This is the fourth draft of a walkthrough for Breath of Fire 2. Changes in this include all corrections that were emailed to me, a few that were posted, and additional information about finding the hidden spells Chopchop and Bombada, since they seem to keep puzzling people. I'm reasonably sure that the information is correct, but it's been a while since I've gone through the game. If there is an error, please email me at schimmel@eniac.seas.upenn.edu, and I will correct it. I would like to thank Vandessa (vandessa@netcom.com) for her FAQ, which helped me a great deal in organizing parts of this; and also all those who contributed to her FAQ. I would like to thank those who corrected and contributed further to this walkthrough, namely: * Ihua Tung (jtung@mail.utexas.edu) for information about the use of Rand's Wake ability to revive dead characters, and about administering the antidote to Katt at the Coliseum in order to have her join you before you fight Augus. * Seb Alltaire (wonka@globalx.net), among others, for pointing out my overlooking Spar's third form not just once, but twice (d'oh!). * Viet T. Bui (ST931275@PIP.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU) for pointing out Bleu's ability to fry things in the hunting sequence. * Alex van Chestein (havoc@zone.ca) for pointing out that you _can_ exit the whale before waking it. * * * * * Breath of Fire II Walkthrough v.4 (Updated: 4/20/97) schimmel@eniac.seas.upenn.edu I. Cast of characters Hero The focus of the story, and the only character you can name. The Hero is always with you. Combat: Guts. The Hero will recover HP when this is used. If it is used often, he will recover less than if it is used only occasionally. Field: Fishing. Press A when near a fish. With a strong enough rod, the Hero can catch a treasure chest or a denizen of Prima! Advantages: The Hero generally has the best attack and defense power at any time. He has Dragon Attack spells that can inflict major damage. He has moderate healing magic as well. He critically hits often and can counterattack. Disadvantages: The Dragon Attack spells cost the Hero all his remaining AP, and do damage based on the number of AP remaining vs. the maximum number of AP (An Attack with 26/26 AP will be stronger than one with 26/52 AP). Combinations: None. Bow The Hero's childhood friend, who is prone to getting into trouble. Combat: Shot. Bow attempts to critically hit the enemy. If he succeeds, the enemy dies; if he fails, he does 1 HP damage. Field: Hunting. Press A when facing grass. Bow can obtain Roast, Meat, Egg, and several other items. Advantages: Bow has powerful healing and defensive magic, and a high number of AP. His Shot is a very effective attack against normal enemies. His regular attack critically hits often (though not as often as Jean, Katt, or the Hero). Disadvantages: Bow's strength with normal attacks drops quickly at about the time of the Great Bird scenario. Combinations: The Giant Robot. Its Spray attack hits all opponents. Rand A former farmer who joins the Hero at the Coliseum. Combat: Wake. Rand attacks a member of the party, and wakes them up. This attack does less damage than a regular attack, but the damage is still significant. This _will_ sometimes revive a dead character with 1 HP, however, and that is its main use. Field: Roll. Rand can roll into a ball and travel. The party will cover ground quickly, and cannot be attacked while the ball is moving. The ball will stop if it crashes into an obstacle. Advantages: Rand's Offense and Defense are high. He has very powerful healing magic, with a decent number of AP. He also has the highest HP total. Disadvantages: Wake is probably the most useless special ability. Rand is usually the slowest character. Attack power is very low between Capitan and Highfort scenarios. Combinations: The Shelled Creature. The special ability remains the same, but attack, defense, and AP all go up. A very useful form to have near the end of the game. Katt An arena combatant who joins the Hero after he defeats her and saves her life at the Coliseum. Combat: Dare. Makes Katt more likely to be attacked. This can be useful at higher level, when she dodges most attacks. Field: Hunting. Katt's staff has no range, but it's faster than Bow's bow. If you hit something once, swing again immediately, and you'll get the item. Advantages: Katt is the fastest character, and has a high Offense score. She is the only character besides the Hero who can counterattack. The few spells she learns are very powerful. She critically hits often. Disadvantages: Katt has low HP and can't take many hits, even with a high Defense. She also has few AP, and can't cast any of her spells until later in the game. Combinations: The Dark Martial Artist. In this form, Katt can 'Keep' in combat. She will spend one round building up, then critically-hit the enemy, doing more damage than a regular critical hit would do. In this form, she also gains enough AP to use her magic. Nina The exiled Princess of Windia, who joins after the Hero rescues her sister Mina from the Joker Gang. Combat: Will. Similar to the Hero's Guts command, except that Nina recovers AP instead of HP. Field: Summon. Nina can summon the Great Bird to fly the party to any location. (This ability appears late in the game.) If Nina leads the party, it will be impossible to fall into holes; Nina will fly back out. Advantages: Powerful attack magic, and high AP. Disadvantages: Low attack power, low defense, low HP. Combinations: The Angel. In this form, Nina can force enemies to flee. The party gets no experience for this, however. Sten A former warrior chief turned entertainer. Sten joins your party after you return Mina to Windia. Combat: R.I.P. Sten tries to fool the enemies into thinking he is already defeated. This makes Sten less likely to be attacked, but he takes more damage if he is. Field: Stretch. Sten can use his long arms to pull the party across narrow gaps, if poles are nearby. Advantages: Sten has high speed and is fairly powerful. His attack magic includes several near-unique spells, such as Bomb and Missile. Disadvantages: Takes more damage than his Defense indicates. Becomes rather weak later in the game. Combinations: The Djinni. In this form, Sten can use a Switch power to exchange one group of enemies for another. This can be useful for avoiding certain enemies. Jean The Prince of SimaFort, who joins you temporarily after you break the curse on him, and permanently after you complete SimaFort. Combat: Jab. Jean attacks all the enemies at once. Field: Frog. Jean transforms into a frog and can hop over low cliffs and swim in shallow water. Advantages: Jean learns several useful spells at relatively low level. At higher levels, he learns powerful magic like Death. Jean critically hits often. Disadvantages: Jean is slow, and has only average ability in combat. Combinations: The Blue Death Frog. In this form, Jean can Chop, causing all enemies 999 damage after a one-round pause. Ouch! Spar The Grass Man who joins you after you free him from captivity in the Carnival Tent. Combat: Nature. Has different effects depending on the surroundings, including damage to enemies (desert, forest), healing (normal plain), and slowing the enemies (plain with shrubs). Field: With Spar leading, the party can walk through forests. Spar can also talk to the large trees. Advantages: Spar has many AP and can cast healing and ability-boosting magic. His attack magic is limited, but fairly powerful. Spar has many HP. Disadvantages: Spar's whip is very weak, and his defense is fair at best. Combinations: The Sprite. In this form, Spar can use Spore to attempt to put the enemies to sleep. (This can backfire and affect the party.) Also, the Flower Bud. In this form, Spar can Bud, and will continously attack enemies after a one-round pause. Spar's Bud form has a decent offense. Both forms offer increased AP. Also, the Snapdragon. In this form, Spar's power remains Nature, but his attack power increases dramatically. Bleu The mysterious Indigo Sorceress from Breath of Fire 1. She will join the Hero if he speaks to her after he visits her home. Combat: Shed. Bleu recovers full HP. Field: Hunting. Press 'A' while Bleu is in the lead in the hunt sequence, and she will cast a powerful spell, vaporizing everything. This turns all creatures in the field to Charcoal. Advantages: High AP and powerful attack magic. Better offense and HP than Nina, similar defense. High speed. Starts with many powerful spells, including Death. Bleu is slightly stronger than Nina at equal levels, although Nina will have more AP. Disadvantages: Weak regular attack, low defense. Combinations: None. Note: I've divided the game into arbitrary Chapters. The characters listing for any given chapter is my recommendation for the party members for that chapter. Feel free to ignore it. If a character is required, a @ symbol will be placed next to his/her name (except for the Hero, who is always required). * * * * * Chapter 1: Suzy Characters: Hero, Bow@ The game begins in the village of Gate. The Hero is sent after his sister. Climb the mountain to the north of the village. There will be a fight, but if the Hero is about to lose, Ganer will rescue him. After the cinema scene, the Hero must decide whether to go to sleep. If he doesn't, he misses a scene, but the game is not otherwise affected. When the hero climbs back down the mountain, he finds that nobody in town recognizes him. Ganer and Yua are gone. In the church, the Hero meets Bow. The two leave the village and, when the storm starts, head for the nearby cave. Follow the tail until you are forced to confront the demon. After you lose, the game will skip forward several years, and you will find yourself (and Bow) in HomeTown. Elder will assign you to go after Mina's pet Suzy. Do not cross the bridge outside yet, and do not enter the mountain until level 3. In the first room in the mountain, you will discover a healing spring. Fight until you reach level 6 or 7, then go on. After exiting the top portion of the cave, you will see a ramp. Heal yourself if necessary before climbing the ramp. At the top, you will face three harpies. This is a tough fight, but in the second round, the three will attack each other, giving you a little time. Each harpy has about 40 HP. Most of the time, the three will attack the Hero, so have Bow cast DefUp on him. After winning the fight, proceed to the left. You will end up causing a landslide, entering another cave, and falling into a hole. When you land, talk to Azusa, the hunter. Leave the mountain, and head west to the Ruins. There, you will have to fight six Pests and a giant Roach. This isn't too hard, although the Roach sometimes gets up when it's killed, forcing you to fight several more rounds. Once you've finished everything, you'll retrieve Suzy. Head back to HomeTown (it's much easier with the new path, isn't it? ;) and enter the Ranger's Guild. You'll receive your reward for completing the job, and Bow will ask you to return to your room. You'll be forced to agree. * * * * * Chapter 2: The Coliseum Characters: Hero, Rand@, Katt@ During the night, Bow will answer a knock on your door. It's a man named Kilgore, with a job. Bow thinks about waking the Hero, but decides against it. He leaves. When you wake up, you find that Bow is now a robbery suspect! Wander around HomeTown, and talk to all the guards. When you've done this, return to your room to confront Bow. He gets an idea--he will hide in the trash can, and you'll carry him to the Ruins! Do so. Niro agrees to hide Bow, if Bow will help him fix the place up. Bow reluctantly agrees, and asks the Hero to chase down the real female thief and clear his name. Asking about strange women reveals that a winged woman is at the Magic School, and a woman fighter is at the Coliseum. You can't do anything about the Magic School for now, so leave HomeTown and head east and north to Coursair. At Coursair, go to the Pub at night. (You can wait till nightfall by talking to the man behind the bar, if you arrive during the day.) Speak to Rand, who tells you the opponent is always Baba, a lumberjack from TagWoods. TagWoods is north of Coursair. Make sure you have a good supply of Herb. Make your way through the forest to confront Baba. He won't give up without a fight. He's not very tough, but he can counterattack, so don't let your HP drop too low. After the fight, he gives you his Axe. With this, you can pretend to be Baba and enter the fight. Return to Coursair and talk to Rand again. Before you enter the Coliseum, deposit all your money in the Bank. Once you're in, you'll have to beat the Dir.HR in order to see Augus; that's not a problem, but be sure to heal yourself after the fight, so you don't go into the arena with low HP. Talk to Augus, then go to your dressing room. Don't oen the treasure chest yet. Wait for Rand to appear and speak to him. Agree to give him all your money. (This is only 1 coin.) He will leave. Watch the cinema scene, then take your pay. Enter the arena. Katt doesn't believe your story about Augus's treachery, so you'll have to fight her. Katt is faster than the Hero, so time your healing spells accordingly. When you win, the poison needles will begin to fly. *You can move during this scene!* If you reach Katt quickly, you can give her the Antidote! You'll wake later at the Inn. If you weren't fast enough to give Katt the antidote, she will be knocked out by the poison, but you'll be ok. Rand, shocked that the story was true, joins you. If you managed to give Katt the antidote, she will also join you! You can't let Augus get away with this... Go back to Augus. He will transform into a demon and attack. If you still have the FireRock from Mt. Fubi, this is the time to use it. The Hero is faster than Augus, and Rand is slower, but it's usually better to have the Hero attack and Rand cure. If you have Katt, use her speed well--either to use an item or to fight. Augus gets two attacks per round. He can also cast Cure1 if his HP start getting low, and he can 'store strength' to make his next attack do greater damage. Once you win, leave the Coliseum. If Katt had been poisoned, a man will tell you to go see her, and you'll be transported there as a cinema scene begins. Ray, the priest of St. Eva, has revived Katt... and she's mad at you. Eventually, you'll straighten things out. Rand will ask you to take him to the hideout, where he can work as a handyman, and Katt will tag along, trying to make amends. Time to visit Niro again. This time, Rand stays, but Katt will be sent to help you track down the female thief (and keep her out of the way ;). Remember the winged girl at the Magic School? It's time to check that out. Go back to HomeTown. * * * * * Chapter 3: Nina and Mina Characters: Hero, Katt@, Nina@ You'll see a breakin in progress at Magic School. Before you can do anything, Nina will use her magic to stop it. She then goes inside. Follow her (after promising Katt that she too can learn magic). Inside, once you find her, you'll watch another cinema scene. A man from the Joker Gang forces Nina to go with him by threatening her sister Mina. Katt volunteers to follow them. The Joker Gang's hideout is the cave near Coursair. You'll have to kill one Hood to get in, but the others in the first cave won't attack. (There are also no other encounters in that cave.) You can't get to the treasure yet, and Win, who lives in the top left extension of the cave, is useless for now, so head to the top right. The guard who keeps the gate asks you for the boss's nephew's name. If you get it wrong, you have to fight him to get through. The correct name is "Palin". The next gatekeeper tells you the switch is in a hole. It isn't, and you'll be attacked by a poisonous spider and a Hood. Unfortunately, you can't avoid this fight. The spider has far more HP, so take out the Hood first. Descend and make your way through the dungeon. (Be sure to get the SilverDR.) You'll enter a room where the boss, Joker, is confronting Nina. He tries to force Nina to become his slave, but Katt will intervene, rescuing Mina. Katt and the Hero will face a fight with four Hoods; if they win, Nina joins the party. Nina buries Joker under rock, but Joker becomes a demon and breaks loose. The hree will have to fight him. Afterwards, Nina insists on taking Mina back to Windia. Katt offers to join her (draggingthe Hero along ;). Windia is north and west from Coursair. Once there, work your way through the maze and into the castle, where the Queen will thank you and escort you out into the town. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to recognize Nina... ;) You'll be told you need a highlander with long arms to get back across the cliffs. Where could you find such a person? As you're about to go explore the town, a magic show begins. * * * * * Chapter 5: Capitan Characters: Hero, Katt, Nina, Sten@ It's Sten the magician! And he makes the Hero disappear. But when the show's over... where is the Hero? Watch the cinema scene. Now that Sten has joined you, you can go back across the cliffs. Do so if you need to; otherwise, head for Capitan, to the west of Windia. Make sure you have a good supply of Antdt, as the Deathpede has a poison breath attack that can poison all four characters at once. When you arrive at Capitan, you learn that a child has fallen down the dried-up well, and most of the villagers have gone down to look for him and not returned. When you descend into the well, you'll meet Ray, who's come to investigate. He kills a large insect (Creon) and explains a little to you; then, another one appears, knocks him aside, and attacks you. Creon is fairly deadly, because of its Eggbetr double-attack. After each time you fight one, heal yourself as much as possible. If any character dies, go to the inn and rest if you can, otherwise use a LifePL. You'll need all your strength here. After the first fight, agree to help Ray. He'll lead you to a cavern, and get attacked by a Creon. (This blocks the way back to town.) Go ahead to look for the boy, as he requests. He's in the cavern at the end. Get the treasures first, but be careful of the Creons. After you talk to the boy, a large monster will attack. This monster can attack all four characters at once, and can control a character to force him to attack himself or another party member. Watch your HP, and have Nina cast spells. Once you win, the cavern will start shaking. Ride the turtles back across. Ray will meet you and tell you that the cavern is flooding. He will put up a barrier to hold the water and ask you to rescue all the villagers. Go through the cave, talking to the people. If a villager attacks you, don't kill the villager! Kill the monster on his face and the fight will end. Katt should be able to kill them easily. You'll also face one or two more Creons, but free as many villagers as you can. Then return to Ray and tell him you've freed them all. Ray will let down the barrier and the water will wash you out of the well and into Capitan. Ray wants to thank you by granting you the Renew spell (revives the dead for 10 AP). Take him back to the hideout, and talk to all your characters. Decide who to give it to. Rand and Bow will learn it on their own (Bow as early as level 20!), the Hero needs his AP for dragon attacks, and Katt doesn't have the AP. Sten has fewer AP than Nina and (IMO) is less useful as a character. I generally give the spell to Nina. Once you've decided, Ray bestows the spell and departs. Head back to Capitan. Have the Hero speak to the girl dressed in red, who is standing near the Inn. She pulls him away from the party, and takes him to the forest north of Capitan to meet Granny. This is the Fire Shaman Sanamo. When she attempts to unite with the Hero, she fails, but awakens the Dragon power. The Hero learns FirePuppy, IcePuppy, and T.Puppy, and burns down Granny's house in the process. Granny and Sanamo ask the Hero to find them another one, so you're headed back to the Hideout. Return to Capitan and speak to the man who's standing where Sanamo was. You'll be transported to the hideout. Granny will take over the room next to Niro's, which Bow and Rand built. She'll ask for remodeling, but Bow and Rand aren't professional enough... you'll have to return to Capitan to find a carpenter. There are three carpenters: The one in the fancy house (top left) will build a pub whose patrons keep track of game stats, if you invite him to the hideout. The one in the house on poles (top center) will play an Othello game with the Tolen medals, in which you can win prizes such as the ThunderST and TigerSD. The one in the normal houses (top right) will cook items, sometimes producing valuable items. The cook/carpenter is probably the best, since you can produce items that raise stats. The gamester/carpenter is fun, and also provides valuable items. The bartender/carpenter is good for curiosity value, but not much else. (He can also raise a character's condition to Super for 500 GP.) Once you've chosen a carpenter, you can also catch the boat, to take you across the water. * * * * * Interlude: Chopchop The Chopchop technique is elusive. To get it, you must visit the Wild Cat Cafe _before_ you learn about the witches' party. The best thing to do is to wait until defeating Nimufu and breaking Jean's curse. Then, use Jean's frog form to swim down the waterfall and acquire the Dragon spells for the Hero. Visit the Wild Cat at this point--the dragon attack makes the chef much easier to beat. MAKE SURE YOU READ AND FOLLOW ALL OF THE SIGNS! If you don't, the chef won't teach you Chopchop; you'll only get a meal that raises your characters' HP. Yes, this does make the fight against the chef much harder; that's why the dragon spells help. After beating him, go into the back room and talk to him. Forgive him for attacking you, and admit to being soft-hearted. Voila! He teaches one of your characters Chopchop! The Chopchop technique is extremely useful for Nina to have. It costs 0 AP to cast (that's right, -nothing-), and it does 50-80 damage regardless of the enemy's defense. It's very useful against those creatures that only take 1-2 points from weapons. :) * * * * * Chapter 6: Usurper Characters: Hero, Sten, Rand, Nina, Jean@ After crossing the water and entering the woods, the party comes upon a giant frog. It asks them to travel to the Witch's Tower and get the Witch Nimufu to lift the curse that traps it in that form. At the south end of the lake is a campsite where you can rest for free. There's also a Dragon Statue there. Go there first. Most of your characters should be in the level 13-15 range before you go to the Tower. It's best to take Sten and Nina to the tower (to power them up), and Rand (for healing). Katt could be substituted for Sten, but Sten will have a solo adventure fairly soon and will need the experience. Travel north to the tower. Make sure the Hero is in the lead, then step on the door plate and fight the guardian monsters three times. The door will open. DON'T pick up the treasure in the first room, or the door closes again! (There's nothing in the chest anyway.) Climb the Tower. (There's a treasure to the left, but the main tower is to the right of that first room.) Nina should probably lead, to guard against falling in holes. When you reach a room with five platforms, choose the one on the far left to continue your ascent. The one on the far right will take you to the Water Shaman, but she will not join you until you defeat Nimufu. The one on the middle right will allow you to cross to the stairway leading down into the treasure room. You can go there on your way out. Climb the Tower. You should reach Nimufu without much difficulty. You'll have to fight her. She can cast spells, but it's not hard to defeat her. (You might want to use a Dragon Attack, but it's not necessary.) Once you win, she'll break into tears and tell you that the curse on the frog can be broken if a girl kisses it. Go back to the frog, with either Katt or Nina in the party. Speak to the frog, with one of them in the lead. A cinema scene reveals that the frog is really... Jean. He will join you. At this point, put Jean in your party, since you only have him for a short time. Transform into a frog, and swim through the lake to the west of the woods. Behind the waterfall, there's a hidden cave where you'll pick up a SokletAR and a KamikazeBL, and the Hero will learn the next set of Dragon spells, FireDragon, IceDragon, and T.Dragon. This set attacks all enemies, not just one. It also does more damage. Now swim through the lower lake, to SimaFort. You'll enter the castle, and Jean will be captured by an imposter Prince. The Prince promises you money and a boat, and sends you out of the castle. But before you reach the boat, Princess Petape sinks it. There's a long cinema scene, in which she'll enlist your aid and give you the Gills. Leave the castle and return to the campsite to add a fourth member to your party. When you return, go to the dungeons to face the guard Leader. When you win, you can speak to Jean. Jean can prove he's the real Prince if he shows the Royal Ring. Unfortunately, he gave the ring to Nimufu. Nimufu is no longer at the Witch's Tower; she's attending a party at the Wild Cat Cafe. This is the cave to the west of the waterfall. Go there to find her. You'll be forced to leave all your items behind at the door. Each room after that has a sign with instructions. If you choose not to follow the instructions, you must fight a Bouncer in order to proceed to the next room. The instructions tell you to do such things as remove your helmets, trade in your armor for napkins and weapons for forks, and so on. The final instruction will ask how you like your food prepared. Answer Rare. You'll find yourself inside a giant oven... OUCH! The party will take 20 damage if they chose rare, 40 if they chose medium, and 80 if they chose well done. If you don't choose, all party members are reduced to 1 HP! After the damage is done (and before you get a chance to heal), the Chef enters. When he sees that you're still raw, he tries to chop you up. You'll have to fight him. Afterward, if you've done everything correctly (see the Interlude above), the chef may ask you whether you're angry at him for trying to charbroil you. Even if you are, choose No. He will then ask whether you're soft-hearted. Choose Yes and he will teach one person his Chopchop attack. This is a 0 AP attack spell, and is very useful for Nina through the middle of the game. *The cook only asks you these questions and teaches Chopchop _before_ you hear about the witches' party, so you may wish to go to the Cafe earlier in the game, to get this.* It is very useful! If you haven't done everything correctly, you'll usually be given a meal that raises your characters' HP. Not a bad consolation prize, but Chopchop is far better. After you've dealt with the cook, proceed through the door into the cafe. Nimufu is in the restroom, and has dropped the Royal Ring in the toilet. You'll have to go after it. (This is a recurring theme in the game.) Go into the cavern(!) beneath the toilet, retrieve the ring, and exit. Leave the Cafe (be sure to talk to the man at the door to retrieve your items) and return to Jean. Petape takes Jean to the King to show him the Royal Ring, but it seems the imposter also has one! Jean has to prove his innocence some other way. He challenges the imposter to a cooking contest. But he needs ingredients... The party proceeds to the roof, where they should help the soldier. After doing so, go back downstairs and speak to the model, Fiolina. She will run to his side. Return to the castle roof and talk to the guard, and ask for Information as your reward. (You'll get the money anyway. ;) Using the key the guard gives you, unlock the door. Jump onto a bucket to descend into the dungeons. Inside, you'll immediately confront the Gold Fly. It has a powerful attack and can counterattack, so be careful. Fortunately, it has a weakness: Air attacks. Use Sten's Bomb and Nina's Tornado. After a few rounds of combat, it will stop the fight and fly away, taunting you. Follow it to the left. Just as you're about to reach a bridge, you'll be forced to fight a gigantic water worm. The worm is possibly the toughest enemy of this quest, as it can put party members to sleep, can hit all members at once with an attack, and has a powerful normal attack. Heal whenever necessary. Once you win, you'll capture the Worm's Meat, one of the ingredients you need. Retrace your steps. Leve the castle and ret at the campsite if necessary. Also buy more healing items in town. Go back into the dungeon and take the right path from the room where you first fought the Fly. You'll have to thread your way through two rooms filled with vicious, inedible Blue Roaches in order to get to the Fly. At there end is the Giant Roach, the second ingredient Jean needs. It's much easier to beat than the worm, since it damages only one party member at a time. After defeating the Roach, you'll finally corner the Gold Fly. You'll have to fight it again, and it's tougher this time, but Bomb and Tornado still work. Once you win, return to Jean with the ingredients, and the cooking contest is on. Of course, the usurper isn't going to risk his crown on a fair contest. He threatens the master chef, with the result that he is declared the winner. Petape, distraught at the thought of the impending executions, decides to blow up the castle. She runs off, and both Jean and the false Prince Jean follow her. The Hero should enter the bathroom wih the wall switch (near the kitchen) and pull the switch. A secret elevator descends to the dungeon level, giving the party access to a corridor to the right. Inside, they find a wounded Jean, and go onward to confront Petape and the prince. The prince is really a demon, and attacks the party. Afterward, angry at his defeat, he finishes triggering the procedure Petape had started. Jean enters and tells you not to be alarmed. The console isn't an explosion control after all, but the key to the secret treasure of SimaFort. The party can obtain the SoleSD now. (This weapon occasionally "Toasts" an enemy, killing it with one blow.) Petape and the king thank the Hero for his help, and Jean decides to join permanently. * * * * * Interlude: Houses in TownShip By this point in the game, the carpenter has built the first three houses of TownShip. You can get him to build the second (and final) set of three houses by giving him 2000 coins at any time after the first three houses are filled. * * * * * Chapter 7: Trout and Whale Characters: Hero, Katt@, Sten, Rand, Jean@, Bow@ With the usurper defeated, the frogmen of SimaFort release Patty, the bat-winged thief. Return to HomeTown and speak to the guard at Trout's house. Bow's name is now clear, and he will rejoin you. Kilgore asks to talk to him. Go to TownShip for Bow, return with Bow leading he party, and speak to Kilgore. He will give you the magic hood, allowing you to understand the language of Tunlan. Tunlan is the next objective, to rescue the Grass Man, Spar, from the carnival. But first, you'll need to cross the ocean. Head back toward SimaFort. Then, with Jean leading, transform into a frog and swim downstream past the trees, to the W.Cape. (Just follow the signs. ;) You'll have to descend into the cave. Make sure Katt is in the party. It's also a good idea to have either Bow or Rand along for healing, and Sten or Jean for combat ability. Magic isn't as useful here. You can use the dragon statue at W.Cape to change your party members. If Katt is in the lead, she can break the flimsy gate in the cave with her staff. Do so, and jump into the hole. You'll meet an old man and a pair of dolphins, who tell you you're inside a sleeping whale. You've got to wake it up, and to do that, you have to go to the stomach and get rid of the Stone Doll that's put it to sleep. If you need to exit to heal, return to the whale's mouth, and the dolphins will carry you out. Encounters here aren't too bad. This is a good place to power-up Sten for the Highfort scenario. Make your way through the whale. Straight paths take you the proper directions; side branches are dead ends, but occasionally hold treasures. You'll confront the Stone Doll, which isn't a very tough enemy, although it can put the party to sleep. Once you've beaten it... nothing happens. The whale still hasn't awakened. Make your way back towards the mouth, and have Katt hit the whale's Adam's apple with her staff. If the Doll is gone, this will wake the whale. The whale (Grandpa) will thank you for waking it up, and tell you to borrow the Whale Bell from the old man on the beach. Do so. The party can now summon Grandpa by standing at any beach and ringing the bell by pressing A. Most of the world is open for exploration. * * * * * Interlude: Bleu You can acquire the secret character, Bleu, any time after you awaken Grandpa. Travel to the desert in the far southeastern corner of the world. You will see a ramp that allows access to the southern part of the desert. Get off of Grandpa at that point, and go north a short distance. Look for what appears to be a spiral shape in the sand. This is the remains of Wisdon. Enter. Speak to the spirits, and you'll be told that Bleu has gone out. Where could she have gone? Turns out she's a little rusty after all those years; you'll find her in the Magic School in HomeTown, disguised as a student. (Earlier in the game, she says, "Fascinating. We didn't have magic like this when I was young.") Once you've been to Wisdon and subsequently spoken to her, she will shed her disguise and (forcibly) join your party. * * * * * Chapter 8: Spar Characters: Hero, Nina, Sten, Rand, Bow, Bleu When you arrive at Tunlan, you find that the magic hood allows you to understand the musical language, but you are unable to speak it. Later, you'll need to do something about that, but for now, ignore it. Go to see the carnival outside the city. Hmm, the Grass Man isn't an attraction any more, and the ringmaster will feed it to a demon! Unless, of course, you can offer him money some other way. He'll take either 90,000 coins or an Uparupa. Uparupa like to eat OwlFruit, and some monster hunters near Capitan have what you need. Go to their house (south and east of Capitan). You'll find it empty. Proceed through the back door into the forest. You'll hear singing... and if you follow the music, you'll find a strange girl. It turns out to be a vicious monster and attacks the party. There are three enemies here. The central monster usually attacks a single party member for massive damage, or regenerates one of the smaller monsters. The smaller monster further to the right of the screen casts Cure2; the one to the left casts Thunder. It's important to get rid of the Thunder-casting monster quickly, and to try to keep both smaller monsters dead (the big one can revive them). Having Bow equipped with the Dual Bow helps. Nina and Sten should both have area attacks (S.Boom, Flame) to use in the early rounds. Sten can use items in later rounds. If Nina still has no area effect spells, you may want to recover Bleu and take her along instead. When you win, you'll be able to pick five OwlFruit. Hope it's enough! The Uparupa live in a water-filled cave near Coursair. The only way to enter the cave is to ride a whale in. Encounters in the cave are on the difficult side, but it's a short cave. You'll quickly find yourself in the Uparupa's Cave, where there are no enemies except Uparupa. To lure an Uparupa, put food in front of its hole and back up a little. When it comes out of its hole, wait until it gets its food, then quickly run and 'speak' to it. It will attack. Uparupas do not attack physically, but they have a devastating counterattack. Only the Hero should attack physically; others should use spells, since they probably cannot do enough damage physically. The correct Uparupa to take is the furthest one along the left-hand path. (This Uparupa is at the top center of the overall cavern.) When you beat the correct Uparupa, it will not disappear as others do, but will instead try to communicate something. You have a choice: You can keep it or let it go free. If you let it go, you will receive a better sword. You should let it go. (If you don't do so immediately, you can return later to free it, and still get the sword.) Return to the carnival tent. The ringmaster will ask whether you've brought the coins or the Uparupa. Answer that you brought nothing. (This choice is only given after you catch the Uparupa.) He will become enraged and attack... after transforming into a demon. When you win, you'll be able to free the Grass Man, Spar. He will join your party. He'll also tell you to go to the west and talk to the Great Tree Gandaroof. * * * * * Chapter 9: Highfort Characters: Hero, Sten@, Spar, Rand, Bow Gandaroof can't remember what he had to say to you, and he tells you you'll have to enter his mind to find the information. To do so, you'll need a Therapy Pillow from Tunlan. Return to Tunlan. There's now a man standing between the Inn and Item Shop. When you speak to him, he tells you that the people of Tunlan won't understand you unless you have a fine musical instrument--like the Famous Flute of Highfort. You'll have to travel to Highfort, on the desert plateau--the beach to land at is south of TownShip, near a house. You'll need Sten to get in. It's a good idea to take Spar along, since he needs to be powered up and since his Nature special does about 70 hp damage to all enemies when used in the desert. You'll probably also want more healing, so Rand or Bow can fill out the party. You'll enter Highfort and find out more about Sten's past. He will leave the party temporarily, telling you to go get the flute. The other three party members should continue into Highfort and enter the War Council Room. They'll hear the speech of the new General, Shupkay, who will drop them into a pit. Now it's Sten's turn, and he'll be solo for a while. First, go down the stairs that were formerly blocked. Retrieve the nearby treasures (and hope you're not attacked). You'll obtain such things as QuickCL and an Extract. Equip Sten. Go back upstairs and trace the party's route. Partway there, you'll be forced into a fight with Trubo, who holds an old grudge against Sten. Trubo has an Eggbetr dual attack, so watch Sten's HP. The best way to fight Trubo is just to fight, and use a healing item when necessary. Don't use RIP, since it lowers Sten's defense and Sten is the only possible target. Save your AP for now. After a short fight, Trubo will step back and blow up the bridge, challenging Sten to beat him in three rounds. Simply casting Bomb three times in succession will work. Sten and Trubo will fall safely into the water, and Sten will drag Trubo out. They'll agree to go confront Shupkay. Trubo will enter the nearby door, while Sten will pull himself across a gap and head along a different trail. Encounters will be tough, with only Sten, but make sure you get the NinjaDR and other treasures. Soon, you'll find yourself confronting Shupkay. Before you can do anything, she drops Sten into a pit. Sten rejoins his friends. With a full party, the portion of the maze that's left isn't too hard to get through. You'll meet Trubo, who's stuck at a door. Sten will push him out of the way, and your party will have to defeat the Portal boss. Physical attacks work best here. Don't forget to heal... the Hero and Rand or Bow should both have Cure2 by this point. With that done, the party leaves Trubo to destroy the machinery, and continues onward to confront Shupkay. You'll arrive just in time to rescue the princess from the strange device. Shupkay can attack with S.Boom, but does so infrequently. Most of her other spells and attacks are fairly ineffective. You can defeat Shupkay without using Dragon spells, so don't worry if your Hero is low on AP from healing. The defeated Shupkay attempts to use the machine to convert her hate into energy for a weapon, but Trubo succeeds in smashing the device. A chain reaction begins, and the castle starts to crumble. Your party will run for the door, and Sten will stay behind to turn the crank on the hand-powered elevator. The princess will give you the Famous Flute as a reward. Trubo will escort you outside, where you'll see Sten once again. (You knew he wasn't killed in there, right?) Sten will rejoin you, and you can proceed to Tunlan with the Flute in hand. * * * * * Chapter 10: Tunlan Characters: Hero, Sten@, Bow, Nina@, Katt@, Bleu When you arrive in Tunlan, talk to the Queen's attendants. They'll tell you about a magician, Gedd, who could help her. Gedd was exiled to Maori Isle, which is west and north of HomeTown. Go there, and enter the nearest cave. (Notice the healing fountain. :) Proceed to the next room, where you'll find that the Magician will only speak to 'a pretty girl'. Put either Nina or Katt in the lead and talk to him. (Bleu won't work.) After you straighten him out, he'll rush off to Tunlan. Follow. Return to the Queen's room. Gedd will need ingredients. Take his letter and return to Maori Island, to the apprentice. Speak to him, and take a good look at the mushroom he shows you. You'll need one that looks just like it. Climb the mountain, using Sten to cross the gaps. There are some nice treasures along the way. When you get to the top, if you pick any mushroom, you will return to the apprentice instantly. If it's the right one, he'll tell you so and you can return to Tunlan. If not, you'll have to make the climb again. The correct mushroom is on the left side of the water--use Sten to cross to the island, and pick up the middle mushroom. Return to Tunlan and speak to Gedd. He'll send you inside the Queen's body to kill the Fatties. You can leave at any time by using the Mirror--it's in your Items-Spcls menu. The Death spell is very useful inside the Queen's body. This is not a typical dungeon, you can't just run through to a boss. Go to the status screen and look at the monster indicator at the top. If the critter is asleep, it means there are no monsters in that room, and you can go on. Otherwise, stay in that room and wander around. When there are no monsters left in the room, move to the next room and repeat. Note that you do NOT only have to kill the "Fatty" enemy, any enemy will work. But the Fatty gives the best xp. Once you've cleared all the encounters, Gedd will remove you from the Queen's body. The Queen will open the treasure vault to you. Speak to the guard there to get the Therapy Pillow. Now you can enter Gandaroof's memory. * * * * * Chapter 11: Gandaroof Characters: Hero, Spar@, Rand, Nina, Bleu With Spar in the lead, return to Gandaroof and use the Pillow to enter his mind. You'll find yourself near a town. Go in and speak to the people there. They'll give you useful information and tell you about another town to the east. There is also a shop here. If you want to buy any of the improved weapons or armor, do it now, because you probably won't get another chance. Go to the second town and speak to everyone. You can rest here, and even leave the mind. Hmm, it seems there's another town to the north. Go to this third town. Talk to people again. Hmm, there are only supposed to be two towns, and a tower. You can see the tower from the west of the lake, so go there... and you'll see the first town. If you return to the first town and enter it, you'll find yourself in the Tower! You won't be able to see anything that's close to you except treasure chests inside this tower, but that's more of an annoyance than a problem. Make your way through, and watch out for RoadSlugs, who often cast S.Boom or Thunder. You'll want to have a healer other than Spar along. At the top, you'll confront the demon who's destroying Gandaroof's memory--and it reveals that it caused everyone in Gate to forget about you, years ago! Fight it. It's very weak, but it does have one annoying ability--it can chant "Forget about your magic" and make every character in the party unable to cast his or her most recent spell (the last one on the spell list). The second time it does this, they forget the second-last spell, and so on. This can be a pain. Once you've destroyed it, leave the tower and the mind. You can get sketchy information from Gandaroof. You'll have to head south to find allies in your fight against the demon. * * * * * Chapter 12: Namanda, Namanda Characters: Hero, Rand@, Spar, Nina, Bow Heading south across the bridge, you'll find yourself in a mist-filled valley. It will be impossible to press on. The man who's stuck there says that something must be wrong with SkyTower... SkyTower is in the ocean west of Gate. Ride Grandpa to it. If you've spoken with the man in the valley, the Primans will let you enter. The Tower (which used to be Spyre) is now filled with water in most places. You'll have to enter an air-filled room every three minutes, or drown. There are enough air-filled spaces that this isn't a problem, unless you go to the extreme southwest on the first floor and down. That area has no breathing rooms, so you'll have to grab its treasure and get back quickly. The treasure is worth it, though. Climb your way through SkyTower. When you reach the top, you'll be in an air-filled room that's home to Spoor, the Wind Shaman. She's responsible for the fog, it seems, but she banishes it and returns to Granny. You can now unite with her. Return to the valley. You can move through it--watch out for the large green cyclops monster. The ogres aren't too bad. In any case, the valley is very short. South of the valley, you'll see a town... FarmTown. Enter FarmTown. Talk to people with and without Rand leading the party. When Rand talks to Daisy, he'll be recruited to plow the field. The others will help, of course. Just smash everything, but use normal attacks rather than magic. You don't want to damage the ground. Once that's done, Daisy asks you to go to the Namanda Shrine to the west and pray. Go right ahead. Make sure you donate at least 20 times in a row (2000 GP). If you do this, you will be able to get the Earth Shaman later. Return to Farmtown when you're done. Go back to Daisy's house. Speak to the strange man in the field. (Say, didn't Daisy throw him out before?) He says she's converted to St. Eva and given her land to build a church! Rand knows that Daisy believes in Namanda, and gets into a (solo) fight with the Paladin. The fight isn't too tough... just make sure you have some HelpBLs. And remember not to use 8.0 or Thunder, or other attack magic. The worshipper of St. Eva will fall. Then Ray will appear. After a tense exchange, Ray takes the man and leaves. But where is Daisy? You'll have to go to St. Eva's Church to look for her... but how will you fly across the ocean? * * * * * Interlude: Namanda's Bells Sometime after Rand's mother vanishes, one of the two men who normally ring the Namanda Bells also disappears. If you visit, the remaining one asks you to help ring. If you do it successfully, you'll receive the secret spell Bombada, which cuts all enemies' HP in half for 20 AP. Unfortunately, there's no sure way to get the spell, and the timing on the bells is very tricky. You may want to just skip this entirely, unless you have a good ear for music and excellent timing. Vandessa's FAQ provided a hint regarding this, but I find that it's still very difficult, even using her method. * * * * * Chapter 13: The Great Bird and Claris Characters: Hero, Nina@, Jean, Katt, Bow Back in TownShip, Nina will ask to speak to you in her room. When you do, she'll tell you about the Great Bird of Windia. She offers to become the Great Bird and take you to St. Eva's Church. Go to Windia and, with Nina leading, speak to the guard. You'll soon learn a lot more about Nina's past. Then you'll be told to go to the dungeon for the test. Nina should really have the Death spell by now, and at least 150 HP, or you'll be in trouble. Descend into the dungeon. At the first branch, you can go west to get to the test (this is a short route) or you can go north to reach a treasure--a better ring for Nina or Bleu. The northern route is long. I recommend doing it after the test, unless you need to raise Nina's level. When you reach the winged statue with Nina in the lead and agree to take the test, Nina (and only Nina) will be warped to another area. Speak to the statues there. Cast Death if you get into any fights, and use HelpBL afterwards. If Nina is defeated, she's sent back to the rest of the party. She'll have only 1 HP. You'll also have to start over... You do NOT have to speak to the statues in order to pass the test, but you miss some of the story if you don't. The treasures are also nice, but not necessary. Enter the testing chamber. You'll have to fight the Guardian to prove your worth. Cast Freeze on it, and it shouldn't last more than two rounds (one if you're lucky). You're faster than it is at this point, so you're in luck. After you defeat it, the Guardian assumes the form of... Nina! Yes, it's the heroine of BoF1. It seems the people of Windia can no longer fly because she married a man from outside her tribe, and weakened the bloodline. But she gives Nina the Mark of the Wing, which will allow her to become the Great Bird. She then asks whether Nina forgives her. (I have no idea whether answering 'No' affects the story or not.) Return to the castle and speak to the King. You'll enter another cinema scene and end up asleep. During the night, Mina will sneak into your room and look through the dresser. She'll leave and Nina will get up. Check the dresser and... the Mark is gone! Quickly follow Mina up the left tower. Cinema scene. Mina locks Nina outside of the room and uses the Mark to become the Great Bird... sacrificing her life as a person to help you. You can ride the Great Bird anywhere when Nina is in the party. You can now reach Gate, the armory on the island east of St. Eva Church, and St. Eva's Church itself. You'll have to go there... Once inside, speak to everyone. They're all so nice and happy! Maybe there's nothing wrong after all. Go ahead and leave. Oops. You can't leave. That's not a good sign. And now all those happy people are acting like zombies and muttering about the cold... what's going on? Go back into the home of the woman who earlier said "Praise St. Eva!" and speak to her. She reveals herself as Claris, an agent of an anti-St. Eva resistance. She begins to tell you about it, but there's a knock at the door, and she quickly suggests you go to CotLnd, where other resistance members have gathered. For now, you'll have to jump into the toilet and make your way through a cavern to escape. You'll end up in the inn near St. Eva's Church, behind the counter. The man there gives you a free rest... Be sure to get the CharmRod from the dresser upstairs. Then head for CotLnd. * * * * * Chapter 14: Tiga and the Thieves' Tomb Characters: Hero, Katt@, Rand, Bow, Nina, Jean Rocks close off the entrance to CotLnd, but Katt can break them with her staff. Do that, then go to the barn and speak to Tiga. Seems the resistance needs money... if only their sponsor would get back! She went to the Thieves' Tomb in the middle of the desert... You guessed it, you're going after her. Fly there and enter the dungeon. Pay close attention to the smiley-faces... the effects the old man talks about only happen immediately after a fight takes place on one of those tiles. Try to stay on the yellow, smiling ones or the green, happy ones as much as possible. Go through the tomb, and... oh look, it's Patty again. Free her and continue. She will open the treasure chest, but it's empty--there's no evidence there! Hmm. Check the chest again. Push the hidden switch and open the hidden door... and go in. Open the treasure box to find the Evidence. You'll have to walk back outside. Patty bumps into you clumsily, apologizes, and leaves. Or maybe not that clumsily... the evidence is gone. Oh well, there's nothing to do but cast Exit and fly back to CotLnd. So do it. Well, selling the evidence has provided enough money for Tiga to stage his assault. First target: Bandon, to the south. But first, Tiga has decided he wants to marry Katt. If you don't object, you won't have to fight him; if you do, you can't win. It doesn't really matter. The end result is that Katt will leave you for a little while. Go south. Enter the church, and you'll find all the worshippers are gone. Talk to Katt and Tiga. Katt will get frustrated and hit the statue with her staff, revealig a secret passage! Go ahead down. You'll have to face a church henchman (lots of HP, but not too bad) then continue north. A priest will break his cover and run down some stairs. Go down the stairs after him. You'll be in a short corridor with one door and two arrow plates. The arrows lengthen or shorten the corridor. The only rooms that matter for now are the second-closest and the furthest. The second-closest has a treasure chest; the furthest is the place you need to go. From there on, it's pretty straightforward... you'll corner the priest in a dark room. Approach him, and... He turns into a demon. Of course. He'll send three zombies after you, then attack himself once you beat them. He can cast Death and use RotBreath to zombify all your party members at once. Try to keep your characters non-zombie'd with CureAL or the CurePsn spell. Once you beat him, you can walk out of the dungeon without encountering any monsters. Talk to Tiga again... his plan is to disguise everyone and infiltrate the Cathedral. Since you defeated the priest/demon, you can enter and leave Evrai at will... but you'll need to learn the Teachings of St. Eva first. * * * * * Chapter 15: Evrai Characters: Hero, Rand@, Nina, Bow, Jean, Spar You can learn the teachings of St. Eva by going to any church and donating a few times. (I believe the amount is 2500 GP, but I'm not sure.) Once you have them, speak to Tiga. You'll be going to Evrai... Cinema-mania. It seems St. Eva's Church was founded by Habaruku, who's leading the ceremony. He's caught Claris and is preparing to kill her! Tiga realizes he loves Claris and tries to save her, but he's not strong enough. He falls, and Habaruku blasts them both with lightning. Your party should now confront Habaruku... he will flee. Follow him. Habaruku commands Ray to destroy you. Ray, although friendly to you, is indebted to Habaruku, who raised him. He complies, transforming into a huge Dark Dragon! Ray will blast the party... keep the Hero alive at all costs. During the fight, a large dragon shape will superimpose itself over the Hero. Check his spell list and you'll find a new Dragon Attack, G.Dragon. This always does 999 to all enemies, if the Hero is at full AP. Use it on Ray, and he'll die. Climb through the Cathedral, after Habaruku. He'll trigger a trap, and the walls will move in to crush you, but Rand will hold them off. He tells the others to go and prepares to sacrifice himself... but Daisy appears and knocks him out of the way. She sacrifices her own life instead, and Rand rejoins the party, intent on killing Habaruku. Keep climbing through the Grand Church. Just as you're about to reach him, he'll drop you down a shaft into the depths of the church. When you fight your way through, you'll find yourself in a room with a thin corridor protected by lasers. Walk on through (taking damage as you do--be careful!) and speak to the man in the machine. He'll ask you to kill him so St. Eva's servants can no longer drain his energy. Then three guardian eyes appear. The easy way to win is to use G.Dragon, but if you do this, you kill the old man and can't get the best ending to the game. Just beat up the eyes normally if you want the good ending. The right eye always uses Cure3, the lower eye Freeze, and the left eye Flame. I'd get rid of the Flame eye first, then the Freeze eye. Doing it this way is sort of tough. But if you do... you find out the old man is your father, Ganer. He can provide a source of magical power. This will be useful later. For now, the Cathedral is becoming unstable... get out of Evrai and watch it collapse. Looks like you'll have to hunt down Habaruku. * * * * * Interlude: Flying TownShip To make TownShip fly, you must do three things. First, go enter the well in TownShip and take a look at the machine. Next, at any point after you get the whale Grandpa, ride it to Guntz and search behind the bookshelves in the far northern home until you find a secret door. Speak to the person you find there, who will go study the machine and find out how it works. Finally, you must rescue Ganer, who will then serve as a power source for your machine. You can now move TownShip! It's slow, but it will be useful. * * * * * Interlude: Rare Shamans The most frequently missed Shamans are the Holy Shaman and the Earth Shaman. To win the aid of the Earth Shaman, you must do three things. First, donate 2000+ GP to Namanda before going to Evrai. Second, use no attack magic in Daisy's field. Finally, defeat the Grand Church. To find the Holy Shaman, return to Bandon after beating Ray (or the entire Grand Church) and search the jail cells. The Shaman is in the second or third room from the left in the corridor with the arrow tiles. * * * * * Chapter 16: Gate and Infinity Characters: Hero, Sten, Nina, Jean, Rand, Bleu The next stop on your journey is about the only place you haven't been... Gate. But first, visit TownShip and combine a few characters. Decide who to take. Jean's combination will prove very useful because of his Chop attack. Nina or Bleu could come along because of the Death spell. Rand could come, in his combined form, because he has good offense and defense and can heal well. Sten could make the long journey downwards a little shorter, but only if he's not combined. Bow could provide good offense, and Shot is useful; he also can heal. Spar provides great magic power. And Katt's speed and power are handy in some situations. It comes down to who the favorite characters are. I usually choose Hero, Rand, Jean, Nina/Bleu, although I've substituted Katt for Jean at times. Now that that's over with, go to Gate. You'll find that Father Hulk thinks the dragon is responsible for killing the forest and is preparing to blast it! The dragon is hurt, but not killed, and the sealed doors are not opened. (Although you -can- get into the caves to the side at this point, to retrieve the Devil Shaman.) He says that he fears a terrible mistake has been made, and asks you to find Patty and bring her to Gate. Travelling to CotLnd, you find that Patty has gone to the WildCat Cafe. Speak to the cooks there, and they'll tell you that she's departed to "challenge that tomb" once again. At the Thieves' Tomb in the desert, speaking to any of the thieves will reveal that she's heard of a new town and gone to loot it. This town is the town you built, TownShip. Travel there, and you'll find Patty inside the big house, where all of your characters live when they're not adventuring. Hearing of the dragon's plight, Patty hurries to Gate. Follow her there, but rest first. At Gate, Hulk reveals that he is Habaruku! He wants to open the seal to release a powerful demon--and the only way to open it is to take the life of a Dragon clan member. The Dragon at the gate would do... and Habaruku has Patty, too! You must fight the man who replaced Ganer. Habaruku seems to cast mostly self-enhancement magic such at Atk-Up and Def-Up, but he can potentially use powerful attack spells such as Bolt-X. In any case, he's fairly easy to kill, unless you get unlucky. After the fight, with Patty lost in the underbrush somewhere, you'll have to speak to the dragon, who changes form and reveals itself as... the Hero's mother. She asks the Hero to make a choice--either to open the seal or to have her stay to guard the gate. If you choose to have her stay, the game will end. Face your destiny. Your mother opens the gate, sacrificing her life (remember, the life of a Dragon clan member) to do so. You may now enter Infinity. First go to the left side cave, and enter. You will find Shin, the Devil Shaman. Leave and enter the center cave when you are ready. (Note: You can enter the left and right caves, and therefore find Shin, at any time after Hulk uses the bomb. You need not wait until you defeat him. You may find it easier to retrieve Shin first, so that you can use powerful combinations against Habaruku.) There is a long trek downward, so have plenty of healing items. Take at least 54 HelpBL, 54 WFruit, and 27-36 LifePL, in addition to several CureAL, as much Roast and Extract as you have, and your entire supply of MoonDrop and VanExt. You'll need the healing later. Try to get the treasures on the way down; they contain powerful weapons and armor such as the FinalKN and the ImmortlRN. If you survive the trek down, you'll find yourself in a town. This is the outpost of the Dragon clan. * * * * * Chapter 17: Anfini Characters: The best you've got! You'll learn a great deal in the Dragons' town, including the origins of Ray and Patty, and the history of the Hero's mother's mission. (For the part about the Hero's mother, you get to control her.) This will clear up a lot of the hanging threads in the game. You'll also learn that, in order to beat Deathevn, the Hero will have to learn the ultimate Dragon power, Anfini. The door will be opened to you, the Destined Child. Beneath the Dragons' town, you will face even fiercer enemies. One to watch for is the Carm. This Grim Reaper-like enemy casts Freeze and Hail, and it sometimes leaves an item called the MeowST when it is defeated. This is Katt's best weapon, 70 points stronger than the SnakeST. Get it if you're using Katt. The place you get Anfini is fairly obvious--it's the only building in the area below the Dragons' town. Enter and speak to the wise men. The Hero will find himself alone, and must enter each room and talk to his friends (and in one case himself!), with the exception of Bleu. Then, the wise man tells him he must sacrifice one of his friends forever in order to receive the power of Anfini! He instructs the Hero to enter the room of the friend he wishes to sacrifice. Enter the Hero's room. Speak to the Hero, and no matter what, keep refusing to sacrifice your friends. You will learn Anfini and shift back to the original room, where those friends who were with you will rejoin you. (Note that if you _do_ choose a friend, nothing bad actually happens--you'll just have to try again to get Anfini. You can't win without it, so make sure you do so.) Unfortunately, this scene splits all the Shamans who were combined with you away. It might be worth it to cast Exit, recombine, and descend through Infinity once more. The caverns below the Dragons' town house many items, including the Dragon equipment--sword, armor, helm, and shield. Get it. If you enter a room where all is dark, turn around and leave, unless you have all the equipment and treasure and are in good shape. * * * * * Chapter 18: Endgame Characters: The best you've got! In the dark room, the party will confront Barubary, the demon the Hero met so long ago. Now, he won't be so nice. You'll have to fight him. The best bet is to take Bleu, Rand (combined), and one other hero. In the first round, use Bleu's BoltX and the Hero's G.Dragon, and have Rand cast Cure3 and the other hero fight. This should do upwards of 1200-1300 damage to Barubary. At that point, he will stop fighting and challenge the Hero to single combat. If the Hero accepts, Barubary is significantly weaker, but probably still more than a match for the Hero. I find the best bet is to refuse and fight. The Hero should use G.Dragon whenever he is at full AP and otherwise fight or use an item as necessary. Bleu should cast BoltX until she runs out of AP, and use items or Shed as necessary. Rand should Cure3 every round, as all Barubary's attacks effect the entire party and hit for about 100 HP. (Bow's CureX could also work here.) The fourth hero should use WFruit or healing items as necessary. Try to keep building the Hero up to full AP so he can use G.Dragon. Use all the WiseBLs you have on the Hero for this purpose. This is the toughest fight in the game. Afterward, walk on into the darkness. A healing spring and a dragon statue lie ahead. Choose the characters you like and prepare to meet Deathevn. Deathevn will greet you with a spell to trap the party in crystal. The Hero will break free, using the strength of the Destined Child, but will be paralyzed by Deathevn's bond. Deathevn will stop in front of each character's crystal, delivering a short speech about them. This speech will end in "And now, his/her life is over." and he will shatter the crystal. He taunts the Hero once more... (start pressing buttons now) "The screaming of the Hero's heart broke the bond!" The Hero, enraged, will rush after Deathevn, dodging a nasty spell ("Break into pieces, Hero!") and cleaving the demon lord with his sword. Deathevn will stagger backwards and fall over the edge... ...Then reappear in his true form. A battle begins. For now, Deathevn casts Explode, which does exactly half the character's HP in damage. The Hero should use Anfini. (Hey, it's the only time he can... :) Big cinema scene, and the Hero's friends are revived. They rush to his fight, and the battle begins in earnest. Deathevn is weak, after Barubary. He can cast Death, can attack a single character for ~150 HP damage, can use an Amber Laser which hits all party members for ~140 damage, can eliminate all spells affecting the party (like Atk-Up and Def-Up), and can do a few other, less effective, things. The same general tactics that worked on Barubary should work. Deathevn will take a while to beat, but shouldn't usually be a problem. The ending you get depends on whether TownShip can fly or not. If it can, you get a better ending, but if not, even the "bad" ending is a good length, and provides a nice, (melo-)dramatic closing scene. The endings also focus more on the characters the Hero had along with him when defeating Deathevn than all the others. Congratulations. You win. :) * * * * * Breath of Fire II Walkthrough * * * * *