Front Mission Shrine - Game Basics

In this section I'll explain the basics of the gameplay in Front Mission. To explain it I'll use the very first missions as examples. Start the game and go to your first mission. If you want more details, check the Wanzers Guide and Skills section

After some small talk, you start the game. But what the hell are all those options!?. Calm down, let's go slowly.

Just as you start the game, Lloyd can move around the blue squares (that's the distance his wanzer can reach this turn). Move around and then you'll see the following options:

Use item: Use some item like Repair S to restore damage to a wanzer part. There are also other items you could use, like Flash or Chaff Grenade.

Move around with all your units to end your turn. Then the enemy phase starts and you get to watch a battle scene and Driscoll pretty much destroys Karen.

Note that if you press Start, a different windows show up with the following options:

The player phase is up again. Keep moving and also take your time to look at your status. If you press the B button at one of your characters, extra options will show up (Notice that you can also leave the same extra window by pressing B):

Machine Status: You open a window with the current HP of your wanzer parts, your movement and Status.

Pilot Status: The skills. The State line shows the wanzer's skill (Those cannot be changed by leveling up; You must always upgrade your wanzers to increase your status here) and the Exp. line shows the pilot's skill itself (This increases as long as you fight using the Skill you wish to raise).

Equipment View: Shows you the weapons you're carrying with Name, Bullets (I believe 99 is unlimited) and Range.

Note: You can view enemies and guests' status too. Move your cursor to the desired unit and press Y twice. You'll see green squares showing the enemy's movement limits. Now press B and you have the Machine Status, Pilot Status and Equipment View options (You can't move them of course :P). Oh, and dont forget to press Y twice (with the cursor NOT pointing at the enemy) and you'll automatically go back to your unit.

Keep moving and enemies reach you. When the first enemy units attacks Lloyd, you'll see the following options:

Note that you can only counter attack if the enemy is at short-range (one square to your position), or if you have a long-range weapon (not missile launchers) to counter attack. You can always defend yourself with "Guard" unless both your arms are destroyed.

Other note about combat: Melee fighters are usually the last to attack. If you attack another Melee fighter with a Melee weapon, you get the first turn, but if your enemy is equipped with a Rifle or similar, he'll have the first attack even if it's your phase (This can change if you learn the Fight skill "First", or in some cases in the Colloseum).

Now it's your turn to attack. Lloyd can attack at long-range with a missile, evading any chance of counter attack. Try to destroy all the enemy parts if possible.

Combat Note (I'll start naming them like this :P): Notice that enemies during missions give more experience than regular Colloseum enemies, so it's a good idea to destroy all of the enemy parts if you can. The best way to raise experience is to destroy various parts in the same attack (Easily done with a Machine Gun).

The battle continues. Note that if you want to attack with another unit first, press L/R to switch to the unit you want (You can also move the cursor to your desired unit and press Y twice, or even press Select to go back to the last unit).

The battle is over and you watch some story scenes. Then after a while you get to see Lloyd fighting some guy called Sazaland. After this battle you can visit the town of Barinden.

Lots of people have trouble using the supply truck. To use it, stand besides it, wait for a turn and press the B button to open the menu, then access the Supply option. Peewee can do the following things for you:

Restore HP - Stand near and it will automatically heal a bit of HP of all parts.

Change Items/Weapons - After a turn, choose the Supply option and get any item you want.

Restock Missiles - Stand near it, access the Supply option and wait for resupply.

Restore destroyed parts with a small HP - Stand near it and wait (You might not have time to use this, though :P).

Set up: This option works as one of those compare-before-buying shops. Before you actually buy the wanzer part, you get to see what status it increases or decreases.

Rods, Melee Weapon Parts (Parts that cannot have weapons equipped; The parts itself are the weapons): Slower, but usually very strong, Melee Weapons ignore shields and most defenses.

Rifles: Higher Damage, those work better when you want to destroy a wanzer part in one or two shots.

Grenade Launchers: Long Range weapons, have as much damage as a rifle but very low hit rates.

Missile Launchers: Heavier, but extremely deadly, those are everyone's favorite and your biggest challenge in this game.

Body: Main part of the wanzer. If you destroy it, the whole unit is destroyed. Has very HP and affects Engine output.

Legs: Increases/Decreases your movement limits, also allows you to travel easily over water and other terrains in some cases.

The Engine defines how much weight you wanzer can carry. Remember that you should always watch out for your weight. If your W/P meter is overloaded, try to get lighter parts. And remember that having lighter parts may help increase your movement too.

This is where you get the briefing before your next mission. You'll have to go here before starting most missions.

You can get hints on wanzer equipments and details about the town's story. Unless otherwise stated in the walkthrough, there's nothing much to do here.

The Colloseum is a bit different from real missions. Here are the options you can choose:

VS Play: Play against a second player. You must have your unit's password (You can get those by looking at the Status Window Section).

Go to Entry and choose your wanzer (You'll see Lloyd and his status; you can choose from other wanzers later). Then look at the enemy status and Odds. If the Odds are higher, it means the enemy is probably stronger and you'll get more from defeating him. After choosing your enemy decide how much you want to bet. Then start the battle.

Note that the status that appears refers mostly to your wanzer skills, not your experience.

Notice that there's an extra option in the battle commands: Give up. This option is often used by the enemy if his arms are destroyed and he cannot fight back.

Colloseum Rules: Battles are always one-on-one. The battle is only over when one enemy is destroyed or gives up. You should not hold back because if you "die" in the Colloseum, you'll only lose the money of your bet, but you won't need to repair the wanzer. A good hint is that Melee Fighters can "gang up" by moving closer to the enemy and actually getting the first round without having the skill "First" or even when they're supposed to be hit first. Also, remember this rule about speed: Melee Weapons are faster than Missiles, Missiles are faster than Guns, and Guns are faster than Melee Weapons.

A list of your wanzer equipments, skills (Refer to the Skills section), items and a password to be used in 2-player battles.

Machine: In this section, you can equip your weapons, wanzer parts and items manually. You can also paint your wanzer of a different color and rename it.

You leave town and move around Huffman Island. Remember, when moving around, press the B button so you can see which direction you want to go (This is important when you want to restock before going into another mission).

After getting used to the area, talk to Olson and the option to leave town will be open. Head to the next mission (No, there's no link here :P) and after some talk you'll see a window screen before starting the mission. In this screen, scroll and keep pressing A to choose the units you want to fight in this mission (Later in the game you may have to choose between units because there's a limit of units to each mission) and start the battle. It shouldn't be too hard and after it's over, you'll get a Military Commission (OCU pays you for the mission) and lose some money in Repair Expenses (Yes, if one of your units is destroyed you have to pay to repair the wanzers. The pilot stays alive in most cases, so don't worry).

Choose what type of fighter each character will be, then train and equip him properly. Use his best weapon all the time! Here are some suggestions:

Melee Fighters: Equip them with Rods, Shields (optionally), Wanzer Arms that work as a melee weapon (like Dasler), Computer with high Fight skills and try to learn the "First" skill early. This will prevent the annoyance of being attacked first all the time.

Missilers: Equip them with Missile Launchers, light weapons (optionally, to prevent High W/P meters), Computer with high Long skills and try to learn "Guide" early. This skill will make the game go much faster.

Short-range Fighters: It doesn't matter if it's a Rifle or a Machine Gun, you basically need Computer with High Short skills and learn "Duel" or "Switch" early.

Long-range Fighters: The hardest type, simply for the lack of many long-range weapons, and the fact that you're better off with a Missiler. Have computers with high Long skills and learn "Guide" if possible.

So those are the real basics of the game. The only thing left to say is: Test all options when upgrading your wanzers, have units of all types (Melee Fighters Rods, Missilers, Long-range fighters and Short-range fighters with Rifles or Machine Guns), use Repairs as much as necessary, avoid unnecessary "deaths" and try to predict the enemy's movement.

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