacks:
   Chew:     52 ATP                Fire Breath:      54 ATP  + 99% Burn
   Pinball:  53 ATP + 50% Sleep    Fire Bouquet Lv2: 66 base + ATP Down
   Sky Drop: 55 ATP + 33% Sleep       (3 MP)                     (-25%)
- You'll get chewed if you get close, but you might want to trigger that
intentionally just to avoid the alternatives that will likely hit multiple
characters and knock you out. You can even hit him during the attack unlike
with the others. Give the AI the bow or boomerang and let them handle the
attacking while you keep the boss rooted in place for as long as you can.
- Fire Breath and Fire Bouquet are unavoidable. He only uses them when
he's up on the platforms, where you can only hit him with ranged weapons.
He's invincible during the attack animations for both of them, so time
your attack well. You can't rely on the AI here, so position yourself so
that the AI will draw the attacks (he attacks the closest character).
- The ATP Down from Fire Bouquet wears off so fast that it's irrelevant.
At best, you might be able to attack once while it's still in effect.

- The enemies will be gone after the boss (happens a lot in this game).
- Grab the two chests, then talk to Elinee again to warp out.
- The whip can be used to cross small gaps by attaching to a pole on
the other side. This allows you to reach the aforementioned portal in
the Haunted Forest.
- The game claims that certain weapons (such as the Chakram) are
particularly effective against certain types of enemies. As already
mentioned, this attribute is non-functional.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Waterfall Cave   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                   Special:                Boss:
   Pole Dart (Javelin)     Undine                  Tanpole / Biting Lizard

- Head to the cave east of the temple.
- Get a few levels by fighting the Iffish (35 xp). They can be a bit
on the tough side, but they're certainly easier than the enemies in the
Underground Palace. They have two attacks: a body slam (53 ATP) and a
water splash (54 ATP). You can't push them, but they do spend a moment
being dazed after recovering from hitstun. When below 16 HP, they might
look like they've given up, but they'll still attack you if you get close.
They might rarely cast Acid Storm Lv1 (73 base + DFP Down).

[Boss]
- 600 HP, 57 ATP | 770 HP, 6 MP, 210 Exp, 348 Lucre, Glove Orb #1
- Gulp: 62 ATP. Cure Water (<50% HP): 184 HP.
- Tanpole just bounces around and hits you if you get close. Once below
50% HP, it'll turn into the lizard.
- Biting Lizard only attacks by swallowing you up, but can't do anything
until he spits the character out. He'll spit the character out if you
attack him, the swallowed character attacks him, or if you just wait
a moment.
- If you stand in the right spot diagonally from the boss, he'll do
nothing, and you can just attack him without any resistance.

- Afterwards, you'll meet the elemental spirit of water, Undine. With
her powers, the Girl and the Sprite can now cast magic. Each spirit
(Seirei) will usually give you 3 new spells for each character.

     Girl       MP                         Sprite     MP
 Remedy        | 1 | Heal status       Freeze        | 2 | 61b
 Cure Water    | 2 | Heal HP, 61b      Energy Absorb | 2 | 43b, drain
 Ice Saber     | 2 | Freeze            Acid Storm    | 3 | 43b + DFP Down

- Spamming any boss with the Sprite's offensive magic (and what few
offensive spells the Girl learns) is a path to an easy victory. If
you want a bit of a challenge, you could try using as little magic
as you can (at least in bosses). Wouldn't recommend it for your first
playthrough, though, not that it's that hard, not if you can get past
the next four bosses.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Underground Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Special:                Boss:
   Gnome                   Fire Gigas
   Mana Level Up (Lv2)

- This place can be accessed from the Dwarf Village, from the room with
lava and a Crystal Orb. Crystal Orbs can be activated with specific spells,
this one with Freeze.
- Again, some pretty tough enemies. Goblins will spawn Ma Goblins, and
both of them like to spam you with their boomerangs, easily resulting in
a stunlock. For whatever reason, the boomerang attack has no cooldown.
That's what makes it so dangerous. It does have lower ATP (47\48) than
their regular axe attack that they use at point blank range, but that's
not much of a consolation. If you don't think you're up for it, just make
a run for it. The dungeon consists of five areas and the last three are
very small.
 - The Goblin's spawning limit is 10, but they're able to spawn the goons
 for free as they wake up, since the limit isn't active yet. Possibly an
 oversight.
- Chess Knights attack by jumping at you. If they cast Speed Up (or even
attempt to cast it with insufficient MP), they'll enter a frenzy, where
they ignore cooldown and attack nine times in rapid succession. The spell
itself has no effect on cooldown, so it's just an AI script thing. Either
way, it's not a big concern. If you keep the pressure on, you should be
able to keep them stunlocked. Maybe start with a charge attack, since they
have some DFP.
- You'll start running into higher level traps again; you'll need 33 Agi
to open the chests safely (Lv22).
- You can hear enemies off-screen in the small areas. I believe it's
because the small areas are technically part of the same 'map,' for the
sake of convenience.
- You can't trigger the boss if the Sprite isn't alive.

[Boss]
- 850 HP, 66 MP, 0 DFP, 45 MDF, 326 Exp, 360 Lucre, Axe Orb #1
- Smash: 59 ATP. Fire Breath: 65 ATP + 50% Burn. Magic: 216 base / n.
- He has three Lv4 spells (Fireball (2 MP), Exploder (4 MP), Lava Wave
(3 MP)), but they all deal the same amount of damage. However, the ones
with longer animations may allow him to attack in succession without giving
you a chance to heal.
- Fire Gigas follows a cycle where he dematerializes and then rematerializes
after a little while. He's completely invulnerable when immaterial, but he
doesn't attack during that time either. He uses the smash very consistently
if you're up close when he rematerializes, and sometimes uses Fire Breath
when you're at a distance. The smash is always followed by magic, whereas
Fire Breath is not. He's mostly invulnerable during Fire Breath. You have
to get the hit in very early.
- Fire Gigas and some other bosses always multi-target their magic.
When magic is multi-targeted, its power is divided. With only one living
character, the damage could easily kill you in one hit. With two living
characters, you're looking at 50-75 pod. While the Sprite has the lowest
HP and MDF, keeping him alive would be optimal, since it results in the
lowest total damage.
- Either way, you probably can't put up with those spells for long, so
you need to capitalize on your main opportunity to deal damage, that
being when he rematerializes. Don't attack right away, though. You need
to wait until he's no longer blocking with his arms. Don't set the AI
to charge, since they won't do that when he's immaterial.
- If you're going for a no magic victory, this is going to be a bit of
a challenge. Start by building up to at least Lv16 and getting all the
healing items you can, including Chocolate and Jam from Neko. You'll
want to optimize your healing as well. This involves letting a character
die occasionally, so you can make use of your Angel Grails. You can't
save them for last, since you could easily end up dying at the same time.
Also note that you can start charging your weapon after using a healing
item without having to attack (just keep holding down the button).

- After the battle, you'll obtain Gnome.

     Girl       MP                         Sprite     MP
 Defender      | 2 | DFP Up            Speed Down    | 1 | ?
 Speed Up      | 3 | Eva Up + Hit Up   Gem Missile   | 2 | 43b
 Stone Saber   | 4 | Petrification     Earth Slide   | 3 | 61b

- Examine the seed before leaving. You'll need to do that in every
palace. The enemies are gone, so you should use the Magic Rope.


      -- Pandora --

- Talk to the blue-haired girl (Phanna) in the southern part of town.
After she disappears, follow the southern path to the ruins.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Ancient Ruins of Pandora   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Boss: Wall Face (+2× Chamber's Eyes)

- The enemies in this dungeon are quite annoying. If they're giving you
too much trouble, just run through the whole thing. It's not long.
- You're immediately greeted by a Tomato Man, an enemy with such high
DFP that you can only take them out with magic, charge attacks, or an
unlikely critical. Furthermore, this is the first enemy whose sprite is
partially immune to melee attacks; you need to hit the priest itself,
not the thing they're flying on. Unless you're attacking them from the
south, that shouldn't be much of an issue. A ranged weapon will ignore
the immunity, but the only one you can charge to Lv2 at this point is
the boomerang. They don't attack physically, but they can spawn up to
10 Zombies and can cast Lv2 Fireball (92b) and Defender (not on self).
- Zombies can poison you (25% chance) and cast Lv1 Speed Down.
- Evil Swords are immune to frontal melee attacks, but they're so small
you can easily hit the hilt when you're close. Add the fact that they
only have 0 DFP and Eva, and they're much easier to deal with than the
priests. They deal damage when they "wake up," so approach them with
caution. They can cast Lv0 Moon Saber.
- Once you enter the area where you trigger the boss (after the second
long corridor with a number of turns), you can't go back or exit using
the Magic Rope.

[Boss]
- 920 HP (main), 300 HP (sub), 15\13 DFP, 580 Exp, 720 Lucre, Bow Orb #1
- The left eye uses Cure Water (150 HP) on the main eye (no threshold;
it's just random), the main eye uses Revive (10 MP), and the right eye
uses Freeze and Absorb (75b, 2 MP, single), all Lv3. The left and right
eyes act every 14-16 seconds with both active, every 8-10 seconds solo.
- The left eye uses a couple of physical attacks, but they're nothing to
worry about: Flash Beam (44), Leaden Glare (55 + 50% Slow)(unavoidable).
- The sub-eyes' hitboxes aren't where you might expect. They're closer to
the sides, around the spots with the little corners on the wall.
- The main eye is invulnerable to physical attacks when closed. Also, this
is the first boss with 99 Evade, so even when it's vulnerable, about 40%
of your attacks will just miss.
- The main eye can revive the sub-eyes, but only with a measly ~25 HP and
only up to 9 times. If you take out both sub-eyes, the wall will start
moving, and you'll have little time before you're crushed. While you can
damage the main eye more easily during this time, if it's still at or close
to max HP, you likely won't make it, at least not without magic.
- Without magic, this could get a little iffy, but really all you need to
do is focus on the main eye with Lv1/2 charge attacks. That should do the
trick. I used the spear (Girl \ Lv2), sword/axe (Boy \ Lv1), and boomerang
(Sprite \ Lv2). Try to avoid hitting the sub-eyes. If the AI goes for them,
take manual control and bring them back in line.
- If you take out the right eye (from your perspective), you'll take less
damage, but the boss will get healed more.
- If you take out the left eye, the boss won't get healed, but you'll have
to put up with a barrage of attack magic that will hinder your efforts all
the same. Try to draw those spells with the Girl, since she'll take the
least damage. If you have enough heals and aren't attacking the main eye
very effectively, the sub-eye will run out of MP after a while, and you
can wrap things up with little to no resistance.

- Talk to Jema after the battle.

      -- Pandora --

 Items:                                       Shop:
   50 Lucre            Sword Orb #2             Cobra Bracelet - 280 Lucre
   50 Lucre            Spear Orb #2
   50 Lucre            50 Lucre

- You can now buy Cobra Bracelets from the other shop, although you may
want to keep using the Power Wrists for a while longer because of the Str
bonus (2 DFP, 3 MDF difference).
- Go talk to the king to gain access to some treasure.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Gaia's Navel   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                   Boss:
   Whip Orb #1             Kilroy

- Return to Gaia's Navel. Go down the hole in the Dwarf Village to reach
a ship of some kind.

[Boss]
- 900 HP, 18 MP, 11 DFP, 61 MDF, 686 Exp, 650 Lucre, Javelin Orb #1
- Attacks:
    Swing:  56 ATP + 33% Moogle       Bash a:  56 ATP + 33% Moogle
    Spin:   65 ATP + 33% Moogle       Bash b:  61 ATP + 33% Moogle
- Magic (Lv1): Lunar Boost (ATP +25%)
- Try to keep your distance. His attacks are so fast you can't really
avoid them if you're in range. Don't let the AI engage.
- The boss gets a significant speed boost once below 50% HP. You might
still be able to avoid him even when charging.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Water Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                   Boss:
   Whip Orb #2             Jabberwocky

- Save your game at Neko's place before heading into the palace.

[Boss]
- 950 HP, 90 MP, 12 DFP, 15 MDF, 800 Exp, 768 Lucre, Bow Orb #2
- Attacks: Bite a: 38 + 99% Sleep     Poison Gas: 82 ATP + 99% Poison \all
                b: 61                              (unavoidable)
                c: 65 + 50% Poison
                d: 70 + 50% Sleep
- Magic (Lv3): Acid Storm (272b + DFPd \all), Cure Water (544 HP)(<25% HP)
- An attack is rolled every 3,8s.
- Poison Gas and Acid Storm are mainly used when you're at a distance,
the former being much more common. Stay close and you should have little
trouble.
- The boss has two heads that can lunge out and hit you from a fair
distance. The attacks are quite fast and not easy to avoid. A single
attack might even hit you twice. With rolled bite attacks, only one head
can attack at a time, and the target tends to be whoever is closest to
the body. The head used depends on which side the character closest to
the body is: left head for the left side, right head for the right side.
- Both heads will retaliate with a bite whenever he takes damage unless
it occurs within ~80 frames after an attack roll or ~20 frames before.
- You can interrupt a non-counter bite attack if you simply attack the
boss during the attack. Given how much the heads flail around, though,
you might not have enough time to react, and your attack might just miss.
Then again, unless you have the AI doing charge attacks, things will be
a bit too hectic to take advantage of it intentionally. Which is not to
say I'd recommend having them use charge attacks. The AI's charging can
easily get interrupted if they take damage and get pushed too far away
from the boss or the lead character or if you simply move too far away.
If you can manage to avoid that, then it's fine. Try keeping your lead
character right in front of the boss, so the AI is less likely to get
targeted.
- The left head dies once he's below 476 HP. It stays dead even if the
boss heals himself. The remaining head won't attack if the closest target
is on the left side unless it's in retaliation.
- Once he's below 25% HP, he can randomly cast Cure Water. It could take
10 seconds or it could take over a minute.

- Talk to Jema afterwards to receive another orb.
- Talk to Luka and check the seed. The cannon near Potos can now take
you to the Great Forest, located in the Upper Land.
- Go through the Haunted Forest to get to Gaia's Navel (the cannon near
Potos won't shoot you there anymore). You could also use the cannon in
the Great Forest.

 Item: Midge Mallet                             \\\ Gaia's Navel ||
- Talk to the elder to receive the Midge Mallet.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Great Forest   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Items:                  Special:                  Party: Lv18-24
   Glove Orb #2            Sylphid (aka Jinn)
   Axe Orb #2              Mana Level Up (Lv3)     Boss: Spring Beak

 Shop: Quill Cap - 220 Lucre

         A----B         A: Winter      E: Cannon A
         |    |         B: Fall        F: Moogle Village
         |G  F|         C: Summer      G: Wind Palace (& boss)
        -D----C-E       D: Spring

- The Exp is good here, so get a bunch of levels. Make good use of the
Sprite's Spear and you can take out the enemies without too much trouble
(or don't, if you prefer the challenge).
- Silk Tails can cast Lv0 Energy Absorb, Acid Storm (59b), and Cure Water.
- Sahagins can throw their tridents, which you can avoid if you're nimble
enough. Or you can just approach them diagonally or hit them fast enough
to interrupt them. They can easily nail you when they're off-screen. Their
other attack is a spinning move with a narrower area of effect than what
it looks.
- Nemesis Owls cast Silence and will attack a confused character non-stop
with no regard for attack cooldown.
- Steamed Crabs attack by throwing their claw, which orbits around them,
and by releasing bubbles (75 + 99% Sleep). They can also cast Thunder Saber
Lv4 (ATP +12). They move mostly sideways.
- Chests dropped by Lv16-25 enemies can give you a gas trap (Sleep, Chibi,
or Moogle). Again, it's really not worth the risk. The Boy can open these
chests safely starting Lv22.
- Initially, you'll find Watts in A and Neko in D (later in F).
- Talk to one of the moogles in A, then go kill the Pebblers in the
Moogle Village (accessed from C). Talk to one of the moogles in the
village and the Sprite will tell you how to reach the sprite village:
"Walk the seasons from spring to winter, spring again and we can enter."
In other words, just keep going counter-clockwise (DCBAD) and the path
will open. Another boss awaits.
- The Moogle Claws are pretty good, but you have to watch out for enemies
that are immune to physical damage when knocked down (such as the Pebblers).
Again, you could refrain from using it if you don't want to incapacitate
enemies that easily.

[Boss]
- 720 HP, 51 ATP, -¤ DFP, 105 MDF, 1090 Exp, 864 Lucre, Boomerang Orb #2
- He mostly just jumps around and deals damage on contact. When he jumps on
the elevated platforms, his ATP is boosted to 79 (for less than a second).
- Magic (Lv4): Air Blast, Thunderbolt (264b \all), Balloon (8-16s)(single),
Silence (6,5s)(all).
- He blocks all frontal melee attacks. Either hit him in the back or use
the javelin or bow. If the AI fumbles too much, tell them not to engage.
- If you're at the northern-most boundary where the path appears when the
boss dies, you'll end up stuck, and the game will be soft-locked.

- In the palace, you'll obtain Sylphid. Don't forget to examine the seed
to increase your Mana level.

     Girl       MP                         Sprite     MP
 Analyzer      | 1 | Scan / Disarm     Silence       | 2 | Confuse
 Balloon       | 2 | Balloon           Air Blast     | 2 | 43b
 Thunder Saber | 3 | -                 Thunderbolt   | 4 | 61b

- Analyzer can be cast on
 × Enemies to reveal stats (HP, MP, Exp, Lucre) and elemental weakness
 × Treasure chests to disable traps. Won't work in some cases if the
 spirit level is too low. Lv3 is enough until the very end of the game.
 Level it up right away just to get it over with.
 × Crystal Orbs to clue you on which spell to use. It won't tell you
 exactly which spell needs to be used, but it tells you which spirit
 it is.
- With Jinn's magic, you can proceed west from D. Deeper in the forest,
you'll find a second cannon, currently out of service, and a cave that
leads to a town inhabited by friendly Myconids.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Matango   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:
  Fancy Overalls      675 Lucre       Chocolate            30 Lucre
  Steel Cap           180 Lucre       Faerie Walnut       500 Lucre
  Quill Cap           110 Lucre
  Wolf's Band         400 Lucre (Agi +5)      Item: Javelin Orb #2

- 3 Fancy Overalls, Steel Cap, 3 Wolf's Bands = 3405 Lucre
 - Even if you're below Lv22, the Wolf Band should boost your Agi high
 enough (33) that you can open chests safely. It'll soon get replaced,
 but you should be hitting Lv22 around that time as well.
- This is (pretty much) the last shop that carries Candy. If you want to
restock on those during the next five or so dungeons, you'll have to use
cannons to return here or farm it from enemies.
- Note that you can walk through the wall in the inn to get behind the
counter. There's nothing there, though.
- Talk to the king to gain access to the Dragon's Hole.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Dragon's Hole   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Party:                Boss:
   Lv21-24               Great Viper

- The longest dungeon so far. It's still largely linear, though.
- Kimono Birds spawn Pebblers (up to 10) and can cast Thunderbolt, Air
Blast (100b), and Silence Lv2. They don't attack physically.
- Molebears attack by spinning and jumping at you or by spinning in place
and throwing dirt around them (66 ATP).
- You'll eventually find a crystal orb. After activating it, you can take
the stairs down in the previous area to reach the boss.

[Boss]
- 1330 HP, 8 MP, 69 ATP, 0 DFP, 81 MDF, 1410 Exp, 1056 L, Sword Orb #3
- Magic (Lv5): Gem Missile (119b, single)
- He moves pretty fast and tries to run you over. He deals damage on
contact and may also swallow a character (88 ATP + 99% Chibi). Use the
whip with your lead character. Give the AI melee weapons, since they
struggle to hit the boss with ranged weapons and they'll get too close
anyway. Don't leave characters under Chibi or they'll take severe damage.
It might not be worth keeping the AI alive, though. At least magic isn't
much of a concern.
- This is the last boss with 0 Evade.

- After finding Flammie, you can take the nearby cannon in the forest
to either the Kakkara Desert or the Ice Country. I suggest you visit
Kakkara first.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Kakkara Desert 1   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

             H                                 Boss:
           | | |                                 Mech Rider
          -E-G-F-          A: Start
           |   |           H: Destination
          -C-B-D-
           | | |
             A

- This region of the desert only consists of seven areas, but it loops,
so it can get rather confusing. You won't be able to return here later.
- You won't be able to restock on supplies before the next boss, but
it's not a difficult boss at all.
- Sand Stingers can poison you (25% chance) and cast Lv3 Defender.
- Spider Legs are fairly tough and not really worth engaging. They hide
in quicksand pits and won't reveal themselves until you're close enough
to get hit. Their normal attacks are nothing to worry about, but they
like to spam you with Earth Slide Lv3 (125b, single). Move diagonally
to get out of the quicksand. You can't damage them when they're under
Balloon or Sleep, so that won't help.
- Pumpkin Bombs try to get close to you, then self-destruct and cast
Burst Lv3 (145b, single), but they mostly produce duds. If one does
self-destruct, you won't get any spoils. Not much of a loss. Either
way, it's unlikely they survive long enough to use Burst.
 - The Burst spell does *not* kill the user. That's just an arbitrary
 thing they did with a couple of enemies.
- Go to H, and you'll be picked up by a ship of some kind. You'll be
separated from the other characters. Talk to Sergo twice, then talk to
the guards. Find the Sprite, then the Girl. A boss fight soon ensues.

[Boss]
- 980 HP, 18 MP, 9 DFP, 65 MDF, 1595 Exp, 1055 Lucre, Whip Power Up #3
- He moves up and down the side trying to horizontally align himself with
you. There's a 30 pixel wide strip where you're considered aligned. One
specific character (usually your controlled character) is used as the
point of reference.
- He has a 3,75s ATB charge. His primary action has him try to run over
you (77 ATP + 33% Sleep). His secondary action involves casting Speed Up
Lv3 (3 MP, 20s) or, if Speed Up is in effect, launching three homing
missiles (93 ATP).
- If you align with him during his ATB charge, he'll stop, rev his engine,
and wait for his ATB to charge. If you're aligned when the ATB finishes,
he'll perform his primary action. If not, he'll do his secondary action.
If you align very early in his ATB charge (in the first ~0,8s), then move
out of the way, he'll start moving again, but the above rules still apply.
- If you don't align with him during his ATB charge, he'll act very quickly
once you're aligned (a mere 10f delay). The same rules technically still
apply. As such, you'll most likely trigger a primary this way, but it's still
possible to trigger a secondary if you move out of the way during the second
half of the delay. If you move away during the first half, he'll continue
moving.
- He'll counter if attacked during a neutral state. Again, if you're aligned,
he'll perform his primary action, otherwise secondary.
- Spd Up probably has zero impact on his Hit and Eva, since they're already
99. Either way, the missiles are pretty much impossible to avoid and they
don't just despawn, so try to avoid triggering it. You can avoid it if you
hit him during his primary. If you're near the opposite end of the field,
you can easily avoid the primary even while charging. You can then hit him
while he's moving against the wall. You could also hide behind one of the
rocks or the larger cacti and hit him while he's running by.
- If he runs out of MP and SpdUp is no longer in effect, he'll fruitlessly
still try to cast it.
- If a missile hits you during his regular attack, it may have the properties
of the regular attack. This is unintentional.

- After the battle, talk to one of the soldiers and choose 'yes,' then
head north to find the town. Don't bother exploring the desert.

      -- Kakkara --

- Shoot yourself to the Ice Country.
- You can already go check out the Fire Palace, but you can't get far
because of a crystal orb you can't activate yet.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Todo   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:
  Chest Guard         1000 Lucre
  Golden Vest         2250 Lucre
  Golden Tiara         350 Lucre
  Raccoon Cap          550 Lucre
  Silver Band          525 Lucre

- 3 Golden Vests, 3 Raccoon Caps, 3 Silver Bands = 9975 Lucre


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Crystal Forest   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                 Special:              Boss:
   Spear Orb #3          Salamando             Boreal Face

            K
            J               A: Todo
           I|               C: Santa's House
            H  B-A          E: Cannon
            |  |            G: Boss / (Un)frozen town
            G  C            I: Neko
            |  |            K: Palace
            F--D-E

- The first area of the forest is not just a good place to level up
(240 xp for each Howler), but also features some of the most intense
and satisfying action in the whole game. I'd recommend at least Lv30.
- Howlers only have one physical attack and sometimes cast Speed Down
Lv4, but they can start running, so you need to react quickly.
- One of the Howlers in D spawns inside the trees for some reason.
- Shellblasts can cast Lv4 Ice Saber (ATP +18 + 25% Freeze) and Cure
Water (264 HP). Their shell attack has 110 ATP and, while it causes
cooldown, it can be used during cooldown. When below 21 HP, they'll
hide inside their shell and take no damage as a result, but they'll
pop out if you approach them. The saber's freeze effect is lost when
they use the shell attack, but the ATP boost remains.
- This will likely be your first encounter with spectral enemies, who
can move through walls and are completely immune to physical attacks.
Aside from freezing you with their breath, LA Funks can cast Lv3 Freeze
and Acid Storm (125b). They can only aim the breath attack left or right.
If their HP falls to 80 or below (basically any damage that doesn't kill
them), they'll despawn and spawn a new cloud with full health. If there
aren't any available slots, they'll just... despawn.
- Even if you're not using magic on bosses, I suggest you use it on
ghosts, so you'll get *some* use out of it. You can easily afford to
buy walnuts at this point, so don't hesitate to use those. Try not to
kill them when they're out of bounds. Otherwise, you can't reach their
chest drops.
- Now it's time to decide whether to upgrade the spear or not. Being
able to inflict Balloon makes normal enemies much easier to deal with,
but perhaps you want more of a challenge.
- If you have minmaxing tendencies, you should keep some of the Girl's
and Sprite's weapon skills at lower levels (below 5). This will be useful
at the end of the game for reasons I'll get into once we get there.
- You'll encounter the boss after the first area with LA Funks.

[Boss]
- 1100 HP, 12 MP, 113 ATP, 13 DFP, 161 MDF, 2245 Exp, 1040 L, Bow Orb #3
- Brambler: 78 HP, 40 ATP + 33% Poison, 0 Exp, 0 Lucre.
- Mag-Lv4: Cure Water (234 HP \a), Burst (441b \a), Sleep Flower(\a)(<50% HP)
- The first reused boss. Like the previous one, he pops up from under
the ground and spits out pumpkin bombs. You do have more space to move
around this time, and you can take body contact damage if you get too
close when he's inside his shell.
- When avoiding bombs, it's rather difficult to avoid pulling the AI
characters into them. It might be best to just tank them with the Boy,
since he has the highest DFP. Don't forget to take the knockback into
consideration.
- For some reason, his Cure Water potency is sometimes not doubled. Also,
it's possible he was supposed to use Cure Water when below 50% HP, not
Sleep Flower. There are a few other enemies that can also use Cure Water
at full health, though.
- The Bramblers are the exact same, so they can't even touch you.

- You'll find yourself in a town seemingly unaffected by the climate.
Approach the guy by the stove, then open the stove to obtain Salamander.

     Girl       MP                         Sprite     MP
 Flame Saber   | 2 | Burn              Fireball      | 2 | 52b
 Fire Bouquet  | 3 | 43b + ATP Down    Lava Wave     | 3 | 43b
 Blaze Wall    | 4 | 32b + Burn        Exploder      | 4 | 61b

- In the next area, there are two paths north. Take the left one to
find Neko and the right one to reach the Ice Palace.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Crystal Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Party: Lv35               Bosses:
                             3× Tanpoles / 3× Biting Lizards
 Item: Glove Orb #3          Frost Gigas

- The enemies will be gone once you complete the events here.
- If you die in this dungeon, you'll respawn at beginning.
- When entering the very first area from the south, you may have to move
forward a bit before the screen will scroll south (if you want to turn
back right away for some reason). Otherwise, you can't reach the load zone.
- Don't fight the Blue Drops if they give you too much trouble. They're
not worth it. They have an 80% chance of freezing you. At least you can't
take damage while you're a snowman, but, still, it's pretty annoying.
- When you find two doors, take the right one to reach the Glove Orb.
- Specters have no physical attacks. They cast Lv3 Freeze and Absorb
(117b), the latter only when below 101 HP. You can't hit their weakness,
so a single multi-targeted spell won't be enough.
- Weepy Eyes can mooglify you (25% chance) and cast Lv3 Lucent Beam (140b).
- At full health, Mystic Books use Lv4 Freeze, Thunderbolt, and Air Blast
(153b). If they've taken any damage, they'll use Supoito. Their highest
priority is keeping their Tinkle Barrier up. The barrier takes 190 pod
to destroy, so they can be quite resilient. Occasionally, their pages
reveal something rather... exhilirating.

[Boss]
- 600 / 770 HP each, 630 Exp, 1044 Lucre in total
- This is the same guy you fought back in the waterfall cave. They won't
pose a threat. The actual boss is not far, in the area after the three
Weepy Eyes.

[Boss]
- 1140 HP, 37 DFP, 121 MDF, 3045 Exp, 1200 Lucre, Boomerang Orb #3
- Magic (Lv6, 300b \all): Acid Storm, Freeze, Ice Saber.
- Slam: 134 ATP.  Freeze Breath: 134 ATP + 99% Freeze.
- Don't worry. This one's much easier than Fire Gigas.
- He casts Ice Saber on *you*, which gives you a 12,5% ATP boost for 11
hits. If a character is frozen, you'll get the saber glitch.
- As already explained, while physical attacks can be elemental, it plays
no part in the actual damage calculation formula.

- You'll need to take the seed back to the Fire Palace.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Kakkara Desert 2   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

             A   I
             |
           ¤ B-C-D          A: Kakkara
           | | | |          ¤: Fire Palace
           H-G-F-E

- No looping in this region of the desert, but it's full of Spider Legs.
- Mad Mallards can spawn an infinite number of Pumpkin Bombs and attack
by launching explosive eggs at you.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Fire Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Items:                  Special:
   1000 Lucre              Mana Level Up (Lv4)
   1000 Lucre            Boss:
   Axe Orb #3              Minotaur

- The enemies will be gone after you defeat the boss.
- Robin Foots can cast Flame Saber Lv4 (ATP +17 + 25% Burn). Once on
fire, you can end up taking massive damage. Don't give them the chance.
Use a ranged weapon of your own.
- Trap levels are going up again. If you don't have 41 Agi (Lv32 for the
Boy), don't open any chests left behind by Robins (unless you disable the
trap). You might end up petrified otherwise.
- Dark Funks attack with a fire breath, Lv4 Blaze Wall (141b + Burn),
and occasionally Fireball. They won't do the respawn thing that the LA
Funks did. The fire breath technically has a burning effect, but the
chances are 0.
- Red Drops can set you ablaze as well (80% chance), but at least they
can't do it from a distance. They're still quite pesky, as slimes tend
to be.
- You'll need to use Salamander on the first two orbs, Undine on the
last one. The boss is right after the last one.

[Boss]
- 1200 HP, 21 DFP, 150 MDF, 3348 Exp, 1440 Lucre, Javelin Power Up #3
- Attacks    Punch: 103 ATP            Smash:       131 + 99% Sleep
             Gore:  117 ATP            Bull Charge: 127 + 33% Sleep
- Magic (Lv7, 180b): Earth Slide, Defender (DFP +5)
- Phase 1: Punch, Gore, Smash.
- Phase 2 (<601 HP): Smash, Bull Charge.
- Earth Slide really hurts, and it's only used when you're out of range.
You'll take less damage at close range unless you end up in a smash loop,
where he knocks out your whole party repeatedly. It's used at point blank
range and hits you instantly. Stay close, but not *too* close. Try to keep
him facing south. If you can predict it, gore is fairly easy to avoid.
He'll likely attack after taking damage. Punch can technically be evaded
as well, but it covers a larger area, so it's much harder. He can also
block to become immune to physicals.
- Punch and Gore reach active frames in 10f or 15f. Gore has two separate
active frame periods on the x axis, the first one only a few frames and
the second one starting about 40f in.
- The stakes go up a bit in phase 2. Bull charge is too fast to avoid at
close range, so keep some distance and use a ranged weapon. After taking
damage, he'll charge if you're in his line of sight. Evade it, then hit
him after the charge (he's invincible during the charge) and try to keep
up the loop. Consider controlling the Girl, as the Boy does ok in AI
control and can soak up more damage. The Sprite will likely get bulldozed
pretty bad, but that's acceptable. If the Boy alone ends up in a smash
loop, he should be okay, and it does give you a chance to attack with
another character.

- Once you've received the seed's power, go back to town and take the
cannon to the Empire.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Empire Southtown   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:
  Ruby Vest           4500 Lucre
  Quilted Hood         700 Lucre
  Golem Ring           750 Lucre

- The shop is on the second floor of the inn, however, I'd advise against
upgrading your equipment. There's better stuff in the next town, and all
you need to do is get through the sewers (not that long).
- Talk to the woman in the house on the west side. She'll give you the
password (634) that allows you to access the sewers on the east side.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Sewers   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

- As I said, not a long dungeon. It's six areas full of Blue Slimes and
Dinoish. The fish have two physical attacks (body slam: 127; missile:
122) and may rarely cast Lv3 Acid Storm and Freeze (132b).
- The Sprite's Spear should guarantee safe passage (if you still have that).
The Lode Javelin is another weapon that balloons enemies. Of course, it
only its one enemy at a time, but it's not a bad choice.
- If you're just running past the enemies, you'll need to swap between
the characters at times in order to get past the terrain.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Empire Northtown   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:
  Tiger Suit          6375 Lucre
  Tiger Bikini        7100 Lucre
  Tiger Cap           1100 Lucre
  Frosty Ring         1200 Lucre

- 2 Tiger Suits, Tiger Bikini, 3 Tiger Caps, 3 Frosty Rings = 26 750 L
- The Frosty Ring makes you immune to freeze. There are some Blue Drops
in the next dungeon, but they likely can't even damage you anymore.
- You'll find Watts downstairs in the inn.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Ancient Ruins (Empire)   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Items:                  Bosses:
   Spear Orb #4            Doom's Wall (+ Doom's Eye a,& b)
   Bow Orb #4              Vampire
   Sword Orb #4

- Once again, the enemies will be gone after the events here.
- Ghouls use a bite attack (121) and poison breath (129 + 25% poison)
at close range (the bite being much more common), and a body slam (121)
otherwise. They can cast Speed Up Lv7, which gives them a speed boost,
and Speed Down.
- Wizard Eyes spawn Beyelders and cast Lv6 Cure Water (336 HP), Remedy,
and Dispel. Their attack causes Moogle (25% chance).
- Imps attack by throwing a trident and have a fire breath with a 50%
chance of inflicting burn (left or right directions only). Their spells
consist of Lv5 Fireball, Exploder, and Fire Bouquet (171b).
- Grave Bats can attack without an ATB charge, but they're fairly passive
and don't seem to use any magic, so they're nothing to worry about.
- This is one of the few dungeons in the game where you can get a Mimic
trap. Unless you can balloon them right away, I suggest you flee. They
can you turn you into a pulp in no time. Rarely, they'll use Lunatic Lv8.
- You can minimize damage by controlling the Girl and drawing offensive
magic to her.
- This is easily the biggest dungeon so far, although still mostly linear.
The second floor side paths in the first area lead to the first two orbs.
The last orb is beyond a door blocked by spikes in the area that's about
as large as the first area.
- Your path is blocked by spikes at times, but you can retract these spikes
by stepping on a switch somewhere. There are three of these ground switches
in this dungeon, and the first boss is soon after the last one. The second
boss comes right after the first one, although you *can* technically leave
the dungeon after the first one.

[Boss]
- 1180 HP, 162 ATP, 33 DFP, 81 MDF, 4750 Exp, 648 Lucre, Whip Orb #4
- Sub: 425 HP, 40 DFP, 100 MDF
- Main: Revivifier Lv5 (85 HP, 10 MP), Cave-In, Stone Prison.
- Right: Energy Absorb, Thunderbolt Lv5 (171b)
- Left: Leaden Glare: 130 ATP + 50% Slow. Confuse Hoops: 75 ATP + 50% Moogle,
Cure Water Lv5 (342 HP)(on main eye).
- Taking out both of the sub-eyes is still a bad idea. While the boss won't
crush you, it'll start spamming its two physical attacks. While they have
the same ATP, Stone Prison is more concerning, as it puts the character
on a 6 second time out thanks to the long animation. It's only used if all
three characters are in front of the eye, but it's kind of hard to avoid
that, at least with two AI characters. It usually targets whoever is the
farthest away from the boss.

[Boss]
- 2550 HP, 20 DFP, 70 MDF, 5148 Exp, 696 Lucre, Boomerang Orb #4
- Attacks:    Slash: 141 + 99% Poison    Sleep Rings: 146 + 99% Sleep
              Chew:  146                 Drop:        150 + 33% Sleep
- Magic (Lv4, 174b): Freeze, Energy Absorb
- His physical attacks are pretty easy to avoid (except for the Ring).
He spends a lot of time in the air and invulnerable to physicals. This
is when he uses his spells and Sleep Rings. Control the Girl and try to
draw the spells to her while building a charge attack. Even if he doesn't
switch attack modes, you'll get brief opportunities to deal damage when
he lowers his guard for a moment.

- Back in town, visit the resistance hideout, then head for the castle.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Emperor's Castle   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Items:                                    Bosses:
   1000 Lucre          Whip Orb #5           Metal Mantis
   Axe Orb #4          Flammie Drum          Mech Rider 2

- Once you talk to the emperor, you'll be stuck in the castle until
you complete the events there. After that, you won't have access to
the castle anymore, so don't miss any of the chests (3 in total).
- You'll fight the first boss at the beginning.

[Boss]
- 1220 HP, 40 MP, 15 DFP, 95 MDF, 4749 Exp, 1464 L, Glove Orb #4
- Attacks:    Slash: 138 ATP          Scythe Throw: 147 + 99% Sleep
                                      Fire Beam:    150 + 99% Burn
- Magic (Lv6, 528b \all): Gem Missile, Lunar Boost (ATP +25% for 80-90s)
- Fire Beam is pretty easy to avoid, but it does make him invincible.
- Magic and Scythe Throw are used at long range.
- Try not to get trapped in any of the nooks.
- Controlling the Sprite would be ideal, since the Boy and Girl can
tank more hits. In case you didn't bother with the no damage approach
with Mantis Ant, you'll want to stay close enough to avoid long range
attacks and then just evade and attack. Like many other bosses, he
always attacks after taking damage, so you can easily anticipate his
attacks.

- You don't actually have to free the resistance members. The gate will
open on its own even if you don't open it. They'll be fine.
- I suggest you get some levels by fighting the Tarmen. They don't hit
too hard, but they do have a 25% chance to inflict burn and occasionally
cast Lava Wave Lv4 (171b). They always attack upon spawning and after
recovering from knockdown. These have no cooldown, but their regular
attack does.
- Armor Knights hit pretty hard, but slow. They rarely cast Defender Lv6
(DFP +3).
- We got Ninjas. They move fast and attack fast, but tend to idle for
a moment after recovering from hitstun. Their basic attack is active
on frame 7, but it's still possible to avoid it if you're fast enough.
There's also a blind spot on the horizontal plane. They like to cast Lv2
Flame Saber (ATP +19 + 25% Burn). They also have Speed Up and Speed Down,
but you're not likely to see those. They can hide behind a screen, which
makes them invisible and immune to physicals, but it takes a while before
they're fully hidden, and they're still vulnerable while only partially
hidden. They have two other physical attacks, but you don't see them much.
They can fly through the air sword first a la the Boy's sword power attack
from SD1 and they can throw shurikens (142 ATP), which has no cooldown.
Below 78 HP, they'll cast Burst (190b) and self-destruct (or just self-
destruct if they don't have enough MP). Unless you have 49 Agi, don't
touch their chest drops.
- The Ninja is the first enemy that can give you a Shinigami trap, which
either kills you or leaves you with 1 HP. Occasionally, you might get a
Shadow Zero, which does nothing, but you still lose the item. This is
the only trap you can get from new enemies going forward. Unless your
Agi is high enough or you're willing to cast Detect, just don't bother.
- Take the door on the opposite side when you reach the castle entrance.
It leads to a dead end with the other two chests. The middle path from
the entrance leads to the boss.
- At the end, there's a switch on the wall you have to hit. A little
hard to notice.

[Boss]
- 1258 HP, 30 MP, 15 DFP, 53 MDF, 6013 Exp, 1500 Lucre, Javelin Orb #4
- Attacks:
   Straight Charge: 148 + 33% Sleep     Missile:     180 ATP
   Side Charge:     132 + 33% Sleep     Wave Cannon: 236 (<50% HP)(unavoid.)
   Wavy Charge:     152 + 33% Sleep     Speed Up Lv5 (30-35s)(3 MP)
- Same deal as last time. He'll use primary actions (on the left) if
you're aligned, secondary actions (on the right) if you're not. His
ATB charge is now 4 seconds.
- You could dodge his charge runs and hit him while he's still in the
attack animation to avoid counters... or you could just run straight up
to him and give him a smack with the Girl or Sprite, and he'll likely go
through you without hitting you. The charge runs can't seem to hit you
while you're in an attack animation. You could hit him as he's coming at
you. Do that when you're held back by a knocked out character. You can
use the Boy as well, but he has to get closer, since his i-frame period
is a little shorter. Or maybe it's a hitbox thing. Either way.
- The hit box of the charge runs is in front of him, so if he evades your
attack when he's in place (and the AI doesn't trigger a counter), you can
avoid the hit by moving inside his sprite.
- Once again, you can't really prevent the AI from getting hit, but you
don't really need them, since the boss has no offensive magic.
- Side Charge isn't really an attack in itself. He just transitions
into it from a regular charge after getting hit or after hitting you.


- You can drop off Truffle at Matango (in the southwest), but this is
completely optional.
- Now that you have Flammie, there are some new locations available.
First, head to the island northeast of Matango.
- Press L/R while flying to switch the point of view. Press Start to
access the map and L/R to toggle between the two maps. They both load
kind of slow, though.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Gold City   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:                                    Party:
  Battle Suit       30 000 Lucre            Lv40-50
  Flower Suit       21 000 Lucre
  Duck Helm         11 250 Lucre
  Dragon Helm         7500 Lucre
  Unicorn Helm        5625 Lucre
  Lazuri Ring         8800 Lucre
  Shield Ring         5100 Lucre

- 3 Battle Suits, Dragon Helm, 2 Duck Helms, 3 Lazuri Rings = 146 400 L
- The Flower Suit gives the Girl Poison and Sleep immunity.
- Talk to the old man on the wall.

      -- Southtown --

- Talk to Mara to obtain the key to the Golden Tower. You can now choose
between that and the Palace of Darkness, with the latter being the intended
next dungeon. There's a spear orb right at the beginning of the tower,
but you should get that later, since the new spear has a sleep effect,
which does more harm than good.

      -- Turtle Island --

- You'll find this small island south of Kakkara. Talk to one of the
NPCs to obtain a Sea Hare's Tail.

      -- Kakkara --

 Item: Moogle Belt

- Give the tail to the king and you'll obtain the Moogle Belt.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Mandala   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:
  Magical Armor     11 500 Lucre
  Circlet             2300 Lucre
  Ivy Amulet          1875 Lucre

- This place is in the mountains west of Pandora.
- The Ivy Amulet gives you Poison and Sleep immunity. You should buy
two or three of those even if you already got the Golden City gear.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Lofty Mountains   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

- The entrance to the palace is just outside of town. You can also head
up the mountain to see Joch, or rather his assistant, but nothing will
happen there yet. He'll just direct you to your next objective.
- Trap Flowers cast Lv5 Sleep Flower and, rarely, Energy Absorb (227b).
- Bomb Bees have a stinger stab (159 ATP + 25% poison) and a stinger
bomb (153 ATP + 25% burn).
- Co-, er... Eggatrices can petrify you (25% chance).
- Okay, this is completely inconsequential, but I thought I'd point it
out anyway. If you open the ring menu just outside of town, you'll see
a wooden fence on the north edge of the screen. It actually consists of
the type of poles you can latch onto with a whip, but they're too far
away to reach with a whip. Other ranged weapons can reach them, though,
and hitting them freezes you for a moment as the game checks something,
but nothing actually happens. I stumbled upon this while searching for
the fifth Bomb Bee that spawns out of bounds and off-screen (south of
the second staircase from the left, too far away to reach with anything).
- Neko is supposed to appear in the larger area, near Joch's place,
but he's not a priority object, so he might not even spawn. Either way,
he's selling the same stuff as they have in Mandala. You might run into
a bug, where you can talk to an invisible Neko in some other spot.
- Another inconsequential thing that may or may not be an oversight: the
background layer in the larger area isn't positioned consistently. When
coming in from the south, you can't see the sky at all even at the top,
whereas when coming out of Joch's place, it's pretty much the opposite,
as you can't see any ground in the background at all at first.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Palace of Darkness   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Items:                  Special:                Boss:
   1000 Lucre              Shade                   Lime Slime
   Glove Orb #5            Mana Level Up (Lv5)

 Lost & Found:
   Magical Armor / Gauntlet (Dark Knight)

- There are a few switches you need to activate to reach the boss. The
gate at the beginning leads to a room with the Glove orb. Don't forget
to pick that up later.
- Dark Knights actually have less HP than Armor Knights, but they're
faster. They can cast Wall Lv4, but you shouldn't be using magic on them
anyway.
- Fierce Heads attack with a mouth beam (174 ATP + 60% chibi). They also
spawn Grave Bats and may cast Lv5 Exploder, Lava Wave, or Dark Force (241b).
- There's a Fierce Head that spawns inside the wall on the north side of
the second area, near the chest with the money.
- If you want Gauntlets, you have to get them before the boss (the enemies
will be gone as usual). It's end-game gear, so getting one now would make
you almost unstoppable. I think I'd recommend against it, but it's your
call. If you don't have 57 Agi, you have to use Lv3 Detect to disarm the
trap.

[Boss]
- 3470 HP, 218 ATP, 31 DFP, 400 MDF, 8000 Exp, 3000 L, Javelin Power Up #5
- Magic (Lv5, 259b, infinite MP): Dark Force, Evil Gate, Dispel
- The boss is a large slime that shrinks as it receives damage. It attacks
by launching blobs that fall down from above, but they're slow and easy
to avoid. The attacks can have an added effect of 66% Freeze, 66% Burn,
99% Poison, or nothing. The boss randomly changes color between blue,
red, green, and black, which then defines the added effect. The change
happens as it attacks (although it could just be the same), but the
color it had before changing color is what corresponds to the added
effect. Eg. if the boss changes from blue to red, the attack that was
launched when the boss went from blue to red has freeze, whereas the
next attack will have burn.
- His magic is strong, but with a little luck, he won't use it much.
If you have the gear from the Golden City, it's not much of a concern.

- Afterwards, you'll obtain Shade.

     Sprite     MP
 Dark Force    | 2 | 61b
 Evil Gate     | 8 | Dmg = (cHP+mHP)/(2*(10-MLv/n)  (1 on bosses)
 Dispel Magic  | 4 | Dispel


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Golden Tower   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Items:                  Special:                Bosses:
   Spear Orb #5            Lumina (aka Wisp)       Blue Spike
   Axe Orb #5              Mana Level Up (Lv6)     Gorgon Bull

- A very short dungeon, but the bosses might give you trouble.
- The Beast Zombie is a bit more aggressive than the Howler. They can
cast Lv7 Acid Storm (252b) and Speed Down.

[Boss]
- 1980 HP, 54 DFP, 250 MDF, 9150 Exp, 3840 Lucre, Boomerang Power Up #5
- Attacks:
   Chew:     248 ATP                 Moogle Glare:  210 + 99% Mog (unav.)
   Pinball:  252 ATP + 50% Sleep     Acid Bubbles:  262 (unavoidable)
   Sky Drop: 259 ATP + 33% Sleep     Fireball Lv6:  296b
- The attacks on the right are used when he's on the platforms.
- Sleep immunity really helps.
- A fake death animation occurs when he falls below 1/3 HP. This doesn't
change his behavior, though.
- Note that there's a spot at the very south end of the battlefield
that will reset your charge if you walk on it (it's where the load
zone would be). Same thing in the next boss.

- Grab the Axe orb, then return to save. Might want to fly to Nikita's
place, so you can restock on Jam.

[Boss]
- 2470 HP, 57 DFP, 290 MDF, 9755 Exp, 4800 Lucre, Bow Power Up #5
- Attacks:
   Punch:    280 ATP / 328 ATP       Petrify Gas:   270 + 99% Petrif. (unav.)
   Gore:     308 ATP                 Smash:         336 + 99% Sleep
   Charge:   328 ATP + 33% Sleep     Dash Strike:   346 + 33% Sleep
- Magic (Lv8): Earth Slide (770b \all), Defender (DFP +14)
- Phase 1: Punch a, Gore, Charge, Smash, Sekika Gas
- Phase 2 (<50% HP): Punch b, Charge, Smash, Sekika Gas, Dash Strike
- Likely the toughest boss yet. Try to loop him into using his Charge
or use charge attacks with the Girl while the Boy is distracting him.
So long as you have strong gear, you can let the Sprite stay dead, but
do *not* go solo. Keep the pressure on and don't go too far to avoid
triggering spells. In a worst case scenario, he'll cast Earthquake
multiple times in a row. When healing the AI, you may need to distract
him with your controlled character while the AI is going through the
healing animation. You may not be able to do that without getting hit,
but it's still better than triggering magic.

- Afterwards, you'll obtain Lumina.

     Girl        MP
 Light Saber    | 5 | -
 Lucid Barrier  | 4 | Barrier (max: mHP)
 Lucent Beam    | 8 | 61b


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Moon Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Special: Luna,  Mana Level Up (Lv7)

- The Moon Palace is in Kakkara, surrounded by what looks like space.
Land on the edge of it, then ride the ferry. Inside, find the Crystal
Orb (just go left from the first Grell) and cast Lucent Beam on it.
You'll then obtain Luna.

     Girl       MP                         Sprite     MP
 Lunar Boost   | 2 | ATP Up & EvaDown  Magic Absorb  | 1 | 43b, drain MP
 Moon Energy   | 2 | Crit (1+MLv hits) Change Form   | 5 | Polymorph
 Moon Saber    | 3 | Drain             Lunar Magic   | 8 | Various effects


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Tasnica   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Shop:                                   Item:
  Tortoise Mail     14 850 Lucre           Sword Orb #5
  Gold Bracelet       3750 Lucre
  Royal Jam            100 Lucre

- Go see the king, then defeat the Dark Stalker. Afterwards, you'll
receive a Sword Orb.
- The shop appears after the events, but it's mostly the same gear as
what's available in Golden City.
- The Gold Bracelet grants immunity to Petrification.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Lofty Mountains   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Boss: Shadows

- Climb the Lofty Mountains near Mandala to meet Sage Joch. Assuming
you've reached Mana Level 7 (by clearing the Palace of Darkness, Golden
Tower and Moon Palace) and resolved the situation in Tasnica, you'll be
instructed to proceed into the cave for a test of courage.
- You're looking at a single large area full of Grenade Bombs and
Shapeshifters. The path is mostly linear. Both enemies have high DFP,
especially the Nitro Pumpkins, who you can't damage at all without charge
attacks, criticals, or magic. It's probably best to make a run for it,
unless you're really stubborn. If you wipe out during the trial, you'll
respawn at Jach's.
- Nitro Pumpkins may start off with Lv7 Wall. They prefer to keep some
distance and spam Sleep Flower. If you approach them and pin them down,
they'll cast Burst (382b). If a character is hit with Sleep, they'll
approach, use Burst, self-destruct, and spawn a Pumpkin Bomb. Sometimes
they'll produce a dud, though. Better keep the Sleep immunity gear on.
They don't attack physically. When going through the self-destruct sequence,
their MP is set to 99.
- Shapeshifters don't attack at all. They can spawn six different enemies:
Eggplant Man, Captain Duck, Beast Zombie, Mimic Box, Shapeshifter, and
Rabite. They have no spawn limit. They'll spawn another Shapeshifter if
there are two empty slots. When they spawn an enemy, they get moved to
another slot, which resets their HP to max, whether intentional or not.
Sometimes, they might despawn when they spawn an enemy, in which case
no empty slot is needed. I doubt it's intentional. Either way, it's not
that common unless they just spawned another Shapeshifter.
- Now that you have better armor, Mimics shouldn't be much of an issue.
You'll most likely get some Eggplant Men. While they don't attack you,
they can spawn Needlions, who can wreck your shit easily. Most likely,
though, there's no more room for additional spawns, so you should be
okay. Don't forget to aim at the priest itself (or use ranged weapons).
If you do end up getting a Needlion, you need to flee or pump them full
of magic.

[Boss]
- 999 HP / 800 HP / 800 HP, 210 ATP, 20 DFP, 999 MDF
- You don't necessarily have to beat them up. If one of your characters
dies, the corresponding shadow will die as well. If you go in with any
dead characters, the corresponding shadow(s) will indeed die immediately.
If all your characters die, you'll still wipe out, though.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Grand Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Special:              Boss:
   Dryad                 Aegagropilon

- This place is in the middle of the coral reef northeast of Todo.

[Boss]
- 3016 HP, 15 DFP, 97 MDF, 11 050 Exp, 1800 Lucre, Spear Power Up #6
- A pretty simple boss. He switches between a bipedal and a legless
form. When switching forms, he flies up and tries to land on you. You
get hit if you get close (350 ATP), and the only other physical attack
is the pinball attack (330 ATP) he may use in his legless form. Magic
is used in the bipedal form.
- Magic (Lv7): Burst (324b), Wall, Sleep Flower

- Go check the seed and you'll obtain Dryad.

     Girl       MP                         Sprite     MP
 Wall          | 6 | Reflect           Sleep Flower  | 2 | Sleep
 Revivifier    |10 | Revive            Burst         | 4 | 100b


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Underground City   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                         Bosses:
   Boomerang Orb #6              Hydra
                                 Kettle Kin
 Lost & Found:
   Magical Armor / Gauntlet       (Dark Knight)
   Chocolate     / Gauntlet       (Metal Crawler)
   Faerie Walnut / Cockatrice Cap (Basilisk)
   Chocolate     / Ninja Gloves   (Dark Stalker)
   Cup of Wishes / Watcher Ring   (Eggplant Man)

- It's time to head beneath the temple. Note that, although your Mana
Level shows 0, it's still actually 7.
- There are a few Shapeshifter here too, so watch out for Needlions.
- The Metal Crawler is easily the most dangerous enemy around. They can
easily hit multiple characters with their spinning flying attack (294 ATP
+ 25% Poison). They like to use it twice in a row with no cooldown upon
first spawning, but subsequent ones feature cooldown. You might not have
enough space to avoid it, but even if you do, the AI is just meat for the
grinder, as usual. Besides that, they have a tail smack (294 + 25% Poison)
and a fire breath (296 ATP + 33% Burn) and can cast Lv6 Wall. You might
score a Gauntlet from them unintentionally.
- Steelpions can inflict poison (25% chance) and use Lv4 Defender and
occasionally Gem Missile (291b).
- The only thing Marmablues do is cast Lv7 Magic Absorb.
- Kimono Wizards spawn Metal Crawlers and are quite resilient thanks to
their high DFP. Use charge attacks or cast something like Gem Missile
or Moon Energy. They can also cast Lv6 Silence, Absorb, Freeze, Air Blast,
and Thunderbolt (372b). Silence is the only thing they use on the Girl
and the Sprite, and Absorb is only used if they've taken damage.
- Basilisks have a jump attack (307 ATP) and a petri-breath (280 ATP +
25% Petrification). They can also spawn Eggatrices and cast Lv4 Earth
Slide, Gem Missile (309b), and Speed Down.
- You'll fight the first boss after getting through the large area with
the streams. It's a tough one.

[Boss: Hydra]
- 3382 HP, 90 DFP, 400 MDF, 12 439 Exp, 3600 Lucre, Whip Power Up #6
- Attacks: Bite a: 297 ATP                 Fire Breath: 303 + 99% Burn  (all)
                b: 309 ATP + 50% Poison    Current:     249 + 50% Sleep (all)
                c: 324 ATP + 50% Sleep
                d: 228 ATP + 99% Sleep
- Magic (Lv1): Acid Storm (187b \all), Cure Water (374 HP)(<25% HP)
- As with the previous one, have the AI use charge attacks while you
(try to) interrupt the bite attacks with regular attacks. Don't let
the boss push you too far south or you might get pinned down. While
you don't need to move, you don't want the AI on the north side.
- Ranged weapons can't hit the boss at all.
- Acid Storm may deal only 1 pod, but it'll still inflict DFP Down.
- One of the heads (usually the left one) gets destroyed periodically,
but it'll quickly grow back.

- If you had trouble with the boss, head out and restock on supplies.
- After the first escalator, you'll find a room with four NPCs, including
Watts and Chris, who can heal your HP. You may need to leave and re-enter
the room to make Chris spawn.
- Duck Generals like to throw eggs from a distance and, if you approach
them, they'll cast Lv5 Explode (315b).
- Dark Stalker is the second enemy in the ninja family. They have the
same three attacks, but use shurikens (300 ATP, no cooldown) much more
frequently. They don't hide behind a screen like the first one, but they
can move quickly as a shadow. They cast a lot of Lv6 Ice Saber (ATP +25%
+ 33% Freeze), occasionally Dispel and Acid Storm (324b). Don't forget:
the saber glitch negates the saber's added effect (if any), while making
the ATP boost last indefinitely.
- This is where I get a Cockatrice Helm. There's a Basilisk that spawns
right next to you in the area before the second escalator. The helm grants
immunity to petrification, which isn't a huge concern, but it's a good
choice for the Girl. You'll need 65 Agi (Lv60) to avoid the trap. You'll
likely have to use Detect and, again, it has to be at least Lv3.
- The subway platform is a good place to score a Ninja Glove if you're
interested. It's also one of the less useful rare drops. It grants immunity
to Slow and Agi +5. You'll need 57 Agi (Lv51) to avoid the trap.
- The Watcher Ring is hardly useful (grants immunity to Moogle). If you
still want it just for your collection, get it from the Eggplant Man at
the end of the sub. Use ranged weapons to hit them more easily. If they
spawn a Needlion, you'll want to leave and try again. Even with the rare
drops, they'll deal pretty heavy damage.
- Even if you get some of the rare drop gear, maybe hold off on equipping
it until you reach Mana Holyland to maintain balance.
- You'll fight the second boss soon after the sub.

[Boss: Kettle Kin]
- 1230 HP, 33 MP, 30 DFP, 282 MDF, 15 555 Exp, 3360 Lucre, Bow Power Up #6
- The boss only has two attacks: a basic one (367 ATP + 33% Sleep) and a
spin attack (380 ATP + 50% Sleep). Again, they're too fast to avoid (or
at least the spin is). His ATB charge is about 4 seconds, but, as always,
there are also counters. He's rather slow at first, but, once again, gets
a speed boost below 50% HP.
- His HP total may seem rather low, but that's because he likes to cast
Lv5 Barrier (476 HP)(4 MP). He may also cast Lunar Boost (ATP +25%)(2 MP).
He may re-cast either one while they're still active.
- In the original Japanese version, the boss wields a chainsaw, which is
mainly a cosmetic difference (not sure about the hit box sizes), but, more
importantly, he would block all frontal melee attacks.

- Once you emerge, it's safe to leave and save. The landscape has
changed a bit, so you can take the alternate entrance to the Grand
Palace without going through the city again.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Grand Palace   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Item:                       Bosses:
   Sword Orb #6                Snap Dragon
                               Hexas
                               Mech Rider 3
 Lost & Found:
   Cup of Wishes / Guardian Ring  (Doom Sword)
   Faerie Walnut / Amulet Helm    (National Scar)

- There are 7 Crystal Orbs here, each activated by a different element.
The orb might despawn because of the National Scar's Imp spawns, but
you just have to re-enter the area to get it back.
- Heck Hounds can spawn two Howlers or two Beast Zombies or a mix in
separate batches. Beyond that, they prefer to keep some distance and
cast Lv5 Blaze Wall (276b + Burn). Once a character is set ablaze,
they'll go on the offensive. They rarely attack physically otherwise,
and even then, it's not the jump attack, so it might not even connect.
- Gremlins hit pretty hard and throw two forks at a time. They also have
a frost breath (330 ATP + 25% Freeze), but don't seem to use any magic.
- Element Swords always start off with Lv2 Stone Saber (ATP +29 + 25%
Petrify), sometimes Flame Saber (ATP +29 + 25% Burn).
- Turtlances use a basic spear swing, shell attack, and a car attack
(left or right only). The last two have no cooldown and have 295 ATP.
The car attack is always used if their target is in the left or right
direction. Sometimes they end up stuck with their base ATP (ie. their
primary weapon) for a while. Not a big difference. They occasionally
cast Lv5 Moon Saber or Holy Saber (ATP +58). Just like with the Dark
Stalker, the saber is lost if they use anything other than their basic
attack, which then triggers the saber bug *unless* they're stuck with
their primary weapon.
- National Scars spawn Imps and cast Lv5 Wall, Dispel, and Evil Gate.
- No need to bother with the Amulet Helm (Int +5). If you still want it,
there's a good spot on the second floor.
- Don't bother with the Guardian Ring, either.
- You can go south from the area with the switch on the wall. This is
where you find the Sword Orb, but the chest might not spawn or it might
spawn out of bounds (if you're coming from one of the rooms rather than
the previous floor). Just keep trying.

[Boss: Snap Dragon]
- 1215 HP, 6 MP, 565 ATP, 105 DFP, 407 MDF
- 19 200 Exp, 12 480 Lucre, Javelin Power Up #6
- The boss is nothing special, his massive attack power aside. Like the
previous one, he only has one attack and will cast Cure Water (Lv5, 462
HP) when below 50% HP.

- You can use the main entrance now.
- One more time: once you defeat the remaining bosses, you will no longer
have access to the previous two dungeons.

[Boss: Hexas]
- 3465 HP, 69 MP,  81 DFP, 323 MDF, 20 103 Exp, 14 400 L, Whip Power Up #7
- She just spams Pygmus Glare (302 ATP + 99% Chibi) and Lv6 Dispel. You'll
also get hit if you get close (302 ATP).

[Boss: Mech Rider 3]
- 4327 HP, 38 MP, 117 DFP, 323 MDF, 21 104 Exp, 16 000 L, Spear Power Up #7
- Attacks:
   Straight Charge: 315 + 33% Sleep     Magic
   Side Charge:     291 + 33% Sleep     Wave Cannon:     462 ATP
   Wavy Charge:     321 + 33% Sleep     Diffuser Cannon: 390 ATP (<50% HP)
- Magic (Lv5): Wall (7x)(6 MP), Speed Up (3 MP)
- Again, he uses primary actions (the left ones) when you're aligned and
secondary actions (the right ones) when you're not aligned.
- You're not actually likely to see any of his damaging secondary actions.
He starts off with Wall, resulting in a very unproductive loop, as any
Quick spells he uses will then be reflected on *you* (if you're close
enough). A highly aggressive approach will quickly drain his MP and, thus,
render him quite harmless.
- If you'd rather not abuse his AI script like that, you can just use the
same strategies as with the previous ones.
- Diffuser Cannon is weaker than the regular one. Perhaps it was meant to
hit all characters?

 Shop:                                          \\\ Grand Palace ||
  Vestguard         65 500 Lucre
  Needle Helm       30 000 Lucre
  Gauntlet          37 500 Lucre

- Afterwards, you'll find Neko outside the palace. This is the best
gear you can buy. It grants a total defense of 470. You'll need it.
- Head to the island east of Todo.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Pure Land   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Lost & Found:                                       Bosses:
   Chocolate     / Griffin Helm   (Griffin Hand)       Dragon Worm
   Royal Jam     / Dragon Ring    (Ice Thug)           Snow Dragon
   Royal Jam     / Imp's Ring     (Ghost)              Axe Beak
   Cup of Wishes / Watcher Ring   (Eggplant Man)       Red Dragon
                                                       Thunder Gigas
 Party:                Special:                        Blue Dragon
   Lv~70                 Mana Level Up (Lv8)

- You will no longer have access to this dungeon once you complete the
events here.
- There are three shrines here that act as save points. To pass through
the shrine, you have to defeat a boss nearby.
- Mushglooms tend to start off with Lv5 Wall. Besides that, they use the
same attacks as the Mushbloom, only they're faster and more aggressive.
- Griffin Hands can hit multiple characters with their flying claw attack,
but they're pretty easy to stunlock. They can cast Lv6 Silence. Sleep
Flower, and Balloon, in that order.
- Needlions have the same attacks as the Pebbler. Needle Spin has 504
ATP + 25% Petrify. It's not too common, though. They can also cast Lv7
Earth Slide (585b).
- Ice Thugs throw three tridents at a time and pretty far, but they have
such low ATP you don't have to worry about them, not even if they hit
you with Lv7 Acid Storm (594b). Other enemies will benefit from it, but
they don't use it much. They also have Cure Water (999 HP) and Ice Saber
(ATP +1/3), but they only use them on other enemies.
- Get a Griffin Helm for the Boy. The Dragon Ring isn't really necessary
(it has no special attributes whatsoever), but if you feel like it, then
go for it. This is the only time you can get these. The Griffin Hand, Ice
Thug, and Ghost only appear in this dungeon.

[Boss: Dragon Worm]
- 3525 HP, 90 DFP, 474 MDF, 24 290 Exp, 17 460 Lucre, Axe Power Up #7
- Attacks:
   Regular:     423 ATP                 Balloon Ring: 544 + 80% Balloon
   Swallow:     468 + 50% Chibi & Mog   Petrify Gas:  549 + 99% Petrify
                                        Earth Slide Lv8: 610b
- It's hard to avoid contact, but it doesn't really matter. The close
range attacks will do little to no damage.

- Ghosts use Lv7 Freeze and Absorb (427b). Saint Beam takes them out in
one hit starting from Lv6.
- I recommend you get at *least* one Imp's Ring. It prevents the wearer
from being set ablaze (such as from the Heck Hound's Blaze Wall). Ablaze
isn't really dangerous, but it can certainly be annoying. If it doesn't
bother you that much, then you can settle for just one. In any case, the
best place to get them is near the first shrine (an area with 3 Ghosts
and nothing else). If you haven't got max MP yet, you should probably try
to get some of the other drops first. Once you do have max, I suggest you
keep resetting, so you don't have to fly out to rest and restock. Using
the walnuts, you can take out 36 Ghosts before you have to reset. It's
possible for a chest to end up out of reach if the Ghost dies when it's
outside of the boundaries.
- First shrine.

[Boss: Snow Dragon]
- 2800 HP, 88 DFP, 474 MDF, 26 588 Exp, 18 360 Lucre, Bow Power Up #7
- Attacks:
   Tail Stab:   605 ATP              Balloon Ring:  409 + 80% Balloon
   Breath Wing: 612 ATP (all)        Freeze Breath: 595 + 99% Freeze
                                     Freeze Lv7:    576b
- A pretty tough boss if you're not using magic. He's invincible when
using his special attacks (he doesn't use his normal attack much). He'll
fly off-screen, then come back and attack. He'll most likely target the
character you're controlling, so you'll have to switch in order to hit
him before he's gone. He'll attack again after getting hit. Try to keep
him still for as long as you can. Don't bother keeping the Sprite alive
unless he's actually doing a good job tanking.

- You likely already have some experience with the Eggplant Man. They
spawn Needlions (occasionally Rabis) and cast Lv7 Lucid Barrier on
themselves and Defender on others.

[Boss: Axe Beak]
- 2800 HP, 88 DFP, 474 MDF, 27 784 Exp, 20 400 Lucre, Javelin Power Up #7
- Attacks:
   Contact:     490 ATP         Sleep Gas:   490 ATP
   High Jump:   616 ATP         Sonic Pulse: 490 ATP
- Magic (Lv7, 558b): Fireball, Fire Bouquet (ATP Down), Lava Wave
- Use ranged weapons or hit him in the back like with the previous one.
- Perhaps the special attacks were meant to inflict ailments?

- Second shrine.

[Boss: Red Dragon]
- 3000 HP, 88 DFP, 474 MDF, 29 000 Exp, 21 800 Lucre, Glove Power Up #6
- Attacks:
   Tail Stab:   605 ATP              Sleep Ring:    175 + 50% Sleep
   Breath Wing: 612 ATP (all)        Fire Breath:   595 + 99% Burn
                                     Explode Lv7:   558b
- Use the same approach as with the first dragon.
- The boss may end up stuck, in which case you can take him out with no
resistance.

[Boss: Thunder Gigas]
- 4462 HP, 90 DFP, 474 MDF, 30 277 Exp, 30 600 Lucre, Sword Power Up #7
- Attacks: Smash (544 ATP), Blitz Breath (954 ATP)
- Magic (L7, 562b): Air Blast, Thunderbolt, Silence, Thunder Saber (ATP +1/3)
- You know the script. Blitz Breath hurts a lot. Stay close to bait him
into using Smash instead.

- Third shrine.

[Boss: Blue Dragon]
- 3200 HP, 88 DFP, 474 MDF, 31 570 Exp, 28 560 Lucre, Boomerang Power Up #7
- Attacks:
   Tail Stab:   605 ATP              Confuse Hoops:   175 + 50% Moogle
   Breath Wing: 612 ATP (all)        Blitz Breath:    595
                                     Thunderbolt Lv7: 567b

- Once you proceed past the third shrine, you can never return here.
- After the events, you can access the final dungeon, the Mana Fortress.
Just get Flammie close to it and stay still.
- Spirits will gain SP even after reaching Lv8. Lv8 is special, however.
Reaching Lv8 only gives you a *chance* of casting the Lv8 version of a
spell (easily identified in case of offensive magic). Otherwise, the spell
will still be Lv7. The more SP a spirit has gained after reaching Lv8,
the more likely you are to trigger the Lv8 version of a spell.
- If you missed any Sword Orbs, you'll now have all of them.


 ¤~~~~~~¤   Mana Fortress   ¤~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¤

 Lost & Found:                                        Bosses:
   Vampire Cape  / Axe Orb        (Fiend Head)          Buffy
   Vestguard     / Bow Orb        (Metal Crab)          Dread Slime
   Amulet Ring   / Spear Orb      (Tsunami)             Dark Lich
   Power Suit    / Javelin Orb    (Whimper)             Mana Beast
   Faerie's Ring / Glove Orb      (Wolf Lord)
   Faerie Cloak  / Boomerang Orb  (Master Ninja)
   Faerie Crown  / Whip Orb       (Terminator)

- You can't use the Magic Rope here.
- The final dungeon is no doubt the best place to level up. You can't
move around very easily, though, because of the obstacles. As such, I'd
say the best method would be to kill the first Tsunami and not go farther
than that. Let it divide and keep picking them off with a long range
weapon (such as the Javelin). You can get 250k in about 10 minutes. Lv99
requires 10 million Exp.
- Certain enemy spawns are quite elusive thanks to permanent despawns.
- I recommend you don't bother with the weapon orbs unless you're feeling
obsessive (or using save states). There are some weapons you shouldn't
even upgrade to Level 9: the bow, whip, and axe. The first two because
of a crit bonus, the axe because it has Str +5.
- If you do get Lv9 weapons, you can potentially gain SP beyond Lv8, but
Lv9 can never be reached. It maxes out at 8:99. Gaining SP at Lv8 could
be useful for the Boy (in the final battle), but it does nothing for the
Girl or Sprite. You can still gain SP at Lv8 if your levels are low enough,
but they won't stay low enough for long if you keep fighting enemies here.
Instead, you should take advantage of shared SP. If the Girl and Sprite
have low weapon skill levels (below Lv6), you use those to get SP for the
Boy regardless of his level. Again, none of this is in any way necessary,
but if you're feeling compulsive, then have at it.
- The armor doesn't offer much of an improvement, but they're all common
drops, so they're not hard to get. Don't forget about the space limit:
11 per type.
- PS4: Because of the constant load zones, getting the rare drops is
quite a bit easier. It could still take a while, though. RNG is RNG.
- There's one lone Basilisk in the final dungeon, so it's technically
still possible to get a Cockatrice Helm. There are also Doom Swords and
National Scars.
- The Doom Swords here can use Thunder Saber, which never happens in the
Grand Palace. A minor difference.
- Fiend Heads spawn Dark Stalkers and approach quickly to attack with a
poison breath (99% Poison). They can also cast Lv7 Lava Wave, Dark Force,
and Explode (603b).
- Metal Crabs cast Lv7 Holy Saber (ATP +111). They start off using their
bubble breath (340 ATP + 99% Sleep), but all subsequent attempts at using
the attack fail, as the move is curiously canceled after 8 frames. Either
way, they're not likely to harm you because of their low ATP.
- Tsunamis can cast Lv7 Freeze, Acid Storm, and Energy Absorb (594b).
- The Wolf Lord would be formidable, but they waste a lot of time casting
magic. They use Lv7 Cure Water (548 HP), Lunar Boost (ATP +25%), and
sometimes Moon Saber (ATP +1/3).
 × There's a good spot to farm Wolf Lords at the northwest end of the
 first interior area. There are just a couple of Hellhounds in the way.
 There's also a little trick that lets you spawn the Wolf Lord faster.
 When you take the door north from the little dead end room, move to the
 left side first. For whatever reason, this causes the Wolf Lord to spawn
 right away. If you go through the right side of the door, you'll have
 to move all the way to the left to trigger the spawn. Either way, I hope
 you got those Imp's Rings...
- The Whimper casts Lv7 Wall, Sleep Flower, and rarely Earth Slide (589b).
Their eye beam has a 99% chance to mooglify you.

- You'll fight the first boss when you use the first teleport panel.

[Boss: Buffy]
- 4200 HP, 100 DFP, 323 MDF, 35 686 Exp, 22 200 Lucre
- Attacks:    Slash: 549 + 99% Poison     Bat Seeker:   616 ATP
              Drop:  581 + 33% Sleep      Leaden Glare: 549 + 99% Slow
              Chew:  567 ATP
- Magic (Lv7, 585b), Freeze, Absorb, Dark Force, Dispel
- When he's hit and about to counter, stay under one of his arms to bait
him into using his slash attack, then move away to avoid it just as he
recovers (14f to hit). If you're in front of him, you'll get the chew
attack, which is unavoidable. It has a 20f delay, but it doesn't matter.
He'll grab you from any distance. If you're too far for either of those
two, he'll do the drop attack. Sprint to avoid it.

- You'll fight the second boss when you take the teleport in the next area.

[Boss: Dread Slime]
- 5000 HP, 200 DFP, 500 MDF, 37 000 Exp, 26 400 Lucre
- Magic (Lv7, 585b, infinite MP): Acid Storm, Lucent Beam, Burst, Fireball,
 Exploder, Freeze, Absorb, Gem Missile, Earth Slide, Air Blast, Thunderbolt
- A fairly tricky boss. Its defense is high and it keeps getting bigger.
Eventually, you won't be able to move. If you're using physicals only,
make sure you get stuck in a position where you can still reach the boss.
Careful with charge attacks that move you around (eg. Whip Lv8 on x axis).
- The boss slowly moves towards you while spamming Acid Storm. The other
spells are only used as counters for the same spell.
- Avoid attacking during Acid Storm or your hits won't register.

- The next area is the only area where you'll find Master Ninjas and
Terminators. After that, you'll reach the area where you fought Machine
Rider 3. This is the point of no return. If you haven't done so after
fighting Dread Slime, leave to save the game.
- Terminators have high DFP and like to cast Lucid Barrier, occasionally
Lucent Beam (Lv7, 612b).
- Master Ninjas can cast Lv7 Stone Saber (ATP +186 + 50% Petrify) and
Counter Magic. The saber enchantment gives them 744 ATP and makes them
the most dangerous enemy in the game. The petrification effect is lost
when they use their shurikens, but, again, the ATP bonus remains. If they
pull off that saber, you need to be careful. There's a room with three of
them near the end. Consider using a Lv8 charge attack. If you're doing no
magic on bosses, you don't want to use too many healing items before the
final battle.

[Boss: Dark Lich]
- 6666 HP, 200 DFP, 423 MDF
- Attacks:                                       Magic (Lv8, 700b):
    Wave Shock:      703 ATP + 99% Sleep           Evil Gate
    Poison Gas:      570 ATP + 99% Poison          Dark Force
    Sleep Gas:       570 ATP + 99% Sleep           Dispel
    Balloon Ring:    570 ATP + 99% Balloon         Freeze
    Confuse Hoops:   570 ATP + 99% Confuse         Energy Absorb
    Pygmus Glare:    570 ATP + 99% Chibi           Thunderbolt
    Leaden Glare:    570 ATP + 99% Slow            Earth Slide
    Petrify Beam:    570 ATP + 99% Petrify
    Freeze Beam:     584 ATP + 99% Freeze
- Thanatos can inflict almost any ailment with his physical attacks,
but these attacks aren't very powerful (with one exception). Out of his
spells, Evil Gate is the one that will deal the most damage thanks to
its unusual formula (maybe 200-300).
- Every now and then, he'll disappear under the ground and stick his
hands out to spam the highly dangerous Wave Shock. High level gear can
protect you from a lot of ailments, but not sleep. The hands can only
move up and down, so step away towards the side or you'll likely get
stunlocked to death. If you're unlucky, he'll do a combo where he'll
immobilize you during the regular phase and then switch phases, so you
can't get away unless you switch characters.
- Use a ranged weapon and you can do some damage even during the Wave
Shock phase, since he'll sometimes stick his head out. Pay attention,
though, as you can't damage him if it's just a quick peek.

[Boss: Mana Beast]
- 9990 HP, 450 DFP, 999 MDF, infinite MP
- Attacks:                            Magic (Lv8, 720b):
    Mana Breath:     657 ATP            Lucent Beam
    Front Dive:      573 ATP            Wall
    Side Dive:       564 ATP
- You'll need to cast Dryad's Mana magic to resurrect the Mana Sword.
The Mana Sword has an ATP of 127 and Str +5. With 99 Str, you'll get
an ATP of 226. That alone isn't enough to cut past the final boss's
defense. However, the Mana Sword also comes with an ATP multiplier bonus
determined by the Boy's weapon SP and skill levels. Specifically, the
bonus is (combined current SP)/100 + (combined weapon skill levels)/8.
If you haven't used a wide enough range of weapons throughout the game
or don't happen to have a bunch of high current SP values, you may not
be able to damage the boss properly.
- Eg. if you have all weapon skills at Lv6, you'll get a multiplier of
4 (1 + 6/2), giving you 904 ATP. You'll be doing 500-550 pod per hit.
A 4,5 multiplier would be enough to get you to max ATP (999).
- If you've made it this far without using magic in bosses, it's time
to make an exception. You are explicitly meant to use the Mana magic
in this fight, and while it's not technically necessary, there's no way
you can take out the boss (legitimately) without magic of *some* kind.
- Both the Girl's and the Sprite's Mana magic has to be active to unseal
the Mana Sword. They both have their individual timers calculated the
same way as the timers for other support magic. At Lv0 and with Lv90+
characters, the spell lasts about 30 seconds, but it already starts
counting down when the spell hits (the animation is about 9 seconds).
Each level above 0 gives you about 9 seconds more time (less at lower
levels). Lv0 is enough, though, so long as you time it right and cast
the two spells simultaneously.
- The final boss follows a strict pattern of: Mana Breath, Front Dive,
magic phase, Side Dive, repeat. You can only hit the boss during the
magic phase, a 28 second window. Cast Mana magic either before Front
Dive or right after it. So long as you still have a good supply of
healing items, you should be fine. Have the other two characters use
Lv8 charge attacks. It's not much, but it's still something.





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