Star Ocean: The Second Evolution Claude Solo FAQ/Walkthrough Author: Star (Scott) Date: June 24, 2007 Last Updated: Jun 26, 2009 StarGundam2@hotmail.com Table of Contents for Claude Solo -What's this about? -Tips and Suggestions -Characters and Recruiting: -Save Often: - Items, Talents, and Specialty: - Unlocking Hidden Talents - Learning how to use Specialties and Item Creation - Necessary Items - Suggested Skills: - Levels 1-30 - Levels 31-60 - Levels 61-100 - Levels 100-255 - Killer Moves Suggested: - Expel Walkthrough - Welcome to Expel: - Krosse Castle: - Krosse Cave: - Port town of Clik: - Marze and the Symbology Forest: - Harley and Getting to Lacuer: - Continent of Lacuer: - Linga: - Lacuer tournament of Arms: - Sanctuary of Linga: - Hoffman Ruins: - Lacuer Frontline: - The Continent of Ell: - Eluria Tower: - Nede Walkthrough - Welcome to Nede - Centropolis - North City: - Cave of Crimson Crystals: - Things to do on your Psynard: - Field of Courage: - Field of Might: - Field of Wisdom: - Field of Love: - Minae Cavern: - Fun City: - Arm Lock: - Phynal Showdown: - Cave Of Trials - Level One - Level Two - Level Three - Level Four - Level Five - Level Six - Level Seven - Level Eight - Level Nine - Level Ten - Level Eleven - Level Twelve - Level Thirteen - Legal Stuff - Big Thanks ----------------------------- What's this about? ----------------------------- This guide is a walkthrough and a couple of tips for anyone wishing to beat Star Ocean the Second Evolution with using only Claude C. Kenni. Also, proving that you only need Claude, the hero of light, to win. First off, beating the game with only one character is almost an impossible feat, but I've done it and I'm willing to pass on my knowledge to how I accomplished this. Also I have added a Claude and Rena Solo for Cave of Trials. I'd like to give a big thanks to tri-Ace for creating such a great game. It's one of my first loves as well as Star Ocean 1, Star Ocean till the end of time, Radiata Stories, Star Ocean EX, and Star Ocean the Second Story. Thank you tri-Ace for the Star Ocean Series. This is an edit of my old Second Story Walkthrough for Claude solo. I have tried my best to add in all the changes. If I miss something and something feels confusing. I'm sorry. ---------------------------- Tips and Suggestions ---------------------------- Here's some tips and suggestions to make your Claude Solo game a much easier experience. Pay careful attention to everything I list, it will be crucial when you go try it for yourself. ------------------ Characters and Recruiting ------------------ First of all, your obviously only going to use Claude in this game. So pick Claude's Story, or otherwise you could end up using Rena and not doing a successful Claude Solo. I already know that Rena Lanford is an automatic character so you should shove her in the back of the party. I also suggest that you do not recruit anyone, for obvious reason your can only hold up to four characters, including Rena, on your reserves. If you recruit more than three, someone will end up in your battles. Also, don't recruit more than two because there are a lot of scenes where you are forced to travel with people like Celine, Leon, and Noel. In order for you to create a successful Claude solo, you must put all of your characters in your reserves. - How do I switch out my characters? Press triangle to bring up your status menu, go to combat, click on replacement, and put Rena in the last slot. The last slot is the bottom right corner. ------------------ Save often ------------------ I can't stress enough how important that is. If you've headed really far in the game, it's a good hint that you should go ahead and save. I save before and after every dungeon and long conversation with scenes. It can get very frustrating because with only one character, as soon as he's dead the game's over. ------------------ Items, Talents, and Specialty ------------------ Well another thing you might want to know is what items it would be best for Claude to acquire. This is will majorly affect your success in your solo game. Always save before using any customization, that way you can reload if you have failures. Check for talents by clicking status on Claude and pressing triangle in the status menu. ---------- Hidden Talents ----------- To acquire hidden talents you have to constantly use a certain item creation until the hidden talent unlocks. For example if you want to acquire 'Sense of Taste' you will need to constantly cook with that character until it unlocks. Unlocking skills will provide your character with a bonus 100 sp to play around with - Getting the Hidden Talent Nimble Fingers Its pretty simple, all you have to do is a bunch of metalworking until the talent unlocks. Basically you need a one in the skill level's of Eye For Detail, Mineralogy, and Aesthetics. Of course metals aren't cheap, so waste your money only one Silver and Iron ore. Only 200 fol a piece. - Getting the Hidden Talent Originality Originality is one of the Talents besides Nimble Fingers that will allow you to Make a successful Customization. Claude doesn't automatically recieve this, but you might already have it. If you use Customization or Eye For Detail you should unlock this eventually - Getting the Hidden Talent Taste Cooking. Have at least one skill point for Knife, Recipe and Keen Eye. And then just cook a bunch of eggs and dairy cause it's cheap until it unlocks - Getting the Hidden Talent Design Sense Do a lot of Art. Make sure you have at least one skill point for Sketching and Aesthetics. Then just use a bunch of magical clay until it unlocks. - Getting the Hidden Talent Composition Do a lot of Writing, Baiscally just have at least one skill point for Penmanship and then use a lot of fountian pens until it unlocks. - Getting the Hidden Talent Love of Animals First get Familiar by having at least one skill point for whistling and animal training. And it should unlock with the usage of a lot of pet food. - Getting the Hidden Talent Rythmic Sense and Listening First Get Music by having at least one skill point in performance and music Then create a song using up your feather pens. Once you have one keep trying to play with the conductor's baton. Eventually one or both will unlock. - Getting the Hidden Talent Animal Instinct and Blessing of Mana You can't get Blessing of Mana with Claude. However, I've been trying to get Animal Instinct and I haven't been successful yet. ----------- Learning how to use Specialties and Item Creation ----------- Item Creation a is must during Star Ocean games. Some are classified as Item Creation including skills like customize, cooking and compounding, and others are classified as specialties like pickpocketing, oracle, and practice. There are some that are classified as Super Specialty Skills that uses the skills of everyone to create good items, but during your Claude Solo, you won't be getting any of these. - Learning how to Customize First you have to increase all of your skill levels in Aesthetic Design, Metal Casting, and Eye For Detail. But in order to create successful Customizes you must have Nimble Fingers on Claude. - Learning how to Pickpocket All you have to do is build up your Courage and Poker face skills. In order to pickpocket you must either have the Bandit's Gloves or the Magician's Hand and press square near a NPC or party member (during Private Actions) Pickpocket is guaranteed to be successful if you have the talent of Nimble Fingers and a level 10 in pickpocketing. WARNING: If you're worried about your endings. Make sure you only pickpocket during Private Actions. Otherwise your relationship points drop if you do it while everyone is in your party. ------------ Necessary Items------------ Here's a list of all the necessary items in the game that you need to make your Claude solo successful. Missing out on some of these items could seriously hinder your chances at beating the game. When I played my Claude solo, I did something stupid and forgot to get the Deadly Edge, it's very easy to miss, and you can't go back in time to get it. Luckily I made it with the Windsley sword. Also, if you already have the Aeterna, getting the Windsley sword is pointless. I didn't add the Levantine in this guide because you get it in the Cave of Trials, but as long as you defeat Gabriel, you beat Claude solo. So adding in info on the Cave of Trials isn't necessary. - Pixie's Bracelet Pixie's Bracelet can be acquired on the continent of Ell inside of Eluria tower. Pixie's Bracelet is essential because when your on Energy Nede you can pick up Mithril's needed to Customize the Aeterna. When you first enter Eluria Tower run up the left stair case and head left through a hidden doorway to acquire the Pixie's Bracelet in a treasure chest. Place the Pixie's Bracelet on Rena so it doesn't waste an accessory slot on Claude. - Amulet of Freedom Amulet of Freedom is an accessory that can be acquired in chests or from enemies. Stores also sell them, well some of them do. You shouldn't have any trouble getting your hands on one of these, it'll be necessary when battling enemies that cause paralysis. If you get paralyzed during a fight, it's game over and you have to start over. You can steal one from a black haired man with a moustache drinking beer in the bar of Port Hilton. You can steal one from a guard in a room in the castle of Lacuer. Go down the right hall and into the first room. It's the first guard on the left. - Amulet of Flexibility Amulet of Flexibility is an accessory that can be acquired in chests or from enemies. Stores also sell them, well some of them do. You shouldn't have any trouble getting your hands on one of these, it'll be necessary when battling enemies that cause stone. If you get petrified during a fight, it's game over and you have to start over. I found my first one in Eluria tower at the start with the five chests. - Deadly Edge After losing to Dias in the Lacuer Tournament of Arms go to Gamgee the sword smith on the West side of town and pick up the Deadly Edge. Do not customize or sell this weapon until later in the game. - Windsley Sword Until you get the Aeterna, the Windsley Sword is a great weapon to use. The Windsley Sword can be acquired through Fun City battle arena. You must Win Rank A in the solo battles. - Aeterna Always save before using any customization, that way you can reload if you have failures. First, make sure you have a talent of Nimble Fingers. If not, use metalworking until you do. After you have a customization skill level of 10 by increasing Eye For Detail, Aesthetic Design, and Smithing, you must customize the Deadly Edge with a Mithril to get the Blade of Minos. Customize the Blade of Minos with another Mithril to get the Aeterna. Only thing stronger than the Aeterna is the Levantine, but you don't get that till Cave of Trials. - Bunny Shoes Bunny Shoes are a must. They give your character incredible speed during fights, and there are only a few you can get in the game. First off, if your lucky, you can win one in the bunny races, but if you don't want to waste your time you'll do this. Since your only using one character, Claude, you should pickpocket the bunny inside of fun city near the bunny race counter. First, you must have a level 10 pickpocket and Nimble Fingers talent. Save before you enter Fun City incase you fail - Mithril Shield You can make this by having Blacksmithing to level 10. All you have to do is blacksmith a mithril till you get it. I know it's hard to get blacksmithing of 10 because you can't use your party members. Well if you unlock some of their hidden talents you get free SP to put down towards getting this. You can also get the Mithril Shield if you fight enough enemies in the Field of Love. An enemy with the big shield drops it. - Reflecting Plate It's just a little bit better than having the Battle Suit. It slowly recovers MP and has some good stats on it. You can make this by blacksmithing an Orhilacum - Resurrection Bottles, Resurrection Mists, 1-Up Puddings Guess what? When your doing a Claude Solo, if Claude dies, it's game over. The only good thing about that is that you don't have to waste your money on items that cure Incap. Including but not limited too: Resurrection Bottles, Resurrection Mists, 1-Up Puddings. ------------------- Suggested Skills ------------------- Here's a set of the skills I suggest increasing at certain levels during the game. If it looks like you got a lot of extra skill points you should focus more on some of the battle skills like Guardbreak, Flip, Counterattack, Feint, Body Control, Mental Training, Parry, Cancel, and Godspeed. ------- Lower Levels (1-30) Determination - I recommend that you don't spend any skill points towards anything until you get persverance. Determination lowers the cost for leveling up in skills, which will allow you to spend those needed points towards other things. Max out Peservance as soon as you can. Herbology - Herbology will increase effectiveness of Blackberries and Blueberries outside of battle. When maxed out, berries will cure you 100% instead of 20% saving you money and time. It can waste a lot of time running back and forth to Inns and blackberries can cost a pretty penny at lower levels. I recommend at least a level 5 for Herbology. Kitchen Knife - Kitchen Knife will work miracles in lower levels. It'll will save you time and take out enemies quicker. For each level of Kitchen Knife it'll will add 20 pts to base strength. I recommend at least a level 5. Effort - Effort will lower the amount of experience needed to increase levels. It'll save you time as well, and allow you to get sp points quicker and build up Claude more. I recommend as least a level 3 Power Burst - Increasing this will allow you to stun you enemies more giving you an advantage in battle. Also increasing it in level shouldn't be too hard When Determination is maxed, Power Burst only takes 55 sp to max out. Qigong - This will allow your defense or AC to increase a bit during battle. When fully maxed out you take no damage if you successfully perform this skill. Which is usually like a 30% chance so Qigong is strongly recommended. I recommend at least a level 3 Skill Level Suggested at Lower Levels Determination - 10 Herbology - 5 Kitchen Knife - 5 Effort - 3 Power Burst - 10 Qigong - 3 ------- Mid Levels (31-60) Aesthetic Design - I call this skill the god skill. It's necessary to get maxed out as much as it's necessary to max out Determination. Reason is simplybecause it's one of the main skills in customization and the fact that it addspoints to Strength, Nimble Fingers, Agility, and Intelligence. I recommend getting a level 10 Aesthetic Design before you reach level 60. Eye For Detail - And I call this skill the servant skill. It serves purpose for Metalworking and Customization. If your trying to get the Nimble Fingers Talent, oryour trying to get the Aeterna, your going to need points towards this skill. Eye For Detail will also increase your agility somewhat. I recommend getting at least a level 5 in Eye For Detail. Smithing - I call this one the pain in the ass skill. It serves purpose in Customization but it's usually the last skill maxed out because of it's high SP requirement. It also increases your Nimble Fingers somewhat I recommend trying to get a level 3 in Smithing. Herbology - Increase to level 10 for more effectiveness of berries. Kitchen Knife - In the lower 30's it's good to have more attack power, Increase to level 10. Effort - Increase to level 6 gradually when you can to lower your experience requirement. Qigong - Its good to have a level 6 Qigong to increase your chance of blocking out attacks. Skill Level Suggested at Mid Levels Aesthetic Design - 10 Eye For Detail - 5 Smithing - 3 Determination - 10 Herbology - 10 Kitchen Knife - 10 Effort - 6 Power Burst - 10 Qigong - 6 ------- Higher Levels (61-100) Item Knowledge - Item Knowledge will increase your selling prices for items so you can get more fol back in the end. It will also allow you to identify items more. Increase this to a level 10 Courage - This will allow you to build up for pickpocketing. Maximize this before you get your Psynard so you can get your bunny shoes. Poker Face - This will allow you to build up for pickpocketing. It also increases your guts allowing you to stun enemies more. Maximize this as soon as you can as well. Guardbreak - Increase this to a level 10 as soon as you can as well. It will allow you to get more hits in on the enemy and stun them a lot more often Feint - When your fighting a lot of attacks miss because the enemy blocks them Increasing this will prevent that. Get it to at least 5 or higher Counter - This is a good skill when you get hit you automatically strike back if you hit the x button in time for the command. Godspeed - This will increase your speed during battle, it's essential when your wearing bunny shoes because your attacks will be slow without it. Bunny shoes only increase your movement speed, but it doesn't speed up how fast you swing your sword. Get this one to at least 5 or higher. Eye For Detail - Go ahead and Max out Eye For Detail, your going to need it for item creation. Smithing - I know it's a pain in the ass, but it's necessary for creating the Aeterna. Effort - This will help you out a lot, you'll gain levels much quicker if the experience required is lowered more. Qigong - Trust me, maxing this out helps a lot. Skill Level Suggested at High Levels Item Knowledge - 10 Courage - 10 Poker Face - 10 Guardbreak - 10 Feint - 5 Counter - 10 Godspeed - 5 Aesthetic Design - 10 Eye For Detail - 10 Smithing - 10 Determination - 10 Herbology - 10 Kitchen Knife - 10 Effort - 10 Power Burst - 10 Qigong - 10 ------- Anything above 100, Cave of Trial Levels (101-255) What I mean by Cave of Trial Levels is any level higher than 100, because your usually that high after you enter the Cave of Trials. But during a Claude solo it will become apparent you will reach level 100 before you even enter Phynal if not before then. I was at level 90 and I hadn't even gotten the LEA Metal yet. After you reach level 100 your really don't need any guide on distributing skills. Basically just max everything out, firstly starting with the combat skills because they will help you out a lot. ------------------ Killer Moves Suggested ------------------ Basically your going to use only two or three killer moves throughout the whole game. It's is very necessary to have these two moves especially since you don't have Rena with you. And only one will take you a little while to get. ------- Sword Of Life ------ You will acquire Sword Of Life at level 20 with Claude. Quickly equip this move as soon as you can and start building it up, it will provide a lot of health at later levels. It only costs about 11 MP per use and it will save your arse time and time again during battles. Since you don't have Rena to cast her healing magic you will need something other than items to keep Claude alive in battle. Sword Of Life will power up at 200 uses. ------- Rock Explosion ------ The god of all killer moves. The move explains itself, I really don't have to say anything good about it. If you use it long range it will attack all enemies within the perimeter of range. Increased usage will unleash several hits on all opponents at long range and explode in their face. This is Claude's best move and I love it sooooo freaking much, 'TEAR INTO PIECES!!' Rock Explosion will power up at 270 uses ------- Dragon Howl ------ A good non-elemental based killer move. It's probably best to use this for enemies that are strong against earth. People like Cynne. It's a good substitue when you can't use Rock explosion. ----------------------------- Expel Walkthrough ----------------------------- Okay. This is the main part of the walkthrough, I won't discuss all the events that happen in the game because it will create spoilers as well more typing for me. I will mostly focus on how to get rid of characters so you don't have to recruit them and I will also go into depth on how to defeat bosses with Claude only. ------------------ Welcome to Expel ------------------ I will start the walkthrough right after Rena gets captured by Alen Tax. Basically all you have to do is run north from Arlia and enter the mining town of Salva Drift. Go all the way towards the mansion at the top and use your gun to blast down the door. Enter the room on the left and pick up the hair pin. Touch the switch and open the door towards the back. Run all the way through the caves fighting enemies and stuff like you'd normally do during a normal game. Find Rena and battle Alen Tax. Unlucky us, the game forces us to battle with Rena in the party. To feel good about yourself, you can get Rena killed or just beat the crap out of Alen and switch her arse out later. After these events it will follow another longerific story. ------------------ Krosse Castle ------------------ Lovely, now your ready to start your adventure. Don't forget to grab the Portrait B inside of Alen's room in Salva, sells for a pretty penny. Maybe after you sell it you can stock up on Blueberries and Blackberries, cause your going to need them. Head to Krosse Castle from Salva Drift which is pretty obvious because it's that large Castle coming into view from the sunset. Go to sleep at the Inn, wake up and go to the castle to get an audience with the King. Run out and find this new girl battling someone. Go with Celine to the Krosse Cave. No matter how many times you tell Celine No I don't want to go with you, you'll have to say yes in the end. Go to the Skill Guild in the Town and buy some skills. ------------------ Krosse Cave ------------------ Lots of good items in here for the beginning. If you haven't done so already, throw Celine in the back of your party so she doesn't appear in battle. Also steal the earrings off of her by unequiping them, they sell pretty good as well. Krosse Cave is pretty straight forward, run east from Krosse to find it, it's that largerific Cave sticking out there next to that gooberish sign in the middle of the road. I recommend using Palm of Destruction acquired at level 7 until you can get Knuckle Burst. Beat the snizzle out of the enemies here, run towards the back and use the codes to unlock the room with five chests. The one in the back contains gargoyles. If you haven't saved on the save point, do so before opening the one on the back of the star. Gargoyles can be pretty tough for Claude only, watch their pattern of attack. They usually run up to you and do a multiple red acid spit attack with their tongue. Run around until you catch them doing that in a spot away from you and get behind them and attack. Rinse and repeat this process making sure you don't get caught between two of them. Once one is down, taking out the other should pose no problem. When leaving the cave, tell Celine that you don't want her to come with you. After that, you've successfully denied Celine rights to your party. ------------------ Port town of Clik ------------------ Well we could start off by heading to Clik, but I recommend running to Port Harley first. Go all the way past Marze and into port Harley. Head all the way north in the town and find Zand's Mansion. Inside Zand's Mansion you can acquire a stronger sword called the Flame Sword in a chest throughout the mansion. There's a bunch of other good items in there as well that will help you out a lot earlier in the game. Don't forget to hit the Skill guild on your way out, it's south of Zand's Mansion and next to the bar. Now head towards Clik. Go to the skill guild towards the west part of town and get your skills. Talk to the guy that's supposed to take you to El. From there walk away and get your pocket picked by Ketil. Talk to the girl and boy near the harbor. Find Ketil near the warehouse towards the front of Clik. Bring Ketil to the boy and girl. Walk away and run around in a frenzy due to an earthquake. Talk to the captain to get your Passport back and go up the stairs and talk to Ketil. Leave Clik for good, and never come back. ------------------ Marze and the Symbology Forest ------------------ Enter Marze and quickly head up towards the council meeting room to get a longerific scene with Celine and Dias. After the scenes are over I suggest stocking up at that tool store right south of you. When your done, run back into the meeting room and talk to the guy so you can rest. When your in the forest, throw Celine in the back of your party, equip the Mud Boots manuallyand save the game. From there you'll have to head through the not so difficult maze and battle bandits that should be rather easy to beat. I hope you bought a lot of Blueberries, or at least you have the tech called energy sword because you're about to face Varmillion. Varmillion is really tough, at this level, and since you threw Celine out, it's going to be tougher. My only suggestion is to use long range Shooting Star a lot and try to get behind him. He's going to get a lot of hits in, but if your high in level it's not going to matter. My favorite seen comes up next: Dias: "Did you slay this one?" Claude: "Yes, but with Celine's help." Me: "You idiot, I didn't use Celine." Lol, I always hated how contradicting those scenes were. After all of this more long scenes come and after Rena comes back try to leave the village. Celine will bring you back for more longerific scenage. After you exit Marze, you'll probably have to throw Rena in the back of your party again. ------------------ Harley and getting to Lacuer------------------ Pretty straight forward, run to Herile and buy a boat to Lacuer. You'll end up in Port town Hilton. Don't forget to hit the Skill Guild on your way out. ------------------ Continent of Lacuer ------------------ Okay, the continent of Lacuer has lots of enemies you should be careful of. I recommend when you face an unbeatable enemy that you run. I will list the enemies that you shouldn't battle. Mostly, don't ever go towards the Lacuer Frontline. You'll face a fierce enemy called Salamanders (I like to call them Flare Lizards) and they are not fun to fight. Note: Flare Lizards give amazing EXP early in the game. If you're wearing the Flare Ring. You should take no damage from their fire attacks. Making them a great enemy to start fighting with. Also, if you don't have Amulet of Freedom already, don't fight certain enemies inside of the Sanctuary of Linga. Those enemies are the flying birds, the pigs, and the giant head with teeth. You can fight the jumping bunnies and the jellies, those aren't hard to fight. In the common field of Lacuer and Sanctuary of Linga, you face an enemy that has a wolf girl and a pack of wolves. I would suggest running from this enemy until you are a higher level. The wolf girl will cast black saber before you can reach her which will likely kill you. Save often, and train a little bit before participating in the Lacuer Tournament of Arms. ------------------ Linga ------------------ Just go ahead and get here, and get the Precis scene out of the way. That girl is annoying. Precis: "OHHH TAAAY" Me: "SHUT UP!! CRETIN!!!" Just visit the skill guild and see if you missed any skills. Then I recommend scouring the university, maybe you might learn something. Lol, probably not, but you might find some useful items in there. Other than that, you can visit Bowman's pharmacy to stock up on items as you try to increase your level and gain SP. Don't do a private action here, unless you want to feel really bad about Denying Precis a recruitment slot, even though I never felt bad. ------------------ Lacuer Tournament of Arms ------------------ During a regular game, it would normally recommend a level 25 Claude before entering, but that wouldn't be too hard to achieve with a solo Claude, especially since you're the only one getting experience. And the fights won't seem as scary because you've been fighting alone for along while. And since you get Sword Of Life at level 20 you should have it already so equip it if you haven't already done so. Run into Lacuer, and head for the castle. Enter the tournament and find some shop near the east part of town to host your weapon. Go to the Inn and sleep. First fight is simple, just a normal enemy you've faced before. Second fight, okay your getting a bit tougher, it's the monkey guy, beat the crap out of him and get ready for the third. Hmm, this is as tough as it gets, see not that tough. Just palm of destruction him to death and run around screaming death wails if your hurt and use Sword Of Life. Dias is up next, just sit there and let him pulverize you, unless you still want to resist like me and put up a fight. After you lose, make sure you pick up your second place prize at your weapons shop and go to the east part of town to visit Grandpa Gamgee. Gamgee's got the Deadly Edge for you to use, one of the best swords up until this part of the game. Don't sell it now it or ruin it through customization. Keep it till you can make the Aeterna. ------------------ Sanctuary of Linga ------------------ Go to Linga again. Try to enter Keith's house again and go to Bowman's Pharmacy. Talk to Bowman and head for the Sanctuary of Linga. Pretty much the whole deal here is just to search for a rare herb. Not that hard really, you should hit level 38 around here and get Rock Explosion. Then all of your battles will be easy. You can also face the demons of the netherworld in here if your up for the task, but it's rather hard to find and it's hard to explain. Let's just say the walls are hidden and it's near the chest where you acquire Ashton's Twin Edge. The location of the Rare Herb is random, so I can't Really say where it's going to be at. Once you get the Herb, find Bowman again and talk to Keith. After you end up in Bowman's house at Night, find Bowman in the back and talk to him. Make sure you Deny him, although I soooo wanted to recruit him. I love his Poison Pellets. Tell him he needs to look after Nineh and he'll leave you alone. ------------------ Hoffman Ruins ------------------ Go to Lacuer. Register at the desk. Run towards the right part of the castle and head down the stairs to find Leon. Get Caught by the guard. Head for Hilton with Leon. Make sure you throw the kid into the back of your party. And go to Hilton and ride the boat towards Hoffman Ruins. Hoffman Ruins will Be incredible hard if you don't have Amulet of Freedom. Head for the gigantic ruins in front of you and run up the stairs. Head through the door that Leon had trouble opening and head right to the save point. Save here, and go down. Fighting the Flare Lizards and the big heads with teeth will cause you Paralysis in this dungeon. There is a Amulet of Freedom in a chest throughout The Hoffman ruins, so happy hunting for it. You won't have to pull switches to find it, so don't go blowing the place up. Your main mission is to find the Material known as Energy Stone so head towards the right and south all the way until you find a save point that heads upwards. Note: The Amulet of Freedom is located South and West of the Ruins I can't stress enough why it's important you at least be between levels 50- 60 before fighting these thunder beasts. I also recommend wearing a Reverse doll and Emerald ring or Talisman. Reverse Doll is a must because it will cut the attacks of thunderstorm in half. These beasts will be really freaking tough, unless you pull a smart one like I did. It costs MP for them to be able to keep up that thunder attack, so go to the left top corner of the battle field and hide behind the wooden posts that sticking up from the ground. Nice hiding spot huh? Sit there and use sword of life every time you get hit until they run out of MP, then you can rip them to shreds. If your still getting injured by their stupid biting attack go back behind the wooden posts and heal yourself. They won't be able to attack you there because they can only attack from the side, just like you. And without any MP, they can be pretty stupified. Note: There is no hiding spot in Second Evolution Remake After they are dead, run out of the cave and save the game. After defeating those beasts, everything should be pretty easy, make sure you put your Amulet of Freedom back on again because the enemies will get your arse into a game over if you don't. Leave that forsaken place and head back to Lacuer. ------------------ Lacuer Frontline ------------------ After some more lovely scenes in Lacuer Castle, you actually get a chance to get rid of the bratty Leon. Even though I love Leon as a character, his fighting skills suck, even extinction isn't that great. Your better off with fighting characters in higher levels anyway, because they deal out more damage Now, exit Lacuer and head for the Lacuer Frontline that's near the port of Hilton. Make sure you equip Amulet of Freedom and Flare Ring when running around here because the Salamanders will take you out quickly if you don't. Enter the front line and save the game. First off run to the commander's room next to the hospital that has Dias Flac wandering about. Run off and find Dias back towards the entrance Run back to where the Lacuer Hope is resting to talk to Rena. Then go save the game. Run towards the back hall again and talk to everyone including the people in the medical facility, and all the generals. Exit the back room and enter again to get attacked by monsters. This will be tough, you're fighting Cynne. First off, this is not a battle for you to win, it's a battle for you to make A Time Out. You won't be able to do any damage to him. I suggest running up and down avoiding his spinning razor attack, and every time you see Vampirism across the screen, run in the opposite direction. Fohn Wind is the only attack you can't run from, after he performs it, just do an Sword Of Life right there and keep running from him. Eventually you'll see a message that says, "Out of Time" Lucky you. After this, your fighting in Lacuer Frontline is pretty much over with. Run into the Medical Facility and talk to everyone. Then rest up, when you wake up, talk to everyone again and try to leave only to get attacked by monsters again. Let Leon handle the rest right? ;) Too bad Precis isn't in your group, you won't be getting Thunder Punch, tsk tsk, too bad. Everything from this point on will be pretty much automatic storyline. Eventually you'll end up on a boat towards the continent of Ell. Prepare for another Cynne battle here. First up, you got little Gargoyles trying to bite at your ankles. Make sure Rena gets killed off by them, so she doesn't advance in level. Stupid game automatically puts her in your party. Just play these Gargoyles the same way you dealt with them in Krosse Cave, but this time you have an Ace up you sleeve Long Range Rock Explosion them to death, because essentially Rock Explosion does double damage to flying enemies if you haven't noticed already. After you make short work of them, your best friend will come, Cynne's back for more. This is a simple Cynne battle. Basically just stand there and get owned. That's that, do nothing and let Claude lose, or try putting up a fight like me and go down hard. ------------------ The Continent of Ell------------------ My favorite scene of all time comes up pretty soon. Leon will get bitch slapped, lol I love it. After exiting the shoreline, make sure you take Leon out of your party by switching him towards the back. Run towards that gigantarific looking building and meet up with your love. After some long scenes, make sure you leave Leon with the village elder. That way you won't recruit him. Poor kid must love you by now. After learning about Eluria Tower, enter the weapons shop and grab the weapons out of the barrel-o's. There's lots of stuff to collect-o. Don't forget to talk to the guy that sell's tool-o's. Buy something. When you leave, you'll acquire the ID Card that allows you to get into Eluria Tower. ------------------ Eluria Tower ------------------ You can reach Eluria Tower without having to face any monsters on El Continent. Besides the monsters inside of Eluria provide you with more experience than you could ever imagine. Your first step is too acquire the Pixie's Bracelet. Pixie's Bracelet is essential because when your on Energy Nede you can pick up Mithril's needed to Customize the Aeterna. When you first enter Eluria Tower run up the left stair case and head left through a hidden doorway to acquire the Pixie's Bracelet in a treasure chest. Place the Pixie's Bracelet on Rena so it doesn't waste an accessory slot on Claude. Also, when your running about, don't bother talking to the lifeless Statues, I already know the password, it's DEATH. Head through the middle and up the transportation beam me up Scotty. Run to the left and get beamed up again. Now head to the right and get beamed up again. Talk to the statue and give him the password DEATH. Beam back down from where you came, and head all the way left to get beamed up. Touch the pillars to the south and unlock them with the card key. Lovely scenage coming up right about now. There's also a place where you can pickpocket some of the strongest armor you can get if you can snatch it from one of Ronyx' crew. It's called a Battle Suit and it provides 500 AC. BTW, Ronyx is my hero, he was the man in Star Ocean 1, not as good as Ratix though. KU-HA-ZAN! *cough* cough* sorry getting off track there. After the scenage, run to the other pillar that was locked before and get beamed up. Save the game. Before you fight Cynne. If you've managed to acquire enough mithrils try your hand at customizing the Deadly Edge twice until you get the Aeterna Sword. It will come in handy. Also note that Rock Explosion won't work on Cynne. It used to in the old version of second story. Good ole Ripper Blast. Well. You'll have to hit him regularly or try using Dragon Howl. After you head up you'll be facing Cynne, so now's your chance to get some last minute training in. I tell you, Cynne was one of the hardest monsters to fight, rather than the thunder beasts in the Hoffman Ruins. You'd think Cynne would be easy, trust me, he is when you have more party members. I suggest first taking out the little gargoyles first. If he casts Fohn Wind and your low of health, immediately use Sword Of Life. You'll have to produce some blackberries for this fight, because the constant MP usage and Vampirism combined will wear you down. You'll beat him, if your lucky. When you beat him, do the smart thing and run back to save the game. It's not that far away, and it's sure a hella worth it. Especially when your chances are riding on you being able to escape Metatron's grasp. After saving, head up towards the beam up pad and basically run towards the back. Go through the middle and then to the right door. Hit the beam up pad and learn about what planet you're from. Your going to hear me say it a thousand times, so you better listen now. Michael (Decus) is the best villain boss ever in existence, he should of led the god's ten wise men, and he should be able to join your party so you can Spicule people to death. God I love him. Note: Second Evolution Remake screwed up Decus so badly. J.S.Gilbert should have voiced him. He was so much cooler Guess your fighting Metatron first, lucky you. Well I guess I should say, unlucky. This is another "Time-Out Battle" You won't be able to do any damage to him, so don't try. I suggest running around in circles trying to avoid him. Note: He runs slower up and down than left and right, so take that to your advantage. If you see him casting Meta-Guard, that's your cue to do an sword of life if you're hurt. ---------------------------- NEDE ----------------------------- If you gotten this far. Congratulations, pat yourself on the back, so far you've done what most Star Ocean 2 players would never be able to accomplish Now allow me to guide you through the rest of the game and onto your final victory. ------------------ Welcome to Nede ------------------ Yep, you guessed it. You're now on the planet called Energy Nede. Don't freak out too much. If you have Pixie's Bracelet it'll be easy for you to pick up mithril's now. The wild enemies shouldn't pose you to much trouble. Seriously, you just took down Cynne, bare handed. ------------------ Centropolis ------------------ After the longerfic scenes with that stupid Nall. Exit the large building by running down all the stairs. Make sure you head right and straight down instead of left so you don't run into the crazy Chisato. If you haven't already, go in to the tool shop and by a pair of bandit's gloves you penny pincher. Stock up on some tools as well, and head to the other shops to pick up stuff like Steaks and the Ignite Sword. If you have customize already up, you can give it a mithril and get the Sawed. It's not as powerful as the Windsley sword, or no where near the power of the Aeterna, but it's good for now. You also might want to reconsider, especially since your saving mithril's for your Aeterna. You can also somehow create the Force Sword with an Orihalcum, it's not as powerful, but it saves you the mithril. Leave Centropolis and go to the only other town on that island. ------------------ North City ------------------ North City has some pretty interesting stuff in it. Towards the back you'll find a Library that you could do the secret file quest with. To the right of that is the Town Psynard lab with Artis as it's professor and mayor of the city. Talk to the receptionist and go in the back and talk to him. You'll go through a series of events that envitably ends up fighting a Psynard. This one shouldn't be two bad. Especially since it's a flying type monster, Rock Explosion will do double damage to it. Some of his attacks like the breathing blue flame breath can get rather annoying, but if you time it right, you can totally whack him good after he is done launching that attack. You should be able to make short work of him. After this you'll be transported somewhere else to get another Psynard. ------------------ Cave of Crimson Crystals ------------------ You'll be transported straight into Noel's house. Lovely, he tries to be a jerk about it. Too bad you have to take his arse with you, I'd much less leave him behind. Throw him in the back of your party with Rena. Okay now's the time to re-equip your Amulet of Freedom and Amulet of Flexibility if you don't already have them on. Cave of Crimson Crystals is full of monsters that will cause those status affects. You can train before you enter that black cave with the red crystal's sticking out from it, or you can just do like I did and go in their full force. Basically head up and left through the next part. Head right into a hole. Head down the stairs and to the right. You should see a Psynard in the next room. Continue down the path that leads you into the next room. Follow the path down and up to the left side as you get to the save point. This would be a lovely time to save. God.. your in for a treat up ahead. Fighting the spider ladies are very dangerous especially if your alone. Two of them ganging up on you is no laughing matter. But I have a simple solution that will make your life easier. First of all, never get caught between both of them. Try getting to the side of one of them and Rock Explosioning them. If your starting to get low on heath, see that giant pillar in the middle of the battle field? Use that thing to your advantage, if you circle around it, sometimes the spider girls will get caught on the edge and won't be able to attack you. That's a good sign to use Energy Sword. There will be lots of times when they teleport around the battle field, use that to your advantage and attack them when they are separated. When one of them is down, the other should go pretty fast if you keep healed up around the pillar. After you win, tell Noel to stay with his stupid animals and fly out of their. ------------------ Things to do on your Psynard ------------------ Now that you've got your Psynard, you should be very happy, because your freedom just increased ten fold. And since you can't run into enemies on it, it can be a shelter as well. First up, you should head for Fun City. Make sure you have the Magician's Hand equipped, Level 10 pickpocketing, and the Nimble Fingers Talent. Save the game and enter fun city to buy some tickets. Go all the way towards the back where the bunny races are being held. Pick pocket the stuffed bunny, if you fail, reload and try again. Eventually you'll get the bunny shoes. When you do, immediately equip them on Claude and never take them off, I don't care how much something else is higher in armor, nothing compares to the bunny shoes. Other than that, there's not much else to do other than the battle tournament. If you've already gotten the Aeterna it's pretty much just pointless except for the SP and exp received battling. Cooking Master is also interesting, but if you suck at cooking there's no point. You've got, Giveaway, Armlock, Field of Might, Field of Love, Field of Intelligence, Field of Courage, North City, Centropolis, La Aqua, and the well hidden Fake Gallery located on an island near Field of Might. The Fake Gallery is really hard to find on Second Evolution and they gave it a Different name. In order to reach it you'll have to play around with your landing spot on the island until you can land. It'll take a while but its the biggest tiny island with snow on it. They sell the Magical Rasp there to improve Blacksmithing and customization. Go back and talk to Nall to learn your next mission. ------------------ Field of Courage ------------------ Field of Courage is located between Centropolis and Armlock. Save before you go in, monsters also have the ability to paralyze and petrify by the way. Save your self time by equipping the check accessories. Your basic mission when you enter is to run up and left through the cave to find the statue and make your way back to the entrance. Pretty simple. Now head right to the elevator. Save the game and put the statue on the pedestal. Now your going to fight the guardian, which can be pretty tough at first. It's not, it's rather simple, just by attacking it head on you can flip around it lots of times and get behind him. Long range is good, but you have to watch out for the missiles. Soon you'll blow his arms off and he'll try an electric attack, which it's not fun to get hit by, you can dodge it easily too. Once you blow his body to shreds, you'll face the head. You can't damage the head until it's antenna raises above it's helmet. Then you can full blasted it, watch out for the shooting lasers though. With Bunny Shoes, they should be fairly easy to dodge. Extermination is what you have to worry about, it can blow up in your face and give you peeps. Not a fun experience when your low on health. Luckily it can't move from that place and you can run away from it to use your Sword Of Life. Pulverize him and leave the place. ------------------ Field of Might ------------------ Field of Might is that large mountain thingy over there by giveaway. It's safe from status causing monsters so you don't have to worry about equipping the check accessories. Try a Reverse Doll, and a talisman to raise your AC (defense). Doesn't matter which path you take, but your main mission is to head up. Every time you see a monkey standing next to a switch. Go to your skills menu, and press square on the skill that says "Flip" that way you don't flip around the monkey, enabling him to hit the switch a roo. If you find that place where you can make an echo, do yourself a favor and don't say nothing. Unless your curious and you like to run in fear. Eventually you'll head to the top and you'll find a save point. Save the game and proceed across the bridge to the next guardian. It's the same guardian as the one in the field of courage, so use the same strategy and leave that forsaken place. ------------------ Field of Wisdom ------------------ This one will be more confusing than hard. Field of Intel is near Giveaway but on the other side. When you first enter touch the mirror on the left and every time you step on a yellow square you'll be transported to another room where you light up a spinning ball. Light up all six balls to open the panel in the middle. Go back to the entrance, go outside and save. Re enter and touch the middle mirror. Your going to fight the defense system, concentrate on that big thing in the middle first. If you luckily, you'll be able to get behind him and start Rock Explosioning him. But be careful to watch out for it's beam attack, that will surely wipe you out if you get hit by it. Watch his movements carefully and get the heck out of there if he looks like he's going to do it. Eventually the hand will die and the other little balls around the room should be simple. Leave that place and head for that big floating island to the last field. ------------------ Field of Love ------------------ Continue down the path on the field of love until you see a split. Head the right path first and touch the ball. Then go back to the left side and head up to the save point. Save the game and face the enemy known as Lover. I usually saw other people getting captured by lover, but jeez, I've never seen Rena get captured, that was great. Oh god this is simple, first make sort work of those annoying thunder beasts with long ranged Rock Explosion. Then pretty much Lover is on her own and she can't cast spells when you're wailing on her, she'll eventually just die, and you've taken down all four fields. Congrats, the worst is yet to come. Note: If you have Aeterna Sword equiped. You might want the thunder beasts to die last. Cause they use Star Flare and it will heal you. :) ------------------ Phynal First Attempt ------------------ After finishing all four fields go back to Nall and speak with him. After a long drawn out spoilerific conversation, you'll fight two sets of monsters that should easily be disposed of. Next Zaphkiel will try you on for size, just run up to him and let him pull a Cruelty Blungeon on you so you can die and move on to the next scenage. Don't worry, it's not a game over. You have to die. ------------------ Symbology Weapons Lab ------------------ Fly to Armlock and find the Ninjay Nall in the back where the Sealed Portal is at. Save the game. Go through a bunch of rooms towards the left until you find Nall. Run back to where the portal is and talk to Rena. Run back to that same room and finish talking to Nall. Now go through Armlock next to the bar and find Mirage's house. Go to Minae Cavern ------------------ Minae Cavern ------------------ Minae Cavern can be sort of dangerous. Mainly because the monsters will try to cast Star Flare on you. But if you have the Aeterna equipped, Star based attacks should heal you. Also watch out for the green jellies called Evilwater, they will paralyze and stone you, so either equip your 'Check' Accessories or run from them. You might want to train as hard as you can before fighting Barke. Because all the monsters will disappear after Barke is dead and you won't have a good place to train before entering Phynal. Barke is straight towards the north from the entrance. You'll find a save point and enter. When I fought him I just sat there and mashed the Rock Explosion button till he died. You might have some trouble if you don't have good battle skills so you might want to recover after he uses an attack called 'Lost Patience.' After acquiring the LEA metal, exit and go back to Mirage in Armlock for more Scenage. You'll get the N.F.I.D. card so you can enter Fun city for free. I dunno if this card has a meaning but I like to call it the "NoFuckingIDea what to name it, so we called it N.F.I.D." Note: Has a different name in Second Evolution. I forgot what it was ------------------ Fun City ------------------ Okay now head to Fun City and flash your NoFuckingIDea, well you probably wont be able to Flash it because the guy will show you around. After awhile you'll get your Sacred Tear and Fallen Hope along with the Void Matter. Unfortunately Mirage will have to leave, because she has to write an essay. BTW, why the freak would someone be writing an essay during the intimate destruction of the Universe. Mirage is sooo cool. If you don't have the Aeterna, by like accident you missed it, the Sacred Tear is actually better than the Windsley sword. Although it might not look it, it cuts your MP usage in half and raises a lot more stats for a mere sacrifice of 100 attack. Phooey, too bad. Now time to fight Zaphkiel. Lovely. I was level 97 and I had no problem making short work of him. Cruelly Blungeon should be fairly easy to dodge with bunny shoes just wait for him to get near you then run away and long range rock explosion him. You might have a little trouble with Initial Slay, but stay on your guard and keep your health up with Sword Of Life. If I'm right, you shouldn't be taking much damage from his hits, especially if you have a lot of good combat skills. After winning, Run out and save the game. Also, put on your Amulet of Flexibility, because the next boss is deadly. Jophiel is up next and he has a fair amount of attacks up his sleeve, with this Shiny ball of light that he charges up. He also runs around the battle field at a fast speed that only bunny shoes can keep up. Also the attack that petrifies you is called Infringement. I found that out annoyingly after getting stoned After fighting Jophiel the second time, I learned the trick to beating him. Basically when you hear the sound of Jophiel forming that giant ball of energy, quickly mash Rock Explosion where ever your standing to get a great blow in on him. Since he does it a lot, you'll have plenty of opportunities to attack. Soon, he'll be lying on the floor, dead. Now you should exit Fun City and save the game. Pretty much do what ever you need to get done in other cities before running off to Armlock ------------------ Arm Lock ------------------ Metatron's going to be a pain in the arse. But there is a simple way to pin him to the ground. First of all he will cast Metaguard an impentratable shield that allows him to take no damage. But if you wait for him to get within striking distance and as soon as he swings run. Run until it says Long Range, and wait again, then when he strikes again, run and run long range until you can press the Rock Explosion button. Then he will be caught in a trap, because his Guard will be dropped. Then you can get several normal hits on him, but likely you will get a bit hurt, so run back and use Sword Of Life. Rinse and Repeat until dead. Prepare for the final showdown and head to L'Aqua ------------------ Phynal Showdown ------------------ After lot of scenes you will be transported to Phynal via Herush. Save the game before entering and prepare for a tough fight. So far when I played them I didn't experience a lot of damage being given to me. Raphael - He will hit you with that stupid magnet weapon and use mind Absorber to take your mp Zadkiel - will cause some kind of wave disturbance and produce a thundercloud, and healing Camael - He's the one you got to worry about, he can caste healing and also he can slow Claude down, which is not what you want, it will be the death of you if you get slowed. Take down Camael first, because he's got the lowest HP and he proposes the biggest threat. Zadkiel should be next on you list, because that thundercloud and healing thing is going to be a pain in the arse, then Raphael should go down really easily after you can focus all your attention on him. All in all, I'm very surprised how easy this fight went for me, I only died once, cause I got slowed by Camael. But when I had a party of four I remembered how tough this fight could be, as well as the Haniel and Michael one coming up. Up ahead you basically have to go up five elevators till you reach a save point. There's a few enemies you should beware of. First it's the green lizards that cause paralysis and petrification. Use the Check accessories when fighting them, or run. Also, run from the slugs that eat you, if you don't you'll just get owned. There's a few good treasure chests but most just suck. When you reach the save point, I suggest you train using Practice skill until you get to level 120. Because fighting Michael and Haniel solo is no joke. It's hard as balls. I had to fight them 15 times or so, but when I got to level 120 I took them down with ease. First off, while your training, I suggest you constantly use Mirror Slice instead of Rock Explosion and try to get it up to at least a proficiency of 300. You have to wear the Amulet of Flexibility or Haniel's Mind Blast will petrify you. Also I suggest you wear the Pyre Tear or Fairy Tear if you have them. Haniel's Mind Absorber will take your MP. These are the basics Haniel's attacks all need MP to use Mind Blast - Burninates you Mind Absorber - Take's your MP and raises his Blood Sucker - Take's your HP and raises his Tractor Beam - lift you in the air and bring you down Michael's attacks all need MP to use except for Spicule Spicule - Burninates you bad Explode - Zomg Eruption - You can't run Fairy Heal - I never knew he had this till now Basically it's your choice who you want to target first, but it will be really hard until one of them goes down. Spicule really won't do as much damage to you as if they were all wailing on you with random crap. Michael will run out of MP and will only be able to use normal attacks and Spicule if you fight long enough. Haniel won't, because heal will steal your MP through Mind Absorber. But you have a counter measure called Pyre Tear or Fairy Tear that allows you to regenerate MP after getting hit with magic. During this battle, you're going to have to use items, Mirror Slice, and Sword Of Life to it's maximum potential. As well as a lot of luck. Here's a couple of hints. If you see Mind Blast pop up at the bottom of the screen, or a familiar Haniel voice, get the fuck out of the line of fire. Try getting them together and mirror slicing them at the same time. It keeps them from casting Symbology. If you're lucky, you might defeat them, if not, I suggest you give it a couple of tries and then train more. The higher level you are, the less damage you will take. Run up a few more levels until you reach another save point. Save the game here and make sure you still have Mirror Slice on. As much as I love Rock Explosion, it's not effective fighting the ten wise men when your alone. When fighting Lucifer, it can be very easy to kick his ass if you constantly use Mirror Slice on him. But he will get a wind of destruction in there so I suggest you heal with Sword Of Life. And watch out for word of death, one hit from that and it's KO baby. Lucifer's a pansy, and he should go down ten times faster than Michael or Haniel. At the nine floor you'll find a save point. Up ahead is the biggest problem in the game. It took me at least 20 times to finally take Gabriel down solo. It's really ridiculously hard and you will need a lot of luck. First of all I recommend turning on practice and training up to level 140 making sure your saving the game along the way. Also while your at it, get Dragon Howl up to 500 proficiency or more. Dragon howl is going to be your best buddy when facing Gabriel. After you get to 142 you should be able to max out every skill on your list, because I remember I was 141 when I finally was able to beat him. First of all, I recommend having either Berserk Ring or Reverse Doll in one accessory slot, and Pyre tear or Fairy tear in the other. Berserk Ring will double your attack, and Reverse Doll will reduce your damage to Magic. The tear accessories will make sure you always have MP ready. Equip Crestier Guard as a shield so you'll deflect his Divine wave. Now take off Practice and save the game and head up three sets of stars to fight Indy (Gabriel). First form of Indy is really simple to defeat. First of all he will use Divine wave that purple thing to drain your health. When ever you reach 6000 or below you should use Sword Of Life. If you can get in there with Dragon Howl, you'll stun him and keep wailing on him. Attacks - Star Flare - If you have Aeterna equipped this will heal you. It produces bombs from the heavens that rain down upon you. Noah - Same thing that happened to Clik, large rushing waves will come down to own you. Divine Wave - This shit hurts, but you need to get through it to reach Indy After you lower his health enough he will call upon the "Time of Truth" and an angel will come down. Divine Wave - Hurts twice as much now Explode - Worse than Michael', it can kick your arse Earthquake - You can avoid taking damage if your in the air. Only way to do that is to be performing a Helmetbreak, Sword Bomber, Double Slash, or the final slash of Mirror Slice. Southern Cross - Just like Celines, except worse. Fairy Heal - Heals about 8000 of his health back, not much if you ask me. Angel Feather - Will raise his stats so he can pwn you more Star Flare - Powerful than the first Noah - Powerful than the first Divine Comedy - His signature move.. If your below 5000 health your dead. I call it his signature move because he casts it so quickly immediately after spells. His second form will likely kill you off, unless you get lucky. I've tried all the killer moves, including trying to jump down on him with Helmetbreak. The problem is that he moves too fast and he can cast spells while moving. And there isn't much time between spells, especially when you have to heal yourself with Sword Of Life. I recommend finding an opening when he does Fairy Heal or Angel Feather. Dragon Howl is the only thing that works here, because Claude can launch it extremely quick and keep it going. If you keep mashing it, you'll likely keep him in one place until he is no more. That's how I defeated him. I've also tried waiting till all of his MP was drained, it's just too hard because he'll find away to double cast really fast or get you with a Divine Wave. ------------------------------- Cave of Trials ------------------------------- First of all the Cave of Trials is located on Expel, and only can be accessed after saving the game right before you get to Gabriel. Head to Fun City and go to the battle tournament. Run across to the other side of the stands where you can see a old man and woman. Talk to the old man and relive your past memories. You'll be on Expel. To go back talk to that pig behind you. Now exit Arlia and take your Psynard past the laguss mountains an into a desert island with a pyramid. That's the Cave of Trials I'm willing to share some tips on doing the Cave of Trials Solo with Rena and Claude. I believe it is almost impossible to complete the COT (Cave of Trials) with only Claude, because on levels such as number 8, you are required to use Master Chef Super Speciality Skill. So I recommend you put Rena in your party if you want to beat the COT. There are some spots on the COT that will freeze your game after a battle, I have found a few of them and it's frustrating indeed. It's a problem with the games programing that usually freezes to a black screen after a battle, but I think it only happens in certain areas. Those areas I will name the COT Plague area, and I recommend that you don't linger around these areas. Note: There is no COT Plague in the remake of Second Evolution, Which is good There are many enemies that will cause Stone and Paralysis. Mainly on Level 8 and 9. But I recommend you always have a Amulet of Flexibility on when fighting Bird enemies and archers, they cause stone, a lot! On each level, there's a certain level requirement you have to be in order to run from enemies quickly and effectly. So if you are planning on running from every enemy on a level, I recommend you put Rena in the back, especially if she's a low level, she will slow you down even if she gets killed. I will put the average level you must be on each floor to run from enemies. I also recommed before entering COT that you stock up on Blueberries, Blackberries, Resurrection Bottles, Cure Stones, Cure Paralysis, and every Food item ------------------ Leveling up Rena ------------------ You're going to have to level up Rena if you want to make it through COT. It shouldn't be too hard. Just put her into battle and try keeping her alive. If she dies, just resurrection bottle her. You are also going to have to distrubute Skills properly. Since you are going to need Master Chef to get through Level 8 I recommend Leveling this First 1. Determination Master Chef 2. Cooking: Kitchen Knife, Recipe, Good Eye 3. Compounding: Biology, Herbology, and Mental Science Identify All 4. Identify: Mineralogy, Item Knowledge, Herbology 5. Metalwork: Eye For Detail, Aesthetics, Mineralogy Battle Skills 6. Body Control 7. Qigong 8. Parry Then the rest is up to you. ------------------ Level One ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 120 This level is very basic, but it's one of the first to have COT Plague. The monsters are some of those spell casters, soldiers, and those shield guys that have meta guard as well as birds that cause stone. But this floor is really simple. Basically just run Up, then head left, Then down and down again. This room right here is the one with COT plague so don't stick around. Run Down and Right. You should find a switch. Flick it on and fight the boss monster. This fight should be pretty simple, basically you just have to use Rock Explosion long range to take out the Knights quickly, then stop the women sucubus lady from casting any spells, even if she does get one off, it doesn't do much damage. This fight should be as easy as picking up chicks from a drunk party compared to Gabriel. If you're scared, you can run back and save, but I would just keep going down. ------------------ Level Two ------------------ Average Level to Escape : Level 130 The monsters on this level shouldn't be that bad, it's just slimes that shoot stuff at you, just stay focused and tear into pieces. Basically the goal of this level is to Face each person to who they are in love with. Here's the list: Milene: South Cristina: South Feria: East Sharon: West Lloyd: East Yufie: South Luke: North The door back at the beginning should open up after you move the last one. From there, this level will be easy to pass through, with only getting into one battle or so. The boss will be kinda hard at first, it's a thing with teeth and shoots it's teeth at you at long range, but it's a common enemy on the floor below. It shouldn't be too hard to beat, and If you want to save now, it would be wise, just for safety measures. So head back up and save after beating it. ------------------ Level Three ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 140 I wouldn't recommend having Rena in your party, because some of the monsters on this level are really strong until you get to a higer level. Those thunder glowing beasts I would run from instantly on first sight of them, because they could be trouble some if you get caught stunned. Those other ones with the teeth are pretty simple tho, as long as you keep rock explosioning them This level can be pretty confusing at first, but the basic goal is to go to every room without going to the same room again twice. And come back right were you started at. Okay here's the floor plan. Up, Up, Left, Down, Down, Down, Right, Right, Right, Up, Up, Up, Left, Down, Down, Left. Then you should be back where you started, and the boss door should open up. This boss can be a little tough, but Basically if you keep focusing on ripper blasting them, you can get them stunned for a long time. Dream Peace is a move that will freeze you in your tracks, enabling them time to hit you, but ifvyou leveled up, you shouldn't have too much trouble with damage, so just get out of it, and use Sword Of Life, or have Rena heal you. After the boss is finished, you should get magical drops.. Save these, they help sometimes. If you found this boss easy, you can head down without worry of dying because they are the common enemy next level. ------------------ Level Four ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 145 The enemies on this level are those Bunnies you found all the time in the Sanctuary of Linga and that hourglass monster you found as the boss before. They are pretty easy to beat. There is a Seraphric Garb on this level, so search the chests for it. You can also unlock a door to the Music God with a switch to the right. The door is in the center of the main room. Play something nice and she'll give you Illusive Shaman. The room with the switch has a hidden path in the wall. The way to the left is the way down. It also has a hidden path in the wall up at the top, and you'll face the boss. It's one of those spider things. This boss can be pretty quick. If it starts attacking Rena, just provoke it with Select and Tear away shards of his armor with your iron clad attack of Rock Explosion. He should be smokin in no time. I'd also recommend saving, because the enemies below here are no joke. ------------------ Level Five ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 150 The monsters on this level can be hard. First of all, if you see a Flare Lizard, automatically run unless you think you can defeat it. Other enemies like Apes and Big Guys can be easy. But if you see a whole group of mages, I suggest you run because when they all start casting it's not good until you have tri-Emblems Basically just go up until you find Puffy. Here just Answer some stupid questions and face Puffy's pet. Just run, no damage can be done to it. From here Puffy runs off. Follow her. Go right. You'll find a way to go down, but just keep going right till you meet down inside a room where Puffy is being attacked by hourglass monster. Help her and Defeat it. She'll drop a Weird Slayer. Equip Rena with this. Now go back to the starting room. Head right through a doorway and the monster you faced before should be there. Immediately control Rena with Circle and strike the beast once to kill it with the Weird Slayer. You should pick up the key. Grab all the chests in here. There's a Seraphic Garb in here as well. Go downvthat path before that I told you not to go down, then head right past a door, then down, and right to another door. Open the Door and continue down the stairs. Don't bother saving since the next floor might have Santa on it. Go down ------------------ Level Six ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 150 or Level 40 The monsters on this level are usually burglars. The common ones are the brown ones that take one hit to kill. They pose no threat. The metal ones are unbeatable until you get the Funny Slayer. Just don't worry about them, Run from them and Go to the next big room. In here Santa might be walking down between the statues. If he is, run up to him and buy some stuff. First of all, the main foremost thing you need is two tri-Emblems for Claude. If you have enough Fol you can get two for Rena. Now buy as many Go Home Frogs as you can. Also note, that the prices are really expensive. Heres some tips on how to make santa cough up tri-Emblems without coughing up your Fol First of all tri-Emblems cost 5,000,000 fol. If you use Identify All skill you can lower the price to 4,100,000 fol. But make sure you first Raise the price with Identify All and sell all your stuff that you don't need. Then Lower the price to buy tri-Emblems You can get Identify All by leveling up Tool Knowledge, Mineralogy, Herbology, Eye For Detail and Aesthetics on Rena. All of Claude's skills should be maxed already. From there, if you have any Cinderella Glasses, you can use one to cut the price even more. We are talking around 2,500,000 fol per tri-emblem.. WOW, half price. Go-Home Frogs allow you to escape automatically to the beginning of a dungeon, so get about 20. Don't use one yet. This boss should have a Teleporter to escape with. To Activate the boss room, talk to the metal statue at the bottom right corner. Then head left. This boss is fairly easy. It's just a Blue Funny Thief. Just keep wailing on him and eventually he will parish. Giving you a funny slayer. Now equiping Claude or Rena with the Funny Slayer, you can now instantly kill Blue and Metal Funny Theives and Get a lot of Exp!!!! Good training here. Escape with the Teleporter, and save. If Santa wasn't there, he might be there when you come back. ------------------ Level Seven ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 160 Lots of monsters on this floor. Nothing worth running from, except those eat you monsters. Blue Funny theifs roam around and they are easy to kill with the slayer. Basically Head up until you see an Alter, From there make a right. And go all the way right till you can go down. Then Go up through a hidden passage way to get a Cracked Gem. Do metal working on the Cracked Gem with Claude and get a Red Lotus Gem. Head back to the alter room and place the gem on it. The door should open. The boss is the same monster from the Minae Cavern. He's so simple it's laughable. Bascially just keep Rock Explosioning him, you don't have to worry about trying to find long range, because Claude will stay long range. You might even be able to wail on him so much that he doesn't get an attack off. If he does, it'll be lost patience, and you can quickly recover with Rena, or Sword Of Life if she dies. After you make quick work of him. Don't forget to get those extra pair of bunny shoes to the left. Then head down. ------------------ Level Eight ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 170 The food God, I hate this level. Basically you need Master Chef to make a lot of good stuff. Bascially try combining Grain and Meat. Or Fish and Grain. See what you can come up with. Get a lot of dishes prepared. Then maybe a spoiled milk on the side. Head up and feed the food god. I fed it a Meat Fried Rice. Then it tells you is that all you eat, you don't eat very good do you? Then I gave it a spoiled milk, you can give it any thing nasty like mandrake And Puffy will fall out. Opening the door. If you want to save now before fighting the boss, I wouldn't tell you otherwise. The boss is no joke. There's a Million Staff on this level. Believe it or not, you can sell this For 10 million if you have trouble getting tri-Emblems. If you have Celine, you can give it to her, but there's more than one Million Staff in COT so don't be afraid to sell it. The boss is a eat you up monster, but it runs really fast. I recommend controlling Rena and trying to make him eat her. Then Rock Explosion him to death. If he coughs her up, I recommend you revive her instantly, cause if he eats you it's game over. If Rena is alive and he eats claude. Quickly take control of Rena and run around the battle field till he coughs Claude back up. Let him eat Rena, Rock Explosion, revive, rinse and repeat until dead. ------------------ Level Nine ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 180 This level is the level of hate. Some of the monsters on this level cause stone. So I recommend you wear Amulet of Flexibility. There isn't a boss tho, yet. Just keep heading to the left, Up, then to the right. Down. And to the Right, and up into a room where you see a sealed coffin. Hence the name of the room. If you haven't saved in a while. Use Go-Home Frog and get out now, since the next level does have some COT Plague as well as it's really really hard. ------------------ Level Ten ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 190 I really really hate this level. First of all, it's hard to fight the monsters because they keep firing missles, but if you have the Valiant Guard from level 13, you can deflect them. So I recommend just touching the tiles in the patter you want to go to get to the end and getting the heck out of there. Watch out tho. Flashing rooms cause you to have damage over time, so don't stay in one area, make sure you keep checking your damage and healing when necessary. When you make it to the end, you'll be at one of the coolest bosses. Like the Guardian from Nede, it's just like one of those. And there's nothing more effective against him than good ole fashioned Rock Explosion. Tear him a new soul, and if he fires a missle at you, you should probably heal yourself or use Rena. He will usually be stunned the whole match. But if he explodes and turns into a small form.. wait for him to start using extermination before attacking. He should pose no trouble at all. If you want to save after this, I recommend you don't and continue. ------------------ Level Eleven ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 200 Don't run from the Monsters on this Level. Just keep fighting. They are usually bosses from other levels, and they give good exp, as well as they are too hard to run from and could be dangerous. You might face Cynne like creatures, but since they are air based, Rock Explosion should have no trouble making them meet their maker. The boss, lucky for you is a Psynard. Good gosh, this boss is easy as heck. Just spam Rock Explosion again. After winning you should get Float skill. Here, you have the choice of going back. Which is an okay idea, since you have a unlocked a secret passage to level Nine on the first floor. After saving, just head up. Left. Down.. Then go through the left door. You'll be in a room with red tile. Behind that red tile is light. Step around that light till you hear four clicks. After the fourth click you'll land on floor 9. Easy, you can use this trick any time now. ------------------ Level Twelve ------------------ Average Level to Escape: Level 210 The room to the boss is straight ahead of you, and I say he's one of the Easiest bosses again. With Rock Explosion you should be able to stun and take down this wicked beast in seconds. No trouble at all. It's just like those birds from Phynal Tower, the ones with Master Attack and Xene. After winning, you'll get the Holy Sword Farwell Battle Suits can be found on this level. Go back to Level 9, either by running, or using go home frog and the portal trick. Get to the sealed coffin while wearing the holy sword and the boss should appear. It's a mage that can easily be beaten if you just keep him from casting. After winning you get the Levantine. Not bad. The Levantine and the Holy Sword Farwell will Unlock the door to level 13. ------------------ Level Thirteen ------------------ -Incomplete- ------------------------------- Legal Stuff ------------------------------- This Guide is Copyright (c) 2009. Star or StarGGundam2 (Scott) Everything within this guide has been written by me. It may not be reconstructed, posted, or used at any site without my permission. If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to StarGundam2@hotmail.com ------------------------------- Big Thanks ------------------------------- I'd like to thank tri-Ace for making such a wonderful game, it's been a great enjoyment in my life. Also I give a big thanks to my friends for telling me that I couldn't do a Claude Solo or I probably wouldn't of tried it for myself. Thank you readers for reading my faq, especially if your reading this line right now. Without you my guide is meaningless. And I thank Claude for being one of my favorite characters of all time. And no thanks to localization for screwing up everything from the original game.