[Insert Pretty ASCII Grandia II Text Here] ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ GRANDIA II: Moves/Magic Attacks Guide FAQ Version: 1.2 - 6/20/04, June 20th, 2004. Contact Info: MagikarpMaster@hotmail.com It's either Mr.E or Rising Chaos. And not at the same time, dudes. ;( ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ I. Table of Contents ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Preface: Contact and FAQ Info --------------------------------------------- I. Table of Contents (Duh) II. Introduction III. General Battle Information A) Statistics B) The IP Bar and IP/Counter Damage C) Status Disorders --------------------------------------------- IV. General Information About Moves V. Detailed Moves Descriptions A) Ryudo B) Elena C) Millenia D) Roan E) Mareg F) Tio VI. Advanced Moves Techniques --------------------------------------------- VII. General Information About Magic VIII. Detailed Magic Descriptions A) Support Magic B) Healing Magic C) Attack Magic IX. Advanced Magic Techniques --------------------------------------------- End: Miscellaneous ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ II. Introduction. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Hmmm. Moves/Magic Attack Guide... I wonder what this FAQ could be for? Well I sure hope you realized this is a guide by the title of the FAQ, otherwise you may be in trouble. O_o Anyway, welcome! Obviously, this is a Guide created in order to bring light to the subject of Moves and Magic. After we get past the general information, I'll be delving into the nitty-gritty of the information. Basically, this guide shall cover every aspect of each character's Moves and every Magic Attack in this wonderful game. In addition to trivial information such as casting costs, I shall give an in- depth analysis of each Attack on what it does, its uses, etc. The guide was created to help everyone. For newer players, it will allow them to learn about each Attack and what makes them worth using or not. For older players, perhaps either playing through the game again to uncover all the secrets they missed before or simply to kill time, this can be used to best evaluate what to use, when, based on their own judgement, or which Attacks simply have the greatest raw power. In layman's Terms: This Guide was created in order to help you, the reader, learn more about Moves and Magic Attacks. It will cover from how to learn a particular Move or Spell to which one aren't even worth your time knowing what they're even called. Also, the primary reason I wrote this is because I'm a bit dissatisfied with the other FAQs posted on such a site as this. While all of the In-Depth guides on battle do contain useful information, it's largely incomplete or simply lists attack decisions and gives little information on why that particular attack is any good or not. This FAQ was created to give a detailed analysis of every Move and Magic Attack in the game, as well as some general information and advanced tactics. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ III. General Battle Information ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Now then, I can't just dive into the good stuff immediately. First I'm going to make you suffer through all the basic knowledge you need to know beforehand. Mwahaha! Anyway... This section will cover basic battle info that is related to our main subject, Moves and Magic Attack. --------------------------------------------- A) Statistics --------------------------------------------- Strength (STR): Actual attack stat. The higher this amount, the more damage that character deals with physical attacks, as well as most Moves. The "Strength" Skill enhances this stat. Attack (ATK): Battle attack stat. This is your Strength plus Attack boosts from certain equipment, and what is used when in battle. Vitality (VIT): Actual defense stat. The higher this amount, the less damage that character takes from enemy physical attacks, as well as some Moves. The "Toughness" Skill enhances this stat. Defense (DEF): Battle defense stat. This is your Vitality, plus Defense boosts from certain equipment, and what is used when in battle. Agility (AGI): Actual agility stat. This higher this amount, the quicker that character's icon advances on the IP Bar. The "Speed" Skill enhances this stat. Action (ACT): Battle agility stat. This is your agility plus Action boosts from certain equipment, and what is used when in battle. Speed (SPD): Actual speed stat. The higher this amount, the larger the distance that character can cover in order to physically attack before that character gets tired. The "Dash" Skill enhances this stat. The "Speed" Skill RAISES AGILITY, AND NOT SPEED. Note: This stat will have no effect on any Moves or Magic Attacks. Movement (MOV): Battle speed stat. This is your speed plus Movement boosts from certain equipment, and what is used in battle. Note: This stat will have no effect on any Moves or Magic Attacks. Magic Attack (MAG): Actual/Battle magic attack stat. The higher this is, the more damage that character does with attack magic, heals with healing magic, and the chance for status magic to work. The "Intelligence" Skill enhances this stat. This is an unalterable stat in battle. Mentality (MEN): Actual/Battle magic defense stat. This higher this is, the less damage that character takes from attack magic and resist abnormal status effects. The "Mentality" Skill enhances this stat. This is an unalterable stat in battle. --------------------------------------------- B) The IP Bar and IP/Counter Damage --------------------------------------------- The IP bar is the large bar in the bottom-right of the battle screen that determines the order of attacks. THE BATTLE IP BAR \/ Enemy: |---------------|---------------|---------------| | | | | COM >>>>>>>>>>> ACT You: |---------------|---------------|---------------| /\ The higher a character's ACT, the faster that icon will move on the IP bar. When the character's icon reaches the COM point, battle will freeze and you are given the chance to enter a command. Once chosen, battle resumes and the icon will move from COM to ACT. When ACT is reached, the given command will be executed. Note: The CPU chooses a command when they reach the halfway point of the bar rather than at COM. Halfway is marked by the enemy icon above, on the line. It gets more complicated. The way icons move on the IP Bar can be affected by certain Spells and Moves, or by special IP Damage effect. IP Damage or stunning occurs when certain attacks or items are used against an opponent. A Stun is nothing more than briefly stopping the icon from advancing, usually due to recoiling from an opponent's attack. IP Damage occurs from special attacks as well as some items. When IP Damage occurs, the icon of the attacked party is pushed back on the IP Bar, making them having to wait longer to act than normal. Some attacks cause greater IP damage than others. The "Full-Body Blow" Skill increases the IP Damage of a character's CRITICAL attack. If IP Damage builds up on a COM opponent who is not cancelled or one at the beginning of the IP Bar, the icon will simply be stunned for the period of time it would have taken for the icon to return where it is, rather than actually be pushed back. A special type of IP Damage is called a "Cancel effect." When certain attacks connect when the opponent's icon is between COM and ACT, a Cancel occurs. A Cancel cancels the opponent's attack animation, and causes their icon to be pushed all the way back to at least the halfway point of the normal IP Bar, forcing them to move back up and re-enter a command. The CRITICAL attack is the most common way to Cancel, but all basic Moves also have this ability. With careful use of IP Damage and Cancels, it is possible for a single enemy of much greater stature to never land an attack on your multiple-member party. Special Note: The Hyper Mogay Bomb is the only item with a Cancel effect. Counter damage is simple. If you opponent (or you) are damaged in the middle of your physical attack animation, a Counter occurs and the damage taken is increased. Counters are usually not important, as they are tougher to plan than Cancels and much less useful. However, they are still there. --------------------------------------------- C) Status Disorders --------------------------------------------- Status: Name of Status Disorder Icon: What the icon that represents it looks like Description: What the Disorder does Oh my. NOT TEH PLAGUE AHAHAHHHHHHHHHHH! Status Disorders are a necessary evil to put up with throughout the world of Grandia II. Of course, you can put them to use too, and some are quite useful. This part covers each abnormality. Status: Sleep Icon: White Bubbles on Blue Square Description: Our best friend through most of the game. Sleep immobilizes the victim for a short time. Wears off after a short time, or usually after a physical hit. Inflicting Sleep resets the IP Bar. Sleep wears off at the end of battle. Status: Confusion Icon: Orange Swirl Description: Mixed results. You cannot control a confused ally, who may attack the enemy or you with any number of attacks. Same occurs when inflicted on the opponent. Inflicting Confusion resets the IP Bar. Confusion wears off at the end of battle. Status: Poison Icon: Poisonous Mushroom Description: Don't bother inflicting on an opponent. A low amount of damage (1-20 or so) occurs when Poisoned. However, heal this when you have it, as it does damage frequently and stuns your character each time it does so. Status: Paralysis Icon: Black Skull on Yellow Explosion Description: Paralysis is almost exactly like Sleep. Only difference is that being hit by a physical attack does not end this. Paralysis wears off after a short time. Paralysis is only inflicted randomly by most Lightning-based Moves and Spells. Inflicting Paralysis resets the IP Bar. Paralysis wears off at the end of battle. Status: Plague Icon: White, Cracked Skull on Dark Green Square Description: Now this is a bad one. When first received, it usually only does simply Poison damage and the like. If not treated, Plague will randomly inflict any of the other status effects at any time, as well as lowering battle stats. Heal it quick before it gets really bad. No player-usable spell inflicts Plague. Status: Move Block Icon: An X-ed out Fist Description: We don't like this. It blocks all Moves from being used, whether or not we have enough SP to cast the Move. Status: Magic Block Icon: A Lightning Bolt crashing down Description: Another one we don't like. It blocks all Magic Attacks from being used, regardless of casting cost and MP we have. Status: Sweatdrop Icon: 3 Sweatdrops Form on the Forehead Description: Not really a Disorder, but this is the effect you suffer from a physical attack if you run too far to attack. You Sweatdrop and miss the rest of your turn. The higher the Movement stat, the longer it takes for this to occur. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ IV. General Information About Moves ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Moves are the "special attacks" of a particular character or enemy. As expected, we will focus on the ones we can use. Moves differ from character to character, and each has a different use. Moves require Special Coins to learn or upgrade, and cannot be cast unless the character has at least the required amount of Special Points required to use the Move. The level of a Move determines casting speed as well as damage potential. Some Moves cannot be learned until a certain scenario has been passed. Should the original target of a Move be defeated, a new target will be randomly chosen to take the attack instead. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ V. Detailed Move Descriptions ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Move: Name of the Move (Lv1, Lv2, Lv3, Lv4, Lv5 cost to learn/upgrade) Cost: Casting Cost in SP Target: What/Where the Move hits "[In-game Description]" [Move Details] Note: Other Information. Not all Moves will be Noted. An asterisk (*) denotes the move is already known when first acquiring the character. "Counter damage" denotes that this Move may cause Counter damage. Level 5 is also known as MAX Level. --------------------------------------------- RYUDO --------------------------------------------- Move: Tenseiken Slash (*, 250, 500, 1000, 2000) Cost: 24 SP Target: One Enemy "Upward slash from below Cancel effect" Tenseiken Slash! The first Move of the game that you'll most likely use. It has a Cancel effect and casts instantly at Lv5. Cheap and effective. Counter damage. Move: Flying Tenseiken (800, 400, 800, 1600, 2400) Cost: 40 SP Target: One Enemy "Uppercut slash with Skye's help" Here goes... Flying Tenseiken! The first of the standard secondary Moves. No Cancel effect like Tenseiken Slash, but has a higher IP Damage effect and does about 50% more damage per level. Move: Purple Lightning (700, 350, 700, 1400, 2800) Cost: 32 SP Target: One Enemy "Deadly slash with a lightning-lit sword" Strike... Purple Lightning! It's not a bad attack, but not particularly useful. Power is balanced between Tenseiken Slash and Flying Tenseiken, but the IP Damage is kinda low. And Wailing Soul Slash is soooo much cooler. =) Lightning-based Move, damage affected partially by enemy Lightning resistance. No cancel but low IP Damage compared to Ryudo's first two Moves, stick with them in most instances. Move: Sky Dragon Slash (1500, 750, 1500, 3000, 6000) Cost: 99 SP Target: All Enemies "The ultimate esoteric deadly slash" Sworn enemies, you shall be defeated! Take that!... Sky Dragon SLASH! SDS = Ouch. In everything. Damage, full-screen shot, and cost. Great attack, just don't use it often because it quickly drains your SP reserves. Otherwise it's powerful, and visually impressive. High IP Damage. Counter Damage. Note: This Move cannot be learned until after defeating Melfice. --------------------------------------------- ELENA --------------------------------------------- Move: Impact Bomb (*, 250, 500, 1000, 2000) Cost: 25 SP Target: One Enemy "Ball of light pounds enemy Cancel effect" Here goes my Impact Bomb! Standard basic Move. Insta-cast at Lv5 ensures easy Cancelling and does decent enough damage. Being Holy- based, it does extra damage to undead foes. Counter Damage. Move: Nightmare Ball (600, 300, 600, 1200, 2400) Cost: 18 SP Target: Enemy Area "Bubbles from staff put enemy to sleep" Staff... of Nightmares! Now this is truly a great attack. What it lacks in power it makes up for in usefulness. Though this is the weakest Move in the game, it sends all enemies it hits to Sleep, usually for a sufficient length of time. Late in the game, Sleep wears off very quick. Even still, the Sleep is nearly guaranteed and at least will reset their IP Bar. Cheap and quick-casting, this is one of the most useful Moves of all. Move: Droplets of Life (1400, 700, 1400, 2800, 5600) Cost: 90 SP Target: All Allies "Water of life restores all" Oh Holy ones, send your rain of life! Bleh, nothing more than a REALLY powerful Alhealer. At Lv5, can heal over 3000 HP, which is usually healing-overkill anyway. Okay, if you're really ailing it can help, because it revives ALL allies (the only multi-revival tool at your disposal) and heals all status ailments. If you're down to only Elena or a two members highly injured, throw it out and save yourself. Not entirely useless, but the only enemies who could hurt you that badly are the ones who can just as easily kill off the remaining party members. Stick to the Alhealer spell except in the most dire of circumstances. Move: White Apocalypse (1200, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800) Cost: 80 SP Target: All Enemies "Intense light reduces enemy to dust" Oh tainted ones, return to the world of Darkness! Quite good. Not as useful as Nightmare Ball, but this move packs the only reliable attack Elena has to deal big damage. Better than Ryudo's SDS, White Apocalypse is cheaper and deals extra (albeit unncessary) damage to undead. Also visually impressive. High IP Damage. Counter damage. --------------------------------------------- MILLENIA --------------------------------------------- Move: Arrow Shot (*, 250, 500, 1000, 2000) Cost: 25 SP Target: One Enemy "A single surefire shot" This may sting a little...! Easy. Millenia's basic Move. No worse than the rest of them, a good attack to use. As with all basic attack, it casts instantly on Lv5 and has a Cancel effect. Counter damage. Move: Heel Crush (500, 250, 500, 1000, 2000) Cost: 20 SP Target: One Enemy "Deadly heel attack saps enemy spirit" Bet you like this, you pig! Now we get into the good stuff that are Millenia's remaining Moves. Slightly weaker than Arrow Shot, but it's particularly useful for Bosses. Deals damage and decreases all enemy parameters by 1. While a good Move, it will later be overshadowed. Only non-basic Move to have the low upgrade cost of the basic techniques. Move: Fallen Wings (*, 400, 800, 1600, 3200) Cost: 75 SP Target: All Enemies "Attack with wing power" This is my way of thanking you... Well you just have to appreciate the little anime-modeled cutscene you get with it. Anyway, like Heel Crush, this is a fairly good attack on its own, but will also be overshadowed soon. Only non-basic Move to already be learnt. Medium-High IP Damage effect. Counter damage. Move: Starving Tongue (600, 300, 600, 1200, 2400) Cost: 55 SP Target: All Enemies "Absorb HP with tongue power" Chew on this, baby! And this is what overshadows Fallen Wings. Starving Tongue, like the rest of Valmar-based Moves, has a really bad-ass animation to it. Fallen Wings DOES have a higher IP Damage effect, but otherwise is inferior to this Move. This attack heals Millenia equal to the damage done to all enemies. Counter damage. Note: This Move cannot be learned until after the Tongue of Valmar has been defeated and absorbed by Millenia. Move: Spellbinding Eye (1000, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000) Cost: 60 SP Target: One Enemy "Block enemy movement" You're scared, aren't ya? This is the Move to overshadow Heel Crush for Bosses, AND IS UNDISPUTABLY THE GREATEST MOVE IN THE GAME. Why is that? It stops the enemy's IP Bar movement. This effect can last anywhere from a single round to several minutes depending on the level of this Move. Being frozen in place allows easy IP Damage effects to keep pushing the icon further and further back which makes it extremely easy to reapply this after it wears off. Also deals small damage, like Poison. And to move it into the category of CHEAP, Eye even works on all the final fight Bosses. It just doesn't get better than this. Note(1): Any enemy that depends on the movement of another enemy (Melfice's Sword, Tentacle, etc.) will not be able to physically attack so long as their movement-anchor is under the influence of Spell- Binding Eye (Melfice, Valmar's Eye, etc.). Note(2): This Move cannot be learned until after the Eye of Valmar has been defeated and absorbed by Millenia. Move: Gruding Claws (700, 350, 700, 1400, 2800) Cost: 42 SP Target: One Enemy "Split enemy with claw power" Mmm, fresh ground hamburger...! Basically akin to Flying Tenseiken, only used by Millenia. Raw damage and a good animation. High IP Damage effect. Counter damage. Note: This Move cannot be learned until after the Claws of Valmar have been defeated and absorbed by Millenia. --------------------------------------------- ROAN --------------------------------------------- Move: Golden Hammer (*, 250, 500, 1000, 2000) Cost: 22 SP Target: One Enemy "Attack with a hammer Cancel effect" Yet another reincarnation of Tenseiken Slash. However, this one is the cheapest casting cost of the basic moves. As the rest, Lv5 instacast and Cancel effect. This attack does not change after Roan rejoins the party, though he simply says "There!" rather than "Golden Hammer... Crash!" Counter damage. Move: Dragon Rise (800, 400, 800, 1600, 3200) Cost: 38 SP Target: One Enemy "Legendary esoteric attack" Dragon Rise! Standard secondary skill, just as Flying Tenseiken. Lower IP Damage than FT but slightly cheaper. Otherwise it's basically the same, in terms of battle. Medium-High IP Damage. Note: This Move is replaced by True Dragon Rise once Roan rejoins the party. Move: True Dragon Rise (Same as above) Cost: 42 SP Target: One Enemy "True legendary esoteric deadly attack" The ultimate secret... True Dragon Rise! Why is this a million times better than the regular version? You don't have to hear Roan's squeaky voice anymore! You get his more mature voice, thank you. Slightly more powerful and more expensive, but otherwise the same as Dragon Rise. High IP Damage. Note: This Move replaces Dragon Rise once Roan rejoins the party. It starts on the same level that Dragon Rise was on when Roan first leaves. Move: Snowball Fight (700, 350, 700, 1400, 2800) Cost: 40 SP Target: All Enemies "Attack by throwing a huge snowball" Expect an early winter, with lots of snow! This is better than what it is replaced with, unfortunately. This is the cheapest All Enemies-targeted type Moves, automatically making it worthwhile. Ice-Based Move, damage affected partially by enemy Blizzard resistance. Use it while you still have the chance to. Counter damage. Note: This Move is replaced by Ice Prison once Roan rejoins the party. Move: Ice Prison (Same as above) Cost: 30 SP Target: One Enemy "Deadly slash with cold" Chill out! Ice Prison! This actually is not a bad attack. It is akin to Ryudo's Purple Lightning, but it more useful because the cost gap between Ice Prison and TDR is larger than it is with Purple Lightning and Flying Tenseiken. Slightly less powerful than TDR. However, no IP Damage. Note: This Move replaces Snowball Fight once Roan rejoins the party. It starts on the same level that Snowball Fight was on when Roan first leaves. Move: Vitality March (400, 200, 400, 800, 1600) Cost: 20 SP Target: All Allies "Cures status disorders" Let my music cure you all! Does just what the description says. Heals all Status Disorders on all party members. This is useful in battle when you have Status Disorders on multiple party members at once. Note: Roan cannot use this spell to remove a Move Block inflicted upon himself. --------------------------------------------- MAREG --------------------------------------------- Move: Beast-Fang Cut (*, 250, 500, 1000, 2000) Cost: 26 SP Target: One Enemy "Spirited axe attack Cancel effect" Beast-Fang Cut! Yawn. Same old basic attack. Lv5 instant casting, average power, and a Cancel effect. Good general Move, as always. Counter damage. Move: Beast-King Smash (800, 400, 800, 1600, 3200) Cost: 44 SP Target: One Enemy "Killer blow with all mind and body" Beast-King Smash! Standard secondary attack, doing about 50% more than BK-Cut and a high IP Damage effect. Also cool seeing Mareg flip around the way he does. Move: Beast-King Blast (1000, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000) Cost: 52 SP Target: Mareg "Blast enemy with beast-soul power" Rawr... BEAST-KING BLAST! Ahh, something refreshing and new. Damage ranges between BK-Cut and BK-Smash, but this Move is different from the others. The center of the attack is Mareg himself, and anything within the proper distance of Mareg gets hit. Don't bother with a single enemy, but it's a good Move if there are 2-3 enemies within Mareg's hit range. Fire-based, damage affected by enemy Fire resistance. Counter damage. Move: Lion's Roar (600, 300, 600, 1200, 2400) Cost: 18 SP Target: All Allies "Heartening roar ups attack power" All heed the lion's roar! Well, nothing much to this move. Only thing it does is modify the Attack stat +1 to all allies. Since stat mods aren't particularly useful in the game for the most part, use should be limited. However, it's really cheap, so feel free to use it when wanted. --------------------------------------------- TIO --------------------------------------------- Move: Lotus Flower (*, 250, 500, 1000, 2000) Cost: 28 SP Target: Enemy Line "A splendid attack Cancel effect" Lotus Flower, bloom!A twist on basic techniques. Unlike the rest, this one has the ability to connect with multiple targets. It's a small line, but still entirely possible. Though weaker and costlier than the rest, its chance to hit more than one enemy make it more useful in more situations. Lv5 instant castings, Cancel effect. Counter damage. And perty... Note: Though this is classified as an Enemy Line Move, the size of the hit area is much smaller compared to other Enemy Line-type attacks. Move: Fast-Dance Whirl (800, 400, 800, 1600, 3200) Cost: 38 SP Target: One Enemy "A legendary attack dance" Here it goes! Nothing much to explain, about the same as Flying Tenseiken, TDR, Grduging Claws, and BK-Smash. Medium-High IP Damage. Move: Tornado (1000, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000) Cost: 48 SP Target: All Enemies "A dance move that stops wind currents" Release wind! The cheapest All Enemies targeted attack that your later party will possess. It casts fairly quick too, making it a good Move choice. All foes and allies (except Tio herself) are randomly blown to a place on the battlefield, except exceptionally large or stationary enemies. No IP Damage. Counter damage. Move: Whisper to Stars (600, 300, 600, 1200, 2400) Cost: 36 SP Target: All Allies "Power of stars raise all variable stats" Oh stars above, please listen to my voice! Compared to Lion's Roar, this is a Godsend. A quality move. Raises Attack/Defense/Action/Movement by one level to all party members. Note: This Move cannot be learned until Mareg has died and your party returns from the Moon. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ VI. Advanced Moves Techniques ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ One that everyone should know. As Level 5 basic techniques (the first ones listed under each character above) cast instantly, use them to cancel dangerous attack about to be performed by the enemy. Do not underestimate Elena's Nightmare Ball. Its sleep effect, at higher levels, work even on the toughest of opponents. The Devils of Raul Hills can be slept using this Move. Though it wears off nearly instantly against them, Elena can put an IP hold on them by resetting their IP Bars with sleep repeatedly. Remember that the secondary techniques (FlyTen, GrudClaws, TDR, BK-Smash, and F-DW) all have about double the IP Damage effect of their basic counter- parts. If you're going to hit the enemy before they reach the COM point, use these Moves to deal IP Damage instead. Don't use Moves for everything. Sure, that's what this guide covers, but use your common sense for this one. If you can already finish off your enemy with little to no damage without using your Moves, then don't go and waste Special Points. But feel free to go crazy if you're right by a save point. After defeating the Eye of Valmar, always save every last SP of Millenia's for using Spellbinding Eye against each Boss she faces in the future. Making them completely helpless and completely harmless, there's nothing else you could possibly do that would be of better use. Once you're under 60 SP, either restore Millenia's SP with items or use what's left to sap their stats with Heel Crush. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ VII. General Information About Magic ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ The first rule of Magic is: Though (almost) every Move has its good and its bad uses, the same does NOT hold true for Magic. Not every Magic is good, not every Magic is useful. First off, most Stat Mod Magic is NOT useful, with the exception of ACT-altering ones. Only once reaching levels 3-5 do they start working well, and by then you could've easily killed your enemy or severely weakened a boss. Magic is contained in the 8 different Mana Eggs found throughout the game. Magic Coins are required to learn or upgrade the spell, just as Moves. To use a particular spell, you must equip a character with a Mana Egg that has that spell learned to it. Magic Attacks require Magic Points, or MP, to use. Magic Attacks normally do not have Cancel effects, but some may obtain this trait through the "Magica Esoterica" Skill. This usually works on most single-target attack Magics. There are 8 different Elements that each Magic Attack falls under. Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Blizzard, Forest, Explosion, and Water. Any damage a spell of each Element deals to an enemy may be reduced or negated depending on the enemy's resistance to that element. In a sense, Explosion-Type is "non-elemental," or is a universal type. No enemy resists this type of attack. Water Element has no damaging spells. Magic Attack (MAG) affects damage done, amount of healing, or success rate of a status-inducing spell. Mentality (MEN), or Magic Defense, affects the amount of damage the target takes, and their ability to resist status change. Should the original target of a Magic Attack be defeated, a different target will randomly be chosen to take its effect. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ VIII. Detailed Magic Descriptions ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Magic: Name of Magic Attack Cost: Casting Cost in MP Type: Element of Spell Eggs: Mana Eggs on which this spell can be found Target: Who/Where the Magic Affects "[In-Game description]" [Magic Attack Details] Note: Other information. Not all Magic will have notes. If anybody would like to help me on which attack Magics can Counter and which cannot, please e-mail me the list and I will be glad to credit you for it. --------------------------------------------- A) Support Magic --------------------------------------------- Support Magic are non-damaging spells that... Support you. Support Magic usually comes in the form of Stat Modifiers or Status Magic. Stat Modifers alter battle parameters: Attack, Defense, Action, Movement. Usually single- target Modifiers alter that stat by 2, while multitarget Modifiers will often lower that stat by 1. Status Magic includes all Magic that causes Status Disorders on the enemy. Status Magic inflicts nasty side-effects on the enemy that affects their ability to battle. As Magic is found on many Mana Eggs, and is much cheaper to learn and upgrade, I will not be listing the costs for them, unless I get flooded with requests for it or something. =P Magic: WOW! Cost: 5 Type: Explosion Eggs: Holy, Gravity, Star, Fairy Target: One Ally "Ups attack power" WOW! What an attack! Well, not really. WOW! simply add +2 Attack to an ally of your choice. It's ok early on, but just skip it later in the game. Magic: Stram Cost: 6 Type: Lightning Eggs: Chaos, Soul, Star, Fairy Target: One Enemy "Robs strength and drops enemy defense" Stram subtracts -2 Attack from an enemy of your choice. Nothing more. Not a particularly useful spell, unless your opponent already has +4 or +5 Attack. Does NOT drop Defense as it says. Magic: Diggin' Cost: 4 Type: Earth Eggs: Holy, Mist, Star, Fairy Target: All Allies "Ups defense with the power of earth" Cast Diggin' to gain a +1 Defense for All Allies for that battle. Peh, this one's useless, +1 is too small. Magic: Def-Loss Cost: 5 Type: Earth Eggs: Mist, Gravity, Soul, Fairy Target: All Enemies "Drops defense with the power of earth" Same as Diggin', except casts a -1 Defense modifier to All Enemies. Equally worthless as its counterpart. Magic: Speedy Cost: 7 Type: Forest Eggs: Holy, Mist, Star, Fairy Target: One Ally "Forest life-force ups movement ability" Now this isn't a bad one. Adding +2 Action to an ally can make a difference. Use this once or twice to substantially speed up a character or to counteract Cold. Combine this with Cold to even out the speed difference between your characters and Bosses. No, it does NOT increase Movement as it says. Magic: Cold Cost: 7 Type: Blizzard Eggs: Chaos, Gravity, Soul, Fairy Target: One Enemy "Drops movement with soul-chilling cold" Speedy's counterpart. This is actually better than Speedy usually, since it's faster to cast 2 Colds on 1 or 2 parts of a boss than it is to cast 2 Speedy on 3-4 party members. And no, it does NOT drop Movement as it says. Magic: Runner Cost: 3 Type: Wind Eggs: Holy, Chaos, Mist, Fairy Target: All Allies "Boosts movement with a tailwind" Bleh. Movement's no good, it only helps to give you a longer range for running to physically attack an opponent. Your natural Movement should usually suffice anyway. Magic: Freeze! Cost: 5 Type: Blizzard Eggs: Chaos, Gravity, Soul, Fairy Target: All Enemies "Drops action with bone-chilling cold" Equally as bad as Runner. 'Nuff said. Does NOT drop action as it says. Magic: Snooze Cost: 5 Type: Water Eggs: Holy, Chaos, Gravity, Star Target: All Enemies "Puts enemies to sleep with bubbles" Overall, it's cheap and effective. It's useful through the beginning of the game when everything falls for it. Once past Lumir Forest, though, it loses its power to sleep consistantly. Good at first, eventually will fall into disuse. Note: One of only 4 Spells to not belong to either the Fairy or Dragon Eggs. Magic: Craze Cost: 10 Type: Forest Eggs: Gravity, Soul, Fairy Target: Enemy Area "Confuse enemy by dropping spores" While Confusion is not as desirable as sleep, it's more powerful. Craze will continue to work through the entire game, also gotten later. =P Craze should mostly be used to reset the opponent's IP Bar, as Confusion is NOT a reliable Status Disorder. Magic: Fiora Cost: 12 Type: Blizzard Eggs: Holy, Chaos, Gravity Target: Enemy Area "Magic symbol blocks enemy moves" I suppose it's not bad. For all practical purposes though, it's not useful. Fiora doesn't have a high chance of working on later enemies (the ones who actually use Moves) and could be killed by the time you do get it to work. Pass. Note: One of only 4 Spells to not belong to either the Fairy or Dragon Eggs. Magic: Shhh! Cost: 10 Type: Wind Eggs: Holy, Mist, Soul Target: Enemy Area "Blocks magic with a vacuum" Same as Fiora. By the time you reach enemies that start to use Magic often enough that you'd actually have a use for this spell, it no longer works on them. Once again, pass. Note: One of only 4 Spells to not belong to either the Fairy or Dragon Eggs. Magic: Gravity Cost: 8 Type: Earth Eggs: Holy, Mist, Star, Fairy Target: Enemy Area "Use gravity to gather enemies" The spell that gravitizes other enemies toward your target. Use this to bunch up spread out enemies, making them easy to hit with Enemy Area or Enemy Line-type Magic Attacks. Note: Though it is classified as an Enemy Area-type Magic Attack, it is different than others of its type. The Area that this spell covers is MUCH larger than other Enemy Area-type Magic Attacks, allowing it to gather up enemies that you would normally miss if using a different Spell. --------------------------------------------- B) Healing Magic --------------------------------------------- We like this magic, don't we? Virtually required for long, tough battles. Certainly you know what Healing Magic does? WHAT?! YOU DON'T?! *gasps for air* It heals you! Healing Magic is used to heal either Hit Points or adverse Status Disorders. Magic: Heal Cost: 6 Type: Water Eggs: Holy, Chaos, Mist, Gravity, Soul, Fairy Target: One Ally "Restores a little HP" Your basic healing spell. As it is a bit weak later on in the game, it's best to use them in between battles, so as to not waste turns on what could be used to finish off the opponent sooner. Average Magic-User should heal 1000- 1500 HP later on in the game, or less while in the Pause Menu. Magic: Healer Cost: 12 Type: Water Eggs: Holy, Chaos, Mist, Soul, Fairy Target: One Ally "Restores a lot of HP" More suited to battle healing. Costs twice as much, however it is more powerful than Heal, allowing you to get back to defending yourself quicker. Average Magic-User should heal 1500-2000 HP later in the game. Magic: Healer+ Cost: 24 Type: Water Eggs: Holy, Mist, Fairy Target: One Ally "Restores a whole lot of HP" This is more of a desparation heal than anything. As it will most likely heal over 3000 HP in one go, use this only if you've been slammed by a huge attack and in dire need of the quickest healing possible in the shortest amount of time. Magic: Alhealer Cost: 18 Type: Water Eggs: Holy, Gravity, Soul, Fairy Target: All Allies "Restores a lot of HP" Best suited to battle healing. It only costs 6 more MP than Healer, and acts as a "Healer" to All Allies. Very useful for healing the entire party at once. If the entire party is damage rather than 1 or 2 characters, use this to heal them instead of Heal from the Pause Menu. Magic: Cure Cost: 4 Type: Forest Eggs: Holy, Mist, Star, Fairy Target: One Ally "Green power cures poison and paralysis" If you find somebody Poisoned or an important character that has becomed Paralyzed, this is your go-to Spell. Try to cure Poison outside of battle unless absolutely necessary. Magic: Refresh Cost: 12 Type: Forest Eggs: Holy, Mist, Fairy Target: One Ally "Unblocks magic/moves" Very useful once the game gets going. Use this to removed any Move or Magic Blocks on your characters. If you're in a major battle, remove Blocks ASAP. Otherwise just heal after the battle ends. Note: If a character is inflicted with Magic Block, they cannot use Refresh on themselves to remove the Block. Magic: Halvah Cost: 24 Type: Forest Eggs: Gravity, Soul, Fairy Target: One Ally "Cures all status abnormalities" Ahh, the Cure-All sort of thing. It's expensive for removing statuses. Use Cure or Refresh if possible, or outside of battle. Only use Halvah if it cannot be removed by the other two, such as Plague. Still has use, though. Magic: Resurrect Cost: 40 Type: Water Eggs: Mist, Soul, Star, Fairy Target: One Ally "Revives a fallen character" Well hopefully this is a useless spell for you. If you have to use this, it means you've let a character fall under "Fallen" Status, normally referred to as being "killed" or "KOed." Resurrect revives Fallen characters and restores them to full HP. --------------------------------------------- C) Attack Magic --------------------------------------------- The meat and potatoes of Magic Attacks. Now this is the stuff we want to see! Big, mean attacks that decimate the opponent through use of force. Nummy. Attack Magics are the damaging moves that come from the Mana Eggs. Damage dealt depends not only on MAG, but will do less damage if the enemy has any sort of resistance to that particular element. Explosion-Type Magics are not resisted. Also, some Attack Magic deals a large amount of IP Damage and a big stun, while others give no IP Damage and virtually no stun. Magic: Poizn Cost: 15 Type: Forest Eggs: Mist, Gravity, Soul Target: Enemy Area "Covers a range with a poisonous gel" Eww. The first Attack Magic we cover is the worst of the bunch. It is the only Magic that can inflict Poison on the enemy. However, Poison is much less an annoyance to them as it is to us. Weakest damage and bad side-effect make this a bad choice normally. Note: One of only 4 Spells to not belong to either the Fairy or Dragon Eggs. Magic: Tremor Cost: 15 Type: Earth Eggs: Holy, Gravity, Star, Dragon Target: Enemy Area "Call up earth energy and attack" It's not bad. Though it is weak, it has a cheap cost and is a fine choice if you can exploit elemental weaknesses. Magic: Quake Cost: 40 Type: Earth Eggs: Holy, Gravity, Star, Dragon Target: All Enemies "Attack all enemies with earth rage" This isn't a particularly powerful Magic Attack compared to all other ones that target every enemy. But it's cheaper, so use this when you're a bit short on MP or to exploit an Earth weakness. Magic: Crackle Cost: 16 Type: Blizzard Eggs: Holy, Mist, Dragon Target: One Enemy "Attack enemy with icicle knives" Meh. You can get decent damage out of it, but you're usually just as well off using a powerful character to Combo the enemy rather than use this. Still okay against Ice-weak enemies, though. Magic: Crackling Cost: 52 Type: Blizzard Eggs: Holy, Mist, Dragon Target: All Enemies "Attack enemies with diamond dust" A big improvement in usefulness over Crackle. It's very powerful, and can be used to deal a very large amount of damage to multiple enemies at once. Just don't use it on Ice-based enemies. Magic: Howl Cost: 9 Type: Wind Eggs: Chaos, Mist, Soul, Dragon Target: Enemy Area "Attack with tornado energy" Howl should be your best friend through most of the game. It's the cheapest costing multitarget (damaging) Magic Attack in the game. It's a bit weaker than the other multitarget spells, but it still serves its purpose, and can actually become quite powerful if you invest in your Wind-based Chant Skills. A prime choice. Small IP Damage. Magic: Howlslash Cost: 14 Type: Wind Eggs: Chaos, Mist, Soul, Dragon Target: Enemy Line "Attack with sharp wind blades" Like Howl, this is also a very powerful attack for the cost. Cheapest second-level (damaging) Magic Attack spell. Has quite a large IP Damage effect for its cost and power. Again, a prime choice. Magic: Howlnado Cost: 45 Type: Wind Eggs: Chaos, Mist, Soul, Dragon Target: All Enemies "Tornado attack that engulfs all enemies" The last installment of the Howl series brings us to Howlnado. The cost evens out here. Howlnado is not an extremely cheap-for-the-power Magic Attacks that its weaker brothers are, but it's still a powerful choice for clearing out troublesome enemies. May cause Confusion. The animation stuns enemies... dropping them on their heads tends to do that. Magic: Burn! Cost: 6 Type: Fire Eggs: Chaos, Gravity, Star, Dragon Target: One Enemy "Attack enemy with fireballs" Burn! is merely average at best. This Magic should not be used very often, but can still be useful when used by weaker characters, such as Elena and Millenia. At least it's cheap. Magic: Burnflame Cost: 16 Type: Fire Eggs: Chaos, Gravity, Star, Dragon Target: Enemy Area "Attack with a huge pillar of fire" This is an improvement over Burn! It can hit multiple enemies for a cheap cost. Unlike Poizn, it has a tolerable power and is useful early on, when many enemies are weak to Fire. If things are just out of range of Howlslash's Line Area (or if the enemy is weak to Fire or resistant to Wind), use this instead. Albeit not as useful as Howl or Howlslash, a good attack nontheless. Magic: Burnstrike Cost: 20 Type: Fire Eggs: Chaos, Star, Dragon Target: One Enemy "Attack enemy with countless firebirds" Eh. It's kinda like Crackle, except slightly more powerful and a few MP more expensive. If anything, use it to watch its animation. =P MP can be better spent. =\ Magic: Hellburner Cost: 42 Type: Fire Eggs: Chaos, Gravity, Star, Dragon Target: All Enemies "Burn up enemy with hellfire" Same ol' multitarget power spell. Only Fire, this time. Average Magic Attack. Magic: Zap! Cost: 24 Type: Lightning Eggs: Chaos, Soul, Star, Dragon Target: Enemy Area "Attack by shooting balls of lightning" Now this is a good spell. It's not much less powerful than the power Spells (Quake, Crackling, etc.) but a heck of a lot cheaper. Enemy Area is usually good enough to hit all enemies, making this extremely damaging for the cost. One of the best. Also, may cause Paralysis. However, should they be outside of the area's range... Magic: Zap All Cost: 36 Type: Lightning Eggs: Chaos, Soul, Star, Dragon Target: All Enemies "Lightning attack Burns all enemies" ...then use Zap All. =P Actually, Zap All is a big step down from Zap! it's basically Zap! at a 50% higher casting cost. However, it can hit enemies across the screen and it still just as powerful as the other power spells, and still cheaper. Also, may cause Paralysis. Another highly recommended Magic Attack, but stick to Zap! if you can still hit everything with it. Magic: DragonZap Cost: 58 Type: Lightning Eggs: Chaos, Dragon Target: Enemy Line "Attack with dragon lightning" Completely bad-ass. 8) As an actual Spell, it's not bad either. One of the most damaging spells, and may cause Paralysis. You just have to appreciate the good job the animators did on this spell. Magic: GadZap Cost: 55 Type: Lightning Eggs: Soul, Dragon Target: One Enemy "Attack with holy lightning from heaven" Well there's not much to say about it. Quite impressive animation, as all Lightning Spells get. Single most powerful attack in the game, and still may cause Paralysis. Probably the best choice for attacking a single opponent. Magic: BOOM! Cost: 22 Type: Explosion Eggs: Gravity, Star, Dragon Target: Enemy Area "Attack with an explosion" BOOM! is a pretty good spell. It's not quite as powerful as Zap!, but this actually does decent IP Damage also. Being Explosion, no enemy has an elemental resistance to this spell. Magic: BA-BOOM! Cost: 75 Type: Explosion Eggs: Gravity, Dragon Target: All Enemies "Attack with a huge explosion" Most expensive Magic Attack. As powerful as DragonZap and barely under Meteor Strike and GadZap, it's a good choice for clearing the screen. Use BA-BOOM! if you can't hit everything with DragonZap or face any Lightning-based enemies. Nuke effect. 8) Magic: Meteor Strike Cost: 50 Type: Explosion Eggs: Star, Dragon Target: One Enemy "Meteor attack from the sky" Mmm. Meteor Strike is our second most powerful Magic Attack, and like GadZap, only hits a single target. Will be just as useful as GadZap, since while it is barely less powerful, some of the later bosses take no damage from Lightning Magics. Once again, a cool-looking Spell. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ IX. Advanced Magic Techniques ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Unless you're near a Save Cone or just HAVE to view one of the greatest attack animations, save your MP and use only what you need to defeat the enemy. Equipping a character with two Chant Skills that boost the same type of Magic (such as Zapfire and Boomflame Chants) will cause all Magic of that type to cast instantly. (This only occurs if both of those Skills are MAX Level.) The damage/healing boosts are cumulative, so any spell under the influence of multiple Chants will not only cast instantly, but damage/heal double that of normal. Keep this in mind. Magica Esoterica, the final Skill in the final Book, will give most single- target damaging Magic Attacks a Cancel effect. If an enemy is running across the battlefield to attack your party physically, using Gravity on that enemy will instantly cause them to Sweatdrop (tire out) and lose their turn. If you somehow manage to put up with using Freeze! 5 times on the enemy, any enemies with -5 Movement modifiers will not be able to move at all if attempting to physically attack you. =) Use Craze or Snooze to cause Confusion or Sleep, which reset the opponent's IP Bar. Lightning attacks sporadically cause Paralysis, which also resets the Bar. Equipping all 3 Chants that relate to a single element on one character has no more effect than 2 Chants. As with the above example, if we added in Wizardry Chant to the other two, it would have no additional effect. ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ End: Miscellaneous ~+~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~+~ Well I'd say that's about it. We've covered each of the character's Moves and all of the Magic Attacks within the game in close detail. If you have any questions (perhaps I was a little TOO specific on some thing) or any additional information to contribute or correct, my contact information is at the top of this guide. I'd like to have some people to have on my contributor list! --------------------------------------------- _Thanks to:_ Alex Joshua- For the idea of the IP Bar representation demonstrated in his Battle FAQ. Wulfson- His Special Attacks Guide has all of the upgrade costs for each Move, allowing me to get the information I was missing without starting my game over yet again. Sonuis- An IRC friend of mine who did a bit of proofreading for me, and all that good jazz. Fixed a couple of typos and fixed something wrong with the description for Roan's "Snowball Fight." Chris Converso- He informs me that "Droplets of Life" heals status ailments and revives all Fallen allies, in addition to heal. Unfortunately, I can't confirm this myself due to the lack of this game at the moment, so I'll just have to take his word for it. Either way, here he is on the list. --------------------------------------------- This is Mr.E saying, "Good fight, good night." ... Wait a minute, that's not the right one. Let's try that again. "Thank you and goodnight!" Much better. --------------------------------------------- _Update History_ Septemper 26, 2002: First version of FAQ. Septemper 29, 2002: Fixed a typo within Roan's Movelist and added in Tio's "Lotus Flower" quote. Slight modification to Copyright statement. June 20, 2004: Hey cool got an e-mail on my FAQ. That doesn't happen very often. "Droplets of Life" description updated, Chris Converso added to the Contributor's List. --------------------------------------------- This Guide Copyright© 2002 Mr.E, all rights reserved. This FAQ may not be used on any website or any game information site without my permission (except GameFAQs), and may not be used in order to generate any monetary gain. Be sure to give credit where it's due. If you get my permission to use a FAQ somewhere, don't claim it for your own.=P This may be viewed and/or printed for personal use if so desired. If you want to put it on a site, just ask! I'm not a big, mean orge-man. I have no reason not to let you have it so long as you give me credit unless you're EXTREMELY suspicious for some odd reason or another. I just won't be very happy if I find this in a place I never knew about without my knowledge or with no due credit given. No problems with this so far...