123456789*123456789*123456789*123456789*123456789*123456789*123456789*123456789 **************** * Dark Cloud 2 * * * * Medal Guide * **************** Author: Darth Mom (Marion Beauchamp), mbeau@hotmail.com LEGAL This In-Depth FAQ has been created for use by GameFAQs.com (and also Gamespot by association) only. If you see that this FAQ has been posted on another website, please contact Marion Beauchamp at (mbeau@hotmail.com) with "Dark Cloud 2 Medal Guide" in the subject. Thank you. Copyright 2004 Marion Beauchamp VERSION HISTORY 12 May 2012 -- v. 1.11 Minor changes to wording. Added information from FF13_2_Drift. Minor changes to certain strategies. ?? July 2009 -- v. 1.10 Added level by level commentary for Item Only medals 11 December 2004 -- v. 1.04 Revised fishing comments and removed useless commentary about it. Other minor wording changes. 16 June 2004 -- v. 1.03 Correction to Clear All w/o Healing, refueling Ridepod A little more discussion of Time Trial medals. 1 May 2004 -- v. 1.02 Added section for Mayor Need's Medal Exchange. Added a few questions to FAQ section. Slight rewording and reformatting. 30 April 2004 -- v. 1.01 Added section for medal count. Redid section 2.48, Use Items Only 26 April 2004 -- v. 1.00 -- Initial Version ================= TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= 1.00 -- Introduction 2.00 -- General Information 2.10 Time Trial 2.20 Fishing 2.30 Spheda 2.40 Wipe-Out Medals 2.41 Max's Right Hand Only 2.42 Max's Gun Only 2.43 Monica's Sword Only 2.44 Monica's Magic Only 2.45 Ridepod Only 2.46 Monster Transform only 2.47 Clear All Without Healing 2.48 Use Items Only 3.00 -- Chapter by Chapter 3.10 Underground Channel 3.20 Rainbow Butterfly Wood 3.30 Starlight Canyon 3.40 Ocean's Roar Cave 3.50 Mount Gundor 3.60 Star Paths 3.70 Moonflower Palace 3.80 Zelmite Mines 4.00 -- Counting Medals 5.00 -- Need's Medal Exchange 6.00 -- FAQ 7.00 -- Contributors ============================================================================== 1.00 -- INTRODUCTION ============================================================================== Welcome to the Dark Cloud 2 Medal Guide. I'm glad you decided to take a look, however brief it may be. In its current form, this document only gives general type information about the medals; for example, information such as the items you are allowed to use for the "Use Items Only" medals can be found here. Specific, level by level information is not covered...yet. In future versions, this information might POSSIBLY be added, but there are 396 medals in the game, and covering each one would be too much info, not to mention that doing so would be largely unnecessary. Instead, in Section 3.00 (Chapter by Chapter), I have covered anything that I felt was noteworthy; for example, if a certain medal seemed difficult, I've given any advice I might have. ============================================================================== 2.00 -- GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MEDALS ============================================================================== As soon as you select a dungeon level, you will see a menu that lists the various medals that can be earned in that level. You can earn up to 4 medals in any given dungeon level. There is always a Time Trial medal available, and a Wipe-Out medal of some sort. There is always a third type of medal available as well, either a Fishing medal or a Spheda medal; often, both are available. You do not have to get all medals in your first attempt at any dungeon level. You can advance the game if you wish, and come back later to finish getting the medals when your weapons are stronger and allow you to finish the levels faster. Just be warned that Moonflower Palace is unavailable after you finish that chapter's boss; get all the medals before you defeat that boss, or you will never get them at all. The "All Monsters Defeated!" screen is very important in the life of medal hunters. This is the moment when you are awarded most medals. The exceptions are the fishing medals, spheda medals, and the "Clear All Without Healing" medals. Fishing medals are awarded when you finish reeling in your fish, and are told how large it is. Spheda medals are awarded when you repair the distortion; that is, when you succeed in shooting the sphere into the distortion. Finally, the Clear All w/o Healing medal is awarded when you use the normal exit from the level; that is, you use the Gate Key and use that exit to leave the level. Sometimes people want to know what you use the medals for. They are used to "buy" things from Mayor Need, after you recruit him. Refer to section 5.00, "Need's Medal Exchange", for details. 2.10 Time Trial =============== This type of medal requires you to defeat all monsters within the time allowed. There are no restrictions on how you do so; use any weapon you want, travel however you wish, use a monster transform if you want. You should know, however, that time spent within your submenu counts against the timer, but if you press the Start button to pause the game, that does not count against your timer. You are awarded the medal at the "All Monsters Defeated!" screen. The Time Trial medals are the hardest in the Underground Channel, which is the first dungeon you ever do. Even with strong weapons capable of one-hit-kills, you will need a bit of luck and good planning in order to get these medals. Gradually, as you progress through the game, the Time Trial medals will get easier and easier. For example, in Rainbow Butterfly Wood, the Time Trial medals are still a bit touchy to get; however, as long as you streamline your run through the level as much as you can, you shouldn't have any trouble, unlike Underground Channel which can cause you trouble even if you do everything possible to save time. By the time you get to the last dungeon in the game, as long as you don't dawdle around, you should have no problem collecting the Time Trial medals, as the time allowances in that dungeon are very generous. Again, this is assuming you have strong weapons. Just one word about these medals. If you're having trouble, use the Ridepod with fast legs (Propeller or Jet Hover). Those fast legs will make the Time Trials considerably easier. 2.20 Fishing ============ There's not much to be said about this medal. Simply use either the Bait Rod or the Lure Rod to get a fish that is at least as large as the requirement. You are awarded the medal as soon as you reel in your fish. Personally, I think it is better to wait until you can use the Lure Rod. This is because the Lure Rod tends to catch larger fish than the Bait Rod. The Bait Rod is easier to use, but the Lure Rod has the better reward -- larger fish. Again, this is just my opinion; either rod will get you the medals. Getting a Lure Rod is pretty easy. There are three methods. Note that you can't actually use the Lure Rod until you get some lures, and you have to recruit Olivie to do so. Olivie cannot be recruited until Finny Frenzy opens up late in chapter 4. 1) Invent it. 2) Olivie sells Lure Rods. You can just buy one from her if you want. 3) Win first place in the Fishing Contest. 2.30 Spheda =========== There is a lot of information that might be given about playing Spheda. This information is found in existing guides at GameFAQs, so this document will not repeat the information. If you need help playing Spheda, please refer to those documents. I will add, though, that your medal is awarded to you as soon as you shoot the sphere into the distortion. 2.40 Wipe-Out Medals ==================== With the exception of the Clear All Without Healing medal, all of the following medals requires you to defeat all monsters in the level. The medal is awarded at the "All Monsters Defeated!" screen, except that the Clear All Without Healing medal is awarded when you exit the level. Except for the Clear All Without Healing medal, all enemies must not take any damage except from the specified type of attack. For example, in a Sword Only medal attempt, if any enemy sustains damage from anything other than a sword, you lose the medal. Cannon type enemies are famous for causing problems. The reason is that they shoot cannonballs sometimes; these cannonballs will explode, damaging ALL within its blast radius, including enemies. This is guaranteed to deny you your medal. Note that throwing enemies at each other is always okay, because doing so only stuns the enemy and does not cause damage. 2.41 Max's Right Hand Only ========================== You must defeat all monsters in the level using Max's Right Hand Weapon only. You may switch weapons if you wish. If Max kicks an enemy instead of hitting it with his wrench or hammer, that is okay. However, if Max reflects an enemy's attack back at it, you will lose the medal. Sometimes it is very very easy to accidentally do this; some enemies just love to shoot an attack of some sort at Max, and these are the attacks that you will accidentally reflect back. The medal is awarded at the All Monsters Defeated! screen. 2.42 Max's Gun Only =================== You must defeat all monsters in the level using Max's gun only. You may switch guns if you wish. Not much else to be said about this medal, which is awarded at the All Monsters Defeated! screen. 2.43 Monica's Sword Only ======================== You must defeat all monsters using Monica's sword only. You may switch swords if you wish. Do not use Magic Absorb Sword; this ability counts as magic, not sword, and if you use it, you will lose the medal. The medal is awarded at the All Monsters Defeated! screen. 2.44 Monica's Magic Only ======================== You must defeat all monsters using Monica's armband (that is, her magic) only. Magic Absorb Sword counts as magic, so feel free to use it, just be careful that you do not accidentally hit an enemy with the sword as you release the stored-up magic. As with the other weapon medals, you may switch armbands. The medal is awarded at the All Monsters Defeated! screen. 2.45 Ridepod Only ================= You must defeat all monsters using the Ridepod only. You may switch arms on the Ridepod if you want. The medal is awarded at the All Monsters Defeated! screen. 2.46 Monster Transform Only =========================== You must defeat all monsters using Monica's monster transforms only. You may switch badges if you want. The medal is awarded at the All Monsters Defeated! screen. Sometimes people want to know which badge is best for these medals. I myself prefer the Gemron badge, but the Aquatic Badge (frog transformation) is good too, I hear. Level up the badge to level 51, and you should be able to get all the Monster Transform medals in the game. Try and wait until Moonflower Palace (Chapter 7) to do that leveling up. Before then, you don't earn enough EXP to do it in a timely fashion. 2.47 Clear All Without Healing ============================== This medal is the only Wipe-Out medal that does NOT require you to defeat all monsters in the level, despite the fact that it says "clear all." You are only required to get the Gate Key by defeating the monster that has it, and then go to the exit and use the Gate Key to exit the level. You must, of course do that without using any healing items. Because of this, you are not awarded the medal at the All Monsters Defeated! screen; you are given the medal when you exit the level using the Gate Key, and only if you did not use any healing item before exiting. Things you might not know about this type of medal: - You can repair your weapons. - You can have Heal and/or Absorb on your weapons. - Getting healed by the Angel/Devil Coins is okay. - Having support characters like Mena to heal you is okay. - Healing Fountains are NOT okay. - Resurrection Powders are only okay if it auto-revives your character. If you use one manually to resurrect a fallen character, you lose the medal. - Contrary to what I had thought, refueling the Ridepod IS okay. This is a confusing point, because in a level with a White Seal still in effect, you cannot refuel the Ridepod. So, for the purposes of this medal, refueling does not count as healing, but for the purposes of the White Seal, it does. - Remember that you don't have to defeat all monsters in the level. 2.48 Use Items Only =================== This is the toughest and most time-consuming type of medal. You are required to use only items to defeat all monsters. As with most of the other wipe-out medals, you are awarded the medal at the All Monsters Defeated! screen. In my opinion, monsters come in three types. Enemies than can be poisoned, Undead enemies that can be killed by Holy Water, and everything else. Poisoning is your best friend. You poison an enemy by hitting it with a Poison Apple. Since you can carry 50 of each type of fruit, including the Poison Apples, you can throw these around freely without too much worry about running out. Poisoning is time consuming, but the reward is not having to worry about running out of items. To kill an enemy by poisoning, you first hit the enemy with a Poison Apple, and then run off somewhere else to wait while the poison eats away at the monster's health. When the enemy is down to 1HP, return and hit it with something. Another fruit will always do, no matter how late in the game it is. If you want to throw an explosive, use Bombnuts during the first three chapters. Then, until Chapter 8, use Bombs. After that, you might have to switch to Improved Bombs during Zelmite Mines. And, don't forget that the rocks, crates and vases scattered about the levels can be used as well to follow up poisoning. Now, the 2nd type of enemy, the Undead, is nice because they can be hit by Holy Water, which is cheap and easily available. The only problem you'll have is that sometimes Undead enemies will resurrect themselves, thus requiring you to use another Holy Water. For monsters other than these two types, you have to resort to the use of explosives, or else use the stone items. For the beginning of the game, don't use your elemental stones. These are very important during the last two chapters, and I believe you would do well to save them for that. Try and herd enemies together, so that when you throw your bomb, you can hit more than one of them. Late in the game, for enemies that cannot be killed by poisoning or by Holy Water, the most important items will be the various elemental stones, like Holy Stones, Flame Stones and such like. Do not confuse these with the round crystals that you use for synthing to your weapons. These stones cannot be purchased anywhere, at any time. You must find them in chests, or steal them from enemies. Occasionally, they show up as Spheda prizes. The reason why the various elemental stones become so important is because in Chapter 8, Zelmite Mines, most enemies take too many Final Bombs to kill. Since you can only carry 10 Final Bombs, you have to either use the elemental stones, or else you have to become very, very good at herding enemies together. Using explosives during the last part of the game also practically guarantees that you'll have to make some bombs during your time in the dungeon. And for some people, their game freezes if they try to make anything while in the dungeon. Don't forget that you may throw enemies at each other; this is particularly useful if you want to make a nice pile of enemies and then throw a bomb of some type at them. Remember that you will lose the medal if you hit an enemy with your weapon, even if it does no damage. Therefore, equipping a Battle Wrench and then attempting a late-level Item Only medal will not prevent you from accidentally losing the medal. Sometimes people want advice on how to hit flying enemies, like Bats. I find one useful method is to lure the Bat (or whatever) over to a stairway, or an elevated walkway. You get up the stair, and hope the enemy stays on the lower level. That way, it is lower down and much easier to hit. Remember to lock onto the enemy. Another method that is particularly useful against Bats, is simply to throw a Final Bomb at it. It's messy and expensive, but the Final Bomb has a nice big blast radius, and every Bat in the game, even the ones in Zelmite Mines, will be killed with one Final Bomb. Oh, and don't forget that you can throw Gooey Peaches, Stone Berries or Heart Throb Cherries at the flying enemies, to slow them down or stop them, thus making them easier to hit. Since you can carry 50 of each of these, you can afford to miss quite a lot. Something important to remember about flying enemies is that if you have enemies present that can be picked up and thrown, hitting the flying enemy with another enemy will stun both of them. Quickly lock on and throw something. This can be a very easy way to get rid of flying enemies. ****************************************************************************** FF13_2_Drift (of the GameFAQs website) has an important tidbit of information. Following is his original post: Since this board still appears to be active, I'd like to let everyone in on a little secret of mine. The Bomb badge monster transformation is the best way to complete Item Only levels. Here's how to do it: Get your Bomb badge (Ch 5, iirc): Stock up on as many health items as possible (bread, cheese, etc). Go into a level and use Self-Destruct (Bomb transformation "strong" attack) on a monster and then heal with food (using cheapest first). You get one explosion per full health bar. These explosions count and do the same damage as Improved Bombs, no matter what level or form your bomb is. The best way to take advantage of this fact is to save all of Monica's Fruit of Edens until after the game. (If you're a decent player, this won't really affect the difficulty of the main game.) This will leave her with her starting health stat making it -incredibly- cheap to spam Self-Destructs. Using this method, you can save all the better damage items for the extra dungeon. Even in the final dungeon, this will allow you to "carry" many, many extra Improved Bombs. ****************************************************************************** If you choose to try this method, you must remember that the self-destruct attack does not work if you do not have a full health bar. ***************************************************************************** * NOTE: About Gemrons * * There's a special note about the gemron family of monsters. These are * * flying enemies and as such, can be just a bit tricky to hit. However, * * they are easily dealt with if you use the proper method. Get up close * * to one of them, and press the R1 button to guard. It will use its rolling * * attack. It will follow this up immediately with a breath attack. Then * * it will pause, hovering right in front of you. This is the moment to * * throw something at it. During this pause, it is lower down than it * * normally is, making it easier to hit. The other thing to note about * * gemrons is that they are poisonable. * ***************************************************************************** Items that can be used ====================== FRUIT: - Heart Throb cherry - Stone Berry - Gooey Peach - Poison Apple EXPLOSIVES: - Bombnut - Bomb - Improved Bomb - Final Bomb - Lightspeed STONES: - Stone - Flame Stone - Chill Stone - Lightning Stone - Wind Stone - Holy Stone OTHER: - Holy Water (only for undead-types) - The randomly generated rocks, crates and vases - Other enemies Important Points to Remember =========================== - If at all possible, use poisoning to kill an enemy - If poisoning does not work, use Holy water if the enemy is undead. - When you need to use explosives or stones, try to herd enemies together to minimize your use of items. - Remember that the rocks, crates and vases in the dungeon levels can be used. - Remember that you can throw enemies at each other. - No matter how weak your weapons are, do NOT hit an enemy with them. - When you see an aerial enemy, don't freak out. Just watch their movements, and learn to anticipate a downward swoop. Then throw a Heart Throb Cherry or Stone Berry to stop them so you can throw the killing item(s). ============================================================================== 3.00 -- CHAPTER BY CHAPTER TIPS ============================================================================== This section covers certain tips that apply only to a certain chapter or chapters. I don't really talk about the weapon only wipe-out medals because these are pretty straightforward, as are the Monster Transform and Ridepod only medals. 3.10 Underground Channel ======================== Time Trial ========== In this chapter, the Time Trial medals are hardest to get in the game. As your game progresses, the time trials will get easier and easier. The easiest way to get Time Trial medals is to use the Ridepod with fast legs. Propeller legs are available in Chapter 4 and are fast enough for these medals. Since you have so little time, you have to streamline your run through these levels as much as possible. If you are not using the Ridepod, then I suggest you use a left hand weapon capable of killing all enemies in one shot. You'll have to fire and quickly run to the next enemy. Do not stick around to watch the enemy die. You must skip picking up your ABS spheres and money. And, it is important to skip opening all chests unless you absolutely have to look for something. You might need a key, for instance, or else you might need to find the mimics in the levels. When you've found everything you need, skip all the rest of the chests. The first three levels are easier because there are no mimics in these levels. You might want Donny in the party. This way you can skip opening all chests in the level until after you've finished getting the medal. You might also consider having Pau, since he can show you the map. However, if there is a locked door, you'll need to spend time looking for the key. It's your choice which character you choose to have with you. The last two levels are harder because of the mimics. However, the same basic method used for the first three levels also works in these levels as well. Just hope that you find the mimics quickly. Item Only Medal =============== Battle with Rats ---------------- Baron Balloon x 4 Bat x 5 Clown x 2 Froggy x 4 Sewer Rat x 3 All enemies in this level will die to 1 single Bombnut, but the bats are hard to hit. The easiest way to hit the bats is to pick up an enemy and hit the bat with it. Then throw a Bombnut at the bat while it's still stunned. 3.20 Rainbow Butterfly Wood =========================== Time Trial ========== Starting in this chapter, the Time Trials get easier. Now, you can actually take the time to breathe once in a while. The easiest way to get these medals is to put Pau in the party. That way you have the map and can plan an efficient route. Even if you have to look for a key, you have the extra time now to open chests until you find it. If you do start to open chests, though, do not take the time to pick up ABS spheres and money. You still don't have enough time to both open chests AND collect all your ABS and money. Something has to go, and if you need to look for a key, or for mimics, I suggest you skip your ABS and money. Monster Transforms ================== You should probably wait until Chapter 7, Moonflower Palace, to try for this type of medal. At that point, you'll be earning enough experience points to get your chosen badge up to level 51 or higher. At that level, your badge will be strong enough to get all the Monster Transform medals in the game. Before Chapter 7, though, it is difficult to get a badge up that high in levels. As mentioned before, the suggested badge is either the Reptile Badge (Gemron) or the Aquatic Badge (frog). Item Only Medals ================ Strange Tree ------------ Pumpkinhead x 6 Tore x 5 Moler x 4 The easiest way to do this level is bring along a full load of Improved Bombs. Erik will make 6 Improved Bombs every 24 hours, so I suggest you make use of him; it doesn't take all that long to get 20 bombs from him. However, if you don't want to use that many Improved Bombs, remember that the Pumpkinheads and the Molers can be poisoned. It can be annoying to hit the Molers, though. I'm a Pixie ----------- Pixie x 6 Face of Prajna x 4 King Mimic x 1 Mimic x 2 Every enemy in this level will die to 1 Improved Bomb. One easy way to deal with the Pixies is to pick them up, then throw them at either a Face of Prajna or one of the mimics. While both are stunned, throw an Improved Bomb. Most likely you'll kill both. 3.30 Starlight Canyon ===================== Time Trials =========== As long as you have Pau in your party to help out with the map, you now have enough time to both open all chests and collect up all ABS and money. Just do not dawdle anywhere, and make sure you can one-hit-kill everything. Monster Transforms ================== Again, wait until Chapter 7 to try for these medals. Item Only Medals ================ Earth-Shaking Demon ------------------- Smiling Fairy x 8 Mimic x 2 Golem x 4 Dog Statue x 4 Most enemies in this level will die to 1 Improved Bomb, so bring along a full load. The Golems are still alive after 1 Improved Bomb, but they will die if you hit them with a rock to follow up. Remember that the Smiling Fairies can be poisoned so bring along some Poison Apples in case you get worried about your supply of bombs. Remember that both the Smiling Fairies and the Mimics can be picked up, so throw them at the Golems and Dog Statues to make it easier to kill multiple enemies with each bomb. Cursed Mask ----------- Nikapous x 6 Holy Gemron x 5 Yo-Yo Barrel x 7 King Mimic x 2 Thunder Gemron x 2 My suggestion here is to bring along a full load of Improved Bombs, and also a good supply of Poison Apples. The Nikapous, Holy Gemrons and Thunder Gemrons can all be poisoned. The Yo-yo Barrels will die to 1 Improved Bomb, but the King Mimics will not. However, you can follow up with a rock, and that will finish off the King Mimics. To economize on item usage, remember that you can pick up the Gemrons and Nikapous; throw them at a Yo-yo Barrel or King Mimic before you toss a bomb at these. You'll probably kill the Gemron or Nikapous that you threw along with killing/damaging the Yo-yo Barrel or King Mimic. Rama Priests Like Cheese ------------------------ Wind Element x 5 Priest of Rama x10 Mimic x 4 Yo-Yo Barrel x 4 All enemies in this level die to 1 Improved Bomb, so bring along a full load. You can also use 1 Lightning Stone against the Wind Elements if you need to. There are too many enemies in this level to use 1 Improved Bomb for each one, so you'll have to juggle enemies together before tossing a bomb. Fortunately, everyone but the Yo-yo Barrels can be picked up, so make sure you make a nice big pile of enemies before you toss a bomb. Lighthouse Appears ------------------ Ivanoff x 4 Crescent Baron x 6 Wind Element x 4 Dragon x 5 King Mimic x 2 Improved Bombs are quite useful here, but you can't carry enough to take care of all the enemies unless you also bring along Erik with full skill points. Bring along Heart Throb Cherries to use against the Crescent Barons. Your strategy is to stop them, then quickly throw something at them to kill them. For the King Mimics, throw an Improved Bomb, then finish them off with a rock. If you are running out of bombs, use a lightning stone against the Wind Elements, and Wind Stones against the Crescent Barons. Remember to throw or herd enemies together to minimize your use of bombs, and remember not to use more than one bomb per enemy. 3.40 Ocean's Roar Cave ====================== Time Trials =========== I'm not talking about this type of medal anymore. From this chapter onward, these medals are easy to get as long as your weapons can one-hit-kill. You should even have time to throw all the rocks in the level to look for items, again assuming that you don't dawdle unnecessarily. Monster Transforms ================== Again, wait until Chapter 7, Moonflower Palace, to get these medals. Item Only Medals ================ Sand Molers ----------- Sand Moler x 8 Mimic x 4 Statue x 4 Goyone x 6 Not too bad a level; you can poison the Sand Molers and the Goyones and finish them off with a Bombnut. The Mimics and Statues will die with one Improved Bomb. The only annoying thing about this level is trying to hit the Sand Molers with a Poison Apple, but it's not that hard. And remember that the Sand Molers will be hurt by a bombnut or bomb even if they are underground. Banquet of the Dead ------------------- Pirate Tank x 4 Sand Moler x 4 King Mimic x 2 Hornhead x 8 Sooty x 4 Bring along a full load of Holy Water and Improved Bombs; you'll use lots of each of these. The Hornheads and the Sootys will go down to Holy Water, but each Sooty takes 2 Holy Water and the Hornheads might resurrect themselves; you can see that you might use up a lot of Holy Water. The Sand Molers will die to Poisoning plus a Bombnut. Each King Mimic will take 2 Improved Bombs. Now, the Pirate Tanks here can be as annoying as heck. They readily shoot out those cannonballs, which can very easily screw up your medal chances. Quickly throw a Stone Berry at them before they can shoot; follow up with an Improved Bomb and fruit of any sort until they die. 3.50 Mount Gundor ================= Item Only Medals ================ Little Dragons on the Mountain ------------------------------ Ice Gundron x 4 Thunder Gundron x 4 Wind Gundron x 4 Holy Gundron x 4 Stick Joe x 4 This is a pretty easy level. For the Stick Joes, throw a Heart Throb Cherry to stop them, then quickly follow up with either a Wind Stone or a Lightning Stone followed by fruit of any sort until dead. The Gundrons here are easy to defeat by poisoning. Just remember the Gemron method outlined elsewhere in this guide -- get close to one, guard and let them roll at you, then when they pause, quickly hit them with something. Mountain Baddie Appears ----------------------- Savage Ram x 6 Rifle Wolf x 6 Steam Tore x 2 Burger x 1 Not too bad a level. All enemies but the 2 Steam Tores can be poisoned. It takes either 1 Chill Stone or 1 Lightning Stone to kill the Steam Tores. Deathtrap --------- Savage Ram x 6 Steam Goyone x 6 King Mimic x 1 Stick Joe x 4 Griffon Soldier x 6 The Griffon Soldiers, Savage Rams and Steam Goyones can all be taken care of by poisoning. Just remember that Bombnuts are no longer of any use; you have to use at least a Bomb to finish these enemies off. The King Mimic will take 2 Improved Bomb and a few fruit or rock. The Stick Joes can be dealt with fairly easily by using a Heart Throb Cherry to stop them, and then quickly following up with either a Lightning Stone or Wind Stone and a few fruit. Burning Undead -------------- Bone Lord x 2 Mimic x 2 Lava Runner x 6 King Mimic x 1 Ultrasonic Bomb x 4 The Bone Lords will die to Holy water, of course, and the Lava Runners will be taken care of by poisoning. The Mimics will die to 2 Improved Bombs, and the King Mimic will die to maybe 3. The Ultrasonic Bombs take more than 3 Improved Bombs each; throw 3 Improved Bombs followed by fruit, rocks, or any elemental stone you happen to have. Not THAT bad of a level, but you do end up using quite a lot of explosives. If you have Final Bombs, those will help quite a lot. Road to the River of Flames --------------------------- Bone Lord x 6 Red Dragon x 6 Ultrasonic Bomb x 6 Lava Bat x 6 Final Bombs are the easiest way to deal with this level. You can take care of the Bone Lords with Holy Water, and dispatch the Red Dragons with 2 Chill Stones and several fruit. What you should do about the Ultrasonic Bombs and the Lava Bats, though, is to herd the bats together with Ultrasonic Bombs and then throw a Final Bomb. The nice big blast radius will kill any nearby bat and the explosion from one Final Bomb will take care of each Ultrasonic Bomb caught in the blast. If, however, you choose not to use Final Bombs here, you can take care of the Ultrasonic Bombs as you did in Burning Undead. The bats are annoying to try and hit, but throw a Heart Throb Cherry to stop them, then follow up with appropriate elemental stones; don't use Improved Bombs because you'll need practically all of those for use on the Ultrasonic Bombs. 3.60 Star Paths =============== Item Only Medals ================ Starlight Canyon - Evil Spirit in the Valley --------------------------------------------- Mimic x 4 Iron Mask x 6 Mummy x 6 Balalla x 6 Really quite an easy level. The 4 Mimics will each die to 2 Improved Bombs. The Iron Mask and Balalla can be poisoned. The Mummy, as you can guess, can be defeated with Holy Water. You can minimize your use of Improved Bombs by throwing the Mimics together. Ocean's Roar Cave - Looking for the Water Gem --------------------------------------------- Star Tortoise x 4 Zombie Pirate x 4 Arkerath x 4 Blackbeard x 4 Mimic x 2 Another easy level here. The Star Tortoise and Arkerath will all die to poisoning. The Zombie Pirate and Blackbeard will all die to Holy Water. The two Mimics will each die to 3 Improved Bombs, and since you can carry these, you'll be able to throw them together. The only annoyance in this level is the way the Arkerath will roll after you from a fair distance away. I usually find myself poisoning them, and then carrying them into some out-of-the-way corner to keep them out of my way until they are ready to be killed. Mount Gundor - Crazy Mountain ----------------------------- Arthur x 4 King Mimic x 2 Rolling Rocks x 4 Flaming Nail x 8 Heat Wear x 4 The 4 Arthur will die to 1 Lightning Stone each. The Flaming Nail and the Heat Wear, being undead, will die to Holy Water; they might resurrect, though, so it might take more than just 1 Holy Water each. Bring along a full load of Holy Water, and bring along ingredients to make more if you have to. The only problem in this level are the King Mimics and Rolling Rocks. If you have Final Bombs, use those. If you don't use Final Bombs, you should bring a full load of Erik's bombs (Improved Bombs). Even, then, you won't have enough so you'll have to supplement by using elemental stones. The King Mimics will die to 3 Improved Bombs or 3 elemental stones. The Rolling Rocks take a lot; you'll use 4 Improved Bombs AND 2 fruit of any sort. It's just easier to use Final Bombs, okay? 3.70 Moonflower Palace ====================== Monster Transform ================= This chapter is when you want to level up your chosen badge to at least level 51. At that point, your monster transform is just strong enough to get these medals. Item Only Medals ================ If you have enough elemental stones, this chapter is absolutely beautiful for the Item Only Medals. There are no aerial enemies in any of the levels with an Item Only requirement. And, you have a decent chance of finding stones in the randomly generated chests, to take care of non-poisonable enemies. Take the time to find some stones, and you shouldn't have any problem with this chapter. Note that Final Bombs are still quite useful. I find them especially useful against the rock-man enemies and the living armor. One Final Bomb will take care of those, but some levels have a lot of them so you'll have to herd. Ancient Wind ------------ Bundy x 6 Silver Gear x 6 Castle Eater x 6 Count Balloon x 6 Bring a full load of Holy Water for the Bundy and the Silver Gear. The Bundy will go down with 2 Holy Water each, or 1 Holy Water and 1 pot, and the Silver Gear takes only 1 each. But these are undead types, and they might resurrect themselves. If so you may eventually run out of Holy Water, so bring materials to make more. The Castle Eater also is no problem because they can be poisoned. The Count Balloons, though, cannot be poisoned. You'll need to throw either 2 Flame or Lightning Stones, or else 1 Final Bomb. If you choose to use Final Bombs, do yourself a favor and throw all 6 Count Balloons together into one nice, neat little pile. Then throw one Final Bomb at them. Chances are you'll kill all 6 in one beautiful explosion. Living Statue ------------- Guardia x 9 Spade x 3 Club x 3 Moon Goyone x 6 The Spades, Clubs and Moon Goyones can all be poisoned, so no problem there. The Guardia, however, cannot be poisoned. They are weak to Lightning, but if you hit them with a Lightning Stone you'll find that they still have a bit of HP left. You should be able to kill them easily at that point, though, by throwing something else at them; I suggest you not waste another stone on them. Erik can give you free Improved Bombs, so my choice is to use those. As always, also consider finishing them off with a pot. Scary Women ----------- Crow Priest x 6 Moon Goyone x 6 Miss Gourgon x 4 Rock Taster x 2 The Moon Goyones and Miss Gourgons can all be poisoned. The Crow Priest can be poisoned as well, but their healing move complicates things. My preference is to throw a pot to stun them, then follow up with a Flame Stone. An alternate way is to throw a Stone Berry, then a Flame Stone, then finish off with 2 more fruit. Finally, the Rock Tasters die to 1 Final Bomb each. Herd both of them together and then you can kill them both with only 1 Final Bomb. Missing Gem Dealer ------------------ Joker x 2 Stormy x 1 Guardia x 6 Mimic x 2 Rock Taster x 6 The 2 Jokers and the Stormy can be poisoned, but all the other enemies here cannot be. The Guardia and the Rock Taster will all die to 1 Final Bomb each, but there are 12 of these enemies in this level, plus the 2 Mimics, so herding them all together is too much trouble for my taste. My choice here is to go buy a full load of Final Bombs, and then try to herd together as many of the Guardia, Rock Taster and Mimics as I can without going insane. Then throw a Final Bomb into the pack and hope for the best. Lonely Machine -------------- Vanguard Mk 2 x 2 Skull Chief x 6 Moonflowephant x 4 Leogriff x 4 King Mimic x 1 Not very much of a problem with this level. The 2 Vanguard will go down with 2 Lightning Stones each, and the Skull Chiefs will die with 1 Holy Water. Remember though that these are undead, so they might resurrect themselves. The Moonflowephants and the Leogriffs can be poisoned. The one King Mimic will die to 3 of any elemental stone. Final Trump Card ---------------- S. Diamond x 4 S. Heart x 4 S. Club x 4 S. Spade x 4 S. Joker x 2 Mimic x 4 The presence of the Hearts makes this level a bit harder than it has to be. All the cards can be poisoned; however, the Hearts have a healing move, so you have to isolate the Hearts off by themselves so that they won't heal their companions. Either that, or start by killing all 4 Hearts with one Chill Stone each. Then go around poisoning all the other cards, and finish them all off. Lastly, open up all the chests until you find all 4 Mimics. Since these are normal Mimics, as opposed to King Mimics, you can pick them up and toss them all into a small corner. If you can manage to hit all 4 Mimics with Final Bombs, 2 will do it. Obviously, if you miss one or more, then it will take more Final Bombs. You can also throw whatever elemental stones you happen to have for decent damage. Final Battle ------------ Lancer x 4 Evil Nail x 4 King Mimic x 2 Earth Dragon x 4 Clock Knight x 4 You'll need plenty of elemental stones for this level, particularly Lightning Stones. The Lancers will go down with 1 Lightning Stone each, but the Clock Knights are still alive after 2 Lightning Stones. So you'll have to either throw an additional stone or else throw 2 Improved Bombs. I say Improved Bombs because you can get these for free from Erik. Same sort of deal with the Earth Dragon; throw 2 Wind Stones at them, followed by 2 Improved Bombs. The Evil Nails are undead; just use Holy Waters on them until they die. Should take only one each, but since they are undead, they might resurrect themselves. The King Mimics will each die to 3 of any elemental stone. 3.80 Zelmite Mines ================== Ridepod Only ============ The Ridepod can be hurt quite a bit by the enemies in this chapter. Be careful not to get hit too much. Item Only Medals ================ Powerful Frog ------------- Gamal x 6 Thunder Drake x 6 Wind Drake x 6 Dark Flower x 6 Very easy level, as everything can be poisoned. Remember that to hit the drakes, get real close to one, guard until they roll at you, then wait until they pause, hovering in front of you. Take that chance to throw something at them. Crossroads of Destiny --------------------- Evil Bat x 4 Snow Ghost x 4 Stone Guard x 4 Fire Ghost x 4 Danger Bomb x 4 The Stone Guard can be poisoned. Use Flame or Lightning Stone against the Danger Bombs, Chill Stones against the Fire Ghost and Flame Stones against the Snow Ghosts. You can use Wind Stone against the bats, but remember that all bats in the game will die to one Final Bomb. Powerful Wild Boar ------------------ Ram Z x 6 Evil Bat x 6 Ghoul x 6 Fire Ghost x 2 Spider Lady x 2 The Ram Z can be poisoned. Deal with the bats with either Wind Stones or a Final Bomb. The Ghoul can be hit with Holy Water. Fire Ghosts can be killed with Chill Stones. For the Spider Lady, hit her with a rock first, then follow up with a Chill Stone. Remember that she has a healing move, so that's why you want to stun her first. A Giant Snake! -------------- Sand Dragon x 1 Rock Face x 6 King Mimic x 2 Ghoul x 6 Iron Spear x 2 The Sand Dragon and the King Mimics will all die to 3 of any elemental stone. Use whatever you have the most of. The Rock Faces will die to any 2 elemental stones. Ghouls will die to Holy Water. Use Lightning Stones against the Iron Spear. Road to Truth ------------- Duke Balloon x 6 Death Mouse x 6 Putos x 6 Scarecrow x 6 Each Duke Balloon will die to 2 Flame Stones or Lightning Stones. Everything else can be poisoned. Indecision ---------- Behemoth x 2 Shadow x 5 Demon Puppet x 6 Bandou x 4 Mystery Plant x 4 The Shadow can be damaged by Holy Water. They are still alive after 1, though, so you need something to follow up with either another Holy Water or perhaps a rock. Everything else can be poisoned, even the Demon Puppets. Mummy Heaven ------------ Revenant x16 Fire Wyrm x 2 Holy Wyrm x 2 Dark Keeper x 2 The Dark Keeper can be severely damaged but not killed by 1 Holy Stone. Use a rock to follow up the Holy Stone. The Wyrms can be poisoned. The Revenants can be killed by Holy Water, but remember that they can resurrect themselves. If you can invent things while in a dungeon, bring along lots of Holy Water ingredients. If you can't, then use Holy Stones. Ward 3 Entrance --------------- Dark Alchemist x 6 Last Guardian x 6 Revenant x 4 Smiling Wolf x 6 King Mimic x 1 As before, the Revenants can be killed with Holy Water. Use any elemental stone against the King Mimic, whatever you have the most of. The others can all be poisoned. Ultimate Snake -------------- Iron Ghost x 6 Mrs. Gourgon x 6 Wraith x 6 Dead Rope x 2 King Mimic x 2 Your biggest headache in this level are the Iron Ghosts. These are cannons, so they will sometimes shoot out cannonballs. Maybe it's just me, but these guys seem trigger-happy. Anyway, throw a Heart Throb Cherry to stop them, throw a Holy Stone, then finish up with 2 more cherries. Do it quickly before they screw you up with their cannonballs. Mrs. Gourgon can be poisoned. The Wraiths will die to Holy Water. As for the Dead Ropes and the King Mimics, keep throwing elemental stones at them. Firm Belief ----------- Sweet Dynamite x 6 Minotaurus x 6 Tiamat x 6 Iron Ghost x 4 Flying Steel x 1 The Sweet Dynamites are weak to either Flame or Lightning stones. Throw a Heart Throb Cherry, then a Flame or Lightning Stone, then finish up with 2 more cherries. The Minotaurus can be poisoned. The Flying Steel will go down easily to Lightning Stones. The Iron Ghosts, again, are a big headache. Deal with them the same as you did in Ultimate Snake. The Tiamat are actually easily dealt with, it's just that they take a lot of damage to defeat. Keep throwing any elemental stones at them until they die. The following is a tip from Shadowed Zoma. ------------------------------------------ Little tip for chapter 8 item medals (maybe I'm stating something very obvious, but I didn't see it any of the faqs): Fruits (like Poison Apples, Stone Berries, etc) always deal damage equal to 5% of the max hp of the enemy (even if the effect of the fruit doesn't work). Since you can carry 50 of them and have 4 types of fruits that means you can kill up to 10 enemies without having to worry about bombs or elemental stones (and that for the cost of less then 3 Final Bombs). The only exception to this I've noticed are dragons (the big ones). They receive a lot less damage. Petrifying enemies (using Stone Berries) is especially useful on canon type enemies since it prevents them from shooting their cannon balls (which can cost you your medal). Finish them off with a Holy Stone and 2 more berries. ============================================================================= 4.00 COUNTING MEDALS ============================================================================= Just in case you wanted to know how many medals there are, and how the count breaks down. There are 396 medals in the game, and 127 levels. Time Trial 127 medals Wipe Out Medals 127 medals Fishing 23 medals Spheda 119 medals How the Wipe-Out Medals break down: Chapter 1 Underground Channel Chapter 2 Rainbow Butterfly Wood, includes star path Chapter 3 Starlight Canyon, includes star path Chapter 4 Ocean's Roar, includes star path Chapter 5 Mount Gundor, includes star path Chapter 7 Moonflower Palace Chapter 8 Zelmite Mines The Star Path levels are included in their various chapter counts, and do not have a separate count of their own. chapter: 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 TOT ============================================================= Max's Right Hand 1 1 2 2 2 2 2: 12 Max's Gun - 1 1 1 2 1 3: 9 Ridepod Only 1 2 4 4 3 4 6: 24 Monica's Sword - 2 1 2 1 1 2: 9 Monica's Magic - 1 1 1 1 1 2: 7 Monster Transform - 1 4 1 2 3 -: 11 Clear w/o Heal 2 2 1 3 2 5 6: 21 Item Only 1 2 5 3 6 7 10: 34 ------------------------------------------------------------- Totals 5 12 19 17 19 24 31: 127 ============================================================================== 5.00 -- NEED'S MEDAL EXCHANGE ============================================================================== Clown Suit 55 Clown Hat 40 clown Shoes 40 Princess Dress 60 Panther Ensemble 65 Princess Orb 40 Kitty Bell 45 Princess Boots 40 Panther Boots 50 Name-Change Ticket 40 Except for the Name-Change Ticket, all these items are clothing for Max and Monica. You should NEVER get any of the footwear from Mayor Need because there are not enough medals in the game to get everything, and you can invent all the footwear and make it yourself. The Name-Change Ticket is a very interesting item. Ordinarily, it allows you to change the name of a weapon to anything you want. For example, I could call my Battle Wrench "Beast Basher." The interesting thing about the Name-Change Ticket, though, is what happens when you rename a weapon to the name of an existing weapon. If you spell the name EXACTLY as the game spells it, right down to capitalization and punctuation, the weapon itself morphs into the new weapon. For example, you can buy a Battle Wrench, and rename it "Island King." The Battle Wrench would change into an Island King. You can use this property to acquire high end weapons much earlier in the game than you would ordinarily be able to get them. You should know, though, that early in the game, the high end weapons are very slow to level up, and any weapon acquired in this manner is at its lowest stats with almost no Synthesis Points. To use the Name-Change Ticket, enter your inventory, and select the weapon you want to change. You should see a pop-up menu, and one of your options will be to change the name. Select that option, and a screen will pop up that allows you to enter the new name. ************************************************************************** * WARNING: Please save your game before using the Name-Change Ticket. In * * case you make a mistake, you can always reload your game and try it * * again. If you didn't save it, you are stuck with the mistake. And, * * these Name-Change Tickets are limited, since the number of medals you * * can get are limited. * ************************************************************************** ============================================================================== 6.00 -- FAQ ============================================================================== These are some problems that have arisen at the message board at GameFAQs. 1) Clear All w/o Healing. Problem: not getting medal The most frequent cause of this is not understanding exactly when it is that you are awarded the medal. You do NOT get it at the "All Monsters Defeated!" screen. You do not have to defeat all monsters in the level, therefore you do not even have to get to the "All Monsters Defeated!" screen. You get the medal when you exit the level at the exit gate. You must find and use the Gate Key to unlock the exit. Then, choose to exit the level normally and not by using an Escape Powder, or by using the Move command in the submenu. You will be given the medal as you leave the level, provided that you qualified. It is important to remember that using a healing fountain at any time will disqualify you for the medal, even if you have defeated all monsters in the level. If and when you get to the "All Monsters Defeated!" screen, do not forget yourself and use the healing fountain. Exit the level first, and if you need to heal your characters, simply leave the dungeon. 2) Max's Right Hand Weapon. Problem: not getting medal One frequent cause of not getting the medal is having one enemy damage another enemy. Usually this is caused by enemies with a ranged attack of some sort. The cannon type enemies, for example, shoot out a cannonball that will detonate after a few seconds. If any enemies are caught in that blast radius, that disqualifies you for the medal. Another cause would be accidentally reflecting an enemy's attack back at it. Usually this would be with the ranged attacks, like the Gemrons' breath attacks. With Max's hammer or wrench, it is amazingly easy to accidentally reflect these attacks. When going for this medal, you have to be careful. Do not charge up Max's hammer or wrench, since doing so makes it even easier to reflect stuff back. If you have a question that you would like answered in this guide, please send an email to Marion Beauchamp (Darth Mom) at: Mbeau@hotmail.com And please put "Dark Cloud 2 Medal Guide" in the subject line. Thank you. ============================================================================== 7.00 -- CONTRIBUTORS ============================================================================== Thus far, all information and testing has been done by Darth Mom (Marion Beauchamp). If you have any information pertinent to this guide and would like to contribute, please send an email to: Mbeau@hotmail.com And please put "Dark Cloud 2 Medal Guide" in the subject line. Thank you. ====================================== || MEDAL GUIDE IN-DEPTH FAQ END || ======================================