~B
Breath of Fire 4 Enemy Information guide & Misc. lists compilation
Version 0.4 by ZC Liu (phew, what a mouthful)
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v0.1 (17/07)-- After about half a year of on and off writing, finally
patched up this piece of work. Really hoped it would
get up. It did. Now I'll add a "Whee!". :p
v0.2 (19/09)-- Whoa, sorry about the time-lag, but I had more than a
few projects to research on, then there were those
'Oracle' Zelda games... Actually, there wasn't much to
update on, too, except for the missing or outdated
info. Where are your queries?!?
v0.2b(03/10)-- Oops, submitted an earlier version of the file due to
carelessness. This would be a slightly more up-to-date
version. Apologies to all!
v0.3 (22/02)-- ANOTHER half-year gone! What I did was to include some
more critters, not many actually, plus re-format the
entire guide, and add nitty bits of stuff here and
there. Now I'll be onto Metal Slug 3, since there's
only one guide I've seen up till now. And, it's been
fun writing something for you people!
v0.4 (23/12)-- Nope, not really much done, except that I did some
revamping, plus introduced a tiny codes section. All
right, I confess: I'm a lazy guy who gets easily
distracted! Oh, eh, and a merry christmas to all!
DISCLAIMER:
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This is basically a guide on defeating some of the more interesting
enemies in the game, as well as a compilation of useful (I hope)
information on the game. Please do not use this guide for any
profitable purposes or reasons whatsoever. This guide is NOT to be
distributed for commercial reasons and should be circulated freely to
interested parties, which is its purpose. This guide is not to be
published NOR distributed in any altered form to the public, but may
be changed to suit personal uses. This piece of work is compiled by
me, ZC Liu (slivers7@yahoo.com), and also contains the hard work of
many other contributers. Please give credit to where it is due,
especially to those people who have helped in making this guide what
it is. Feel free to e-mail me on related questions, but not more
than once on the same question within a week's time. The latest
version of this guide should be always be found on:
) www.gamefaqs.com
and, also:
) www.psxcodez.com
) www.neoseeker.com
DO ask for permission if you want to put it on you site; it should be
given anyways. Those who abuse this guide in anyway will be dealt
with accordingly; hope there won't ever be any.
In all, use this guide as you want to for informational purposes
only. Contributions and questions are welcome, but I do not tolerate
offensive mail, so phrase your words appropriately before you send
some heated comments. If any part of this guide offends anyone for a
valid reason, please notify me so that I can amend the guide
accordingly. As was stated, this guide is a compilation of
information for helping out those who need it. I would recommend
DarkStorm 2000's comprehensive Dragon Guide for detailed information
on the legendary beings of the Breath of Fire series, as well as
Desmond Xie's faq for intense info on the faerie colony.
Please identify yourself when contributing, and enjoy all the help
you gain, if any. Once again, give credit where it is due, and I
hereby thank all faq writers out there for all their wonderful
efforts.
:) Why this guide was made :<
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Well, I put this up as I felt that I had a bit of free time to spend
on my interest (writing), and I saw quite a bit of information on
many message boards which could have been of more help to those
looking for it, so here it is. DON'T, really don't plague me if you
feel you deserve credit for a piece of information in here, because
I probably forgot where most of these info came from anyway. I'll try
to give credit to any contributions, but you'll have to specify your
name if you want that. This is my first ever piece of public writing,
so forgive me for anything out of place.
A handy function of most browsers and word processors is the Ctrl + F
'find' function, which can be used effectively especially in large
word documents, by typing in a word or phrase. Bless the guy who
thought to mention this easily dismissed yet powerful function!
@E-mail blues@
.....................................................................
About... it was so long ago I can't remember when, someone seemed to
have hacked into my e-mail account and was using my address to read
lots of odd-ball stuff on business opportunities, advertisements
about whatever was under the sun, and especially disturbing was a
big load of lewd stuff. The problem stopped a bit after I changed my
password, but then later on, shortly after Yahoo! provided a bulk
mail box, chunks of the crap started piling in again; by the end of
the week, I usually receive about 3 hundred bulk mail, and even some
in my own mail box, all unrelated. So my usual approach was to empty
the bulk mail folder after a few customary glances here and there to
make sure that it was largely junk. I think it wouldn't have
happened, but just maybe I deleted some intended messages without
seeing them, so I'll apologise to any I inadvertantly offended. If
possible, anyone who knows a good solution to this plague, without
changing my address, please, errm, e-mail me (no other choice) and
thank yourself for being a good Sam. :)
*Note*
If you make any customary changes to your personal version of the
guide, updating the guide by totally replacing it does NOT magically
include your changes in any form whatsoever, so take care when
updating your guide.
Enemy Info
*********************************************************************
Here is the main body of this guide, and while I've tried out quite a
few strategies of my own, this doesn't mean there aren't other
strategies which would work better. I can't give the absolute word
for anything, so find out what works best for your. Please contribute
what you can, and share your knowledge with others too.
A shabby legend here:
(term): It's just informal
: You can learn a skill from this enemy if you guard while it
executes that particular move; read the move list for more
As for these conditions:
Physical : Matter against matter, which is most regular and melee
attacks, but there are some oddballs
Ranged : Any ranged attack, e.g. Ursula's attacks, Clip
Magical : This should be obvious. Also includes odd ones like
Ebonfire
Breath : All breath attacks, inclusive of Primus, and yes, Blitz
Fire : The element itself
Wind : The element itself
Water : The element itself
Earth : The element itself
Holy : The element itself, including healing spells to Aura Smash
Mind : The tendency for a Stat lowering attack to work, esp.
Megaphone
Status : Refers to the vulnerability to status changes
Death : Any instant kill move or similar
The default value for all the above stats is 2, except for Holy,
whose default value is 5. In later sections, if the value for any of
them is unlisted, take it at its default value. Following is a table
on the significance of the respective values, adopted once again from
Desmond Xie's BoF 4 guide, by the rather shameless 'yours truly'.
___________________________
| Elemental Resistance |
|------,--------------------| NOTE: This damage table does not apply
|Number| Damage Taken | to the move types of Mind,
|------|--------------------| Status, and Death, but think in
| 0 |Receives 200% damage| terms of increasing resistance
| 1 |Receives 150% damage| for higher values. Some Holy
| 2 |Receives 100% damage| moves, like Kyrie, only, also
| 3 |Receives 75% damage | come under such rules.
| 4 |Receives 50% damage |
| 5 |Receives 25% damage |
| 6 |Receives 0% damage |
| 7 |Absorbs damage |
'------'--------------------'
A distinctly different move type table would be for 'Healing' Holy
moves, which is obviously different from offensive Holy moves like
Rainstorm. Below are the roughly noted effects:
Trigger : An action or event which causes the enemy to markedly
change, and I don't mean by pummeling it to 0 HP. ~ is
used for one-time events, while * is used to mark events
which may be triggered multiple times in one battle. The
effects of a trigger is noted directly below it.
Status Changes:
Blind : Causes the victim to have a greatly lowered To-hit chance.
Cure with an item, magic, or place in the back rank until
it wears off.
Poison : Just that, it causes the afflicted character to lose 1/16
of the present HP per turn in battle, and 1 damage every 5
steps out of battle. Cure with an item or magic.
Sleep : Dreaming causes a character to be switched to the back
rank, until it wears off in time, or when the character
gets whacked, usually within the same turn
Mute : Silent mouths can't cast magic, and you need to place this
character in the back rank till it wears off, or cure it
with an item or someone else's magic.
Confuse : A confused character cannot be controlled (Command...) and
may perform physical attacks on any other combatant. Taking
the last possible front rank position, a confused ally
cannot be switched to the back rank; can only be cured by
an item, magic, or when whacked to their senses
Stun : This hidden status disables the character's action for that
particular turn only. No real way around this.
Euphoria: Inhibits the character's Will(s) while under this state.
(Happy) Wears off with time in the back rank, but can be cured with
an item or magic before then. At least, that's what I think
it does. There's no way to inflict this status on the enemy
since none of the moves you can use has this odd property.
Unique statuses:
Egg : An Egged character loses their own skills and magic and
may not change their equipment or use items. Defense is
also brought to low levels, making them really fragile
against physical attacks and while in this state, unique
'Egg magic' is available instead; depending on the
status counter, up to three levels of 'Egg magic' are
useable. When the counter reaches zero, the character is
restored to full HP and normal status. Besides, the eggs
look cute, especially Scias'! :p
*Egghead* : In reality a versatile move, Egghead has often been
belittled. For one, the 'Egg' status nullifies any other
status you are inflicted with, making it a slow working
Barandy as it also restores full HP. Sacrifice is a
cheap Timed Blow that can be used to exploit the Vigor
Will. Boil restores you to normal status and leaves you
with critical HP, making it complementary with Reversal
and Scias' Rakhasa, while Hatch is an extra attack. The
only real drawback is a disabled Magic and Skill list :(
But mind you, Egghead is FREE and REUSEABLE! YEAH! ;)
K.O. : Zero HP leaves you with this, and the character is
disabled to the back rank to make way for another active
member. A K.O.ed character can only be revived with an
item or magic; wait till out of battle to observe the
'jet-lag' effects.
Focus : A beneficial status, the Focus counter can be stored up
to level three starting from zero. The first level
boosts the damage you normally perform to ~135%, the
second 165%, while the third level usually gives around
200% of your usual damage. The counter goes up for every
turn of guarding or inactivity (while in the back rank),
and depletes once you perform any action, even while
under the influence of some status changes, so try to
make the action performed with Focus a useful one.
Concentrate: Rather identical to Focus, the only difference is that
Concentrate affects magic attacks instead, and also has
an influence on skills like Magic Ball and Oracle, but
not on others like Faerie Breath. Healing spells such as
Vitalize CAN be boosted though, so I suggest you give
Concentrate to an avid magic user like Nina.
Except for Poison, all statuses are cleared off after battle, and
K.O.ed characters are revived with 1 HP and get 1/10 of their max HP
temporarily deducted; this loss can persist up to 1/2 of the max HP
as you continue to let K.O.ed characters stay down and out, so try
revive them and keep them going before the battle ends. To recover
your penalised max HP, simply spend some zenny to rest at the nearest
inn, or seek out a proper resting point.
Traits: Keeps casting Blitz for most of the time, which will deal a
lot of damage to your party even though it lessens after
repeated use. This critter is rather easy to defeat for all
its damage potential, but you will need to be faster than it,
else prepare for a lot of accumulated damage.
Comments: Actually, you should be able to take it out with a few
regular attacks by the time your main party encounters it;
the trouble for Fou-lu is that he fights alone. Use Tiger
Fist if you're not confident, but they should fall pretty
quickly. Later on, use something strong like the Culverin
to take them all out in one blast for easy Exp.
Area: Kasq Woods; random ? areas in the region of Chek
Traits: Casts Last Resort on the first turn of battle, then just
keeps on attacking
Comments: Rather easy to defeat if you're faster than it, physical
attacks are preferred if it casts Last Resort. If it
doesn't do that in the first turn it gets, then it probably
won't cast it. Flame Sword can deal good damage when you
first get to it.
Area: Ice Peak; random ? areas in the region of Chek
Traits: Not much HP here, but has that annoying move called Howling.
If you have a Flame Sword, feel free to use it. Water element
attacks are useless on it.
Comments: If you run into a group of them, it would be wise to cast
a big Fire element (mixed) spell, or equip something like
a Flamethrower on Ursula.
Trigger: ~Hit with an Earth element attack within first 3 turns~
Attacks: (Attack), Magic Ball, Stone Pillar
Exp: x2
Area: Most areas of Mt. Yogy; most areas of Sanctum
Traits: You would have met a few of them while playing as Fou-lu, and
know that they have a very high defense. Cairns also escape
on the 3rd turn, so you have to give them a reason to stay on
by tossing them Earth damage within the first three turns,
thereafter which you face a mine of Exp which can really cave
in on you...
Comments: Cairns often appear in large groups near the end of Sanctum,
and those groups of six are what you would be searching for.
To easily defeat them, you don't even need to employ
strategies:
Cray or Ursula : Rock Blast
Anyone character: Something powerful like Quake or Inferno
1)Cast Rock Blast; if this kills them, use something else
like a Backhand and Searing Sand (attack-all) combo. A
Bullcat or Dynamite will do too.
2)Combo it with that 'something powerful', like Quake
3)Follow as necessary with the same as above
Silly me didn't realize how easy it was to get them down
earlier, but this seems to be the easiest method I've tried
so far. If you happen to run into any Cyclops, I suggest
escaping, which powers up Coward's Way as well. Use
whatever you will to get your Exp, but consider escaping if
they're not eliminated; you might get into deep #$%@
otherwise...
Traits: A counterpart of Chingol (well, sort of), Fire Wings notably
appear only in this area. Of little endurance, they can be
defeated easily enough, but when they appear alongside Geckos
who pose a much bigger threat, they can really trouble you by
getting in with their Tempest spells, and that's when they
get REALLY annoying ...
Comments: Once you get in trouble with them around those blasted
Geckos, you'll definately want to rid yourself of them
first. And since they are weak against BOTH the fire and
wind elements, try Gigaflare combos to quickly defeat them
as well as severely damage any Geckos that might be around.
Just don't give them any openings, though, or you might get
no quarter instead. Just two Bell Collars would be enough
for the collection, as only the girls can equip that
particular accessory. Can be collected much more easily
elsewhere.
Trigger: *Wind element attacks*
Wis: x1.5
Exp: x1.5
'Generator becomes even stronger!'
*Water element attacks*
HP: x1.2
Pwr: x1.2
Zenny: x1.2
'Generator becomes even stronger!'
Area: Jungle; River
Traits: One look and you might say 'Hey, 'nuther Bad Coil!' So, you
don't stop to look at what it says in the description. Well,
it's got really sharp teeth. Summon a thunderstorm if you
think otherwise.
Comments: One of those enemies which gain Exp as you pepper them with
the right attacks, this is not really a good resort, as you
can't see what goes up as well; usually most of their stats
and especially Atk. On the other hand, Generator isn't
really that bad a choice; it doesn't get its max HP up when
you whack it, and more importantly, it doesn't regenerate
on its own. Goes down in time. A long time. Not exactly
worth it. Try Quake if there are Bolts around. If you
actually want to grow more Zenny from it, use Water spells
as you might on a money tree. Not a wise choice though. If
you DO have the capability to endure several Lightning
spells, just take note that it's weak towards both the Fire
and Earth elements.
Traits: Not much to describe, except that it's rather like a bigger
Mage Goo, with that Timed Blow clause on it. Okay Exp, but
very annoying with a Goo King around. Ocassionally might
escape when its HP gets low.
Comments: Wonder if it can grow into a Goo King somehow. You might
want to learn Timed Blow from it, though. Just give it a
good smack, and it'll go. Tiger Fist's good 'nuf.
Trigger: ~Presence of Ryu's dragon form, or Fou-lu~
Attacks: (Attack), Ebonfire, Timed Blow
Area: Interior of Mt. Yogy; Main lobby of Level 1, Imperial Castle
Traits: The Black Goo is a difficult enemy to beat when you first
face it in Mt. Yogy, and has a powerful range of attacks,
including the dread Death spell. However, if you try to
battle it with Ryu in his dragon form, or with Fou-lu, it
switches to using Ebonfire instead of its normal attacks,
which is a very damaging non-elemental skill you might want
to try to learn. Any near death Black Goos may also attempt
to hit you with Timed Blow, which shouldn't be far too
dangerous by then to learn.
Comments: Ebonfire is a damaging skill, but you would prefer to
learn it with Fou-lu instead of your normal party. Death
spells are to be feared as your party isn't likely to have
any blessed armor as yet until later in the game, so you
might want to avoid battling them until then. The Dark
Draught, an extremely useful Stat-raising item, can
actually be stolen from Black Goos, but you would probably
find yourself in for a uphill task. Great for Exp when you
first meet them; try pinning them with Tiger Fist combos
when encountering more than one of them.
Trigger: ~3-4 Combo hits on the Goo Count in the first turn~
Pwr: x1.2
Exp: x2
Zenny: x2
'Goo Count's grade went up!'
OR
~5 or more Combo hits on the Goo Count in the first
turn~
Pwr: x1.2
Attacks: (Attack), Frost, Icicle
Exp: x4
Zenny: x4
'Goo Count's grade went up!'
~The beginning of the second turn~
Physical: 2
Ranged: 2
Magical: 2
Breath: 2
'It seems like the Goo Count was counting something.'
Area: Aqueduct; random ? areas in the region of Astana
Traits: It's difficult to kill the Goo Count off in 1 turn, as it
spends that very first turn guarding... and counting. Use
combos on it if you want more Exp, which is a great amount
early in the game, and you might get to learn Icicle too.
You might have to be on your guard, though. Pity it only
works on the first turn.
Comments: Lots of Goos swell in Exp with the right trick, and the Goo
Count is the most inflatable of them all. Chuck enough
attacks at it in the first turn, and you might get more
than you bargained for. Don't be afraid of killing it in
the first turn, as it's really hardy then. Well, once you
get Icicle in the collection, you might still want to use
the Exp trick, simply because it's wasteful not to. Hold on
with too many attacks once you level up, as you would be
simply too powerful for it then.
Trigger: ~Steal his Apple!!!~
Attacks: (Attack), Giant Growth, Gigaflare, Ragnarok
Thunderstorm
'The Goo King is angry!'
*Turn after defeating a Goo Nurse / Baby Goo*
Def: x1.3
Agl: x1.3
Wis: x1.3
Exp: x1.5
'The Goo King appears to be excited... '
Area: Main lobby of Level 1, Imperial Castle
Traits: The Goo King never appears alone, and is always escorted by a
Goo Nurse and/or Baby Goos. The Goo King almost always
attempts to escape firsthand; make sure a fast character with
Haste steals his Apple before that. An angry Goo King is a
crazed opponent, however, and beware of his onslaught of
spells. The Goo King's Exp increases the turn after you
defeat one or more of his followers and make him excited, but
so does his stats, so look out before you hit. It might also
be that the Goo King drops his coveted sword easier if you
don't make him excited, but its only a wild guess. You might
try eliminating his escort one by one, however, as his Exp
increases quite a bit that way. Charm him well with treasure/
level up combos and hope that he leaves a shining sword
behind rather than a rosy (and probably poisoned) apple.
Comments: Face it. You're after this accursed sovereign for one thing
only: the Goo King Sword. Which is the most impossible item
to have dropped X( The tendency of the Goo King to escape
doesn't improve the situation one bit, which means unless
your party can dish out 15000 damage to him before he
escapes, you don't stand much chance of getting the sword
without having to face his arsenal of #@$*&%! spells...
Needless to say, you're going to need killer Stats, branded
stuff and skills like Shadow Walk and Triple Blow to take
him down, and throw in nimble button-tapping skills with
Super Combo.
To begin with, the spells he casts more often are Ragnarok
and Gigaflare, so protect your party with fire-snuffing
items like Fire Seeds and the Ring of Fire. The Weyr dragon
form also helps as it reduces damage against these spells,
but watch out for his Thunderstorm! There's a rest point
just in the room near the elevator if you ever need it, so
make a note of this: use any Dragon Evocations when you
need to :) This also means that as long as you can hold out
and chew on that Goo, you'll eventually be able to defeat
it and still emerge hale and hearty. Is that any
consolation at all? Well, you can summon Kaiser and the
whatnot plus your full force with impunity, since you know
there's a rest room (rest-room?) nearby. Easy when you know
it.
In short, perseverance brings rewards, and anyone is going
to need lots of patience to get this prized blade. Truth
would be that it's not worth it to get: this tough fight
yields only a meager amount of experience relative for the
effort, and all you might find at the end of this mini-boss
battle are more of those rotten Apples... The reputed
chance for a Goo King Sword to be dropped seems to be 1/256
but, then again, fighting 256 Goo Kings does not necessary
leave you with a Goo King Sword at the end of it all.
Traits: As its name goes, this pearly white goo is the embodiment of
mercy (well, at least in this game). Its job as a medic
extends to not only its fellow goos, but to your party in
some circumstances as well. You might say that's because it
doesn't have eyes...
Comments: Get rid of it quickly if it appears in a fight with a Goo
King; otherwise, its pretty much your friend, albeit rather
useless. All it does is guard or Vitalize its party when
necessary, and attacks only if you force it to do so with
Roulette. If you kill off all of its allies, with nothing
to heal, it actually extends its services to your party
before trying to escape. If you're as evil as you think
you are, you can smack it before it slips away, and be an
ungrateful jerk. The healing is almost redundant, since
there is the case of the rest room just at the corner...
Some say this nurse would do much better with eyes.
Trigger: ~Afflict with the 'Blind' status~
Exp: x2
Area: Cliff; random ? areas in the region of Sarai
Traits: One of the first enemies you get to face, it's here mostly
for completeness's sake. It uses Rest after the battle goes
on for a bit, which can be quite the life-saver for lots of
instances, so learn it!
Comments: If you have the Blind skill from the Scorpians nearby, or
similar stuff, you might want to get more experience by
blinding it. Not really worth the effort.
Area: Dam; Kurok; random ? areas in the region of Dam
Traits: The Flue Goo is rather dangerous when you encounter it early
on the game, as its Giant Growth attack has the ability to
damage your entire party, making healing often a vital act.
Blinding it yields a rather pleasant side-effect: its Exp
actually triples in amount! Plus makes its attacks less
accurate, so hit it with the Blind skill if you have it!
Comments: It proves to be a nasty enemy early on, and can wreck
havoc easily with repeated Giant Growth attacks. Either
defeat it with magic combos quickly, or you might want to
try inflicting blind on it to gain lots more Exp.
Area: Valley; random ? areas in the region of Sarai
Traits: Another early critter, Mage Goos aren't much to say about,
except there's the Burn skill to be learnt from it. Don't
cast it as a return shot, however, as the Mage Goo manages to
resist the Fire element quite effectively. Hitting it with
the blind status is not so very effective due to its ability
to cast Burn, but still nets you more Exp.
Comments: Just defeat it quickly after you have Burn learned!
Trigger: *Corresponding elemental attack or start of every next
turn*
Attacks: (Attack), Burn, Flame Pillar
Fire: 7
Water: 1
Attacks: (Attack), Cyclone, Eddy
Wind: 7
Earth: 1
Attacks: (Attack), Frost, Icicle
Fire: 1
Water: 7
Attacks: (Attack), Plateau, Rock Blast
Wind: 1
Earth: 7
Area: Most areas within Emperor's Tomb; Mukto
Traits: Morph Goos often appear in groups of four or more, which
makes them one of the best enemies Exp-wise. Having four
elements to attribute themselves to, different coloured Morph
Goos actually count as different types of enemies, but have
little physical differences. What you might want to do when
facing them is to learn all the skills you didn't from Rwolf,
which they would eventually use; one Morph Goo will suffice
for this purpose.
Comments: An interesting property of Morph Goos is that they change
their colour every two turns in the order: Red-> Green->
Blue-> Brown, and also on the second turn of any battle.
The disadvantageous fact is that they may change their
element when under attack, especially for elemental spells,
for which they might change to the element attacking them.
This makes any magic combo having the tendency to heal them
to full health instead, so use melee combos to easily
defeat them.
*Exp Note: When you get the Culverin for Ursula, you might want to
get her Atk strength to high levels, as she can actually
blast off all of the Morph Goos that might appear in a
single shot. And since they come often in groups of four
or five at Mukto, you can actually net up to about 5000
Exp with ease per battle. As Morph Goos appear more often
than Cyclops in the area (might as well Escape, powers up
Coward's Way too), you can easily get over 10000 Exp in
the time needed to deal with a Rider! :) Later on, this
tactic can be increased to cover even Kolpums and
Chingols, once you get strong enough. If you're lucky
enough to get a Render, it should get really strong with
all these battles, too, though the later bosses seem to be
incredibly resistant against the Water element.
Attacks: (Attack), Inferno, Magma Blast (I think, Flare, and
Fireblast too)
Exp: 2200
Zenny: 600
Stolen Item: Magma Armor--3
Dropped Item: Firecracker--2
Trigger: *Hit with a Fire element attack*
HP: x1.2
Pwr: x1.2
Def: x1.2
Wis: x1.2
Exp: x1.5
Area: Most areas of Mt. Yogy
Traits: Lavoids are tough enemies for the amount of Exp they give,
what with their regeneration ability. You might want to use
the Magma Armor when fighting them, as well as that Ring of
Fire. Don't look to them for Exp; if you actually run out of
challenges, know that a Lavoid flamed to 65535 Exp from fire-
element attacks makes the Rider seem like a piece of charred
potato crisp. No Benediction for you, too.
Comments: Defeating a Lavoid is moderately easy, unless you want a
gamble to get more Exp, in which case you can try toasting
them with a couple of fire attacks, but don't overdo it
unless you've just made a save or you're bored with the
game...
You won't want to be messing around with Lavoids using fire
attacks. Just TRY getting them to 65565 Exp, then chill
them with Blizzard; it would probably have as much cooling
effect as an ice cube against a live, erupting volcano. AND
they still get stronger from fire attacks even when their
Exp caps. If you can actually defeat this sort of a hyped-
up nasty, do tell me!
*Exp Note: Someone suggested on the web a way to defeat both a hyped-
up Morph Goo AND an Orochi, and it seemed to work fine
too! The idea once again was to get in Ershin as the decoy
with Stand Out, this time with Resist to make em last much
longer, and get Ryu to annihilate those 'banes of nature'
with Kaiser Breath. The first time I tried it on a really-
big Lavoid, it worked! So I got all-the-way excited and on
my next round, against *two* Lavoids, flamed them all the
way to kingdom-come. Uh Oh. For the front part of the
battle, it went as was expected, and their Exp went up in
full tide (of course, so did their Stats...). When I
finally got geared up to defeat them with my Kaiser at 999
for all Stats, AND with max HP (with Celerity, plus more
than a bit of those seeds and fishes), I thought for the
whole thing to end for them in a big bang. I got the bang.
When I executed Kaiser Breath, dumb me actually missed out
on the point that this was BoF 4, in which the total
damage gets distributed among *all* the enemies... None of
the Lavoids died, or even took damage at the end of it
all. After one more turn, I saw that they were
regenerating more than the Rider's HP each turn, which
made the whole battle very interesting indeed, so I went
for an all out offensive. Four turns later, the game told
me to load a save file or start a new game. NEVER, miss
out on the importance of all-target attacks, for they are
what makes Stand Out useless, on the absolute scale. A few
bouts of Magma Blast, and my Kaiser dragon ceased to
exist; all of them fell in the end, including Ershin (ran
out of AP :p). A few proverbs came to mind soon after:
'Pride comes before a fall', 'Take things at a time', and
'Watch your step', blah blah. :| Seriously, what you
should note is to use this strategy on lone enemies only,
and don't overwork yourself on pumping your enemies for
Exp. This should still work on a single Lavoid or Orochi,
though.
Traits: This elusive squeaky white critter is a prelude to what you
face against the later Mimics. If you can't catch Rats, I
don't suppose you would fare well against the blasted
treasure chests. A nice pack of Exp and Zenny, Rats are
hard to encounter and defeat firsthand, but yield a nice
reward if actually defeated. Most physical attacks would
whistle through thin air, and magic is crappy against them.
Escapes often too, so don't be disappointed if you can't
send it to oblivion on first contact, since it's practically
a mini-Mimic in nature.
Comments: Difficult to defeat when you first face that juicy amount
of Exp, the rewards become obsolete when you can squish it
underfoot easily. Come back and flush Rats around the
Hideout if you want pre-Mimic training.
Area: Event battle in Kyria (Version 1); Boss battle against Glebe
(Version 2)
Traits: The odd chest out of the three, this one's (Version 1) in the
middle. It can bite your fingers and escape. And it
occassionally appears when summoned by Glebe, as (Version 2).
Look under 'Machines' for versions 3, 4, and 5!
Traits: Beihl gets in Lucky Strikes now and then, but they aren't too
much to worry about. Trouble would be coming from Blizzard
and Death spells, as well as any Quisits which may have
tagged along; Beihl only casts Kyrie with them around. The
occasional Skullen that appears shouldn't prove to be a
troublesome combination.
Comments: Comparatively, Beihl is an easy-to-defeat enemy for one so
near the end of the game. The point of note is that you can
steal an Ouroboros from it, which you should get as many as
you can, since it can let you cast Raise Dead for free,
besides being the strongest weapon for Nina. Try to get
blessed armor outfits or Diamond Rings for your characters
to ward against nasty Death spells, and switch any
character affected by Gloom from Quisit to the back rank.
Watch out for Kyrie, otherwise. Just try to heal often, as
the damage from the Lucky Strikes tends to pile up more
often than not.
Area: ? area left of Tomb; Exterior grounds of Emperor's Tomb; random
? spots around the Tomb region
Traits: Actually higher in Exp than its metallic brethren, Egg Gangs
are easier to defeat than Gold Gangs, since it's the Zenny
that makes the difference. Doesn't escape that often too.
Comments: Use a couple of well-placed attacks to crack it. Searing
Sand and other Earth attacks work particularly well. Note
that you can learn Magic Ball from it.
Area: ? area left of Tomb; Exterior grounds of Emperor's Tomb; random
? spots around the Tomb region
Traits: The gold pot of the game, Gold Gangs usually appears with Egg
Gangs, who yield much less Zenny, but actually more Exp.
Breaking this pot with melee attacks, however, is not
recommended if you want a rich earning. Earth spells work
great against it, and you can get nice items from this
fragile eggshell, that is if you nab it before it escapes.
Note that the random spots from in the region around the Tomb
(boundaries are Kwanso and the two intermediary points from
its North and East trails) are Egg Heavens, with the
occasional Zaurus also also hunting for eggs, so head there
if you want to try your luck at gaining hoards of Zenny for
stuff like Shaman's Ring! Divine Helms are good stuff too!
Comments: Since hitting it with melee attacks only decreases what
you're trying to get (tons of Zenny, what else?), use Earth
spells to create some rocking combos. Oracle works well if
you're hard up on AP, and doesn't reduce the Zenny too.
Note that Gold Gang has a relatively high Agl, and might
get in Resist or Ovum before you start your attack, so make
sure you're fast enough in this grab for gold.
Trigger: ~Presence of Shade allies at start of battle~
Exp: x2
~Absence of Shade allies~
Exp: x0.5
Loss of HP regeneration
'Horseman's magical ability has weakened!'
Area: Main lobby of Level 2 and B3, Imperial Castle
Traits: The Horseman usually appears in the company of Shades, but if
it fights at the start on its own, its magical ability
weakens and you get much less Exp for beating it. Similarly,
if it appears with other enemies, its Exp doubles to 7000,
but stays that way only if its buddies stick around before it
goes, which means that once its magical ability has weakened,
you get only half the reward for your effort. Of course, it
loses its regeneration abilities, so that might help. Similar
enemies include Karon and Titan. The Horseman is quite
resistant against Kyrie.
Comments: The regeneration is going to make this battle hard, and
Horseman has lots of nasty moves even without it. Deal pain
swiftly with moves like Shining Blade and Shadow Walk, and
take care to ward against its Death spell. Oracle also
works well from Nina. Note that you can learn Triple Blow
from it, if you didn't already, and the Cleaver as well as
Mist Armor can be gotten from it.
Area: Most rooms and walkways of Levels 3-1, Imperial Castle
Traits: Similar to Horseman and Titan, Karon needs friends to boost
its magical ability, and its Exp would be halved if it
appears alone, double with any Shades to 6000, as usual
staying so only if its friends stick around at the start of
the turn you defeat Karon. It loses Curse, and has its
Blizzard reduced to Ice Blast once its magical ability
weakens. Still, its Lucky Strike hurts rather painfully. X|
Comments: Pretty easy an enemy to defeat with Oracle from Nina, the
Skull Staff can be stolen from Karon, but hasn't much real
worth. Try going ahead though, as you might get lucky and
get a Star Dress from its remains. Quite a bit of Exp for
the effort. Note that Karon is weaker than Horseman against
Kyrie, and might actually get defeated from a Holy-Kyrie
combo rather easily.
Traits: It doesn't seem like much at first, with a tongue hanging out
like Fido's. But don't go overboard with boosting its Exp;
watch out for its HP, which regenerates as well, and its Atk
goes up too.
Comments: More Exp is nice, but more risk is bad, especially when the
enemy regenerates like no one's business. Magic works best
against it, no matter your purpose, and is good against the
later Orochi enemies too. You might want to try out the new
Wyvern dragon form against it if you run into trouble early
on.
Trigger: *Every successful hit of a Regular attack*
Exp: x2
Zenny: x2
Area: Anywhere within En Jhou Ruins
Traits: Mimic appears on it's own on most of its infrequent visits
during tours into the En Jhou Ruins, appearing just like what
you came searching for: treasure chests. Aptly, too, for
their Exp and Zenny doubles with every successful NORMAL hit
that inflicts damage, including zero! However, they can slip
out of battle like flowing sand, making your Exp hunt quite
fruitless more often than not. Once in a blue moon, though,
they might appear in pairs, more so in the empty room on the
first level of the ruins. I reaped a grand 68000 Exp once
through such an encounter! (Well, it never happened again :|)
Luck seems extremely crucial with these guys, who seem to
possess a whimsical attitude.
As a side note, anyone noticed that you spot the moon for
only about four times in the entire game? That's referring to
actual game events, otherwise the moon actually shines more
often than the sun when there are dragons around wrecking
havoc. Have fun actually waiting for a blue moon. :)
Comments: For those who have met the Bolt family, and Rats, one would
know that the Mimic is BAD news. For such a rare critter,
having it escape when you've racked up its Exp and Zenny
just doesn't seem fair, but you just have to take what you
have. +1 hit weapons work well against it for the money
growing effect, but you need stuff like Spirit Blast and
Cleave as well as Shadow Walk to kill it, provided they too
don't get parried off. The Haste will from Rwolf actually
seems to have some effect, but usually the Mimic can pre-
empt you NO matter how high your Agl rating is. Oh, and did
I mention that Mimics are immune to everything except melee
attacks, and they rarely take but two points of damage if
any. Have accursed fun going treasure hunting, bwahahahaha
lol :p
Just for some help, if you're going on a Mimic hunt, you
should more or less have some of the following packed in
abundance:
*Spirit Blast, Cleave, Timed Blow, blah blah...
*A +1 hit weapon for each character who can equip one; yep,
you shouldn't even have disposed that Scramasax
*A crack/shatter/destruction-proof heart and mind; you
know, I found this whole business somewhat akin to buying
shares
Area: Most stairways and storage rooms from Levels 4-B3, Imperial
Castle
Traits: Akin to Lavoids, Orochi (heheheh) are also enemies possessing
that annoying regenerative ability, and gain leaps in their
Stats besides increasing in Exp value. For each normal attack
on Orochi, its Exp, Stats AND HP gain in value respectively.
If you didn't find Lavoids enough juice to chew, think again
with Giant Growth from an Orochi with 65535 Exp and Beyond!
Comments: Since Orochi are weak against magic, and get boosted from
normal attacks, you should use skills like Oracle or most
magic spells to deal with these pests. Kyrie has an
almost zero chance of working, so don't think of any
instant kill stunt. :( And healing magic DOES heal Orochi
instead. The chance of getting an Ivory Bangle is really
low, so don't hope for much except frustration.
*Exp Note: I won't repeat this again since it gets confusing. Go read
it from the Lavoid section!
Traits: Devout followers of Beihls, Quisits may sometimes gang up
with Skullen, but are most dangerous with Beihl in the lead.
Using Gloom only when Beihls are in the original party,
Quisits can thus render your characters vulnerable to Beihl's
Kyrie spell, as well as turn your healing spells ineffective.
On their own, they can prove to be an especially annoying
enemy with their HP and AP stealing skills, and Confuse to
boot the bag.
Comments: You don't really need a strategy to deal with Quisits, but
to be on the safe side, you need to watch out if you ever
got hit by Gloom. (actually, just shift that character to
the back rank :|) Just shoot them down with ranged weapons,
or use wind magic if you don't want to miss. More easy Exp.
Area: Sluiced-area within the Imperial Headquarters in Astana (after
hex incident)
Traits: Salt Claws only appear in this area after the hex incident,
and they aren't really that easy to defeat. Besides getting
in Lucky Strikes and Counters often and having the dreaded
Death spell, Salt Claws also tend to use Reversal when they
reach low health, which can really damage a character badly.
However, Salt Claws are the only source for learning Reversal
from, so you might want to risk it. Once their pincher blows
away from multiple physical attacks, they would use Giant
Growth and Cyclone instead, and you get more Exp for beating
them too! But the Power Glove is also gone for that battle,
so use magic combos to easily defeat it as well as hope that
it drops a Power Glove. You might note that healing magic is
ineffective on Salt Claws, and that melee attacks usually get
partially shielded while it still has its pincher. Kyrie
seems to work, though. :)
Comments: Using magic combos would be ideal in the area as the Gold
Flies that often accompany them are excellent dodgers. A
few bouts of Cyclone or Typhoon ought to blow them off.
However, if you want to aim for more Exp, you might want to
try a Backhand melee combo as the Salt Claws tend to be
defeated before that pincher gets blown away. Not too much
trouble if you deal with them quickly using magic. And, you
can get the Power Glove through more conventional means:
Manillo Trading at Chiqua.
Traits: Shades take up the role of battle assistance, as they both
boost the powers of their allies (Horseman, Karon, Titan),
plus use lots of annoying attacks. Don't under-estimate them
though, as a couple of Lucky Strikes can make you bite the
dust rather quickly. Defeat them first if you want to weaken
their allies. You lose out on the rewards, though.
Comments: Use Ursula's attack-all guns or a good Wind spell to rid
yourself of them, but you'll usually want more Exp against
this comparatively minor threat. Watch out, though, and
don't hesitate on taking them out of the air if things get
rather nasty. The fact that Earth spells don't work on them
can be used to your advantage, actually. As a side-note,
those status-boosting items don't drop all that often.
Traits: One of the most irritating enemies you'll face in the
Imperial Castle, Skullen are incredibly fast to boot and
would probably get in their turn before you even move,
unless your characters have Haste to help them. Adjust your
strategy accordingly.
Comments: Since Skullen are capable of performing both Counter AND
Backlash, you might want to mix up your attacks when facing
more than one of them. Interestingly, Cleave works wonders
against these deflection masters, so use it often when up
against these pests. Faerie Attack and Faerie Charge both
cannot be countered too, but are far too costly for this
purpose. Note that Skullen can also switch to the offense
with Magma Blast, which really hurts. I've never seen them
do a normal attack though. A nice bit of Exp.
Area: Event battle upon entering Imperial Headquarters in Astana;
'Organ room' within Imperial Headquarters in Astana after hex
incident
Traits: As the description says, you have to take care when zombies
start appearing along with Warloks. Usually, Dark Breath is
what they cast on the first turn. Not really a big threat,
considering how Zombies and the bunch fare against you now.
Some spell combos, or a good shot with Ursula should take
care of that rotting army.
Comments: Rather dangerous in itself, the undead which accompany it
at times are less of a threat than the Warlok. Watch out
for its Lucky Strikes and Death spell. You might want to
try a Holy-Kyrie combo to sweep the screen, though
Vitalize would only dispatch the zombies. Oracle and Holy
Strike are extremely useful when up against a lone Warlok.
Trigger: ~Turn after defeating a Bolt Archer or Troop~
Pwr: x1.2
Exp: x1.5
'You killed him! How could you!?'
Area: River (NO MAGE); ? area leading to Hut; random ? spots from
Kwanso to intermediary point between Highway, Sanctum and Soma
Traits: This time round, the Bolts don't have a Lord around to look
out for them like in BoF 3, so it seems that they have formed
closely-knit packs of battle-seasoned warriors and mages.
Killing off any of their number would incur the wrath of the
remaining band, and while they offer more Exp when defeated,
their ability to evade physical attacks gains more than a few
leaps, and some of them may begin to sport more powerful
attacks. Somehow though, the warriors seem to be unaffected
by the demise of mages, even though the mages care about
their their comrades absence, undeniably when you get
Typhoons and Blizzards for just about every other turn.
Comments: Not really much here, except that you should try to kill
off one of them before casting your spells, but not the
Mage as it's useless, unless you want to evade the threat
of Blizzard and Typhoon. Once their Exp increases on the
next turn, get a quick character to cast something like
Rock Blast or Fireblast, or just have Nina (usually the
fastest) USE a Flamethrower for free. The items they drop
are very nifty ones, so try collecting a few of them if
possible.
Trigger: ~Presence of Bollor ally at start~
Attacks: (Attack), Ice Blast, Lightning
Area: Fane; some areas in Cove
Traits: Bollor is much easier to face than Rollob, who has a more
potent arsenal of spells. However, if you chance upon a
Bollor, you're probably seeing a Rollob together with it.
Rid Rollob first unless you like to be hit by Lightning.
Which doesn't end even if the Bollors get annihilated
before the Rollobs.
Comments: Think of Bollor as a prism of sorts who enables present
Rollobs to cast Lightning (and they can cast it endlessly,
with no AP cost at all) besides the normal stuff. Smash
Rollob, Rollob, Rollob, (ya know, the one with the Ctulhu
shade of skin colour) before you tackle Bollor, who can
only cast Sever until its AP runs out, even though it's
faster. Not much else, is there? Oh yeah, try making
some takoyaki for yourself.
Traits: Pals of Kolpum, Chingol appear along with them in large
numbers, but can be aided by Shadows and Star Gazers as well
on the upper floors. Take care trying to learn Shadow Walk,
as the damage is going to pile on your party. Speed is also
cast quite often by Chingol, on both themselves and their
Kolpum friends.
Comments: This is the only enemy you can learn Shadow Walk from, if
you just couldn't get Bunyan to teach you (actually, the
Knight dragon form also has it...). But remove some of
those in the contingent first, as they can damage you
seriously if you let them boost up. All along, plain enough
to defeat using skills like Tiger Fist and attack-all
weapons on Ursula, who could definately do artillery damage
with Shadow Walk! Just note that they can take quite a bit
of punishment. Try spells if you can afford to.
Trigger: ~Afflict with the blind status within the first two
turns~
Attacks: (Attack; Lucky Strike), Blitz
Exp: x1.5
~Start of 3rd turn of battle~
Agl: x2
Attacks: (Attack; Lucky Strike), Spirit Blast
Exp: x0.8
Dropped Item: Nothing
'Cyclops' club broke!'
Area: Mukto; most areas of Sanctum
Traits: Probably the first enemy you bump into on exiting from the
Emperor's Tomb, running away is usually preferred to using
brute force on this giant. Due to its nature to counter your
normal attacks and land hard blows most of the time, you
wouldn't want to face the Cyclops while having low HP; after
it deserts its weapon, it smacks you with a ton using Spirit
Blast, and you get less Exp too. Not worth it, huh? So run
while you've got the chance to!
Comments: Its Giant Club is a good weapon for Cray, yet not worth the
effort to get, simply because it's much easier elsewhere.
Not only do you have to deal 10000 damage within two turns
to this monster, but endure counter attacks to most of your
attacks; Lucky Strike occurs obscenely often. Blinding it
would be a good tactic; its Exp increases, and it switches
to using Blitz while it can, which, though deals a lot of
damage to your party, also deducts a chunk off Cyclops' HP,
which may help you if you've got enough health. Difficult
to tackle even at higher levels.
Area: Most areas of Levels B1 and B3, Imperial Castle
Traits: These lizardmen are enemies you would fear meeting most later
in the game, for they are extremely tough opponents even
against high level characters. Appearing most often in groups
of three, they might even come in larger numbers along with
Fire Wings and Skullen! And with their versatile moves, they
are able to put almost anyone in a harrowing fight! Take care
if you are trying to learn Triple Blow or Cleave from them,
since you're actually looking at trouble in its face, lol :p
Interestingly, they have an extremely low zenny reward for
beating them, which makes one occassionally wonder if they
are warrior monks of some sort.
Comments: To start with, since you know that they boost their Def to
high levels with Shield at the start of the battle, it
would be quite clear that using brute force to deal with
them would be quite a task, so switch to magic instead.
Saving your AP would be quite unnecessary later since
there's a rest point at both the 1st floor and the B4th
level. Beware of using magic combos though if there are
Skullen accompanying them; you wouldn't want to eat your
own Gigaflare in the face. Offers a huge chunk of Exp if
you can trash them quickly with spells. :)
Trigger: *Hit with an Elemental attack* (Attacks; x*)
Attacks: (Attack), Flame Strike
'Kolpum's sword has been infused with the power of
fire!'
Attacks: (Attack), Wind Strike
'Kolpum's sword has been infused with the power of
wind!'
Attacks: (Attack), Frost Strike
'Kolpum's sword has been infused with the power of
water!'
Attacks: (Attack), Searing Sand
'Kolpum's sword has been infused with the power of
earth!'
Attacks: (Attack), Holy Strike
'Kolpum's sword has been infused with a holy power!'
Area: Most areas of Levels 4-1, Imperial Castle
Traits: Kolpums often have Chingol companions, and together they make
a rather fearsome cavalry. Kolpums are great if you want to
learn all the elemental strikes, including Frost Strike.
Making an elemental attack on them gives them the
corresponding Strike. Holy Strike seems possible only with
another Holy Strike or Aura Smash, so it might be somewhat
tricky to learn. When you descend to the lower levels though,
try attacking equipped with the Ascension you get. Oh, and
Rainstorm works, too. In so far as I know, a Kolpum cannot
execute Double Blow once it fuses with an element, so that
might be useful info when you have elemental rings.
Comments: Underrated enemies, Kolpums can make short work of you,
given the chance along with Chingols attacking. Use Tiger
Fist often, and combo it with Shadow Walk on Ursula WITH
an affect-all weapon for the flashy effect ;) You might
want to use magic combos, though, especially if there are
Star Gazers around at times. The Strikes are probably
useless this late in the game, though, so you might as well
finish them off quickly. Note that Kolpums have a low
chance of dropping the Slicer, which is an adequately
powerful +1 hit weapon for Ryu and Scias at this point in
the game. You'll be lucky to get it.
Traits: The final challenge for those who have defeated most of the
monsters in the game, the Rider is truly tough to beat. With
out-of-league Atk and Wis, the deadly arsenal which the Rider
wields can swiftly decimate your characters. However, this
would be the only other chance for learning Benediction,
which the Rider would cast only when most of your characters
are K.O.'ed, minimizing the overall learning chance. The slim
chance of stealing the King's Armor makes facing this enemy
unpleasant, but beating this knight would earn you a Cursed
Sword everytime, as well as 10000 Exp and Zenny to boot. And
if you succeed in getting a King's Armor too, congrats.
Comments: Pitting your characters against this enemy would truly make
your fiercest battle yet. Each turn against the Rider would
almost definately mean a dead character or a dying front
rank, which makes it obvious that you need defensive skills
other than killer moves to take out the Rider. The
following strategy usually worked for me:
*1st turn*
1)Meditate Ryu into a dragon form; I recommend Weyr for
this, but Kaiser or even Knight are good enough too.
2)Cast Resist with Nina; she's fast.
3)Cast Shield with Cray, or a spell on Ryu, and hope
everything connects; Kaiser's hefty HP takes care in case
of a backfire. :) Weyr should fare fine. If Cray is just
too slow, try a useful spell targeting Ryu, like Barrier
if you've got Resist on someone else.
*2nd turn*
1)Cast Resist with Nina; combo, combo, combo!
2)Cast Last Resort with Ryu and hope the SHIELD effect
triggers; the defense rating of Kaiser really helps in
this, but is really costly AP-wise.
3)Try either War Shout with Scias, or another bout of
Shield to make a combo; the SHIELD effect is rather
essential for Ryu, so just use anything to make it work.
*3rd turn*
1)Hope Ryu's Atk is at 999, or just make do with it. Cast
Resist with Nina.
2)Combo it with Counter on Scias; the SHIELD effect
doesn't really matter.
3)Combo it with Focus on Ryu; it HAS to combo or the whole
thing's off! :O Notice something now?
*4th turn*
1)If Ryu is alive and floating so far, then proceed by
equipping Ursula with the best +1 hit weapon you have,
a.k.a. Repeater, then blast away with Shadow Walk.
2)Next, combo further using Shining Blade on Scias with
the best +1 hit weapon you have; can we say "Render"?
3)To finish off the rider, horse and all, equip the most
powerful +1 hit weapon on Ryu, preferably the Slayer or
Slicer, but NOT the Royal Sword... the Holy properties of
this blade greatly reduces what damage you might have
done instead. The Cursed Sword is the BEST if Ryu is
still bursting with life energy, that is, if you already
have it. You might try using Triple Blow if you're not
that familiar with using Super Combo, and Tiger Fist
nicks for than some HP enough too.
The crucial point rests on this move; you should have
practiced with Super Combo by now and can get nine hits
in easily with calm fortitude. Unleash the best Super
Combo you ever could; slow but sure, counts. Foiling your
beat now only wastes your entire effort. With quite a bit
of damage already to set off, even seven hits might do
the trick! To disappoint readers, if your first few hits
of Super Combo don't get in at least ~4500 damage each,
you should level up further either your Stats or your
button-tapping skill and instincts (maybe both), or
*sadly* turn to another strategy. Or if you've got your
confidence in Tiger Fist, it would probably work out fine
with much less hassle too than with Super Combo. Which
isn't all that great if you don't know how to use it.
Congrats if you've just received your first Cursed Sword!
The main essence of this strategy is to utilise the combo
system to the fullest with Resist and Super Combo; if you
find difficulty comboing, get some Harmonic Rings even
though they're dang costly. Overall, comboing is the key,
so feel free to use whatever tactics suit your party
best; flexibility brings about surprising results. For a
tip, you might try placing Ershin in front with Stand Out
and Soul Gems as bait for the Rider's devastating attack
while you power up your other characters, during which
Faerie Breath could come in handy for most situations.
Skills like Counter are chosen for their category, and
can be replaced suitably with other skills of the same
category needed for the combo, like Supplication or even
Charm and Monopolize, which all share in common the
'Level Up' category to be used for boosting Focus.
Area: Exterior areas of Sanctum; Soma; most areas in Chedo;
Level 4-3, Imperial Castle
Traits: This dreaded assassin has two skills which you might want to
learn, especially Disembowel if you don't have it yet. Often
an assistance force in battle, Shadows can become as annoying
as their namesake as they can parry lots of melee attacks,
and get in a Disembowel now and then. Along with any allies
they might have, your party might face a chancy threat of
extermination, unless you throw in the best magic combos you
can perform first.
Comments: You might prefer to learn Disembowel from Kryrik instead
rather than have a Disembowel attempted on you. Try to
avoid Shadows while in Chedo prior to facing A-tur; you
wouldn't want to face one of the toughest bosses in the
game with a dying party. Later on though, Shadows are easy
to defeat with magic for the Exp they give, so go for them
if you have the AP to spare.
Area: Most areas of Levels 4-3 and B1, Imperial Castle
Traits: Star Gazers are the magical adepts of the game, and only have
two moves to boot: the magic-boosting Concentrate and the
gambit Recall. They seem to always cast Concentrate during
their first turn, so you don't have to fear that if you can
finish them before they cast Recall, which can summon up
spells ranging from Rock Blast to Typhoon! Freaky! The battle
gets monotonous as they frequently alternate between
Concentrate and Recall only. Not that Recall keeps being the
same.
Comments: Not much of a threat, Star Gazers are able to make
themselves a perfect nuisance due to their hefty HP.
Interestingly, these sorcerers are vulnerable to magic, so
cast whatever magic combos you can, but watch out if there
are Kolpums around. The Shaman's Ring doesn't get dropped
all that often, so you would do better to buy it from an
established Item shop in the faerie village. The spells
that get randomly summoned with Recall might be learnable
on certain occasions, but it's truly totally random.
Area: Most areas from Levels B4-B6, Imperial Castle
Traits: Similar to the Horseman and Karon, the Titan also needs
Shades around to maintain its 'magical ability'. However, the
Titan always appears with Shades, so don't worry about the
Exp part. Keeping at least one of those pesky Shades around
would be worthwhile for netting >9000 Exp. The Titan is
resistant to a great many things though, besides having an
outrageous Atk and Def, and an extremely high counter rate.
Eliminating its companions first would make him easier to
battle with a weaker Def and lower counter rate, but you
stand to lose not only that 4500 Exp, but also the chance of
getting an Earthbreaker, an excellent weapon for Cray which
can also be used to cast Stone Pillar for free!
Comments: A hardened piece of meat, Titan not only resembles a
Cyclops, but a mutated Smurf as well... :) You can get to
learn Knockout, Spirit Blast, and even Target from it, but
it more than hurts to learn from a maniacal enemy. Even
when weakened, Titan's Atk still enables it to deal more
than 600 damage with Spirit Blast, so beware! Use Shining
Blade and Shadow Walk to inflict lots of damage quickly,
and you might want to use Spirit Blast too. Mudslide is
undependable as it might hit a Shade instead. Defeat Titan
after using Charm to have a better chance of receiving
Earthbreaker. And don't forget to try blinding it for much
more Exp!
Trigger: *The start of every turn*
Fire: 6
Wind: 6
Water: 6
Earth: 6
'Warder erects a barrier around itself!
'Warder refreshed its barrier!'
*Fire / Wind / Water / Earth attacks*
Lowers own elemental resistance to 2, but raises all
the above others back to 6
'The Warder's barrier has weakened!'
Area: Main lobby of Level B1, Imperial Castle
Traits: Superior to the Star Gazer in terms of magical powers, the
Warder has a really low HP count, which doesn't work too much
in its disfavour. The magical barrier it raises and refreshes
each turn lets it ignore damage from fire, wind, water and
earth element attacks once each per turn, and while you work
at destroying its barrier, it can use Depress to greatly
reduce the amount of AP you have, disabling your AP for any
spells you might want to use! Truly a master of magic!
Comments: Warders can prove to be an annoyance since they appear
rarely, but when they do they usually come with some Star
Gazers, or in pairs. Having extremely high Def also works
on their side too. So watch out for your characters while
attempting to steal that nifty Angel's Vest, and finish off
the Warder with the non-elemental Ebonfire! :) The Spirit
Ring, which is one of the most valuable baubles you can
dream of, is also dropped only by the Warder, so don't get
disheartened after some tries; it's easier than getting the
Goo King Sword! If you've got spare resources, try a
Difficulty 5 Search with a faerie explorer.
Traits: A new feature of enemies introduced when you enter the Kasq
Woods, the shield Bee Troops sport are able to deflect lots
of damage they would have received other wise. Use Fire
combos, and Firewind to quickly defeat lots of them. The
Bronze Shield is what gets destroyed if you use lots of melee
attacks.
Comments: Melee attacks are crappy up against them until their shield
gets shattered. But you might want to do just that try
learning Risky Blow from them, and not to forget Wild Swing
which can also be a potentially fatal blow. Not too
difficult to defeat with spells or a Flame Sword in hand.
Traits: Most bugs fear the fiery element, so it's a small wonder that
they're using Fire to fry you. The shield they hold also
reduces damage from melee attacks, so I think the use of
Flame Strike should be avoided.
Comments: Beware of Douse-Fireblast combos when Tar Babies gather
around. But you should be able to rid yourself of these
ants quickly with an Ice Blast each, or Blizzard for an
army of them. Not much of a threat unless you make them so,
or until you run out of AP.
Area: Most areas within the Imperial Headquarters in Astana (after
hex incident); ? area between Ocean Spot 3 and Highway
Traits: Odd to believe that pesky flies can actually be valuable,
but these ones happen to carry a hoard of Zenny with them.
If you have the AP to spare, Cyclone should be able to take
any number of them out, otherwise, maybe using Flamethrower
or Ursula's attack-all guns will do, although they can dodge
most melee attacks you throw at them.
Comments: If you meet them along with Salt Claws, etc, Cyclone is a
good choice for effective offense. Otherwise, you probably
don't want to waste AP on them, for they are not so much of
a threat than a nuisance. Cheap Rock Blast is useless as a
attack-all spell, though.
Area: Event battle in Kyria (Versions 3, 4) / Boss battle against
Glebe (Version 5)
Traits: You meet versions 1, 3, and 4 in Kyria's pseudo-battle, and
when up against Glebe with its 'Summon Minion' move, versions
2 and 5. Dismantle for a meagre reward. Look under the
'Demons' section for versions 1 and 2. Note: Version 3 will
try escaping after sometime along with version 2, while
version 4 guards to the end.
Trigger: ~Repeated melee attacks~
Dropped Item: Nothing
Shield loss
'Battle Suit's body has cracked!'
Area: Most areas within the Imperial Headquarters in Astana (after
hex incident)
Traits: Tends to start the battle by casting Focus, then attacks with
Wild Swing. May perform normal attacks from time to time, as
well as cast Focus at intervals. Just use magic combos to
easily defeat it, especially if you hope to get the Gideon's
Garb from it, as physical attacks not only get partially
shielded, but breaks the Gideon's Garb after ~11 hits.
Occassionally would cast Rock Blast.
Comments: Cast Charm on it if you want to try getting the Gideon's
Garb; magic combos would work best for that. Stealing the
Stunner is also recommended even though you would probably
have a much better weapon for Ursula at this point. Just
thrash this piece of scrap metal with magic and get on
your way.
Trigger: *Water element damage*
Gets afflicted with Confused status
'Bot shorts out!'
*Water-mixed element damage*
Attacks: Sacrifice
Exp: x2
Stolen Item: Bent Screw--6
Dropped Item: ...--5
'Bot's body bursts open!'
*Start of 3rd turn after form changes*
Attacks: (Attack), Flare
Stolen Item: Multi Gun--2
Dropped Item: ...--2
'Bot has recovered.'
Area: Most areas of Sinchon
Traits: One of the weakest enemies in the game, the Bot has obtained
a place here due to its vulnerability to water. Water
confuses it, while any water-mixed element spell causes its
body to burst open, rendering it in a Stun position and
doubling its Exp. Oh yes, and they can appear in large
numbers in many battles, so read on to get the flow of the
story.
Comments: This was obtained in bits and pieces from around the
Gamefaqs BoF 4 message board, and I don't remember who put
it up first, but here it is. Wish the board could regain
its former incarnation of the knowledge salvage yard.
Since you know what Bots are biased against, get the
necessary stuff before you get into an encounter with ~3 or
more (better) Bots. You can get the Maelstrom, or even
Panzer from the smith at Mt. Glom by 'splicing' a Rusty
Pipe with an Old Tire and any other raw material. Stand Out
is learned automatically after Chapter 2; you need the
Electrum Ball before Marlok agrees to teach you Monopolize,
so run around a bit exchanging treasure first.
Ershin: Stand Out, Counter, with Maelstrom
Character to level up: Monopolize
Nina: Vitalize, Concentrate
Scias: Vitalize (optional)
Plus: Lots of Aurum
*1st turn*
1)Equip the Maelstrom on Ershin and cast Stand Out with it
2)Use Concentrate on Nina
3)Guard with Scias
*2nd turn*
Cast Counter with Ershin, and guard with the rest of the
characters
*3rd, 4th turn*
The Bots should have burst by now, so guard with Nina or
place her at the back rank, and heal your characters in the
mean time as necessary.
*5th turn*
1)Cast Vitalize with Nina on the *BOTS*, so that the damage
from Maelstrom is easily nullified
2)Counter with Ershin
3)And Guard with Scias
*Turns thereafter*
Repeat the steps as necessary until all the Bots have 65535
Exp, switching your characters to the back rank to recover
AP, or use Rest and Snooze if you have them. Right after
they reach the level of Exp you want, cast Monopolize and
watch that character gain insane amounts of Exp for this
battle! I recommend leveling up Nina first, as you can skip
using Concentrate afterwards; Ershin should be the last to
go, since if it gets too powerful, the Bots get killed off
directly from Maelstrom. Because of that, I prefer the
Maelstrom as the Bots take less damage from the earth
element part, whereas Panzer deals much more damage. The
whole battle should take quite long, but that's leveling up
for you. :) When you've had enough, just use an Aurum to
switch Monopolize to another character. It's more than
worth it. Sources of Aurum would be the numerous Manillo
traders around the world and an Aurum shop in the Faerie
colony.
Traits: For first two turns of any battle, raises a defensive screen
which renders all attacks targeting it ineffective. Casts
Inferno for starters, Gigaflare in the second turn, drops
its defensive screen in the third turn, during which it does
not perform any action, and initiates retreat in the fourth
turn, which is the last chance for it to be defeated before
it escapes.
Comments: Against this enemy, it would be best to equip your
strongest character with a Ring of Fire. Fire Seeds and
such would help on the others. Get Magma Armor if you can
later. Essentially, your aim would be to get the Mass
Driver, the strongest weapon for Ershin out of Chopam,
either through Pilfering, Stealing or even Filching! Chopam
Plate would be easily dropped if you cast Charm on this
mini-red giant and defeat it. With Inferno and Gigaflare
suppresed by your equipment, the main task would be to
smelt Chopam down in the third and fourth turns before it
escapes after its sanctuary crumbles, preferably done with
magic; due to its weakness, the required 10000 damage can
actually be easily dished out with magic combos.
Concentrate on getting it's Tepanyaki Plate first, then
devote your time to getting that elusive Mass Driver if you
want it, though I would much prefer the Power Glove ;) For
effect, try Inferno, Flame Pillar, or Hwajeh!
Trigger: ~Hit with any mixed element spell~
Pwr: x2
Def: x2
Exp: x1.5
'Death Bot became even stronger!'
Area: Anywhere within the Emperor's Tomb
Traits: Casts a barricade of supportive spells when battle starts,
which is usually Protect first before the other spells. With
an ample boost from them, they can really pose a hard
obstacle to tackle!
Comments: If you can take care of the Lizardmen in earlier battles
with ease, these mechanical soldiers shouldn't be a great
problem. Try to defeat them quickly with magic before they
get too powerful, and use mixed element spells to quickly
do the trick. Earth-Fire spells should fare better at
dealing more damage.
Trigger: ~Hit with a Wind-Water, or Water-Earth mixed element
spell~
Exp: x1.5
Shield loss
'Guardian's armor has been weakened!'
OR
~Hit with repeated melee attacks~
Shield loss
'Guardian's armor has been weakened!'
Area: Anywhere within the Emperor's Tomb
Traits: The description isn't much (what the heck IS 1-2-3?) to work
on, but it does reveal a slight pattern to the Guardian's
attacks. For the first three turns it gets to hit your party
with, it uses first a regular attack, then Double Blow, which
in turn is succeeded by a Triple Blow. After that, it mostly
seems random, but you should be able to deal with that if you
heal conscientiously.
Comments: Really easy to defeat for the Exp it gives, try to learn
the two skills it uses if you don't have them; with them in
your arsenal, you can easily chuck them off with a couple
of melee attacks after making the sparks fly with their
circuits.
Trigger: ~Use a Croc Tear on it~
Attacks: Curse
'Thank you!'
Area: ? area between Ocean Spot 3 and Highway; Buildings in the mid-
section of Chedo (only Lampkin)
Traits: These odd plants show up as a chance to learn some powerful
skills from them, namely Palliate and Curse. Lampkin repays
your gift of recovery with Palliate, while Poppy tries to hit
you with a Curse instead (jerk); however, it would do you
good to have both in the backpack, especially Palliate for
use in a healing combo with Vitalize in boss battles.
Ocassionally, the both of them would appear together in the ?
spot; if that happens, try reviving Poppy prior to Lampkin,
so that Palliate might happen to heal any victim of the Curse
skill. Some points of note: they're both extremely fast, and
will probably get in their turn before you do, so watch out
for repeated Giant Growth attacks! However, they do start all
of their battles afflicted with the sleep, mute and poison
status ailments, so clip them before they wake up.
Comments: The Curse skill is risky to learn, but most of the enemies
in the same area with Poppy can't pose much of a threat,
plus you can simply heal by leaving the ? spot. Within
Chedo, if your characters are running out of HP (unlucky
Disembowel hit?), you can get a chance to recover most of
your HP with Lampkin's help, by default or manually. And I
think Palliate would be a real life-saver for your party
when up against A-tur. Better learn it before Lampkin
escapes after casting its spell! Remember to cure its mute
status before that, though.
Trigger: *Hit with Fire, Wind, Water, or Earth element attack*
Stolen Item: Burnt Plug--6
Stolen Item: Dirty Filter--6
Stolen Item: Rusty Pipe--6
Stolen Item: Old Tire--6
Area: Outside area of Tomb
Traits: Morphs look threatening, but couldn't be easier to defeat.
(thought it was another Trean-type?) What makes them
interesting is their ability to create spare parts for making
armor (for Ershin only, though), and you can do it repeatedly
by stealing off the item, dealing elemental damage again, and
healing the injured Morph when necessary. Sort of a spare
part generator, and you might want to use elemental weapons
and spell-casting weapons for reaping in the spare parts.
Comments: None, really, except for its slight usefulness. Not
difficult to dispose of too.
Trigger: *Every turn after the first one*
Exp: x0.8
Status recovery
'Trunked has been refreshed!'
Area: Extreme ? area north of Chek
Traits: Along with Trunked hordes, Treans are the only other enemies
which appear in the area, and always in groups of six. Meant
for practicing combos on, both enemies have an amount of HP
rivaling to that of bosses like Tyrant's and Astral's, PLUS
they are able to regenerate! Furthermore, they recover from
any status ailments you might have inflicted at the start of
the next turn, so using Catastrophe doesn't help much. Note
too that their Exp actually depreciates each round, so you
have to defeat them quickly if you're looking for Exp. It
does stop dropping at a certain value, which is still more or
less half of what was there. Counters regular attacks often.
Odd, that, though they have a strong Atk, they don't take the
offensive stand (luckily), and would Escape whenever you
defeat one of their ranks, or drag the battle on for about
nine turns. They are also extremely fast for rooted trees, so
you can actually combo your moves easier without Haste.
Comments: The challenge would be to actually defeat all six of these
trees when you have chopped down one of them, and this task
is possible!
Ryu's Skills: Super Combo, Tiger Fist, Focus,
Last Resort
" Master: Bunyan
*1st turn*
1)Meditate Ryu into the dragon form with the highest Atk,
which should be the Weyr or Kaiser; this is for raising
his Atk, so skip it if you have yours at 999 after Last
Resort, which would be what you could do instead and
skip this part
2)Perform Megaphone with Ursula
3)Follow up with War Shout on Scias; it should be great
enough boost, or use Might with Cray instead on Ryu
*2nd turn*
1)Use Last Resort on Ryu
2, 3)You can use Megaphone to decrease the Def of the
Treans, or boost your characters' Atk, which I
prefer to do by this point of time into the game
*3rd turn*
1)You need to combo all this: Counter on Scias,
2)Followed by Concentrate on Nina,
3)Then Focus on Ryu!
*4th turn*
'Chopping a Trean': For those who are less ambitious... try
a Trunked instead!
1)Shining Blade with the best +1 hit weapon you have for
Scias on your target Trean
2)Then hit the tree again with Shadow Walk from Ursula with
similar requirements. You might reverse the order of
performing these first two actions
3)Finally, de-root the unfortunate Trean with Super Combo
from Ryu which you should squeeze in at least eight hits
for. Equip him with the best weapon you have, which would
be the Cursed Sword IF you have it. (more HP evidently
helps here) But don't try the Royal Sword. The other
trees should be fleeing by the next turn.
OR
'To fell a forest': Only if you're Cursed powerful!
1)Either Cleave or Shining Blade from Scias; it doesn't
matter much, except that the whole thing combo
2)Equip the Culverin, or the best attack-all weapon you
have on Ursula and watch her blast away with Shadow
Walk! Astounding accuracy and damage! :)
3)You should have guessed by now what's coming ... Stare
away when you see the damage Tiger Fist does with Cursed
Sword equipped on Ryu. The entire forest should be gone
before your eyes, leaves, trunks, roots and all.
Congratulations! You've just made a great achievement by
commiting a serious environmental crime: mass
deforestation! lol :p But I like nature.
EVEN
'From hacking to slashing to slicing through mutated
cellulose'
: This takes most of what you've got at ~Level 50, and test
something like this on the Trunked group first
*1st turn*
Before battling, have Scias and Ursula on 1 HP each, so
that Scias performs Rakhasa and Reversal gets charged to
its max potential. Charge up Ryu on the first turn with
Last Resort or a Celeron combo, which ever the better, or
whatever you want to use. Actually, you might want to
change some other things instead, like giving Tiger Fist
to Scias, or having Focus on either Scias or Ursula, then
alter what you need to do.
*2nd turn*
1)Perform Shining Blade with the best weapon for Scias;
this assures you of at least one kill
2)Reversal should combo with an attack-all weapon on
Ursula, and the damage should start to rack up
3)As before, the killing blow depends on Ryu again.
Depending on your Stats, equip either your most
powerful +1 hit weapon or Cursed Sword, and slice away
with Tiger Fist.
Seriously, you should have gotten a Nunchaku from all
this, or you're really missing something besides the
Exp... :( Again, adjust what you do to suit your own game
once you get the gist. But, if you're able to defeat all
of them in one fell swoop, I think the Trunked would be
better in the long run Exp-wise. Plus, there ARE flaws to
the Nunchaku.
Enemy Skill List:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This includes ONLY the skills used by enemies specifically in the
above list as most other guides already have the complete list of
skills for your party to learn. I've arranged them in an alphabetical
format. What should be there would be, but tell me if I've missed out
any.
Learnable skills are denoted with an Guarding when the skill is
executed by anyone grants you a chance to learn that skill, which
would be easier with Hunting Caps and the Abbess as a Master.
Backlash: Auto-counter vs magical attacks for 1 turn
Benediction: Revives all targets with 1/4 HP, but can fail
Blitz: Attack vs all targets; damage is altered by remaining HP,
and user loses some HP
Blizzard: Level 3 Water magic vs all targets
Burn: Level 1 Fire magic vs one target
Chlorine: Attack vs one targer; inflicts 'poison' status
Cleave: Attack vs all targets; ignores Defense, at 1/8 Atk power
Concentrate: Magic Up; Rear/Guard Focus Counter up
Confuse: Confuses one target
Counter: Auto-counter vs attacks for 1 turn
Curse: Reduces all targets' HP by half
Cyclone: Level 2 Wind magic vs all targets
Dark Breath: Heals 1000 HP for own party; only used by Warloks
Death: Instant kill vs one target
Depress: Decrease 1/8 of total AP of all targets
Disaster: Level 3 Water-Earth magic vs all targets
Disembowel: Reduces target to 1 HP; lowers User's max HP
Double Blow: Make 2 attacks in a row
Dream Breath: Attack vs all targets; inflicts 'Euphoria' status
Ebonfire: Non-elemental magic attack vs one target
Eddy: Level 1 Wind magic vs one target
Eruption: Level 1 Earth-Fire magic vs all targets
Fireblast: Level 2 Fire magic vs all targets
Firewind: Level 1 Fire-Wind magic vs all targets
Flame Pillar: Level 3 Fire magic vs all targets
Flame Strike: Physical Fire attack
Flare: Level 1 Fire magic vs one target
Focus: Power Up; Rear/Guard Focus Counter up
Frost: Level 1 Water magic vs one target
Frost Strike: Physical Water attack
Giant Growth: Physical attack vs all targets; at 1/2 Atk power
Gloom: Target bocomes susceptible to Healing magic
Gigaflare: Level 3 Fire-Wind magic vs all targets
Holy Strike: Physical Holy attack
Howling: Causes Confuse in all targets
Ice Blast: Level 2 Water magic vs one target
Icicle: Level 2 Water magic vs one target
Inferno: Level 3 Fire magic vs one target
Jolt: Level 1 Wind-Water magic vs all targets
Kyrie: Instant kill vs all targets; works only on Demons
Knock Out: Attack vs one target; causes Sleep
Last Resort: Converts Def to Pwr; Def=0
Leech Power: Steals AP from one target
Lightning: Level 2 Wind-Water magic vs all targets
Magic Ball: Magic attack vs one target
Magma Blast: Level 2 Earth-Fire magic vs all targets
Mind Flay: Attack vs one target; lowers Wisdom
Molasses: Attack vs one target; lowers Speed
Multistrike: Makes 1-3 attacks in a row
Ovum: Inflicts Egg status on all targets
Palliate: Holy magic; heals and restores one target
Plateau: Level 2 Earth magic vs one target
Primus: Non-elemental magic attack vs all targets; Breath attack
Ragnarok: Level 3 Earth-Fire magic vs all targets
Recall: User casts random spell
Rejuvenate: Medium healing of one target
Resist: Protects vs attacks for one turn
Rest: Restores a small amount of HP and AP; increases with level
Reversal: Can be used to turn the tables; gets more powerful as
user's HP decreases (it's a melee attack vs one target)
Rock Blast: Level 1 Earth magic vs all targets
Searing Sand: Physical Earth attack
Sever: Level 1 Wind magic vs one target
Shadow Walk: Critical hit; always hits, but can get parried off
Shield: Raises Defense of all targets
Silence: Mutes all targets
Sleep: Causes Sleep in all targets
Spirit Blast: Attack vs one target; ignores Defense, at 1/4 Atk
power
Snap: Attack vs one target; lowers Defense
Speed: Raises Agility of one target
Stone Pillar: Level 2 Earth magic vs one target
Storm: Level 1 Water-Earth magic vs all targets
Swordbreaker: Attack vs one target; lowers Attack
Syphon: Absorbs HP from one target
Target: Undodgeable attack vs one target at 1/2 Atk power
Tempest: Level 2 Water-Earth magic vs all targets
Thunderstorm: Level 3 Wind-Water magic vs all targets
Timed Blow: User loses all HP; damage on target= remaining HP
Triple Blow: Makes 3 attacks in a row
Typhoon: Level 3 Wind magic vs all targets
Vitalize: Light healing of all targets
Weaken: Lowers Defense of one target
Wild Swing: Damage can increase up to 2 times; rather random
Wind Strike: Physical Wind attack
The Crew of BoF 4:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|*Ryu* |
|THE main character of the entire BoF series so far, Ryu is still |
|the one and only character you can rename at your will, and still |
|the only mute in the course of the game... Of course, as the |
|character who sticks with your party, Ryu has, as always, all |
|rounded Stats, which are quite good to take on even the toughest |
|enemies with once you employ his unique dragon transformations, |
|which boost them to even higher levels. As a penalty, though, Ryu |
|cannot use most masters' Wills while in dragon form, but he does |
|have lots of Dragon Evocation spells to back him up, so monsters |
|out there watch out for Ryu! |
| |
|Physical: 2 |
|Ranged: 2 |
|Magical: 2 |
|Breath: 2 |
|Fire: 4 |
|Wind: 2 |
|Water: 1 |
|Earth: 2 |
|Holy: 5 |
|Mind: 2 |
|Status: 2 |
|Death: 2 |
|Learning: 25 |
|Counter: 10 |
|Critical: 6 |
|Dodge: 6 |
|Alertness: 50 |
|To-Hit: 100 |
| |
|Dragon Evocations: See 'The Dragons of BoF 4' section |
| |
|Will: Meditate-Transforms character into dragon hybrid|
| form |
| |
|Trademark: Catastrophe-4 hit extreme Water and Earth magic |
| damage on all enemies; may inflict |
| Poison status |
| -Category: Water and Earth magic |
| *Cancel into with Patoh Pah from a |
| Water-Earth spell, or a Combo Level |
| 2 Water spell |
| |
| Supernova-4 hit extreme Earth and Fire magic |
| damage on all enemies; may inflict |
| Confuse status |
| -Category: Earth and Fire magic |
| *Cancel into with Hwajeh from a Earth- |
| Fire spell, or a Combo Level 2 Earth |
| spell |
| |
| Earthbreaker-4 hit extreme Fire and Wind magic |
| damage on all enemies; may inflict |
| Stun status |
| -Category: Fire and Wind magic |
| *Cancel into with Ahryu P'ung from a|
| Fire-Wind spell, or a Combo Level 2|
| Fire spell |
| |
| Mjollnir-2 hit heavy Wind and Water magic damage|
| on all enemies |
| -Category: Wind and Water magic |
| *Cancel into with Pa Bing'Ah from a |
| Wind-Water spell, or a Combo Level 2 |
| Wind spell, which wouldn't be possible |
| unless you're not playing what we know |
| as a normal game |
| |
|Good Weapons: Scramasax |
| Flame Sword |
| Firangi |
| Feather Sword |
| Cursed Sword |
| Slicer |
| Goo King Sword |
| Ascension |
| Royal Sword |
| Slayer |
| |
|Good Armor: Ranger Garb |
| Manly Clothes |
| Fighting Robe |
| Wolfskin |
| Mist Armor |
| Light Clothing |
| Dragon Armor |
| Royal Armor |
| |
|Useful Skills: Super Combo |
| Tiger Fist |
| Focus |
| Last Resort |
| Shadow Walk |
| War Shout |
| Palliate |
| |
|Useful Wills: Haste |
| Vision |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Ryu's Evaluation*
The consistent character in your party, Ryu has the most rounded
Stats as well, all of which are boosted further by his dragon hybrid
forms. With a fairly superior attack, Ryu is also able to equip quite
an array of +1 hit weapons, among which include the holy Royal Sword.
His versatile Dragon Evocations also boost his potential worth in
battle, and while being in dragon form, he is also the only one who
can get to cast the ultimate combo magic, except for Mjollnir, which
can only be possible through a Gameshark or such. His natural link
with Fou-lu lets them share the same skills, and his counterpart can
learn a many of those powerful ones late in the game! A natural
warrior, Ryu can do amazing damage with Super Combo when boosted up
to extremes!
#Recommended Master: Bunyan#
A tough master to apprentice to, you would be thankful later when you
need to rely on Ryu's dragon transformations for getting through
tough parts of the game. All of the Stats that Bunyan provides a
bonus for are boosted whenever Ryu performs a transformation, while
AP is the sole Stat unaffected in any way. But make sure you have
lots of AP from Njomo, before taking on Bunyan for his Vision Will as
well!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|*Nina* |
|The eternal princess of Wyndia, Nina takes a better turn than her |
|predecessors in the series, with relatively okay Atk and Def |
|besides her alarmingly skyhigh Wis. This time round, she's also |
|your main healer, so recovering HP is generally not a problem with |
|her around (she even has Cheering in the back rank!). Her Wind |
|magic also blows you away, and she's a valuable character in any |
|magic combo you might want to perform. |
| |
|Physical: 3 |
|Ranged: 2 |
|Magical: 2 |
|Breath: 2 |
|Fire: 2 |
|Wind: 3 |
|Water: 2 |
|Earth: 2 |
|Holy: 5 |
|Mind: 2 |
|Status: 2 |
|Death: 2 |
|Learning: 0 |
|Counter: 0 |
|Critical: 0 |
|Dodge: 20 |
|Alertness: 50 |
|To-Hit: 100 |
| |
|Spells: Sever -Innate |
| Heal -Innate |
| Purify -Innate |
| Barrier -Level 8 |
| Rejuvenate-Level 11 |
| Cyclone -Level 14 |
| Raise Dead-Level 17 |
| Remedy -Level 20 |
| Vitalize -Level 23 |
| Inspire -Level 26 |
| Typhoon -Level 29 |
| Kyrie -Level 31 |
| Restore -Level 34 |
| Resurrect -Level 36 |
| Vigor -Level 39 |
| |
|Will: Cheering-Heals front rank members; effectiveness is |
| 1/2 of Heal |
| *Critical condition of front rank members |
| *Nina is in back rank |
| *Occurs only at the end of a turn |
| "Don't give up!" |
| |
|Trademark: Phoenix-Fire and Wind element damage on a random |
| enemy; recovers HP equal to 1/2 the damage |
| dealt, rounded down |
| -Category: Melee |
| *Cancel into with a Melee skill from a Fire- |
| Wind spell |
| |
|Good Weapons: Sage's Staff |
| Wand of Air |
| Warding Staff |
| Rune Staff |
| Blessed Staff |
| Ouroboros |
| |
|Good Armor: Sage's Frock |
| Mage's Robes |
| Robe of Wind |
| Phantom Dress |
| Diana's Dress |
| Star Dress |
| Angel's Vest |
| Light Clothing |
| |
|Useful Skills: Oracle |
| Magic Ball |
| Icicle |
| Flame Pillar |
| Ebonfire |
| Concentrate |
| Resist |
| |
|Useful Wills: Haste |
| Drowse |
| Ward |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Nina's Evaluation*
The first character in the game you get to control, Nina would be the
one to continue as the main healer for the rest of your journey. With
extremely high Wisdom, Nina's healing spells prove to be far more
effective than that of Scias', and her 'Cheering' Will allows her to
do her part even when not directly in battle. Later in the game, she
also gains a holy spell Kyrie to add to her arsenal of wind magic and
any skills you might have given her, especially Oracle plus Magic
Ball.
#Recommended Master: Rwolf#
I'm not kidding! After all the possible selections for Nina, Rwolf
still turns out as the best choice. Even though the Abbess boosts
your magic-related Stats to the heavens, your Attack and Defense get
lowered into the pits, and you don't want your main healer to be dead
just when you brought her out from behind to heal your party! Rwolf
not only provides an okay boost to AP and Wisdom, but lowers Attack
instead of Defense, which suits Nina to a T, whatever that means.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|*Cray* |
|Leader of his war-like people, this Woren warrior is one mean |
|mashing machine. In battle, Cray usually has the strongest Atk, |
|which more than makes up for his lack of powerful +1 hit weapons. |
|His high Def and hefty amount of HP also lets him stay longest in a|
|physical battle of strength and endurance, and equipping him with |
|regenerative items makes him all the tougher. Though Cray is |
|normally slow, Cray is no mean slouch, and his Stat boosting spells|
|can often have a big impact on boss battles, especially early on. |
| |
|Physical: 2 |
|Ranged: 2 |
|Magical: 2 |
|Breath: 2 |
|Fire: 2 |
|Wind: 2 |
|Water: 2 |
|Earth: 3 |
|Holy: 5 |
|Mind: 2 |
|Status: 2 |
|Death: 2 |
|Learning: 0 |
|Counter: 15 |
|Critical: 4 |
|Dodge: 4 |
|Alertness: 55 |
|To-Hit: 100 |
| |
|Spells: Protect -Innate |
| Speed -Innate |
| Rock Blast -Level 8 |
| Slow -Level 11 |
| Blunt -Level 14 |
| Stone Pillar-Level 17 |
| Might -Level 23 |
| Shield -Level 25 |
| Quake -Level 30 |
| |
|Will: Guard-Protect other characters; applies only to |
| physical attacks |
| *Critical condition of specific member raises |
| chance of Cray taking the hit instead |
| *Cray is in front rank |
| *Cray is not being targeted by the same attack |
| "You OK?" |
| |
|Trademark: Mudslide-Water and Earth element damage on a random |
| enemy; attack at 1/2 power, ignores Def |
| -Category: Melee |
| *Cancel into with a Melee skill from a Water|
| -Earth spell |
| |
|Good Weapons: Flail |
| Quarterstaff |
| Giant Club |
| Linked Pole |
| Nunchaku |
| Earthbreaker |
| Pole (duh!) |
| |
|Good Armor: Ranger Garb |
| Manly Clothes |
| Fighting Robe |
| Life Armor |
| Gideon's Garb |
| Mist Armor |
| |
|Useful Skills: Risky Blow |
| Air Raid |
| Spirit Blast |
| Cleave |
| Rest |
| Super Combo |
| Last Resort |
| Focus |
| Timed Blow |
| |
|Useful Wills: Haste |
| Pique |
| Valor |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Cray's Evaluation*
'Tank' is the word that comes to mind when you have to describe one
such as Cray. And it is true that Cray has the means to plow through
hordes of enemies with his overwhelming Atk and endurance. But take
note that even with his HP, Cray is also rather vulnerable to magic,
especially that of the wind element, so don't think that he's an
invulnerable hulk. Personally I don't use him much at all, except for
raising Stats, but admittedly he can be of more potential than most
other characters when in the right hands.
#Recommended Master: Kryrik#
Since Cray is undisputably in the dumps for Agl and Wis, and
apprenticing under magic-favouring masters don't remedy the problem
much, one has to look to sharpening his Atk and endurance to make his
worth in battle, and our seasoned sailor of the Salt Ocean is there
just for the job. Just note that if you ever feel a need to raise
Cray's AP, or balance out his Agl with the rest of the party, Njomo
fits that choice. Period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|*Ershin* |
|By far the most hated character in the entire series, NOT just this|
|game, Ershin is seriously the most under-rated character when its |
|blasted appearance just wipes out most of its value in battle and |
|everything else. So, I will conveniently shut up on further |
|description for this character, who in the game is just an animated|
|suit of armor totally incapable of the warped biological fates that|
|not just a few have suggested for it. Still, read on! |
| |
|Ershin is the host 'body' for Deis, who makes a guest appearance as|
|one of the Endless summoned to this game, and as a result of that |
|haphazard event gets trapped in this tin can, complete with limbs |
|and most other robotic parts (did they make this body on purpose?).|
|Even more unexpectedly, this inanimate object absorbs some of Deis'|
|essence from prolonged contact, and starts to develop a freakish |
|personality and will of its own. We'll never really know, but this |
|character might be to show the wacky side to one of the series |
|immortal beings. |
| |
|Physical: 2 |
|Ranged: 3 |
|Magical: 2 |
|Breath: 2 |
|Fire: 2 |
|Wind: 2 |
|Water: 2 |
|Earth: 2 |
|Holy: 5 |
|Mind: 5 |
|Status: 5 |
|Death: 5 |
|Learning: 25 |
|Counter: 0 |
|Critical: 4 |
|Dodge: 0 |
|Alertness: 30 |
|To-Hit: 90 |
| |
|Spells: Risky Shot -Innate |
| Wild Shot -Level 7 |
| |
| *After Chapter 2* |
| Stand Out -Innate |
| Death -Innate |
| Blizzard -Level 19 |
| Quake -Level 23 |
| Inferno -Level 28 |
| Typhoon -Level 35 |
| Primus -Level 45 |
| |
|Will: Covering Fire-Deals physical damage to a random |
| enemy; may add to a combo |
| *Only after your characters in the |
| front rank have finished their turn, |
| usually at the end of a turn |
| *Ershin is in back rank |
| *Chances appear to be random |
| *Occurs only at the turn of a turn |
| "Ershin will assist you!" |
| |
|Trademark: Stand Out-Attracts all enemies' attention |
| -Category: None |
| *Just perform it! |
| |
|Good Weapons: Homing Bomb |
| Stunner |
| Toxic Claws |
| Ghostbuster |
| Power Glove |
| Mass Driver |
| |
|Good Armor: Lightning |
| Psychometer |
| Chopam Plate |
| |
|Useful Skills: Burn |
| Eddy |
| Plateau |
| Coward's Way |
| Faerie Breath |
| Benediction |
| Counter |
| |
|Useful Wills: Pique |
| Finale |
| Valor |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Ershin's Evaluation*
Please just ignore whatever image that springs to mind and just
accept this piece of info: A character that can cast all the level 3
elemental magic, with a Death spell and Breath attack, and backed up
with lots of nifty skills to boot, this character is invaluable in
any sort of battle. Biased opinions arise, but I think Capcom did
this on purpose: giving the best Stats to the most hated character in
the game. IF, to say these boons were granted on someone like Scias
instead (oh, my), people would gladly eradicate this 'E' being from
the entire game, but it IS a way of balancing out gifts. And I think
I forgot to mention that at later levels, Ershin gains Stats superior
to all other characters, even Fou-lu, so watch for this irrascible
tin juggernaut!
#Recommended Master: Njomo#
For those who have read up to now, I'm sure you have seen at least
some of the shining worth of Ershin in battle, and for a suitable
master, I would think Njomo has the role. For the starting chapters
of the game, Ershin is obviously THE worst character to even have
around, with only two meagre magic, rotten Stats and not to mention
an *ugghh* personality. Still, you have to level it up to see its
potentiality, and the tutelage of Njomo will have its rewards; when
you see Ershin's HP rising like a horrendous wave close behind Cray's
even when under one like Njomo, you will not be able to miss out on
the value of seeing lots of 'Pique' Will triggered off with Stand
Out. And this tin can gets really fast too with lots of AP for more
Level 3 spells!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|*Scias* |
|Voted as the coolest character in the game on par with Fou-lu, the |
|stuttering mercenary makes kills on the battlefield as one might |
|neatly slice fresh cold sashimi. Besides his unique animation, this|
|St. Bernard takes up the role of being the backup healer after |
|Nina, which makes him an influential character in battle; not that |
|being able to use +1 hit weapons to dice enemies as well as casting|
|useful spells doesn't prove his worth already. But enough of that, |
|I digress much. By the way, there's a picture of Scias blushing red|
|somewhere near the end of Chapter 2. lol :) |
| |
|Physical: 2 |
|Ranged: 2 |
|Magical: 2 |
|Breath: 2 |
|Fire: 2 |
|Wind: 2 |
|Water: 3 |
|Earth: 2 |
|Holy: 5 |
|Mind: 2 |
|Status: 2 |
|Death: 2 |
|Learning: 0 |
|Counter: 20 |
|Critical: 8 |
|Dodge: 15 |
|Alertness: 70 |
|To-Hit: 100 |
| |
|Spells: Shining Blade-Innate |
| Frost -Innate |
| Heal -Innate |
| Purify -Innate |
| Sleep -Innate |
| Confuse -Innate |
| Rejuvenate -Level 19 |
| Raise Dead -Level 22 |
| Remedy -Level 25 |
| Blizzard -Level 28 |
| Vitalize -Level 31 |
| Lifestealer -Level 34 |
| Restore -Level 37 |
| |
|Will: Rakhasa-Converts Def to Pwr; Def=0 |
| *Critical condition of Scias |
| *Scias is in front rank |
| *Activated in the turn before Scias performs |
| a melee attack or skill, or occassionally |
| after that |
| "You will feel my blade..." |
| |
|Trademark: Ice Sword-Water element damage on a random enemy; |
| chance of instant kill |
| -Category: Death/Melee |
| *Cancel into with a Melee skill from a Wind|
| -Water spell |
| |
|Good Weapons: Biter |
| Hidden Dagger |
| Feather Sword |
| Firangi |
| Damascus Sword |
| Render |
| Slicer |
| Cleaver |
| Slayer |
| |
|Good Armor: Manly Clothes |
| Fighting Robe |
| Wolfskin |
| King's Armor |
| Mist Armor |
| Light Clothing |
| |
|Useful Skills: Triple Blow |
| Super Combo |
| Pilfer |
| Charm |
| Tiger Fist |
| Focus |
| War Shout |
| |
|Useful Wills: Pique |
| Finale |
| Valor |
| Vision |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Scias' Evaluation*
I can't add much from this, but say that under his cool animation,
Scias is an exceptionally useful assistance character. He can kick
butt with both physical and magic onslaughts, as well as heal much of
your wounds, besides having excellent levels for most of his Stats.
Rakhasa also kicks in during critical times for a final retaliation,
during which you should leave him in the back rank and boost his
attack, then bring him out for a flashy combo!
#Recommended Master: Kryrik#
This master is ideal for unleashing the potential of Rakhasa, as
Kryrik IS the master for raising HP, Atk AND Def altogether. The only
downside is the drop in AP, which you will need as the game
progresses, but Njomo and Gyosil are both there for standby, so watch
as Scias finishes off any stragglers waiting to get a crack at you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|*Ursula* |
|The final character to join your party, Ursula plays the part of a |
|cool sniper with her training as a captain of the Fou Empire |
|Imperial Army, and sports more than a few pot shots with her array |
|of firearms. To couple it off, she has a snappy demeanor which |
|shows most of its edge towards Cray, but beneath it all lies a |
|gruff but warm side which she reveals near the beginning of the |
|ending chapter. |
| |
|Physical: 2 |
|Ranged: 2 |
|Magical: 2 |
|Breath: 2 |
|Fire: 3 |
|Wind: 2 |
|Water: 2 |
|Earth: 2 |
|Holy: 5 |
|Mind: 2 |
|Status: 2 |
|Death: 2 |
|Learning: 0 |
|Counter: 0 |
|Critical: 2 |
|Dodge: 10 |
|Alertness: 55 |
|To-Hit: 80 |
| |
|Spells: Flare -Innate |
| Fireblast -Innate |
| Rock Blast -Innate |
| Silence -Innate |
| Confuse -Innate |
| Weaken -Innate |
| Cyclone -Level 21 |
| Enfeeble -Level 24 |
| Drain -Level 27 |
| Leech Power-Level 28 |
| Inferno -Level 31 |
| |
|Will: Valor-Revive when knocked out |
| *Activated directly after getting knocked out |
| *Triggers only once per battle |
| *Recovers with only 1 HP |
| *Ursula is in front rank |
| "An impressive display of force!" |
| |
|Trademark: Reflect-Earth and Fire element damage on all |
| enemies; hits up to 8 times by rebounding |
| between enemies |
| -Category: Melee |
| *Cancel into with a Melee skill from a Earth-|
| Fire spell |
| |
|Good Weapons: Multi Gun |
| Flamethrower |
| Mortar |
| Repeater |
| Culverin |
| |
|Good Armor: Robe of Wind |
| Phantom Dress |
| Burglar Garb |
| Angel Vest |
| Light Clothing |
| |
|Useful Skills: Reversal |
| Shadow Walk |
| Triple Blow |
| Timed Blow |
| Counter |
| Snooze |
| Last Resort |
| Focus |
| |
|Useful Wills: Haste |
| Finale |
| Vision |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Ursula's Evaluation*
Well, you just have to admit that her array of attack-all weapons
make a unique turn in the battles so far, and she hardly misses at
all with her high accuracy guns. Give her skills like Shadow Walk and
Counter and you get much more worth for the AP cost. I like to make
use of her Valor Will by giving giving her Reversal and Timed Blow,
letting her self-destruct and dealing smashing damage next with
Reversal. Also, once you get ahold of The Culverin, laugh aloud as
you blow hordes of pesky enemies like Morph Goos to smithereens with
a single blow and snag that whole lot of Exp :) Even with +1 hit
weapons, Ursula rocks.
#Recommended Master: Kryrik#
Once again, Kryrik gets voted in as the most beneficial master to
apprentice under. The Finale Will gets in for all enemies, and might
trigger off more Finale attacks from other characters, while the Stat
boosts are useful in complimenting her own Valor Will plus Reversal
and Timed Blow. Additionally, her high attack strength will let you
finish off lots of group enemies with short work, so try getting her
a high Agl rating with Njomo as well. And you can laugh on saving AP
as well, for on large groups it can amount to a Shadow Walk on 6 for
the price of 1 all in a single turn!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|*Fou-lu* |
|For the short lapses in which you get to use him, the Endless First|
|Emperor and Founder of the Fou Empire gets hounded by his own |
|empire's forces relentlessly, literally dropping from one mishap to|
|another, even getting into what could be considered an amorphous |
|relationship. Still, no matter which course of the gameplay you |
|choose (as if there's really any choice), his story can only be |
|told with more than just a few ironical and tragic twists. |
| |
|Physical: 2 |
|Ranged: 2 |
|Magical: 2 |
|Breath: 2 |
|Fire: 1 |
|Wind: 2 |
|Water: 4 |
|Earth: 2 |
|Holy: 5 |
|Mind: 7 |
|Status: 7 |
|Death: 7 |
|Learning: 25 |
|Counter: 20 |
|Critical: 15 |
|Dodge: 8 |
|Alertness: 70 |
|To-Hit: 100 |
| |
|Spells: None |
| |
|Will: Meditate-Transforms character into dragon hybrid |
| form |
| |
|Trademark: Mjollnir-2 hit extreme Wind and Water magic damage |
| on all enemies |
| -Category: Wind and Water magic |
| *Cancel into with Pa Bing'Ah from a Wind- |
| Water spell, or a Combo Level 2 Wind spell,|
| which wouldn't be possible unless you're |
| not playing what we know as a normal game |
| |
|Good Weapons: Royal Sword |
| Slayer (but HOW would you get one normally?) |
| |
|Good Armor: Royal Armor |
| Magma Armor (If you get one) |
| Life Armor (Dre-eam-ing...) |
| |
|Useful Skills: Inherently, all the skills Ryu has |
| |
|Useful Wills: None |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Fou-lu's Evaluation*
Not much to say here, but I think that more than a few out there
would be extremely gratified if they could switch the positions of
Fou-lu and Ershin during the course of the gameplay ;) To back up his
worth, for the short sequences and boss battles in which you get to
use him, you cannot cease to marvel at the ease with which he can
dispatch his enemies, suffice to say that he battles alone. Of
course, without someone to watch his back, he can also drop like a
smashed dragonfly if you let those bosses get a crack at him. And NOT
to depreciate Ershin's worth, but I'd gladly let them switch fates if
I could, AND I'd even throw in Scias for the deal!
#Recommended Master: None#
You don't meet any Masters while playing as him. Bunyan feels too
inferior to volunteer himself as a Master to the First Emperor. :)
Magic combos:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
All that's here is what I've found to be quite useful or interesting,
so if you think that you have more tricks to share with others,
please do so :) Oh, the criky names are just ones I put there.
-----------
Ascension:[Celerity->Party spell->Party spell]
*This is a well known combo that many utilise to deal with
mid-game bosses, and can rack up to 70 hits, which also
satisfies Kryrik's requirements. Pity it can only be used
once per three hours of gameplay... but bosses shouldn't
appear faster than that.
-----------
By The Numbers:[Tiger Fist->Faerie Attack->Faerie Charge]
*If you like large hitting combos, this should be
enough for you. With 20 faerie troops for this, try
apprenticing the character using Tiger Fist with
Bunyan, and use two Speed spells to get a higher To-
Hit rate, which can let you rack up to a grand total
of 136 hits! If you've been treating your faerie
counterparts nicely enough, this would probably dish
out over 10000 damage!
-----------
Celeron:[LV Up spell->LV Up spell->Focus/Concentrate]
*Sorry for the name, but it seems to fit. This can be used
following Final Strike to get in an insane attack, as this
raises that character's Focus counter to 3 on the next turn.
Can be used with Concentrate for the same sort of effect,
especially for potent mass healing.
-----------
Final Strike:[Resist->Last Resort->Spell affecting Last Resort user]
*A sort of Final Hope in itself, this combo lets the
user of Last Resort try for a devastating deathblow on
the following turn, which might just be enough to beat
that wretched boss.
-----------
Invincible Moon:[Palliate->Resist->Party healing spell]
*This is a flexible combo for lots of healing, and
may be used with many healing spells, such as
Restore and Faerie Breath. With luck, you can get a
dying party up with full HP :) Insofar as I know,
this is what you can use, when assisted with Topaz
Tears on your party, to get the most insane possible
combo damage for the game; just substitute Resist
with a healing spell. Ummm, note that it's COMBO
damage. But I think Palliate should heal well over
12000 HP when you get it along with Topaz Tears, so
this can fit the bill for Bunyan too.
The Dragons of BoF 4:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, I've added something here, but it's rather empty still. For
more info, look to DarkStorm's Dragon faq. :) On a common basis,
although Dragon Evocations are placed under the 'Breath' category,
they do not depend in anyway upon the present HP of Ryu (well, unless
he's K.O.ed), but still cannot start a combo chain like all other
Breath attacks. As well, in case you just played this game, this
conventional summon can only be used *once* until your next rest at
an inn-type save point, so they should be reserved for strategic
moments or when you're really getting desperate. Just so that you
know, most Evocations also increase in efficiency when they are
performed near the end of a combo, besides increasing the overall
total number of hits, so use them when you deem fit. As a final note
here, only Rainstorm may be obtained before Chapter 3, so don't try
to look in places that aren't there before then.
P'ung Ryong: You get this automatically after a scene near the end of
Chapter 2, in Sinchon
[Rainstorm]: Holy attack; damage changes with enemies' HP
No. of hits: 1 ->10, 2 ->13, 3 ->16
The very first dragon evocation you get, you'll soon find out that
they can come in very handy against bosses, as well as against strong
enemies when there are inn-type rest points nearby. For starters,
Rainstorm shows an incredibly different concept of the term dragon,
as P'ung Ryong proceeds to shower damage on your enemies; I'll say it
looks like an elephantine-serpentine-whale. Well, it's considered
handsome enough in comparision with some of the others, so I would
just say that the BoF 4 designers are showing some sort of odd
innovation. By the way, Rainstorm can defeat enemies, unlike another
evocation with a similar description. For this move, P'ung Ryong arcs
above the thunder clouds to drop a tear on your enemies conveniently
confined to a tight spot. This tear proceeds to break into a shower
of rain, which seems to really hurt like acid on your hapless foes.
Location: The Place of Summoning in Sinchon; you'll know it.
_____________
Ni Ryong: 'To the south of the shifting sands... Where earth and
water meet.' ---Sa Ryong
[Mud Flow]: Water+Earth Breath attack
No. of hits: 1 ->8, 2 ->11, 3 ->14
The next summon you can conveniently get after travelling to Kyoin
once more, you should detour to get this before advancing further to
the Shikk region. The summon itself is purely damage-based: Ni Ryong
emerges out of a huge sea of mud, and immediately conjures up a
Leviathan-style tsunami wave ala mud bath; not really all that
impressive, but seems to deal enough damage to wear out more than
half of the HP for most of the upcoming bosses. Used in combos, this
really whittles away at your enemies.
Location: Remember the Dam that was wrecked by Ni Ryong in Chapter 1?
Just head for the ? spot north, where you received your
next event about the Endless. This midget avatar is nicely
hidden from the normal camera view, so just manipulate your
buttons a bit.
_____________
Sa Ryong: 'Far to the north of here, in a place that knows not the
touch of water or rain' ---Cho Ryong
[Onslaught]: Wind attack; confuses enemy
No. of hits: 1 ->8, 2 ->11, 3 ->14
As Raiu said, you can't help but love this one. A plume of disturbed
and shows Sa Ryong plowing through the transformed desert landscape
to beneath your enemies, then bursting through the surface like Jaws.
The next part is what's really interesting: a battering ram dragon-
style arrows across the horizon multiple times, chucking your enemies
about like trash into the beyond, and as in the traditional fashion,
you can always see those stars shining brilliantly. For the best
laugh results, I really suggest you try this on the Tyrant boss:
Hahahaha, I won't spoil this, as you really have to experience this
unique sight for yourself. Does very decent damage, and may even
afflict confusion on those flying stars, who are probably also seeing
lots of stars themselves!
Location: Once you've reached the Shikk region after getting your
very own sandflier in Chapter 3, set a course from there to
Shyde. In the southern region, search around a bit for an
oasis barricaded off from the rest of the course, and
perform a leap over the wall by accelerating your sandflier
over that nearby sand dune. The course map should give a
rough idea of where it is.
_____________
Cho Ryong: 'In a place color'd as gold.' ---Nameless One
[Healing Wind]: Heals and restores party; Effectiveness equals
Palliate cast by Ryu
No. of hits: 6 (one per party member) for all combo levels; note that
the effects do not combo in, only the number of hits.
The 'CURE' effect would come in only if your characters
have negative status ailments, thus increasing the
possible number of hits to 12, but only then.
Supposedly a female dragon, Cho Ryong looks well enough for the part,
and her ability is rather unique out of all the Dragon Evocations.
Using Healing Wind with Ryu, Cho Ryong alters the battlefield to a
soothing grove of life, and restores most of your party's HP (usually
all), as well as cures off all negative status changes. This would
come in use as an emergency healing spell, but actually gets
increasingly obsolete later on, once you get the chance to hook up
whales on the dish. Actually, using whales with the Ward Will would
be better than casting Healing Wind, for you get more than one chance
to conserve a whale, while Healing Wind can only be used once before
you have to rest at an inn. :| Still, this move is incredibly useful,
so don't dismiss it too soon. Pity it's no Great Gospel.
Location: You might want to get some clues first from Cray's mom,
Tahrn. Otherwise, head straight into the Gold Plains, and
rush towards that big rock (what else is there?). Now,
turn around a bit to catch a glimpse of a bird glowing for
all it's worth. Trail after it to encounter Cho Ryong;
you'll see it when you're near.
_____________
Su Ryong: 'In the land called Shikk, surrounded by trees.'
---Ni Ryong
[Holy Circle]: Protects front rank against attacks for 1 turn
No. of hits: 3 for all combo levels
I have to admit, this move just isn't that useful. For just 1 turn,
Su Ryong utilises its powers to render your party absolutely
untouchable; well, the front rank, anyways. To criticise it, the
animation suggests something rather unsightly... which is not the
point. The real concern is that since Ryu is one of the main
attackers, the 1 turn duration of this move nullifies most of its
usefulness. Still, it's useful enough to brace your party against
an annihilating attack. Do we hear: Soul Rend?
Location: After the event at the Checkpoint, somewhere about halfway
on the road to Shikk is a ? spot that keeps appearing.
Enter it to find yourself on a T-shaped road, take the side
branch, and voila, there's the critter, who really doesn't
resemble the Yggdrassil portrayed in earlier games.
_____________
Hae Ryong: 'His song can be heard in the breaking of waves.'
---Su Ryong
'We dwell in the wild deep places, those protected by hard
rock and stone. Bend your sails there, and thou shalt find
us.' ---Hae Ryong, at the Fane of the Sea God
[Flood Tide]: Wind+Water breath attack; stuns enemies
No. of hits: 1 ->6, 2 ->9, 3 ->12
Possessing the strongest raw damage of all, Hae Ryong's Flood Tide
not only looks intimidating, but it usually does the most damage out
of all the offensive evocations. Just so that it evens the advantage,
you really have to go through rather a lot of hassle to add this move
to your arsenal. If more has to be said, look for Raiu's description,
but I personally think it looks like a soft-shelled matamata turtle
with built in 'hydro-pump' implements.
Location: This is the best I can describe it to, so I don't make any
claims as to its accuracy. Use the ship belonging to the
Zig bros, either at Shikk or Lyp, though Lyp's distance is
shorter and easier to cover. Manoeuver your ship with a
South-west wind from Lyp, and travel upwards past the Cove
to a sort of lagoon, partially surrounded by rock
formations from the east and west side, while a jutting
head of land to the south marks the area. Now, steer
yourself to a spot nearly equidistant from the two rock
formations, and draw a perpendicular line straight out
towards north from the piece of land. Turn about a bit to
place yourself on that spot, steer just that very slightly
to the east, and hope you've struck it lucky. If not, just
search around more or less in the area, and you should have
it too. A easier-to-understand way would be to sail just
along the inner side of the east rock formation and stop
yourself just as you reach the perpendicular line
stretching from the land. Hope you find what you were
looking for. :)
_____________
Nameless One: 'On the great expanse to the west of these shores...
Waits, one with the earth itself, unseen and unknown to
man.' ---Hae Ryong
[Fulguration]: Gravity attack; damage changes with enemies' HP
No. of hits: 1 ->6, 2 ->9, 3 ->12
The very final evocation you can get (chronologically-wise, of
course), this is also that very last piece of the ancient dragons'
power you need to possess to be able to fully harness the powers of
the Kaiser dragon-form! ('At last, now it's mine!') To stress its
potential, this move can deal much more damage than any other
evocation, simply because it does its damage based upon the remaining
HP of all your enemies. Chained in as the third move to a combo at
the start of a big boss battle, this move alone would easily rip off
around half of the boss' HP; pity there aren't really many bosses
left. Of course, it's no Soul Rend, but it's better than nothing to
have. Just note that its effectiveness gets lower as your enemies get
weaker, which makes it do almost zilch in damage, so make full use of
this move in the first turn to strike. To demoralise you a bit, that
great big energy globe fired off by that petrified man-o-war with a
turtlehead, CANNOT and will NOT ever be able to kill off any monster
(yep, not even those Caps reduced to 1 HP and Min Def), so that may
make you think about just when to best use this move.
Location: After learning of the route to continue your journey on
from Fu Chu Man, enter the new 'River' area, where you get
to speak with a resting worker in the second area. Chat
about dragons in your conversation, and reply that they
resemble grass and rocks to have a ? spot generated after
leaving this area successfully. Herein this quarry awaits
the Nameless One, who would grant you a final boon...
_____________
Who shall be my Master?:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Along with the fishing mini-game and, of course, dragons, the Master
system has also become an integral part of the Breath of Fire series.
Up till now, it just gets better and better.
As in previous BoF games, the masters in the game play a crucial role
in boosting your characters' potential, affecting your statistics and
teaching their apprentices unique skills they know. In BoF 4, the
Master system has been greatly improved compared to BoF 3. No longer
would your characters get 'stuck' with a master for an obscene amount
of time, no longer would you have to level up those tons of levels
anymore. The BoF 4 Master system offers gamers a revolutionary
improvement (erm, well... ).
In BoF 4, characters would no longer have to 'bond' and sign 'life-
long' contracts with Masters. You can sign on or off your
apprenticeship as and when you like (while in camp), provided you 1.)
meet their requirements, 2.) have met up with them, and 3.) nothing
else! Skills can be taught to any character you choose, even non-
apprentices, and are taught once you meet the requirements given for
that skill. Still, multiple copies of the same skill cannot be
learnt, and a master would skip any skill you have learnt onto the
next one; the requirements are there, though. You can check upon what
you can get next from any master under the 'Info' section from
'Master' while in camp.
Plus, Masters now have unique Wills of their own, which are usable
only while a character is under apprenticeship to that particular
Master, which means no, you cannot learn the Wills from Masters
permanently. However, this IS already an added bonus, so don't get
too sore about what's still as yet technically impossible. Now,
onto what you were looking for...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Rwolf*
--------
Location: Kurok (near the entrance)
Requirements: None
Will: Haste> Increases speed in combat (good for letting
slower characters have a better chance to
combo, and seems to increase your Alertness)
Stats. Change: AP +1, Wisdom +1
Attack -1
1st skill- Eddy
Requirements- Perform a combo of 5 hits or more
2nd skill- Plateau
Requirements- Perform a combo of 10 hits or more
3rd skill- Magic Ball
Requirements- Perform a combo of 15 hits or more
Final skill- Flame Pillar
Requirements- Perform a combo of 20 hits or more
Evaluation: Rwolf is a nice Master to get started with, and the pros
outweigh the cons, even though it may seem insignificant
in amount. The requirements for learning his skills are
reasonable, and you can even try new magic combos from
the skills taught to fulfill his requirements! Just keep
in mind that once you leave for Kyoin from Synesta in
Chapter 1, you'll have to wait for Chapter 3 before
meeting Rwolf again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Stoll*
--------
Location: Hideout (near the center of the cave)
Requirements: Pay him all your Zenny
Will: Filch> Steal new items (only NEW items in an enemy's
first item slot; activated by normal attacks)
Stats. change: Agility +1
1st skill- Steal
Requirements- Possess 80 or more different items in your inventory
Final skill- Coward's Way
Requirements- Possess 120 or more different items in your inventory
Evaluation: Conclusively, Stoll is an absolute Master for making your
characters gain quicksilver speed (from the way he twists
out of corners when under your pursuit!). If you want to
boost your Agl to absurd levels, stick to Stoll! But
don't let them get out of sight, or combos just might go
awry! For items, just buy or filch them, by hook or by
crook (and don't sell them off too soon)! It would be
unlikely for you to be able to get Coward's Way before
Chapter 3, so there's not much point in noting that you
can't return to Stoll after leaving Synesta in Chapter 1,
all the way until Chapter 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Una*
--------
Location: Worent (the 2nd level of the Elders' premises)
Requirements: None
Will: Wild> Damage up, accuracy down (just as it says...)
Stats. change: HP +12, Power +2, Defense +1
AP -2, Wisdom -1
1st skill- Pilfer
Requirements- Deal 1,500 or more points of damage with a combo
2nd skill- Super Combo
Requirements- Deal 3,000 or more points of damage with a combo
Final skill- Blitz
Requirements- Deal 10,000 or more points of damage with a combo
Evaluation: When you get a chance to apprentice with Una, you might
want to wait till later, as the enemy Nuts in the area
are hard enough to hit already. Don't hesitate to get her
skills, however, as they are really handy, especially
Super Combo! Blitz is probably out of reach, though, but
try all the combos you can perform, including magic
combos. Overall, Una is an excellent Master for physical
characters. Note that once you get past the event at
P'ung Tap, you can't return to update your skills until
Chapter 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Njomo*
--------
Location: Plains (? spot north-east of Ahm Fen)
Requirements: Help to develop the Faerie Colony population
Will: Pique> All counters= critical hit (well, if you get
counters the normal way)
Stats. change: Agility +2, AP +1
HP -8
1st skill- Faerie Attack
- Increase the Faerie colony's population to 8 or more
2nd skill- Faerie Breath
- Increase the Faerie colony's population to 12 or more
3nd skill- War Shout
- Increase the Faerie colony's population to 16 or more
Final skill- Faerie Charge
- Increase the Faerie colony's population to the limit of
20
Evaluation: Some may find Njomo's skills undependable, as they are in
turn dependent upon the amount of faerie troops you have,
as well as their level, but all of them are undisputably
useful, especially War Shout! The Stats change would be
quite appropriate for Cray and Ershin, so let them
apprentice for a few levels. Just have a nicely gossiping
Faerie Colony for both the requirements and for making
these spells effective. Keep in mind that you can't
return to Njomo after the event at P'ung Tap, until
Chapter 3.
********************************************************
* Quotes for 'Pique' Will *
* Ryu: Ryu's anger overtakes him! *
* Nina: "Why you...!" *
* Cray: "Who d'you think yer fightin'!?" *
* Ershin: "Ershin regrets that you must be destroyed!" *
* Scias: "Now I'm mad!" *
* Ursula: "You dare?" *
********************************************************
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Momo*
--------
Location: Wyndia (within the windmill located near the entrance)
Requirements: None
Will: Drowse> Leave them alone and... (they Snooze when
placed in the back rank!)
Stats. change: HP + 8
1st skill- Spray
- Play the game until the time exceeds 25 hours!
2nd skill- Clip
- Play the game until the time exceeds 30 hours!
3rd skill- Oracle
- Play the game until the time exceeds 40 hours!
Final skill- Egghead
- Play the game until the time exceeds 50 hours!
Evaluation: Another gain-only master, Momo is good only when you are
trying to gain HP, but too miserly to give up on other
Stats. Her 'Drowse' Will tends to come out at the wrong
moment, and most of her skills except for Oracle are no-
brainers. Still, you can add this master and her skills
to the collection, but look to others if you want
significant changes in your Stats. If you actually feel
comfortable with placing characters in the back rank for
long periods, 'Drowse' *might* come in useful. Note that
you can't readily access Momo once you go through the
event at P'ung Tap, all the way until Chapter 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Abbess*
--------
Location: Chek (in her own quarters!)
Requirements: Obtained at least 1 Dragon Evocation through meeting
with the various dragon avatars (excludes P'ung
Ryong's avatar)
Will: Reck> Increases Learning chance (which makes getting
skills from enemies easier)
Stats. change: AP +2, Wisdom +4
Power -2, Defense -2
1st skill- Concentrate
- Battled with 70 or more different enemies
2nd skill- Sanctuary
- Battled with 85 or more different enemies
Final skill- Celerity
- Battled with 100 or more different enemies
Evaluation: The Abbess is the ultimate master for your magic-
dependant characters, especially Nina. But watch out for
those big decreases in Power and Defense, as they can
become bad news for any character. If you want Nina to
hit for any damage at all, then try another master, but
she can definately waste many enemies and bosses using
Oracle and Magic Ball with that huge Wisdom boost! The
Abbess would only offer her services after you reach
Chapter 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Marlok*
--------
Location: Synesta (the 2nd level of his premises)
Requirements: A 'Tin Ball' or better treasure through trading the
original 'Lead Ball'
Will: Greed> Increase Zenny earned (+20% of normal zenny
earnings)
Stats. change: HP +16, AP +3
Power -1, Defense -1, Agility -1, Wisdom -1
1st skill- Charm
- A 'Copper Ball' or better treasure
2nd skill- Monopolize
- An 'Electrum Ball' or better treasure
Final skill- Roulette
- The best treasure, a 'Platinum Ball'
Evaluation: The very symbol of greed, Marlok gives extreme changes in
all of your Stats, which literally makes you what he is:
a fat battery of HP and AP. Soft living makes one hapless
though, as all your other Stats take a permanent plunge.
Still, you can make him a temporary master for any
character when you go Zenny-hunting, especially for gold
eggs. His skills are not quite worth much, though you
would want to get Charm since treasure exchanging is
almost free anyways.
#Treasure Exchange Points#
*Purchase the initial Lead Ball from the 'frog man' in the inn of
Sarai
Exchange thereafter with:
*A man standing in the doorway of a house in Ludia (only before
leaving Ludia while in the night-time event for retrieving Cray)
*A man living near the exit of the Shrine exiting the Gold Plains
*An imprisoned thief in the dungeons of Castle Wyndia
*A traveller standing obscured from sight near the 'inn' of Shyde
From Chapter 3 onwards:
*Return to the Crash at the start of the game and swap with one of
the salvagers of the wreck
*Chat with the little girl who declined to play hide-and-seek in the
orphanage in Synesta
*Switch whatever you have with the man in the basement of a house in
Shikk
*Ignore Fu-Chu-Man's looks and swap your treasure with him in Chiqua
after learning of the route to Chedo
*A female refugee sitting on the ground near the entrance of Sonne
has the last treasure
For a Clear Game:
*A traveller among the ruins of the Abandoned Village near Chek would
be there, but only if you missed swapping with the man in Ludia, but
have already finished trading with all the others.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Kryrik*
--------
Location: Shikk, after crossing the ocean (by the harbour)
Requirements: Perform a combo of 25 hits or more
Will: Finale> Finish off weakened opponent (automatically
attacks an enemy in critical condition, and
may add to a combo; only at the end of a
turn)
Stats. change: HP +25, Power +3, Defense +2
AP -2, Agility -2, Wisdom -2
1st skill- Megaphone
- Perform a combo of 30 hits or more
2nd skill- Cleave
- Perform a combo of 50 hits or more
Final skill- Disembowel
- Perform a combo of 70 hits or more
Evaluation: The seasoned sailor is one who can train any of your
characters into a juggernaut. With his 'Finale' Will,
Kryrik enables your characters to give no quarter in any
battle, which could turn out to be a double-edged sword
if you're trying to steal from some creatures. The same
could be said of the skills he teaches, which try to get
your enemies down regardless of the costs. A great master
for almost any character, you would do best by
apprenticing Cray or even Ershin to him! For his
requirements, just try an Ascension combo, which should
be performable for you by the time you get to apprentice
with Kryrik.
*************************************************
* Quotes for 'Finale' Will *
* Ryu: Ryu attacks the enemy again! *
* Nina: "I'm sorry!" *
* Cray: "You ain't gettin' away that easy!" *
* Ershin: "You cannot escape Ershin so easily!" *
* Scias: "There is no escape!" *
* Ursula: "This one's mine!" *
*************************************************
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Gyosil*
--------
Location: Lyp (he's fishing in this cramped flotsam!)
Requirements: You must have at least 3,000 fishing points
Will: Ward> Can conserve one-shot items (Regain 1 of
whatever Item was used, which obviously does not
always occur)
Stats. change: AP +2
HP -8
1st item- Ring of Ice
- You must have at least 4000 fishing points
2nd item- Spanner
- You must have at least 6000 fishing points!
Final item- Master's Rod
- You must have at least 9500 fishing points!! ('The Fish'
rank!)
Evaluation: The fishing master Gyosil offers little changes in Stats,
but it would be true that the gain in AP surpasses the
decrease in HP. The 'Ward' Will might prove useful when
you want to use items like Ivory Dice and Moon Tears, but
is chancey at best. However, the items Gyosil gives are
not to be missed, so go fishing for whoppers! Note that
you need an apprentice under Gyosil before the master
Lyta would agree to apprentice your characters. Catching
every type of fish you've encountered so far should earn
you this apprenticeship, but getting the Master's Rod is
really hard work even with an Angling Rod.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Lyta*
--------
Location: Synesta (the orphanage)
Requirements: A party member must be apprenticed under the master
Gyosil
Will: Guard> Protect other characters (See *Cray* under 'The
Crew of BoF 4' section)
Stats. change: AP +1, Wisdom +1
Defense -1
1st skill- Supplication
- Ryu must be at level 20 or more
2nd skill- Holy Strike
- Ryu must be at level 25 or more
3rd skill- Resist
- Ryu must be at level 30 or more
Final skill- Benediction
- Ryu must be at level 35 or more
Evaluation: The Sister Lyta affects your Stats alike to Rwolf, but
you might prefer to apprentice them under her instead as
Lyta causes your defense to decrease rather than your
attack. You probably wouldn't like her 'Guard' Will
though, since she already de-emphasizes on defense, but
it could prove useful on some characters (Scias!). Train
up Ryu for her skills, as she also teaches the ultimate
reviving skill 'Benediction', which you would definitely
want despite the exhorbitant AP cost!
**************************************************
* Quotes for 'Guard' Will *
* Ryu: Ryu blocked the attack with his body! *
* Nina: "No!" *
* Cray: "You OK?" *
* Ershin: "Are you undamaged?" *
* Scias: "Watch out!" *
* Ursula: "That was close!" *
**************************************************
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Kahn*
--------
Location: Fish Head Beach (? spot north-west of Saldine)
Requirements: None
Will: Valor> Revive when knocked out (See *Ursula* under
'The Crew of BoF 4' section)
Stats. change: HP +20, Power +3, Agility +1
AP -4, Wisdom -3
1st skill- Shout
- You must have had at least 300 encounters
2nd skill- Tiger Fist
- You must have had at least 500 encounters
Final skill- Flex
- You must have had at least 600 enounters
Evaluation: Falling more than once to your party, the inept Kahn
finally makes it to the ranks of a master ;p, and
displaying his hard-earned knowledge, he might well train
your characters into relentless fighters! To boot, his
'Valor' Will shows you the secret of exactly how he
managed to pester your party throughout the entire game,
and his skills are next to nothing to get once you
advance through the game. Except for Tiger Fist though,
most of them would be practically useless, so you might
as well stop at that. Finally, going by his teachings, he
offers the motto of 'strike before your enemy does'!
**************************************************
* Quotes for 'Valor' Will *
* Ryu: Ryu recovers by force of will! *
* Nina: "I can't give up! Not now!" *
* Cray: "You're pretty good!" *
* Ershin: "Ershin cannot be defeated so easily!" *
* Scias: "Wow... " *
* Ursula: "An impressive display of force!" *
**************************************************
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Bunyan*
--------
Location: Hut (outside the cottage at the top of the plateau)
Requirements: Must have met with all the other masters
Will: Vision> To-hit chance= 100% (well, it still misses in
some cases)
Stats. change: Power +1, Defense +1, Agility +1, Wisdom +1
HP -16, AP -3
1st skill- Backhand
- You must have dealt over 3,000 points of damage in 1
hit.
2nd skill- Shadow Walk
- You must have dealt over 8,000 points of damage in 1
hit!?
Final skill- Final Hope
- You must have dealt over 12,000 points of damage in 1
hit!?!
Evaluation: The exact opposite of Marlok, Bunyan shows up as the last
master in BoF 4, and might well be the best. His 'Vision'
Will lets his apprentices strike more accurately,
effectively letting even 'Blind' characters hit their
target, plus a better success rate for Risky Blow.
Apprentice under Bunyan, especially if you intend to make
the local Bolts sniping targets, and don't miss Shadow
Walk for your strongest character! Final Hope might seem
to be a disappointment for all that hard work, though the
brief respite could just mean victory over the tough
bosses to come; but I'd prefer something like Bonebreak,
though... In case you wanted to know, Bunyan was the very
first master in BoF 3 instead of being the last.
Juxtaposition!
Fishing in the dark waters:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, I've listed my list of best catches, over separate games, of
course, in a list below, which you might want to view, or just delete
it away. Any suggestions?
Just some blind tips:
*Know where your intended catch lies, in general terms of distance,
depth, as well as where it is likely to be for some particular
fishing spots
*Choose your lure wisely, using ones that are more likely to be taken
by your target, AND ignored by other fish in similar approximate
areas
*Try a waiting tactic with some deep dwellers by allowing sinking
lures to reach bottom and wait for flashes on the Depth Meter; you
might want to add Tec.s to this, and large whoppers usually come
this way. Try not to lose your lure on the rocks; a side effect of
this is that you have a more unstable tension to constantly keep in
check
*Blend your Tec.s with the drum beats in the background, which were
meant to serve that purpose; once you've mastered the pattern, you
might want to lower the volume, which tends to become distracting
*Any catch is likely to make a splash once you pull it to the
surface; this splash may catch you off guard and allow the fish to
escape, but if you manage to hold on, the tension usually becomes
extremely stable
*Tugging on the fishing line helps steer a potential catch towards
you, and you can use it to pull some weaker fishes away from rocks,
logs and similar obstacles. Constant tugging in a slightly circular
wag seems to confuse the fish to some extent on its sense of
direction, and can quickly wear out the strength of trashing fishes
by tempting them to splash about
*Change your rod to suit the spot. If you're fishing in a tight River
Spot for a Sturgeon, CHANGE that Angling Rod to something else like
a Spanner or Deluxe Rod
*Recognise the shape of your greedy visitor, as that would save you
time catching an unwanted fish; easily recognisable are the sleek
fat shapes of whales, sturgeons, barandys, and anglers, etc. And of
course, jellyfish.
*If you're fishing in a River Spot, the fish cannot ever escape, so
long as you hold on to it; the only threat comes from the danger of
it getting 'stuck' behind one of the numerous obstacles.
Lure : The most suitable lure type (I suppose)
Spot : Best place to catch a whopper (I think so)
Crowning: The minimum length to get the maximum points for that catch
Record : My best results so far :p
Points : The maximum points that a crowned catch can offer
Tactics: Some info, if any
And here are the practical uses of your catches outside of Manillo
trading:
Jellyfish | Restores 50 HP to one target
Man-o'-War | Restores 50 HP to one target
Piranha | Restores 150 HP to one target
Sea Bass | Restores 400 HP to one target
Bass | Restores 500 HP to one target
Black Bass | Restores 1200 HP to one target
Bonito | Restores all HP to one target
Flying Fish | Restores 100 HP to one target ; may cure
| Status
Barandy | Restores all HP and Status of one target
Dorado | Restores 800 HP to all targets
Spearfish | Restores 1500 HP to all targets
Whale | Restores all HP and Status of all targets
Moorfish | Revives at 1 HP one target ; may fail
Angelfish | Revives at 1/2 HP one target
Sturgeon | Revives at 1/4 HP all targets; may fail
Sweetfish | Restores 5 AP to one target
Trout | Restores 10 AP to one target
Sea Bream | Restores 30 AP to one target
Black Porgy | Restores 100 AP to one target
Salmon | Restores 30 AP to all targets
Blowfish | Cures poison on one target
Flatfish | Restores Status of one target
Octopus | Blinds all targets
Acheron | Poisons all combatants
Martian Squid | Nullifies all Assist magic
| effects
Rainbow Trout | Raises Power of one target
Browntail | Raises Defense of one target
Blue Gill | Minor Water damage to one target
Bullcat | Medium Earth+Fire damage to all targets
Angler | Major Water+Earth damage to all targets
The inhabitants of each location:
---------------------------------
River Spot 1 -> Jellyfish, Sweetfish, Trout, Rainbow Trout
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
River Spot 2 -> Jellyfish, Browntail, Trout, Rainbow Trout, Salmon
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
River Spot 3 -> Sweetfish, Browntail, Trout, Rainbow Trout, Bullcat,
Salmon, Sturgeon
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Lake Spot 1 -> Jellyfish, Piranha, Bass, Blue Gill, Martian Squid
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Lake Spot 2 -> Piranha, Bass, Blue Gill, Black Bass, Martian Squid,
Dorado
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Lake Spot 3 -> Jellyfish, Black Bass, Angelfish, Martian Squid,
Dorado, Barandy
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Ocean Spot 1 -> Man-o-war, Flying Fish, Blowfish, Sea Bream
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Ocean Spot 2 -> Man-o-war, Sea Bass, Flatfish, Octopus, Bonito,
Spearfish, Whale
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Ocean Spot 3 -> Flying Fish, Sea Bass, Flatfish, Octopus, Bonito,
Angler
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Chamba Spot -> Jellyfish, Bullcat, Acheron
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Saldine Spot -> Blowfish, Moorfish, Sea Bream, Black Porgy
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Jellyfish*
Lure : Spinner
Spot : Chamba Spot
Crowning: 30 cm
Record : 31 cm
Points : 80
Tactics: The cheapest catch ever, there seems no way to search for a
real crowner among these losers. The largest ones are those
in the Jellyfish-infested waters of Chamba, though you would
have to try your luck at getting what you want. Then again,
maybe not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Piranha*
Lure : Spinner
Spot : Lake Spot 2
Crowning: 40 cm
Record : 42 cm
Points : 150
Tactics: One of the starting fishes you might hook up, Piranhas
usually cluster ~15 m out from the shore. In later fishing
spots, the distance is somewhat shortened to ~10 m. Tends to
fight a bit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Bass*
Lure : Minnow
Spot : Lake Spot 2
Crowning: 60 cm
Record : 60 cm
Points : 200
Tactics: A good fish when you first encounter it, a Bass can restore
an even larger amount of HP than those Healing Herbs, which
would be handy in the course of battle. When you're using a
weak fishing rod, they would fight you quite a lot, so be
prepared for sudden jerks. They dwell somewhere further out
than the local Piranhas, and closer to the bottom, but can
be hooked quite near the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Blue Gill*
Lure : Spinner
Spot : Lake Spot 2
Crowning: 50 cm
Record : 51 cm
Points : 250
Tactics: Try something like for the Piranha.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Sweetfish*
Lure : Frog
Spot : River Spot 3
Crowning: 25 cm
Record : 25 cm
Points : 150
Tactics: Takes any bait, and is easily hooked, but fights a bit
against being reeled in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Browntail*
Lure : Winder
Spot : River Spot 3
Crowning: 70 cm
Record : 74 cm
Points : 250
Tactics: Fights a bit, but should be easy to reel in with the later
rods. Rather like a Rainbow Trout.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Black Bass*
Lure : Topper
Spot : Lake Spot 2
Crowning: 70 cm
Record : 72 cm
Points : 300
Tactics: Fighting well for its size, a black bass proves to be a
nutritional catch, capable of restoring nearly all of your
HP when you first get to fish for it, and staying more than
useful throughout. For crowning specimens though, you might
try the far surface region of Lake Spot 2; just choose your
lure wisely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Angelfish*
Lure : Spinner
Spot : Lake Spot 3
Crowning: 30 cm
Record : 32 cm
Points : 250
Tactics: Essential for any boss battles, Angelfish are easily hooked
up at only this spot for their worth. Reviving a fallen
character at 1/2 HP, it's Ressurect itemised. The region
where these gems reside are marshy waters up near the
middle; cast your lure in for a nifty catch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Trout*
Lure : Frog
Spot : River Spot 3
Crowning: 40 cm
Record : 42 cm
Points : 200
Tactics: Not worth fishing for,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Rainbow Trout*
Lure : Winder
Spot : River Spot 3
Crowning: 70 cm
Record : 72 cm
Points : 350
Tactics: You're going to save using this baby for boss fights, or
against real tough enemies. Should be easy for patient
anglers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Bullcat*
Lure : Worm
Spot : River Spot 3
Crowning: 80 cm
Record : 81 cm
Points : 380
Tactics: Rare and present at only two spots, bullcats are somewhat
difficult to hook up simply due to the varied appetites of
their competitors. Still, it seems that using a good
Minnow lure at this spot is easier than trying at the Chamba
Spot. The downstream area is rather bountiful, so long as
you try for the slightly deeper waters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Martian Squid*
Lure : Winder
Spot : Lake Spot 3
Crowning: 70 cm
Record : 72 cm
Points : 350
Tactics: Tough to fish up, and not something you'd use often. But it
shows up in several trading deals, so you would want to take
some specimens along for the ride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Dorado*
Lure : Worm
Spot : Lake Spot 2
Crowning: 90 cm
Record : 94 cm
Points : 400
Tactics: Tough to catch even when you manage to single one out,
dorado can really put the strength of your fishing rod and
your skills to the test, and for a good reason too. A dorado
can heal a huge mass of HP for your entire party, and
they're much easier to hook up than spearfish, at Lake Spot
2. Coincidentally, dorado and barandy territory clash at
Lake Spot 3, so this would be an easier location to angle
for dorados. Simply cast the furthest you can, and throw
Tec.s around at the depths.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Salmon*
Lure : Frog
Spot : River Spot 3
Crowning: 140 cm
Record : 144 cm
Points : 400
Tactics: An useful prize, the salmon makes its first appearance as
one of the largest river-bound fishes, with a penchant for
recovering your party's AP. For the most part, use high
level lures for these big boys, and you might try your luck
around the downstream edge. Later on, salmon become a
frequently used item, especially in tough, drawn-out
battles, when mass AP recovery is crucial for turning the
tide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Barandy*
Lure : Worm
Spot : Lake Spot 3
Crowning: 200 cm
Record : 205 cm
Points : 700
Tactics: The serpentine fish ruler of the lake returns, with even
more bearing in points than before; rather similar to BoF 3,
the barandy is easily the most difficult fish to entice in
its realm, this time frequenting the casting boundary of
~33 m in deep, dark waters. Use high level Tec.s when
angling for a barandy; though you might note that the use of
a whale for healing equals that of six barandys, which makes
a whale much more attractive than a barandy other than for
trading purposes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Sturgeon*
Lure : Worm
Spot : River Spot 3
Crowning: 220 cm
Record : 225 cm
Points : 700
Tactics: A very new fish introduced in this series, the sturgeon
stands on par with the barandy as the highest ranking fish
following the whale. Unlike those two, the sturgeon
requires no long range rod to catch it, just a nice lure,
patience, and lots of luck. Even with just the Deluxe Rod,
a proper lure can reel in a sturgeon, and the jackpot area
seems to be the downstream rock nearest to the bridge. Depth
seems to be a secondary factor, as lots of the big ones were
practically at the surface. Once you manage to hook one, the
catch is yours since there's no conventional exit out of any
river spots, that is unless you falter. Catch lots of
sturgeons: they're used in trading for the very nifty stuff
with the Astana Manillo merchant, and can be used to cast
the all-powerful Benediction if you don't have it, or find a
lack in AP.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Man-o-war*
Lure : Frog
Spot : Ocean Spot 2
Crowning: 30 cm
Record : 31 cm
Points : 80
Tactics: What can I say, or what do you want to hear?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Flying Fish*
Lure : Topper
Spot : Ocean Spot 3
Crowning: 35 cm
Record : 37 cm
Points : 150
Tactics: A conventional Croc Tear; not so very important.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Blowfish*
Lure : Frog
Spot : Saldine Spot
Crowning: 50 cm
Record : 54 cm
Points : 200
Tactics: Alternate Antidote. Not that easy to catch, though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Moorfish*
Lure : Minnow
Spot : Saldine Spot
Crowning: 30 cm
Record : 30 cm
Points : 200
Tactics:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Sea Bass*
Lure : Worm
Spot : Ocean Spot 3
Crowning: 70 cm
Record : 74 cm
Points : 280
Tactics:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Flatfish*
Lure : Winder
Spot : Ocean Spot 3
Crowning: 50 cm
Record : 50 cm
Points : 280
Tactics:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Sea Bream*
Lure : Worm
Spot : Saldine Spot
Crowning: 70 cm
Record : 70 cm
Points : 300
Tactics: Smaller versions of black porgies, sea bream are useful in
their own right, at least before you get to the Saldine
Spot. Most of the time, sea bream are used for trading, so
it's not a problem to have more of them in the bag. Their
hang-outs are usually near the casting boundary though, so
expect some competition from the other large locals too. Go
mid-depth down to the bottom depending on what the
competition goes for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Octopus*
Lure : Worm
Spot : Ocean Spot 3
Crowning: 80 cm
Record : 86 cm
Points : 350
Tactics: You would do better to try for crowning octopi at Ocean Spot
3, somewhere NEAR the bottom, and NEAR the ~30 m casting
boundary. Just note that the flatfish in the area go for
most other lure-types, so stick with Crabs if you have them.
Casting too far out might result in the other two larger
catches in the same area, so try going for the mid-region.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Bonito*
Lure : Minnow
Spot : Ocean Spot 3
Crowning: 120 cm
Record : 126 cm
Points : 400
Tactics: Bonitos are supposed to be rather large fish, and they are
found at both of the later Ocean Spots, but I would suggest
Ocean Spot 3 for a crowner, since in Ocean Spot 2 there
would be both Spearfish AND Whales posing competition. Try
~30 m, but hang your lure around the surface and mid-
regions, for anglers lie at the bottom. Have a few of these
around for a full HP restoration.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Black Porgy*
Lure : Worm
Spot : Saldine Spot
Crowning: 70 cm
Record : 70 cm
Points : 400
Tactics: A really big sea bream is what becomes a black porgy. To be
sure, they even go for the same stuff, and they're located
at around the same area, though the black porgy usually lies
further out, and characteristically deeper too. I would
suggest coming back for a crowning black porgy when you
obtain an Angling Rod, for the Deluxe Rod would just be
inadequate for this purpose. Try catching as many black
porgies as you can for the boss battles to come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Angler*
Lure : Worm
Spot : Ocean Spot 3
Crowning: 140 cm
Record : 147 cm
Points : 450
Tactics: Think deep for anglers, for they lie practically on the
bottom far out to ~30 m from the shore, which is what
separates them from the flatfish also around near the
bottom. I would suggest using a Crab as lure, for it sinks
quickly enough, so you might consider the waiting tactic. If
you happen to get a Bonito or Octopus though, hook it up
too, for any catch would have their uses. This is one of the
largest stuff you're angling for, so have patience for any
large anglers. Some real life anglers are really quite
small, ranging to only about a few cm in full length. Some
mix up on part of Capcom, I think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Spearfish*
Lure : Spinner
Spot : Ocean Spot 2
Crowning: 190 cm
Record : 205 cm
Points : 500
Tactics: Found only in this location, Spearfish are somehow
incredibly rare in comparision to the great number of Whales
around. The place where they seem fairly common would be
around the cluster of rocks to the right of your casting
view. Try something like a Platinum Top as Spearfish tend to
be closer to the surface than Whales, and have a better
chance of going for surface lures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Whale*
Lure : Winder
Spot : Ocean Spot 2
Crowning: 250 cm
Record : 261 cm
Points : 999
Tactics: I don't know what to say for this, but let's start with
discounting ~200 cm whales as leviathans, huh? Well, for
this part, they ARE the largest 'fishes' around, but it
seems that their size is not always larger the further out
(at least >20 m), for you can get ~150 cm really
malnourished weenies out at the ~33 m casting boundary.
Usually though, that's the idea for catching these stuff;
gargantuan or weeny, they have they same use as an item. :)
Well, you can also try aiming your lure at the rock patches
to the left or right, where there are also some Spearfish
hanging around. I got my ultimate catch at the left cluster,
but I think the length is somewhat different from what the
endurance on the fishing meter shows; I had one reaching to
the end of the meter that was only ~240 cm when hooked up,
which might explain why its endurance wore out so rapidly.
For a better chance, try going really deep with what ever
lure you're using, best if you can reach the bottom. So
refrain from cursing if you hooked up that supposed crowner,
or rejoice if you got it from what seems like an anchovy,
just get out of this place before you start to think real
life whales are less than 3 m, and are really fish that can
be caught with fishing rods.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Acheron*
Lure : Winder
Spot : Chamba Spot
Crowning: 50 cm
Record : 54 cm
Points : 300
Tactics: A truly unique fish to catch, the really irritating turn-off
about trying to catch an Acheron is the jellyfish
infestation (utterly horrible...), and there might be stray
Bullcats waiting to pick up that lure too. Since both
Acheron and Jellyfish go for anything, try a Dancer to put
off those Bullcats. Aim for the wide area at ~45 degrees to
the left, by ~34.3 m outwards; there would be an open angle
where the house would not block the line of casting. Once
you pick up a fish, throw it off if you find that it's not
your catch in mind; a Jellyfish and Acheron is easily
distinguishable. If you've got a proper rod, reeling in a
Acheron would be moderately routine if you keep a steady eye
on the screen. Not something you'd want to use in battle,
but say trade for, oh, that Star Dress in Astana.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faerie, Faerie (Drop?):)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
There's only miscellaneous stuff here, so go and check out Desmond
Xie's guide at www.gamefaqs.com/ if you want the cool in-depth info.
This only highlights on some basic subjects of the Faerie Colony.
*Population*
To build a proper settlement, you need first of all settlers (of
course, what else!), and on your first visit into this new realm, you
are provided with three randomly named faeries with rather random
Stats as well (seems to depend a lot on chance, neh?), so you should
save outside before entering and reset if you're unsatisfied.
Following as you assign more of your friends to hunt for food, more
faeries are born over time (or rather, more battling), usually with
better Stats as the overall Culture level increases. You can reach up
to a maximum population of 20 faeries, withcounting the head faerie
who acts as the your communication link. Note too that faeries can
perish from several factors, inclusive but not limited to starvation
and exploring unchartered lands (and maybe age and work exhaustion,
too). As you assign your faeries to various jobs, so do they gain
increases in their Stats, especially for what corresponds to their
job. (And I seem to have been using too much subscript, no?)
*Food*
As you might find out from some of the free faeries, food is crucial
to the maintainence of the entire population as the only way you're
going to get their hunger sated is through hunting. By assigning
faeries to hunt, you can get more of the multi-purpose stuff, which
not only feeds your current population, but paves the way for more
future settlers. Just be extremely careful not to let this drop, or
you might be facing empty houses quicker than you think.
*Approval Rating*
Having some influence on the Culture level, this is something not to
be neglected as well. If you get most of the faeries thinking you're
a piece of #$^%#!, expect to see slow growth of the colony, as well
as inferior faeries appearing. And your Faerie magic gets affected
as well, especially Faerie Breath. If this keeps up, some revolution
might well occur... And don't keep whacking those faeries you see out
hunting!
*Orders*
This factor determines the pace of expansion and growth you set for
your ward, and is what largely determines your Approval Rating.
Primarily, each has their own personality and react correspondingly
to whatever pace you set for them. I got fed up by this by my third
game, and kept deliberately killing off any lazy or odd faeries that
had the tough luck to appear in my turf (lol and *evilly*
bwahahahaha), and eventually had a maxed out Approval Rating,
heheheh! ;)
Hard: This is the pace of work favoured by diligent faeries, and
ordinary ones accept this too to a certain standard, but you'll
soon see any lazy or odd ones turning up a sour face. Note that
the food level decreases incredibly rapidly, so have enough high
En faeries out hunting. Development also seems to accelerate
under this setting the most.
Normal: The standard standard, this pace of work is accepted by all,
and ordinary faeries especially develop faster; note that the
Approval Rating doesn't drop with this setting in effect, but
grows rather slowly. Development would occur at an acceptable
pace for most.
Easy: Lazy faeries look toward this setting, while odd and even
ordinary faeries grow up to a certain level with this, but
diligent faeries around really get pissed off. Food is conserved
the most during this time, but development of the village will
REALLY crawl, which is ok if you don't have the time to check in
often, like when crossing the Salt Sea.
Relax: A challenging pace to set, lazy and odd faeries thrive under
this anarchy, while diligent faeries may keep working but soon
get fed up. Watch out for slow development of the colony even
though your Approval Rating increases, especially if there are
more than a few lazy ones around. Usually, development of the
colony gets slow, although it seems somewhat randomised.
*JOBS*
------
#Free#
~~~~~~
The 'Free' job status is what new faeries are put in as a default,
and while not really a job, its helps to increase the SL rating of
these faeries, and while going all over the place, you can chat with
them to find out some of the local gossip as well as comments on your
leadership and even their own character!
#Hunting (EN)#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The chores of hunting are a necessary evil, and this time round you
can actually participate physically (in the game!) in helping faeries
hunt. By entering some random '?' spots that appear as you tour the
map, you might chance upon a faerie in need of help to slay the local
wildlife *gasps*. Stuff away any animal-loving instincts you have for
now, and you might as well take a perverse delight in chasing these
animated beasts ;)
A favoured tactic would be to physically surround what you've got
your eye on between a corner and your three party members, and yes,
the corners of the area work too. The members who can effectively
hunt in this way are Ryu with his sword slash, Ershin with his head
ram, and Ursula with her (yay!) long range sniping shot. Take note
that while you can hit your prey from a distance, the various animals
can still react to either your presence or being wounded, and try to
flee from you; wounded animals seem unable to hold still, and the
value of the 'meat' they leave behind also degenerates the further
their tortured existance. It seems that after a specific time,
depending on the prey you're hunting, the animals can escape from the
area. To prevent this, you might want to look towards the pit trap
the faerie has set up, and chase some of the animals in ;) Not only
does the trap ensure that they don't run off, but in this enclosed
area you can easily slaughter the poor wretches by charging around
with Ershin, or shoot at the beast in the diagonally opposite corner
with Ursula! Note that if you happen to reach the edges of the area,
you can choose to remain in the area and continue hunting. You can
also choose to keep any 'meat' you obtain as items to use instead of
offering them to the faeries.
With an established colony, you can easily maintain the amount of
food with competant hunters; I had 6 diligent faeries with 255 En and
that seems to be the minimum requirement as to hunting food for a
full population. Below are some info regarding the prey that you can
possibly hunt:
--------------------------------------
|Beast |Endurance|Meat quality|
-------------------------------------- Ribs -Feeds 1 faerie.
|Pygmy Boar |2 hits |Roast | Roast-Feeds 3 faeries.
-------------------------------------- Flank-Feeds 5 faeries.
|Hopping Bird*|3 hits |Flank | Loins-Feeds 10 faeries!
--------------------------------------
|2-legged Stag|4 hits |Flank |
--------------------------------------
|Musk Ox |5 hits |Loins |
--------------------------------------
*Meat quality degenerates more rapidly; degeneration is in order from
Loins to Ribs, which is the worst of the lot
#Architecture (EN)#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's obvious that buildings don't sprout out of nowhere, and you need
to assign faeries to this job for that purpose. Clearing land and
constructing houses takes a lot of energy, and I guess that En fits
the bill. As you place more faeries under this job, houses get built
more rapidly, and you can also have a wider selection of land to
build on. This job is also necessary if you need to demolish any
houses, but you can leave it empty as long as there is no need for
it. The faeries under this job also chatter like 'Free' faeries, so
you can pick up some extra info again. Note that for each house
you've built, there is an Activity Meter that influences how fast the
faeries in it develop; a filled green bar lets the training faeries
gain Stats faster. Houses can also accomodate up to a maximum of
three faeries each, while there is no limit for the other jobs.
#Crop-Tending (KN)#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new unique job, this 'gardening' involves only the caring of a
single tree, which is indeed of a unique nature. Through some serious
calculations, which I don't know of, you can obtain Stat boosting
items, among which includes the Dark Draught and Elixer+! And the
only way which you are going to get those rare items is to 'feed' the
tree with fertilizers; think towards nutrition (wonder about
Acherons) and you might get a better chance of obtaining the good
stuff. The more faeries you assign here, the faster you receive the
fruit of whatever you gave to the tree. Take in mind that more than
one seed can be harvested each time. Fruits, however, can only be
obtained in single doses per harvest, but this is the only possible
source of getting those Wassails and Draughts! Just ram the tree
with Ershin when the crop has matured. Here are the possible
harvests:
#Items (KN); Max Level 8 / faerie#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first job to get developed, this lets faeries placed in this
building sell miscellaneous items, especially those for use in
battle. You need to place faeries in here for the shop's level to
grow, more rapidly with more faeries. Depending on their personality,
each faerie sells a different list of items; the variety of items for
sale corresponds with the level of each separate faerie, which means
that the Level of the shop that is displayed is actually distorted.
Moving the original shopkeeper elsewhere also irrevocably drops the
level to what it would be without that faerie, so take care when
moving attached store owners! If you want to know, the max possible
'real' level would be 24 for a shop at any given time. Multiply the
shown level by the number of faeries to get an idea of the present
'real' level, but mind that there's no known way (as yet) to see the
levels of each separate faerie.
#Arms (KN); Max Level 8 / faerie#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akin to the item shop, this shop sports equipment for your characters
instead, ranging from weapons to some great accessories. Here's the
list:
#Inn#
~~~~~
Like an alternate dimension, there also are inns in the Faerie
colony! However... they cost nothing to rest at, and the faeries
there often welcome your presence instead! :) Below shows what each
of the faeries assigned do:
1st Faerie-Lets you rest or save at the inn for free
2nd Faerie-Tells you about your number of encounters, rests at inns,
times you've camped out, and visits to fishing spots
3rd Faerie-Reveals the number of times you've ransacked others'
drawers, how many items you've searched out so far, and
the total amount of zenny earned since the start of the
game
#Explorers On Search (EN); Max Level ?#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only job I've yet to understand much about, this is the job with
the highest fatality rate ever, so if you ever need to kill off weak
faeries, send them out on a Difficulty Level 5 'trip of no return'.
Seriously, if you've regretted on your decision, you can change your
orders before you leave the explorer HQ by talking to that particular
faerie, but not once you leave the building. Like all other jobs, the
'time' only passes with you fighting battles outside, so earn Exp
while your counterparts venture the wild for treasure and danger.
Each successful search increases the level by one, while no points
are added for those who don't ever return... I don't know what
exactly the level does, though.
The following list is based on some other faqs out there, but I'll
remove it if anyone asks so:
#Troop Barracks (EN); Max Level 99#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is another unique element to the value of BoF 4's faerie colony:
assistance forces. When you get to have these buildings, place lots
of high En faeries here to help you out in battles! The level of each
barracks increase by 1 for each use of any faerie magic learned from
Njomo, and their effectiveness also increases with the En rating of
these faeries. Note that the Wisdom rating of the character using
faerie magic has no influence on its effectiveness, which is based
however on what's happening in the faerie colony, including the
amount of faerie troops you have.
Faerie Attack (20 AP)-Uneven Fire element damage on all enemies; has
a chance for a more powerful attack-all version
that increases with the total overall level of
troops
-Category: Melee/Fire
-Each hit of damage is the same for similar
types of enemies, and is based on the total En
and level of faerie troops
-Number of hits corresponds to the number of
faerie troops, except for the attack-all bomb
Faerie Charge (20 AP)-Uneven multi-hit damage on all enemies
-Category: Melee
-Damage is based on total En and level of faerie
troops
-Requires 6 or more faerie troops
-Number of hits corresponds to the number of
faerie troops
-Umm, the sight of the hits racking up is REALLY
pretty
War Shout (20 AP)-Raises front rank characters' Power
-Category: Stat UP
-Effectiveness is based on the total number of
faerie troops
-Requires at least one faerie in the Music
Conservatory
Faerie Breath (20 AP)-Restores party's HP and may recover status
-Category: Holy
-Effectiveness is based on the total number of
faerie troops, and your colony's Approval
Rating
#Music Conservatory (SL); Max Level 60#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A job that has become instilled into the series and many other RPGs,
the in-game music for BoF 4 is still a special feature of the faerie
colony; however, there has been a great improvement from BoF 3.
Practically all of the music you have heard throughout the game can
be integrated into this music station, totalling 55 pieces of
background music and 5 'songs', including the ending theme 'After The
Dream', which unfortunately still remains in the Japanese version
only; still, it sounds rather ok, doesn't it? For the crew you can
choose to place here, each has its own separate job besides
integrating the music you have heard so far. The first faerie lets
you select any music out of the list it has, while the second faerie
enables you to listen up to all of the songs the 'frog musician' near
the Dam could play, as well as the ending theme if you've a Clear
Game save. Surprisingly, the third faerie does nothing but say
something dumb, so I suggest you remove the third faerie (if there)
after getting all the music. Overall, this would be a nice job if you
like to listen to RPG music.
Music List:
-----------
01.Starlight Run 31.Tree Spirits
02.Walkabout 32.Song Of The Plains
03.By The Numbers 33.Thousand Winds
04.Bringing Home A Win 34.Seeing Is Believing
05.Slow Tension 35.A Distant Land
06.Endings and Beginnings 36.Hills And Streams
07.Trouble Ahead 37.The Sun And The Moon
08.Ephemeral 38.1-2-3 1-2-3
09.The First Emperor 39.Samba
10.Fighters 40.Today's Catch
11.Take The Money And Run 41.A Whopper Of A Tale
12.Battling Gods 42.Faeries
13.Desert Town 43.Game Over
14.Round And Round 44.Prayer
15.Under Pressure 45.Unwavering Courage
16.Bastard Sword 46.The Curse
17.Another Working Day 47.Turismo
18.All Mixed Up 48.Replay
19.Poisoned Air 49.Seagulls
20.Truth And Fiction 50.Sailing The Seven Seas
21.Watch Your Step 51.Pabupabu, Pukapuka
22.Darkness 52.For The Princess
23.Traveling Merchant 53.Divine Danger
24.Macho Man 54.Emperor Rampant
25.The Sound Of Money 55.Dragon's Blood
26.Brave Heart
27.Requim
28.Shepards
29.Free Fall
30.Neverending Rain
Song List:
----------
1.Whirlpool
2.Islands Everywhere
3.Floating
4.The Endless
5.After The Dream
"Whirlpool" Lyrics:
-------------------
A baby frog is not
a frog, not a frog
It's a tadpole
Tadpole, tadpole
Baby frog is called a
ta-d-pole!
"Islands Everywhere" Lyrics:
----------------------------
A swarm of bees in May
is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June
is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July
is not worth a fly.
"Floating" Lyrics:
------------------
Sniff sniff
Sniff sniff
Smell the flowers
But don't pluck them!
Leave them for someone
Else to smell.
"The Endless" (Song of the Dragon) Lyrics:
------------------------------------------
>From the world's dawning
to its end
The Endless open the
way
You who hear their call,
Abandon yourself to fate,
and surrender yourself to all
"After the Dream" Lyrics*:
-------------------------
Yume wo mite| mega sa mete
Kimi ga ina kute
Sagashi kakete| ki ga tsuite
Tsukoshi dake hara ate
Ki ete ita| yuku mo ri wo
Yubi saki ga omoikashite
Ko egaki kita kute| furetakute
Demo de kina kute
So wo ne dakedo sekai iwa zutto
Ki de ina ma mada ne
Kimi hitori| inai ga ete
Fushigi| da ne
Rumi sho da ta| mano to ki ga
Honto no koto dakara
Futari kiteta| no sekai ga
Kire ii nanda ne
Kigi no a wo| sora ni nobite
Kaze no uta hakome ne
Hikari afurete| tata dakute
Namita kobo reta
So wo ne dakedo sekai iwa zutto
Ki de ina ma mada ne
Kimi hitori| inai ga ete
Fushigi| da ne
Yume wo mite| mega sa mete
Kimi wa inai keredo
Futari kiteta| sekai ri
Kagayaki afureru
*:These lyrics were keyed in by me after listening to the song for
rather far too many times; if there are any mistakes you can spot,
or if you have the original lyrics, please don't hesitate to help
correct them :)
*:For those interested, I saw a rather different version located at
the (in)famous www.animelyrics.com/ , and while I wouldn't say it
sounds odd, I can't say mine sounds right either. :p
#Art Museum (SL); Max Level 23#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another job that depends on style, the gallery is a new option among
the numerous types of careers availible for your faerie friends.
Comprising mostly of modified sketches on concepts raised for
characters before the completion of the game, they also consist of
some bosses and even some major villians (though none for Fou-lu);
there are only 23 sketches in all, which can be viewed by talking to
the first faerie you place in here. Placing two more faeries here
only speeds up the rate of getting these pictures, which is rather
unnecessary, since there are only very few pieces of art in all. Just
to let you know, I replaced my Art Museum after viewing all of the
sketches :)
#Aurum Trading Centre#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A rather basic concept of the stock market has resulted in the
creation of this very interactive unique job. Here, you can choose to
purchase Aurum as an item, an investment, and even as goods for use
in bartering trade located here as well. The first faerie you
introduce to the realities of monetary trade will offer to sell you
and buy your Aurum according to the situation of the 'stock market'
reflected on the chart; in the event, you also have to give a fixed
percentage of your earnings as pay for your trader. You should try
making use of the chart to predict what would happen to the worth of
Aurum soon. However, if you would like 'reliable' info as well, you
can choose to place another agent faerie here, preferably a
knowledgeable one to help you ascertain your prediction. The high Kn
would probably aid in giving more accurate predictions on the ongoing
trend.
Finally, you can actually choose to barter your Aurum for elemental
seeds if you have a third faerie here. It's rather costly, since each
seed you choose to trade for costs 8 Aurum, so trade only for what
you need, and again you really must get more of these when the market
price falls low. You would earn much more than the commision paid,
simply by selling off the excess seeds at other shops!
#Games#
~~~~~~~
Games return to BoF 4, and this time with a vengeance! Simply by
placing a faerie here, you get to participate in 'Kecak', a fast-
paced button tapping tempo that gets increasingly harder or easier,
depending on the level of your skill. Besides being a sideline to
practise perfecting Super Combo, 'Kecak' also costs nothing to play
(well, maybe the space and manpower...) and you can receive prizes if
you do well, the top prize for surpassing 1500 points reputedly being
a Harmonic Ring, along with other lesser prizes like a Wisdom Seed.
Depending on the character you use to talk to the faerie, you can
alter who gets to participate! Scias' and Ershin's seems to be of
particular interest... :)
The second faerie you place here allows you to rename any faerie in
the realm, errrrmm, EXCLUDING Njomo, of course :p Though rather
nonsensical, what did you expect here? Well, another game is
available once you place a third faerie here, aptly termed 'Rock,
Scissors, Paper'! An interesting game once you get the hang of it
(and the annoying rules), you can choose to redeem your points for
prizes, including the exclusive Midas Stone! The best (AND most
costly) prize to redeem would be the Soul Ring, which raises the
equipped character's CP by half. There's occasionally a faerie out
there who might remark that its favourite game is just this guessing
game; try taking it on for unexpected results! Never forget that your
points are forfeit once you choose to end the session!
#Battle Insurance Shop; Max Level 9#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The final option that you get at a maxed out Culture level, the
Battle Insurance shop is rather the one with the most influence after
the Troop Barracks on your main course of gameplay. Payment for the
insurance comes in a rather unique form; for each and every battle
you win with the insurance in effect, you will have 8% of your total
zenny earnings for that battle deducted automatically, period. This
means that you would have to lose out on a sizeable portion of your
money, at least temporarily. If you happen to be able to survive for
about 30 battles or so, you may have the option of discontinueing
your policy or carrying on with it in satisfaction. Should you come
to view this as a money-sucking hindrance, feel free to cancel your
contract and get your paid zenny back in FULL. Choosing to continue,
however lets you gain a percentage of your total payment for free,
as well as a free item (Vitamin!) to boot; your payment carries on
accumulating, somewhat akin to a savings account. I think that if
you don't choose to discontinue your policy for a long consecutive
period, the item you get may upgrade to a better one; anyone wants
to try for the Pole?
For each time you purchase a new contract, the level of the shop
increases, and so do the range of premiums you may choose to have,
for additional payment, of course! :p Each time you choose to do so
also earns you a free Vitamin during their never-ending promotion
period. Note that you may only, at any one time, have up to one
policy and one premium, which may not be altered until the renewal
period or should you choose to activate the insurance upon losing a
battle, which forfeits any payment you may have made so far. Having
just one faerie in here seems to suffice, as it takes care of
everything you might want to dispute about.
One crucial question you might want to ask up to now is just WHAT
does the battle insurance do: it gives you a chance to reverse the
outcome of a lost battle, silly!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|Level|Premium|Z loss| Bonus |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2 |Health | 1% | -Recover with a Vitamin (+1 Vitamin) |
| 3 |Retreat| 2% | -Recover and automatically Retreat (Might |
| | | | fail) |
| 6 |AP | 3% | -Recover with all AP restored (Recover with |
| | | | full AP) |
| 9 |Dragon | 3% | -Recover with all dragons restored (Recover |
| | | | with all Dragons at full HP) |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Rumors and Gossip around the street*
Below are just some of the interesting comments I've noted so far
from faeries under the 'Free', 'Architecture' and 'Crop-Tending'
jobs, where they inadvertantly reveal bits of interesting info on the
game. Interpret their response how you will :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
)"Did you know some monsters can be damaged by healing magic?"
)"Did you know that one of us is living with a human out there
somewhere?"
)"Did you know that one Ribs is enough food for one of us? And a
Roast feeds three of us, a Flank five of us, and a Loins can feed
ten of us!"
)"Did you know that the more you use the faerie magic, the stronger
it gets?"
)"Did you know that while you're outside fighting, we're in here
working?"
)"Did you know that your Approval Rating won't go down if you pick
"Normal" for everyone's orders?"
)"Fish you've caught can be used as fertilizer... They work really
well. Rotten Meat, Scorched Rice, and Bird Drops work really good
too!"
)"Have you heard of a fish called Acheron? They say it's become
mutated by exposure to a cursed area."
)"Have you noticed when you fish that sometimes the Depth Meter
flashes? I heard that means there are a lot of fish around the
area."
)"I heard there's a really strong monster out there somewhere! I
think its name was Ride or something like that..."
)"If you see us while we're out hunting, give us a hand, will you?"
)"If you want to find the Master, you need to look again in a place
you've already been to."
)"If you're going to use Super Combo, it's best if you go last."
)"It's really hard to catch fish that live really deep down, isn't
it? You need the right kind of lure, and you need to look for them
really hard."
)"I've heard there's a skill that gets better the more fights you run
away from."
)"I wouldn't send faeries with low stats out searching if I were
you!"
)"On the roads, there are some places where the ? mark always shows
up. That means there's something there-- you should check it out!"
)"Reflect... Mudslide... Ice Sword... Phoenix... Which do you know?"
)"Remember: each faerie has a different personality. Some faeries are
better suited for some jobs than others."
)"Remember, it's important to talk to people you meet. You never know
what you might learn."
)"Remember to always keep an eye on how much food is left in the
village!"
)"Somebody told me that if you want parts, your best bet is
Difficulty 2... Do you have any idea what that means?"
)"The more often you visit, the happier everyone is, you know."
)"You know that meter that shows up on the houses we build? That's
the Activity Meter. The longer the green line, the more active it
is!"
Your Tips
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some helpful tips offered by a few fellow gamers out there.
And I need contributions here, quickly! Err, I put most of them in my
own words, but no offense please if they were supposed to be in the
original text.
:
Use Ershin as THE bait when up against strong enemies that have
powerful single-target moves like Shadow Walk or Reversal. It's Stand
Out can couple with Resist or Ryu's Holy Circle to create an
untouchable lure; and since it has the highest CP, just a turn in the
back rank can restore enough of its AP. This would help your other
characters get some rest from taking lots of damage from stuff like
the Rider's attack. Oh, and Soul Gems can come in nicely too as long
as you perform Stand Out after Ershin goes out.
:
ALWAYS SAVE before going into mini-games with game points, then
proceed to bungle at the unknown. Practice makes perfect; you can
replay the mini-game over until you're satisfied. With a few tries,
you would be likely to get a much higher score than what you get on
your first attempt, and that would really help in evolving your
basic dragon forms. And once you're happy with it, you can just
settle for your best!
Did You Notice?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit about some of the things that you might be likely to miss out
on, I put this up in case anyone wanted to know about them. Some
might be useful, though most would be there just for fun. Enjoy!
*Did you know that when you play the rafting mini-game at Mt. Ryft,
you can simply wreck the raft to bits near the start to collect 3
Fish-head in a treasure chest nearby? Actually, just tear down the
raft anywhere :p
*Fou-lu communicates in a language that would be best described as a
form of Old English; sounds rather Scottish, no? But, as Ryu's other
half, he's rather a character himself.
*Scias speaks far more eloquently than Ryu; comparatively, Ryu seems
dumb besides Scias :| Wondered why BoF Ryus always seemed to lack in
character?
*Rather unfairly, the US version of the game had censored some scenes
which were in the original Jap version. After checking them out, I
wonder why they even did it; heck, Scias' Lifestealer move would
come close to being censored. Well, they were last sighted at:
www.geocities.com/lastinfi/index.htm
so check out the site and three cheers for L.I. Censoring only draws
gamers' attention by highlighting what we may have otherwise missed.
:p *Smacks self with fish tail*
*The biggest Super Combo I've seen was named in a chunk as 'SuperMach
Flash-MagnumAtomicMagnum', which was for a record of 25 hits! (on a
emulator, geez...) However, after the first 8 hits or so, the
remaining attacks really dealt crap damage, which still accounts for
something, though. I wonder about how they named the move?
*Ever wonder about the word 'Infinity'? Seems that it came from a
mash of '(In)itial' and '(Fin)al'. Sounds like the wrap word for
existance
Next, Please
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Something I thought to make up, since I was always wondering what the
next game in the series would be like. More of a personal rant to no
one in particular, but read it if you like to.
+Battle System+
-Versatility of battling party, with front and back ranks that can be
switched if the situation allows it.
-Learning a skill from either an enemy or ally by guarding for the
turn was indiscriminately useful.
-'Wait' command that allows a front character to delay performing an
action until the desired moment. Raises the chance for comboing, if
that is still there.
-Reintroduce EX turns, but balance it so that the active front rank
character who gets it cannot be switched out. If there is more than
one character who gets it, their order of action may be switched.
-Battle formations were lots of fun with their unique impact on
battles. Maybe they can come back soon... ?
-Consecutive, synchronised animation for combos, so that it looks as
though the fighters are executing the moves in a flowing motion.
-Changing weapons or armor takes a turn in the back rank, and if more
than half the party is changing equipment, then some of them will
have to stay in the front rank to do so.
-Different visual models for each weapon and maybe armor, with
special effects like regeneration, elemental damage and poisoning
having their own, more fitting visual representations too.
-Why should Ryu always employ swords as his primary weapon? There are
more interesting and powerful weapons than the usual blade. Of
course it's a favourite choice, but...
-Regeneration should be balanced for the party and enemies; if
enemies are able to heal half their max HP each turn with no visible
effort, why should we have any less?
-Healing spells don't always have to be on the first character you
get to control; speaking of healing spells, I think most would
rather let enemies have the capability to heal themselves with
spells or items rather than possess endless regeneration
capabilities. Maybe a regeneration spell can be introduced into the
medikit. As for the original subject, a ready source of healing
would do fine.
-Unique 'trademark' moves for each character makes them all important
in some way; limit breaks?
-Different animations and quotes for critical hits would be nice.
-The only way to get the second item from enemies is to wait until
you defeat them all and see if you get lucky. INFURIATING when your
efforts come to naught. We need an option to steal the second item
in battle! Maybe a Will?
-For all the systems we have, why shouldn't monsters have them too?
From combos to EX turns, mayhaps they can have their own system to
give them an edge in battles too.
+Dragon System+
-'Dragon Gene' system from BoF 3 would fit as the base system. Mixing
and matching to create our own dream dragon gives us lots of
satisfaction. And we especially loved the fusion forms and unique
dragon form combinations.
-Alright, so dragons can't be healed conventionally. But why not let
them regenerate their health on their own if they're supposed to be
almost omnipotent with all that power? Natural regeneration to an
extent would make up for the healing handicap.
-The AP tribute should be affected by some items, and maybe Wills can
come into the picture too.
-The max HP for dragon forms should exceed the conventional amount,
and is based on Ryu's max HP and what combination of genes you used.
When the dragon form gets damaged, the genes activated for it
should be sort of damaged in some visible way.
-So to say, genes gain a sort of 'health' in correspondance with
their AP cost, so when the dragon form gets damaged, the genes it
relies on receives 'damage' according to the AP cost ratio of the
genes activated. Should a gene get 'k.o.ed' in some way, then there
should be a way to 'revive' them, probably out of battle.
-For humanoid-looking dragon forms in the very least, enable 'Item'
and 'Examine' type commands. Well, dragons aren't dumb, are they?
-All dragons should have ready access to Ryu's skill list, and they
should have more moves learned in their own movelist as some
special requirements are fulfilled in the game.
-Mini-games may have an impact on the system as well, like activating
hidden dragon forms, skills, or options for a type of dragon.
-If something like the Fusion dragon form, or a party dragon form
exists, which draws its power from your front rank, then make it so
that single characters may not be switched out, but instead the
entire rank switches if such an action is chosen.
-Breath attacks should be as useful as they were in BoF 3, dealing
tons of undivided damage to all enemies, instead of being split
among them. Why not have more combo hits with them too?
+Master System+
-Characters may commit up to ~two permanent 'Will's to memory by
performing related tasks. Thereafter, leveling up while having the
'Will' lets you increase some Stat bonuses
-The permanent Will may be replaced by a new one if you choose so, or
you may choose to delete it from the menu
-You start with one Will/master slot, which increases in number as
you level up; one is always temporary
-You can still have one current master with all that junk; this lets
you combine Wills effectively
-The system for learning skills and changing masters in BoF 4 was
great and hassle-free :)
-Wills can include a wide variety of effects, like regeneration of
AP, or even the ability to steal the rare 2nd item. Imagination
would be the key.
-And yeah, who said masters can't give away items as rewards? If the
Render was in it...
+Fishing System+
-Trading is fun, but sometimes it gets more than absurd; 99 Stamp
Cards for a Render? Watch that Blue Ball heal...
-If you could fish up good items in specific areas and locations, it
might add to the fun
-I can see it already... reeling in the hidden catch 'Leviathan'
activates an unique dragon form for use (duhhhhhh!)
+Faerie System+
-More interaction with players; we love War Shout and Faerie Breath
-Let job-hopping faeries retain some of their previous job knowledge;
don't they have memories?
-Where's the Copy Shop gone to!? How could they think of leaving it
out!
-Games within games are great fun, but should we get nice rewards
for luck or playing skill?
+Storyline+
-A more interactive Ryu; why can he talk in battles but not out of
them?
-Why is it that Ryu always has an identity crisis? Why can't
something else happen to him?
-Make the early part of the game more interesting; some get bored by
its pace of action and this drags the game's worth down
-Continue the storyline in the cleargame save (Epilogue); parts might
be altered to make it all fit, or new elements of interest
introduced
-Include a secret optional character that you may add to your party
some point into the game!
+Misc+
-Reintroduce Bonebreak as an attack for Ryu, which deals non-
elemental damage that ignores defense and lowers the enemy's Power,
Defense, and Speed, plus gets more powerful as your HP depletes!?!
-'Blessed' Sword that heals some HP each round instead of decreasing
it; does more damage with more HP too (Ultimate Weapon? Duh two.)
-Skill, Will, or any move that allows the 2nd item to be stolen from
battle; to wait for it to be dropped after the critter is already
dead is more than chancy, and blasted frustrating too
-Unique 'ultimate' weapons for each character to be gotten from
quests of sorts; definitely before the final dungeon
-Anyways, why should Ryu always use a sword? Maybe it's time for a
change
-Try to include the lyrics for any theme songs; I believe BoF 3's
'Pure Again' was rather unforgettable for those who have heard it.
Oh well, at least I like it.
-Weaponsmaster character who can literally equip about any weapon
-More detailed Stats to a weapon; I suppose they can start revealing
all the hidden Stats, like To-Hit, Evade, elemental resistance, etc.
-Different visual models for each weapon, or something to that
effect. Special effects like elemental damage or regeneration and
poisoning may be employed as such too. Heheh, insanely demanding on
the game production team. ;B
Gee (yup, that's the word), after thinking up all this, I feel like
half a game designer! Well, hope a real one comes along and salvages
something worthwhile out of the scrapheap. Then I'll get something
nice to play with... (hehehehack *gasps and chokes on self*)
!FOR ALL CHEATERS!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a beloved section, with some codes that I made myself. Use it
if you dare, since most of them would spoil much of the gameplay if
overused... Not that you would object, eh?
*The digits given are in hex values. Use a hex calculator to convert
the value you wish to use if necessary. Search the net to find one
easily; try www.gamehacking.com if you can't find one.*
Combo LV.
---------
Breath 3011DF50 000X ; 0-2 (also 'Mixed Spell')
Fire 3011DF84 000X ; 1-3
Wind 3011DF85 000X ; 1-3
Water 3011DF86 000X ; 1-3
Earth 3011DF87 000X ; 1-3
Holy 3011DF88 000X ; 1-3
Melee 3011DF89 000X ; 1-3
Death 3011DF8A 000X ; 1-3
LV.Down 3011DF8B 000X ; 1-3 (See below)
ST.Down 3011DF8C 000X ; 1-3 (See below)
LV.Up 3011DF8D 000X ; 1-3 (See below)
ST.Up 3011DF8E 000X ; 1-3 (See below)
ST.Change 3011DF8F 000X ; 1-3 (See below)
Total LV. 3011DF90 000X ; 1-3 (mostly for show)
Treasure 3011DF91 000X ; 1-3
(For the move types you want to hack, say Melee, put a number within
the given range in place of X, and whenever you execute a move of
that type in any combo, it should act as though it was done at that
combo level, so if you put say the value 3, the 'Blind' move should
do two additional hits in any case. The exceptions to this are:
Breath, which is shared along with Mixed Spell, so 0 actually comes
out as Breath level 1. Others would be the various LV. and ST. move
types, since the effects are accumulated, the actual effects would
be rather different from expected. For example, if you set ST.
Change at 3, and perform a move like Chlorine to start a combo, what
other status ailment should the game try to add in? That's most of
it. But as a side note, you CAN use values outside of the range,
but take in mind that it's rather disruptive of the normal rules.
Say put 9 for Melee: perform Tiger Fist, Faerie Charge, or Faerie
Attack to see an insanely flashy show. Tooo overpowered, though.
Welp, that's the lecture!)
Super Combo Hits
----------------
301EA492 00XX ; 0-50
(The actual number of moves Super Combo does, this can easily make
you utterly sick of the move. Normally, the maximum number of hits
is 80 hits, which represented by 50 in hex. This is the limit
regardless of the number of successful taps, which is probably not
possible for non-cheating circumstantances, so be appreciative. But
if you use say FF instead, yep, you can get 255 hits out of Super
Combo, but it truly makes the move sickening after a few attempts.
Regulate yourself.)
Item Drop
---------
(Enemy 1 Item 1) 301C6FE6 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 1 Item 2) 301C6FEA 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 2 Item 1) 301C71AE 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 2 Item 2) 301C71B2 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 3 Item 1) 301C7376 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 3 Item 2) 301C737A 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 4 Item 1) 301C753E 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 4 Item 2) 301C7542 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 5 Item 1) 301C7706 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 5 Item 2) 301C770A 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 6 Item 1) 301C78CE 000X ; 0-7
(Enemy 6 Item 2) 301C78D2 000X ; 0-7
(This lets you get all the spoils of war you want. Use 7 if you want
the enemy forces to surrender everything, or 0 if you hate to get
anything at all from them. LUCKY SEVEN!!!)
1ST Character Stats
-------------------
Physical 301C7A9E 000X ; 0-7
Ranged 301C7A9F 000X ; 0-7
Magical 301C7AA0 000X ; 0-7
Breath 301C7AA1 000X ; 0-7
Fire 301C7AA2 000X ; 0-7
Wind 301C7AA3 000X ; 0-7
Water 301C7AA4 000X ; 0-7
Earth 301C7AA5 000X ; 0-7
Holy 301C7AA6 000X ; 0-7
Mind 301C7AA7 000X ; 0-7
Status 301C7AA8 000X ; 0-7
Death 301C7AA9 000X ; 0-7
Learning 301C7AAA 00XX ; 0-64
Counter 301C7AAB 00XX ; 0-64
Critical 301C7AAC 00XX ; 0-64
Dodge 301C7AAD 00XX ; 0-64
Alertness 301C7AAE 00XX ; 0-64
To-Hit 301C7AAF 00XX ; 0-64
(These bunch of codes can really abuse gameplay, which is why I don't
recommend fiddling around with them. Much. Something of note: the
max value of 'physical, ranged, magical, breath' in the game is 5,
though you can set it to 6 or 7 if you want to be mostly
invulnerable. Then it's not fun, though. And, right again, FF can be
used for the last six codes, *sigh*.)
(Fou-lu)
ASTRAL 8011B8FE 270F
TYRANT 8011B904 270F
SERPENT / PEIST 8011B90A 270F
MYRMIDON / KNIGHT 8011B910 270F
BEHEMOTH / MAMMOTH 8011B916 270F
MUTANT / PUNK 8011B91C 270F
(Activate whichever code you want to let that dragon form always be
'alive' with 9999, or max HP. What happens is that the dragon
transformation will always start with max HP, NOT having max HP
for the dragon form throughout battles. You CAN return to human form
and perform the transformation again, in which case you'll start out
with max HP again... errm, so long as the AP holds.)
Dragon Evocations On
--------------------
8011B72C 3FFF
(This allows you to use freely all of the dragon evocations that you
may have collected from the various dragon avatars. Put 0000 if you
like being on your on.)
Dragon Breath and Evocation Attacks Used
----------------------------------------
8011B88E FFFF
(Allows you to cancel the cinematics of all the dragon forms' breath
attacks, as well as those of the evocations. Use 0000 if you always
want to see all of the cinematic sequences, and IT IS ALL. For those
with an extreme dislike of seeing that 'Cancel' button.)
FOOTNOTE
--------
A little tip here: to reduce on the number of codes you use, you can
COMBINE 2 codes which are side by side, and start with the number '3'
prefix in front. An example would be:
3011DF84 00XX + 3011DF85 00YY = 8011DF84 YYXX
Note that the prefix is changed to 8, with four working variables,
instead of two working variables with the prefix 3. The arrangement
of the variables seems to be like that, and I dunno why. But it works
and that's what's important! :)
Blessings to...
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*All readers of this down-hill faq; well, actually I don't know...
but thanks for putting up with my *whiny to stuck-up* language!
*Carole (Carole3027@aol.com) for lots of morale supprt and some vital
inspiration; best of health to you and your kin!
*All of the contributors at the BoF 4 Gamefaqs message board, for all
your lot of useful info that often gets lost along the way... :p
Hope I still don't get condemned
*Other faq writers out there like Darkstorm, who inspired me much on
what to create as subject for a game faq :)
