Seiken Densetsu III Guide to Lise/Riesz By Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com) Version 2.5 ************************************************************************* Index: 1.- File History. 2.- Introduction. 3.- About this file. 4.- Riesz, The Amazon Princess from Rolante, The Castle That Never Fell. 5.- Stats and Evaluation. 6.- Classes and Strategies. 7.- Special Techs. 8.- Spells. 9.- Weapons and Armors. 10.- Class Breaking Items. 11.- Groups Sugestions. 12.- Riesz's/Hawk's Final Bosses. 13.- The Black Rabite. 14.- Odds and Ends. 15.- Mythologic Relations. 16.- Other Literature about characters in SD3. 17.- Credits. 18.- Legal Stuff. ************************************************************************* 1.- File History. -0.1 Start of the guide. -0.3 Most of the file up, but I'm still on researching... -1.0 Black Rabite info added. I gotta start managing the freaking version numbers sometime before I send my guides... Corrected several mistakes. Another correction: Several EMBARRASING mistakes. And changed my mind on several things. I think I will be doing this a lot, like in several faqs of mine... oh well... -1.1 Changed Lise for Riesz since I prefer that name, even MORE corrections. -1.2 Changed "Kingdom" to "Castle" in section. Added the URL for a little GIF I made for clearing out the Lamia Naga Vs Jormungand thing (This earned me a few praises around ^_^). Corrected "Poison Bubble" with "Poison Breath". Added a weird rumor I found around. Found how did Riesz's mother died, and added a bit more of background to her personality. -1.3 Found out who was Marduke (Well, Juha Alm did), and a couple of notes. Added alternate spellings for many mythologic relations, and changed the name of the section to "Mythologic Relations". I'm gonna reformat the whole section now ^_^. Scratch that. I'm bored. I'm gonna reformat the whole guide. Hmmm... We need a master for Kevin, Angela and Carlie to write a FAQ for them.... -1.4 Found more info about Marduke (Marduk) by myself ¬_¬. -1.5 Added a few oppinions by Paul Wolfstien, read them, since he has a very different point of view from my own. (29/07/2001; 22:27) -1.6 Added a new section, which has nothing (almost) to do with Riesz, but it's interesting to note, and we, SD3-Character-guides-writers have a very good relationship, and I think we deserve that section. (if you don't understand me, don't worry. I don't understand myself often) -1.7 Added the formula for the Weapons and Shields. It isn't exact, but, hey, it's always good. Added a few opinions from MeepleLard and Veib and Fizban123. Added the Acronyms section I'm using because that would stop getting people dizzy. Somewhat reworked the armors and weapons section. Corrected a nasty format error on the guide which was driving me nuts. (08/03/2001, 00:23) -1.8 Added a new opinion from Veib, and looked around the guide to fix misspellings and those kind of things. Updated section 16. (08/06/2001, 15:08) And, yeah, fixed the times too. -1.9 Added a sort of long comment to the "odd and ends" section about the Dragon Master, to explain why the hell I like it.(08/16/2001, 22:49) Fixed the times once again. -2.0 Wohooo!!! found out what the hell was going on with the armors! Meeple Lard, I own you one! (08/20/2001, 20:48) -2.1 Added a few things to section 15, namely "Shape Shifters" and several spellings. (08/21/2001, 13:57) -2.2 Copyright changed. (08/24/2001, 21:09) -2.3 Once again, added other things to section 15 and... everywhere else with Jormmungand and Lamia Naga on it, thanks to Meeple Lard. Also added the enemy equivalents for each class- interesting info. IMPORTANT NOTE: Right now, I think this FAQ is finished. It totally covers EVERY aspect about Riesz, the Amazon and Princess of Rolante. That means this is quite possibly the last version. Submissions, then, are still welcomed, especially in section 15. Thanks to everyone who helped in one way or another. (10/12/2001, 21:05) To the people of the SD3Boards in gamefaqs.com, sorry for not being there lately, but I have been damn busy with college-Summer's over. I'll pass by time to time. See ya there. -2.4 The flame I was waiting for, is posted on section 14. Please read it to know what's a somewhat good flame. (29/10/2001, 19:37) -2.5 Changed my email (10/29/2002, 17:06) ************************************************************************* 2.- Introduction. Seiken Densetsu III was an action/RPG released in 1996 at Japan by Squaresoft. It was some sort of prequel to Seiken Densetsu II (Secret Of Mana over here), but since the SNES market was basically dead anywhere outside Japan, we never got to see it. Awhile ago, Lina Chan, Neil Corllet, and company translated the original ROM, and this game has become somehow a huge hit in emulators, showing Squaresoft how much money they've lost. The same with Tales of Phantasia and FFV ^_^. The main reason for this is the fact that you have to choose a three members party to go thru the game. Not only that, each character has 2 ways to choose midway thru the game, changing his/her abilities, then ANOTHER change near the end of the game. That means LOTS of replay value. You have 6 characters, each with 4 diffferent final ways. And since you can create your own party, you can rest assured that this game will beat you, you won't beat it ^_^. This guide is focused to maximize the power of the most versatile character, Lise/Riesz. I won't elaborate further about this topic now, but I will in section 5. This will help you quite a lot when using her, either as your heroine, or your partner. ************************************************************************* 3.- About This Guide: As you may have guessed, I sorta got the idea to write this file from Twi Light's guide To Duran. I honestly had this idea flying in my head for quite a long time, Until I said "well, what the hell, nobody's gonna read it...". But I saw Twi light's guide, and, obviously, read it. Finally, I decided to help him with his guide, and after writing the whole mail, I noticed that i couldn't recall somethings. So I wrote to him that i can help him, but I wouldn't go thru the game again... unless I wrote a Riesz's guide. That was almost joking, but to my surprise, he said "Write that Lise's Guide". So I'm happy to oblige ^_^. Besides, much of the reason that I write this guide is to destroy the "The Dragon Master Sucks" Myth. Again, I won't elaborate further, but you can bet that I will do my best to explain the reasons about it. There's another point I would like to make clear. These are my opinions. Yes, I'm a huge fan of Riesz, she's by far my favorite female character alongside Celes Chere from FFVI, but I'm trying to see this from another point of view. I've played through this game a lot of times, and I consider myself a good player. If you have something to say, I can take it, but please don't be annoying. Your comments will be readed. I've had bad experiences with these kinds of guides and opinions, and though most people have been nice, and have a good point, several haven't. So go ahead and read the rest of the file. ************************************************************************* 4.- Riesz, The Amazon Princess from Rolante, The Castle That Never Fell. Lise/Riesz (Different translation give different names. I'll call her Riesz) it's a 16 years old girl. She has long blond hair, wears an armor, has little wing on the sides of her head, and uses an spear to attack. She's the princess of Rolante, a mountain kingdom guarded by violent winds which defends the castle from any invasions. It's conected to the rest of the world by Palo, a nearby port town. She has a little Brother, named Elliot, and his father is, obviously, the King of Rolante, named Joster. She became the leader of Rolante's amazon army after her mother died, after giving birth to Elliot. Riesz swore that she would give her brother the support he would never have for not having a mother to love him. This sole episode leads her to treat everyone like her childrens, and she is very compassionate, comphrensive, and lovely, but ultimately she's somehow crude, pessimist, and very realistic, which is something we're not always prepared to see. However, his little brother is tricked by Bill and Ben, two Ninja Generals from Navarre. He finally removes the crystal which keeps the winds moving, and this causes the Castle to remain vulnerable. The Ninjas use an special plant which causes the whole castle to fall asleep, and they take over. She has to run away, and decides to go to the priest of light in Wendel to find a way to retake Rolante. ************************************************************************* 5.- Riesz's Stats and Evaluation Riesz is the most well-balanced character in the game. Out of the epidemy of chosing Duran, Angela and Riesz as your first group (Don't lie to me, I know you did!), she's the one to save many behinds. Unlike many would think, she has quite some good stats. She has the second highest strenght rating in the game (That means she's stronger in the single hit than Kevin as a beastmen), has the second to best agility, and makes a good struggle everywhere else (Except, I'm guessing, Inteligence). She's not "average", she's way "above average". NOTE FROM VERSION 1.3: According to Meeple Lard's Guide to Hawk, she has actually the second highest Stats. So there. *Strength: The Vanadies has sky high attack, 20, and the third most powerful tech in the game. All other classes have very good strength. This makes Riesz one of the best attack characters, But this isn't her main power. *Agility: Yes, she has a very high Agility, with the Fenrir Knight having 20 agility. This stat does not make any difference when facing her against Hawk's agility or Duran with the Sacred or Oath Shield, but does help a bit. *Vitality: Behind Kevin and Duran. The Fenrir Knight, the Star Lancer, the Dragon Master and the Vanadies all have 20 max vitality, which makes up for a long fight. Since Vitality does affect you hit points too, this makes an important difference to the Vanadies, who has to pass some time using spells with no chance to retaliate to enemy attacks. *Inteligence: Riesz has the Fenrir Knight taking out the top spot with 19. No much use for this because Riesz's spells are based on Spirit, but she has enough like to defend against enemy spells. *Spirit: Riesz's Spirit is not as high as we would wish for, because the Vanadies has 19 max spirit, which is very high, but does not make for devastating summon attacks. Besides, the most powerful summon spell, Lamia Naga*, is owned by the Fenrir Knight, the class with the lowest spirit. A Hair in the soup, this one. NOTE: That's actually false, the Lamia Naga isn't the most powerful summon, but that sounds good so I'll leave it. ^_^ *Luck: Being honest to you, I am yet to see a freaking Critical attack. The only use for this is to open trap chests, and Riesz does it quite well. Highest luck: the Dragon Master with 18. Saved my ass quite a few times the first time I played... I've heard it increases the odds of getting a treasure chest from enemies. Seeing this, Riesz's stats are very good. This definitely makes an advantage to consider when chosing your new party, she will never be useless. *High Points: The best point about Riesz are her spells. She has every stat-up and stat-down spell in the game, and has four powerful and useful summons. Well, three powerful and useful summons and one sort of useful summon. This actually helps, since affecting enemies' and allies' stats can mean the difference between a glorious victory and a humilliating defeat. She doesn't have to recover from missed swings as often as Duran or Angela. She can work as a magician and as a fighter at the same time. Her balanced stats makes up from the ussual disavantages of being one or another, pretty much like Hawk, but with less funny magics and with a lot of more attack power. _Seems_ to me that she has longer reach than Angela, Carlie and Hawk, Marduke. Easily the best spell in the game (with uses far beyond Ancient, Death Spell, Black Curse, or even Saint saber). Quite cool sub-screen poses. 'sides, she's pretty (^_^). Each summon (except Lamia Naga) Does huge damage and inflicts some abnormal status. Lamia Naga does more "huge damage". *Low Points: Riesz attacks once per turn. This really screws up her powers, but I guess Squaresoft has some sort of balance to maintain. She doesn't has Heal Light (Ditto with above). _Seems_ to have somewhat less range than Duran and Kevin. Freya sucks to the highest hell you'll think of. Her only purpose is to take you out of some really ridiculous situations. No low stats means not very high stats (except Attack power). Doesn't makes the game easy as Kevin (OK, this one was stupid). Now I'll proceed to face Riesz against the other characters. This doesn't means I'm gonna flame the hell out of the other guys, but to explain her strenghts and weakness. RIESZ AND DURAN: ___________________________________________________________ | RIESZ | DURAN | | | | | Stat Up and Stat Down Spells| All sabers in the game | | _Almost_ Sky high power | Sky high attack power | | Level 4 Summons | Shields | | Light Spear Tech | Eruption Sword Tech | | High inteligence and Spirit | Very low inteligence | | Very good luck | Has to recover from almost | | Medium range | every swing * | | No Shields :( | The Duelist has very good | | No Sabers | stats | | | No real Luck | |_____________________________|_____________________________| Notes: This maybe is wrong, but It's seems Duran isn't the slowest attacker in the game, but he seems to have to recover from every single swing he does. Other Points: Three of Duran's final classes have full screen tech. Duran can face the Black Rabite. Riesz has ways to survive without having to risk herself, probably Duran's biggest problem, but Duran has Sabers, which is a very big asset. RIESZ AND HAWK: ___________________________________________________________ | RIESZ | HAWK | | | | | Stat Up and Stat Down Spells| *Lots* of abilities to play | | _Almost_ Sky high power | around* | | Level 4 Summons | Attacks twice, bad range | | Light Spear Tech | Split Image Slice Tech | | High inteligence and Spirit | Nasty tendence to do 1 HP | | Not as fun as Hawk | when you need him the most | | No shields :( | Wanderer sub-screen pose | | Very good luck | Terrible defense and techs | | Medium range | Way too lucky | | | Jutsu Skills can lower stats| |_____________________________|_____________________________| Notes: I had to add the fact that Hawk is just a lot of fun to play around ^_^. But I added the incredible stupid sub-screen Wanderer pose. I was going to add the fact that some of his weapons look like screwdrivers (Twi Light's words), but I guess is not up to me to say it (it's up to Twi Light). Other Points: every one of Hawk's final classes except Ninja Master take up all the abilities ring. However,especially the Nightblade's abilities, they are incredible useless. The Wanderer sub pose is too stupid. Riesz has quite higher stats except agility and Luck (Whoa!), and it's generally never doing 1 damage to anyone ^_^. However, Hawk is by far the character with more strategies to save groups, as each of his classes have different purposes. RIESZ AND CARLIE: ___________________________________________________________ | RIESZ | CARLIE | | | | | Stat Up and Stat Down Spells| Almost every saber around | | _Almost_ Sky high power | The worst attack power in | | Medium Range | the game | | Level 4 Summons | Black Curse | | Light Spear Tech | Useless Techs | | High inteligence and Spirit | Where the hell is the | | No summons until last change| defense? | | Very good luck | Slow | | No Heal Light | Heal light all the game | |_____________________________|_____________________________| Other Points: These girls fit anywhere. They are pretty much the wild cards on the game. Carlie is generally much more useful in the whole game but she really sucks in Boss Battles. RIESZ AND KEVIN: ___________________________________________________________ | RIESZ | KEVIN | | | | | Stat Up and Stat Down Spells| Changes into a wolf at night| | _Almost_ Sky high power | At day has half his real | | Medium Range | power, giving use to the | | Level 4 Summons | dreamsee herbs. | | Light Spear Tech | The second most powerful | | High inteligence and Spirit | tech in the game, but | | Attacks once | Useless techs* | | Very good luck | The best fighter in the game| | No Heal Light | Can learn heal light, leaf | | A lot of more fun | and moon saber | | | Sad inteligence | | | Long Range | |_____________________________|_____________________________| Notes: Many will disagree with me, but IMHO, each one of Kevin's Tech, except the neutral one, are pretty much just for eye candy. The first one charges faster, and does more damage in the long run, and of course doesn't causes the Dark Lich to retaliate with Death Ecstasy. Other Points: Kevin has the advantage that he changes into a wolf, doubling his power. However, the fact that he has to do it at night adds the problem that many VERY POWERFUL enemies, namely the demons, appear mainly at night. Besides, he's not around to help, he's around to kill (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing). RIESZ AND ANGELA: ___________________________________________________________ | RIESZ | ANGELA | | | | | Stat Up and Stat Down Spells| Every attack spell around | | _Almost_ Sky high power | The worst attack power in | | Useful against bosses | the game (Tied with Carlie) | | Level 4 Summons | Ancient and Rainbow | | Powerful techs | Useless Techs | | High inteligence and Spirit | Really High Inteligence* | | No abilities until class | Pathetic vitality makes her | | change | very easy to kill | | Way more resistant | Slow | | Summons help a lot | Spells aren't that useful | |_____________________________|_____________________________| Notes: Wow. She's smart ^_^. Other Points: Angela and Riesz are pretty much black and white, they are very hard to put together. Angela has the worst stats in the game. She has terrible physical stats and luck. I hate 3rd level spells. However, she can really helps when many minions come, but, being honest, she's not my type. ************************************************************************* 6.- Classes and Strategies: Legend: FST: Full Screen Tech. STSU: Single Target Stat Up. STSD: Single Target Stat Down. MTSU: Multi Target Stat Up. MTSD: Multi Target Stat Down. ST: Single Target. MT: Multi target. CC: Class Change. Neutral Class: AMAZON Max Stats: _________________________________________ | STR | AGI | VIT | INT | PIE | LCK | AVG | | | | | | | | | | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 09 |10.16| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Tech: Whirlwind Lance (Single enemy). Spells: None. Colors: Green Armor, Blonde hair, red-brown boots. Description: The Amazon is the neutral class, and like Hawk's, Kevin's and Duran's neutral classes, it's only use is to fight off enemies. NOTE: All of the amazon Tips works for any class. Tips: Riesz has several kinds of attacks. The most important is the one where she uses her spear to cover all in front of her. This way she can hit all the enemies surrounding her, and helps a lot. You can't actually use it whenever you need, but when it comes, you will see some dead bodies. I think every character has this kind of attack. She doesn't needs to recover from as much attacks as Duran or Angela, but keep in mind that she NEEDS some time to recover after she hits one enemy. Don't go there trying to kick butt, attack and retreat. There's only a fat Chance you will get the long swing when you want it. She has, also, a short range attack (Though, ironic as it may be, comes out more often when you're attacking from long range) with the butt of her spear, and a long thrust attack (Which, also, comes out more often in close fights). If you don't have Carlie in your group, she's the one to throw Poto Oils. ENEMY EQUIVALENT: Gal Bees in Molebear Highlands. Light Class: VALKYRIE Max Stats: _________________________________________ | STR | AGI | VIT | INT | PIE | LCK | AVG | | | | | | | | | | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 15.6| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Tech: Vacuum Surge Spear (All enemies). Spells: Protect up, Speed up, Mind up, Power Up (Single ally). Colors: Purple armor, green hair, light blue boots. Description: The first light class. She has slightly better stats than the Rune Maiden, but only marginally so. She learns the four stat-up spells, and gets a significant boost in luck. Also, she gets a full screen tech. Tips: She's an improvement: All the four stat-up spells help QUITE a lot by the time you get 'em. Purist won't want her, since you can buy stat-up items anyway. Use her spells often: You won't regret it. From MeepleLard: Valkyrie: An ok Class, but not great. It does get good STR and an FST, but that's about it. Her SU are easily Replaceable by Scales. I usually choose this class, since it leads to her Best class, the Star Lancer. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: That is! From Veib: Valkyrie: The SU are great, evenm though they are only ST. FST is nice, but it looks kinda stupid (Note From Lord Zero: People seem to hate any "vacuum" tech). Going to light with Lise means concentrating on her physical power instead of Magical. I Like Dark more. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: I have to disagree with you. Choosing Riesz first means not concentrating on any side. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.8: Veib's back!: "Hi. I _finally_ read your faqs latest version, and I think you misunderstood me a bit on the Valkyrie. What I meant (and said, actually) was that if you choose Lise's Light side, then it pretty much means concentrating on her physical side, since Light classes are stronger and have weaker summons. Going Dark would mean concentrating on magical powers. Anyhow, your comment in it is "Choosing Riesz first means not concentrating on any side". I was talking about choosing her Light side, not about choosing her first. So either you misunderstood me or I just can't understand what you're trying to say with that." Note from Lord Zero: We both misunderstood each other. What I meant was that if you actually get Riesz into you team, you are choosing her to have her performing as a warrior as well as a magician. She's not a warrior, she's not a magician, she's both of them. However, I didn't understood your comment as well, so I guess that you're just trying to say that you prefer being a warrior if you go light, and you prefer being a magician, you go dark. I guess... Well... he's right *points at Veib to avoid stranged looks". ENEMY EQUIVALENT: Lady Bees in Lampflower Forest. Dark Class: RUNE MAIDEN Max Stats: _________________________________________ | STR | AGI | VIT | INT | PIE | LCK | AVG | | | | | | | | | | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15.8| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Tech: Flying Heaven Spear (all enemies). Spells: Speed down, Protect down, Power down, Mind down (Single Ally). Colors: Dark Green amor, pink hair, brown boots. Description: Pretty much the same as the light class, but with some disavantages in stats. You lose an important point in Strenght to add it to the agility, which can be no good. Full screen tech too, and even higher luck. Tips: Another improvement, for many, an even better step. You can't buy stat-down items. It's your choice: A nice Riesz, or a badass Riesz ^_^. From MeepleLard: Rune Maiden:Better 2nd Class than the Valkyrie, as it only loses one point on STR, btu still has an FST, and STSD are considerably more useful than STSU. Good because both of her Dark Classes are rather powerful. From Veib: Rune Maiden: IMO, this is the way to go. STSD's rock, and since I only use them on bosses, thus no need for MT. A bit weaker than the Valkyrie, but the 1 STR isn't much on terms of attack power. I think SD are better than SU since SU scales can be bought. The FST looks cool. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: Told ya. ENEMY EQUIVALENT: Goblins (Sort of) Light/Light Class: VANADIES Max Stats: _________________________________________ | STR | AGI | VIT | INT | PIE | LCK | AVG | | | | | | | | | | 20 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 18.5| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Tech: Light Shot Spear (All enemies go to hell). Spells: Every spell the Valkyrie learns, plus Freya (All enemies). Colors: Golden Armor, purple hair, green boots. Description: The Vanadies is what I guess to be her worst class. But it's powerful. Way too powerful. It's, alongside the Death Hand and the Duelist, the most destructive force in the game. Too bad Freya is so useless. Tips: Many people will run away from this one, but it's understood. However, giving her a chance, and act like she's Duran. She can really whop some asses, and her tech is explosive! Also, Freya can save you if... let's say, you have only Riesz and three golden Wolves are hunting you down ^_^. Stats Note: Powerful attack, and very high attack power. This one has really low luck and Inteligence, however. The Battle Tank of Rolante. From Paul Wolfstien: 1: Vanadies- The Vanadies is Lise's best class because of 1: Her amazing FST, 2: STSU's, and 3: Her awesome summon. Her STSU's work so well with the Vanadies because she only needs to use Power-Up on herself, and she's a death machine with Aura Wave+Light-Shot Spear. Her summon, Freya is very good because not only does it do around 450-500 damage, it turns enemies into (name please?) that die in one hit, so there no problem at all. Only downside, you don't get exp. However, when you get the summon in the game (at least for me) you won't need exp to much. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.5: Paul, while he has what we would call "radical point of view" problem (J/K ^_^), it's a very important opinion from the other side, as he claims (and I believe him) to have the real cart. He is pretty much the center of the mistery about Lamia Naga and Jormungand, and well, it's always good to have a VERY DIFFERENT opinion from my own. Thanks, Paul. ANOTHER NOTE FROM VERSION 1.5: Before someone starts flaming Paul, when he talks about "not needing more exp.", is because, after a certain level, when you get the maximun stats for your character, you won't get anything for leveling up (Except HP and MP). Since he has to grudge against the world when he's looking for ??? seeds, he usually CC at lv. 40 or so, and has to level up a lot more than us, playing on the ROMs. And Freya turns them into Chibikkos. From MeepleLard: Vanadies:I said it before and I'll say it again. I HATE THIS CLASS. STSU's are really a shot in the head that late in the game, and her 1 point of STR and SPR don't make up for it at all. Her Summon is Horrible, as it makes you have no EXP after battles, and Bosses take only 450 at most from it. Her only decency is her level 3 FST, but for me, level 2 FST's are usually enough, which all her classes have. This class also has the worst Magic Defense of all of her Final Classes. I'll choose the Star Lancer instead of this Class any day. But that's just my opinion. From Veib: Vanadis: I just honestly don't see much point in taking this class. The damage difference between this and Star Lancer is minimal, and the difference between this and dark classes isn't too big either. Also STSU's are _much_ worse than MTSU's. Freya sucks like nothing else, since I like to gain exp whenever I can. Only good things in Vanadis are the tiny bit more damage and cool FST. Since Vanadis should be used as a fighter, and I use Lise as a summoner, I don't like this class too much. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: So there. I like it, but many people don't- I can't do anything for them ^_^U. Ultimate gear: Weapon: True Spear Helmet: Vanir Helmet Armor: Goddess Armor Ring: Draupnir ENEMY EQUIVALENT: Queen Bees in Forest of Wonder. Light/Dark Class: STARLANCER Max Stats: _________________________________________ | STR | AGI | VIT | INT | PIE | LCK | AVG | | | | | | | | | | 19 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18.3| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Tech: Falling Star (Single enemy). Spells: Every Spell the Valkyrie Learns(all allies), plus Marduke (All enemies). Colors: Blue armor, light blonde hair, purple boots. Description: Probably her best class. She gets to multi target all of the Valkyrie's spells, and gest the BEST SPELL IN THE GAME. Beside's she looks pretty ^_^. Tips: This is THE BEST FREAKING CHARACTER IN THE WHOLE GAME!... Sorry. This is, IMHO, the best character in the game. Multi targeting Mind Up and Power Up can really give you a quick advantage in the battle. Speed up and Protect up are only against certain enemies, however, but it's so cheap to cast, and fast, that it doesn't even matter who are you fighting, it'll be gone in no time. Besides, she has what I think it's the best spell in the game, Marduke. I won't tell more about it in this section, but keep in mind that almost every special attack will be blocked if this kickass spell conects. Stats notes: Out of all final classes, this is the most balanced, but, in fact, has the lowest stats. From Paul Wolfstien: 3: Star Lancer- The SL is a good class, in certin situations only. She doesn't have a FST, but she does have MTSU's which, as I said, are really only good in certin attacking parties. What makes this even worse is, the fact that the SL is NOT a great attacking class. Her summon, Marduck is OK. It takes decent enough damage, and it can silence enemies. This class isn't anything to scream about. From MeepleLard: Star Lancer:Her Best Class IMHO. Not only does it have Good STR, but also, the ever so useful Multi Target Stat Ups. She is the only class that can raise all the stats of a party in 4 spells. That's Great. Combined with the Necromancer or one of Hawk's Dark Classes, especially the Ninja Master, you'll have one Great team. And I never got to her summon. That speaks for itself, as it does more than Freya, Silences the enemies, which takes away their only legitamate Threat, Magic/Techs, and you still get EXP, not to mention is the cheapest. A class of true greatness. From Veib: Star Lancer: The better Light class for Lise. MTSU's rock, her (only ST though) tech looks cool, and Marduke is extremely useful in silencing enemies. But then again, I use spells only on bosses, thus no need for silencing. Overall a good class, and definetely the better one on light side. But Dark side is IMO better. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: That's three different way of lifes. I'm with MeepleLard, but both Veib and Paul have a good point. Ultimate Gear: Weapon: Star Geyser Helmet: Stardust Helmet Armor: Polaris Armor Ring: Draupnir ENEMY EQUIVALENT: errr... Queen Bees, probably. Dark/Dark Class: FENRIR KNIGHT Max Stats: _________________________________________ | STR | AGI | VIT | INT | PIE | LCK | AVG | | | | | | | | | | 19 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 18.6| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Tech:Hundred Flower Dance (Single enemy). Spells: Every spell the Rune Maiden learns (All enemies), Lamia Naga(all enemies) Colors: Red armor, Green hair, purple boots. Description: Powerful, almost flawless class. She gets to multi target all the stat down spells (That means... no damage from undead dragons, then some saint beam... nice... ^_^), and gets the weirdest summon of the game, Lamia Naga, which has no side effects, but gives hell to all enemies. Tips: The Fenrir Knight suffers from low Spirit, which really throws down the inmense power of the Lamia Naga against bosses. Marduke does almost the same damage, yet with side effects. Jormmungand is more powerful, and has side effects. However, since you get to point those nasty stat down spells on everyone, you can save quite some time casting only once, then go on killing spree. She does have some good stats anyway, and many people prefer this one to the Dragon Master. Stats Note: I don't see the point of giving her more Inteligence instead of more Spirit, which why I don't really give my vote to this one. From Paul Wolfstien: 2: Fenrir Night- The FK is an awesome class. It would be alot better if it had a FST but, it doesn't. Oh well, it's so deadly anyway. MTSD's are amazing, enough said. Her FSLV2 teach is a nice thing to have as well. Her LV3 Tech is also pretty strong, and it looks tight. :) Her summon, Lamia Naga is the best in the game. Not only does it take 750+ damage on average, it only costs 6mp (Japanese cart version confirmed). The FK is a VERY deadly class indeed. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: There you go. I have to reckon that in my ROM it does 350 HP of damage. From MeepleLard: Fenrir Knight:Although I like the Dragon Master better, I think the Fenrir Knight is a better class(in other words, I ahve more fun with the Dragon Master) Multi Target Stat Downs are not the most useful thing, but can come in handy. Her Intellegence and Agility are unmatched by any of the other 3 classes. And she has a powerful ST tech. Her Summon, Lamian Naga, may not be as powerful as Jormungand, the Dragon Master's summon, but still deals a nice amount of damage. This Class is a great class, like most of her Final Classes. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: I have the same problem with the Death Hand and the Dervish (Kevin's final Dark Classes) From Veib: Fenrir Knight: Ability to MT the SD's isn't too useful against bosses. Lamia Naga is nice, but has no side effects. Tech is only ST. IMO the worse of her dark classes. She has only ST tech, but it looks nice. A good class, like they all are (except that horrific one....^_^). I just don't like using it much, since there's a better one around. From Fizban123: I personally like DM just barely more than star lancer just because it's stat downs (don't flame me)... o_O NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: LOL! Ultimate Gear: Weapon: Giant Spear Helmet: Wolf Helmet Armor: Wulfhezein Ring: Giant's Ring ENEMY EQUIVALENT: Beast Masters. A nice thing is that they summon Kerberos, which are wolves, just like Fenrir. Dark/Light Class: DRAGON MASTER Max Stats: _________________________________________ | STR | AGI | VIT | INT | PIE | LCK | AVG | | | | | | | | | | 18 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18.5| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Tech: Dragon Tooth Spear (Single enemy). Spells: Every spell the Rune Maiden knows, Jormungand (All enemies). Colors: Green Armor, blonde hair, green boots. Description: I've found this class to be very useful. While she can't cast her spells on everyone, her summon does almost the same damage that Lamia Naga, but adds poison, which helps QUITE a lot when fighting tough enemies. Tips: I've always been attracted to Dragons, so when i saw this class I looked for info about it. But I tried it anyway, even with so many opinions attacking this one. This is a very underrated class. Obviously not her best class, but many newbies, misguided by people who call themselves "Experts" who've never tried this class, tend to learn that classes underrated are not worth trying. (Well, the Sage is the exception). Poison is very useful, and while Jormungand looks extremely disturbing, it's a powerful help. besides, doing almost the same damage as Lamia Naga, and with higher spirit and luck, The Dragon Master is an interesting option. If only she had a full screen tech... Stats Note: Yes, one point less than the Fenrir Knight. However, this one is more balanced, but meaning she doesn't gets either too high or too low. I prefer this one for having a more reliable summon, not because of her stats. From Paul Wolfstien: 4: Dragon Master- The DM is one of the "useless" classes in SD3. It has NOTHING except spirit over the FK, which isn't a big deal. She doesn't have a FST, either. Her summon, Jormungand is pretty good, but it's NOT better than Lamia Naga (at least on the official version of SD3) and poisen isn't very good anyway. She also only has STSD's which REALLY hurt. Her LV3 tech is pretty decent. An overall good class, but it just doesn't have anything over the FK. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.5: This has been the point of many flame wars on the gamefaqs message board ^_^, oh well. From MeepleLard: Dragon Master:This is the most underated of Lise's Classes. I happen to like it. Her Stat Down's are only Single Target, but I only need Multi Target Stat Down's for Zable Fahr and rarely, enemies. She may have the worst STR of Lise's classes, but she still can pack a wollop. What makes this Class great is that she has the best summon. Not only does it Deal the Most Damage, but Poisons enemies as well, making the damage dealt even more Lethal. Her level 3 tech, Dragon Tooth Spear, looks cool and deals a good 750 points of damage. I find it hard to see why anybody can think this class sucks. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: This has been our defense on the flame wars. From Veib: Dragon Master: (You're all gonna flame me for this one) I think that DM is Lise's best class. I liked her before, but now since that one fellow (can't remember who) proved that Jormungand does more damage than Lamia Naga (which is logical; the lighter she is the stronger she is, opposite for summon power), I like here even more. (I really hadn't tested the damage thingy myself) STSD's are just as good as MTSD's, since the only boss that comes in multiple parts is Zable-Fahr. Since Jormungand is the strongest summon, and I like to use her summons a lot, this is my choice of Lise's classes. Dragon-Tooth Spear also looks extremely sw33t. DM can kick ass good enough, since the 1 STR between this and Star Lancer isn't much. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: That was me! I proved it! Now that this is the final Class, I have to explain that these opinions have been debated to death, and we can't change Paul's point of view. Both Veib and MeepleLard agree with me on many things, but I wanted Paul's opinion because we need another side of the battle to debate this. (And: "sw33t"? What the hell is that?) Ultimate gear: Weapon: Dragon Lance Helmet: Rising Dragon Armor: Dragon Knight's Armor Ring: Dragon Ring. ENEMY EQUIVALENT: Goblin Lord. ************************************************************************* 7.- Special Techs: AMAZON: Whirlwind Spear. Riesz spins her spear above her head, then attacks. Not very useful, actually, since the lag time is too long to "combo" around. Yet, it has quite a long range. VALKYRIE: Vacuum Surge Spear. Riesz jumps in the center of the screen, the starts spining her spear above her head, until many whirlwinds go around the screen. Hits all enemies, and has decent power. One of the most useful techs, since the Star Lancer does not have full screen techs. If you go for the Vanadies, this has little power. RUNE MAIDEN: Flying Heaven Spear. Riesz jumps with her spear above of each enemy. Looks sort of fun ^_^. The same value as Vacuum Surge Spear, 'cept none of the Dark Classes has full screen Techs. VANADIES: Light Shot Spear. Riesz jumps in the center of the screen, then throws her spear up to the heavens. Now several light spears will stab each enemy for HUGE damage. Quite devastating, the third most powerful tech in the game. Yes, even more than Split-Image Slice. Riesz's Best Tech Award goes to this one. STAR LANCER: Falling Star. Four Riesz attack the enemy from four differents sides (heaven... ^_^). Then, another Riesz comes out and stabs once again the enemy. Looks pretty cool, does decent damage, and has the upper hand against Zable Fahr, who can really kick your ass if you keep on using full screen techs. Better if you pump it up with Power up and Marduke ^_^. FENRIR KNIGHT: Hundred Flower Dance. Riesz jumps into the enemy, and does some sort of Ultra Combo or Brutality (those old times...), which sends some explosions flying with every strike. Very impressive, decent damage, and again, useful against most bosses, or Zable Fahr. DRAGON MASTER: Dragon Tooth Spear. Riesz jumps out of the screen, then comes in flying in a dragon head on fire attacking the target. Even better than HFD or FS, but about the same anyway. ************************************************************************* 8.- Spells: NOTE: I've arranged them into spirits. *Power down: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Rune Maiden, Fenrir Knight(all enemies), Dragon Master. MP use: 2 per cast. Spirit: Undine. Effect: Cuts enemy attack power by aprox. one third. Tips: This thing is great against most enemies in the game. Wolves, Carmillas, DRAGONS (note the CAPS there), Dolan, Death Jester, Bigieu, and the Shadow Zeros. Cutting enemies power is a good idea most of the time, but if you're short on MPs, It's better to lower their defenses, so you can take them out faster. *Mind Up: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Valkyrie, Star lancer (all allies), Vanadies. MP use: 2 MP per cast. Spirit: Undine. Effect: Boosts ally inteligence and spirit by aprox. one third. Tips: This is, quite posible, the best asset against Heath, Koren and every final boss. This spell ups both indirect and direct magic defense and attack, meaning you can survive Ancients, Lamias Nagas, and Hell Crosses without so much problem. Very important against the Black Rabite. *Protect Down: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Rune Maiden, Fenrir Knight (all enemies), Dragon Master. MP use: 2 per cast. Spirit: Jinn. Effect: Cuts enemy Defenses by Aprox. one third. Tips: The best stat down spell, IMHO. This helps QUITE a lot when attacking magic basic beings, these guys tend to counter magic strikes. 'sides, a good Seiryuu Death Fist after one of these is nice to see ^_^. It's the first stat down spell you should find, anyway, so, why aren't you using it? *Speed Up: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Valkyrie, Star Lancer (All Allies), Vanadies. MP use: 2 MP per cast. Spirit: Jinn. Effect: Boosts ally agility by Aprox. one third. Tips: Actually, this spell isn't very useful, but, hey, only costs 2 MP per cast, sooooo.... Do it anyway. *Speed Down: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Rune Maiden, Fenrir Knight (all enemies), Dragon Master. MP use: 2 MP per cast. Spirit: Gnome. Effect: Cuts enemy agility by aprox. one third. Tips: As its light counter part, this one isn't the best. *Protect Up: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Valkirye, Star Lancer (all allies), Vanadies. MP use: 2 MP per cast. Spirit: Gnome. Effect: Boosts ally vitality by aprox. one third. Tips: Quite useful. This one helps a lot against most enemies from the final stages of the game. Dolan, Shadow Zeros, Wolves, Lugar, and Bigieu do insignificant damage when you're protected by this. Use it a lot. *Mind Down: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Rune Maiden, Fenrir Knight (all enemies), Dragon Master. MP use: 2 MP per cast. Spirit: Salamando. Effect Cuts enemy spirit and inteligence by aprox. one third. Tips: Again, powerful against magic beings. Tends to make Koren and Heath too easy (well... Heath is not easy even when he's asleep... but you get the idea). Good if you have Angie in your team. *Power Up: Learned at Spirit 10. Classes: Valkirye, Star Lancer (all allies), Vanadies. MP use: 2 MP per cast. Spirit: Salamando. Effect: Boost ally strenght by aprox. one third. Tips: And now, ladies and gentleman, what you've been waiting for! The only spell capable of making the Vanadies, the Duelist, and even the Death Hand more powerful! This thing wrecks havoc against anyone. Great spell. *Marduke: Learned at Spirit 15. Classes: Star Lancer (all enemies). MP use: 6 MP. Spirit: none. Effect: Damages and silences enemies. Tips: IMHO, the best spell in the game. This does HUGE damage, and mutes enemies. That means: 1)No more annoying Shamans curing around or Mages using lv.1 spells! 2)No more fear of being killed by one suzaku sky dance by some bloody wolf around! 3)No more annoying beast masters using the freaking stat spells! 4)No more carmillas lowering your HP or demons using Demon Breath! That's a lot. This spell is, by far, better than any other summon, and is a true life saver. Always a good idea. If you silence an enemy, he won't use his techs or spells. 5)No more Shadow Zeros wiping you out! Also, contrary to what most people believe, this isn't the most powerful summon in the game. It's just the most useful. *Freya: Learned at Spirit 15. Classes: Vanadies (all enemies). MP use: 6 MP. Spirit: none. Effect: Turns all enemies into Shell Hunters. Tips: The only use I can find is when you're really almost lost, and powerful enemies attack you. Doesn't works against bosses, and Shell Hunters give 0 experience, so I find this one sort of useless. Still, judging from the fights in the final stage of the game (Shapeshifters), this one can be used as a battle skipper. *Jormungand: Learned at Spirit 15. Classes: Dragon Master (all enemies). MP use: 7 MP. Spirit: None. Effect: Damages and poisons enemies. Tips: Useful. Really useful. Poisoning you enemies gives you easy kills, since the poison is very damaging. Also gives you some sort of "psychic advantage", since you don't feel as insecure with enemies poisoned. Poison doesn't affect bosses, but the summon is powerful still. *Lamia Naga: Learned at spirit 15. Classes: Fenrir Knight (all enemies). MP use: 7 MP. Spirit: none. Effect: Damages all enemies. Tips: Since it only damages enemies, it's not as useful as Jormungand or Marduke. The biggest disavantages are that the Fenrir Knight has somewhat low spirit, so it does almost the same damage as the Marduke metioned before and less than Jormmungand. However, as it does enough damage, it's a good back up attack if you don't have any choice. If I have to give it some sort of grade, it'll be only one step ahead of Freya. ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING THE SUMMONS: (MANY thanks to MeepleLard) Finally, Meeple has found a good way to calculate the damage done by the summons, giving my theory and practice of them another edge to hold on. As anything else in the game, there is a formula to do it: SPIRIT X (MP Cost + 25) = Total Damage (Plus any status ailments you may cause) Roughly, the damage for each summons shall be: FREYA: 19 X ( 6 + 25 ) = 589 (+ Chibikko) (481 is a more accurate result, I think ^_^) MARDUKE: 18 X ( 6 + 25 ) = 558 (+ Silence)(This seems to be close enough, though the actual damage is a bit lower, about 525 or so) LAMIA NAGA: 17 X ( 7 + 25 ) = 544 JORMMUNGAND: 18 X ( 7 + 25) = 576 (+ Poison) That's it. Remember to substract the MGR from the enemies to get the exact results. My friends, that's the truth. Don't trust anybody but me about Riesz ^_^ (J/K). ************************************************************************* 9.- Weapons and Armor: NOTE FROM VERSION 1.7: I've added the formula for each weapon, so you can find the real power. The formula isn't exact, but since I can't find the exact one, you will have to get with it. I've kept the MAX POWER stat so you can have another idea for it. Also I've added the formula for armors. The X of the formula is STR for weapons, VIT for physicial defense on Armors, and INT for magical defense on Armors. I've reworked the whole thing to make it according to the formulas. They aren't exact, but I can't seem to get it working on any other way. IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING ARMOR: The armor values are based on a Fenrir Knight with maxed stats at lv.63. The magic defense values are damn right for it, but I 'm not sure about the physical ones. There's something important to note: The max defense you can reach is 300, no matter which armor are you wearing, Riesz always maxes out this stat. That was why I found four armors having the same defensive power. ANOTHER NOTE: The Weapons stats are nearer to the Vanadies power. In the final equipment for each Class, I'll be using the respective stats, like the Dragon Lance using the Dragon Master's strenght, also. * I don't really recall if it's on Sultan, but I'm guessing since that would be her "middle town". The other "middle towns" are Elrand and Forcena (I kinda forgot to add Forcena before ^_^) ** This will be only in the Cat's inventory after you defeat four Mana Beasts. *** Can only be equiped by the Star Lancer. **** Can only be equiped by the Vanadies. ***** Can only be equiped by the Dragon Master. ****** Can only be equiped by the Fenrir Knight. # This isn't a neutral weapon, but can be equiped by the Dragon Master and the Star lancer. + Can be equiped by anyone except the Amazon. (U) Ultimate equipment. (V) Vanadies power. (S) Star Lancer Power. (D) Dragon Master Power. (F) Fenrir Knight Power. WEAPONS NEUTRAL WEAPONS Bronze Lance: Already Equiped. Max Power: 46. Formula: 6+2*X Price: 40 Luc. Long Spear: Bought at Astoria. Max Power: 66. Formula: 6+3*X Price: 95 Luc. Flamea: Bought at the Dwarf Village. Max Power: 89. Formula: 9+4*X Price: 205 Luc. Corsesca: Bought at Byzel. Max power: 109. Formula: 9+5*X Price: 258 Luc. Partisan: Bought at Palo. Max Power: 129. Formula: 9+6*X Price: 570 Luc. Steel Lance: Bought at the Dark Priest Village. Max Power: 149. Formula: 9+7*X Price: 990 Luc. Glaive: Bought at Elrand. Max Power: 171. Formula: 11+8*X Price: 1450 Luc. Silver Lance: Bought at Mintos. Max power: 191. Formula: 11+9*X Price: 3035 Luc. Plume Lance: Bought at Diorre. Max Power: 211. Formula: 11+10*X Price: 3400 Luc. Golden Spear: Bought at Sultan. * Max Power: 233. Formula: 13+11*X Price: 4320 Luc. Griffin Lance: Bought with the Cats. Max Power: 253. Formula: 13+12*X Price: 7870 Luc. Maiden Leaf: Bought with the Cats. ** Max Power: 281 Formula: 13+13*X Price: 17230 Luc. Brunak: Bought at Pedan. Max Power: 293. Formula: 13+14*X Price: 18670 Luc. Blaze Piercer: Bought at Pedan. # Max Power: 313. Formula: 13+15*X Price: 44800 Luc. LIGHT WEAPONS Wing Spear: Bought at Mintos. Max Power: 194. Formula: 13+9*X Price: 3300 Luc. Dark Piercer: Bought at Diorre. Max power: 214. Formula: 14+10*X Price: 3440 Luc. Mythril Spear: Bought at Sultan. * Max power: 235. Formula: 15+11*X Price: 4670 Luc. Staghorn: Bought with the Cats. Max power: 253. Formula: 15+12*X Price: 8640 Luc. Valkyrie Spear:Bought with the Cats. ** Max power: 275. Formula: 15+13*X Price: 18480 Luc. Gungnir: Bought at Pedan. Max Power: 295. Formula: 15+14*X Price: 34134 Luc. Stargazer: Weapon/Armor Seed. ***(U) Max power: (S)302 (V)317. Price: N/A Formula: 17+15*X Notes: People who talk about being "only one strength point above the Star Lancer" should be surprised about this difference. If you face a Vanadies against a Dragon Master (Defense: 300), she would do 17-20 HP of damage, The Star Lancer would do about 2-5 HP of damage, both using the same spear. This is the power of the Vanadies. True Spear: Weapon/Armor Seed. **** (U) Max Power: (V) 315. Formula: 15+15*X Price: N/A Notes: This is, indeed, the weakest ultimate spear. However, with the attack power of the Vanadies, ends up being the strongest after all. DARK WEAPONS Mystic Spear: Bought at Mintos. Max Power: 194. Formula: 14+9*X Price: 3355 Luc. Torrento Spear:Bought at Diorre. Max Power: 216. Formula: 16+10*X Price: 3415 Luc. Brainwrecker: Bought at Sultan. * Max Power: 237. Formula: 17+11*X Price: 4935. Wolf's Fang: Bought with the Cats. Max power: 257. Formula: 17+12*X Price: 8400 Luc. Mideel Spear: Bought with the Cats. ** Max Power: 277. Formula: 17+13*X Price: 18270 Luc. Pain Tooth: Bought at Pedan. Max Power: 297. Formula: 17+14*X Price: 34270 Luc. Notes: The real value of this spear with the Dragon Master at strength 18 is 270. The real value equiped on a Vanadies should be around 300. Dragon Lance: Weapon/Armor Seed. ***** (U) Max power: (D)289 (V) 319. Formula: 19+15*X Price: N/A Giant's Spear: Weapon/Armor Seed. ****** (U) Max Power: (F)306 (V) 321. Formula: 21+15*X Price: N/A Notes: This is the strongest Spear in the game. However, this show that the values showed here are not exact, since this spear has a real attack power of 307. I can't start adding ramdom values to the calculated ones, so this is just for you to have an idea of the power of the weapons. Also, you would have noticed that the Dark Weapons have higher attack power. This is only true because I've used the Vanadies power, since the light class is by far stronger. ARMOR: HELMETS NEUTRAL HELMETS Winged Ribbon: Bought at Maia. Defense Value: +3 Defense +2 Magic Defense. Price: 48 Luc. Leather helmet:Bought at Jad. Defense Value: +4, +2 Price: 205 Luc. Barbute: Bought at Deen. Defense Value: +5, +2 Price: 930 Luc. LIGHT/DARK HELMETS + Viking Helm: Bought at Diorre. Defense Value: +6, +3 Price: 1600 Luc. Horncrest: Bought With the Cats. Defense Value: +8, +3 Price: 2200 Luc. Unicorn Helm: Bought with the Cats. ** Defense Value: +9, +3 Price: 3170 Luc. Aurora Helm: Bought at Pedan. Defense Value: +10, +4 Price: 4670 Luc. Pegasus Helmet:Weapon/Armor Seed. Defense Value: +11, +4 Price: N/A FINAL CLASSES HELMETS Vanir Helmet: Weapon/Armor Seed. **** (U) Defense Value: +12, +4 Price: N/A Stardust Helmet:Weapon/Armor Seed. *** (U) Defense Value: +13, +5 Price: N/A Rising Dragon: Weapon/Armor Seed. ***** (U) Defense Value: +14, +5 Price: N/A Wolf Helmet: Weapon/Armor Seed. ****** (U) Defense Value: +15, +5 Price: N/A ARMOR: RINGS Note: Rings are the "accesories" of the game. They are not only rings, but earrings, gauntlets, necklaces and so. NEUTRAL RINGS Vambrace: Bought at Forcena. Defense Value: +2, +1 Price: 95 Luc. Steel Bracelet:Bought at Jad. Defense Value: +3, +1 Price: 160 Luc. Windgod Bracelet:Bought at Deen. Defense Value: +4, +1 Price: 738 Luc. LIGHT/DARK RINGS + Earth Bracelet:Bought at Sultan. * Defense Value: +5, +2 Price: 1380 Luc. Yadorigi Armlet:Weapon/Armor Seed. Defense Value: +8, +3 Price: N/A LIGHT RINGS Gyralhorne: Bought with the Cats. ** Defense Value: +6, +2 Price: 1900 Luc. Draupnir: Weapon/Armor Seed. (U) Defense Value: +9, +3 Price: N/A DARK RINGS Rune Earrings: Bought with the Cats. ** Defense Value: +7, +2 Price: 2200 Luc. Giant's Ring: Weapon/Armor Seed. (U) Defense Value: +10, +3 Price: N/A Dragon Ring: Weapon/Armor Seed. (U) Defense Value: +8, +3 Price: N/A Notes: I do have this ring, but I haven't found information about it anywhere. The Adamant Shield of Riesz's Rings. Looks like a golden ring. It's not as good as the Giant's Ring, but... hey, it's another ring. NOTE FROM VERSION 2.1: I believe this ring is strong against Dragons the same way the Dragon Shield is for Duran, but also comes to me that it makes her inmune to poison or some stat effect. Any info? ARMOR: BODY ARMOR NEUTRAL BODY ARMOR Padded Leather:Already Equipped. Defense Value: +24, +80 Formula: 4+1*X, 4+4*X Price: 18 Luc. Notes: OK, I know +80 magic defense is really strange, but remember we're looking thru the Fenrir Knight's inteligence. The later armors balance these numbers. And yes, these numbers seem to be accurate. Cuir Boulli: Bought at Wendel and Maia. Defense Value: +46, +80 Formula: 5+2*X, 4+4*X Price: 60 Luc. Feather Vest: Bought at the Dwarf Village. Defense Value: +63, +80 Formula: 3+3*X, 4+4*X Price: 145 Luc. Spiked Armor: Bought at Byzel. Defense Value: +87, +80 Formula: 4+4*X, 4+4*X Price: 215 Luc. Chain Mail: Bought at Palo. Defense Value: +109, +80 Formula: 5+5*X, 4+4*X Price: 258 Luc. Banded Mail: Bought at Forcena, and I think the Dark Priest village. Defense Value: +131, +80 Formula: 6+6*X, 4+4*X Price: 360 Luc. Scale Mail: Bought at Elrand. Defense Value: +153, +80 Formula: 7+7*X, 4+4*X Price: 738 Luc. LIGHT/DARK BODY ARMOR + Mani Plate: Bought at Mintos. Defense Value: +18?, +80 Formula: 8+8*X, 4+4*X Price: 1380 Luc. Notes: I haven't found the value for this one, It's around 180, but not above 185 or below 175. Steda Plate: Bought at Diorre. Defense Value: +197, +152 Formula: 9+9*X, 8*X Price: 2560 Luc. White Eagle Plate: Bought at Sultan. * Defense Value: +219, +152 Formula: 10+10*X, 8*X Price: 2930 Luc. Jotzdammoran: Bought with the Cats. Defense Value: +241, +152 Formula: 11+11*X, 8*X Price: 3170 Luc. Phatasm Armor: Weapon/Armor Seed. Defense Value: +280, +152 Formula: 14+14*X, 8*X Price: N/A LIGHT BODY ARMOR Valkyrie Mail: Bought with the Cats. ** Defense Value: +263, +152 Formula: 12+12*X, 8*X Price: 4670 Luc. Wing Armor: Bought at Pedan. Defense Value: +273, +152 Formula: 13+13*X, 8*X Price: 8240 Luc. Goddess Armor: Weapon/Armor Seed. **** (U) Defense Value: +299, +152 Formula: 19+14*x, 8*x Price: N/A Polaris Armor: Weapon/Armor Seed. *** (U) Defense Value: +300, +152 Formula: 20+14*x, 8*x Price: N/A DARK BODY ARMOR Rune Armor: Bought with the Cats. ** Defense Value: +263, +152 Formula: 12+12*x, 8*x Price: 4535 Luc. Fang Armor: Bought at Pedan. Defense Value: +274, +152 Formula: 14+13*X, 8*X Price: 8135 Luc. Drgn Knight Armor: Weapon/Armor Seed. ***** (U) Defense Value: +300, +152 Formula: 21+14*X, 8*X Price: N/A Wulfhezein: Weapon/Armor Seed. ****** (U) Defense Value: +300, +152 Formula: 22+14*X, 8*X Price: N/A ************************************************************************* 10.- Class Breaking Items: Class Breaking Items are found in ???? Seeds, dropped by several enemies in the final areas of the game. I recommend you look for them killing Boulders near Pedan, at night, since they tend to drop them often. With these items, you can change to your final class at the golden Goddess at the Mana HolyLand, and they can also be used as items in battle, having different effects. I will list them to you. Vanadies: Brisingamen. Item Use: Power Up on all allies. Star Lancer: Morning Star Chain. Item Use: Speed Up on all allies. Fenrir Knight: Gleipnir. Item Use: Mind Down on all enemies. Dragon Master: Knight Dragon Chain. Item Use: Protect Down on all enemies. ************************************************************************* 11.- Group Sugestions: This section is interesting ^_^. Ok, I will list teams focusing on Riesz and another character, and adding the third character that will complement them the best. RIESZ AND DURAN + KEVIN - RIESZ - Star Lancer. - DURAN - Sword Master. - KEVIN - God Hand. Group Type: all out attack team. Comments: This team will seriously hurt anyone on you path ^_^. This team excells on attack power, vitality, and spirit, but is terrible on the magic side. Riesz and Duran complement each other very well, since they both have good attack and defense, and Duran can provide sabers, Riesz providing stat up spells and Marduke for tight situations. Third character: Added Kevin since this team can have quite a hard time until the final class change, and to add healing. Variations: Carlie instead of Kevin, as a Bishop, she can equilibrate the whole team. However, adding Carlie will seriously hurt your attack power and make the game a lot harder. This is my personal favorite team. You can't go wrong with this one if you have already beaten the game and can survive without MT heal light. (I did the first time I played) RIESZ AND HAWK + DURAN - RIESZ - Starlancer. - HAWK - Ninja Master. - DURAN - Paladin. Group Type: Abilities team. Comments: Arguably the best class combination. Multi Target stat up, the selective Jutsus on the most dangerous enemies. Even better than the Star Lancer-Necromancer combo. Third Character: Added Duran as a Paladin to add extra attack, healing and Saint Saber. What else could you ask for? Variations: Carlie as an Evil Shaman will give you magic attacks, but will hurt your attack power. RIESZ AND CARLIE + HAWK - RIESZ - Star Lancer. - CARLIE - Necromancer. - HAWK - Wanderer. Group Type: Abilities Team. Comments: Star Lancer and Necromancer complement each other with Stat Up and Black Curse. Riesz also gives Marduke to the battleground, countering what many wouldn't like of this team: Slow attack. You don't have much attack power here, but with this combo, that won't be a problem. Third Character: I don't really like the Wanderer, but with all those abilities he could fit here to make this one another very fun team to play. And makes this team one helluva lot of luck! Variations: Kevin could give this team a boost in attack power, and make it a good team, but I think Hawk makes this team very challenging and interesting. NOTE: This is not an easy team, believe me. For an easy team, take Kevin as a Death Hand. RIESZ AND KEVIN + DURAN - RIESZ - Dragon Master. - KEVIN - Warrior Monk. - DURAN - Duelist. Group Type: Power! Comments: This one killer team I tried out of boredom. It Rocks! Kevin can provide healing while Riesz poisons and stat downs everyone. No magic power? Who cares! Third Character: I added Duran as a Duelist instead of the Sword Master because this teams needs whatever power it may get, and the Leaf and Moon Saber won't help too much. Variations: Angela could be an interesting choice, but I wouldn't mess up this one. RIESZ AND ANGELA + KEVIN - RIESZ - Fenrir Knight. - ANGELA - Grand Divina. - KEVIN - God Hand. Group Type: Magic team. Comments: As I told you all before, I don't really like Angela that much, but I haven't tried her too much anyway. Ok, this team is a really balanced team, with good attack power and powerful spells. The only problem I see is if you go for the Grand Divina, Angela will lose a lot of power at the end game, only using Rainbow (Which isn't bad, either). Riesz as a Fenrir Knight to help it, with Lamia Naga to support (and Spam) Angela's powers. Be sure to learn to spam magic! Third Character: Kevin as a God hand to provide healing. Since we will need all the power we can get, It's better than the Warrior Monk. Variations: Either take out Kevin for Duran as a Lord, or change Fenrir Knight for Star Lancer. Both will do quite well. ************************************************************************* 12.- Riesz and Hawk's Final Bosses: -Jagan: 16000 HP. Weak to Salamando. Strategies: This guy's quite a problem, actually. He's weak to Salamando, that's one of the mistake we all tend to make, attacking him with Saint Beam (Which isn't bad either...). He uses Death Spell! Basically, use your best spells while you smack him. This guy is one of those really rare enemies which are harder to beat with only physical attacks, because of his Psycho Wave, which tends to spell doom on you. He comes with a Carmilla and a Bloddy Wolf, the last is annoying. -Bigieu: 16000 HP. Weak to Gnome. Strategies: This girl is one of the easiest enemies of the game. Just attack her with Earth Saber and any gnome spells you may have, and be careful of her Lamia Naga. At one point she will use Moon Saber, but she won't last very long. -Archdemon: 54000 HP. It's weakness varies with the battle. Strategies: This guy has every spell in the game at his service, which is VERY bad, for you, that is. At the start he will use several magics depending on his color at the moment, the most annoying being the black one because of Black Curse, and the most dangerous being the brown one because of the powerful spells. Simply, follow his colors and use spells that will counter his powers. This is one of the battles where Lamia Naga, Ancient and Doubel Spell are very nice. Later, he will change shape, being far more dangerous. He wil start using Ancient, Hell Cross and Catastrophe, a catastrophic attack which will beat the living hell out of you, ussually for more than 550 HP. However, his weakness will stay as Undine and Wisp. ************************************************************************* 13.- The Black Rabite: And so... what is the Black Rabite? Indeed, it's a black Rabite. (Where have you been during the whole SD3 madness?) It's a secret boss. It's located on the Dragon's hole. To find it, roughly, go NW until you find a room with a wall which seems to separate the room in two. Cross it, and, go ahead. When you get to a linear vertical corridor, keep to the W wall until you find the secret passage (It's more or less in the middle). Keep in mind that you gotta cross the "door" shaped like a dragon skull, THEN go NW. There are several prerequisites to face this thing: -You must have beaten Koren. -You must have Duran or Angela as your main character (duh). -You gotta be lv. 50 or above (no a requisite, but a good idea). And so, what's so great about it? It's freakish hard. Believe me. It's quite a toughie. There are several things to note about him: - It's a dark lv. 99 monster. Tough luck to me since I had Duran as a Duelist the first time I've found it. - Since it's lv. 99 it's obviously impervious to Death Spell. - It's impervious to Turn Undead (in case anyone had the faith) (I doubt it's undead anyway). - It's able to cast every spell in the game except Death Ectasy, Flare and Catastrophe (It's that a spell?). Its repertory is: *Holy Ball. *Saint Beam. *Evil Gate. *Dark Force. *Hell Cross (ouch!) *Firebal. *Exploder (I've never seen it cast it, but it does have Blaze wall and every 2 level spells, so I'm guessing this one is in too) *Blaze Wall. *Ice Smash. *Mega Splash. *Cold Blaze (Annoying as hell) *Diamond Missille. *Land Slide. *Stone Cloud (I've never seen it either). *Air Blast. *Thunderstorm. *Stun Wind (Ditto with above). *Reflect magic. *Eye Laser (I think. It's either Eye laser of Geiser something, it's the same as the Lightgazer attack)(I honestly think that Eye Laser it's from Tales of Phantasia but I'm not sure). *Summon Lv99 Great Demon (This one summons an actual enemy) *MT Dark saber. *Ancient. *Moon Spiral. *Probably something else. (That's painful to read, let alone face) Now, onto the strategies. Riesz it's a very useful character to face this thing, and she can be easily molded into any team designed to face the Black Rabite. So far, the best team i've found to beat it is: DURAN - Paladin - RIESZ - Vanadies - CARLIE - Necromancer - I recommend Vanadies since she can use powerful attacks, and in case of extreme danger, use her FST Light Shot Spear. The Paladin is Duran's best class against the Black Rabite, because of the Shield and Saint Saber. Carlie as a necromancer can use Black curse and combine it with Riesz's stat up spells, makes this team a rabite killer. or DURAN - Paladin - RIESZ - Star Lancer - KEVIN - Death Hand or God Hand - No stat down spells, but oh well. It's the same to go with Vanadies but if you hate the Vanadies, there you go. Death hand or God Hand, I prefer the Death Hand, but the God Hand makes the game much easier, and helps with healing. Stay away from dark classes when facing the Black Rabite. The Black Rabite seems to counter EVERY spell or ability in the game, and that includes Ancient, Light Dart, any stat down spells, or any 2nd or 3rd level tech. Since you have to cast each one of the stat down spells to make a difference, you'll have to face four counter attacks, and that could mean having to face the Black Rabite, two Great Demons, and two Hell Crosses- If you really want to go dark, then DURAN - Paladin - RIESZ - Dragon Master - HAWK - Wanderer - (ack) I recommend Dragon Master because this way you can focus your attacks on the Black Rabite, and let the poison take the demon down. And yes, Wanderer. Why? because Reflect magic can help you while you cast each stat down spell. Be careful not to go trigger happy with Aura Wave, also. I AM NOT SURE, BUT I THINK YOU CAN POISON THIS BOSS. (Go figure. A use for Poison Breath, what a novel concept ^_^) You may have noticed that I have totally avoided suggesting Angela. She's useless in this fight. Completely useless. Having to resort to Double Spell, Rainbow or Ancient only nets you a Hell Cross or worse in the face, and the Rune Master, well, has nothing to do here. Facing the Black Rabite is a matter of preparation. I suggest you start the fight spamming Heal Light, Light Saber and Stat up spells (Power up first is a good idea). Heal light because the Black Rabite will cast Dark force on everyone as soon as you enter. It's vital that you cancel every tech except your lv 1 techs. This way you can prevent as much counters as possible. Saint Saber is very useful for two things: First because the Black Rabite is a dark monster, and second, because the Black Rabite has a nasty habit of casting dark saber on everyone. Last but not least, the Black rabite has over 70000 HPs ( i think ), It uses Dark Force, Evil gate and Hell Cross to heal itself. Good Luck! ************************************************************************* 14.- Odds and Ends. This section will focus on any Riesz-related stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else, mainly rumors of sorts. Also, here I will explain several points I found to be interesting. Currently Featuring: LAMIA NAGA'S MISTERY, LAMIA NAGA VS JORMUNGAND, RIESZ AND HAWK??, THE DRAGON MASTER-- ONCE AGAIN and THE FLAME I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. LAMIA NAGA'S MISTERY One odd thing I've picked up around the net is the comment that Lamia Naga does damage equal of 1/2 of the monster's MAX HP. This means this Summon is able to kill anything in two hits (But, every powerful Spell, like Ancient, Demon Breath, and Jormungand seem to do it as well). The problem is that people claim to see it doing 500 HP of damage, while others claim to see a whooping 780 HP total damage. The only solution I see for this is to agree that it does such damage. I can't really believe that it's because "The player's ROM", because you wouldn't be using a different version than that of your friend. This Isn't FF6, there's no version 1.1. However, against bosses, it seems to be quite stronger, probably showing it's max power since it can't do 25000 HPs per hit (That would be stupid). However, I find myself wondering if no enemy has over 999, like to do 45X as it does ocasionally in my game. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.1: My research has started as I've found over the net a very good savestate with Riesz as a Fenrir Knight at lv.63, with Angela as a Magus and Duran as a Duelist. Interesting is the fact that I choose the same party the first time I played, but with the Star Lancer, and the Paladin. The Magus was my choice also. Riesz's Spirit is 17. I'm currently testing in the Mana Holy Land, fighting three shapeshifters. Note that I'm playing as I type: The Shapeshifters are at lv.49. Each letter denotes a Lamian Naga summon. a)Without any change, they took 368 HP of damage. b)Changed into a High Widzard, a Goblin Lord and a Papa Poto (I'm guessing in the last one). The Goblin Lord took 308 HP of Damage. The High Widzard took 298 HP of Damage, and the Papa Poto took a whopping 380 HP of Damage. c)This time, the Papa Poto (Which changed into a Giga Crawler) and the Goblin Lord died, and the last one, which changed into a Wolf Devil, took about the same damage as the Goblin Lord (Exactly: 305 HP). d)Another Shapsifter came by (This wasn't planned). Lamia Naga, which was being summoned, hitted it for 458 HP of damage. Interesting note: This time, it was VERY CLOSE to 499, that could be the 1/2 of 999 which we're looking for. e)Now it's a Lesser Demon. 420 HP of Damages. I Think I'm Screwed because Duran is about to use Eruption Sword. He killed it. Damn. Since it did about 540 HP of damage, I'm on the verge to say that it does halves the enemies HP. f)Seeing that it would be quite hard to find out with Shapeshifter, I will travel to the Glass desert to find out THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LAMIA NAGA SUMMON! Argh, a Shadow Zero! GET OUT! BTW, what happened to the dead bodies? I've traveled to the Glass desert, and killed off Angela and Duran to make sure they don't bother me. I'm facing two Petit Tiamat a a Basilisk. Wish me luck. They are at lv.41. a)The two Petit Tiamat took 317 HP of damage, while the Basilisk took 319. b)I was screwed again since I didn't had any Pupui Grass in my Inventory and I was silenced. So I reloaded and tried again. It did 317 and 318 to the Petit Tiamats, and the Basilisk ate his same 319. c)Summoning again, they are killed. This could very well mean that it DOES halves enemies HPs after all. However, I will try again in different conditions, against the same enemies. d)Casted mind down on everyone, then Lamia Naga. The summon caused 399 HP of damage to everyone. This is weird. e)Again, killed them all. Reloaded once again, and found two Boulders and a Nightblade at lv.41. a)317 to the Boulders, and about 320 to the NightBlade. I saved to keep track of the damage I can take out of him with my weapon. I did 125, 119, 120. That adds up for 364. Somewhat close. b)If my eyes are not mistaken, the Boulders survived. At this point, I revived Angela to see how much damage would do before they are killed. Lucky me, Riesz became chibikko. She attacked about 40 times (doing 1 damage always), and then the Boulder died. I'm not content with these results, so I'm gonna face the Dragon Emperor to see THE TRUTH OF THE LAMIA NAGA SUMMON! a)It did 392 HP of damage. It's somewhat better here. b)It did 390 HP of damage. It's not going far. c)It did 490 HP of damage, after a Mind down. (Ancient was doing 959 HP of Damage. Go figure) So, I guess here is where my research ends. Lamia Naga damages, and doesn't seem to halve anything. I'll continue fighting on to find if there's something left to see (After all, the Boulders were the only ones who survived), As I haven't found any real thing about this spell. Any help would be really appreciated. RUMOR STATUS: This is damn false. Lamia Naga doesn't halves HP. LAMIA NAGA VS JORMUNGAND Please see this image while you read this section for extra info: http://wwww.angelfire.com/de/mmanson/fkvsdm.gif (There's nothing on the page, it's a long history. The GIF is stored there, however.) It shows a series of screenshots showing the Fenrir Knight Max stats, then the damage done to several enemies. Then the Dragon Master Max stats, then the damage done to the same enemies. It does slightly more damage, and it seems that there's a damage formula for the damage. I honestly think they have the same "base damage", but the Dragon Master has higher spirit, then it does more damage. It's only 20 HP of diference, about the same difference I noted with the Vanadies and the Star Lancer using the Star Gazer, that's why I suspect it. However, Paul Wolfstien, a regular guy on the boards, and several other people, report Lama Naga doing more than 700 HP. He claims to have the real cart (I believe him, he isn't saying stupid things), which is, in his opinion, the difference. Maybe we are playing a prototype, maybe he is playing a prototype, who knows. As for now, myself, being the maintainer of the guide, have to support Jormungand being a better summon. RUMOR STATUS: I was right, the same formula is used for both summons. Gee, I'm a genius. RIESZ AND HAWK? (What the bloody hell?) I haven't seen this one with my own suffered eyes, but I have read that somewhere, sometime in the game, Hawk kisses Riesz! I have to see this by myself. I am disturbed. Really. I can't believe it. I won't finish the guide until I see this one. NOTE FROM VERSION 2.1: Supposedly, he kisses her when you have Riesz on your team but not Hawk when you get to Rolante. I don't remember this, though they are several hints about this on the whole game. RUMOR STATUS: I think is true ^_^. THE DRAGON MASTER-- ONCE AGAIN I'm tired. I'm sick and tired of reading "Dragon Master Sucks". NO CLASS IS USELESS (with the sole exception of the Sage ^_^)(*hopes Buskaboo can make Lord Zero change his opinion). That's something that has been debated to death, and I have taken the role of the defender using the FACTs, I don't care if the Fenrir Knight is better, which is officially true, dang it, but that doesn't means that the DM is useless. There's a point to note first: Jormungand does more damage than Lamia Naga. And another point: do you ussually waste your stat down spells on regular enemies? It takes way too much time, I usually only go for Protect Down, then hell to everyone around. There's something that makes the MTSU much better than the MTSD: The fact that you cast it on your team, and it last until the word "Victory" appears, not when the enemies die. Take this into account: go into the Mirage Palace, and light all the orbs. The next room will take you on a Royal Rumble with almost 30 enemies (methinks). That's 10 full casts of Protect Down, Mind Down, Speed Down and Power Down, but it would only take a sole cast of any stat up spell to make it work thru the 30 enemies. They are more universal. This makes little difference between the MTSD or the STSD. Probably, by instinc, you would use them against bosses, but there is only ONE boss which consist of three parts: Zable Fahr. (Well, the Black Rabite and Jagan may count, but... nah). That's something we have tried (Well, at least me and MeepleLard) to make everyone listen. The DM is not better than the FK, but has its uses. Riesz's Jormungand makes about the same thing to the enemies: Weakening them down, to allow any other ally takes them out easily. Lamia Naga's lack of side effect makes it much weaker than Jormungand, it lacks any practical value beside doing damage. Using the Dragon Master means taking a most powerful tech, and a better summon. Cha, cha. That's the point. The Dragon Master, as the Star lancer, makes Riesz the ultimate support character. That's why you should choose the DM sometime. THE FLAME I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR... "G'day..." 'zuuuppp!!! ^_^ This letter was sent by "DaHappycabbit Konai" (happycabbitkonai@hotmail.com) , and I found it reasonable and interesting enough to comment. " I know you prolly get your share of flames for your SD3 Rise faq... and I know that flaming someone without actually knowing them or conversing with them is stupid and childish..." Damn right. " However... I just thought I'd tell you that I was quite turned off from reading your faq once I got to the character comparisons... Simply put, each and every character in SD3 sucks *and* rules. This is thanks to class changing and character customization... But, you quite unfairly used every one of Rise's classes in the comparisons, saying, "This class here is the class where she has the highest strength! See how much cooler she is than *insert character name here* in his weakest class?!"" I honestly don't see where did I said that. " Y'see, you wrote that Hawk has this annoying habit of doing 1 hp of damage when you really need him...however, (and I'm sure you've heard this before...) if you raise Hawk in Str almost as often as Rise, you actually get a more powerful fighter. Yes, Rise may be more powerful in the single attack.....but you seem to ignore the fact (which I know you know) that Hawk *and* Kevin get two attacks, both of which are not hard to land if you're halfway decent at the game." Not actually. He doesn't gets to do as much damage with the two swings as Riesz, but he can hit more times which makes him very powerful still. *however*, technically talking, she's still more powerful. Sorry to burst your bubble. " I just feel your character comparisons are biased, and will decieve newcomers to the game, or change which characters they favor." Here's where I think everyone has to think: THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BIASED. This guide isn't to show which characters to use, this is to show how to use Riesz, and why should you choose her. For choosing characters, go for a general FAQ (I recommend Ryuseiryuu, as it's the only one which actually has good info). " And what the hell is the point of commmenting on a character's sub screen pose??? It's not you...well, partly you....but, it just seems to me that people are using pritty subscreen poses as ways to make their character's better....while the ugly ones make a character stupid." 'coz is funny, and 'coz there is no point into saying that Hawk's fun factor. He maybe fun, but if he was useless as hell, I would still say to stay away from him. Not that I say to stay away from him now, he's good, is just an example. Don't take it too serious: This reminds me of pokémon and me saying Onix was terrible... " If that's so, then I shall say this: Death to the overgrown leprechaun! Ach, she's useless, a foot and a half tall, and I don't know two people who'd give up access to the black market in Byzel to keep her....(a full inventory of poto oils and claws and you've got a much prettier equivalent to the mega midget...) *grrr..* (sorry, I got carried away in a rant...all too commmon, me thinks...)" I'm with you. My team has fallen to Hawk, Duran, Kevin and obviously Riesz for those reasons. " Still, I have to congratulate you on making a complete faq about Rise, and updating it frequently. And though your grammar is bad, your spelling is very good." Thank you. I'm working on it: this is my way to practice my english. " Anyhow, just thought I'd let you know how I felt... Happy Cabbit Konai" This was an interesting oppinion. If you want to argue: follow this format. I will be glad to discuss any matters and maybe put your letter here. ************************************************************************* 15.- Mythologic Relations. A couple of things before we continue: One of the points I that I enjoyed the most about Riesz is the fact that many of her items are based on several Mythologies (As for now, I've found two different roots, Norse and Babilonian), which, to many people, including myself, is a very interesting subject, as many cultures are very rich and even fun to study. Many games base their histories or/and names off books, stories, legends... which is one of the most valid asset for us, diehard gamers, to make sure everyone know that playing, we learn. Really. My mother, who's a literature teacher, has had incredible chats with me regarding these points. I will note the relations I've found, however, I don't speak german or any other scandinavian language (let alone read), there are several items that could be related and I've overlooked. If you see any, please email me about it. Also about my mistakes ^_^, there would be several. NOTE REGARDING NORSE MYTHOLGY: many of these will sound somewhat weird, keep in mind that the norse people (The vikings, if you didn't knew it), were a group with a very warlike mentality. Their goal was to kill all their lives in glorious battle and to die a bloody dead sorrounded by the dead bodies of their enemies, to go to "heaven" and continue killing. (Well, not exactly. But almost like that) This is reflected on their tales. Many of these meanings are coming from my (probably Very wrong) understanding of the norse epic poem "The Song of the Nibelung" (I'm not quite sure of the name in english. In german is "Nibelunglied") which was written somewhere near 1200 A.D, and it's probably the most well know teutonic lore. Also, I used Hexum's Norse Mytholgy Guide for Valkyrie Profile, found in gamefaqs.com as a reference for this. His faq is very good, you should read it you like this. I'm not trying to steal his work, as most of this research was made by myself, but I do have his work on my head. I don't want to break any copyright, especially when it's such a good work that I respect, so I give credit to him, as his faq states. TO CONFIRM: I'm suspecting these ones are important: *Wulfhezein (I'm guessing this one means "Wolf hide". Anybody cares to confirm?) *Mani Plate (In Earthbound - an SNES RPG - is present) *Polaris Armor *Mideel spear *Brunak (Your guess is as good as mine: The ones that sound weird or seem to be in german) OPEN MIND WHEN READING THIS! ________________ | | | NORSE MYTHOLGY | |________________| VALKYRIE: Related to the Valkyrie and Star Lancer Class. The Valkyries were an "army" of sorts which were under direct command of Odin, the main norse god, and were ordered to drive the souls of the brave warriors who died in battle, right to Asgard, which is the realm of the gods, and to place them in the Valhalla. There, these souls (The "Einherjer" or something like that ^_^) were in fact trained against each other by the gods, and they were going to participate in Ragnarok, the final battle between the Gods and the Giants.(The gods will lose, and the earth would be scorched by a fire giant. Many events happen during this war, but I will explain it during this section) The Valkyries were pictured ussually as beutiful women wearing blue armors and armed with spears or swords, but it seems they didn't fought any battles. The most famous of the Valkyries was Brynhild, the heroine of the Nibelung history. She disobeyed her master and married a human (Sigurd, the hero of the tale), thus renouncing to her inmortality. I'm quite sure the Star Lancer is somehow related to the Valkyries, since they were told to create effects in the sky with the stars, but since I can't prove it, I can't confirm it. RUNES: Related to the Rune Maiden Class and the Rune Earrings item. The runes were an important element of the norse culture. If you know something about japanese, the Runes were pretty much the scandinavian kanji. If you don't know about japanese, the Runes were like our alphabet, but unlike our alphabet, where we use letters, and each letter is unique, has it's own sound, and it's combined to form words, the Runes have each one it's own name and meaning. The Runes were not only used to "write", but were also used to telling fortunes. As far as I know, they were usually small stones with the graphics on them. These things can be bought from the kind of stores that sell crystal pyramids, tarot cards and those kinds of things, but I'm guessing they are not the same. (That is, if you have some urge to see them). (Fenris) FENRIR: Related to the Fenrir Knight class. Fenrir was an incredible big wolf which was the offspring of Loki, a half giant-half god who was very annoying, and has the ability to transform himself into anything, even changing sex, and the giantess (I'm guessing) Angrboda. It was born normal, being a nice puppy, but it continued to grow bigger and bigger. The Aesir, the "clan" of the main gods in Asgard, had a prophecy that Fenrir would spell doom over Asgard. They agreed that they had to do something about it.However, no one had the guts to face such a monstrous beast, which wasn't, also, stupid. Finally, they decided to trick him by saying he wouldn't be able to break several chains. He agreed, and he was able to break them all. At the end, they showed him a very thin chain. He accepted, thinking he would break that one quite easily. That chain was the Gleipnir. He couldn't break it, and after taking one hand from Tyr (Another god) as a souvenir, he was throw down one mile from the surface, chained with the Gleipnir to a rock, until Ragnarok, when he would break free because of an earthquake. In this battle, he would fight Odin until Surt decides to end it all burning the whole world. At this point, he would beat and eat Odin as dessert. However, Vadir, Odin's oldest son, will witness such a terrible scene, and will kill Fenrir, tearing apart its jaws. (Iormungand, Terrato, Midgard Serpent) JORMUNGAND: Related to the Dragon Master Class. Jormungand it's actually Fenrir's younger brother. However, this one is a giant serpent, called the Midgard Serpent, which was thrown by Odin at its birth at the sea. What he didn't know is that this little reptile would grow until it's bigger than earth itself. At Ragnarok, this thing will begin to cause violent waves and poisoning the seas, and will take down Thor, the Thunder God, and by the way the strongest being on earth after Fenrir, poisoned, but Thor would be able to kill it at last. (Brisiegamen, Necklace of the Brinsings) BRISINGAMEN: Related to the Vanadies. The Brisingamen was an extremely beutiful necklace which was worn by Freya. Freya was a very promiscuos goddess, she slept with whoever she found, gods, giants, humans, and whatever (this is funny when you think about it, since the norse mythologic beings were VERY weird, having a giant wolf, a god that changes his sex, and people with normal chests and rotten legs). This necklace was a gift from four dwarves, who were some of her ussual lovers. Odin was so annoyed by her attitude, that he ordered Loki to steal the Necklace, but failed, since Heimdall, the watcher of Asgard was looking, and frustrated his attempt. GLEIPNIR: Related to the Fenrir Knight. The Gleipnir was an invention of the dwarves, and was an incredible strong chain, yet it looked so weak since it was very thin. It was used to chain Fenrir to the rock which kept him trapped. (Gungir, Gugnir) GUNGNIR: Related to the Gungnir item. (I was about to forget this one) (And it's GUNGNIR, not Gungir or Gugnir) The Gungnir was Odin's personal weapon, which was made by the Dwarves, an indestructable and powerful spear. He impaled himself with his spear to the Yygdrassil, the giant tree which connects the nine norse worlds, to learn the secrets of the power of the Runes. It's said that if you kill someone with an spear you will please Odin (This doesn't means you can go out and kill someone, ok?). (Freyja, Freylla) FREYA: Related to the Vanadies. Freya is the goddes of fertility, love, flowers, and obviously war (everyone in norse mythology is the god of war) among many other things. She is a very beutiful blonde women with blue eyes, and was, as I told before, a very promiscuos person. She is the one to train half of the Einherjar in her own personal hall (hmmm... ^_^), and Hexum seems to try to make everyone understand that she was probably the first valkyrie, which makes clear that she was a human before. She has a brother (whom she's supposed to sleep with also) named Frey. VANIR: Related to the Vanir Helm item. The Vanir were a race of gods, which lived in Vanaheim, another realm of gods. They were more paceful than the Aesir (The race of Odin, Thor and Tyr), and lived in peace with the world. Freya and her brother were part of the Vanir. At some point (I don't know how or why), they waged a war against the Aesir and somehow won the battle (Don't ask me why). After this war, the "Vanir" name dissapeared, and every god, Vanir or Aesir, was regarged as Aesir. This makes me guess the fight was because the Aesir thought they were better than the Vanir. GIANT: Related to the Giant's ring item and the Giant's Spear. Well, many of us know what is a Giant: A big guy. However, in Norse mythology they are different (well, they ARE big). They are the enemies of the gods. They are pretty evil, but seemed to be somewhat dumb, as they are continually fooled by the gods, who seem to save their necks by tricking everyone. There are several kinds of giants, rock, fire, frost and who knows what else. The most well know is Surt, the leader of the fire gods, who has the credit of making BBQ out of the world in Ragnarok. DRAUPNIR: Related to the Draupnir Item. Draupnir was a ring that Odin wore that spawned 8 rings (I think it was 8) every 9 nine nights. This symbolized Odin's Vast wealth, and the fertility to come after winter. He cast it at Baldur's Grave after Balder was killed by Hodr. (Thanks to Meeplelard, once again) SHAPE-SHIFTER: Not related to Riesz directly, but quite an interesting thing. "Shape-Shifter" or "Shape-Changer" were Loki's nicknames. Loki was the god of Fire, Magic, and I think Destruction. He could change shape, sex or race, and he will finally turn against the gods in Ragnarok after being punished for tricking Hod (A blind god) into killing Baldur (Hod's brother). He was also called "Trickster", and basically any kind of names since everyone hated him despite his seldom heroic acts. SIEGMUND: Not related to Riesz, is actually one of Duran's weapons. Siegmund was the father of Sigurd, the hero of the Nibelung history. (Meeple's things) RAGNAROK: Again, one of Duran's swords. Ragnarok Is basically the norse apocalypse. Among the many events of this point, it will be preceded by many months of darkness, and chaos. When Ragnarok breaks loose, earthquakes will attack the earth, freeing Fenrir, who will chase Odin, and begin a battle which will last until everything's done. Jormmungand will arise from the water, and will poison it, and Thor will face it, killing it but dying from its poison. The Giants, led by Loki, freed from his prision, will use the waves created by Jormmungand wake to reach Asgard, and join Surt and his fire Giantas against the gods. Freyr (Freya's brother) will be the first god to die, followed by Tyr, who will die alongside Garm in Hel, while the dead will walk again, wrecking havoc in the world. Loki and Heimdall will battle, and both will perish. By this point, Fenrir will eat Odin, and Vidar, Odin's son, will killing tearing apart its jaw. Surt will scorch the earth without a second thought, and _almost_ everyone will die. After this mess, the world will be resurrected, and the survivors will create a brand new and pure world. (I guess this will be when the cycle happens again- just like we could interpret the christian Apocalypse) MJOLNIR: One of Carlie's weapons. Mjolnir is Thor's legendary Hammer, which has the power to resurrect and destroy. (And yet again, Meeplelard) ______________________ | | | BABYLONIAN MYTHOLOGY | |______________________| (Marduke) MARDUK: Relate to the Star Lancer. Thanks a lot to Juha Alm (juha.alm@pp.inet.fi) for the following. "Hi. In your Lise FAQ in GameFAQs, you have the part that explains the names. I happen to know who Marduk was, and that was the thing that's missing in your thingy. In the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish (kinda like their Bible) Marduk is the greatest hero in the beginning of the world. He kills the female chaos god Tiamat. After the kill Marduk creates the world from Tiamat's dead body, and creates the human race from Tiamat's offspring, mortal (not god like she was) monster Kingu's blood. That is why humans carry the seeds of destruction and evil within them. Hope that helped, good work with the FAQ." Actually, as it seems, Marduk WAS a god from the Babylonian Mythology. He was pictured as a Dragon, and it's reported that the main temple dedicated to him was totally converted with gold (!). So far, that's as much as I could find ^_^. Guess Juha knows more about it... Juha's over the boards by Veib. ************************************************************************* 16.- Other Literature about characters for SD3: There are currently four other character guides available at gamefaqs.com (Hope CjayC doesn't starts getting annoyed at this phenomenon and stops receiving more).Much of this has started because, surprisingly, the SD3 Board is one of the more populated around, and the small group which lurks it (about 30 persons, maybe more, but we are the ussual ones) has taken this game and squeezed it a LOT, which has opened incredible flame wars, which are very fun BTW ^_^, and a very deep strategy level. (this remembers me of the short "weapons guide rush" which was opened with DOOM somewhere in 1996-97, giving FAQs for every weapon, even the Fist. They weren't very complicated or elaborated, but, alas, they didn't needed to be) NOTE FROM VERSION 1.9: If you actually want to read EVERYTHING about this game, go and read Ryuseiryuu's guide. This guide has a lot of different opinions, and Ryu's own opinions are an important part of our wisdom in the boards. (I forgot him before. Sorry!) One is Twi Light's guide to Duran. It's the biggest one, and has all sorts of information about Duran, the mercenary from Forcena. He also has a good shield chart made by a... ahem... some Lord Zero around ^_^. Jokes asides, he gave me the final inspiration to write this guide. He also has the unique Single Character Challenge guide, which I'm currently facing (just started though. I chose Riesz as a Vanadies). (And showed me that the Lord doesn't sucks as much as I thought) The other one is Meeple Lard's guide to Hawk. This guy is everywhere on the boards, and he knows all sorts of weird info about the game, and his guide shows a lot of good tricks into using Hawk. He's a nice guy, and he has a very open mind, which is good since it helps me to stop flaming the Rogue and the Wanderer (His guide taught me a thing or two). NOTE FROM VERSION 2.3: He also released a Technical guide for the game. I doubt even Squaresoft now knows more about the game than we do ^_^. a GREAT read. Go and read it, kids. Anooother guide is Thundasnake's Guide to Angela. Now, I don't exactly love Angela, and I doubt his FAQ will make me change my mind, but his guide has a lot of info. I Think his FAQ still needs a bit of work, but it's looking great, and, well, he's into the madness. Besides, he just started it. NOTE FROM VERSION 1.8: He's working on it. It's getting biiiiiigggg... Veib Released his (HIS.) guide to Kevin. Good one also. He helped me a bit here on my own guide- though I'm not that good to contribute to other FAQs, so I doubt I could do the same for him. Anemo released another guide, to Carlie. Quite another good one. I really can't complain. I'm damn sure he's Thundasnake, but no one has said anything so I better shut the hell up ^_^. Koren also released another guide to Duran. It's great to have another point of view, I haven't read it throughly, though. There is another guide under construction, Buskaboo's Guide to Carlie. Now, Buskaboo is quite a legend, so his faq should rock all around the place, but we've taken this to the final point: A FAQ about Charlotte. I guess there's more to talk there than about Angela (J/K ^_^)(Well, Angela has the Rune Master Class to discuss for years to come). We all lurk in the gamefaqs.com SD3 board, if you want to ask something, that's the place. Posting anything about Riesz will earn you my pressence on it :p ************************************************************************* 17.- Credits: - First, I would like to give credit to Twi Light (Tw1l1ght@hotmail.com) for giving me the inspiration to write this faq, with his great words "Write that Lise guide!". If you didn't knew, he has a very cool Duran guide available in gamefaqs.com. - Also, I want to give credit to Hexum (Nixhexus@yahoo.com) for his guide, which educated me with more norse knowledge. His Norse Mytholgy guide is very good to compare the game Valkyrie Profile to what's supposed to be true. - Veib for finding about Marduke. Thanks! - Everyone on the SD3 message board for their... hmmm... oppinions, especially RyuSeiryuu and MeepleLard- Both have written Faqs, the first one has what I think and hope will be the BEST SD3 faq ever, and Meeple Lard wrote a Hawk guide Meeple Lard also insulted me about Max defense so I fixed the thing with the armors. Finally, he sent in some good help about Norse Mythology, (It isn't lame! Norse Mythology is cool!) and I found some info about the enemy equivalent in the boards from him, I guess he deserves the credit. - Paul Wolfstien for letting me use his opinions. He even copyrigths them, so don't steal 'em, Ok? DM ROCKS!! - MeepleLard, Veib and FIzban123 again for their opinions for classes. - RPGclassics.com. The best place to find info when you need it. Go and see it, lots of info about games we all have come to love, Final Fantasy, SD2 and 3, Eartbound, Tales of Phantasia, Ilussion of gaia... - Ramms+ein. Mutter... Mutter! Mutter? MUTTER!!! - To Squaresoft for this great game. - To CjayC for running gamefaqs.com. I like this guy. - To you, the reader, for reading this guide! ************************************************************************* 18.-Legal Stuff. This file is owned by Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com) You MAY distribute, print, read, show to your friends or enemies this guide freely, AS LONG as you credit Lord Zero as the author, keep the copyright on it, and is used for non-profit purposes. You MAY NOT change ANYTHING on this guide, adding or taking anything out of it, including banners, links, or anything else. You MAY NOT distribute this guide on any non-electronic media. All I ask from you if you wish to publish this guide on your site, is to keep it updated, and to notificate me of your URL. All Rights Reserved. Anything not mentioned on this text can be discussed via email to the address below. Copyright 2001-2002 By Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com). The last version can always be found in gamefaqs.com. __ / \ \||/ ______ ______ |||| <_____ \ <_____ \ |||| ____ __________________________\ \______\ \__||||______ / \ \ / Lord Zero (dskzero@yahoo.com) / |||| / / /| \ /\ < --------------------------------< ||||/ / / | < @ \__________________________ ______ \_||||_/_/__| / \/ _____/ / _____/ / |||| \_/__/ <______/ <______/ |||| |||| /||\ \__/