---|---- / | | | _________ .----. --/----- --, ,--|--, /___|___ | | | |----| / / / |__|__| / | | | | |----| o /_ / -'|\| | | --|-- --- ___|___ | | | ---------- ' ,`. | `-|--| ,-|-,--,-- | | | | _,-' `\ _,' \ | | |-+-| / ___|____ _|__|__|_ `-|-' ,/ \ --|-- '---'' NOCTURNE I speak to my disciples-- In the future I see the destruction of the Sangai. When the sound of the revolving drum reaches the ends of the universe, the Eastern Palace will enter into the Taizo with glory. The people of the world will become as red souls through Daihi, and the throng of demons will follow this transformation. The secret master will stand before the souls' Renge and announce a Kotowari. This will become the Law of the Creation of the world. --From Book 4, Section 24 of the Miroku Scriptures The apocalypse of a wrathful god, or an allegory of the demon lord; Our world died. A man belonging to a strange sect foretold the destruction, which took place when the light called for it. Chaos creeps up from the depths of an ocean deep underground. Scorched earth, where Death attacks Death. Searching for a god to pray to, only death and demons respond. The mocking darkness lies to me. "The truth can be found in the flames of the Menorah" --From the notes of a man that vanished into another dimension ================================ SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI III: NOCTURNE FAQ/WALKTHROUGH (UPDATED FOR MANIACS) August 16, 2004 Version 1.2 By: Ian Kelley Email: masakadokou@yahoo.com ================================= This Document is Copyright 2003, 2004 by Ian Kelley. All Rights Reserved. It is protected by US and International Copyright Law. It is for private and personal use only, and cannot be reprinted in or reproduced in part or in entirety without the express written consent of the author. This document is intended to be free and may not be used for any sort of commercial venture, be that selling it, giving it away as a promotion, or making otherwise making available for profit. It may not be used or distributed by any website, organization, or individual, nor may it be used as a refererence or altered by anyone (such as strategy guide authors/publishers or magazine staff) without express permission of the author. Megami Tensei is a copyright of Atlus. I am not affiliated with Atlus in any way nor is this document an official guide authorized by Atlus. ################################################################################ IMPORTANT NOTES: ################################################################################ HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE: ====================== This document is formatted to look right with a fixed-width font, and looks best in around a 9 point font in an 80-column window. It is in Shift-JIS format for the Japanese characters. This guide is divided into two sections--an FAQ, under which all the pertinent data regarding the game's system and so forth is covered, and a walkthrough as a step-by-step guide through the actual game itself. Shin Megami Tensei III has a total of five different alignment paths through the game. (Six for Maniacs) While I've included most of the deviations in dialogue, etc. that take place in each alignment path, there may be some minor differences I didn't cover. EMAIL/CONTACT POLICY: ===================== I get a ton of email about the various guides I write, and I don't have the time or the inclination to answer it all. I actually do not answer the majority of the email I get regarding my FAQs, because most of them are not worth responding to. If you are writing me an email and want me to respond, keep the following things in mind: * I have a very low tolerance threshold for stupid questions. If you need to ask a question, make sure the answer isn't already in this FAQ. The "Find" option of your text editor is your best friend. * Really basic translation questions I will also consider as "stupid questions." If you are playing this game, I am going to assume you can at least read the Hiragana and Katakana. I can understand if you can't do the Kanji or Japanese grammar, but quite frankly, if you cannot read one writ of Japanese on your own you should not be playing a game as text-heavy as this. Questions regarding clarification or further explanation of the FAQ are welcomed and encouraged, but if you need more hand-holding than these 300 pages of FAQ can provide, it's time to crack open a Japanese dictionary. Questions like "translate the menu choices for me" or "What is Raku-kaja" are likely to get you tossed into my killfile. (That last one is a question I actually got recently, which demonstrates that the asker not only could not read the kana, but was too lazy to search through the FAQ for the answer as well.) * Put the name of the game you're asking the question for in the subject line at least, and at least in the body of the text! I write a lot of FAQs and it'll help if I know what game you're talking about. Plus it will greatly increase the chance of my reading your email and not accidentally deleting it as spam. (Viva la 21st Century Internet and the spam flood it spawned...) * I'm not going to be anal about it, but try and keep a decent semblance of grammar and punctuation. Also refrain from using AOL-netspeak; use "you" instead of "u" and the like. It's only two keystrokes difference, come on. Other than that, if you have any questions or have found any errors in this guide, please email me and let me know. Error reports are especially helpful (hint, hint) Keep in mind I've tried to include everything I know about Shin Megami Tensei III in this guide and am not hiding any juicy information--if it's not in this guide, there's a good chance I won't know, though it won't hurt to ask me. If you send me corrections or additions to the FAQ, unless you specify that you wish otherwise, I will add your name (or handle) crediting you for your contribution at the point of contribution (e.g. "XXX says that [your info]" unless it's in an unwieldy place. (like, say, for example, I messed up in some of the demon data and you corrected me, it would break the flow of the document to place a credit to you smack in the middle of the demon data) In that case you'll be added to the end of the document in the credits section. Again, if for whatever reason you do not wish to be specifically credited for your contributions to the FAQ, please let me know. Oh, and if you're one of those psychos that wants to track down my home phone number and call me about the game--you're probably out of luck, as my number is now unlisted. :) (Yep, it's true--back when I was in college and writing FAQs from my now-defunct mail account at ikelley@mail.sas.upenn.edu, there were a few loons that tracked down my number via the university directory to ask me questions about games over the phone.) HOSTING THIS FAQ: ================= If you want to host this FAQ on your site, your site must be either A) GameFAQs.com or B) a specific Megami Tensei-themed site. If you are B) email me first to ask so I know. If you have just a general-purpose game FAQ repository site that leeches off GameFAQs, do not even bother to email me to ask for permission to host this FAQ as the answer is no. I explicitly deny the use of this FAQ to the FAQ thieves at cheatcc.com, Cheatcc.com may not use this guide in any way, shape or form. If you find this, or any of my other guides, at cheatcc.com, it does not belong there, and the webmaster has stolen it. Email their upstream providers at Yahoo and complain, as they never pay any attention to complaints themselves. ENGLISH VERSIONS & WARNINGS: ============================ This FAQ is for the Japanese version of Shin Megami Tensei 3. While normally I would have some sort of caveat here that I have not played the English version of this game, will not answer English version questions, or will make an English version edition of the FAQ, I actually *have* played the English version, as I was hired to help with the translation of the DoubleJump strategy guide. So if you ask me a question with regards to the English version, I can likely answer it. However, I am still not going to make an English version of the FAQ even though I could, I'm not going to do it because of the conflict of interest it would create. (I can't in good conscience work on an official guide and get paid for it, then turn around and produce a free competitor to that very same guide) So, sorry, no English versions of this FAQ. :) Furthermore, in the past, many of my major FAQs have been stolen by various commercial interests (magazine and article writers, and in one case even the game publisher itself) and used as a helper for them to do their job and get paid. I will not tolerate this. Be forewarned! If you are involved in any job that concerns the English language version of Shin Megami Tensei III in any fashion (that includes guide and magazine article writers), *PUT THIS FAQ DOWN RIGHT NOW!* I expressly forbid you to even use this as a passing reference. I did not write this FAQ so you could get paid for it! I am planning on giving a copy of this FAQ to a local copyright group that specializes in identifying plagiarism, and if they think I have a case against someone, I will press charges with no compunction. Don't think you can steal this FAQ and get away with it, as I will have little trouble finding out whether or not you used it--especially if you reproduce one of the deliberate but minor errors or mistranslations I put in here. >:) Internet FAQ writers do not exist to do your job for you! ################################################################################ CONTENTS ################################################################################ Changes history For Newcomers: Introduction For Vets: What's Changed The Hero of SMT III Magatama Full Magatama List Hero Skills by Level and Sample Hero Builds Skill List Sample Builds: Physical Fighter Elementalist Defensive Supporter Offensive Supporter Nakama-Demon Party Members Demon Characteristics The Races Negotiation Demon to Demon Negotiation "Abnormal" Negotiations Nakama Nitty-Gritty Nakama Advancement Demon Fusion Standard Fusion Special Fusions Sacrifice Fusions Fusion Accidents Fusing when Cursed Maniacs: Majin Fusion Fusion Tables Normal Fusion Tables Cursed Fusion Tables Seirei Fusions Mitama Fusions Mythology Fusions Akuma Zensho Skill List Magic Skills Mouth Skills Eye Skills Wing Skills Claw Skills Bite Skills Physical Skills Needle Skills Weapon Skills Conversation Skills Unique Abilities Hero-Only Abilities Item List Healing Items Combat Items Miscellaneous Items Incense Unlimited Use Items Gems Gameplay Kagutsuchi The Terminal Shops Press Turn Battle Maniacs: Differences and additions Difficulty Levels Alignment The Kotowari System Kotowari Choosing Easiest way to get all 5 endings Tips & Tricks Walkthrough The End of the World Shinjuku Eisei Hospital Yoyogi Park Shibuya The Amara Network Ginza The Great Ginza Underpass Ikebukuro The Nihilo Organization Kabukicho Prison Ikebukuro Tunnel Asakusa Interlude: The Puzzle Boy Game Nihilo Revisited The Obelisk The Amara Network Revisited Asakusa Tunnel Yoyogi Park Asakusa Shrine Mifunashiro Yurakucho Tunnel The Tokyo Diet Building Kagutsuchi Tower Endings The Bonus Dungeon: The Bando Shrine The Amara Deep Zone The First Calpa The Second Calpa The Third Calpa The Fourth Calpa The Fifth Calpa Cheats Terminology and Mythology References Bibliography and Recommended Reading Thanks Copyright Information ################################################################################ CHANGES HISTORY ################################################################################ 1.2 Fixed a bunch of errors, added some extra information, lots of minor changes. Should be close to being ready for a "final" version. I also cut out the "Plot and Character Analysis" section. It was kind of a dumb section to start with and is kind of out of place with the rest of the FAQ, and I keep changing my opinion of the plot anyway. :P 1.1 Some various and sundry minor changes--grammar and spelling corrections, 1.0 Too many changes to list individually--lots of spelling, grammatical errors cleaned up, cumbersome prose fixed, etc. Added plot summaries to the other four "canonical" endings, in addition to adding data and walkthroughs for the Maniacs expansion pack. Fixed a bunch of mistakes, most notably the fusion for Amaterasu, and one minor error in the Puzzle Boy Level 13 solution (I received way too many complaints regarding this. Come on people, use your brains--I remembered NOTHING about this level but upon hearing that the solution was mistaken I was able to find the error in less than a minute--if the solution tells you to run into a wall, that move is probably something else) The FAQ/walkthrough should be more or less finished, though I'm not giving it a "final" release until more people have found more errors. :) 0.5 Initial release ################################################################################ FOR NEWCOMERS: INTRODUCTION ################################################################################ WHAT IS MEGAMI TENSEI? ====================== Megami Tensei (called Megaten for short in Japan) is one of the biggest console RPG series in Japan, second in popularity only to Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. "Megami Tensei" literally means "Goddess Reincarnation," and derives its name from the first game in the series, "Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei", which was based on the book of the same name by Nishitani Aya. (Aside from that first game, none of the MT/SMT games have anything to do with reincarnations of goddesses) The series is generally set in modern-day Japan, and is an "occult" themed RPG. The "occult" in Japan as it's called is a subculture movement really into world mythology, ghost stories, alternative religions, and the like--slightly different than the connotations to that word most well-known in the West. The SMT games are more or less tailored to this subculture in their plethora of mythology references. There are no fewer than 8 Megami Tensei games, and substantially more if you count remakes or spin-off series like Last Bible and Persona. While extremely popular in Japan, the Megami Tensei games never came out in the West, partially because of their (generally) mediocre graphics, but more likely because of their subject matter--in addition to the occult undertones, the series was likely to offend a lot of Westerners' religious sensibilities; the primary arch-villian throughout the canonical series has been YHVH, the Judeo-Christian god--whenever he appears in-game he is always portrayed as being a petty and sadistic despot, and his nemesis Lucifer usually is portrayed as a noble resistance fighter. Also the Megami Tensei titles are VERY "Japanese" and would probably seem somewhat foreign to most Western game players. Whatever the reasons, the Megami Tensei games have never seen a domestic release. (outside of Persona, which is like Megami Tensei Lite and doesn't count ^_^) Being tailor-made to the "occult" subculture, the Megami Tensei games have loads of mythology references in them--nearly all of the standard enemies you fight in battles are demons or gods from various pantheons throughout history. These enemies are researched extensively by the developers--their bibliography for Devil Summoner, for example, numbers over 500 books--and are usually designed completely to spec with their mythological counterparts. The character designer for the series, Kaneko Kazuma, is very well versed in world mythology and has gained quite a lot of popularity through his work on the series. The real-life mythological demons are a big attraction for the series, and two spinoff "games," Akuma Zensho and Akuma Zensho 2, both for the Saturn, are really just large databases of demons from the games and their mythological backgrounds. The stories of Megami Tensei/Shin Megami Tensei games tend to be pretty dark and gritty--usually they revolve around humans either caught in the crossfire between clashes of divine powers, or struggling against a maniacal god(s) hell- bent on their subjugation or destruction. Most of the MT/SMT games feature some sort of massive global destruction/genocide/nuclear holocaust too. The "Shin" series of Megami Tensei games also has had a moral/ethical focus to them in that they involve various opponsing ethical or religious factions battling over their ideologies. None of them are necessarily "good" or "evil" (all "sides" in game sport their share of nasty and nice people and gods) and the player must choose whichever side they feel is "right." (and the games always allow the player to side with neither and "go his own way" as well) There is always a nice element of moral ambiguity to make the player sweat over his or her decision as well. Shin Megami Tensei 3 thankfully continues this trend. Gameplay in the Megami Tensei/Shin Megami Tensei games has been very consistent throughout all the "canonical" games. (though SMT3 has some substantial differences) Up until SMT3, all the games had the hero as a Demon Summoner along with a magic-slinging Partner, and all other party members being demonic allies summoned via the Hero's computer and use of a substance called Magnetite. Battles and dungeons are in first-person, with an overworld map connecting regions and human allies bring both a melee weapon and a gun into combat. All the games have involved a moon phase, which affects enemy (and sometimes ally) behavior. All of the games have also featured a "Jakyo Manor" whereby the hero can fuse his demonic allies together to create new, powerful demons. Shin Megami Tensei 3 continues a lot of these traditions, but changes a lot of things too. Some are for the better, some are for the worse, but overall it's still a worthy addition to the series. ################################################################################ FOR VETS: WHAT'S CHANGED ################################################################################ SMTIII plays similarly to the earlier SMT games, but the system has changed. A lot. If you've never played a SMT game before you won't notice, but the differences are marked and striking for vets of the series. It's almost like a strange amalgamation of classic SMT, Persona, and Last Bible, with a dash of Majin Tensei and Devil Children tossed into the mix. No more Human Party Members ============================== A lot of Megatenists complained when Atlus released the Devil Summoner and Persona games as they totally revolved around human, rather than demonic, characters. Well, SMTIII goes back 180 degrees and even further--almost NOBODY is human in this game. Not even the hero. In past SMT games, the hero was a human demon summoner that used his (or her if you picked a female protagonist in SMT If...) computer to talk to and summon demons. In SMTIII, the hero IS a demon, and no longer needs a computer to interact with other members of demonkind. The hero more or less takes on the characteristics of a demon. He can't equip weapons or armor (in fact neither is even present in-game) he doesn't use a computer, and he can fuse himself with demonic essences called Magatama. (more about that in a minute) He also can cast spells and use abilities restricted to demons only in earlier games. The "partner" of previous SMT games is gone, and parties are now limited to a maximum of four members instead of six. Demon party members can level up ================================ In previous SMT games, the level of your demon allies was fixed and could not raise, save for the Pocketstation game in the PSX version of Soul Hackers. In SMTIII, all party members can gain experience and raise levels. As their levels raise, their stats increase randomly and they can learn new Skills, and with some, mutate into a completely different--and more powerful--demon. Majin Tensei-esque combat system ================================ Rather than having round based combat like previous SMT games, SMTIII uses a player turn/enemy turn-based combat model called "Press Turn Combat." The implementation is very different from anything earlier in the series. First-person dungeon perspective change ======================================= Rather than use a first-person point of view for dungeons, SMTIII uses an over- the-shoulder viewpoint. Other than that the basic system is identical to earlier games. (overworld with "icons", and 3D dungeons) Demon Fusion Overhaul ===================== The demon fusion system has been more or less gutted, and made much more simplistic than previous games. The number of available demon races has been drastically reduced, and skill inheritance has been more or less dumbed down. Triple fusions are gone and have been replaced by "Sacrifice Fusions." Sacrifice Fusions sometimes work like the old triple fusions but more often than not they don't. Alignment made unimportant ========================== Probably the most shocking change to SMTIII is that the Law/Chaos alignment axis is gone. As previous SMT games revolved entirely around that axis, it gives the game a drastic change in atmosphere. There is still a Light/Dark alignment axis, but it is largely irrelevant, as none of your decisions within the story affect it whatsoever. There are of course different sides with conflicting values within the story, but they are not tied directly into the gameplay. ############################################################################## THE HERO OF SMT III ############################################################################## The hero starts the game as a human, but is almost immediately turned into a demon. As a demon, he gets a demon race--and rather than use equipment like a human, he swallows something called "Magatama" to change his abilities. The Hero is more or less like every other demon in the game. He goes up levels at set amounts of experience points, and new skills at preset levels, up to 8 at any one time, as he advances in levels. However, there are several critical differences between the Hero and the demons he allies himself with. DIFFERENCE 1: VARIABLE HERO RACE ================================ Most (actually, all) demons have one set race that will never change no matter how they advance. Your Hero, however, is different. As he masters Magatama (read the Magatama section for details) his race will change. Whenever you "master" a Magatama you get a point. When you have enough points, your race will change. The races are as follows: Points|Light Race Neutral Race Dark Race ------+------------------------------------------------------- 0-1: | Majin (魔人) 2-3: |Shinhei (神兵) Kishu (鬼衆) Mato (魔徒) 4-5: |Seima (聖魔) Goki (業鬼) Matoshi (魔闘士) 6-11: |Makyotei (魔教帝) Shurakan (修羅漢) Mashogun (魔将軍) 12-24:|Shinrei (神霊) Shura-O (修羅王) Matei (魔帝) 25: | Konton-O (混沌王) You'll note that for each "tier" there are three different races, one of each alignment. Which one you get will depend on which Magatama you have mastered. Each Magatama you find has an alignment--Light, Neutral, or Dark. The race you get will depend on the quantity of Light, Neutral, or Dark Magatama you have mastered. For example, if you've mastered 8 Magatama in total, and most of them were Neutral, your race will be Shurakan. In the event of a tie, Light and Dark beat out Neutral. IOW, if you have 1 Dark and 1 Neutral Magatama mastered (and no Light) then you'll end up with the Dark race, in this case Mato. If Light and Dark are tied for the most, your race will be a Neutral one. In the event of a three-way tie, you'll also get a Neutral race. If you master all 25 Magatama your race will become Konton-o, (混沌王) or Chaos Lord. Note that this will also require you to be Level 99 since there are 99 skills you can learn. (You can still level up even after reaching Level 99) Note that hero race is totally cosmetic and has no real impact on the game.* *Unless you're playing Maniacs, in which case Hero "alignment" makes a difference in some very minor ways in the Amara Deep Zone. DIFFERENCE 2: COMBAT OPTIONS ============================ Each demon in your party has combat options that are totally dependent upon what skills it has. The Hero, follows the same rules; however, he has several skills that he can use in addition to and on top of any skills that he has learned through leveling-up: Item (アイテム): ---------------- The Hero is the only character that can use Items in battle. Items get their own separate "page" on the battle menu, and take up a turn in battle just like any other action. Talk (話し掛ける): ------------------ While there are several specialized "Talk" commands that the Hero or his allies can use to attempt to persuade other demons to join the party or give you items, the Hero can always use this "generic" Talking command without having to use up one of his eight Skill slots. Summon: ------- Summon gets its own separate "page" on the battle menu. The options presented are each of the demons that you currently have in your Stock. If you already have three demons in your active party, you will have to swap one of them out with the demon you want to summon. Summoning in this manner costs nothing in terms of Makka or anything else. (a change from earlier games) DIFFERENCE 3: CUSTOMIZING VIA MAGATAMA ====================================== Your demonic allies' skills are limited by what they have been preset, or by what they "inherited" from their "parent" demons in a fusion. The hero is different, and customizable. Rather than being defined by a pre-set skillset, the hero's skills depend upon what Magatama he uses. Magatama is complicated, so it gets its own section. ################################################################################ MAGATAMA: ################################################################################ Magatama are little demonish things that the Hero will come across in his journey. There are 25 of them in total throughout the game. By swallowing a Magatama, it "fuses" with the hero and changes his abilities. The Hero's Affinity (what elements he is strong/weak to, etc) and statistics will change, and the skills he will learn on leveling up will change. What Magatama you use and when will dictate how your Hero advances, so it's important to think carefully when using them. The Hero can only use one Magatama at a time, all others will just remain in his stock. While the game says he's swallowing each Magatama, think of it overall as a special type of "demon equipment." MAGATAMA AND LEVELING UP: ========================= When your hero levels up, you get to add an additional point to a statistic of your choosing. Any other changes to him will come about as a result of the Magatama he is using. These changes will come either in the form of a new Skill, or by the Magatama going Wild. Skill Gain: ----------- Each Magatama has several different skills associated with it. In addition, each of these skills has a level associated with it; your Hero must be at least that level in order to learn it. Example: The Hero is equipping Marogare and reaches level 3. The skill "Charge" is a Level 3 Skill on Marogare, so he learns Charge upon leveling up. If you "miss" a skill, don't worry--you can still learn it. However, you can only learn one skill per level--if there are multiple skills you have "missed" on a Magatama, you have to learn them one at a time. Example: The Hero ignores Shiranui until he is level 20. He finally equips it and raises to level 21. Shiranui has three skills that can be learned below level 21--Fire Breath, Fire Enhance, and Taunt--but he will only learn Fire Breath on reaching level 21, not all three. To learn Fire Enhance he would have to keep equipping Shiranui and then learn it at level 22, Taunt at level 23, etc. Wild Magatama: -------------- Magatama has a mind of its own and upon leveling up will often go wild inside you. You can choose to let it do what it wants to or force it to stop. If you let it do what it wants to, the results are unpredictable: They may be good--It may heal you to max or raise your stats--or they may be bad--it might poison or curse you instead. There are no Magatama with nothing but bad effects (though several low-level Magatama have nothing but good) so there is always at least a chance you will benefit from letting it do its thing. FULL MAGATAMA LIST ================== MAROGARE マロガレ (DARK) ----------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning physical attacks AFFINITY: Normal Resistance STAT BONUSES: P+2 M+1 V+2 S+1 L+1 SKILLS: (LV3) Charge (LV4) Analyze (LV6) 10% Life Spring (LV10) Rampage (LV20) Counterattack (Special) Penetrate (Maniacs Only) WILD EFFECTS: Hero healed max, Power +1 LOCATION: Your starting Magatama USELESS TRIVIA: "Marogare" is derived from the Japanese verb "Marogaru" which means "to solidify in a sphere." Connected to the idea of forming the earth from primordial chaos. My ratings: Equip *, Skills *** Marogare teaches some pretty useful skills for early on the game--Analyze and Counterattack may even be long-term keepers depending on your playstyle. ## MANIACS NOTE: The final skill on Marogare, Penetrate, is not initially available to you in Maniacs. Once you get Counterattack the final skill will remain as a "?" until you get it unlocked at the bottom of the Amara Deep Zone, at which point you can learn it. Note that this means that you cannot get this skill unless you play the special new "Maniacs Ending" path through the game. This also means you can't become a Chaos Lord on the other routes any more, as you can no longer max out Marogare... WADATSUMI ワダツミ (NEUTRAL) ---------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Ice Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Ice, Weak to Lightning STAT BONUSES: M+3, V+2, S+2, L+1 SKILLS: (LV7) Ice Breath (LV11) 10% Magic Pulse (LV15) Ice Enhance (LV21) Fog Breath (LV24) Ice Resistance WILD EFFECTS: Hero healed max, Magic +1 LOCATION: Get after defeating Forneus in the Shinjuku Hospital USELESS TRIVIA: Wadatsumi is a Shinto sea god. My ratings: Equip **, Skills *** Ice Breath is a fantastic early skill, and Ice immunity is nice. Being weak to lightning is rough though, as you'll have a greater chance of being Shocked. ANKH アンク (LIGHT) ------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Healing Magic AFFINITY: Strong to Hama, Weak to Curses STAT BONUSES: P+1 M+1 V+4 L+2 SKILLS: (LV5) Dia (LV12) Fast Retreat (LV19) Media WILD EFFECTS: Hero healed max, Party healed max LOCATION: Get after leaving Pixie in Yoyogi Park, or bought in Ginza Tunnel USELESS TRIVIA: The ancient Egyptian symbol of Life. Also an alternate name for the Egyptian creator god. My ratings: Equip *, Skills **** Being weak to curse magic is a death sentence, and there are no stat boosting Wild effects as far as I can tell. Verdict: A crappy Magatama to be equipping "between" level-ups. The healing magic it gives you is a lifesaver early on in the game though. IYOMANTE イヨマンテ (LIGHT) --------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Combat Support Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Mind attacks (Confusion/Charm/Sleep) STAT BONUSES: P+2, V+2, S+2, L+3 SKILLS: (LV8) Taru-nda (LV13) Suku-nda (LV16) Raku-nda (LV36) Breath of Victory WILD EFFECTS: Party healed to max, Luck+1, Hero poisoned LOCATION: For sale in the Shibuya Junk Shop USELESS TRIVIA: "Iyomante" is an Ainu winter festival when a god comes the human world in the form of a bear. MY RATINGS: Equip ****, Skills ** When you've got Randomizer to drop all stats, the individual stat-dropper spells of Iyomante become a lot less attractive, though Breath of Victory keeps this from a one-star rating. As a "between level-up" equipper, Iyomante is the best Magatama in the early stages of the game--immunities, but no weaknesses. SHIRANUI シラヌイ (DARK) ------------------------ DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Fire Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Fire, Weak to Shock STAT BONUSES: M+5, S+4 SKILLS: (LV9) Fire Breath (LV14) Fire Enhance (LV19) Taunt (LV23) Fire Resistance WILD EFFECTS: Hero healed to max, Speed +1 LOCATION: For sale in the Shibuya Junk Shop USELESS TRIVIA: "Shiranui" is a strange fire that appears on the surface of the ocean that it is said you can see from the top of Yotsuyama mountain on the new year. MY RATINGS: Equip **, Skills * The hefty Magic bonus is nice, and fire immunity isn't too shabby, but he skills overall from this Magatama are pretty lousy, unless you're aiming to create a fire-character. And even then, Gehenna does a much better job. Not a great Magatama overall. HIFUMI ヒフミ (NEUTRAL) ----------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Shock Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Shock, Weak to Fire STAT BONUSES: SKILLS: M+3, S+4, L+3 (LV17) Tornado (LV22) Shock Enhance (LV24) Battle Cry (LV27) Shock Resistance (LV40) Shock Immunity WILD EFFECTS: Party healed to max, Hero Paralyzed LOCATION: For sale in the Junk Shop in the Ginza Underpass. USELESS TRIVIA: "Hifumi" (literally "one, two, three") is a method of chanting numbers in an attempt to harmonize or resonate oneself with the universe. MY RATINGS: Equip **, Skills *** Ho-hum equipping, and no Wild stat boosting as far as I can tell. The skills are kind of useless unless you're shooting to make a Shock guy, and even then the last two are a total waste. The first three skills are useful early on though, and Battle-Cry/Tornado are potential permanent keepers. KAMUDO カムド (NEUTRAL) ----------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning physical attacks AFFINITY: Strong to physical attacks, weak to bad status attacks STAT BONUSES: M+3, S+4, L+3 SKILLS: (LV18) Heat Wave (LV23) Kiai (LV25) Sixth Sense (LV29) Critical WILD EFFECTS: Hero healed to Max, Power +1 LOCATION: For sale in the Junk Shop in the Ginza Underpass USELESS TRIVIA: Kamudo is a powerful sword wielded by gods in Japanese legend, most notably by Takemikazuchi. MY RATINGS: Equip ****, Skills ***** Kamudo is by far one of the best Magatama to use in the first part of the game. Weakness to bad status attacks is a bummer (especially charming) but physical resistance, combined with a lineup of top-notch combat skills, makes this Magatama a real keeper. NARUKAMI ナルカミ (LIGHT) ------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Electricity Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Electricity, Weak to Ice STAT BONUSES: P+5, M+6 SKILLS: (LV21) Discharge (LV26) Electric Enhance (LV30) Electric Resistance (LV44) Electric Immunity WILD EFFECTS: Party healed to Max, Vitality+1, Hero paralyzed LOCATION: Thor gives it to you after you defeat him USELESS TRIVIA: Narukami is a Japanese god of thunder, most famous for his appearance in a Kabuki play. MY RATINGS: Equip ***, Skills * The skills you get from Narukami are overall pretty useless unless you're trying to make an Electricity guy. The affinity negatives counteract the positives (no more Shock status, but lots of Freeze status) but the huge boosts to Power and Magic for the period of the game when you get it make it a good "between level-up" equipper. If you level while equipping Narukami, it will paralyze you with annoying frequency though. ANATHEMA アナテマ (DARK) ------------------------ DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Curse Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to Hama STAT BONUSES: M+8, V+2, S+1, L+1 SKILLS: (LV28) Drink Magic (LV32) Resist Curse (LV35) Maha-Mudo (LV38) Evil Eye (LV49) Maha-Mudo-on WILD EFFECTS: Heal the party to max, Curse the Hero LOCATION: Get after defeating Ose in the Core of the Nihilo Organization USELESS TRIVIA: An "anathema" is someone cursed by the Church. MY RATINGS: Equip ***, Skills **** Great stat boosts, especially to Magic, but weakness to Hama is NOT fun and could mean easy Game Over if you don't watch yourself. Very nice skills though, especially if you're going to make a "dark magic" type of guy. MIASMA ミアスマ (DARK) ---------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Ice Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Ice, Weak to Fire STAT BONUSES: P+2, M+5, V+2, S+2, L+2 SKILLS: (LV31) Color Dance (LV45) Ice Immunity (LV52) Absolute Zero (LV60) Ice Absorption WILD EFFECTS: Heal the party to max, Magic +1, Poison the Hero LOCATION: Get after defeating the boss Mizuchi in the Kabuki Theater USELESS TRIVIA: A "miasma" is a corrupting atmosphere, but it initially was a term to describe the vapor you exhale on cold days--it was thought that this vapor carried disease. MY RATINGS: Equip ***, Skills **** If you want to make your Hero an Ice-themed character, this is the Magatama to do it with. Absolute Zero is great, and Ice Absorption is another great bonus. The stat bonuses are nothing to sneeze at either. NIRVANA ニルヴァナ (LIGHT) ------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Hama (exorcising) magic AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Weak to Curses STAT BONUSES: P+1, M+1, V+2, S+2, L+8 SKILLS: (LV32) Hama Lightning (LV33) Hama Resistance (LV41) Haja Light-beam (LV56) Hama Immunity WILD EFFECTS: Heal the party to max, Heal the Hero to max LOCATION: Buy it in the Asakusa Junk Shop USELESS TRIVIA: Nirvana is the state of enlightenment and "oneness with the universe" in some sects of Buddhism. MY RATINGS: Equip ***, Skills ** If you're trying to make a Hama-esque fighter, you might want Hama Lightning, and the Light-Beam is pretty useful too. Otherwise none of the skills of this Magtama are anything to write home about. Weakness to curses sucks too, though the massive luck boost Nirvana gives you will counteract that to some degree. MURAKUMO ムラクモ (NEUTRAL) --------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Bad Status Immunity AFFINITY: Strong to physical, weak to Fire and Ice STAT BONUSES: P+4 M+4 V+1 S+4 L+1 SKILLS: (LV34) Mental Immunity (LV37) Nerve Immunity (LV40) Rannyuken (LV42) Magic Immunity WILD EFFECTS: Heal the hero to max, Speed +1, Curse the Hero LOCATION: In Ongyoki's treasure hoard in the Ikebukuro Tunnel USELESS TRIVIA: Murakumo, or its full name, the Ame-no-Murakumo sword, is one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japanese legend, along with the Mirror and the Jewel. MY RATINGS: Equip **, Skills * Bleagh. One of the less useful Magatama. The stat bonuses are nice as is Physical resistance, but the weaknesses are a pain. The skills are pretty pathetic, though Mental Immunity is potentially useful. GEIS ゲッシュ (LIGHT) --------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Healing magic AFFINITY: Immune to Hama STAT BONUSES: P+2, M+2, V+4, S+3, L+3 SKILLS: (LV37) Diarama (LV39) Breath Shoes (LV41) Tetraja (LV44) Mediarama (LV47) Diarahan (LV51) Chakra Shoes WILD EFFECTS: Heal the hero to max, Heals party to max, ? LOCATION: Beat the puzzle game in Asakusa to get it USELESS TRIVIA: A Geis is a Celtic concept, and is an "unbreakable promise." Sort of like a "life's quest," something one would be given (usually by a seer) that one must do to achieve good luck and fortune. MY RATINGS: Equip: ***, Skills ***** Not fantastic in terms of equipping, but the skills Geis gives you are great. Healing is always nice, but the Shoes skills are especially useful. Just about all the skills on this one are worth trying out. DJED ジェッド (NEUTRAL) ----------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Special Magic AFFINITY: Immune to Magic (Close/Poison) STAT BONUSES: P+2, M+6, V+2, S+2, L+2 SKILLS: (LV42) Taru-Kaja (LV43) Suku-Kaja (LV44) Maka-Kaja (LV45) Raku-Kaja (LV46) De-Kaja WILD EFFECTS: Heal the hero to max, heal the party to max, Paralyze the hero, Curse the hero LOCATION: Get in the Obelisk after defeating the Moirai sisters USELESS TRIVIA: The Djed is a pillar-shaped holy symbol of the ancient Egyptians, associated with Osiris, the god of the dead. It was used in funeral rites, and was believed to aid the transformation of the human body into its spirit forms. MY RATINGS: Equip: ****, Skills ***** Djed is one of the best Magatama in the game, especially the skills. If you keep all of them, your Hero will be more or less a one-trick-pony, but a very powerful one-trick-pony. All of the first four are game-breakingly powerful. No weaknesses and nice magic boost for equipping is icing on the cake. MUSPELL ムスペル (DARK) ---------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Bad Status magic AFFINITY: Strong to Bad Status STAT BONUSES: M+8, V+7 SKILLS: (LV49) Tentarafu (LV53) Makajama-on (LV56) Zeloth Beat WILD EFFECTS: Heal the Hero to max, Curse the Hero LOCATION: Get after defeating Mara in the Shibuya Center USELESS TRIVIA: Muspell-heim is the firey void that the fire giant Surtr guards in Norse mythology. MY RATINGS: Equip: ****, Skills *** Great boost to magic and Power makes it a nice equipper. Skills are kind of ho-hum though. Zeloth Beat is a nice skill for a physical fighter though. GEHENNA ゲヘナ (NEUTRAL) ------------------------ DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Fire Magic AFFINITY: Absorbs Fire, Weak to Ice STAT BONUSES: All + 3 SKILLS: (LV33) Hellfire (LV42) Fire Immunity (LV45) 20% Magic Pulse (LV60) Fire Absorption (LV65) Magma Axis WILD EFFECTS: Heal the hero to max, Vitality + 1 LOCATION: Buy it from the Asakusa Junk Shop USELESS TRIVIA: Gehenna is commonly known as the Underworld in Hebrew mythology, but originated as a valley in the Middle East used as a burning trash dump in ancient times. MY RATINGS: Equip: ***, Skills *** If you're going to be a fire-guy, this is the Magatama to use. Even so the skills aren't that useful overall, and aren't as powerful as other Elemental attacks. May be good, may be bad, depending on your style. KAMUROGI カムロギ (LIGHT) ------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Physical attacks AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to all magic. STAT BONUSES: P+8, S+4, L+4 SKILLS: (LV45) Venom Zapper (LV46) 20% Life Spring (LV48) Iron Claw (LV54) Fierce Counterattack (LV64) Kishin-Raku WILD EFFECTS: Heal the hero to max, Power +1, Vitality +1 LOCATION: Buy from the Junk Collector Manekata in Asakusa USELESS TRIVIA: Kamurogi is a Shinto concept, an "Earth Force." It is sort of like a spiritual force held by the earth, as opposed to Kamuromi, the spiritual force of the heavens. MY RATINGS: Equip: **, Skills **** The power boost of this Magatama is fantastic, but being weak to all elemental spells is quite painful. The skills learned though are quite useful, though inferior to Magatama like Vimana or Gaia. SATAN サタン (DARK) ------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning special magic AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to Hama STAT BONUSES: P+2, M+8, V+1, S+1, SKILLS: (LV51) Jive Talk (LV55) Curse Immunity (LV58) Chakra of Victory (LV60) Charisma (LV65) Deathsport WILD EFFECTS: Heal the party, Poison the Hero, Paralyze the Hero, Curse the Hero LOCATION: Get from defeating the Jack Frost boss in Kabukicho. USELESS TRIVIA: Satan is a figure from Jewish and Christian mythology that varies wildly depending on the tradition, from a holy angel that judges the unworthy to the Dark Side of the supreme god to an enemy of said god. A traditionally major player in the Megaten games too. MY RATINGS: Equip: ***, Skills *** Satan is a screwy Magatama, with its share of both powerful and useless skills. Deathsport and Curse Immunity are the only potential keepers IMO. The magic boost when equipping it is decent, but being weak to Hama stinks. ADAMA アダマ (LIGHT) -------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Electricity Magic AFFINITY: Reflects Electricity, Weak to Shock STAT BONUSES: P+3, M+2, V+8, S+2, L+2 SKILLS: (LV60) Shockwave (LV62) 30% Magic Pulse (LV67) Absorb Electricity WILD EFFECTS: Heals the Hero to max, Luck +1 LOCATION: Get it after defeating Albion in the Amara Shrine USELESS TRIVIA: Adama is Hebraic for "dust," and in that tradition's mythology, is what humans were originally made from. Why Adama is an Electricity Magatama is anyone's guess. MY RATINGS: Equip: ***, Skills **** Not a whole lot of skills from this Magatama, but they're all pretty useful. The definitive Magatama for an Electricity-themed character. Nice stat boosts too when equipping. VIMANA ヴィマーナ (NEUTRAL) --------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Physical attacks AFFINITY: Immune to Nerve attacks STAT BONUSES: P+7, M+1, V+3, S+2, L+5 WILD EFFECTS: Heal the party to max, Paralyze the Hero SKILLS: (LV50) Withstand (LV59) Reppu-ha (LV68) Javelin Rain (LV71) 30% Life Spring (LV73) Meikai-Ha LOCATION: Buy from the Junk Collector Manekata in Asakusa USELESS TRIVIA: The Vimana is the flying boat that the gods ride in Hindu mythology. MY RATINGS: Equip: *****, Skills **** A very nice Magatama--no weaknesses when equipping, good stat boosts, and almost all of its skills are very useful. GUNDARI グンダリ (DARK) ----------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Shock attacks AFFINITY: Absorb Shock, Weak to Electricity STAT BONUSES: P+4, M+1, V+2, S+9, L+3 WILD EFFECTS: Heal the Hero to max, Speed +1 SKILLS: (LV64) Shinku-ha (LV66) Absorb Shock (LV72) Spiral Snake LOCATION: Recieve from Bishamonten after defeating him in the temple in Ueno USELESS TRIVIA: Gundari is one of the five Myo-o in Shingon Buddhism. He is the Myo-o famous for fighting off demons and distributing Soma to the poor. MY RATINGS: Equip: ****, Skills **** Very few skills from this Magatama, but they're all quite nice. Shinku-Ha is one of the only "Extreme" level damage skills the Hero can learn, and Spiral Snake is another one of those cool Hero-only skills. Nice stat boosts too. Not a whole lot of enemies use Electricity so the weakness isn't that bad either. SOPHIA ソフィア (LIGHT) ----------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Healing attacks AFFINITY: Immune to Hama STAT BONUSES: P+1, M+2, V+5, S+7, L+4 WILD EFFECTS: Heal the Hero, Heal the Party, Do nothing(!) SKILLS: (LV45) Judgement Bolt (LV57) Samarecarm (LV59) Absorption attack (LV63) Mediarahan (LV70) Divine Retribution LOCATION: Buy from the Junk Collector Manekata in Asakusa USELESS TRIVIA: Sophia is from the (now pretty much defunct) Christian Gnostic tradition, in which she is the good and benevolent goddess of Wisdom. Her son, the evil god Demiurge, was held by the Gnostics to be the same god as the one described in the Old Testament. MY RATINGS: Equip: *****, Skills **** Okay, so Judgement Bolt, Absorption attack, and Divine Retribution aren't that great. But Samarecarm and Mediarahan are fantastic skills. Hama immunity and the Vitality/Speed bonus is nice, but the Power and Magic bonuses aren't, and they're usually the most important. Still, no weaknesses makes for a good all-around equipper. GAIA: ガイア (DARK) ------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning Physical Attacks AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to Shock, Hama and Curse STAT BONUSES: P+10, V+10 WILD EFFECTS: Heal the Hero, Power +1 SKILLS: (LV61) Deathbound (LV69) Death Counter (LV74) Mother Earth's Dinner (LV76) Attack All LOCATION: Behind the heavy doors in the Mantra HQ--need a power of 24 to open. USELESS TRIVIA: Gaia is the mother earth goddess from Greek Mythology. It's also one of the two big traditional Megaten religions, that of Chaos. MY RATINGS: Equip: **, Skills ***** The +10 boost to Power and Vitality will make you an absolute killing machine, but weakness to all forms of death magic is asking for trouble. The skills on Gaia are all GREAT though, and if you're going to make a physical fighter are all potential perma-keepers. KAILASH カイラース (NEUTRAL) ---------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Focuses on learning All-Purpose Magic AFFINITY: Normal resistence STAT BONUSES: P+2, M+10, V+5, S+1, L+2 WILD EFFECTS: Heal the Party to max, Curse the Hero SKILLS: (LV72) Makalakarn (LV75) Megido (LV78) Tetrakarn (LV80) Supreme Blast (LV82) Megidora LOCATION: Buy from the Junk Shop in the last dungeon USELESS TRIVIA: Kailash is the name of the mountain upon which the Hindu gods are said to live. MY RATINGS: Equip: ***** Skills: ***** Aside from the Ultimate Magatama, Kailash is quite simply the best Magatama in the game. OK, so it has no resistances, but it has no weaknesses either, and the huge Magic boost makes it the definitive Magatama for magic-users. And all of the skills are extremely powerful. MASAKADUS マサカドゥズ (ULTIMATE MAGATAMA) ------------------------------------------- DESCRIPTION: Magatama that holds Ultimate Power. AFFINITY: Immune to everything but All-Purpose attacks STAT BONUSES: P+10, M+10, V+10, S+10 WILD EFFECTS: Heal the Hero to max SKILLS: (ANY) Megidoraon (ANY) Unblemished Power (ANY) Flame Reflection (ANY) Ice Reflection (ANY) Electricity Reflection (ANY) Shock Reflection (ANY) Physical Reflection LOCATION: Recieve froom Masakado after completing the Bando Srhine USELESS TRIVIA: Masakado is the guardian deity of Tokyo. He was also an actual historic person who led a revolt in the 10th century against the Emperor, which, while short-lived, could be argued led to the eventual takeover of the country by the warrior class. MY RATINGS: Equip: ***** Skills: ***** Bottom line--Masakadus is just plain unfairly powerful. All the skills are fantastic, the stat boost is fantastic, the immunities are fantastic. You'll simply be a walking tank with this Magatama. It's hard to get, but nothing will stand in your way once you have it. ################################################################################ HERO SKILLS BY LEVEL AND SAMPLE HERO BUILDS ################################################################################ 3: Charge *** Marogare Rather useful in the early stages of the game. Not a long-term skill by any stretch of the imagination. 4: Analyze *** Marogare The only likely long-term keeper from Marogare. Being able to see enemy weaknesses at a moment's notice is nice. But once you get the item that does the same thing for free, this skill becomes useless. 5: Dia *** Ankh Hey, it's healing. Who can complain? Very useful at the start of the game. 6: 10% Life Spring ** Marogare A 10% boost to your life is nice, but not worth wasting a skill slot on IMO. 7: Ice Breath **** Wadatsumi A _great_ early-on damage spell. You will use this a lot early on in the game. Very useful! 8: Taru-nda ** Iyomante I'm not a fan of stat-dropper spells. It's useful, but not worth holding onto for long periods of time, especially when Battle Cry works better. 9: Fire Breath ** Shiranui The least useful of the breath weapons. Sure it's great against fire-weak enemies, but I much prefer Ice Breath--it can freeze people. 10: Rampage *** Marogare It's better than Charge, and at really high levels can do decent damage, but overall it's not worth it. Eventually you'll want to replace it. 11: 10% Magic Pulse ** Wadatsumi Same deal as 10% Life Spring--a 10% boost to max MP is not worth the slot. 12: Fast Retreat * Ankh Yes, a higher chance of escaping battle will save your butt occasionally, but learning to fight well works much better. Excusable in the second time through the game with its super-hard enemies. Worthless in Hard Maniacs games when you can't run from battle anyway. 13: Suku-nda ** Iyomante Again I'm not a fan of stat-droppers, and Fog Breath works much better. 14: Fire Enhance ** Shiranui Enhance skills can make individual spells very powerful, so they can be useful. Whether or not it's worth taking up an extra slot is your call. 15: Ice Enhance ** Wadatsumi Same deal as Fire Enhance; not worth it unless you're making a special build. 16: Raku-nda *** Iyomante The best of the stat-droppers, because there's no skill that you can have that reduces defense better. 17: Tornado ***** Hifumi I can't believe they give you a skill this powerful this early. 25 MP is steep at level 17, but you will lay waste to all in your path with it at this point. A potential permanent keeper. 18: Heat Wave *** Kamudo A nice physical damage technique, and it looks cool too. It will serve you well for a while, but you probably won't want it in your final build. 19: Media **** Ankh The only reason this skill doesn't get 5 stars is because Sophia teaches you better healing skills. VERY useful in the early stages of the game. 19: Taunt * Shiranui A useless skill unless your entire party is immune to physical attacks. The tradeoff is NOT worth it and you're likely to get killed using this skill. 20: Counterattack ** Marogare Counter is nice--except that it can work against you. If a charmed comrade attacks your Hero, you may end up killing it with this skill. 21: Fog Breath: **** Wadatsumi Like Suku-nda, only a whole lot more effective. Possibly even a permanent keeper, depending on your build. 21: Discharge: **** Narukami A nice attack spell, sort of the Electric equivalent of Ice Breath. About as useful as Ice Breath. 22: Shock Enhance *** Hifumi Same deal as all the other Enhance techniques. The only difference is that with Tornado and Shock Enhance at Lv22, you will be a killing machine. Worth having for a while, even if you don't keep it permanently. 23: Fire Resist * Shiranui Garbage. If you need fire resistance that badly, just pop on a Magatama that gives you immunity. 23: Kiai ***** Kamudo If you plan on making a physical-fighter type, this will probably be your first permanent keeper skill. You can do obscene damage with the use of this skill. 24: Ice Resist * Wadatsumi Like all the other Resist skills, a total waste. Avoid. 24: Battle Cry **** Hifumi Like Taru-nda, only better. Quite useful if you want to make a stat-killer. 25: Sixth Sense *** Kamudo I don't know if preventing back-attacks is worth its own skill slot, but you _can_ have your entire party wiped out before you get a chance to do anything with particularly nasty back attacks, so it's worth thinking about. A definite contender in second-time-through games, as back attacks are downright lethal with the boosted enemy damage. 26: Electric Enhance ** Narukami The same deal as all the other Enhancement skills.... 27: Shock Resist * Hifumi As useless as all the other Resist skills. 28: Drink Magic ***** Anathema A fantastic skill. Chakra Drops are expensive--you can refill your MP wherever and whenever you want with this skill. A must for any magic-using Hero build, though Chakra Shoes will probably replace it eventually. 29: Critical ** Kamudo An increased chance of critical hitting sounds nice--and it is--but it just isn't raised all that much--not enough so that you can rely on it. A gambler's skill, to say the least. 30: Electric Resist * Narukami Another Resist skill to be passed over. 31: Color Dance ** Miasma Does confuse things with high frequency, but confusion is not all that helpful as status ailments go. Not worth a slot IMO. 32: Curse Resist * Anathema One-hit-kill resistance is better than most other resist skills, but is still not worth the slot. Pass. 32: Hama Lightning *** Nirvana Damage of Hama-type is rare, and does lots of damage on undead, so this is a pretty nice attack spell. A lot of enemies are immune though. 33: Hama Resist * Nirvana Same deal as Curse Resist--except Hama almost never works on your Hero anyway. Forget this skill. 33: Flames of Hell **** Gehenna Since your Hero can't learn Prominence, this is the best Fire damage you're going to get. A good skill for a Fire-character. 34: Mental Immunity **** Murakumo It's a resist/immunity skill, but being Confused or Charmed is a royal pain, especially toward the end of the game, so it can be really useful. Good for a purely defensive build. 35: Mahamudo ** Anathema An instant-killer spell...except it really doesn't work very often. A gambler's skill to be sure. Better passed over for Mahamudo-on. 36: Breath of Victory *** Iyomante Heal a chunk of HP after each battle--a nice skill. Maybe not a permanent one, since Breath Shoes are better, but useful nonetheless. 37: Nerve Immunity * Murakumo Like Mental Immunity. Immunity to Bind and Paralyze can be useful, but so few enemies use Nerve attacks that it's not worth it IMO. 37: Diarama **** Geis Healing, and more powerful than Dia. While not a perma-keeper, a very useful spell nonetheless. 38: Evil Eye *** Anathema Pull Evil Eye off, and you've got almost a guaranteed kill. But like most other Curse skills, it's a real gamble. It doesn't work all that often. 39: Breath Shoes ***** Geis If you are a physical fighter, this skill is an absolute necessity to help make up for the HP your Skills consume. 40: Shock Immunity * Hifumi Like other resistance-category skills, not worth the slot. 40: Rannyuken *** Murakumo An excellent skill for a Physical fighter. Damage plus confusion. A good replacement for Rampage. 41: Haja Light-beam **** Nirvana Maybe not a permanent skill, but a nifty one. Kind of like a more powerful Charge, with a higher rate of critical hitting. One of the coolest-looking skills too. 41: Tetraja *** Geis Insta-death Hama/Curse magic is indeed irritating as anything, but is it really worth a skill slot keeping this magic? Could go either way, your choice. Not a bad pick for a defensive character. 42: Taru-Kaja ***** Djed Let's face it, the -Kaja spells are the traditional Megaten game-breakers, and SMT3 is no exception. Increased attack damage is always nice. 42: Flame Immunity * Gehenna Another resistance/immunity to be passed over. Why bother when you can absorb it instead? 43: Suku-Kaja **** Djed Of all the -Kaja spells, this is the least effective. I find it works better to decrease enemy accuracy/evade than to increase yours. Still a nice skill though. 44: Electric Immunity * Narukami Not worth it IMO. Just equip Narukami for the same effect. 44: Maka-Kaja ***** Djed Overwhelmingly powerful. No longer a magic resistance booster, Maka-Kaja now boosts spell power. Heal 300+ HP with a humble Dia spell with this skill! 45: Ice Immunity * Miasma Why bother when there's an Ice absorption/reflection skill too? 45: Raku-Kaja ***** Djed Again, a great spell. Boosts your physical resistance. Nice to have. 45: 20% Magic Pulse ** Gehenna A noticable boost to your MP. Whether it's worth it is up to you. 45: Venom Zapper *** Kamurogi Like Rannyuken, only it inflicts poison instead of confusion. Not a keeper, but a useful skill nonetheless. 45: Retribution Thunderbolt * Sophia A useless skill. If something can be affected by Hama spells, it's best to use Hama Lightning or attempt to kill them outright. Not worth thinking about IMO. 46: De-Kaja **** Djed Great skill against enemies that boost their stats through the stratosphere. A keeper if you're creating a support-oriented character build. 46: 20% Life Spring ** Kamurogi The extra boost to HP is nice, but is it necesary? I don't think so, but it's up to you to decide. 47: Diarahan ***** Geis Heals a single character to max HP and isn't too taxing in terms of MP usage. Need I say more? 48: Iron Claw *** Kamurogi The most powerful single-target physical attack skill in the game. (that the Hero can get, that is) The problem is, it misses ALL THE FREAKING TIME! I say you're better off with Haja Light-Beam or Spiral Snake. 49: Mahamudo-on **** Anathema A great spell. Kills things with great efficiency. There is a gambling element to the spell still, but quite effective. A must for a curse-build. 49: Tentarafu *** Muspel OK, Tentarafu is a fun and potentially profitable spell as it confuses enemies, but in the long run it's not all that practical. And most bosses are immune to it. 50: Withstand ***** Vimana I used to not like this skill much, but now I put it on virtually all of my builds. Useful as a second chance and counter to the many insta-death spells present in-game. 51: Chakra Shoes ***** Geis If you are going to be a spellcaster of any sort, this skill is absolutely essential. With it you can cast spells with abandon; without it you'll have to scrimp on every MP. One of the most useful skills in the game! 51: Jive Talk ** Satan A very unusual skill, that's for certain. Being able to negotiate with Yoju, Gedo, and Yuki is useful--except that on a whole those three races are pretty weak and not that useful in fusions. Not a keeper skill IMO. 52: Absolute Zero ***** Miasma Like Ice Breath, only much, much more powerful. The most powerful Ice skill in the game for the Hero. 53: Makajamaon ** Muspel Nothing spectacular. It's true some of the nastiest enemies are magic users, but this spell doesn't work consistently enough to make it worth it IMHO. 54: Fierce Counterattack: ** Kamurogi More powerful than Counterattack, but still not worth it IMO. Especially when Death Counter is available to you. Has same drawbacks as Counter. 55: Curse Immunity *** Satan Probably the most useful of the Immunity skills your hero can get, but still not worth it IMO. Using Withstand (which will be almost as effective, and work for Curse AND Hama) is a better option if you want to go this defensive route. 56: Hama Immunity ** Nirvana Again, why? Hama almost never works on your Hero anyway--use Withstand instead. Don't bother unless you're going for a very specialized build. 56: Zeloth Beat *** Muspel OK, Zeloth Beat looks really cool, and critical hits fairly often, but the HP requirement for this skill is absurd, and it misses a lot. Your call on whether to keep it. 57: Samarecarm **** Sophia A very, very useful skill...however, not a permanent keeper, since there's an unlimited-use item that does exactly the same thing in the last dungeon. Unbelievably useful until you reach that point though. 58: Chakra of Victory *** Satan It's helpful...but Chakra Shoes is more useful. Getting attacked more than once within a single moon phase is a rarity, so on the whole the Shoes are more effective. 59: Reppu-Ha *** Vimana Straight physical damage to all enemies you're facing. Does substantially more damage than its "sister" techniques Heatwave, Rannyu-ken, and Venom Zapper. 59: Absorption Attack ** Sophia At first the idea of healing every time you land a physical attack sounds great, until you see the meager amount of healing you get with this skill. 60: Ice Absorption **** Miasma Quite useful. If you're making an ice-guy or an absorption-themed character, a great skill. 60: Flame Absorption **** Gehenna Same deal as Ice Absorption. Maybe a little less useful since there's no status ailment attached to Flame like there is with Ice. 60: Charisma * Satan Since the Hero will always be in your party, it's nice to have Charisma on him, but not worth wasting a slot IMO. You're better off bringing in a temporary demon with Charisma for when you want to do negotiations. 60: Shockwave ***** Adama The best electricity attack in the game for the Hero. Quite nice! 61: Deathbound ***** Gaia Deathbound is like a really powerful version of Rampage. Useful, but I prefer attack-all physical attacks than the crap-shoot random versions, though the random versions have the advantage of sometimes multi-hitting single targets. Since it's a Weapon skill, damage scales based on HP, so that's a bonus. 62: 30% Magic Pulse *** Adama If you're going to get an MP-boosting skill, this is the one to take. It's up to you whether or not you think it's worth it. 63: Mediarahan ***** Sophia If you want a healing character, you must get this skill. VERY useful, though Mediarama _will_ suffice until you're a very high level. 64: Kishin-Raku **** Kamurogi An excellent all-enemies attack skill. Only the Hero can use this one too. 64: Shinku-ha ***** Gundari One of the only "Extreme"-level damage skills in the game that the Hero has access to. It's Shock though, which not a lot of high-level demons are weak to. Still a great skill though. 65: Magma Axis **** Gehenna An unusual skill--does fire damage but uses HP rather than MP. Looks really cool too. I love this skill--I've done over 2000 damage with it toward the end of the game, though it's more of a personal preference than anything. 65: Deathsport ***** Satan Wow, is this one effective skill. Attacks all the enemies and criticals a whole lot too. Lower damage overall than Mother Earth's Dinner, but its high critical rate and lower HP requirement make it a better skill IMO. 66: Shock Absorption **** Gundari Probably the least useful of the Absorption skills, since not a whole lot of demons use Shock attacks. Still potentially worth your while though. 67: Electricty Absorption **** Adama Another useful absorption skill. Whether it's worth getting depends on your build. 68: Javelin Rain **** Vimana Admittedly Javelin Rain is a really cool-looking skill, but it's basically the same as Zeloth Beat only with Close effects, which aren't as useful. However it does do more damage. It misses with annoying frequency though... 69: Death Counter **** Gaia Makes you a nightmare against monsters that attack you physically. On the other hand, it makes charmed allies a nightmare to you. A risky but potentially useful skill. 70: Divine Retribution **** Sophia This game-breaker skill of previous Megaten games has been gutted. It has the same effect, but rather than doing All-purpose damage, it does Hama damage, making it worthless against bosses. Not too shabby otherwise though. 71: 30% Life Spring *** Vimana If you want a HP-boosting skill, then take this one. Otherwise pass it over. It's a noticable boost, but I don't think it's worth wasting a slot myself. 72: Makalakarn **** Kailash Reflecting magic is always great, and this is a very useful spell, though the MP requirement is steep. If I'm going to use this spell I personally prefer keeping it on my Nakama rather than the Hero though. 73: Spiral Snake **** Gundari Spiral Snake and Haja Light-Beam are almost the same, but Spiral Snake does slightly more damage. Better than Iron Claw since it doesn't miss all the time. 73: Meikai-ha **** Vimana One of the best do-damage-to-all-enemies physical attacks in the game. A great skill for a physical fighter. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is... 74: Mother Earth's Dinner ***** Gaia ...because this skill trumps it by a good margin. Yikes, this is one brutally effective skill. Not only does it do more damage on the whole than Meikai-ha, but it also criticals more often in my expereince. A decided perma-keeper for a physcial fighter. 75: Megido *** Kailash Your first available All-Purpose attack. By the time you're this level though you'll want to be only picking keepers, and this skill is not a keeper simply because Megidora and Megidoraon are better. Still nice though. 76: Attack All *** Gaia Attack All is a fantastic skill for most of the game. The problem occurs late in the game--which is when you can first get this skill--as there are long stretches where virtually every fight will have a physically immune enemy in it, making use of this skill dangerous. If you take it, you will need a single-target Physical skill to use in these occasions. 78: Tetrakarn **** Kailash Same deal with Makalakarn. Great skill, heavy MP use. And also I prefer keeping this skill on my Nakama rather than my Hero. 80: Supreme Blast ***** Kailash Ho-lee crap. Supreme Blast is just amazing. It is, by far, the most damaging attack available to you in the game. It's all-purpose, meaning it can work against anything, but it can Critical like a physical attack. It even does more damage than Megidoraon, though it can only hit one enemy at a time. 81: Megidora **** Kailash Like Megido, only substantially more powerful. Hits all enemies for oodles of damage. What more could you want? **: Megidoraon ***** Masakadus Megidoraon is the most powerful attack spell in the game. It's All-purpose type meaning it cannot be blocked, and does quite a lot of damage to all enemies when you let it loose. **: Unblemished Power **** Masakadus This is kind of like Hama Lightning, only it hits everything. Very powerful, but ineffective against a lot of enemies, and often you'll get more bang for your buck with Divine Retribution. Still a good skill though. **: Flame Reflection **** Masakadus I personally prefer absorption to reflection--usually demons that cast elemental spells on you are immune to the elements they're casting so reflection does little aside from eat up Press Turns. This is still a good skill though. **: Ice Reflection **** Masakadus Basically the same deal with Flame Reflection, only with Ice. **: Electricity Reflection *** Masakadus Another Reflection skill, but I'm not too fond of it, simply for the reason that there really aren't a whole lot of enemies that use Electricity, and even fewer with really powerful Electricity attacks. **: Shock Reflection *** Masakadus Ditto Electricity Reflection. Almost NOBODY uses Shock against you at the later stages of the game. If you could get this skill early on it might have been better, but by this point in time it's just a waste IMO. **: Physical Reflection ***** Masakadus Do I really need to comment how great a skill this is? You'll be blocking nearly half the attacks in the game with this, and soaking up enemy Press Turns like mad. VERY nice. ??: Penetrate ***** Marogare Only available in Maniacs, and only available if you take the new route through the game. At first it sounds rather uninteresting, but it's virtually impossible to kill the last boss without it. It comes in quite handy in many other situations as well. SAMPLE HERO BUILDS: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some good sample Hero builds. None of them include skills from Masakado's, since that's sort of like a bonus Magatama. Obviously any build will be tougher with the skills it comes with. These are all very specialized builds, and are not necessarily better than any build that you can come up with--you may decide you want to be good at a lot of things rather than great at one thing. These are just some suggestions. If you have any other good builds, I'd love to hear of them and how you use them. PHYSICAL FIGHTER: EARLY GAME MID-GAME FINAL BUILD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charge Haja Light-Beam Spiral Snake Heatwave Kishin-Raku Deathsport 10% Life Spring 20% Life Spring 30% Life Spring Breath of Victory Breath Shoes Breath Shoes Counterattack Fierce Counterattack Death Counter Kiai Kiai Kiai Critical Critical Critical Media Medirama Mediarahan Primary Stat: Power Greater stat focus: Vitality/Speed Lesser stat focus: Magic/Luck This build focuses entirely on physical attacks. One one-target attack, one All- targets attack, and then a bunch of Passive skills to enhance the build. The healing spells are in there just because it's kind of a waste to have all that MP and not be able to use it, and healing is very useful to have on your hero. Depending on how you want to build this character you might want to substitute different skills--for example, substituting Attack All or another physical attack skill for Critical is potentially a good idea. Scuttling the Counter s kills for another attack (weapon based like Deathbound or status ailment- inflicting like Zeloth Beat.) is another option. In terms of dealing raw damage, this is probably the type of build to shoot for. ELEMENTALIST: EARLY GAME MID-GAME FINAL BUILD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fire Breath Hellfire Magma Axis Ice Breath Absolute Zero Absolute Zero Discharge Shockwave Shockwave Tornado Tornado Tornado OR Shinkuha Drink Magic Chakra Shoes Chakra Shoes Hama Lightning Tentarafu Supreme Blast Mahamudo-on Maka-Kaja Maka-Kaja Media Medirama Mediarahan Primary Stat: Magic Greater Stat Focus: Luck/Power Lesser Stat Focus: Vitality/Speed This is one of my favorite builds, and close to the one I took first time through the game. This build is primarily designed to exploit enemy weaknesses and increase your Press Turns during battle. By having a skill of each of the four main attack-spell elements, it ensures that the Hero will be able to exploit the bulk of the elemental weaknesses that your opponents have. Maka-Kaja will add insult to injury. DEFENSIVE SUPPORTER: EARLY GAME MID-GAME FINAL BUILD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drink Magic Chakra Shoes Chakra Shoes Fog Breath Fog Breath Tetrakarn Battle Cry Battle Cry Makalakarn Raku-Nda Taru-Kaja Taru-Kaja Breath of Victory Raku-Kaja Raku-Kaja (Whatever) Suku-Kaja Suku-Kaja (Whatever) Maka-Kaja Maka-Kaja Media Medirama Mediarahan Primary Stat: Vitality Greater Stat Focus: Magic/Speed Lesser Stat Focus: Power/Luck The Hero with this build will be next to useless himself in battle, but will be able to beef his Nakama into massive engines of destruction. Early on in the game before the -Kaja spells are available, you can pretty much give whatever skills you want to him as there's not much in the way of support available at that point. The offensive support skills Fog Breath and Battle Cry should be ditched for Tetrakarn and Makalakarn by the end of the game, since by that point you'll be using Randomizer for stat dropping, and your Hero can't use that. You'll want to boost Vitality and Magic most so you can get your HP and MP up-- the other skills are less important since you won't be doing most of the fighting yourself. OFFENSIVE SUPPORTER: EARLY GAME MID-GAME FINAL BUILD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drink Magic Chakra Shoes Chakra Shoes Fog Breath Fog Breath Fog Breath Battle Cry Battle Cry Battle Cry Raku-Nda Raku-Nda Raku-Nda Evil Eye Mudo-On Mahamudo-on Tentarafu Color Dance Color Dance (whatever) Makajamaon Makajamaon Media Medirama Mediarahan Primary Stat: Luck Greater Stat Focus: Magic/Speed Lesser Stat Focus: Vitality/Power This build is like the offensive counterpart of the defensive support character. He is primarily focused on softening up the enemy and making them easier to kill by his allies. The Fog Breath/Battle Cry/Raku-Nda are there to lower stats (Taunt can be substituted for Raku-Nda, though that's risky) and the rest of the skills are designed to inflict status ailments. Luck is the most important stat since a lot of the skills are all-or-nothing type skills, and you'll need as good a chance as possible to succeed with them, which is why Speed is also important. (so the enemy doesn't dodge, though I think only Mahamudo-on can be dodged from the above skillset) A good lineup of Nakama is vital for this build, as the Hero by himself will be as weak as a baby. IMPENETRABLE WALL: EARLY GAME MID-GAME FINAL BUILD -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10% Life Spring 20% Life Spring 30% Life Spring Fast Retreat Fast Retreat Fast Retreat Media Medirama Mediarahan (Element) Resistance Breath Shoes Breath Shoes Sixth Sense Sixth Sense Sixth Sense Hama Resistance Hama Immunity Hama Immunity Curse Resistance Curse Immunity Curse Immunity Critical Withstand Withstand Primary Stat: Vitality Greater Stat Focus: Speed/Power Lesser Stat Focus: Magic/Luck The Hero of this build will be a lot like the Hero of the previous Megaten games in that the only thing he'll be able to do is attack, use items, and summon allies. (though he will have some healing magic, just so the MP doesn't go totally to waste) He won't be all that useful in battle and will have to leave most of the fighting up to his Nakama, but he will be extremely difficult to kill. The boosted HP of the Life Spring skills go hand-in-hand with Breath Shoes, the Hama/Curse Immunity protects him from insta-death attacks, and Withstand protects him just in case an enemy gets a lucky shot in. Sixth Sense and Fast Retreat stand to prevent back attacks and give you a chance to escape battle, just in case. You might consider substituting Mental Immunity for Fast Retreat as well. While this build is admittedly pretty boring, it is a great one to use the second time through the game when enemies do more damage and a lucky Critical attack just might kill a full-health Hero... There are plenty of other potentially good builds, these are just some ideas to get you started. ############################################################################### NAKAMA--DEMON PARTY MEMBERS ############################################################################### Like all Megatens before it, your party in SMT3 is primarily composed of demons whom you recruit on the battlefield. Given the right conditions, virtually any enemy you encounter outside of bosses can be persuaded to join your party. Up to three demons can be in your active party at any one time, but you can "stock" up to eight, and this stock will be increased to ten and then finally twelve. You can summon demons whenever and wherever you want as well. Nakama--allied demons- -operate under very similar rules as your Hero, though the way they advance is slightly different. DEMON CHARACTERISTICS: ====================== Alignment and race are probably the most important factors when you're dealing with demons. Each demon falls into a specific race, and each race has an Alignment associated with it. There are three basic Alignments--Light, Neutral, and Dark. (Yes, Law and Chaos have unfortunately gone the way of the dinosaur) LIGHT: ------ Light demons are pretty much all gods of some sort or other. They're almost all loved and worshipped deities by their various pantheons. However, true to Megaten form, Light does not necessarily equivocate to "good" pe se--I doubt there'd be a lot of people that would claim that the Chimera is "good" for example. Light Demons will rarely cross your path in the game and when they do, they won't be willing to join your party or negotiate no matter what you do. (especially since most you will encounter are in the form of bosses) However, they can be created through fusion and tend to be much more powerful than their Neutral or Dark brethren. NEUTRAL: -------- With only a few exceptions, Neutral demons are minor deities or supernatural creatures from some mythos or other that fall between the lines and are neither benevolent gods nor devils/evil gods, though there are exceptions. (Quetzalcoatl and the Greek Fates, for example) The bulk of the demons you will encounter in the game are Neutral. They can be enticed into joining your party normally (though during full moons they go nuts and won't usually listen to you) through negotiations. Unlike previous Megaten games, Neutral demons potentially serve as a lot more than fusion fodder, and can be truly viable allies. DARK: ----- Dark Demons are generally evil gods, monsters, or devils, reviled by whatever pantheon believes in them. (Like the other two alignments, there are of course exceptions) You'll encounter a fair number of Dark demons in normal encounters, though they are less numerous than Neutrals. Dark demons can be quite powerful (Jashin and Maou are powerhouse races on par with the Light races) but they won't generally join you when you talk to them. It's not impossible to get a Dark demon to join you through persuasion, though it is substantially more difficult. You're best off trying to do so during a full Kagutsuchi. Three of the Dark races--Maou, Jashin, and Kyocho--are intelligent and are open to trade when you talk to them, but will not join. The other three Dark races--Yoju, Yuki, and Gedo--are semi- or non-intelligent, and are normally impossible to communicate with at all, though a special conversation skill exists that will allow you to talk to them like a Neutral demon. THE RACES: ========== LIGHT: ------ MAJIN (魔神): Majin are without exception (in this game at least) the chief deities of their pantheons. They are amongst the most powerful races in the game and are more difficult to fuse than most of the other races. They are well- rounded all-purpose demons, adept in both physical and magical combat. MEGAMI (女神): Megami are high-ranking goddesses in their pantheons. They're not that great as combatants when compared to most other Light demons of similar level, but are very good at using magic, especially healing magic. HAKAISHIN (破壊神): Literally meaning "God of destruction," Hakaishin are gods that deal out the wrath and punishment when necessary in their pantheons. (Or in the case of Shiva, they literally ARE gods of destruction) As allies, Hakaishin are almost all bruisers, focused on doling out heavy amounts of physical punishment, though they can hold their own magically too. Like the Majin, they are tricky to fuse. JIBOSHIN (地母神): Goddesses that usually rank a little lower than Megami in their pantheons. Jiboshin are a mixed bag, and are more varied than Megami. They're not geared toward physical combat (with the exception of Kali) but are better at it than Megami. They wield a range of magic, a mix of offensive and defensive spells. Jiboshin is another race that is difficult to fuse, and usually requires other Light demons as "ingredients" to make. KISHIN (鬼神): With the sole exception of Thor, (and Futomimi if you're playing Maniacs) Kishin are all warrior gods from either Japanese or Buddhist mythology, whose purpose is to protect something or other. They are all powerhouse demons, geared toward physical combat and are all capable of using weapon techniques. (except for Takeminakata, who doesn't even have arms, the poor guy) They also all learn some sort of attack magic, though that's not their forte. SEIJU (聖獣): Seiju are all holy beasts that skirt the line between supernatural creature and god, though they aren't usually the target of worship within their pantheons. As Light demons go, Seiju are pretty much the bottom of the barrel, and aren't all that much better than Neutrals. They're usually focused on physical attacks--claw and bites usually--and aren't too good at magic, though they often have a decent selection of spells. SHINJU (神獣): Shinju are like Seiju, except more powerful. They're gods in the form of animals, or gods that "naturally" appear as animals. (Well, not Kaichi, but still) They are also one of the trickier demon races to fuse. SEIREI (精霊): Seirei are elementals, and as party members they aren't anything to write home about. Their true function is fusion-fodder; when combined in a fusion they can raise the rank of their "partner" demon in a fusion so are quite useful in that regard. MITAMA (御魂): Mitama are Shinto aspects of the soul/emotions. Like Seirei, they aren't too useful as party members. Their role too is in fusions--when fused with a demon, they can boost that demon's stats. In that sense they can be more useful than Seirei and are thus harder to fuse/come by. DAITENSHI (大天使): The Daitenshi are the four Seraphim, the top-ranking angels from Christian mythology. All of them are very powerful, well-rounded allies that make great endgame demons to have along with your party. They're good at both physical and magical attacks, though they're a little bit lacking in the Endurance department. Daitenshi is a special demon race that can only be gotten through Mutations or special fusions. Note that in Maniacs there is a fifth Daitenshi, and he is a Seraph from the Judaic, but not Christian, pantheon. GUNSHIN (軍神): The Gunshin are war gods. Though not exceptionally powerful, they are reasonably well-balanced demons with some very useful skills. Their skills are more geared toward physical rather than magical combat, though they can hold their own in either role. Gunshin is a special demon race that can only be gotten through Mutations, and there are only two of them. GENMA (幻魔): Genma are heroes and demigods from epic tales of mythology. As races go, there is no real one trait you could pin down on them. Some are more combat-oriented, some (well, actually one, there are only three of them) are more magic-oriented. All have useful skills. Genma is another special demon race that can only be gotten through mutations. RYUJIN (龍神): There are only two Ryujin in the game. Both are from the Chinese Shiseiju. (four holy beasts) They're like a more powerful version of the Ryuo (well, for their level, the highest-level Ryujin is lower than some Ryuo) and their techniques are similar. Both absorb Ice, and both are geared toward using ice as well. Both also can only be attained through Mutating other dragons. REICHO (霊鳥): There's only one Reicho in the game, and he can only be attained through mutation. He's a capable demon for when you get him though, and will potentially help a lot in the last quarter of the game or so. IRYO (威霊): Like the Reicho, there's only one Iryo in the game, and he also can only be attained through mutation. He's also a really powerful ally. NEUTRAL: -------- YOMA (妖魔): Yoma are primarily lesser deities or supernatural creatures. They are so-so fighters and decent spellcasters, mostly focused on support or status ailment spells. Probably the most notable aspect of the Yoma is their propensity for demon mutations--fully two thirds of the Yoma in the game can mutate to higher forms. YOSEI (妖精): Yosei are whimsical fantasy creatures--fairies, trolls, goblins, etc. With a couple of exceptions, they are rather weak fighters, but are exceptional magic-users, usually specializing in elemental magic. There are a handful that can mutate as well. As demon races go, Yosei aren't too powerful overall. TENSHI (天使): Tenshi are like the Daitenshi in that they are all angels from Hebrew and Christian mythology, except they are lower, "generic" angel types. They are all geared toward Hama and Healing-type spell usage, are good spellcasters, and can dish out a fair amount of damage as well. However, they are very fragile and die easily, especially since all of them are weak to Curses. DATENSHI (堕天使): Datenshi are all fallen angels/demons encased in the 72 pillars of Solomon from Hebrew mythology. Datenshi are among the more powerful of the Neutral races, and are adept in both physical and magical combat, though they are more geared toward the former. They tend to learn physical attacks or combat/offensive support spells. All are immune to Curse magic, but none can mutate. RYUO (龍王): Ryuo are dragons or lesser dragon gods. Two (Quetzalcoatl and Yurlunggur) are even the chief deities of their pantheons. Ryuo are a very powerful Neutral race, at least on par with some of the lesser Light races. They all have exceptional Vitality and lots of HP, but usually make shabby spellcasters. Most of their skills are of the elemental or support variety. MAJU (魔獣): Maju are animal spirits or monsters, and are geared toward physical combat, usually using bite or claw attacks and having greater-than-average HP and power. They make shoddy spellcasters though and most are weak to some form of elemental magic. CHIREI (地霊): The Chirei are mostly earth spirits or deities. They are an odd race; there are six in total, and they are split into two categories more or less. The top three are rather powerful physical fighters that can take a lot of punishment. The bottom three are pretty weak, are more geared toward elemental magic, and mostly appear at the beginning of the game. All in all the Chirei are weaker than most of the other races. YOKI (妖鬼): The Yoki are almost all Japanese Oni of some sort or another. As allies, they act like a physical counterpart to the Yoma--decent fighters and so-so spellcasters. Of the Neutral races, some of the Yoki are among the strongest; the most powerful Yoki is easily an endgame ally, on par with many of the stronger Light demons. KIJO (鬼女): The Kijo are primarily warrior women from various traditions around the world. They are quite a balanced race, being good at both physical fighting and magic. Overall they're a mixed bag, with no single defining trait between them. The high-level Kijo are quite powerful and can prove to be very useful. YAMA (夜魔): Yama are primarily "life draining" types of demons, often with sexual overtones...things like vampires and succubi fall into this category. They are powerful spellcasters and so-so physical combatants. Their spells are usually geared towards curse magic or inflicting the enemy with negative status effects. Overall they are a very versatile race. The highest-level Yama ranks among the most powerful demons in the game. DARK: ----- JASHIN (邪神): Jashin are either evil deities from within their own pantheons, or deities demonized and vilified by neighboring religions. They are a "bruiser" race, tied with Maou for the most powerful Dark race and easily on par with any of the Light races. With a few exceptions, they are very offense-oriented demons, and are jacks-of-all-trades. MAOU (魔王): Maou are all gods that are "arch-villains" from within their pantheons. They are the most powerful Dark race, and also one of the most powerful races in the game in general. They are good at just about anything they do. Maou are a lot like a Dark version of the Majin. They're also equally tricky (if not more so) to fuse. YOJU (妖獣): Yoju are monstrous beasts, creatures feared by people within their respective pantheons. As allies they're more or less the Dark equivalent of Maju. They are primarily but not exclusively physically offense-oriented demons, using their claws and jaws to attack. They make pretty average allies overall. All of them are immune to Curse magic, which is a bonus. YUKI (幽鬼): Yuki are undead; ghosts, zombies, spirits, that sort of thing. They are all curse-oriented demons and are likewise immune to curse-based attacks. However, aside from the strongest ones, as demons go they're not that great. They're powerful, but they make horrible spellcasters and usually are rather lacking in the HP department as well. Being undead, almost all of them are weak to Hama, which is a bummer if you've got them as allies (but great if you're fighting them!) GEDO (外道): Slimes, blobs, weird things that walk the line between living and non-living material--that's what Gedo are. Gedo can make useful allies if used right; almost all of them are strong to physical attacks and can take a lot of punishment. They're also better than Yuki at spellcasting, though every one of them is weak to Hama-spells. Overall, they're an average/slightly below average race. KYOCHO (凶鳥): There's only one Kyocho in the game, and he can only be attained through a special fusion. He's also the only "unique race" enemy you'll encounter in the game outside of fusion, mutation or a boss fight. As an ally he's not too shabby and will prove useful toward the end stages of the game. All of his stats are pretty decent except luck. That he's weak to Hama spells is a downer though. NEGOTIATION =========== In order to get demons to join your party, you will have to recruit them via negotiations. Negotiations are extremely watered-down from previons Megaten games--no longer can you have conversations with demons, you just cut straight to the chase and buy them off with money and items. NORMAL CONVERSATION: -------------------- The following is a basic flowchart for normal negotiations to get a demon to join. Level Check | V ,----->,-> Demon Makes Request <-. / | | | | | `---Accept Refuse---' | | | | | Demon Gets Angry | V | Joins <---Demon Considers Offer--->Demon Leaves \ | `--------------------V | V Demon Asks Question | | Likes Answer Dislikes Answer | | Demon Joins Demon Leaves* *Ally Intervention will not work here. Level Check: ------------ Demons will only join your party if your Hero is an equal or higher level than they are. If the target is a higher level than the Hero, then the negotiations will automatically fail and you'll lose a Press Turn. Demon Makes Request: -------------------- The demon you are talking to asks you for something, either Makka, an item, or to absorb some of your life. If you refuse, the demon will either get angry or ask for something else instead. If the demon asks for Makka, then any allies with the "Bargain" skill will intervene and try to get them to lower their price. Demon Gets Angry: ----------------- If the demon gets angry, it will either break off conversation, leave, get ready to fight, or attack you. If it just breaks off conversation, you can try talking to it again. If it gets ready to fight, you can no longer talk to it. If it attacks outright, then you lose your turn and the game automatically switches to an enemy turn. If any of your allies have "Mediate," "Maiden Mediate," or "Booze Party," they will attempt to use these skills to calm the demon down. Demon Considers Offer: ---------------------- A demon can do this up to three times in a single conversation. Each time it considers your offer, there is a chance that it will decide to join you or switch to its final question. The first time it considers your offer, the chance of it joining you is extremely low, but each successive time it considers your offer the chance of it joining is higher. When the demon you are talking to considers your offer, your allies with passive conversation skills will often jump into the conversation to try and get them to join. "Persuade," "Brown- nose," "Selfishness," "Brotherly Love," and "Booze Party" are all skills that can be used to try to sway a demon considering your offer. Demon Leaves: ------------- If the demon leaves after considering an offer, then sometimes it will give you an item or heal you instead of joining you. If it leaves after getting angry it will never give you an item. Allies with the skills "Stop" or "Booze Party" will attempt to keep a demon from leaving mid-conversation. Demon Asks Question: -------------------- At this point the demon will ask you a question about your values. If you answer in a way that the demon likes, it will always join you. If you answer in a way that they DON'T like, then they will leave. Ignore the way they ask the question (ie for a "Don't you think X," "yes" is not always what you want to say) and consider their background within their Kotowari (if they have one) before asking. For example, angels have little respect for the weak, so if they ask you if you think that the weak should be protected, answer no. Youth Female demons respect confidence, so when they ask if you think you could beat them in a one-on-one fight, answer yes. And so forth--it may take a little experimentation to figure out what each demon is looking for. #MANIACS NOTE: For some bizarre reason, in Maniacs the demons don't seem to have a set answer they're looking for when asking questions. There was a random factor even in Nocturne, but in Maniacs it seems like more or less a total crap shoot when answering these questions. The same demon asking the same question may want different answers at different times. Demon Joins: ------------ Success! The demon agrees to your terms and joins your party as a Nakama. TRADE CONVERSATION: ------------------- There are some conversation skills that are designed to try to get items or money out of demons rather than getting them to join. The following is a flowchart for just such an attempt to trade with a demon: ,-> Demon Makes Request <-. | | | | `---Accept Refuse---' | | Demon gives you item Demon Gets Angry Note that it's much simpler to get items out of a demon than to get them to join. Demons will usually only make around two requests before agreeing to your terms. Other than that, trade negotiations work the same way as normal negotiations. DEMON TO DEMON NEGOTIATION ========================== On the whole, your demon allies are a lot better at negotiation than you are. In addition to persuading a demon to join, they have skills that can be used to try and get money, items, or gems from their "targets." The most important thing about demon-to-demon negotiation is that their conversation skills can have "immediate effects." When this happens the game will tell you "Your persuasion had an immediate effect on (target)!" Immediate effects are automatically triggered if the conditions for the conversation skill being used are met. The conditions are target and speaker age, target and speaker gender, speaker personality, etc. Immediate effects can be both positive and negative. With a positive effect, your target will do its "happy" animation and conversation will either immediately succeed without you having to give them anything, or the conversation will automatically succeed the first time the demon considers your offer. With a negative effect, your target will do its "angry" animation and the conversation will automatically fail--and the target may attack. Here's a list of the positive and negative effects I've heard of and found so far. ACTIVE SKILLS: -------------- ALLURE: ------- Positive: Female Youth talking, Male target Negative: Male talking, Male target ABDUCT: ------- Positive: Non-Child talking, Child target Negative: Child talking, Non-Child target SCOUT: ------ Positive: Adult talking, Youth or Child female target Negative: Child talking, Adult target HEADHUNT: --------- Headhunt is kind of a crap-shoot skill. It seems to produce an immediate effect when the talker is a substantially higher level than the target. The funny thing is, I've seen it produce both Positive and Negative effects with the same speaker and the same target! It appears to be random whether or not the immediate effect will be positive or negative, though positive seems to be a lot more common. SMOOTH TALK: ------------ Positive: Male Youth talking, Female target. Negative: Male talking, Male target. BRAINWASH: ---------- Positive: Speaker is a substantially higher level than the target Negative: Speaker is a substantially lower level than the target SILENT SKY VOW: --------------- Positive: Kagutsuchi is currently Silent Negative: None PRANK: ------ Positive: Male Speaker, Female target Negative: None HERO HUNT: ---------- Positive: Valkyrie is the Speaker, Male target. Negative: None DEATH CONTRACT: --------------- Positive: Speaker is a substantially higher level than the target. Negative: None REQUEST: -------- Positive: Speaker is a child Negative: Target is a child BEG: ---- Positive: Speaker is a substantially lower level than the target Negative: None BLACKMAIL: ---------- Positive: Speaker is a substantially higher level than the target Negative: Speaker is a substantially lower level than the target STONE HUNT: ----------- I don't think this skill has any Immediate Effects. SWAP: ----- No Immediate Effects with this one either, I think. BORROW: ------- No Immediate Effects with this one, though I should probably note that this is a rather risky skill to use. If you use it too much it may backfire and the demons will come back to collect your debt. With interest--they'll take 1/3 of whatever money you're carrying. PASSIVE SKILLS: --------------- Since Passive skills kick in without you actually having any control, the designers of the game were nice enough not to include any negative Immediate Effects. (I think...I vaguely remember pissing off a Sudama with Persuade but I'm not sure) Either way it never says "immediate effect" for passive skills, it seems to be somewhat random. However there are some times where it always (or almost always) works. Those that I have found are the following: BROTHERLY LOVE: --------------- Brotherly Love only gets triggered when a demon of the same race can use it against another demon of the same race. E.G. if you are trying to persuade Yosei Troll to join, Yosei High Pixie can use Brotherly Love (if she has it) since both Troll and High Pixie are Yosei. If it gets triggered it almost always works. THREATEN: --------- Always works when the target is a substantially lower level than the one threatening. BROWN-NOSE: ----------- Always works when the target is a substantially higher level than the one ass-kissing. SELFISHNESS: ------------ Always works when either a youth or adult girl is using against a male target, or a child is using against a youth or adult target. "ABNORMAL" NEGOTIATIONS ======================= NEGOTIATING DURING A FULL MOON: ------------------------------- During a full moon the excessive light from Kagutsuchi drives demons wild, and makes it impossible to have normal conversation with them--they act drunk or stoned. Usually if you talk to them during a full Kagutsuchi they will just ignore you, but sometimes they will ask you a question, sometimes really odd. If you answer the question in such a way to make them happy, they will give you an item, or, in the case of Yoju, Yuki and Gedo, sometimes join you. INTERRUPTIONS: -------------- Attempting to talk to a demon when you're facing several is a risky proposition; for each demon you choose not to talk to, there is a chance that it will interrupt you and stop you from talking to its ally. If this happens, the turn will automatically switch over to the enemy's turn, and they will get a free attack on you. "ME TOO" INTERRUPTIONS: ----------------------- This only happens when you use demon-to-demon negotiation and ask for money or items from your target. After you succesfully complete the trade and get whatever you ask for, there is a small chance that your transaction will pique the interest of any other demons you are facing, and they will ask to trade too. DEMON BEGGING: -------------- Sometimes the demons you face will initiate conversation with you and ask if you can spare some sort of item. If you give them the item, they'll either reward you with money, another item (sometimes the same item you gave them!), information, or a request to join your party. In my experience, if a Yoju, Yuki, or Gedo is the one begging, they will ALWAYS request to join your party--useful since they won't normally join you otherwise. If you refuse to give them anything, they usually just leave. DEMON QUESTIONING: ------------------ This is a lot like demon begging, except that instead of asking you to give it something, the demon will ask you a question about your values, much like the "final question" during normal negotiation. The results are the same as begging. However, if the asker is a Dark demon, it won't join you and will only give you items, money, and information. Since Yoju/Yuki/Gedo are too stupid to have normal conversations they won't ever come forward with a question. DEMON BEGGING FOR ITS LIFE: --------------------------- If a demon is the only one in its party left and you take out a substantial chunk of its life left, it will sometimes interrupt you mid-turn and ask you to let it escape in exchange for money, items, or information. Sometimes they will offer to join your party for free too. In very rare occurances if you let your guard down after they beg for their life, they'll take the opportunity to get in a surprise attack. SPECIAL CONVERSATIONS: ---------------------- This only happens when you use demon-to-demon negotiation. They are special, preset conversations that happens when two demons with a mythological connection speak to one another. (Usually, but not all--for example Dionysus and Mada are two totally separate pantheons--their connection though is that they're both gods of liquor) For example, Scathach is Setanta's master in Celtic mythology, so there is a special conversation the two of them can have when talking to one another. Orthrus and Kerberos are brothers, and there's a rather humorous exchange between the two you can get as well. Usually you'll get an item afterwards, but not always--Rangda and Barong start a fight. Here are the special conversations I've found so far: Speaker Speakee Ame-no-Uzume --> Sarutahiko Scathach --> Setanta Orthrus --> Kerberos Chimera --> Kerberos Chimera --> Orthrus Any Daitenshi --> Any Tenshi Kali --> Dakini Valkyrie --> Loki Odin --> Loki Thor --> Loki Barong --> Rangda Dionysus --> Mada Kurama Tengu --> Koppa Tengu Kurama Tengu --> Karasu Tengu Garuda --> Naga Garuda --> Naga Raja Shiva --> Naga Shiva --> Naga Raja All special conversations are one-time only; after that if you have the same demons talk to each other the result will be the same as any normal conversation. NAKAMA NITTY-GRITTY =================== Okay, so you've succeeded in your negotiations, and now have a demon fighting alongside you as your Nakama. Nakama work a lot like your Hero with a few differences. SUMMONING AND THE STOCK: ------------------------ If you want to actively use a demon in your party you'll have to summon it. You can have up to three Nakama as active party members; the rest you can "store" in your Stock. Only your hero can actively summon Nakama (there is a skill "Summon" that demons can use, but it just summons a random Nakama) and can do so either during battle or outside of it. If the Hero summons a Nakama in battle and the party is already full, he'll have to pick a demon currently in the active party to swap out. For some odd reason you can't actually swap out demons outside of battle; you have to actively return your demons to your Stock first. Demons in the Stock don't gain experience from battles, (unless they have the skill Memory Enhancement, but even then they will only receive 50% of the experience your active party members will) and their passive skills, like Treasure Hunt or the Shoes skills, will not work. However, while not in battle, demons in the Stock can still cast spells on your party, like Lightma or the healing spells. Note that any multiple-target healing spells will also only work on the active party--you can't use them to heal demons in the Stock. DISMISSING ALLIES: ------------------ You have the option to Dismiss any demon allies you have from the menu screen outside of battle. Keep in mind that once you dismiss an ally, it is gone PERMANENTLY. If you want to use that demon again, you'll have to re-hire or re- fuse it, and any experience points or levels it has gained will have to be regained. AFFINITY: --------- Nakama have two types of Affinities--a basic Affinity and a Transfer Affinity. Neither of these will ever change. A demon's basic Affinity dictates what sorts of attacks it is strong or weak to. While these innate strengths and weaknesses will never change, they can be "bypassed" by the use of skills. For example, the skill "Hama Immunity" will supercede a natural weakness to Hama. However a "worse" skill on a demon with natural resistance (e.g. "Flame Immunity" on a demon that naturally absorbs flame) will be ignored. Overall, the game looks at all the skills and natural affinities, and picks the highest priority, from lowest to highest: Normal Resistance, Weakness, Immunity, Absorption, Reflection. So, for example, if you had a demon that had both the skills "Ice Absorption" and "Ice Reflection" then it would reflect, not absorb, any ice attacks. If the demon only had "Ice Absorption" as a skill but had "Ice Reflection" as an innate Affinity it would still reflect ice attacks since reflection is "better" than absorption. NOTE: "Resistance" skills by themselves are unusual. They will reduce damage/success rate from said skills, but will not actually negate any weak points. So, for example, if Maju Orthrus (naturally weak to Ice) had the skill "Ice Resistance," Ice attacks would do less damage than if he didn't have the skill, but will still count as exploiting his Weak Point and do more damage than to a demon with similar stats but no Ice Weakness. Also note that Resistance skills "stack;" a demon with "Ice Resistance" that was already naturally resistant to Ice will take even less damage. Also, Resistance skills cut both ways when it comes to damage--an Ice Absorbing demon that also has an Ice Resistance skill will heal less than if it didn't. Transfer Affinity really only plays a part in demon fusion--it dictates what types of Skills a demon is likely to receive from its "parent" demons. Transfer Affinity is covered in more detail in the fusion section. RANK: ----- Each Demon has a Rank, which lists how "high" it is in comparison to other demons of its same race. This rank is dependent upon the demon's initial, not actual level. For example, the lowest-ranking Chirei with a rank of 1 is Kodama, who is level 3. The next highest ranking Chirei, Kahaku, has a rank of 2 and level of 5. Rank really only factors in when dealing with Seirei, and is covered in more detail in the fusion section. NAKAMA ADVANCEMENT ================== Nakama can advance in level and experience just like you. There are actually several different ways that Nakama can advance--via normal leveling-up, via Mutations, and via Fusing. LEVELING UP: ------------ Nakama can gain levels just like your hero by earning experience points through battle. When a Nakama levels up, several things happen. First, they will gain extra HP and MP, and one of their stats will go up by one point at random. Second, they can learn new skills. Third, they can attempt to change one of their skills to a more powerful or new skill. Fourth, they will sometimes give you a gift. Finally, they can mutate. 1) HP/MP/Stat gain How much HP and MP your Nakama gains depends on its Vitality and Magic levels respectively. What stat they gain upon leveling up is totally random, though somewhat weighted--each demon has a stat or two that they will tend to favor over the others. For example magic-using demons will tend to favor Magic over Vitality. Overall they advance in such a way to accentuate their strengths rather than to cover their weaknesses. 2) Gaining New Skills Each Nakama starts out with two or three skills already available to it, but for each level it gains it will (usually) learn a new skill. What skills it will learn are preset, and you can check by looking at its status screen to see what skill it will learn next. There are a few rare occurances where a Nakama will have to gain two levels to gain a new skill, but those are few and far between. 3) Self-Altering Skills Sometimes when leveling up, one of your Nakama will attempt to transform one of its skills into something more powerful. You will have to give it permission to go ahead and try. If you do, it will have a 50% chance of success. If it fails, the skill will not power-up, but will turn into something completely different-- which could be potentially better or worse. There will be a 100% chance of failure if either one of the following conditions are met: A) The demon has already successfully powered up a skill (including previous forms if the demon is a Mutation) B) The demon already has the "target" skill. SUCCESS: Here is a list of all the skills that can be powered up. Agi/Agirao/Agidain --> Maharagi/Maharagion/Maharagidain Bufu/Bufura/Bufudain --> Mahabufu/Mahabufura/Mahabufudain Jio/Jionga/Jiodain --> Mahajio/Mahajionga/Mahajiondain Zan/Zanma/Zandain --> Mahazan/Mahazanma/Mahazandain Megido --> Megidora --> Megidoraon Hama/Hamaon --> Mahanma/Mahamaon Mudo/Mudo-on --> Mahamudo/Mahamudo-on Makajama --> Makajamaon Dia/Diarama/Diarahan --> Media/Medirama/Mediarahan Recarm --> Samarecarm Flame Resist --> Flame Immunity --> Flame Absorption Ice Resist --> Ice Immunity --> Ice Absorption Electric Resist --> Electric Immunity --> Electric Absorption Shock Resist --> Shock Immunity --> Shock Absorption Physical Resist --> Physical Immunity --> Physical Absorption Hama Resist --> Hama Immunity Curse Resist --> Curse Immunity Nerve Resist --> Nerve Immunity Magic Resist --> Magic Immunity 10% Life Spring --> 20% Life Spring --> 30% Life Spring 10% Magic Pulse --> 20% Magic Pulse --> 30% Magic Pulse Bright Sky Critical/Silent Sky Critical --> Critical Counterattack --> Fierce Counterattack --> Death Counter Claw --> Poison Claw --> Paralysis Claw Bite --> Poison Bite --> Charm Bite --> Paralysis Bite --> Petrify Bite 99 Needles --> Poison Needles --> Paralysis Needles --> Petrify Needles FAILURE: Failure is actually only a relative failure. Each skill has a rank. This rank determines how easy or difficult it is for a skill to be transferred during fusion. The more difficult it is for a skill to be transferred, the higher its rank. If a skill fails to be powered up, it will become a random skill from the next higher rank. For example, Agi is a rank 1 skill--if it fails to become Maharagi when an ally tries to power it up, it will become a random Rank 2 skill instead. To see the skills and their ranks, check out the Fusion section of the FAQ. 4) Gifts This doesn't happen very often--maybe about a 20% chance per demon levelup--but sometimes your Nakama will give you a present when you level up. Gifts vary, from minor items like a Dis-Poison, to major items like Somas, and even occasionally will give you Incense. It seems like the greater the disparity between your level and the level of your Nakama, the greater the chance they'll give you something. 5) Mutations Predetermined demons can "mutate" into a new form after "maxing out" and gaining all the skills it can learn. These forms are always more powerful and a higher level, and almost always connected mythologically as well. To find out whether or not an individual Nakama can mutate, use a "Kugatachi Water" on it, and it will not only tell you whether it can Mutate, but how soon the Mutation will occur as well. Note that it IS possible for a post-mutation demon to be a higher level than the Hero, but not by much. I think it can only be 3-5 levels above the Hero tops. Even if your Nakama is maxed out, if your Hero's level isn't high enough, it won't mutate. This is important, because there are some early-level demons whose post-mutation forms are substantially higher than their pre-mutation forms--for example, Yama Lilim is only level 8, but mutates into a level 80 Yama Lilith. If you max out Lilim when you're level 15, she still won't mutate into Lilith, and won't for a l-o-o-o-ng time. Also, some of the post-mutation forms appear in the game as bosses. As a rule of thumb, any demon that appears as a boss in-game can't join your party until you either defeat it or pass the point in the game where you would have fought it. (for bosses you only fight on certain alignment paths) This holds true for mutations. So you even if you have a maxed-out Tenshi Throne and are the right level, if you haven't killed Daitenshi Uriel yet, Throne won't mutate. The following are all the demons in the game that can mutate: Yosei Pixie --> Yosei High Pixie --> Yama Queen Maeve Yama Lilim --> Yama Lilith Maju Inugami --> Shinju Makami Ryuo Nozuchi --> Ryujin Genbu Maju Nekomata --> Seiju Senri Yoma Koppa Tengu --> Yoma Karasu Tengu --> Genma Kurama Tengu Yoki Momunofu --> Jashin Arahabaki Yoma Dis --> Gunshin Valkyrie Ryuo Naga --> Ryuo Naga Raja Ryuo Mizuchi --> Ryujin Seiryu Yoma Ongkot --> Genma Hanuman --> Hakaishin Seitentaisei Yosei Setanta --> Genma Cu Chulainn Yoma Djinn --> Yoma Ifreet Yoma Purski --> Gunshin Ganesha Megami Sati --> Jiboshin Parvati Maju Sparna --> Reicho Garuda Chirei Gogmagog --> Iryo Albion Megami Scathach --> Jiboshin Skadi Tenshi Throne --> Daitenshi Uriel Maou Abbadon --> Maou Arsiel *Maou Beelzebub --> Maou Beelzebub (fly form) *Maou Beelzebub is only available in Maniacs You can cancel out any mutation if you wish. Cancelling isn't permanent; the demon will continue to attempt to mutate on each successive level-up. ################################################################################ DEMON FUSION ################################################################################ Fusion is the big way that demons advance in SMT3. Fusions are all done at the Jakyo Manor. What you do is pick two demons out of your current Stock, and fuse the two of them together to create a new, more powerful demon. SMT vets may be a little disappointed by the fusion system in SMT3 as it has been more or less gutted. No longer can you fuse three demons together, (save for Sacrifice fusions, which I'll cover later) and technique/magic inheritance has been totally watered down from the earlier system. But it still has quite a bit of depth to it, and is easy to get a hang of. FUSION BASICS: -------------- You can fuse your demons willy-nilly and hope you get a good result, but it is to your advantage to learn the fusion system so you can predict what kind of Nakama you'll create. Here are the basic rules to find out what demon you are getting: 1) Take the two races of the demons you are fusing and cross-reference them on the fusion charts. The race indicated on the chart will be the resulting race of your fusion. 2) Take the average of the BASE levels of your starting demons rounding down, and add 1 to make sure that the resulting demon is more powerful than just the average. This will be the absolute minimum level of your resulting demon. 3) Find a demon whose base level is the same as this number, and that will be your result. If there is no demon of the target race with this level, the next highest demon of the same race will be the result. If this number is higher than all demons of the target race, then the target will be the highest-level demon of that race that does not have a special fusion or mutation associated with it. EXAMPLE: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We will fuse a Level 8 Yama Lilim with a Level 19 Yosei Jack O'Lantern. Checking the charts, we see that Yama fused with Yosei will make a Tenshi. (19+8)/2 + 1 = 14.5. We round this down so we get level 14. There aren't any Tenshi of level 14. Therefore we pick the next highest Angel, Level 19 Tenshi Archangel. Our final result: Yama Lilim + Yosei Jack O'Lantern = Tenshi Archangel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You might wonder what would happen in the example above if you had raised Lilim and Jack O'Lantern's levels so that they were much higher. The answer is that the result would still be the same though, as it is the BASE level of demons that determine fusion results, not their current level. You could level Lilim and Jack O'Lantern to level 99, and you'd still get a level 19 Tenshi Archangel fusing the two together. Which brings me to my next point--Any experience that your "component" demons have obtained will be lost when you fuse them together. No matter how much experience they have gained, the new result will always be at its base level with no experience. (This is not the case for Sacrifice fusions, which I'll explain later) So, you might ask, what's the point of putting all that work into my Nakama if I'm just going to lose it all? There is still some benefit to doing so, and that is.... SKILL INHERITANCE ----------------- ...Skill Inheritance. When you fuse two demons together, the result gets to keep some of the skills of its "parents." The more you build up the "parent" demons, the more skills get inherited by the "child" demon. The number of skills that will be inherited by the "child" demon is determined by getting the sum of the skills learned by all "component" demons: Known # Transferred ---------------------------- 4 skills: 1 transferred 5-8 skills: 2 transferred 9-12 skills: 3 transferred 13-15 skills: 4 transferred 16-19 skills: 5 transferred 20-24 skills*: 6 transferred *This level requires a Sacrifice fusion What skills will be inherited by the target is random--but it is a "weighted" randomness. Each skill is given a "rank." The lower its rank, the more likely it is to be picked for transferrence in a fusion. The higher its rank, the less likely it is to be inherited. The skills and their ranks are as follows: RANK 1: Agi, Bufu, Jio, Zan, Suku-nda, De-kunda, Death Touch, Claw, Bite, Charge, 99 Needles RANK 2: Dia, Patra, Posumdi, Closdi, Taru-nda, Raku-nda, Lullaby, 10% Life Spring, Allure, Beg, Bargain RANK 3: Hama, Mudo, Dorminer, Plinpa, Paraladi, Petradi, Suku-kaja, Analyze, Noble-Death Crash, Taunt, Nerve Resistence, Mind Resistence, Magic Resistance, 10% Magic Pulse, Sexy Eye, Close Eye, Poison Claw, Poison Bite, Hell Stab, Poison Needles, Scout, Headhunt, Smooth Talk, Request, Swap RANK 4: Agirao, Maharagi, Bufura, Mahabufu, Jionga, Mahajio, Zanma, Mahazan, Shibabu, Marin-Karin, Tetraja, Riberama, Self-Destruct, Flame Resistence, Ice Resistence, Electric Resistence, Shock Resistence, 20% Life Spring, Bright Sky Critical, Quiet Sky Critical, Breath of Victory, Poison Gas Breath, Parala-Eye, Brainwash, Hero Hunt, Blackmail, Borrow, Persuade, Brown-nose, Mediate RANK 5: Makajama, Media, Mepatra, Makatora, Taru-kaja, Maka-kaja, De-kaja, Lightma, Torafulee, Discharge, Drink Magic, Kiai, Physical Resistence, Hama Resistence, Curse Resistence, 20% Magic Pulse, Counterattack, Breath Shoes, Withstand, Treasure Hunt, Fire Breath, Ice Breath, Fog Breath, Wing Flap, Paralysis Claw, Charm Bite, Paralysis Needles, Yamaoroshi, Silent Sky Vow, Brotherly love, Stop, Charisma RANK 6: Hamaon, Mahanma, Mudo-on, Mahamudo, Diarama, Liftma, Suicide attack, Judgement Bolt, Endless Sleep, Strange Soundwave, Summon, Flame Enhance, Ice Enhance, Electric Enhance, Shock Enhance, Nerve Immunity, Mind Immunity, Magic Immunity, Chakra of Victory, Bind Voice, Battle Cry, Paralysis Bite, Rampage, Zetsumyoken, Abduct, Stone Hunt, Selfishness, Threaten, Maiden Mediate, Booze Party RANK 7: Agidain, Maharagion, Bufudain, Mahabufura, Jiodain, Mahajionga, Zandain, Mahazanma, Raku-kaja, Estma, Hellfire, Tornado, Drink Blood, Abyssal Melody, Flame Immunity, Ice Immunity, Electric Immunity, Shock Immunity, 30% Life Spring, Critical, Absorption Attack, Fierce Counterattack, Chakra Shoes, Panic Voice, Petra Eye, Iron Claw, Petrify Bite, Petrify Needles, Guillotine Cut RANK 8: Megido, Tentarafu, Makajamaon, Mediarama, Recarm, Tetrakarn, Makalakarn, Absolute Zero, Hama Lightning, Carnal Release, Randomizer, Hama Immunity, Curse Immunity, 30% Magic Pulse, Memory Advancement, Evil Eye, Hell Fang, Reppu-Ha, Heatwave, Anyaken RANK 9: Mahanmaon, Mahamudo-on, Diarahan, Recarmdora, Shockwave, Shinkuha, Flame Absorption, Ice Absorption, Electric Absorption, Shock Absorption, Death Counter, Hell's Eye, Fudoken RANK 10: Maharagidain, Mahabufudain, Mahajiodain, Mahazandain, Megidora, Prominence, Physical Immunity, Flame Reflection, Ice Reflection, Electric Reflection, Shock Reflection, Attack All, Rannyuken, Venom Zapper RANK 11: Mediarahan, Samarecarm, Unblemished Power, Divine Retribution, Distant Prayer, Physical Absorption, Meikai-Ha, Deathbound, Hasso-Happa RANK 12: Physical Reflection RANK 13: War Cry of Victory RANK 14: Megidoraon What skills a demon will get will be listed before the master of the Manor asks for your confirmation. If you like the current skillset, go ahead and fuse that demon. If you DON'T like the current skillset, just cancel the fusion and pick the same demons again--a new skillset will be generated from the "parents." Just keep in mind that the higher rank the skills of the parents, the harder it will be for them to transferred. If say, the parents have War Cry of Victory and Megidoraon, you will be cancelling and re-picking fusions for quite a while before you get a skillset with both skills in it. This is especially true if your "parents" have "noise" skills--not-too-useful but low-rank skills. If you've got two beefy demons packed to the gills with super techniques, but one of them has a lowly Rank 1 technique like--say, Jio--then Jio will be one of the techniques picked for virtually all fusions between the two. HEY, IT WON'T LET ME INHERIT THAT SKILL! ---------------------------------------- Got a skill you really want to transfer in a fusion, but the game stubbornly refuses to allow your "target" demon to inherit? There's another element of transferrence you have to factor in--the characteristics of your "target" demon. For example, if your "target" demon isn't holding a weapon, you can pick and repick your fusion until you're blue in the face, but you will never get the skill "Guillotine Cut" to transfer, since that skill requires that its user have some sort of weapon. If your target is a semi-intelligent beast, don't expect to be able to transfer conversation Skills to it. Each skill in the game has a "type" assigned to it, and each demon in the game has a list of types that it is allowed to inherit. To find out the types, look in the Skills section for more details. To find out which demons have which types, check out the Demon List section. (I don't guarantee that the latter is going to be accurate, as a good deal of those are semi-educated guesses--there's only so much testing I can do before going stark raving insane. Generating the Fusion tables and the full demon list was bad enough!) Note that this skill transferrance applies not only to fusion "targets," but also to Mutations as well. For example, if your High Pixie had "Wing Flap" and mutates into Queen Maeve, you will lose that skill since Queen Maeve doesn't have wings. There's also a very small subset of skills that are demon-specific. For example, only Maou Surtr can use the spell "Ragnarok." These demon-specific skills can never be transferred to ANY other demon. SPECIAL FUSIONS: ================ SEIREI FUSIONS: --------------- There are four Seirei in total, and they are a special race. They're not so hot as allies go, but are instead designed to be a special type of fusion fodder. To create Seirei, you need to fuse two of the same race of demon together. You can also buy Seirei from Rag's shop in Ginza. What Seirei will be generated depends on race--check the charts to find out who makes what. The Seirei's primary purpose is to provide an artificial "Level up/Level down" boost. Seirei change the rank of the demon they were fused with. For example, LV20 Yoki Momunofu plus a Seirei would either give you LV25 Yoki Oni (Rank up) or LV4 Shikigami. (Rank down) Each demon race reacts differently with each of the four Seirei--check the charts a little further down to see how. If you think you can use the Seirei to cheese your way to a ranked-up unique or difficult-to- fuse race, think again--all four Seirei Rank-down the difficult-to-fuse races, (unless, of course, you're cursed...) and you can't fuse them at all with the unique races. MITAMA FUSIONS: --------------- Mitama are a lot like the Seirei, in that there are four of them and they're a special race. Mitama are created by fusing two Seirei together, and you can buy them in Rag's shop as well. Mitama are all "power-up" demons. When you fuse a Mitama with another demon, rather than transforming it to an entirely new demon, it merely boosts its stats. A Yosei Pixie + a Mitama will produce a Yosei Pixie, but a Yosei Pixie with higher stats. When you fuse a Mitama with another demon, that demon also retains all of its experience and skills that it has. (though you can transfer skills from the Mitama to it if it has blank skill slots) Mitama can be fused with any demon as many times as you want. There's nothing stopping you from fusing Mitama over and over until you max out a demon's stats. Actually there is one thing stopping you--a demon's stats cannot be more than doubled from their "natural" values via Mitama fusion. So if a demon has a "natural" Power of 15, you can fuse Aramitamas with it until you're blue in the face, you'll never get it above 30. (that is, unless you gain it a level and get it a power of 16, in which case you can fuse Mitamas till you get 32, and so forth.) MYTHOLOGY FUSIONS: ------------------ There are some demons that can only be fused through special, unique fusions of demons, where the target demons have mythological significance from within the same pantheon. Often these are done through Sacrifice fusions--for example, there are some "good" gods in one pantheon that are demons or "evil" gods in other, competing religions. By setting up a fusion that would create the "good" god, and then sacrificing a Jashin, you can get the "evil" version of that god from its competing religion. In any case, try fusing demons that seem to "partner" together or are connected somehow and often you'll get a new result. If you want clues, I've included some hints on how to get them, followed by out-and-out spoilers for each one, later in the document. HEY, IT WON'T LET ME FUSE THAT DEMON! ------------------------------------- Even following all the rules above, you may find that you still can't fuse the demon you want. This may be because of a few caveats within demon fusion. 1) Bosses must be killed before you can fuse them. Like the mutations, if a boss is still alive and kicking, you can't fuse it yet. The sole exception to this is bosses that you only fight on certain alignment paths. In this case, you just have to pass through the point of the story where you WOULD have fought it. For example, you won't fight the Daitenshi on the Yosuga alignment route. On that route, once you pass the part of the story where you would have fought them had you been another alignment, they will be unlocked and available to you. Note that there are some exceptions: there are a handful of bosses that can be fused before you fight them, and a boss you have to fight twice before you can fuse him. 2) Demons that are "mutation products" cannot be fused. If you tried to rank-up Yama Nyx with a Seirei fusion, you wouldn't get Yama Lilith, since you can get Lilith by mutating Yama Lilim. (In fact, since Lilith is the highest Yama, you wouldn't be able to fuse rank-up Seirei with Nyx at all) If you wanted Yama Lilith, you'd either have to Mutate Lilim or get one to join you directly via negotiation. 3) Demons that are fused via Mythology fusions can ONLY be fused via Mythology fusions. So if you try to rank-down Majin Odin with a Seirei fusion, you won't get Majin Amaterasu, since she has a Mythology fusion associated with her. Instead, you'd get Majin Atavaka (since he's the next Majin down after Amaterasu) SACRIFICE FUSIONS ================= Sacrifice Fusions are a new addition to the Shin Megami Tensei series. You will not be able to perform Sacrifice Fusions until you reach Ginza, and even afterwards, you will only be able to perform Sacrifice Fusions during a full Kagutsuchi. A sacrifice fusion is much like a normal fusion--you pick two of your demons to fuse, except that you also pick a third demon to "sacrifice," so it's more or less like fusiong three demons together. However, Sacrifice fusions work much differently than triple fusions in previous SMT games. With the exception of Mythology fusions, sacrificing a third Nakama in a fusion will not change the resulting demon. If the first two demons form Kishin Zochoten, no matter whom you sacrifice, you will still get Kishin Zochoten. So what's the point in doing Sacrifice fusions? The reason that Sacrifice fusions are superior to normal fusions is that you can use your sacrifice to power-up your target demon. Normally when you fuse two demons together, the target will only inherit the skills of its "parents." When you add a sacrifice into the mix, the target "child" not only inherits skills from all three "parents," but also inherits any experience points that the Sacrifice has gained in battle. In fact, it goes beyond simple experience point transfer--products of Sacrifice fusions get one and a half times as many experience points as the Sacrifice had gained. So if your Sacrifice had gained, say, 100 EXP in battle, the product of the fusion would have 150 EXP added on on top of its "base" state. The net effect is that you can get a leveled-up demon as soon as you fuse it, without having to build it up from scratch. Its HP, MP, and stats will all be raised according to the number of levels it goes up within the fusion. However, this comes with a few caveats. First, the product demon with its added EXP still can't be a higher level than the Hero. Say your Hero was level 49--he would be able to fuse LV47 Majin Atavaka with no problem. But, if you tried to fuse Atavaka and sacrifice a demon that would raise his level to 50, you would not be able to do the fusion since he would be too powerful for you. Second, demons won't learn any skills they would normally through any levels they gain via Sacrifice fusions. At least not initially. At their next level-up though, they will learn any skills they should have gained before. For example, Kishin Takeminakata has a base level of 17. Say you do a Sacrifice fusion and fuse a Level 20 Takeminakata. Now, if you had fused Takeminakata normally and leveled him up to level 20 via battle, he would have learned Makajama, Threaten, and Parala-eye...but the LV20 Takeminakata created by Sacrifice fusion will not have any of these skills. However, as soon as you level-up the newly fused LV20 Takeminakata to LV21, he will learn all three skills at once, plus De-Kaja (the skill he normally learns after gaining four levels) Overall, Sacrifice fusions are much more useful than normal fusions, and you will probably find yourself doing virtually ALL of your fusions via Sacrifice fusion once you gain access to it, since it allows you to "keep" the hard-earned experience your party has gained through battle. However, the 1.5x experience bonus is a double-edged sword. While you can sacrifice your developed demons over and over again, you will find the experience point bonuses will quickly grow out of control, and eventually reach a point where your sacrifice-beefed Nakama will level up your fusions 10 levels or more when sacrificed, rendering it pretty much useless as a sacrifice when trying to create Nakama even marginally close to your own level. Unless you're trying to make a very low- level demon powerful enough to "play with the big boys," such recursive sacrificing is counterproductive. FUSION ACCIDENTS ================ Fusion Accidents are back from earlier SMT games, and they're much more painful than they used to be. Gone are the days of Devil Summoner and Soul Hackers where fusion accidents could give you unique or super-powerful demons. Now they're almost all negative. Every time you do a demon fusion, there's a chance that things will go awry and the demon you fuse won't be the demon you planned for. It'll be clear that an accident has occurred mid-fusion, as a loud, irritating alarm starts blaring and your target demon gets vaporized and replaced with a new demon. This new demon is randomly chosen from all the normally fusable (aka no Mythology fusions or Mutations) demons within a range of 15 levels below to 3 levels above your Hero's current level. So it is possible that you'll get a demon more powerful than your Hero, but much more likely that you'll get a weak one. In addition, the skills that get inherited by a demon produced by a fusion accident are repicked totally at random. If that wasn't bad enough, if you were doing a Sacrifice fusion, you lose ALL the experience your Sacrifice would have brought, as the new demon is always set at its "initial" state with no experience. The good news is that fusion accidents are pretty rare, and there's only a 1 in 256 chance of them occurring. The bad news is that during full moons and new moons, this chance gets boosted to 1 in 16. This makes doing Sacrifice fusions extra risky, as they can only be done during a full moon--so if you do Sacrifice fusions they will always be at greater risk of Accidents. FUSING WHEN CURSED ================== If your hero is Cursed when you go into the Jakyo manor, you'll notice that the background music is changed, and the Master of the manor will address you as 呪われし者, "ye accursed one." When you're cursed, fusions change dramatically-- no matter what you pick as your "ingredients," you will only be able to fuse Dark demons (no Kyocho though) or Yama. This can be beneficial if you're trying to fuse Maou or Jashin, but detrimental if you want to fuse anything else. Except for Seirei fusions. When you're cursed, all Seirei fusions are "reversed" (that is, level-down Seirei become level-up Seirei, and vice versa) This is extremely useful, as you can then do level-up fusions with powerful races such as Majin, Hakaishin or Maou. MANIACS: MAJIN FUSION ===================== This might be a little confusing as there are two types of Majin in-game with Maniacs, just with different Kanji--魔神 vs 魔人, but they're pronounced the same. This deals with the fusion of the 魔人 type of Majin. This only applies to Maniacs, as Majin don't appear in the "vanilla" version of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Majin are a special, new kind of demon, and while not newcomers to the Megami Tensei series, this is the first time you can get them in your party. Majin follow special rules for fusion: First, since all Majin are bosses, you have to defeat them before you can fuse them, the same way it works for other bosses in SMT3. Second, you need to have a Deathomen stone, which will be lost during the fusion. (死兆石) These are found in treasure chests in the Amara Deep Zone. There are a limited number, so use them wisely! Third, Majin are fused simply by fusing any demon of the "Mazoku" demon genus (Yama, Yoma, Yosei, and Maou) during the right phase of the moon-- though which Majin you get will depend on which species. For example, to fuse Majin Matador you need to perform any fusion that would normally result in a Yoma--any Yoma will do. Lastly, Majin must be fused during specific Kagutsuchi phases. It'll be blatantly obvious that you're doing a Majin fusion as you'll get a little skull icon in the fusion tables when picking your "ingredients." The formulas for each of the Majin are as follows: Yama Majin: ----------- Silent: LV 61 Black Rider 1/8-Half: Normal Yama fusion 5/8-Full: LV 37 High Priest Yoma Majin: ----------- Silent: LV 52 White Rider 1/8-Half: LV 30 Matador 5/8-Full: Normal Yoma Fusion Yosei Majin: ------------ Silent: LV 55 Red Rider 1/8-3/8: Normal Yosei Fusion Half-7/8: LV 42 Hell's Angel Full: Normal Yosei fusion Maou Majin: ----------- Silent: LV 63 Pale Rider 1/8-3/8: Normal Maou fusion Half: LV 69 Mother Harlot 5/8-7/8: Normal Maou Fusion Full: LV 77 Trumpeter Note that this means that among the Majin, only High Priest and Trumpeter can be created via Sacrifice fusion. Of course this means that once High Priest and Trumpeter are defeated, you can't ever do Maou or Yama sacrifice fusions again so long as you still hold Deathomen stones. Life's a bitch sometimes. FUSION CHARTS ============= Here are fusion charts for normal double-fusions within SMT3. To make them easier to use, I've broken them down by alignment: Light + Light, Light + Neutral, Light + Dark, Neutral + Neutral, Neutral + Dark, and Dark + Dark. The following is a key for the abbreviations for each race: Light Races: MAJI: Majin 魔神 MEGA: Megami 女神 HAKA: Hakaishin 破壊神 JIBO: Jiboshin 地母神 SEIJ: Seiju 聖獣 DAIT: Daitenshi 大天使 GUNS: Gunshin 軍神 RYUJ: Ryujin 龍神 REIC: Reicho 霊鳥 IRYO: Iryo 威霊 Neutral Races: YOMA: Yoma 妖魔 YOSE: Yosei 妖精 TENS: Tenshi 天使 DATE: Datenshi 堕天使 RYUO: Ryuo 龍王 MAJU: Maju 魔獣 CHIR: Chirei 地霊 YOKI: Yoki 妖鬼 KIJO: Kijo 鬼女 YAMA: Yama 夜魔 Dark Races: JASH: Jashin 邪神 MAOU: Maou 魔王 YOJU: Yoju 妖獣 YUKI: Yuki 幽鬼 GEDO: Gedo 外道 KYOC: Kyocho 凶鳥 NORMAL FUSION TABLES: --------------------- LIGHT + LIGHT FUSION TABLE L I G H T MAJI MEGA HAKA JIBO KISH SEIJ DAIT GUNS GENM RYUJ SHIN REIC IRYO ------------------------------------------------------------------ MAJI | **** **** **** **** HAKA MEGA **** KISH MEGA **** MEGA MEGA MEGA| MAJI MEGA | **** MAJI HAKA JIBO TENS MAJI MAJI TENS SHIN MAJI MAJI MAJI| MEGA L HAKA | **** JASH JIBO KISH JASH MAJI JIBO **** SEIJ KISH HAKA| HAKA JIBO | **** HAKA SHIN MAJI KISH KIJO **** HAKA **** HAKA| JIBO I KISH | **** JIBO TENS HAKA MEGA HAKA SEIJ JIBO HAKA| KISH SEIJ | SEIR TENS KISH YOMA RYUO MEGA JIBO SEIJ| SEIJ G DAIT | SEIR KISH MEGA SEIJ MAJI MEGA MAJI| DAIT GUNS | **** SEIJ JIBO MAJI KISH HAKA| GUNS H GENM | **** SEIJ KISH MEGA HAKA| GENM RYUJ | **** KISH HAKA JIBO| RYUJ T SHIN | **** SEIJ HAKA| SHIN REIC | **** MAJI| REIC IRYO | ****| IRYO LIGHT + NEUTRAL FUSION TABLE N E U T R A L YOMA YOSE TENS DATE RYUO MAJU CHIR YOKI KIJO YAMA ---------------------------------------------------- MAJI | MEGA YAMA MEGA HAKA KISH SHIN YOKI KISH JIBO JASH| MAJI MEGA | KISH DATE SEIJ TENS YOSE SEIJ JIBO KIJO YOSE DATE| MEGA L HAKA | SEIJ YOKI MAJI JASH KISH SHIN KIJO JIBO JIBO JIBO| HAKA JIBO | YAMA YOMA MEGA HAKA KIJO RYUO MAJU HAKA KISH KISH| JIBO I KISH | KIJO YOKI JASH YAMA KIJO SEIJ RYUO RYUO JIBO KIJO| KISH SEIJ | TENS MEGA YOSE MAJU KISH SHIN MAJU KIJO JIBO YOSE| SEIJ G DAIT | MEGA SEIJ MEGA JIBO **** **** **** **** **** DATE| DAIT GUNS | **** **** SEIJ JIBO KISH SEIJ KISH **** **** ****| GUNS H GENM | **** **** MEGA JIBO KIJO YOSE JIBO TENS YAMA SEIJ| GENM RYUJ | SHIN RYUO MEGA RYUO JIBO RYUO KISH YAMA YAMA KIJO| RYUJ T SHIN | TENS TENS MEGA TENS JIBO RYUO KISH KISH KISH SEIJ| SHIN REIC | YAMA YAMA RYUO RYUO KISH KIJO KISH KISH YOKI KIJO| REIC IRYO | MEGA MEGA MEGA KISH HAKA SEIJ HAKA HAKA JIBO YOKI| IRYO LIGHT + DARK FUSION TABLE D A R K JASH MAOU YOJU YUKI GEDO KYOC ------------------------------- MAJI | **** **** **** **** **** MAOU | MAJI MEGA | HAKA **** JASH **** **** MAOU | MEGA L HAKA | MAOU MAJI **** **** **** MAOU | HAKA JIBO | **** **** YUKI JASH JASH HAKA | JIBO I KISH | **** **** **** **** **** HAKA | KISH SEIJ | **** **** **** **** **** KISH | SEIJ G DAIT | TENS DATE **** DATE DATE **** | DAIT GUNS | KISH **** **** **** **** **** | GUNS H GENM | YOMA YOMA YOMA **** **** JIBO | GENM RYUJ | RYUO **** **** **** RYUO **** | RYUJ T SHIN | MAJI **** **** **** **** YOJU | SHIN REIC | **** **** **** **** **** MEGA | REIC IRYO | **** **** YOKI YOKI YOKI JASH | IRYO NEUTRAL + NEUTRAL FUSION TABLE N E U T R A L YOMA YOSE TENS DATE RYUO MAJU CHIR YOKI KIJO YAMA --------------------------------------------------- YOMA | SEIR SEIJ RYUO CHIR YAMA DATE MAJU KIJO YOKI TENS | YOMA N YOSE | SEIR MEGA YOMA YOMA TENS YOMA YAMA YUKU RYUO | YOSE E TENS | SEIR JASH YOSE SEIJ YAMA YOMA MAJU RYUO | TENS U DATE | SEIR MAJU YAMA YOKI CHIR YOJU YUKI | DATE T RYUO | SEIR YOKI DATE MAJU KISH DATE | RYUO R MAJU | SEIR YOMA KIJO GEDO YOSE | MAJU A CHIR | SEIR YOSE YOJU GEDO | CHIR L YOKI | SEIR MAJU KISH | YOKI KIJO | SEIR CHIR | KIJO YAMA | SEIR | YAMA NEUTRAL + DARK FUSION TABLE D A R K JASH MAOU YOJU YUKI GEDO KYOC ------------------------------- YOMA | CHIR YAMA MAJU CHIR RYUO YUKI | YOMA N YOSE | YAMA YAMA YOMA YAMA YUKI YUKI | YOSE E TENS | DATE JASH DATE CHIR YOSE GEDO | TENS U DATE | YOKI HAKA YAMA YAMA JASH GEDO | DATE T RYUO | KISH YOKI YAMA YOKI DATE GEDO | RYUO R MAJU | GEDO YAMA CHIR YOJU YOJU YOJU | MAJU A CHIR | YUKI YOJU YOKI JASH KIJO GEDO | CHIR L YOKI | YUKI YUKI YOSE GEDO YOJU HAKA | YOKI KIJO | YOKI JIBO DATE GEDO YOJU GEDO | KIJO YAMA | JIBO JIBO MAJU YOJU YOKI JASH | YAMA NEUTRAL + DARK FUSION TABLE D A R K JASH MAOU YOJU YUKI GEDO KYOC ------------------------------- JASH| **** HAKA GEDO GEDO YUKI HAKA | JASH D MAOU| **** YAMA GEDO YUKI HAKA | MAOU A YOJU| SEIR CHIR MAJU JASH | YOJU R YUKI| **** YOKI JASH | YUKI K GEDO| **** JASH | GEDO KYOC| **** | KYOC CURSED FUSION TABLES: --------------------- LIGHT + LIGHT FUSION TABLE L I G H T MAJI MEGA HAKA JIBO KISH SEIJ DAIT GUNS GENM RYUJ SHIN REIC IRYO ------------------------------------------------------------------ MAJI | **** **** **** **** JASH GEDO **** JASH MAOU YOJU YOJU MAOU JASH| MAJI MEGA | **** **** JASH **** GEDO MAOU GEDO TENS YOJU YOJU MAOU JASH| MEGA L HAKA | **** JASH **** JASH JASH GEDO JIBO **** YOJU JASH JASH| HAKA JIBO | **** MAOU JASH GEDO JASH KIJO YUKI YOJU JASH JASH| JIBO I KISH | **** **** GEDO JASH MEGA MAOU YOJU **** JASH| KISH SEIJ | **** GEDO JASH YOMA YAMA MAOU **** JASH| SEIJ G DAIT | **** JASH MEGA YOJU MAOU MAOU ****| DAIT GUNS | **** SEIJ **** YOJU JASH ****| GUNS H GENM | **** YOJU JASH MAOU ****| GENM RYUJ | **** JASH JASH ****| RYUJ T SHIN | **** YOJU ****| SHIN REIC | **** ****| REIC IRYO | ****| IRYO LIGHT + NEUTRAL FUSION TABLE N E U T R A L YOMA YOSE TENS DATE RYUO MAJU CHIR YOKI KIJO YAMA ---------------------------------------------------- MAJI | GEDO YAMA GEDO JASH JASH YOJU YUKI JASH **** ****| MAJI MEGA | JASH YAMA GEDO GEDO GEDO YOJU YAMA **** JASH YOJU| MEGA L HAKA | YOJU YUKI JASH JASH JASH JASH YUKI **** **** ****| HAKA JIBO | YUKI YUKI GEDO YUKI YUKI **** YUKI YUKI JASH JASH| JIBO I KISH | YUKI YUKI YUKI YAMA YUKI YOJU **** **** **** ****| KISH SEIJ | GEDO YOJU GEDO YOJU YAMA YAMA **** YOJU **** YOJU| SEIJ G DAIT | GEDO GEDO GEDO **** **** GEDO **** **** **** GEDO| DAIT GUNS | YUKI YAMA YOJU **** JASH JASH YOJU YUKI JASH ****| GUNS H GENM | YOJU YAMA MAOU **** YUKI YAMA YAMA YAMA **** ****| GENM RYUJ | GEDO GEDO GEDO GEDO **** **** **** YUKI JASH ****| RYUJ T SHIN | YOJU YOJU YOJU GEDO YOJU YOJU YOJU YUKI JASH YOJU| SHIN REIC | **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****| REIC IRYO | YAMA YAMA YAMA YAMA YUKI YUKI YUKI YUKI YUKI GEDO| IRYO LIGHT + DARK FUSION TABLE D A R K JASH MAOU YOJU YUKI GEDO KYOC ------------------------------- MAJI | **** **** **** **** **** MAOU | MAJI MEGA | HAKA **** JASH **** **** MAOU | MEGA L HAKA | MAOU MAJI **** **** **** MAOU | HAKA JIBO | **** **** YUKI JASH JASH HAKA | JIBO I KISH | **** **** **** **** **** HAKA | KISH SEIJ | **** **** **** **** **** KISH | SEIJ G DAIT | TENS DATE **** DATE DATE **** | DAIT GUNS | KISH **** **** **** **** **** | GUNS H GENM | YOMA YOMA YOMA **** **** JIBO | GENM RYUJ | RYUO **** **** **** RYUO **** | RYUJ T SHIN | MAJI **** **** **** **** YOJU | SHIN REIC | **** **** **** **** **** MEGA | REIC IRYO | **** **** YOKI YOKI YOKI JASH | IRYO NEUTRAL + NEUTRAL FUSION TABLE N E U T R A L YOMA YOSE TENS DATE RYUO MAJU CHIR YOKI KIJO YAMA --------------------------------------------------- YOMA | SEIR SEIJ RYUO CHIR YAMA DATE MAJU KIJO YOKI TENS | YOMA N YOSE | SEIR MEGA YOMA YOMA TENS YOMA YAMA YUKU RYUO | YOSE E TENS | SEIR JASH YOSE SEIJ YAMA YOMA MAJU RYUO | TENS U DATE | SEIR MAJU YAMA YOKI CHIR YOJU YUKI | DATE T RYUO | SEIR YOKI DATE MAJU KISH DATE | RYUO R MAJU | SEIR YOMA KIJO GEDO YOSE | MAJU A CHIR | SEIR YOSE YOJU GEDO | CHIR L YOKI | SEIR MAJU KISH | YOKI KIJO | SEIR CHIR | KIJO YAMA | SEIR | YAMA NEUTRAL + DARK FUSION TABLE D A R K JASH MAOU YOJU YUKI GEDO KYOC ------------------------------- YOMA | YUKI YAMA YUKI GEDO YOJU GEDO | YOMA N YOSE | YUKI YAMA YUKI GEDO YAMA GEDO | YOSE E TENS | YOJU JASH GEDO **** YUKI GEDO | TENS U DATE | YUKI JASH YAMA GEDO YUKI GEDO | DATE T RYUO | YOJU YUKI YAMA GEDO YUKI GEDO | RYUO R MAJU | GEDO YAMA YUKI YOJU YOJU YOJU | MAJU A CHIR | YUKI YOJU YAMA YOJU YOJU GEDO | CHIR L YOKI | YUKI YUKI YAMA GEDO YUKI GEDO | YOKI KIJO | YUKI **** **** GEDO YUKI GEDO | KIJO YAMA | YUKI **** GEDO GEDO YOJU GEDO | YAMA NEUTRAL + DARK FUSION TABLE D A R K JASH MAOU YOJU YUKI GEDO KYOC ------------------------------- JASH| **** YUKI GEDO GEDO GEDO MAOU | JASH D MAOU| **** YAMA GEDO YUKI GEDO | MAOU A YOJU| **** GEDO YUKI YUKI | YOJU R YUKI| **** YOJU **** | YUKI K GEDO| **** **** | GEDO KYOC| **** | KYOC SEIREI FUSIONS FLAMIES: SEIJU, DAITENSHI AQUANS: YOMA, RYUO, KIJO AEROS: YOSEI, TENSHI, MAJU, YOJU EARTHIES: DATENSHI, CHIREI, YOKI, YAMA SEIREI + SEIREI FUSIONS FLAMIES AQUANS AEROS EARTHIES --------------------------------------------------- FLAMIES | **** SAKIMITAMA ARAMITAMA KUSHIMITAMA | AQUANS | **** KUSHIMITAMA ARAMITAMA | AEROS | **** NIGIMITAMA | EARTHIES | **** SEIREI + OTHER RACE FUSIONS* FLAMIES AQUANS AEROS EARTHIES ----------------------------------- MAJIN | DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN MEGAMI | DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN HAKAISHIN | DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN JIBOSHIN | DOWN DOWN DOWN UP KISHIN | DOWN DOWN DOWN UP SEIJU | UP DOWN DOWN DOWN ----------+----------------------------------- YOMA | DOWN UP UP DOWN YOSEI | DOWN UP DOWN UP TENSHI | UP UP DOWN DOWN DATENSHI | UP DOWN UP DOWN RYUO | UP UP DOWN DOWN MAJU | UP DOWN UP DOWN CHIREI | DOWN DOWN UP UP YOKI | UP UP DOWN UP KIJO | UP UP DOWN UP YAMA | DOWN DOWN UP DOWN -----------+----------------------------------- JASHIN | DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN MAOU | DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN YOJU | UP UP DOWN DOWN YUKI | DOWN DOWN UP DOWN GEDO | DOWN UP DOWN DOWN ----------------------------------------------- * Shinju, Daitenshi, Gunshin, Genma, Ryujin, Reicho, Irei and Kyocho cannot be fused with Seirei. Also, all the "Downs" and "Ups" are reversed when fusing while cursed. MITAMA FUSIONS ------------------------------------ SAKIMITAMA: Vitality & Luck up 20% KUSHIMITAMA: Vitality & Speed up 20% NIGIMITAMA: Magic & Luck up 20% ARAMITAMA: Power and Speed up 20% MANIACS: MAJIN (魔人) + OTHER DEMON FUSIONS RACE NORMAL CURSED ------------------------------------------------ HAKAISHIN | MAJIN (魔神 not 魔人) JASHIN DAITENSHI | DATENSHI (Can't fuse) GENMA | YOMA YAMA SHINJU | (Can't Fuse) YOJU IREI | (Can't Fuse) GEDO ----------+-------------------------------------- YOMA | YAMA YAMA YOSEI | YAMA YAMA TENSHI | JASHIN JASHIN DATENSHI | HAKAISHIN JASHIN RYUO | YOKI YUKI MAJU | YAMA YAMA CHIREI | YOJU YOJU YOKI | YUKI YUKI KIJO | JIBOSHIN (Can't Fuse) YAMA | JIBOSHIN (Can't Fuse) ----------+----------------------------------- JASHIN | HAKAISHIN YUKI YOJU | YAMA YAMA YUKI | GEDO GEDO GEDO | YUKI YUKI KYOCHO | HAKAISHIN GEDO MYTHOLOGY FUSIONS ================= HINTS: MAJIN AMATERASU --------------- Read the story about Amaterasu shutting herself up into the cave. Fuse together some of the major players that enticed her out to get her. Sacrifice the stripper. JASHIN GIRIMEKARA ----------------- Girimekara is thought to be Sri Lanka's demonized form of the Indian Ganesha. Since you can't make Ganesha through fusion, try the next closest thing and sacrifice an evil god. KYOCHO GURULU ------------- Gurulu is Sri Lanka's demonized form of the Indian Garuda. Like Ganesha, you can't make Garuda through fusion, so use the closest thing with an evil god in the mix. JASHIN SAMAEL ------------- Samael is an "evil angel" within Hebrew mythology. What rank of angel is Samael? YOKI ONGYOKI ------------ This one should be obvious just playing the game. What did you need to do first before you could fight Ongyoki? DAITENSHI RAPHAEL ----------------- Raphael is a higher rank than Uriel, but a Seirei fusion won't work. What other type of demon would you want to fuse to make a Seraph? DAITENSHI GABRIEL ----------------- The same principle behind fusing Raphael works for fusing Gabriel. DAITENSHI MICHAEL ----------------- A similar principle behind fusing Ongyoki works for fusing Michael. HAKAISHIN SHIVA --------------- There has been a traditional "special fusion" for making Shiva ever since SMT1, and it still holds here. If you don't know it, then try fusing two mortal enemies from the island of Bali. DAITENSHI METATRON (MANIACS ONLY) --------------------------------- Metatron is the most powerful of the angels, and is fused a lot like the other Seraphim in the game are. However, Metatron is also "one with God." In the SMT games, God is the "ultimate evil." You'll need to use a sacrifice that reflects this... SPOILERS: MAJIN AMATERASU: Kishin Takemikazuchi + Shinju Yatagarasu, Sacrifice Megami Ame-no-Uzume JASHIN GIRIMEKARA: Any fusion that would normally make Yoma Purski, Sacrifice any Jashin KYOCHO GURULU: Any fusion that would normally make Maju Suparna, Sacrifice any Maou JASHIN SAMAEL: Any fusion that would normally make Tenshi Throne, Sacrifice any Jashin YOKI ONGYOKI: Yoki Kinki + Yoki Suiki, Sacrifice Yoki Fuki DAITENSHI RAPHAEL: Daitenshi Uriel + Tenshi Dominion DAITENSHI GABRIEL: Daitenshi Raphael + Tenshi Throne DAITENSHI MICHAEL: Daitenshi Uriel + Daitenshi Raphael, Sacrifice Daitenshi Gabriel HAKAISHIN SHIVA: Shinju Barong + Kijo Rangda DAITENSHI METATRON: Daitenshi Michael + any other angel, Sacrifice any Maou ################################################################################ AKUMA ZENSHO ################################################################################ Aside from fusions, the Akuma Zensho is the other function of the Jakyo Manor. "Akuma Zensho" loosely translates to "The Complete Book of Demons." Once you reach Ikebukuro, you will gain access to it. The Akuma Zensho "stores" all the demons you have had as party members. Whenever you fuse, mutate, or recruit a new demon into your party, it gets recorded into the Akuma Zensho. When you enter the Jakyo Manor, you can use the Akuma Zensho. You get two options: Record (登録) and Browse. (閲覧) RECORD: ------- Initially the demons in the Akuma Zensho are recorded in the default state, with whatever levels, stats, and skills they had when they first joined your party. When you pick "Record" you are given the option to record the demons in your current party into the Zensho, replacing whatever status is currently recorded there. In this way, you can record a fully "fleshed-out" demon into the Zensho, with all its skills, level-ups, stat boosts, etc. BROWSE: ------- Browse lets you do just that, browse the Zensho and view all the demons you currently have recorded. It will list all the names of the demons, either in racial or level order. (you can pick with the L1/R1 buttons) Press the O button to select whatever demon you like, and you will be brought to its status screen. You can also use the L1 and R1 buttons to go to a "view" screen, where you can use the controller to spin the demon around and change the angle you view it at. You can also use the L1/R1 buttons to go to the "mythology" screen, where you can read a short mythological background of the current demon in question. The most useful function of the Browse ability is that you can also use it to summon demons at will. Press the O button at the demon's status screen and the Master of the Manor will ask you if you want to summon that demon into your party. Agree, and that demon will be summoned into an empty slot in your Stock, with whatever status is currently recorded in the Zensho. In this way you can have your cake and eat it too--you can record a demon in the Zensho, use it as fusion fodder or a sacrifice for a new demon, then turn around and re-summon it. However, this comes at a cost--summoning demons using the Akuma Zensho is exorbitantly expensive, to prevent you from abusing the system and summoning powerful demons willy-nilly. The cost to summon a demon scales with its power, so if you power up a Nakama and record it into the Zensho, the cost to re-summon it will rise as well. Even mid-level demons can cost tens of thousands of Makka to summon. If you manage to complete the Akuma Zensho, recording all possible Nakama into it, the Master of the manor will give you a price break, and the cost to summon all demons will be halved. Another nifty feature of the Akuma Zensho is that it spans multiple playthroughs of the game. After you finish the game, you get the option to play through again at a higher difficulty level, and the current status of the Akuma Zensho will carry over to the new game. Of course, your level will be too low to summon most of the demons in it, but it can still give you a real advantage if you fuse low- level demons with powerful Skills and record them into the Zensho, then summon them early on in your new game... THE DEMONS ========== Here is a list of all the demons that can be recorded into the Akuma Zensho, at their "base" statistics. There may be errors in here--to make this thing I had to do a boatload of fusions and uses of Analyze to see demons' "base" statistics, and I may have missed a few and ended up recording down "enhanced" demons, but I think I have it down fairly well. Also I had to guesstimate some of the "transfer" and Personality parts of the thing, so it may be wrong. All in all it may not be 100% accurate, but this monstrosity took a freakishly long time to write up so please don't flame! :) Notes on the key: STATS AND AFFINITY: These are the base stats that the demon will have when it joins you. Note that when you face a demon as an enemy, often they will have totally different stats and affinities than when they are in your party. When you fight Ongyoki as a boss for example, he's not immune to Physical attacks, but he is in your party. When you fight Majin Amaterasu as a random enemy in the Bando Shrine, she has more hit points than her base HP are when you have her in your party. SKILLS: Some of the skills listed have asterisks next to them. These skills are "base" skills that the demon automatically comes with when you first fuse or recruit them. The rest of the skills you'll have to learn by leveling-up the demon. The only time you WON'T see a demon with these base skills is if they are a Mutation product (i.e. if you mutate Lilith, you won't get her innate skills, but if you recruit her, you will) or if you purposely replaced them in favor of others. Also, don't use this as a guide to what enemy demons will use on you-- often enemy demons have skills they won't get as allies, and vice versa. TRANSFER: These are the types of skills that can be transferred to this demon when it is either fused or advanced. The part before the colon is the demon's affinity-- what types of skills are most likely to be transferred during fusion. If an affinity has an "opposite," then skills of that opposite type are less likely to be transferred. Affinities with opposites are as follows: Fire vs. Ice Electicity vs. Shock Hama vs. Curse If there's no colon, it means that the demon cannot be fused (aka, a mutation) and therefore has no transfer affinity. Or if there is, there's no way for me to find out. Everything after the colon is the list of types of skills that can be transferred to the demon. The skill classes as separated in the skill list are listed below. Note that the general-purpose "magic" category from the skill list can be transferred to any demon. Mo: Mouth Wi: Wing Cl: Claw Bi: Bite Ph: Physical (weaponless) Ne: Needles We: Weapon Ma: Maiden Mediate Ta: Talking/Conversation In this case, said skill types ARE important with mutations, since all the pre- mutation skills transfer over to the post-mutation form if they are "acceptable." (e.g. Mutate High Pixie to Queen Mabe and she'll lose the "Wing Flap" ability since Queen Mabe has no wings) Also with mutations it's important to note that the Transfer stats listed here are by no means the only types of skills that said demon can gain. For example, you can never transfer Mouth skills to a Valkyrie (since Dis can't have them) but Valkyrie CAN use them. (once I had her Agirao mutate to Fire Breath) PERSONALITY TYPE: There are 15 Personality types within SMT3. GOD: Tough to nail down a description, except that it's what you'd probably expect a god to talk like. Kind of classical-Japanese style way of talking. WARRIOR-MAIDEN: Forceful yet feminine at the same time. Acts like a woman that doesn't take any crap. BUSHI: Talks like a samurai from a trashy samurai flick. HEE-HO: Your traditional "Jack Frost" type of speech. Like a little child, but in a weird form of speech that's trademark Megaten. ANIMAL: Speaks fluently and intelligently, but decidedly not in a human voice. MINDLESS: Doesn't really speak at all, just groans and makes weird noises. Sometimes a couple of intelligible words will come out though. BEAST: Semi-coherent beast speech. All Yoju have this type of personality, and no other demon tyes do. GENTLEMAN: Like the "gentleman" description from the Soul Hackers guidebook. Polite and refined, but kind of haughty at the same time. LADY: The female version of gentleman. Polite, refined, sometimes haughty. OLD MAN: Talks like an old man...kindly but sometimes crochety. OLD WOMAN: Not THAT old, but talks a lot like a woman in late-middle age might speak. Kind of crochety. GUY: Talks a lot like a guy in his teens or 20s would talk. GIRL: Talks a lot like a girl in her teens or 20s would talk. LITTLE BOY: Like a child under 10. Innocent but sometimes spoiled. LITTLE GIRL: A young girl--more mature than "little boy" though--maybe around early adolescence. There is actually a sixteenth personality type, that only the Gijin--the Manekata--have. Since you can't get any Manekata to join you though, you won't find any of them here. Also, in Maniacs, all the "new" demons have their own unique personality type. DESCRIPTION: This is more or less a translation of the mythological roots of the demon from the Akuma Zensho. It's not an exact translation--being a mythology buff myself I interjected a bit of extra trivia here and there. :) ================================================================================ MAJIN (魔神) ================================================================================ LV 93: Vishnu ヴィシュヌ HP/MP: 708/384 P:27 M:35 V:25 S:20 L:26 ------------------------ SKILLS: Distant Prayer*, Divine Retribution*, Hell's Eye*, Prominence, Meikai-ha, Unblemished Light, Physical Reflection AFFINITY: Reflect Hama, Curse Immune, Strong to Everything TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the top gods in Indian mythology. The god that maintains the universe. A deification of sunlight. He has 10 forms or avatars, and in order to bring about justice appears in various places in various bodies. Probably the most worshipped Hindu deity today, and represents "maintenance" in the creation- maitnenance-destruction cycle. LV 78 Mithra ミトラ HP/MP: 819/309 P:27 M:25 V:27 S:16 L:18 ------------------------ SKILLS: Randomizer*, Megidora*, Mahamudo-on*, Death Contract, Divine Retribution, Fog Breath, Mahanmha-on, 30% Magic Pulse AFFINITY: Reflects Physical, Curse/Hama immune, weak to Ice TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God DESCRIPTION: Ancient Persian deity. A high god that is both a war god and a sun god. Possesses all the truth and harmony in the world, and exacts retribution on evildoers that attempt to distort this. As a harmony-maintaining god, he is said to possess the power to cure illness. In addition to his wild popularity as a "Mystery Religion" god, Mithra has had a position in the Zoroastrian and Vedic Hindu pantheons dating back thousands of years. Mithra worship still exists in some places in the world, making him one of--if not THE--oldest gods still worshipped today. LV 65 Odin オーディン HP/MP: 498/270 P: 24 M: 25 V:18 S:17 L:16 -------------------------- SKILLS: Bufudain*, Agidain*, Deathbound, Makajamaon, Entice, Mahabufudain, Maharagidain AFFINITY: Ice/Hama Immune, Weak to Shock TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Supreme god of Norse myths. A warrior and magician, and eternal seeker of knowledge. He appears as a one-eyed warrior. He weilds a magic spear, Gungnir, wears a powerful ring, Draupnir, and rides atop Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse. LV 56 Amaterasu アマテラス HP/MP: 438/237 P: 19 M: 23 V: 17 S: 16 L: 16 ----------------------------- AFFINITY: Fire, Hama, Curse Immune SKILLS: Tetrakarn*, Prominence*, Shinkoha, Randomizer, Flame Reflect, Distant Prayer TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman, Adult, Male(!?) DESCRIPTION: Japanese goddess of light and head of the Shinto pantheon. As written in the Kojiki, she is the ruler of the "Takamagahara," the country of gods. A symbol of the sun, and the goddess that gives light. It is said she was born from the left eye of Izanagi. And why the HELL did Atlus make her look like a MAN this time!? I understand you can only have so many demon models, but at least use the Ame- no-Uzume/Kikurihime wireframe! Sheesh! LV 47 Atavaka アタバク HP/MP: 402/183 P:24 M:14 C:20 S:10 L:14 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama/Curse, weak to Nerve and Mind SKILLS: Critical*, Yamaoroshi*, Withstand, Bind Voice, Fierce Counterattack, Rannyu-ken TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the 8 Great Yaksha Kings like Bishamonten. He gathered together the Yaksha Kings, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Asura and the like for Buddhification and had them swear oaths of loyalty to Buddhism. Atavaka is more commonly known in Japan as "Fudo-Myo-o" (the Unmovable Myo-o) and is in charge of protecting the Dharma. LV 38 Horus ホルス HP/MP: 312/162 P:12 M:16 V:14 S:21 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Strong to Physical, Weak to Curse SKILLS: Memory Advancement*, Mahanma*, 20% Magic Pulse, Dekunda, Liftma, Medirama, Hama Lightning TRANSFER: Hama: Mo, Ey, Wi, Cl, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Old Man DESCRIPTION: In ancient Egypt, a god that represented the sky, hawks and falcons, the flow of the Nile River, and generally stood for the blessings and greatness of nature. Occasionally Horus was seen as the chief god of the pantheon, and because of that he was also sometimes seen as a sun god. Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris and is often represented as a falcon or a man with a falcon's head. ================================================================================ MEGAMI (女神) ================================================================================ LV 64: Scathach スカアハ HP/MP: 486/270 P:21 M:26 V:17 S:18 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Shock, Hama, and Magic Immune, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Critical*, Mahazandain*, Shock Reflection, Silent Sky Vow, Retribution Bolt, Chakra of Victory, Shinkuha TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Warrior-Maiden, Female, Adult DESCRIPTION: A Celtic witch goddess. The queen who rules the alternate dimension "The Land of Shadows." While she is a powerful sorceress, she is also an able warrior and took Cu Chulainn in as her protege. She was the one who gave him his magic spear, Gae Bolga. LV 54: Lakshmi ラクシュミ HP/MP: 414/234 P:14 M:24 V:15 S:13 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Bad Status Immune, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Mediarahan*, Allure*, Chakra of Victory, Petra-Eye, 30% Magic Pulse, Samarecarm, Recarmdora TRANSFER: Healing: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Female, Youth DESCRIPTION: The goddess of beauty and good fortune in Hindu mythology. She is the wife of Vishnu and the mother of the god of love, Kama. Whenever Vishnu appears on earth in avatar form, Lakshmi appears in one as well to become that avatar's mate. Lakshmi's form is that of the ideal of feminine beauty, and she is famed for her dazzling good looks. She is also known as an alluring dancer, and is said to have enthralled many a god doing so. LV 48: Sati サティ HP/MP: 366/204 P:11 M:20 V:13 S:15 L:17 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorbs Fire, Reflects Hama, weak to Ice SKILLS: Agidain*, Recarm*, Sexy Eye*, Maharagidain, Makatora, Request, Carnal Release TRANSFER: Fire: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Female, Youth DESCRIPTION: In Hindu mythology, the goddess that was the first wife of Shiva. Because of a dispute between her father Daksha and Shiva, she immolated herself in flames and died, but was reincarnated as Parvati and married Shiva once again. LV 30: Sarasvati サラスヴァティ HP/MP: 246/141 P:9 M:17 V:11 S:9 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Bad Status, Weak to Fire SKILLS: Close Eye*, Chakra Boots*, Recarm, Allure, Mahazanma, Shock Enhance TRANSFER: Healing: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: A Hindu goddess, the wife of Brahma. Said to be an incarnation of a river, her name means "One who has water." She is also known as a goddess of the arts, and is said to have a mastery of 64 different types of music and arts. LV 18: Ame-no-Uzume アメノウズメ HP/MP: 156/90 P:6 M:12 V:8 S:8 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Shock and Hama, weak to Electricity SKILLS: Media*, Mahazan*, Hama, Allure, Petra-Eye, 10% Life Spring, Chakra Boots TRANSFER: Healing: Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: Japanese goddess of the arts. Proponent of Chingon, (providing rest for dead souls) Shintaku (fortunetelling) and many other Kagura. (Shinto musical dances) The episode where she did a striptease dance in front of a cave Amatarasu had holed herself into in an attempt to entice her out is especially famous. Later, she became the wife of Sarutahiko. ================================================================================ HAKAISHIN (破壊神) ================================================================================ LV 94: Shiva シヴァ HP/MP: 786/363 P:32 M:26 V:36 S:26 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Curses, Strong to everything. SKILLS: War Cry of Victory*, Hasso-Happa*, Carnal Release*, Shockwave, Death Counter, Megidoraon, Physical Absorption TRANSFER: Physical (Electricity?): Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the three great Brahmanic gods of Hinduism. Like Vishnu, Shiva has a great deal of dedicated worshippers even today. While wielding unparalleled destructive power, at the same time he is a god of medicine and rebirth. It is said that all things revolve around the rythm of his dance. LV 61: Hokutoseikun ホクトセイクン HP/MP: 504/255 P:23 M:24 V:23 S:14 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and curses, strong to physical, weak to flame SKILLS: Chakra of Victory*, Fudoken*, Retribution Bolt*, Hell's Eye, Smooth Talk, Mahamudo-on, Divine Retribution TRANSFER: Curse (Hama?): Mo, Ey, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Old Man, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Hokutoseikun is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese deity Beidoxingjun. He is a god within some schools of Taoist thought, one that governs death and judgement. Hokutoseikun appears as an ugly old man, wrapped in robes that are translucent like ice. LV 54: Seitentaisei セイテンタイセイ HP/MP: 432/201 P:22 M:13 V:18 S:20 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curses, and Physical SKILLS: Hasso-Happa, Silent Sky Vow, Attack All, Death Counter TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: Seitentaisei is the Japanese name of the famous Chinese Qitiandasheng, which is another name for the monkey god/hero Sun Wukong, or Son Goku as he is known in Japan. Wukong was born when an enchanted stone on the top of a mountain was filled with life force by the heavens. A constant troublemaker, he went on a journey through the three worlds of the heavens, the earth, and the lands of the dead, angering the gods and even receiving a stern admonition by Sakyamuni Buddha. However he was saved by the Buddhist priest Sanzo-Hoshi, and set out on another journey. Wukong is usually depicted riding a cloud, and wielding a magic staff that extends at will. LV 44: Dionysus ディオニュソス HP/MP: 354/354 P: 16 M:20 V:15 S:13 L:15 ------------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Flame, Curse, and Hama, weak to Ice SKILLS: Maharagion*, Fire Immunity*, Booze Party, Abyssal Melody, Reppu-ha, Maharagidain TRANSFER: Flame: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION Dionysus is the Greek god of wine and of the theater, and was especially popular among women. He was originally the god of life that protected the Thracian mountains. It is said that he was the one that discovered the grape vine and learned how to make wine from it, afterwards spreading the method for making it amongst the humans of the world. ================================================================================ JIBOSHIN (地母神) ================================================================================ LV 74: Skadi スカディ HP/MP: 570/309 P:23 M:29 V:21 S:18 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Shock, Hama, and Magic, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Makajamaon, Maka-Kaja, Electric Reflection, Great Earthquake TRANSFER: Shock: Ey, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Warrior-maiden, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: Skadi is the goddess of darkness from Celtic mythology. Her name means "Shadow," and this "shadow" was the one that all the gods would be consumed by on the final day of judgment. Skadi was often thought to be the same as Scathach. L67: Kali カーリー HP/MP: 540/258 P:25 M:19 V:23 S:19 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflect Curse, Immune to Flame and Hama, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Tentarafu*, Deathbound*, Death Counter, Fog Breath, 30% Life Spring, Anyaken TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Girl, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: Kali is one of the faces of Shiva's wife from Hindu mythology. She has a terrible side as an earth goddess, bloodthirsty and aggressive, and is usually depicted wearing human skulls and wielding bloody swords. However, at the same time she is also said to give great blessings and fortune to her followers, so ends up being a goddess with two very distinct, different sides. LV57: Parvati パールヴァティ HP/MP: 432/240 P:15 M:23 V:15 S:16 L:20 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Reflects Hama, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Medirama, Tetrakarn, Retribution Bolt, Unblemished Power TRANSFER: Healing: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: Parvati is one of the faces of Shiva's wife from Hindu mythology. She is exquisitely beautiful and and represents all beauty in the world. She is always by Shiva's side, and is the only one that can help to open his third eye. Parvati is the reincarnation of Sati, Shiva's first wife who self-immolated herself. LV 41: Kushinada-Hime クシナダヒメ HP/MP: 330/180 P:12 M: 19 V:14 S:10 L:18 ------------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, weak to Curse SKILLS: Medirama*, Selfishness*, Poison Neeldes*, Maharagion, Paraladi, Treasure Hunt, Headhunt TRANSFER: Healing: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: A goddess from Japanese Mythology. A goddess of the harvest and of farming. She is the youngest of eight daughters of Tenazuchi and Ashinazuchi, but lost all of her sisters who were sacrificed as offerings to the great monster Yamata-no- Orochi. The story of how Susa-no-O defeated the Orochi and rescued her is famous. The reason that Kushinada-Hime looks like she has combs all over her body in-game is because of another famous story, where Susa-No-O turned her into a comb and put her in his hair to hide her. LV24: Kikuri-Hime キクリヒメ HP/MP :210/120 P:10 M:16 V:11 S:8 L:11 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Nerve, and Mind, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Diarama*, Sexy Eye*, Maiden Mediate, Posumdi, Mepatra, Recarm TRANSFER: Healing: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: Goddess from Japanese Mythology. She is the goddess of Hakusan Mountain, and was the arbitrator between Izanagi and Izanami when they had their famous quarrel in Yomotsu-Hira-Saka, the slope that leads down to Yomi, the Japanese Land of the Dead. Basically, as the story goes, Izanagi went to Yomi to retrieve his dead wife Izanami, but ran away revolted when he saw her all infested with maggots. She got really angry and Kikuri-Hime was their mediator. In turn, she is also seen as a goddess associated with death and rebirth. ================================================================================ KISHIN (鬼神) ================================================================================ LV 76: Thor トール HP/MP: 612/288 P:28 M:20 V:26 S:12 L:17 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Electricity, weak to Magic and Nerve SKILLS: Death Counter*, Jiodain*, Meikai-ha*, Mediarahan, Mahajiodain, Fudo-ken, Flame Reflection TRANSFER: Electricity: Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Bushi, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Norse god of thunder. Next to Odin, he had more worshippers than just about any other god in the pantheon. He wears magic gloves that double the wearer's strength, and weilds Mjollnir, a battle hammer can be thrown at an enemy to crush it, and yet will always return to the hand of its owner on its own. He is the strongest god among the Aesir. LV 72: Bishamonten ビシャモンテン HP/MP: 756/267 P:25 M:18 V:25 S:17 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflect Flame, Immune to Hama, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Retribution Bolt*, Attack All*, Prominence, Flame Enhance, Stop, Withstand, Hasso-Happa TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A guardian Bodhisattva within Buddhism. One of the Shiten-O (Four Kings), originally named Tamonten (or Kuvera from Hinduism). One of the Hachibushu, the eight guardian deities/Bodhisattvas that defend the Dharma. Under orders from Taishakuten, he guards the North. He became very popular as a war god amongst the Bushi in Japan, after Shotoku Taishi (famous prince in Japan that lived in the 6th & 7th centuries) prayed to him for victory. Maniacs Only: LV 63 Futomimi フトミミ HP/MP: 498/267 P:20 M:26 V:20 S:15 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse and Bad Status, Strong to Physical SKILLS: Kiai*, Battle Cry*, Close-Eye*, Charge*, Critical, 30% Life Spring, 30% Magic Pulse TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne DESCRIPTION: A good Manekata, reincarnated in the Vortex world after being guided by the "Mud Bell of the Afterlife" when in his dead, pure Magatsuhi state. Because of his great virtue, he attained the power of a Kishin. LV 52: Jikokuten ジコクテン HP/MP: 426/204 P:21 M:16 V:19 S:11 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflect Ice, Immune to Hama, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Fudo-ken*, Diarahan*, De-Kunda, Bufudain, Silent Sky Vow, Mahazandain, Shockwave TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A guardian Bodhisattva within Buddhism. One of the Shiten-O (Four Kings) One of the Hachibushu, the eight guardian deities/Bodhisattvas that defend the Dharma. Under orders from Taishakuten, he guards the East. LV 45: Takemikazuchi タケミカヅチ HP/MP: 372/177 P:19 M:14 V:17 S:11 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflect Electricity, Immune to Hama, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Jiodain*, Discharge*, Mediate, Anyaken, Breath Shoes, Mahajionga* TRANSFER: Electricity: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: Japanese thunder god. When the Amatsu-kami took control of Japan, he was sent Takamagahara on a mission to meet O-kuni-nushi and persuade him to turn control of the land to the Amatsu-kami. He wields the sword Tokka-no-tsurugi, and is said to have been the father of the old-style swordfighting in Japan. LV 39: O-kuni-nushi オオクニヌシ HP/MP: 312/165 P:16 M:16 V:13 S:11 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflect Hama, Immune to Curse SKILLS: Rannyu-ken*, Mahamudo*, Smooth Talking, Agidain, Makajamaon, Summon TRANSFER: Hama: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the Kunitsu-kami from Japanese mythology. After passing the trials that Susa-no-o gave him, O-kuni-nushi married his daughter Suseri-Hime and the two of them established the country of Izumo. Because of this, he is known as the founder of Izumo and is the most important god within the tradition there. He is also a patron of agriculture and medicine. LV 33: Komokuten コモクテン HP/MP: 282/135 P:16 M:12 V:14 S:9 L:9 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Reflect Shock, Immune to Hama, weak to Electricity SKILLS: Yamaoroshi*, Mahazanma*, 20% Life Spring, Headhunt, 10% Magic Pulse, Tetraja TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A guardian Bodhisattva within Buddhism. One of the Shiten-O (Four Kings) One of the Hachibushu, the eight guardian deities/Bodhisattvas that defend the Dharma. Under orders from Taishakuten, he guards the West. LV 27: Zochoten ゾウチョウテン HP/MP 234/111 P:15 M:10 V:12 S:7 L:10 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Magic, and Nerve, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Zetsumyoken*, Agirao*, Mahanma*, Stop, Hamaon, Curse Resistance, Critical TRANSFER: Electricity (physical?): Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A guardian Bodhisattva within Buddhism. One of the Shiten-O (Four Kings) One of the Hachibushu, the eight guardian deities/Bodhisattvas that defend the Dharma. Under orders from Taishakuten, he guards the South. LV 17: Takeminakata タケミナカタ HP/MP 168/75 P:11 M:8 V:11 S:9 L:5 --------------------- AFFINITY: Reflect Electricity, Immune to Hama, Weak to Flame and Nerve SKILLS: Silent Sky Critical*, Maha-Jio*, Jionga*, Makajama, Threaten, Parala-Eye, De- Kaja, Kiai TRANSFER: Electricity: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Military god from Japanese mythology. He is both a god of hunting and of the harvest, and is also one of the seven Fukujin, Japanese gods of happiness and good fortune. When Takemikazuchi came to claim the land, Takeminakata fought on behalf of his father O-Kuni-Nushi to retain control of the country, but was defeated. He fled to the country of Shinano, and later was said to have been forbidden to leave the land of Suwa contained within. ================================================================================ SEIJU (聖獣) ================================================================================ LV 55: Chimera キマイラ HP/MP 426/204 P:23 M:13 V:16 S:17 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorb Flame, Immune to Hama, Weak to Mind and Nerve SKILLS: Fire Breath*, Flame Enhance*, Battle Cry*, Iron Claw, Abduct, Suicide Attack, Strange Soundwave TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Animal DESCRIPTION: A monster with the head of a lion and a goat, and with a snake for a tail. Originally she was a holy beast representing the seasons, but eventually ended up as a violent monster within Greek mythology. Her parents are the Wind Giant Typhon and the snake goddess Echidna. LV 43: Byakko ビャッコ HP/MP 348/153 P:19 M:8 V:15 S:17 L:8 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Ice and Hama, Weak to Fire SKILLS: Breath of Victory*, Petrification Bite*, Ice Breath*, Critical, Headhunt, Kiai, Bufudain TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Animal DESCRIPTION: "Byakko" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese "Baihu." One of the "Four Holy Beasts" appearing often within Chinese mythology and thought. His direction is west, his season is autumn, and his element is metal. In ancient Chinese literature, the "Lord of 100 Beasts" is the tiger, and Byakko is the top-ranking one among them. LV 36: Suzaku スザク HP/MP 276/138 P:10 M:10 V:10 S:17 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorb Electricity, Immune to Hama, weak to Ice SKILLS: Liftma*, Wing Flap*, Fire Breath*, Recarm, Mediate, Mahajionga, Breath of Victory TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Wi, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Animal DESCRIPTION: "Suzaku" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese "Zhuqiao." One of the "Four Holy Beasts" appearing often within Chinese mythology and thought. His direction is south, his season is summer, and his element is fire. He is a huge bird that looks a lot like a quail, and is said to sing in an enchantingly beautiful voice. LV 27: Senri センリ HP/MP 216/135 P:10 M:14 V:9 S:12 L:9 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Absorb Shock, Immune to Hama, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Mahazanma, Treasure Hunt, Stone Hunt, Absorption Attack TRANSFER: Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: A creature that is born when an extremely old mountain cat undergoes a transformation. It transforms into a beautiful woman and seduces human males to steal their life energy. The highest rank amongst the Nekomata. It is said that the reason that "monsterized" animals try to gather life energy is because they want to become Senri themselves. LV 21: Unicorn ウニコーン HP/MP 186/99 P:9 M:12 V:10 S:7 L:7 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Magic, and Mind, Weak to Electricity SKILLS Raku-Kaja*, Mahabufu*, Media*, Breath Shoes, Paralysis Bite, Tetraja, Me-Patra, Diarama TRANSFER: Healing: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: A white horse from Scottish legend, notable for the spiral horn protuding from its forehead. It will only open its heart to young women that remaine chaste, and will not let anyone else touch it. It is said that its horn can be ground into a powder that can be used as a panacea that will cure any and all sorts of illness or disease. LV 13: Shisa シーサー HP/MP 120/57 P:9 M:6 V:7 S:9 L:6 ------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Electricity, Immune to Hama, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Discharge*, Claw*, Battle Cry, Brainwash, Petrification Bite, Counterattack, Flame Resist TRANSFER: Electricity: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Animal DESCRIPTION: A holy beast that bestows luck and protects households from any and all types of demons. While its appearance is very similar to that of a Komainu (stone dog statues that protect Shinto Shrines) it is actually designed after a lion. Tales of the Shisa originate in and are primarily concentrated within mythology from Ryukyu. ================================================================================ SEIREI (聖霊 ) ================================================================================ LV 20: Flamies　フレイミーズ HP/MP 156/96 P:10 M:12 V:6 S:6 L:7 --------------------- AFFINITY: Absorb Flame, Immune to Hama and Curse, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Maharagi*, Bright Sky Critical*, Maka-Kaja, Media, Mind Immunity, Agirao TRANSFER: Flame: Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: Of the four Elements, an elemental of Fire. LV 15: Aquans アクアンズ HP/MP 126/75 P:6 M:10 V:6 S:6 L:8 -------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Ice, Immune to Hama and Curse, weak to Fire SKILLS: Suku-Kaja*, Hama Resistance*, Mahabufu, Nerve Resistance, 10% Life Spring, Bufura TRANSFER: Ice: Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman 　 DESCRIPTION: Of the four Elements, an elemental of Water. LV 11: Aeros エアロス HP/MP 102/57 P:5 M:8 V:6 S:8 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Curses, Strong to all magic SKILLS: Dia*, Jio*, Lullaby, Marin-Karin, Mind Resistance, Poison Needles TRANSFER: Magic: Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: Of the four Elements, an elemental of Air. LV 7: Earthies アーシーズ HP/MP 90/36 P:6 M:5 V:8 S:4 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Curses, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Jio*, Patra*, Raku-Kaja, Magic Resistance, Mediate, Mahajio TRANSFER: Electricity: Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: Of the four Elements, an elemental of Earth. ================================================================================ MITAMA (御魂) ================================================================================ LV 35: Sakimitama サキミタマ HP/MP 270/138 P:10 M:11 V:10 S:11 L:20 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Dorminer*, Swap*, Analyze*, Mahazanma, Medirama, Mahajionga, Tetrakarn TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady DESCRIPTION: One of the four souls from the "One Spirit, Four Souls" concept within Shinto. Sakimitama is the happy and optimistic aspect of the spirit and is the source of happiness, love, compassion, and other related emotions. It is said to bestow good fortune in hunting and fishing. LV 32: Kushimitama クシミタマ HP/MP 240/150 P:9 M:18 V:8 S:12 L:12 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Suku-Kaja*, De-Kaja*, Analyze*, Shock Resistance, Ice Resistance, Electric Resistance, Flame Resistance TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: One of the four souls from the "One Spirit, Four Souls" concept within Shinto. Sakimitama represents the intelligent and rational aspect of the spirit and is the source of intelligence, wisdom, clear thought, and other related emotions. It is said to bestow good health and recovery from disease. LV 29: Nigimitama ニギミタマ HP/MP 234/117 P:10 M:10 V:10 S:16 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Raku-Nda*, Persuade*, Analyze*, Flame Enhance, Ice Enhance, Electric Enhance, Shock Enhance TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Old Man DESCRIPTION: One of the four souls from the "One Spirit, Four Souls" concept within Shinto. Nigimitama represents the serene, moderate aspect of the spirit and is the source of calmness, respect, trust, and other related emotions. Of the dualistic nature of the spirit, Nigimitama is the more harmonic and composed. LV 25: Aramitama アラミタマ HP/MP 210/105 P:12 M:10 V:10 S:10 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immunity to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Taru-Kaja*, Bright Sky Critical*, Analyze*, Breath of Victory, Breath Shoes, Counterattack, Charge TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Guy DESCRIPTION: One of the four souls from the "One Spirit, Four Souls" concept within Shinto. Aramitama represents the wild, forceful aspect of the spirit and is the source of anger, passion, valor, and other related emotions. Of the dualistic nature of the spirit, Aramitama is the more rough and untamed. ================================================================================ YOMA (妖魔) ================================================================================ LV 52: Ifreet イフリート HP/MP 402/225 P:15 M:23 V:15 S:14 L:9 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, weak to Ice SKILLS: Agidain*, Taunt*, Maka-Kaja, Maharagidain, Summon, Prominence TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A type of elemental from Arabian legend. A powerful spirit with magical powers of flame. They will grant all sorts of favors to those who summon them, but are of a rather irritable disposition, and will immediately kill any master they take a disliking to. LV 48: Purski プルキシ HP/MP 390/189 P:19 M:15 V:17 S:9 L:12 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to SHock and Hama, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Bind Voice*, Memory Advancement*, Scout*, Fudoken, Panic Voice, Shock Enhance, Rannyuken, Mahazandain TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: An elephant-headed god from Indian mythology. He has a third eye in the middle of his forehead and is often depicted with a snake wrapped around him. Judging from his appearance, one might expect that Purski was influenced by the also elephant-headed god Ganesha; however, in actuality he originates from Tibet, and is thought to be an indigenous god to the people of the Himalaya mountains. (Note--this is one demon whose correct romanization has escaped me so I'm using the one that Atlus uses. I know that he is a Himalayan folk deity with an elephant head and is often seen in Nepalese Mask Dances, and I have seen him kanafied as both プルシキ and プルキシ on Japanese sites. He seems to have been so much "fused" with Ganesha that all attempts of mine to find a reference to an earlier name have failed. IOW, "Purski" may not be right) LV 44: Djinn ジン HP/MP 342/189 P:14 M:19 V:13 S:14 L:8 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Shock, Weak to Nerve SKILLS Shock Enhance*, Zandain*, Mahazanma*, Diarama, Suicide Attack, Brown-Nose, Taunt TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Old Man, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A wind and fire spirit from Arabian legend. Widely known as its "Genie in the lamp" form. It can spontaneously create palaces and treasure at will, and is capable of transforming itself into other shapes as well. There are many stories of Djinn being sealed within bottles and pots by the summoners that called them. LV 37: Ongkot オンコット HP/MP 288/138 P:14 M:9 V:11 S:15 L:12 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to Magic and Nerve SKILLS: Critical*, Rampage*, Taru-Kaja*, Tetrakarn, Zetsumyoken, Stone Hunt, Suku-Kaja, Noble Death-Crash TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Guy DESCRIPTION: A monkey god from Indian mythology. A general amongst the army of Hanuman. His most famous exploits are recorded in the epic poem "The Ramayana," in which he led an army of monkeys against the Rakshasa, and successfully defeated all the enemy generals. LV 28: Karasu Tengu カラステング HP/MP 234/117 P:12 M:11 V:11 S:10 L:8 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Shock, Weak against Magic SKILLS: Wing Flap*, Taru-Kaja*, 20% Magic Pulse, Brotherly Love, Mahanma, Critical, Tornado TRANSFER: Wi, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A type of Tengu. The Karasu Tengu does not possess a very long nose like his more well known brethren, but just like its name suggests, is said to have a crow-like beak (Karasu means Crow) which it hides behind a mask. They have a evil side to their personality, and are said to tempt people into depravity and corruption. LV 23: Dis ディース HP/MP 198/111 P:10 M:14 V:10 S:7 L:6 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame SKILLS: Tetraja*, Agirao*, Makajama*, Diarama, Petra-Eye, Makatora, Mepatra TRANSFER: Support: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: The Disir are from Norse mythology, a group of low-ranking goddesses that are much like spirit guardians, watching over humans and their families. In addition to their roles as family protectors and agricultural goddesses, they are said to bring fortune in battle, where they work as servants of the Valkyries. In that capacity, they have a very similar role in their "choosing of the dead." LV 19: Koppa Tengu コッパテング HP/MP 144/87 P:10 M:14 V:10 S:7 L:6 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Shock, Weak to Magic SKILLS: Wing Flap*, Taru-Kaja*, Memory Advancement, Shibabu, Makatora, Suicide Attack, Zanma TRANSFER: Shock: Wi, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: A type of Tengu. Possessing less spiritual power than the other kinds of Tengu, Koppa Tengu appear substantially smaller than their brethren. It is said that wolves that live an exceptionally long life span do not die but rather undergo a transformation, and after that turn into a form much like that Karasu Tengu. LV 14: Isora イソラ HP/MP 132/66 P:9 M:8 V:8 S:6 L:3 ------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Ice, Weak to Fire SKILLS: Analyze*, Poison Bite*, Abduct, Lullaby, Ice Breath, Media Transfer: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Animal DESCRIPTION: An indigenous Japanese sea god. It lives at the bottom of the ocean, and possess the power to control water at will. Isora was worshipped by the Azumi, a fishing tribe in ancient Japan. LV 8: Apsaras アプサラス HP/MP 84/42 P:6 M:6 V:6 S:5 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Electricity, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Lullaby*, Allure*, Close-Eye*, Mahajio, Mind Resistance, Makajama, Dorminer TRANSFER: Support: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY TYPE: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: A water spirit from Hindu mythology. Her name means "One that moves in the water." She appears as a young woman, and her enchanting beauty is used by the gods to prevent holy men from acheiving too much power by making them capitulate to their earthly desires. Also, she has a role in the Vedic tradition of bringing the souls of those that died in battle to Indra's heaven. ================================================================================ YOSEI (妖精) ================================================================================ LV 57 Titania ティターニア HP/MP 432/240 P:14 M:23 V:15 S:12 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama and Curses, Strong to all magic SKILLS: Absolute Zero*, Request*, Mediarahan, Plinpa, Charisma, 30% Magic Pulse, Distant Prayer TRANSFER: Magic: Wi, Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: The wife of the Fairy King Oberon, ruler of the Moonlit Forest. Said to have her roots in the moon goddess Diana from Roman mythology. Afterwards was reinterpreted as an English fairy, and was established as a fairy queen in Shakespeare's "A Midsummernight's Dream." LV 46 Oberon オベロン HP/MP 354/195 P:16 M:19 V:13 S:8 L:10 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to Magic SKILLS: Heatwave*, Smooth Talk*, Medirama*, Makalakarn, Diarahan, Tornado, Bufudain, Jiodain TRANSFER: Magic: Wi, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: King of the fairies. His wife is the fairy queen Titania, and he is in charge of all matters dealing with the fairies. He is very old, but due to a curse he received when he was young, is eternally stuck in the body of a boy. He is constantly being admonished by his wife for falling in love with human women. LV 43 Setanta セタンタ HP/MP 378/165 P:17 M:12 V:20 S:12 L:6 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Shock, Weak to Magic and Nerve SKILLS: Estma*, Guillotine Cut*, Suku-Kaja*, Fierce Counterattack, Taunt, Magic Immunity, Smooth Talk, Reppu-Ha TRANSFER: Physical: Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: A brave youth from Irish mythology. After killing a ferocious guard dog with his bare hands, he offered himself to take its place, upon which he was given the name "Cu Chulainn" which means "fierce dog." LV 38 Troll トロール HP/MP 354/144 P:14 M:10 V:21 S:4 L:9 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Ice, Weak to Mind SKILLS: Beg*, Closdi*, Mahabufura, Rampage, 20% Life Spring, Lightma, Diarahan TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: Trolls are cruel giants that appear in many European legends. They are often depicted appearing by bridges or narrow roads and blocking the passage of travellers. While extremely stronge, Trolls are also quite stupid, and are often beaten by weaker but craftier opponents. Their origin is normally thought to be as a race of giants within Norse mythology. LV 26 Kelpie ケルピー HP/MP 210/117 P:9 M:13 V:9 S:8 L:7 -------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Ice, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Plinpa*, Mediate*, Paraladi*, Paralysis Bite, Nerve Immunity, Marin-Karin, Diarama TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: A water spirit told about in Scottish folklore that resembles a horse. While it has a dreadful side, drowning those that it entices to ride it, it also is said that Kelpies will become exceptionally fast and loyal steeds to those that manage to tame them. LV 19 Jack o'Lantern ジャックランタン HP/MP 162/87 P:8 M:10 V:8 S:6 L:7 -------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Agi*, Maharagi*, Selfishness*, Parala-Eye, Charge, Agirao, Ice Resist TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Hee-Ho, Child, Male DESCRIPTION: A spirit from England a lot like the Will-o-Wisp. Jack o'Lanterns are said to be the souls of people who led depraved lives prior to death, but could not pass on to the afterlife so wander the earth endlessly, never being able to attain peace. LV 10 High Pixie ハイピクシー HP/MP 84/48 P:4 M:6 V:4 S:6 L:10 -------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Electricity SKILLS: Wing Flap*, Paraladi, Me-Patra, Request, Treasure Hunt, Torafulee TRANSFER: Wi, Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Little Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: Leaders of groups of Pixies. Pixies with exceptional magic power and leadership abilities are called High Pixies. LV 7 Jack Frost ジャックフロスト HP/MP 78/45 P:5 M:8 V:6 S:4 L:4 ------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Ice, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Bufu*, Brotherly Love*, Silent Sky Critical*, Mahabufu, Swap, Ice Breath, Breath Shoes TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Hee-ho, Child, Male DESCRIPTION: A snow and frost spirit from England. Jack Frost is mischevious but not evil or sinister. However, he has a dark side in that he is said to freeze those that anger him to death. LV 2 Pixie ピクシー HP/MP 36/24 P:3 M:6 V:4 S;2 L:7 ------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Electricity SKILLS: Dia*, Jio*, Allure, Raku-Nda, Posumdi, Wing Flap TRANSFER: Healing: Wi, Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Little Girl, Child, Female DESCRIPTION: Forest sprites originating from English legend. It is said that children that die before being baptized transform into Pixies. They never appear in places that people can see directly, but have a sybiotic relationship with humans in several ways. Pixies are said to reward people that help them out. ================================================================================ TENSHI (天使) ================================================================================ LV 64 Throne ソロネ HP/MP 492/258 P:18 M:22 V:18 S:15 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Absorbs Flame, Weak to Ice and Curse SKILLS: Mahanmaon*, Prominence*, Brainwash*, Mediarahan, Close-Eye, Divine Retribution, Randomizer TRANSFER: Hama: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, the third rank. They number amongst the Thrones (Cherubim and Seraphim are sometimes considered Thrones as well, depends on the version of the mythology) a high-ranking category of angel. The highest ranking angels made of physical matter. Their name means "wheel" and their job is to carry the throne of God on their shoulders. LV 50 Dominion ドミニオン HP/MP 390/204 P:15 M:18 V:15 S:11 L:11 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, weak to Curse and Magic SKILLS: Diarahan*, Hama Lightning*, Tetrakarn, Persuade, Maka-Kaja, Makajama, Mahanmaon TRANSFER: Hama: Wi, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Male, Adult DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, the fourth rank. They number amongst the Lords, a middle-ranking category of angel. Their job is to tell others of God's power. LV 41 Virtue ヴァーチャー HP/MP 348/174 P:12 M:17 V:17 S:8 L:7 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Weak to Shock and Curse SKILLS: Mahanma*, Stop*, Medirama*, Petrification Needles, Makalakarn, Mahajionga, Retribution Bolt TRANSFER: Hama: Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Adult DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, the fifth rank. They number amongst the Powers, a middle-ranking category of angel. They are in charge of "doling out" miracles, and are said to give humans courage. LV 33 Power パワー HP/MP 294/123 P:16 M:8 V:16 S:7 L:6 --------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Weak to Nerve and Curse SKILLS: Silent Sky Critical*, Brainwash*, Taru-Kaja*, Guillotine Cut, Mahanma, Hamaon, Nerve Immunity TRANSFER: Hama: Wi, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Male, Adult DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, the sixth rank. They number amongst the Powers, a middle-ranking category of angel. Their job is to be guards, and in order to keep demons from invading Heaven, they are said to be constantly on the lookout, patrolling the corridors of Heaven. LV 28 Principality プリンシパリティ HP/MP 222/120 P:11 M:12 V:9 S:7 L:9 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Weak to Curse and Nerve SKILLS: Bright Sky Critical*, Zanma*, Brotherly Love*, Diarama, 10% Magic Pulse, Hamaon, Heatwave TRANSFER: Hama: Wi, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Male, Adult DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, low-ranking angels from the seventh rank. They are said to be in charge of the welfare of countries and civilization. LV 18 Archangel アークエンジェル HP/MP 156/72 P:11 M:6 V:8 S:7 L:6 -------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Weak to Ice and Curse SKILLS: Taru-Kaja*, Yamaoroshi*, Hama, Estma, Wing Flap, Persuade, Diarama TRANSFER: Hama: Wi, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Male, Adult DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mytholgy, low-ranking angels from the eigth rank. They are said to be responsible for the welfare of countries and civilization. They are said to be the highest-ranking kind of angel that has direct contact with human affairs. LV 11 Angel エンジェル HP/MP 108/54 P:4 M:7 V:7 S:7 L:6 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Weak to SHock and Curse SKILLS: Dia*, Hama*, Stop, Patra, Petradi, Paralysis Needles, Breath of Victory TRANSFER Hama: Wi, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Lady, Female, Youth DESCRIPTION: Within Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, agents of God whose job is to carry out his orders. They are often depicted as having wings, and can be of either gender. Within Christian mythology, there is a hierarchy of nine different ranks of Angels in total, and "Angels" themselves are the lowest rank within. ================================================================================ DATENSHI (堕天使) ================================================================================ LV 68 Flauros フラロウス HP/MP 540/246 P:27 M:14 V:22 S:13 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Nerve SKILLS: Iron Claw*, Blackmail*, Battle Cry*, Deathbound, Withstand, Meikai-ha, 30% Life Spring, Hasso-Happa TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult DESCRIPTION: One of the gods of the 72 Pillars of Solomon. He appears as a leopard-faced warrior, and has the power to see and communicate the past and the future. In addition, he can control fire to his will, and will burn the enemies of those he finds favor with. LV 58 Decarabia デカラビア HP/MP 450/240 P:15 M:22 V:17 S:12 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to all magic SKILLS: Analyze*, Bargain*, Tetrakarn*, Suku-Kaja, Hell's Eye, Endless Sleep, Torafulee, Megido TRANSFER: Magic: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: One of the gods of the 72 Pillars of Solomon. A strange-looking demon in the form of a five-pointed star. He has a comprehensive knowledge of birds and gemstones, and it is said that his minions are in the form of birds themselves. LV 45 Ose オセ HP/MP 354/168 P:17 M:11 V:14 S:12 L:11 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to Nerve SKILLS: Raku-Kaja*, Battle Cry*, Venom Zapper*, De-kaja, De-kunda, Blackmail, Kiai, Makalakarn TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult DESCRIPTION: One of the gods of the 72 Pillars of Solomon. He appears as a half-human, half- leopard. He has an extensive knowledge of liberal arts and will grant any such knowledge to those that summon him. In addition, he can transform those that summon him into any form they desire, though such power only lasts for a very short time. LV 37 Berith ベリス HP/MP 324/141 P:16 M:10 V:17 S:8 L:6 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Mudo*, Abduct*, Heatwave*, De-Kaja, Maharagion, Abyssal Melody, Flame Enhance, Flames of Hell TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the gods of the 72 Pillars of Solomon. He appears as a terrible king riding atop a huge horse. Among the 72 Pillar Demons he is an especially high- ranking lord, and is said to burn to death those that do not offer the proper deference to him. He also has the ability to turn any metal into gold. LV 29 Eligor エリゴール HP/MP 258/114 P:14 M:9 V:14 S:6 L:6 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Hell Stab*, Raku-Kaja*, Bright Sky Critical*, Mudo, Rampage, Riberama, Threaten, Petra-Eye TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the gods of the 72 Pillars of Solomon. He appears as a mounted knight. He has the ability to see the future, and is also a great military tactician. He is also said to have the ability to make members of the "upper crust" of society fall in love with whomever he dictates. LV 20 Forneus フォルネウス HP/MP 180/81 P:10 M:7 V:10 S:5 L:8 --------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Ice, Immune to Curse, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Paralysis Bite*, Riberama*, Bufura, Borrow, Fog Breath, Electric Resistance, Mahabufura TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy DESCRIPTION: One of the gods of the 72 Pillars of Solomon. He appears as a giant silver winged fish. He is exceptionally talented in matters of language, knowing much about figures of speech, linguistics, and morphology. In addition, he is said to have the ability to make people well-loved by friend and foe alike. ================================================================================ RYUO (龍王) ================================================================================ LV 66 Yurlunggur ユルング HP/MP: 576/246 P:18 M:16 V:30 S:9 L:13 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to all magic, weak to Bad Status attacks SKILLS: Jiodain*, Raku-Kaja*, Shockwave*, Electricity Enhance, Mediarahan, Samarecarm, Shinkuha TRANSFER: Healing: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: A copper-bodied python from Oceanic mythology. It is a great god that transcends both good and evil, and is a deity of the weather and farming. Because it is said to live in a holy spring filled with rainbow-colored water, it is also known as the "Rainbow Snake." LV 55 Quetzalcoatl ケツアルカトル HP/MP: 492/201 P:16 M:12 V:27 S:9 L:11 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Ice, strong to Physical, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Petrify Bite*, Brotherly Love*, Absolute Zero*, Rampage, Ice Enhance, Ice Absorb, Poison Gas Breath, Recarmdora TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Wi, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: The supreme deity from Aztec mythology, though originally he derives from Toltec tradition, Quetzalcoatl's name means "Feathered Snake." Therefore, he is often depicted as a snake with wings, although he was said to take on many other forms. He created humanity by sprinkling his own blood on the bones of those of a previous age, and is said to be the father of culture and good harvest. In addition, it is said that Venus is Quetzalcoatl's heart. Lv 37 Naga Raja ナーガラジャ HP/MP: 348/138 P:15 M:9 V:21 S:8 L:9 --------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Electricity, Strong to Physical, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Absorption Attack*, Taru-Kaja*, Counterattack, Discharge, Smooth Talk, Reppu-Ha, Flame Immunity TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: The kings of the Nagas, half-human, half-snake gods from Hindu mythology. Particularly powerful Nagas are known as "Naga Rajas." Nanda, Takshaka, Hachidairyuo and the like are all examples of Naga Rajas. LV 34 Mizuchi ミズチ HP/MP: 318/141 P:12 M:13 V:19 S:7 L:7 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Electricity, Immune to Ice and Curse, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Bufura*, Mahabufura*, Maka-Kaja*, Makalakarn, Mepatra, Rampage, Fog Breath TRANSFER: Ice: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: A water spirit from Japanese mythology. The ruler of the inhabitants of ponds, lakes, rivers, and any other bodies of fresh water. It's said that wherever there is a marsh or pond with lots of fish, a Mizuchi will appear and become its master. It controls the power of illusion, and is said to be able to cause hallucinations in its enemies. Lv 28 Naga ナーガ HP/MP: 264/108 P:13 M:8 V:16 S:7 L:8 --------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Electricity, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Absorption Attack*, Taru-Kaja*, Swap*, 20% Life Spring, Fog Breath, Hell Stab, Jionga TRANSFER: Electricity: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: Within Hindu mythology, cobras that are deified into half-human, half-snake gods. While extraordinarily poisonous, they control the powers of rebirth and revival as well. They are said to live in paradises beneath rivers, lakes, and the ocean, and frolic with song and dance whenever they are not in battle. The Nagas are notorious enemies of Garuda, who eats them. Lv 14 Nozuchi ノズチ HP/MP: 144/60 P:11 M:6 V:10 S:4 L:7 --------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Shock, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Charge*, Poison Gas Breath*, Counterattack, Brown-Nose, Raku-Kaja, Noble Death- Crash TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ph, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: An Earth Spirit from Japanese mythology, whose name derives from "God of the Plains." It is said to hide in the shadow of trees and plants. It's not evil, but is wild and uncontrollable, and as a result is said to sometimes bring calamity to humans that it sees. ================================================================================ MAJU (魔獣) ================================================================================ Lv 61 Kerberos ケルベロス HP/MP: 456/225 P:23 M:14 V:15 S:17 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Flame, Strong to Physical, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Iron Claw*, Bind Voice*, Fog Breath*, Fierce Counterattack, Stop, Hellfire, Attack All TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: From Greek Mythology, the guard dog of the Underworld, Tartarus. He is said to be a giant, valiant dog with three heads and the tail of a snake. His father is the Wind Titan Typhon, and the snake goddess Echidna is his mother. He is the older brother of Orthrus. Lv 54 Suparna スパルナ HP/MP: 408/219 P:13 M:19 V:14 S:22 L:11 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Shock, Immune to Bad Status SKILLS: Zandain*, Fog Breath*, Suku-Kaja*, Mahazandain, Poison Claw, Stone Hunt, Diarahan TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Wi, Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Adult DESCRIPTION: Legendary birds from Hindu Mythology. Its name means "One with beautiful wings." It is said that they can creates great winds by flapping their wings, and also have the ability to change the size of their body at will. The Suparna are the servants of Garuda. Lv 34 Orthrus オルトロス HP/MP: 282/126 P:16 M:8 V:13 S:11 L:6 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Fire Breath*, Paralysis Claw*, Flame Enhance, Scout, Battle Cry, Hell Fang TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: A great two-headed dog from Greek Mythology, and the younger brother of Kerberos. Orthrus is the guard dog of the monster Geryon's ranch on a remote island at the end of the world. He was a great guard dog, but was killed by a single blow from Heracles during one of his twelve tasks--to steal the cows of Geryon. Lv 23 Badhbh Cathach バイブ・カハ HP/MP: 186/87 P:16 M:8 V:13 S:11 L:6 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Liftma*, 99 Needles*, Stop, Wing Flap, Shock Resistance, Chakra of Victory TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, We, Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, Ta DESCRIPTION: A goddess from Celtic Mythology, who doubles as both a goddess of war and of love. Her name means "Crow of the Battlefield," and just as it suggests, she appears as a crow on the battlefield, where she pecks at the bodies of the fallen to carry their souls onward. Lv 18 Nekomata ネコマタ HP/MP: 156/90 P:7 M:12 V:8 S:7 L:7 -------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Shock, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Paralysis Needles*, Marin-Karin*, Paraladi*, 10% Magic Pulse, Claw, Request, Close Eye TRANSFER: Support (shock?): Ey, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: From Japanese folklore, a cat that has lived an exceptionally long life and underwent a transformation. Nekomata have great wisdom and can understand human speech. Depending on the level of power they get in their transformation, their depiction tends to vary, but some Nekomata are said to fully transform into people, or even control the dead. Lv 13 Inugami イヌガミ HP/MP: 132/60 P:10 M:7 V:9 S:6 L:5 -------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Flame and Curse, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Fire Breath*, Bite*, Media, Raku-Nda, Fog Breath TRANSFER: Flame (support?): Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: From ancient Japanese tradition, the spirit of a dog that is believed to possess humans. Those possessed fall into a state called "Inuzuki" (literally, "Dog Attached") and go crazy. In addition, they are often used as Shikigami (familiars, servant spirits) by Onyoshi ("Ying-Yang users" literally, Eastern mystics of the past) ================================================================================ CHIREI (地霊) ================================================================================ Lv 55 Gogmagog ゴグマゴグ HP/MP: 456/207 P:22 M:14 V:21 S:7 U:14 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Physical, Ice, and Curse, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Tornado*, Rampage*, Diarama*, 30% Life Spring, Taru-Nda, Evil Eye, Raku-Nda, Suku-Nda TRANSFER: Support (Ice?): Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: Giants said to have lived in the British Isles in ancient times. Its name means "Antagonist." They were said to be so huge that they could destroy a huge sailing barge with but a single wave of the hands. The Gogmagog constantly scared off invaders to the islands, but were eventually defeated by Brutus of Troy. Lv 49 Titan ティターン HP/MP: 396/177 P:21 M:10 V:17 S:8 L:13 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Shock, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Headhunt*, Guillotine Cut*, Taunt*, Parala-eye, 30% Life Spring, Fierce Counterattack, Fire Breath TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the three races of giants born between Gaia and Uranus in Greek mythology. In contrast to the other two which were decidedly monstrous, only the Titans were born in "normal" human form. They all wear bronze armor, and are outfitted like heavy warriors, or so it is said. Lv 35 Sarutahiko サルタヒコ HP/MP: 312/126 P:18 M:7 V:17 S:7 L:6 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Curse, Weak to Nerve SKILLS: Rampage*, Lightma*, Bargain, Petra-Eye, Counterattack, Kiai, Hell Stab TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: A god from Japanese mythology. Sarutahiko was one of the most talented gods amongst the Kunitsu-Kami (the gods of earth, as opposed to the Amatsu-Kami, the gods of Heaven) and is sometimes said to be the father of the Tengu. After the Tenson-Korin (Descent of the Divine Progeny, lit.) he was the first to challenge the Amatsu-Kami, but was seduced by the charms of Ame-no-Uzume, who later became his wife. Lv 13 Sudama スダマ HP/MP: 96/60 P:7 M:7 V:3 S:8 L:8 ------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Shock, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Zan*, Beg*, Mahazan, Suicide Attack, Makatora, Maka-Kaja, Suku-Kaja TRANSFER: Shock: Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Little Boy, Child, Male DESCRIPTION: A nature spirit from Japanese folkore. It is said that Sudama live in ancient trees and rocks. They are not evil, but as watchers of the mountains, they sometimes appear as humans or monsters to give warnings. Lv 5 Kahaku カハク HP/MP: 60/30 P:4 M:5 V:5 S:6 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Flame, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Agi*, Request*, Patra, Selfishness, Sexy Eye, Raku-Kaja, Maharagi TRANSFER: Flame: Ey, Wi, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Little Girl, Child, Female DESCRIPTION: "Kahaku" is the Japanese name of Huabai from Chinese folklore, who is a tree spirit said to live in trees that have hung themselves on. Huabai appear as beautiful young girls clothed in white, but they are much smaller than humans. They can't speak, but their voices are said to be as beautiful as those of songbirds. Lv 3 Kodama コダマ HP/MP: 42/21 P:4 M:4 V:4 S:6 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Shock, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Zan*, Brotherly Love*, Dia, Charge, Scout, Shock Resistance TRANSFER: Shock: Ph, Ne, Ta DESCRIPTION: A plant spirit from Japanese folklore. Kodama are said to live inside trees that are over 100 years old. ================================================================================ YOKI (妖鬼) ================================================================================ LV 81 Ongyoki オンギョウキ HP/MP: 625/324 P:23 M:27 V:23 S:20 L:11 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Physical, Curse, Magic, and Mind, Weak to Hama SKILLS: Anyaken*, Summon*, Tentarafu*, Megido, Blackmail, Mudo-on, Venom Zapper, Battle Cry of Victory TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Bushi, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the four Oni led by Fujiwara Chikata, the legendary personage of the Heian period of Japanese history. Chikata held land between the lands of Iga and Koga and was from a powerful family, and is said to have started a revolt against the emperor. Ongyoki is spelled "隠形鬼" in Kanji, which literally means "Concealed-Form-Oni." He had the power to become invisible and to make it look like there were copies of himself. Some believe that Ongyoki was the base model for the "romanticised" ninja of today. (as the pajama-clad men of martial arts film today never actually existed in history) Lv 66 Fuki フウキ HP/MP: 516/261 P:18 M:21 V:20 S:19 L:11 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Shock and Curse SKILLS: Mahazandain*, Zandain*, Bind Voice, Rannyu-Ken, Silent Sky Vow, Fog Breath TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the four Oni led by Fujiwara Chikata, the legendary personage of the Heian period of Japanese history. Chikata held land between the lands of Iga and Koga and was from a powerful family, and is said to have started a revolt against the emperor. Fuki is spelled "風鬼" in Kanji, which literally means "Wind-Oni." He could control the winds at will, and used that power to knock over all his enemies. Lv 62 Yoki Suiki スイキ HP/MP: 492/258 P:18 M:24 V:20 S:14 L:9 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Ice and Curse, Weak to Flame SKILLS: De-kaja*, Absolute Zero*, Ice Enhance*, Evil Eye, Bufudain, Scout, Breath of Victory TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the four Oni led by Fujiwara Chikata, the legendary personage of the Heian period of Japanese history. Chikata held land between the lands of Iga and Koga and was from a powerful family, and is said to have started a revolt against the emperor. Suiki is spelled "水鬼" in Kanji, which literally means "Water-Oni." No matter where he was, he had the ability to call forth great drowning waves with a wave of his arm. Lv 59 Yoki Kinki キンキ HP/MP: 647/216 P:23 M:13 V:24 S:7 L:15 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to Magic SKILLS: Rampage*, Kiai*, Raku-Kaja*, Taunt, Noble Death-Crash, Borrow, Reppu-ha TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: One of the four Oni led by Fujiwara Chikata, the legendary personage of the Heian period of Japanese history. Chikata held land between the lands of Iga and Koga and was from a powerful family, and is said to have started a revolt against the emperor. Kinki is spelled "金鬼" in Kanji and literally means "Gold (or Metal)-Oni." His body was solid it was almost like it was made out of metal, and swords and arrows alike would merely bounce off his thick hide. LV 54 Shikioji シキオウジ HP/MP: 420/234 P:14 M:24 V:16 S:10 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama and Curse, Immune to Physical, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Paralysis Needles*, Mahamudo-on*, De-Kaja*, Brainwash, Close-Eye, Mahanmaon, Megido TRANSFER: Hama (Magic?): Mo, Ey, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: An extremely powerful type of Shikigami used as a servant among the most elite of those that practiced the mystic arts of Ying-Yang. It could ward off calamity and scare away demons of sickness, but its base nature is of a Kishin, and very ferocious Lv 44 Yomotsu-Ikusa HP/MP: 342/177 P:17 M:15 V:13 S:9 L:10 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Nerve, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Petrification Needles*, Petradi*, Analyze*, Beg, Silent Sky Vow, Yama-oroshi, Mudo-On TRANSFER: Curse: Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Old Man, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: An Oni from Japanese mythology that lives in Yomi, the Japanese land of the dead. When Izanami got pissed off at her husband Izanagi in the incident at Yomotsu-Hira-Saka (Izanagi saw her, infested with maggots--she had died--and was disgusted; this offended Izanami greatly) she sent Yomotsu-Ikusa to chanse after him. They form an army, led by Yomotsu-Shikome. Lv 25 Oni オニ HP/MP: 222/96 P:13 M:7 V:12 S:6 L:7 --------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to Nerve SKILLS: Raku-Nda*, Bargain*, Rampage*, Battle Cry, Estma, Beg, 20% Life Spring, Anya-Ken TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: Ugly, cruel, and violent evil monsters that appear in many Japanese legends and myths. They attack human settlements and cause great destruction with the huge iron clubs they wield. They have horned heads, (with one, two, or three horns) their skin is reddish, and they have fangs as sharp as swords. Lv 20 Momunofu モムノフ HP/MP: 180/78 P:13 M:6 V:10 S:7 L:8 --------------------- AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, Weak to Bad Status attacks SKILLS: Charge*, Kiai*, 10% Life Spring, Zetsumyo-Ken, Persuade, Suicide Attack TRANSFER: Physical: Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A warrior god from the ancient mythology of the indigenous Japanese. A servant of Arahabaki, a Soil God from the same pantheon. It is said Momunofu was used as the model for the famous folk hero "Momotaro," and later became the basis of the word "Momunofu" used by the Bushi class. ("Momunofu" is another word that means Bushi/Samurai/Warrior that was used by the warrior class in Japan) Lv 4 Shikigami シキガミ HP/MP: 48/28 P:5 M:5 V:4 S:5 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Electricity, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Jio*, Headhunt*, Taru-Nda, Suku-Nda, Magic Resistance, Taru-Kaja TRANSFER: Electricity: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: Familiar demons used by the Onyoshi. ("Ying-Yang Users" literally, a type of Eastern mystic) They have many servant-oriented skills, ranging from taking care of the mystic's immediate vicinity, to placing curses upon the mystic's enemies. They are used for many different functions. ================================================================================ KIJO (鬼女) ================================================================================ Lv 72 Rangda ランダ HP/MP: 552/288 P:19 M:24 V:20 S:14 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Physical, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Randomizer*, Paralysis Claw*, De-Kaja*, Chakra Shoes, Makajamaon, Hellfire, Death Counter TRANSFER: Support: Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Old Woman, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: A witch from the mythology of Indonesia and Bali. She is a representation of evil in Bali Hinduism, and is always fighting with her arch-enemy Barong, who similarly represents good. Even if defeated, Rangda will always come back from the dead, and fights a battle that never ends. On the mainland Rangda is more known as a fertility goddess that brings good harvest, but her role as witch and opposer of Barong is more famous. Lv 67 Atropos アトロポス HP/MP: 504/285 P:16 M:28 V:17 S:15 L:14 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Mind SKILLS: Jiodain*, Zandain*, Bufudain*, Electricity Enhance, Shock Enhance, Ice Enhance, 30% Magic Pulse, Megidora TRANSFER: Magic: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Little Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: From Greek Mythology, one of the three sisters appointed to managing the Threads of Fate by the head of the pantheon. She is one of the "Moirai," or as more commonly known "The Fates." After Lachesis measures out the appropriate amount of the Threads of Fate, Atropos cuts the thread. For that end, she is depicted holding a pair of scissors in her right hand. Lv 63 Lachesis ラケシス HP/MP: 492/267 P:16 M:26 V:19 S:10 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Bad Status Attacks SKILLS: Maka-Kaja*, Raku-Kaja*, Makalakarn*, Suku-Kaja, Dorminer, Tetrakarn, Raku-Nda, Torafulee TRANSFER: Support: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Lady, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: From Greek Mythology, one of the three sisters appointed to managing the Threads of Fate by the head of the pantheon. She is one of the "Moirai," or as more commonly known, "The Fates." Lachesis measures out the length of the threads that Clotho spins. It's said that the length of each thread that Lachesis measures decides the lifespan of an individual. Lv 58 Clotho クロト HP/MP: 438/240 P:16 M:22 V:15 S:16 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Curse SKILLS: Hell's Eye*, Mahanma*, Selfishness*, Mediarahan, Endless Sleep, Carnal Release, Samarecarm TRANSFER: Healing: Ey, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Warrior Maiden, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: From Greek Mythology, one of the three sisters appointed to managing the Threads of Fate by the head of the pantheon. She is one of the "Moirai," or as more commonly known, "The Fates." Destiny is represented as a thread woven into a large tapestry, and Clotho is the sister that spins out that thread. Lv 52 Dakini ダーキニー HP/MP: 414/189 P:21 M:11 V:17 S:13 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Strong to Flame, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Abyssal Tone*, Breath of Victory*, Mahamudo, Abduct, Agidain, Venom Zapper, Withstand TRANSFER: Physical(?): Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: Goddesses of love and human interaction from Hindu mythology. They originated as wind spirits and are the servants of Kali. Dakinis are sometimes said to eat human flesh, and it is said that they hold parties every night at graveyards and funeral pyres. Their name means "Woman who walks the Wind." Lv 43 Yakshini ヤクシニー HP/MP: 348/162 P:17 M:11 V:15 S:11 L:9 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Shock, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Abduct*, Guillotine Cut*, Riberama*, Bind Voice, Ice Immunity, Tentarafu, Fierce Counterattack TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: She-devils from Hindu mythology. They actually originated as fertility goddesses worshipped by the Dravita people, but as their religion competed with Hinduism they became incorporated into Hinduism as evil demons. (As one man's god is another man's demon) Yakshinis are the female counterparts of the Yaksha, and specialize in seducing and tricking humans. They are usually depicted as voluptuous, totally naked women. Lv 32 Yomotsu-Shikome ヨモツシコメ HP/MP: 246/144 P:8 M:16 V:9 S:10 L:9 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Magic and Nerve, Strong to Mind, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Borrow*, Petra-Eye*, Mahazanma*, Curse Resistance, Strange Soundwave, Paralysis Needles, Absorption Attack TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Old Woman, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: A demoness from Japanese mythology that lives in Yomi, the Shinto Land of the Dead, famous for being hideously ugly. She was the first pursuer that Izanami released to chase Izanagi at Yomotsu-Hira-saka. (see entry on Yomotsu-Ikusa and Kikuri-Hime for more info) She leads an army of Yomotsu-Ikusa. Lv 20 Taraka ターラカ HP/MP: 186/78 P:10 M:6 V:11 S:6 L:7 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Nerve, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Shibabu*, Taunt*, Analyze*, Raku-Kaja, Headhunt, Suicide Attack, Jionga*, Heatwave TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Old Woman, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: A demoness from Hindu mythology. She lives in the forest where she preys on travellers. Every night she prowls through the darkness seeking male victims. If finds one that she likes, she will have sex with him and suck out his life force. If not, she will simply eat him, starting from the head. Lv 7 Datsueba ダツエバ HP/MP: 72/45 P:4 M:8 V:4 S:5 L:6 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Nerve and Mind, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: 99 Needles*, Shibabu*, Bargain, Bufu, Patra, Dorminer TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Old Woman, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: A monster from Japanese folklore. She strips the clothes off of dead sinners crossing over Sanzu-no-Kawa (a river the souls of the dead cross over, a lot like the river Styx from Greek Mythology actually) and hangs them on the branches of trees--the more crimes they committed in life, the more clothes she steals. In contrast to her appearance as a wizened old woman, she has very sharp eyes, and the glint therein is said to bestow blessings upon innocent souls crossing over the river. ================================================================================ JASHIN (邪神) ================================================================================ Lv 83 Mada マダ HP/MP: 678/312 P:30 M:21 V:30 S:14 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorbs Physical, Immune to Curse, Weak to Magic SKILLS: Randomizer*, Meikai-ha*, Blackmail*, Grand Intoxication, Diarahan, Taru-Kaja, 30% Life Spring TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult DESCRIPTION: A monster god from Hindu mythology, created by Chyavana to save his butt when Indra was out for his blood. Mada's name means "drunkenness," and he is the god of liquor and intoxication. He can change the size of his body whenever he wants, and can become so huge that he could swallow the entire universe and all the gods in one gulp. Needless to say Mada stopped Indra dead in his tracks when he threatened Chyavana... Lv 73 Samael サマエル HP/MP: 576/297 P:19 M;26 V:23 S:19 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama and Curse, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Mahanmaon*, Mahamudo-on*, Prominence*, Samarecarm, Tetrakarn, Death Counter, Physical Reflection TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Bi, Ph, Wi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: Samael's name has the somewhat contradictory meaning of "Splendorous poisonous one." A very mysterious and confusing angel from Hebrew mythology. Samael appears as a huge winged snake, and while being an angel is a leader of demons as well. Some interpret him as being a fallen angel, and later Jewish interpretations have him as the Serpent in the Garden of Eden myth, but that does not match up with a lot of his descriptions within earlier Hebrew scriptures. The common belief among mythologians is that he originated as a "good" angel and over time evolved to an "angel representing the cruel/vengeful aspect of God" to outright "demon." Lv 65 Totetsu トウテツ HP/MP: 516/258 P:18 M:21 V:21 S:15 L:18 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to Magic SKILLS: Megido*, Tetraja*, Borrow*, Drink Blood, Hell's Eye, Chakra of Victory, Makajamaon TRANSFER: Magic(?): Mo, Ey, Bi, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: Totetsu is the Japanese name of the Chinese Taotie, a terrible monster feared in ancient China. It looks like a goat with a human face, with concealed sharp fangs. The Taotie has an endless hunger and eats anything and everything it can get its hands on and yet still never achieves satiation. In addition, it steals the treasure from anyone weaker than it, though it will flagrantly brown-nose anything stronger than it. Lv 58 Girimekara ギリメカラ HP/MP: 474/225 P:22 M:17 V;21 S:13 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Physical, Immune to Curse SKILLS: Bind Voice*, Rannyu-Ken*, Abyssal Tone, Discharge, Randomizer, Reppu-ha TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A giant monster elephant from Sri Lankan mythology. It is said to be the mount of the Demon Lord Mara, who tried to tempt the Buddha so he would not achieve enlightenment. It is thought that Girimekara is either a demonized Ganesha or Airavata. (as the Buddhist Sri Lankans and Hindu Indians came into conflict quite a lot) Girimekara has an evil eye, and it is said that anything that falls under its gaze will fall ill. (Note: I've had tremendous trouble locating English resources on Sri Lankan demons--I don't want to think about the trouble I went to find "Gurulu"--and have come up totally empty-handed on Girimekara. Even in Japanese sources it's been really hard finding anything about him outside of Megaten-related links. So, this romanization may be wrong) Lv 45 Pazuzu パズス HP/MP: 390/192 P:16 M:19 V:20 S:10 L:8 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Hell's Eye*, Medirama*, Threaten*, Shock Immunity, Petrification Needles, Tentarafu, Moist Wind TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Wi, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Pazuzu is the demonic god of wind and tempest from Babylonian mythology. He has the head and arms of a lion, the clawed, taloned legs of a hawk, the wings of a bird, the poisonous tail of a scorpion, and his phallus is a gigantic snake. Pazuzu is a bringer of disease to humans, and it is said that those that fall under his blight can only be cured through the use of magic. Lv 33 Baphomet バフォメット HP/MP: 300/150 P:8 M:17 V:17 S:9 L:10 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Curse, Weak to Hama SKILLS: Maka-Kaja*, Summon*, Silent Sky Vow*, Evil Eye, Maharagion, Endless Sleep, Abyssal Tone, TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Wi, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: The goat-headed demon summoned in the Black Mass. In some interpretations he represents all demons. Baphomet's origins lie in the story of the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar was a religious order of knights in the Middle Ages that was accused of crimes against the Church; one admitted to worshipping an idol called "Baphomet." After his confession, details on the god/demon Baphomet were formulated, and soon after he was said to be a god worshipped by witches. There is some dispute as to whether or not the Knights Templar really did worship Baphomet, as the information was extracted via the Church's torture chambers... Lv 30 Arahabaki アラハバキ HP/MP: 294/120 P:14 M:10 V:19 S:6 L:9 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Ice, Immune to Physical, Hama, and Curse, Weak to everything else SKILLS: Mahabufura, Petra-eye, Mudo, Panic Voice, Absorption Attack TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: A supreme deity from ancient Japanese mythology of the Kohun period. He is usually seen represented in the form of Shako-Kidogu. (a special kind of mud/clay figurine or doll) Because he was worshipped by Nagasunehiko, enemy of Emperor Jimmu, Arahabaki became a symbol of treachery and his worship was forbidden for a long time afterwards. ================================================================================ MAOU (魔王) ================================================================================ Maniacs Only: LV 95 Beelzebub (Fly Form) ベルゼブブ HP/MP: 738/372 P:35 M:28 V:28 S:29 L:21 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama and Curse, Immune to Bad Status TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: The demon lord that rules Hell. His name means "Lord of the Flies." He uses his fly underlings to carry and control souls. It is said that Beelzebub is the cursed form of the Canaanite god Baal. However most scholars think that Beelzebub actually derives from a minor god, Baal-Zebulon, patron deity of the ancient city of Zebulon, and was just one of the many "rival" gods demonized by the monotheistic faction of Hebrews. (like Bael is from the "big" Baal) Since "Zebulon" is close to "Zebub," the Aramaic(?) word for "fly," it was an easy jump to make. Lv 91 Mot モト HP/MP: 759/369 P:25 M:32 V:31 S:16 L:19 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status, weak to Electricity SKILLS: Maharagidain*, Mahazandain*, Maka-Kaja*, Summon, Threaten, Shock Absorption, Megidoraon TRANSFER: Magic: Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: The Mesopotamian god of death and sterility that terrorized the land of Canaan in Babylonian mythology. His name means "death" and he lives in the Afterworld. Mot's rivalry with the fertility god Baal is legendary, and through his machinations Mot managed to kill him. However, Baal's younger sister Anat had him brought back to life, after which she exacted revenge on Mot by killing him. However Mot did not stay dead, and it is said that Anat slays him every harvest season, only for him to revive again each spring. Maniacs Only: LV 84 Beelzebub (Human form) ベルゼブブ HP/MP: 666/333 P:32 M:27 V:27, S:19 L:19 ------------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Hama and Curse, Immune to Bad Status SKILLS: Mahajiodain*, Megidoraon*, Memory Advancement, Electricity Enhance TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: The demon lord that rules Hell. His name means "Lord of the Flies." He uses his fly underlings to carry and control souls. It is said that Beelzebub is the cursed form of the Canaanite god Baal. However most scholars think that Beelzebub actually derives from a minor god, Baal-Zebulon, patron deity of the ancient city of Zebulon, and was just one of the many "rival" gods demonized by the monotheistic faction of Hebrews. (like Bael is from the "big" Baal) Since "Zebulon" is close to "Zebub," the Aramaic(?) word for "fly," it was an easy jump to make. Lv 77 Arsiel アルシエル HP/MP: 624/306 P:29 M:25 V:27 S:14 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Curse, Immune to Hama, Strong to all Magic SKILLS: 30% Life Spring, Tetrakarn, Hell Fang, War Cry of Victory TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: From Hebrew mythology, the lord of "Gehenna," one of the 7 layers of Hell. Despite the "-el" ending, his name means "Black Sun," and he was actually copied from the Babylonian underworld god "Aciel." Occasionally he is seen as being the same as the Lord of Locusts, Abbadon, and sometimes he is seen as the same as Satan. LV 74 Surtr スルト HP/MP: 588/282 P:28 M:20 V:24 S:15 L:19 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Immune to Curse, Nerve, and Mind, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Hellfire*, Battle Cry*, Heatwave*, Electricity Absorb, Attack All, Smooth Talk, Ragnarok TRANSFER: Flame: Mo, Ey, Ph, We, Ta PERSONALITY: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A giant king from Norse mythology. The ruler of the land of fire, Muspellheim, he wields a giant flaming sword named "Laevateinn." In the grand battle that would be the twilight of the gods, Ragnarok, it is said that he will lead his armies into Asgard, destroy the Aesir, and afterwards, the world. LV 69 Abbadon アバドン HP/MP: 564/279 P:26 M:24 V:25 S:13 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Curse, Immune to Hama, Strong to all Magic SKILLS: Attack All*, Panic Voice*, Mahabufudain, Threaten, Fierce Counterattack, Ice Reflect, Meikai-ha TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: The Lord of the Abyss told about in the book of Revelations in the Christian Bible. He is depicted as a demon lord leading a huge throng of gnats, locusts, and other irritating insects infested with infectious disease. It is said that Abaddon originates as a deification of the swarms of locusts that occasionally flood over crops and destroy them. LV 52 Loki ロキ HP/MP: 432/216 P:16 M:20 V:20 S:12 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Strong to Physical, all magic, and Bad Status SKILLS: Mahabufudain*, Makajamaon*, Prank, Charisma, Torafulee, Mudo-on, 20% Magic Pulse TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: The "evil god" of Norse mythology. In actuality, Loki is not really evil, but unpredictable, cunning, and a trickster/practical joker. On one hand he helps the gods out quite a lot, including obtaining valuable artifacts for them (including Thor's hammer) but on the other hand spawns such irritants to the gods like Fenrir and Hel. After enough nasty pranks, including tricking the blind god Hodur into killing the supreme god Odin's son Baldur, he was thrown out of Asgard. ================================================================================ YAMA (夜魔) ================================================================================ LV 80 Lilith リリス HP/MP: 606/330 P:17 M:30 V:21 S:17 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Curse, Strong to all magic SKILLS: Carnal Release*, Hell's Eye*, Mahajiodain*, Drink Blood, Hell Fang, 30% Magic Pulse, Megidoraon TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: From Hebrew mythology, the first woman, and the first wife of the first man, Adam. Her relationship with her husband was tumultuous as she demanded equality and he demanded superiority--finally, after refusing to "be on the bottom" and getting raped by Adam, Lilith fled the Garden of Eden and became a demon. Despite the circumstances of her banishment, she became seen as a symbol of infidelity. Lilith actually originates as a Babylonian earth goddess. LV 70 Nyx ニュクス HP/MP: 522/291 P:15 M:27 V:17 S:16 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Strong to All Magic SKILLS: Dorminer*, Makalakarn*, Endless Sleep*, Randomizer, Drink Magic, Absolute Zero, Absorb Flame TRANSFER: Magic: Ey, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: The goddess of the night from Greek mythology. Originally it was said that she was born from chaos, and her name meens "the mother night." She is depicted as a goddess draped in long flowing black robes. Versions of her birth and origins vary, but one interpretation has her as a creator goddess, laying a silver egg that produces the gods responsible for the creation of the world. Maniacs Only: LV 66 Ja-aku Frost ジャアクフロスト HP/MP: 474/270 P:24 M:24 V:13 S:16 L:24 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Flame and Curse, Absorbs Ice, Immune to Hama, Strong to Physical SKILLS: Mahabufudain*, Mahamudo-on*, Rampage*, Diarama, Magic Immunity, Nerve Immunity, Mind Immunity TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Hee-ho, Child DESCRIPTION: A Jack Frost that sought out powerful evil. He wandered the Vortex World training, until he acheived the wicked power he was after. He still retained his cute appearance, but the awesome power within him is incomparable to his earlier self. LV 56 Queen Maeve クイーンメイブ HP/MP: 522/291 P:12 M:27 V:12 S:12 L:19 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Strong to All Magic SKILLS: Medirama*, Jiodain*, Taru-Kaja*, Mediarahan, Makalakarn, Dorminer, Tetraja, Mahajiodain TRANSFER: Ey, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: A fairy queen from Celtic Mythology. Maeve actually originates as neither fairy nor queen, but as a patron goddess of Ireland. Post-Christianization of Ireland, she became seen as not a goddess but a mortal of legend or a demon that haunts dreams. Afterwards she became confused with Titania and became seen as a queen. Queen Maeve is said to have had many husbands, and gave each of them a nectar liquor mixed with her own blood, to give them right of authority to rule the lands of Ireland. Lv 53 Loa ロア HP/MP: 414/225 P:16 M:22 V:16 S:12 L:7 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Mudo, Magic, and Nerve, Weak to Hama SKILLS: Mahamudo*, Tetraja*, De-Kunda*, Poison Bite, Petra-Eye, Self-Destruct, Mahamudo- on, Randomizer TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: Loa is a general term for gods and holy spirits within the Voodoo religion. Specifically, Loa are the spiritual forces that intervene directly with human affairs, as opposed to the higher god(s) that do not directly interfere. It is said that the powers that Loa grant to humans vary by the individual, and those more aligned with shadow can use them to evoke powerful curses. The Loa probably originate with animistic spirits of nature from the native Yoruba religion in Africa. LV 47 Chiun キウン HP/MP: 372/198 P:14 M:19 V:19 S:11 L:8 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Mudo, Strong to All Magic, Weak to Hama SKILLS: Mudo-on*, Charm Bite*, Strange Soundwave*, Suku-Kaja, Trade, Raku-Kaja, Evil Eye, Hama Immunity TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy DESCRIPTION: "Chiun" gets a passing reference in the book of Amos in the Old Testament as a god that the Israelites worshipped before they adopted worship of their main tribal deity, and is said to represent a star. In actuality, Chiun is really Kewan, an Assyrian god/name for Saturn. (the planet/star) Chiun is often juxtaposed with another idol, Moloch.* *Note: Actually it says "Sakute" in-game, and I had no clue what they were talking about until I managed to get my hands on a Japanese translation of the Bible, in which instead of "Moloch," as appears in the English bible, I saw "Sakute." The kana "Sakute" is nowhere near any of the names for the god Melech from which "Moloch" originates, but I'm going to assume they are one and the same. LV 37 Succubus サキュバス HP/MP: 288/159 P:10 M:16 V:11 S:10 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Mind, Weak to Hama SKILLS: Dorminer*, Analyze*, Selfishness*, Endless Sleep, Sexy Eye, Drink Blood, Tentarafu TRANSFER: Support: Ey, Wi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: A female demon from legend in medieval Europe used to explain erotic dreams. Incubus is the male form of this demon. Succubi enter the dreams of sleeping men, have sex with them, and steal their spirit by doing so. The face of a succubus is actually that of an extremely ugly old woman, but when she appears in a dream, a succubus appears as a stunningly beautiful young woman. LV 25 Incubus インキュバス HP/MP: 198/117 P:7 M:14 V:8 S:9 L: 7 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Magic and Mind, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Brown-Nose*, Sexy Eye*, Wing Flap*, Paralysis Bite, Smooth Talk, Evil Eye, Drink Blood TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Wi, Cl, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: A male demon from legend in medieval Europe used to explain erotic dreams. Succubus is the female form of this demon. Incubi enter the dreams of sleeping women and impregnate them. During the Dark Ages, whenever a nun got pregnant, incubi were frequently the ones that got blamed. LV 18 Fomorian フォモリア HP/MP: 192/75 P:8 M:7 V:14 S:4 L:5 -------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Ice, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Bufu*, Lullaby*, Charge, 10% Life Spring, Abduct, Mahabufu, Rampage TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy DESCRIPTION: The Fomorians are a race of evil giants from Celtic legend. They are often depicted as barbarians with the heads of mountain goats, horses, or other animals. They are ruled by the kings Indech, and the "Evil Eye," Balor. They are said to have lived in Ireland from ancient times, where they beat back the invasion of races from the west again and again. LV 8 Lilim リリム HP/MP: 78/48 P:4 M:8 V:5 S:7 L:4 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Electricity, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Raku-Nda*, Sexy Eye*, Analyze, Silent Sky Vow, Taru-Nda, Maha-Jio TRANSFER: Support (Electricity?): Ey, Wi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Girl, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: From Hebrew mythology, the name of the children of Adam and his first wife Lilith. They are usually interpreted as being demons like their mother, or else as nightmare demons. It is commonly thought that the idea of the Lilim was brought to Greece, where they became known as the Empousae. ================================================================================ YOJU (妖獣) ================================================================================ LV 75 Hraesvelgr フレスベルグ HP/MP: 564/285 P:20 M:20 V:19 S:25 L:11 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Ice, Immune to Curse, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Mahabufudain*, Ice Enhance*, Wing Flap*, Physical Resistance, Iron Claw, Breath Shoes, Electricity Reflection TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Wi, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Beast DESCRIPTION: From Norse mythology, a huge, omniscient eagle that sits atop the tallest branch of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and watches over the whole world. It also is said to be responsible for creating all the winds of the world. Hraesvelgr's nemesis is Nidhoggr, the great snake that lives among the deepest roots of the tree. LV 43 Mothman モスマン HP/MP: 366/183 P:11 M:18 V:18 S:8 L:8 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Flame and Curse, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Evil Eye*, Paralysis Claw*, Torafulee, Panic Voice, Fire Breath, Electricity Immunity TRANSFER: Curse (Flame?): Mo, Ey, Wi, Ph, Cl, Ne PERSONALITY: Beast DESCRIPTION: An unconfirmed animal said to have been sighted in America in the 1960s-1980s. It was given its name because of the "Moth Wings" protruding from its sides. It is said to be extremely sensitive to the smell of blood, and as soon as it detects it, it will carry off the person bleeding back to its lair so it can drink their blood. LV 31 Nue ヌエ HP/MP: 258/120 P:14 M:9 V:12 S:8 L:8 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Ice and Curse, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Paralysis Claw*, Battle Cry*, Ice Breath, Panic Voice, Ice Enhance, Mahamudo TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Beast DESCRIPTION: A monster from Japanese legend. It has the head of a monkey, the arms and legs of a tiger, and the tail of a snake. In the _Heike Monogatari_, it would hide in dark clouds in the dead of night every evening, from where it would launch attacks on the Imperial palace. LV 25 Raiju ライジュウ HP/MP: 204/120 P:8 M:15 V:8 S:8 L:5 -------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Electricity, Immune to Curse, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Jionga*, Lightma*, Claw, Discharge, 99 Needles, Electricity Enhance TRANSFER: Electricity: Mo, Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Beast DESCRIPTION: A monstrous animal from Japanese folklore that is said to come to earth along with bolts of lightning. Normally they run around in thunderclouds, riding the occasional thunderbolt down to earth. It is said to have fangs and limbs like a weasel, but there is some dispute amongst the details. Lv 15 Bicorn バイコーン HP/MP: 150/63 P:10 M:6 V:10 S:5 L:4 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Bad Status, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Suku-Kaja*, Charm Bite*, Maharagi, Bright Sky Critical, Nerve Resistance, Plinpa, Parala-Eye TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Beast DESCRIPTION: An evil monster in the shape of a horse, with two spiral horns protruding from its forehead. Its name can be interpreted as both "Two Horns" or "Crescent- Shaped" but its original derivation is not clear. Sometimes you will see the two-horned monster "Re'em" from Hebrew mythology mistranslated as this. LV 6 Chin チン HP/MP: 72/36 P:4 M:6 V:6 S:5 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Bad Status, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Close-Eye*, Posumdi*, Zan*, Poison Needle, Battle Cry, Wing Flap, Mahazan, Nerve Immunity TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Wi, Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Beast DESCRIPTION: "Chin" is the Japanese pronunciation of "Zhen," a poisonous bird from Chinese legend. It has a beak similar in color to copper, and has a special like for snakes, which it eats often. The strength of its poison is unparalleled, and it is said that if a Zhen flies over fertile land, all its crops will wither and die, and if you dip one of its feathers into a bottle of wine, it will turn it into a deadly poison that can kill in a single gulp. ================================================================================ YUKI (幽鬼) ================================================================================ LV 63 Vetala ヴェータラ HP/MP: 474/249 P:22 M:20 V:16 S:11 L:14 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Curse, Weak to Electricity and Hama SKILLS: Paralysis Claw*, Noble Death-Crash*, Drink Blood, Raku-Nda, Fierce Counterattack, Megido, Rampage TRANSFER: Curse: Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A type of Gaki mentioned in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. From amongst the uncountable number of Gaki, the strongest of them are called Vetala. Its ears, head, and limbs are flaccid and lack direction, and are always hanging very low. Vetala hide in graves, using spells to manipulate corpses and bring harm to humans. LV 49 Legion レギオン HP/MP: 420/180 P:19 M:11 V:21 S:9 L:9 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Curse, Weak to Electricity and Hama SKILLS: Tetrakarn*, Death Touch*, Physical Resistance, Reppu-Ha, Hell's Eye, Plinpa, Mahamudo-on TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A mass of evil spirits mentioned in the Gospel of Mark in the Christian bible, as "we are many." The name actually originates from military terminology used by the Romans at the same time it was written; "Legion" was a term used to designate a regiment of soldiers numbering around 5,000. LV 28 Pishacha ピシャーチャ HP/MP: 270/114 P:8 M:10 V:17 S:7 L:6 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Magic, and Mind, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Poison Bite*, Suku-Nda*, Parala-Eye, Drink Blood, Strange Soundwave, De-Kunda, Mahajionga TRANSFER: Curse: Ey, Ph, Cl, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A type of carrion-eating Gaki from Hindu mythology. Pishachas enter the human body through the mouth, and until driven out by spells or medicine, afflict its victim with sickness. In addition, it is said that anyone that actually sees a Pishacha will die within nine months. Pishachas are said to be the spirits of those who met especially violent ends. LV 20 Laughing Skull ラフィン・スカル HP/MP: 156/96 P:7 M:12 V:6 S:7 L:8 -------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Immune to Curse, Weak to Magic and Hama SKILLS: Suku-Nda*, Parala-Eye*, De-Kaja, Dorminer, Self-Destruct, Hell Stab TRANSFER: Support: Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: From Dominican folklore, a sentient human skull. Laughing Skull gives off an indescribable shrill laugh, and its voice is said to freeze the hearts of those that hear it. LV 17 Yakka ヤカー HP/MP: 150/81 P:8 M:10 V:8 S:5 L:6 -------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to Ice and Hama SKILLS: Death Touch*, Taru-Nda*, Mahajio, Taunt, Dia, Poison Claw, Diarama TRANSFER: Curse: Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A demon of sickness from Sri Lankan mythology. Yakka derives from the Hindu Yakshas. Its evil eyes have the power to afflict people with disease or insanity. It is said to be able to take on numerous different forms, but its "true" form is that of a small, ugly demon. LV 11 Choronzon コロンゾン HP/MP: 156/45 P:9 M:4 V:15 S:1 L:2 -------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Shock and Hama SKILLS: Agi*, Suku-Nda*, Fire Breath, Rampage, Torafulee, Petra-Eye TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A demon that the real-life magician Aleister Crowley attempted to allow to possess his body in the early 20th century. It is an amalgamation of evil consciousnesses. It is said that Choronozn tries to hamper and lead astray those that come close to learning the true nature of knowledge. LV 4 Gaki ガキ HP/MP: 54/24 P:5 M:4 V:5 S:6 L:4 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to all Magic SKILLS: Claw*, Suku-Kaja*, Agi, Death Touch, Poison Claw, Fog Breath TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Cl, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: Gaki are the forms of those that fall to the "Gaki Path," one of the "6 paths," a concept of the afterworld from certain lines of Buddhist thought. (Whereby upon death, one that does not attain Buddhahood is reincarnated in a "higher" or "lower" path based on one's karma, from highest to lowest being: Celestial beings, Ashuras, Humans, Animals, Gaki, Demonic beings) As everything a Gaki eats disappears in their mouths, they must suffer insatiable hunger. Gaki were used to explain why corpses rot--it was thought that invisible Gaki were eating the corpse. ================================================================================ GEDO (外道) ================================================================================ LV 52 Shadow シャドウ HP/MP: 420/216 P:10 M:20 V:18 S:16 L:8 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Shock and Hama SKILLS: Physical Resist*, Mudo-On*, Mahajionga, Drink Magic, Maka-Kaja, Taru-Kaja, Raku- Kaja, Suku-Kaja TRANSFER: Support: Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A phantasm that appears exactly like the person who sees it. It is said that one who meets a Shadow will die within a few days. There are similar legends like this from cultures all around the world, and it is said by some to be an actual condition that causes mental illness. Maniacs Only: LV 45 Sakahagi サカハギ HP/MP: 360/186 P:17 M:17 V:15 S:15 L:11 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Maharagion*, Mahabufura*, Mahajionga*, Mahazanma*, Panic Voice*, Battle Cry*, Shock Immunity, Electric Immunity TRANSFER: Physical: Mo, Ey, Ph, We, Ne DESCRIPTION: An evil Manekata, reincarnated in the Vortex world after being guided by the "Mud Bell of the Afterlife" when in his dead, pure Magatsuhi state. Because of his cruel actions, he was reborn as a Gedo. LV 42 Phantom ファントム HP/MP: 336/177 P:9 M:17 V:14 S:15 L:7 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Shock and Hama SKILLS: Drink Magic*, Self-Destruct*, Mahajionga, Suicide Attack, Taru-Nda, De-Kaja, Jiodain TRANSFER: Support: Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A ghost-like entity from English folklore. It is also said to be a vengeful spirit of a human with a remaining grudge against someone or something in the world. It appears in a very similar form to whomever sees it, and is said to be an omen of death and misfortune. LV 28 Black Ooze ブラックウーズ HP/MP: 264/111 P:11 M:9 V:16 S:6 L:6 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Electricity and Hama SKILLS: Close-Eye*, Charm Bite*, Noble Death-Crash, Death Touch, Drink Magic, Panic Voice, Hama Resistance TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: An entity that appears as a monster without a definitive form; a Black Ooze is an evil will that could not attain a true body and become a full-fledged demon. It merely eats victims and grows bigger. LV 16 Blob ブロブ HP/MP: 156/66 P:8 M:6 V:10 S:5 L:7 -------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Ice and Hama SKILLS: Taru-Nda*, Self-Destruct*, Poison Needles, Marin-Karin, Drink Magic, Zanma TRANSFER: Shock: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A shapeless monster most famous for its appearance in various Hollywood movies. Its body is like a blood-red bubbling slime that eats people and increases in size. In the movies, the only way to stop it is to freeze it and stop it from moving. Lv 7 Moryo モウリョウ HP/MP: 66/42 P:6 M:7 V:4 S:5 L:5 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to Hama SKILLS: Plinpa*, Poison Needles*, Zan, Death Touch, Chakra of Victory, Mahazan TRANSFER: Shock: Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A spirit or incarnation of a dead person that could not pass on, appearing in Japanese legend and folklore. Sometimes they have ill intentions but they are not powerful. Often they are depicted as "Onibi," ghostly, disembodied flames floating in the air. LV 6 Slime スライム HP/MP: 54/33 P:6 M:5 V:3 S:5 L:7 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Flame and Hama SKILLS: Death Touch*, Bite*, Suku-Nda, Self-Destruct, Battle Cry, Strange Soundwave TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: A primordial monster with a body made up of ooze. There is dispute to its origins, which remain rather unclear. Generally they are depicted as gathering and "eating" light. LV 1 Will o' Wisp ウィルオウィスプ HP/MP: 30/18 P:4 M;5 V:4 S:5 L:3 ------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to Hama and all magic SKILLS: 99 Needles*, Zan, Riberama, Death Touch, Self-Destruct, Maka-Kaja TRANSFER: Curse: Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Mindless DESCRIPTION: An Onibi (disembodied ghostly flames) legend from many parts of the world. It is said that the Will o' wisp is the soul of a person that wanders the earth, choosing not to go to the land of the dead. They appear in graveyards or swamps, tricking travellers to take the wrong path. Will o' wisp are actually a natural phenomenon--diphosphane gas produced from rotting organic matter oxidizing and giving off a strange glow. ================================================================================ DAITENSHI (大天使) ================================================================================ Maniacs Only: LV 95 Metatron メタトロン HP/MP: 744/387 P:32 M:34 V:29 S:24 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Mahanma-on*, Megidoraon*, Taru-Kaja*, Maka-Kaja*, Randomizer*, Divine Retribution, Flame of the Sinai, War Cry of Victory TRANSFER: Hama: Mo, Wi, Ey, Ph, We, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: The greatest of the angels, and the one most enshrouded in mystery. He is known by many other names, such as "The Face of God" and "The Angel of Contracts." In contrast to his job of preserving the world, he is also said to perform numerous acts of cruelty upon mankind. LV 90 Michael ミカエル HP/MP: 678/360 P:29 M:30 V:23 S:25 L:18 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Immune to all magic SKILLS: Deathbound*, Withstand*, War Cry of Victory, Taru-Kaja, 30% Magic Pulse, Megidoraon TRANSFER: Magic: Wi, Ey, Ph, We, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, one of the four Seraphim, the highest rank. His name means "Like God" and he is the highest ranking of all the angels. The right hand of God and most superior entity, Michael wields a mystical weapon that can turn aside any blade it locks arms with. As the story goes, Michael was not originally a high-ranking angel, but was promoted to lead the armies of Heaven as a reward for his performance in fighting back the rebellion led by Lucifer. LV 87 Gabriel ガブリエル HP/MP: 654/351 P:24 M:30 V:22 S:24 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Immune to Flame, Electricity, and Shock SKILLS: Samarecarm*, Jiodain*, Mahajiodain*, Venom Zapper, Persuade, Electricity Enhance, Unblemished Power TRANSFER: Electricity: Wi, Ey, Ph, We, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Lady, Adult, Female DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, one of the four Seraphim, the highest rank. She is a messenger angel, and is the one that informs the Virgin Mary of her impending pregnancy in the Nativity myth. Her name means "Unifying One." Her face is that of a young woman, and unlike a lot of angels is often interpreted as neither male nor gender-neutral, but as being female. LV 84 Raphael ラファエル HP/MP: 636/330 P:26 M:26 V:22 S:28 L:17 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Immune to Flame and Shock SKILLS: Malakalarn*, Tetrakarn*, Chakra Shoes*, Distant Prayer, Mahanmaon, Fudo-Ken, Divine Retribution TRANSFER: Support: Wi, Ey, Ph, We, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, one of the four Seraphim, the highest rank. His name means "One that heals." He is said to be the guardian of the Tree of Life, opposite the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Most of Raphael's exploits take place in the Apocrypha, where he has roles as imprisoner of Azazel (an angel that gets booted out of Heaven for having sex with human females) and guide of Sheol, the Hebrew underworld. LV 73 Uriel ウリエル HP/MP: 558/291 P:25 M:24 V:20 S:21 L:18 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Immune to Flame SKILLS: Heatwave, Absorption Attack, Megidora, Unblemished Power TRANSFER: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: Within the hierarchy of angels from Christian mythology, one of the four Seraphim, the highest rank. His name means "Flame of God." On the last day of judgement, Uriel is said to be the one that oversees and enforces resurrection and retribution. In addition, he has the duty of carrying the stars in the sky, and as mentioned in the Apocrypha, guarding the gate of the Garden of Eden, wielding a flaming sword. ================================================================================ GUNSHIN (軍神) ================================================================================ LV 58 Ganesha ガネーシャ HP/MP: 474/237 P:21 M:21 V:21 S:12 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Ice, Shock, and Hama, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Withstand, Absorb Shock, Randomizer, Reppu-ha TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Bushi, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: An elephant-headed god from Hindu mythology, the son of Shiva and Parvati. Other versions of the story have him as a god made from dust to guard Parvati's bath and keep Shiva from peeking in on her. This made Shiva angry and he lopped off his head. (other versions of the story when Ganesha is his son have Shiva accidentally reduce his head to ashes with a look when Parvati first shows dad his newborn boy) Since Ganesha needed a new head, Shiva took the head of the first thing to come by--an elephant--and replaced it. LV 33 Valkyrie ヴァルキリー HP/MP: 282/135 P:15 M:12 V:14 S:12 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Immune to Hama SKILLS: Guillotine Cut, Hero Hunt, Counterattack, Critical TRANSFER: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ma, Ta PERSONALITY: Warrior Maiden, Youth, Female DESCRIPTION: Daughters of the supreme god Odin, from Norse mythology. They are said to ride their horses through the air, clad in full armor and helmet. In preparation for Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, the Valkyries are sent out to bring the souls of human warriors to the hall of Valhalla. Their name means "One who carries the dead." ================================================================================ GENMA (幻魔) ================================================================================ LV 52 Cu Chulainn クー・フーリン HP/MP: 414/201 P:21 M:15 V:17 S:14 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Shock, Immune to Hama SKILLS: Zandain, Retribution Bolt, Charisma, Venom Zapper, Attack All TRANSFER: Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman, Youth, Male DESCRIPTION: A hero from Irish/Celtic Mythology. His name has the unusual meaning of "Fierce Dog of Chulainn," and his original name was Setanta. He is described as a tall, cheerful, handsome young man. Wielding the magic spear Gae Bolga, received from his teacher, he went on many adventures and battles, which are all quite famous. LV 46 Hanuman ハヌーマン HP/MP: 326/174 P:17 M:12 V:15 S:19 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Strong to Physical SKILLS: Raku-Kaja, Withstand, Abduct, 30% Life Spring TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Ne, We, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy DESCRIPTION: A hero from Hindu mythology. He has the power to constantly change his appearance to his will, and fly through the sky. His many heroic exploits are detailed in the epic poem "Ramayana," where he leads his army of monkey warriors on an invasion against Sri Lanka, and helps Rama rescue Sita from the clutches of Ravana. Hanuman's name means "One with a Jawbone," and he is often depicted as a human with the face and tail of a monkey. LV 38 Kurama Tengu クラマテング HP/MP: 306/165 P:13 M:17 V:13 S:17 L:8 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Shock, Immune to Hama SKILLS: Hama Lightning, Shock Enhance, Fog Breath, Shinku-ha, Meisei-ko TRANSFER: Wi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Bushi, Adult, Male DESCRIPTION: A Tengu said to live in Kyoto's Kurama mountains. In Japanese legend, the Kurama Tengu have the greatest level of power and intelligence amongst all other Tengu, and they are said to have great powers in warding off misfortune and bestowing blessings. It is sometimes said that the Kurama Tengu is actually the form that Bishamonten takes at night. ================================================================================ RYUJIN (龍神) ================================================================================ LV 44 Seiryu セイリュウ HP/MP: 396/171 P:15 M:13 V:22 S:9 L:11 ----------------------- AFFINITY: Absorbs Ice, Immune to Hama, Weak to Flame SKILLS: 20% Life Spring, Petrification Bite, Ice Breath, Hama Lightning TRANSFER: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: "Seiryu" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese "Qinglong." One of the "Four Holy Beasts" appearing often within Chinese mythology and thought. His direction is west, his season is spring, and his element is wood. Of the four Beasts Seiryu is the most noble, and lives in a huge palace underneath the ocean. LV 30 Genbu ゲンブ HP/MP: 240/106 P:9 M:11 V:16 S:4 L:10 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Absorbs Ice, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Bufura, Estma, Ice Enhance, Ice Breath TRANSFER: Mo, Ph, Ta PERSONALITY: Old Man DESCRIPTION: "Genbu" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese "Xuanwu." One of the "Four Holy Beasts" appearing often within Chinese mythology and thought. His direction is north, his season is winter, and his element is water. He has great wisdom which he received by seeing the future, and is said to sometimes transform into a human and fight demons. ================================================================================ SHINJU (神獣) ================================================================================ LV 60 Barong バロン HP/MP: 456/246 P:22 M:22 V:16 S:16 L:14 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Absorbs Electricity, Weak to Curse SKILLS: Shockwave*, Bind Voice*, Iron Claw, Mediarahan, Absolute Zero, Curse Immunity TRANSFER: Healing: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: A lion-like divine beast from the mythology of Indonesia and Bali. He represents the side of Good in Bali Hinduism, and is eternally at odds with the witch Rangda, who represents the side of Evil. Even if he is defeated he will always revive, and continues his fight with Rangda eternally. Lv 46 Yatagarasu ヤタガラス HP/MP: 348/195 P:13 M:18 V:12 S:16 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Shock and Hama SKILLS: Chakra of Victory*, Hama Lightning*, Shinku-ha, 20% Magic Pulse, Shock Enhance, Recarmdora TRANSFER: Healing: Mo, Wi, Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Gentleman DESCRIPTION: A spirit bird from Japanese mythology. A holy crow with three legs that Amaterasu sent to serve humans. When Emperror Jimmu became lost in battle, Yatagarasu led his forces to battle. Because of his high divine status, it is said that anyone unworthy that sees him will go insane. LV 26 Kaichi カイチ HP/MP: 210/114 P:13 M:12 V:9 S:9 L;7 --------------------- AFFINITY: Immune to Ice and Hama, Weak to Bad Status attacks SKILLS: Poison Gas Breath*, Closdi*, Hell Stab*, Hamaon, Scout, Paraladi, Mahbufura TRANSFER: Ice: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Animal DESCRIPTION: Kaichi is the Japanese pronunciation of "Jiezhi." (sometimes seen as "Xiezhi too) A mysterious beast that looks like a sheep, appearing in Chinese legend. Its eye can see through any lie, and it has the power to always tell whether what is being said is the truth or not. When it occasionally appears in the human realm, it uses the power stored in its sharp horn to exact justice on evil men. LV 24 Makami マカミ HP/MP: 186/108 P:11 M:14 V:9 S:7 L:11 ---------------------- AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Immune to Flame SKILLS: Immune to Mind, Petradi, Diarama, Recarm TRANSFER: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy DESCRIPTION: A divine beast from Japanese mythology. A deified wolf. It is said to be strong in warding off calamity, especially in protecting houses from fire or theft. They have been drawn on ema--wooden tablets with pictures of animals (usually horses) that are hung at shrines with wishes written on the back asking for divine aid--since old times. However, they have also been seen as a ferocious symbol of terror, as a beast that eats people. ================================================================================ REICHO (霊鳥) ================================================================================ LV 63 Garuda ガルーダ HP/MP: 492/243 P:22 M:18 V:19 S:24 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Hama, Immune to Magic and Nerve, Weak to Curse SKILLS: Mahanmaon, Persuade, Shinku-Ha, Withstand TRANSFER: Mo, Wi, Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Bushi DESCRIPTION: A holy bird from Hindu mythology. In order to rescue his mother, who had been captured by the Naga, he assaulted the heavens in order to get a cup of Soma, the nectar of immortality as ransom. Impressed by his skill at avoiding the other gods in his assault, Vishnu granted him immortality in exchange for his service, and thereafter Garuda became Vishnu's mount. ================================================================================ KYOCHO (凶鳥) ================================================================================ LV 63 Gurulu グルル HP/MP: 492/255 P:18 M:22 V:19 S:24 L:12 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Curse, Immune to Nerve and Mind, Weak to Hama SKILLS: Zandain*, Fog Breath*, Mahazandain*, Mahamudo-on, Brown-Nose, Shinku-Ha, Shockwave, Death Counter TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Wi, Ey, Ph, Cl, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: Guy DESCRIPTION: A demon in the form of a giant eagle from Sri Lankan mythology. Gurulu has been interpreted as a demonization of Garuda from Hindu mythology, as Hinduism has been at odds with the beliefs of the native Sri Lankan population in the past. ================================================================================ IRYO (威霊) ================================================================================ LV 64 Albion アルビオン HP/MP: 694/252 P:25 M:20 V:25 S:10 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Physical, Ice, and Hama SKILLS: Absorption Attack, Physical Absorption, Recarmdora, Meikai-Ha TRANSFER: Ey, Ph, Ne, Ta PERSONALITY: God DESCRIPTION: The ancient ruler of the British Isles from the native mythology of England. The forerunner of the Gogmagogs, and the first giant said to have lived in the British Isles. In Greek mythology, he is said to be the giant son of Poseidon and his legal wife, Amphitrite. ================================================================================ ALL MANIACS ONLY: MAJIN (魔人) ================================================================================ LV 80 Dante ダンテ HP/MP: 612/306 P:25 M:22 V:22 S:25 L:16 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status ailments, Strong to Magic and Physical SKILLS: E&I*, Rebellion*, Round Trip*, Whirlwind*, Holy Star*, Taunt*, Never Give Up*, Threaten*, Twosome Time, Stinger, In My Father's Name, Showtime TRANSFER: N/A PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: A devil hunter that entered the Vortex World. He wields twin pisols, "Ebony" and "Ivory" and a greatsword, "Rebellion." It is said that the blood of the legendary swordsman "Sparda" flows through his veins. LV 77 Trumpeter トランペッター HP/MP: 588/324 P:21 M:31 V:21 S:24 L:15 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status ailments SKILLS: Divine Favor Trumpet*, Maharagidain*, Mahabufudain*, Mahajiodain*, Mahazandain*, Maka-Kaja, De-Kaja, Demon Fate Trumpet TRANSFER: Magic: Ey, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: An angel and minion of God with a trumpet, prophecied in the Revelation of John. It is said that when he plays his trumpet the earth will go ablaze, the stars will fall, in addition to many other disasters, which will turn the world into a land of death. LV 69 Mother Harlot マザーハーロット HP/MP: 528/267 P:23 M:24 V:19 S:19 L:19 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Reflects Physical, Absorbs Electricity, Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Empress' Libido*, Mahajiodain*, Makajamaon*, Dekunda, Kiai, Shockwave, Evil God's Harsh Voice TRANSFER: Support: Mo, Ey, Ph, Bi, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: The "Great Whore" told about in the Revelation of John. She is said to ride on the back of a seven-headed, ten-horned beast that opposes God, and holds a golden cup full of impurity. LV 63 Pale Rider ペイルライダー HP/MP: 486/267 P:24 M:26 V:18 S:17 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Ice, Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Pest Crop*, Mahabufudain*, Endless Sleep, Venom Zapper, Silent Sky Critical, Bright Sky Critical TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ph, We, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: One of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" as described in the Revelation of John, which describes the end of the world. He rides upon a pale horse, where he is accompanied by the underworld, Hell.* Associated with "Pestilence," he is tasked by God to destroy by killing people with disease. *I know this makes absolutely no sense, but take it up with the author of Revelations, not me or the game :P LV 61 Black Rider ブラックライダー HP/MP: 462/258 P:22 M:25 V:16 S:20 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorbs Ice, Immune to Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Soul Balance*, Absolute Zero*, Drik Magic, Mahamudo-on, Megidora, 30% Magic Pulse, Megidoraon TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: One of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" as described in the Revelation of John, which describes the end of the world. He rides upon a black horse and holds a pair of scales in his hands. He is tasked by God to cause Famine and kill the resulting suffering people. LV 55 Red Rider レッドライダー HP/MP: 438/228 P:23 M:21 V:18 S:15 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Electricity, Shock, Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Tera Sword*, Shinku-Ha*, Shockwave, De-Kunda, Death Counter TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ph, We, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: One of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" as described in the Revelation of John, which describes the end of the world. He rides upon a red horse and wields a sword. He is tasked by God to rob the earth of peace, and make people fight amongst themselves. He is most frequently associated with "war." LV 52 White Rider ホワイトライダー HP/MP: 408/207 P:23 M:17 V:16 S:18 L:13 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Flame, Hama, Curse and Bad Status SKILLS: God Arrow*, Prominence*, Tetraja, De-Kaja, Chakra of Victory TRANSFER: Curse: Mo, Ey, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: One of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" as described in the Revelation of John, which describes the end of the world. He sits upon a white horse and wields a bow. He is given a crown, and tasked to kill and conquer. LV 42 Hell's Angel ヘルズエンジェル HP/MP: 336/168 P:17 M:14 V:14 S:17 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Absorbs Shock, Immune to Fire, Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Hell Spin*, Hell Burner*, Hell Exhaust, Attack All TRANSFER: Shock: Ey, Ph, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: Hell's Angel's name means "Angel of Hell,"* and he is a terrible rider that manifests as a demon. The anger produced by hating himself and the world turned himself into an abominable entity focused solely on violence and destruction, *Oddly enough, this is probably redundant information to most Japanese, as well as English speakers. LV 37 High Priest だいそうじょう HP/MP: 288/174 P:12 M:21 V:11 S:13 L:10 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Reflects Curse, Absorbs Magic and Mind, Immune to Nerve SKILLS: Meditate*, Mahanma-on*, Mahamudo-on, Distant Prayer, Banno-Sokubodai TRANSFER: Magic: Mo, Ey, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: A monk that killed himself while trying to save humanity through fasting and meditation. Through the blessing of the Buddha his body did not rot and continues to exist. It is said that he will reappear before humanity on the coming day of salvation. (I actually suspect that High Priest is supposed to be Miroku himself) LV 30 Matador HP/MP: 246/117 P:12 M:9 V:11 S:19 L:9 ------------------------ AFFINITY: Immune to Shock, Hama, Curse, and Bad Status SKILLS: Mahazan*, Andalucia of Blood*, De-kunda, Kiai, Taunt, Red Cape TRANSFER: Physical: Ey, Ph, We, Ne PERSONALITY: Unique DESCRIPTION: A bullfighter who had many brushes with death, now born as a Spanish death-god, that seeks a "death aesthetic." The targets of his deadly sword, "Espada," have switched from bulls to humans. ################################################################################ SKILL LIST ################################################################################ There are a whole lot of skills in SMT3. I thought of breaking them down in many ways--by element, by type, etc., but in the end I decided to group them by Inheritance rather than anything else. Each skill not constrained to a single character has an Inheritance type which dictates how you can transfer it from demon to demon. For example, only demons with claws can inherit Claw attacks from their "parent" demons. The Inheritance types are as follows: Magic: General-purpose spells Mouth: Skills that require the mouth (breath weapons and battle cries) Eye: Skills that require eyes to use (eye-beams and the like) Needles: Skills that consist of firing needles at the opponent Claw: Attacks that require claws to use Bite: Attacks that require sharp teeth to use Wing: Skills (actually skill, there's only one AFAIK) that need wings Physical: Physical attacks that don't require a weapon Weapon: Attacks that require some sort of weapon to use Conversation: Conversation skills--require some degree of intelligence ALL offensive attacks, with the sole exception of the self-destruct attacks, have some sort of type or affinity. (ie fire, ice, physical, etc.) In general, skills that require HP to use will be Physical damage. (there are only two exceptions, and they are both Hero-only skills) The amount of HP required is a percentage of the user's max HP, and will scale up accordingly. For example, a 13% attack will cost 13 HP for a user with 100 max HP, and 26 HP for a user with 200 Max HP. Skills that require MP have constant requirements. The Types/Affinities are as follows: FIRE: Burning damage. ICE: Freezing damage. Can inflict the FREEZE status as well. ELECTRIC: Electrical shock damage. Can inflict the SHOCK status as well. SHOCK: Kinetic force damage (ie damage done by winds, vibrations, etc) HAMA: Hama is a Shinto concept--the idea of "granting passage" to restless spirits so they can travel on to the next world, often by placing blessed strips of paper called o-Fuda near them. General purpose holy damage too. CURSE: Damaging curses--usually death, but also STONE and FLY status ALL-PURPOSE: Almighty damage that cannot be resisted, reflected, or otherwise stopped NERVE: Attacks on the nervous system to impede movement--BIND or PARALYZE MIND: Mental or psychological attacks--SLEEP, CHARM, or PANIC MAGIC: Hexes, enchantments, etc--CLOSE or POISON MAGIC SKILLS ================================================================================ ATTACK SPELLS: ------------- Name Japanese MP # Type Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agi アギ　　　　　 3 1 Fire Agirao アギラオ 6 1 Fire Agidain アギダイン 10 1 Fire Maharagi マハラギ 8 All Fire Maharagion マハラギオン 15 All Fire Maharagidain マハラギダイン 25 All Fire --- Bufu ブフ 3 1 Ice Can Freeze target Bufura ブフーラ 6 1 Ice Can Freeze target Bufudain ブフダイン 10 1 Ice Can Freeze target Mahabufu マハブフ 8 All Ice Can Freeze target Mahabufura マハブフーラ 15 All Ice Can Freeze target Mahabufudain マハブフダイン 25 All Ice Can Freeze target --- Jio ジオ 3 1 Electric Can Shock target Jionga ジオンガ 6 1 Electric Can Shock target Jiodain ジオダイン 10 1 Electric Can Shock target Mahajio マハジオ 8 All Electric Can Shock target Mahajionga マハジオンガ 15 All Electric Can Shock target Mahajiodain マハジオダイン 25 All Electric Can Shock target --- Zan ザン 3 1 Shock Insta-kills the Petrified Zanma ザンマ 6 1 Shock Insta-kills the Petrified Zandain ザンダイン 10 1 Shock Insta-kills the Petrified Mahazan マハザン 8 All Shock Insta-kills the Petrified Mahazanma マハザンマ 15 All Shock Insta-kills the Petrified Mahazandain マハザンダイン 25 All Shock Insta-kills the Petrified -- Megido メギド 30 All A/P Megidora メギドラ 37 All A/P Megidoraon メギドラオン 50 All A/P -- Hama ハマ 6 1 Hama Death (40%) Hamaon ハマオン 10 1 Hama Death (60%) Mahanma マハンマ 15 All Hama Death (20%) Mahanmaon マハンマオン 25 All Hama Death (30%) -- Mudo ムド 6 1 Curse Death (40%) Mudo-on ムドオン 10 1 Curse Death (60%) Mahamudo マハムド 15 All Curse Death (20%) Mahamudo-on マハムドオン 25 All Curse Death (30%) -- Shibabu シバブー 5 1 Nerve Binds (60%) Dorminer ドルミナー 8 All Mind Sleeps (30%) Plinpa プリンパ 5 1 Mind Panics (60%) Marin-Karin マリンカリン 5 1 Mind Charms (60%) Tentarafu テンタラフー 15 All Mind Damage + Panics (20%) Makajama マカジャマ 4 1 Magic Closes (40%) Makajamaon マカジャマオン 5 All Magic Closes (20%) HEALING SPELLS: -------------- Name Japanese MP # Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dia ディア 3 1 Heals HP (low) Diarama ディアラマ 7 1 Heals HP (medium) Diarahan ディアラハン 15 1 Heals HP (all) Media メディア 12 All Heals HP (low) Mediarama メディアラマ 20 All Heals HP (medium) Mediarahan メディアラハン 35 All Heals HP (all) -- Patra パトラ 5 1 Cures Sleep, Bind, and Panic Mepatra メパトラ 12 1 Cures Sleep, Bind, and Panic Posumdi ポズムディ 5 1 Cures poison Paraladi パララディ 5 1 Curse paralysis Closdi クロスディ 5 1 Cures close Petradi ペトラディ 5 1 Cures petrification Recarm リカーム 20 1 Raises the dead Samarecarm サマリカーム 35 1 Raises the dead to full health Recarmdora リカームドラ　　 0 Other Caster dies, heals party's HP/MP to max Makatora マカトラ 10 1 Gives an ally 10 MP SUPPORT SPELLS: --------------- Name Japanese MP # Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taru-kaja タルカジャ 12 All Raises attack power by 25% Raku-kaja ラクカジャ 12 All Raises defense power by 25% Suku-kaja スクカジャ 12 All Raises accuracy and evasion by 25% Maka-kaja マカカジャ 12 All Raises magic power by 25% De-kaja デカジャ 10 All Removes enemy -kaja effects -- Taru-nda タルンダ 20 All Lowers attack and magic power by 12.5% Raku-nda ラクンダ 20 All Lowers defense power by 12.5% Suku-nda スクンダ 20 All Lowers accuracy and evasion by 12.5% De-kunda デクンダ 20 All Removes party -nda effects -- Tetrakarn テトラカーン 45 All Reflects physical attacks for 1 turn Makalakarn マカラカーン 45 All Reflects magical attacks for 1 turn Tetraja テトラジャ 15 All One-time Hama or Curse blocker OTHER SPELLS: ------------- Name Japanese MP Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Estma エストマ 10 Until next "Silent," reduces low-level encounters Riberama リベラマ 8 Until next "Silent," increase encounter rate Lightma ライトマ 12 Until next "Silent," light dark areas Liftma リフトマ 12 Until next "Silent," negate floor damage Torafulee トラフーリ 25 Immediately flee from battle Analyze アナライズ 2 Analyze a single enemy's data SPECIAL ATTACK MAGIC: --------------------- Name Japanese MP # Type Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hellfire 地獄の業火 18 1-4 Fire Prominence プロミネンス 30 1-4 Fire Absolute Zero 絶対零度 25 1-4 Ice Freezes (15%) Discharge 放電 9 1-5 Electricity Shocks (15%) Shockwave ショックウェーブ 25 1-4 Electricity Shocks (15%) Tornado 竜巻 25 1-4 Shock Shinkuha 真空刃 13 1 Shock Death Touch デスタッチ 5 1 A/P Drains HP Drink Magic 吸魔 2 1 A/P Drains MP Drink Blood 吸血 10 1 A/P Drains HP/MP Suicide attack 特攻 All HP 1 Special** Noble-Death Crash 玉砕破 All HP 1-4 Special** Self-Destruct 自爆 All HP All* Special** Hama Lightning 破魔の雷光 10 1 Hama Unblemished Power 汚れ無き威光 30 All Hama Judgement Bolt 裁きの雷火 12 1 Hama Halves HP Divine Retribution 天罰 36 All Hama Halves HP --- Endless Sleep 永眠の誘い 16 All Nerve Kills Sleeping targets Lullaby 子守り歌 13 1 Mind Sleep (70%) Carnal Release 肉体の解放 13 All Mind Charm (50%) Strange Soundwave 怪音波 9 All Mind Panic (20%) Abyssal Melody 魔界のしらべ 30 All Magic Damage + Close (15%) * Self-Destruct affects everyone in the battle, both allies and enemies ** Kamikaze techniques ignore all enemy affinities when doing damage SPECIAL HEALING AND SUPPORT MAGIC: ---------------------------------- Name Japanese MP # Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Distant Prayer 常世の祈り 50 All Heals all HP and status (except Curse) Taunt 挑発 20 All Lowers enemy defense but raises attack Randomizer ランダマイザ 48 All Lowers all enemy stats by 12.5% Kiai 気合い 5 Self Next physical attack does ~2.5x damage Summon 召し寄せ 14 Spec Summons a random ally AUTO-EFFECT MAGIC: ------------------ Name Japanese Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flame Enhance 火炎高揚 Increases Fire skill damage by 50% Ice Enhance 氷結高揚 Increases Ice skill damage by 50% Electric Enhance 電撃高揚 Increases Electricity skill damage by 50% Shock Enhance 衝撃高揚 Increases Shock skill damage by 50% ---- Physical Resistence 耐物理 Reduces damage taken from Physical attacks Flame Resistence 耐火炎 Reduces damage taken from Fire Ice Resistence 耐氷結 Reduces damage taken from Ice Electric Resistence 耐電撃 Reduces damage taken from Electricity Shock Resistence 耐衝撃 Reduces damage taken from Shock Hama Resistence 耐破魔 Increased defense against Hama spells Curse Resistence 耐呪殺 Increased defense against Curse spells Nerve Resistence 耐神経 Increased defense against Bind/Paralyze Mind Resistence 耐精神 Increased defense against Sleep/Charm/Panic Magic Resistence 耐魔力 Increased defense against Close/Poison ---- Physical Immunity 物理無効 Blocks Physical attacks Flame Immunity 火炎無効 Blocks Fire attacks Ice Immunity 氷結無効 Blocks Ice attacks Electric Immunity 電撃無効 Blocks Electricity attacks Shock Immunity 衝撃無効 Blocks Shock attacks Hama Immunity 破魔無効 Blocks Hama spells Curse Immunity 呪殺無効 Blocks Curse spells Nerve Immunity 神経無効 Blocks Bind and Paralysis attacks Mind Immunity 精神無効 Blocks Sleep, Charm, and Panic attacks Magic Immunity 魔力無効 Blocks Close and Poison attacks ---- Physical Absorption 物理吸収 Physical attacks heal user Flame Absorption 火炎吸収 Fire attacks heal user Ice Absorption 氷結吸収 Ice attacks heal user Electric Absorption 電撃吸収 Electricity attacks heal user Shock Absorption 衝撃吸収 Shock attacks heal user ---- Physical Reflection 物理反射 Reflects physical attacks back at attacker Flame Reflection 火炎反射 Reflects fire attacks back at caster Ice Reflection 氷結反射 Reflects ice attacks back at caster Electric Reflection 電撃反射 Reflects electricity attacks back at caster Shock Reflection 衝撃反射 Reflects shock attacks back at caster ---- 10% Life Spring 一分の活泉 Increases Max HP by 10% 20% Life Spring 二分の活泉 Increases Max HP by 20% 30% Life Spring 三分の活泉 Increases Max HP by 30% 10% Magic Pulse 一分の魔脈 Increases Max MP by 10% 20% Magic Pulse 二分の魔脈 Increases Max MP by 20% 30% Magic Pulse 三分の魔脈 Increases Max MP by 30% ---- Critical 会心 Increased chance of critical hits Bright Sky Critical 煌天の会心 100% chance of criticals during Full Moon Quiet Sky Critical 静天の会心 100% chance of criticals during New Moon --- Absorption Attack 吸収攻撃 Heal ~10% the damage you do when attacking Attack All 全体攻撃 Normal attacks hit all enemies facing you --- Counterattack 反撃 Small damage physical counter (50% chance) Fierce Counterattack 猛反撃 Medium damage physical counter (50% chance) Death Counter デスカウンター High damage physical counter (50% chance) --- Breath of Victory 勝利の息吹　　　Heal 20% of max HP after every battle Chakra of Victory 勝利のチャクラ Heal 10% of max MP after every battle War Cry of Victory 勝利の雄叫び Heal HP and MP to full after every battle Breath Shoes 息吹の具足 Heal 10% of max HP every Kagutsuchi change Chakra Shoes チャクラの具足 Heal 20% of max MP every Kagutsuchi change --- Withstand 食いしばり Once per battle, withstand a killing blow Memory Advancement 見覚えの成長 When in the Stock, gain 50% of party EXP Treasure Hunt 宝探し Occasionally find items on the world map --- Penetrate 貫通 All attacks of character ignore physical resistance, immunity, or absorption (but not reflection) Only available in Maniacs. MOUTH SKILLS ================================================================================ ATTACK SKILLS: -------------- Name Japanese MP # Type Pow Sca Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fire Breath ファイヤブレス 9 1-5 Fire 30 -- Ice Breath アイスブレス 9 1-5 Ice 25 -- Freezes (20%) Bind Voice バインドボイス 14 All Nerve -- -- Binds (20%) Panic Voice パニックボイス 8 All Mind -- 30 Panics (30%) Poison Gas Breath 毒ガスブレス 8 1-5 Magic 25 20 Poisons (20%) SUPPORT SKILLS: --------------- Name Japanese MP # Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fog Breath フォッグブレス 30 All Reduces accuracy & evasion by 25% Battle Cry 雄叫び 40 All Reduces attack & magic power by 25% EYE SKILLS ================================================================================ ATTACK SKILLS: -------------- Name Japanese MP # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Petra Eye ペトラアイ 6 1 Curse Petrifies target (50%) Evil Eye イービルアイ 8 1 Curse Reduces target's HP to 1(50%) Hell's Eye ヘルズアイ 10 1 Curse Death (70%) Parala-Eye パララアイ 5 1 Nerve Paralyzes target (40%) Sexy Eye セクシーアイ 5 1 Mind Charms target (55%) Close Eye クロスアイ 5 1 Magic Closes target (40%) WING SKILLS ================================================================================ Name Japanese MP # Type ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wing Flap 羽ばたき 9 1-5 Shock CLAW SKILLS ================================================================================ Name Japanese HP # Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Claw ひっかき 6% 1 Poison Claw 毒ひっかき 18% 1 Poisons (40%) Paralysis Claw マヒひっかき 17% 1 Paralyzes (40%) Iron Claw アイアンクロウ 14% 1 BITE SKILLS ================================================================================ Name Japanese HP # Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bite かみつき 12% 1 Poison Bite 毒かみつき 18% 1 Poisons (40%) Charm Bite 魅惑かみつき 18% 1 Charms (60%) Paralysis Bite マヒかみつき 17% 1 Paralyzes (40%) Petrify Bite 石化かみつき 22% 1 Petrifies (60%) Hell Fang ヘルファング 15% 1 PHYSICAL SKILLS ================================================================================ Name Japanese HP # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charge 突撃 10% 1 Hell Stab 地獄突き 12% 1 Rampage 暴れまくり 13% 1-5 Reppu-Ha 烈風破 25% All Meikai-Ha 冥界破 32$ All NEEDLE SKILLS ================================================================================ Name Japanese HP # Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 99 Needles 九十九針 10% 1 Poison Needles 毒針 7% 1 Poisons (40%) Paralysis Needles マヒ針 7% 1 Paralyzes (40%) Petrify Needles 石化針 12% 1 Petrifies (60%) WEAPON SKILLS ================================================================================ Note: The power of all weapon skills scale with the amount of HP the user has. Name Japanese HP # Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zetsumyoken 絶妙剣 13% 1 Yamaoroshi ヤマオロシ 14% 1 Heatwave ヒートウェーブ 16% All Deathbound デスバウンド 14% 1-5 Hasso-Happa 八相発破 35% All Guillotine Cut ギロチンカット 17% 1 Paralyzes (40%) Fudoken 不動剣 22% 1 Binds (65%) Anyaken 暗夜剣 22% 1 Closes (40%) Rannyuken 乱入剣 32% 1-4 Panics (30%) Venom Zapper ベノンザッパー 36% All Poisons (20%) CONVERSATION SKILLS ================================================================================ ACTIVE SKILLS: -------------- Name Japanese Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allure 誘惑 Use sex appeal to try to get a new ally Abduct 誘拐 Recruit an ally by attempting to kidnap it Scout スカウト Attempt to "recruit a rising star" as an ally Headhunt ヘッドハント Recruit by bullying an enemy into joining Smooth Talk 口説き落とし Recruit using smooth & seductive speech Brainwash 洗脳 Attempt to brainwash enemy into joining you Silent Sky Vow 静天の契り Recruit an ally during a Silent Kagutsuchi --------- Request おねだり Ask a demon for items or money Beg 物乞い Beg a demon for items or money Blackmail 恐喝 Threaten enemy into giving you items or money Stone Hunt ストーンハント Ask a demon for a magic stone or gemstone Swap 物々交換 Trade your items for their items Borrow 借金 Borrow lots of money--dangerous if overused PASSIVE SKILLS: --------------- Name Japanese Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bargain 値切り When a demon asks for cash, try to lower price Brotherly love 同族のよしみ Persuade an indecisive demon of same race to join Persuade 説得 Use logic to persuade an indecisive demon to join Selfishness わがまま Whine to try to get an indecisive demon to join Threaten 脅す Browbeat an indecisive demon into joining Brown-nose ゴマすり Kiss an indecisive demon's ass to get them to join Stop 引き止め Stop a demon from leaving mid-conversation Mediate 執り成し Try to calm down an angry demon Maiden Mediate* 乙女の仲裁 Try to calm down an angry demon--high success rate Charisma カリスマ Raises chances of favorable reactions in general *Maiden Mediate is a special skill, and only "maiden" demons can use it or have it transferred to them. UNIQUE ABILITIES: ================================================================================ MAGIC: ------ Name Japanese MP # Type Notes Demon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moist Wind 湿った風 25 All Shock Paralyzes Pazuzu Meiseiko 明星光 22 All Hama Does damage Kurama Tengu Ragnarok ラグナロク 30 1 Fire Surtr Shinkoha 神光破 20 All Hama 80% Damage Amaterasu Grand Inebriation 大いなる酩酊 15 All Mind Panics (65%) Mada Dead Fly Funeral 死蝿の葬列 50 All A/P* Death (100%) Beelzebub Flame of the Sinai シナイの神火 50 1-5 A/P Metatron *While Beelzebub's Dead Fly Funeral does All-Purpose damage, the insta-death part of the attack is Curse-aligned. ATTACKS: -------- Name Japanese HP # Demon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great Earthquake 大地震 45% All Skadi CONVERSATION (ACTIVE): ---------------------- Name Japanese Effect Demon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hero Hunt 英雄狩り Recruit a hero in the name of the war gods Valkyrie* Prank 悪戯 Recruit an ally via use of trickery Loki Death Contract 死の契約 Recruits, randomly petrifies on refusal Mithras *Hero Hunt can be transferred to other demons, but it only "works" when Valkyrie is using it. CONVERSATION (PASSIVE): ----------------------- Name Japanese Effect Demon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booze Party 酒の宴 Wash away all disputes with wine! Dionysus* *Booze Party can be transferred to other demons, but it only "works" when it's Dionysus doing the talking...maybe Mada too though, since he's another god of alcohol... MAJIN ABILITIES (MANIACS ONLY): ------------------------------- MAJIN MATADOR: Name Japanese Cost # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andalusia of Blood 血のアンダルシア 6% All Phys Red Cape 赤のカポーテ 12 N/A N/A Maxes out Matador's Evade and Accuracy MAJIN HIGH PRIEST: Name Japanese MP # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meditate 瞑想 10 1 A/P Large HP/MP Drain on target Banno-Sokubodai 煩悩即菩提 15 All Mind Damage + Random Mind Ailments(40%) MAJIN HELL'S ANGEL: Name Japanese Cost # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hell Spin ヘルスピン 25%HP All Phys Hell Burner ヘルバーナー 8 MP All Fire Hell Exhaust ヘルエギゾースト 15 MP All Shock Damage + De-Kaja effect MAJIN WHITE RIDER: Name Japanese MP # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God Arrow ゴッドアロー 20 1 Hama Instakills (100%) MAJIN RED RIDER: Name Japanese MP # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tera Sword テラソード 10 1-5 Phys Damage + Panic (30%) MAJIN BLACK RIDER: Name Japanese MP # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Balance ソウルバランス 30 All Magic Halves HP + Closes (100%) MAJIN PALE RIDER: Name Japanese MP # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pest Crop ペストクロップ 16 All A/P Damage, Instakills Poisoned targets MAJIN MOTHER HARLOT: Name Japanese MP # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Empress' Libido 女帝のリビドー 15 All Mind Charm (20%) Evil God's Harsh Voice 邪神の蛮声 37 All A/P Heals Mother Harlot's HP MAJIN TRUMPETER: Name Japanese MP Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Divine Favor Trumpet 神恩のラッパ 1 Character with lowest % HP among both allies and enemies gets HP/MP maxed. Can "pick" bosses, but won't actually heal them (fortunately) Demon Fate Trumpet 神恩のラッパ 1 Instakills enemy with lowest % HP. Never fails, except against bosses. MAJIN DANTE: Name Japanese Cost # Type Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E&I E&I 2 1 Physical Multi-hit Rebellion リベリオン 10% 1 Physical High Critical Rate Round Trip ラウンドトリップ 25 All Electric Whirlwind ワールウィンド 25 All Shock Holy Star ホーリースター 10 All N/A Same as De-Kunda Taunt 挑発 0 All N/A Same as Taunt, heals MP Never Give Up ネバーギブアップ N/A N/A N/A Same as Withstand Twosome Time トゥーサムタイム 10% All Physical Panics (30%) Stinger スティンガー 12% 1 A/P Instakills (20%)* Showtime ショータイム 40 All A/P In My Father's Name 父の名に誓って N/A N/A N/A Increases all damage by 1.5x *Stinger's success rate apparently raises as Dante raises levels. Once he's at about level 150, it nearly always instakills, making it much more valuable than it is at lower levels. (Of course, getting Dante that high a level is not practical, but stil...) HERO-ONLY ABILITIES: ================================================================================ ELEMENTAL ABILITIES: ----------------- Name Japanese MP # Type Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Color Dance 原色の舞踏 18 All Mind Panics (65%) Magma Axis* マグマ・アクシス 15% 1 Fire Supreme Blast* 至高の魔弾 17% 1 All-Purpose *Both Magma Axis and Supreme Blast consume HP rather than MP. PHYSICAL ATTACKS: ----------------- Name Japanese HP # Notes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Haja Light-Beam 破邪の光弾 13% 1 Frequently Criticals Spiral Snake 螺旋の蛇 16% 1 Zeloth Beat ゼロス・ビート 40% All Binds (20%) Kishin-Raku* 鬼神楽 30% All Deathsport 死亡遊戯 32% All Frequently Criticals Javelin Rain ジャベリンレイン 40% All Closes (20%) Mother Earth's Dinner 地母の晩餐 35% All *Utterly useless trivia here, but this skill's name is something of a double entendre. It can either be pronounced "Kishin-Raku" in On-yomi, or "Oni-Kagura" in Kun-yomi (different types of readings for Japanese characters) and the meanings differ thereof. The On-yomi reading means "War God's Delight" and the Kun-yomi means what it says--a Kagura is a special kind of Shinto dance performed to worship the gods/kami. Oni is a Japanese ogre-monster. I'm sure the word choice was deliberate. :) OTHER ABILITIES: ----------------- Name Japanese Effect ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fast Flight 逃走加速 Increases your success rate for fleeing battles Sixth Sense 心眼 Reduces chance of being back-attacked Jive Talk ジャイブトーク Persuade Yoju, Yuki, or Gedo to join ################################################################################ ITEM LIST ################################################################################ HEALING ITEMS ============= Name 　Japanese Buy Sell Effect - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medicine 　 傷薬 100 50 Heals 50 of one character's HP Hogyoku 　 宝玉 --- 250 Heals one character's HP to max Hogyokuwa 　宝玉輪 --- 5000 Heals all characters' HP to max Maseki 　魔石 --- 50 Heals 25% of one character's HP Chakra Drop 　 チャクラドロップ 600 300 Heals 25% of one character's MP Chakra Pot 　 チャクラポット --- 1000 Heals one character's MP to max Great Chakra　 グレイトチャクラ --- 7000 Heals all characters' MP to max Soma Drops ソーマの雫 --- 800 Heals 50% of one character's HP/MP Soma ソーマ --- 6000 Heals one character's HP/MP to max Ikutama 生玉 --- 10000 Heals all characters' HP/MP to max Muscle Drink マッスルドリンコ 400 200 Heals HP/MP, but with side-effects Chigaeshi Tama 道反玉 600 300 Revives a dead character Hangonko 反魂香 --- 1200 Revives a dead character to max Iwakura Water イワクラの水 200 100 Cures party's Sleep/Panic/Bind De-Stone ディストーン 100 50 Cures one character of Stone Dis-Charm ディスチャーム 100 50 Cures one character of Charm Dis-Poison ディスポイズン 150 75 Cures one character of Poison Dis-Palyze 　ディスパライズ 150 75 Cures one character of Paralyze Dis-Close ディスクローズ 150 75 Cures one character of Close COMBAT ITEMS ============ Name 　 Japanese Buy Sell Effect -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maharagi Stone マハラギの石 250 125 Same as the spell Maharagi Mahabufu Stone マハブフの石 250 125 Same as the spell Mahabufu Mahajio Stone マハジオの石 250 125 Same as the spell Mahajio Mahazan Stone マハザンの石 250 125 Same as the spell Mahazan Mahanma Stone マハンマの石 300 150 Same as the spell Mahanma Mahamudo Stone マハムドの石 300 150 Same as the spell Mahamudo Megido Stone メギドの石 --- 400 Same as the spell Megido Megidora Stone メギドラの石 --- 600 Same as the spell Megidora Makajama Stone マカジャマの石 200 100 Same as the spell Makajama Tetraja Stone テトラジャの石 --- 200 Same as the spell Tetraja De-kaja Stone デカジャの石 --- 200 Same as the spell De-Kaja Butsuhankyo 物反鏡 --- 250 Same as the spell Tetrakarn Mahankyo 魔反鏡 --- 250 Same as the spell Makalakarn Blinding Sphere くらましの玉 --- 450 Same as the spell Torafulee Wagtail Feather セキレイの羽 --- 200 Same as the skill Carnal Release Poison Arrow 毒矢 --- 150 Damage to all enemies + Poison Pot of Dying 瀕死の壷 --- 50 Reduce all enemies' HP to 1 MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS =================== Name 　 Japanese Buy Sell Effect -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lightball 光玉 600 300 Same as the spell Lightma Hover Sphere 浮き足玉 400 200 Same as the spell Liftma Kugatachi Water クガタチの湯 300 140 See if an ally can mutate or not Fuma Bell 封魔の鈴 --- 150 Fewer encounters till next Silent Shuma Whistle 集魔の笛 --- 150 More encounters till next Silent Happy Ticket しあわせのチケット * 10 Get 10 and you can pick a prize *A Happy Ticket is given to you whenever you leave a store after buying more than 1,000 Makka worth of goods. INCENSE ======= Name 　 Japanese Sell Effect -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Power Incense 力の香 1000 Heal HP to max, Max Power + 1 Magic Incense 魔力の香 1000 Heal HP to max, Max Magic + 1 Vitality Incense 体力の香 1000 Heal HP to max, Max Vitality + 1 Speed Incense 速さの香 1000 Heal HP to max, Speed + 1 Luck Incense 運の香 1000 Heal HP to max, Luck + 1 UNLIMITED USE ITEMS =================== Name 　 Japanese Sell Effect -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Far Sight Telescope 万里の望遠鏡　 50,000 Same effect as the skill Analyze Hama Spirit Fan 破魔の霊扇 50,000 Same effect as the spell Mahanma Chakra Kongotan チャクラの金剛丹 50,000 Heals a little bit of MP Hangonshinshu 反魂神朱珠　100,000 Same effect as a Hangonko GEMS ==== Name Japanese In-game Description -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Agate メノウ A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes truth. Amethyst アメジスト A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes loyalty. Aquamarine アクアマリン A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes fortune. Coral コーラル A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes wisdom. Diamond ダイアモンド A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes pure love. Emerald エメラルド A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes marriage. Garnet ガーネット A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes friendship. Jade ヒスイ A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes good luck. Onyx オニキス A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes trust. Opal オーパル A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes joy. Pearl パール A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes purity. Ruby ルビー A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes passion. Sapphire サファイア A beautiful shining stone. Symbolizes kindness. ################################################################################ GAMEPLAY ################################################################################ KAGUTSUCHI ========== The Vortex World of SMT3 is kind of weird. Post Tokyo-Fertilization, the ground sort of flew up into the air and attached to itself, making it so the "world" is spherical, like the inside of a hollow sphere. If you're ever in an outdoor area in game, look up into the sky and you can actually see the ground on the other side of the city. In any case, one of the defining characteristics of this new world is Kagutsuchi. Kagutsuchi is the moon that exists in the dead center of the Vortex World, constantly emitting pulses of light. Its function is pretty much the same as that of the moon in previous SMT games. It goes through 8 separate phases, but instead of dictating the shape of the moon, the phases indicate the light output of Kagutsuchi within its pulses. It goes from Full (8/8) at the apex of its pulse when it is giving out the most light, to Silent (0/8) when it's not giving out any light at all. There are no waxing and waning phases like earlier SMT games, but for all intents and purposes Full is like the Full Moon of earlier games, and Silent is like the New Moon of earlier games. As you move around, the phase of Kagutsuchi slowly changes from 0/8 to 8/8 and back again. Kagutsuchi will NOT change phase if you sit still--you must move in order for it to change. Also, the speed at which it changes phase varies depending on where you are--it changes phase much more quickly on the overhead map (since you're traveling a greater distance) Moon phase has several effects on gameplay. First and foremost is its effect on combat. The brighter the moon, the more ancy the demons get. They will be more likely to respond to negotiations and less likely to attack during the darker moon phases, and more rough and violent during the higher phases. During a Full Moon, the excessive light from Kagutsuchi more or less drives them nuts and they act drunk. In addition, the brighter the moon, the tougher the demons will be. They will do more damage and take less during the brighter phases, though the difference is very slight. You can really feel the difference though during some boss battles, for example. Some demons will act differently in the way they conduct combat during different moon phases as well. Second, moon phases have a huge influence on Magic Boxes. There are two types of treasure chests in SMT3--regular treasure boxes, which look like hovering red cubes, and Magic Boxes, which look like small chests on the ground. The content of Magic Boxes varies by the moon phase. It can either contain a good treasure, or a lousy treasure of a Maseki or two. The closer the moon phase is to Full, the better the chance you will get the treasure instead of a Maseki. During a Full Kagutsuchi, the chance of you getting the treasure from a Magic Box will be 100%. During a New Kagutsuchi, the chance of you getting the treasure is 0%--in other words, it wil ALWAYS give you Maseki during a new moon. Note: Throughout the walkthrough section of this guide, if you ever see an item with an asterisk after its name, that indicates that specific treasure is the "treasure" result of a Magic Box. Lastly, there are a few story-based events that rely on moon phase--either optional events that will only take place during specific phases (there will always be someone around to give you a hint in this case) or events that take place after a certain period of time, marked by the number of moon phases that have passed. THE TERMINAL ============ In past SMT games, the Terminals were a set of computers networked together that allowed you to record your progress or teleport from terminal to terminal. In SMT3, you save the game at big magic cylindrical stones with runes on them throughout the game--which are also called Terminals, despite the fact they're about as far from being computer terminals as you can get. Still, their function is basically the same. You can use the terminals to either save your game, or teleport to any other Terminal. However, you can only teleport to Terminals that you have already visited. There's also a new type of Terminal in SMT3--the Sub-Terminal. (says S-Terminal in the upper-right hand area of the screen when you're near one) The Sub- Terminal works the same as a normal Terminal when you save your game, but its teleportational capacities are much more limited. Each Sub-Terminal is linked to a Main Terminal, and can only teleport back to that Main Terminal. You can't teleport anywhere else using them. You can still save there though. SHOPS ===== Traditionally, there has never been such thing as a "Town" a la garden variety RPGs within SMT games, and SMT3 is basically the same. You can get attacked pretty much anywhere, and there are no real "safe havens of civilization." Shops exist independently, and while they are usually found in clusters, are not necessarily linked in any coherent way. As there's no real equipment in SMT3, shops have kind of taken a back seat in importance, but are a good place to stock up on healing items. Also some stores will sell you Magatama that you won't find anywhere else. There are four shop owners in-game: HEE-HO-KUN: ----------- The first shop owner you'll run into is a Hee-Ho-Kun, a Jack Frost. He won't stick around for very long, which is good, because he's a very run-of-the-mill shopkeeper. His items are rather blah (though he does have a few Magatama) and he won't give you any Happy Tickets. THE FLAMBOYANTLY GAY MANEKATA: ------------------------------ The Flamboyantly Gay Manekata (FGM from here on) is the main shopkeeper throughout the game. He mans all the mainstream stores (taking over Jack Frost's store once you reach Ikebukuro) and will be the guy you probably do the most business with. His inventory differs from store to store (and if you go back to an old store, he will inexplicably always be there, even if the area he is in was since abandoned) so you may need to teleport to an old area to find what you are looking for. Unlike Hee-Ho-kun, the FGM will give you a Happy Tickets whenever you leave his shop after buying more than 1000 Makka worth of stuff from him. Once you have 10 tickets, he will give you a free pick from one of three boxes: Black: Various gemstones--also can give you Hogyoku. White: Either a Hangonko or a Stat Incense of some sort. Pink: Various rare healing items--from Soma to Chakra Pots, and even Ikutamas. Personally I find the White box by far the most useful, but the Pink Box can be great if you're really low on healing items. (Keep in mind that while it does deal out super expensive items like the Ikutama, you can never make a profit off it as it costs 10K Makka at the bare minimum to get a Box pick) THE JUNK COLLECTOR MANEKATA: ---------------------------- You'll meet the Junk Collector Manekata fairly early on, but he won't open up his shop until about halfway through the game. He only has a shop in one place, where he sells a wide variety of items you won't be able to buy anywhere else, in addition to some more common fare. He also sells several upper-level Magatama. Small Box: Never picked it, but I think it's the same as FGM's Black box Medium Box: Same as FGM's White Box Large Box: Same as FGM's Pink box, I think RAG THE JEWEL-O-PHILE: ---------------------- Rag's shop is in Ginza, and it's a very unusual shop. You don't use money in it at all--you use gemstones to buy the things that you want. All of the stuff you buy from here is super-rare stuff that you can't purchase anywhere else. (though you can get them out of treasure chests or the occasional monster drop) In addition, you can buy Seirei or Mitama off of Rag. Rag's Item List stays constant, but his Seirei/Mitama list changes with every phase of the moon. You can ALWAYS buy any Seirei or any Mitama at their "base" statistics, but he also sells several different versions of leveled up Seirei/Mitama--it's these versions that change every phase. Rag's Item List: ITEM: COST -------------------------------------------- Hogyokuwa 3 Aquamarines Chakra Pot 2 Sapphires Great Chakra 1 Diamond Soma Drops 1 Amethyst Hangonko 1 Pearl Megido Stone 1 Ruby Megidora Stone 2 Rubies Pot of Dying 1 Emerald & 1 Coral Mahankyo 1 Opal & 1 Onyx Butsuhankyo 1 Opal & 1 Turquoise Dekaja Stone 1 Garnet & 1 Coral Tetraja Stone 1 Garnet & 1 Aquamarine Fuma Bell 1 Garnet & 1 Turquoise Shuma Bell 1 Coral & 1 Turquoise Blinding Sphere 1 Onyx & 1 Aquamarine Rag's Seirei & Mitama List: Name Level Cost Alternate Cost ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Earthies Lv 7 1 Agate & 2 Onyxes Earthies Lv 8 2 Agates & 2 Onyxes 2 Agates & 3 Onyxes Earthies Lv 9 3 Agates & 2 Onyxes 3 Agates & 3 Onyxes Aeros Lv 11 1 Agate & 2 Turquoises Aeros Lv 12 2 Agates & 2 Turquoises 2 Agates & 3 Turquoises Aeros Lv 13 3 Agates & 2 Turquoises 2 Agates & 3 Turquoises Aquans Lv 15 1 Agate & 2 Aquamarines Aquans Lv 16 2 Agates & 2 Aquamarines 2 Agates & 2 Aquamarines Aquans Lv 17 3 Agates & 2 Aquamarines 3 Agates & 3 Aquamarines Flamies Lv 20 1 Pearl & 1 Coral Flamies Lv 21 1 Pearl & 1 Garnet 1 Pearl & 1 Turquoise Flamies Lv 22 1 Pearl & 1 Aquamarine 1 Pearl & 1 Onyx Aramitama Lv 25 1 Jade & 1 Ruby Aramitama Lv 26 1 Jade & 2 Rubies 2 Jade & 3 Rubies Aramitama Lv 27 1 Jade & 3 Rubies 2 Jade & 2 Rubies Nigimitama Lv 29 1 Jade & 1 Amethyst Nigimitama Lv 30 1 Jade & 2 Amethysts 2 Jade & 1 Amethyst Nigimitama Lv 31 1 Jade & 3 Amethysts 2 Jade & 2 Amethysts Kushimitama Lv 32 1 Jade & 1 Opal Kushimitama Lv 33 1 Jade & 2 Opals 2 Jade & 1 Opal Kushimitama Lv 34 1 Jade & 3 Opals 2 Jade & 2 Opals Sakimitama Lv 35 1 Jade & 1 Sapphire Sakimitama Lv 36 1 Jade & 2 Sapphires 2 Jade & 1 Sapphire Sakimitama Lv 37 1 Jade & 3 Sapphires 2 Jade & 2 Sapphires PRESS TURN BATTLE ================= SMT3 has introduced a totally new combat system unlike any SMT game releasedso far. In addition to the perspective change (no more 1st-person battles, but this is just cosmetic of course) and the number of combatants change, the entire structure of combat has been altered into what is called "Press Turn Combat." PLAYER TURN, THEN ENEMY TURN ---------------------------- Instead of giving your party commands at the beginning of a turn and then enacting the round, with both allies and enemies attacking at the same time in order of their Speed ratings, SMT3 has opted for a round-robin style of combat where the entire party acts, and then the entire enemy party acts, trading back and forth--somewhat similar to the Majin Tensei games. PRESS TURNS ----------- You may notice the little symbols that look kind of like Ryuo Yato-no-Kami from earlier SMT games appearing in the upper-right-hand corner of your screen during combat. These are your Press Turns. Each round, you get one Press Turn for each character you have participating in the battle. If it's just your Hero, you only get one. If it's your hero and two allies, you get three, and so forth. The same deal goes for the enemies, except they can have five or more since they can have larger parties. Cheap, but nobody said life was fair. A Press Turn dictates how many actions you can take in a single turn. Normally, you get one action per Press Turn, but depending on what actions you take, you can get more or fewer actions per turn: If you miss a target outright, you lose TWO Press Turns. A miss is defined as an attack that the target "dodges," IOW you can actually see the target move out of the way. Some attack magic (such as Mudo or Makajama) is all-or-nothing and says "MISS" if it doesn't work, but this does not count as a miss since the spell just didn't work and didn't actually miss the target. (If the spell misses because the target dodged out of the way, that's a different story) If your attack is Blocked via some sort of immunity, you also lose two Press Turns. If your attack is either absorbed or reflected by the target, you lose ALL of your remaining Press Turns. If you have a conversation with an enemy and it fails (and they get angry) you'll lose all of your Press Turns. This includes Interruptions by the enemy. If your attack exploits an enemy Weak Point or is a Critical Hit, you don't lose a Press Turn at all--rather, one Press Turn Icon will start "flashing." (the manual says it takes "half a turn" but this is misleading) If all of your Press Turn icons are flashing, then the first one will be used up. If the active character passes his/her/its turn to the next character in your party, it will consume a flashing Press Turn Icon, or or turn a Press Turn Icon flashing if there are none. "FLASHING" PRESS TURN ICONS --------------------------- Flashing Press Turns work a little bit differently from normal Press Turns. Let's look at a sample round of combat to see how they function. *=flashing Press Turn, O=solid press turn Start of round Turns at Character 1's action: OOOO Action 1: Character 1 attacks and deals a critical hit. Turns at Character 2's action: *OOO Action 2: Character 2 attacks and exploits a weak point. Turns at Character 3's action: **OO Action 3: Character 3 passes his turn. Turns at Character 4's action: *OO Action 4: Character 4 attacks and misses outright. Turns at Character 1's action: O Action 5: Character 1 passes his turn. Turns at Character 2's action: * Action 6: Character 2 deals a normal attack. End of round-switch to other team. Let's look at each step to see how things work. Action 1: Clear enough, we turn one "solid" Press Turn into a "flashing" Press Turn by delivering a Critical Hit. Action 2: A Weak Point attack is delivered. There are still some "solid" Press Turns left, so the first Solid turn is changed into a Flashing turn. Action 3: Passing a turn will normally change a Solid Turn into a Flashing Turn. However, passing a turn doesn't have as much benefit as dealing a critical or dealing a weak point--if there is a flashing Press Turn present, it will consume it. So after Action 3, the first flashing Press Turn is consumed and we're left with three Press Turns--one flashing and two solid. Action 4: Character 4 misses, so we lose two Press Turns. Note that we lose the first two turns available--one "flashing turn" and one "solid turn." Action 5: Again, we see a turn passed. However, since the one turn remaining is a solid turn, rather than losing it outright (as in Action 3) it merely turns the remaining turn to a Flashing Press Turn. Action 6: No matter what character 2 does in this action, it would automatically switch sides--even if he dealt a critical hit, all the remaining turns are flashing, so he would consume the sole remaining one. MIXED RESULT ATTACKS -------------------- If you deal an attack that targets multiple targets, it won't necessarily have the same effect on all targets. It could hit one target, miss another, and deal a critical hit to the third. If you have Critical(s) mixed with Miss(es) then you lose one full Press Turn as if it was a normal attack. If you have hits and Criticals mixed with no misses, it counts as a Critical and turns a Press Turn flashing. Aside from that, a mixed result attack will "count" as the worst result in terms of Press Turn loss--for example, if you hit three targets, two critical hits and the third enemy absorbed the attack, you'd still lose all your Press Turns, because a target reflecting or absorbing an attack automatically makes the attacking side lose all its turns. Also note that missing multiple targets is not cumulative--if a multi-target attack misses two enemies, you'll still only lose two Press Turns and not four. BASIC PRESS TURN STRATEGY: -------------------------- All in all, in order to play battles to the fullest in SMT3, you are best off trying to exploit enemy weaknesses as best as you can--not only will it hurt the enemies more, but it will allow you to get more blows in before it's the enemy's turn. Overall, SMT3 is not the sort of game where you can "save all your MP for the boss" because if you don't exploit enemy weaknesses to try to prevent them from getting their turn, they'll turn the tables on you and try to exploit YOUR weak points. The best way to fight a battle is not to try and conserve MP or HP, and specifically target enemy weaknesses--and when using multi-target attacks, using only those that no enemy facing you is immune to. It's best to start out using Weak Point attacks (even if they're weak) until you have four flashing Press Turn Icons, then use your strongest attacks until your turn ends. ################################################################################ MANIACS: DIFFERENCES AND ADDITIONS ################################################################################ DIFFICULTY LEVEL: ================= When you play a Maniacs game, you get a choice of difficulty levels from the outset, rather than like the original Nocturne, where your first time through was on a default difficulty and the second time through was a harder difficulty. Difficulty levels make no difference in terms of what you can do or endings or anything like that--they're just there as an additional option. Personally I find Normal Mode MUCH too easy and have never played a full game on that difficulty level. (Heck, even on Hard it's not as hard as a second-time-around game in vanilla Nocturne) However, your mileage may vary. The differences in gameplay are as follows: CHANGES THROUGHOUT BOTH MODES: ------------------------------ * Enemies ambush you (i.e. strike first) with less frequency * Enemies don't always critically hit you when Back attacking you * Insta-death magic doesn't work as frequently * Accuracy for many Physical attacking skills increased (Iron Claw can hit now) * Bad Status ailments don't take as often. (Note that all the percentage counting I did in the Skills section was for Vanilla Nocturne on that point) NORMAL MODE: ------------ * Enemies do less damage than in a default Nocturne game--about 2/3 or 3/4, I'd guess. * Prices for items are the same as a default Nocturne game. * Getting attacked from behind won't get you critically hit. (REALLY stupid change IMO. There's essentially no difference between being back attacked and the enemies getting first shot this way) * Running away is easier than in a default Nocturne game. HARD MODE: ---------- * Enemies do about double the damage that they do on Normal mode--about the same amount of damage they do on a second-time-through game in Nocturne. * Buying prices for items in stores are tripled. Sell prices are not likewise scaled upwards. (IOW, you get paid the same for selling items in Normal and in Hard) This only applies in Junk Shops--Rag's trade-ins are the same, and summoning demons in the Jakyo Manor is no more expensive than if it was on Normal. * Damage Zones (burning floor, cursed corridor, or when you're Poisoned) all do triple damage. * You cannot run from battle. There are two exceptions: 1) if all enemies facing you are incapacitated (ie Asleep, Bound, Frozen, etc) you can run from them 2) Escape spells and items like Torafulee and Blinding Spheres will work as normal. NOTE: It may not be TOTALLY impossible to run normally from battle--in Ikebukuro, I once ran from a lone Manekata without it being incapacitated, but that was the only time I ever suceeded on a "straight" run. It may just be that the chances to run are much, much lower. Still, in that case, the failure rate would be so ridiculously high as to make it the same as being impossible in practice. * Insta-kill magic works more often than on a normal game (though still not as much as in "vanilla" Nocturne) IMPORTING DATA: =============== If you've already played a Nocturne game, you can import your data and get some minor bonuses for your Maniacs save. When you first select a save file to import, 5 demons will be pulled at random from your Jakyo Manor. (It seems the more experience the demon has, the better the likelihood that it will be picked) If you like the team you get, pick Yes to start the game. If not, pick No and the game will pick a new set of demons. There's also a third option, to pick a different Nocturne save file from the one you initially picked. The demons that get imported don't start with your party; rather, they are recorded into your Akuma Zensho, so in theory you can bring them with you as soon as you reach Ikebukuro. However, normal summoning rules still apply--if your level isn't high enough you won't be able to summon them. So if you pick a bunch of high level demons, you probably won't be able to reincorporate them into your party until the end of the game. Personally, I suggest importing as many developed "mutation" demons as you can, as they're a larger pain in the rear to build up than "generic" demons. There are also two other ways importing the game can affect you. First, when you go to the Yoyogi Park healer at the beginning of the game, she will boost all your stats, depending on how many playthroughs your Nocturne save had. So you get a +1 boost to all skills for your first time through, +2 if you finished the game once on that file, +3 if you finished it twice, and so forth, up to a maximum of +5. This only applies on the first time through your Maniacs save-- you won't get this bonus on a second-time-around Maniacs game. The second difference is when you first run into the Jack Frost at the Junk Shop. He will give you an unlimited-use item, based on the last digit of your playtime in your imported save. I.e. if your playtime was 65:32 the number it would pick would be "2." 0, 7, 8: Hama Spirit Fan 1,2,3,6,9: Far Sight Telescope 4: Chakra Kongotan 5: Hangon-Shinshu. (Props to the guys on the Dream Island message board for this info.) I've repeated this info in the actual walkthrough for those that are lazy and don't want to come back to this section to get the info. ;) Also note that Jack Frost won't give you anything in second-time around Maniacs games. OTHER, GENERIC NEW STUFF ======================== NEW ENDING ADDED: ----------------- There is a sixth, new ending that is generally called the "True Demon" ending on Japanese boards. You can only get it by completing the new dungeon in-game before entering the final dungeon. (More info on this new dungeon below) THE AMARA DEEP ZONE: -------------------- This is the real meat of the difference between Nocturne and Maniacs. The Amara Deep Zone is a rather large optional bonus dungeon included in Maniacs. It is divided into 5 sections, called "Calpa." There is a side quest tied into the Amara Deep Zone that will allow you to get the new ending. In addition, each time you complete a Calpa you will be rewarded with very juicy information that ties up plot threads left hanging and ambiguous in Nocturne. There are new goodies to be found in the Deep Zone (such as Dark Brokers, which will sell you customized demons for your party) and a few new bosses to be fought. (and then fused for your own use) You can't tackle the Amara Deep Zone all at once (unless you wait until the end of the game) as you won't gain access to all 5 Calpas immediately. Instead, you will need to find and defeat the Majin found in the "normal" game, take their Menorahs, and use them to open the passageways to the deeper Calpa. (More on the Majin below) The Majin show up at set places and times in the story, so your progress through the Deep Zone is limited by that. THE MAJIN: ---------- A new race, the Majin (not to be confused with the 魔神 Majin race already present, this is written　魔人, but pronounced the same) appear in-game. Vets to the SMT series will recognize the Majin as being super-secret "easter egg" characters you could fight in the first two SMT games, and SMT If... Many of the Majin that appear in SMTIII appear in at least one of these earlier games. They're not as hard to find as in the earlier games (there's no real random element to where and when they pop up) and they're semi-optional as well. Once you beat a Majin, they will give you a Menorah to open new areas in the Amara Deep Zone, and you can then fuse them in the Jakyo Manor as well. As a rule of thumb, the Majin make very useful and powerful allies, and are well worth the trouble to fuse. DANTE APPEARS: -------------- According to the back of the box, Dante is a popular character from some Capcom game called "Devil May Cry 2." He makes a minor cameo in Maniacs. His presence is very, very, minor, and you only have to meet him once. Which is a good thing, in my opinion, because stereotypical, one-dimensional, "I'm such a badass" characters like Dante are totally out of place in the world of SMTIII. I don't know what he's like in his other games, but I personally *HATE* Dante in SMTIII; few games have produced characters that I absolutely, positively despise, but Maniacs has succeeded in that aspect when it comes to Dante. Fortunately the game gives you several opportunities to beat the tar out of him. :) If you're a Dante-lover you'll have to bear with me in this FAQ, as I have trouble containing my antipathy toward him. ;) Much later on in the game, you're given the opportunity to hire Dante and incorporate him in the party. This is a mixed bag--around the time you get him, he can be quite a capable addition to your party, depending on your level. However, he becomes outclassed and lags behind fairly quickly, and you can't ditch him once you've got him. THE AMARA WARP ZONES: ===================== This is a mini-game built into the Amara Deep Zone. To travel between Calpas, you shoot at high speeds through a wormhole-like area. These wormholes, called "Amara Warp Zones," are an actiony mini-game included in Maniacs. As you're zipping through the Warp Zones, there will be Coins and Items to be picked up to add to your Makka and Item stocks respectively. In addition, to impede your progress, there are various obstacles in the tunnels that must be avoided or destroyed. If you run into them, your Hero (and all members of his active party) will take damage, and you'll drop either a percentage of the coins or an item you collected in the tunnel. What exactly you will find in the Warp Zones are as follows: SMALL (YELLOW) COINS: Each coin you pick up is worth 5 Makka. There is a set number in every tunnel. Also, it is possible--though not easy--to pick up all the coins in every tunnel. ITEMS: These look like blue-white glowing spheres. They appear at set points in the tunnel like coins, but do so randomly. (They may appear, they may not) If you catch one, you will get an item upon completing the tunnel, assuming you don't drop it on the way. SMALL (RED) OBSTACLES: These things look like a small collection of red stones bunched together. If you run into one of these, you'll drop either 10% of the coins you've collected in the tunnel, or an item. (You can tell which, if a bunch of coins fly from your hero, you dropped coins, if the big white blob flies from your hero, you dropped an item) Either way, you'll lose 10% of your health as well. If you time it right, you can press X while approaching these obstacles to let fly a punch and destroy it. LARGE (YELLOW) OBSTACLES: These things look like big, round yellow rocks. They work essentially the same as the small obstacles, except they're larger and you take a heftier penalty for running into them--25% of your coins dropped (or an item) and 25% of your health taken as well. In addition, Large Obstacles cannot be destroyed unless your hero's Power is at least a "natural" 15. (E.g. Magatama bonuses do not count) LARGE (PURPLE) COINS: These are the things to go for in the tunnel. They're like small coins in that they give you Makka, but they give you more, and they're hidden. Large Coins are ALWAYS hidden inside an obstacle, either large or small. (This means that some Large Coins you can't get until your Power is a natural 15) Like all other objects in the Warp Zones, their positions are set in advance. Values of Large Coins vary. The first one you get is worth 100 Makka, and then the value doubles for each successive Large Coin you get. (IOW, 200, then 400, then 800, etc, up to a maximum of 9999) However, should you miss a Large coin in the tunnel, their value will go back to 100. So, if you find one Large Coin and get 100 Makka, then find another and it gives you 100 Makka as well, you know that somewhere in between those two is at least one more Large Coin. In the higher-level Warp Zones, there are more Large Coins, meaning that if you get them all, you can make yourself quite rich. (40K Makka for a perfect runthrough of the highest Warp Zone) LOCATIONS OF ALL THE LARGE COINS: 1st Calpa Warp Zone ------------------- 1: Right after you go through three spinning large obstacles, a trio of Small obstacles will fly at you from the right side of the screen. The Large Coin is in this Obstacle 2: A lone Small Obstacle on the right side of the screen that appears after a line of coins has it 4: The final Small Obstacle in the tunnel (it moves, you'll need to be in the lower-left area of the tunnel to hit it) PERFECT: 31 Small Coins + 3 Large Coins = 855 Makka ITEMS: Minor Healing items (Maseki, Medicine, Hogyoku, etc) HINTS FOR WARP ZONE 1: There's not really much to say about this warp zone as it's pretty easy. It's a good place to get your feet wet so that you can get used to warp zones in general. 2nd Calpa Warp Zone ------------------- 1: The first Small Obstacle you come across (easily obscured by your Hero if you're trying to get the coins in the tunnel, be careful you don't get hit) 2: At one point in the tunnel, there's a long trail of Small Coins along the right side of the passage. If you get them you'll be sandwiched between the wall and a bunch of Small Obstacles to your left. The very last Small Obstacle before this trail starts contains the coin. 3: At the end of the Coin Trail described in #2, in the very last Small Obstacle you run into. 4: When the tunnel veers hard to the left, several Large Obstacles will appear in the upper-left area of the tunnel. The first of these contains the Large Coin. 5: The final Small Obstacle in the center of the tunnel, right before you exit. PERFECT: 93 Small Coins + 5 Large Coins = 3565 Makka ITEMS: Various Status-ailment healing items (including Chigaeshi no Tama) HINTS FOR WARP ZONE 2: * While collecting coins at the beginning of the tunnel, keep your eye out for the oncoming small obstacle (ever so slightly to the left of the coin trail) so that you don't plow into it by accident. Make sure to destroy it! * Destroy all the Small Obstacles that appear in the center of the tunnel after you get the first Large Coin. There are two sets of three, with a lone coin sandwiched between them. Rather than dodging in to get the coin and back out again, it's easier if you just punch the obstacles out of the way. * The trickiest Large Coin to get here is #2. It helps you line yourself up with the Obstacle, throw your Punch, then start moving to the lower-right as you're punching to get in line with the trail of small coins. It's easy to lose one or two coins if your timing isn't right. * You'll need 15 Power to get Coin #4 in this tunnel. 3rd Calpa Warp Zone ------------------- 1: At the end of the Warp Zone, you'll come across six places where your path is completely blocked by a wall of 8 Large Obstacles and one Small Obstacle. All six of the Large Coins in this Warp Zone are contained within these "Obstacle Walls." The first is contained in the top-center Large Obstacle in the first "Wall." 2: The right-center Large Obstacle in the second "wall" 3: The bottom-center Large Obstacle in the third "wall" 4: The bottom-left Large Obstacle in the fourth "wall" 5: The upper-left Large Obstacle in the fifth "wall" 6: The center Small Obstacle in the final "wall" PERFECT: 90 Small Coins + 6 Large Coins = 6750 Makka ITEMS: Various Gemstones HINTS FOR WARP ZONE 3: * This warpzone requires some fancy footwork...er, flywork to get the coins necesary. You have to be good at following coin trails, and you need to be able to dodge the areas of Large Obstacles that come flying at you. Obviously, you definitely want 15 Power so you can destroy those Large Obstacles. * After the second mini-trail of coins, when you have small "clumps" of coins separated by areas of Large Obstacles, if you have 15 Power, it's MUCH easier to just line yourself up with the coins and punch through large obstacles that get in your way, rather than trying to dodge them all. * In this tunnel, you get a lot of coins that are right up next to Obstacles. While you can take them without smacking into the obstacles, it's often safer to just throw a punch at that point, so you can destroy the Obstacle if your positioning isn't perfect. * In a way, if you're just going for cash, you can pretty much ignore the early parts of this tunnel, as all the real money to be had is in the tail end of the tunnel. 4th Calpa Warp Zone ------------------- 1: At the bottom of the tunnel, in the middle of the "snaking" path of Small Coins. 2: Right after Coin #1, the tunnel takes a sharp turn downward, and three Large Obstacles fly by. The one on the right contains the Large Coin. 3: You'll come across six Large Obstacles, three on top and three on the bottom; the top left one contains the coin 4: When you see six rotating Large Obstacles, the "top-middle" one contains the coin. At the time you reach it, it will be at the center-right area of the tunnel. 5: There is no fifth coin. Deceptive, aren't they? (I can't tell you how many hours I spent combing this hellhole thinking there would be more coins than Warp Zone 3) PERFECT: 36 Small Coins + 4 Large Coins = 1680 Makka ITEMS: Various "Support" items (Light Spheres, Fuma Bells, etc. You can get an occasional Chakra Pot here too) HINTS FOR WARPZONE 4: * The most devious thing about this Warpzone is that there are fewer Large Coins in it than you'd expect, so if you're not told in advance you might waste your time like me looking for them... * To get the first Item without getting smacked by the rows of Small Obstacles that come before it, I usually veer to the left side of the tunnel then move to the right when I'm sure the last row of Small Obstacles is gone. * After the first item appears, stay in the absolute dead center of the tunnel and don't move from there at all--all the masses of Obstacles that flood the tunnel will pass harmlessly by you. When you see a Large Obstacle (and maybe an Item) smack in front of you, that's your cue to veer hard to the upper- right and grab the clump of coins. * After the clump of coins listed above, I generally hang out around the extreme 4:00 area of the screen as few obstacles come that way. Then when I see the final coins appear, I move back into the bottom-middle of the tunnel where it's safe. (Careful not to go too early as there's an obstacle in that area that coud smack you) Warp Zone between 3rd and 4th Calpa ----------------------------------- 1: The first Small Obstacle that appears, in the middle of the tunnel. 2: Inside a small obstacle surrounded by four Large Obstacles 3: There's a strange "planet system" of small obstacles--a Small obstacle smack in the middle of the tunnel with a "moon" rotating around it, along with a ring of "satellites" at the edge of the tunnel. The "moon" obstacle has a Large Coin. 4: Right after the two spinning sets of 3 Large Obstacles, a Small Obstacle smack in the middle of the tunnel 5: At a place in the tunnel with a horizontal "bar" of small Obstacles, with one Large Obstacle above and one Obstacle below (and sometimes an item) the Large Obstacle on the bottom contains the coin 6: At the "point" of the final "V formation" of small obstacles in the tunnel PERFECT: 82 Small Coins + 6 Large Coins = 6710 Makka ITEMS: Various defense Support Items (Butsuhankyo/Mahankyo, De-Kaja Stones, etc) There's also the occasional Kugatachi Water. HINTS FOR WARPZONE 4.5 * This is the most irritating of the Warp Zones in my humble opinion, with odd shapes of obstacles flying at you quickly from nowhere. The payoff isn't that great either so I didn't play it as much, and hence don't have as much in the way of hints to offer. It's really important to keep an eye on what's coming ahead and dodge when necessary. If you don't go for the coins it's actually quite easy to get through this Warp Zone without being hit, as all the obstacles tend to congregate around where the coins are. Of course, that's kind of a waste, isn't it? Meifu Treasury: --------------- 1: At the top of the screen, when a trail of Small Coins starts sandwiched between two Large Obstacles, a Large Obstacle will come at you from behind. The Large Coin is in this obstacle. To time your punch right, punch as if you were trying to hit the first coin. 2 & 3: After the first coin, there will be a trail of coins that travels up and down, "weaving" between Large Obstacles. After each trail a sole Large Obstacle comes up smack in the middle of the tunnel. In each of these Large Obstacles is a Large Coin. 3-6: Three more Large Obstacles will fly at you from behind, in a very similar setup to coin #1. (e.g. trail of coins sandwiched between Large Obstacles) They appear on the bottom, then on the left, then on the right side of the tunnel. Each of these Large Obstacles contain a Large Coin. The timing for throwing your punch is identical to that of coin #1. 7-9: Soon after Large Coins 3-6, you will come upon six sets of Large Obstacles. Each of the first three has a sole Small Coin in front of it. The second three are identical in shape to the first three, and each has a Large Coin inside one of the Large Obstacles. The positions of the Small Coins in front of the first three sets indicate the exact location of the Large Coins in the second three sets. 10: The final Large Coin comes at the tail end of the tunnel. At the very end you'll have to punch through two "walls" of Large Obstacles that totally block the tunnel. Immediately after this, another Large Obstacle will come at you from the rear in the dead center of the tunnel. This Large Obstacle holds the final coin. Timing on this coin is pretty tricky--if you flail on the X button to break through those two "walls" and punch three times, you'll still be recovering from the punch when the final Obstacle comes onscreen. The best way to do it is wait until the very last second before you smash into the "wall" before punching--if you time it right you can open a hole in both walls with a single punch. Then wait half a second or so before punching again and you should destroy the final Obstacle and get the Coin. PERFECT: 94 Small Coins + 10 Large Coins = 43167 Makka ITEMS: High level gems and the occaisonal Happy Ticket HINTS FOR THE MEIFU TREASURY: * This is the Warp Zone you'll probably be using the most, (who can sneeze at 40K+ Makka per run?) and so you'll probably get used to it fairly quickly. But it can still be tricky. One of the trickiest parts of the tunnel is at the very beginning in the "up + down weaving trails of coins." To sucessfully get the coins without slamming into an Obstacle is not easy, so it helps to throw punches as you approach the coins close to the Obstacles. * The toughest part of the tunnel comes between coins 9 and 10. You'll have to do a lot of weaving around walls that come fairly quickly. In particular, the first "rotating" wall is liable to smack you just as you're going by on the left, so throw a punch and destroy its "end" obstacle. You don't want to veer too far to the left or up as that will put you directly in the path of the next obstacle wall. * Once the spinning walls are done, you'll come across four walls that cover the right, left, bottom, and top halves of the tunnel respectively. It's not too terribly hard to dodge them all, but I'm lazy; I sit at the very bottom of the screen and make tiny adjustments to dodge the right and left walls, then punch through the bottom wall and ignore the top one. * While collecting coins in the upper-right area of the screen after the right/left/top/bottom walls, be careful as a fast-moving wall of Obstacles will come flying at you. Either punch through it, or cut hard to the bottom left, immediately cutting back up to the upper-right once the wall has passed. 5th Calpa Warp Zone ------------------- 1: As coins are flying at you from the rear, a Large Obstacle smack in the middle of the tunnel contains a Large Coin. 2: A Large obstacle at the end of a trail of coins on the left contains the next Large Coin. 3: A Large obstacle at the end of a trail of coins on the bottom contains the next Large Coin. 4-6: A trail of coins spirals through the tunnel, where it goes through several "borders" of Large Obstacles. In the second, fourth, and sixth "borders" are some Small Obstacles in the Borders (they can be tough to see as they're obscured by Small Coins.) Each one of these has a Large Coin. 7: The final Large Coin appears in the final Large Obstacle in the tunnel. PERFECT: 94 Small Coins + 7 Large Coins = 13170 Makka ITEMS: Low-level healing items and the rare Ikutama. HINTS FOR WARPZONE 5: * The first Large Coin is elusive. It is very very easy to smack into it since your Hero is likely obscuring it while collecting coins. Try and memorize the timing for when it appears. Throw a punch right after you've picked up ~6-7 coins or so. * After the first Large Coin, the trails of small coins more or less indicate safe passages through the tunnel. Be aware that each of these trails ends in a Large Obstacle, so be careful of them! * The weird Blue Large Obstacles have items in them. Unlike Coin obstacles however, you still have to fly through the Item after destroying the Obstacle to pick it up--it is possible destroy the obstacle and still miss the item. GENERAL HINTS FOR THE WARP ZONES: --------------------------------- * The Warp Zones don't actually require that much skill per se to get through perfectly, it's really just a question of rote memorization of the layout of the tunnel. Odds are you're going to do terribly the first few times through any given tunnel, then once you get used to it and know where the various obstacles pop up in advance, you'll be able to zip through the hardest of tunnels with little problem. So practice makes perfect. * Use the D-pad rather than the analog stick for maneuvering. The analog stick is not as well-suited for making tiny adjustments to your position as tapping the buttons on the D-pad is. * Get your Power and Speed to at least 15. At 15 Power you can destroy Large Obstacles, at 15 Speed you can move more quickly around the tunnel, allowing better precision movement. Luck is also useful, as it determines whether or not the Items will appear. * There are a lot of places where you have to dodge around large numbers of obstacles quickly in order to avoid getting hit; in many cases it's often easier to just punch through the obstacles rather than try and dodge them. * Don't flail on the X button randomly, hoping that you will destroy any obstacles in your way and/or find Large Coins. This rarely works. After throwing three punches in succession your Hero will have to recover for a half-second or so, and you'll often find it's in this half-second that he gets whacked by an obstacle. It's better to punch only when you know you're going to destroy something with it. * If you want to know if you made a perfect run, the game will tell you, as the text will turn red and it will say something like, "With elegant maneuvers, (Hero name) got all the Makka!" This has no other bonus, it just is a good indication that you've found everything there is to be found in that tunnel. GRAVEYARDS: =========== There are graveyards liberally strewn around the ADZ, each containing graves of the bosses you defeat in-game. Until you defeat the corresponding boss, its grave will remain empty of course. Once you find the special treasure called the "Black Visor," you can use it to fight each boss battle again. The objective here is to kill the boss as quickly as possible--your record for the number of "attacks" it took you to beat the boss will be recorded on the gravestone. If you "qualify," the number of attacks it took will be colored red when you examine the grave. In reality, the "number of attacks" isn't exactly the number of times you attacked the boss, but rather how many Press Turns you consumed in defeating it. So, for example if you get Critical hits or exploit Weak Points, you can essentially get two blows in and the game will count it as one attack. In terms of Press Turns consumed, the game will round down, too, so if the killing blow is a critical attack/weak point exploitation that turns a Press Turn flashing, it essentially doesn't count as an "attack" at all. However if you luck out and manage to kill the boss without consuming a single full Press Turn at all, it'll still count as one attack. Each of the Graveyards, its "inhabitants," and requisite attacks are as follows: 1ST CALPA: ---------- 1F: Forneus (2*) Troll (2) B1F: Yakshini (2) Orthrus (2) SECOND CALPA ------------ B3F (West): Ose (5) Chiun (?) B3F (North): Mizuchi (6) The Moirai Sisters (4*) THIRD CALPA: ------------ 1F (West): Kinki (6*) Suiki (3*) Fuki (3*) 1F (North): Ongyoki (10) Mara (?) Ja-Aku Frost (7) FOURTH CALPA: ------------- 1F Sakahagi (2) Spectre (?) Meifu Road Arsiel (12) Albion (5*) Skadi (8*) FIFTH CALPA: ------------ B2F Mithra (6) Thor (10*) B5F Ahriman (12) Noah (18) Baal Avatar (8) Note: If you see an asterisk after a number, then I know for a fact that is the minimum qualification to "pass." (IOW, I beat the boss there with one more attack and it was not red, then when I went down to that number it turned red) The numbers without asterisks I don't know the exact minimum qualifications for that particular boss, but I know the number there qualifies. Question marks are for fights I lucked out on and killed the enemy in only one Press Turn. HINTS FOR THE GRAVEYARDS: ------------------------- 1) Bring an extra-beefy party. The turn requirements for most bosses in Graveyards is very stringent, and often will give even an Over-Level-99, All-Stats-At-40 Hero a run for his money. It's best not to try to tackle the Graveyards (except for maybe the very first few) until you've more or less finished the game and are extremely tough. 2) Equip Masakadus You don't want to have to worry about dying when you're trying to kill the enemy as fast as humanly possible. Masakadus will make you invincible to most of the bosses, so it is definitely to your advantage to equip it so you can focus entirely on offense. 3) Don't always bring in a full party to the battles Unless you've got a demon that's almost guaranteed to deal big-damage criticals or Weak Point exploits when it comes to their turn, it's often to your advantage NOT to bring them in, and go it alone with your Hero only. In very few boss battles is it to your advantage to bring in a full party of four. Every turn counts, and you don't want them wasted with half-assed damage dealers. 4) Critical hits are...well, critical. Most of the bosses are virtually impossible to qualify for unless you can Critical them with great frequency, so it helps to have a Hero with a high Luck, and the skill "Critical" won't hurt either. For bosses with Weak Points, attacks to exploit those weak points are another alternative, but skills like Surtr's Ragnarok notwithstanding, there are few Magic skills that can deal as much damage as a Critical attack. Bringing a bunch of allies with Silent Sky Critical and then fighting the bosses during a Silent Kagutsuchi can help too... 5) For the most part, ignore support Magic. The Randomizers and -Kajas may be your best friend in "regular" boss fights, but not here, where they just waste Press Turns. The only skill that doesn't directly do damage that really is worth it in these fights is Kiai. 6) Bring a Physical-damage oriented hero into the battle. Magic may be great at exploiting weak points, but few bosses actually have Weak Points, and more often than not Physical attacks do more damage. An ideal "grave raider" Hero build will be something like: Kiai, Deathbound, Supreme Blast, Deathsport, Critical, Penetrate, etc. Must-have skills are: Deathbound, the single best skill to use in these fights as it can hit an enemy more than once per attack, Deathsport, which is great against multi-enemy boss fights and it criticals more often than it doesn't, Penetrate, for dealing with physically- resistant bosses, and Supreme Blast, which not only does more damage than any other attack, but it's virtually impossible to qualify against Noah without it. ################################################################################ ALIGNMENT ################################################################################ Alignment sort of belongs in the gameplay section, but it's important enough that it deserves its own section. There are some minor spoilers in here so be forewarned. Alignment is complicated in SMT3, much more so than the earlier SMT games. In the earlier SMT games, there was a single alignment axis--that of Law and Chaos that were diametrically opposed to each other. You perform Lawful actions, and your alignment moves toward Law and away from Chaos. You perform Chaotic actions, and your alignment moves away from Law and toward Chaos. Perform an equal amount of Lawful and Chaotic actions and they would balance each other out and you'd be Neutral. What path you took affected the demons you summoned and what ending you would get. SMT3 isn't so simple. Instead of dealing with just a single axis that can be swung one direction or the other, you're dealing with three seperate philosophies battling it out with each other. You can side with any one of these three paths, and in addition there are two other "neutral" paths (three in Maniacs) you can take without siding with any of them. THE KOTOWARI SYSTEM: ==================== The Kotowari system ties in greatly with the basic plot structure of the game. The basic concept/plot of the game is that the world has been destroyed into an "embryo" form which will develop into a new full-fledged universe. How this universe will turn out is decided by a "Kotowari." In Japanese, "Kotowari" literally means "logic" or "reason" but the Kotowari in SMT3 is more like a "set of natural laws." In other words, a new universe is going to be created, and you pick the laws under which it will function. There are three basic Kotowari in the game: SHIJIMA ------- "At One with the Universe" Shijima is the first Kotowari you will be introduced to, and is the Kotowari the people responsible for bringing about the Vortex World had in mind when they destroyed the old world. Shijima has a very heavy Buddhist influence; the central goal is a universe of silence, where everyone and everything has attained inner peace. In the Shijima universe, individual passions and desires do not exist, and the lines between individuals are blurred--everyone is at one with the universe. Each individual is nothing and everything at the same time. They are all at eternal peace, working in tandem as individual parts of the giant, stable machine that is the universe. YOSUGA ------ "Might makes Right" Yosuga is the second Kotowari you will be introduced to. It is a more or less "elitist" philosophy, where power and ability means everything. In the world of Yosuga, there is no place for those that do nothing or are not useful. The world will be built and the balance maintained by those that are naturally superior. the inferior will be purged from the old world, and the new world will be a paradise with no "inferior" at all, as everyone will be there by virtue of their natural talents. MUSUBI ------ "Every Man an Island to Himself" Musbi is the last Kotowari you will be introduced to. It is a very individualistic philosophy focused on extreme social isolation. In the Musubi world, the self is acknowledged as being supreme, and each person more or less gets their own isolated world where they exist free and independently. Nobody suffers and everyone enjoys absolute superiority and gets everything they want. This superiority is not attained at the expense of anyone else, because nobody ever interferes with anyone else--everyone exists in isolated solitude, within their own personal paradise. KOTOWARI CHOOSING: ================== Each of these philosophies vy for supremacy, but really only come into conflict with one another indirectly. Which Kotowari, if any, will be the one that shapes the world is entirely dependent upon the player. As none of the Kotowari are diametrically opposed to one of other, there is no "tug of war" effect like in previous SMT games. Instead, the player accrues "Kotowari points," and the final Kotowari decided upon at the end of the game is picked via a combination of how many points you have and flags. Kotowari points are accrued via the various decisions that the Hero makes throughout the game, and how he answers certain questions. You start with 0 points in each Kotowari, and when you give answers to questions in line with one of the Kotowari, you will gain points toward that Kotowari. You can never actually LOSE Kotowari points, and 32 Kotowari points appears to be the number you need to pass to become really affiliated with an alignment. Each Kotowari has a flag associated with it which affirms that the Hero is officially aligned with it. These flags can be turned on during "Kotowari Events," where the hero will be asked to assist advocates of each Kotowari. Agreeing to assist in these choices will activate the "Kotowari Event." Note that the Hero can align himself with one, two, or even all three of the Kotowari. Before you enter the last Dungeon, the game looks among all alignments with Kotowari flags activated and picks whichever one you have the most Kotowari points toward--this will be the ending you get. For example, say you got all three Kotowari events, and agreed to assist for the Musubi and Shijima events, but not the Yosuga event. In this case, the Musubi and Shijima flags would both be on by the time you reached the final dungeon. If you had more Musubi points at this point, you'd get the Musubi ending, and if you had more Shijima points, you'd get the Shijima ending. Even if you had more Yosuga points than either of the other two Kotowari (which would be extremely difficult, but not impossible) you still wouldn't get the Yosuga ending, since you chose not to assist in the Yosuga event, and did not turn on the Yosuga Kotowari flag. If the values were tied...well, I don't know what would happen. Maybe they'd pick at random, maybe one alignment takes precedence over another. If you reach the last dungeon and have NO Kotowari flags activated, then there are two possible endings you can get, a "Neutral" ending and a "Demon" Neutral ending. There are two questions in the game that set independent, Neutral flags up when you answer them "right." If you have no Kotowari flags activated, then the game checks these Neutral flags. If both of these flags are on, then you will get the "Neutral" ending. Otherwise you will get the "Demon" ending. Also, If you're playing Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniacs, there's a new, sixth ending avaiable to you. This ending, dubbed by many players as the "True Demon" ending, can be seen by completing the Amara Deep Zone in its entirety, (and watching requisite cutscene) BEFORE entering the last dungeon at the end of the game. If you do this, the "True Demon" ending will override any of the other 5 "normal" endings. Also, to get the "True Demon" ending you will have to face an additional, much tougher boss after the final boss. It gets more complicated, though. In order for a Kotowari Event to take place, you either have to have 32 points toward that Kotowari or have what I call a "Kotowari Event Flag Event" turned on by the time you reach that point in the story. There are a couple of choices in-game that will automatically turn on the "Kotowari Event Flag Events" to ensure you will see that Kotowari's Event. (Actually, I'm pretty sure these events just work by boosting the related alignment by 32 points) Also, note that of the three main Kotowari, Shijima is a real anomaly--no matter what you do, the Shijima Event will take place. However, if you don't have 32 points toward Shijima or the Shijima Event Flag Event turned on by that point, the event won't "count"--in other words, the final Shijima flag will not be turned on (but will still nullify your chances for the Neutral Ending if you try anyway!). Also, it should be noted that getting 32 points toward an alignment (without activating that alignment's Kotowari Event Flag) by the time a Kotowari Event takes place is EXTREMELY difficult. If you answer every single other alignment- influencing event right by the time the Kotowari Event appears, you'll JUST have 32 alignment points. (The sole exception is Yosuga, in which you can have as many as 44 alignment points, so you have a little leeway there.) Shijima Ending: --------------- Shijima Flag + Shijima points greatest if other Flags on Yosuga Ending: -------------- Yosuga Flag + Yosuga points greatest if other Flags on Musubi Ending: -------------- Musubi Flag + Musubi points greatest if other Flags on Neutral Ending: --------------- Shijima, Yosuga, Musubi flags all off, both Neutral flags on Demon Ending: ------------- Shijima, Yosuga, Musubi flags all off, both Neutral flags NOT on True Demon Ending (Maniacs only): --------------------------------- Watch the final cutscene in the Amara Deep Zone before entering the last dungeon EASIEST WAY TO GET ALL 5 ENDINGS: ================================= The following is the easiest way to get all 5 endings without having to play through the entire game 5 times. It has explicit choices listed for each of the routes, so there is spoiler material in here. Be forewarned! START: Go through the game as normal and make whatever decisions you want on whatever Kotowari choices there are, as this will rely more on Kotowari flags rather than Kotowari points. The first important choice occurs after you meet Chiaki in the "foyer" of the Mantra base and she tells you about the Yosuga world. Agree with her. The second important choice doesn't come for a while, until you're in the Amara Network for the second time. Here, tell Isamu that you agree with him when he tells you about the Musubi world. The third important choice comes when you meet Hikawa on the steps of the Mantra Army base. When he tells you about the ideals of the Shijima world, agree with him. The next important point takes place in Yoyogi Park. Before Aradia asks you if you fear afflicition, deception, etc save the game in two separate slots. The first slot we are going to call Save Game A. The second is going to be Save Game B, and is going to be the slot we use to get the Demon Ending. Then, for Aradia's questions: Save Game A: "No" to both Save Game B: "Yes" to both Play both save games up until the Musubi Kotowari Event in the Amara Shrine. Before enacting the event, create a third save game slot using Save Game A or B as a "base". This is going to be Save Game C, the Musubi Ending Slot. Then, for each of the save games: Save Game A and B: Refuse to dump Hijiri into the pool Save Game C: Agree to dump Hijiri into the pool Play game A, B, and C up until the Yosuga Kotowari Event in Mifunashiro. Before enacting the event, create a fourth save game slot using Save Game A or B as a base. This is going to be Save Game D, the Yosuga Ending Slot. Then, for each of the save games: Save Game A-C: Tell Chiaki you don't agree with her -- fight the Seraphim Save Game D: Tell Chiaki you agree with her -- fight Futomimi Play save games A-D up until the final Shijima Kotowari Event in the Tokyo Diet building. Before enacting the event, create a final, fifth save game slot using Save Game A or B as a base. This is going to be Save Game E, the Shijima Ending slot. Then, for each of the save games: Save Game A-D: Choose to Stop Hikawa -- fight Samael Save Game E: Choose not to stop Hikawa -- don't fight Samael Then, just play each one of the save games until the end. Save Game A: Neutral Ending Save Game B: Demon Ending Save Game C: Musubi Ending Save Game D: Yosuga Ending Save Game E: Shijima Ending #MANIACS ADDENDUM If you're playing Maniacs and want the 6th ending as well, obviously you'll need two memory cards for the 6th. Unless of course you've got both Nocturne and Maniacs, in which case you can split the two with Nocturne and Maniacs saves. All you need to do is complete the Amara Deep Zone using any of the above 5 save games as a "Base" and save it into your sixth slot. Just make sure you do so before entering the last dungeon, as you will hose your chances for the Maniacs ending if you enter it before completing the ADZ. In all honesty though, it's probably best if you do all this in your second playthrough, after getting 100% on your Akuma Zensho the first time through. Otherwise you'll have to deal with the excessive tedium of demon fusing and mutation with each of the 5 save games to get a powerful party--if you already have 100% Akuma Zensho on a second playthrough you won't have to bother and can just shell out the cash to buy a powerful party at the Jakyo Manor (for a reduced rate.) Also, since you'll have already seen one of the endings, you can skip the step above that requires you make a separate save for whatever ending you got the first time around. ################################################################################ TIPS AND TRICKS ################################################################################ This section is just a general list of tips, tricks, and strategies for playing the game that don't really fit anywhere else into the FAQ/Walkthrough. MAKING MONEY FAST: ------------------ Arguably one of the most difficult points of the game is getting money quickly-- summoning demons through the Akuma Zensho is convenient, but very expensive. There are several ways to make money reasonably quickly--here are a few ideas. Extortion: The best way to make money is via extortion with the Blackmail skill. The user must be a substantially higher level than the demons you're trying to extort, but it works very well--toward the end of the game you can get over 4000 Makka per demon, and easily make more than 10,000 Makka in a single battle. Sometimes they'll give you Maharagi or Mahazan stones instead, but there's a way around this--once you have 99 of a given item, whenever a demon tries to give you that item in negotiation they will give you money instead. So to expedite the process, you can buy 99 Maharagi/Mahazan stones before you start your extortion spree. Begging: Begging with the Beg skill is a better option for low-level characters--it is effective like Blackmail, but when low-level demons are doing the speaking. The downside of course is that if you fail or get interrupted, there's a good chance your Begging character will be creamed as they will be substantially weaker than the demons they're begging from. Requesting: This is on par with Begging--have a "child-type" demon with Request ask for the money. The down side is that like with Begging, if you fail or get interrupted, there's a good chance you'll get your Requesting character killed as most "child-type" demons are pretty weak. If you're playing Maniacs, this isn't a problem, as Jaaku Frost, one of the toughest demons in the game, is also a "child-type" demon and thus is a prime candidate for this skill. Stone Hunting: This is a little more convoluted, but with the Stone Hunt skill you can get gemstones out of demons. If you use it on very low-level demons, you won't have to pay too much for them, and can then turn around and use the gems to buy expensive items at Rag's, which you can then sell for large amounts of cash. Treasure Hunting: Use of Treasure Hunt with Estma is another option. If you have a character with high luck and Treasure Hunt, keep them in your party and run around doing nothing on the overworld, casting Estma to keep monsters from fighting you. You can find valuable items like Hogyokuwas or Somas this way, which can sell for a lot of money. Quite frankly I find this method a little tedious, but some people swear by it. (I personally like to keep the items I find) Maniacs--Warp Zone diving: Warp Zone diving is the best may to make money fast if you're playing Maniacs. Getting through the upper Calpa tunnels with Perfect ratings can net you tens of thousands of Makka quite easily. The downside (as compared to negotiation) is that the types of items you get will be much more limited. EASY NEGOTIATION: ----------------- Brainwash is a remarkably effective skill for enticing demons to join your party. It has an Immediate Effect on any demon 10 levels lower than the speaker, so outfitting a high-level demon with this skill is really to your advantage. Before you reach that point, Valkyrie's Hero Hunt and Loki's Prank are fantastic skills for snagging male and female demons respectively. CHEAPSHOT HEALING: ------------------ When you're on the overworld, move your character into a corner or dead end and keep holding down the pad to try and move in the same direction as the wall. Kagutsuchi's phase will change, but no enemies will attack you. Using this in combination with Breath/Chakra Shoes will allow you to refill your HP/MP without having to worry at all about getting attacked. This is also useful if you want to advance Kagutsuchi so Shige will finish his digging in the Asakusa Tunnel. NOTE: Later versions of the game have seemingly fixed this bug. Time will still pass as you're up against the dead end, but enemies can attack you as well. SURTR, THE ANOMALY: ------------------- Lv 74 Maou Surtr is a very unusual demon. He is the only demon in your potential arsenal whose base attack does not do physical-type damage. Rather, it does Fire-based damage. If Surtr attacks enemies weak to Fire, it will count as exploiting their weak spot, and will hit enemies that reflect, absorb, or are immune to Physical damage, making him a very useful ally in the final dungeon, when you deal with many physical-reflecting enemies. In addition, Surtr's normal attack can critical hit like a normal physical attack. If you create Surtr via a Seirei Rank-Down fusion with Arsiel, you can also have him inherit Ice Reflection (since Abbadon, who mutates into Arsiel, learns it) to cover his weakness, making him a very useful ally. Also, if you are playing Maniacs and put Penetrate on Surtr, his normal attack will penetrate Fire Resistant, Immune, and Absorbing enemies. Put Fire Enhance on Surtr to make him a real juggernaut! LEVELING ADVANCED DEMONS QUICKLY: --------------------------------- Get a reasonably low-level demon and advance it several levels beyond its "maxed out" stage. (for example, I leveled Yoki Oni to Lv. 33) It won't cost very much to summon using the Akuma Zensho, but will be a great sacrifice for high-level demons because of all its experience. SOME EXTRA USEFUL SKILLS: ------------------------- Randomizer: Randomizer is one of the best spells in the game--it's like casting a Taru-Nda, Raku-Nda, and Suku-Nda all bundled up into one spell. As soon as you're a high enough level to start summoning demons with this spell, you'll probably want to use this on virtually every boss or otherwise difficult fight you come across. Dorminer and Eternal Sleep: This is a great combo to use, and works best if you have these skills on two different characters, with the Eternal Sleep user just slightly slower than the Dorminer caster. Have character #1 cast Dorminer, then character #2 immediately follow up with Eternal Sleep. Eternal Sleep will insta-kill any sleeping characters with 100%, zero-chance-of-failure efficiency. War Cry of Victory: I shouldn't have to explain how unfairly cheap this skill is--that it automatically refills the user's HP and MP to max after every battle should be enough for you to figure that out on your own. Chakra Shoes: Towards the middle to end of the game, I like to fuse my demons so virtually all of them have this skill. It allows you to be less concerned about conserving MP- -and you will have a hell of a time on even the boring random battles if you have to worry about conserving MP all the time. The -Kaja Spells: The -Kaja Spells--all of them--are game-breaker skills. They improve your stats immensely, allowing a weak party to go head-to-head with enemies that would normally wipe them out. Also, the -Kaja spells are cumulative and can be stacked up to four times, boosting your party's stats even HIGHER. Because of the presence of Randomizer (which can also be stacked BTW) the -Kaja skills are slightly less important than previous games, but still overwhelmingly useful. Tetraja: Curse and Hama attacks are very, very, very irritating in SMT3, far more so than previous games. Tetraja will save your sorry butt many a time. If you don't use Tetraja to protect your Hero from curses and Hama attacks, get used to watching those angels dance around on his grave, as you will be seeing that sequence a whole lot. Withstand: Another skill damn useful for counteracting instant-death attacks. However it's less effective than Tetraja in that once it kicks in, you cannot use it again for the rest of the combat (this includes multi-combats where new enemies appear as soon as the first wave is defeated) and you'll be as weak as a babe once it does. Maniacs--Penetrate: Lets you break through those pesky physical resistances so common toward the end of the game. If you can get this skill, you're probably going to need it. Maniacs--Demon End Trumpet Best non-boss killer skill in the game. End of story. TIPS FOR THE SECOND TIME AROUND: -------------------------------- After finishing the game, you get the option of playing through again on a higher difficulty level. The enemies have the same amount of HP they did before, but they do more damage with their attacks, and are much smarter, picking on injured/weaker allies and exploiting weak points much more often. There are several things you can do to make your life easier in preparation for your second time around. First, no matter how much "twinking" you plan to do your second time around, complete the Akuma Zensho your first time through the game. The Akuma Zensho transfers between games, so if you complete it your costs for summoning from it will be much lower your second time through--useful, since you will be spending a lot of money at the Healing Spring. Second, if you want to be cheap, you can "twink" your demons by specifically fusing low-level demons and making them inherit very powerful skills. The Akuma Zensho will be accesible to you as soon as you arrive at the first Jakyo Manor the second time through, so you can make your "withdrawals" then. If you, say, fuse a Pixie with War Cry of Victory, Megidoraon, Randomizer, etc. you will be able to summon them and have access to those very powerful skills, even though you yourself are at a low level. Now, maybe your low-level demons won't be able to use said skills yet because their MP is so low, but you can use them as fusion/sacrifice fodder to give them to other demons with sufficient MP levels, far earlier than you'd be able to otherwise. Finally, when you actually play through the second time, play extremely defensively, and treat every battle--or at least most of them--as if you were facing a boss battle. You may want to run or cast Torafulee if you're greatly outnumbered even. And try to travel with full HP at all times, as otherwise you will be as good as dead when you get surprised with a back attack. Good luck! #MANIACS SECOND TIME AROUND NOTES: None of the above strategies really apply to second-time around games, as the game is not necessarily more difficult--you can pick your difficulty level before starting, and there's no real difference in basic game mechanics as if you were doing your first time around. Of course completing the Akuma Zensho is still just as useful... There are only two differences in Maniacs second time around games that are worth taking note of. The first is that you can pick your starting outfit, either the new, "hooded shirt" outfit, or the "classic" Nocturne starting outfit--these outfits give your hero very minor bonuses to his starting stats. The hooded outfit gives you a +2 Power, +1 Vitality bonus, and the "classic" outfit gives you a +2 Magic, +1 Speed bonus. The second, more noticable difference, is that in second-time around games you can get your Hero's Press turns boosted by one. (So with just the Hero you get 2 press turns, with one ally you get 3, etc.) If you've "qualified" for all the graves in the ADZ, when you enter the first Grave room you'll meet Kerberos, who will teleport you to B666 of the 5th Calpa. There Izanami and Izanagi will greet you and give you the Press Turn Bonus. STUPID MEGATEN 3 TRICKS: ------------------------ Watch the conversation between Kerberos and Orthrus, or Kerberos and Chimera, they are very funny. Amaterasu and Sarutahiko gave me a chuckle too. Conversations between demons of the exact same type can be amusing too. Kerberos and Orthrus are also special in that they change the music of the Jakyo Manor when you enter during a New moon. Kerberos changes the BGM to the SMT1 Jakyo Manor music, and Orthrus changes the BGM to the SMT2 Jakyo Manor Music. This isn't listed in the manual, but press Select when you're in a dungeon to change the viewpoint to the more traditional 1st-person view. EDIT: This trick only appears to work in second-time-around games. In Maniacs it's available by default, or at least is available by default in imported games. SAVE NOW, SAVE OFTEN: --------------------- SMT3 is one of the hardest console RPGs I have played in a very long time. Most "modern" RPGs I don't have too much trouble with, but I watched the Game Over sequence in SMT3 literally dozens of times before finishing. Playing on the second time through the game with the harder difficulty setting, (without excessive twinking of the party via Akuma Zensho) it's more or less par for the course to have my entire party wiped out once or twice a play session. Bottom line is, don't get frustrated, and save a lot. Expect to die a lot, because odds are unless you're very lucky it is going to happen fairly often, mostly through insta-death attacks. Unless you're testing something weird and don't want to save, you should probably save every time you come across a Terminal. ################################################################################ THE WALKTHROUGH ################################################################################ ===================== MANIACS: STARTING OUT ===================== Before you even start the game when playing Maniacs, you have several new options; check the "Maniacs differences" section above in regards to picking difficulty levels and importing Nocturne data. ================================================================================ THE END OF THE WORLD ================================================================================ When you start the game, you will hear a woman's voice. She tells you that a lost power is coming to the world, and that in order to be reborn. An old prophecy tells of the world disappearing along with all of its residents. She notes that you don't want that, but she wants you to survive. She says she needs to know your name. Go ahead and enter your name. It'll ask for your family name, given name, and nickname in that order. Your family name and given name will be used throughout the game by the various characters--your nickname will be the name of your Hero in battle and in menus, etc. After giving your name, the woman tells you that now you won't lose your power to live when the great destruction comes. She tells you to believe in yourself and live strong. You can respond either with "OK" or "I don't understand you." I don't think what you say matters here. The woman tells you that her job is to rebuild the world once it is destroyed. She asks you to call her name, and you're brought back to the naming screen. The default name for her is Takao Yuko. Throughout the rest of the FAQ I'll refer to her as Yuko, though you're free to call her whatever you want. After naming her, Yuko asks you to come find her in the new world, and tells you to wake up. You wake up on the subway. You've arrived at Yoyogi station, your destination. As soon as you leave the station, you get a text message on your cell phone. The message is from a classmate. He chastises you for your tardines, and tells you to hurry up and rendezvous at Yoyogi park. Aftewards the two of you are going to go visit Yuko--your teacher--who is sick at the hospital. The game now asks you to enter the name of your friend. The default is Nitta Isamu. As you leave the station, you'll be stopped by a worker/ticket taker. He's surprised that you're going to the park what with the "incident" that happened there. He asks if you haven't heard of it. If you reply that you didn't know of it, he'll tell you that some group went nuts and started killing people in the park. Go outside to Shinjuku. Talk to people hanging around the park. The official story is that the killing in the park was a terrorist act, enacted against the company "Cyverse." However, a friend of yours will tell you the rumor that demons were sighted in the park during the rampage. Go and head inside to the park. It's closed up. There's a man there bitching about it; he wants to take pictures of the crime scene. He asks if you want something. You can either ask what's happening or tell him you don't want anything. If you ask what happened, the reporter will tell you that while officially, the killings took place in a clash between a terrorist and a corporation, rumors are it was a battle between users of dark powers. At this point, your telephone rings. It's another classmate, and the game asks you to enter her name. The default is Tachibana Chiaki. Chiaki asks you to come straight to the hospital--you took too long so she and Isamu went ahead. She says that she wants to talk to the teacher about her future plans (graduation etc): You can either say "I'll hurry." or chastise Chiaki by saying "Hey, she's in the hospital!" Chiaki bitches at you if you say #2. The reporter asks if you're going to the hospital; apparently he is too. He introduces himself as Hijiri, and gives you a magazine that will be coming out soon--he is a writer for it. Hijiri says you didn't know what happened here and don't know what the deal about the hospital really is--the magazine will fill you in on the story. The article is titled "Special: The Gaians and the Miroku tome." (SMT vets will recognize the Gaians as one of the main religious factions from the first two SMT games) Hijiri says there's a lot of BS stories about, and the story may be a load of garbage--if the rumors are false he apologizes in advance. Before you head to the hospital, check the vending machine here. You'll get a "mysterious drink" from it. Once the game starts in earnest this will be revealed to be a Soma, a great healing item, so grab it. Then, head to the hospital. Chiaki is in the hospital lobby. She is spooked, and says the hospital is really strange--there's nobody here at all. Isamu has gone further into the hospital, looking for Yuko, but hasn't come back in a while. She notices the magazine you're carrying and asks about it. You can say "Someone gave it to me." or "Want to read it?" Either way, she'll take the magazine and leaf through it. She gets shocked, it's an occult-themed magazine--very bad timing for that sort of thing. Chiaki says the magazine will be a "good timekiller" and keeps it. She sends you upstairs to look for Yuko or Isamu. On the second floor, there's another vending machine. It'll give you another mysterious drink, but this is just an Iwakura Water--not nearly as nice as a Soma. Still worth getting though. On the east end of the second floor, you'll see someone walking around on the opposite hall. Run over to where the person was. In room A202, you can hear noises in the next room. Go on into that room, and you'll find Isamu. You startle him, and after getting PO'd at you for freaking him out, goes on to tell you that something really weird is going on-- he's sure he has the right hospital, that these are visiting hours, and that Yuko should be here--he called ahead in advance to make sure she was here. You can either say "Something might have happened." or "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." Either way, he says he's going to go back and talk to Chiaki. Follow him back there. Chiaki tells you she was reading the "Gaia and the Miroku Tome" article that Hijiri wrote. She tells you that Gaia is a cult that worships demons. They believe the writings of the "Miroku Tome" and hold them as some sort of prophecy. The prophecy says the some sort of "Chaos" is coming to earth. The Gaians are trying to bring that chaos about and make the prophecy reality. However, it isn's specific about what this "chaos" is, or why the Gaians want to bring it to fruition. At this point Isamu comes back, and says that he can't find Yuko anyway. Chiaki chastises him for interrupting, and continues on talking about the article. She says that the Shinjuku Eisei hospital is somehow the key to their plan, but doesn't specify how. Isamu mentions that he has weird rumors of this hospital--that they've been doing experiments on people and corpses. Chiaki gets upset--she says she doesn't believe the magazine article, but admits the hospital is decidedly not normal. Isamu starts to get worried. He notes that there is a passageway to another branch of the hospital on the second floor, and that he is going to go investigate there. He gives you a keycard to the basement, and asks you to investigate there. Chiaki mocks Isamu, asking if he's afraid to go into the basement. Isamu gets annoyed and says he's giving the job to you since the teacher probably isn't there anyway. Head into the basement. Weird stuff is definitely going down there. There's blood everywhere, and remains of some sort of strange ceremony in one room. There is one room that you will hear a strange sound in when you approach--it will ask you if you want to go in. There is a man inside, Hikawa. He is not pleased that you entered. He spouts off some poetry and then goes on to go on a tirade about how humanity is hopeless in its warring and greed, and the world should start over from square one. He says that salvation is to be found in the Miroku Tome, and that today is the day of the coming of chaos, as it is prophecised therein. After his long soliloquy, he finally gets around to asking who you are--at first he thinks you might be a survivor of the "purging ceremony" in the park, but then realizes you're not. He concludes you must be an aquaintence of Yuko, and are here to visit her. He says that he won't tolerate any interference of his plans, and while he feels bad doing so, must kill you. He tells you not to worry as the world will soon follow. He summons a demon to attack you! You can choose to either "Stand and Fight" or "Run." The result is the same--Yuko enters the room to stop Hikawa. She tells him that your being here will not hurt his plan, and that if he doesn't spare you, she won't help him. Hikawa reluctantly agrees, calling her a "problematic medium" and tells you to leave as he wishes to be alone when the chaos comes. Yuko leaves and says she's waiting for you on the roof. She tells you to come see what is going to happen to the world. Head to the roof. On the way there in the basement hallway, a masked old woman and a young boy will appear. Shin Megami Tensei veterans will probably recognize the boy immediately. He is a young version of Louis Cypher, the human form that Lucifer takes when mingling amongst others when not in his castle in the Abyss. No, I'm not spoiling anything for you by telling you that the boy is Lucifer-- the game never actually reveals it directly to you, (Well, it does in Maniacs) though it's pretty obvious unless you've never played another SMT game or seen the adult Louis Cypher's design sketches. The woman speaks in a manner that makes it clear that she is a servant to the boy--a lot like you'd expect a butler or caretaker would talk to her employer's child. She asks the boy if there's something about you that bothers him. The boy whispers to her. "I see, we're busy, let us do it later" the old woman says. The two vanish. Head to the roof. Yuko is there waiting for you. She tells you that the coming chaos is a "fertilization." Much like the fertilizing of an egg which later develops into an embryo and then a child, the fertilization of the world will be the primordial chaos from which a new world will develop--the world will be reborn. She says that everyone that is not currently in the hospital will die, and that nobody would forgive this method if they knew what was happening, but it must be done to save the world. She says that she has willingly offered herself to carry the burden of the crime she is about to commit when the fertilization occurs. Yuko tells you that you will survive the fertilization, but it may actually be worse than death. She tells you that once the fertilization has happened, that you should to come see her, and that no matter what happens to world she will help you. She says that she will be the "medium," the core for the new world. She realizes that you don't understand now, but if you can reach her, she will give you all the answers. The world goes kaboom. A huge glowing sphere appears above Tokyo and rips the fabric of the world in two. You are knocked out. You are awakened by a strange voice, which tells you to show it your heart. It reads your mind and notes that there is nothing there--"not even the seeds of a Kotowari have been planted." The voice says that in your current condition, you cannot create a new world. It tells you that you must "become someone," and only then can you shape the new world. You awake again to darkness, and the old woman and boy are there. The woman tells you that you have piqued the boy's interest. She tells you that despite the fact that you are just a "mere human," the boy wants to give you a very special present. You lie down and the woman and boy lean over you. The woman tells you not to move, and that this will only hurt you for a second. The boy holds out a wriggling little thing in his hand and drops it into you. "Here, now you can become a demon" he says. The woman tells you that the boy has given you a "Magatama," which holds the essence of a demon. She goes on to tell you that the little boy is always watching you, and asks you not to bore him. ================================================================================ SHINJUKU EISEI HOSPITAL ================================================================================ DATA: ITEMS: ------ Medicine 2 x Maseki 3 x Maseki Hogyoku 2 x Chakra Drop Mahajio Stone Mahabufu Stone 300 Makka 2 x Medicine Chigaeshi no Tama ENEMIES: -------- LV 1 Gedo Will o' Wisp LV 3 Chirei Kodama LV 4 Yoki Shikigami LV 4 Yuki Gaki LV 5 Chirei Kahaku (Rare) NOTES: ------ You won't get any random encounters in the hospital until you get Pixie to join your party. For the most part, the fights here are not too tough. You're weak as a baby though, so just be careful not to let the enemies overwhelm you with numbers. Get as many party members as you can. The only thing to be careful of is not to use Jio on Shikigami, since Shikigami reflects Electricity. You'll probably be OK here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You awaken in the hospital. The Magatama has granted you demonic powers--you are now a demon, and are covered in strange-colored stripes and have a huge spike/horn sticking out the back of your neck. Get up, and leave the room. Go inside the room where Hikawa was earlier. Hijiri is there. He looks at you and recognizes you from the park and asks what happened to you. You can respond "I got power" or "I don't understand myself." It doesn't really matter what you answer. Hijiri tells you he woke up here in the room while investigating the hospital. He asks if you've already met them. "Yes" or "Who?" are your options. Hijiri is not talking about people, but "Demons." He says they're definitely not something you could go to the police about. He wonders if this "Tokyo fertilization" he had been investigating really might have happened. He motions to the big glowing cylinder in the room and recognizes thing as belonging to Hikawa. Hijiri tells you that he needs to find him. But he can't go anywhere with the demons running about, so he wants to check it out. The big cylindrical stone is your first Terminal. You can save here. The place that you found in the basement that looked like a ceremony took place is a heal spot. There you will find a "Shinentai." Shinentai literally translates to "Thought Body" and it is what all former humans not fortunate enough to be in the hospital during the Fertilization have turned into. When you try to leave the level, some Will o' wisps will appear in the elevator. They want something called "Magatsuhi" and will attack you to try to get it from them. FIRST FIGHT: 2 Gedo Will o' Wisps -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GEDO WILL O' WISP HP:10 MP:30 AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Strong to Physical, Weak to all other magic SKILLS: Death Touch, Suku-Kaja Might as well just Auto-Battle this fight. There's not much else you can do at this point anyway and the Will o' Wisps are easy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beat the Will o' Wisps and go into the main hospital. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS If you're playing Maniacs, by now you're probably wondering what the hell I'm talking about, as no Will o' wisps appeared in the elevator; rather the elevator door led to a strange dimension. This is the first deviation from the "original" game in Nocturne: Maniacs. Once you enter the "Strange Area" as it's called, a decrepit old man in a wheelchair and his young nurse appear, and the man speaks to you telepathically, asking him to "show him your power." Now, after taking a few steps, you'll have to fight the Will o' Wisp fight as listed above. There's also a chest with 2 Medicines in it to the right of the corridor before the fight. Immediately after defeating the Wisps, there will be a Shinentai that is called a "Dark Doctor." He will heal you for free. Make use of it, there are a couple of more tough fights in here. The next fight, against a Yuki Gaki, is a couple of steps from the first fight. If you're playing on Hard, this fight can be damn tough, as the Gaki can kill you in two hits if it's lucky, and it will probably take you three to take it down. You may need to use a healing item. As soon as it's dead, go back to the Dark Doctor and get yourself healed. Go through the door and the man in the wheelchair will appear again, and beckon you to follow him. If you follow him, you'll end up in a fight with one Chirei Kodama and one Gedo Will o' Wisp. You might have to use some healing items if they get a few lucky shots in, but it's not too tough. An alternative is to go the opposite direction from Wheelchair Guy, in which case you'll soon find yourself in a fight with two Chirei Kodamas. They shouldn't be too tough, and once you beat them you can open the chest with the Maharagi Stone behind them. This stone will allow you to decimate the Kodama/Wisp fight on the other edge of the corridor. Anyhow, once you get through the door, the old man and his nurse will be waiting for you. The old man will applaud your skill, say that you will meet again soon, teleport you back into the hospital, and the game will continue as normal. ################################################################################ Now you're in the lobby of the hospital. There's a cave-in by the main entrance, so you can't get out that way--you'll have to exit via the west wing--however, the door there is locked. In front of the entrance to the west wing you'll find a Pixie. She will join you--she wants to get out of here and go to Yoyogi park, and will team up with you until you get there. She tells you that Gaki has the pass to get into the west branch. The Gaki are inside a locked room on the second floor. Bring Pixie to the door and she will call to the Gaki and says she has lots of Magatsuhi to give them--Gaki opens the door. Pixie tells them to give you the card, but the Gaki are pissed off that you tricked them and attack! FIGHT: 3 Yuki Gakis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YUKI GAKI: HP: 20 MP: 19 AFFINITY: Immune to Curse, Weak to all other magic SKILLS: Claw, Suku-Kaja This fight is not too hard, especially since you have Pixie tagging along. Have her cast Jio on the Gaki and your hero follow-up with attacks, and you will be able to get three whacks in per round since Jio hits their Weak Point. In case one of the Gaki gets lucky with a Claw or critical attack, have Pixie heal with Dia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the Gaki dead, you will get the keycard to the West Wing of the hospital. Inside the West Wing, you'll see that the exit is guarded by a huge manta-ray like demon--a Shinentai will tell you that it is Forneus, who is preventing anyone from leaving the building. However, a human managed to slip past him and escape earlier. Talk to everyone you find here. The Datsueba will give you combat advice. The Shisa will give you a Medicine. Also, when you're in the basement, be sure to unlock the door back to the main wing of the hospital--this will give you easy access to the Terminal and the Heal Spot. If you run into Kodama, Shikigami, or Kahaku, try and talk to them and get them to join you--the more allies, the easier it is. There's a sub-terminal on the first floor. Talk to the Shinentai there and he will laugh at you if you say you are going to defeat Forneus, and tells you he'll give you the entire contents of his wallet if you do. Head into the lobby. Forneus is there. He is really steaming about the human that slipped by him and needs to take out his agression. Unfortunately he decides to take out his aggression on you. He attacks! BOSS: DATENSHI FORNEUS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DATENSHI FORNEUS: HP: 500 MP: 200 AFFINITY: Absorbs Ice, Immune to Curse, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Bufu, Maha-Bufu, Death's Door Stream Your first boss. If you take advantage of his Electricity weakness he's a breeze. I suggest you go into the battle with Pixie, Kodama, and Shikigami. Have Shikigami and Pixie cast Jio on Forneus, and Kodama cast attack or cast Dia on you if you need it. If you get really desperate you can have Pixie heal you too. You can tell when Forneus is getting weak as he will start to flop over. He also talks smack to you at several points in the battle when he weakens. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Forneus dies, he will give you the Wadatsumi Magatama, and you are free to leave the hospital. First though you might want to go back to that Shinentai that offered to give you the contents of his wallet and hold him to his promise, to line your pockets with an extra 1000 Makka (750 in second-time around games) Outside the hospital the old woman and boy appear. The old woman is relieved that you didn't "do something embarrasing like die immediately." She says that someone given power by one as great as the child wouldn't die so easily anyway. She tells you to look up at the sky if this is your first time outside. Way up in the sky, you won't see the sky, but the ground! Tokyo has become a spherical world, like the inside of a hollow ball! There is also a floating, glowing moon in the center of the sphere. The old woman tells you that light is is Kagutsuchi. It is the source of power that created this, the Vortex world. It also gives power and strength to those that live here. The boy whispers to woman, apparently that he wants to go. As the woman disappears, she tells you that you can either create the world or destroy it...your choice. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS At this point there's a new minor cutscene in Maniacs where you see a "mysterious guy" wondering where the geishas are, then complaining about "the job that old man gave me" before wandering off to investigate the situation. ################################################################################ Talk to the Shinentai to the west, and he'll tell you that the other human that escaped the hospital went "south" of this area. You'll have to go west first to get there though. Another Shinentai nearby will tell you that a "Hito-Shura" is going to build a new world from the current Vortex World. Head south to Yoyogi Park. ================================================================================ YOYOGI PARK =============================================================================== ITEMS: ------ 2 x Maseki Chakra drop Dispoison ENEMIES: -------- Lv 2 Pixie NOTES: ------ You won't actually get INTO the main part of the park right now--it is locked and closed off. You will get into there later. Be glad you can't get in, because you'd get slaughtered by the enemies there at this point. :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yoyogi Park is really only a temporary rest stop onwards, so you can keep your promise to the Pixie. As soon as you enter, the Pixie asks if you should split up now. If you say no she says "Now that we're here, our "deal" is complete...or do you want to be with me forever?" She will stay with you permanently if you say yes. If you agree to split up, she'll ask you if you're sure that you'll do OK on your own once more, then leave if you say yes. As a parting gift, she will leave and give you the Ankh Magatama. You can buy this Magatama later in the game, so whether or not you want to keep the Pixie or the Magatama is up to you. If you're playing "vanilla" Nocturne, I strongly suggest you ditch the Pixie in favor of the Magatama--Pixies are a dime a dozen, and easy to level up, (Hell, you can just get a new one here) whereas you won't be able to buy Ankh until after several more dungeons. If you're playing Nocturne: Maniacs, on the other hand, I strongly suggest the exact opposite--not only keep the Pixie, but never get rid of her! Why? Because this Pixie, and only this Pixie, can unlock an area at the tail end of the game that will give her a massive powerup, turning her into an elite engine of death. Yes, you'll have to carry her around as dead weight in your party for most of the game, but the payoff is worth it, IMO. There's also a Healing Spring here if you need it. And you'll also find out nearby it that the person who escaped the Hospital was last seen heading to Shibuya. ############# MANIACS NOTE: If you're playing Maniacs and imported your Nocturne save, you'll definitely want to go to the Spring here, as the healer will boost all of your stats. How much she'll boost them by will depend on how many times you've played through the game on your imported save. You'll get +1 to all stats no matter what, then an additional +1 for every time you've finished the game on that save, up to a maximum of +5 to all stats. ############# Head further south to Shibuya. ================================================================================ SHIBUYA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ 1000 Makka 2x Discharm Amethyst* Agate* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 1 Gedo Will o' Wisp Lv 2 Yosei Pixie Lv 3 Chirei Kodama Lv 4 Yoki Shikigami Lv 4 Yuki Gaki Lv 5 Chirei Kahaku Lv 6 Gedo Slime Lv 7 Kijo Datsueba Lv 7 Gedo Moryo NOTES: ------ The enemies here aren't too tough, but this is the first area where you should really watch your back, especially if you're playing your second time through. There are some fights where the enemy will start ganging up on you using superior numbers. Your Hero is probably pretty safe overall, but your weaker Nakama are in serious danger of dying if this happens. Which is problematic, because at this stage of the game, reviving a Nakama, no matter how weak, is very hard on your wallet. It's going to be this way for quite some time so start scrimping--watch every Makka you get. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the Shinentai in Shibuya plaza tells you, Shibuya is a "free area" among demons. It'll tell you that demons in other areas are fighting each other over philosophical differences, but Shibuya is essentially neutral in their squabbles. From the plaza, there are two entrances below ground. There's also a "hidden" building in the plaza, but you don't want to be going in there yet. I don't even know if it's possible at this stage of the game, but even if it is I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to you get your ass handed to you on a platter with garlic seasoning and a sprig of parsley on top. There is NO WAY that you could survive the encounter in there at this point. Anyhow, the left entrance from the plaza leads to the mall. There's a store there with Hee-Ho-kun, a Jack Frost saving up some cash to go on a trip and become "big and bad like the great King." (IOW, King Frost from the earlier games) He's selling the Iyomante and Shiranui Magatama, so you might want to pick them up now. If you can't afford them now don't worry--you can always come back later, even after the Flamboyantly Gay Manekata takes over this shop. ############# MANIACS NOTE: If you imported your Nocturne save into Maniacs, Hee-Ho-kun will say you look familiar, and reward you with an unlimited-use item. What item you get varies, and depends on the value of the last digit of your playtime in your Nocturne save. (E.g. if your time on the Nocturne save was 54:32 it would be 2) The items you can get are: 0, 7, 8: Hama Spirit Fan 1,2,3,6,9: Far Sight Telescope 4: Chakra Kongotan 5: Hangon-Shinshu. (Props to the guys on the Dream Island message board for this info.) Obviously the item to shoot for would be the Hangon-Shinshu, especially if you're playing on Hard. ############## Also the mall contains a healing spot, a Terminal, and, most importantly, a Jakyo Manor. Go on in and greet the Master of the Manor. This is where you're going to be fusing all your demons in the future (well, not in Shibuya per se, but Jakyo Manors in general) so get used to the mechanics here. Odds are you'll be too low a level to fuse anything substantial here, but don't worry about that now. The right entrance from the plaza leads to the bulk of Shibuya. A Kodama around the area tells you that Magatsuhi has the potential to grant wishes, which is why everyone is after it. There's also a Shinentai that will pick a fight with you. (He's just a Will o' Wisp so should be easy to beat) You should be wary when you find three rooms lined up against the same wall further in. Door #1 and Door #2 don't hold anything special, but Door #3 holds a potentially nasty little fight with a Maju Nekomata. You might want to save the fight till later. Head to Disco Inferno downstairs. You'll find Chiaki hanging out there--she was the one that managed to escape the hospital. She doesn't know whether or not to be happy that both of you are safe, or sad that the world got destroyed. She asks if you know what happened to the world, and you can say "It was Fertilized" or "I don't know." I don't think it matters what you say. Chiaki thought she was the only one left, so meeting you she feels a little hopeful, and is sure that there are others that are safe. She is confident that Yuko and Isamu are somewhere out there. Deciding to go search for them, she leaves the bar to do so. The disco has rumors about some organization that's set up shop in Ginza. There's a Nekomata in here too who says she knows its name. She tells you that if you "do something fun" with her she'll tell you, and asks if you're interested. "Something fun" is a fight, so all you would-be sickos who want to see a striped guy get it on with a cat-girl should go back to your hentai games. Anyhow, you might as well agree for the experience alone. MINI-BOSS: MAJU NEKOMATA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJU NEKOMATA HP:160 MP:72 AFFINITY: Absorbs Shock, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Claw, Marin-Karin Nekomata isn't that tough but getting Charmed at this stage of the game is essentially a death sentence, so you might want to equip Iyomante on your Hero (if you bought it) to at least keep her from charming him. Still, once you know that she's weak to Electricity, let your Shikigami and Pixie loose on her--cast Jio and you'll be fine. If you have Kodama in the fight, make sure he doesn't use Zan on her--that's bad. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you beat Nekomata, she will tell you the organization is called the "Nihilo organization." Leave the disco and you will find a new demon topside who says there's a human in the terminal room. Go there and you will find Hijiri has made it there. He says he came to this area via the Terminal in the hospital, and that the Terminal stones can be used to teleport people between them via something called the "Amara Network." Hijiri says that that the Terminal stones are almost undoubtedly connected to where Hikawa is. He asks to work together with you, and tells you a little more about the organization in Ginza. The big news is that the leader of this demon organization is actually human. Hijiri thinks it's Hikawa, and says he can probably send you to Ginza via the terminal stone if you want. When you're ready, talk to Hijiri via the menu in the terminal room and he'll teleport you. HOWEVER, you will be cut off from shops and the Jakyo Manor for a while after being teleported, so if you have any business left in Shibuya to conduct--do it now! Make sure you're at good health, then go and have Hijiri send you to Ginza. ================================================================================ THE AMARA NETWORK ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Destone Hogyoku 2 x Maseki Chakra Drop Mahazan Stone Hogyokuwa* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 1 Gedo Will o' Wisp Lv 7 Yuki Moryo Lv 7 Seirei Earthies Lv 11 Yuki Choronzon Lv 11 Yuki Aeros NOTES: This is the first area in the game where the enemies are going to start making you sweat. You'll run into a lot, and they all take a LOT of punishment to take down, especially the Seirei and Choronzon. Choronzon is especially a worry with his Petra-eye, but will give you quite a lot of EXP. The Aeros are really annoying because not only will they charm you with Marin-Karin, but heal themselves (or any of their allies) with Dia as soon as their HP starts dipping into low territory. That you can't get any Nakama in here is rough too--and you can't leave except by finishing the dungeon. Aren't you glad you finished your business in Shibuya in advance like I suggested? ;) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oops. Looks like Hijiri messed up. Wherever you are, it's decidedly not Ginza. Hijiri talks to you via the Terminal--he tells you that the teleport screwed up and dumped you directly into the Amara Network. He tells you to look for an exit. At one point in the dungeon you will find an exit, which closes up as soon as you approach it. Hijiri asks you if your path has been shut off. Say yes, and he decides to test something. After the test, he tells you it turns out that the Amara Network's structure is not set, and that it changes constantly. On the next floor the network pulls the same crap and Hijiri tries to change it to open your path, but the method he uses to contact you warps too and he goes bye-bye. Further in on B2F, there's a room where the area is stable enough to communicate with Hijiri. Talk to him there and he can reopen the staircase. He says from now on, go to any of these "thin spaces" to tell him about something that needs fixing. As soon as you enter B1, several exits disappear. A Shinentai in here will says the red garbage you see on the floor is pure Magatsuhi. It also goes on to tell you that Magatsuhi is born from strong emotions. The central room to far east is the "thin space" on this floor. As soon as you enter to contact him, Hijiri reopens the north and south staircases. He also tells you that someone is trying to break into your communications. The north exit leads straight to the final area of the Amara Network. Through the south exit, you will find a Shinentai of a young boy--ignore him. He tells you to go right, then left--a different thing each time--to confuse you. The path on the right leads to the area you would have gone to if you had taken the north exit. The path to the left leads to a long loop with some treasure boxes. Go through the north exit. In the "thin space" room in that area someone interrupts Hijiri as you're contacting him, and Spectre pops up. Spectre is really annoyed at your communication with Hijiri as they are disturbing it. It thinks you want to kill him and take all the Magatsuhi here. It asks if the Magatsuhi is what you are after. If you say no, it doesn't believe you and boots you out of the room. If you say yes, it attacks! BOSS: GEDO SPECTRE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 x GEDO SPECTRE: HP: 148 MP: 100 AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, Mind, and Nerve, Strong to all magic SKILLS: Death Touch, Agi, Gather, Jarei-Ugo GEDO SPECTRE (Big) HP: 550/260/120 MP: 300/250/150 AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, Mind, and Nerve, Strong to all magic SKILLS: Agi, Jarei Hoki At the beginning of battle, Spectre summons a whole bunch of buddies. You have three rounds to kill as many of them as you can before they all fuse together and create a big Spectre. The big Spectre can be a tough cookie, and if you let all the mini-Spectres fuse together there's a good chance he'll kill you. (50+ hp damage/strike) So you have to kill as many mini-Spectres as you can. If you kill at least half of them the resulting Spectre will be extremely weak--weaker than the original mini-spectres! If you kill one or two of them, he'll be tougher than the mini-spectres, but not as overwhelming as a full 6-spectre fusion. I had Kahaku cast Raku-Kaja, while Shikigami cast Taru-Kaja to get my power up high enough for my Hero and accompaning demon, who focused on one Spectre at a time to take them out. Note that the more powerful Super-Spectres give you more experience than the weaker versions. To maximize your EXP gain, you'll have to fight the 6-spectre fusion...which is not easy. If you want to take on the Super-Spectre, here's a quick strategy that works fairly well. Before you enter the Amara Network you'll want Chirei Kahaku, Gedo Slime, and Yoki Shikigami. Power all three of them up until Kahaku has Raku-Kaja, Slime has Battle Cry, and Shikigami has Taru-Kaja. When the battle with the Spectres starts, bring in Kahaku, Shikigami, and one other demon. (your choice) Equip Shiranui on the Hero. For the first three rounds, buff your party with Kahaku's Raku-Kaja and Shikigami's Taru-Kaja. Then once the Spectres fuse, dump Shikigami for Slime. Have Slime use Battle Cry on the super-Spectre (if the Hero has Taru-nda from Iyomante, this is a good spell to use too) to drop his power. Then just attack him with all your other characters and hope you can take him down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After its defeat, the Spectre disppears, threatening to eat you some day. Hijiri contacts you and asks if you're OK. Then he opens the exit. Head for the light, and you're in Ginza. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS If you're playing Maniacs, you're not in Ginza. Instead you're dumped into a place called the "Amara Deep Zone." There's not much to do here (your exit is sealed) so take a look in the peephole in the "pillar" in the middle of the room. There you will see a "stage" of sorts, where the old man in the wheelchair and his nurse that you saw earlier in the game are waiting for you. The nurse gives you a quick description of the place you're in: You are in the Amara Deep Zone, an area located in the far reaches of the Amara network, and a place similar to the Abyss from a human perspective. The place is teeming with very powerful demons--demons that were cast down here into exile by God. They are now forming an army, waiting for the time that they can rise up and take back what was stolen from them by God. Noting that you're confused, lost, and not sure what the hell she's talking about, the nurse tells you not to worry, that things will become clear in time. She gives you a Menorah--the Kingdom Menorah--and tells you that it will lead you in the right direction when you're lost. After giving you the Menorah, the nurse teleports you to Ginza, saying that you're not powerful enough to do anything important in the Deep Zone...at least, not yet. ################################################################################ ================================================================================ GINZA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Fuma Bell 1000-Yen Note Pearl* Emerald* Sapphire* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 2 Yosei Pixie Lv 3 Chirei Kodama Lv 4 Yoki Shikigami Lv 4 Yuki Gaki Lv 5 Chirei Kahaku Lv 7 Yosei Jack Frost Lv 7 Kijo Datsueba Lv 8 Yoma Apsaras Lv 8 Yoma Lilim Lv 11 Tenshi Angel Lv 11 Yuki Choronzon Lv 17 Yuki Yakka Lv 20 Yuki Laughing Skull NOTES: ------ There are lots of different enemies here, but after going through the Amara Network you should be able to handle all of them without too much trouble. The only ones that you should be wary of are the Laughing Skulls--when they blow themselves up it they can deal lots of damage. They're pretty rare though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon exiting the Amara network into Ginza, Hijiri will tell you to look for Hikawa via the terminal. He is going to search for Hikawa via studying the terminals as he is too weak to be running around outside with all the demons. He tells you the two of you will meet again. Ginza is sort of like an underground plaza. Lots of Nihilo demons (mostly Datenshi) are running around here. There's talk about the human leader of the Nihilo and another human woman that's a "medium." The two of them apparently run the place, and Nihilo in general. It seems that they're draining Magatsuhi from the Amara Network. Exactly why it's unclear, though it seems that it is part of their plan to rebuild the world. In the north area of Ginza is a "mall." First and foremost is Rag's place. This is Rag's only store in the game, so you'll probably be coming back here a lot. You can exchange gems for items, Seirei, and Mitama here. Also be sure to check out the Jakyo manor. Once you enter, Sacrifice fusions will become unlocked-- from here on out you can do Sacrifice fusions at the Manor whenever the moon is full. Check out the "Madam Bar." It's run by "Mama," a Nyx who probably not coincidentally looks exactly like the character "Madam" from SMT2. She asks if you're here because you're interested in Nihilo, and asks if you're interested in the "human medium." Tell her you are and she tells you to go to the Nihilo HQ "if you're a man." If the medium disses you, Mama tells you to come back and ask for her advice. There's a back room of the bar, but Loki won't let you in-- his "stash" is in there. However, there's another entrance to his stash. Leave Ginza to the overworld map and go through north entrance back into Ginza. Presto! A back door. Of course, there's a Troll guarding it, so you can't get in--at least not now. Head to the Nihilo HQ--it's right to the south of Ginza. Berith is guarding the entrance, and won't let you through. Go back to and talk to Mama. Mama didn't think you would actually go into Nihilo and asks if there's some reason you need to get in there,. When you say there is, tells you to meet Gozu-Tenno. Gozu- Tenno is the boss demon of Ikebukuro, and an enemy of Nihilo. Mama says that he might know how to get past the guards of the Nihilo HQ. With the new structure of Tokyo, getting to Ikebukuro isn't as trivial as it used to be. You'll have to go through the Great Ginza Underpass to get there. The entrance to the underpass is in the Harumi Warehouse, east of Ginza. Cross the first bridge east of Ginza, then head south to Harumi Warehouse. ================================================================================ THE GREAT GINZA UNDERPASS ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Muscle Drink Makajama Stone 2x Maharagi Stone 2x Mahanma Stone Poison Arrow 2x Medicine 2x Medicine Blinding Sphere 2x Maseki Soma Drops Hogyokuwa* Hogyokuwa* Amethyst* Diamond* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 3 Chirei Kodama Lv 4 Yuki Gaki Lv 6 Gedo Slime Lv 11 Yuki Choronzon Lv 13 Chirei Sudama Lv 14 Yoma Isora Lv 14 Ryuo Nozuchi Lv 16 Gedo Blob Lv 17 Yuki Yakka Lv 18 Yama Fomorian Lv 20 Yuki Laughing Skull NOTES: ------ This is a LONG dungeon. It's one of the hardest parts of the early game; not only are the enemies reasonably tough, but you're going to have to fight quite a lot of them before you make it to the other side of the dungeon. If you're playing it the second time around when the difficulty is boosted it's especially brutal--a back attack can more or less mean instant death--but don't get discouraged. While not the highest level demons here, the Sudamas and Blobs are especially irritating--the Sudamas because they will spam Maka-Kaja and boost damage from their spells to absurd levels, and the Blobs because they're very hardy and do pretty decent damage. If you encounter two Laughing Skulls, you may even want to run--they'll spam Suku-Nda making them extremely difficult to hit, and if they self-destruct, you may have a quick Game Over. The dungeon is divided into two parts, and you won't be able to get to the second part until a bit later on. You can pick up some nice Nakama here. Be sure to get Nozuchi, and getting an Inugami from the overworld is recommended too-- both of these demons can Mutate into more powerful forms, which will really help. Stock up on healing items before you try to complete the whole thing. Make sure your party contains an Ice user, a Flame user, and an Electricity user--use Ice against the Blobs, Flame against the Sudamas and Isoras, and Electricity against the Nozuchis to extend your Press Turns. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harumi Warehouse is very small--hit the switch to open the door, and climb down the ladder to the Great Ginza Underpass. Further in at the underpass, what looks a whole lot like a human man sees you and runs for it. Chase after him. He'll meet up with another man. Upon seeing that you're a demon, the other man wonders if you're part of "Mantra Army." They both bolt to "warn the others about the demon." (IOW, you) Keep following them and you will reach their "village." Once you enter their "village" all the villagers will freak. They all look like humans, but there is something weird about them--especially their sporadic full body spasms. The weird humans think they're finished--they think you're a demon from the "Mantra Army" come to get them. One old man, an elder of sorts, looks you over and says says you're no Mantra army demon. The old man asks why you're staring at them--he wants to know if they're so unusual. Whatever you respond, the old man will tell you that he and the other people there are "Manekata." Upon seeing that you are not a threat, they all go back to their rooms. Go talk to the old Manekata. He asks if you want to know about them. If you say you do, then he will tell you that the Manekata are slaves of the demons in the Mantra Army. They hate being slaves, so many fled the Mantra base to hide in the Ginza underpass. Another Manekata will tell you that says Manekata look like human are not--they were created by to serve as "surrogate humans," more or less livestock to provide Magatsuhi to the demons. Another woman will tell you that says most of the Manekata are serving the demons in Ikebukuro. A child Manekata will inform you that Gozu-Tenno is boss of Mantra Army. Visit the store here in the Underpass. Here you will meet the Flamboyantly Gay Manekata, and from now on most of your business at the shops will be with him; if you go back to Shibuya now you'll see the Jack Frost has split and the FGM has taken over. If you didn't get the Ankh Magatama from the Pixie back at Yoyogi park, you can buy it from him now. You can also buy the Hifumi and Kamudo Magatama from the store here. You'll note that you can't proceed further into the Ginza tunnel from the Manekata town, as there is a guard who is blocking the door further in. However, on the lower floor at the west end of "town," you will meet the junk collector Manekata. He collects "things humans use," and sometimes sneaks past guard so he can scavenge things for his collection. He will ask if you want him to get you past the guard. In exchange for giving asks you to get something special for his collection. The Junk Collector is looking for a small human-made picture called a "note." Apparently it was extremely important to humans, and was even more important than the lives of many people. He really wants one of his own, and tells you that places with lots of people used to have it. (In case you haven't figured it out, he wants some human currency.) Go back to Ginza, and ask Loki in the bar if he has any Notes. He says "maybe" and offers to give you his whole stash and see for 20 million Makka. Obviously you won't have that much, so ignore him and go the back way to see for yourself. When you go the back way, you'll find that the Troll has apparently taken a pee break, so go on in unfettered. Open the treasure box in there and you will get a 1000-yen bill. (worth about $10, smallest denominiation of paper money in Japan) Leave the room, and you'll run into Troll, who has come back from his pee break. Oops. Looks like you'll have to fight your way out. BOSS: YOSEI TROLL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOSEI TROLL: HP: 850 MP: 150 AFFINITY: Absorbs Ice, Weak to Mind SKILLS: Rampage, Mahabufura As bosses go, Yosei Troll isn't all that tough. He does hella damage with his attacks, so a Raku-Kaja or Taru-nda will help. Equip Wadatsumi on the Hero and his ice spell will do no damage and you can soak up his Press Turns. You can pretty much take him on single-handedly with the Hero, and with buffing spells it will go even faster. Just don't bring any ice-weak characters into the battle, or he'll often get two shots a round, which is no fun. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you've got your note, go back to the Junk Collector Manekata and give it to him. He is beside himself with excitement and gives you a letter to give to the gate guard. Go and do so--the guard refuses to let you through, but something in the letter causes him to change his mind and let you through. Furthermore, he tells you that you can go through whenever you want from now on. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS Upon entering the first area after the door to Ikebukuro opens, you'll note that the screen sort of "warps" and you get a message saying that the lights on your Menorah start flickering violently. Take a note of this message--you'll see it in various parts of the game, and it is an indicator that one of the Majin is nearby. A Manekata is on the ground, paralyzed with fear, saying that he saw "Death himself." Go a little further, and you'll be stopped by a strange voice that says that it must fight you because you possess a Menorah. You'll then be yanked into a strange dimension, where the traditional SMT "encounter" music starts playing. Once in this strange dimension, the same voice that you heard earlier tells you its purpose--to serve as a battleground between Menorah holders such that nobody can come in and interfere. Whoever wins takes the loser's Menorah. Noting that you have a menorah, the voice asks if you're after the "greatest power." The owner of the voice finally shows up--it's a skeleton in bullfighter costume. He goes on a short shpiel saying that you're unworthy to have the Menorah, it should be he that gets them and the "greatest power." After calling you weak and noting you probably won't give him the Menorah willingly, the skeleton--Majin Matador--attacks you. BOSS: MAJIN MATADOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN MATADOR: HP/MP:1000/? AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Immune to Shock SKILLS: Red Cape, Blood of Andalucia, Mahazan, De-Kunda, Kiai, Taunt This is your first Majin fight, and it can be pretty tough depending on your party. The toughest part is actually hitting Matador, as his "Red Cape" skill is the equivalent of casting Suku-Kaja four times in a row. If you don't have someone with Fog Breath or Suku-Nda, he will be very difficult to beat. He uses physical attacks and Mahazan in addition to his cape, and when you bring him down to half health, will Taunt you, use Kiai, and use "Blood of Andalucia," a powerful physical attack that hits everyone. First off, to counter the Mahazan attacks you'll want minions strong or immune to Shock--and equip Hifumi on your Hero for best results. Some good Nakama to use would be Nozuchi (LV 14 Ryuo) or Nekomata, (LV 18 Maju) both of whom absorb Shock attacks. Ame-no-Uzume (LV 18 Megami) is a good healer for this battle as she is immune to Shock as well. However, none of these demons has Fog Breath or Suku-Nda, so you'll probably have to custom-make one or bring in a non-ideal demon if your Hero doesn't have either skill. With a team of shock immune or resistant demons and Fog Breath/Suku-Nda, Matador shouldn't be too terribly hard to beat, though using Kaja spells (especially Raku-Kaja) is good insurance against him as well. If you want to stack the odds even more in your favor, use Jack Frost to fuse a powerful fighter and transfer Silent Sky Critical to them, then fight Matador during a new moon to guarantee criticals and fight him in a weaker state--since enemies are weakest when Kagutsuchi is silent. (Note that while LV 17 Kishin Takeminakata is a powerful fighter that has Silent Sky Critical naturally, he is a bad choice for this fight as he is weak to Shock) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating Matador will get you the Foundation Menorah. Upon returning to the tunnel, you'll hear the disembodied voice of the Wheelchair Guy's nurse, who makes a request of you. She asks you to bring the Menorah you got from Matador and come see her in the Amara Deep Zone, but tells you there's no rush, so that you can come at your leisure. To find out what she has to say, head to the "Amara Deep Zone" section of the FAQ. From here on out you never HAVE to return to the Deep Zone, so all pertinent information therein will be covered in that section of the walkthrough. ################################################################################ The second half of the tunnel is long and hard. It's mostly a maze of up & down ladders. Work your way to the west end. If you get into serious trouble, there's an S-tunnel about halfway between the Manekata town and the exit that'll teleport you back to the Ginza Underpass Terminal. The far west end has ladder that leads up to a graveyard. Note that at the end of the Graveyard there's a hidden Incense. Leave to the map, and head north to Ikebukuro. ================================================================================ IKEBUKURO ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------- Fuma Bell Hogyoku 2x Hogyoku Power Incense Hogyoku Mahamudo stone Shuma Whistle 3000 Makka Chakra Pot* Power Incense* Hogyoku* Gaia (Special--see below) ENEMIES: -------- Lv 13 Maju Inugami Lv 15 Yoju Bicorn Lv 17 Yuki Yakka Lv 18 Maju Nekomata Lv 19 Yosei Jack o' Lantern Lv 20 Yoki Momunofu Lv 20 Kijo Taraka Lv 23 Maju Badbh Cathach Lv 25 Yoki Oni Lv 34 Maju Orthrus NOTES: ------ Battles here are going to be pretty rough. Most of the demons here take a whole lot of punishment before they'll go down, and can do some really nasty physical damage as well. Be sure to grab a Momunofu as soon as you can and start building him up--once he maxes out he'll mutate into Arahabaki, one of the most useful demons you can get in the early-to-mid stages of the game. Most of the tougher monsters listed above only show up in the Mantra Army HQ, which is a much more dangerous place to be wandering around in than Ikebukuro itself. The Oni that show up there are pretty tough. If they back-attack you and use Rampage over and over you might get your entire party wiped out before you can do anything. And heaven help you if you're equipping the Hifumi Magatama in the base and get ambushed by six Jack o'Lanterns. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first thing you'll probably want to do here is run straight to the heal spot and save point. DON'T talk to anyone before doing this, as some of the demons in here are hostile. The first one at the door will attack you if you talk to him. After going through the ordeal of the Ginza Underpass, the last thing you want is to have to deal with an Oni in a weakened state. There is a demon in the middle of the plaza who says "Power is everything--you need to solve the problems that befall you with your own strength! Don't you agree?" You can answer Yes, No, or "I don't want to answer" If you say yes he applauds you, no he berates you. If you say Yes your alignment will move toward Yosuga by two points. If you say no, your alignment moves to Shijima by 2 points. If you don't answer, your alignment doesn't change at all. There are lots of Manekata here, imprisoned an having their Magatsuhi sucked out by the Mantra Army. They're slaves, and aren't too happy. They'll tell you of rumors of four powerful Oni that caused were causing trouble here, but were kicked out by Thor, and became bandits afterward. A Manekata on the East side of 1F asks if you came from the Underpass, and if so asks if the junk collector is doing well-he helps him out often in his collecting. You'll also note that Hee-Ho-Kun is here at the gates of the Mantra Base, thinking about joining but too afraid to ask. (If you go back to his shop now, you'll find it has the same inventory, but Flamboyantly Gay Manekata has taken over it. As usual FGM will give you Happy Tickets from that store) On the central region of 1F, there is a fight where 2 Oni will ambush you. Kill them, get a Hogyokuwa, and take their loot. (Careful, the center treasure chest in their room is a trap) When you're ready, enter the Mantra Army Base. I *strongly* suggest you fuse Kishin Takeminakata before going in, as he will prove invaluable inside. As approach the door, you'll hear a voice inside the building saying "Who the hell are you!?" When you go inside you'll see it's Isamu speaking. He's in front of Thor, who is apparently accusing him of something."I didn't do anything!" Isamu says. Isamu turns around, sees you, and recognizes you. He asks you to help him and while talking to you, Thor whacks him with his hammer, then steals his Magatsuhi. Then he sends his demons after you to catch you. You wake up in a cell. A Jack o' Lantern wakes you up for your "trial." Apparently the trial is a fight of some sort. Talk to the walls and you can talk to the guys in the next cell. They say that the Mantra demons won't listen to reason. You need to prove your innocence with a demonstration of your power by winning a fight. Jack o' Lantern then opens your cell, saying it's time for your trial. Talk to the Oni that guards the exit and he will charge you for secret info about the trial. Pay him 200 Makka and he'll talk. He'll tell you that you have to face three fights in a row. If you lose any of them, you die. Pay him another 200 and he tries to tell you about who you'll face in your trial. The Jack o' Lantern will come by and freak out the Oni, who will pretend that you were asking your way. After the Jack o' Lantern leaves, the Oni fills you in on your opponents. Your first opponent is a fire user, so his weakness should be obvious. The second is a woman that uses shock attacks, so the Oni tells you to use "male charm to electrify her" The final battle is Thor himself. Thor uses lightning, and has no weakness. Go into the fight cage as a "defendant." You are accused of being a Nihilo spy since you were seen coming through the Ginza Tunnel. It is a crime just to show yourself in Ikebukuro, so you must prove your innocence in a battle. BOSS #1: MAJU ORTHRUS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJU ORTHRUS HP: 1000 MP: 200 AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Immune to Hama, Curse, Nerve and Mind, Weak to Ice. SKILLS: Maharagi, Fire Breath, Agirao, Maharagion, Agidain, Paralysis Claw If you have Ice Breath, it works VERY well against Orthrus. If you freeze him any physical fighters will get easy criticals. Equip Shiranui if you're really pressed. You'll want healers too, as Agidain can do loads of damage if you're unprepared. Don't bring any Flame-weak characters into this fight. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You get a chance to heal up and reform your party before the next match. Take advantage of it. BOSS #2: KIJO YAKSHINI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KIJO YAKSHINI HP: 1200 MP: 200 AFFINITY: Immune to Flame, Hama, Curse, Nerve, Mind, Strong to Magic, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Mahazan, Zanma, Mahazanma, Zandain I found Yakshini to actually be easier than Orthrus. If you have Jionga (Takeminakata has it) she's as good as dead. Whatever you do, DON'T equip Shiranui for this battle, so if you were equipping it to deal with Orthrus, take it off before this battle and switch to something else! Hifumi is a good idea if you're really having trouble. Overall she's not too tough. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before your final match, you get another chance to regroup. Be sure to take it. BOSS #3: KISHIN THOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KISHIN THOR HP: 2000 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Reflects Electricity and Hama, Immune to Curse, Nerve, and Mind, Strong to Magic SKILLS: Mahajio, Jionga, Mahajionga, Jiodain, Diarama, De-Kaja, De-Kunda The first boss in the game you'll often see "I can't beat him!" posts on message boards about is Thor. Thor can be EXTREMELY rough as he does absurd amounts of damage with his lightning spells, and there is no Magatama the Hero can equip to counter them at this point. Plus, he gets a double attack. The secret to this battle is once again, Takeminakata. (See why I recommended you fuse him before entering the Mantra HQ?) Takeminakata is a GREAT demon to bring into this battle, since he reflects electricity. The reflected electricity won't do jack to Thor, but it will eat up his Press Turns so that he won't be able to get a second attack in during his turn. Seiju Shisa is another really good choice for this battle, as he absorbs Electricity, and if you've got him powered up a couple of levels has Battle Cry to reduce Thor's power, though he'll probably only have enough MP to cast it once. In the meantime while Takeminakata and/or Shisa are nullifying Thor's spells, just throw the most powerful attacks you've got at him. Unfortunately buffing and debuffing spells won't work too well on him since he can just get rid of them with De-Kaja and De-Kunda. Be sure to bring a decent healer into this fight, as even with Takeminakata acting as lightning rod, odds are you'll get a little bit roughed up here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon his defeat, Thor recognizes you are possessed by something different than the other demons. He gives you the Narukami Magatama in thanks for entertaining him. He tells you to meet Gozu-Tenno, who is trying to create a world where only the truly strong will survive. Thor says that your power may change the world. He tells the judge that you are innocent, and lets you out. The Jack o' Lantern is really peeved that you won, but says you can go in and out of the Mantra HQ when ever you want--that annoys him off even more. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS Rather than being let go inside the Mantra HQ, in Maniacs you're let out in Ikebukuro. Once you try to go in, the "mysterious" man looks down at you from the top of the building, jumps down, and attacks you. BOSS: MAJIN DANTE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Majin Dante HP:2400 MP:? AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: E&I, Rebellion, Holy Star, Taunt, Twosome Time Wow, for all his flash, Dante sure is a wuss. You'll note early on that Dante deals extremely powerful physical attacks--and that's all he does. What's more, his Defense level is pathetic. Thus, if you cast Raku-Kaja and Suku-Kaja on your party, he is little threat, and even less if you have the Hero equip Kamudo too. If you're playing on Hard, his two attacks per round could possibly kill one of your party members if he attacks the same person both times, but this is easily countered--cast a -Nda spell on him. If any of his stats are lowered, Dante will negate them with his "Holy Star" spell about 75% of the time. This only gives him one attack per round, and only if he gets in a critical hit will it be any threat. Once Dante is down to half of his HP, he becomes more of a threat. He will use Taunt as his first move every round, and seemingly ceases to use Holy Star, so use this chance to drop his stats with skills like Fog Breath. If he hits you with your lowered defense from Taunt (unless of course you cast Raku-Kaja) there's a very good chance he'll kill you. The real sticking point is that he will also start to use his "Twosome Time" skill here, and it can sometimes confuse you, which can be a major pain. It will help to have a demon with Mepatra just in case. Also, if you want to make things a little easier, fight him during a Silent Kagutsuchi, and bring Takeminakata into the fight. (assuming you had him when you fought Thor) Takeminakata always criticals during a Silent Kagutsuchi, guaranteeing you an extra Press Turn per round. One thing bizarre about this fight is the game SAYS Dante's taunt heals him 750 HP. (you see the little green "750" pop up and everything) It doesn't. That's actually his MP that are being refilled. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The now-defeated man applauds your skill and introduces himself as Dante. (As if the target cursor in battle didn't tell you that already) He says he's a demon hunter, and he was given a Menorah by the old guy in the wheelchair as well, and thus was after you to take yours--which is why he tried (and failed) to kill you. He leaves, saying that he wants to investigate the old man's scheme, and that you may meet again. This is the only time that you MUST see Dante. If you don't tackle the bonus Maniacs dungeon, you'll never see him again. Around this point, the next Majin, Majin High Priest, will become "unlocked" and available. Talk to Kamara and she'll clue you in on his position--"somewhere with a tall building." High Priest is actually located in Ikebukuro, in the east wing of the area, past the Mantra HQ, near the stairs to the second floor. High Priest teleports around you, giving you a little speech that is rather unimportant to the plot (people must die, the world must be destroyed, your resistance against that shows you're just lost, even if you get all the Menorahs, etc.) He offers to "show you the way to death." (In other words, he attacks) BOSS: MAJIN HIGH PRIEST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Majin High Priest HP:2500 MP:? AFFINITY: Reflects Hama and Curse, Absorbs Mind & Magic, Immune to Nerve, and strong to everything else SKILLS: Meditate, Mahamudo-on, Mahanma-on, Announce, Banno-Sokubodai In comparison to Matador, High Priest is pretty easy. His attacks are indeed formidable--he uses his Meditate skill to drain you of HP and lots of MP, casts powerful curse/Hama spells and does hella damage with those Amida beads--but he has no support magic negation spells like De-Kaja or De-Kunda. This makes him a sitting duck to two quick Fog Breaths; after that, he'll barely ever hit you, except with Meditate which has a higher hit rate than normal. Compound that with some War Cries (to reduce his power when he DOES hit you) and standard Kaja-spell beefing of your party, and he should go down pretty easily. Like Matador, High Priest will break out the big guns when you weaken him to half his HP. He will use his "Announce" skill to beef up his Press Turns by 3, and also start using his Banno-Sokubodai attack, which hits all your party for damage and randomly deals Mind-based status ailments (e.g. Panic, Charm, or Sleep) This spell can be irritating, so it helps to have someone with Mepatra on hand, or else a good supply of Iwakura water. This is also why Iyomante is a good choice of Magatama to equip on the Hero for this fight. Aside from that, bring a good supply of Chakra Drops into this battle to restore HP lost via Meditate, and High Priest should be no problem. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating High Priest will win you the Menorah of Eternity. ################################################################################ In the west wing of the base, an Oni will tell you that Isamu is locked up in the dungeon--a human is a fantastic source of Magatsuhi, so they are keeping him as their "cattle" more or less. Go into the basement and you'll find all the locked up Manekata, and Isamu too. Isamu will tell you thie "medium" of Nihilo is Yuko (as if you hadn't figured that out already) and the Mantra army is going to attack the Nihilo Organization. If they capture Yuko they will kill her. He asks you to save Yuko if they attack. In the dungeon, there's a very strong door behind which the...erm, well-endowed prisoner tells you Mantra keeps their treasure. If your strength is high enough (somewhere around 25 I think) you can force open the door and go inside to get the Gaia Magatama. You probably won't be able to do this for a LONG time, but it doesn't really matter as Gaia is really an endgame Magatama and you can't learn anything it until you're in your 60s level-wise anyway. There's an angry Oni on level 2 that will attack you "to show he's stronger than you" when you talk to him. On level 3, if you bribed the guard, he'll be in jail. (He got caught giving you info) Also there's an elevator up to the 60th floor on the third floor. From the 60th floor, climb the stairs to the 64th floor. The door beyond is Gozu-Tenno's room. Go on in. A Manekata with some weird thing attached to it starts chanting and a huge statue behind him talks to you. It is Gozu-Tenno. He is the leader of the demons of the Mantra Army. He says your fighting in the trial was wonderful, and he is glad to meet a new ferocious demon. Gozu-Tenno rewards you with some of his power--you can now stock 10 demons instead of 8. He says that if you work for him he will give you even more power. You get three choices: "I will obey you" "I refuse" "I can't decide" "I will obey you" Gozutenno laughs and says he is glad, and asks you to do a job for the Mantra- gun. Your Alignment will shift toward Yosuga by 8 points. "I refuse" Gozu-Tenno laughs and says you're greedy, thinking you weren't impressed with the power-up. He says that your desire is fitting of a demon and thus all is well--you should do well even without working for him. He warns you not to cross him though. Your Alignment will shift toward Shijima by 4 points. "I can't decide." Gozu-Tenno is disappointed, says that if you joined the power within you could be unlocked. but says that you seem to have interest in the group, so you should watch their work and then decide. He says you are fated to join them. Your Alignment will shift toward Musubi by 4 points. Gozu-Tenno ells you that the Nihilo Group is trying to bring silence to the world and is thus threatening the Mantra Army. He then decided that he can no longer stand them, so he will invade the Nihilo Organization and destroy them once and for all. He has already given orders to his demons to attack the base in Ginza. "If you are a demon, go to Ginza. Destroy those that threaten the world!" he says. Gozu-Tenno follows up by saying that he wishes to lead demonkind into a world of Chaos. Head back to the Nihilo Organization HQ. ================================================================================ THE NIHILO ORGANIZATION ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Tetraja Stone Dis-Close Luck Incense* Disparalyze Wagtail Feather 3000 Makka Iwakura Water Chigaeshi no Tama Hangonko* ENEMIES: ------- Lv 18 Yama Fomorian Lv 18 Yoma Koppa-Tengu Lv 20 Datenshi Forneus Lv 23 Yoma Dis Lv 25 Yama Incubus Lv 29 Datenshi Eligor NOTES: ------ This is another rather long dungeon, with multiple bosses. It may be a good idea to take it one area at a time. None of the enemies are too terribly tough, though a couple of enemies have techniques that could be very hazardous to your health if the Hero gets hit. (Petra-Eye for Dis, Evil Eye for Incubus) Mostly it's just a matter of a battle of attrition. The last leg of the dungeon, however, has Datenshi Eligor appearing in random battles, and that can be somewhat rough. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mantra forces that are waiting in the main entrance of the Nihilo headquarters are unopposed by enemies, and claim that Nihilo has already fallen, though neither of the human leaders could be found. Take the elevator to B1F to hear more Mantra guys gloating, go to B2 to proceed further in. The corridor leaving the main core area is unstable, spinning, and generally unusable, so ignore it for now. Enter the main core. Hijiri is hanging out inside there. He apologizes for getting you stuck in the Amara network, but says it was fortunate that he did because messing with the pathways to let you out led him to this base. He says was lucky that the Mantra army attacked when it did, because it allowed him to slip in without notice; otherwise he would have been caught. He mentions that he heard you joined the Mantra Army and asks if there's any truth the the rumor. If you say yes it moves your alignment to Yosuga by 8 points. If you say no it moves your alignment to both Shijima and Musubi by 4 points. Hijiri tells you that the entire room is a giant Magatsuhi collector. It was destroyed in the attack, but originally it was full of Magatsuhi. However, he says that the Mantra forces left, without realizing this was a trap for them set by Hikawa. Hijiri says that coming here via the Amara network, he could sense something odd about the way the Magatsuhi was flowing here. He thinks that this is not really the TRUE core, and that the real source of Magatsuhi is somewhere else within the building--and Hikawa is probably with it. At this point, a huge shudder rocks the room. Hijiri says that the area is too dangerous, and though he'd like to continue on so he can give Hikawa a big punch in the nose, he says he'd never make it to him, so leaves. He says that the lock on the spinning passage was just opened. He leaves Hikawa to you if you choose to pursue him. Take the elevator at the end of the formerly spinning hall to B10. Follow the tunnel and you will come across a Koppa-Tengu talking with an Incubus. The two are joking at the stupid Mantra forces, getting fooled so easily. Incubus says that their obsession with power is nothing if they don't have the knowledge to back it up. Then they notice you. "I don't know where you came from, but it looks like there was someone with a working brain after all." Incubus says. They think you came to bring Hikawa's head back on a platter. Koppa-tengu wanted to fight but never got a chance, so takes it out on you. MINI-BOSS: Yama Incubus & Yoma Koppa-Tengu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These guys are such wusses I didn't waste any time draining mana or counting HP to see what their stats were. I'm pretty sure they're just cookie-cutter versions of the ones that occur "naturally," with maybe a little extra HP. Anyhow, don't waste any effort. They will drop like a sack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the two guards dead, you pick up the Yellow Keyllar (It's a key and a pillar at the same time--get it? I know, it's stupid. Blame Atlus) from them. If you go north, and tell the Shinentai that you're looking for Hikawa, he will tell you that Hikawa is on B15, but you need 4 Keyllars, Magatsuhi controlling sticks, to get there. Beyond him is the Magatsuhi Storage Facility. The Shinentai there will tell you that it has three floors, and there's a chamber with a Keyllar on each floor. He'll tell you you can use the switch nearby to change the flow of the Magatsuhi. It's so blindlingly obvious what order you need to change the switches in, I won't even bother writing it. Once you've hit right switches on 1F, go down the north corridor and fight Datenshi Erigorl. He says that he likes smart people, so he will make it easy on you. BOSS: DATENSHI ELIGOR & YOMA DIS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DATENSHI ELIGOR: HP:700 MP:200 AFFINITY: Immune to Mudo and Hama, Strong to Physical, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Rampage, Summon (Dis), Raku-Kaja, Mudo, Beast's Eye YOMA DIS: (See Akuma Zensho--their stats are the same) Yes, Yoma Dis. The first thing Eligor will do is summon some. You should take advantage of this. They are very suceptible to Charming. So turn them over to your side and let them help you do the dirty work. And you should, because if you don't they'll use Petra-Eye on you. You don't need any more potential insta- death attacks already; Eligor's Mudo is bad enough. Eligor himself isn't too bad, and he's very stupid. (trying to sumon Disir when there are already two) Overall he's not too hard--mini-boss at best. He's weak to electricity too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll get the White Keyllar from Eligor's corpse. Now go down to B11F. The "puzzle" in this area is only slightly harder than the floor above, but you still should have no problem. There are 9 rooms, set up like the following: ------------- | 1 | 2 | 3 | |---+---+---| | 4 | 5 | 6 | |---+---+---| | 7 | 8 | 9 | ------------- You want to hit the switch in 7 first, then 6, and finally 1. Then leave north. Hooray! You get to fight an Eligor again. Except this time he summons Yakkas instead of Disir. Yakkas are wimps, but they heal him. Take them out with a Hama caster. Other than that use the same strategy as above. The next area is kind of a mini-maze. In it you'll find a Shinentai who extols the virtues of Nihilo--become one with the universe, casting off the cloak of individuality and becoming one whole, etc. etc. There's a room with a magic box in this mini-maze, and Eligor will attack you again after you leave it. And AGAIN, at the corner towards the north-west area of the "maze" area. At the northeast is a room with the Red Keyllar. As soon as you get it and try to leave, Berith will stop you. He tells you to drop the Keyllar and leave. Even if you say yes, he changes his mind, and says he can see your future, impaled on his spear. BOSS: DATENSHI BERITH & 2 YAMA SUCCUBUS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DATENSHI BERITH: HP:1000 MP:100 AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Boss Immunities (Boss Immunity=No Hama/Curse or status attacks) SKILLS: Hellfire, Maharagi, Heatwave YAMA SUCCUBUS HP:300 MP:220 AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Mudo, Strong to magic SKILLS: Lullaby, Sexy Eye Berith is weak to Ice. In addition, if you manage to freeze him, you have a good shot at critical hitting him. The Succubi are really just annoyances, but they can charm you or put you to sleep, which can be potentially deadly. (On the other hand, sleeping may be just what the doctor ordered for someone low on MP) Whatever you do, don't bring anyone weak to fire into the battle or Berith's Hellfire will most likely kill them instantly. Otherwise this fight isn't too tough. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go back to B11F and hit the switch in box 1 to open the way down to B12. Continue down to B12. EXIT | | ------------------- | A | B%| C | D%| E | %=Switch |---+---+---+---+---| ------- | F | G@| H | I | J | | 1 | 2 | @=Chiun Trigger |---+---+---+---+---| |---+---| | K | L |*M%|@N*| O | | 3*| 4 | *=Ladder/Pit |---+---+---+---+---| |---+---| | P | Q | R | S | T | | 5*| 6 | |---+---+---+---+---| ------- | U | V |@W*| X | Y | B13F ------------------- B12F You'll start in N. The hole in I leads to 2 when you jump down it. The ladder in 3 leads to M. The ladder in 5 leads to W. When you pass a "Chiun Trigger," Yama Chiun teleports in and to tries and prevent you from proceeding by changing a switch to red. You can't get out without changing all of them back, and it can be a little annoying. Here's the quickest route (that I've found) to get it to work. Leap into the hole at I, and then climb up the ladder in 3. Flick the switch to make it blue, then climb up the ladder in 5. Hit the switch in D, then run back to hit the switch in B. Finally, proceed through the exit north of C. You'll be in a green corridor. It's fairly straightforward, ignore the 8 locked doors. You'll find where the green Keyllar should be...but the box is empty! When you leave, Yama Chiun, the demon that turned off the switches, pops in and laughs at you. He says he won't give you the Keyllar and runs. Chase him into the 8 room chamber. The doors are unlocked. He always appears on the north side, in the third room from the west. In the other rooms, there are some fake Chiuns too, or more specifically, Chiuns without the Keyllar. There are a few Kelpie ambushes as well. They'll disappear once the "true" Chiun dies, so if you want to gain experience you can beat them up first. BOSS: YAMA CHIUN x 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YAMA CHIUN HP: 650: MP: 275 AFFINITY: Immune to Hama, Curse, and all magic, strong to Bad Status attacks SKILLS: Death Touch, Mudo, Mahamudo, Evil Eye The Chiun are immune to magic attacks, but so long as you have some good physical fighters on hand, they are not hard to kill. They're not really worth worrying about overall. Their excessive use of Death Magic can be a pain though, so if you bring Yoma Dis in for insurance (she's all over the place here, if you don't have one in your party, get one) and have her cast Tetraja, you're all set. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once the Chiun are dead, you'll get the Green Keyllar. Now that you have all four Keyllars, return to B10F and insert them into the corresponding slots. The floor sinks and allows you passage down a spiral ramp to the bottom, B14. There's a short series of corridors, then an elevator down to B15. The hall leads to the TRUE core. (with save point to the east) Go inside the Core. Hikawa is there, and is surprised someone made it down here. He says "Mantra isn't made up of fools entirely, I see." He turns around to see you, and is surprised to see you're still alive. Noting that you've gained great power, Hikawa asks what you are doing here, and if you're here to see him. It doesn't really matter what you say. Hikawa tells you that since you've come all this way, you should learn the truth about this new world. He shows you his special machine, which is designed to collect Magatama. He asks if you know what Magatsuhi is for. No matter what you say, you don't really know what the reason for it is, so Hikawa will make fun of your answer if you do say you know. "Magatsuhi...is an offering to God." Hikawa says, and explains the idea behind it. Magatsuhi provides the power to call a protective creator deity, and is the entire reason for the existence of the Vortex world. It allows those with a strong will to totally recreate the world. When such a person is able to formulate a set of ideals and control a large amount of Magatsuhi, they can use it to summon a guardian deity, and shape the current "fertilized" world into a new world, modeled upon those ideals. Hikawa says that the reason he is collecting Magatsuhi is so that he can be the one to summon the guardian deity and create the world in his image. He goes on to tell you the world he plans is a "world of silence" built upon the "Shijima" Kotowari. Hikawa tells you that the Mantra army opposes his Shijima world, and attacked, but failed to even touch the core. Hikawa says that he will soon have enough Magatsuhi to summon his guardian deity, but needs to use some to show Mantra-- and the rest of the world--what will happen to those that oppose Nihilo. He uses the remaining Magatsuhi here to activate something called the "Nightmare System." The Nightmare System fires, and a strange light engulfs Ikebukuro. Hikawa explains that the Nightmare System is designed to control the flow of Magatsuhi, and wields an unparalleled level of power. He is currently using the System to suck all the Magatsuhi out of Ikebukuro, and soon everything there will die. He tells you in passing that the system is actually powered by Yuko, who acts as the medium through which all the energy is channeled. Hikawa asks if you're worried about her. What you answer has no impact on the story, but Hikawa doubts you if you say you're not worried. Either way, he will tell you that she is not here. Hikawa says you should not have been allowed to survive the fertilization. "Those who try to hold on to the old world have no place here." he says. Hikawa tells you that he should not have given into Yuko and killed you when he could. So he summons Datenshi Ose to kill you. BOSS: DATENSHI OSE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DATENSHI OSE HP: 3800 MP: 500 AFFINITY: Immune to Hama and Mudo, Strong to Bad Status attacks SKILLS: Heatwave, Kiai, Suku-Kaja, De-Kaja, De-Kunda, Tetrakarn, Makalakarn Ose is a real bruiser, and does a whole lot of damage with his physical attacks. He gets to act twice per turn, and uses Heatwave and Kiai. However, he's a one- trick-pony, as physical attacks is all he can do. There are several ways to deal with this. One is to reduce his accuracy with Suku-nda or Fog Breath (the latter works better) Don't over-rely on it as Ose can and will cast Deku-nda. Raku-kaja helps, but as Ose casts De-kaja it's not foolproof. Your best bet is to bring in physically resistant demons, and equip the Kamudo Magatama on your Hero as well. If you have the demon Arahabaki (L30 Jashin--Momunofu mutates into him) you're set--Arahabaki is immune to physical attacks, so Ose cannot kill him. As an added bonus, if Ose wastes an attack on him (Heatwave counts) he loses his bonus turn. Midway through the battle he will start bringing up reflective shields with Makalakarn and Tetrakarn, so make sure you have both magic-users and physical fighters--if he casts Tetrakarn, only use magic, and vice versa if casts Makalakarn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After defeating Ose, you will receive the Anathema magatama. Ose is shocked at his defeat, but says you will never see the Commander or the medium again. The Nightmare System has activated, and the base will close up, forever shutting off the path to the medium. He tells you to leave, and that Nihilo will be the ones to create the world. Head back to Ikebukuro and go into the main Mantra Army base. As soon as you enter, you'll find Chiaki there, slumped against a pillar. She knows about you winning your trial, and is glad she came here despite the difficulty she had arriving. She says she has something to ask you. Chiaki says she has decided to obey the purpose of the Vortex world, and wants to give a shot at shaping the new world herself. She says she heard a mysterious "voice" when the world changed and thinks you probably heard it too since you survived. (She's referring to the voice that said you didn't have the seeds of a Kotowari) Chiaki says that after the destruction, her primary concern was not "what should I do now" but "why has the world become like this?" She believes that the world now no longer allows the unneeded to exist. In the previous world, there were a whole lot of people and other things, but they weren't actually building anything, just passing the time--and the world didn't need those sorts of people. Chiaki says that it's sad that she lost everything, but she did survive the "fertilization," and therefore she must have been specially chosen. She is sad for her loss, but thinks if she swallows her sadness she can attain limitless possibilities. From her perceptions of the world, she has found a Kotowari upon which the world should be built. Chiaki says the world by its nature doesn't need useless things, so she will build a paradise where only by the powerful and supreme live....a world built upon the "Yosuga" Kotowari. Chiaki asks if you agree with her. If you do, Chiaki says she is glad, that she thought you would understand, and that some day she may need your help. You will also gain 32 Yosuga points, and turn on the Yosuga Kotowari Event Flag. If you don't agree with Chiaki she is disappointed and thought you would understand, but says she won't change her mind. If you can't decide she understands and believes that some day she is sure you will "see the light." In either case you don't gain any points to any particular Kotowari. Chiaki says she is going to start collecting the Magatsuhi necessary for summoning her Guardian deity, but doesn't know where to start. Since Yosuga is a Kotowari of the strong, she needs to follow it though, and is resolute to do what she can with her ability. She leaves, saying that she was glad she could have this little talk, and will most likely see you again. Go on inside the Mantra Base. Inside, the Oni are getting the life sucked out of them...very bad for them. Head to the basement and talk to the Manekata there. They will ask you to save Futomimi, their leader. Go all the way into the bottom prison and Isamu will greet you. He notes that you couldn't save Yuko, and is disappointed--he expected more of you. Isamu says that Mantra is finished, and without it Nihilo will only extend their power. He is kind of lost as to what to do next, and really doesn't know what the is really going on in the Vortex world. He suggests that you should seek out some sort of super-Manekata that he heard of, one that foretold the fall of the Mantra army. He thinks that this super-Manekata will be able to help you. Apparently, this sper-Manekata has been put in the Kabukicho prison, located east of the main Mantra base. Isamu has decided to head there himself--while risky, it's pretty much dangerous no matter where he goes, so he's going to take whatever chance he sees. Isamu leaves. NOTE: Now that the prison cells are poen, the prison cells on 3F are open too. You will now have access to both the Magic Box with the Power Incense and the Hogyoku. To get to Kabukicho, you need to go out the east exit of the Mantra HQ--but you'll find that it's still guarded by a couple of Yomotsu-Ikusa under orders from Gozu-tenno. Go and talk to him to see if you can't get those orders rescinded. Go back up to 64F to meet Gozu-tenno. He is shocked at what is happening after apparently crushing the Nihilo Organization. (or so he thought) He says that his body, originally charged full of Magatsuhi, is starting to lose its power bit by bit. And it's not just him that's having his Magatsuhi depleted, but his whole army. Gozu-Tenno's Manekata slave/prophet curses Nihilo, and says it can see a human medium (IOW, Yuko) in Nihilo's central Magatsuhi collector--as there is no access to her, there is nothing to do but wait and die. Gozu-tenno refuses, saying that even if his body is destroyed, his spirit will not die, and that one worthy of his power will surely appear, giving him the chance to be reborn. "I will not let them make a silent world!" he says. "What worth is a world without power!?" He swears to make his land of power, and then dies. As soon as you leave, Thor is waiting outside. He says that Gozu-tenno and Mantra in its entirety has been destroyed by Nihilo's Nightmare System. Thor realizes that Nihilo's ambition was greater than to just conquer Tokyo. In contrast, his Mantra organization never really evolved past a fear-based, violence-centric system, and that is why they were destined to lose. With the light of Gozutenno stuffed out, those he thought were allies abandoned him. Thor says that you can do whatever you want with the prisoners, including Isamu. "There is no future for this place," he says. Thor bids you farewell, and says he is going on a journey to seek a world where only the truly strong live. "If you are truly strong, then let us meet again," he says as he departs. Head back down to 1F. With Gozu-Tenno dead, the Yomotsu-Ikusa will now let you by out the eastern exit. Outside, head north to the highway ramp. Get on the highway, then follow it all the way south, east, and then south again. Once you get off the highway, head west on the path along that red stuff. (lava?) However, don't walk through it--it is damage floor and you'll get hurt unless you are using Floating Shoes or are under the influence of a Liftma spell. However, you'll have to go through the red stuff to get to Kabuchicho, which is surrounded by it. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS If you've beaten High Priest by now, your third Majin, Majin Hell's Angel, will appear on the highway on the way to Kabukicho Prison. You can attempt to run like with the other Majin if you want. If you fight the Hell's Angel, it says nothing important--it basically detects your Menorah and attacks. BOSS: MAJIN HELL'S ANGEL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN HELL'S ANGEL HP: 3000 MP: 1000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Absorbs Shock, Immune to Fire SKILLS: Hell's Exhaust, Hell Spin, Hell Burner, Hell Throttle, De-Kunda What's with these Majin? The more you fight them, the wimpier they seem to get. Hell's Angel is even easier to beat than High Priest. This is mainly because he relies WAY too much on his "Hell's Exhaust" attack, which means if you bring any ally that absorbs Shock (like Genbu, who is a great addition to this fight) you'll soak up his Press Turns like mad. Hell's Exhaust also negates any buffing spells, (even if it does no damage) so using -Kaja spells is a waste in this fight. Hell's Angel can cast De-Kunda, but rarely does, so dropping his stats is a good idea. Once you weaken him enough he'll gain extra Press Turns with Hell Throttle and use his Hell Burner fire attack, so it's a good idea to bring a fire-absorbing or immune ally into this fight just in case. One thing to note about this fight is it's not a good idea to equip Shiranui OR Hifumi for Fire/Shock immunity, as whatever element you block will make you weak to the other. Overall this is one of the easier Majin fights. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating the Hell's Angel will net you the Menorah of Majesty. ################################################################################ ================================================================================ KABUKICHO PRISON ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Jade* Pearl* Vitality Incense* Sapphire* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 4 Yuki Gaki Lv 17 Yuki Yakka Lv 25 Yoju Raiju Lv 28 Ryuo Naga Lv 28 Yuki Pishacha Lv 34 Ryuo Mizuchi Lv 43 Kijo Yakshini NOTES: ------ Electricity resistance is useful in here, as both Raiju and Naga will use reasonably powerful lightning attacks on you. Having fire-users is also useful as Naga, Pishacha, and Mizuchi are all weak to it. Overall this can be an annoying dungeon--the enemies are pretty hardy, can dish out some nasty punishment, and worst of all, there's no heal spot at all in this dungeon. If you need healing, you'll have to teleport to another area of the game via the Terminal. The fact that it's a maze doesn't help. You'll want to pick up a Mizuchi here for sure--he will mutate into Ryujin Seiryu, an excellent ally for the middle of the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you first enter Kabukicho prison, you'll be in a hall with doors on each side. On the east side is a room where someone calls for help, saying they are trapped in an illusion. Another says that voice tells you that the illusion they're trapped in is how Mizuchi, the boss of the prison, keeps them imprisoned. When you turn the corner in the first area you'll see a guardian Naga at some sort of gate. He gloats that the prison is now under Mizuchi's control now that Gozu-tenno is dead. He goes to bully the Manekata that are trapped in the illusion. If you try to get through the portal, you'll learn you need some sort of trigger to activate it. As you leave, the area you'll hear the voices of the Naga and the Manekata he's torturing. Naga decides to leave for the day--run back and find him. He will see you and ask. "Who the hell are you!? Are you...!?" The Naga is asking if you're a Nihilo scout, but saying yes or no doesn't actually have an effect on your alignment. Either way, he'll end up attacking you. He's no tougher than a Naga from a normal battle, so kill him and take his Umugi Sphere. With the Umugi Sphere, you can now enter the portal. Or, more specifically, the portal will surround the area in illusion. You are now walking on the ceiling, and can see all the Manekata being tortured and their Magatsuhi drained. Via the holes and ladders, work your way "down" to the fourth floor. Talk to the Manekata imprisoned on the fourth floor. He is digging a hole. Your calling to him surprised him--at first, thinking you were Mantra and he was caught trying to escape, he was shocked and accidentally broke his spoon. He gets really POd at you, and faults you for his spoon breaking--just when he was almost about to finish the hole. The Manekata tells you that there's another Manekata imprisoned here that collects all sorts of things, and demands that you go get a new spoon from him. Next, use the Umugi Sphere on the gate located on 4F to dispel the illusion. Now that you're on the ground again, jump down the hole to the third floor. Examine the flashing red lights by the wall to open the gratings that are blocking your path. Climb the south-central ladder to the second floor, hit the switch there, then take the stairs back up to the third floor. On the third floor, open the grate in front of the Jack Frost, then go back to the second floor and enter the Illusion world through the portal there. Take the southeast ladder down to the third floor, then circle all the way around so that you can climb the south central ladder. Talk to the Manekata imprisoned on 2F there. You'll recognize the Manekata being tortured there as the Junk Collecting Manekata from the Ginza Underpass, the one that you got the 1000 yen note for. (In case you're wondering what he's doing here, when the Mantra forces attacked Nihilo, they got there via the Ginza Underpass and caught all the Manekata hiding there. If you went back to the Underpass at that point in the story you could actually find a Manekata that slipped through their fingers to tell you this) You ask him for the spoon, and he gives you his Headhunter Spoon in thanks for you helping him get the bill. "By the way, I hope you can save me, too." he says in passing as you leave. Go back to the 4th floor. Give the spoon to the Digging Manekata, and he will be taken aback by the its quality. He starts digging and the spoon digs like mad, opening a hole almost immediately. The Manekata escapes through the hole. Go and use the Umugi Sphere to leave the illusion world, and jump down the now- dug hole. As you jump down, you'll hear the Manekata swearing about how he can't escape the Illusion world until Mizuchi is defeated. Climb the stairs up to the 4th floor. On the 4th floor, raise the grating, then go down the hallway and re- enter the illusion world. Go to the southeasternmost ladder and climb down to the 5th floor. On the 5th floor, a Manekata calls out to you and stops you. He says that Ryuo Mizuchi is behind the door nearby, and asks you to defeat Mizuchi and rescue their prophet, Futomimi. Go through the door and Mizuchi is there. Not just any Mizuchi--A BIG Mizuchi, not like the little ones you've been fighting all this time in the Prison. After some typical boss smack talk, Mizuchi attacks. BOSS: RYUO MIZUCHI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RYUO MIZUCHI HP: 4800 MP: 500 AFFINITY: Absorbs Electricity, Immune to Ice, Boss Immunities, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Bufu, Mahabufu, Bufura, Mahabufura, Absolute Zero, De-Kunda, Illusion Ryuo Mizuchi has a double-pronged attack of powerful Ice spells and physical attacks. His nastiest attack is Absolute Zero, which does absurd amounts of Ice damage. Therefore you need Ice-resistant characters in this battle. Equip Wadatsumi on the Hero. Genbu (LV24 Ryujin) is a good bet, and Mizuchi more or less can't hurt Arahabaki at all, save for his Illusion attack. This Illusion attack he will use three times during the battle, when his HP drop to fixed amounts and his body shrinks. This attack damages the whole party and Panics them, sort of like a super-charged Tentarafu. (Arahabaki is a guaranteed Panic) This is less deadly than annoying--but you'll probably drop quite a few Makka in this battle. Be prepared. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once the battle is over, you will receive the Miasma Magatama, and the illusion of the area will be dispelled. Go in the back room and a Manekata man will come out and notice you. He takes one look at you and can't figure out whether you're demon or human. "Ah, you must be the 'Hito-Shura' that I saw in my fortune- telling." He thanks you for defeating Mizuchi and letting him free, and introduces himself as Futomimi. Futomimi says that he has limited ability to see the future. He felt you were coming--a humanlike, demonlike "Hito-Shura." He mentions that there is a human boy locked up in the opposite room that came looking for him, but got caught. Futomimi gets a "sense" and realizes you know him. He tells you that you should see him soon--he has a strange feeling about him. Then he leaves to take care of the other Manekata, thanking you again one last time before departing. Go into the room nearby. Isamu is there, messing with a terminal. He asks if you're there to save him, and sardonically says "Took you long enough." In response to his sharp tongue you can either "Talk Back," "Apologize," or "Leave the room. If you Talk Back, Isamu says he has every right to talk to you like that since you didn't do anything for him. You'll also gain 4 Yosuga points. If you apologize, Isamu tells you he doesn't particularly want an apology as it won't change anything, and you get no alignment points. If you leave, Isamu says "You going to leave? I wasn't expecting much of you anyway," and you get 4 Musubi points. Isamu tells you that he doesn't want to rely on you or Yuko any more--he is going to do things by himself. He heard the voice you and Chiaki did upon entering the Vortex--it told him to "Seek the truth." He didn't know what that meant for a long time, but says he found a clue being trapped here. Isamu says that you "can't find truth by relying on others. You need to find it within yourself." He says "I opened my own way...without anyone's help." He tells you that what he is looking for is in the Amara network--a great power, leading him to the truth. He uses the terminal to teleport somewhere. As you leave Mizuchi's room, you'll find Futomimi with some of his followers waiting for you. He says that he wanted to thank you again, and that the Manekata are going to go on a journey to try to find a way for them to live without having to suffer so much. In thanks, Futomimi decides to tell your future for you. He says that someone is waiting for you in Ginza. He leaves with the Manekata. Teleport back to Ginza, and you'll find Hijiri in the Terminal room. He comments on how nasty a guy Hikawa is, demolishing the Mantra army. Hijiri himself hasn't given up--if Hikawa makes a move, he can learn where the Nightmare System base is, and who the medium controlling it is. However, he's having a hell of a time trying to figure out what the deal with the terminals is, as Nihilo has a pretty tight control over all of them. In order to have unfettered access to Amara and the information therein, Hijiri needs to find a terminal that Nihilo has less control over. He says that the delapidated town of Asakusa is being rebuilt by the Manekata that were released by the destruction of Mantra, and thinks that might be a good place to look for a terminal not under strict Nihilo control. With the destruction of Mantra, but like everywhere else in the Vortex world it's infested with demons and far too dangerous for Hijiri to risk. Instead, he thinks the best thing to do would be to teleport there directly from the Terminal here in Ginza. However trying an unknown trip through Amara is dangerous (as you found out when he dumped you there) so it would be safest if you'd go to Asakusa, and contact him from there...then he could travel there safely. He asks if that plan is OK with you. No matter what you answer, you'll have to end up helping Hijiri--even if you refuse, he will argue you into agreeing with a bribe, saying he'll give you full access to all the information he's gleaned from the terminals so far. Hijiri says that while you head to Asakusa, he will continue to try and pull information from the Amara network, and that when you rendezvous in Asakusa, he will let you know what info he finds in the meantime. And of course, he gives you the location to the tunnel there--right east of Ikebukuro. Head out the east exit of the Mantra HQ, and then go south (around the ramp) to the Ikebukuro Tunnel. If you don't have any allies with Lightma, you should buy a few Light Balls in the Ikebukuro shop first--you're going to need them. ================================================================================ IKEBUKURO TUNNEL ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------- Medicine, Light Ball (3 x Yosei Troll fight) Blinding Sphere Soma Drops, 3 x Maseki Dekaja Stone Muscle Drink Hogyoku Murakumo Magatama Chakra Pot* Speed Incense* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 6 Gedo Slime Lv 13 Chirei Sudama Lv 16 Gedo Blob Lv 26 Yosei Kelpie Lv 28 Gedo Black Ooze Lv 31 Yoju Nue Lv 35 Chirei Sarutahiko Lv 43 Yoju Mothman NOTES: ------ This is a very long and difficult dungeon, so you probably won't want to tackle it all at once. You will need a lot of light-providing items or spells, since most of the dungeon is a Dark Area. Of the enemies that appear, Nue and Sarutahiko are the ones that you should be most worried about. Both are quite hardy, and Nue uses Mahamudo with annoying frequency. Sarutahiko can be downright deadly with his viciously powerful physical attacks, with Dragon's Eye as insult to injury--if you get back-attacked by him there could be real trouble. Keep an eye out for the Mothmen--they're not too tough, but give you absolutely fantastic experience for this part of the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the beginning of this dungeon, you'll find an Oni who will tell you that there four super-Oni running around in this dungeon--the same ones that Thor kicked out of the Mantra HQ earlier on. It warns you that they are very tough so to be wary of them. On B5F there's a Shinentai that will ask to pray for your path to be brightened. If you agree she'll give you a Light Ball. I don't know if this has any impact on the story or your alignment, but I don't think so. At the end of a tunnel on B4F, near a sub-terminal and over some damage floors, there is a Stone Chamber, where you'll find the first of the four Oni--Kinki-- sitting on a throne. He'll ask who the hell you are. Tell him and he'll attack you. BOSS: YOKI KINKI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOKI KINKI: HP: 3000 MP: 2000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Strong to Physical SKILLS: Yama-Oroshi, Venom Zapper, Heatwave, Reppu-Ha, Rampage, Charge, Hell Stab, Taru- Kaja, Raku-Kaja, Taru-Nda, Raku-Nda, De-Kunda, Dragon's Eye, Beast's Eye The first thing you'll probably notice is that Kinki has a ton of different Physical skills, and is REALLY powerful physically overall. Such that he'll probably be able to one-hit-kill your hero once he's buffed himself with Taru- Kaja (and de-buffed you with Raku-Nda) Physical attacks are next to worthless against him, so you'll have to focus on magic attacks. Using Fog-Breath to reduce his accuracy helps, but it's not foolproof, especially since he can cast De-Kunda. The real problem in this fight occurs when you whittle Kinki down a bit and piss him off. Every round he will use "Dragon's Eye" which will allow him four attacks per round. He'll then spend each round buffing himself to obscene levels then letting loose a really powerful physical attack. Odds are you won't be able to survive this onslaught until he's dead. There is a catch, however: Tetrakarn. Yoma Ongkot gets it at LV38, and you can buy Butsuhankyo at Rag's to have the same effect. (the former is much more cost-effective however) The minute Kinki gets pissed off, throw up your physical reflection shield. He'll end up killing himself as his super-powerful attack reflects back on himself. You may need to do this for more than one round to completely finish him off. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's a room on B3 that looks like it has absolutely nothing in it but a bunch of damage floor with one "island." The "island" is a pit. Drop through it and you can get to the Speed Incense box, in addition to the next Oni boss. In the next Stone Chamber, you'll find Suiki. He introduces himself and asks you to come over, promising not to do anything. If you say no, he gets mad and attacks you. BOSS: YOKI SUIKI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOKI SUIKI: HP: 3500 MP: 1500 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Absorbs Ice, Weak to Flame, Strong to everything else SKILLS: Ice Breath, Bufura, Mahabufura, Absolute Zero, Kiai, Hell Stab, Rampage, Beast's Eye, Dragon's Eye Suiki is substantially less tough than Kinki is, despite being a higher level and having more HP. He follows the same basic pattern as his comrade; attack each round using "Beast's Eye" and once he gets hurt, using "Dragon's Eye" to really step up the pace. Only unlike Kinki, Suiki has a weakness: fire. So bring in your Fire-users (and use Agi-stones if you don't have any yourself) and to really add insult to injury, pump up the magic strength with Maka-Kaja. Suiki uses physical and Ice attacks. Both are pretty tough, but if your Hero equips Wadatsumi or Miasma, he'll be immune to the Ice attacks and reduce Suiki's effectiveness. Arahabaki is totally immune to anything that Suiki can do so he is a great demon to bring into battle. When Suiki goes berserk, he'll only get two attacks per round if he uses group-effect skills since Arahabaki will block every one. Continue to use Fire spells and he'll drop like a fly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go up the stairs in the room on B3 adjacent to the one with the pit and damage floor, and you'll go up to an area with a save point and a door. You can't get into this door--yet. Once you defeat all three of the Oni it will open. Now, you can continue by it, out to the train station, and then go outside now if you want. But you want to find those other two Oni first, right? Right. So, when you get to the platform, rather than going to the surface, cross over to the other train track. At the path beyond other side of the train platform you will find your third Oni, Fuki. He's actually kind of nice to you...then asks to borrow some money in exchange for an introduction to a "hot girl." You can say "Yes" or "I'll kick your ass." He'll repeat the request three times then tell you to get lost after taking your money. If you choose to kick his ass....you kick his ass. Or at least try to. BOSS: YOKI FUKI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOKI FUKI: HP: 3500 MP: 1000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Absorbs Shock, Strong to Physical, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Zanma, Mahazan, Zandain, Tornado, Maka-Kaja, Rampage, Reppu-Ha, Hell Stab, Beast's Eye, Dragon's Eye Fuki is probably the least powerful of the four bosses here. He follows the same pattern as the others; Beast's Eye, then physical or Shock attack. He uses Maka- Kaja to boost his magic as well. Only thing is, he doesn't use his Shock attacks very often at all--rarely enough so that you probably don't need to equip Hifumi and still come out OK. He's weak to Electricity so use techniques like Discharge and Jionga to zap him. Add some Fog Breath to the mix to keep him from hitting you and you're pretty much set. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go back to the sealed room you passed earlier. As soon as you enter, Ongyoki, the boss of the four Oni, teleports into the room. And he's pissed as hell at you killing his buddies. He asks if you're the one who killed his friends and woke him up. Say yes and he attacks you. Say no and he attacks you too. BOSS: YOKI ONGYOKI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOKI ONGYOKI HP: 5500 MP:1500 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Bunshin, Taru-Kaja, Raku-Kaja, Suku-Kaja, Maka-Kaja, Anyaken, Fudoken, De-Kunda, Evil Eye, Mudo-On, Dragon's Eye Of the four Oni, Ongyoki can be either the hardest to defeat, or the easiest to defeat, depending on how you play the fight. Every round, he uses the "Bunshin" tactic to split into four separate images. Only one is real, and which one is real changes from round to round. All four images can attack and hurt you though, but if you attack a fake, it counts as a miss and your Press Turns deplete accordingly. And boy does Ongyoki dish out the pain. He has all sorts of devastating physical attacks, and with his buffing spells tacked on, he's almost guaranteed a one-hit kill on you. (600+ points of damage) Each round not only do you have to heal and buff your party, but you have to deal with FOUR of him simultaneously. There's a catch, however. And the catch is to fight him at a full Kagutsuchi. When Kagutsuchi is full, the "real" Ongyoki will cast a shadow, taking all the guesswork out of the fight. Hit the real Ongyoki once, and all his clones will disappear. He will then use the following pattern: Dragon's Eye, Taru-Kaja, Raku-Kaja, Suku-Kaja, Bunshin. Four more images, rinse, wash, and repeat. BEWARE THOUGH! If Ongyoki gets so that his buffing spells no longer will raise his stats, he will no longer bother with them and use his bonus actions to attack you instead before splitting into four again. He will probably kill you if he does this, so make sure to use some sort of stat-lowering ability on him each round, to keep him from maxing his buffs out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Ongyoki dies, he says "There is not always one truth...remember this..." Go into his back room, and pick up the Murakumo Magatama in the blue box. Now it's time to head topside, and go to Asakusa. ================================================================================ ASAKUSA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Shuma Whistle 3000 Makka Chigaeshi no Tama 2000 Makka 2x Maseki Diamond* Sapphire* Emerald* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 3 Chirei Kodama Lv 5 Chirei Kahaku Lv 13 Chirei Sudama Lv 13 Maju Inugami Lv 18 Maju Nekomata Lv 28 Yuki Pishacha Lv 28 Gedo Black Ooze Lv 31 Yoju Nue Lv 32 Kijo Yomotsu-Shikome Lv 34 Maju Orthrus Lv 35 Chirei Sarutahiko Lv 49 Chirei Titan NOTES: ------ Asakusa is an odd town in that it is divided up into several different unconnected sections. In order to travel from area to area, you will need to exit to the world map and re-enter other areas. Also, the north half of Asakusa- -and its treasures--is not immediately accessible when you first reach it. Finally, like Ginza, Asakusa is an area whose monster population changes over the course of the game. The demons listed above are the default enemies that you can meet there when you first get there--later on, tougher, higher-level monsters will join the roster. Asakusa is, in my opinion, the best "home base" location in the entire game. All the shops are easily accessible (and no enemy encounters in front of them so you can run in circles in front of the Jakyo Manor without being attacked until it's a full moon to do Sacrifice fusions) and the variety in the demons that appear there is second to none, (especially when the tougher enemies move in later on) making it a great place to pick up Nakama. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you enter Asakusa, you will discover that it is populated primarily by Manekata. After the escape from the clutches of Mantra, the Manekata returned here to build themselves a town, and are currently in the process of reconstruction. At the moment, there isn't a whole lot here as it's still under construction. You'll find the Junk Collector Manekata, who will tell you his plans to open a store (which, when opened, will be the best in the game) and talk of Futomimi, who is meditating in Mifunashiro, the Manekata Holy Land located in the center of Asakusa. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS Assuming you've seen the cutscene in the entrance room of the Third Calpa, you can now fight the first three of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first, White Rider, will appear right in front of the save point in Asakusa, so it's hard to miss him. If you run, however, he will chase you to every single save point in the game until you fight him. (IOW, if you avoid him, enter the terminal room, and warp to Shibuya, he will try and attack you in front of the Shibuya terminal, etc) When yanked into the sub-zone with White Rider, he greets you rather warmly (assuming you told Pale Rider that you were prepared to make the sacrifice--if you told him otherwise he probably says something different) He hopes that you will be able go gather all the Menorah, and attacks you to test you. BOSS: MAJIN WHITE RIDER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN WHITE RIDER HP/MP: 4000/1500 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Immune to Fire SKILLS: God Arrow, Prominence, De-Kaja, Dragon's Eye White Rider bucks the trend of "wimpy Majin" and goes back to being pretty tough. He always summons two Tenshi Virtues to help him with the fight (not super-powerful, but annoying nonetheless, especially since they'll spam Raku-nda on you) and uses Prominence with great frequency, to do really nasty fire damage to your party. His greatest weapon though is his God Arrow attack, which is an insta-kill Hama attack that never fails if the target is not immune. There is, however, a trick to winning this battle, as there is a demon that is practically tailor-made for this fight: Gunshin Valkyrie. (Her "pre-evolved" form, Yoma Dis, is also an acceptable substitute.) First, she absorbs Fire attacks, throwing a real wrench into White Rider's Prominence attacks. Second, she can cast Tetraja, which will nullify the effects of God Arrow. Lastly, she has Petra-Eye, a fantastic way to take care of those Virtues. Basically what I do is go into the fight with only the Hero (equipping Gehenna to absorb flame) and Valkyrie. I start out in the first round by passing the Hero's turn to Valkyrie, having her use Petra-eye to petrify the first Virtue, pass the hero's turn again and then use Petra-Eye again to petrify the second Virtue. This way I get both Virtues out of the way the first round so they can't cast Raku-nda. DON'T kill the petrified Virtues as White Rider will just summon more. The next round I have Valkyrie cast Tetraja, and from then on out just attack White Rider, as he pretty much can't do anything to even scratch me except for physical attacks, which A) he rarely does and B) are not hard to survive anyway. Once White Rider dies, just summon in all the allies you want to get experience for the fight, and kill the petrified Virtues. Easy EXP for your minions, without any of the risk! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating White Rider will win you the Menorah of Compassion. Once White Rider is defeated, Red Rider will be unlocked for you. Go back to Kamara and she'll tell you that she senses a Majin "In a long tunnel." This should be fairly obvious as to where he is. (What, it's not? Red Rider can be found right in front of the entrance to the Terminal in the Great Ginza Underpass) Like White Rider, Red Rider greets you kindly (again, assuming you didn't piss off the Riders in the 3rd Calpa--I don't know what he says otherwise) and applauds your skill at defeating White Rider, but warns you that he will not be beaten so easily. BOSS: MAJIN RED RIDER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN RED RIDER HP:4300 MP:1700 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, immune to Electricty SKILLS: Tera Sword, Shinkuha, Shockwave, De-Kunda, Dragon's Eye Red Rider is another potentially pretty tough Majin, and there isn't a sure-fire pattern to deal with him like White Rider. His prime attack is Tera-Sword, which is an attack that hits everyone for physical damage and Panics you as well. If your Hero has Mind Immunity you won't have to worry about the Panic, just bring a lot of Iwakura Water into the fight to heal your allies. Another alternative is to bring in a leveled Majin High Priest and have him cast his Distant Prayer to take care of the Panic AND heal the party. Red Rider summons in two Tenshi Powers, but if you still have Valkyrie (or Arahabaki, as he has it too) they can, and should, be petrified with Petra-Eye and saved till the end of the fight--if left to their own devices they'll cast Taru-Kaja, which will make Tera Sword brutally effective. Red Rider can also cast Shinkuha and Shockwave, which makes it tough to bring in demons with good resistances, as most Electricty-immune demons are weak to Shock and vice versa. What's most important is reducing the damage that he can do with Tera Sword, so Raku-kaja is an absolute necessity. He will always cast De-Kunda if his stats are reduced, so don't waste your time trying that. For extra safety, you can equip Murakumo or Kamudo (the latter only if you have Mind Immunity) to reduce his damage. So long as you don't do something dumb like bring in enemies weak to Shock or Electricity, it shouldn't be that difficult to beat him. And providing that you petrified the Powers, once Red Rider himself is dead you can revive any dead minions and swap in/out minions that need the experience the most before finishing the now-stone angels off. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating Red Rider will get you the Menorah of Wisdom. ################################################################################ Head into the terminal room, and you'll find Hijiri is already there waiting for you. He apologizes for asking you to come this far, when he managed to get here on his own after all. He tells you it took a lot of work but he was able to find a path to this terminal on his own. You learn from Hijiri that this is the Manekata town, and that they were originally made from the mud from the banks of the nearby river. Therefore, Asakusa is essentially the birthplace of the Manekata, and that is why they want to rebuild it. As Hijiri suspected, this terminal is not monitored by Nihilo, and he thinks he can investigate Nihilo and the Nightmare System from here. Hijiri can't figure out how to do it yet as he's just started studying the terminal, but thinks it won't take long. He tells you to go take a look around Asakusa in the meantime. The following is information on each of the "wards" within Asakusa: UPPER EAST ASAKUSA: ------------------- At the end of the hall on the ground floor is a Manekata child who challenges you to finish a video game he just beat. He says he'll give you a "insect-like creature" if you beat it. So, give it a whirl. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERLUDE: THE PUZZLE BOY GAME -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The object of this mini-game is to reach the spinning blue block with your Jack 'o Lantern. He can either push the grey turnstiles, or move the orange blocks to clear a path to the exit. You can drop an orange block into a hole on the ground to make it into a normal floor. There are 20 levels in total, and you need to beat all of them to claim your prize. You really should beat these levels on your own as it's much more satisfying that way. However, if you get really stuck, here are the solutions for each of the levels LEVEL 1: Simple enough. Go through the turnstile, push the orange block up two spaces, then go through the turnstile again to gain access to the blue sphere. LEVEL 2: Push the orange block down one space, then push the turnstile at the top to allow you to push the block over to the left wall. Push it up one space, move the turnstile to gain access, then push it in the hole to gain access to the blue cube. Level 3: Not really hard at all--push the block up to the upper-left corner, while using the turnstiles to access the right places to push it. lEVEL 4: The grid is set up as follows: ___ | 1 | __| a |_ baA 2 B 3 __bcC 4 | c |- |_5_| Push 2 and 4 both one square left, then push 3 up (or down, doesn't really matter) Push 2 and 4 as far up and down as possible. Go through turnstile A twice, then Turnstile C once to free up turnstile B to get to the goal. Level 5: This level is tough to explain, so here's a complete walkthrough: L, U, L, U, R, R, R, U, U, L, R, U, R, R, D, L, U, R, R, D, D, R, U, L, L, D, D, L, U, U, L, L, L, D, D, R, L, L, D, R, U, L, L, D, D, R, R, R, D, R, Level 6: L, L, L, U, U, L, L, U, L, D, R, R, R, D, D, L, U, R, U, L, L, U, L, L, D, R, D, R, R, D, D, L, L, R, R, U, U, U, L, L, U, L, L, D, R, D, R, U, L, U, L, D, D, D, L, L, L, L LEVEL 7: U, L, L, L, L, D, D, D, D, U, U, L, L, D, R, U, L, L, D, R, U, L, L, D, D, D, L, L, U, U, U, R, R, R, U, L, L, U, L, D, D, D, D, U, U, R, R, D, L, U, R, R, D, D, D, L, L, L, L, L, L, L, U LEVEL 8: L, U, L, L, U, L, D, U, U, L, U, L, L, L, D, R, R, U, R, D, R, R, R, U, U, R, R, R, R, U, L, L, D, R, D, L, L, U, L, D, D, L, L, L, L, L, L, L, U, U, U, R, D, D, L, D, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, L, D, D, L, U, R, U, L, L, L, R, R, R, D, D, D, RR, U, L, D, L, U, R, U, L, L, D, L, U, U, U, U, U, R, R, L, L, L, L, L, L, D, D, D, D, R, U, U, U, L, U, R, R, R, D, R, U, R, R, U, U, D, D, L, U, R, U, L, L, L, L, U LEVEL 9: U, R, U, U, U, U, U, L, L, L, L, L, U, R, R, R, R, D, D, L, U, R, D, D, D, D, D, L, L, L, L, U, U, L, L, U, R, R, R, R, L, L, U, U, R, D, D, D, D, U, R, R, R, D, D, L, L, L, D, D, D, L LEVEL 10: This room would take far too long to do a step-by-step walkthrough, so I'll just put the key to the room here: There's a big hole at the bottom of the level that looks like the figure below (Xs are holes) You need to place the four 2-square blocks into the hole in the following pattern (1, 2, 3, and 4 being the blocks): 5555 X1234XXX *XXXX1234XXX Then, place one of the four-square blocks in the position of "5", push it all the way down, and into the hole to give you access to the cube. LEVEL 11: This isn't too hard. Position the left and right turnstiles in the following manner: A B C D H 2 2 2 1222 1222 1 22 1222 11 2 11* 11 2 111 1 1 1* * Level 12: D, D, D, L, D, R, R, R, U, L, U, U, U, U, R, D, R, R, D, L, L, U, L, D, D, D, L, L, D, D, R, U, L, U, R, U, U, R, R, R, R, R, R, D, D, D, L, L, L, R, R, R, U, U, L, D, U, U, L, L, L, L, L, D, D, R, R, R, L, L, L, L, D, D, R, U, L, U, R, U, U, R, R, R, R, R, R, D, D, D, L, L, L, L, R, R, R, R, U, U, L, D, D, D, R, D, L, L, L, L LEVEL 13: U, U, U, L, U, L, D, L, L, D, D, R, U, L, U, R, R, U, R, D, R, D, D, D, D, L, L, D, L, L, U, U, U, U, L, U, L, U, R, R, L, D, D, R, D, D, D, D, R, R, U, R, R, U, U, U, U, L, L, L, L, U, L, D, R, R, R, R, R, D, D, L, U, R, U, L, L, L, L, U, L, L, D, R, U, R, D, D, D, D, D, D, R, D, L, L, L, D, R, U, U, R, R, R, U, R, R, D, L, L, L, L, L, D, D, L, U, U, U, U, L, L, L, L, L STAGE 14: This level is not actually all that hard--you just need to push each block into a new hole to get access to a new block. Just put them in the following order: Top Center---Left Center--Right Center--Lower Left--Upper Right--Lower Right-- Upper Left--Exit STAGE 15: This is a devious stage. What you have to do is get both of the two-square blocks into the center of the big hole in the middle, then push the big block into the final gap. This is difficult, but there's a trick to it; maneuver the turnstiles so there's a three-square hole and you can temporarily push the big block out of the center to make room for each of the little blocks. STAGE 16: The trick to this stage is that it looks substantially more difficult than it actually is. You can totally ignore ALL the push-blocks except for the few at the beginning of the stage. Just go via the top of the field and maneuver the turnstiles to clear a path to the exit. STAGE 17: This one isn't really hard at all. You just need to maneuver the block to the lower-left hand of the screen. The most straightaway path is the best, though you'll have to make a couple of turnstile-laden turns. STAGE 18: Again, this one isn't too difficult. You just need to maneuver the turnstiles to make enough space either on the left or the right to push the block all the way through. STAGE 19: All right, this monster is a real doozy, easily the hardest level of them all. To start with, move as far right as you can, turning the first turnstile and dropping the 2-block-bar into the hole. Next, push the 3-block-bar below you as far down as you can. This will open up access to a hole; head up to the upper- right alcove and push the block there down four spaces and drop it into this hole. Now, swivel around and push the 3-block-bar up back to its original position. There is a single orange block near where the 3-block bar is--push this block into the upper-left alcove. We'll come back to it in a bit. Around the center of the field is a 2-block-bar. You are going to want to push it into into the 2-block hole slightly to the right and down. To do this, you'll have to go through the turnstile counterclockwise, but that's OK. Once the 2-block-hole is filled, circle around through the upper-right alcove and push the 3-bar down as far as it will go. Swivel around, push it up one space, then push it left one space. Now, go back to the block you left in the alcove, and push it all the way down into the hole right above the T-turnstile. Rotate this T-Turnstile 90 degrees clockwise. You now have access to the three holes at the very bottom "line" of the field. Push the three remaining blocks in. The blocks on the far left and lower left will have to be maneuvered "under" the large 6-block rectangle--push the rectangle up one space to create a path you can push the blocks through. The upper-most hole will require you to play with the turnstiles, but it should be reasonably straightforward from here on out. LAST STAGE: This stage is convoluted, but not all that difficult. However, since I've gotten several requests to that order, I'm going to give a full detailed walkthrough for this level. Here's a quickie layout: .. ..A.2.B* A-G = blocks .1..2..C a-g = Where blocks A-G need to be dropped 11.D..3. 1-5 = Turnstiles ..1#4433.. . = Open Space ..##...Ec. # = Holes .....##. * = Starting position a5..#.F. d5.Gg... First, drop block C into hole c. Then, turn turnstile #3 b .. 90 degrees to the right so you can get behind it. Go down e and drop block G into hole g. Then go through turnstile f #2 and then loop all the way to the left of the stage, going through turnstile #1, so you're on the left side of block A. Move A one space to the right, then rotate #1 back to its original position, and move D one space to the right. Then push turnstile #4 down. Loop all the way around to the right of the stage, (going through turnstile 3) until you're to the right of block A. Move it two spaces to the left. Now, push turnstile 2 90 degrees counterclockwise so that it's pointing "up." Now move block D one space left, rotate around, and then push it one space up. Now move turnstile #2 so it's pointing "down." Push block D down 5 spaces, so it's sitting one block above where block G's initial position was. Now you have room to move around the stage more freely. Rotate around to the left of block A (pushing turnstile #1 counterclockwise in the process), and it two spaces right, 5 spaces down, so that it's right above block D. Loop around top, moving turnstile 3 90 degrees clockwise, and pushing turnstile 4 so it's pointing left. Now you can move block A as far left as it will go. Loop all the way around the level through turnstile 1 so that you're right above block A--drop it into hole a. One down, four to go. Loop all the way around the stage until you're below block D--push it up one space. Loop again through the stage (going through turnstile 3) until you're to the right of block D--push it all the way to the left. Loop through again until you're above block D, and push it into hole d. Now the main obstacles are out of the way, and it should be pretty clear sailing for the rest of the stage. Clear a path using turnstiles 2 and 4 so that you can push block B three spaces to the left, and then down 5 spaces. Loop around, moving turnstile 4, and move block B three spaces to your left. Loop around all the way through the stage through turnstile 1 (you should be getting a hang of this by now) and push block B into hole b. Manuever turnstiles 2 and 4 so they're both pointing up, make sure turnstile E's two points are poiting up and right, then maneuver behind block E and push it all the way left. Back through turnstile 1 until you're above block E, then push it down one square and left 3 squares. Through turnstile 1 again until you're above block E--push it into hole e. Making sure that turnstiles 2 and 4 are still both pointing up, and turnstile 3 is in its "original" position, push block F one space right, and 2 spaces up. Loop all the way through the stage until you're to the right of block F (you'll have to move turnstile #2) and then push it 4 spaces to the left. This should be old hat by now--go round through Turnstile 1, push block F down, loop around again, push it left, loop around again, push it into the final hole. Once you've completed all 20 stages, the Manekata boy will give you the Magatama Geis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPPER SOUTHEAST ASAKUSA: ------------------------ Not much to be found here but two exits--the upper leads to a box outside with a Mahankyo, and the the other leads further on. ASAKUSA LOWER SOUTHWEST ----------------------- There's a subterminal here. There are Manekata here talking about Futomimi meditating so he can see the future. There's another Manekata worrying about Isamu's hat, oddly enough. MIFUNASHIRO: ----------- Enter Mifunashiro and go up to the central door. It opens--Futomimi is there, and he greets you. Futomimi tells you that he foresaw your coming, and knows the two of you will run into each other many times in the near future--but that's all he can see at the moment. Futomimi asks if you've looked around the town, and says that he's glad that everyone is willing to rebuild without complaining. They are excited, because Asakusa is the first town they can call their own. Futomimi tells you the place that you are in right now is their holy ground, Mifunashiro. Beyond the door he stands at lies the place that all the Manekata were born, and Futomimi says that even though you saved all their lives, as an outsider he cannot let you through. He apologizes for the rudeness, and says he is going to return to his prayers. Futomimi says that he needs to find out what he needs to do to create a world where the Manekata can live in happiness and must focus on that task at the moment. In passing, he tells you to be careful of a Manekata named "Sakahagi." Sakahagi is apparently a "blight on the face of the Manekata", and very violent. Futomimi thinks he is probably hanging about Asakusa and may cause trouble for you. Hijiri isn't done examining the terminal yet, so let's investigate the rest of Asakusa. Head to the west from the T-junction from the main area of Asakusa. ASAKUSA WEST: ------------- Uh-oh...nasty things are afoot here. There's blood everywhere as soon as you enter. Talk to the wounded Manekata, and he'll tell you that Sakahagi did this to him, and that he is on a rampage further into the area. Follow the blood trail to the door with blood splattered all over it and go in. Inside is a strange Manekata laughing over a victim, saying "if you gave me your Manekata you wouldn't have had to end up like this." He tells the victim that it was foolish for such a weakling to oppose him...but he was able to "get his skin" because he did. The Manekata turns around and notices you. You'll see what he is talking about--he has skinned the faces of all his victims and wears them like a coat. The Manekata gets surprised, but then lets his guard down a bit when he realizes you aren't more Manekata out to stop him. He tells you that the other Manekata themselves are weak, but they is a stronger one about that has been causing him trouble. He wishes this "troublemaker" had been killed in Ikebukuro, but says that since he brought a bunch of weaker friends with him, more Magatsuhi-fresh targets arrived. The Manekata says he's going to gather Magatsuhi and conquer the demons. He notes that you're a demon, and asks if you're after fresh Magatsuhi too. You can either say "I want it" or "I don't want it." What you say has no impact on your alignment or the story, though the Manekata will say "I bet we're gonna be good friends" if you say you do. The skin-clad Manekata leaves, saying that maybe you'll meet again. He tells you to remember his name--he is Sakahagi, and one day he will rule the demons. Go back to the terminal and talk to Hijiri, who says he's figured out the Nightmare System. "You've got to see this to believe it" he says and tells you to have a look. What you'll see is a massively tall tower. Hijiri tells you that it's the Obelisk, located in Chiyoda. The Obelisk is the core of the Nightmare System, and the primary location for Nihilo's Magatsuhi collection. In other words, it's the Nihilo's seat of power. Hijiri conjectures that it is probably being run by the Nihilo medium. He doesn't know what they're going to do with it, but it contains an immense amount of power. Hijiri is itching to go himself, but knows he'll be creamed if he tries. However, he says he still can't sit by and give the world to Hikawa, so yet again turns to you for help. Hijiri asks if you could go to the Obelisk, stop the Medium, and return the flow of Magatsuhi back to normal in the Vortex World. Hijiri informs you that you can get to Chiyoda via the back entrace to the Nihilo Organization headquarters. He tells you that once you get there, can use this terminal to crack its lock. Hijiri warns you that it won't be easy to get in, but is sure you can do it. Go back to Ginza, then leave and go east until you get to the highway ramp in Harumi, near the Harumi Warehouse. However, this time instead of entering the Warehous, you'll want to take the ramp all the way to the west of the Nihilo base and enter the "back door." By the Tokyo Tower in Shiba is a treasure chest with a Succubus in it, too. (She drops a Ruby) ================================================================================ NIHILO REVISITED ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Hogyoku Medicine Tetraja Stone ENEMIES: -------- Lv 23 Yoma Dis Lv 25 Yama Incubus Lv 29 Datenshi Eligor Lv 37 Yama Succubus NOTES: ------ There is actually very little to say here, as this really is just another branch of the same Nihilo dungeon you were in before. The only thing you really need to be careful of are the Succubi. They will use the lethal Dorminer--Endless Sleep combo which can be annoying to say the least. The dungeon is pretty short anyhow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Nihilo, take the elevator to B15. It's dark in here so you may need a Lightma spell or Light Sphere. Careful of the boxes, the one in the west chamber is a poison trap, and the one in the northeast chamber is a high-damage trap. Ignore the core, and keep going east onward into the complex. Head down the long dark hallway and take the elevator at the end back up to the first floor. You are now in the Nihilo "Marunouchi." Exit, and head south to the Obelisk. You can nab the box with 3 Maseki in it on the way. If you go past the Obelisk and climb the small hill to Kudan, you can find another box with 10,000 Makka in it. If you go ALL the way around behind the Obelisk, you can find a Hogyoku and a Shinnentai that talks about a hero that once invisioned a utopian Tokyo--Taira Masakado, who still protects the city today. You can see a shrine to Masakado nearby. You may be visiting this place...MUCH later though. Enter the Obelisk. ================================================================================ THE OBELISK ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Dis-Close 2 x Chakra Drop 4 x Maseki Iwakura Water Hogyoku Dekaja Stone 8000 Makka Medicine Medicine Soma Drops Far Sight Telescope Jade* Great Chakra* Soma* Magic Incense* Chakra Pot* Hogyokuwa* Hangonko* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 19 Yoma Koppa Tengu Lv 23 Yoma Dis Lv 25 Yama Incubus Lv 28 Yoma Karasu Tengu Lv 29 Datenshi Eligor Lv 30 Jashin Arahabaki Lv 33 Jashin Baphomet Lv 37 Yoma Ongkot Lv 37 Datenshi Berith Lv 37 Yama Succubus Lv 42 Gedo Phantom Lv 45 Jashin Pazuzu NOTES: ------ This is a LONG dungeon. There are 33 floors in total that you'll have to climb (even though the Obelisk itself is 150 stories high) and you're going to have to face a whole lot of enemies on the way up. Especially if you're on a repeat run through the game, take the dungeon on one step at a time, and go in loaded with healing items. The enemies themselves are not all that much tougher than what you've dealt with so far, but the sheer number of them is daunting. Also, Arahabaki turns up here as an enemy, and is your first Physical-Immune enemy you'll have to deal with, so be prepared with spellcasters of some sort. It's a good idea not to equip any Weak-to-Shock Magatama in here, as the Pazuzu will make short work of you if you do. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside the Obelisk, a Shinnentai will tell you that it (the Obelisk) is the tallest structure in Tokyo, and the closest to Kagutsuchi. You'll also learn the human medium is at the top floor. On 15F you will feel a strong presence. Three girls above you appear. The first is identified as the "emotionless girl" and is laughing. "Just like Master Hikawa predicted, the dirty rat has appeared." The second sister, "Arrogant woman" says you are probably here to take back "that woman" but that the three sisters are not as stupid as Ose. The third, "cold-hearted woman" tells you that if you want the woman, you have to go through them, but you'll have to get through the anti-intrusion traps first. The emotionless one says "Kagutsuchi will not wait for you," and they disappear. On 24F, you'll learn from a Shinentai who they are--the Moirai Sisters. (also known as the Greek Fates) On 32F, you'll get your first puzzle. There are two blocks, each with symbols on it. The left has one, and the right has three. These stand for phases of the moon. As soon as you touch the light ball, Kagutsuchi will turn New, and you need to change the phase to that of the "answer", in this case, 4/8. Stepping on the block with one symbol advances time by 1 phase, the right by three. If you step on blocks long enough to make Kagutsuchi revolve all the way back to 0/8, the floor will drop from under you and you'll fall to a lower level and have to return to complete the puzzle. This first puzzle is easy enough--step on 3, then on 1. On 40F you'll learn the central pillar is sending the Magatsuhi it gathers to the underground--as you saw the large amount when you entered. On 52F you will find your second challenge. There are actually TWO different blocks that can be lowered, an 8-block and a 4 block. To get past the 4/8 block, step in the following pattern: 3-4-2-1-2. To get past the 8/8-block, step on 1-3-4. On 60F, you will be presented with a large area with five moving platforms. Only one leads to the exit. The way you're supposed to do it is get one wrong then look down at the pattern to figure out which platform will move where. (whenever there's a left-right path in the wall, the platform will take it) If you're lazy, the "correct" one is the second from the left. (but you won't get the Soma if you go straight there) On 70F, a Shinnentai says that he can hear a woman screaming from the top of the pillar in the center of the tower...hmm.. On 77F you'll find a fourth save terminal, and a Jakyo Manor right next door. You'll also be presented with two new puzzles. The solution to the puzzle on the right: 2-1-4-1-4 for 4/8. 1-2-2-3 for 8/8. The solution to the puzzle on the left: Just keep running back and forth between 0 and the 3 in front of the 4 cube for 4/8. For 8/8, 3-1-3-1 will do the trick. On 99F there's a heal spot. Right before the passage up is a Shinnentai that will tell you the Treasure of the Obelisk is located below, but nobody has ever gotten it. If you want it take the elevator down. If you don't, go ahead on up the stairs. Assuming you're going for the treasure, you'll have to deal with another, trickier puzzle. Once again you will be faced with a "moonlight puzzle." The solutions are 2-3-2- 1 for 8/8 and 1-2-1-2-1-2-3 for 4/8. 4/8 leads down all the way to B2F. The south box is a Close trap--don't open it. However, the Far Sight Telescope is down here--an infinite-use Analyze item. You'll definitely want that. Go back and head up. Keep going up till you reach 114F. There's a save terminal there...you might want to use it. There's a Shinnentai there that mentions that of the three Moirai sisters, Clotho is "birth" and Atrophos is "death." He forgets what Lachesis is, but his statement is important. The elevator on 118F leads to 128F. Here you'll fight the Moirai Sisters. First, however, you'll have to solve another puzzle. You'll note that there are three marked blocks: two "4" platforms on the left and right, and one "8" platform in the middle. A Moiai sister is on each of the blocks; Atropos on the left, Lachesis in the middle, and Clotho on the right. If you summon one, you must fight her. The trick here is that you must fight ALL THREE of the sisters within a single lunar rotation, or the floor will disappear and you'll have to do the whole thing over again. Hint: The birth order of the sisters and what they represent is the key. If you can't figure out, here's the key--birth comes first and death comes last, so you have to fight Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos in that order. STILL can't figure it out? If the following was a diagram of the area: Lachesis _____V_____ Atropos ->| A | B | C | <- Clotho |---+---+---| | D | E | F | `-----------' The exact path would be: E-F-C-Fight Clotho. F-E-F-E-B-Fight Lachesis A-B-A-Fight Atropos Each of the individual sisters isn't too hard--after taking a nominal amount of damage they will run. Just don't do anything stupid and you'll probably be OK. Once you've gotten all three sisters to run away, you can go on to 140F. However, don't immediately rush up to the top of the tower--go around to the rear area of the floor and you can descend to 135F where some goodies await you. (They're all in Magic Boxes though, so you'll probably spend a good deal of time here...) Up on the 142nd floor, the three Moirai sisters will face you all at once. BOSS: MOIRAI SISTERS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KIJO CLOTHO HP: 2000 MP:1000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Dia, Media, Medirama, Diarama, De-Kunda, Marin-Karin, Mahanma KIJO LACHESIS HP: 2000 MP: 1000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Maka-Kaja, Raku-Kaja, Tetrakarn, Makalakarn, De-Kunda, Taru-nda KIJO ATROPOS HP: 3000 MP: 1500 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Agirao, Bufura, Jionga, Zanma, Maharagion, Mahabufura, Majionga, Mahazanma When all three Fates are facing you, they can be pretty tough. Atropos attacks you with powerful magic. Clotho heals herself and her sisters if they need it. Lachesis buffs her sisters with support spells, primarily Maka-Kaja. She also casts Tetrakarn, Taru-nda, and casts De-kunda occasionally in case you've depeleted some stats. Atropos is the sister on the offensive, attacking you with powerful spells of all four elements. The most important spell you can bring into this battle is probably De-Kaja. Cast it on the sisters as much as possible because if Lachesis boosts their magic power high enough with Maka-Kaja, Clotho will heal damage faster than you can deal it, and Atropos will deal spell damage faster than you can heal it. If you don't have De-Kaja, you pretty much HAVE to buff your party with either Taru-kaja or Maka-kaja (or both) in order to get your damage and healing up to a respectable enough level to counteract the 400+ points of healing per round Clotho deals out. Overall I'd focus on taking out Clotho first (her healing is a royal pain) before trying to deal with her sisters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the Fates dead, you will receive the Djed Magatama. Step into the light in 142F and go to the top of the building. On the top of the building, you will find Yuko suspended upside-down, funneling Magatsuhi into a pyramid-like thing. You release her and all the Magatsuhi- gathering stops. Yuko thanks you, and says she had a feeling you would come after her. She says it's ironic that she told you she would be there to help you whenever you needed it, and it turned out that she was the one that needed saving. She tells you that she neither had the power to change the world or even herself--she was merely tricked by Hikawa. He apparently told her "You will become the Center of the New World," but she didn't realize that she would only be a tool to collect Magatsuhi. She says that she agreed to help him recreate the world, but the world she wants can't come like this. Her primary motivation for helping in the Fertilization was that she didn't like the old world, as everyone just looked out for their own comfort irresponsibly--nobody was looking to better themselves, etc. She thought that humanity would lose their power and die out...and thus was able to be used by Hikawa. Yuko says that not everything is finished--the rebuilding of the world is still going on, and the final form has not yet been decided. She says that she "found her goddess" here, the goddess called here by the power of the Magatsuhi. She is sure that her goddess will give her the rules for the new world, and looks into the sky. While what happens next looks an awful lot like a passing pigeon overhead left a "present" on Yuko's face, but the splat on her face indicates that she has been possessed by her goddess. The mysterious goddess identifies herself as Aradia, arrived from the depths of Amara. She says her job is to bring freedom and release everyone. Aradia tells you that with freedom, light and darkness will return to the world. She tells you to "head for creation" and gives you power, finally maxing out your Demon stock. Aradia says that the "this woman, who has lost her power, will regain it." Afterwards she (Yuko) will go down the path of new creation, and Aradia will guide her. She tells you to see the world, and your creation will begin from there. Aradia/Yuko disappears. The old lady and the blond boy reappear. "Oh my, so Aradia is now in this world? This could get interesting, master" says the old woman. The boy whispers to the old lady, and she thanks him. The old woman says that the child has decided to give you the gift of knowledge, and tells you to listen closely. The Vortex World is starting to reach the point of its new creation. It will be created under a "Kotowari"--a set of rules--and people will start fighting to decide what set the world will get. She tells you to work toward whatever Kotowari you want...or have your Kotowari destroyed. She only asks you not to bore the child with a meaningless death. They're gone, again. This is more or less the turning point of the game. The event where Chiaki told you about Yosuga notwithstanding, all the really major plot decisions are going to occur from here on out, as the battle for the dominant Kotowari starts to escalate. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS Now that the Obelisk is finished, you can fight Black Rider. Much like Red Rider, Black Rider will only be unlocked once the first two Horsemen are defeated. To find where he is, again, return to Kamara. She says that he's "in a hospital." Her hints are usually pretty easy, but this one takes the cake for simplicity! Unlike White Rider and Red Rider, Black Rider doesn't say much before attacking you. Just a standard short shpiel about how you must be tested. BOSS: MAJIN BLACK RIDER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN BLACK RIDER: HP: 4600 MP: 1800 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Absorbs Ice SKILLS: Soul Balance, Absolute Zero, Megidoraon, Megidora, Dragon's Eye Black Rider can be a tough nut to crack if you don't prepare. If you do, he's no sweat. First off, instead of summoning Tenshi, he summons Yuki Legions instead. They are VERY dangerous! They seem to be "custom" Legions, and will cast Maka-Kaja. Considering that Black Rider casts Megidoraon, the most powerful attack spell in the game, this is no laughing matter--powered up by the Legions, he can easily wipe out a fully-healed party in one fell swoop. Therefore, you need a way to neutralize the Legions. They can't be petrified like the Tenshi of White/Red Rider, but Close magic does work well on them. (One of the only times in the game that status ailment is really useful!) Otherwise, you absolutely have to have a De-Kaja caster to negate their buffing, or you're toast. Without the buffing to aid him, Black Rider is substantially easier to defeat, as he focuses almost entirely on magic to attack. Furthermore, he can't seem to negate -Kaja or -Nda spells, so if you weaken his attack magic with War Cry you can take a lot of punch out of him. Black Rider only uses one "unique" spell, and that is Soul Balance. Soul Balance is essentially like Divine Retribution in that it halves the HP of the entire party, only it does Magic rather than Hama damage, and occasionally Closes targets as well. However, this can be negated easily by bringing High Priest into the fight, as he will actually be HEALED by this skill. Equipping Djed on your Hero will help too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating Black Rider will net you the Menorah of Knowledge. ################################################################################ Head back to the Asakusa Terminal. Hijiri is waiting for you. He says that he could tell from here that the flow of Magatsuhi had gone back to normal. You learn that Nihilo has ground to a halt, and should not be able to do anything for a while. Asks you how you managed to stop the giant Magatsuhi gatherer with the Nihilo medium running it. You get three choices: "I freed her" "I killed her" "I won't tell you" If you say you freed her: "Oh, so she was just being used by Hikawa?" Hijiri says. He comments that he doesn't know what she's going to do now, but with the Nightmare System stopped, it doesn't really matter. I killed her: Hijiri is a bit disappointed, since she was one of the few remaining humans, but says there's probably nothing that could have been done. I won't tell you: Hijiri is surprised, but understands that something you don't want to talk about may have happened. Says he won't ask you anything more about it. None of these choices actually affect your alignment ratings. Hijiri tells you that he feels bad, always having you do stuff for him, and says that the least he can do for you is fill you in on everything he's learned so far. You can say: "Let me hear it" "No thanks" It doesn't matter what you say--even if you say no, Hijiri says "Don't say that, it will come in useful" and tells you anyway. Hijiri tells you that in order to create a new world, some sort of plan, a basic idea for what sort of world will be made, must be present. This sort of plan is called a "Kotowari." In order to actually get that Kotowari, you need the blessing of a great god called a "Guardian." The reason that you need all the Magatsuhi to create the world is connected with this Guardian--to summon it Guardian, you need a ton of Magatsuhi. Hikawa was gathering all the Magatsuhi in an attempt to summon his guardian. Hijiri also tells you that he met a human in the Amara Network...Isamu. He asks if you know him. If you say no he's skeptical since he heard rumors you were trying to save him. Also your Musubi points go up by 8 if you say no too. Hijiri says that Isamu has become a full-fledged resident of the Amara network. If he screws up though, he might be sent somewhere odd or be swallowed by Amara entirely. Hijiri says that if you want, he can send you to where he saw Isamu, so you can save him by pulling him out of the Network. Now, at this point you have a choice. You can let Hijiri teleport you into the Amara network. However, if you wander the town, you'll learn that the North wing of Asakusa has been rebuilt now. You can go check it out if you want. The place has tons of Chirei in in it. They want peaceful coexistance though, and won't attack when you talk to them. A Kahaku will tell you that something strange has been going down in Ikebukuro, and Hikawa has been spotted there. A Kodama will tell you there's good info to be heard in the Ginza Bar and the Shibuya disco. So, go and check out the Shibuya disco--you will profit for it. In Shibuya disco, the info is that in the main plaza, there's someone who has been holding Sabbaths whenever Kagutsuchi is full. The entrance there is hidden behind a building, but is easy to find if you use your automap. The map is a big circle, but there's a big hole in it at around 300 degrees. Go in that "hole" and you'll find a door into the Sabbath hall. Inside (on a full Kagutsuchi) are two Makenata talking to Baphomet. The right one is pissed off that everyone makes fun of him because he's a Manekata. So he's going to summon a "Noble demon" and beat up everyone. The left one agrees and says, "Summon the great Mara!" Baphomet tells them "I told you, it's not time to summon him yet." He says if everything isn't perfect, bad things could happen upon his summoning. The right one tells him to hurry up--he doesn't want guys making fun of him to live a second longer. The two Manekata look to you to back them up. You can say: "Hurry up" "Be patient." If you tell them to be patient, they'll kick you out. If you tell them to hurry up, Baphomet chuckles and says "You might regret this, you know?" He starts the summoning....and it screws up, summoning an imperfect, Slime-like Mara. The Manekata freak with panic, and Mara is pissed as hell. BOSS: MAOU MARA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAOU MARA HP: 2300 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflect Curse, Strong to Attack Magic SKILLS: Abyssal Tone, Marin-Karin, Meikai-ha, Diarahan, Hell Stab, De-Kaja, Mahazanma, Makajamaon You CAN fight Mara now, but did I say you SHOULD? You may have noticed that Mara is a LOT tougher than most of the other bosses you've fought so far. He's an optional boss, so you don't have to fight him right now. If you can't take him on now, you can always come back later. Want to try to take him out now anyway? OK. There's a trick to this battle. Mara only has 2300 HP, but casts Diarahan every round, which refills him to full--so you have to do more than that amount of damage in a single round. His Meikaiha and Abyssal Tone are both really powerful. One is a physical attack, and the other is a Magic-based attack. Make sure you don't have any demons weak to Magic in this battle. (Which means Arahabaki is out, even though his physical immunity is an asset--if you want to have a physical Press-Turn eater, you'll need Lv56 Shikioji at least) There are two spells/skills that are key to making this battle easy. One is Tetrakarn, (or a Butsuhankyo) and the other is Taunt. You will need them on separate characters though. Have one character Taunt the hell out of Mara, reducing his defense to nothing and sending his attack power through the stratosphere. The other should cast Tetrakarn every round. When a fully Taunted Mara uses his Meikai-ha, he will do over 1000 points of damage per hit--reflected 4 times with Tetrakarn, easily enough to kill him. Of course, this strategy is not foolproof--you'll still have to deal with his Abyssal Tone, so someone with healing ability and immunity to Magic will help as well. Especially if that's the taunter or the Tetrakarn caster. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the battle ends, you'll find that Baphomet and the Manekata have fled. However, the Muspell Magatama is lying on the floor for you to claim. Now that that's done, talk to Hijiri and have him teleport you into Amara. ================================================================================ THE AMARA NETWORK REVISITED ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Discharm Medicine Maseki Chakra Drop Mahankyo Mahankyo ENEMIES: -------- Lv 7 Gedo Moryo Lv 7 Seirei Earthies Lv 11 Seirei Aeros Lv 15 Seirei Aquans Lv 20 Seirei Flamies Lv 25 Mitama Aramitama Lv 29 Mitama Nigimitama Lv 32 Mitama Kushimitama Lv 35 Mitami Sakimitama Lv 42 Gedo Phantom Lv 49 Yuki Legion NOTES: ------ This trip through the Amara Network is substantially shorter than the last. The only enemy you really have to keep an eye out for is Legion. Legions cast Mahamudo-on, Hell's Eye, Tetrakarn, and generally make a nuisance out of themselves. A few good Hama-users are very useful down here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In your first "thin space" room, Hijiri will ask you if you've found Isamu yet. If you lie and say yes, he'll tell you to get out ASAP, as his terminal is acting funny. If you tell the truth and say no, Hijiri tells you to check further in, but to get out as soon as you find him, as his terminal is unusually unstable. Further in on B1F, you'll find a Shinnentai that will warn you that the residents of Amara don't like to be bothered and tells you not to go on...and when you do, you will find a great deal of Shinnentai that very much agree. They will each say something like "I don't need anyone else" and shuts off your passage further. There's only one way through the room. After the first Shinnentai appears, turn right and go north around the corner. Another Shinnentai will appear and block off your passage. Turn left, pass the first intersection, and turn right at the second intersection. Go around the corner (to the east) and turn north at the final intersection to leave. If you make a mistake, you can reset the room by going through the west-most or east-most corridor. The next floor, 1F, has a similar puzzle. It's also fairly easily solved--east at the first intersection, west and the second, north at the third (keep heading north till you hit a wall) and then north at the final intersection to leave. Further in, after the second save point, your old buddy Spectre will teleport in...he's been looking for you. He attacks you for a rematch! BOSS: GEDO SPECTRE (6 of 'em) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GEDO SPECTRE HP: 980 MP:29 (can go higher, seemingly has no max limit) AFFINITY: Boss Resistances, Totally immune to all attack magic. SKILLS: De-Kunda, Megido, Drink Magic Spectre summons a bunch of his buddies as usual. After the first round, they will attempt to cast Megido on you. However, they don't have enough MP to do it, so they will start using Drink Magic to absorb your MP and then cast it on you. Megido is a very powerful spell, and there is no demon (or Magatama) in the game that can resist or block it--not even Makalakarn will stop it. The best strategy I've found for this fight is to bring only the Hero into the fight to start with, along with a depleted MP supply, the lower the better. The Spectres will quickly drain you dry of MP (hopefully not too many will get a drain off) and once you hit 0 MP, they can no longer cast Megido, as they don't have enough MP to do it. That won't stop them from wasting turns trying to get MP out of you when you have none left though. The only potential problem with this strategy is that they'll still occasionally attack you, and their damage is not negligible, even when you're equipping physical-resistant Magatama. You'll want a good supply of Hogyoku to heal yourself when necessary. In addition, you'll want to, if possible, reduce their accuracy (like with Fog Breath) as much as possible so that they'll miss you; if all 6 attack in one round, you're pretty much dead, unless you have TONS of HP. But while they're wasting their time, whittle them down with physical attacks. Once there are only 1 or 2 left, summon your allies to finish them off. (You could, theoretically, just kill them all with your hero, but then your allies would not get to reap the benefits of the 6,666 EXP this fight provides) Keep your guard up though, because I've found the longer the fight drags on, the more likely they are to start attacking you in large numbers (rather than just trying to absorb your nonexistent MP) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the end of the hall you got attacked by the spectre in, a "Shadow man" appears and asks if you want to pass. You can say "Yes," "No," or you can Ignore it. If you say No it tells you to leave. Otherwise it proceeds to its next question. If you ignore it it says "That's OK" and apparently you get a bonus Musubi point. Then, the Shadow Man asks who you are. You can either identify yourself or ignore it. Do the former and the Shadow Man realizes that you know Isamu. Ignore it and the Shadow Man says "You don't talk much. That is OK" and you get a bonus Musubi Point. The Shadow Man asks you yet another question: It asks if you like being by yourself. You can say Yes or No, or ignore it. If you say Yes, the Shadow man says "Maybe you get it" and you get 3 Musubi points. If you say No the Shadow man comments that "Maybe there's no hope for you--you are not like Isamu" and your alignment does not change. Ignoring it and the Shadow Man says "You're cool-headed, that's OK" and you get a single Musubi point. The Shadow Man asks you one final question--whether or not you can make it on your own without anyone else. You can say Yes, No, or ignore it again. If you say no or ignore the Shadow Man he tells you to go talk to Isamu. If you say yes, the Shadow Man wishes you luck, and says he will live on his own too. You'll get 3 Musubi points for saying yes as well. Go ahead into the next room. Isamu is there, getting pelted with energy. He greets you and asks if you've come to save him or capture him. He says either way there's no need, as "the aimlessly wandering Isamu is dead." Instead, "the one here is the Great Lord Isamu, who has gotten the power of Amara." You then get to see what Isamu has transformed into. Isamu says he no longer is interested in anyone else. He tells you that he has "figured it out" and now understands the truth of the world. The truth of the world is that the self is supreme, and all other people are merely passersby that don't matter. "Nobody really cares either way about me. And I don't really care either way about them. But that is neither wrong nor sad" Isamu says. He explains that no matter what, you yourself will always be the center of your world--it is inescapable, as everything you ever experience will be from your perspective. That is why Isamu thinks that each individual person should go and create their own, individual world, isolated from one another with no unwanted interference between individuals. That is basis for the Kotowari he wants...the Musubi Kotowari. Isamu asks if you feel the same way. You can say "I do," "I don't," or "I don't know." If you agree with Isamu, he is glad, and says that this frame of mind he has is why he doesn't hold it against you that you couldn't save him. He tells you to think it over yourself. Answering in the affirmative like this will boost your Musubi rating by 32 points, and turn on the Musubi Kotowari Event Flag. If you disagree with Isamu, he says "So, you really don't understand. It may make no difference to you now that you're no longer human." He tells you that he will create the world of Musubi and prove that he is right. Isamu tells you to take a look inside yourself so you can see what he means. If you say you don't know, Isamu says "That's just like you. You're just wandering the Vortex world aimlessly aren't you? If you do that, you'll only be pulled along like so much flotsam... Become alone and see for yourself." Isamu disappears. Go on and leave the Network. Hijiri says he was watching and saw Isamu slip through your grasp. He says that he will chase after Isamu, so you don't have to risk going back into Amara any more. Hijiri says that he will need to concentrate, so he can't spend time talking to you at the moment. He tells you if you have any clues of places you want to check out, you should go there, otherwise you might want to take a look around Asakusa. Head to Ikebukuro. On the steps of the former Mantra base, you will find Hikawa. Hikawa says "An unexpected player of the game has appeared. It has been a while, young man...or should I say 'Hito-shura?'" He says he never thought that YOU would be the Hito-Shura. Since it's pretty clear to him that you are now, Hikawa tells you that the two of you were destined to meet. Hikawa explains that when he destroyed the Mantra base, he had almost enough Magatsuhi to create the world and summon his Guardian, which is why he didn't try to stop you when you went to the Obelisk--he wanted to see for sure whether or not you really were the Hito- Shura. But you not only got by his assassins (IOW the Moirai sisters), but also freed the medium with your own power. Hikawa explains that the power you wield is exactly the same as forseen in the Miroku Scriptures...one that is beyond his imagination. He tells you that you might be able to play an important role in his creating the "Shijima" world. Hikawa explains in detail his ideals for the Shijima world. "Human desire is like the flame in a lamp. When it is small, it is warm and feels good. But if it keeps burning, the fire can become a conflagration, a beast that doesn't stop until it consumes everything in its path..." Hikawa says that humanity loved this sort of desire too much. They were lured by its warmth, but ignored its destructive nature, one that could turn everything to ash. Hikawa says that humanity should exist to serve the earth, instead of the other way around, and that will be the path to peace. "What should one seek? What should one not seek? That is not for people to decide...it is for the earth to decide." He says that humanity should be mere lamps to illuminate the earth. Lighting it, and becoming one with it...that is the best and highest calling for people, he says. Hikawa asks if you agree, that the world should just remain in tranquility. There's no "I don't know" choice here--it's either a yes or no proposition. If you say Yes, Hikawa says "Ah, so you see the greatness of Shijima. You really are not like the other riff-raff." He tells you that he will have you help him in the future. This boosts your Shijima points by 32, and turns on the Shijima Kotowari Event flag. If you say no, Hikawa says "You really are nothing more than a demon then. I suppose you couldn't understand my ideals..." and your alignment does not change (and the Shijima Kotowari Event flag doesn't turn on) Hikawa says that he must leave, and that he cannot rest easy until his work is done. He asks if you have noticed the menacing presence that has come to the world--one who is trying to take the remaining power of the fallen Gozu-tenno is starting to make trouble. He cannot afford to lose ground to the other people that are trying to establish their own Kotowari. "I will be the one to create the world!" he says. He leaves. Head back to Asakusa. Now that all loose ends are tied up, Hijiri tells you about how the Mantra base suddenly became all sealed off. He wonders what they're doing in there, but with the major blow to their power via the Nightmare System, thinks it probably isn't something serious. Instead, he says that the Manekata seem to be planning something big. Head to Mifunashiro. There you will find Futomimi addressing the Manekata. He has an important thing to say that concerns the fate of all Manekata. Futomimi tells everone that though they managed to escape the grasp of the Mantra forces, there is another great power that is arising to surpress Manekata. He says that he can sense that the evil power is coming from Yoyogi Park. At the moment Futomimi feels that it is merely a presence, but it will soon be "born completely" and wield enough power to change the entire world. Futomimi tells the Manekata that they have they learned to join forces to rebuild Asakusa, and if everyone works together again, they can beat back the evil power. He tells everyone to work harder and prepare, because they must change their future by their own hands. Futomimi tells them to work toward creating a world where Manekata are freed from suffering. He returns to mediation. So, head to Yoyogi Park to check out this disturbance. The door is still locked, but you will learn that you can get into the east entrance by going through the Asakusa Tunnel. So, head back to Asakusa. The area that the Collector Manekata was working in is now cleared out, so you can proceed. Also his shop is open. He's got some great Magatama for sale there, but they're super expensive. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS If you're playing Maniacs, and have defeated the first three of the Riders, then the final Rider, Pale Rider, will appear in the newly opened tunnel. Pale Rider doesn't say much before attacking--he mainly muses whether or not a mere human (albeit one given demonic power) will have what it takes to become the fated one that "will transcend death." BOSS: MAJIN PALE RIDER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN PALE RIDER HP: 5000 MP: 2000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Immune to Ice, Absorbs Kamikaze attacks SKILLS: Pest Crop, Venom Zapper. Mahabufudain, Dragon's Eye In terms of his abilities, Pale Rider is not that formidable in comparison to his other Majin bretheren. Pest Crop instakills the poisoned, and Venom Zapper can produce those poisoned--but that's really the only thing dangerous about him. The true threat to your livelihood here are the Loa that he'll summon. They will cast Randomizer and Curse-based killing spells, and occasionally blow themselves up. (Annoyingly enough, this will HEAL Pale Rider) They can also use Dorminer + Eternal Sleep. And if you kill them, Pale Rider will just summon some more. The key to this fight is to bring in a party that's immune to status ailments. A party consisting of other Majin (High Priest, White Rider, and Red Rider are good choices) will make things a lot easier. You'll want a De-Kunda caster to counter Loa's Randomizer. Or you could just kill them outright with White Rider's God Arrow. Another thing to note about Pale Rider is that he can't use any sorts of debuffing spells. So you can use -Kaja and -Kunda skills to your heart's content. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beating Pale Rider will get you the Diadem Menorah. ################################################################################ Leave the Asakusa via the newly opened tunnel. Head southwest from the west Asakusa exit to get to Yushima station. Far to the north of Yushima, in Ueno park, you'll find a sealed shrine. There's a Shinnentai nearby who tells you that the temple is where Tokyo's "Kimon" is sealed...but doesn't know what a "Kimon" is. Make a mental note of this...this info will come in handy later on. ================================================================================ ASAKUSA TUNNEL ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Fuma Bell 8000 Makka Soma drop 3 x Chirei Titan Hogyokuwa* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 26 Yosei Kelpie Lv 28 Ryuo Naga Lv 28 Gedo Black Ooze Lv 31 Yoju Nue Lv 32 Kijo Yomotsu-Shikome Lv 35 Chirei Sarutahiko Lv 37 Ryuo Naga Raja Lv 44 Yoki Yomotsu-Ikusa NOTES: ------ As dungeons go, this one is not one to lose any sleep over. Overall the tunnel isn't too long, though the Naga Rajas and their counterattacks may potentially give you trouble. You shouldn't have too many problems here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside Yushima station you will find bloody dead Manekata...looks like Sakahagi is been here. Walk down onto the subway tracks and you can get into Asakusa tunnel. Other than that, this area doesn't have much to note. Once you get to Gaien station, you'll hear that a mad Manekata followed by a human woman just passed through. Go to the overworld, and head west to Yoyogi park. ================================================================================ YOYOGI PARK ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ 3 x Maseki 2 x Maseki 2 x Maseki 3 x Medicine Iwakura Water Chakra Drop Hogyoku Chigaeshi no Tama Luck Incense* Hangonko* Sapphire* Hogyokuwa* Hogyoku* ENEMIES: -------- All nine types of Yosei in the game NOTES: ------ This is a BIG area. It's only one floor, but is a very large one floor. The enemies overall aren't too tough, but due to the area's massive size will turn into a rough war of attrition, especially if you want to get all five of the Magic-Box treasures. You may find yourself needing to retreat and regroup occasionally. Once you unlock the west door of the park it will be much easier as you'll have easy access to a Healing Spring. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you enter Yoyogi park, head to the south building on the outskirts of the park itself. You'll find Yuko there. She apologizes for disappearing, and says that it was a whim of her goddess; she had no control. Yuko tells you that she lost a lot of her power being used by Hikawa at the Obelisk, but is getting better. She is rather upset, and fully intends to stop Hikawa's plans. Yuko tells you that Hikawa plans to create a world without randomness, where "time just plods along" Yuko renegs on her statment and says that you can't even call what Hikwawa plans a world--it is just a space that has lost its power. In any case, she is obviously not on board with the Shijima plan. She's a bit frustrated though, because while she doesn't want to either leave the world in its current state nor let Hikawa build his world, she doesn't have a Kotowari to do it herself. She was hoping her goddess would give her one, but Aradia is apparently not interested. Yuko says that the unusual stuff going on in the Park is probably because of Yahiro-no-Himorogi. Yahiro-no-Himorogi is a magic stone filled with Magatsuhi power that will bless its owner. Lots of people are apparently here to fight over it. However, you learn from Yuko that the Himorogi has than just Magatsuhi power--it holds another power, the power to bind dieties to the owner's will. This is why Yuko has come to the park--If she can get the stone then she can force her goddess to give her a Kotowari. However, a wrench has been thrown into Yuko's plans--somebody else already has gotten their hands on the Yahiro-no-Himorogi. Yuko doesn't know who has the stone now but can feel that it is a very "turbulent and evil"--one who she would have no power against. So...surprise, surprise, Yuko wants you to go get it for he. She says that she's not interested in its Magatsuhi, and you can have all of it--she just wants the stone itself, and will give you the key to get into the park. She asks you if you're willing to get it for her. You can say "Yes, I'll get it," "No way," or "Let me think about it." No matter what you say, Yuko is going to give you the key to get into the park. Even if you refuse, she gives you the key in the hopes that you change your mind. Kotowari-wise, you will get 8 Shijima points for refusing her request and 4 Musubi points for telling her "Let me think about it." Whether or not agreeing to help Yuko will affect the ending is a point of contention. I've heard many people say that you need to agree to help her to get the Neutral ending, but I've also heard from people that claim to have gotten that ending while out- and-out refusing her request. I don't know the specifics, but if you are going for the Neutral ending, better safe than sorry--agree with her request. With the key, you can now get into Yoyogi park. As soon as you enter, a Jack o'Lantern sees you and says "Ah, a weak demon!" and tells the Pixies to take care of you. The pixies say you won't stand a chance. They don't do anything-- yet. But if you talk to the Shinnentai nearby, he'll warn you that if you get close to the Yosei here they'll teleport you away. And teleport they will--they're as annoying as hell. But there's an easy way to get around them. In each section of the park, there's a ladder where you can climb to a high vantage point. From there, you can look out over the entire area. Wherever you see shining lights, a Pixie is waiting to teleport you somewhere else. Remember these positions when you walk through the park, and pick a path that avoids them. In the second area of the park, Titania is waiting for you. She warns you that luck alone won't get you through here, and calls some more Pixies to bother you. In this area the tower is on the east side--and you'll need it! There's also a Shinnentai that reveals that it's Sakahagi that's gotten his hands on the Yahiro-no-Himorogi, and used it to summon a powerful demon that "reflects power." In the third area it's Oberon waiting for you. Instead of Pixies, he calls High Pixies to help him. The High Pixies are craftier than the pixies--they change positions. The level layout has 8 different overpasses in a square formation: ENTRANCE | | ,---' `---. __| _ _ |__ _A__| |B| |__A_ _________| |______ EXIT ____B__ _ __B_ ____| |_| |____ _A__ _B_ __A_ | | | | Whenever you go under an overpass, the High Pixies get pissed off and change formation. They will move from the "corners" (ie position A) to the "sides" (ie position B of the "square" of overpasses. To get to the exit you will need to manipulate the High Pixies away from the overpass in front of it in this way. (Note that there's a treasure chest beyond the northwestern-most pathway--it can be to your advantage to go there) The final area of the Park is the trickiest. As you enter, you will find a rather pissed-off Oberon. He will inform you that he has gotten a Troll to destroy the watchtower, so that you can no longer see in advance where to go and where not to go. Well, actually it's not that tricky, though you'll get teleported around a lot if you don't take the right path. If you want to get through, just go through the center door in the yard. Keep going north, through two more doors and take a left. Walk forward a bit until you hit a wall, and then turn north again, and this time don't stop going north. Note that there's a Hogyoku Magic Box in this maze of pixies, and this route bypasses it. You need to be teleported into the room with the box, so if you want it you may want to experiment before going the right way through. Go into the center room. Sakahagi is there, angry at everyone disturbing him. He tells you you shouldn't have come, and the Magatsuhi here is his. Sakahagi says another girl came by for it already, but he beat her up and kicked her out. He firmly states he will not be used by the demons, and in fact HE uses a demon-- and a very strong one too. He looks at you, and decides your skin will make better clothes than the skins he's wearing now. Sakahagi then summons Jashin Girimekara. BOSS: JASHIN GIRIMEKARA AND GIJIN SAKAHAGI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JASHIN GIRIMEKARA HP: 4000 MP:2000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Physical SKILLS: Panic Voice, Poison Gas Breath Venom Zapper, Taru-Kaja, Suku-Kaja, Beast's Eye, De-Kunda, Raku-Nda Girimekara is really powerful, but as bosses go, isn't all that tough if you know what you're doing. The only sticking point is that he reflects all physical attacks, so you HAVE to have competent attack magic-users for this battle to be able to win. However, if you do, it's not so hard, as Girimekara only has 4000 hit points. He can do obscene damage with his multiple physical attacks, so skills to counter this like Fog Breath/Suku-kaja/Raku-kaja are good spells to employ. However, while Fog Breath and Battle Cry will work, do NOT cast any -Nda spells on him, as he will immediately cast De-Kunda and then Raku-Nda on YOU to add insult to injury. Maka-Kaja will make this battle unfairly easy. Physically immune demons like Seiten-taisei are helpful in this fight. Aside from Panic Voice, Girimekara pretty much only uses physical attacks (he rarely uses Poison Gas Breath) so physically immune demons can soak up his Press Turns (since he gets a lot with Beast's Eye) GIJIN SAKAHAGI HP: 1600 MP: 46 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Maharagion, Mahabufura, Mahajionga, Mahazanma, Panic Voice Once Girimekara is dead, Sakahagi will immediately comes into the battle and threaten to kill you, but he's a total pushover. He'll attack with several reasonably powerful offensive spells, but will promptly run out of MP. Whack him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll get the Yahiro-no-Himorogi after beating Sakahagi and his buddy, but it will seemingly be totally out of power when you do. As you leave the building Sakahagi was hanging out at, all the Yosei will wake up, having been hypnotized. A Jack Lantern talks about having a dream of being an evil demon, but Titania tells him it wasn't a dream, and it was because of Sakahagi. Oberon says that they had been cursed by Sakahagi and acted as more or less puppets. He asks you to forgive their rudeness in attacking you. He says that you can have the Yahiro-no-Himorogi as a token of their gratitude for saving them. He tells you that a girl came here before they got cursed, but was wounded badly by Sakahagi, and ran away. He says that he felt an evil presence within the girl as she left, and she is no normal girl most likely. (Side note--this is the only time in the entire game where the word "evil" is explicitily used in reference to someone.) They thank you again and leave. Head back to Yuko. She tells you she felt the evil presence in the park lifted. She notes that you got the Yahiro-no-Himorogi, and you give it to her. (regardless of what you said earlier) She notes the Magatsuhi it held has been all used up. She says "with this, I can get closer to my world..." She is sure her god will give her a Kotowari. Aradia possesses her. "Freedom is a cliff one can see Hell from, the valley of the shadow of death. Where you go, the grave will be victorious." Aradia looks into your soul. "Foolish one, by the name of Freedom!" She says that you will endure hardship for your freedom, and asks if you fear distress or humiliation. Her response is the same no matter what you say. However this is a pivotal question. If you say "Yes" then you'll get 4 Musubi points and 4 Shijima points, but you'll also be locked out of getting the Neutral ending. If you say "No" then you'll get 4 Yosuga points, and the first "Neutral" flag is set. After calling you a fool again, Aradia says that for freedom you will be betrayed by your friends, and will be enveloped in a dark defeat. She asks if you fear deception or disaster. Again, response is the same no matter what, and again, the question is anything but trivial. If you say "Yes" then you get 4 Musubi points and 8 Shijima points, and again, get locked out of the Neutral ending. If you say "No" then you get 8 Yosuga points and your second "Neutral" flag is set. Aradia tells you to go out and see the world, and that there are others that are trying to build their own world. She says that without understanding them, you will not be able to build your own. Your world will be built either through competition or through cooperation with them. Aradia tells you that that a great power has appeared in Ikebukuro. She "unposesses" Yuko, leaving you with the message that she too is a power of creation, with "this woman." Yuko is now back to normal, but pissed that Aradia hasn't given her a Kotowari yet. She wonders if she's lacking something necessary to get one. Yuko tells you that she's leaving--she can't build the world from here, and she too needs to see who's building what worlds. She thanks you and says she hopes you can meet again. ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS At this point, you now have the chance to meet the next Majin, Mother Harlot. Kamara will tell you that she's "in a park," she is actually in Yoyogi park, in the north chamber off the western entrance to the park itself. Mother Harlot laughs at you for giving the Yahiro-no-Himorogi to Yuko, but then comments it makes little difference if you're going to stop Creation. She then summons the Beast, who will ask you a question. The Beast notes that you're on the way to becoming a full-fledged demon, and asks if you truly are willing to make the sacrifice required to get the soul of one--if you became a full demon, you would be cursed to the darkness by God for all eternity, like all the other demons of the world. If you say no, then Mother Harlot asks if you're willing to just let yourself get pushed along through life like so much flotsam. She says that is fine if that's what you want...it would be the same as what would happen if you get crushed by her. If you say yes, Mother Harlot says that she wants to see your sincerity. I don't know (actually doubt it) whether this question makes any sort of impact on the plot. Either way, you have to fight her. BOSS: MAJIN MOTHER HARLOT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN MOTHER HARLOT HP: 5000 MP:2000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Physical, Absorbs Electricity SKILLS: Empress' Libido, Evil God's Harsh Voice, Mahajionga, Shockwave, Makajamaon, Kiai, De-Kunda, De-Kaja If you're prepared for this fight, Mother Harlot isn't too tough. Her signature skills are Empress' Libido and Evil God's Harsh Voice. The former is a Mind attack that does damage and charms, the latter is an All-Purpose attack that does damage and heals Mother Harlot 500 HP. In addition she uses powerful Electricity Magic. What you need for this fight is a team of demons that are immune to Mind, and, preferably, Electricity as well. But more important is that you really need beefy casters for this fight, as physical attacks on Mother Harlot won't cut it. While she can cast De-Kaja, she doesn't do it that often, so it won't hurt to boost up your Magic power with Maka-Kaja, and add more insult to injury. Majin High Priest, despite his low level, is a good contender in this fight because he can absorb Mother Harlot's "Empress' Libido" and can serve as a good healer as well. Bring in a couple of other high-powered magic users and you shouldn't have too much trouble. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating Mother Harlot will net you the Menorah of Beauty. ################################################################################ Head back to Asakusa. Hijiri will tell you that he heard about the disturbance in the park ending. He also says his attempts to find Isamu have totally failed--it seems that Isamu was absorbed by the Amara Network and he can't find him anywhere in there. Hijiri tells you that it's rumored that Gozu-tenno has revived in Ikebukuro, though he doubts it. He says--enigmatically--that if he can control Amara then he can "end everything anyway." Next stop: Ikebukuro. Time to find out if there's any truth to those rumors. Head back to Gozu-tenno's place, and he's still in pieces--definitely still dead. Chiaki is there too, sitting on his rubble. A voice asks her what she is doing here, and asks why she is so angry. Chiaki asks the voice if the power she sensed eminating from this building is him...and identifies it as Gozu-Tenno. Gozu-Tenno says that after being destroyed by Nihilo, his spirit wandered, but never forgot his anger. Chiaki says she sought power, but couldn't get it, no matter how hard she tried. She says that no matter what, he refuses to change her Kotowari, but doesn't have the power to bring it about. Gozu-Tenno tells her to take his spirit. He says that in ages past, he guarded the world from those who would send it to silence. He regrets the work of the Mantra forces, saying that what they should have done was create a country of power, but in his statue form, he could do little himself. Were he to infuse his power within a human body, maybe he could. Chiaki seems interested, if it will give her power. Gozu- Tenno says that the world her Kotowari would create would be very similar to his ideal, so he gives her his final power. After receiving Gozu-Tenno's power, Chiaki joins Isamu and Yuko in freaksville as her hand changes into what looks like a very large tree branch. She says her hand feels like it's burning. "Isn't it beautiful?" she says. "Those with power are beautiful." Chiaki says she now has the power to open her own path, and can see the demons that want the strength of Yosuga flocking to Ikebukuro. She says she should be able to control them, and create her ideal country. You're kicked out and the door is sealed. You'll notice the place is flooded with Tenshi now. (At first this seems a little ironic, considering past Megaten Law/Chaos trends, but...) In any case, on the second floor, there is a Dominion who says "Don't you think that only the chosen few should survive?" Answering his question can change your alignment. Say yes and you get 2 Yosuga points and a gift of 1000 Makka. No, and you gain 2 Shijima points. "I don't want to answer" and you get 1 Musubi point. An Archangel on the first floor will ask you "if you know" and if you say no, then he'll tell you two men sucked in by the lure of the Magatsuhi in the Amara network are battling it out using terminals. by the East exit, you'll hear a rumor about a demon who took over Kabukicho and is claiming to be "king." Go check it out--head back to Kabukicho prison. The building is now totally frozen over by the King. Head to the top floor and you'll find Hee-Ho-Kun! He has transformed into a gigantic "Ja-aku Frost" (really bad pun--"Ja-aku", while sounding a lot like "Jack," means "evil") claiming to have "become really bad" and is the King of Kabukicho. "I will rule the world!" he says. He asks if you're surprised to see him like this. If you say yes he gets excited, if you say no he gets angry. Either way he attacks you! BOSS: YAMA JA-AKU FROST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YAMA JA-AKU FROST HP: 2950 MP: 2500 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Ice, Fire, and Curse, Strong to Physical SKILLS: Mahabufudain, Mahamudo-on, Rampage, Diarama, Bufudain This isn't your ordinary Jack Frost. He's big, he's black & blue, and he's really tough. First off, he has no weaknesses as far as I can tell, but plenty of strengths. Besides the usual boss immunities (Curse/Hama/Magic/Nerve/Mind) he also reflects ice AND fire. He is so strong to physical attacks that you might as well not waste your time with them. He has five attacks as far as I can see-- Mahabufudain, Mahamudo-on, Rampage, Diarama, and the very rare Bufudain. The former two he uses with the most frequency. There are only two types of attacks that do any good--Shock and Electricity. (All-purpose too, but you probably don't have any yet) I find the former to be more effective, but your mileage may vary. There are two methods I've used that work pretty well against Jack Frost--a fast and dangerous, and a slow and safe. With the Fast and Dangerous version, you basically try to survive long enough to beef your magic as high as you can, then letting loose your best Shock/Electric attacks. You'll want at least one Curse- immune and one Ice-immune character to negate Ja-aku's double-attack, and as many Shock/Electric casters as possible. Use Tetraja and Makalakarn to keep the curses at bay while boosting your magic with Maka-Kaja. War Cry will help reduce the punch of Ja-aku Frost's attacks, and you'll want a healer too. For the Slow and Safe method, you'll need a few skills on your Hero to start with--Ice immunity or absorption, and Drink Magic. (some healing as well) Equip Anathema on your Hero to negate Ja-aku Frost's curses, and you will be immune to everything but his Rampages. Now use Drink Magic until he's totally out of MP-- with 2500 MP, this will take a LONG time (you can speed up the process by boosting yourself with Maka-Kaja) but is effective. Once he's dry on MP, summon some allies and beat the snot out of him. You've probably ditched him by now if you had him, but you can re-summon and bring Arahabaki in to pester Ja-aku Frost during the duration, as he (Arahabaki) is immune to everything that Ja-aku Frost can throw at him. Of course, seeing that Ja-aku Frost is an optional boss, if you can't beat him now, you can always come back later and try again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you beat Ja-aku Frost, he goes back to his little self. He asks why you are getting in his way, when he's working really hard to become as cute and scary as the legendary King Frost. He then melts, and drops the Satan Magatama. Head back to the Asakusa terminal. Oh dear. Now that Yuko, Isamu, and Chiaki are all freaks, it appears that Hijiri was feeling left out and has chosen to join them. As you can probably tell he's gone off the deep end, seeing as you have interrupted him in an intimate encounter with the Terminal. As you enter he manages to partially pry himself off of his cylindrical concrete lover long enough to give you a lunatic speech. He greets you and says it must have been rough at Ikebukuro with Gozu-Tenno reviving. He says he hopes it doesn't become a problem. Hijiri tells you "I know everything. I've gotten everything!" He says that the Terminal tells him everything with the power of Amara--for example, what's going on in the Vortex world. He says he sees Hikawa going to the old Tokyo Diet to look for lost Magatsuhi, Chiaki getting Gozu-Tenno's power, a lost temple with lots of Magatsuhi, and the Manekata seeking a Kotowari in Mifunashiro. Hijiri says his investigation of the Vortex is over, and there is no reason for him to continue his examination, as nobody knows about the world better than he. So, he says "That's why I should be the one to do it! I will rebuild the world! Not Hikawa, not Yuko, not you!" He goes a little nutso, and right at this time Isamu tries to attack him from within the Amara Network. Hijiri starts to fight, as he doesn't want to give Isamu the power of Amara, but Isamu quickly overwhelms him and sucks him into the Amara network. The game asks you if you want to follow. You don't have to just yet--if you say no, a new option--"Chase after Hijiri"-- will pop up in the Terminal Menu. Go when you're ready. You are now in a room with Isamu. He asks why you came. "Did you come to see me? Or did you come because you were worried about that reporter?" You can say: "I came to see you" "I'm worried about Hijiri" If you say that you're here to see Isamu: Isamu is glad you came. He tells you that it's just about time about time for the ceremony to bring about the Guardian for Musubi to begin. He tells you that if you want to help him, go down the corridor from the room you are in, and come to the Amara Temple. He is going ahead with "that meddler." He tells you to come as soon as you can and leaves. If you say you're worried about Hijiri: Isamu says "Ah, I see. Still the same old nice guy I see." He chastises you for being so trusting, and says that he is saving your hide fighting Hijri--then comments "your thickness in not realizing it may be your strong point." He tells you to come to the Amara Shrine at the end of the corridor if you want to learn the truth--Isamu says he will tell you how Hijiri was manipulating you and what he was planning. Isamu disappears. Head down the corridor. Halfway down, your old pal Spectre appears AGAIN. Says that "I will kill anyone to reach my goal. You are the same as me. This time, I will kill you and become happy!" BOSS: GEDO SPECTRE x 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GEDO SPECTRE HP: 700 MP:500 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects all magic SKILLS: Self-Destruct, Call Ally, De-Kaja This Spectre fight is by far the easiest of them. The Spectre, as usual, summons a bunch of his buddies to attack you. Except now they try to kill you by self- destructing. Self-destructing does do quite a hefty amount of damage...if you let them. Bring in three demons, each with a powerful "attack all enemies" physical attack, and don't give him that chance. Make every one of your characters use their "hit them all" physical attack. You should kill most if not all of them in the very first round. It's very important to finish this battle as fast as you can, because if you let Spectre summon lots of allies, you're in real trouble. As soon as Spectre summons his tenth ally, every single one of them will blow themselves up. And no matter how powerful your party is, they won't be able to survive 5-6 exploding Spectres in sequence. ###MANIACS NOTE: This battle has been made MUCH easier in Maniacs. In Maniacs, a lot more Spectres are summoned initially, but only one will blow itself up per round, and they don't seem to summon in more. Whereas in Nocturne, they could theoretically all go kamikaze on you simulatenously, or summon more to add insult to injury. Also, if you have Majin Black Rider, his Soul Balance attack is amazingly effective against the Spectres. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Spectre is gone (this time once and for all) you'll be let out of the tunnel near Roppongi. Grab the 5000-Makka box to the south and then head north to the Amara Shrine. ================================================================================ THE AMARA SHRINE ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Megido Stone Lightball 2 x Maseki 3 x Maseki 3 x Legion fight (Chakra Pot) Chigaeshi no Tama Medicine Hama Spirit Fan Hogyoku Hogyoku Chakra Pot* Luck Incense* Speed Incense* Soma* Soma* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 7 Seirei Earthies Lv 7 Gedo Moryo Lv 11 Seirei Aeros Lv 11 Yuki Choronzon Lv 15 Seirei Aquans Lv 20 Seirei Flamies Lv 25 Mitama Aramitama Lv 29 Mitama Nigimitama Lv 32 Mitama Kushimitama Lv 35 Mitama Sakimitama Lv 38 Yosei Troll Lv 41 Tenshi Virtue Lv 42 Gedo Phantom Lv 43 Kijo Yakshini Lv 45 Datenshi Ose Lv 45 Jashin Pazuzu Lv 46 Yosei Oberon Lv 49 Chirei Titan Lv 49 Yuki Legion Lv 50 Tenshi Dominion Lv 52 Kijo Dakini Lv 52 Yoma Ifreet Lv 52 Maou Loki Lv 54 Maju Suparna Lv 55 Chirei Gogmagog Lv 55 Ryuo Quetzalcoatl Lv 57 Yosei Titania NOTES: ------ Probably the first thing you'll notice about the Shrine is the absolutely absurd number of demon types you can run into. This makes it a good place for demon collection. (though more than half the types are Dark or Light, there are still 13 Neutral demons you can get here) However you won't find all the demons in the same place. The area is divided into three different temples, and the enemies that appear in each are totally different. You'll have to experiment to find the ones you want. It really helps to bring a diverse party into the Shrine, because no matter what specialization you've got, odds are something in here is immune to or reflects it. Gogmagog is immune to Physical, Yoma is immune to Fire, Quetzalcoatl is immune to Ice, Suparna reflects Shock, etc...By this point in the game you should be high enough of a level to have a lot of choice between demons, so it shouldn't be too hard to formulate an effective party here. However, the excessive size of the area makes it so that you will probably want to take the shrine on in pieces rather than tackling it all at once. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you walk down the corridor to the Shrine, Isamu will talk to you from elsewhere in the shrine. What he says depends on what you told him back in the Amara network. If you told him you were worried about Hijiri, he more or less brushes you off, but says "come on here if you want." If you told him you came to see him, he'll tell you that if you approve of his Musubi world, then he's got a job for you. Either way, he tells you to go through the door ahead of you. Inside the Shrine, Isamu says that he found it while examining the Amara network. Says the core here is storing massive amounts of Magatsuhi. But three foreign gods have taken up residence here and nobody can control the Magatsuhi because of them. Then tells you to kill the three gods, either to create Musubi, or to rescue Hijiri, depending on how you answered Isamu's last question. Says he'll let you into the core once they're dead. Wishes you luck. There are three temples here: the Black Temple (West), the White Temple (Center), and the Red Temple. (East) You can take them on in any order. THE BLACK TEMPLE: ================= On the first floor of this area you'll find a lot of rooms lined up, some with cracks in the floor. The second floor has similar rooms, but they're all locked. On the third level you will find a "Black Torch." You will be given the option to extinguish it, and you will hear something unlock if you do. The doors on the second floor of the Temple will then all open. You'll find pits in them that you can jump into. Jump into pits in rooms above first-floor rooms with cracks in the floor, and the floor will collapse when you land on it, dumping you into B1F. There is an altar room in the basement, and when you enter, Maou Arsiel pops out and decides he wants to eat the Magatsuhi flowing through your body. BOSS: MAOU ARSIEL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAOU ARSIEL HP: 8000 MP: 2000 AFFINITIES: Boss Affinities, Reflects Curse, strong to Magic SKILLS: Sol Niger, Drink Magic, Reppu-Ha, De-Kunda, De-Kaja, Dragon's Eye Powerful physical attacks are the name of the game with this guy. He gets two attacks per round and critical hits with painful frequency, so bringing in physical immune or reflecting demons into this fight is a good idea. You are definitely going to want a Tetrakarn caster or, even better, a good supply of Butsuhankyo when going into this fight. Reason being, Arsiel has a viciously powerful move--Sol Niger, an All-Purpose type spell that reduces every party member's HP to 1. (It always succeeds too--at least he's never missed with me) Immediately after casting it he will attack someone, and if you can't block that attack, that character dies. If it's the Hero he attacks--Game Over. Fortunately, Arsiel gives fair indication when he is going to use this move. Sometimes he will use Dragon's Eye and then drain your MP like mad with Drink Magic. This is an indication he's going to use the Sol Niger/Attack combo the following round, so you can prepare yourself by casting Tetrakarn and/or using Butsuhankyo immediately afterwards. And of course, you'll have to have some sort of healer to repair the damage. If you're low on MP or butsuhankyo, you can go the poor man's route of using Fog Breath and hope for the best. Actually, in this fight I would recommend Suku-kaja over Fog Breath, since Arsiel can cast De-Kunda. He uses De-Kaja too, but much less frequently. (from here on out, most bosses have both De-Kunda and De-Kaja to try and counter the unbalancing stat- altering spells) As far as I know, Arsiel has no weak points, though he has standard boss immunities. You'll just have to keep hammering away on him until he goes down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Arsiel has been defeated, the Temple's Magatsuhi is released and Isamu congratulates you. Head to the central core or to another Temple if you still have Temples left. THE WHITE TEMPLE: ================= This temple is riddled with teleport traps. Lots of the doors here teleport you as soon as you go through them. The tricky thing is though, depending on which side you open the door from, you'll get teleported to a different location. The first level's not that hard. I'm not going to give detailed paths to the treasures here--you'll have to explore yourself--but here's how to get out. Go to the far west wall of the complex and head through the northern door. You'll be teleported into a small room--head through the north door. You should be in a small hallway with four doors. Ignore the other doors and keep going straight, entering the door right across from the one you just entered. You'll be teleported again, this time to the northwest corner of the temple. There's actually an easy-to-miss Magic box in this room. Anyhow, leave the chamber through the only door there is, and you'll be teleported yet again. You'll be teleported to the southeast corner of the level. Leave through the north door and you're in another hallway. This time, head to the end of the hallway and go through the door on the south. You are now standing before the "stairs" up. This level is slightly trickier. Run a bit south and you'll get teleported. Head through the west door, then the north door. Yopu'll be teleported again. Go through the north door, then through the west door, into yet another teleport trap. Now, here you have two choices. If you want to get the Hama Spirit Fan, go north, then immediately turn around and go back through the door you just went through. You'll be teleported to the east corridor where you can open the box with the Fan in it. The Fan is like an unlimited-usage Mahanma Stone--quite useful! Anyhow, if you'd rather forego the Fan, or come back and get it later, go through the east door, and you'll be teleported again. Finally, go north and west and you'll be teleported right before the light beam up. On the third level, you will be greeted by Iryo Albion. He doesn't like you interfering with his Magatsuhi lunch, so attacks. BOSS: IRYO ALBION AND BUNREI THARMAS, LUVAH, URIZEN, AND URTHONA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IRYO ALBION: HP: 2700 MP: 1000 AFFINITIES: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Soul Discharge, Heatwave, Meikai-Ha, Fudo-ken, Guillotine Cut BUNREI THARMAS: HP: 1300 MP: 300 AFFINITIES: Boss Immunities, Reflects Ice, Weak to Flame SKILLS: Bufudain, Mahabufudain, Samarecarm (see below) BUNREI LUVAH: HP: 1300 MP: 300 AFFINITIES: Boss Immunities, Reflects Shock, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Zandain, Mahazandain, Samarecarm (see below) BUNREI URIZEN: HP: 1300 MP: 300 AFFINITIES: Boss Immunities, Reflects Flame, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Agidain, Maharagidain, Samarecarm (see below) BUNREI URTHONA: HP: 1300 MP: 300 AFFINITIES: Boss Immunities, Reflects Electricity, Weak to Shock The minute you start the fight Albion will summon his Bunrei with Soul Discharge. Albion and his Bunrei themselves are not that tough, but they can be extremely difficult to beat via a "war of attrition." If you kill all of Albion's Bunrei, he will just resurrect them. If you kill Albion himself, the Bunrei will resurrect HIM. If you screw up, you more or less have to do the fight all over again, minus the HP/MP you've used up so far. It can end up an endless cycle until you finally run out of HP and die. Basically, what you have to do is set it up so that you kill both Albion AND his Bunrei in a single turn. This would be tough if you didn't know exactly when each is going to die--but fortunately, the game gives you clues, and I've listed their HP levels above for you to calculate if you want. As Albion and his Bunrei weaken, they start to slouch over in exhaustion. When they're about to die, their postures are unmistakably slumped over. This way, you can weaken one enemy then move onto the next without killing it. I find the best way to do this fight is to kill three of the Bunrei, (Albion won't resurrect them unless all of them are dead) then focus on Albion. When Albion is slumped over, whittle down the final Bunrei until it's slumped over too. If the final Bunrei slumps over in the middle of a turn, heal or otherwise pass the rest of the turn away so that you get a full turn to attempt to take both of them out. One final word is that when you have only Albion and one Bunrei left, kill Albion first. If you kill the Bunrei first, Albion will immediately resurrect them--even if you are in the middle of a round and still have Press Turns left. Cheap, but what are you going to do? Also cheap is while the Bunrei only have 300 MP apiece, they can cast Samarecarm with zero MP expenditure, so if you thought you could win by draining their MP, you can't. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Albion dies, he drops the Adama Magatama, and the Magatsuhi he was controlling returns to flow to the Core. Isamu congratulates you on your win. Head to the Central Core or to another Temple if there are any still left uncompleted. RED TEMPLE: =========== The theme of this temple is "Shadow." A Shinnentai in the center of the floor will warn you that it is ruled by a cruel goddess. This goddess has created a "Land of Shadow." If you step into any shadows here, you will get pulled into the Land of Shadow. The Land of Shadow is more or less the same as the "normal" dungeon except it's laden with floor traps. You can't go up or down floors in the Temple either when you're in the Shadow Land. If you want to escape the Land of Shadow--you need to find a pillar of light to bring you back to the "real" world first. Needless to say, you'll probably be popping in and out of the Shadow Land a lot, so Liftma is really useful here. The first level is actually pretty easy. Go to the west half of the floor from the center of the room, then head north to the northwest corner. Enter the door and you'll find a hall with a row of five doors to the south. Facing east at the west entrance to the hall, the "right" door is the fourth one on the right. All the others will lead to shadows and you'll have to schlep all the way back to the beginning of the floor to get to a light pillar. The second floor is tricker, as you HAVE to enter Shadow Land in order to get to the exit. Go to the west side of the floor and circle around the edge clockwise (it's OK to step in shadow) until you find a room with two doors in the south wall. Head west, enter the light, go north, then go through the east door. Take the south door and you're back in the room with two doors on the south wall. Facing south, take the left one first, and then in the next room, take the right-most door. You are then presented with three doors on the west wall. Take the center one, and you can get up to the next floor. On the third floor you will be greeted by Skadi. She is impressed you made it this far, and asks if you're a friend of the "kid downstairs." She says she was hungry for Magatsuhi, and now your blood and spirit will quench her thirst. BOSS: JIBOSHIN SKADI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JIBOSHIN SKADI HP: 4000 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Absorbs Physical, Reflects Hama and Curse SKILLS: Mahazandain, Makajamaon, De-Kunda, De-Kaja, Judgement Bolt, Taru-Kaja, Great Earthquake, Dragon's Eye Skadi is a tough cookie, probably the toughest of the three bosses in the Amara Temple. She has two basic patterns. First is a series of magical attacks-- Mahazandain and Makajamaon, and De-kunda/De-kaja. These are irritating, but not all that dangerous. Her really dangerous pattern is simple but devastating-- boosting her power with Taru-kaja and then letting loose a Great Earthquake. When she's buffed, Great Earthquake can do more than 600 points of damage--not an attack to be blown off. As soon as you see her start to buff herself with Taru-kaja (she'll do it twice in the same round) IMMEDIATELY cast De-kaja (or use a De-Kaja stone) and make sure your party's HP are healed to max, otherwise you might not survive the oncoming earthquake. I don't know if you can reflect the earthquake, but I don't recommend trying. Another alternative is to use Tetrakarn at this point to block the earthquake. There is also one clincher you will have to use in your offensive strategy for this battle--you MUST use only magic to attack Skadi, as physical attacks heal her. Bring your heavy-hitter magic users into this fight, as physical fighters are next to useless. Maka-Kaja is a great spell for this fight. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Skadi dies, the Magatsuhi she was countrolling returns to the Shrine, and Isamu congratulates you on defeating her. If there are more Temples to deal with, go and deal with them now. Once the three Gods are dead, Isamu will thank you for your hard work and asks you to come into the core to watch Musubi become established, if you told him in the Amara Network that you came to see him. If you said you were worried about Hijiri in Amara, Isamu's reaction will be different--he laughs at you for killing all the Gods without gaining anything from it. He asks if you're OK with being used like that, but true to his promise he opens up the Core so you can go in. He tells you to enter, and that he will tell you the truth about what's going on and why Musubi is right for the world. Inside the Core you'll find Isamu, who has strung up Hijiri in a flow of Magatsuhi. "This is your last job. Hang in there. Once this is done you can rest as much as you want." he says. Hijiri agrees with Isamu and says he really wants to get this over with as the Magatsuhi is making him itch like hell. Isamu says it may be a bit uncomfortable, but to do his best. Isamu then turns and thanks you for your help in getting the Magatsuhi from the three gods. He says that what they had is more than enough to establish the Musubi Kotowari. You get two choices: "Ask Isamu what he's doing" "Stop Isamu" If you ask him what he's doing, Isamu says this is the preparation for the ceremony that will bring about Musubi. Hijiri is becoming the core and gathering the Magatsuhi. If you try to stop Isamu, he asks if you're trying to be some sort of hero, then says that you really don't know anything, and are really naive...that the one hanging up there could have been you. Isamu tells you that it was Hijiri that thought this plan up, not him. The only difference is that Hijiri intended to be the one gathering the Magatsuhi, and one of you two would have been strung up as the core. Hijri says that he only thought of the method, and that Isamu doesn't know whether or not he would have actually done it. Isamu says "Yeah, you would have. In this world human life doesn't mean much....isn't that what you said?" Hijiri sardonically says that no matter what he says is going to sound like an excuse to Isamu, so he should take it however he wants. Tells that he had to throw away a lot to get what he was after, tells Isamu to go ahead and do as he wishes, but not to forget that he's going to pay a price for it. Isamu says he will indeed do what he wants as he controls the Shrine. =============================================================================== KOTOWARI EVENT =============================================================================== At this the scenario branches, depending on your earlier choices. If you are sufficiently aligned with Musubi--that is, you have at least 32 Musubi points or have activated the Musubi Kotowari Event Flag, then this event, the Musubi Kotowari Event will take place. Isamu will say that in respect for your friendship, he would like you to do the honors and summon the Musubi Guardian deity. He tells you that enough Magatsuhi has been gathered, and all you need to do is dump Hijiri into the pool of Magatsuhi to summon the Guardian. He asks if you are willing to do it. If you say you are, then Hijiri thanks you for providing entertainment up until now and wishes you luck. You will now officially be 100% aligned with Musubi, and will get the Musubi ending, providing that you do not officially ally with any of the other Kotowari. (And even if you do, you may still get the Musubi ending if you have more Musubi points than points for the other alignments) If you refuse to dump Hijiri, Isamu is a little annoyed that you still stubbornly believe that Hijiri was really being your friend, and does the dumping himself. Pick this and no matter what you will not be able to get the Musubi Ending. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isamu turns to Hijiri and says "OK then, bye. Rest as much as you want." Hijiri laughs and wishes Isamu luck. He's dropped into the pool and is vaporized into a giant glob of Magatsuhi. Isamu tells you it is done, and that his guardian is coming from the limitless Amara beyond the Network. This guardian has been separated from the flow of time and has lost its own name...The god that controls absolute solitude. Isamu says it's inconvenient for his got not to have a name, and names it Noah. He calls Noah and it appears. Isamu fuses with his guardian. He asks if you're impressed by his god, and says that with it he will be able to bring about a new, joyful world where nobody interferes with anyone else. He and Noah disappear. As you leave the Amara Shrine, a Power and a Dominion fly in. They realize that a new Kotowari has been created. The Dominion tells him not to worry, as Chiaki is in motion as well, and that the God of Yosuga will appear in Asakusa very soon. They leave to "bring judgement upon the fools." So, head to Mifunashiro. ================================================================================ MIFUNASHIRO ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Mahankyo 2 x Maseki Medicine Diamond* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 4 Yoki Shikigami Lv 13 Gijin Manekata Lv 33 Tenshi Power Lv 41 Tenshi Virtue Lv 50 Tenshi Dominion Lv 54 Yoki Shikioji NOTES: ------ This area is short, and really not worth worrying about, as almost all of the enemies that appear here are Tenshi, and Tenshi are generally weaklings. Bring a Mudo-user and you can wreak some havoc here. The only thing to be concerned about is that all the enemies here are Hama-users, so don't bring any Hama-weak demons in here. And the Shikioji are immune to physical attacks, so they can be annoying, but being made out of paper, burn quite well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things are DEFINITELY not well here, as dead Manekata are strewn all over the place. The core of Mifunashiro is open. Go on down and check things out. There are lots of dead Manakata in here, and you can even see them being dropped onto the rocks by angels further on in. Further in you'll find a living but wounded Manekata. He'll tell you it was a demonic woman that came to take their Magatsuhi. Another will point out the Tenshi flying about looking for survivors. A wounded woman inside the core will tell you that the demon-girl went to the holy land and Futomimi ran after her. On the 2nd Tier, if you follow the trail of blood you will find a wounded Manekata hiding out from the assault on Mifunashiro. He will ask you to defeat the angels plaguing the Manekata, and you can say yes or no. Strangely enough agreeing with him doesn't seem to affect your alignment (though I could be wrong) Also note that at the bottom of the ladder down to the third-tier is an easy-to-miss, partially obscured Magic Box. On the 3rd Tier, the Dominion and Power you saw earlier pop up. The Dominion notes that the Hito-Shura is here, and the Power notes that you are worthy of Chiaki's concern, making it this far...not like "those mud dolls." The Dominion is disgusted at the world that the Manekata were trying to bring about, one where the elite were reduced to receiving minor blessings, being on the same level as everyone else. Power says that sort of evil "equality philosophy" must be destroyed ASAP. The Power asks if you feel the same. If you say you do, the Dominion says that you are as wise as he expected, and tells you that as soon as the Manekata are all dead, Chiaki will call down the Yosuga guardian. He bids you farewell. You will also gain 8 Yosuga points. If you say no, then Dominion gets pissed off for your having sympathy for the Manekata, but says it matters little, as once the "Mud Dolls" are destroyed, Chiaki's Yosuga Guardian will appear, and your tone will change. The two leave. Run up to where they were and the Manekata they killed is holding something. You can take it--it's a Medicine. Further in is the Mirror Room. There is a large, glowing mirror in the center of the room. Step into the light and you will be teleported into an absolute bloodbath of Manekata. Chiaki is there...she is the killer. She is holding up a Manekata, and is pissed at them for getting airs of ambition and tells them to all return to the earth. She kills the Manekata she's holding and turns to Futomimi. She notes that they are certainly driven to survive despite being weak. "Your crime is dreaming of becoming strong" she says. Futomimi notices you and cries for help. He says that if you don't do something Chiaki will kill everyone. Chiaki turns and greets you, and Futomimi pleads with you not to go along with her. "That's not like you! You've got a kind soul unlike other demons...right?" ================================================================================ KOTOWARI EVENT ================================================================================ Here another Kotowari Event takes place. If you have over 32 Yosuga points or turned on the Yosuga Kotowari Event Flag, then Chiaki says that you should understand that only the supreme are needed and the weak will only bring confusion to the world. She asks if you agree. If you say yes, then Futomimi becomes absolutely distraught to learn that you "wish to rob us of our dream." He says that he will not back down no matter how much the demons oppress him, and that he will fight if has to to bring freedom to the Manekata. He attacks you, and assuming you win the fight, the Yosuga flag will turn on, and you will be 100% allied with Yosuga. If you say no, the story proceeds as if you never saw the Yosuga Kotowari event. If you pick this option, you will not be able to get the Yosuga Ending. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you do not activate the Yosuga event or don't have the qualifications to see it, Chiaki tells you that you couldn't understand the virtue of Yosuga, being enticed by the weak you shut off your own path to a beautiful world where only the superior survive. She asks you why you became a demon, and says "you still don't know do you?" She tells you that you are useless and says goodbye, and summons three of the big villains from SMT2 to fight you--Daitenshi Raphael, Uriel, and Gabriel! BOSS: DAITENSHI GABRIEL, RAPHAEL, AND URIEL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAITENSHI GABRIEL HP: 3000 MP: 1500 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, reflects Hama and Curse, Strong to Magic attacks SKILLS: Mahajiodain, Unblemished Power, Divine Retribution DAITENSHI RAPHAEL HP: 3000 MP: 1000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, reflects Hama and Curse, Strong to Magic attacks SKILLS: Tetrakarn, Makalakarn, Diarahan, Fudo-ken DAITENSHI URIEL: HP: 3000 MP: 1000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, reflects Hama and Curse, Strong to Magic attacks SKILLS: Prominence, Meigdora, Beast's Eye I actually found this battle to be quite easy. Mostly it was a matter of figuring out who to take out first. Raphael is the defense man. He usually casts either Tetrakarn or Makalakarn every turn, but will also heal weakened allies with Diarahan. Uriel is the offense guy. He casts powerful spells like Prominence and Megidora. Gabriel...well, I dunno what she does besides cast Mahajiodain and Divine Retribution, she mostly seems to just attack. There doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern to her, though when her companions are killed she will cast Unblemished Power. Personally, I recommend taking out Raphael first, then Uriel, and finally Gabriel. Without Raphael the other two Daitenshi can't heal, and you won't be as restricted in what attacks you can use without his constant magic/physical reflecting. Uriel should be taken out next simply because he's the biggest damage dealer. Gabriel by herself poses little threat so you should be able to kill her easily. Just bring in a balanced party- -some healing, some physical, some magical--and you should be fine. Use skills like Randomizer and the -Kaja spells and this battle becomes unfairly easy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While you were battling it out with the Daitenshi, Chiaki finished off Futomimi. She turns to you and congratulates you for not dying like the "mud dolls." She tells you that you can no longer stop her though, with the Magatsuhi she has. If you approved of Chiaki's attack on the Manekata (you sadistic bastard you ^^) then instead of fighting the Seraphim you will have to fight Futomimi. BOSS: GIJIN FUTOMIMI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GIJIN FUTOMIMI HP: 5500 MP: 2000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, reflects Hama and Curse, Strong to Physical SKILLS: Kiai, Charge, Close Eye, Battle Cry Wow, for his quiet demeanor, Futomimi is one hell of a bruiser. I actually found him tougher than the Seraphim fight. (though I only faced him on a "second time through" game, when damage is much higher) Futomimi does absolutely absurd physical damage, especially after using Kiai--he can easily one-hit-kill you if you're not careful. However, physical attacks are really the only thing he can do to attack you. If you bring in demons immune to Physical damage or constantly cast Tetrakarn, he's pretty much powerless against you. Equip a "strong to Physical" Magatama on your Hero and it will really be a slugging match to see who lasts the longest. Physical attacks aren't very effective against him, so Maka-Kaja pumped magic attacks are probably the best way to go. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you beat him, Futomimi curses you as he dies, and apologizes to the other Manekata for failing them. Any way you handle this event, Futomimi will end up dead and Chiaki will win. She laughs at how much Magatsuhi the Manekata gathered, even though there was no way they could establish a Kotowari. "...No, this was most certainly prepared for me" she says. With the Magatsuhi she has, she says her little No-ish poem and summons her Guardian. Her Guardian appears. She (he?) says her name is Baal Avatar, bringer of glory, and that she will build the land of Yosuga. She notices that she has competition, one that has already appeared, and another which is beginning to move in Ginza. Baal Avatar leaves to create its country. Go to Ginza. The Datenshi are back! Tbey talk about how Hikawa has found a source of Magatsuhi necessary to create his world. Go have a chat with the Nyx at the bar. She tells you that apparently Nihilo is after a huge amount of Magatsuhi that is at the Tokyo Government Building. A Shinnentai will tell you that he saw Nihilo demons hanging out near Tokyo Tower, by Yurakcho Station. Head to Yurakucho Station. It's north of the Tokyo Tower, near the rear entrance to the Nihilo HQ. ================================================================================ THE YURAKUCHO TUNNEL ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Muscle Drink Medicine 2 x Maseki 4 x Loa Fight (Mahankyo) 2 x Loa & Kerberos(Megido Stone) Hogyoku Hogyoku Soma Drop Ikutama* Pearl* Vitality Incense* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 47 Yama Chiun Lv 52 Kijo Dakini Lv 52 Yoma Ifreet Lv 53 Yama Loa Lv 54 Yoki Shikioji Lv 55 Chirei Gogmagog Lv 55 Ryuo Quetzalcoatl Lv 61 Maju Kerberos Lv 63 Yuki Vetala NOTES: ------ The Yurakucho Tunnel is a pretty long dungeon, and can be pretty tricky. By now you should have a solid healing strategy (via the Shoes skills, Recarmdora + Samarecarm, etc) such that you won't have to double-back for healing very often, but you are still going to be up against some reasonably tough demons. The Chiuns and Loas are most worth your concern, as they spam Curse-based instadeath attacks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ################################################################################ INTERLUDE: MANIACS It is in the entrance of Yurakucho station that you will face your final Majin. Rather than pull you straight into the duel area, he will actually speak to you as you're pulled down. He congratulates you on getting as far as you have, and says that he is Trumpeter, and his trumpet will announce the End of Days. He is after you to see if you're worthy of hearing his trumpet along with the other demons at the last battle. He tells you that he hopes you can take the final Menorah from him. You're dumped into the fighting arena. Trumpeter notes that you have received markings from "The great one" and says that you must go to the deepest part of the abyss and meet him. "Come, take the final Menorah from me--for the future of the demons of Chaos!" he says, before attacking. BOSS: MAJIN TRUMPETER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN TRUMPETER HP: 11000 MP: 5000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Maharagidain, Mahbufudain, Mahajiodain, Mahazandain, Maka-Kaja, De-Kaja, Megidoraon, Divine Favor Trumpet, Demon Fate Trumpet. Trumpeter can be a tough nut to crack. He focuses overwhelmingly on elemental attacks, which by now you should be able to take care of fairly easily, but it's his two unique skills, Divine Favor Trumpet and Demon Fate Trumpet, that are the real dangers here. Divine Favor Trumpet will heal the HP and MP of whoever in the battle is the most hurt, to their maximum levels. This means that once you beat Trumpeter to a bloody pulp, he can use it to heal himself to max. What's more dangerous though is his Demon Fate Trumpet. This will auto-kill whoever in your party is at the lowest % of HP. No chance for failure, no blocking. If everyone's healed to max, it picks someone at random...possibly even the hero, which you obviously don't want. The secret here is that Trumpeter follows a pattern, which you can exploit to your own devices. Every four turns he will blow his horn, switching the skill every time. (ie Divine Favor first, then Demon Fate, then back to Divine favor) You can exploit this with either Recarm or a bunch of Chigaeshi no Tamas. And you'll want at least a handful of throwaway, beaten up demons that you don't care about dying. What you do is this: When Trumpeter is about to play his deadly trumpet, summon one of your beaten up demons into the battle. Trumpeter will kill that demon instead of one of your valuable party members. Revive him the next round with Recarm or a Chigaeshi no Tama (NOT Samaricarm, this is important) Keep beating on Trumpeter, and when he's about to use his healing trumpet, pull the newly- resurrected demon into your ranks--he'll get healed instead of Trumpeter. Then just repeat this process as Trumpeter goes through his pattern. With his two killer techniques nullified this way, he should be fairly easy to defeat. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defeating Trumpeter will earn you the final Menorah, the Menorah of Divine Might. ################################################################################ The first area of the Tunnel is divided--you can go down the east or west stairs to the east or west platforms. The east just has treasure boxes, the west continues onward deeper into the tunnel. There's a Shinnentai will report that a human woman that looked creepy and possessed was down in the area earlier, and headed to Kasumi-Gaseki. On B2F you can find Shige-Chan. He's digging and looking for treasure. He'll ask to borrow one of your demons to help him dig, and will split the treasure if you do. If you agree, he'll ask for the first on your list. You can say: "Another Demon" "OK" "I've changed my mind." While the temptation might be to get a fresh demon and give it to Shige-chan, you should refrain from being stingy and give him one of your better ones. The stronger the demon you give him, the less time it will take to finish. Once he finishes the tunnel, he'll find an area with four treasure chests. You get to open two of them. The contents are: Northeast Chest: Sapphire* Southeast Chest: Great Chakra* Northwest Chest: 10,000 Makka Southwest Chest: Kimon Sphere Personally, I'd go with the 10K Makka and the Great Chakra. Don't waste a pick with the Kimon Sphere, because Shige-chan will give it to you even if you don't pick it, saying he doesn't need it. Don't try and get your demon back though-- Shige-chan will tell you if asked that it "happily worked itself to death." Oy. ================================================================================ SUB-QUEST: THE NORTH TEMPLE: Now, remember that Shinentai in Ueno park that talked about the nearby shrine that had a "Kimon" sealed in it? Might want to go back and check that out. You don't have to do it now, but when you're ready, head to the North Temple via the west tunnel in Asakusa. The Kimon Sphere gives off a flash of light and the seal of the temple is broken. Go on in. Bishamonten is waiting for you inside the temple. He recognizes you and calls you by name, and says he has heard quite a bit about your martial prowess and courage. He says that he senses something different in your energy. "You're not a normal demon, are you?" You can say: "That's right" "Nah, I am." "That's right" Bishamonten is interested, and asks to test your power. You can accept the challenge if you wish. "Nah, I am." Bishamon notes that you're quite humble, but says that doesn't matter, and asks if you wish to have a test of strength with him. If you accept the challenge, Bishamonten says that in the past he and his allies were strong enough to protect Tokyo from all manner of dangers, and that he will demonstrate to you just how capable he is. BOSS: KISHIN BISHAMONTEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KISHIN BISHAMONTEN HP: 4567 MP: 504 AFFINITY: Reflects Flame, Boss Immunities, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Prominence, Hasso-Happa, Kiai, Divine Retribution, Diarahan Bishamonten is a breeze. He deals out hella damage, both physical and with fire (Prominence) but that's about all he does. His HP aren't all that high and he's weak to Ice, so get a couple of Ice-users, and some fire/physical reflecters/absorbers to soak up his Press Turns and you should be OK. The one thing that you'll need to be concerned about is later on in the fight when he uses his Kiai - Hasso-happa pattern. This does loads of damage if you aren't buffed (or he's weakened) and may kill you in one hit if you're unlucky. So boost up that defense or lower his offense...or turn the tables with Tetrakarn. Also don't attack him with fire attacks since he reflects them. He doesn't have a whole lot of MP, so draining them is an option if you don't want him to heal himself with Diarahan. In all seriousness though, he rarely uses that spell, so it probably won't be too hard to beat him before he gets a chance to cast it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon his defeat, Bishamonten is surprised at your strength and says "Just as he said, your strength is beyond what I could have imagined. Now my strength is his along with that of my brothers"...whatever that means. (You can find this out later) He tells you he enjoyed the match and would like to have a rematch but that he must go. He gives you the Gundari Magatama before leaving. He tells you "If you have the power to get all of these, (IOW, the Magatama) then you will be able to enter the world to which I travel." He leaves and wishes you well. ================================================================================ The Yurakucho Tunnel is the Chutes 'n Ladders dungeon. There are a lot of steep inclines you can't get up, a lot of one-way-doors, and a lot of ladders. It's an annoying layout, but it's not really all that hard. The trickiest part (if you can call it that) is on B4 where there are four chutes leading to a treasure chest surrounded by pits. If you want the chest, enter via the north chute to avoid the pits. The west pit will drop you in a hall where you can continue through the dungeon. On the other side of the tunnel, you'll find you're in the Kasumi-Gaseki subway station. There's a Queen Maeve hanging out there who congratulates you on getting through the tunnel, but warns you to stay away from the Tokyo Diet building, because if you get in the way of Hikawa's job, you'll get killed. She'll ask you if you came to help him out. If you say no, she'll warn you again not to go there, and if you say yes, she wonders if the guards there will accept you. Saying you're here to help Hikawa gives you 4 Shijima points. There's another demon on the station entrance that asks if you came hear after hearing that Hikawa is calling a Guardian. If you say yes, he tells you not to worry as the Diet is well guarded. if you say no, he laughs and sees you're after Aradia. Either way he warns you not to proceed. Head inside the Tokyo Diet. ================================================================================ THE TOKYO DIET BUILDING ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ 3x Maseki Blinding Sphere 3000 Makka Megido Stone Hogyoku Soma Drop Hogyokuwa* Hangonko* Magic Incense* MONSTERS: --------- Lv 44 Yoma Purski Lv 44 Yoma Djinn Lv 47 Yama Chiun Lv 52 Yoma Ifreet Lv 54 Yama Loa Lv 56 Yama Queen Maeve Lv 61 Maju Kerberos Lv 58 Datenshi Decarabia Lv 58 Jashin Girimekara NOTES: ------ Almost all the monsters here are way underpowered for this part of the game, and should drop like flies before you. The only potential serious threat are the Decarabia, which will fry you with Megido given the chance. The only other thing to be concerned about are the Loas and the Chiuns, which use curse magic. Equip Satan on your hero and you won't have anything to worry about. (Nobody here is a Hama-user so it's safe) Also the Loas can self-destruct, though they rarely do so. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the Japanese Diet, the main government building of Japan. Anyway, as soon as you enter you will hear a voice telling you to leave, saying that this building is the Magatsuhi Palace for the Nihilo organization. It tells you that the Guardian is about to come and create the Shijima Kotowari, and that if you do not leave you will pay for it with your life. Of course we know to ignore little voices in our heads, right? Good. Go on in. As soon as you try to go forward the bronze statue near you will come to life and attack! BOSS: MAOU SURTR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAOU SURTR HP: 5000 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Absorbs Flame, Boss Immunities, Strong to Physical SKILLS: Ragnarok, Hell Stab, Reppu-Ha, Hellfire, De-Kunda, Beast's Eye Surtr can be an amazingly cheap (and difficult) boss if you don't play your cards right. First, you absolutely MUST equip Gehenna or Shiranui for this battle. If you don't, you're taking a huge risk. My first battle with him, I went in full life equipping Vimana, and before I could do anything he hit the Hero with a 600+ point damage Ragnarok--instant Game Over. Surtr uses a variety of attacks, and uses De-kunda with alarming frequency, so no Randomizer--you'll need to use buff spells if you want to boost your party's efficiency. He's an unbelievable cheap shotter, often casting Beast's Eye, attacking, then casting Beast's Eye again, so you never even get a chance to get a hit in. This is why you absolutely must bring both physical-immune and fire-immune characters into this fight. Only then can you eat up the Press Turns necessary to move the round over to your party again. Surtr has no weaknesses, but is immune to fire. He is strong to physical attacks, so your best bet is to attack him with multi-hit magic spells like Absolute Zero or Shockwave. Maka-Kaja helps too. To keep him at bay, (since he does hella damage when he connects) Makala-karn and Tetra-karn are useful spells to employ. Surtr's HP aren't too high, so you can finish him off fairly quickly if you play your cards right. Also note that Surtr is an anomaly in that his normal attack is not physical but fire-based. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you open the door into the next area, another statue comes to life, impressed that you defeated Surtr, then vanishes. Don't worry, you'll run into him later. Head further in to the second floor. There's some weird stuff going on here-- some doors and hallways are not doors or hallways but drawings on the wall, like out of a Road Runner cartoon. If you get caught in one of these traps an unseen presence will laugh at you and teleport you away. However, it's actually pretty easy to figure out which things are fake and which are real. The "hard" way is to keep an eye out for irregularities; fake corridors start to warp when you get close, and fake doors are semi-transparent, brownish instead of red. The "cheating" way is even easier--just pull up your map. Fake corridors show up as walls, and fake doors don't show up as doors. Further in on the second floor is a door that you can unlock to the Terminal room. Right across from it is a "concealed" passage further into the building. At the end of of the hallway with the swinging lamps, you will be greeted by the "trapping" presence, who applauds you at making it this far, saying it hasn't had such fun hunting in a while. The "disappearing" statue appears, and tells you it will not let you further and hinder the calling of the Shijima guardian. He attacks! BOSS: JASHIN MADA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JASHIN MADA HP: 2500 MP: 750 AFFINITY: Absorbs Physical, Boss Immunities SKILLS: Grand Inebriation, Meikai-Ha, Agidain, Randomizer, De-Kunda, Summon Pazuzu, Beast's Eye Despite being able to absorb physical attacks, Mada is not a hard boss. He is, however, an incredibly annoying boss. Since he probably won't be able to do much damage to you normally, he will try to hit you in your wallet instead. He's got the standard Boss double-attack, in addition to the common "Beast's Eye" as well. He casts Agidain, uses Meikai-ha, summons Pazuzus, and can cancel any debuffing with De-Kunda. However, his greatest weapon is his "Grand Inebriation" attack, which is like a super-powered Tentarafu. With your party under Panic, they will throw away gobs of cash, (since they're likely high-level) while not actually doing what you tell them to. In addition, Mada can and will cast Randomizer on you, so a De-kunda caster of your own will be most helpful. To make this battle go as smoothly as possible, you should bring as many Bad-Status immune allies as you can in--or if you have one Status-immune demon with Me- Patra that will suffice. You could also always equip Muspel on your Hero and use Iwakura Water to keep your troops salient. Basically, so long as you keep your party non-confused, this battle shouldn't be too tough. A final note that despite his appearance, Mada is not resistant to fire, so you can use fire attacks if you want. Mada has a ridiculously low amount of HP so should go down fairly quickly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Mada is dead, proceed east down the hallway. Once you get past the balcony, another bronze statue comes to life and swears to exact revenge by placing you in a "maze without an exit." The next area is kind of annoying--it's like the previous one with fake corridors and doors and teleportation traps, except this new presence will keep plopping down walls in front of and behind you when you cross certain areas. Basically, to avoid this, you need to take the longest route possible. You won't ever be shut out of where you need to go, but you may need to leave and do the whole thing over again depending on the route you go. Further in is a room lined with statues. You'll hear a voice: "The true and the false are as light and dark. Can you find the true me?" So, you have to find and examine the right statue. Here's a hint: Look at the floor. Here's the solution: The real statue doesn't give off a reflection. Check it out and it will reveal itself as Mot. He'll be REALLY pissed off that you found him and will attack! BOSS: MAOU MOT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAOU MOT HP: 3500 MP: 3000 AFFINITIES: Reflects Shock, Absorbs Ice, Immune to Flame, Boss Immunities, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Megidoraon, Maka-Kaja, Mahazanma, Reppu-Ha, De-Kunda, Beast's Eye Mot is easier to fight than the other bosses here in that he has a weakness: Electricity. Unfortunately, he's also quite a nasty opponent in the sense that he casts Megidoraon, the most powerful spell in the game! If that wasn't bad enough, he will also cast Maka-Kaja on himself to boost the damage. He also uses Reppuha, Mahazanma, Diarama, Beast's Eye, and probably a couple more techniques I haven't seen, but none of them is nearly as difficult to deal with. De-Kaja is probably the most important spell to bring in to this fight; you will HAVE to reduce his magic efficiency. Randomizer is nice, but like most other bosses he can cast De-kunda on himself. Shockwave is the skill of choice in this battle, as it can hit him twice. Boosted with some Maka-Kajas of your own, he will die more quickly. With a good healer and his magic not boosted, he's not too tough. Unfortunately even then you'll just have to hope he doesn't cheap shot and cast Maka-kaja-Beast's Eye-Megidoraon-Beast's Eye-Megidoraon-Megidoraon = dead party. (I've actually seen him do this) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Mot is dead, all the walls he created are gone, so if you missed any goodies in his maze, go back and collect them. Then head upstairs. Right after Mot is the main diet hall. There you will hear a voice welcoming you into its "Room of Judgement." Majin Mithra will then appear. He tells you that he is the judge that oversees the fulfillment of the Miroku Scriptures. Mithra says that he will judge you and tells you that just as the Miroku Scripturesforetold, various Kotowari are appearing, and the Vortex world is moving to the new age of reconstruction. Through one of the Kotowari, the world will be rebuilt, and this is a reason to be glad. But Mithra is not pleased that you, a demon, are planning to create the world. Mithra says it is not permissable for a demon to take on that role. He goes on to say that as it is his job, he must now ask you some questions. His first: "Do you acknowledge that you possess the body of a demon?" If you say yes, Mithra goes on to ask his second question: "Then, do you acknowledge that you possess the mind of a demon?" If you say yes here, then Mithra asks you if you vow not to try to create the world. If you say yes once more, then he then looks into your eyes and sees a strange light deep within them--an anger at the world. He says that you are the one that was foretold in the prophecy, that would try to impede the creation of the world. He attacks you to stop you. If you say no to any of the questions, Mithra gets upset, saying that your lack of acknowledgement proves that you are the same foretold one that would get in the way, and attacks. To be honest, I don't really know whether or not these questions have any real impact on what ending you're going to get. I have heard some people say that affirming that you are a demon and vowing not to build the world locks you into the Demon ending, but I have heard from others who have done this and DIDN'T get the Demon ending. Just to be safe you are probably best off answering "No" to his questions unless you are shooting for the Demon Ending. BOSS: MAJIN MITHRA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN MITHRA HP: 4500 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Hama-on, Mahanma-on, Mudo-on, Mahamudo-on, Randomizer, Megidora, Dragon's Eye I found Mithra to be one of the most pathetically easy bosses in the game. He's far, far too reliant on Hama spells, and curse spells especially, to be much of a worry. By this point in the game, most of your allies should be reasonably powerful gods of some sort, and for the most part gods are very strong if not immune to curse or Hama. You probably have one or two immune demons in your stock even without preparing your party in advance. Mithra uses Dragon's Eye, but as his curse/Hama spells will be bouncing off your party like mad if you do it right, it will mean very little. He can cast Megidora which is of some concern, but if you could withstand Mot's Megidoraon, you shouldn't worry about it. Just use normal boss strategies (buffing & debuffing, a healer just in case) and you should be fine. Just don't go into the battle equipping Gaia, Nirvana, or Ankh, and you probably won't have much trouble at all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As he dies, Mithra calls to Kagutsuchi and says that "this one is a bringer of destruction...or else he's..." Onwards and upwards. Take the elevator after Mithra to the 6th floor, the central tower. Inside you will find Hikawa talking with Yuko. Hikawa is telling her that the "freedom" of the old world was just an excuse to cover greed and desire and is what led to its downfall. "Freedom? Possibilities? If you really believe that, why do you wish to create the world? The old world had tons of those." Yuka can't answer him. Hikawa points out that her letting her students into the world is the same deal, and asks what she expected out of them. "Did you think that they would do what you cannot? Or did you just want them to feel your same frustration?" Hikawa asks her if she knows why she couldn't find a Kotowari, and tells her it's because she did nothing but run. Yuko drops to the ground, and Hikawa suggests she doesn't believe in freedom after all. Aradia separates from Yuko and tells Hikawa that his wishing for Shijima is a freedom as well. "Oh, if it isn't the abnormal god Aradia. To think that it was you that attached onto Yuko" Hikawa says. He tells Aradia that s/he is powerless within his force field, and tells it to sit back politely and watch him summon his Guardian. He opens a massive store of Magatsuhi. "This land is finished. Woman, come woth me to a new land" Aradia says. Yuko refuses, saying that if she doesn't stop Hikawa, both the old world and the new world will die. Aradia says that it will wait for her there, tells her that hope is the path there, and disappears. Hikawa says he feels sorry for Yuko, being tricked by a false god, only to be ditched. He says that this area will soon become nothing and tells her to at least become a sacrifice to God and fulfill her role. ================================================================================ KOTOWARI EVENT ================================================================================ This Kotowari event will happen no matter what you do in the game. However, it does not necessarily "count." Hikawa stops short in his tracks as he notices that you have entered the room. He says he doesn't know why you are here, but does not wish to fight you. He tells you to sit back and watch. You can choose: "Watch" or "Stop Hikawa" If you pick "Watch": "Ah, I see you understand. You're all right," Hikawa says, and begins the summoning of his Guardian. If you have over 32 Shijima points OR have activated the Shijima Kotowari Event Flag back on the steps of the Mantra base, you will now be 100% allied with Shijima and will be able to get the Shijima ending. If you do not meet these qualifications, then this choosing means nothing and you will still not be able to see the Shijima ending--but it still "counts" in the sense that it will hose your chances for getting the "Freedom" Neutral ending! "Stop Hikawa" Hikawa says he's disappointed in you to fall for a woman's wiles like that. He says that you should have been taken care of, and his loyal minion Samael will kill you. After picking this, you will not be able to see the Shijima ending. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: JASHIN SAMAEL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JASHIN SAMAEL HP: 8500 MP: 4000 AFFINITIES: Boss Immunities: SKILLS: Megidora, De-Kunda, De-Kaja, Raku-Kaja, Maharagidain, God's Evil Will Samael's attacks are nothing to get worried about--Megidora can be painful, but other than that he pretty much only physically attacks. (though he has the usual boss skill lineup of De-Kunda/De-Kaja, and Raku-Kaja too) However, he does have one trick in his lineup that can potentially cause lots of problems--God's Evil Will. God's Evil Will is a technique that will inflict random status ailments on your entire party, usually panic or charm. Then your party will take itself out with charmed allies, or do nothing with the panic. So, bringing in a party that is strong to bad status ailments, or at least Mind, is very useful. Samael uses De-kunda a lot less than other bosses, so Randomizer is a potential advantage here. Overall he shouldn't be too tough, though he has a very high pain threshold. In my opinion, Samael is nothing compared to Mot, and you already beat Mot. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you defeat Samael, Hikawa says "you're an impressive monstrosity," seeing that Samael only served as a method of buying time instead of killing you. He tells you that you're too late to stop him from summoning his Guardian though. Whether you fought Samael or not, Hikawa fuses with his Guardian just as the others did. Everything in the area gets atomized. Hikawa becomes Ahriman, the god of nothingness. He says that with Ahriman's guidance he will create a new, silent world. He vanishes. You find yourself in the midst of a light with Yuko. She calls your name and says "the seeds of posibility have been crushed here, but that there is surely somewhere where there can be a world of freedom." Yuko tells you she couldn't successfully build it, but maybe you can. She gives you the Yahiro-no-Himorogi and tells you to use it to make a world of your choosing, urging you to hurry to the Amara Shrine, and that it will open your way to Kagutsuchi. She tells you that if it is your wish, you can create your own world of freedom. Head to Amara Shrine. There you will hear a voice, that says "At last, the road to me will be opened..." The voice tells you the Yahiro-no-Himorogi is the key to open the pathway--a pathway to creation for those who are strong, and a parthway to certain death for those that are weak. "Come inside if you have made your decision" it says. Go inside the core. Watch the movie as the Tower of Kagutsuchi is created. The old woman and the blond child appear again. The old woman is somewhat surprised to see that a demon created the path to Kagutsuchi. She says that it (the path) has been centered at the Obelisk, and those that are looking to create the world will surely come running there with its creation. She thanks you for entertaining the boy and applauds your efforts, but that the most important moment is now, and tells you to do your best and not get overconfident. "I wonder if the Creator will turn out to be a demon after all..." the old woman says to the child. As usual, they vanish. ##MANIACS NOTE If you've been fully converted to a demon at the bottom of the 5th Calpa by this point, then the old woman acts slightly differently. She acknowledges your willingness to walk the path of demonkind and that you had received power from the old man, and tells you that all you need to do now is defeat Kagutsuchi and advance to the final battle. She also lets you know that the boy is going to be there when you defeat Kagutsuchi, and will join you for the final battle. She asks you to be careful not to die, effectively dashing their hopes. ## Head to the Obelisk. You'll notice the outside area has changed a lot. Before you head inside, you might want to walk around BEHIND Kagutsuchi tower to the back entrance. In the back entrance of the Obelisk, you can take the elevator down to B4. (must be waaay underground now) There you will find the Chakra- Kongotan. It's an item that heals MP in battle that will never be used up. Enter the Obelisk and take the elevator to 150F. There, examine the core, and go to Kagutsuchi Tower. The voice sounds again, and asks you to show it your soul. This is the point where your ending is set in stone. As the voice "looks into your soul" it picks the Kotowari you resonate most strongly with. To figure out what Kotowari you resonate most strongly with, read the rules in the "Alignment" section earlier in this FAQ. After looking into your soul, the voice says something different depending on which Kotowari you have chosen, if any, though it's nothing of vital importance. The voice tells you to find the Three Treasured Jewels if you are not afraid to create the world and come to it. ================================================================================ KAGUTSUCHI TOWER ================================================================================ KAGUTSUCHI TOWER: ----------------- 20,000 Makka Soma Drops Soma Drops 3 x Maseki Hogyoku Hogyoku Butsuhankyo Megidora Stone Hover Sphere 2 x Maou Abbadon and 1 x Kijo Rangda fight (Hogyokuwa) 3x Jashin Mot + 3x Gedo Shadow fight (Ikutama) Ikutama* Power Incense* Great Chakra* Chakra Pot* Chakra Pot* Dying Pot* Soma* Soma* Hogyokuwa* Soma* Great Chakra* Hangon-Shinshu ENEMIES: -------- Lv 44 Yoma Purski Lv 49 Yuki Legion Lv 52 Gedo Shadow Lv 56 Yama Queen Maeve Lv 58 Datenshi Dekarabia Lv 58 Jashin Girimekara Lv 61 Maju Kerberos Lv 63 Kyocho Gurulu Lv 64 Tenshi Throne Lv 65 Jashin Totetsu Lv 66 Ryuo Yurlunggur Lv 68 Datenshi Flauros Lv 69 Maou Abbadon Lv 70 Yama Nyx Lv 72 Kijo Rangda Lv 75 Yoju Hraesvelgr Lv 74 Maou Surtr Lv 77 Maou Arsiel Lv 80 Yama Lilith Lv 83 Jashin Mada Lv 91 Maou Mot NOTES: ------ OK, this is it--the last dungeon. It's freakishly large--enough so there are three separate terminals (not sub-terminals) inside it. So you don't have to tackle it all at once. There is a very wide range of enemies here, and some of them are very tough. On the lower and middle levels, the most dangerous enemy is Flauros--his Deathbound does obscene amounts of damage, and if three of them back attack you even the strongest parties can die before being able to do anything. The Maou here, especially Abbadon and Arsiel, are pains too because of their large amounts of HP. The upper levels are especially sadistic, because of the way the random battles are set up you can't use any all-enemies attacks outside of the Megido-type spells. For example, you'll have, say, Yurlunggurs and Rangdas in the same battle--Yurlunggurs being immune to all magic attacks, and Rangas reflecting all physical attacks. If you use an all-enemies magic attack, it'll hurt the Rangdas you'll lose your turn because of the Yurlunggurs, and all-enemies physical attacks will hurt the Yurlunggurs but you'll lose your turn because of the Rangdas. In this way the game forces you to take on enemies one at a time in some fights. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The beginning of Kagutsuchi Tower is divided into four main sections at first, one for each direction. The East side is the Yosuga side, the north side is the Shijima side, the west side is the Musubi side, and the south side is the Manekata side. At the top of each area is a door into the main towner, and only one will be open, the one of the Kotowari you have picked. If you are shooting for the Neutral or the Bad ending, you'll have to go up through the Manekata side. On 160F you can find some Makekata. One will tell you that the other Kotowari leaders have already arrived here and are going to duke it out to see who gets to create the world...though with Futomimi gone, it doesn't matter to them who wins. On 162 there is a Manekata boy. He asks which Kotowari you came to support. If you say "Yosuga": The boy responds "Please don't bully me!" "Musubi": The boy responds "Say hi occasionally, OK?" "Shijima": The boy responds "....OK, I'll be quiet." "None of them": The boy responds "That's an option too." Of course by this point in the game your alignment is already set in stone, so it doesn't matter what you say. 186-188F has a mini-puzzle, where you need to clear a path to the exit using the rising blocks. Climb up the stairs in the center of the chamber and ride the second block up to 188F. Go down the stairs and back to 186F, and then ride up the first block up to 188F again. Now ride the third block up to 189F and take the stairs all the way back down to 186F so you can get the formerly shut-off Hogyoku. Go up the east stairs to 188F, and you can now ride the second block back down to 187F, and the path to the exit is cleared. (Alternatively, if you want to clear the path perfectly, you could descend the first block, climb the stairs again, and then descend the second block--it's up to you) Before the exits are blocks down to 179F. Ride them and you can create a "shortcut" to the staircase down, and a passage to a treasure chest with a Great Chakra in it. There's a really nice view on 196F. You can take the blocks in this chamber up to 209F where there's a sub-terminal to save your game. Further up on 215F is a scared Manekata that will warn you of a "huge, red demon" ahead. You gotta go ahead anyway, so do. Enter the door on 223F. Inside you face your first Kotowari boss--Ahriman. If you're aligned with Shijima, he thanks you for coming, applauding you for embracing the Shijima Kotowari. Ahriman then gives you the Tsuchi-no-Takara Jewel as a token of his sincerity, saying you will need it to enter into the new world, and asks you to proceed to the top of the tower, as it is you that needs to be the one to enact Creation. He tells you to defeat those that oppose you and open the way to Shijima. If you're not allied with Shijima, Ahriman curses you for standing in the way of Shijima, the country of silence. He says that you have power, but do not have the will to join with him. Therefore he attacks. BOSS: MAOU AHRIMAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAOU AHRIMAN (version 1) HP: 6000 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, reflects Hama and Curse SKILLS: Agidain, Maharagidain, Bufudain, Mahabufudain, Jiodain, Mahajiodain, Zandain, Mahazandain, Lead to Hell Ahriman says it will be fun to see how powerful you are. He says that "if my words do not reach you, I will lead you to Hell. This is for sport..." Basically, what Ahriman will do is forbid you to use a certain type of attack. If you do, he will counter with "Lead to Hell," an instant-death attack that never misses and you cannot resist. Using this type of attack means instant Game Over, so DON'T DO IT! Basically he will forbid (禁ず) various attacks. 物理攻撃: Physical attacks 魔法: Magic (any spell, elemental-based attack like Magma Axis, or any MP-consuming attack) 回復: Healing アイテム: If you can't read this much, you shouldn't be playing this game. ;) ｘｘ以外: Same as above, except that the ｘｘ is the ONLY thing permitted. Basically, the strategy for this fight is to do as much damage as humanly possible in as little time as humanly possible. The reason being, Ahriman will wear you down with his attacks, and you can't afford a long drawn-out battle as once your healing ability is taken away, you won't survive long. The best way I've found is boring, but effective--stat-modifying spells. However, you shouldn't cast stat modifiers interspersed with attacks. Do ALL of your stat boosting/stat dropping before performing as much as a single attack on Ahriman to maximize your chances of making it past his "sporting" stage. (Ahriman always starts out by forbidding physical attacks, so you can cast magic safely to start) Cast Randomizer on him four times, and cast Suku-Kaja four times to minimize his chance of hitting you. Taru-kaja and Maka-Kaja are optional but helpful. It also helps to bring in at least one Ice-stopper and one Fire-stopper to reduce his Press Turns when he uses his magic. (He can use the other two elements, but does so less frequently) After kicking the snot out of Ahriman, he gets tired of his little game with you and decides to go all-out. The music changes to the Kotowari boss music and Ahriman starts getting serious. MAOU AHRIMAN, (version two) HP: 18000 MP: 6000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, reflects Hama and Curse SKILLS: Megidoraon, Death Demon's Tentacle, Masse-ha, De-Kaja Ahriman's attacks get much nastier at this point--he casts Megidoraon, and a very damaging physical (all-purpose?) attack called Masse-ha. But you're not restricted in terms of your attacks now, so you can afford to pull out all the stops. If you were tampering with his (and your) stats, then you really don't need to worry about much since the stat changes will carry over to this fight. A 4xRandomizer "all-out Ahriman" is really not that threatening--as far as I can see he can't cast De-Kunda (though he can cast De-Kaja) so long as someone in your party has at least Medirama, you really don't need to worry. The one caveat is that Ahriman has an absolutely absurd amount of HP so even doing 1000+ damage per attack it will still take a while to whittle him down. In a "war of attrition" he can be pretty dangerous. If you've got the Chakra Kongotan though you probably won't need to be concerned about that though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Ahriman's very dramatic death, Hikawa speaks to you. He says "It's quiet...too quiet...I see...nothingness....has come for me...Powerful one...Supreme Champion of desire....create the world you want...It no longer matters to me." The Tsuchi-no-Takara, "Treasure of the Earth" drops from Hikawa to your feet, and he dies. Head further on in. You might want to duck back and save your game, as the next save spot isn't for a while. Also, if you are aligned with Shijima, before you try and go up to the next "block" of the tower, you will be stopped by voice asking you to wait--Samael will teleport in, greet you, and introduce himself. He tells you that Hikawa instructed him to assist you, as you are the embodiment of Shijima. He asks to join you. If you want him to join you, he will, regardless of your level. If you've already got Samael in the party or there's no room, he'll just leave, and you can refuse him too. If for whatever reason Samael doesn't join your party, he hopes that you'll re-fuse him in the Jakyo Manor. 285F has a healing spot at the far north end of the level. There are some nice goodies on this level so braving the damage zones can be worth your while. Of course, if you have Liftma or equivalent then you have nothing to worry about from them. There's also a beaten-up Archangel down here that Ahriman kicked around, if you're playing Maniacs. 302F is a pretty fiendish floor. There are lots of 1-way pathways on the floor, and several pits that'll drop you down to 298F. (which is also a Dark Zone) Well, it's not really THAT fiendish, just difficult to get your bearings since the 1-way pathways won't show up on the map. And if you take the wrong path you'll hit a dead end which will automatically drop you down to 298F, and to get back to 302F you have to go back down to 285 first. (However, there is some nice treasure down on 298F, so it may be to your advantage to take the plunge a couple of times) If you're in a rush and just want to learn the quickest route to the exit, here it is: Start from the save spot and go through the south door. Walk down the invisible pathway and take the second door on your left. The next room has a large platform, and then a walkway north that branches into three separate walkways ending with 1-way paths, two going north and one going south. Of those three branching paths, take the south path. It will lead to a elevator block--descend it to open the path to the next level. While visually impressive, Atlus should be slapped for designing the next floor, 322F, such that your Hero is the size of an ant and virtually impossible to see amongst the "light rays." And no, I don't know what's up with that moving platform that takes you to nowhere. At the top, head through the door (don't go up the platform to 345F just yet) and you will find the room where Isamu is hanging out. Go inside. If you're aligned with Musubi, Noah is waiting for you...in pieces. Isamu laughs at himself for getting beaten so easily; he was not expecting Chiaki to be so strong. (apparently Chiaki/Baal Avatar somehow managed to kill Noah, despite being a weaker boss) Isamu laments that after all that work he can't create the world. However, he was able to keep the Yomi-no-Takara away from Chiaki, and gives it to you, asking you to carry on the fight in his stead. He then dies. If you're not aligned with Musubi, then Noah pops out as soon as you enter the room, and Isamu laughs at you, calling you stupid to come all this way just to get killed. He says that if you had only waited until Musubi had been created, you would have had a place in it and would have been able to be reborn; that even if you were his friend once, he won't let you stand in the way of his creating the world. Isamu says he's sorry it has come to this, but attacks. BOSS: JASHIN NOAH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JASHIN NOAH HP: 8000 MP: 4000 AFFINITY: Variable (see below) SKILLS: Agidain, Bufudain, Jiodain, Zandain, Nighttime Aurora Noah starts out pretty easy. At first he does nothing but use normal, albeit powerful, attacks. (though said attacks are All-Purpose affinity so cannot be reflected or blocked) This will give you plenty of time to boost your stats and drop his if you want. Once he starts taking damage, he uses "Nighttime Aurora" which changes his Affinity. He will immediately use an attack of his new Affinity. The trick here is that the opposite of his new affinity are the only types of attacks that will work against him; all other attacks will be reflected. So if, for example, he casts a Bufu spell, you'll want to use flame attacks against him in the next round. If you don't have any skills of that type, heal or pass your turn until he changes his Affinity against. Once you deal out enough damage to Noah, he will change shape and Isamu's head will pop out the top. Noah complains, asking why you always stand in his way. JASHIN NOAH HP: 15000 MP: 5000 AFFINITY: Variable (see below) SKILLS: Maharagidain, Mahabufudain, Mahajiodain, Mahazandain, Howl, De-Kunda, De-Kaja, Nighttime Aurora Now the Kotowari Boss music starts and the real fight is joined. Noah uses the same basic pattern here, but the attacks he uses are more powerful, and now he will use Howl, a deadly HP/MP absorption attack that can easily kill your Nakama outright. (Fortunately, it seems to do a little less damage when used on your Hero.) However, the real sneakiness here is that while Noah will change his Affinity every round, he WON'T necessarily use the corresponding attack of his new Affinity after changing, so you'll have to guess randomly what his element is and hope you're right! Which is a death sentence, unless you've been paying close attention to what Noah has been doing so far. If you have, you'll know what you have to do next. Still reading, eh? Try thinking about it a little longer, it's actually quite simple. OK, if you really give up, here's the secret to beating Noah--watch the pattern in which he changes his Affinity pre-transformation. It always follows the same pattern--Fire first, Ice next, Electricity after that, Shock after that, then back to Fire. Regardless of whether or not he actually uses an attack of the corresponding element, he will still follow this pattern post-transformation. Just keep a mental note of what's coming next so you will know what element to use next. Use Ice attacks first, Fire attacks next change, Shock attacks the change after that, Electricity attacks next, and then back to Ice attacks. Repeat this pattern until Noah is no more. That said, even knowing the secret to beating Noah is no guarantee you'll be able to. Noah has a TON of HP and you are going to need a LOT of spells to take him down. Which means that Maka-Kaja is practically a prerequisite for this fight, with Randomizers for good measure to make things more manageable, since you need as much punch per MP as humanly possible. Bring in your hardest-hitting casters--you can all but ignore your physical fighters for this one. Kijo Atropos is a great choice since she has -Dain spells of three elements, and the Enhance skills for those three elements if you build her up. If you haven't gotten it already, go back and get the Chakra Kongotan right now, because you are going to need MP-refilling items for this fight--even if your magic power is pumped to the max with Maka-Kaja and you bring in super-casters with tons of MP, you'll be tossing spells at Noah every round and his Howls will make that MP drain even faster. Find yourself out of MP and out of MP-restoring items and you're SOL. With beefy casters and MP healing items, this fight shouldn't be too bad though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Noah's dramatic death, the sphere encapsullating Isamu pops out. Isamu says "You win. Do what you want," and dies, dropping Yomi-No-Takara. "Treasure of Yomi" (Yomi is the Japanese land of the dead) Note the crying Noah in the background for dramatic effect. :) After you defeat Noah, walk into the beam of light on the outer face of the Tower near the entrance to his room, and take the block up to a higher level. From there you can climb a few more floors to 402F, the start of the third big "block" of the Kagutsuchi Tower. If you're playing Maniacs, you'll find a Power that got the snot beaten out of him by Noah, but he gives you no pertinent information. 402F is a Manekata town--the Manekata have come to continue Futomimi's plan and try to make Kagutsuchi create a world for them--but they have a problem in that they have no Kotowari. In terms of town facilities, there's a heal spot, a Jakyo Manor, a Terminal, and a Junk Shop--with Kailash, the final Magatama! If you now have them all, an event is waiting for you at the Jakyo Manor--jump ahead to the "Bonus Dungeon" section to check it out. Before you go on, a Manekata will warn you that a former Mantra demon is ahead and you risk getting hammer-whacked if you pass on. On the next floor, 418F, an old friend will appear in your way. He will ask if you have forgotten him...it's Thor! He greets you and reidentifies himself, saying he hasn't seen you since the fall of Mantra. If you're not on the Yosuga path, Thor says he can tell his quest differs from yours, so he must crush you. If you're on the Yosuga path, Thor applauds you for your decison and notes that your quests are the same...but still attacks you as he has "unfinished business" and needs to finish your earlier fight. So you have to fight him either way. BOSS: KISHIN THOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KISHIN THOR HP: 8000 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflect Hama and Electricity, Weak to Magic SKILLS: Jiodain, Mahajiodain, Shockwave, Hell Stab, Guillotine Cut, Kiai, Taru-Kaja, Maka-Kaja, Dragon's Eye Thor is a wuss--he even has a weakness now he didn't before! If you've gotten this far, you should have no trouble taking him out whatsoever, unless you deliberately bring in four characters weak to Lightning into the battle. He's decidedly tougher than he was the last time you faced him, and uses some intelligent strategies like Dragon's Eye, then Maka-Kaja/Taru-Kaja strengthening, but he's still not nearly powerful enough to stand up to the types of Nakama you'll probably be using at this point. The only real danger is that he'll use Dragon's Eye, then a Lightning attack - Kiai - Physical attack on Shocked character pattern, which can be potentially deadly. If you just want to be safe, be sure to bring someone along with De-Kaja to eliminate his enhancements, and someone that can block Lightning to waste his Press Turns. (Yoki Fuki is a good choice) Other than that Thor is really just a speed bump. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, this ends my journey..." Thor says, and keels over. If you're not Yosuga, Thor is angry that he cannot compare to you and tells you though that even if he dies here, Chiaki will bring about the world of Yosuga. If you are aligned with Yosuga he will be happy to have been defeated by someone as strong as you and tells you that if you call him from the Abyss via the Jakyo Manor he will always lend you his aid. Either way he gives off a battle cry and vanishes. The rest of 418F is a little on the tricky side, with loads of teleporters just itching to send you back to square one. Here's a step-by-step walkthrough to get through the area and get all the treasure in it, starting from where you fought Thor: Head up the east staircase. You'll be teleported to a platform with an Oni on it. Head south on the path by the Oni. Ignore the passage to the south and keep going until you hit a T-intersection. Turn south, and keep running, ignoring the first two side passages. Take the third passage on the left side. (facing south) Run to the east until you hit the next T-intersection, then turn south again. You'll run into a teleporter, but this will teleport you to a place you want to be. You'll find yourself on another square platform. Take the path off it, but this time take the first side passage, to the south. At the next intersection head south. Keep going south without stopping and you'll be teleported to another platform in the southeast quadrant of the level. Take the north branch and you'll end up at a T-intersection. The south branch will teleport you to a room containing a treasure box with 20,000 Makka in it, but if you want it you'll be sent back to the beginning of the level after taking it. Take the north branch here, and you will find yourself at another intersection. Take the west branch at this point and go as far west as you can. Head south at this intersection and you'll be in a room with a Magic box containing a Hogyokuwa and a path to the east. Take the east path and you'll be teleported to an odd-shaped platform. Run to the edge of the platform and you'll be teleported into a north- south hallway. Go north, and take the first left and you'll be teleported yet again with a treasure box within sight. Don't get it though--turn around 180 degrees and take the first passage on your left. There will be another passage leading south within this corridor--take it. It will lead to the treasure box. Now head out the central exit to this room and you'll be teleported into another corridor. Follow the pathway west and you'll be teleported back right north of the room with the Hogyokuwa. Make your way back to the odd platform and get teleported back into the north-south hallway. This time though, take the hallway south to the very end and you'll be teleported to the exit up to the next level. Up to 431F. There's an Archangel hanging out near the entrance, saying that he saw Kagutsuchi up north, but was not impressed. This floor has a sub-terminal in the center, and five elevator blocks. The one on to the north leads to 475F. The ones in the corners of the level lead to 444F. To get to the corners you need to go through dark area/damage areas. You can't go to 475F just yet since Chiaki is hanging out on 444F, so go there first. In addition, one of the most useful items in the game, the Hangonshinshu (like an unlimited-use Hangonko) is up there. The path there is tricky, but it's worth it to try to get it. The encounter rate is pretty nasty though, so be forewarned. And this is one of the most convoluted levels in this dungeon, so it can be easy to lose your bearings. To get the Hangon-shinshu, take the southeast elevator on 431F up to 444F. Walk across the disappearing path, and turn north into the little cubbyhole at the side of the room. There's a pit there, and it'll drop you back down to 431F. Head south down the corridor you're dropped into until you see a big door. Go through it and you'll be outside the tower. (and get a view of how ludicrously high up you are) Clime along the path/stairs along the wall, and when you turn the corner, ride the elevator block to the north back up to 444F. From there, head up the stairs and go through the side door. You'll be in a room with three doors. Take the south one and you'll find a Manekata who will ask if you know about the treasure, and, if you say no, tell you that you must "fall, then walk a painful path" to get it. On the north side of the chamber is a Sub-Terminal. The west door will take you further into the puzzle. You'll be in a chamber with a large pit, and phantom paths to the north and south. Take the north path to a small ledge against the north wall. From there, take the east phantom path from the ledge to the center platform floating in the middle of the pit. From there, take the west phantom path to the southern ledge with the Dominion on it. The Dominion will tell you that Chiaki is waiting for you to the south. But you don't want to bother with her just yet, so for the time being ignore the south elevator. There are two protrusions facing north on this ledge--take the phantom path on the western one, and it will lead you to the western door. It'll lead to a room full of damage floors--run through them and into the center of the room, where you'll be dropped down a pit back to 431F. Now, this is the tough part. This room is just riddled with pit traps, so you need to be careful. However, there are no pit traps on the damage floors--so you need to walk from damage floor to damage floor to keep from falling. To start, run to the damage floor a bit north of you. Follow the damage "path" and sprint to the second damage floor to the north of you. On this floor, turn to the east and run down the short corridor, turning south at the corner. Once you get back into the main room, DON'T immediately run for the damage floor because there's a pit right in front of you to the south. Instead, hug the east wall to get onto the damage floor. Follow the floor to the south, and you'll see about a two- "block" gap between the north damage area and the south damage area. Go ahead and run across this gap to the south damage area, because it's safe. On this damage area, stand in the "corner" of the "L" and face west. Run three "blocks" to the west, then turn south and step onto the damage area. Walk through the damage area and there should be a passage off to your east. Walk down it, and you'll be dropped down a pit to 418F. Walk down the short hallway and you'll be teleported to another room on 418F...where you'll find the Hangonshinshu in a chest surrounded by damage floor! After you get it, you're just a teleport and a couple of elevator-blocks away from the Sub-Terminal on 444F again. Side note here: If you super-impose your map levels between 418F and 431F, you'll note the south edge of the riddled-with-pits room on 431F is actually not above the damage-floor-all-over-the-place room in 418F toward the south edge of the room. There's actually a pit trap in this area along the west wall that will drop you into a little corridor that'll teleport you into a room where you can find a Ikutama--a nice little treasure. You'll have to fight Shadows and Mots to get it though. OK, now it's time to pay Chiaki a little visit. Head back to where the Dominion was hanging out, only this time take the elevator block up to 462F. Go into the door, and Baal Avatar will appear. Baal Avatar analyzes you to see if you are worthy. If you're not on the Yosuga path, she tells you that the two of you are no longer friends, that as you oppose her Kotowari and struggle to be the one to create the world, then the two of you are enemies that must fight. If you are on the Yosuga path, Baal says that the new kingdom "cannot have two kings" and that you still need to fight. After saying there is no reason for you not to fight, Baal Avatar challenges you to see who is superior--you or her. BOSS: MAJIN BAAL, SOTENSHI FLAUROS-HALEL, AND SOTENSHI OSE-HALEL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN BAAL HP: 13000 MP: 5000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Hama SKILLS: Bael's Curse, Mahanmaon, Divine Retribution, Unblemished Power, Megidora, Beast's Eye, Demonlord's Command SOTENSHI FLAUROS-HALEL HP: 6700 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Hama SKILLS: Diarahan, Maharagidain, Mahazandain, Hasso-Happa, Tetrakarn, Taru-Kaja, Raku- Kaja, Maka-Kaja, Suku-Kaja, De-Kaja SOTENSHI OSE-HALEL HP: 6700: MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Hama SKILLS: Diarahan, Mahabufudain, Mahajidain, Rannyu-Ken, Tetrakarn, Makalakarn, Raku-Nda, De-Kaja, De-Kunda, Dragon's Eye Baal can be a pain. In terms of her attacks and basic patterns, she is much weaker than the other two Kotowari bosses. However, she is trickier in that she has one really vicious technique--"Bael's Curse." Bael's Curse will turn the target into a fly. Being a fly sucks. Your stats drop through the floor, you take massive damage, and all your resistances and immunites are negated. Fortunately Baal doesn't use it very often. Other than that, Baal uses normal attacks, Divine Retribution, and the occasional Megidora or Mahanma-on. Not that tough. However, weaken her enough and she will use Demonlord's Command to summon Sotenshi Flauros-Haleland Ose-Halel to assist in her battle. Both of them are irritating, as they can heal Baal to max, and will. So you'll need to take them out first. The secret to this battle is resistance. Hama resistance is useful, but Magic reistance is most critical--despite its name, Bael's Curse is a Magic attack, not a Curse attack. Equip Djed on your Hero (Masakado's will work too, but that's a cheapass Magatama, and if you use it you probably won't need this strategy anyway) and bring as many Magic-resistant demons into the party as possible. That way Bael's Curse won't be effective and you won't have to worry about the problems it brings. Having characters strong to Hama helps as well, as Baal herself uses a lot of Hama-based techniques. If you use Tetraja to block his Hama weakness, Ongyoki is useful for this fight. Megami Scathach and Jiboshin Skadi are great for this fight since they're immune to Hama and Magic. Build up your characters with -Kaja techniques as best you can, and try to finish off the Sotenshi as fast as possible. Get rid of Flauros first--he has a powerful Hasso-Happa which is a royal pain. It's nice if you have a De-Kaja handy to deal with the constant boosts they will be giving themselves. De-Kunda for yourself is welcome too. Don't bother trying to Randomizer them as they will just use De-Kunda as soon as you do. Once both the Sotenshi are out of the way, Baal herself is a sitting duck. In the unfortuante case that one of your Nakama gets turned into a Fly, just summon someone else. If you're dead-set on having that Nakama gain experience for this fight, just summon them back in when Baal is almost dead. If she turns YOU into a fly...well, cross your fingers and hope she doesn't Mahanmaon you into oblivion. I told you you should have equpped Djed. #MANIACS NOTE: Baal Avatar is slightly tricker when you're playing Maniacs, as Bael's Curse is a Curse rather than a Magic attack. This makes it generally easier for your allies as by this point most of your party should be already immune to Curse by this point. However, this makes it trickier for your Hero--Bael's Curse has 100% success rate when cast, so to keep it off your hero you need Curse immunity on him. The kicker is that all Curse-immune Magatama make you weak to Hama, which is not really an option against a boss that casts as many Hama spells as Baal Avater does. So there's really only three ways to fight this battle safely--one, equip a Hama- or Curse-immune Magatama while sporting the Curse Immunity or Hama Immunity skills respectively, two, use Tetraja a whole lot, or three, be cheap and equip Masakado's Magatama. Other than that there is no real easy way to counter her spells. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Baal's violent death, Chiaki speaks to you. Baal floating in pieces, she says "So...you were superior to me." She can't understand why you wouldn't join Yosuga with the power you wield, and dies mid-sentence. If you're on the Yosuga path, she's not as bitter, and says she's not sad with the way things worked themselves out. Either way, she drops the Ame-no-Takara, the "Treasure of Heaven." So now you finally have all three of the Treasures. You are now ready to bring them to Kagutsuchi and create the new world. Head to 475F. (There's a shortcut right behind where you fought Baal--climb the stairs and you'll be dropped via a pit right in front of the elevator there. On 475F, take the block all the way up to 666F, the top floor of Kagutsuchi Tower. On 666F, head to the three altars at the north end of the level. There, put the three Treasures into the holes in each altar. (It doesn't matter what order you put them in) Then ride the platform up to Kagutsuchi. As you approach Kagutsuchi, it reads your mind to find out what kind of world you want to make. NO KOTOWARI - "NEUTRAL ENDING": Kagutsuchi is upset that you were chosen for the task of creating the world, and is angry that you refuse to bend to destiny by not picking a Kotowari. It can tell that you wish for a free world whose future is not written in stone. Kagutsuchi chastises you, saying that you have learned nothing from the mistakes of the old world. It says that at one time a "great will" gave freedom to the old world and prayed that it would lead it to greatness. But instead, freedom gave birth to evil, increased the darkness, and called for destruction. Kagutsuchi tells you that freedom is nothing but the seeds of disaster and can only bring ruin. It refuses to go along with your plan, saying it will only give its power to one who has decided on a Kotowari with a completely decided future. Kagutsuchi angrily says you have been seduced like freedom, "just like when that angel fell!" It decides it wants to kill you! NO KOTOWARI - "DEMON ENDING": Kagutsuchi is really, really pissed at you for killing the three Kotowari Guardians, snatching the chance of rebirth away from the world. He gives you a mini-sermon about how demons cannot enact Creation and about how evil you are (culminating in an "I hate you!" :P) Kagutsuchi vanishes from the world to "wait for another chance" then teleports you away. There's no boss battle, and you go straight to the Demon Ending. NO KOTOWARI - "MANIACS ENDING" Kagutsuchi's lines are basically the same as the Demon ending, but he attacks to "avenge" the world. MUSUBI, YOSUGA, OR SHIJIMA: Basically Kagutsuchi looks into your soul to see the world you want to create, finds it acceptable, and attacks you to "test" you. FINAL BOSS: MUJINKO KAGUTSUCHI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MUJINKO KAGUTSUCHI HP: 20000 MP: 7000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Maharagidain, Mahabufudain, Mahajiodain, Mahazandain, Megidora, Heaven's Undulation, Mujinko, De-Kunda Kagutsuchi has two forms. The first form is not that tough. It attacks, uses all four Maha-dain spells, and uses a powerful attack called Mujinko that hits all party members. The only attack of his that warrants special attention is Mujinko, which can do several hundred points of damage to all party members even when buffed, so keep an eye out for it. However, he will only use it when it is Full. If you enter the fight when it's Full, it will be able to use Mujinko whenever it wants. If you enter it at another time, Kagutsuchi will change his phase using Heaven's Undulation one eighth each turn until he's Full and can use it. Kagutsuchi has a major weakness in that he can't cast De-Kaja (or at least I've never seen him cast it) so if you buff your characters there's nothing he can do about it. He CAN cast De-Kunda, so if you Randomizer him there's a chance he'll reverse it, though he casts it much less than most other bosses with the spell. His attacks are All-Purpose type, so if you thought you could cheap-shot him by equipping Masakado's in the fight, think again. He's still not all that tough though. Once you do enough damage to Kagutsuchi, his outer shell reforms itself into a face with a striking resemblance to a certain traditional Megaten arch- villain... MUJINKO KAGUTSUCHI (round 2) HP: 40000 MP: 10000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: Maharagidain, Mahabufudain, Mahajiodain, Mahazandain, Mujinko, Mujin-Muhen-Ko De-Kunda, Dragon's Eye Kagutsuchi's second form is a lot tougher than his first. His normal attacks switch from being single-target to full-party, and he can cast Dragon's Eye now to increase his attacks much more. He also gets a new, absurdly powerful attack called Mujin-muhen-ko, which does all-purpose damage to your entire party. If they haven't had their stats boosted and Kagutsuchi's dropped, this attack can do more than 800 points of damage per person, which is enough to wipe out the strongest of parties. Raku-kaja will fortunately reduce damage from this attack, as will using Taru-nda or equivalent on Kagutsuchi. Also, Kagutsuchi will give you advance warning when he is going to use it--he "gives up" his turn and says "I am just (something--I've seen "emptiness" and "wisdom", there may be more)..." This is a signal to refill your HP to max in the upcoming round. Don't use HP-draining techniques in this round! Other than that, just use your most powerful attacks to whittle away at Kagutsuchi until he runs out of HP. If you want to drain his Press Turns casting Makalakarn is a good idea. If you can withstand his Mujin-mugen-ko, then there's not really much reason to worry about him as there's not a whole lot he can do to you otherwise. Overall he's not nearly as hard as a lot of the other bosses. Ironic considering he's the last one. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ################################################################################ MANIACS: ENDGAME Upon Kagutsuchi's death, you'll wake up in a totally empty, dark area. Both the blond child and the old man in the wheelchair are there, along with their nurses. The two of them tell you that you have been successful in breaking the cycle of destruction and rebirth. Time itself is dead, and your universe has reverted to its initial state of primordial chaos--your universe has given birth to a "power built on the death of death"--in other words, you. You're also told that God is insanely furious at you--that you are now eternally cursed, and if he gets his hands on you will subject you to an eternity of torture more horrific than you could ever imagine. The old man tells you not to worry, however, as now that you have cut the threads of fate, that destiny no longer necessarily applies to you--you now have the ability to conquer the world in its current state and shape it to an extent that you never would have been able to under the laws of God and Kagutsuchi. Before sounding the call for the armies of Chaos to rise, however, the boy and old man need to test the limits of your power to see if you really have what it takes to bring justice and defeat God. They sort of "meld" together and assume their true form, that of Lucifer! (Yeah, I'm sure you saw this coming a mile away) BOSS: DAIMAOU LUCIFER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAIMAOU LUCIFER HP: 65535 MP: Infinite AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, extra strong to everything else, including All-Purpose. SKILLS: Wicked Light, De-Kaja, De-Kunda, Prominence, Absolute Zero, Megidora, Megidoraon, Diarama, King of Kings, In the Beginning There Was Darkness There's no denying it: Lucifer is just freakishly powerful. This is easily the hardest battle in the game, and is, for all intents and purposes, impossible to win without really smart use of skills. (though with the right skill combination, he's really not so bad) First off, and most importantly, Lucifer's defense is really tight. Even with his stats dropped to the lowest possible amount, he takes about 1/4 normal damage from all attacks, no matter what those attacks are. This includes All-Purpose attacks, which no other enemy in the game has resistance to. His attacks never miss, (at least I've never seen him miss, even with 4 Randomizers on him and 4 Suku-Kajas on me) are All-Purpose damage, and critically hits about 75% of the time. He's got three "special" skills. I'm not sure what Wicked Light does as I've always Blocked it. (EDIT: Thanks to Akira, who writes to say that Wicked Light is a Charm attack that has a high chance of affecting anyone not immune to Mind) King of Kings is a brutal All-Purpose attack that hits your entire party for huge amounts of damage, plus randomly Binds you. Finally, "In the Beginning There Was Darkness" (ITBTWD from here on out) is a rather bizarre All-Purpose attack that "twists time" and reduces your party's HP to a random fraction. (either 1/2, 1/4, or 1/10 of its current HP--different value for each member) Lucifer won't use Megidoraon, Diarama, or ITBTWD until his HP are down by about...I'd guess 2/3. Lucifer casts both De-Kaja and De-Kunda, but infrequently enough that it's worth it to cast buffing spells. One minor thing worth noting is that since Kagutsuchi is dead, its phase is now, not surprisingly, "Dead" as well, and neither Silent Sky Critical nor Bright Sky Critical will work for this fight. So trying to tailor a party to do nothing but criticals (which is quite effective against other bosses) won't work here. The trick to beating Lucifer is one skill--Penetrate. Without this skill Lucifer is virtually impossible to kill, as even the most powerful of attacks will only do double-digit or low triple-digit damage to him, requiring hundreds of blows before actually taking him down. (And when he starts healing himself, forget it!) Any characters with Penetrate can do physical attacks on Lucifer and do "normal" damage with them. In addition, Penetrate on the Hero will work for his "Supreme Blast" skill. Penetrate + Supreme Blast is the easiest way to kill him overall. If you threw away Penetrate on your Hero, you're in trouble. It won't be impossible to beat Lucifer, but it will be a lot trickier than it would be otherwise. What you should do is get the Girimekara sold by the Dark Broker in the fifth Calpa (since he has Penetrate) and fuse him into powerful demons to do most of the damage for you. Here is my "custom-made" Lucifer-fighting Party that can beat the tar out of him fairly well: Hero: Equipping Masakadus (normally I'd say this was cheap, but not here!) with the following skills: Penetrate, Supreme Blast, Kiai, and Mediarahan. The Hero is the primary damage-dealer here, focusing mostly on Kiai + Supreme Blast, but available for healing as well if necessary. With all 40s in stats plus Kiai/Supreme blast/Penetrate, he would sometimes do over 8000 damage in a single hit when dealing a Critical attack. Custom Yama Ja-aku Frost: (LV 99, all 40s in stats) Mahabufudain, Raku-Kaja, Penetrate, Randomizer, Mind Immunity, Nerve Immunity, Magic Immunity Admittedly making him LV 99 and the stat-boosting was a bit overboard, but Ja-Aku Frost seems to be tailored specifically for this fight. He's got fantastic damage resistance, reflects Fire and Absorbs Ice (countering Lucifer's Prominence and Absolute Zero respectively) and is immune to all status ailments once you build him up. I use Ja-aku as primarily a support role with Raku-Kaja and Randomizer, with the ability to do normal attacks if he ever gets the leisure to. Custom Kishin Futomimi: (LV 90, all 40s in stats except Luck, which maxed on Futomimi at 28 through Mitama fusion) Kiai, Battle Cry, Critical, Charge, Mediarahan, Penetrate, 30% Life Spring, 30% Magic Pulse Futomimi may not be seem to be the best choice at first, but he's actually quite the bruiser in this battle. He's immune to all bad status effects and is quite hardy (999 HP with this setup) plus he comes with Kiai, Charge and Critical "naturally" so doesn't require the tedious fusion that other custom demons would require. I use Futomimi as my healer and backup fighter. Battle Cry can reduce Lucifer's attack in a hurry, and Futomimi can dish out some rather decent punishment with Kiai, Penetrate, and Charge--easily around 3000 damage a pop if he gets in a critical. Daitenshi Metatron: Default skills, except substituting Randomizer and Penetrate for Divine Retribution and Mahanmaon. Metatron's pretty tough, is immune to all status ailments, and has some really good support skills--Taru-Kaja and Maka-Kaja are nice additions to the fight, the former being more valuable than the latter. I use Metatron as primarily a support role, maybe tossing in an attack or two if everyone's buffed well. These are just suggestions, basically any demon that's immune to status ailments is a good candidate for this fight. (For example Beelzebub is a highly customizable character that fits this description) The only exception really is Dante, who is totally useless in this fight, no matter how much you've powered him up. With no support or healing skills, nor Penetrate to do any decent damage against Lucifer, Dante can't do much for this battle. But any other stats-ailment immune demon, tweaked with the right skills and boosted in levels via Sacrifice fusion is a good contender here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ################################################################################ ================================================================================ THE ENDINGS: ================================================================================ NEUTRAL ENDING - WORLD OF FREEDOM: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kagutsuchi calls you a fool, and says that releasing his power without a Kotowari does nothing. "You will just create a new world of suffering..." it says as it dies. The world is returned to the way it was before the Fertilization. Isamu: ...Yo, you listening? Let's go. If we don't hurry, Chiaki's going to be pissed. > A new mail has arived. Yuko: Hi, how are you doing? I'm doing a lot better. I should be let out of the hospital fairly soon. My weakness really caused a lot of trouble for you all. But you got us through it...and really saved me too. Before all this, I looked at the world and thought it was sad and in a terrible state. But that was just a reflection of my own feelings. I've wised up now. I'm going to look toward changing myself now, instead of the world. To have some confidence in myself and never give up, no matter what world I live in... ...Well, I'll leave it off here, but I'm sure you understand what I'm getting at, and have all along. After all, it's because of you that everyone can live in this world. ...Thank you! Lucifer: "So, you chose the same path as I, opting to follow your own conscience and walk the difficult path. Eventually, the true enemy will confront you, as he did I. Until then, don't lose that power of yours..." (After seeing the Maniacs ending, I *KNOW* this is Lucifer talking to you, as the only character in the game referred to as the "True Enemy" is God) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEMON ENDING - FAILED CREATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blond boy: A demon, born in exchange for the world...no demon is as splendid as you are. Kagutsuchi cursed you, but I bless you. The light no longer watches over you. But you don't really need that anyway, right? You can live perfectly well on your own as one cast into the Darkness...Well, see you. I need to go now. But I won't forget you...and we're sure to meet again some time...Go on. You couldn't create the world, but the Chaos you wanted is still left. A Thousand Year Kingdom for demonkind... And after the credits, you get to see the Vortex World, sans Kagutsuchi... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MUSUBI ENDING - WORLD OF SOLITUDE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Kagutsuchi disintegrates, it tells you your new, opponentless, battle is just beginning--that of Creation. You're transported to an empty area. Isamu isn't there, but has left a note for you. Isamu: Where will I go from here? To oblivion? Will I be reborn in the world you create? I no longer have any power. I'm just one that has been struck down by fate. But I don't want to live any more like I used to--just pushed along by the will of or for the sake of others. Go and make a new world with your power. Just think about it and wish, and it should appear just the way you want. The Musubi world, where everyone can live on their own--a world like nobody has ever seen before. I wonder what it will be like? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOSUGA ENDING - WORLD OF COMPETITION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Kagutsuchi disintegrates, it tells you your new, opponentless, battle is just beginning--that of Creation. You're transported to an empty area, with Chiaki's ghost. Chiaki: Congratulations, *heroname*. You've created the Yosuga world. A strong, beautiful country, where only the elite live....though I thought all along that I would be the one to create it. ...My role was just to choose you, I guess? Now that that role is fulfilled, it's OK for me to take a nice long rest, right? Your destination is over there. Go on ahead. The highest, eternal supremacy is there, and you've earned the right to claim it. Thanks, *heroname*...take good care of the world of my dreams... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHIJIMA ENDING - WORLD OF SILENCE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Kagutsuchi disintegrates, it tells you your new, opponentless, battle is just beginning--that of Creation. You're transported to an empty area, along with Hikawa. Hikawa: ...A new sky....A new earth. The prophecy becomes fulfilled here. The world will be cleansed of the blight of desire, and become silent. The one to do that...will be you. I am not the one to create...just the one to pave the way. I was simply used to bring you, the new Creator, to your path. But I am still happy. I was able to receive a Kotowari, give it to you, and see the birth of the world I wished for. From here out, I will live in the supremacy of silence, in some small corner of the world you create... Come, Creator! Create your new world!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MANIACS ENDING - THE CYCLE, BROKEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blond Boy: "Now I've experienced your power first-hand. It was fantastic!" Old Gentleman in Wheelchair: "I call to all the demons who have been cursed to the darkness and have been waiting so long...Our new demon is born. The time has come!" "Assemble, and let's go! To fight the true enemy!" And the ending finishes with a (rather cool, IMHO) image of the Hero leading the demon armies on to do battle with God. Like the "world of freedom" ending, you hear another voice after the ending "ends," this time saying something like "So that angel has created a demon in his own image...then I will destroy it. Between you and me, between your end and my end" It's really bizarre, makes little sense, and I'm not quite sure exactly who's speaking. It's probably not YHVH as the manner of speech is totally different from the way he's spoken in every other SMT game. (e.g. YHVH always refers to himself as 我 and not わたし as the speaker here is) But who knows... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You have completed the game. Congratulations! You now have the option to save your game in a new slot. On your second run through the game using this save slot, all the monsters you face will be substantially tougher and more difficult to beat. (Unless you're playing Maniacs, in which case you can just pick your difficulty level again) You also get to keep your Akuma Zensho as well. Now, let's take a look at that bonus dungeon.... ================================================================================ BONUS DUNGEON: THE BANDO SHRINE ================================================================================ Once you have all 24 Magatama, go to the Jakyo Manor. The master of the manor will tell you he has been waiting for you. He says that your ability to retain a human sentience while using the power of the Magatama to be a demon is remarkable and that they have been waiting a long time for one such as you. He tells you that not only do you possess the power of a demon as a human, but have managed to collect all the Magatama that had been strewn throughout the city. The Master hands you the "Prince's Sword," telling you that a great man gave it to him once and he believes that you should have it. He tells you to go to the one that gave him this weapon. His hint is that the peron that gave it to him once protected the entire city of Tokyo, and will surely help you. The one who the Master of the Manor is talking about is Taira no Masakado. Remember his shrine, located behind the Obelisk? Head there now. The sword will give off a burst of light and you will be engulfed in it. You will be teleported to the Bando Shrine. ================================================================================ THE BANDO SHRINE ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ 50,000 Makka 50,000 Makka ENEMIES: -------- Lv 43 Seiju Byakko Lv 45 Kishin Takemikazuchi Lv 46 Shinju Yatagarasu Lv 48 Megami Sati Lv 55 Seiju Chimera Lv 56 Majin Amaterasu Lv 60 Shinju Barong Lv 61 Hakaishin Hokuto-Seikun Lv 64 Megami Scathach Lv 65 Majin Odin Lv 67 Jiboshin Kali NOTES: ------ Just by looking at the enemy list you can tell this is a very unique dungeon-- all the enemies here are Light demons! Unfortunately you can't talk to them at all, not even to bargain for items or money. And they're pretty tough too--if you Analyze them you'll find they're substantially beefier than they would be as allies of the same level. (For example, Kali only gets 540 HP as your ally, but the Kalis that attack you here have 810 HP) You need to be careful down here. Since the bosses here are tough, it'll be to your advantage to leave the dungeon and save at a terminal after each one you fight. Just in case. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Right by the entrance to the Bando Shrine is a Shinnentai that gives you the lowdown on this area. The "great man" is in the temple you can see. To get into the temple, you have to lower the four pillars it's standing on, but the Shiten- o are guarding it. You can't use your map here. So you'll have to get your bearings otherwise. Here's a step-by-step walkthrough of how to get through this dungeon. Head to the south, yellow light and step in. It'll teleport you to the south edge of the Inner corridor. Head counterclockwise along the wall until you reach a crossroads. Ignore the west branch and keep going. Soon you'll come to another crossroads, where it branches into two paths going south. Take the westernmost path, and it will lead to the South Pillar. Lower the pillar, and Kishin Komokuten, Guardian of the South, will appear and tell you that you must defeat him to get to the Shrine. BOSS: KISHIN ZOCHOTEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KISHIN ZOCHOTEN HP: 20000 MP: 6000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Weak to Shock SKILLS: Jiodain, Mahajiodain, Shockwave, Kiai, Taru-Kaja, Taru-Kaja, Maka-Kaja, Beast's Eye, Dragon's Eye How did a wussy LV27 Kishin get this tough? Zochoten is easily on par with some of the tougher bosses around. Of course, this is because he is very cheap. He uses Dragon's Eye, and also Beast's Eye as well. He often likes to pull the Use- Beast's-Eye-over-and-over-so-you-never-get-your-turn cheapshot which is not much fun. He makes extensive use of Taru-Kaja and Maka-Kaja, enough so that a De-Kaja casting character is a huge asset. Zochoten is primarily an Electricity user, but is not immune to it--and this is his Achilles Heel. Go into this fight with as many Electric-reflectors as you can, and equip Adama on your Hero. That way, when he casts his electric spells, not only does he automatically lose the rest of his turn, but he hurts himself as well. He's also weak to Shock, so let loose on those Shock attacks. Be aware that Zochoten has an absurd amount of HP, so even boosted and fighting all-out, it will still take a long time to defeat him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon your defeat of Zochoten, he congratulates you. You'll also get a Vitality Incense. On to the next pillar. Backtrack to the first branch in the pathway (the one with the western bridge over the chasm) and take the west branch. At the other side of the chasm, turn to the south, and the path there will lead you to a blue teleporter, which will teleport you to the southwest corner of the Outer Corridor. Head counterclockwise along the outer corridor and you will reach a green telepoter. This will teleport you to the south wall of the Inner Corridor, by the west side. Head counterclockwise around the chasm. This will lead to the West Pillar. Lower it, and the Guardian of the West, Komokuten, will appear and attack. BOSS: KISHIN KOMOKUTEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KISHIN KOMOKUTEN HP: 20000 MP: 6000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Shock, Weak to Electricity SKILLS: Zandain, Mahazandain, Shinkuha, Kiai, Deathbound, Raku-Kaja, Maka-Kaja, Raku- Nda, Dragon's Eye Of the Shiten-O, Komokuten is the Shock-user. He casts a bunch of powerful Shock spells, but the real danger when dealing with him is his physical attacks, especially Deathbound. To add insult to injury, he will cast Raku-nda on your party over and over and use Kiai before attacking, to make the damage of his physical attacks hurt even more. Like the others, he uses Dragon's Eye every round so he can get a lot of whacks in on you per round. You'll really want to drop his attack power, and, more importantly, have a method of countering his Raku-nda spell; Raku-Kaja will work, but De-kunda is best in my experience. In terms of whom you should bring into the fight, you'll want at least one Shock blocker to cancel out his Press Turns when he uses his Shock spells. I also would recommend bringing in a Physical blocker, or, ideally, a reflector to send some of the physical damage back at him in addition to eating his Press Turns. A De-Kaja user is useful too, to cancel out his Raku-Kajas and Maka-Kajas. Komokuten is weak to Electricity, which can be useful if you manage to Shock him, as it almost guarantees free Criticals with physical attacks. Boost it up with Maka-Kaja if you can, because Komokuten has lots of HP and will last a while. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon the defeat of Komokuten, he congratulates you and you get a Speed Incense. To reach the third pillar, retrace your steps until you get to the east-west "bridge" that spans the chasm on the Inner Path. However, instead of crossing back over it to the east, keep going north, on a path that leads you right to the base of the chasm. Cross the chasm and climb up a small incline on the east side of the chasm to get to the third pillar. Lower it, and Jikokuten will appear. Like the others, he tells you you must defeat him before you can be allowed in the Shrine. BOSS: KISHIN JIKOKUTEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KISHIN JIKOKUTEN HP: 20000 MP: 6000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Ice, Weak to Fire SKILLS: Bufudain, Mahabufudain, Absolute Zero, Maka-Kaja, Beast's Eye, Dragon's Eye Of the four Shiten-O, I found Jikokuten to be by far the easiest. The problem being, he relies FAR too much on his Ice skills. However, he's also pretty sneaky. I went into this battle with three Ice-reflectors and one Ice-weak character, and EVERY time he cast Bufudain, he cast it on the one Ice-weak character, making me wonder if he doesn't have the ability to see your weaknesses. Regardless, his pattern was so predicatble (Dragon's Eye, Maka-Kaja, an Ice spell of some sort) that I had no problem beating him whatsoever. I'm not sure he has some sort of physical attack, but if he does I've never seen it. Just make sure you go into the battle with enough Ice-Immune characters and you should be OK. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon his defeat, Jikokuten is wowed by your skill and you get a Magic Incense. To get to the final pillar, you'll need to backtrack all the way back to the entrance of the dungeon. Then, instead of going through the yellow teleporter, go counterclockwise around the outer pathway ant teleport in the red teleporter. It will lead to the north pillar. Lower it and Bishamonten will appear. He tells you that if you seek to reach the central shrine, then you should already know that you will have to defeat him first. BOSS: KISHIN BISHAMONTEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KISHIN BISHAMONTEN AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, Reflects Fire, Weak to Ice SKILLS: Hellfire, Agidain, Maharagidain, Megidoraon, Reppu-Ha, Taru-Kaja, Maka-Kaja, De- Kaja, Randomizer, Dragon's Eye If you thought Bishamonten was tough the last time you faced him, you ain't seen nothing yet. This Bishamonten is one of the wiliest enemies in the game. And the cheapest---ain't much cheaper than Dragon's Eye and then four Megidoraons in a row. Bishamonten's affinity hasn't changed since last time--fire-based, weak to ice--but he uses some pretty tricky strategies. First is to use Taru-Kaja four times in a row and then let a Reppu-ha loose. Or he'll cast Maka-Kaja four times in a row and then throw a Megidoraon at you. Conventional boss-killing strategies don't work too well here. If you cast any sort of stat-boosters, Bishamonten will cast De-Kaja, and then cast two Randomizers to add insult to injury. Cast Tetrakarn and Makalakarn to block physical and magical attacks, and he'll spam you with Megidoraons. Drop his stats and he'll boost them to obscene levels with multiple stat-boosters of his own. Basically, there are two spells you are going to need in this fight to keep things fair--De-Kaja and De-Kunda. If he hits you with Randomizers, use De-Kunda. If he starts boosting his own stats, hit him with De-Kaja. In the meantime, pummel him with Ice attacks. In addition to Ice, Bishamonten has another weakness--he can't raise his Accuracy or Defense if you drop it. So Raku-Nda and Fog Breath away. (Randomizer works too) Then you can use physical attacks to greater effect as well. Basically, the key to this fight is to keep both your stats and Bishamonten's stats at normal levels---if he starts spamming attacks or Megidoraon with boosted Power or Magic, you're toast, even if your levels are in the 90s. Bring some Fire- blockers and some Physical-blockers into this fight to eat as many Press Turns you can, and go all-out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You get more EXP for beating Bishamonten than the other Shiten-O, and you get a Power Incense from him as well. And of course, he congratulates you like the others. Now that all four pillars have been lowered, the Shrine descends to its normal height. Go on inside. When you go inside, a voice sounds and asks you who disturbs your rest. There is a rumbling, and Masakado appears before you. He identifies himself and says he has protected Tokyo here for the past thousand years. "You are (Hero name), no?" he says "The one with demonic power yet living in a human body...who is to become the Lord of Chaos." He asks you why you have come so far to see him. You can say: "Join me" "Give me something" "No reason" If you ask Masakado to join you, he tells you that his power cannot affect Tokyo in its current state, and he cannot go outside. If you ask him for something, he says "You sure cut to the chase." If you tell him there's no reason, Masakado notes that you just slaughtered the Shiten-o for no reason, but is not surprised. Masakado asks you if you intend to take over Tokyo. If you say yes, then he gives you his power in the form of the Masakadus Magatama, and more or less turns the reins of the position of Guardian of Tokyo over to you. Masakadus makes you a massive force of destruction. Don't abuse it. :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ################################################################################ MANIACS OPTIONAL DUNGEON: THE AMARA DEEP ZONE ################################################################################ Before going into the nitty-gritty of the actual dungeon itself, there are a few things that need to be covered. First and foremost, the Amara Deep Zone is a completely optional area of the game. You can do some, all, or none of it. If you complete the Deep Zone in its entirety before entering the final dungeon of the game, you can get a new ending (and final boss) that wasn't present in the original Nocturne. It's the most challenging ending to get (as the new final boss is just a juggernaut) but is also, in my opinion, the most rewarding. Also by traversing the Amara Deep Zone, you can get loads of juicy background info on the SMTIII world that you couldn't get otherwise. The ADZ is also the only place in the game to get Deathomen stones (死兆石) which are necessary to fuse the new Majin, and there are several new, very powerful demons you can fight down here and add to your party after their defeat. In short, it's worth it to explore. The Amara Deep Zone itself is separated into 5 sections, called "Calpas." When you first open up the area, only the first Calpa is accessible to you. Once you defeat the Majin that crop up in various parts of the "normal" game, you can bring the Menorahs that they drop down to the ADZ and unlock additional Calpas. For this reason, you can't take on the ADZ all at once. (Nor should you be able to, as the enemies at the bottom few Calpa are very powerful) WARP ZONES: Each Calpa is connected to a main "hub" on the top level by a Warp Zone. They're sort of a mini-game. (as covered in the FAQ section above) As soon as you gain full access to a Calpa by placing the requisite Menorah in its "entrance area", its "primary" Warp Zone will open, allowing you free access back and forth. In addition, each Calpa is connected to the Calpa below by a "secondary" Warp Zone. (or, in the case of the Third Calpa, there are two warp zones between it and the Fourth) These "secondary" warp zones are the only way to get to the Calpa "entrance areas" to place your Menorahs and unlock the lower Calpa. There's also one warp zone that goes nowhere. But it's a good place to pick up money. GRAVEYARDS: In each Calpa, there are various Graveyard rooms with the gravestones of the various bosses that you defeat throughout the game. If you have the Black Visor, then you can use it at these gravestones to fight the battles again. For more info on Graveyards look at the above section in the FAQ. ================================================================================ THE FIRST CALPA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Hogyoku Hogyoku Chakra Drop Chakra Drop Deathomen Stone Deathomen Stone Black Visor Butsuhankyo 2 x Jade* Chakra Pot* Luck Incense* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 5 Chirei Kahaku Lv 8 Yama Lilim Lv 17 Yuki Yakka Lv 18 Maju Nekomata Lv 19 Yosei Jack O'Lantern Lv 19 Yoma Koppa Tengu Lv 20 Kijo Taraka Lv 20 Yoki Momunofu Lv 20 Datenshi Forneus Lv 20 Yuki Laughing Skull Lv 23 Maju Badbh Cathach Lv 25 Yama Incubus Lv 25 Yoki Oni Lv 26 Yosei Kelpie Lv 28 Yoma Karasu Tengu Lv 28 Ryuo Naga Lv 28 Yuki Pishacha Lv 29 Datenshi Eligor Lv 30 Jashin Arahabaki Lv 31 Yoju Nue Lv 48 Megami Sati (rare) GRAVEYARDS: ----------- 1F: Forneus Troll B1F: Yakshini Orthrus NOTES: ------ Like all the Calpa, the enemies are pretty tough down here in respects to your level when you can first get here. (You'll probably be around level 20 or so when you get here, and the great majority of demons here are much tougher than that) Also note that there are no sub-terminals here or anywhere else in the Amara Deep Zone. In short, you have to be more careful here than you would elsewhere. If you're too weak to take on the Calpa in its entirety, you can always come back, or take it in "pieces," exploring different areas of the dungeon a little bit at a time before going back to save your game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you first return to the Amara Deep Zone, take a look in the peephole in the wall to see the Nurse and the Old Gentleman. The Nurse is somewhat pleased at your defeat of the Majin, saying that she knew you had it in you and will "be able to help". After exchanging a few words with her master, she says she will relay his wishes. The nurse explains that the Menorah that you carry, and that of the Majin you just defeated, were part of her master's collection. The Menorah themselves are the "flame of life" that controls the flow of energy and life in the Amara Deep Zone--but they were stolen by the Majin. Those that possess the Menorahs can traverse the Amara Deep Zone at will, though that is normally forbidden--usually only those sanctioned by the Old Gentleman are allowed to hang out there. As the Menorahs restore life to each tier of the Amara Deep Zone, the nurse asks you to get them back and return them to their rightful place. There are 11 Menorahs in total, counting the Kingdom Menorah you already have--if you are willing to help, the Old Gentleman is willing to give you free reign to explore the Amara Deep Zone to your heart's content. As that could help you quite a bit, the nurse adds that it might be in your best interest as well before asking your answer. If you say no, the nurse says that whether or not you help is your decision, but warns you that if you continue to hold on to the Menorahs as you tavel, the other Majin may target you. (as they want your Menorah as well) She tells you you can change your mind at any time and hopes you decide to help. If you say yes, then she'll smile and thank you, and explain that the reason you were given the Menorah is that by nature they want to be together--it will help draw you to the other 10. Before leaving and telling you to take care of yourself, she'll tell you that when you've found a Menorah, you can place them on the dais that is located at the entrance to each tier of the Amara Deep Zone. Once you leave, you'll see a very small conversation between the nurse and her master--she says "Now everything is ready. Let us see if our chosen Majin will surpass all the trials and give birth to a new demon..." Place the Base Menorah on the dais at the entrance to the first Calpa, and the door will open, granting you access. The first floor of the first Calpa is fairly pedestrian, with few tricks or traps to slip you up. There are a couple of points of interest, however: Information: There are a bunch of Shinentai here that will give you information. One tells you that the Amara Deep Zone is in a totally different dimension than the Vortex you came from, and if you intend to recreate the world there, you'd better not stay long. (a subtle hint that completing this dungeon will block you from the "create the world" endings) There's another Shinentai who will relate something he heard from a demon: "Since ages ago, when we fell from Heaven, time stopped, and the silence continues in the dead of night. All demons speak together with one voice, one that tells of a new beginning..." Kamara: This demon spirit hangs out in the east end of this level. She will ask if you're human or demon, but will tell you to piss off if you say you're human as "humans are cruel." If you say you're a demon she'll want to be your friend. And she is a very good friend. You will probably visit her quite a lot in the game-- Kamara will clue you into the locations of each of the Majin in the Vortex. You could just be lazy and use this guide to find out where each Majin appears, but it's more rewarding to find them yourself with the hints from Kamara. ;) Dark Doctor: These Dark Doctors are sprinkled liberally throughout the ADZ, and will (reluctantly) heal you for a fairly large sum of money. The deeper you go, the more it'll cost you. To start with it'll cost 2000 Makka, then go up. Dark Broker: These guys are also sprinkled liberally throughout the ADZ as well. If your level is high enough, they'll sell you a demon ally with a customized set of skills. Most of the demons they sell are fairly useless otherwise, so they make good fusion fodder or support. Here, the Dark Broker will sell you a demon "designed for dungeon exploration" for a fee of 1,5000 Makka. It is a Lv 28 Pishacha outfitted with the following skills: Drink Blood, Torafulee, Estma, Riberama, Liftma, Lightma, Treasure Hunt, Memory Advancement There are five ladders down on B1F-an East, West, Center, Northeast, and Northwest ladder. Center: This leads to the exit of the Calpa, but the door there is sealed when you first get there. To open it, you'll need to hit a switch in the Eastern Vault. East: This ladder leads to the Eastern Vault, but you can't get in that way, as there's a pit blocking your path--it's a dead end. West: This leads to the Western Vault. Northeast: This leads to the Eastern Vault. Northwest: This leads to a sealed-off section of B1F with another Graveyard. To get to it, you'll have to go through a secret door--a "swirly" part of the wall that isn't real. B1F is divided into two sections, an Eastern and a Western Vault. The Western Vault is locked when you first arrive, and the key is located in the Second Calpa, so you won't be able to get in when you first find it. The Black Visor is in there when you do get access. The Eastern Vault is where you want to go. If you can get into the Vault itself, you can find the switch that opens your way to a new peephole and the Second Calpa. Of course, getting into the vault is a trick, as it's protected by a large number of pit traps. If you get dumped into the pit, you'll find a Shinentai that will offer to sell you information--if you agree, he'll take 2000 Makka and tell you to "look at the ceiling." That's actually a pretty good clue- if you look at the ceiling of the pit-trap room, you'll see that any unlit ceiling tile is an indication of the location of a trap. Another thing of note is that you can walk "diagonally" between pit-traps if you're careful--for example if there is a pit to the west and south of you, you can walk diagonally to the southwest tile without falling in either. This is the best way to get to the ladder leading to the Chakra Pot in the walled-off area of the pit. Also you can note that you can find a pair of scammers in the pit. They'll offer to heal you for 500 Makka. If you pay, they'll take the Makka, give you drinks and wait till you're drunk, then loot you and dump you back at the entrance to the Amara Deep Zone. They do heal you though, and are a good way to get back to the entrance to the ADZ quickly, so they can be useful. These scammers pop up in various places in each of the Calpa. There's a second Graveyard in B1F that holds the Graves of Orthrus and Yakshini. But the door is locked so you can't get in when you first get here--again, the key is in the Second Calpa. (It's the same key that opens the Western Vault) With the switch in the Eastern Vault hit, the door to the Second Calpa is now open. Go there via the center stairway and look in the Peephole to see the Nurse and her master. At the end of each Calpa is just such a Peephole--by looking in you can open your way to the next Calpa, and the Nurse will reward your efforts with some very juicy information. The Nurse applauds your efforts to make it as far as you did, and thanks you for placing the first Menorah. She is confident that you will be able to get back the other Menorahs, but warns you that the Majin that hold them are powerful. In thanks for bringing the first Menorah back, she rewards you with detailed information on Kagutsuchi. Kagutsuchi is the light that caused the mass destruction of the Fertilization, and is there solely to be an instrument of Creation. Creation is like a swapping of the old rule for a new one with new rules, and Kagutsuchi makes a chosen lifeform from the old world choose the fate of the new world--everyone else dies. The nurse says that at the moment, there are probably several different people seeking to become that chosen one, and the fate of the new world will depend on exactly which person is chosen. Actually, the Vortex that you are in is just one of many; within the expanse of the Amara Universe, your Vortex is not the sole target of creation. In all other worlds, Kagutsuchi is being born, raised, and dies--thousands or even millions of other universes are being created as you speak. That endless cycle of destruction and rebirth is the "law of Amara" as dictated by the "Great Will." The nurse's master has seen the flourishing, life--and ultimately doom--of many, many, worlds. He has been struggling with the purpose of it all--why life and prosperous worlds have to be wiped out and made to start from scratch over and over again. However, a solution to this dilemma may be near, and your actions may be the opportunity to find out and solve it. Once more, the nurse asks you to bring the menorahs. She tells you "Don't waste the power given to you by that fallen angel...take care of yourself, and don't die." Now the entrance to the Second Calpa is open. You probably can't go in as you don't have the requisite Menorahs, but go in to the entrance via the Warp Zone. There's an event (I think) you need to see in the entrance chamber before the Majin that hold the Menorahs you need will appear. ================================================================================ THE SECOND CALPA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Hogyoku Deathomen Stone Deathomen Stone Chakra Pot Blinding Sphere Mahankyo Tetraja Stone Tetraja Stone Fuma Bell Lunar Key Speed Incense* Hogyokuwa* Soma* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 1 Gedo Will o' Wisp Lv 4 Yoki Shikigami Lv 6 Yoju Chin Lv 6 Gedo Slime Lv 7 Gedo Moryo Lv 15 Yoju Bicorn Lv 16 Gedo Blob Lv 20 Yoki Momunofu Lv 25 Yoju Raiju Lv 28 Gedo Black Ooze Lv 31 Yoju Nue Lv 41 Gedo Phantom Lv 43 Yoju Mothman Lv 44 Yomotsu-Ikusa Lv 54 Yoki Shikioji Lv 65 Jashin Totetsu* Lv 68 Datenshi Forneus* Lv 69 Maou Abbadon* Lv 70 Yama Nyx* Lv 75 Yoju Hraesvelgr *Only appears in the "Cursed Corridor" GRAVEYARDS: ----------- B3F (West): Ose Chiun B3F (North): Mizuchi Clotho/Lachesis/Atropos NOTES: ------ You'll note that the enemies that crop up here are really across the map--all of the Yoki, Yoju, and Gedo except for Phantom appear here. Some are really weak, some are really tough. (If you run into a Hraesvelgr, you'd better use a Blinding Sphere, or run if you're playing on Normal) There are plenty of mazes and one-way doors here, so it's easy to get lost. This Calpa takes a while to complete, so you'll probably gain a lot of levels here... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As soon as you enter the Menorah Chamber of the second Calpa, a condescending "Lofty Voice" calls out to you, and asks if you're the Majin that "follows the will of the fallen angel and helps further the machinations of Chaos." The voice threatens you with unspoken consequences if you continue on your current path. It says that it has been watching you from on high, and that your actions defy the will of God. The voice tells you to believe its words as absolute and stop what you're doing "before you become more polluted." If you agree to the voice's demands, it says "May you be blessed by the light" and tells you to leave the Amara Deep Zone as soon as possible and never return. It offers no explanation, saying only that it is "a spokesman of God, and he and I are one." If you refuse to obey, it callse you a "fool that does not know right from wrong." It says that you will lose what remnants of your humanity remain if you stay in the ADZ, and tells you to leave and never return, before "this place is struck by God's wrath." You would think that this question makes a big difference on the outcome of the game, but from what the buzz on the boards is saying, it actually doesn't. Well, it does in the sense that if you actually do what the voice tells you to do you won't be able to get the new ending or lots of the goodies and demon allies that await you in the Amara Deep Zone. What you say here may also affect the exact content of dialogue in other portions of the game--I don't know. (e.g. if you say you'll obey the voice and go on in anyway it may be extra pissed the next time you run into it) I myself refused the voice's request, so the plot summaries in the rest of this FAQ are going reflect that decision--if you agree, the dialogue may be slightly different. Once you've defeated High Priest and Hell's Angel, use their Menorahs--the Menorahs of Infinity and Majesty--to open the gate into the Second Calpa. One of the first things you'll notice here is definite shades of SMT 1&2--there are Shinentai of three Gaians and three Mesians down here, (Gaia and Mesia being the two major religious factions in the previous games) acting much like the Gaians and Mesians of earlier games. Gaian spirit #1 is giving a sermon (to thin air...) decrying the willfull obediance of God, who is a sadistic and selfish deity. Gaian # 2 talks about how they just wanted to live in harmony with nature and the old gods, but were oppressed by the Mesians, who were brainwashed by their god that was opposed to such a setup. Gaian #3 talks about how as the Mesians tried to stop their human-demon utopia, the Gaians fought them...without realizing that there was an enemy within their own ranks. Mesian #1 explains that the Mesians believe that God's teachings are absolute, and that the world changes entirely according to his will, and goes on to chastise you for wandering outside your own God-given world. Mesian #2 just tells you to pray. Mesian #3 is an American, who speaks in very broken Japanese, but tells you how he heard the word of God that Tokyo would be destroyed and was commanded to stop it. He fought the Gaians, but was killed along with them by the demon summoner Hikawa. B1F of the Second Calpa is somewhat of a maze. It's divided into four quadrants- NE, NW, SW, and SE. Each quadrant has a hole in the floor you can jump into to go to B2F. There are also two ladders on the far west and east sides of the level--the one on the west leads down to B2F (though to a dead end that's a one- way door from the other side) and the one on the east leads back out of the dungeon. The northeast quadrant also has a ladder down to the Cursed Corridor. (more on that below) In order to get to either of the south quadrants you need to take a roundabout route, "counterclockwise" through the level (from the starting point there's a door to the southeast quadrant, but it's locked until you find the key on this level) Each hole in the floor to B2F leads to an isolated chamber with a one-way door out of it. There is something in each chamber: NE: A Dark Broker hangs out here who will sell you a "Healing Demon" for 30,000 Makka. It is a LV 31 Yoju Nue with the following skills: Distant Prayer, Me- Patra, Closdi, Paraladi, Posumdi, Petradi, Samarecarm, and Chakra Step. NW: There's a Magic Box here with the Speed Incense. SW: Looks empty, but there's actually a secret door on the west wall that leads to a corridor with a Deathstone in it. SE: Holds the (locked) door leading to the third Calpa. There's another, extremely dangerous section of B2F--the Cursed Corridor. You'll get a warning from a child Shinentai about the curse before entering, and you'll probably want to steel yourself before taking it on. The Cursed Corridor has "Curse" damage area, which is new to Maniacs. It's essentially like normal damage floor in that it hurts you with every step, except that it does tons more damage, and no spells or items (like Liftma) will negate the damage--if you're going through it, you'll HAVE to soak up the damage. To add insult to injury, the corridor is teeming with really powerful, endgame-class enemies that don't normally show up until the final dungeon. So your initial gut reaction would probably be to stay out. However, there is a distinct advantage to sticking it out and going all the way to the end. If you're going to give it a shot, strongly advise that you not try and fight the demons that pop up here while attempting to make it to the end of the corridor--bring an ally with Torafulee and run from the first hint of danger! If you make it, there is an Ifreet at the end of the corridor who made a bet with his drinking buddy that nobody would ever bother to come that far. As he lost the bet, he will pay you--a whopping 250,000 Makka! Plus he says he'll give you some good info later on. Now you have to get OUT of the corridor--good luck. (Fortunately it's easier with the one-way doors to use as shortcuts) Note that later on in the game, there's a method to remove the curse, though the tough monsters will not be removed--however, I don't know if the Ifreet will pay you if you wait that long. I don't think so. Both of the holes in the floor of B2F will lead to--surprise--B3F. They will dump you in a maze with "invisible" walls--not entirely invisible, but you can't see them until you're right up against them. The maze can be kind of tough to navigate unless you break out the graph paper and map it out--but I brought mine so you don't have to. :P Below is a cruddy ASCII map of the maze--H1 and H2 are the dropoff points from the western and eastern holes on B1F respectively. Exit up + graves of Mizuchi and the Moirai Sisters __________________XX__________________ | _________________| __ ________| | |___ | _____| | | _____ | | __| | _____| | | | __| | | |_____ |_____ | | |__| | | | |__| |________ |__ __ | | Exit up + | | __| |__ __| |__ H2 | | graves of X | H1 | | __ |_____| X To the Lunar Key Chiun and Ose | | | |__| __| __| |__| | | |__| |_____ ___________ | | | | |__| | | |_____ | | | | | | | |__| | _____ | | |_____| | |________| |________| | |___________|______XX___|___________|__| To a dead end You'll note that this maze is essentially divided into a north and south halves, which are cut off from each other. The south exit leads to nowhere. The west exit leads to a path back up to B2F, plus the (locked) graves of Chiun and Ose. The north door leads to the (again, locked) graves of Mizuchi and the Moirai sisters. There's also a locked door to a chest with a Deathomen stone. Bet you're tired of all these locked doors, no? Time to relieve that irritation. The east exit off of the maze leads to the Lunar Key...though it looks like a dead end. Talk to the old woman at the dead end, who will tell you to look closely at the wall. Do so, and you can see there's sort of a swirly effect on part of it. Walk into this "swirly" wall, as it's an illusion. It leads to the key that will unlock all the doors on both this Calpa and the first one. Now that you have the key, you can finally unlock the door in the southeast chamber on B2F. It leads to a path, then a hole to yet another peephole--the end of the second Calpa. The nurse and her master will be waiting for you again. Once again you are thanked for your efforts in retrieving the Menorahs. The nurse asks if you met the Shinentai in the Calpa, and explains that Shinentai are born from human memories via the "purification of death," which is why they can remember their past lives even in the depths of the Amara. Many of those that you met were associated with Hikawa, and the nurse goes into more detail on exactly who Hikawa is and how the fertilization came about. Everything regarding the fertilization started from the headquarters of Gaia. Gaia was a religion that attempted to incorporate all ideals and beliefs--even contradictory ones--so long as said beliefs are not exclusionary. The Gaians then tried to find truth in the Chaos of the cacophony of beliefs amongst their adherents. Hikawa was one of these Gaians, but his views were extremist and heretical even to a group like the Gaians that would accept just about any sort of belief. His ambitions were more grandiose than the other Gaians, looking beyond creating an ideal for humanity on earth, and instead looking to reshape reality itself, changing the basic rules of the system as it were. While researching in the Gaian library to see if anything would help him accomplish his ambition, Hikawa came across the Miroku prophecy. The minute he opened the book, the Amara Cylinder appeared, which he took and researched. After deciphering the words on it, Hikawa learned of the basic rules of the Amara Universe and how it worked, and also gained the ability to summon demons. Realizing that the universe was going to die and be reborn anyway, Hikawa figured it might as well happen under his will, and thus planned to tap into the Amara Universe to destroy the world and rebuild it to his desires. The incident in the park at the beginning of the game was preparation for his plan- there he came into conflict with both fellow Gaians and the Mesians. His fellow Gaians learned of his plan to destroy the universe and planned to stop it, and the Mesians were also tipped off that Hikawa was summoning demons and wanted to stop him too. Hikawa unleashed his demon minions during a Gaian/Mesian conflict- the demons slaughtered both sides, effectively eliminating any opposition. With them out of the way, Hikawa began preparations for the Fertilization and the summoning of Kagutsuchi in earnest. As soon as the Fertilization took place, he formed the Nihilo organization from the demons that he now had control over. And the rest, the nurse says, is history--the Fertilization took place just as Hikawa planned. However, she tells you that the future is not yet decided yet; not just the universe, but all universes may be able to be freed from the endless cycle of destruction and creation--and that is exactly what the old man in the wheelchair hopes that you can accomplish. The entrance to the third Calpa is now open--you can go in. (And again, you have to to see the cutscene) ================================================================================ THE THIRD CALPA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Hogyoku Hogyoku Deathomen Stone Deathomen Stone Deathomen Stone Mahankyo Hangonko* Chakra Pot* Magic Incense* Great Chakra* Great Chakra* Power Incense* Hogyokuwa* Hogyokuwa* Soma* Butsuhankyo* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 4 Yuki Gaki Lv 13 Chirei Sudama Lv 18 Yama Fomorian Lv 20 Yoki Momunofu Lv 25 Mitama Aramitama Lv 26 Yosei Kelpie Lv 28 Ryuo Naga Lv 28 Yuki Pishacha Lv 30 Jashin Arahabaki Lv 33 Jashin Baphomet Lv 37 Yoma Ongkot Lv 37 Datenshi Berith Lv 37 Ryuo Naga Raja Lv 37 Yama Succubus Lv 38 Yosei Troll Lv 41 Tenshi Virtue Lv 43 Yosei Setanta Lv 43 Kijo Yakshini Lv 44 Yoma Djinn Lv 44 Yoki Yomotsu-Ikusa Lv 45 Kishin Takemikazuchi Lv 45 Datenshi Ose Lv 45 Jashin Pazuzu Lv 46 Shinju Yatagarasu Lv 46 Yosei Oberon Lv 47 Majin Atavaka Lv 47 Yama Chiun Lv 49 Chirei Titan Lv 52 Yoma Ifreet Lv 52 Maou Loki Lv 53 Yama Loa Lv 56 Majin Amaterasu Lv 56 Yama Queen Maeve Lv 58 Datenshi Decarabia Lv 61 Maju Kerberos GRAVEYARDS: ----------- 1F (West): Kinki Suiki Fuki 1F (North): Ongyoki Mara Ja-Aku Frost NOTES: ------ This level is actually rather short, in that really you'll only be fighting things in the first two floors--at least during exploration, as monsters won't appear in the bottom three floors until you've finished the "minigame" on this level. Still it's good to be careful, as some of the enemies here can really dish out the punishment. There's a huge variety of them here as well--there is a greater variety of enemies in this Calpa than in any other area in the game. Too bad you can't talk to them and get them to join you! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon entry to this Calpa, you will be greeted by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Menorah Chamber--White Rider, Red Rider, Black Rider, and Pale Rider. They say that the gears of fate have started turning, and that they keep spinning endlessly...but they, led by the "fallen angel," seek to transcend that, and ask if you too seek the same goal. They each hold a Menorah, and you will have to defeat them in order to retrieve them. Pale Rider says that "the great one" wants you to surpass the trials of Death set out for you, then come forward and join him of his own will. Then, he will come forward in the last battle and make a "final decision." Pale Rider wants to know if you wish to go on this "noble path" but warns you that if you do, you will lose the last vestiges of your humanity. He asks if you are prepared to make that sacrifice. If you say yes, Pale Rider is very glad, and says that he and the other Horsemen will wait for you in the Vortex, with the hope that you possess the power to defeat them and take their Menorahs. If you say no, then Pale Rider says "Then the great one's hope for mankind is truly lost." Angrily he says to you that they will not forgive you for robbing them of their last hope, and will kill you in the Vortex in retribution if they find you. Like the decision on the second Calpa, this seems like a really important decision, but won't affect the outcome in any way. (at least if the buzz on the boards is any indicator) I answered "yes" here, but I imagine that saying "no" will probably change the Riders' reaction to you when you find them in the Vortex--if you say "yes" they greet you rather warmly before they fight you, which wouldn't make much sense if they said the same thing after you saying "no." Leave and go back to the "normal" game, returning once you've defeated the White, Red, and Black riders. Place the Menorahs of Compassion, Wisdom, and Understanding on the dais and you can enter the Calpa fully. The first floor of this Calpa is unusual. You'll notice it's divided into three separate sections--North, West, and East. Each of these sections correspond to one of your attributes--Power for West, Luck for North, and Magic for East. Each of these sections is blocked by "Attribute doors" that will only let you past if your associated stat is high enough. Inside each section there are other, similar doors that are more stringent in their requirements for your getting through. I'm not sure what the exact requirement for getting through the "base" doors are, though for magic and power I'm betting it's 15. (I had 18 in all stats when first getting here, as I could get through the first doors, but not the successive ones) Luck is far less stringent--at 18 Luck when first arriving in this Calpa, I was given complete free reign of the Luck section, and was able to get through all of the doors in the entire area. The other areas have two different "levels" of doors which seem to require 20 and 25 respectively to open, so maybe the doors in the Luck section are 5, 10, and 15? In any case, if you don't have high enough stats to make it through a door, then you'll be teleported elsewhere when trying to go through it. Note that the "good" destination is not necessarily the other side of the door (for example, the "bad" destination of one of the doors in the Power section is on the other side--the "good" destination teleports you to a room with some Magic Boxes) In order to get down to the next level, you'll have to be able to at least enter the first door of one of these "attribute" sections. If you can't get through any of them, you probably need to boost your stats a bit higher before coming back here. (You're also probably too weak to be at this Calpa anyway) There's not much in the way of information on this level--one Shinentai will relay to you something he heard from a demon--"Death surpasses Death, when the flame lights the darkness, the word to begin will come. We await that time." The other Shinentai will tell you it sees your soul changing, and asks if you want to know why. If you say yes, he gives you this really bizarre anecdote about a turtle in the desert turned upside down on its back--that you are the turtle, and from the reverse, everything seems backwards. It's...unusual, to say the least. There are two Gravesites in this floor of the Calpa--one off the Power section of the dungeon, and one off the Luck section of the dungeon. The Power section holds the graves of Kinki, Suiki, and Fuki. The Luck section holds the graves of Ongyoki, Mara and Ja-aku Frost. In addition to the various attribute doors, each Attribute area leads to an Alignment door--a Dark door for Power, a Light Door for Magic, and a Neutral door for Luck. These doors will only let you by if your hero's race is of the corresponding alignment. (e.g. if he's a Shura-kan, then he's got a Neutral race) Of course since your hero's alignment tends to fluctuate a lot, it should be easy to get through all three doors at various parts of the game. Inside each alignment door is a Dark Broker. The Broker behind the Dark door will sell you a demon with "great potential" for 150,000 Makka. It is a Lv 4 Yuki Gaki with the following skills: Megido, Megidora, Megidoraon, Mediarahan, Samarecarm, Tetrakarn, Makalakarn, and Recarmdora. (This Gaki makes GREAT sacrifice fodder) The Broker behind the Light Door will sell you a "defensive demon" for 70,000 Makka. It is a Lv 50 Jashin Arahabaki with the following skills: Absorption Attack, Tetrakarn, Makalakarn, Tetraja, Raku-Kaja, Suku-kaja, De-Kaja, De-Kunda. The Broker behind the Neutral Door will sell you as many Deathomen Stones as you like, for 100,000 Makka apiece. You'll get more Deathomen stones than you know what to do with here in the ADZ without buying more, but if you want to come back later in the game and fuse Majin with better, end-of-game abilities, buying more Stones can be useful. Note that there is a bizarre bug with these rooms--if you gain a level while in an "alignment" room, the Hero maxes a Magatama, and changes alignment (ie, if you were gained a level in the Light Dark Broker's room and became Neutrally aligned inside the room) you won't be able to get out! Unless of course you fight battles over and over again inside the room until you change back to the requisite alignment to get in.... There's a locked door on B1F, but you won't be able to get through this until after you've finished most of the fourth Calpa, so ignore it for now. Once you've defeated the Ja-aku Frost in Ikebukuro, the Jack frost on this floor will tell you that he has come back to life and to search the Calpa for him. Go down to B2F, and you'll find Dante waiting there, just itching to ruin the atmosphere of the game. ^^ He says he thought he'd run into you again, and says that he won't explain in detail, but by now you should realize that the old man in the wheelchair wants the Majin fighting amongst themselves. He says he doesn' t know what will happen if the old man gets his way, but "you're not dumb enough to let him make you run around like a puppet, are you?" He tells you to turn around and run away, as it's your only choice. He asks if you agree. I didn't even bother to find out what he says if you agree to turn tail and run--tell him to piss off! Dante leaves, saying he'll kill you if you go any further. Ignore Dante and go through the door. Now you have to play an inane "Dodge Dante" mini-game. Essentially Dante will chase you through the corridors of the dungeon, and if he gets close, the game goes to a battle screen. Dante will immediately use his "Stinger" attack to kill one of your allies, then run away and send you back to the beginning of the level. So you have to keep your distance. In addition, while you're running through the corridor, Dante will shoot at you, but his bullets do so little damage that they really serve no purpose other than to annoy you. Dodging Dante is really not that tough, as there are always looping pathways to avoid him. He's also pretty slow and stupid in the way he moves, so it's not hard to get him to run into a dead-end in the more "complicated" areas. When you get to the second area of B2F, Dante will give you a "count to three" headstart before he starts chasing you. To open the door to the next floor, you need to hit two switches in the center room. After hitting a switch Dante will always appear in the door opposite you, so in order to hit the second switch without being caught you have to leave and circle around to the other door from outside the chamber. #NOTE: When you come back here after the Dante mini-game and defeating Ja-aku Frost, Ja-aku Frost will be waiting for you here in this central room. He'll ask if you remember him--he says he came back from the dead, but it's a secret as to how he did. He wants to try to become the strongest, so he decides by teaming up with you he will be able to. (since you were able to defeat him before) He will then force himself into your party. Of course this not a bad thing, as Ja-aku Frost is one of the best demon allies in the game. ;) ## Once you've hit both switches the door to B4F will open, and Dante will decide to play cheapass by standing right in front of the exit. Of course, if you try to attack him, he will do his normal attack-then-flee shtick, and you'll have to do the level all over again. Basically what you need to do is inch up to Dante, and as soon as he starts chasing you, turn and run in the opposite direction, circle around the level to get to B3F. On B3F, Dante will still chase you, but in a different manner. There are three switches on this level to open the door to the next--one to the west, one to the north, and one to the east. Between the central "hub" and the switches are rooms with hidden walls, and once you hit a switch, Dante will appear in these rooms. You'll then have to run away from him (maneuvering around the invisible walls) without him catching you and doing the stupid attack-then-flee move. The west and east chambers are fairly straightforward, but the north one is more convoluted with more invisible walls. Since after you hit the third switch Dante will be a cheap bastard again and camp the exit, it's best to save the north switch for last so you won't have to worry about getting away from Dante on your way back. You'll have to do the inch-toward-Dante-then-run thing again when he camps the exit. Now you're in B4F, and you've lost Dante--or so it seems. He'll actually ambush you midway through the level, and FINALLY fight you straight up without running away like a little coward. You now have the opportunity to get out all that annoyance that Dante has been providing for the last few levels, and use him as your personal punching bag. BOSS: MAJIN DANTE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAJIN DANTE HP: 5000 MP: 3000 AFFINITY: Boss Immunities SKILLS: E&I, Rebellion, Holy Star, Taunt, Twosome Time, Whirlwind, Round Trip, Showtime Dante hasn't learned anything from the last fight. If it's possible, Dante is even easier to beat this time than the last time! Once again, Dante overwhelmingly focuses on physical attacks, making it easy to counter him. However, once you beat him up enough he will use some different techniques, including "Whirlwind" (Shock attack) "Round Trip" (Electric) and once he's really beaten up badly, "Showtime" (All-Purpose) He has no way of negating -Kaja spells and no way of reducing your stats outside of his Taunt. (which does more damage to him than you, especially since you can just De-Kunda the bad effects away, and keep the good effects active) The only potential threat is Showtime, but considering he always Taunts you before using it, he will make your party so strong that you should be able to kill him easily before he gets it off. (The first time I fought him, after his taunt I dealt him over 2500 points of damage in a single blow, killing him instantly and making me have to reset so I could find his exact HP for this FAQ. And this was on Hard.) If you're having trouble, I suggest you bring in a Shock-absorbing ally like Genma Kurama Tengu into this fight, as he tends to use Whirlwind more than his other skills. Overall, Dante should not be a problem--show him what a wuss he is by humiliating him with a quick and overwhelming defeat! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon Dante's defeat, you will get (IMO) the dumbest cutscene of the entire game, Despite the fact that you just beat the tar out of him, Dante postures like an idiot, saying he "won't kill you" because "that's what the old man would want." Actually, that's exactly what the old man WOULDN'T want, but maybe Dante's just punch-drunk. In any case, he gives you his Menorah, saying that he hoped he could find the truth by gathering them, but "changed his mind" and doesn't want it anyway. (Too proud to admit you unceremoniously made him kiss the floor perhaps?) Instead, he says he's going to try and find out what the old man is really after. He leaves. And that's fortunately the last you'll ever see of him, save for an incredibly minor cutscene later on where you're given the chance to hire him into your party. With Dante out of the way, you can finally proceed on to the peephole--look in for your reward of juicy information from the nurse & and the old guy in the wheelchair. This time, the nurse gives you some information on Aradia, the goddess that Yuko prayed to. Aradia is a "fabricated" goddess that is not permitted to be in the Vortex world, and wandered in from another dimension. As an uncountable number of Vortexes exist in the Amara universe, Aradia originates one of those others, but not in a "legitimate" vortex. Vortexes are normally born from the power of the universes they used to be in the cycle of creation and destruction. However, there are other Vortexes that exist in the shadow of the "legitimate" Vortexes, and Aradia is from one such "Shadow Vortex". The residents of these Shadow Vortexes are fabrications, generated from the wishes, beliefs, and desires of the people that live in the "legitimate" vortexes--their thoughts essentially become crystallized in a semi-"real" form. However, to become full-fledged, " real" deities, these "shadow gods" have to leave their Shadow Vortexes and seek out "legitimate" vortexes that are in the process of being Created and having their Kotowari decided. If they successfully incorporate themselves in such a world, they can become fully "real" gods like all the others. Aradia is just one such goddess, a "sad savior goddess" that is born from the dreams and visions of others. The nurse tells you that Aradia herself originated from the prayers of the Wiccans, who where seeking a refuge from the persecution of a "more powerful god"--they prayed to Aradia to save them from oppression and to help all those that suffer. However, being a "shadow deity," Aradia was more or less powerless to save anyone, and could do nothing but give hope to those that believed in her. Still being a Shadow Goddess and a foreign entity, Aradia can not do much -she is a "doomed freedom goddess" as the nurse puts it. Before leaving, the nurse tells you that you have probably been hearing a lot of different things from a lot of different people--the Majin, the voice from the second Calpa, the people in the Vortex, and her and her master. She leaves you to decide for yourself who to believe and who not to, but asks you to remember that she and her master have been waiting an eternity in the Amara for your arrival..."the source of the Deep Zone, the Menorah, and the new Demon of Chaos everyone yearns for. And the final hour my master awaits..." She says you probably don't understand what she's talking about, but promises to tell you everything the next time you see her. Your path to the 4th Calpa is now open. Head on in. (Or turn back if you don't have the requisite Menorahs--there's no event in the Menorah Chamber you have to see at this point) ================================================================================ THE FOURTH CALPA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ 25,000 Makka 25,000 Makka 66,666 Makka 100,0001 Makka Deathomen Stone Deathomen Stone Deathomen Stone Deathomen Stone Tetraja Stone Soma* Ikutama* Hogyokuwa* Great Chakra* Butsuhankyo* Butsuhankyo* Blinding Sphere x 5* Power Incense* Magic Incense* Diamond x 3* ENEMIES: -------- Lv 4 Yuki Gaki Lv 11 Yuki Choronzon Lv 13 Gijin Manekata Lv 17 Yuki Yakka Lv 28 Yuki Pischacha Lv 34 Maju Orthrus Lv 49 Yuki Legion Lv 52 Kijo Dakini Lv 52 Maou Loki Lv 53 Yama Loa Lv 55 Seiju Chimera Lv 55 Ryuo Quetzalcoatl Lv 58 Datenshi Decarabia Lv 58 Jashin Girimekara Lv 61 Maju Kerberos Lv 63 Yuki Vetala Lv 63 Kyocho Gurulu Lv 65 Jashin Totetsu Lv 68 Maou Abbadon Lv 70 Yama Nyx Lv 91 Maou Mot GRAVEYARDS: ----------- 1F Sakahagi Spectre Meifu Road Arsiel Albion Skadi NOTES: ------ This level has a really bizarre layout, and there are lots of tough enemies here. (Maou Mot is one of the beefiest enemies in the game) Therefore it's very important to take this Calpa in chunks at a time instead of trying to complete the whole thing at once. In addition, the second toughest boss of the game is lurking down here, and you don't want to get killed by him after clearing out everything else. The Cursed areas of this Calpa are also a real pain--they're exactly like the Cursed Corridor on the Second Calpa. Once you beat the boss of this Calpa, all the cursed areas in the entire Amara Deep Zone will disappear, so you might want to wait to investigate the Cursed areas until after he's gone. (Of course, to even fight this boss, you have to traverse a large cursed area...) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before you can enter the fourth Calpa, you have to defeat all of the remaining Majin--Pale Rider, Dante, Mother Harlot, and Trumpeter. Place the remaining Menorahs on the dais--the Menorahs of Knowledge, Diadem, Beauty, and Divine Might. You now have unfettered access to the rest of the Amara Deep Zone--the fourth and fifth Calpas. Of course, you'll need to complete the fourth before you can get to the fifth. At the entrance to the fourth Calpa is a Shinentai that warns you "not to turn left up ahead." It might be a good idea to follow his advice, as the corrridor to the left is entirely Cursed, which is no fun. Of course, there's 50K Makka and a Deathstone in this corridor so if you want it now you can always give it a shot. Or, you can wait until you've cleared the Calpa and the cursed zones disappear entirely. There's also Graveyard (with Sakahagi and Spectre) in the corridor, and a Shinentai that will tell you of the "Eternal 12m," a strange corridor that leads to different places at different phases of Kagutsuchi. It warns you not to go at a Silent Kagutsuchi as you'll end up in the Demon Lord's room, and he does not take kindly to visitors. In the north section of the first floor is a Dark Broker that sells an "attack magic" demon for 50,000 Makka. It is a Level 60 Mothman with the following skills: All four Maha-element-Dain spells, Mahanma-on, Mahamudo-on, Megidoraon, and Chakra Step. The ladder down to the next level leads to the "Eternal 12m." The "Eternal 12m" is an odd place, that leads to four different places: The Meifu Road, the Meifu Treasury, the Meifu Corridor, and the Meifu Plaza. (The Meifu is the Japanese land of the dead) You can't use your map in any of these areas. All four of these areas lead to the same place, the other side of the "Eternal 12m." Beyond there is a short corridor with a blocked-off entrance to the fifth Calpa. A Shinentai will tell you that the switch to open that entrance can only be accessed from the Calpa above--from behind that golden door that you can't get through. But don't worry, after completing this Calpa you'll be able to find the key to that door. The Meifu Road: --------------- If you enter the "Eternal 12m" during any odd-numbered moon phase (i.e 1/8, 3/8, etc) you'll end up here. This place actually looks like a fairly straightforward, empty corridor. However you'll probably notice that the east wall has another one of those swirly-wall things that you saw in the second Calpa--an illusionary wall. Go through and you can find a Deathomen Stone in addition to a Graveyard with Arsiel, Albion, and Skadi. The Meifu Treasury: ------------------- If you enter the "Eternal 12m" during either a half or full Kagutsuchi, you'll end up in the Meifu Treasury. This is a VERY nice place to be, as you can loot the treasury and make yourself filthy stinking rich, providing you find the vault (which is an Amara Warp Zone) There are treasure chests in each chamber with some nice stuff too, and a central "safety deposit box" with several nice treasures as well. The layout of the treasury is rather confusing, as you can't see your map and there are teleport traps all over the place. The place is actually symmetrical though and not too tough once you get an idea for a layout. The left half of the Treasury leads to the Vault, and the right half of the Treasury leads to the Safety Deposit Box. To get to either, do the following: First head left or right respectively, and you will be teleported into the north corridor in a room with four exits. Ignore the east and west corridors (they both teleport you out) and head straight south. You will now be teleported into a room with two exits--one to the north through a door, and one to the south. Ignore the door (it teleports you out) and head south. You'll be teleported into a larger room. This room has teleports directly into the Vault or Safety Deposit Box. However, they're easy to miss if you're not paying attention. There are two exits to the room via teleporter, but one of them is sort of "tucked into the wall" in a "concealed by the camera angle" corridor. It's this exit you want to take. If you're shooting for the Safety Deposit Box, you'll be confronted with a new irritation before you can get in--the "Waiting Old Man." The Waiting old man blocks the entrance to the Safety Deposit Box, complains that everyone's in such a hurry nowadays, and asks you if it isn't important to slow down every once in a while. If you say "no" he will be annoyed and refuse to open the door. If you say "yes" he will ALSO be annoyed and refuse to open the door, calling you a hypocrite. The reason? You have to wait. What's annoying is finding out exactly WHEN to wait. I tried loitering around the entrance--no good. I tried waiting in the middle of the Old Man's speech--no good. It appears you have to wait on the "yes/no" screen when the Old Man asks you his question before answering "yes." If you wait long enough, he'll let you through the door. I'm not quite sure exactly how long you have to wait before he stops calling you a hypocrite, but it's at least a couple of minutes. The Safety Deposit Box has some nice stuff, but the Vault is the real highlight of this area--a perfect run through this tunnel will net you 43,167 Makka. Once you get good at it, you can easily make tons and tons of money very quickly. The Meifu Corridor: ------------------- If you enter the "Eternal 12m" either at a 2/8 or 6/8 moon phase, you'll be sent here. There's no treasure in here, but it does hold a secret that can net you some fun demons to join your party. Basically the place is full of one-way doors to the north and east. The exit is three doors north and two doors east fron the entrance, if you go anywhere else you'll end up in the northeast corner which teleports you back to the beginning. The sole feature of this level are two "lost souls" in the northwest and southeast corners of the Corridor. The one in the southeast was a murdering psychopath in life, who asks if you think it's wrong to kill to your heart's content. It doesn't matter what you say, but if you say "no" then he reveal to you tell you that while he killed lots of people in life and loved it, he yearned for human warmth and kindness. The one in the northwest was a businessman in life who built up his company so much that he profited and people ended up waiting on him hand and foot. He asks if you think his life was a success or not. It doesn't matter what you say here either, but if you say "yes" he will reveal that he had some sort of "incident" during his life that created intense rage toward "that young man" and though he wanted to get revenge on the world, he was tied down by society. (It's not said what the "incident" was. Hostile takeover of his company? Wife cheating on him? It's up to the player's speculation) Neither of these guys are important right now, but they will help you soon. At the exit of this maze, you'll find a Shinentai that will tell you that the "Mud Bell of the Afterlife" was here in this part of the Amara Deep Zone, and was a treasure that could raise the dead. However, it was stolen, and the Shinentai says "the guy who stole it is probably in his grave now." This is a hint as to where to go next. Leave the Amara Deep Zone and go to Zoshigaya (the place with all the dead Manekata at the end of the Ginza Tunnel) You'll find a vaporized Manekata there and the Bell--the nearby Shinentai says that he used the bell to become fully human, then died instantly as the Vortex cannot support human life normally. The next time you check out any of the peepholes in the Amara Deep Zone, the Nurse will note your possession of the bell. She says that the bell was stolen by a Manekata who dreamed of reincarnation, as the bell has the power to reincarnate lost souls. It was hidden deep in the Amara to keep it out of the hands of those that would misuse it, until it was stolen. Then she goes on to give you detailed information about the Manekata. The Manekata were born from fragments of human emotion, fragments that took their own bodies. Everyone in Asakusa was wiped out during the Fertilization--a necessity for the so-called "advancement" of the world to its next stage. When all the people died, they left their souls and emotions behind. Weak emotions by themselves without bodies to host them died quickly, but the stronger ones remained behind. That emotion then turns to raw energy, and goes to a place where they can find something or someone or receive it. In this case, the best conductor of this emotional energy was the mud at the banks of the river in Mifunashiro--the mud absorbed the energy and then formed bodies, the Manekata. The Manekata are reflections of what people in life either desired to be, or what they least wanted to be seen as. Thus the Manekata became the new residents of the Vortex, though they were cursed with the fate of not being able to harness Creation or advance to a new world, like those few "intact" humans that survived the Fertilization are. However, despite the weakness of the Manekata, there were those few that held both power and strong wills. The nurse tells you that you can use the bell to reincarnate the souls of such Manekata. So now you know the deal behind those two restless spirits in the Corridor--the businessman with his desire to get revenge on the world spawned Sakahagi, and the psychopath that desired love and warmth spawned Futomimi. Bring the bell to them and touch them, and the spirits themselves will be given a second chance and reincarnated as Sakahagi and Futomimi respectively. Once you've caused the two souls to pass on, you can now fuse Gedo Sakahagi and Kishin Futomimi at the Jakyo Manor. (Sakahagi is kind of mediocre, but Futomimi makes a great ally) The Meifu Plaza: ---------------- If you enter the "Eternal 12m" during a Silent Kagutsuchi, you'll be sent here. This is the most dangerous area of the fourth Calpa, and the one you'll probably want to tackle last. For starters, almost the entire area is Cursed. In addition, a very powerful boss awaits you here. But you'll have to go through it if you want to get to the 5th Calpa. The Demon Lord's room is in the Meifu Plaza and is to the north, in roughly the middle of the cursed chamber. There's a Dark Doctor right nearby so you can heal up before going through the door. I suggest you take on the Corridor with the Hero only in your active party, and a demon with Torafulee. If you get fought, immediately have your ally cast Torafulee to get you out of there. When you're in front of the door and all healed up, summon in your allies and open the door. Despite the warning of the Shinentai above, the Demon Lord is actually rather pleasant when you enter his chambers. He applauds your work at defeating the Majin and grants you an audience, beckoning you to approach. As you do, he tells you that he is the leader of the fallen angels in the Amara Deep Zone, the most powerful Maou that controls the demons of Chaos--Beelzebub. "So, you're the one that Master Lucifer has taken such a liking to" Beelzebub says. "They say you're trying to create a new demon with the power he gave you." (Thus settling the argument once and for all for those few people that claim that the boy at the beginning of the game is NOT Lucifer) Beelzebub tells you that when you returned all the Menorah you've gathered in their rightful places, "a new demon will be born." All the oppressed demons in the Amara Deep Zone await that time, and when the demon is born, Lucifer will give his decision and the awaiting armies will rise on his command to take back what the forces of Light had stolen from them. Beelzebub says that he will gladly lend you his aid to that end, but first must test you. In battle, of course--he transforms to his "fly form" and attacks. BOSS: MAOU BEELZEBUB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAOU BEELZEBUB: HP: 16000 MP: Way too many to find out by draining AFFINITY: Reflects Hama and Curse, Boss Immunities, Strong to everything else but Fire SKILLS: Mahazanma, Mahajionga, Mahazandain, Mahajiodain, De-Kaja, De-Kunda, Kiai, Megidoraon, Dead Fly Funeral Beelzebub is hard to kill. Really, freaking, hard to kill, especially if you're playing on Hard. He's not so bad to start out--he just uses the weaker Shock/ Electricity skills with the occasional attack, but once you shave off about a quarter of his HP, he starts to "fight for real" and gets much tougher, using Megidoraon and Dead Fly's Funeral. Dead Fly Funeral is a devastating attack that does lots of All-Purpose damage, and also instakills any character with no Curse immunity or Tetraja spell cast--no chance of failure. For that reason, it's pretty much a requirement to bring in four allies immune to Curse--you can't afford to try to cover yourself with Tetraja, especially since Beelzebub will occasionally use two Dead Fly Funerals in a row. Another thing that's extra difficult abot Beelzebub is you have to fight him straight-up with no -Kaja or -nda spells as he casts De-Kaja and De-Kunda so much as to make said spells worthless. If he uses Kiai start throwing up Tetrakarn shields as fast as you can, as he can easily do 700+ Hp of damage with an unadjusted defense on your party. This is one of the few fights where I really had to make a custom-made party in order to win it easily. The party I used was: a custom Futomimi (fused from Ganesha) with Kiai, Silent Sky Critical, and Shock Absorption a custom Girimekara with Kiai, Silent Sky Critical, and Mediarahan a custom Mother Harlot with Silent Sky Critical, Mediarahan, and Tetrakarn First, all of these allies were immune to Curse, a more or less prerequisite. Second, as you can probably tell, I fought Beelzebub during a Silent Kagutsuchi. He does the least amount of damage like this and all my characters save the Hero were guaranteed Criticals on their attacks. (I first tried this with Bright Sky Critical, but Beelzebub did so much damage like that he still creamed my party before they could really do anything) Third, Futomimi and Mother Harlot acted as lightning rods to suck up Press Turns when Beelzebub used Shock and Electric attacks respectively. (I could have used Sakahagi as he learns immunity to both Shock AND Electric, but he's not that great a character overall) Fourth, both Mother Harlot and Girimekara naturally reflect Physical, so that meant that there was a 50% chance that an attack from Beelzebub would be reflected back on him, and in case he used Kiai first, I could just cast Tetrakarn with Mother Harlot. My Hero was more or less baggage and occasional item use and healing. I had him equip Satan. With this setup, I would usually get 7 attacks per round. First round, Futomimi and Girimekara would Kiai, and Mother Harlot and the Hero would just attack. Second round, I'd have the Hero pass, (he was fastest so struck first) Girimekara/Futomimi/Mother Harlot attack (All getting criticals) so I'd have four flashing Press Turns. Then the Hero and Mother Harlot would heal if necessary, and Futomimi and Girimekara would Kiai again in preparation for the next round. I found I was able to keep my HP at decent levels and decrease Beelzebub's nice and quickly this way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Beelzebub is gone, you can fuse him in the Jakyo Manor (providing you have the levels--he's a level 84 Maou) and you are free to loot his treasure trove. Also, all Curse areas in the Amara Deep Zone are now gone. When you exit Beelzebub's chamber, the Mothman outside will tell you "Go to the formerly cursed area--the one there knows the location of the Morning Star Key." You'll need the Morning Star Key to get to the 5th Calpa. You probably have an idea already to what this refers--the Ifreet up in the Cursed Corridor on the Second Calpa. Talk to Ifreet and he will tell you that his drinking buddy has the key. Well, there's only one bar in the game--head there. Talk to Loki at the bar, and he says that he sold the key to a Manekata that collects those sorts of things, so he could buy more booze. So, head back to Asakusa and talk to the Junk Collector Manekata. He gives you the key for free, saying that he's not really interested in it, as it turns out it wasn't made by humans. Now that you have the Morning Star Key, you can open the door in the third Calpa that was locked before. Travel to the fourth Calpa, hit the switch, return, go back to the fourth Calpa the "normal" way, and you can now go to the exit. Look in the peephole--the final one in the game. The old gentleman and his nurse are waiting for you--and as promised, the Nurse tells you everything. She says that you might have inklings toward it already, but the Menorahs were not stolen. Instead, her master had reason to give them to those that he saw fit. She apologizes for deceiving you earlier, but says that there was an important reason she needed to do so, and goes on to explain why. There has been an ongoing battle between the forces of light and darkness that transcends time and the multiverse. The forces of darkness were once part of the light, but were banished and are to trying to reclaim their old position, while the forces of light want to keep the forces of darkness banished. The battle has been going on for aeons, and affects everybody, in all universes--both humans and demons get sucked up into both sides and either fought or were made victims of the conflict. The battle continues endlessly--but the "great one" swore an oath that he would put an end to the nonstop fighting. The method of doing so would be to create a Chaos demon of great power--one that becomes such of his own will--and with him, challenge the forces of light once and for all in a final, decisive showdown. The Majin--incarnations of death--were prepared to give their lives to give birth to that demon. By challenging, defeating, and thus transcending death, the demon's raw power could be crystallized--the first ray of hope for the demons cast down from the light. The plan was devised both by the "great one" and the nurse's master--and you were the one that they chose to become the demon. The whole "fighting the Majin" thing was one big test, as it needed to be seen if you could get past them. (Ergo, they couldn't tell you their full plan and ask for your assistance from the get-go, as you weren't ready at that point) While some of the Majin (IOW, Dante) attacked you not knowing the deal behind the situation, most knew everything and challenged you, hoping that you would defeat them and further the cause. You now have the power to be the last hope of the Chaos forces, and the nurse says she hopes that you will lend your power to their cause. She stresses that she can't--and won't--try to force you into a decision one way or the other. If you choose to try and go through life with just your human power, then that is fine, and you no longer need to bother with the Amara Deep Zone--you can go ahead and create the world to continue the cycle. "But," she says, "if you have a moral qualm with God and the way he tries to subjugate all to his will with absolute might, then you should delve in to the deepest part of the Abyss, so that you can become a full-fledged demon to break the cycle." Finally, she gives you some really juicy information on Hijiri. (perhaps to try and push you toward their cause?) Hijiri is a dead man--he died in the initial Fertilization. (bet you didn't see that coming!) He was on his way to the hospital when the Fertilization actually took place, and was killed along with all the rest of the people in the world. However, Hijiri is special--he managed to violate the laws of the Vortex, being able to remain in his old form despite being outside the hospital. This is actually his curse--in order to atone for his "sin," even the repose of death is torn from him--he must endure eternal suffering. Hijiri was given a punishment by God--he has to watch and record the eternal cycle of death and rebirth. While most people are able to be reincarnated based on their karma, this right was stolen from Hijiri. Even if his body is destroyed, his soul would not be saved and must continue--like the demons, he must suffer an eternal, accursed life. He is especially cursed to suffer in his life, and then have his soul tortured in the brief periods between him being revived in a new body. His task is to record the flow of the multiverse, and the endless battle between the forces of Law and Chaos as a punishment for his crime. So, shortly after his death in the Fertilization and requisite torture period, Hijiri was reborn in the Vortex, not knowing that he had died. He was most likely sent to the hospital because you were destined to have a large influence on the world, and thus he had to watch you. Throughout all this he was totally unaware of this burden forced upon him--he just thought he got lucky and survived. Afterwards, he challenged the other would-be Creators and lost his body once more. Currently, his soul resides in the "place of suffering" where it is being tortured. The nurse tells you that if you want to open your own road, defy destiny, and not be strung along like Hijiri, you should come to the deepest part of the Amara Deep Zone. She says you can use your first Menorah to open the way in. ** Side note here: It's never said what Hijiri's crime exactly was, but I strongly suspect that he is a reincarnation of Aleph, the hero of Shin Megami Tensei II. Reason being, the description of the torture that he's going through sounds EXACTLY like what YHVH (ie, God) threatens Aleph with in the Neutral Path in SMTII. A short synopsis for those that haven't played SMTII and don't mind being spoiled--at the end of the Neutral path in SMTII, Aleph thwarts YHVH's plan to wipe out all life on Earth and kills Satan, his instrument of destruction. YHVH is royally pissed at this and summons Aleph directly up to him, where he says that he will kill him, torture him in Hell, reincarnate him and torture him and his descendants in life, then torture his soul in Hell some more, reincarnate him again for more living torture, etc. This is a pretty good parallel to what's happening to Hijiri. Of course, in SMTII, Aleph normally goes on to kill YHVH (who's the last boss) but in his death-speech YHVH accuses Aleph of committing the "ultimate sin" (as per Hijiri's "ultimate sin") and claims that the universe will bring him back to life so long as people keep believing in him. One can only assume that if Hijiri really is an incarnation of Aleph, that YHVH either came back to life and is getting revenge on Aleph, or that he killed Aleph in the final battle of SMTII in the "official" SMT canon. And of course, all the stuff that went on in Aleph's world would have to be in a different Vortex than the one in SMTIII. Keep in mind, there's a high probability that I'm dead wrong on this. :P ** So, if you want the new ending of SMTIII, head on in to the fifth and final Calpa of the Amara Deep Zone. And even if you don't, it can be to your advantage to play it right up to the final "point of no return." ================================================================================ THE FIFTH CALPA ================================================================================ ITEMS: ------ Chakra Drop Hogyoku Hogyoku Ikutama x 5* Great Chakra x 5* Mahankyo* Hangonko* Hangonko x 10* Soma x 10* Jade x 4*** 150,000 Makka** Happy Tickets x 25*** Magic Incense x 3*** Deathomen stone** ** These items can only be gotten if you pick the "True Demon" path. *** These items can also only be gotten if you pick the "True Demon" path, and are in Magic Boxes. ENEMIES: -------- Lv 2 Yosei Pixie Lv 5 Chirei Kahaku Lv 8 Yama Lilim Lv 8 Yoma Apsaras Lv 11 Tenshi Angel Lv 13 Maju Inugami Lv 14 Yoma Isora Lv 18 Yama Fomorian Lv 18 Maju Nekomata Lv 20 Kijo Taraka Lv 20 Datenshi Forneus Lv 23 Yoma Dis Lv 23 Maju Badbh Cathach Lv 26 Yosei Kelpie Lv 31 Yoju Nue Lv 32 Kijo Yomotsu-Shikome Lv 34 Maju Orthrus Lv 37 Yama Succubus Lv 37 Yoma Ongkot Lv 43 Kijo Yakshini Lv 46 Shinju Yatagarasu Lv 48 Megami Sati Lv 52 Kijo Dakini Lv 52 Maou Loki Lv 54 Maju Suparna Lv 55 Seiju Chimera Lv 55 Ryuou Quetzalcoatl Lv 56 Yama Queen Maeve Lv 58 Jashin Girimekara Lv 47 Yosei Titania Lv 60 Shinju Barong Lv 61 Maju Kerberos Lv 63 Kyocho Gurulu Lv 64 Megami Scathach Lv 65 Jashin Totetsu Lv 66 Ryuo Yurlunggur Lv 67 Jiboshin Kali Lv 68 Datenshi Flauros Lv 69 Maou Abbadon Lv 70 Yama Nyx Lv 75 Maou Surtr Lv 75 Yoju Hraesvelgr Lv 77 Maou Arsiel Lv 80 Yama Lilith Lv 83 Jashin Mada Lv 81 Maou Mot GRAVEYARDS: ----------- B2F Mithra Thor B5F Ahriman Noah Baal Avatar NOTES: ------ No place in the game even comes close to comparing to this area in terms of the range of demon types that will appear here. Like many of the other Calpas, the demon types differ depending on your level within it--the top two floors have virtually all the female demons in the game, the middle three floors have beast- type demons, and the bottom floor is filled with powerful, head-of-pantheon-or- close-to-it gods. It's a crying shame that you can't get demons to join you in the Amara Deep Zone, because this would be the place to do it! Like the other Calpas, care must be taken down here, as some of the fights you'll get into are pretty tough. But at least you don't have to deal with cursed areas and the like as you did in the fourth Calpa. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly the minute you enter the fifth Calpa, Dante approaches you saying that it's "much more dangerous than before" from here on in, and offers to let you hire him into your party. If you say no, he'll just wait in his room for you to change your mind. If you say yes, he'll do a coin toss to see how much you have to pay to hire him--if you get it right, you only pay 1 Makka, if you get it wrong, it costs half your current money. There seems to be no random element to this--the coin ALWAYS seems to land on heads. So if you don't want to pay through the nose, don't pick tails. Dante will then ask your name (you don't have to answer, he'll know either way) before joining your party permanently. However, once you've got Dante, you'll note that you cannot boot him out of your party, nor can you fuse him in any way. He's kind of a mixed bag, so here's the dilemma--is Dante worth hiring into your party or not? Short answer: Yes and no, but mostly no. Long answer: Dante is a really unusual character to have in your party--every single one of his skills, except for one (Threaten) is unique to him. When you first get him, he'll probably seem quite able to hold his own, so hiring can seem an attractive offer at first, and be to your advantage in the short run. In the long run, however, you'll probably start regretting your decision to hire him. Dante becomes outclassed ridiculously quickly, and soon after he joins your party you'll find him as nothing more than dead weight in your roster--and rather ineffective in battle. His major problems are as follows: 1) His stats. They're pretty lousy for a level 80 character, (nothing over 25) and the problem is since you can't fuse him with Mitama, you either have to gain stats on him by leveling him (which is excessively time-consuming) or by using Incense on him. (which is time-consuming, expensive, and tedious) By the time you're fusing the higher-level demons for the endgame, Dante will be totally obsolete, with no easy way to bring him up to par with your other allies. 2) His skills. Dante is a one-trick pony, totally focused on physical attacks. He's got a handful of magic attacks and even an All-Purpose attack or two, but he has no defense, support, or any other sort of skill to cover his weaknesses. Which isn't necessarily terrible as you could in theory use him as a "physical attack" role, but to be really effective in battle, physical attackers need Penetrate or Kiai--preferably both--and Dante can learn neither. Dante's "In My Father's Name" covers up for this a little, but not enough to make him effective against the tougher, physically resistant enemies of the endgame. His sole saving grace is Stinger, which is a decent--if unreliable--instakill attack, but Trumpeter is so much better in that arena it's not even funny. 3) His cost. Dante can't learn any sort of innate healing or regeneration skills, which means that it will be expensive in terms of items and Healing Spring visits to keep his HP and MP at an acceptable level. To waste so much money on a character that really doesn't pull his own weight in the party isn't worth it, IMO. If you could ditch Dante, or if he didn't take up one of your party slots, he would probably be worth it and a fun character to mess around with, but in the long run he's really not a very effective party member, and IMO not worth losing the extra party slot forever. Sorry, Dante fans--he's nothing but dead weight in this game. HOWEVER! One irritating thing about Dante is that if you don't have him join your party, you can't get 100% on your Akuma Zensho, and the very helpful price break that comes with it. With the addition of the warp zone in the Meifu Treasury, money isn't really a problem by the time you get to Dante, but the price break is very useful when you're starting again for "second time through" games. So my advice would be to ignore Dante until you've got every demon in the Akuma Zensho besides him, then get him, get your price break, and immediately finish the game, saving in a new slot for your second-time through game. Then in any successive games you can--and probably should--ignore Dante when he asks you to hire him. Also, if you power up Dante to extremely high levels (150+) and give him In My Father's Name and keep Rebellion and Stinger, he is one of the best "random battle monster" killers in the game. It's impractical to build him this high, but as physical damage increases with level, he can do more damage with a normal attack than most other enemies, (with IMFN) and Stinger nearly always instakills at levels that high. He still won't be much use against bosses as without Focus and/or Penetrate he can't quite compete, but isn't totally useless in this respect. Of course, building him that high is very impractical, but still... So, in short, my advice is to leave Dante behind and continue into the Calpa. There's no turning back once he's in your party, but if you leave him and then change your mind, you can always come back and get him later. There's not much to see on the first floor of the Calpa. There's a Yomotsu- Shikome who asks you if she's not attractive to you (since her ugliness is legendary)--if you tell her "no" she'll be glad and heal your party for free. Other than that there's a Shinentai here that tells you that dead ends here aren't what they seem. That's the main catch to this floor--lots of walls will disappear when you get up close to them, allowing you passage. There are also a lot of one-way passages here, so backtracking can be difficult. There are two ladders down here--one in the east and west sides of the level. The east ladder leads to a dead-end area of B2F, with a Graveyard and the "True Demon Door." When you enter the True Demon Door, it will tell you that the contents of the room beyond will depend on whether you're a "true demon" or not. Once you complete this Calpa, fully align yourself with Lucifer's forces, and become 100% demon, this room will be filled with all sorts of nifty loot. If you've still got the soul of a human, the room will be empty. The west ladder down leads to a short corridor down to B3F. B3F is shaped like a skull, and is divided into two sections, a north (full of damage floor) section and a south section. You can't actually get into the north section until later in the game, but there's nothing really interesting to see there anyway. There is not much to see in the south section either, except for a demon and a Shinentai that give you information. The demon is thinking about the battle between light and dark, saying "When we were expelled from Heaven, we were forcibly changed into demons of darkness. Were we mistaken in our actions and paying the price? Or were the angels that banished us into this miserable state in the wrong? I wonder what the 'great one' would say...." The Shinentai offers to look at the direction your soul is taking. If you agree, it gives you a hypothetical situation--you're in the isolated mountains with nobody around for miles, when you come upon an animal attacking a human. The human cries out for help, but the animal is clearly emaciated and dying of starvation. "What would you do?" the Shinentai asks. It surmises that you would probably kill the animal and save the human...but then the human, seeing the scope of your power, would turn and run in fear from you. The Shinentai warns you "with your ability, you cannot remain fully human. You must either sacrifice your power, or the last vestiges of your humanity." B4F is an unusual floor. It's full of doors that you have to show your demons to to get through. If you show a demon that doesn't qualify, the door will kill it, and then teleport you to the beginning of the level. Some of them will require you to show demons with a certain stat level, i.e. "Show me a demon with power." (It appears to be 25 minimum for all stats) There are also four doors that require specific demons: "An old friend": Still got that Pixie from the very beginning of the game? That very first pixie? (though it's probably a Queen Maeve by now, and I've heard that any demon you fused with thie Pixie will count too--dunno if it counts if you sacrificed the Pixie) Show her to this door. She's the only demon that will qualify. If you booted her out of the party, you're SOL and will never be able to open this door--re-summoning a Pixie from the Akuma Zensho will not count. Once you go in this room, your Pixie (or "descendent") will get a massive power-up and be turned into a Level 80 "Juggernaut" Pixie with 30 in all stats and the following skills: Mahajiodain, Megidoraon, Mediarahan, Samarecarm, and Withstand. With creative fusing via Mitama, you can add any other three skills you want to her. (I chose "Physical Absorption," "Randomizer" and "War Cry of Victory") "A Ja-aku Friend": This one should be pretty obvious: Ja-aku Frost. Inside here you'll find two Magic Boxes, with 5 Ikutamas and 5 Great Chakras in them. "An Friend that is an Avatar of Chaos": This one will open when you show the Fly-form of Beelzebub to it. Since the Fly- form of Beelzebub is tied with Shiva and Metatron for being the highest-level demon in the game, odds are you'll be too low a level to be sporting him in your party when you first get here, but you can come back later. Inside are two Magic Boxes with 10 Hangonkos and 10 Somas in them. "A Friend that is Chosen by Light": This one can only be opened by Metatron. You definitely won't have Metatron in your party when you first get here, as you have to beat him before you can fuse him. (He's also level 95) Once you do show him, you'll enter a (seemingly empty) room, with a pit trap that dumps you into a strange level in B5. This level is a bunch of rooms connected by doors, but you can only open three of them--the fourth door you try to open will teleport you to the damage area of B3F. There are two destinations down here--a Graveyard with the Kotowari bosses, and a Dark Broker. To get to the Graveyard, go two rooms to the south, one room to the west, and then two rooms to the south. (Don't worry, the door to the Graveyard won't teleport you.) To go to the Broker, go three rooms to the south and one to the east. The Dark Broker will sell you a "demon whose attack will work on anything" for 200,000 Makka: It is a Lv 58 Jashin Girimekara with the following skills: Bind Voice, Rannyu-Ken, Bright Sky Critical, Silent Skill Critical, Attack All, Kiai, and Penetrate. A rather lousy sell overall, until you see that last skill--Penetrate! This Girimekara is essential for fusing demons for the final battle, as Penetrate is a virtual necessity to beat the "new" last boss. By the ladder down to B5F, there's a Taotie that warns you of a hostile power nearby that's even greater than that of Beelzebub. Go down anyway. In B5F, you'll enter a large open area and be stopped by the condescending voice from the Second Calpa. Looks like God isn't going to just sit on his laurels while you work toward his doom--he's sent an assassin after you. The voice says that you have ignored its warning and turned too much to the dark, and that it can neither allow you to continue or let the "fallen angel's" plan to succeed, that your "sin of returning the Menorahs" is great, blah, blah--basically a mini-sermon about how disobedient you are. He finally shows himself, and tells you to "tremble in fear, for I am Metatron, and I am one with God. By my master's order, I will kill you!" BOSS: DAITENSHI METATRON -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAITENSHI METATRON: HP: 16000 MP: Way too many to find out by draining AFFINITY: Boss Immunities, strong to everything but Ice SKILLS: Mahanmaon, Divine Retribution, De-Kunda, De-Kaja, Megidoraon, Maka-Kaja, Taru- Kaja, Randomizer, Flame of the Sinai After the Beelzebub fight, I was expecting Metatron to be really freaking powerful, but he's actually much easier to defeat. His primary problem is that he relies far too much on Hama-type attacks, which are probably totally ineffective by now, as most high-level demons are naturally immune to it. Another thing about Metatron is that he's the reverse of Beelzebub in regards to De-Kunda and De-Kaja. At the beginning of the fight, he'll use both spells like mad, but once you've whittled him down a bit, he'll stop using them so often, so you're free to boost your stats and drop his as much as you want. Metatron's pattern is primarly as follows--to start with, he mainly uses Hama spells with the occasional Megidoraon. Once you get him down to 3/4 of his HP, he starts to fight "for real" and will instead switch to a pattern of doing one of the following: Casting Maka-Kaja, then Megidoraon, or Taru-Kaja and then attacking normally. There's not much you can do about the Megidoraon but having physically-reflecting demons will be helpful when he attacks. Also it's at this point he stops using De-Kunda and De-Kaja so much, so you can drop his stats with abandon and will have to worry less about getting killed. (DON'T let him get 4xMaka-kaja, as a Megidoraon at that strength will kill just about anyone) Once you get him down to about 1/4 of his HP he starts to sweat and calls to God to give him strength--at this point he'll start casting Randomizer and using his special attack "Flame of the Sinai." Flame of the Sinai I found to be a rather useless attack damage-wise...it seemed more often than not it didn't even touch anyone. (then again Metatron's Accuracy was horrible, being Fog Breathed by that point) Overall, I didn't find Metatron too hard, and didn't need to use any special patterns to kill him. I imagine the "Dream Team" I prepared for Beelzebub would have worked pretty well against him (maybe replacing Girimekara for Uriel and his Randomizer) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Continue on in to the dungeon--you'll find yourself in that first "Mystery Area" that you were in at the beginning of the game, in the hospital. In the area that had the treasure chest with the Maharagi Stone, there's a Shinentai that will ask to look into your soul, to see if you're going to defy fate and proceed to the final battle with God, or if you'll let history repeat itself. If you let him look, he doesn't give you a straight answer--he says that all life is destined to die, and that people are manipulated like puppets by the hands of fate. He asks if you would hold a grudge against God for creating such fate if, say, someone important to you was killed in a freak accident. He says that if you dislike the way things are being run and want to cast off the chains of fate, you should go on and see the "great one." In the room in the left branch of the corridor is a lift down to the deepest part of the Amara Deep Zone. Once you go down, there's no turning back--if you want one of the original Nocturne "Creation" endings, you should leave now, because once you go down there you will be locked into the path of getting the "new" ending and fighting the new secret last boss. If you've already entered Kagutsuchi Tower by this point, you're SOL and the lift will not activate, preventing you from getting the new ending. (Additionally, you can only go down there once, if you come back after going down, the lift will not work) When you descend the lift, it takes you directly to the stage with the old gentleman in the wheelchair and his nurse. The nurse is elated that you're willing to sacrifice the last vestiges of your humanity to throw your support to their cause, and says that all their waiting throughout the aeons has finally borne fruit--that you got all the Menorahs, and even defeated the strongest assassin of the Light sent after you--you truly are the demon that they have been waiting for. All the demons watching in through the various peepholes let out huge cheers, until the old man signals them to stop. The nurse asks if you can hear them cheering you on; that you have finally brought them a ray of hope, that you will join the "dark angel" in his fight. There's no turning back now, she says--the fight between those cast from the light and those controlling it will now begin. You have one remaining task--defeat the Guardians that want to establish their Kotowari, and then Kagutsuchi itself, to break the cycle. Once you have accomplished that, then they will come join you in the final battle, and her master will give you a portion of his power to aid you. Then, the old gentleman in the wheelchair unlocks the power of your first Magatama. (Marogare) "You were given the body of a demon by the Great One, and now, my master will give you the soul of one, too. Go, our new demon, our new hope!" the nurse says as the old man completes your transformation, making you 100% demon. You will then awake again, reborn (as per the back of the box "the demon is born twice") in Shinjuku hospital. The Amara Deep Zone is now completed, but you can come back. (and should, to get the goodies behind the True Demon door, and open the Metatron/Beelzebub doors, assuming you haven't already) At this point, all you need to do is complete the game as if you would normally. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This ends the walkthrough part of this FAQ. ################################################################################ CHEATS ################################################################################ There's only one "official" method of cheating that I know of in Shin Megami Tensei III, and that is the debug mode. (No, I know nothing of GameShark/GameXploder or whatever codes--if you want them do a search on Google or something) If you're playing Maniacs, you're SOL, as the debug mode is no longer present in-game. If you're playing the original Nocturne, the debug mode is available. Entering the Debug mode is simple. Go to any Terminal in the game, and eject the SMT3 DVD from your PS2. Substitute any other PS2 DVD game and put it in the drive. Then leave the Terminal. You will now be in Debug Mode. Be sure to swap back your SMT3 DVD in the drive, or else the game will freeze as soon as you try to do any test! (The mechanics behind this are as follows--whenever the game comes across an unplanned error or crash, the game dumps you to debug mode, presumably so that the developers could fix the bug. Therefore if you are able to reproduce any sort of unplanned error or crash you will be dumped to debug mode. For example, Arl, SMT3 hacker extreme, says that if you enter Kagutsuchi Tower without fulfilling the requirements for any of the 5 endings--something not normally possible--you'll be dumped into the debug mode. So there may be other ways to dump to debug mode--the way above is just the easiest, IMO) Warning: If you are going to screw with the debug mode, consider your entire Nakama roster as being gone. Using the debug mode has a tendency to wildly mess with the demons you have in your party. If you enter CAMP TEST mode, or fight certain battles in NEW BATTLE TEST mode, it will always restructure your entire party, and usually with really wimpy demons like Pixies. NOTE: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT YOU SAVE YOUR GAME AFTER FIDDLING WITH THE DEBUG MODE. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU CORRUPT YOUR SAVE GAME, YOUR MEMORY CARD IMPLODES, OR OTHER VARIOUS ACTS OF JASHIN THAT MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT OF FOOLING WITH THE DEBUG MODE! BE FOREWARNED! OK, enough with the warnings. On to the actual nitty-gritty of the debug mode. Upon entry of the debug mode, you'll be presented with a whole long list of tests, editors, and viewers. A whole lot of them quite simply do not work and will freeze your PS2, forcing you to restart. Most of the "Tests" work, though there are a few that you cannot get out of and will be forced to reset. (e.g. BATTLE FIELD TEST and EVENT TEST) Most of the tests give you instructions (in English) on what to do. One thing to note is that the buttons are indicated as RU (Triangle), RR (O), RD (X), RL (Square) Here's a lowdown on the options you get: GAME START: ----------- This will deposit you outside the Terminal you entered Debug Mode in, with any changes to your party made during Debug Mode. NEW BATTLE TEST: ---------------- In this setting, you pick a battle by its hex designation, press the O button to start it, and then get to fight it. All the boss battles are accessible this way (1D9 and 30E are the two forms of the last boss for example) and some will ALWAYS give you great items after winning them. 03C is a single Majin Horus that gives you over 30,000 EXP so is great for level building. However be forewarned- -some battles will hard freeze your game, mess up your party formation, or be really, REALLY weird (enemies that give you Story Items when you talk to them for example) Also be careful on the battle select screen--if you press the Triangle, Square, or X button it will totally reset your party's status. Triangle will set your party to "default." (AKA your hero is level 1, no items, no skills, etc) Square and X will give you an unusual party--a Lv 50 Hero with no skills, 9 of each item, and equipping a phantom Magatama that teaches you Agi spells. (Note that you can use this to give yourself any--or all--of the Magatama...explained below) BATTLE FIELD TEST: ------------------ Lets you take a look at the various battle fields and camera angles that are used therein. As far as I can tell, you need to hard reset the machine to get out of this mode. MODEL COLLISION EDITOR: ----------------------- This does nothing. KERNEL TEST: ------------ This freezes your PS2. EVENT TEST: ----------- This is a fun test--you can use it to view a bunch of the cutscenes in-game. Oddly enough, there are quite a few whacked out cutscenes that never actually appear in-game. (Persona 2: Innocent Sin players, have a gander at Event 607!) One thing that's really annoying about the Event Test is that once the event you pick is complete, it repeats over and over and over again or hard freezes so you have to reset the PS2. Pressing one of the buttons (I think Select) during the events will display the camera number in the corner of the screen, depending on the Event you're watching. EVENT VIEWER: ------------- I can't seem to get this to do anything. It lists a bunch of numbers and the like but I can't get it to display anything. FIELD EDITOR: ------------- A quick way to hard-freeze your PS2. MESSAGE SCRIPT TEST: -------------------- Just a test of displaying text. You can change the text from "This is a Test Message" to "This is a Dionysus Message" (don't ask me) with the O and X buttons, and change the background with the Square Button. Very boring, and you'll have to reset, but it's worth noting that one of the backdrops is a status screen, but instead of having a Magatama option, "Devil Hearts" is in its place. Guess they were going to call the Magatama Devil Hearts at first... CAMP TEST: ---------- This is like going into the options with the Square Button during normal play. Note that it totally wipes out your demon roster. COMBINE TEST: ------------- The same as the Jakyo Manor anywhere else in the game. Fuse or use Akuma Zensho at will. SHOP TEST: ---------- This is a shop test with the FGM as your salesman. His inventory is pretty pedestrian. However, if you set your hero to Lv 50 Status using the NEW BATTLE TEST mode, and go into "sell," you'll note your current possessions listed are every item in the game, including some dummy items. Scroll down far enough and you can find the Magatama--it says you have "0" of the ones you don't have, but if you choose to "sell" these, not only will it pay you for the Magatama you're not selling, but it will give you that Magatama as well. In this way you can get every Magatama in the game. The down side is that you pretty much have to hose your party and Hero skills to do it, but I imagine if you did it at the very beginning of the game and then reset your Hero to Lv 1 it might not be so bad. RAG TEST: --------- The same as the Shop Test, except it's Rag's Ginza store you're at. After leaving it'll boot you into the entrance of whatever area you started the Debug Mode at. RECOVER TEST: ------------- This brings up a Healing Spring for you. Heal your party if you feel so inclined. TERMINAL TEST: -------------- Brings you to a terminal. I really, really, strongly advise against saving your game in here. I haven't risked it, but I imagine it could totally hose your game. RESULT2 TEST: ------------- Doesn't do anything. It's a test of the "battle result" screen where it gives you experience and items, etc. but it's not working right. NAME ENTRY TEST: ---------------- Name Entry Test for your hero. (First name, Last Name, Nickname) You can't actually change your hero's name with it because it sends you back to the title screen after trying it. MODEL VIEWER: ------------- The coolest test of all IMO. This allows you to view the models of just about every character and enemy in the game. There's even a traffic cop in there. Careful though, some models don't exist and will freeze your PS2 if you try to select them. Several of the models in the "player" subset are like this. The Triangle button will pull up a menu for you. There you can select various things, such as "light" (allows you to change texture colors) or "texture" (displays the model's textures in a little box) If you want to change the position of the camera or model, you can do this through the Triangle menu as well. You can switch between "camera" and "object" to move the camera or object's position. (I highly suggest you pick "model"--it is much easier to view the model from different angles this way) When actually changing the viewing angle, there are two modes--"move" mode and "rotate" mode, and you can switch between them using the Square button. In both modes you use the control pad and the L buttons to move the camera/model around. "move" mode moves the position of the camera/model on the X, Y, and Z axes. When you're in "rotate" mode you can rotate the camera/model on the X/Y/Z axes with the same buttons. Note that when viewing demons via the Akuma Zensho, you are very limited in camera angles for viewing the demons, and since you are not so limited with the Model Viewer, you can see why. Viewed from certain angles, you can see how the developers cut polygon count. For example, look at Maou Mot up real close with his coffin open and you can see he's just a torso. Look at demons with dresses/skirts/kilts/robes from directly below and you can see that quite a good deal of them are totally hollow and you can see all the way to the insides of their heads! And so forth. Also you can use the Model Viewer to see just about any in-game animation from angles you wouldn't normally see them, for example the Hero's spin kick from a front angle. SOUND TEST: ----------- Every time I have tried this my PS2 has hard-froze. FONT TEST: ---------- Ditto this. Hard freeze every time. PARTICLE EDITOR: ---------------- Doesn't do anything. SPRITE VIEWER: -------------- Doesn't do anything. MAGATUHI EDITOR: ---------------- Doesn't do anything. RESTORE PLAY DATA: ------------------ Does nothing. NEGO PLAYDATA SET: ------------------ Does nothing. PUZZLE BOY GAME: ---------------- Lets you play the Puzzle Boy arcade game you find in Asakusa. PUZZLE BOY MAP EDITOR: ---------------------- I was so much hoping this would work, but no luck. It hard freezes your PS2 even. MOVIE VIEWER: ------------- As far as I can tell, the only movie you can view with this is the second intro movie. (the one where you see the hero running around and fighting things) If you hold down Select you can view it in slow motion or frame-by-frame. STAFF TEST: ----------- Displays the end credits. Also allows you to do an endsave after watching the credits, but I really, really advise against it. ENDSAVE TEST: ------------- Creates a second-time-around savegame, probably based on your current Akuma Zensho data, but like the end of the Staff Test, there's no way in hell I'm going to risk messing up my memory card by actually trying it. ################################################################################ TERMINOLOGY AND MYTHOLOGY REFERENCES ################################################################################ Being a game tailor-made for the "occult" subculture in Japan, Shin Megami Tensei 3 is overflowing with mythology references. Most of these are in the forms of the various demons that pop up in-game, and if you want to know their mythological background, you can check out their entries in the Akuma Zensho section of this walkthrough. Similarly, if you want to check out the Magatama mythological references, check out that section of the FAQ. This section of the FAQ is dedicated to covering the mythological references in-game that wouldn't be covered in those sections. =============================== ANALYSIS OF THE MIROKU PROPHECY =============================== You get a snippet of a quote from the in-game "Miroku Scriptures" in the intro movie. Its translation is at the beginning of this FAQ, but here is some necessary background info for it, as it has heavy Buddhist influences and terms that the average Westerner is probably not going to get. Miroku: ------- First off, Miroku itself refers to Miroku-Bosatsu, the "future Buddha" of Mahayana Buddhism, comparable to Maitreya. (actually Miroku is Maitreya's Japanese name) Miroku is said to be a great future Buddha who will appear in the universe 5 billion, 670 million years after Gautama Buddha (the person who lived in the 6th century BCE that people refer to as "the Buddha") achieved enlightenment and entered Nirvana. (Maitreya is said to be coming back 5000 years after Gautama's death, so it differs from tradition to tradition) Sangai: ------- "Sangai" literally means "Three worlds" and it is a term meaning all of existence, past, present, and future. Taizo: ------ This is actually a dual metaphor. It refers in part to the Taizo-Kai Mandala of _mikkyo_ esoteric Buddhism. Mikkyo teaches of two separate worlds, the Taizo-Kai and the Kongo-kai, and the Mandalas are "devotional images" representing these concepts--one is supposed to view these images and contemplate their meaning to achieve enlightenment. In any case, the Kongo-kai is the world of the transcendental Buddha, representing the absolute truth of the enlightened universe, a world of pure spirit. The Taizo-kai represents the compassionate and merciful nature of the enlightened universe, and is a world of physical phenomena. (It is said that the living body is a fusion of these two worlds, being physical and spirit simultaneously) The reason that this is a dual metaphor here is because Taizo literally means "womb" (the idea of the fetus being nurtured in the womb being drawn as a parallel of the Taizo-Kai) which is important in Shin Megami Tensei 3 as the world is in more or less a "developing" state in a "uterus" of sorts. And you have events like the "Tokyo Fertilization," etc. Daihi: ------ Daihi is another dual metaphor. Daihi literally means "Great Compassion" and refers to the infinite compassion of the Bodhisattvas. (Bodhisattvas are people in Mahayana Buddhism who attain enlightenment but hold off on becoming Buddhas, choosing to stay behind in non-physical form to help those still alive, until all living things can attain Buddhahood) However, Daihi is also a dual metaphor here, because the full name of the Taizo Mandala as discussed above is "Daihi- taizo-sho-mandara." Renge: ------ Renge literally means "lotus." Lotus flowers are a symbol within Buddhism because they remain beautiful, and do not become dirty when floating in mucky water. (this is because the leaves of the lotus flower have lots of microscopic pores, which trap air and prevent water from soaking it, thus producing its waterproof qualities, but I digress) They are said to represent the absolute pure truth of the universe, and also the promise that all life will eventually attain Buddhahood. Kotowari: --------- Kotowari literally means "logic," "reason," "truth," etc. In this sense, the "Kotowari" is a term meant to indicate "the basic system of logic/laws/rules of the universe." ============================================================== MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, PLACES, THINGS, AND OTHER TERMINOLOGY ============================================================== AHRIMAN: -------- Ahriman is another name for Angra Mainyu, the prince of demons and the "evil god" of ancient Persian mythology/Zoroastrianism. He is the god of the dark and the arch-enemy of Ahura Mazda, creator god of light. Ahura Mazda and Ahriman/Angra Mainyu are said to be constantly fighting a battle over the world. The concept of Ahriman/Angra Mainyu was immensely influential in the Abrahamic religions (Judaism/Christianity/Islam) as it is highly probable that Satan (in his "evil god" incarnation, not the "holy angel of judgement" one) was patterned after him. ALBION'S BUNREI: ---------------- Albion's four Bunrei are the Zoas, the brainchildren of the famous poet William Blake, described in the poem _The Four Zoas_" The Zoa are actually biblical in origin--in the book of Ezekiel they are described as the creatures that pull YHVH's chariot. They also pop up in Revelations, and Christianity reinterpreted the Zoa as the four Seraphim, (Michael/Gabriel/Raphael/Uriel) but Blake had a different interpretation. He saw the four Zoa as different separated aspects of a giant primordial man named Albion who represented universal humanity and fell from grace. (vis-a-vis Garden of Eden myth) Note that aside from the name, the Albion in Blake's poem has absolutely no connection whatsoever with the actual god Albion described in the Akuma Zensho. (There's yet ANOTHER Albion from Greek mythology too--it's a popular name!) AMARA: ------ I'm not 100% positive on this one, but my research points to Amara being connected to the city of Amaravati in Hindu mythology. Amaravati is a paradise, a city of the gods and heroes with no suffering and many outlets of pleasure. ARADIA: ------- Aradia is a Roman goddess said to be the daughter of the gods Diana and Lucifer. Aradia was an extremely minor goddess in her time, though has made a really big comeback in modern Wiccan/Neopagan religion as she is said to be the protector of witches. BAAL AVATAR: ------------ Baal Avatar means "Incarnation of Baal." Baal is not actually a name but a title, meaning "Master." There were a whole bunch of Baals in ancient Babylon/Phoenicia where it derives from; Baal-X, Baal-Y, etc. (Master of X, Master of Y, etc) There was one great Baal, who was the son of the head deity El, and probably the biggest god in Babylonian pantheon in terms of popularity. Baal is a god of rain, thunder, and fertility, and his adventures are legendary, especially his sibling rivalry with death-god Mot. Note that Baal is pronounced "Ball" and NOT "Bail." "Bail" is the pronunciation of Bael, a Hebrew demon. (Baal and Bael are connected though--Bael derives from the monotheistic faction of Hebrews who demonized the competition--in other words, Baal) On a side note, the "Bael's Curse" technique that Baal uses in-game is a connection to this demon. CALPA: ------ This is a Hindu concept. (not surprising as so is Amara) Hinduism states that the universe is going through a constant cycle of destruction and rebirth, and each "life" as it were is called a "Calpa." GOZU-TENNO: ----------- This literally means "The Cow-Headed Emperor." Gozu-Tenno is commonly thought to be an imported version of the Chinese deity Niutou. (Same characters, means "Cow Head") In Chinese mythology, Niutou's job is to bring souls to the Yama Lords in the afterlife along with his partner Mamien. (means "Horse Face," known as "Mezuki" in Japan) However, at some point Gozu-Tenno got confused with Susa-no- O, and became a guardian-Buddhified Susa-no-O. (Which is ironic as anything considering in-game he is more or less fighting AGAINST the Buddhist ideal, but oh well) All in all, his origins are little unclear. HITO-SHURA: ----------- This means "Person/Shura." A Shura is a special type of Japanese spirit. The Shura are originally warriors who died in battle then go on to an afterlife where they battle for eons in the heavens. (In some sects of Buddhism, Shura are one of the "levels" of reincarnation like the Gaki--they're either one above or one below humans, I forget which) Warriors from Japanese military society were often thought to be possesed by (or turning into) Shura when they fought especially fiercely. KAGUTSUCHI: ----------- Kagutsuchi is the extraordinarily short-lived Japanese god of fire. According to Japanese legend, he was the son of Izanami and Izanagi, actually born of Izanami's womb. (whereas other gods were born from eye washing, etc.) Being the god of fire, Kagutsuchi burned his mother to death when exiting the birth canal, and in his rage, Izanagi immediately drew his sword and chopped the hapless god to pieces. Each of his pieces and gave birth to new gods, and his blood turned into Futsu-nushi, the god of swords, when it dripped off of Izanagi's sword onto the ground--ergo Kagutsuchi was often revered by swordsmiths. LUVAH: ------ Urizen is the name of one of the four Zoa described in Blake's poem. (see "Albion's Bunrei" above) Luvah represents the heart, love, and desire. Blake also described a twisted demonic form of Luvah that created perversion. MUSUBI: ------- "Musubi" is a concept that is damn hard to explain. The idea of the Musubi Kotowari from within the game actually does a pretty good job of it. A "Musubi" is kind of like a "whole from the sum of individual parts" as opposed to a "whole from the sum of groups of parts." NOAH: ----- Noah is a hero from Hebrew mythology, the central character who takes Utnapishtim's place in the Hebrew version of the Babylonian Flood Myth. As the myth goes, Noah gets an advance warning of an impending flood that will destroy the world, and so builds a giant boat to house all varieties of life so that life will go on after the waters receded. This Noah's Ark myth is fairly well known in the West so I don't think there is much reason to go into great detail. (Though if you didn't know of its connection to the Utnapishtim Flood Myth, you should probably check that out, as it's pretty interesting stuff) SHIJIMA: -------- "Shijima" is really old Japanese, a.k.a. the type of Japanese you'd hear in Genji Monogatari. It means to "return to silence without making a sound." THARMAS: -------- Tharmas is the name of one of the four Zoa described in Blake's poem. (see "Albion's Bunrei" above) Tharmas represents the body and the physical aspect of humanity--laboring, eating, reproducing--stuff that bodies do. URIZEN: ------- Urizen is the name of one of the four Zoa described in Blake's poem. (see "Albion's Bunrei" above) Urizen represents the mind, logic, and reason, The name is, probably not coincidentally, pronounced "you're reason." URTHONA: -------- Urthona is the name of one of the four Zoa described in Blake's poem. (see "Albion's Bunrei" above) Urthona represents the spiritual aspect of humanity-- representing imagination, faith, etc. Urthona was given the highest importance of the four Zoa, and was in charge of Albion until Urizen took over and caused his Fall. YAHIRO-NO-HIMOROGI ------------------ A Himorogi is the simplest form of Shinto shrine. As Shinto holds that kami (spirits/gods) exist in all sorts of natural phenomena, a Himorogi is essentially a rock, tree, hill, etc thought to contain a kami that is specially purified and usually adorned with special paper. "Yahiro" is uncommon Japanese that means "Exceptionally long or wide." So "Yahiro-no-Himorogi" means "A Himorogi of exceptional size." Kind of an oxymoron, since Himorogi are by nature small and simple. YOSUGA: ------- "Yosuga" is a term you don't hear often in normal Japanese, but it means "a means" in the sense of "a means to achieve an end." ################################################################################ BIBLIOGRAPHY & RECOMMENDED READING ################################################################################ Yeah, I know...pretty weird to have a bibliography in a game walkthrough, but I consulted enough books to get the correct spelling of demon/magatama/etc. names and background information that this FAQ pretty much warrants putting one in. The books I used are also quite useful for anyone interested in mythology or the like. BIBLIOGRAPHY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conway, Moncure Daniel. _Demonology and Devil-Lore_. London : Chatto, 1879 Coomaraswamy, Ananda. _Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists_. New York: Dover Publications, 1967 Crossley-Holland. _The Norse Myths_. New York: Random House, Inc. 1980. _Kojiki_. published 1966 Kondo, Yoshihiro, ed. _Nihon no oni: Nihon bunka tankyu no shikaku_. Tokyo : Ofusha, 1913, 1967 Lurker, Manfred. _Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons_. London : Rouyledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1987 Mack, Carol K and Dinah. _A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits_. New York, NY : Henry Holt and Co, 1998 Mackillop, James. _Dictionary of Celtic Mythology_. New York : Oxford University Press, 2000 Piggott, Juliet. _Japanese Mythology_. London: Chancellor Press, 1982, 1997. Turner, Patricia and Coulter, Charles Russell. _Dictionary of Ancient Deities_. New York : Oxford University Press, 2000 Werner, Edward T. C. _Myths and Legends of China_. New York: Dover Publications, 1922, 1994 RECOMMENDED READING -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is just a list of some books you might want to read to learn the stories of the ancient mythology behind many of the characters you'll meet in Shin Megami Tensei. Rather than focus on analytical and scholarly reviews of mythology (fascinating in their own right) I've decided to focus primarily on books where you can read the stories themselves, and also focus on the mythos that are most widely used in the Megaten games. There's plenty of great stuff on other mythos than those listed here, but here are just some of the big ones. GENERAL-PURPOSE MYTHOLOGY: Big dictionaries like the _Dictionary of Ancient Deities_ are great for cursory info. Check their bibliographies for more ideas. If you want the actual stories, there are a huge assortment to choose from. Dover paperbacks has a great series of mythology books, titled "Myths of the " that have the basic narratives retold in easy-to-read story format. Their Egyptian selection is especially great. Note that several of these collections are rather old (turn of the 20th century) and suffer from...somewhat of a "cultural arrogance" bias on the part of the writers, so be forewarned. (E.g. if you read the introduction of the "Myths and Legends of China" the author's broad stereotyping of and subtle condescension toward the Chinese might piss you off) BABYLONIAN MYTHOLOGY: _Enuma Elish_, the Babylonian Creation myth, is a good place to start. _The Epic of Gilgamesh_ is one great story about one of the most famous heroes of Sumerian and Babylonian mythology. Another good compilation I have is _Myths of Mesopotamia._ Care must be taken when reading up on this pantheon as due to heavy borrowing between cultures, there is a ton of overlap between pantheons-- the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Caananite/Ugaritic pantheons are separate, though they share quite a few deities. It's easy to get confused if you're not careful. CELTIC MYTHOLOGY: The _Mabinogion_ is a great source of Celtic mythology--it is a collection of 12 Welsh Celtic tales, and are quite good reads. The _Dictionary of Celtic Mythology_ is a great reference for it as well. Look for books on Irish folktales too--lots of good material to be found there as well. CHINESE MYTHOLOGY: Due to the fragmented nature of the tradition (mostly oral, folklore handed down from generation to generation) it's really difficult to find one single great source of Chinese mythology. The only single famous work that I can think of off the top of my head is _Xiyouji_ or as it's often known, _The Journey to the West_. Otherwise your general-purpose folklore compilations are your best bet. EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY: _The Book of the Dead_ is an absolute must-read. The Dover paperback series also has a bunch of other heiroglyphic texts worth reading. Because there is simply so much material available, Egyptian mythology is not too hard to find good books on. GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY: Finding stuff on Greek mythology is not difficult at all, as it's easily one of the most widely studied mythos out there. Obviously, _Bulfinch's Mythology_ will be an indispensible aid. The _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ are great reads that every mythology lover should take a look at. HEBREW/CHRISTIAN MYTHOLOGY: The Christian Bible is good for Christian stuff from the 4th century onward, but becomes less and less reliable as to Hebrew and Christian beliefs the further you go back from that point. The books that were left out of the Bible--the Apocrypha--are far more valuable in my opinion as they suffer from far less Church tampering. _The Other Bible_ is a good compilation of left-out books, but there's some editorial bias and some of the real key books were not included. Must-read Hebrew sources include the Talmud and the Kabbalah. A word to the wise for studiers of this mythos though--Western cultural/religious bias still plagues this field like a cancer, so finding a truly objective book in English on it is very difficult. A lot of the "scholarly works" on the subject you'll want to take with a pillar of salt. INDIAN MYTHOLOGY: The great epics of the _Mahabharata_ and _Ramayana_ should be on the shelf of every mythology fan. The Puranas and the Vedas are great too. Since Hinduism is one of the, if not THE oldest surviving religion in the world, the amount of material preserved and available from this mythos is simply staggering. You should have no problem whatsoever finding reading material here. :) JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY: The _Kojiki_ is the first and foremost work you are going to want to read when it comes to Japanese mythology. The _Nihon Shoki_ and _Manyoshu_ have good mythological content too, but less so than the _Kojiki_. Traditional Japanese theater is also a treasure-trove of mythological content--lots of No and Kabuki plays have themes connected with the mythology of the Japanese. NORSE MYTHOLOGY: The _Edda_ is where a huge amount of our knowledge of Norse myth stems from, so obviously that is a great place to start. Keep in mind that there are TWO Edda; a "prose" Edda and a "poetry" Edda. Get both. I like the Prose version better but they're both pretty good. ################################################################################ THANKS ################################################################################ Atlus, obviously, for making a true-blue SMT game instead of yet another Devil Summoner/Persona game. :) Majin Alice, who sent me obscene amounts of data that I would never have found otherwise, including info on the "power-up" system of Skill Changing and info on Skill Inheritance. Arl, SMT3 hacker extraordinare, for sending me the individual values of Kotowari point changes. I haven't the foggiest how he got this info, but I'm not complaining. :) The guys and gals at the Mega-ten.net chat tables for providing lots of little tips and otherwise interesting conversation. All the people on the various SMTIII web-boards I visited for their helpful input and tidbits of information. The guys on the Dream Island Maniacs board: (http://fc2bbs.com/bbs?uid=59154) for oodles of info on Maniacs. ################################################################################ COPYRIGHT NOTICE ################################################################################ (Cause you can't be too safe. More FAQ writers have been ripped off by people trying to make a quick buck than I like to think about) This Document is Copyright 2003 by Ian Kelley. All Rights Reserved. It is protected by US and International Copyright Law. It is for private and personal use only, and cannot be reprinted in or reproduced in part or in entirety without the express written consent of the author. This document is intended to be free and may not be used for any sort of commercial venture, be that selling it, giving it away as a promotion, or making otherwise making available for profit. It may not be used or distributed by any website, organization, or individual, nor may it be used as a refererence or altered by anyone (such as strategy guide authors/publishers or magazine staff) without express permission of the author. Megami Tensei is a Copyright of Atlus.