STAR OCEAN: BLUE SPHERE General FAQ v1.35 Last Updated: December 13, 2001 By Kristina Ann Potts AKA Aussie2B or Succubus E-mail: triacesuperfan@hotmail.com ****************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS ****************************** Notes/Updates Introduction Where Can I Buy It? Story Menu Characters - Reports - Type - Moves/Spells Battle System and Combos Skill System - Coming Soon! Field Actions Item Creation Stores - Coming Soon! Item List - Coming Soon! Enemy List - Coming Soon! Private Actions Contacting Me Copyright Information Thanks to... ****************************** NOTES/UPDATES ****************************** December 13, 2001 - version 1.35 - Several new spells and moves added, minor corrections, and the entire list of foods you can make with the Chouri Item Creation ability. Next update for the FAQ probably will be awhile, as I'd like to get at least half of the game covered in the walkthrough. November 8, 2001 - version 1.3 - Little things added here and there such as moves, Field Actions, and Private Actions. Thanks to whisper for the info on some of them. I also changed my email to triacesuperfan@hotmail.com, so PLEASE don't use the old account if you somehow come across it. There's no way for me to access it. And I finally got the Item Creation section added. October 10, 2001 - version 1.2 - I got the Field Action section added, and I decided to add a new section to the list. It's to help you acquire a copy of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. Added a Private Action and a few spells and moves too. Yes, I know there are still plenty of Field Actions, moves, spells, and other stuff missing, not to mention entire sections. I'm working on it. ;) I want to get the walkthrough up, so it'll probably be awhile till the next update. September 29, 2001 - version 1.0 (initial version) - Since no information on Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is currently available in English, I'm submitting this FAQ as soon as I feel possible. Many sections are missing, but it has plenty of information already regardless. I will update with future sections. No need to email me about it. I will do it as soon as possible. Also I am aware that some information is a bit off. The biggest offender would be the MP cost of moves. There's a skill that lowers the MP cost of moves, but I'm unaware of what it is. In a future update I will attempt to list all the moves at their base MP cost before allocating any points to that particular skill. Anyway, that's just one example. There are other minor things and probably some typos, but it will all be fixed in the future. Until then I hope what's available is useful. ^_^ ****************************** INTRODUCTION ****************************** Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is a very complicated game. Arguably more so than the previous Star Ocean games, Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story. The game offers you no help. Few things are done automatically. You're in control of your growth, what moves and spells your characters learn, how successful you are in Item Creation, among many other things. Before you leap right into the game, I suggest you skim the basics of this FAQ. Understanding the menus and the battle system is a must. If you use my walkthrough, you should also use this coincidentally. Hopefully this FAQ will eventually let you acquire and do everything the game has to offer. Until then, it will give you quite a head start! ****************************** WHERE CAN I BUY IT? ****************************** I've seen this question asked several times on various message boards, so I thought I'd offer a few suggestions. The best way to get the game would be to find a local store that imports games from Japan. Ask them if their suppliers can get Star Ocean: Blue Sphere for you. If they can't, it would be too expensive, or you simply don't have any stores like that near you, your next best bet would be: http://www.ebay.com Most people are familiar with eBay, but in case you're not, it's an online auction site. You have to register to use it, and to do so, you either need an ISP email account or a credit card number. There's a trick around that, though. They only require a credit card number if you're using a free web- based email account that they have in their database, like Hotmail and Yahoo. If you use something more unknown, they won't ask for a credit card number. There's also a rule that you have to be 18, so if you're not and you want to use eBay, I suggest you have a parent sign up or at least get permission. Anyway, it's free to use unless you're selling something, and you can find all sorts of imported games up for auction. If you're trying to get Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, though, you'll likely have to buy from a Japanese seller. It's not that hard; it only takes longer. If you want some more tips about using eBay, email me. If you're not into auctions, there are plenty of online import stores. The first ones you should check out are: http://www.ncsx.com http://shop.himeya.com They both have had Star Ocean: Blue Sphere for sale in the past, and most likely still do. NCS also has pretty good customer service. Here are some other online import stores that you might want to try, but I'm not guaranteeing that they'll have or ever will have Star Ocean: Blue Sphere: http://www.videogamedepot.com http://www.tronixweb.com http://www.wolfgames.com http://www.playthegames.com http://www.buyrite.net ****************************** STORY ****************************** Star Ocean: Blue Sphere takes place two years after the events of Star Ocean: The Second Story. Some characters moved to Earth, some stayed on Expel, and others are elsewhere doing their own thing. Ernest and Opera are still exploring uncharted and primitive planets, and on one ocean-covered planet, known as the "Blue Sphere", they get stranded. They send out an SOS call to Precis, and then they simply vanish. Precis gathers up all her friends, besides Crawd and Rena, and they fly off in Precis' spaceship to the Blue Sphere planet. There is something awry with the planet's gravitational forces, though, which cause the ship to crash and the communication systems to break down. Ignoring their own plight, the gang heads out into the unknown to find their missing friends, with hope that Crawd and Rena will follow soon and rescue them... ****************************** MENU ****************************** Star Ocean: Blue Sphere has a very complex menu. Even if you have experience with the Star Ocean and/or Star Ocean: The Second Story menus, you could still find it a bit difficult to navigate Blue Sphere's menus if you don't know Japanese. Press start to access it and A to make selections. Until you got it memorized, use this little graph to figure it out: Special Skill - Field Create Spell Item Equipment Strategy - Technique Set Formation Battle Plan Skill Status Save SPECIAL SKILL: Choose the first option to set Field Actions, do all of your item creation, and heal yourself. - FIELD: Select a character, and their list of Field Actions will appear. You can only use one at a time. Set whichever one you like, exit the menu, press select until that character is the on-screen character if he/she isn't already, and press B to execute the Field Action. - CREATE: Select a character, and their list of Item Creation abilities will appear. Select whichever Item Creation ability you would like to use. If you don't have the necessary materials, you won't gain access to that particular Item Creation ability's menu. For information on the individual Item Creation ability menus, see the Item Creation section. - SPELL: This is only for healing. If you have a healer currently in your party, select him or her, and their healing spells will be listed. Select the one you'd like to use, and select the character it will be use on if necessary. ITEM: The items are broken up into groups. Scroll across horizontally to select the groups of items you want to gain access to, then select and use an item if you wish to. The order of the groups, from left to right, is as follows: Weapons-Armor-Accessories-Potions-Foods-Tools-Battle Items-? Items-Key Items EQUIPMENT: Select a character, and the equipment menu will appear. This is the order it's listed in: Weapon Head Gear Body Armor Shield Greaves Accessory 1 Accessory 2 Select the particular type of equipment you'd like to change, and all of that type of equipment that that character can use will be listed. Equipment he or she can't use will not be listed. Press select while the arrow is pointing at an item to scroll through all the information available on it. Equipment with red arrows pointing down will lower your statistics. Equipment will yellow arrows pointing right will not change your statistics. Equipment with blue arrows pointing up will improve your statistics. Some equipment has elemental attributes. Some enemies are weak to certain elements (like fish to fire), while others are strong against certain elements. If the piece of equipment has an element with a negative sign next to it, it will make YOU weaker to that element. Avoid using equipment with negative attributes. STRATEGY: Choose the fourth option on the main menu to prepare your party for battles. - TECHNIQUE SET: Select a character to set their moves or spells. You can only set 4 at a time. One for the button B, one for B + right, one for B + left, and one for B + up. Select the button or button combination you'd like to set a move or spell to, and choose one of your character's moves or spells. - FORMATION: After choosing this option, choose a character, and then choose the character you'd like him or her to swap places with. In battle, the character at the top of list will be closest to the enemy, and the character at the bottom with be the furthest from the enemy. Place fighters up front and spell casters in the back. - BATTLE PLAN: Select a character to set their Artificial Intelligence. This only applies to the characters you allow the computer to control. Unlike previous Star Ocean games, the characters all share the same AI strategies. They appear in this order: Zenrokudekougeki - Attack continuously, paying no regard to MP use. Hodohodo - Use spells and moves moderately. Onzon - Try to preserve MP. Use moves and spells only when necessary. Taiki - Do nothing. Wait to be given orders. SKILL: Select a character, and you will be brought to the skill screen. The cursor's default is on the list with all of the character's skills. To only view the one's belonging to a certain type, press up, down, left and right. When you have selected the skill group you want, scroll up and down to select skills. Below your character, their Skill Level is shown, and below that is the Skill Points you have. To the right of a skill, the skill's level is listed. To the left of that is the number of skill points you must have to raise the level of that skill. For more detailed information on the skill system, see the Skill System section. STATUS: Select a character to view their status screen. Next to their picture is the name of their favorite food or "??????????" if you haven't discovered it yet. Below that is their HP, MP, and all of their statistics. Press up or down to view what they currently have equiped and how their skills points have been allocated. SAVE: On the save screen, you will see your current party, your location, your Fol (money), and your time playing. Select the first option to save or select the second to return to the main menus without saving. When you are finished when the menu, press start to leave it instantly, or press B to close each individual menu. ****************************** CHARACTERS ****************************** ====================== PRECIS F. NEUUMAN ====================== Character Report: Upon entering the dusty town of Linga in Star Ocean: The Second Story, Crawd and Rena literally ran into the hyperactive 16-year-old inventor girl Precis F. Neuuman as she was chasing her malfunctioning robot, Bobot. They once again meet her on their second trip to Linga, and this time Precis joins the cause to figure out the mysteries of the Sorcery Globe and to put her machines to the test. Now two years later, Precis has moved to Earth to work on her inventions with the more advanced technology. She has modified her Bobot so that she can ride in it, but before the rumors begin to fly, she has not been crippled. On occasion she does walk about the old-fashioned way. Her Bobot can also hover above the ground and transform into various machines, among other things. Precis even has her own spaceship now. With all of her new invaluable resources and the same lust for life that she has always possessed, it's no surprise that Precis is the star of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. Type: Precis is a fighter. She specializes in Spanner (wrench), and she gains her moves by creating them in Machinery. She's not particularly strong in battle, and she's difficult to combo with, but her Hover Field Action is necessary for advancing in the game, and she's good at Item Creation. Moves: MOLE - MP Use: 15 - Precis comes with it. Mole is more or less the same as it was in Star Ocean: The Second Story. Bobot turns into a drill, goes underground, and pops up underneath the enemy. Damage is minimal, but it's a good move to use at the beginning of the game. You can get a bit more damage in if you start the move while right next to the enemy. The enemy will take damage from the spinning drill prior to when Bobot goes underground. This is also a quick and easy way to transport Precis right next to the enemy. You're left open to enemy attack right after you finish Mole, though. BARRIER - MP Use: 12 Barrier has gotten quite strange since Star Ocean: The Second Story... In fact, it's an entirely different move in Blue Sphere. In The Second Story, Precis's Barrier attack involved throwing Bobot like a grenade, now in Blue Sphere, it's not even an attack... One of Bobot's hands turns into a large megaphone and sends out powerful sonic waves which causes the enemy to become peeped, ie little stars around their head and unable to move. Barrier stumped me at first. I tried it again and again waiting to see the damage, but it does none, it only peeps. Kind of disappointing, but it can prove useful on tough enemies and bosses that continuously and relentlessly attack over and over. By the way, you have to be within half a screen's distance from the enemy for it to "hit". MISSILE - MP Use: 28 Bobot opens its mouth, not unlike a normal long distance attack, and shoots a large missile at the enemy. Damage is so-so, and it tires Precis out after only one. Add in a fairly high MP cost, and this move just isn't worth using. I prefer Mole for a quick low MP move or Yurayura if I really want to do a lot of damage. The only good thing about Missile is that as long as you're on the same screen as the enemy it'll hit, but that's usually not an issue with Precis's moves as opposed to say, Opera. YURAYURA - MP Use: 52 "Yurayura" means something along the lines of "shake" or "temble". Bobot transforms into a giant jackhammer and shakes the earth so violently that the enemy falls over. The MP cost is high and Precis is open to attack for quite awhile if the move doesn't finish off the enemy, but it does a lot of damage and can hit from anywhere on the battle screen. DOKKAN - MP Use: 36 When Precis performs Dokkan, Bobot transforms into a cannon and fires a cannonball at the enemy. It does a good amount of damage, but you have to be positioned somewhat close to the enemy. If you're too far, the cannonball will miss, and you'll waste quite a bit of MP. ====================== ASHTON ANCHORS ====================== Character Report: After hearing rumors of a dragon in the Salva Drift, Crawd and Rena head to Salva to see the commotion for themselves. They arrive just at the moment a young swordsman named Ashton Anchors attacks the two-headed beast. He mortally wounds the creature, but all is not safe. The second Ashton turns his back to address Crawd and Rena, the dragons possess his body. Everywhere he goes, he has the two heads of the dragon looming over his shoulders. Despite the love he has developed for the dragons, Gyoro and Ururun, over the past two years, Ashton still wishes to remove himself of the burden. Unfortunately for Ashton, the only method he knows of doing so would kill the dragons. He spent the last two years searching for a cure to his curse until Precis on Earth called for his help. His love for the young girl places him right in the center of this new adventure. Type: Ashton is a fighter. He specializes in Feel (hand), and he randomly gains his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Battle skill levels. He's a great character for battle, and he's fairly easy to combo with. His strength alone can get you through most of the game, and his Fireball Field Action is necessary to get through the second dungeon. It's also useful for surprising enemies. He seems to learn both Push and Pull Field Actions early as well as cooking. Moves: LEAF SLASH - MP Use: 14 - Ashton comes with it. When performing Leaf Slash, Ashton disappears in a puff of leafs and teleports himself next to the enemy to do a couple slashes with his short swords. You might think this move quickly becomes useless and too weak since Ashton comes with it so it's available from the very beginning of the game, but in actuality, Leaf Slash is one of the most useful moves in the game. The MP cost is low, it can be performed from anywhere on the battle screen, it's a safe method of transporting yourself right next to the enemy, AND you can do it over and over. Like all moves and spells, it stops the action on the battlefield, so if you perform it just before an enemy attacks, you'll be able to disrupt and stop that attack. But unlike most moves, it doesn't tire out Ashton very quickly. You can perform several before he gets tired. I find Leaf Slash invaluable when facing very quick-moving or quick-attacking bosses. Just jam out on that B button. ;) HURRICANE SLASH - MP Use: 20 Hurricane Slash is right up there as one of the cutest moves in the game. Ashton spins around quickly creating a couple whirlwinds that travel across the screen towards the enemy. When he stops spinning, he gets dizzy and wobbles around on his feet. :) Overall, I don't find this move particularly useful. The amount of damage done is only average, and it'll miss if you're not within half a screen from the enemy. DRAGON ATTACK - MP Use: 30 Ashton makes a violent leap at the enemy with the dragons Gyoro and Ururun head (heads?) first. Ururun snaps at the monster, and Ashton falls down. :) This move is pretty useless, IMO. It uses too much MP, you have to be very close to the enemy for it to hit, and the damage is average. SWORD DANCE - MP Use: 33 This move is a lot less useful than it was in Star Ocean: The Second Story. Visually, it's about the same. Ashton does a lot of fanciful hacks and slashes. Unfortunately, though, you miss A LOT more often. If you're not right next to the enemy, most of the move won't even hit. Even if you do begin it next to the enemy, chances are Ashton will push the enemy away with his attacks, and yet again, he'll miss for most of it. Worst yet, it only takes ONE Sword Dance to tire Ashton out. The only good thing about Sword Dance is that it DOES do quite a bit of damage if a miracle happens and the enemy is hit by all the attacks. My advice: don't bother. Stick to Leaf Slash. DRAGON BITE - MP Use: 62 - Learned from long distance fire breath combo. Ashton's dragons Gyoro and Ururun stretch far out and take turns snapping at the enemy. Dragon Bite has a lot going for it. The damage it does is quite high, and Ashton can perform Dragon Bite several times before getting tired. But the MP cost... ouch. Not to mention you have to be fairly close (no more than a third of the screen away) to hit the enemy. Dragon Bite is best saved for only when you really need something powerful. ====================== CELINE JULES ====================== Character Report: After their meeting with the king of Cross, Crawd and Rena witness a little squabble between some riffraff and the beautiful sorceress and treasure hunter, Celine Jules. Once she learned that Crawd and Rena were on their way to Cross Cave, Celine HAD to join them. It was the perfect opportunity to search the darkest corners of the planet for riches beyond her imagination. The mismatched group of adventurers found the Ancient Writings in the cave and defeated many powerful foes together. Celine was an invaluable member of the group, so they all decided it best for her to come along on Crawd and Rena's journey to the Sorcery Globe. Celine used to have the habit of calling everyone "darling", but now that affectionate term is only for one - her beloved - Chris, the prince of Cross. She spent two happy years carrying on her affair with him, but now her friends are in trouble, and she is not about to abandon them. Type: Celine is a spell caster. She specializes in Knowledge (book), and she randomly learns spells by casting spells over and over and raising her Knowledge skill levels. Casting spells that are related to stronger spells (such as Firebolt and Eruption, and Thunderbolt and Thunderstorm) seems to make her learn spells faster. Casting stronger spells speeds up her learning as well. She is very weak when it comes to fighting, and it's almost impossible to combo with her. Late in the game, you can get her Teleport Field Action, which allows you to teleport yourself to any spot on screen. Spells: FIREBOLT - MP Use: 8 - Celine comes with it. Celine creates a ball of fire and hurls it at the enemy to roast it. This is a great move at the beginning of the game. Later on in the game you might want to use it to keep the enemy away from you or to stop its attacks since you can cast it very fast. Damage-wise it's not that useful beyond the first couple dungeons. WIND BLADE - MP Use: 8 - Learned from Firebolt. Celine calls forth a blade of wind (looks more like a whirlwind) to zoom across the screen and attack the enemy. It's basically like a slightly more powerful and different elemental version of Firebolt. Use it in the same scenarios. THUNDER BOLT - MP Use: 16 Despite what the name might imply, Thunder Bolt is not a lightning elemental version of Firebolt and Wind Blade. It's considerably more powerful and isn't as quick to cast. When Celine casts it, a thundercloud is summoned to strike the enemy with a strong bolt of lightning. This spell is best used to fry robot enemies. STAR LIGHT - MP Use: 24 Numerous stars float up towards the heavens and strike the enemy with their brilliant light. Damage done by this spell is average, so it's not really worth the time it takes to cast. You're better off with a quick weak spell or one of the stronger spells. RAY - MP Use: 33 Little rays of light surround the enemy and attack it from all sides. This spell takes quite awhile to cast, but the damage is well worth it. Stick with this one for laying the smack down on enemies with low magical resistance until you're able to learn more powerful spells like Southern Cross. ERUPTION - MP Use: 30 - Learned from Firebolt. When casting Eruption, geysers of lava erupt from the earth and rain upon the enemy in a fiery inferno. It doesn't take very long to cast, and the damage is quite good. THUNDER STORM - MP Use: 30 - Learned from Thunder Bolt. Thunder Bolt's big brother Thunder Storm fills the sky with very ominous black clouds. Then they release their stored up fury on the enemy in the form of numerous lightning bolts. Damage is pretty average. I prefer Thunder Bolt or stronger spells myself. SOUTHERN CROSS - MP Use: 36 It takes a long time to cast, but Southern Cross is great. The sky turns to night, and each star forming the constellation known as the "southern cross" lights up. When the cross is formed, it starts spinning and hurtles itself towards the earth. It does a lot of damage, so I recommend you keep this on Celine's list of spells set to use during battle. EXPLODE - MP Use: 43 - Learned from Eruption. A torrent of fireballs rains upon the enemy, and the earth surrounding the enemy explodes into a pit of hellfire. Like Southern Cross, it takes quite a bit of time to cast, but the damage is very high. I think the ratio between damage and MP for Explode and Southern Cross are about equal, so if you prefer more damage, go with Explode. If you prefer a lower MP cost, go with Southern Cross. Of course, you should always consider what element your enemy is weak against as well. BLESS - MP Use: 18 - Celine comes with it. In what could be called the most... sickening spell or move in the game, Bless causes a rainbow to appear above one of your characters, followed by a ton of little hearts surrounding him or her to temporarily increase that character's statistics. I find status enhancing spells pretty useless, so well... there you go. ANTI - MP Use: 16 - Learned from Bless. When Celine casts Anti, a symbol similar to the one Dispel has, only yellow, appears above the battlefield, spins around, and disappears. Then every character individually is surrounded by yellow sparkles. It raises all of the characters' magic defense, but, eh... still not very useful. ANGEL FEATHER - MP Use: 24 - Learned from Bless. Ah, but I did use Bless! For your benefit. ;) I in turn learned Angel Feather. Sort of an uber-blessing. An angel comes down from the heavens and sprinkles its feathers on one of your characters to protect him or her. Yet again, quite useless. CURSE - MP Use: 16 - Learned from Firebolt. Four spinning skulls fall upon the enemy, and if you're lucky, it'll curse them. It cancels the effects of any status they have placed on your characters. I don't believe it affects poison or petrify, though (if it did, what would you need Antidote and Dispel for?). In a few situations it might be useful, but why waste so much MP curing yourself of a status anomaly that will just go away in a few seconds regardless? LOST MENTAL - MP Use: 1 - Learned from Firebolt. An aura of yellow energy surrounds the enemy to absorb their magical power and bring it to Celine for her own use in red spheres. It's kind of a neat move, but only useful towards the beginning of the game when running low on MP can be an issue. For the cost of just 1 MP, you'll receive about 30-40 from the enemy, and you can do it multiple times until the enemy has none left. ====================== LEON D.S. GEESTE ====================== Character Report: Crawd and Rena met the cocksure young genius Leon D.S. Geeste in Lacour Castle. The little scientist was hard at work on the Lacour Hope, the ultimate weapon to fend off the hoards of monsters showing up ever since the Sorcery Globe crashed into Expel. He begrudgingly accepted the help of Crawd and Rena in order to get the final material needed to power his weapon. With the Lacour Hope in tow and Crawd and Rena along for the ride, Leon and his parents headed for the continent of El. Things quickly turned disastrous when the powerful monster Shin attacked the ship. The Lacour Hope was no match, the ship was broken to pieces, and all those onboard were cast into the cold sea to die. Leon washed up on shore with Crawd. Not knowing if his parents were still alive, having no means to return to the continent of Lacour, and not having anyone else to care for him, Leon left behind his arrogant attitude and adopted the party as both his family and friends. Leon grew up into a fine young 14-year-old man since his adventures ended two years ago. He moved to Earth and has been hard at work on his Heraldry. He had to put his studies aside, though, when Precis asked him to join her on the SOS mission to the Blue Sphere planet. Type: Leon is a spell caster. He specializes in Knowledge (book), and he randomly learns spells by casting spells over and over and raising his Knowledge skill levels. The factors that affect to Celine's rate of learning spells affects Leon's learning as well. He is also quite weak in battle and very difficult to combo with. Spells: ICE NEEDLE - MP Use: 8 - Leon comes with it. Leon creates a sharp needle of ice, which flies towards the enemy and shatters on impact. Like Celine's Firebolt, the damage it does is minimal, but it's powerful compared to your fighters' regular attacks at the beginning of the game, and later on it's good for stopping the enemy from moving or attacking. STAR LIGHT - MP Use: 30 Leon's Star Light is identical to Celine's. Like I said before, you're better off using more powerful spells or spells that take less time to cast. WOUNDS - MP Use: 16 Leon summons a shadow demon beast to appear before the enemy and strike it. I'm not overly impressed with it. Damage is only average. ACID RAIN - MP Use: 21 Storms clouds gather together above the enemy and pour acidic rain on the enemy. The enemy writhes in pain as the rain burns its skin. The damage done by Acid Rain is above average, and casting time is pretty short, so I recommend it. SHADOW BOLT - MP Use: 34 Logically speaking, Shadow Bolt is one of the weirdest spells in the game. Purplish bubbles and mist appear from below the enemy and do it damage. What is the purple stuff? Shadows? I guess. Regardless, Shadow Bolt's time to cast/damage ratio is very poor. It takes far too long for such a weak spell. Not to mention the high MP cost. You should avoid this one. DEEP FREEZE - MP Use: 45 When Leon casts Deep Freeze, a blizzard of large ice chunks and snowflakes assaults the enemy. I wouldn't call the damage GREAT, but it's one of Leon's best spells. The MP cost is pretty high, but it can be lowered with proper skill point allocation. PROTECTION - MP Use: 15 - Leon comes with it. A shield of magic appears above one of your party members, spins down, and boosts his or her defense. It COULD be useful, I suppose, but why waste MP on status enhancing magic when you could be casting attack magic? DELAY - MP Use: 18 - Leon comes with it. Oy, as if status enhancing magic wasn't useless enough, they give us magic that affects the enemies statistics... randomly... A clock appears above the enemy and the time spins backwards. The spell is supposed to slow down the enemy's movement, but sometimes it won't. Scratch that - most of the time it doesn't work. And nine times out of ten you wouldn't even need something like that. Just... don't use it. 'Kay? ====================== DIAS FLAC ====================== Character Report: Crawd and Rena encountered the antisocial mercenary Dias Flac many times, but as soon he showed up, he'd be gone. Not without getting in a few insults towards Crawd first, though. Rena was always forgiving because she knew his past. Dias's entire family was slain by bandits, so he had an unquenchable thirst for justice. Not even friendships and love could get in the way. At the Lacour front lines, Rena ran into Dias and tapped into that desire for justice. Despite his preference of doing everything on his own, Rena convinced him to join the party and to help them set right the evils of the world. Of course, Rena was more concerned about keeping an eye on her "big brother" and offering him some much-needed solace. Little is known about Dias's whereabouts the last two years. He appears to have gone back to his old ways. Wandering the world alone and in silence searching for bandits and thieves to dispose of. Precis somehow managed to locate him, and his loyalty to his "little sister" Rena forced him to join the cause. Type: Dias is a fighter. He specializes in Battle (sword), and he randomly gains his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Battle skill levels. He's a bit more difficult to combo with than Ashton, but his strength makes up for it. Moves: CHAOS SWORD - MP Use: 17 - Dias comes with it. When executing Chaos Sword, Dias charges his sword with power and flings two shots of it at the enemy. It's a pretty decent move. The MP cost is low, damage is pretty good, and the two shots will hit as long as the enemy is on screen with Dias. KOGETSUSEN - MP Use: 20 Kogetsusen is more or less the equivalent of Star Ocean: The Second Story's Crescent Moon Slash. The sky goes black, Dias forms a crescent moon with his sword and then send it flying towards the enemy with a swing of his blade. Not only is it pretty high on the list of "bad ass"-looking Blue Sphere moves, it's very powerful and always hits as long as the enemies on screen. It's definitely my favorite Dias move, but it has one flaw - he can only perform two or three before getting tired. It comes close to being as good as Ashton's Leaf Slash but doesn't quite make it. HOUKOUHA - MP Use: 23 Dias charges his sword, and then sends a phoenix of energy flying towards the monster. Houkouha is Star Ocean: Blue Sphere's version of Dias's Hawk Scream Blast from Star Ocean: The Second Story. Damage is average, and Dias gets tired after two. I find Kogetsusen more powerful AND it uses less MP, so I'd stick that. MUGEN - MP Use: 45 In Japanese, "mugen" means "dream" or "fantasy", or in this case, Illusion. Sound familiar Star Ocean: The Second Story fans? It is indeed the same move. Dias does four elaborate attacks with his sword not unlike Ashton's Sword Dance. Unfortunately, it's similar in more ways than just visually. Like Sword Dance, it uses a lot of MP, forces you to begin it right next to the enemy to have any chance of having every attack hit, tends to push away the enemy so you miss, and makes Dias tired after just one. In other words, stick to Chaos Sword and Kogetsusen. ====================== BOWMAN JEAN ====================== Character Report: Crawd and Rena were disheartened when they were refused entrance at Keith's home, but they found Bowman Jean - their ticket to a meeting with Keith to get the Ancient Writings deciphered. Bowman, in his usual devious fashion, wanted something out of the deal for himself first, though. He requested that Crawd and Rena find him a rare herb from the Linga Sanctuary good enough to impress him. Risking life and limb, the team was able to find an unusual looking herb in the dangerous murky depths of the cave, so they hurriedly returned to Linga with hope that Bowman would accept it. Fortunately, he did, and Crawd and Rena got to visit Keith that very day to hand over the Ancient Writings. Feeling a little more generous, Bowman offered his home to them for the night, and they learned that there was quite a bit more to the man. On the surface, Bowman is a simple pharmacist, but beneath that exterior, lies the well-toned body of an expert at martial arts. Not to mention, he has superb skills at mixing herbs. Bowman was fascinated with Crawd and Rena's adventure and fancied himself a part of it. Crawd and Rena, needing all the help they could get, welcomed him with open arms. Despite his lady's man reputation, Bowman returned to his wife and his pharmacist job in Linga after the Ten Wise Men were put out of commission. Not long after, his wife Nineh gave birth to their first child. While Bowman was enjoying his newfound fatherhood, his adventurous spirit didn't die, and when Precis called for his aid, he was more than willing to offer it. Type: Bowman is a fighter. He specializes in Feel (hand), and he randomly gains his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Feel skill levels. It doesn't take much practice to combo with him, and his combos can easily get into the double digits. He is overall weaker than Ashton and Dias, though, so it balances out. He learns how to combine herbs very quickly, and one Field Action unique to him allows him to find herbs occasionally. Moves: KUGIKASE - MP Use: 16 - Bowman comes with it. During Kugikase, Bowman teleports high into the air and does a diving punch at the enemy. Damage is pretty minimal, but it's a good move for its low MP cost, and Bowman can perform it several times before getting tired. SENPUUKYAKU - MP Use: 21 - Learned from mid-range kicking combo. Senpuukyaku is Star Ocean: Blue Sphere's equivalent of Bowman's Whirlwind Fist move in Star Ocean: The Second Story. In Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, though, Bowman uses his legs to turn his whole body into a whirlwind rather than creating a whirlwind of air with his fists. In Senpuukyaku, Bowman gets down on the ground and spins his legs around while supporting his body with his arms, not unlike a break dancer. When he gets enough momentum, his spinning body flies at the enemy like a tornado. When he stops spinning, he'll hop on one leg trying to recover his balance, which is very cute. ^_^ Damage is average, but it's still a very good move since the MP cost is low and Bowman can perform Senpuukyaku many times in a row without getting tired. It also will hit the enemy even if you start it practically a whole screen away. You can even customize how it hits the enemy to some extent. If you start it while right next to the enemy, the initial spinning will hit the enemy's head or front, but if the enemy is large, you'll spin right past them thus losing a few hits while in whirlwind form. The whirlwind will push back smaller enemies, though, so just about every attack will hit. SHIHOUJIN - MP Use: 24 Shihoujin is another move that wins my own personal "bad ass" award. Bowman charges up with power and disappears. In an instant you see him flashing across the screen at supersonic speed, punching and kicking the enemy from all angles. For such a powerful move, it uses very little MP, so definitely keep this one in your repertoire. Just be wary of the fact that Bowman gets tired after only one Shihoujin. ====================== CHISATO MADISON ====================== Character Report: Everywhere Crawd and Rena turned they bumped in the energetic news reporter Chisato Madison. It wasn't just a strange coincidence, though. Chisato was after a big scoop, and Crawd and Rena were it. She knew they were up to something BIG on Nede, and she had to be the first to report it, even if that means making a pest of herself. Crawd and Rena were getting quite annoyed, and when Chisato was careless enough to drop behind her news ID card, Crawd and Rena tracked her down to confront her. They gave her an ultimatum - you can get your story by joining us and helping us out or stay out of our way. Chisato happily joined them, and Crawd and Rena forgave her for being a nuisance before. With Nede gone, Chisato had to find a new home. She chose Expel, but she quickly realized that it was no Nede. Global communication on the planet was very primitive. She made it her goal to establish the media on Expel. It's a huge job for just one woman, but Chisato has a passion so strong for reporting that she can accomplish any journalistic feat. She diligently worked on her task until Precis contacted her with the bad news about Opera and Ernest's expedition. Type: Chisato is a fighter. She specializes in Spanner (wrench), and she gains her moves by creating them in Machinery. She is quite weak, but she can make HUGE combos. She has an amusing but useless Field Action that allows her to take photos of monsters for the Monster Picture Book. Moves: BURNING CARDS - MP Use: 17 Chisato tosses two playing cards enhanced with power at the enemy. Damage is pretty minimal, and you have to be within about half a screen for the cards to hit. They also only hit at a certain height, so it's possible for flying enemies to be above that range and not get hit. Burning Cards isn't that bad early on in the game, but later I would stick to the more powerful moves, even if they do use more MP. 10 THOUSAND VOLT - MP Use: 18 Chisato whips out her stun gun, charges it up, and fries the enemy with 10,000 volts of electricity. It's really quite a poor move. The MP cost is too high for such a weak move, you have to be VERY close to the enemy for every shock to hit, and it only takes two 10,000 Volt to tire Chisato out. FLAME THROWER - MP Use: 20 - Learned from Fireman. When performing Flame Thrower, Chisato whips out a huge flame thrower from Tria knows were and torches the enemy. This move can be lousy or great depending on how you use it. If you start it a distance from the enemy, it won't hit many times, and it'll do minimal to average damage. If you begin it right next to the enemy, it should hit for the whole time and do a lot of damage. I don't recommend using this move if you'd like to stay close to the enemy and/or follow up with a combo, though. Each hit of the flame thrower pushes the enemy away. So basically, look at the length of the flame and know ahead of time how far the enemy will be from you when you finish the move. MAIBO - MP: 25 - Learned from Robo Pet. We've all seen 'em... That curse from Japan... Those irritating robot dog toys. Apparently they're hip, but hell, so are those stupid scooters that make everyone look like fools. What was tri-Ace thinking? Do they actually like those things? Are they making fun of them? Or Chisato for owning one? Well, regardless, during Maibo, Chisato pulls out the remote control for her robot dog pet, and he comes happily hopping into the battle. He breathes... something... on the enemy, which of course does damage. He then does an about-face and hops off just as he came. This move actually does quite a bit of damage, but still... I don't want to watch that... thing... x_x PREPARATION - MP Use: 34 - Learned from P-MODE. I had a love/hate relationship with Preparation in Star Ocean: The Second Story. It was unique and kind of amusing to watch, but it was far too long. Nevertheless, I stuck with it until I got 999 proficiency. I thought it would leave too sour a taste in my mouth to enjoy it in Blue Sphere, but not so. Preparation is by far the cutest, most entertaining to watch move in the game. Chisato pulls out her cell phone, dials the number to call for missiles, taps her finger as she talks, and taps her foot impatiently after the call is over and she's waiting for the missiles to arrive. When she sees the missiles coming, her mouth drops open in surprise, and she ducks for cover as the enemy getting pelted with a row of missiles. Anecdotes aside, Preparation is quick to execute, fairly strong, and will hit regardless of where on the battlefield you start it. Practical and so adorable. Can't be beat. ^_^ FIRE SHOT - MP Use: 38 Good grief, where does the girl get this stuff?! First playing cards, a stun gun, a flame thrower, a cell phone, and a robot dog, now a soccer ball! How does she store it all in that little business outfit? o_O And why is she still so confused about her profession? Is she a news reporter or a sports reporter? Getting past the weirdness of it all, Chisato creates an orb of power which in turn becomes a blazing soccer ball when she throws it in the air. She then kicks it at the enemy. Other than the novelty of it, this move is useless in comparison to Preparation. It does less damage, takes MORE MP, and tires out Chisato after only one. ====================== NOEL CHANDLER ====================== Character Report: After Crawd and Rena's Synard, their only method of airborne transportation, went berserk and had to be killed, they left North City to seek the help of the peaceful zoologist Noel Chandler. Despite his absolute hatred of harming any living creature, he agreed to lead them through the Red Crystal Cave to find one of the last wild Synards. The team fought off many powerful monsters, and they arrived at the Synard's nest just in the nick of time. A savage beast was attacking the endangered animal. The group quickly put an end the threat. Just as Crawd and Rena were about to board the creature and fly off, Noel realized that he needn't feel guilty about harming animals that were evil. It must be done in order to save the peaceful animals' lives. To save ALL the animals, he must fight through the evil ones until he reached the Ten Wise Men, the ones who were responsible for mutating living creatures into evil beasts. Crawd and Rena were happy to have his help and welcomed him into the party. Like Chisato, Noel needed to find a new home after the destruction of Nede. He also chose Expel, and it turned out to be the perfect place for him. Nede had stopped evolving, and in the world of nature, not evolving means death. Natural life on Nede was becoming more and more rare, both because of the evils the Ten Wise Men brought and the technology that sucked the life from the planet. On Expel, Noel found a lush green primitive world where birds constantly fly overhead, seas are brimming with aquatic life, and every cave, forest, and mountain as an infinite number of creatures to discover. Noel had found his paradise, but he had to part with it once Precis called. Type: Noel is technically a spell caster, but he is more of an all-around character. He is so-so at fighting, healing, and attack magic. He specializes in Knowledge (book), and he randomly learns spells by casting spells over and over and raising his Knowledge skill levels. The same factors that affect Celine and Leon's spell learning also affect Noel, but he can't learn attack spells by casting healing spells or vice versa. Despite that tri-Ace designed him to be an average fighter, he's very weak and poor at pulling of combos, so you should stick to casting spells for him. He's also the only healer available to you for most of the game, so if you're not into using items to heal, you should take him along at least sometimes. Spells: HEAL - MP Use: 3 - Noel comes with it. When Noel casts Heal, a little green star appears above him, and then the character he chose is surrounded in green sparkles. In RPG land, that means you recovered some HP. It recovers about 30-40 HP. Good at the very beginning of the game, but it gets quite useless once the enemies start to do large amounts of damage. CURE LIGHT - MP Use: 11 - Learned from Heal. Thankfully, if you cast Heal a lot, you should learn Cure Light, a much more useful healing spell. In addition to the green star and sparkles, there's a blue bubble floating around the character being healed! Oooh! In RPG land, that means even more recovered HP! ;) Okay, enough silliness, Cure Light recovers around 150 HP. It's good for the middle of the game, but towards the end you'll probably want something that recovers a bit more than that. CURE ALL - MP Use: 20 - Learned from Cure Light. During Cure All, an image of a golden cross appears above the characters. Then the screen flashes, and each character is healed individually until the whole party has been healed. Cure All heals about the same amount as Cure Light for each character. This move is very useful early on in the game when in only a couple seconds every character can be near death. FAIRY HEAL - MP Use: 30 - Learned from Cure Light. Fairies fly in from all directions around the selected character. They leave behind dark healing orbs in the sky which then heal the character with the same animation as Cure Light, but your character will recover about 350 HP. You have quite a bit of trouble in the game if you don't have this move by the end. FAIRY LIGHT - MP Use: 40 - Learned from Fairy Heal. Three fairies swoop in on the caster of this spell, and they leave behind pinkish healing orbs in the air. Then each character is healed individually with the same animation as Cure Light. Fairy Heal recovers a bit more for individual characters, as Fairy Light only recovers about 200 HP for each character, but if everyone is low on HP, you're better off using Fairy Light. DISPEL - MP Use: 20 - Noel comes with it. A circular blue symbol appears above the selected character's head, and the following blue sparkles cure the character of any status conditions. This move can cure poison, stone, paralysis, slow, confusion, etc. The only condition it cannot heal is faint (ie death). Some conditions aren't a big deal because your character can continue to fight and the condition will go away in time or after the battle is over, but this move is a must in areas where the enemies frequently stone or paralyze your characters. WIND BLADE - MP Use: 10 - Noel comes with it. Noel's Wind Blade is the same as Celine's. Use it all the beginning of the game or if you want a quick spell to stop the enemy. GRAVE - MP Use: 22 - Learned from Wind Blade. Three small stalagmites burst from the earth and pierce the enemy three times. Damage is about average, but it's quick to cast, so it's a decent spell. MAGNUM TORNADO - MP Use: 25 - Learned from Wind Blade. A powerful blast of dark tornado winds bombards the enemy to do damage. The damage is only average, so you're probably better off with grave unless you face enemies strong against the earth elemental. EARTH GRAVE - MP Use: 36 - Learned from Grave. Noel calls forth several giant stalagmites of earth to pop up from underneath the enemy. It does slightly above average damage, but it's not really worth the high MP cost. ENERGY ARROW - MP Use: 30 Arrows of dark energy pierce the enemy from all angles. It does good damage and can be cast fairly fast, so it's a great "medium range" spell. FOEHN - MP Use: 50 - Learned from Magnum Tornado. When Noel casts Foehn, little gusts of air float up in the sky. Then a huge powerful blast of burning hot air assaults the enemy. The MP cost may be high, but Foehn does high damage, and it's surprisingly quick to cast. Once you learn Foehn, I suggest you stick to it when you want to use Noel for attack magic. BLESS - MP Use: 18 - Noel comes with it. Same as Celine's Bless. Don't use it unless you enjoy wasting MP. SILENCE - MP Use: 14 - Noel comes with it. Ugh, yet another spell that doesn't have any real benefit. During the Silence spell, a tiny little angel appears next to the spellcaster. She throws her arms open, and four spheres of magical energy fly towards each corner of the screen. If the move fails to work, it will end then, but if it does work, an "X" will appear above the enemy. That indicates that the enemy can't use magical attacks. It works randomly and is useless overall. ====================== OPERA VECTRA ====================== Character Report: From very early on in their adventure, Crawd and Rena kept bumping into these strange three-eyed people. First a man in Cross, then a bold beautiful and... drunk woman named Opera Vectra. Opera asked them if they had seen a three- eyed man. They told her that they had, of course, and she darted off. Not without hinting at where she was heading, though. Crawd and Rena suspected that she went to the Mountain Palace. They returned to the continent of Cross, got permission from the king to enter the palace, and after getting confused and lost in the make-like ancient structure, they finally found Opera. In a private conversation, Crawd learned that Opera was also not from Expel. She hailed from the planet Tetragene and was in search of her boyfriend who always seems to leave her behind when he goes exploring. Crawd and Opera both agreed that it would be a good idea for her to join the party. Crawd and Rena would get some much-needed help, and Opera would get the opportunity to scour the entire planet of Expel for he boyfriend. The current whereabouts of Opera is unknown. Over the past two years, she and her boyfriend Ernest have been investigating ruins on uncharted planets, but on a planet nicknamed the "Blue Sphere" they ran into misfortune. Their ship crashed, and shortly after their SOS call was sent, they disappeared. Type: Opera is a fighter. She specializes in Spanner (wrench), and she gains her moves by creating them in Machinery. She is very difficult to combo with, but her moves are quite useful in battle. She's also unique in that she's the only fighter with a healing spell that affects the ENTIRE party. If you don't want to use Noel or Rena for healing, then bring in Opera with her Holy Star move. Moves: FLAME LAUNCHER - MP Use: 10 Opera's Flame Launcher is almost identical to Chisato's Flame Thrower. As I said before, it you start it from a distance, you won't hit the enemy many times, and each hit pushes the enemy away a bit. Unfortunately, even if you start Flame Launcher right next to the enemy and it hits several times, it still won't do much damage. It's MP cost is pretty low, though, so you might want to use Flame Launcher just to push the enemy away from you. ALPHA ON ONE - MP Use: 19 - Learned from Photon System. Opera fires many pink small shots of energy at the enemy. The game is kind of picky about where you have to be in order to get most of the shots to hit (or if you're really lucky, all of them). If you're too close, the shots might go right over the enemy. If you're too far, you'll miss, or push the enemy out of range in one or two hits. I find you get the most hits in if you're about one quarter of the screen away from the enemy. If you can get most of the shots to hit, Alpha on One is quite powerful and definitely worth using considering the low MP cost. If most of the shots miss, though, the damage won't be very high. SPREAD RAY - MP Use: 21 - Learned from Arc System. Opera leaps into the air and fires several large shots from her gun at the enemy. For Spread Ray to hit, you have to be within about half a screen from the enemy, but this is still a great move to use. The MP cost is pretty low, and it's a fairly strong move. COLD WIND - MP Use: 24 - Learned from Freezer System. Cold Wind is similar to Flame Launcher, but instead of fire, it's a blast of freezing wind and ice twirling out of Opera's gun. Like Flame Launcher, it pushes the enemy away, and you have to be within half a screen for it to hit at all. Unlike Flame Launcher, though, it's MUCH more powerful. The MP cost is about average, so it's a good move to use, especially if you're fighting enemies weak against water. GRAVITY SHELL - MP Use: 32 - Learned from Nemesis System. Opera fires a shell, which only flies a short distance before falling to the ground and exploding. You have to be within half a screen for this move to hit the enemy. Despite it's high MP cost, it's really far too weak. Spread Ray, Alpha on One, and Cold Wind do more damage and cost less. I recommend you avoid Gravity Shell. LIGHTNING BLADE - MP Use: 35 - Learned from Zeus System. Another different elemental version of the Flame Launcher/Cold Wind type moves. Opera points her gun to the sky in order to charge it with electricity from several lightning bolts, and then she fire the electricity at the enemy to shock it. Lightning Blade has far too many bad points to be useful. You have to be within half a screen from the enemy, it only hits about two times, damage is low, and the MP cost is high. Stick to Cold Wind or Alpha on One. HOLY STAR - MP Use: 15 - Learned from White System. When executing Holy Star, Opera fires a beam straight into the sky, which explodes and sends little stars of healing energy floating down lightly across the battlefield to heal every character. It recovers around 100 HP, and the MP cost is low, so this is a great move if you want someone who can heal but don't want to sacrifice a spot on your party for a healing mage. HYPER LAUNCHER - MP Use: 48 - Learned from Green System. Opera swings her gun forward, and the end of it widens in order to fire several large explosive shots at the enemy. Like all of Opera's other attack moves, you have to be within half a screen from the enemy. It also pushes the enemy away with each shot, so get in close. Hyper Launcher is VERY powerful, so if you don't mind the high MP cost, definitely go ahead and use it. ====================== ERNEST RAVIEDE ====================== Character Report: Crawd and Rena first met the mysterious Indiana Jones-esque man Ernest Raviede in the city of Cross, but it was little more than a brush by. At the Hoffman Ruins, Opera thought she glimpsed him. She chased after the image, and the party followed. It was indeed Ernest, but after a brief conversation, Opera sensed that something was not right... Ernest had been possessed by an evil ghost, and Opera had to make the heart-wrenching decision to attack her love in order to save him. The team dispatched of the demon, and Rena healed Ernest until he was his proper self again. United with her love, Opera asked if Ernest would join them. She had accomplished her goal, but she made dear friends in the process and wanted to help them solve the mysteries of the Sorcery Globe with her boyfriend at her side. Ernest was interested in the Sorcery Globe himself, so it was an easy decision to make. Ernest didn't let the ghost incident scare him, so he continued to explore dangerous unknown worlds. After defeating the Ten Wise Men, he had a bit more faith and confidence in Opera's ability to fight and protect herself, so this time he let Opera join him. It might have been a bad idea, though, because they BOTH found themselves stranded on the Blue Sphere planet. Type: Ernest is a fighter. He specializes in Feel (hand), and he randomly gains his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Feel skill levels. He's pretty easy to combo with, but he has a tendency to push the enemy away with each hit, thus ending your combo prematurely. His on-screen attack also doubles as a Field Action. It's the same as Precis's Winch Field Action. He can grab onto certain objects with his whip and pull the party across an abyss. Moves: CLOUD DUST - MP Use: 15 - Ernest comes with it. Cloud Dust was probably the most useless move in Star Ocean: The Second Story, but it's a bit better in Blue Sphere. It's very much like Ashton's Hurricane Slash. Ernest spins around and creates a small tornado of dust which flies at the enemy to do damage. The damage is quite minimal, and Ernest gets tired after only two, but the MP cost isn't too bad, so it isn't the worst move out there. SONIC WHIP - MP Use: 36 Ernest whips a huge blue blast of sonic energy at the enemy to do massive damage. While it tires Ernest out after only one, the damage is well worth it. ====================== RENA LANFORD ====================== Character Report: The happy-go-lucky Expellian girl Rena Lanford went to her favorite place, the Shingo Forest, one day to relax and be alone, despite her mother's warnings. Ever since the Sorcery Globe crashed into the planet, natural disasters had been occurring at an alarming rate, and monsters were roaming the land everywhere that people didn't inhabit. Rena wasn't worried, though, and her bizarre healing powers could protect her if necessary. But what happened that day she didn't expect... A huge ape beast snuck up behind her, and if it wasn't for a mysterious man who ran in and defeated the monster with a blade of light, she would have been killed. He must be the Hero of Light, the one who would come from a far off place to save Expel when it needed it most... After her adventure, Rena moved to Earth to study medicine. She may have been blessed with the magical powers of healing, but there was also the power of science. Rena didn't want to see anyone else suffer and die. She devoted herself to learning all she could to help people, but she had to stop her studying to help those who mattered most to her - her friends. Type: Rena is a spell caster who focuses on healing. She specializes in Knowledge (book), and she randomly learns spells by casting spells over and over and raising her Knowledge skill levels. You don't get her until late in the game, though, so she already comes with many of her spells. All the factors that apply to Celine, Leon, and Noel's spell learning affect Rena as well, and like Noel, you can't learn a healing spell by using attack spells over and over or vice versa. Rena is very weak at fighting and almost impossible to combo with, but if you want a healer, she's the best one available. Spells: HEAL - MP Use: 3 - Rena comes with it. Rena's Heal is the same as Noel's. Since you recruit Rena at such a late point in the game, this move is pretty useless. You don't even need to use it in order to learn stronger healing spells because Rena comes with Cure Light when you first get her in your party. CURE LIGHT - MP Use: 11 Rena's Cure Light is also the same as Noel's. It's not too useful when you finally get Rena, but you'll need to use it if you want to learn stronger healing spells for Rena. CURE ALL - MP Use: 9 - Learned from Cure Light. Another spell just like Noel's. You'll probably learn Fairy Heal and Fairy Light at the same time you learn this, so there's really no point in using it unless you're stingy about MP and don't need the full recovering power of Fairy Light. FAIRY HEAL - MP Use: 24 - Learned from Cure Light. Same as Noel's version yet again. You should try to learn Fairy Heal as soon as possible with Rena because at that point in the game you'll need it. FAIRY LIGHT - MP Use: 18 - Learned from Fairy Heal. Rena's Fairy Light is identical to Noel's Fairy Light. Use it when everybody is low on HP rather than Fairy Heal. ANTIDOTE - MP Use: 5 - Rena comes with it. A shower of healing mist (and more silly green sparkles) surrounds the selected character and cleanses him or her of all toxins. Sounds good, but Antidote is actually a really stupid move. It only cures the poison status anomaly, and unlike Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story, poison is nothing to worry about. After the battle, the poison status is gone. Not to mention there seems to be a bug related to Antidote. If you have Antidote selected for use, the AI will cast it on characters who have status anomalies other than poison. Thus the character won't be cured, and Rena will have just wasted some MP. Worse yet, she'll do this even if you have Dispel selected for use. She won't use Dispel at all unless you make her manually or remove Antidote from her list of moves to use in battle. DISPEL - MP Use: 20 Another spell that Rena shares with Noel. Like with Noel, it's a good spell to use when exploring areas that have enemies who stone or paralyze, but other status conditions usually aren't much of a problem. If you have both Rena and Noel on your party at the same time (which I don't recommend to begin with), it isn't necessary to have both characters set to use Dispel. One is adequate. RAISE DEAD - MP Use: 21 - Learned from Fairy Heal. When Rena casts Raise Dead, the sky takes on a yellowish orange hue, and the sky parts to release an angel who lowers to the earth to revive a character in burst of resurrecting sparkles. Raise Dead is a must have late in the game, when your characters are dying often, and you can't wait for the battle to be over to heal them. RAY - MP Use: 42 Rena's Ray is identical to Celine's. As I said when describing Celine's, Ray takes awhile to cast, but it does a lot of damage. Considering how high Rena's MP should get, the MP cost isn't bad at all. Rena only comes with two attacking spells, Ray and Press, so I recommend you use this one until you learn something stronger. PRESS - MP Use: 18 Rena conjures up a 100-ton weight and drops it on the enemy. Despite Press's low MP cost, it's a surprisingly powerful spell. If you don't have the time to cast a more powerful spell, Press is a good alternative. Rena casts it very quickly. LIGHT CROSS - MP Use: 40 Little sparkles and crosses of light fill the battlefield and explode all around the enemy to do massive damage. The MP cost is a tad high, but not a problem at all when Rena had several hundred MP total. I highly recommend this spell for when Rena isn't busy healing. The only downside is that it takes a very long time to cast. TRACTOR BEAM - MP Use: 30 When Rena casts Tractor Beam, a huge beam of reverse gravity fills the battlefield and lifts the enemy up in the air. Then it drops the enemy to the earth. It does above average damage, but you're probably better off with a stronger spell or a weaker one that's quicker to cast. STAR FLARE - MP Use: 38 A huge star, not unlike the sun, appears above the enemy and sends a massive wave of heat and fire towards it. It does high damage, and the casting time and MP cost aren't too bad, so it's definitely recommended. PROTECTION - MP Use: 15 Same as Leon's Protection spell. It has the potential to be somewhat useful, but you're really probably better off sticking to regular healing magic and attack magic for Rena. You characters will benefit a lot more from recovering HP than a small temporary defense boost. HASTE - MP Use: 15 Haste looks almost the same as Delay, except the hands on the clock move clockwise rather than counterclockwise. Also, rather than the bad looking dark mist at the end of Delay, you see yellow sparkles, which of course must be good. Haste supposedly makes your character move faster (maybe cast spells faster too?), but really, even if it worked, would you ever really need it? ANTI - MP Use: 16 Rena's Anti spell is the same as Celine's. As far as statistic enhancing spells go, it's not too bad, but there's only a few rare occasions when you would truly benefit from it. ANGEL FEATHER - MP Use: 14 - Learned from Protection. Same as Celine's Angel Feather spell. Maybe it can be useful against bosses and such, but I haven't found it worth using in a practical manner. DELAY - MP Use: 18 Rena's Delay is identical to Leon's, and it's still useless. SILENCE - MP Use: 11 Same as Noel's Silence spell. If you're facing an enemy that has strong magical attacks, it MIGHT be useful, but then again it only works sometimes. Just don't bother with it. DEEP MIST - MP Use: 11 A thick mist fills the battlefield and randomly affects the enemy's vision. Supposedly it makes the enemy's hit percentage drop, thus causing it to miss more often, but I haven't noticed much of a difference. Another enemy status affecting spell you don't need. FIXED CLOUD - MP Use: 22 American Star Ocean: The Second Story fans know this move as Energy Net, but in Star Ocean and Star Ocean: Blue Sphere (and maybe the Japanese version of Star Ocean: The Second Story?), it's called Fixed Cloud. Rena summons the clouds to form a large mallet, which pounds the enemy several times in an attempt to peep it, ie make it dizzy and unable to move or attack. It could be useful... if it worked. Most of the time it doesn't, so it's just more wasted MP. ====================== CRAWD C. KENNY ====================== Character Report: The young man who Rena believed to be the Hero of Light was actually Crawd C. Kenny, an officer of the Earth Federation. His "blade of light" was his phase gun, which he father Ronixis gave him. Rena, being from a primitive planet, couldn't grasp such technology. Crawd explained to Rena that he wasn't the Hero of Light, but he was still stuck. While exploring some ancient ruins on the planet Milocinia, he somehow got transported to Expel. He had no ship to leave, his communicator stopped working, he was hopelessly lost. He's a good soul, though, and decided that while he was there, it was his duty as an officer of the Earth Federation to aid in their crisis with the Sorcery Globe, and to, for once, prove to his father that he is brave and can do things on his own. Rena developed a bit of a crush on the dashing young lad, so she decided to come along and help with her healing powers. She also had a few things about herself she hoped to figure out along the way... Crawd, like his father did with his adventures on Roak, proved himself to the Earth Federation by defeating the Ten Wise Men. He also moved out of his father's shadow. He even got his own ship. After Precis and her friends were gone for an unusually long time and couldn't be reached, Crawd and Rena suspected that they met the same fate as Opera and Ernest. Crawd and Rena took off in Crawd's ship, but they, like everyone else, crashed into the Blue Sphere planet after entering its strange gravitational force. Type: Claude is a fighter. He specializes in Battle (sword), and he randomly gains his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Battle skill levels. He's probably the strongest fighter in the game (if you allocated everyone's skill points equally), but pulling off combos with him can be a bit tricky at first. You usually have to be up close to an enemy. He seems to punch more often than use his sword. o_O Moves: PHASE GUN - MP Use: 17 - Crawd comes with it. Many Star Ocean: The Second Story fans were disappointed when Crawd's phase gun frizzled out after only reaching the Salva Drift. I guess Crawd remembered to bring good batteries this time 'cause you can use the Phase Gun move for the entire game. :) When Crawd executes Phase Gun, he whips out his gun and fires a shot of energy at the enemy to do minimal damage. You have to be within about 3/4 of a screen from the enemy. It's a decent move, but it's kind of weak. KATSUJINKEN - MP Use: 7 - Crawd comes with it. Katsujinken is more or less the same as Energy Sword from Star Ocean: The Second Story. Well, except a bit more useful. Crawd spins his sword around, and then holds it pointing up and straight right in front of himself. A circle of energy forms around him, and he recovers around 40 of his HP. It's not too terrible. The MP cost is low, and Crawd can easy pull off several at the beginning of a battle to refill his HP. GAKURETSUHA - MP Use: 20 Pear into peaches! Hehehehe, Gakuretsuha is the same as Star Ocean: The Second Story's Ripper Blast move. Crawd strikes the ground with such a powerful blow that the earth in front of him gets pushed out and up and impales the enemy. Damage is only average and Crawd gets tired after two, but since the MP cost is low and it can hit airborne enemies, I would still consider Gakuretsuha a very good move. SWORD BOMBER - MP Use: 32 Seems like most, if not all, of Crawd's moves are taken from Star Ocean: The Second Story, unlike most of the other fighters who have some original moves. Anyway, when Crawd performs Sword Bomber, he jumps up into the air and fires three explosive bursts of energy at the enemy. Since damage is only average and Sword Bomber tires out Crawd after only one, I'd stick to Gakuretsuha. ****************************** BATTLE SYSTEM AND COMBOS ****************************** Even if you have had a ton of experience with battling in Star Ocean and/or Star Ocean: The Second Story, you will probably still be a little confused by the finer points of the Star Ocean: Blue Sphere battle system. The most foreign addition to the Star Ocean battle system is combo system. Other changes are minor and natural to adjust to, but for those who need it I will cover the basics. ====================== THE BASICS OF BATTLES ====================== In Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, you are limited to left and right movement in the battlefield. You can only control one character at a time, but you may switch between the other two characters by pressing select. Once you have the cursor over the character you desire, press confirm. When your character has fainted (died) or been completely immobilized in another way, you will automatically be switched to another character. You only face one enemy in each battle, but each enemy has several body parts. The enemy's HP is displayed at the bottom of the screen in the form of bars for each body part. If a body part loses all its HP, the enemy can no longer use it. So attack an enemy's legs, and it cannot move. Attack an enemy's jaw or hands, and it cannot bite or claw at you. Usually if you deplete all of an enemy's body or head HP, it will die. Different attacks, moves, and spells hit different parts of the enemy's body. Try to hit the head for a quick death, or attack a certain pesky body part that the enemy keeps using to attack you. Experiment to figure out where each attack, move, and spell will hit. You cannot manually choose what body part to attack (ie there is no cursor to switch between them all.) To execute a regular attack in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, press A. Most characters, in particular fighters, have many different normal attacks. They will change depending on your distance from the enemy. To perform a move or spell, press B or a certain direction on the D-pad in addition to B. You cannot perform moves or spells unless you first go into the menu prior to battle and set them for that character or set them sometime during the battle. Spells that affect the enemy or spells that affect your entire party will be cast immediately after you press the button or button combination. Spells that affect only one member of the party will make a cursor appear at the top of the screen. Move the cursor left or right to select the character you wish the spell to be cast upon, and press confirm. You may have noticed that B + Down can't be used for moves and spells. That's because Down is used for defending. When an enemy is attacking or about to perform an attack, quickly press down to defend. If it's a particularly powerful attack, it will most likely still do damage, but defending significantly lessens the damage you receive. If it's a weak attack, you may receive no damage at all when you defend. To get to the menus, press start. A cursor appears at the top so you can choose which character you will be performing the actions with or on, and you are presented with three options on the bottom of the screen which you can scroll up and down through. The first is items, the second is for setting moves and spells, and the third is for setting character AI. They're all basically the same as in the regular menu, except for items, which is a bit more limited. You can only use items from two groups - potions and battle items. Select which group the item you want is in, and select the item you wish to use. Then you'll go back to the battle screen, and the character will use the item. To run away from battles, run right, ie away from the enemy. If you get far enough, all your characters will escape, but often times the character trying to run away will get tired at least once before successfully escaping. When a character is tired, he or she can't move. They just stand or sit there breathing heavily until they get enough energy to fight again or until an enemy knocks them out of the tired state. It's a very dangerous time for the character, but it's pretty unavoidable. Besides running away, numerous performances of moves and spells or very strong moves and spells will tire out characters. Long combos and even lots of regular attacking will tire out characters as well. ====================== COMBOS ====================== Okay, you got the basics down? I can actually explain combos in a lot less words, but I feel it deserves its own little section. It was one of the most confusing things to me at first, but it's actually rather simple. The easiest way to explain it is to think of Super Mario RPG's timed attacks, or Squall's timed attack in Final Fantasy 8 for you RPG newbies, but TO THE EXTREME. Combos are often times more effective than even the most powerful moves and spells, and performing a well-executed long combo can mean the difference between life and death. So as you can imagine, nearly every battle consists of mostly combos. All you got to do is press A right as a regular attack hits. You may want to use the little star-shaped impact an attack makes to help time yourself. If you time it right, you should pull off another attack immediately, and a little number should pop up in the upper left area of the screen. Try to do this with the second attack, the third, and so on. If you learn the timing of all the various attacks a character does, you can pull off VERY long chains. My longest ones usually don't get higher than the upper teens, but on a few lucky occasions I've reached the twenties and even the thirties! Some characters are easier to combo with others, and some combos have to stop after a certain point (like if you pass the enemy). One final note about combos, besides being very powerful, you will need to perform combos in order to learn new moves for many of the fighters. See the character section for information on each individual character's combo abilities. ****************************** FIELD ACTIONS ****************************** Field Actions are another new addition to the Star Ocean series. Most RPGs limit you to walking and running on the field screen, but Star Ocean: Blue throws some Zelda-like action into the mix. You can jump, push and pull blocks, shoot various projectiles, pull your party across gaps, set bombs, and perform many other actions. Every character comes with at least one Field Action, but most of the other ones have to be learned by allocating skill points to the proper skills. For information on setting Field Actions, see the menu area, but I'll give you a little helpful tip here. I stumbled across this accidentally after already having spent dozens of hours on the game. To easily switch Field Actions without having to constantly go into the main menus, just hold select, and press B. Instead of switching characters, your Field Action will change. Keep pressing B to scroll through them all. And now for the list (in alphabetical order): --------------- BOKUDAN (BOMBS) --------------- If you have at least one of the item Field Bomb (shows up in the Key Item list), you can use Bokudan. Just press B when you're standing next to a cracked or thin wall or rubble to set a bomb. You lose one Field Bomb item every time you use Bokudan. To know if a wall can be bombed, try to "talk" to it. If your character comments on the wall, it most likely can be bombed (or has to be opened in some other special way). Rubble on the other hand usually won't give you a message, but if there's junk blocking your way to something important, it can probably can be destroyed or moved. You need Bokudan at the very beginning of the game, so be sure to have at least one Field Bomb always on you. Characters who can use: Ashton, Bowman, Celine, Chisato, Crawd, Ernest, Leon, Opera, Precis, and Rena ---- DASH ---- Press and hold B to move at twice the speed you have normally. Good for running away from enemies or for simply saving time. Characters who can use: Ashton, Bowman, Crawd, Dias, Ernest, Leon, Opera, and Precis ------------ DUNGEON HINT ------------ If you use Dungeon Hint while in a dungeon, Leon will tell you some sort of clue about it. But it's useless to you if you don't know Japanese... And even if you do, it's completely unnecessary to use Dungeon Hint throughout the course of the entire game. Character who can use: Leon --------- FIREBALLS --------- Fireballs is arguably one of the best Field Actions in the game. Not only is it absolutely necessary to have in the second dungeon (thankfully Ashton comes with it), but it's useful for the whole entire game. It surprises enemies from a distance, like a few other characters can do, but it also burns down many obstacles. Something all those other moves cannot do. Character who can use: Ashton --------------------------- HOVER IDOU (HOVER MOVEMENT) --------------------------- If Fireballs isn't Star Ocean: Blue Sphere's best Field Action than Hover is. Like Fireballs, you HAVE to use Hover in some areas to advance in the game. It's also a hell of a lot easier for crossing gaps than jumping. I recommend you make Hover as soon as you get a Material Kit. If you can only afford one Material Kit, then just keep resetting the game until you make Hover. It's THAT important. Character who can use: Precis ---- JUMP ---- Press B to perform a small hop. Not too useful since the jumping distance is so short. If you're trying to clear a gap, you'll likely not make it. You're better off with Hover or at least Winch. Jump can get you out of a pinch if you're without anything better, though. Characters who can use: Every character ---------- MAGIC SHOT ---------- Celine casts a spell to send a shot of magic towards the enemy in order to surprise it. Character who can use: Celine ------ MAPPER ------ Mapper creates a map of everywhere you've been. On the "overworld", it gives you a bird's eye view of the continent you're on, which is pretty looking, but not overly useful. In dungeons, it creates a map of the floor you're on. It's a very simple map. All it shows is a square for each room and the passages to other rooms. Rooms that you haven't been into yet don't show up. This Field Action is a must-have by the time you get Ernest. Characters who can use: Ashton, Bowman, Celine, Chisato, Crawd, Ernest, Leon, Noel, Opera, Precis, and Rena -------------------------------------------- MONSHOUJUU "infinity" (MAGIC GUN "infinity") -------------------------------------------- Yet another Field Action for surprising enemies. It looks just like Celine's Magic Shot too. Character who can use: Opera -------------------------- MUCHI IDOU (WHIP MOVEMENT) -------------------------- Press B while facing a stump-like object, and Ernest will latch onto it with his whip in order to pull himself across. Not overly useful, but it can help out in a pinch, ie Precis not on your party or without Hover and AND the particular gap you want to cross happens to have the objects necessary for Muchi Idou to work. Character who can use: Ernest -------------------- OSU/HIKU (PUSH/PULL) -------------------- Osu/Hiku or "Push/Pull" is an odd Field Action because it's actually two Field Actions combined into one. In Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, you always learn Osu or Push first. Then if you allocate skill points to the proper skills, you'll learn Hiku or Pull. Instead of it being added on to the Field Action list separately, it's just added on to Osu. It makes sense since you'll likely be using both at the same time. Use Osu/Hiku to move various blocks and crates around. Sometimes you'll need to move them to certain spots on screen, and other times they're simply blocking your way. Press and hold B to grab onto the object, and then just press the direction you wish it to go in. Characters who can use: Ashton, Bowman, Chisato (only Osu/Push), Crawd, Dias, Ernest, Noel (only Osu/Push), Opera, Precis, and Rena --------- PHASE GUN --------- Crawd is weird in that his phase gun is both a move AND a Field Action. Phase Gun shoots a beam of energy to surprise an enemy from a distance. Character who can use: Crawd --------------------------- HEYABUNSEKI (ROOM ANALYSIS) --------------------------- Like Leon's Dungeon Hint, this Field Action usually only gives you clues (in Japanese, of course), so it's useless to most people reading this FAQ, and it's completely unnecessary whether you know Japanese or not. But I have learned that it actually serves a use beyond clues. In one room of the Leviabor Ruins, Ernest will open up a passage to another room if you use Heyabunseki. It's the ONLY way to get into that room. There are possibly other rooms and areas in the game that you can access with Heyabunseki, but none of them are necessary for the advancement of the game. Character who can use: Ernest ----------------------- SATSUEI (PHOTOGRAPHING) ----------------------- Press B to bring up a cursor, and press A when it's over the enemy. Chisato will take a photograph of it, which will appear and be saved in the Monster Picture Book (second item in the Key Items list). The pictures don't serve any real use, but they're fun to collect. Character who can use: Chisato -------------------- SOSEI (RESURRECTION) -------------------- This has got to be the weirdest Field Action in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. Took me awhile to figure out too. If you destroy some object or defeat an enemy, perform Sosei in the spot where it was, and Rena will revive it. This can prove very useful if you're trying to gain skill points. Just find an enemy that gives a high amount, and fight it over and over. You'll also need Sosei to solve a few puzzles (in the Leviabor Ruins, for example), but those puzzles aren't necessary to complete. Character who can use: Rena ---------------------------- TEKIBUNSEKI (ENEMY ANALYSIS) ---------------------------- Press B to bring a cursor up, and when it's over an enemy press A. Data about the enemy such as location, statistics, items dropped, and other useful tidbits of info will be listed and saved in your Monster Picture Book. Useful if you're worrying about how strong an enemy may be. Characters who can use: Noel and Opera -------- TELEPORT -------- Press B to bring a cursor up, and select a location. If it's a place that your characters can walk, Celine will raise her staff up into the air and teleport to that location. Since this Field Action would take the challenge out of many of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere's puzzles, you can't learn it the normal way. Once you reach the final area of the game, return to your spaceship and walk outside (with Celine NOT in your party), you should see her walking up to you. Then she'll tell you about how she learned the Field Action Teleport. If you don't see her, don't worry. The game kind of strings you along making you think you're in the final area a few times. You'll know for sure when the secret dungeon to the left of your ship opens up. Character who can use: Celine ----- WINCH ----- Winch works exactly the same as Ernest's Muchi Idou Field Action. If you perform Winch while facing an object that looks like something you can latch onto, Bobot will grab onto the object and pull Precis across the gap. You're really much better off with Hover, but Winch can be useful if for some reason you don't have Hover. Of course, it's of no help if there are no objects to grab onto. Character who can use: Precis --------------------------------------- YAKUSOUTORI (MEDICINAL PLANT GATHERING) --------------------------------------- Took me a long time to figure out this one, but Yakusoutori is actually quite simple. Just press B while over those strange, candy cane shaped plants, and Bowman will pick them. Since there aren't as many items available for sale in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere as the other Star Ocean games, this is a good way to stock up on herbs, which you can use to make good items like Resurrect Bottles. Character who can use: Bowman ****************************** ITEM CREATION ****************************** Item Creation is handled completely differently in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere than in the previous Star Ocean games. It's one of the most perplexing things in the game whether you have experience with the first two Star Ocean games or not. Just for a little recap, though, in the previous games, Item Creation was more or less about luck. There were many things you could do to increase your chances of being successful, but after you selected the materials you wanted to use, the game did the rest of the work for you. You just sat there with your fingers crossed hoping that you'd be successful. Now in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, Item Creation is almost like several different "mini-games". The better you perform, the more points you will receive. Once the time you're given is up, you will get an item based on your point total. The "timer" is Bobot/Mujin crossing the bottom of the screen. Low point totals will result in failure items or sometimes no item. High point totals will result in very good items. And of course everything in between. There are a few exceptions, though. Some games will start you off with a high number of points and you have to perform well to keep yourself from losing points, while most make you start from 0 and work your way up. Some don't even have points at all. The following list gives detailed descriptions of how to play all the "mini-games" of Item Creation and what items can be acquired from each. ====================== KANTEI ====================== Kantei would be "Identify" to us American Star Ocean: The Second Story fans. This is one of the simplest Item Creation abilities to execute. Simply select Kantei, select the Spectacles, then one of the "?" items you have. A bag containing the item/s will appear, and a magnifying glass (spectacle) will be in front of it. When the game starts, quickly move the magnifying glass all over the bag. When your character catches a glimpse of the item you'll hear a sound, and a little star-like thing will appear by their photo. You'll also see one of the question marks below turn into a Japanese symbol, which is part of the item's name. If you spell out enough of the name, the character will figure out what it is. Often times you'll be able to identify the item before Bobot even finishes crossing the screen. Rare items are harder to identify. ====================== ORACLE ====================== Oracle is once again useless. In Star Ocean it served a purpose, but in Star Ocean: The Second Story it only provided clues and somewhat helpful bits of information about the game, as does Oracle in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. To play Oracle, select it and you'll go straight to the game screen. When the game starts, use the winged basket to collect the Katakana symbols (which spell out "hint") that the tri-Ace logo drops. The higher your point total is when the game ends, the better the clue you'll receive. But since Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is a Japanese-only game, the hints are of no use if you don't know Japanese. ====================== NICHIYOUDAIKU ====================== Nichiyoudaiku is a new Item Creation ability to the Star Ocean series. It could be loosely translated as "Carpentry". It's not a particularly useful Item Creation ability, as all you create are items for other Item Creation abilities, which you can more easily buy from stores. To use Nichiyoudaiku, select one of two types of timber (you need to first find or buy the timber). You'll then see the timber with a hammer hovering above it. When the game starts, move the hammer around so when it swings it'll hit the nail head on. You get five nails (or five swings of the hammer), and it doesn't matter what part of the timber you nail them in (even overlapping is fine). The way to do well is to make the nail go in correctly. If you hit the nail wrong, it will bend and you won't get as many points for that nail (points don't show on screen). There are different degrees to how you can mess up the nail, so a little crooked is better than completely scrunched up. If you completely miss the nail, it'll still move onto the next nail, and you won't receive any points at all for the last one. Nichiyoudaiku is one of the few Item Creation abilities that you can leave up to the computer and still do relatively okay. The hammer more or less follows the nail on its own, but the computer won't do a perfect job. Once you get the hang of Nichiyoudaiku you should try adjusting the placement of the hammer when it swings slightly in order to perform flawlessly. Items created from Nichiyoudaiku: Makuzai (Wood) - Magical Clay, Fairy Source, Magical Canvas, and Spectacles Tennen Sugi (Natural Japanese Cedar) - Magical Clay, White Scroll, Magical Film, Fairy Source, Material Kit, and Magical Canvas Failure Item - Heppokonakazari (Useless Decoration) ====================== CHOURI ====================== Chouri, or cooking, is probably one of the most famous Item Creation abilities in the Star Ocean series. If somebody is trying to tell a person new to the series about Item Creation, they would undoubtedly mention that you can cook food. It's definitely one of the most fun, and in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, it is the most useful Item Creation ability. Since you don't earn fol, or money, in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere by defeating enemies, you'll have to sell things. Making a bunch of food to sell is the most practical way of making a lot of cash, and it's also the most profitable. You can make foods in two different ways in Chouri, each being two entirely different mini-games. But to access them and begin cooking, you must first buy the cooking ware to make your foods in. The first one is Nabe (Pot), and the second is the Fry Pan. I find cooking easier with the Fry Pan, and you can create the best foods with it. After selecting either the Nabe or Fry Pan to use, you select which ingredient you'd like to cook with. All ingredients can be used in both the Nabe mini-game and the Fry Pan mini-game. The first five listed are the normal ingredients - Gyokairui (Seafood), Niku (Meat), Komemugi (Rice and Grain), Yasai (Vegetable), and Tamago (Egg). Next are the Super Ingredients (which are more expensive in stores) - Sengyo (Fresh Fish), Koukyuuniku (High Grade Meat), Super Grain, Fresh Vegetable, and Wonder Egg. Super Ingredients don't make different foods. They only have different point ranges, so it takes fewer points to make the better foods. Select which ingredient you want to work with, and the mini-game for that piece of cooking ware will begin. See below for instructions on each. Nabe - When cooking with the Nabe, you will see three pieces of food floating in the pot. You're in control of the ladle. The point total below starts at 480. The more the pieces of food hit each other or the sides of the pot and break down, the lower the points drop. Try to stir the food away from each other to keep your point total as high as possible. Fry Pan - When cooking with the Fry Pan, simply rotate the D-pad left and right to flip the food. Every successful flip will raise your point total. If you don't catch the food in the pan on its way down, the message "Miss!" will appear, and shortly after that the food will reappear in the pan. Missing doesn't cause you to lose points, but it wastes time and you won't get points for that flip. Items created from Chouri: With the Nabe (Pot): Gyokairui (Seafood) 0 to 100 points = Kikenna Nabe (Dangerous Pot - failure item) 100 to 170 points = Ara Shiru (Fishbone Soup) 170 to 250 points = Karei no Nimono (Flounder Stew) 250 to 300 points = Lobster Soup 300 + points = Fukahire (Sharkfin) Soup Niku (Meat) 0 to 100 points = Bloody Soup (failure item) 100 to 170 points = Ton Shiru (Pork Soup) 170 to 250 points = Chaashuu (Roast Pork) 250 to 300 points = Gyuukakuni (Cubed Canned Beef) 300 + points = Beef Stew Komemugi (Rice and Grain) 0 to 100 points = Dorodango (Messed Up Dumpling - failure item) 100 to 170 points = Okayu (Hot Rice Gruel) 170 to 250 points = Zousui (Medley Soup) 250 to 300 points = Risotto 300 + points = Gomoku Kayu (Rice Gruel Mixture) Yasai (Vegetable) 0 to 100 points = Henshoku (Wilting) Salad (failure item) 100 to 170 points = Yasai (Vegetable) Soup 170 to 250 points = Rolled Cabbage 250 to 300 points = Cream Stew 300 + points = Matsutake no Suimono (Matsutake [a type of mushroom] Soup) Tamago (Egg) 0 to 100 points = Umareta Tamago (Hatched Egg - failure item) 100 to 170 points = Kachikachi Tamago (Rock Solid Egg - failure item) 170 to 250 points = Yude Tamago (Boiled Egg) 250 to 300 points = Tamago (Egg) Soup 300 + points = Ajitsuke Keyude Tamago (Seasoned Boiled Egg) Sengyo (Fresh Fish) 0 to 80 points = Kikenna Nabe (Dangerous Pot - failure item) 80 to 150 points = Ara Shiru (Fishbone Soup) 150 to 230 points = Karei no Nimono (Flounder Stew) 230 to 280 points = Lobster Soup 280 + points = Fukahire (Sharkfin) Soup Koukyuuniku (High Grade Meat) 0 to 80 points = Bloody Soup (failure item) 80 to 150 points = Ton Shiru (Pork Soup) 150 to 230 points = Chaashuu (Roast Pork) 230 to 280 points = Gyuukakuni (Cubed Canned Beef) 280 + points = Beef Stew Super Grain 0 to 80 points = Dorodango (Messed Up Dumpling - failure item) 80 to 150 points = Okayu (Hot Rice Gruel) 150 to 230 points = Zousui (Medley Soup) 230 to 280 points = Risotto 280 + points = Gomoku Kayu (Rice Gruel Mixture) Fresh Vegetable 0 to 80 points = Henshoku (Wilting) Salad (failure item) 80 to 150 points = Yasai (Vegetable) Soup 150 to 230 points = Rolled Cabbage 230 to 280 points = Cream Stew 280 + points = Matsutake no Suimono (Matsutake [a type of mushroom] Soup) Wonder Egg 0 to 80 points = Umareta Tamago (Hatched Egg - failure item) 80 to 150 points = Kachikachi Tamago (Rock Solid Egg - failure item) 150 to 230 points = Yude Tamago (Boiled Egg) 230 to 280 points = Tamago (Egg) Soup 280 + points = Ajitsuke Keyude Tamago (Seasoned Boiled Egg) With the Fry Pan: Gyokairui (Seafood) 0 to 30 points = Neko no Kuikake (Fish Half-eaten By a Cat - failure item) 30 to 60 points = Sakana no Maruyaki (Barbecued Fish) 60 to 120 points = Asari (Short-necked Clam) Butter 120 to 170 points = Hirame no Manieru (Flounder Meuniere [French dish]) 170 + points = Awabi (Abalone) Steak Niku (Meat) 0 to 30 points = Tanso (Burnt) Hamburger (failure item) 30 to 60 points = Genshi Niku (Caveman Meat) 60 to 120 points = Hamburger 120 to 170 points = Steak 170 + points = Saikou no Sirloin (Top Sirloin) Komemugi (Rice and Grain) 0 to 30 points = Namakome (Raw Rice - failure item) 30 to 60 points = Chicken Rice 60 to 120 points = Hot Cake 120 to 170 points = Chaahan (Chinese-style Fried Rice) 170 + points = Final Chaahan (Chinese-style Fried Rice) Yasai (Vegetable) 0 to 30 points = Torikabuto Itame (Fried Aconite - failure item) 30 to 60 points = Yasai Itame (Vegetable Stir-fry) 60 to 120 points = Happousai (Chop Suey) 120 to 170 points = Hoikoro [Chinese dish] 170 + points = Miracle Itame (Stir-fry) Tamago (Egg) 0 to 30 points = Karatsuki Tamago Yaki (Egg Fried Inside the Shell - failure) 30 to 60 points = Scrambled Egg 60 to 120 points = Medamayaki (Sunny-side-up Fried Eggs) 120 to 170 points = Plain Omelet 170 + points = Manmaru Medama Yaki (Perfectly Round Sunny-side-up Fried Eggs) Sengyo (Fresh Fish) 0 to 5 points = Neko no Kuikake (Fish Half-eaten By a Cat - failure item) 5 to 40 points = Sakana no Maruyaki (Barbecued Fish) 40 to 100 points = Asari (Short-necked Clam) Butter 100 to 145 points = Hirame no Manieru (Flounder Meuniere [French dish]) 145 + points = Awabi (Abalone) Steak Koukyuuniku (High Grade Meat) 0 to 5 points = Tanso (Burnt) Hamburger (failure item) 5 to 40 points = Genshi Niku (Caveman Meat) 40 to 100 points = Hamburger 100 to 145 points = Steak 145 + points = Saikou no Sirloin (Top Sirloin) Super Grain 0 to 5 points = Namakome (Raw Rice - failure item) 5 to 40 points = Chicken Rice 40 to 100 points = Hot Cake 100 to 145 points = Chaahan (Chinese-style Fried Rice) 145 + points = Final Chaahan (Chinese-style Fried Rice) Fresh Vegetable 0 to 5 points = Torikabuto Itame (Fried Aconite - failure item) 5 to 40 points = Yasai Itame (Vegetable Stir-fry) 40 to 100 points = Happousai (Chop Suey) 100 to 145 points = Hoikoro [Chinese dish] 145 + points = Miracle Itame (Stir-fry) Wonder Egg 0 to 5 points = Karatsuki Tamago Yaki (Egg Fried Inside the Shell - failure) 5 to 40 points = Scrambled Egg 40 to 100 points = Medamayaki (Sunny-side-up Fried Eggs) 100 to 145 points = Plain Omelet 145 + points = Manmaru Medama Yaki (Perfectly Round Sunny-side-up Fried Eggs) ****************************** PRIVATE ACTIONS ****************************** If you have played Star Ocean or Star Ocean: The Second Story, you surely know what Private Actions are. When you reach a town, a little message pops up on the screen saying "Private Action". If you press the corresponding button, your party would enter the town and split up. Then you would use the main character to speak with all the other party members. Sometimes they'd say very little, but other times you'd get into a long conversation or scenario. They mostly just add to the story or affect how the characters feel about each other, but sometimes you'd get useful items. But once you played a little ways in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, you were probably saddened to see the Star Ocean trademark Private Actions missing. Not so. They just take a different form. Occasionally during your travels you'll come across the characters not currently in your party wandering around. If you talk to them at the right time and with the right character in your party, a little conversation may take place. BTW, if anybody who knows Japanese out there could translate the Private Actions in English for this FAQ, I'd really appreciate it. I'd especially like to see a translation of the one in Banisu with Bowman. =P --------------------- INSIDE THE SPACESHIP --------------------- Hard for me to pinpoint exactly when these Private Actions become available, but I would say around 3/4 through the game. So around the time when you reach Scream (don't hold me to that, though ;) ). Anyway, speak to Chisato and Ashton with anybody in your party, and they'll each give you a weapon that they use. (Gyoro and Ururun seem to spaz out too.) I've heard the weapons can be made into moves, but I haven't confirmed it myself. Later on, after you get teleported out of the Grand Knott by the three masters of Aqua, speak with Dias, and he too will give you a strange weapon with no statistic bonuses. ---------------------------- FOREST OUTSIDE CRASHED SHIP ---------------------------- After completing Mile Dungeon, you should find Bowman wandering around just to the left of Scout Village's entrance. He'll give you a bunch of herbs. I don't believe it matters what characters are in your party. ------------- MILE DUNGEON ------------- On F4 you'll find Dias wandering around. If you speak to him with Ashton in the party, they will have a short conversation, but that's it (what else would you expect from Dias? =P ). --------- ABA CITY --------- After finding Opera, put her in your party and speak to Celine in Aba City's inn. Opera and Celine will have a short conversation, and then Celine will give her the system that enables Opera to learn her Holy Star move. Sure, you can easily make it with Machinery, but this Private Action can save you a little work. ^_^ If you speak to the boy in the far left area of the town while Chisato is in your party, you'll be forced to run an errand for him. You won't be able to talk to the king or leave the town until you finish it. Just talk to everyone in the town, including all the shop owners (be sure to break all the debris to find two shops), and then return to him. Unfortunately, you don't seem to get anything from him for doing this. ------------ BANISU CITY ------------ After getting Opera, speak to Ernest with her in the party. They have a conversation, but nothing more than that seems to come from this Private Action. Take Bowman to Banisu City with BOTH Opera and Ernest out of the party. Walk over to the fish shop, and Opera will be browsing the goods. Opera will be surprised to see Bowman, and they'll have a pretty lengthy chat. When you get two options, pick the first. Trust me, it's better. The second only results in annoying Opera, and the Private Action ends. The first is better because... you just accepted Opera's offer for a drinking game! :P The scene will shift to the inn, and Opera and Bowman will be sitting at a table. They'll go back and forth taking shots, but after only a couple Bowman passes out on the floor. Opera, on the other hand, keeps going... and going... and going... Until she either runs out of alcohol or gets bored. She leaves, without even glancing as Bowman's body sprawled out on the floor, and shortly later Ernest finds Bowman and brings him back to the ship. When Bowman comes to, him and Ernest have a little chat, and that's the end of the silliest Private Action in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. ^_^ --------------------------- DESERT AT KNOTT'S ENTRANCE --------------------------- Around when you reach Aqua, teleport to Knott and step outside. You should see Opera standing at the edge of the cliff. Speak to her with Precis in the party, and they'll have a conversation. You're given two options, but I don't believe either results in much of anything. ------------------------------- DESERT LEADING TO GRAVIS CAVES ------------------------------- Once you have Rena, take her to Knott Laboratory, and go down the underground tunnel leading to the desert. At the exit of the tunnel, when you first reach the desert, you should see Celine walking around. Talk to her, and Rena and Celine will have a conversation. At one point, you'll get an option, but neither results in anything. You can pick the second one to annoy Celine if you want, though. :P ----------- NUSA BEACH ----------- After opening the door in Leviabor Ruins that leads to the Grand Knott, take Rena to the forest outside the crashed ship. Climb down the ladder in the cliff that leads to Nusa Beach, and you should find Chisato wandering around. Speak to her, and she'll have a conversation with Rena. You're given two options, but neither results in anything. ****************************** CONTACTING ME ****************************** Since I don't know Japanese, some of my translations could possibly be incorrect, but with the aid of Katakana and Hiragana charts, my knowledge of previous Star Ocean games, Japanese and Chinese Star Ocean: Blue Sphere sites, and other resources, I think I got almost everything right. If you feel that a translation is incorrect, or any other information for that matter, let me know. Some translations come down to a matter of opinion, though, so I won't necessarily change something just because you don't like my translation ("Knott" and "Not" for example. Until I see something official that says one or the other, I'm calling the area "Knott".) When and if there is a fan translation of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, I will NOT change my FAQ or walkthrough to match it. If you email me about doing such a thing, I will delete your email, and if I'm not in a particularly good mood, you may get a not-so-pleasant reply. ;) I will also not answer emails regarding if there is, when there will be, or where you could find a translation patch. If there's any information you think is missing or info that you'd like to see added, email me about that. I will NOT include info relating to the ROM or ROM hacking codes. That's not my thing, and I encourage all Star Ocean: Blue Sphere players to actually go out and buy the game. If you'd just like some help with something in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, I would be happy to help. Please don't ask questions that are already answered by my FAQ or walkthrough, though. Don't bother asking for the ROM either. I will promptly delete your email. If you just want to chat about the game, that's fine. I love talking about tri-Ace and the Star Ocean games. ^_^ My email address is: triacesuperfan@hotmail.com ****************************** COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ****************************** This FAQ is copyright 2001 Kristina Potts. This FAQ may be used only if the author has been contacted and gave permission, nothing is altered, and the FAQ is used in its entirety. Credit must also be given to the author. This FAQ may NOT be used for commercial purposes. ****************************** THANKS TO... ****************************** tri-Ace for making yet another masterpiece. I hope Star Ocean 3 will be just as good... Enix for publishing this game. Nintendo for not including regional lockout on any of their Game Boy systems. The dude who sold me Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. First copy ever on eBay, baby! Oh, and no thanks to the lousy online import stores that didn't get the game until a few months after it had been released. Akujin for translating many item names for me. Whisper for giving me info on moves, Private Actions, and such. All the other Star Ocean: Blue Sphere board users who helped me through the game when I was stuck or gave me info to add to the FAQ. GameFAQs in general for giving a home to my reviews and FAQs. Not that my site doesn't do the same, but more people visit GameFAQs... My dear, loving soul mate Andreas. Thank you for just existing. But as far this FAQ goes, thanks for all the encouragement. And I thank myself because I'm a narcissistic fruitcake with an unhealthy obsession with all things tri-Ace. And I'm a little old to be finding Leon sexy. o_O