=============================================================================== Tecmo Secret of the Stars FAQ/Walkthrough v. 1.2 By Aru Sulato (Steve Bergstrom) coldfusion7777@cliffhanger.com Last Updated: 12/10/00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER This document copyright (c) 2000 by Steve Bergstrom. If you'd like use this document on your website, email me at the following address: coldfusion7777@cliffhanger.com and most likely I'll let you use it. However - I will only allow use of this walkthrough 100% unaltered - and only with my permission. Otherwise this walkthrough should only appear at the following sites: GameFAQs - www.gamefaqs.com GameWinners - www.gamewinners.com About.com guide to Video Game Strategies - vgstrategies.about.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTACT INFO - PLEASE READ BEFORE E-MAILING Please - don't email asking for game tips - I'm including everything I'm capable of answering in this FAQ. If you wish to make corrections to the FAQ, or other comments, etc, feel free to email me at coldfusion7777@cliffhanger.com Don't be surprised if the reply comes from a different address, though. Include something like 'Secret of the Stars FAQ' in the subject so I can sort legitimate emails out from the junk mail and the flames. So, I welcome contributions and corrections to the walkthrough, but I will not even reply to requests for game tips. Anything I can help you with is already in this walkthrough. Thanks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Updates/Revision History 3. Frequently Asked Questions 4. Walkthrough 5. Thanks =============================================================================== 1. INTRODUCTION =============================================================================== If I'm right, I think this is Tecmo's only trip into the RPG realm. (At least, we can all hope.) Originally to be titled Tecmo Super RPG (creative, eh?) this is as generic as RPGs get. If you haven't played it, and you don't mind RPGs that are somewhat tedious, I suggest you dig through some bargain bins and pick this one up. (I saw it selling on EBay for about $20 a while back. Thats okay.) The graphics are somewhat NES-like, and nothing compared to games that came out around the same time. (Chrono Trigger, for one.) And the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. And the story - eh. Still, if you're a hardcore RPG fan, this might be worth some chump change. (Or for you unscrupulous types, download a ROM. I don't think you'll be losing much quality on this title.) =============================================================================== 2. UPDATES/REVISION HISTORY =============================================================================== v. 1.2 - 12/10/00 - Thanks to Jim David and Ryan Majury for some spelling corrections as well as supplying some missing item info. v. 1.1 - 9/24/00 - Some minor adjustments - and one FAQ question. Most likely the last update on this FAQ, unless by some fluke there's demand for one. v. 1.0 - 9/7/00 - Created walkthrough. =============================================================================== 3. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS =============================================================================== Q. Where do I go on Heart Island? A. See those hills on the upper right corner of the island? They're actually caves you can go in. The rest should be self explanatory (or explained in the walkthrough.) Q. How do I get into Decatas? A. Go south from Decatas and east to find the town of Giant. In Giant, from the entrance, walk straight right around the edge of town, then straight up to find a hole. The digger there will dig you a hole into Decatas. Q. Where is the ticket for the circus? A. Go into the house next to the church and talk to the voting man twice. After you do, go into the house directly south and talk to the mayor and he'll give you the TICKET. Q. Where do I get the key to the bridge? A. The digger in Giant has it. Go around the outer edge of Giant to get back to his hole, and go in. On the right side of the hole is a secret passage - head down it and talk to the digger. He'll give you the key. Q. How do I get out of the Lagoon illusion? A. Enter the Lagoon southeast from where you start to exit the illusion. Q. Where do I get the GOLDNAIL? A. Go back to the construction site west of Old Hill, the one where you got Bun the builder. Walk behind the one remaining X flag thing and you'll find it. Q. Where are all the Star Shrines? A. Looking for the Kustera dungeons? Trying to get Banalet or Aqutallion rank? Here are the four shrine locations: Theres one slightly northeast of Beegees, on a little peninsula (sortof.) Theres one on the northwest corner of that area of the continent where Kaja-House is, west of Victory Bridge. Theres one if you follow the coast, heading west from Karappon. Theres one on an icy island, northeast of Edon, as the crow flies its sorta north of Giant and Decatas. Q. Where do I get the rocket fuel? A. Well, theres more detail in the walkthrough, but the key lies in going to the island cities of Edon, Onsaka, and Moreeyes. All of these are in the sea around Giant. Q. How do I get into Amaboss? A. Go to the town northeast of the waterfall, Dengars. Talk to the woman at the top of the town and buy three BUNNYSUITs. Go back to Amaboss and equip them on Ray, Cody, and Dan. Head on into Amaboss. (What RPG would be complete without the obligatory crossdressing scene?) Q. How do I get into the lab in Donto? A. Talk to everybody. Then, go back and talk to the guy in the upper left house who mentioned the siren. The siren will sound as you talk to him and you can go into the lab. Q. How do I activate the machine in the shrine in Old Hill? A. You need the items that the Kustera get from the Star Shrines. Have the Kustera transfer all of them to storage, then have the Aqutallions take all five (the four the Kustera got and the one they got) to the machine and hit the panel. Q. Where is the Red Fountain? A. Go back to the Aris Shrine from the beginning of the game - its in the room behind the shrine. If you've forgotten - the Aris Shrine is found by entering the hills on Heart Island. Q. How do I use Unity magic? A. First, only certain spells can be united - most unity magic is useless anyway, but there are a few decent ones for certain situations, namely: STORM 2 + FREEZE 2 - decent right after you get the ship for sea monsters. FIRSWRD + FIRE 1 - Burn Blade! I talk about this ad nauseum in this FAQ, but for good reason - its a decent attack against bosses. BOLTSWRD + BOLT 1 - Bolt Break - useful against the final boss. FIRE 3 + FREEZE 3 + STORM 3 + BOLT 3 - If you're desperate for experience and/or money near the end of the game, use this to kill those enemies in the last dungeon. That is almost a complete list of Unity magic, actually - there are a couple other spells, but for the most part that is all you need. To use Unity magic, you must have the characters who are going to unite their magic at Banalet rank. Have them cast their magic and/or attack regularly with their weapon (for Burn Blade, etc.) Then, at the last screen before you confirm your attack, select COMBI, and the two (or four) characters whose attacks you want to unite. Only one unity attack can be done a turn, and Dan cannot use Unity magic. (Note - I didn't forget about the ICESWRD - I never ended up using it, simply because you have to cast FREEZE 1 and Tina has better things to do.) =============================================================================== 4. WALKTHROUGH =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heart Island ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Start up the ol' game. You'll be asked (sort of) to name your character. The default name, and what I'll be calling him for the rest of this walkthrough, is Ray. Walk out of your house and talk to the farmer over there. He'll give you Plum-Plums, the standard herb of this game. Take as many as you want, they're free. Then, head on over to Likado. Once in Likado, go to the upper right house. The second cat, on the upper right, is actually Cat Boo, some sort of evil cat creature! Oh no! You'll have to fight it, though, assuming you have some Plum Plums, can't possibly give you that much trouble. After killing Cat Boo, go to the lower right house and talk to David of Kustera. He'll inform you of your quest to stop the evil Homncruse and tell you to go get the Crest of Stars. Woohoo. (Wow, isn't this story gripping?) Walk on out of Likado and walk into the mountains on the upper right corner of the island. Make your way through the short cave and into the shrine. Step on the crest. You'll be warped off into some sort of magical mist, where you'll meet your dad, who tells you of your destiny, yada yada yada. You'll earn your first rank thingy, the Pennon. Not much difference, but now you can cast HEAL. David comes out and decides to help you in your quest, becoming the first member of the Kustera party. (You can swap parties by opening the menu and selecting 'SWAP'.) Take both the Aqutallion party (Ray) and the Kustera party (David) out of the cave. You can head back to Likado if you wish (I'd recommend buying a SHRTSRWD for Ray.) At any time, you can rest in either the bed at Ray's house or David's house. When you are ready, head to the other set of hills near the entrance to the Aris Shrine and head to the Jeep Volcano. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeep Volcano ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: ANTIDOTE, BREAD, NOMALHAT Kustera : 50 G, PLUM-PLUM Either : RAT-TAIL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send both parties through the cave and you'll arrive at Jeep Volcano. Switch to the Kustera party and head through the green gates to grab 50 G on one side and a PLUM-PLUM on the other. That's it for David - the rest of Jeep Volcano is just for Ray. Switch to the Aqutallion party. Grab the RAT-TAIL out of the chest and head through the yellow gate and up the mountain. Once on top, head into the cave on the upper right and down into the volcano. Inside the volcano, you can grab a NOMALHAT from the chest. (Though if you go fight some BONEs, you can get a better DERBY.) Head around and into the lab. Inside the lab you'll meet Dr. Gari, the evil scientist guy. Ooooh, spooky. Apparently for some reason he works for the evil bad guy Homncruse and wants to kill you. What a surprise, he's a boss. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: DR. GARI I can't imagine you could possibly have any trouble with this boss. I was at lv. 7 and I never even had to heal. Just keep pummeling him with attacks and, if you deem it necessary, use HEAL or some BREAD or a PLUM-PLUM. Though, if you are having trouble with this boss, you are gonna have serious issues later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, that clever doctor decides to flip the switch to make the volcano erupt, causing a big explosion, yada yada yada. But, surprise surprise, you are saved at the last instant by Bosen, some guy who flies a plane. He drops you off at Old Hill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Hill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not much to do in Old Hill yet - just a big open field. Head into the shrine and heal up from your battle with Dr. Gari, then head out. Go east about two seconds and you'll reach Winds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Winds ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Winds is your typical destroyed town - ashes, rubble, the like. The people say that Winds was destroyed by Badbad, some sort of bad, bad guy. (I love the names in this game, don't you?) The left house in Winds contains an item shop - I'd recommend getting yourself a LETHSUIT now, if you didn't already in Likado. Go into the right house and down into the basement. You'll meet some kids. Tell them you'll help them and they'll go off to Old Hill. Now, leave and head south towards Beegees. (Its south, east, than south again, actually.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beegees ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *INSERT STUPID DISCO JOKE HERE* Well, in the town of Beegees, everyone is......a dog. Apparently they've all been given a.....dog pill. (Creative. Hmm?) Well, don't dilly - dally, go into the church and you'll see some gangster-like people. (Gee, I wonder if they're Badbad's minions? Nah.) Talk to them and you'll get into a fight. They're pretty easy - three regular attacks should bring down each of the three Badmen. If you're having trouble, level up a little. Once you've defeated them, talk to the girl in the corner. She is Tina - the next Aqutallion. She becomes a Pennon and joins your party. If you'd like, you can go straight south to the cave where you'll find Badbad, but I'd head out the north entrance of the town and level up Tina to at least level 5. You can heal your HP and MP at the Star Shrine, if you had to heal during the battle with the Badmen. Once you're ready, head out the south exit of Begees and down into the cave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cave ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: NOMALHAT, RAT-TAIL, ANTIDOTE, PLUM-PLUM, BREAD, TELEPO, PLUM-PLUM, MOON-DROP, RESTORE, BREAD, HARDSUIT, 100 G, ASPIRIN, ANTIDOTE, MAGBRANCH, DOG-PILL, MEATBALL, 200 G (I'm not sure if the Kustera party can get some of these items - but the Aqutallion party should be the one to go in this cave.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head into the cave, grabbing all the items as you go. Its pretty straight - forward - shouldn't give you hardy adventurers any trouble. After trekking a bit, you'll end up out on a mountainside. (Hmmm - same tileset as Jeep Volcano) Head up the mountain and you should reach Badbad house. Inside the house, you can sleep in any of the bed to recover your HP. (Not your MP though.) Head up the stairs near the entrance to get a HARDSUIT - equip this on Ray and his LETHSUIT on Tina. Head way around the east passageway and down the stairs to find Badbad. (Theres a bed next to him if you need to rest :-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: BADBAD This boss aint too hard either. Have both Ray and Tina whap him with regular attacks until one of them needs healing - when they do, have Tina take a break from attacking and cast her HEAL spell. Don't even bother with attack or support magic - this guy is a pushover. (I was at level 10 with Ray and 9 with Tina - but I got an inkling this boss would still be easy a few levels below that.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Badbad will escape. Walk into the chair he was standing on to find the treasure room - pick up everything (including the DOG-PILL) and head out the stairs to your left. You'll wind up outside. Go back to Begees. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beegees - revisited ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walk into the church and talk to the only non-dog guy - he'll 'scatt' the dog pill and everyone will be back to normal. Then take the party to the upper right house and talk to Ryu, the next Kustera. He'll join the Kustera party. (though you don't need to do anything with Kustera just yet.) Go to the shop and buy Ray a MIDSWRD and give his SHRTSWD to Tina. Go to the lower left house and talk to the man blocking the stairway. He's the mayor of this fine disco establishment and asks you to find the Ringo Brothers. Being the fun-loving trustworthy kids you are, head down the stairs and out to the world map. Now, swap to the Kustera Party. Since you haven't used Kustera in a while, and you just got a new party member, its time to raise some levels. Go south from Old Hill, then east to the Star Shrine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (near Beegees) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Kustera: MAGBRANCH, 500 G, 500 G, HOLYCANE, MOON-DROP, RAT-TAIL, ANTIDOTE, LONGSWRD, IRIDIUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: THIS LEVEL IS OPTIONAL FOR NOW. However, you will have to do it eventually, and its a good time to raise some levels. (Do it later in the game, and the experience will be irrelevant.) Head into the Star Shrine. Step on the right panel (the left panel heals the Kustera party) and you'll warp to the dungeon. Go down the left stair, then make your way through the dungeon. (It's fairly straightforward - shouldn't give you too much trouble.) Get all the items along the way - eventually you'll reach the treasure room containing a LONGSWRD (equip this on David) and the IRIDIUM (you'll need this later in the game). Once you have the Iridium, head out of the shrine. I was at level 9 by the time I got out, ready to face the Ringo - House. Take Kustera to Beegees, and take them through the lower-left house to reach the world map. Take both parties to the Ringo-House. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ringo-House ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Kustera: DERBY, CHAINMALE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take the Kustera party first through the green gate straight ahead and grab the treasure. That's it for the Kustera party in this dungeon. Switch to the Aqutallion party and head through the yellow gate to the left. Head up a billion flights of stairs, back and forth (not too hard to get lost) and you'll eventually find the room with the Ringo Brothers, Bingo and Leach. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: BINGO + LEACH This boss is a little bit more difficult than the previous ones. Have Ray keep using his regular attack, pausing to heal when needed. Have Tina use Freeze 1 or 2. Focus on Leach, the little girl (Girl?) first, then focus on Bingo, the big guy when she's dead. If you're having trouble, raise Ray and Tina up to level 12 to get HEAL 2 and FREEZE 2, which should make the battle easier. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Ringo 'Brothers' dead and gone, the kidnapped kids come out and thank you, yada yada yada. You'll automatically be warped out of Ringo-House. You'll end up in Old Hill. (after watching a nice little cliche scene featuring evil villains.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Hill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The kids are now all wandering around Old Hill. Both them and that wonderful traveling save point Uncle Save tell you to find builders and farmers so you can build a town on Old Hill. Head out of the to- er..field.....and to the west where the construction site is. Talk to the boss and you'll hire Bun, the student builder to build your town. You can now head further west. Head west and south until you reach Giant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Giant ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Note: The monsters in the Decatas/Giant area are tough until you get better equipment from Decatas - don't be afraid to use your magic.) Everyone in Giant talks about Golan, the giant who has Baz the farmer working for him. To save Baz, you need to defeat the giant. You can't do anything now, so go back to the entrance of the town. Walk around the edge of town (the lower right corner), being careful not to step out of the town. Walk all the way around the town and you'll reach a hole. Step into the hole and talk to the digger twice. Pay him 100 G and he'll dig you a hole into the walled city Decatas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Decatas ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First - go buy Ray and Tina new weapons and armor. You'll need it. Then, head north from the hole into the poor section of Decatas. See that block of three houses? Walk into the right house and talk to the woman. She'll tell you about her husband, Ben. Go back to the lower right section of town and walk into the bar. (The top building) Talk to the priest at the bar and he'll join the Kustera party. Go into the lab in the north part of the lower left section and go to the second floor. Talk to Dynamite twice and he'll join you at Old Hill, as well as giving you the GRAVITON, the weapon you need to defeat Golan. With it, head back to Giant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Giant - revisited ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: RAT-TAIL, RESTORE, 200 G ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAVE. Go into the big house at the top of the town. Grab the items from the drawers in the giant house. Then, head on down to the basement and find Baz. Talk to him and Golan will appear. You'll have to fight him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: GOLAN This is a tough fight. First - have Tina use the GRAVITON. (Tina is slightly faster than Ray - and you need to use the GRAVITON before Golan gets a chance to attack.) This will transform Golan into Golan Jr. Now, regular attacks do pitiful damage to Golan, so use Ray's FIRE and Tina's FREEZE. Keep your life above 50 - Golan occasionally does a critical hit that will deal serious damage. Keep healing and whittling down Golan's life and eventually, he'll fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baz will thank you and then join the team at Old Hill. Now you have a farmer and a builder - so its back to the quest for the Aqutallions. Head back to Decatas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Decatas - revisited ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The circus is in town. (But - have you ever played a game where the circus wasn't an evil circus?) Its located in the lower right section of town. You need a ticket, however. Go into the house located next to the church and talk to the voting guy twice. You'll automatically vote. (isn't democracy great?) Go into the house south of the voting booth and the mayor will thank you for 'voting' for him by giving you the TICKET. Go into the circus now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Circus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: LOINCLOTH, WOODSHOES, ANGLEHAT, 300 G ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head straight ahead into the back room. Walk over to the maze. The maze is pretty simple - a little bit of wandering should get you through. (And its not worth my time to map it. :-) Near the exit of the maze is an unseen treasure chest - it contains the LOINCLOTH, which is some decent armor. Head up the stairs and across the rafters over toward the other stairway. Head on in and you'll meet Cody, the next Aqutallion, who has been turned into a lion. The evil bad guy will appear and cause the circus to disappear. Go into the church and talk to the priest guy. He'll tell you to follow the circus to Bonzley. To get to Bonzley, however, you need the key to the bridge. Its time to return to Giant once more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Giant - revisited (again) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go around the edge of town to the digger's hole. Go in. On the right side of the hole, there is a secret passage. Head down it and talk to the digger to get the WIN-KEY. Leave Giant and head towards the Victory Bridge, which you can now lower. Now, however is a good time to switch to the Kustera party. Take the party to Decatas to get the best equipment, then head across Victory Bridge and west to the next Star Shrine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (west of Victory Bridge) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Kustera: PLUM-PLUM, ASPRIN, RESTORE, ANGLEHAT, POWERCANE, ASPRIN, BARRIER, 1000 G, ULTRIUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: THIS IS LEVEL IS OPTIONAL FOR NOW. You will have to do it eventually, and Kustera could use the experience. If you haven't raised Ben up enough levels to get CURE-A, bring along some ANTIDOTEs for the poisonous enemies here. This dungeon isn't too hard to find your way through - be sure to grab all the items along the way. (Thats half the point of these dungeons.) And, of course, in the last room, you'll find the ULTRIUM, which you'll need later in the game. Much later. Time to switch back to Aqutallion. Head southwest from the Victory Bridge, directly south of the Star Shrine to find Kaja-House. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaja-House ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jump in the hole. You'll meet a man who has managed to turn himself into gold. (And blocking a narrow passageway at the same time. Hmmmmm.) He needs the Mustache in order to cure himself. To get the mustache, you must defeat the monster in the forest to the south. So, intrepid adventurers, go to the forest to the south. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sidon Forest ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No enemies in this forest - just a big maze. You should be able to find your way through it fairly easily, keeping in mind a couple things: First, remember that the you can walk behind the top parts of the trees. (Ah, pseudo 3d in a 2d environment. Good ol SNES.) And, also, the map of this level wraps - that is, walking off the top of the map brings you to the bottom, like a big circle. That said, head through the forest and talk to the monster in the center, named Sidon. (Yippee.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: SIDON FIRE magic pretty much does nothing - and regular attacks do pretty pitiful damage. So have Tina cast FREEZE 1 (not 2 - its not worth the MP expense.) over and over, having Ray heal when needed, and do regular attacks when not. Keep your HP above 30 or 40 - sometimes Sidon can deal some nasty attacks. You can make Ray's regular attacks more effective if you take time out to have Tina cast SLOW - but I didn't need to. You'll get the MOUSTACHE for winning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FLEE or RAT-TAIL out of the forest (unless you prefer walking - whatever) and head back to Kaja-House. The guy there will use the MOUSTACHE you got from Sidon and turn himself and his lab back to normal. Head through the passage, then southeast to Bonzley. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonzley ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hmmm. Snow. In the middle of the tropics. I wonder if theres evil magic mixed up in this? Hmm. Well, buy all the best equipment and stock up on CALM-HERB. Then, time to quickly switch to the Kustera party. Take them to the Alpin Shrine, just southwest of Bonzley. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alpin Shrine ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: 300 G, COWBOYHAT, TELEPO, MOON-DROP, RAT-TAIL, POWERCANE Kustera: COWBOYHAT, 2000 G, MOON-DROP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Kustera in (if you've done the Star Shrines, they should have no problem with the monsters inside.) Have them head through the green gate in the second room and grab the treasure. That's it for Kustera. (I don't even know why they bothered putting this in.) Switch back to Aqutallion. Take them into the shrine. Make your way through (the boss is pretty tough - so its probably worth it to make two trips so that you have enough life and magic to face him.) Grab all the items and head on through the cave to find Garados. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: GARADOS First - you'll want decent levels - I had both Ray and Tina at level 18 when I did this. Have Ray start off as your healer while Tina uses SLOW (2 if you have it.) Once you've worn down his defense, have Ray attack while Tina heals. Garados likes to use EVADE 3 - just let it wear off. He also likes to use MUTE; which is why I had you buy CALM-HERB. Keep attacking and you'll wear him down. Keep you HP at decent levels - Garados has strong attacks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonzley will melt at the death of Garados. Yippee. Head into the back room to find Cody, who, in addition to being a lion, is now gold. Gee, what turns stuff back from gold? Go back to Kaja-House and have him turn Cody back from gold. This won't cure his lion state though. He tells you to go to a man in the south. You don't really have to - the man just tells you to go to Old Hill. So, go to Old Hill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Hill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Place Cody upon the healing star inside the shrine in Old Hill. This will turn him back, gain him the rank of Pennon, and he'll join your party. Next, you'll step outside and be asked to name your town. There's no default name, I don't think, so, for the duration of the walkthrough, I'm gonna still call it Old Hill. You can name it whatever you'd like though. (I called it GAMFAQ. Just a salute.) Bosen, the airplane guy, will return and tell you to go to Decatas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Decatas - revisited (once more) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good ol' Decatas. Well, head up to the poor section of Decatas and go into the middle house. There'll be three evil-looking guys there - they'll challenge you to a fight. But, before the fight starts, Leona will come in and stop it. But, as Leona comes in, Dram, one of the four 'great followers' of Homncruse, will come in and take Leona. Talking to one of the pseudo-bad guys reveals that she's been taken to the rich section of Decatas. Head over a little bit and down the narrow path next to the water. Hidden behind the wall is a man who will sell you the TIMEBOMB. Buy it, then use it on the middle section of the wall northeast of the guy who sells you the bomb. It will blow up. Go into the house above the weapon shop and step into the bed. You'll find the next Aqutallion, Leona. She'll become Pennon and join you. Buy everybody the best equipment from the rich Decatas shops, then head back to Old Hill (or whatever you named it.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Hill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go way in the back of Old Hill to talk to Baz, the farmer you recruited before. As you talk to him, the screen will shake and the digger from Giant will come forth and tell you that he's dug a hole to the new continent. How convenient. Go through the tunnel, onto the new continent, then east to Box Town. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Box Town ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What a name for a town. This town is obsessed with boxing. So, go to the weapon shop and buy some GLOVES to equip on Ray. Go into the tent and talk to Andy. Challenge him to a boxing match. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: ANDY This is the easiest boss on the face of the planet. Keep hitting him with a load of regular attacks. His attacks, assuming you have the best armor, should only do about 5 damage. I had to heal with HEAL 2 exactly once. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ray will win. Yippee. Re-equip Ray's weapon and leave town. Head south of town a little bit and you'll reach Sleepers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sleepers (and Karappon) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head directly to the lower right house (theres not much else to do in Sleepers) and talk to the guy in robes. He is Arthur, Andy's brother. You'll have to fight him. Yay. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: ARTHUR Well, the boss music comes up, at least, though this isn't really a boss-class battle. Hit Arthur with your strongest attacks and he go bye bye extremely quickly. Celebrate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head out of Sleepers and south about two seconds to Karappon. Karappon, while technically is a town, is so puny, it doesn't deserve its own banner there. Go into the warehouse and talk to Arithree, the brother of Andy and Arthur. All the brothers will join you - Arithree will run the warehouse at Old Hill, and Andy and Arthur will join the Kustera party. They'll also remove the rocks blocking your way south. So, go south and you'll reach Codo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Codo ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Buy all the best equipment here for everybody. Codo doesn't actually have much to do with the plot - its just a stop on your way to Brasca. So, healed up and well-equipped, head further south into the desert to Lagoon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lagoon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, theres not much to do in Lagoon. Talk to everybody in the town, look at the useless shops, then try to leave the town. A man will be there to stop you. He'll transform into Dram. You'll end up in a sort of mirage world - with many, many different Lagoons - most of them fake. The real Lagoon is southeast of the start. Enter it and you'll exit the illusion. Head south to Brasca. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brasca ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take two steps into Brasca. Upon doing that, Homncruse's planes (why does he need planes?) will blow up Brasca. Walk into Brasca and go to the north edge and into the well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ancient Well ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: BREAD, BREAD, TELEPO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head through the yellow gate and jump into the lava. You'll take a little bit of damage walking through, but theres no way around it. Head through the lava. The way through the way is pretty straightforward - find the switch that will change the lava level, then hop into the lava and find the next ladder. Keep on until you reach the little house in the well. You'll meet Dan, the next Aqutallion, and his father, one of the former Aqutallions. But, just then, Dram comes in. Dan's father fights Dram, and, after he falls, you'll have to fight him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: DRAM Start out having Ray act as a healer while Tina uses SLOW 2 on Dram. While Tina is weakening Dram, have Cody use STORM and Leona use BOLT magic. Once Tina has cast SLOW 2 enough times, have Ray attack, Tina heal, Cody use STORM until he runs out of magic, then attack, and Leona use BOLT until she runs out of magic, then attack. Dram's only attack is his rapid attack - hits twice and takes off 30-40 damage, (assuming you have the best armor.) - so keep your life above that. Oh - and no boss tip would be complete without the obligatory 'If you are having trouble, level up'. (The enemies in the well make for good exp.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dram, with his last strength, blows up the well, But Dan gets up and teleports you out of there post haste. But good ol' Homncruse decides to send his planes (Again - planes? Why does he need planes?) to blow up Old Hill. Warp back there ASAP. (Well, you could go to Cody and Box Town and Decatas first to get good equipment for Dan, assuming of course that you're a heartless jerk.)(j/k) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Hill (or whats left of it) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go into Uncle Save's house and talk to Dynamite. See those ships sitting right outside of Old Hill? They're yours - if you can get the GOLDNAIL. Of course, he gives you no clue as to where to get a GOLDNAIL, but, then again, this game never does. Dynamite also tells you about your next quest - to get to the upper continent where Dr. Ash is. But, first you need them ships. Go to the construction site where you got Bun, the builder. Walk behind the big flag thing with the X on it and you'll find the GOLDNAIL you need. Go back to Dynamite and the ships will be functional. Theres a lot you can do now, now that you have a ship - but, first, head off to the little house east of Bonzley. There, talk to Shark, the next Kustera. Now that you have Dan, he'll join you. Leave and head way north (for those of you who need a reference point, its slightly northwest of Giant) to the island of Jabon. Go into the north town, Edon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese-esque towns. Don't you just love um? (I don't, personally. Sorta dont really fit the theme, you know?) Well, the shops have some nice equipment that I suggest you pick up (there will be some tough bosses for Ray, Tina, Cody, and Leona coming up.) Go into the castle and go to the third floor. Talk to the king or leader or emperor or whatever. He'll ask you to defeat Jubei, the samurai that Onsaka has hired. Head south to Onsaka. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Onsaka ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can buy equipment here too. Go into the palace or whatever and talk to Jubei. You'll, of course, have to fight him. Yay. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: JUBEI Jubei isn't terribly difficult. His attack does about 40-70 damage to one guy, easily counteracted by having Tina cast HEAL 2 every turn. Have everyone use their strongest spells. (Ray - FIRE 2, Leona - BOLT, Dan - BOMB) Cody's STORM pretty much sucks - you're better off having him use POWER then do regular attacks. You'll eventually wear him down. Alternatively, you could have Tina cast SLOW 2, and use regular attacks - but I find that magic works so much easier. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that Jubei is defeated, you can go back to Edon to get the RED-ORB from the leader, if you'd like. (You'll have to get it eventually.) Jubei will join the Kustera. (And he has to be the strongest Kustera attacker. Heck - he starts equipped with a MIDSWRD at level 8 - and even then he was doing more damage than David. So - with Shark and Jubei at your disposal - its Kustera time. Switch to the Kustera party (who should be at Old Hill) and go into the Kustera house at the lower left corner of town. Take Arthur out (hes worthless) and Andy out (he's okay, but I prefer Jubei and Shark). Put Jubei and Shark in. So, your party should be: David (decent attacker) Ryu (decent attacker, heal magic) Ben (wuss attack, but has HEAL and CURE) Jubei (awesome attack) and Shark (decent attack). You're free to take whoever you want, but this is my choice. FLY-BY to Box Town, Onsaka and Codo to get the best equipment you can afford, then FLY-BY to Codo or Karappon. Head southwest along the north coast to find the next Star Shrine. (Remember where it is - the Aqutallions need to come here too.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (southwest of Karappon) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Kustera: RAT-TAIL, CROWN, 2000 G, MOON-DROP, FIRECANE, BARRIER, ASPRIN, ELEDIUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: THIS IS LEVEL IS OPTIONAL FOR NOW. Head into the stairs straight ahead, grab all the items, and you'll come out the north stairs. Go into the west stairs and grab the ASPRIN. Go into the east stairs, and follow the path to find the ELEDIUM. Once you've got the ELEDIUM your mission is accomplished. The enemies in here aren't too hard, but the experience should bring Shark and Jubei up three or four levels, hopefully enough to let them survive the seas. So, time to head to the next Star Shrine, on a icy island northeast of Edon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (island northeast of Edon) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Kustera: CROWN, BRKNMOON, RAT-TAIL, CALMCANE, BREAD, 5000 G, BOLTCANE, MIRROR, ORGANIUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: THIS IS LEVEL IS OPTIONAL FOR NOW. The path, again, through the Star Shrine isn't too difficult - and the enemies shouldn't give you any trouble whatsoever. Head on in, nab the ORGANIUM, and head on out. Thats the last of the Star Shrines - you now have all the materials necessary for an objective later in the game. But - you aren't through with the Star Shrines yet. Time to switch to the Aqutallion party. Make sure that Ray, Tina, Cody, and Leona have the best equipment possible - they're each going to be fighting their own bosses. Since Kustera has no use for the CROWNs or the IDOLDRESS, have them give the items to Arithree in Old Hill, then have the Aqutallion party take them. Equip them on Tina and Leona. I'd also have the Aqutallions take the FIRECANE and BOLTCANE. Take the Aqutallion party to each of the Star Shrines. I think this is really technically optional for now, but the later bosses become much easier with Unity magic, so, get going. Step on the left star in each shrine and fight the boss. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (near Beegees) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: FIRE Ray must fight this alone. This is probably the easiest one, though. Just have Ray use regular attacks, using HEAL 2 when necessary. Eventually, you'll beat him. No FIRE magic, mind you, for obvious reasons. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (west of Victory Bridge) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: MERMAID Tina must fight this alone. However - assuming you've been following the walk- through, you have a nice advantage - the FIRECANE. Use it as an item and it'll cast FIRE. This is ever so slightly stronger than Tina's regular attack - even more so after Mermaid starts using FAST on herself. And of course, HEAL 2 when needed. Not too hard a battle. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (southeast of Karappon) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: COLD WIND + HOT WIND Cody has one distinct disadvantage over Ray and Tina - no healing magic. But he does have one advantage - POWER 2. Cast that a couple times, then focus on one wind at a time. Not too hard - but bring some BREAD or PLUM-PLUM. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Shrine (island northeast of Edon) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: CLAY Leona has pretty much no useful magic to use. No POWER, no HEAL. So - its good ol' regular attacks. Again, bring some BREAD, etc. You'll get it eventually. Once all four guys/gals have become Banalet, all of them will become Aqutallion rank, which is pretty much meaningless. But at least everybody has Unity magic, which makes for some awesome attacks. Time to get back to the plot. Dynamite detailed your mission previously - to reach Dr. Ash. If you remember, back in the lab where you first got Dynamite, there was a guy who had a rocket. But the rocket needs fuel. And the fuel is the monster in the cove near Bonzley. And the guy in the house by the cove where you got Shark says you need two stones to wake him. Well - guess what that RED-ORB is? Now you need its counterpart. Where to find it? Well, far south of Giant, slightly southwest of Bonzley, a little SW of the house where you got Shark, is the town of Moreeyes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moreeyes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is very little to do in Moreeyes. So, without further ado, go in the temple straight ahead and talk to Murray. He'll ask you to get the Gold-Moai, some sort of island treasure thingy. Well, head a little northeast of Moreeyes and you'll find the Ghost Cave. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ghost Cave ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Either/Aqutallion: RAT-TAIL, PLUM-PLUM, ANTISTOP, MOON-DROP, ASPRIN, RESTORE, BREAD, GOLD-MOAI Kustera: ANTIDOTE, 1000 G, PLUM-PLUM, CALM-HERB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The enemies in the Ghost Cave are either totally wimpy (you fight lots of Bones and Ghosts) or sorta hard (Warriors with decent attack - Summoners with decent magic and instant-death attack). But you should make it through fine. At the end, before you get into the little alcove with the final treasure chest, a boss will attack you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: UNDEAD This boss might give you some trouble (but not much.) He can use MUTE and EVADE so be ready with some CALM-HERB. (I usually just let EVADE wear off.) He can use some attacks that do about 60 damage. And he can cast STORM for 40 damage to everybody. Have Ray use FIRE 2 (not 3, if you have it), have Tina use SLOW 2, except when in dire need of healing, in which case have her switch. Have Cody use POWER 2 a couple times, then attack. Have Leona use BOLT. And have Dan heal, or cast BOMB when everybody's fine. The difficulty of this boss really depends on your levels, your luck, and the amount of damage the enemies in this cave did. Its not too hard. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grab the GOLD-MOAI, head back to Moreeyes, and give it to Murray. He'll give you the BLUE-ORB and join Kustera. Well, now you have the RED-ORB and the BLUE-ORB, go to the cove near Bonzley, by the house where you got Shark. Pilot the ship into green patch and you'll get into a battle with Clarken. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: CLARKEN This boss ain't that hard. Have Ray attack, Tina SLOW 2/3 and heal, Cody POWER 2 and attack, Leona BOLT (lots of damage), and Dan heal. Eventually he'll go down, and give you the TACOSMIN. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Decatas (revisted) (again) (and again and again) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boy, you do a lot in this city. (And you'll be doing more later.) Go into the lab where you got Dynamite and head into the basement. Give the doctor the TACOSMIN and he'll fuel the rocket with it, sending you to the upper continent. You'll arrive in Elekees. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elekees ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The rocket will 'land' in Dr. Ash's house. Ash will tell you about Booth, the next great follower of Homncruse. He tells you to head to Alazina, just north of Booth's castle. (His directions are a little off - you have to go west, south along the river, and then west a whole lot more) Buy the best equipment you can afford, don't worry about getting everybody everything. (You'll be picking stuff up in Booth's Castle, and you can buy stuff in Alazina.) Before you go, though, go into the lower right house to get Evelyn to join Kustera. Now, head to Alazina. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alazina ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow. Another destroyed town tileset. Lets see...theres Winds, Brasca, Old Hill, Alazina - did I miss any? Anyway, buy some equipment if you like, rest, and head south two shakes of a monkeys tail to Booth-Castle. (Note: When you reach Alazina, Old Hill will reach the next stage of develop- ment. You can now get VIT-PLUMs from the girl in Dynamites lab - they heal everybody to full life. Useful.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booth-Castle ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Either: BREAD, WIZROBE, FIRSWRD, MIRROR, FIREARMOR, 10000 G, REDHOOD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The item list says 'Either' because I don't see anything stopping the Kustera party from coming in - but take the Aqutallion party. (FLY-BY can get the Kustera party up to the upper continent, but what would be the point?) VERY IMPORTANT - On the second floor, jump down from the right ledge. You'll find a treasure chest containing the FIRSWRD - equip this on Cody. Now you can use the Burn Blade combo - have Ray cast FIRE 1, and Cody attack while equipped with the FIRSWRD, and combine them. It does about 150 damage - very useful since its casting cost is only 2 MP. Head up to the fourth floor and you'll find Booth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: BOOTH Booth is sort of tough. He can cast BOMB 2 - dealing 70 damage to everybody. He can also use BOMB 1 - 40 damage to everybody, FIRE 3 - 70 damage to one, and a wussy regular attack. Start out with Ray doing regular attacks. Have Tina use FAST 3 the first three turns (if she has it) and Cody casting POWER 2 the first three turns. Have Leona cast BOLT 1 or 2 through the entire battle. Have Dan use BOMB - and have him ready to heal if Booth does BOMB 2. After the first three turns, have Ray and Cody do Burn Blade over and over and over. 150 damage a turn, plus the extra 60-80 from BOLT 2, should make Booth fall after a few turns. (Well, maybe more than a few.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booth will go kaput and Gara will appear, asking you to come to her castle. FLY-BY back to Elekees. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elekees (revisited) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heal up. Talk to Ash again and he'll tell you to go up through the waterfall. He'll give you the NIAGARAN. Walk out of Elekees and get into your ship. (Which should be sitting in the river, assuming you used FLY-BY or TELEPO to get back to Elekees.) Take the ship upstream. (The enemies are the same as in the sea on the ground - so they shouldn't be too much trouble.) Go into the waterfall and you'll go shooting on up. Head northeast to Dengars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dengars ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apparently this is a town of thieves and burglars - but theres really only one guy to worry about - the ninja guy will steal 1000 gold every time you talk to him. Go to the woman at the top and buy her clothes. Three times. You'll see why in a second. Leave town and head west of the waterfall to Amaboss. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amaboss ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to the guards wearing the BUNNYSUITs and you'll be able to enter town. But you'll take one step and get caught, of course. You'll be taken to the leader of Amaboss. She'll ask you if you're guys - be the good scrupulous adventurers you are and tell her the truth. She'll ask you to defeat Gara. She tells you the secret entrance to Gara's castle is in the basement. So, go to the base- ment. Duh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Secret Path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: SWIM-SUIT, RESTORE, MOON-DROP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pretty simple. Hop in the little room, flip the switch, head out. Yay. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gara-Castle ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: ICEARMOR, IDOLDRESS, HEELS, CROWN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyhoo, make your way through this fun little level, killing stupid sorceress people who put you to sleep, etc, etc. Eventually, you'll reach the seventh or eighth floor and fight Gara. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: GARA Definitely the hardest battle so far. First - Gara has similar attacks to Booth except that she does more of them and less wussy regular attacks. First - have Tina use FAST 3 and Cody POWER 2, hoping that Gara doesn't do enough damage so that Tina needs to help heal. Then - Burn Blade time. Have Leona keep using BOLT 2, and Dan continually heal. If you get in a jam, you can have Leona stop and use the VIT-PLUM or SUP-PLUM (uh - wait - did I mention these in the walkthrough yet? Better do that - you can get the VIT-PLUM from Dynamite's lab. Wait - I did mention it. Oh well.) Keep on Burn Blading and she'll fall. Oy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homncruse will appear and blow up Gara-Castle (and the rest of the upper part of the upper continent with it. Yay.) But, of course, Dr. Ash will save you in his Gyrocopter. Then he'll give you it. Yay. Your quest now: To find Dr. Parakless. The town of Hidon is west of Karappon (as the gyrocopter flies), nestled in the mountains. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hidon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wow. Another destroyed town tileset. Yay. Parakless can be found by traveling though the mountain pass, apparently. So - travel through the mountain pass. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Misty Pass ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is nice and short. I like it. Hike up the ladders and go into Parakless' lab. A vision of Parakless will appear and he'll tell you his deep dark secret. He created Homncruse. Woo. Apparently, though Homncruse was evil, stole a time machine, and came back in time to conquer the world. (If he has a time machine, can't he just - ah, screw it.) Well, go further, flip the switch, and you'll be warped to some sort of shrine. Step on all the stars and leave. Bosen will come in and tell you to find the Rimstera lab by the town of Donto. You can find Donto on an island surrounded by mountains just east of Decatas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Donto ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to everybody in this town - they'll babble about working in the lab. Then, once you've spoken to everybody, go back and talk to the man in the upper left house, the one who mentioned a siren that sounds. As you talk to him, the siren will sound and everybody will be called into the lab. The doors will open and you can go on in. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steeler-Lab ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: BARRIER, SILVARMR, RAT-TAIL, MIRROR, ROSESHOES, DISCARMAR, MOON- DROP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll get lost in here - its a big maze of holes and magical warps. Just wander your way on through, grabbing items, you'll find the engines eventually. When you do reach the engine room, flip the switches on the four outer engines, then flip the switch on the center one. BOOM. The lab blows up. You'll end up at the lab in Decatas. (Apparently thats where the warp from Donto took you.) The lab workers and the mayor of Decatas all fear that Homn- cruse is going to attack Decatas - so they all move to Old Hill. Time for you to go there too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Hill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head next to the shrine and talk to the mayor of Decatas. He'll take over Old Hill and rename it Decatas. Then he kicks you out. As you're kicked out, though, you see a vision of the evil bad guys, which gives you the hint to go to Brisben. So, go to Brisben. (Its an island SW of Brasca.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brisben ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: 20000 G, MOON-DROP, WINDSHOES, BARRIER, ELFINBOW, BESTCLAW, ICESWRD, RESTORE, AQUTALIUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the holy Aqutallion place where you were transported when you fought the bosses to become Banalet. Head a few steps into Brisben and Godem, the final great follower of Homncruse will appear. He'll destroy Brisben. Beneath one of the temples, though, is a star warp. Use it. You'll want to make two trips here - one to grab all the treasure, then one to fight the boss fully healed up. The way to the boss is through the upper left stair, in case you were wondering. Be ready. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: GODEM Godem is HARD. VERY HARD. Why? Mainly because he casts BOLT 3, doing 100 damage to everyone. Yikes. Two of those will kill everyone (and he sometimes does two in a row.) Ray and Cody should start Burn Blading right from the start (the quicker you kill this guy, the better.) Except when Godem uses BOLT 3, have Tina use FAST 3 every turn. (Speed is important if you want to heal before Godem unleashes another bolt.) Leona should use MIRROR 1 (anybody know what MIRROR 2 or 3 do?) and then BOLT 2. Dan is your primary healer. If Godem does a single attack, use HEAL 2 or 3. (or 1.) If Godem breathes fire or creates a weak bolt, have Dan case REGAIN 1. When Godem uses BOLT 3, have Dan cast REGAIN 2. Don't even try to heal people individually - if you don't get everyone a little life, the next attack will kill you. If you have difficulty, again, level up. (You didn't seriously think this game wouldn't have a bit of tedious leveling up, did you?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now you have the final ingredient. Head back to Old Hill. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Hill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, the kids kicked the evil Decatas people out of Old Hill. Yay. Dynamite will show you something he's discovered in the shrine - a secret room. Well, now its time to switch to Kustera. If you already completed the Star Shrine dungeons, then you have everything you need. Go to the warehouse and give the IRIDIUM, ELEDIUM, ULTRIUM, and ORGANIUM to Arithree. Then switch to Kustera. If you aren't following this walkthrough, and you haven't gone to the Star Shrines yet - well now is the time. You'll have to go back to all of them and collect those items. You can look back through the walkthrough if you'd like, though those dungeons are fairly simple. Switch back to Aqutallion and go to the warehouse. Take all the stuff that Kustera just deposited and go back to the secret room in the shrine. Press the switch on the panel and Old Hill will take off into the air and fly to Jeep Volcano. You'll get the UFO Algos. Walk on out down the stairs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeep Volcano ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go on into the room straight ahead. Homncruse will bring all his followers, Dram, Booth, Gara, and Godem back to life - and you'll have to go through the dungeon fighting them all. Yay. Step on the star thats lit up and you'll reach Dram's section. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dram ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: BRKNMOON Kustera: ROYALSWRD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You have a very serious issue to deal with here - that is, that you need the Kustera party to proceed. Whats the problem, you ask? Well, the Kustera party is most likely at level 12 or so, and the Aqutallions are at around 25-30. Which means that the Kustera are way to weak to beat this dungeon. You have a few options here: 1. Run from every battle. You'll get hurt every once in a while, but you should survive. The Kustera don't have to fight any bosses. 2. You can take the non-wussy way out, and level up a little bit. A suggestion here - take the Aqutallion party, who most likely have tons and tons of money, and take them to Donto and Hidon to outfit everybody with GREAT-AXes and SILVARMR. (Get rid of Ben - put in Beth - and give her the SWIM-SUIT.) You'll still have a little trouble with some of the enemies in the volcano, but you should be able to survive against some of the robots. Run from the dragons until you get a little stronger. Its your choice - 1 is probably easier, but I do method 2 because I loathe excessive running-away. Your choice. In this dungeon, Kustera can go through gray gates, and Aqutallion through the orange ones. Take both parties through, flipping switches to open gates, (I'm not going to detail the path here - its not that complicated.) The Aqutallion party will have to face Bio Dram. (Pick up the BRKNMOON before the battle - you can use it to heal up all your magic after battle.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: BIO DRAM After facing Godem and Gara and Booth, Bio Dram is not that hard. The only attack he does is his rapid attack, hitting you for 60-100 damage. Have Tina focus on healing that. You also have the distinct advantage (over the last time you fought Dram) of having Burn Blade at your disposal - so have Ray and Cody go at it. Have Leona attack, and Dan BOMB 2. Its quite simple, actually. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: WIZROBE Either: CURECANE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Booth's section contains a bunch of sorceresses and vampires - have Kustera run from the sorceresses. (unless you gained a bunch of levels.) Aqutallion, of course, can handle everything with relative ease. Eventually, after running through a maze quite similar to the previous one, Aqutallion will find Bio Booth. (Note: Kustera can also fight Bio Booth - but, even if you leveled up excessively, I do not recommend it.) Theres a CURECANE right before Booth - have Aqutallion get it, not Kustera. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: BIO BOOTH Booth has gotten tougher. This fight is definitely harder than Dram. Here's the strategy - Booth is most likely a bunch faster than you. He also casts BOMB 2 and 3, dealing serious damage to everyone. Have Ray and Cody use Burn Blade. Have Tina cast FAST 3 nonstop - its important to keep everyones defense up and to make sure that your healers are faster than Booth. Different strategy for Leona this time - because you have the CURECANE. (I'm assuming you didn't equip it on anyone - if so, de-equip it.) Have Leona cast MIRROR 1. Leona and Dan will now be your primary healers. If Booth uses his regular attack, or a weak single person spell, have Leona attack (the BESTCLAW does almost as much damage as Burn Blade when Leona gets a sharp hit.) and Dan use the CURECANE as an item. (Using the CURECANE as an item casts CURE 2 for free - and you need to conserve Dan's MP.) If Booth uses BOMB 2 or 3 - have Leona heal Dan with the CURECANE - since Dan is slow and Booth will attack before him. Have Dan cast REGAIN 2. (3, if you need it.) If anyone dies from Booth's second attack, (hopefully he doesn't BOMB 3 twice in a row - theres no way to survive that.) have Tina cast LIFE 3. (Anybody else notice that LIFE 1 and 2 seem to be utterly useless?) If its Tina that died, either have Ray momentarily stop Burn Blading, or have Leona use a RESTORE. (I recommend the latter - the more attacks you get in on Booth, the quicker he'll die, the less damage he'll do.) Booth is tough. But you can beat him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gara ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: BRKNMOON (I don't see why you need more than one - its never broken on me.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Same ol' Kustera/Aqutallion maze. Yay. Kustera should be able to handle the trolls and stuff, but I'd still run from the sorceresses. (Butt-kicking magic + wussy guys who can't deal damage fast enough = bad thing.) Time to kick some Gara butt. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: BIO GARA Compared to Booth, Gara is a cakewalk. Gara's strongest magics, STORM 3 and FREEZE 3, only deals about 60-75 damage - so two isn't enough to kill anyone, except possibly Dan. Ray and Cody should use Bur- do I even have to say? Tina should cast FAST 3 a few times (though you're probably not too much slower than Gara, so it isn't as needed.) Then have her defend (she doesn't have much else to do) You can also have her use the CURECANE to heal against Gara's weak attacks. Have Leona attack and Dan use REGAIN 2 when needed. Not too shabby. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Godem ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: BOLTSWRD Either: MIRROR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can go straight to Godem - but head through the dungeon first to get the BOLTSWRD - which, when used in conjunction with BOLT 1, casts Bolt Break. Then, once you've gotten this, Kustera can go into permanent retirement. Take Kustera to the storage and have them give all their MIRRORs, MOON-DROPs and RESTOREs to Aqutallion. Then, its time for the Aqutallion party to fight Godem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: BIO GODEM Godem is just as hard as last time. But this time, he has a stronger regular attack and casts BOLT 3 more often. You have Bolt Break at your disposal - but my recommendation is to keep with Burn Blade. Burn Blade and Bolt Break do roughly the same damage - the only difference being that Ray needs to cast Burn Blade and Leona Bolt Break. Leona can do decent damage with her Best Claw otherwise, whereas Ray can't do much other damage except possibly with FIRE 3. So - Ray and Cody, for now. Use the first turn to prepare. Have Ray use a MIRROR on Dan so he can survive dual BOLT 3 attacks. Have Tina cast FAST 3. Have Cody use POWER 3 on himself. Have Leona use MIRROR 1. And have Dan use the CURECANE on himself or Tina. (even though they don't need it.) Then its time to get into your rut. Ray and Cody keep Burn Blading, only stop if Ray needs to use LIFE 2 on Tina. Tina casts FAST 3 over and over - the speed and defense will help a little. Have Leona either use the CURECANE on Dan or Tina if you don't think they'll survive the next turn, or have her attack. And unless everyone is at absolutely full life, Dan needs to use REGAIN 2 every single turn. He'll run out of MP - but you shouldn't have to use more than one MOON-DROP. Pre-emptive healing is the key - Dan's a slow one. Burn Blade, Burn Blade, Burn Blade, on and on, and Godem should go down. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homncruse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS: Aqutallion: PLUMWATER, MIRROR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head around the winding path to get the PLUMWATER - flee and heal. Then take the party down the ladder, around the path, etc, etc, till you reach the star to warp to Homncruse. *SPOILER* (as if this walkthrough isn't loaded with them) You'll meet Jaguar, Homncruse's little servant guy from all those little cut scenes. He'll reveal himself to be Bosen, the guy thats been helping you. He's actually from the future - sent back to stop Homncruse. (But - wait - if Homncruse has already gone back when you reach Hidon, isn't the future really the present?) Homncruse will attack him, then attack you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: HOMNCRUSE Arguably the easiest and the hardest boss in the game. Hardest because you can't beat him - none of your hits will connect, nor do any damage. But he's also the easiest because you don't have to win. So lose, and lose valiantly, but don't use any items. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bosen will tell you to get the METLSWRD - which enables you to do some damage to Homncruse. The METLSWRD (theres nine spaces - couldn't they call it the METALSWRD?) is located in the Red Fountain. Take the UFO out of the volcano, and three shakes of a tail over to the Aris Shrine, over at the mountains to the left. (The first place you ever went in the game.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aris Shrine / Red Fountain ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go in. Step on the star. Ray's father will appear and bequeath you the both the METLSWRD, Ray's best weapon, and the LIGHTORB, which enables you to do damage to Homncruse. So, healed up, with all the items from Kustera and storage you need, go back to Homncruse's section of Jeep Volcano. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homncruse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head down the path again. Get ready, cause here comes the final boss. Heal up, and use the BRKNMOONs to heal any MP. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: HOMNCRUSE Items you'll want to fight Homncruse: MIRRORs - At least a few. Mainly for Tina and Dan. MOON-DROPs - For Dan and Leona. RESTOREs - If you're smart, you won't need them, but bring some anyway. VITA-PLUM / PLUMWATER - Useful if you're in a jam. And, of course, the METLSWRD, LIGHTORB, and BOLTSWRD. Ray needs the METLSWRD, and Cody the BOLTSWRD. Otherwise, everybody with their best equipment. First turn - Ray use the LIGHTORB. Cody use POWER 3, Leona MIRROR 1. Tina can cast FAST 3 - though it isn't as needed in this battle. Have Dan ready to use REGAIN 2. If Homncruse does a weak attack, like his regular or BOLT 2, have Tina use the CURECANE. If Homncruse does any attack that hits everyone, have Dan use REGAIN 2. Have Ray attack with the METLSWRD and Cody and Leona use Bolt Break. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like all final bosses, Homncruse has a second form. Yeah for us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: HOMNCRUSE This, being the final, final boss, is a tough fight. Homncruse commonly uses BOMB 3 and BOLT 3, often times in succession. (No-one can survive two consec- utive BOMB 3s, except possibly Ray at full life.) If you have at least 4 MOON-DROPs, (hopefully more), you can use this strategy. Your standard attackers will be Ray w/ METLSWRD and Cody and Leona w/ Bolt Break. (Leona also need to keep her MIRROR up - but Homncruse will LAND 3 it, causing it to neutralize. Pause + have Cody POWER 3 while you recast it.) Tina should use the CURECANE on someone every turn. And - heres where the MOON-DROPs come in - Dan should use REGAIN 2 every turn. Yes, EVERY TURN. Why, do you ask? Because - if he doesn't, you'll never survive BOMB 3. (Or, at least, someone will die - and bringing people back to life is a pain.) Yes, a lot of his REGAINs will be wasted magic. But you'll thank me when you narrowly avoid death at the hands of BOMB 3. Dan will need at least 3 MOON-DROPS through the course of the battle, though - have Ray momentarily stop attacking to use one, or have Tina use it. Leona most likely is going to need at least one MOON-DROP also. Your strategy will need to be slightly modified if you don't have at least four MOON-DROPs. Dan will need to be much more conservative in his REGAINs. Instead, when Homncruse uses his strong attacks, have Ray stop healing to use HEAL 3 on Tina, and Tina cast HEAL 3 or CURECANE on Dan. Ray and Cody should have at least 200 life and be able to survive another hit by Homncruse. Leona should have her MIRROR up. You're screwed, however, if Homncruse uses BOMB 3 again.) Keep on hitting Homncruse with Ray and Cody and Leona, and he'll go down. Congratulations, you've beat the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ending *SPOILER ALERT* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homncruse will die, mumbling something about hating everything, like most evil bad guys do. He'll die. You'll warp out, and Bosen will congratulate you and disappear. (Does he die?) The UFO Algos flies back to Old Hill and beams the town back down. All the happy townspeople will gather and wonder where all the Aqutallions are. Cut to the UFO, where Ray's father tells them to come to the future. (Again - future? Here - a footnote.*) But the Aqutallions decide to stay in Old Hill, living happily ever after. Then a credit roll as you watch the UFO fly around. Cut to Uncle Save, finishing up his adventure story. (Watch the intro.) Yada, yada, yada. Yippee. More UFO flying follows, which doesn't seem to ever end. Yay again. Turn off your SNES and have a Coke. *Here's my take on the 'future' thing - *SPOILER ALERT* - When you went to Dr. Parakless's lab in Hidon, the vision of Parakless that you saw must have been a message from the future. Homncruse didn't steal a time machine in Hidon before you arrived - he did it several years later. This is the future that Bosen comes from, etc, etc. The question is, where is the young Homncruse, if he doesn't leave until the future? And why can't we kill him to keep the evil Homncruse from ever existing? Video game logic for ya.....Well, anyway, congrats. =============================================================================== 5. Thanks =============================================================================== Special thanks to: An obligatory thanks, first, to CJayC, for running the fabulous GameFAQs. Tecmo, for making this....uh.....interesting game. MAndrews, for inspiring me to write a more comprehensive guide to TSotS. CVagts (cvagts_14@hotmail.com) for further inspiration (and I think I probably took a few of his boss tips.) Copyright (c) 2000 by Steve Bergstrom