BREATH OF FIRE V: DRAGON QUARTER
Strategy Guide & Walkthrough
Version 1.0 by DavidK519
E-mail- DKK5@aol.com
Updated July 20, 2003


Table of Contents:
     1- Introduction and Character Bios
     2- Game Systems
          A- The Main Menu
          B- Equipment and Skill Threading
          C- The Positive Encounter and Tactics System
          D- The Battle System
          E- The Scenario Overlay System
          F- The Dragon System
     3- The Walkthrough
          I- Lift to Bio Corp
         II- Old Waste Shaft
        III- Lift: Low Sector
         IV- Corp Lab
          V- Frozen Road
         VI- Storage
        VII- Industrial Area
       VIII- Old Trade Sector
         IX- Trinity Pit
          X- Lifeline
         XI- Power One
        XII- The Final Mission
     4- Skills
          A- Ryu
          B- Bosch
          C- Nina
          D- Lin
          E- Shield Skills
     5- Side Quests
          A- Fairy Colony
          B- Kokon Horay
          C- Party XP and Zenny Loops
          D- D-Ratio
          E- Secret Weapons
     6- Acknowledgments and Closing

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1. Introduction and Character Bios

Ages ago, a terrible disaster destroyed the surface of the planet,
forcing all life to retreat underground. Humanity has been hidden below
the surface for so long that the sky has become a legendary myth. Ryu, a
low class member of the government force known as the Rangers, begins
his journey with a seemingly ordinary assignment under the wing of an
aspiring high ranking ranger named Bosch. During the assignment, Ryu
inherits the powers of an ancient dragon who reveals Ryu's destiny: to
reach the sky. Later, Ryu meets a girl whose life is jeopardized by the
poor atmospheric conditions of their dying world and vows to save her,
even if it means committing anarchy. As Ryu and his companions climb
closer and closer to the surface, they face opposition spawned from
fear, doubt, and rivalry, and he will only be able to achieve his
destiny through the destructive powers granted to him and his own
determination.


Characters:

Ryu-
Ryu is a ranger grunt with a D-Ratio of 1/8192 and the hero of the
story. Despite his low rank, Ryu is driven by determination and has just
the right attitude to back it. Early on, he receives the powers of the
dragon Odjn. His out of battle action is the D-Dash, which allows him to
drive through enemies without initiating a battle. In battle, he wields
a nice arsenal of close-range sword skills. Putting that together with
his practically invincible dragon powers makes Ryu your most valuable
party member.

Bosch-
With his 1/64 D-Ratio, Bosch is a high class ranger with the dream of
one day becoming a regent. However, his blind arrogance may cost him
dearly in the future. His field action is a simple kick which he can use
to initiate battles. With his initially high stats and Beast Blade
fencer, Bosch is your most valuable attacker at the beginning of the
game.

Nina-
Nina is a young girl who grows extremely fond of Ryu after he rescues
her early in the game. Although she cannot speak, her emotions and
actions convey her desire to stay under Ryu's protection. For some
unclear reason, the rebel organization known as Trinity wishes to
capture her. Nina's field action is the item vacuum, which allows her to
suck up loose items in an area. In battle, Nina attacks from a long
range with magic spells, making her incredibly useful at exploiting
elemental weaknesses. She can also set magical traps during battle which
can block enemies from attacking you.

Lin-
Lin is a member of the rebel organization called Trinity and joins your
party when Nina refuses to leave Ryu's side. Since she's part of a group
committed to anarchy, her government ranking is withheld. Lin's out of
battle action her gun blast, which can be used to start a battle from a
distance or blow enemies away. You can lock onto enemies by holding down
R2. While fighting, Lin can attack from a distance using various shot
skills, therefore, making her very useful against enemies that can only
attack at a close range. Lin has a vast arsenal of special attacks which
can be used through combos.

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2. Game Systems

A. The Main Menu

If you press Start anytime outside of a battle or a cut scene you can
access the main menu. In the upper right hand corner is the D-Counter
(if it has been activated yet) and below that is a small box with your
D-Ratio. Underneath your D-Ratio there is a box labeled Data that
displays your zenny (money), party XP, your number of retries, and your
total game time. In the upper left corner, you'll find a brief status
screen for all of your party members, and underneath that is the list of
main menu commands:

Item- Selecting this allows you to view, use, sort, and drop the items
in your inventory. You can also view vital items here.

Trap- Here you can view and select various traps to use outside of
battle. The number to the right of each trap is the number of traps you
have in your inventory.

Equip- This lets you view the equipment for each of your characters.
Here you can change equipment, look at equipment stats, and look at the
skills you have threaded into your equipment.

Skill- Selecting this lets you change the skills you have threaded to
your equipment. There will be more about this in the Equipment and Skill
Threading section.

Party- This allows you to view your party's full stats including HP, AP,
core stats, equipment, skills, and experience. By using the Add XP
option, you can distribute party XP to your characters here.

Options- This command lets you adjust your game settings such as button
configuration and sound.

Quit- Selecting this allows you to make a temporary save if you suddenly
need to stop playing. There are two types of saves in this game, and
this is one of them. First off, a save you make at a Telecorder using a
Save Token (a "hard" save) is just like a normal save you would make in
other RPG's. A temporary (or "soft") save can be made just about anytime
and is separate from your hard save file. However, when you load a soft
save, it will be erased.

Under the command box you'll notice an L2 option labeled emergency Give
Up. If you get into a bad situation an need to make an SOL Restore or
SOL Restart, you should use this option to do so. By using this option
as opposed to getting killed, you will retain ALL of your party XP and
zenny.
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B. Equipment and Skill Threading

In this game, each member of your party has three main pieces of
equipment: a weapon, a piece of armor, and a shield. You can look at and
change your equipment by selecting Equip on the main menu. You'll notice
that for each type of equipment there are three slots for each
character. This is because each person can carry up to three pieces of
each type of equipment. This is so that you can change equipment during
battle. However, only one piece of each type of equipment can be
equipped at once.

Although you can buy equipment, it isn't a wise thing to do in the early
stages of the game when zenny is scarce. However, this is hardly a
problem as the enemies you fight in normal battles frequently drop
equipment. Once you find some equipment out in the field, it will be
labeled with question marks, and you must carry it in your item
inventory until you get it appraised. You can do appraisals with the
Item Storage girl found near most shops and save points. The cost to
appraise any piece of equipment is 100z. Once it is identified, it gets
placed in your Weapon Locker. Now, you can either keep it in your
locker, sell it, or take it out of the locker to carry with you.

Weapons and shields can have skills equipped or "threaded" into them.
You can do this using the Skill option on he main menu. First, select
the weapon or shield you want to thread skills onto. Although a shield
can only have one skill threaded onto it, each weapon can have up to
nine skills. For weapons, there are three levels of skills, and you can
thread up to three skills for each level depending on the weapon. You'll
notice that each skill slot can have one of three kinds of conditions:

No lock over the button- This means you are free to thread any skill
from your skill list you want to this slot.

Locked button with a pre-threaded skill- This means that this slot
already has a skill threaded to it. You cannot unequip these pre-
threaded skills

Locked button with UNAVAILABLE in the skill slot- This indicates that
the slot cannot have any skills threaded into it.

Each weapon has it's own unique configuration of available, pre-
threaded, or unavailable skill slots. In most cases, better weapons have
more available slots. And a weapon's slot configuration does not change
with its level. For example, a normal Dragon Blade will have the same
configuration as a Dragon Blade+9. Note that you cannot thread skills to
levels other than their own. For example, you can't equip a level 1
skill to a level 2 slot. Likewise, you can't thread weapon skills to
shields and vise versa.

So, how do you get skills? You can either find skills in treasure
chests, steal them from enemies, or get them pre-threaded with a weapon.
When you find a skill, it will be in the form of an item. To learn the
skill, simply use the item. Take note that when you use a shield skill
item, all of your characters learn it. Also keep in mind that some
skills (for example Violet Death and Grand Smash) that are pre-threaded
into weapons cannot be learned. Therefore, the only way to use these
skills it to have that weapon equipped.
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C. The Positive Encounter and Tactics System

Dragon Quarter has a unique enemy encounter system called the Positive
Encounter and Tactics System or PETS. In this system you can interact
with enemies on the field to gain the advantage before the battle even
begins. This is done through the employment of various traps that can be
found or purchased throughout the game and the use of your characters'
special field actions.

Traps can be used to do various things such as attract or repel enemies,
damage enemies both in and out of battle, and induce status changes to
enemies. You can scroll through your trap list on the field by using L1
or L2 or you can select your trap using the Trap command on the main
menu. To set your trap, simply hit the Square button. If you want to
throw your trap, hit the Square button and tap the analog stick in the
direction you want to throw it in. Keep in mind that you can only have
three traps on the field at once. You can recover your traps simply by
picking them up like a normal item. If you start the battle with a trap
on the field, you can use that trap during the battle by walking up to
it and selecting Use from your L2 battle options. If you use a damaging
trap during battle, every enemy within the trap's damage radius
(indicated by the red circle) will take damage.

The simplest way to gain a huge advantage in every normal fight is to
initiate the fight. To do this, all you have to do is hit the enemy with
your weapon using the X button. The character who starts the battle will
get an extra turn to attack before turn 1 even begins. You should try to
spend all of your AP during your extra turn as AP left over from extra
turns does not carry over to the next turn. Be cautious, however,
because if the enemy attacks you on the field first, then it will get an
extra turn. In some special cases, you might not even have to initiate a
battle to defeat your enemy. Some extraordinarily weak enemies (an
example would be Hychees) can be defeated just by hitting them with your
weapon on the field. Other foes can be manipulated into situations where
they can be killed outside of battle as well.

Besides making battles easier, employing good strategy using PETS also
has another reward. As you might know, you can gain party XP after every
battle and find party XP on the field. Party XP accumulates just like
money and can be distributed to your characters outside of battle to
level them up. The amount of party XP you receive from a fight is
determined by how well you conduct yourself both in and out of battle.
It is based on many factors including how many enemies you defeated, how
quickly you defeated them, how much damage you took, and how well you
utilized PETS.
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D. The Battle System

The battle system in this game incorporates some elements of real time
fighting into a turn based system. When a battle is initiated, you will
be fighting in the same exact environment that you were in on the field.
This allows the environment to play a role in battle, unlike in most
turn based RPG's. Before starting what could be a tough battle, think
about how your surroundings could give you an advantage.

Just about everything you do in battle, from attacking to simply moving,
revolves around your AP. You start each battle with a full AP gauge, and
one AP gauge is restored after every turn. If your AP reaches zero after
an attack your turn will automatically end. However, any AP that you
don't use during a turn will be carried over to the next turn. For
example, if your total AP is 60, and you have 10 AP left after ending
your turn, you will start the next turn with 70 AP (Note- AP from extra
turns does not carry over). You can have a maximum of two full AP
gauges, so if your AP is 60, the maximum amount of AP you can have at
any time during battle is 120.

Your freedom to move about the battlefield is controlled by your
Movement rating and your AP. You consume a good amount of AP by walking
on the battlefield, so in many cases, it's best to let the enemy come to
you. Just how much AP you use up through walking is determined by your
Movement stat. The greater your Movement rating, the less AP you'll use.
Your Movement also determines your Movement Radius, which is the big
green circle that limits how far you can walk from your location at the
beginning of the turn. The greater your Movement rating is, the bigger
that circle will be.

Like moving, attacking also costs AP. As you probably already know, your
attacks are divided into three levels. Level 1 attacks cost 10 AP each,
level 2 attacks cost 20 AP, and level three attacks cost 30 AP.
Obviously, you can only use a skill if you have enough AP. The most
effective way to attack is to attack in combos. To do this, hold R2 when
you want to add a new skill to your combo. Consider this skill
arrangement for Ryu for the next few examples:

Level 1 Skills:
O- Side Slash
X- Slice
[]- Rust Armor

Level 2 Skills:
O- Vert Slash
X- Crimson Raid
[]- Discharge

Level 3 Skills:
O- Deathcleaver
X- Roundsaber
[]- Deathbringer

While attacking in a combo, you can only combo into skills with the same
level or button assignment on the next level. So, if you were to use
Slice you could combo into either Side Slash, Rust Armor, or Crimson
Raid. However, if you have already used multiple skills on the same
level, you can combo into any skill in the next level as long as it has
the same button assignment as a skill you've used on the lower level.
For example, if you use Side Slash then Slice, you could combo into
either Rust Armor, Crimson Raid, or Vert Slash. Also, you can never
combo backwards. So you can't use Slice then Side Slash then go back to
Slice again. Likewise, you can never combo to a lower level skill from a
higher level one. For instance, you can't use Vert Slash and then go
down to Side Slash or any of the other level 1 skills. Also, whenever
you add a new attack to a combo, you get a 10% damage increase bonus.
Let's say you started your combo with Discharge and then used
Deathbringer. If Deathbringer normally did 100 damage, that 10% bonus
would cause Deathbringer to do 110 damage. The more different skills you
use in a combo, the higher your bonus damage percentage will get.

The only thing that doesn't cost AP in battle is the use of items. To
use items, hold down R2 and hit the desired button (Note- You can also
use this function to change your equipment and access the special battle
abilities of that character). As long as your AP is above zero, you can
use an unlimited amount of items in a single turn, given you have an
unlimited amount of items in your inventory. You should take advantage
of this luxury as items are the only way to heal your characters.

Like in most RPG's, you can also run away from battle. There are three
ways to do this. One way you can flee from battle is to get near a door
which you have opened on the field. You can then use the Retreat option
on the L2 battle menu. You can also run away by using an item called the
Escape. The last way to run form battle is to use the Penalty Retreat,
which can be accessed by pressing Start. However, doing a Penalty
Retreat will cause you to lose 10% of your zenny.
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E. The Scenario Overlay System

Scenario Overlay, or SOL, is a unique system within Dragon Quarter that
lets you start over either from the very beginning of the game or from
your last save point while retaining some of the thing's you've worked
so hard for. These are the things you keep and don't keep in any SOL
situation:

Things you keep:
- Everything you have stored in the item and weapon lockers
- All equipped and carried equipment
- All the skills that you have learned
- All of your zenny and party XP *if you use the Give Up option*
- Half of your zenny and party XP *if you die*
- Five Heal Kits, one Tonic, and one Save Token

Things you don't keep:
- All the items in your inventory
- Your Backpack pages except for the initial two you start with
- Your levels
- Your D-Counter

Whenever you die (whether your D-Counter reaches 100% or your party is
defeated) or select the Give Up option from the main menu, you'll have
two SOL options to choose from (Note- When you die, you'll also get a
Game Over option):

SOL Restart- This option lets you restart the game from the very
beginning. By doing this, your D-Counter is completely erased and you
return to your initial levels.

SOL Restore- This option allows you to return to the last Save Token or
"hard" save. Your D-Counter will return to what it was when you made
that save. Your characters' levels will also return to what they were at
that save

The SOL System serves many different purposes. First of all, by using
SOL, you can unlock cut scenes that you wouldn't normally be able to
see. Since SOL also applies to starting over after completing the game,
some scenes can only be unlocked until you have beaten the game at least
once. Also, this system can be used to help you get out of emergency
situations such as major problems with the D-Counter. However, its most
useful purpose is gaining party XP, which is done in a cycle called a
loop. To do this simply save using a Save Token and store anything in
your inventory that you don't want to lose in the item locker. Then, go
out and gain as much party XP as you can using your dragon powers. Then
use the Give Up option to SOL Restore. And remember to ALWAYS USE THE
GIVE UP OPTION FROM THE MAIN MENU WHEN DOING ANY KIND OF SOL FUNCTION!
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

F. The Dragon System

First of all, if this section seems familiar it's because I borrowed it
from my own D-Counter Guide. Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter, like all
the Breath of Fire games before it, features its own unique dragon
system. After a certain event early in the game, Ryu hosts the powers of
a dragon named Odjn. From that point on, Ryu can transform into a dragon
during battle. In dragon form, you wield incredible powers and are able
to defeat just about any foe in the game with great ease. However, this
power comes at a price. As you progress through the game and employ your
dragon powers, your D-Counter will increase. What's the D-Counter? It's
the icon with the little cube inside that ominously hangs in the upper
right corner of your screen. After receiving your dragon powers, a
counter appears under the cube. The counter starts at 0.00% and
gradually goes up as you move through the game. It goes up rapidly
whenever you use your dragon powers. When the counter reaches 100%, your
entire party is automatically wiped out, and you can continue your game
with the same Scenario Overlay options you get when your party is
defeated normally. THERE IS NO WAY TO DECREASE THE D-COUNTER. Learning
to use your dragon powers sparingly and otherwise utilizing methods to
keep the D-Counter from rising too quickly is vital in order to finish
the game. Here is a list of Ryu's dragon abilities and things that
otherwise increase the D-counter:

D-Dive:
Description- Dragonized Form. Draws out the power of the Wyrm
D-Counter cost- 1.00%
Notes- Provides a great increase in stats and grants you immunity to all
negative status effects and stat lowering spells. It costs no AP to move
and your movement radius is infinite in dragon form. Weapon range is
carried over into dragon form. It costs 2.00% on the D-Counter per turn
to stay in dragon form.

Vortex:
Description- Target: Unit, Universal Damage, Base: Attack Power x2
D-Counter cost- 1.00%
Notes- A Level 1 attack that can only be used in dragon form

Hurricane:
Description- Target: Spread, Universal Damage, Base: Attack Power x2
D-Counter cost- 1.25% per target
Notes- A Level 2 attack that can only be used in dragon form

Twister:
Description- Target: Unit, Universal Damage, Base: Attack Power x3
D-Counter cost- 1.50%
Notes- A Level 3 attack that can only be used in dragon form. It hits
the enemy twice and has a hit-back effect.

D-Charge:
Description- Increase Attack Power for 1 turn
D-Counter cost- 2.00%
Notes- It can be used several times in one turn to increase your attack
power tremendously. Three D-Charges will give you enough power to defeat
nearly any enemy in the game with one Twister.

D-Breath:
Description- Target: Line, Universal Breath Attack
D-Counter cost- Dependant on how long the breath is emitted
Notes- The range of this attack is unlimited. The longer the O Button is
held, the more damage the attack will do and the more it will count
towards your D-Counter. This attack makes the D-Counter go up very
rapidly.

D-Dash:
Description- Grants great speed and invincibility on the field
D-Counter cost- Dependant on how long it is used
Notes- This is Ryu's special field skill and can be used by holding down
the R2 Button. It is useful for getting past enemies when you do not
want to fight. The most effective way to use it is to approach the enemy
normally and then quickly tap the R2 Button to drive through the enemy.
Doing this only adds hundredths of a percent to your D-Counter, whereas
holding down R2 for several seconds increases the D-Counter very
quickly.

The D-Counter increases 0.01% every 9-20 steps outside of battle and
every turn in battle (not including extra turns).

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3. The Walkthrough

Here's the walkthrough that you can use if you ever get stuck somewhere
in the game. I've divided the missions up into chapters to make things
more convenient. Keep in mind that the set patterns of enemies and item
boxes that you face in each mission are chosen at random. Save for a few
situations in the beginning of the game, the enemy patterns stay
somewhat consistent with each other so there shouldn't be too much
difference in difficulty no matter what pattern you get. Also be aware
that when I am making a reference to a direction (e.g. north, west,
left, right) I am referring to that direction on your map in the lower
right corner of the screen, or the big map you can access by hitting the
O button on the field. I will also indicate when an SOL scene will
appear, but I will not go into any detail about it.

I. Lift to Bio Corp

After a brief SOL scene, the game's introduction begins amidst a scene
of the rangers Ryu and Bosch preparing for their day's assignment. Once
the scene is over and you gain control of Ryu, head out the door at the
top of the screen. Follow this hallway and go up the stairs at the end.
In this next room, head right and go through the door at the end of the
hall (Note- If you talk to the people in this area you may get some
helpful tips). Go talk to Bosch, who's waiting for you outside captain
Zeno's office. You'll then go inside and get a mission briefing from the
captain. Your mission is to protect a lift holding some important cargo
from the Bio Corp labs. Once your briefing is over, Bosch requests to
speak with the captain alone. After a brief SOL scene, Bosch emerges
from Zeno's office and tells you to meet him up at the Liftport. Now,
leave this room and head left. Go through the door ahead past the stairs
to the left and there will be an SOL scene. Afterwards, climb down the
stairs and head left. Go through the passageway on the left end of this
area to reach a small town area called the Low Sector Borough. Explore a
little bit and pay a visit to the item shop. You have 300z, so buy some
Heal Kits. Once you're done here, go back to the Low Sector Junction and
go through the passageway to the right to reach Liftport. Meet up with
Bosch, and you'll discover that the transport has broken down, and
you're going to have to walk all the way to the lift. Bosch then joins
your one man party. So now, climb down the small stair set and go
through the big passageway to reach the path to the lift.

Lift to Bio Corp 1 (-1000.0m)

First, go through this hall picking up any items in the white boxes
along the way and go through the door at the end. Head forward past the
opening to the south and you should encounter your first Duke monsters.
These guys aren't too tough. If you picked up some Fresh Meat from the
previous hall, use it to distract the Dukes while Bosch kicks them to
initiate the fight. With most of the enemies in this first mission,
you're going to want to divide up their groups and fight them one at a
time. In battle, have Bosch use Snakebite and then combo up into Lion
Smash to perform his powerful Twin Wake skill. Ryu should stick to using
Deathbringer for now. Once you've defeated all the enemies in your way,
continue up the path and go inside the small room to the north to find a
yellow box. Take the item inside of it and head back to the beginning of
this room. Go through the southern opening and you may encounter some
little creatures with big eyes called Nuggets. You shouldn't have any
trouble with Nuggets as they are considerably weak. Follow this path
going west and head through the door at the end.

Now, you'll find yourself on a catwalk with a small troop of Nuggets and
maybe a Duke roaming around in the middle of it. Try to use Fresh Meat
to draw them away for the group one at a time to make the fighting
easier. Again, Ryu should use Deathbringer and Bosch should attack with
his Twin Wake combo. If you're having trouble starting the battle with
Bosch's kick, switch over to Ryu and have him initiate the fights with
his sword. After killing all the genics on the catwalk, a key will
appear. Throughout the missions in this game, treasure keys will appear
after defeating certain enemies. You can use these keys to unlock big
blue chests which usually contain skills, equipment, or even Backpack
pages. So pick up the key and continue into the next room. Walk west,
defeating any genics that may be in your way, and open up the blue chest
at the end of the path to get Steal, a shield skill that lets you steal
items when enemies attack you. Thread it to your shields and go through
the opening just to the north to find a band of duke genics. Among them
is the Duke Leader, who is considerably formidable. If you can fight the
leader by himself, he's much easier to handle. Without any other
monsters around, the Duke Leader will attack you less often and try to
run away. So chip away at him while he's trying to flee. Once the
leader's dead, the remaining dukes should be divided and conquered
without much difficulty. Now, head east on the northern side of this
area and go through the doorway at the east end of the room. Take this
catwalk east into the next room and pick up the Save Token in the yellow
box there. Head back across the catwalk into the room you were in
before. Pick up any items in here and then continue through the door at
the northwest end of the room. In this small room you'll find an
elevator and a girl wielding a silly green puppet. Talk to her to get
some good advice and then ride the elevator down (Note- If this is your
first time playing the game, make sure you talk to that girl whenever
you see her for helpful advice).

Lift to Bio Corp 2 (-1020.0m)

After an SOL scene, leave the elevator room and pass through the short
hallway. In order to get the treasure key in this room, you'll either
have to fight a Deathcow or a Goo Element depending on the enemy pattern
you got. You could easily continue without fighting anything, but then
you would miss out on a really good skill for Ryu. If you see a really
big monster trying to charge you when you enter this area, it means you
have to fight a Deathcow. Check your inventory before starting a fight
with this guy, because he's extremely tough. If you don't have very many
Heal Kits, you may want to go back to town and buy some before taking on
the Deathcow. If you don't have any money to buy Heal Kits, continue on
with the mission until you find some. When fighting it, stick to your
most powerful combos like Twin Wake for Bosch and Deathbringer for Ryu.
Try building AP for a turn and then do hit and run attacks using the
platform you start on to keep yourself out of the Deathcow's reach while
you're building AP. Fighting the Goo Element is much easier, although
you'll have to look carefully in the area around the chest to find it.
Just keep Ryu and Bosch as far apart as possible to avoid mass
casualties from its Expand attack. Once you've defeated either the
Deathcow or the Goo Element, the treasure key will appear, allowing you
to get Ryu's Side Slash skill from the blue chest. Continue south
through the next door once you're done in there. Run south down this
catwalk and through the next door. Keep heading south and go through the
door at the end of the path. Pass through this small hallway and ride
the elevator in the small room to the north.

Lift to Bio Corp 3 (-1040.0m)

Exit the elevator shaft to find yourself in a room flooded with Lantern
and Lil Lantern Bats. The easiest way to fight these bats is to fight
them one at a time. However you can get great amounts of party XP by
fighting them in large groups. You can get several bats into a nice
tight group simply by tossing some meat into their midst. If you do
this, keep Ryu and Bosch a good distance apart from each other as their
Flare spell can hit both of your characters at once if they're close
together. Position Ryu so that he can hit as many bats as possible with
Side Slash. Combo up from Side Slash into Vert Slash and you can do
Ryu's special spread combo X Blade. Also, stick Bosch in a position
where he can nail multiple targets with his Fang attack. Once you've had
enough bat action, continue through the door to the south.

Pass through the next two small rooms and head south all the way to a
dead end and a yellow box. Pick up the item inside, go back, and head
over to the east side of this room. Make sure to use your camera angles
to check around the corners and on the ceiling around here, because
there are some dukes lurking around in the darkness as well as some
Hychees that drop from the ceiling. Hychees are little worms that look
like capsules. Not only can these weaklings be defeated on the field
with a single hit, but they always drop a Heal Kit after they die. So,
convert the Hychees into Heal Kits and deal with any duke genics that
get in your way around here. When you're ready to move on, exit this
room through the doorway to the south. You will emerge in a small
hallway inhabited by more duke genics with two automatic doors leading
to catwalks along the southern side. Once again, take care of any dukes
that get in your way and go through the automatic door at the far end of
the hall. Pick up the item in the yellow box there and head over to the
adjacent catwalk.

Go through the door at the end of the catwalk to emerge inside your
first danger room. Danger rooms, which you will find frequently
throughout the game, are rooms that get locked up once you enter them.
The only way to get out of a danger room is to defeat all the enemies
inside. If you venture into the darkness on the east side of the danger
room, you'll run into a fairly large pack of dukes with a Duke Leader
among them. Fight them the same way you've fought them before. Remember
that divide and conquer is always the key for easier fights, but you get
more party XP by taking on several monsters at once. After you kill all
the dukes in this hall, head over to the western side of the room. Here,
you'll either find more dukes, or you may run into a family of Nuggets
with a big Mama Nugget among them. Unlike the smaller Nuggets, the Mama
Nugget is a formidable foe. Just stay spread out as her Jolt spell can
hit both Ryu and Bosch at once if they're too close together. Once
again, your best bet attacks are Bosch's Twin Wake and Ryu's
Deathbringer. Once you've cleared the room of all it's enemies, the
treasure key will appear. Pick it up and get Ryu's Kick skill from the
chest. Continue through the next door. Pass through the next two rooms
and then head south down the hall with all the automatic doors. Take the
elevator at the end of the hall up.

Approach South (-1020.0m)

Head north up the next hall and open the next door. Ryu then has a
vision of an old dragon calling out to him, telling him to go to the
sky. After Ryu comes to his senses and you regain control, continue into
the next room and take the path up to discover the corpse of a huge
dragon. Once that's over, head left and go through the next door. Pass
through the next hallway and go up the elevator at the end.

Genic Accumulator (-1000.0m)

Use the Telecorder in this next hall if you need to and then continue
into the next room. Go through the door at the very end of this next
hall and pick up all the items in the side area there. Go back into the
previous hall on go through the automatic door just to the right. Pass
through this small room into a room full of caged up genics. There are
more Hychees in this area so hunt them down and reap their Heal Kits.
There's also an Odd Hychee in this room. Although this bigger version of
the Hychee cannot be defeated outside of battle, you should have no
problem killing it anyway. However, when you defeat these guys they will
drop a very useful Mega Aid Kit every time (Unless you use fire magic on
them, in which case they will drop an even better Trauma Kit). After
you're finished here, continue through the northern door.

Head through the automatic door in the northeast corner of this small
room to emerge in another room cluttered with genic cages. Some of the
Nuggets, including a Mama Nugget, may be running around loose in this
room. Fight them if you wish or just avoid them. Continue through the
door to the southeast and run down this hall. There's an Identification
girl hanging out at the end of the hall, so if there's any equipment in
your inventory that needs to be identified, do so now. Go through the
door at the end of the hall to arrive at the lift just in time for
departure. While you're taking it easy on the lift, Bosch tells Ryu
about his aspirations of becoming a regent, one of the top class supreme
rulers over society. But just as Bosch asks Ryu for his scores, a
Trinity soldier riding a war genic appears on the adjacent tracks and
begins attacking the lift. And just when you think they've given up, the
rebel fires at you with a big rocket launcher, shattering the lift to
pieces. This sends Ryu falling into the abyss below.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Old Waste Shaft

After his fall, Ryu has yet another vision of the ancient dragon.
Following a brief SOL scene, Ryu gets up amongst the rubble from the
destroyed lift. Once you regain control, head right to find a Telecorder
and an item shop girl. If you're somehow short on Heal Kits, make sure
that you buy some now. I'd also suggest using a Save Token to record
your game at the Telecorder. When you're ready to continue, go through
the door there.

Old Waste Shaft 2F (-1200.0m)

Head west through this first room and through the automatic door (Also
take note of the blue chest in here). Go through the next door to enter
a large area full of junk piles. Upon his arrival, Ryu sees the war
genic that the Trinity soldier was riding carrying a poor little girl.
Suddenly, something sparks within Ryu causing him attack the monster in
a quick, fiery rage. After Ryu recovers the girl, the enraged genic
comes up behind him and your first boss battle will begin.

Boss fight: Cyclops
HP: ~450
XP- 70
Items- N/A
Recommended level- 7
Notes- For your first actual boss, this guy really isn't that hard. The
Cyclops has a very poor Movement rating, and he uses Spiritcharge to
raise his attack power if he's not close enough to attack you. His
attacks can do a considerable amount of damage to you, but if you have a
good amount of Heal Kits with you, you should have nothing to worry
about. In fact, if you use this guy's poor movement to your advantage,
he might not even get a chance to touch you. During your first turn,
take a few steps back away from the Cyclops and then end your turn.
Watch the Cyclops's Movement radius during his turn to see just how far
he can walk. He'll make his way towards you but won't be able to get
into attacking range. On your next turn, hit him with a Deathbringer and
then run away far enough so that he won't be able to reach you during
his next turn. If you can keep up this hit and run tactic, you will beat
him slowly but surely, without taking any damage.

After the fight, the little girl wakes up, and Ryu assures her that
everything's alright. Then he asks her what her name is, and she can
barely even blurt out, "Nina". After a touching moment, Nina joints your
one man band. She starts at level 1, so it might be a good idea to use
some of your party XP on her to get her on par with Ryu. You'll regain
control after an SOL scene. Once you do, you'll be informed that you can
now use Ryu's D-Dash ability. For right now, you can use D-Dash as much
as you like with no penalty towards you. Take advantage of this luxury
now, as it won't be around for long.

Exit this room through the door in the northwest corner of the room. In
this hall, you may see some Worker Ants standing around a red box
containing a Save Token or some spider-like creatures roaming around.
You can beat the ants without much difficulty, but the Bind Spiders are
a little tougher (Note- Be aware that throughout this mission you will
find Bind Spiders on the ceiling, so be sure to look up before blindly
waltzing into a new area). You're going to want to utilize Nina's G-
Flare magic trap against these guys. A simple, but effective, way to do
this is to just set a G-Flare between the spider and your party and then
just let it walk right into it. If you try to duke it out at close range
with all the spiders you fight, you'll find yourself running out of Heal
Kits fast. So just let Nina's G-Flare do the work for you while Ryu does
hit and run attacks. After you defeat the Worker Ants, the treasure key
for the blue chest you saw back in the room before the Cyclops appears.
If you want to, hike back to the first room and pick up the unidentified
Solid Shell+1 from the chest. Return to the room where you got the key
and head west across the hall, looking out for those pesky Bind Spiders
on the ceiling (Note- You can use D-Dash to avoid being ambushed by
sneak attacking spiders).

Go inside the room at the west end of the hall and pick up all the items
from the white boxes inside. Return to the previous room and pass
through the automatic door to the south. Exit this room through the door
to the southwest to emerge in a long "L" shaped hallway. Round the bend
of the hall to find some more Bind Spiders hanging from the ceiling.
You'll now have an even greater advantage using G-Flare because this
hallway is so narrow. However, it is still a wise idea to fight them one
at a time. Once you're done with the spiders, go through the door at the
end of the hallway and climb up the ladder there.

Old Waste Shaft 3F (-1190.0m)

Leave this small room and pass through the "L" shaped hallway. Go
through the automatic door to the northeast and proceed through this
hall. Get any items in this small room and then return to the room with
the two automatic doors. Head through the door to the southeast and
you'll be ambushed by the Trinity soldier who attacked the lift. She
demands that you hand Nina over to her. But once she sees that Nina
refuses to leave Ryu, she proposes that you cooperate for now, and she
joins your party (adding a page to your item list, which should be quite
a relief). You'll then see a scene of Bosch reporting back to captain
Zeno back at the Ranger HQ. Bosch then gets strict orders to eliminate
the cargo you were guarding. After regaining control, continue through
the door to the east.

In this room, you'll find a Goo Element in the far corner maybe amongst
a few white boxes. Fight it if you wish, then continue through the
automatic door to the northeast. Pass through this short hallway to
emerge in a room containing two or three Hermit monsters. To initiate a
battle with them, walk close enough to them to get them to pop out of
their shell, then attack them. Since they can only be harmed by magic,
the best way to kill them is to have Nina set a G-Flare behind the
Hermit, and then have Lin use her Outta My Way skill to knock it into
the trap. If you're lucky, one of the Hermits will drop Nina's Jolt
spell. Once you're done fighting the Hermits, head through the next door
and climb up the ladder.

Old Waste Shaft 4F (-1180.0m)

Exit this small room and you'll immediately emerge inside a danger room
full of Bind Spiders. This room is divided into two parts by a wall with
a small doorway. Hold down R2 and use D-Dash to lure all the spiders
into one side of the wall. You can even use Fresh Meat to do this if you
need to. Now that all the spiders are on the other side of the room,
stand in the doorway and initiate a battle whenever one of them gets
close. This way, you can just stick G-Flares in the doorway and use
Lin's Outta My Way skill to keep the spiders out of your side of the
room. While Nina repeatedly sets up G-Flares to block and damage the
spiders, have Ryu build AP and do hit and run attacks every other turn.
Once you've cleared the danger room, there will be an SOL scene. After
it's over, continue through the door to the northeast and pass through
the next hall. In here you'll find little bug-like creatures called Baby
Rustphages. Beat them during your extra turn, because they're quick and
like to do hit and run attacks. On your map you'll notice a door with a
lock on it in the middle of this room. This happens to be your first D-
Ratio door, so ignore it if this is your first time through the game,
and check it out if you've already beaten the game once before.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
D-Ratio Area

When you enter this room, you'll probably get charged by Skull Diggers,
who are incredibly similar to the Skeletons you fought in Power One.
However, you only have to defeat a Lesser Karon to get rid of all these
guys. You'll find the Lesser Karon lurking around on the west side of
the room. Use D-Dash to ward off any Skull Diggers as you make your way
over there. Although it's just a Lesser Karon, still finish it quickly
before it gets a chance to nail you with Pre-Primus. Once you kill it,
all the Skull Diggers will vanish, and the treasure will materialize,
allowing you to pick up Weaken from the chest.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Exit this room through the door to the west and walk through this hall,
fighting any enemies that may be hanging round. When you reach the
southwest area you'll encounter more Bind Spiders. Once again, kill them
off using G-Flare tactics. Head west in this area and then proceed
through the door to the north. Pass through the junk filled room and
you'll find some ants guarding a red box. Kill them off and take the
item from the red box. Continue east down the hall. Go through the door
at the end of the hall to emerge in a large room. Exit through the
eastern door and ascend the ladder there.

Old Waste Shaft 5F (-1170.0m)

Head east out into the bigger hall and then walk north. Watch the
ceiling in this area, not for Bind Spiders, but for some helpful
Hychees. At the very north end of the room there is another D-Ratio door
as well as a couple dead end halls yielding an item box or two. However,
there's also a powerful DeVolve genic hanging around there as well. The
DeVolve will charge at you very quickly if you get too close, so be
prepared. The best way to fight it is to use Lin's Outta My Way skill to
keep the DeVolve at bay while Nina sets G-Flares in its path and Ryu
carries out hit and run attacks. Again, if this is your first time
through the game, just ignore the D-Ratio door.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
D-Ratio Area

Amidst the junk piles to the north, you'll find a large group of Soldier
Ants. Among them is a much bigger Boss Ant. You can either try to divide
up the group to make the fighting easier, or go for big party XP by
bunching them up into a tight group using Fresh Meat and killing them as
quickly as you can with spread attacks. Once you've taken down the Boss
Ant, the treasure key will appear. Get G-Iceblast from the chest at the
south end of the room and then go through the door to the northeast.
Pass through the short hall and then go through the door to the south.
You'll find a mixed group of Soldier and Worker Ants standing around in
this area. Fight them as you will, you should know how to deal with
them. Go through the door at the west end of this area and get the item
in the red box there. Go back and exit this area through the D-Ratio
door to the south.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Continue by taking the southernmost hall on the east side of the room.
Go through the door there and you'll find an Odd Hychee hanging from the
ceiling. Kill it and reap its Mega Aid Kit. Continue across the hall and
go through the door at the end of the hall. Pass through this big room
and climb up the ladder inside the small room to the north.

Old Waste Shaft 6F (-1160.0m)

Run through the junk filled room ahead and then go through the door to
the left once you emerge in the bigger hall (Note- You may find another
Hermit in the junk filled hall. If you missed out on getting Jolt from
the previous Hermits, you may want to consider fighting this one). Look
around this room for a dead DeVolve body. Inspect it and a bunch of Baby
Rustphages will scatter out of the body, creating a danger room.
Luckily, these guys aren't very tough. Fight them the same way you have
fought them before. After you beat the danger room, pick up the treasure
key that appears and go through the door to the north. Run through this
small hallway and pick up Lin's There! skill from the chest. Now, head
back to the big hall before the danger room. Walk east and you may
encounter some more Hermits. Again, if you haven't gotten Jolt yet, I
highly suggest you fight them. You may also find another DeVolve at the
east end of the room. Use the same G-Flare tactics on it that you used
on previous DeVolves. If there wasn't one there, go through the door at
the east end of the room to find one standing inside a junk filled room.
To beat this DeVolve easily, have Lin initiate the battle from far away
and, once again, use her hit-back skill to keep it at a safe distance
while Nina sets up G-Flares in front of it. Pick up any items there are
in here and return to the previous room.

Head through the remaining door on the west side of the room to emerge
in a large area. Grab any items scattered about in here. Now, you can
either continue through the door at the north end of the room, or you
can fight all the Worker Ants in the northern area. If you defeat all
the Worker Ants, another danger room will initiate. This time you have
to do battle with a Boss Ant, who is quite a tough foe. If you have any
damaging traps, such as Dynamite or Bombs, use them to damage the Boss
Ant as much as you can before you initiate the battle. As you'll soon
find out, the Boss Ant prefers to pound you with powerful long range
attacks rather than fight in close. So, have Ryu stay close to the Boss
Ant and pester it with his sword attacks. Lin and Nina should strike
from afar, standing on opposite sides of the Boss Ant at all times to
avoid mass casualties from its spread attacks. Be aware that it can also
cast Sleep, which is another reason you should keep your party as spread
out as possible. When the Boss has gone to ant heaven, go through the
door at the north end of the room. Pick up the Save Token from the box
in this room and proceed through the next door. After an SOL scene, you
will arrive in the End Sector Borough.

End Sector Borough (-1160.0m)

You'll find everything you need to prepare yourself for the next mission
in this lonely town. Have all of the equipment you found in the Old
Waste Shaft identified and be sure to sell the equipment you don't want.
If you have a good amount of zenny in your pocket, you may want to
consider buying some better equipment from the local weapon shop, but
still make getting all the healing items you need your first priority.
Also be sure to make a save at the Telecorder in the lower section of
town. Once you're fully prepared to go, head through the big entranceway
near the Identification girl.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Lift: Low Sector

As your group is walking through the End Sector lift port, Bosch shows
up, much to your surprise. It turns out that he has come to take care of
the cargo you were guarding. Unfortunately, that cargo is Nina! Instead
of answering Ryu's inquiries as to what's going on, Bosch loses his
patience and impales Ryu right through the knee with his Beast Blade.
Just as Bosch is about to go after Nina, Ryu struggles against him once
again, only to be stabbed right through the neck this time. This is the
straw that breaks the camel's back. Ryu suddenly has another fiery
awakening which unleashes the power of the Wyrm!

Boss fight: Bosch and the Rangers
HP: Bosch- 360, Battler and Gunner Grunt- 160 each
XP- 600
Items- Fang, 6000z, 300z, Ranger Shell+1, 300z, N/A
Recommended level- 9
Notes- After a cool transformation sequence, Bosch and his two lackeys
attempt to attack Ryu in his new form, but they fail miserably. With Ryu
in his dragon state you can crush Bosch like an empty beer can. Although
you may be tempted to drag out the fight so that you can steal some of
those items, keep in mind that YOUR D-COUNTER HAS BEGUN TICKING. The
longer you wait to end this fight, the more you'll pay via your D-
Counter. If you really want some of that stuff (especially the 6000z),
you can make a hard save back at the Telecorder in the End Sector
Borough and turn this fight into a money loop. Otherwise, you'll want to
end this fight in one turn. First have Nina and Lin inflict as much
damage as they can to the two ranger grunts. Then when Ryu gets his
turn, have him smack Bosch with a Twister, which should be enough to
take him down, and then have him use Vortex on each of the grunts.

After the battle, Ryu passes out and later awakens with Nina hovering
over him with concern. He then asks Lin why Trinity wants Nina so badly.
She, however is more curious about that power he just awakened. That
aside, Lin says that you can probably find out more about Nina by going
to the Bio Corp laboratory. To get there you have to get back to Low
Sector.

Lift: Low Sector 1 (-1140.0m)

This is a fairly small area so take some time to get acquainted with it.
Pick up any items that may be lying around and head down to the area to
the southwest. There you'll find a Telecorder, and to the west of the
Telecorder you'll find an item shop and a yellow box containing a Save
Token. Pick it up and buy some more healing items if you happen to be
low on them. When you're ready to go, walk back north and go down the
stairs in the northeast corner of this room.

Lift: End Sector 1 (-1150.0m)

Go through the door ahead of you and take this path south to another
door. Go through it and pick up the item in the yellow box in this small
area. Now, return to Lift: Low Sector 1 and this time go down the stairs
in the northwest corner of the room. Head through the first door and
through this short hall to emerge in a room crawling with Rustphages.
These guys are just like the baby ones that you fought in the Old Waste
Shaft except they're quite a bit tougher. However, similar tactics work
well here. If you have Lin initiate the battle from a distance while
standing on the white platform, you can set some G-Flares in front of
the small stair set to block the Rustphages while you pluck away at a
distance. Just don't expect to go unscathed, as Rustphages have very
high speed and movement. Once you're done with those guys, continue
through the door to the south.

Pass through this hallway going east to emerge on a catwalk running
parallel to another catwalk to the south. You'll notice that there are
tons of Lil Lantern and Lantern Bats swarming the adjacent catwalk. Head
east across the catwalk and then south in the next area. Go through the
automatic door to the west to reach the other catwalk (Note- If you
follow this catwalk west you can get back to End Sector Borough). In
order to get the treasure key for this area, you'll have to take down
all the bats. By now you should be confident enough to take on large
groups of these bats for some big party XP. Use Fresh Meat to bunch all
the bats up into a tight group and then pound them with spread attacks.
Ryu's X Blade and Nina's Jolt work especially well. Once you've killed
all the bats, pick up the treasure key that appears. Also make sure you
pick up all the Dynamite and Bombs the bats dropped. Head east from the
southern catwalk and go through the door there. In here you'll find the
blue treasure chest, but you have to get by a Deathcow and a Beak
(lesser Deathcow) to reach it. First, toss some meat their way, and
while they're distracted, pelt them with all the explosive traps you
have. The more damage you can cause before the actual fight begins, the
easier it will be. Once you initiate the battle, have Ryu use
Deathbringer while Nina and Lin attack from a distance. Both of these
guys are weak against electric attacks, so Nina's Jolt spell is quite
effective here. Get Joltball from the chest once you've defeated them.
Then, return to Lift: Low Sector 1 once again and proceed to Lift: Low
Sector 2 via the stairs in the southeast corner of the room.

Lift: Low Sector 2 (-1130.0m)

Open up the first door in front of you and pass through this short hall.
In this area, you'll find a group of two Duke Lancers and two Duke
Hunters roaming around on a white platform on the east side of the room.
You'll also notice that there's a blue treasure chest in the same area.
Walk over and stand near the edge of the platform to get the dukes'
attention. When they all start charging you at once and bunch up,
initiate the battle. Since they're up on that platform, the Duke Lancers
won't even be able to touch you if you keep your distance from the edge
of the platform. That only leaves you to deal with the long range
onslaught of the Duke Hunters, and that's not even much to worry about.
Have Ryu stand away from the platform to build AP while Lin and Nina
carry out a long range assault of their own. After building up some AP,
Ryu should carry out a hit and run attack, using X Blade on them as many
times as he can afford to (just make sure you leave him with enough AP
to get away from the platform). Once you defeat them all, the treasure
key will appear on the platform. Don't worry about it for now and exit
this room through the door to the south. In this room, you'll find more
Duke Hunters and Lancers, and perhaps even some Duke Magi. Have Nina
keep the Lancers away with G-Flare while Ryu takes out the Hunters at
close range. The Duke Magi aren't really anything special. Just don't
bunch up, because they use Flare. Once you're done here, continue
through the door on the east side of the room.

Right when you enter this next room you'll encounter a little guy called
a Trickster. These guys aren't too powerful. Just stay spread out,
because he likes to use Side Slash. Venture further into this room and,
sooner or later, your bound to run into a giant Duke Battler. Not only
does the Duke Battler deal a great amount of damage with its attacks, it
also has a special armor that only breaks after several physical or shot
attacks. Until then, its defense is quite high, not to mention it also
counterattacks at close range. To beat this guy without taking too many
casualties, you're going to want to use more G-Flare tactics. Have Lin
initiate the battle from a great distance and begin hitting the Duke
Battler with level 1 attacks. Also be sure to save some AP to use to
back up a little. Then, Nina should set up G-Flares in front of the Duke
Battler while Ryu stays back building AP and Lin keeps shooting away at
long back. You should also have the party back up every once in a while
to keep it from getting too close to you. Once you've cracked the Duke
Battler's armor, have Ryu run in and use Deathbringer as many times as
he can in one combo while Nina and Lin back him up with long range
attacking. Once you've defeated the Duke Battler, head through the door
at the northeast end of the room. Pass through this next hallway to
emerge on the platform where the blue chest is. If you've already
defeated the four dukes in this area, pick up the treasure key and open
the chest to get Blow up!, a very useful skill for Lin. Now, return to
the room where you fought the Duke Battler and continue through the door
to the southeast.

Lift: Low Sector 3 (-1120.0m)

Proceed through this next hallway going south to emerge in a room with
spider genics hanging from the ceiling. Among a few Bind Spiders there
are also some Black Widows which like to induce poison on your party.
Fortunately, the same G-Flare tactics that are effective against the
Bind Spiders also work against these guys. After you're done dealing
with the spiders, go inside the little sub-room in the southwest portion
of the room to find a Goo Element hanging around. Remember that magic is
most effective against it. Once the Goo Element has been defeated, the
treasure key will appear. Pick it up and take either of the two catwalks
going south into the next room (However, there are one or two Black
Widows hanging on the ceiling above the west catwalk). Grab Ryu's Rust
Armor skill from the chest at the east end of the room and then descend
the stairs to the west.

Lift: Low Sector 4 (-1130.0m)

Follow this next path around to a door in the northeast corner of the
room. Go through it and head left to reach a big group of Hychees on the
ground. Turn them all into Heal Kits and cross over to the north side of
the room. Head right and you'll find an Odd Hychee and another Duke
Battler. You'll want to defeat this Duke Battler the same way you beat
the last one. Break it's armor from long range and then have Ryu run in
and quickly finish it with a close range assault. Remember to use Nina's
G-Flare to help block him. After you're done fighting them, continue
through the door head. You'll probably encounter a few enemies in this
hallway such as Duke Lancers and another Odd Hychee. Fight them off and
continue through the next door to enter a danger room. In here you'll
have to fight two Duke Battlers along with a few Duke Magi and Lancers.
You'll want to hunt down the lesser dukes before taking on the Duke
Battlers to make things easier. If you accidentally initiate a fight
with a Battler and a lesser duke at the same time, it's really not too
much of a problem. However, fighting two Battlers at once is a problem.
Avoid this situation at all costs. Once you're up against the Battlers,
use the same strategy as before. Just keep the Battler out of striking
distance by using G-Flare and having the party back up ever once in a
while. Have Lin break its armor from a distance and then have Ryu run in
and finish it off. After you clear the danger room, pick up the Save
Token in the yellow box in this room and also retrieve the treasure key
that appears. Open up the treasure chest to get a Backpack, which will
add a page to your item inventory. Then, ride the elevator to the south.

Low Sector Borough (-1000.0m)

After a scene with Bosch and Zeno at the Ranger HQ, you see another
scene involving an assembly of the regents. It seems that even the most
revered members of society have cause for concern over this situation.
Once all that is over, you'll arrive in the Low Sector Borough, the
little town near the Ranger HQ. Get reacquainted with the place and make
sure to buy some more healing items and some Antidotes before you
continue. When you're ready to move on, go down the stairs near the item
shop.

Corp Lab Entrance (-1010.0m)

First, check out the area to the southwest to find two small rooms. The
first one contains some items while the other contains... a fairy!? When
you choose to open this door you'll meet a fairy who thanks you for
releasing her by letting you build an underground colony. Choose to go
to the colony and then learn all about it in the Information topics (you
can also learn more about it in the Fairy Colony section). Once that's
over, go through the east door in this area and take this path to a
locked door. Examine the door and then return to Low Sector Borough to
find that it's been flooded with nerve gas. It turns out that three
rangers have ambushed you and are using nerve gas to weaken you. So get
ready to fight the rangers.

Boss fight: Ranger Goons
HP: Battler Lieut- 600, Gunner Lieut- 500, Mage Lieut- 520
XP- 1050
Items- Ranger Edge+2, 500z, Handgun+1, 800z, Magic Wand+1, 500z
Recommended level- 12
Notes- This can be a tough fight, but you should be able to handle it
without using your D-Dive. Because of the nerve gas they released, your
party will be induced with poison every round. You can heal the poison
during the fight if you wish, but make sure to save at least three
Antidotes to use for after the fight. The Mage Lieut is the guy you want
to worry about the most, because not only are his attacks the most
damaging, he also heals his comrades with items. Once you defeat him,
the fight is much easier. No specific element is particularly effective
here, so have Nina attack with any spell she's got while keeping a good
distance form the action. If she isn't making any headway with her
attack spells, she should set down G-Flares. After building some AP, Ryu
should run in and start attacking the Mage. If the other goons are
standing close to the Mage, Ryu should use X Blade to get them caught up
in the attack as well. Have Lin use Blow up! from a distance. This
should hit all three of them for a good amount of damage. Just remember
to keep everyone's HP above 100 at all times to avoid instant death from
the Mage's Hundredgears spell. Also make sure to keep your party spread
out as the Mage's Iceblast can strike in a line and the Gunner likes to
use Spread. Once you've taken down the Mage, work on the Battler, as he
can deal out much more damage than the Gunner. After he's dead, you
should have no problem taking down the Gunner.

When the fight is over, the remaining ranger will turn up the gas,
bringing the pollution to a dangerously high level. After Ryu tells Lin
and Nina to move to higher ground, he attempts to turn off the gas but
faints in the process. Then, Nina runs down to try to help him. When Ryu
won't wake up, a strange blue light envelopes them and the gas is
dispersed. Once Ryu wakes up and you regain control, heal any poison you
have and pick up the Bio Corp ID card near the empty gas tank. Then,
head back to the Corp Lab Entrance. Go through the door to the east and
there will be an SOL scene. Return to the door that was locked before
and go through it. Follow this path and you'll end up in an area with an
item and weapon shop, as well as an Identification girl and a
Telecorder. Take care of any business here and continue through the big
door in this area.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Corp Lab

After an SOL scene, Lin returns after scouting the area ahead. The
answers to your questions lie at the top of the Bio Corp complex, so
it's time to get going.

Corp Lab 1F (-1010.0m)

First, head east and go through the door there. Head through any of the
two automatic doors in this next hall and pick up the items inside this
small room. Go back out into the hall to find a D-Ratio door to the
south leading to quite a large side area. If this is your first play
through, then just skip past it.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
D-Ratio Area

Ride down the elevator and leave this small room. In this hallway you'll
find several Goo Plasma, Ruby, and Sapphire hanging from the ceiling.
Try to throw some Fresh Meat on the ground under them and then walk
towards them. When they drop from the ceiling, they'll go for the meat,
and then you can attack them. Remember to use Nina's spells to exploit
their elemental weaknesses while fighting them. When you're done with
them, go inside the room to the west via one of the two automatic doors.
In here, you'll run into a greater version of the Hychee called the Bon
Appetits. Have Nina initiate the battle and kill them easily with her
spells. You also may run into a single Goo hanging from the ceiling in
here so watch out for it. Next, head through the door to the west and
continue west into a room containing some Odd Hychees and a few Bon
Appetits. Once again, eliminate them with Nina's magic and pick up the
healing items they drop. Then, go back to the previous room and through
the southern door. There are more Goos in this area. Defeat them all
(including any that are hanging out near the chest in the small room to
the southeast), and the treasure key will appear back in the room to the
north. Pick it up, return to the small room to the southeast, and get G-
Inferno from the chest. Return to the outermost hallway (where all the
Goos were on the ceiling before) and head west along the north end of
the hall. Take this path all the way to an elevator and ride it down.

Pass through the next hallway to emerge in a room with a few Kanaphages
and a big group of Rafflesia in the southeast corner of the room. Have
Lin get up close to the Kanaphages and use Shatter! so that you can
defeat them in one hit and get 10000z off each one! If you want to earn
some extra party XP, use Nina's magic to charge up the Rafflesia and
then have Ryu and Lin go in for the kill. Once you're done here,
continue through the northeast door and pass through this hallway going
south. This room contains two sleeping machines called Armstrongs. Not
only do they have really high defense, but they also counterattack if
you attack them up close. For some reason, Lin's attacks seem extremely
ineffective against these guys so have Ryu stick to his strongest combos
while Nina uses spells from a distance. After beating those two, head
through the door to the west. Pass through this tiny area to enter a
room with two smaller rooms alongside of it. Pick up the items in the
west area and then pay a visit to the southern room. Examine the doll on
the table and you'll see an SOL scene. Inspect the doll again after the
scene is over to receive the Buki, a secret weapon for Nina.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

From here, head back to where you started from and go through the door
to the west. Pick up all the items in the side room along the path and
then ride the elevator at the end.

Corp Lab 2F (-1000.0m)

Leave the elevator room and pass through this next hall. Go through the
automatic door just to the south and pick up any items in this small
room. Continue through the door to the south to emerge in a large area
with two catwalks running parallel. As you're walking across this
catwalk, you may encounter bug-like genics called Buzzes. These guys are
especially vulnerable to shot attacks, so use Lin to defeat them without
much difficulty. Go through the door at the end of the catwalk to and
you'll be pounced upon by some big plant-like creatures called
Rafflesia. Quickly toss out some Fresh Meat to distract them while you
can prepare yourself for battle. Try to fight them one at a time as they
can be difficult to beat. Unless you're very confident in your ability
to win fights, refrain from hitting these guys with any kind of magic
(including traps), as it makes them stronger. However, it also increases
the amount of XP you receive from them. You'll also want to build AP on
your first turn because the Rafflesia can regenerate HP. Once you've
killed all the Rafflesia in this room, pick up the treasure key that
appears. Now, you have two choices of what to do next. You can either
hike through a side area to get a skill that's not even very useful, or
you can finish up this floor and continue on with the mission. If you're
kind of short on healing items, I don't suggest you visit the side area.
If you're skipping the side area, then read ahead.

Go through the automatic door to the east and continue into the hallway
to the south. There will be two guards called Patrollers roaming this
hallway. These guys are quite easy to beat, however, you'll probably
want to avoid them. Why? Because when you kill them, they'll request
backup, which make incredibly large groups of much harder guards called
Bouncers appear later on. So, Pick up any items in this hall and
continue through the door to the east. If you killed the Patrollers in
the previous room, this hall may be overrun with Bouncers. If you have
enough healing items, you might be able to fight your way through them.
Just try to divide them up as much as possible. If they're just too much
for you to handle, either give up on the side area or D-Dash through
them. Either way, pass through this hall and go down the elevator at the
end.

Proceed through this next hall to enter a danger room full of Goo Plasma
and Goo Rubies. They'll either be spread out amongst the cages or all
sitting around in one big group. Divide and conquer is the best strategy
here. While in battle, make sure you stay spread out to avoid having
everyone get hit by their level 2 spells. Try to defeat a Goo Ruby early
on so that you can have Nina learn the Flare skill that they drop. Then
use Flare on the Goo Plasma to exploit their weakness towards flame
attacks. Once the danger room is clear, pick up the treasure key that
materializes. Then go inside the room to the northwest and pick up Blunt
from the chest (Note- There's a giant Armstrong enemy asleep in this
room. If this is your first game or the danger room just wore you down,
then I wouldn't suggest fighting it, because it is quite strong). Now
that you're done here, return to Corp Lab 2F.

Go back to the area near where you got the treasure key and take the
east catwalk back to the north side. Along the way, you're bound to
encounter a very large group of Buzz enemies. If you're bold enough,
throw some Fresh Meat towards them to get a bunch of them huddled into a
tight group. Then have Lin start the battle and use Blow up! to cause a
good deal of damage. If you can finish them off quickly after the extra
turn, you'll get a hefty amount of party XP as a reward. Now, go through
the door at the end of the catwalk and head inside the small room to the
left. Kill off the pack of Hychees and the Odd Hychee hanging from the
ceiling in here and then pick up Roundsaber, a really good skill for
Ryu, from the chest. Return to the previous room and go through the east
door. Pick up all the items in here and then ride the elevator in the
southeast corner of this area.

Corp Lab 3F North (-990.0m)

Head through this first hall into the next room. Some genics called
Kanaphages reside in this room along with a few trios of varied
elemental Goos. You can receive large a amount of zenny from the
Kanaphages, given you defeat it in as few hits as possible. The amount
of zenny the Kanaphage drops is cut in half every time you hit it with
an attack. If you defeat it in one hit, you'll get a whopping 10000z.
Unfortunately, if this is your first game, you won't have any attacks
powerful enough to accomplish this (that's assuming you don't want to
use D-Dive). Ryu's Deathbringer is probably your best bet for picking up
a few thousand zenny here. Now, the Goos in here are in groups of three,
with a Goo of each element in each group. Try to split them up so you
can exploit their elemental weaknesses without inadvertently using the
wrong element on the wrong Goo. After you're finished up here, continue
through the door at the west end of the room and collect the items in
this small room. Then, head through the next door.

Corp Lab 3F South (-990.0m)

Pick up any items that are lying around in this next hall and go through
the next door. Run across this catwalk and go through the door at the
end. Walk south down this hall and open the door leading to the other
catwalk on the west side of the hall. Here you'll find another swarm of
Buzz genics, but this time, there is a Queen Buzz among them. While the
Queen Buzz is around, the others become tougher to beat. So try to fight
the Queen separately from the others, and then take out the rest of
them. Again, you can pick up a good amount of party XP by fighting them
in large groups. Continue into the next room after taking care of the
Buzzes and get all the items in this small area. Then go back across the
catwalk. Go through the southern door in this hall and pass through the
tiny room. Head through the automatic door in this next area to emerge
in a Bio Corp operating room. After an extremely brief SOL scene, a Bio
Corp scientist comes in and inquires as to what you want. Through his
tactless remarks about Nina, you discover that Nina was a Low-D girl who
was turned into an experimental anti-pollution mechanism. Disgusted by
the scientist's indifference towards Nina as a human being, Ryu gives
him a knuckle sandwich dragon style. He then tells you that Nina will
eventually die from the air pollution, so Ryu then vows to take her to
the sky where the air is clean. Once that's over, Exit this room through
the door to the southeast and ride the elevator at the end of this hall.

Corp Lab 4F (-980.0m)

Proceed through this next hallway to find yourself in a hall with two
Patrollers walking around. Since you already know what will happen if
you fight them, you can decide whether to fight them or try to sneak
past them. I'd suggest trying to get around them if this is your first
game. However, it's going to take some fancy maneuvering and maybe even
some D-Dash to get around these guys. For now, ignore the little room
near the middle of the hallway and just concentrate on getting through
the door at the west end of the area. Once you manage that, breeze
through the next two halls. In the next room, you'll find two more
Patrollers. But there's also a Goo Prism sneaking around here as well.
Like its weaker cousin, the Goo Element, the Goo Prism is transparent
but turns visible from time to time. Usually it hangs out in the small
room where all the cages are or in the corner where the hallway bends.
After you start the battle, just use Nina's spells to kill to without
much trouble. Pick up the treasure key that forms after the Goo Prism's
defeat and return to other hall where the two Patrollers were.

Now, you're going to want to make your way into the small northern room
near the middle of the hall. If the Patrollers see you before you get
there, then just keep running and tap R2 when they get close to you.
Now, pick up the Backpack in the chest. Chances are, if they saw you,
the Patrollers have followed you into this room. Don't panic. Watch your
map out of the corner of your eye so you know where they are at all
times. Then when the time is right, bolt out of that room towards the
western door. Again, use D-Dash if you have to. Return to the room where
you got the treasure key and go through the door to the northeast. Pass
through the next two hallways and ride the elevator at the end.

Corp Lab 5F (-970.0m)

You'll be happy to know that there are no enemies on this floor. So, go
inside the room alongside of this first hall. Get the Save Token from
the yellow box as well as any other items lying around. Head through the
next door and continue through the door at the west end of this area.
Follow this path and you'll end up in a small room with a Telecorder and
the item/weapon/locker girls. Stock up on some more healing items and
even buy some weapons if you want. You should have a decent amount of
zenny by now, so buying some equipment wouldn't be a bad idea. This is
also a perfect time to check on your Fairy colony if you've already
forgotten about it. So, do whatever needs to be done here, return to the
center room on this level, and go through the big door there.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Frozen Road

First, collect any items that may be lying around in this entranceway
and then head through the next door. Follow this path, go through the
door at the end, and climb up the ladder there.

Frozen Road 1F (-960.0m)

Exit this small room and walk west to a fork in the path. Continue west
to reach a small room full of item boxes and two new enemies called Gar
Snipers and Gar Pikes. These guys are very similar to the Duke Lancers
and Hunters that you fought back in the lower sectors except they're a
lot tougher. Like most of the enemies you'll find in here, these guys
are weak against electric attacks and resistant towards ice attacks. So,
have Nina use spells like Jolt and Lightning while Ryu and Lin attack
with electric based weapons if you happen to be carrying them. Clean up
all the items in here after doing away with the Gars and then continue
through the northern door. In here you'll either find a large group of
Goo Sapphires among an Ice Goo or a few Goo Sapphires and several little
Drillbug creatures walking around. Regardless, they're all vulnerable to
electric attacks. The Ice Goo is just a bigger, more powerful version of
the Goo Sapphire, so separate it from the rest of the group and nail it
with Nina's electric spells. The Drillbugs are a bit of a nuisance as
they like to put you to sleep and attack you AP, so try to waste them on
your extra turns. Once you're done here, go through the door to the
east. This room contains a very large group of flying frog-like
creatures called Aggrossers with their leader, the Frogressor, in the
middle of the pack. You can either approach them slowly or throw some
meat towards them to bunch them up into a tight group for some extra
party XP. Once again, electric attacks are effective here. Lin's shot
attacks also inflict a lot of damage to these guys as well. Defeat them
all and pick up the treasure key that appears. Take Greetings from the
chest and return to the previous room. Head north and climb up the
ladder at the end of the room.

Frozen Road 2F (-950.0m)

In this next area, you'll find a couple of average looking item boxes
that you can't break open. Among them is a giant white box. These things
are actually genics called Jack-Boxes, and the giant one is the Big
Jack-Box. These enemies can potentially drop a lot of zenny depending on
the amount of times you hit them before they die. The more times you hit
them, the more zenny they'll drop. Otherwise, they're relatively easy to
beat with Ryu's physical attacks. Get the treasure key by defeating the
Big Jack-Box and continue east into the next room (Tip- If you're having
trouble getting the Jack-Boxes to pop out, try standing next to them and
placing some Fresh Meat on the ground. When it comes out, quickly hit X
twice to retrieve the meat and initiate the battle at the same time).

The treasure chest lies within this room, but you must battle through a
few Gars, a Beak, and two Deathcows to reach it. First, take care of the
Gars. By now you've seen what they can do, so either divide and conquer
or fight them in groups, whichever you're most comfortable with. Once
you've taken out the Gars, slowly approach the Beak and the two
Deathcows so that the Beak will start chasing you without the big guys
even noticing. If you haven't fought Beaks before, all you need to know
is that they are a much weaker version of the Death Cow. Kill it up
close, because it likes to use Howling to Bind your party. Next,
approach the two Death Cows the same way, except make sure you walk
towards them from a side so you won't risk having both of them charge at
once. Unless you're extremely confident in your abilities (or just don't
mind using D-Dive), then taking on both of them at once can be deemed as
suicidal. Chances are you've fought one or two Deathcows already, so you
should have a good idea about how you want to fight them. If you're
skilled at using Nina's traps, then you can put Joltball to good use
here. After fighting through all those foes, you can reach your rewards
which include the Fient skill from the chest and a Save Token from the
yellow box. Then, go through the door at the north end of the room and
ascend the ladder there.

Frozen Road 3F (-940.0m)

Run through this next room to emerge in a room containing a family of
Goo Sappires led by a big Ice Goo. Again, Ice Goos are just bigger and
stronger versions of the Goo Sapphires, so tactics that are effective
against the small ones are just as potent against the big guy. Take the
Ice Goo down with electric attacks and it will drop the next treasure
key. Pick it up and collect any other items lying around in this area.
Then, continue into the next room. In here you'll find more of those
annoying Drillbug monsters mindlessly wandering around. Among them is
their superior, the Bug Leader. First, kill off all the Drillbugs before
going after the Leader. This is because the Bug Leader becomes harder to
cope with in battle if it witnesses one of its little friends going to
Drillbug heaven. The big guy doesn't differ much from the little ones
besides the fact that it is bigger and stronger. Once you defeat it,
it'll drop Leech Power, a very useful shield skill. Now, get the Cleaner
from the chest in the northwest end of the room and continue through the
eastern door to emerge in a danger room.

This danger room is home to a few Aggrossers who are hanging from the
ceiling, as well as two Beaks. Throw some meat under the Aggrossers and
then approach them until they drop from the ceiling. Instead of trying
to ambush you, they'll go for the meat, so attack them while they're
distracted. When it comes time to fight the Beaks, approach them slowly.
The second one of them begins to charge at you, put some Fresh Meat down
and run the other way. Then run back and hit it while it's eating. Just
rely on close range attacks from Ryu and long range spell casting from
Nina to deal the most damage. Once those two are out of the way, you'll
only have a few more Aggrossers to deal with. Just kill them using the
same tactis as last time. Clear the room and there will be an SOL scene.
Afterwards, go through the next door and up the next ladder.

Frozen Road 4F (-930.0m)

Leave this small room and head right to find another group of Gars and
possibly more Jack-Box enemies. Take out the Gars first so you can focus
all of your attention on the Jack-Boxes when the time comes to fight
them. Just remember to split them up if you've been having trouble with
them up until now. Once you're done here, head through the door at the
north end of the path. Veer to the right to stumble upon a small area
with some Hychees and a few Odd Hychees hanging from the ceiling. Kill
them, take their healing items, and continue through the door to the
left. Now in order to get the treasure key for this floor, you'll have
to defeat all five Beaks roaming around on the metal walkway. Unless
you're certain you can take them on in groups, divide and conquer is the
best strategy. Approach them carefully, only letting one of them see you
at a time, and then use Fresh Meat to distract them until you're ready
to start the fight. Kill all of them and get the treasure key they drop.
Pay a visit to the small room to the south and pick up any items that
are in there. Go inside the small room to the north to reach the chest
containing Fragball. Proceed through the next door at the east end of
the room and take this path to a Telecorder and the item/locker girls.
Appraise any equipment that's taking up space in your inventory and then
fill that space up with healing items. You'll need them for what comes
next. I'd also recommend making a save at the Telecorder as well. When
you're fully prepared to move on, ascend the ladder at the northeast end
of the room.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Storage

Head north in the next hallway and go left at the junction. As your
group enters the main room of the Storage area, you'll be ambushed by a
platoon of high class rangers led by Bosch and Captain Zeno. After Bosch
throws some insulting comments in Ryu's direction, Zeno will step in and
try to reason with you. She tells Ryu that he's linked with a Bio Corp
experiment, causing him to go crazy. But a voice in Ryu's mind assures
him that she's lying. And when Ryu refuses to cooperate with Zeno, she
has her troop of rangers attack you.

Boss fight: Ranger Platoon
HP: Lead Battler- 750, Battler Capn- 620, Lead Gunner- 720,
Gunner Capn- 520
XP- 3981
Items- Ranger Shell+3, 500z, Counter, 800z, Dent Weapon, 550z, Third
Eye, 800z
Recommended level- 15
Notes- This is definitely the hardest battle yet. There are three groups
of formidable rangers surrounding you. The group that you have to worry
about the most consists of two Battler Capns and the Lead Gunner. The
Lead Gunner annoyingly casts support spells on the Battler Capns while
they wail on you with powerful physical attacks. They also have a
special shield that can sometimes greatly reduce that damage you inflict
on them. First off, you'll want Nina to get away from the action until
Ryu and Lin have taken care of the Battler Capns. Then have Ryu stay
where he is at the moment and have Lin back up towards Ryu a bit. This
is so that the Battler Capns will run right up near you, but they won't
be able to get within attacking range. Then on the next turn, go all out
on the Battler Capns and maybe the Battler Leader if you want to get him
out of the way first. You'll want to get rid of those swordsmen as
quickly as you can. If they bunched themselves up while moving towards
you, use spead attacks like Ryu's X Blade and Lin's Blow up! to take
them down quicker. Nina should stay away from the fighting for now and
carry out hit and run magic assaults every other turn to help quicken
the Battlers' demise. Once all the Battlers are gone, the fight gets
much easier. Now the combined efforts of your party should be able to
take down at least one or two Gunners per turn. However, you'll want to
eliminate the Lead Gunner first, as he tends to run away once all the
other ranger have been killed. Just remember to heal very often,
especially at the beginning of the fight. If one party member falls
victim to too many attacks in one turn, it could be fatal if you never
get a chance to heal. Having plenty of healing items is the key to
winning this fight. If you find yourself in a tough spot and your D-
Counter is considerably low, then simply D-Dive and give the Battlers a
few good thrashings with Vortex. Just don't go overboard.

Since the rangers failed, a giant robot then emerges from one of the
lifts. It's time for another battle.

Boss fight: Asimov
HP: 1400, Annex HP- 200
XP- ~1500 (dependant on how many Annexes are defeated)
Items- Take this!, Generator, Battery Pack
Recommended level- 15
Notes- Compared to the last battle, this fight is quite easy if you use
the right strategy. You'll notice that the Asimov stars the battle
behind a bunch of junk. If you can keep it trapped there, it'll rarely
attack you. To do this, have Nina constantly place Fragballs in front of
Asimov throughout the entire battle. Every turn the Asimov will create
two little machines called Annexes, which attack you with Jolt given the
opportunity. If you put Fragballs in the right places, the Asimov will
release the Annex right on top of the trap, causing it to take massive
damage. The Annexes are also weak towards Lin's shot attacks, so have
her use Blow up! every round to eliminate them and get the big robot
caught in the crossfire. Ryu should move into a position where he can
attack the Asimov without being an obstruction to Nina's Fragballs.
Eventhough your main goal should be to take down the big guy quickly,
you should also kill off the Annexes before they get a chance to attack.
Once Asimov's HP reaches 1, you'll no longer be able to harm it (unless
you use dragon form). It'll then initiate a countdown to self destruct
in three turns. In the meantime, continue fighting as usual. Keep it
trapped behind the machines and continue to eliminate the Annexes it
produces. But, when there's only one turn left until it blows up, have
everybody get as far away from it as possible. You'll be safe as long as
you're out of its Movement Radius.

After the giant robot goes out with a bang, Zeno finally decides to step
in and kill you herself.

Boss fight: Zeno and the Mage Capns
HP: Zeno- 1600, Mage Capn- 580
XP- 3840 (both Mages defeated)
Items- Valor, V, Magic Wand+2, 450z
Recommended level- 16
Notes- This can be quite a tough fight. Zeno is capable of dealing out a
lot of damage through multiple strings of attacks, and the Mages like to
cast Iceblast which can deal over 50 damage to anyone in its wake.
You'll want to keep your party spread out for the entire battle to avoid
having multiple characters being hit at once with Iceblast and Zeno's
spread attacks. The first thing you'll want to do is have Nina set up a
Fragball right in Zeno's path. Zeno refuses to run into magical traps,
so if you can position Fragball so that Zeno can't get by it, she'll try
to reach you by walking around the big junk pile instead. It'll take her
about three turns to reach your party if she does this, so use those
three turns wisely by preparing for her arrival. If you didn't manage to
set up a good Fragball, that's OK. Just have Ryu focus all of his
attacks on Zeno, while Lin and Nina combine their efforts to kill off
one of the Mages. Once you've killed one of the Mages, begin attacking
the other one but don't kill it. As soon as both Mages die or Zeno is
down to half HP, she'll use Last Resort. This not only increases her
attack power, but it also sets up a special shield, very similar to the
ones the Battler Capns had when you fought the rangers. After this
point, Zeno will also begin using her Violet Death skill, which is
incredibly devastating. Make sure everyone's at full HP before Zeno's
turn. Well, once she uses Last Resort there's no need to keep the
remaining Mage alive anymore, so kill him off and then go all out on
Zeno. If you're running out of healing items, you can D-Dive and use a
Twister (and maybe a Vortex as well) as a finishing move for only a few
percent towards your D-Counter.

Once Zeno is dead, Bosch flees, and Ryu hears the voice of the Odjn once
again. Then Lin suggests that it's time to go to Trinity's headquarters.
To reach the Trinity area, you'll have to hike through the industrial
zone ahead. When you regain control, inspect the sword that Zeno left
lying on the ground to receive the Violet Blade. Make sure you head back
to the end of the Frozen Road now to have it identified, as well as
restock your healing items. The Industrial Area is a long mission, so be
sure to bring plenty. Then, return to the main Storage area and go
inside the small room to the northwest to reach a bunch of items,
including two Save Tokens. Now, continue through the middle door on the
west side of the area and head north at the junction in this next hall.
Then, climb up the ladder in the small room at the end of the path.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

VII. Industrial Area

After an SOL scene, you will arrive on the first floor of the Industrial
Area's first zone.

Indust One 1F (-890.0m)

Leave this small room and pass through the short hall ahead. In the next
area you'll encounter some new enemies called Bandits and Highwaystars.
Although the Bandits are pretty easy to beat, they will steal from you
if they get the chance, so kill them to recover any items that get
stolen from you. Also, if they see you they'll chase you relentlessly,
so be prepared. The Highwaystars aren't much harder to defeat. Just make
sure to keep everybody in a wide formation because they like to use
spread attacks. When you're done with them, continue along the metal
path and go through the door in the northwest corner of the room. You'll
find several Odd Hychees in this small area, so convert them into
healing items and return to the previous room. Head through the door to
the southwest and go through the automatic door at the end of this short
path.

This room contains some bats called Ebonfires, and among them is their
leader, the Baphomet. Like many of the enemies you will face in this
mission, these guys are weak against ice attacks, so use Nina's Frost
and Iceblast spells. They're also vulnerable to Lin's shot attacks, so
her Blow up! skill is ideal here. While the Ebonfires are not too
difficult to kill, the Baphomet is quite a formidable foe. Not only does
it regenerate a small fraction of its HP every round, but it also likes
to hit your party with annoying spells like Silence and Fireblast. To
keep the bad effects of both of these spells to a minimum, keep your
party as spread out as possible. Also, before the fight even begins,
lure the Baphomet in as close to the walkway as you can with Fresh Meat
so that Ryu can get into attacking range. Once you've defeated them,
Continue through the door in the northwest corner of the room and ride
the elevator there. You'll arrive on the second floor after an SOL
scene.

Indust One 2F West (-880.0m)

Head east through the small room ahead. You may come across some
machines called Capeks in this next area. Use Nina's ice spells and
Ryu's sword attacks to defeat them without much trouble. If you follow
the metal walkway to the southeast corner of the room there may appear
to be a blue treasure chest there. Don't be fooled. This is an enemy
called thw Wonder Box, which is very similar to the Jack-Boxes you
fought back at the Frozen Road. Instead of zenny, however, you can get
some good items from it depending on how much damage you deal to it
before it commits suicide at the end of the first turn. So, bring it
down to a sliver it its HP, and then let it kill itself to get your
prize. Now, go through the automatic door to the east. If you didn't see
any Capeks in the previous room, you'll definitely see them in here,
along with another Wonder Box. Get rid of the Wonder Box and then divide
and conquer the Capeks. If you do manage to fight several of them at
once, try to line them up so that Nina can hit the lot of them with
Iceblast. After defeating them all, you'll have clear access to the D-
Ratio door at the south end of the room.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
D-Ratio Area

This door empties you out into a danger room containing either a large
group of Petrophages or a combination of Capeks and Petrophages. If
you're dealing with both Petrophages and Capeks, go after the Capeks
first. Either split them up for easy fighting or battle them in groups
for more party XP. If you've managed to leave the Petrophages
undisturbed, them you can finish off this danger room without even
having to fight them. Stand behind the short fence and have Lin use her
charged shot on the Petrophages. They'll then charge at you and get
flipped over as they crash into the fence. Then hit them while they're
flipped over to kill them without even initiating a fight. If you got
the danger room with all Pertophages, you can clear it without having to
fight a single battle using this tactic. So, clear this room and pick up
the treasure key that appears. Go through the automatic door to the
southeast and get Reflect from the chest in this small room. Exit this
area through the southern door.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Continue through the next door and pass through this short hall to reach
the east wing.

Indust One 2F East (-880.0m)

Pass through this short hall and into the next room. Here you'll run
into more Capeks as well as some new enemies called Petrophages. These
guys are similar to the Rustphages you fought earlier on in the game,
however, they're much faster and stronger. The best way to deal with
these guys is to simply defeat them outside of battle. If you quickly
run in front of them or get their attention by using Lin's charged shot,
they'll charge at you. Quickly move out of the way to make them hit a
wall, flipping them over. If you attack them while they're flipped over,
you can kill them outside of battle. So first take out the Capeks
roaming around and then use Lin's charged shot to kill the Petrophages
safely from the metal walkway. However, there'll probably be two
Petrophages you can't reach from there, so walk down to the lower area
and run past them to make them charge and run into the metal walkway.
Then quickly take them out while they're flipped over. Once you've
killed them all, the treasure key for this wing will appear. Retrieve
it, go through the automatic door in the northeast corner of the room,
and head through the door at the end of this hall.

Proceed inside the small sub-room just ahead to encounter some Fire Goos
and Goo Rubies. You've seen the Goo Rubies before, and the Fire Goos are
simply a stronger version of them. Use Nina's Frost and Iceblast spells
to weaken their attacks and wipe them out easily. Grab Let's dance! from
the chest and continue to the west side of this area. There may be a
family of Goo Rubies lead by a Fire Goo in the lower area amongst a few
item boxes, or you'll find a variety of enemies you've seen here before.
Defeat them, grab all the items, and exit this room through the
southeast door. Pass through this hall, and you'll find more Bandits and
Highwaystars. Unlike when you met them before, the Highwaystars in this
area are as aggressive as the Bandits on the field. After dealing with
them, take the metal walkway in the middle of the room left to find a
pair of Petrophages near the next door. Quickly pass in front of the so
they charge into the railing, allowing you to eliminate them outside of
battle. Go through the door and pass through the short hall there.

Indust One 2F West (-880.0m) *Southern Area*

Breeze through the first two small rooms. You'll emerge in a room with a
bunch of Petrophages sitting around in the lower area. Have Lin get
their attenion from the safety of the metal walkway using her charged
shot. Then shoot them again when they're flipped over to easily defeat
them without even starting a fight. Once you've gotten rid of them all,
go down the the lower area and clear out any Bandits that may be hanging
around. Get the Save Token from the yellow box and then ride the
elevator behind the door to the southwest.

Indust One 3F (-870.0m)

Exit the elevator shaft and you'll face yet another danger room. This
time you'll have to kill another family of Ebonfires led by a Baphomet.
Use the narrow hallway they're in to your advantage. First, lure the
Baphomet into the doorway so that you can initiate the battle with your
party outside the hallyway while keeping the Baphomet trapped in. Ryu
can run in and attack it from inside the hallway if you wish while Lin
and Nina strike from outside. Remember to keep a spread out formation as
the Baphomet's worst attacks hit over a large area. Once the big guy's
out of the picture, you can rack up some party XP by killing off the
Ebonfires in large groups. Or you could just split them up if it's
easiest for you. If you're after party XP, toss some meat towards them
to get them into a compact group. This will allow you to nail them all
at once with your spread attacks. Keep in mind that Nina's ice spells
are extra effective here.

After an SOL scene, continue through the door at the northeast end of
this area and pick up all the items in this next room. Exit through the
door to the east to emerge in a large room with a bunch of Capeks
roaming around. They tend to stay pretty spread out by themselves, so
dividing them up for easy victories shouldn't be too difficult. Just
remember to use ice spells on them. Get the treasure key that appears in
the small room to the northeast and get Fireball from the chest there.
Now, pick up all the trap items from the small rooms on the east side of
this area and continue by riding the elevator on the east side of the
room. Following an SOL scene, you'll reach the second zone of the
Industrial Area.

Indust Two 1F (-860.0m)

This next room is littered with the bodies of dead rangers who were
probably trying to ambush you. Examine some of the bodies and the locked
doors to the north and south. Then take a look around in the lower area
to find a drunk looking guy standing there. Talk to him, and you'll find
out that he's the one who killed all the rangers so that he could fight
you one on one. It's time for another battle!

Boss fight: Tantra
HP: 1800
XP- 2001
Items- C'mere!, 300z
Recommended level- 17
Notes- This guy isn't nearly as hard as he is annoying. Not only will he
hit you with Sleep, but he also frequently uses his trademark spell,
Forcacion, which literally drains the victim of their abilities. Anyone
hit with spell basically becomes a nearly useless attacker for three
turns. If his status change spells weren't bad enough, Tantra can also
use Multi Strike and Drain to heal himself for as much damage as he
deals out. First off, get your party into wide formation surrounding
Tantra so that he can't hit your entire party with Sleep. Then, have Ryu
get in close and unload on him with level 3 skills such as Deathbringer
and Violet Death, while Nina and Lin attack from a distance. If it suits
your fighting style, you can even have Nina lay down magic traps while
Lin knocks Tantra into them. Have anyone who gets hit with Forcacion
test out their attacks on Tantra afterwards to see if you can still
manage to deal some decent damage with them. If not, just have that
character bide their time away from the fighting until their three turns
are up. You may even want to have Lin get right up close to Tantra while
Ryu and Nina get far away at the very beginning of the fight so she'll
fall victim to Forcacion instead of Ryu and Nina, who are your best
attackers in this fight. I really wouldn't suggest using dragon form on
him, but if you feel you absolutely need to D-Dive, give him no more
than a D-Charge and a Twister.

Once you've bested Tantra, Lin tells you that he's a highly trained
assassin, obviously working outside the government ranks. Pick up the
IndZone 2 ID card that he dropped and then go through one of the two
locked doors. No matter which door you choose, you'll fight a sub-boss
and eventually end up in the same place. If you want, you can come back
here after fighting one sub-boss so that you can take the other path and
fight the other sub-boss as well. However, if this is your first game, I
strongly suggest you only fight one of them. After leaving the room,
Tantra will suddenly wake up in a brief scene. Then, you'll see a scene
of the regent meeting during which the leader announces his plan to send
the Dark Rangers after you. After an SOL scene, you'll arrive on the
second floor of zone two.

Indust Two 2F North (-850.0m)

Exit the elevator shaft and go through the automatic door at the end of
the short path. Follow this path and go through the door to the
northeast to reach another danger room. This one is home to Deegon, a
quick monster with a long reach. Deegon is capable of inducing a wide
variety of status changes to your party, so come packing plenty of
Multimeds and Wake Ups. It can also counterattack with the powerful
Sledgehammer skill and hit your party with Fireblast. Keep Lin and Nina
just within attacking distance on opposite sides of Deegon and have Ryu
stay up close to minimize the casualties from Fireblast. Since Deegon
will counterattack Ryu after each of his attacks, have Ryu attack in one
long combo each turn. Not surprisingly, Deegon has a weakness towards
ice attacks, so have Nina unleash her most powerful ice spells on him.
Defeat Deegon, and its spirit will fly out of its disintegrating body.
Pick up the treasure key it drops and get Too slow!! from the chest in
the southwest corner of the room. Then ride the elevator in the
northeast corner of the room.

Indust Two 3F (-840.0m) *From Deegon*

Pass through the small room ahead and into a room full of items to the
east. Be sure to pick up all the items in this room, and when you're
ready, proceed through the door to the south. You'll end up in the last
room of the Industrial Area where the other path also empties out into.
Skip down to the path from Geegagis to continue.

Indust Two 2F South (-850.0m)

Exit the elevator shaft and you'll immediately emerge inside another
danger room. The sub-boss you must fight in here is Geegagis. This guy
has very high defense, so rely on Nina's ice magic to do the most damage
to it. Since it likes to use Fireblast occasionally, make sure your
party is spread out in a formation surrounding Geegagis. Have Ryu use
Rust Armor until it has no more effect and then pound away with level 3
skills. For the most part, Lin's attacks do miniscule damage to
Geegagis, so have her use attacks that ignore defense. After taking a
good amount of attacks from you, Geegagis will begin charging up for its
special attack. When it begins to gather fury, you'll want to have
everybody move as far away from it as possible. The next turn, Geegagis
will unleash it special attack which does damage depending on how close
you are. Once that's over, run back in and attack until Geegagis
prepares to use it again. After the fight, its spirit will fly away.
Collect the treasure key it drops and get Spiritcharge from the chest to
the southeast. Continue through the next door and go through the door at
the east end of this next room. Then ride the elevator there.

Indust Two 3F (-840.0m) *From Geegagis*

Follow the metal walkway in this next room and go through the door
inside the small sub room at the end of the path. Now you'll be in the
room where the two paths meet. In here, you'll find more dead rangers,
and much to your surprise, Tantra returns with his dead companions with
him now. He'll then absorb his deceased comrades and become stronger
than ever. It's time for the final show down against Tantra (He'll be in
one of three forms depending on whether you fought Deegon, Geegagis, or
both of them).

Boss fight: Tantra+Deegon
HP: 2000
XP- 2802
Items- Brainquake, 7th Sense
Recommended level- 19
Notes- If you thought Tantra was tough the first time you fought him,
then you're really in for it now. Not only has Tantra retained his most
annoying attacks such as Sleep, Drain, and Forcacion, but he's also
inherited Deegon's speed and ability to counterattack. But unlike
Deegon, Tantra can counterattack from a distance, making even Lin
susceptible to it. Once again, you'll want to keep a formation
surrounding Tantra. Ryu and Lin should build up plenty of AP before
attacking Tantra in the form of long combos to keep the number of times
Tantra counterattacks you to a minimum. Since Tantra can now attack as
many as four times in a single turn, make sure you keep your party
healthy at all times. Also, if you have any stat boosting items, such as
a Power or Magic Boost, this would be a great time to use them. You may
even want to snatch that 7th Sense from Tantra to use for this fight.
This will help make the fight go faster. As long as you have enough
healing items, you should be able to out last Tantra and pull off
another victory without D-Dive. However, if you deem it necessary, give
him no more than a D-Charge and one (maybe two) Twisters.

Boss fight: Tantra+Geegagis
HP: 1600
XP- 3000
Items- Blunt, 7th Sense
Recommended level- 18
Notes- This is probably Tantra's easiest form. Although he inherits the
defense of Geegagis, it won't cut down the damage of your physical
attacks nearly as much as the original Geegagis did. Otherwise, Tantra's
skill set is basically the same. He comes back packing his trademark
Forcacion spell, as well as Sleep, Multi Attack, and Drain. However, he
does also have Geegagis's special attack, so when Tantra begins to
gather fury, move far away from him. Then, after he unleashes the
attack, go back in and start pounding on him again. Once again, Ryu
should get up close and use his most powerful combos or level 3 attacks,
and Lin and Nina should strike from long range. Since Tantra frequently
uses Drain, make sure you are always dealing more damage than he's
draining from you. To help quicken Tantra's defeat, you can steal his
7th Sense an use it on your best attacker, probably Ryu. There's really
no need for dragon form in this battle, but if you want to use it, a D-
Charge and one or two Twisters should do him in.

Boss fight: Tantra+Deegon+Geegagis
HP: 2400
XP- 3600
Items- Crimson Raid, 7th Sense
Recommended level- 23
Notes- Oh man are you in for a tough battle. Tantra now has the speed of
Deegon, and high defense like Geegagis. He comes packing a frightening
arsenal of spells and skills including Pre-Primus and Hundredgears, as
well as some old not-so-favorites such as Forcacion, Sleep, Multi
Strike, and Geegagis's Take That ability. Not only that, but Tantra can
also counterattack from long range using Drain. If this is your first
game, the odds of you winning this fight without D-Dive are slim. But
even if this isn't your first game, don't expect this to be a walk in
the park. The key to winning this battle is healing items, and lots of
them. As long as you can go into each of Tantra's turns with your
characters at full (or near full) HP, then you should be fine. First,
surround Tantra, keeping Lin and Nina at a good distance while Ryu moves
in close. Then use any stat boosting items that will be of help to you,
especially Power Boosts for Ryu and Magic Boosts for Nina. Unless you're
at a higher level, don't even bother with Speed Boosts, Tantra's just
too fast. It would also be a very good idea to steal Tantra's 7th Sense
to use during the fight. Make sure to have Ryu and Lin attack in lengthy
combos to take his counterattack ability out of the fight as much as
possible. If you really want to crack down on Tantra's counterattacking,
then have Ryu and Lin attack only every other turn with two full AP
gauges. Also, if you want to pick up a nice skill for Ryu, snatch
Crimson Raid from him. But to really humiliate Tantra, D-Dive and D-
Charge twice. Then use Twister to kill him in one hit!

Now that the crazy drunk, Tantra, is finally pushing up daisies for
real, go through the automatic door to the south and get the Save Token,
among other items, in this room. Then exit the Indusrtial Area through
the northeast door. After an SOL scene, you will arrive in the middle
sector.

Mid Sector Mall (-840.0m)

Well, this isn't exactly your average mall, but you will find everything
you need to continue your journey here including a Telecorder, the
Item/Weapon/Locker girls scattered about town, as well as a fairy (in
case you managed to lose you Fairy Drops somewhere between here and the
Bio Corp labs). Stock up on healing items and get all the equipment you
found in the Industrial Area identified. Then, if you have some spare
change, check out the weapon shop for some good upgrades. When you're
ready to leave, walk over to the far side of town, past the weapon shop,
to reach the entrance to the Old Trade Sector.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

VIII. Old Trade Sector

Upon reaching the old Borough, there will be an SOL scene. Afterwards,
head left over the broken path and down the stairs there.

Old Trade Sector A (-840.0m)

First, go through the door in front of you to emerge in an area overrun
with enemies called Zombies. No matter how many times you defeat the
Zombies in battle, they will not go away until you kill their host, the
Brokenheart. The Brokenhearts are the little green ghosts floating
around. In battle, you'll find these guys to be extremely evasive.
However, using ice spells on them freezes them solid, allowing you to
easily beat them with Ryu and Lin's attacks. As you go about hunting
Brokenhearts, you may also find some Worm-Men in the east and west
areas. Be sure to use their poor movement to your advantage. Also keep
your party spread out to keep damage from their Circle Stage attack to a
minimum. That's it for the enemy run down for this first area. So, from
the beginning, head north and go through the doorway on the left at the
end of the room. Walk south and get the item from the red box at the
southwest end of this area. Now, return to the beginning again and go
through the doorway just to the right. Make you way around the shelves
in this area and go through the eastern door.

Walk east across this next hallway and you may run into a small group of
Brokenhearts near a junction in the path. Eliminate them with a
combination of Nina's ice spells and Ryu's physical attacks. Head north
at the junction and go through the door at the end of the hallway. Walk
up into the open part of this room to find more Zombies and
Brokenhearts. Also, make sure you look before rounding the corner,
because there may be a Bandit hanging from the ceiling waiting to ambush
you. Be sure to hunt down all the Brokenhearts in here before continuing
through the door to the west. The next room is large and cluttered with
shelves. You can find many different enemies lurking round amongst the
shelves including Worm-Men, Zombies, Brokenhearts, and even some
Bandits. Do what you will with the other foes, but make sure you defeat
all the Brokenhearts before continuing. In the small sub-room at the
north end of the room you'll find some Rustphages, as well as the
treasure chest for this floor. The Rustphages should be simple to defeat
at this point, just don't let them ambush you. Continue through the door
at the west end of the room to emerge in a room containing more Zombies
and Brokenhearts. Dodge the Zombies and eliminate the all Brokenhearts
to get a message saying the treasure key has appeared. Return to the
previous room and go inside the sub-room to the north. Pick up the
treasure key in here and get the much needed Backpack from the chest in
this room. Go back to the room you where just in and go through the door
to the southwest. This corridor contains some more Worm-Men, as well as
a few Rustphages. Kill them and climb down the ladder to the south.

Old Trade Sector In (-850.0m)

The In is a small network of corridors that's not too hard to navigate
once you've got the entire floor revealed on your map. Since the enemy
patterns are a little more random than usual, just please refer to the
following enemy synopsis for a run down on how to fight the enemies in
this area. You're bound to see some of the same old monsters such as
Zombies and Brokenhearts, but you may also encounter a few old enemies
and a new one as well. One old foe you may encounter is the Kanaphage.
Remember to defeat them with as few hits as possible to get some big
zenny. You may even be able to beat them in one hit with a Spiritcharge
Deathbringer combo from Ryu. Be sure to check around corners as you turn
them so you won't get ambushed by Petrophages. It may be more difficult
in these narrow hallways, but still attempt to defeat them outside of
battle. If you can't, then use fire attacks on them in battle. The new
enemy you're certain to meet sooner or later is the Trilizard. These
guys are both tough and annoying because their elemental weaknesses
change every turn. However, since the Trilizard is most likely to go
first (yes, even before Nina, scary huh?), you can determine their
elemental weakness depending on what attack they use. For example, if it
uses Flare, then hit it with ice magic that turn (Note- It's weakness is
always electric during the extra turn).

Now, exit this small room and head north in this next hall. Fight off
any enemies that may be around here and head right at the junction.
Continue east and go through the door at the end of the hallway. Keep
going east until you reach another fork in the path. Head south from
here and climb up the ladder at the end of the path. Get the item from
the red box in this small area and then go back down the ladder. Walk
back to the fork in the path and head north. Go through the door at the
end of the path and ascend the ladder at the end of the next hallway.

Old Trade Sector B (-840.0m)

Leave this small room and head south to find some Brokenhearts hanging
out at the south end of the hall. Defeat them and continue through the
door to the west. This room contains a few Worm-Men, as well as some
Petrophages hiding amidst the shelves. Unless you've found the Worm-Men
to be extremely easy to cope with so far, I'd suggest you split them up
and fight them individually. Just keep a careful eye out for the
Pertophages, as they can cheaply charge at you right through the
shelves. Once you defeat all the Worm-Men in here, pick up the treasure
key they drop and get Circle Stage from the chest. Now, return to Old
Trade Sector In and pass through this hallway going south. Head west at
the junction and go back through the door to the west. Turn right and go
through the door to the north. Take this hallway north and then west to
another junction. If you haven't encountered a Trilizard yet, you'll
probably find one around here. Once you're done here, continue up the
ladder to the northwest. Exit this small room and head south. Fight the
Brokenhearts hanging around near the puddle of water at the south end of
the hallway if they're there. Go east from the junction and go through
the door there. Continue to the east, and then north to reach a big door
leading to Trinity's headquarters.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IX. Trinity Pit

Upon your arrival at Trinity's headquarters, Nina is in bad shape, and
so Lin calls for help. Once the situation is under control, Lin suggests
that Ryu take a look around while she keeps an eye on Nina. So after
regaining control of Ryu, go explore the base. The layout of the base is
somewhat confusing, so make sure you take some time to familiarize
yourself with the place. Go into the office near where the three Trinity
soldiers are having a briefing to meet Mebeth, Trinity's leader. After
having a chat with him about Nina, there will be an SOL scene. Now, you
have two options of what to do next. You can either continue on with the
game, or you can do a fairly long side quest with just Ryu and Lin in
your party. Before you decide on what to do, you should know that you'll
mostly be fighting a combination of enemies native to the Old Trade
Sector, as well as some foes you fought back a while ago. It might be a
little difficult without Nina in your party, but you will get quite a
few good items out of this, among them is an excellent skill for Ryu.
Even if this is your first game, I'd highly recommend that you do this
side quest. To start the side quest, go talk to Lin and get her back in
your party. Then climb down the ladder near the room where you can
choose to rest (Note- If you want to do the side quest, do NOT rest
until it's finished).

Old Trade Sector 2 (-860.0m)

Leave the ladder room and pass through this next hallway. In these
initial halls you'll probably encounter some Aggrossers hanging from the
ceiling. These guys should be easy enough to defeat, as you fought them
way back at the Frozen Road. However, in the next area, you'll face some
much tougher enemies. Among them is a new genic called the Gigantis,
which looks just like the Cyclops boss you fought at the very beginning
of the game. Just hack away at them normally in battle and heal after
their potentially high damaging attacks. Also, make sure not to get too
close to them on the field, or they will charge at you with great speed.
Other than that, you'll encounter some more old friends in this area
including some Worm-Men and Gars (whom you also battled back at the
Frozen Road). The Gars shouldn't give you any trouble, but be sure to
divide and conquer the Worm-Men. Once you've dealt with all the
monsters, head east in this room. Go south down the hallway at the east
end of the room and climb down the ladder at the end.

Old Trade Sector C (-870.0m)

First off, you'll be fighting a lot of Brokenhearts in the side
corridors of both sectors C and D. Since the enemy patterns are chosen
at random, it may be hard to say where exactly they will show up. I'll
just indicate where I've known them to be. Without Nina's ice spells,
you may have to take a different approach to fighting these guys. Try
using attacks that favor accuracy, such as Lin's Too slow!!. Ryu's Third
Eye skill followed up by a good level 3 attack like Roundsaber or
Deathbringer works beautifully in this situation. Now, from the ladder,
head up this next hallway and turn left at the junction. Go through the
door at the end of the path and pick up all the items in this area.
Return to the junction in the previous hallway and go through the door
to the north. Fight the Brokenhearts in this next hall and make a left
at the junction. In the next room, you'll find a bunch of Petrophages, a
Wonder Box, and probably a few Zombies lurking around. Remember, the
best way to eliminate the Petrophages is to run in front of them so that
they'll charge and hit a wall, allowing you to kill them outside of
battle. The Zombies aren't very hard to dodge due to their ridiculously
slow gate, but be careful not to accidentally run into them while you're
trying to exterminate the Petrophages. The Wonder Box is easy enough to
beat as well. Just deal as much damage as you can, then let it kill
itself to hopefully get a good item, such as a Gold XP. Once you're done
in here, go back to the junction in the hallway outside. Head north and
descend the ladder at the end of the path.

Old Trade Sector D (-880.0m)

Exit this small room and head up this next hallway. Go left at the
junction and go through the door at the end of the hall. You'll now be
in a fairly wide hall. There's a flock of Aggrossers flying around in
the middle of this area, and a Gigantis on either side of the
Aggressors. Draw the Aggrossers in with Fresh Meat and kill them in
large groups with spread attacks. Then, go after the two Gigantis.
Remember to keep on your toes, because they'll charge at you with a lot
of speed if they see you. Pick up the treasure key that they drop and
get Discharge from the chest to the north. Continue through the big door
to the south and climb up the stairs.

Old Trade Sector C (-870.0m) *Central Area*

Go through the door in front of you and pick up the items lying around
in the small area just to the west. Continue to the south and go through
the door at the end of the room. Retrieve all the items in the area to
the west and return to where you found Discharge back in Old Trade
Sector D. Go back into the hallway to the far east and go through the
door to the north of the junction. Pick up any items in this area and
then hike all the way back to Old Trade Sector 2.

Old Trade Sector 2 (-860.0m) *Continued*

Exit this small ladder room and head up this path back into the open
portion of this area. Walk left and go through the door to the north in
the middle of this room to emerge in a big network of hallways, much
like the Old Trade Sector In. You won't run into too many enemies while
roaming these halls, but be sure to peek around corners to avoid getting
ambushed by some Gars or maybe even a Gigantis. Moving on, run up this
hallway and make a right at the junction. Follow this path all the way
to a red box. Pick up the item it holds and return to the intersection
you were just at. Head west from there and go through the door to the
north. Continue to the east at the next junction and go through the door
at the end of this path. Head left in this next hallway and climb down
the ladder to the north.

Old Trade Sector D (-880.0m) *Northern Area*

Go south down this next hallway and then head west. Open the door at the
end of th path to emerge in a danger room overrun with Gars. There are
two groups of them. One group is made up of a few Gar Pikes and a big
Gar Sniper, and the other consists of a couple Gar Snipers lead by a big
Gar Pike. Without Nina's spells, you won't be able to exploit their
weakness to electricity, unless you have an electric based weapon.
However, you should be able to take them on anyway without too much
trouble. For big experience, bunch them up with Fresh Meat and defeat
them quickly with your best spread attacks, such as Roundsaber, Violet
Death, X Blade, or Blow up!. Once you clear the danger room, there will
be an SOL scene. Now, return to Old Trade Sector 2. Head south from the
ladder room and continue west at the intersection. Go through the next
door and head north at the next junction. Climb down the ladder at the
end of the path to emerge back in sector D. Leave this small room and
head south to a junction. Pick up any items in the hall to the east and
continue through the door to the south. Keep going south, making sure to
get any items that may be in the dead end hall to the east of the next
junction. Then, continue up the ladder at the south end of the hallway.

Old Trade Sector C (-870.0m) *Continued*

Head south from the small ladder room and fight any Brokenhearts that
may be hanging around in this hallway. Continue east at the intersection
and go through the door there. To win the key for the treasure chest in
this room, you'll have to do battle with four Worm-Men. Unless they've
been really easy to beat so far, you should probably stick to fighting
them one at a time, as multiple unanswered Circle Stages from them could
mean trouble. They'll probably start out in a neat little line, so to
divide them, throw some food off to the side of the group so that it's
just close enough to get the attention of the Worm-Man on the end. It
also helps if Ryu initiates the battle, because Lin is usually capable
of bringing distant enemies into the fray. After you've beaten them all,
pick up the treasure key they drop. Grab Enfeeble from the chest and
return, once again, to Old Trade Sector 2. When you get there, exit the
ladder room and head west at the junction to the south. Get the Save
Token from the red box at the end of this path and then return to
Trinity's base.

Take care of any unfinished business, such as stocking up on healing
items, when you return to the base before you rest. Once you're ready to
move on, go inside the room near where you entered the Old Trade Sector
side quest and then talk to the guy sitting at the desk to rest. During
your little break, Ryu ponders upon his dragon powers, wondering why he
was chosen to have such power. But then, a sudden yelp from Nina
interrupts Ryu and Lin's conversation. It turns out that some Trinity
soldiers are trying to attack Nina, so now it's time to come to the
rescue!

Boss fight: Trinity Attack
HP: Trinity!?- 800, Trinity??- 700, Servu- 600, Trinity!!- 800
XP- 2841
Items- Heavy Suit+3, 600z, Magic Wand+4, 650z, Slave Clothes+6, 1000z,
Ruby Maser+3, Legwarmers
Recommended level- 21
Notes- Overall, this fight isn't too bad, but it can prove difficult at
first. Unlike in previous boss fights, you now have victory conditions
that you must meet in order to win the fight. In this case, it's too
keep Nina alive at all costs. If Nina gets knocked out, you'll
automatically lose. She starts the fight surrounded by a Trinity fighter
(!?) and a Trinity mage (??) with the Silence status condition. First
off, cure her Silence with a Multimed and then have her get as far away
from the Trinity fighter as possible. It's highly unlikely that you'll
be able to get her out of range of the mage's Iceblast attack, but Nina
should be able to survive it. While Nina is fleeing, have Ryu and Lin
run up and intercept the two Trinity members. Have them both gang up on
the fighter to kill him quickly, as his attack combinations can spell
death to Nina in a single turn. Once he's dead, the mage can easily be
taken care of. He'll target Nina with Iceblast every turn, but as long
as you heal Nina after each of his blasts, she shouldn't ever run the
risk of dying. As Ryu and Lin attack, Nina should continue to make her
way into the corner near the door where Ryu and Lin came in. Once you've
killed off those guys, two more will come to attack you. Fortunately,
they start off very far away from you, giving you a turn or two to
prepare for their arrival. If you like, have Nina place a trap or two
out in front of the doorway in the outer hall where your assailants will
be coming from. Then, plant either Ryu or Lin right in the middle of the
doorway, so that if one of those guys get can inside the room where Nina
is, it'll have to be over their dead body, literally. Although Servu can
use Flare to attack Nina from a long range, it doesn't do too much
damage. When you've gotten everybody set up, just stand and wait for
them to come. Ryu should stick to his most power level 3 skills, unless
there's already a good combo that you're comfortable with. Blow up! and
Let's dance! are Lin's best bet here. Just make sure to keep Ryu and Lin
healed as much as possible, as they are your line of defense for Nina,
and a combined effort from these two Trinity goons can cause a hefty
amount of damage. And just so she's not sitting back letting Ryu and Lin
do all the work, have Nina carry out hit and run magic attacks whenever
she's got two full AP gauges. Since you're dealing with multiple
enemies, using D-Dive here can potentially add a lot of unwanted points
to your D-Counter. I'd suggest not using it at all, but if you must,
simply use it to eliminate the two initial soldiers.

Afterwards, Mebeth steps in and confesses that he ordered this attack.
It turns out that he did it to try to make Ryu think that the rangers
were responsible, so that Ryu would join Trinity's fight against the
government. Somewhat disgusted with Mebeth's actions, Ryu and company
stick to their decision to find the sky. Surprisingly though, Mebeth
accepts this and gives you the M-Key, which you need in order to unlock
the mystery to the sky. Now, it's time to head onward. Go get plenty of
healing items and other supplies that you may need from the local shop
and maybe even make a save on the Telecorder in the base if you haven't
updated your hard save file in a while. When you're ready to go, ride up
the elevator near where Mebeth is standing to reach the Lifeline.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

X. Lifeline

Lifeline Low Sector (-800.0m)

Head west from the elevator across this first hallway and go through the
automatic door to the south. Continue west and go through the automatic
door to the north at the end of this path to find yourself facing some
Bandits or a few Gigantis genics. You've dealt with Bandits before, and
they should be quite east to defeat, but if you didn't do the side quest
back at the Trinity Pit, this will be your first encounter with the
Gigantis. Be careful approaching these guys, as they'll charge at you
very quickly if they see you. Their fighting style is very much like
that of the Cyclops, the first boss you fought. They like to attack at
close range, and if they can't get into attacking distance, they'll
power up with Spiritcharge. You can either defeat them the slow way by
using hit and run tactics, or you can just hack away from up close and
take the hits the Gigantis dishes out. If you're fighting Bandits
instead of Gigantis, then you'll meet a much tougher thief called the
Shadowplayer at the end of the hallway. The Shadowplayer is fast and
likes to use status changes on your party, especially Blindness and
Poison. If you can drag a Bandit into the fight along with the
Shadowplayer, it'll use Command on you instead of attacking. However, if
you faced Gigantis in the hallway, you'll encounter a couple of those
annoying Trilizards at the end of the hall. Remember that their
elemental weaknesses change each turn, so watch what attacks they use to
determine their weakness. Their weakness during the extra turn is always
electricity. After clearing all the enemies around here, pick up any
items lying around at the north end of the hallway and open the D-Ratio
door to the left.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
D-Ratio Area

This broken down elevator shaft is the game's smallest D-Ratio area. In
here you'll find either four more Trilizards, or four DeVogues. Due to
their slow gate, the Trilizards should be easy to divide up, but the
DeVogues will charge at you as soon as you enter the room. The DeVogues
aren't too difficult to beat, just lay into them with Ryu's physical
attacks and Nina's level 2 spells. For the Trilizards, just exploit
their elemental weaknesses, but remember that they change every turn.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Now, go back to the area to the south and head east. Go through the door
at the east end of this room and get the Save Token from the red box
just ahead. Continue to the west and go through the first automatic door
on the south side of this room. Go through the door at the end of this
path to emerge in a small room containing four DeVogues lead by a
Gigantis. If you get too close to them, they'll all charge at once.
Unless you're very confident in your abilities, I wouldn't suggest
taking on all five of these guys at once. To separate them, approach the
group from the side so that they'll charge you one at a time. Each of
these guys by themselves shouldn't be too hard to beat, but don't take
the Gigantis lightly. Once you kill the Gigantis, pick up the treasure
key that appears and return to the previous room. Get That's It! from
the chest in the middle of this area. Chances are you've already noticed
the big band of thieves standing around in this area. All of them are
Bandits except for one Shadowplayer. Once again, try to initiate the
fight with the Shadowplayer with at least one Bandit in the mix so that
he'll waste his turns telling the Bandits what to do instead of
attacking your party. Then, focus all of your attacks on the
Shadowplayer. Get all the items from the dead end hallway to the south
and continue by riding the elevator to the west (Note- There's a D-Ratio
door that leads to a path that runs parallel to the normal route. I'll
go through the normal path first and then the D-Ratio path).

Lifeline Mid East (-760.0m)

After leaving the elevator shaft, grab any items along this next path
and continue through the door to the west. Head west in this next room
and double back around the big pipe running down the center of this room
to find some Hychees and Odd Hychees hanging from the ceiling. Turn them
into healing items and proceed into the next room. At the west end of
this room, you'll encounter a barricade of Trilizards, along with a
DeVogue, blocking the next door. You're going to have to fight your way
through them, because they're so close to the door that you can't even
D-Dash past them. To make these fights easier, approach the group slowly
so that they'll come after you one at a time, because fighting a group
this big can prove deadly if you're not careful. Get rid of the DeVogue
first and then take out the Trilizards one by one. Again, let Nina get
the extra turn so she can hit them with Lightning to deal some major
damage. And always keep in mind that their element changes each turn.
When you defeat them all, continue through the door they were guarding
and pass through this short hallway.

Lifeline Mid West (-760.0m)

Go through this next short hallway. In this next room, there will be a
couple of Goo Prisms lurking around. Since they constantly stay
invisible on the field, initiate the battle by having Lin target them
and then kill them easily using Nina's magic, any element will do. At
the far end of the hall you'll find a Wonder Box shuffling around
aimlessly. Do as much damage to it as possible without killing it and
them let it kill itself to get a good item like a Gold XP. Now, go
through the next door. There are three Gigantis lined up on the left
side of this next room. If you really don't want to fight them, you can
actually get by them if you hug the right side of the hall as you walk
by. Otherwise, divide them up and fight them individually by approaching
them slowly. Have Ryu slice away with his best level 3 skills or
whatever combos that work best for you, while Lin and Nina strike from a
distance. Then, head inside the next room. Get all he items lying around
in here and ride the elevator to the west.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
D-Ratio Area

Pick up all the items in this first hallway and head through the door to
the west. You may be pounced upon by some Bandits as soon as you enter
this room, but you should still be able to get the extra turn as long as
you're paying attenion. Once you're done with them, go take care of the
Bandits and another Shadowplayer at the far end of the room. Remember,
the Shadowplayer is less aggressive when there are Bandits around during
the fight. Now, continue through the next door. In this room you'll find
a large group of Trilizards hanging around at the far end of the room.
If you want some big experience at the cost of a tougher fight, group as
many of them together as you can with Fresh Meat and have Nina initiate
the battle, so you can start dealing some big damage with Lightning or
Valhalla. If the Trilizards are still a pain at this point, then just
divide and conquer. When they're done for, proceed through the next door
and pass through the next two short hallways.

Get all the items in the small room to the far west and continue through
the door in the middle of this room. Be careful making your way into
this next hallway, because there is a Gigantis standing on either side
of the intersection. Use you camera angles to look around the corner, so
you can then quickly run out and start the battle before they get a
chance to charge at you. Kill both of them and grab any items there may
be at the east end of the hallway. Go through the door at the west end
of the hallway to enter a small room containing a Goo Crystal. Like Goo
Prisms, the Goo Crystal cloaks itself on the field, so use Lin to target
it. Physical and shot attacks do miniscule damage to the Goo Crystal, so
rely on level 2 spells from Nina to do the most damage. Also, make sure
to keep your party spread out, as the Goo Crystal likes to attack you
with Expand, as well as a full arsenal of level 2 spells. Once it's
dead, pick up the treasure key it drops and head through the automatic
door to the west. Now, you can either go inside the small room to the
south to fight a couple of Trilizards and a Cerebus for some extra
experience (and perhaps a 7th Sense as well), or you can continue
through the door to the west. Once you decide to move on, pass through
this next hallway and get the Slapper+3 from the chest at the east end
of this room. Then, ride up the elevator to the west.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Lifeline Top East (-720.0m)

Regardless of whether you came from the D-Ratio path or the normal path,
leave the elevator shaft and pass through this next hallway. At the
north end of of this next area you'll find another band of Bandits led
by a Shadowplayer. Defeat them as you have throughout the entire mission
and pick up the treasure key that the Shadowplayer drops. Now, go
through the door at the south end of this room and get all the items
from the boxes in the area to the east. Behind the big line of boxes
you'll run into some worm-like creatures that look just like Hychees.
These guys are called Bon Appetits, and unlike the Hychees, they can't
be defeated on the field. However, they are easily eliminated in battle
with Nina's magic. Pick up all the Aid Kits they drop and head through
the door to the west. Pass through this next hallway. Take caution going
into the next hallway, because there are two Gigantis lurking around
waiting to ambush you. Peek around the corner using you camera angles to
spot the Gigantis before they spot you. Once you defeat them, head over
to the far end of this area to find some more Bon Appetits and a few
Sebons, or big versions of the Bon Appetits. They are also easily killed
with magic.

Now, return to where you got the treasure key and continue through the
door to the north. Get all the items from the boxes lined up in the dead
end hallway to the east. You'll probably notice that there's a monster
behind the boxes that looks like a black Trilizard. This is the Cerebus,
a much weaker three headed creature. Just use Nina's ice spells and
Ryu's sword skills to beat it without much difficulty. These guys
usually drop a 7th Sense so be sure to pick it up after the fight. Then,
proceed through the door to the west. Follow this next path and go
through the door at the end. Go through the southeastern door in this
room and get How's That? from the chest in here. Return to the previous
room and go through the door to the west to reach the Top Sector
Junction. As you enter the junction, you'll find that Bosch has been
waiting for you. As he turns and reveals himself, you'll see that Bosch
has gone through a transformation by grafting a D-Construct arm to
himself, for the sole purpose of taking you down. Get ready for round
two against Bosch!

Boss fight: Rebuilt Bosch
HP: 2000
XP- 9000
Items- Thrust, Mega Panacea
Recommended level- 24
Notes- This could very well be the toughest fight yet. Bosch comes into
this fight packing his trademark Twin Wake attack, and now it does more
damage than ever. He has some new tricks up his sleeve as well. His
Kirin Flight attack can be devastating if your characters are standing
too close together, and Dragonslayer is a high damaging attack that can
even penetrate your mighty dragon form. If Bosch's new arsenal of
powerful skills wasn't enough, he also regenerates a good amount of HP
every turn. Fortunately, as Bosch's HP gets lower, he won't regenerate
as much, however, he does get more dangerous as his HP decreases. Since
Bosch can strike multiple targets in a line, make sure to keep your
party spread out. He'll exclusively attack Ryu unless Lin or Nina attack
him directly, so use this to your advantage and equip Ryu with the skill
Discharge. As long as you have plenty of healing items, especially Aid
Kits and Tonics, you should be able to pull off a victory without
resorting to D-Dive. During the first round have Lin and Nina spread out
away from Ryu, while Ryu just sits back and waits for Bosch to walk
right up to him, building up two full AP guages in the process. Then,
unleash all of his AP during the next turn in the form of your best
skills and combos. Don't use Discharge just yet, because it's best to
wait until Ryu has taken more punishment. To maximize the damage you
deal with this assault, use a Power Boost or 7th Sense on Ryu for this
turn. You should deal more than enough damage to override Bosch's HP
regeneration. Now, just attack with all of you AP each turn, as opposed
to building up two AP gauges. As long as Ryu's attacks are consistently
outdoing Bosch's HP regeneration and your healing items are holding up
well, then refrain from having Lin or Nina attack so that Ryu can
continue to build up damage for Discharge. But if Ryu just isn't doing
enough on his own, feel free to have Lin and Nina help him out. Once
Bosch starts going out of control, it's time to end the battle as
quickly as possible. Lin and Nina should begin attacking with everything
they have if they haven't begun attacking already. Ryu should continue
to attack in biggest, most powerful combos you can muster, but now he
should throw Discharge into the mix to deal some insane damage. If you
find Bosch to be just too much for you, or you run out of healing items,
there's no shame in employing D-Dive in this battle. Two D-Charges and a
Twister should do him in.

Even after being defeated, Bosch still refuses to give up. But suddenly
his D-arm goes out of control, causing him to fall off the junction
platform. Despite Ryu's efforts to help him, Bosch disappears into the
abyss below. While your party is leaving the junction, a voice calls out
to Bosch down below, and his D-Construct arm drives itself right through
his neck. Following an SOL scene, you're now faced with a decision. You
can either continue up the elevator to the northwest to reach the next
town, or you can take on the game's final D-Ratio area, which is a five
floor side dungeon. You have to have a pretty good D-Ratio to get in
(1/256 I believe), so if this is your first game, just ignore this
place. Along with some good items, you'll also get a nice preview of the
tough enemies you'll be up against if you ever decide to venture into
the Kokon Horay dungeon. If your D-Ratio is high enough, I'd highly
suggest going in, but if the fight with Bosch wore you out, you can go
get some healing items from the next town beforehand. When you're ready
to move on, go through the door to the southwest and ride the elevator
there. Exit the elevator shaft and go through the door to the south.
Head through the automatic door at the south end of this next room and
continue through the automatic door to the northeast. Pass through this
next room and go through the D-Ratio door at the end of the path.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
D-Ratio Area

Ride the elevator in here up to reach the first floor of the Main Shaft
dungeon. Leave the elevator shaft and pass through this small room. Take
this path east until you reach a fork, where you'll find a bunch of
white Hychee-looking creatures squirming around. These guys are exactly
like Hychees, except they drop Med Kits instead of Heal Kits. So, turn
them all into Med Kits (believe me, you'll need them) and go through the
door to the southeast. Follow the catwalk in this next room and you'll
run into a bunch of little ghosts that look like red Brokenhearts. These
guys are called Crushedhearts. Like their green cousins, they are quite
evasive, so use high accuracy attacks like Ryu's Third Eye. Nina's
electric spells also seem to work pretty well against them. If you're
fighting them in groups, make sure you try to defeat them all at the
same time, because if a Crushedheart witnesses the death of a friend,
it'll use the potentially deadly Twin Strike. Make your way around the
shaft in the middle of this area and you may run into some of this
dungeon's toughest foes, the Duke Knights. The Duke Knights have a
special armor (just like that of a Duke Battler's) where you can only
break it by hitting them with several physical attacks. Not only that,
but their attacks do 100+ damage. Definitey divide and conquer these
guys. Fighting more than two Duke Knights at once can prove foolish if
you're not up to it. Spread out and surround the Duke Knight, as they
can use a spread attack. Have Ryu go in and hit it with as many level 1
attacks as his AP will allow. Then have Lin follow up with some level 1
shot attacks. You'll need to hit the Duke Knight around 15 times before
its armor breaks. Once its armor cracks, run in and kill it. After
you're done fighting in here, keep following the catwalk going east.
Then ride up the elevator at the end of the path.

Follow the catwalk going south from the elevator shaft all the way to a
red box containing a Save Token on the west side of this room. Head
around the big post here and you'll encounter a flock of Ebonfires led
by a new enemy, the Mahadevan. Like their relative the Baphomet, the
Mahadevan regenerates a good amount of HP every turn. Electric attacks
are most effective against it, so use spells like Lightning and
Valhalla. Shot attacks work well here also, so have Lin use her most
powerful skills like Shatter!. For the most part, it's attacks aren't
too devastating, however, if there aren't any Ebonfires around, the
Mahadevan will nail you Blizzard. So, defeat the Mahadevan and then take
out the Ebonfires with ice magic and shot attacks. Pick up the treasure
key the Mahadevan drops and continue through the door to the west.
Around the next big post in here you'll find some more Crushedhearts and
maybe a few Duke Knights at the far end of the area guarding the
treasure chest. There's also a Goo Crystal roaming the catwalk around
the big post, so don't let it surprise you. It really helps if you have
the Tracker item so you can see invisible enemies on the map. Remember,
magic works best against them. Fight off the rest of the enemies as you
have done before and get the Backpack from the chest at the north end of
the room. Then, proceed by riding th elevator to the southwest.

Along this next path you'll find both old and new foes. There's probably
a Kanaphage or two running around in this area, so hunt them down to get
some extra zenny. Remember to kill them in as few hits as possible to
get the most money from them. On the square platform in the middle of
the path you'll enounter a few creatures that look like dark Worm-Men.
These are Nerve-Men, and they're very similar to their relatives the
Worm-Men, except their attacks do a lot more damage and it takes longer
to bring them down. Stay spread out while fighting them, because their
Circle Stage attack does a good amount of damage. Ryu should attack up
close while Nina uses spells from a distance. If Lin has Shatter!, get
up close and blow them away with it. Unless you're a fine tuned veteran
at the game, don't try fighting too many of these guys at once. Once
you're done with them, continue through the door to the east and take
this next catwalk up to the north end of the room. Here you'll see a
bunch of insect-looking creatures hovering around called Buzz Militants.
These guys are pretty easy to beat if you distract them with meat and
get the extra turn. Pound away with spread attacks during the extra turn
if you're fighting a group of them, and then have Nina follow up with
Lightning. You may also find a few Worm-Men around here as well, but
compared to the Nerve-Men, these guys should be no problem. Go through
the door to the west to emerge on a short path leading up to this
floor's treasure chest. As you approach the chest, a towering Nerve-Man
will stand before you. Don't let its size scare you, because this
goliath Nerve-Man is no stronger than the ones you previously fought.
Pick up the treasure key it drops after you defeat it and get Reversal
from the chest. Return to the previous room and you'll find that not
only have more Buzz Militants appeared, but there's also a giant version
of the Kanaphage called the Kanaphage DX sitting in the middle of the
path. The Kanaphage DX is a fast and powerful foe who's not to be taken
lighly. Its hit and run attacks with Inferno can be devastating, so try
to take it down as fast as possible. Have Lin use Shatter! while Ryu
uses Spiritcharge followed up by your strongest level 3 attack. However,
if you don't mind adding a few points to your D-Counter, you can D-Dive,
and then use one D-Charge and a Twister to kill the Kanaphage DX in one
hit and get the most zenny out of it. Once you're done here, ride the
elevator at the east end of this area.

Exit the elevator shaft and head over to the west end of this area,
where you'll find three doors and another flock of Ebonfires headed by a
Mahadevan. Remember to take down the Mahadevan first with Nina's
electric spells and Lin's shot attacks and then go after the Ebonfires
to avoid getting hit by powerful spells, such as Blizzard. Beat them all
and proceed through the middle door at the west end of this room. Along
with a bunch of Crushedhearts scattered about this area, you'll find
three Duke Knights hanging around near the large shafts. You'll have to
beat them all in order to win the final treasure key for this D-Ratio
dungeon. Unless you're very confident in your abilities, avoid fighting
more than one or two of these guys at a time. Fortunately, Duke Knights
are quite easy to split up, especially if you have some kind of food to
lure them with. Hack away at them with level 1 attacks until you've hit
them about 10-15 times. Then when the Duke Knight's armor cracks, run in
and kill it quickly. Also make sure to keep your party in a fairly wide
formation to avoid mass damage from their Spread attack. Once you kill
them all, pick up the treasure key they drop. Collect Kidding! from the
chest in the middle of this area and return to the previous room. Go
through the northwestern door and ride the elevator at the end of this
next path.

The last obstacle you'll face in this dungeon is a line a several Nerve-
Men blocking this next catwalk. Since there's no treasure key to get
here, you can either fight through them all for some experience, or you
can D-Dash through them all, which will only cost less than a percent
towards your D-Counter. After you get past them, go through the door to
the east. Head north at the fork in this next path and get the Save
Token from the box in the middle of the path. Continue through the door
at the east end of the room and ride the elevator there. Following an
SOL scene, exit the elevator shaft and walk north in this next area to
reach the Top Sector.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Top Sector Borough (-680.0m)

This is the last town in the game, so make sure you come out of here
fully prepared. You'll find everything you need here: item and weapon
shops with excellent wares, a locker girl, a Telecorder, and even a
fairy who's hanging out at the top end of town. Stock up on plenty of
healing items and maybe even buy some better equipment if your budget
allows it. The layout of the town may be confusing at first, but once
you have a look around you'll be able to figure it out. The only really
tricky thing is reaching the weapon shop. To get there, go through the
passageway near where the two people are talking and make your way down
the little hallway to the right to reach it. Once you're ready to go,
continue through the small door at the top of town (just left of where
the fairy is) to reach the Top Sector power plant.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

XI. Power One

Power One 1F (-660.0m)

Pass through this first small room to emerge in a large room crawling
with speedy Skeleton monsters. The Skeletons will charge at you with
incredible speed if they catch sight of you, however, they are incapable
of changing direction. To dodge them, simply take a few steps out of the
way as they're coming towards you. Like the Zombies back in the Old
Trade Sector, the Skeletons will not go away until their host has been
killed. In this case, their host is the tiny Karon, who likes to hang
out either in the northwest corner of the room, or along the catwalk to
the south. Don't let the Karon's size fool you. With attacks like Pre-
Primus and Death, and the ability to regenerate HP, the Karon is a force
to be reconed with. It's weak against flame attacks, so have Nina use
attacks like Flare and Fireblast while Ryu hacks away with his best
combos. However, if you have purchased Nina's Holy Heart weapon from the
fairy colony, you can use its Kyrie skill to kill these guys in one hit.
After you defeat the Karon, pick up the treasure key that appears at the
northwest end of this room. Continue across the catwalk at the south end
of the room where you'll find a bunch of little red ghosts called
Crushedhearts. Like their green look-a-likes the Brokenhearts, these
guys are quites evasive towards physical and shot attacks, so use
accuracy skills like Ryu's Third Eye and Lin's Too slow!!. Also, Nina's
electric spells are very effective against them. If you fight them in
groups, make sure you try to kill them all at once, because if one of
them dies, the others will use Twin Strike on you, which does damage
equal to their remaining HP. Once you're done here, go through the door
at the southeast end of this area.

Right when you enter this room, get the Backpack from the chest just to
the north and go through the door in the northwest corner of this area.
Pick up all the items along this dead end path and return to the
previous room. At the east end of this room you'll find a large family
of Nugget-type genics hanging out between two automatic doors. Although
you don't have to fight them, you should for the experience. The little
Nuggets and Mama Nugget shouldn't cause you any difficulty, but now
there's a Papa Nugget in the mix, who's quite a formidable foe. Not only
is he really fast, but his attacks are powerful and he has a lot of HP.
Fire is the most effective element to use here, so employ Nina's best
fire based spells while Ryu and Lin chip away with their most powerful
skills. Just don't use electric attacks, as it makes them stronger. When
you're done with them, you can continue by taking either the northern
path, which leads to the second floor, or the southern path, which leads
to the third floor. Whichever you choose, you'll eventually end up at
the fourth floor, however, you can go back after taking one path to
explore the other. I'll do the northern path along with the second floor
first, and then the southern path and the third floor.

North Path

Go through the next door in this small room and pass through this next
hall to emerge inside of a danger room full of Skeletons. Among them is
the single Karon you need to defeat to clear the entire room. Dodge the
Skeletons and go after the Karon. Remember, stick to Nina's best fire
spells and Ryu and Lin's best combos to beat it. Once again, having
Nina's Holy Heart weapon will make this fight pathetically easy. After
you clear the danger room, continue through the door to the west and
ride the elevator there.

Power One 2F (-650.0m)

Exit the elevator shaft and pass through this small room. In this area,
and in many other areas as well, you'll find a bunch of machine enemies
roaming around. The blue, four-legged robots are called Karels, who are
very similar to the Capeks you fought back at the Industrial Area.
However, their attacks are much more devastating, so beat them quickly
using a combined effort of Ryu's best combos and Nina's strongest ice
magic. Where there are Karels, you're also bound to find little post-
like robots called Rescue Mechs. As long as there are Karels around, the
Rescue Mechs won't attack you. Instead, they'll assist the Karels by
healing their HP and AP. If you catch them by themselves, they'll hit
you with Lightning. Take this opportunity to steal the Transfer skill
that they carry, as it will prove as a very useful skill in fights to
come. So fight all the Karels and Rescue Mechs in this area and head
through the door to the east. This hallway contains even more Karels and
Rescue Mechs. Be alert right when you enter the room, because the Karels
will charge at you relentlessly if they see you. Fight off all the
robots in here and continue through the next door in the middle of the
west side of this hallway.

Follow this next path to the south end of this room, where you'll find,
yes you guessed it, more Karels and Rescue Mechs. Unlike in the previous
hallway where you had little room to maneuver, here you should have
plenty of room to move around and split these machines up to make the
fighting easier. Just remember to refrain from using electric spells.
Spells like Iceblast are very effective here. When you're done cleaning
up the enemies here, head over to the southwest corner of the room where
you'll find two doors right near each other. Go through the western door
(as opposed to the southern door) to emerge in a hallway containing more
Skeletons, the single Karon host, and maybe a few tiny Crushedhearts
hanging out near all the item boxes in the middle of the hall. Defeat
the Karon to eliminate the Skeleton pests and pick up the treasure key
that appears. Then go after any Crushedhearts there may be in this room.
Remember to use accuracy weighted attacks and Nina's electric spells to
beat them easily. Now, retrieve Divine from the chest at the north end
of this hallway and return to the previous room. Go through the southern
door and pass through this small room to reach the elevator leading to
the fourth floor (Note- Now I'm going to cover the southern path back on
the first floor and then the third floor).

South Path

Pass through this small room and proceed through this next hallway to
enter a danger room. This danger room is home to another Nugget family,
featuring both a Mama and a Papa Nugget. The lesser Nuggets and the Mama
Nugget should be easy to defeat, it's the Papa Nugget you have to worry
about. Fire is the best element to use against him, so have Nina cast
Flare and Fireblast, while Ryu gets up close and uses his best combos.
If there are a lot other Nuggets caught up in the battle as well, have
Lin use long range spread attacks like Blow up! to take care of them
while getting the Papa Nugget caught up in the assault as well. His
attacks can do quite a lot of damage so keep an eye on your HP and heal
when you need to. Once you've cleared this danger room, go through the
door to the west and ride the elevator there.

Power One 3F (-640.0m)

Leave the elevator shaft and pass through the next two rooms. In here
you'll find a plethora of machine enemies. The ones that look like blue
Capeks are called Karels, and the little post-like robots that follow
them around are Rescue Mechs. The Karels like to use long range spread
attacks, so fight them up close using Ryu's best combos and Nina's ice
magic. While the Karels are attacking you, the Rescue Mechs will heal
them. However, once the Karels are out of the picture, they'll start
hitting you with Lightning (Note- You should try to steal Transfer from
the Rescue Mechs, which is a very useful skill for Nina). At the far end
of the hallway, you'll find a huge version of the Karel called the
Proto-Karel. Not only does this guy have a lot more HP than the normal
Karel, but it also can use the nasty Pre-Primus attack if you make it
angry. Regardless, the same tactics work just fine here. Rely on Nina's
Iceblast to do a tremendous amount of damage. Once you defeat it, pick
up the treasure key it drops. Get all the items from the small room to
the north and continue through the door at the southwest end of this
hallway.

Take this next path west and continue going west at the 3-way
intersecton. Go inside the small room at the end of the path to find yet
another group of Nuggets and some Lightning Goos. You should know how to
deal with the Nuggets by now. The Lightning Goos are just big versions
of the Goo Plasma that you fought way back at the Corp Lab. To beat
them, simply use your strongest fire spells to both weaken them and
cause massive damage. Once you've cleared this room of its foes, gather
up any items that may be lying around in here. Return to the
intersection in the previous room and head north. Go through the door at
the end of this path to emerge inside another hallway full of Karels and
Rescue Mechs. The Karels may be lined up along one of the walls, so
approach them carefully, as they tend to charge without warning in this
situation. If you've already done the second floor, this will be your
last chance to steal Transfer from the Rescue Mechs, so if you haven't
gotten it yet, do so now. After you're finished here, head through the
door at the southwest end of this hallway and go inside the small room
to the west to reach the treasure chest containing Crossviper. Go back
inside the northern hallway and ride up the elevator to the west to
reach the fourth floor.

Power One 4F (-630.0m)

The first part of this floor can be difficult, but the path is very
straightforward. No matter which floor you came from, you'll eventually
end up in the same place, which is the eastern room. To get there,
you'll have to make your way through a few hallways. Along the way, you
may run into a Proto-Karel, so defeat it using Nina's best ice magic. In
the latter halls, you're bound to run into some Skeletons. They may be
harder to dodge in these confining halls, so do the best you can. It
helps if you have some extra Fresh Meat or other food traps. Just toss
some meat off to the side right when you enter a room cluttered with
Skeletons, so you can run by while they go after the meat. Once you
reach the eastern room, you'll come face to face with the hosts of all
these Skeletons. Not only are there two Karons, but there are also two
Lesser Karons to deal with as well. While the Lesser Karons don't have
the HP to last very long against you, their attacks are still a threat,
so kill them during the extra turn. Again, you can beat them all quickly
and painlessly if you have Nina's Holy Heart weapon. When they're done
for, continue through the door in the middle of this area. There are two
small groups of Crushedhearts in this next room. For some big party XP,
to can toss some Fresh Meat out into the middle of the intersection to
merge the two groups together. While fighting them, remember to use
accuracy skills along with Nina's electric spells. Ryu's Third Eye
followed up by Roundsaber or Violet Death is a great way to deal huge
damage to multiple Crushedhearts. After you defeat them all, pick up the
treasure key they drop and go collect all the items in the hall to the
south. Continue into the northern room and you'll find a bunch of little
white worms on this next path. These guys are just like Hychees, so
defeat them on the field to turn them into Med Kits. Proceed through the
next door and follow this next path all the way around to the treasure
chest containing Shatter!. Be sure to equip it now. Then ride the
elevator on the west side of the room.

Power One Roof (-620.0m)

Climb up the stairs in this next room to reach the Power One Transport
area at the very top of the power plant. Ascend the next set of stairs
to reach the very top. As you'll learn in this next scene, the portal
ahead leads directly to the Centre, the home of the regents. But
suddenly, someone appears on the transport. One of the regents, who
holds one of the keys that you need, has come from the Centre to
challenge you to a fight. So get ready to fight the regent, Deamoned!

Boss fight: Deamoned
HP: 3800
XP- 16002
Items- Anger, Pump Muscles
Recommended level- 27
Notes- For a regent, this guy isn't all that tough as long as you can
quickly adapt to a new style of fighting. Along with just about every
single boss you'll fight from now on, Deamoned has Absolute Defense,
which is a shield that prevents you from even damaging him until you
break it. You must deal enough damage to get through the Absolute
Defense before you can actually damage his HP bar. In this case,
Deamoned's Absolute Defense rating is around 200, so you must deal 200
damage to his Absolute Defense before his HP will start to drop. Since
this shield regenerates after every string of attacks, the only way to
effectively break through it (outside of dragon form) is to attack in
very lengthy combos. Besides his Absolute Defense, Deamoned isn't all
that scary. He'll use Spiritcharge to power up if he's not in range to
attack and occasionally cast Howling to Bind your party. Besides Multi
Strike, which you've seen before, the only other attacks you really have
to watch out for are Meta Impact and Fatal Strike (or as I like to call
it, Not-so-Fatal Strike, as it reduces your HP to 1). Just make sure to
heal anyone who get its by Fatal Strike with a Med Kit or two. The basic
strategy for beating Absolute Defense bosses is to buld AP for a turn,
then attack in one long combo the next turn. Deamoned starts the battle
a very good distance from your group, so on the first turn, simply stand
there and build AP, letting Deamoned come to you. If you have any stat
boosters, it would be a good idea to use them for your second turn. Now
on your second turn, unleash all the AP you've built up in one huge
combo. Ryu should begin his combo with all of his level 1 skills, then
work up and use all his level 2 skills, and go into his level 3 skills.
This way, by the time you begin using your most powerful attacks, you'll
have a very high bonus damage percentage to boot. Just remember to skip
skills on the lower levels that you can't combo out of, such as
Spiritcharge and Third Eye. If Ryu takes a lot of damage after one of
Deamoned's turns (especially from Fatal Strike) have him throw Discharge
into the combo. Nina should use the same 1,2,3 method (as I like to call
it) as Ryu. Have Lin get as close to Deamoned as she can and use her new
Shatter! skill repeatedly, which should deal huge damage. Afterwards,
just repeat the process of building up AP for a turn and then attacking
the next turn. If you got the Transfer skill for Nina, you can actually
give all of her AP to Ryu or Lin so that they can attack every turn. You
really shouldn't have to move around all that much in this fight,
because if you just stay where you are, Deamoned won't play chase
because he can only attack at close range. And he doesn't really use his
hit-back attack all that much either. Although D-Dive really isn't
necessary in this fight, don't let me stop you if you've got plenty of
leeway on your D-Counter and feel like giving this guy a good dragon
beating. Two (no more than three) D-Charges and a Twister should
suffice.

There will be an SOL scene after the fight. Once it's over, Pick up the
D-Key that Deamoned dropped. Now, if there is any unfinished business
that you need to attend to, do it now. Because once you use that portal
and reach the Centre, there's absolutely no turing back. If you need
healing items, then don't worry, because there is an item shop and a
locker right at the Centre's entrance. So when you're ready to go, step
on the portal and teleport to the game's final confrontation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

XII. The Final Mission

Well congratulations! You've made it to the game's final mission. The
road ahead isn't long, but it certainly isn't going to be easy if you
haven't been conserving your D-Counter up to this point. However, if
your D-Counter is a good deal less than 50%, then this may be the
easiest final mission you've ever faced. There are a total of five
bosses in this mission that you must best in order to beat the game, and
if your D-Counter is low enough, you can simply waste each and every one
of them using your dragon powers. If not, then you have some extremely
tough fights coming up. Regardless, you should buy a very hefty supply
of healing items from the shop in this first room, as the random battles
in the Centre can be considerably hard. If you are low on zenny, now
would be a good time to sell any unwanted equipment that you have in
your weapon locker. So make any last minute preparations in this
entrance hall and continue into the Centre.

Centre 1F (-500.0m)

First off, as you explore the Centre make sure you use your camera
angles to check around corners, behind staircases, and such as there are
a lot of item boxes in discrete locations such as these. Now, head east
along either the north or south paths in this room and go through the
door at the end of the path. In this room, you'll find a bunch of bug-
like creatures called Buzz Militants hovering around in the lower area
in the middle of the room. You can easily get them into tight groups by
tossing some food their way. Then have either Ryu or Nina initiate the
battle from up close. Ryu should use multiple X Blades, while Nina casts
Lighting and Lin uses her strongest spread attacks, like Blow up! from a
distance. You'll want to defeat these guys before they get a chance to
cast Shield, which will greatly reduce the effectiveness of Ryu and
Lin's attacks. If you look around the lower area carefully, you'll spot
a monster that looks like a puddle. This is a Creepstalker, and they
like to disappear when you get too close to them, so initiate the battle
with Lin. Although the Creepstalker is incredibly weak against physical
attacks, it is also incredibly evasive towards them. However, if you use
Nina's ice magic on it, it'll lose its evasiveness making it very easy
to kill. Just watch out though, because once you anger the Creepstalker
it'll cast the devastating Quake spell on you. Once you've defeated the
Creepstalker, pick up the treasure key it drops and continue through the
eastern door (Note- There is a Telecorder in the small room to the west
in case you need to use it).

In here you'll find some Darkstalkers, which are very similar to the
Creepstalker, except they aren't nearly as evasive. This makes them
relatively easy to beat, but don't let them live too long or else
they'll steal from you. After you're done with them, head over to the
small pavilion-like room to the east and get the Backpack from the chest
there. There may be a big Creepstalker sitting in front of the chest,
but it'll vanish as you walk towards it. When you're done here, you have
a big decision to make. In the upper area of the room, there are two
portals that are just like the the one on the Power One roof. Once you
use one of them, there's no going back. The two portals here lead to two
different paths on the second floor, which lead to two different bosses.
It doesn't make too much difference which path you take if you plan on
using D-Dive on the boss, however, the treasure chest items and monsters
are different for each path. If you want to get the easier boss (in my
opinion), then take the northern path. However, I'm putting down the
southern path first.

Centre 2F South (-480.0m)

In this first room, go down the staircase to reach the lower area, where
you'll find a huge, golden, armor clad monster guarding a door. Meet the
Pantagruel, who is capable of using some fearsome magic if you give it
the chance. Not only that, but it also has a little bit of Absolute
Defense, so make sure to attack in long combos. Once you break through
the Pantagruel's Absolute Defense, you'll find that Ryu's physical
attacks will quickly deplete its HP. Magic is ineffective here, so Nina
should transfer all of her AP to Ryu (that is, if you have her Transfer
skill). After you defeat the Pantagruel, go through the door it was
guarding to emerge in a small area with a flock of Ebonfire bats along
with their leader the Mahadevan in the middle of the area. Make sure to
fight the Mahadevan with at least one Ebonfire in the mix, as the
presence of Ebonfires prevents the Mahadevan from using its powerful
Blizzard spell. The Mahadevan is weak against electric attacks, so have
Nina use Lightning, while Lin gets up close and uses Shatter!. Keep in
mind that it regenerates HP, so do as much damage as possible to
override the HP regeneration. Once the Mahadevan is dead, go after the
Ebonfires. Since they are relatively weak, group them all together with
some Fresh Meat and kill them quickly with spread attacks to get some
big party XP. Now, pick up the treasure key the Mahadevan drops and
return to the previous room. Head back up the stairs and continue along
the path going east. On the small balcony on the left side of the path
you'll find an item box that has the Silence status change. This is
really an enemy called the Pandora Box. Although Ryu can possibly defeat
it during his extra turn, it drops different items depending on how many
turns you let it live. Be warned, however, because the Pandora Box can
inflict some major damage to your party if you let it attack. When
you're done here, continue through the door to the east and go through
the automatic door at the end of this next path. Walk north in this room
and go through the door to the northeast. Get the Angel Coat+4 from the
chest here and use the portal to the southeast to reach the third floor.

Centre 3F South (-460.0m)

Exit this small portal room to emerge in a room with a few Rafflesia
hanging around. You fought these guys way back at the Corp Lab, so they
shouldn't give you any trouble. However, you could try powering them up
with magic to increase the amount of XP they give you. When you're done
with them, head up the stair set to find a bunch of Trilizards in this
upper area. Remember to use their elemental weaknesses against them,
keeping in mind that it changes every turn. If you initiate the battle
with Nina, use electric attacks during the extra turn. Continue through
the next door to enter a danger room with three Cerebus inside (Note-
The danger room will only initiate if you defeated all the enemies in
the previous room). These guys are very easy to defeat with Ryu's
physical attacks and Nina's ice magic. Not only that, but they drop a
valuable 7th Sense most of the time. Once you clear the danger room,
pick up the treasure key that appears and collect Inferno from the chest
in the middle alcove. Proceed through the door to the east and pass
through this next room. Use the portal at the northeast end of the room
to reach the domain of the regent Hortensia. She holds another key that
you need, and she's not about to hand it over without a fight. So
prepare to battle Hortensia.

Boss fight: Hortensia
HP: 3500
XP- 16002
Items- Bangle+4, Save Queen+4
Recommended level- 30
Notes- Hortensia can be very tough to beat, especially on your first
play through. But an effective strategy and a good supply of Med Kits
and Tonics in this unique fight will make things a lot easier. At the
beginning of each turn, Hortensia will cast Fortune, which changes the
layout of the colored square tiles on the floor. Later in the round, she
will cast Hymn, which has different effects depending on what color
square you're standing on. Green will heal you, red will cut your HP in
half, and white has no effect. She'll follow up Hymn with some very
powerful spells, which can do 150+ damage per casting. Not only that,
but Hortensia will never move, nor can she be moved, which forces you to
use up valuable AP walking to her. Make sure you equip armor that offers
as much movement as possible. Since Hortensia only attacks with magic,
heavy and defensive armor is completely worthless here. Nina should
equip a shield that cuts down magical damage. After each casting of
Fortune, you'll want to move everybody to either a green or a white
square. You may want to use some items that boost your Movement and
Speed to make this easier. Once you get into attacking range, wait there
and build AP. Hortensia has some high Absolute Defense, so you'll want
to attack with as much AP as possible. It really helps if you have
Nina's Transfer skill, so you can feed Ryu some much needed AP, as he is
probably your most valuable attacker in this fight. Just make sure to
leave some AP to use for moving. When Ryu and Lin are right near
Hortensia with two full (or near full) AP gauges, have Ryu unleash all
his AP using the 1,2,3 combo method (using all level 1 skills, then all
level 2 skills, then level 3 skills). Lin should repeatedly use Shatter!
as close to Hortensia as possible. After taking a good amount of abuse,
Hortensia will cast Divine Shell, which pushes all of your characters
back to the edges of the battlefield. As annoying as this is, there's
nothing you can do now except hike back over to where she's standing to
attack again. Remember that getting on a green or white square should be
your top priority, as anyone who takes damage from Hymn and is then the
target of Hortensia's follow up magic is certain to die. However, if you
go into each of her spell castings with full health, courtesy of the
green squares, a Med Kit should be all you need to restore those hit
with her follow up magic. If you're just going to use D-Dive, three D-
Charges and a Twister is usually enough to kill her.

After the fight, pick up the H-Key that she was holding and teleport
using on of the portals in this room. The left portal will take you to
the Centre 4F Main, and the right portal will take you to the Centre 4F
South. These two paths, once again, lead to two different bosses. Refer
to the proper fourth floor section (after I do the north path for the
second and third floors) to continue. The stats for both bosses will
follow the four fourth floor sections.

Centre 2F North (-480.0m)

Leave this small portal room and head down the stair set in this area to
reach the lower level, where you'll find a monster called a Gargantua
guarding a door. Not only does this guy have a very strong physical
attack, but it also has an Absolute Defense of around 500. In order to
get by that huge Absolue Defense, you're going to have to attack in big
combos. Have Nina transfer all of her AP over to Ryu, and have Lin get
right up next to the Gargantua and use Shatter! as many times as she
can. Once you've defeated it, go through the door it was guarding. In
here you'll see a huge group of Ebonfires hanging out in the middle of
this area along with their leader, the Mahadevan. The Mahadevan's
attacks are considerably powerful, and it regenerates HP every round. As
long as there are Ebonfires around, the Mahadeven will refrain from
using its most powerful attacks, so kill it before you take out all the
lesser bats. Nina's electric magic and Lin's best shot attacks, such as
Shatter! and Blow up! are most effective here. After you kill all the
enemies in here, pick up the treasure key that the Mahadevan drops. Go
back into the previous room and climb back up the stairs into the upper
area. Walk down the path going east, and you'll notice a suspicious item
box that is Silenced. This is actually a monster called the Pandora Box,
which drops different items depending on how many turns you kill it in.
Just be careful, as it is a foe to be reckoned with. I'd simply kill it
before it gets a chance to attack, because that way you'll still get a
7th Sense. Now, proceed through the door to the east. Pass through this
next room and go through the door at the southeast end of this area.
Grab the Princess Gard+4 from the chest and teleport using the portal to
the northeast.

Centre 3F North (-460.0m)

Exit this portal room and go through the door in the northeast corner of
this next room. Pass through this hallway, picking up any items that may
be in the alcoves off to the side of the path, and go into the next
room, which is overrun with Ice, Fire, and Lightning Goos. There are
three of each type roaming around, and unfortunately, they're all mixed
up. However, do the best you can to exploit their elemental weaknesses.
Divide and conquer if you must, or just rely on spread attacks from Ryu
and Lin. Once you've defeated all the Goos in here, return to the
previous hallway to find yourself in a danger room. Unlike the southern
path's danger room, this one yields some incredibly powerful foes. In
two of the alcoves you'll find your toughest adversaries, the Goo Kings.
Not only do physical and shot attacks do miniscule damage to them, but
they also have a terrifying array of area affect spells including,
Inferno, Pre-Primus, Primus, and Expand. Surround the Goo King in a wide
formation to minimize the casualties from its attacks. Although their
attacks won't do too much damage, Ryu and Lin should still attack anyway
with their best skills while Nina uses spells to inflict some decent
damage. In the middle of the hallway (between the two Goo Kings) there's
a Goo Crystal lurking around, so don't let it take you by surprise. Once
again, magic of any element works best here. After you clear the danger
room, pick up the treasure key that appears and get Blizzard from the
chest in the middle alcove. Now, go back to the room where all the Goos
were before and use the portal at the southeast end of the room. Here,
you'll meet a kid who actually turns out to be a regent. And when Ryu
refuses to give up his quest to save Nina, the regent Cupid has no
choice but to eliminate you.

Boss fight: Cupid
HP: 3200
XP- 16002
Items- Silver Arc+4, Divine Coat+4, Celtis+9, Superheavy+3
Recommended level- 28
Notes- This fight shouldn't be too hard, but still don't take it
lightly. For the most part, Cupid will just run away from you, letting
her powerful pet Gargantua, Oncotte, do all the attacking for her.
However, she will annoy you with skills like Push and Shadowstitch to
make chasing her down more difficult. Oncotte cannot be damaged (even
with dragon form) so never even bother to attack it. However, its
attacks can do around 200 damage, so be prepared to heal after its
assaults. A Bari shield, or any shield that will cut down on physical
damage will be a tremendous help in this fight. Otherwise, light armor
will be helpful since you'll be playing chase the whole battle. While
Ryu and Lin chase down Cupid, Nina should follow close behind, feeding
them AP with her Transfer ability. Once you get within attacking range
of Cupid, unleash everything you have in the form of long combos. The
1,2,3 combos work best for Ryu, while Lin's best bet is to use Shatter!
as many times as she can. Cupid's Absolue Defense is about average
(around 200-250) so breaking through it and inflicting decent damage
shouldn't be too much of a problem for Ryu and Lin. You'll notice that
Cupid will occasionally use Command on one of your party members, which
will cause Oncotte to target that character. If you really want to avoid
taking a lot of damage, you can have whoever gets targeted by command
run away, and while Oncotte is chasing that character, your other two
members can focus on Cupid. Then when someone else gets targeted, have
that person run while the former target comes back to help attack Cupid.
If you do this, make sure you're not running towards your other two
party members, because Oncotte will attack other characters if the
targeted member is out of range but someone else is in range. It also
helps if you use a Movement Boost to increase that character's Movement
Radius. Two D-Charges and two Twisters, or Three D-Charges and a Twister
is enough to end the fight if you just want to use dragon form. But
remember to only attack Cupid, because Oncotte is indestructible.

When Cupid is dead, get the C-Key lying on the ground and then use one
of the two portals in this room. The left one leads to the Centre 4F
North and the right one leads to the Centre 4F Main. Both paths yield
different bosses. To continue on with the walkthrough, refer to the
proper fourth floor section just ahead. The stats for both bosses will
come after the fourth floor sections.

Centre 4F South (-420.0m)

When you leave the portal room, you'll emerge in a room with a bunch of
Buzz Militants hovering around in the balcony-like area ahead. If you
found the Buzz Militants to be hard when you fought them back on the
first floor, then fight them in small groups or individually if you can
manage it. If you're bold enough, you can group as many together as you
can and defeat them quickly for some huge party XP. Remember to use Ryu
and Lin's spread attacks while Nina casts Lightning. Once you're done
here, continue through the door to the southeast. In this hallway,
you'll find a giant Kanaphage know as the Kanaphage DX. This guy is not
to be taken lightly, as its hit and run attacks with Inferno can really
hurt. The more times you hit the Kanaphage DX, the less zenny it will
drop, so use your most powerful level 3 skills. For Ryu, a Spiritcharge
followed by Deathbringer is very effective here. However, if you want
the most zenny, you can use D-Dive to kill the Kanaphage DX in one hit.
After you defeat it, go through the door to the east. This last room
yields a few Creepstalkers who are roaming around in the open part of
the room. Among them is a giant Creepstalker, who holds the treasure key
for this floor. If you get too close to it, it'll vanish, so have Lin
target it from far away to initiate the battle. Then use her C'mere
skill to drag the Creepstalker towards your party. Use Nina's Frost or
Iceblast attack to take away the Creepstalker's evasiveness, so you can
then run in and easily defeat it with Ryu's physical attacks. Kill it
and pick up the treasure key it drops. Return to the previous room and
get Drop dead! from the chest in the midde of this hall. Now, go back to
the room where the Creepstalkers were and head over to the northeast end
of the room. Here you'll find a bunch of little white worms on the
ground. Turn them into Med Kits and use the portal to the southeast to
reach the next boss: the regent Vexacion.

Centre 4F North (-420.0m)

Leave this portal room and you'll encounter a large group of Buzz
Militants flying around in the area ahead. If you were comfortable
fighting them before, then try using some food to bunch them up into
large groups for some really big party XP. Otherwise, fight them in
smaller groups. Remember that Nina's electric attacks work best, along
with spread attacks from Ryu and Lin such as X Blade and Blow up!.
Continue through the door to the northeast once you're done with them
and head up this hall. There's another Pandora Box sitting in the middle
of this path. I'd just kill it during your extra turn and reap the 7th
Sense it drops, but it you want to draw out the battle for another item,
then don't let me stop you. Just be careful of its powerful spells.
Proceed into the next room and you'll find a few Darkstalkers hanging
around in the open portion of the room. You'll want to go after the
oversized Darkstalker, as it holds the treasure key for this floor. The
Darkstalkers seem to be less skiddish than the Creepstalkers, so try to
initiate the battle up close. Then cut them down using physical attacks
and Nina's ice magic. After you defeat the giant Darkstalker, pick up
the treasure key it drops. Return to the previous room and get Snatch
from the chest in this hall. Head back inside the room where you fought
the Darkstalkers and walk over to the southeast end of this area, where
you'll find a bunch of white worms on the ground. Kill them, reap their
Med Kits, and use the portal at the northeast end of this room. After a
scene, you'll fight your next boss: the regent Jezuit.

Centre 4F Main (-420.0m) *From Hortensia*

Exit the portal room and go through the door at the east end of this
hall. Continue east in this next room and head north into the middle of
the room, where you'll find a line of Duke Knights blocking the path. If
you haven't fought these guys before, know now not to take them lightly.
Not only are their attacks very powerful, they also have armor (like
that of a Duke Battler) which can only be broken through multiple
physical strikes. You're going to have to hit the Duke Knight about a
dozen or so times before it's armor will crack, so spend you first turn
chipping away at its armor. You'll want to keep your party in a fairly
wide formation, as the Duke Knight can use a spread attack. Once its
armor breaks, keep pounding away with your best attacks and combos until
it dies. After you fight your way through all the Duke Knights, you'll
come face to face with the greatest of all Dukes, the Duke Lord, who's
sleeping at the end of the path. The Duke Lord is just like the Duke
Knight, except the Duke Lord has a little bit of Absolute Defense to
break through. Regardless, defeat it using the same stategy you employed
against the Knights. Then, pick up the treasure key that appears and
grab Hyper Kick from the chest on the balcony behind where the Duke Lord
was standing. Continue through the door at the northeast end of the room
and teleport using the portal at the end of this path to reach the
regent Jezuit.

Centre 4F Main (-420.0m) *From Cupid*

As soon as you leave the portal room, you may find yourself surrounded
by Darkstalkers and Creepstalkers. You can fight them if you wish, but
know that they do not hold the treasure key for this floor. If you do
decide to fight them, remember to freeze up the Creepstalkers with
Nina's ice magic to make them less evasive. Then defeat them quickly
with physical attacks. Once you're done here, climb down the stair set
on the right side of the path. Go through the door inside the small
pavilion-like room to the east to emerge in an extremely narrow corridor
with some Nerve-Men standing around along the path. Nerve-Men are very
similar to their relatives the Worm-Men in the way they fight, however,
their attacks are much stronger. Since you can't really make a wide
formation in this narrow hallway, surround the Nerve-Men to avoid having
multiple people getting hit by their Circle Stage attack. They aren't
particularly weak against anything, so just use your most powerful
attacks. Ryu should stick to his best combos, while Lin uses Shatter!
from up close, and Nina uses spells from a distance. Once you defeat
them all, pick up the treasure key that appears in the middle of the
corridor and continue through the door to the east. Ascend the stair set
just ahead and get Lag Valhalla from the chest at the west end of this
path. Proceed by using the portal to the east and you'll reach the
regent Vexacion.

Boss fight: Vexacion
HP: Vexacion- 4200, Ryked- 2400, Nalaka- 2600
XP- 30000
Items- Terabreak, Mandau Blade+9, Strong Sword+9, Solid Shell+7, Strong
Sword+5, Solid Ring+8
Recommended level- 32
Notes- Vexacion is quite hard, especially since you have his two
bodyguards to deal with as well. Ryked will specifically target Lin, and
Nalaka targets Nina, while Vexacion will go after Ryu. Nalaka and Ryked
will assault their targets with Twin Wake and Kirin Flight, as well as
go into counterattacking mode every few turns. Nina's magic and Lin's
shot attacks are ineffective against their respective assailants, so
keep this in mind before you attack. At the start of the fight, Ryked
and Nalaka will come after you, while Vexacion will stay where he is and
build AP for a turn or two. While Vexacion is building AP, you'll want
to dish out as much damage to his two lackys as possible. Since Nina is
your weakest character defensively, you'll probably want to put all of
your efforts into taking out Nalaka first. Nina should use Transfer to
feed all of her AP to Ryu, so he can pull off 1,2,3 combos every turn
against Nalaka. While that's going on, Lin should get right up next to
Nalaka and blast away with Shatter!. If you have any Power Boosts, now
would be a good time to use them, as getting rid of Nalaka before
Vexacion joins the fight would be a huge help. After a turn or so,
Vexacion will approach your party and begin hitting Ryu with Snakebite,
Lion Smash, and Kirin Flight. However, every so often he'll use the most
deadly attack you've faced yet, the fearsome Quint Wake, which randomly
hits everone within its range with five powerful strikes. Keep your
party somewhat close together so that the strikes of Quint Wake aren't
focused all on Ryu, because not even Ryu has a chance of surviving this
attack if he's taking all the hits. Just be prepared to use a Trauma Kit
to heal up your group after each Quint Wake. Eventhough Vexacion has
joined the fight, you should still take out Nalaka and Ryked before
going after the big guy himself. Just let Ryu take the hits from
Vexacion as they come, because if you have the Discharge skill, you can
pay him back once Nalaka and Ryked are dead. Once Nalaka is out of the
way, you can either have Lin begin attacking Vexacion, or she can help
Ryu take down Ryked. Just keep in mind that her attacks won't do as much
damage against Ryked. By the time Nalaka and Ryked are both out of the
picture, Ryu will have probably taken a great deal of damage from
Vexacion. Now, have Ryu use 1,2,3 combos, and be sure to inclue
Discharge within the combo to cause some major damage. Vexacion's
Absolute Defense is pretty high (around 300), so you're going to want to
do as much damage as possible with each combo. Nina should continue to
feed Ryu and Lin AP by using Transfer. While Ryu is pulling off his huge
combo strings, Lin should just get right up next to Vexacion and pound
him with Shatter! repeatedly. As long as you have pleny of healing
items, you should be able to outlast him, as long as you can get through
the initial toughness of the fight. If you're just going to go dragon on
his behind, then three D-Charges should give you enough power to take
out Vexacion and each of his two cronies with a single Twister. However,
if your AP won't allow for three Twisters, then just give Vexacion a
Twister and use Vortex once or twice to take out Nalaka and Ryked.

Boss fight: Jezuit
HP: 3600
XP- 16002
Items- Excel Suit+9, Solid Ribbon+8
Recommended level- 31
Notes- Jezuit is pretty tough, but you should be able to handle him. He
comes into this battle packing a bunch of mean attacks, including Stun
Gun, Pre-Primus, Primus, and his trademark Backflip attack. All of his
skills do a very good deal of damage, and he can pull off three to four
attacks in a single turn. Not only that, but Jezuit will always go
first, so make sure your party is healed before ending each round.
You'll probably need to bring some Tonics along, as Jezuit's assaults
may prove too much for your weaker characters (especially Nina) to
handle. His only downfall is his pathetic Absolute Defense, which is
only around 50. At the very beginning of the battle, Jezuit will use
Shadowwalk, which makes him completely untouchable. The ONLY way to
break him out of this invincible state is to make him walk into one of
Nina's magical traps. If you don't have any magic traps equipped to
Nina's weapon, it is literally impossible to win this fight. After
Jezuit makes his first move, have Nina plant a magic circle right in
front of him. There's really nothing more you can do now, so just have
Ryu and Lin build AP and end the turn. On the second turn, Jezuit will
walk into the trap, forcing him out of his impervious state, and will
begin attacking your party. Although getting past his Absolute Defense
is hardly a problem, long 1,2,3 combos from Ryu and multiple Shatters!
from Lin are still most effective in this fight. Since Jezuit's defense
is kind of high, those damage percentage bonuses will help out a little.
If you're still not happy with the damage you're doing, you can always
use a Power Boost or 7th Sense to increase your attack power. Eventhough
it isn't absolutely necessary in this battle, if it seems that Ryu or
Lin is doing a great deal more damage than Nina, then just have Nina
transfer her AP to that character. Every few turns, Jezuit may go back
into his Shadowwalk form. When this happens, have Nina set a trap or two
and then move your party members behind them. Then just wait for Jezuit
to run into the magic circles so you can begin attacking again. If you
just want to use D-Dive for this fight, first shatter Jezuit's
Shadowwalk form, and then hit him with three D-Charges and a Twister, or
two D-Charges and two Twisters if you're really trying to be
conservative.

Once you've defeated your second regent of the mission, regardless of
who it was, pick up the key they dropped and step onto the portal ahead.
You'll then be transported to a very familiar location: the meeting hall
of the regents. Pass through this room and use the next portal to leave
the Centre and reach the Cemetery. In this area there are three stone
monuments with key holes in them. Inspect one of them, and together,
your party unlocks the three huge doors ahead. In the next room, there
stands a single red monument. Examine it and you will insert Mebeth's
key to unlock the final security door before you, all in dramatic
fashion.

This next area is home to all three shop girls, as well as a Telecorder
(Doesn't that beat all?). I'll warn you right now that THIS IS THE
ABSOLUTE LAST CHANCE YOU'LL HAVE TO SAVE AND PREPARE FOR WHAT LIES
AHEAD! Beyond this point is the game's final confrontation, so do not
continue until you are ready. If you still need to conserve your D-
Counter, then I'd highly suggest that you buy all the healing items you
can. Scrap together all the zenny you can by selling any equipment that
you don't need. Check up on your fairy colony if you haven't done so in
a while. However, if your D-Counter is low enough to wipe out the
remaining bosses, then store all of your important items in the locker.
Store nonpurchaseable items, such as 7th Senses and Gold XP, first.
Then, if you have room left, store some of your better healing items.
Once you are positive that you're ready to move on, go through the next
door (to the left of the Telecorder). After an SOL scene, you will
arrive at the terminal (Note- This goes without saying, but there are
some major SPOILERS ahead, so read at your own risk).

Geovator Terminal (-370.0m)

In this area, climb up the stair sets just ahead to reach the elevator
that will take you up to the main gate at Geo Front. Go inside the
little control room to the left and activate the lift. The Geovator will
then begin its ascent to Geo Front. There will then be another SOL
scene. But just as you were beginning to relax a little, the lift is
suddenly attacked and everything goes dark. Then (in quite an awesome
cut scene) Elyon, the Origin and highest of the regents, appears and
challenges you to a battle. This is your last test to prove that Ryu
truly is a Chosen. Prepare yourself, for it's time to do battle against
the Origin, Elyon!

Boss fight: Elyon
HP: 6000, Alter Ego HP- 3000
XP- Dependant on how many Alter Egos are defeated
Items- Tonic, 7th Sense
Recommended level- 35
Notes- You're in for one heck of a battle if you don't use dragon form.
First of all, you MUST defeat Elyon within 20 turns or the game is over.
But since this battle actually gets HARDER as it goes on, chances are
you won't be able to win if you need the whole 20 turns to beat him.
Because of this, the key to winning this fight is to beat Elyon as
quickly as possible. There are four different stages to this fight. In
the first stage, Elyon will begin the battle (and I do mean "begin" as
Elyon will ALWAYS go first) by creating two shadows of himself called
Alter Egos. Although each of them has no Absolute Defense and only half
as much HP as Elyon does, their attacks are just as potent as his. And
unlike Elyon who will only attack once per turn, the Alter Egos will
pull off two attacks each turn. Fortunately, their attacks aren't too
bad, for now at least. Their Jolt and Sledgehammer attacks don't do too
much damage, but the attack you really need to watch out for is
Pentastroke, which does loads of damage. As long as you stay healed with
Med and Aid Kits, the only person who shoud have the risk of dying from
this attack is Nina. During your first turn, you should move in close to
Elyon and his two shadows. As long as you don't move too much, Elyon and
his pals will stay relatively close together, making them vulnerable to
spread attacks. For now, you should focus your assaults on Elyon, but
try to get the Alter Egos caught in the crossfire. Ryu should stick to
his 1,2,3 comboing method, ending his combos with multiple level 3
spread attacks like Roundsaber or Violet Death to damage the Alter Egos.
After taking a good amount of punishment, Ryu should also throw
Discharge into his combo. Elyon's Absolute Defense is quite high, but
his normal defense isn't all that high, so using items like Power Boosts
and 7th Senses will make breaking through the Absolute Defense and
causing decent damage easy. Nina's not going to be able to do very much
damage with her spells, so have her use Transfer on Ryu every turn. Lin
should, once again, use Shatter! repeatedly. Since this is a spread
attack, you should try to get the Alter Egos caught up in it as well. To
make the fight easier, don't kill off both Alter Egos until you reach
the second stage of the fight. Because if both Alter Egos die before you
reach world two, then he'll create two more. After five turns Elyon will
cast is most powerful attack, Karma, on a random character. Whoever gets
cursed with this dreaded Karma circle is certain to die when the timer
above their head runs out. Anyone standing within the circle will also
be killed when the attack goes off, so when your timer is about to run
out, quarintine that character away from the others and just let them
die, it's inevitable. However, once Elyon casts this horrible trap,
he'll spend three turns charging up for the attack. Kill off any
remaining Alter Egos at this time and then unleash everything you have
at Elyon. Now is a better time than ever to end this fight, so use any
stat boosters that will help you take him down quickly. Nina should
continue to feed Ryu AP using Transfer, while Lin uses Shatter!. If you
really want to maximize your damage output, you should use an AP Charge
or a Full AP on either Ryu or Lin, preferably the one who is doing the
most damage. After three turns, Elyon will unleash his Karma attack and
then proceed to nail your party with Primus every round. Now, you should
spread out so that Elyon can't hit all three characters at once. Around
round 12, you'll enter the final stage of the fight, and if you haven't
won by now then you're really in for it. Elyon will now start creating
Alter Egos again. Elyon will then continue to cast Primus, and the
occasional Focus, which draws all your party members close together.
Meanwhile, the Alter Egos will attack with Stinger and Valhalla,
sometimes using the latter of the two twice in one turn! Needless to
say, that will leave your party holding on by a thread, so be ready to
use some Trauma Kits and Tonics. At this point, you should just try to
take down Elyon as quickly as possible, because the fight will end once
he dies. Well, if you're just going to use dragon form for this fight,
D-Charge three times and then use Hurricane on Elyon and his two
shadows. Then Twister Elyon to seal the deal. Whew! That was long!

After the fight, the Geovator stops at the top terminal and Elyon openly
accepts his defeat. Once you regain control, go down the stairs to the
right, heal up, and then go through the door to the left. Following the
game's last SOL scene, you will reach the Geo Front gate. Excited that
this is the last leg of the journey, your party runs down the
entranceway to bask in awe under huge gate above. This is it! You've
reached the final gate. There's not much more between you and the sky
now. But then, footsteps are heard coming down the entranceway. You are
then shocked to see that Bosch has returned once again! But don't be
fooled by his calm composure. This is definitely not a joyous reunion.
It turns out that Bosch has linked with a dragon and he's looking for
another rematch. So get ready to fight Bosch, again!

Boss fight: Bosch
HP: 2400
XP- 10002
Items- None
Recommended level- 35
Notes- If you could handle Elyon, then you should have what it takes to
bring down Bosch, given your healing items hold out. Bosch comes back
with the same old tricks, but he also has some new moves up his sleeve,
as well as some Absolute Defense. His Twin Wake attack is no more
devastating than it was the last time you fought him, however, Bosch is
now capable of pulling off two Twin Wakes in one turn. Not only that,
but he also comes wielding a new combo called Tri Wake, which is quite
deadly, even to Ryu. Bosch can also cast Blizzard, which does a good
deal of damage, so keep your party spread out. I hope you have a good
amount of Tonics on hand, because you'll need them. Although Bosch's
Absolute Defense isn't all that impressive, it is still a factor, as he
has good regular defense. Stick to your basic Absolute Defense boss
strategy of building up two full AP gauges and then attacking in huge
combos. The 1,2,3 method works best for Ryu, while multiple Shatters!
are still Lin's best bet. Once again, Nina proves to be a mediocre
attacker, so she should feed AP to Ryu and Lin by using Transfer. Since
Bosch can easily wipe out Nina with his powerful attacks, she should
stay far away from him, while Lin and Ryu take the hits as they come. If
Ryu has Discharge, be sure to include it in your combo after taking
substantial damage. Use any of your remaining Power Boosts or 7th Senses
if you feel the battle is going by too slowly. If you're just going to
use D-Dive, then two or three D-Charges and a Twister should get the job
done. Just make sure your D-Counter is LESS than 90% coming out of this
fight. I don't mean around 90% or at 90%. I mean LESS THAN 90%.

You'll send Bosch flying into a wall upon his defeat. Just when you
think it's finally over, Bosch disappears, and then reappears in his
dragonized state. He's not holding anything back now, so prepare for the
final bout against Bosch!

Final boss fight: D-Bosch
HP: 5000
XP- 65535
Items- None
Recommended level- 37
Notes- Well, who would have thought that this bitter rivalry would
escalate into the game's final conflict? Bosch comes into this fight
with an 0-3 record standing against him, and now it's time to finish
this once and for all with a four fight sweep. You will need to use
three D-Charges and two Twisters in order to take him down. If you can't
spare the 10% needed to completely own Bosch, then your chances of
winning this fight are slim. Bosch cannot be damaged with non-dragon
attacks, unless his dragonized form is first shattered by one of Wyrm's
attacks. And even then, he will only remain vulnerable for a turn before
he regains his non-dragon attack resistance. Not only that, but he has
some pretty brutal attacks. His Quake spell can nearly kill all of your
party members instantly, and he also has an attack that inflicts tons of
status changes. However, if you have enough healing items and at least a
few percent on your D-Counter to work with, then there is still hope.
First have Nina transfer all of her AP over to either Ryu or Lin. Then
have Ryu D-Dive and hit Bosch with D-Breath for just a split second,
using less than a percent on the D-Counter barring the transformation
cost. Revert out of dragon form and then go all out with 1,2,3 combos.
Lin should follow up by using Shatter! as many times as you can. If you
have any stat boosters, preferably 7th Senses, then use them. Bosch's
defense is kind of high, so you'll need all the extra power you can get.
Once the turn ends, repeat the whole process of shattering his dragon
form and then attacking. I know this is a long shot, but it's the only
way if you don't have 10% to spare.

Defeated once again, Bosch is now at your mercy. Unfortunately for him,
Ryu isn't exactly feeling merciful after four attempts to kill you. As
Bosch gradually approaches his final moments, Ryu speeds things along by
impaling him right through the chest. But after he dies, Chetyre, the
dragon whose powers Bosch was hosting, literally comes tearing out of
him. Don't worry though. All you have to do now is use D-Breath until
you hit 100% on your D-Counter. As crazy as this may sound, believe me,
it's what you're supposed to do. Afterwards, the final clash between
Odjn and Chetyre will commence. Who will emerge victorious? You'll have
to see for yourself. So enjoy the ending and the credits. Make sure to
save your game after the credits are over to get your new D-Ratio.

=======================================================================

4. Skills

Here's a list of character skills that I've arranged in alphabetical
order within each skill level for each character.

****************
A. Ryu
****************

Level 1 Skills:

Act Delay
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 80%.
Reduces enemy Speed by 5%.

Brainquake
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 80%.
Reduces enemy Magic Power by 5%.

Cutspace
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 80%.
Reduces enemy Move Power by 5%.

Dent Weapon
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 80%.
Recuces enemy Attack Power by 5%.

Kick
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 75%
and a hit-back power of 2.5M.

Ogre Slice
Target: Unit
Accuracy -50%.
If it hits, it causes a critical attack of 75%.

Rust Armor
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 80%.
Reduces enemy Defense Power by 5%.

Side Slash
Target: Spread
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 80%.
Accuracy -20%.

Slice
Target: Unit
Physical attack.
Normal physical attack.

Third Eye
Ensures that the next attack will always hit.

Thrust
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 25%,
regardless of enemy Defense Power.

Level 2 Skills:

Bladesmack
Target: Unit
Normal Physical attack.
Adjusts Attack Power so that enemy HP will not become 0.

Crimson Raid
Target: Unit
Normal Physical attack.
Restores HP to you equal to 10% of the damage dealt.

Discharge
Target: Unit
Physical attack.
Records the damage received during battle,
and returns it in this attack.

Fang
Target: Line
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 40%,
regardless of enemy Defense Power.

Hazecut
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 120%.
Accuracy +50%.

Hex
Target: Unit
Causes no damage.
Increases XP value of attacked enemy by 10%.

Hyper Kick
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 120%,
and a hit-back power of 4.0M.

Reversal
Target: Unit
Physical attack.
Varying damage according to the amount of your remaining HP.

Skullsplit
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 125%.
Deals damage to enemy's AP.

Spiritcharge
Attack Power multiplied by 1.5,
for the next turn (attack) only.

Vert Slash
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 130%.
Accuracy -20%.

Wild Swing
Target: Unit
Physical attack
Randomly multiplies damage between x0.5 to x2.0.

Level 3 Skills:

Circle Stage
Target: Circle
Physical attack.
Normal physical attack.

Crossviper
Target: Unit
Hit-and-run Physical attack.
Critical Chance +75%.

Deathbringer
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 125%.
If it hits, a Critical Attack is 100% assured.

Deathcleaver
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 200%.
You receive 10% of the damage you deal.

Great Smash
Target: Unit
Normal Physical attack.
May cause a one-shot kill.
("Legend Blade" skill)

Roundsaber
Target: Spread
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 150%.

Terabreak
Target: Unit
Normal Physical attack.
Damage ignores enemy Defense Power.

Violet Death
Target: Spread
1st hit: Attack Power 20% regardless of enemy Defense Power.
2nd hit: 100% Critical.
("Violet Blade" skill)

****************
B. Bosch
****************

Level 1 Skills:

Snakebite
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 80%.
Poisons enemy.
("Beast Blade" skill)

Thrust
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 25%,
regardless of enemy Defense Power.

Level 2 Skills:

Fang
Target: Line
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 40%,
regardless of enemy Defense Power.

Lion Smash
Target: Unit
Physical attack with an Attack Power of 110%,
and accuracy -20%.
("Beast Blade" skill)

****************
C. Nina
****************

Level 1 Skills:

Blunt
Target: Unit
Reduces enemy Attack Power by 10%.

Chop!
Target: Unit
Normal physical attack.
("Slapper" skill)

Divine
Target: Unit
Reduces enemy Move Power by 10%.

Enfeeble
Target: Unit
Reduces enemy Magic Power by 10%.

Flare
Target: Circle
Fire Magic Attack Lv. 1.

Frost
Target: Circle
Ice Magic Attack Lv. 1.

G-Flare
Fire Magic Circle Lv. 1++
A magic wall that blocks the movement of some enemies.

Jolt
Target: Circle
Electric Magic Attack Lv. 1.

Joltball
Electric Magic Circle Lv. 1+
Magic trap that paralyzes (Stuns),
enemies that come into contact with it.

Slow
Target: Unit
Reduces enemy Speed Power by 10%.

Weaken
Target: Unit
Reduces enemy Defense Power by 10%.

Level 2 Skills:

Fireball
Fire Magic Circle Lv. 2+
Magic trap that Stuns enemies,
that come into contact with it.

Fireblast
Target: Spread
Fire Magic Attack Lv. 2.

Fragball
Ice Magic Circle Lv. 2+
Magic trap that freezes (Stuns),
enemies that come into contact with it.

G-Iceblast
Ice Magic Circle Lv. 2++
A magic wall that blocks the movement of some enemies.

Iceblast
Target: Line
Ice Magic Attack Lv. 2.

Lightning
Target: Line
Electric Magic Attack Lv. 2.

Mirage Bomb
Sets up the Nina doll.
Goes out with a bang when,
enemies mistake it for Nina and attack it.

Teleport
Switches position with a companion.

Transfer
Gives 20 AP to a companion.

Level 3 Skills:

Blizzard
Target: Circle
Ice Magic Attack Lv. 3.

Death
Target: Unit
One-shot kill Magic.
Kills creatures with one shot.
("Demonscythe" skill)

G-Inferno
Fire Magic Circle Lv. 3++
A magic wall that blocks the movement of some enemies.

Inferno
Target: Circle
Fire Magic Attack Lv. 3.

Kyrie
Target: Circle
One-shot kill Magic
Very effective on the undead.
("Holy Heart" skill)

Lag Valhalla
Electric Magic Circle Lv. 3+
Valhalla is launched at the end of the turn.
Requires one turn to charge.

Mirage Blast
Sets up the Nina doll.
Goes out with a bang when,
enemies mistake it for Nina and attack it.

Ragnarok
Lock-on Magic Lv. 3+++
Requires 3 turns to activate.
(Cannot move for 3 turns)

Shazam
Target: Circle
Hit-back magic.
Affects enemies over a wide area, sending them flying.

Valhalla
Target: Circle
Electric Magic Attack Lv. 3.

****************
D. Lin
****************

Level 1 Skills:

C'mere!
Target: Unit
Non-damaging attack.
A vacuum that sucks in enemies.

Greetings
Target: Unit
Shot attack with an Attack Power of 75%.
Feint Attack.

Hey, hey!
Target: Unit
Shot Attack.
Adds effects to successive attacks.

How's That?
Target: Unit
Shot Attack.
May change into an ability-reducing attack,
depending on the preceeding attack.

There!
Target: Unit
Shot attack with an Attack power of 70%.
Gives weight to Critical Chance.

Too slow!!
Target: Unit
Shot Attack with an Attack Power of 70%.
Gives weight to Accuracy.

Level 2 Skills:

Go on!
Target: Unit
Shot Attack.
Adjusts Attack Power so that enemy HP will not become 0.

Kidding!
Target: Unit
Shot Attack.
Either misses or has a Reverse effect.

Outta My Way
Target: Unit
Shot Attack.
Hit-back shot.

Stay here!
Target: Unit
Shot attack with an Attack Power of 110%.
Reduces enemy Move Power.

Take this!
Target: Unit
Shot attack with a 60% Attack Power,
regardless of enemy Defense Power.

That's It!
Target: Unit
Shot attack with an Attack Power of 130%.
Adds effects to successive attacks.

Level 3 Skills:

A Present!
Target: Unit
Copies previous attack or misses.

Blow up!
Target: Spread
Shot attack with an Attack Power of 150%.

Drop dead!
Target: Unit
Shot attack with an Attack Power of 60%,
regardless of enemy Defense Power.

Let's dance!
Target: Circle
Shor attack with an Attack Power of 150%.

Shatter!
Target: Spread
The closer you are, the more damage it deals.

****************
E. Shield Skills
****************

Anger
Equip AP cost: 5
When you are hit, Spiritcharge activates automatically.

Counter
Equip AP cost: 10
Counterattacks physical and shot attacks.
Nina cannot use it.

Duststorm
Equip AP cost: 10
Blows attacking enemies away.

Explosion
Equip AP cost: 0
When you are hit, it explodes and reduces enemy HP to 1.
You lose your shield.

Feint
Equip AP cost: 10
Blocks an enemy attack once during a battle.

Leech Power
Equip AP cost: 0
Recovers 5 AP whenever you are hit by an enemy attack.

Reflect
Equip AP cost: 20
Counterattacks magic attacks.
Nina cannot use it.

Shield Boost
Equip AP cost: 5
Ever time you are hit, your Defense increases by 1%.

Snatch
Equip AP cost: 15
Cuts damage by 25%.
Steals items from attacking enemies.

Steal
Equip AP cost: 5
Steals items from attacking enemies.

Valor
Equip AP cost: 10
Can recover from being Unconscious once during a battle.

Weapon Boost
Equip AP cost: 5
Every time you are hit, your Attack increases by 1%.

=======================================================================

5. Side Quests

A. Fairy Colony

When you return to the Low Sector Borough after going through the Low
Sector Lift, you will have the opportunity to start your own Fairy
Colony. You can do this by freeing the fairy trapped in one of the rooms
at the west end of the Corp Lab Entrance. Although the colony does
require some initial investment on your part, once you start running it
efficiently, it'll prove to be worth the trouble. The very first thing
you should do when you begin developing your colony is to go through all
the information help topics that are available. These will give a basic
idea about how the colonly works. Nonetheless, the following is a
rundown of the colony basics.

First of all, your entire colony is run by the ants that you hire, and
time in the colony passes by the number of enemies you defeat. To hire
ants, talk to ones standing near the sign to the right of where the
fairy is. When you talk to them, you can see their stats, their age, and
their wages. Their stats determine how well they can do certain jobs:

HP- Excavation, Explorer, The Daily

Smarts- Market, Laboratory, Bank, The Daily, Review Board

Taste- Cafeteria, Concert Hall, The Daily, Stockhouse

Each ant has a unique set of stats which grow as they get older. The
ants you hire are generally young, anywhere from age 1-20 usually.
However, when ants get too old (around 40-60 depending on their job)
they will die. There's really nothing you can do about this except hire
more ants to take their place. When you first start developing your
colony, the most important factor in deciding which ants to hire is
their wages. The ants you have working are payed 10% of their cost for
each enemy you defeat outside the colonly. So, if a certain ant's wages
are 10z, then that ant would be payed 1z for every enemy you kill. Ants
are payed from the colony funds, and if there is no money in the colony
funds, then the ants will not work and your colony will fall apart. So
don't hire too many ants at first or you won't be able to pay them. This
is why you should continue to put money from your own pocket into the
colony funds until the colony begins to make money by itself. You should
keep at least a few thousand zenny in the colony funds at all times.

Now that you've hired some ants, it's time to put them to work. To do
this, talk to the fairy and select Orders. You'll then be faced with a
menu with a few different sections that you should be aware of. At
first, the only sections you can really deal with are the Team and Free
sections. The Free section is where you'll find the ants you just hired.
From there you can move them to either an excavation team or a job. The
box marked Team is where you can put your ants to work on excavation.
Excavation allows you to uncover rooms where you can then run jobs. You
can make three different digging teams by placing ants under the three
flags. The more ants you have on a team, the faster they can dig. After
you assign ants to excavation, you'll be able to select where you want
them to dig each time you enter the colony. You can do this by selecting
one of the flags on the colony map. The more enemies you defeated before
coming into the colony, the more your ants will be able to dig that
session. While digging, you can uncover rooms, but you can also run into
traps such as rocks and Ant Lions. Getting hit by traps and fighting Ant
Lions will damage your ants' HP. If their HP reaches 0, then they can't
work until it gets restored. Now, here's a crude map that you can refer
to for excavation:

        -----
        |   |
        |   |   --------    ---------------
        |   |   |      |    |             |       --------
 Room---    ---Room    -----|  Main Room  |----   |      |
            |               |             |   |   |  -----
     Prize---               ---------------   -----  |
                                   |                 |
                                   |                 |
                          ---Room--------------      |
                          |                   |      ---Ant Lion
                          --------            |                 |
                                 |            |--Room   ---------
                                 |            |         |
              ---Prize           |            |         |
              |                  |            |         |   -------
              |                  |            |         |   |     |
       Room----                  |            |         |   |     |
              |               ----            |         -----     |
              |               |        Room-------Room            |
              -----------------                                   |
              |                                --------------------
            ---                                |
            |                                  |
            |                                  ----Water Trap------
            |        ---------------------------                  |
           Room      |                         |                  |
                     |                         |                  |
                     |                         |                  |
                     |                         |                  |
                     |                         ------Ant Lion -----
                     --------Secret Dungeon
                               Kokon Horay

Once you uncover some rooms, you can begin to create jobs. Your rooms
are shown along the bottom of the Orders menu screen. To assign a job to
a room, simply select the icon on the left side of the room space and
select a job from the list that appears in the upper right corner of the
screen. You only start out with two jobs, but you can unlock many other
jobs by doing research in the Laboratory. After you select which job you
want, that room will go under construction. The next time you visit the
colony, the construction will be complete and you can start placing ants
in that room to work. To visit a room and check up on the job there,
Exit the Orders menu and select Move.

The Info box in the upper right corner of the menu displays your funding
information. The long thin box at the top displays the amount of zenny
you have in the colony funds. Under that, there's a box displaying
Income and Spending. Income is the money that your jobs are making and
Spent is the money that your jobs are spending. Your balance is shown at
the very bottom of the box under the white line. You can view the
financial information of each particular job by highlighting it with the
hand cursor. As long as your colony balance is positive, your colony
funds will grow. But if your balance is negative, your colony funds will
deplete.

Also, after you leave the colony for the first time, you'll receive an
item called the Fairy Drops. You can use the Fairy Drops to return to
the colony at any time, as long as there are no enemies around. Although
the Fairy Drops will never run out by using them, you can lose the Fairy
Drops if you perform an SOL function without first storing them in the
item locker. In order to get your Fairy Drops back, you'll have to talk
to the fairy that appears in End, Low, Mid, and Top Sector Boroughs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Job List

Market- Here you can set up four different kinds of shops that sell
various equipment and skills. At first you have a very limited
selection, but over time the shops will have more and more items for
sale. This is a very good job to have, especially since some of the
things that you can find in these shops can't be found anywhere else in
the game. Here's a list of wares for all of the shops:

Ryu's Shop:                    Nina's Shop:
Impact Gear+3- 4680z           Antenna+5- 1800z
Bari Shell- 5000z              Impact Check+3- 3900z
Ruby Maser+2- 3600z            Bari Ring- 5000z
Plasma Maser+3- 3900z          Holy Heart- 20000z
Bari Guard- 15000z             Deluxe Antenna- 6800z
Sapphire Maser+4- 4200z        Bari Loop- 15000z
Protect Suit+1- 66000z         Divine Coat+1- 52800z
Strong Sword+8- 2700z          Demonscythe- 20000z
Chobham Plate- 36000z          Platinum Arc- 9000z
Legend Blade+1- 88000z         Wizard Wand+1- 88000z

Lin's Shop:                    Skill Shop:
Flameblaster+2- 3840z          Hex- 240z
Bari Ribbon+1- 5500z           Fireblast- 240z
Impactproof+2- 3690z           Iceblast- 240z
Thunder Rifle+3- 4160z         Lightning- 240z
Ice Cannon+4- 4480z            Weapon Boost- 240z
Bari Bangle- 15000z            Shield Boost- 240z
Quick Garter+6- 6240z          Cutspace- 240z
Save Queen+1- 59400z           Divine- 240z
Lightwave- 9000z               Slow- 240z
Grenade+1- 129800z             Skullsplit- 240z

Laboratory- This job lets you research new jobs and items. You should
open up a lab as soon as you can when you first start developing your
colony so you can create new jobs quickly. Once you have all the jobs,
you can research items. While studying items, every once in a while your
lab will create an item and then give it to you for free! Here's the
list of items you can get (Note- Once you've gotten all the items, you
can close the lab and then reopen it to get all the items again. You can
do this as many times as you like):

-Junk
-Gold XP
-Stuffed Toy
-Present
-Mirage Bomb
-Tracker
-Slapper
-Mirage Blast

Cafeteria- A cafe where ants can eat. This job doesn't have any rewards
besides making money for your colony. It's probably a good job to have
if you are having problems keeping your colony funds up, but once you
get some real money making jobs, like the Bank, the Cafeteria becomes
pretty useless.

Explorer- Here you can send ants out to explore the different sectors,
looking for items. Although exploration in previous Breath of Fire games
was extremely profitable, the Explorer job in this case is extremely
useless. Exploration failure rates are high, and when ants actually come
back alive, they usually either find very ordinary or poor items, or
they don't find anything at all. This is a job that is best left
untouched, unless you've already developed an incredibly efficient
colony and you're just bored.

Concert Hall- This job lets you play all of your favorite music from the
game. You start off with very few tracks, but as time goes on, you'll
end up getting just about every single song in the game on your list.
Not only that, but put qualified ants in this job and it'll actually
make a decent profit. This is a great job to have if you loved the
game's music, but don't want to dish out $40 for the soundtrack (like I
did).

Bank- Now here's your cash cow job. You can store money in the Bank
under a variety of Checking and Savings accounts, and you can make
literally millions of zenny through the Foreign currency exchange. To do
this, first wait until you are allowed to use the Foreign exchange
option. Then buy "mils" when they are priced low (around 100z or less).
Check up on your colony often and then sell your mils when they are
priced high (200z or higher). Once you get a good amount of zenny doing
this, start trading mils by the hundreds (or even thousands) and you'll
be well on your way to becoming a millionaire. Not only that, but if you
fill your Bank with highly intelligent ants, it'll make huge profits for
your colony funds.

Trainer- This is a gym where you can train ants in a particular stat.
While in training, the stat under which the ant is training will grow
very rapidly. This is a great thing to have if you wish to maximize the
efficiency and income of your jobs. The best way to utilize the Trainer
is to set up the following cycle. First train ants until the desired
stat is maxed out (or nearly maxed out). Then put them into the job
you're training for, while hiring new ants and placing them in the
trainer. In most cases, by the time the ants in your job die, the ants
in your Trainer will be ready to take their place.

The Daily- This is a newspaper run by a team ants. Although a top class
newspaper team offers the most income of any job, it is a huge hassle to
manage an efficient newspaper team. It involves training three ants, one
in HP, one in Smarts, and the other in Taste, which can be difficult to
keep up. Not only that, but ants seem to die at a very young age in this
job, making it even harder to run effectively. I wouldn't recommend
pursuing this job, unless you want to add some challenge to your colony
management.

Review Board- Here you can view various statistics such as how many
battles you've fought, how many enemies you've killed, and how many
times you've saved, among others. Besides that, there are also several
challenges that you can take to win prizes. Take note that you cannot do
more than one challenge at a time. You will not get credit for
completing a challenge that you weren't going for (Example- You won't
get credit for Goo Slayer if you were going for Duke Hunter) And also
keep in mind that you cannot use D-Dive to complete Hard Puncher.

Chicken Runner:
Description- Run away from battle 9 times in a row.
Prize- C'mere

Combo Master:
Description- Use 9 different skills in one combo.
Prize- Auto Rifle+9

Goo Slayer:
Description- Defeat 9 Goo enemies in a row.
Prize- 30000z

Technician:
Description- Win 9 battles in a row without being damaged.
Prize- Bladesmack

Duke Hunter:
Description- Defeat 9 Duke enemies in a row.
Prize- 1000 party XP

1-Round Warrior:
Description- Win 9 battles in a row in one turn.
Prize- Kidding!

Tri Buster:
Description- Defeat 9 Rafflesia, Trilizards, and/or Cerebus in a row.
Prize- Angel Coat+6

Hard Puncher:
Description- Deal over 999 damage with a single character in one round.
Prize- Celtis+9

Robocrusher:
Description- Defeat 9 machine enemies in a row.
Prize- Chobham Plate

Stockhouse- Here you can buy a nugget and then raise it to sell later
on. You should buy a nugget when the market price for them is low, and
then sell them when the market price is high. However, the market price
changes very slowly. To raise a nugget you have to pay for its feed from
the colony funds. Raising your nugget on the more expensive feeds yields
better stat growth. This can be a fun way to make some decent money if
you have the patience to wait for the market to change. However, profits
are usually only in the thousands, whereas trading mils at the Bank will
eventually make you millions.
#######################################################################

B. Kokon Horay

Once you begin developing your fairy colony, and you dig all the way to
the bottom of the map, you'll uncover a secret dungeon called Kokon
Horay. The dungeon consists of 50 floors with progressively harder
danger rooms on each floor. After clearing each room, a treasure key
will appear, allowing you to open the chest on that floor. When you
enter the dungeon, your character's levels are set to 1 and your D-
Counter is set to 0.00%. But don't worry, because when you exit the
dungeon all of your stats will return to what they were before you went
inside. If you get killed inside Kokon Horay, you'll lose all of your
items. However, there is a fairy you can talk to every five floors that
allows you to escape. The trip through Kokon Horay is hellish and long,
but items you can find in here are worth the trip. First, here are a few
tips:

-Bring a good amount of party XP. Since you start the dungeon at level
1, you should use some party XP to bring your characters up to a decent
level. If you plan on going through the entire dungeon, level 25-30 is
ideal. However, be aware that you will not get back any party XP that
you use inside Kokon Horay when you leave. Regardless, you should still
use some.

-Bring plenty of healing items. Enemies don't drop items in Kokon Horay,
so the only healing items you'll be able to use throughout the entire
dungeon are the ones you bring with you. I'd suggest bringing a few
stacks of Aid Kits and Tonics, several stacks of Med and Trauma Kits,
and one or two stacks of Multimeds. I also strongly recommend that you
bring at least one stack of bait, whether it be Fresh Meat or a status
changing mushroom. It may also be wise to bring along a Tracker if you
have one. Even though you'll eventually pick up a Tracker in one of the
later floors of Kokon Horay, it will prove beneficial to have one
earlier on.

-Store ALL of your money in the fairy colony Bank or colony funds. You
won't have any use for money in Kokon Horay anyway. And by doing this,
you can use the Penalty Retreat as much as you like for free.

-Take on Kokon Horay near the end of the game. Why? Because you'll have
the most Backpack pages then. Since the majority of the items you'll
find in Kokon Horay are unidentified pieces of equipment that you must
lug around in your inventory, you'll need all the space you can get.

-Don't get in over your head. There are no save points in Kokon Horay,
so a stupid mistake can cost you hours of hard work. If you encounter
some enemies that you haven't fought before, don't just charge into
battle against them. Split up hard enemies and use the Penalty Retreat
whenever you need to. Fight wisely and think about what you're going to
do before you do it. If you get tired, make a temporary save and take a
break for a while.

Now, here's the list of all the 50 floors of hell. I've put down the
types of enemies and the reward you'll get for each floor. I don't have
the exact number of each type of enemy for each floor, but be aware
that, in most cases, floors with very little enemy variation usually
means a greater concentration of the enemies that are present. And due
to some cases of equipment being of the same type and level, I did refer
to the Brady Games Official Strategy Guide to organize some of the items
that were duplications.

Kokon Horay B1 (-1510.0m)
Enemies- Nuggets, Mama Nugget, Papa Nugget
Item- Present

Kokon Horay B2 (-1520.0m)
Enemies- Dukes, Duke Leaders, Goo Element
Item- Impact Gear+4

Kokon Horay B3 (-1530.0m)
Enemies- Aggrossers, Lantern Bats
Item- Magic Wand+6

Kokon Horay B4 (-1540.0m)
Enemies- Duke Battler, Duke Hunters, Duke Magi
Item- Blind Gear+4

Kokon Horay B5 (-1550.0m)
Enemies- DeVolves
Item- Bladesmack

Kokon Horay B6 (-1560.0m)
Enemies- Duke Lancers, Duke Hunters, Wonder Boxes
Item- Blind Check+5

Kokon Horay B7 (-1570.0m)
Enemies- Deathcows, Beaks
Item- Auto Rifle+7

Kokon Horay B8 (-1580.0m)
Enemies- Duke Battlers, Duke Magi
Item- Sleep Check+5

Kokon Horay B9 (-1590.0m)
Enemies- Goo Rubies, Goo Plasma, Goo Element
Item- Stun Proof+4

Kokon Horay B10 (-1600.0m)
Enemies- Ebonfires, Baphomet, Mahadevan
Item- Teleport

Kokon Horay B11 (-1610.0m)
Enemies- Beaks, Bon Appetits
Item- Sapphire Maser+5

Kokon Horay B12 (-1620.0m)
Enemies- Black Widows, Rafflesia
Item- Bind Check+4

Kokon Horay B13 (-1630.0m)
Enemies- Gigantis, DeVolve, Rustphages
Item- Strong Sword+6

Kokon Horay B14 (-1640.0m)
Enemies- Worm-Men, Aggrossers
Item- Impact Check+4

Kokon Horay B15 (-1650.0m)
Enemies- Guard Ants
Item- Duststorm

Kokon Horay B16 (-1660.0m)
Enemies- Duke Knights, Gar Pikes
Item- Gold XP

Kokon Horay B17 (-1670.0m)
Enemies- Duke Magi, Gar Snipers, Kanaphages
Item- Bari Ribbon+3

Kokon Horay B18 (-1680.0m)
Enemies- Worm-Men, DeVolves
Item- Flame Blaster+5

Kokon Horay B19 (-1690.0m)
Enemies- Aggrossers, Primas, Odd Hychee
Item- Lightwave

Kokon Horay B20 (-1700.0m)
Enemies- Armstrongs, Black Widows
Item- Act Delay

Kokon Horay B21 (-1710.0m)
Enemies- Gar Snipers, Gar Pikes, Beaks
Item- Excel Suit+4

Kokon Horay B22 (-1720.0m)
Enemies- Goo Prism, Kanaphage, Kanaphage DX
Item- Lockproof+4

Kokon Horay B23 (-1730.0m)
Enemies- Duke Knights
Item- Fireproof+5

Kokon Horay B24 (-1740.0m)
Enemies- Trilizard, Worm-Men
Item- Mirage Bomb

Kokon Horay B25 (-1750.0m)
Enemies- Duke Lord, Trilizards, Gar Snipers
Item- A Present!

Kokon Horay B26 (-1760.0m)
Enemies- Gigantis, Petrophages
Item- Platinum Arc

Kokon Horay B27 (-1770.0m)
Enemies- Cerebus, Ebonfires, Baphomets
Item- Mandau Blade+5

Kokon Horay B28 (-1780.0m)
Enemies- Gigantis, Worm-Men
Item- Angel Coat+8

Kokon Horay B29 (-1790.0m)
Enemies- Gar Pikes, Gar Snipers, Trilizard
Item- Stinger

Kokon Horay B30 (-1800.0m)
Enemies- Worm-Men, Nerve-Men
Item- Weaken

Kokon Horay B31 (-1810.0m)
Enemies- Armstrongs, Nerve-Men
Item- Chobham Plate+2

Kokon Horay B32 (-1820.0m)
Enemies- Karons, Lesser Karons
Item- Talisman+6

Kokon Horay B33 (-1830.0m)
Enemies- Gar Snipers, Gar Pikes, Crushedhearts
Item- Holy Heart

Kokon Horay B34 (-1840.0m)
Enemies- Kanaphage DX, Goo Prism
Item- Protector+3

Kokon Horay B35 (-1850.0m)
Enemies- Goo Kings, Crushedhearts
Item- Cutspace

Kokon Horay B36 (-1860.0m)
Enemies- Mahadevans, Ebonfires
Item- Hymnal+6

Kokon Horay B37 (-1870.0m)
Enemies- Duke Knights, Crushedhearts
Item- Impact Gear+8

Kokon Horay B38 (-1880.0m)
Enemies- Nerve-Men, Goo Prism
Item- Tracker

Kokon Horay B39 (-1890.0m)
Enemies- Duke Lords, Crushedhearts
Item- Wizard Wand+7

Kokon Horay B40 (-1900.0m)
Enemies- Duke Knights, Gargantua
Item- Deathcleaver

Kokon Horay B41 (-1910.0m)
Enemies- Nerve-Men, Duke Knights
Item- Demonscythe

Kokon Horay B42 (-1920.0m)
Enemies- Fire Goo, Lightning Goo, Ice Goo, Goo Element, Goo Prism, Goo
Crystal, Goo King
Item- Riot Guard+7

Kokon Horay B43 (-1930.0m)
Enemies- Creepstalkers
Item- Save Queen+5

Kokon Horay B44 (-1940.0m)
Enemies- Crushedhearts
Item- Wizard Wand+9

Kokon Horay B45 (-1950.0m)
Enemies- Pantagruel, Duke Knights, Duke Lords
Item- Valhalla

Kokon Horay B46 (-1960.0m)
Enemies- Kanaphage DX
Item- Superheavy+7

Kokon Horay B47 (-1970.0m)
Enemies- Darkstalker, Nerve-Men, Creepstalker
Item- Buki+7

Kokon Horay B48 (-1980.0m)
Enemies- Cerebus, Duke Lords
Item- Grenade+9

Kokon Horay B49 (-1990.0m)
Enemies- Duke Knights, Duke Lords, Pantagruel, Gargantua
Item- Legend Blade+9

Kokon Horay B50 (-2000.0m)
Enemies- Dover
Item- Ragnarok

When you reach the bottom this huge dungeon you'll encounter its final
boss, the anti-dragon program, Dover. This fight will either be very
easy or very hard depending on both your D-Counter and your remaining
healing items. If you have 50% or so to spare on your D-Counter, then
this should be an easy fight, that is if you have just enough Med Kits
and Tonics to last you two or three rounds. On your first turn, you
should have Nina use Transfer to feed Ryu and Lin AP. Come Ryu's turn,
use D-Dive and D-Charge ten times (yeah, you heard me). Then smack Dover
with a Twister, which should do a surprisingly small amount of damage,
considering you charged up ten times. After being hit with a dragon
attack, Dover will begin to resist dragon attacks for the rest of the
turn. However, this makes him extremely vulnerable to non-dragon
assaults. Now, cool down out of Wyrm form and pound Dover with your
strongest combos. The 1,2,3 combo method works best for Ryu (which is
using all of you level 1 skills, then using all of your level 2 skills,
then using your level 3 skills). Meanwhile, Lin should get up close to
Dover and use Shatter! as many times as she can. Once the first turn is
over, Dover will begin resisting non-dragon attacks again, so simply
repeat what you did the first turn. Dover has a nasty area effect breath
attack, so you should keep your party in a wide formation surrounding
Dover, which shouldn't be very difficult since Dover is so big. He has
16000 HP, so it may take two or three turns to take him down this way.
If your D-Counter is high coming into this final floor, then you're in
for a much longer fight. You'll want to use the same tactics, but
instead of using ten D-Charges and a Twister, just use one Vortex.
#######################################################################

C. Party XP and Zenny Loops

If you read the Scenario Overlay section, you should have a basic idea
about what a "loop" actually is. A loop is a term used to describe the
utilization of the SOL system to accumulate great amounts of party XP
and/or zenny in fairly short amount of time. Here are the basic steps to
doing a loop:

1. Make a save at a Telecorder using a Save Token.

2. Go out and gain party XP and/or zenny by any means necessary (which
will usually involve employing D-Dive).

3. Store all of your items in the item locker.

4. Use the L2 Give Up option from the main menu and choose to SOL
Restore.

5. You will be brought back to the point at which you saved along with
all the party XP and zenny you gained, and your D-Counter will be reset
to what it was when you saved.

6. Repeat steps 2-4 to rapidly accumulate party XP and zenny.

This whole process may seem a bit fishy, but I assure you that using the
SOL system to perform loops is NOT cheating. As you know, the number of
enemies you can fight are limited without the SOL system, therefore, the
only way to continuously level up your characters is to use loops.
However, keep in mind that you do not have to use loops to beat the
game, and abusing loops can rob the game of its challenge.
#######################################################################

D. D-Ratio

If this is your first time playing through the game, you may be
wondering what exactly D-Ratio is all about. Your D-Ratio (not to be
confused with your D-Counter) is the fraction which represents your
social ranking. The D-Ratio that you start the game with is 1/8192, and
it goes up after beating the game according to how well you performed in
certain aspects of the game. Please refer to the D-Ratio FAQ at Game
FAQs to get more information on the categories that determine your new
D-Ratio at the end of each game. So what is your D-Ratio good for
anyway? Well, throughout the game you'll come across doors leading to
side areas that you cannot open unless your D-Ratio is high enough. By
going through these side areas you'll have access to more items,
enemies, and even more cut scenes. Not only that, but the higher your D-
Ratio is, the higher level some of the game's secret weapons will be at.
Now, here are some frequently asked questions and concerns about D-Ratio
which should clear up a lot of misconceptions and confusion:

Q: Is there any way to increase my D-Ratio besides beating the game?

A: No, you have to beat the game and save after the ending credits in
order to receive a new D-Ratio.

Q: I just beat the game and my D-Ratio went up, but the title screen D-
Ratio is still at 1/8192. What's up with that?

A: The title screen D-Ratio always stays the same. Just don't worry
about it, because it doesn't affect anything.

Q: Will everyone still keep calling me a grunt and a "low-d" even after
my D-Ratio gets high?

A: Yes, and it actually makes some of the dialogue quite funny.

Q: I've already beaten the game, but there are still some doors that I
can't open. Why can't I open them?

A: If you can't open a door that actually checks your D-Ratio, then your
D-Ratio is not high enough. If you find a locked door that doesn't check
D-Ratio, then that door simply can't be opened.

Q: Do I really have to get a perfect score in all those categories to
get the best D-Ratio?

A: No. If you read the D-Ratio FAQ at Game FAQs carefully, you'll notice
that there are 110 possible points that you can earn, and you only need
100 points to earn a perfect score of 1/4.

Q: If I open all the treasure chests in one play through, I won't have
to open them all again in another game, right?

A: Wrong. D-Ratio points you earn from one play through have no effect
at all on the points you earn in another play through. So to get credit
for those chests in your next game, you'll have to open them again. This
also goes for all the other categories as well.

Q: When I stared a new game, my time from my previous play through
carried over on the clock. Will this affect my D-Ratio?

A: No, don't worry about that. Your time in a previous play through
doesn't count against you. So, if your time in your first game was 30
hours, and the clock at the end of your next game reads 45 hours, then
you'll get points for 15 hours, not 45 hours.

Q: Does the time I spend in the Kokon Horay dungeon count against me?

A: No. If you complete the secret dungeon, the time you spend inside
will not count against your time for D-Ratio.

Q: Do I really have to get all 100 points in a single play through to
earn a perfect D-Ratio?

A: Yes. The points you earn for D-Ratio are not cumulative, so you must
earn all 100 points in one game to get a perfect score.

Q: What if I do really badly in a game. Will my D-Ratio go down?

A: No. D-Ratio can never go down. So even if you do very poorly in a
game, you'll retain whatever D-Ratio you've earned so far.

Q: So what's so special about getting the 1/4 D-Ratio anyway?

A: Mainly bragging rights. Getting the perfect D-Ratio is a great
accomplishment, but it has very few concrete benefits.

Q: I keep trying, but I can't seem to get the 1/4 D-Ratio. Do you have
any advice?

A: The best way to get the 1/4 D-Ratio is to earn as many points as
possible in the categories that you are good at. Build up plenty of
party XP and think up a plan for getting those 100 points that suits you
best before you make a run at getting 1/4. Remember that you don't have
to be perfect in everything.
#######################################################################

E. Secret Weapons

Within the game, there are a few weapons that are attained differently
from all the other equipment in the game. Some of these can only be
acquired after beating the game at least once, and their levels depend
on different factors. Keep in mind, like all the equipment you find on
the field, you will have to get these weapons identified.

Violet Blade:

After you defeat Captain Zeno in the Storage area, she'll drop her
sword. Pick it up and you'll receive the Violet Blade, which proves to
be an excellent weapon for Ryu throughout the rest of the game, if it is
your first play through that is. Every time you beat them game, the
Violet Blade's level will increase by 1. Since you get a normal Violet
Blade in your first game, Zeno will drop a Violet Blade+1 in your second
game, a Violet Blade+2 in your third game, and so on.

Dragon Blade:

When you've beaten the game at least once, walk right at the junction in
the Genic Processor where Odjn's corpse is hanging. Head down to the
lower area beneath Odjn's body and look around until you come across a
twinkling sword. Pick it up to acquire the Dragon Blade, Ryu's best
weapon. The level of the Dragon Blade depends on your D-Ratio. The
higher your D-Ratio is, the better the Dragon Blade will be.

Buki:

If you fully explore the D-Ratio basement area inside the Corp Lab,
you'll find a stuffed doll on top of an operating table. Inspect it and
you will see an SOL scene. After the scene, examine the doll again to
get the Buki, a weapon for Nina. Like the Dragon Blade, the Buki's level
depends on your D-Ratio. You can also get a Buki+7 from the 47th floor
of the secret dungeon, Kokon Horay.

=======================================================================

6. Acknowledgments and Closing

I'd like to thank the following for either help or inspiration on my
FAQ:

Capcom- For making such a great game and such a great series.

Game FAQs- For providing a website where gamers can share their secrets
and expertise with others.

All the contributors to Game FAQs- The site wouldn't exist without those
who put time and effort into writing the FAQs.

The Brady Games Official Strategy Guide- Which I used as a reference for
organizing some of the Kokon Horay items.


COPYRIGHT NOTICE

This document Copyright 2003 David Kovaz. This document is not to be
reproduced and/or distributed in any way for profit. It is not to be
reproduced and/or distributed at all without the author's prior written
consent and approval. This document is not to appear anywhere without
the author's alias (DavidK519, DKK5, or David Kovaz) in or attached to
it. This document is not to appear anywhere in an altered or incomplete
form. This document is not to be used as a reference for any publication
unless proper credit is given to the author and the source.


