STAR OCEAN: TILL THE END OF TIME
ITEM CREATION FAQ
   (v1.1, 9-06-04)
by Edward Chang (chang dot 459 at osu dot edu)

Revision History
v1.1 (9-6-04)
   Minor changes in formatting.

v1.0 (9-2-04)
   First version.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Creators
3. Specialties
   --Cooking
   --Alchemy
   --Craft
   --Compounding
   --Blacksmith
   --Writing
   --Machinery
4. Refining and Ultimate Weapons
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Credits


1. INTRODUCTION

This is an FAQ for the PS2 RPG, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Director's
Cut. The US release will be the Director's Cut version, so this is the
correct FAQ to consult if you're playing the US version. The Japanese
version is the only version I own, however, and so spellings and names
remain those of the Japanese version. For information on J-to-E name changes,
check out Ammo's excellent guide on this on GameFAQs.

This FAQ deals with Item Creation, a fundamental part of the game, which
should be familiar to those who have played previous Star Ocean games.

Item Creation is the way to create some of the most powerful items in the
game. Thus, you'll want to dedicate yourself to the process starting early
and building up over the course of the game.
You can start Item Creation when you first arrive in Peterny and talk to
Welch Vineyard in the Creator's Guild. Once you get the Telegraph,
you'll start receiving updates from Welch and the guild about the progress
of Item Creation.

There are eight types of Item Creation. Each different specialty is 
capable of creating different kinds of items. The eight specialties are:

Cooking; create food items
Alchemy; creates jewels and other miscellaneous magic items
Craft; creates jewelry and accessories
Compounding; creates used items and medicines
Blacksmith; creates weapons and armor
Writing; creates books
Machinery; creates guns and bombs
Synthesis; fuses an item to a weapon to transfer attributes

To do Item Creation, you'll have to use a factory. Most cities have
factories, but Alias and Sir Felious do not. Cirlsour has two. There are
two ways to do Item Creation: doing it yourself, or assigning Creators
to do it.

Self Item Creation
To do it yourself, go to any factory and approach a bench. On the Item
Creation screen, you'll have three choices; Creation Performance, Expand 
Factory Attributes, and Transfer of Creators. Under Expand Factory
Attributes, you'll be able to expand that factory's abilities in exchange
for money. In order to do a specialty at a factory, that factory has to
be equipped for the specialty in question. Each factory comes preequipped
to do a few specialties; if that factory isn't equipped for that specialty,
you'll have to spend some money and "buy" that specialty. You can see
what specialties your factory is equipped for in the lower left of the
screen. Highlighted ones are already equipped.
Here you can also add Lines to your factory. Most factories start with
either 0 or 1 line. You need at least 1 line to do Item Creation;
however you can have as many as three. I don't find multiple lines
terribly useful, as all it does is save time and in many cases it might
waste money.
To do Item Creation yourself, pick Creation Performance. This will take
you to the Creation screen itself. Now choose up to three people to
put onto a line. You'll want to pick people who have a high talent for
whatever you want to make. Pressing triangle will bring up a chart of
each character's abilities - the higher the better. Keep in mind, though,
that certain items can only be created if a certain Creator is part of the
line. Put them into a line, and in the next blank under "Type" pick the 
actual specialty you want to do. Then under "Plan" you can pick one of two 
choices. "Original Creation" (創作オリジナル) will have your characters 
attempt to create an item from scratch. "Specify Plan" (レシピ指定) 
will have you choose an item that you will try to refine (i.e., improve its 
attributes).
Once you choose a Type and a Plan, a cost will come up. The cost determines
the item that you will come up with, so if you get an item that you like
remember the cost that produced that item. If you want to change the cost,
simply repick "Original Creation" and the cost will change. Refining factors
have set costs and will not change much. 
Now press the square button to start creation. This will bring up two bars, 
Quality, and Time. Quality starts out full and slowly goes down. As time goes 
by, the Time Bar will fill up. Once the time bar reaches max, your selected 
characters will display an emotion (either happy or frustrated), and the time 
bar will  drop to zero. If your characters' faces were happy, that means you 
succeeded in creating or refining an item. If your characters look frustrated, 
they failed to create anything. You can continue to let time go by to have 
your characters create multiple copies of an item, or you can stop the item 
creation by pressing X. This will show you what item you ended up creating.
The chance of success is dependent on the rating of the item, the talent
level of your creators, and the Quality bar (thus the chance of success
goes down as time goes on). In general, the sum total of your line's talent
should exceed the rating of the item by a fair amount if you want to
succeed. Having specialty-specific items in your inventory can add another
20 to this talent total. The items and their specialties are:

Cooking: All-purpose Knife (万能包丁), bought in Gemity
Alchemy: Alchemy Stone (練金石), Mosel Sand Hills
Craft: Angel Bust (天使の胸像), Palmira Plains
Compounding: Multi Flask (マルチフラスコ), Alias
Blacksmith: Smithy Hammer (スミッティハンマー), Flood's House in Recorder
Writing: Magical Pen (マジカルペン), Shrine of Canan (needs Vanish Ring)
Machinery: NC Program Disk (NC プログラムディスク), Moonbase
Synthesis: None (Synthesis never fails)

If you pick Recipe Designate, you will be prompted to choose an item in
your inventory. This item will be the one that you attempt to improve. The
Quality and Time bars still apply as above. However, an added requirement
for Recipe Designate is that you need an associated Materials item for that
Specialty. Thus, if you want to improve a piece of armor, you'll need
"Blacksmith Materials", which will be consumed in the process; to improve
a food item, you'll need "Cooking Materials". Keep in mind that success
rate for refining is NOT dependent on the talent level of your creators
in any way - in fact the success rate for any given turnaround time is
approximately 30%. Thus, when refining, it's smartest to add creators
that have factors that reduce time and/or cost - Maria has Cost -10%
and Sophia and Mirage both have Cost -5%, so you should be able to save
at least 20% off any refining process.

NPC Item Creation
You can also have specialized NPCs, known as Creators, create items for you.
Provided they are in the factory you are currently in (you can move them
around by choosing "Transfer of Creators"), you can pick them in lieu of
one of your characters in the method above. Creators, unlike your characters,
only have talents in one specialty, but in many cases they have values much
higher than your characters do. Creators usually also have associated Cost
and Time modifiers (given as + or - a certain percent); this affects the
Cost and Time it takes to create an item, obviously. 
They can also be assigned to create items automatically while you go out and 
explore. To do either, you must first recruit the Creator. This will usually 
require you giving them either money or some sort of contract item. Once 
recruited, you must send the Creator to one of the factories. (Remember 
to send them to a factory that is equipped for whatever specialty they 
are!) Once there, they will automatically start creating items for you, and 
you'll receive an alert by Telegraph whenever they do.
On the Telegraph menu (via the main menu screen), you can choose from Newest 
Info (最新情報), Accept Ratings (特?申請), View Information (情報参照), 
Change Orders (命令変更), and Alert (アラート). Under Newest Info, you 
can check on the latest inventions (アイテム), the latest items sold in
the shops (ショップ), and newly announced Creators (クリエイター).
Under Accept Ratings, you can patent any item that you've created and/or
found. Select the item from the list then wait for the rating to come
up. The higher the rating, the better public approval it has.
View Information gives you a summary of all the info on Creation so far.
Creator Information (クリエイター情報) gives you a list of the creators
and if they're working for you (red) or not (blue). It also shows if
they're currently working (実行中) or on standby (待機). Invention List
(発-ｾ品リスト) gives a list of all items invented so far and who created
them. Shop Information (ショップ情報) shows you what stores are selling
what across the continent. The fourth option gives you a map of the
continent and the location of the factories, and the last option gives
a ranking of all the creators.
Back on the main menu, Order Change (命令変更) lets you change the
orders for any of your creators. You can tell them to work (the default)
or to standby... there's really no benefit for standby, so you can
probably just never touch this option. Finally, Alert (アラート) lets
you choose when to be notified - if somebody not under contract patents an 
item (License), if some item is now on sale (On Sale), if one of your 
creators invented something (Invent), and if a new Creator is announced 
(Entry).

Synthesis
Synthesis works a little differently from the other specialites. First,
no Creator specializes in Synthesis, so only your characters will be able
to do so. Synthesis also requires a "Synthesis Materials", and there is
no option to choose Original or Recipe Plan. Once you choose Synthesis,
you'll be prompted to pick a weapon that you want to improve. Then you'll
be prompted to pick an item to fuse to that weapon, in general an item
that possesses the properties that you want that weapon to have. (For
instance, fusing an item that raises your ATK by 30% has a good chance of
giving the weapon the "ATK +30%" attribute).

Benefits of Item Creation
Item Creation can help your party in many ways. First, of course, you'll
have new items to play around with - item creation is the only way to get
many powerful and/or rare items, certainly much better than what you can
get in stores. Second, when you create an item, and then patent it, limited
copies of that item will go on sale in stores throughout Elicoor, so you
will be able to buy it instead of struggling to find its base cost to 
create it. Third, any item you or one of your contracted creators creates
and patents can be bought by you in stores for only 1/5th of its regular
price. Finally, every thirty minutes or so spent in the field (not in
battle, and not in towns), you will receive some amount of money based
on the combined rankings of you and your contracted creators.


2. CREATORS

Your player characters have skills in all specialties, and do not need to
be recruited.
Creators must be announced by Welch before they can be recruited. Most
creators simply require Fol before they enter into a contract with you;
however, some creators require specific items. 

(Player Characters)
Fate (No Modifiers)
Cooking 16                Blacksmith 29
Alchemy 14                Writing 34
Craft 20                  Machinery 25
Compounding 30            Synthesis 12

Cliff (Time +5%)
Cooking 9                 Blacksmith 31
Alchemy 5                 Writing 7
Craft 2                   Machinery 36
Compounding 10            Synthesis 14

Nel (Time -5%)
Cooking 30                Blacksmith 25
Alchemy 20                Writing 14
Craft 15                  Machinery 5
Compounding 10            Synthesis 10

Roger (Time +5%)
Cooking 2                 Blacksmith 23
Alchemy 6                 Writing 4
Craft 35                  Machinery 20
Compounding 6             Synthesis 10

Maria (Cost -10%)
Cooking 19                Blacksmith 4
Alchemy 22                Writing 22
Craft 10                  Machinery 20
Compounding 25            Synthesis 15

Arbel (Cost +5%)
Cooking 16                Blacksmith 30
Alchemy 15                Writing 4
Craft 12                  Machinery 16
Compounding 16            Synthesis 15

Sophia (Cost -5%)
Cooking 43                Blacksmith 6
Alchemy 36                Writing 15
Craft 33                  Machinery 3
Compounding 15            Synthesis 25

Souffle (Time -10%, Cost +10%)
Cooking 6                 Blacksmith 5
Alchemy 12                Writing 6
Craft 40                  Machinery 15
Compounding 11            Synthesis 20

Adlai (Time -25%, Cost +30%)
Cooking 20                Blacksmith 27
Alchemy 4                 Writing 11
Craft 3                   Machinery 7
Compounding 5             Synthesis 15

Mirage (Time -5%, Cost -5%)
Cooking 26                Blacksmith 17
Alchemy 18                Writing 16
Craft 30                  Machinery 31
Compounding 27            Synthesis 22

(Initial Group)
Damda Muda (Cooking 6) (Costs +10%) He's in the western block
           of Aquios. He'll need the 酔迎 liquor dropped by the thief
           enemies in the Duggus Forest.
Milenia (Compounding 19) (Costs -20%) She's in the chapel in
        Alias. All she needs is 3800 Fol.
Mayu (Cooking 20) (Costs -30%) She's in the kitchen on the third floor
     of the Kirsla Ruins (she's the one who gave you the key). You'll
     need to give her the "Soothing Kitty" (-?ｵネコ), which can be created
     by Craft (use Fayt, Nel, and Star Anise, cost 181-205)
(Upon entering Aquios)
Eliza (Alchemy 4) (Time -30%) She's wandering around the eastern
      district in Aquios. All she needs is 10000 Fol.
Gratz (Blacksmith 25) He's in the factory on the outside of the
      Becquerel Mines. He needs 13500 Fol.
Star Anise (Craft 20) (Time -30%, Costs -20%) She's inside
           the "Inn" in Surferio. She needs the Limited Dolphin
           (限定ドルフィン), which is in a treasure chest in the
           Duggus Forest.
(After returning to Alias after the Becquerel Mines)
Gossam (Compounding 9) (Costs +20%) He's in the northern part of
       Peterny. You'll need to give him the Fake Youth Medicine
       (若返りの-?ニセモノ)), which can be created by Compounding
       (Cost 5).
Macwell (Alchemy 31) (Time +40%) He's in the eastern library
        of Aquios Castle. He needs the Prophecy Book 1 (-\言書1) in a 
        treasure chest in the Shrine of Kaddan.
Rigel (Cooking 47) (Time +40%) She's in the food store of
      Kirsla. Give her the Golden Curry (ゴールデンカレー) which
     you can create through Cooking (Fayt, Nel, Mayu, cost 41-47).
(After returning from the Shrine of Kaddan)
Misty Lear (Alchemy 50) She's wandering around the Bar
           Mountain factory. You can recruit her by giving her the
           Soul Gem (魂宝玉) which itself is in the Bar Ruins.
Raias (Blacksmith 36) (Costs +20%) He's in the bar in Airyglyph.
      He needs 28000 Fol.
Invention King Dejison (Machinery 6) (Time -20%, Costs +40%)
             He's wandering around the streets of Airyglyph. To get him,
             give him the Ultimate Destruction Unit (超絶破壊ユニット),
             which can be created by Machinery (Fayt, Cliff, Maria, cost 166).
(After reaching Airyglyph coming from Ancient Ruins of Mosel)
The Killer Chef (Cooking 75) (Time -30%) He's wandering around
             Surferio. Give him the All-Purpose Knife (-恃\包丁), which
             can be bought in Gemity.
Cornelius (Writing 15) (Time -40%) He's in the weapon store
          in Airyglyph. Give him the Sunrise Dictionary (サンライズ辞書)
          found in the Moonbase.
Barbatos (Craft 37) (Time -40%, Costs +50%) He's in the shade
         of one of the mountains in the Mosel Sandhills. Give him the
         Orc Jewelry (オークジュエリー) which is in the portion of the
         Kirsla Caves with the Hauler (take a left turn then a right
         turn, then stop; you'll need the Vanish Ring).
(After defeating Crosel)
Michel (Writing 35) (Costs +10%) He's wandering around the main
       avenue of Aquios. Give him 85000 Fol.
Gusto (Blacksmith 60) (Time -20%) He's in the south section of 
      Peterny. Give him 60000 Fol.
Vanilla (Machinery 32) (Costs +30%) You'll have already met him 
        (her?) in the Urza Lava Cave. Go back there and hand over 30000 Fol. 
(Entering the Eternal Sphere)
Anthler (Alchemy 99) (Time -20%) He's in one of the rooms on
        the first floor of Aquios Castle. He'll need the Philosopher's
        Stone (賢者の石), created by Alchemy (Misty, Eliza, Sophia, cost 11-
        12).
Puffy (Compounding 57) (Time -40%) She's on Floor 5 of the Cave of
      Trials. Give her the Experimental All-Purpose Antidote (-恃\
      解毒剤試作タイプ) that's found on Floor 2 of the Cave of Trials.
Aqua and Evia (Craft 49) (Costs +10%) They're in the
              Church in Peterny. All they need is 20000 Fol.
(Returning to Aquios after FD Space)
Meryl (Machinery 46) (Time +30%) She's in the east section of
      Peterny. She'll need the Doramera Tool Set (ドラメラ工具セット)
      which is in the Sphere Corporation.
Count Nopperin (Writing 44) (Costs +40%) He's on the
               second floor of Airyglyph Castle. Recruit him with 150000
               Fol.
Boyd (Blacksmith 95) (Time +50%) He's in the store in Alias. He'll
     need the Broken Magic Sword (折れた-ｌ?, which can be bought for
     100 Bunny Race Points in Gemity.
(Returning from the Shrine of Kaddan for the second time)
Chiriko (Craft 60) (Time +60%, Costs -10%) In the item shop at
        Surferio. She needs 82000 Fol. 
Sage Oseman (Writing 73) (Time +40%) He's in the church in
            Airyglyph. Give him the Skeptic in the Paranormal Book 
            (専-?ﾂ奇懐疑書), which is created through Writing (Fayt,
            Michel, Cornelius, cost 5670-6210).
Fortuneteller Ruid (Compounding 98) (Time +30%) She's in one
              of the homes in Surferio. Just give her 90000 Fol.
(Extra)
Isaac (Machinery 65) (Costs -50%) Isaac is never announced.
      Instead you can recruit him at any time after fulfilling certain
      conditions. First, you need Meryl, Vanilla, and Dejison all
      under contract. Then, you need two items, the Blueprints
      (設計図) given to you by Lumina after the Ladel/Lumina sidequest
      (see sidequests section), and the AI Program (AIプログラム)
      given to you by one of Brea's coworkers in the Sphere Corporation.
      After having all this approach the broken down robot in the 
      western part of Surferio, and you'll get Isaac.


3. SPECIALTIES

In this section I will list the most important items that can be created
with each specialty, along with guidelines on how to create that item.
Most items can only be created by a limited number of characters. For
instance, the item "Philosopher's Stone" can only be created by Eliza
or Souffle. That means that in order to create it, Eliza and/or Souffle
MUST be part of your line. You can add extra creators to improve your
chances, but that's not required.
Each entry will also have listed a "base cost". This will help you
estimate a baseline for what to shoot for when you choose "Original
Creation". In order to determine the number to shoot for on the Creation
screen, take the Base Cost, then apply the Creator's cost modifiers.
Thus, in order to create the "Golden Curry", which has a base cost of
63, using a party of Mayu (Cost -30%), Maria (Cost -10%), and Sophia
(Cost -5%), you should shoot for a cost of:

63 x (100%-30%-10%-5%) = 32.975 ~ 36.3825

in other words, shoot for a cost of approximately 33 to 36 Fol.
The rating of an item represents the difficulty of creating it, from 1 to
100. The sum total of your line's talent should meet or exceed it; else
it will be impossible to create the item.

Now for the specialties.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COOKING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooking lets you create a variety of food items. I didn't find Cooking all
that useful; it allows you to create various restorative items, but all
foods can only be used in the field. Since you have a fair number of party
members able to cast restorative spells, food really isn't that necessary
and you can go through the entire game without creating a single item.

Golden Curry ゴールデンカレー
Base Cost: 63
Created By: Damda Muda, Mayu, Killer Chef, Fate, Sophia, Nel, Roger
Rating: 65
The Golden Curry heals 50 HP, but its real purpose is to give to the Creator
Rijeil in order to recruit her. If you attempt it with the first suggested
party, be prepared to save and reload numerous times, as they just barely
fulfill the Rating requirement.

Jumbo Gyoza (Potsticker) ジャンボーギョーザ
Base Cost: 280
Created By: Damda Muda, Cliff, Roger
Rating: 40
This item heals 70% of one character's HP and MP. But like all food items,
it can only be used in the field. Lovely!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALCHEMY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alchemy is MUCH more useful in the Director's Cut version as all of the gems
now have factors that can be synthesized to weapons, reminiscent of
Customization from Star Ocean: Second Story. If you use this specialty well,
you should be able to create some ridiculously powerful weapons early on,
and thus blaze through the latter half of the game (at least until you
reach the secret dungeons).

Philosopher's Stone 賢者の石
Base Cost: 12
Created By: Eliza, Souffle
Rating: 100
This item is necessary to recruit the best Alchemy creator, Anthler.

Brownie Stone ブラウニーストーン
Base Cost: 1050
Rating: 70
Created By: Misty Lia, Anthler, Fate, Souffle
This item can be synthesized to a weapon to increase its number of attack by
one. Alternatively, it can first be refined, and then synthesized to a weapon
for a whopping two extra attacks.

Damascus ダマスカス
Base Cost: 1450
Created By: Eliza, Macwell, Misty Lia, Fate, Maria, Sophia, Nel, Arbel,
Souffle
Rating: 60
This extremely precious metal adds the factor ATK +100(1) to your weapon
when synthesized, which further clones itself when refined. This means
that if you manage to create one, you can get an additional 800 ATK for
almost no effort! (Though not free... since it will cost you quite a bit
of Fol).

Shell Sapphire シェルサファイア
Base Cost: 2400
Created By: Anthler
Rating: 90
This adds the factor "Attack Effect: Freeze" to your weapons. Since enemies
that are frozen die upon being hit again, this is almost as good as instant
death!

Dark Crystal ダーククリスタル
Base Cost: 3700
Created By: Anthler
Rating: 95
This adds the factor INT +500(1) to your weapon, which can be refined into
an INT+1000. It can also add Attack Effect: Confuse if you let the synthesis
go on for a second round. This is an extremely useful factor for Sophia/
Adlai to have.

Orihalcon オリハルコン
Base Cost: 5700
Created By: Eliza, Macwell, Misty Lia, Fate, Cliff, Nel, Roger, Arbel,
Souffle
Rating: 98
This adds ATK +500(1) and Survive by Guts: 50% Chance, both extremely
useful factors for the late mid-game. It's extremely hard to create, though,
and chances are you won't be able to make it until you recruit Anthler
anyway. Still, you can get lucky with a party with Misty Lia in it, so
if you have the Alchemy Stone go ahead and save and reload until you can
make it.

Star Homunculus 星のホムンクルス
Base Cost: 10300
Created By: Macwell, Misty Lia, Anthler, Fate, Souffle
Rating: 80
Synthesizing this item to a weapon will cause beams of light to attack the
enemy when you are attacking or defending. You should first refine it to
remove the "Chance of Breaking 50%" that comes along with it, though. You
can also sell it for a lot of Fol - 100,000 approximately if it isn't
patented (only 20,000 if it is).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CRAFT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Craft's primary purpose is creating useful accessories for your party. Since
accessories have a number of unique effects, you'll be using this specialty
a lot. Sadly the most powerful accessories in the game are only creatable
by Chiriko, whom you cannot recruit until very late in the game.

Mental Ring メンタルリング
Base Cost: 220
Created By: Chiriko
Rating: 80
This accessory lets the wearer regenerate 3% of their max MP at intervals
during a battle. Refinement increases this to 6%. Very useful for Sophia
and Adlai.

Soothing Kitty 癒しネコ
Base Cost: 241
Created By: Star Anise, Fate, Cliff, Nel, Roger
Rating: 2
This item is required to make a contract with the Cooking creator, Mayu.

Blue Talisman ブルータリスマン
Base Cost: 260
Created By: Barbatos, Aqua & Evia, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 20
This item has a 10% chance of reducing HP damage to 0. If refined, this
chance increases up to 30%. This effect can also be synthesized to a
weapon.

Red Talisman レッドタリスマン
Base Cost: 260
Created By: Barbatos, Aqua & Evia, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 20
Similar to the Blue Talisman, this has a 10% chance of reducing MP damage
to 0. Refining raises the chances up to 30%. Again, this effect can be 
synthesized to a weapon.

Magic Bangle マジックバングル
Base Cost: 300
Created By: Aqua & Evia, Chiriko, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 20
Important for Sophia, this raises INT by 10% as well as boosting other
INT increases by 10%. Both of these effects can be enhanced to 30% through
refinement.

Learning Ring ラーニングリング
Base Cost: 640
Created By: Barbatos, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 70
This item increases the EXP gained after each battle by 10%. Further
refinement increases this to 20%. Thus, if you have five of these refined
and synthesize them to a weapon, it's entirely possible to double the
amount of EXP gained every battle.

Holy Symbol ホーリーシンボル
Base Cost: 1370
Created By: Chiriko
Rating: 98
This item lets you absorb fire and water attacks to heal your HP and MP.
By refining, you can add on the ability to absorb earth and air attacks
as well. However, this also comes with a 10% chance of breaking.
Refinement can reduce this to 1%, but it won't go any lower than that.

Battle Boots バトルブーツ
Base Cost: 2480
Created By: Chiriko
Rating: 99
One of the best accessories in the game. This increases ATK and DEF by 5%,
however, refinement can increase this to 30%. This effect can be 
synthesized to a weapon, and indeed the most powerful items in the game
will have multiple ATK/DEF+30%'s synthesized to them.

Star Necklace スターネクラス
Base Cost: 4100
Created By: Chiriko
Rating: 80
This useful accessory cuts casting time in half. It's especially recommended
for your dedicated spellcasters, Sophia and Adlai.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMPOUNDING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Compounding creates a variety of potions and pills for use by the party. You
can create some good items with this specialty that go above and beyond the
regular Blueberries and Blackberries you'll find, so it's worth it to invest
a little time in this specialty.

Youth Medicine (Fake) 若返り薬(ニセモノ)
Base Cost: 5
Created By: Puffy, Cliff, Roger, Arbel, Souffle
Rating: 65
This item is required to recruit the Compounding Creator, Gossam.

Mixed Syrup ミックスシロップ
Base Cost: 20
Created By: Milennia, Fortuneteller Ruid, Cliff, Sophia, Nel, Roger, Arbel
Rating: 40
This heals a character's HP and MP by 30% each, but even better, it can
be refined to 50%, 70%, 90%, or even 100% healing. It's also relatively
cheap and relatively easy to create, making this a must-have item.

Aphrodisiac Nanarin X 惚れ薬ナナリンX
Base Cost: 26
Created By: Gossam, Fate, Souffle
Rating: 1
This cures a party member 20 HP, but has the unique effect of reducing
everybody's feelings towards that character by 1 point. This can be used to
manipulate the endings of the game in order to get new endings (simply
by feeding whoever Fate is paired with a bunch of this medicine, and then
finishing the game again). There are two other Aphrodisiacs with base
costs 56 and 86 that do exactly the same thing.

Heroic Glass ヒロイックグラス
Base Cost: 110
Created By: Millenia, Fortuneteller Ruid, Cliff, Sophia, Nel, Roger, Arbel,
Adlai, Mirage
Rating: 80
This item lets the user use Battle Skills without consuming any HP at all
for 30 seconds. Further refinement increases this time to 60 and even 120
seconds! Insanely useful if you use lots of strong Battle Skills.

Ressurect Mist リザレクトミスト
Base Cost: 210
Created By: Fortuneteller Ruid, Cliff, Maria, Sophia, Nel, Arbel
Rating: 10
This raises all party members from the dead, healing their HP/MP up to 30%.
This can be further refined to improve the amount of healing. Like the
Mixed Syrup, this is relatively easy to create, so you should try to have
as many of these on hand as possible.

Fresh Bottle フレッシュボトル
Base Cost: 310
Created By: Milennia, Fate, Sophia, Nel, Roger
Rating: 90
This useful item heals one character for 100% of their HP. It's pretty hard
to create, though.

Super Stun Bomb Type RMP-1 超スタンボムRMP1型
Base Cost: 731
Created By: Puffy
Rating: 40
This extremely powerful bomb reduces an enemies DEF by 30%, does 8000 MP
damage, and dizzies the opponent. Another bomb with the same cost does
HP damage instead.

Cinderella Beads シンデレラビーズ
Base Cost: 1001
Created By: Everybody
Rating: 90
Using this lets you get a 10% discount in stores. Refine it to get up to
a 30% discount.

Beauty Unit 美白ユニット
Base Cost: 1001
Created By: Puffy
Rating: 80
Same effect as the Cinderella Beads. Slightly easier to create.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BLACKSMITH
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The specialty that creates new weapons and armor, this is the most important
specialty in the game. If handled correctly, you can create vastly more
powerful equipment than is available in stores to buff up your characters;
you'll also be using plenty of Blacksmith late in the game to refine
weapons and armor.

Named Sword Vainslay 名剣ヴェインスレイ
Base Cost: 400
Created By: Gast, Boyd
Rating: 100
A good sword for Fate with an ATK of 900.

Heroic Helm ヒロイックヘルム
Base Cost: 400
Created By: Gast, Boyd
Rating: 100
A good helm for Roger with an ATK of 1200.

Mithril Guarder ミスリルガーダー
Base Coast: 450
Created By: Gast, Boyd
Rating: 100
A good weapon for Cliff and Mirage with an ATK of 1000.

Astral Armor アストラルアーマー
Base Cost: 4530
Created By: Gast, Fate, Cliff, Roger
Rating: 99
A good armor for Fate, Cliff, and Roger; it has a base DEF of 140 with
an additional factor of DEF +20 (which can be increased through refinement),
as well as immunity to petrification and frozen status, and it has a 30%
chance of nullifying any mage's physical attacks.

Corpseless Iron Claw 無骸鉄爪
Base Cost: 6200
Created By: Gast, Boyd
Rating: 100
A good weapon for Arbel with an ATK of 900.

Elemental Force エレメンタルフォース
Base Cost: 6720
Created By: Gast, Maria, Nel, Arbel
Rating: 95
A good armor for Maria, Nel, Mirage and Arbel; it has a base DEF of 115 with 
an additional factor of DEF +5 (which can be increased through refinement), 
as well as halving all elemental damage.

Ice Coffin アイスコフィン
Base Cost: 6800
Created By: Gast, Boyd
Rating: 100
A good weapon for Nel with a base ATK of 880.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WRITING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writing is of middle importance, the most important of which is to write
books that allow you to learn various skills. The unfortunate thing is that
all of these books have exactly the same base cost, and so to create exactly
the book you want will take more than a few tries.

Skill Book "Double Up" スキルブック『ダブルアップ』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Sage Oseman, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 90
Teaches a character the battle skill "Double Up", which increases HP and MP
damage by 30%.

Skill Book "Quick Charge" スキルブック『クイックチャージ』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Sage Oseman, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 100
Teaches Sophia "Quick Charge", a support skill which reduces casting time by
50%.

Skill Book "Guts Extend" スキルブック『Gutsエクステンド』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Sage Oseman, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 99
Teaches a character the support skill "Guts Extend", which has a chance of
maxing out a character's Guts instantly.

Skill Book "Drain" スキルブック『ドレイン』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Cornelius, Count Nopperin, Cliff, Roger, Arbel
Rating: 60
Teaches a character the battle skill "Drain", which increases the amount of
Guts damage an attack does.

Skill Book "Get Item" スキルブック『ゲットアイテム』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Michel, Count Nopperin, Sage Oseman, Fate, Maria, Sophia
Rating: 60
Teaches a character the battle skill "Get Item", which can cause an enemy
to drop an item if hit.

Skill Book "Stamina Up" スキルブック『スタミナアップ』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Michel, Count Nopperin, Fate, Nel
Rating: 60
Teaches a character the battle skill "Stamina Up", which reduces Guts
consumption by 30%.

Skill Book "MP Extend" スキルブック『MPエクステンド』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Sage Oseman
Rating: 99
Teaches Sophia the support skill "MP Extend", which increases her Max MP
by 40%.

Skill Book "Lucky Star" スキルブック『ラッキースター』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Sage Oseman
Rating: 99
Teaches a character the support skill "Lucky Star", which may cause a star
to drop on to the battlefiend if hit. If the star is picked up, the Heat
Up Gauge is filled by 30%.

Skill Book "Training" スキルブック『修行』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Cornelius, Michel, Count Nopperin, Sage Oseman, Fate, Maria
Rating: 40
Teaches a character the tactical skill "Training", which increases EXP
by 40% but Guts Consumption by 300% if activated.

Skill Book "Balance Condition" スキルブック『バランスC』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Cornelius, Michel, Fate, Cliff, Nel, Roger, Arbel
Rating: 40
Teaches a character the tactical skill "Balance Condition", which can be
activated as either "Protect HP" or "Protect MP". Protect HP takes HP
damage, divides it by 7, and diverts it to MP instead; Protect MP takes
MP damage, multiplies it by 13, and diverts it to HP instead.

Skill Book "Cure Condition" スキルブック『キュアC』
Base Cost: 1500
Created By: Cornelius, Michel, Fate, Cliff, Nel, Roger, Arbel
Rating: 40
Teaches a character the tactical skill "Cure Condition", which increases
resistance to status effects but reduces DEF by 20% if activated.

Skeptic in the Paranormal 専門猟奇懐疑書
Base Cost: 5400
Created By: Cornelius, Count Nopperin
Rating: 65
This item is required to recruit the Writing Creator, Sage Oseman.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MACHINERY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Machinery allows you to create various bombs as well as weapons for Maria.
As you can create various Stun Bombs as well as refine guns for Maria, this
specialty is second in importance only to Blacksmith.

Piyopiyo Bomb ピヨピヨボム
Base Cost: 35
Created By: Everybody except Sophia
Rating: 15
When used, this bomb automatically dizzies an opponent. Extremely useful
for interrupting an opponent's attacks.

Invincible Unit -ｳ敵ユニット
Base Cost: 61
Created By: Vanilla, Meryl
Rating: 70
When used, this will make one character totally invincible for 30 seconds;
however they cannot attack during this time period.

Ultimate Destruction Unit 超絶破壊ユニット
Base Cost: 180
Created By: Vanilla, Isaac, Fate, Cliff, Maria, Roger
Rating: 80
This item is required to recruit the Machinery Creator, Invention King
Dejison.

Magnetic Hybrid Bomber 電磁ハイブリッドボンバー
Base Cost: 431
Created By: Vanilla, Meryl, Isaac, Fate, Cliff, Maria, Roger
Rating: 80
This is an extremely powerful bomb that damages an opponent by 2500 HP and
MP as well as dizzies them. 

Miracle Heal Unit ミラクルヒールユニット
Base Cost: 801
Created By: Meryl, Isaac
Rating: 100
This is a powerful restorative item that restores all party members' HP
by 90% - the equivalent of those hard to find Magical Berries.

Particle Laser パーティクルイレイザー
Base Cost: 7440
Created By: Meryl, Isaac, Maria
Rating: 100
This is a good weapon for Maria, with a base ATK of 700.


4. REFINING AND ULTIMATE WEAPONS

Creating new items is only half of Item Creation. The other aspect of Item
Creation is using the "Recipe Designate" option in order to refine and/or
synthesize items. This allows you to, in some cases, improve or add factors
attached to any item.
In particular, Refining is used to remove the negative factors from the
"Ultimate Weapons" found in the Sphere 211 Secret Dungeon (see my FAQ/
Walkthrough for details). Some factors can be refined away; others can
only be mitigated. 
A combination of refining ultimate weapons and adding refined factors
through synthesis will generally make the most powerful weapons possible.
This section will list each character's ultimate weapon and its factors;
at the end it will list some recommended factors for addition to each weapon.

Fate - Demon Sword Levantine 魔剣レヴァンティン
Dropped by Super Brea (Floor 200)
Factors:
Chance of Breaking 30%
Enemy DEF x5
Enemy ATK +30%
Experience -90%
Movement Speed -30%
Battle Skill HP/MP Consumption x3
MP -1 every second
ATK +1000
Enemy ATK +30% can give you problems. If refined, it will either disappear, 
or transform into Enemy ATK +30% Fol x5. If transformed, it can be further
refined but this generally makes the enemies much stronger so be careful. 
If you want to remove the factors altogether make sure they
are removed on your first try. As with all Ultimate weapons, refining
can cause the ATK +1000 to duplicate itself.

Cliff and Mirage - Valor Gauntlet ヴァローガントレット
Dropped by Shadow Dragon (Floor 126) and Angered Azazel/Furious Beelzebub
(Floor 181)
Factors:
Poisons
Max HP -30%
Experience -50%
Chance of Breaking 5%
Defense 1/2
ATK +1000
The All Allies Speed -50% that plagued many a player in the original version
has been removed, making this weapon easily improved like all the rest. It's
a good thing too, as you'll be getting not one but two of these in the
Director's Cut, thanks to the fact that both Cliff and Mirage equip it.

Nel - Death Bringer デスブリンガー
Dropped by Revenge-Seeking Shelby (Floor 137)
Factors:
Enemies Attack More
Poisons
Guts Consumption x4
Chance of Breaking 20%
Chance of Breaking 20%
ATK +1000
All of Nel's negative factors can be easily refined away, making this one
of the better Ultimate Weapons.

Roger - Cross Helm クロスヘルム
Dropped by Monjara Green (Floor 159)
Factors: 
Max HP -30%
MP -1 every second
Enemy ATK +30%
Chance of Breaking 30%
Attack 1/2
ATK +1000
Like Fate, Enemy ATK +30% can either disappear or change to give more fol
if refined. All other factors disappear easily.

Maria - Dragoon Laser ドラグーンレイザー
Dropped by Archdemon (Floor 170)
Factors:
Enemy DEF x5
Enemy DEF x5
Enemy ATK +30%
Enemy ATK +30%
Experience -50%
ATK +1000
A really hard weapon to deal with. Again, like Fate and Roger, Enemy ATK +30% 
can disappear, or can change to something worse but with side benefits. It 
will take a lot of reloading if you want to clear this weapon of its negative 
attributes. If you can get two copies of this weapon from the Archdemon (via 
the Get Item skill), it's recommended that you refine one weapon normally, 
and purposefully refine the other one into the Enemy ATK +100%/Fol x10 
version. This way, you can potentially get 20 times the normal amount of Fol 
you would normally get in battle.

Arbel - Kirakuten Shell 喜楽天の邪爪
Dropped by Frenzied Biwig (Floor 147)
Factors: 
Chance of Breaking 20%
Chance of Breaking 20%
Chance of Breaking 20%
Chance of Breaking 20%
Chance of Breaking 20%
ATK +1000
A really easy weapon to get rid of all the factors. Just don't be tempted
to use it beforehand.

Souffle - Angelic Cape エンジェリックケープ
Dropped by Reckless Belial (Floor 192)
Factors:
Emits Light when Attacking
Emits Light when Defending
Two Extra Attacks per Hit
Unlike almost all of the others, this weapon has no negative factors. It also
has the highest base attack in the game (at 3200). The biggest "downside" is
that it has no ATK +1000, but with a base ATK so high, an ATK +30% will
add more than 1000 points to your ATK anyway, so you don't even need it.

Adlai - Tenken: Ama no Ohabari 天剣 天之尾羽張
Dropped by Enraged Crosel (Floor 115)
Factors:
Enemies Attack More
Poisons
Enemies Attack More
MP -1 Every Second
Enemies Attack More
ATK +1000
Adlai's ultimate weapon. INT is more important than ATK for Adlai, so you
might not even want to deal with this weapon; by using a 'lesser' weapon
with more free slots, you can power up Adlai's INT more.

Sophia - Jinki Ether Frozen 神器エーテルフローズン
Dropped by Freya (Urza Lava Cave)
Factors:
ATK +1000
Sophia's Ultimate weapon, the only factor it has is ATK +1000. Unlike other
characters, INT is more important for Sophia, so you should focus on INT.
Thus, rather than using this weapon, using the Adept Staff (purchasable
in Sealand) and then adding on INT +1000 and INT +30% factors onto that
will give youa  much better boost.

Recommended Factors for Weapons
ATK DEF +30%
This factor comes from a refined Battle Boots; putting 3 or 4 of these
on a weapon is usually a good idea and will help you get to 9999 ATK.

ATK +1000
This factor is automatically on most of the Ultimate weapons; however it can
also be added by synthesizing the Secret Battle Technique Book 闘技秘伝書 
which is the prize for the S Rank single battle in the Arena at Gemity. 
Keep in mind that mathematically, if your ATK is more than 3333, adding
an ATK DEF +30% will raise your ATK more than an ATK +1000. This means
that in the case of most of the Ultimate Weapons, rather than having the
ATK +1000 clone itself you should add ATK/DEF +30% instead.

HP Damage Reduced to 0, 30% Chance
This comes from a refined Blue Talisman.

MP Damage Reduced to 0, 30% Chance
This comes from a refined Red Talisman.

INT +30%
This comes from a refined Magic Bangle.

Three Extra Attacks
This comes from Lilith's Kin.

Attack Effect: Freeze
This comes from a Shell Sapphire.

Movement Speed +30%
This comes from Bunny Shoes.

Emits Light when Attacking
This comes from a Star Homunculus.


5. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q. I'm running out of Materials for Item Creation. Help!
A. Santa, on Floor 3 in the Cave of Trials (after taking the elevator),
can sell all of the Materials except for Synthesis to you. Synthesis
Materials can be gotten in numerous numerous chests throughout the
Sphere Corporation and the Cave of Trials. The magelike enemies in the
Urza Cave Temple also drop Synthesis Materials.

Q. How come all of the characters' "ultimate weapons" suck?
A. The characters' ultimate weapons, which you'll find in the Sphere
Corporation (past Floor 101), are the strongest weapons in the game.
However they have a plethora of negative effects, such as reduced
EXP or DEF, high chances of breaking, and so on. This is where Item
Creation comes in to save the day. Refining each weapon (under
Blacksmith, or in Maria's case Machinery) can erase most of the negative
effect, and each weapon also has ATK +1000 built in as a bonus, which
refining can duplicate. However, mathematically it is more efficient
to add ATK/DEF +30% instead of duplicating the ATK +1000 factor.

Q. How many Factors (in Item Creation) can an item have?
A. Eight.

Q. What does the number in parentheses after a Factor mean?
A. That is the number of possible outcomes of a factor if the item is
refined. A factor with no number means that that factor will not be
changed by refinement. A factor with (1) means that there is only
one possible outcome for refining. A factor with (2) means that there
are two possible outcomes, only one of which will actually happen.


6. CREDITS
Thanks go to:
tri-Ace and Enix for the best RPG I have ever played.

This FAQ Copyright 2003 to Edward Chang. Redistribution in any form,
including reprinting in electronic or print media, without express
permission of the author is strictly forbidden.