THE COMPLETE (?) GUIDE TO SUPER ROBOT TAISEN GAIDEN: MASOU KISHIN ----- THE LORD OF ELEMENTAL (ASCII TEXT VERSION) Version 0.97 (14-11-99) Written by pistol (wanderer1978@hotmail.com) * * * * * Revision History: ----------------- Version 0.7 --- First release. Ignore the warning about needing a Jap viewer for now; I haven't done it yet :( Version 0.9 --- Added a flowchart and some stats tables courtesy of JL, thanks my friend! Also finished off the scenario guide. Minor tweaks here and there too. Discarded the MS Word version idea as JL's charts are good enough. Version 0.92 --- Incorporate some name changes; appreciation goes to Psybuster for pointing out my mistakes. An announcement in the final comments (raving more like...) section. Version 0.95 --- Added a new section on PAR codes, again some minor name changes here and there. Update new e-mail address for Psybuster. Version 0.97 --- Back online. Some tweaks with names and fonts, plus link to a patch for the game in section V (a big cheat) and new entry in credits section. Plus a notice for help in section VI. By the way if you haven't guessed, I always update section VI every time but I don't mention it here as I thought most of you knew already. Disclaimer: ----------- The usual stuff applies; i.e. this is copyright of pistol 1999, with the sole purpose of help and enjoyment for SRW fans worldwide. No reproduction in any form allowed without consulting yours truly, no rip-off, etc. You know the drill. (If you don’t then go and read the disclaimer section of any of Kao Megura’s FAQs who btw is the GOD of game FAQs, period) Any comments, errors, requests etc. can be posted to my e-mail address above. I usually reply within a week, and I promise I’ll reply to all sensible mails even if just to say thanx. Oh yeah, the game and related characters, mech designs et al are copyright of Banpresto and Winky Soft 1996 and beyond. Intrduction: ------------ Welcome to my first ever guide. Since I'm a beginner there're probably going to be a lot of mistakes in this, but hopefully this should be ironed out over time in later revisions. Back to the main topic, this is primarily a background and character guide about SRW Gaiden: Lord of Elemental, but I have thrown in a brief (?) scenarios guide for good measure. It will be helpful if the reader knows a little bit of Japanese as they are generously scattered throughout the guide along with romanized terms. This also points out that you need a Japanese viewer such as Njstar or Unionway in order to get the full effect. Credits and Inspirations: ------------------------- - Banpresto (www.banpresto.co.jp) for starting the series in the first place. However it seems that they’re getting too repetitive lately for my liking a.k.a. Capcom’s SF series. Let’s hope Shin-Masou Kishin is as good as the first game! - CjayC of GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) for keeping the great service on the net’s premier game FAQ site. - Phil Yee (ranma.com/~philyee/srw) for his great site Super Robot Wars Continuum, which is probably the only active English SRW site right now. Make sure you visit this place regularly, especially the forum! This site was down as I wrote this. Hopefully it should be back on soon. - Dagwon (acoi95@bdg.centrin.net.id) for his amazing originals guide on SRW. I got some of the info in this guide from there, thanks! (Did you get my e-mail btw?) You can get his guide from GameFAQs. - JL (jl98@pacific.net.sg) for his excellent flowcharts, tables and some hints. JL, thanks, I really owe you one. - Psybuster (gundam-p@geocities.com) for pointing out quite a few naming mistakes on my part. Thanks. And for the patch and new SRW site too. - Lamdien Vo (lamdienv@san.rr.com) for the favourite among SRW hackers, the max money code. Domo arigatou! - Feryl (feryl@pacific.net.sg) for verifying the code and letting me know. Cheers mate. - Setsunai-kun (setsunai@kenshin-web.zzn.com) for pointing out some errors. Thanks, and sorry I can't help you with your homepage right now. Cheers for the offer anyway. (If you the reader can help with this - setsunai-kun is thinking of starting a homepage for SRW - please e-mail him about it). - All the other authors of SRW guides (sorry, too lazy to list all of them) for their work. - Forum members of Super Robot Wars Continuum for keeping the SRW topic alive (again, gomen for my laziness but you know who you are ^_^). - You for reading this, although why are you reading the boring details when you can get the real info below?! * * * * * MAIN CONTENTS ------------- I: GAME SYSTEM : 1 - General Overview 2 - Direction of Attack 3 - Height Differences 4 - Zone of Control (ZOC) 5 - Character skills 6 - Character seishin (magic) 7 - Seirei (elemental) class 8 - Prana (Ki) and its influence II: CHARACTER GUIDE : (SPOILER ALERT) 1 - Masaki Andou 2 - Shuu Shirakawa 3 - Ryune Zoldark 4 - Tootie Noorbuck 5 - Hwang Yan Long 6 - Ricardo Silvera 7 - Mio Sasuga 8 - Saphine Grace 9 - Zeoroot Zan Zenoskis 10 - Presia Zenoskis 11 - Wendy Rasm Iknart 12 - Alzarl Gran Bilseir 13 - Feil-lord Gran Bilseir 14 - Xenia Gran Bilseir 15 - Monica Gran Bilseir 16 - Terius Gran Bilseir 17 - Simeone Kyulian 18 - Fang Zan Bisias 19 - Gennacy I. Kozireh 20 - Rebecca Turner 21 - Ahamud Hamdi 22 - Madokk MacAnel 23 - Sanan Tianbrathet 24 - See Damecus 25 - Luozorl Zoran Loiel 26 - Ibun Zeora Klasull 27 - Gaspa Alvaret 28 - Karx Zan Valfarbia 29 - Zashuford Zan Valfarbia 29 - Laset Nobaste 30 - Kanswort Jog 31 - Lubicca Hakkinen 32 - Rodney Jesh 33 - Elis Radius 34 - Zet Laas Bragio 35 - Shumel Hyul 36 - Jino Valencia 37 - Rosary Sile 38 - Thomas Platt 39 - Tudy Rasm Iknart III: Masouki Guide : (SPOILER ALERT) 1 - Masou Kishin + Valcione R 2 - Masou Ki (Lan Gran Kingdom) 3 - Chou Masou Ki (i.e. Bosses) 4 - Shuu’s bunch IV: Brief Scenario and Route Guide : (SPOILER ALERT) 1 - Part 1 2 - Part 2 3 - Flowchart V: PAR codes and patches V: Final Comments and general OT stuff from me (Stop Press Stuff) * * * * * I : GAME SYSTEM ========================== 1 - General Overview : ---------------------- This is your standard SWR engine but with several new twists. The most obvious one is the 3D battlefield. Height and the way your mechs are facing are very important as it literally makes or breaks your attack power and hit percentage. There are other systems like elemental class and ZOC which also need attention paid to. Overall it is quite a change from the usual SRWs, and mostly for the good. Battles are shorter with only a maximum of 8 members usable in a scenario, but the strategy factor is greatly increased. Oh yeah, the real size masoukis look a lot better IMHO too. All things said and done, if you have played any of the other SRWs before then you shouldn’t have too much difficulty with this ^_^ 2 - Direction of Attack : ------------------------- The 3D battlefield means that you mech will choose a direction to face at the end of their turn (a la Final Fantasy Tactics). In FFT this is important; in Gaiden this is CRITICAL! If you hit an enemy on the side or in the back, both hit percentage and attack damage zooms up dramatically. Utilizing this is very important, especially against bosses. To be exact the adjustments to base rate and damage are: Hit percentage Attack damage Attacking mech : Front hit + 0 % + 0 % Side hit + 20% +20 % Back hit + 50% +50 % Defending mech : Front counter + 0 % + 0 % Side counter - 20% + 0 % Back counter - 50% + 0 % In other words, always attack from the side and back if possible and never expose your side and back to the enemy. 3 - Height Differences : ------------------------ Again like FFT, the higher your mech towers above the enemy, the higher the hit percentage (but not attack damage). I think for every level higher or lower than your enemy you gain or lose about 10% of the initial hit percentage. Not a concern earlier on when the maps are quite flat but can give a major headache in later episodes in part 2 especially against bosses who always seem to stand on top of a cliff. Below is a table of the exact adjustments sent in by JL: HEIGHT DIFFERENCE AND PERCENTAGE Height Diff. Hit% +15 to +10 200 (of base rate) + 9 190 + 8 180 + 7 170 + 6 160 + 5 150 + 4 140 + 3 130 + 2 120 + 1 110 0 100 - 1 90 - 2 80 - 3 70 - 4 60 - 5 50 - 6 40 - 7 30 - 8 20 - 9 to -15 10 4 - Zone of Control (ZOC) : --------------------------- I think this is similar to the system used in Front Mission 2. Basically the 4 squares around your mech are ‘controlled’ by you and enemy cannot move into and across your ZOC. I was never a master at using ZOC, but the basic premise is to ‘trap’ your enemy into a space or block them off from going behind you. Since I’m not exactly sure how it works I’m not going to embarrass myself explaining it here, but I’m sure you guys can work it out yourselves one way or another, since the computer seems to be quite good at using it to their advantage (play the game and you’ll see what I mean). 5 - Character Skills : ---------------------- Similar to the skills system of later SRW games (i.e. 4th onwards), characters learn skills as they advance in levels. There is a major difference however. Now the level at which the skill is acquired seems to be randomly determined over a range of 4-5 levels. An example will illustrate this better: Masaki starts to be able to learn the skill of ‘2kaiitou’ (move twice, i.e. the W sign, it is a learned skill in Gaiden, instead of levelling so that ‘reaction’ reaches 200) at Lv 38 at the earliest. However, the skill may be acquired at Lv 39 instead of 38 sometimes, or Lv 40, or Lv 41 etc. I think the maximum delay is +4 levels (i.e. Masaki can move twice at Lv. 42 at the latest) since I never encountered otherwise. Anyway it is reasonable to assume that the percentage chance of learning at the earliest level is lower than at a higher level. The decision is completely random so if you don’t get what you want early enough you can always save right before the level up, and reset and continue until you get the skill. Notice that if you do the game over trick to build up money and levels, the skill that you have learnt may be lost and you have to learn it again (unless you are at the latest level possible for learning said skill of course). Anyway here is a list of the different skills in Gaiden: - ‘2 kaiitou’ (move twice) - as the name implies, you character can perform 2 actions in one round. - ‘kihai-sacchi’ (sensing the presence) - highly useful, this means that if you get attacked from a direction other than your front, you may ‘sense the presence’ of the enemy and automatically switches over to face the attack head on. The higher the level, the higher the chance of using this skill. You’d know it’s used when an exclamation mark pops up above your mech’s head. - ‘saikougeki’ (attack again) - wonderful skill, this means that you will perform an attack twice in one action (notice the difference with move twice), thus doubling the attack damage (if the 2nd attack connects too). Again, the higher the level, the more chance of activating the skill. However, you use up twice the ammunition/MG/prana (of course), and does not apply to map attacks. Also the later bosses seem to have an uncanny knack of pulling it off 90% of the time .... - ‘kirikaeshi’ (slash back) - seen in 4th SRW and beyond, this time it is a bit different. Activation of this skill block all physical attack (even the top wazas like ranbu no tachi) but it does not work on shooting attack, even familiar and hi-familiar. So on one hand you don’t have to worry about your familiar being knocked back again, but on the other hand a lot of your top physical wazas may not connect. Also the levels of this skill is relatively low (the highest I’ve reached of this skill is level 4 with Jino). - ‘bunshin’ (image evade) - the classic skill of Aura Battlers is back but again there are minor differences. Firstly it is level-based and independent of your kiryoku level (remember that in other SRW you need a kiryoku of 130, then you have 50% chance of using it), secondly it works even if you choose to evade or block when attacked, just like the earlier SRW games (in SRWFF and CB, image evade will not work if you choose to defend instead of counter). Apart from that, it works just like the Dunbines and Bilbines, i.e. 100% evade from all attacks. - ‘sokojikara’ (stored strength) - the preferred skill of all good super robot pilots in SRW. Here in Gaiden it gives you a 50% increase in attack damage when you HP goes below 25%. Not very useful if you ask me as the chances are you’ll be dead before getting to use it. A short note: is it just me or is it that the enemy have a much better chance of activating skills than the player? I found this out every time I play through the game. So my advice is, don’t trust what you see on paper and save frequently unless you like seeing a soldier slashing back your nekketsu (hot-blood) final waza before attacking you twice ^_^ 6 - Character seishin (magic) : ------------------------------- Your friendly magic system is back with not much change in structure expect the addition and deletion of a few magics. Like SRWF and SRWFF, unused seishin points will count towards EXP at the end of an episode (in which there’s fighting). Without further ado here is the list of seishin: ‘konjou’ (perseverance) - recovers 30% of max HP of user. Uses 10 SP. ‘furameki’ (blink) - 100% evade for one attack only, i.e. beware of someone attacking twice as the second strike is not covered. Uses 14 SP. ‘kasoku’ (speed up) - Movement +3 for one go. Useful when trying to get to the back of an enemy for an attack. Uses 6 SP. ‘hitjuu’ (sure hit) - 100% hit rate for one whole round, player and enemy phase. Overrides everything (even all the skills) expect furameki. Uses 12 SP. ‘dokonjou’ (ultra perseverance) - recovers all HP of user. Kinda useless since love gives much better value for your points. Uses 18 SP. ‘kou-un’ (luck) - double EXP and money from one whole attack. One of the best seishins. Uses 28 SP. ‘saisei’ (regenerate) - automatic revival of user upon 0 HP. However you only regain half your HP and your SP does not recover. Uses 32 SP. ‘shinrai’ (trust) - recovers 30% of max HP of selected character on map. Critically important in saving NPCs. Uses 17 SP. ‘yuujou’ (friendship) - recovers 50% of max HP of all player’s characters on map. Again useful in saving NPCs. Uses 23 SP. ‘ai’ (love) - fully recovers HP of all player’s characters on map. Very useful both in helping NPCs and in saving your own skins. Uses 34 SP. ‘hokyuu’ (refill) - refills MG and bullets of chosen character on map to maximum, but chosen character’s kiryoku decreases by 10. Can be useful perhaps when Nols Rei is not on the map. Uses 36 SP. ‘ki-ai’ (ki gathering) - user’s kiryoku go up by 10. Again one of the most useful seishins. Uses 20 SP. ‘gekirei’ (encouragement) - kiryoku up by 10 for chosen character. Probably the critical seishin in the game as Masaki, Ryune and Mio all do not have ki-ai. Promote someone who can use this seishin or you’ll definitely regret it later on. Uses 45 SP. ‘saidou’ (move again) - enables one chosen character to perform an extra action after he/she has finish his/her round. Expensive to use but handy in certain cases. Uses 54 SP. ‘teppeki’ (iron wall) - doubles the armor of user for one whole round. Very useful if you armor rating is sufficiently high. Uses 40 SP. ‘P kaifuku’ (prana recover) - recovers prana of chosen character to maximum. Becomes useful in later stages when the weaker pilots tend to use up all their prana rapidly with promoted weapons. Uses 34 SP. ‘M kyuujuu’ (magic absorb) - absorbs 50 MG from chosen enemy character to refill the user. Useless IMHO. Uses 20 SP. ‘kakusei’ (awakening) - enables user to perform an extra action, before he/she has finish his/her round. Useful before you acquire 2kaiitou. Uses 40 SP. ‘houfuku’ (revenge) - the next damage received by user will be reflected back to every enemy on the map. Kinda useless for the player since for good damage you’ll be almost dead, but deadly when used by the bosses to counter your high-damage attacks. Uses 50 SP. 7 - Seirei (elemental) classes ------------------------------- Almost as important as directions of attack. Masoukis in Gaiden are classified by the class and type of the elemental protector. There are 4 types : wind, water, earth and fire, and 3 classes: teii (low class), koui (high class) and seii (holy or top class). The 4 types work in a vicious circle: Wind -> Strong against earth Earth -> Strong against water Water -> Strong against fire Fire -> Strong against wind Attacking with the right elemental masouki increases damage greatly, by 20% methinks. The damage is also increased when the class of the attacking masouki is higher, one higher class giving a 10% damage advantage in attack and defense. Knowing this well will make most enemies much easier and this again is crucial against bosses. Those mechs without seirei, e.g. Granzone and Valcione R are counted as standard and there is no adjustments with them in relation to any other mechs regardless of type or class. JL hs also mailed me with an adjustment table for this area. Thanks! ELEMENTAL ADJUSTMENTS TABLE \Atk Wind Water Earth Fire None Def \ Wind 100% 100% 80% 120% 100% Water 100% 100% 120% 80% 100% Earth 120% 80% 100% 100% 100% Fire 80% 120% 100% 100% 100% None 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% For example, if a Wind elemental masouki attacks an Earth masouki, it will dish out 120% of normal damage. On the other hand, it will receive 120% damage from Fire masoukis. 8 - Prana (Ki) and its influence -------------------------------- A new system in Gaiden is the prana points (PP). They are a numerical representation of your character’s prana level (all masoukis are powered by prana or the ki level of the pilot). They provides adjustments to your mech making it stronger, as follows: Max HP : + current PP x 10 Max MG : + current PP x 0.5 Armor : + current PP x 5 Movement : + current PP x 1/32 For example, say the pilot for the following mech has 64 PP. Then: Max HP : 5000 ---------> 5640 Max MG : 100 ---------> 132 Armor : 1000 ---------> 1320 MV : 5 ---------> 7 This adjustment can be checked in the status screen. The white number on the left below the mech picture is the base rate and the yellow number is the additional rate from PP. PP is used up in all map attacks and high-damage wazas; most of the promoted top wazas need 40 to 50 PPs to perform. PP is recovered at a rate of 1/16 of maximum per round; the only other way to replenish PP is via the seishin ‘P kiafuku’. * * * * * II : CHARACTERS GUIDE ============================ WARNING: the following section contains many spoilers about the game and story. Read on at your own risk ^_^ The story of Gaiden is very good, much better than I expected and better than those of any other SRW game. I guess this is partly because of the huge variety of different expressions for each character which really bring them to life. In SRWF and FF you may get 5-7 expressions for the important characters and 3-4 for others; in Gaiden you get at least 7-8 for most characters and 15-20 for the main ones. (a lot of them can be found in the character design section of SRW EX on the History disc that came with SRW CB) Also the relatively small cast makes it easier to focus more on each character; the conversations in Gaiden are a joy to behold when compared to the bland dialogue in some SRW games of late (I guess Banpresto have to stick to the actual dialogue in the respective series closely but some of them just don’t mix) Anyway that’s enough personal waffle from me. On with the show! 1. Masaki Andou ---------------- 18 years-old Japanese, the last of the main summons to La Giars by the emperor of Lan Gran (not counting EX, e.g. Mio). Typical hot-blooded hero character, great at all sports and not so great in thinking (at first). By chance found himself to be the pilot of Jaom and was the last of the four masou-kishin pilots to be chosen, albeit by Cybaster which is arguably the best of the masou-kishin. Both his parents died when he was young, leading to a loneliness complex which was dispelled by the people he met in La Giars. Forever indebted to his mentor Zeoroot who was like a dad to him, he now treat his only daughter Presia as his own sister. Have feelings for Wendy Iknart; things now more complicated as Ryune threw her hat into the ring. Becky always reminded him that polygamy is common in La Giars, which pisses Masaki off and gets him all embarrassed. And he has no sense of directions too (did someone shout Ryouga in the back?!). Btw, the name bestowed onto him, Randoll Zen Zenoskis, is actually an ancestor of Zeoroot, hence in (Lan Gran) theory making him Zeoroot’s son. Randoll was the hero who sealed off Shiva Volkruss all those years ago. He carries 2 familiar creatures, 2 cats called Kuro and Shiro, one male and one female. They always make fun of Masaki whenever he’s lost (which’s quite often). 2. Shuu Shirakawa ----------------- Sworn arch-enemy of Masaki (at least until SRW4), and pilot of Granzon and Neo-Granzon. Father is from Lan Gran (brother of the emperor Alzarl) while mother is Japanese. This means that he was 3rd in line to the Lan Gran throne (as reflected by his real name Kristoff Gran MacSword), a heritage that he gave up when he disappeared for several years and then turned up unexpectedly at the capital of Lan Gran, pronouncing himself a servant of Volkruss, and killed Zeoroot in the process (that’s when Masaki started his hatred towards Shuu). Instigator of the catastrophe which ruined Lan Gran, then went to earth and did whatever he did depending on your version of 2nd, 3rd and 4th SRW or SRWF(F). The most important thing is, he got killed by Masaki at the end of SRW 3 and got resurrected by Luozorl in EX. The resurrection was imperfect, however, deleting the bond between Volkruss and Shuu, and ultimately he destroyed Luozorl and Volkruss as revenge for the fact that he was being controlled as a tool (there’s nothing Shuu hates more than someone controlling him - he values his freedom highly ^_^). Holder of several PhDs and a science genius, and only 21 years old. The object of affection (and fierce rivalry) between Saphine and Monica. (don’t mail me about the relation between Shuu and Monica - I guess you can marry your cousins in La Giars too) And strangely he also carries his own familiar, a bird called Chika which is loose-mouthed and care a lot about money (I thought familiar creatures are supposed to be a reflection of the sub-consciousness of their master...?) 3. Ryune Zoldark ---------------- 17 years-old, half Icelandic-half American daughter of Dr. Bian Zoldark, who was of course founder of DC and creator/pilot of Valsion. Intensively trained by her dad when she was young to pilot Valcione and later Valcione R. Run into Masaki and Londo Bell in SRW 3 to avenge her dad’s death, instead won over by Masaki’s charms (?) and have a huge crush on him ever since. After SRW4 (or SRWFF) followed Masaki and co. back to La Giars. Recently she has also been calling herself Masaki’s girlfriend, which Mio loves to point out is totally self-proclaimed (usually in front of Wendy), which in turn usually pisses Ryune off no end. Similar qualities to Masaki: hot-blooded, great physical reflexes and unusually perceptive in battle. 4. Tootie Noorbuck ------------------ 21 years-old Finnish, summoned to Lan Gran like Masaki and pilots masouki Falk before being accepted as the pilot of water masou-kishin Goddess. Always cheerful and happy in front of friends, she in fact harbours a deep sorrow over the death of firstly her family, murdered by Lubicca in front of her own eyes, and secondly the two person she had loved, Ricardo and then Feil-lord. Sensible and elegant when she needs to be, she represents the masou-kishin pilots in parlimentary meetings in Lan Gran. Acts as an elder sister to Masaki (which he did not like at first but came to appreciate). Her familiar creatures are 2 Nordic wolves called Fleki and Geri, which always look down on Kuro and Shiro as inferior creatures and inevitably led up to big fights between the familiars. 5. Hwang Yan Long ----------------- 25 years-old Chinese, martial arts expert and former PE teacher (Chinese PE classes are more like kung fu classes). Pilots masouki Dinforce before getting chosen by fire masou- kishin Granveil. Level-headed, assured and thinks logically and perceptively, i.e. opposite of Masaki. Likes to litter his conversations with Chinese proverbs which confuses the hell out of Masaki and Ryune all the time. Did not think highly of Masaki as a pilot at first, but gradually grew to respect and trust him over the calamitous periods ahead. Has an extremely deep respect (bordering on worship) for people who display high levels of holy prana usually associated with royalty, i.e. princess Monica. He swears to serve Monica at all cost, but said it is out of respect only (which Becky does not believe in the slightest and is often teasing him about). His familiar is a ‘Fuusei-kemono’ (a Chinese mythical creature that looks like a black panther) and is as loyal and level-headed as he is. 6. Ricardo Silvera ------------------ 36 years-old Brazilian, former air force pilot and original exclusive pilot of earth masou-kishin Zamseed. Brash, lively and energetic, he in fact is harder working than most of the other pilots. Again he has a unfortunate past incident which he hides from everybody with his genki exterior. Always making passes at Tootie which she rejects out of hand every time (even though she secretly loves him), he in the end died in saving her by taking a bullet from Lubicca that was meant for her, during the chaos of catastrophe. I didn’t catch the story with his familiars, by the way, can someone help me here? 7. Mio Sasuga -------------- 15 years-old Japanese, your not-so-typical anime high school student who was accidentally summoned to La Giars by Fiel-lord in SRW EX. Ends up piloting masouki Diablo and finally accepted as the pilot of Zamseed as successor to Ricardo. Genki girl which causes Masaki no end of problems initially, now very much an integral member of the Masaki-gumi. Despite her childish tendencies and the ability (?) to tease everyone around, she actually possess a high mental age and can think deeply if she needs to (perhaps because her parents died when she was young as well). Also an expert at aikido, explaining her high prana levels. Training with Masaki after EX enabled her to use familiars, in her case a set of ducks called Shoji, Jun and Josak who specialize in acting stupidly ^_^ 8. Saphine Grace ----------------- 21 years-old from La Giars, was servant to Volkruss and acted as Shuu’s partner (she was called Saphine Zeola Volkruss) in SRW EX. Pilots the Yousouki Wizoll and later Wizoll Kai. A (ahem) mature-thinking person as you can probably guess from her expressions and her slightly H speeches in battle. However she has a MASSIVE crush on Shuu and will do anything to please him, even forcibly cutting her bond to Volkruss in the final showdown in EX. Has an ongoing battle with Monica about Shuu. 9. Zeoroot Zan Zenoskis ------------------------- Mentor and father-like figure to Masaki, he is the chief military teacher of Lan Gran and reputedly the best swordsman in La Giars (his nickname is Ken-oo Zeoroot - literally King of Sword). Piloted the masouki Giolast, and he probably taught Masaki most of the things the young Cybaster pilot know about. Killed by Shuu when trying to defend Lan Gran palace from Granzone. 10. Presia Zenoskis -------------------- 12 years-old (I think) only daughter to Zeoroot. Now acts like a younger sister to Masaki (Ryune thinks Presia may have a crush on Masaki too but everyone else think Ryune is simply freaking out). Your typical genki but independent little sister type which you know will always get you into trouble anytime soon. Became pilot of Diablo (against Masaki’s wishes) after Mio gets to pilot Zamseed. Speciality is cooking. 11. Wendy Rasm Iknart ------------------------ 27 years-old chief designer of all of the 16+2+1 masouki series of Lan Gran, and part of the influential Alchemist Council that yields enormous powers in Lan Gran. Looks 10 years younger than she actually is, and is described by Tootie (who is no bad looker herself) as a super-beautiful woman, thus giving Ryune a major headache since everybody else also knows that Wendy and Masaki like each other expect for the couple themselves. Saved Masaki from prana-drainage after his pro-fusion with Cybaster, via replenishing his prana levels artificially (I’ll let you find out yourself how she actually did this ^_^). Personal treasure is a pendant given by Masaki which is meant to bring two hearts together (Masaki didn’t know this though) in communication. Have a twin sister called Tudy who died when she was young ... 12. Alzarl Gran Bilseir -------------------------- The emperor of Lan Gran, and father to Feil-lord, Xenia, Monica and Terius. Initiator of the Masouki Project, and summoner of the first batch of outsiders from overland Earth. Killed in the catastrophe, hence cutting off the power supply to Chouwa no Kekkai (Seal of balance) which led to easy invasion by renegade Shutedonias troops, led by Laset Nobaste in an agreement with Shuu. (A note on the background: Chouwa no Kekkai is a seal used to protect Lan Gran from invasion. It requires power in the form of huge amounts of maryoku (magic energy), a duty that is performed by the present emperor on the throne. To remove the seal it must be either destroyed physically or the power source killed off. As a side note this is also the main reason why all royal members must undertake maryoku exams before being accepted as formal heirs to the throne; they must be able to take on an enormous burden on their maryoku.) 13. Fiel-lord Gran Bilseir ----------------------------- Eldest son of Alzarl and first heir to the Lan Gran throne. Thoughtful and articulate, he cares deeply about his people and commands widespread respect. A hard worker, he fails his initial maryoku exam but through intensive work managed to pass it the next time. However in the process of doing so the damage on his body was so much that by EX he only have 6 months left alive. Knowing this, after driving Shutedonias forces out of Lan Gran and defeating General Karx with the help of Masaki and Londo Bell, he acted the role of ruthless conqueror in trying to unite La Giars in order to bring peace there. Piloting the super-masouki Duraxyll designed by Xenia, he was finally killed by a remorseful Masaki - remorseful for accepting the duty of a masou-kishin pilot, even if it means killing those close to him. 14. Xenia Gran Bilseir ------------------------- The elder twin princess of Lan Gran, Xenia failed the maryoku exam (which she was delighted about as she hated the responsibilities of emperor) but her main strength is in her mechanical and technical abilities. Able assistant to Wendy in masouki design and she designed the Duraxyll all by herself, as well as the bio-computer systems in Lan Gran which specialize in hacking other systems. Head of information unit in Lan Gran and also part-time gossip-monger, she likes the active life of Masaki and co and is always out of the palace hanging around with the masou-kishin pilots. Not at all like your typical princess. Pilots the ceremonial masouki Nols and later the refined Nols Rei, acting as support in battle. 15. Monica Gran Bilseir -------------------------- The younger of the twin princess of Lan Gran, Monica is probably the one with the highest maryoku potential in the royal family at present. Opposite to Xenia in that she is your typical quiet, elegant and dignified princess. Her character has became stronger as she battles with Saphine for Shuu’s attention, even putting herself into danger and battle. Now gone awol from the palace and following Shuu around everywhere. Like Xenia, pilots the ceremonial masouki Nols and Nols Rei. 16. Terius Gran Bilseir -------------------------- The youngest son of the royal family. Your typical weak and pathetic teenager with major self-confidence crisis. Meet Shuu in EX and, inspired by him, has became stronger and more assertive. Hence he looks upon Shuu as somewhat a senior figure in his life, and since EX has also been following Shuu around. A small note, he is actually a half-brother to the rest; he was conceived when his dad had an affair with someone from the cursed tribe (I’ve forgotten the name of her or the tribe, sorry). But of course the royals cannot let the public know this so they changed his name. Only Feil-lord knew the truth of the matter. This was explained in EX but not mentioned in Gaiden. 17. Simeone Kyulian ---------------------- French masouki pilot summoned by Alzarl. Trustworthy type of person. She was injured during catastrophe and captured by renegade Shutedonias soldier, however she was helped and taken care of by Laset and saw the different side of the guy who ruined Lan Gran ... will she turn to work for the Shutedonias cause? Pilots the masouki Zine in battle. 18. Fang San Bisias ---------------------- A rare commodity: a masouki pilot from La Giars proper. Student to Zeoroot, and takes a dislike to all overland ‘foreigners’ and Masaki in particular, partly because of a fierce rivalry to seek approval from Zeoroot and partly because he believes foreigners should have no say in the business of La Giars. Hot-tempered and prideful (think Asuka from EVA), was seriously hurt (mentally) in catastrophe, and after hearing of Masaki defeating Feil-lord in EX, revenge on Masaki became his only intention in life ... Can pilot many masoukis, his preferred masouki is Galguard in part 1 and either Lastoll or Jeifaa in part 2. 19. Gennacy I. Kozireh ------------------------- Masouki pilot from Russia summoned by Alzarl. Physically strongest of all the pilots (expect Ryune ^_^), he was a former Olympic swimming gold medallist. Very quiet, does not speak much usually or in battle. However strikes up an interesting rapport with Mio and Presia (he usually acts as a physical barrier when those two did something to piss Masaki off). A reliable member of the masouki team, he pilots the masouki Jaom after Masaki upgraded to Cybaster. 20. Rebecca Turner -------------------- Called Becky by people she knew, again one of the masouki pilots summoned by Alzarl. Loud tomboyish woman who drinks a lot and likes to take off her top when drunk ^_^, much to the dismay of Masaki and delight of Madokk. Happy-go-lucky type, she went in training after catastrophe, completely missing all the events in EX and only showed up again after Masaki and co. came back after SRWFF. Hobby is teasing Masaki about Wendy (apart from getting pissed). Pilots the masouki La Ventor. 21. Ahamud Hamdi ------------------ Arabian masouki pilot summoned by Alzarl. Looks down on Masaki as a pilot (he was the first-in-waiting to take the acceptance test with Cybaster before Masaki arrived - I think), and believes that war is a holy and just way to settle conflicts. Nevertheless still have some good morals. Worked with Shuu during EX and kept Xenia informed of Shuu’s change in character throughout. Disappears after SRW EX and unseen by anyone ... Pilots the masouki Solgady. 22. Madokk Marconell -------------------- Original pilot of Diablo, an old man trying to defy his age. Likes pretty young girls and thinks Saphine is ‘most interesting’. Died shortly after catastrophe (no details on this). 23. Sanan Tian-Pra-Sart ------------------------ Thai masouki pilot summoned by Alzarl, called Tian by friends. Former Muay-Thai kick-boxing champion, now a Buddhist monk living the simple life --- expect that he drinks, eats meat, likes women and doesn’t mind the odd scrap or ten ^_^. However he still says he is dedicated to his religion and consider temptations part of the training. After catastrophe went into the mountains and the wild to ‘search for the inner peace and understanding’ (as he said himself). Pilots the masouki Dinforce after Yan-Long gets the Granveil. 24. See Damecus ------------------ Polite young man from Africa, summoned to be a masouki pilot by Alzarl. A pacifist who disliked war and fighting but will do so for those around him. A real Mr. Nice-Guy. Became a folk hero after catastrophe?! Pilots masouki Falk after Tootie promotes to Goddess. 25. Luozorl Zoran Loiel -------------------------- High priest of Shiva Volkruss, and general all round bad guy. Dedicated to the revival of Volkruss, and acted as leader to Shuu and Saphine before being betrayed and killed by Shuu in EX. However all is not what it seems ... Pilots the jareiki Naguzadd and ... 26. Ibun Zeora Klasull ------------------------ Archbishop of the holy temple in Lan Gran, wielder of considerable maryuko. Has the power to summon people from earth, as well as being the only one in Lan Gran to be able to create familiar for masou-kishin pilots. Usually heavy in his research. Also rumoured to be good at releasing hidden potential in pilots... 27. Gaspa Alvaret -------------------- Head of terrorist group in La Giars, working with Luozorl during the first part. Has a grunge against Masaki for killing one of his friends. 28. Karx Zan Valfarbia -------------------------- General of Lan Gran. Like Feil-lord, cares passionately about the future of La Giars, but greed got better of him and was killed by Yan-Long and Ryune in SRW EX. Secretly completed the abandoned Super-masouki project Eulicd, which he then piloted. Now Eulicd is said to be hidden in a secret location by Zash after EX, and being sought by the forces of Laset... 29. Zashuford Zan Valfarbia ------------------------------ 18 years-old son of Karx, called Zash (? - I’m not sure about the translation) by friends. Idolized masouki pilots when he was young and trained hard to become one himself. Sided with Ryune and co. against his own father in EX, when he saw his demise from a man of ideals to a power-hungry madman cooperating with Luozorl. Have a crush on Ryune and is always striving to get stronger to impress her. Pilots the masouki Galguard. 30. Laset Nobaste -------------------- Army captain in Shutedonias, power-hungry and planned to take the presidency of the country in a revolt. Was the one who carried out the attacks for Shuu in catastrophe. One of the top bad guys in part 2, and involved in a power struggle in the army with Rodney. Pilots mostly boss mechs. 31. Kanswort Jog -------------------- Trusted right-hand-man to Laset, carrying out his orders and plans. Believes that one day he will be famous throughout La Giars. Similar to Laset in character and in the mechs that he gets to pilot. 32. Lubicca Hakinnen ----------------------- Finnish man, old adversary of Tootie. Was originally summoned by Alzarl to be a masouki pilot, then ordered for execution after betraying Lan Gran. Escaped en route to execution via murdering his guards, now acts as a mercenary to all evil causes. Very nasty individual, he harbours a jealous rage against Tootie for rejecting him and sought to make her life a misery, via murdering her whole family and killing Ricardo for good measure :( Pilots boss mechs a lot and is an expert at hynopsis. 33. Rodney Jesh ------------------ Odd but likable captain in the Shutedonias army. Extremely patriotic but honourable. In the second part of Gaiden, is on the run from Laset in the midst of a power struggle for control of the army, since he knows of Laset’s revolt plans. Sided with Masaki after long persuasion, and pilots Giolast which did not sit comfortably with Masaki and Presia. 34. Elis Radius ----------------- Right-hand person of Rodney. A loud feminist attitude in battle but a social recluse when not piloting her mech, she may have a split personality. Have a secret crush on Rodney and is intensely loyal to him, she went after him when he went on the run from Laset. Joins Masaki along with Rodney and pilots the masouki Fenta. 35. Zet Laas Bragio ----------------------- Deranged madman, former member of the Alchemist council of Lan Gran but left in disgrace because of his love for the dark side of alchemy. Now reinvents himself as the defence commander of the kingdom of Bagonia and seeks revenge against Lan Gran for his dismissal. Another nasty piece of work, he likes making weapons of mass destruction and loves experimenting with humans. A lousy pilot (and he knows it), he seeks to compensate for this by building the ultimate bio-robot Gatswo. All he needs is the brain (literally) of some martial expert or ace pilot... 36. Shumel Hyul ------------------- Triple martial arts champion of La Giars and old soulmates with Zeoroot (who he admitted was better than him and who he was lucky to beat in the final), he is the chief mitilary training instructor in Bagonia. Nicknamed ‘Kensei Shumel’ (meaning Sword Saint), he shares the same righteous ideals as Zeoroot. Lives at home with his current student Rosary, and enjoys painting and the arts. Does not like the current defence commander Zet who he suspects have some nasty plans in place involving himself ... 37. Jino Valencia ------------------- Captain in the Bagonia army, former pupil of Shumel. Likes using quotations in his speeches and acts and fights with grace and elegance (a bit like Treize from Gundam Wing). Took care of Presia when she ran away and accidentally crossed the border to Bagonia, and treats her like a lady (Mio reckons it's a Lolita complex?!). Does not enjoy being under the command of Zet, he may yet be convinced to aid Masaki ... Pilots the masouki Lastoll (if he joins you). 38. Rosary Sile ------------------ Current student of Shumel and self-proclaimed fiancée of his mentor. An orphan that was taken in by Shumel, she now takes care of the daily chores of the house while learning some skills from Shumel. However, she in fact has a deeper motive in living and studying with Shumel... Pilots the masouki Jeifaa (if she joins you). 39. Tudy Rasm Iknart ------------------------ Twin sister of Wendy. Died when she was young but exists inside Wendy as a second personality. Secretly has a deep feeling of darkness and hatred for the world, she seeks to take over the body of Wendy for good and return La Giars to nothing. Pilots the forbidden 17th masouki Ismile. * * * * * III : MASOUKI GUIDE ============================ Masouki and its variations are the standard fighting machines in La Giars. Powered by prana energy, and higher class ones (class B onwards) are blessed by seirei elementals offering protection. Lan Gran initiated the Masouki Project to guard itself against the prophecy that one day Lan Gran (and La Giars) will be ruined by the coming of the ‘mashin’ (Devil God). I’ll only talk about most Lan Gran masoukis here as they’re probably what most people are interested about. Lan Gran produced 16 original masoukis (including 4 masou-kishins) for the Project, 2 ceremonial masoukis that are for the royal family and not intended for battle, one 17th masouki which was never completed (until now ^_^), and 2 other super-masouki forms as part of the Defence Project after catastrophe. Back to the game for a bit. Like SRWFF, maxing out your stats will lead to bonuses, unlike SRWFF there is no choice and you get whatever the masouki is assigned. Also, the bonus always includes a promotion of the elemental class by one level and adding HP recover to the masouki. Maxing out some weapons (those with an arrow at the end of the 7 blocks) will cause them to be promoted to the upgraded version. Some weapons may suffer an initial drop in power but the potential max damage is always greater in the upgraded version. Also there is usually more bullets, longer range, better hit rate etc. with a corresponding increase in MG and PP usage and required kiryoku. Other benefits including the ability to use map attacks after moving and them being able to distinguish between self and enemy (i.e. like Cyflash). 1 - Masou-Kishin ----------------- The top four of the Masouki Project series (excluding Ismile), with blessing from high class elementals which gives them self-awareness. Theoretically have infinite power via fusion of pilot and seirei. - Cybaster : Wind element, high class Pilot : Masaki Skill : HP recover (10%) Weapons : Cyflash --------> Cyflash (advanced ver.) Dieth Cutter --------> Vanity Ripper Familiar --------> Hi-Familiar Archaic Buster --------> Archaic Buster (Cybird ver.) Cosmo Nova Ranbu no Tachi - Goddess : Water element, high class Pilot : Tootie Skill : HP recover (10%), Healing Weapons: Trident --------> Gungnir Kelvin Blizzard -------> Kelvin Blizzard (advanced ver.) Familiar -------> Hi-Familiar Hydro-pressure --------> Yozenheim Fenrir Crash - Granveil : Fire element, high class Pilot : Yan-Long Skill : HP recover (10%) Weapons: Megido Flame --------> Megido Flame (advanced ver.) Familiar --------> Hi-Familiar Plasma Sword --------> Flame Cutter Karolik Smash --------> Dengoueiri Kafuu-seiunken - Zamseed : Earth element, high class Pilot : Ricardo, Mio Skill : HP recover (30%) Weapons: Resonance Quake -------> Resonance Quake (advanced ver.) Linear Rail Gun Familiar --------> Hi-Familiar Plasma Sword --------> Hyper Plasma Sword Boost Knuckle ---------> Choushindouken Katshini no Kangeki Goruunyuudou-Masamune - Valcione R : Non-elemental Pilot : Ryune Skill : HP recover (10%) Weapons: Psycho Blaster -------> Psycho Blaster (advanced ver.) Divine Arm --------> Divine Blade Hyper Beam Cannon ---------> Cross-smasher Cross Saucer ---------> Mobius Jade Engetsu-sappou 2 - Masouki (Lan Gran Kingdom) ------------------------------- - Galguard : Fire elemental, low class Pilot : Fang, Zash - Giolast : Wind elemental, low class Pilot : Zeoroot, Rodney - Zine : Water elemental, low class Pilot : Simeone Skill: Healing - Jaifar : Fire elemental, low class Pilot : Fang, Rosary - Jaom : Wind elemental, low class Pilot : Masaki, Gennacy - Solgady : Wind elemental, low class Pilot : Ahamud - Diablo : Earth elemental, low class Pilot : Madokk, Presia - Dinforce : Fire elemental, low class Pilot : Yan-Long, Tian - Nols Rei : Water elemental, low class (royal ceremonial type) Pilot : Xenia, Monica Skill : Healing, Refilling - Falk : Water elemental, low class Pilot : Tootie, Damecus Skill : Healing - Fenta : Earth elemental, low class Pilot : Elis Skill : HP recover (10%) - La Ventor : Earth elemental, low class Pilot : Becky Skill : HP recover (10%) - Lastoll : Water elemental, low class Pilot : Fang, Jino 3 - Chou Masouki (i.e. bosses) ------------------------------- It goes without saying that these Chou Masoukis are for you to fight against, not for you to use. Boss battles during the first part is scarce (most of them retreat when their HP go below 50%), but frequent in the second part. Remember some golden rules: check their elemental type, make sure you are using a masouki that is strong against it; always try to attack from the back or side, and from a higher place. Usually their HP recovery is high, so try to take them out in one round. - Duraxyll : Non-elemental Pilot : Feil-lord, Laset, Jog Skill : HP recover (30%) Weapons : Kakusai Beam Hyper Beam Sword Buster Cannon Taos Tail Chou Masouki designed by Xenia for Feil-lord. Influenced by gundam (she came across them in SRW EX) and more mechnical in nature than the other masoukis. Stolen by Laset at its resting place. - Eulicd : Non-elemental Pilot : Laset, Jog, Lubicca Skill : HP recover (30%) Weapons: Hyper Beam Sword Linear Rail Gun Big Bang Wave Hyper Beam Cannon Abandoned by Lan Gran at its prototype stage but secretly completed by Karx. Influenced by Londo Bell robots and like Duraxyll more mechnical in nature. Taken by Laset. - Ismile : Earth-elemental, holy class Pilot : Tudy, Laset Skill : HP recover (30%) Weapons : Curse Buster Cannon Big Bang Wave Omega Blast The forbidden 17th masouki of the Masouki Project. Designed by Wendy who abandoned the project halfway through due to the excessive power of Ismile, it was completed by Tudy with the order of the Alchemist Council, who feared the power of the masou-kishin may be turned against them one day, especially after the Feil-lord saga. - Gatswo : Earth-elemental, holy class Pilot : Zet Skill : HP recover (40%) Weapons : Orichalcon Sword Buster Cannon Grand Wave Ultium Buster Not strictly a masouki but a bio-robot of Bagonia, produced by Zet via fusing the machine with the brain of Shumel. Piloting this, the ability of Zet shot up tenfold, with level 8 in kihai-sacchi, buushin and saikougeki. One of the hardest bosses in the game. (more to come in a later update!) 4 - Shuu’s bunch ----------------- This is the mechs used by the Volkruss group, or Shuu’s bunch for lack of a better term. This time Neo-Granzon is on your side!!!!!!! - Granzon / Neo-Granzon : Non-elemental Pilot : Shuu Skill : HP recover (30%) Weapons: Gran Worm Sword Gravitron Cannon Worm Smasher Black Hole Cluster Shukutai Hou (Neo-Granzon only, of course) - Wizoll Kai : Non-elemental Pilot : Saphine Skill : HP recover (10%) Weapons: Rose Cutter Dreischtahl ---------> Nuenschtahl Astral Buster --------> Astral Buster (advanced ver.) Elemental Fusion Darkness Bondage - Naguzadd : Non-elemental Pilot : Luozorl Skill : HP recover (30%) Weapons: Pragmatic Blade Curse Astral Buster Phantom Bullet - Shin-Nagazadd : Non-elemental Pilot : Luozorl Skill: HP recover (40%), invincible mode Weapons: Pragmatic Blade Phantom Bullet Hyper Sonic Wave The definite final boss of the game (if you take the right route), this is actually the combined form of Nagazadd and Volkruss. The invincible mode must be broken before he can get hurt, and the only way is... * * * * * IV : BRIEF SCENARIO AND ROUTE GUIDE =============================================== There are two parts to Gaiden: the first relates to event before SRW 2 and the second relates to events after SRW 4 (or SRWFF). There are a total of 103 scenarios in the game and 4 different final stages (and slightly different endings). In order to appreciate it you have to play through it at least twice! The 'brief' means brief for each scenario, that it. There are 103 scenarios to go through so I guess you can understand ^_^ I try to point out the main things to look out for in each stage, along with possible route branches. Follow the directions given and you should be alright. Btw as warned before there may be a lot of spoilers in here so read on at your own risk. (The reason I took this long way is because I can't do a flowchart well in ASCII text, as least not one that can explain some of the complex branches of Gaiden. However JL has decided to take this upon himself and dished out a great chart for me. Everyone now, stand up and say thanks :) On with the show! PART 1 : ======== s(scenario)1 : La Giars (La Giars) ------------------------------------- The first stage then. Before it starts you (Masaki) are given a choice; choose 'go and look outside' and you get the Jaom, choose 'don't go' and you end up inside the Zine with Simeone. (I think you get different initial stats as well by choosing one rather than the other) Nothing hard about this level, once you defeated Gaspa the rest will split. If Masaki is Lv 1 then proceed to s2. If Masaki is Lv 2 or above you are given a choice. Choose to help the Lan Gran cause and you go to s3; choose no and you go to s4. s2 : Kunren (Training) ----------------------- Training stage with Masaki fighting alone. Simple. Proceed to s3. s3 : Osorubeki Teki (Frightful Enemy) -------------------------------------- First meeting with Luozorl. Wait for reinforcements in Granveil and Zamseed and Luozorl will leave. Straight-forward after that. Proceed to S6. s4 : Akii Akuma (Red Demon) ---------------------------- First meeting with Saphine. Will retreat when HP falls below 50%; to defeat her (and get some much needed cash) build up Tootie's kiryoku and then hit Wizoll Kai in the back using Falk's tatsumaki. Proceed to s5. s5 : Jureiki Nagazadd (Cursed Spirit Machine Nagazadd) ------------------------------------------------------ First meeting with Luozorl down this route. Same as s3, wait for Granveil and co and he will retreat. Choose to ask for help from Ibun's NPC, keep it alive and you will get 5000 credits at the end. Proceed to s6. s6 : Masou-Kishin (Lord of Elemental) -------------------------------------- Starts with Tootie and Goddess; wait for help from Masaki and Simeone in turn 2. Luozorl will retreat along with all enemies if his HP goes below 75%. Proceed to s7. s7 : Shi no Kyoufu (The fear of death) -------------------------------------- Masaki fighting by himself. Be careful when Gaspa arrives, you kiryoku go down by 10 while Gaspa's goes up by 10. If you went through s4, proceed to s8. If you went through s3, you are given a choice. Choose to go along with Tootie and proceed to s9, or refuse and proceed to s8. s8 : Hokori to Tekii (Pride and Hostility) ------------------------------------------- Starts with a duel with Zeoroot, which ends when one of them falls below 50% HP. Then Luozorl appears with his troops and Zeoroot goes back to player control. Fang appears to help after a few turn, and Luozorl retreats when his HP falls below 50% (this happens A LOT). Masaki gets different bonus stats depending on whether he beat Zeoroot or not. You are given a choice after the stage. Choose to stay longer and proceed to s10, or choose to go back and proceed to s11. s9 : Familiar (Familiar) ---------------------- Given a choice at the start. Choose to stay with Tootie to stay on this stage, or choose to leave and proceed to s8. Enemy is Wizoll and troops. Just fight her with Goddess (reappears at turn 5) and she will retreat. Help comes in the form of Diablo. Like s5, keep the temple guard alive and you get 5000 credits at the end. Proceed to s11. s10 : Ubaware ta masou-kishin (The taken Lord of Elemental) ------------------------------------------------------------ Not much to do, just kill everything in sight (and try to keep Xenia alive :) Remember to save some money; Cybaster is coming next! Proceed to s12. s11 : Monica yuukai (Kidnapping of Monica) ------------------------------------------ Be careful, Nagazadd has invincible mode on for this stage. Use Masaki or Nols Rei to hit him, then Goddess should appear. Use familiar on Luozorl, then next turn Wizoll will appear and stage automatically ends. Again save some money for Cybaster next stage! Proceed to s12. s12 : Cybaster (Cybaster) ------------------------- Move Jaom adjacent to Cybaster and Masaki will switch to his beloved masou-kishin for the first time while Xenia takes control of Jaom, beware though as Cybaster's weapons are quite poor at present. Granveil will appear to help out after Cybaster has been obtained. Watch out as Saphine will recover to max HP once if her HP drops below 50%. If Granveil fought with Wizoll at least once (notice that the familiar is missing after the fight; that's the sign) then you get a choice. Follow Yan-Long and proceed to s13, refuse and proceed to s15. In all other cases proceed to s15. s13 : Border Line (Border Line) -------------------------------- Some care is needed here, across the bridge is Gagonia territory. Move across the other side or attacking an enemy located on the other side constitutes an illegal entry which will effect next stage. If you did not trespass proceed to s14, if you did then proceed to s15. s14 : Kyoudou Sensen (Battle Alliance) --------------------------------------- First meeting with Zet and Jino. No important events linked with this so feel free to kick their butt. Proceed to s15. s15 : Randoll no Na (The name of Randoll) ------------------------------------------ First meeting with Laset, watch out for their Bafom which your Cybaster is weak to. (why? READ Section I.7 AGAIN!!!) Again Luozorl retreats below 50% HP, however he can be beaten (for some serious cash) via Goddess' hydro-pressure. If you passed through s14 then proceed to s16, otherwise proceed to s17. s16 : Masaki no Familiar (Masaki's familiar) ------------------------------------------- Time for Masaki to get his sidekicks Kuro and Shiro. Support provided by Becky in her La Ventor and later on by Diablo and Solgady. Proceed to s18. s17 : Masaki to tsukaima to (Masaki and his magic pets) -------------------------------------------------------- Same as s16, although this time you have to take care of Jino first then Saphine. Proceed to s18. s18 : Chijoo de (Overground) ----------------------------- One of those event scenarios where no battle takes place. Essentially describing Masaki's first encounter with Shuu. You have a choice after the stage. Choose to go west and proceed to s19, or choose to go east and proceed to s20. IMPORTANT : This is a significant branch which considerably effects some events in part 2. You need to go through s20 in order to get Fang to join in part 2, as well as learning the final waza for Presia and Diablo, in one of the routes. There is no such importance connected to s19; personally I recommend you to go through s20 EVERYTIME (unless you like to see all the stages like me ^_^). s19 : Ryoukuu Shinpan (Trespassing Air Territory) -------------------------------------------------- Almost an event map. Granzon comes out in the first enemy turn and nukes all the enemy with his Gravitron cannon, then the map ends. Told you should have gone to s20... You get 3 choices afterwards. Choose to carry on forward and proceed to s21. Choose to go east and proceed to s22. Choose to go west and proceed to s23. HINT : To get some money quick, choose s21 :) You'll see why. s20 : Rival (Rival) ------------------- A competition between Masaki and Fang to see who can defeat the more enemies, i.e. first to 4 out of 7. Make sure you beat Fang if you want him to join in part 2. Use your seishin wisely and counter prudently and you should have no difficulty. If you get a perfect win (you need to upgrade Dieth Cutter to at least Lv 5 before you can attempt this) then you get an optional choice at the end. Choose to rub salt in Fang's wounds and he will be even more hostile towards you (at well as getting disapproval looks from Zeoroot); choose to be humble and Fang will have a shift of opinion towards you for the better. Not sure whether this affects the later events though, I guess if you want Fan to join the you know what to do ;) Like s19 you get 3 choices afterwards. Choose to carry on forward and proceed to s21. Choose to go east and proceed to s22. Choose to go west and proceed to s23. The hint obviously applies too. s21 : Masaki to Ricardo (Masaki and Ricardo) -------------------------------------------- You'll be given the same choices at the start of the map as before: go east, west or stay. Assume that you stay here, and Ricardo pops up and him and Masaki have a bit of heart-to- heart. Notice that Zamseed malfunctions after either it or Cybaster receives damage; then it cannot move (but it can still attack). Now for the money part. After turn 5, there is a random chance (25% I think) that a golden devil golem will appear on the map (close to where Zamseed was at the start of the stage) during enemy phase of EACH AND EVERY round. So, simply save and reset before your turn ends and hope that one of these goldmines (worth 10000 credits each!) will appear that turn. Spend 20 turns doing this and you get 200000 credits, not bad eh? (tell you a fact, I spent over 100 turns there building up my kitty to 1200000 ^_^ since a lot of map in Gaiden gives you next to nothing; also it is much harder to do the game over trick as there is no battleship to blow up in one go ;) After you have built up your cash reserves (you won't regret it), you get a choice (after the intermission). Choose to take up Feil-lord's request and proceed to s24, or refuse and proceed to s25. IMPORTANT: An even more critical branch then the last important one, this one decides whether Masaki can save Wendy from her demise in part 2 and hugely influences the final stage and the ending. In order to have a chance to save Wendy, you MUST AT LEAST go through s24. My advice is to go through s24, as s25 is not important, unless you want to see the worst ending or experience all the endings. (Extra from JL: Apparently you CAN move Zamseed even after it has broken down; the trick is choose the attack option, then cancel it when you are targetting an enemy, and then the movement range should be shown, and Zamseed can be moved. Kudos to JL for pointing this little cheat out) s22 : Hakaisou Tian (Renegade Monk Tian) ----------------------------------------- An introduction to Tian. Nothing important here, just kill all the enemies. Why are you here when you can earn some serious cash in s21? Afterwards you get the same choices as after s21. Say yes and go to s24, no and go to s25. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE IMPORTANT NOTE IN s21 FIRST!!! s23 : Shizukanaru Damecus (Quiet Guy Damecus) --------------------------------------------- Like s23, but an introduction to Damecus instead. Again why aren't you at s21? Afterwards you get the same choices as after s21. Say yes and go to s24, no and go to s25. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE IMPORTANT NOTE IN s21 FIRST!!! (yes I paste and copy the above lines here ;) s24 : Chitei de no Soukuu (The meeting in the underground) ----------------------------------------------------------- You'll be with Simeone and met Shuu in the cave. You can choose to accept or refuse his offer of help, it makes no difference. An easy map with a golden golem appearing after a few turns (unlike s21 this map is only limited to one in total though :( The critical point of this map is the number of times Cyflash is used. If you use it twice, Masaki will be inactive for 2 turns, and afterwards cannot use Cyflash again for the time being. It also affects the route taken after this. If you use Cyflash once or less you get a choice. Choose to investigate the temple and proceed to s27, choose to return to the palace then proceed to s28. If you use Cyflash twice, proceed to s29. s25 : Yan-Long no chikai (Yan-Long's pledge) --------------------------------------------- Simple map, just try to keep Monica alive and you will get 10000 credits afterwards for your efforts. Nagazadd won't retreat this time; time to double the money with Masaki's kouun! Proceed to s26. s26 : Cyflash (Cyflash) ----------------------- Masaki working with Madokk to clear the demon golems. Using cyflash twice will render you inactive for 2 turns like s24, whether you do so or not should have no difference on the route taken (well if you're here then it's too late to save Wendy now...) Proceed to s30. s27 : Jashin no Shinten (Temple of the Devil God) ------------------------------------------------- Kill all the guards. Simple. Proceed to s30. s28 : Tatakai no Igi (A reason for fighting) --------------------------------------------- Let Masaki beat everyone senseless then Luozorl should appear and do a disappearing act after his HP falls below 50%. Help will arrive in the form of Zine eventually. Proceed to s31. s29 : Demon Golem soutou (Clearing the Demon Golems) ----------------------------------------------------- Masaki and Becky fighting some Demon Golems. The most important part of this stage concerns the golden Demon Golem; it only appears in turn 8 if you haven't finished the stage by then AND Becky is still alive at that time. IMPORTANT : Make sure you wait for the gold golem to appear, then finish the stage WITHOUT Becky getting defeated, if you want to save Wendy later on. If you killed the golden golem and finished with Becky still on the map, proceed to s31. Otherwise proceed to s30. s30 : Yureru Kokoro (Swaying heart) ------------------------------------ Similar in structure to s28, but instead of Zine you get Zamseed instead to help you out. If you passed through s24 AND s27 earlier on, proceed to s31. Otherwise proceed to s32. s31 : Wendy no himitsu (Wendy's secret) ---------------------------------------- If you're here then you have a chance to save Wendy in part 2. Before the battle, Masaki gets a choice whether to give the pendant to Wendy or not. MAKE SURE YOU GIVE IT TO HER IF YOU WANT TO SAVE HER LATER ON. The battle itself is a formality. Just keep Xenia out of the way for safety. Proceed to s32. s32 : Masou-kishin no Na nikakete (In the name of Masou-kishin) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Make sure you powered up your Cyflash or other map attacks before hand. You get to choose a few masoukis to help you out here at the start; the stage is quite difficult in that a) you have to finish it in 10 turns and b) the 3 Rujanoll Kais have to be defeated at the same time or you'll game over (hence the need for map attacks). A good stage perhaps to build up some money or experience. Surviving pilots at the end of the stage will get a +2 bonus on all their personal stats!!! Proceed to s33. s33 : Gozen Jiai (Duel before the throne) ------------------------------------------ Before the stage starts you get a choice to side with Ricardo or Tootie. Your choice here as it makes no difference as far as I know. Then it's on to the dueling competition. Fight 4 separate duels and beat Zamseed in the final to get 20000 credits. (I think you get to duel with Becky, Ahamud and either Yan-Long or Fang) Losing beforehand finishes the scenario too but you get no money ^_^ Some tips for the duels: a) your seishin is recovered after each duel, so don't hesitate to use them; b) your opponent starts with kiryoku at +30 or +50 so be careful as they can defeat you in one hit c) the only weapons allowed are Dieth Cutter and Archaic Buster. You'll never get to use the latter because Masaki lacks ki-ai, so power up your Dieth Cutter (and some HP and armor) beforehand if you want to stand a chance! d) you opponent may use seishin too so be careful of that; e) finally don't forget - do not expose your back to the opponent!!! Good luck! Proceed to s34. s34 : Haikyouja (Heathen) -------------------------- More like an event map. Shuu appears with invincible mode on Granzon and challenges Lan Gran. You get to choose whether Masaki rushes out to meet Shuu or let Zeoroot go first (you get a different set of bonus stats depending on the choice). If Masaki go first, let him hit Granzon one and then he'll retreat to be replaced by Zeoroot. The map ends when Zeoroot is killed by Shuu. Proceed to s35. s35 : Zetsubou no fuchi de (At the cliff of despair) ----------------------------------------------------- The famous fusion event of Masaki and Cybaster. Starts with duel between Masaki and Shuu, the fusion event occurs if Cybaster goes below 50% HP. After that Shuu would retreat if Granzon goes below 50% HP, but to be honest if you can't defeat Shuu after fusion then you really should consider quitting ^_^ Wendy will help you out after the map ends ;) btw, Shuu is undefeatable before the fusion event (he recovers HP to max if Granzon drops below 50% HP and revives if he is defeated). Proceed to s36. s36 : Sangeki no kioku (Memories of Trauma) ------------------------------------------------------ Your first meeting with Lubicca. Goddess will be inactive after fighting with Lubicca; use Masaki to talk to Tootie to snap her out of it. Tootie gets a bonus stats increase if you let her fight with Lubicca so do it! Proceed to s37. s37 : Chouwa no Kekkai (Seal of Balance) ----------------------------------------- 3 Masou-kishins against Luozorl and co. Luozorl is undefeatable (like Shuu in s35) before turn 7, after that he retreats when his HP falls below 50%. Beware of the second and third string of enemy support as they are powered up versions. Proceed to s38. s38 : Houkai no Jokyoku (Prelude to Collapse) ---------------------------------------------- Tootie starts out controlled by the enemy. Defeat Lubicca with Zamseed and then let Ricardo talk to Tootie afterwards. Wizoll will leave when HP drops below 50%. Afterwards Ricardo is killed off by Lubicca (boo!). Proceed to s39. s39 : Catastrophe (Catastrophe) -------------------------------- Masaki comes back to see the palace lying in ruins. Then he saw a few soldiers left and decide some business is long overdue. Cybaster and Granveil will start with kiryoku +50, those soldiers should not even stand a chance. Congrats! You've reached the end of the first part! Well what are you waiting for? Proceed to s40! Part 2 : ========= NOTE: as said before Gaiden have 4 final stages and 4 endings that you can get to. The branches to these stages are complex so you'd better read carefully from now on. I usually refer to 3 routes that lead you to the 4 different final stages: a) Shuu's route (the only route to get Neo-Granzon) b) Bairava route (the only route to get to fight Bairava) c) Wendy's route (the remaining route, with the final stage depending on whether Wendy is saved or not) Let's continue! s40 : Memorial Day (Memorial Day) --------------------------------- An event stage, this basically introduces you to the changes in personnel and recounts the events that happened between the first and second part. The choices available at regular intervals are simply asking whether you want to look at some scenes of various situations in SRW 2 and SRW EX. After the stage you have a decision to make. Tell Presia that she is too young to get into battles and proceed to s41, or accept her as part of the team and proceed to s51. IMPORTANT: OK, this second part is full of branching and we have a major one here already. In order to reunite with Shuu's group and get Neo-Granzon, you have to let Presia run away and proceed through s41. This is not sufficient, but necessary. s41 : Sasurai no Presia (The wandering Presia) -------------------------------------------- A major scenario as well, so read carefully. At the start of the stage you will be given a choice to back off or to beat an answer out of the Bagonia troops. In order to go down Shuu's route, you must either a) back off AND have gone through s20 ('Rival'), or b) fight AND finish the stage by killing a multiple number of enemies (2 or more) at the same time (i.e. use a map attack). These two methods have an effect on future events in themselves: do it via method 'a' and Presia will get to learn the final waza for Diablo and Becky will join later on, while doing it via method 'b' and Presia will not learn the attack and you get Tian instead of Becky. (complicated? It gets worse!) Assuming that you decide to fight for one reason or another, the map itself is pretty simple. As said before the key (if you decide to fight) is in the finish; if in the end there is only one enemy left on the map you will get an answer out of him, if you kill off the last few at the same time you'll be stuck for an answer. If you passed through s20 and choose to back off, OR if you fight and kill off multiple enemies to finish the stage, then proceed to s42. If you back off WITHOUT passing through s20, proceed to s46. If you choose to fight and have one enemy left standing at the end, proceed to s47. REMEMBER: in order to get Shuu to join you must go down s42. Then you'll have satisfied all the criteria. s42 : Densetsu no Kensei (The legendary Sword Saint) ----------------------------------------------------- At this point you're fixed on the Shuu's route. The map itself is quite simple, just make sure Rosary does not die if you want her to join you later on (you'll probably need to use some seishin here). She'll convert from NPC to player control in turn 4. Proceed to s43. s43 : Bagonia no yumi (Darkness of Bagonia) ----------------------------------------------- At the start of the stage, Presia will join if you did not fight the troops in s41, and Diablo comes equipped with a new technique 'Midori no Pohyou'. The stage itself is straight-forward. (hey, if you've make it this far I don't think you'll need too many more hints from me on battle ^_^ ) If Presia is in your party, proceed to s44. If not then proceed to s45. s44 : Uragiri no Daishou (Price of betrayal) ------------------------------------------------- Beware as the enemy have started to get quite a bit stronger. Fang appears as an enemy here; let Masaki and Presia fight with him to recount some old times. Zet will retreat if his HP drops below 50%. Proceed to s56. s45 : Satori no Kyouchi (The state of harmony) ----------------------------------------------- Enemies here similar to s45 but no Fang to fight. Tian will join you at the start of the stage, notice that Dinforce has a new move! Proceed to s56. s46 : Yuusha Damecus (Hero Damecus) ------------------------------------ Standard fight with demon golems. Damecus will join at the start of the stage, notice that Falk comes with a new move! You're given a choice at the end of the stage. Choose to investigate the temple and proceed to s48, or choose not to and proceed to s49. s47 : Bagonia ryounai (Inside Bagonia) --------------------------------------- Masaki and Ryune VS Zet. He'll retreat after a few turns so try to kill him for some cash beforehand (I bet you should be fast running out of cash right now). Proceed to s49. s48 : Jashin no kehai (Presence of the Devil God) -------------------------------------------------- You first meeting with the revived Luozorl (and your only one since you won't meet him again by going down this route). Apart from that it is standard demon golem bashing all the way. Proceed to s50. s49 : Ryune no kimochi (Ryune's feeling) ----------------------------------------- Standard battle against Shutendonias troops. Watch out for Laset's fire-elemental Jinou though (i.e. don't use Cybaster against it). Proceed to s50. s50 : Ugomeku Inbau (Hidden plans) ----------------------------------- First meeting with Rodney and Elis. Nothing important here; destroy everything in sight. Proceed to s55. s51 : Becky to no saikai (Reunion with Becky) ---------------------------------------------- First battle (for this route). Becky will join up at the start of the stage; now La Ventor has a new waza! Make sure you call out Xenia, Presia and Gennacy; by defeating 3 enemies they get a sizeable bonus stats increase (notice that there are 8 enemies and 3 pilots needing 3 each for the bonus...) If you passed through s31 ('Wendy's Secret') then proceed to s52. Otherwise proceed to s53. s52 : Pendant (Pendant) ------------------------ Make sure you call Ryune out; if she and Masaki survived the battle then both of them get some bonus stats. This map is another potential unlimited goldmine with the golden golems appearing after turn 7 (see s21 for an explanation) so grab a fortune if you want. Apart from this the rest is easy. Proceed to s54. s53 : Ryune no omoi (Ryune's thoughts) --------------------------------------- Simply kill the golems. Masaki and Ryune will get some bonus stats if they survived the stage (not difficult); not much else happens here (except Ryune getting all worried and jealous over Wendy ^_^) Proceed to s54. s54 : Fuonna kuuki (Unstable atmosphere) ---------------------------------------- First meeting with Rodney and Elis (down this route). Defeat all the enemies; no special importance here. Proceed to s55. s55 : Tatsouhei (Runaway soldier) ---------------------------------- The critical point is whether you rescue Elis or not (she'll die if her mech gets destroyed); this has a huge influence on the route taken and story. If you want Rodney to join later and the choice of the 2 remaining routes (Shuu's route is now impossible to get back to), then SAVE her. If you fail to save her then you'll be forced to take the Bairava route. Assuming you want to save her, make sure you have pilots with the right seishin and kill off enemies QUICKLY! If Elis is saved then proceed to s57. If she died then proceed to s58. s56 : Triangle Love (Triangle Love) ------------------------------------ Standard battle against some tough opposition. Both Laset and Jog have the skill 'buushin' so be careful. Laset will leave when his HP falls below 50%. Proceed to s58. s57 : Rodney kyuujutsu (Rescuing Rodney) ----------------------------------------- At the start you are given the choice to take either Ryune or Mio with you (makes no difference). During the battle help will arrive via Elis (NPC), Simeone and finally Rodney in a funny-looking mask (NPC). There are a lot of enemies (and reinforcement on their behalf) and they start with a height advantage, so plan carefully. Use seishin and Zine's healing properties to keep Elis and Rodney alive. However all 3 will leave once the stage is over. Proceed to s58. s58 : Yan-Long no Shugyou (Yan-Long's training) ------------------------------------------------ Granveil's first appearance in part 2. After defeating the opening enemy, Wizoll Kai will appear as an ally along with some demon golems. Yan-Long will learn his final waza 'Kafuu-seiunken' if he defeats two or more golems; make sure he learns it! NOTE: If you use Granveil to finish off all the golems and perform Kafuu-seiunken WITHOUT Wizoll attacking at all, Saphine will comment on how good the training has been --- and will learn her final waza later on when (and if) she joins you. Masaki and co. will appear as Saphine leaves. It's plain sailing from there. If you have passed through s56, then proceed to s59. Otherwise proceed to s73. s59 : Seireikai no Shugyou (Training in dimension of elementals) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Final-waza learning stage. Your opponents will be 2 doppelgangers of each of your team member, at the same level and with stats and weapons powered up to level 6. Surviving members of the stage will learn their respective final waza: 'Ranbu no Tachi' for Cybaster, 'Engetsu Sappou' for Valcione R, 'Fenrir Crash' for Goddess, and 'Goruunyuudou-Masamune' for Zamseed. It's your choice of which 3 out of 4 you should learn. If you lose the stage, you will be asked by Ibun whether you wanted to train again. Answer yes to repeat the stage, or say you've had enough to get to the next stage without learning the wazas. Goes without saying what you should do. HINT: when you repeat the stage the enemy will always be at the same level, so you can train up to obscene levels here by playing through the stage again and again. I always level up my 4 characters until they can move twice; this makes the coming stages easier. Or you can really go for it and level up to Lv99 ^_^ After finishing (or giving up) there is a split. If Presia is in your party then proceed to s60, if not then proceed to s61. s60 : Presia tokkun (Presia's Special Training) ---------------------------------------------- You start with Gennacy and Presia, with Becky coming out to help after a few turns (notice she has learnt Lava Jet for La Ventor!). Let both Gennacy and Presia defeat 3 enemies each and they will learn their respective final attacks: 'Tsumi to Batsu' for Jaom, and 'Kurumiwari-ninkyou' for Diablo. Also, this is a place where the golden golem goldmine trick can be done (see s21 for details). You should try to earn some money here as it only gets harder from here on. Proceed to s62. s61 : Jino to Presia (Jino and Presia) ------------------------------------- A battle with Zet, and Presia joins your party here. Notice that Diablo now has a new technique 'Midori no Pohyou'! Fang is one of the enemies but you can defeat him without worry for now. Proceed to s62. s62 : Shishi, ikinitsuuzu (Pride of a Noble) --------------------------------------------- Jino will join you at the start of this stage. Standard battle against Thomas, watch out for reinforcements catching you off-guard though. After the stage, do not waste money on Jino's mech just yet; he'll get the Lastoll 2 stages later. Proceed to s63. s63 : Shumel to Rosary (Shumel and Rosary) ------------------------------------------- The main thing in this stage is how to rescue Rosary. The method is to defeat Zet FIRST, then attack Rosary until her HP drops below 50%. Her Ageid+ will explode but she should be safe. Don't let her HP drops below 50% before you defeat Zet or she'll retreat and you can't convince her again. Proceed to s64. s64 : Fang no Shini (Fang's real intention) -------------------------------------------- Convince Fang with Masaki - if you beat him in s20 ('Rival') then he'll join, if not he will simply retreat. Notice that if he joins as well as Rosary, he will get the priority to pilot Jaifar later on (Rosary will still be part of your group but will have no masouki to pilot). Also Zash will come to your aid in his Galguard during the battle. You really can't lose if Fang is part of your team here, can you? Proceed to s65. s65 : Wendy no kunou (Wendy's Problem) --------------------------------------- Standard golem-busting stage. If Becky or Tian is on the map when it finishes, a group of golden golems will pop out (yay!) for you to cash in. Also at this point the golem goldmine trick can be done (see s21 for details). Proceed to s66. s66 : 17-ban me no masouki (The 17th masouki) ---------------------------------------------- An extremely tough battle especially if you haven't powered up Cybaster and Valcione R sufficiently beforehand. This is Masaki and Ryune VS Ismile, with no help whatsoever (thank God Ismile is Earth-elemental). Always hit it in the back or side, and pray for critical hits and/or attacking again (i.e. saikougeki). Use 'nekketsu' seishin if you have it, and save often. Good luck! After the battle, if Fang is not in the group then Rosary will take control of Jaifar and learn her final waza 'Kokuusan'. (Fang will have already learnt it if he is in your party) Proceed to s67. s67 : Ismile goudatsu (Taking Ismile by force) ---------------------------------------------- Before the stage Wendy will decide to receive treatment from Ibun and hence she is automatically saved in Shuu's route ^_^ Masaki and co return to the palace only find out that Ismile was taken by Laset! Watch out as a lot of your enemies can now move twice. The Tourk piloted by Lubicca is also a pain in the ass too. Proceed to s68. s68 : Kishikaisei (Back from the dead) --------------------------------------- Before the stage, Zash will ask Jino for some help in learning a new technique; if his level is high enough (Lv. 40-42 should do) then he will learn his final waza 'Raimeiken' for his Galguard. The battle itself isn't too difficult, you'll have to fight against Laset piloting Ismile and the usual variety of soldiers. Proceed to s69. s69 : Yabonu no owari (The end of the ambition) ----------------------------------------------- Your last battle with Laset and co. Defeat the initial deployment (Masaki and Ryune will turn up in turn 4) and the second deployment will appear on the left side; best thing to do is to stay at the bottom and wait for the enemy to make their way down the hill first. You'll have to fight Ismile and Euclid (twice) so conserve your MG, PP and seishin prudently. Proceed to s70. s70 : Gatswo no Kyoui (The threat of Gatswo) ----------------------------------------------- Probably the hardest battle in this route. Gatswo is one difficult opponent to beat. Save and reset frequently is my advice! Also, Zet will randomly use 'houfuu' and 'teppeki'; defuse the former with a weak attack and sit out the turn if the latter is used! Proceed to s71. s71 : Saikai, Shuu (Meeting Shuu again) ---------------------------------------- The long awaited reunion with Neo-Granzon and Wizoll. The map is easy enough without them, but with them it is a joke. Look at it as a bonus level for you to earn some cash before going in the final battle (there are a lot of golden demon golems about on this stage). If Wizoll did not fight at all in s58, Saphine will also have learnt her final waza 'Darkness bondage'. (although astral buster is actually slightly more damaging if you maxed both out including promotion...) This is also a good level to build up some of your weaker characters so that they can move twice and learn important seishin. (make sure both Xenia and Presia have learnt 'gekirei'!) After the stage spend all your money and make final adjustments as the next stage is the decider! Proceed to s72. s72 : Jashin Kourin (Coming of the Devil God) ---------------------------------------------- The final battle of Shuu's route, against Shin-Nagazadd and a few Volkruss images. Shuu will be controlled by the enemy from the start; use Masaki to talk to him twice and he'll switch back. Shin-Nagazadd is the hardest boss in the whole game (the mech, not the pilot) with eye-popping armor and HP, but its attacks are relatively weak. It comes with invincible mode that can only be destroyed by Neo-Granzon's black hole cluster, after being hit by that the invincibility is gone. Have Tootie and Yan-Long use 'ki-ai' while Xenia, Presia and Saphine use 'gekirei' on Masaki, Ryune and Mio. String your final wazas in Luozorl's back and side a few times and he should be dead. Don't attack him though if he uses 'tepekki' since his armor goes up to about 13000 for the round! Also he uses 'buushin' a lot so either counter with 'hicchuu' or save and reset! When he is defeated the stage ends and then it's the ending!!! END OF GAME (SHUU'S ROUTE) s73 : Shiren no Shinten (The temple of trials) ----------------------------------------------- Exactly the same as s59 but in a different map; go read s59 for details. However, upon completion of this stage Zamseed will learn the final waza 'Katshini no Kangeki' instead of the other one learnt in s59. If Presia is not in your party, proceed to s74. If Presia is already in your party then you have a branch. If you did rescue Elis in s55 and s57, then proceed to s75. If Elis is died then proceed to s77. s74 : Presia gouryuu (Joining up with Presia) -------------------------------------------- Presia will join at the start of the stage and it will be a routine battle against Zet and his forces. Notice that Diablo comes equipped with a new technique 'Midori no Pohyou'! If you saved Elis in s55 and s57, proceed to s75. If not then proceed to s77. s75 : Coup d'état (Coup d'état) -------------------------------- Standard battle, just be careful of reinforcements (Lubicca being one of them) and the enemy's superior starting position. Proceed to s76. s76 : Tada ikkoku no tame denaku (Weeping only for the sake of a kingdom) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Routine battle against Laset and Jog (you'll see these 2 a lot down this route). Tootie will leave for a few stages afterwards (don't worry she'll be back soon). Proceed to s79. s77 : Zouhan (Rebel) --------------------- A rescue stage, this time the targets are Rodney and Nobotony. Again make sure you have the appropriate seishins for this stage; try to kill off Lubicca's Tourk as early as possible as he tends to kill off the NPCs by turn 2 if you're not careful. Jog should retreat halfway through the map making things slightly easier. Proceed to s78. s78 : Kijuu-kougeki (Surprise attack) -------------------------------------- Easy stage; since you starts at the top of the cliff, simply let the enemies approach you and then let them have it with long range attacks! Proceed to s79. s79 : Bagonia no omowaku (Thoughts of Bagonia) ----------------------------------------------- A tough map with strong enemies. Starts with Zash in his Galguard against the Bagonia forces, don't move and wait for Masaki and co to turn up after a few rounds. Jino will retreat when his HP drops below 75%; kill off the rest of the troops and reinforcements led by Fang will arrive. Kill them off as well. If Elis is dead then proceed to s80, if she is still alive then proceed to s81. s80 : Laset no yabou (Laset's ambition) ---------------------------------------- Wait for the enemies to approach you instead of working your way up the mountain and getting slaughtered in the process. Conserve your resources as Lubicca will arrive in the Euclid later on! Proceed to s84. s81 : Akki Laset (Laset the Devil) ----------------------------------- Rodney will be forced by Laset to fight against you on this stage. To rescue him and get him to join, simply kill everybody else and leave Rodney untouched at the end. IMPORTANT: this is another critical branching in the game. Save Rodney and you'll get the chance to get Elis to join for good in the next scenario. Kill Rodney and Elis will definitely NOT join and you will be fixed onto the Bairava route. The choice here is up to you. If you want a happier ending then I suggest you save Rodney! Afterwards Rodney will get to pilot the Giolast. Notice that Giolast now has a new attack, 'Daruma-otoshi'! If Rodney is in the party, proceed to s82. If you killed Rodney then proceed to s83. s82 : Kanashimi no Elis (The tragedy of Elis) ---------------------------------------------- Last time it is Rodney, this time it is Elis' turn to be rescued. Starts off with Cybaster and co., clear the map and Lubicca and Elis appear as enemy with Elis under hypnosis (that Lubicca is a real evil s-o-a-b isn't he?). Help on your side should then arrive in the form of first Zine (Simeone) and then Rodney and Mio. Use Rodney to talk to Elis twice and you'll save her. IMPORTANT: this is another significant branch (the last for a while, I promise ;) Save Elis and you'll be fixed onto Wendy's route, fail to do so and you'll be fixed onto the Bairava route. Again the choice is up to you. Notice that if you fail to save Elis, Rodney will pull out of the party. Afterwards, Simeone will explain her relationship with Laset to you. Choose to trust her and she'll join (notice Zine has a new move 'Fata Molganna'!), choose to let her go and she'll do just that. There is no reason why you should turn her down, so be nice to her! If Elis joins she'll be given the masouki Fenta to pilot. If Simeone joined, proceed to s92. If not then proceed to s85. s83 : Fukujuu no Elis (Avenger Elis) ------------------------------------- Elis is not happy that you killed her object of affection and decides to take revenge. Once you are here there is no way that Elis can join you so defeat her without worry; do the same to the rest of the enemies too. Proceed to s85. s84 : Kanashiki Simeone (Torn-with-sadness Simeone) ---------------------------------------------------- A similar battle to s83 with exactly the same map, except for one important difference: Simeone appears here as the enemy. Make sure you do not attack her if you want her to join later; she'll retreat when the reinforcements arrive, but only if she's unharmed by you before. Proceed to s85. s85 : Karx no isan (The legacy of Karx) ------------------------------------------ A standard battle, just watch out for the power of Jog's Euclid and the arriving Tuork. If Rodney and Elis are not in your party, proceed to s86. If Rodney and Elis are in your party, then you have a branching. If you passed through s74 earlier on, proceed to s93. Otherwise proceed to s95. s86 : Yashin, hatenaku (Infinite Ambitions) ------------------------------------------- Simeone will appear as one of the enemy here. If you did not attack her in s84 you can convince her to join with Masaki. Elis will appear too but you can defeat her like the rest of the troops here. Proceed to s87. s87 : Wendy no higeki (Wendy's tragedy) --------------------------------------- Standard golem-busting stage again. However someone told me Ahamud will join you here if you total number of turns is less than 250. I've never tried it as I always spend a lot of turns levelling up and raising cash before; can someone confirm this? Proceed to s88. s88 : Bagonia nairan (Internal conflict in Bagonia) ---------------------------------------------------- Your last battle with Zet. Be careful after you defeat him once; he'll come back in his Gatswo and that's when the real fight starts! Proceed to s89. s89 : Tudy no onnen (Tudy's hatred) ------------------------------------- A battle against the real pilot of Ismile. Wait for reinforcements to arrive, then raise your kiryuku level with those golems, then finally launch your assualt on Ismile. Tudy will retreat when her HP drops to half. Proceed to s90. s90 : Shutendonias gekidou (Violent drama in Shutedonias) ---------------------------------------------------------- Conserve your resources as later on in the battle you'll have Duraxyll and Euclid to deal with at the same time! Raise your level sufficiently before next stage which is the final battle; again make sure someone got the seishin 'gekirei' (usually Xenia, Presia or Simeone)! Proceed to s91. s91 : Laset no saigo (The end of Laset) ---------------------------------------- The final battle. A small number of enemies (making it hard to raise sufficient kiryoku level) but each one packing a painful punch. Start you fighting with Ismile and Jog's Duraxyll; in order to rescue Wendy you must: a) gave her the pendant in s31 ('Wendy's secret'); b) Convince Tudy/Wendy with Masaki; c) THEN convince her with Ryune; d) then Ismile should explode but Wendy should be saved. After clearing the initial troops you'll run into Lubicca in a Duraxyll and Laset in the Biarava! This is the only map in which Biarava comes out so enjoy it while you can. The mech itself should be nothing to speak of if you've made it this far; kill them both and enjoy the ending! END OF GAME (BIARAVA ROUTE) s92 : Yabou no seisan (Producing ambitions) -------------------------------------------- The first part of the battle is easy but after that you'll have twin Euclids to deal with! Stay at the top of the ledge and don't let them get round your back! If you passed through s74 earlier on, proceed to s93. If not then proceed to s95. s93 : Fukushuuki Zet (Vengeful Zet) ------------------------------------ Standard battle against Zet and co. Make sure Presia and Gennacy ends the stage with at least level 42 (whether they're on the map or not doesn't matter) so that they'll learn the final wazas for Diablo and Jaom respectively! Proceed to s94. s94 : Fukushuu wa dare no tame ni (Revenge for whom) ---------------------------------------------------- Last battle with Zet and co. Jino will retreat after fighting with Presia while Fang will do the same after fighting with Masaki. Zet will fortunately not be in his Gatswo and by defeating him the rest with retreat, so overall it's a simple battle. Proceed to s98. s95 : Toraware no Kensei (The trapped Sword Saint) --------------------------------------------------- Easy pickings for your battle-hardened masouki pilots. Proceed to s96. s96 : Rosary no namida (Rosary's tears) ---------------------------------------- A simple map, the only important bit concerns Fang who appears as an enemy here. If you want him to join then let Masaki fight with him once (make sure you don't kill him but that shouldn't be difficult) and he'll retreat, and you can convince him later. Of course you can kill him first with other pilots but that's being silly ^_^ Zet will enter the fray once you clear the first bunch of rubbish; he'll retreat when his HP drops below 50%. After the battle Rosary will join and gets to pilot the masouki Jaifar. If Fang is not killed and retreated, proceed to s97. If he is killed or Masaki did not fight with him, proceed to s98. s97 : Fang zekkyou (Fang's scream) ----------------------------------- Last battle against Gatswo. Fang will join if he's still standing by the end of the battle (I think you probably have to beat him in s20 ('Rival') too). If Fang joins then he'll get to pilot the masouki Lastoll. Proceed to s98. s98 : Ismile bausou (Out-of-control Ismile) -------------------------------------------- Not as difficult as first imagined. Use Vanity Ripper and Crossmasher in his back and he should be dead in no time. Proceed to s99. s99 : Hijou no Tenshi (Heartless Angel) ---------------------------------------- Starts as a golem-clearing stages and ends with a battle against a couple of Volkruss images. Your only chance to see Shuu if you're down this path; play the game again to see Neo-Granzon in all its glory! Proceed to s100. s100 : Tudy kakusei (Tudy's awakening) ----------------------------------------- OK, the 'save Wendy' scenario. Whether you saved her or not will determine your final battle, the method is exactly the same as in s91 so go there to check it out. Laset and Jog should retreat when their HP is less then 75%. If you haven't killed off Zet yet (i.e. you passed through s96 and killed Fang while letting Zet retreat) then proceed to s101. If you've killed Zet already then you have a final split. Save Wendy and proceed to s102; fail to save her and proceed to s103. s101 : Gatswo futatabi (Gatswo again) ---------------------------------------- Battle with Zet and Thomas. Just do the business as usual. If you've saved Wendy then proceed to s102. If not then proceed to s103. s102 : Gyaku-shuu no Laset (Laset's counterattack) --------------------------------------------------- Final battle down Wendy's route (with a happy ending). Simply lay waste to Duraxyll and Euclid to get to fight Ismile again; finish it off and watch the ending! END OF GAME (WENDY'S ROUTE) s103 : Kanashimi o koete (Beyond grief and sadness) ---------------------------------------------------- Final battle down Wendy's route (with a not-so-happy ending), fought under an air of grief and sadness (hence the title). Still, got to look forward in life and Masaki can start with tearing a couple of Duraxylls and an Ismile apart. Do this and you get to enjoy (?) the ending... END OF GAME (WENDY'S ROUTE) FLOWCHART ========== OK here it is: FLOWCHART (The best that JL can do; better than anything pistol can do...) PART 1 (scenario names in block capitals) LA GIARS __________________________|_________ | | [Masaki Lv1] [Masaki Lv2+] | ________________|____________________ | | | | [Agree to stay] [Do not agree] | | | TRAINING---------------| | FRIGHTFUL ENEMY RED DEMON | | | CURSED SPIRIT MACHINE | NAGAZADD |_____________________________________| | LORD OF ELEMENTAL | FEAR OF DEATH ___________________________|_________ | | [Go along] [Refuse/been through 'RED DEMON'] | | FAMILIAR PRIDE AND HOSTILITY | ________________|____________________ | | | |----------------[Go back] [Stay a little | longer] | | KIDNAPPING OF MONICA THE TAKEN LORD OF | ELEMENTAL |__________________________________________________________| | CYBUSTER ___________________________|_________ | | [Yan Long and Saphine | did not fight/refuse to follow] [Yan Long and Saphine fought, follow him] | | | BORDER LINE | ________________|____________________ | | | | [Crossed border] [Did not cross border] | | | | | BATTLE ALLIANCE |____________________|_____________________________________| | THE NAME OF RANDOLL ___________________________|_________ | | [Did not go through 'BATTLE ALLIANCE'] [Been through 'BATTLE ALLIANCE'] | | MASAKI AND HIS MAGIC PETS MASAKI'S FAMILIAR |_____________________________________| | OVERGROUND ___________________________|_________ | | [West] [East] | | TRESPASSING AIR TERRITORY RIVAL |_____________________________________| ___________________________|_______________________________ | | | [Straight] [East] [West] | | | MASAKI AND RICARDO RENEGADE MONK TIAN QUIET GUY DAMECUS |____________________|______________________________________| | _____________________|_____________________________________________________ | | | | [Accept request] | | [Refuse] | | | | THE MEETING IN THE UNDERGROUND | | YAN LONG'S PLEDGE |___________________________________________________________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | [Don't investigate] [Used Cyflash twice] [Investigate] | | | | | | | | | | | | | A REASON FOR FIGHTING CLEARING THE DEMON GOLEMS TEMPLE OF THE | | | DEVIL GOD CYFLASH | _____________|________________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | [Cleared after 8+ [Cleared in 7 turns, | | | turns, Becky alive] Becky defeated] | | | | | | | |______| | | | | |_____________________|_____________| | | | SWAYING HEART | _______________________________________| | | | | [Been through 'TEMPLE OF THE DEVIL GOD'] [Did not go through |___________________| 'TEMPLE OF THE DEVIL GOD'] | | WENDY'S SECRET | |___________________________________________________________| | IN THE NAME OF THE MASOU-KISHIN | DUEL BEFORE THE THRONE | HEATHEN | AT THE CLIFF OF DESPAIR | MEMORIES OF TRAUMA | SEAL OF BALANCE | PRELUDE TO COLLAPSE | CATASTROPHE PART 2 MEMORIAL DAY | ___________________________|___________________________________________ | | | | [Presia runs away] | | [Presia joins party] | | THE WANDERING PRESIA | | REUNION WITH BECKY |______________________________________ __________|____ | | | | | | | | | | [Did not fight/ [Fight, did not [Fight, 1 [Been [Did not go been through go through enemy alive] through through 'RIVAL'] 'RIVAL'] | 'WENDY'S 'WENDY'S | | | SECRET'] SECRET'] | | | | | THE LEGENDARY HERO DAMECUS INSIDE BAGONIA | | SWORDSAINT |_____ |____________ PENDANT RYUNE'S THOUGHTS | |______________ | |_______________| | | | | | | [Explore temple] [Don't explore]----| | | | | | DARKNESS OF PRESENCE OF RYUNE'S FEELING | BAGONIA THE DEVIL GOD | | |____________________ |__________________________| | | | | | [Did not fight in [Fought in | UNSTABLE 'WANDERING Presia'] 'WANDERING Presia'] | ATMOSPHERE | | | | PRICE OF BETRAYAL THE STATE OF HARMONY HIDDEN PLANS | |____________________| |__________________| | | | RUNAWAY SOLDIER | ___________________| | | | | [Elis dies] [Elis saved] | | | TRIANGLE LOVE | RESCUING | | RODNEY |___________________________________________________|__________________| | YAN LONG'S TRAINING ____________________________|_________________________________________ | | [Been through 'TRIANGLE LOVE'] [Did not go through | 'TRIANGLE LOVE'] | | TRAINING IN DIMENSION OF ELEMENTALS THE TEMPLE OF TRIALS |________________________ __________________|___ | | | | [Fought in [Did not fight] [Been through 'WANDERING [Did not go 'WANDERING PRESIA'] | PRESIA, RUNAWAY SOLDIER'] through both] | | | | | | | | JINO AND PRESIA Presia'S SPECIAL JOINING UP | | TRAINING WITH PRESIA | |__________________________| |_____________________| | | | |_____________________ | | | | [Elis dead] [Elis alive] | | | PRIDE OF A NOBLE REBEL COUP D'ETAT | | | SHUMEL AND ROSARY SURPRISE ATTACK WEEPING ONLY FOR | | THE SAKE OF A KINGDOM | |_____________________| | | FANG'S REAL INTENTION THOUGHTS OF BAGONIA | ___________________________| | | | | [Elis dead] [Elis alive] | | | WENDY'S PROBLEM LASET'S AMBITION Laset THE DEVIL | | __|__________ | | | | | | [Rodney dies] [Rodney joins] | | | | | TORN-WITH-SADNESS SIMEONE AVENGER ELIS THE TRAGEDY | | | OF ELIS | |________________________| _____| | | ____________| | | | | | | |------------[Simeone leaves] [Simeone joins] | | | THE 17TH MASOUKI THE LEGACY OF KARX PRODUCING AMBITIONS | |______________________ | | | | | | [Rodney, Elis dead] [Rodney, Elis | | | in party] | | | |_______________| | ______| | | | ___________|_________ TAKING ISMILE | | | BY FORCE | | | | | [Been through [Did not go | INFINITE 'JOINING UP through | AMBITION WITH Presia'] 'JOINING UP | | | WITH Presia'] BACK FROM | | | THE DEAD | TRAPPED SWORD SAINT VENGEFUL ZET | | | | | WENDY'S TRAGEDY ROSARY'S TEARS REVENGE | | | FOR WHOM | | | | THE END OF THE INTERNAL CONFLICT |___________ | AMBITION IN BAGONIA | | | | | [Fang fought with | | | | Masaki but did not | | | | get killed] | | | | | | | | | | [Fang killed | THE THREAT TUDY'S HATRED | or did not | OF GATSWO | | fight Masaki] | | | | | | | | FANG'S SCREAM | | | | | |_________| | | | | MEETING VIOLENT DRAMA |_____________________| SHUU AGAIN IN SHUTEDONIAS | | | _________________________________| | | | | | | | [Zet dead, [Zet still [Zet dead, | | Wendy alive] Wendy | | still alive] | also dead] COMING OF | | | | THE DEVIL GOD THE END | GATSWO | | OF LASET | AGAIN | [ENDING 1] | | _______|_______ | [ENDING 2] | | | | | [Wendy [Wendy | | alive] dead] | |________| |________| | | | | LASET'S BEYOND COUNTERATTACK GRIEF AND | SADNESS [ENDING 3] | [ENDING 4] * * * * * V : PAR codes AND PATCHES ============================= A few of you have asked me about PAR and Gameshark codes for the game. I've only got one so far, the fabled max money code courtesy of Lamdien Vo. The code is: 7E1009E8 7E100AFD As far as I know you can use it on ZSNES and is verified to be correct. Psybuster has also sent me the link to an IPS patch for the game. Features are level up to 99 after receiving EXP, and upgrades need no money. Use it to blast through the scenarios. By the way I haven't tried it myself so don't blame me if it doesn't work. The link is: www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/4944/pack/srtgloec.zip Thanks mate! * * * * * VI : FINAL COMMENTS (STOP PRESS STUFF) ========================================= Er, I don't really know what to put here, I guess just a space to let me ramble for a bit. Let's see: - I think the masou-kishin series are the best series in the SRW saga. I hope they use Masaki and co in the upcoming SRW Alpha instead of the new characters in Shin-Masou-Kishin (or worse still, those idiots in the Cybaster anime --- Shuu as the head of a lab? Ryune as some spunky Asuka-wannabe? Gimme a break!!!) - The only thing that can top Cybaster is either Akito in his Blacksarena or Ruri in the new Nadesico! Can you imagine Ruri saying 'baka baka' everytime Nadesico gets into a fight with someone? That'll be the best ;) I guess you can tell I'm a Nadesico nut. (I'm listening to Dearest by Yumi Matsuzawa as I type this) Am I the only one who is disappointed that Nadesico is not an entry in SRW Alpha? Instead they have goddamn Macross; only because it's the 20th anniversary or something! - It'll be great if SRW can have the mechs from Xenogears too (my favourite RPG) but I don't think that'll happen anytime soon :( - Let me make a shameless plug for Sakura Wars too; can you imagine Sakura, Sumire and co. fighting alongside Wing Gundam Zero in Imperial Japan? ^_^ OK that's enough BS from me (for now). Back to something more serious; in later revisions I hope to: - Start putting some Japanese characters and names in the guide (e.g. technique names, scenario names etc.) - Expand on the masouki guide to include weapons for the masoukis as well as other bosses. - More details on some of the characters. - Anything which comes to my mind. (BS from ver 0.9 update) - Just checked the Banpresto web-site for the latest on SRW-A, notice that the copyrights include 'Project Cybaster - TV Tokyo'. Does this mean we'll get Ken Andou piloting my favourite mech while Masaki resides in hospital or something? Will it still be the original CVs for Masaki, Shuu and co. or the newer versions? This is turning into the wrong way for me... - I've got a DC so I'm interested in both versions of SRW-A; dunno about you but I'm looking forward to the DC version. Sure the 3-D look amateurish right now but I'm sure it'll improve with time; also I'm getting quite bored of the standard 2-D animation. Sure there was a big leap from SRW2 to SRW3 and from SRW3 to SRW4, but after that there has been little progress. Neo was good but the loading times make you wanna die... - Talking about Neo reminded me of another thing. Proper-sized robots are the way forward, IMHO. Compare G Wing on Neo and SRWF and you'll see what I mean (Is it just me or did G Wing Zero looked ridiculous in SRWFF?) - As much as I love FMVs, I'll gladly trade it all for more series (argghhhh! No Nadesico!) and better in-game graphics, more stages and more variety of speeches and BGMs. e.g. when Masaki fights Shuu you don't expect him to say the things that he normally says to some idiot do you? There are some of these personal speeches in SRWFF but not enough. Also where is Rhythm Emotion for upgraded G Wing Units? Or White Reflection for G Wing Zero Custom? How about Tamashii no refrain for EVAs? ... (BS from ver 0.92 update) - I've been playing DC Nadesico the Mission recently; the system is like SRW in some respects. Not a world beater but enough to satisfy a Nadesico freak like yours truly ^_^ The most interesting aspect is probably the 3D battles; is SRW Alpha for the DC going to look like this? (not too bad a thing in my opinion) And the screen 'to be continued...' at the end of the game, does this mean a new nadesico game is already in the works? Or a secret epilogue a la Lunar Eternal Blue? (highly unlikely though) Or better still --- a NEW Nadesico TV series or movie??? Then Mission will be similar in purpose to 'Blank of 3 Years' (Sega Saturn game), telling the story between the old series and the new movie! - A game that I'm looking forward to (SRW-related) is Rayblade by Winkysoft. This sounds like a cross-over between Sakura Taisen and SRW which is no bad thing. And the main character looks like a half-clone of Masaki too... (The mech looks like Cybaster too btw) Anyway this may be the surprise game to look out for in the near future. Of course this is in addition to Shin-masou-kishin, SRW Alpha, Sakura Taisen 3, SNK VS Capcom, Tales of Eternia, Chrono Cross, Virtual On 2, Grandia 2, Sentimental Graffiti 2 ... - OK guys this bit is more important. I'm not sure when the next update is going to be, the reason being I'm off to the Land of the Rising Sun for a work placement in about 2 weeks! Therefore I guess I'll be busy with the routine stuff once I'm over there; also I've been told that ISPs and phone bills are the wrong side of very expensive over there :( On the plus side you won't see so many mistakes in my next update and later FAQs (if I feel like doing one). Anyway just want to give you some warning that the next major update may be a month or 3 away... (short note from 0.95 update) - I'm off to Nippon in a couple of day; this update is simply to let everyone have the max money code which is understandably very popular. I'm looking to expand the codes section, if anyone has anything useful lemme know about it. I'll keep my BS short this time round. (BS from ver 0.97 update) - Hey I'm back online! But things sure have changed in cyberspace while I've been away. GameFAQs is now completely redesigned, SRW Continuum is gone, but Psybuster told me about another site at 'http://i.am./robotwars'. I haven't had time to check it out in detail yet but it looks good. Anyway I expect SRW activity to increase again with the recent release of SRW 64. I don't have a Nintendo myself though so I know next to nothing about it. Shame... - ...but the best thing must be the imminent release of Shin-Masou-Kishin on the 25th!!! The game is looking better and better; the graphics are a joy while the character designs seemed good OK. Keigo looked good and Alma is not bad either. I'm really looking forward to the game; you guys may see a FAQ on it coming from yours truly in the near future! - I've said again and again that I'll put the kanji into the FAQ, but I'm having difficulty executing it perfectly. Right now I have the freeware program JWPce which said you can cut and paste Japanese into Wordpad, but I can't do it for some reason. Anybody out there care to help me on this? If you have something to contribute or say, feel free to e-mail me. I love feedback :) Till then, next time! ======================================================================= This is Copyright 1999 pistol. Be warned.