____________ ___ ___ ______ ___ __________ _____ __ \ _ |\ /\ / \ / /\ \ / \ _ | /\ \ / \ /| | /\ / \\ \ / / | | \|| || | | | / \ | | | | \| / \ | \ | ||/| |\|/ \ | /\ |\ \ / / | |/| | || \| | / /\ \ | | | |/| / /\ \ | \| | | | / /\ \ | ||/ \ V / | | | || | | || |__| || | | || |__| || | | | | || |__| | \ \ | | | |\| | || |\ || __ || | | |\|| __ || |\ | | || __ | \ \ | | | | | || | | || | | || | | | | | | || | | | | || | | | /|| | | | | | | || | | || | | || |_/| | | | | | || | | | | || | | || \/ | | | /_\ /_\/_\ /_\/_\ /_\/____| /_\ /_\ /_\/_\ /_\ /_\/_\ /_\ \__/ /_\ _________ ,-' _______ `. ,' ,-' __`. \__ __ __ __/| |\_______/| __ / ,' \ `'\|__`. \ \ / / ,',-.| |,--. .--.| A \ | / / | |`' \ \ \ \ / / // ' ' | | ' / \ | | ! / | | | | \ V / \\_ | | //\ \ | | | | | | | | | | _`.`._ | | // \ \ | | | | | '.____/ / | | /,\ `-.`. | | // \ \ | | /| ! \ | __.-' | | ||\/ || | | // \ \ | | || \ \ | |`._`-.____ | | \\___,',' | |_|| | |_| |___|| \ `. |_\ /|`-.__,' /_\ `----' '----' '----------' `. `._______,-'/ `-.________,' ___________ ,-' _________ `. ,' ,-'_ __ _`. \__ __/| / ,' \ | \ | \ _\|__`. ____ __ _ __ ___ __ ____/| ,',-.| / / | | | | | |`' \ \'.--.`. \ \ \| \ | ,'.-.\|\ | \ .--| // ' ! / | | | | | | / / \ \ || \ || | | /,' \|| | | |__ \\_ | | | '--' | | | | | | |||\ \ || | |// '| | | .-.| `.`-. | | | .--. | | '.__.| | | ||| \ \|| | ||| | | | | `/,\ `-.`. ! \ | | | | | _.-\ \____/ / || \ || | |\\ .| | | | ||\/ || \ \ | | | | | |`.`-._`-.__.-' || \ | | | \`.___/|| |__/|| |_/|\\___,',' \ `. |_\ |_\ |_/| `-.__,' /_| \| |_\ `'----|'-----''----' `----' `. `-._______,-'/ `-._________,' Now then, I suppose I better start this, my first FAQ ever. off with all of that legal stuff. So lets see, this FAQ is copywirted to me, linkmaster12 (aka Josh DeWolfe) the only site at this moment that may use this FAQ is www.gamefaqs.com. If you wish to use this FAQ in any way other than personal use, kindly ask me first by emailing me at linkmater12@hotmail.com. Well, I guess now that, that is out of the way, we can begin! (before anything at all I must note that the content of this guide is bade 100% on my own experiences in single player mode only. Therefore I will not have any strategies or anything at all on multiplayer mode.) ////////////////// ================= TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 1. Version History (VERHI) 2. Introduction to the game (INTRO) 3. The Basics (BASIC) 4. Getting Started (GETST) 5. Walkthrough (WALKT) YEAR ONE -Tipa (TIPA1) -River Belle Path (RBLP1) -Tipa (TIPA2) -Port Tipa (PRTP1) -Mushroom Forest (MUFR1) -Marr's Pass (MARS1) -The Mines of Cathuriges (TMOC1) YEAR TWO -Tipa Peninsula (TIPN1) -Goblin Wall (GBWL1) -Iron Mine Downs (IRNM1) -Alfitaria (ALFI1) -Tida (TIDA1) -Moshet Manor (MOSC1) YEAR THREE -Tipa Peninsula (TIPN2) -Iron Mine Downs (IRNM2) -Vale of Alfitaria (VALF2) -Shella (SHEL1) -Veo Lu Sluice (VEOS1) *MUCH MUCH MORE TO COME* 6. Diaries (DIARY) 7. Bestiary (BESTY) 8. Items (ITEMS) 9. Artifacts (ARTIS) 10. Helpful Tips (HELPT) 11. Closing/Credits (CLOCR) //////////////////////// ======================= Version History (VERHI) ======================= \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Version 0.01 Friday February 20/04- Just started today, I have a basic walkthrough of the entirety of year one. I have bits of information everywhere except in the item and artifacts sections (expext the information tomorrow) Hopefully I can add Year 2 soon. Version 0.11 Saturday February 21/04- I got up today, recorded some information on Year two, which will hopefully be put here by next saturday. I added all my information for artifacts, items, and finished the diaries for Year 1. Contemplating re- organizing the faq, but I will likely wait until I have more info. Version 0.16 Sunday February 22/04- I finished year two sooner then I thought, so I spent most of today adding year two to the walkthrough. I will likely update the bestiary, diary and artifact sections during the week. I may add parts to the equipment section to, although I won't have much for anyone but Clavats yet. I finally spell checked it too! Version 0.17 Tuesday Febuary 24/04- Finished updating the little details for year two. Updated the diaries, bestiary, and artifacts up to the end of chapter 2. I'm beginning to realize how much more work I'm going to have to do after I beat the game. In any case, I also added a very marginal amount to the equipment, I still need to check prices, and actually get equipment for a race other than Clavat. Oh well... Version 0.23 Monday March 1/04- I really meant to get to updating year three on the weekend, but I decided to play farther into the game instead. Now that I see how open-ended the game is, I realize how much re-orgainzing I'll have to do. For now I am not going into as such detail anymore, I will put huge amounts in when I get all the info though. I also added some sections to the equipment, although I still need to get some ccessories. I really have alot more work ahead of me... I still have to update the diaries for year three to, hopefully that will push the FAQ over 100KB:P Version 0.26 Wednesday March 3/04- Added the diaries for year three, and added a tips section. I have Almost beaten the game now, but realized that I really do have to finish the puzzle in Lynari desert. Mind you, this was during year nine when this came to me. So I am set back a little bit, but once I finish the game, I will ikely take what I have now and re-organize it in a proper fashion. I also added in a bunch of pieces of equipment. I really have to get some more accessories. ///////////////////////////////// ================================ Introduction to the Game (INTRO) ================================ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ As some, perhaps most of you know, the maker of Square recently joined with another company called Enix, creating SquareEnix. Now since this assimilation, there have been many changes in what the almighty Square creates. First, there was the (in my opinion) absolute worst game ever (Unlimited Saga), then there was their first ever direct sequel (Final Fantasy X-2) now they make an ever so successful return to the company that started it all, Nintendo. (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles) Now, on to the game itself! This game is revolutionary in a way besides a return to Nintendo. It is also the first (well... not first...) action Final Fantasy ever. (unless you count... Final Fantasy Adventure, which most of you probably have never heard of) Some see this as a bad thing, I see it as a super duper amazing thing. See this is a careful assimilation of the Mana series (Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Sword of Mana) the Legend of Zelda ('nuff said) and of course, Final Fantasy. Allow me to elaborate. The game is played out on 3 screens. The dungeon screen, the town screen, and the world map. In the town screen you walk around and can talk to people, allowing you to shop and interact with people, just like any other RPG. With me so far? Good. In the World map, you direct your caravan around to different areas following specific paths that you can take. (I will elaborate a bit later) Now the real beauty is the dungeon screen. You run around as your character and when you press the A button you perform an action. The action you perform is designated by what the action menu below your character's portrait says. You rotate the menu by pressing L or R, and can edit the menu's contents on the main menu. Well so far it sounds pretty normal. There is more though. See the entirety of the dungeon is covered in a mist called miasma. When you step into the mist, you lose HP slowly. So how do you proceed at all? Well you have to lug around this little thing called the Crystal Chalice. This little thing can be carried around by your faithful mog, or you can carry it around yourself. If you make mog carry it too long, he will get tired and start to follow you slower, meaning combat will be harder, because you will have a restricted are of movement, and exploring will be a slower process. So you should carry it yourself sometimes too. Also, you can use the chalice to solve some puzzles, and you can change it's element which effects a few things, which will be mentioned as the come up. Well there is a basic overview, now for the REALLY basic basics. As in, you know, the controls. A-examine/talk(in town) action(in dungeon) select(in menu) (hold)charge attack/magic(dungeon) B-pick up/talk/examine/open(dungeon) cancel(menu) Dpad/ stick-move character(town/dungeon) move caravan(world map) move cursor(menu) R/L-cycle action menu(dungeon) cycle menus(menu) X-mog pick up/drop chalice Y-Access Main Menu(dungeon) A+A+A-Combo Attack(dungeon) Well that about sums up the basics, if you actually read it all, congratulations for your patience, if you didn't, don't worry, I wouldn't have either. //////////////////////// ======================= Getting Started (GETST) ======================= \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Now then, to get started, just pop in your shiny new copy of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, turn on the power, if you can, connect your GBA (more on that later) turn on the power, and select new game. If you want to use this guide, you should probably select single player, as this is the mode the guide is entirely based on. Now sit back and watch the opening video and listen to the amazing sound quality. Once that is done, you will actually have to do something. You must create a character. Start by selecting the first empty character space (they won't be empty too long) and you will be given a name input screen. (note the special characters :P) press R and L to toggle between caps, lower case and symbols. Once you have named your character, you have to choose a gender and a race. A Little info to help your selection. ------ Clavat ------ Starting Stats: Strength: 6 (3rd) Defense: 7 (2nd) Magic: 13 (2nd) Weapon: Sword Defensive equip: Shield Description: Ok, the Clavats are my, and probably most's favorite race. They are a very balanced group, allowing you to be good at physical attacks and not suck at magic. Their charge attack is about medium range and charge time, just to add to their balanced nature even more. Not only that, they are the only race who can equip the game's best armor! ----- Lilty ----- Starting Stats: Strength: 8 (1st) Defense: 8 (1st) Magic: 10 (4th) Weapon: Spear Defensive equip: Gauntlets Description: Lilty are the definition of tank. They have the highest strength and defense in the game, and their strongest weapon is stronger than the "secret" weapon. However the focus on melee combat means they have little to no hope of utilizing magic. Their charge attack has the longest range, but charges the slowest. I don't like using them as much as Clavats, but would likely be my second choice. ---- Yuke ---- Starting Stats: Strength: 5 (4th) Defense: 5 (4th) Magic: 15 (1st) Weapon: Hammer Defensive equip: Helm Description: These guys (or girls) are deceptive. They look like they would be real powerhouses, but they are actually the game's spell casters. This makes their close range combat horribly weak though. This is a problem because magic takes a while to cast. Regardless, they are good in their own right. Their charge attack has a slow activation time, and is very short ranged. ------- Selkies ------- Starting Stats: Strength: 7 (2nd) Defense: 6 (3rd) Magic: 12 (3rd) Weapon: Racket Defensive equip: Belt Description: The Selkies are similar to the Clavats, and would be tied with the Lilty for my second pick. They Are a bit mor physically strong than Clavats, aren't as durable or skilled at magic. Probably one of the best aspects of the Selkies is their long ranged and quick charging charge attack. Now that you can start heading out, I have a few more things I have to inform you of. First, is the status effects. While they remain basically the same from other final fantasies, there are some new ones, and it is good to know them regardless. Poison: ------- A status effect that has been in nearly every RPG through history. Sometimes it is harmless, sometimes it is deadly. In this game it is somewhere in the middle. This status effect last only about 30 seconds, but those 30 seconds can decide whether you live or die. Basically you will take a ½ heart of damage every 5 seconds or so, and therefore will result in a total of 3 hearts damage if left un-attended. If you are poisoned your hearts will be a pink/purple color. Burn: ----- Burn is an annoying little status that has had different effects throughout RPG history. Here, if you are hit with fire of any sort, you will be burned. You can tell you have been burned, because your character will be covered in flames. This slows you down a bit, and your defense is deceased. Freeze: ------- Freeze has generally always been a lethal status ailment, and here is no exception. You can frozen by being hit with an ice attack. While frozen, not only can you not move, but enemy attacks also do more damage. You can speed up your thawing by moving the control stick back and forth. (BE AWARE THAT YOU CAN STILL CAST CLEAR!) Paralysis: ---------- Paralysis has had varying levels of incapacitation throughout the ages, but has always done basically the same thing. Now is no different, you sit there, unable to move while you get beat upon by your foe. You can tell you have been hit with paralysis, because you will be surrounded by purple sparks. Like freeze, moving the control stick speeds up the process, while unlike freeze you will not take double damage. Paralysis occurs when you've been hit by lighting. Petrify: -------- This is usually a very bad status to, luckily in this game it doesn't mean game over if you get petrified. Basically you turn to stone. However, unlike paralysis or freeze, you cannot speed it up with the control stick. The only way to make petrify go away, is to wait for it to wear off, or use your trusty clear spell. Stun: ----- Stun is basically a very moderate version of paralysis. Certain attacks will stun you for a few seconds. Lucky for you, it's only a few seconds, because it happens pretty often. Not to much to worry about here though. Slow: ----- Slow is usually annoying, but it is super annoying here. You like running around? Well with slow you have trouble getting out of a spell ring before the spell activates. With slow, it takes forever to charge a focus attack. With slow, you may as well not move, because you won't be getting far. Curse: ------ Curse has always either been a status effect that has no effect at all, or one that completely messes you up. In this case, it messes you up bad. Curse halves your strength, defense and magic for a while. If you are hit with curse, your best bet is to get far, far away from anything resembling an enemy and wait for it to wear off. Or you could just cast clear, either one works fine. Death: ------ Your dead, duh. The only way to avert this status, is be either, simply not dying, or placing a pheonix down on you command list so you will automatically be revived. Next is the main menu. The main menu is rather lengthy, and can only be accessed in a dungeon for some reason. Basically there are just a whole bunch of submenus that appear when you press Y. Select one and you will enter it. You can switch between menus with R and L, or you can press B to go back to the list of submenus. You can also view your stats here. Here are all the submenus in detail. Command List ------------ This is where you set what appears on the command menu. You can set items, weapons and magicite. The point of equipping a weapon, is you can fuse magicite with a weapon, allowing you to release an elemental version of that weapons charge attack. You can also fuse magicite together to make more powerful spells ranging from simple fusions (fire+fire=Fira) to more difficult ones (life+cure+cure=Haste). If you set an item, using that on the action menu simply uses up that item. Items ----- This menu allows you to see all your items, as well as use items (if you can use that item) like food and water, or you can drop or destroy it. The only difference between dropping and destroying something, is that if you drop it, it appears on the ground, and if you destroy it, it simply disappears. Equip ----- This menu is pretty simple, this is just where you change your equipment. Artifacts --------- Here you can view all the artifacts you have collected throughout your journey, as well as see what they do. Remember, you can only get one of each artifact. Treasures --------- Treasures are temporary artifacts you can get in a dungeon. They are the same as a normal artifact, except they disappear once you leave the dungeon. There are always for per dungeon. Money ----- This is a very pointless menu where you view how much money you have. You can also select an amount to drop, although I don't know why you would want to. Favorites --------- This show your favorite foods in order from top to bottom with favorites on the top. Remember that you can make your character like a food more by feeding him it. Family ------ A menu where all you do is see how much your family likes you, whether the face beside each family member's name is either smiling, frowning, or has a straight face. Letters ------- Here you can read all the letters you have accumulated up to this point. //////////////////// =================== Walkthrough (WALKT) =================== \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ OK, I said it at the beginning, and I will say it again now. This is based 100% on my experience in single player mode. I will also add that I will not yet be adding item locations, or specific directions through dungeons. These will both come in later versions however. Now to get started on the juice of this guide. ======== Year one ======== The way this game works, is you have to find Myrrh for your towns crystal each year to preserve it. The crystal is needed to fend off the Miasma which is deadly to people other than moogles or monsters. You get myrrh by collecting 3 myrrh drops in the Crystal Chalice. You get Myrrh drops from the Myrrh tree (I never would have seen the connection) which can only offer drops after 2 years have passed since the last collection of drops. Every time you find 3 Myrrh drops, you automatically go back to your hometown, and celebrate. After this a year has passed game time, and you must set out again to find three more drops. ------------ Tipa (TIPA1) ------------ This is your hometown, the place where you name at the beginning of the game. You may find yourself coming back here fairly often, if not only because you start each year here. This is also where your family stays, and is therefore where they offer you their profession. This is a big place, big enough for 8 families. You start off with a scene where your family says goodbye, wishes you luck, and says how much you will be missed. How nice. (Diary entry #1, see "Diary" section) Once you start the game, you are automatically sent out of Tipa, you can go back in, but don't bother for the moment. Just direct your caravan north-west to see a scene. Here a person (seemingly a Lilty in elegant armor) greets you. He says his name is Sol Racht, and he is the captain of the caravan from Alfitaria, a caravan with a 1000 year old history. He will discuss this history another time though. He introduces you to the seasoned adventurer moogle named Stilztkin. He says he is on his way somewhere at the moment, but has some time to teach you some things if you want. If you accept his offer he will take you to a secluded are and give you a tutorial of how to fight. If you go up to him and press B to talk, a menu will come up on the help topics. You can have him explain the situation with the Miasma and Myrrh, get him to explain the way physical attacks work, how magic works, and what your faithful friend mog (the puffy thing that carries the crystal chalice) can do. When you are done, simply select, "we'll be seeing you" from the menu. (Diary entry #2) Now that, that is done, simply head north-east to the first dungeon, River Belle Path. ------------------------ River Belle Path (RBLP1) ------------------------ "They say that wicked creature prowl the road along this beautiful river bank, but nobody has ever seen one. I once asked a man why, he simply replied, "because anyone who happens upon one is promptly eaten!" But it is long since anyone has met such a fate. For now adays, people take another route, far away from the spooky road. Only we walk the old road now... Travelers in Crystal Caravans." This is your first dungeon, and rightfully so. When it prompts you to set your command menu, just press A. You won't have anything to edit it with yet any way. Now this dungeon is very straight forward, and is almost impossible to get lost in. It serves as a good place to introduce the system, but after once through it is very short and easy. ---------------------- monsters: Goblin, Hedgehog Pie, Goblin Chieftain, Mu Boss: Giant Crab ---------------------- The very first enemy you see is likely the most important. It is a simple goblin, but it always drops a pheonix down plume. This is important because in single player mode, the only savior if you die is a pheonix down. If one is equipped on your command list, it will automatically revive you, making it a priceless item. I try to always keep at least 5 in my inventory, and 1 on my command list. Now after that, just follow the path. If you come to a fork, a decision isn't that hard. One way is most likely a dead end, resulting in a treasure chest, the other the way forward. If you come to a gate, just kill the closest monster, and it will likely drop a little stone tablet. Pick this up and carry it to a stone pedestal located near the gate. This will open it. If you get a cure stone (magicite) equip it on your action menu immediately, because cure is free, and unlimited, therefor making it just as, if not more priceless than the aforementioned pheonix down. To take out goblins easily, just wait for it to take a swipe at you (needless to say you should dodge this, it isn't hard) and run around behind it, or wait for it to spin it's arm, like it's going to throw something (move to the side, they are throwing a rock, and if you don't move it will hit you) after that just run around behind them and hit them, a simple combo should suffice. To kill a hedgehog pie, wait for it to start casting fire (a red ring will appear below you) and move out of the way. The casting area will not move, and you have simply to run up to it and use a combo. Don't get too close before this time, as they are a bit unpredictable. To kill a Mu, just run away a bit, charge up your focus attack (yo can also substitute in magic), line it up and fire. This should kill it instantly. They are almost impossible to kill without taking damage any other way. They often drop money, although a low amount, it is still money. The goblin chieftain will be your biggest challenge on this level. Follow a strategy similar to the goblins, but instead of doing a full combo, retreat after the second hit, because the chieftain have a quicker reaction time. They are more durable, but often wield a treasure to give you a stat boost until the level is done, although it is a small one. BOSS FIGHT: GIANT CRAB (80HP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your first boss. This thing is a challenge the first time through, but even the second fight (if you come back through the dungeon) has difficulty being challenging. He has 5 moves throughout the battle, but near the end he ditches one in favor of another. First is the most annoying move. The crab spits out a little bubble that does no damage, but inflicts you with the very annoying status of slow (decrease walking/attacking speed) just run around it and you should be fine. The next two attacks he only does if you get in close. One is a swipe of his claw, which is damaging, usually doing a full heart of damage. The other is he will hit you with the shell on his back. This has a wide a range, and although it doesn't do as much damage as the previous attack, it stuns you for a short (very short) while. The next is not really an attack, but if you apply constant pressure, he will jump away, and if he lands on you, you will take damage. Lastly, is his most dangerous attack. You will see some purple sparks appear in front of him, at this sign, move out in front of him RIGHT AWAY! He will shoot a ray of electricity, which, if I am not mistaken, does 2 hearts of damage, and stuns you for a while. Needless to say you want to avoid this. Now when he gets low on HP, the shell on his back will explode. This means he can't hit you with it, but will instead cast thunder, which will do about a hearts damage, and paralysis if you are unlucky. Also during the fight Mus will appear, however very infrequently. Now I am sure it sounds hard, but it really isn't. My favorite strategy, for this and about every other enemy in the game is a simple, combo-evade-run-away-heal-combo (from now on the hit-and-run method) strategy. Basically you run up to the enemy, combo him, run around him a bit so you are not in front of him, and combo again. When you get low on HP, run away, cast cure, and get back in the fray. I find it very effective. However it works to, to replace combo with magic, and follow the same guideline. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you beat the crab you will get a new diary entry (Diary entry #3) and a mail moogle will come up and give you a letter titled "To Our Caravan" from someone named Roland. It reads, "How is everything? You may be facing hardships that drag your spirits down. But always remember that the caravan gives hope to us all. May you return safely (insert character's name)!"You can send a reply and some money or an item if you want, I currently don't know if it has any effect. Regardless you finish the dungeon, and can pick an artifact to give yourself a permanent stat boost. Now you are back on the world map. Head back south-west and a scene will occur. Sol Racht will ask if you have heard of a man named the black knight. He says that the black knight is on a quest to master swordsmanship, and that people rarely journey to improve themselves these days. He suggests you should master something before your journeys end (*ahem*strength*ahem*) and leaves (Diary entry #4) ------------ Tipa (TIPA2) ------------ Now before you enter, press B on the world map and go to "set out". Here you must create 7 more characters. It doesn't matter too much who they are, because you don't need to use them, but it is purely to get their families in Tipa. (the caravan is supposed to be the Tipa caravan, and each party member is a citizen of Tipa. Therefore their family will be located in Tipa, and will offer their family trade to you) If you don't, instead of having helpful people in the town, you will have one family, the elders and 7 moogles who say no one is home. Now enter town, an go around talking to everyone. If you have any doubles of equipment designs, sell them at the market, if you have some good designs and materials you should visit the blacksmith. If you go to the top left area of the town there is a hidden, random item, usually a seed. Now go to the middle of town, and walk along the outside of the base the crystal is mounted on. Behind the crystal and to the left a bit it will say "examine" and if you press A you will see a tiny door. Choose to enter it. You will be in your first Moogle's Nest. This is one of 23 houses world-wide where moogles live. He can give you a mog stamp, which come in groups of 3. If you collect a whole set, go back to one of the mogs who gave you that kind of stamp and you will get a surprise. You can also paint and trim mog here. If you trim him, he will be able to carry the chalice longer in warm places, and if you paint him, an attached GBA will do different functions (no color=map, red=monster locations, blue=treasure locations, green=monster locations) then that is all you can do, so leave (Diary entry #5) and go back to the world map. ----------------- Port Tipa (PRTP1) ----------------- Now go to the first cross-roads again, and another short scene will happen. A couple of Selkies will appear, and ask how your journey is going. After you "explain" they admit they should get serious too, say good-bye and run off again. (Diary entry #6) Now you head north-west again, and you will be at another cross-road, head south-west to Port Tipa. The Port is empty at the moment, save for a painfully obvious moogle's nest, and Stilztkin who will give you the tutorial again at your request. Collect the next stamp and leave. Now head back to the Belle River Path, and in front of it a scene will happen where a bunch of Lilty chase a goblin (Diary entry #7). Go up to the River Belle Path and instead of entering it, just change your chalice's element to water. Go back to the cross-road that leads to Port Tipa, and head north-east instead to the Miasma Steam. This place is freaky and cool at the same time. There is no mog here, but don't freak out. Just pick up the crystal chalice yourself. You can talk to Stilztkin here, who tells you how the miasma freaks out moogles, but it doesn't effect him. He also says that the danger of the Miasma must be constantly in your mind, but don't worry, just charge forward through the miasma with the chalice in your hands. If it is water elemental, you will break through, and eventually make it to the other side. (Diary entry #8) You will appear in the Iron Mill Downs. Go north-west, and west to the Mushroom Forest to enter your second dungeon. ----------------------- Mushroom Forest (MUFR1) ----------------------- "When I was a child, I once asked my mother, "Where did I come from?" she answered, "Why, we all sprouted from the Mushroom Forest, of course!" Nightmares soon haunted my sleep, I dreamt I was lost among the toadstools. I awoke in tears, but felt the warmth of my mother's embrace. It is something I still remember to this day." The Mushroom forest, while a bit more challenging than the River Belle Path, is still very linear. All paths basically lead forward. However the enemies are significantly harder, and I suggest you try and get a better weapon than your base weapon before here. This is a nice place to find some iron before you reach the next town. -------------------- Monsters: Tiny Worm, Hell Plant, Gremlin, Ahriman, hedgehog pie Boss: Malboro -------------------- When it seems like you can't go any further, look around for a circular redish colored platform level with the ground. If you step on this after a second or two it will spring up, bringing you to a higher level. However a bit after the first one, there is on along the bottom of the path. Don't go on this or, it brings you back to the beginning of the level. The Tiny Worms are pretty simple, just run around behind them and combo them, and run away and hit them a few more times again. I haven't worked out a more definite pattern yet, but you can usually run right up to them and combo them before they can hit you. Hell Plants are another easy, but annoying enemy. They are stationary, they just pivot in place, but their only attack has a long range, and can poison you. When I say long, I mean, can hit you before you can see them long. You are usually moving around though, so they usually won't hit you until you get close. Just zig-zag up to them, combo them, run away, and go back again. Gremlins are where things get annoying. They don't attack very often, but they are moving almost constantly. This makes it hard to attack them. I suggest just running up to them and trying to hit them. If you actually do, consider that assault successful. Don't worry too much about just running up to them, because they very rarely attack. AHRIMEN ARE ANNOYING! They are flying, meaning they float up and down, and can only be hit when floating down, and they only take one damage per hit, meaning they take 7 hits. They have 3 main attacks. One is a very inaccurate laser eye that has nowhere near the range that it looks like it has. However it afflicts you with slow if you get hit. It's other attack bad attack is thunder, which paralyzes. It also will hit you with it's head. It is hard to not be hit by these things, but if you really don't want to get hit, I would go with magic instead of the hit-and-run. Hedgehog pies are the exact same as on the River Belle Path. BOSS FIGHT: MALBORO (112HP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Malboros have been in final fantasy games since the beginning of time. They are usually quite annoying, and they just got worse and worse each game, peaking at the super-insane level in Final fantasy VIII. However, since then they have been getting easier and easier. This game is no exception. Just annihilate the Hell Plants first, and be sure to enter the battle with cure, clear and a pheonix down (if you have a third slot) on the action menu. Once the Hell Plants have been whacked, run up to it and just pound it. Don't even worry, about evading, unless you see a spell ring under you. All the Malboro will really do, is send essentially un-dodgeable tentacles at you from underground, and cast a spell the inflicts poison. You want to avoid the poison, because it is annoying to have to sit back and cure yourself while being hit with tentacles. Just run away and heal when you are down to AT THE MINIMUM two hearts, and resume the attack. This is really a simple boss, and is more in preparation than anything else. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations, you have just proven how easy Malboros now are (Diary entry #9) and you are rewarded with another letter, pick an artifact, if you are lucky you might get an earth Pendant to raise your Health by a Heart! Now go North-east to the next town! ------------------- Marr's Pass (MARS1) ------------------- Welcome to the hometown of the once all powerful Lilty! According to the stories, they used the once abundant supply of Iron in the nearby Cathuriges mine to build many arms and rule the world. However when the mine ran out, they fell and the mines was infested by monsters. Now Marr's Pass is a humble cross-road town. If you head to the left, and down a board walk there is another moogle's nest, and a blacksmith that can make good weapons if you have the designs and resources. On the right side there is a similar smith, except he deals with armor. If you don't have the resources, there is also a conveniently priced shop, with just as convenient high prices. Other than that there isn't anything to do in this town. You can now head either west to the completely deserted Jegan River, or east to the infested Cathuriges mine. What a decision! (Diary entry #10) ------------------------------- The Mines of Cathuriges (TMOC1) ------------------------------- "When the grandfather, of my grandfather's grandfather, was still a child, no one in this land could challenge the might of the Lilties. They forged weapons of iron, to bring the world under their dominion, but eventually the mine was exhausted, and the Lilties unstoppable conquest ground to a halt. The Lilties ambition vanished along with the iron. They abandoned the mine, where monsters now thrive." This mine shaft is the first dungeon to have a true puzzle, be longer than one screen long, and has the hardest monsters yet, by far. If you haven't gotten any upgrades for your equipment yet, don't even think about coming here yet. You should also think about going into the Mushroom Forest a few more times if you haven't gotten another heart yet. However there seem to be less monsters per area here. ----------------------- Monsters: Orc, Bomb, Ogre Boss: Orc King ----------------------- If you don't want to get lost at all, just follow the tracks. If and when you get to a block in the path, go back to the cart and hit the back of it going forward with an attack, and it will go forward a bit. Keep hitting it until it breaks the barrier, and keep hitting into the next room. You will also come to a few forks. Explore each path briefly, and you will find one is blocked. Press the switch (wooden square) next to the track heading in that direction, and push the cart forward. Be aware that in the area with narrow platforms, there is a moogle nest hidden. Just make sure to explore the path heading up last when you get to a fork so that you don't miss anything. Orcs are annoying, but if you have a strength around 30 they will be pushovers. All you have to do, is wait for them to swing their axes, and you will get an easy combo in. If you have about 30 strength, they should die in a single combo. However, note those shields, they aren't just for looks. If you attack the shield dead on, your attack will be blocked. This is annoying, however it happens very rarely. Bombs are very similar to hedgehog pies, except more dangerous. They will cast fire faster, attack physically more often, and are less predictable. On top of that, they explode when they die, and if you are in the explosion you will be afflicted with burn. Just use focus/magic attacks, and attacked hem from behind. Ogres are easily the hardest enemy yet. They have 38HP, half as much as the first boss (bombs have 9) and attack vert quickly. The best plan of attack would be to either use magic, or if you must use your weapon, attack once, and quickly switch to defense, and once you block the attack, switch back to attack, etc. This takes a while, but you shouldn't get hit. These guys almost always reward you with a temporary stat boost for killing them. BOSS FIGHT: ORC KING (128HP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This boos is huge, and annoying. He seems to have 3 attacks. First is a quick pound of his hammer, which is easy to spot, but can't be dodges unless you are already moving. Second is a spinning attack with his hammer, which you likely won't see coming, and can't be dodged if you are in close. Last is a fire spell, which like all spells can be seen a mile away, and dodged with ease. Orcs will also come at you periodically. Whatever you do, be absolutely sure to have at least 5 hearts, 30 attack, and a cure stone in this fight. You can use magic, but that will take forever with his 130 HP. I will go with my hit-and-run method once again. Just pond him as long as you can, don't worry too much about evading, unless you can see it coming, as his attacks are hard to dodge. Just heal yourself when you get down to about 2 hearts. When he gets low on hp he will get surrounded in an orange sphere of sorts, this is your chance to kill him. If you leave him too long, which is hard to do because, I mean VEEEEEEERY long, he will use sel-destruct, killing himself, and doing a couple hearts damage to you. Either way he dies, it's up to you how he does it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is your third dungeon (Diary entry #11) and that means you have a full Crystal Chalice, and you can go back to Tipa, ending year one (Diary entry #12) congratulations! ======== Year Two ======== ---------------------- Tipa Peninsula (TIPN1) ---------------------- With the first year over, and the crystal restored, it's time to head out once more to get some more Myrrh water for the crystal. You are automatically back in the Tipa Peninsula. You start in Tipa, and while you are here you may as well talk to all the families, get some new equipment, etc. If you have some money, try and make a weapon with the Warrior's Weapon design. The resulting weapon is the strongest weapon at this point, and more importantly, the charge attack on it hits twice. Just buy a piece of Iron and apiece of Alloy, if you don't already have them, from the merchants in your town, and bring that and the warrior weapon design, which you should have, to the blacksmith. (this will be from now on called the steel sword) In any case, on your way out the elder Roland stops you and talks a bit. He says to make sure that you come back to Tipa, even if you can't get Myrrh. He tells you of a young man who set out to rid the world of Miasma, and was never seen again. Whatever, right? Anyways, just leave. As you get to the first crossroads a scene will ensue. You come across the caravan from Marr's Pass. Apparently they came across the Black knight and wanted to see if he was as strong as the rumors say. They say that he had no discipline, he just lunged at them wildly while yelling something, (Diary entry #13) a spell maybe? At any rate they suggest you avoid him. Now you should go to River Belle Path again. If you don't understand, I make a point of going to every dungeon in every year, just to make sure I'm not missing any artifacts from there, and just because I like killing stuff. The River Belle Path is almost exactly the same, the only difference is that the monsters have a bit more HP, and have a bit faster reaction, nothing to worry about though. Other than that, it is exactly the same. Once you finish, head back south to see another scene. Here a Selkie will greet you and ask for some Bannock loaf or a bag of flour so he can apply medicine to his hurt Papaupamus' (the thing that draws caravans)leg. The scene then switches to you riding away, the Selkie says, "that should be enough time for him", and a moogle compliments him on his acting. They then run off to the side of the road to rendezvous with, "gramps" to see how, "it" went. Th moogle asks gramps if he got any booty, and gramps seems confused. Then he remembers he was to grab your loot, and asks how long he was asleep. Lucky for you, the sneaky one was also the sleepy one! (Diary entry #14) Now you should go to Port Tipa, there is absolutely no difference here from last chapter, but I like going everywhere anyways, you get more scenes that way. To prove my point, on the way back out there is a scene at the crossroads you wouldn't have seen if you didn't go to port Tipa. A bunch of Clavats come up to you and ask if you are the caravan from Tipa, and comment on how nice and sunny the weather is, and wish more if this nice weather upon you. Then they realize that crops would not grow without rain, (apparently they are farmers) and wish rain upon you as well. Gee... Thanks... (Diary entry #15) Now go north-east, and there will be a new crossroads on the path leading to the Miasma stream. Good thing to! Because the stream here is now fire, and the only elements in River Belle path are wind and water! Anyways this is an interesting dungeon called the Goblin wall, guess what, there are fire hotspots her! ------------------- Goblin Wall (GBWL1) ------------------- "The threat of monsters weighs upon the mind of every traveler. Brave Lilties purged the road of danger long ago. But monsters still lurk about, biding their time, in the nooks and crannies of the world. Goblin Wall is one such place, as they say, wherever there is light, there is shadow. I wonder if we will ever be rid of their menace." The Goblin wall is an odd little dungeon. It can be as short as River Belle Path if you know the way through, or it can as long as Cathuriges mine if you don't, or are greedy. Because on the first screen specifically, there are a ton of treasure chests behind bone cages. So if you want a tone of mediocre items, go crazy. The monsters here are mostly goblins, but most of the non goblin monsters are annoying. --------------------- Monsters: Goblin, Goblin Mage, Goblin Chieftain, Bat, Electric Jellyfish, Flan Boss: Goblin King --------------------- To open the skull Cages, all you have to do is go above it and strike the skull above the cage. The only skulls you can hit, are the ones with glowing eyes, if the eyes aren't glowing, you can't hit it. If you see white bones curving, going between 2 cages, they make a sort of tunnel you can walk through. On the second level up on the first screen, the far left cage has a moogle nest in it. If you don't understand what I mean about the white bone tunnels, in the cage with the moogle nest if you keep going back, and turn right you will pop out in the cage to the right. Well by this point you really should know how to kill goblins. Just wait for them to attack, dodge it and combo them from behind or the side. They have more hp now, but should go down in 3 hits, or a charge attack if you have a steel sword. Goblin Mage. Just like a hedgehog pie, just wait for the spell ring to appear beneath you, and make easy work of your target. Basically all magic-using enemies can be taken out in this way, and this is a perfect example of why I DON'T USE MAGIC! Goblin chieftain are still very annoying, but you should be used to taking them out by now, as with the goblins. They also have more HP, and should take just as long as the first time through River Belle Path, to kill them if you have a good weapon. If you have the steel sword I would recommend using focus attacks instead of combos, and just run away in between attacks. Bats are annoying, because like Ahrimen, they are flying, so every hit, will not hit, and every successful hit will only do 1 damage. They are obviously a nuisance, but they go down pretty easily, and get used to attacking a lot to kill a single enemy, you will be doing it more and more. Electric Jellyfish are the most annoying enemies EVER! Touch them in any way, and you will take damage, and be hit with paralysis. The only way to not be paralyzed, is to use magic, or use a focus attack if you are a Selkie, because Selkies's focus attacks are long range, and they do not touch the jellyfish themselves. What is even worse, is most of these things come with other enemies, and will cast fire on you while your trying to take out a goblin and two chieftain. Flans are easy, and should go down in just two hits. However they are unpredictable. They will either headbutt you, or spit acid at you, causing slow. Just run past it instead of at it, and hit it from behind/ the side. Thank god they aren't as resistant to physical attacks as in other Final Fantasies! BOSS FIGHT: GOBLIN KING (80HP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This fight can be horribly terribly hard, or laughably easy, depending on how things go for you. At first you won't be able to reach him, and he won't be able to reach you. Just take out the two goblins, and two spear-goblins will come at you, (just my name for a goblin with a spear opposed to one with a sword) they are slightly harder than normal goblins, because they won't lose their balance when you hit them. Just pick up the keys and put them into the pedestal to go up the stairs. Now this boss will teleport to one of three locations, and generally not move, save for teleporting. If he teleports behind his cauldron, just run up to him and he will run away. When he is in a corner, you've to him! Just take him out like any other magic-caster. Wait for him to start chanting a spell, and attack. Use your steel swords charge attack to watch his mere 80HP dwindle like no tomorrow. The important thing is to time it so that he starts charging before you do, because if you don't, he will hit you with a spell before you can get the attack off. This will throw your timing off completely as well, so just don't let that happen. If you run up close to him, you can do just as much damage to him with a combo as you can with a charge attack, but he will swing his staff at you, knocking you down. Therefor it is best to charge attack him, and run away before he can recover. The good thing is, that if you are out of range of his staff, he will always use a spell, as apposed t run up to you to get in range of his staff. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- well congratulations on beating this pathetic boss! (Diary entry #16) you will get another letter, pick yourself a nice artifact for the road, and speaking of the road, change your chalices element to fire when you get to the world map. Head up to the Miasma stream, and go right through it. On to the Iron Mine Downs! Version 2! ----------------------- Iron Mine Downs (IRNM1) ----------------------- Yup, you guessed it, go bak through the Mushroom forest, get an artifact, go up to Marr's Pass, maybe make use of the blacksmiths, (the merchant is gone) go to the Jeagon river, which isn't empty anymore, but has a sailor who's boat is to new to sail (?) and go through the Cathuriges Mine again, now it's time to head through this Miasma Stream. Go back down to Mushroom Forest first, and here you must change the element of your chalice to water. Before you can get to the mushroom forest you will bear witness to a scene. The Caravan from Marr's pass will enquire to whether you have had any luck finding Myrrh, and say that they are heading back with a full chalice (because, y'know, they're just so much better than you) and they will give you a weapon they found that they don't need. For me it was a Marr Sword, but the Steel Sword is just so much better, so you shouldn't need it ever. Maybe you can give it to Mog? (Diary entry #17) At the same crossroads you will see another scene on your way back north to go through the Miasma stream. Here Sol Racht for some reason decides to tell you all about Flans, because they are just so powerful. (If you look, the other members of the caravan are dancing around a full chalice, why is everyone so much faster than you?) He suggests you watch out for flans, and reminds you that you are journeying for the sake of your village, not yourself. (Diary entry #18) Now go to the Miasma Stream and enter it. Here Stilztkin will be pondering over an intriguing topic. As he said at the first Miasma, moogles are not effected by the miasma, and monsters are obviously not effected by the miasma, so does that mean that moogles are monster? Regardless you must leave him to ponder away and go through the Miasma Stream. You will come out in the newest are, the Vale of Alfitaria. ----------------- Alfitaria (ALFI1) ----------------- Finally you arrive at the giant city of Alfitaria. There are a few things here. In front of the well near the entrance, there is a hidden item, to the far right and down a staircase there is a Moogle Nest, and among th town there are various shops and blacksmiths. Once you are done, simply leave town. (Diary entry #19) ***NOTE*** If you do not have the steel sword by this point, you really must get it now. In this town you can buy all the necessary materials, including the design scroll needed. I can't emphasize how good this sword is at this point in the game. Now you have a few choices as to what dungeon you can go to. I went to Tida first though. Regardless of which one you choose, in front of Alfitaria you will get a scene. Here Sol Racht will greet you, and inform you that a caravan without a Lilty, "walks a perilous path" (even though I have two Lilties in my caravan, smart guy) and he will give you round corn, hoping it will somehow help you. (Diary entry #20) ------------ Tida (TIDA1) ------------ "The sun once smiled on this village more than any other. But one day their crystal's blessing faltered. The villagers eagerly awaited their caravan's return but for them, the crystal would never shine again. It is said that not a single one of them tried to escape. All stood fast waiting for the caravan, hoping to the very last. After hearing that tale, I felt the weight of my burden like never before." As the narrative suggests, Tida is an abandoned town. Here you will fight almost entirely new enemies, but they are still pretty easy. The only annoying thing, is that the most common enemy will almost take 2 full combos to kill, even with the steel sword. No matter though. This dungeon can be just as short as River Belle Path if the right path is chose, but longer than any if the wrong is chosen. ---------------------- Monsters: Carrion Worm, Gremlin, Skeleton, Skeleton Mage, Bomb Boss: Armstrong ---------------------- This place has a million and a half different places where you can stray from the path, however many of them end in dead ends. Make sure to keep fire on your command menu. There are some stone pedestal that are overgrown, and yo have to burn the vines off before the key can be placed. Also, on the second screen there are many "web gates" of sorts, where there is a weby thing growing from a plant to a stone thing. Use fire on that to burn it away, and quickly run through because the weby substance will grow back. Make sure mog gets through to! Carrion worms are significantly bigger than tiny worms, and significantly to. They will use thunder most often, which will annoy the heck out of you when you are trying burn a web gate. They will also rear up and emit a cloud that damages, and I believe poisons, if you get too close. These things may take 5 or 6 hits to kill, but they are slow enough that you can generally just run up to them, draw a spell, and pound them 5 times before they can do something about it. Gremlins are the same annoying little things as before, except now they have more HP, and are purple. I also find that they attack more often. They usually com paired with a carrion worm, although not always. Skeletons are a mix between orcs and goblins. They follow the same general attack system of a goblin (and should be therefor dealt with the same way.) and has the shield of the orc. They often can be seen on the ground, and will assemble themselves when you get close. They usually go down in 2 or 3 hits, no biggey. Remember those goblin mages? Do the exact same things here. The only difference between these things, and the goblin mages are about 3 HP, and the fact that the skeleton mages assemble themselves off the ground like the skeletons. Oh, ya these things usually come with carrion worms, meaning you will be dodging 2 thunder spell rings. Whoopie... There are only 2 or three in the whole level, but one area consists of two of these, a skeleton, and a skeleton mage (meaning you are dodging two fires, a thunder, and trying to take out a skeleton) and the other come with two carrion worms. Dodging three spells isn't my definition of fun. BOSS FIGHT: ARMSTRONG (160HP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is your most durable, and likely the toughest boss yet. I guess you tend to be pretty durable when you're a house... I would come into the fight with two fires fused to make Fira on the command menu, and the ever present cure spell. Armstrong comes with 2 skeleton mages, which you should promptly dispose of, you don't wanna be dodging 2 spells and Armstrong's attacks at the same time. Armstrong will generally whack you with his arm, stunning you briefly, breath poison mist at you, leaving him wide open, shoot needles, also leaving him open, use a roundhouse attack, stunning you, and that is it, if I am not mistaken. The reason I suggested having Fira, is so you can burn him. This will lower his defense, making him a bit of a faster kill. All you really have to do is make sure to be behind or beside him when he is breathing in before his poison attack, so you a) won't get with it and b) will have that much longer to take advantage of his opening. If he shoots needles at you, just run to the side, he will not move, or if you are up close, just run right up to him and it will still miss. Other than that, don't worry about dodging attacks at all, his other two attacks are near impossible to dodge anyways. If any more skeleton mage pop up, take them out immediately. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another letter, another artifact, you know the drill by now. As a side note, it would be worth your while to come back here a few time and get lots of points, you can get good artifacts here. At any rate you have 2 Myrrh drops now, (Diary entry # 21) and if you haven't figured it out yet, the next dungeon is on the other side of Alfitaria. So just head east all the way to Moschet Manor. --------------------- Moschet Manor (MOSC1) --------------------- "Jack Moschet was starving, so he ordered his Tonberry Chefs to make dinner right away. But when Maggie awoke from here nap, she was furious to find the table bare. "How dare you forget my dinner?" she bellowed at her husband. Jack knew the trouble he was in, so he demanded the chefs make great haste. But as usual they took their own good time." Moschet Manor is a very, very odd dungeon. It is very small, and only has very few enemies. There are 9 doors, each with a pad in front of it. This pad changes symbols very 10 seconds or so, and when the symbol of your character's race comes up, step on the pad. Or you could stand on it until your symbol comes up, either one works. ------------------------- Monsters: Coeurl, Gargoyle, Tonberry Chef Boss: Gigas Lord, Maggie ------------------------- As I said, there are all those doors with the pads. Just go into each room, (there are 2 that are sort of hard to find, just go down from the courtyard, but not to the world map, there is one door on each side here) and search each room thoroughly for enemies. Tonberries tend to hide on you, but once you kill them all, Jack the Gigas lord will have a say in the slaughter of his personnel. There are 2 coeurls in the whole level, but they are annoying. They take a lot of hits to go down, and cast magic rather quickly. They mov around a lot, and fast, in between casting spells, making them difficult to hit. The problem is that the coeurls appear in the same place. You should use the same spell-caster strategy, but you just have to react faster. Gargoyles are another flying enemy. They are very similar to Ahrimen, but they float up high more often, and attack fast. They use quick elemental blasts to attack from afar, and dive-bombs you from up close. Luckily they only have 5 hp, but that still means 5 attacks. Tonberrys have always been a slow, daunting enemy. It would come up to you slowly, and then jab you for loads of damage with their chef's knife attack (which finally makes sense). They still come up slowly, they still jab you with their knife, it just doesn't hurt anymore. Just use a charge attack, and it should kill them. It is pretty easy to get a charge attack off before they get to you. BOSS FIGHT: GIGAS LORD (Jack, 120HP), Maggie (50HP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soon after Jack appears, Maggie will come out of her room to join the fray. Quickly kill her, she just adds tot he difficulty, and here HP is so small she doesn't even have a bar. She may come back after a while, but I am not sure. I believe all she does is use magic. Jack is a crazy fight, he punches at you with humongous strokes with a very wide range. If you are up close using combos, it is difficult to evade. If you run away, he will chase you quickly. So the point is to evade damage if possible. The problem is that he chases you to quickly to use charge attacks, and he attacks too quickly when you are up close. The key is to find a balance. Because he follows you so closely, cure when you are at about 2 ½ - 3 hearts, you don't want to take any chances. Regardless, this is a pretty short fight, because neither Jack nor Maggie last an amazing amount of time. The key is to managing yourself, and figuring out the right moment to use your cure spell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another letter, another artifact you know that though. (Diary entry#22) Well another year, another full chalice. (Diary entry #23) during the next year, this is another area you may want to visit for Artifacts, if you are willing to face Jack again! ========== YEAR Three ========== So you have sucessfully finished two years of travel. So far it has been pretty structured, and straight forward. However that ends here my friends. From now on there is no set path that you must travel. However for now I must follow the FAQ structure that I have made for myself. I will from here just walk you through the way I did things, and once I have all my info, I will re-organize my faq. At any rate, you are once again teleported to Tipa to start your adventure once more. As before, make use of the facilities that the families here provide. Remember about the item in the top left corner by the tree stump. On your way out of Tipa the elder Roland will stop you againand tell you that the youth he spoke of last year was a scholar searching for an element that had power over all others, which would render Miasma streams useless. As some of you may be able to tell at this point, he will update you on the scholar from now on. ---------------------- Tipa Peninsula (TIPN2) ---------------------- As you come to the first crossroads, you will see the striped bandits again. They will be discussing their next job, and will compliment the boss on the plan. As you come up to them, you will be accused of eavesdropping, and Gramps will say you are quite stealthy. Then it will switch to the bandits saying they don't do dirty jobs, and that they only do it for treasure (usually food). This will be a little confusing, but if you read the diary entry it will be cleared right up. (Diary entry #24) Now you can go to the River Belle path, and collect another drop of Myrrh here if you wish. The monsters here are slightly different now, are stronger, and there are more of them. This signifies that the River Belle Path is now in it's second cycle. This just means the myrrh tree here has regenerated once. It also means you can get better artifact now! This may be a good time to go back through a few times if you find the level particularly difficult. However the Giant Crab has 240 HP now, so don't go back through more than once if your lazy. Return to the crossroads infront of Tipa and River Belle Path and another scene will start. Here a man named Gurdy will be telling tales to the Marr's Pass caravan, and they are fed up with it. When he tells them of a treasure in a desert they snap, and start to ride away, leaving him behind. You will be prompted to help him, and you should help. Then the Lilties leave, suggesting you don't listen to a word he says. He will say a verse (lightning brings the cactus pain, now it all begins again). You will meet Gurdy a few more times through your travels, and you should be helpful to him, as he will give you more versus, which are obviously useful for something. (Diary entry #26) At this point I headed up to the Goblin Wall again, just to check it out once more, you can't get Murrh again yet. After you finish there, at the crossroads on the way out there will be a scene with the Clavats from Fum. They will be discussing the, "secrets" to growing crops, (no! You really need *GASP* WATER! To grow CROPS! I never would have guessed!) theses Fum people seem quite odd... (Diary entry #27) Back at the crossroads infront of Port Tipa, the Striped Bandits will make another appearance. The moogle will be saying that last night when he looked up at the sky, he realized he wanted to be a star (?). The others think he is being stupid, and when they see you coming, they get in positions. You would think that after how many scenes they would know who you are or something by now... Anyways they block your path, and demand you give them your valuables. You are given the choice of giving in, or charaging through. I think the choice is obvious. You ram into the moogle, who goes flying (and becomes a star!) and the you make an easy get-away! (Diary entry #28) Unfortunately, Port Tipa is still empty... Now it is time to head through the Miasma Stream again. ----------------------- Iron Mine Downs (IRNM2) ----------------------- As the River Belle Path, the Mushroom Forest is upgraded, and id now on cycle 2. However I must make a note. Near the end of the level there will be an Ochu and two Hell plants, oneof them will drop a master's weapon design, for a very good weapon. At anyway, go on through, kill Malboro again, (now that you have a good charge attack, I would suggest running from side to side of Malboro and using the charge attack, and running away again) and pick up your rewards. You now have 2 drops of Myrrh! (Diary entry #29) Now at Marr's Pass, the merchant is back, and the Jeagon River isn't desolate! There is now a sailor there by the name of Tristan. What he will do, is take you to the western bank of the Jeagon River for 50 gil. You should do this over the River Belle Path and Mushroom Forest, but if you have already done them than don't bother. (I was too poor at the time to cross, because I was dim enough to blow 5000 on a piece of mythril just to get the master's weapon) other than that, just get the right element chalice and go through the Miasma stream. You really don't spend to long here, do you. ------------------------- Vale of Alfitaria (VALF1) ------------------------- Here you can spend some money in Alfitaria, maybe blowing 3 years sallary on a chunk of mythril to make a ruin blade like I did. (I make it sound like a bad decision, but the Rune Blade has an excellent long-ranged charge attack, like the Selkie's charge attack, and it is a strong weapon for the time. Also not that you will be in desperate need of power from here on out.) Now would also be a good time to re-visit Tida and Moschet Manor to pick up some good relics. Whatever you end up doing, you won't really have to much to do here, so just continue throuh the Miasma Stream to the next area. After checking what element the stream is, and getting back a scene should start. You should see the caravan from Shella walk up and greet you. They may ask if you have Alloy, it may be something els for you, but they asked me for alloy. If you do, trade it graciously for a Chimera's Horn (a much more expensive and rare material) and the Yukes will gather around it murmurring something about a meteor. Huh? (Diary entry #30) Now you can finally get to somewhere new! On to Yukeville! -------------- Shella (SHEL1) -------------- You can tell from the entrance that it is a beautiful town, and given the Yukes' nature, probably full of professors and magicians. Well let your imagination fly, because for the moment you can't get in. You need to get a mark of Shella from the Veo Lu Sluice, and show it to the Yuke infront of the river. He will make a rainbow bridge across the river, and bang, your in! Well then, I guess you should go to Veo Lu Sluice then. Now on the way to the Veo Lu Sluice there will be another scene with the caravan from Shella, not unlike the one you just saw. Here they should request a trade of a gear. for a Zu's Beak. This isn't as obviously a good trade, I have only ever found one gear, so you shouldn't be so impulsive to asume it is as a good trade here (Diary entry #31). The thing is, in a few years, you will realize that you really don't want to figh Zus. Now you can finally ACTUALLY enter somewhere new. Lucky you! --------------------- Veo Lu Sluice (VEOS1) --------------------- "Long ago, peace returned to this tumultuous land, and Lilties kept the highways safe. At long last, travellers walked the roads without fear of monsters. The Yukes constructed a great sluice to channel water down from Lake Shell, transforming Jeagon creek into a great river. Over time, the river turned the vast plains of Fum into farmland, thereby providing food to people the world over. To us, this sluice is more important than anything." The sluice is a very large, single screen level. It is actually pretty easy to get through, but when you try and find everything on the level, that is when it starts yo get very confusing. You actually can't even get all the chests here until about year 6 or 7. Also, if you really want to get into Shella you can pick a mark of Shella here and leave the dungon, however, like most towns there isn't anything breathtaking to see. ---------------------- Monsters: Lizard Man, Lizard Mage, Gigan Toad, Water Flan, Ice Bomb, Griffon Boss: Golem ---------------------- The only hard part about this level, is there are numerous stone pedistals, and th keys are hard to get. What you have to do, is when you see a hole in the ground, look for a wood platform nearby. Take the chalice, and place it on the platform. Now the key will shoot out of the whole on a jet of water. now you have to pick it up, and it will be off the jet. Now since you are out of the chalice's range most of the time you do this, run back to the chalice and make mog get it. Now yu can get the key and keep going. To rid yourself of the Lizard men, treat them the same as goblins. However they will not throw stones. Regardless, just run past them to draw an attack, and combo him. The difference is, that Lizard Men, as opposed to Goblins, will likely not go down in a single attack. Lizard Mages are, once again, a silly exaple of the pathetic nature of spells. As always, keep your distance, and a spell circle will appear at your feet, run up and combo the thing. They will likely go down in 3 hits or less. Silly mages, they think they can do stuff. Gigan toads are an amalgamation of magic and physical attacks. Deal with them as you would a mage, however one combo will most likely not do it. Retreat a bit after that, because they will hit you with a tongues attack. However not lethal, being hit by a wipy enemy is annoying. Water Flans are just as pointless as normal flans. The biggest differance is that water Flans will cast Blizzard. Aside from that, dispose of them in the same pathetic fashion as a normal Flan. ie, run up and combo it. Ice Bombs are simply bomb version 2. They will use ice instead of fire, still die in a pathetic amopunt of hits, and the explosion still hurts you. The only differance is that the explosion does freeze instead of burn. Griffons would have been fought in River Belle path, but since I didn't give a strategy there, here is one here. They will fly up and shoot a ball of air at you from a distance, which is what you want them to do. When they go up, just move to the side and charge up your charge attack. Make sure when they land you aren't next to them because they will either hit you with their wing, or their tail. One hit matters little, but they have alot of HP, so they add up. BOSS FIGHT: GOLOM (160HP) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- The Golom, while intimidating is a surprisingly wimpy foe. All you have to do, is dispatch of his accomplices, as you should already know to do at this point, and then run around the Golom. The Golom will scrunch down and shoot his arms forward, do two punches that hit infront, and slightly to each side, do a circle attack with his arms, scrunch up and do a fire-laser attack around himself, or a simple laser attack forward. This, while a wide range of attacks, is fairly harmless. When I say run around him, it is because the most common attacks he use only hit directly infront of him. So by running in circles around him, you can wait for one of these attacks, and do a combo that will result in a surprisingly high amount of damage. His attack where he spins in circles with his arms is dangerous, because it is all around him, and hits twice. His round laser attack is annoying to, beacuse it is fast, and hard to dodge, and it also inflicts burn. Luckily he will rarely hit you, so burn is of little concern. Regardless, he is very easy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- I think by this point you should know that you will get a letter and an artifact, as well as a drop of Myrrh (Diary entry #32). This, being the third Myrrh drop alsosignifies the end of year three, go you! (Diary entry #33) (Year four coming in the future)! //////////////// =============== Diaries (DIARY) =============== \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Diary Page 1 ------------ "The morning of my departure was here at last. I tried to brace myself for the journey ahead. There was a field along the main road where I decided to camp until sunrise. Tomorrow I set out in search of Myrrh." Diary Page 2 ------------ "Not far from the village, someone called to me. The man introduced himself as Sol Racht, leader of the caravan from Alfitaria. It seems that news of my caravan had already reached them. They showed me such kindness, and a moogle named Stilztkin gave me a lesson in combat.? Diary Page 3 ------------ "I wound my way through the vivid green hill sand followed the path to reach the River Belle. All my tension seemed to flow away with the River Belle's serene currents. As I pressed forward I slew many goblins. Who could have know that I would fight the giant crab surrounded by such beauty!" Diary Page 4 ------------ "I came across the Caravan from Alfitaria today. The town was already abuzz with talk of the Black Knight, but Sol had more tales to tell. Sol spoke with such enthusiasm that he actually seemed to admire him. It is amazing how quickly word of this Black Knight has spread in spite of the way Miasma isolates every town." Diary Page 5 ------------ "I visited a Moogle Nest for the first time. The Moogle there cheerfully welcomed me into his home. When it was time to go, I thought he looked a bit sad. I patted the bonbon on his head, and bade him farewell. I wonder if all moogles live so comfortably?" Diary Page 6 ------------ "I ran across the caravan from Leuda. Those two Selkies are some characters. They seem to be enjoying the journey more than observing their duty. It was a refreshing outlook, but it worried me. I began to understand how Sol of Alfitaria must have felt about me." Diary Page 7 ------------ "After eating, I was preparing to set off, when suddenly some Lilties ran by in hot pursuit of monsters. They were probably from Marr's Pass. That place has long been home to blacksmiths, so they were probably out gathering materials." Diary Page 8 ------------ "The Miasma stream. Many caravans have passed through, and now I will follow in their tracks. Someday, others will follow me. I feel like I have become a small part of history." Diary Page 9 ------------ "As I approach the Mushroom Forest, I somehow feel like I'm shrinking. Each toadstool I pass seems taller then the last. Now I know I am in the forest. I'm walking along a rooftop of mushrooms. Although a Malboro blocked my path, I prevailed and collected a drop of Myrrh." Diary Page 10 ------------- "Marr's Pass. This land was once the home of the Lilties. With the Iron weapons the wrought here, they once ruled the entire world. Now this place is but a small town at the crossroads. Time washes away everything, joy, agony. Everything." Diary Page 11 ------------- "The Mine of Cathuriges is a relic of the age of Litian reign. Orcs rule it now. As I ventured deep into the mine, I kept jumping at my own shadow, cast on the wall by the flickering lamps overhead. I found the Orc King waiting for me in the deepest cavern within. After my victory, I collected a drop of Myrrh." Diary Page 12 ------------- "With my first journey behind me, my caravan has finally come home. Before setting out, I had heard only stories of the world outside. Once out there, I found excitement, surprise, and a bit of hardship. Whenever I close my eyes, I vividly remember all my adventures, as I searched for Myrrh. Tonight is the festival. It's time to celebrate! Diary Page 13 ------------- "I came upon the caravan from Marr's Pass. It was overturned. Few monsters prowl the road, and I've rarely seen such things in all my travels. The sight was so Biazzare that I merely stared in amazement before it occured to me to lend a hand. They said they were attacked by the infamous Black Knight. Why would he do such a thing?" Diary Page 14 ------------- "I was amazed to meet a traveller who did not belong to any caravan. He was stranded since his papaumamus was injured, I lent him some ointment from back home. In return he showed me his compact crystal, something I had only heard of. Imagine a portable crystal! But carrying something like that around is just asking for a visit from a band of... no, could he have been?" Diary Page 15 ------------- "Today I decided to take a side road for a change of Pace. To my surprise I heard someone call out to my caravan. It was a group of kindly looking Clavats. A look at their clothes told me that they probably hailed from the Fields of Fum." Diary Page 16 ------------- "Goblin wall lies east of Tipa, nestled among the mountains of Kutliema. As expected, the place was infested with Goblins. They engage in dark and sinister ceremonies, so the people of my village fear them. I planned a darring raid into the Goblins' lair to collect the Myrrh there. It worked, the village should be safe for now." Diary Page 17 ------------- I ran across the caravan from Marr's Pass. They were heading home with their chalice full of Myrrh. They were quite generous with weapons they'd found, as some were of no use to them. I suppose that great blacksmiths like them prefer their own weapons over those wrought by others anyway." Diary Page 18 ------------- "Today I learned of Flan. Their gelatanous bodies have no arms or legs. They attack by coiling up their body and springing forward in a ferocious headbutt. They also spit a sticky, acid substance from their gaping mouths. Though this acid lacks the power to melt weapons or armour, it can restrict the victim's movement." Diary Page 19 ------------- "My first visit to Alfitaria. Huge buildings, crowded together. Lots of strange people hurrying about. To me, they all look the same. They all wear the same hunted expression, as though something is chasing them down." Diary Page 20 ------------- "Today I saw the caravan from Alfitaria again. My caravan has no Lilties. This fact seemed to worry their leader, Sol. They gave me supplies for my journey, which I appreciated, but I wish he would get off his high horse." Diary Page 21 ------------- "They say that the Myrrh tree sprouted in Tida after the village fell to ruin. The tree grew from the hopes of people waiting for the caravan to come home. But at the same time, their hopes also gave rise to Armstrong. Now I understand why caravans try and aoid this place." Diary Page 22 ------------- "Today I paid a visit to Moshet Manor. I felt small in the Mushroom Forest, but here I'm like an ant! I met the Gigas Master and his Lamia wife, together with their Tonberry Chefs. I almost felt sorry for the chaos I brought into their home. Perhaps I should have knocked." Diary Page 23 ------------- "So ends the second year of my caravan. Miasama hindered my steps, and monsters struck at me from behind. Still, I'll always look back fondly on the warm smiles that greeted me in villages I visited, and it was always a joy to meet other caravans pn the long, lonely road. I hope I see them again next year." Diary Page 24 ------------- "I spotted the Striped Brigands by the main road. I recently heard they'd killed a man, so I asked the truth. They claimed that they never take lives. As I talked with them, I realized they are good people at heart. I think I can trust them." Diary Page 25 ------------- "Today I defeated the Giant Crab at River Belle Path adn quickly collected a drop of Myrrh. It was an easy fight, so I spent a peaceful interlude over a light meal. I was a little surprised. I never considered myself a fighter." Diary Page 26 ------------- "I wonder why anyone would actually want to wander into Miasma. Today I met a stranger named Gurdy who was nearly killed by the caravan from Marr's Pass. Lightning brings the cactus pain, now it all begins again. I'm not sure what the verse means, but I think he recited it to me in thanks." Diary Page 27 ------------- "I camped with the caravan from Fum and walked with them for a while this morning. Their gentle manor reminds me of my family. When I spoke of my parent's profession, they gave me some advice on farming. Perhaps I'll send a seed back home." Diary Page 28 ------------- "The Striped Brigands appeared and surrounded the caravan. They demanded I leave behind all my valuables. Undaunted, I decided to charge through their blockade. Sorry I ran you over, little moogle. I had a feeling you'd survive." Diary Page 29 ------------- "Today I defeated a Malboro at the Mushroom Forest and quickly collected a drop of Myrrh. It was an easy fight, so I spent a peaceful interlude over a light meal. I was a little surprised, I never considered myself a fighter." Diary Page 30 ------------- "As I road along the stone path, someone called to me. It was the caravan from Shella. I drew nearer wondering what they wanted. They wanted to make a trade and seemed to know exactly what I carried. Intrigued by their offer, I agreed." Diary Page 31 ------------- "Shella, citadel of the Yukes. There is a slight chill in the air, and I find it hard to believe that Tipa and Shella are part of the same world. They say that Yukes dress in strange ways to maximize their magical abilities. Someone once said that they have no bodies, only souls. Yukes are a mysterious people indeed." *Just realized I was missing a few diaries here* (Year 4 diaries coming soon!) ///////////////// ================ Bestiary (BESTY) ================ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ This bestiary will undergo a lot of change in the future, as monsters have different stats in different areas, and during different years. For now I will list the stats of their original areas. ------------------- Goblin HP: 6 Vulnerable: fire, Lightning, slow Area: River Belle Path ------------------- Hedgehog Pie HP: 6 Vulnerable: Cold, Lightning, Slow Area: River Belle Path ------------------- Goblin Chieftain HP: 12 Vulnerable: fire Area: River Belle Path ------------------- Mu HP: 5 Vulnerable: fire, cold, slow ------------------- Giant Crab HP: 80 Resist: lightning Area: River Belle Path ------------------- Tiny Worm HP: 8 Vulnerable: fire Resist: lightning Area: Mushroom Forest ------------------- Hell Plant HP: 8 Vulnerable: slow, paralysis Area: Mushroom Forest ------------------- Gremlin HP: 8 Vulnerable: cold, slow, paralysis Area: Mushroom Forest ------------------- Ahriman HP: 7 Flying Area: Mushroom Forest ------------------- Malboro HP:112 Area: Mushroom Forest ------------------- Orc HP: 12 Vulnerable: slow, paralysis Area: Cathuriges Mine ------------------- Bomb HP: 9 Vulnerable: cold, lightning Resist: fire Area: Cathuriges Mine ------------------- Ogre HP: 38 Vulnerable: lightning Area: Cathuriges Mine ------------------- Orc King HP: 128 Area: Cathuriges Mine ------------------- Flan HP: 10 Vulnerable: fire Area: Goblin Wall ------------------- Goblin Mage HP: 12 Vulnerable: fire, lightning, slow Area: Goblin Wall ------------------- Bat HP: 5 flying Area: Goblin Wall ------------------- Electic Jellyfish HP: 12 Vulnerable: cold, slow Resistant: lightning Area: Goblin Wall ------------------- Goblin King HP: 80 Area: Goblin Wall ------------------- Carrion Worm HP: 24 Vulnerable: fire Resistant: lightning Area: Tida ------------------- Skeleton HP: 15 Vulnerable: fire, slow, paralysis Area: Tida ------------------- Skeleton Mage HP: 15 Vulnerable: fire, slow, paralysis Area: Tida ------------------- Armstrong HP: 160 Resist: lightning Area: Tida ------------------- Coeurl HP: 20 Resist: gravity Area: Moschet Manor ------------------- Tonberry Chef HP: 15 Area: Moshcet Manor ------------------- Gargoyle HP: 5 Area: Moshet Manor ------------------- Gigas Lord HP: 120 Area: Moschet Manor ------------------- Maggie HP: 50 Area: Moschet Manor ------------------- Lizard Man HP: 15 Vulnearable: cold, slow, paralysis Area: Veo Lu Sluice ------------------- Lizard Mage HP: 15 Vulnerable: cold, slow paralysis Area: Veo Lu Sluice ------------------- Gigan Toad HP: 24 Vulnerable: fire Resist: cold Area: Veo Lu Sluice ------------------- Water Flan HP: 14 Vulnerable: fire Resist: cold Area: Veo Lu SLuice ------------------- Ice Bomb HP: 15 Vulnearable: fire, lightning Resist: cold Area: Veo Lu Sluice ------------------- (more soon!) ////////////// ============= Items (ITEMS) ============= \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Basic Items: ------------ These are the basic items that restore health, and can usually be bought at a store anywhere. "meat, fish, gourd potato, round corn, striped apple, cherry cluster, star carrot and rainbow grapes have varying effects based on your characters food preferences) Meat: ----- Meat is a common enemy drop, and can be bought easily. Besides fish, it is the only item that raises strength (my favorite stat) and is much more common than fish. This makes meat my favorite item. Fish: ----- Virtually the same thing as meat, however I find fish to be found far less often than meat. Therefore my character doesn't have a taste for meat, making it far less useful. Gourd Potato: -------------- Gourd potatoes are one of the most common food in the game. If you were to o through any level once, you would likely find at least one of these. They raise defense, which is useful if you are taking damage too fast. Round Corn: ----------- Round corn, is once again, generally the same thing as a gourd potato, but I find them to be even more common than a gourd potato. I would say choose one or the other to use, and sell the one you don't, because you find so many you would make a small fortune. Striped Apple: -------------- Striped apples are common in some areas, but in the rest of te world, you will not find one. This is just fine with me, because I really don't like magic too much. I just sell all but maybe 2, incase I run into an enemy where physical attacks just won't work. Cherry Cluster: --------------- Cherry clusters do the same thing as striped apples, but I find them to be spread out around the world a little bit more evenly. I always sell all of them though because I always have about 2 striped apples. I always have 2 striped apples, because I never use them! Star Carrot: ------------ Another defense increasing item, however I find these to be strangely rare. There are a few places where you can always get them, but other than that you likely won't find one. I always sell them anyways. Rainbow Grapes: --------------- Rainbow grapes are the last magic increasing item, and are probably the most common. However I sell them just the same, because as I said, I don't use magic, simple as that. Spring Water: ------------- You'll be hard pressed to find spring water anywhere other than every shop in the game (just about). I never ever bother with this stuff though, mostly because all it does is restore some HP, and to my knowledge it can only ever restore 1 heart. Milk: ----- Milk can be found, bought in some places, and if your family is are ranchers (I think) they will send you milk. However milk is just as useless as spring water, so I sell it. Seeds ----- Seeds are generally all the same thing. You send them home to your parents so they can do their assigned task better. Or as the game puts it, they like you better and will work harder for you. Magicite: --------- Magicite can only be used in dungeons, and when you leave, it disappears. Magicite allow you to cast spells by placing it on the command menu, and you can fuse them together if they are out bedside each other in the right order. Now as you may know by now, I am opposed to magic, so I don't use too much of this stuff. Fire Stone: ----------- The fire stone is the only real attack magicite I use. Since there are few occasions where I actually use magic, and most enemies aren't resistant to fire, this is what I use. Fire can burn enemies, dropping their defense and making them easy prey. Blizzard Stone: --------------- I don't know why, but blizzard stones seem to come in clumps (as in if there is one, another one is often nearby) and are a bit more common than fire. However there seem to be less enemies weak to it, and more resistant to it. Blizzard can temporarily freeze an enemy, giving you time to kill other enemies if there are multiple attacking you, or making them unable to do anything while you pound them. Thunder Stone: -------------- These are probably the rarest of the three attack stones, and the least effective find more enemies are resistant to thunder than any other element, and I have never found more than one stone in a level (that I can remember). Thunder can paralyze an enemy for a short time if you hit them, allowing you to take them out. Cure Stone: ----------- Now we're getting somewhere! Cure is very useful, as it is free to cast, and you can do it unlimited times. I always have cure on. This is a real lifesaver if you don't feel like digging into your food stash, and are common enough for you to have one early into a dungeon. Clear Stone: ------------ Clear is almost as useful as cure, just because it takes away statuses, which are annoying. Statuses are sorta rare in this game though, as are clear stones, but they are useful none the less. Life Stone: ----------- As far as I know, life does not do the same thing as a pheonix down in single player mode, making it completely and utterly useless (besides for fusing) and I never, ever have it on my command menu because of this. Equipment: ---------- Equipment is very valuable in this game. Having decent equipment can more than double you strngth and defence, which is a very good thing. I really haven't used anything other than a Clavat, so I have mostly stuff on them. The rest will come in due time. Clavat Weapons -------------- Weapon |stat boost |scroll |cost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper Sword |Strength+15 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->->->->->->-> Iron Sword |Strength+20 |Novice's Weapon |100 Marr Sword |Strength+22 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->->->->->->-> Steel Sword |Strength+25 |Warrior's Weapon |300 Rune Blade |Strength+30 |Master's Weapon |??? Defender |Strength+31 |Victorious Weapon |500 Feather Saber |Strength+31 |Valiant Weapn |500 Bastard Sword |Strength+31 |Migthy Weapon |500 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lilty Weapons ------------- Weapon |stat boost |scroll |cost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iron Lance |Strength+15 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->->->->->->-> Partisan |Strength+20 |Novice's Weapon |100 Marr Spear |Strength+22 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->->->->->->-> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuke Weapons ------------ Weapon |stat boost |scroll |cost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Orc Hammer |Strength+15 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->->->->->->-> Wave Hammer |Strength+20 |Novice's Weapon |100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Selkie Weapons -------------- Weapon |stat boost |scroll |cost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aura Racket |Strength+15 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->->->->->->-> Solid Racket |Strength+20 |Novice's Weapon |100 Marr Racket |Strength+22 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->->->->->->-> Dual Shooter |Strength+25 |Warrior's Weapon |??? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Armor ----- armor |stat boost |scroll |cost |Resist -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Travel Clothes |Defense+10 |->->->->->->->-> |->->->->|none Bronze Plate |Defence+13 |Bronze Armor |100 |none Iron Plate |Defence+17 |Iron Armor |200 |none Mythril Plate |Defence+22 |Mythril Armor |500 |none Flame Mail |Defence+24 |Flame Armor |500 |Burn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defensive Equip* --------------- equip |stat boost |scroll |cost |race -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Makeshift Shield |Defense+7 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->|Clavat Iron Shield |Defense+10 |Iron Shield |150 |Clavat Mythril Shield |Defense+15 |Mythril Shield |400 |Clavat Gauntlets |Defense+5 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->|Lilty Bronze Gauntlets |Defence+8 |Bronze Gloves |80 |Lilty Helm |Defense+5 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->|Yuke Belt |Defense+5 |->->->->->->->->->->|->->->->|Selkie Bronze Belt |Defence+8 |Bronze Belt |80 |Selkie Iron Belt |Defense+12 |Iron Belt |150 |Selkie -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *By "Defensive equip" I mean the secondary armour, such as shield, belt etc. (more equipment coming soon!) ////////////////// ================= Artifacts (ARTIS) ================= \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ The artifact system in this game has a lot of randomness in it, and it is hard to pinpoint a specific location for a relic. For now I will list the relics I have gotten, and where I have seen them. This section will undergoe majour updating as I collect more data. A number in brackets signifies a cycle. cycle is when the myrrh tree restores itself. So River Belle Path is in cycle 1 until year 3, when you can get a Myrrh drop from there again. Then in year 5, it is in cycle 3. After cycle 3 it just repetas itself. Artifact |Stat Boost |Area(s) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuriken |Strength+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest, ->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->Cathuriges Mine Man Eater |Strength+1 |River Belle Path Double Axe |Strength+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest Green Beret |Strength+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest Flame Tongue |Strength+2 |Mushroom Forest Loaded Dice |Strength+2 |Cathuriges Mine Ice Brand |Strength+2 |Goblin Wall, River Belle Path(2) Twist Headband |Strength+2 |Tida Buckler |Defense+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest ->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->Cathuriges Mine Silver Spectacles |Defense+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest Sparkling Bracer |Defense+1 |Mushroom Forest, Cathuriges Mine Arai Helm |Defense+2 |Moschet Manor Black Hood |Defense+2 |Mushroom Forest(2) Mage Masher |Magic+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest, ->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->Cathuriges Mines Cat's Bell |Magic+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest Dragon's Whisker |Magic+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest, ->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->Cathuriges Mine Silver Bracer |Magic+1 |River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest Kris |Magic+3 |River Belle Path(2) Sage's Staff |Magic+3 |Mushroom Forest(2) Moogle Pocket |Command Slot+1|River Belle Path, Mushroom Forest, Chocobo Pocket |Command Slot+1|Tida ->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->->Cathuriges Mine Earth Pendant |Hearts+1 |Mushroom Forest, Cathuriges Mine Ring of Blizzard |Learn Blizzard|Veo Lu Sluice (more coming sometime soon!) ///////////////////// ==================== Helpful Tips (HELPT) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ These are just a few things that I found useful myself, most of them are fairly obvious, or become so early on, but some of them you may find ver useful. - No matter how cliche it has beome over the years, save. Save often. You never know when you may die by some odd turn of events (namely a group of 40 or so enemies). Yes, it is unlikely you will ever die, but it can happen. You really don't want to have to redo 3 chapters because you neglected to save. I try and save after everydungeon, but I often forget. - Always, always, always keep a pheonix down and/or cure magic on your command menu. A pheonix down just helps you prevent the above scenario. So instead of dieing, you will get automatically revived. You should also keep a bunch of spares handy. Cure is, as I have said amny times throughout the guide, is the best, or on of the best, ways to restore helath. It almost always completely restores you, and for free. Just be careful if you haven't found a cure magicite in the dungeon yet. - If physical attacks are taking too long to dish out some death, then try something else. If the enemy is flying, 95% of the time using gravity (fire/blizzard/thunder+fire/thunder/blizzard) on them will take themout of the picture. They will be grounded, unable to mive, and will no longer take 1 damage a hit. Similarly, if the enemy is ghostly, or transparent, use Holy (fire/thunder/blizzard+Life). This will do huge amounts of damage, as well as make them solid, allowing you to do normal damage. - For taking on enemies, you should consider one of a few strategies. The simplist is to just run up to the enemy and hack them to death. A better one, is run past them to draw an attack and dodge it at the same time, combo attack them, run away, and repeat. Or instead you could use a charge attack, run away to avoid attacks, wait for the enemy to attack and charge attack again. Magic can also be replaced for charge attacks, but that will be adressed in the next point. - If you plan to use magic, use a Yuke. Any other race should only use magic if it is intended to make the enemy more suceptable to physical attacks, or to cure. If you plan to use magic to actually do damage, Yukes have a fast enough casting speed to actually do that, regardless, I still prefer physical attacks. Similarly, if you plan to use charge attacks alot, go for a Selkie, they wield a lightning fast charge attack, as well as having long ranged focus attacks, mening you don't have to run away after every charge attack. However, any race (except Yuke) can do charge attacks well enough for frequent use. - When you get letters, or are propted to make a decision, be nice and caring. It may apeal to you to be a jerk, but picking the best option will often pay off, if not immediatly, in the long run. Especially letters, try and pick an option that will appeal to the person, and pick an item to send appropriate to the letter (if they are going to sell the cow because they need the money, send either money or meat). - Remember you can only get one of each kind of artifact. So if you have gotten 10 artifacts from River Belle Path by the end of year one, you likely won't be able to get any more for a while, and will likely be wasting your time going back. Contrary to this, it is a good idea to go back to different areas frequently to pick up any artifacts you may have missed. I highly suggest going to River Belle Pathe and Muchroom Forest until you can't get any more artifacts in either in year one. This way you will have decent stats, and your artifact choices will be narrowed for the rest of the game. /////////////////////// ======================= Closing/Credits (CLOCR) ======================= \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Well now, this is the end of my very first FAQ ever. I know at the moment it could be organized better, but that will come in future versions, once I get all the information down. For now you can use the wealth of information I have posted on Year one of the game, or you can email me (using the address at the bottom of the faq) and tell me how screwed up, dysfunctional, and full of holes my FAQ is. Thats about it for now! CJayC- For making the best game site ever SquareEnix- For another great game Myself- For buying this awesome game osrevad- For the "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles" ASCII art __ _____ _ __ __ ____ __ _ ____ _______ ____ _____ | | |_ _|| \ | || | / /| \ / | / \ / __\|__ __|| ___|| __ \ | | | | | \ | || |/ / | \/ | / A \ | /__ | | | | | / \ \ | | | | | \ \| || / | |/ / \ \\___ \ | | | |__ | \__/ / | | | | | |\ || |\ \ | |\/| || |_| |__ \ \ | | | ___|| / | |___ _| |_|| | \ || | \ \| | | || | | || |_/ | | | | |__ | |\ \ |_____||_____||_| \_||_| \_|_| |_||_| |_|\____/ |_| |____||_| \_\ (linkmaster12@hotmail.com) Copywrite 2004-Linkmaster12 (aka Josh DeWolfe)