Walkthrough

Items: Dymlos, Green Gel (x5), Cloak (x2), Cape, Flare Bottle, Oberon C, Spectacles, Orange Gel, Melange Gel, Apple
Enemies: Barbarian, Petit Devil

After the intial sequence of events, you'll gain control of Stahn atop the Draconis. Head down the stairs and take the door to the left. You'll be back out on the deck of the Draconis. Take the door above you (the way to the left is blocked by monsters) into a large room. When you enter here, a soldier (Wedge, no doubt) will get killed and fall down the stairs, blocking that route. Head right along the bottom level and you'll see another dead soldier lying on the second set of stairs. Search his body for a Cloak, your first piece of armor, and equip it. Continue right a little bit more and you'll reach a bunch of boxes. Walk up to one of the boxes, hold the Circle button down, and then move left, pulling the box backwards. Pull all the boxes away in this matter, then continue past them and take the lower-right exit.

On this lower level, head down and left and go in the first door. You'll wind up in a dark storage room. Make your way up to the upper left, where you'll see a brief cutscene in which Stahn claims the Swordian Dymlos. You'll then have to fight your first battle, against a Barbarian. Use the Circle button to attack, and Square to defend. After defeating the Barbarian, you'll win the battle and get some experience, Lens, and gald (money).

Now that you have a weapon, you can fight the monsters wandering around the Draconis. They're all either Barbarians or Petit Devils; the latter can fly, so use your jumping attack (Up+Circle) to defeat them.

Leave the storage room and head to the door at the far left end of the hall you're in. Look around for two bags, holding a Green Gel (healing item) and an Oberon C (another healing item). After getting them, leave the room, and go back up to the large room with the three sets of stairs. If you go left along the lower level and enter the door near the crates, you can find a pot of stew that will heal you whenever you use it. Avail yourself of it if necessary, then go up the now-clear stairs on to the upper level of the main room.

There's four rooms on this level; one in the upper-left, with a Green Gel and Orange Gel inside; one in the lower-left (Green Gel and check the table for an Apple); one in the lower-right (a Cape, equip it as an armor); and the central room (Green Gel, Flare Bottle, Spectacle, Melange Gel), which you have to enter from the north side. Visit all four of the rooms to collect all the items, then exit the main room through the left door on the lower level.

You're now back outside, on the lower deck. Now that you have a weapon, you can fight through all the enemies to the left, but all you get is a Cloak, and you should already have one anyway. So just skip that and go right, back into the room where you started. Go up to the top and exit on to the roof. Stahn will automatically hop in an escape pod and fly off the Draconis.

Items: Life Bottle (x3), Auto Bow, Wood Shield, Green Gel (x2), Cloak, Cape, Melange Gel
Enemies: Beast Bear, Piyo Bird, Frost Bunny

After his fall from the Draconis, Stahn awakes in a cabin in the snow. You meet up with Garr and his master Alba. Alba sends both of you to find his granddaughter Chelsea in the woods. Look around the cabin and open all the chests for some items (be sure to equip the Wood Shield on Stahn), then go outside. Stand in the save point (the glowing circle), then go to your menu screen and save the game.

Head north from the cabin into the woods. Unlike the Draconis, the battles here occur randomly. You also have Garr in your party now; he fights with a bow. A good tactic when you're fighting enemies on only one side is to have Stahn back up and defend while Garr just shoots down the enemies with his bow. Occasionally, you'll be ambushed, and the enemies show up to your left. If this happens, hit L1 to switch Stahn and Garr's positions so that Stahn is facing the enemies.

In the forest, go north and left. At the first fork, head south, then go all the way left into a clearing with a chest. Open it for a Life Bottle, then go back right and take the first turn north. Go north until you can't, then look just to the east for another chest, holding a Cloak. After getting the Cloak, head all the way left, and then up. At the end of the path, you'll find Chelsea. She joins your party. Equip her with the other Auto Bow you picked up in the cabin, then make your way back to the entrance. Alba will greet you and give you a Melange Gel as a reward for finding Chelsea.

Back in the cabin, Stahn decides to continue on to Seinegald. Garr goes with him to take him to the border town of Janos, but Chelsea leaves. Head out of the cabin and save, then leave the screen to the south and you'll be in a new section of woods. Here, go down and right to the first fork. If you head north, you'll get a Green Gel, but you may be maxed out on them by now (you can only carry 15). If you head south, you'll eventually come to another fork in the road. Go left first to get a Life Bottle, then go down and left to the third fork. Head down, left (grabbing the chest on the way for a Cape), and back up. Go left and you'll reach a save point by a tree. Save your game, then exit to the left to Janos.

Items: 50 gald, Saber, Channeling, Leather Helm, Green Gel, Rapier, Flame Disc
Enemies: Beast Bear, Frost Bunny, Piyo Bird, G.Slug, Orc Jelly, Sprite, Soldier

When you arrive in Janos, Garr will leave, and Stahn and Dymlos will talk briefly. You're then free to explore the town. Be sure to drop by the weapon shop and pick up a Long Sword. You can purchase healing items and the like if you want, but you can usually find all the items you need in ToD in chests.

You can meet the overbearing Grid and his Black Wings in the bar if you like. Go upstairs in the inn and talk to the guy on the right side, the one who's lost his passport. Leave the inn and talk to the old woman in the lower-right corner of town. Go into the soldiers' office and ask about the passport. Then go back to the guy who's lost his passport. He'll give you a 50 gald reward and run off. Leave the inn and Stahn will bump into Mary Argent, who asks you to help her find her missing partner in crime. Stahn, of course, agrees, and Mary joins you. She fights with melee weapons just like Stahn, so you'll probably want to alternate which character is in the lead (using the Order option on the menu) to even out the damage they take.

As Mary instructs, leave the town via the eastern exit, and head through the woods until Mary turns you to turn left. Do so, and keep going down the path until you suddenly appear in a cave. The enemies in here are a bit tougher, so watch out. If you head straight down, there's a Save Point, should you want it. Otherwise, go down, left, and down to an underground lake. Open the chests for a Saber (great sword; give it to Stahn) and the Channeling accessory. Although you can sell it for a whopping 32767 gald, you're far better off hanging on to it, as it lets you play as your other characters in battle. See "Fun With Accessories" in Secrets for the full explanation.

Now head to the upper-left corner of the screen and examine the blinking star to open the door. Go through and follow the path left, picking up the Leather Helm from a chest on the way. After exiting to the southwest, you'll be in the temple proper. Head down and left into the main room, then go north. You'll see Mary's friend Rutee imprisoned in a trap; after some mishaps, Stahn and Mary free her. She joins you just as some bandits attack you, and your first boss battle begins.

By now, Stahn should have both his Missile Sword and Kick Attack skills. I recommend equipping Missile Sword to the plain X (no direction), and Kick Attack to all the others. This lets you shoot Missile Swords by standing still, and use Kick Attack when moving. Use Missile Sword to weaken the bandits from a distance. After a couple of those, move in and hit them with Kick Attack. They can hit pretty hard, so try to stay away from them.

After defeating the bandits, heal up, then head south through the temple. Take a left turn and enter the two rooms for a Green Gel and a Rapier. Equip the Rapier on Rutee. Then take the right turn from the main room and enter the room there for the Flame Disc, the first disc in the game. Discs are kinda like materia; you attach them to your Swordians to gain additional abilities. Just hang onto the Flame Disc for the time being. After getting the Disc, leave the temple through the southern exit. Cross the bridge, save your game if you want, and continue on to a fork in the road. Take the southern fork and you'll be back in Janos. Seeing you entering the town from Seinegald, the Seinegaldian soldiers give you a passport ^_^, to which I can only say, "So that's how you fooled them."

Stahn, Rutee, and Mary will go to the bar, where you'll talk briefly. Stahn decides to hang out with Rutee and Mary, and Rutee reveals that she too has a Swordian -- Atwight.

Items: Life Bottle (x2), 10000 gald, Leather Cape, Bread, Orange Gel (x3), Panacea Bottle, Green Gel (x2), Round Shield, Chain Mail, Club, World Map
Enemies: Soldier, Leon

The next day, equip the Flame Disc on Atwight (since Stahn already can use fire magic, there's no need to give it to him). Also, I highly advise you go to your skills menu and turn off Rutee's Search Gald ability, or she will use it *constantly* and waste all her TP. You might also want to turn off other skills when you're fighting wimpy enemies (so you don't waste TP).

Take the north exit from Janos and head due north through the forest. You'll end up on the world map for the first time. While on the world map, you can restore your HP by eating food, but you have to put the food in your food bag first (just use it on your item screen).

Once on the world map, head north and west, across the bridge, to the town of Harmentz. Explore the town and buy any supplies you need, but do *not* ask the kid blocking the chest for the treasure. He'll let you take it (it's just a Gel), then demand all your money in return for stealing his treasure. So stay away from him. In the lower-right corner, however, you'll find another kid hidden in the trees who will give you a Life Bottle if you talk to him. Then go up to the mansion, head up the stairs on the right, and speak with Walt (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Red from SaGa Frontier). He'll buy the Old Cane from you for 5000 gald, and Rutee will "negotiate" another 5000 from him. Then leave the mansion and go to the inn. You can stay for free.

The following day, the trio decides to go to Armeida, but on the way out of the inn, you're attacked by Seinegaldian soldiers, and you have to fight 8 of them at once. This battle can be a bit tricky; have Stahn take care of one side of the battlefield while Rutee and Mary handle the other. Be sure to turn Rutee and Mary's spells and skills on (except Search Gald), and use Stahn's techniques liberally. After you defeat the soldiers, you'll have to fight Leon. Don't even bother trying to beat him; you can't. He'll quickly knock you out, and you'll be taken to Darilsheid, the capital of Seinegald.

[Note: It IS possible to beat Leon by using cheat codes, but if you do, you'll see a tiny scene and the game will end! Still, it's kind of neat.]

Talk to the guard at the cell door, then go back into your cell. You'll be taken up to see the king, and there's a lot of dialogue in which Leon joins your party and you are given a new mission. Now explore the castle for a whole lot of items, including Chain Mail armor, a Club, and a Round Shield. Be sure to equip them all on the appropriate characters.

After looting the castle, exit south into the town of Darilsheid. Go straight to Hugo's mansion; the big building in the upper-right corner. Inside, you'll be given your Swordians back, and Leon will introduce you to his Swordian, Chaltier. Even if you've got weapons that are stronger than the Swordians, be sure to at least equip them in the "Swordian" slot so they will gain experience (note that you can't cast magic without your Swordian equipped, however). And whenever your Swordian gains a level, its power increases, so check to see if it's stronger than your current weapon.

Anyway, once you get your Swordians back, go shopping and pick up any better equipment... you should have plenty of money. Stock up on some Holy Bottles; they're invaluable if you start getting annoyed by too many battles. Also, you can earn some items in the warehouses on the docks... see the Warehouse List in the Side Quest section for details on how to do this. Then leave town, and set off north and west to the town of Armeida. (If you go southwest, you can go back to Harmentz and Janos, and east is Cresta, but you can't enter it now.) Hugo has given you a World Map, so if you get lost, just go to your Valuables screen and choose the map -- you can find all the towns and even look at their stores.

There's not a whole lot to do in Armeida; just an inn to stay at and an item shop. To the east of Armeida, however, you'll find the road to Straylize Temple... just walk up towards the forest and you'll enter.

Items: Savory, Green Gel (x3), Bellebane, Talisman, Chain Mail, Life Bottle, Round Shield, Iron Helm, Spectacles (x2), Orange Gel, Ankh Hat, Stray Robe, Tech Ring
Enemies: Chunbird, G.Bee, Orcrot, Rock Baboon, Shroom, Krystal, Lizard Man

Once inside the forest, go right into a clearing. You can't read the tombstone here, but if you search the mushrooms, you'll get a Savory, which boosts a character's max TP. Hang on to it; don't use it. Then take the path north and follow it across the stream to another fork. Head down and left and grab the Green Gel (if you're already maxed out on them, use one to heal a character, then grab the one in the chest). Continue north up to a cliff, from which you can see the temple. Grab the Green Gel in the upper-left corner, then head right to the second screen. Run through here to the third screen, then go to the cliff in the upper-right corner, where you can find a Bellebane (in the mushrooms) and an Orange Gel. Like with the Savory, hang on to the Bellebane and don't use it yet. After collecting those two items, descend the trail to the left, then head north. The fourth and final screen is a just straight path that leads to the temple.

Almost all of the buildings here have their entrances blocked by rubble; there are only two you can enter. First, go in the nearby cathedral (just to your right) and head through the brown door in the back, near the painting (it's kinda hard to see in the shadows). Talk to the Bishop here to get a Talisman. You can't get the chest just yet. Now leave the cathedral and enter the main temple, at the far north end. Upon entering, you will hear voices speaking from the door. Go up to the door and you'll be told that you have to destroy all the crystals in the temple. Use the save point if you want, then begin the crystal mission.

First, take a right from the main room, then go up. Enter the room on the left, and you'll have to fight a lizardman and one of the crystals (note that there are no random battles in the temple; just the set ones). The lizardman isn't too hard to beat with if you set Stahn at the back of the party and go right up to him; just watch out for his fire breath. After killing it, smash the crystal. One down, four to go. Go into the room to the right of the one with the crystal for a Life Bottle, then return to the main room.

Now head left into the west wing. Continue past the stairs to the north, and take the southern set of stairs. Down here, go left and ascend the first set of stairs you come to. Loop around and enter the two rooms -- the first has Chain Mail, the second a crystal to destroy. Then go back down and continue left. Pick up the sword lying on the ground; it's the Knight's Saber, a really good sword. Equip it on Mary, as she has no Swordian. Then go through the door the dead soldier was guarding and smash the crystal. Leave this room, head right through the hall, and go back up the stairs. Ascend the stairs you skipped earlier. Here, take the middle path into a hallway with four rooms. The far left one has a Round Shield in a chest, and the middle two hold the remaining crystals. Smash them, and you should get a message that the shield has been disarmed.

Return to the entrance hall and go through the shielded door into the Tower of Knowledge. You'll speak with Bishop Ayles, who tells you some stuff and tells you to go to the cathedral. Before you do, explore the Tower of Knowledge. There's a chest on nearly every floor, with some equipment (an Iron Helm, in particular), and a few items. Most importantly, however, is the Tech Ring you find on the top floor. By equipping this on Stahn, you can use the Select button to enter the full Manual mode in battle. In this mode, you can move Stahn on your own and dash by double- tapping the D-pad. This is kinda tricky at first, but makes the jumping attacks a lot easier to do. Look on the tables and shelves for individual books which have various contents.

Once you're done in the Tower of Knowledge, go back into the main room of the temple and head into the west wing again. Go up the first set of stairs, then take the door on the left. Follow the path until you get to the cathedral. The priest will open a secret passage; go through.

All the chests in here are empty; ignore them. Just wander around and look at the switches on the floor. There are three white switches and three dark switches. Either step on all the white switches (and none of the dark ones), or all of the dark switches, then go through the corresponding door at the top of the screen. You will meet Philia, and the priest will use a potion to destone her. Philia then reveals that High Priest Lydon has stolen the Eye of Atamoni. After a bit of discussion, she joins your party.

You now have 5 characters in your party, but you can only use 4 at a time, so you'll have to take somebody out if you want to put Philia in. Be sure to equip her with the Club, which you should still have. Then head back out of Straylize Temple, through the forest, and back to Darilsheid.

Items: Flare Bottle, Liq. Bottle, Rue Staff, Orange Gel, Fine Saber, Iron Helm, ?DISC (x2), Pickaxe, Life Bottle, Sharp Stone, Clemente
Enemies: Cuttlefish, Green Roper, Sea Slug, Sprite, Starfish

Talk to the King, then go to the harbor. Just left of the first ship are two soldiers talking; talk to them to learn about the Eye of Atamoni. Then go back to the King and he'll arrange for you to get a ship to Calvalese, where the Eye has been taken. Take care of any other stuff you need to, then go to the harbor and board the ship.

En route to Calvalese, the ship will be attacked by monsters. Talk to the bartender twice and he'll give you a Flare Bottle and Liqueur Bottle, then go up on deck. Go to the bow of the ship and you'll see some cutscenes.

After arriving in the Undersea Ruins, save your game at the save spot. The battles here start to get tougher; especially dangerous are the Green Ropers. These guys will grab you with their tentacles and hit you repeatedly for a lot of damage; stay at a distance and use range attacks and spells. Use the Triangle button frequently to pause the game and issue new commands to your characters. Be sure Rutee's First Aid spell is on so she can cast it when you're hurt.

From the starting point, head north to the next room. It looks like the path is blocked by rubble, but you can hold down the Circle button and pull the smaller pieces of rubble out of the way. After clearing the path, go northwest into the next room. When you arrive in here, Philia will talk some more. Check the side rooms for Orange Gel and a Rue Staff, then go up the stairs. In this room, head north across the bridge. Go in the door on the right (the one on the left is blocked) and open the chest for a ?DISC. You can't use the ?DISC yet; you'll have to identify it (more on that later). Leave that small room and take the path to the right. Enter the two rooms at the top of the screen for a Life Bottle and the Pickaxe.

The Pickaxe lets you break down the sealed blue doors. Return to the sealed door you couldn't open earlier (next to the room where you get the ?DISC) and break in (just examine the door and you'll automatically use the Pickaxe). Open the chests for a Fine Saber (give it to Mary) and an Iron Helm. Leave that room, head east one screen, then take the southeast exit. You should be in a room with a rope. Climb down and you'll see two more ropes. Climb down the one on the left and open the chest for another ?DISC, then take the rope on the right and keep climbing down until you can't anymore. Go right two screens and collect the Sharp Stone, another Disc. This one you can use right away, so equip it on somebody to give them the Spike spell (don't give it to Leon; he already has that spell). Then go left and up the stairs. Continue up the stairs until you arrive in the control center.

Here, you will find the Swordian Clemente. Clemente has chosen Philia, and you will then get Clemente as a Swordian. Equip him on Philia, then retrace your steps to the room where you started. Take the south exit to leave the ruins and continue on to Calvalese.

Items: Charm Bottle, Kite Shield, Amethyst, Scorched Earth
Enemies: Cuttlefish, Sea Slug, Monk Soldier, Priestess, Bat Eye

Upon arriving at the docks, look around for the cloth merchant and buy some Blue Ribbons for Rutee, Mary, and Philia. Other than that, hold off on buying any equipment here, as you can get some better stuff in just a little while. Also, in the leftmost of the two warehouses on the docks, you'll see three crates arranged like this:

/---\ /---\
| A | | B |
\---/ \---/
   /---\
   | C |
   \---/

If you push Crate C up so that it's lined up with the other two, a chest will appear. If you leave and come back in, you can do this over and over again for more items (the faster you solve it, the better the item you get). Actually, you can this in any warehouse (see the Warehouse List for details); I just mentioned it here because it's so easy to do.

In the town proper, you'll see some kids standing by the well. If you talk to them, you can play tag against them... see the Tag! side quest for more info. Then go to the item shop and buy four Rune Bottles. You can use the Rune Bottles to identify the ? items -- specifically, the two ?DISCs you picked up in the Undersea Ruins will turn into SW020020 and SW010022. Give the SW020020 to Stahn and the SW010022 to Leon, then give Flame to Rutee (Philia already has Fireball) and Sharp Stone to Philia. Then use the other two Rune Bottles to turn the Bellebane and Savory into Red Bellebane and Red Savory, which are twice as effective as the plain kind. (You can also turn Wormy Apples into Jam, but it's not worth the cost of the Rune Bottles.)

Go to the large building the upper-left corner of town and enter. Talk to Baruk and he'll tell you to look for clues. He'll also let you take the stuff in his room -- the Medium Food Sack (lets you carry more food) and the Combo Counter. The Combo Counter counts the combos you do in battle and gives you extra EXP for them; see "Combo Counter" under Playing The Game for more info. Be sure to turn it on under the Customize menu! You can also examine the various books in Baruk's room for a few humorous conversations.

Go to the docks and talk to one of the sailors walking around to hear about Jake. Go to the inn and talk to the housemaid, then go to the weapon shop, and back to the docks. Talk to the guy in the upper-right; he's Jake, and he'll tell you where the Eye has been taken. Go back to Baruk, then head out of town.

Leave Cherik and head northwest to the next town, Kalviola. As soon as you enter here, walk around outside the wall to the east, and go north. You'll see a kid trying to fight some monsters, and automatically come to his aid. Beat up the monsters; they're just Sea Slugs and a Cuttlefish.

After saving the kid, go into the town and head to the weapon and armor shops. Normally, the weapon shop would refuse to do business with you, but since you saved the kid, you can buy stuff. Get Bastard Swords for Stahn, Mary, and Leon; and a Silver Mace for Philia. Unless Atwight is at a really low level, just stick with her for Rutee. Armorwise, pick up Amber Cloaks, Ring Mail, Iron Helms, and Iron Gloves for those who can use them. Also, you can buy Oberol EX, a strong healing item, at the Oberon store here. Finally, if you talk to the kid you saved twice, he'll give you a Charm Bottle.

Go to the Straylize Temple in the center of town. Philia will talk with the priests, and Leon will figure out that they're in league with Lydon. You decide to sneak in at night. Go to the inn and sleep, and it will be night time. Head to the temple (but first walk by a closed door to see an awesome moving shadow effect) and enter via the side door on the left. Philia will rejoin you.

Reform your party, then head east and take the turn south. Now go right and descend the stairs. You'll get into a battle against 2 Monk Soldiers, 2 Priestess, and 2 Bat Eyes. Have Stahn quickly use his Spin Slash to attack the two enemies to his right, while the other characters fight the guys on the left (have Rutee cast Ice Tornado to hit them all at once). Keep using Spin Slash, and make sure to attack the Priestesses if they start charging up a spell. Use items to heal if necessary, but be warned that they aren't immediate -- it takes a moment for the effect to occur, so have a character who isn't about to get use them.

After defeating all the enemies, you'll free a captive priest, who will tell you to go to the cathedral. Go back up the stairs and head straight left, then down into the entrance hall. On the right side of this room you'll find a passage heading east. Go down it, fight through the second round of enemies as you did the first, and enter the cathedral. Walk up to the torch and examine it to open the door, just like in the other temple. Go through, and, after some dialogue, you'll have to fight two more identical waves of enemies. Beat them as you did before.

Leon will ask you where you're supposed to go next; it doesn't matter what you say as you'll end up going to Fitzgald no matter what. Before you leave, however, go back into the temple the following day. Head to the upper-right corner and go up the stairs. Most of the chests here are empty, but two have a Kite Shield and the Scorched Earth disc (give the disc to whoever's currently using the Flame disc). Then take the door to the south out onto the roof and pick up the Amethyst; an accessory that gives you +15 defense!

If you want to play tag some more or take care of anything else in Calvalese, do so. (If you're running low on Holy Bottles, go ahead and buy more.) Then go back to the Cherik port and talk to the captain. You'll set sail for Neuestadt in Fitzgald.

Items: Rune Bottle, Panacea Bottle, Oberol EX, Bellebane
Pirate Ships: Amber Cloak, Barracuda, Battle Axe, Bellebane (x2), Blue Ribbon, Dark Bottle, Flare Bottle, Green Gel (x5), Holy Bottle, Hourglass (x2), Iron Glove, Iron Helm, Kite Shield, Land Hat, Lavender, Lemon Gel (x5), Life Bottle (x2), Liq.Bottle (x4), Mackerel Pike (x2), Melange Gel (x7), Miracle Gel (x8), Oberol C (x10), Oberol EX (x3), Oberol G (x2), Orange Gel (x6), Panacea Bottle (x2), Pine Gel (x3), Rune Bottle (x2), Red Snapper (x2), Sage, Savory, Silver Chain, Silver Cloak, Smelt, Splint Mail, Squid (x6), Talisman, Tuna (x5), Veldan, Winged Boots, WOF Disc
Enemies: Berserker, Pirate, War Vulture, Batista

On the Neuestadt docks, there's a save point that you can use if you want, and check nearby for a Rune Bottle. In the warehouse on the right (did you check the warehouse on the right?), you can earn Winged Boots by pushing the three crates into a horizontal line in front of the door, like this:

---|Door|--
*** *** ***
*1* *2* *3*
*** *** ***

You always will get Winged Boots for doing this (they warp you out of a dungeon); so get a bunch as this is one of the only places you can get them. The other warehouse is pretty crummy, you often don't get any item at all (it's easy to solve, though -- just push the rightmost crate left one space).

When you enter Neuestadt proper, you'll see a kid (Karma) get chased by some rich kids. Rutee will fend them off, and Karma will run away. You're then free to look around Neuestadt. This place is huge, but there's really only a few important places:

• Right next to the entrance to the docks is the equipment shop, where you can buy better helmets and gloves for Stahn, Mary, and Leon.
• The huge F-Mart is just down the stairs from the entrance to the docks. Here you can buy items, including the Lemon Gel and Pine Gel (stronger Green Gel and Orange Gel, respectively). Also, they may not seem like it, but the Fitz Burgers you can buy at the fast food counter are a very good food source for their price.
• There's a mansion north of the equipment shop; if you go up to the second floor and exit onto the balcony, there's a chest with a Panacea Bottle there.
• Just west of the central plaza is the Lens Shop, and if you keep going west, you'll reach the inn. However, you don't really need to stay here, as once you've talked to Ilene, you can rest on the second floor of her mansion for free.
• In the upper-right hand corner of town, in the park, you can race Neuestadt's fastest kid. See the "The Race In Neustadt" under Side Quests for details.
• Just next to the fastest kid is a booth selling Softy Kreem sticks. They're a rip-off food source (50 gald for 10 food units is *not* a good deal), but occasionally you'll get a winning stick that can be redeemed for a prize at the booth. And what kind of valuable reward do you receive? Why, nothing other than a free Softy Kreem stick! YEAH!! ...in case I need to make myself more explicit, just skip this place, okay? ^_^
• In a mansion in the upper-left corner of town, you can find Karma and his sister, but there's no real point in going here.

Eventually, where you want to go is the Lens shop; pop in there and talk to the clerk. Follow Ilene downstairs and there will be some conversation. You can then help yourself to the items in her room, an Oberol EX and a Bellebane.

Anyway, you'll end up having to go to the docks to attack the pirate ships. Go to the docks, talk to Ilene, and you're off. Your ship runs into the first pirate ship. Head up on deck and board the enemy ship.

There are two ways to do the following bit: the fast way and the thorough way. Most of the chests on the first three ships are pretty crappy, but there's some good stuff in there you might want to pick up. But if you're in a rush, just do the following to finish the first three ships:

Descend through the northern of the two stairs, grab the chest, and go down the stairs. Head left and through the door to the south. Dodge around the enemy and run through the hall and out the door. Descend the stairs. Grab the chest and enter the rightmost of the two doors. Open the chest on the left, then attack the captain. You'll have to fight some Monk Soldiers and Priestess, just fight through them and you'll be finished with that ship. Repeat.

OK, here's the long way. The ships are set up as follows:

The blue squares are where you come in from the surface (one top and one bottom) and the green squares are connected. Here's a rundown of what's where.

First Ship:

A: Panacea Bottle, Life Bottle
B: Lemon Gel, Miracle Gel
C: Orange Gel
D: Green Gel, Melange Gel
E: Bastard Sword
F: Oberol C
G: Melange Gel, Pine Gel
H: Oberol C, Lemon Gel, Oberol EX
I: Oberol C, Bellebane
J: Miracle Gel, Lavender
K: Oberol C, Oberol EX
L: Sage
M: Bellebane, Savory
N: Oberol Gold

Second Ship:

A: Holy Bottle, Pine Gel
B: Red Snapper
C: Lemon Gel
D: Miracle Gel, Red Snapper
E: Squid
F: Blue Ribbon
G: Smelt, Squid
H: Land Hat, Squid, Mackerel Pike
I: Squid, Hourglass
J: Squid, Mackerel Pike
K: Tuna, Squid
L: Tuna
M: Tuna, Tuna
N: Kite Shield

Third Ship:

A: Liq. Bottle, Miracle Gel
B: Panacea Bottle, Miracle Gel
C: Melange Gel
D: Rune Bottle, Liq. Bottle
E: Flare Bottle
F: Miracle Gel
G: Oberol C, Liq. Bottle
H: Melange Gel, Oberol C, Flare Bottle
I: Oberol C, Melange Gel
J: Flare Bottle, Liq. Bottle
K: Miracle Gel, Oberol C
L: Miracle Gel
M: Rune Bottle, Talisman
N: Winged Boots

A trick for avoiding the annoying battles is to examine a crate or chest if the enemy is almost upon you. Keep the text box there until it turns away, then close it and run!

The boss ship is set up differently from the others. Use this to find the quickest or best path for you. The orange and green squares are staircases connected to each other, the pink circle is the teleporter, and the red circle is a one-way door (can only be opened from above). The blue square leads from the surface.

A: Lemon Gel, Oberol C
B: WOF (Wall of Flame) Disc
C: Orange Gel, Oberol C
D: BOSS FIGHT
E: Splint Mail, Silver Chain, Green Gel, Orange Gel
F: Green Gel, Orange Gel, Lemon Gel, Pine Gel
G: Oberol EX, Melange Gel, Green Gel, Orange Gel
H: (chests are hidden near lower wall) Iron Helm, Orange Gel
I: Veldan, Miracle Gel
J: Amber Cloak, Battle Axe
K: Green Gel, Iron Glove
L: Nothing
M: Nothing
N: Dark Bottle, Tuna
O: Nothing
P: Silver Cloak, Barracuda
Q: Oberol Gold, Life Bottle, Holy Bottle
R: Nothing
S: Hourglass
T: Save point, teleporter

Batista is the first real boss you've faced so far, and he's tough! He has 4,500 HP and an extremly strong attack. First, kill off his accompanying flunkies (especially the Priestesses), then go after him. Batista will usually trap one of your characters in the corner; keep healing that character with items (you probably won't be able to use spells as they take a while to charge). Have Stahn hit Batista with Tiger Blades as fast as you can. If things get bad, have Stahn dash away from Batista and use a bunch of items to bring back your dead characters -- just keep reviving characters and he won't be able to kill you all off. If Stahn dies, you can still control the other characters from the menu, so quickly use a Life Bottle to revive Stahn.

Once Batista is defeated, you'll return to Neuestadt and can do a happy dance that this stupid level is finally over. Just head west off the docks, sit back, and watch the scenes. When you fight Khang, don't even bother trying to beat him; you can't. [Actually, you can using cheat codes, but nothing much happens.] Just let him knock you out, and there will be a bunch more scenes.

Items: SW060060, Crescent Axe, Shelter, Orange Gel, Flare Bottle, Life Bottle, Melange Gel, SP025062, Hourglass, Panacea Bottle
Enemies: Soldier, Orgus, Slime, Winged Eye, Orgus Queen

The next day, take care of any unfinished business you have in Neuestadt, and stop by F-Mart to pick up 2 Rune Bottles. Then go to the dock and talk to Ilene. You'll set sail for Sheeden in Aquaveil (doesn't Aquaveil sound like the name of a toothpaste?).

Once you land, pop in to nearby Sheeden. There's not a whole lot to do here, as all the shops are closed. Look around near the bottom of town for an old woman, and talk to her to trigger an extended conversation about Moreau and Batista. Afterwards, go to the docks, at the east side of town. Here, talk to the sailor blocking the ship, then the old man just south of the crewman. Doing all this will open the cave to Moreau on the overworld map.

Before you leave the docks, talk to the peddler in red, and you can buy a few items from him. Be sure to buy the "Shiny Junk"; it's actually a ?DISC. Use one of the Rune Bottles you should have bought in Neuestadt to identify it; it's the SW060060, which boosts a Swordian's slash and thrust by a whopping 60! Give to Stahn, since he does most of the fighting. You can also get items at the warehouses; check the Warehouse List for details.

Now leave Sheeden and head southwest, on the west side of the mountain range. It might be a good idea to fill up your bag with some food to restore your HP during the walk. You'll come to a large cave on the beach; if you don't see it, you haven't talked to the right people in town, so go back there and talk to the necessary people.

Once inside the cave, head south and west. Open the chest behind the waterfall for the Crescent Axe, a really powerful axe. Equip it on Mary. Now head through the door to the northwest and open the chest there for the Shelter Disc, which boosts your stats as well as giving you the Barrier spell. I recommend giving it to Philia / Clemente. Leave the room where you got the Disc and continue west to the second screen.

Here, climb up the rock-step-sort-of-things and pick up the chest with an Orange Gel on the ledge. Go through the door, head left one screen, and then go down. You'll end up on a small ledge with a chest. Open it for a Life Bottle, then go back into the previous room, climb up the steps in the upper-left, and go through the door onto another ledge. Open the chest for a Flare Bottle. Now retrace your steps back to the second main screen (the one with the first of rock steps; where you got an Orange Gel). Head left two screens.

You should now be at an underground pond. Look carefully along the pond bank and you should see a barely-visible set of stairs. Go down it and hop across the ledges to a chest with a ?DISC. Use the other Rune Bottle on it to turn it into the SP025062 Disc. Hop back to the bank, go north a little ways, and look for another set of stairs. Go down these and follow the ledges to the west side of the pond. Go down and left and through the door to another pond. Open the chest near you for an Hourglass, then walk around the perimeter of the pond to another chest with a Panacea Bottle. You probably can't read the tablet just yet; so leave this room.

Back at the first pond, head up to the top of the room and pass through the archway to the next screen. Loop around the waterfalls and go back through the archway on the other side of the river. Open the chest for a Melange Gel, then go back the way you came. Save your game at the save point behind the waterfalls, then head left one screen and go to the upper-left to confront the boss, the Orgus Queen.

Compared to Batista, the Orgus Queen is a pushover. Kill off the baby Orguses, then just pound on the Queen with Tiger Blade, while Rutee and Philia cast magic. Don't beat her before having Rutee steal from her! You can get the Ruby, an excellent defense raiser. After the Queen is defeated, pop through the door she was guarding and you'll be back on the world map. Head southwest along the coast until you find a road up onto higher land, then head east around the mountains. Cross the bridge to the south and enter Moreau.

Items: Blue Talisman OR Charm Bottle, Green Gel (x15), Amethyst, Score B, Halberd, Orange Gel (x3), Melange Gel (x5), Miracle Gel, Life Bottle, Sharp Stone, Swirling Flame, Valve Handle
Enemies: Assassin, Imp, Killer Bee, Power Stone, Savage, Sorceress, Batista

Unlike Sheeden, Moreau does have fully functioning stores. First, though, head to the far right side of town, where you'll encounter some Moreauian soldiers attacking a little kid. Stahn will run to the kid's rescue, and you fight. The soldiers are complete wimps; they only have 200 HP, so you can take them out in one or two hits.

Afterwards, Stahn and co. will be chased by a bunch of soldiers, but will be saved by Karyl. After a brief bit of discussion, he will join your party; the first new addition to your team in quite a while. Karyl starts off with just a Mandolin (believe it or not, it's actually a really good weapon, and is somehow stronger than a bastard sword) and an Amber Robe, so he could use some equipping. Head to the docks and go to the hat shop to get him a Feather Hat, as well as Striped Ribbons for the female characters. You can also buy Breastplates for the fighter characters in the equipment shop in the northwest corner of town.

Finally, one other store of note in Moreau is Trader Schmoe's shop on the docks. He sells a whole bunch of ? equipment; most of which is garbage. However, the second ?SWORD and the first ?ARMOR are Mythril (Daravon power!) equipment, which is extremely strong. It's pretty spendy, though, as not only are the ? items expensive, but you have to buy a Rune Bottle to identify them. If you've got plenty of money, go for it, but it's not essentialy if you don't.

Once you've taken care of all your shopping, look for the house of the kid you saved. Talk to his mother and she'll ask you if you want a reward. Say no and she'll give you a Blue Talisman, which raises your defense by 10%; if you say yes you'll get a Charm Bottle, which lowers prices in one store by 10%. Then go try to enter the castle. Karyl will stop you and say that he's got another plan, then tell you to go to the pier. So go to the pier (it's in the lower-left corner, in the town and not the docks). Talk to the boat guy and you'll sneak into Moreau Castle on a boat.

Enter the castle through the door just ahead of you. In the first room, open up the door to free Leianna, Fayte's wife. If you need healing, just come back to her and she'll heal you. There's also a hard-to-see chest with a Life Bottle in the lower-left corner of her room. Dymlos seems to be less than effective in the coming battles, so you might want to give Stahn a Mythril Sword.

Continue west to a room with a save point. Use it if you want, then go south across the bridge (it's partially covered by water and is kinda hard to see). On the other side, look through the bushes for three well-hidden Green Gels, then take the door to the north. Go through the water wheel room to a room with a large pond. Head left, grab the Green Gel in the corner, then go through the door. Open the two blue chests for another Amethyst and the Score B, which allows Karyl to use Samba (Karyl learns his skills by collecting Scores, not by going up levels). There's also two Green Gels hidden in chests behind the bushes. Then go up and examine the valve. Choose to shut it off to stop the flow of the water.

Retrace your steps to the room where you could go either north or south, and this time go south. Descend the stairs, and open the two chests for a Green Gel and a Halberd (an okay weapon). Go left one screen and push the brown block up so that it fills in the gap between the two sides of the path. Continue west to the next screen, and push the block here in between the two pieces of bridge at the far bottom of the room. (BTW, if you're getting sick of the fights, just go to Command and choose Run... running in ToD is really easy. Alternatively, if you still have any Holy Bottles, you can use them; you can buy more soon.)

Now return to the room with the valve and switch it back on. Head into the large room and cross the water by walking on top of the brown block. Grab the two Green Gels, then head south one screen. Cross over the brown block, grab *another* Green Gel, and head east. Head to the southeast and grab (wait for it) the Green Gel, as well the Orange and Melange Gels. Now go through the brown door. If the water isn't on, you won't be able to go through (it's powered by the electricity from the water mill), so go turn it back on.

On the next floor, collect the two Gels, then climb down the short flight of stairs, get the Gel, and go through the door. Pick up the Melange Gel, then pull the block into position (you'll have to pull it or you'll end up trapping yourself). Cross over on top of it and go north to a room with a piano. Examine it and Karyl will start playing it, opening a door. You will then have to pick a character to stay with Karyl; just pick anyone as they'll only be gone a short time.

Head past the piano room and take a right. Open the chest for another Sharp Stone disc, but *don't* go south -- it's a one-way door to an earlier part of the dungeon. Just go back left and go north to a room with a bunch of buttons. This is one of the weirdest puzzles ever in a game; examining the door will produce a series of bizarre sound effects that you have to replicate by stepping on the right buttons. You can try to solve it on your own if you want, but if you get stuck, step on the buttons in this order: 1, 8, 2, 7, 3, 6, 4, 5 (button 1 being the one on the far left, and button 8 being the rightmost one). After pushing the buttons in the correct order, the door will open. Go through and collect the Valve Handle, then go back and rejoin Karyl.

Make your way back to the entrance room for the second floor, and go north two screens. Loop around to the right side and take the door south. First pick up the Miracle Gel in the bag, then pull the brown block over so it bridges the gap. Now return to the main room, and go left. Do the same block-moving shtick and head north. Pick up the Gels, then open the valve. Go back to the main room and take the east exit. Go north from there and cross over the brown block. Open the door (it's another electric door) and descend the stairs to the third (and final) floor.

Here, head right one screen to a save point. Go north and examine the machine twice -- once to put the Valve Handle on, and a second time to close the valve. Go south two screens and pick up the Swirling Flame disc from the blue chest. Give it to Philia right away; it lets her cast the very powerful Fire Storm spell. Then go back to the starting room of the third floor, pull the block over to make a path (like you don't know how to do that by now ^_^), and cross. You're now in the castle's entrance hall. Go east for a Melange Gel, then head west and climb up all the stairs. On the next screen, the music will change. Heal up and put in your best team members (be sure to include Rutee), then go up to face Batista again.

Batista is pretty much the same as before, except he has more HP (6000) and a new attack where he jumps into the air and starts spitting out some green stuff. With your new spells, like Stone Wall (which does about 300 damage each shot) and Heal, he's actually easier. Just do the same thing you did before, and be sure to toss in lots of Stone Walls. After defeating Batista for good, you'll get the key to Fayte's cell, and Moreau will be liberated.

Items: Squid Jerky, Bonito Flakes (x2), Melange Gel (x5), Lemon Gel (x2), Pine Gel (x4), Miracle Gel (x2), Life Bottle (x4), Green Gel (x3), Orange Gel (x3), Juicy Beef (x9), Chestnut (x2), Persimmon (x2), Plate Armor, Rotten Orange, Sour Milk, Loser, Wormy Apple, Blowfish, Chicken, Cheese, Brie, Steak, Bread, Tender Roast, Roast, Beef, Apple, Eel, Flare Bottle, Liqueur Bottle, 1000 gald, Revitalize, Egg
Enemies: Dragon Newt, Imp Snail, Monk Warrior, Warfish, Tiberius

Explore Moreau again and you'll find a lot of things have changed. First, another cat has joined the two in the park; if you talk to him, you can challenge him to a puzzle-game. See the Najasee's Game side quest for the strategy. Winning nets you an Elixir.

Also, if you go to the pier and talk to the boat guy, you can rent a boat for 500 gald and go to various places. You can make a number of stops in one trip, and it still only costs 500 gald, so try to do everything at once.

First, take the boat to the south house and collect the Miracle Gel; then go the north house, where you'll find Bonito Flakes and a Squid Jerky. Then go to the weapon shop SAMURAI, where you can buy Breastplates and other new armor. If you need items, you can also stop by the item shop.

When you're ready to leave town (you can't come back, so be sure to finish your business), go to the docks and talk to Fayte. You'll set sail for Terazzi, but are attacked by a Kraaken (sic) for no apparent reason other than the fact that every RPG needs a giant squid boss.

Contrary to what the game says if you Inspect it, the Kraaken *absorbs* water -- so turn off all of Rutee and Philia's ice spells. Instead, use fire attacks, like the Swirling Flame disc's Fire Storm spell, and Stahn's Vortex. Keep hitting the Kraaken and back into a corner while your magic-users cast spells on it. Actually, the Kraaken's pretty easy compared to the other bosses; you shouldn't have any trouble with it. You can steal a ?JEWEL which becomes an Aquamarine; it's not as good as your Amethysts or Ruby, but it's still better than those lousy Leather Capes.

You'll then land in Terazzi. You can check out the warehouses if you'd like (but they're locked), and there's a peddler selling a few items on the docks. More importantly, there's another boat in the upper-left corner that you can ride around. This one you actually have to guide by facing in the direction you want to go at intersections. From the start, go left 3 times, and then up to a house with a Miracle Gel and Pine Gel. Then hop back in the boat and go right, up, and right. Grab the Life Bottle, then use the switch to open the watergate. Return to the boat and go down, right, up (through the watergate), then head down, right, and up to go into a house with a Melange Gel, Pine Gel, and Lemon Gel. Now go right, up, and left to the castle gate. Hop off the boat and enter the castle.

Right at the entrance, you'll see a handy Save Point, and a soldier guarding a door. If you pay the soldier 500 gald, you can go through the door he's guarding to a room with a Bush Baby that will heal you for *another* 500 gald... and you have to pay still another 500 gald to get back out. This isn't really worth it, since you can just heal yourself with Rutee's spells and regenerate her TP by fighting. However, there is a suit of strong Plate Armor in the Bush Baby's room, so you'll probably want to cough up 1000 gald just to get it. Finally, if you talk to the soldier and answer "no" to his first question, he'll sell you clues for 100 gald. These are all for a puzzle later in the dungeon, but since you have this FAQ, why do you need them?

Anyway, on with the dungeon. From the entrance room, take a left, grab the two chests under the overhang, then go left. Enter the room to the north and flip the switch to open the drain. Then leave the room and take the door in the southeast corner of the hallway you're in; you should now be in a room with a green lamp. Go right and pick up some Juicy Beef, then go back left and the south exit from the lamp room. You'll be outside, on a ledge with more Juicy Beef and a Melange Gel. Take them, then go back inside and go left one screen. Cross the bridge, pick up the Juicy Beef (what's with all this Juicy Beef?), then exit left.

You're now outside, in the castle grounds. Pick up the Life Bottle to the north, then follow the stones south. On the next screen, you'll find a bunch more chests. Collect them all, then climb up the ladder (it's kinda hard to see) to the second floor of the palace. Get the Melange Gel, then enter through the door. Pick up all the food in the chests (why is there so much food in this dungeon?), then go north again to a long hallway.

First, take the upper-left exit from here into a room with another drain. Throw the switch to open it, then take the lower-left exit for two more pieces of Juicy Beef (not more Juicy Beef!). Return to the hallway and descend the stairs on the right side. Grab the Pine Gel, then climb back up and go through the upper-right door to the library. Pick up the Gels in the chests, then climb up the ladder in the upper-right corner to a bedroom. Open up the closet and go through the door in there. You'll be in a room with a big hole in the floor. See the potted plant on the back wall? Use the Circle button to pull it off the wall, then push it through the hole.

After dropping the plant, return to the hall. Take the lower-right exit, go right, and get the Life Bottle. Then head north, picking up the Gels and Juicy Beef (aah!) along the way. In the room with the bed and dresser, check the dresser left of the bed for a Liqueur Bottle and 1000 gald. Keep going. You'll wind up in a hallway with some windows, through which you can see the rebuilt Draconis. Head west and you should see the potted plant you pushed through the hole earlier (you *did* push it, didn't you?). Push it on to the switch on the floor and the door will open. Head north two rooms.

You're now in a large room with twelve doors, each corresponding to a Zodiac sign. This is where the hints you can get from the guard are needed. Of course, you don't need those hints with the FAQ -- just go through the doors in this order: Goat, (Capricorn), water jug (Aquairus), fish (Pisces), ram (Aries), bull (Taurus), twins (Gemini), crab (Cancer), lion (Leo), virgin (Virgo), scales (Libra), scorpion (Scorpio), bow and arrow (Sagittarius). You will then end up in a new hallway. Save your game, then go up to face King Tiberius.

Tiberius fights a lot like Batista, so you can basically use the same strategy on him. Watch out for his Light Sword attack, which will take off about 300 HP to everyone and knock you all down. Have Rutee cast heal spells constantly, while Philia backs away and uses attack spells. He has 10,000 HP. You can steal a Sheeden sword off of him.

When Tiberius is defeated, he will reveal that Lydon has already departed for Phandaria. Leon then finishes him off just as Fayte arrives. Karyl then leaves the party (for now).

Head back out of the castle (there's no fights) until you get to the entrance room. Don't leave just yet; instead, go right to the next screen. Grab the food, head south, pick up more food, and then go west. Get the Juicy Beef (noooooo....), then go down the stairs and head west through the canal. Pick up the Eel in the chest and continue west to a chest with the Revitalize disc. After getting it, leave the castle.

Terazzi is now a fully-functioning town, minus the inn. You can take the boat around to a few places (like the weapon shop), and if you take the north exit from the dock, you'll reach the town proper. In the upper-left corner of town, you'll can see Heihachi (you can tell by the hair ^_^). The house with the water-gate machine has a Pine and Lemon Gel, and the house east of the weapon shop (by the well) has an egg (just talk to the chicken!). Don't buy anything, you'll find a better shop soon. However, do visit the warehouses; you can collect a new Disc and the powerful Sheeden sword from them. See the Warehouse List for the full explanation.

Once you've taken care of everything here, go to the docks, where you'll find Fayte waiting. Be sure to save your game before talking to him. Then hop on board his ship and you'll set sail for Frostheim in Phandaria.

Items: [prize], Sorcerer's Ring, SW100100, Light, Rune Bottle, Mythril Sword
Enemies: Chunbird, Combat Bunny, Crow, Diamond Dust, Fenril, S.Giant, Yeti

On the way to Phandaria, your ship encounters an enemy fleet. You then get to a play an awesome Space Invaders-ish bonus game, in which your three ships take on the enemy fleet.

For the non-action-inclined, just hit the Triangle button to call in reinforcements and end the battle -- if your ship gets destroyed, you die (as in "Game Over" die). If you do want to go for it, what you basically want to do is weave back and forth at the bottom of the screen and fire (with Circle) at the demons as much as you can. You can dodge a lot of fire by positioning your ships so that the fire goes between two of them. And unlike Space Invaders, you can move up and down as well as side to side, so use that to your advantage. What you really need to watch out for are the crosshairs that appear. This means the enemy ship will shoot a large blast at the spot, so move out of its path.

If the ships (either yours or their) take damage, they'll start smoking, and your firing rate will be reduced (you can boost your firing rate by picking up the glowing icons that appear from time to time). If your two side ships are destroyed, they'll just disappear (lowering your firepower), but if your main ship (the one with the lifebar) is destroyed, you're dead. Play defensively and just keep shooting at the demons; once you've thinned them out, shoot at the enemy ships. You can shoot enemy shots as well!

After the battle, Fayte will reward you based on how well you did (of course, if you took the easy way out and called for reinforcements, you get zilch). In my case, I scored 2910 points for the rank of Officer, and got an Elixir. Since you can only play the game once, I don't know about the other prizes, but if you got something different, I'd appreciate it if you could send me your score, rank, and prize so I can compile a list. Thanks!

You'll then land in Frostheim. Stahn and Fayte will talk for a little while, and Mary will wander off. After Fayte leaves, go over and talk to Mary. She talks about her amnesia, then rejoins you. Head into town and check out the item shop. You can buy powerful new Mythril (d'oh) armor, as well as getting a few new weapons. Then be sure to buy Fur Capes for everyone; you'll need them in the snow.

After shopping, leave Frostheim and head southwest towards the forest. As soon as you arrive here, you'll see none other than Garr being attacked by some of Lydon's soldiers. You'll automatically take on the soldiers. Beat them (they're wimps), and the party will take Garr back to Frostheim.

Garr joins up after a bit of dialogue. Amazingly, he's still at the SAME LEVEL as he was back at the start of the game, and has almost no equipment. He's really good once you get him up, though. Be sure to outfit him with a Composite Bow and some armor, and pick up another Fur Cape for him. Then exchange your Lens for gald, and spend the rest of your money to buy as many healing items as you can, or extra (useless) equipment if you're maxed on healing items. Spend as much of your money as you can; you'll lose ALL your money shortly, and if you buy extra equipment you can sell it later.

Leave town and head north, to the Frozen River (you can't go through the forest; Lydon has a base there). The enemies on the world map are from way back at the start of the game, you should be able to plow through them. Eventually, you'll see the river; enter.

If you don't have your Fur Capes equipped, you'll constantly take damage, so make sure you're wearing them. You should also turn off all of Rutee and Philia's ice spells (all the enemies here absorb ice), and give Philia the Swirling Flame Disc so she can cast Fire Storm. Head north and east on the first screen until you get to a large rock blocking the path. Go up to it and Garr will give you the Sorcerer's Ring. Equip it on any party member (even one not in the active party), then press the Square button to fire a beam at the rock and destroy it (note: the Ring costs 1 Lens per use, but this is pretty insignificant as you get loads of Lens from each fight).

Continue north to the next screen. There's an ice pond here; if you step on it, you'll keep sliding in the direction you're facing until you hit something or slide off the ice. Line up with the chest and slide over to it. Open it for a ?DISC, which is really the mighty SW100100 Disc. If you have a Rune Bottle with you, use it to identify the Disc and give it to Stahn. If not, you'll get one in a moment, so just hang on to the Disc. Head west across the bridge, then go south to the next screen.

There's a massive frozen river here, littered with a number of chests. First, line yourself up with the tree to your right, then slide right. You should hit the tree, and stop. Then slide south to a patch of snow. Open the chest for the Light Disc, which gives you the Ray spell -- good, but not as good as Fire Storm. Line yourself back up with the tree, then slide north and left back to the start. Slide over to the tree again, then slide north, left, and north to another chest, holding a Mythril Sword. Make your way back to the starting point.

Instead of sliding east to the tree, slide south to another patch of snow . Slide south again to another snow patch. Edge over to the left side of the snow, then slide north. From here, slide east to the third and final chest, which holds a Rune Bottle. If you haven't identified the SW100100 Disc, use the bottle to do so. Slide back to the start and slide south from there again. Slide south, but then go west to the patch of snow over there. From there, slide south, then east. Exit the river to the south.

Items: Apple (x3), Wormy Apple (x2), Liq. Bottle, Flare Bottle, Rotten Orange, Mythril Tiara, Beef, Bracelet, Melange Gel, Bread, Sacred Text 5, Winged Spear, Orange Gel
Enemies: Stray Monk, Archer, Dalis, Blood Slime, Ghoul, Gremlin, Skeleton, Specter, Ice Golem

You'll be on the world map, just outside Heidelberg. Don't enter, though -- instead, head south and west past it, until you get to another town. Go in here. All the buildings are locked except one -- the one in the lower-left. Go in here and Mary will have a series of flashbacks.

After the flashbacks have concluded, leave the town and go back to Heidelberg. The houses are all empty, but you can get a number of Apples and Wormy Apples by examining the apple bunches in the houses. Stay at the inn, then go to the soldiers' office and loot the place for a Liqueur Bottle, Flare Bottle, and Rotten Orange. Then go up to the castle. When you try to enter, the soldiers will recognize Garr and apprehend Stahn, Mary, and Rutee.

Stahn and Rutee end up in the dungeon of the soldiers' office. Garr, Leon, and Philia show up to rescue them, and then you have to find Mary. Reform your party (be sure Rutee and Philia are in), then head up two floors and you'll see Mary talking with Dalis. The party will stop to listen on their conversation, but then some soldiers run in. After a bit of chaos, you'll end up fighting Dalis.

Dalis only has 1,500 HP, but almost every attack takes off about 10 HP on him. The only way you can really hurt him is with magic, so send Rutee and Philia to the far left side of the screen and have them constantly cast their best spells, while Stahn uses Kick Attack or Vortex to juggle Dalis and prevent him from attacking Rutee and Philia. When he's by himself, have Rutee steal from him to get a Moonstone after battle, a fairly decent jewel.

After you knock out Dalis, Mary will grab him, and you'll have to escape. Make sure to pick up the sword on the desk first. Run up to the roof and jump off. You'll land in the snow behind the soldiers' office. Head north into the cave. Darzen, a friend of Garr's, will show up and take you into Sark's force's secret hideout. Rutee will heal Dalis, and Mary will stay behind to take care of him.

Leave the room and enter the door due south (not the one to the left; it leads outside). Grab the Bracelet and Beef, then go into the room on the far left of the hallway. Take the Mythril Tiara in here. Now take the exit from the upper-right corner of the main hall into the actual dungeon.

There's loads of undead enemies in here, so equip the Light Disc on Rutee to give her the Ray spell (Philia already has it) and use it frequently. In addition, Philia's Thunder Blade spell (if she's learned it) is very powerful as well.

Slide north across the ice to the other side , then inch down until you're lined up with the top of the pillar. Slide right and you'll bump into a hidden chest... but it only has a Melange Gel. Take it anyway, then slide west off the ice and head up and left. Take the left fork, and go left again at the next fork. You'll end up with a small room with a tablet. Get the chest, then make sure Stahn is equipped with Dymlos. Examine the plaque and it will ask you two questions. Answer "Fire Wall" to the first one and "Missile Sword" to the second. You'll then receive the Fiery Wave ability. Although it doesn't hit very hard, it has a wide range, and nets you a 5-6 hit combo every time it's used.

After getting Fiery Wave, head one screen east, and then north to a large ice platform. Slide up to the Ice Golem and you'll fight. This fight is so easy it's not even funny; just hang back and use fire spells (Fire Storm, Fiery Wave) on him. You can probably beat him without even getting hit. Then use the Sorcerer's Ring to zap the two blocks directly in front of you. Shoot the Sorcerer's Ring again at the clock-like thingy on the wall and a staircase will appear. Go up and enter the first door you come to. Collect the chests for an Orange Gel and the Winged Spear. The Winged Spear is strong, but not as good as Dymlos for Stahn, and Garr is probably better off with his bow (thanks to its long range). Just hang on to it to sell and continue up the stairs into Heidelberg Castle.

Items: Wind Spear, Pine Gel, Reflex, Aquamarine, Life Bottle, Orange Gel, Hunter's Bow, Spectacles, Green Gel, Flare Bottle, Melange Gel, Apple, Deck Brush
Enemies: Archer, Bishop, Clay Demon, Gremlin, Holy Knight, Lydon

Upon entering the castle, head north two screens to the main hall. Enter the middle door and you'll be in the throne room. Take the leftmost door in here to find the Wind Spear Disc. The Disc lets you cast Air Slash, which "savagely lacerates" enemies. It sounds pretty silly, but it's a very strong spell, so be sure to equip the disc on Rutee or Philia. After getting the Disc, return to the castle's main hall and enter the rightmost door. Collect the Pine Gel and Reflex (armor), then return to the main hall.

On the right side of the main hall, you'll see two unlit torches. Use the Sorcerer's Ring to light the two torches and a door will appear. Go through. On the other side of the door, you'll start having random battles, so be prepared. The enemies are pretty tough, so you might just want to run from most of the fights. Or, if Philia's learned Cloak yet, use it a lot.

Head east through the first hall and into a large room. Look for the three torches that aren't lit and light them with the Sorcerer's Ring. Then take the right door at the top of the room into a small room with an Aquamarine. Equip it on someone (it boosts your defense), then go through the middle door. Head north and you'll see two statues. Push the one with the torch just in front of the other one, so that the torch is touching the woman. The door will open. Go through into the clock tower.

Upon entering the clock tower, head left across the gear (shades of Castlevania), grab the Life Bottle, and climb up the chain. Throw the switch, then climb back down, cross the gear again, and climb up the chain on the other side. Head right, hop on the gray platform, and ride it to the other side. Climb up the chain. From here, you can go up the chain to the left and then up another level to get an Orange Gel, but it's probably not bothering with. Instead, climb up the right chain and examine the lever. You'll have to leave one of your characters at the lever; it doesn't really matter who as they'll be back shortly.

After dropping off your chosen party member, climb back down to the lowest level of the tower and enter the now-functional elevator. When it stops, get off, climb up the chain. You'll see another gray lift, but it's not functioning because the pulley is frozen. Get underneath (or above) the frozen pulley and shoot it with the Sorcerer's Ring to thaw it out. Then ride the lift to the left and descend a floor. Open the chest for the powerful Hunter's Bow for Garr, which you should equip right away. Then go down another level and pick up the character you dropped off earlier. Climb back up to the lift, ride across, and climb up until you emerge back in the castle.

Head forward through the first door. In the next room, light all the torches with the Sorcerer's Ring to light up the rooms. Go in the door on the left and use the Ring to melt the ice on the chains. Then enter the door on the right and turn the wheel (just examine it with O). Go back two rooms (to the first castle room after the clock tower), and go through the door in the lower left. You'll be in a room with another wheel and a save point. Turn the wheel, then save your game on the save point. Whatever you do, *don't* go out the door to the south. Doing so will put you back in the throne room and force you to repeat the entire clock tower.

After turning both wheels and saving, go back into the hall and take the middle door. The curtain should have pulled up to reveal some stairs. Ascend those, and the next set of stairs. Before going up the third set, stop and heal up. Lydon is up the next stairs, and he's really tough -- you need to be prepared. I recommend using Stahn in the lead, Garr a distance behind, then Philia and Rutee in the rear. Make sure Stahn has the SW100100 Disc, and Philia the Wind Spear Disc. Garr should be equipped with the Hunter's Bow and not a melee weapon. Everyone else should use their Swordians. Once you're ready, go up the stairs to the rooftop, where Lydon is waiting with the Eye of Atamoni. After giving the requisite bad guy speech ("You're too late to stop me", "You did well to get this far", "Now I will show you my power!", etc.), Lydon attacks.

Believe it or not, you actually have to win this battle -- at first, I thought it was one you were supposed to lose. Lydon will *constantly* cast Wind Slash, doing about 600 damage to your party with each cast. The only way to beat him is to have Stahn use a Spin Slash as soon as the battle begis to fly over the enemy troops and get to Lydon. Then have him hit Lydon constantly with Kick Attacks and Vortexes. As long as you stay close to Lydon, he'll only use melee attacks and not magic. Meanwhile, have the rest of your characters fight through the soldiers and wipe them out. Once it's just you and Lydon, start hitting him constantly with your strongest attacks and skills. Attack spells are pretty much useless, as you'll always get hit before you can finish charging them up. Keep using Life Bottles to bring back your dead characters; it's more important than healing. As long as you keep using Life Bottles, he can't kill you (until you run out of them, that is). Even if you get killed, as long as the Life Bottle animation is going on, you won't lose. Try to keep as many of your characters active as possible, and keep wailing on him. He has 13,000 HP.

After (if) you beat Lydon, Garr will reclaim Igtenos (which Lydon was using), and you will seal the Eye of Atamoni. The gang then hops on the Draconis to fly back to Seinegald. When you regain control, do some exploration. Some of the chests from the very first sequence have mysteriously reappeared; the large room north of you has four chests, another room has an Apple inside a bunch of apples, and finally, return to the room where you found Dymlos (start by going to the lower right from Stahn's room) to get the Deck Brush, a worthless but amusing weapon which everyone can equip. When you're done, go up to the roof and talk to Rutee. After some more dialogue, you'll arrive back in Seinegald, where you are rewarded by the king. Head out of the castle and Stahn will board the Draconis to fly home. That's all you have to do, so just sit back. I know this seems like the ending, but it's not...

Items: Panacea Bottle, Lemon Gel, Dark Bottle, Fish, Dymlos, Food Sack L; Miracle Gel (x15) OR Magic Mist OR Black Onyx
Enemies: Mandrake, Poison Snake,

Back home in Lienea, Stahn is awakened by his sister Lilith. Go to the table and eat. Afterwards, Lilith will send you to buy a fish for dinner. First, put your dishes in the sink (above the table, on the right hand side), then leave. Go over to the shop, on the west side of town, and talk with the fishmonger. He's all out of fish, and tells Stahn to go to Neuestadt.

Most of the houses don't have anything of interest, but one of the houses in the top portion of the village (with two children inside) has a secret hatch leading to a storage room that has a Panacea Bottle, Lemon Gel, and Dark Bottle. Back to the fish.

You have four options here. You can go back to Lilith emptyhanded. You can catch a fish from the village pond (naughty boy!) or you can go to Neustadt. Now, if you do hike all the way down to Neuestadt, you can buy a fish that appears in your Valuables section. If you buy from the top vendor it'll be 100 Gald and he'll sell you a chunk of whale meat; if you buy from the bottom vendor it'll be 150 gald and it'll be a swordfish. For the life of me I can't figure out what difference any of this makes, so just talk to Lilith emptyhanded to continue on.

The next day, Lilith will wake Stahn up (again) and tell him that he has a visitor... it's Philia! Philia explains to Stahn that the Eye of Atamoni has been stolen (again) and joins you (again). She also gives you Dymlos back, so be sure to equip it/him (again), as well as a Disc (probably SW100100). In addition, there's no Disc equipped on Philia's Swordian either, so be sure to give her one.

Leave the house and talk to Lilith again. She'll give you the Food Sack L, which lets you hold up to 20,000 units of food. Now head south a ways and talk to Stahn's neighbors' daughter. If you choose the first response you'll get 15 Miracle Gels, and the second response will give you a Magic Mist. Pick the third response and she'll give you the Black Onyx, which boosts your maximum HP by 30%. That's the best one; take it and equip it on Philia right away. Finally, go to the shop and walk into the dark space between the two aisles to find the item shop. If you followed my advice earlier and bought extra equipment in Frostheim, sell it all off now to earn some money (Stahn gave all his money to Rutee on the Draconis so you don't have any cash or Lens). Then buy a bunch of Panacea Bottles; you'll need them.

If you've learned the Fire Storm spell (you should have by now), equip Dymlos on Stahn and go to the tablet at the right side of town. The answer to the first question is Fire Storm, and the second is Kick Attack; you'll then be able to use the Dragon Toss Sacred Skill.

Leave Lienea and wind your way south through the mountain passes. Although the enemies are wimps, they'll keep poisoning you, and, unlike most games, poison damage *can* kill you -- so be sure to use a Panacea Bottle whenever you get poisoned. If you happen to have bought an Antidote Charm or stolen one off of Lydon, equip it on someone. Keep going south and east, all the way across the continent, and you'll reach Neuestadt. (Beware, as one or two of the "bridges" of sand lead to dead ends; find your way around them.)

Items: SP075115, Igtenos, Lute, Crossbow, SW130130, Strong Halberd, Iron Knuckle, Holy Bottle, Miracle Gel, Fenface, Rune Bottle, Life Bottle, Pine Gel
Enemies: None

Take care of any business you have in Neuestadt (Mach Boy has honed his skills by running from rabid dogs, and you can challenge him again for more prizes... see "Mach Boy's Revenge" for tips and info), then go to the docks. Talk to the captain and you'll be given the choice of whether to recruit Garr or Rutee first. I picked Garr, but it doesn't really matter, as you have to recruit both eventually.

If you pick Garr, you'll set sail for Frostheim. Note that once you've landed, you can just go back on the ship and go to Neuestadt, Frostheim, Darilsheid, or even Cherik in Calvalese (not that there's anything to do there). You can't go to Aquaveil (I still think that sounds like the name of a toothpaste), however.

In Frostheim, if you're very low on Lens, a scene with Grid and his buddy will enact, after which you can pick up 100 Lens from the floor.

Check around the docks for the red-hatted peddler. Talk to him and he'll offer to sell you a Disc for 7,000 gald. Buy it; it's the useful SP075115. [Cidolfas note: I've never actually seen this merchant!] Then leave Frostheim and head southwest to the forest. Now that Lydon is gone, you can pass through here (it's just one screen). Continue west and you'll enter a forest scene. Go through here and out the other side, and you'll be right outside Cyril. Enter and go to Mary's house. Talk to her and Dalis (if he's alive), then leave and continue north to Heidelberg.

The shops in Heidelberg are all functioning now, so you can buy a few new pieces of Mythril armor. Head up to the castle and talk to Darzen and he'll get you in to see Garr. Garr joins the party, and you're done with this half of the mission (note that you now have Igtenos in your inventory, although you can't use it as it's lost its power). Head back to Frostheim and sail to Seinegald.

Searching for Rutee, you'll end up in Darilsheid. Leave town and head west, then south around the mountains. Go east, then turn northeast once you reach the end of the ice and you'll reach Cresta (just check your World Map under Valuables to see where it is). In Cresta, head over to the orphanage. The game will take over, and Rutee will join. Like with the others, Rutee's Swordian seems to be suffering from a case of "slipped Disc", so be sure to equip her with one. If you haven't gotten Garr yet, return to Darilsheid and sail to Phandaria to get him.

Once you've gotten both Rutee and Garr in your party, return to Darilsheid and enter the castle. Go speak with the King and he'll explain who he thinks is responsible for the theft of the Eye. Before you leave the castle, go down to the first floor and check the two treasure rooms in the back. They've been restocked with a load of powerful new equipment, including the SW130130 Disc and the Crossbow for Garr. After looting the entire place, leave the castle and go to Hugo's mansion in Darilsheid.

At the mansion, you'll find swarms of Oberon employees all looking for Hugo. Ignore them for now and go in all the rooms (the one you want is north, and faces a southern door as well) until Stahn comments about a book in one of them. Go read the book; it mentions "Libra IV". The wandering employees will all tell you to talk to their manager, who has a beard. Look around for him (you can see his beard; he has a slightly different sprite) and talk to him. (He's on the lower level, but kinda hard to make out.) He explains that Libra is an old Oberon factory on an island near Cresta. Return to the castle once more and talk to the king to charter a ship (if you want to use the ship for some other purpose, do so first, as talking to the king here means you can only go to Libra). Then head to the docks, jump on board your ship, and set sail for the Abandoned Factory.

Items: Rubber Suit (x2), ID Card B, Electrify, Reflex (x2), Oberol C (x3), Oberol EX (x3), Energy Bullet, Gale Staff, Fine Shield, Oberol G, ID Card R, Strike Axe, Elixir, Pine Gel, Silver Plate, Rare Gauntlet, Ankh Shield, Blessing, Pine Gel
Enemies: Black Knight, Blood Wolf, Blue Roper, Cave Shark, Dark Knight, Evilstar, Leon

When you first enter the factory, Rutee will ask Stahn if he thinks Leon is involved in this. Pick any answer; it doesn't matter. Then enter through the door. The fights in here are brutal; they're just Dark Knights (no big deal) and Blood Wolves (big deal). The Blood Wolves will constantly cast Thunder Blade on you, doing about 1000 damage with each hit. Run back and forth and hit any one of them that starts to charge up a spell. Use skills to attack, not spells, as you'll rarely get a chance to charge up a spell before getting Thunder Bladed.

From the room you're in, take the exit off to the left side. Fight the Oberon employee if you want, then open the chest for a Rubber Suit. Equip it on Rutee or Philia, then leave this room. To the north are two doors; go in the one on the right. Flick the switch to reroute the conveyor belt, get the Oberol C from the chest, then enter the door. Look around down here for another suit of Reflex armor, then return to the main hall (the second room).

This time, take the door on the left into a room with a windy platform over a pit. Head to the lower-right and exit south into a small room. Talk to the Oberon employee and fight him. Defeat all the monsters and you'll get ID Card B, which can be used to open the blue door. Leave this room and head to the upper-left of the pit room. Descend the stairs, collect the Electrify Disc (it only gives you Thunder Blade, which isn't that great by now), then hop on the conveyor belt. You'll be taken into a square room with two more belts to choose from. Hop on the one leading south. If you hit the switch earlier, the conveyor will take you near a door. Open it with Key Card B, and go through into a three-pronged room. Collect another Rubber Suit and a third Reflex, then fight the Oberon employee. When defeated, he'll yield a tip to the password (actually, you don't really need to do this, since you have this FAQ ^_^).

At this point, I recommend heading back to Seinegald for healing. Just go back to the entrance and walk out of the factory. You'll be asked if you want to return to Darilsheid, say yes. Stay at the inn, save, and stock up on items (Life Bottles in particular), then return to the factory.

Head to the pit room, but this time use the upper-right exit. Continue across the plank and through the door to the second floor. The computers in this room will give you additional hints towards the password. After reading them, go south, then left. Fight the employee if you want, and be sure to get the Energy Bullet, Oberol EX, and Gale Staff in the room. The Gale Staff is a strong weapon for Philia, but don't equip it as not only can she not cast magic without her Swordian, it will heal the Blood Wolves (they're both wind-elemental).

Go right two screens. Examine the computer screen and you will have to input the correct color. You should be able to figure it out by now, but if not, the correct choices are the third option, then the fourth (Metallic Blue). This will cause the door to the north to open (if you input the wrong answers, you'll have to fight some guys). Go through and fight the employee for ID Card R.

After getting ID Card R, head right from the computer to the red door. Open it with your new key card and go through into a large junk room. Enter the room nearest you and get the Oberol EX and Fine Shield inside, then head northwest. There's an Oberol C hidden behind some junk (why they'd hide that, I have no idea), and an Oberol EX above it. Pop into the door for an Oberol G, then take the upper-left most door out of the junk room. Head north, fight the Oberon employee, then board the elevator.

The elevator will take you down into a natural cave like that near Sheeden. There's new enemies down here, and they aren't much easier. Be especially wary of the Evilstars, which will cast Icicle constantly.

Head south one screen, then left. Grab the Strike Axe (equip if it on Stahn if it's stronger than Dymlos), then head east two screens. Go through the cave door in the upper-right, on top of the steps. This room may look empty, but it's not -- there's an Elixir in a chest hidden behind the pillar. Collect it, then leave that room and head south. Get the Pine Gel, then go south to the next screen.

Cross the wooden bridge, then continue west across another bridge to the next screen. First, go north to get the powerful Silver Plate armor, then take the west route. Keep going for several screens until you reach a fork. Turn right and go into a circular room. Collect the two chests in here for Oberol C and (more importantly) a Rare Gauntlet, then go left. Follow the path across a really long bridge. Get the Ankh Shield to your left (you know a dungeon's long when you get a piece of equipment and a direct upgrade to it in the same dungeon ^_^), then continue right. When you see a cave going left, take it to reach a room with a save point and the Blessing Disc. Exit the cave and go back right. From here, it's just straight walking until you reach Hugo's gang. Hugo will leave Leon to get rid of you while he and the other Oberon leaders escape.

Although he's somehow gained about 12,000 HP in the few days since he was in your party, Leon is still a piece of cake. Just have Stahn trap him in the corner with constant Dragon Blades, while Philia casts Holy Lance (substitute some other spell if you don't have Holy Lance yet) repeatedly. He should go down easily. You can steal an Elixir from him if you wish. When you're done, sit back and enjoy the incredible cut scenes.

Items: Horn, (Gorgeous Cape) (Grow Fruit) Boot Disc, Thunder Spirit, Purity, Garnet, Wendiene, Pine Gel, Elixir, Orange Gel
Enemies: Basilisk, Imp Snail, Sporeshroom, Wisp, Dragon Knight

Eventually, you'll end up on the world map, outside Seinegald. Now that the Aethersphere has formed, the music has changed, and its shadows will float by. Head into Seinegald and go to the docks (you might have to talk to the King first, I forget). Talk to the captain and you'll sail over to Demon's Reef and enter Radisrol.

Unlike the first time you visited here, there's no enemies. Just head through to the control room where you found Clemente. This time, you'll meet with Raiker, the former commander of the earthbound troops. Raiker gives you the Horn, which you can use to summon Bernardo the Sea Dragon (LOL). He then asks you to find him an assistant.

Leave Radisrol and you'll be on the world map, on board Bernardo. You can now sail around pretty much anywhere and get off at any of the docks in towns. And while on any dock screen, you can summon Bernardo by using the Horn in your Valuables screen.

At this point, you should fill up those two empty spots in your roster by recruiting any two of the four other characters: Chelsea (found in the Heidelberg throne room), Bruiser (win in the Neuestadt Arena... see the "Recruiting Bruiser" sidequest), Mary (at her house in Cyril, but only if you didn't save Dalis), or Karyl (in the Moreau town square). Just talk to any of them and they'll join you (except for Bruiser, who requires a little more work). If you go for Chelsea, check behind the throne to get a Gorgeous Cape. If you manage to recruit Bruiser, you'll get a Grow Fruit when you win.

I mostly used Chelsea (because of her bow) and Bruiser (good fighter), but it's up to you. However, what most people don't realize is that you can change which two characters you pick... just recruit a third character and you can drop one of the other two. If you want that original character back again, just go back to where you found them and collect them again.

After you have six characters, you have to recruit an assistant. You have two choices for an assistant: you can talk to Otto's assistant in Darilsheid, or trek to Junkland from Cherik and talk to the man at the very top right. You get a different item later on depending on your choice; choosing Otto's assistant will eventually get you a Grow Fruit, whereas the Junkland guy will give you a Laser Blade. However, you can get the Laser Blade elsewhere, so I recommend getting Otto's assistant. You can now buy Pom Seeds off of Otto for 50 gald each; they make up a side quest in Lienea.

Return to Radisrol and go back to the control center. Raiker sends you to get a Boot Disc to power up Radisrol. Leave again and take Bernardo over to Fitzgald. West of Lienea, you'll see a large lagoon. Swim in there and enter the cave.

There are two ways to get through this dungeon. The easy way is to examine the first sword-shaped indentation and choose to leave Stahn behind; your friends will then collect the Boot Disc themselves. The hard way nabs you two extra Discs, though. To do that, leave someone else behind. (There are three rooms like this, and you have to leave three friends behind.) If you recruited one or two optional characters, it's obviously easier. At the last room is a ridiculously easy boss fight (at least if you equip the Fenface sword, or anything else for that matter, instead of Dymlos), and three chests holding the Boot Disc, plus the Purity and Thunder Spirit Discs. Purity is pretty useless, but Thunder Spirit is an upgrade to the Electrify Disc, so give it to Rutee.

Before eaving the temple, it's probably a good idea to wander around and have some fights to build up your new characters (especially Chelsea, she starts at level 2 or 3). Once you leave, you'll notice that there are more shadows from the larger Aetherspehre. Just head back to Radisrol and give the Boot Disc to Raiker. He'll restart Radisrol and raise it into the Aethersphere.

Once Radisrol stops, Raiker brings up a map and tells you to infiltrate Dycroft (named, of course, after Lara Croft's little known sister ^_^). Now that Radisrol is up in the air, all the places that were filled with water have drained out. Go back and explore them for all for a bunch of chests. You'll also find a bunch of sleeping pods in one room that you can use to rest, and, in the room just west of the command center, there's a teleporter that will take you down to Darilsheid so you can buy stuff. (Notice how all the town music has changed to the same thing? It's really annoying...)

Items: Thunder Scepter, Oberol G, SW180180, Miracle Gel (x3), Silver Plate, Emerald Ring, Slayer Sword
Enemies: Clay Golem, Dragon Knight, Impulse, Puropulse, Trent, Dark Mage, Healer, Killamari, Kubitoom, Neuroids, Phyloxin, Placenta, Warrior

Venture out from Radisrol, and you'll be on the new Aethersphere world map. This place is pretty cool; you can watch the actual continents from the ground float by below. There's no map you can get for here (i.e., one you carry in your valuables), but the place is pretty straightforward. The enemies can be kind of tricky, though, especially the Impulses (the big diamond- shaped things). They're immune to fire, so Dymlos won't work on them -- use Kick Attack and Philia's bomb attacks instead.

Circle around from Radisrol to the Aeropolis Ignasea. Cross the bridge and enter. In here, you'll fight some skeletal-looking enemies; they're big, but not that tough. Watch out for the Dark Mages, though -- they can cast spells, and have a wide-range missile attack (but you can destroy the missiles with a slash attack).

The teleporter to your left doesn't work (yet), so go right, then up. Step on the teleporter and you'll be teleported into the interior of the Aeropolis, on level 3. Head left until you get to an elevator, and ride it down to level 2 (check out the cool scaling here). Grab the Thunder Scepter, then ride back up to level 3. Now head back to the teleporter and go north. Take the first elevator you come to for Oberol G, then keep going to the one in the upper-right. Ride it down to level 2.

On level 2, head south into the lower-right corner, where there's an elevator and a teleporter here. Use the teleporter to warp to a room, then exit to the south. Grab the Silver Plate and Miracle Gel, then warp back to the girders and take the elevator down to level 1. Follow the path to the teleporter and warp. Head right to a fork in the hall, and keep going right. Collect the very powerful Slayer Sword from the chest, then take the north turn from the intersection. The gate to Dycroft is here, but it's already been destroyed by Hugo's forces.

You'll automatically be teleported back to Radisrol, where Raiker suggests getting the Sky Cruiser from Mikheil and flying it to Dycroft. Radisrol's inn opens up now, but you can always stay for free in the sleeping pods.

If you have Chelsea in your party, she'll declare that she's homesick. You can go back to Seinegald via the antigrav elevator, and head left and south to Janos. Take the east exit and head to the northeast to get back to Alba's cabin, where a scene will play out with Chelsea. I don't think it has any strategic significance, though.

Heal up and head back to Ignasea. Make your way down to level 2, but this time head left. Skip the first elevator you reach, and the teleporter after it, and keep going. Near the next elevator you'll see a chest; open the chest for the SW180180 (give it to Stahn), then go down the elevator. Head north a little and take the first teleporter you come to. Go left and collect the Emerald Ring, a very useful accessory that cuts your MP cost by 1/3. Teleport back, and continue up and right to another teleporter. Use this one to get a Miracle Gel, then go back to the elevator and head back up to level 2.

Head north and west a little and step on the teleporter there. In the room, follow the path to another teleporter and warp to level 3. Head down, right, and up. Use the upper teleporter to reach a chest with a Miracle Gel, then ride the elevator down to level 2. Proceed on to the next elevator and go down to level 1, then use the teleporter.

Go north to another Gate; this one leads to four other Aeropolises. First, use the little blue circle to teleport back to the entrance. You can now use the circle to warp directly to the Gate without having to go through the whole dungeon again. With that available, return to Radisrol for healing (and go back down to Darilsheid if you need items), then go back to the Gate.

Items: Arc Wind, Bear Claw, Strengthen, Rare Shield, Winged Boots (x2), Holy Bottle, Hourglass, Oberol G, Duel Helm, Burning Sword, Demon Arrow
Enemies: Dark Mage, Healer, Killamari, Kubitoom, Neuroids, Phyloxin, Placenta, Warrior, Cotton Dust, Discus, Gas Cloud, Mechscorpion, Puropulse, Rota, Rembrandt

In the Gate room in Ignasea, walk through the red panel. This will turn all the doors red. Step in the beam of light to warp to Josaia. This whole level is basically a giant bonus game; you have to collect all the egg-like things on each level to activate the elevator while dodging the monsters. Unfortunately, this isn't nearly as fun as it sounds, because it's almost impossible to dodge the monsters on the narrow girders. Fortunately, you can still run from fights. The small black squares which clang when you walk over them are barriers; when little yellow bits scroll across it, the barrier is on and monsters won't go past it. You turn the barriers on and off by walking on them. The monsters are still nearly impossible to dodge, but it does make it easier to avoid the last two or three on a level.

After four floors of this nonsense, you'll reach the top floor. Run around here to get the Arc Wind, Bear Claw, and Strengthen Disc (lets you cast First Aid; give it to Philia), then exit in the upper-right. Step on the blue teleporter to warp back to the Gate room. Like with Ignasea, you can now use the teleporter to warp from one end of the dungeon to the other without having to go through.

Return to Ignasea via the blue gate and go back to Radisrol for healing. Then return to Josaia, warp to the top, and exit back on to the Aethersphere map. Head north and east until you reach Mikheil (it's the only other dot accessible from where you are). Enter.

The main play mechanic here is riding the colored lifts back and forth. Every time you ride one of the lifts, all the other lifts of the same color will also move. You can also move the lift by actvating buttons of the same color. The brown lifts without arrows on them will not affect other brown lifts, though.

You'll start off with a puzzle right away. Start by making sure the switch is OFF. There are three lifts here (left, middle, and right). Ride the left one up, then the middle one down. Turn the switch OFF again, then ride the left one up again. Exit left and ride the lift to the teleporter.

After taking the teleporter, you'll be in another girder area. The enemies here are the same as before, with a couple of new additions -- the annoying Discus flying saucers (use jumping attacks or Spin Slash to hurt them, and don't stand under them) and the Mechscorpions (they can poison you, be careful). Head to the far lower-right corner of this level and take the elevator up to level 2.

On level 2, you'll have to cross appearing and disappearing blocks, but the game is pretty forgiving here. Ignoring the teleporter directly above you, head left across the blocks to another teleporter. Take this one and ride the lift across the gap. Throw switch D and head to the next screen. Open the chest for a Rare Shield, then ride the lift back. Look in the lower left for a hard-to-see chest with a Duel Helm; give it to Stahn. Teleport back to the girders. Return to the teleporter you skipped earlier (the one north of the elevator) and warp through it.

Ride the lift, hit switch C, and follow the path up and left. Pick up a hidden Winged Boots and cross another lift, until you get to a teleporter. Warp through it, head left, and take the elevator up to level 3. Cross the disappearing platforms and head down and right. You'll see two teleporters at the bottom; take the one on the left. Head left one screen, then up. Cross the lift, get the Burning Sword on the next screen (great weapon!), then go back to the teleporter. Teleport back to the girders and use the teleporter on the right (they both lead to the same place), ride the lift left, use the teleporter again, re-enter the right teleporter, and head right.

Head right one screen, then north two screens. You're now in a room with a very complicated puzzle. Don't worry about enemies attacking; they won't when you're in this room.The following solution will net you all the items besides the Holy Bottle (useless since you can use Philia's Cloak ability):

Hit the first switch and ride the green lift up. There are three switches at the right side of the room which you can get to easily. Look at the switches when they're off to see what color they control. Make sure the dark blue switch is OFF, and the red and yellow switches are ON. Now go back to just above the green lift and ride the red lift left. Ride the brown lift up and the red lift up. Go left on the dark blue lift, then walk up and around left; take the light blue lift right. Go down on the yellow lift, and down on the brown lift to pick up an Hourglass. Go down on the white lift, and up on the next white lift. Go right on the bottm brown lift to get an Oberol G, then go back left; now take the top brown lift and go down on the dark blue lift to exit.

After teleporting out of the puzzle room, you'll be on level 3 of the girders. Ride the elevator down to level 2, then head north and teleport. Head north, cross the lift, and go right another screen. Go past the southward path, to the far right of the screen, then head down. Hit switch H, then go left and hit switch G. Go back right, then down, then left twice. You'll reach a Save Point and a chest with Winged Boots; there's a blue chest with a Demon Arrow Disc hidden in the top left. Give it to Rutee. Save, then use the teleporter.

You're now up on level 4. Head down through the maze of disappearing blocks (take it carefully and don't fall; it's a long way back up, although you can just restart from the save point), then take the elevator at the bottom. Head north and enter the teleporter. Go north and you'll come across a blocked gate. This is a pretty tricky puzzle, what you have to do is to move the white block in the lower left (it's tough to see due to the pipes overhead) over to the track on the right-hand side. Position so it's lined up with the top of the track, on the left side. Now stand on the track, hold Circle, and move backwards to pull the plug out of the machine. Pull it as far back as you can, then let go. Quickly run over in front of the plug, walk up till you reach the block, and pull it left in front of the plug (if you don't make it in time, just try again). If you do it right, the block will prevent the plug from reaching the machine, thus holding the gate open. Heal up, make sure you have Rutee in the party, then go through to face Rembrandt.

You begin the battle with minimal HP and TP. Quickly use a Pine or Miracle Gel on Rutee to restore her TP, then have her cast Nurse to heal the party. Then use more Orange and Pine Gels to boost up your TP as you attack Rembrandt. Have Rutee use Thievery constantly on him until you succesfully steal; you'll get the SW280280 Disc when you win the battle if you do. Aside from the fact that you start out nearly dead, Rembrandt isn't that tough. When he gets low on life, he'll start using an air missile attack, but that's about it. Just don't forget to steal that disc from him!

After the battle, Stahn will send Marian back to the surface in an escape pod. You'll then board the Sky Cruiser, only to have it shot down by the Guardian Draconis (this is what, the third time you've been shot down in this game). Leave the crashed Cruiser, go back to Josaia, and warp to Ignasea. Return to Radisrol and go to the control room for your next mission. Ask the assistant about both missions, and then you will be told that the item, weapon, and armor shops have opened.

Go to the upper-left corner of Radisrol and you'll find the shops there. The weapons aren't that good (plus they're really expensive), but you can buy some great armor. Don't forget to sell your Lenses to earn extra cash; you max out at 9999, so be sure to sell whenever you get that many.

You now have two missions to complete: disabling the Guardian Draconis in Cloudius, and repairing Igtenos in Helraios. You can do them in either order, but I recommend doing the Helraios quest first, as you get Garr's Swordian from it, and can start using it right away.

Items: Ankh Shield, Warrior Symbol, Elven Bow, Juicy Beef (x8... aaah!), Oberol G, Oberol EX (x3), Score D, Card Key, Volcano, Flare Claw, Laser Blade, Flare Sword, Winged Boots, Igtenos
Enemies: Dark Mage, Healer, Killamari, Kubitoom, Neuroids, Phyloxin, Placenta, Warrior, Aile, Discus, Paghoul, Thelm, Ilene

To begin the Helraios quest, go to the teleporter room in Ignasea. Enter the green gate and warp to Rodeon. This place is kinda like Josaia, but not nearly as annoying ^_^. Actually, it's really fun. See the little gray things? Those are bombs; you can drag them around with the Circle button, then detonate them by shooting them with the Sorcerer's Ring, toasting any enemies near it! And whenever you blow up a bomb, a new one will pop out of the handy bomb dispenser, so you have an unlimited supply. Of course, if you want to just fight through all the enemies, you can do that too. They're easy.

Enter the dungeon and head northwest to the first transporter. Warp up to level 3, then take either the upper-right transporter or the left one (the one in the lower-right is a dead end). Head to the middle of the next level, grab the Ankh Shield, then take the transporter to the north. First go down to the bottom of this level for the powerful Elven Bow, then go to the upper-right and use the transporter. This will take you to a small ledge with the Warrior Symbol, an accessory that boosts your attack by 10%. After getting it, take the transporter back down, head to the upper-left, and exit.

Out on the world map, head along until you reach the next Aeropolis... the infamous Helraios itself. The enemies in here aren't particularly bad (although the ever-annoying Discuses are back), but it's home to an extremly difficult puzzle. Actually, it's not really difficult, it's just that there is a mistake in the clues that renders it unsolvable ^_^.

From the entrance, head forward until you reach a room with three doors. Take the door on the left, then go through the next door. Look along the bottom wall for four difficult-to-see chests (all with Oberol items), then continue south. In the next room, go right one screen. The big brown thing that looks like a photocopier is actually a flamethrower; if you run through it quickly, you can get by without being hurt (Philia's Cloak skill might also protect you from it). Continue into a room with a bunch of conveyor belts.

Walk up onto the silver platform near the conveyors. Step on the conveyor to your right. When you get off, go right again, then left, right, right, up, and up. Collect Score D (for Karyl) from the chest. Now ride back to the start, climb on the left platform, and go right, up, right, up, up, left, right, and up to get to the exit (the other chests just have Gels). Go through. Check out the side room for three pieces of Juicy Beef (WHY!?) and the Volcano Disc, which gives you a hefty stat boost *and* gives you three different fire spells. However, the Demon Arrow disc is still better for Rutee, and Strengthen is better for Philia. Now go in the middle room and collect the Card Key.

Now go all the back to the other room with three doors (the tiny one; where you took the door on the left). Take the middle door, use your Card Key to unlock the next door, and go through. The next hall has a whole bunch of side rooms; they all have Juicy Beef in them except for the second (which leads on) and the very last one, which holds the powerful Flare Claw for Bruiser. Collect the Juicy Beef if you want it, and be sure to get the Flare Claw. Then take the second door, head right, and go through the next door. Stay in the center of the room and run through the hall of flamethrowers into a room with a save point. Save, then go through the next door.

And here it is... the password room. You have to enter a four-letter password, but the problem is that the clues are actually wrong. In case you missed them, the clues are:

Last Password: Z-21 = E
First Password: 5
I-8 = A
19

The numbers correspond to different letters of the alphabet. Unfortunately, the second and fourth clues are both off by one letter -- they should be 6 and 20, which would give you the *correct* letters to spell out FATE. Yes, that's right

But before you enter it, be sure to enter GIFT. You'll get a message saying that a chest has been placed (on the other side of the door). You can also use HUGO and OGRE, but neither of them really do anything (OGRE gives you a Tekken 3 reference ^_^).

Anyway, input FATE (I repeat, the password is FATE), and the door will open. Go through and collect the Laser Blade from the chest (assuming you put in GIFT first). It's a very strong sword, give it to Mary (if you have her) or Garr. Run by all the flamethrowers and head to the upper-right. Enter the room and collect the Flare Sword. Although it's not that strong, it's one of the few non-Swordian weapons that Rutee can use (the Laser Blade is another)... of course, she can't use magic while she has it equipped.

After you get the Flare Sword, take the upper-left exit from the hall o' flamethrowers. Heal up, then step forward. You'll confront Ilene, who will fight you. Ilene doesn't attack directly; she just sends out little bomb things (try using Fiery Wave or Missile Sword to take them out), and there's a cannon overhead that keeps shooting at you. Just dodge around the cannon and shoot at her with bows and Missile Sword. Rutee can steal a Mind Ring from her, although it's not that great.

When Ilene is defeated, she will jump out the window to her demise (but isn't Helraios surrounded by land? Oh well...). Philia and Garr will use the equipment to repair Igtenos, and you will finally get Garr's Swordian. He's automatically equipped with it (in the Swordian slot), but put a Disc on it. It's at a very low level right now, so don't equip it as your weapon; just let it gain some experience and go up levels. (Actually, giving it the Volcano disc almost puts it up to par with the other Swordians, plus gives it three nice spells. You might want to give it to Philia.) Anyway, after you get Igtenos repaired, open the chest by where Ilene was for a pair of Winged Boots and use them to warp outside. Return to Radisrol.

Items: Score C, Life Bottle, Miracle Gel, Pine Gel, Lemon Gel, Melange Gel, Orange Gel, Green Gel, Bronze Key, Earth, Rubber Suit, Silver Plate, Dark Seal, Iron Key, Gold Key, Guitar, Crescent Bow, Lucky Blade, Protect Ring, GC Rod, Elven Cape, Sacred Text 7, Tornado, Egg, Winged Boots
Enemies: Dark Mage, Warrior, Alra, Arachnid, Baneshroom, Cotton Dust, Evil Eye, Gas Cloud, Killamari, Kubitoom, Neuroids, Orse, Phyloxin, Earthworm, Baruk

To start the Cloudius quest, go to the Gate room in Ignasea and pass through the yellow gate to turn all the doors yellow. Step in the beam to teleport to Deimos, the obligatory dark dungeon where you can only see in a small circle of light. This is no big deal, however, because there's NO random battles in here! In fact, there's only three fights total, and they're easy.

Leave the Gate room in Deimos and head west into an intersection. Go south into a large room. Head down the short flights of stairs, then go left through the first passage you come to. Head down all the stairs and follow the long pathway until you come to a load of chests, which contain one of every type of Gel and a Life Bottle. Take them, then return to the main, large, room and take the upper-right passage. This will take you to a chest with Score C, which gives Karyl the March.

Return to the main room once again and look around for another circle of light surrounding a mouse. Walk up to the mouse and you'll have to fight -- it's actually some Aetherians. They should be easy by now; kill them all and you'll receive the Bronze Key. At this point, two more circles of light with mice in them appear, except these two will be moving around. Chase them both down and kill the mice for the Iron and Gold Keys.

After getting all three keys, head north back to the screen with the intersection, and take the north exit. Search the lower-left corner of this room for the Guitar for Karyl, then go up to the top and examine the door. Put the three keys in the keyhole to open it and go through. Go up the machine and examine it. Use the keys on it. The lights will all come on, and another door will open.

Return to the large room where the mice were, and go into the passageway in the lower-right. Follow it down, right, down, and left. Go past the open brown door and continue left into another large room. Search this room for four chests with a Rubber Suit, the Earth Disc, a Silver Plate, and a Dark Seal, then backtrack and go through the door you skipped earlier. Head south and exit the Aeropolis.

Back on the Aethersphere map, make your way to the plant-covered Cloudius (the only other dot on your map that can you access from here). This place is pretty easy; you spend most of the time on the girders, where you just fight the same old Kubitooms and Killamaris. In the plant-filled sections you'll come up against some more difficult enemies, including the Arachnoids (can poison you) and Alras, who incessantly cast Strong Hammer; get rid of them first.

In Cloudius, head south and step on the teleporter to warp to level 1. Go left and down a little, and enter the teleporter there to warp to a small grassy room. Collect the Crescent Bow from the chest, and read the plaque for a clue to an upcoming puzzle. Return to the girders and head to the upper-right, then left, and down. Ride the elevator in the lower-left up to level 2.

Head to the lower-right corner of level 2 and use the teleporter to warp to a room with another tablet and a chest (the Lucky Blade). After reading the tablet, go back to the girders and heap up to the north end of the floor. There's three elevators here; take the center one to reach a teleporter that leads to another plaque. After reading it, go back and take the elevator on the left to level 3. Head down and right to another elevator and go up to level 4.

Once on level 4, head up a little and then left. Enter the first teleporter you come to warp to a room with three chests, containg an Elven Cape, Protect Ring, and the very important Green Crystal (GC) Rod. While it's a terrible weapon, you need it to get to the bonus dungeon, so be sure to hang on to it. Then teleport back and head to the lower-left of level 4. Take the teleporter there and read the final plaque. Then go back and head up, then right, and up to another elevator. Ride it up to level 5. On level 5, head straight down to the bottom side of the level, then left, and up to another teleporter. Warp through.

On the right hand side of this room is a brown tablet. Make sure Stahn has Dymlos equipped, then examine it. Answer "Flare Tornado" to the first question, and "Force" to the second. You will receive the Hellfire Sacred Skill, which basically casts Force and Flare Tornado simultaneously. It's kinda inaccurate, and not really all that great. Anyway, after getting Hellfire, go up the stairs to a save point. Be sure to save, then head through the door to Cloudius's main puzzle. It's pretty cool (and, unlike the Helraios one, actually solvable), so try to solve it on your own. If you give up, here's the solution:

First, go through the door in the back and up the stairs to the roof. Open the chest for the Tornado disc. Now push the star sphere through the hole on the left (because "night's first star falls in the west"). It will shatter (if you push the sphere down the wrong hole, just exit south and come back up). Go back down to the main room. The Goddess "shines for light upon darkness", which is the moon. And since she "bides her TIME" silently, put the moon sphere over the clock icon on the south side. It will descend into the floor. The Fire Spirit (the sun) faces the Goddess, so put the sun sphere on the top side of the cross. Now all that's left is Saturn... but you don't have Saturn. What you have to do is take the small, unmarked sphere, and push it into the ring in the lower-left. The ring will rise up and form a Saturn sphere. Put the Saturn sphere on the east side of the cross. All the spheres should now be sunk into the floor. Stand in the middle of the cross and shoot the sun sphere with the Sorcerer's Ring. A white dome should appear.

Nothing seems to have happened, but you're actually done here. Go back past the save point (save again if you want) and warp back to the girders. Head down, right, up, and right to the upper-right corner and use the teleporter there. You should be in a room with a large tree (if not, you didn't solve the puzzle). Heal up, cross it, and go through the door to Baruk's chamber. After a lot of dialogue, you end up fighting.

Baruk is definitely the toughest of the Oberon guys. He has a wide-ranging throwing attack, and has a wicked right arm which stretches through half a screen length. Use a few spells to kill off his Earthworms (watch out, they can poison you), then start hitting him as fast as you can. Fiery Wave and Kick Attack are both good as they keep him in the air for a while and stop him from pounding on you. Use Nurse to heal, and don't bother with attack spells as you probably can't get them off.

After you defeat Baruk, open the hard-to-see chest on his throne for the Egg. After getting it, go up to the wall and throw the switch to destroy the Guardian Draconis. Examine Baruk's body to get a Winged Boots; use it to escape and return to Radisrol.

Items: Score E, Blizzard, SP100300, Duel Sword, Mercy, Silver Cape, Gourmet B
Enemies: Balrog, Druid, Evil Sword, Healer Knight, Hugo, Ogre

Once you complete both quests, you'll see a scene in which the Belcrant fires again, nearly filling in the rest of the Aethersphere. Head outside and you'll see that the map has changed a little, to say the least ^_^. Walk or teleport back to Radisrol. This is your last chance to buy the equipment here, so use a Charm Bottle if you have to to afford it (or just go back to some Aeropolis and fight battles).

Go into Ignasea and warp to Josaia. Leave there and the Sky Cruiser will be just outside. Go inside and you'll take off for Dycroft and land inside the Belcrant. If you want to go back to Josaia, just head off the right side of the screen and you can choose to fly back. Otherwise, head north and step on the teleporter to warp into the Belcrant proper.

Head to the far north edge of this level and collect Score E from the chest, then hop on board the elevator to the south. When it stops, head up a little and grab the Blizzard disc (good for Igtenos/Clemente; Atwight already has it) from the chest, and continue north more to the elevator. Ascend to the third floor. In the upper-right hand corner of this floor is the Duel Sword, the latest in the continuing line of ridiculously-powerful weapons. Also, on the mid-left-hand side is the SP100300 Disc. The elevator here is right next to the Disc.

There's no treasures on the fourth floor, so just head up to the top and jump on the elevator. On the fifth floor, collect the Mercy disc from the chest in the center, then head to the lower-left to find the elevator. On level 6, go to the right side to get the Silver Cape accessory, then step on the green dot in the center of the floor. You'll warp into a gray room with two arrows on the floor. Step on the up arrow and you'll be back on level 1... or so it seems. You're actually on a different level 1. Go back up to level 6 (all the levels are laid out the same, but minus the treasures) and step on the green dot. This time, you will appear in a wide room. Heal up, and go north to face Hugo.

Hugo himself is actually not that hard. He has Berselius, the Holy Swordian (although it looks more like a guitar than a sword), which allows him to cast Holy Wrath (big damage), but if you get up close to him, he won't cast the spell. I recommend using Stahn, Rutee, Chelsea, and either Mary, Bruiser, or Garr (depending on who you have). Send your fighter character in close to attack, while Chelsea keeps using her skills. Have Stahn hang back and cast the Explosion spell on Hugo; it does a lot of damage. Rutee should take care of healing, but make sure to have her steal from Hugo until you see her succeed -- you'll get the Mystic Symbol, which halves the charge time of any spell. Needless to say, it's extremely useful; I recommend giving it to Philia.

After Hugo is defeated, it will be revealed that he was under the control of Berselius. And since the game now needs a new villain, Kronos appears completely out of nowhere and assumes that role. He fires the Belcrant again, completing the Aethersphere, then drops you into the sea. You are rescued by Fayte and pulled ashore.

In Darilsheid, you'll meet with the king, who informs you that Radisrol has been captured by the bad guys. A messenger then runs in to tell you that Harmentz, Armeida, and Cresta are all under attack. Leave town (the place is all dark now) and go to any of the towns in question (Armeida, just to the north, is the closest, and Cresta is unreachable). Fight through all of the wimpy ogres, talk to the Seinegaldian captains, then fight back through the second wave until you've killed them all. Another messenger will show up and tell you to return to Darilsheid.

Back at the castle, the king will tell you go to the war room. On the first floor, take the stairs in the upper left corner, then go up another floor via the stairs on the right. The war room is behind the gold door. Just talk to Raiker's assistant and the meeting will begin. Raiker's assistant and some scientist guy will explain their plan to build a Multiplexed Lens Cannon to blow apart the Aethersphere. The meeting is dismissed, but you are asked to stay. Go talk to the assistant and he will give you two additional missions: repair the Draconis, and upgrade your Swordians. Like the two Aethersphere missions, you can tackle these in whichever order you prefer. However, I recommend you do the Swordian one first, as it's a bit easier and upgrades your Swordians for you.

Also, if you go to Phandaria and return to Cyril, you'll find Dalis recovered and walking around town. Go talk to Mary three times and she will offer to join you (and give you Gourmet B as well).

She's one of the better characters, so I recommend adding her to the team (in my case, I had Stahn, Rutee, Philia, Garr, Chelsea, and Mary on my final team). You can always get the character you dropped back later, if you want them.

Items: RC Rod, Vorpal Sword, Beam Shield, SP240360, SW350350, Hellfire
Enemies: Flame, Gas Cloud, Lens Golem, Ray, Red Roper, Skeleton, Smog, Whyte

Head north from Seinegald to the town of Armeida. If you haven't played the trivia quiz bonus game, you may want to stop into Armeida to do so (see the Trivia Quiz side quest). Otherwise, head northeast a little from Armeida and enter the cave there.

You're now in the Swordian R&D Lab, the obligatory volcano dungeon. Be sure to turn off all your fire spells, and turn all your ice ones (if you turn off all your spells except the ice ones, then you can *only* cast ice spells), and equip the Blizzard disc on Garr or Philia. You might also want to give a different weapon to Stahn than the fire-elemental Dymlos. Then put Rutee in the lead and give her Atwight and your best attack-boosting disc so she can do lots of water damage. (Different enemies absorb or are immune to fire, earth, and light; you might want to give Stahn Igtenos and a strong attack Disc.)

Head north and start across the bridge. Stop at the orange pillar and shoot with the Sorcerer's Ring to make a block rise out of the lava (up above, you can't see it). Then continue north to the next screen. Take the south fork on the bridge into a small cave. Open the chest for the RC Rod, the second of the two rods you need to reach the bonus dungeon, then examine the plaque. Answer "Explosion" to the first question and "Vortex" to the second, and Stahn will receive the Flame Vortex Sacred Skill (note: you must have Dymlos equipped, and have learned the Explosion skill).

Leave that cave and continue east. Grab the Vorpal Sword from the chest, then go north to a puzzle room. Here, you have to shoot the right pillars to raise the stepping stones. Fortunately, it's a lot easier than it seems. Just head north onto the first platform and shoot the pillar on the left. Go up one platform, then right three (don't step on any of the brown circles in the corner of each platform, or you'll be teleported back to the start). Shoot the pillar there. Pick up all three chests for three discs, then head to the topmost platform. Walk out on the stepping stones to the left and shoot the pillar, then exit to the north.

Head west, then south. Cross the lower bridge, and shoot the pillar to fill in the top bridge. Go back and cross it to reach a chest with the Beam Shield, then cross the southern bridge. Head north and enter the Swordian Lab itself. There's another puzzle here; this time you have to align all the mirror devices so that the beam from the cannon will go into the machine at the top (if you've played SaGa Frontier, there's a similar puzzle in Luminous). Number the devices like this:

1 2 3 4 5
  6 7 8 9
A B C   E

F   G H I

Then examine devices 2, 3, 8, E, G, and H to switch their direction. Use the control panel next to the cannon and the beam should go directly into the machine. Walk up and step on the glowing tile and you'll be teleported upwards. Head north into the Swordian Lab. You'll automatically upgrade your Swordians (or so it says, they haven't really changed). Unfortunately, Winged Boots don't work in here, so you'll just have to walk back out. When you get to the pillar / stepping stone room, just step on the brown tile at the north end to warp to the other side. If you haven't yet completed the Trash Mountain quest, do so now. Otherwise, go back and see the King.

Items: Magical Rouge, Bahamut's Tear, Score F, Winged Boots, Star Helm, Doom Blade, Dragon Fang, Thunder, Flare Rod, SW400400, Belselium
Enemies: Bone Knight, Earthworm, Ray, Smog, Whyte, Zombie

The Draconis mission takes place in Junkland. If you've never been there before, it's on Calvalese. Take Bernardo (or a ship) to Cherik. In here, enter the house north of the inn and examine the dresser to get a Magical Rouge. Leave and head north to Kalviola. Head west from Kalviola and follow the path across the continent until you arrive in Junkland. In Junkland, you'll find one of the folks who you could have chosen as Raiker's assistant, in the very top right. If you didn't take him, he sells you an item for 99,999 gald. It's a ?SWORD, which, when identified, turns out to be a Laser Blade. While powerful, it's not really worth the price of admission (and you already got another Laser Blade in Helraios). Do, however, go to the item shop and buy as many Neutralizers as you can; you'll need them.

Talk to the guy blocking the cave and he'll let you in. As soon as you enter Trash Mountain, use a Neutralizer, or you'll take massive damage from the gas clouds and vents. As long as the Neutralizer is active, you'll see a little cloud around you. If it disappears, quickly use another Neutralizer. Make sure to pick all the items up here, especially the Bahamut's Tear, as you can't come back later!

Head north, and go left at the first fork. You'll come to what appears to be a dead end, but just walk up to the wall and hit Circle to break it in with the Pickaxe. Head north and left until you come to another cracked wall. Break through there and go into a large room. Exit through the upper-left for the powerful Bahamut's Tear (should be Bahamut's Tail) halberd. Give it to Mary. Head back one screen (to the large room) and break through the wall in the upper-right. Head down there to collect Score F, then go back out into the hallway before the large room.

Continue left, then down. On the next screen, descend the rope to B1. Collect the Winged Boots from the chest, then go down another level. Head to the lower-right and open the chest for a ?HELM. If Philia has her Identify skill, just use that on the ?HELM to turn it into a Star Helm. If she doesn't, you'll have to use a Rune Bottle on it. After getting the ?HELM, go back to the very first fork. (You might just want to leave for healing at this point.)

Take the right fork, and break through the first cracked door you come to. Go north and collect the Doom Blade from the chest, the game's first Darkness- elemental weapon. It's strong, but since a lot of enemies in here absorb darkness, you might not want to equip it (on the other hand, the Rays are *weak* against darkness). After getting it, head back south and continue right past the open door to another cracked one. Smash through and head north until you get to a rope. Descend.

On B1, go right, and turn down when you get a chance. Head down and left until you reach an oval- shaped room. Take the exit to the left here to another screen. Go left a little, then down as far as you can. Head left and pick up the Dragon Fang from the chest, a strong weapon for Bruiser. Head back east and then north, and take the first turn to your left. Skip the cracked door (there's nothing behind it), and keep going left until you can't. Then go south to find another rope, and descend.

Go down and right until you reach a yellow rock blocking the path. Smash through the cracks in the back wall and loop around so you're on the right side of the rock. Drag the rock along up and right and push it into the hole in the floor. This will fill the hole, and allow you to walk across it. First go right and then down to get the Thunder Disc, which lets you cast Holy Wrath, as well as boosting your stats a lot. Then go back to the plugged hole, smash through the wall to the north, go through, and head due left.

You should now be in a small circular room. Break through the wall to the north to reach a large open room. Open the two chests for the SW400400 disc (equip on Stahn, of course) and the Flare Rod. Then go back out and continue left until you reach another hole in the floor. Head right a little, get the yellow rock, and use it to plug up the hole. Continue south and follow the path until you find the Belselium (it's a little gray triangle on the ground). Get it, then use a Winged Boots to leave.

Return to Seinegald and go to the Draconis repair site outside Darilsheid. Stahn will hand over the Belselium to the repair crew. If you haven't yet completed the Swordian R&D quest, do so now. If you have, go talk to the king.

Items: Lens (x3), Reverse Doll, Old Cane, Grow Fruit OR Laser Blade, Holy Symbol, Golden Frypan
Enemies: Ogre

Back in Darilsheid, go to the castle and talk to the King. Raiker's assistant will run in and tell you that the Multiplexed Lens Cannon needs more Lens power. The King sends you to get the three Prototype Crystals from Armeida, Harmentz, and Cresta.

Before leaving the castle, go to the war room and talk to the mayor of Armeida. He'll tell you that the Lens was stolen by bandits; that's why Armeida was taken over by monsters. Leave Darilsheid and head past Armeida to the forest you had to go through to get to Straylize Temple. Upon entering, head due right and talk to the bandit. He'll turn into an ogre and you have to fight him. Just beat him up and you'll get one of the Lens.

If you wish, head back down the path and go to Straylize Temple (with Philia's Cloak ability, it's not that annoying). Go to the right cathedral (the small one) and enter the back door; pick up the blue chest for a Reverse Doll (it keeps a character from dying once, but then breaks) and head all the way back out.

Now head southwest from Darilsheid, all the way to Harmentz. Go to the mansion at the top of town and talk to Walt. Agree to hand over all your money for the Lens. Before you leave, go to the lower-left room of the second floor and search the tall cupboard. You'll find the Old Cane that you sold him. Take it, then have Philia Identify it. It becomes the BC Rod, the final rod you need to open the bonus dungeon. Now leave the mansion. On your way out, Walt will run in and give you all your money back.

Two Lens down, one to go. Head east from Harmentz until you reach Cresta (the town with the orphanage). (There's a large crater nearby, but you can actually walk north of it and reach a bridge to the town.) Go talk to the mayor and he will tell you that the Lens is buried under a tree at the orphanage. Head over to the orphanage (the upper-left building), go inside and talk to the nuns, who tell you that there used to be a tree where the storage shed is now. Enter the storage shed. Walk up to the back wall and right until you hit the crates. Take one step left and four steps down. Hit Circle to dig and you'll get the Lens.

With all three Lens, head back to Darilsheid and give them to Lewein in the courtyard. Before you leave, check the tablet; you should be able to get the Assassin Sacred Skill from it. The correct answers are "Dragon Blade" and "Fiery Wave". After you give the Lens to Lewein, go talk to the king. There will be some scenes, and you will end up at the inn. Leave and go back to the castle courtyard.

After all is said and done, you can now finally control the Draconis. Just walk into it on the map and choose the second option to fly (the first one takes you to Dycroft). Before doing so, though, return to the courtyard of Seinegald Castle and talk to Raiker's assistant. If you got Otto's buddy, he'll give you a Grow Fruit; if it was the man from Junkland, you'll get a Laser Blade. Now you can get on the Draconis.

First, fly back to Lienea (north side of Fitzgald) and go talk to Uncle Bob. He'll give you a Holy Symbol, which regenerates your HP during battle. Equip it on somebody. Also, if you go to Frostheim (I think it's Frostheim), there's a peddler who will sell you the Golden Frypan for 70,000 gald. It's actually a weapon for Mary; although not too strong, it is a non-elemental weapon, making it quite useful in the bonus dungeon (where some enemies are immune to all elemental damage).

Now's probably a good time to go back and collect any of the Sacred Skills you missed (see the Sacred Skills list -- you can't get the ones in Heidelberg or Cloudius if you missed them, though). You can also check out any side quests you may not have done earlier, and if you go to Neuestadt, you can rerace Mach Boy for each of the three items again.

Finally, if you have Karyl, return to Sheeden Manor. Go upstairs and talk to Sakuraba to be treated to a solo; when it's done, Karyl will write Score G, the Golden Voice skill!

Items: Fragment (x4), Star Shield, Star Glove, SP300410, Star Cap, Terra, Soul Steel, Delis Emblem, Resist Ring, Shamisen
Enemies: Aerial Knight, Basilisk King, Dragontooth, Hellmaster, Nightingale, Wizard, Shadow, Leon, Kronos, Ultra Kronos

When you're ready to go to Dycroft, board the Draconis and choose the first option. After a few scenes, you'll land outside. If you want to go back to ground, just exit off to the right. Note that if you leave and return, all the items in the blue chests will regenerate, allowing you to collect the Star gear over and over.

Enter Dycroft and head north to the first intersection. Take the two side exits for a Star Shield and the Shamisen, the best weapon for Karyl. After getting both items, go north from the intersection and walk up to the mirror to get teleported. Head south one screen, then climb up the stairs to the east. Head right and use the mirror to teleport. Go south and open the two chests for the Terra armor and the first of four Fragments. Teleport back and continue east, following the path east, north, south, and west until you reach another fork. At this fork, go north (picking up the SP300410 along the way) into a small room with two chests, containing the second Fragment and the Star Glove. Get them, then go back south and continue through the hall to another mirror. Warp through it.

Go either left or right (it doesn't matter) and up the stairs. There's three mirrors here. Take the one on the left to get another Fragment, then use the middle one for a Star Cap. Finally, enter the mirror on the right. Head south, then left. Go up the stairs to the next screen. The background here is a different color (the enemies are still the same, though). Go south and step on the circle on the ground. You'll be teleported into a prison, with only Stahn left in your party.

Leave the cell and head right. Search the three cells in this area for the final Fragment, the Soul Steel bow (don't equip it, it does darkness damage and most enemies here absorb darkness) and one of your captured party members (probably Philia). After rescuing her, go back to your cell and head left. Check the first cell to the south to find Garr, then keep going west and head up the stairs. Go right a little ways and check the two cells for your remaining party members. After you have everybody, take the stairs in the upper left. Go left past the save point and exit through the door to the south.

You'll be back in the room with the stairs you came up, but now you have all four Fragments. Go south and step on the circle again. You'll receive the Delis Emblem, which somehow prevents you from being teleported. Head south and left. Walk past the row of mirrors and go south. Take the door at the bottom of the screen for the Resist Ring, then leave that room and go up the stairs to the right. Head right, then south to the next screen. Go right some more and ascend all the stairs. Head right past some more mirrors and go through the door. You're now in a room with a bunch of pillars with mirrors.

From the door, count two mirrors up and one left. Examine the mirror to smash it with the Pickaxe and reveal a staircase. Go through.

Items: Cutie Mitten, Star Cloak, Faerie Ring

You're now in a crystal area. Save your game at the Save Point if you want, then go into the door just ahead of you. Step on the plate and Stahn will be teleported away by himself.

There's no random battles in this area, but if you step in front of one of the mirrors, you'll have to fight a Stahn clone. They're not that hard, but it does get kind of annoying. To avoid these fights, push and pull the white coffin-like blocks along to cover up the mirrors.

Leave the first room and head right in the plus- shaped room. There's a door to the south in the east wing of this room, look along the bottom wall and you should be able to see it. Take it south, and go east through this hallway (collect the Cutie Mitten along the way from a chest). When the path splits north and south, go south, then head east to the next screen. Go south here, then left to the next screen. Continue left until you reach a huge crystal. Go up to it and examine it. The crystal will shatter.

After smashing the crystal, go back one screen to the right. Examine the planetarium-like device to flip it. Go right to the next screen, which should be dark (if it isn't dark, you didn't hit the planetarium). Had this room been light, you would have kept being teleported backwards. Open the chest for the Faerie Ring (halves TP cost -- give it to Rutee or Philia). Head east and keep pushing along the south wall until you end up in a lighted room with another circle on the floor. Step on it and you'll talk with the other characters. Rutee will give you a code that explains how to set the various colored crystals.

Leave the circle room and go back to the dark room. Exit to the right to find the yellow crystal. You can point the crystal in the four directions or upwards; to make absolutely sure which direction it's in, look for a little white mark along the circle on the floor. If it's in the center, the crystal is pointing upwards. Anyway, point the yellow crystal north, then go back left through the dark room to the screen that has the planetarium. Head to the southwest corner of this screen and go south into a room with the green crystal. Point it to the east. Leave that room and continue west, past where the huge crystal used to be, until you get to a room with the blue crystal. Leave it pointing upwards (if it's not pointing upwards, fix it). Go north and you'll be back in the first room. Head to the upper-right and go through the passage there to the clear crystal. Point to the west.

From the first room, go right once again, past where the chest with the Cutie Mitten was. This time, go north at the fork. Continue north to the next screen, with another planetarium. Turn it off, then take the southeast exit into a dark room. (Hit the planetarium if it's not dark.) Push along the north wall as you walk east until you get into a room with the purple crystal. Point it to the south. Go back into the dark room and open the chest for the Star Cloak. Work your way south, then right. Head north into a lighted room. Go right and you'll see two doorways. Take the top one to find the red crystal (point it east), and the south one for the light blue crystal (point it west).

Now go back to the room where you talked to your party earlier. If you've set all the crystals properly, the circle will teleport you back to where the rest of the party is, and they'll rejoin you. Equip the gear you got in the maze and save your game (you don't want to have to do all that again). Head right and go through the second door. Step on the teleporter.

You're now in the final area of Dycroft, but the enemies are still the same. Head right and down the stairs. Continue south to the next screen, and step on the design on the floor. All the lights will come on. Continue west and use the teleporter. Examine the panel on the wall to make a design appear. Teleport back, head east (DON'T step on the light switch), and go one screen north. Take the passage to the left and teleport. Head left, then up. Use each of the three teleporters to go to a room with a panel on the wall. Flip each panel. After you've flipped all three, go back to the main room and examine the panel there. It should rotate. You're now in a different room. Head north to a save point. If you save here, you'll activate the Talk option on the options screen, which lets you listen to all the overworld map conversations (the ones that were removed from the U.S. version). They're all in Japanese, though...

Continue north into a morgue. In the center of this room, Kronos will appear and taunt you. Before following him, set up your party with the final party you want to use. I recommend using Stahn, Rutee, Philia (all with their Swordians), and Chelsea. Then follow Kronos north to the Eye of Atamoni. Kronos will summon a zombified Leon, and you'll fight him. Fortunately, he's just as much of a pansy as he was the last time. Trap him in the corner with Assassin or Kick Attack, and keep casting Holy Lance on him.

Next, you'll fight Kronos himself, and he's a lot tougher. He keeps flying around, and casts Holy Wrath on you. If you're on Semi-Auto control, he shouldn't be too hard (just use jumping attacks), but if you're on Manual, he's more of a challenge. Run along the ground and try to hit him with jumping attacks. When he floats down low, you can hit him with simple standing upward stabs. Up high, you'll have to try Fiery Wave or Vortex. Chelsea is invaluable here because her bow can hit him in the air, as are Philia's spells.

After Kronos goes down, he will Reveal His True Form (TM) and turn into Ultra Kronos (dum dum dum!), complete with the requisite starry background. Ultra Kronos is actually easier than plain Kronos, though, because he doesn't fly. Just run over and use upward attacks against his head, while casting Holy Wrath on him. When he teleports, just run over to the other side. As long as you stay healed, he shouldn't be any trouble. And you have now finished the game! If that was too easy for you, try the bonus dungeon...