***************************************************************************** **************** Threads of Fate Power-up FAQ and Items FAQ ***************** ***************************************************************************** Technical stuff I gotta do: Version 1.0 Date: 2004 Author: SIMSteven A GameFAQs Strategy Guide and ONLY for GameFAQs and those I have given permission to. I will put their names on the bottom so don't lie! This is a must for any FAQ, and if you haven’t noticed by now I’ll spell it out for you: COPYRIGHT (C) NOTICE!!!!!!!! COPYRIGHT (C) NOTICE!!!!!!!! COPYRIGHT (C) NOTICE!!!!!!!! COPYRIGHT (C) NOTICE!!!!!!!! COPYRIGHT (C) NOTICE!!!!!!!! COPYRIGHT (C) NOTICE!!!!!!!! COPYRIGHT (C) NOTICE!!!!!!!! C-O-P-Y-R-I-G-H-T (C) N-O-T-I-C-E-!!!!!!!! FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY!!!!!!!! COPYWRITED (C) 2004 BY SIMSteven!!!!! HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I just HATE people who copy/plagiarize other people’s work and call it their own. What is plagiarism you ask? It’s the technical word for the stealing of other people’s work. It’s also ILLEGAL in every state and country. Patchwork plagiarism is also illegal. This means that someone copies someone else’s work, changes a few words and/or paragraphs, and claims that it is an original work. In other words: DON’T DO IT without my permission!!!!!! Over time, I've gotten tired of all these sites asking to use my FAQ's. People ask, "I read all of your FAQ's. Can I use them on your site?" First off, I doubt anyone would really read through ALL of my FAQ's. They probably just looked at my contributor page and thought they'd get an already written FAQ, without doing any work. Then, I'd have to go and update all of my FAQ's. So therefore, my FAQ's will ONLY be displayed on sites of my choosing. The sites that already have permission to use my FAQ's may keep on using them, but from now on, my newest FAQ's will belong to GameFAQs ONLY, and my own site. Other sites will be sites with special privileges, and will only get a FAQ of mine if I contact them personally. Threads of Fate is a truly awesome game that has become one of my all-time favorite games, if not THE most favorite game in my collection. I've played it through so many times and I still keep on playing it. Anyways, this FAQ is designed to help you power up both Rue and Mint as much as possible. It also covers all of the items in the game, as well as their locations. These two things go together since all of the items are basically used to power up Rue and Mint, either directly or indirectly. Page width of this document: This FAQ is best viewed in MS Word, Courier New, size 10 font, with 1 inch margins around the document. Apparently, when I change the margins in Word to 1 inch all around, it resets the left and right margins to .92 inches. Just to let you know. Test: |-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-| ***************************************************************************** ********************************E-Mail Policy******************************** ***************************************************************************** As mentioned above, I will not give anyone my FAQ's so don't ask for them. Also, I do NOT like dumb questions. Please do NOT ask me about anything that is already covered in the FAQ. In some of my FAQ's, I included a FAQ section for the most Frequently Asked Questions. Please look there, and look at the content of the main FAQ, and if you still don't understand, ask the message board. Personally, I do NOT like questions, period. Also, do NOT ask me anything about sequels, other games in a series, or anything within those lines. If you HAVE to ask me a question, keep it within the game I made a FAQ for. Praise is also accepted, but don't ask for a response, because I won't give you one. Honestly, I get enough junk mail day after day, and I am sick of it. I check my e-mail every day, but I would rather keep my inbox as small as possible. Also, don't try to sell my anything, as your e-mail will be deleted the moment I see it. Thank you, and good day. ***************************************************************************** *******************************Version History******************************* ***************************************************************************** Version 1.0: ************************************* **********Table of Contents********** ************************************* 1) Tonio's Armor 2) Rare Wine 3) Coins 4) Stones 5) Legendary Items 6) Unique Items 7) Rod 8) Monster Hunting 9) People who I given my permission to use this FAQ 10) Credits ***************************************************************************** *******************************1) Tonio's Armor****************************** ***************************************************************************** Throughout the game, you should visit Tonio's shop and buy the various armor he has for sale. The bracers increase your strength, the belts increase your defense. Obviously, you want the best you can buy. Once you buy the best in the game, you never need to come back and buy from him again. (At least to my knowledge you don't. I have never found out if he sells armor that boosts your stats past 24, and with stats of around 999HP/600MP/291STR/300DEF for both characters, I think it's a safe bet.) Here are the times and armor he sells during the game. They should be purchased in your first playthrough as soon as they become available. Available after your first trip to the Carona Forest: Bronze Bracer (Cost: 1,000 Gold) - Strength + 4 Silver Bracer (Cost: 3,000/2,500* Gold) - Strength + 8 Bronze Belt (Cost: 1,000 Gold) - Defense + 4 Silver Belt (Cost: 3,000/2,500* Gold) - Defense + 8 * The prices lower to 2,500 gold if you buy the Bronze item in that class. Save yourself 500 gold by buying the Silver items straight out. Available before you head into either the Ghost Temple (with Rue) or the Gamul Forest (with Mint): Gold Bracer (Cost: 3,500 Gold) - Defense + 12 Gold Belt (Cost: 3,500 Gold) - Defense + 12 Available before you go to Raging Mountain: Platinum Bracer (Cost: 3,500 Gold) - Defense + 16 Platinum Belt (Cost: 3,500 Gold) - Defense + 16 Available before you go to the Tower of Maya: Mythril Bracer (Cost: 5,500 Gold) - Defense + 20 Mythril Belt (Cost: 5,500 Gold) - Defense + 20 Available before you go to Valen's Fortress: Brave Bracer (Cost: 6,500 Gold) - Defense + 24 Black Belt (Cost: 6,500 Gold) - Defense + 24 ***************************************************************************** **********************************2) Rare Wine******************************* ***************************************************************************** The Rare Wine is the item that is most sought after in the game. It also comes in very early in the game. You'll need about 110 MP to get it, so keep on casting early in the game before you go to the Underground Ruins. Once you use enough MP (and effectively raise your max MP through practice), go to the Underground Ruins and near the end, blast away the three big ice blocks. Use either Burner (Mint) or use the Goudon's flame attack (Rue). Break all three blocks and grab the Rare Wine in this room. Next, go to Hobbs's shop and show him the wine. He'll ask you for the wine and when you get the option make sure you give it to him for free. Hobbs will then drop his prices from 30,000 gold apiece to a whopping 5,000 gold apiece! That is quite impressive, and you should always buy his items at the reduced price. NEVER buy any of his items at 30,000 gold because it is a total rip off! In fact, this guide will always refer to the price of an upgrade as 5,000 gold. So keep that in mind as you read. ***************************************************************************** ************************************3) Coins********************************* ***************************************************************************** Coins have two uses. They allow you to continue your game if you get a game over. They also can be sold at Hobbs's shop for gold, which can be used to purchase upgrades at that very same shop. Mostly, the coins provide little income, but after a while, they can really add up. Here are the selling prices of the coins: Bronze Coin - 50 G Silver Coin - 500 G Gold Coin - 2,500 G Platinum Coin - 15,000 G First, there's the lowly Bronze Coin. These are found by the handful and are easily come by. You generally won't make much profit by selling these, but since you get a ton of them, you can still make about 750 or so gold per game. Not too shabby, but in your first few games, keep about 10 or less so you can make some money and still have a few continues up your sleeve. Sell them all once the game no longer presents a challenge. Next is the Silver Coin. These sell for very little, but they do add up after a while. They are also quite common. Usually, you can find several of them hiding around town after certain events in the story. In your first few playthroughs, keep about 5 and sell the rest. Once you become godlike, sell them all. Third is the Gold Coin, which isn't as expensive as a Platinum Coin, but is still worth selling. Two of these will net you an upgrade from Hobbs's shop. If you are in your first few playthroughs, you might want to keep one or two at the most, and sell the rest. Once you no longer need coins due to your godlike status, go ahead and sell all of them. Obviously, the Platinum Coin is the best coin to sell and is also the rarest. You should only find three in an entire playthrough. These babies can be sold for a total of three upgrades. Obviously, they are the most expensive items in the game, and are also one of the best. Don't bother to use them in the field, though, because your stats will only go up twice, as opposed to the three from selling it. Now, as you walk around Carona, you will find shiny spots on the ground throughout the game. If you see one, make sure to inspect it, as it should almost always yield a coin. These coins are basically easy money, and in replays, they should be sold or kept for safe keeping. Here is a list of coins that I have found throughout the game. If I missed any, send me a mail, and I might add it to the FAQ. (BTW, I included some of the harder to find coins in this list, like the Gold Coin you get from knocking over Starlight Duke in Rue's story.) Silver Coin - In the grass fields near the cave, before Carona Forest Silver Coin - In the alleyway near the barrels, before Carona Forest Silver Coin - Beat Elena when you race her in Carona Forest Silver Coin - Docks, jump over rightmost crates, before Underground Ruins Bronze Coin - Mint only, inspect the unconscious Rue after the rolling boulder in the Underground Ruins Bronze Coin x4, Gold Coin - Inside the Underground Ruins atelier Bronze Coin - Near the leftmost gate near the church, before Fancy Mel's Bronze Coin - Revisit the Corona Forest atelier and search in front of the front door Silver Coin - Revisit the Corona Forest atelier, go straight from the plant towards the edge of the platform Various - Stay at the hotel and search the room, not profitable, so do this only once per game to get the dream sequence and Dream Stone.  Eventually, you will no longer get coins Gold Coin - Rue only, knock down Duke before leaving Mel's for the first time, before getting the report, search the area where Duke was Gold Coin - Docks after beating Blood and Smokey (round 2), nighttime Bronze Coin - Docks after beating Blood and Smokey (round 2), nighttime Silver Coin - Path to the alley after Raging Mountain Silver Coin - Left of the church doors after Raging Mountain Bronze Coin - Path towards the docks, after Raging Mountain Bronze Coin - In front of hotel, when Prima follows you Silver Coin - Grass fields, lower right area, when Prima follows you Silver Coin - Right side of church doors, when Prima follows you Silver Coin - Left wharf at docks, when Prima follows you Silver Coin - On top of the large crates at the docks, when Prima follows you Gold Coin - Mint only, select "cross on your own" when you escape the Tower of Maya Silver Coin - In front of the hotel, nighttime after the Lake Ruins Bronze Coin - Near fountain near the docks, nighttime after the Lake Ruins Silver Coin - Mint only, save Blood and Smokey in the forest full of dolls Also, in the game, you will find coins in treasure chests. Here are their locations: Bronze Coin x3: You get these in the tutorial in Carona Forest Silver Coin: Inside the Carona Forest atelier Bronze Coin x3, Silver Coin x3: Rue only, in the Ghost Temple, there's a room with green sludge, go into the last door on the left Silver Coin: Rue only, in the Ghost Temple, talk to Elena in the room shaped like a U Silver Coin x3: Rue only, make a return trip to the Ghost Temple, go to the room after the floating platforms and go straight WITHOUT hitting the switch Silver Coin: Raging Mountain, go north in the second room and break the boulder Gold Coin x2: Tower of Maya, at the first exterior platform, outside Gold Coin x2: Same as previous, only further up Gold Coin x3: Tower of Maya, after the second moving platform room, search the ground in the next circular room Finally there are mini-games that reward you with coins. Here are their locations: Bronze or Silver Coins: Beat the high score in the Poppel Purrel mini games and you get a Silver Coin. Fail, and get a bronze. Gold or Silver or Bronze Coin: In Valen's Fortress, if you have above 75% or more left on the timer at the end of each arena, you get a Gold Coin. If it's between 75% and 50%, it's a Silver Coin, and if it's between 25% and 50%, it's a Bronze Coin. You get nothing if the timer runs out. ***************************************************************************** ***********************************4) Stones********************************* ***************************************************************************** There are four kinds of stones in the game that you can sell for cash. These will help you on your way to maximizing your stats. The stones are basically priceless gems in the game, though they should sell for more than they do. Here is a listing of the values of the stones: Dream Stone: 2,000 G. Here is a listing of where you can get them: Moon Stone x2: There are two treasure chests in the Atelier in Corona Forest. Open them both for a total of two Moon Stones. Dream Stone: Pay 500 G to stay at the hotel and search the room. You should find it in the corner by the window. Unlike the coins in the room, the Dream Stone should always be there. Night Stone: In the Underground Ruins, go Up, Up, Right, Right, Right, Right, and Right. You should enter a room with a treasure chest with a Night Stone. Moon Stone: From the Night Stone just mentioned, go Left, Up, and Right. You should be in a room with a treasure chest with a Night Stone. Moon Stone: Rue only, in the Ghost Temple where there are shaking doors, bust the wall on the room on the right Moon Stone: Rue only, in the Ghost Temple, talk to Elena after inspecting the small hole but before you go in Night Stone: Rue only, in the Ghost Temple, open the chest in the small hole pathway Star Stone: Rue only, make a return trip to the Ghost Temple, go to the room after the floating platforms and go straight WITHOUT hitting the switch Moon Stone: This is a Rue only item. You need an Ootang coin. You can get this in either the Ghost Temple, Raging Mountain, or in Carona Forest. To get the coin in Corona Forest, you need a Mandola coin. In the second screen, transform into a Mandola near the Ootang at the ruins. Use Bloom to bring it near, and when it starts circling you, attack it with seeds. Next, go to this spot once you get the coin and climb to the top of the ruins. Approach the tree as an Ootang, climb the tree. In this new area, you'll jump from tree branch to tree branch. Eventually, you'll jump on a tree branch that bounces you like a trampoline. Mash the jump button until you get launched high in the air. There is a treasure chest on the tree to the right with the stone. Star Stone: This one is a Rue only item, and is very hard to get. First, you need to go to Raging Mountain and get a Bubba coin (try not to get other coins after getting this one). Then, go to Carona Forest and go to the cliff area (again, don't kill anything so you don't lose the Bubba coin). Get a Stinger Coin and about a fourth of the way down, there are two paths. You'll need to jump right and towards the screen to land on a small ledge with a rock. (A Saber Tiger coin can help here, but isn't required.) Smash that rock by transforming into a Bubba. Then, transform into a Stinger and go through the small hole. Kill a ton of bats (about 20 of them) and the Star Stone will appear. Moon Stone: This is a Mint only item. When you go to the Underground Ruins filled with dolls, from the starting point go up, right, right, right, right and right. You should find a treasure chest with the stone. Star Stone: This is a Mint only item. When you go to the Underground Ruins filled with dolls, go in the same path to the Moon Stone as mentioned previously. Next, leave the room with the Moon Stone and go up and right. You should get the Star Stone. Star Stone x2: Tower of Maya, open the chest in the first platform room ***************************************************************************** ******************************5) Legendary Items***************************** ***************************************************************************** The legendary item set consists of a sword, shield, and helmet. You find these at various points in the game. Keep these and DO NOT SELL THEM. Here are the locations: Underground Ruins: shortly after the rolling boulder, jump from platform to platform over the lake. There is a treasure chest on the other side of the lake with the Legendary Sword. Raging Mountain: After the fight with Belle and Duke, go up the ramp to the second level. Jump to the right and you will find a chest with the Legendary Shield. Tower of Maya: In the room of floating platforms, jump to the other side of the room and the Legendary Helmet is sitting right there. Once you have all three of these in your inventory, take them to Jergen in the tavern. He mentions that the three legendary items are really cookware and the he asks if he can have them. Give them to him and he'll be able to cook you some stat boosting meals. In order to eat the meals, you need to bring him the monster coins of enemies you killed. Here are the items you need to bring him, the boost in stats you get, and the stat boosting dishes he will prepare: Minced Fire Blob - 50 Fire Blobs (Max HP + 10) Mushroom Soup - 60 Fungies (Max MP + 10) Pollywog Souffle - 50 Pollywogs (Max Strength + 2) Goudon Liver Soup - 30 Goudons (Max Defense + 2) Obviously, the Pollywog Souffle and the Goudon Liver Soup are the best of the four. The Minced Fire Blob and Mushroom Soup meals are the same stat boosters as in Hobbs's shop. The other two, however, are double the norm and are what you should focus on getting. After eating ten meals, whether they are the same or they are different, the legendary items will break and Jergen will give you a Platinum Coin. This can be sold for another three stat boosters at Hobbs's shop. The total number of stat boosters equates to 13 to 23 stat boosts, depending on how many of each you get. (If you go to purely the HP and MP route, it equates 13 HP/MP Ups, whereas if you get the Strength and Defense boosters, it equates to 23 Strength/Defense Ups.) ***************************************************************************** *******************************6) Unique Items******************************* ***************************************************************************** Throughout the game, you will also gain some unique items that contribute to stat boosting. The following lists their locations and what you should do with them: The Last Hero: This book is found at different points of the game depending on which character you have. First off, you need to stay at the hotel for 500 G. This should give you a dream about a monkey jumping down a tree stump. After that, you need to acquire a water spell. For Mint, you can go straight to Carona Forest and jump down the tree stump at the very beginning. As for Rue, go through the game and beat the Ghost Temple. Grab a Specter coin and then jump down that same tree stump. Next, one you have a water spell and have jumped down that tree stump, go through until you see a tiny Mandola. Spray it with the water spell a couple times and it should grow to a large size. Jump to the left and grab the book. After you have the book, take it to Rod and give it to him. He'll give you four Strength Up items, which boosts your strength by four. Rare Wine: Follow the section fully dedicated to this item near the top of the FAQ. This gives you a discount on all of the items in Hobbs's shop. Mysterious Statue: This is a Rue only item. After completing the Ghost Temple, go to the room just before where you fought Duke. DON'T hit the switch. Instead, go into the room straight ahead. In the back there is a treasure chest with the statue. Give this to Klaus for an MP boost of ten. Also, you can sell this to Marcum for 4,000 G or 6,000 G if you turn down his initial offer. Brooch: This is a Mint only item. Inside the Gamul Forest, there is a platform with two switches right next to each other. Hit ONLY the switch on the left. Both of the switches should face each other. Next, continue on as usual and you should automatically receive the Brooch as you make your way through. You can give this to Annette for a discount on drinks, or you can sell this to Marcum for 4,000 G or 6,000 G if you turn him down on his first offer. Personally, I'd take the gold and run. ***************************************************************************** *************************************7) Rod********************************** ***************************************************************************** Ah, Rod the Blade Star. Rod is a guy who you can duel for cash and a good heart-to-heart battle. Rod is definitely the only challenge you will have when you become a god-like character. To challenge Rod to a battle, go to the grass field between the inn and Klaus's house. When you meet Rod, he'll ask if you want to fight him for a measly 100 gold. If you win, you get 1,000 gold. It's a good payoff, no? Once you beat Rod enough, he'll stop fighting until a certain point in the game. He'll also give you a coin because you've proven to be better than him. All in all, you'll be able to fight him five times with his first three weapons and an unlimited number of times with his last weapon. Rod, with his Dark Hurricane, provides to be the most challenging aspect in the game. However, the more godlike you become, the more you can fight him and you can get a ton of money. In fact, this is the second best way to get money in the game. Here are his weapons and the coin you get for beating him 5 times: Silver Breeze: Gold Coin Golden Gale: Gold Coin Black Tornado: Platinum Coin Dark Hurricane: Platinum Coin, Gold Coin*, Silver Coin*, Bronze Coin* *Rod gives you a coin for every five battles you win against him. To get all of the coins, you must beat him a total of twenty times. Now here's the challenge. How many times can you beat Rod with his Dark Hurricane? After every battle, his Strength and Defense increase by four, and his HP increase by 40 until he maxes his stats. I don't know what happens when his stats get up to 999HP/999STR/999DEF because it is one of the hardest things to accomplish in the game. However, this is the primary reason for why you should boost your stats to their maximum. One final note: this is the result of my power trip that I've been doing lately. I highly doubt many people have found out this little secret that I have stumbled upon. As a result of my extremely high stats, I have found out that as Rod's stats get higher and higher, you get new songs to fight him with. When Rod's stats are 999HP/244STR/220DEF, you get to fight Rod to the tune of the first Valen fight. However, to get this high, you need to have very similar stats. A similar new soundtrack appears when you fight Rod and his stats are at 999/444/420. You get the Valen second battle song. I have not gotten any farther than this so I would have to level up a bit more. I expect there to be new songs at 999/644/620 and 999/844/820. Those songs are a mystery to me because you have to literally be a god to get that far. ***************************************************************************** ******************************8) Monster Hunting***************************** ***************************************************************************** This, as I have most recently found out, is by far the best way to increase your stats. However, it highly depends on where you are in the game and where you decide to fight. The concept is simple. Go through the game and kill as many monsters as you can. However, to make this very profitable, you need to know where to fight for the best results. As you go through the game, you'll get mediocre money from the monsters you kill. Especially in the beginning, you won't get much money from monster coins. Indeed, you may be wondering why monster hunting is better than killing Rod. However, there is one place in the game that can allow you rake in TONS and TONS of money without much effort. And that area is Valen's Fortress. As I was reading some FAQs here at GameFAQs, I was looking at the amount of money you get per kill from every monster. Aside from the bosses, the best place to get money is definitely Valen's Fortress. After some testing and a couple hours of fighting in there, I came to a conclusion that this place is also the best place to get money in the entire game. So here's the scenario that I tested: I normally get about 40,000-50,000 gold when I start a new game, and that is basically from Valen's Fortress and the beginning of the game enemies. However, in one of my playthroughs, I fought Valen's Fortress for quite a while. Namely, I got around 310 Behemoth coins, around 310 Shaolon coins, around 175 Djinn coins, and 625 Cerberus coins. My total gold in the game went from that 40,000-50,000 gold to a whopping 280,000 gold. So instead of getting around 10 upgrades from Hobbs's shop, I got around 58. It's quite the difference, if I might say so myself. The places that I fought were in Arena I and the area with the torches. Shortly into Arena I you'll find two Behemoths and two Shaolons on the platforms. It's a diagonal shaped room going from the lower left to the upper right. This is where I went on a killing spree. When I killed all of them, I took the teleporter in the center and went back into the previous room. I did this for an hour and got those 310 coins each. Then, I went through and saved my game after Arena IV. In the next area, I went on another killing spree and killed 625 Cerberuses and 175 Djinns. After that, I went straight through and beat the game. The result was quite surprising when I started up a new game. Basically, I got enough money for almost an entire game of upgrades. So yes, in about an hour and forty-five minutes, I got 48 extra upgrades from the norm. This is truly the best way to get money. However, you have to wait until the very end of the game to get those coins, and you can't save while you're out killing. Now, let's go to the extreme. I got 999 Behemoth coins, 999 Shaolon coins, 999 Cerberus coins, and 999 Djinn coins. It took me about 4-5 hours of straight killing. After coming back from the Underground Ruins on the next playthrough, I sold everything I could sell. I got around 760,000 gold. If you do the math, that's a whopping 152 upgrades. None too shabby for about 5 and a half total hours of killing monsters. Rod is the safer way to get money. Valen's Fortress is the fastest way to get money. In order to kill properly in Valen's Fortress, you should have extremely high stats. Take a note, however, that Behemoths do percentage based damage, so they can do over 100 damage even you have 250+ defense. Therefore, when you kill them, use ranged attacks that don't cost much. As Rue, I transformed into a Gargoyle and used the sonic attack. As Mint, I used the Vulcan magic. Take another note here that by using these skills, you can boost your maximum MP as well. This is another good thing about fighting in Valen's Fortress. ***************************************************************************** *************9) People who I given my permission to use this FAQ************* ***************************************************************************** 1) www.gamefaqs.com 2) www.geocities.com/simsteven01 ***************************************************************************** **********************************10) Credits******************************** ***************************************************************************** 1) To me, of course. ^_^ 2) To CJayC for being the greatest webmaster around. 3) To GameFAQs for being my number one source of gaming info.