Dark Cloud

~B


The Bosses of Dark Cloud... And How To Beat Them.
Version 2.0
By David "The DMC" Consolazio

This Boss FAQ is totally original, and it includes my tactics on how to
make your way through the bosses of the game. While I'm sure there are
other boss strategies that look somewhat similar, this one is totally
out o' my brain! This is Copyright of David Consolazio, 2001. If you
would like to use this FAQ on your site, feel free, under TWO
CONDITIONS. MAKE SURE THAT YOU: Leave the document unchanged, and that
includes the entire document, including my name and this copyright. And
secondly, notify me please! I'd like to know where my FAQ is ending up
:). As long as I'm getting credit, I'm perfectly ok with you using this
FAQ. Now, on to it...

added another tip on the Dark Genie, and info on the shield of La Sala>
and the Dark Genie. Thank you, contributors!>

I. Intro
II. Leveling Up (Important!! Make sure you read this)
III. Divine Beast Dran
IV. Forest Guardian Master Utan
V. Ice Queen La Sala
VI. King's Curse
VII. Minotaur Joe
VIII. Dark Genie
IX. Mini Bosses
X. Finishing Thoughts

I. Intro -
Hi there! Up front, I'd like to thank you for reading my FAQ. This is
the first one I have ever written, sooo I'm sure it will NOT be
perfect, but nonetheless, everyone has got to start somewhere right?
Originally, I wanted to do a full walkthrough on Dark Cloud... though as
you can see (if your reading this from GameFAQs) there are plenty of
GREAT guides here that would suit any gamers needs. These guides even
include info on bosses. However, I noticed there was not an In-Depth
on bosses, and I think the problem with going to those walkthroughs is
that you may only go in there for a boss or two... but your eye may trail
a bit, and you might accidentally learn a thing or two that you didn't
want to know. So, this being boss exclusive, that wont happen! Wow, did
you actually read my Intro and not just skip down??? Thanks!

II. Leveling Up
Ok, lets get a scenario going here. Suppose you, yes you the reader,
were forced to fight a battle. Suppose you could only bring one person
to help you out in this fight. Would you bring a member of N'Sync, or
would you bring Jet Li? Hmm... c'mon now. Sadly, this is how easy the
question of leveling up is. If you level up, your only making things
MUCH easier on yourself. Back floors have enemies worth double the Abs,
so that's your best bet. But even just hangin out on the first floor of
the first dungeon can level up your weapon and help you out eventually.
Dran was the only boss I faced with an un-leveled up weapon, because I
didn't know how the leveling system worked all that much. Instead of
building up a Bone Rapier I had found, I stupidly fought with just my
common dagger in hand, doing only 16 damage a pop. He took forever to
beat!!! I soon got the hang of it though, and I spent HOURS leveling up
(had nothing better to do, lol) and by the time I reached the second
boss, I had the Big Bang (evolved from Cross Hinder, which was a
Claymore, which was a Buster Sword I had found in the forest). Facing
La Sala, I already had the SWORD OF ZEUS. I'm not saying you have to
level up this much or with this path, but I think beating bosses in 1-3
hits is quite amusing! The BEST place for leveling up is Shipwreck
Floor 14 in the back... The enemies back there are worth 24 Abs each and
they are fairly easy. Great place to build up Ruby too. Just run
through and get them all weak with Toan, then use whatever other char
you want to run around dealing the finishing blows. Fish and ice can
be acquired in Queens, so you can do this as many times as you want.
Remember, fighting with a guy from N'Sync might get you a few girls...
but what good would that do if you're both dead? Jet Li would keep you
alive MUCH longer...

III. Divine Beast Dran
Hmm... Divine Beast? Did he name himself, cause if so, that's a little
conceited... in any case, we have to take this foo down. He is fairly
easy if fought right, and quite tough if fought wrong. As I have
mentioned earlier, your leveling up would only help make the situation
easier, and that includes Xiao. But it doesn't matter too much, since
even if she only does 1-3 damage, she still gets the job done. Here's
the deal... make sure you have plenty of repair powders and breads just
to make sure things don't get too ugly for your characters or their
weapons. He shouldn't drain too much of your supply, but better safe
then sorry. Dran is just a boss you have to hit and run. BE CAREFUL of
the floors, for he will dispose of big chinks of it. The safest thing
to do is hang out on the outer rim, since he can't affect that area.
Anyhow, when he takes flight, switch to Xiao, target in, and take a
shot. You don't even have to see him as long as he's targeted. You'll
hear him make a noise when he's shot; upon hearing this noise, switch
to Toan. Dran will now be lying there, and it is key to remember NOT to
attack him head on. If you do, he will charge at you and it will hurt.
From behind you take less damage from his kick, but that still hurts.
The best idea is to come in on the SIDE and hit him on the side/foot,
then after hitting him ONCE (don't go for a combo, its too dangerous),
run back to the outer rim and switch back to Xiao. He will take flight
again, and you can just keep repeating the process. If you haven't
leveled up (gee, I keep pointing that out, huh? Haha) this could be a
looooong battle... hit run hit run hit run... _yawn_ . In any case, just
keep at it, be patient, and TAME THE BEAST!

Note: All you really have to worry about is his head ram, but it
shouldn't give you much trouble if you attack from the side... and it can
be dodged. In any case, even if it does hit, it shouldn't kill you, so
that bread should come in handy!

IV. Forest Guardian Master Utan
Wow, the forest is being guarded by a monkey, I'm sure it feels safe
now. However, this is not any monkey that you would see at a zoo or on
your orange juice substitute (by not using the name of it, lawsuit
avoided, bwahaha)! This is one MEAN monkey. Though he shouldn't be too
hard to beat. Now, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but
I think Goro is one of the worst characters in the game. He just angers
me. But, angry or not, I did need his help in this one! Make sure you
have his Battle Axe (you acquire this by perfecting Matataki Village),
and you should be fine (I didn't level him up and I still pulled this
one out... though it was another long battle for me since I didn't).
Leveling up or not, here's how it works. Utan throws a boulder at you
that you dodge, and then the battle is on. He will start by spitting
nuts and berries at you. These don't do much damage, but if you lock in
on him and block, they wont do ANY damage, which is always nice. Now,
when he's done shooting his berries, run at him, and when you get right
next to him, switch to Goro. Lock in and chop those feet, and then back
away. If you stay semi-close range with him, he really can't do
anything but his stupid spinning attack. Back up just enough to dodge
his flailing attack (I was never hit by it, so I don't know how much it
hurts, but I'm sure you'll be fine). When he's in a bit of a stupor
after his attack, walk in and chop his feet again. He'll just keep
running at you and doing his silly attack, so as long as you dodge it,
he shouldn't even get a hit in. Just always stay locked in, move ONLY
far enough to dodge the attack, and keep hitting, back stepping,
hitting, back stepping. Repair your weapon when necessary. Eventually
(depending on how strong Goro and his weapon are) Utan will fall and
his head will be all yours to finish. Finish him up with Goro, or if
you prefer, switch to Toan and do his combo, and the attack that comes
down should deck Utan out for the count (finishing with Goro is
recommended, because I finished with Toan and right before I did I
think he was starting to move, so I don't want any hate mail if he gets
up and turns into some second form or something... lol. If he does get
up, I'm sure you can just repeat the process above, but I don't think
you have to worry about it.)

V. Ice Queen La Sala
Here's a woman that you can walk in thinking your all that with your
Sword of Zeus in hand with its 99 fire attribute, and then have your
butt served to you as she easily destroys you and your ego... What?? Oh,
that wasn't ME, I was just... um... using an example, yeah, ehem... Anyhow,
Ok, ever stand a girl up on a date you were supposed to go on (or for
female readers, been stood up)? If you have, you have seen the fury of
a woman, or I'm sure you can imagine if you haven't. Now take that fury
and multiply it by 100 years of waiting at the bottom of the ocean, and
you have La Sala. Now she is arguably the hardest boss in the game,
with the only one close to her being the Dark Genie. So I got roughed
up a few times before I beat her. I'll give you a few different
strategies to beat her. ALL of the strategies do include a LEVELED UP
Ruby. She has the ability to be one of if not the strongest person on
your team, so take advantage of her (wait, that doesn't sound right at
all, but you know what I mean)! Now is your chance to use the back
level of Shipwreck 14... ok, I've bugged you enough on leveling up. Now
there are three ways I can think of to beat La Sala, and each players
character strengths will vary, so I'll go over all three. Make sure you
have plenty of throbbing cherries and cheese just incase! ONE: The
method I used was quite simple, once I figured it out. To start, run at
La Sala (dran's feather I hadn't used, though I imagine it would help a
lot) and slash her with Toan. ONCE you slash, run to a side of the
cathedral so that you have some distance between you and the queen.
Switch to Ruby and blast La Sala with a fire blast. Right when it hits,
switch back to Toan and run at her again, attack, then run back to the
side and blast her with Ruby again. Once I started using this method,
she never got a hit in. The ice that came out of the ground kept
missing, and she could never get off her heat-seeking attack because I
kept attacking her too fast. Hopefully this method can work its wonders
for you too. However, if it doesn't, another way I figured would work...
TWO: If you have a strong weapon on Xiao and have spent some time
leveling her up, I assume this will be easier. I don't know how strong
La Sala's shield is, but regardless, stay far away from her and use
Xiao to shoot down the shield. Then switch to Ruby and use her fire
blast to deal some damage, then go back to Xiao and repeat. Just keep
moving so the chances of being hit by her random ice attacks will be
lessened. If even this doesn't work, then THREE: Take the shield down
with Toan, then attack with Ruby. Just keep repeating, but in between
that, run! Her attacks follow you, so run like crazy until it
diminishes and then attack. I hope it doesn't come to this for you, and
I think using my first method with a few tries you should top her. I
was doing about 100 damage a hit with Ruby's fire and it took me only 5
hits (my winning battle was like 30 seconds long), so I estimate her HP
at about 400-500. Remember, attacking her w/Toan when the shield is
down has no effect, and attacking her as Ruby when the shield is up has
no effect, so this has to be a team effort. Save before you fight her,
and don't be discouraged if she roughs you up a bit. After all, the
harder she is, the more fun it will be to see her slump. Good Luck!

Note: Attribute FIRE to your weapons. In the words of my little
brother, "Duh".

<< strong La Saia The Ice Queen's shield was. Her shield has exactly one
hundred hit points before it breaks... Zoe Frank)>>> - There ya go. 100
HP for the shield. Should be no problem with a fire attribute attatched
to the weapon!

<< during the whole battle if you bring along 10 fire gems. Just hack
away her shield and then start pelting her with the fire gems. I had
her beat in seconds. Granted, there are many ways to beat her.
(max420al@hotmail.com)>>> - This is a smart plan, if you do have any
fire gems on you. Even if you only have a few, perhaps doing this and
then resorting to one of my methods above can help you out.

VI. King's Curse
Its only curse is that it wasn't even as hard as a Bomber head. Of
course, that's coming from a guy who had enough attack power as Toan to
kill this guy in 3 hits, and never even see him get an attack off, but
even when I went back and fought him with no attribute attached, he
still didn't seem bad. The strategy for him is quite simple. Run at him
and do Ungaga's wind-tamer attack. The black clouds in front of Curse
will disperse, leaving him open for attack. Now switch to Toan (or, if
you have a stronger char, use him or her), and then attack. Switch back
to Ungaga, step back a bit, and then repeat the process. This boss is
quite simple and I'm sure you don't need my help topping this foo.

Note: Attribute HOLY to Toan/strongest char when attacking for a much
shorter battle.

VII. Minotaur Joe
Gee, I guess after La Sala, the creators figured they wouldn't make you
fight another boss until your final one. You will be told that this guy
your about to fight has 38 consecutive victories or something like
that. I would like to know how pathetic those 38 guys must have been...
In ANY case, once again, with my leveled up Sword of Zeus this dude was
gone in two hits, no strategy required. But for those of us who STILL
HAVEN'T LEVELED UP... you still don't have to worry, this guys a piece o
cake. Upon fighting him again with my weakest guy (Goro, the piece o
junk..) he was still easy. Start off with an attack, then he should run
away and put some distance between him and you. Now, every now and
then, he picks up a barrel and starts chugging it. At this point,
attack! He wont finish his drink, and after you get a hit in he'll move
again. Just wait for another barrel to come, and get behind it so he is
on the other side. When he picks it up to drink, attack again. Just
keep repeating, you know the story. I estimate this guys HP at about
2000 (maybe give or take some, I don't know). In any case, you
shouldn't have any trouble, just don't let him finish his drink or he
will "go beserko style" as some might say.

Note: If you do let him finish his drink, which he shouldn't, drink a
Stamina Drink, because he will have the power like he just drank one.
This will up your defense and limit the chances of a one-hit-death
should he get to you.

VIII. Dark Genie
HE-LLO! This is not the tubby genie we all have gotten to know! This is
one psycho genie! Too bad Toan couldn't o' just stopped this guy from
coming, it would have made our job a whole lot easier. Ah, well, what
fun would the game be without a final boss? And a tough one at that!
Hopefully you've chosen to level up by now... I mean for goodness sake,
those of you who haven't must have learned your lesson by now? In any
case, I'm not your mother, so I'm not gonna lecture you anymore about
it. After all, your here, and its time to take this guy down! Ok, so
you aren't surprised as it happens, I'll tell you know. The genie has
three phases, and I am going to break him down phase by phase. Make
sure you have plenty of healing items, repair powders, some stamina
drinks help, stand in/revives, and you NEED a dran's feather (I'll
explain when necessary)!

PHASE 1: The Hands
The genie stalks a bit and then starts to attack. His attack involves
putting one hand into the ground, and that hand will pop up under you
to attack. You can note that on each hand, the genie has some sort of
colored crystal. You MUST attack with the attribute that matches this
color, or else it will have no effect. There are two ways to defeat
this stage. One is to look at the genie and watch his hands; you will
be able to see both colors. Make Toan's weapon attribute one of these
colors, and run around waiting for him to attack. The odds of it being
your color are 50/50, so when it is, slice it! Don't get too close
though, or you will get hurt. Once you take out this color hand, switch
to the other, and then take out that one. Make sure you read my note
below! The other way to take out his hands are once you see the color,
quickly change to that attribute and then attack. This may take longer
and his hands move fast so it may be harder to pull off, but this
tactic can work too if you get the hang of it.

Note: When the genie covers himself up with his wings, when he opens
them, the colors on his hands are new. Make sure you note this and make
whatever attribute changes may be necessary. Also, every now and then
the genie does this attack that you can not avoid that takes away about
30-50 damage, it's a cheap shot, but bosses always cheat.

<< attacking with a weapon without an attribute equipped, although it does
less damage then if you have matching attributes, it saves the trouble
of switching attributes or waiting for the equipped attribute
(Wikidclowne2K1)>>> - True, while attacking with no attribute will
significantly lower your attack power, if the whole attribute system in
this battle is frustrating you, this way may be helpful!

PHASE 2: The Head
Ok, I don't have hands now, so I might as well start BLASTING YOU WITH
MY MOUTH BEAM. Eh, whatever makes him happy. Switch to Ruby, and note
the color of the crystal on his head, and match your attribute to it.
All you have to do is dodge his mouth beam (which could be fatal, but
its slow enough to dodge). Every time you get a shot in, you will be
hit by one of those cheap shots he does. I suggest that you chug your
stamina drinks now, for a few reasons. One, if Ruby isn't strong in the
department of his head attribute, you do twice the damage when pumped
with energy and two, those cheap shots of his do no damage. This part
of him is fairly simple, just keep moving so his beams don't hit you
and that's really all there is to it. Keep it up until he changes into
his final form.

Note: Having Ruby leveled up is almost essential, since she is a big
part in this final battle.

<< against the head shots, the supernova should take around 300-400 damage
from him if Osmond has stamina (Wikidclowne2K1)>>> - This is totally
preference... While I am still a strong Ruby supporter, for those of
you who did not level her up and did level up Osmond, this could work.
However, don't count on doing 300-400 damage unless you've leveled him
up! As I said, this is really just a matter of preference. Use who you
feel is stronger, which I think is Ruby, but may differ from gamer to
gamer!

PHASE 3: This is it!
Not really much I can tell you here, except that that feather of yours
comes in handy now. Now the genie comes with two skeleton enemies,
which you can choose to take out or ignore. They will come back to life
a little while after being killed, so don't think your doing yourself
too big a favor by beating them. Anyhow, in the big picture, all you
have to worry about is one thing; the genie's laser beam. It is fatal,
and it follows you around. So when he starts shooting it, get your
feather quipped and run like mad! When his beam finally stops, run at
him, and take a shot at the crystal in his mouth. Then put some
distance between you and him and wait for the beam again. Once dodged,
attack again, and keep repeating. You can do it! Just keep your hopes
and confidence up and this dude will be toast before you know it.

Note: Make sure you don't get caught up in those skeleton buddies of
his, whether they are alive or not. If you don't get out of the way of
the laser beam, things will not be looking pretty. Good luck!

<< when the genie is firing the giant red laser beam at you on phase 3.
You don't die. Instead it does about 70-80 damage
(mikekg10@hotmail.com)>>> - Ah, this idea had totally skipped my mind.
While I'm sure many of you figured this one out, it was still
definitely a noteworthy tip!

IX. Mini Bosses
These things are simple and easy to do. If you do a great job, you are
awarded with prizes. I never did all that great, but hey, it doesn't
matter much! As long as you complete it, right? I only have one note
for this section. If you can't beat the Serpent in the forest because
your weapon won't pierce him, that's because you don't have the Serpent
Sword equipped. This is essential. If you don't have the Serpent sword,
you can acquire it by completing the river system in Matataki Village
so that the tree in the cave comes back to life. Am I the only one who
gets de ja vu of Parappa the Rappa in these battles? Ahhh well..

X. Finishing Thoughts
Well that's it! I have completed my first ever FAQ. Hopefully it wasn't
too bad, and it was able to get you through whatever boss(es) was
giving you trouble. If your wondering why the Demon Shaft boss isn't
here, I just figured it wasn't necessary. I'm sure you'll do fine with
him, and he's just an extra anyhow. For other info on things like
fishing or how to build villages, the other FAQs at GameFAQs should
help you out just fine. Thanks for using my guide, and I hope it helped
you out! Please, if you have any questions or comments, send them all
to me at DBZKrilln@aol.com. I will appreciate any and all feedback, be
it good or bad. I'm sure more FAQs will come if you all like this one!
I'm glad I was able to help you out!

A guy with many nicknames, but you can call me
David "The DMC" Consolazio

Peace out!