Game: Shining Force 1 (FAQ/Walkthrough) System: Sega Genesis By: Sephirstein Version: 1.0 E-Mail: Sephirstein@hotmail.com (Please don't use my old E-Mail address or you will most likely not receive an answer.) Other Ways to Reach Me: Leave me a message on the message board Moogie's Ultimate Shining Force 2 Guide, or ICQ me. My ICQ number is 46582842 and my nick is Sephirstein. Date Started: August 2, 1999 Date Completed: April 11, 2000 (Final Version) Latest Version Available at: www.gamefaqs.com ============================================================================ T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ============================================================================ 1. Introduction 2. Revision update 3. Walkthrough 3. Battle guide 5. Character guide 6. Class and promotion guide 7. Items and weapons 8. Monster guide 9. Boss guide 10. Spell guide 11. Cheat codes 12. Useless item guide 13. Frequently Asked Questions 14. Credits ============================================================================ 1. I N T R O D U C T I O N ============================================================================ Some of you may know me as one of those people who posts messages on Zophar's Domain (www.zophar.net) and as of late, Moogie's Ultimate Shining Force 2 Guide. Shining Force is an excellent game for me to write an FAQ on since I find the FAQs on GameFAQs to be incomplete (no offense to the authors as they actually did seem to put quite a bit of work into them and I actually took a lot of info from one of them. I just felt like they were missing information.) and since there is no actual strategy guide on Moogie and Sir Fil's Shining Force Page. Besides, it's an awesome strategy/RPG that I happen to be great at and it deserves a good FAQ. Actually though, this is just as much a gathering of information as it is an FAQ/walkthrough. If anyone has any suggestions about how to make my FAQ better, don't be afraid to E-Mail me, post me a message on Moogie's board or ICQ me as this is my first FAQ ever. Hopefully, this FAQ helps at least one person who's having trouble with this game. Now let's cut the crap and get down to the important stuff. ============================================================================ 2. R E V I S I O N U P D A T E ============================================================================ Version 0.5b: Everything is complete expect chapters 3-8 of the walkthrough, chapters 3-8 of the battle guide and a proper strategy on defeating Dark Dragon. I will add this as I replay further through the game. Tell me what else you want me to improve or add. You can also help me by telling me how to justify (not left, centre or right by justify) text in Notepad or Wordpad or directing me to a program that does this so that it looks right in Notepad. Version 0.51b: Removed some underlines and all the hyphenation because it looked horrible in GameFAQS. This should allow you to read this without seeing hyphens in the middle of words. I also fixed a couple of spacing problems and mentioned in on of my FAQs that Moogie's Ultimate Shining Force Guide also includes info on how to get Shining Force 2. Version 0.8b: Lots of new stuff this version. Finished the walkthrough and battle guide up to Chapter 5 and added a difficulty rating out of 10 for each battle. Also added an FAQ on how to gain levels quickly ad easily, a guide to getting Kokichi to join the force (added to one of my FAQs) and some more info about Arthur and Earnest in the character guide. I also explained a very cheap way to beat Elliot, Balbazak and Ramladu as well as an FAQ on the best way to promote characters. I proceeded to make a couple fixes to the item guides and other stuff including spacing, spelling and hyphenation and I added Karl Plouffe to my credits list for some of his info regarding Arthur and easy level ups. This could be the last update in a while as I start school on September 7th. Version 0.85b: Greatly improved the format and the readibility of my FAQ thanks to tips from Kao Megura's FAQ writing suggestions. Also changed my disclaimer to a slightly modified version of one of his disclaimers because it was a lot better than the one I had. Version 1.0: The final version is ready, sorry if it is almost a month late. I honestly could have finished it at pretty much anytime, but I just never really felt much like it. In this version, I continued to do minor formatting improvements (including the much needed Word Wrap), and I dotted a few "Is" and crossed a few "Ts" in my disclaimer and credits section. I also corrected a couple of grammatical errors. Now, for the good stuff. I overhauled my character section, improved my boss guide, added a couple of FAQs, and, as I'm sure you've all been waiting for, I have completed my Walkthrough and my Battle Guide. Let me know if there are any information errors or major grammatical errors or if there is anything you feel needs to be addded. ============================================================================ 3. W A L K T H R O U G H ============================================================================ Don't be afraid to explore everything this game has to offer beyond my walkthrough or you'll miss out on a lot of the experience and on some easy-to- find items that i can't remember where to locate or that I can't be bothered to explain as they are so easy to find. You can search chests while in battle as well. Also realize that I won't tell you when to change characters. All I'll say is that Balbaroy and Amon are the first characters who start in headquarters. Note that since Domingo, Hanzou and Musashi have only one class, my recommended levels do not apply to them. Train them as you see fit. Also realize that my recommended levels are quite high and I finished the game with noticeably lower levels than this the first 2 times I played through it. Also remember to look for better weapons every time you visit a new town and SAVE OFTEN!!! Chapter 1 --------- Guardiana: You start outside the side door of a chapel. Talk to Varios, enter the chapel and talk to Lowe. Afterwards, exit the chapel from the side door again and talk to Varios. He'll be sent to the castle by a guard. Now go to the castle and listen to the King and Varios. Talk to the King and he'll send you to the Shrine of the Ancients. Now exit the castle and Lowe, Ken, Tao, Luke and Hans will join the force. Now go to the bar and talk to one of the people there. His name is Gort and he'll join you later but you may have to talk to him now to get him. Save your game in the chapel and exit town. You'll ride a cart to the Shrine of the Ancients. Shrine of the Ancients: You'll fight your first battle here. When it's your leader's turn, (I'll be calling him Max, his default name, from now on.) cast Egress to exit the battle. You'll be back in Guardiana. Leave town and walk into the house next to the Shrine (notice that you're not going by cart anymore). You'll find a monk who serves as a friar. You can also talk to Gong who joins you and to Jogurt so you can get him to join you much later on in the game. Save your game and return to the first battle at the shrine and win it. Recommended level after Battle 1: 3 Road to Guardiana: After this battle, you'll leave the shrine and see Guardiana being attacked by soldiers. You have to fight another battle to get into Guardiana. Egress if anyone died or if you want to save your game at the monk's house. Recommend level after Battle 2: 4 Guardiana: After you win the battle, return to Guardiana and you'll see that the town's been severely crippled by an attack from Runefaust. Go to the bar to get Gort (the old dwarf with the axe) to join you and then enter the castle. Explore the castle area to get to the treasury and collect the treasure. (You couldn't do this earlier because there was a guard stopping you.) Afterwards go to the throne and you'll see Kane attacking the King and Varios. Talk to the King and his daughter, Mae will join the force. The armoury is now open. Check it out and buy any better weapons that you find. Save your game and leave town. Road to Alterone: There's another battle here. Win it and enter Alterone. Recommended level after Battle 3: 4-5 Alterone: Explore this whole town as there is a lot of treasure. When you're done, go to the armoury/bar and talk to the people there. One of them will ask you if you're from Guardiana. Answer yes to that and to the guy's other question so that the guards will let you enter Alterone castle. Enter it, and explore it throughly for treasure. Talk to the King and he'll ask you to follow him to meet Kane. Talk to Kane and you will be imprisoned in the dungeon. Talk to the imprisoned friar to raise dead characters and save your game. Then, search the cell door. A young Elven healer named Khris will come to unlock the door and she will enter the cell. She'll open up a secret passage to allow you to escape and she'll join you. Enter the passage and you'll wind up in headquarters. Go through headquarters and exit. You'll find yourself in the final battle of the chapter. Win and return to the castle. Explore the castle again as there are a few chests which you could not previously access. Afterwards, speak to the King and he'll apologize for betraying you. Accept his apology and he'll tell you to pull the chain that looks like a dragon's head southwest of the throne. Find it near a waterfall and pull it. Enter the passage that appears and go through it. When you reach the end, and exit it, Chapter 1 will come to a close. Recommended level after battle 4: 5-6 Chapter 2 --------- Rindo: You'll start the chapter just outside of the town of Rindo but the only thing you can do is enter town as the ways north and west are both blocked by fences. Do so and explore the town. Go to the theatre and watch the play for a good laugh. When your down exploring town, head to the armoury. (Didn't I say to do that in every town? Oh well this is the last time I'll tell you.) Upgrade your weapons and buy Power Staffs. Now your mages will be fighting machines for a while. Now go to the mayor's mansion and talk to the mayor. He'll tell you can't have his boat. Leave town and the west fence will be gone allowing you to exit the area. You'll enter a battle as you head to Manarina. Recommended level after Battle 5: 6 Manarina: After winning the fight, enter Manarina and go to the chapel to save your game. Afterwards, talk to one of the mages not far from where you entered the city (I think his name is Onat or something). He'll tell you to get the Orb of Light from the Cave of Darkness. Explore this city of mages and look for Anri (she talked to you when you first entered) and she'll join your force. Also find the Domingo egg in a room with a mage and a machine by searching the machine. Don't forget to talk to Arthur so he'll join you after the next battle. Now, head to the Cave of Darkness. Cave of Darkness: Fight the battle and win. Search the chests for some nice items including the Orb of Light which you need to continue on in the game. Recommended level after battle 6: 7 Manarina: Go north of the stairs where you entered the cavern to talk to the Spirit of the Holy Spring. Use the Orb of Light on the big silver thing that looks like it has an eyeball drawn on it. Now go talk to Arthur again to get him to join the force. Afterwards, leave town and return to Rindo. Rindo: Enter the town and talk to the mayor again. He'll tell you he'll do whatever you want if you bring his grandson back from the circus. Exit the mayor's house and head for the circus tent near the docks. Circus Tent: Enter the tent and you'll run into Mishaela (who you may have talked to in Alterone) and she'll send Marionette after you along with some other monsters. Defeat Marionette and you'll rescue the mayor's grandson. Search the chest for an iron arrow (thank God) and some other nice stuff. Recommended level after battle 7: 8-9. Rindo: Now talk to the mayor and he'll let use the ship. Now head to the ship and Mishaela will burn it. Return to the mayor and talk to him and his SON (not grandson). They'll tell you to head to Shade Abbey. If you want to, you can again watch the play at the theatre again for another laugh. Leave town and head north (the north fence is now gone) until you reach a small building. Enter this building. Shade Abbey: You're in Shade Abbey. Talk to all the people including the "friar" and then head due north from the entrance. Keep going until you reach a large chapel. Enter the chapel and all the people will follow you and block your escape. (Hopefully you'll be able to figure out that something nasty's goin' on by now.) Head towards Balbaroy and the friar will teleport in. He's actually someone you know and really don't like. He'll leave and you'll fight another battle. When you win, you finish Chapter 2. Recommended level after battle 8: 9-10 Chapter 3 --------- Bustoke: You start here in this chapter. Explore the town (the armoury and item shop have no logo here) and afterwards, speak to the Queen to find out about Runefaust and the Quarry and speak to Diane to get her to join you. Also find out about Moon Stone,Lunar Dew and how they'll help Zylo. Now go to the Quarry. Quarry: Fight and win the battle then enter the cave. You'll find a chest with the Moon Stone. Return to Bustoke Recommended level after Battle 9: 10-11. Bustoke: Talk to the old alchemist and he'll make Lunar Dew to the Moon Stone. Now head to the jail cell where Zylo is found and talk to the girl just outside of the cell. She'll open it. Now talk to Zylo and use the Moon Dew (from the item menu) on him. He'll join you. Now head to one of the houses and find Kokichi trying to make a flying machine with machinery. Search the machinery and talk to Kokichi. He'll offer to test it for you. Follow him and he'll fly around and fall offg Bustoke Mountain. Now, leave Bustoke. Road to Pao Bridge: Win this easy battle and enter Pao Bridge. Recommended level after Battle 10: 11 Pao Bridge: Defeat the Laser Eye battle to win the chapter and Pelle will join you. Recommended level after Battke 11: 11 Chapter 4 --------- Pao: Explore the town and talk to Elliot. Afterwards explore the new wagons that the guards let you enter and talk to the Princess, the engineer and than the Princess again to get Pao to move. Once again, the armoury is unmarked aand remember that you must buy new weapons before Pao moves to use them in the next battle. Make sure to buy a Power Spear for Pelle because it's easy to forget to like I often do. Leave Pao. Elliot Battle: Get one Heat Axe from one of the Lizardmen and Egress back to Pao. Pao: Talk to Vankar to get him to join and then enter the Chapel and stand left of the Friar to see Jogurt fall over. He'll now be in your force. Elliot: Leave Pao and defeat Elliot being careful to kill the Heat Axe wielding Lizardman again. You'll notice that Pao has moved to a new location. Return to Pao's originial location to get Kokichi if you did his subquest in Bustoke. You can also get Vankar by talking to him. Recommended level after Battle 12: 12. 2nd Pao: There's new chests and also a man that will warm your Domingo Egg to allow Domingo to hatch and join you. Head to the Pig Pen and Guntz will join the Force. Now leave town and it's onward to the Wimpy Fortress of Balbazak. Fortress of Balbazak: Win the easy battle. Recommended level after Battle 13: Train to Level 13 or 14, promote your characters as explained in the FAQ section and then train to Level 3 Promoted. Uranbatol (Nice pun...:)): Nothing to do here. Earnest will join you and you have to talk to a guard to get him to open the shipyard. Also notice that you'll have 2 Heat Axes from the Elliot battle. Equip 'em on Gort and Luke now that they are promoted to make them fighting machines. Shipyard: Kill Balbazak and get the ship to win the chapter. Recommended level after Battle 14: 4 Promoted. Chapter 5 --------- Ship: Monsters attack your ship. Beat them and now-damaged ship will drift to the town of Waral. Recommended level after Battle 15: 5 Promoted. Waral: Uh oh, your ship is damaged and you cannot sail onward. Talk to the King and explore the town on foot throughly exploring the armoury before getting on the guest boat. Note that you need to use the guest boat to access the chapel. Now head to buoys and talk to the Mermaid blocking the opening and she'll move out of the way if you answer yes to her question. Go through the opening and you'll drift and get knocked out. Ring Reef: You'll wake up in a house. Talk to the friar and exit the house and you'll be on Ring Reef. Enter this little blue thing in the walled area to go to the Shining Path area. Shining Path Area: Follow the Skeleton and you'll fight a battle to gain access to the Shining Path. Win the battle and the Master Mage will sacrifice its life to block the Shining Path. If you Egress you'll wind up back in Waral. Just go to where you originally got the guest boat and a new one will seemingly magically appear and you can return to Ring Reef but you have to head there yourself this time instead of getting knocked out. Recommended level after Battle 16: 7 Promoted. Waral: Talk to the King to get your ship back and you'll leave Waral. Answer his question however the heck you want. Ship: Another easy sea battle (yawn). Just win to complete the chapter. Recommended level after Battle 17: 7-8 Promoted Chapter 6 --------- Rudo: You start Chapter 6 in the town of Rudo, which has been overrun by children. The layout of the town may be slightly confusing at first, but you'll get the hang of it after exploring thoroughly, which you will have to do anyways as you are blocked off from leading the town. Pay special attention to the buildings, as Lyle can be found in one of them and he will join the force. When you're done doing that, talk to Karen, who will tell you about Bleu, visit Krin in the library, and talk to Karen again. You will now be able to leave Rudo. Do so, after getting all the chests and upgrading your weapons if necessary. Road to Dragonia: Win this battle. It's not too bad. Recommended level after Battle 18: 9 Promoted Dragonia: (Note, do not enter the city until you are ready, you cannot leave until you defeat Kane) Explore the town, getting all the chests and then talk to Bleu. Follow him as he runs away and he will eventually be attacked by Kane. When the scene is done, talk to Kane, who will announce his intent to fight you after giving you time to prepare. Ho to the local Headquarters to resurrect dead characters, save your game, and make any necessary changes to your party before leaving. Kane will attack you when you exit HQ. Defeat him in battle. Afterwards, follow Kane to the gate in the middle of the city where a Hero of Light and of Darkness is needed. Proceed through the gate until you see a chest. Darksol will appear and take the contents of the chest and then proceed to severely injure Kane. After the scene, leave Dragonia and return to Rudo. Recommended level after Battle 19: 10-11 Promoted Rudo: Return to the library and talk to Karen and to Krin. They will tell you about a castle that appeared somewhere outside of town (I believe it is called Skull Castle). Leave town to fight another battle. Recommended Level after Battle 20: 11 Promoted Castle of Skulls: Defeat Mishaela. Just be careful not to get the Sword of Light until you have gotten all the other treasure chests (It's in the chest closest to Mishaela's throne). Defeating Mishaela and retrieving the Sword allows you to continue you on to Chapter 7. Recommended Level after Battle 21: 11-12 Promoted Note: Do not worry as much about levels any more, just be sure to train any character you use to at least Level 20 Promoted before the end of Chapter 7. Level 30+ would be nice for Domingo. Chapter 7 --------- Prompt: You begin the chapter in Prompt. Head to the Castle and talk to the King after exploring the city. You will be imprisoned, and some guy named Boken who you may have met over the course of your travels will save you. When you are freed, talk to King again and he will be forgiven and be requested to talk to Kane, who is severely injured in bed. Talk to Kane and then leave the castle and look for a big building in the city with two doors and a white sign. Search the sign to get Musashi to join your force. Leave town after checking out the weapon shop and go to the Tower of the Ancients. Road to the Tower: Win the battle and head East. Tower of the Ancients: Enter the Tower, get the chests, and win the battle. Note that there is a chest in the battlefield that I believe can only be gotten during the battle. It contains the almighty Valkyrie, the best Spear in the game. After winning the battle, you will encounter Alef and Torasu, a wizard and a priest from Prompt who will join your force. You must then proceed to a certain place in the tower where you will again encounter Darksol trying to get an important item for the release of Dark Dragon (cool name...NOT!). Kane will appear and Darksol will kill as he tries to save your butt. After your finished with the tower, return to Prompt. Prompt: Return to the King who will tell you about the Shining Path that can be reached from the castle. He will also give you the Sword of Darkness. Talk to the scholars in the castle library and then go through the Shining Path, which and be accessed on the floor just below the Castle, to reach Metapha. Metapha: Metapha is not a town. It actually feels like an extension of Prompt Castle. Explore the area until you find a pool. Use the Orb of Light to contact the Sprit of the Spring as you did in Chapter 2 and she will tell you about the Chaos Breaker (CB) (the most powerful sword in the game) and about your quest. Leave the area where the spring is located at Adam the Worthless Robot will join you. When you head to the area of Metapha where you first entered, Chaos and some other monsters will attack you. Defeat Chaos and you be able to progress farther into Metapha and into the area where you can create or summon or whatever the CB by using the Sword of Light and the Sword of Darkness as perscribed by the sign. Unfortunately, you will lose the two swords, but the CB looks freakin' cool, sort of like a Lightsabre. When you are finished, return to Prompt. Prompt: Talk to the King and then leave town. Road to Runefaust: Head South and you will see a gate guarded by enemies. This is the gate to the Kingdom of Runefaust. Kill all the enemies to win the chapter. Chapter 8 --------- Runefaust: You will be inside the gate now. Enter the city of Runefaust and explore the city, upgrading your weapons if necessary (though I doubt you'll need to). Next, look for a bush somewhere in the city with a glowing starry or shurikeny shaped thing. Search it and Hanzou the Ninja will join you. Now head West to what looks like an exit out of the city. In reality, it leads to Ramaldu's Castle (Not to be confused with Runefaust Castle). Ramaldu's Castle: In the first battle and get all the chests in the area. Then, head farther up to fight King Ramaladu. When you defeat King Ramaldu, leave the castle and you will be back in Runefaust. Runefaust: Enter Runefaust Castle now (in the North end of the city) and talk to Mahone or some guy with a name like that to learn about a secret passage in Ramaladu's Castle. Head back there. Ramaldu's Castle: Head west from the are where you first entered and you should find an alcove with stairs. Climb down the stairs and you'll be in wilderness west of Runefaust. Now go to the Westernmost point of the coast and use the Chaos Breaker as an item to raise the Castle of the Ancients in the middle of the sea. Castle of the Ancients: Now, enter the Gate of the Ancients (which looks like the first one near Guardinana) near Runefaust and head North. You should teleport to the Castle of the Ancients and fight Colossus. Defeat Colossus and contiue through the Castle of the Ancients to fight Darksol. Defeat Darksol and he will resurrect Dark Dragon and you will battle him right away. Defeat Dark Dragon to finish the game. Remember, however, that Egressing while fighting Dark Dragon will force you to rebattle Darksol. ============================================================================ 4. B A T T L E G U I D E ============================================================================ Read the FAQs for a trick or two about battle that I won't bother mentioning here. Remember though, that if Max dies, you'll return to the last town you saved in minus half your gold. The names of the battles were invented by me, the number of enemies in each battle was taken from Col. G. L. Sicherman's FAQ and the strategies, difficulty and recommended levels are all my own work. Please note that you should actually play this game a couple of levels below the recommended levels unless you have trouble. Chapter 1 --------- Battle 1: The Ancient Shrine Enemies: Goblin x5, Dark Dwarf x2, Rune Knight x1 Difficulty: 3.5/10 Strategies: This one's not too tough. Follow the directions in the walkthrough at the beginning of the battle before you fight. Use everyone to fight but cast Blaze with Tao and heal with Lowe and Gong. The Goblins are passive and tend not to attack you unless your next to them. Use this to your advantage. Be careful when you approach the Rune Knight because the Dark Dwarves will go after you and they're pretty strong with high defence. The Rune Knight is very strong with decent defence and high HP. Watch out for him. Killing the Rune Knight wins the battle. Recommended level after Battle 1: 3 Battle 2: The Return to Guardiana Enemies: Goblin x6, Dark Dwarf x3, Rune Knight x2 Difficulty: 2.5/10 Strategies: This should be an easy battle if you levelled up on the first battle. At the beginning, the terrain is bad so there will be a few turns where nothing happens. Just approach your enemies keeping your force close together with Hans, Tao and maybe Max going ahead of everybody else to slaughter the goblins. Hans fights well in the forest and you gotta use that loser for something. Tao is also useful as she has Blaze 2 which is good against the goblins because they are bunched together. Your leader can protect them but I doubt you'll need him to because Goblins are weaklings who'll barely hurt you. After taking care of the goblins, move up to the Dark Dwarfs with the whole force and take 'em out. The Rune Knights are extremely harmless in this battle because of a little trick. Hans and Ken have a range of two so have them stand across the river from the Rune knights and bombard them with spears and arrows. They won't attack you cause your not next to them and the AI can sometime be quite stupid in this game. Killing every enemy or entering Guardiana with Max will steal the day. Recommended level after Battle 2: 4 Battle 3: The Road to Alterone Enemies: Dark Dwarf x5, Rune Knight x5, Giant Bat x5 Difficulty: 6/10 Strategies: Unfortunately, this battle is quite a bit tougher than the pathetic second one. The Giant Bats will attack you from the river area while the Dark Dwarves will also mount an attack. Send a few people to take out the bats (watch out because though their wimps, they evade a lot of attacks and can put you to sleep) and the rest of the force take out the dwarves. Afterwards, move your guys up as a whole force and go after the Rune Knights and the other bats that cowered to the top of the screen. Watch out for the knights as they are still very dangerous and the Fearsome Five, as I call them, like to gang up on a single character. Win this battle by killing everyone or entering Alterone with Max. Recommended level after Battle 3: 4-5 Battle 4: The Battle of Alterone Enemies: Dark Mage I x1, Rune Knight x4, Sniper x2, Dark Dwarf x4, Giant Bat x4 Difficulty: 4.5/10 Strategies: This battle is still a bit tough but is easier than the last one. Early on, the Giant Bats will go after you. Slaughter there wimpy behinds and continue on with the fight. Move up a bit, and the Dark Mage and the Snipers will taunt you by going into a position where you can attack them with ranged attackers but they'll have the advantage. Remember that Snipers have arrows and Dark Mages can cast Blaze 2 four times before running out of MP. Ignore them and take them out later. Two Rune Knights will charge you. Kill them but heal if you're hurt after defeating them. The other 2 knights guard the bridge you need to cross to progress. Take them out with long-range attacks as they won't move to attack you and you can kill them without takin' a lickin'. Continue towards the remaining enemies who will be all bunched together. Hit them with Blaze 2s from Tao and use physical attacks to finish 'em off. Again, watch out for the Snipers and especially the mage. Killing all the enemies wins this battle. Recommended level after Battle 4: 5-6 Chapter 2 --------- Battle 5: The Road to Manarina Enemies: Dark Mage I x3, Zombie I x4, Giant Bat x4, Dark Dwarf x3, Sniper x2 Difficulty: 7.5/10 Strategies: This outdoor battle can really be a doozey towards the end. Luckily the beginning is extremely easy and just consists of bats and dwarves guarding a bridge. Take 'em out but be careful to not be put to sleep by the agile bats. Move up through the desert (which is excruciatingly slow) and take out the Snipers. As you approach Manarina, you'll have 4 Zombies and 3 mages to deal with. Zombie's are extremely strong with high defence and the ability to poison. I'm sure your all already sick of Dark Mages. Anyways, use a couple Blaze 2s on the Zombies as they are weak against fire and take out the mages with physical attacks while being careful to protect Max and your weak characters. Win by reaching Manarina with Max or by sending your enemies to an early grave. Recommended level after Battle 5: 6 Battle 6: The Cavern of Darkness -------------------------------- Enemies: Skeleton x1, Zombie I x3, Dark Mage I x4, Giant Bats x5, Snipers x2 Difficulty: 6.5/10 Strategies: The beginning of the battle consists of a couple zombies guarding a passage. Kill them with Blaze and physical attacks from strong characters. Afterwards continue and you'll fight some Giant Bats, Snipers and a Dark Mage. Take them out with Blaze 2s, attacks and Anri's Freeze 1 or Blaze 2 (if she already learned it). Now you'll run into 3 Dark Mages which is very dangerous if they get you before you get them. Don't let them and you should be able to kill them without much trouble. Now you still have Mr. Bones left to deal with. Use Blaze 2 spells (or Blaze 1 if that's all Anri has) because they annihilate him but try not to use physical attacks unless it's absolutely necessary. The Skeleton is even stronger than those darn Zombies. Killing good ol' Mr. Bones wins this fairly challenging battle. Recommended level after Battle 6: 7 Battle 7: Rumble in the Tent Enemies: Marionette (boss) x1, Dire Clown x2, Mannequin x3, Evil Puppet x3, Giant Bat x3 Difficulty: 9/10 Strategies: Don't let the unimpressive number of enemies fool you. This is definitely the hardest battle so far and one of the toughest in the whole game. The bats fall easily and give you just about no experience so you can ignore them unless they make you feel real sleepy. The puppets look like pushovers but they have Freeze 1 and Ominous Incantation. (10-15 damage!!) Get rid of them. The Mannequins aren't too bad because all they have is poison which is weak and easily treatable. The Dire Clowns are almost as tough as Zombies so be careful. Now, after you take out the henchmen, it's time for Marionette. She is HARD. Watch out for her Freeze 3 with can hit up to 5 characters for 14-18 damage usually killing them in one hit and keep Max FAR, FAR away from her. For more tips on how to beat her, read my Boss Strategies section. Recommended level after Battle 7: 8-9. Battle 8: Church of the Living Dead Enemies: Zombie I x2, Skeleton x3, Zombie II x4, Ghoul (boss) x1 Difficulty: 8.5/10 Strategies: Once again, bad things come in small packages. This tough battle only has 10 enemies. You'll notice that Max starts away from the rest of your force. Move him towards them as soon as you can or he'll perish rather quickly, costing you the battle. Since the undead baddies here are extremely strong but weak against fire, blaze 'em to death and protect your mages as they are the key to victory. Don't worry about the Zombie IIs because they have the same stats as Zombie's but give you more gold and much more EXP in this battle. When you take out the enemies, go after the Ghoul with a barrage of physical and magical attacks. The Ghoul is basically a Skeleton on steroids with the ability to put you to sleep. Watch out! Killing the Ghoul gets you out of this evil Chapel and into Chapter 3. Recommend level after Battle 8: 9-10. Chapter 3 Battle 9: The Rocky Quarry Enemies: Skeleton x6, Dark Priest x4, Master Mage x1, Lizardman x1, Dark Elf x2, Dark Mage II x2 Difficulty: 6.5/10 Strategies: This one is fairly tough but if you won the last two, it shouldn't be much of a problem. You'll run into with a couple of skeletons early on which are easily dealt with now that you got better weapons. After that you'll fight some Dark Priests whicha are pretty weak but can heal and some Dark Elves, a more powerful archer. Go after the elves being careful not to stand 2 squares from them and take out the priests. Continue down and you'll fight a few more wimps before dealing with the powerful Lizardman and the dangerous Master Mage. Take 'em out but watch out for the Master Mage because he has 33 attack and can cast Freeze 2. Kill this evil wizard and victory is yours. Recommended Level after the battle, 10-11. Battle 10: The Road to Pao Bridge Enemies: Lizardman x2, Pegasus Knight x4, Sniper x2, Dark Mage II x2, Skeleton x5 Difficulty: 3/10 Strategies: This is an easy battle. Just move up and take out the enemies. Watch out for the Pegasus Knights who are quick and fairly strong and use Zylo to his full potential because the terrain here slows everyone down but gives him a BIG advantage. Kill all the enemies or have Max reach the bridge to win. Recommended level after the battle, 11. Battle 11: We'll Cross that Bridge When We Come to It... Difficulty: 6/10 Enemies: Dark Elf x3, Silver Knight x2, Laser Eye, Pegasus Knight x3, Lizarman x5, Dark Priest x2 Strategies: This battle isn't as difficult as you'd think. Basically, you should just wait about a gazillion turns for the Laser Eye to kill the Dark Priest and the 3 Lizardmen. After that, charge the bridge and go after the Laser Eye quickly while taking out Pegasus Knights that get in your way. Kill the Laser Eye or just go past it and then defeat the boss, the Silver Knight that's the farthest from where your characters start the battle. Again, watch your position with the Dark Elves. I don't know why the heck the Silver Knight's boss because he's actually the wussiest enemy in the battle. Recommended level after the battle: 11. Chapter 4 Battle 12: General Elliot's Last Stand Enemies: Elliot (Boss), Artillery I x1, Pegasus Knight x4, Lizard Man x5, Silver Knight x4, Dark Priest x3 Difficulty: 5/10 Strategies: This is not that hard a battle at all. Move across the prairie and take out the Pegasus Knights and the Lizardmen (one is very strong and will give you a Heat Axe. It's recommended that you fight this battle at least twice to get 2 Heat Axes for Gort and Luke when they're promoted. It pays off big time.)and them take out the Silver Knights and the Dark Priests. You'll be left with an Artillery, Elliot and a Dark Priest. Kill the Dark Priest and the Artillery (realizing that the Artillery is an archer type and can only attack from 2 squares) and then use your range attackers to kill Elliot without getting hit. Recommended level after Battle 12: 12. Battle 13: The Wimpy Fortress of Balbazak Enemies: Silver Knight x6, Artillery x1, Hell Hound x2, Dark Priest x3, Pegasus Knight x3 Difficulty: 1/10 Strategies: Just annihilate everything and than Egress to do it some more and gain a ton of levels. This is and extremely easy battle with enemies that give a lot of EXP (except the Dark Priest) and the only threat is that the Hellhounds occasionally breathe fire which can hurt you between 9-13. That is why I did not give this battle a 0. It is a good idea here to promote your characters when they reache level 13 and than train them to Level 3 promoted. Recommended level after battle: 3 Promoted. Battle 14: Rumble in the Shipyard Enemies: Balbazak (Boss), Hellhound x2, Artillery x3, Silver Knight x2, Seabat x5, 1 Evil Puppet, 1 Dark Priest Difficulty: 3/10 Strategies: This guy's even easier than Elliot. Just annihilate the enemies and use the same strategy you used to defeat Elliot. Seabats are weak versions of Pegasus Knights that give more EXP for some reason. Recommended level after battle 14: 4 Promoted. Chapter 5 Battle 15: Lost at Sea Difficulty Level: 0/10 Enemies: Shellfish x2, Conch x3, Seabat x4, Pegasus Knight x3 Strategies: This battle doesn't need strategy because it's so pathetically easy. Just kill everything. Recommended level after Battle 15: 5 Promoted. Battle 16: The Reef and the Path Enemies: Hellhound x5, Skeleton x5, Seabat x4, Worm x3, Master Mage x1 Difficulty: 2.5/10 Strategies: This battle is more challenging than the last but is still a cinch. Just divide your characters and slaughter the insanely weak enemies. This Master Mage can't heal like the first one but still has Freeze 2. Kill the mage to win. Recommended level after Battle 16: 7 promoted. Battle 17: Sailing Away to Prompt Enemies: Gargoyle x1, Conch x6, Shellfish x4, Seabat x5, Pegasus Knight x2 Difficulty: 0/10 Strategy: See Battle 15 except that wimpy monsters appear during the battle (reflected in the enemies section of this battle). Just a warning that the enemies are about much stronger next chapter, so don't sit on your rear end and expect to breeze through the rest of the game. Recommended level after Battle 17: 7-8 promoted Chapter 6 --------- Battle 18: Road to the City of Dragons Enemies: Durahan (Shouldn't that be Dullahan?) I x1, Artillery II x5, Golem x5, Master Mage x3, Worm x4, High Priest I x1, Difficulty: 5/10 Strategy: This one is more challenging than it looks, but is still relatively easy. Head through to the rough terrain towards the enemies guarding Dragonia, but be careful, as enemies will magically appear to block your path. The Worms and Artillery II are pathetically weak but the Golems have good defense while Master Mages still have deadly spells. Win by defeating the Durahan guarding Dragonia or by entering Dragonia with Max. Recommended Level after Battle 18: 9 Promoted Battle 19: Am I Kain or am I Cane? Enemies: Cane/Kain (boss), Gargoyle x3, Golem x4, High Priest I x2, Durahan I x2, Master Mage x3 Difficulty: 7.5/10 Strategy: Although Kain himself is deadly, many of the enemies do not pack much of a punch. The Gargoyles are harmless, the Golems do not cause much damage despite their defense and even Master Mages are showing their wear though their Freeze 2 is still brutal. Don't be lulled though, as Kain had 2 Durahans and a Master Mage to protect him as well as a High Priest to kill him. When you finally get to Kain and his little posse, kill the High Priest first, kill the Master Mage, and then kill the Durahans. With his defenses out of the way, Kane should be less deadly. But watch out for his high attack power and his Desoul magic which he can use through the Dark Sword and for safety reasons, keep Max FAR away. Eventually, you will win with a coordinated effort from your entire force. Recommended Level after Battle 19: Level 10-11 Promoted Battle 20: The Endurance Trek Enemies: Bowrider x2, Belial x3, Gargoyle x2, Master Mage x4, Golem x4, High Priest I x2 Difficulty: 6/10 Strategy: As the lame name suggests, this is one LONG battle! Although many enemies present are pretty much cannon fodder, the Bowriders have fairly high attack power and the Belials can screw you over with a couple of nasty Bolt 2 spells. The terrain is also bad, but this makes the battle more long that it is hard. Keep it up and you'll eventually reach Skull Castle. Recommended Level after Battle 20: Level 11 Promoted Battle 21: Misfortune of the Fortune Teller Enemies: Mishaela (boss), Gargoyle x3, Master Mage x4, High Priest x1, Bowrider x3, Durahan II x2, Belial x3 Difficulty: 7/10 Strategy: Without Mishaela, this would be one of those relatively easy battles. Most of the enemies are weak, although the Belials, the Master Mages (which can Freeze 2 you 4 times in a row because of their positioning), and even the Bowriders can cause problems if you are not careful. Take out Misahela's flunkies quickly and then proceed with caution toards. Mishaela. When you reach her, watch out for her Bolt 2, and use the Power Ring on the character attacking her as only one character can hit her from one square a way. Obviously, archers and mages help a lot as you can hit with more than one character at a time which makes her HP recovery far less dangerous. Just remember to get the Sword of Light after you've open every other chest, otherwise the chapter will end and you will miss out on some nice items. Recommended Level after Battle 20: Level 11-12 Promoted Chapter 7 --------- Battle 22: The Trail to the Tower Enemies: Minotaur x1, Wyvern x2, Torch Eye x2, Jet x2, Durahan II x4, Belial x2 Difficulty: 6.5/10 Strategy: This is another battle in rough terrain that also introduces some deadly new enemies. Pretty much enemy here can be dangerous except for the Durahan II and Belials. The Torch Eye is especially deadly as it has an attack range of 2 and can hit for around 20 HP of damage regardless of your defense. The wyvern has lower attack power but features a more powerful version of the Hellhound's Flame ability while the Jets are fast and packs some decent attack, good defense, and above average magic power. The big, slow, strong Minotaur guarding the Tower of the Ancients is the boss here and you should be able to come through if you are well-levelled or plan an intelligent strategy. Battle 23: The Ordealic Climb Enemies: Demon Master II x1, Ice Worm x5, Wyvern x2, Torch Eye x3, Steel Claw x4, Jet x3 Difficulty: 7.5/10 Strategy: This is the dreaded "climbing the towe" battle found in both this game and its sequel. Luckily, although still challenging, it is considerably easier here. Despite this, the battle is no creampuff either. Every enemy here has a dangerous attack and is a worthy opponent, and unless you have a wide variety of fighting styles, you are at a disadvantage. The Demon Master, who is your target, is especially bad, as it has Freeze 3, and because of its positioning, it can often hit you 1 or 2 turns before you can even attack it. Unless you have good fliers and ranged attackers, you will only be able to use one attacker at a time. Remember to get the chest containing the Valkyrie, as I believe you will be unable to get it after this battle. Battle 24: The Chaos Theory Enemies: Chaos (Boss), Minotaur x2, Demon Master II x3, Torch Eye x4, Ice Worm x4, Jet x4 Difficulty: 4/10 Strategy: Don't let the enemies fool you, this boss battle is not difficult at all for one reason only. Chaos will come charging right at you and attack you. Chaos, although fairly strong, is a weakling compared to Kane (which is unacceptable for this stage of the game...imho), and he should fall within a couple of turns before many of the enemies can even touch you. Just watch out for the Torch Eyes and don't get cocky and fight everything unless your levels are high, otherwise, you may be overwhelmed. Battle 25: Ramming the Gate Enemies: Armed Skeleton x5, Horseman x3, Cerberus x4, Demon Master I x2, Minotaur x3, High Priest II x1 Difficulty: 6/10 Strategy: This one is not all that bad. The Cerberuses are like Wyvern's except they cannot fly, Minotaurs should not be very intimidating anymore, and the Demon Masters and High Priest are placed in positions were they are not all that dangerous. The Horsemen are moderately powerful archers with horrendous defense, but The Armed Skeleton, however, make this bettle fairly challenging if you're not careful. They can attack from up to 2 spaces with a laser-like power that hurts for 30 - 35 and they have 62 in attack power with their Great Axes. Just be careful and you should have little problems defeating all the enemies to win this battle and finish Chapter 7. Chapter 8 --------- Battle 26: Castle of Horrors Enemies: Blue Dragon x3, Chimera x5, Armed Skeleton x3, Cerberus x3, Horseman x3, High Priest II x2 Difficulty: 7.5/10 Strategy: This one's a toughie. The Chimeras have excellent all around stats, can fly, and evade frequently. Take them out quickly with powerful before they wreck havoc on your ranks. Watch out for their Firebreath as well. Blue Dragons are like Chimeras only ice-based and significantly less dangerous. When you take them out though, watch out for the Horsemen backing them up. They can reach you but you can't reach them unless you have Lyle or a good mage. The Armed Skeletons are as dangerous as ever, but the High Priests and the Cerberuses are far from worthy opponents. Take out everything cautiously and efficiently and you should get to King Ramladu in the next battle. Battle 27: Ramladus's Technological Trap. Enemies: Ramladu (Boss), Torch Eye x6, Steel Claw x6 Difficulty: 5.5/10 Strategy: There are two ways to beat this...The easy way, or the fun way. The easy way consists of charging up and slaughtering Ramladu and the fun way consists of busting up his robo-guards as they chase you. If you go the easy way, kill Ramladu quickly as he recovers 24 HP per turn and has 95 attack!!!!! If you choose to kill the Robo-guards, Ramladu himself will cause a lot less trouble. Use Bolt 3 and powerful attacks to kill the robots, cast Aura 4 to heal your party to full power and defeat Ramladu using the infamous Elliot/Balbazak cheat (see boss strategies for more info). Battle 28: Three Heads Are Better Than One Enemies: Colossus x3 (Boss), Chimaera x6, Blue Dragon x3, Jet x3, Horseman x2, Armed Skeleton x3 Difficulty: 7/10 Strategy: The beginning can be quite difficult, as Jets, Blue Dragons, and Chimeras will surround you from the air while Horsemen and Armed Skeletons will pepper you with ranged attacks. Once you manage to defeat the Blue Dragons and the Chimeras, this battle becomes a lot easier. The Jets are honestly not much to worry about anymore, the Horsemen often fall to one blow, and the Armed Skeletons are much easier to deal wih if you destroy their back-up. Colossus himself isn't too bad either. He consists of three heads which can move independently to different sections of the battle fields. One head casts Blaze 3, the other casts Freeze 3, and the only that cause any real trouble is the third which casts Bolt 3. Kill All three heads to proceed to Darksol. Battle 29: Caller of the Dragon Enemies: Darksol (Boss), Torch Eye x8, Steel Claw x5, Blue Dragon x2, High Priest II x2 Difficulty: 8/10 Strategy: This battle is all about strategy if you do not have Archers and Fliers to help you. First off, you should wait a couple turns for the Torch Eyes to position themselves. Move up towards Darksol with your characters, being careful to stop out of range of the Torch Eyes. When you reach Darksol, the worst is over, but the battle is still no walk in the park. Darksol has quite a few powerful flunkies around him and has a powerful attack of his own, Demon Breath, which can hurt a small group of characters for 30 - 35 points of damage. Take him out quickly with powerful attackers and be careful not to get anyone killed, you will not have an opportinity to heal before you fight Dark Dragon. That fact alone makes the battle considerably harder. Battle 30: The Unsealed Evil Enemiews: Dark Dragon x3 (Boss), Armed Skeleton x2+ Difficulty: 5/10 Strategy: Compared to almost all of the last bosses that I have fought in RPGs, this guy's not very challenging at all, especially if you fough well against Darksol and have all your characters alive. First off, kill the two Armed Skeletons and start attacking Dark Dragon's centre head, as it has some fairly nasty attacks including a more powerful version of Darksol's Demon Breath attack. As soon as you kill the skeletons (which should only take 1 or 2 hits), stand on the point where they spawned at the beginning of the battle with your healers so that they will not respawn in a few turns. If you have Torasu, using Aura 4 if you get weak would give him something to do as he keeps the Armed Skeletons at bay. Keep beating on the centre head with physical attacks and Level 4 magic spells and use characters that cannot get to the centre head to start attacking the two side heads. The centre head will die after you do 200 - 250 points of damage. After the centre head is dealt with, this battle should be a piece of cake. The side heads only have Blaze 2, Freeze 2, and Desoul 1 and they are also very vulnerable to magic. I believe that they can also use Bolt 4, but it's never happened to me. They too have 200 - 250 HP. After you kill the side heads, take a deep breath, relax and give yourself a pat on the back for completing the second easiest Strategy-RPG (behind Der Langrisser for SFC) ever made. ============================================================================ 5. C H A R A C T E R G U I D E ============================================================================ If any one would like to add something or offer a different opinion about these characters please E-Mail me and I may put it into the description if I have time. Max (8.5/10): You're main character. He has high attack (among the best attack in party when promoted), very high HP and decent agility throughout the game. His defence becomes really good when he's promoted but it's only about average before promotion. Start: SDMN, Promoted: HERO. Lowe (6.5/10): Lowe is a good healer with great healing magic and he gets to use it a lot. His fighting ability is not that bad either and he has fair HP and defence. Start: HEAL, Promoted: VICR Tao (6/10): A decent mage with great fire magic but poor fighting and defensive ability. She has lots of MP. I personally prefer Anri. Start: MAGE, promoted: WIZD Luke (8/10): A good warrior with high attack, high defence and decent HP. He's a bit slow though. Start: WARR, promoted: GLDT. Ken (4.5/10): A knight with high HP, decent attack, decent agility but very low defence. I tend not to keep him past Chapter 5 because Pelle, Mae and Guntz are A LOT better. Start: KNTE, promoted: PLDN. Hans (2/10): A very crappy archer. He starts off good but all he winds up with is a lot of speed because he only gains agility when he goes up levels and almost never earns attack or defence. I don't think I've ever kept him long enough to promote him. Start: ACHR, promoted: BWMS. Gong (7/10): A decent healer with great fighting ability and defence. Be careful not to let him lag in levels and don't promote him too early or at the wrong time. Otherwise, he'll suck. Start: MONK, promoted: MSMK. Mae (8.5/10): Another knight. Though her attack is only above average and her HP are only all right, she has extremely high defence and agility. Her defence is so high that most physical attacks only hurt her for 1 point of damage. By the time she reaches level 8-9, her attack is higher than Ken's and her attack and HP get high once she becomes promoted. Start: KNTE, promoted: PLDN. Gort (6.5/10): Like Luke but better early on yet not quie as good towards the end. Start: WARR, promoted: GLDT. Khris (7.5/10): A lot of people think she sucks but she's a lot like Lowe if you keep her levelled up with the rest of the force. She has a bit more attack and defence but has less MP. She also has some different (imho better) spells. Start: HEAL, promoted: VICR. Anriv (8/10): She starts off very weak and is similar to Tao but with a better balance of attacking spells. Her defence becomes very high when she gets promoted but nots high as Mae, Pelle, Guntz, Domingo or Max. Pretty low HP though. Start: MAGE, promoted: WIZD. Arthur (1.5/10): Sucks, sucks, sucks. He's a wimpy knight with low attack, defence and very crappy agility and HP. His only redeeming quality is the ability to kick him out of your fighting force. The instruction manual worships him because he learns a few wussy spells at high levels. Someone also said he's the best fighting knight in the game at high levels. Ha, ha, ha. He makes Ken look like Pelle. Karl Plouffe informed me a couple days ago that Arthur becomes an excellent member of the force later on. Start: KNTE, promoted: PLDN. Balbaroy (7.5/10): Don't be fooled. This Birdman starts off weak but that's only because he joins at a very low level. His attack gets high and his agility is the best in your party. His defence isn't the greatest but he has good HP and dodges a lot of attacks. Besides he can fly so he can move over anything and has a huge movement range. He's also the only character besides Max who can use the Sword of Darkness. I used to never take him because he sucked at first. His Sky Warrior attack also looks really cool. Start: BDMN, promoted: SKYW. Amon (1/10): Even worse than Arthur. A very weak version of Balbaroy with whom I never bothered. Take her if you want the game to be harder but otherwise, throw this ugly birdlady in the trash heap with Arthur and Hans. The saddest part is that she's Balbaroy's wife so you'd expect her to be useful. Start: BDMN, promoted: SKYW. Diane (6/10): A big improvement over Hans. Her attack is actually strong enough to damage the bad guys and she won't die in one hit like her pathetic sparring partner. Start: ACHR, promoted: BWMS. Zylo (7/10): This Wolf dude starts off a lot better than Diane or Balbaroy and is much more experienced so you don't have to train him as much. He has high attack, high defence, lots of HP and incredible agility and movement range. He can move through forest and mountains with no movement range penalty. Be careful though, if you promote him too early, he'll fight like he's been a practicin' with Arthur and Amon. You might also not wish to take him as you fight many more battles indoors where his movement range goes WAY down. Start: WRWF, promoted: WFBN. Pelle (9/10): Forget about Mae cause if you only take one knight, it better be him. His attack is very high, his defence is incredible and he's fast until he gets promoted when his agility falls behind everyone else and he has high HP. Oh, and he was at Level 8 unpromoted when I got him while the rest of my frontliners were at 11-12 unpromoted. Mae catches up with him pretty close after promotion though and if you train a lot of characters, you may find that there are slightly better characters. All in all though, keep him on your team unless you have a lot of time to spend training Bleu, Alef, and Torasu. Start: KNTE, promoted: PLDN. Vankar (3/10): I never took him and I heard he's horrible. His stats aren't that good. If anyone knows more about him, please contact me. Start: KNTE, promoted: PLDN. Kokichi (4/10): A Winged Knight. In theory, he should a good knight-birdman combo but his stats are so crappy that you may as well just take both Pelle and Balbaroy. If you like him, contact me and tell me why. Start: WKNT, promoted: SKYL. Jogurt (0/10): Did I say Arthur and Amon suck? God I'm stupid! This is the worst character in any RPG that I've ever played. He has 1 in every stat and can get no higher than level 1. If by some miracle, he actually kills an enemy, you get a Jogurt Ring which makes another character look like Jogurt for one battle if it is equipped. Whoopee. If you like him, maybe you should play a loser game like Barbie's Dream Vacation. Start: YGRT, promoted: N/A. Guntz (9/10): He is GOOD. His defence gets so ridiculously high that if you train him a lot and gain good levels, the only enemy that could hurt him for more than 1 damage with physical attacks is Ramladu and possibly Kane. His attack is also high. He's slow though and has fairly low HP so be careful around magic users. Please give him a darn mobility ring as his movement range is only 4. Start: SKNT, promoted: SBRN Domingo (8/10): A special magical creature with a screwed up sense of humour (really, I prefer Kyle from Lunar: SSSC). His starting stats are a little low but he gets incredible magic and his defence gets very high. His attack is below average but he is also quick and can last quite a while in battle. He floats when he moves and he gains levels quickly which could be why all his stats get so freakin' high, although he does become a little weaker by the end of the game. Start: MGCR, promoted: N/A. Earnest (4.5/10): A lot of people really like him but I don't take him cause I have better characters and I don't need another darn knight. Besides, his stats are actually a bit worse overall than Vankar's which is pathetic. A few people told me that Earnest is a useful character, so try him if you want. Start: KNTE, promoted: PLDN Lyle (9/10): Lyle may start off VERY weak but if you train him, WOW!!!!! You got an archer with 65+ plus attack and 40+ defense by the end of the game. Definitely worth it for the more patient players. Starts: ASKT, promoted: SKNT Bleu (10/10): No, this is not a typo. Bleu may seem completely worthless, but please do yourself a favour and take the time to train him up to Level 10 promoted the first battle you get him by having him kill Gargoyles and then stronger enemies as he becomes the Orlandu of this game(do not promote him until he reaches Level 20). By the time he reached Level 25 promoted for me, he had Attack, Defense and HP of 80+, good enough to beat Darksol in a one-on-one battle if he gets at least one critical hit!!!!!!!!! Note that using Bleu in this way completely unbalances the game as he can also fly over walls and the like. Start: DRGN, promoted: GRDR. Alef (9/10): The best mage in the game, but like Bleu, she takes a lot of training. She is a Bolt specialisit who is also competent in Blaze and Freze and she has physical stats only slightly below Anri's. Start: MAGE, promoted: WIZD. Torasu (9.5/10): Like Alef. he's the best at what he does after he is trained for a couple of hours. Torasu becomes an Aura specialist after gaining a few levels. For a cost of 18 of his 65+ MP, he can cast Aura 4 and bring all living characters back to full HP. Another el cheapo character. Start: HEAL, Promoted: VICR. Musashi (9/10): A samurai. His attack and defence are incredible. Take him or else but please let him have a mobile ring or a turbo pepper! Start: SMR, promoted: N/A. Adam (2/10): A robot. He's just as big a loser as Bleu. If you actually take him, I suggest watching Barney, you might actually learn something. Start: RBT, promoted: CYBG. Hanzou (9.5/10): Imagine a Musashi clone who uses magic. Enough said. You gotta take him as he'll make your Shining Force a real force. Start: NINJ, promoted: come on, it's the end of the game. ============================================================================ 6. C L A S S A N D P R O M O T I O N G U I D E (Taken from Col. G. L. Sicherman's FAQ) ============================================================================ RANKS - symbols, names, and moves unpromoted promoted move ACHR archer BWMS bowmaster 5 ASKT assault knight SKNT strike knight 7 BDMN birdman SKYW sky warrior 7 DRGN dragon GRDR great dragon 5 HEAL healer VICR vicar 5 KNT knight PLDN paladin 7 MAGE mage WIZD wizard 5 MGCR magic creature 5 MONK monk MSMK master monk 5 NINJ ninja 7 RBT robot CYBG cyborg 4 SDMN swordsman HERO hero 6 SKNT steam knight SBRN steam baron 4 SMR samurai 5 WARR warrior GLDR gladiator 6 WKNT winged knight SKYL sky lord 6 WRWF warwolf WFBN wolf baron 7 YGRT yogurt 7 ============================================================================ 7. I T E M S A N D W E A P O N S (Taken from Moogie and Sir Fil's Shining Force Page except for the shop guide which was taken from Col. G. L. Sicherman's page. Some small corrections and changes were made to Moogie and Sir Fil's info.) ============================================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapons ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Swords -------- Weapon Equip On Attack Notes ------ -------- ------ ----- Short Sword SDMN, WARR, BDMN +5 - Middle Sword SDMN, WARR, BDMN +8 - Long Sword SDMN, BDMN +12 - Steel Sword HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR +15 - Broad Sword HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR +20 - Doom Blade HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR +25 - Katana HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR +30 - Sword of Light HERO +36 Bolt 2 Sword of Darkness HERO, SKYW +40 Desoul 1 Chaos Breaker HERO +40 Freeze 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spears and Lances ------------------ Weapon Equip on Attack Notes ------ ---------- ------ ----- Spear KNTE, WGKN, SMKN +6 - Bronze Lance KNTE, WGKN, SMKN +9 - Power Spear KNTE, WGKN, SMKN +15 - Steel Lance PLDN, SBRN, SKYL +18 - Chrome Lance PLDN, SBRN, SKYL +22 - Halberd (Lance) PLDN, SBRN, SKYL +25 Bolt 1 Valkyrie (Spear) PLDN, SBRN, SKYL +35 - Devil Lance PLDN, SBRN, SKYL +35 Cursed ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Axes ---- Weapon Equip on Attack Notes ------ ---------- -------- ------- Hand Axe Warr +7 - Middle Axe WARR +11 - Battle Axe WARR +16 - Heat Axe GLDT +22 Blaze 2 Great Axe GLDT +26 - Atlas Axe GLDT +33 Blaze 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Staves ------ Weapon Equip On Attack Notes ------ -------- ------ ----- Wooden Staff HEAL, MAGE +4 - Power Staff HEAL, MAGE +12 - Holy Staff VICR +26 - Guardian Staff VICR, WIZD +18 - Demon Rod WIZD +35 Steals MP, Cursed ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arrows ------ Weapon Equip on Attack Notes ------ -------- ------ ----- Wooden Arrow ACHR, ASKT +8 - Iron Arrow ACHR, ASKT +13 - Elven Arrow ACHR, ASKT +18 - Assault Shell BWMS, SKNT +27 - Buster Shot BWMS, SKNT +35 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Restoring Items --------------- Item Use ---- --- Medical Herb Restore 10 HP Healing Seed Restore 20 HP Antidote Cure poison Shower of Cure Heal all characters Angel Wing Return you to last town you saved in ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boosting Items -------------- Item Use ---- --- Bread of Life Increase max HP Power Potion Increase attack Defense Potion Increase defence Legs of Haste Increase agility Turbo Pepper Increase movement range ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rings ----- Item Equip Spell Location ---- ----- ----- -------- Speed Ring AGI +4 Egress Rindo Power Ring ATT +4 Boost 1 Cavern of Darkness Mobility Ring MOV +2 - Waral Shield Ring DEF +4 - ??? White Ring DEF +6 Aura 1 Demon Castle Black Ring ATT +6 Blaze 3 Demon Castle Cursed Evil Ring ATT +8 Bolt 3 Demon Castle Cursed Yogurt Ring Figure it - Kill monster with Jogurt Out Yourself Note: Spells can be used without equipping the rings. Useful when using a cursed ring to cast a spell. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key Items --------- Item Use Location ---- --- -------- Domingo Egg Hatch it to In a room with a mage and a machine in get Domingo Manarina. Search the machine to find Orb of Life To speak to the In a chest in the Cave of Darkness Spirit of the Holy Spring Moon Stone To make Lunar dew The Moonstone Cave in Bustoke Quarry needed to cure Zylo Lunar Dew Cures Zylo Give the Moonstone to the old man in Bustoke ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shop Guide Guar Alte Rind Bust Pao Uran Wara Rudo Drag Prom Rune WEAPONS Short Sword 100 x x Middle Sword 250 x x Long Sword 750 x Steel Sword 2500 x x Broad Sword 4800 x x Spear 150 x x x Bronze Lance 300 x x x Power Spear 900 x x x Steel Lance 3000 x Chrome Lance 4500 x x x Hand Axe 200 x x Middle Axe 600 x x Battle Axe 2600 x x Great Axe 10000 x x Wooden Staff 80 x x x Power Staff 500 x x x x Guardian Staff 3200 x Holy Staff 8000 x x Wooden Arrow 320 x x x Steel Arrow 1200 x x Elven Arrow 3200 x x Assault Shell 4500 x Buster Shot 12400 x ITEMS Medical Herb 10 x x x x x x x x x x x Healing Seed 200 x x x x x x x x x x x Antidote 20 x x x x x x x x x Angel Wing 40 x x x x x x x x x x x ============================================================================ 8. M O N S T E R G U I D E ============================================================================ HP MP Atk. Def. Move Agl. Cns. Armed Skeleton 36 -- 36 33 5 32 2120 Artillery I 14 -- 24 15 4 14 180 Artillery II 14 -- 24 15 4 14 450 Balbazak 65 -- 16 18 5 20 520 Belial 21 35 26 20 6 22 680 BOLT I; MUDDLE I; demon smile Blue Dragon 50 -- 63 32 5 42 2500 cold breath Bowrider 18 -- 13 11 7 14 900 Cain - see Kane Cerberus 27 -- 42 26 7 38 1700 fire breath Chaos 65 -- 50 35 6 32 2000 laser Chimaera 56 -- 65 30 6 40 2300 fire breath Colossus 65 ?? 50 40 4 37 2500 BLAZE, FREEZE, or BOLT III Conch 21 -- 20 15 6 16 230 poison Dark Dragon L R 240 ?? 65 40 0 60 ---- BLAZE II; FREEZE II; BOLT IV; M 280 " " " " " ---- DESOUL II; demon blaze Dark Dwarf 12 -- 5 8 4 5 25 Dark Elf 16 -- 13 9 6 10 160 Dark Mage I 13 26 6 6 5 9 92 BLAZE II Dark Mage II 14 26 7 8 5 12 170 BLAZE II Dark Priest 16 25 9 9 5 10 125 HEAL I Darksol 150 ?? 40 35 6 54 ---- demon blaze Demon Master I 27 46 17 24 6 45 1520 FREEZE III Demon Master II 27 46 17 24 6 50 1850 FREEZE III Dire Clown 15 -- 18 11 5 7 130 Durahan I 22 -- 19 28 5 13 700 sleep Durahan II 22 -- 19 28 6 13 840 sleep Elliott 60 -- 20 17 5 16 450 Evil Puppet I 14 15 14 10 5 7 100 FREEZE I, ominous incant. Evil Puppet II 14 15 14 14 5 7 100 HEAL I, ominous incantation Gargoyle 18 20 26 15 6 20 440 MUDDLE I; sleep Ghoul 25 -- 23 14 6 9 200 sleep Giant Bat 14 -- 11 6 7 9 60 sleep Goblin 12 -- 4 6 5 5 12 Golem 17 -- 28 28 4 16 380 Hellhound 19 -- 10 13 7 13 200 fire breath High Priest I 20 33 13 14 6 13 750 HEAL IV High Priest II 20 33 13 14 6 13 1340 HEAL IV High Priest III 20 33 13 14 7 13 1340 HEAL IV Horseman 24 -- 18 16 7 17 1550 Ice Worm 30 12 40 25 5 26 1030 cold breath; sleep Jet 28 -- 45 32 7 33 1430 Kane 70 24 25 30 6 29 1200 Laser Eye 30 -- 14 19 0 27 350 laser blast Lizardman 20 -- 13 12 6 12 150 Mannequin 16 -- 16 10 5 8 125 poison Marionette 35 ?? 25 13 6 13 200 FREEZE III Master Mage 22 32 7 13 5 26 850 FREEZE II; sleep Minotaur 31 -- 46 30 5 31 1500 Mishaela 65 ?? 42 30 6 35 1500 BOLT II Pegasus Knight 18 -- 12 16 7 12 180 Ramladu 99 ?? 67 40 6 49 3000 AURA III Rune Knight 14 -- 7 7 7 7 45 Seabat 22 -- 20 14 7 14 350 Shellfish 25 -- 23 16 6 23 270 poison Silver Knight 16 -- 9 12 7 11 75 Skeleton 15 -- 13 16 6 7 140 Sniper 13 -- 7 5 5 7 80 Steel Claw 25 -- 43 31 5 31 1220 laser Torch Eye 28 -- 42 32 6 27 1350 laser Worm 17 -- 20 16 4 16 400 sleep Wyvern 32 -- 39 30 7 31 1350 fire breath Zombie I 15 -- 18 13 5 7 100 poison Zombie II 15 -- 18 13 5 7 140 poison Attack does not include weapon. (Don't ask me why, I took this from Col. G. L. Sicherman's walkthrough with a couple of very minor changes as he welcomes additions and corrections.) ============================================================================ 9. B O S S G U I D E ============================================================================ Note: All bosses expect Laser Eye and some of the later ones are extremely resistant to magic. It can still be useful to get an extra couple of damage, however. (Number in brackets indicates the number of HP recovered by this boss per turn.) Marionette (7): The first real boss. She's a real **censored** as she can kill most of your characters in one hit with her Freeze Level 3 spell. She also regains HP and MP. To beat her, kill all the other enemies and surround her. If someone dies, replace that character immediately as she doesn't cast Freeze Level 3 as often when she is surrounded. This boss is still tough because her attack is pretty high. Oh and one more thing, keep Max as far away from her as possible. Laser Eye (0): Though you don't have to kill it to win the battle, it's very dangerous because it can wipe out weaker characters in its line of fire. Kill it quickly and then do whatever you want to win the battle. You can also use Balbaroy to fly around it and kill the wimpy Silver Knight that you must kill in order to win the battle. Elliot (15): He's easier than Marionette and Laser Eye but still packs a good punch if you're not careful. Kill all his wimpy friends first and then surround him with strong dudes before proceeding to beat the crap out of him. You can also just use range attacks and magic to beat him from a distance as he doesn't move and won't be able to hurt you. Balbazak (15): Fight him the same way as Elliot. He's really easy and I cannot understand why he gives so many people trouble. Kane (15): Now you're in trouble. Thank God his little buddies usually only hurt you for 1 point of damage. His attack is extremely high and so is his defence. He also has the Sword of Darkness which can cast Desoul possibly killing one of your characters automatically. Fight him like Elliot and Balbazak but be very careful and don't use your leader on him. In fact make your leader stay far, far away. Don't worry if he gives you at least as much trouble as Marionette. He's tough. For some reason though, he is called Cain in this battle and Kane everywhere else. Hmmm... maybe Sega should have let Working Designs translate this game. Oh well, at least the translation's better here than in the sequel, right Evil Spilit? Mishaela (15): Her attack sucks but watch out, you can only attack her with one character at a time and her defence is quite high. Watch out for her Bolt Level 2 and use the Power Ring if you need it to hurt her. Heck, don't be afraid to break the ring if you have too. Like Kane, thank God, this battle has weak enemies. I think I'm the only person who actually has trouble with her. Chaos (15): He has high attack but it's not quite as high as Kane's. Kill him fast because the other enemies are a lot stronger than before and can pulverize you. Your prizes for beating him, Adam(whoopee) and the Chaos Breaker (Whoo Hoo!). Ramladu (24): He has the highest attack of any enemy in the game (arrgh! 95 attack). He also has Aura 3 so he can heal a lot of damage in addition to his boss heal ability, although I do not think he has ever used it. Ignore the extremely strong enemies and kill him ASAP or you'll definitely die unless you're at Level 20+ promoted. Once again though, you can also kill him using the same cheap strategy that works on Elliot and Balbazak which makes this battle a lot easier to win, but be forewarned, it will take a while as he recover 24 HP per round. Colossus (0): He's actually not too tough but he does have strong enemies with him. He splits into three heads. One with Blaze 3, the other with Freeze 3 and the greastest with the dreaded Bolt 3 making him a weak version of Dark Dragon. Take out the enemies before you take him out than deal with each Colossus one at a time. (They're all spread out which makes this quite easy because you won't get bombarded with spells from all cylinders.) Darksol (0): He's pretty much a wimp in terms of physical attacks but watch out for his Demon Breath as it can do 30+ damage to a small group of characters. There are High Priests here which can fully restore his HP with Heal 4 (although they're positioned horribly and never seem to do much besides stand halfway across the battle field from Darksol). Defeat Darksol as quickly as possible and Be careful not to have any characters die and do not use important items as you'll have to fight Dark Dragon without a chance to regroup back in Runefaust (although your MP will be restored betweened the two battles). If you do regroup during the Dark Dragon battle, you'll have to fight Darksol all over again. I think Darksol's the last boss in Shining in the Darkness, but I didn't like the game so I'm not sure. Dark Dragon (0): Compared to some of the last bosses I fought in RPGs, this guy's not very challenging at all. First off, kill the two Armed Skeletons and start attacking Dark Dragon's centre head as it has some fairly nasty attacks including a more powerful version of Darksol's Demon Breath attack. As soon as you kill the skeletons (which should only take 1 or 2 hits), stand on the point where they spawned at the beginning of the battle with your healers so that they will not respawn in a few turns. Keep beating on the centre head with physical attacks and Level 4 magic spells and use characters that cannot get to the centre head to start attacking the two side heads. The centre head will die after you do 200 - 250 points of damage. After the centre head is dealt with, this battle should be a piece of cake. The side heads only have Blaze 2, Freeze 2, and Desoul 1 and they are also very vulnerable to magic. I believe that they can also use Bolt 4, but it's never happened to me. They too have 200 - 250 HP. After you kill the side heads, take a deep breath, relax and give yourself a pat on the back for completing the second easiest Strategy-RPG (behind Der Langrisser for SFC) ever made. ============================================================================ 10. S P E L L G U I D E ============================================================================ (Taken [again] from Col. G. L. Sicherman's FAQ.) Note: Promotion preserves advancements of level and adds 1. Level: I II III IV EGRESS <> Alef BLAZE <> <> BOLT <> L12 L17 L25 DESOUL L21 FREEZE <> <> Anri BLAZE <> L8 BOLT L19 L26 FREEZE L5 L13 L16 L23 MUDDLE L10 Arthur BLAZE L15 BOLT L25 FREEZE L20 Domingo BOOST L20 DESOUL L17 FREEZE <> L4 L13 L26 MUDDLE L7 Gong AURA L30 HEAL <> L8 L16 L24 Hanzou DESOUL L25 DISPEL <> SHIELD L15 SLEEP <> Khris AURA L20 L28 HEAL <> L5 L16 L21 QUICK L12 SLOW L8 Lowe DETOX L4 HEAL <> L7 L16 L22 QUICK L13 L25 SLOW L10 L19 Tao BLAZE <> L4 L12 L20 BOOST L27 DISPEL L16 SLEEP L8 Torasu AURA <> L14 L18 L22 DETOX <> HEAL <> <> SHIELD <> ============================================================================ 11. C H E A T C O D E S (Taken from Col. G. L. Sicherman's walkthrough and Moogie and Sir Fil's Shining Force Page.) ============================================================================ 1. Name all characters: Start a new game and go to the "Name Your Character" screen. Press and hold Start, A, B, and C on controller 2 and press Start, A, and C on controller 1. Another character appears. Now you can cycle through and name every character in the game. 2. Message Test: You can also access a special "Message Test" simply by holding the B button at Simone's "Good Luck" message. Now you can read all of the game's dialogue. 3. Whole game access: press Up and Start on the second joypad, then turn on the Genesis. Keep the buttons pressed until the Sega Logo comes up. Now press A and C (still holding down Up and Start) and press Start on the first joypad to begin the game. When Simone appears on the option screen, carry on from where you left off and press A, B or C. A will give you Chapter select. Button B gives you a Battle select and Button C will take you to the ending of the game. Note: you can't actually save your game when you use this cheat, unless you statesave using an emulator. ============================================================================ 12. U S E L E S S I T E M G U I D E (Taken from G. L. Sicherman's walkthrough with one very minor change.) ============================================================================ 1. Search a wall of the Moon Stone Cave in Bustoke Quarry to find a chest with the Sugoi Mizugi (Awesome Swimsuit). Give it to Tao and she will wear it. 2. Search a corner of the archers' butte near Pao Bridge to find a chest with the Kitsui Fuku (Daring Dress). Give it to Anri and she will wear it. 3. A chest hidden in an alley outside Balbazak's Fortress contains the Kenji (Public Prosecutor), which has no known use. 4. A chest hidden in the port bow of the ship on the second voyage contains the Teppou (Rifle), which has no known use. 5. Search a wall in the northwest part of the Colossus Room during Battle 28 to find a chest with the Kaku-chan (Papa Doll), which has no known use. 6. There is said to be a pair of sunglasses (forbidden box?) hidden somewhere on a battlefield. ============================================================================ 13. F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S ============================================================================ 1) How do I beat (insert boss here)? See my boss section. 2) How do I get these cheat codes to work? I don't know. I was never able to get them to work on a real Genesis or on an emulator. 3) Where can I find SF1? Try your local used game store or go to a specialty store dedicated to gaming. I think Microplay, a franchise in Canada, may have used copies at some of their stores. You can get more info about places to find the game and its sequels and spinoffs in the US and UK at Moogie's Ultimate Shining Force 2 Guide. 4) Where can I find the ROM? One of the sites I mention, I won't say which one, has copies of all the Shining Force ROMS for Genesis and Gamegear. (Hint: it's not GameFAQs) I suggest using Genecyst to play it but some people prefer KGEN 98 or DGEN. Gens is also a good up-and-coming Genesis emulator for Win 9x (and possibly 2000) that is the fourth fastest Genesis emulator behind Genecyst and KGen 98, KGen (If you count it as a separate emulator) Go to www.zophar.net for more info on these and other good emulators for different systems. 5) Do you have a website, Sephirstein? I'm sure nobody cares, but no, and I don't think I will in the near future. 6) Where is the Forbidden Box? No one knows, so don't ask. 7) What about the other useless items? See the useless item guide. 8) Where do I find Hanzou, Musashi, Jogurt, Domingo and Kokichi? Hanzou: In Runefaust, look in the bushes for something that looks like a shuriken. Search it and Hanzou will join. Musashi: On one of the buildings in Prompt, there is something that looks like a small white piece of paper with black text. Search it AFTER you are imprisoned by the King of Prompt, and Musashi will be in HQ. Jogurt: He's somewhere around the chapel in the first Pao. Stand to the left of the friar and he'll appear just outside of the chapel. He will now be in headquarters. I think you can't get him until the town moves. Domingo: In the town of Manarina, there's a room with a mage and a strange machine. Search it for a Domingo Egg. Keep the egg with you until you get to the second Pao and give it to a guy looking for weird eggs. He'll get it to hatch and Domingo will emerge from the egg and join your force. Kokichi: After you beat the Quarry Battle in Bustoke, explore the houses. One of the houses will have a guy trying to make a device to fly. Search the machinery and he'll ask you to follow him. The man, who is Kokichi, will test the flying device and fall into the fields of Pao. Wait until the next Chapter and head back to the first Pao after the wagons moves. Kokichi will automatically join you. Vankar can also be found upon returning to the first Pao. 9) I want my characters to level up, how do I do this? Kill everything in a battle except one enemy and cast Egress to leave the battle. Keep fighting the battle over and over until you reach the desired level. 10) Where is the dragon head with a chain that the King of Alterone talks about? Southwest of the throne not far from a waterfall. Note that it cannot be pulled until after you win the battle in the city of Alterone. 11) How many times have you completed this game, Sephirstein? Many times on a Genesis but I don't have my Genesis and I have not yet commpleted it using emulators. 12) Is there an advantage to giving knights both a spear and a lance? Though lances are often more powerful than spears, it's also a good idea to give a knight a spear as a secondary weapon so that they can equip it and attack enemies from a range of two squares if need be. 13) I have a new character and they're not appearing in battle, how do I get them to join? Egress from the battle and return to the headquarters of the nearest town and talk to Nova to be given the option of changing characters. Note that you can only take 12 characters at once. 14) There's a chest in Alterone that's on an island surrounded by water. How do I get it? I told you to explore everything. See what happens if you don't isten? There's a girl near the water. Push the nearby cart towards her and it will splash mud on her. Talk to her and she'll push you in the water. You can swim in the area you're in and onto the island. Open the chest (it contains a Power Potion) and swim back to the mainland of the town. 15) When and on whom should I use Power Potions and Defence Potions? Don't use them until you're promoted, otherwise, your stats will be lowered more than usual by your promotion. Just use them on whatever character you feel will most benefit from it. It's a judgement call really. 16) Why do my stats go down when I promote characters? It's part of the game. Don't worry though, because you get massive stat improvements when you level up. Just wait until at least Chapter 4, Battle 3 to start promoting characters. 17) Are there any cheap tricks to make my characters stronger? Yes, when using an emulator, save you're state when you're about to gain a level. If you're not satisfied with your stat improvements, load your state and keep trying till you get a good level since level gains are random. Since this is a form of cheating, I advise you to actually beat the game at least once before you start doing this. 18) Some enemies have Shield Rings. How do I get one? You can't, as far as I know. 19) What are the URLs of all the websites you mention above without giving the URL? Read the credits. 20) How do I use a special ability of an item or a weapon while in battle? Select use from the item menu and select the item you wish to use. Make sure to repair the item at a weapon or item shop if you are warned of damage (ie. smoke rises from the heat axe or the ring cracks). 21) What do I do to finish the game after I've done everything that I needed to in Runefaust and Runefaust Castle? Leave Runefaust and go to the westernmost point on the outdoor map. Now use the Chaos Breaker from the wilderness and a castle will appear in the water. You teleport in from Runefaust Castle or some nearby shrine. I can't remember. 22) What are good areas to make ridiculosly strong characters? Any battle from the second battle on Chapter 4 to the last battle of Chapter 5 is good because the enemies are insanely weak and give a good amount of experience until your levels are quite high. Another good idea to train characters with ranged weapons is too stand two squares from a boss who doesn't move and has no ranged attacks or has run out of magical ranged attacks. Since the boss will recover HP and won't hurt you, you can do this indefinitely. I got Diane to Level 16 unpromoted in the first battle of Chapter 3 by using this trick on the Master Mage boss. The battle against Ramladu also works for this trick. Keep killing the robots and than Egress. I heard you can get up to Level 40 Promoted with this trick. Thanks to Karl Plouffe for the Ramladu trick. 23) When should I promote my characters? Don't promote them right away when they hit Level 10 or the game will be extremely tough. Get them up to Level 13 or 14 and promote them at Battle 2 of Chapter 4 (Battle 13). You may also be better off waiting until there is a weapon available for a characters that is only usable when he or she is promoted (middle of Chapter 5, usually). This does not apply to characters who fight unarmed. 24) Why are General Elliot and Balbazak more resistant to magic than Darksol or Dark Dragon? I know it makes know sense but ask the programmers? 25) What's the deal with Cane? Like they did with much of the Phantasy Star series, Sega of America probably butchered a lot of the translation. The error in which Kain was referred to as "Cane" when you fought him was particularly glaring. I do not know why Sega did this. 26) Sephirstein, what's your A/S/L? 16/Male/Canada. I am proud to call myself the second best Shining Force player in my country, behind my cousin. (Sorry, just couldn't resist) 27) Sephirstein, how did you first find Shining Force? I was bored one day during the summer and rented it at Microplay a year or so after completing the sequel. 28) Why isn't the entire FAQ your original work? Put it this way, what's the point in going through the game to copy enemy, spell and item lists if its already been done? Besides, give ma a break. I did correct any errors that were found and I did have permission. ============================================================================ 14. Credits ============================================================================ Moogie: For letting me use the information from Moogie and Sir Fil's Shining Force Page (www.classicgaming.com/Shf1). Her other website, The Ultimate Shining Force 2 guide (shining.zophar.net), is actually updated and you can talk to her or me at the message board there. Sir Fil: For working with Moogie on Moogie and Sir Fil's Shining Force 1 Page. Col. G. L. Sicherman: For allowing people to make additions or corrections to his walkthrough which gave me access to some information that saved me at least a few days. His E-Mail addresses are gls@atpsol.cvu.lucent.com and gls@hrcms.att.com. CAmerica: For his excellent Shining Force walkthrough even though I didn't end up using it. (Captain-America3@yahoo.com) GameFAQs: For putting my walkthrough on their webpage. (www.gamefaqs.com) Sega: For creating the Genesis, publishing SF1 and releasing it in North America. Too bad I can't remember the name of the developer. I think it was Sonic Team and Climax. Sardu (Bloodlust Software): For making Genecyst, my Genesis emulator of choice. Steve Snake: For making another great Genesis emulator that I've used occasionally, KGEN 98. All other emulator authors and emulation website maintainers: For making great programs and allowing the emulation community to grow. All emu fans go to Zophar's Domain (www.zophar.net) or Emucamp (www.emucamp.com) if you've never been there as they are both great sites with links and downloads of the aforementioned emulators. All ROM dumpers: For dumping many ROMs (such as SF1) for many older videogame consoles. Corel: For making Corel WordPerfect 8 which I used to write this FAQ/Walkthrough before converting to a .txt file. Karl Plouffe: For telling me that trick to gain levels in the Ramladu fight and for telling that Arthur doesn't suck if you actually promote him. E-Mail him at Flame77@hotmail.com Kao Megura: For writing an FAQ guide that helped me greatly improve the appearance, readability, format and disclaimer of my FAQ. Hey Kao, thanks for helping me with that darn Gold Chocobo 2 years ago. BTW, his webpage is i.am/kao. For anyone else who has helped me with this game or who has posted my FAQ/Walkthrough with permission. Unpublished Work Copyright Joshua Frappier (Sephirstein) 1999-2000