SUBJECT: Suikoden Tips & Tricks Post VERSION: 1.04c EDITOR's NOTE: Here is version 1.04c of the Tips & Tricks Guide for Suikoden (Genso Suikoden) for the Playstation. v1.04c changed website URL and anti-spammed my email v1.04b changed my email & website addresses v1.04a reformatted to 66 characters per line so it can be printed in Notepad, some minor editing v1.04 another "other site", more booty, more strange things v1.03 added "Other sites/documents" section, and all the tips that were mentioned in the Iwata Shoji walkthrough but not found in the v1.00 posting that I received. v1.02 added Combat Booty and Play Tips sections, hints for Pahn vs. Teo duel v1.01 modified for US version, fixed up Spells/Magic v1.00 Iwata Shoji posting about Japanese version. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [CONFIGURING YOUR GROUP ALIGNMENT] *************************** Each character in the game is given an "alignment status", which determines whether the character can only attack from the front row, the back row, or both. This is represented by the letters: S, M, and L. [S] Short Range attacker. Usually uses close combat arms such as swords, clubs, etc. You need to have these characters in the front row. [M] Medium Range attacker. Usually uses medial weapons such as knives, staffs, short swords, etc. These characters can be placed either in the front or back row. Very flexible. [L] Long Range attacker. Usually uses ranged weapons such as bows, arrows, etc. These characters must be placed on the back row. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [COMBINATION ATTACKS] **************************************** During battles in Suikoden, you can combine various characters to form a "combination" attack. Simply recruit the specific characters into your group and you will have an option "Unite", whereby the specific characters will attack one enemy (or more depending on the combination) together, resulting in inflicting devasting damage. Here are a list of characters you can combine: (if known, name of special attack is given without the word "attack", e.g. "[Bandit]" means "Bandit attack") (attacks one enemy unless it says All) ("Unbalanced" means one or more characters cannot Attack or Unite or Rune the next round, but can Defend or Item) [CHARACTERS] [DAMAGE / EFFECTS] [NAME] ------------------------------------------------------------------ Cleo & Pahn 2x Damage Gremio & Pahn ? (one) [Talisman] Pahn & Ronnie Bell ? (one), Pahn Unbalanced [Beat 'Em Up] Tai Ho & Yam Koo 3x Damage, both Unbalanced [Fisherman] Eileen & Lepant 2x Damage [Couple] Juppo & Meg 1.5x Damage All [Trick] 'hero' & Kai 2x Damage All [Master pupil] Kirkis & Sylvinia ? All, both Unbalanced [Wild Arrow] Kirkis & Stallion ? All, both Unbalanced [Wild Arrow] Kirkis & Rubi ? All, both Unbalanced [Wild Arrow] Kuromini & Gon 2x Damage [Kobold] Varkas & Sydonia 2.5x Damage [Bandit] Gen & Kamandohl 2x Damage [Fatal] Gen & Sansuke 2x Damage [Carpenter] Humphrey & Krin 2x Damage [Bumpy] Hix & Tengaar 2x Damage [Warriors] Futch & Milia 2x Damage [Dragon Knight] Kirkis, Sylvinia, Stallion 2x Damage [Elf] Lepant, Eileen, Sheena 2.5x Damage [Lepant Family] Kuromimi, Gon, Fu Su Lu 3x Damage [Kobold+1] Anji, Kanak, Leonardo 2.5x Damage [Pirate] Kai, Luikan, Fukien 3x Damage, all Unbalanced [Flash] Kasumi, Kage, Fuma 2.5x Damage [Ninja] Flik, Alen, Grenseal 2x Damage [Pretty Boy] Kasumi, Camille, Tengaar 2.5x Damage, Kasumi Unbalanced - [Pretty Girl] Cleo, Eileen, Valeria 3x Damage All, casts Sleep - [Beauty] Cleo, Eileen, Sonya 3x Damage All, casts Sleep [Beauty] Pahn, Eikei, Morgan 3x Damage All [Martial Arts] (any 4 of Maas, Meese, Moose, Mose, Mace) - ? (one) [Blacksmith] Maas, Meese, Moose, Mose, Mace - 3.5x Damage NOTE: Try combining other characters as well. You just might find some more combination attacks.) ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [SPELLS / MAGIC] ********************************************* Although there are tons of magical relics & stones that will produce various spells for your characters, the 7 primary spell categories are: SOUL EATER (your character), FIRE, WATER, WIND, EARTH, LIGHTNING, and UNDEAD. Except for SOUL EATER and UNDEAD, the others also have higher-powered versions of the runes that cast only level 2 through 5 spells, instead of 1 through 4. Exact damage done depends on the target type. Some are resistant to certain spells. Here is a list of spells by category: [TYPE/LEVEL] [NAME] [EFFECTS] ------------------------------------------------------------------ SOUL EATER 1 Deadly Fingertips Casts "Death" on any 1 enemy (not boss). 2 Black Shadow Inflicts 300 Damage on all enemies. 3 Hell Casts "Blackhole" on all enemies (not bosses). 4 Judgement Inflicts 1500 Damage on 1 enemy. ------------------------------------------------------------------ FIRE (1-4) / RAGE (2-5) 1 Flaming Arrows Inflicts 100 Damage on 1 enemy. 2 Firestorm Inflicts 150 Damage on all enemies. 3 Dancing Flames Inflicts 400 Damage on all enemies. 4 Explosion Inflicts 700 Damage on all enemies. 5 Final Flame Inflicts 900 Damage on all enemies. ------------------------------------------------------------------ WATER (1-4) / FLOWING (2-5) 1 Drops of Kindness Completely heals 1 party member. 2 Fog of Deception 20% decrease of enemy's attack level. 3 Rain of Kindness Heals 300 Damage to your entire party. 4 Water of Kindness Completely heals your entire party. 5 Mother Ocean As Water of Kindness plus ?. ------------------------------------------------------------------ WIND (1-4) / CYCLONE (2-5) 1 Wind of Sleep Casts "Sleep" on all enemies. 2 The Shredding Inflicts 400 Damage on 1 enemy. 3 Healing Wind Heals 1 of your party members. 4 Storm Inflicts 500 Damage on all enemies. 5 Shining Wind As Storm plus heals all party members. ------------------------------------------------------------------ EARTH (1-4) / MOTHER EARTH (2-5) 1 Clay Guardian Increases 1 character's defense by ?%. 2 Voice of Earth Inflicts 300 Damage to all enemies. 3 Copper Flesh Highly increases 1 character's defense. 4 Earthquake Inflicts 700 Damage on all enemies. 5 Guardian of Earth Increases 1 character's defense by ?% ------------------------------------------------------------------ LIGHTNING (1-4) / THUNDER (2-5) 1 Angry Blow Inflicts 150?300? Damage on 1 enemy. 2 Rainstorm Inflicts 100?200? Damage on all enemies. 3 Raging Blow Inflicts 600?1200? Damage on 1 enemy. 4 Ball of Lightning Inflicts 1000?2000? Damage on 1 enemy. 5 Thunder God Inflict 1800 Damage on all enemies. ------------------------------------------------------------------ UNDEAD (Resurrection Rune) 1 Scolding Inflicts 70 Damage on 1 undead enemy. 2 Yell Fixes 1 character's status. 3 Scream Heals 300 Damage to all in your party. 4 Charm Arrow Inflicts 500 Damage on all undead enemies. ------------------------------------------------------------------ [!TIP ALERT!]: If 5 of your venturing characters are equipped with the 5 magical stones - FIRE, WATER, WIND, EARTH, and LIGHTNING - you will be able to combine magical spells to inflict devasting damage on the enemy! But the characters must be at levels 3-4 in magic. Potential Damage: 2000+ If two characters in your party have the required spell runes, they can combine some level 4 and 5 spells and do a Runic Attack. To do a Runic Attack have two characters cast their 4th listed spells for the required spell runes in the same round. You can combine both regular Spell Runes and Higher Spell Runes +-----------------+---------------------------------------------+ | COMBINATION | DESCRIPTION | +-----------------+---------------------------------------------+ Fire + Earth Inflict 2500 Damage [All] Earth + Wind Inflict 1000 Damage [All] Wind + Water Inflict 800 Damage [All] + Full Healing [All] Water + Ltng Inflict 4000 Damage [One] + Full Healing [All] Lightning + Fire Inflict 3000 Damage [All] ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [GUARDIAN CHARACTERS] **************************************** Various characters have a special "relationship" or bonding with another character. When the first character is close to dying (5-20 HP), the other will guard that character and take the hit. Note that you must have both characters in your venturing party in order for the "guarded" one to be protected. [GUARDIAN] [GUARDED] ----------------------------------- Gremio ==> Your character Pahn ==> Your character Cleo ==> Your character Kasumi ==> Your character Pahn ==> Cleo Camille ==> Gremio Kimberly ==> Tai Ho Lepant ==> Eileen Eileen ==> Lepant Eileen ==> Sheena Kirkis ==> Sylvinia ? Gon ==> Kuromimi Hix ==> Tengaar Tai Ho ==> Yam Koo Yam Koo ==> Tai Ho (there may be others) ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [BATTLES] **************************************************** The options are: o Fight o Run Away or Let Go [changes with hero level, Let Go works 100%] o Bribe (the enemy to spare your life) o Free Will (computer fights for you, all characters Attack) Fight sub-options are: o Attack o Defend o Rune (Magic/Special Skills) o Item o Unite (Combination Attack) - This option is only available when you have the specific combination characters in your group. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [ARMY BATTLES] *********************************************** During Army Battles, your options are: [CHARGE]: Strong against bow attacks. Use Charge when you learn that the enemy is about to use bows. [BOW]: Strong against magic attacks. Use Bow when you learn that the enemy is about to use magic. [MAGIC ATTACK]: Strong against Charge. Use when you learn that the enemy is about to use Charge. [OTHER OPTIONS]: Here you will be given various options such as spying on the enemy, stealing the enemy's money, convincing some enemy troops to join your side, powering up your Charge, and a dragon attack. It will be given to you in this order: o Power up your Charge (+50% to strength) o Thief Spy on enemy moves (50% success rate) o Ninja Spy on enemy moves (100% success rate) o Convince enemy troops to join your side o Dragon attack (available once you have the dragon lord on your side) [!TIP ALERT!]: Constantly use the Ninja spy or the thief spying options. This will tell you what the enemy is about to do next. Use this to your advantage. The game says that betrayal works best when the enemy outnumbers you. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [DUEL BATTLES] *********************************************** There will be 3 duel battle sequences in the game, where you will have to fight your enemy 1-on-1. You will be given 3 options to choose from: [ATTACK]: Your usual attack. Use this when you think the enemy is about to Defend. [DEFEND]: Raises your defensive skills. Use this when you think the enemy is about to Desperate Attack. [DESPERATE ATTACK]: Something like a counter-attack. Use this when you think the enemy is about to Attack. [!TIP ALERT!]: In the duel battle between Pahn & Teo, Teo will usually triumph. But, if Pahn is powered up at a fairly high level and if you choose the right decisions during the duel battle, you may just come out victorious. If you do win with Pahn, you will be able to keep him in your party, rather than losing Pahn forever. When Teo says: Teo will: Pahn should: sword is not rusty Attack Desperate Attack Now its my turn Attack " Better be careful Attack " Get serious Pahn Attack " Did you see me coming? Attack " See if you can kill me Defend Attack I'll see that coming Defend " You're a smart one Defend " How about another round? Defend " I'll have to be more careful Defend " Strike me Pahn Defend " my killer blade... Desperate Attack Defend Finish me with a single blow Desperate Attack " If you don't attack, I will Desperate Attack " Impossible, take that Desperate Attack " The next one will be more painful " " ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS] **************************************** Throughout your journeys in Suikoden, you will obtain various miscellaneous items from fighting enemies, in treasure chests, and from various characters. These items, such as books 1-8, 7 paint colors, 6 sound settings, 6 window settings, clay pots, dishes, pictures, and statues, are more novelty & extra - you do not need them to finish the game. But, they do have their uses. [PAINTS]: Give these to IVANOV (after he joins your castle). He will use them to paint an art of you & the rest of the main party members. When completed, you get Binoculars. [BOOKS]: These are basically information guides to Suikoden. Give these to HUGO (after he joins your castle). He will place them in the castle library for you. Some books contain info on the kingdom & its history. Others contain simply useless info. *** Although there are only 8 books, Konami's Japanese Suikoden web page supposedly says that you can see a 9th book by having all 8, put the cursor on the 8th book, then press all 4 buttons (X, square, triangle, circle) at once. {I haven't tried this} [WINDOW SETTINGS]: Give these to WINDOW (after he joins your castle). This will allow you to change the colors & styles of the text window. One of them is in Scarlettica if you look at the picture of Milich. [SOUND SETTINGS]: Give these to MELODYE (after she joins your castle). This will allow you to change the sound effects of the game. Some are interesting, while others are outright wacky. [DISHES, POTS, STATUES, PAINTINGS, ETC]: These items are novelty & extra items. You will find tons of these items throughout your journeys. But before they can be sold/used, they must first be identified. When you first obtain one of these novelty items, they will have a "?" mark. Take it to a nearby appraiser (store with the magnifying glass sign). After identfying the item, you can sell it or you can keep it and place it in your castle bath. [!TIP ALERT!]: Some novelty items are worth a lot more than others. Items worth vary from 100 to 100,000 gps! Special Scenes in Sansuke's Sauna: Special scenes may be found when taking a bath in Sansuke's Sauna if you have the proper antiques. - 6 Hex Dolls - 6 Hex Dolls and 2 Graffitis - 1 Peeing Boy (Peeing Boy must be in the upper right spot, and there must be at least one other male character in your party (other than the Hero) to sit right under it) ? 6 Persian Lamps ? 6 Flower Urns, 1 Landscape Painting, and 1 Nature Painting Hex Dolls or Japanese Dishes can be won from Killer Rabbits in the area between Kwaba and Garan (near Seika, Kaku, Kouan, etc.). Persian Lamps can be won from Robot Soldiers in Lepant's Mansion in Kouan. The first 3 special scenes have been verified, I wasn't able to get enough of the items to get the other two. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [SECRETS] **************************************************** [INACCESSIBLE AREA]: In the village of GREAT FOREST, there is a hotel where you will find stairs. The hotel clerk will not let you through. Even after getting all 108 characters, or taking Liukan with you, or finishing the game in less than 10 hours, he will not let you through.... What exactly is up those stairs??? (Unfortunately, I have yet to hear of anyone finding a way to get up the stairs. If anyone does find out, please let me know.) * I've heard that those stairs used to lead up to a room where you could get Rubi the elf, but only if you went there with all the other elves in the party. That was thought to be too tough for the non-Japan version, so Rubi was put in the Kobold Village, and the upstairs room was made inaccessible. * UPDATE: nope. somebody asked people to check Japanese version, and all the people are found in the same places. Still no idea what's up there. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [OTHER SITES/DOCUMENTS] ************************************** !!! The Biggest Playstation Cheat Archive on the internet !!! Http://www.universal.nl/users/magic BamBam on the .net also see: http://members.aol.com/wyvernshdw/suikotip.html and suikfaq.html and Chockboard's Suikoden Page: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/3976/suikoden.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [COMBAT BOOTY] *********************************************** Items you get (rarely) from Monsters You will sometimes get items from monsters after combat, displayed right after the amount of bits. Higher LUK seems to increase chance of getting something. Some items need to be appraised (cost 500 bits) before you can find out what they are, and decide to sell them. Listing in order that you can expect to encounter the monsters while playing. ITEM PRICE FROM Earth rune piece Black wild boar Pointed hat Bandit Medicine Bandit ?Water rune piece Killer Slime ?Defence rune piece Giant Snail Holy crystal Flying Squirrel Hex doll 60 Killer Rabbit Japanese dish 3000 Killer Rabbit Peeing Boy 16000 Killer Rabbit Feather Roc Blue ribbon Killer Rabbit + Beast Commander Phero crystal Flying Squirrel + Beast Commander Octopus urn 500 ? before Lepant's house, incl. Great - Forest Graffiti 100 Holly Boy Toe Shoes Holly Spirit Needle Holly Boy Lover's garden 29000 Holly Boy Flower painting 7000 Holly Boy Robe Holly Boy + Fur Fur Medicine Holly Boy, Kobold (red) Wooden shoes Fur Fur Wooden shield Kobolds (green) Necklace Kobolds (green) Vase Slot man, Robot Soldier Pointed hat Robot Soldier failure urn Robot Soldier Persian lamp Robot Soldier ?Flower urn Robot Soldier Guard robe Kobolds (red + purple) Wooden shield Kobolds (red + purple) Fire crystal Kobolds (red + purple) + Strong Arm Silver ring Kobolds (red + purple) + Strong Arm Boar crystal Death boar Fur cape Death boar Graffiti 100 Eagle man Flower painting 7000 Eagle man Karate uniform Dwarf Medicine Crimson Dwarf + Death Machine Half helmet Death Machine (blue) ?Trick crystal (something in Dwarf Trail or Vault) ?Thunder rune piece (something near Dwarf Trail) Emblem Veteran Soldier (crossbow) Chaos shield Evil Shield ?Mangosh (Armors & Female Soldiers in Pannu - Yakuta) Head gear Mad Ivy Needle Holly Fairy Magic Robe Holly Fairy Nameless urn Holly Fairy (unique item) Earth crystal Creeper Opal Nightmare (unique item, could be any - monster near Antei or Soniere Prison) ?Bonsai Joker in Soniere Prison (also Chinese - Dish, Peeing Boy and Hex Doll too) ?Earth rune piece (enemy in Scarlettica) Head gear Grizzly bear Wide urn Hawk man failure urn Hawk man ?Prosperity crystal Siren ?Black urn (enemy in Kalekka, possibly ninja-type) Rose brooch Shadow Silveret Shadow Full helmet Grave master Guard ring Grave master + Hell hound ?Resurrection crystal (enemies around Warrior's Village & - Neclord's Castle) ?Master robe Sorceror Graffiti Banshee Escape talisman Banshee ?Landscape painting Banshee in Cave of the Past Full armor Clay Doll Mega medicine Clay Doll + Banshee Speed rune piece Red Elemental Blue Dragon urn Larvae failure urn Larvae Fine Bone China Larvae Wind crystal Demon Sorcerer Mega Medicine Larvae + Demon Sorcerer Earth shield Magic Shield Magic rune piece Black elemental ?Window Setting 3 Sunshine King in Dragon's Den Peeing Boy Ivy ?Trick crystal (something near Northern Checkpoint) Mega Medicine Rock Buster ?Taikioku wear Rock Buster ?Peeing Boy Pink Vine in Seek Valley Master garb Earth golem ?Speed Ring Mirage near Moravia Hex doll Elite soldier + Whip Master + Hell Hound ?Goddess Statue Whip Master in Moravia Sound setting 3 Siren (Shazarasade) Flowing crystal Siren Horned helmet Elite soldier Mega medicine Elite soldier Crimson Cape Ninja Master Thunder crystal Simurgh Lover's Garden Ninja Master + Orc ?Nature painting Orc Power ring Colossus ?Mother Earth crystal Colossus Earth boots Phantom ?Windspun armor Elite soldier (Gregminster Palace) [those with a '?' before the item name haven't been verified] [those with two or more monster types separated by a '+' haven't been narrowed down to one particular monster type] ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [PLAY TIPS] ************************************************** Although Iwata Shoji should have explained how to save the game when playing the Japanese version for those without Japanese fluency, I'm going to skip it for the English version. Same goes for the "blue orbs" that you can save your game at, or the Innkeepers. RTFM. Upgrading your weapons (sharpening) is something you should always do if the money is available and they can still be improved. To improve weapons, go to a blacksmith (hammer icon on shop) - there are only a few in the game, and each has a maximum level. Once you have your castle, blacksmith characters that you recruit will let you do those tasks without leaving the castle. Strangely, they don't quite stand in order when you get all 5. Staying at an Inn will restore all party member's HP and spells (well...). Marie's in Gregminster charges 30 per person. There are a few places in the game that are free. I'm not going to provide details on how to get all 108 characters here, except to tell you that Ted, Odessa, and Sanchez aren't among them. And don't worry about Gremio dying if you manage to keep everyone else alive (all 107 of them!). Many times the dialogue choices you are given don't really matter. The other characters will keep repeating themselves until you pick the "right" choice. However, there are several times where it DOES matter which one you pick. Just be careful, and try to think "noble". Characters gain experience based on how many levels they are above or below an expected value for the monsters. Minimum you can get is 5, maximum is about 6000. So, as long as you can protect them, bringing wimpy characters into tough areas is a great way to quickly raise their level. While character's HP go up when they gain levels, their magic status isn't adjusted until they rest. And sometimes that doesn't work either, because I found several characters (Meg did this in two different saved games, one of which had problems with 8 characters in this area!) where the MGC value didn't match the spells available, and resting didn't fix it. Other anal-compulsive people can see the "MGC vs. spells" table below. If you are desperate for money very early in the game, there is 100 bits in the right armor in the room across the hall from Kraze's office. I think this is the only hidden treasure like that in the whole game. You may have problems with limited inventory (only 9 items per character) early in the game. Unfortunately, this will persist until you can defeat the Zombie Dragon and take over the castle. It gets a little better when you can switch between characters in your party, and is finally resolved when you recruit Rock (in Lepant's house) and you get a vault in your castle. It explains why you can end up putting rune pieces on people's weapons or giving people runes or other expensive equipment, and end up losing it completely as the story proceeds. Just keep this in mind, because several characters will be leaving, and there's nothing you can do about it except prepare. You can leave town by yourself very early in the game if you don't talk to Ted at all. If you make it all the way past Mt Tigerwolf to Sarady, then talk to the man in the northeast house, he will give you a Fortune rune for making it all the way there by yourself. If you do talk to Ted, but don't get anybody else to join (by not entering your room in Teo's house), you can make the same trip to get a Prosperity rune instead. Cleo, Pahn, and Sonya all have diaries. If you read the one in your room, it saves the game. The others are either locked, provoke dialogue from the owners if they are in the room when you try, or have a little something to read but nothing important. I strongly suggest you blow off Kraze and wander around outside Gregminster for a while to gain levels. You can even go to Rockland or Lenancamp early in the game, although Mt Tigerwolf may be too tough at first. I went all the way through Mt Seifu before I got back on track with the story! You can make big money early in the game with Marco in Rockland. The pattern resets back to start when you leave the game and return, and should be consistent for a given amount (and may be for any amount). In my case, it was: Right, Center, Center, Left, R, L, R, R, C, L, C, R, R, R. By the way, maximum money in the game is 999999, but you can sometimes get it to display more until you leave that screen, and it will reset to 999999. Remove anything valuable from Pahn and Ted before entering Gregminster with Kanaan after dealing with Grady in Rockland. Pahn will be back much later, and you won't be using Ted again. Also remove any Rune from the hero, because anything he has will be lost when Ted gives him the Soul Eater Rune. The wandering monsters around Gregminster are the same few types until you go through to Kwaba. They may be too tough at first, so take it easy with a town nearby to rest in, until you can handle them easily. The "outside" monsters change again several times in the game, you'll notice that each time it corresponds to a new large outdoor map (makes more sense when you've gotten the map from Templeton). Remove anything valuable from Odessa before you re-enter Lenancamp (or maybe just the Inn there) after making the delivery to Sarady. You won't be using Odessa again. The name that you use to pass through Kwaba is remembered by the game, and Ain Gide will remind you of it towards the end of the story. Cute. A character with Water Rune 2 on their weapon gains 10 HP per round in combat. The Master Robe restores 5 HP per round. HP Recover items are cumulative, characters can be using more than one. The rules for the dice game are explained in the English version reasonably well, although sometimes the game switches "you" and "I" when saying who pays when various combinations are actually rolled. It's an interesting game, and I should analyze it to figure out if Gaspar has a "house edge". When you win (or Gaspar loses), he goes "double or nothing", and this can keep growing until you are betting gigantic amounts (this is how you get to 999999 or 0 quickly). But if you lose, the bet amount is cleared. When going through the maze in the Toran Castle, make sure you get everything in all the chests! Once you defeat the Zombie Dragon and take over the castle, you can't re-enter this maze anymore (the only one I saw like that in the whole game!). About half of the characters that you recruit won't go adventuring with you. These are shown with "-" all over if you select them in the stone tablets view of all the Stars. Don't worry about them. I do suggest you build up all the adventuring characters to some reasonable level - I've heard that those with low HP like Luc and Eileen can die easily in army battles otherwise, ruining your opportunity for the "all 108 Stars" ending. Once you have Rock's vault in your castle, you can "recharge" the multiple-use items Medicine, Antitoxin, Needle, and Mega Medicine by dropping them in the vault and then withdrawing them. The roulette wheel in Lepant's house will give you a Dragon incense the first time you land on the "?", and a Fortune rune piece each time after. The treasure was always a Medicine for me. I never got any items from the "Monster" spaces encounters. Kai in Guran is available anytime after you defeat the Zombie Dragon. His "Master pupil attack" with the hero does damage to all monsters, and lets the party kick butt against rather tough monsters! Loralei in Kouan joins only if the hero is level 25 or higher. Re-enter the burned Elf Village to find Templeton and get his map. To get Rubi, bring all the other elves along, and have Kirkis be at level 35 or higher. (not sure on this one) To get Mina, the hero must be wearing at least one Toe Shoes in order to dance with her. Just before you re-enter the ground level of Soniere, remove anything valuable from Gremio (like the Blinking Mirror - doh!). If you get ALL the other Stars, you'll get Gremio back just before the end of the game. You don't need Milich in the party to get Ivanov, but you do need him to get Kasios. While wandering around the game, you should find several houses that have bubbling pots on the stove that say something about stew if you press X in front of them. I think you have to find at least 2 of these to get Lester in Kirov. Soul Eater spells are level 3 after you defeat Teo, level 4 after you meet Ted and Windy in Seek Valley. Enter Lorimar again to find Kirke. Viktor will leave when you leave the castle after defeating Neclord. He'll be back later. After defeating Neclord and leaving the castle, go back in all the way to the top again to find Pesmerga. Also walk around behind the stained glass window just south of the stairs to find a chest with a Rage crystal sort of hidden in the graphics. Krin and Kasumi are unavailable for a while until you return with Futch. After you return and see them bickering, you will then be able to use them again. Fuma is hiding on the right side of the Dragon Knight's Fortress on the outside. Clive will be in the Rikon Inn, against the back wall on the ground floor on the left, if he's there at all. Keep checking. Return to the Northern Checkpoint to find Max and Sancho - they were there the first time I checked, you may have to keep trying. Must bring all the other blacksmiths to Mace to get him to join. After you rescue Warren and Viktor, go back to the prison cell to get Vincent de Boule and a Mother Earth crystal. He does NOT join you at the Dragon's Den as the Iwata Shoji walkthrough says. When you give all 8 paints to Ivanov, he will show you the completed mural and give you Binoculars. You should be able to use the Triangle, Square, Circle, and X buttons on a second controller (sorry, I don't have one!) to change the camera angle in any "normal" battle. When fighting the Golden Hydra, people suggest you go after the left head first. I noticed that some spells that affected the other two heads didn't do anything to the left one, and once I killed it the other two heads took a lot less time (because a lot of damage had been done to them already). Strange things: try the following for strange or cute messages. - take Clive to Rockland and look at the tombstone in the back row on the left. - take Meg to Lenancamp to see her parents in the first house on the left. - take Krin to Lenancamp, into the Inn, and talk to the man on the second floor on the far right. Krin can be retrieved at the castle - take Flik to the Warrior's Village and talk to the man near the top right building. - don't have enough (200) to pay for Vincent de Boule's meal in Antei. ? don't have enough (10,000?) to pay for Fu Su Lu's meal in the Kobold Village. (not verified) ? in the beginning of the game when you're protecting Ted from the Imperial Guard, Pahn calls Gremio Cleo. ? Vincent often refers to himself as Vanson (name in Japanese version) ? the Dwarf King can't figure out if it's Windfire or Firewind Maximum level I got anyone to while playing was 62. Maximum weapon level achieved was 16 using Mace to sharpen. Maybe this was just me, but after the screen turned all reddish in Shasazarde (whatever) with the burning oil, and after defeating Sonya, I wandered around for a few encounters to see if the monsters had changed. For about 6 encounters, all I got were Kerberos, so I thought they had, then I got Sirens again. Darn. Then I noticed that the water at the bottom end of the screen had stayed solid black but the rest of it looked normal. That's when I finally left the maze screen. Now almost all of the "interior" graphics in the game after that were reddish! Outdoor map screens were fine, as was Gaspar's dice game. This didn't go away until I finished the game, and persisted through saves and restores of the affected save. Was this just me? Although the island where you meet Luc and Leknaut appears on the map near the end of the game, there is no way to get there that I could find. Is there? ------------------------------------------------------------------ ** [TABLE FOR THE COMPULSIVE] *********************************** Did you know that the characters' MGC statistic determines how many spells they can cast? Well, it usually does. There are problems with some characters where the spells don't get set correctly after they rest. But for over 90% of them, the following works: - MGC value - - Spells - - verified for MGC of - 0 to 15 0/0/0/0 11, 14, 15 22 to 25 1/0/0/0 22 through 25 30 to 35 2/0/0/0 33 36 to 40 3/0/0/0 36 through 40 41 to 50 3/1/0/0 43 through 50 51 to 60 4/1/0/0 51 through 60 61 to 70 4/2/0/0 61 through 68, 70 71 to 75 5/2/0/0 71 through 75 76 to 80 5/2/1/0 76 through 80 81 to 90 5/3/1/0 81 through 84, 86, 87, 88, 90 91 to 95 5/3/2/0 93, 94, 95 96 to 100 6/3/2/0 96, 98, 100 101 to 110 6/4/2/0 101, 102, 103, 105, 107, 110 111 to 120 6/4/3/0 111 through 114,116,117,119,120 121 to 123 7/4/3/0 122, 123 124 to 130 7/5/3/0 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130 131 to 140 7/5/4/1 132, 133, 134, 137, 138, 139 141 to 143 8/5/4/1 141, 143 144 to 145 8/5/4/2 144, 145 146 to 150 8/6/4/2 146 through 149 151 to 155 8/6/5/2 153 156 to 160 8/6/5/3 156 through 159 161 to 165 8/7/5/3 161, 163, 165 166 to 168 8/7/6/3 168 169 to 171 8/7/6/4 169, 170 172 to 180 9/7/6/4 172, 173, 174 181 to 195 9/8/6/4 194 196 to 202 9/8/6/5 202 (Luc) 203 to ??? 9/8/7/5 201 (Crowley - maybe a bug) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Peter Karsanow p.karsanow[AT}sbcglobal{DOT)net http://www.geocities.com/hentaihelper/p_rpgame.htm