/\/\/\ === === ====== ===== /\ /\ \/\/\/ =\= =\= =\\\\| /\ /\ =\\\\\= \\\/// /\ =\===\= =\\=== \\\ /\ /// =\\ \\= \\// \/ =\\\\\= =\\\| \\\ //\\ /// =\\\\\= \/ /\ =\===\= =\\=== \\\///\\\/// =\===\= /\ \/ =\= =\= =\\\\| \\// \\// =\= =\= \/ /\ === === ====== \/ \/ === === /\ \/_____________________________________________________\/ Jabbo Kaldra presents... An FAQ/Walkthrough of Lun Calsari's The Way. If you don't like my pathetic ASCII art, I don't blame you. ---------------------------- ----------CONTENTS---------- ---------------------------- Contents - Sections marked with a * contain minimal story elements; sections marked with a *** contain heavy story elements. View at your own risk. For easy section finding, I have placed a three letter section code after the section name. Use CTRL-F and type in the three letters shown to search for that section. Introduction (SXI) Version History (SXV) Controls (SXO) ***Characters (SXC) *Walkthrough (SXW) Episode 1 (SW1) Episode 2 (SW2) Episode 3 (SW3) Episode 4 (SW4) Episode 5 (SW5) ***Episode 6 (SW6) The Plunge (SXP) General Information Blade Arts (SPB) *Enemy Listings (SPN) The Regular Battle System (SXB) Concepts Formulas (SBF) Conditions (SBC) Condition Listing (SBL) Notch Items (SXN) Auras (SXA) General Information (SRG) Aura Level Tables (SRL) Sword Auras (SRS) Defensive Auras and Flows (SRD) ***Other Characters (SXT) Item Locations (SXL) Notch Items (SLN) Auras (SLR) Blade Arts (SLB) Easter Eggs and Secrets (SXS) Making the Game Harder (SXH) Closing Information (SXZ) Credits Contact Information Legal Information -------------------------------------- ----------INTRODUCTION (SXI)---------- -------------------------------------- Hello. I'm Jabbo, and I've written this guide for Lun Calsari's The Way. It is a great game and I recommend it to anyone who has ever liked an RPG in the past. If you haven't already, you can download it at www.crestfallen.us. You should not have any problems reading this guide unless you use an extremely low resolution. I have made it so that it is easily viewable in 800x600 or above. The following line should fit on one screen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------VERSION HISTORY (SXV)---------- ----------------------------------------- This guide was begun on January 22, 2005. ---Version 1.0 (March 20, 2005)--- Controls section finished. Walkthrough finished through Episode 5. Plunge section general info finished. Plunge section enemy listings finished through Episode 5. Plunge section blade arts finished through Step 4. Notch Items section finished. Auras section finished except for Auras 13-16. 1.01 (March 21, 2005) Fixed a small walkthrough error and a few minor Plunge section errors. Reformatted tab-heavy sections. 1.02 (May 7, 2005) Fixed a few things, and started on concise Item Locations and Secrets sections. 1.1 (June 22, 2005) Finished up the concise Item Locations and Secrets sections. Added Flows to the Defensive Aura listings. The Regular Battle System section begun. Condition listing added. Regular Battle System complete. I may add a skill list later. Tweaked some things in the guide. 1.9 (January 14, 2006) Walkthrough started for Episode 6. Supplemental sections updated. ---------------------------------- ----------CONTROLS (SXO)---------- ---------------------------------- The controls for this game are incredibly difficult to master. Make sure to learn them now. You move using the ARROW KEYS on your keyboard. You may also use the NUMBER PAD. There are two types of keys you can press. They are the ACTION and CANCEL keys. The ACTION key is either ENTER, SPACE, or Z. The CANCEL key is either ESC, NUM 0, X, C, V, B, N, or M. Most people prefer to use the arrow keys to move, left enter for action, and escape for cancel. Another standard set of keys is the arrow keys to move, Z for action, and X for cancel. You can use any combination of keys you like. If you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic when I said they were difficult. ------------------------------------ ----------CHARACTERS (SXC)---------- ------------------------------------ Spoiler Alert: This section contains plot-related information. I have tried to withhold any extremely important plot information from this section, but some will still be here. ---MAJOR CHARACTERS--- Rhue of Landorin Rhue is the main character of The Way and he is the one that you control. He constantly gets caught up in events that he should have no part in, yet he seems to be directly connected to many of the people involved in some way or another. Rhue's actions are based on the past which he believes he has, yet he is slowly discovering that his past is not what he thinks it is. Strata When Rhue first meets Strata, Strata steals the rabbit he just worked hard to catch. Throughout the rest of the series, Rhue finds that his path is greatly affected by Strata and his massive ego. Traziun Traziun is an experienced wanderer who takes Rhue under his wing when they first meet. He has past affiliations with the Blood Lyn and his business with them is unfinished. Gaius of Xor A mysterious character. The first time they meet, he seems nice enough. Later on though, he is an entirely different person... Lyrra When Lyrra was a child, she survived the infamous Landorin Massacre. She was emotionally damaged by the event and is afterwards unable to travel alone. Cetsa Rhue meets Cetsa during his stay in Lide and is caught up in one of her scams. She is the leader of the Blue Scarve gang, ergo, Dancing Violet. Kloe Rhue meets Kloe in Lide when she is still under the employ of Ballar. A Blood Lyn, Kloe lives a life of nothing going the way she wants it to. Scatha A rather mysterious character. Slade's sister, she was cast into the Pits in her childhood. She lived there most of her life and prefers traveling underground over the surface. Her face, horridly disfigured by a burn, is covered in a mask. Slade Slade's life has been lived in service to those who tell him what to do. Early in his life, he served his mother, a horrible human being, unfailingly. Later on, he joined the Vigilantes in enforcing their laws. Unfortunately, his quest to serve righteousness has had the flaw that the people he has served are not righteous themselves. Lexus Rhue meets Lexus in Estrana, and she seems to quite readily push him into spending time with her. Lexus leads a double life; she is the daughter of Zedicus, leader of the Vigilante Council in Estrana, but she also has extensive connections in Estrana's underground gang network. Sorya Sorya, who Rhue meets in Estrana, is an important member of the Arastotzi. Dirk of Laos Dirk is a pompous old man who is actually quite knowledgeable about the many secrets of the Way. He knows much, some of which Rhue is probably searching for desperately, but he doesn't reveal his secrets because, frankly, no one has asked him. Sacrifa Sacrifa is the leader of the Guided in Estrana. His wife, Lila, is the most important thing in his life and he places her well-being over that of the Guided. ---MINOR CHARACTERS--- Therin of Nelin Therin is the guy who introduces Rhue to the Plunge. He is also an opponent in the Estrana tournament. Rosmar Rhue meets him while traveling with Jed, Lyrra, and Nomi and scars his face. Rosmar seeks revenge for the scar Rhue gives him when they first meet. Jed Lyrra's father. Alanthreonus Phillipe Straphachar Rhue meets him in Lide. He's quite obnoxious and his language is even more so. Foreman Ballar The leader of the settlement of Lide. He is the one that hires Kloe. Kygar Second-in-command of the Blue Scarve bandit gang. The generic, cowardly bandit type. Jopaga Jopaga runs the Shadow Lord gang in Estrana. He is a mad scientist to all extents. Not only is he not quite sane, but he likes to perform extremely strange experiments involving various formulas. Zedicus Zedicus heads the Vigilante Council which is part of Estrana's governing body. He is Lexus's father. Lila Sacrifa's wife. Rhue speaks to her a few times without knowing who she is. ---MYSTERY CHARACTERS--- Jeruh Lyrra's brother and Jed's son. Rhue has an important connection with him, but cannot figure out what it is. Midian For some reason, Midian is searching for Jeruh. Rhue also has an important connection with Midian. ---MAJOR FACTIONS, GROUPS, AND AFFILIATIONSS--- Wanderers "Wanderers. All who exist are wanderers." The very first line in the game pretty much sums this group up. However, I tend to view wanderers as the ones who aren't affiliated with any of the other groups in the way. Rhue as we meet him in Episode 1 is a perfect example. Blood Lyn The Blood Lyn are a sort of cult. They are very organized in their many battlegrounds strewn along the way. If a Blood Lyn desires to leave the organization, he or she won't be able to. The few who have done so have had trouble. Guided The Guided are a self-righteous group that follow their own extensive doctrine of what the Purpose tells them they should do. One of their most prominent and controversial rules is that no wanderer should be permitted to settle. Vigilante Vigilante are a group dedicated to keeping wrongdoers where they belong: in prison or dead. They employ the notorious Shadow Foots, one-man armies that are feared throughout the Way. Blue Scarves The Blue Scarves are an organized group of bandits led by Cetsa and Kygar. They wander the Way killing people and stealing their possessions. Forerunners The mythic Forerunners are said to walk the front end of the Way, making preparations for all who try to follow. The only way that one meets a Forerunner, it is said, is to become one. Arastotzi The most revered and feared gang in Estrana, the Arastotzi wear no common uniform except during their operations. Thus, it is difficult to recognize a member of their gang. ---MINOR FACTIONS, GROUPS, AND AFFILIATIONSS--- Paradans Paradans are hypocritical pacifists. They abhor all combat, even that which does not end in death. Yet, all the while, they are only alive because of the warriors who protect them. Shadow Lords A gang of Estrana led by Jopaga. Dire enemies of the Arastotzi. "Blue Scarves" A mockery of the actual Blue Scarves, Estrana's Blue Scarve gang reputedly has their own version of Dancing Violet. Unguided Wearing robes of black and green and sporting hilarious accents filled with slang, the Unguided are the last of Estrana's four gangs. ------------------------------------- ----------WALKTHROUGH (SXW)---------- ------------------------------------- Spoiler Alert: I have tried my best to keep this walkthrough free of spoilers, but it's a walkthrough. There has to be some semblance of plot-related information here. If you follow the walkthrough the first time you play, which I advise against, then the best thing you can do is to not read too far ahead. This is the walkthrough of the Way. The first thing to note is that I don't think anyone should read a walkthrough the first time they play through a game. There will be plenty of time for making your character as spiffy as possible the second time through. And with a game like The Way, I don't see how you could possibly just play it once. Note that everything of interest is in ALL CAPITALS. The first time you see a key concept, etc, it will be capitalized. Also, every single item you pick up will be capitalized exactly once. For example, if you approach a Heart Stone it will be written HEART STONE. After that, if I ever refer to that Heart Stone again, it will be written Heart Stone. This method helps to make scanning the walkthrough for Notch Items easier. Also, consult the Notch Item Locations section of the FAQ for a more organized but less detailed listing of all Notches. This also applies to the Blade Art Locations and Aura Locations sections of the FAQ. ---The Way Episode 1: The Land Beneath the Sky (SW1)--- Start up the game and watch the introduction and the opening cutscene. Make sure to revel in the glory that is the title screen music. I believe it to be some of the best introductory music I've seen in a game. Anyway, after the cutscene and all, you'll be in control of Rhue. On the first screen, head on up and to the left. There'll be a sparkling blue object in the water. You can walk over to it and hit the ACTION KEY to check it out and get a little philosophical thought from Rhue. Then head on up to the next area. Here you'll immediately go into a conversation with Therin. He'll ask you if you want him to teach you how to take the Plunge. Go ahead and say yes, unless for some reason you don't want to. If you've never done it before, by all means do it. You're in for a treat... sorta. Anyway, see the Plunge section if you want to know about the basics of the Plunge. Therin's stats are there too. There's no way you're going to even come close to winning this battle, because your Plunge stats are terrible, but it's fun anyway. Afterwards, just head on to the next screen. There's a Red Swiftfoot here. Other than that, just keep walking the Way. Yay, there's something to do on this screen! There'll be a massive red boulder near the entrance to this screen. Below the boulder you'll see a little ledge jutting out from the main path. Walk over to it and jump down. You'll receive a SHOCK ROCK... MAX HP +2! Then you'll walk back out. Jump on back up and keep walkin'. Behold your first SAVE POINT! Save and keep going. Mini-game time! Make sure you don't skip any mini-games because completing them wins you stat increases. The Swiftfoot isn't really all that hard to catch, you just have to be patient. When it turns its back, walk one or two spaces, then stop. Once it turns away again, repeat. Once you're standing by the rabbit, hit the ACTION KEY. Watch a quick cutscene... NEW CHARACTERS - DANA AND WES Dana's got some healing magic and Wes is a fighter. Wes's Amplify spell is good as well. And time for the first battle... TWO SPIKED FLYERS They're easy to beat, and you have magic to heal you anyway. Learn how battle works here. Then, move on to the next screen. You'll see a sparkly thing on the left side of a rock when you enter... it's a KRITAR SNAIL... CRITICAL HIT% +1! Keep walking. BOSS FIGHT - HEADHUNTER NOVICE This is a decently tough battle. Just keep attacking with Rhue and Wes and Extraction with Dana. Use Light Mend when HP gets low. Use Wes's Amplify when he has enough XL too, it'll help. Also, Rhue's Spin Blade is a nice attack. You can use it to deal a few extra damage. When his HP is low... He'll knock out Dana and Wes and the two of you will Plunge. Once again, your Plunge stats are still low and you really can't win this Plunge, but play it out anyway. Then, a cutscene... You'll end up in a "town," and Dana and Wes are out of your party. You can explore around town if you like, but there's nothing necessary to pick up here. Go to the drinking house and talk to the black-haired guy in the top right corner. Then, talk to the barkeeper and order a drink for Belson. Propose a toast and then choose "People with brown hair." Talk to Belson again and say "Three Trees." Then talk again and say "Lots of great wine." Then, cutscene... Walk on out to the right of the village... Here you'll have to judge a rabbit race mini-game. Pick the rabbit that first comes across correctly all five times and you'll get a KRITAR SNAIL. The rabbits to pick are 2, 3, 2, 2, 1. After the race, pick up the swiftfoot and head on out to the right. You can kill the guys by hitting the ACTION KEY and attacking them with your sword, but I'd advise against it. If you kill the two civilian guys (the three guys with spiky blue hair don't actually count), you'll lose a RHUE POINT for each one you kill. Rhue Points are a gauge of how much Rhue likes himself or maybe how evil he is. Anyway, on the next screen... Mini-game here. Time your jumps so that the wind doesn't catch you in the air. And on the third jump, jump from the lower square. Complete this mini-game for POISE +1! Walk on to the next area... Get ready for a Plunge here. Once again, your stats are too low to win. Don't worry though, next Plunge will be winnable. After the Plunge... NEW CHARACTER - TRAZIUN Traziun's got some good moves on him. Head Shot can deal some damage, as well as Blind Retribution if it works out right. Rejuvenate isn't much of a healing move, though. Now, into the cavern. From the moment you can first start really left instead of up-left, hold left. You should go through the wall and into a secret area. The dark blobs here are monsters and you'll engage in battle if you stand too close. I would recommend fighting every battle you ever see because the Way only holds so many experience points... you can find out about how the experience works in the Notch Items and Auras sections. Your first battle will be... TWO TWO FANGS These guys are a bit annoying, but nothing you can't handle. Keep up the barrage of attacks and you'll win easy. Just watch out for the Sleep Fang attack... it can put you to sleep. Not that you can avoid it or anything. Follow this little pathway until the end and open up the chest for a HEART STONE (HP +3). If you don't know what it's for, check out the Notch Items section for info on how to equip it, or you can wait for Traziun to explain it later on in the game. Head back to the main path and keep going up. You'll run into a small scene with an option. The choice you pick will determine how many Traziun points you get. These points determine Rhue's relationship with Traziun. Once again, I'd go for the highest possible. "My thoughts exactly" +2 "No, I'm going to help him" "You're right" +1 "I think you're wrong" 0 Continue up the path until you see a bridge leading to a lever you can't yet operate. To the left of the bridge is a chest containing a POCITE (POISE +2). Traziun will then explain Notch Items to you. Keep following the path. When you reach a horizontal bridge, keep walking right after you cross. You'll be able to enter into the wall. Once you stop moving, go up, and a chest will make itself visible to you. Open it for a FOCITE (FOCUS +2). Go back out and continue onward. You'll have to jump to the left. When you reach a fork, go down. Make sure to save, 'cause there's a boss battle coming up... BOSS FIGHT - FLIGG This thing can be pretty tough if you get unlucky and it stuns you. Keep attacking with Rhue and have Traziun use some moves on it. Gaius should concentrate on Absorbing and using Light Mend when HP is low. If any one of your characters dies, you're probably going to have trouble. The Fligg can stun your characters, and that may cause problems. It can also poison you. Use Gaius's Antidote if you don't have any more pressing heals to do. Gaius may want to use Beyond Oneself if he can ever muster up the XL to do it, it'll protect him from being poisoned/stunned. NEW CHARACTER - GAIUS Gaius is a pretty good healer. He's got Light Mend, which heals a little HP, Antidote, a poison cure, Beyond Oneself, which increases resistance to all conditions (70% chance), and Long Slash, which is a pretty strong move, but costs way too much XL for it to be efficient if you need his healing spells. Gaius gives you the lever key, so go and jump back to the main path. Go and hit the switch, but be warned... time is of the essence. You have got to run all the way back up the path and this time turn north at the fork, and you only have 45 seconds to do it. If you don't have at least 3 seconds when you start walking on the bridge (the first one after the fork), don't risk it. If the bridge goes out with you on it, you will die. Game over. And you probably didn't save after the Fligg battle either. If you don't have enough time, go back and hit the lever again. After you cross the bridge, go on up and fight... TWO CAVE RAYS As far as regular enemies go, these guys are pretty tough in an annoying way. They can pack some punch when they get in two attacks on one character, dealing 12 or so damage. The worst part is the Numb Ray. It has the chance of numbing your characters, rendering them useless for 3 or 4 turns, while the Cave Rays chip away at your HP. Gaius can use Beyond Oneself to prevent numb if you like. But if one Numb Ray successfully numbs all of your characters, you're going to be in trouble. Continue on. You can go left through the next left wall that you see (just keep walking into the wall until you find the place). Follow that path to get a HEART STONE. Now go back and continue along the path. You'll run into a mini-game... This puzzle is actually fairly difficult to solve. The bonuses you get from solving it depend on how fast you solve it. Solve it in under 3 minutes and Rhue will say "That was child's play." and you'll get FOCUS +1 and WILL +1. Stay under 6 minutes to get "That wasn't too tough." and FOCUS +1. Take longer and you won't get any bonuses. I recommend playing this puzzle until you get the full bonuses. The solution, if you so desire it, is: Hit both levers (1 and 2), then cross the bridge at the right and go up to hit lever 3. Then go back across and follow the path down and cross a bridge. There will be a lever to your right (4), but ignore it, and instead go across the bridge to the left to hit lever 5. Then go back and hit lever 4. Go back left and pass lever 5 and continue upward to hit lever 6. Return to the beginning and turn off lever 2, the proceed to the bottom left corner. Continue walking and you'll come to a place with a black ceiling. You won't be able to see your character or the pathway, but there's only one route, so as long as you don't turn back the way you came, you'll come out the other side. After you come out, it's pretty straightforward (as if it wasn't already straightforward enough), and the only thing in your way will be battles. Don't forget to pick up the POCITE from the chest. You'll also encounter... FOUR TWO FANGS These guys are pretty much the same as last time, except now there's more of them, you have Gaius, and they can perform a healing move called group hug. That can set back your HP chipping a little bit. Kill them quickly so that they have less chances to do a group hug. They're a lot less dangerous once you knock out one or two as well. There're a few jumps to make, but I think you can take it from here. Once again, fight every monster you see. Watch out though, a little bad luck and the cave rays can take you out. Once you get out of the cave, you'll be in Jungleville. Minus the animals. Juuuust keep walkin'. You'll end up in a dialogue/cutscene. In this dialogue you can pick up Lyrra points. The points you get are as follows... "Yes (You scared me)" "Yes (I'm mad)" "I forgive you." +2 "All right..." +2 "Just this once..." +1 "..." -1 "No (I'm not mad)" +2 "No (You didn't scare me)" "Yes (I always draw my sword)" "Yes." +1 "No." +1 "No (I don't always draw my sword)" "Uh... sure." +2 "What???" 0 And now watch the most ridiculous story you have ever seen... and that's the end of Episode 1. Your stats at the end of Episode 1 should be: HP: 48 :HP XL: 5 :XL Focus: 13 :Focus Will: 11 :Will Poise: 8 :Poise Plunge: 2 :Plunge Damage Threshold: 6 :Damage Threshold Critical Hit%: 3 :Critical Hit% Critical Strength: 1 :Critical Strength Classification: Wanderer *NOTE: These stats assume that you've absorbed all of your Notch Items. It is impossible to do this in Episode 1, but you'll probably end up absorbing them all early in Episode 2 anyway. ---The Way Episode 2: Echoes of the Past Deecry (SW2)--- First, make sure you copy your game into the right folder. If you play with the default data instead of your own Episode 1 data, you're going to miss out on some really good stats. The default data is pretty bad. Anyway... Load up your saved game and watch the intro. Once you're in control, equip Cool Wind like Traziun told you to and get ready to Plunge with Nomi. See the Plunge section for details. Then you'll Plunge Rosmar. And lose. Badly. Then there'll be a cutscene. You'll hit a dialogue tree which is as follows... "I never said I did." 0 Rhue "I don't feel bad at all." -2 Rhue "Yea, I feel a little guilty." +2 Rhue "I don't know." 0 Lyrra "Yea, maybe." +1 Lyrra "I don't think so." -1 Lyrra Then Traziun will tell you how to change Sword Auras and you'll receive the SLASHER Aura! You can switch now if you like. Or you can stick to Piercer. Once you're in control, go up a little ways and turn left. You'll see a place where you can jump across the lake to an island containing a POCITE. Jump back and continue rightward and upward. You'll cross a bridge on which you'll see a cutscene. Then continue going and you'll run into... TWO SPESTAS These things aren't that hard. One is weak to the Piercer Aura and strong to Slasher; the other weak to Slasher and strong to Piercer. They have a few status-changing moves, but they aren't too incredibly effective. After the fight, continue on up. You'll see a chest on a ledge above you, so go up the stairs and then go right and down to get the chest for the Defensive Aura CHAIN LINK. Go back up and continue left past the stairs. At the bottom left of this area there's a chest containing a LYN ROCK (PLUNGE +1). Make sure to absorb this, as it'll help you greatly in Plunges. Go up and up the staircase, then turn right and fight... LACTAR This thing is pretty easy. They have a good bit of HP and they can poison you, but that's about it. Both Auras work the same on these guys. Go to the next screen. Here, continue going right until you see a river. There'll be a brown spot in front of the river where you can jump across. On the other side is a monster and a chest containing a FOCITE. Jump back across. Walk straight on up and you'll see Gaius and enter a cutscene. Go up the nearby staircase and turn right. If you walk up, there'll be a chest containing a FOCITE. Now go back and left. Go up the next staircase and you'll see a save point. There'll be a spot to jump down just below the save point. After you jump, go right and hop the bridge. Continue right and down a staircase. After you go down, you can go right and up to reach a chest containing 10 AR. Continue along the path. Eventually you'll reach a gap that you have to jump across. From there, go down and keep going. When you come to a save point, you'll be about to fight... BOSS - TWO BLUE SCARVES This isn't a hard battle. Both guys have a decent amount of HP and will use status-changing moves on you if you leave them enough time to build up the XL. The second Blue Scarve is a little bit weaker than the first, but he builds up his XL faster. The first guy will use Sleeper once he has 4 XL and the second guy will use Eye Strike once he has 6 XL. The first guy regenerates 1 XL a turn and the second guy 2 XL (The first guy starts with 8 XL, the second guy with none). Just keep attacking them and use moves when you have the XL. Once that's over, head on up and turn right into the next area. You'll see a cutscene. Here you'll get the option... "Sounds good." +1 Cetsa "Kiss or no kiss, doesn't matter." 0 Cetsa "I don't want a kiss if I win." -1 Cetsa Afterwards you'll be in control again. Talk to some people if you like, then leave the tavern. Watch a short scene, then head on over to the inn. Once you're in control, check around town. There's nothing to get here so just head up to the big house at the top of town and try the door. Cutscene time again. When it's morning again, look at the green painting on the top wall (it's third from the left), then head on out and talk to Cetsa. Talk to the other people if you want, then go up and talk to Kloe. As far as Kloe points go, it doesn't matter what you say her name is. There'll be a cutscene, and it'll allow you to save. The next thing you do will be a Plunge, so make sure you do save. Then, you'll fight a Plunge with Alan. See the Plunge section for details. If you win, you'll get CRITICAL STRENGTH +1 and another Plunge (and a chance at another critical strength point). After the battle, you'll end up in the Monster Den. NEW CHARACTER - RHAN Rhan has two moves. One is a move that cures blind, and it's only useful in one battle. The other is Light Mass Mend, which is basically like casting Light Mend on everyone. This is a very useful move. He isn't much of an attacker though. Rhan is strong against most conditions but weak to blindness. At the fork, go left. You'll hit a dead end. Go back and go right. There are some battles up this way... TWO CAVE SLUDGES These things can heal themselves, but otherwise they're nothing special. All weapon attacks are weak on these guys, so if you want decent damage use an attack like Traziun's Head Shot (Oneness - Mind). Traziun's regular attack isn't coonsider a weapon move either. Rhan's is, though. At the end of the right fork there'll be a chest containing a SOUL STONE (MAX XL +2). Now go back and take the center fork. You'll see a save point and a door leading to the next room. You might want to make a backup save here, because you'll need to do the next area quickly, and there're save points there. So if your 10 minute timer ran out and you saved, you'd miss the chance of getting a Heart Stone. Anyways, go to the next room. After you talk to Alan, head on into the main monster den. At the first fork, turn left; the other two paths are dead ends. You'll see a bunch of blobs moving back and forth. You don't want to step on these. Stand one square below them and hold the up key when they aren't right in front of you. This will usually work. When you get to the third blob, you'll want to stand on it when it's on the far right tile. The barrucha will fly down and hit you to another ledge. There you'll pick up a chest containing 30 AR and you'll learn the skill DRIVER. This move hits one enemy for decent damage. It does more damage than Spin Blade. Hit the switch and cross the bridge. Continue on up. You'll see a chest across a broken bridge, but you can't get to it just yet. When you come to a dead guy, well his lower body anyway, don't stand above him for too long. Go down to fight... THREE CAVE SLUDGES Do I really need to explain this battle? By the way, you should probably absorb every Notch Item involving the Plunge that you can while you're here. That includes Heart Stones. If you beat Alan, you're going to need every last HP you can get in this next battle. Keep walking along, down and right. You'll see a staircase. There will be a spot directly to the left where you can jump to another platform. Keep jumping until you reach a platform that extends into the bottom of the map. You can go down through the bottom into another room. There's a chest there containing the Blade Art RAY OF LIGHT. This one probably isn't as useful as Cool Wind yet, because the chance of success is so low. If you can pull it off though, the extra Plunge points will be incredibly helpful. Go back to the main room, jump down, and go up the staircase. Keep walking until you reach an area where there are a bunch of platforms in an X shape. There'll be a walkway off to the left where you can go get a chest containing the Blade Art CRITICAL EYE. This one is nice to have, but isn't as good as the other two. Keep walking along the pathway. You'll reach a point where Rhue says "This is definitely a dangerous area, let's be cautious." Save your game here. Getting through here will take a bit of trial and error, but once you figure it out you'll want to load your saved game to keep the timer up. When you get to the point where you can go down, stand one square to the right of the turn. After that, walk down and when you can go left, step two squares in from the bottom right corner and then walk back to the corner. Next walk up, step onto the bridge, then take a step backwards. On the next bridge, you'll want to go across as quickly as you can, then take a step down when you reach the platform. When you reach the bridge that extends up/down, you'll want to move across as quickly as possible and once you get to the other side, immediately take two steps to the left. After you make it to the next bridge, immediately take a step down. That's the final swipe that you'll have to avoid. Continue up the staircase. Go down and when you see a staircase leading down as well as a path to the left of the stairs, take the path. At the end of the path will be a place where you can jump to a chest containing a STRICITE (STRIDES +1). If you beat Alan and you want to win the next Plunge, you really need to absorb this so you can equip a second Blade Art. Go back up and down the staircase. Fight some monsters, then return to the top of the staircase and take the path a little ways. You'll be able to jump across to another platform with a set of stairs leading down. Save your game and then walk right and up. You'll see Alan, and if you got there in under 10 minutes, he'll give you a HEART STONE. After a short scene, you'll fight a boss, but first... NEW CHARACTER - KLOE Kloe's Fresh can heal status ailments. Body Massage can cure soreness, although you won't need that yet. Mistreated and Revenge of One work off of how much damage Kloe has taken so far during the battle. She is also a decent attacker. She's weak to blindness, soreness, confounding, and XL-seeps. BOSS - GUTWING Keep up a constant barrage of attacks, and use Rhan to heal you. Rhan can also cure blindness if it uses Putrid Mist. Kloe can use Reprieve if she gets too many conditions on her. The Gutwing is also strong to the Slasher Aura, so use Piercer. Afterwards, you'll end up back in the Inn telling Traziun about Serena. The only option you get here is to pick her hair color. It doesn't really matter which one you pick, so either pick the one you like or of the color of the girl you like best out of the ones you've seen so far. Anyway, once you're in control, a timer will be running. There are a couple of things you need to do before the timer reaches zero. First, make sure you have two blade arts equipped (I'd choose Cool Wind and Ray of Light). Next, talk to the woman immediately to the left of Cetsa for a POCITE. Then, go into the tavern and up the ladder located behind the counter. Walk over to the door and unlock it. Now, you can talk to people until the timer is up. You'll then end up in a Plunge with Parris (if you beat Alan). Check the Plunge section for details. There is no reason to lose to Parris, because you'll only fight him if you beat Alan, and you need to lose to Alan in order to receive the Plunge point. Anyway, defeat Parris for CRITICAL STRENGTH +1! Now, watch the cutscene. It'll be night when you regain control. First thing to do is go into the tavern and up the ladder again. Step through the door and Kygar will go by. Then go into his room and check the table for a HEART STONE. Now go back to Ballar's house and try the door. Go on in and up the stairs. Then go into the main room. Listen to Dar, then go up the ladder. Go left through the wall where it's a lighter color, then go down the next ladder. Climb on down and get ready to fight... BOSS - KYGAR AND CETSA You don't have a healer this time around, so just keep attacking. Use moves like Spin Blade and Driver when you have the XL. Traziun can use Head Shot or Blind Retribution. Kloe can use here vengeance moves if she gets enough XL. There'll be a long cutscene, part of which will bring you to the dialogue branch... "Hit her hard." +1 Kloe "Hit her extra hard." 0 Kloe "Hit her super hard!" -1 Kloe Afterwards... Welcome to the Marna Stretch. This thing is MASSIVE. There are a slew of Notch Items to pick up here. First, go up and left and talk to Gaius. He'll give you a map. Then, go up and cross the bridge. After you talk to the Headhunter, you'll be at a fork. Take the upper path, the one that leads left, and follow it for about 22.7 miles. You'll run into... ONE SPESTA Okay, it's like the two Spesta battles, except there's only one. The Piercer Aura is more effective than Slasher on these guys. Prepare to fight a lot of these battles on the Marna Stretch, because that's all there is out here and there's a bunch of them. Eventually you'll come to a bridge. Ignore it and go down. You'll arrive at a staircase leading up the rock face. Before you go up, go down and right a little bit. There will be a place to jump over the river. Jump and follow the elongated island to the end where there is a chest containing 20 AR. Now go back to the staircase and go up. There will be a save point nearby. Go left and up another staircase. Follow the path right, past the green-haired girl, over the bridge, and past the other girl. You'll see a sparkly thing in a patch of pink flowers. This is a CTP SPOUT. Step on it for 10 CTP. Now go back across the bridge you just crossed. There will be a platform south of you that you climb up on. Go to the bottom of this platform and hit enter to jump down. Head right until you see a red sparkle in the middle of a bunch of flowers. Check it out to get a NOVA STONE (SWORD NOTCHES +1)! You would do well to absorb this as soon as you can. Even though it has efficiency 2, it'll make up for itself quickly. Head back left until you reach the save point again. From here, go right, except stay above the trees. Follow this path up until you go under the bridge. Turning left here would take you back around to the save point, so turn right. Follow this path around until you reach a fork that leads either up or down. Go up. You'll see a CTP Spout. Follow the path around until you reach a chest containing 30 AR. Go back to the fork and this time take the other path. You'll see a long bridge leading right. Cross it. Talk to the girl in the forest and then start killing the rats. There really isn't much strategy to this. Just hit the ACTION KEY like crazy. There are 10 rats. Once you've killed them all, talk to the girl again to get a HEART STONE. Continue walking to the right and across the next bridge. There'll be a staircase leading down. Go down and take a right. You'll see a CTP Spout. Now, go up from the CTP Spout until you reach a fork. Therin of Nelin should be just above the fork. Talk to him. If for some reason you lost to Alan AND missed the first Lyn Rock in Episode 2, he'll give you +1 Plunge. Now go back down to the fork and take the route leading down. You should go under a bridge. When you reach another fork leading left or right, go left. You'll reach a spot with yellow flowers. Pick them up. Continue down to reach a chest containing the Defensive Aura RUBBER SKIN. Now go back to the fork where you just were and go right. You should be back at the place where the CTP Spout was. Go down the nearby staircase (left of where the CTP Spout was) and turn right. Cross the bridge. Go down and speak to Orson. Get ready for a mini-game. Orson will explain how it works. The first thing you need to do in this mini-game is to find the woolie. It'll be in the general direction of down. After you do that, just herd it in the general direction of up. When you get up to where the bushes are, try to time it so that when you get on the right side of the woolie it will be in line with the bushes. Herd the woolie in under a minute to receive a LYN ROCK. Now go back up and back across the bridge. Go left until you reach a large part with a lot of trees and paths leading left and down. Go down and then follow the path until you reach a staircase leading up to a place with a bunch of freakish people in black are. Talk to the guy in front and then listen to Velicia spiel on. When she's done, agree to help her. Go back down and left then jump across the river. You'll be able to see a CTP Spout above you. Go up and get it. Go left until you can go down a little bit. Turn right and you should see a platform in the shape of a 7 with flowers on it. Stand across the water from the tip and jump to it. Then jump to the pink flowers. You'll pick up a LYN ROCK! Jump back across. Go left until you see a broken bridge. Ignore it and go down. Continue down and right until you see a bridge. Go across. Make your way right through the trees. You'll see a CTP spout above you, but you'll have to circle around the trees a little bit to get it. Then continue rightward. Past the save point and across another bridge. Before you jump across the broken bridge, go down to the bottom of the small island. You can jump across the water to the left. Go down and open up a chest containing 30 AR. Go back up and hop the bridge. Once you're on the other side, go up and to the left. You'll see another patch of yellow flowers. Pick them up as well. Now go back down and up the staircase. You'll see the settlers the Guided mentioned. Make sure to choose "Continue with the Guided Plan." Trust me, you'll get Notch Items and a greater self- satisfaction if you side with the Guided. After that, go back down, back across the broken bridge and the other bridge, through the forest, and the other bridge, until you come to the place where you have to turn upward. Continue up and right until you reach an isthmus stretching diagonally up and right. On the other end, hop across the river to your right and go up and speak to the Guided. NEW CHARACTERS - VELICIA, DRISTOL, AND JENG All the Guided are is a bunch of healers. They can attack pretty well too. You don't get them for very long though. Now, backtrack allllll the way back to the settlers. Get ready for... BOSS - BLADDOCK, TILLER, AND TRENT These guys are easy. All out attack and you'll dispatch them nicely. You won't even need your plethora of healing spells. But if you do, you've got them. If you choose to side with the settlers due to intense hatred of the Guided, curiosity, or whatever other reason, then use the following paragraphs for battle strategies; the basic process for getting into battle is the same as with the Guided: just go back and forth between camps until a battle starts up. If you side with the Guided, skip down past the following battle information. NEW CHARACTERS - BLADDOCK, TILLER, AND TRENT These guys are decent fighters. Tiller has Inflow and Long Slash, and Trent has Fireball. Trent also has Purify, which might actually be effective if the one battle you get to use him in could possibly get you poisoned. Sadly, this is not the case. Bladdock is a combat brute and doesn't get any special attacks. BOSS - VELICIA, DRISTOL, AND JENG All the Guided are, again, is a bunch of healers. Just take them out one at a time in order to minimize the effectiveness of their Light Mass Mend, which is the only heal spell they have. After the battle, search Trent to receive a Chest Key. Now go up and you'll see a chest behind some trees. Open it up, now that you have the Chest Key, for a BLAN ROCK (DAMAGE THRESHOLD +2). You aren't done yet, though. Circle around to the other side and open the chest that is fully concealed behind two trees to get a LYN ROCK. Now go back to the area just left of the isthmus. Go left and up until you reach the broken bridge. Jump across and go talk to the woman with pink hair. South of her is a dead end, so go left and up. When you reach a fork, there will be a staircase nearby leading up. Go up, turn left, make your way around the plateau, and go up the next set of stairs. In the middle of the platform you will see the third and final patch of yellow flowers. Pick them up too. Now go back down both staircases. Next, go left and up and follow the path. When you see a patch of land leading right, make note of it, but go up instead. You'll then see a bridge leading off to the right. This is the bridge you ignored when you were on the other side of it. From here, go up and left and talk to the woman and her son and pick up the SOUL STONE from the chest. Now go back and follow the track of land you made a note of (NOT the bridge). Once you reach the river, there will be a place where you can jump across. Do so. Jump the next gap too and then make your way to the bottom right corner of this island. There will be a place to jump the river there too. Follow the path, jump again, and you'll be above a save point. Save, and before you talk to the guy, circle around and walk into the clump of trees behind him. You'll pick up a HEART STONE. Now continue down and left from here until you reach the end of the path to find a CTP Spout. Now go back and talk to him. Challenge him to a Plunge. See the Plunge section for details. If you win you will receive the NEW HIGH Blade Art. Now, go back the way you came until you've jumped over the river all four times. From there, go down and follow the path. When the path opens up, continue down and left. You'll see a save point and a guy standing beside a bridge. Talk to him. He'll tell you to collect three batches of flowers, which you've already done. After you're done talking to him, you're going to have four options. Option 1 is to talk to him again. He'll join your group and you can go and blind the monster. Then you can avoid the battle altogether. Option 2 is to fight the monster after you've blinded it with the dust. Option 3 is to not talk to him again and to go fight the monster yourself without blinding it. Option 4 is to go back and ask the Guided to join you and have them help you kill the monster. Options 2, 3, and 4 all yield the same amount of CTP and AR, Option 1 yields none. After you've decided what to do and fulfilled all the requirements, go left and down then make your way right and down. You'll see a save point. Save and then go down into the bottleneck area. Your fight, or whatever you plan on doing, will begin. BOSS - SPIKER (Not blinded) If you're fighting this guy alone, the only way you're going to do it is with Rhue's Sleeper move that he gets from the Piercer Aura at Level 4. Put him to sleep and keep attacking, but make sure you have enough XL to put him asleep again if he wakes up. Having the Slasher skill Inflow (Level 3), which heals Rhue, can also help a lot. If you're fighting with the Guided, use them to heal you. If you have Sleeper, go ahead and use it. BOSS - SPIKER (Blinded) This really doesn't even count as a battle. Go down, jump the river, and then go down into the next area. You have successfully obtained the plethora of objects on the Marna Stretch. In the next area go down and turn right. You'll enter into a cutscene. You'll have the option of saying certain things. If you want to get a Heart Stone out of this sequence, you'll need to minimize the number of Jumper Points you get. "So are you going to jump or not?" 2 JP "Beautiful day isn't it?" 0 JP "What's the problem?" 1 JP "Please jump, I'm begging you." 3 JP "Why would I?" 2 JP "I don't care at all." 3 JP "Dumb question and you know it." 1 JP "Do you care about yourself?" 0 JP "On the rocks." 0 JP "In the shallow water." 2 JP "In the deep water." 1 JP "I'll never give up." 0 JP, +1 Rhue Point, HEART STONE (If JP is less than 5) "(Push guy)" 1 JP "(Push guy off cliff)" -3 Rhue Points After the cutscene go left along the path and watch another cutscene. Then you'll need to kill some time in Turnway. You can explore various bookshelves and buckets. There are tons of things to explore in Turnway, and not one of them contains anything of value. Once you're able to go in and talk to Hill, save your game. The next mini-game is rather difficult, and you're going to have to do well on it to get Notch Items. Go up to Hill. After a cutscene you'll be in a mini- game, shooting Blue Scarves. If you kill at least 20, you'll get a Focite, and if you kill 30 or more you will receive a FOCITE and a STRICITE. After the mini-game, you'll be in control again. Go up to Hill's room and pick up the bottle of Flame Water. Then go out and into the northeast building. Go into the bottom right door and go down to see a gold chest. Check it and you'll use the flame water to blow it open. You'll receive the JAGGED EDGE Blade Art. Head on out of town and down into the forest. Follow the path, climb the ladder, cross the bridge, and watch the final cutscene. Your stats at the end of Episode 2 should be: HP: 66 :HP XL: 9 :XL Focus: 19 :Focus Will: 11 :Will Poise: 12 :Poise Plunge: 6 :Plunge Damage Threshold: 8 :Damage Threshold Critical Hit%: 3 :Critical Hit% Critical Strength: 3 :Critical Strength Strides: 3 :Strides Classification: Hylyn *NOTE: These stats assume that you've absorbed all of your Notch Items. It is unlikely that you've done this by the end of Episode 2, but you'll probably end up absorbing them all early in Episode 3 anyway. ---The Way Episode 3: A Lost Love Carried OOn (SW3)--- Once again, watch the introductory cutscene. NEW CHARACTER - SLADE Slade's a decent attacker. His sword has a shadow attribute, so it's got normal effectiveness on all the enemies you'll fight. Slade has Light Mass Mend which he can use to heal, Panacea, which is a cure-all move with a heavy XL price, and Outer Darkness, a hard hit-all move that you'll probably never be able to get full effect out of because he needs to be at full HP to use it. When you're in control, go on down the forest path from Episode 2 again. Just follow the road. After you watch another cutscene, you'll be in control again. Head on up the ladder and open up the chest for a POCITE. Spiral around in a clockwise direction until you reach... FEMALE KRAV Just keep attacking. If it puts you on an XL-Seep, it won't really matter because you really don't need skills in these battles anyway. Neither Aura is more effective on these guys. Keep spiraling to the next screen. Here, turn upward and then right onto the bridge. Then go up and left and follow the path to a STRICITE. Afterward, go back right and down and climb down the ladder. Go up and around and then left into the next screen. Immediately go down and pick up the BLAN ROCK from the chest. Then go up and follow the path into the next screen. Climb up the ladder and return to the previous screen, this time on a higher level. Go around, jump the gap, go to the next screen. Oh no! The bridge is out! Now you must go back and into the cave! Head on into the cave, jump down, and fight... THREE CAVE RAYS There's more of them, and they can still numb you. Slade can use Panacea if Rhue is numb and he has enough XL. Now that you have Auras, you can make a note that neither of them is any better than the other against these things. Go across the short bridges and then watch some dialogue. Jump the gap at the left to pick up your first ladder piece. Go set it on the ladder. Head on down the path (not the stairs) and keep going until you get to a room with a lever. Flip it. Go on out and down the stairs and then up into a room with a chest containing a WICITE. Go back down and follow the road where the river was to pick up your second ladder piece. Go all the way back and set it on the ladder. Go down the staircase below you and into the water. Make sure you don't drown (Hit enter in the middle of the circular light to return to the surface). When you come up, you'll see the third ladder piece. Pick it up and walk over to the river. Jump in. Go up and set the third ladder piece in place. In the next area, your goal is to flip two switches. Go left, up, down the stairs, across the bridge, and into the door. Flip switch one. Go back out and then go down at the fork. Follow the path, and when you get to a staircase leading up, ignore it and go down. When you see a set of two staircases, go up one and then left across a bridge to pick up a FOCITE. Go back and up the second set of stairs. Hop the bridge and then cross the next bridge and open up the chest for a HEART STONE. Go down the stairs, walk around, go up the stairs, left and down, hop the gap to your right, go up and right, across two bridges, and push the left rock off the edge. It'll open up that locked chest. Go back across the bridges and straight down. Hit the lever and go across the newly existent bridge. Go up the nearby staircase and then down the other staircase to check out the chest for a Lever Key. Now go back up, down, across the bridge, and jump the gap again. Go into the nearby room and flip switch two. Now jump the gap, go back across the bridge, and this time go down the nearby staircase. Go right and then up some stairs and into a small area with a water hole. Save your game and jump on in. Swim up as far as you can, then hold left. When you get to the point where you aren't being pushed down, swim back up to the top and hold left again. On the other side there will be a light where you can rise to the surface. There will be a CTP Spout and the Defensive Aura BODY ARMOR. Jump back in and swim down. Swim all the way left, then return to the surface. Save your game because you're about to fight... BOSS - MALE AND FEMALE KRAV The male Krav really isn't much tougher than the female, but I'd advise taking out the female first. There isn't really much strategy here. Use Rhue's moves when you have the XL and heal with Slade when your HP is low. Neither sword Aura provides any benefits. Exit the cavern and you'll come upon... TWO LACTARS Two of these guys almost pose more of a challenge than one, except they don't. Head on up and around. Before you go down the ladder, go right and jump across the gap to pick up a POCITE. Now go back and down the ladder. Follow the path. There will be a place where you can jump over the water to find a CTP Spout (If you even have any Notch Items left). Continue on into the next screen. And then into the next screen. Watch a cutscene. And then go through yet another short screen. Watch another cutscene. You'll gain the Sword Auras FIRE EDGE and AIR EDGE. Then you'll be in control again. Go over and fight... THREE SCORCHERS These guys are a bit tough, especially if you're using the Slasher Aura. They can confound you and prevent you from using your moves, can cause you to bleed, and are pretty strong. They're weak to the Piercer Aura and strong to Slasher. Slade should use Light Mass Mend, if he isn't confounded. Rhue's Sleeper can also prove useful. Head on left and into the next screen. And then into the next. The next screen will have an formation of water that looks like a backwards P. Look closely and you'll see a sparkle on one of the water spaces. Check it for a HEART STONE. Keep walking left, go past the ladder and you'll see a CTP Spout. Then go up the ladder, and go up the other ladder. Once inside, walk up the stairs and push the rock off the platform onto the switch. Then go back out and down the ladder. Go right and into the cave you see. Follow the path, do some jumping, and you'll end up in a room with a rock. Push it up to the cliff face and use it to jump up (because rocks are sproingy). Head into the next room. Go on up and push the rock you see down to the lower area. Use it to jump onto the left platform. Follow the path, jump the short gap, and push the rock you see there down onto the platform below. Go back down and jump off. Push the rock right and use it to jump up onto the right platform. Push the rock there to the right and use it to jump up as well. If you wanted to know, Female Kravs are weak to Fire. Jump the gap, head out, and jump down. The first thing to do here is go left. Fight... TWO SCORCHERS AND A LACTAR This battle's probably a little easier than three scorchers, because the minor poisoning the Lactar gives you doesn't hurt that much. Keep going left and you'll receive the Defensive Aura TRIPLE THREAD from the chest at the end. Head back and this time go down. There will be a gray rock you can push and use to jump up onto the ledge with the CTP Spout. Keep heading down. Just below the massive pillar on your left will be a place where you can jump over the river twice. On the other side, turn down and follow the path to the end to pick up a HEART STONE. Go back to where you jumped across and this time go up. Follow the path to a WICITE. Then jump back across. Take one of the gray stones and push it right and down, and use it to hop up onto the cliff. From there, just follow the path and do some jumping. If you go downward after all the jumps, there will be a CTP Spout. Keep going up and left, cross the bridge, go down the ladder, up the next ladder, and jump down into the next screen. From here, the game is pretty self-explanatory. Until... You're in the pits. Continue along the path and pick up the nearly invisible MEND STONE (Gain a new MEND SKILL) lying on the ground. Go to the next room. Here, at the first fork, go up for a chest containing a POCITE. Go back and continue walking. Watch a short scene, then go on to fight... ONE CAVE SLUDGE Easy fight, although maybe a little drawn-out if you're using Weapon Auras. This thing is strong against both Piercer and Slasher, but it is weak to Fire. Go left and you'll see a CTP Spout. Then go up and curve all the way around into the next screen. Head on up and into the indention, and watch a cutscene. NEW CHARACTER - SCATHA Scatha is a better attacker than Slade, and her attacks have no attribute. Enliven would be a decent healing spell except for the fact that Scatha's Will is so low. Disconcert isn't very useful, but her other moves are. Poisoned Blade will almost always poison, Rip and Tear is a good attack move, and Death Blow is an attack move with a high chance of instant death (Doesn't work on bosses). All of Scatha's moves have that attribute Weapon: Ripping. Go right to the next screen. From the save point, go four squares right and eight squares up. From there hold right until you stop, then go up. There will be a chest containing a STRICITE. Go back out. Continue upward. TWO CAVE SLUDGES Scatha's moves have weapon attributes, so they won't be too useful, but Scatha's regular attack doesn't have that weakness. Continue up to get a chest containing a BLAN ROCK. Exit this room in the top right corner. The first thing you should do here, after the short scene, is switch to Scatha. Have her go up the stairs, turn right, and follow the path to a switch. Step on it and switch to Rhue. Go up and right until you see a switch near the edge of the platform. Step on it and switch back to Scatha. Go up and right and once you're past the spikes, switch back to Rhue. Send Rhue around to the other side of the platform to another switch. Change back to Scatha, and send her through. Pull the lever there and then retrace your steps until Scatha is back to the beginning. Leave Rhue on the center platform though. Once you're above the stairs near the entrance, go left and walk all the way around until both Scatha and Rhue are on the center platform. Put one on each of the two switches, then go up the newly created staircase and pick up a NOVA STONE. Go up the bridge near the top left corner of the center platform and then have Rhue jump on Scatha to get to the above platform. Then step on the switch. After the cutscene, head up into the next area. There will be a red sparkle on one of the rocks in this area. Pick it up for a HEART STONE. On the right side of the screen is a staircase leading up to a chest containing the Defensive Aura MENTAL FLOW. Now go up the main exit of the screen... BOSS - LONG TONGUE Anything goes for this battle. Scatha might want to poison it, because the poison will be very helpful, especially early on. If you're using weapon auras, make good use of Sleeper and Inflow. Rhue's newly acquired Light Mend can be helpful too. It's better than Scatha's Enliven, but Inflow is better. After the battle, head on up to the next area. In the dialogue that follows you'll get the options... "That's a pathetic excuse." -1 Scatha "You're right, it wasn't fair." +1 Scatha "Flower girl could whip you." -2 Scatha "Yea, you'd easily beat her." +2 Scatha After the conversation, go up. Before you turn right, make sure you jump across the gap at the left and go down to learn the Hit All Attack LINE DRIVE. Jump back across and go right to fight... FLIGG The boss from Episode 1 isn't really all that hard anymore. It has no special strengths or weaknesses, so just attack it until it dies. Continue along the path and then go down the staircase into the next area. After a short dialogue, head right. Then go down and into the next screen. After some dialogue, head right. In the next screen you'll run into... RISER Moderately difficult. Risers are strong against fire and weak to air. They're also immune to poison and death blows. They can use Fireball which will set you on fire (Same damage loss as Poison 2 and 80% hit rate). Use air attacks if you have them; if you don't, use something else. Make good use of your healing spells if you need them. Keep on going right. In the next area, head down until you can jump right across the lava. After a short scene, head up and around and up the next staircase. After another scene where the screen flashes white, you'll be in control with a chest in plain view. Go down and open it for a HEART STONE. Then go up and jump the gap. Save your game and get ready for a Plunge. See the Plunge section for details. You'll receive the Blade Art CRIPPLER after winning. In the ensuing cutscene you will be prompted with the following dialogue... "Her looks didn't matter to me." +2 Scatha "No, but it helped." 0 Scatha "I loved her for many reasons." +1 Scatha Afterwards, you'll be in a room. Basically, just wander around aimlessly until Rhue says something. This can be accomplished by A, stepping on four specific squares or B, waiting long enough. Anyway, you'll go through another cutscene and then you'll be back on the surface. Go up and you'll be joined by... NEW CHARACTER - TRAZIUN This time around Traziun is still a good a fighter and he's got two new moves as well. Will Kill will moderately drop enemies' Will. Flash Blam will confuse all enemies slightly, but it costs a lot of XL. Traziun's normal attack now has attributes... Weapon: Piercing and Oneness: Mind. Traziun is weak to blindness and 1/2 will but strong to 1/2 poise, confusion, and helplessness. NEW CHARACTERS - ARGUS AND KIRA Argus and Kira are both solid fighters. Argus has Light Mass Mend, which will be useful, as well as Clear Sight, which will cure blind. Kira has Gash, a piercing attack which can cause moderate bleeding, as well as Tsunami and High Tide, which are moves with attributes Elemental: Water. Neither has attributes on their normal attack. You'll see a sparkle above you immediately afterwards. Go up and check it for a HEART STONE. Head right into the next screen. Here you'll face... THREE LACTARS Once again, these things aren't that hard, they just take awhile to kill. Keep heading right along the path. Eventually you'll reach a cutscene where the group talks about citadels. Go behind the nearby way post and left into the mountain to pick up a HEART STONE. Then go back and keep going right until... BOSS - GUIDED Have Argus keep Drawing XL, and just attack with everyone else. Argus should use Light Mass Mend and everyone else should use moves when they have enough XL. You'll wind up in Matalan Battle Grounds . The first thing to do here is turn right and go up the stairs. Enter the first building you see. Go up the stairs and down the stairs on the other side. Go around the barrels to the left and open up the chest to receive a LYN ROCK. Go back out. Head up until you reach the top right corner of the Grounds. Go down to where you're behind the roof of the house. Then go right as far as you can and down one space. You'll enter into another room. There'll be a chest in the bottom left corner. Start by pushing the farthest right barrel down two squares and then just work from there. You'll reach the chest and get another LYN ROCK. Now go back out and save your game. Go talk the Blood Lyn in the center of the map and get ready to Plunge. Check the Plunge section for details. After the fight, exit the area through the door at the top of the screen. Say you're ready and then watch a cutscene. When you're in control of Rhue again, go left out of the hall and then down. Enter the first door on your right and talk to the guy behind the counter. Ask him for a pillow or a comb. While he's in the back, pick up the uniform from the counter. Go back to your room. Go out of the room and down the hall and talk to the Blood Lyn guarding the door. Go in. Go check the bottle on the nearby table. Say yes and pour some. After that, go talk to the Blood Lyn on the far right and let her have the drink. Go back and pour some more. Then go back and give it to her again. She'll give you a BLAN ROCK. Pour the drink a third time. Shev will run off, so pick up the window key requisition form while he's gone. Go back out and talk to the guy behind the counter. You'll get a window key. Now return to the main hall and go in the upper left door. Check the window, then return to your room and talk to Traziun. Watch the cutscene, save your game, and that's the end of Episode 3. Your stats at the end of Episode 3 should be: HP: 87 :HP XL: 9 :XL Focus: 21 :Focus Will: 15 :Will Poise: 18 :Poise Plunge: 8 :Plunge Damage Threshold: 14 :Damage Threshold Critical Hit%: 3 :Critical Hit% Critical Strength: 3 :Critical Strength Strides: 5 :Strides Cross Link%: 5 :Cross Link% Lunge Link%: 5 :Lunge Link% Drop Link% 5 :Drop Link% Classification: Corlyn *NOTE: These stats assume that you've absorbed all of your Notch Items. There will probably be a few you haven't absorbed yet, but once again, you'll probably absorb them at the beginning of Episode 4. ---The Way Episode 4: Words to a Lovely Sonng (SW4)--- Watch the initial cutscene. NEW CHARACTER - KLOE Kloe is a pretty good fighter. Her moves haven't changed this time around. The only thing to make note of is that her normal attack now has the attribute of Oneness: Flesh and her attacks have a 5% chance of paralyzing enemies. Kloe has the same condition weaknesses as before. First, go left until you reach a chest containing a STRICITE. Nearby, you'll fight... GREEN CRAWLER A simple battle. Just keep attacking until its HP is gone. It really doesn't have enough power to actually do any serious damage to you, but if it does, use Rhue's Light Mend or Inflow to heal. Also note that it is weak to the Slasher Aura. Go back right until you reach the save point, from the space above the save point, hold left until you can't continue, go down one space, and the hold left again. You'll come out in an area with a chest containing a LYN ROCK. Go back out. Continue right as far as you can go, then up a little a bit to reach a chest with a BLAN ROCK. Go left of the chest a ways and you will reach CTP Spout. Go down and left until you reach the far left wall. There will be a CTP Spout behind a lone tree nearby (It will probably be the tree adjacent to the left wall directly above you). Head up and rightward to fight... TWO CREEN CRAWLERS A little bit more difficult than a single Green Crawler, but still easy. The same strategies apply. Continue all the way to right wall, and up again and you will eventually come to a chest containing a POCITE. Go back down and take the upper left route. You'll fight... ANGRY CRAWLER Tougher than the Green Crawler, but the same strategies apply. Follow it around until you reach a CTP Spout. From there, head left and then down-left. Follow the lower left path all the way around to find a chest containing a HEART STONE. Go back out to where the CTP Spout was. Head up-left and follow that path to another chest. Open it for a WICITE. Head back to where the CTP Spout was again. This time, take the middle-left path all the way to the left. There will be a CTP Spout behind a tree below you. Head up into the next area. Immediately head up. There should be a path from the left into the first patch of trees you see. Follow it and you'll reach a chest containing a HEART STONE. Go back out and go left as far as you can. Then go up and right and up again. Head toward the left side of there map and there will be a CTP Spout. Go back right, up and, and right and you'll see another CTP Spout. From there, go down and then right until you see a save point. Go up until you see a CTP Spout and a chest containing a FOCITE. Both are relatively easy to get to. Continue up to the top of the screen and you'll find a chest. Open it for another HEART STONE. Head back down and take the left path. A CTP Spout will come into view at the top of the screen. From there, go down and a little bit right to pick up a chest with a SOUL STONE. Go up, left, and down and you'll see a CTP Spout on the left side of the screen. To the right of the Spout will be a narrow vertical path. Take it and go directly down as far as you can. Then go up one space and hold left. Rhue will enter into a small grove with a chest holding a DROP STONE (DROP LINK% +5). Go back out and then head down and right. At the end of the path will be another CTP Spout. Then go up and left until you reach the exit to the next area (Make sure to save your game). After a cutscene you'll be in a Plunge. Check the Plunge section for details. Save your game and then get ready to play a mini-game. If you successfully complete this mini-game, you'll gain FOCUS +2, POISE +2, WILL +2, STRIDES +1, and learn the Blade Art FENSHU. So, you really don't want to skip this one. After you're in control again, go on up and into the building. Talk to the purple-haired girl on the right side of the screen to get the following dialogue... "Get it yourself." -1 Sorya "What will you give me if I do?" "Works for me." +1 Sorya "That won't cut it." -1 Sorya "Why don't you fetch me a drink?" -2 Sorya "My pleasure." +2 Sorya Then, head on up into the next room. Go up the stairs and watch a cutscene. Once you're in control again, leave the building. Head right, down, up the first staircase, and right again. Go down, down the first staircase you see, and continue down along the path. Head left and up and you'll see Lexus. Talk to her. When you're in control yet again, just head left a looong way until you reach a place with double doors and guy standing out front. Go in. Talk to the barkeeper guy on the right. Then go down the stairs. Step down to the dance floor and say you're ready to dance. It doesn't really matter how well you do here, you'll just get different comments from Lexus, no stats or Notch Items. Afterwards, you'll have a fight, which is just another mini-game. Note that if you hit Lexus, it's game over. Win the fight and you'll pick up FOCUS +5. Head right into the next room. Follow the pathway and you'll see a chest containing a LYN ROCK. Then, go to the next room and watch another cutscene. When you have control again, head out and go the same way as last time. You'll be "warped" in front of the Courthouse. Go in. After a few seconds one of the receptionists will be free. Talk to her. After a rather long cutscene... NEW CHARACTER - DIRK Dirk is one lousy fighter. That's all there is to say. Earth Whisper is a moderately decent move, but it doesn't work that often. Dust Devil is about as weak as Dirk's regular attack, but it has a chance of blinding. Valentine is one good feature about Dirk. If he uses it, all female companions in the party will regain all of their health, even if they're dead. Dirk also has Revive, but it costs more XL than he'll probably be having most of the time. His normal attacks have the Elemental: Water attribute. It is also notable that Dirk is either strong or immune to every condition except death blows (which he is normal against) and sleep (which he's weak to. He's an old man, what do you expect?) Head up into the main area. In the top right corner will be a chest containing a SOUL STONE. Then, go left. In the next room, you'll fight... GUTWING-X A moderately difficult battle. Have Rhue and Kloe keep attacking and use moves when they have the XL. Dirk can either attack or use Draw and try to use moves. Either way, he probably won't be dealing much damage. Use Valentine if Kloe's health gets too low or she dies, and have Rhue or Kloe use Light Mend if needed. The Gutwing-X is strong against the Slasher Aura as well. Kill all the Gutwings, then head on deeper into the mine. In the second area, there will be a CTP Spout on the left side of the map, under the overhang. Go down. Pick up a LELL ROCK (CRITICAL STRENGTH +1) from the chest, get the next CTP Spout, then head back. Go to Sector 2, watch a short scene, then go on to Sector 3. There will be a HEART STONE in a chest in the next area. Continue on. The next area contains another hidden CTP Spout, this one in the top left corner. Head on down and get ready to fight... BOSS - SPANSA The Spansa is not strong or weak to any attributes, although it is a little bit stronger than most monsters to a lot of condition changes. It probably won't be that hard to beat in a straight-up battle though. Use Valentine or Light Mend when you need to and you'll be fine. And, of course, if you have enough XL with any character, make good use of it. Afterwards you'll be in a cutscene with the following dialogue... "Give in grudgingly." -1 Kloe "Give in neutrally." 0 Kloe "Give in pleasantly." +1 Kloe "That was never my intent..." -1 Kloe "I'm glad I helped you, but..." +1 Kloe "I couldn't leave you to die." +3 Kloe "I didn't save you." 0 Kloe "Yes." +1 Rhue "No." -2 Rhue "I haven't thought about it." -1 Rhue When you're in control again, Rhue'll be in his new room, complete with a save point and everything. Anyway, exit the room and go pick up your message from the front desk. Head outside and follow the same path you did when going to meet Lexus, except instead of turning left to go to the Cafe, keep going downward until you reach the park. After a short cutscene... NEW CHARACTER - STOYKO Stoyko is a good character all-around. His attacks pack good damage, and he has good moves as well. Light Mass Mend is good for healing, Concentration can help increase attack power, Leg Lash has a chance of halving Poise, and Psycho Stab can deal heavy damage, as you know if you've used it with Rhue. Stoyko's attacks don't have an attribute and he is very weak to blindness. Go right and fight... THREE BLUE SCARVES They're wannabe gang members and they're apparently wannabe fighters too. Strong to nothing and weak to nothing, you're in for a solid fight and chances are you'll win with ease. Stoyko's got Light Mass Mend in case you run into trouble. Keep on going right, then head up and right some more. Enter the house with the save point next to it. You'll be prompted with the dialogue... "Seat across from Stoyko." 0 Sorya "Seat across from Sorya." +1 Sorya Nothing you say in the next tree will affect anything, then... "This will be easy." +1 Sorya "There's nothing to worry about." +1 Sorya "Seems boring." 0 Sorya "This sucks." -1 Sorya After a cutscene, you'll end up at the marketplace. Save your game, just in case you accidentally do something wrong here. First of all, don't talk to or even run into any of the people moving around shopping. Okay, talk to the merchant in the yellow hat. He'll offer you a Heart Stone for 50 seru. Next head up and left and talk to the foreign guys there. Talk to the guy on bottom, then talk to the guy on top. Ask him if his accent is fake and tell him that Jacques told you it was. Then tell Jacques that Marco said he was a big whiny baby. After the ensuing fight, go loot the sleeping guy to your right. Then go right and talk to the blue-haired servant girl. Go back and talk to the yellow hat merchant again to pick up your HEART STONE. Then go to the top right corner and talk to the guy on the left. Say "I have a complaint." and "This is going to take awhile..." Afterwards, Sorya will give you a STRICITE, a BLAN ROCK, and a LYN ROCK. First, head down from the shack and you'll see a CTP Spout. Now it's time to go back to the marketplace. This can be accomplished by going left a ways, up through the inner city gate, and then right and up until you get there. Go up to Ansgar and get ready to Plunge. See the Plunge section for details on the fight. Win it and you'll receive the LANNER Blade Art. In the morning, head out and up into the arena. Go up into the stands and talk to Rhan for a STRICITE. Then, head up toward Traziun and a cutscene will begin. Once you're in control again, save and exit the room. It's Plunge time. See the Plunge section for details. Win and you'll receive CROSS LINK% +5. After a cutscene, you'll receive the dialogue tree... "No thanks." -1 Sorya "No, I've got a bout coming up." 0 Sorya "Yes, but I've got a match soon." +1 Sorya Afterwards, head on up and get ready to Plunge again. See the Plunge section for details (again). Win and you'll receive the DUST SPRAY Blade Art. You'll then hit the dialogue... "Yea, I was." -1 Rhue "Not really." +1 Lexus, +1 Rhue "I'm glad you think so." +2 Lexus You'll have to choose between a Lexus point and a Rhue point. If you like Lexus, go with the third option. If not, go ahead and take the Rhue point. Unless of course you're trying to lower your Rhue score as much as possible or something weird like that. Then you'll hit... "(Look sad)" +1 Lexus "(Look unemotional)" 0 Lexus "(Look smug)" -1 Lexus And then... "seen lots of dead bodies." 0 Rhue "seen more dead bodies than you." 0 Rhue "killed people before." "(Smile wide)" -2 Rhue "(Smile a little)" -1 Rhue "(Unemotional)" 0 Rhue "(Frown)" 0 Rhue "killed lots of people." "(Smile wide)" -2 Rhue "(Smile a little)" -1 Rhue "(Unemotional)" 0 Rhue "(Frown)" 0 Rhue And then you'll finally be in control again. Go right into the next room and down the hallway. In the first room you encounter, you'll fight... SHADOW LORDS A AND B Each of these guys is slightly different. Shadow Lord A has more Focus, Defense, and Poise, while B has more HP, MP, and Will. Shadow Lord A can use Eye Strike and Long Slash. Shadow Lord B can use Moderate Mass Mend. Both are weak to the Air attribute. After the fight, head on down to the next room. There'll be paths leading off to the left and down. Go down. In the next room you'll see two chests. Open 'em up for a POCITE and a FOCITE. Go back up and take the left path. Follow the pathway and then you'll watch a cutscene. After the cutscene, head out and into the next room. In the dialogue... "Proceed with the plan." 0 Sorya "Mount a rescue mission." +1 Sorya Go back out and then take the right path. The first room you come to will hold a chest containing a LELL ROCK. Go down. Follow the path. You'll come to a cutscene... NEW CHARACTER - RED ZERO Red Zero's moves are flat-out terrible. She can only get XL by taking it from the other party members (You can actually circumvent this by using Rhue's X-Life Exchange, which he learns at Air Edge Level 3). She also has a move used for healing, but it hurts the other party members as well. Photosynthesis will heal HP without harming friendly party members, but 2 turns of inactivity for such mediocre healing is hardly worthwhile. Thorn of the Rose costs 5 XL, but the problem is, 5 XL takes forever to attain and takes away that much from every party member. Not only that, but it's not a very strong attack and deals heavy damage to friendly party members. So basically, the only moves Red Zero should be using are Purge and Blossom if she needs to heal or recover HP. On the other hand, Red Zero IS a fairly good fighter. Her attacks have no attribute. Red Zero is strong to soreness, confounding, and disablement. BOSS - ????? This zombie thing has no particular strengths or weaknesses. It can level 3 poison all of your party members (about 60% chance of success on each party member, barring Rhue's use of Flows). Level 3 poison will take off 6% of your health each turn. It also has a move that can halve everyone's XL. The next room has 6 chests. This room is actually a puzzle. If you open up the correct chests, a door will appear at the top of the screen leading to a treasure room. If you want to figure out the puzzle yourself, you can get the information you need from reading the swords at the top of the screen. Otherwise, open up all three chests on the left and the middle chest on the right. Head up into the newly opened room to pick up a CROSS STONE (CROSS LINK% +5). Head down and into the next area. Open up the chest immediately to your right for a LUNGE STONE (LUNGE LINK% +5). Head down into the following room. You'll fight... SHADOW LORDS A, B, AND C Shadow Lords A and B are the same as the previous battle. For some reason, Shadow Lord C is immune to death blows and level 1 confusion. Shadow Lord C has Eye Strike, Moderate Mend, and Flame Shield (which cures burning and ups defense against Fire attacks). However, his stats are all-around lower than the other Shadow Lords, except for his Poise, which is much higher. Shadow Lord C is also not weak against Air, as the other Shadow Lords are. Keep going down. You'll come to a room with a staircase and a chest holding a KRITAR SHELL (CRITICAL HIT% +1). Head up the stairs. Open up the chest directly in front of you and pick up a GOLD STONE (LEARN NEW HIT-ALL ATTACK). Note that if you absorb this (and you have Line Drive), you will learn Hurricane Cut, which is an incredible move. Head outside and face... SHADOW LORDS A, B, C, and D This is the whole Shadow Lord army in one big group. Shadow Lord D has high Defense and Poise, medium HP and Will, Low MP and an abysmal Focus rating. He can also use the move Light Mass Mend (To further increase the Shadow Lords' healing potential). Like Shadow Lord C, he is immune to death blows and level 1 confusion. Also, he is terribly weak to Air attacks (even more so than Shadow Lords A and B). Follow the path into the next area. You'll fight. BOSS - TWO ENHANCED SHADOW LORDS Both of these guys are immune to death blows and level 1 confusion. Both are weak to air. The second guy (we'll call him ESL2) is extremely weak to all Weapon type attacks except for Ripping. He's even weak to the Weapon attribute category (Note that Rhue's Line Charge and Driver moves will KILL this guy... ok, it'll take two hits). ESL1 has a little more Focus and slightly less Will than ESL2, otherwise they're equal. ESL1 will use Leg Lash, Sleeper, Mind Worm, and Eye Strike. ESL2 will use Spin Blade, Fireball, Sweet Wind, Gash, and Long Slash. This is a fairly easy battle. After the fight, you'll see the dialogue option... "(Hurry to Sorya)" +2 Sorya "(Hurry after Jopaga)" +1 Sorya, +1 Lexus, STRICITE "(Check on Stoyko)" 0 Sorya "(Check on Red Zero)" +1 Lexus Obviously, you should choose (Hurry after Jopaga) unless you are either crazy about Sorya or you deliberately don't want a Stricite. After the ensuing cutscene, head all the way back the way you came in to the room with the powder on the table to the left. Head through the right exit. Follow the path and turn up at the fork. In the following room, open up the chest at the top of the screen for a STRICITE. Search one of the dead bodies for a key and then head back out. Fight a quick battle and after some dialogue, head back to the room with Sorya and the lever. Watch a short scene. Then head down to the bridge (take the lower path at the fork) and cross it. Once you reach the room with the injured Arastotzi, head right. The next area will contain two chests, holding a LUNGE STONE and a SILVER STONE (LEARN NEW HIT-ONE ATTACK). Go down from there and follow the path. Eventually... BOSS - JOPAGA AND HENCHMEN You already know about Shadow Lords A and B. Jopaga himself is a pretty average fighter. He is weak only to water and is strong against most conditions. However, the only condition he is immune to is Frozen. He has Poison Gas (Poison level 2 on all party members), Formula 5 (Prone on single party member), Confound wave (Confounding level 4 on single party member), XL Halve (Half XL on all party members), and Dust Devil (Blinding level 2 on all party members). All in all, it's not a hard battle. In the ensuing cutscene, Rhue will gain the Defensive Auras SOUL GLOW and RED SHINE. Once you're in control again, head out and then down and right into the next room. You'll then enter into another cutscene. There'll be a dialogue, but nothing you say affects anything important. Once you're finally in control again (for real this time), head out of your room and over toward Alan. Talk to him and he'll give you a LYN ROCK. Afterwards, head up into the arena. You'll then watch a cutscene. Rhue will tell a story about Serena. In this story you can customize Serena's likeness to the girls you meet in the game. Note that these choices don't affect the actual relationship (+1 Kloe here does not give you +1 Kloe Point, just +1 to Serena's likeness to Kloe). "Sad and Crying." +1 Lyrra, +1 Kloe "Visibly angry." +1 Scatha, +1 Cetsa "Quite calm." +1 Lexus "Verbally warn the cat." +1 Lexus "Ignore the situation." +1 Scatha "Take the cat with her." +1 Lyrra "Take the flowers with her." +1 Kloe, +1 Cetsa "But Serena took the bridge." +1 Lyrra "Serena jumped it before me." +1 Cetsa, +1 Scatha, +1 Lexus "Serena jumped after I did." +1 Kloe "Attacked without warning." +1 Scatha, +1 Cetsa "Threatened to hurt them." +1 Kloe, +1 Lexus "Tried peaceful persuasion." +1 Lyrra Here all you can do is pick the girl you like best. The cutscene will continue. You'll run into the dialogue... "I still feel really bad about it." +1 Lexus "Well, you lost anyways." -1 Lexus "Thanks for understanding." 0 Lexus And the cutscene will end. Head out and into the room on the bottom left. Go through the door at the top of the room. The next area will hold three chests. They contain a MEND STONE, a HEART STONE, and a SOUL STONE. Then go down the stairs. You'll fight... YOUNG BLOOD LYN It's weak to attacks of the Air attribute. It also has Leg Lash, which can halve your Poise, and Head Shot, which can stun you. Go into the next room. NEW CHARACTER - SLADE This time Slade's got Moderate Mend in addition to Light Mass Mend. His Focus is very high, and his attacks still have the Transcendent: Shadow attribute. Slade has a very unique style for using skills. From the start he can use Civil Servant and Loner, each of which yields a tree of new techs. The Civil Servant skill will teach Slade HP Transfer (Gives HP to allies) and X-Life Exchange (Gives XL to allies) as well as enabling Civil Savior. Civil Savior will allow Slade to learn Panacea (Cure all conditions) and Revive (Heal death). Once you use Civil Servant, Loner is no longer available (until you shift your Aura back to normal). Loner disables Civil Servant and teaches Slade Rejuvenate 2 (An effective self-healing spell) and enables Self Righteous. Self Righteous will give Slade Resurrection, an interesting spell that allows Slade to revive himself, and Cruel and Unusual, a heavy-hitting attack that can cause helplessness. The practicality of any of these techniques is questionable, though, because of the amount of XL required to obtain and use them. Slade is strong against numbness. REGULAR BLOOD LYN, TWO YOUNG BLOOD LYN The Regular Blood Lyn is the same as the Young Blood Lyn, except it is slightly stronger in all stats and has Long Slash and Inflow instead of Leg Lash and Head Shot. After the battle... "A good friend of mine." +2 Kloe "A friend of mine." +1 Kloe "an acquaintance." 0 Kloe After the cutscene, open up the two obvious chests for a LYN ROCK and a HEART STONE. In the next room, go up and check out the chest there for a HEART STONE. Go into the door and then exit at the bottom left. You'll run into... TWO REGULAR BLOOD LYN, YOUNG BLOOD LYN Same old, same old. Keep going downward. Follow the path all the way around to a room with switches, all in the up position. Open up the nearby chest for a HEART STONE. Then set the switches in the position ^v^^v. Go through the door into the next area. Keep walking until you reach a cavelike area. There'll be a chest containing a STRICITE right in front of you. Head up. You'll reach a fork. Follow it all the way around to a chest containing a CROSS STONE. Don't head back yet, though. Jump down from the ledge you're on and then enter into the wall at the left. Inside this room will be a chest containing a STRICITE (You'll receive the Fenshu Blade Art instead if you skipped the Running from the Blood Lyn game). Now jump back and head all the way back to the fork. Take the right path. You'll quickly reach another fork, this one with pathways leading up and right. Go right this time. Follow this path all the way around to two chests that contain a LELL ROCK and a DROP STONE. Head back and take the middle path. Enter into the next area... BOSS - ELITE BLOOD LYN, VETERAN BLOOD LYN, REGULAR BLOOD LYN The Elite and Veteran Blood Lyn are not weak to the Air attribute like the Regular Blood Lyn is. The Veteran Blood Lyn is stronger than the Regular Blood Lyn and has the Enrage technique (Berserk level 2, single ally). The Elite Blood Lyn is even stronger and instead has the Confuser technique (Confusion level 1, single ally). Both Rhue and Slade have healing skills in case your HP gets low and Slade can take one of the Aura pathways in order to get better moves, so there really isn't any reason to lose this battle. After the battle, just head up into the next area and watch a cutscene. Once you're in control, head right and up through the arch. After another cutscene, you'll be in the empty house. Head up to the leftmost door, then go left behind the counter. Next to the wall you'll pick up a BLAN ROCK. This house requires you to follow a sequence of events leading to unlocking the secret passage. First, go and turn off the sink. Then go left and use the knife to clean off the key. After that, open up the rightmost door. Try to get the papers off the bookcase. Then go back and pick up the stool off the ground (near where the knife was). Then go back and get the papers. Go check out the mirror to read the paper. Then look at the left side of the fireplace. Look at the top left suit of armor, then go and pick up the towlet off the wall next to the rightmost door. Go back and use it on the armor. Then open up the door at the left. Go into the bed and into the left side and you'll receive a LYN ROCK. Pick up the nearby jug and then go back and fill it up with water at the sink. Use that to put out the fire. You can then exit the area. Follow the path. Once inside the mansion, head to the top left corner of the room. There will be a chest containing a HEART STONE. Go up the stairs. Enter into the door closest to you. You'll go into a room with a star shape in the center. Head out the right side. After a cutscene, leave the mansion. In the following cutscene... "Kloe in bed, Rhue on floor." +2 Kloe, +1 Sorya "Share the bed. No touching!" +1 Kloe, 0 Sorya "Kloe on floor, Rhue in bed." -1 Kloe, -1 Sorya After the cutscene, head down and then left into the next area. There'll be two chests. One will contain a HEART STONE and the other a LELL ROCK. Continue left... VIGILANTE GUARD No strengths, no weaknesses, no special moves. This battle is as solid as they come. Keep following the pathway. You'll end up in a room with a staircase and a chest containing a KRITAR SHELL. Go up the staircase. Head right into the next room. ... Once you're in control again, you'll be in Estrana at night time. There are three places where you're able to catch a quick glimpse of Lexus's ghost. The first is near the top of Estrana, just to the left of the marketplace (on the ledge just above the market to the left). The second is above the marketplace and to the right, up and right from the grave of Shera. The third is just to the right of the Val Parra Cafe, left of some boxes. Head up to the marketplace. Rosmar will be waiting right where you Plunged Ansgar. Talk to him and get ready to Plunge. Check out the Plunge section for details. If you win you'll receive the BURNING EDGE Blade Art. Now head all the was to the west side of town and enter into the Arm of Estrana. Afterwards, head back to the Casino and go into Rhue's room. In the morning, head out of Rhue's room. Watch the final cutscene of Episode 4. Your stats at the end of Episode 4 should be: HP: 120 :HP XL: 15 :XL Focus: 32 :Focus Will: 19 :Will Poise: 24 :Poise Plunge: 14 :Plunge Damage Threshold: 20 :Damage Threshold Critical Hit%: 5 :Critical Hit% Critical Strength: 7 :Critical Strength Strides: 13 :Strides Cross Link%: 20 :Cross Link% Lunge Link%: 15 :Lunge Link% Drop Link% 15 :Drop Link% Classification: Portalyn *NOTE: These stats assume that you've absorbed all of your Notch Items. There will probably be a few you haven't absorbed yet, but once again, you'll probably absorb them at the beginning of Episode 5. ---The Way Episode 5: Everyone Must Bleed ((SW5)--- Walk up into the arena and get ready to Plunge (and lose). If you can survive six passes before you fall, you will receive FOCUS +3. Once you're in control, leave the room you're in. After a talk with Strata, head out and into the Casino lobby. Talk to the Arastotzi there, then go and talk to the Arastotzi in the event room. After that, go back to the room above Rhue's first room (the door just left of the door you first came out of) and talk to the Arastotzi there. Then go just southwest of the Val Parra Cafe. There'll be a house with a white pile of something in front of it. Go in. Once you have control again, head back up to the Casino lobby and then go to Rhue's room. Step out on the balcony. You can jump to the balcony of the room above you. Go in. There will be two chests there, containing TWO HEART STONES. Go back out and then enter the arena the way you came out. Head up into the main arena. NEW CHARACTER - KLOE Kloe's fighting abilities are much better than in Episode 4. As far as skills go, nothing has changed. Kloe's attacks still have the attribute Oneness: Flesh, and she still has a 5% chance of paralyzing foes on each attack. Kloe has the same condition weaknesses as before. You'll fight... TWO YOUNG BLOOD LYN They're the same as in Episode 4. And then... TWO ESCORT BLOOD LYN They're the same as the Regular Blood Lyn from Episode 4, except their stats are quite a bit higher. And then... TWO DEFENDER BLOOD LYN Nearly the same as the Veteran Blood Lyn in Episode 4. They're stats are a little bit higher and they now have the skill Blue Flame in addition to Enrage. This battle might actually give you some trouble. And finally... BOSS - DARK LYN You really aren't supposed to win this battle. See if you can survive until Turn 7, though, when you automatically lose. There's not any bonus for doing so this time though. The Dark Lyn is strong to nothing, weak to nothing, and has some vicious attacks. You might just want to defend until you have enough XL to put it under a condition (Prone, for example). Once you're in control again, head down and right. Below you there will be two kids talking to each other. Talk to them. Then go up and right and talk to another kid hiding behind a house. Tell him about his "friends" and he will give you a HEART STONE. Then go down and talk to the Paradan blocking the path. Head right and up the nearby staircase. BOSS - SLADE No strengths, no weaknesses, no special movies. Victory is impossible. Can you last the maximum six turns? NEW CHARACTER - CETSA Cetsa's fighting style is the same as Red Zero from Episode 4. Her moves are much more potent than those of Red Zero, however. XL Loan will take 1 XL from all allies, but instead of adding 1 XL to Cetsa, it will add 2. Blossom and Photosynthesis are now effective healing moves. Thorn of the Rose is still a poor attack move, but it can cause conditions upon all enemies and is now much, much more practical due to the fact that XL is easier to come by. Winsome Smile can heal any ally's conditions (including Death), but it costs 4 XL. Cetsa's attacks have no attribute but have a 10% chance of halving Poise. Cetsa is strong to many conditions but weak to berserk. Go down. In the next room, you will fight... MESHER Incredibly weak to the Piercer Aura, but strong to the Slasher and Air Edge Auras. Rip Claw has an 50% chance of halving focus and Blue Scent has a 50% of level 3 confounding. Turn left. The next room will contain a chest holding a POCITE. Keep following the path. When you reach the room where Lexus died, go up the stairs. You'll fight... TWO MESHERS The same as one Mesher, only difficult this time. Open up the chests in the top left corner for a FOCITE, a WICITE, and a POCITE. Then head outside through the bottom door. There are a number of Notch Items to be found in the ruins of Estrana. First, go right, cross a bridge, and then go down the staircase below the dead Guided. Enter the nearby small house and you'll get a HEART STONE. Go left. You'll fight... PALBROY AND MESHER The Palbroy has no special strengths or weaknesses. Its Spike and particularly its Exploder attacks are very dangerous. Take these things out first. Go left and jump the gap. Enter into the nearby house for a LYN ROCK. Jump back. Go up and follow the pathway to another empty house. Check out the mirror and after a short scene you'll receive a HEART STONE. Go back out and follow the path to the right. Go across the bridge. Walk up and enter into the left doorway for a DROP STONE. Then go right and open up the chest for a CROSS STONE. Then go down and check out the rightmost grave for a STRICITE. Head back across the bridge and go down. Follow the path left to where you jumped over the gap earlier. Head down and go down the stairs. Turn right and go into the first building you see for a STRICITE. Continue along the path until you reach three chests containing a LUNGE STONE, a DROP STONE, and a CROSS STONE. Go down and right. Talk to Dirk. NEW CHARACTER - DIRK Dirk is really pretty much the same as in Episode 4. His attacks are still Elemental: Water. Dirk has the same condition strengths and weaknesses as before. Go back left, past two sets of stairs leading up, and enter the burning building nearest the save point. Go up and talk to Kloe... BOSS - SHPASSA Rhue probably won't be able to do much damage here. The Shpassa is strong to the Piercer Aura, but weak to Slasher. It is also strong to all Elemental Auras (including the Elemental category). That means Dirk's attacks are weak to it. It can use Tail Sweep and stun your party as well as Confound Wave. It also has a move called Big Chomp which deals moderate damage and causes soreness. The Shpassa is as weak as any regular monster to proneness, though. Go down and left. Enter the leftmost door for a WICITE. Head back to where you met Dirk. Before you jump down though, go up and follow the path to a chest containing a DROP STONE. Jump the gap just above you and the continue upward until you find a LELL ROCK. Now go back to where Dirk was and jump down. Head down and right and enter the non-burning building there. Open the brown chests for TWO HEART STONES and a STRICITE. Exit the building and go left. THREE BLOWBEAKS Weak to the Piercer Aura and normal against the other three. Swoop Spike is a dangerous attack that these things will pull off. It deals good damage to everyone in your party and has a chance of stunning you as well. Go down. TWO MESHERS, PALBROY, BLOWBEAK The best plan of action here is to take out the Blowbeak first. Then take out the Palbroy and the Meshers. If you save the Blowbeak for last, its stunning could cost you the battle. Pick up the CROSS STONE from the nearby chest. Continue left and jump the gap. THREE PALBROYS Watch out for their Exploder move. Otherwise, these guys just have a bunch of HP and are annoying to kill. Keep heading left. You'll eventually see a bucket in a secluded area above you. You may want to know that this bucket, although it is unreachable, contains a Cross Stone. Oh well. Continue left and go up as far as you can. There'll be a chest containing a CROSS STONE above you. Go back down and continue left. Follow the path until... BOSS - SCYTH The Scyth is VERY weak to the Weapon attribute, especially Piercing. It is strong to Prone, so go ahead and use Triple Slash on it (Triple Slash has attributes Weapon, Piercing, Slashing, Smashing, and Ripping). It can cause XL-seeps, confuse you, blind you, and steal your XL. It's weak to blindness, so Dirk should use Dust Devil on it as well. Not a hard battle if you use the right moves. Continue going up and exit through the door there. After the cutscene, go down and check out the sparkle for a HEART STONE. Go right into the next area. You'll fight... TWO PADAPRAXI They're strong against poison but weak to halved attributes, freezing, burning, and berserk. They can use Webshot, which will make you prone, and Poisonous Bite, which will cause level 2 poison. Continue rightward, but before you go into the next area, go left and follow the path to a LYN ROCK and STRICITE. Then go to the next area. After a short scene, go right and zigzag up the cliff face. Before the final zig, though, go right as far as you can and you'll pick up a BLAN ROCK. Continue to the next area. And then into the next area. TWO CHARGERS No strengths or weaknesses. They're Charge skill has the power to stun your entire party though so watch out. Go down and jump two gaps to the left. On the other side will be a chest containing a LYN ROCK. Go back across and up. Enter the tent. You'll be in a Plunge. Check out the Plunge section for details. Afterwards, you'll be in another Plunge. Once again, see the Plunge section. You'll eventually come to the dialogue... "Say something to boy" "Don't take that, kill that witch" -1 Rhue "Don't listen to that witch" 0 Rhue "Listen to your mother boy" 0 Rhue "Remain silent" 0 Rhue Once you have control of Rhue again, head down, left through the door and back to the Shadow Inn. Go in, talk to some people if you want, then leave. In the following cutscene, you will gain the Sword Auras ILLUMINATE, PANDAMAARE, HATASSASAR, and AIONSLUH. You will also gain the Defensive Auras BLAZE, AQUIFER, DUST BOWL, and ATMOSPHERE. After the cutscene is finally over... NEW CHARACTER - SCATHA All of Scatha's moves should be familiar from Episode 3 except for The Woman Within. When Scatha uses this, she will lose the skills Disconcert, Poisoned Blade, and Death Blow. She will instead gain Moderate Mend, Moderate Mass Mend, X-Life Transfer, and Revive. So basically you get to choose whether Scatha is a fighter or a healer. Scatha's attacks have the attribute Weapon: Ripping and Oneness: Flesh and have a 5% chance of causing instantaneous death. Scatha is immune to poison. When Scatha shifts her Aura to "Woman Within", there is a 1 in 49 chance that you will receive a HEART STONE. This is a very annoying Heart Stone to obtain.* Note that you'll have Scatha for 55 battles, and that after the Carsavoran there will be exactly 49 battles. If you use The Woman Within once in every battle, you should pick up the Heart Stone. Luck could go either way though. *At the time of writing (January 22, 2005), there are a few bugs with obtaining this Heart Stone. Firstly, when fighting the Carsavoran, there is a 1 in 21 chance of success instead of a 1 in 49 chance. Secondly, there are some battles where, if you successfully obtain the correct random number, you will get the message saying you have received the Heart Stone, but you won't actually receive it. If this happens, you will be unable to obtain the stone because the game thinks you have already gotten it. These battles are any battles that include one or more of the following enemies: Lapizua, Slaughterbug, Payutac, Hack Jaw, and Forest Fang. Head right. DEFENDER BLOOD LYN AND TWO ESCORTS They're the same as before, so no need to go into detail. Keep going right. Eventually you'll arrive at a room containing THREE WICITES, a POCITE, and a BLAN ROCK. Keep going right. After a cutscene, head up the stairs. Make sure you save your game, because you're about to fight... BOSS - CARSAVORAN Is that not the coolest boss name ever? Anyway, the Carsavoran is strong to nearly every condition in the book, except for berserk and XL-seeps. It's weak to Atoma (Aionsluh) and normal to everything else. Flame Breath can set you on fire, Dragon Eyes can paralyze you, Ground Stomp can make you prone, and Tail Swing can deal you some serious damage. Dirk will probably be able to blind it with Dust Devil, and Rhue might be able to make it prone, but otherwise, there's no easy way out of this battle. Use Winsome Smile, Valentine, or Revive if your characters fall. Note that the Carsavoran is immune to death blows, poison, and 1/2poise, so none of Scatha's status-changing moves will have any effect. After the fight and a cutscene, you'll be in Estrana. Step through the teleporter and go right. After you pick up Midian, go down and right a ways, jump the gap, and continue right as far as you can go. The house you're looking for will have a save point nearby. Go in. After you're in control again, it'll be the first time you've ever been in control of a character other than Rhue. NEW CHARACTER - TRAZIUN Traziun is now a powerhouse. He's gonna be needing that power, too, if you look at the enemies he has to fight. Anyway, everything is the same as before except that his stats are much higher and he has two new moves. His first new move, Rejuvenate 3, has replaced Rejuvenate. Rejuve 3 is an extremely effective self-healing spell. Signature Slash is basically a replica of Rhue's Hurricane Cut, except about 5 times better. It will make enemies prone and dish out an incredible amount of damage. Unfortunately it'll take 6 turns and/or Draws in order for Traziun to have enough XL to use it. Even with the high XL cost, it's worth it. Trziun is immune to poison, stun, paralysis, confounding, confusion, and helplessness. He's also strong to sleep, numbness, soreness, disablement, berserk, XL-seeps, halved poise and defense, freezing, and burning. As far as attributes go, he's strong to everything except Transcendent attacks. He is weak to nothing. You'll immediately fight... TWO ELITE BLOOD LYN Easy battle. These things have no strengths and weaknesses, and the only skill they can use is Confuser, which causes level 1 confusion on your party. It's just too bad that Traziun is immune to confusion. Save your game and head down... BLOOD LYN BRIGADE Fun stuff, fun stuff. Just use Draw until you have enough XL to use a Signature Slash. If you're running low on HP, Rejuvenate 3 can remedy the situation. Two Sig Slashes should take these guys down. Walk right. TWO DARK LYN The thing that owned Rhue and Kloe is back, and Traziun's about to kill two of them. Make good use of Signature Slash and Rejuvenate 3. And try to defend when they use Apocalypse, if at all possible. After some cutscene, you'll be in control of Rhue. NEW CHARACTER - DIRK I just wanted to point out that Dirk's Dust Devil attack has been replaced by Tornado, a much stronger version (and it costs the same amount of XL!). Tornado deals a lot more damage and causes level 3 blindness instead of level 2 blindness. Go left and up. Once you can go right, go right all the way to a chest containing TWO HEART STONES. Follow the path up and around. Eventually you'll arrive at a chest containing TWO POCITES. Continue downward. Once you come to an open area... PADAPRAX AND CHARGER I'd recommend taking out the Charger first. Go left and you'll see a chest containing TWO WICITES. Head up and left. There will be a place where you can jump over the gap. On the other side, open up the chest for a STRICITE. Jump back across and continue upward. When you arrive at a fork with paths leading left and down, take the left route. Go up and curve right for a chest with a CROSS STONE. Go back around and take the lower fork. Follow the path to the next area. Here, just follow the path. There'll be a chest to your right with a LUNGE STONE in it. Go up into the next area. Once you're in control again, go rightward. Continue along the path until... BOSS - FLIST It's weak to Shadow (Pandamaare). It's strong to poison, blindness, sleep, stun, numbness, and paralysis. Not really a hard battle. If you have trouble, use Scatha's healing moves. Continue going right. Once you're inside, you'll fight... TWO COLDCLAWS Coldclaws are strong to Slasher but weak to Fire and Aionsluh. Strong to poison, stun, numbness, and paralysis, but weak to sleep. They can use Limb Tear, which will cause level 2 bleeding, and Freezer Sting, which will cause frozenness. Head up into the next room, this room is a bit of a puzzle. First, go into the open door. Open up the chest for Room Key #1. Go back out and open up the door to your left. Go up to the top of the room and turn the lever to open up Metal Doors. Then go out. You'll fight... THREE LAPIZUAS These things are actually difficult. They're weak to the Piercer, Air Edge, and Pandamaare Auras. They're also extremely weak to Fire Edge. They are strong to the Slasher Aura and the Water attribute (That's Dirk... his attacks are even less effective). They can stun and freeze you. One of the most annoying things about these guys is their complete immunity to proneness. Hurricane Cut won't be able to incapacitate them. Instead, you should use Absorb with Dirk until you have enough XL to use a Tornado. Then they'll be blinded, and the battle will be a lot easier. Head right and up the corridor. Enter the open doorway there. The room you enter will hold a chest containing Room Key #2. Go back out and back to the lever. Open up wood doors and head back out. Go up the nearby path and unlock the door you come to. Inside, open up metal doors. Go back out. Head left and down the pathway by the wall. At the bottom will be a chest holding a KRITAR SHELL. Go back up, right, and up again. Follow the path to the top right corner, where there is a chest holding Room Key #3. Head back to the room with the switch, unlock wood doors, then backtrack all the way to the one remaining locked door and open it. Inside will be a chest containing TWO WICITES. Exit through the lower door. In the bottom right corner of the map will be a chest containing a SOUL STONE. Head left and enter the leftmost door. Open up the chests for a POCITE and TWO FOCITES. Head back out and into the other door. Go down the stairs. In the next area, just follow the path to... BOSS - HORNJAW Has no special weaknesses, but is strong to quite a few attributes. Battering Ram is a heavy hit one attack, Charlie Horse can cause level 4 soreness, and Kicking up Dirt can cause level 2 blindness. Just keep attacking and use Scatha to heal if you need it. Go through the door. NEW CHARACTER - GAIUS Gaius is pretty strong this time. His skills include Revive 2, which is self-explanatory, Mass Panacea, which cures all conditions on all party members, Beyond Oneself (the same as in Episode 1), Judgement, a heavy hit all attack with a Transcendent attribute, and Trinity, a heavy hit one attack with a Transcendent attribute. He also has a move called Inner Darkness, which you can't use. Gaius's sword is Transcendent, and has a 6% chance of making enemies freak out (The same as confusion with an added HP and XL drain). Gaius is strong to level 3 poison, confusion, berserk, and helplessness. He's immune to freaking out. He's also strong against all Transcendent attacks. Just follow the pathway until you are able to exit the cave. Once outside, go left... BOSS - PAYUTAC The Payutac is extremely weak to the Fire attribute. It's immune to death blows, proneness, burning, freezing, and freaking out. Limb Dismantle will cause level 3 bleeding (which is pretty harmful), and Frigid Touch can cause freezing. Use Gaius to cure any conditions it may put you under and Scatha for healing. It'll go down fairly quickly. Continue left and watch a cutscene. Once you're in control again, you'll be in a forest. Make sure you get that Heart Stone from Scatha at some point while you're here, if you haven't already. Head left and you'll fight... THREE SLAUGHTERBUGS No strengths or weaknesses. They have a move called Deep Bite which will cause heavy damage and level 2 bleeding. Continue onward... TWO SLAUGHTERBUGS AND A SHROOM The Shrooms are extremely annoying. They're weak to the Illuminati Aura, and have two skills, Pollen, which can put you to sleep, and Hypnosis, which can cause level 2 confusion. They're strong against blindness and poison. You'll see a small dirt patch above the lower forest area. From there, walk down. You'll find two chests, containing a LYN ROCK and a LELL ROCK. Go back out, around the lake to the left, and as far right as possible. On the way, you'll fight... TWO SHROOMS This can be annoying battle, especially if they successfully put confusion on your party. And... SHROOM AND HACK JAW The Hack Jaw has a heavy hitting skill called Rip Jaw. It can also poison and confuse your party. It's strong to most conditions, but weak to soreness, XL-seeps, halved Focus and Poise, and Burning. Continue rightward. There will be a chest there containing a BLAN ROCK. Exit the screen through the top left corner. In the next area, you'll be in a Plunge. Check the Plunge section for details. Win and you'll receive the WEAK LINK Blade Art. Afterwards, head down. In the next area, you'll fight... TWO SLAUGHTERBUGS AND TWO FOREST FANGS Forest Fangs are strong to poison and weak to halved stats, berserk, freezing, and burning. Poisonous Bite can poison you and Annoy can drive you berserk. Continue left until you reach a chest holding a LUNGE STONE. Go back right and up. SLAUGHTERBUG, HACK JAW, AND FOREST FANG This combination is sure to send you into some kind of detrimental condition, but nothing that will cause you to lose the battle. There will be a place above you where you can go under the trees. To the right will be a chest containing TWO HEART STONES. Exit the area in the top left corner. Once you have control again, go left. You'll arrive in the forest maze. Here, the correct path in every room is the one that directly lines up with the white flower in the center of the room. Or, follow these directions: Up, up, left, up, right, down, down. Exit the next area. ... You'll have the option of Plunging Strata. Go ahead and do so, he's beatable this time. See the Plunge section for information. Defeat Strata and you'll receive the BACKLASH Blade Art. Watch the final cutscene. Your stats at the end of Episode 5 should be: HP: 159 :HP XL: 17 :XL Focus: 41 :Focus Will: 37 :Will Poise: 36 :Poise Plunge: 18 :Plunge Damage Threshold: 26 :Damage Threshold Critical Hit%: 6 :Critical Hit% Critical Strength: 9 :Critical Strength Strides: 18 :Strides Cross Link%: 45 :Cross Link% Lunge Link%: 30 :Lunge Link% Drop Link%: 30 :Drop Link% Classification: Straphalyn *NOTE: These stats assume that you've absorbed all of your Notch Items. ---The Way Episode 6: Truth Hides Nothing ((SW6)--- Spoiler Warning: The nature of this episode makes it very difficult to hide spoilers. I strongly advise against using this guide on the first playthrough. After the first scene, exit the small room. Go left and talk to the guy, and then enter the house in question. Go down the steps and talk to the guy with the green hair. Leave, and then head down and left until you reach the gap. Jump it, and keep heading right until you reach the corner of the balcony above you. Turn up, and keep going. Turn right before the save point and enter into the small house. Pick up TWO HEART STONES and a STRICITE. Continue going up past the save point, then go up the staircase to your left, and head leftward. Enter the next small house you see, and follow the path into the next room. Climb the stairs and jump across. Keep following the path to the next room and open the chest containing a BLAN ROCK. Head back out. Ascend the stairs and follow the path upward until you can turn right. Do so, and continue on until you see a small shack. Go in, and open the chest for a MEND STONE. Once outside, go up the nearby stairs and head leftward. You should arrive below a small staircase with a save point near it. Go up and enter the right door. Once inside, take the left exit. Swin left and hit enter on the discolored water, then swim left some more and resurface. NEW CHARACTER - MIDIAN Midian's an interesting character. He begins every battle unarmed, but he can equip certain blades at no cost. All of these blades increase his attack power, so there's no reason not to equip one at the beginning of every battle. There are a total of seven blades, but he only starts with two of them. Midian also has two skill sets, Concentrated Assault and Wide Spread, which cost 2 XL to activate and unlock a number of skills dealing with either hitting a single foe or multiple foes, respectively. Midian's skills and the effects of his blades are located in the Other Characters section. Midian is strong to the Weapon, Oneness, and Elemental main attributes as well as all related sub attributes. Go down the nearby staircase into the water, and swim left under the walkway via the small patch of discolored water. Swim down and up the staircase there, and follow the path to fight... SHARSHANK A good, simple battle. Sharshanks are strong to proning and poisoning but are extremely weak to bleeding. Additionally, they're strong to Illuminati but weak to Pandamaare. There's really no strategy here, just whittle it down. Head a little bit left... FOUR PAAPA FLIES They don't have any special strengths or weaknesses; however, there are four of them, and they aren't all that easy to kill. Save up some XL for Hurricane Cut and use Midian's Wide Spread moveset. Continue on until you reach the top left corner area, and enter the door on the left wall. The chest inside contains a piece of WICITE. Backtrack and this time go downward, entering the door to your left. Flip the switch inside. Go back out and travel rightward. There will be a door to your right. Enter it for a HEART STONE and a WICITE. Exit and take the stairs down into the water. Swim left and through the archway you see there, picking up a HEART STONE. Then swim left until you see a passageway to the next screen below you. Enter it. Step onto the platform and follow the path downward until you reach a chest containing a WICITE. Backtrack and enter the water via the lower staircase. Ignore the archway leading under the path and keep swimming right until you reach the bottom right corner. There are four tiles adjacent to the bottom wall; swim into it on one of the left two. Swim on and pick up a lovely CTP CATALYST (Increases CTP gains by 50% while in notch). Swim back out and up through the previously mentioned archway. Step up to the platform and flip the switch. Then backtrack all the way to the previous room, climb out of the water, and follow the pathway down and into the next area. SHARSHANK AND PAAPA FLY It's basically a regular battle against a Sharshank with an added nuisance. The Paapa Fly will steal some of your XL, but it'll go down fairly quickly. You may run into a little bit of difficulty if the Sharshank gives you level 2 bleeding early on, but Rhue should be able to heal any excessive damage. Follow the path to the next room and pick up the key. Then backtrack all the way to the top left corner of the first room, and use the key on the door there. You are now able to exit this filthy sewer. The chest at the top of the staircase contains a WICITE. After picking that up, head down and out into the lost city. It's difficult to see in this area, so half the time you probably won't know where you're going. Also, not that none of the doors will open currently save one. Head left. LOFTAR AND VAGRANT SLUDGE Two new enemies here. The Vagrant Sludge is a pretty standard slime enemy, and is thus strong to weapon attacks (like Triple Slash). It's also extremely weak to Oneness, so Midian's Blade 2 should come in handy. Also, it's immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, and bleeding. The Loftar is strong to Illuminati and Hatassasar, weak to Aionsluh, and very weak to Fire. Hurricane Cut has a Fire element, so it should help. The Loftar is strong to pretty much every status condition. The strategy here is fairly straightforward, since the weaknesses and strengths don't oppose each other. Midian's Blade 2 will make quick work of the Sludge and will work normally on the Loftar; Hurricane Cut will work well on the Loftar and will work normally on the Sludge. Cross the bridge, and turn upward. Go left when you can, and then turn up again. You'll come to the one door in this area that opens; it's in the top left corner. If you want to fight some more monsters, which you should because they give good AR, then turn to the right and follow the path back to the initial area. You'll fight... TWO LOFTARS I neglected to mention earlier that Midian's Blade 1 contains a Fire element. Use it and Hurricane Cut and these two'll go down pretty quickly. Note that if you reenter the sewer house (with the save point), all of these enemies will respawn, allowing you to fight them infinitely. Spend a little time here if you want, but note that better (as in much, MUCH better) leveling places exist later on, so you don't have to max everything out immediately. When you're done fighting, enter the door. Upwards to... FOUR VAGRANT SLUDGES Midian tears these guys up with Blade 2 equipped, but unfortunately he can only take them out one at a time. Rhue can't exploit their weakness, though, so he doesn't really have a strategy for this battle. Follow the path, go down the stairs, and head left to reach a save point. Go down the staircase and then out the bottom exit. Once outside, continue downward until you can go no further, then turn left and move on to the next area. At the far left is a save point, but if you take the upward path, you'll be on your way to Altair Manor. There's nothing outside that you can access right now, so go in. You'll fight... Or rather, not fight, as you'll notice. There's not a single monster in sight and half the doors won't open. Go upward. You'll notice two chests; the left contains a HEART STONE, and the right contains, believe it or not, a HEART STONE. Not the greatest of prizes, but hey, it's not like you had to fight for them. The only door you can enter is the one on the right. There's a chest in plain view holding a FOCITE. Up the stairs... A POCITE and a HEART STONE await you. Go left, then down, and save your game. In the next room, you'll meet up with... NEW CHARACTER - SACRIFA Sacrifa, being a former Guided leader and all, is a natural healer. He's got the works: Panacea, Revive Moderate Mend, Moderate Mass Mend, and Heavy Mend. He also has Oneness Field, Elemental Field, and Transcendent Field, which increase the party's resistance to those attributes and all their sub attributes. Sacrifa also uses an Aura system, whereby he can select certain Auras to equip. These Auras come in three levels, and he can equip one from each level. Level 1 Auras add 7 defense, Level 2 Auras add 10 defense, and Level 3 Auras add 14 defense. Additionally, each Aura prevents certain status effects (e.g. Poison Filter prevents poison). These prevent their specified status effects 100% of the time. Unfortunately, Sacrifa only has one Aura initially, and that's Poison Filter. and... BOSS - GASHEMAH It's weak to Aionsluh, but that's about it. You won't have much success trying to put it under a status effect, either, although it's quite possible to prone it with Hurricane Cut. So, for strategy, there's not really any specific thing that Rhue and Midian should do. Sacrifa should make sure to put up an Elemental Field, and maybe equip Poison Filter or put up a Transcendent Field as well. The Elemental Field will help guard against Fire Sweep, and the Transcendent Field will help against Guster, but Fire Sweep deals more damage. There just aren't any special tricks to this battle, though. After the battle you'll pick up PHOTON SPIRAL, BLACK HOLE, RAPTURE, and PURE TAINT, all of which are Defensive Auras. Some intense dialogue will ensue. Head out the bottom of the screen when it's finished, and pick up a DROP STONE. Return, and pick up the LUNGE STONE located in the bottom left corner of the room. Once you have it, walk out of the mansion via the way you came in. After a quick dialogue, you'll be warned not to go back into the mansion. Afterwards, go left and up around the back of the mansion (this route was previously blocked). There'll be a chest back there containing Sacrifa's HEART GUARD Aura, which happens to be Level 2. Go back down and around to the manor entrance. Proceed to deliberately ignore Sacrifa's warning, and go back in. It's a bit more hostile this time around. TWO DROWS AND POLSERGA The Drows aren't really that dangerous, though they will sap your X-Life. They're extremely weak to the Illuminati Aura, but immune to most conditions, including prone. The Polserga, however, can cause some problems. It's weak to Light as well, and is similarly immune to most conditions, including prone. The Polserga can use Dark Fire, which is a devastating move that deals a fairly heavy amount of damage in addition to setting you ablaze. It has a Shadow attribute, so Sacrifa's Transcendent Field will help you defend against it. Take the right exit, and pick up a KRITAR SHELL out of the chest. Then go back and take the left exit, permitting you to acquire a BLAN ROCK and a HEART STONE. Go back to the main room and up into the next area. Head to the top of the room and through one of the doors leading upward. Battle ensues. POLSERGA AND TWO CABRES You know how the Polserga works by now, but the Cabres are a different story. They're weak to Hatassassar, and aren't all that strong against any status conditions, prone included. Well, they're actually strong to most everything, but compared to the Polserga and the Drows, they seem vulnerable. They CAN be proned, though, so make sure you do so. This is a tough battle, so pull out all the stops. Sacrifa will need a large pool of XL so he can heal the party, and Hurricane Cut can put one or both of the Cabres out of commission. Transcendent Field can minimize the damage of Dark Fire, as well. Open the chests for a STRICITE and a HEART STONE. Return to the previous room and head right into the next area. Go up the stairs, and left into the next room. DROW, POLSERGA, AND CABRE This medley can be quite dangerous, especially if you leave the Polserga alive. To ensure your best chances of survival, you're going to need to make sure that all of your characters aren't on fire at the same time, which means dispatching the Polserga as quickly as possible. Turn downward, and enter the next room. Go through the first door on your right. A CROSS STONE awaits you. Return to the hall, then go back up into the previous room. Turn left and enter the door. Open the chest for a WICITE, then go over to the left door, and choose to open it. Backtrack to the entrance of the mansion, then go through the door on the left side of the screen. Go up through the door there, and open the chest to garner Sacrifa's STRONG BACK Aura. Follow the path to the next area, and go up... BOSS - JESTER Hatassassar will utterly destroy this guy, but he's otherwise quite strong. He's strong or immune to nearly every condition, and his HP is so ridiculously high it'll take awhile to bring down. As far as moves go, he only has one that deals damage; the others add status effects. The one that does deal damage is a Oneness type, so Sacrifa's Oneness Field will come in handy. The Jester's main strength though is in his regular attack, which is quite powerful. Have some XL ready for healing. Watch out for the status effects, too, especially the Nightmare, and have Sacrifa use Panacea when they get to be too harmful. Head back out and into the nearby teleporter, then across the room to the other teleporter. You'll be back in the city. Go out and down the staircases to the main pathway. Turn right, and continue that way until you see the little girl running in circles. Head left a bit, then down a ways. Descend the nearby staircase. Then go rightward, up a few steps, and rightward some more. Go down the short staircase, then right until you can't go any further, and talk to the nearby man. After a short cutscene, you'll be presented with a quiz of sorts. The correct answers are "Straphalyn," "20," "5," "7," "Alliteration," and "a b b a." You'll also be asked "What hair color is the most attractive for a woman to have?" "Blond" +1 Kloe, +1 Scatha, +1 The Girl "Red" +1 Cetsa "Brown" +1 Lexus, +1 Lyrra "Purple" +1 Sorya The last question has no bearing on your quiz score. If you get at least 4 right, you'll receive a POCITE, at least 5, a WICITE, and all 6, a BLAN ROCK. After another cutscene, go to the top left corner of the upper right hand room, behind the cabinet. Follow the path until you reach two metal doors. The right one will open since you defeated the Jester. Enter. Follow the path until the end, where you will Plunge Slade. See the Plunge section for details. Defeat him to earn the DESTROYER Blade Art, and more importantly, he'll join you. NEW CHARACTER - SLADE <<>> Once you're back outside, go downward until you reach a staircase, which you should ascend. Go left into the next room, and after a shore cutscene, the play will begin. If you want a Lyn Rock later on, then pick the best choices here. If you want a Kritar Shell, which you most likely don't want as much as the Lyn Rock, then pick the worst choices. You'll be presented with a lineup of choices. The best picks are "I do not agree," "Yes, and this worries me," "More beast than woman," "I do not trust them," and "No, we must proceed." Then... BOSS - "GREAT BEAST" Compared to the Jester, this thing is a pushover. Actually, it's a pushover on its own and it without the comparison. It's weak to Atoma, and can easily be proned or given bleeding. Elemental Field will help to guard against Fire Sweep, but you honestly shouldn't need any special moves to take it down in 3-4 turns. Once you're done with that, you'll be backstage again. Go to the left side of the room and take the bottom left exit. Talk to Alan to get a BLAN ROCK. The play will then begin again. The choices to pick this time are "I'm merely honoring my word," "I'm not righteous. Just honest," and "(Strike her. End scene.)." If you then pick "Fair Slap (Decent pop)," you'll get +2 to your show rating. If you pick "Hard Slap," you'll get +3, but you'll make Vashti angry. If you pick "Brutal Slap," you'll get +4, but you'll seriously piss Vashti off. I'd go with the second choice, since it'll net you enough points for the Lyn Rock, and the latter two choices will be detrimental to your getting of other Notch Items later on. You'll be backstage again. Walk over to the left and Alan will assault you. You'll end up in a minigame. The goal here is to keep the light on Vashti. The problem is that your controls are backwards. If you hit left, the light will move right, etc. The better you do here, the higher the play's rating will be. This is pretty hard to do. Every time you hear the crowd boo, you've lost some play rating. If you want all three Notch Items that you get for this minigame, then make sure you get a perfect rating and that the crowd doesn't boo. Afterwards, you'll be backstage again. Head over to the left side and talk to Wellborn. The play will end. Once you're in control again, head down the nearby stairs. Turn right, go up a bit, then turn right again. Go up past to the house with two doors and enter the rightmost door. Then go up and enter the teleporter. You start in the middle of a three-forked pathway. Take the right fork. TWO BLUE CRAWLERS They're weak to light and are strong only to sleep and numbing. They have two moves, Crawler Charge and Berserker Sting, both of which deal Shadow damage and inflict conditions. Sacrifa's Transcendent Field will help minimize the damage if you need it, but otherwise it's just a straightforward battle. The pathway will start curving upward, and then back left. Somewhere along the part where it curves back left is a pathway through the trees. There'll be a lot of these pathways in this forest, so get in the habit of smashing yourself into walls, because that's basically what you have to do to find them all. I'll give you the general area and the direction of the pathway, but you'll have to find it. This pathway is on the left side and goes downward. Follow it and pick up a HEART STONE and Sacrifa's XL PRESSURE Aura. Go back out to the path and keep following it. You'll reach an up/down fork. The down fork goes directly back to your starting location, so go up into the next area. Follow the path until you reach an up/left fork. Go left. BLUE CRAWLER AND VENDIGO The Vendigo is weak to Pandamaare, but strong to poisoning, sleep, numbing, confusion, and proning. It can use Putrid Mist, a poison-causing move, and Chomp, a Oneness-oriented attack that causes soreness. The Vendigo is only mildly stronger than the Blue Crawler, so this battle is basically like the last one. Watch out for the poison, though. Continue left until you reach the "end" of the pathway. There's a hidden path below you that leads downward into the next area. Find it and take it. Once in the next area, go down a bit and go right a short ways. There's a hidden path below you that leads downward. Follow it, noting that it zigzags left a little. You'll reach a HEART STONE. Backtrack up the path. The area to your right is a dead end, so backtrack into the previous area, through the hidden path, and back to the left/up fork. Turn up. Follow the path to the save point, and continue up. Once you reach the point where the path forces you to turn left, there'll be a hidden pathway above you that leads up and right. Follow it to a chest containing a STRICITE. Go back out and turn left. Keep following the path until you reach a fork leading left and down. The down fork takes you back to where you were a minute ago, the left fork takes you to the next area, and the hidden pathway to your right leads to a chest containing a LUNGE STONE. After getting that, go back out and take the left path into the next area. Follow the path a short ways until you reach a kind of V-bend. At the bottom of the V is a path leading down to a small illuminated area. Continue downward there, and then turn right once you stop moving, and you'll reach a chest containing a LELL ROCK. Head back out to the main path, and continue left to a save point, then go downward into the next area. A very short ways down, there'll be a hidden pathway on the right side of the path that leads right to an illuminated area that contains a chest holding a HEART STONE. Before you go back out, however, there's another hidden path leading right (it's aligned with the first path). Follow it into the next area and to a chest containing a HEART STONE. Now go back out to the main path and continue along it downwards. Turn right when you have to, until you see a slight indentation in the forest below you. Note that if you continue rightward here, it will take you back to your original starting point in the forest, thus accounting for all the pathways you could possibly have taken so far. The indentation, of course, contains a path leading down, so take it. VENDIGO AND ARPALEX The Arpalex is basically a powered-up version of the Vendigo. It's also weak to Pandamaare, and is slightly more resistant to most conditions. It only has one move, and that's Gore, which deals a single party member moderate damage. It doesn't have an attribute, so you can't defend against it, so be prepared with a healing spell or two, because it uses Gore fairly often. As far as strategy goes, your worst enemy here is probably poisoning, so take out the Vendigo first. Continue following the path left, up, past a save point, and up farther. ORANGE EYE AND ARPALEX The Orange Eye is not a foe to be trifled with. It's weak to Pandamaare and all Oneness sub attributes, so Midian's Blade 2 will be helpful. It's strong to poison and prone, so your Hurricane Cut probably won't be able to decommission it easily. It has two special moves, Mind Worm, which may present a slight impediment to your XL gains, and Green Pulse, an extremely powerful move that can utterly destroy one of your characters. If anything is going to kill you in this battle, it's Green Pulse. Fortunately, it has an attribute of Transcendent - Cosmic, so Sacrifa's Transcendent Field will prove invaluable. If you have the Transcendent Field up, then the Orange Eye can't really hurt you, but if you don't, then make sure you take it out as quickly as possible. Shortly before you reach the top of the area, there will be a hidden path to your left that leads to a chest containing a FOCITE. Collect it and move on to the next area. Follow the pathway all the way to a save point. In the forest to the left of the save point, there will be a pathway leading left to a chest containing a CROSS STONE. Step around the chest so that you're directly behind it, and travel up to the illuminated tile. Then go right to a chest containing a STRICITE. Go back out to the first chest. Before you go back to the main path, there's a hidden route in the bottom left corner of this area that leads downward. Take it down, past an illuminated area, all the way to a chest holding a BLAN ROCK. Now go back out to the main path. Head right past the save point to the point where the path angles up rightward. Below you there's a hidden path leading straight down. Find it, take it, and pick up the LYN ROCK it leads to. Go back out and continue rightward. When the path starts to turn downward, it will lead to a dead end, so find the hidden pathway that leads rightward into the next area. Follow the path until you reach... ARPALEX, VENDIGO, AND ORANGE EYE Time to add yet another monster to the mix! The Vendigo shouldn't give you that much trouble, but it IS another source of damage, and it can poison you, so watch out for it. None of these guys is particularly vulnerable to prone, but a Hurricane Cut or two should be able to prone at least one of them, making your job easier. Midian's Red Storm can also help. Make sure you get that Transcendent Field up as soon as possible, as well. This battle is tough, to be honest, so make sure you have the XL that you need, or else you might find yourself unable to recover. Continue to the right, past the cliff face. Below you will be a small indention in the forest. It conceals a hidden path leading downward to a chest holding a WICITE. Go back out and right into the next area. To the right of the save point in the next area will be a white flower and a pink flower. Directly below the pink flower is a hidden pathway leading down. Follow it, then turn left when you can. At the next illuminated area, go down as far as you can, then turn right, go as far as you can, turn down, go as far as you can, then go up one tile and left as far as possible. You'll reach a save point and chest containing a POCITE. Go back to the illuminated tile, then go up as far as possible. After that, head up right to the next area, then left, up, and back out to the pink flower. From there, head right, through a hidden path, until you reach the "end" of the pathway. Above you there will be a path leading to the right. Follow it to a save point and a STRICITE. Go back out to the "end" of the pathway. Below you is a path leading downward. Follow it to the single illuminated tile, then go down one and right to the vertical row of illuminated tiles. From there, head straight down as far as possible, then go up one and left six spaces. You should be in the middle of a hidden pathway. Here, the pathway forks down and left; take the downward fork as far as you can go, then go right as far as you can, then up as far as you can. You should arrive at a chest holding a SOUL STONE. Grab it, and head back down to the fairly large open area containing the reeds. From there, go down some more until you reach a large open area containing a save point, a chest, and a headhunter. Open the chest to get a DROP STONE, then talk to the headhunter. Plunge him (see the Plunge section for details). If you win, you'll get the DOWNPOUR Blade Art. Head back up to the area with the reads, then turn left and backtrack to the fork in the hidden pathway. This time, turn left and go until you're two squares past the first illuminated tile. Then go down, and continue downward until you reach a fairly large illuminated area. From here, take the hidden path that's to your left all the way into the next area. Below the save point and to the left will be another short hidden route. Go up a bit, and then turn right onto another hidden path. The path turns upwards once you're a little ways in. Keep going up until you reach a chest containing Midian's WAVE BLADE. Notice the pink flowers a little bit below the chest. Stand one space below them and go directly right until you stop, then go up. The chest you reach contains a WICITE. Go back out and continue along the path. Note that Midian's Wave Blade (Blade 4) is helpful in the battles that you are fighting. When you reach the "end" of the path, go down onto the hidden pathway and take it as far as it goes. When you come out, continue onward into the next area. Keep going down until you reach an area with two yellow trees. The bottom left corner of this area contains a hidden pathway that leads to a chest containing a HEART STONE. Head back out into the area with the yellow trees. In the bottom right corner of this area will be a hidden pathway leading downward. Follow it, and then continue leftward to a save point. Keep following the path until you reach a grave. After a short dialogue, stand to the left of the grave and go directly left and onto a hidden pathway. Follow it into the next area, then follow the path to another hidden route leading left. continue following until you reach a save point. A little ways left of the save point there will be a hidden pathway above you that leads upward to... BOSS - GHOST WITCH As far as attributes go, she's weak to Pandamaare and strong to Hatassasar. She's also weak to all Oneness sub attributes, so Midian's Blade 2 will help quite a bit. She's immune to nearly every condition and strong to all the others, so you'll need to concentrate entirely on damage. She has two attacks that will cause you problems. The first is Cosmo Rain, a Transcendent Cosmic attack that deals pretty heavy damage. The other is Lost Love, an attack that causes Level 3 Confusion on one character. Level 3 Confusion is very difficult to heal from, so make sure to have Panacea ready. Transcendent Field will help to reduce Cosmo Rain's damage as well. After the battle you'll receive an AR CATALYST (Increases AR gains by 50% while in notch). Equip it as soon as you can, because this gem is incredibly helpful. Once you're done fighting, head back to the save point, and choose to exit the forest. You'll be back in the city. Once you're out of the shack, Head down and left over the bridge, then down some more, left again, and then down yet again, until you reach a staircase. Descend it, and then travel rightward as far as you can go (you'll have to go around some stuff), back to the place where Alan originally assaulted you. Follow the path until you can go inside the Scene. The party is in the basement, and you have to take the elevator to get there. First, though, check out the chest at the bottom of the first floor to receive Midian's DEFENSIVE BLADE. Then take the outside exit that leads to the elevator. Take it down. Select "No, let's find him now." Step down onto the dance floor. Go down a bit. There'll be a three-tile-wide wall jutting out into the floor from above. Dyson is moving horizontally back and forth four tiles below this wall. If you do this when the lights are going crazy, you'll get +2 FOCUS, +2 WILL, and +2 POISE! While you're here, go talk to Alan for a LYN ROCK. If you did poorly in the show, you'll get a Kritar Shell instead. Talk to Vashti, too, and you'll get a HEART STONE, a BLAN ROCK, and a SOUL STONE, provided that you did perfectly with the spotlight. The Girl is also here, so you can talk to her if you want, but you don't get anything for it. Head back outside and step onto the teleporter. Teleport outside the city (top left teleporter). Head up a little and then left as far as you can go. There'll be a BLAN ROCK that you can pick up. Head back to the teleporter. Teleport to the Shadow Inn (bottom left teleporter). There'll be an open shack immediately below you. Go in. The chest inside contains a HEART STONE. Open the door and go down the stairs. Follow the path until you come to a large room. There's a chest at the top of the room that holds a HEART STONE. Take the right exit. SCOURGE It's weak to Hatassasar and Flesh, so Midian's Blade 2 will be effective. It's very strong to sleep, paralysis, and poison, and moderately strong to all other conditions. It has five moves, XL Gnats, which can severely inhibit your skill usage, Rip Claw, which can halve your focus, Limb Tear, which causes Level 2 Bleeding, Poison Gas, which gives your entire party Level 2 Poisoning, and Impaler, which causes a LOT of damage and add Level 3 Bleeding to top it off. As far as damage goes, Impaler is your worst enemy, and it has an Atoma attribute, so Sacrifa's Transcendent Field will help. Since all it does is give various conditions, characters might want to put up what condition defenses they have; Rhue by equipping effective flows, Sacrifa by equipping Poison Filter or Clot (and maybe XL Pressure), and Slade by equipping the Loner Aura. All in all, though, it's not that tough of a battle. Follow the path until you wind up in a small room. There's a chest here containing a HEART STONE. Head down into the next room, then take the right exit. The following room contains a chest holding a HEART STONE. Head into the next area and follow the path to a room containing two chests: a FOCITE and a WICITE. Continue along the path to... LOFTAR AND SPANZA The Spanza is weak to Illuminati and Flesh, so Midian's Blade 2 will help. It's moderately strong to most conditions. The Loftar you've fought before; remember it's extremely weak to Elemental, so Blade 1 and Hurricane Cut will help, and it's weak to Aionsluh but strong to Illuminati and Hatassasar. Follow the path to a POCITE, then head right into the next area. This area contains a chest holding a CROSS STONE. Get it, and continue onward. You'll go through a door and be in a sort of puzzle. It's best if you go ahead and clear out all the monsters before you begin. TWO SPANZA Not much different than before; just exploit their weaknesses. After you've done that, head back to the entrance to the puzzle. From there, go straight up to find a chest containing a HEART STONE. Go back down. Note that there are four switches on the wall. We will call them switches 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Flip switch 2 and jump the gap in the room's center. Follow the far right-hand path down as far as it goes and throught the now-open door. Flip the switch inside. Go back outside and flip switch 4, then go down the path on the far left-hand side and flip the switch there. Go back up. The door above you should now be open. It leads to a HEART STONE and a switch you should flip. The door on the other side also leads to a HEART STONE and a switch you should flip. After flipping both switches, go back down and flip either switch 2, switch 4, or both, then head up to the top of the room and exit the newly-opened door there. The next area contains a bunch of moving spikes. The goal, of course, is to not step on them. Note that they rise in 3x3 areas and that there's a slight pause between the moment one goes down and the next comes up. When one of the spikes is coming at you, stand at the far end of the 3x3 grid. The moment it disappears from in front of you, hold up. There're two sets of spikes; you can always step backwards a little if you aren't prepared for the second one. In the next room... BOSS - JOPAGA He's weak to Aionsluh, but that's about it. He's immune to paralysis and death blows, and strong to everything else. He has three special attacks, all of which deal light damage and put you under a condition. Eye Rake causes Level 3 Blind, Visceral causes you to Freak Out, and Maim makes you helpless. Two of these attacks use Transcendent attributes, so Sacrifa's Transcendent Field might be helpful, though it's probably not worth it. There's one condition he isn't strong to, and that's Bleeding, so Midian's Red Storm will help a lot if you use it early on. All in all, though, it's not a tough battle. After the cutscene, step onto the teleporter in the bottom right corner of the room. Head back out into the city, and go up to the House of Pnoe. A cutscene will ensue. You will be prompted with a series of choices. For best results choose "I don't think so!," "Do nothing," "All right," "Pretty good," "Sure," and "Downplay your skills." You'll get a HEART STONE. Then, say "Sure." You're now free to wander around aimlessly. You should know that if you talk to any of the girls in the room, you'll gain strikes against your date; if you keep these strikes to a minimum, you'll receive a good lineup of Notch Items. When I tell you to do something that will give you a strike, I'll make a note of it. Your goal here is to only have one strike (or none). The first thing to do here is to go grab stuff off the tables below you. Grab the drink bottle of the bottom table, the righthand cake off the middle table, and the plate of cheese of the left table. Next, head out the left side of the room. You'll be in a stairwell, and you can talk to the guy there if you want. Continue up to the second floor. Talk to the blue-haired woman there. Then step down into the room below you. On the righthand side of this room, there will be an indentation leading down to the bottom wall. Step into it and choose "Yes." Go back out to the main second floor room. In the bottom right compartment, there will be a piece of rope hanging on the wall. Take it. Head back down to the first floor. There'll be a red-haired girl on the left side of the room talking to Icabod. "Talk" to her, then choose "Yes," and "Eat cake in front of Icabod." Go back and talk to your date, The Girl, and then watch the cutscene. Afterward, go talk to Alan, then go out the exit in the bottom part of the room and look at the book on the righthand side. Then go back and talk to Alan again for the HEART STONE. Then talk to the purple-haired girl by Alan. Then go upstairs and into the bedroom (bottom right exit), and talk to Celestria. Before you go back down, check out your mouse trap and take the mouse that it caught. Then head back down and talk to the purple-haired girl again for a HEART STONE. Next, head up and try to enter the top right door (the one that leads right). Opt to push the mouse under it. Head over to the left side of the room and talk to Marasha for a BLAN ROCK. Unfortunately this will net you a strike, but it should be all right if you haven't done anything else wrong. Head up to the second floor. There should be a candlestick on the table in the room below you. Check it and choose to light it. Then check it again and knock it over. You'll be in the top left room. Check the chest to your left, then put the junk into the box directly to your right. Check the open chest again, and climb in. Afterwards, go upstairs and out the top exit onto the balcony. It's payoff time! You should receive a piece of WICITE and TWO PIECES OF FOCITE, provided you had less than 5 strikes (if you had more than 5 you'd get a Wicite, and if you had more than 12 you wouldn't get anything). If you have one or no strikes, you'll get a FAITHFUL HEART (+7 HP, +1 TO ALL PLUNGE STATS), which is a very nice reward indeed. You'll then be subjected to a series of questions. These questions differ depending on how you went about getting through the party scene. The best thing to do is tell the truth and not cause a stir. If you went through the scene as I described above, choose "Yes" and "That's not true at all." You'll get some Notch Items depending on how much evidence the court has against you. If you did everything as I described, you won't have any evidence against you whatsoever, and you'll receive a LYN ROCK, CROSS STONE, LUNGE STONE, DROP STONE, and a HEART STONE! So, overall, this party yielded quite a nice haul. When you're in control again, head back into the doors behind you. Go up the stairs in the top left, then check the bookcase for a +1 SORYA FLIRT LEVEL. Then go back down and exit the mansion. Remember how Marasha talked about a Plunge tournament at the Grand Palace? Well, it's time to enter it. You're probably ready for it, and if you aren't, then you can go to Altair Manor or the Forest; the enemies there will respawn indefinitely, and you can get the necessary CTP there to absorb the Notch Items you currently have on you. If that's not enough, then you can always come back later when your stats are higher. Head down the lefthand staircase, go left a little, up a bit, and then left until you reach a place with wide staircases above and below you. Head up the one above you and into the Grand Palace. First, check the chest in the bottom left corner for Sacrifa's PEACE Aura. Then, go up to the top exit of the room and talk to the guards there. After a short cutscene, go down and talk to the guy guarding the door leading out of the left side of the room. Opt to get started. After a short cutscene, head out the right side of the room. Talk to the guy with the gray hair to customize the music theme you want when you walk in. The head out the bottom door and get ready to Plunge. I'm not sure what it does, but if you make the crowd happy, they'll love you more. To accomplish this, rev them up before Plunging, and then win quickly. Each Plunge has a different criterion for winning quickly, and winning quickly in all of the Plunges except for the first one will net you additional Fame points as well. Fame is useful, so try to get as much as you can. The first Plunge is against Bennet. A quick win here means victory in a single pass. Fortunately, that won't be too hard. See the Plunge section for details. Win and you'll get 10 CTP. Talk to the guy again in order to enter your next Plunge. The second Plunge is against Phalax. A quick win here is three passes or less. Win and you'll get the STRONG LINK Blade Art. The third Plunge is against either Rosa or Pale. A quick win here is four passes or less. Win for the PIN POINT Blade Art. You fight Rosa if your Sorya+ variable in previous episodes was less than 7. If so, then after the battle a cutscene will ensue where Sorya joins your party. NEW CHARACTER - SORYA <<>> If you have Slade, then this will open up a new menu option: Change. Use it to pick your four characters for battle. The fourth Plunge is against Kygar. A quick win here is four passes or less. A win here will garner you the DOUBLE PLUG Blade Art. The fifth Plunge is against Kavax. a quick win here is five or fewer passes. A win will garner you the RAVAGE Blade Art. The sixth Plunge is the championship max against Exmus. A quick win here is a maximum of five passes, and it might be difficult to pull it off. A victory here will net you the ENDER Blade Art. After you take the championship, head out of the Grand Palace and teleport to the house of Pnoe (bottom left teleporter). There are a few people in here that you need to talk to. The first is Haskin in the top right corner. He'll give you the Champion Key. Heinmets near the top will inform you that Alan has reservations for the Val Parra Cafe. Talk to the lady to his left to, if your crowd love rating is above 12 or below -7, receive a SILVER STONE. After that, head back outside; there's a few things to do before moving on. I'm now about to walk you through the four Shadow Plunger tests. You need to complete all of them in order to get one of the game's alternate endings. Even if you don't want that ending, you can still complete the tests for the Blade Arts and HP increases they provide. These tests are pretty difficult, so make preparations ahead of time. Absorbing all helpful Notch Items may prove useful. Once outside, go down and rightward, and across the main city gap. Go right a little further and then up to where you can see the wall. There will be a house next to the wall with its door open. Step inside it and check the moxi box on the table. Afterwards, head back outside. To the right of the house will be a small alleyway. Go to the end of the allyway and then take a step right. Continue right along the path, and you'll wind up in a plunge with the first Shadow Plunger. See the Plunge section for details. If you win, you'll get the BLINDSIDE Blade Art and +10 MAX HP. Head back out and return to the teleporter. Use it to go to Alan's mansion (top center teleporter). Step down onto the main path, then right and down the staircase there. Take a quick detour down to the flower house below you and a little bit left. Check the left side of the bookcase for a +1 SORYA FLIRT LEVEL. Then head back to the bottom of the staircase. Go up until you reach the upper border of the city, then left a little. There'll be a narrow alleyway here. Go down it and, once at the bottom, step left into the building. Open the chest in the bottom left corner for a BLAN ROCK. Then walk onto the left edge of the Plunge markings and opt to Plunge. The Plunge section will provide the much-needed details about this fight. Win, and you'll receive the CRESTFALLEN Blade Art and +10 MAX HP. Go back outside and head back to the staircases. Step onto the one below you. Go right a ways and then up to the park where you fought Ansgar and Rosmar in Episode 5. Step a little bit to the left of the Plunge markings. Opt to fight (see the Plunge section for details). If you win, you'll get the VENSHU Blade Art and +10 MAX HP. Head back to the teleporter and then go to Central Hall (center teleporter). From there, go down the short set of steps and then down one of the flights of stairs. Then, go left until you can go down; do so. You'll reach another set of stairs, which you should descend. Continue left a short ways and you'll see a three-tile-wide "alley" between two buildings. There'll be a gap in between the two buildings as well. Jump the gap on the righthand side of it and then immediately take a step to the right. As usual, the Plunge section contains details on this fight. Win it to receive the SNAPPER Blade Art and +10 MAX HP. Congratulations, you've completed all four tests! However, there's one more Plunge that may interest you... I'll go over that later. Head back to the nearest teleporter. Warp to the Scene (bottom right teleporter). Head into the elevator. If Sorya's in your party, check the chest for a +1 SORYA FLIRT LEVEL. Then take the elevator down to the basement. Head over to the right side of the upper walkway and talk to the bouncers there. Then head up and take a seat by the boss. After a cutscene, go down the nearby stairs and into the lair of the barrucha. Head left a bit and then down the stairs, then go left as quickly as you can. Continue left across the bridge and open the two chests there for a piece of FOCITE and TWO HEART STONES. Go down the nearby staircase, right a bit, then step onto the bridge and hold up. When you reach the other side, turn left and go across the bridge there; once you reach the other side, quickly go to the bottom left corner of the platform, just below the chest. Open it for a STRICITE. Go back across the bridge and up the nearby staircase. Cross the bridge above you, making sure you go as far up as possible on the other side, and then as far right as possible. The chest there holds a CROSS STONE. Go back down the bridge you came across, holding down the entire way. Head back down the stairs, then turn right and cross the bridge there, immediately turning onto the bridge on the other side. There's nothing on the other side of this bridge, so step back onto the platform and head rightward. You'll reach a chest containing a LELL ROCK. Head back over to the bridge to your left and hold up to cross it. Ascend the nearby stairs, then take one step onto the nearby bridge and wait. Jump across and gather the KRITAR SHELL on the other side. Head down the nearby stairs, wait a few seconds at the bottom, then go left across the bridge there and activate the switch. Head back and step to the side at the top of the staircase. Follow the path back to the save point. Head left onto the bridge and stop once you're halfway across. Continue left across the next bridge, and then go down across the bridge, holding down the entire way. Step up the nearby stairs and quickly go left as far as possible, then head up across the next bridge, stepping to the right quickly after crossing it. Head down the stairs to your left, down the long bridge, and open the two chests at the end for TWO PIECES OF WICITE and a BLAN ROCK. Then head back up to the stairs. Take a step onto the bridge above you, then immediately step back and off to the side. Then go up the bridge again. Head up the stairs to your left and immediately step to the side. There will be a long bridge to your right. Step onto it and then hold right. Open the chest at the end for TWO HEART STONES, then hold left to return. Head up the bridge above you until you reach the other side, then step left until you're one tile up and right from the staircase. Wait there for a second, then head down the stairs. Take one step onto the bridge to your left and wait. Jump across. Follow the path to chest containing TWO HEART STONES. Take three steps onto the bridge below you, wait, and then continue across. Head across the next bridge and down the stairs. Step right twice, then wait, then head down the next set of stairs. The chest to your right holds a DROP STONE. Head left and down the bridge there, holding down the entire way across, then waiting once on the other side. Turn left, then go up the stairs there, and hold right to get across the next bridge. The chest on the other side holds a LUNGE STONE. Head down the nearby bridge and immediately turn left once on the other side. Go down the nearby stairs and then head right across the bridge, immediately stepping up once on the other side. Go down the nearby stairs, and then step two squares left of the chest. Immediately retreat back to the staircase left of you. Once the barrucha goes by, quickly collect TWO HEART STONES from the chest. Go back up the stairs, then step right across the bridge there and then up onto the long bridge. Once you're on the other side, immediately step left. Go up the stairs and then down the bridge there, stopping four or five tiles away from the end. Continue down and pick up a BLAN ROCK and TWO HEART STONES. Head back across the bridge and down the stairs. Step onto the bridge left of you and go left until you're two tiles right of the second + style intersection. Jump across. Go left a little and up the bridge above you. There's a piece of POCITE waiting on the other side. Go back down the bridge, and then left across the other bridge, stepping down quickly once on the other side. Cross the bridge below you and head down the stairs there. Then head right across the next bridge and then down across the last bridge. There will be a piece of STRICITE on the other side and a record of your deaths. Turn around and go back across the bridge, stepping to the side once across. Then go all the way back to the long horizontal bridge. Cross it and immediately step up on the other side. Go right a bit and cross the bridge there. Or rather, try to cross. The bridge will be ripped out from under you. Follow the path up from here and you'll fight... BOSS - BARRUCHA It's about time you actually got to go head-to-head with this machine of death. It's weak to Hatassasar, strong to Aionsluh, and strong to all weapon Auras. It's also strong to most conditions. Poison happens to be one of the ones it's weak to; Midian's Lethal Dosage might be able to help. Triple Slash won't be effective, but Mince will work fine, if you've absorbed that Silver Stone. All of its attacks have Transcendent attributes, so Sacrifa's Transcendent Aura will be helpful. It also has a Death Blow attack that kills instantly, so make sure your characters that have reviving moves have those moves ready and enough XL to use them. If you win, you'll net a VERY handy 2500 AR (which becomes even higher when modded with the AR Catalyst). Additionally, Rhue will learn BARRUCHA CALL, gain +1 XL RETENSION (the amount of XL he starts the battle with), and Sacrifa will learn ONENESS-ELEMENTAL FIELD! All in all, it's quite a take. Head down and enter the teleporter. Find a save point and choose to exit the area. After talking to the guy, head back down into the course. Follow the path back to the end of the course where that sign was initially. Use the save points to your advantage; if you hit F12 and load your game whenever you die instead of letting the game automatically reset you, your deaths won't be recorded. It's pretty much cheating, but you can do it if you're having trouble. If you complete the maze in under 7 minutes and with less than 10 deaths, you'll receive a STRICITE, a BLAN ROCK, and a SOUL STONE. Once you're done with the barrucha fun, head on back out of the Scene. Step onto the teleporter and go to the forest teleport (right teleporter). Head down the stairs and go down a bit. Check the grave on the righthand side. Step down a bit and check the other symbol. Then head right into the next room. It's the upper portion of Jopaga's switch puzzle! Head right a bit and down into the first room. The chests there hold a LUNGE STONE and a DROP STONE. Go back out and continue rightward, going down into the third room. Swim into the discolored area and hit enter. Once you're swimming, head out the left exit and flip the switch in the next room. The water will drain. After that, go back into the main room. This room is a switch puzzle. The layout looks like this: o o o o o o o o o S 1 8 2 9 3o o o o 4 5 6 7 R An o represents one of the lights, S represents the start switch, R represents the reset switch, and the numbers represent the various puzzle switches. Hit the switches in the following order: 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, S. This will open the lefthand door. Reset the puzzle via the R switch. Hit the switches in the following order: 2, 4, 5, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9, 9, S. This will open the righthand door. Once you've opened both doors, go through the left door and collect the LYN ROCK in the chest there. Head back to the main room and then through the right door. The chest there holds the Crscent Key. Go back into the main room and out the left exit. Flip the switch to raise the water level back up. Swim back out into the main room, but before you resurface, go through the upper left door and swim up to the top to pick up a HEART STONE. Then swim onto the watery area in the middle of the room and hit enter. Swim up and surface, then open the chest for the Star Key. Go back to the main room and out the top. Go back to the main walkway and enter the next small room on your right. The chests there hold a KRITAR SHELL and a STRICITE. Step back outside and take the far righthand exit. Open the door there with the Crescent Key, and continue along. Submerge under the water, and then swim down and right, taking the first available route up. Flip the switch there, opening the gate to sewers located above you. Swim back down and then right some more, following the path to the next area. You'll be in another puzzle-like area. Activate the switch below you with the action key, then swim up. Don't close the gate behind you; you need it open later. The switches here activate the gates; the middle switch in each area turns all the surrounding gates on, which each side switch toggles its respective gate. The goal is to make it to the top of the screen without running into one of the monsters. The best way to do it is to activate one of the middle switches, then cut off one of the gates that's safe from the monsters, then quickly swim to another middle switch and activate it. The more of these you activate, the more you can safely distract the monsters from where you want to be. If there're too many around you, swim back to an earlier area (if it's safe to do so) and hope they follow. Make sure you don't drown, though. Once you get to the top wall, head right a bit and then take surface via the leftmost exit. Outside will be chests containing a BLAN ROCK, a DROP STONE, a POCITE, a STRICITE, a HEART STONE, a LUNGE STONE, and a KRITAR SHELL! Dive back in and then swim down and open the nearby grate. There's nothing above you, though, so take the far right exit. Surface on the far righthand side of the next area. Open the door at the top of the screen with the Star Key. Step up into the center of the room and watch a cutscene. NEW CHARACTER - LEXUS <<>> You'll reappear back in the city, but turn around and go back in. Take the top exit again. The chests in this room contain a NOVA STONE and a LYN ROCK. Now head back outside into the city. Head left a bit and enter the building there. You'll be able to play a minigame. If you successfully go through all 5 rings, you win a LYN ROCK. Head back outside. Find a teleporter and go to Alan's mansion. Go down the lefthand staircase, down a little, and then left until you reach another staircase. Descend it. From there, go down until you see a large horizontal gap next to house with a flowery window. Stand as close to the house as possible immediately left of the flower and face the gap. Jump. Go down and right a bit and then jump upward to the small single-tile platform above you. Jump right and go over to the wall. Head up into the enclosed area. The door above you will lead to a treasure room of sorts. Open the chests there for a BLAN ROCK, THREE PIECES OF FOCITE, a STRICITE, THREE PIECES OF POCITE, another BLAN ROCK, and THREE PIECES OF WICITE! Head back outside and make two jumps back across the gap. There should be a walkway below you; go down it a short ways until you see two pink flowers. Enter the door between them. First, check the righthand side of the bookcase at the bottom for a +1 SORYA FLIRT LEVEL. Then step behind the counter and talk to the lady there. Head back outside and backtrack to Alan's mansion. Warp to the Scene. Take the elevator down. Fallow's sitting at the table in the top left corner of the area. After you talk to her head back and tell the lady what she said. Once she moves out of the way, open the chests in the area for a MEND STONE, a LUNGE STONE, and a BLAN ROCK. Also, step into the center hallway. On the left side, you'll be able to step into the wall and pick up a STRICITE. Head back outside, jump the gap, and go up a short ways until you see a staircase. Take it down. Follow the path until it ends, and enter the house there. If Sorya isn't in the party, then you can't do this part; skip the next paragraph. Head upstairs. Open the chest there for a +1 SORYA FLIRT LEVEL. Head down into the next room. Check the painting there (this will be useful later). Go back outside. Backtrack to Alan's mansion and then step inside. On a table near the top of the room there will be two candles and a ticket. Pick up the ticket. If you're a big fan of Sorya and you really want her stats to be higher, take her; if you want Lexus's stats to be higher and the option of unlocking one of the game's alternate endings (again, you can get the other endings even if you unlock this one), take Lexus. You have a few options here; you can either keep all seven Heart Stones for yourself, or you can spend them all and get the best stat bonuses for Lexus/Sorya. If you want to keep them, then Lexus/Sorya will leave the party permanently, etc, and there are a bunch of other problems. I'll detail all of your options for this scene, and you can decide how you want to proceed with it. Note that from here on out I'll refer to Lexus/Sorya as Lexus, so if you're dating Sorya, then just replace "Lexus" with "Sorya." At the end of the scene, you'll gain 7 Heart Stones minus the number you spent. If you have 2 or fewer Cafe Points (CP), Lexus will leave the party. If you have 3-5, nothing will happen. If you have 6-12, you'll gain a Lexus point. If you have 13-14, you'll gain 2 Lexus points. If you have 15, you'll gain 3 Lexus points, and if you have the maximum of 16, you'll gain 4 Lexus points. If you have 15 or 16 points, Lexus's attack will rise by 125% of your CP. Additionally, if she hasn't left your party, Lexus's Max HP will rise by 150% of your CP, her Max XL will rise by 12.5% of your CP, her Will will rise by 112.5% of your CP, and her Poise will rise by 125% of your CP. You start with 0 CP, and if the scene ends early, the amount of CP you have will still be taken into effect. Also, note that you need 10 Lexus points (this does not work with Sorya points) to unlock the alternate ending. "Well then, screw you." "Leave" End Scene "Attack Host" -2 Rhue, End Scene "Isn't any seating available?" "Leave" End Scene "Ask to speak to the manager" "Take this punk out" -2 Rhue, End Scene "s" ((No Effect)) "p" ((No Effect)) "a" ((No Effect)) "r" ((No Effect)) "Shan Doy Le" ((No Effect)) "Purpose Platter" ((No Effect)) "Skinny Dip Delight" ((No Effect)) "GENAAAU Monkey Brains" ((No Effect)) "Uh..." +2 CP "Okay" 0 CP "Thanks, but that's all right." +4 CP "Get it yourself" 0 CP "Isn't that Gretta's job?" +2 CP "I'll go get something" +3 CP "Haag (1 Heart Stone)" +1 CP, -1 Heart Stone "Nordgren (2 Heart Stones)" +2 CP, -2 Heart Stones "Promersberger (3 Heart Stones)" +3 CP, -3 Heart Stones "Water (Free)" 0 CP "(Tell her she is fat)" -1 CP, End Scene if CP is less than 3 (after subtracting) "(Imply she is fat)" 0 CP, End Scene if CP is less than 4 "Excuse self from table for a sec" 0 CP, End Scene if CP is less than 4 You'll be able to wander around now. Shortly, you'll hear a crash of glass and Exmus can be seen walking out. Talk to him before he leaves for a DROP STONE. Talk to the lefthand violinist in the band, and you'll get these options: "Play a song." "Give him a Heart Stone." +1 CP, additional +1 CP if you looked at the painting in Sorya's house, -1 Heart Stone "Nevermind." Exit Dialogue "Nothing." Exit Dialogue Also talk to Celestria and Marasha while you're here. The option you pick for Marasha doesn't matter. You can also talk to the waitress with red hair, but talking to the manager is better (though it costs a Heart Stone). Here are the options for the waitress: "My date is unhappy with her meal." 0 CP "(Flirt with waitress)" +1 CP, Meal Replaced "Nothing." 0 CP The meal can only be replaced once, so you have to decide between the waitress and the manager. The manager wanders in and out, so if she's not there, stand near the right side of the room until she appears. "My date is unhappy with her meal" "Yes. (1 Heart Stone)" +2 CP, -1 Heart Stone, Meal Replaced "No, she'll be all right" 0 CP "You should fire the host" 0 CP "Nothing" 0 CP Head back to your seat and sit down. "Nothing" 0 CP "1 Heart Stone" +1 CP, -1 Heart Stone "2 Heart Stones" +2 CP, -2 Heart Stones The scene will end and stat bonuses will be given accordingly. You'll be back in Alan's mansion afterwards. Head outside and step into the teleporter. Warp to Central Hall (center teleporter) and go down the steps below you and then the stairs below them. Head left a bit until you can go down, then follow the downward path to another staircase. Descend it, and go left. Talk to the lady there. If you choose to buy it, you'll make Lexus happy, although there are no immediate effects for doing so. You'll also be on track to recover all three of those Heart Stones you spent, and more. Teleport to Alan's mansion and head down the left staircase. Go up a little, then left a little, and you'll arrive beneath a large building with a single door. Go inside. Talk to the gray- haired guy behind the counter. After you finish talking, step outside. Go back to the teleporter and warp to your house. From there, go left a bit, jump a small gap, and open the chest there for a STRICITE. Go back to the teleporter and then head rightward until you see a small grassy area below you. Enter the nearby house. The chest inside holds a BLAN ROCK. Go down toward the people sitting down, and after some dialogue, head back outside. Head back to the teleporter and warp to the Shadow Inn/House of Pnoe teleporter. From there, go down rightward until you reach the main city gap. Jump over it and enter the house there. Talk to the girl inside and get a cat. Yay! Back outside, jump back across the gap and enter into the house below you (the door is on the bottom). "No! Give us the cookies!" -2 Rhue "Kick her butt!" -1 Rhue, Enter battle "Well... okay. Let's sit down." 0 Rhue "Okay." 0 Rhue "Accuse her of poisoning tea!" 0 Rhue "Take her out!" -1 Rhue, Enter battle "Take a sip" 0 Rhue "Okay, a small sip." 0 Rhue "Charlatans of Justice" "Iterosh" Enter battle "Jeramyu" "Excess" Enter battle "Borter" Enter battle "Sharlatans of Justice" Enter battle "Carltons of Justice" Enter battle "Harlots of Justice" Enter battle It's best to avoid the battle; you get an extra voucher that way. Head back to the Charlatans of Justice HQ to collect your reward. Go back to the teleporter and once again warp to the Shadow Inn/House of Pnoe. Head down and right until you see Exiled standing in a corner. Talk to him. After a short scene, talk to him again. Then go inside. First, check the glass to your right. Then step behind the cabinet (below the sink). You'll sweep up the broken window glass. Then go up to the chest and enter the combination "24" (Which you get by adding up the number of logs, forks, and swords in the room. You figure out that you need to do that by checking the list on the center table). After that, close the chest. Try to leave. Qupp will return, and you'll have to hide by stepping one square to the right of the large pole. Make sure the glass is gone and the chest is closed, or you'll wind up in a battle (and thus lose some vouchers). Now you need to get out of the house without being seen (or heard). The tiles aligned with the left side of the table creak and give you away, so make sure Qupp's sink is on when you step across them. Also note that if you take too long waiting, Qupp will notice you. Head back to the Charlatans of Justice HQ. Collect your reward and get the next mission. Return to the teleporter and once again warp to the Shadow Inn/House of Pnoe. From there, go up a ways until you reach a shack with a closed door. Enter. First, check any one of the barrels near the top of the room. Then take the bottom right exit. You'll be in a cutscene/minigame type of thing. The goal here is to get the man's resolve down to 0 without hurting him too much. You have four options, Question, Threaten, Hurt, and Sympathize. Hurting him increases the amount of resolve your threats take off. Questioning him allows you to find contradictions in what he says, which in turn increase the amount of resolve your sympathies take off. The trick is to never use Question twice in a row, Threaten twice in a row, or Sympathize twice in a row. Also, when you do use Hurt, make sure they're weak hits (the red meter is made up of 1 or 2 boxes). If you use three weak hits, it's actually better than a strong hit. The moment he's sitting on the ground with some blood on his forehead, you know you've hurt him too much and you might want to start over. The Questions work as follows: Question 1 - Will be effective if you checked the barrel. Question 2 - Won't have any effect. Question 3 - Will be effective if you pick "2 weeks ago." Will be more effective if you've hurt him 3 or more points (3 weak hits, 2 medium hits, or 1 hard blow). Question 4 - Will be effective if you pick "Nymph and Geraia." Question 5 - Will be effective. Question 6 (If Resolve is above half) - Will be very slightly effective. Continue asking Q6. Question 6 (If Resolve is below half) - Will be effective if you pick "You know Melbis well, don't you?" Question 7 - Won't have any effect. Question 8 - Will be effective. Continue asking Q7. Effectiveness is measured by how much they increase the resolve sympathies take off. Note that you have a limited number of sympathies, so add some effectiveness before you start using them. If you succeed, you'll get the options: "Tell him to stay put." 0 Rhue, get key if his health is high enough. "Kill him." -2 Rhue Also, if you kill him during the interrogation, you'll get -2 Rhue. Once you're done, head back into the bedroom. The chests hold TWO HEART STONES and a BLAN ROCK. Also, there's a HEART STONE near the bottom. Next, step into the bed, then check the sink, check the dresser, check the mirror, and check the bookcase, in that order. This is detailed on a scrap of paper out in the main hallway, and it opens the door at the top of the room. The next room contains a POCITE, a FOCITE, a HEART STONE, a HEART STONE, a WICITE, a BLAN ROCK, and a STRICITE. Afterwards, head back outside. Go back to the teleporter, and then follow the path right and downward until you reach the place marked on the map. Step inside. Approach the door and check it. Your newfound password will allow you entry. Head up and talk to the girl at the table with the weird red hair. Then go talk to her boyfriend at the bar table (he's the one with yellow hair). Talk to her again, then to her boyfriend again. Then take his place at the bar. Hit enter and she'll come talk to you. Tip her a Heart Stone (If you don't, you'll miss out on a Cross Stone and a Lunge Stone later. Go up and talk to the bouncer, then to the next guy. BOSS - MELBIS AND CABALI TWINS These guys are as normal as you get. They don't have a single strength or weakness, which means you can basically put them under any condition you desire and they won't be able to do anything about it. Take out the Cabali Twins first, starting with Twin 1 (he has healing abilities), and then Twin 2. Every 13 turns, Melbis will launch a Tri-Ultra attack, which, to say the least, will utterly decimate your party. Try to win before 13 turns occur, and if you can't, then defend on the 13th or prone him/otherwise render him unable to attack beforehand. Check Melbis's body for a key. It opens the chests at the left containing a CROSS STONE and a LUNGE STONE. Head back outside and make a quick stop in the House of Pnoe (you don't have to talk to anyone, just step inside). This will earn you another piece of furniture. While you're here, though, look at the tables near the top of the screen. There may be a cloaked figure sitting on the left side of the middle table (this is random, with a 1 in 21 chance of it occurring every time you enter the House of Pnoe). If not, then head outside and back in until he appears. When he does, go and talk to him. He'll ask you to pick a number; the number is 3. Pick it and you'll receive a CROSS STONE, a LUNGE STONE, and a DROP STONE. After you're done with that, go out and return to the Charlatans HQ and collect your reward. Now that you have more vouchers than you could possibly imagine, return to Fwacho's. You can buy the furniture or convert your vouchers into an insane number of Heart Stones as you wish. Naturally, buying the furniture will make Lexus happy. The Charlatans work should be able to pay off all of the stuff on the list exactly (19 vouchers total). Next, find a teleporter and go to Alan's mansion. Head down the stairs and then rightward, down some more stairs, and then down some more stairs after that. Head right a little and then up until you see a bucket on your left. Push it. Step down into the house there. Go down the nearby staircase and out the bottom door there. You'll be in Alan's basement. Turn around and go back in, head backk upstairs, then exit via the bottom door. Then exit via the bottom door of that room. You'll be backstage again. Head out the door on the righthand side and you'll be in a storage room. Check the clock. Go back outside into the city, Next, find a teleporter and go to Central Hall. Step down the steps, and head right, past the crazy girl running in circles, and down the staircase there. Then enter the building to your left. Talk to Lexus near the top: "You're crazy!" -1 Lexus "Humor her" +1 Lexus "Whatever" 0 Lexus Also talk to Celestria. Head out the lefthand exit. Talk to Sorya. "Sure..." 0 Sorya "No Way!" 0 Sorya "Yes!!" +1 Sorya Head back to the main room and talk to Celestria again. Say yes. Once you're in control, follow her and talk to her. Then pick up the key that's shining near the bottom of the area. Head back outside. Go up the stairs to your right and enter one of the doors of the Concert Hall. Take the top left exit and go up the stairs there. Head through the exit in the top center of this hallway. On the far right side is a piece of STRICITE. Go back down. Take the upper left exit and go up the staircase to your right. Go down. You'll be outside. Go right a bit, and step down once you're on the center of the walkway, and hit enter. Climb down the ladders. The left door leads to Celestria's back room. Jump across. Follow the path and enter through the door at the end. Welcome to the obstacle course de la morte. You will most like die here. There really isn't much strategy to it, just don't touch the spikes. Make your way to the bottom of the room and go through the door there. The next area is just a connector to other areas, so head back to the spike room. On the far right of the room is a chest containing a STRICITE. Make your way to the top right corner, and then once you're off of the spikes, loop around up and left and activate the switch. Then head up through the top door. It's another obstacle course. Don't worry so much about the arrows; if you get caught on one of the spikes, you'll die. Don't be afraid to jump back down if you're about to die, either. Once you make it to the top, exit via the door. Step onto the center of the wood and fall through it. You'll be in a minigame of sorts. Your goal here is to shoot the Phantom with arrows. To get the arrows, activate the switches in the following order: down, left, right, up. When you do that, Gallagher will toss you some arrows. Stand on one and hit enter to fire it. 7 successful hits will wrap it up. After that's over, open the two chests near you for a BLAN ROCK and another BLAN ROCK. Follow the path to an area full of papers. Examind the paper lying on the ground at the far left for a key to the child's knee. Head back to where you came in. There should be two torches on the wall above you. Check the wall on space right of the left torch. Enter the newfound door. Step behind the left counter to pick up Celestria's suit, then check the chests for a LYN ROCK and a SOUL STONE. Also check the left side of the painting at the top for the Concert Hall Right Tower key. Step back outside and head up to the top of the room again. Pick up the chair that's on the floor. For some reason, it'll open up the door leading to the top. Go through it. After a cutscene, head out of the room, out the exit leading down, and then back out of the entire theater. Back outside, find a teleporter. Warp to the Shadow Inn/House of Pnoe. Head right until you see a small house underneath a save point (The Girl's house). Check the left side of the painting there. Backtrack all the way to the Phantom's room again. Talk to him. Talk to him again. He'll offer you the painting for 30 of your Max HP. He'll never ask again, so if you want the painting, get it now. Afterwards, check the right painting. You'll emerge at a room that's basically a treasure trove. Open the chests for a LUNGE STONE, a DROP STONE, TWO PIECES OF STRICITE, FOUR HEART STONES, TWO BLAN ROCKS, and a SOUL STONE. Check the painting to get back outside. Now backtrack until you reach the outside area before the ladder room. Enter the righthand door, then enter the door there. Follow the path until you reach an odd area with different music, a piano, and some chests. The chests contain TWO BLAN ROCKS. Talk to the man, then head left and talk to the kid in bed. If his eyes are closed, wait until they're open. It may take a little while. Also, you have to time it so you talk to him when his eyes are open, which will probably be a little difficult. After you do that, check the right side of the bed for +1 XL RETENSION. Now head all the way back out into the city. Warp to your house and step inside. If you have everything, you'll gain +2 Lexus points, and Lexus's Max HP, Focus, Will, and Poise will all rise by 21. Her Max XL will rise by 1. If you're missing anything, use the following list: Moxi Box - Complete all three Charlatans of Justice missions. Clock - Find it backstage of the theater. Flowers - Enter the House of Pnoe. Painting - Gotten from the Phantom. Cat - Talk to the girl with the cats in the outer city house. Everything Else - Buy at Fwacho's. Go back outside. Head right, past the Charlatans HQ, past a staircase, up a little and then right until you see a building with two flowers on the balcony. There's a door on the left side of the building near the bottom; enter it. Step through the top door for a second to change into your good suit, then talk to the guy at the right. He'll move out of the way, so enter the door behind him. Go down the stairs near the top of the screen and through the exit on the right. Go down through the door at the bottom of the next area. You'll wind up in the wine cellar; the door at your right leads to the Phantom's lair, and the pool of water leads to the connection between Jopaga's lair and Lexus's tomb. Return to the main room of Marasha's house and head upstairs. The chest at the top of the room holds a HEART STONE. Then check behind the righthand side of her clothes dresser for a key to her closet, then open the closet. There'll be a dress there, and potentially one or two ornaments, depending on your relationships with Lexus and Sorya. If the left ornament is there, take it for +1 Lexus; if the right ornament is there, take it for +1 Sorya. You can only take one, though, so if both ornaments are there (most likely not), take the one for the girl you like better. Marasha's not here right now, so head back outside. So, about that Plunge I mentioned earlier. You should go to the Forest or Altair Manor and absorb some of the insane amount of Notch Items you've picked up. Once you're ready, find a teleporter and warp to Alan's mansion, Go down the lefthand staircase. Head down and then go down one of the two staircases there. There will be a door in the wall between the staircases. Enter it. Step up into the teleporter at the top of the room and get ready to Plunge. See the Plunge section for details. If you win this, you'll earn a new Finisher and the title of Pharaphalyn! Once you're done, open the chests for Midian's SUPEREME Blade and Sacrifa's ALPHA OMEGA Aura. What's that you say? Plot advancement? Oh right, that. Go to the House of Pnoe and enter the room on the right. Check the symbol on the top wall. Fight... TWO DRUDAPRAXI AND SLOM The Drudapraxi are weak to Fire and the Slom is seriously weak to Air, so Hurricane Cut and Midian's Elemental Blade will help a lot. The Slom's also weak to Pandamaare and strong to Illuminati. They're both vulnerable to a lot of conditions and strong to others, but you really shouldn't need to put them under conditions to win. From the first intersection, head right. THREE DRUDAPRAXI As far as status effects go, Midian's Confuser is the only thing that will help here. Otherwise, just keep using Hurricane Cut and the Elemental Blade. Keep heading right and you'll find a chest with a WICITE. Head left, up, and right again to pick up a WICITE. Go back left, then up, then left until you can't go any further. Follow the path until you reach a chest holding a STRICITE. Backtrack to the four way intersection, then go up and step into the teleporter there. In the next area, follow the path down to... DRUDAPRAX AND KOGGER The Kogger's weak to Pandamaare and strong to Illuminati. As far as conditions go, you can poison it and make it bleed, but neither all that easily. It can stun and disable you, but it shouldn't be that serious. All in all, a fairly straightforward fight. Continue following the path until you come to an intersection. KOGGER AND SLOM No new strategy here, just take out the one that annoys you most first. Turn left and open the chest there for a HEART STONE, then head back and take the fork leading down for a LELL ROCK. Then go back and take the left fork and step into the teleporter there. Head right and fight... TWO SLOM AND TWO DRUDAPRAXI It's probably best to get rid of the Sloms first, so Hurricane Cut and Midian's Supreme (if you have it) will help. Keep going right until you can't anymore, then go up and open the chests above you for a LYN ROCK and a HEART STONE. Go back down and left and take the upward fork there. Turn left at first opportunity and follow the path until you can jump down; do so. The chests there contain the Green Key and a POCITE. Open the door below you. You'll be back at an earlier point, so make your way to the teleporter again (it's to the right). When you get to the place where you turned left to jump down, go up. Follow the path, ignore the first right turn, and continue onward to two chests holding a WICITE and a POCITE. Head back and turn rightward. Continue along the path, open the door at the end, and jump down. Follow the path up and open the chest at the end to obtain a HEART STONE. Jump down again. The next chest holds the Red Key. Go down and through the door, then head up to the top and enter the teleporter. Go down to the bottom of the next area and open the door there. Jump down. The chests here hold the Grey Key and a WICITE. Exit via the door, and head up to the teleporter at the top of the area. Go down a bit until you see a door on your right. Open it, and jump down. Follow the path to... BOSS - WRALESCAR It's weak to all the Elemental sub attributes and extremely weak to Pandamaare. It poisons and bleeds easily, but it's immune to pretty much everything else. It has three moves: Coma Trance, which puts you under Coma (basically very heavy sleep), Flash Bolt, which severely blinds you, and Mind Leech, which makes your XL drain away. None of these moves are damaging, but the conditions hurt, so make sure you're ready to cure a few of them. Afterwards, you'll see a cutscene, then you'll be back in the House of Pnoe. Head out and step into the teleporter. Warp to Central Hall. Head through the righthand door and go to the Lost City, then step outside. Go right over to the wall, then up to the top of the area. Then, head left and enter the second door you see. Take the staircase down and exit via the door at the bottom. Once outside, head down through three arches until you can't go anymore. Then go left and open the chest there for a BLAN ROCK (this would have been a Nova Stone if you hadn't gotten the one in Lexus's tomb). Head back up to the door, then go right until you see another door. Step inside and pull the lever. You'll be in a very large area with mine cart tracks. The first order of business here is to kill all the monsters. DARK SCYTH AND GREEN EYE The Dark Scyth is severely weak to the Weapon attribute and weak to all the Oneness sub attributes. The Green eye is weak to all Oneness sub attributes as well. Neither of them is immune to any conditions, though they're both strong to prone and a few other conditions. If you need to put them under a condition, try bleeding. Midian's Oneness blade will help, and Mince will pretty much decimate the Scyth and work very well on the Eye. Continue left and fight everything you see. You'll see a few tracks leading upwards. Follow them to chests containing TWO PIECES OF WICITE and TWO HEART STONES. There will also be a track leading left. Follow it to TWO PIECES OF FOCITE. Head back to the main junction and continue downwards, once again killing everything in sight. There will be two paths leading to the right. Follow the second one into the wall and keep going right until you stop. Then go down. The chests there hold Midian's DUAL EDGE, which works well on Scyths, as well as a CROSS STONE, a LUNGE STONE, and a DROP STONE. Head back out and continue down. There will be a path leading left that leads to a STRICITE, as well as two paths leading down to a BLAN ROCK and another BLAN ROCK. DARK SCYTH AND TWO GOBOS The Gobos are weak to Hatassasar and strong to Pandamaare. They're also immune to prone. Fortunately, they're normal to all other conditions, meaning you can pretty easily give them any condition you desire. Their Coma Fangs can prove dangerous so make sure you keep coma to a minimum via Panacea or early killing of the Gobos. Once you're done with that, head back out and go left until you see a mine cart beside a switch and a save point. Flip the switch and the minecart will go (if you've killed all the area's monsters). Unfortunately, every track setting happens to be wrong (and they spring back to wrongness even if you flip them). So, you've got to flip them all while the cart's in motion. This is pretty tough, so if you make a mistake, you'll probably have to start over. Note that you can and have to jump over some of the gaps in order to succeed. Also note that some of the switches work in odd ways, so you'll need to practice with them a few times. Here's a quick overview of what you're supposed to do: Flip the first switch, then run left and go up the staircase you see above you. Go left until you see two switches. Hit the left one, then once the mine cart goes through the first junction, hit the right one, then hit the left one again. Jump the gap and run up, hitting the switch there. Then, jump the next gap and hit the next switch. Jump back across, run up a bit, and jump across the final gap. Hit both switches, then hit the left one, then both, and then the left one again. After you hit the last switch, quickly run right, down the stairs, and right until you reach the final switch. Flip it, then run out the top of the screen. Doing this will earn you +5 FOCUS, +5 WILL, and +5 POISE. When you come to a stop, opt to get off. First off, I'd like to point out that this area and the areas ahead are the best places to gain AR. So equip the AR Catalyst, if you haven't already, and get ready to level stuff. If you plan on leveling all of the Transcendent Sword Auras, then this is the best place (each aura will still take 80-120 battles to max out, though). There are a lot of battles in this area, so I'll go ahead and detail them all out. GREEN EYE AND MESHUR The Meshur is strong to Pandamaare and weak to Illuminati. It's strong to a lot of conditions, including poison and prone, but it is succeptible to some things, like bleeding and confusion. DARK SCYTH AND TWO GOBOS Take out the Scyth first via Mince and the Dual Edge, then go for the Gobos. If you don't have Panacea, though, you might want to start with the Gobos. Alternatives include putting the Gobos under any condition that incapacitates them. ------------------------------------ ----------THE PLUNGE (SXP)---------- ------------------------------------ The Plunge is a system for one-on-one human combat in The Way. The Plunge has its own stats which are not related to regular battles. -Attacks- In the Plunge, you fight by picking one of three attacks: Cross Sweep, Lunge Cut, and Drop Slash. Each attack is strong against one of the other attacks and weak against the other. Cross Sweep bests Lunge Cut, which bests Drop Slash, which in turn bests Cross Sweep. It works in Paper-Rock-Scissors format. Choosing the right attack is pretty much up to blind luck most of the time. Choosing the correct attack will net you a 40% gain in the damage you deal. -Stat Overview- The Plunge has its own stats, which are: Plunge - This stat is the most important stat of all. It determines how much damage you deal and also affects the base chances of everything that happens in the Plunge. Damage Threshold - This stat determines how much damage you can take before being adversely affected. If the amount of damage you take exceeds this number, you will lose certain statistics for the remainder of the Plunge. Critical Hit% - This stat affects the probability of getting a Critical Hit in battle. It can also modify other probabilities in battle, but only if you choose the correct attack. Critical Strength - This stat affects how much extra damage you deal if you successfully perform a Critical Hit in battle. -Injuries- If the amount of damage you take exceeds your Damage Threshold, you will experience an injury. There are 4 steps of injury: Step 1 (Damage Threshold Exceeded by 1): -1 Critical Hit% Step 2 (Damage Threshold Exceeded by 5): -1 Critical Hit%, -1 Plunge Step 3 (Damage Threshold Exceeded by 10): -1 Critical Hit%, -1 Plunge, -2 Damage Threshold Step 4 (Damage Threshold Exceeded by 20): Instant Loss -Risk Attacks- In battle, you can choose whether you want to do a normal attack or a Risk Attack. Risk Attacks are just what their name implies... risky. If you choose to perform a Risk Attack, you will deal 35% more damage if you picked the correct attack. If you pick the incorrect attack, you will receive 35% more damage than you would have normally. Thus, if both people use Risk Attacks, there is potential for a 70% damage increase (these percentages do not modify each other). -Base Damage and Roll Tables- Base damage is rolled using the Plunge statistic. For every 3 points of Plunge, a 6-sided die is rolled. If Plunge exceeds the nearest multiple of 3 by 1, a 2-sided die will be rolled. If Plunge exceeds the nearest multiple of 3 by 2, a 4-sided die will be rolled. All of these die rolls are added together to determine base damage. The table appears as follows: Plunge Die 1 Die 2 Die 3 Die 4 Die 5 Die 6 Die 7 Die 8 Min Dam Max Dam 1 1-2 1 2 2 1-4 1 4 3 1-6 1 6 4 1-6 1-2 2 8 5 1-6 1-4 2 10 6 1-6 1-6 2 12 7 1-6 1-6 1-2 3 14 8 1-6 1-6 1-4 3 16 9 1-6 1-6 1-6 3 18 10 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-2 4 20 11 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-4 4 22 12 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 4 24 13 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-2 5 26 14 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-4 5 28 15 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 5 30 16 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-2 6 32 17 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-4 6 34 18 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 6 36 19 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-2 7 38 20 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-4 7 40 21 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 7 42 22 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-2 8 44 23 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-4 8 46 24 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-6 8 48 Of course, by the rules of probability, the most likely roll will be the one directly in between the Minimum and Maximum Damages. Critical Strength is rolled off this table in the exact same way that Plunge is. The roll is then added to the damage dealt in a critical hit. -Blade Arts and Strides- Blade Arts are special skills used in the Plunge which will either positively affect your stats or adversely affect your opponent's. See the Blade Art section for information on each Blade Art. In a Plunge, a Blade Art will be randomly selected from your 8 Blade Art slots before every pass. It will then be used during that pass. You can equip 8 Blade Arts, and one of the slots will be randomly chosen before each attack. If no Blade Art is equipped in that slot, no Blade Art will be used. Equipping Blade Arts requires Strides. Strides can be obtained by absorbing the Stricite Notch Item. Every Blade Art takes a certain number of Strides to equip. There are 5 levels of Blade Arts: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4, and Step 5. Each Step contains 5 Blade Arts. To equip a Blade Art in a certain step, you will need the same number of Strides as the step number. You will regain the Strides when you remove the Blade Art. For example, Rhue has 3 Strides. He equips Cool Wind (Step 1) in Slot 4 and Lanner (Step 2) in Slot 7. He then has 0 Strides remaining and cannot equip any more Blade Arts. He then removes Lanner and has 2 Strides remaining. Some Blade Arts, like Lanner for example, have a base chance of success. Certain things affect this probability. For every 1 Plunge point you have in excess of your opponent, 5% will be added to all Blade Art success chances. For every 1 Plunge point you have less than your opponent, 5% will be subtracted. Also, if you pick the correct attack in battle, your chance of success will be modified to add your Critical Hit%. Likewise, if you pick the incorrect attack, your chance of success will be modified to subtract your opponent's Critical Hit%. For example, Rhue uses Lanner (30%). His Plunge is 7 and his opponent's is 4. Both pick Drop Slash. Lanner's probability of being successful will be 30% + (7 - 4) * 5% 30% + 3 * 5% 30% + 15% 45% Another example, Rhue uses Lanner (30%). His Plunge is 22 and his opponent's is 24. Rhue's Critical Hit% is 12. Rhue picks Cross Sweep and his opponent chooses Lunge Cut. Lanner's probability of being successful will be 30% + (22 - 24) * 5% + 12% 30% - 2 * 5% + 12% 30% - 10% + 12% 32% Note that the probability of success does not affect how well the Blade Art works. Lanner is able to reduce your opponent's Plunge rating by 1 - 2, but it is always random whether it will be 1 or 2 points. -Classifications- Your classification is a mark of how strong you are in Plunge statistics. Other than gauging how good you are, it only has one use: Finishers (See below for details). Your classification is based on a raw score calculated as follows. Plunge * 10 Damage Threshold * 2 Strides * 2 Critical Strength Critical Hit% Cross Link% / 5 Lunge Link% / 5 + Drop Link% / 5 __________________________ Raw Score As you can see, your Plunge statistic is key in determining your raw score. This raw score is then used to determine your classification. Wanderer ( 0- 40) Plyn ( 41- 80) Hylyn ( 81-120) Corlyn (121-160) Deralyn (161-204) Portalyn (205-249) Vandralyn (250-289) Straphalyn (290+) Pharaphalyn (???) It is notable that with the exception of Wanderer, each classification adds one letter to the one before it. This resembles a pyramid, which is symbolic of the number of people in each class. The classification of Pharaphlyn is held by one and only one, and is a storyline element. Thus, it is impossible to attain the level of Pharaphalyn through stats alone. -FP and Finishers- FP is used in Plunges for special skills. FP will naturally go up by 3 points during every pass in a Plunge. Certain things consume FP. Risk Attacks use 2 FP. Link Attacks use FP (See Link Attacks section below). If your FP reaches 20 points, you will receive a Finisher. A Finisher will give your attack some extra punch. A Critical Hit during a Finisher will provide additional effects. The Finisher you perform is entirely based on your Classification. Finisher 1 (Wanderer, Plyn) + 1-6 Damage (Another die roll) Critical: No Bonus Finisher 2 (Hylyn, Corlyn) +50% Attack Damage Critical: Damage Threshold -20% Finisher 3 (Deralyn, Portalyn) +50% Attack Damage, Damage Threshold -20% Critical: Plunge -20% Finisher 4 (Vandralyn, Straphalyn) +50% Attack Damage, Damage Threshold -20%, Plunge -20% Critical: +33% Additional Attack Damage (Total +100%) Finisher 5 (Pharaphalyn) +100% Attack Damage, Damage Threshold -20%, Plunge -20% Critical: Instantaneous Victory -Link Attacks- Link Attacks are the method by which you control which Blade Arts you use. You Link one of your eight Blade Arts to each of your three attacks. The percentage chance of each Link working is based on the number of Cross, Link, and Drop Stones you have absorbed. When you use the Link Attack in battle, you will have a certain probability of successfully performing the Link and the Linked Blade Art. For example, you have linked the Critical Eye Blade Art to your Cross Sweep Link. Your Cross Sweep Link% is at 15%. When you use your Cross Sweep Link in battle, you will have a 15% chance of successfully using Critical Eye. If you fail, one of your 8 Blade Art slots will be selected randomly as normal. The probability of success is modified when you pick the right or wrong attack. If you choose the correct attack, your Link% will rise by double your Critical Hit%. If you choose the wrong attack, your Link% will be reduced by double your opponent's Critical Hit%. For example, you have linked the Crippler Blade Art to your Lunge Cut Link. Your Lunge Cut Link% is at 45% and your Critical Hit% is 8. You use your Lunge Cut Link in battle, and your enemy uses Drop Slash. Your probability of successfully Linking Crippler will be 45% + 2 * 8%, or 61%. Another example, you have linked the Fenshu Blade Art to your Drop Slash Link. Your Drop Slash Link% is 25% and your opponent's Critical Hit% is 6. You use your Drop Slash Link in battle, and your enemy uses Lunge Cut. Your probability of successfully Linking Fenshu will be 25% - 2 * 6%, or 13%. Link Attacks consume FP. The first time you use a Link Attack, it will use 1 FP. The second time will use 2 FP, the third, 3, and so on. The tenth time will cost 10 FP, and then the FP cost will reduce to 1 and restart the cycle. Each Link Attack works independently of the others, so if you use your Cross Sweep Link Attack twice, your Lunge Cut Link will still cost 1 FP. ---Blade Arts (SPB)--- Here is a list of Blade Arts and their effects. Base chances are modified as detailed in the above section "Blade Arts and Strides." Note that - base chances are always successful and not modified in any way, even if Rhue's Plunge statistic is 40 points lower than his opponent's and he chooses the wrong attack. # Name Effect Base Chance of Success -Step 1- Step 1 Blade Arts involve increasing your Plunge statistics. 1. Jagged Edge Adds 1-4 damage to attack - 2. New High Increases Damage Threshold 1-2 points 30% 3. Critical Eye Increases Critical Hit% by 1-4 points - 4. Cool Wind Restores 3-6 HP - 5. Ray of Light Increases Plunge by 1-2 points 25% -Step 2- Step 2 Blade Arts involve decreasing your opponent's Plunge statistics. 6. Burning Edge Adds 2-6 damage to attack - 7. Crippler Lowers enemy Damage Threshold 1-2 points 35% 8. Dust Spray Lowers enemy Critical Hit% 1-4 points - 9. Fenshu Steals 1-2 FP from opponent - 10. Lanner Lowers enemy Plunge 1-2 points 30% -Step 3- Step 3 Blade Arts are wildcard Blade Arts. They generally deal in HP and enemy Blade Arts. 11. Slammer Adds 4-8 damage to attack - 12. Weak Link Lowers enemy's highest Link% by 15%* 50% 13. Slot Plug Prevents an enemy from using random Blade Art 40% for 2-5 turns. 14. Downpour Rolls CritStr on the Roll Table and adds - result to HP (Will not exceed Max HP) 15. Backlash Rolls (Plunge/4) on the Roll Table and adds - result to attack damage *The effect of Weak Link is modified in the same way as base chances of success for Blade Arts. For example, if Rhue has 2 more Plunge than his opponent, then the strongest Link% will be decreased by 25% instead of 15%. -Step 4- Step 4 Blade Arts are even more wildcard than Step 3s. There really isn't a way to classify them, but they can have very beneficial effects on the Plunge. 16. Destroyer Adds 6-10 damage to attack - 17. Pinpoint Cuts damage in half, but adds 1/4 of normal - damage to injury# of opponent. Cannot cause Step 4 injuries 18. Double Plug Prevents an enemy from using two random Blade 30% Arts for 2-5 turns. 19. Strong Link Raises lowest Link% by 15%* 50% 20. Ender Instantly defeats much weaker enemies. 15% Adds 20% damage otherwise. *The effect of Strong Link is modified in the same way as base chances of success for Blade Arts. For example, if Rhue has 2 more Plunge than his opponent, then the weakest Link% will be increased by 25% instead of 15%. -Step 5- Step 5 Blade Arts are focused on dealing more damage and otherwise hurting the opponent. 21. Ravage Adds 8-12 damage to attack - 22. Blindside Automatic Critical Hit 35% 23. Venshu Steals 2-3 FP from opponent - 24. Snapper Cuts highest Link% to 0. 50% 25. Crestfallen Adds 12-16 damage to attack - ---Enemy Listings (SPN)--- SPOILER ALERT: You may consider the names of the enemies you Plunge to be plot-related information. All Plunges assume that you have indeed gotten all Plunge-related Notch Items available. If you haven't, some Plunges may be significantly harder than I make them out to be. After the name of your opponent, I list a short code. The codes are as follows: (S) - Standard. Win and you get bonuses, draw and you continue, but don't get bonuses, lose and you get Game Over. (X) - Extreme. If you win, you get bonuses. Draw or lose and you get Game Over. (L) - Losing Plunge. You are intended to lose, and there are no bonuses any way you slice it. (O) - Friendly Plunge. You can win for bonuses, but if you lose or draw, you still get to keep playing. Sometimes you'll get bonuses even when you draw. (*) - Special. The battle has special conditions that I will detail in the description below. Note that some battles don't have bonuses even if you win them. -Episode 1- THERIN OF NELIN (L) Max HP: 45 Plunge: 4 DT: 10 Crit%: 8 CritStr: 3 Blade Arts: 8 Blanks Cross Link: None (0%, Slot 1) Lunge Link: None (0%, Slot 0) Drop Link: None (0%, Slot 0) This is your first Plunge, and you can't win. See how low you can knock him down though. HEADHUNTER (L) Max HP: 100 Plunge: 4 DT: 20 Crit%: 8 CritStr: 3 Blade Arts: 8 Blanks Cross Link: None (0%, Slot 0) Lunge Link: None (0%, Slot 0) Drop Link: None (0%, Slot 0) This is your second Plunge, and you still can't win. You can't even cut this guy's HP down enough to show. TRAZIUN (L) Max HP: 300 Plunge: 8 DT: 30 Crit%: 12 CritStr: 4 Blade Arts: 8 Blanks Cross Link: None (0%, Slot 1) Lunge Link: None (0%, Slot 0) Drop Link: None (0%, Slot 0) This is your third Plunge, and you guessed it, you can't win. This one is a quick demise rather than a long, drawn-out death spiral, though. -Episode 2- NOMI (O) Max HP: 30 Plunge: 2 DT: 4 Crit%: 3 CritStr: 2 Blade Arts: Cool Wind, 7 Blanks Cross Link: 10% Cool Wind Lunge Link: None (5%, Slot 1) Drop Link: None (5%, Slot 1) This one is actually possible to win. I'd advise you to not use Risk Attacks so that you can save up FP for a Finisher. Watch out though, if she picks the right attacks on you and ends up drawing Cool Wind 3 or 4 more times than you do, you can lose this one. ROSMAR (L) Max HP: 70 Plunge: 5 DT: 10 Crit%: 8 CritStr: 3 Blade Arts: Cool Wind, New High, 6 Blanks Cross Link: None (20%, Slot 1) Lunge Link: None (5%, Slot 2) Drop Link: 5% New High Annnnd back to losing. Have fun! ALANTHREONUS PHILLIPE STRAPHACHAR (O) Max HP: 28 Plunge: 3 DT: 7 Crit%: 5 CritStr: 4 Blade Arts: 2 New High, 6 Blanks Cross Link: 15% New High Lunge Link: None (5%, Slot 0) Drop Link: None (5%, Slot 0) Yay, one that you can win. If you absorbed your Lyn Rock, you'll win easily. PARRIS (O) Max HP: 40 Plunge: 4 DT: 5 Crit%: 0 CritStr: 0 Blade Arts: Ray of Light, 7 Blanks Cross Link: 10% Ray of Light Lunge Link: None (5%, Slot 0) Drop Link: None (5%, Slot 0) This one's tough, but if you've absorbed all the Plunge-related Notch Items, it's definitely possible. If he manages to pull off that Ray of Light Blade Art of his, he'll probably beat you. The same is true for you. If you can get in a successful Ray of Light, you'll probably win. GUY ON THE MARNA STRETCH (O) Max HP: 40 Plunge: 4 DT: 6 Crit%: 0 CritStr: 0 Blade Arts: New High, Cool Wind, 6 Blanks Cross Link: 10% Cool Wind Lunge Link: None (5%, Slot 0) Drop Link: None (5%, Slot 0) This guy isn't too difficult, especially if you've absorbed some of the Plunge-related Notch Items from the Marna Stretch. If you haven't, then it might be a little tough. -Episode 3- SHADOW MAN (O) Max HP: 60 Plunge: 4 DT: 8 Crit%: 4 CritStr: 4 Blade Arts: Burning Edge, Crippler, Dust Spray, Jagged Edge, Cool Wind, 3 Blanks Cross Link: 10% Burning Edge Lunge Link: 35% Crippler Drop Link: 5% Dust Spray This thing has Blade Arts up the wazoo, but it doesn't have the stats to match. Your 6 Plunge points should outclass its low Damage Threshold and its 4 should stay within yours. Crippler, when he successfully uses it, will probably fail because it only has a 25-33% chance of success. So basically, this is an easy battle. MATALAN BLOOD LYN (O) Max HP: 55 Plunge: 4 DT: 7 Crit%: 4 CritStr: 3 Blade Arts: Critical Eye, Ray of Light, 6 Blanks Cross Link: 10% Critical Eye Lunge Link: None (5%, Slot 2) Drop Link: 10% Ray of Light Even easier than the Shadow Man. Lower HP, Damage Threshold, Critical Strength, Fewer Blade Arts, and weaker Links. I easily won this while picking the wrong attack literally EVERY time. -Episode 4- FOREST BLOOD LYN (X) Max HP: 65 Plunge: 4 DT: 8 Crit%: 4 CritStr: 3 Blade Arts: Critical Eye, Crippler, Ray of Light, 5 Blanks Cross Link: 10% Critical Eye Lunge Link: 35% Crippler Drop Link: 5% Ray of Light This guy is about on par with the Shadow Man. The only difference is that this time you should have absorbed about 3 more Lyn Rocks, 4 or 5 more Heart Stones, a Stricite, and a Blan Rock or two. And he doesn't have the Lanner and Crippler Blade Arts either. Manage to pick the right attack on him, and you might be able to give him a Step 4 injury and send him down instantly. ANSGAR (S) Max HP: 60 Plunge: 7 DT: 10 Crit%: 4 CritStr: 4 Blade Arts: Ray of Light, Cool Wind, Jagged Edge, New High, 4 Blanks Cross Link: 30% Ray of Light Lunge Link: 35% Cool Wind Drop Link: 20% Jagged Edge You might actually be able to take damage in this one. It'll still be a pretty easy fight, though. THERIN OF NELIN (S) Max HP: 57 Plunge: 6 DT: 11 Crit%: 5 CritStr: 6 Blade Arts: Jagged Edge, New High, Critical Eye, Cool Wind, Ray of Light Cross Link: 10% New High Lunge Link: None (5%, Slot 2) Drop Link: 45% Jagged Edge Hey, you actually stand a chance against him the second time around. This guy's about as hard as Ansgar. Watch out for that 45% Jagged Edge Link. The extra damage probably won't hurt you much anyway though. QUALIFIER NUMBER TWO (S) Max HP: 92 Plunge: 8 DT: 6 Crit%: 7 CritStr: 3 Blade Arts: Jagged Edge, Dust Spray, Ray of Light Cross Link: None (45%, Slot 1... a 45% Link and he didn't Link a Blade Art to it?!) Lunge Link: 20% Dust Spray Drop Link: 5% Jagged Edge Hey look, an enemy who actually has HP! The only problem is, his Damage Threshold is so low that you'll be able to Step 4 him before it runs out. ROSMAR (X) Max HP: 110 Plunge: 9 DT: 14 Crit%: 5 CritStr: 5 Blade Arts: Burning Edge, Downpour, Crippler, Dust Spray, Fenshu, Lanner, 2 Blanks Cross Link: None (0%, Slot 0) Lunge Link: 30% Destroyer Drop Link: 35% Burning Edge This guy has some serious Blade Arts. His stats aren't bad either. You'll still outclass him though. His 4-5 less Plunge should knock 20% off of all his Blade Art chances of success as well. You should be able to win, but it won't be the easiest of victories. -Episode 5- STRATA (L*) Max HP: 280 Plunge: 12 DT: 80 Crit%: 3 CritStr: 6 Blade Arts: Fenshu, Slammer, Downpour, Backlash, Lanner, Burning Edge, Crippler, 1 Blank Cross Link: 25% Slot Plug Lunge Link: 5% Pinpoint Drop Link: 20% Burning Edge This Plunge is a bit different from normal. First off, you can't win (well, it might be possible to win if you had the bout of the century, but the programming of the game doesn't even have code for you to win. If you won, Strata would just keep fighting well into the negative HP). Secondly, it IS possible to "win." "Winning" involves living through the six passes that Strata predicted you wouldn't survive. If you survive six passes before you fall (and chances are you'll fall in the seventh), then you will receive the reward for the Plunge (Focus +3). Now, since this Plunge is such an atypical Plunge, the following Blade Arts are rendered useless: Jagged Edge, Ray of Light, Critical Eye, Burning Edge, Dust Spray, Crippler (Except for the fact that Plunge and Critical Hit% affect Link% and Blade Art chances of success). These Blade arts gain importance: New High, Cool Wind, Lanner. The secret to winning this battle is getting off Blade Arts, especially Lanner. If you can lower his Plunge by 3 or more points, chances are he won't be able to kill you in six. SLADE (O*) Max HP: 145 Plunge: 10 DT: 45 Crit%: 0 CritStr: 6 Blade Arts: Destroyer, Strong Link, Burning Edge, Fenshu, Lanner, Weak Link, 2 Blanks Cross Link: 100% Burning Edge* Lunge Link: 30% Strong Link Drop Link: 25% Destroyer *Apparently Slade's AI prevents him from using this link, so the 100% is for preventing Strong Link from increasing it. In order to gain AR from this Plunge, all you have to do is reduce Slade's HP to below 80 before you die. However, you should be able to win. His high Damage Threshold may prevent you from giving him significant injuries, but you'll definitely be able to take his HP down to 0 before you die. If you pick the correct attack and both of you choose Risk Attacks, and you can pull off a damage-adding Blade Art or a Critical Hit, you might be able to deal him the 65+ damage required to kill him in a Step 4, though. SHADOW MAN (O) Max HP: 97 Plunge: 9 DT: 13 Crit%: 4 CritStr: 3 Blade Arts: Slot Plug, Jagged Edge, New High, Cool Wind, Dust Spray, 3 Blanks Cross Link: 20% Slot Plug Lunge Link: 20% Jagged Edge Drop Link: 100% New High This is a joke. You should be able to Step 4 this guy within the first few passes. Pick the right attack, and you'll drain him. KYGAR (S) Max HP: 135 Plunge: 9 DT: 20 Crit%: 6 CritStr: 6 Blade Arts: Jagged Edge, Ray of Light, Crippler, Weak Link, Lanner, 3 Blanks Cross Link: None (0%, Slot 0) Lunge Link: 35% Jagged Edge Drop Link: None (5%, Slot 0) This one isn't very difficult. You'll probably be able to Step 4 him if you pick the right attack. STRATA (S) Max HP: 150 Plunge: 14 DT: 35 Crit%: 6 CritStr: 6 Blade Arts: Fenshu, Slammer, Downpour, Backlash, Lanner, Burning Edge, Crippler, 1 Blank Cross Link: 25% Slammer Lunge Link: 5% Backlash Drop Link: 20% Lanner By virtue of the fact that his Damage Threshold is no longer in outer space, Strata is beatable this time. He's got the same Blade Arts, and actually a higher Plunge rating, but you've gotten better as well. Much better. You should be able to give him a Step 4 injury. Do note that his stats are VERY unbalanced. It's possible for either one of you to fall in a step 4. -Episode 6- SLADE (S) Max HP: 180 Plunge: 14 DT: 40 Crit%: 8 CritStr: 6 Blade Arts: Destroyer, Strong Link, Burning Edge, Fenshu, Lanner, Weak Link, 2 Blanks Cross Link: 100% Burning Edge* Lunge Link: 30% Strong Link Drop Link: 25% Destroyer *Apparently Slade's AI prevents him from using this link, so the 100% is for preventing Strong Link from increasing it. This one's a little bit more difficult than your previous Plunges, but your stats have increased enough that you should be ready for it. BENNET (S) Max HP: 135 Plunge: 9 DT: 14 Crit%: 6 CritStr: 5 Blade Arts: Jagged Edge, Fenshu, Lanner, Dust Spray, Cool Wind, New High, 2 Blanks Cross Link: 100% Jagged Edge* Lunge Link: 30% Jagged Edge Drop Link: 25% Fenshu *Bennet's AI prevents him from using this link. The important thing here is to knock him out in a single pass. That requires 34 damage; if you pick the right attack or link a damage adding Blade Art it'll happen, and it may happen even if you don't. PHALAX (S) Max HP: 150 Plunge: 11 DT: 19 Crit%: 7 CritStr: 7 Blade Arts: 2 Jagged Edge, Burning Edge, New High, Lanner, Cool Wind, Crippler, Strong Link Cross Link: 100% Jagged Edge* Lunge Link: 30% Jagged Edge Drop Link: 25% Burning Edge *Phalax's AI prevents him from using this link. Your goal here is three passes or less, which is significantly easier than winning the previous match in only one. His Damage Threshold is only a little higher, and you get three full chances to risk the right attack. Or you could try to link a damage adder. Either way, it won't be that hard. PALE (S) Max HP: 170 Plunge: 14 DT: 25 Crit%: 7 CritStr: 7 Blade Arts: Pin Point, Fenshu, Lanner, Dust Spray, Cool Wind, New High, Jagged Edge, Strong Link Cross Link: 100% Pin Point* Lunge Link: 68% Pin Point Drop Link: 100% Fenshu *Pale's AI prevents him from using this link. Aim for four passes or less. If you can land a good risk attack, you'll be able to pull it off. ROSA (S) Max HP: 173 Plunge: 14 DT: 26 Crit%: 8 CritStr: 8 Blade Arts: Pin Point, Fenshu, Lanner, Dust Spray, Cool Wind, New High, Jagged Edge, Strong Link Cross Link: 100% Pin Point* Lunge Link: 65% Pin Point Drop Link: 100% Fenshu *Rosa's AI prevents her from using this link. Rosa's only mildly harder than Pale, so use the same strategy. KYGAR (S) Max HP: 196 Plunge: 16 DT: 30 Crit%: 7 CritStr: 7 Blade Arts: Double Plug, Slammer, New High, Downpour, Crippler, Strong Link, Slot Plug, 1 Blank Cross Link: None (100%, Slot 0) Lunge Link: None (80%, Slot 0) Drop Link: 60% Double Plug Your goal here is four passes or less. It may take some luck to be successful, and Crippler might be needed as well. KAVAX (S) Max HP: 210 Plunge: 18 DT: 35 Crit%: 9 CritStr: 9 Blade Arts: Ravage, Ender, Double Plug, Pin Point, Destroyer, Weak Link, Slot Plug, Downpour Cross Link: 70% Ravage Lunge Link: 71% Ender Drop Link: 100% Double Plug Your goal this time is five passes. It's basically the same strategy as last time. EXMUS (S) Max HP: 230 Plunge: 20 DT: 40 Crit%: 10 CritStr: 10 Blade Arts: Ender, Pin Point, Double Plug, Backlash, Destroyer, Fenshu, Weak Link, Crippler Cross Link: 70% Pin Point Lunge Link: 71% Ender Drop Link: 100% Double Plug It's the championship match, and, as usual, you have a set number of passes to beat. This time it happens to be five. This isn't exactly the easiest match in the world to begin with, and winning in five may prove tricky if winning at all doesn't. Still, if you can link a damage adding Blade Art like Destroyer or Ravage and pick the right attack at the same time, it should be doable. SHADOW PLUNGER 1 (S) Max HP: 600 Plunge: 5 DT: 85 Crit%: 3 CritStr: 20 Blade Arts: 5 Critical Eye, New High, Slammer, Fenshu Cross Link: 70% Critical Eye Lunge Link: 71% Critical Eye Drop Link: 100% Critical Eye It's the first of the Shadow Plungers, and it certainly isn't easy. His normal attacks are pathetic, but his criticals can be deadly. With the 600 Max HP and all, it'll be a long battle, so a few well-placed Blade Arts can swing the battle your way. First off, three or four Lanners will make it so that his regular attacks don't deal you a thing. That will help prevent him from whittling you down. Secondly, Dust Spray will help to counteract his incessant use of Critical Eye. Thirdly, Ray of Light and Critical Eye can help boost your damage abilities so that you can actually take all of his HP off him. Alternately, you can use Crippler to bring his Damage Threshold down; however, you probably won't be able to bring it down far enough it to matter before the battle ends. SHADOW PLUNGER 2 (S) Max HP: 600 Plunge: 6 DT: 95 Crit%: 0 CritStr: 23 Blade Arts: 8 Downpour Cross Link: 70% Downpour Lunge Link: 71% Downpour Drop Link: 100% Downpour The second Shadow Plunger battle is a bit unlike any other Plunge you've taken so far. Basically, you can't hurt it. Its use of Downpour after every pass pretty much undoes any damage that you accomplished. The answer? You've got to reduce its Damage Threshold to the point where you can give a Step 4 injury. The best way to do that is through Finishers. A successful Finisher will reduce your opponent's Damage Threshold by 20%. So build up your FP until you have a full bar. Then do it again, and again, and again. After the fourth or fifth Finisher, you should easily be able to give it the Step 4 injury and finish it off. SHADOW PLUNGER 3 (S) Max HP: 450 Plunge: 12 DT: 75 Crit%: 4 CritStr: 15 Blade Arts: 4 Venshu, 3 Fenshu, Ray of Light Cross Link: 70% Venshu Lunge Link: 71% Venshu Drop Link: 100% Venshu The problem here is that he's constantly sapping your FP. That means that you don't get to do anything shiny, and he gets to use a lot more Finishers than normal. His Damage Threshold is high enough that you won't be able mess with it, so you're going to have to win this one quickly and decisively through damage. Fortunately, his HP is a little bit lower than the other Shadow Plungers, and, unlike Shadow Plunger 2, he doesn't heal himself every turn. And even though he's always stealing your FP, you do have some, so link a few Blade Arts like Lanner and you'll be able to stick around longer. SHADOW PLUNGER 4 (S) Max HP: 340 Plunge: 21 DT: 80 Crit%: 9 CritStr: 15 Blade Arts: Snapper, Ender, Destroyer, Pin Point, Crippler, Ray of Light, New High, Double Plug Cross Link: 70% Destroyer Lunge Link: 71% Ender Drop Link: 100% Snapper Those stats are ridiculous! The HP is a little bit lower than the other Shadow Plungers, but every single one of those stats is higher than yours, and the Blade Arts are extremely good, too. There's only one trick to this Plunge, and that's in using Lunge Cut. In my experience, she uses Drop Slash a lot more than Cross Sweep, so if you want the attack advantage go with Lunge Cut. If you plan on winning, then you're going to need some luck. That's all there is to it. KAVAX THE PHARAPHALYN (X) Max HP: 290 Plunge: 24 DT: 68 Crit%: 12 CritStr: 16 Blade Arts: Ravage, Blindside, Venshu, Snapper, Crestfallen, Backlash, Ender, Destroyer Cross Link: 90% Venshi Lunge Link: 90% Blindside Drop Link: 100% Ravage This is about what you'd expect from the Pharaphalyn. He outclasses you in both stats and Blade Arts. If you're going to win here, you'll need both luck and good planning on your side. I'd recommend saving up for a finisher attack, since the battle probably won't be over all that quickly. A successful Lanner or two will also help a lot if you want to try to get one off. You probably won't be able to dish out any injuries, so this will be a battle of who can survive the longest. Downpour will be valuable, and you may want to try plugging some of those slots of his so his Blade Arts don't mutilate you. ---------------------------------------------------- ----------THE REGULAR BATTLE SYSTEM (SXB)----------- ---------------------------------------------------- Before we get into the exact formulas for what everything does, here's a stat overview. HP - Hit Points. When it runs out, a character falls. Just like in every other RPG... ever. XL - X-Life. Comparable to MP. Skills require XL to use. More information below. Focus - Comparable to Attack. The more you have, the more damage you deal. Affects some skills. Poise - Comparable to Agility. The person with the most moves first (generally), and it affects evasion. It has a limited effect on your evasion and also an effect on your hit rate. Will - Comparable to Intelligence. The more you have, the better your skills work. It affects skills in varying degrees. It also reduces damage from many enemy skills. Defense - The more you have, the less damage you take. Until you get Transcendent Auras or you equip the No Pain Flow, this is going to stay at 1. --X-Life-- Every character starts out the battle with 0 XL. Then on every turn, each character will gain an amount of XL dependent on his or her XL gain. Rhue's XL gain is dependent on the Sword Aura he has equipped and its level. Note that XL is gained on the first turn as well, so a character with an XL gain of 2 will start out with 2 XL on the first round of combat. --Attributes-- Many attacks have what are called attributes on them. Skills and normal attacks with attributes will have one main attribute (Weapon, Oneness, Elemental, Transcendent) and one sub attribute (Piercing, Flesh, Earth, Cosmic, etc). All of the attributes are listed here: WEAPON Piercing Slashing Smashing Ripping ONENESS Mind Flesh Spirit Blood ELEMENTAL Fire Water Earth Air TRANSCENDENT Shadow Light Cosmic Atoma Each monster's and character's resistance to an attribute is marked by a letter A through E, A being the most vulnerable, and E being the most resistant. For main attributes, monsters and characters with resistance of A take 300% of normal damage when they are attacked by an attack with a certain attribute. B = 200%, C = 100% (normal), D = 50%, and E = 0%. For sub attributes, A = 200%, B = 150%, C = 100% (normal), and D = 50%. For Oneness sub attributes, E = 0%, for all other sub attributes, E = 25%. When an attack lands, its damage will be modified by whichever attribute it has that would produce the largest amount of damage. For example, a Piercer (Weapon - Piercing) attack on a monster that had A (300%) resistance to Weapon and A (200%) resistance to Piercing would deal 300% of normal because Weapon's A attribute would have the greatest effect. A Slasher (Weapon - Slashing) attack on a monster that had E (0%) resistance to Weapon and A (200%) resistance to Slashing would deal 200% of normal because the Slashing's A attribute would have the greatest effect. So as you can see, having attributes on attack is only a bad thing when ALL of the attack's attributes are weak against the target. However, multiple good attributes will not stack. --Skills-- Every skill has three things that affect the damage it deals: the Attack Mod, the Will Mod, and its Variance. Each is assigned a value of 0 to 10. The Attack Mod - The higher this is, the more your Attack power will factor into the damage that the skill does. Unfortunately, the higher this is, the more effect your opponent's Defense rating will have on preventing that damage. The Will Mod - The higher this is, the more your Will rating will factor into the damage that the skill does. Unfortunately, the higher this is, the more effect your opponent's Will rating will have on preventing that damage. Variance - The higher this is, the more varied your attack damage will be. If this is 0, your attack will always deal the exact same amount of damage. If this is 10, your attack damage will vary greatly. ---Battle Formulas (SBF)--- Now for the math. But first, a few things must be calculated before moving into the formulas. Highest Attribute Effect (HAE) = (The attribute of your attack that will have the greatest effect on the target [see above]) / 100% Attack (Att) = Focus + Weapon's Attack Rating Defense (Def) = 1 + Weapon's Defense Rating Will = Will + Weapon's Will Rating Poise Ratio (PR) = Enemy's Poise Rating / Your Poise Rating EDef = Enemy's Defense Rating EWill = Enemy's Will Rating HitRate = Your Weapon's Hit% / 100% And now, for the formulas that directly affect damage. The <=> symbol indicates that the previous value will be multiplied by a random number from (100% - x) to (100% + x), where x is the number that follows the <=> symbol. The <=> always comes last in order of operations. Damage (Normal Attack) = HAE x [(Att / 2) - (EDef / 4)] <=> 20% Damage (Critical Hit) = Damage (Normal Attack) x 3 When the target defends, Normal Attack Damage is divided by 4. Damage (Skill) Step 1 = Base Damage + [Att x (Attack Mod / 20)] + [Will x (Will Mod / 40)] Damage (Skill) Step 2 = Step 1 - [EDef x (Attack Mod / 40)] - [EWill x (Will Mod / 80)] Damage (Skill) Step 3 = HAE x Step 2 <=> Variance x 5% Note that for spells that heal allies, skip step 2. Chance of Hit (Normal Attack) = (HitRate - [(PR - 1) x (1 - HitRate) x HitRate]) x 100% When a weapon has an "Ignore Enemy Evasion" characteristic, the above formula is ignored. This applies to enemy hit rates as well, but enemy hit rates are determined randomly. Chances of success for skills vary from skill to skill. These chances are not modified by anything. Chances of critical hits are based on raw weapon critical chances and are not modified by anything. ---Battle Conditions (SBC)--- There are various conditions (status effects) that you can be put under during battle. Rhue's Flows will protect him from these conditions. Note that a Flow that protects against a condition protects against all related conditions. I have grouped them together accordingly. --My Condition Notation-- Most conditions will have a chance to heal after a certain amount of time. For example, Poison will have a 35% chance of healing each turn after the Poison has gone on for 4 turns. My notation for this is "Heal: 35% after 4." Some conditions will have a chance of healing whenever the afflicted character takes a hit in combat. Sleep has a 25% chance of healing after 1 turn, but additionally has a 50% chance of heal when hit. My notation for this is "Heal: 25% after 1, 50% shock." Some conditions will drain HP or XL. They will drain a percentage of your current HP or XL and then drain another, specified amount. For example Poison 1 will drain 2% of your current HP plus another 1 damage each turn. My notation for this is "HP Drain: 2% + 1." Conditions that render the afflicted character unable to move while they last are notated "Immobility." Conditions that cause the afflicted character to randomly attack allies are notated "AllyAttack." Conditions that cause the afflicted character to randomly attack foes are notated "EnemyAttack." Some conditions lower a character's hit rate. For example, Blind 1 lowers a character's hit rate to 80% of normal. I notate this "HitRate: 80%." Some conditions will halve stats while they remain in effect. A condition that halves Defense will be noted as "Half Def." Conditions that half Focus, Will, Poise, and Defense will be noted as "Half All." Some conditions prevent the use of certain skills. Skills are affected by your Focus and Will stats, and some moreso than others (this is rated on a scale of 0 to 10). Certain conditions will prevent the use of the skills most dramatically affected by a certain stat. For example Soreness 2 prevents the use of skills rated 7 or above for Focus. Actually, I'm not sure that this is entirely correct, but know that a condition notated "FocusBlock: 5" is more effective than one marked as "FocusBlock: 9" at preventing skills affected by Focus. Note that any attributes of a condition group are shared by all subconditions. The Poison group is marked "Heal: 35% after 4," so all poisons can be considered to be marked as such. --Condition Listing (SBL)-- DEFEAT - This condition results when your character runs out of HP or is dealt a death blow. Defeated - No effects applicable. POISON - Gradually saps HP. Heal: 35% after 4. Poison-1 - HP Drain: 2% + 1. Poison-2 - HP Drain: 5% + 1. Poison-3 - HP Drain: 10% + 2. SLEEP - Character cannot move. Shock healing occurs. Sleep - Heal: 25% after 1, 50% shock. Immobility. Coma - Heal: 25% after 5, 5% shock. Immobility. Half Def. PARALYZE - Character cannot move. No shock healing. Paralyze - Heal: 5% after 2. Immobility. Half Def. Numb - Heal: 35% after 2. Immobility. STUN - Character cannot move for one turn. Stunned - Heal: 100% after 0 (Instant). Immobility. BLEEDING - Gradually saps HP. No natural healing occurs. BloodLS1 - HP Drain: 2% + 1. BloodLS2 - HP Drain: 4% + 2. BloodLS3 - HP Drain: 6% + 3. BLIND - Lowers hit rates. Blind#1 - Heal: 25% after 3. HitRate: 80% Blind#2 - Heal: 25% after 5. HitRate: 60% Blind#3 - Heal: 25% after 10. HitRate: 30% SORENESS - Blocks moves highly affected by Focus. SoreHit1 - Heal: 20% after 4. FocusBlock: 9. SoreHit2 - Heal: 20% after 4. FocusBlock: 7. SoreHit3 - Heal: 20% after 4. FocusBlock: 5. SoreHit4 - Heal: 20% after 5. FocusBlock: 3. SoreHit5 - Heal: 20% after 5. FocusBlock: 1. CONFOUND - Blocks moves highly affected by Will. Heal: 20% after 4. Confond1 - WillBlock: 9. Confond2 - WillBlock: 7. Confond3 - WillBlock: 5. Confond4 - WillBlock: 3. Confond5 - WillBlock: 1. DISABLE - Blocks moves highly affected by either Focus or Will. No natural healing occurs. Disable1 - FocusBlock: 9. WillBlock: 9. Disable2 - FocusBlock: 6. WillBlock: 6. Disable3 - FocusBlock: 3. WillBlock: 3. CONFUSE - Character attacks allies. AllyAttack. Shock healing occurs. Confuse1 - 75% after 2, 20% shock. Confuse2 - 40% after 5, 10% shock. Confuse3 - 40% after 7, 10% shock. BERSERK - Character attacks random enemies at decreased hit rate. EnemyAttack. Half Def. Berserk1 - 40% after 2, 25% shock. HitRate: 70%. Berserk2 - 30% after 4, 25% shock. HitRate: 60%. Berserk3 - 25% after 6, 25% shock. HitRate: 50% XL-SEEP - Gradually saps XL. Heal: 60% after 4. XL-Seep - XL Drain: 1. XL-Seep2 - XL Drain: 2. XL-Seep3 - XL Drain: 3. XL-Seep4 - XL Drain: 4. UNGROUPED - The following conditions are not grouped with any others. 1/2Focus - Half Focus. Heal: 5% after 5. 1/2Will - Half Will. No natural healing occurs. 1/2Poise - Half Poise. No natural healing occurs. 1/2Def. - Half Def. No natural healing occurs. Frozen - Heal: 80% after 4. Immobility. Burning - Heal: 20% after 8. HP Drain: 4% + 1. HitRate: 80% Nitemare - Heal: 30% after 4. EnemyAttack. HP Drain: 2% + 1. XL Drain: 2% + 1. FreakOut - Heal: 30% after 5. AllyAttack. HP Drain: 4% + 2. XL Drain: 4% + 2. Helpless - Heal: 25% after 3. Half All. FocusBlock: 0. WillBlock: 0. Prone - Heal 45% after 2. Half All. Immobility. MOVE-RELATED - The following conditions are usually brought about through skills. Vengeance - No natural healing occurs. FocusBlock: 0. WillBlock: 0. HP Drain: 5% + 2. Recover - Heal: 99% after 1, 99% shock. Photosyn - Heal: 100% after 3. FocusBlock: 0. WillBlock: 0. Immobility. Enraged - No natural healing occurs. HitRate: 99%. ------------------------------------- ----------NOTCH ITEMS (SXN)---------- ------------------------------------- Notch Items are the method through which Rhue increases his stats. Rhue collects a number of these on his journey and sets them into notches on his sword. He then collects CTP from monster battles and CTP Spouts which goes toward the absorption of the Notch Item he has set. When a Notch Item receives 100 CTP, Rhue will absorb it and gain its effects. Each Notch Item has a particular efficiency rating. All CTP Rhue gets is multiplied by this efficiency rating before it goes into the Notch Item. For example, Rhue sets a piece of Pocite into his sword. Pocite has an efficiency of 6. Rhue goes and kills a monster and receives 5 CTP. The Pocite multiplies 6 by 5 and takes in 30 CTP. Now it only has 70 CTP left to take in before it is absorbed. ---List of Notch Items--- Name Efficiency Effect 1. Focite 6 ****** +2 Focus 2. Pocite 6 ****** +2 Poise 3. Wicite 6 ****** +2 Will 4. Stricite 6 ****** +1 Strides 5. Heart Stone 6 ****** +3 Max HP 6. Soul Stone 6 ****** +2 Max XL 7. Lyn Rock 5 ***** +1 Plunge 8. Blan Rock 5 ***** +1 Damage Threshold 9. Kritar Shell 5 ***** +1 Critical Hit% 10. Lell Rock 5 ***** +1 Critical Strength 11. Nova Stone 2 ** +1 Plunge 12. Mend Stone 4 **** Gain a New Mend Skill 13. Gold Stone 3 *** Gain a New Hit All Attack 14. Silver Stone 3 *** Gain a New Hit One Attack 15. Faithful Heart 1 * +7 HP, +1 Plunge, +1 DT, +1 Crit%, +1 CritStr 16. Scarred Stone 1 * ??? 17. Cross Stone 4 **** +5 Cross Link% 18. Lunge Stone 4 **** +5 Lunge Link% 19. Drop Stone 4 **** +5 Drop Link% 20. AR Catalyst N/A +50% AR Gain 21. CTP Catalyst N/A +50% CTP Gain 22. Elean Stone N/A ??? Mend Stone/Mend Skills 1. Light Mend 2. Light Mass Mend 3. Moderate Mend (Replaces Light Mend) 4. Moderate Mass Mend (Replaces Light Mass Mend) 5. Heavy Mend (Replaces Moderate Mend) 6. Heavy Mass Mend (Replaces Moderate Mass Mend) Gold Stone/Hit All Skills 1. Spin Blade 2. Line Drive (Replaces Spin Blade) 3. Hurricane Cut (Replaces Line Drive) Silver Stone/Hit One Skills 1. Driver 2. Triple Slash (Replaces Driver) 3. Mince (Replaces Triple Slash) NOTE: If you have Mince and absorb a Silver Stone, you will not learn a new skill. Instead you will gain +1 to your Plunge stat. ------------------------------- ----------AURAS (SXA)---------- ------------------------------- ---General Aura Information (SRG)--- Auras are the "equipment" of The Way. They come in two forms, Sword Auras and Defensive Auras. Rhue can level these up by gaining AR from monster battles and chests. Each Aura has an attribute which it uses to attack/defend. ---Sword Auras--- When you level a Sword Aura, its statistics will increase and it will be stronger in battle. Most of the time you will also learn a new skill (exceptions are non-Transcendent Auras reaching level 2). When you equip a Sword Aura of a different main attribute, you will forget these skills. Sword Auras with the same main attribute but different sub attributes will share any skills learned through leveling them. For example, if you level Piercer to level 3 and learn Gash, then switch to Slasher, you will still be able to use Gash. If you then switch to Fire Edge, you will no longer be able to use Gash. ---Defensive Auras--- Each Defensive Aura is strong against two attributes (one main attribute and one sub attribute). Leveling up your Defensive Auras will not make them stronger, it will only allow you to use new Flows. The only thing that effects how well you defend is which Aura you have equipped. ---Flows--- When you level a Defensive Aura, you will gain a new Flow. Flows come in three steps (aptly named Flow 1, Flow 2, and Flow 3). Each Flow has a different effect, and will either deal with increasing Rhue's stats or increasing his resistance to one of a number of various conditions. ---Aura Level Up Tables (SRL)--- The amount of AR required to level up auras is as follows: NON-TRANSCENDENT SWORD AURAS (Piercer, Slasher, Fire Edge, Air edge) Current Level Experience to Next Total Experience to Next 1 20 20 2 40 60 3 80 140 4 160 300 5 320 620 6 640 1260 TRANSCENDENT SWORD AURAS (Illuminati, Pandamaare, Hatassasar, Aionsluh) Current Level Experience to Next Total Experience to Next 1 200 200 2 600 800 3 1800 2600 4 5400 8000 5 16200 24200 NON-TRANSCENDENT DEFENSIVE AURAS (Weapon, Oneness, Elemental) Current Level Experience to Next Total Experience to Next 1 20 20 2 80 100 3 320 420 TRANSCENDENT DEFENSIVE AURAS (Weapon, Oneness, Elemental) Current Level Experience to Next Total Experience to Next 1 300 300 2 1500 1800 3 7500 9300 As you can see, Transcendent Auras are much harder to level than others. ---List of Sword Auras (SRS)--- 1. PIERCER (Weapon - Piercing) Rhue starts out the game with this one. It is weaker than all the other auras, but is still quite useful during the early game. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise 1 3 85 3 1 0 0 0 2 6 86 4 1 0 0 0 3 12 87 5 1 0 0 0 4 18 88 6 1 0 0 0 5 24 90 7 2 0 0 0 6 30 92 8 2 0 0 0 --Piercer Skills-- Level Skill 3 Gash 4 Sleeper 5 Eye Strike 6 Psycho Stab 2. SLASHER (Weapon - Slashing) Rhue receives this Aura near the beginning of Episode 2. It is slightly stronger than the Piercer Aura, but only in the higher levels. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise 1 2 80 1 1 0 0 0 2 4 82 2 1 0 0 0 3 8 84 4 1 0 0 0 4 14 87 6 1 0 0 0 5 22 90 8 2 0 0 0 6 32 93 10 2 0 0 0 --Slasher Skills-- Level Skill 3 Inflow 4 Long Slash 5 Concentration 6 Leg Lash 3. FIRE EDGE (Elemental - Fire) Rhue gets this Aura after he kills Jed (Episode 3). It is the strongest of the four original Auras. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise Special 1 15 85 4 1 0 0 0 1% Burn 2 22 86 5 1 0 0 0 2% Burn 3 30 87 6 1 0 0 0 4% Burn 4 38 88 7 2 0 0 0 6% Burn 5 46 90 8 2 0 0 0 8% Burn 6 54 92 9 2 0 0 0 10% Burn 7 62 94 11 2 0 0 0 12% Burn --Fire Edge Skills-- Level Skill 3 Purify 4 Fireball 5 Thaw 6 Activate Fire Edge 7 Blue Flame 4. AIR EDGE (Elemental - Air) Rhue gets this Aura after he kills Jed (Episode 3). Out of the four original Auras, this one generates the most XL. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise 1 10 88 1 1 0 0 0 2 16 89 4 2 0 0 0 3 22 90 5 2 0 0 0 4 28 91 6 2 0 0 0 5 34 92 7 2 0 0 0 6 40 93 8 3 0 0 0 7 46 94 10 3 0 0 0 --Air Edge Skills-- Level Skill 3 X-Life Exchange 4 Gale 5 Thin Air 6 Activate Air Edge 7 Sweet Wind 5. ILLUMINATI (Transcendent - Light) Rhue gets this Aura in Episode 5, after he regains his sword. This is the Aura with the highest XL gain. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise 1 50 80 3 3 0 0 1 2 55 82 4 3 1 2 3 3 61 84 5 3 3 6 6 4 68 88 6 3 5 12 10 5 76 92 8 3 7 20 15 6 90 96 10 4 9 50 25 --Illuminati Skills-- Level Skill 2 X-Life Transfer (X-Life Flux if Pandamaare is also Level 2) 3 Draw (XL +2) 4 Revive (Also gain Revive 2 if Hatassasar is also Level 4) 5 Sacrifice (Great Sacrifice if Aionsluh is also Level 5) 6 Draw (XL +3) 6. PANDAMAARE (Transcendent - Shadow) Rhue gets this Aura in Episode 5, after he regains his sword. This Aura never misses, and has the highest Poise rating. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise Special 1 58 100 2 2 5 4 4 Ignore Enemy Evasion 2 64 100 3 2 9 8 8 Ignore Enemy Evasion 3 71 100 4 2 13 14 14 Ignore Enemy Evasion 4 79 100 5 2 17 20 22 Ignore Enemy Evasion 5 88 100 6 3 21 40 32 Ignore Enemy Evasion 6 105 100 8 3 30 60 49 Ignore Enemy Evasion --Pandamaare Skills-- Level Skill 2 X-Life Transfer (X-Life Flux if Illuminati is also Level 2) 3 Solo Strike* 4 XL Retainer +1 (XL Retainer +3 if Aionsluh is also Level 4) 5 Guardian Angel (Guardian Angel 2 if Hatassasar is also Level 5) 6 Single Sin* *Solo Strike becomes Dual Shock if either Hatassasar or Aionsluh is also Level 3, and Triple Complex if all are Level 3. The attack will have the elemental attributes of all the Sword Auras which are at least Level 3. Single Sin becomes Twin Fear if either Hatassasar or Aionsluh is also Level 6, and Triultra if all are Level 6. The attack will have the elemental attributes of all the Sword Auras which are at least Level 6. These skills replace Solo Strike and its subsidiaries. 7. HATASSASAR (Transcendent - Cosmic) Rhue gets this Aura in Episode 5, after he regains his sword. This is the Aura with the highest Attack rating. It consumes 1 XL on a normal attack, which is not quite as detrimental as one would think. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise Special 1 70 92 4 1 2 6 0 Attacks Consume 1 XL 2 80 94 5 1 4 12 2 Attacks Consume 1 XL 3 90 96 6 2 6 20 4 Attacks Consume 1 XL 4 100 98 8 2 8 40 8 Attacks Consume 1 XL 5 110 100 10 2 10 60 10 Attacks Consume 1 XL 6 130 100 12 3 15 80 15 Attacks Consume 1 XL --Hatassasar Skills-- Level Skill 2 Soothe (Panacea if Aionsluh is also Level 2) 3 Solo Strike* 4 Revive (Revive 2 if Illuminati is also Level 4) 5 Guardian Angel (Guardian Angel 2 if Pandamaare is also Level 5) 6 Single Sin* *Solo Strike becomes Dual Shock if either Pandamaare or Aionsluh is also Level 3, and Triple Complex if all are Level 3. The attack will have the elemental attributes of all the Sword Auras which are at least Level 3. Single Sin becomes Twin Fear if either Pandamaare or Aionsluh is also Level 6, and Triultra if all are Level 6. The attack will have the elemental attributes of all the Sword Auras which are at least Level 6. These skills replace Solo Strike and its subsidiaries. 8. AIONSLUH (Transcendent - Atoma) Rhue gets this Aura in Episode 5, after he regains his sword. This Aura has the highest Critical Hit rating and a high chance of Stun to boot. Its Attack is the second highest, Defense and Will are the highest, and Poise is the second highest. This Aura is debatably the best one, because although it doesn't stand out, it really has no weaknesses. Level Attack Hit% Crit% XL Def Will Poise Special 1 62 90 5 2 3 10 2 5% Stun, Level 2 Blind, Prone 2 68 92 6 2 6 20 5 7% Stun, Level 2 Blind, Prone 3 76 96 8 2 9 40 9 9% Stun, Level 2 Blind, Prone 4 84 94 10 2 15 60 15 11% Stun, Level 2 Blind, Prone 5 94 98 12 3 23 80 23 14% Stun, Level 2 Blind, Prone 6 115 100 15 3 35 120 35 20% Stun, Level 2 Blind, Prone --Aionsluh Skills-- Level Skill 2 Renew (Panacea if Hatassasar is also Level 2) 3 Solo Strike* 4 XL Retainer +1 (XL Retainer +3 if Pandamaare is also Level 4) 5 Sacrifice (Great Sacrifice if Illuminati is also Level 5) 6 Single Sin* *Solo Strike becomes Dual Shock if either Pandamaare or Hatassasar is also Level 3, and Triple Complex if all are Level 3. The attack will have the elemental attributes of all the Sword Auras which are at least Level 3. Single Sin becomes Twin Fear if either Pandamaare or Hatassasar is also Level 6, and Triultra if all are Level 6. The attack will have the elemental attributes of all the Sword Auras which are at least Level 6. These skills replace Solo Strike and its subsidiaries. ---List of Defensive Auras and Flows (SRD)---- 1. POINT BENDER (Weapon - Piercing) Rhue starts out with it. Flow 1: Poison Filter 1 60% Poison Resistance Flow 2: Poison Filter 2 100% Poison Resistance Flow 3: Focus+ +5 Focus 2. CHAIN LINK (Weapon - Slashing) Located in a chest near the beginning of Episode 2. Flow 1: Clear Sight 1 60% Blind Resistance Flow 2: Clear Sight 2 100% Blind Resistance Flow 3: Will+ +10 Will 3. RUBBER SKIN (Weapon - Smashing) Located in a chest on the Marna Stretch in Episode 2. Flow 1: Resolve 60% Sleep, Paralyze, Stun Resistance Flow 2: Firm Resolve 100% Sleep, Paralyze, Stun Resistance Flow 3: Poise+ +5 Agility 4. TRIPLE THREAD (Weapon - Ripping) Located in a chest in the area before the Blue Scarve camp in Episode 3. Flow 1: Loose 60% Soreness Resistance Flow 2: Loose 2 100% Soreness Resistance Flow 3: PF Split +3 Poise, +3 Focus 5. MENTAL FLOW (Oneness - Mind) Located in a chest in the Pits in Episode 3, before fighting the Long Tongue. Flow 1: Articulate 60% Confound Resistance Flow 2: Articulate 2 100% Confound Resistance Flow 3: Will Force 100% 1/2Will Prevention, +20 Will 6. BODY ARMOR (Oneness - Flesh) Located in a chest in the Water Cave in Episode 3. Flow 1: Resist 50% Soreness, Sleep, Paralyze, Stun Resistance Flow 2: Resist 2 80% Soreness, Sleep, Paralyze, Stun Resistance Flow 3: No Pain 100 Soreness Resistance, +8 Defense 7. SOUL GLOW (Oneness - Spirit) Rhue receives it after the scene with Jopaga. Flow 1: Peace 60% Berserk Resistance Flow 2: Peace 2 100% Berserk Resistance Flow 3: Peace 3 100% Berserk, Nitemare, Confuse, Confound Resistance 8. RED SHINE (Oneness - Blood) Rhue receives it after the scene with Jopaga. Flow 1: Bloodright 60% Poison, Bleeding Resistance Flow 2: Full Blooded 75% 1/2Focus, 1/2Will, 1/2Poise, 1/2Defense Resistance Flow 3: Perfect Blood 100% Bleeding, Poison, Helpless Resistance, +10 Focus 9. BLAZE (Elemental - Fire) Rhue receives it when he regains his sword in Episode 5. Flow 1: Hot Blood 70% Frozen Resistance Flow 2: Hot Blood 2 100% Frozen Resistance Flow 3: Hot Blood 3 80% Poison, Frozen, Sleep, Stun, Paralyze Resistance 10. AQUIFER (Elemental - Water) Rhue receives it when he regains his sword in Episode 5. Flow 1: Cold Blood 70% Burning Resistance Flow 2: Cold Blood 2 100% Burning Resistance Flow 3: Cold Blood 3 90% Soreness, Burning, Bleeding Resistance 11. DUST BOWL (Elemental - Earth) Rhue receives it when he regains his sword in Episode 5. Flow 1: Wallback 70% Prone Resistance Flow 2: Wallback 2 100% Prone Resistance Flow 3: No Weak Spots 80% Poison, Bleeding, Sore, Burning, Prone, Blind Resistance 12. ATMOSPHERE (Elemental - Air) Rhue receives it when he regains his sword in Episode 5. Flow 1: Safety Gust 80% Poison, Burning Resistance Flow 2: Air Pressure 80% XL-Seep Resistance Flow 3: Nothing But Air Evasion Up, +10 Poise 13. PHOTON SPIRAL (Transcendent - Shadow) Rhue receives it after he defeats the Gashemah in Episode 6. Flow 1: White Luck 80% Death Blow Resistance, Critical Hit Prevention Flow 2: Sunshine 60% Nitemare, Helpless, Stun, Blind Resistance Flow 3: One Light +10 Focus, +10 Will, 100% Nitemare, Helpless, Confusion, Blind, Sleep, Paralyze, Stun Resistance. 14. BLACK HOLE (Transcendent - Light) Rhue receives it after he defeats the Gashemah in Episode 6. Flow 1: Gravity Well 80% XL-Seep Resistance Flow 2: Dark Space 90% Bleeding, Frozen, Burning Resistance Flow 3: Singularity +20 Poise, 100% Burning, Frozen, Bleeding, XL-Seep Resistance 15. RAPTURE (Transcendent - Cosmic) Rhue receives it after he defeats the Gashemah in Episode 6. Flow 1: Aware 70% Sleep, Stun, Paralyze Resistance Flow 2: Asuage 80% Disable, Confound, Sore Resistance Flow 3: Universal +10 Focus, 100% Death Blow, Disable, Prone, Berserk Resistance 16. PURE TAINT (Transcendent - Atoma) Rhue receives it after he defeats the Gashemah in Episode 6. Flow 1: Filler 75% Poison, Blind, Berserk Resistance Flow 2: Everything Small 50% Resistance to Everything Flow 3: Source Within +20 Will, Critical Hit Prevention, Evasion Up ------------------------------------------ ----------OTHER CHARACTERS (SXT)---------- ------------------------------------------ This section deals in the stats and skills non-Rhue characters in your party. Right now I'm only going to deal with Episode 6 characters (due to the leveling up and all), but I plan on including the characters from previous Episodes later. ---Midian--- --Midian's Blades-- Here is a listing of all Midian's blades. None of them cost XL to equip, but it does take a turn of battle to equip them. Blade # Attack Hit% Crit% Hit Type XL Cost Attributes 1 20 95 5 One Once 0 Elemental, all Elemental subs 2 20 95 5 One Once 0 Oneness, all Oneness subs 3 5 96 0 One Once 0 None (+20 Defense) 4 0 96 0 All Once 0 Weapon, Oneness, Elemental 5 8 96 0 One Twice 1 Weapon, Oneness, Elemental 6 0 98 5 All Once 1 Weapon, Oneness, Elemental, all related subs 7 20 98 5 One Twice 1 Weapon, Oneness, Elemental, all related subs --Midian's Skills-- Midian's skills are divided into two sets, Concentrated Assault and Wide Spread. Skill Name Level Effects Draw (XL +1) - Draws 1 XL Concentrated Assault - Unlocks Concentrated Assault skill set Wide Spread - Unlocks Wide Spread skill set -Concentrated Assault Set- Skill Name Level Effects Disconcert - 90% chance of halving target's Poise Hard Slash - Medium Damage to one, Attributes: Weapon, Oneness, all related subs Mega Slash 2 Stronger version of Hard Slash Lethal Dosage 6 100% chance of inflicting enemies with Level 3 Poison Apocalypse 12 Stronger version of Mega Slash -Wide Spread Set- Skill Name Level Effects Red Storm - 100% chance of Level 2 Bleeding, Light Damage, Attributes: Oneness and subs Typhoon - Light Damage (Elemental - Water) Numb Ray - 100% chance of Numb (Oneness - Flesh) Confuser 4 90% chance of Level 2 Confusion (Oneness - Mind) Sky Dream 9 ((Bug - No Effect)) --Stat Table: Midian-- Lvl HP XL Att Will Poise 1 155 12 80 40 31 2 161 12 84 48 34 3 167 12 88 56 37 4 173 13 92 64 40 5 179 13 96 72 43 6 185 13 100 80 46 7 191 14 104 88 49 8 197 14 108 96 52 9 203 14 112 104 55 10 209 15 116 112 58 11 215 15 120 120 61 12 221 15 124 128 64 13 227 16 128 136 67 14 233 16 132 144 70 15 239 16 136 152 73 16 245 17 140 160 76 17 251 17 144 168 79 18 257 17 148 176 82 19 263 18 152 184 85 ---Sacrifa--- --Sacrifa's Auras-- Here is a listing of Sacrifa's Auras. The Level 1 Auras cost 4 XL, the Level 2 Auras, cost 6 XL, the Level 3 Auras cost 8 XL, and all of the Auras require a turn of battle to equip. Sacrifa can equip one Aura from each level during battle. The Level 1 Auras add 7 defense, the Level 2 Auras add 10 defense, and the Level 3 Auras add 14 defense. If you equip one of each, it adds up to a 31 defense increase. Level Aura Name Conditions Prevented 1 Poison Filter Poison 1 Clot Bleeding 1 Calm Berserk 2 Heart Guard Death Blows 2 Strong Back Paralysis 2 Clear Sight Blinding 3 Peace Confusion 3 Feel Good Soreness, Confound, Disable 3 XL Pressure XL-Seeps 3 Perfection All Conditions --Sacrifa's Skills-- Skill Name Level Effects Draw (XL +2) - Draws 2 XL Oneness Field - Boosts party resistance to Oneness attribute and all related subs Elemental Field - Boosts party resistance to Elemental attribute and all related subs Transcendent Field - Boosts party resistance to Transcendent attribute and all related subs Panacea - Cures any condition on one character Revive - Cures defeated condition with a little HP Moderate Mend - Heals a medium amount of damage to one ally Moderate Mass Mend - Heals a medium amount of damage to all allies Heavy Mend 3 Heals a large amount of damage to one ally Heavy Mass Mend 7 Heals a large amount of damage to all allies Revive 2 8 Cures defeated condition with a large amount of HP Draw (XL +3) 11 Draws 3 XL [Replaces Draw (XL +2)] --Stat Table: Sacrifa-- Lvl HP XL Att Will Poise 1 160 15 70 70 32 2 166 15 74 78 35 3 172 15 78 86 38 4 178 16 82 94 41 5 184 16 86 102 44 6 190 16 90 110 47 7 196 17 94 118 50 8 202 17 98 126 53 9 208 17 102 134 56 10 214 18 106 142 59 11 220 18 110 150 62 12 226 18 114 158 65 13 232 19 118 166 68 14 238 19 122 174 71 15 244 19 126 182 74 16 250 20 130 190 77 17 256 20 134 198 80 18 262 20 138 206 83 19 268 21 142 214 86 ---------------------------------------- ----------ITEM LOCATIONS (SXL)---------- ---------------------------------------- Although all of the things located in this section are also in the walkthrough for the game, I believe it is necessary to make a more concise list. I do not give actual descriptions of the item locations; I just list them. If you want a full- fledged description, consult the Walkthrough. This section can be used as a checklist, a Guide for those who want to find the items themselves, or a list of missed items. ---Notch Item Locations (SLN)--- *Note: This section includes listings of every Notch Item as well as every stat gain and technique learned. ---EPISODE 1--- STARTING STATS 1. 40 Max HP 2. 5 Max XL 3. 10 Focus 4. 10 Will 5. 2 Poise 6. 2 Plunge 7. 6 Damage Threshold 8. 1 Critical Hit% 9. 1 Critical Strength TWO SCREENS AFTER THE PLUNGE WITH THERIN 1. Shock Rock (+2 HP) RED SWIFTFOOT MINI-GAME 1. +1 Poise ONE SCREEN AFTER THE SPIKED FLYER BATTLE 1. Kritar Snail (+1 Critical Hit%) RABBIT RACE JUDGING 1. Kritar Snail (+1 Critical Hit%) ROCK JUMPING MINI-GAME 1. +1 Poise THE CAVE (BEFORE SWITCH-BRIDGE) 1. Heart Stone 2. Pocite 3. Focite THE CAVE (AFTER SWITCH-BRIDGE) 1. Heart Stone SWITCH MINI-GAME 1. +1 Focus 2. +1 Will THE CAVE (AFTER MINI-GAME) 1. Pocite ---EPISODE 2--- BEGINNING OF EPISODE 1. +3 HP 2. +1 Stride AREA AFTER PLUNGE WITH NOMI 1. Pocite 2. Lyn Rock 3. Focite 4. Focite PLUNGE WITH ALAN 1. +1 Critical Strength MONSTER DEN 1. Soul Stone 2. Unique Hit-One Upgrade 3. Stricite 3. Heart Stone LIDE (MORNING AFTER MONSTER DEN) 1. Pocite PLUNGE WITH PARRIS 1. +1 Critical Strength LIDE (NIGHT AFTER PARRIS PLUNGE) 1. Heart Stone THE MARNA STRETCH 1. Nova Stone 2. Heart Stone [Plunge +1, but only if you lost to Alan and missed the first Episode 2 Lyn Rock] 3. Lyn Rock 4. Lyn Rock 5. Blan Rock 6. Lyn Rock 7. Soul Stone 8. Heart Stone THE CLIFF 1. Heart Stone TURNWAY 1. Stricite 2. Focite ---EPISODE 3--- THE CAVERNS 1. Pocite 2. Stricite 3. Blan Rock THE WATER CAVE (BEFORE THE LADDER) 1. Wicite THE WATER CAVE (AFTER THE LADDER) 1. Focite 2. Heart Stone CANYONS (BEFORE JED) 1. Pocite CANYONS (AFTER JED, BEFORE ROCK CAVE) 1. Heart Stone CANYONS (AFTER ROCK CAVE) 1. Heart Stone 2. Wicite THE PITS (BEFORE JOINING SCATHA) 1. Mend Stone 2. Pocite THE PITS (AFTER JOINING SCATHA) 1. Stricite 2. Blan Rock THE PITS (SWITCH PUZZLE) 1. Nova Stone THE PITS (AFTER SWITCH PUZZLE) 1. Heart Stone 2. Unique Hit-All Upgrade 3. Heart Stone THE GREEN ROCKS STRETCH 1. Heart Stone 2. Heart Stone MATALAN BATTLEGROUNDS 1. Lyn Rock 2. Lyn Rock 3. +5 Cross Link% 4. +5 Lunge Link% 5. +5 Drop Link% 6. Blan Rock ---Episode 4--- MATALAN FOREST 1. Stricite 2. Lyn Rock 3. Blan Rock 4. Pocite 5. Heart Stone 6. Wicite 7. Heart Stone 8. Focite 9. Heart Stone 10. Soul Stone 11. Drop Stone FOREST MINI-GAME 1. +2 Focus 2. +2 Poise 3. +2 Will 4. +1 Strides FIGHT MINI-GAME 1. +5 Focus AFTER THE FIGHT 1. Lyn Rock THE MINE 1. Soul Stone 2. Lell Rock 3. Heart Stone THE MARKET 1. Heart Stone REWARD FOR MARKET MISSION 1. Stricite 2. Blan Rock 3. Lyn Rock BEFORE FIRST QUALIFIER 1. Stricite FIRST QUALIFIER 1. +5 Cross Link% SHADOW LORD MISSION (BEFORE THE TRAP) 1. Pocite 2. Focite SHADOW LORD MISSION (AFTER THE TRAP) 1. Lell Rock SHADOW LORD MISSION (AFTER RED ZERO JOINS) 1. Cross Stone 2. Lunge Stone 3. Kritar Shell 4. Gold Stone JOPAGA CUTSCENE 1. Stricite SHADOW LORD MISSION (AFTER CUTSCENE) 1. Stricite 2. Lunge Stone 3. Silver Stone CASINO LOBBY (AFTER SHADOW LORD MISSION) 1. Lyn Rock BENEATH THE CASINO 1. Mend Stone 2. Heart Stone 3. Soul Stone 4. Lyn Rock 5. Heart Stone 6. Heart Stone 7. Heart Stone 8. Stricite 9. Cross Stone 10. Stricite 11. Drop Stone 12. Lell Rock PUZZLE HOUSE 1. Blan Rock 2. Lyn Rock SACRIFA'S MANSION 1. Heart Stone VIGILANTE MISSION 1. Heart Stone 2. Lell Rock 3. Kritar Shell ---EPISODE 5--- ESTRANA PRE-EXECUTION (BEFORE DARK LYN) 1. Heart Stone 2. Heart Stone ESTRANA PRE-EXECUTION (AFTER DARK LYN) 1. Heart Stone ESTRANA POST-EXECUTION 1. Pocite 2. Focite 3. Wicite 4. Pocite 5. Heart Stone 6. Lyn Rock 7. Heart Stone 8. Drop Stone 9. Cross Stone 10. Stricite 11. Stricite 12. Lunge Stone 13. Drop Stone 14. Cross Stone 15. Wicite 16. Drop Stone 17. Lell Rock 18. Heart Stone 19. Heart Stone 20. Stricite 21. Cross Stone 22. Cross Stone LAODICEA 1. Heart Stone 2. Lyn Rock 3. Stricite 4. Blan Rock 5. Lyn Rock BLANA SERA TEMPLE 1. Wicite 2. Wicite 3. Wicite 4. Pocite 5. Blan Rock THE ASYRA STRETCH 1. Heart Stone 2. Heart Stone 3. Pocite 4. Pocite 5. Wicite 6. Wicite 7. Stricite 8. Cross Stone 9. Lunge Stone TETZEL'S FORTRESS 1. Kritar Shell 2. Wicite 3. Wicite 4. Soul Stone 5. Pocite 6. Focite 7. Focite THE FOREST 1. Lyn Rock 2. Lell Rock 3. Blan Rock 4. Lunge Stone FROM SCATHA 1. Heart Stone ---Aura Locations (SLR)--- ---EPISODE 1--- BEGINNING OF GAME (INITIAL EQUIPMENT) 1. Piercer (Sword) 2. Point Bender (Defensive) ---EPISODE 2--- AREA AFTER PLUNGE WITH NOMI 1. Slasher (Sword) 2. Chain Link (Defensive) THE MARNA STRETCH 1. Rubber Skin (Defensive) ---EPISODE 3--- THE WATER CAVE (AFTER THE LADDER) 1. Body Armor (Defensive) CANYONS (JED'S SCREEN) 1. Air Edge (Sword) 2. Fire Edge (Sword) CANYONS (ONE SCREEN AFTER ROCK-JUMPING CAVE) 1. Triple Thread (Defensive) PITS 6 (ONE SCREEN AFTER SWITCH PUZZLE) 1. Mental Flow (Defensive) ---EPISODE 4--- JOPAGA CUTSCENE 1. Soul Glow (Defensive) 2. Red Shine (Defensive) ---EPISODE 5--- OUTSIDE BLANA SERA TEMPLE (CUTSCENE) 1. Illuminati (Sword) 2. Pandamaare (Sword) 3. Hatassasar (Sword) 4. Aionsluh (Sword) 5. Blaze (Defensive) 6. Aquifer (Defensive) 7. Dust Bowl (Defensive) 8. Atmosphere (Defensive) ---Blade Art Locations (SLB)--- ---EPISODE 2--- BEGINNING OF EPISODE 1. Cool Wind MONSTER DEN 1. Ray of Light 2. Critical Eye THE MARNA STRETCH 1. New High TURNWAY 1. Jagged Edge ---EPISODE 3--- SHADOW MAN PLUNGE 1. Crippler ---EPISODE 4--- FOREST MINI-GAME 1. Fenshu ANSGAR PLUNGE 1. Lanner SECOND QUALIFIER 1. Dust Spray BENEATH THE CASINO [Fenshu, but only if you didn't get it earlier] ROSMAR PLUNGE 1. Burning Edge -------------------------------------------------- ----------EASTER EGGS AND SECRETS (SXS)----------- -------------------------------------------------- ---Rhue and Mirrors--- Rhue hates mirrors. There are mirrors throughout the episodes of The Way, and every time Rhue encounters a new one, he'll comment on it. The locations of the mirrors are as follows: 1. Lide (Episode 2) - When you're stealing Kygar's Heart Stone off the table, check out the nearby mirror. "Stupid Mirror..." ***NOTE: In the current version of the game (as of May 15, 2005), the above mirror cannot be accessed. 2. Turnway (Episode 2) - After the cannon mini-game, go back into the door where the cannon was. The mirror will be to the left. "Mirrors are so dumb..." 3. Matalan Battlegrounds (Episode 3) - After the scene with Kloe, head back into the room with the save point. The mirror is there. "I always feel strange when I look at my reflection." 4. Matalan Battlegrounds (Episode 3) - In the room directly right of the room with the save point. "(Stupid thing...)" 5. Estrana (Episode 4) - When Rhue gets his first room immediately after signing up for the tournament, it'll have a mirror in it. "Fancy mirror. I hardly recognize myself." 6. Estrana (Episode 4) - After Rhue gets his second room (after the mine), you'll notice that it holds a mirror. "Oh look, a mirror." 7. Arastotzi HQ (Episode 4) - After the mission with Jopaga and the Shadow Lords, you'll find yourself in a room with a mirror. "I feel odd looking at my reflection." 8. Arastotzi Room (Episode 5) - When you jump across into what used to be the Arastotzi room at the beginning of Episode 5, there's a mirror nearby. "Every room has a mirror. How convenient." 9. The Mountain Fortress (Episode 5) - One of the rooms in the door/switch puzzle contains a mirror. Rhue: ... Scatha: What'sss wrong? Rhue: Nothing. -Other Mirrors- Every time Rhue encounters one of the above mirrors, his "Mirror Count" will increase. However, there are certain other mirrors that he will comment on but won't add to the "Mirror Count." Leila's House (Episode 4) - When you're solving the puzzle with the water, key, knife, and all that, there will be a mirror nearby. "(I always feel weird looking at myself in a mirror. It even scares me a little.)" Estrana (Episode 5) - When Rhue's looking for Sorya, he'll wind up in a small room with an Arastotzi and a mirror. "I hate mirrors. They lie to me." Estrana (Episode 5) - In one of the houses, there will be a mirror inside. The ensuing cutscene will show Cetsa and Rhue discussing in-depth Rhue's dislike of mirrors. ---C.O.O.L. Meeting--- In Episode 3's Blood Lyn Battlegrounds, in the room with the Lyn Rock that has the accompanying note from Lossus, if you take a look at the crack you'll have a glimpse at one of the most screwed up scenes ever conceived. Apparently "A big 132 on that one" means something like "No comment." ---The Cocoa House--- This one's not that tough to find. In Estrana, there's a building that if you try to enter it will say "locked" but you'll enter into a strange room anyway. It'll have black and white tiles and say "Cocoa was here" in spray paint at the top of the page. Check out the chest and leave to see something odd. ---The Shadow Lord Code--- In the Shadow Lord mission, Rhue'll see a number of books made of numbers and react to them. It's actually written in telephone code (2=A, B or C, 9=W, X, or Y). Some of what they say is... "Lexus, Lexus. I wish my vision of you was true. You were so beautiful." "Luke Wacholtz" "Rhue, it's been you all along. It's you." "Mom, I love you. Dad, I love you. I hate myself. I am weak." "Lyrra, you've known her a long time. She screamed." The ones that Rhue says make no sense or have something missing are difficult to decode. ***The above translations are from people on The Way Forums, especially Impossible. Provided the forums still exist and all (and they likely do), you can see the original decoding effort at http://www.crestfallen.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=105&start=0. ---The Original Hero of the Way--- This can only be viewed with RPG Maker. On the Marna Stretch there's an unreachable island that holds an event depicting the original hero of The Way. It's at location 257,128. The speech goes as follows: "Hi, I was the original hero of The Way. The creator used RTP graphics and made a long intro featuring me. But then Lun learned how to do some 3D graphics. He also realized that I have the body of a female RTP character. This wasn't cool, so I got ditched and then Lun created a custom graphic for Rhue. Several other failed versions of Rhue were created in the process. Lun sure got good at sprite editing though. Maybe we'll see some of them pop up in the game somewhere... Another thing, a lot of people seem to think Lun uses RTP facesets, or merely edited ones. Maya made them, but Lun wishes he would have used a different style now. However, he was planning on using RTP facesets somewhat, so he wanted them to match with the custom ones. What a mistake. He eventually ditched that idea of using any RTP faces. (For the most part.) Mostly because a lot of people in the Rm2K community get really whiney when they see RTP facesets. If you don't have a clue what RTP is, then bless your soul! That means you have a more open mind. However, if you reached me, I would assume you must know what RTP is. Don't bother talking to me again. I'll just repeat this long boring spiel." ---The Episode 5 "Short Sketch"--- If you check out the RPG Maker scenes in Episode 5, you'll see a scene that Lun scripted out just for fun. It's not accessible from the game. It's... "interesting" to say the least. ---The Alternate Ending to Episode 5--- In RPG Maker, there's an ending to Episode 5 (The original ending) that Lun changed a little to make the ending we have now. It doesn't have the Strata Plunge, and features a line by a character who was taken out of the current ending. ------------------------------------------------- ----------MAKING THE GAME HARDER (SXH)----------- ------------------------------------------------- Do you find the game too easy? Looking for ways to add challenge? I've come up with a number of things that could increase the difficulty of the game. I haven't tested any of them, but I've given them a difficulty rating based on what kind of damage I think they'll cause on your ease of game. One star signifies a slight impediment; five stars will probably render the game impossible. -Planetary Isolationism (**)- Do not absorb any Nova Stones. -Wicked Gallery (***)- Do not absorb any Notch Item that would put your total of that specific Notch Item lower than your current Episode number. For example, do not absorb any Heart Stones if you have three left in Episode 3. -Casino (*)- Always use Risk Attacks. -Nothing Shiny (**)- Do not set any Blade Arts. -Shineathon (***)- Never attack normally; only use X-Life and Defend. -Look Ma, No Fights! (*****)- Don't engage in any non-boss combat. Use only CTP Spouts and AR chests. -Exp Freak (****)- Don't absorb any Soul Stones, Focites, Pocites, Wicites, Gold Stones, Silver Stones, or Mend Stones. -Curved Nails (***)- Never switch Auras. ---------------------------------------------- ----------CLOSING INFORMATION (SXZ)----------- ---------------------------------------------- ---Credits--- Every piece of information in this guide can be solely attributed to me, Jabbo Kaldra. It is through my own research that I have written this guide. Anything that is not mine has been marked as such. I would like to thank Lun Calsari for making the Way. It is one of the best RPGs I have ever played and I am thankful that he created it. I would also like to thank everyone else involved in the creation of this wonderful game. I would like to thank the makers of RPG Maker, Don Miguel, and the RPG Maker community for the program that made this game. I would like to thank you, the reader, for actually reading my guide. Also, thanks to the following people for helping me fix various errors: Kyle Trihan Sage of the Wise ---Contact Information--- If you would like to contact me, send me an email to jabbo_kaldra@yahoo.com and in the subject line, enter one of the following subjects. Otherwise, I probably won't read it. Way QC - For questions and comments on this guide. Way Submission - For submissions to this guide as well as corrections. Way Request - For requests to put my guide on another website, etc. Way Other - For anything else. I honestly don't think this guide will generate much mail, but I will reiterate what every FAQ writer in the history of time has said... Do not send me hate mail. If you do, it will be at your own risk. Do not ask me questions about what I have answered in the guide. I think my guide is pretty well organized, so if you can't find what you're looking for in the guide, it's your fault, not mine. Note that I may take a long time to respond to your mail. If you have a pressing concern that cannot wait, then you should ask someone else, write your own guide, etc. ---Legal Information--- This guide is copyright 2005 by Jabbo Kaldra. If you decide to place this guide on your own site, I won't stop you, but if you change it in ANY way, whether it be truncating, grammar correction, conversion to HTML, etc, without my consent, I will take action. If you want to make changes or use part of my guide, just send me an email and put "Way Request" in the subject line. But until I give the OK, you are breaching the regulations of my guide.