SAGA FRONTIER SKILL FAQ Version 4.5 Written by: Aya Brea i_love_aya@hotmail.com http://www6.50megs.com/vanceayahan Note: This is a guide made for the US version of SaGa Frontier. There are many SaGa Frontier FAQs there out on the net but I thought some skills need explaining. This FAQ will explain the use of various techs, skills and magic, how to learn them easily and where to obtain them as well as some tactics and tricks I've discovered. This FAQ does not, however, include an item list, enemy list, mystic weapon list and a few other lists. (It doesn't say "List FAQ" up the top does it?) This is my first attempt at writing an FAQ so any help will be appreciated. English is not my first language so it's very likely that some parts may not make sense or is grammatically incorrect. Some data maybe wrong, left blank or I just forgot to put them in. Please e-mail me with any mistakes or if you want to contribute to this FAQ or you have a problem with the game. CONTENTS - Revision - Credits - Wanted - About me - Introduction - History of SaGa - Starting the game - Menu - The world - Battle - Races Humans Mystics Mecs Monsters - Combos - Human sword skills Sword skill list Alkaiser sword skills Special sword skills Tips on sword skills - Human fighting skills Fighting skill list Alkaiser fighting skills Tips on fighting skills - Human gun skills Gun skill list - Magic - Magic list Ying-Yang Light Magic Shadow Magic My thoughts on Ying-Yang Magic Symbol Arcane Magic Rune Magic My thoughts on Symbol Magic Dimentional Time Magic Space Magic My thoughs on Dimentional Magic Magery Realm Magic Mystic Magic My thoughts on Magery Magic Spiritual Mind Magic Evil Magic My thoughts on Spiritual Magic Unaligned Mirage Magic My thoughts on Mirage Magic Life Magic My thoughts on Life Magic Tips on magic - Human dodge skills Dodge skill list - The ideal Human character Sword users Hybrid sword users Martial art experts Hybrid fighting experts Gun users Hybrid gun users Magic users Hybrid mages The master magician - How to build your Mystic Spells to give to your Mystic Monster absorption The ultimate Mystic - How to build your Mec Mec skills Mec equipment - How to build your Monster Monster forms The ultimate Monster Where to absorb the skills - General tips on how to suceed in this game - Last boss guide - Character evaluations Main characters Humans Mystics Mecs Monsters - Well known tricks - Other tricks - The Dex Drive - Miscellaneous REVISION ======== V1.0 – 12/Apr/99 - First version. Everything is in but still missing a few things such as quotes and skills description. V1.2 – 14/Apr/99 - Updated the section about SaGa Frontier 2 now the game has been confirmed for a US release. V2.0 – 16/Apr/99 - Added the "General tips" section and fixed up more errors. Should be ready for public viewing. V3.0 - 13/May/99 - Tidied up my FAQ with line breaks so it's much easier to read. - Fixed up few skill descriptions with the help of the readers. - Fixed up the information on elemental barriers. - Added the "Last boss guide" section. - Added the "Wanted" section. - Various other stuff that I can't remember. V4.0 – 23/Jul/99 - Fixed mistake under "Infinite Credit Trick", a minimum of 10,000 Credits is required! (Nothing's ever cheap in this game) - Added "The Dex Drive" section with some fascinating facts about the characters you never got to play with! - Added the "About me" scetions. - Added more detailed explainations on Asellus' story, in her section under "Character evaluation". - The same goes with Emelia's story, also in her section. - Added stuff about the porno book under "Well known tricks". - Added an extra original trick! - Added an extra tip and guideline under "Combos". - Added data about a fourth barrier to the "elemental barriers". - Added the reason why not to bother with free Monster skills in the "How to build your Monster" section. - Just a couple more quotes. - Fixed more of those embarrassing errors. - Various little stuff. V4.1 – 7/Aug/99 - Not much, just changed my e-mail address. - Add a note to LifeSprinkler V4.2 – 8/Sept/99 - Added the exact requirement for evolving EnergyChain - Added some information on Woman and CommonMec, the glitch characters under "The Dex Drive" section. Care to check it out? - Added my alternate e-mail address. V4.3 – 27/Oct/99 - Added stuff on the SatelliteBeam skill and BitSystem under the Mec's section. As well as some stuff under Rabbit's evaluation. - Ah hah! So Type 5 Mec's special skill is the Graviton - Someone finally gave me the definition on what the bullets are for under "Gun techs"!! Wanna see what it all means? - Corrected some errors on CommonMec - Put some line breaks in V4.4 – 22/Dec/99 - Added more information on the Gameboy SaGa games - Added more stuff about Asellus' original hair color - Added the alternate way of reciting TimeLord as Asellus - Added an explaination on how the Defend command works in battle - Added the "Speed Skill Learning" trick V4.5 – 25/May/00 - Added the "Speed Skill Absorb" trick - INT increases the number of slots available to Mecs, added that - Added the Living Rifle to Mec's items - Added the weird trick "Medicine on steroids!" - New info added to TimeLeap - A cool trick for fighting MasterRing - Corrections here and there CREDITS ======= * Square, for making this amazing game. * Nefdar, for his most excellent FAQ which inspired me for writing this FAQ. * Asura for his detailed FAQ on Monsters. And also Masterman for the info on the Mariche. * Thanks to everyone who wrote an FAQ on this game as well as everyone who submitted a trick or helped them on it. * Thanks to everyone who wrote an FAQ on Romancing SaGa 3, which helped me complete the game. * (aka Mega Man Legends) fot telling me about VermillionSand and LifeSprinkler. And thanks for chatting with me. * A MAJOR thanks to Dimetric Simone Houston for info on BoundShot, combos, Asellu's ending and Asellus' original hair color. (Ha ha ha!) * for the data on EnergyChain. * Drew Coon for the information on AsuraRevenge and elemental barriers. * Kaminari11@aol.com for various notes, comments and the awesome LightSword trick! * Eric Hohertz "Czar Dragon" for his information on Dex Drive data. * MichaelJH1@aol.com * Gary Hinger for his information on CommonMec and Woman. * MindWanderer for the information on the BitSystem, SatelliteBeam and Rabbit. * PrinceJoel for the explaination of bullet consumptions of gun techs. * Mec Cande for more notes on Asellus' hair and the alternate way of getting TimeLord in Asellus' quest. * BastionZM@aol.com for explaination on the "Defend" command in battle. * CaptainNemo7189@aol.com for the "Speed Skill Learning" trick * Beowult for a lot of cool tricks, like extra slots for Mec trick, Living Rifle and and the "Speed skill absorb" trick. :) * "cajon1" for the info on TimeLeap, Vortex trick on MasterRing and corrections on SnakeOil. WANTED ====== * Quotes quotes quotes! * Any helpful insights on Emelia's story (see below). * Any tips, tricks, gliches or just plain weird stuff. Don't be afraid to send them in! ABOUT ME ======== The reason that I am putting this section into my FAQ is that a number of people thought I was a female!!! Yes that's right, I'm a guy! (I'm kinda getting sick of people calling me "Miss" or "Girlfriend".) The reason why I'm using the name "Aya Brea" is that first, it goes well with my e-mail address. Second, I'm a huge fan of Aya Brea and Parasite Eve and finally, I'm known as "Aya Brea" by my friends on the net, so there's not much point in changing it. And besides, "Aya" is a unisex name! Now about me. I'm living in New Zealand, some might call it the "stinkin' hell hole" (a quote taken from this game.) I have just turned 17 and am currently doing a Commerce degree in Marketing in the university. (I was doing Computer Science but that was as boring as hell!) I like playing the PlayStation and some of my favourite games are SaGa Fronteir, Star Ocean: The Second Story, Street Fighter Alpha 3 and of course, Parasite Eve. I've enjoyed writing this FAQ very much so hopefully you've enjoyed reading it as well. Look for future FAQs from me. Come visit my website some time at: http://www6.50megs.com/vanceayahan I know, it's pretty good for my standards but I have been very lazy lately (no motivation.) Come and see what you think. BTW, my ICQ # is 15185682 and you're welcome to come and have a chat with me sometime. INTRODUCTION ============ Hello and thanks for reading my SaGa Frontier Skill FAQ. This FAQ is designed to explain the use of most of the skills, how to learn them and which ones are the best for a certain situation. However, it's intentionally designed for a human but I will include special sections on various other races and list some of the more useful skills for them. Near the end of this FAQ, I will also include a character evaluation, which none of the existing FAQs had. This will include where to find a certain character, the skills they're best at and a bit about their backgrounds. There are also various miscellaneous stuff that I found quite interesting. So I hope you'll have a fun time reading this FAQ and I hope that you guys will find this useful. HISTORY OF SAGA =============== Another masterpiece RPG series made by Square. The SaGa series were largely accepted as a popular RPG in Japan for many years. For those of you who are not familiar with the past SaGas or the SaGa series itself, here's a short summary of it. Non-linearity is the strength (or weakness, depends on your taste) of the SaGa series. You are basically free to go anywhere you want and do what ever you want. Reduced linearity usually means reduced story and character development, and this is what really turns some people off, so if story development like those of Final Fantasy is your main priority in an RPG, then I suggest you to not even touch one of these games! SaGa series uses a rather unique levelling up system, it's similar to that of Final Fantasy 2 (Japan) in that you'll gain what you use during combat. Instead of a certain amount of experience points you gain after the battle which when a certain amount has been cumulated, will cause your character to go up a level. In SaGa, the experience are in the form of stat boosts (which depends on which game you're playing) can either gain you a direct stat boost (ie. raise in strength) or a proficiency level. You might gain stats after every fight but you might gain hardly anything at all. Also in SaGa, instead of running into a random fight every random numbers of steps you take, you'll be able to see he enemy as it comes at you and you can try to avoid it. GameBoy SaGa Believe it or not, SaGa Frontier is actually the seventh game in a series known as SaGa. (Or Romancing SaGa) The first 3 SaGa games were made for the GameBoy and appeared in the US as Final Fantasy Legend 1, 2 and 3. (I am not sure of what their original names were, so if you know, mail me and tell me.) Now I don't know what exactly possessed them (the publishers) to change the title of the game, but my best guess would be that they felt it would achieve better sales number by adopting the name of SaGa's cousin series Final Fantasy. Anyone who has played any of these GameBoy SaGas would probably call them "weird". These games consist of various races that have different powers and powers up differently, this feature had been retained in SaGa Frontier. (Yay!!) I have played FFL2 and 3, FFL2 is more of a FF/SaGa hybrid at 50% each and FFL3 is almost completely FF style. Anyway, FFL2 consisted of difference races, random skill/stats gain but had random encounters. FFL3 however, had a crap race system and has both random encounters AND experience! I guess it could be considered as an outcast. :) Romancing SaGa Romancing SaGa is the first "real" SaGa game IMO. It made its debut on the Super Famicom in Japan in 1991. Now I can not say for certain but I think this is the first game in the series to introduce the free scenario system, which when translated into the game, means multiple quests with different heros. There were 8 different characters to choose from, 4 male and 4 female. The characters range from a prince to a pirate to a thief and many more. Your initial stats are determined by various questions asked by the game before you start. You are allowed 6 characters in your team simultaneously and they can learn different skills depending on what type of weapon they use in battle. However, the equipment system still follows the traditional "body-part" system, meaning you can only equip a certain item on a certain body part, like a helmet on the head. This is also the first game to use the excellent spontaneous learning system. (Or light bulbs.) After the battle, your characters will gain stats directly. Also, conflicting schools of magic like that of SaGa Frontier is also in this game, some of the spell types made it into Frontier, such as Mirage and Evil. I have not given this game much of a go because I can't understand it... Romancing SaGa 2 Romancing SaGa 2 came out in Japan in 1993. The graphics had been greatly improved. I think there are 7 playable characters but it's kinda hard to tell since you can't select your hero from the beginning. The game uses a generation system sorta like Phantasy Star 3. When the king/queen dies, the main character switches to one of the king-queen's children. This game introduced the weapon/spell proficiency system. Weapons and their techs falls into a few types, they're given a value from 0 to above 40. The higher the value of the proficiency level, the more damage you'll do when you attack with that type of weapon or weapon tech. The same goes with magic, the more proficient you are with the magic type, the more powerful are your spells. After the battle, instead of gaining basic stats, your proficiency level might rise if you have used that type of weapon/spell during battle. This is, IMHO, less flexible than gaining straight stats because your when you switch your character to another weapon type, they're very likely to be proficiency level zero, which means they'll do VERY little damage even with a powerful weapon! The "free style item equip system" made its debut in this game. Also, you can seal your skills after you learn them but they'll be gone forever! Note that techs and magic are held by separate slots, 7 for techs and 7 for magic. I haven't played this game much either. Romancing SaGa 3 This is probably my second favourite SaGa game after Frontier. It came out in Japan in 1995. There are 8 characters again for this game, and can also customize their stats by the question the game asks you after you select the character. The weapon/spell proficiency is still here but they've made it better. You can seal your techs to equip it later, but only on one condition... You have to master it first. How do you do that? Well, when you first learn a tech, it will be in red in the menu. If you use it enough times, you'll master it so you can seal it to equip it later. Even better is that when you master a tech, ALL your party members will be able to equip it as well! There are also tons of party formations to play with. Each character's intros were also well done, using the RE2 style intermingling except it has 8 main characters! But the bad news is that, instead of having completely different quests like SaGa Frontier, RS3's quests are just slightly different. Each character has mostly the same storyline and same bosses, this hinders greatly on replay value of the game, no surprise that I've only clocked it once. SaGa Frontier Released in Japan in 1997 and came to the US shores a little later. This is the game this faq is all about so read on for all (well, most of anyway) your SaGa Frontier needs. One note worth mentioning is that the classic parchment world map was eliminated in this game, making it impossible to tell what the world of SaGa Frontier looks like. (No, Blue's RegionMap does not count because it's just a series of shapes and polygons stringed together, not parchment.) SaGa Frontier 2 It has been released in Japan recently. Although Square has EA behind them over in the US, no one can say for sure whether that this game will get published in the US, since the response for SaGa Frontier was not very good. I think I'll have to go jump off the building if they don't translate it. (Did you hear that Square? Now you're obligated to bring it over!) UPDATE! A US release of SaGa Frontier 2 had been confirmed. Keep your eyes peeled during the first few months of 2000. From what I've heard, the "free scenario system" has been stripped bare but will bring back the "generation system" that's been used in Romancing SaGa 2. Also, I was not pleased to see from the screenshots that the weapon/spell proficiency system is back again. Weapon types includes Swords, Axes, Spears, Staffs, Bows (YES!) and Fighting. The combos are back too but I am not sure if they're customizable. You can only have a maximum of 4 characters in your party. The game looks cute though, kinda reminds me of FFT. STARTING THE GAME ================= Let's start with the basics! Upon starting the game and choosing your character, you'll be able to make a new System's Data File. You don't have to do it if you don't want to and it won't hinder or affect your game in any way. But I recommend in doing that because after completing all 7 quests, you'll get a few cool bonuses and you get to meet the programmers. (But most of them are boring anyway so.....) The game will ask for your stats such as name and star sign, I don't know what effect this has (or anything at all) so just put in anything you want. Also, it's important that you wait 'til the System's Data screen to come up after viewing the character's ending to update your System Data. I assume that you're familiar with the button configuration of this game because I will not waste my time explaining it, it's not too complicated so take your time to learn them. One important note, the Quick Save option (pressing the Triangle and R2) is EXTREAMLY handy in this game and it only takes a second, you should get into the habit of using this often! But remember, NEVER push the restart button or turn the power off when you're using QS, it'll erase it! So before you turn off the power, use the normal save option in the menu. MENU ==== Pressing the Square button on the field screen will get you to the main menu. The 3 vertical columns represent your 3 teams, each having 5 slots to fill your team members with. The window on the right is your command window and the little one below it is the miscellaneous window, containing information such as the current place (or Region) you're currently in and your credits (money). These are the commands: Status Item Position Equip Weapon Equip Ability Config Save ---Status--- Contains all the important information about a certain character in your current party. On the top left corner is your character's picture, as well as a few basic stats: * Name: The... name of the party member. You can usually regconize them by their picture. * Sex: The gender of your character, I don't think it affects the game in anyway. Note a Monster or Mec has "Neutral" gender. * Race: Very important as how to develop the character. Note for a Mec, this will tell you which type they are and for a Monster, it's the form that they're currently possessing. The following 4 stats are what I call "power points". * HP: Hit Points. Measure the physical endurance a character has. When this drops to zero, the character will fall unconscious and will be unable to act and is vulnerable to attack. Each attack that hits an unconscious character will cause them to loose an LP. (See below) An unconscious character can be healed by any healing methods. Your HP will be fully refilled once a fight is over. * LP: Life Points. The number of "lives" your character has before they "die". You can loose these when you get hit while your character is unconscious. (See above) Once you loose them all (which is not very easy to do) then your character is considered "dead". They'll still occupy a slot in your team but all their power points (HP, WP etc.) will be zero! And they'll be removed from your team during combat. (Meaning that they'll not be there.) However, you can "revive" a "dead" character by staying at an inn or using a SancturyStone, anything that refills all of your character's power points. If your main character runs out of these then it's Game Over! Be careful because some enemy attack can drain LP directly, also some skills will also drain LP. The first number is your current LP and the second number is your maximum LP. * WP: Waza (Japanese for technique) Points, also known as Weapon Points. These are the potential your character has in releasing a powerful technique. Each time you use a skill/technique that has a WP cost, the cost of that skill will be subtracted from your current WP. When your WP gets too low, you will no longer be able to use that skill so use these sparingly! These will NOT refill after a battle. You can refill your WP by staying at an inn. The first number indicates your current WP and the second number is your maximum WP. * JP: Jutsu (Japanese for magic) Points, there are no English equivalent so this is also known in the States as the Ja-something Points. The potential a character has in casting magic spell. Like WP, each time you cast a spell, the cost is deducted from your current JP value, when it gets too low, you'll be unable to cast some/all spells. These also will NOT refill after battle. You can refill these by lodging at an inn etc. Again, the first number is your current JP and the second is your maximum JP. On the left hand side of the window is your character's "hidden" statistics. These stats wont be shown in battle but they all affect your character's actions in a certain way, so they're just as important as your basic stats, although some are more important than others: * Strength (STR): The power of your character. Affects the ability your character has at inflicting damage with physical attack and skills. Perhaps the most important skill for your Human swords and fighting characters. * Quickness (QUI): The agility of your character. Affects your ability to dodge an attack (indicated by the pop-up "miss") and how fast your character will act during battle. (If they have high QUI, they'll act early.) It is sometimes advantageous to act later in the round. * Intelligence (INT): Affects the speed at which the character learns magic with the help of "gifts" and the effectiveness of mechanical weapons (cannons/lasers). I think this may also affect how fast your character will learn gun techs. Kaminari11@aol.com tolf me that INT also affects the speed where you learn physical attacks... not I'm not too completely sure about that. => Beowulf told me that increasing INT will raise Mec's skill slots! Maybe that's why some of the boards does it, because it gives them an INT boost! Cool, so now you can't complain that you ain't got enough slots. (The max is still 8 though.) * Will (WIL): The accuracy of weapon attacks. Also the higher the WIL, more damage can be done when using a gun tech or a spell, as well as the effectiveness of a spell (such as the death effect of the Arcane Magic "Death"). Finally, the higher the WIL scores, the more likely you'll achieve additional status effect of some skills (ie. The petrify effect of Cockatrice, the Stun effect of AirThrow and the Palsy effect of Blizzard.) The most important statistic of a magic/gun user! (#see below) * Psychic (PSY): The resistance your character has of avoiding negative status alignments. Less useful than most stats, but very helpful occasionally. Also affects the speed you recover from status (except for Stone as it cannot be recovered from naturally). A character having high PSY is virtually immune to negative status! I am not sure if PSY resists Feint effects. (#see below) * Vitality (VIT): It's supposed to be the resistance towards attack and the Sleep status. I haven't quite figured it out yet but I think that this will act with your character's Defence values against enemy skills. (Not physical attacks) A character having high VIT will take significantly less damage than someone with low VIT against an enemy skill such as Stampede, but remember, your character's Defence will play a roll in this too! * Charm (CHA): Perhaps the most useless stat of all. This affects your character's ability of evading a charm attack, as well as how successful your character is at attempting to charm an enemy. Helpful in rare occasions so just don't bother too much with this. * Defence (DEF): The resistance your character has against physical attacks, the higher your Defence, the less damage you take from physical attacks. You'll increase your DEF values by wearing any type of armor. A monster has inherited natural DEF value but all DEF values of a Human/Mystic/Mec is artificial, meaning a character other than a Monster will have zero DEF if all armor had been removed. # Something is leading me to believe that PSY affects your character's ability to cause status (sorta like how CHA affects your evade and hit % of Charm attacks.) I have to check on that..... On the right side of the character status window will either be the current equipment or skills equipped on the character. You can press up/down to alternate between the two and pressing O will take you to the Equip Weapon/Ability option. (Explained below) NOTE: A human has a bar-like thing on the upper-right of the window. This deals with mastering techs explained later. ---Item--- This option will show all of the items you have collected during your journey. Pressing the select button will sort the items by type. Pressing Up/Down will move the cursor up or down. Pressing Left/Right will act like the PageUp/PageDown keys on the keyboard. The bottom window displays the characteristics of a certain item, if any, when you put the cursor over the item's name. You can carry as many different items as you want but you can only carry a maximum number of 99 of one item. Select the item twice will use the item. Each item has a symbol next to its name, these indicates the nature (or type) of the object. A sword symbol indicates the item is either a sword or Katana, a gun symbol means the item is either a gun or cannon, a bottle is an item and a ring is an accessory. All other items are self-explanatory. If the symbol looks like Claire's "Vaccine Case" from RE2 then that's a Mec circuit board. ---Position--- Selecting this option will take you to the 3 vertical columns containing your party members. You can select a member and put them into another column/slot by pressing the O button again on with the cursor on the desired spot. If the desired spot is already being occupied then those two characters will "swap places". Note: A character on the top of the column is more vulnerable to attack (meaning the enemy is more likely to select that member as their target) and this vulnerability decreases as you move down a column. So it's a good idea to put your weak characters on the bottom slot so they won't get killed in one hit like Nina from BOF3! ---Equip Weapon--- Two windows will show up when you select this. The left-hand window indicates what equipment a character is currently possessing. You'll immediately notice that this window has been divided into 2 sections if your character is a Human or Mystic, indicated by the red highlighting above the bottom section. You may click on a slot (whether it's empty or not) and another window containing the equippable items. The window on the right shows your character's statistic. Some items when equipped, may boost a certain stat, when you equip one of these items one or more of these stats may increase, indicated by a color change. If it's green then that statistic has risen, if it's red then that stat had fallen. The first 4 slots are the items your characters will be holding on their hands. You can place a weapon (sword, gun, cannon), an item (Cure, MagicStone) or a shield. This is what I call the "free style item equip system" because you can equip any combination of the above mentioned items. (ie. I could have my character equipped with 4 swords or 4 shield or any combinations in between.) Note: If you don't equip an item, you'll be unable to use any items, even if they're in your inventory! (Unless you have a BackPack that is.) Note: I do not know what good does equipping multiple shields do. If the multiple shields can each block a different attack then you can block against any of them without any problem, but I do not know if your evading rate will increase if you equip multiple numbers of the same shield. Um... I've been told that equipping multiple shields WILL increase evade %s. Do it if you to (or if you cannot think of anything else you'd rather equip). The next 4 slots will be the equipment worn on the body of the character, in other words, armor. You can wear only one item per type. (ie, you cannot wear 2 shirts etc...) Types of armor include armor, shirt, suit, gloves, boots and helmet. If you choose to wear a suit (which is a good idea) then you won't be able to fit in any armor, helmet, gloves or boots, meaning you can only wear a shirt to go with it. On top of that, there're accessories. They tend to have low DEF ratings but has some other effects. (Such as a stat boosts, built-it skills or protection vs. certain type of attacks) For a Monster, you're given only 4 slots. These are for equipping accessories only, as a Monster cannot use any other items. For a Mec, you'll get 8 slots. However, unlike Humans and Mystics, a Mec can equip anything including multiple numbers of the same item!!! (ie, my Mec can equip 3 CyberSuits.) As for an added bonus, any items equipped on a Mec will give a stat boost!! Some items will increase stats more than others so try your hand on as many equipment as you can to find the ones which gives the highest boost! Mecs are also the only race who and use the special Mec circuit boards. (Humans can equip them too, but they won't have any effect!) There are many types of boards, each gives different stat boosts and have different effects on a Mec. (Some of them give the Mec extra skill slots while others allow them to use a certain skills when equipped with the right skill.) Note: Some items can not be removed. The names of these items are highlighted in red for Humans and Mystics or Purple for a Mec. ---Equip Ability--- This will allow you to equip, de-equip or exchange your character's skills. The left-hand window contains all the skills your character is currently being equipped with. The right hand window is the menu containing the type of skills your character has learnt. They line up like this: Sword Gun Fighting Magic Special Dodge Seal If you select Magic, another menu containing the magic type will appear and you'll have to select one of these to access your magic list. If you have not learnt a certain type of skill or your race permits you from using them, then that option will be in grey and you will not be able to access it. To equip a technique, first select the slot you want the skill to go in. (Doesn't matter which one.) Then select the type of skill you wish to equip and another window containing all the skills you have access to and select the desired one. Easy! After you've learnt a number of attacks, it's important that you "Seal" some of them because you may not learn any more if you have no empty slots. Select the skill you wish to seal and select "seal" on the menu, that skill will then be put into the correct skill type list, which you can equip later. A Human has 8 slots and they have access to all but Special (except under certain circumstances.) A Mystic has only 4 slots for them to equip magic (which is no where near enough!) and underneath it are their 3 Mystic Weapon (Sword, Glove, Boots) skills, these skill CANNOT be sealed! (Note a Mystic can have 3 additional techs absorbed from enemies but they can be used in combat only so they can't be accessed from here..) A Monster will also have 8 slots. The skill in the last slot has a different color and is used to exchange skills with enemies. A Mec has a number of skills depends on their model. Circuit boards may add additional slots, to a maximum of 8. Mecs can use only Special skills. Skills, skill types, racial abilities and how to learn certain skills will be explain later in this FAQ. ---Config--- This option allows you to customize various stuff such as sound and color. The first thing I do when I start a new game is to change the text color, I can't stand those ugly orange fonts!!!! ---Save--- You can save you game here. As well as the Quick Save option. Note: From what I've heard, the Japanese version of the game contains an extra option "Combo". I think you can put in your favourite combo and if you're using all the right skills in combat, the game will prioritize that combo, with a 100% rate of success or somethin' like that. Note2: According to Eric Hohertz, the implementation of the "Combo" option was planned in the US version, as the file was found in the CD, but they somehow didn't get around to it. What a shame. :( THE WORLD ========= The world of SaGa Frontier is divided into "Regions". Each "Region" may be a town, a country, a planet or even another plane of existence! Because there're no World Maps in SaGa Frontier, it's almost impossible to tell what exactly a Region is, how big it is or which Region is closest to it. You can travel between the Regions on a Region Ship. These are airplanes, spaceships, ferries or any other unusual transportation mediums. Region Ships are usually free of charge and there is a port in every town approachable by Region Ships. Each region has a unique theme or belongs to a specific time era or culture. For example, Kyo is very Japanese, Chateau Aiguille is very Gothic and Manhattan is very modern! There are 2 different maps in a Region, the area map and the field map. You can do very little in a field map and not all Regions have field maps. This is very much like the World Map in BOF3 or Wild Arms. When you walk on to an area you may enter, the name of that area will appear on the screen. Pressing the O button will bring you to the area map. That means some Regions have multiple accessible areas. Take Manhattan for example, you may access "Port", "Shopping Mall", "C.T.C Building" and "Central Gate" from the field map. Most Regions (like Koorong) however, have no field maps so you can navigate them easier. The RegionMap Blue has an item called a RegionMap. This will work with Blue's "Gate" spell to teleport him to a Region he has already visited. You can use this by choosing "Item" in the menu and select the "RegionMap" twice. This will then take you to a new screen with various cool looking floating icons, each one of these represents a Region. They're arranged in groups. Pressing left or right will bring up a new group of icons and pressing up or down will cycle through the icons, pressing O will teleport you there. The best thing about the RegionMap is that you can use this almost anywhere! So the next time you worked your way through the dungeon only to discover that you have to climb your way out again, you know what to do! (Well, when you're playing as Blue anyway.) BATTLE ====== Unlike most other RPGs where a random battle happens without much warning, you can actually see them coming and therefore avoid enemies in SaGa Frontier. You will see enemies running around in some places. If you get close, they'll chase after you. If you happen to touch one of them, you'll engage in combat. On a new screen, you can see the enemies you have to fight. On the top of the screen is a pink colored window that shows the names of the characters in your first team. Pressing left or right will let you switch teams. You can move the cursor over a character's name by pressing up/down and pressing the Triangle button will move them to the back row. Although I never use it, I think the back row is immune to some attacks. When ready, press O and this will start the fight! SaGa Frontier is the first Square title in years to not use the famed ATB, so combat is more traditional, similar to that of Suikoden or BOF3. You can give each character an action at the beginning of the round and during the round that character will carry out that action. Pressing up or down in the command window will scroll through the list of actions, pressing left or right will cycle through all types of available actions such as changing the weapon (and the skills associated with it), using items or magic. Pressing R1 will make your character defend. A defending character will take reduced damage from attacks. Pressing the O button will select the desired action. Now enter the command for your next character. The order in which your characters act is based on their QUI scores as well as certain amount of randomness. If a character is some how disabled (stunned, unconscious etc.) then their actions will be eliminated. The order in which your character will act is very important when it comes to building combos. (See below.) NOTE! BastionZM@aol.com sent in the explaination for the Defend command and the switching row option prior to combat. Here's what he has to say: "I saw that one part when you describe the pink screen before battle, and the different positions. I didn't get that for a while either, but it has to do with when you hit R1 and use Defend. If you're in the front position when you use Defend, it won't work. You'll just jump back into the real position. Then when you're in the real position and use defend you're character will stop moving and actually defend. So the pink position thing is so you can start out the battle with someone defending, instead of wasting a turn jumping into the real position." :) When the round ends, a new screen comes up with each character's HP, LP, WP and JP. Pressing any button will take you back to battle. Occasionally, numbers will pop up above a character after an action done by an enemy or party member. A white number indicates damage taken, a green number means the target gained HP and red numbers means a lost in LP. If your character rolls away from the attack, then that character has equipped a Dodge skill specific for dodging that attack. A "click" sound means that a shield has blocked the attack. (If you think that's bad, you should hear the brain crushing "beep" from Romancing SaGa 3!) If "miss" comes up, then the target had been missed by the attacker, which is determined by the WIL of the attacker and the QUI of the target. If your entire team falls unconscious (or is petrified) or your hero looses all his/her LP, then you're wiped out and it's Game Over! If all enemies are defeated (or ran away... or in some unusual circumstances), then the battle is over and you won! Then you'll be rewarded for you hard work. Your Monsters and Mecs will be able to absorb enemy Monsters and Mec, if you fought any, by selecting the name of the enemy you wished to absorb. Then your Human characters will get their statistic boost depends on the skills they used, as well as any new gun techs or magic they have learnt. Then your Mystics will get their share and finally you'll get any items or money the enemies dropped. After battle, every character in your party that was not involved in the fight will gain some of their lost LP, WP and JP back from resting. Everyone in your other teams will gain back about 5WP, 5JP and 1LP per fight. Because of this, you can gain back to your ful stats without even staying at an inn, very handy in long dungoens. Note Mecs will not gain any LP back this way. Negative Status Ailments Some attack specializes in crippling your characters by inflicting a bad status, these will hinder your characters but you may also use status attacks to your advantage. If used correctly, you may effectively debilitate them or eliminates them completely. Negative status includes: * FEINT Also known as Death. Not a real status of course but many attacks have this effect, this also takes place when a character's HP drops to 0. A feinted ally can be revived but a feinted enemy is dead. * VENOM Also known as Poison. This will cause the target to loose about 10% of their maximum HP each round. * PALSY Also known as Paralyze. A paralyzed character cannot act. * STUN Looses the ability to perform an action in that round. * BLIND Hit rate of physical attack decreases. * STONE Also known as Petrify. Cannot act or take damage. A petrifies enemy will be eliminated. If all your characters are petrified, then it's Game Over. * SLEEP Cannot act. * ANGRY Cannot use any techs or magic. They can use only most basic action and these may or may not take place, having the effect of Blue Mess as well. * MESS is divided into 3 degrees: 1) BLUE MESS You may enter a command for a character affected by Blue Mess but it may or may not take effect. 2) YELLOW MESS You may enter a command for a character affected by Yellow Mess but it may affect either the party or the enemy. 3) RED MESS The character affected will perform a random action of either your party member or the enemies. * CHARM Perform an action in favour of the opposite party. (For some reason, my character keeps on using Cures on the enemy... weird!) Note Angry, Mess and Charm is like a triangle. A character affected by ether one of them is immune to the other two. Curing Bad Status Fortunately, most bad status can be cured. I do not recommend curing every status you come across because if you keep on doing that you'll never get any hits in! Especially against bosses, just take care of the most serious ones like Charm or Red Mess. Also, when you get to the last boss, your PSY scores should be high enough to avoid most status and even if you did catch a cold, you'll most likely to get rid of if the immediately the next round. Also, equipping accessories like PurpleEyes will avoid many status as well. In normal fights, you may feel free to ignore the status but you should win the fight fast. The cures are listed below, note that it's possible that I have not seen all the skills in the game so I might be missing out a few. FEINT: Any healing skills, items or magic VENOM: Cure items, SnakeOil, Grail, Vortex, MagicHeal, Heal, StarlightHeal PALSY: SnakeOil, Grail, Vortex, MagicHeal STUN: None! BLIND: SnakeOil, Grail, Vortex, MagicHeal, Heal STONE: SnakeOil, Anti-Stone, Grail, Vortex SLEEP: Getting hit, SnakeOil, Grail, Vortex, MagicHeal ANGRY: SnakeOil, Grail, Vortex, MagicHeal MESS: SnakeOil, Grail, Vortex, MagicHeal, Heal CHARM: SnakeOil, Grail, Vortex, MagicHeal Note: Ok ok, I was wrong. SnakeOil DOES cure the Stone status (thanks to Cajon1 for pointing it out) even though I think it shouldn't somehow. Although I could have sworn to have seen it happen and didn't negate the status (or was that in RS3?) Anyhow, I'm now too sure whether MagicHeal cures Stone anymore, probably not. Positive Status Not all status are bad, there are many helpful ones when used, may cause your character to gain HP each round, or make your characters do much more damage or double your character's actions! It's a very good idea to spend the first round using these when facing a big boss, where you'll gain the benefit of these the most. Note all positive status will be removed by Vortex!!! Elemental barriers Since this is in the manual, I feel obligated to put it in. There are three way in which a character can activate this. The first is when a character is attacked by an elemental attack (Fire, Ice or Lightning), an energy barrier of the corresponding element will surround that character. That character himself is immune to the effect but whenever an enemy attacks him with a short-ranged attack, the enemy will take damage from the barrier. The barrier will wear off with time. Also, a character affected by that barrier will take significantly less damage from elemental attacks of hat type. I don't know if your can activate more than one barrier at one time this way. Note elemental magic will not cause a barrier but most Monster skills and elemental cannons will! The second way is to absorb a "Barrier" ability as a Monster from another Monster. This skill cannot be used in battle and the command for it simply won't appear but your Monster automatically has the barrier and it will last all through the fight. It's also a free skill. You *CAN* have more than one barrier at a time (thanks to Drew Coon for that) by absorbing more than one skills but your Monster will counter with only one attack (probably the one occupying the higher slot in your skill menu). However, the resistance towards the elements still applies. The third way is to use an accessory during battle. You will have to use it in battle to achieve the effect, just wearing it won't do anything and the accessory is then consumed. Those accessories can be bought in Manhattan or picked up from enemies. There is also a fourth type of barrier that I'm sure that you've all came across, and that's the "Fear" barrier used by various undead enemies. Upon making contact with this dangerous barrier, the character will immediately be affected by a Red Mess status, very deadly! Your Monsters can also gain the power of this barrier by absorbing a skill called CounterFear from enemy Monsters that uses it (Liches are common enemies that uses it, while some other rare enemies have it too, but it tend to turn you into an undead). Unfortunately, characters of other races cannot gain the power of this type of barrier. IMO, this skill is better for the enemy than it is for you... RACES ===== All characters in the world of SaGa Frontier belongs to one of the races, the races includes Humans, Mystics, Monsters and Mecs. Each of these races has strengths and weaknesses, but are all powerful (or useful) in their own way. A different race has its own racial abilities and has to be built up in a different way. You will meet up with these races during your journey and they may be willing to join you. You should try out different races when you first start the game to find the one you feel most comfortable with. (And it's a Human most of the time.) ---Humans--- Humans are arguably the best race in SaGa Frontier because they have the most damage potential as well as versatile skills. A Human starts out very weak but is very likely to be the most powerful race in the long run. A Human can choose from four types of skills to learn from, each having their advantages. They can be swords, fighting, guns or magic. Occasionally, when a Human is exposed to a dangerous attack, they may discover the nature of the attack so to prevent the attack (or a similar one) at a later date. That Human has then learnt a dodge tech. Humans are the only race that has the 
ability of instantly learning a new sword, fighting or dodge skill 
in the midst of battle. Guns and magic techs can be learned after 
the battle if you have used an attack or magic of that category. All 
Human techs will be explained in detail below.

When a Human equips at least 6 physical skills (any sword, fighting 
or gun skills will qualify) without any magic then they're 
considered a "master" in physical attacks and a crown will appear on 
the bar to the upper right corner of their status screen. Any 
physical skills when then cost 1WP less which is really useful since 
some skills will be free of cost! Like wise, if you equip at least 6 
spells without any physical techs then they'll become a "master" in 
magic and their JP cost will also be lowered by 1!

To build up a Human character, they must participate in a fight and 
survive. Then character will then improve on the skills he/she used 
during the fight. Each type of skill will increase statistics that's 
appropriate at using the skill more effectively. For example, you 
won't gain INT if you used a sword throughout the fight, because you 
don't need to be intelligent to use a sword effectively, but on the 
other hand, you're very likely to gain STR because the damage you do 
is dependant on your STR ratings. There also seems to be a "learning 
curve" of some kind if you change your character's attack type, 
they'll pick up the stats of the new skill slowly but this should 
last only for a few fights so feel free to change your character's 
attack types. The stats gained will be listed below:

HP:  All. But physical attacks seem to increase them the most.
LP:  You can not increase this at all!
WP:  Swords, Fighting, and Guns.
JP:  Magic only! *
STR: Swords and Fighting.
QUI: All will increase Quickness so don't worry if your character 
specializes in Magic or some slow skills.
INT: Guns, but Magic increases this the most.
WIL: All, because it affects all types of attacks. Guns seem to 
increase this the most.
PSY: Guns and Magic.
VIT: Swords and Fighting.
CHA: Gaining this is more random than anything so you may get a CHA 
boost for anything you do, but don't expect to get this boost very 
often. It's not very useful anyway!
DEF: You gain DEF by equipping better armor!

* This is really weird! Doll got Charmed once and she used a Cure on 
the enemy and the battle ended in the same round. At the end, she 
gained JP!!! So is it possible to gain JP through using items??

Note that you do not need to use an action of that category to gain 
experience, all you need to do is to _attempt_ the action! A 
situation where this applies is if one of your characters got rid of 
all the enemies before another character can act. Similarly, you can 
learn a new gun tech or magic by attempting to use it. It's a cheap 
trick but hey, it works so I'm not complaining! Also because of 
this, it's a good idea to get your slower characters into guns and 
magic since they're so slow, they almost never gets to hit so it's 
unlikely that they'll do very well with swords or fighting.

If your Human character does nothing in a fight, (ie, Defend) then 
they'll still gain stats. They'll most often get HP but occasionally 
WIL or VIT or something like that will pop up. I believe this is 
random though.

I do not recommend this but if you want to mix multiple mediums 
during the fight, you can end up gaining the stats from both 
categories, but it seems that the chance for you to gain stats will 
be halved. Similarly, you can learn a new spell and a new gun tech 
after the battle (I did) but it's very likely you'll get nothing! 
Still, you're more likely to gain anything by fighting more powerful 
enemies.

Another point I need to make is the experience you get after a boss 
fight. So you'd expect your characters to level up like crazy after 
a though boss?? Well, I'm sorry to say it but it will not happen 
that way, it's actually quite the opposite! Most of the time your 
characters will get hardly anything!!! I don't know what causes this 
but it's perhaps because your character will most likely to mix 
techs (see above) in a boss fight so your chance of gaining stat 
will be reduced. So just don't expect to get too much from a boss.

---Mystics---
Mystics have a lot in common with Humans only not as good. A Mystic 
resembles an exceptionally beautiful Human, they have a very long 
lifespan and they actually get prettier with age!!! Actually, a 
Mystic has more in common with a Vampire since they sleep in coffins 
and their skin tend to be pale. Also, Mystics has blue blood!

Like Humans, a Mystic can improve his skill after a battle is over, 
thus gaining a stat boost. Unfortunately, they can only gain CHA, 
HP, WP , JP and they do tend to get them slowly. They can gain other 
stats by absorbing monsters with their racial abilities MysticSword, 
MysticGlove and MysticBoots. These skills when used in battle have 
one of three effects:

1) Also the most common effect. The skill will do damage to the 
enemy (usually low), this is CANNOT be used in a combo. If the enemy 
is killed by this attack then they'll be absorbed.
2) A critical hit! This will do no damage but will absorb the enemy 
instantly but it does not happen very often.
3) Instant death effect. The skill eliminates the enemy but they are 
NOT absorbed! Also, an enemy killed by this can not be used for an 
Absorption by a Monster or Mec after the battle.

You can distinguish the absorbed and instant death effect by just 
looking at the enemy. If they disappear then it's the instant death 
effect but if their image gets dragged into the Mystic, then they're 
absorbed.

An absorbed enemy will give your Mystic a stat boost as well as a 
new skill that will appear under the skill. This skill appears in 
battle only so you might not know what skills you got until you get 
into a fight again. The same enemy will give you different skills 
(but not different stat boost) when absorbed with a different Mystic 
Weapon (ie, a Suzaku will give FireBreath when absorbed with Sword, 
HellWing with Glove and TitasWave with Boots.) If you use a Mystic 
Weapon to absorb a new enemy, then the initial absorption will be 
lost (both the skill and the stat boost) while being replaced by the 
new monster. You can see what enemies are absorbed by the weapons at 
the Equip Ability screen. Just move the cursor over to the desired 
skill and the name of the enemy absorbed will be in the bottom 
window. Some enemies like Mecs and Humans can not be absorbed, 
therefore only the effect 1 and 3 can be achieved when using the 
Mystic Weapon.

When you first recruit a Mystic, you may find that they're missing 
some of their Mystic weapon (or in the case of Mesarthim, missing 
all the weapons!) but you don't need to fear because they can gain 
the rest of their weapons through fighting, like Humans. Just use 
whatever in the fight and you might get a new weapon after the 
fight.

To wrap it up, Mystics can also use magic. All Mystics has the 
natural gift for Mystic magic and they can learn new magic the same 
way as does Humans. Unfortunately, they get only 4 slots to equip 
any magic, which is never enough! Few Mystics (TimeLord, Zozma, Rei) 
are well known for the fact that they can use unique (not to mention 
powerful) magic types, which can be a whole lot of fun!

Mystics can equip anything a Human can but they can not learn weapon 
techs like Humans so equip them carefully. I usually equip weapons 
that give a stat boost or built-in ability, such as the RuneSword. 
Most Mystics have their own stinkin' armor called MysticMail that 
can not be removed so concentrate on a high DEF instead of giving 
them accessories. Note Dr. Nusakan and Mesarthim can equip heavy 
armor or suits so you can equip them like Humans, they're about as 
good as a Mystic can get. Give Mystics a try, but when you play the 
game a few times, you'll probably find them boring! (I do!)

---Mecs---
Mecs are robots, Cyborgs or androids made by man for combat or 
research purposes. Mecs are divided into 8 types. Type 1 and 8 are 
unique body-types and the others are more common types. Each type 
has their advantages and can use some abilities unknown to other 
Mecs. 

A Mec is given 8 slots to equip WHATEVER they want!! This can 
includes multiple suits of armors, which will give them very high 
DEF scores. However, a Mec has 1 to 4 non-removable items, depend on 
their serial type, these can be Mec bodies (which will give them a 
low DEF), unique weapons and items allowing them to use special 
abilities. Every item when equipped will give your Mec a statistic 
boost, which is also the only way your Mecs can gain stats. But the 
stats a Mec gain is often quite unbalanced. I found it very hard to 
gain a reasonable PSY, VIT and INT score. When equipping a Mec, try 
using the weapon that gives the best stat boosts. A Mec can also 
equip the various types of "Boards" which will give them a stat 
boost and it will work with some of the Mec skills to give your Mec 
the use of some new skills. The most important stats for a Mec are 
HP, STR, QUI, INT and WIL. 

Mec skills are hard to come by. First you must fight a robotic enemy 
of some type and after the battle, the game will ask you if you want 
to absorb the enemy Mec with your Mec, very much like a Monster. If 
you absorb a skill you already have, you'll get the message 
"Recharged" which means that all your WP is refilled. Also, when you 
absorb a new skill, it goes straight to your "Special Ability" list 
in your Equip Ability menu, so you have to equip it before you can 
use it. Mecs gets a limited number of skill slots, which depends on 
their type. Circuit boards can increase the number of slots your 
Mecs has available, to a maximum of 8 slots. 

Mecs cannot use magic and have no JP. They probably don't need them.

Mecs can be extremely powerful if equipped with the right items and 
good skills but since most likely to gain nothing from a fight, I'd 
not recommend using Mecs too much because your other units can use 
some of the experience for winning the battle.

---Monsters---
Monsters are what's at the heart of every RPG but they're a little 
different in SaGa Frontier. Just because a character is a Monster 
doesn't mean that he's bad, they're just another race like Humans 
and Mystic. 

A Monster will be given eight slots to fill with abilities. The 
skills they already own will be listed up the top and you'll 
probably notice that the last slot is highlighted in purple. Each 
time you win a fight, you'll be given a choice to whether or not you 
want to absorb the enemy Monster, if you fought one that is. If you 
do, your Monster will gain a new skill from the enemy Monster and it 
will end up on the last slot. (The game will choose a skill from the 
enemy Monster randomly. If it ends up giving you a skill you already 
have, you'll get the message "Couldn't absorb anything"). You can 
also absorb Mystic enemies (from their Mystic weapon perhaps) and 
you'll sometimes get one of their nifty Mystic spells. Now you can 
move that skill around and preferably to an empty slot up the top 
because if you absorb a Monster with your last slot filled, you'll 
lose that skill! If you have all eight of your slots fill, swap the 
skills around and put your most useless skill or the one you don't 
want in the last slot so the next time you absorb something you 
might get something better. It's very important to move your skills 
around often so you can accumulate all the important skills to build 
your perfect Monster. Don't get lazy because you may let many 
excellent skills slip away! Also note that whenever your Monster 
absorbs another skill, their WP and JP are refilled, very handy!

I hope you got that. I tried doing an example but it sounded senile 
so I didn't, sorry.

After absorbing a new skill from an enemy Monster, your Monster have 
a chance of morphing into another Monster race, depends on the 
skills you got and the skills you already have. Absorbing a new 
skill can mean your Monster might morph into another Monster who 
uses that skill. The weaker Monsters are very easy to become, they 
often have only one key skill so if you get that one, you're almost 
guaranteed to morph into that Monster. The more powerful Monsters 
will have more key skills and they're very hard to absorb, so to if 
you wish to become a certain powerful Monster, you can have an 
easier time if you get all the skills from another Monster. 

If your Monster does morph, and there's a good chance that they 
will, your Monster will take on the statistics of the new form. 
Usually the Monsters you meet later in the game will have fairly 
high stats but are very hard to become because their key skill/s are 
so hard to get. So if you became a Kraken for absorbing say, 
Maelstrom, you'll take up their STR, VIT, WIL etc, doesn't matter 
what your Monster used to be. Their WP, JP, LP and HP will also 
follow suit. If your Monster tries to become a very powerful race of 
Monsters then they'll assume a weaker from of it, indicated by a 
"Jr." after its race name.

However, their HP can be improved. Each Monster has a base maximum 
HP, this is a constant like their STR and other scores. Each time 
you absorb a skill that you've never had before, your maximum HP is 
raised by 4. If your Monster morphs, these "add-on" maximum HP will 
be transferred to your new form. So if your Monster absorbed every 
enemy you come across, they can become very powerful with high HP, 
but Humans are better IMO and they take less effort to build up. 
Also, it's possible to gain skills you've had before, in that case, 
you get that skill back with no HP bonus. 

Monsters are the only race with natural Defence scores (these are 
also depend on the current form of your character), however, since 
Monsters can not equip anything except accessories, they'll often 
turn out to have less DEF scores than your other units. Since they 
can only equip accessories, try equip a variety of them that 
protects vs some attack because the immunity of certain attacks are 
more valuable than the 2 or so DEF increase of a slightly stronger 
accessory. I usually don't bother with Monsters but I do recommend 
you give them a try because if you have the patience to build up a 
Monster with a solid form and absorb so good skills, your Monster 
will be very powerful! I will add in a guide to how to build the 
(almost) perfect Monster.

Note Monsters generally can not use magic but there are a few 
exceptions because a Monster does have JP, a LOT of JP!!! Some magic 
can be absorbed by your Monster, such as RavaShot (that's right, 
Evil magic!) or VaporBlast, but they're very rare! Also, if you get 
Kylin on your team, you'll get all of the Space magic! Another way 
of having your Monsters use magic is to use the built-in tech from 
some accessories, (such as the PurpleEye, which casts PhantasmShot.) 


COMBOS
======
The best new feature in SaGa Frontier is the ability to chain 
together 2 or more attacks (to a maximum of 5) of your choice to 
form your own custom combos. You may mix and match skills and 
abilities in combos but to some extent, a normal attack (such as a 
sword slash) cannot be comboed. Actions that qualify as combo 
linkers (with few exceptions) includes any sword, fighting, gun or 
magic tech, any Monster or Mec skills, Mystic weapon attacks (not 
the weapons themselves but the attack you get when absorbing an 
enemy), offensive item uses, built-in attacks and cannon blasts. 
Basically, any action that causes a window to appear showing its 
name. 

A combo will occur when one character who acts after another when 
they're both using attacks that are complementary, a level 2 combo 
will occur. Instead of combining their attacks together like that of 
Chrono Trigger or Phantasy Star 4, each element in the combo is done 
right before the last element finishes and the damage occur after 
the last action. Attacks chained in combos will do more damage than 
those same attacks done normally. I can not give the exact mechanics 
for combos but a level 2 combo seemed to work so that the damage of 
the most powerful attack is doubled and the damage of the other 
attack is added to it. I haven't got a clue what higher level combos 
work. You can add attack before the first action or after the second 
action to link in another character's attack, a level 3 combo will 
form. You can build a level 5 combo that way involving all your 
characters which will certainly make you wow! 

Most attacks are complementary, meaning that most attacks can combo 
with almost every other attack. Some are not though, no matter how 
many time they occur adjacent to the other, a link will not form! A 
good example is Tres Flores which will ONLY go after MoonlightCut. 
The order which you do the attacks also matters. Some attacks goes 
only before or after another one, I cannot think of an example right 
now. This is important as how you want to combine your attacks so 
the most linkable attacks are manipulated to the ends so they can 
link more attacks together. For example, I have a four character 
party each of them is doing: Haze-to-Wheel, RisingNova, SkyTwister 
and LifeSprinkler. The following orders of action may occur, 
considering that the enemy does not act between the characters. (A – 
is a link, a space meaning the attacks cannot link.)

Haze-to-Wheel-LifeSprinkler-RisingNova-SkyTwister  1 x LV4
SkyTwister Haze-to-Wheel-LifeSprinkler-RisingNova  1 x LV3
Haze-to-Wheel-SkyTwister LifeSprinkler-RisingNova  2 x LV2
SkyTwister RisingNova-LifeSprinkler Haze-to-Wheel  1 x LV2

See, you'd want to make your characters act in the order of the 
first example, which does the most damage. It's a good idea to plan 
out your actions so that the fastest character will do the first 
action and try having the following actions done by characters with 
decreasing QUI scores. This is not fool proof though, sometimes the 
game will not link even if you have 2 attacks right next to another. 

Here are some guidelines on combos, these must be met most of the 
time:
1) If an enemy acts between 2 complementary attack made by your 
characters then the link will be broken, obviously. 
2) If your Humans sees light bulbs (ie, they learn something) the 
link will be broken.
3) All your attacks must target the same enemy to link.
4) The combo will be single targeted unless an element in the combo 
is a multiple target attack, in that case, the remaining enemies 
will be affected by that specific attack only! (ie, no damage bonus)
5) Healing (or support) techs that affects your own characters will 
not combo.
6) An attack in the combo that has a status effect will be inflicted 
on the enemy, the only exception is Feint or Stone. If the main 
purpose of that attack is instant kill then the enemy is dead 
(unless the enemy is immune to it) but if the attack has a "bonus 
status" effect (ie, Feint effect of GiantSwing, Stone of Cockatrice) 
then it is not guaranteed to take effect. 
7) If one attack from the combo does no damage or the enemy is 
immune to it (such as Sliding-BackFist, or ShadowHold-StunSlash) 
then the enemy will take no damage from that attack but the attack 
linked to it will still gain a damage multiplier, doing more damage 
than it should.
8) It's actually possible to chain together attacks where none of 
the attacks do damage! (I have! HideBehind-HideBehind is an obvious 
one but try CharmGaze-TripGas for a challange!)
9) Don't hope to combine multiple numbers of multi-targeted attacks 
because it's almost impossible!!! I have no idea why but I think the 
game won't allow it because it's too powerful. #
10) All attacks that's in the combo cannot be blocked. In other 
words, anything that gets blocked will not link. For example, all 
five of you use Fist, an attack that combos with itself on a 
Dullahan. You may see the first character do his Fist and a level 4 
combo follows immediately after that. That's because the initial 
Fist had been blocked! Any "broke-link" moves will take place before 
the actual combo so the acual combo won't be ruined.
11) A combo will most likely take place on enemies who have high HP. 
A link will not form if a single attack is enough to kill off an 
enemy. Because of this, you may feel free to target your enemies 
since you will not waster your combos.
12) Most skills of similar strength combos well together so don't 
even try to link say, LifeSprinkler with DoubleSlash (ie, Master 
attacks combo well with other Master attacks.) Look for similar 
WP/JP consumptions if you're desprate, but I wouldn't worry too 
much.

# MichaelJH1@aol.com told me he has linked 3 multi-target attacks 
together, thanks Michael. The example he gave me was: FlashFire-
WheelSlash-SuperSonic.

Given the guidelines, here are some methods or tips on linking 
skills. Note that these are quite general and many links don't obey 
these "rules".
1) Standing attacks and charging attacks works well, I guess 
everyone knows this way by now but this method is extremely general 
because it's sometimes hard to tell whether an attack is standing or 
charging. (ie, Thrust) NoMoment-BoundShot is a good example.
2) Multiple cannon/laser blasts will work so well that I couldn't be 
bothered to list them any more. 
3) The same skills. This also the easiest way to combo, since you're 
dealing with the same attack, it doesn't matter which order you do 
them in. Only a handful of skills fall into this category. 
CrossShot, BoundShot, DarkSphere, Fist, SwallowSwing are great 
examples.
4) Opposite schools of magic, Light and Shadow, Time and Space, 
Realm and Mystics etc. Implosion-PhantasmShot is an example. Some 
skills can be thought of as belonging to a certain school such as 
ShadowCounter can be thought of as a Shadow spell. 
5) Upwards and downwards attacks. One attack propels the enemy into 
the air while another nails them back on to the ground. 
RosarioImpale-RisingNova-SkyTwister is a great example. Some attacks 
are quite confusing to determine whether it's an air attack or 
ground attack, such as TripleThrust. This is also my favourite type 
of combo method, you'll get the hang of it after a few tries.
6) Add the combos together! Every link exists as a level 2 combo, 
you link 2 level 2 combos to form a level 3 etc. So if you seen 
CrossShot-Implosion and Implosion-LifeWave, combine them into a 
CrossShot-Implosion-LifeWave combo.
7) Throw random skills together and hope to get lucky. I use this a 
lot and I got a few level 5s out of it but sometimes I get nothing! 
Pretty risky.
8) Most 1WP/JP skills combo fantastically well with other 1WP/JP 
attack, works well for the beginning...


HUMAN SWORD SKILLS
==================
Out of all the skills a Human can learn, Sword skills are the best 
IMO, because it does have a good balance of offence, defence, multi-
attack and unblockable techs. They're nothing like Cyan's SwordTech 
from FF6 because you don't need to charge up for 2 millenniums to 
use them. All sword skills fall into 3 virtual categories: sword 
techs (which can be learned from using any swords), Katana techs 
(which can be learned from only sword with the label "Katana" in the 
item description) and 2-sword techs that can be learned only if you 
have 2 swords equipped. All sword techs are physical in nature, 
which means the damage caused is dependent on your character's STR 
ratings and the attack power of the sword you're using the sword 
tech with. The latter is especially true with Katana techs. Too many 
people complain that the Katana techs do too little damage, which is 
probably because they're using a crappy Katana. (Consider this. The 
best swords you can buy are ZeroSwords with attack of 60 and the 
best Katana you can buy are Katanas with 34 attack power!) If you 
ever get your hands on a "SilverMoon", use a Katana tech with it and 
you'll be pleasantly surprised! Sword skills are the all-round 
skills because they're strong against all types of enemis.

To learn one of these, you have to use a sword-based attack, either 
a basic sword attack or another sword tech. Occasionally, a light 
bulb will flash above a character's head and they will do something 
different. This attack will cost the WP acquired for the original 
attack, which means it's free if you learnt it from a normal attack 
but you will have to pay if you learnt it from something else. These 
attacks will go into your free slots and you can immediately use it 
again the next round if you have enough WP. If you don't have any 
skill slots free, you can't learn sword skills! Here are some 
guidelines for more effective learning (these also apply to learning 
fighting techs):
1) Use normal attacks! You'll learn skills a LOT faster that way, 
however, you'll probably want to use more advanced skills as your 
base attack to learn some higher level attacks. See below.
2) To learn higher level attacks, use a skill that's very similar in 
nature to the attack you wish to learn, look for similar animations! 
For example, split-body effects of TurbidCurrent can eventually turn 
into LifeSprinkler, where your character will also turn into 
multiple forms. Also, you can learn ThunderThurst from Thrust 
because they both use the "thrust" action. I will list the easiest 
way I know of learning these cool attacks below.
3) Fight more powerful enemies, you'll have a better chance of 
learning. The more you're likely to get killed the better! It's very 
important that you take sometime out to learn attack at the Bio-lab 
in Shrike.
4) Always de-equip techs you don't need to create room so you can 
learn. Try to leave 2 slots open and fill the rest with physical 
techs, this will allow you to learn a maximum of 2 attack for fight 
while still gets to keep the crown for physical attacks.
5) Being a master in physical attacks may make learning a bit 
easier.
6) Use the right type of weapon. Use a Katana if you want the Katana 
skills and equip 2 swords to learn the 2-sword skills. Also, some 
skills are easier to learn when using the right type of weapon, this 
is listed below.
7) Try not to mix in other races because Humans tend to learn better 
when isolated from other races.
8) Having more than one sword user attack in the same round will 
make learning sword skills a lot easier. I usually have all my Human 
swordsman train together.
9) You can learn a counter tech randomly when the enemy attacks you. 
You must use a sword-type attack (normal attacks will do) to learn a 
sword counter/deflect tech. It's no good just having a sword 
equipped but not using it.
10) Magic swords like Asura and Kusanagi have no normal sword slash 
attack so you can not learn with a normal attack. You can however, 
use another sword skill as a base attack (ie, DoubleSlash) but it's 
not as good unless you're trying to learn very advanced attacks. 
It's generally not a good idea to learn techs from a magical sword. 
From experience, the characters I give the magical swords to learns 
skills slower than all my other characters.

---Sword Skill List---
The sword skills are divided into 4 levels: Novice, Veteran, Master 
and Ultimate. You'll most likely to learn them in order of ascending 
power. Strangely, all Katana techs fall into the Ultimate category. 
I use the following terms to describe a skill, I'll use these 
throughout this faq.

Cost: The amount of WP or JP needed to use that skill.

Target: What targets are affected.
  * Single enemy: one enemy.
  * Single ally: one ally.
  * All: All enemies and allies.
  * All enemies: All enemies.
  * All allies: All allies.     
  * User: The character who uses that skill 
  * Line of sight: Hit all enemies in a straight line.
  * Cone: Select the main target to be the end of the cone and all  
          enemies within the cone-shaped range is affected.
  * Circle: Select the main target to be the centre of the circle 
          all enemies within the circle-shaped range are affected. 
          The diameter of the circle is fixed.
  * Radius: Not the same as Circle. The user will be the centre of 
          circle. Target an enemy to be the outer edge. The distance 
          between the use and the target is the radius and enemies 
          in that circle area are affected.

Note: The main target of Circle or Cone type ranges usually take a 
lot more damage than all other affected targets.

None of the skills below are of the Circle and Radius type range but 
they exsist in the game so I thought I'd mention them. Spore is a 
Circle and Quicksand is a Radius type attack.

Type: The type of attack it is and or if any special effects.
  * Normal: Short-ranged and is blockable.
  * Long-range: A long-range move that doesn't involve in touching 
        the target, can't be countered.  
  * Throw: A throw (fighting tech) which counts as long range and  
        can't be blocked, however, certain enemies (EarthDragon) 
        are immune or resistant to Throws.
  * Unblockable: This attack can't be blocked and has 100% hit rate.
  * Ground: Misses flying enemies. 
  * Auto-Defence: This may automatically take effect if you're 
        attacked.
  * Defence: Like Auto-Defence but you must choose it at the 
        beginning of the round to use it.
  * Auto-Counter: Like Auto-Defence but your character will evade  
        the enemy's attack and counter it.
  * Counter: Like Defence, you must choose this at the beginning of 
        the round.
  * Healing: Heals the ally
  * Miscellaneous: Has various effects explained in the evaluation.

Status: Any status (positive or negative) effect the tech may cause.

The texts in the <> brackets are the description of the technique, 
some attacks are very hard to describe so excuse me if the 
description is vague. The text after the <> is the evaluation of 
that tech.

Learnt from: The easiest way I know to learn that skill. All techs 
can be learnt from a normal basic attack unless I note otherwise.

---Novice Sword Skills---
StunSlash
Cost: 0WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: Stun 



This does very little damage and may stun the enemy. Maybe used to 
disable an enemy when used every round by a quick character but note 
that this will not work everytime.

Learnt from: Normal attacks, very easy to get.

DoubleSlash
Cost: 1WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Does double damage with the sword and is free if you have a crown. 
Can be used as a normal attack to reduce the cost of Asura or 
Kusanagi.

Learnt from: Normal attack, you should have no trouble learning 
this.

HardSlash
Cost: 2WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None

 

Does about the same damage as Doubleslash but is highly comboable, 
combines with itself as well as many other attacks. Works fairly 
well against bosses early in the game. 

Learnt from: Normal attack

Thrust
Cost: 2WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Not useful at all because this attack tend to miss a LOT!!! (You'll 
miss about half of the time and even more if you're using Annie.) 
The damage is not too great either but you can learn better attacks 
with this. De-equip this can soon as you get ThunderThrust.

Learnt from: Normal attack, you'll also get this fast.

CrossSlash (2-Sword)
Cost: 2WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Must have 2 swords to learn this. Does very good damage for 2WP.

Learnt from: Like all 2-sword techs, they pop up unpredictably every 
now and then. Luck is your best bet but DoubleSlash will make 
learning this easier.

Smash
Cost: 3WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



So-so attack power and combo ability, I usually ignore this if I 
have better skills.

Learnt from: Normal attack but you shouldn't have much trouble 
learning this either.

---Veteran Sword Skills---
SwallowSwing
Cost: 2WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Does very good damage and it has at least the combo ability of 
HardSlash. You can chain 5 of these together to take down an enemy 
with a barrier easily. Note that this move is anti-air, meaning that 
flying enemies will take a lot more damage than usual.

Learnt from: Normal attacks, not too hard to learn.

ThunderThrust
Cost: 2WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal (?)                  Status: None



Does good damage and combos well, especially method number one. (See 
combos section for details.) I'm not sure about this but I think it 
does lightning elemental damage.

Learnt from: Thrust, but you'll often go straight to TripleThrust. 
If you try using a normal attack then good luck because it's almost 
impossible!

Heaven/Hell
Cost: 3WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal (?)                  Status: Stun



Does about 1000 damage if you're powerful which is very good for 
3WP. Probably the best low-level sword tech and the stun effect is 
actually quite common.

Learnt from: DoubleSlash can occasionally lead to this. I have 
learnt Heaven/Hell a few times with Smash as well. Otherwise this is 
harder to learn than most other lower level sword skills.

WheelSlash
Cost: 4WP                         Target: Cone
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Probably the first multi-target sword tech you'll learn. Does 
serious damage to the main target but less on all the other targets. 
Useful until the point where you get GaleSlash because it's hard to 
target effectively and not as powerful as other mid-level techs.

Learnt from: Normal attacks.

WillowBranch
Cost: 4WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Does so-so damage for 4WP but you might have better attacks already 
when you get this. 

Learnt from: Normal attacks. Using a Katana make this _slightly_ 
easier to learn. 

Deflect
Cost: 1WP                         Target: User (any ally)
Type: Auto-Defence                Status: N/A



An EXTREAMLY useful defence maneuver that your characters will learn 
early. It's probably the best defence move in the game because you 
can block an attack directed at any of your team members. This works 
especially well when you have a crown in physical attacks because 
this tech will cost nothing! Have all 5 characters with this will 
block 50% of all physical attacks. Never de-equip this for your 
sword users. Note this cannot block multiple target attacks.

Learnt from: Randomly when the enemy attacks. Easier to learn than 
it sounds since it can block any character in your team.

BearCrush
Cost: 5WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Well, it's definitely better than Smash at both damage potential and 
combo ability but it could be better. I think this (and Smash) has 
slightly better damage capacity when used against fragile enemies 
like skeletons. 

Learn from: Smash, obviously.

DeadEnd
Cost: 6WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: Feint



Good and the feint effects are quite helpful. It's like a slightly 
improved version of Heaven/Hell and it's not bad in the middle of 
the game. It's fair against bosses but I find this move hard to 
link.

Learnt from: Thrust (or ThunderThrust) is the easiest way to learn 
this but Heaven/Hell might do the trick as well. 

---Master Sword Skills---
HeadWind
Cost: 5WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



The best sword tech in terms of damage per WP. Does exceptional 
damage for 5 WP and it's usually more powerful than skills with 
higher costs like DeadEnd, TurbidCurrent and NoMoment!!! A must have 
when you're trying to dish out heavy damage and saving WP at the 
same time! As an added bonus, this can lead to both TurbidCurrent 
and NoMoment.

Learnt from: I haven't found an easier way to get this yet but the 
charging animation of HardSlash may very well be related to this but 
I need to conform this. Most characters (except Annie) will have no 
trouble learning this from powerful enemies. Also, if you're not too 
strong, you can learn this from ShadowCounter.

TripleThrust
Cost: 7WP                         Target: Single enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Does very good damage and combos well with method 5. Very likely the 
first 7WP attack you get so don't use it too much or your WP will be 
drained away very quickly unless against bosses, in that case, this 
attack will be your best asset! Believe it or not, this attack is 
long-ranged!

Learnt from: Thrust and ThunderThust make learning this a piece of 
cake but you can learn this very easily even without them! Every 
character who will ever use a sword is likely to learn this, it's 
really that easy! Just make sure you're fighting a powerful enemy.

Kasumi
Cost: 4WP                         Target: User
Type: Auto-Counter                Status: None



Kasumi is the best defence move in the game along with Deflect. 
Again your sword users should never de-equip this especially against 
bosses. This may not work as often as Deflect and can't block 
attacks for the rest of the party but the extra damage (1000+ 
minimum) is extremely helpful against those powerful monster and 
bosses. You cannot counter multiple target attacks with Kasumi.

Learnt from: Being attacked by a powerful enemy. Not too easy to 
learn so just hang in there and you'll get this some how.

NoMoment
Cost: 7WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: Distracted



One of the more useful moves in the game because it's unblockable. 
The damage done is pretty average (actually it's very hard to do 
heavy damage with this) but combos well with method 1. Definitely 
use this (if you don't have any better unblockable attacks) against 
those annoying bosses with big shields or barriers. An attack 
against a target with its back turned as a higher hit rate (which is 
useful against enemies with shields.)

Learnt from: Not hard to learn at all! You can learn this from 
HeadWind easily. Also using a Katana will make this easier to learn. 

GaleSlash
Cost: 5WP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Good multi-target move as well as being long-range at the same time. 
This move is also anti-air. I do not recommend using this (or the 2-
handed version) on bosses because links are hard to find (and you 
most likely get level 2 combos). Even on multiple bosses, you should 
really be concentrating on taking out one at a time, not all of them 
together.

Learnt from: SwallowSwing will definitely lead to this.

2GaleSlash (2-Sword)
Cost: 5WP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



An improved version of GaleSlash as it uses both hands and 2 swords. 
Does double the damage of GaleSlash while csting the same WP!!! Use 
this against those encounters with multiple enemies and this usually 
wipes the screen clean. See note on 2 sword techs below to find out 
how to use this even more effectively.

Learnt from: Randomly like all 2-sword techs but you can also get 
this from SwallowSwing (rare) or GaleSlash.

StillStream
Cost: 7WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal (?)                  Status: None



Perhaps the most damaging 7WP attack out of the 5. I haven't used it 
much as by the time I get this, all my characters already has 
LifeSprinkler.

Learnt from: This is EXTREMELY hard to learn when using a normal 
sword, NoMoment can speed this up a bit. The trick is to use a 
Katana, it's much easier that way. A normal Katana strike can learn 
this easily at times but you can still speed up this by using 
NoMoment with the Katana.

TurbidCurrent
Cost: 7WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None

 
(Hope you got that, the animation's very complicated y' know)

This cool looking attack proves to be an excellent starter in 
combos. The damage done is average though, like NoMoment. Still, 
there are better sword techs.

Learnt from: The rings of HeadWind can net you this quite easily. 
You can also try ShadowCounter if early on in the game. Otherwise 
not easy to learn.

CrossDeflect (2-Sword)
Cost: 1WP                         Target: User
Type: Defence                     Status: N/A



I have no idea why this is in the Master section. Basically, this is 
Deflect with 2 swords that's not as good because it's not automatic 
and you can defend yourself only. Also, if this had not been 
triggered then your character will have done nothing that round but 
standing around looking stupid. If you have to be extremely 
defensive then you might want to give this a try, but you might as 
well use Godless (below.)

Learnt from: Randomly when being attacked but this is more random 
than others because this is also a 2-sword tech. Having Deflect 
might make this faster though.

RisingNova
Cost: 7WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



One of my favourite sword techs, it's very good looking (especially 
the color of the flames.) It does exceptional damage and is the most 
excellent when it comes to upward/downward type combos! (See above) 
Also, this connects extremely well with LifeSprinkler. I usually 
give at least one character this when fighting the last boss.

Learnt from: WillowBranch. Using a Katana will make it slightly 
easier to learn.

RosarioImpale
Cost: 8WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



This looks very cool and the cross will do extra damage against 
undead enemies. The damage done is good enough to use this on the 
last boss and this combines freely with other "upward" attacks or 
LifeSprinkler.

Learnt from: TripleThrust and DeadEnd are the only way to learn 
this. That's right, the "only" way because I have never learnt this 
from anything else! If this is not true, mail me and tell me. 

---Ultimate Sword Skills---
Haze-to-Wheel
Cost: 9WP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



This will do SERIOUS damage (2000 or so) to all targets on screen. 
But since the cost is too high, use 2GaleSlash instead, you'll kill 
most of the normal enemies that way. If you're up against multiple 
powerful opponents, then give this a try, you won't be disappointed.

Learnt from: WheelSlash only! Again I have never learnt this from 
anything else. Have all 5 characters use WheelSlash on a Dullahan 
and at least one of them will learn it! It's actually pretty easy 
when you know how.

LifeSprinkler
Cost: 10WP                        Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable (Limited)*      Status: None



The ultimate of the ultimate sword skills. This does the most damage 
out of all the sword skills and in extremely reliable because it's 
unblockable. It also combines extremely well with other upper-level 
attacks (RisingNova in particular), doing horrendous damage! Try to 
get this on your sword users before the final boss.

Learnt from: There is no easy way of learning this. ShadowCounter is 
the simplest and best way I've found and TurbidCurrent can lead to 
this as well. Basically, learning this is all about luck. I *have* 
learnt this with a normal sword attack but I guess I was extremely 
lucky. Make SURE you are fighting a very powerful enemy (Dullahans 
works fine) when you're trying to learn this.

* A weird thing happened to me once, I think it's a glitch though. I 
was playing as Blue against either Hell's Lord or the Dragon 
Guardian. I cast Overdrive then ShadowServant and LifeSprinkler 6 
times. On the fifth LifeSprinkler Blue actually MISSED!!!!!!!!! (No 
sign of the "miss" message but he did no damage.) His character 
still did the animation but the sword slashes and red backgrounds 
were gone! Then his shadow came along and didn't miss! I have no 
idea what happened. How can an unblockable attack miss??

NOTE: Mage Man Legends told me that LifeSprinkler missed a lot in 
his game, so maybe this technique is only "Limited Unblockable"..

Godless
Cost: 5WP                         Target: User
Type: Counter                     Status: None



The ultimate counter and a very good defensive move when you want to 
go on offence as well, it does HUGE damage (3000+) to the attacker 
and you're free of damage. But this is not as good as it sounds 
because you can counter only direct physical attacks and this tend 
to not take effect occasionally. Also, the fact that you cannot 
counter multiple target attacks makes this less useful than say 
Kasumi. Like CrossDeflect, if your character is not attacked they 
will do nothing that round, wasting your time!

Learnt from: Randomly when attacked, but having Kasumi equipped will 
certainly make learning this easier.

MoonlightCut (Katana)
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Just because it's an ultimate attack doesn't mean that it's good. 
Please tell me if you have found any use for this pretty but low 
damage attack. The only use I've found is that it links before Tres 
Flores and you can make a level 3 combo Blizzard-MoonlightCut-Tres 
Flores which does heavy damage and mimics the classic SaGa sword 
skill Midare Setgetsuka or something like that.

Learnt from: Using a Katana. Katana techs are also quite random, you 
can sometimes learn Katana skills from weak enemies. ShadowCounter 
can rarely lead to this.

ShadowCounter (Katana)
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



A very useful Katana tech because it can do quite a bit of damage if 
you have a good Katana and it's long range. But the real reason to 
bother with this is the learning capacity this tech has. It can lead 
to HeadWind, TurbidCurrent, LifeSprinkler and all the Katana techs, 
all are good ones. This also has great combo ability and combines 
with itself for big attacks.

Learnt from: Easy. Simply attack with a Katana and you'll get this 
fast, even early in the game.

Blizzard
Cost: 6WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range (?)              Status: Palsy



A very classy looking attack but not too useful except to make the 
Katana combo I mentioned above. Also the Palsy effect happens very 
rarely.

Learnt from: Katana attack can lead to this, as will ShadowCounter 
and MoonlightCut.

Tres Flores
Cost: 9WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



My favourite sword skill as well as the most beautiful one. It's 
also the second most damaging sword attack (next to LifeSprinkler.) 
But the odds are that you'll be stuck with a crappy Katana until 
very late into the game, you're very likely to pass this excellent 
skill up. This is not as good as LifeSprinkler though because it's 
blockable, it's short-ranged and it's the WORST skill for combos in 
the whole game but it's certainly a lot easier to learn. It will 
only go after MoonlightCut for some reason but if you find any other 
links for Tres Flores, please send them to me.

Learnt from: Any Katana skill or Katana attack.

---Alkaiser Sword Skills---
These sword skills can be learnt only by Alkaiser with his RaySword.

KaiserWing
Cost: 1WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



An okay long-range tech I guess but you're most likely to have 
something better. Also the fact that you have to change into 
Alkaiser to use this really hinders its usefulness. I usually seal 
it immediately. Also, note this skill is anti-air as well, use it if 
you don't already have SwallowSwing.

Learnt from: RaySword

KaiserSmash
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Alkaiser's version of Smash, not much better than the real one. 
Alkaiser's sword skills are useless.

Learnt from: Raysword

---Special Sword Skills---
These are not really sword skills, just built in skills of certain 
sword. You cannot learn these, they comes and goes with the sword. I 
will include only the useful ones.

Asura (Asura)
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: Feint



Very powerful early on in the game and it's a good weapon to equip 
on your Mystics and Mecs so they can use this skill. The Feint 
effect doesn't happen very often though. Later in the game this will 
do very little damage to be helpful. (Less than 1000.)

AsuraRevenge (Asura)
Cost: 4WP                         Target: User
Type: Auto-Counter (Special)      Status: Feint



This is a very pretty attack and you should see it at least once. 
It's an automatic counter built-in tech but it's a bit different 
than other automatic counters.
1)	You must use the command "Asura"
2)	You must be attacked before you can use "Asura"
3) You will take the damage of the attack. 
4) According to Drew Coon, if your character falls unconscious after 
they take the hit, a shadow of that character will rise and take on 
the part of AsuraRevenge. Thanks a lot!

This tech is very useful to dish out extra damage against a boss but 
it has the above conditions you must meet, so it's better to give 
this to a slow character and put him on the top slot of the team so 
he'll get hit more often. Note AsuraRevenge will do more damage than 
Asura.

Kusanagi (Kusanagi)
Cost: 3WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Does good damage especially used by a powered up Mec. Also, good for 
combos as well. Note King Sei has the Monster skill version of this 
skill but it's exactly the same.

MillionDollers (CometBlade)
Cost: 7WP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Very pretty. This can do about as much damage as Haze-to-Wheel for a 
lesser cost. A very good built-in tech, pretty and very powerful. 
Give it to a Mec or Mystic so they can take advantage of this 
attack.

Other built-in sword attacks includes ElementalSplash (instant 
kill), BraveHeart, FinalStrike and ShadowHold (Palsy). Don't ever 
use FinalStrike (unless you want to see the nifty animation) because 
it does next to no damage, breaks the sword and costs 10WP!

---Tips on Sword Skills---
1) The automatic techs (Deflect and Kasumi) can only take effect if 
you choose a sword type attack so don't bother equipping these if 
you're planning to use other type of actions during the fight, even 
if you have a sword equipped.
2) When using a 2-Sword attack, always use it with the stronger 
sword equipped. The game takes the attack value from the sword you 
use and doesn't care about your second sword. Say if you use 
2GaleSlash with ZeroSword, you'll do the same damage if your second 
weapon is a Knife or Asura.
3) If you have 2 swords and Kasumi equipped, always use the stronger 
sword (if possible) when using a single sword tech because Kasumi is 
used with the current sword you're using that round.
4) The aim for a sword user is definitely LifeSprinkler, try to get 
ShadowCounter as early as possible and try to learn his. I also 
recommend Tres Flores if you have the access to a SilverMoon 
(Asellus and Red can get one later in their game, other characters 
may win them randomly.)
5) Good multi-target attacks are 2GaleSlash (make sure at least one 
of your guys has this) and Haze-to-Wheel.
6) If you like combos, then definitely get RisingNova (or 
RosarioImpale) on a character so they can combo with LifeSprinkler.
7) Since Tres Flores is such a terrible combo linker, you may want 
to have the person using it activate ShadowServant to double their 
damage.
8) Sword skills are the best so don't be afraid if you have a team 
of all sword users, you don't actually need DSC to finish the game. 
(From experience, I actually don't want to use DSC after I killed a 
few of the final bosses because it takes away the fun of comboing.)
9) The number one sword user in the game is Gen but Emelia, Lute, 
Mei-Ling and Annie are good too.
10) I can not stress this enough but make sure that your sword users 
are using strong swords when preparing for the last boss (or any 
boss.) The Kusanagi is very good and the Asura is well worth 
investing 3 of your LP on. Also, you might want to cast the Light 
magic LightSword on the characters who hasn't got these as it gives 
you a very strong sword to use. If not, you should have at least a 
ZeroSword. Don't bother if you ain't goin' to use sword skills.
11) The first time your sword user learns a new skill cannot be 
blocked. For example, Mei-Ling learns GaleSlash when fighting a 
Dullahan (who can block), that GaleSlash is unblockable. If Mei-Ling 
wants to use GaleSlash again then it might get blocked.


HUMAN FIGHTING SKILLS
=====================
If you want to be an all out brawler then fighting skills are the 
way to go. There are basically 3 types of fighting moves: Punches, 
kicks and WWF style wrestling throwing techs. Fighting skills are 
usually weaker than sword skills at equal levels but it contains a 
hidden skill that's more powerful than any attack in the game (well, 
maybe not Tower), one of the two and half SaGa Frontier's equivalent 
of Knights of the Round. Like sword skills, fighting skills are also 
physical in nature. The STR of the characters determines the damage 
caused, this is more important to fighting skills than sword because 
sword skills take values from both the STR and the sword power, 
while fighting skills takes the STR value only. Fighting skills are 
usually weak against slime-type (soft) enemies but are strong 
against fragile enemies like robots and undead (skeletons in 
particular.)

These are learnt almost exactly like the sword attacks so look there 
for the ways and tips for learning. One note worth adding is that 
you should use the corresponding type of fighting attack to learn 
the one you want, for example, use a throw tech is you want to learn 
throwing techs, use kicks to learn kick techs. You can learn higher 
kicks from punches though but throwing skills can only be learnt 
from another throwing skill.

---Fighting skills list---
Like sword skills, fighting techs are also comes in 4 levels. There 
are less fighting skills in the game so don't complain if your 
character is not learning very often.

Punch
Cost: 0WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Well, not a real fighting tech because you don't need to equip this 
to use it and everyone has this, even other races but they are not 
able to learn from it.

---Novice Fighting Skills---
Kick
Cost: 0WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Does a tiny bit more damage than Punch and is comboable. You can use 
this to learn better kicks.

Learnt from: Punch

AirThrow
Cost: 1WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Throw                       Status: Stun



This is a must for learning better throwing techs. All throwing tech 
except this one and RollingCraddle cannot be learned from anything 
else. It has high combo ability but this is often a hindrance when 
you're trying to learn techs.

Learnt from: Punch

Chop
Cost: 1WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: Blind



Not good at all. It does slightly more damage than Punch and may 
cause Blindness but there're much better skills to spend your 
valuable 1WP on!

Learnt from: Punch

Sliding
Cost: 1WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Ground                      Status: Stun



A very important skill because it's the first part of the secret 
skill DSC. Other than that, it's a moderately damaging skill that's 
not too useful. It can combine with itself though.

Learnt from: Punch or Kick.

RollingCradle
Cost: 2WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Throw                       Status: Stun



Not very good. Most lower level fighting skills are not too useful 
so excuse me if I'm not commenting too much on these.

Learnt from: AirThrow can do the trick but you can get this from 
Punch.

SwayBack
Cost: 1WP                         Target: User
Type: Defence                     Status: N/A



The only defence fighting skill but it's not very good. You can 
dodge direct physical attacks only, no long-range attack. Also you 
can only defend yourself so Deflect is better. If this is triggered 
before your action then your attack will follow immediately, I think 
the damage of your attack is increased this way.

Learnt from: Randomly when attacked by enemies.

---Veteran Fighting Skills---
Fist
Cost: 3WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal (?)                  Status: ?



Does ok damage (around 600 average) but the only real reason to 
bother with this is that it combos with almost every skill in the 
game! It's no doubt the best combo linker! So the next time you 
wonder how to link your combo, give this a try.

Learnt from: Punch

Backfist
Cost: 2WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Another one of those useless fighting attacks. Will do more damage 
than Fist though and can lead to other useless skills.

Learnt from: Punch

CrushBeat
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



This is actually not bad early on in the game. Try comboing it for 
better results. This still do less than 1000 damage though, you can 
see how weak fighting techs are.

Learnt from: Punch or Backfist

Rotation Kick
Cost: 3WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Another solid low-level attack. Links are hard to find though.

Learnt from: Kick

KO Throw
Cost: 2WP                         Target: User
Type: Auto-counter                Status: Stun?



Another lousy counter move. Does good damage (though not as good as 
Kasumi) but it's less reliable than Kasumi as it will only counter 
short-range attacks. What makes it even worse is that it counters 
only punches while very few enemies use punches. I have never seen 
this take effect more than say 3 times per game.

Learnt from: Randomly when attacked

Suplex
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Throw                       Status: Stun



A very good throwing move that does much better damage than all 
other 4WP attacks. Also combos pretty well. This is DSC move number 
3 so make sure you get it!

Learnt from: AirThrow and rather easy to get

GiantSwing
Cost: 6WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Throw                       Status: Feint



Another solid throwing move and the Feint effect is extremely 
useful. This is DSC move number 4. Also note that this attack combos 
with itself for "giant" damage.

Learnt from: AirThrow but Suplex may sometimes lead to this as well.

---Master Fighting Skills---
GoldHand
Cost: 6WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: VIT down



Very good attack move but somewhat hard to learn. This will cause 
VIT down on the enemy which is helpful. If you do get this early 
then by all means USE IT! It's about as good as a non-throwing 
medium level fighting tech gets. Can combo with itself but other 
than that, average combo ability.

Learnt from: Fist but it's risky since Fist is such a good linker so 
have all your other units use normal attacks and try to learn this 
one at a time. (If your other characters are using skills, you'll 
combo about 80% of the time)

BabelCrumble
Cost: 5WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Throw                       Status: Stun

 

DSC move number 2 and also the hardest to learn IMO. This is 
probably the best (and my favourite) throwing tech in the game. The 
damage done is pretty good, about 1000 minimum.

Learnt from: AirThrow. As I have said, this is sometime very hard to 
learn if you don't get it early. Some characters of mine never got 
to use DSC because they simply won't learn this move, strange! (Even 
Fuse won't learn this sometimes!) Also, I have learnt this a few 
times by using Kick.

TriangleKick
Cost: 7WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Very good damage for a fighting tech, 1000 minimum. Good combo 
abilities and links with itself. Better than GoldHand as well as 
easier to learn, make sure your fighting characters has this because 
all the ultimate fighting skills are hard to learn.

Learnt from: Kick or RotationKick but Punch often leads to this for 
some weird reason.

OgreRun
Cost: 6WP                         Target: Line of sight
Type: Ground, Long-range          Status: Stun (?)



Damage is average but the fact that this has a range of Line of 
sight makes this skill hard to use effectively. You can usually 
target one enemy and two if you're really lucky. Use this if you 
haven't got anything better. Note this is a ground attack that will 
miss flying enemies. A flying enemy doesn't always have to be in the 
air. As a rule of the thumb, if it has wings, it's probably flying. 
If the enemy is highlighted in green when you flip 'em over, then 
it's affected.

Learnt from: Sliding can lead to this I think but it's also very 
easy to learn without it, just make sure you're fighting a powerful 
opponent.

Scuffle
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



Wow, I had absolutely no idea that this was in the master section. 
Come to think of it, this does do very good damage for 4WP, though 
it's hard to find a link for it. This looks like a throw but it's 
not, it's blockable too!

Learnt from: CrushBeat can get you this quickly, so will Backfist.

LocomotionG
Cost: 5WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Throw                       Status: Stun



This looks really painful but it's not. It does barely more damage 
than a normal Suplex! I usually don't bother with this. If I want a 
throwing tech I use BabelCrumble or GiantSwing, not some attack that 
do fake damage!

Learnt from: AirThrow or Suplex can net you this eventually.

DragonTurn
Cost: 3WP                         Target: User
Type: Auto-counter                Status: None



This is perhaps the most useless tech in the whole game! Why? 
Because this attack reverses kicks and the enemy hardly ever use 
kicks. I have learnt this once and seen it only once but I don't 
think it's of any use. 

Learnt from: When getting kicked by the enemy I guess. If you're 
desperate about learning this useless tech then find a Shieker 
(those green plant-like things that uses SuperSonic) and let them 
kick you a few time. Fei-On sometimes comes with this skill learnt.

---Ultimate Fighting Skills---
LastShot
Cost: 9WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: Feint



Now you're really getting to the good stuff. His is IMO the best 
normal fighting attack because it does very good damage (2000-3000) 
and it's unblockable like LifeSprinkler. I haven't found any very 
good links for this attack yet though. The 4 Kanji characters meant 
something along the lines of "The fatal blow". The feint effect is 
very rare but I don't think you need it.

Learnt from: GoldHand is your best bet but it's still quite hard to 
learn.

CorkScrew
Cost: 9WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range?                 Status: None



Another excellent fighting tech. This does perhaps slightly more 
damage than LastShot but is blockable. This can do about 3000 
damage. Combine this with LifeSprinkler for a big attack. Learn DSC 
and either LastShot or CorkScrew and you're all set for the last 
boss. I don't see how but this is actually the ultimate kick attack! 

Learnt from: TriangleKick I guess but Fuse and Liza often get this 
from their normal attack.

SkyTwister
Cost: 10WP                        Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



I don't like this very much as the damage is not too great and it's 
too expensive. It does combo a lot better than the last 2 ultimate 
attack, especially with method 5. This is not even a long-range 
attack! 

Learnt from: This is not a throwing tech but AirThrow can definitely 
lead to it. You'll often get this very early, but it won't do very 
much damage at all, so it's a rather waste of WP.

DSC (Dream Super Combo)
Cost: 18WP                        Target: One enemy
Type: Throw                       Status: Stun?



The ultimate physical attack and KOTR equivalent of SaGa Frontier. 
Although it costs a crazy amount of WP, it has HUGE damage 
potential. The damage done is affected by your STR, how many moves 
your DSC had done and the DEF of the enemy. Because each boss has 
different DEF ratings, it's hard to give a damage approximation 
since it can do anywhere between 3 and 5 moves. A 5 part DSC will do 
over 22000 damage on GenocideHeart but barely over a thousand on 
MasterRing!!! It's always worth the effort of getting this on one or 
two characters before you meet the last boss. Note DSC cannot be 
comboed since it's a combo all one its own already. Also it's a good 
idea to use stat boost items and magic to raise your strength. Don't 
use this if your character has low STR because the damage done is 
not worth the heavy price tag.

Learnt from: It's not learnt like any fighting techs. You have to 
first learn 4 separate fighting moves: Sliding, BabelCrumble, Suplex 
and GiantSwing. Equip them all and DSC will appear in your command 
window.

---Alkaiser Fighting Skills---
Like Alkaiser sword skils, these can only be used by Alkaiser but 
thankfully, Alkaiser's fighting skills are much better than his 
sword skills. 

BrightFist
Cost: 0WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Normal                      Status: None



A free tech that does about 200 more damage than his regular punch 
so this is not bad. This is also the base skill to learn more 
advanced Alkaiser fighting skills, the regular punch won't do. Also 
you'll get this very early.

Learnt from: RaySword

SparklingRoll
Cost: 2WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Slightly better than a regular BackFist. Still, I always get better 
Alkaiser techs before I get this.

Learnt from: BrightFist

FlashTurn
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Another one of those useless techs that's doomed to forever collect 
dust in the unused list.

Al-Blaster
Cost: 2WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Another one of those take-off skills, Alkaiser skills are so un-
original! This is another useless skill since the damage done is too 
little to be helpful.

Learnt from: BrightFist

Al-Phoenix
Cost: 7WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Another one of Alkaiser's rip-off skills. Still not much better than 
other fighting skills though does just over 1000 damage, I think 
even TriangleKick is stronger than this. But keep this equipped 
because it can get you Alkaiser's ultimate attack later! I think 
this will do fire-elemental damage.

Learnt from: BrightFist

Re-Al-Phoenix
Cost: 10WP                        Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



The ultimate Alkaiser fighting skill and the only one that's 
original! This is also the most damaging fighting skills in the game 
not including DSC. It does even more damage then LifeSprinkler 
(about 4000-6000) and combos well with it! A LifeSprinkler-Re-Al-
Phoenix-LifeSprinkler combo can do over 23000 points of damage and 
believe me I have done it! Like Al-Phoenix, this will also do fire-
based damage. The only disadvantage is that you have to be Alkaiser 
to use this skill, which is not a problem since you only get this at 
the end of Red's chapter where he's Alkaiser already but you won't 
be able to use this conveniently in 2nd Div.

Learnt from: You can not get this normally. When you fight MBlack 
III, use Al-Phoenix after he uses his Dark Phoenix attack and you'll 
get this. Alkaiser will "upgrade" his Al-Phoenix for this because 
after the battle if you check the skill option you'll find that your 
Al-Phoenix tech is gone, being replaced by this. Al-Phoenix had been 
put back into your unequipped list. You do not need an empty slot 
for this either.

ShiningKick
Cost: 1WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



The kick version of BrightFist. This will do more damage than 
BrightFist and it is free if you have a crown. Use this if you want 
but there are still better techs out there.

Learnt from: BrightFist

DeflectLance
Cost: 5WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



A TriangleKick-rip-off. This is probably the best low level Alkaiser 
tech, it can do quite a bit of damage and it's not even hard to 
learn! Early in the game, all you have to equip is this and 
BrightFist (these are the only 2 attack that I find useful) and 
you're all set!

Learnt from: BrightFist or ShiningKick.

FinalCrusade
Cost: 2WP, 1LP                    Target: All allies (Special)
Type: Healing                     Status: N/A



A very useful skill especially it's one of the only 4 mass-healing 
skill in the whole game (and only specific characters has.) This 
will heal all your allies except Alkaiser himself for Alkaiser's 
maximum HP plus one so keep his HP maximum high! Alkaiser will loose 
1LP after using this so be careful when using this too many times. 
An important note is that if Alkaiser has a ShadowServant activated 
when he uses this, he will loose 2LP! So don't use this when you 
have a shadow. This spell did 1999 points of healing when I used it 
but it's not possible (because yo can't have over 999 HP). I guess 
Alkaiser's HP can go beyond 999 but the game will only allow a 
miximum of 999 HP.  The calculation will take Alkaiser's actual HP 
(>999) but in reality he has only 999 HP. 

Learnt from: Cannot get normally. Alkaiser will automatically learn 
this after he beat any of the 4 BlackX Emperors.

---Tips on Fighting Skills---
1) Like sword techs, it's no good equipping an automatic fighting 
tech if you're goin' to use something else because they simply won't 
be triggered if you don't select a fighting skill.
2) The characters you train in fighting should have 2 aims: to get 
DSC and either CorkScrew or (preferably) LastShot (SkyTwister works 
fine too, but not as good.) The reason for the first is obvious, DSC 
is the most powerful attack in the whole game. If you get this your 
character will be god-like powerful. The reason for the second is 
because some bosses (EarthDragon, Kylin) are immune or highly 
resistant (MasterRing) to throwing techs, having one of the ultimate 
normal skills can let you combo for good damage. 
3) Most low-level fighting skills are useless so don't bother with 
them.
4) The number one fighting character in the game is Liza but Fuse 
and Fei-on are excellent choices too.
5) If you don't know what attack to give to a fighter in a boss 
fight, have them use Fist. It usually ties the attacks from your 
other characters together to form good combos.
6) To some extend, the first time a new skills is learned is 
unblockable, like sword skills. The only exception is when you learn 
a new throwing skills on an enemy immune to that, your character 
will simply do thing but that new skill will be added to your list.


HUMAN GUN SKILLS
================
Gun skills are generally the worst skills a Human can learn because, 
hey, there are only 10 of them! It's also not easy to fully master 
gun skills, even (or should I say especially) for gun experts! For 
some reason, character who're good with guns (Roufas, Emelia, Mei-
Ling) have a tendency of refusing to learn the last gun skill! (It's 
usually TwoGun.) Guns attacks are physical but they're completely 
independent on your character's STR, it's not how hard you can pull 
the trigger! Like Chrono Trigger, guns are more powerful when your 
accuracy increases, which is measured by your WIL. Guns are usually 
weak against undead enemies but can be remedied with its own special 
skills. I don't know what type of enemies it's strong against though 
(probably soft-type.)

Gun skills however have 2 major advantage. The first is that all gun 
techs are long range attack, which means you don't have to worry 
about those enemies who uses counter skills and barriers no more. 
The other advantage is that most gun skills have high combo 
abilities and most of them can combo with themselves and is 
interchangeable with other gun skills.

NEW!! Yay, thanks to PrinceJoel, I finally know what all those 
bullets and bullet consumptions are for. As you've already know, 
every gun has a bullet capacity and every regular attack costs one 
bullet. All gun techs have bullet consumptions too and different 
techs costs different amounts of bullets. Here's what PrinceJoel 
told me:
   "Its kind of like this: The amounts of bullets in your gun depect 
(approxamatly) how effective techs are (like Stunshot, Total shot, 
etc.) for example:
   "Stunshot is a tech that uses all your ammo.  The more bullets 
you have left, the more effective it is.
   "Totalshot is where you shoot all enemys.  Strangly enough, 
sometimes it blasts more bullets than you may have, but again, the 
more bullets, the more effective it is.
   "Focus shot and Cross shot have a capacaty of bullet uses at one 
time: 5.  Any less and it won't be as effective.
   "All other gun techs (that I know of) use only one bullet, which 
the amount dosen't effect. 
   "When you get to zero on bullets, it will automatically refil, 
exept during a tech."

Got that? Go basically, different guns are more effective when used 
in different ways. For example, the AGUNI-MBX is not that powerful 
in terms of strength but has the most bullets, so it might be even 
more powerful/effective compared to say a LethalGun with a higher 
amount of attacking power but lower ammunition when you're using 
TotalShot or StunShot. Also, guns like a LightRifle have a very high 
attacking power but only has a single bullets won't be very 
effective with any other the attacks listed above, except for the 
techs that takes a single bullet. 

As for the refill part, basically, your gun will only refill when 
its ammo drops to EXACTLY zero at the END of the last round. So say, 
if you're using CrossShot with an EagleGun which has 6 bullets, 
you'd end up having 1 bullet left afterwards. Now if you want to use 
CrossShot again, it will not be very effective since it will not 
refill during the attack. However, if you use BoundShot instead, 
you'll use up all your ammo at the end of that round so the gun will 
refill automatically the next round!

Thanks again to PrinceJoel who saved my day!

Gun skills are learnt in a completely different way than sword and 
fighting skill. First, you won't be seeing any light bulbs because 
gun skills are learnt AFTER battle. Use a gun skill or a normal gun 
attack (cannons and lasers don't qualify) and you might gain another 
gun skill after the battle is won, at the experience screen. Here's 
some tips on learning gun skills:
1) You seem to learn gun techs faster if your character has higher 
INT.
2) You learn gun skills faster when you use more advanced attacks.
3) You only have to _attempt_ a gun attack to learn another one, 
because of this, get your slow characters to use guns.
4) Get your characters to use guns when you're fighting weak enemies 
(such as during the Rune/Arcane quests) because the enemies are so 
weak, it's unlikely you can learn any sword or fighting skills so 
you might as well get some gun skills.

---Gun Skills list---
SharpShot
Cost: 2WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None
Bullets required: 1



Barely better than a normal gun blast but against certain types of 
enemies this will do a critical hit, the damage is doubled but still 
not too good. This gun attack doesn't combo too well though. 
SharpShot cannot miss but can be blocked easily.

FocusShot
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None
Bullets required: 5



Fairly powerful but it's not as good as CrossShot or BoundShot IMO 
and the animation is so repetitive. (There are about 5 techs in this 
game that uses the same animation.) Good for combos.

TotalShot
Cost: 4WP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Long-range                  Status: None
Bullets required: All



Definitely not a good combo material but it's a fair multi-target 
attack (should do around 600 damage) but should really be used along 
with TwoGun to really cause damage. Also if you have QuickDraw and 
TwoGun then you can probably kill all the enemies before they can 
attack. But there are still much better multi-target attacks.

TrickShot
Cost: 2WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None
Bullets required: 1



This is supposed to be an unpredictable move that is good against 
enemies who are strong against gun attacks (like undeads), and it 
does its job well. Unfortunately that's the only real reason to 
bother with this skill. This will do slightly more damage than 
SharpShot but there are still better gun techs. 

ReactionShot
Cost: 3WP                         Target: User
Type: Counter                     Status: None
Bullets required: 1



This is actually very good, perhaps the best manual-counter skill in 
the whole game. Not only will this counter direct physical attacks, 
it will also counter long-rang attack AND magic as well! And you'll 
take no damage from the attack! It can counter most low level magic 
such as SunRay, PhantasmShot and VaporBlast with ease. It still 
cannot counter multiple target attack though. The damage is fairly 
strong but this is even more fun with TwoGun. Just go on defence and 
watch the enemies suffer at their own action! But there are very few 
situations in the game where you have to go on defence. Also note, 
like all counter skills, it may not take effects at times. (That's 
what I really hate about counter skills!)

StunShot
Cost: 1WP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Stun
Bullets required: All



StunShot will do no damage at all but attempt to Stun all enemies. 
This is useless because the success rate is very low and some 
enemies can cause this to fail completely for some reason. You can 
equip QuickDraw to use this like SharpPain but I don't think it's 
very good so just pretend this skill didn't exist. 

CrossShot
Cost: 4WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None
Bullets required: 5



This is one of the best gun attack in the game and will also do 
extra damage against undead, this will solve the problem with using 
guns on undead enemies. The damage is not bad but the real reason to 
use this is to combo it, you can chain 5 of these together for 
10,000+ damage! It's even better with the TwoGun skill. This will 
use 5 bullets so don't use this skill if you managed to get your 
hands on a powerful LightRifle. Also I think CrossShot cannot miss 
but it an be blocked by enemies with shields.

BoundShot
Cost: 5WP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None
Bullets required: 1



According to Demetric Houston, the number of time the bullet bounces 
is proportional to either you INT or WIL (probably WIL). Anyway, the 
higher your stats are the more times the bullet will bounce (twice 
minimum, to a maximum of 5 times) and the more damage you'll do. 
Demetri said that when your stats are at 99, BoundShot with TwoGun 
(LethalGuns x2) will bounce 5 times and do a whoppin' 67,000+ 
damage! Impressive huh? At other times, it does similar damage to 
CrossShot but it's not good against undead. Also has very high combo 
ability and can combo with itself or CrossShot for good source of 
damage. It's slightly stronger than CrossShot in combos. This only 
cost one bullet so feel free to use this if you have a LightRifle.

QuickDraw
Cost: 0WP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A
Bullets required: N/A



If you have this, then you'll always get to act first when you first 
use a gun. This could be better if it lasts all through the fight 
but that would be TOO powerful. I think QuickDraw will boost your 
speed after the initial gun fire but I'm not too sure. This is a 
very good support skill for gun skills and if you're planning to use 
guns, then definitely get this. See below for combo abilities.

TwoGun
Cost: 0WP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A
Bullets required: varies



The ultimate support gun skill, this will double the damage of all 
gun skills (given that your character has 2 guns) all for the cost 
of nothing! It's as if every gun skill had become 2GaleSlash! This 
is also the reason to bother with gun tech so make sure you get 
this!

---Tips on Gun Skills---
1) Like 2-sword attacks, always use the stronger gun when using a 2-
gun skill for the same reason: the game takes the attack value from 
the gun you use (then doubles it) and not both guns.
2) All you need to be a good gun user is QuickDraw, TwoGun, 
TotalShot and either CrossShot or BoundShot (or both). The rest are 
useless if you have these.
3) Magic users make decent potential gun users too because they have 
high INT and WIL from their magic casting backgrounds, but make sure 
you build up their WP so they're not likely to run out. 
4) The number one gun user I know from experience is Roufas but 
Emelia, Mei-Ling, Doll and Captain Hamilton are also good choices.
5) Make sure you're equipping strong guns. The LethalGun has a 
whopping attack power of 60 and can even be picked up from the Junk 
Shop right at the start of the game for free. (See tricks section) 
Use the LightRifle if you're lucky enough to get one but make sure 
the character who's using it has BoundShot because it has only a 
single bullet.


MAGIC
=====
Magic in SaGa Frontier are categorized into schools, you can think 
of them as a "type" or "element". Most of these have an opposite 
school. You generally cannot have both at the same time since 
opposite schools cannot coexist at the same time. If you own magic 
from one school and you want to the opposite, you must give up your 
magic to learn the its opposite.

Magic comes in two levels. The lower levels are common and you can 
usually find them on sale in some Regions. The upper level spells 
are more difficult to obtain because you must learn them yourselves. 
How, you ask. Well, to learn the upper level spells, you must obtain 
the "gift" for that type of magic. You can think of the "gift" as 
the "gifted" knowledge of the elementary structure behind the spells 
of that school. Upon obtaining the gift, your character can use this 
knowledge to discover a new spell influenced by that school. To do 
this, you must use or attempt to use a spell of that school in 
battle and you may learn at new spell when you win, like how you 
learn gun skill. Both lower level (if you don't have it already) and 
higher level spell can be learnt this way.

Magical Regions such as Luminous, Devin, Kyo, Facinaturu, Magic 
Kindom and a couple of hidden Regions will have certain types of 
lower level spells for sale. You can also obtain valuable 
information about where and how you can obtain the "gift" for that 
kind of magic. Obtaining the gift maybe simple or complicated 
depends on which type of magic you're seeking. The "gifts" for some 
schools are not obtainable, they're reserved for certain characters 
and after certain events. When you approach someone who sells magic, 
you have a few options, "Buy spells" is obviously one of them. You 
can "Ask about the gift" (if the "gift" is obtainable) in which they 
will tell you where the "gift" is and how to acquire it, they may 
also ask if you want to try attaining it. You may also "Get an 
explanation", this will let you try out the spell before you 
purchase it. You'll be thrown into battle against some zombies where 
you can choose which spell to cast, whom to target and see the 
effects (and the nifty animation.)

Only Humans and Mystics can use magic. Monsters generally cannot 
casts spells but they will be able to use them under certain 
conditions because, hey, what's the point of a Monster having JP if 
they can't use it??!! Mystics generally make a better magic user 
than Humans because magic is their main weapon, it's sad but true. 
Magic is less effective as offence in SaGa Frontier IMO than other 
games but they can be very good tools and support for other types of 
skills. I recommend you give magic to as many characters you can 
because they're very helpful and I do recommend you take on those 
optional magic quests.

Here are some guidelines on how to learn magic skills faster:
1)	A higher INT helps you to learn spells faster.
2) Using more advanced magic makes you learn faster.
3) Like gun techs, try learning them from weak enemies since you 
ain't likely to learn a fighting or sword tech.
4) Also, you're qualified to learn magic when you attempt to use 
magic.
5) Being a master in magic helps you learn magic better.
6) Try purchasing as many magic of that type as possible because 
since you can't learn a spell a spell you already have, you'll learn 
an upper level spell everytime you learn.
7) If you haven't got enough money (or refuse to do the infinite 
credit trick) then buy one spell of that type and you'll eventually 
get the whole set of the magic overtime. 


MAGIC LIST
==========
Upper level spells are marked with an * (the official symbol in the 
game). The message in "" are the description of each school of magic 
from Magic Kingdom. Also in the spell description is where to absorb 
that spell (if possible) when you're a Monster.

---Yin-Yang---

Light Magic

"Use elements of Light and heat. Counters with Shadow Magic."

Light Magic can be bought in Luminous. You can challenge the 
Luminous labyrinth to obtain the gift. Only Humans and Mystics may 
enter the labyrinth. If your main character has the opposite magic 
(Shadow) then all your remaining characters who qualify for 
obtaining the gift will walk in and come out witht the gift. This 
also happends when you're playing as T260 or Riki. You may challenge 
the labyrinth only once!

SunRay
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Weak single attack spell that's easily blockable by enemies with 
shields. Does little damage (one or two hundred) but the damage is 
greatly reduced (to 2 digits) by plant-type enemies for some reason. 
(I think it's because they have PhotoSynthesis).  It does double 
damage against undead for fair amounts of damage (but you'd probably 
have something better like CrossShot and RosarioImpale). It's free 
when you have a crown but still, there are better free spells. The 
best use of this spell is to learn better Light spells.

A Monster can absorb this spell from the Trents and SunFlowers.

StarlightHeal
Cost: 2JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Healing                     Status: N/A



Just because this is a healing spell doesn't necessarily mean that 
it's a good spell to have. IMO, this is what makes Light magic so 
depressing. Fine so it's a healing spell that works on even Mecs (to 
a lesser degree) but it heals too little to be of much use. The most 
healing I have ever seen this spell do is barely over 370. This is 
fairly useful near the start of the game but it's no where enough 
when fighting the bosses when they can do 300 points of damage each 
round to all your guys. You'll never get any hits in that way! So 
take my advice and dump this for better healing spells like MindHeal 
and MaxCure!

The Unicorn uses this spell so go after it if you want it but the 
Unicorn also has better healing spells like MagicHeal and LifeRain 
so don't bother.

FlashFire
Cost: 4JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Unblockable (?)             Status: Blind



A fairly weak mass-attack spell but it's not bad early on in the 
game, can do from 400-800 damage. It can take out large quantities 
of weak enemies with ease but you'd want something better because 
this spell is too weak to use on higher level enemies, who are quite 
resistant to this spell for some reason. De-equip this when you get 
MegaWindBlast.

FlashFlood
Cost: 5JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Instant death               Status: Feint



I don't know what to think of this spell. It attempts to instantly 
kill all the enemies but this is really less useful than it sounds 
because the chance of sweeping away an enemy is hopelessly low. I 
have swiped the screen clean with this though but my word is don't 
waste your time on this spell, use multiple target damage attacks 
instead (or the Arcane magic Death.) It's not completely useless but 
there're much (and I do mean MUCH) better ways of getting rid of an 
enemy. It has come cool effects though, so make sure you see this at 
least once. I almost forgot to mention that an enemy killed this way 
wouldn't drop anything (money nor items.) 

LightSword*
Cost: 7JP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A



Not a bad spell and also one of the advantages of Light magic. This 
summons an ultra-powerful light sword that acts as a real non-Katana 
sword. You can use any sword skills you have equipped that can be 
used by any normal swords. You can even use it to learn new sword 
skills. I think this is the most powerful sword in the whole game 
(even more powerful than the GoldenLion that Asellus can get.) It's 
a good idea to have your non-Katana using sword users use this on 
the first round of the last boss (if they chose Light magic that 
is.) The damage is a lot better than an Asura or Kusanagi (about an 
extra 800 or so when using LifeSprinkler). Although the damage is 
not too great (compared to ShadowServant), the adavntage of using 
LightSword is that they retain the ability to combo. If you're want 
more damage potential at the price of combos then choose Shadow 
magic. (See below.)

Also, I've been told that once this spell has been activated, your 
character will gain the bonus effect of Deflect as well!

MegaWindBlast*
Cost: 9JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



This spell is obviously better than it looks. The other advantage of 
Light magic and the most damaging mass-attacking spell (does 1500-
3500 damage) in the whole game (it's stronger than even Haze-to-
Wheel.) This is the second most damaging spell so give your magic 
users Light magic so they can use this spell, but this still can't 
compete with the physical techs like LifeSprinkler, that's why magic 
isn't a very effective source of offence. If you're planning to use 
magic users in the final battle then let them use this. The only 
disadvantage is that those annoying enemies with shields CAN 
actually block this spell so use something else against them. 

Shadow Magic

"Manipulates shadow and illusion. Counters with Light Magic."

You may buy Shadow Magic from Luminous. You must go through Omble 
(the dark section of Luminous) to obtain the gift and only Humans 
and Mystics may enter. Any Monsters or Mecs that enter Omble cannot 
get back out. To get to Omble, ask the person who sells the spells 
about Shadow Magic and he/she'll ask if you'd like to get to Omble. 
Like Light Magic, if your character can't get the gift because they 
have the opposite (or is 260 or Riki) then all your other characters 
who qualify will enter Omble and come out with the gift.

PowerGrab
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Healing                     Status: STR down

<4 images of the enemy splits out of the enemy's body and absorbs 
into yours>

I called this a "healing" type magic but it's actually not quite, 
it's more of "draining" type, you will steal the enemy's HP. This 
looks to be really weak to be of much use (you'll usually absorb 100 
or so HP) but if you really beef up the WIL scores of a Mystic then 
you can absorb about 800 or so HP, which is more than you'll need 
and you'll still be able to do damage, all for a small price of 1JP. 
I'm not sure if you this works on the bosses though but if it does, 
it's probably the best healing spell in the game, more soon. Note if 
you try to use this on an undead enemy (or some other supernatural 
enemy) you'll get the message "miss", that's because you cannot 
drain an undead (it's better than loosing your HP in the Final 
Fantasies.) This also causes "STR down" every now and then.

HideBehind
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Distracted



Very likely to be the most useless spell in the game. This will 
cause the enemy to be distracted, meaning your hit-rates will be 
raised and damage might be raised slightly also. You can sometimes 
"miss" the enemy as well. This can combo with itself for an even 
more useless effect (enemy turns its back and immediately turns 
back) but it's funny to watch. This will go before TimeEclipse as 
well, but the added effect is also useless. (What's the point 
distracting someone if they're to be Petrified?) So IMO, the only 
reason to get this spell is that so you can master all the Shadow 
Magic faster. (See above.)

ShadowNet
Cost: 3JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Palsy



You can attempt to Paralyze all the enemies with this spell. This 
spell is like the Shadow version of FlashFlood because it has low 
success rates. If you want to use these status-affecting spells then 
you'd better get someone with a high WIL or the spells will never be 
too effective. Another fact I don't like about status affecting 
spells is that the effect always wears off too soon! Palsy is not as 
good as instant death but it's still useful at times (rarely) 
against enemies immune to death so go for this if you want. Use it 
against multiple enemies and you should catch some of them with the 
nets.

DarkSphere*
Cost: 4JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: None



This is the SaGa Frontier's version of Demi. It's a gravity-based 
magic but that doesn't make it any different to all other spells in 
this game, as it doesn't do damage proportional to the target's HP. 
I wonder why this isn't a Space magic. It can do very good damage 
(500-2000) and combines brilliantly well with itself and other 
skills. However, this is still not a good offence source on the 
bosses (even with powered up Mystics.) 

ShadowServant*
Cost: 9JP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A



This is the to-die-for spell that can double all you damage 
potential but it's somewhat risky to use. The shadow mimic you 
summon will perform every action you take, doubling the damage or 
healing done, which when paired with LifeSprinkler, Tres Flores or 
Tower can mean massive destruction! It does have its limitations 
though. One of the obvious ones is that the shadow will not imitate 
DSC, probably because it's too powerful. The other action I found 
that it wouldn't do is MirrorShade. There're probably more skills 
that this move cannot perform but I haven't found them yet. The 
ShadowServant will do pointless actions too, like mimicking spells 
that have no additional effects with multiple casting (SoulRune, 
TimeTwister etc.) Also note, if you can finish the enemy in one hit 
without the help of the shadow then the shadow won't be triggered. 
You can only have one shadow per character at one time. 
"ShadowServant" will be highlighted in grey if your shadow is 
activated already.

The other advantage (or disadvantage, IMO) is that the shadow can 
take a hit for you, destroying itself but leaving you free of harm. 
I take this as a negative effect (especially when I just activated 
it) because it wastes the round I spent on the casting the spell. Be 
careful when to use this spell on bosses with mass attacking 
attacks, one of those and all your shadows are gone! (I've had the 
boss destroying 3 of my shadows at once!) Note the shadow will not 
cover some attack for you but I don't exactly know how it works. As 
a rule of the thumb, if you take damage then the shadow is safe 
(phew! This is what one should hope for) but if you're free of 
damage then the shadow is gone. Another way to tell whether a shadow 
had been hit is to see if the shadow overlays the character when he 
gets attacked. If it overlays the character, is enlarged and shivers 
then it's destroyed. All in all, this is one of the best spells you 
can get so make sure you do!

---My Thoughts on Yin-Yang Magic---
If you're a beginner then Light magic might be the best for you 
because of MegaWindBlast, LightSword and StarlightHeal, but if you 
want a little challenge (and a very rewarding one) then I recommend 
Shadow magic. ShadowServant is in fact, the only real advantage of 
Shadow but if you take a little practice at using it, you can 
effectively double all actions your characters take during battle. 

* For magic users, MegaWindBlast is a must, ShadowServant is good 
but since you can't have MegaWindBlast at the same time, you're 
loosing a lot of offence. If you give Shadow to your magic users 
then make sure that they have another high damaging spell (other 
than Tower, such as ReverseGravity) or physical techs (and enough WP 
to use it) to fall back on. 

* Sword users can choose either because both have a good support 
spell (LightSword and ShadowServant.) If you really want both then 
my best guess it to give Light to someone with LifeSprinkler and 
Shadow to someone with Tres Flores. 

* Give whatever you want to fighting characters but don't forget 
that ShadowServant cannot mimic DSC! 

* Gun users should get Light, partly because they're potential magic 
user and partly because they really need to combo their gun skills 
to do real damage (ShadowServant takes that away). 

* Mystics should follow the guidelines of magic users but there's no 
real disadvantage for them to use Shadow magic since you can get a 
powerful skill in one of their Mystic weapon. 

---Symbol---

Arcane Magic

"Users summon the power of Tarot Cards to attack and defend. 
Counters with Rune Magic"

You can buy Arcane spells in Devin. You can ask the lady who sells 
the spells about the gift and she'll give you 4 cards and sends you 
to collect 4 real Arcane Tarot cards in various places.
The Shield Card is in IRPO
The Grail Card is in Yorkland
The Saber Card is in Wataku
The Gold Card is in Bacarrat
Upon attaining all four cards, only Humans or Mystics who was in 
your team during all 4 events will get the gift. If they have the 
opposite magic then they won't get the gift. You may collect the 
Runes only after you get all 4 of the Cards. If you collect a Card 
and then a Rune, you'll be unable to get the gift.

Saber
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Average damage (100-500) for 1JP but still I can't see any real use 
for this except to learn better Arcane spells. Enemies with shields 
can also block this rather easily. Free if you have a crown but this 
is obviously not the best free spell around.

Shield
Cost: 2JP                         Target: All allies
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: DEF up



A good defence spell to have on bosses, you take about 1/3 less 
damage than usual. I think this is effective only with physical 
attacks but it will come out first in that round (although this can 
sometimes be over-prioritized by OverDrive or other pre-emptive 
spells.) Give this to someone in a boss fight and let him or her 
whip this out the first round. 


Grail
Cost: 3JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Remove status



A very useful spell to use against enemies that has Petrify or Charm 
attacks, as it removes any and all status ailments. Minor status 
like Poisoning is not worth casting this spell but always equip this 
on someone when fighting the last boss. Precautions can be taken to 
resist status so this spell is not often needed, but equip this just 
in case. Also note, this has the same effect has a SnakeOil (except 
that Grail cures Petrify) so you can remove this spell if you want 
to have your slot for something else. I am not sure whether this 
spell will remove positive status (like Vortex) but it definitely 
removes ShadowServant so be careful whom you're using this on.

Gold
Cost: 3JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Distracted



Another useless spell that distracts all enemies that's even less 
effective than HideBehind IMO, since the hit-rate is quite low. I 
heard this has an Instant Death effect but I was never able to 
achieve that effect.

Death*
Cost: 4JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Instant Death               Status: Feint



This spell attempts to instantly kill off all enemies but the 
disadvantage of this spell is that if the reaper fails to take the 
enemy's life, it will come back and take 1LP away from the caster. 
OUCH! Actually this is not as bad as it sounds, since a character 
usually has 8LP or so but if you're low on LP then perhaps you 
should postpone this spell for a while. Never use this with your 
main character (especially) when they have traded their LP for items 
in Facinaturu because you could easily loose all your LP and then 
it's Game Over! This spell is pretty useful against single powerful 
enemy. It's not usually not a good idea to use this on multiple 
enemies but don't be afraid to use it if you're surrounded and don't 
mind loosing a few LP. The best way to use this spell is against 
those mini-bosses that have an INSANE amount of HP (like those 
beefed-up SnowFolks, I killed 3 of them in one hit.) If the reaper 
slashes the enemy then it kills it, if it does nothing then it's 
coming to get you. Sometimes the slash appears but the enemy does 
not die, that's because the enemy is immune against Instant Death 
attacks but in that case, the reaper won't come back to get you.

Kaminari11@aol.com recommends using Death in the Blue vs. Rouge fight. 
Try it to see what happends hehe.. :)

Fool*
Cost: 6JP                         Target: All
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: WEA down



This spell lowers attack strength for all targets on the screen, 
it's rather pointless. I guess the only use for it is if you're 
using a party of all magic users. This does not decrease magic power 
y' see so you'll affect all enemies without suffering from the side 
effect, but since magic is not a very good offence skill, it's 
another useless spell. Give it a try if you want.

Magician*
Cost: 7JP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A



This creates an illusion of the caster, which the enemy can't tell 
the difference of. The purpose of the infinity symbol is to 
differentiate from the Mystic spell MirrorShades, which is similar 
but works slightly different. The disadvantage of this spell 
compared to MirrorShades is that this will create one and only one 
illusion of the caster. The advantage of this over the Mystic spell 
is that when an enemy attacks the illusion, it will create a vortex 
that devours the enemy completely. It doesn't work on bosses and 
normal enemies are not worth the effort of casting this high-cost 
spell, also they may not fall for the trap so this spell is really 
not too useful. The illusion will only suck the enemy into the 
vortex in the enemy uses a short-range attack also, this spell is 
useless against multi-target attacks since the enemy can damage all 
your guys and kills the illusion at the same time.

Tower*
Cost: ALL JP (minimum 8JP)        Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: None



The most powerful spell in the whole game and the one-and-a-halfth 
equivalent of KOTR. Although this takes up all your JP, the damage 
done is exceptional! The more current JP you have, the more damage 
you'll do. Also, I think this spell is defence-piercing. This ranges 
from barely over 1000 if you have the minimum amount (8JP) to 15000+ 
when you have about 120JP!!! I am not sure if your WIL or INT level 
has any influence on the damage. Tower may not do as much damage as 
DSC unless you have a god-like JP level (and you can only use it 
once per fight) but it has one major advantage over it, Tower can be 
used in combos for outrageous damage! It combos well with many 
ultimate attacks including LifeSprinkler! So have someone use this 
spell and let the other characters do what they want and watch in 
horror as astonishing 5-digit numbers pop-up on the screen! (I sure 
did!)

As I've said before, magic isn't a very effective source of offence 
even if it has this mama. That's because Tower will eat up your JP 
like crazy. Magic users rely on their JP to do damage but since 
Tower takes them all, they'll have nothing to rely on afterwards, 
which isn't very pretty. (And believe me I have done that!) The best 
use for this spell is to give it to fighters, since they're using 
only physical attacks, they won't be needing their JP and so they're 
perfect for Tower! (But remember to cast any other necessary spells 
before doing so, like LightSword.) If you are using Tower then 
remember to have only ONE member cast it per round to maximize combo 
opportunities, since Tower won't combo with itself, having more than 
one character using it will waste it, doing only minimal damage. 
This spell works fine for Mystics though, but be sure you absorb a 
good skill into their Mystic weapon so they have something to use 
afterwards. Even better is to use this spell with ShadowServant 
activated where you'll double the damage of your Tower. I managed to 
inflict approximately 25,000 damage with Dr. Nusakan and his shadow!

Note, if you're casting this spell through certain aid that lets you 
keep your JP afterwards (ie, OverDrive) then this spell will not 
inflict as much damage as it should, usually minimum damage is what 
you get. Like wise, casting Tower again through TimeTwister will 
also weaken it (usually the damage of the second casting is less 
than 1000!).

Rune Magic

"Rune Light protects users from the dark force. Counters with Arcane 
Magic."

You can buy Rune Magic also from Devin. You can ask the man in the 
Lure of the Rune about the gift and he'll give you 4 stones and 
tells you to collect 4 Runes from different Regions.
The Victory Rune is in Mu's Tomb in Shrike
The Vitality Rune is in Tanzer
The Hide Rune is in Koorong
The Freedom Rune is in Despair
Like Arcane Magic, only characters who are in your team when you 
obtain all 4 of the Runes will gain the gift. You may collect Arcane 
Magic also but not until you gain all 4 of the Runes. If you get one 
Rune and then a Card, you'll never be able to obtain the gift for 
both magic schools so don't do that.

VictoryRune
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: WEA up

                                    ^ 


One of the more useful Runes. This lets the ally do about 1/3 more 
damage with their physical attacks, which doesn't mean much with 
normal attacks but when you're using DSC or LifeSprinkler, the 
damage is increased by thousands! It's good to have when fighting 
bosses but to save room for your skills, you can equip a RuneSword 
which has this spell built-in and use that. Since this affects only 
physical attacks, magic users will gain nothing with this so just 
skip it.

VitalityRune
Cost: 2JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Regeneration

                                    | 
                                    |/|


Another pretty useful Rune. This will let you gain about 10% of your 
maximum HP at the end of each round. It's very useful against the 
last boss as this can heal most of the damage so you can concentrate 
on attacking. You probably don't need this if your HP is high enough 
though.

HideRune
Cost: 2JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Invisibility



A pretty useless Rune. This makes the target invisible but if they 
do anything other than healing or aiding themselves (or defending) 
then they'll immediately come out of hiding. Enemies will ignore a 
hidden character but multi-target attack can still hit the 
character, a hidden ally will not come out of hiding when they get 
hit though. The only use for this spell I have found is when you 
want to defend a character from dangerous attack, (such as your hero 
when his/her LP gets low) but you could just use a manual-counter 
skill instead.

FreedomRune
Cost: 4JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Status invulnerabilities

 as a pink cone shaped barrier 
                                   | appears above the character>

This spell protects the ally from the Stone, Palsy and Sleep status. 
It's actually not as useful against the bosses since this won't 
prevent the more "serious" status like Charm and Mess. Also, 
equipping PurpleEyes and you'll be able to avoid most of these. If 
you're Riki then you have no reason to bother with this. Ignore this 
and give Grail to someone instead!

WallRune*
Cost: 8JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Shield

    / 
<  /   The caster draws the Wall Rune and 2 perpendicular sets of 
  /|/  rings surrounds the target, shielding them with blue 
   /   translucent barriers>
  /|/
   /
  /

This gives the character a shield which will prevent from one long-
range attack, afterwards it shatters. This is rather useless and 
costs TOO much so give your character the Mystic magic GlassShield 
instead.

DwarfRune*
Cost: 8JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: STR down




Another high cost, low use spell. This will lower the attack of one 
enemy but A LOT but rarely works. The Arcane spell Fool can be used 
as a substitute but I can't think of any reason you'd want to. Has 
the same use as Fool but the chances are that you can't get it to 
work because the rate of success is too low.

SoulRune*
Cost: 7JP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Stats up

                                 ^ 

                                 v

(The actual Rune is the above rotated by 90 degrees.)

This is the real reason that I bother with Rune magic. This will 
vastly increase all stats of the caster, very useful against the 
last boss. I usually give this to someone who's using DSC as the 
damage done is increased by a few thousand! This is less useful for 
sword or magic users though but never the less, a good spell. 

SoulRune will last 4 rounds and afterwards your character will loose 
1LP but it's worth it IMO but it's notworth it to cast this spell 
again after it wears off.

StasisRune*
Cost: ALL JP (minimum 8JP)        Target: User and one enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Stasis

                                      ^
 

(The above ASCII Rune needs to be rotated 90 degrees.)

The ultimate Rune spell is also the most useless one. This causes 
the caster and one enemy to go in stasis, a special type of 
Paralysis where neither character and act or be affected, for a very 
long time. The effect lasts about 5-9 rounds, the more JP you have 
the longer it lasts. Useless as it does nothing and takes all your 
JP. This spell does have 2 special effects. The first is when you 
equip this and a RuneSword, the Mirage Magic Cockatrice will 
mysteriously appears under VictoryRune in that window. The second 
effect is when you cast this spell as the last action you do while 
in an OverDrive, you'll be able to save all your bullets, WP and JP 
that it supposes to be stripped away. For this reason, always try to 
get the gift for Rune magic on TimeLord. Note that you can remove 
the Stasis effect with SnakeOil, Grail or Vortex. If you don't want 
to wait for the effect to wear off on the enemy then get Kylin to 
cast Vortex.

---My Thoughts on Symbol Magic---
Unlike many other players, I consider both schools to be equally 
good, although Arcane Magic has a slight advantage because of the 
damage potential of Tower. 

* Magic users should definitely choose Arcane Magic because since 
all the Runes has no direct effect, therefore having a high magic 
power does not have any additional advantage.

* Sword users should choose Arcane but make sure that you have at 
least 2 sword users on your team who has LifeSprinkler, then let one 
of them cast Tower and the other use LifeSprinkler, and swap the 
next round. You'll have a very high chance of getting a Tower-
LifeSprinker (or better) combo doing over 9000 damage! For example, 
Emelia and Gen both has Tower and LifeSprinkler. I let Emelia cast 
Tower and Gen back her up with LifeSprinkler, giving me a high 
chance of getting them to combo. The next round I let Emelia use 
LifeSprinkler and Gen use Tower, I have another chance of doing the 
combo. This works best if Emelia and Gen have similar QUI. If you 
have more than 2 sword users, let the excess sword users use 
something that can go before Tower or after LifeSprinkler.

* Fighting characters should choose Rune Magic, especially if 
they're goin' to use DSC. SoulRune can increase the damage done a 
LOT!

* Gun characters can choose either. Since gun attacks won't do much 
damage, you can have them cast stats-uppers without loosing much 
offence. Or they can follow the sword users with Tower.

* Mystics should choose Arcane Magic, especially when paired with 
ShadowServant, but make sure you get a good skill on their Mystic 
weapon after you blow away all your JP.

* Try get Rune Magic on TimeLord because of the Overdrive/StasisRune 
trick. The same goes for Blue but since he can get both, it doesn't 
matter.

* All of the above are just guidelines but if for some reason your 
character can't get the gift for Arcane Magic, don't panic because 
SoulRune works just fine!

---Dimensional---

Time Magic

"Users can command time at will. Very powerful, but very difficult 
to acquire. Counters with Space Magic."

TimeLord has all the Time spells, you may either get him to join or 
buy the lower levels of Time Magic from him. To reach TimeLord, look 
in the character evaluation section on how to recruit TimeLord. Only 
one being in the entire universe can have the gift for Time Magic.

DelayOrder
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: QUI down



This lowers the enemy's quickness but rarely works so don't bother 
with it. You can get the same effect from TimeEclipse and do damage 
at the dame time. 

TimeLeap
Cost: 3JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Stun



Another rather useless spell that attempts to end the enemy's turn 
but if you whip out this too slow as the enemy already had its turn 
then this does nothing. Ok ok, I must change my description since 
Cajon1 wrote in saying this:

"...It is hands down the most overpowered, unfair spell in the game. 
Contrary to what your FAQ says, Time Leap has a 100% success rate, and 
I've never seen any monstaer that is immune to it. With Time Leap, a lot 
of JP and a really fast character, you can beat several of the final 
bosses without them ever even getting a turn. With Overdrive/Stasis 
(which I never use BTW since that trick is clearly a glitch) it is at 
least possible to lose."

Ok, so it turns out to have 100% success rate (!!) but you'll need a 
VERY fast mage to use this. Geez, combined with TimeEclipse, TimeTwister 
and OverDrive, you simply CANNOT beat Time Magic. What was Square 
thinking?

ChaosStream
Cost: 9JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Unblockable                 Status: Various



It looks cool, it has high costs but this spell is actually really 
weak. The damage done is rather random, maximum of about 1000 and 
minimum of 80 or so. Also, all enemies affected takes different 
damage from one another, you could inflict maximum damage to one 
while minimum harm to the other. ChaosStream can also cause various 
status on the enemy but they happen extremely rarely, I have seen 
Palsy and Sleep but I bet there are others too. Don't use this, 
ReverseGravity is much better but for TimeLord, this maybe his only 
mass attack spell.

TimeEclipse
Cost: 4JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Instant Death/Unblockable   Status: Stone



This attempts to instantly kill an enemy by petrifying them with a 
VERY high chance of success! It's the best instant kill spell in the 
game IMO, since it works over 90% of the time and there are no side 
effects. If this doesn't kill off the enemy (or the enemy is immune 
to Petrify) then this will do normal damage, usually about 600-1000 
and has a high chance of vastly decreases their QUI! Always keep 
this on TimeLord (if you got him) when not fighting bosses. Try this 
on as many enemies as you can, you never know who is susceptible to 
Petrify!

TimeTwister*
Cost: 5JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Double action

  

This is one of the best spells in the game and one of the two 
reasons why TimeLord is one of the best characters in the game! This 
will make the ally act twice that turn, performing their action 
twice. This works especially well on characters with DSC. If you 
cast this on a character who has ShadowServant activated, then that 
character and his shadow will act again, effectively doing four 
times as much damage as normal! Since Mystics don't have much damage 
potential, let TimeLord cast this spell on a Human who has DSC or 
something, each and every round. This practically gives TimeLord the 
damage potential of a Human! Note casting this spell on yourself 
will simply waste it. Like wise, multiple casting of this on the 
same character in the same round won't have any additional effect.

OverDrive*
Cost: 10JP                        Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Infinite speed



The ultimate magic in the game the second equivalent of KOTR. This 
automatically comes out first in the round and everyone else on the 
screen will freeze as the animation takes place. The turn will end 
and the caster will gain infinite speed in the next round where he 
can use whatever actions he wishes. Your magic strength (or maybe JP 
max) determines the number of actions you can take. You will have to 
enter all the commands at once. There are only two characters in the 
whole game can get this, TimeLord and Blue/Rouge. Blue can have a 
maximum of 8 actions while TimeLord/Rouge gets only 7 actions 
maximum for some reason. Any actions you take will cost nothing but 
you must have enough WP or JP there, so you can cast Tower for all 
these turns. When OverDrive expires, you'll find out that all your 
WP, JP and bullets (guns and cannon) are gone!!! Yup, this can be 
really powerful it has some awful side effects. 

There is however, a way around this. Make sure you cast the Rune 
Magic StasisRune as the last action you take. All your WP, JP and 
bullets will remain intact, which means that every action you used 
inside the OverDrive is free! You will have to pay 10JP for the 
OverDrive though. Also, if you do use StasisRune last, you'll create 
a very intersting situation where you'll be able to take as many 
actions as you had in the OverDrive every round after the OverDrive! 
Use this opportunity to cast stat-uppers or attack intensely. 
ShadowServant complements this very well, activate it as the first 
action and every action inside the OverDrive will then be doubled. 
Have someone with the Grail spell or SnakeOil handy and use it on 
Blue/Rouge or TimeLord or know him out of stasis if you want. But 
note you will remove the ShadowServent this way also.

You have a few choices of actions inside the OverDrive. Blue/Rouge 
have many choices, such as their best sword/fighting techs, Tower or 
MegaWindBlast. TimeLord however, the situation is a bit difficult, 
since he can't use sword or fighting skills and is unable to use 
MegaWindBlast or Tower because these are of the opposite schools to 
ShadowServant and StasisRune. 

Note you *can* combo with yourself in the round after you come out 
of Stasis when you can take multiple actions, but you can't combo 
with yourself directly. You have to find someone to link your moves 
together. I have achieved a level 3 combo RosarioImpale-Tower-
RosarioImpale with Blue and Liza.

Space Magic

"Control space. Very powerful, but hard to master. Counters with 
Time Magic."

Kylin has all the Space spells, you may either get Kylin to join you 
or purchase the lower level Space Magic from him. To reach Kylin, 
look in Kylin's character description below on how to recruit him.

Vortex, LightShift and DarkShift cannot be comboed. I'm not sure 
about Vanish.

VaporBlast
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: None



Perhaps the best 1JP attack in the game. It's blockable however but 
can do about 300-1000 damage. Give this to your Human magic users so 
they can use this for free but Mystics have better spells to bother 
with. If you have Kylin on your team, have him use this in normal 
fights and he'll be able to do a LOT of damage for a tiny price. 

A Monster can absorb this as well, from the AirFolks I think.

Vanish
Cost: 3JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Instant Death               Status: Feint



Another pretty strong instant death attack but it's not as good as 
TimeEclipse IMO because an enemy killed this way will give you no 
rewards, very much like FlashFlood. Use this if you're Kylin but 
everyone else has better skills.

ReverseGravity
Cost: 6JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Unblockable                 Status: Stun



One of the best multiple attack skills in the game, it doesn't do 
nearly as much damage as MegaWindBlast though, but this does have 
many advantages. The most obvious one is that ReverseGravity cannot 
be blocked, which comes in really handy at times. (Nothing p*sses me 
off more than delivering a powerful spell that gets blocked!) 
Another reason is that this does not require the gift and the JP 
costing is really reasonable, probably the best damage/JP mass 
attack spell. Against single target LifeWave is slightly better. 
This does carry a heavy price tag of 1200 Credits though, but I'd 
say it's worth it! Get this on as many characters as you can (except 
TimeLord of course), especially those Mystics of yours who went for 
Shadow Magic (therefore unable to obtain MegaWindBlast.) This can do 
from 500-2000 damage, combos well and the Stun effect is pretty 
common.

LightShift
Cost: 1JP                         Target: All
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A



Not the prettiest spell nor is it of much use. This brings the sun, 
which has no direct effect. Any Monster with the DeathSynthesis will 
stop gaining HP and any Monsters with the PhotoSynthesis skill will 
start to gain HP. A handy spell to use against those undead bosses 
that gains back 750HP or so each round (like King Sei.) If you're 
strong enough though, you won't be needing this but if you like 
Monsters then get them PhotoSynthesis so they can take advantage of 
the regeneration effect. Just put this on at least one of your party 
member just in case.

DarkShift*
Cost: 1JP                         Target: All
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A



The counter spell of LightShift is from the higher level for some 
weird reason. This is even less useful than LightShift since there 
ain't any big ugly plant-type bosses in the game. You can cast this 
so your Monsters with DeathSynthesis can have the benefit of 
regeneration though, and this is the only way to heal your undead 
Monsters (since they can't be healed through normal means.) But my 
advice is to trade your DeathSynthesis for PhotoSynthesis (if 
possible) and get LightShift instead since Kylin is the only one who 
can use this spell. 

Vortex*
Cost: 3JP                         Target: All
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Remove status



Another all affecting spell, this can be useful or pointless 
dependant on the situation. This removes all status (both good and 
bad) from both the enemies and the allies. This can be handy when 
all your characters had been Paralyzed, Asleep or Poisoned but don't 
use this when you just powered yourselves up with LightSword, 
ShadowServant, Shield or the various Runes as this spell negates 
them as well. This spell can remove positive status from bosses as 
well but since they rarely use them, you rarely get this advantage. 

---My Thoughts on Dimensional Magic---
Since there're only two characters in the entire universe who can 
get the gift, the answer is easy. The higher Time Magic are godly 
powerful and the lower Space magic are useful so I'd get TimeLord on 
my team (his TimeTwister and OverDrive is worth every bit of you LP 
you traded to get him!) and buy the lower Space Magic from Kylin. 
The good spells to get from Kylin are ReverseGravity (a MUST! But do 
carry a hefty wallet with you because this is going to do some MAJOR 
damage to your credit card) and VaporBlast. 

---Magery---  (true that this is not a real word, but it's in the 
manual *Grin*)

Realm Magic

"An ancient secret from our kingdom that allows its user to command 
supernatural forces. Counters with Mystic Magic."

You may buy the lower Realm Magic from Magic Kingdom. Males born in 
Magic Kingdom will have the inherit ability of casting all the Realm 
spells. Only Blue and Rouge start with the gift for Realm Magic, 
otherwise the gift is unobtainable. 

EnergyChain
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: Palsy



Does about as much damage as VaporBlast. This is the only spell I 
know of that can be up-graded so the chain of energy entangles the 
enemies and causes the Palsy status. I'm not sure about this but I 
think this spell will be up-graded when the caster learns the full 
set of Realm Magic. The chains will choke the enemy from then on but 
the chance of it leaving a Palsy status is actually quite rare.

The time when it gets upgraded is when the sum of the caster's 
mental stats (ie, MAG+WIL+PSY) gets to 124 or above.

The Unicorn also uses this spell. Get it if you want, it's pretty 
decent for a Monster.

Implosion
Cost: 3JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: Feint



Slightly more damaging than EnergyChain but the real reason to use 
it is because of the Feint effect. This has a good chance of killing 
the enemy in one hit. The effect is especially noticeable early in 
the game but not as good later. A real disadvantage is that this can 
be blocked.

PsychoArmor
Cost: 2JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: PSY up, VIT up



This makes the target more resistant to attacks and status by 
increasing their VIT and PSY. It's rather crappy since you don't 
really need it and there are better spells like SoulRune that have 
better effects.

I have seen LivingArmor use this spell but I don't think this spell 
is useful enough to waste you time on it.

Gate*
Cost: 0JP                         Target: All allies
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A



This works with Blue's RegionMap to instantly teleport to any Region 
that he has been to before. De-equip this as it still works even if 
you don't have this equipped. Note Rouge will have this spell when 
he joins in other character's scenarios but you can't use his 
RegionMap.

PsychicPrison*
Cost: 7JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Spell backfire 



This seals the enemy's magic and if they attempt to cast a magic 
spell of any school, it will cause the spell to be reflected by the 
shell and backfires, damages the enemy. The damage should be what 
they should have done to you but if the spell is of a miscellaneous 
effect, then it will do for minimum damage. Once a spell had been 
reflected, the shell is broken and the caster much cast the spell 
again. This spell is IMO made for Blue's quest only as is helps out 
tremendously in the fight against TimeLord/Kylin and Rouge. But in 
other character's scenarios, this is very useless since they won't 
face any magic using enemies. For a skill to be classified as a 
spell, it must have two features. First that it must consume JP (not 
WP) and second it must belong to one of the 12 schools. For example, 
Kylin's VaporBlast is a spell since it costs 1JP and belongs to the 
school of Space Magic but Kylin's SacredSong is not because it costs 
WP and does not belong to any school. 

VermillionSand*
Cost: 8JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Long-range                  Status: Blind



Pretty good mass attack spell that does 800-2000 damage and is 
slightly stronger than ReverseGravity. De-equip this when you get 
MegaWindBlast though as it does more damage and has better combo 
ability. I like ReverseGravity better though.

Mystic Magic

"Used by the Mystics of Facinaturu. Counters with Realm Magic."

Mystic spells can be bough in Facinaturu. All Mystics will start 
with the gift for Mystic Magic, otherwise it's unobtainable.

Fascination
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Charm



This spell attempts to Charm an enemy. This spell is more effective 
with higher CHA scores so if you want to use this, give it to 
Emelia, Lute or Rei. A Charmed enemy will not attack themselves but 
may hit themselves with a mass attack. If no other enemy is around, 
then the Charmed enemy will simply do nothing. This can be quite 
useful when a powerful enemy gets Charmed but the effect usually 
lasts no more than 2 rounds or so.

PhantasmShot
Cost: 3JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range/Unblockable      Status: Various



There are 5 different phantasms that comes randomly, they're the 
same as the Mirage Magic one so look there for the details. All 
phantasms do similar damage and each one of them may inflict a 
status. Usually, the lower level phantasms are more common than the 
higher level ones. The higher your WIL the more likely you'll leave 
a status. It's the most fun when you get your Mystic a WIL of 99 
because this spell will almost always leave a status. Also note that 
a PurpleEye has this spell as a built-in tech so you can save a slot 
by equipping those excellent accessories.

I have seen this spell being cast by some Mystic-like enemies but 
I'm not sure if you can absorb a Mystic. It's much easier to just 
equip a PurpleEye and use this from there.

GlassShield
Type: 5JP                         Target: User
Type: Auto-defence/Auto-counter   Status: None



This spell creates a shield which can defend the caster from one 
attack and may counter the attacker. Most attacks will break the 
shield but if the enemy decides to use a short-range attack, they 
will break the glass and gets impaled by it (OUCH!) taking a good 
bit of approximately 800 points of damage. The shield can block one 
attack only and mass attacks won't break the glass. This is the 
spell that makes Mystic Magic stand out, I usually give this to most 
of my characters and let them whip this out during bosses. 

MirrorShade*
Cost: 7JP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: N/A



This looks a lot like the Arcane Magic Magician. An enemy can't tell 
the difference between the illusion and the ally. An attack directed 
at the illusion will destroy it but this won't kill the attacker 
like the Arcane Magic. Like wise, casting this is also pointless 
against enemies with multiple target attacks as one hit destroy all 
the illusions. IMO, this is more superior to Magician because it 
lets you create more illusions and is quite useful against some 
bosses. A maximum number of 5 illusions can exist on screen at the 
same time. 

---My Thoughts on Magery Magic---
Go with the Mystics! Give GlassShield to as many characters as you 
can because it's a very good defence spell. You can save money by 
not purchasing PhantasmShot and equip PurpleEyes instead. There is 
no point giving the lower level Realm spells to your physical 
fighters since they have next to no magic strength and they are also 
too weak to be much use to magic users. All Realm Magic has better 
substitutes. Of course, you wouldn't want to trade the your Mystic's 
"gift" for the weak Realm Magic, but you may want to do the conflict 
magic schools trick below to impress your friends. The only time you 
should keep the Realm magic is with Rouge who can master 
VermillionSand. 

---Spiritual---

Mind Magic

"Allows users to bring out the power of their own spirit. It can 
only be used by Humans. Counters with Evil Magic."

You may buy Mind Magic from the Doujou in Kyo. To gain the gift ask 
the girl in the Doujou about the gift and she'll ask if you'd like 
to train for it. Answer yes and all your Humans will have to fight 
one on one against some easy enemies. You'll be given a picture of 
the enemy and 3 Humans to select from. The only enemy to look out 
for is the Lich, who has a CounterFear barrier and the DeathTouch 
attack that can knowck you out in one hit, save your strongest Human 
for it. All other enemies are pretty weak, can be killed in one hit. 
Any Human who looses will not be able to obtain the gift.

MindHeal
Cost: 2JP                         Target: User
Type: Healing                     Status: None



A very good healing spell for a very reasonable price and will heal 
the caster's HP to maximum. The only real disadvantage is that the 
caster cannot heal other allies and only Humans can get this spell. 
Definitely equip this on all your Humans when fighting bosses so 
they can all fend for themselves. This spell is especially important 
if you want to fight GenocideHeart with Humans since he can do a lot 
of damage. This spell might cure status as well.

SpellBound
Cost: 2JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Palsy



Can Paralyze the enemy but the effect usually won't last for more 
than 2 rounds and this can target only one enemy. If you are looking 
for a Paralyzing effect spell, ShadowNets is better since it can 
target all enemies.

Evaporate
Cost: 2JP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Invisibility



This works just like HideRune so the uses are identical. The enemy 
will not target an invisible character but you can be hit by multi-
target attacks. If you attack or affect a character other than 
yourself, the spell will be broken. Hmm, I wonder what the enemy 
will do if your whole team is invisible.

LifeWave*
Cost: 2JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: None



A very good spell to put into combos and also combos with itself. 
Does very good damage for 2JP, can do as much as 1500 or so to one 
target, since there ain't very many good Human magic users (Rouge 
does not qualify since he can't get the gift) in the game, this 
spell is wasted. Make sure you get this if you're using Doll. 
Remember how I said that ReverseGravity is the best damage per JP 
spell? Well, I've changed my mind because LifeWave is a whole lot 
cheaper so it deserves the title!

Awakening*
Cost: 2JP                         Target: User
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Stats up



A substitute for SoulRune as it has the same effect only cheaper 
casting cost. But you'll soon realize the disadvantages! All WP and 
JP costs will be DOUBLED! That means 36WP for DSC, 20WP for 
LifeSprinkler etc.... This spell can be used like SoulRune for short 
battles but NEVER ever use this spell in long battles, as it will 
drain your WP and JP like crazy!

Evil Magic

"Also known as Curse Magic. Counters with Mind Magic."

Zozma the Mystic will start with 4 Evil spells but he does not have 
the gift. I have heard that there are more Evil spells but I haven't 
seen them yet. I know that some undead enemies have the access to 
Evil spells as well, even ones that Zozma hasn't got. If you're 
lucky enough to absorb an Evil spell I suggest that you keep it. The 
gift is unobtainable.

RavaShot
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: None



Pretty good attack can do 300 or so damage but since Zozma has only 
4 slots to equip magic, he should spend his time on better spells. 
Few undead enemies also use this spell and should be able to be 
absorbed by your Monsters.

PainDoubler
Cost: 1JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Unblockable                 Status: None

<>

Zozma's multiple target attack. This spell doubles the damage the 
enemy has already taken but it's not as good as it sounds, because 
its maximum damage potential is 666. PainDoubler can go in combos 
though but I'm not too sure how it works but my best guess is that 
this spell still does 666 damage but will increase the damage done 
by the attacks linked to it.

SharpPain
Cost: 1JP                         Target: All enemies
Type: Miscellaneous               Status: Stun



The best Evil Magic. This spell automatically comes out at the first 
(usually but can loose its priority to OverDrive, Shield etc.) and 
attempts to Stun all enemies. This spell has a fairly high chance of 
taking effect but make sure you get Zozma a high WIL as to have the 
best effect. The casting cost is also pretty cheap. If Zozma cast 
this spell in succession the enemies will have a very small chance 
to act but there ain't very many situations where this spell can be 
truly helpful. Most encounters are too weak that they can't do very 
much damaging and this spell often links with your Human skills 
therefore ruins your chances of learning new techs on powerful 
enemies.

I stumped into an interesting situation once. SharpPain always comes 
out first right? Well, that's usually true. The enemy cast this 
spell on me once but some of my characters got to act before this 
spell was cast and they ain't even using pre-emptive attacks! I 
guess this spell is slightly better for Zozma than for the enemies.

DeathCurse
Cost: 4JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Instant Death               Status: Feint



If the sigils touch the enemy then they'll be kill but if the sigils 
stay in place for a few seconds then it's bad new because they'll 
come back to take 1LP from Zozma, just like the Arcane spell. I like 
the Arcane Magic Death better as it has the same JP cost but targets 
multiple enemies. There are better instant death spells especially 
one that won't punish you when it fails such as Vanish.

---My Thoughts on Spiritual Magic---
Since only Zozma (and maybe a lucky Monster) can get Evil Magic, 
there's no point not to give every Human you can Mind Magic. 
Monsters maybe able to absorb Evil Magic from some undead Monsters, 
even the ones Zozma hasn't got! (But it's really hard, I haven't got 
them yet.) I usually train for the gift for Mind Magic when I have 3 
full teams, so all my Humans can obtain it. Use Zozma if you want 
but I don't think the Evil Magic is very good but you may think 
different.

---Unaligned---

Mirage Magic

"Ancient lost magic. It's been divided into Shadow and Mirage 
Magic."

Rei has the gift for Mirage Magic and starts the game with the full 
set. The gift is unobtainable through other means.

All Mirage spells are interchangeable with the Mystic spell 
PhantasmShot in terms of combos.

BlackCat
Cost: 1JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Long-range                  Status: Mess



A rather weak Mirage Magic overall but it's cheap to cast. This may 
inflict a Mess status on the enemy and always starts from Blue Mess. 
Each subsequent casting may upgrade it to a more severe degree of 
Mess, but this is rather pointless in many ways. The enemy usually 
recovers before you can get them to the Red Mess status (or recovers 
immediately after it) and you may not achieve Mess from the casting 
of this spell. If you want Rei to bother with Mirage spells then get 
her a high WIL so she can use these with maximum effect (that goes 
with PhantasmShot too.) This is also the only Mirage Magic that's 
blockable, very annoying!

NightMare
Cost: 2JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: Sleep



A better phantasm than BlackCat as it does slightly more damage and 
Sleep is a bit more useful than Mess. Note however, if you hit a 
Sleeping target they will wake up and if they wake up on the same 
round as they fell asleep (ie, getting hit right after the casting 
of this spell) they'll still be able to act that round! (Thus the 
Sleep status has no effect.) Don't bother with this on the bosses, 
use better phantasms instead.

Jackal
Cost: 3JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable                 Status: Venom



Not as good as NightMare in normal encounters IMO since the Venom 
status does very little damage but helpful on bosses. Does about the 
same damage. Since Rei gets only 4 slots, I don't usually waste a 
slot with this spell.

Cockatrice
Cost: 6JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable/Instant Death   Status: Petrify



Does slightly more damage than the above, the best Mirage Magic IMO. 
This can Petrify the target, killing it in one hit. The problem with 
this is that it's not as dependable as an instant-petrify attack 
like TimeEclipse and doesn't do as much damage as DarkSphere, you 
often achieve the effect you don't want, very unpredictable! Works 
almost as well as TimeEclipse but if you have that spell, why bother 
with this?

Reaper
Cost: 7JP                         Target: One enemy
Type: Unblockable/Instant Death   Status: Feint



The most damaging Mirage Magic but the damage difference between 
this and BlackCat is only about 200. Like Cockatrice, this is also 
very unreliable instant death spell, use better ones if you have it 
and the JP cost is too high for the damage you get!

---My Thoughts on Mirage Magic---
The ancient lost magic ain't as good as you'd think. If you want the 
phantasms, use PhantasmShot instead as it costs less (you get 
BlackCat most of the time though, but I really don't think you 
should bother with the phantasms.) I usually equip only one of these 
(usually Cockatrice) and leave 3 slots for better spells. They don't 
look too cool either, don't expect the phantasms to be like the 
Summon magic in FFVII or even the Espers in FFVI!

Life Magic

"Only one who masters both Light and Shadow Magic can get this... 
the ultimate magic."

Blue (Rouge) automatically obtain the gift and both Life spells when 
he beats/gets beaten by Rouge. Otherwise the gift is unobtainable.

Sacrifice
Cost: 2JP, 1LP                    Target: All allies (Special)
Type: Healing                     Status: N/A



Very useful spell indeed! This works exactly like Alkaiser's 
FinalCrusade and Mesarthim's LifeRain. The caster sacrifices 1LP of 
their own and heals all allies but himself by the caster's maximum 
HP plus one, so keep Blue's max HP high to achieve the best effect. 
This has the same pitfalls too! Don't EVER use this with 
ShadowServant activated because it will drain 2 of your LP at once! 
Since Blue has the lowest LP maximum of all main characters (and 
especially if you traded your LP for items in Facinaturu) use 
caution when using this as you may let your LP get too low and 
accidentally ruin your game!

Reviva
Cost: 9JP                         Target: One ally
Type: Healing                     Status: Reviva



The ultimate magic is back from Romancing SaGa 3, this time with a 
new appearance! This is essentially one of the best spells in the 
game and why Blue is one of the top characters. When a character 
with this spell cast on them falls unconscious, this will instantly 
revives to maximum HP the character with NO LP LOSS! You're 
essentially immortal! Cast this on Blue when fighting his last boss 
just to be safe but you probably won't need it if you spend about 10 
hours building up your characters in every game like I do. Note 
Vortex WILL remove Reviva so don't use it!

---My Thoughts on Life Magic---
What can I say, the ultimate magic is the ultimate magic! Life Magic 
has only 2 spells but they're both excellent ones. It's a shame that 
only Blue/Rouge can get it, these will only make him more powerful 
than ever (like if he isn't god-like powerful already!) 

---Tips on Magic---
1) Note the elemental attributes of an enemy. Elemental attributes 
ain't as important in SaGa Frontier as Final Fantasy but they still 
exists, if only vaguely. Most spells are non-elemental types but 
there are some slight exceptions. For example, most of the Light 
Magic are fire elemental, which will do almost no damage on an enemy 
with a flame-barrier (ie, Suzaku.) Common sense is the best way to 
determine an enemy's weakness.
2) Gun users are potentially good mages, just make sure they have 
enough JP to spend.
3) The ULTIMATE magician is no doubt Blue. Rouge, Doll and the 
Mystics are no where near as powerful as him but are good magicians 
too.
4) Conserve your JP. Don't blow all your JP out on Tower on the 
first round of the last boss, you won't get anywhere that way! Plan 
your attacks and use Tower when the boss is almost dead.
5) Magic makes a terrible main damage source (except Tower, which is 
one of the best in the game) but many of the none-damaging spells 
are quite useful, especially when used as supports by your other 
characters.
6) A few of Mystics has unique schools of magic that so one else can 
get. If you like magic, then these characters are your best bets on 
Mystic characters.


HUMAN DODGE SKILLS
==================
These are weird skills that Humans can learn that doesn't really fit 
anywhere. Occasionally, when a Human gets attacked, their instincts 
take over and they roll out of the way of the dangerous attack, 
taking no harm but learn the true nature of the attack so they can 
evade similar attacks in the future. A dodge skill is very much like 
the automatic defence skills such as Deflect. If you have a certain 
dodge skill equipped, your character can and will evade attacks of 
that type. I actually don't find these skills very useful because 
equipping shields, Deflect or accessories can block most of them. 
Equip them if you want but I'd rather spend one of my slots on a 
better and more useful skill.

There ain't any extremely good ways to learn these skills, they're 
very random. I'd say not bother too much about it because you don't 
need them. The only dodge tech I find useful is DodgeGale and 
DodgeGaze. The former can be blocked by shield and the latter can be 
substituted by equipping PurpleEyes. DodgeSeduction can save your 
life but the enemy rarely uses charm attacks. 

---Dodge skill list---
DodgeRock
  Evades: Rock
DodgeNeedle
  Evades: Needle, PoisonNeedle
DodgeGale
  Evades: GaleAttack
DodgeDeathGrip
  Evades: DeathGrip
DodgeThunder
  Evades: ThunderBolt
DodgePower
  Evades: Spore, 
DodgeFlash
  Evades: Flash
DodgeGaze
  Evades: StunGaze, StoneGaze, DeathGaze, CharmGaze, HyperGaze
DodgeSmash
  Evades: Trample, 
DodgeNet
  Evades: BladeNet, SpiderNet
DodgeSeduction
  Evades: Seduction, Pheromone
DodgeTackle
  Evades: Tackle, Dash
DodgeWing
  Evades: Wing, HellWing, 
DodgeTail
  Evades: Tail, TailHit
DodgeTremor
  Evades: Tremor, Quake


THE IDEAL HUMAN CHARACTER
=========================
This section is a guide to build a perfect (well, nearly) character 
you want. I'll divide them into sections depends on what you train 
your characters in. Notice that there are sections on "hybrid" 
characters, these are Humans that uses more than one type of skills 
but relies on one type of skill as their main weapon. I recommend 
you "hybridize" your characters because the advantage of using more 
than one type of skill is majorly helpful!

---Sword Users---
The most important statistics to a sword user is STR! High WP will 
be useful when unleashing powerful attacks. A high WIL can be 
helpful but since the ultimate LifeSprinkler is unblockable, WIL is 
irrelevant when you can't miss. High QUI is good too. 

For a start, you should ALWAYS carry 2 swords! One should be very 
powerful normal sword (60+ attack power, ZeroSwords are good, but if 
you have something better equip it), the second should be a Katana. 
(You can buy Katana with 34 attack power, but you should equip 
something better if you have it.) You should attack with the first 
sword and use all techs from it as it does the most damage. The 
Katana should be used when you want to learn a Katana tech (or 
skills that are learnt more easily with Katanas), use a Katana tech 
or do limited damage. Equipping both swords will allow you to learn 
2-Sword skills as well. I also recommend equipping a shield.

Try to learn the counter and defence moves as soon as possible.

I recommend you fill your skill slots with something like this:
1. Deflect
2. Kasumi
3. Mass attack: 2GaleSlash/Haze-to-Wheel
4. Something powerful such as NoMoment or LifeSprinkler
5. DoubleSlash or HeadWind
6. A base attack for learning advanced techs
7. _empty_
8. _empty_

This is what your fighter should equip during normal fights and when 
you're building up. The first two are obvious defence manoeuvres. A 
multiple target attack is highly recommended to get rid of large 
groups of enemies and a powerful attack is for sticky situations, 
use it as a desperation move when you're in trouble. Slot number 5 
is there simply to save WP, since you're likely to have a crown 
DoubleSlash is free and HeadWind is the best damage/WP skill to do 
high damage with limited WP. Techs you equip on slot 6 is to learn 
better skills, you should always have an aim of which skill you want 
(such as DeadEnd -> RosarioImpale) not just "I'll try WillowBranch 
and see if anything pops up." I usually trade slot 5 for another 
base learning skill. Note how I left the last 2 slots empty, that's 
because you need empty slots to learn new attacks.

You should manipulate your skills when fighting bosses, I won't list 
it because each boss it different and you need to adjust your skills 
depending on the situation. 

* You should always keep Deflect and Kasumi. 

* Keep the multi-attack when you're facing multiple opponents (such 
as when the boss is accompanied by other enemies). 

* Always have a powerful move but the appropriate move will depend 
on the situation. Having LifeSprinkler will make your life so much 
easier (maybe that's why it's called LifeSprinkler) because it's the 
perfect tech for every situation. If you haven't got it then you 
should choose the best substitute. 

* Get NoMoment on bosses that block. 

* RosarioImpale, TurbidCurrent, NoMoment are good long-range attacks 
that's good on bosses with barriers or counter attacks. (2GaleSlash 
is ok but the damage is so-so.)

* For combos, almost every sword tech will do but be conscious of 
what attacks you want to combo with.

* For power then you can't beat LifeSprikler (I told you it's that 
flexible) but Tres Flores is good too.

---Hybrid Sword Users---
I recommend magic to sword users. Light or Shadow are good schools, 
Tower of Arcane is recommended and Mind. LightSword or ShadowServant 
is perfect and Tower is the best way to blow away all your JP that 
your sword users don't actually need. MindHeal is good for everyone!

You should have your slots filled up with something like this before 
the last fight:
1. Deflect
2. Kasumi
3. LifeSprinkler/Tres Flores
4. LightSword/ShadowServant
5. Tower
6. A good combo attack such as RosarioImpale
7. Anything
8. Anything

For slot number 7 and 8 you can equip anything you want as the first 
6 slots should be enough already. I usually use these slots for 
MindHeal, GlassShield, other support magic or anther sword skill 
(just in case). The reason that you need another sword tech besides 
LifeSprinkler is because that these will act as linkers between the 
LifeSprinklers, as they won't link with themselves. 

---Martial Art Experts---
STR is again very important to your fighter. WIL is good and WP is 
especially important so you can afford the 18WP DSC. High HP and VIT 
are also a good idea since a fighter has less dependable defence 
techniques than a sword user. 

A fighter doesn't have to have any weapon equipped to use their 
fighting skills but definitely carry a good shield for defence. 
Carry some Cures if you can too.

Your slots should be filled up with something like this:
1. SwayBack
2. KO Throw
3. Something powerful like CorkScrew
4. A throwing skill
5. AirThrow
6. Kick
7. _empty_
8. _empty_

The first 2 are for defence but they ain't very good so don't worry 
if you haven't got it or substitute it for something else. The 
throwing skill is unblockable to use against enemies with shields 
and the powerful skill is to use against powerful enemies. AirThrow 
and Kick are equipped so you can learn attacks of the kick and 
throwing type.

For bosses, you may want to equip the 4 DSC moves: Sliding, Suplex, 
BabelCrumble and GiantSwing. Keep the defence moves if you like and 
keep another powerful skill as well.

---Hybrid Fighting Experts---
I like to give my fighters swords because the STR they accumulated 
will be put into good use. Some enemies are also strong against 
empty-handed source of damage and fighting lacks multiple target 
skills so sword skills are excellent for fighting users. There are 
more sword skills than fighting so have your characters use a sword 
when they've learnt most of them. 

Magic is good for anyone so give them to your fighters but the 
guideline for sword users don't apply here. LightSword won't do much 
good and ShadowServant won't work with DSC so just choose whatever. 
SoulRune is good but so is Tower. 

At the end, you should have the below skills:

1. Sliding
2. Suplex
3. BabelCrumble
4. GiantSwing
5. SoulRune or Tower
6. LastShot or CorkScrew
7. Anything
8. Anything

See how I ditched the defence skills. The first 4 skills will nets 
you DSC and #5 is a good spell to cast. An ultimate fighting skill 
is good for combos but you don't actually have to have it when 
you've got DSC (unless in Riki's scenario.) Put anything you want in 
slot 7 and 8.

---Gun Users---
There's no reason what so ever why you'd want a gun user because 
they're really not good! There are no ultimate gun users since they 
have the least damage potential. You can however, build a pretty 
good gun using team by comboing.

The most important statistic is WIL! I am not too sure if INT is 
very important though but everything else doesn't really matter. 
Having everyone with high (and similar) QUI helps when you're trying 
to pull off combos. The WP level doesn't really matter too much 
either because gun techs are really affordable and the TwoGun skill 
helps a lot since it's free.

You don't have to always equip your gun users with 2 guns since they 
can't use both of them until they get TwoGun. I always give shield 
to all my Humans, you should too!

To build a good team of gun users all you need is have everyone 
learn either CrossShot or BoundShot, TwoGun and QuickDraw. Try your 
hands at comboing and you can do something like 20,000+ damage for a 
level 5 combo. TotalShot is pretty good at taking out large groups 
of enemies and having QuickDraw means you can kill them before they 
even have a chance to act!

---Hybrid Gun Users---
Magic is excellent for back ups. Any spell is good as long as it 
does decent damage and combos well. Note Tower combos after 
BoundShot and I have once did 29,000+ damage with 4 BoundShots and 
Tower, pretty good huh?

Since there ain't very many gun skills, your gun users may not learn 
very many skills so if you think you can build up the STR then train 
them in swords too, but make sure you get those scores WIL up!

---Magic Users---
Human magic users simply suck unless you're playing Blue's quest, in 
that case, it's the most powerful. Mystics are covered in the 
Mystic's section so look there for Mystic mages.

Again, WIL is most important but INT is very handy at learning new 
spells. Make sure you have a high JP level too.

Which school you specialize in magic determines the power or your 
magic users. I'd train my mages in Light, Arcane, Space, Mind and 
Mystic (or Realm in the case of Rouge and Blue). The most important 
spells are:
LIGHT: MegaWindBlast
SHADOW: ShadowServant
RUNE: None
ARCANE: Tower, Death
TIME: TimeEclipse (but get TimeLord instead!)
SPACE: ReverseGravity
MYSTIC: GlassShield
REALM: VermillionSand
MIND: LifeWave, MindHeal

On the last boss, try having your magic user combo using 
MegaWindBlast and use Tower when the boss gets low. If you choose 
Shadow magic instead then use ReverseGravity and cast ShadowServant 
few rounds later followed by Tower, this can do 20,000+ damage by 
itself!

---Hybrid Mages---
I'd train my magic users in guns for a few reasons. Guns requires 
the similar stats as magic and that gun skills don't take up very 
much WP as sword or fighting (magic users tend to have low WP.) 
Basically follow the guidelines of hybrid gun users.

---The Master Magician---
This section is made for Blue (or Rouge) in his own scenario since 
he uses different rules than the regular Human mages.

Later in his quest, Blue can use up to 10 schools of magic, even 
opposite schools! This can open up huge numbers of new skill 
combinations. Now he can cast MageWindBlasts with ShadowServant, or 
ReverseGravity in OverDrive! 

Also, Blue has very high mental stats, a 99 in WIL, INT and PSY is 
not uncommon, making his spells do huge amounts of damage.

Equip the following skills when you're playing as Blue:
* ShadowServant
* OverDrive
* StasisRune

Those 3 will allow you to use the OverDrive trick but you need 
something to use in the OverDrive. Below are some good choices:
* MegaWindBlast
* Tower
* LifeSprinkler
* DSC

For some reason, MegaWindBlast will do more damage than Tower. I 
think the effect of Tower is reduces when used in an OverDrive. 
LifeSprinkler is perfect but DSC will not work with ShadowServant. 
Reviva and Sacrifice are both good spells to equip Blue with.


HOW TO BUILD YOUR MYSTIC
========================
Although Mystics ain't as interesting or powerful as Humans, there 
are many good Mystics in this game which would be disappointing if 
you don't give them a go. For a Mystic to be useful enough to be in 
your final team, they need to have good spells, high stats and at 
least one decent damaging skill in their Mystic weapons. Most 
Mystics have low DEF no thanks to the MysticMail that can't be 
removed, which hinders them significantly. They usually die in 2 
hits or so.

If you can get a full team of Mystics (Asellus' quest) then let them 
train together. I know it sounds stupid and it's really not a smart 
idea because 5 Mystics makes a really weak team, but they seem to 
get the most experience after battle. If you have a Mystic in a 
Human team, they tend to gain HP really slowly. Also try to build 
their WP as well as JP, it'll be useful.

The best Mystic in the game is TimeLord with his powerful Time 
Magic. Mesarthim and Dr. Nusarkan are also very good since they can 
wear heavy armor and both have a unique item that can be used in 
battle. Zozma and Rei are also better than others since they can use 
Evil and Mirage spells. 

---Spells to give to your Mystic---
Mystics have only 4 slots to equip magic but it isn't enough so 
you'll have to use 'em sparingly. Every Mystic has the gift for 
Mystic Magic.

I consider Shadow Magic to be more superior than Light to a Mystic. 
Also Arcane Magic is also very good with Tower, especially when 
combined with ShadowServant. TimeLord has some very powerful Time 
spells so get him Rune Magic to do the StasisRune trick with 
OverDrive. For everybody else, get them Arcane and Space Magic so 
they can use Tower and ReverseGravity (except for Mesarthim, who 
starts with the gift for Runes.) Mystics can't use Mind Magic since 
they're for Humans only. Rei has the ancient Mirage spells and Zozma 
has Evil, they're both ok so go for them if you want.

---Monster Absorption---
Since Mystics can't improve most of their stats by fighting normally 
like Humans, they need to absorb some very powerful enemies for the 
best stats, as well as a good skill for them to use. I like to get 
my Mystics high WIL and QUI since they're using magic. A high STR is 
useful when using the powerful Mystic weapon attack GriffithScrach 
and TigerRampage, they're both physical attacks for some reason. I 
won't list all the monsters but just best ones:

Suzaku: All but CHA +20
The phoenix thingies that can be found deep in the Bio Lab in 
Shrike. They are probably the best enemies you can find normally to 
get high stats but the skills they give out are useless. You can get 
FireBreath, HellWing and TitasWave, all of them do little damage. I 
usually get 2 of these and get some other monster with better 
skills. Each Suzakus has 6000HP.

Dullahans: STR, QUI, INT and PSY +20
Not bad. I usually absorb this with MysticSword because it has 
GriffithScratch, a very powerful skill. They have 7500HP.

Genbu: STR, PSY, VIT +20
Not very good stats boost but you can get GriffithScrath from 
MysticSword. Good for early on in the game.

CrystalTree: STR, WIL, PSY, VIT +22
Good but the skills are so-so. You can get the very powerful 
Oscillation with MysticSword but it's a sonic attack. Sonic attacks 
ain't that good because many of the high level monsters are immune 
to it. You can get Crystalizer with MysticGlove.

Kraken: STR, VIT +30
You can get Oscillation and TigerRampage from MysticSword and 
MysticGlove respectively. TigerRampage is very powerful but the 
stats boost ain't all that good.

Thundragon: STR, QUI, VIT +20
Again has the potent GriffithScratch with the sword.

If you're happen to be playing as Blue and you're collecting Space 
Magic, try have a Mystic absorb Kylin for the best stats boost I've 
seen in the game as well as some very good skills!
Kylin: All but CHA +25
You can get GriffithScrach from the sword and TigerRampage from the 
glove, very powerful. 

---The Ultimate Mystic---
A good Mystic has to have a good Mystic weapon skill and have 2 
Suzakus fill the other 2 weapons. 

Avoid accessories when your Mystic is wearing the unmovable 
MysticMail then give them some good helmets, gloves etc... If you're 
using Dr. Nusakan or Mesarthim, give them a suit like a Human and 
some accessories like PurpleEyes. Your Mystic doesn't have to have a 
weapon to use their attacks but I like to give them one just in 
case. A Kusanagi or Asura with a built-in skills is good, but your 
sword users might need them. Definitely give them a good shield and 
I usually give them a gun or cannon and the BackPack some they can 
use items. And put them in the fifth slot so they won't get attacked 
as much. 

Their 4 slots should be filled with something like this (I know all 
Mystics are different but this way seems to make them the most 
useful):
1. ShadowServant
2. Tower
3. GlassShield (or anything)
4. MirrorShade (or anything)

Of course, you have to adjust accordingly to different Mystics, like 
Mesarthim who has Rune or if you want to include Time Magic for 
TimeLord. ReverseGravity is a good spell too if you don't want to 
blow away all your JP. (Sorry that I put ReverseGravity on the 4th 
slot on my last version. I really meant MirrorShade since there's 
really not much point equipping an offensive spell when you're goin' 
to blow you JP away with Tower.) MirrorShade is a good defensive 
spell but ditch it on bosses that use mass attacks often. Basically, 
just use whatever you have.

Now on with strategy. Cast ShadowServant on the first round if you 
can and try not to get hit. Then the second round immediately cast 
Tower. This should do something like 25,000+ damage if you have 100 
or so JP, pretty impressive huh? Now you're gonna wonder what you're 
gonna do. Well, that's why you needed the good Mystic weapon skill 
and because they take up WP not JP. If you don't have one then use 
the Kusanagi or Asura, or a cannon (HyperionBazooka is not bad), or 
throw a MagicStone or just heal if you don't have anything. You 
should still have the ShadowServant active, if not then try combos.

If you want, you may spend the first couple of rounds with stats 
uppers or defensive spells, such as Shield, GlassShield, MirrorShade 
etc. But the boss is already dead after those 2 rounds sometimes 
when I played. Don't bother if you don't want to.

See the character evaluation on TimeLord for his strategy.


HOW TO BUILD YOUR MEC
=====================
Mec are probably the easiest to power up. The Type of a Mec will 
determine its usefulness as some are more powerful than others due 
to their unique skills and equipment. Here's a list of basic 
advantages of each Type of Mec.
Type1: Has the most slots to equip items
Type2: ECMSystem, LaserCannon and BitSystem
Type3: High QUI
Type4: Medikit and LaserCannon
Type5: Graviton
Type6: RepairKit
Type7: Hammer
Type8: V-System!

Type 8 is obviously the most powerful because of V-System but I 
think Type 1 is the best of the normal models since you can equip 
the most items to get great stats. T260 can change his body shape in 
his own quest but all other Mecs in the game are stuck.

---Mec Skills---
A Mec has to have skills just like other races. Each Mec will start 
with a limited number of skill slots but equipping the various Mec 
circuit boards can increase them. These skills are absorbed from 
enemy Mecs. The skills you absorb are, I believe random so you 
really need to have some luck.

Here are the best Mec skills IMO. Having most of these will make the 
last boss a lot easier:
* MaxwellProgram: This will let you regenerate WP during battle! 
There are no sighs that indicate this on screen but it works! You 
won't have to worry about your WP any more.

* SelfRepair: An automatic regeneration skill, useful.

* EnergySupply: Using this in battle will restore all of one Mec's 
WP! It won't cost anything and has up to 10 applications per battle! 
I think only Type 6 Mecs can absorb this though. (Leonard starts 
with it!)

* TigerProgram: You can use the powerful TigerRampage if you have an 
OctopusBoard equipped, but it doesn't seem to do much damage (around 
900 points on GenocideHeart).

* DragonProgram: Like above, you must have an OctopusBoard equipped. 
It has the water attack Maelstrom.

* LogicBomb: Does ok damage to enemy Mecs and gives them a status 
ailment. Good early on.

* PluralSlash: You'll get this early and it's very good. You must 
have a sword equipped to use this though, the more powerful the 
sword the more powerful this is. Works well even on the last boss.
  => Note Beowulf told me that this sometimes don't function. It's 
either that you have to have a MemoryBoard equipped (unlikely) or 
some swords won't allow the use of this skill.

* ShockSoldier: Releasing tiny duplicates of the user which shocks 
the target, does extreme damage. One of the best!

* PopKnight: The air version of ShockSoldier. An anti-air attack. 
Costs a bit more than ShockSoldier but does slightly more damage. 
Another one of the best!

* Magnify: This will make a Laser type weapons do MAJOR damage but 
that laser will malfunction afterwards and won't work for the rest 
of the battle. The damage is worth it IMO and this is a great skill 
for characters with built-in lasers (Rabbit.) I don't know if this 
can be comboed though.

* SatelliteBeam: This is only available for Type 2 Mecs (ie, Rabbit) 
What this does it to work with Rabbit's BitSystem program. Use the 
BitSystem and you'll be able to use SatelliteLinker. Choose it and 
those mini-satellites will be upgraded and they will do 2500-3000 
points of damage EACH TURN!!! Wow! Thanks to MindWanderer for this!

There's a skills called Shoot-All that shoots all of your weapon's 
ammunition on the same round, doin' extra damage. It costs 34WP but 
the damage is really not worth it (around 2000 for all ZEKE's 
weapons plus a HEAT Bazooka, even less than Magnify with only one 
weapon!) unless you have many HyperionBazookas. You might want to 
use this if you're planning to use ShockSoldier or PopKnight, 
especially if have a Mec with many built-in weak weapons like ZEKE.

If you're playing as T260 then you'll have the access to the Omega 
body (Type 8) with the awesome V-Max skill! Upon using this, T260 
will have the access to two more powerful skills: StarlightShowers 
and CosmicRave. StarlightShowers will damage all enemies for around 
2500 damage and CosmicRave will do 3500+ to one target! Of course, 
V-Max will come at a price. After 6 rounds, the effect will expire 
and "V-End" happens. T260's stats will drop DRAMATICALLY! 
(PluralSlash with a good sword will do some where around 250 damage 
where it does 1000 normally!) Use V-Max with caution and if T260 
need healing, let someone else heal for him, as he can't afford to 
waste one round of V-Max! Having SelfRepair helps too.

A good place to absorb good skills is in one of the Shingrow ruins 
where there a lot of enemy Mecs running around. Get a few good 
skills on your Mecs there. My favourite place to absorb Mec skills 
is in Despair in the room with the laser. Since you'll get into a 
fight with Mecs every time you touch a laser beam, you'll have 
access to endless supply of enemies! Most of the time you'll be up 
against multiple Mecs and they should have some very powerful skills 
waiting for you! 

---Mec Equipment---
Equipping equipment on a Mec is more important than other races as 
it is the only way for Mecs to gain stats. Without equipment a Mec 
will be weaker than all other characters! Every item you equip on a 
Mec will cause them to gain stats. Note HP can be gained this way 
but a Mec's LP and WP will stay constant. All Mecs have very high LP 
levels but ridiculously low WP. (That's why the WP restoring skills 
are so important!)

If you took the Kusanagi from King Sei then give it to a Mec to 
increase their HP by 250, STR and QUI by 25! And the built-in skills 
is very powerful when used by a Mec, it usually does 2000+ damage! 
Other good sword are the CometBlade (same stats increment as 
Kusanagi and the MillionDollers skill is powerful) and the LordStar 
(HP+200, STR and QUI and WIL+20. The BraveHeart skill is also 
handy!) Usually rare items are better than store-bought items, even 
if they're not as strong!

For guns LethalGun is ok and BehemothRifle is better. If you're 
using swords and guns then equip the corresponding "Mastery" skill 
(ie, ShootingMastery, CombatMastery) to increase their power.

Cannons and lasers are essential to Mecs IMO, I always give every 
Mec of mine one of them as they're powerful and give quite a bit of 
stats boost. The best ones are HEAT Bazooka, HyperBlaster, HG-Cannon 
and of course, the HyperionBazooka! All of the above will increase 
HP quite a bit as well as WIL and they do decent damage! The 
HyperBlaster is good to use with the Magnify skill.

As for armor, 2 PoweredSuits will give a Mec an instant DEF of 99! 
But the stats boost is not all that good IMO (HP+100, STR and 
QUI+20). If you ever get your hands on a SprigganSuit, equip it. 
You'll be surprised by the stats increase! Alternative, you can opt 
to equip separate pieces or armor but equipping these will be a 
waste when you already have 99 DEF but it's the only way to gain 
some stats. Helmets will generally give you INT, Gloves will give 
you STR and boots increase QUI. Don't equip shirts, as they'll only 
give you an HP+5!

NOTE! Since INT can increase your skill slots (max is still 8), 
equipping a headgear (raising INT) can help if you're short of skill 
slots early on. However, since some boards does the same and raises 
other stats, you might wanna use Boards instead.

ALSO, Beowulf told me that if you ever get your hands on a 
LivingRifle, it'll increase all your Mec's stats (except CHA) by 13. 
Note bad at all if you want some balancing out.

Shields are a good idea but not essential. I think DurahanShield is 
a waste on a Mec and would be more useful to a Human or Mystic. 
Surprisingly, an ExcelShield will give the same statistics increase 
as the DurahanShield so equip those instead.

Boards are essential to Mecs and they're the only race that benefits 
from wearing them. There are many different boards in the game, each 
will give you different stats boost. Some of them will increase your 
number of skill slots too and some of them even allow you use news 
skills from the skills you already have. (ie, DragonProgram) 
Experiment with them a bit and make sure you equip at least one of 
them as you really need the slot increase.

I wouldn't equip any accessories unless I must as they give crappy 
increases.

Try to get the best increase out of these equipment but make sure 
you have everything that you need. As you might have guessed, it's 
very hard to increase some stats such as INT, PSY, VIT and CHA. 
Well, it's just the disadvantage of being a Mec, c'est la vie, 
you're just gonna have to live with it. But look on the bright side, 
a Mec will have very high HP, STR, QUI and DEF! You should be 
thankful.

I would equip my Mec with the following equipment:
* Kusanagi
* HEAT Bazooka
* PoweredSuit
* PoweredSuit
* ExcelShield
* _Board_
* _Board_

I'd gain substantial HP, STR, QUI, WIL and DEF from the above 
combination and get some good attacks too. If you don't have that 
many slots free, take off either the sword or the cannon as you only 
need one. You may not need the shield either when you have 99 DEF so 
you may feel free to take that off too.


HOW TO BUILD YOUR MONSTER
=========================
Building a good Monster is not as easy it sounds, you need to 
collect good skills, be able to assume (and keep) a stable form and 
you need to absorb as many skills as you can in between to get a 
high HP. 

The only equipment a Monster can use are accessories, and any built-
in skills that goes with it. As you should know already, accessories 
give low DEF scores so don't try to boost your DEF with it. Instead, 
try to equip items that prevent attacks (ie, water, sonic, gaze 
etc.) or raises stats. This is how I would equip a typical Monster:
1. PurpleEye (Must have! Blocks gaze and PSY+7)
2. PearlHeart (Or anything better like SeaStone that blocks water)
3. HarmoniumEarrings (Blocks sonic)
4. _Anything_

Of course, you may adjust these but always keep the PurpleEyes! They 
can be bought in the mall in Manhattan for 8,000 Credits, expensive 
but worth it. Other good accessories are:
* SandVessle (Blocks Petrify and allows the use QuickSand)
* Magatama (Allows the use of SacredSong)
* BloodChalice (Blocks Feint)
* WindShell (Great accessory! High DEF and raises stats)
* Any "Amulets" bought in Kyo that raises stats
* And last but not least, who can forget Riki's Rings! Make sure you 
equip one or two of them, as they're useful to the max!

---Monster Forms---
The shape your Monster takes is very important, especially later in 
the game where you need to withstand high damage attacks. To take up 
the form of a certain Monster you need to have absorbed most of its 
skills or a key skill. A key skill is a skill that almost guarantees 
a morph into that Monster. It may not happen instantly but once you 
loose/gain a new skill, another check is made by the game that 
determines the shape of your Monster and that key skill maybe the 
only thing you need to morph into that type of Monster. Of course, 
you may loose that form again when you loose/gain another ability 
but keep swapping your skills around and eventually you'll go back 
to the form you wanted. I hope that made sense, it's always a pain 
in the butt when it comes to explaining Monsters.

Here are some Monsters that I think are powerful and stable:
Monster forms                     Key skill
Chimera                           GasFlame
Kraken                            Maelstrom
Dullahan                          Stampede (?)
Suzaku                            HeatWave (?)
BlackDragon                       (?) 
Mariche                           4 gaze attacks

Note when you take up the form of a new Monster you take up their 
weaknesses as well as immunities. For example, the Kraken is immune 
to water, Mariche is immune to sonic, Suzaku flies (immune to ground 
attacks) and the Dullahan cannot be healed through normal means 
since it's undead. 

If the key skill method don't work then you'll have to do it the 
hard way. To keep on fighting the Monster and accumulating all of 
it's skills and eventually....

Some of the Monsters (especially the powerful ones) won't give their 
powerful skills away. It's not uncommon to absorb a Dullahan ten 
times and get Lance for all of them. You may want to get their 
skills from someone else. Fight the Monster you want to become and 
get used to their skills and think which other Monster gives that 
skill and get it off them, it's much easier that way.

---The Ultimate Monster---
(Thanks to Asura's Monster Morphin' 101 FAQ and Masterman for the 
information on the Mariche)

The most powerful Monster form is the Mariche, a Monster that can 
only be found in one place (Riki's last boss) and it's impossible to 
absorb it then. You can take up the form of a Mariche by simply 
absorbing its skills from other enemies. It's not even that hard! I 
was able to turn Slime into this in about 2 hours but you do need a 
bit of luck.

Mariche       Base HP: around 600 (?)  LP: 5
                   WP: 192 (!!)        JP: 120
STR: 77            QUI: 77             INT: 77
WIL: 77            PSY: 77             VIT: 77
CHA: 77            DEF: 33

Skills: StunGaze, CharmGaze, StoneGaze, DeathGaze and Silf

I am not sure what its key skills are, there probably isn't one. You 
are guaranteed a morph when you get the four different gaze attacks. 

An ultimate Mariche should have its slots filled with these:
1. StunGaze
2. CharmGaze
3. StoneGaze
4. DeathGaze
5. MagicHeal
6. Powerful single target attack, I recommend Silf
7. Powerful multi-target attack
8. ---------

The first four gazes are a must to keep the form of a Mariche. They 
are not completely useless, as these can eliminate the enemy with a 
low failure rate with the high stats of the Mariche. Another 
excellent instant death attack is SphinxRiddle, which has NEVER 
missed when I used it. If you want an alternate skill, you can't 
beat the powerful SphinxRiddle!

MagicHeal is a very good healing skill that every good Monster need 
to know, it can save someone else's butt time after time. If you're 
lucky enough, you might be able to absorb LifeRain, the mas healing 
skill that makes Mesarthim such a good character.

Silf is a Mariche skill, you don't need it to keep that form but 
it's probably one of the best single target attacks. Other good 
single attack skills are Salamander (the fire version of Silf), 
MightyCyclone, GriffithScratch and Tornado.

Try not to deploy a sonic attack (Siren, Oscillation, SacredSong) as 
your multiple target attack. I know that they're powerful but a 
countless number of enemies are immune to sonics. WindBlast or 
HeatWave is a good all-target attack. If you ever lucky enough to 
absorb MagneticStorm then keep it! (I was not that lucky and never 
absorbed it. It's a killer whenever the enemy uses it though). Ignis 
is also very powerful but I've only seen it once!

I left the eighth slot blank because you need to keep that slot 
flexible to absorb new skills and gain HP.

NOTE: It's not necessary to keep a free Monster skill to use on weak 
enemies or normal encounters to save WP/JP 'cuz of 3 main reasons:

1) When you absorb a new Monster skill, whether you've had it before 
or not, all your WP and JP will be fully refilled!

2) Monsters have a fairly high WP/JP maximum, even weak Monsters 
have more WP/JP than say, weak Humans. Once you get one of the more 
powerful Monsters, you'll never have to worry about WP/JP again!

3) Monsters skills tend to be cheap and powerful at the same time, 
providing that you know which ones to use and keep. Silf costs only 
5WP but can do 1000-2000 damage!

There's also another reason why not to bother with free skills: Free 
skills tend to be the ones used by weak Monsters and it's their key 
skill, they'll interfere if you want to morph into strong Monsters. 
So if you keep say, Solvent (actually a pretty decent free skill) 
you'll always turn back into a Slime after every other absorb! Can't 
morph into a powerful form? Maybe those skills are the ones that's 
keeping you back, get rid of them quickly. 

---Where to absorb the skills---
StunGaze is the easiest to get. Absorb an Unknown as you'll get it 
first time. Otherwise, the Dullahan, RazorBack and LivingArmor has 
it too.

StoneGaze is not too hard either. Wait until your Human's HP are 
around 400 then head for the swamp in Yorkland. Every enemy here 
will be a Basilisk. You can absorb StoneGaze from them. (Not very 
hard) I'm not sure if any other enemy has StoneGaze.

CharmGaze is tricky. The Unknown has it but it's hard to absorb it 
from them. Unicorn, Dullahan, Mimic and Lich has it too.

DeathGaze is the hardest. The Unknown has it also but it's hard to 
get it from them. Dullahan and DemonGoat has it. 

CharmGaze and DeathGaze are the hardest to get. Make sure you have 
Stun and StoneGaze first. When your Humans have 500 HP or so, head 
to the Bio Lab in Shrike and put your Monster in with a team of 4 
Humans. Now fight the second scientist over and over again, he'll be 
a Dullahan. Your Humans can learn new skills that way and your 
Monster will eventually get both Charm and DeathGaze. It's tedious 
but it's the best way to do it when luck is not with you.

You can get Silf from AirFolks, SpearValkyries and SnowFolks easily. 
Salamander from FlameFolks. MightyCyclone can be gotten from Kraken. 
GriffithScratch is from Griffon but you don't see them around so 
it's not convenient to absorb.

AirFolk and SnowFolk has WindBlast, they're hard to get but not as 
hard as Charm or DeathGaze. HeatWave can be gotten from Suzaku. 
Siren and Dullahan has Siren, AirFolk and CrystalTree has 
Oscillation if you want a sonic attack. I have seen MagneticStorm 
being used by Genbus and CrystalTrees so go after them if you want 
this ultra powerful skill.

MagicHeal is not too heard either. Unicorn has it and the Wormbrood 
in the Natural Cave (HideRune place) has it too. The unicorn has 
LifeRain also, if you wanna give it a try.

SphinxRiddle can be gotten from Sphinxes.

Notify me if you can find some better skills!


GENERAL TIPS ON HOW TO SUCCEED IN THIS GAME
===========================================
1) Train, train and train. Probably the most important tip of all. 
Take some time out between each mini-quest or missions and try to 
learn a few new skills. The best learning place is the Bio-lab in 
Shrike. The weaker enemies you may encounter during the mini-quest 
are not worth fighting IMO, because they're so weak you won't be 
able to learn decent new techs.
2) Use the Quicksave feature often. I usually Quicksave after every 
fight because you could get killed easily in this game. Who knows 
when the enemy wants to use Pheromone or gets lucky with DeathTouch. 
3) It's usually a good idea to have more than one good team because 
any character you don't use in a fight will gain back some stats 
through resting. Having multiple teams will allow you to complete 
lengthy dungeons faster and easier.
4) Prepare for the last battle. All the trainings you do in your 
quest is to make sure you're strong enough to take down the last 
boss. Your HP should be around 600 minimum and you should have some 
good attacks. 
5) I strongly recommend you take the various magic quests especially 
Rune and Arcane (I recommend you do both) as they don't take very 
long and can get you some powerful spells and characters.
6) Don't forget defence. Give everyone shields and any automatic 
defence skills they have. Don't be stingy and get them so decent 
armor and accessories. A party of 5 swordsman each with Deflect, 
Kasumi and a shield can stop 90% of physical attacks!
7) This is for your girls out there - SHOPPING! I always spend the 
first 1 or 2 hours of the game making money (by doin' the infinite 
Credit tricks) and get some good equipments for your team. Koorong 
has great weapons, armor and potions that you may need. The mall in 
Manhattan has some great accessories (although expensive) and Kyo 
has a gift shop where you can buy some accessories that increases 
your stats.
8) I recommend you do the infinite money tricks below. I know it's 
cheating but trust me on this as it will make your game a lot 
easier! An honest game is fine but you will find the game as hard as 
hell and you'll end up having to spend more time accumulating cash 
than you actually need and therefore you won't be able to enjoy this 
game!
9) Target your enemies carefully. You should target the same enemy 
when you're up against multiple opponents and try to pick them off 
one by one, 2 enemies with 1HP each can still attack twice where as 
one enemy with full HP can attack only once.
10) Whenever you recruit a new member. Flip through his/her 
abilities (especially the unequipped section) because many 
characters comes with cool skills learnt but are hidden away. Some 
examples includes Dr. Nusakan with Death, Doll with DarkSphere, 
Zozma with SharpPain etc.


LAST BOSS GUIDE
===============
This section focuses on how to fight the last bosses in each 
character's quests. Of course, you probably don't need to follow 
this when you build your characters intensively like I do but you 
may find it helpful if you don't have time or don't want to build 
up. Each and every last boss in this game has an ultimate attack, 
and no it's not the infamous "HP-down-to-one" move that's in almost 
every other Square game. These are all powerful, good looking and 
unique to that boss only!

Note that the game will choose your first team to fight against the 
last boss so you cannot select your team. Your main character will 
always have to be in this fight, that's why they can't be removed 
from team number one!

---Hell's Lord---
Having Blue as your main character will make him the easiest last 
boss in the game! You don't even need the other characters, Blue can 
beat him alone without even breaking a sweat.

Hell's Lord has 3 forms. The one he starts in (standing) and one 
where he's lying down. The standing form has ultra high defence and 
he has some powerful attacks. His ultimate attack, Sabers, is only 
useable in his first form, which will do around 300 to each party 
member, and he likes to use it often. He also has Smile which will 
Paralyze everyone but the Palsy usually won't stay more than one 
round. After sometime, Hell's Lord will morph into his other form 
where his defence is lowered but he'll be able to take about 3 
actions each round. His attacks include the 3 elemental breath 
attacks, pretty bad. After a while (if he's not dead that is) he'll 
morph back into his first form and keep morphing every few arounds 
until he's dead. Hell's Lord shouldn't be the slightest problem with 
Blue but he can prove to be quite a challenge in 2nd Div! He's soooo 
easy, I can beat him in 2 rounds without using StasisRune!

Anyway, here's what you should do. Battle functions slightly 
different in Hell. All damage done on the first round will not be 
effective as it should have been, the damage caused will most often 
be under 50%. Have everyone defend, one character should cast Shield 
(other than Blue, he needs as many slots as he can get) and another 
character should use DoubleSlash, which will probably break Hell's 
damage filter. (I am not sure how it works though, but it seems to 
remove it.) 

On the second round, Blue should unleash his OverDrive. The first 
action in the OverDrive should be ShadowServant and the eighth 
should be StasisRune. You may use any action I listed under the 
master magician section but if you haven't trained Blue in physical 
attacks then use MegaWindBlast, which should do around 7,000+ each 
with the shadow. If you took the time getting DSC on Blue then use 
that on all 8 of his actions, it should kill him in one hit! Hell's 
Lord will morph into his second form after Blue's OverDrive and will 
break out of Stasis. I wouldn't recommend stats uppers for this 
battle so have everyone attack with their best attacks and one of 
them should revive Blue with a SnakeOil or Grail. I think 
RosarioImpale will do extra damage on Hell's Lord so use that if you 
have it. Just attack and he should be gone in like 3 rounds. If you 
need healing have Blue cast Sacrifice... You should have no problem.

---Diva---
Emelia's final boss. I don't think it's possible to obtain the gift 
for Rune Magic on TimeLord in her quest so he won't be as much help. 
I advice on using Liza as she is very powerful and I'd round up 3 
other Humans but it really doesn't matter too much. Annie is worthy 
of this fight too.

Like Hell's Lord, Diva also has 2 forms. In her first form, Diva's 
action is rather predictable. She can either use 3 gaze attacks (all 
but StoneGaze), 5 thunder attacks or her ultimate attack, 
Retribution. Retribution is one of the best looking attack in the 
whole game and it's lighting elemental. It won't hurt you too much 
though because it's likely that most of your character already has a 
lighting barrier from her other attack. After a few rounds, she'll 
morph into a form with a large spear but she won't be able to morph 
back into her original form... Diva has some rather weak attacks in 
her second form like Tornado, which won't damage you much an can 
often be blocked easily but she'll be able to use them 5 times a 
round. The attack to look for is MarginRampage, the enemy's version 
of TripleThrust but less powerful, should do only 300 damage to a 
single target. Both of Diva's forms have average and similar DEF.

Equip everyone with PurpleEyes or the DodgeGaze skill. I usually 
spend the first 2 rounds with stats uppers like LightSword since all 
her Gaze attacks would be ineffective. You'll need healing if your 
not strong (I recommend MindHeal) but Diva should pose no threat 
when you have good attacks and PurpleEyes.

---Orlouge---
Asellus' last boss is also quite easy. Asellus can recruit many 
Mystics but I don't recommend on using more than 2 of them. 
(Preferably TimeLord and Mesarthim. Zozma and Rei both joins too 
late.) If you haven't got TimeLord then this battle is still easy, 
just substitute in a Human with good attack or a Mystic with decent 
stats and follow the guideline for Mystics above. Also before the 
fight, absorb a Suzaku into each of Asellus' Mystic weapon. You only 
need to equip one of them to change into her Mystic form while 
getting the full stats boost.

Orlouge has the lowest HP of all last bosses, around 60,000. He has 
ultra-high DEF though. Orlouge has 3 spirits and will summon a 
random one every round. Each of them has unique attacks. There are 3 
portraits behind Orlouge and they will use the "Portrait" ability to 
raise the spirits' stats at the end of every other round.

Orlouge has almost no offence! All he does is Hypnotise and 
Selection, which will cause all sorts of bad status but misses 
often. The spirits does all the attacks but some of them are very 
powerful! The left spirit has fire attacks like Salamander, the 
middle spirit has Silf (I think it's the middle one) and can throw 
PhantasmShots, and the right spirit has Wing and Tornado. You can't 
target the spirits nor the portraits.

If you have TimeLord let him use OverDrive on the first round then 
everyone should cast stats boosts. Note the spirits can still attack 
when Orlouge is frozen so don't use ShadowServant until the 6th or 
7th round. I do recommend the MirrorShade spell for this battle 
since the spirits rarely use mass attacks. Also the first action 
Asellus should do is use her Mystic weapon even though Orlouge is in 
Stasis, this will let Asellus change into her Mystic form. If you 
don't want to spend lots of time building your characters up for the 
final fight then get Tres Flores on someone (preferably on someone 
with ShadowServant, as it's a lot easier to get than LifeSprinkler) 
because Asellus can get a free SilverMoon before the fight. 

When Orlouge comes out of Stasis, throw everything you've got at 
him. You should be a whole lot more powerful than when you started 
the fight, especially with Asellus in her Mystic form. Asellus 
should use DSC if you've got it or the best sword skill she has, it 
should do almost twice as much damage! When Orlouge is hurt bad, 
he'll summon all 3 of the spirits at the same time and he'll most 
likely to use his ultimate attack, 3Mistresses, which should do 
around 300 to all characters. Sometimes the spirits eill attack 
seperately though. Heal right after that because it should hurt most 
of your characters badly. Unknown to most people but the left spirit 
has an attack that's even more powerful than 3Mistresses, that 
attack? Ignis (a version of Salamander that hurts all party members) 
of course! If you get hit by it, immediately heal up because who 
knows if Orlouge will pull off 3Mistresses the next round but 
fortunately he won't use it often.

Orlouge has very high DEF so it's hard to do very much damage to him 
but Tower is an excellent move to combo with to take him down easily 
because it ignores the target's defence (I think). This fight has 
some awesome soundtrack so just listen and kick some Mystic butts!

---Spriggan---
Lute's last boss is actually one of the harder ones IMO, as pure 
strengh is not the best way! You've really gotta use strategy on 
him. Before the battle, you'll be able to view a very short FMV 
sequence (and the only one in the game!) TimeLord won't help out too 
much in this fight so trade him in favour of a Human if you want. 
Captain Hamilton is great too, especially if you trainer her in 
guns, she'll be very useful. Round up a few gun users if you can. 
This giant robot will change into a new form when it takes enough 
damage.

Spriggan has 5 forms. It starts with a form that looks kinda like a 
Sphinx, to a beefed-up Sphinx, to a standing person, to a standing 
but more energetic humoniod and his last form will be in the shape 
of a large cannon. The first 3 forms can take about 10,000 damage 
each and the last 2 forms will be able to take 20,000 damage each. 
Spriggan can only transform at the end of a round so any excess 
damage you do to him will be wasted! His attacks are mostly gunfire 
and cannons but they don't do much damage. Sometimes in between 
rounds you'll get hit by EnemyFire or IronPole but they're no big 
deal, they've never done more than 20 damage to any of my 
characters! Spriggan like to use ECM so beware if you're using a 
Mec, he also has access to CounterECM. Later versions of Spriggan 
has more dangerous attacks, like HyperBazooka. Don't worry, it's not 
as bad as HyperionBazooka as it does only around 200 damage to some 
of your characters. In his last form, Spriggan will have access to 
his ultimate attack, BusterLaucher! This is of the "Line of Sight" 
range and will do over 1000 damage to the main target (therefore 
killing his or her instantly!) but will do no more than 50 to the 
surrounding targets. Watch out for this attack!

Since you can't do too much damage without wasting them, you need to 
plan out your attacks. Also since this is goin' to be a long fight, 
you should save your WP and JP, this means no DSC, no Tower, no 
LifeSprinkler until later! HeadWind is a great attack as it does 
decent damage for a cheap price. LifeWave is good too but it's not 
likely that you have any good Human magic users. (Or if you want, 
train Lute in magic from the beginning so he'll be able to use 
this.) ReverseGravity is a good attack for Mystics. If you're using 
a Mec, use LogicBomb to screw up Spriggan because he is a Mec. Stats 
boosts are not a bad idea either but don't use ShadowServant because 
Spriggan can act several times per round and his attacks will hit 
most of your characters. Try to combo if you can. Gun skills are 
actually extremely useful in this fight since they don't take up 
much WP, does decent damage and combos well. Stick to cheap attacks 
until he morphs into his fourth form and release your best attacks, 
because that's when he can do the most damage and has higher HP. 
Don't be afraid to use lower level attack in his first few forms 
because he really hasn't got much offence. Put a BackPack on someone 
and let him use potions on your wounded. Keep an eye out on your WP 
and JP level, since Lute's quest is so boring you might not have 
spent enough time to get them high enough. If you have LifeSprinkler 
or DSC, keep enough WP so you can use it twice or so.... When 
Spriggan uses BusterLauncher, it means that he's almost dead so 
throw him a couple more LifeSprinklers (if you have it) and you 
should win, you don't have to revive the dead character if you have 
some good attacks.

This is a tight one but if you plan your attacks you should come out 
on top...

---BossX---
Red's last boss has some of the highest HP in this game but when 
faced by Alkaiser, he hasn't got a chance! Red will fight this 
battle, like all battles at the end of his quest, as Alkaiser. Make 
sure you get Re-Al-Phoenix from the fight with MBlackIII because 
it's one of the most powerful attacks in the game! TimeLord and Liza 
are both excellent characters for this fight and will help in 
softening up this bad-ass!

Like Diva, BossX has many Gaze attacks and uses them frequently so 
keep those PurpleEyes equipped at all times! BossX has a unique Gaze 
attack called HyperGaze where a big polygonal eye pops up and zaps 
all your guys. I think this will cause all sorts of bad status and 
sometimes it will do small amounts of damage but wearing PurpleEyes 
can prevent the negative alignment effects. Offensively this guy is 
a wussy, so he can't hurt you much. He has some cannon attacks like 
LordCannon but they are rather weak. He does, however have around 
15,000HP so get those big damage attacks up. If you have TimeLord, 
you should let him do the OverDrive trick. Alkaiser should use his 
Re-Al-Phoenix, which combos extremely well with LifeSprinkler BTW. 
DSC won't dish out much damage though do dump it in favour of a 
combo attack if you like. BossX's ultimate attack is JudgementX, 
which looks a bit like the FFVII/Wild Arms summon spells. If you're 
expecting to see Alexander to come out of the ground and hit you, 
that ain't gonna happen, because all JudgementX is is a bunch of 
flying saucers. That's gonna do around 300 to all members, heal up 
if you really need it. Other than that, BossX is just another one of 
the weaker bosses that can easily be taken down... Have some fun 
with the combos in this one!

---MasterRing---
Riki's last boss is not easy, especially when your main character is 
a Monster. Prior to the fight, you might want to spend sometime 
developing Riki's skills and morph him into a Mariche with my 
guidelines above. This is very important as you really don't want to 
tackle this mean boss with Riki being a Slime or something like 
that, that way the fight will not last very long! A Mystic will be 
helpful here too, as will Fei-On and a good sword user. Also you 
might be tempted to use DSC on MasterRing, do that but make SURE you 
equip another good and strong attack! Healing is important here so 
equip the HearlerRing, MindHeal, MagicHeal and a couple of MaxCures. 
And before the fight begins, remove Mei-Ling from your main team if 
she's in it otherwise you'll fight this with 4 characters.

MasterRing differs from other boss because it has 9 other underlings 
that can also attack you. MasterRing will appear with 4 of them and 
will sometimes disappear and let you fight with 5 of her underlings. 
The underlings are rather powerful too and they can boost 
MasterRing's stats, cause a whole lot of bad status on you and even 
combo with the MasterRing! The Mariche with MasterRing likes to use 
DeathGaze a lot so keep those PurpleEyes. Since you'll be dealing 
with many status in this fight, use Riki's HeroRing at the start of 
the fight. This will automatically come out first and locks your 
status but I'm not sure if it prevents DeathGaze. Other useful Rings 
include the GuardianRing and FighterRing, use these at the start of 
the fight. 

Now unload everything on the first couple of rounds, these are your 
chances to do the most damage. If you have DSC, use it IMMEDIATELY 
as this is the only time in the fight where it can do normal damage. 
Haze-to-Wheel and MegaWindBlast is useful at killing the underlings 
but don't over do it because once you kill all of the underlings 
MasterRing will have access to her ultimate attack, Revolotion9. To 
be honest, I have never actually seen this attack but I heard it's 
really bad, it will do lots of damage, raises MasterRing's DEF and 
auto-counter when you attack her. I have tried to kill off all her 
underlings to see this attack but the thing is when I kill all of 
her underlings, I drained MasterRing's HP so much that she died with 
a few hits after that! So you don't really need to fear her but do 
keep at least one underling alive just in case.

MasterRing has a very strong attack called Oscillation which can 
probably wipe out your entire team if you're not prepeared. Equip 
Harmonium items to prevent that, you can purchase HarmoniumEarrings 
at Manhattan. When you really need healing or just got hit by 
Oscillation, use Riki's HealerRing, the fourth mass healing method 
in the game. The LordRing can refil your WP and JP but there's not 
much reason to do so unless you want to use Tower. Aim all attacks 
at the MasterRing if possible but it's a good idea to have a Mystic 
cast MegaWindBlast to kill the underlings. When MasterRing goes off 
the screen and sends 5 underlings after you, just defend or heal, I 
think they'll go away after a while but if they don't, just hit them 
a couple of times. When MasterRing returns, you'll descover that DSC 
don't dish out as much damage as it should, in fact, the damage is 
less than 10%!!! So use that powerful skill that your fighters have 
been saving for rainy day. If you don't have it, just use a single 
DSC move like BabelCrumble. Riki should use Silf as it deals decent 
damage and combos well.

It's likely that you'll need healing again but try not to do it when 
other members are attacking, as you can break their links. So spend 
every third or fourth round healing up (if you're weak or don't 
spend enough time building up) and let the guys who don't need 
healing use a stat boost. As long as you keep up with her and don't 
kill off all her underlings, you'll win. She's really not as hard as 
they said she was.

ALTERNATE STRATEGY – Revolution9 nullifier
(Thanks to cajon1 for this strategy.)
Revolution9 is MasterRing's strongest attack, which can drive you 
nuts trying to beat her. However, here's a trick that lets you not 
only beat all of her helpers and nullify Revolution9, but to 
reventing her from attacking you all together!

All you've gotta do is to have Kylin in your team and equip Vortx. 
Throughout the fight, don't use any stats-uppers, because you'll 
simply waste it. Now beat on all her helpers with anything you can 
think of. Haze-2-Wheel, MegaWindBlast, VermillionSand, Kylin's 
ReverseGravity and MillionDollers are all excellent attacks to use.

When you kill them all and MasterRing starts getting pissed off at 
you. Have Kylin cast Vortex every round. MasterRing will try to 
charge up Revolution9 during the round, which will be fired at the 
end. Casting Vortex during this time will nullify her "charging" 
status which cancels her deadly Revolution9! Just kick her butt with 
everything else you've got. Awesome strategy!!!

---GenocideHeart---
T260's last boss is probably the least easy (I am trying not to use 
the word "hard", as none of them are) but look on the bright side, 
you'll get to listen to another excellent battle music and some of 
the special effects in this fight looks awesome. 

You might be tempted to fight this with a team of all Mecs whom has 
2 PoweredSuits each. That's fine except you'll probably be wiped out 
when GenocideHeart uses MagneticStorm. I like to use 3 Mecs, a sword 
user (Gen) and a fighter (Fei-On or Fuse). ZEKE is weak so ditch him 
and Pz... (whatever his name was) is really not that good. Get some 
good skills on Leonard and EnginnerCar. Also, healing is more 
important here than ever because it's next to impossible to beat him 
without ever healing once unless you have all 5 characters use DSC. 

GenocideHeart uses his ultimate attack, Carnage, very often but it's 
very predictable. I have heard that Carnage has a nasty Feint effect 
on non-Mec but I have never seen it happen, but I'd rather be safe 
than sorry so I equip BloodChalices on my Humans. He'll start the 
fight with Carnage but he'll always use it last in the round, givin' 
you a good chance to heal. Carnage will do around 350-400, so keep 
an eye on your HP.

After GenocideHeart uses Carnage, he'll use VirtualShift to move 
into a new virtual plane. There are many types of different terrains 
like desert, ocean, ice field etc. He'll gain new attacks (and 
thankfully, loose Carnage) while in a new plane. The on to watch for 
is the desert, he'll gain the access to MagneticStorm! If you have 
any Mecs in your party then I suggest you HEAL IMMEDIATELY because 
one of these can almost kill your Mec in one hit. His other attacks 
are rather weak, so you should go offensive. 

After GenocideHeart takes enough damage, he'll shift back to the HQ 
where he uses Carnage again. And then VirtualShift again to a new 
plane and repeat. You might notice that some of the monitors behind 
GenocideHeart are not functioning properly, this can be used kind of 
as an indication on GenocideHeart's remining HP. Beware however, as 
this method is kind of misleading. You're most likely to destroying 
many of them without much damage, but when the screens are down to 3 
or 4, it takes a mass amout of damage to take them down, and 
GenocideHeart will take another 20,000 damage to destroy once none 
of the monitors are working anymore.

I'd advise you use T260's V-Max about 2 rounds into the fight, 
because if you use it earlier, you'll be stuck with a weak T260 for 
longer. When you do however, use his CosmicRave for all 6 turns. 
Have someone else heal him when his HP gets low and use Leonard's 
EnergySupply when his WP gets low. Try combo it with LifeSprinkler, 
I have been informed that this is a killer combo, capable of doin' 
over 21,000 points of damage! (But I found CosmicRave very hard to 
link) Your Mec friends should use PopKnight or ShockSoldier, it has 
pretty good damage potential. Your allies or other races should use 
their best, especially DSC. GenocideHeart has a low defence so DSC 
can do HUGE amounts of damage on it... (But you still need about 4 
of them, along with other powerful attacks including CosmicRave, to 
beat this boss) 

Use your best attacks, heal often and try not to let your WP/JP/LP 
get too low and you should eventually win. 


CHARACTER EVALUATION
====================
There are 30+ characters in this game and you'll have the chance of 
controlling up to 15 of them in a single game. Although the 
uniqueness of most characters of the same race in game terms is 
minimum, each chcracter is different by the fact that each of them 
starts off with different stats, skills, equipment and tend to 
specialize in certain special areas. It's true that SaGa Frontier is 
a game that allow you maximum customization meaning you can build a 
character in anyway you want regardless of their starting skills. 
For example, I could train Gen in magic or Mei-Ling with Fighting, 
that'd work but some characters just won't do as well in certain 
categories as others. I'll explain (or attempt to) each character in 
detail as well the skills he or she will do well or not well in. 
I'll try to throw in some history and backgrounds on the character 
if I can so there might be some spoilers. You really shouldn't read 
the "Backgrounds" of the characters (especially the sections on the 
main characters) until you've finished the game. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

Note this section is still incomplete. Many of the data maybe wrong 
and some quotes were left blank as I have to go through the game 
again to find some. Feel free to submit any quotes.

---Main characters---
Red

"Guess everyone has their own secrets."

Chapters obtained: 
* Red: You start with him

Background: Red Okonogi and his dad was driving in a car discussing 
about Dr. Klein, who used to be a friend of his father but turned 
evil. Then someone rudely drops onto their car, causing it to crash 
and killing Red's father. They burned down Red's house and killed 
his sister and mother and beaten his up. A mysterious masked super 
hero kind of guy named Alkarl arrived and saved Red from Shuzer, the 
same guy who killed Red's father. Red was in a critical condition 
and wasn't likely to survive so Alkarl turned him into Alkaiser and 
made him obey the code of honor of being a super hero. He said if 
Alkaiser's real identity was ever revealed his memory would be 
erased.

Years later, Red's working on board the Region Ship Cygnus who's 
captain being his father's old friend Hawk. Red's still plotting on 
his revenge against BlackX. 

Apparently, Red has some connection with Asellus, who was a friend 
of Dr. Okonogi, Red's father. She used to play with him when he was 
a kid, see her section for more.

Red likes to make fun of most things and does not take things very 
seriously, it seemed to me. I like his sense of humor.

Starting skills: Kick, Chop, QuickDraw

Evaluation: One of the best characters in the game simply because of 
his ability to turn into Alkaiser. Don't worry too much about his 
Alkaiser skills after he leaves the Cygnus because you don't get to 
turn into Alkaiser very often and I advise you not to turn into 
Alkaiser too often because he'll get no experience what so ever. If 
you do want to change into Alkaiser then get a team of all Mechs and 
leave an enemy slot or kill of the excess character. Just seal his 
Alkaiser skills but you do need to learn Al-Phoenix sometime! Don't 
worry, he's still decent without Alkaiser. 

Alkaiser has an HP boost of 250 and Red's stats will be boosted too. 
He carries a RaySword, which is pretty weak and can't be relied on. 
Alkaiser can use his Alkaiser skills containing sword skills (can 
only used with the RaySword) and fighting skills. 

Red's pretty good with both swords and fighting. He has good STR 
scores and tends to have very high VIT. Red's HP goes up EXTREMELY 
fast. His WIL also goes up more quickly than others and he's ok with 
guns I guess (he starts with QuickDraw.) Red's pretty average with 
magic like most characters. 

Later in his quest, Red'll change into Alkaiser and will remain as 
Alkaiser 'til the end of his quest and you can choose your team 
anyway you like. This is very useful, as some of his bosses are 
tough. 

Blue

"I'm also collectiong 'Data'."

Chapters obtained: 
* Blue: You start with him

Starting skills: Gift for Realm Magic, EnergyChain, Implosion, Gate, 
PsychoArmor

Background: Just graduated from his homeland Magic Kingdom as a 
full-fledged magician and sent out to a quest to gather all the 
types of magic then seek out his twin brother Rouge and kill him! He 
was told that he'll never reach his full potential with his brother 
alive and he'll not be able to return to Magic Kingdom after that's 
done. 

*SPOILER*
After the duel with his brother, Blue realized that he's neither 
Blue nor Rouge, but both of them at the same time. They were never 
twins, just the same person! The people of Magic Kingdom wanted to 
find someone who is strong enough to kill himself to protect their 
land, as the life of a lowly magician is nothing compared to the 
safety of their kingdom they said.

Blue is a rather cold character and he does not show any signs of 
compassion to many people.

Evaluation: Blue is the ultimate magician enable of casting spells 
from opposite schools, what more can you ask for? Blue has to choose 
to collect either Light or Shadow, Arcane or Rune and Time or Space 
Magic gifts while Rouge will get the opposite. After the fight with 
Rouge, Blue will steal all the spells Rouge had!

He can obtain up to 10 schools of magic: Light, Shadow, Rune, 
Arcane, Time, Space, Mind, Life, Realm and Mystic! To get Life 
simply beat Rouge and you'll automatically get it (he's the only one 
who can use it!) To get the gift for Mind, you'll have to wait after 
Blue has combined with Rouge (after their fight.) And yes he can use 
Mystic magic. During the trip to Facinaturu in the quest for Time 
Magic, you can trade your Realm Magic for Mystic. It's rather risky 
because you can't use PsychicPrison for the next couple of fights 
but you'll get all your Realm Magic back after you beat Rouge.

After the fight with Rouge, Blue's INT, WIL, PSY and JP maximum will 
be doubled! Make sure you build Blue up so his INT, WIL and PSY is 
at least 50 so they'll instantly jump to 99 because if you fail to 
do so you'll still have very high stats but they won't go up any 
further for some reason. (It's probably because they're too high 
already.)

So what more did you expect from the ultimate magician, it turned 
out Blue also makes an excellent sword user and fighter! Sure he 
starts the game with no WP and a STR or 9 but if you build him up 
he'll be just as powerful as Gen or Liza! I was able to get him DSC 
and LifeSprinkler in the same game! Just keep using him as a 
physical fighter and he'll grow into one with ease! Needless to say, 
he's also a very good gun user but I haven't actually trained him in 
that category. Definitely the most powerful character in the whole 
game IMO!

Asellus

""

Chapters obtained: 
* Asellus: She's the hero in her own quest.
* Red: You can find her with White Rose aboard the Cygnus when the 
ship gets attacked.
* Emelia: You can find her during the trip to Trinity Base. After 
the scene in the dance room, you can find her on the boucany. Win 
the fight and she'll join.

Starting skills: 
* Asellus: Gift for Mystic Magic and nothing else
* Emelia, Red: StunSlash and Gift for Mystic Magic

Background: A Human girl who was on her way to Dr. Okonogi's (Red's 
father, they're friends) house when she gets stomped by a mysterious 
chariot. She wakes up in Chateau Aiguille and found out that the 
lord of the Mystics, Orlouge, revived her with a transfusion of his 
blood and now Asellus is obligated to serve him. She had been turned 
into a Half-Mystic! She was introduced to Ildon, Orlouge's servant 
and Princess White Rose, who helped her escape and grew dangerously 
close to her! (Can you say LES-B-N?) She later discovered that she 
has died for 12 years (without aging a single day)!

*SPOILER*
After all this time, I finally understood her story! She was 
attracted to women because she had Orlouge's blood, making her an 
almost exact female duplicate of the Charm Lord, or a "clone". For 
similar reasons, females were also attracted to her (like how White 
Rose said that she found Orlouge's charm irresistable.) Because 
she's also half-Human, Human females will feel her charm as well. 
(ie, Gina.) Asellus feels nothing for Orlouge because she shares his 
blood, which make Asellus more or less of a sister to Orlouge and 
you cannot really be attracted to your brother. This may seem seem 
obvious to some of you but it really confused me. Hope this 
explaination will solve your questions for those players who have 
yet to interprete Asellus' awkward story.
(Thanks to Kaminari11@aol.com for some of the explainations.)

Asellus has green hair but it seemed that she used to have a 
different hair color but it was never revealed in the game what was 
her original hair coloring. According to Demetric Houston, a girl 
with orange/red hair can be seen in some of Asellus' endings who was 
probably the young Asellus.

Mec Cande  noted that on the back of the CD 
case, the portrait of Asellus has brown hair! You know what? That is 
indeed correct! But then again, you can never trust the drawn 
portraits since all character designers are color-blind since there 
are at least one character with different coloring if you compare 
their pixles and their official picture in every RPG. (Blue has grey 
hair in his portrait but blonde in pixles etc.)

In Emelia's quest, her and White Rose was seen in Trinity Base as 
"show girls", but it turned out that Asellus and White Rose were 
acting as spies like Emelia with the help of Zozma to infiltrate the 
base.

Evaluation: Another very powerful character. Being a Half-Mystic, 
she can learn the Mystic weapon skills (which are under the 
"Special" category) after some story events. Using one of these in 
battle will result in Asellus morphing into her Mystic form, rather 
like Terra's "Morph" in FF6. (Asellus does look slightly like 
Terra.) Asellus will then be able to absorb monsters into her Mystic 
weapons and being in her Mystic form, she will gain the stats boost 
from all her Mystic weapons, which means if you got 3 Suzakus, she'd 
have all her stats at 99! She'll also resist negative status 
ailments. But the bad part is she'll gain stat boosts like a Mystic 
after battle. Use it on bosses and she'll do about twice as much 
damage!

Asellus is pretty decent with a sword but average at fighting. She 
won't learn very many fighting attacks but getting DSC on her is not 
very hard so do so! She learns fast with guns but she gains no help 
from her Mystical blood when learning magic for some reason. Her 
stats are irrelevant 'cuz when she morphs into a Mystic, she'll have 
99 of each!

Emelia

"I'm broke!"

Chapters obtained: 
* Emelia: You start with her
* Everyone else: Choose to collect Arcane Magic and talk to the 
blonde bunny girl in Bacarrat, she'll mention something about the 
Gnome Spirit. A Gnome will talk past. Follow it until it gets in the 
elevator and go down a few floors and take the elevator to the 
parking lot. Try descending the manhole and Emelia will run in and 
say "Wait!" Talk to her and let her join.

Starting skills:
* Emelia: None
* Everyone else: SharpShot, TotalShot, TrickShot

Background: Emelia used to be a very successful supermodel but she 
was unhappy, until she found the love of her life, Ren, a cop 
working for IRPO. She quit her job so she could be with Ren but Ren 
spent most of his time on duty and couldn't be with her. She tried 
to convince him into giving up his job and so he could spend more 
time with Emelia (as seen in Red's quest) but it seemed that he 
refused so they fought and she ran away. She returned the next to 
Ren's house attempting to make up with him only to find Ren lying on 
the floor dead and some nasty clown running around. AAARRRGGGHHH 
CALL 911! Well, unfortunately they weren't very helpful either since 
Emelia was questioned by Fuse who used to be Ren's partner. He 
didn't believe anything Emelia said and threw her in prison for no 
apparent reason (and called her a tramp.) 

While in prison, she met Annie who along with Liza helped her escape 
the prison and recruited her as a new member of Gradius, a 
resistance group led by Roufas opposing the evil Trinity. There she 
worked as an under-cover agent or spy of some kind to seek out the 
where abouts of Joker, Ren's murderer.

*SPOILER*
Emelia's story, while not as complicated as Asellus', will still 
provide you with some mysteries to think about after viewing both of 
her endings, in the Final Fantasy style. One of such mystery was 
"What happened to Ren?" My best guess was that he somehow got 
tricked (or forced) to wear the "mask" and hence, being controlled. 
It was probably Trinity who put the mask on him to create a new 
identity that didn't really exist and made him pursue "The Cube" 
with a dual purpose. First, to get their hands on "The Cube" without 
having to look for it themselves and second, to draw the attention 
of both IRPO and Gradius towards this "dummy" character and away 
from themselves. If he got caught, Trinity wouldn't be in deep sh*t. 
Anyway, this might be miles away from what actually happened but I 
guess nobody knows exactly what happened unless someone discovers a 
super secret cut scene or something. 

There are still a LOT of questions in my head about some of the 
events in her story, such as Emelia's conversation with Mondo during 
her second trip to Trinity base. Why did Mondo seem so friendly? 
What was the purpose of that Goddess thing (AngelBroach) he gave 
her? (I think it was the AngelBroach that summoned Diva at the end 
of her quest, but was it supposed to have been a good thing or bad? 
Or put it this way, did Mondo know about Diva's connection towards 
the AngelBroach and gave it to Emelia on purpose, or it's just a 
coincidence?) And last but not least, why was Ren's murder not 
inverstigated? 

If you can decipher this plot or you have some deep insights of what 
really happened, pleeeeeeeease e-mail me. I'm dying to know! (If 
you've heard of/played the "Entertain me" game by your local radio 
DJ, this is completely different!)

Evaluation: Well, she's a really strong character in everyone else's 
scenario but she's extremely weak in her own game, learning 
abilities and powering up slower than every one else. In her own 
quest, she starts the game with no skills, no weapon and low stats 
so you'll really have to build her up, especially when she goes on 
quests where she can't take anyone else with her! In everyone else's 
quest, she starts with good HP and a STR of around 30 which is very 
good. 

Guns are obviously Emelia's specialty, you can tell from the 
numerous pictures of her. IMO, she's a lot better with a sword 
because sword skills are a lot stronger and she does really well at 
it, probably the second best sword user after Gen! Seriously! As she 
learns very quickly and I would say she is the best when it comes to 
learning LifeSprinkler! She's pretty average at fighting though, 
it's possible, but very challaging to get DSC on her as she tends to 
learn only one of the throwing skills. For some reason, Emelia has a 
thing for TriangleKick, as she will always learn it! As a magician, 
she's really not that good, even though she has a background in 
guns, she would learn magic slowly.

Stats wise, Emelia's HP grows very quickly and she also seems to 
have the highest WP maximum. She's also fast and her CHA gets very 
high (because she used to be a supermodel.) And she has good STR and 
WIL levels, making her a good choice to be in your final team.

Lute

"Guess you're the guy to talk to the next time I get a parking 
ticket, huh?"
"What's a high-class chick like you doin' in a dive like this?"

Chapters obtained:
* Lute: Your starts with him
* T260: Go to the factory and enter the building to the right.
* Everyone else: In the pub in Scrap, just talk to him.

Starting skills: 
* Lute: None
* Everyone else: StunSlash

Background: Lute's just somebody who lives in Yorkland with a mean 
mother as she kicked him out of the house one day and said "Don't 
come back until you get a job." On his way, he met Mondo who gave 
him a lift on his ship but he soon found out that Mondo was the one 
who killed his father so he's after now after him to avenge his 
father. A rather unconvincing story but we'll have to live with it..

Evaluation: Lute starts out in everyone's chapter with very low 
stats. Like Monica from Romancing SaGa 3, that makes Lute perfect 
for maximum character customization. You can train him in any way 
you want and he WILL do well at it but it will take time. He's a 
perfect character to have in you team for beginners IMO but you'll 
most likely to have the urge to ditch him after a few games because 
he's not easy to train. Lute is sluggishly sloooooow, almost never 
gets to hit so it's hard to train him in swords or fighting, the 
most useful skills in the game IMO. I don't recruit him any more 
now.

Lute's very good at swords, if your got pass the problem with his 
speed, he'll learn some very cool skills early. As a fighter, he has 
no trouble learning DSC and so on, he's good at anything.

Lute gets very high CHA, even higher than that of Emelia's but has 
bad QUI. He starts with hardly any WIL and won't gain very much of 
it unless you train him in guns or magic.

T260

""

Chapters obtained:
* T260: You start with him
* Riki, Blue, Lute: In Scrap pub, just talk to him.

Starting skills: None

Background: A robot on a crashed spaceship who lost its memory. He 
was found by a little boy named Thame who took him to his uncle and 
fixed him up. He then took on a quest to find his lost mission as to 
carry it out. It became apparent that T260's model was out of this 
world so he couldn't have been a war machine made by Trinity. He 
soon discovers that the T260 model was made to destroy the RB3, 
something powerful enough to destroy the world! *Gasp*

Evaluation: Well, another great character simply because of the 
Omega Model body T260 can change into later in his game. T260 starts 
off in a unique Type 1 body and can change body types at Nikajima 
Robotics in Shrike. I still think that Type 1 is the best since you 
have the most equipment slots open but do feel free to change body 
type. Later you can change into Type 8, the Omega Model and I 
suggest you do that because it's very powerful! I think it's not 
mandatory to change to Type 8 body though, I dunno. 

T260 starts the game with no skills so try to absorb some good Mec 
skills but it doesn't actually matter since T260 will have access to 
V-Max with the Omega body. Try using V-Max sparingly because after 6 
rounds the effect will end which causes all of T260's stats to drop 
like crazy! Also when you have V-Max activated, try to have T260 
attack for all of the 6 rounds because he really can't afford to do 
anything else because of V-End. If he needs healing throw him a 
RepairKit or use EngineerCar and when he runs out of WP use 
EnergySupply. MaxwellProgram also comes in handy.

Riki

"I got to beat up Caballero!!"
"Look Mei-Ling, she hasn't got any clothes on. She must be really 
hot!"
"Is it tasty?"

Chapters obtained:
* Riki: You start with him
* Blue, T260, Emelia, Lute: Talk to him in Scrap pub.

Starting skills: Tail, TailHit, Heal

Background: Riki is a Lummox, a race of Monsters living in Margmel, 
a far away Region. Margmel is dying and the only thing that's 
keeping it alive is a ring. Riki was summoned to the Lummox elder as 
he explained the situation to Riki and they soon discovered that 
there are more rings in existence thanks to an inscription carved in 
the ring. The elder changed Riki into a Human-like form and sent in 
to Earth in search of the rings to save his home.

While on Earth, Riki made many friends, one of them is Mei-Ling who 
grew close to him like a big sister. Riki's quest has some pretty 
good character development and storyline, enjoy it!

Evaluation: Like all Monsters, they're only as good as the skills 
they absorb and the form they morph into. The form Lummox is very 
weak, with 60 or so HP and all stats 8. Try morph into something 
else as soon as you can. All his starting skills sucks so dump them 
and use the guidelines above in the Ultimate Monster section.

---Humans---
Annie

"Just aim and pull the trigger. No biggie."

Chapters obtained:
* Emelia: She joins automatically at the beginning. You can ask her 
to join again in Koorong outside the restaurant
* Red: She's outside the restaurant in Koorong. Talk to her and 
accept her offer
* Riki: Choose to collect the ring in Despair and Lize will walk 
past and overhears your conversation. She tells you that the blonde 
"chick" outside the restaurant knows something. Talk to her and say 
you trust her.
* Everyone else: Choose to collect the Runes and talk to the blonde 
in Koorong when you have 3 Runes and she'll join. (Note, if you're 
playing as Blue, she can take you to Despair and join you even if 
you don't have any Runes. I believe you have to get Liza and Roufas 
on you team first.)

Starting skills: StunSlash, DoubleSlash, Smash, Deflect, Thrust

Background: A girl who works for Gradius but she don't actually care 
about over-throwing Trinity, she just need some quick cash. She has 
a little brother and a sister she has to take care of. Annie is very 
strong willed and really knows how to handle a sticky situation 
since she grew up in a tough neighbourhood. According to Liza, Annie 
is a very private person. She's tough and mean to strangers but kind 
to her friends.

Evaluation: A pretty sad character over all. She is good with a 
sword but I'm afraid that's the only thing she is good at. She often 
learns a bunch of good sword skills fast and won't learn anything 
for ages, which is quite frustrating. Annie often learns a few high 
level skills early like RosarioImpale, StillStream and RisingNova. 
But the big problem with Annie is that it's REALLY hard for her to 
learn HeadWind (and therefore TurbidCurrent and LifeSprinkler.) Try 
learning ShadowCounter and learn HeadWind from there, or just skip 
it and go straight to LifeSprinkler. Annie tends to miss a lot too.

As I've said, she's not good with anything else. She simply won't 
learn very many skills with fighting and learns very slowly with 
magic. She's a tiny bit better with guns but not enough to make her 
a good gun user. 

Annie has very high STR, seems to surpass that of Gen's. She also 
gets a lot of HP but all her other stats are pretty low or average.

Captain Hamilton

"You can eat a whole lot more here because they don't use crap like 
MSG."

Chapters obtained:
* Lute: Talk to her in Owmi restaurant. Then go to Nelson and you'll 
be on board the Victoria, Hamilton's ship. Talk to her and say 
you're not ready and she'll be added to your team. 

Starting skills: TwoGun, StunShot, SharpShot, CrossSlash, Smash, 
WheelSlash

Background: Captain Hamilton is from Nelson. She commands the 
warship Victoria and has been assigned to watch the activities of 
Mondo. She knows a lot of stuff and say that they need to collect 
all sorts of data in order to face Trinity. Captain Hamilton knows 
about Lute's father and how he used to be an anti-Trinity activist. 
Mondo betrayed him and sold him to Trinity. She talked Lute into 
avenge his father.

Evaluation: Captain Hamilton is specific to Lute's quest only but 
never the less, she is a very good character! She's very good with 
guns and starts with the TwoGun skill, something of a rarity. She 
can wield a sword too and does well at it and I'd say she's at least 
as good as Annie. Not too great as a fighter but fair at magic. A 
strange thing is that she has 20JP (sometimes 10JP) when she joins 
you but she has no magic!!! Weird!

Captian Hamilton is generally quite slow. Slower than Gen but better 
than Lute but she has very high INT and WIL even if you don't train 
her in guns as much.

Doll

""

Chapters obtained:
* Red: In Shingrow port, talk to the purple haired girl and agree to 
help her

Starting skills: Fascination, PhantasmShot, GlassShield, HideBehind, 
PowerGrab, ShadowNets and (sometimes DarkSphere)

Background: (Doll reminds me a lot of Katarina from Romancing SaGa 
3, they look almost exactly the same!) When Doll first met Red, she 
told him that her brother is missing in one of the ruins and gets 
Red to help her. But later she revealed herself as really an 
undercover police officer working for the IRPO. Apparently, Fuse 
told him about Red and wanted her to follow him as Red will lead her 
to Berva, a wanted criminal she has to arrest.

Evaluation: You know what Human magic users are like but she is a 
good substitute for Rouge. The first time I got her she carried with 
her DarkSphere (when she didn't even have the gift yet) but when I 
played Red's quest a second time, she didn't have DarkSphere! If you 
got DarkSphere then you're very lucky, as it's very useful. She is 
good at magic but not as good as Rouge but I think she is more 
useful as she starts with 20WP. Train her in guns as well and she'll 
be quite powerful. She's ok with a sword but won't dish out very 
much damage so it's a waste and she's definitely not good at martial 
arts.

Being a magic user, Doll has good WIL and INT. If you want to train 
her as a physical fighter then good luck as her STR goes up slowly.

Fei-On

""

Chapters obtained:
* Riki: You'll end up in Koorong after you get the MerchantRing. 
Travel anywhere and you'll be swallowed by Tanzer. When pursuing 
Nomad, Fei-On will stop you when you try to enter a manhole. Talk to 
him and he'll join.
* Everyone else except Blue: When collecting Runes, you'll be 
swallowed by Tanzer when you try to travel to any Region from 
Koorong. Talk to Fei-On and agree to help him.

Starting skills: Kick, Chop, SwayBack, CrushBeat, OgreRun, BackFist, 
and (sometimes DragonTurn)

Background: A Human martial artist on his way to Kyo to train but 
got swallowed by Tanzer. He now hold his own territory where he 
offers a safe haven for other passengers swallowed by Tanzer, he 
protects these people from the crime boss Nomad.

He was Mei-Ling's boyfriend but since he got swallowed, he was 
unable to keep an eye on her. He blames himself for what happened to 
Mei-Ling for not looking after her properly.

Evaluation: Good fighter and learns pretty quickly, one of the 3 
characters in the game that truly specializes especially on fighting 
skills. Fei-On has no trouble learning DSC, a good member if you can 
recruit him early. Average with swords but he learns gun skills 
faster than most people for some reason. Poor magic user as you 
might have guessed.

Fei-On gets very high STR and VIT. And he's also very fast, about as 
fast as Liza.

Fuse

""

Chapters obtained:
* Red1: He automatically joins when the Cygnus is attacked.
* Red2: Talk to him in the burger shop in Manhattan.
* Red3: See below.
* All: Choose to collect the cards. Go to IRPO and talk to the 
receptionist. Fuse will send you to Mosperiburg mountain where he 
joins you temporarily. Beat the Suzaku and he'll join permenantly.

Starting skills: Kick, Gift for Mind Magic, MindHeal and (sometimes 
SpellBound and/or Awakening and/or LifeWave)

Background: A patrolman for IRPO. He is currently investigating on 
the illegal importing of pirated goods by Cindy Campbell. He used to 
be Ren's (Emelia's fiance) partner, he described Ren as "Unlike me 
he was a good cop." Does this mean that he's the bad cop? (Probably, 
that's why he threw Emelia is prison without a reason!)

Evaluation: Fuse is a cop that uses martial arts and does his job 
well. He's a lot like Fei-On in terms of fighting power but he 
learns the ultimate fighting skills a lot easier than all other 
characters. If he starts with LifeWave then he'll be really useful 
as it combos well and does good damage. Average with a sword like 
Fei-On but is slightly better with guns. He makes an ok magic user 
and starts the game with quite a bit of JP.

His HP rises very quickly and he has probably the highest STR level 
in the game! He has good WIL, good stats over all.

Gen

""

Chapters obtained:
* T260: Joins automatically near the beginning
* Riki: Talk to him in Scrap pub and he'll join when you leave
* Everyone else: Choose to collect the cards and talk to the 
skeleton in Koorong then take the ship to Scrap and he'll be in the 
pub.

Starting skills: Fist, Kick, Chop, StunSlash, DoubleSlash, 
CrossSlash, Thrust, Smash, Deflect

Background: Gen has a rather detailed storyline for a back-up cast. 
He's apparently a friend of Thame and will go to great length to 
protect him. Rest of the time, he likes to get drunk at the pub. He 
hates Trinity but don't seem to do anything about it. 

Gen is from Wakatu, a ruined city. He knows that Mondo keeps a 
secret head-quarters under Wakatu and the city was destroyed to keep 
this a secret. He's a gifted swordsman using sword skills found only 
in Wakatu (but that doesn't make him any more special in game 
terms.) He worships the Blade God, a deity of Wakatu I guess.

Evaluation: This guy is the best! He learns sword skills like crazy 
and can master them all without much effort! He starts with most of 
the low level ones already. Don't have him use any other skill until 
he masters or close to mastering all the sword skills, I usually 
reserve a space in my final team for him, he's the best sword user 
in the game for sure!

Gen's pretty good at fighting too but only train him in this 
category when you're satisfied with his sword skills. He's a lousy 
gun user though and the same goes to magic.

As for stats he's pretty average but does his job well. He's quite 
slow but a lot better than Lute so you can depend on him. He has 
high STR but low INT, WIL, PSY and CHA even if you train him in 
those categories. Try not to worry about it too much.

Liza

"Everyone tells me I'm too bitchy."

Chapters obtained:
* Emelia: Liza joins at the start
* Red: Get Annie on you team and go talk to Roufas in the restaurant 
and you'll be able to get either Roufas of Liza on your team.
* Blue: Choose to collect the Runes and find her in the restaurant. 
Talk to her and let her come with you.

Starting skills: Kick, AirThrow, KO Throw, Suplex, Fist

Background: Another member of Gradius. She had an affair with Roufas 
in the past but he was more interested in his job than a 
relationship and now she's forced to live with her embarrassing 
past. Liza told Emelia that Emelia would get on fine with Annie 
because they're about the same age, which means Liza is either 
really young or really old.

Evaluation: Wo! Don't let the feminine image of this girl fool you, 
she's actually the strongest fighter in the game! Liza is the BEST 
fighting character in the game because she will learn exceptionally 
fast. I was able to get DSC on her in 2 hours, and I wasn't even 
fighting strong enemies! Liza however, won't learn the ultimate 
fighting skills very easily though (they're hard to learn.) She's 
pretty good at swords too and she learns guns (especially) and magic 
skills ultra fast compared to other characters. Liza's my favourite 
character in the game!

Liza's STR starts out low but will rise very quickly later in the 
game. She's also very fast, almost always attack first but I find it 
disturbing as she most often breaks the combo, but it makes her 
perfect for DSC as she won't break your combos. Average stats 
otherwise. Liza can do more damage with her Punch than Fuse who has 
a higher STR.

Mei-Ling

"Buzz off!"

Chapters obtained: 
* Riki: Automatically joins near the start
* Blue, T260, Emelia, Lute: Talk to her in Scrap pub

Starting skills: SharpShot, SunRay, StarlightHeal and (sometimes 
QuickDraw)

Background: Mei-Ling is a student who studies the existence of the 
legendary rings, the same ones in Riki's quest. *SPOILER* She has 
actually been possessed by the rings that she will do anything to 
get her hands on them.

Mei-Ling was the girlfriend of Fei-On who disappeared without a 
trace. She was angry with him when they met again but deep down 
inside she still has feelings for him.

Mei-Ling is a obviously a rich girl because she always seems to be 
loaded with cash, bribing everyone in Riki's quest to get her hands 
on the rings. Lute calls her a "classy chick" and I agree with him! 

Evaluation: Mei-Ling is another one of those great gun users and 
sometimes starts with QuickDraw. I bet you'd think Mei-Ling is a 
magic user when you first get her but she's no where as good as the 
professional magicians like Rouge. Mei-Ling starts the game with an 
OUTRAGEOUS STR of 3!!! This may sound crazy but I'd advise you train 
her in swords. Even though her STR starts out rediculusly low, it'll 
rise, although not as fast as desired. I am not joking, she makes an 
exceptional sword user as she is probably the fastest at learning 
sword skills. Mei-Ling'd be the best sword user if it wasn't for her 
STR handicap. I'd say she's third best, after Gen and Emelia. Mei-
Ling is terrible at fighting but I was able to get DSC on her in 
under half an hour one time (yeah, I got lucky.) But she really 
sucked though, doing minimal damage.

Mei-Ling has below average stats.

Roufas

""

Chapters obtained:
* Red1: You can get find him in one of the guest room on board the 
Cygnus when the ship gets attacked. You'll loose him afterwards 
though.
* Red2: Go talk to him in the restaurant in Koorong with Annie on 
your party, you can get either Roufas or Liza to join.
* Red3: See below.
* Blue, Emelia, Lute: Choose to collect the Runes and you can ask 
him to join in Mu's Tomb.

Starting skills: Thrust, ThunderThrust, SharpShot, TotalShot, Gift 
for Mind Magic, MindHeal and some other Mind Magic at times. (Sorry, 
I can't remember. He's a lot like Fuse and it confuses me)

Background: One of the heads of Gradius. Roufas is exactly what 
Annie described him as, tough, smart and good with guns. Roufas used 
to be Liza's "lover" but he was more interested in his job so it 
didn't work out. Roufas is very calm and cool, he'll do anything to 
get what he wants, including betraying a friend. Currently after 
Joker and The Cube.

It seemed that Roufas and Fuse were once colleagues. They both start 
with the gift for Mind Magic so they must have some connection.

Evaluation: Well, Roufas is not as bad as his name (it rhymes with 
Doufas) and he doesn't look that stupid either. Roufas might have 
been the best gun using character in the game as he learns really 
fast. Roufas learns pretty well with a sword but he suffers the same 
problem as Doll, his STR is low so he usually does not do as much 
damage as the WP cost indicates. He learns some high level skills 
fast but he has the same problem as Annie only worse. Whenever I 
decided to place him in my final team, he stops learning! So by the 
end, I had to take him out! Otherwise, good secondary team member. 
Not a very good fighting character but good with magic. Perhaps a 
good all-round member if you train him well.

Roufas has high WIL and low STR otherwise not much noticeable 
difference.

Rouge

""

Chapters obtained:
* Blue: Loose to him when fighting him, he'll be the new hero.
* Emelia, Red, Asellus, Lute: Answer yes to his question in Luminous 
port. If you said no, you can find him again in Devin. I don't know 
where he goes after that.
(Note: If you try to go to Magic Kingdom Rouge will leave but you 
can find him in Luminous port again and you can ask him to join 
again. All his skills and equipment will remain.)

Starting skills: Gift for Realm Magic, Gate, EnergyChain, Implosion, 
PsychoArmor

Background: Twin brother of Blue and has the same mission as him. To 
gather magic from around the world then seeks out Blue and kill him. 
Rouge and Blue are actually the same person and if Rouge is the 
dominant brother (meaning Rouge was able to win again Blue) then 
Blue will be absorbed into Rouge's body, otherwise, Rouge will 
combine with Blue's body.

Evaluation: Rouge is supposed to be exactly the same as Blue but 
IMO, Blue is a lot stronger. Rouge is average at both swords and 
fighting and his stats don't go up as fast as Blue. Excellent with 
both guns and magic. Rouge is the best Human magic user in a non-
Blue game.

Rouge starts with no WP what-so-ever so training him in physical 
skills is difficult. Not only that his STR level starts off low and 
grows slowly, his WP level is also very low. Concentrate on magic if 
you can. By the end of the game, Rouge's INT and WIL should be 
around 60+. Decent JP too.

There is a secret scenario which I'm sure you all know about. Simply 
loose to Blue and Rouge will carry on with his game. The advantage 
of this is that Rouge will not have lost LP Blue spent on items in 
Facinaturu but the MAJOY draw backs is that you will loose every 
single skill Blue had except magic! Very disappointing especially if 
you have spent time getting DSC or LifeSprinkler on Blue. Other than 
these two points, Rouge will have the same stats as Blue would, 
meaning that Rouge's INT, WIL, PSY and JP would have been doubled as 
well. Rouge's game is exact the same as Blue's, with the same 
characters and last Boss. Whether you want to play as Rouge is your 
call but I'd rather not bother since the disadvantage is so great.

Note: In everyone else's quests, Rouge will not be able to obtain 
the gift for Mind Magic because Rouge will not get a chance to 
"fuse" with Blue, his mind is still divided.

---Mystics---
(All Mystics has the gift for Mystic Magic)

Dr. Nusakan

""

Chapters obtained: 
* Riki: While getting the ring in Yorkland, Mei-Ling will tell you 
of a doctor in Koorong who can help defeat Mollasite. Head to the 
bottom back street in Koorong and enter the clinic. Talk to the 
doctor and he'll join.
* Blue: While collecting Rune, a girl in Koorong says the doctor may 
know something. Go to the clinic in the bottm backstreet and the 
doctor will join.
(I heard that Dr. Nusakan will also join Lute but I was unable to 
get him)

Starting skills: Grail, Saber, Death, Fascination, PhantasmShot, 
PowerGrab

Background: A doctor in Koorong who runs a clinic in one of the 
backstreets. He knows quite a bit of the local history and the 
HideRune from within the city. His clinic looks haunted.

Evaluation: Dr. Nusakan is very cool as he does not have that lousy 
MysticMail so you can equip him with some decent armor. I like suits 
so I would give him a PowerSuit bought in Koorong. He also starts 
the game with the Arcane spell Death even though he don't have the 
gift yet (you have to look in the un-equipped spell list to find it) 
and it is very useful, especially against those powerful enemies 
that you're just too weak to defeat. Give him the gift for Shadow 
and Arcane Magic and he'll work perfectly with the "ultimate Mystic" 
strategy above. Also, note that Dr. Nusakan has an item that cannot 
be removed, it is the MysticWear, something very different and much 
better than the MysticMail. When used in battle, it will restore HP 
to a non-Mec target and you can use it as many times as you want! If 
you want a Mystic on your team then Dr. Nusakan is the man!

Ildon

""

Chapters obtained:
* Asellus: After you fight with the Lion Princess Ildon will join 
you at a random place.

Starting skills: Fascination, PhantasmShot, GlassShield

Background: A faithful servant of Orlouge. He came to Asellus to aid 
her for some unknown reason even although his lord may punish him 
for doing so. Ildon is a very calm person.

Evaluation: If you think that being a character unique to only one 
scenario must be a good one then you're wrong. Ildon is probably the 
worst Mystic in the game but since all Mystics are very similar, 
Ildon can still be a good Mystic if you follow the guidelines above. 
He's one of those few Mystics in the game that hasn't got any 
distinctive features. I think Ildon is simply a story character so 
don't expect too much out of him. Ildon is compulsory to Asellus 
quest!

Mesarthim

""

Chapters obtained:
* Asellus: She joins early on in Owmi mansion but leaves when you 
complete the mansion. You can get her later at the same spot where 
you released her in Owmi mansion but only after the Dark Labyrinth 
event.
* Blue, Red, Riki, Lute, Emelia: At the same spot in Owmi mansion 
basement but you must have a Mystic on your team and you must not 
have recruited Silence.

Starting skills: Fascination, Gift for Rune Magic and VictoryRune

Background: A water Mystic who is actually a mermaid. She got caught 
in the nets by Owmi's lord who kept her in his bathtub. Mesarthim is 
thankful that he saved him but she says she really can't stand the 
smell of Humans. Mesarthim however respects Mystics and will do 
anything for them, including becoming their slave.

Evaluation: Mesarthim is just as good as Dr. Nusakan, if not better. 
She can wear heavy armor as well and she comes with her own 
accessory, MellowRing. This powerful little ring will let Mesarthim 
use LifeRain, one of the 4 mass healing skills in the game similar 
to that of Sacrifice and FinalCrusade. When Mesarthim gets all 3 of 
her Mystic weapons, the MellowRing will also allow her to use 
Maelstrom, a tidal-wave attack with a Feint effect, very powerful. 
On topa that, the ring will protect Mesarthim against water type 
attack!

The only disadvantage Mesarthim has over Dr. Nusakan is that 
Mesarthim starts with the gift for Rune Magic which means she'll 
never be able to use Arcane Magic and Tower! She is useful if say 
only a few (or none) of your characters can master Rune Magic, such 
as in Emelia and Riki's quest. Without Tower, you must find some 
other high-damage attack. MegaWindBlast is good, or ShadowServant 
with a good Mystic weapon skill, or just she her as a "utility" 
character and give her the BackPack so she can heal with potions and 
LifeRain.

Mesarthim starts out extremely weak and has low starting stats so be 
sure to train her hard if you want to use her. Mesarthim is fast 
though. 

Rei

"Sold Out!"

Chapters obtained:
* Asellus: You must visit Rei's room in Chateau Aiguille with only 
White Rose in you team, you'll hear how Rei escaped. After the Dark 
Labyrinth event, talk to the purple haired girl outside of the 
shrine in Devin and she'll join you.

Starting skills: Fascination, PhantasmShot, GlassShield, Gift for 
Mirage Magic, BlackCat, NightMare, Jackal, Cockatrice, Reaper

Background: Rei was the first princess of Orlouge and the only one 
that escaped from the Mystic's realm. She knew that the coffins 
Orlouge keeps as his weakness(?) To escape Chateau Aiguille, she 
committed suicide and through the cycle of life, Rei was able to be 
reborn into Human flesh. (Hey, doesn't this make her a Half-Mystic?) 
Orlouge often searches for her all through the Regions, in fact, the 
chariot that trampled Asellus was Orlouge trying to capture Rei. Rei 
regrets not being able to stop Orlouge from creating the first Half-
Mystic so she offered to help Asellus.

Evaluation: Rei is ridiculously weak by the time Asellus gets her. 
Rei starts the game with only 6WP! But she does start with a full 
set of Mirage Magic, which ain't as good as you'd think. I think of 
her as more of a novelty. If you really want to use her then beef up 
her WP level and train her until her HP is about so high as the rest 
of your members (she starts with about 300HP.) Rei has incredibly 
high CHA, making her a good candidate for Fascination, that's if you 
bother with that spell.

Silence

"Beware! The real Silence is mute, just like his name."

Starting skills: Fascination, PhantasmShot, GlassShield

Chapters obtained:
* Emelia, Asellus, Red, Blue, Lute: Choose to collect Shadow Magic. 
In Omble, talk to Silence's shadow in the first room and agree to 
help him. When you exit, talk to the guy standing behind a wall and 
he'll join.

Background: Silence obviously had some connection with IRPO because 
his shadow said that he was sent to Omble to persue a fugitive. Also 
remember what Silence carried in his weapon slot? That's right! The 
old trusty HandBlaster that every cop has one! (Fuse and Doll both 
starts with it too!) The only question left is how can a Mystic 
become a police?

Evaluation: Forget what I said about Ildon, Silence is definitely 
the worst Mystic in the game! For all the trouble you have to take 
to recruit him in Omble, he's just not worth it. First he won't be 
assigned the gift for Shadow Magic even though he completed the 
maze! (I think this is because the game will allow him to obtain the 
gift for Light Magic if you wanted but it means that Silence will 
NEVER be able to get the gift for Shadow Magic because you can 
challenge Omble only once!) His starting stats don't excel and he 
doesn't start with any magic except the boring old Mystic spells. 
What's even more annoying is that if Silence is in your party, you 
won't be able to recruit Mesarthim.

Skip him if you want and put him in the "dust-collecting" party if 
you did recruit him.

TimeLord

"Alright, do your worst."

Chapters obtained: 
* Asellus: You must purchase the SandVessle all the way from the 
beginning of the game when you're in Facinaturu. Then follow the 
step below. (Actually, you can also do this to recruit TimeLoad when 
you return to Facinaturu at the end of the game, thanks to Mec Cande 
)
* Red, Emelia, Lute: Ask the RingLord in Mosperiburg about Time 
Magic after you have obtained either the gift for Arcane or Rune and 
Light or Shadow Magic. He'll send you to TimeLord's Region. Go all 
the way to the broken hourglass and examine the sand then go back to 
the entry and teleport out. Now talk to RingLord again and he'll 
send you to Facinaturu. Talk to the green-skinned, goblin-like 
Mystic named Gazuru and buy the SandVessle off him (it costs 1LP!) 
Talk to the pilot in one of the houses and escape with him. Go back 
to Mosperiburg and RingLord will send you back to TimeLord's Region. 
Go back to the broken hourglass and examine the sand again. Run all 
the way up to the platform above it and your character will jump 
onto the hourglass and restarts it. Time will be restored to the 
Region. Now enter the door, cross the bridge and you'll find 
TimeLord beyond the door. Ask him to join!

Starting skills: Gift for Time Magic, DelayOrder, TimeLeap, 
TimeEclipse, TimeTwister, ChaosStream, OverDrive, PhantasmShot, 
Fascination, GlassShield

Background: A Mystic with the gifted ability to use Time Magic 
resides in his hidden Region. He is still trying to perfect his 
skills he is yet to become a powerful Mystic.

Evaluation: Although TimeLord has that crap MysticMail, his ability 
to use Time Magic makes him one of the most powerful characters in 
the game! Make sure you get him Rune and Shadow Magic as they 
compliment OverDrive well.

---Super TimeLord---
These are the skills I equip my TimeLord with and it works like a 
charm:

1. OverDrive
2. StasisRune
3. ShadowServant
4. TimeTwister
5. MysticSword (Dullahan absorbed)
6. MysticGloves (Suzaku absorbed)
7. MysticBoots (Suzaku absorbed)

And equip these as his equipments:

* RuneSword
* (Something)
* BackPack
* DurahanShield (or DragonShield)
* MysticMail
* HyperWear
* CyberGlove
* JetBoots (or alternatively, IronClogs)
Since TimeLord don't actually need slot number 2, try equipping him 
with items that increases stats. The JetBoots and DurahanShield 
increases stats. RuneSword has VictoryRune as a built-in tech and 
Cockatrice will appear when equipped with StasisRune. (If you ever 
need it that is.)

Make sure that at least one other member in your party has SnakeOil 
or Grail equipped.

Now the fun part begins. Enter the fight with the last boss and have 
TimeLord whip out OverDrive. If TimeLord is powerful enough, he'll 
certainly get 7 actions but if he's weak, he may get a minimum of 4 
action. Cast ShadowServant as your fist spell then use 5 
GriffithScratches (the Dullahan in his MysticSword will allow him to 
use it) then finally wrap it up with StasisRune as your last action. 

If you're not sure if TimeLord will have 7 actions then use this 
method. Put in the first 3 action then StasisRune as the 4th. If the 
screen pops up again after that, it means that TimeLord can take 
more actions so press the X button to cancel. This will allow you to 
re-enter command number 4. Then repeat the process by entering 
StasisRune again until the command screen no longer pops up after 
StasisRune.

TimeLord will freeze everyone with OverDrive and casts ShadowServant 
on himself. Each GriffithScratch with the shadow will do about 3000 
damage. StasisRune will freeze the boss and TimeLord. If you're not 
fighting Hell's Lord or Diva (I know it's impossible normally but 
you can in 2nd Div.) then the boss cannot break out of Stasis and 
stays frozen for about 8 rounds or so. Now have one member use 
SnakeOil or Grail on TimeLord and everyone else should use stats-
uppers like LightSword and the various Runes but make sure you don't 
cast Shield yet as Shield will automatically come out first thing in 
that turn and TimeLord will not be affected while in Stasis so cast 
Shield when TimeLord is out of Stasis. 

When you for TimeLord out of Stasis with SnakeOil or whatever, 
you'll notice that his shadow is gone but it's no big deal. TimeLord 
will be able to take 7 actions so let him use LuckyCoins on 
everyone. Then he should cast VictoryRune on everyone. If your other 
characters are goin' to use SoulRune then make sure they do it late 
because after 4 rounds SoulRune will expire and suck 1LP off you! I 
usually use it on the 7th round.

When the boss comes out of Stasis your characters should be god-like 
powerful with all those stats boosts. How have everyone except 
TimeLord use whatever they want (DSC, LifeSprinkler etc.) TimeLord 
should use TimeTwister on everyone but himself and with the 
remaining 3 rounds he may either heal with items or attack with 
GriffithScratch. Every character will attack multiple times (not to 
mention combos!) with this strategy and the boss should be dead in 
about 2 rounds after Stasis!

White Rose

"Lady Asellus, live in freedom!"

Chapters obtained:
* Asellus: Joins way back in the beginning in her room.
* Red: On board the Cygnus when the ship gets attacked. At the same 
place as Asellus.
* Emelia: Trinity Base on the boucany with Asellus.

Starting skills: Fascination, PhantasmShot, GlassShield, SunRay, 
StarlightHeal, FlashFire, FlashFlood

Background: Orlouge's 35th (?) princess. Also known as the "Kindest 
princess" in Chateau Aiguille. She's obedient to her lord but won't 
deceive her friends. Strange it may seem that Asellus treated her as 
kind of a "lover" but her attitude toward Asellus is more like a 
sister.

Evaluation: A weak Mystic that won't stay long in any of the 
chapters (ok, she stays until the end with Emelia but you do get her 
rather late in the game) but her spells are extremely useful during 
that time you have her. She starts the game with a full set of the 
lower level Light Magic, which gives her offence as well as healing 
abilities that you need. Having trouble with the enemies on board 
the Cygnus? Have White Rose use her MysticSword to knock them out in 
one hit! Having trouble with the Mecs in Trinity Base? Have White 
Rose cast FlashFire! She's not of much use later in the game though 
so just retreat her to the dust-collecting team. Being the kindest 
princess gives White Rose higher CHA than most.

Zozma

""

Chapters obtained:
* Asellus: After the Dark Labyrinth event, go back to the previous 
screen (or Devin's shrine) and he'll talk with you for a while and 
join.
* Emelia: Recruit Asellus and White Rose in Trinity Base and find 
Zozma in one of the other rooms, disguised as a soldier. Talk to him 
and he'll join.

Starting skills: Fascination, PhantasmShot, GlassShield, RavaShot, 
PainDoubler, SharpPain, DeathCurse

Background: A Mystic banished from Chateau Aiguille. (I think) I 
don't exactly know what his purpose in the story is though. He looks 
a LOT like Akuma from Street Fighters!

Evaluation: I don't know why but everyone seemed to love Zozma. All 
I can see him as is an average Mystic with some half-baked Evil 
Magic. Anyway, his Evil spells can be useful when used under the 
right circumstances but I don't use him much. I bet you guys know 
him more than I do.

---Mecs---
BJ&K

"(There's this really funny consersation between Red and BJ&K but I 
can't remember it)"

Chapters obtained:
* Red: Talk to him in the nurse's office when the Cygnus is under 
attack. He'll leave after that event but you can find him at the 
same place and he'll join again.

Starting skills: HypnoFlash

Background: A Type 4 robot nurse on board the Cygnus. 

Evaluation: BJ&K has a built-in Medikit skill, this is very 
different to EnginnerCar's RepairKit skill as this heals non-Mecs! 
If you try to use it on a Mec then you'll get the "Miss" message so 
be sure you can distinguish between the two. I know, it's confusing. 
Other than that he's just a normal Mec that depends solely on 
absorbing good skills and equipping good equipment. He has a built-
in laser cannon to use.

EngineerCar

""

Chapters obtained:
* T260: Just talk to him in Nikajima Robotics in Shrike.
* Red, Blue, Lute, Riki: Talk to him in Shrike and he'll offer to 
join if you have a Mec in your party.

Starting skills: CrossHair, RangeFire

Background: A Type 6 Mec designed by Nikajima to fix various 
mechanical malfunctions.

Evaluation: Being a Type 6 Mec gives him the ability to heal Mec in 
battle, very useful if you like Mecs. He starts with some useless 
skills so get him some good ones in order to attack. He's equipped 
with a MachineVulcan but it's just too weak, get his some decent 
weapons instead!

Leonard

""

Chapters obtained:
* T260: Return to Leonard's lab in Manhattan after you've explored 
Shingrow and the Mec Leonard will join you.

Starting skills: EnergySupply, HypnoFlash

Background: Dr. Leonard possesses a lab in Manhattan where he 
researches machines. Because of his fame, he anticipated his death 
so Leonard stored his memory into a Mec model. His assassination 
soon followed but Leonard was able to continue his research as a 
Mec, eventually joined T260 in his quest.

Evaluation: The game says Leonard is a Type 6 model but I doubt it, 
as all Type 6's look like EngineerCar. Leonard starts with the 
equipment identical to EngineerCar though. He also has built-in 
RepairKits which you may find useful. Leonard starts with an ultra 
powerful Mec skill EnergySupply which makes him the perfect Mec 
companion. Get Leonard either PopKnight or ShockSoldier and he's 
ready for the final fight.

Rabbit

""

Chapters obtained:
* Red: Find Rabbit in Kyo's Garden but Red must have left the 
Cygnus.

Starting skills: Jammer

Background: An anti-Mech model. (Type 2) Seems to be pursuing 
Mblack.

Evaluation: A powerful little Mec but it's hard to boost some of his 
stats like HP for some reason. Rabbit has the powerful built-in 
laser cannon which is powerful but takes quite a bit of WP to use. 
He's also fast.

The unique thing about Ribbit is that he's equipped with an ECM 
System which when used in battle, allows him to dodge missiles (I 
think.) Also Type 2 Mec Rabbit can absorb the CounterECM skill which 
will make the enemy's ECM (such as MBlack) ineffective. 

The other really unique thing about him that I didn't even know was 
the BitSystem. When used in battle, it will summon miniture 
satellites that zooms onto the screen every turn and does about 300 
damage to a random target. Doesn't sound that great? Until he 
absorbs the SatelliteBeam skill! With that, the BitSystem can be 
upgraded into the SatelliteLinker where the mini-satellites will now 
do 2500-3000 points of damage EVERY ROUND! And that counts as an 
independent action! So if Rabbit uses ShockSoldier in the mean time, 
the damage can rack upwards of 6000+!! This can, however, be quite 
harsh on him WP so let another Mec use EnergySupply on Rabbit. One 
little robot with BIG damage potentials. Too bad only Red can get 
him.

PzkwV

""

Chapters obtained:
* T260: Talk to the Mec who runs a laser shop in Koorong's 
Backstreet with Leonard in your party and he'll join.

Starting skills: ShootingMastery

Background: A Type 5 Mec who runs a shop that sells smuggled weapons 
from Trinity. He knows Leonard.

Evaluation: I don't know what Type 5 Mec's specialty is but I don't 
like PzkwV because first, I can't pronounce it's name and second, it 
has too many equipment slots filled with useless stuff like the 
MicroMissile. Type 5 is supposed to be the heavily armed model but 
all he has is a bunch of low damaging missiles. I suppose you can do 
heavy damage when using Shoot-All but it's really not that worth it. 
Only have PzkwV in your main team if you want a party of all Mecs. 
Many other people seem to like him.

ZEKE

""

Chapters obtained:
* T260: Retrieve the robot mouse from Sei's Tomb in Shrike and ZEKE 
will offer to join you in Nikajima Robotics.

Starting skills: None

Background: Another Mec made by Nikajima Robotics but this time it's 
used for research. ZEKE is a Type 3 model.

Evaluation: Type 3 models are really fast but are somewhat weak. 
ZEKE has a couple of weak cannons that works fine early in the game 
but so give him something better if you have it. He has an item 
called Accelerator which boosts his speed in battle but it's not 
useful at all since ZEKE is usually the fastest already! A unique 
attack called KAMIZAKI Crush can be absorbed but the damage is not 
too great (around 1000) and it costs 1LP. So use him in an all Mecs 
party. I don't know who is better, ZEKE or PzkwV. What do you 
recoin? 

---Monsters---
Cotton

"Kyu kyukyu Kyu kyu"

Chapters obtained:
* All: You can find Cotton on the top floor of the Bio Lab in 
Shrike. You must fight some mad scientists and Cotton will join.

Starting skills: Heal, Needles, Assist, SuperSonic

Background: A monster being taken hostage by the mad scientists of 
the Bio Lab. He reviewed to Doll that it was a set up. Cotton 
obviously has a link to IRPO and he is a friend of both Fuse and 
Doll. He speaks a tongue which nobody but Doll and Fuse understands. 
It seems like he's currently on the inter-Region bandit's case. 
(Wow, IRPO is really up to date. Not only do they hire Mystics but 
Monsters too!)

Evaluation: I dunno. I just get him because he's cute. He has 
nothing of value in his skill slots. Use him if you want, just 
follow the steps above.

Kylin

""

Chapters obtained: 
* All but Blue: Obtain either the gift for Light or Shadow and 
Arcane or Rune Magic and ask Rei (purple haired girl in Devin's 
shrine) about Space Magic. She'll send you to Kylin's Paradise. Find 
Kylin in one of the buildings and agree to his challenge, he'll send 
you to a maze. Work your way out of the maze and talk to him again, 
ask him to join and he will.

Starting skills: VaporBlast, Vanish, LightShift, DarkShift, 
ReverseGravity, Vortex, Kylin'sSong, PhotoSynthesis

Background: A Monster with the gift of Space Magic. He created a 
Paradise out of no where and let people enjoy the fun. A carefree 
Monster.

Evaluation: Kylin is pretty good and it's the only Monster that I 
don't mind having in my party. His stats are pretty good, he has 
very high WP/JP levels and comes with a full set of the all so 
powerful Space Magic. However, I must confess that I am under a lot 
of pressure when I'm using Kylin because 6 of his slots are filled 
with Space Magic that can't be replaced so I must keep them. His 
Kylin'sSong is essential to keep the KylinJr. form so I can't loose 
that either. That leaves me with only one slot to absorb skills from 
and I can't even keep it! Needless to say but Kylin gains HP very 
slowly. I found a better solution to just don't ask him to join and 
buy the Space Magic off him for my Humans and Mystics instead but if 
you like Monsters (especially powerful ones) then definitely get 
him.

RedTurnip

""

Chapters obtained:
* Asellus: In Dark Labyrinth talk to him and he'll join when you 
escape.

Starting skills: BloodSucker, BrainCrush, SleepGas, SeedVulcan, 
Fang, Scream, ElfShot, Ink

Background: A Monster of the race Mandrake who got trapped inside 
the Dark Labyrinth for some unknown reason. He was able to escape 
with Asellus because White Rose sacrificed herself.

Evaluation: Although RedTurnip has all 8 of his slots filled, 
there's a really nothing there that's of much use. RedTurnip is only 
worth getting for that extra nifty bit of cut scenes. He also joins 
rather late in the game so I just ignore him and put him in my 3rd 
team.

Sei

""

Chapters obtained:
* Collect all 3 items from Sei's Tomb and place them on the glowing 
altars. Go through the door that opens and get close to the coffin, 
Sei'll mistake you guys for robbers and fighting you. After the 
battle you may opt to let him join. (He'll join Riki without a 
fight.)

Starting skills: Kusanagi, MinionStrike, DeathSynthesis, HPDrain, 
SacredSong

Background: Once a king of Shrike. You can read about him in the 
town's library.

Evaluation: Another good Monster but I'd rather have his sword 
instead. King Sei starts with some unique and powerful skills like 
Kusanagi and MinionStrike (the Monster's version of ShockSoldier, I 
think Arachne has it too.) His DeathLord form is unique but rather 
weak compaired to other Monster forms. Probably you should try morph 
him into a good Monster that has only one key skill (Chimera is a 
good one) and also I'd recommend you keep Kusanagi, MinionStrike and 
SacredSong as they're very powerful. Take him if you like Monsters 
but the Kusanagi is very useful to Humans, Mystic and Mecs!

Slime

"(The slime don't talk!)"

Chapters obtained:
* All but Riki: Upon leaving Tanzer after obtaining the VitalityRune 
he'll sneak into your team!

NEWSFLASH: There is a way to not have Slime sneak into your team. 
All you need to do is to have 3 full teams of party members. You 
must have at least 14 characters when entering Tanzer and recruit 
Fei-On. After the fight to obtain the Rune you won't even see the 
scene where the Slime crawls into your team!

Starting skills: Spoil, Solvent, HPDrain

Background: None!

Evaluation: Probably as crappy as a playable character gets but you 
can still turn it into something useful like a Mariche. I always try 
to fill up all my character slots before the Rune event but it may 
not always be possible so just retire him to the dust-collecting 
party, stop moaning and save your breath for Oprah.

Suzaku

"(Again, this phoenix don't speak.)"

Chapters obtained:
* All: During the trip to Mosperiburg mountains when pursuing the 
Shield card, beat the fairy on the first screen and head straight 
until you come across a snow field with 3 boars. If a snowman is 
present then fighting it (it's tough) and head back into the caves. 
You can find the Suzaku in on of the caves and if you killed the 
snowman, it will be thawed and touch it to get it to join.

Starting skills: FireBreath, FireBarrier, Wing, GliderSpike

Background: This phoenix is frozen in the cave for no reason and it 
joins you for no reason either. I'm confused.

Evaluation: I dunno 'coz I haven't used him yet but I will. I heard 
the Suzaku is very powerful though. 

Thunder

""

Chapters obtained: 
* All: Find this orange fellow in Yorkland and he'll offer to join 
if you have his "Big Bro" (Lute) in your party.

Starting skills: GroundHit, Feint, Dash, BoltBreath

Background: Lute's "brother" and childhood friend. He calls Lute's 
mother "Ma" but he's a Monster (an Ogre) so they can't possibly be 
related. He's probably adopted.

Evaluation: Thunder starts out strong but may change when he morphs. 
GroundHit is a good attack but there are better Monsters in the game 
if you wanted one. I got him once and retired him to team 3 after an 
hour.


WELL KNOWN TRICKS
=================
This section covers tricks that you must have heard of a thousand 
times already so skips it if you want. I didn't discover these 
tricks so I claim no credit for them.

---Junk Shop Trick---
This trick allows you to get infinite items from the Junk Shop in 
Scrap. Pay the lizard at the counter (the fee varies as you go 
through the game) and pick 3 items of your choice. Return and choose 
to sell and click on "HyperionBazooka" assuming that you don't have 
one. It will "beep" and you may go back to pick up 7 more items. 
Repeat as desired! The items will improve after you sell some 
RepairKits (it's not how many you sell but how many times you sell) 
and by the end it will contain only one item in each box.

Note the Junk Shop has some great items. You can pick up LethalGuns 
which are the best store bought guns (sold for 4020 Credits in 
Koorong.) The ExcelShield is great to give to all your members 
(unpurchaseable.) The Osc-Swords can be sold in Shrike for 110 each! 
Other great items include WarLordArmor, JetBoots and MirrorGlass. 
Collect lots of Osc-Swords and you're ready for the next trick.

---Infinite Credit Trick---
You must have a reasonable amount of money to do this trick, I think 
10000 or 15000 or so should be enough. Go to Nelson and buy as many 
GoldIngots as you can. Travel back to Koorong and choose sell and 
press "down" until you have none left. Now press up until you have 
the maximum number of GoldIngots, you'll notice that their value had 
increased. Press down again and sell all your GoldIngots. You'll 
have more money than you started with and repeat the trick.

If the value for the GoldIngots ever drop to zero when you're 
pressing the down button then sell them immediately as any more gold 
you sell after that will have no value! You should have about 
50,000+ Credits to spend. Spend them all and repeat the trick by 
selling the remaining GoldIngots and buying more from Nelson etc.

I know it sounds complicated but you'll understand how it works when 
you play do it. It's way too complicated to explain everything here.

---DoubleSlash Trick---
Use DoubleSlash with the Asura or Kusanagi when you have 6 or more 
physical skills equipped to gain the power of these swords at no 
charge but there's no much need for it in my experience. 

---The Porno Book---
Geez, how can I forget this?!?! Anyway, in the library in Shrike you 
can read a kinky porno book. Stand behind the first shelve and push 
the O button. It's kinda hard to find, so you might need to do some 
readjustments. You know when you've found it when some kinda message 
window appears. But (un)fortunately, no actually pornography 
footage. Your leading character will say something stupid, funny or 
revealing. Riki's is by far the FUNNIEST quote in the whole game. 
(It's in his section under "Character evaluation". Can you guess 
which one it is?)


OTHER TRICKS
============
These are the tricks that I've discovered.

---Guaranteed Level 5 Combo!---
What's more fun than watching a level 5 combo but they're almost 
impossible to pull off. This will make your life easier. Have 5 gun 
users and equip them with QuickDraw and either CrossShot or 
BoundShot (you can mix and match them if you like, they're 
interchageable for this combo.) Go into a boss fight and have 
everyone use either BoundShot or CrossShot, you'll automatically go 
first (thanks to QuickDraw) and a level 5 combo will take place 
doing over 10,000 points of damage! Better still, give everyone 2 
guns and equip them with the TwoGun skill, the damage will be 
doubled! The problem with this is that QuickDraw will only work once 
but you may try it again the next round and if you're lucky, you'll 
get another level 5 combo. (I think QuickDraw boosts speed as well.)

Note if the enemy has a shield, one or more of the attacks maybe 
blocked leaving you with a level 4 or less combo.

---Arcane and Rune Magic---
There's a trick to use bother Arcane and Rune Magic even if you're 
not Blue but the only problem is that you'll only be able to get the 
lower level Arcane spells. First you need to obtain the gift for 
Rune Magic then dump any Rune spells you have and buy the lower 
Arcane spells you want. Now give them a RuneSword and use 
VictoryRune during battle. Eventually you'll learn another Rune 
spell and go from there.

---Realm and Mystic Magic---
This trick is similar to the one above and you'll be able to get 
only the lower level Realm spells. Take a Mystic to the Magic 
Kingdom and buy them some Realm spells, discarding the Mystics 
spells they have. Give them a PurpleEye and use it in battle (it 
casts PhantasmShot) and you'll learn another Mystics spell and go 
from there.

---Speed Magic Learning---
The problem with learning spells is that you learn them too slowly, 
I have discovered a trick that lets you learn all the spells you 
need (for up to 4 characters) in about half an hour or so. First you 
need TimeLord (or Blue, or someone with the TimeEclipse spell). 
Absorb some good monsters in TimeLord's Mystic weapons to get him a 
high QUI. Now put him in your main team with 4 Humans. Your Humans 
should have the gift for about 3 types of magic. Make sure you 
purchase all the spells that falls into those schools as it'll save 
you time to have to learn them. Now equip your Humans with 6 or more 
spells (so they have a crown in magic), make sure you equip spells 
that falls into the school you want to learn from, especially the 
1JP ones. Now head to Shrike's Bio Lab or Yorkland's swamp and fight 
the Dullahan or Krakens. Have TimeLord cast TimeEclipse and everyone 
else use a 1JP spell (it'll be free because they have a crown) from 
the school they want to learn from. TimeLord should be fast enough 
to go first and Petrify the Dullahan or Kraken with TimeEclipse and 
end the fight. Because your Human characters attempted a spell, 
they're qualified to learn a new spell and being a master in magic 
helps you learn as well. This trick works fine even with Gen or 
someone with low INT. I think Yorkland is better since the Kraken 
always comes singly. When TimeLord runs out of JP give him a 
MagiWater and repeat until you've learnt all desired spells.

---LightSword Deflect trick---
(Thanks to Kaminari11@aol.com for this fabulas trick.)
It seems that if you have LightSword activated, you'll AUTOMATICALLY 
have access to the defence skills Deflect as a bonus effect! You can 
block attacks directed at other members too, just like Deflect making it 
very useful! What's even better is to give this to a magic user so they 
can block as well, but since the Deflect effect doesn't count as a tech, 
you can STILL achieve a crown in magic by equipping 5 or more other 
spells! Sword users can also save a slot for Deflect as well, making 
this another a great reason to get Light Magic for your characters! I 
haven't tested it though.

---Speed Skill Learning---
(Thanks to CaptainNemo7189@aol.com for this trick.)
First go find a really powerful enemy, Dullahans or Krakans will do 
(or even a boss character.) Make sure that 4 of the characters you 
want to learn new skills has at least 2 open slots and the 5th 
character has Stasis Rune. Use Stasis Rune and plot away all you JP 
from one character, then attack the enemy frozen in Stasis, and you 
should be able to get about 6 round or so worth of free hits, 
whoohoo! When Statis Rune expires, cast it with another character 
(if they have it) and repeat. After the battle is over, use a 
MageWater or go rest at an inn and repeat the process to learn all 
your favourite skills!

---Speed Skill Absorbing---
(Thanks to Beowulf for this trick.)
This is an awesome trick that Beowulf told me recently, can't 
believe I didn't thought of it myself. It's pretty simple. Everyone 
knows that TimeEclipse is a great instant-Petrify spell. If the mage 
with TimeEclipse is somehow fast, cast the spell when fighting an 
enemy you wish to absorb a skill for your Monster. This works just 
like the Speed Magic Learning Trick above except it's for Monsters. 
This trick may speed up the process of turning your Monster into a 
Mariche. :)

---Medicine on steroids!---
Ok this is really weird but partly cool and useful. You know how 
Cure and PowerCure are supposed to heal your character by a set 
amount of HP (200 and I think 400 respectively.) However, when I 
showed my friend the game today, their powers went up to 430 and 640 
respectively, I think. It was fighting CharmLord and TimeLord had 
the BackPack. I think what had influenced the effects of the 
medicines is that I have previously used a LuckyCoin on TimeLord 
(and everyone else) to raise their stats. Other causes might be the 
use of VictoryRune or OverDrive, although it's unlikely. Still, I 
found it pretty fascinating.


THE DEX DRIVE
=============
(This should really be under the "Miscellaneous" section but I feel 
kinda bad so here it is)

SaGa Frontier contains exactly 40 playable characters but I bet that 
you have not seen all of them. (Even I haven't). Eric Hohertz 
informed me that each character's stats (even the ones not in your 
party) are recorded in your save data, he found out using one of the 
more sophisticated tools of modern gaming – the Dex Drive. Looking 
at the character list he sent me, I noted 2 characters that were not 
found in the game. (Perhaps cut from the game, perhaps no one knows 
a way to get them yet.) They're CommonMec and Woman!!! CommonMec is 
definitely a Mec but Woman (!!) was in between the list of Humans 
and Mystics so what race she belongs to is still a mystery. Perhaps 
she is the rumored Lion Princess, but why would she be called 
"Woman"? Maybe she is actually a man, maybe she's just anonymous, 
who knows. Anyway, it's very interesing.

Also in the list were a bunch of unplayable characters and/or 
characters with alternate costumes. Such a list contains the 
alternate costumes of Emelia (Pink Tiger, Bunny etc..), Riki's 
Lummox form, T260's different body-types, Alkaiser, Alkarl, Asellus' 
Mystic form and alternate costume (the one seen in the beginning of 
her quest). There were 3 REALLY weird character: Soildier (??), 
Titania (?!) and Xena(!!!!) 

Anyway, according to Eric, it is possible to transfer a character 
into your party or change one of your existant characters into the 
character desired, given that you have some sort of hacking device 
like a Dex Drive. (It's also possible to transfer skills, however, 
I've been informed that only a Monster is guaranteed to be able to 
use it.) But for the time being, it's a very complicated task and no 
one will probably understand the process. So forget it since there 
is always the Game Shark. But let's all thank Eric for the 
fascinating information. (No I really mean it!)

(No please do not ask me for Game Shark codes, nor do I want to 
receive any of them via e-mail. Thanks.)

!!!UPDATE!!!
Thanks for Gary Hinger for sending me these information on Woman and 
CommonMec. Here's what he has to say:

"It turns out that Woman is an ordinary human, but her graphics in the 
party menu looks like a weird rotating T260G. In battle, she looks 
exactly like Rabbit. 

"CommonMec seems to be an ordinary hammer-type Mec (type 5 or 6 I 
think). Nothing else special about it." 

Actually, Hammer type is Type 7... I was wondering why there are no 
natural Type 7 Mecs in the game.

Thanks!


MISCELLANEOUS
=============
Here's some "weird" stuff I found rather interesting.

* Remember Gozarus? The Mystic that sells stuff for your LP. He 
claims that all his items are one of a kind. He has a ShadeRobe that 
he sells for 1LP. Now remember what Asellus was wearing when she 
joined in Red and Emelia's scenario? That's right, the ShadeRobe! 
And when I was playing as Red, one of the enemy actually dropped a 
ShadeRobe! What's this? Three ShadeRobes in one game?!?!?!?! (Hmm, I 
wonder where I can get my hands on another one of those excellent 
Asuras.)

* In Koorong, there's a manhole that leads to a small area with 
nothing in it and there's a manhole lid that won't open, I wonder 
what they're for.

* Have you tried goin' up the stairs on the top floor in Bacarrat? 
They won't let any character enter. When I first played the game I 
thought that area was specific to Emelia's quest in one of her 
Gradius mission.

* When you use the Kusanagi sword skill, instead of hearing the 
usual sword slash sound effect you'll hear the Monster skill sound 
effects. I think this is a bug (the Kusanagi is also King Sei's 
Monster skill).

* When you use a 2-sword skill with the Asura or Kasanagi you'll see 
the character holding 2 red or green swords regardless of the other 
sword they equipped!

* Emelia is a person who carries her wedding dress around with her! 
And she had to fight Diva in it! Now how'd you suppose she did that?

* You can chain together Blizzard-MoonlightCut-Tres Flores which 
will evoke the classic Midare Setgetsuka sword skill. (I wonder why 
they broke in into 3 bits.) It's very pretty and does quite a bit of 
damage for a level 3 combo. Try it for fun!

* I head a rumor that the Lion Princess is a playable character. She 
can join right before the last fight with Orlouge in Asellus' quest 
if she save Gina and Rei is not on her team. 

* The lord of Owmi in Riki's quest is different from the one in 
Asellus' quest. The manor is abandoned when you're playing as other 
characters but you can find both "lords" in the town part of Owmi. 
The lord from Asellus' quest is on the bridge saying "Come back, 
please.... I love you...." (could it be Mesarthim?) and the lord 
from Riki's quest is on the platform by the sea.

* The enemy Dullahan may drop their shield when you win but they're 
actually called DurahanShields! Translation error perhaps?

* I managed to glitch my copy of Saga Frontier. I was using TimeLord 
and he's came out of OverDrive but still has 7 actions to spend each 
round. I let him cast TimeTwister on everyone else. Anyway, my 
characters achieved a LV3 combo but the pop up screen had only the 
letters "Level" and a huge empty space! I think TimeTwister made it 
happen. 

There are more but I can't remember 'em on top of my head right now.



You may feel free to use this FAQ as long as it's not used for 
making money or any dirty scam you can think of. And don't rip me 
off without giving me credits. 

Copyright 1999 by me. E-mail me at i_love_aya@hotmail.com

SaGa Frontier (c) 1997, 1998 Square

Thanks again for reading and remember to have fun!