Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 19:22:40 -0700 Azure Dreams FAQ Version 0.4 by Andrew Lee (c) Copyright 1998, Andrew Lee, all rights reserved. *Author's Foreword* This FAQ is written to assist the player in getting a good start within Konami's Azure Dreams. Azure Dreams, being completely random each time you enter the dungeon, with the exception of levels 1 and 2, make it impossible to write any sort of walkthrough. Instead some general strategies will be discussed along with some various information pertaining to the game itself. There may be a few mini-spoilers within this FAQ, but they will be appropiately labeled in their corresponding sections. I have not yet beat the game, so some quests/info may be incorrect or unfinished. Please note that this is my first attempt at a FAQ, so don't expect any fancy ASCII art and please be kind with the comments. Any corrections/additions to this FAQ are appreciated. To submit idea/ correction, please mail me at inverse_23@yahoo.com and I will try to include the info you send me in my next revision. *Disclaimer* Anyone viewing this guide may redistribute, use, print, etc. as long as you dont change any of the original content or claim that you wrote this whole FAQ. Please give credit to me and the following contributors for getting this information together. If you violate these rules, you shall face unimaginable consequences. I am by no way affiliated with Konami (KCET) *Revisions* 0.5 - More strategies added 0.4 - Minor touch-ups, nothing major 0.3 - More minor changes. Added magic system section, fusion section, expanded upon familiar section, added traps section. Added more tricks and subjects in the miscellaneous section. 0.2 - Revised info of items. Added how to get amusement center. Made a few minor changes. Added Gameshark, quest, and monsters section. More tricks were added. 0.1 - Started the FAQ. Currently incomplete. *Contents* 1. Characters O The Hero O Nico Southey O Selfi Rode O Fur Gots O Patty Pan O Vivian Merca O Mia Myria O Cherrl Child O Kewne O Wreath O Guy O Weedy O Ghosh Rode 2. Places in the Town O The Blacksmith O General Store O The Carpenter O Koppe's Restaurant O Bar O The Monster Store O The Fortune House O Clinic O Temple 3. Places you can build (mini-spoiler) 4. Beginning Strategies 5. Strategies for longer lasting adventures 6. Items O Swords O Shields O Herbs O Sands O Seeds O Food O Glasses/Loupes O Crystals O Wands O Bells O Scrolls 7. Familiars O General familiar guidelines O Magic System Information O Facts/Observances about fusion O Special abilities of familiars O Magic Spell List O Special Occurences with Familiars 8. Tips O Money making strategies O Other Tricks 9. Quests (Spoiler) O Pool Quest O Jug Quest O Healing Herb Quest O Whats on the Top? 10. Monsters 11. Traps 12. Miscellaneous info (mini-spoiler) O ? marks in save game screen O Impressing various girls O Stand up comedy solution O Dialogue trick 13. Game Shark Codes O Unlimited health O Quick level up O Infinite Money 14. Stuff to do in the future 15. Credits 16. What happens when you beat the game (Spoiler, but you knew that :P) ~ 1. Characters ~ - 1.1 The Hero - The hero of the game, which you name yourself, is the son of the legendary monster tamer, Guy. Unfortunately, Guy has died rather early leaving the hero to fill his legacy. However most of the townsfolk believe him to be a brat only looking to cause trouble. It is his dream to enter the tower and find untold riches that he believes will help his family live a better life. And now that he has come of age, he may now enter, and he hopes that he will prove himself to the rest of the village. - 1.2 Nico Southey - Friends since childhood, it is Nico's job to wake the hero up every morning. Nico is known to be a tomboy and she admits it herself. Nico believes that Monsbaiya is very dull and boring and strives to make it a more cultural spot. By helping her achieve her dream, the hero may be able to win her heart. - 1.3 Selfi Rode - Selfi Rode, being the sister of the arrogant Ghosh Rode, is a wealthy, spoiled woman who wishes to be a sorceress. Seen frequently in the tower, she teases the hero and asks him irrelevant questions. - 1.4 Fur Gots - Fur Gots is the woman who runs the general store at Monsbaiya. Fur tends to mock the hero whenever he stops by the store contemplating if his 10 gold purchases are worthwhile. However, when you begin to make money and buy regularly, her attitude toward the hero changes. - 1.5 Patty Pan - Patty works at Koppe's restaurant as a waitress. With a great personality, she has the customers returning for more. - 1.6 Vivian Merca - A dancer that arrives in Monsbaiya after you reopen the bar. Info on getting her is in the miscellaneous section. - 1.7 Mia Myria - Seen in the library, Mia keeps to herself, reading books, and is very shy around others. However, you may get to know her if you visit the library more often. - 1.8 Cherrl Child - A girl with a disease that gives her very little strength, she dreams to walk outside and live a normal life. Can you help her find a cure for her condition? - 1.9 Kewne - This is the familiar that joins you at the beginning of the game. He will prove very valuable as he will be stronger than most familiars at first and will serve as your only familiar in the beginning. - 1.10 Wreath - The hero's mother, stores your possesions and saves your game. Ease her life by improving your house. - 1.11 Guy - The hero's father. Known to be a legendary monster tamer, he is thought to have reached the top of the tower and has never returned. Everyone thinks he is dead, but is that really the case? - 1.12 Weedy - The younger sister of the hero. Has a book which gives the details of every monster you encounter. - 1.13 Ghosh Rode - The hero's rival, tends to brag about his possesions and looks down upon you. You will meet him in the tower and around town quite often. ~ 2. Places in Town ~ - 2.1 The Blacksmith - The blacksmith is a shop where you can sell possesions or buy weapons/items. However, the only things he sells is a copper sword and a medicinal herb so this shop isnt that special. - 2.2 General Store - This is the place where you can buy home improvements and gifts for other people. This is a place where you can spend your money on luxuries. - 2.3 The Carpenter - A rather important place, you can talk to him to build structures. You can expand your monster hut, house and buy new buildings for the town. Be aware no improvement comes cheap. - 2.4 Koppe's Restaurant - Nothing special here. You can indulge in food if you like. However, repeat visits will get your hero to know Patty and thus may start a relationship. - 2.5 Bar - You can get some beginners advice from the patrons. You can also spend some money on drinks. - 2.6 Monster Store - You can sell your possesions here. Other than that not much to do here other than get information regarding familiars from the people inside. They may sell familiars in the future, but I don't know that for a fact yet. - 2.7 Fortune House - In this facility, you can get some advice on fighting and how to impress the various women in this game. - 2.8 Clinic - You can buy medicinal herbs here. They are cheaper than the ones that the blacksmith sells. You can also improve this place into a hospital for a price however. - 2.9 Temple - Talk to the priest here to get some beginners information. As you progress through the game, he will present ideas for new city structures you can build. Make him happy by paying for a new temple. ~ 3. Structures you can build ( Mini-Spoiler ) ~ - 3.1 Home improvements - Home improvement 1 - 6000 gold, triggers more events, increases storage space, allows more luxury items to be bought. allows you to store 30 items. Home improvement 2 - 60000 gold, a mansion. allows storage of 60 items. The first home improvement is a must, however the second one is up to you. - 3.2 Monster Hut Expansion - Expansion 1 - 4000 gold, increases capacity to 9 familiars Expansion 2 - 6000 gold, increases capacity to 16 familiars. Expansion 3 - 20000 gold, increases capacity to 36 familiars. Expansion 4 - 60000 gold, increases capacity to 64 familiars. - 3.3 Temple - Temple upgrade - 4000 gold. Gain respect from the townspeople and get more structure ideas from the priest. - 3.4 Hospital - Clinic upgrade - 4000 gold. I think this building lets you meet Cherrl. - 3.5 Library - Library - 8000 gold. Gain respect from the townspeople. Build to meet Mia Myria. Talk to Dr. Hal and it should become an option in the carpenters list. - 3.6 Theatre - Theatre - 8000 gold. Talk to Fon to build this. Fon starts a stand up comedy act that you can particapate in. Gain more respect once again with t his building. - 3.7 Fountain - Fountain - 3000 gold. Donate money to Nico and this will be built. Nico will appreciate you more if you help her build this. - 3.8 Racing Circuit - Racing Circuit - 30000 gold, talk to Silver in the furthur most NW corner of Monsbaiya. Can make a lot of money here. - 3.9 Bowling Alley - Bowling Alley - 40000 gold, not really bowling, but similar. Gain more respect once again. - 3.10 Casino - Casino - 100000 gold, can make money by either playing slots or roulette. Gain more respect. - 3.11 Amusement Center - Amusement Center - 30000 gold, play mini-games here. To build, talk to carpenter's assistant while standing on the table. He will talk about his dream. Go through the tower and come back and he will ask for money to build it. - 3.12 Octopus Ball Shop - Octopus ball restaurant - 0 gold, must find the oil pot for this building to open. Can buy octopus balls here. - 3.13 Gym - Gym - 30000 gold , talking to Barry the blacksmith twice after getting the pool will allow you to build this structure. ~ 4. Beginning Strategies ~ - 4.1. Some things to keep in mind - Note that there are only 40 floors in the tower, can you make it to the top? When you first start the game, you must play cautiously because you can't count on finding a wind crystal to return you to town with the egg you get. If you do then consider yourself lucky. Make sure you make use of the skip turn feature and the face change, that way you can lure the enemy to a better tactical position, because at this point, dealing as much damage as possible is crucial. You may want to set your initial familiar to a AI setting of 4 or 5 because you dont want the enemy to target you directly. The enemy tends to attack the familiar first however there are a few exceptions (the trolls with bow guns) Should you find an egg, bring it back to your house rather than hatch it in the dungeon, should you hatch it in the dungeon, it will leave you permanantly once you leave. If it is hatched in the monster hut, it will accompany you until you sell it or sacrifice it. The orbs you find in the tower (flame orb, weak orb, restore orb) are worth a lot of money and are not necessary in the beginning. Its up to you however if you want to use it. Find a weapon you like and continually use red sand on it to make it powerful. Be wary of rust traps as they will reduce the weapon/armors power. Weapons that are rust proof is the Gold Sword. Armor that are rust proof are the mirror shield and diamond shield. Do not uncurse items in the beginning, because when something is cursed, it tends to rake in a LOT of money, for example, a cursed diamond shield brings in about 6700 gold. If you uncurse it, the price drops down sharply. If you plan on getting far up the tower, then it may be a good idea to uncurse it. Following the above idea, items with undesirable effects (malicious bell, scroll etc.) bring in quite a bit of money, so it may be a good idea to keep these items to sell in the beginning. The malicious bell has a special use, see the tips section. The elemental equipment (Gulfwind Sword, Ice Shield) may seem effective with there above average damage and defense, however use with caution, because with a elemental shield, you will take more damage from the element it is weak against but will protect more against the element it is stronger then. So if you are fighting a terrifying U-boat and you are wearing a scorching shield, then you will take a helluva lot more damage then if you were to use a iron shield. The same applies to the elemental weapons so switch accordingly. Some familiars have abilities that can only be accessed through individual commands. Be sure to check the command menu to see if they have any extra abilities. (See familiar section for known abilities) In the beginning, the majority of the enemies are fire based, so it may be wise to change the genus of your familiars to water. The only enemy in the beginning that will prove a threat this way is the cyclone. Do not underestimate the power of rods. While having very little attack power, they have tremendous effects with mixture magic. You can 30+ damage by using a rod and dealing damage the enemy is weak against, and the faster you kill them, the more likely you are to survive. Skip turns to recover your hp and your familiars hp. You can also lure monsters to you this way and set yourself in a good position should the terrain warrant it. Be aware that this drains the mp of the familiars but the drain is not too severe. If you choose to fight Ghosh in the tower, make sure you have a familiar cast beneficial spells to give you an edge in combat. The troll hammer you find is used to get other troll weapons. For example throw the hammer at a troll with a bow gun and he will equip the hammer letting you get the bow gun he was using before. Dont use any of the stat boosting items on yourself, use them on your familiars because the hero always returns to base stats every time he reenters the tower. If you find the Mazarr seed, make sure your familiar isnt close to gaining a level because the stars you have when you use it aren't carried over when you gain a level using this item. Remember that you can throw items by pressing have at the inventory screen to hold it and hold circle and press x to throw. Throw fruit with negative effects at enemies to give yourself an advantage. Throwing spare weapons does a lot of damage, approximately 3-5 times the power of the weapon. When on higher/lower terrain or any other awkward combat position, make sure you rotate the camera angle with L1/R1 to make sure you are aiming at the enemy. Another crucial strategy to remember when every hit counts. Throw the oleen fruit at an enemy to instanly kill it. You wont return to town or get experience for it but it is a way to deal with lethal threats annoyances. When a picket steals an item, it tends to run away if you approach it. Have it come to your monsters by walking away from it when it gets near and let your familiars do the work since pickets deal very little damage. ~ 5. Strategies for longer lasting adventures ~ Be conservative with item use, using scrolls, fruit, orbs as sparingly as possible. Don't hoard up on items like gold swords and spare shields if you are already using a gold sword and diamond/mirror shield as they just take up valuable inventory space. Try to have take a familiar of each genus in the tower (e.g. fire, wind and water) and take out the appropiate familiar when meeting various enemies. For example, use a wind monster when fighting krakens, use a water monsters when fighting griffons etc. Don't use familiar on the earlier levels (levels 1-9) if you already have some decent equipment on (mirror/diamond shield and gold sword) because you can handle yourself with out too many problems in the beginning and you want to have your familiars have as much mp as possible. The rarest of items can be obtained from the Barong monster who is found on levels 16, 26, and 36. Throw an item that is not edible at it and it will regurgitate another item in its place. You can get rare weapons and items from this beast. This is where I got the awesome trained wand. ~ 6. Items ~ - 6.1 Swords - Copper Sword - 2 attack, better than your bare hands is all I can say. Iron Sword - 3 attack, better than copper Steel Sword - 4 attack, better than iron Gulfwind Sword - 5 attack, wind elemental, use against wind and water creatures, rather useless against fire creatures. Blizzard Sword - 5 attack, water elemental, use against fire and water creatures, useless against wind creatures. Fire Sword - 5 attack, fire elemental, use against fire and wind creatures, useless against water creatures Vital Sword - 5 attack, keeps enemies from multiplying, useful for journeys in which you want to get to a high floor. Gold Sword - 1 attack, has a good price and does not rust. Popular weapon to use red sands on. Holy Sword - 7 attack, has divine protection. Special effect unknown. Dark Sword - 10 attack, cursed. Seraphim Sword - Guy's sword, 8 attack. - 6.2 Shields - Leather Shield - 1 defense, better than nothing Wood Shield - 2 defense, better than leather Copper shield - 4 defense, decent shield Iron Shield - 5 defense, good shiled Steel Shield - 6 defense, sturdy shield Diamond shield - 7 defense, great shield and valuable too. Does not rust. Earth Shield - 5 defense, wind elemental, weak against fire creatures, good against water Scorching Shield - 5 defense, fire elemental, weak against water creatures, good against wind Ice Shield - 5 defense, water elemental, weak against wind creatures, good against fire Live Shield - 5 defense, it sometimes returns a fraction of the damage you receive to the enemy. Mirror Shield - 3 defense, reflects any magic cast upon you to the caster, may be effective in the future where enemies cast more brutal spells. It also does not rust so building up this shield may be a good idea. - 6.3 Herbs - Medical herb - restores about 35 hp, good in emergencies Antidote herb - cures poison, poison eventually wears off but it is best cured early lest you must recover about 20+ hp Anti-Chaos herb - cures confusion, not that great if you are confused since you can skip turns until it wears off but should your familiar get confused, it may be useful because familiar can do a tremendous amount of damage unto you Wake-Up herb - a must when your familiars fall asleep during a battle, especially in the higher tower levels where the enemies deal more damage. Roeam Herb - Cures blindness, not that effective but should be used on familiars since they may stray from the hero or attack him. Hazak herb - Restores weakened attack. Necessary in the deeper levels where enemies can sap your strength. Lowered strength means an extra hit or two to defeat and that can mean the differance between success and failure. Cure-all herb - cures any condition Toxic herb - poisons eater - 6.4 Sand - Red Sand - permanantly increases the power of a weapon by 1. Hoard these up if you plan on sticking on a single weapon. Blue Sand - permanantly increases the defense of a shield by 1. Hoard these up if you have a powerful shield or a shield with special effects. White Sand - increases the number of charges of an orb. Useful for increasing the value of an orb. - 6.5 Seeds - Hazak Seed - Permanantly increases attacking strength by 1. Use on familiars. Shomuro Seed - Permanantly increases defensive strength by 1. Use on familiars. Mazarr Seed - Permanantly increases the users level by 1. Use on familiars. Mahell Seed - Temporarily give a character double attacks. Indispensable. Light Seed - Change familiar's element to fire. Sea Seed - Change familiar's element to water. Wind Seed - Change familiar's element to wind. Lar Seed - Lowers the eaters level. Tovar Seed - Eating this seed brings good luck. - 6.6 Food - Pita fruit - restores 50 mp to a familiar. Always have some of these. Big Pita fruit - restores 100 mp to a familiar. Try to have these in long tower adventures Leva fruit - prevents a familiars race from changing in fusion. See familiar section for use. Tumna fruit - turns the eater into a frog. Throw at enemies. Laev fruit - causes the familiar to consume more mp. Not sure of any beneficial use Leolam fruit - causes the familiar not to lose any mp for the tower level you are on. Limit fruit - temporarily raises the chance to cause critical damage Oleen fruit - sacrifices familiar and causes you to return to town. Cannot use on kewne. Throw at enemy to kill them, but you get no experience - 6.7 Glasses/Loupes - Star Glasses - reveals the entire map, items on that level and the elevator to the next floor. Truth Glasses - Identifies an item. Tells what kind of egg you received. Unidentified items are in green. Use to prevent equipping cursed items Trap Loupe - Shows the location of all the traps on the level. Use to disarm traps to gain the hero experience Treasure Loupe - Shows the location of all the items on the level. Use to get the items and head straight for the exit to save time. Exit Loupe - Use to find the exit. Not the greatest of items Monster Loupe - Use to find out the location of all the monsters on a level. - 6.8 Crystals - Wind Crystal - Returns you to town with all the treasure you find in the tower. Try to have one as much as possible Fire Crystal - Summons a salamander that deals a lot of damage then leaves Water Crystal - Restores the status, hp and mp of a familiar - 6.9 Wands - *All wands increase the power of mixture magic* Wooden wand - no special effect Money wand - sometimes changes the enemy into money Life wand - restore some hp with each hit. Useful in big fights. Paralyze wand - sometimes stops the enemy. I seem to have good luck with this. Scarlet wand - fire element Water wand - water element Gulf wand - wind element Seal wand - sometimes seals enemy abilities Trained wand - the only wand that can be tempered with red sand. - 6.10 Bells - Holy bell - Chases a monster out of the room Malicious bell - raises the level of enemy monsters. Sell it. Has special uses Familiar bell - returns a lost familiar to you. Good to have. - 6.11 Scrolls - Holy scroll - makes a shield that protects you from attacks Malicious scroll - causes the reader to become confused, sell Trap scroll - causes all the traps to be invisible, sell Alchemic Scroll - Turns all of the items on the current floor to gold coins ~ 7. Familiars ~ - 7.1 General Familiar Guidelines - Familiars are an important part of Azure Dreams and your success depends on their abilities. Since they do not decrease in level each time they reenter the tower, it is in your best interest to build up you familiars as much as possible. Here are some guidelines to familiars: Familiar eggs are a rare find and IMO you should never sell them. If you have no use of them, fuse them with another creature making that creature stronger. Having 2 familiars at once is a good combo, however it reduces the amount of experience you get. I think you find the collar to have two familiars at once around the 10th-12th floor. Have one familiar cast support magic while the other attacks the enemy. If you are lucky enough to get a dragon, they are extremely useful in that they only eat metal. Unlike fruit, metal is common and thus keeping them sustained in long tower runs is easy to accomplish. Familiars gain about 3 mp when they are given anything (herbs, seeds, etc.) - 7.2 Magic System Info - Every spell in the game belongs to a 'spell family' because it can be one of three spells. You can get a different spell within a family by changing the familiar's element. For example: if you have a fire element familiar with Sled, then you change it to wind element, it will have NoaSled. If you change it to water, it will have NeaSled. This is an example of a spell family. Now, there are three types of spell families: fire, wind and water. Sled is a fire spell family, you can tell by its 'N' prefixes. Wind spell families have 'L' prefixes, for example on a wind familiar you can have LoDown, on a water familiar LeDown, and on a fire familiar LaDown. Finally, water spell families have 'D' prefixes. On a water familiar you can have DeRock, on a wind familiar DeoRock, and on a fire familiar DeaRock. Now, the trick is this: A spell will only increase in level when its spell family element and the element of its familiar match. So, for example, Sled will advance, since it's a fire spell family spell on a fire familiar. However, NeaSled will not advance, since it's a fire spell family spell on a water familiar. Similarly, LoSleep, Brid and DeForth will advance, while LeDown, NoaBrid and DeaWall will not. Simple, isn't it? *Special Thanks to John Evans* - 7.3 Facts/observances about fusion - Fusion is a technique that involves using two familiars at once. Using fusion you can endow the familiar that results from the fusion with new spells and abilities. The resulting race does affect the outcome and this is where the use of the leva fruit comes in. Since the resulting familiar of the fusion will be the one of higher experience, you can use the leva fruit on the weaker familiar to have the fusion result in the weaker familiars form. The resulting familiar makes a big differance, for example: Consider fusing a Manoeva and Noise. If the end product is a Manoeva, it will gain the DeoForth spell. However, if it's a Noise, it will gain LoSleep. Familiars also gain abilities in fusion. For example, gained abilities could include sleep proof, unbrainwashable and a few others. These abilities seem to be gained from the appropiate families (sleep-proof from dreamin). Abilities that I have seen gained: Sleep-Proof from dreamin Kewne is unbrainwashable Quickness from Picket Magic Attack increase from Clown (spell gains two levels for every exp. level) Magic consumption decrease from cyclone Double Attack (use hazak herb to get the other half) from arachnid Double Defense (use hazak herb to get the other half) from a block Poison Proof from a Nyeul I also gained a breath attack that gains levels by fusing a baloon and a dreamin (not sure if those were the two but my baloon right now has a breath attack). The Breath attack is firebased. Anymore observances, mail them to me. Help is appreciated. - 7.4 Special abilities of Familiars - Some familiars have special abilites that are accesible only through individual commands, be sure to take a look at your familiars command list to see if it has any such abilities. A small list of familiar abilities: U-Boat - Float/sink (what the enemy tends to do) Scout (15 mp, has the same effect as the star glasses) Baloon - Fly to next level (? mp, takes you to next tower level) Garuda - Abduct (? mp, grabs whatevers in front of it and warps it away) Blume - Brainwash (? mp, brainwashes an enemy to fight other nearby enemies) Dreamin - Hypnosis (? mp, makes the enemy sleep) Noise - Seal magic (? mp, seals enemy magic) Manoeva - Transform (? mp, turns into whatevers in front of it. If its an item, you cannot pick it up. If its an enemy, it fights in that form) Cyclone - Cure Anorexia (? mp, cures anorexia) Volcano - Create Rock (? mp, use to create tactical position) If you have any other abilities and mp values, please send them in. - 7.5 Magic list - The first spell effect is the mixture magic effect and the second one is the direct effect. The effect of mixture magic unless otherwise noted just hits the monster that you hit with your weapon: LoDown: Thunder Wave, Level Down LeDown: Snow Wave, Defense Down LaDown: Heat Wave, Attack Down LoSleep: Earth Shaker (damage enemies near you), Sleep Attack LeSleep: ? LaSleep: ? DeoForth: Wind Cutter, Healing DeForth: Blizzard Sword, Healing DeaForth: Flame Sword, Healing DeoRock: Gaia Shoot (hits enemies in a straight line), Tornado Obstacle DeRock: Snow Shoot (hits up to three enemies around you), Ice Obstacle DeaRock: Fire Shoot (hits enemies in a straight line), Fire Obstacle DeoWall: ? DeWall: Aqua Blade (hits, then causes ice shower), Water Protection DeaWall: ? NoaBrid: Wind Cutter, Thunder Attack NeaBrid: ? Brid: Flame Sword, Fire Attack NoaSled: ? NeaSled: ? Sled: Flame Sword, Fire Attack - 7.6 Special Occurences for Familiars - When some familiars reach the 20th level of experience, their form changes, here are some changes that I have observed/had submitted to me When a clown reaches the 20th level it transforms into Death. When a nyeul reaches the 20th level it transforms into Battnel When an arachne reaches the 20th level it transforms into an Ashra. When an flame reaches the 20th level it becomes an Ifrit. When a block reaches the 20th level it becomes a Metal. When a griffon reaches the 20th level it becomes a Grineut. - 7.7 Reader familiar suggestions - From isman (siisman@indosat.net.id): - The must-have eggs are BLOCK, CLOWN, and ARACHNE. BLOCK has Hard talent, while CLOWN has Magic Increased and ARACHNE has Strength Increased. The key is to gain enough experience for BLOCK to grow into METAL in level 20, in fact, all three can grow into an advance form. I tried to combine a METAL with a grown level 20 ARACHNE (I forgot its name) to be a Hard and Strength Increased METAL. Then I give it a Sea Seed, blessing him with water genus. After a treatment of a cure-all herb, or simply return to town and come back to the tower, it'd be in its full power, and ready for some serious monster butt-kicking. Level 31-experienced, it could wreak havoc among the monsters in 35 floor-up. The only thing that can do some damage to it is a GOLEM. But if it's attained level 32, or you've given it some Shomuro Seed, it'd be no prob. Even a MAXIMUM could only give 1 damage and vanishes in a single swipe. In theory, I could simply combine a BLOCK with an ARACHNE to a BLOCK with both talents, then grow it into a deadly METAL, but I already have a level-20 grown ARACHNE and if I fuse my baby BLOCK it'd be absorped. I also fused my other METAL with a CLOWN and got myself a tough-hided wind magic user, its both lores are doubled in level! Great to have to accompany me to level 35. But after that its abilities became pretty useless. Another pretty good combination for top-most levels if you're not tired enough already and want to contribute some bashing, is to have a fire METAL fighter and any water increased-magic user. From Claudius Santiago (cjs832@hotmail.com) - VOLCANO+CLOWN= _______+_____ level level 1 2 or more You will get a VERY STRONG clown with high magic. Strike with a sword and he will back it up with magic that hurts like 45 damage on the first level. (ex. Hero attacks once, Clown backs it up with a Fire Brid or something which can equal massive damage) From Marty Czosnyka (mczosnyka@hotmail.com) - Once you get to the higher floors monsters can kill you in 2 to 3 hits no matter how strong you are. take a monster like the kraken, Which is by far one of the best, and fuse it with a cyclone, to lower the amount of mp it sucks up. Aslo throw in a Nyeul so that it's poison proof. And Finish it off with an Aracnid. Those double it's attacking power. at Level 25 It will have 100 attack points and 50 defense points making it the biggest threat to all enemies. ~ 8. Tips and Tricks ~ - 8.1 Ways to make money - There are many ways to make money in Azure Dreams. The only thing you can do to make money in the beginning of the game is to travel into the tower and try to return alive with all your loot. For one thing, selling is VERY important as it yields great sums of money and enemies do not drop gold. During your early adventures, be sure to hoard up any useless sounding items (the kind that seem like they have a negative effect with the exception of fruit) as they are strangely worth a lot of money. Orbs are also worth a lot of money and have little use in the beginning of the game. Cursed items are also worth a fortune so make sure you dont uncurse them. Once you get enough money to buy a race track, 30000 to be exact, you can make a LOT of money here. The way to make money here is to look at all the odds and ignore any of the 1-x ones because any of the 1-x involve you in the bet. So just pay attention to 2-3, 2-4 and 3-4 odds. If they are about 20+ odds, bet on it. Once you are in the race, pay attention to the numbers you bet on (i.e if you bet on 2-3, pay attention to racer 2 and 3). The way this race works is that 2 cpu racers are fast and one is slow. If the two racers you bet on are the fast ones, prepare to rake in a lot of cash. As long as you dont finish 1st or 2nd (which isnt hard to do if you try to lose) and the ones you bet on are the fast racers, you win. I dont suggest betting on the 1-x ones because its hard to tell which cpu racer will end up 2nd place. You can make up to 49000 gold if this is successful. With the casino, a way to make money is to save at your house first, then go to the roulette table and keep making max bets on the blue section (6x). If you fail, just reset and try again. Its easy to get three sevens on the slot machine, just practice and you can get 60000 gold almost every time. - 8.2 Other tricks - There are special uses for the pita fruit, medicinal herb, malicious bell and scroll. With the pita fruit, if you use it on a familiar while its at its maximum, its maximum mp will go up by 1. This is good because you always get a pita fruit from the hero's mom everytime you return from the tower. The same things applies with medical herbs, but only to the ones you find in the tower. Use when your familiars are at max hp to increase their hp by 1. The malicious bell though sounding like an item that you would want to sell, has a unique use. If your familiar is confused, use it and your familiar will gain a level. Though all the enemies will gain a level, the tradeoff is worth it. To make your familiar confused, use the malicious scroll. It also works if your familiar becomes brainwashed. ~ 9. Quests (Spoiler) ~ - 9.1 Pool Quest - The pool quest is the quest you can recieve at the beginning of the game. The water medal is found on level 25. You must defeat a picket monster to retrieve it. - 9.2 Oil Jug Quest - To recieve this quest, after you reach level 5, go to the windmills and talk to the man nearby. He should say that he broke something and he needs the oil pot to fix it. It is found lying around somewhere on level 15. - 9.3 Healing Herb Quest - When you build the hospital, you will soon meet the girl, Cherrl Child. She has an illness that can only be cured by the healing herb. The herb is found somewhere in level 28. ~ 10. Monsters ~ Here is a list of monsters and a description of what kind of threat they are. Currently incomplete. Most of the threats assume that its your first encounter. Will redo it later. ~ 11. Traps ~ Azure dreams has many traps within the tower to hinder your the hero's progress to the top. Here is a list of them and the effects they cause: - 11.1 Traps List - Slam Trap - Spiked ball lands on victim. Deals damage Bomb Trap - Explodes in a cross shape inflicting damage to anyone caught in the blast and destroying any items caught in the blast. Seal Trap - Seals a familiar's magic Rust Trap - Lowers the effect of weapons and armor. Opposite effect of red and blue sand. Some weapons/armor are immune. Frog Trap - Turns victim into a frog for a short while. Warp Trap - Warps victim somewhere on the map, very dangerous! Poison Trap - Poisons the victim Crack Trap - Causes the terrain to change in elevation for a short while. Upheaval trap - Same effect as the crack trap Bump Trap - wakes up sleeping monsters Reversal Trap - Turns the screen upside down which makes viewing awkward Chaos Trap - Confuses the victim. Monster Den - Throws a whole mess of monsters in the room, deadly in the higher levels. ~ 12. Miscellaneous (Mini-Spoiler) ~ - 12.1 Those faces in the save game screen - From what I know, those faces are the hearts of the girls you won. They may affect your ending, then again, they may not. - 12.2 Impressing various girls - - Nico Southey What you choose to say to her doesn't matter, until she tries to collect funds to build a fountain. Since her dream is to make the village more cultural, you'll need to support it. Cash only at first, but it won't hurt to choose just the positive answers to her questions. After the fountain is built, she'll be seeing Ghosh a lot. If you build theater or return Water Medal to pool owner, she'd say something about the places being cultural, but it won't matter, anyway. If at this point you've rescued Selfi from a Pulunpa and met her at the fountain. She'll get jealous. Spending a couple of days in the dungeon, you'll find a musician playing beside the fountain. Talk to him, and Ghosh and Nico will come. Ghosh will force the musician to leave, and you'll have to help him. Just say that the music is beautiful and voila, Nico's heart is almost yours. Just visit her everyday in her house, and her face will be on the save slot in no time. - Selfi Rode In the beginning, just like Nico, your answers won't affect her feelings. But keep talking to her in town, or sometimes on the 2nd floor of the tower. Until one day you find her caught by a Pulunpa. Help her and be modest about it. When you meet her near the fountain she'll give you a Pulunpa egg. Ghosh and Nico will come and ask you about it. Just be frank, and the Rodes will then leave you with Nico. From this on, just keep talking to her and choose any answer. After several days, you'll find yourself in the opposite situation, she'll help you from a U-Boat menace. Then back in town, she'll say that she has no idea why she rescued you. You'll have to control your ego for now. But the day after that, she'll ask you again and just fire away! She'll strangely be delighted when you accuse her of falling in love with you and will ignore your last reply. - Fur She reminds me of Ranma 1/2's Nabiki. This tomboy only appreciates money... and a person who doesn't. You've gotta to be that person. Keep visiting her store and ignore her teasing and many times heartless remarks. But when she asks you whether you come to see her, answer yes. Don't forget to talk to her again after you've done shopping/selling, she'll say something different. When you manage to find your way to 15th floor, you'll find the urn for the farmer who asked your help. Give the item, and return the next day to receive an octopus dumpling sample from his kid's stand. With the sample in your inventory, go talk to Fur. Give it to her when she asks for it. Spend the next several days flirting with her, and one day you'll find her in an uneasy mood after a visit from Ghosh. She'll say some nasty things about your father and you've to draw some line here. Ask her to apologize and she'll yell back. But after you exit her store, she'll feel bad. Return the next day and say that you forgive her. After that, just spend more days talking. - Patty Pan Don't worry, even if you've done wrong several times to her (running off without paying, doesn't bring enough money). You could still catch her heart. Just pay what you owe, then try everything on the menu. Or you could try Shining Prawn for a couple of times. And one day, you'll find her alone in the restaurant. Show some enthusiasm when she says that she can cook for you. Just choose to complement her cooking and that her dad is a great person. When the restaurant opens again, agree to her statement that the other day was their secret. Then the next time she'd brush Ghosh aside by serving you her own cooking. Be gentle and complement her. - Mia Myria The easiest of all. After you build a library, she'd be there. After several accidental bumps-into, she'll finally talk to you. Be polite or lie to her (depends on your perception). Several times like that and you'll find her mad at Ghosh for being rude. Pretend you don't hear her cursing. Repeat the visiting procedure and she'll begin dreaming about you. Until one day when you notice (you won't miss her) that she's stalking you, just come to the library and exit until you catch her red-handed. Tell her you don't like what she was doing and she'll run crying. The strange thing is, the next day she doesn't appear in the library, but the day after that she acts like nothing ever happens. - Cherrl Child A rather tricky one because there's a branch and I haven't tried the other one. After visiting her several times, she'd ask you to bring her outside. While walking, she'd blush when you say that both of you look like lovers. After acquiring the Healing Herb, you give it to the doctor and given two choices : to tell Cherrl about it or don't. I choose not to since the doctor also agrees that Cherrl should recover on her own will. After she recovers, she'll want to be a nurse. Support her and then visit her in the hospital often. One day, she'll overhear from your conversation with the doctor that it was you who got the herb. She'll then exclaims that she'd try hard to recover anyway, not wanting someone so precious to her gone through the trouble for nothing. I don't know who wrote these lines, but the choices are : - sorry - sorry - curry Which really tickled my ill-humoured nature. Okay, after several visits, you'll have captured her heart also. - Vivian Merca On the 28th-30th floor, you'll find a torn blue cape. Bring it to the bar and an automatic sequence will follow. The bar will then be closed for the following days. After you talk the owner of her senses, she'll reopen the bar and Vivian will be there, ready to dance lively. Sometimes if she is not seen at the bar she may be at the casino. If you've built a theater, just keep going in and out of the bar and talk to her until she says that she's being interviewed for the theater. Return the day after tomorrow to the theater and you'll find her with her fellow dancers performing their show. She doesn't look good, though, but keep answering to her that you watch her in play. I hope you've done a successful stand-up act, cause that's what you need. Vivian will get worse and refuse to join her comrades. You'll then ask her to walk outside. You'll find Ghosh outside, saying something that brings you idea. Ask Vivian to go to the bar, saying that the madame will love having her dance there. She'll do great, and realizing her fault. After that her dance gets better day and day until she finally gets the role. *Related occurences* - Next door lives Aunt who will try to be a matchmaker. If you've won a girl's heart or two, one will be chosen randomly to stop her from continuing. - Those girls too will appear in the pool in an order of some kind, wearing their swiwsuits (duh!). - 12.3 Stand up comedy solution - The answers are in the following order: O X O O X O O O X X O X O - 12.4 Dialogue trick - When talking with people that have a portrait, holding traingle will give you a better picture of them. ~ 13. Game Shark Codes ~ - 13.1 Game Shark Codes for Azure Dreams - Infinite Money 80012d5cffff 80012d5e05ff Infinite Health in Battle 800834e0ffff Quick Level Up 800834d0ffff ~ 14. Stuff to do in the future ~ Some things to research for the later versions of this FAQ: Damage algorithms Experience tables mp values of abilities familiar abilities create monster list sale prices of items ~ 15. Credits ~ Any help is appreciated with this FAQ. E-mail me with corrections/additions and I will post your name/url/email here. If your name is not on this list and you sent some info, it is probably because someone sent that information first. But thank you for all the support this FAQ has gotten. - 15.1 List of Contributors - Sam Maxted (canaries@wlink.net) for suggesting game shark codes Ryan Bancroft (richard@lida.net) for telling me the mirror shield never rusts Seeker (trcar@frognet.net) for the info to impress Patty. Esper Knight (epoch@texas.net) for the info that Diamond Shield never rusts. Kurririn for the info on building an amusement center. Aerritek (aerritek@hotmail.com) for the location of the healing herb Aaron Jensen (Zorland@my-dejanews.com) for info regarding Vivian Merca, use of hazak herb, use of tumna fruit, ways to impress Fur Gots, and price of fountain. Joe Cheok (lpcheok@WSUHUB.UC.TWSU.EDU) for the use of malicious bell and scroll as well as the special use of pita fruit and medical herb. Also submitted info of the nyeul's transformation at level 20, stats of the hikewne, and mp values gained from giving a familiar items other than pita fruit. Stainless Steel Rat (ratinox@peorth.gweep.net) for info on throwing items and throwing spare weapons. John D. Evans (jevans@MIT.EDU) for an immense amount of information regarding fusion, familiars, spells and suggestions. jv quezon (jvq@webtv.net) for the stand up comedy solution Jason Artman (jason@nseng.com) for the mazarr seed strategy. Carlson (carlsona@dakota.net) for the things you get at the end of the game. Matt Hadreas (chopsooee@usa.net) for the Arachne transformation. Jason Collier (collierj@cadvision.com) for many familiar transformations. isman (siisman@indosat.net.id) for revising the impressing the various girls section in depth and some familiar strategies. NutMageX (NutMageX@aol.com) for revising Vivian and telling me to put the seraphim sword on the item list. (JKolb6313@aol.com) for suggesting some late game strategies. (DJPower79@aol.com) for the suggestion of throwing the troll hammer at trolls to get other troll weapons. Michael Lai (mikeyl@mbox2.singnet.com.sg) for suggesting to use items sparingly in long tower runs. Marty Czosnyka (mczosnyka@hotmail.com) for telling me that the blacksmith suggests a gym, special monster on floors 16,26,36. And to everyone else who contributed but does not have their name here. ~ 16. What happens when you beat the game ~ When you have reached level 40 and finished your work on that floor, you may still progress with the game. You receive the following things. All the ? marks are filled in You get the Seraphim Sword (Guy's Sword) Power of 8, not rust-proof. You get the Ultimate Egg, hatch it to get the most powerful monster in the game, the hikewne. The hikewne gains about 2 to 3 points to each attribute when it gains a level as opposed to other monsters 1 point a level It gains mp whenver it gains a level. When its AI is set to 3, its mixture magic will kill any monster in one hit.