__ __ __ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ \` \`\\/'/ __ __ \_\ \ _ __ __ `\ `\ /' /'_ `\ /'_ `\ /'_` \/\`'__\/'__`\ `\ \ \/\ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \L\ \ \ \//\ \L\.\_ \ \_\ \____ \ \____ \ \___,_\ \_\\ \__/.\_\ \/_/\/___L\ \/___L\ \/__,_ /\/_/ \/__/\/_/ /\____/ /\____/ \_/__/ \_/__/ __ __ /\ \/\ \ __ \ \ \ \ \ ___ /\_\ ___ ___ \ \ \ \ \ /' _ `\/\ \ / __`\ /' _ `\ \ \ \_\ \/\ \/\ \ \ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \ \ \_____\ \_\ \_\ \_\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \/_____/\/_/\/_/\/_/\/___/ \/_/\/_/ =========================================================== _ \ / _ |\ | _ _ ._ |_ o _ |_ _|_ /\ | _ ._ _ \/\/ (/_ | \|(/_\/(/_| | |(_|| | |_ /--\|(_)| |(/_ _| Hints, Tips and Random Information FAQ By Theseus19 Contact : Cronofei@yahoo.co.uk Version Info 03/12/06 - v0.8 - Initial Faq 08/12/06 - v0.9 - Changes : -Added "Morale Damage" section. -Added "Beating the Final Boss" section. -Fixed some errors (ATT, doh) and ambiguities. -Made some 'cosmetic' changes. -Added stat progressions and advice. 18/12/06 - v1.0 - Changes : -Corrected a major error in Morale Damage Section. -Fixed Yggdra's Stat progressions and added Rosary's. -Added "Character and Item Effects" section. -Added "Cards" section. 19/12/06 - v1.01 - Changes: -^_^ Quick error correction and addition of missing info about cards. 22/12/06 - v1.02 - Changes: -Added some clarification and fixed some typos. **/**/** - v1.05 - Changes: -Edited Kiss of Death entry in Card section. -Added Experience Section. INTRO This is a hints/tips/Random rambling faq. So a few spoilers (such as mentioning characters that join you), and no battlefield specific help. I took some liberty in the use of game terms (I also used MVP as a verb -_-) but I'm pretty sure you'll get my meaning. Well, actually since I suck at explanations you are probably liable to come out of this more confused than you went in. Also, I usually refer to characters as male, but most of the information here applies to both genders. If something is gender specific, I'll mention it there. Note also all information in this FAQ is meant to apply to the English version. There may be differences in the Japanese version, but I wouldn't know what they are since I never played it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== CONTENTS Find(CTRL+F) ========== 1. Unions #UNI# 2. Experience #EXP# 3. Morale Damage #MOR# 4. MVP #MVP# 5. Stats #STA# 6. Character and Item Effects #EFF# 7. Cards #CAR# 8. Beating the Final Boss (Spoilers duh) #BOS# 9. FAQ's #FAQ# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== UNIONS #UNI# ========== First, some facts about unions. - Males form unions in a x formation (if you don't know what I mean, play further into the game, and read the tutorials. Actually why did I even put this in ?). - Females form unions in a + formation (ditto). - A union for one side can only have at most 5 characters participating (the game doesn't mention this, I think). - During a union, there will usually be as many battles as there are characters in the largest side (unless the smaller side is totally obliterated before everyone gets their turn). - Every battle a character fights in during the same union (besides the first) he starts with one less member (that even Sanctuary won't replace, but Mind Change will). If its a large unit(knight, dragoon, griffon etc) then the character loses a member every two battles. Character position in a union. Imagine that the leader is surrounded by two circles, one that is 3 squares in diametre and another that's 5 squares. The order of the union is decided by first moving clockwise through the smaller circle, then through the larger circle. So, start from 12'o'clock, move clockwise one square away from the centre, and then two squares away from the centre. Ok, that sucked, lemme just give you a diagram. 5 8 5 1 4 1 8 4 F 2 6 M 3 3 2 7 7 6 F = Female M = Male Numbers = ... I'm not gonna answer that. Concerning linking (if you don't know what I mean by linking, go further into the game). Linking doesn't make the order that much more difficult. First of all, characters directly in the leaders union will always go before characters that are linked in. So, the order shown in the diagram is still valid and any characters that are linked in are appended to the end of this order. So how is the order decided between linked characters ? Lets call the character who is directly unioned to the leader the link. After the position of characters directly unioned to the leader is decided, characters connected to links are placed in the order of their link. If a character is a link to 2 or more characters, then clockwise order applies again (that is, start at 12'o'clock, and move clockwise through the circle). Also, if a character is linked by two characters he will not be included twice in the order, he's position is determined by the first person he is linked to. This sounded a lot simpler in my head. Try reading that a few times. No ? Then how about an example ? C3 M * C1 * * FL F * * C2 * FL = Female Leader. F = Female in direct union. M = Male in direct union. * = blank square (no characters) in Leader's range. C# = Character brought into union through a link. Gender is irrelevant. If you read that last paragraph 8 or 9 times you already know the order ^_^. Otherwise, its FL, F, M, C1, C2, C3. Actually you're only allowed to have 5 characters at most in a union but uh... I'm illustrating a point ok ? Fine, so you're still confused, lets try a step by step path. If not skip this bit. Move your cursor along this path, and whenever it moves over a character, he's next in order. 1) Start with your leader. 2) Move 1 square north of him/her. Move clockwise in a circle around the leader. That is, 1 east, 2 south, 2 west, 2 north, 1 east. 3) Once you arrive back at the square you started, move 1 north. 4) Move 2 east, 4 south, 4 west, 4 north, 2 east. 5) Thats the order of the directly unioned characters. Now, look at the second character in the order (the first is the leader). 6) Anyone linked to him/her is next on the union order. If multiple characters are linked to him/her, use step 2 with the link as the leader. 7) Keep looking at the next character in the order and repeat step 6 until you have looked at everyone in direct union. Of course, the whole point of learning union order is to plan how to place your characters, but this'll help you learn. Now, if you fight against a larger group than yours, the order is repeated from the top until every enemy in the group has had a chance to fight. If any of your units are killed, they are dropped from the order. So if characters A, B and C fought against a 5 man union, A would fight, then B, then C, then A again and finally B. If A died in its first battle, the order would be A B C B C. If A and B die in their first battles its A, B, C, C, C. The only time there won't be five battles is if A, B and C all bite the bullet before everyone has had a turn. Btw the computer opponent follows all of these rules. Tips on forming unions. - Females rule, union forming-wise. Since you can't move diagonally, if you can get a female leader to a square, you are guaranteed to have at least one other square to place a character in union with her (the square the leader had to move from). The male formation does have its advantages. It is 2 diagonal squares from centre to end, so it is actually longer than the female formation. Look at it this way. From the centre of the female formation to one of its ends a character travels 2 squares. From the centre of the male formation to one of its ends a character travels 4 squares. So you can save a few moves if you're trying to get a character close enough to union. Because of the longer reach, there are a few rare times when a battlefield is split and the only way to drag an unreachable character (read:Kylier) into the union is with a male leader. I recommend using more females than males though. - You might think that the best way to play is to always have as large a union as possible. However, its usually better to have only 2 or 3 units (maybe even 1) in a union(which also saves moves), and place them in such a way that they can beat(through innate abilities, cards or just plain stats) whichever enemies they are paired with. Then there's Yggdra + Crusade. The point to remember is that it isn't usually the number of characters in a union that decides who wins, it is how they are matched up against the enemy. - The times when you should use large unions: When you start or are exposed to a union where you know you will lose the majority of the battles, to spread the damage (sometimes necessary when you're under time constraints). When you actually can arrange it so that every unit will win every battle (mid-game this can happen alot). When you need the extra units to get your character order right. And when you actually do have an advantage in numbers over a lone or pair of boss character/s. - Remember that you can move units before AND after you use up your union for a turn (except for the leader). So you can use your union to maximize damage using units that counter the enemy, then afterward introduce new characters into the union in preparation for the enemy turn's union (or just hightail it). Also keep in mind they won't always attack the character you attacked with so always try and end your turn with characters in multiple union formations if you're in enemy range. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== EXPERIENCE #EXP# ========== Every character's XP to next level increases at a different rate. XP to next level is given by the formula : [Current Level + 1] * CXP Where CXP is a multiplier that differs between characters (See the table below). Note that the formula gives "current" XP required (XP that is displayed on the stats screen), not total XP required. XP GROWTH RATES: ------------------------------ Character | CXP -----------------+------------ Milanor | 7 Yggdra | 5 Durant | 6 Nietzsche | 6 Rosary | 7 -----------------+------------ Roswell | 7 Russel | 6 Cruz | 5 Elena | 5 The experience a character obtains from each battle is decided by his opponents level, the difference between his and his opponents level, and whether the character won or lost the battle. At the end of the current union, the experience for each battle is added to that characters total until he gains a level. That is, a character can only gain 1 level from 1 union, and if he does his experience is set to 0 at the end of the union. As an estimate a character will earn experience based on the following sets of formula's, where : EL is the enemy's level LD is the Level Difference (Enemy's Level - Character's Level) XP is the experience gain. ------------------------------------ For battles that a character wins : If LD >= 3 XP = Round(EL*1.5) - 1 If LD = 2 XP = Round(EL) If LD = 1 XP = Round(EL*0.75) If LD = 0 XP = Round(EL*0.5) if LD = -1 XP = Round(EL*0.25) if LD = -2 XP = Round(EL*0.125) +1 if LD <= -3 XP = 1 However, if XP < 1 then XP = 1 ------------------------------------ For battles that a character loses : If LD >= 3 XP = Floor( [EL-1]*1.5 ) If LD = 2 XP = EL - 1 ? If LD = 1 XP = Floor([ El-1]*0.5 ) If LD = 0 XP = Floor(EL*0.25) If LD = -1 XP = Floor(EL/6) If LD = -2 XP = Floor(EL*0.125) If LD <= -3 XP = 0 However, if XP < 0 then XP = 0 Floor (for positive numbers) means drop of any fractions from the answer without rounding. ------------------------------------ These formula's will usually be correct, but are sometimes off by 1 experience point. Maybe I'll try and figure out an accurate formula for a new update, but I'm lazy so... don't hold your breath. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== MORALE DAMAGE #MOR# ========== Base Morale damage is determined by the strength of the card currently being played (by the winner of a battle obviously). The loser's card has no effect. Only a percentage of the card's strength is inflicted as damage to the loser. This percentage is determined by the stats of both sides, by their performance in battle, and possibly by equipment. There are four factors : Surviving units : [(Winner's remaining units)*10]% Ability Difference: [(Winner's ATK - Loser's GEN)*10]% Geo Defense : -[Geo of Loser's square] Bonuses : Several bonuses can be added depending on the winners actions. Head-Alive 40% - The Head survived the battle. Critical-hit 10% - Inflicting a critical hit. Genocide-kill 50% - Winning using 'Genocide'. Crusade 50% - Winning using 'Crusade'. Dragon-slay 80% - Winning under Effect of Dragon killer card. Item-Steal 30% - For stealing an item. Item-Break 20% - For breaking an item. Status-Damage 10% - For inflicting an ailment. Equipment Special - Read below. These four factors are added together, and then that percentage of the Card strength is the damage done (Note, its NOT 100% + the factor percentages, its just the factor percentages). The equipment bonus is different than most. To obtain it the winner must have an item with [o]Power 25% UP or [o]Power 50% UP equipped. Then, after the total damage is calculated, a further 25% or 50% respectively of the TOTAL DAMAGE is inflicted, rather than 25% or 50% being added to the total percent. The Character also receives this bonus if he has the [o]O damage max (Morale damage max) effect, but it has no effect on the calculated total damage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== MVP (Morale Viscerating Person) #MVP# ========== Ok, its Most Valuable Player (probably) but I like mine better. The MVP is the person that inflicts the most Morale damage to the enemy during a battlefield. At the end of the Battlefield the MVP gets a bonus to their stats based on how long in turns the battlefield took to finish (a different number of turns for each battlefield, see the list at the end of this section). Finish quick enough and you get 2 small stars added to a random stat, otherwise you get 1. However if you lose and restart the battlefield you give up MVP for that battlefield entirely. Also if no-one inflicts any Morale damage during a Battlefield, then you don't get MVP. With a little setup it can be pretty simple to control who gets the MVP bonus for most battles. For the purposes of stat maxing though this isn't as useful as you might think. The stat you get is random so you might get a stat that the character will naturally max. Also, the character can still gain the bonus in a stat that has already been maxed (it just won't have any effect). When counting turns for the +2 MVP both player turns and computer turns are counted. Each computer faction (sometimes there are 2 enemies factions, or enemy and allies factions) gets its own turn. So to minimize the number of turns in a battlefield you want to trigger whatever gets rid of the ally faction when possible (usually recruit them), concentrate on destroying one enemy faction at a time (whichever one is your objective usually), and avoid actions that trigger new factions until you absolutely have to (for example stepping on certain squares in BF 23). Note that the MVP is the person who inflicts the most actual morale damage on enemies, not the person who inflicted the most potential damage. So if your character wins a battle and the enemy only had 10 morale left, at most you will only get 10 morale added to that character's morale damage inflicted "score". Tips for choosing the MVP. Always include the MVP wannabe in every union, try not to use it to finish of enemies low on morale (remember you need to do the most morale damage out of all your characters, not kill the most enemies), and most importantly, keep rotating all your OTHER characters in and out of unions. Turn limits to get +2 MVP Bonus (Courtesy of Yggdra): ------------------------------------------------- Battlefield No. No. of turns to finish within ------------------------------------------------- 1 4 2 9 3 32 4 18 5 7 6 18 7 21 8 23 9 21 10 23 11A 17 11B 16 12 17 13 35 14 7 15 12 16 21 17 17 18 24 19 13 20 9 21 13 22 29 23 14 23.5 13 24 14 25 27 26 54 27 18 28 25 29 21 30 32 31 47 32 46 33 10 34 2 35 49 36 34 37 16 38 40 39 14 40 30 41 50 42 26 43 45 44 50 45 4 46 7 47 10 48 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== STATS #STA# ========== There are four stats GEN, ATK, TEC and LUK. Character level also plays a part, and there is a hidden attribute for units similar to HP. HP : There is no in-game concept known as HP (well ok, it gets a mention but eh). By HP I refer to the capacity of your character's unit to take damage (similar to the 'traditional' RPG concept). Each member represents a certain amount of HP for the unit, and the Head represents approximately twice as much HP as a single member. Level: Increases the HP of a unit. Increases the damage inflicted during battle by a unit. Is a notable determinant of Maximum Morale. And the four stats: GEN : Reduces Morale damage received when a battle is lost. Reduces damage received during a charge or counter. Defends against TEC based Card skills. Is a notable determinant of Maximum Morale. ATK : Increases HP of the unit. Increases Morale damage inflicted when a battle is won. TEC : Determines the strength of Card skills. Increases damage inflicted during a charge or counter. LUK : Affects whether an enemy's equipped item drops if it is defeated ( if the LUK of the 'killer' is equal to or greater than the LUK of the defeated, the item drops). Increases the character's chances of inflicting a critical hit. Increases how often the Head will activate his special attack. - A character will never have a stat lower than 1 Big star or higher than 6 Big stars - Only the big stars matter for any game mechanic besides stat raising and total Max Morale. - A Character starts off with 1000 Max Morale. For every small star in GEN (whether from base stats, MVP bonus, or equipment) he has beyond the first Big star he gains 100 Max Morale. For every ATK, TEC or LUK small star he has beyond the first Big star he gains 20 Max Morale. Every level he gains adds 200 Max Morale. When determining Max Morale, Big stars have no significance beyond representing a number of small stars. To summarize it in a formula : Max Morale = [Gen Total small stars] * 100 + [TEC,ATK,LUK Total small stars] * 20 + Character Level * 200 + 800 - Character level ups are fixed. For a given level, the same character will always get the same stat gains, regardless of any MVP or item bonuses the character may already have. - It takes 10 small stars to get the second Big Star. Each Big star after that takes 2 less stars than its predecessor to gain (ie, 3 Big stars need 8 small stars, 4 Big need 6 small, 5 Big needs 4 small, and 6 Big needs 2 small stars). This is pretty odd compared to most other rpg type schemes since it means it actually takes less work to raise a stat another point. In total to get from 1 Big Star to 6 requires 30 small stars. That last point also brings up the issue of efficient Stat raising item usage. This is meant to apply to permanent stat raising items (items with the EAT: effect). A Stat raising item raises a stat automatically to the next Big star, no more, no less. The sooner you use an item to raise a stat the more value you get out of it. Well, its a little more complicated than that really, but only a little. Decide who gets the item as soon as you can assign it. If the character has no small stars or one small star (try for no small stars) in the stat that's going to be raised, go ahead, feed the little sucker (Equip it, then take a step in a Battlefield). If he's got 2 small stars, you can either feed him the item now or wait until he gains the next Big Star before you feed, same value either way. So you might as well feed him now. If its 3 stars or more, let the guy gain his next Big star by levels or MVPs, and then feed him ASAP (try to avoid levelling him or MVP'ing him again before you get the chance to feed him). Btw for items that raise a random stat, you can basically choose the stat you want to raise by saving/reloading. But you knew that already, right ? This also applies to Equip items. Equip items can raise stats by a number of small stars (+X items) or automatically to the next star (UP items). However even +X items will only raise a stat as high as the next big star (extra small stars won't carry over). If an Equip item decreases a Character's stat by more small stars than he has, then it will remove 1 Big star and all small stars. Equip items with a DW in a stat also will remove 1 Big star and all small stars. Until the item wears off, the equipped stats are treated as base stats for the purposes of levelling and MVP stats. But no matter what happens while the item is equipped, as soon as it wears off you will return to your proper base stats for your level, with whatever permanent bonus stats you accumulated. For example, if you had 3 big Stars and 5 small stars in ATK, and equipped an item that raised ATK by 6, you would only end up with 4 Big stars (and no small stars). If you then gain a level and get an increase in ATK, you will have 4 Big stars and 1 small star. When the equipment wears off, you'll have 4 Big Stars. If you had waited until you gained the level, and then equipped the item, you would get 5 Big stars for as long as you wear it (gaining a level raises you to 4 Big stars, then equipping the item gets you 5). ============================ Stat gains of Characters : ============================ Use this info to decide when to feed your items to a character, or to figure out how many extra stars you've managed to add to a stat if you lose count. The numbers in the GEN,ATK,TEC and LUK columns denote when a character will achieve that big star without any bonus stars. The stats for Starting Level are a character's starting stats WITHOUT equipment. Characters can join equipped with items that raise stats temporarily. If a number has a decimal point it is seperating big stars and small stars ie. (Number of Big stars).(Number of small stars). A reminder : 1 Big star + 10 small stars = 2 Big stars (10 total) 2 Big stars + 8 small stars = 3 Big stars (18 total) 3 Big stars + 6 small stars = 4 Big stars (24 total) 4 Big stars + 4 small stars = 5 Big stars (28 total) 5 Big stars + 2 small stars = 6 Big Stars (30 total) ---------------------------------------------------- Milanor ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 3 Starting Level 2.4 2.7 2.6 2.6 Level 4 Gen,Atk,Tec 3 Level 5 Gen,Luk ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 6 Atk,Tec,Luk 3 3 Level 7 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 8 Gen,Luk 3 Level 9 Atk,Tec,Luk Level 10 Gen,Atk,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 11 Gen,Atk,Luk Level 12 Atk,Tec,Luk 4 Level 13 Gen,Tec,Luk Level 14 Att,Luk 4 Level 15 Gen,Atk,Tec 4 ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Tec,Luk Level 17 Gen,Atk,Luk Level 18 Att,Tec,Luk 5 Level 19 Gen,Atk,Tec 4 Level 20 Atk,Tec,Luk 6 5 5 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 4 6 5 5 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Yggdra ---------------------------------------------------- *******************MINOR SPOILERS****************************** Midway through the game, Yggdra will receives a class change. This new Yggdra is actually an entirely new character with its own stat progression and base stats. However, your level, and any and all extra small stars (from EAT items and MVPs) that you manage to add to Sword Maiden Yggdra do pass on to the new class Yggdra with absolutely no loss. All you need to know from that basically, is that the level that Yggdra class changes at will have no effect on her final stats, but items and MVPs that you give to Sword Maiden Yggdra will affect her final stats. I've listed Yggdra(SM) up to level 14 and the new class Yggdra(LP) starting from level 11. Yggdra(SM) GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 1 Starting Level 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.5 Level 2 Gen,Atk Level 3 Atk,Tec,Luk 2 Level 4 Gen,Atk Level 5 Gen,Atk,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 6 Atk,Luk Level 7 Gen,Atk,Tec 3 Level 8 Gen,Atk 3 Level 9 Atk,Tec,Luk Level 10 Gen,Atk ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 11 Gen,Atk,Tec 3.2 3.4 2.4 1.8 Level 12 Atk,Luk Level 13 Gen,Atk,Tec 4 Level 14 Gen ---------------------------------------------------- Level 14 STATS 3.4 4 2.5 1.9 ---------------------------------------------------- Yggdra(LP) GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 11 Starting Level 3.4 4 3.4 2.3 Level 12 Gen,Luk Level 13 Gen,Atk,Tec 4 Level 14 Gen,Tec,Luk 4 Level 15 Atk,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Gen,Tec,Luk Level 17 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 18 Gen,Tec,Luk 5 5 Level 19 Gen,Atk,Tec 5 Level 20 Gen,Tec,Luk 6 6 3 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 6 5 6 3 ---------------------------------------------------- *******************End of SPOILERS****************************** ---------------------------------------------------- Durant ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 3 Starting Level 2.7 2.6 2 1.7 Level 4 Gen,Atk 3 Level 5 Gen,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 6 Atk,Tec 3 Level 7 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 8 Gen,Luk Level 9 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 10 Gen,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 11 Atk,Tec Level 12 Gen,Atk,Tec 4 Level 13 Gen,Tec,Luk 3 Level 14 Gen,Atk Level 15 Gen,Att,Tec 4 ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Atk,Tec Level 17 Gen,Tec,Luk 5 2 Level 18 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 19 Gen,Atk,Tec 6 Level 20 Atk,Tec 5 4 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 6 5 4 2 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Nietzsche ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 4 Starting Level 2.1 2.3 2.3 3.3 Level 5 Gen,Atk ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 6 Gen,Atk,Luk Level 7 Atk,Tec Level 8 Gen,Atk Level 9 Gen,Atk,Luk 3 Level 10 Gen,Atk,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 11 Atk,Luk 4 Level 12 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 13 Gen,Atk,Luk 3 Level 14 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 15 Gen,Luk ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Gen,Atk 4 Level 17 Atk,Luk Level 18 Gen,Atk,Tec 3 Level 19 Gen,Atk,Luk 5 Level 20 Gen,Atk 4 5 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 4 5 3 5 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Rosary ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 6 Starting Level 2.6 2 3.4 3.2 Level 7 Atk,Luk Level 8 Gen,Tec,Luk Level 9 Gen,ATK 3 Level 10 Atk,Luk ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 11 Gen,Tec,Luk 4 4 Level 12 Atk,Luk Level 13 Gen,Tec Level 14 Atk,Luk Level 15 Gen,Tec,Luk ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Atk,Luk 5 Level 17 Gen,Atk Level 18 Gen,Tec,Luk Level 19 Gen,Atk 4 3 Level 20 Tec,Luk 5 6 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 4 3 5 6 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Roswell ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 6 Starting Level 3 2.3 3 2.6 Level 7 Atk,Luk Level 8 Gen,Tec Level 9 Gen,Atk,Luk 3 Level 10 Gen,Atk,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 11 Atk,Luk Level 12 Gen,Luk Level 13 Gen,Atk,Tec 3 Level 14 Gen,Atk,Luk 4 Level 15 Atk,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Gen,Atk,Luk Level 17 Gen,Tec,Luk Level 18 Gen,Atk Level 19 Atk,Tec,Luk 4 4 Level 20 Gen,Atk 5 4 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 5 4 4 4 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Russel ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 10 Starting Level 2.2 3.2 4 3.2 Level 11 Atk,Tec Level 12 Gen,Atk Level 13 Gen,Atk,Luk Level 14 Atk,Tec 4 Level 15 Gen,Atk,Luk ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Gen,Atk Level 17 Atk,Tec,Luk Level 18 Gen,Atk 5 Level 19 Atk,Tec,Luk 5 4 Level 20 Gen,Atk 3 6 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 3 6 5 4 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Cruz ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 10 Starting Level 3.1 3 3.3 1.9 Level 11 Gen,Atk Level 12 Gen,Tec Level 13 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 14 Gen,Atk Level 15 Gen,Tec 4 4 ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Atk,Tec,Luk 2 Level 17 Gen,Atk Level 18 Gen,Tec Level 19 Gen,Atk,Tec 4 Level 20 Gen,Tec 5 5 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 5 4 5 2 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Elena ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Level 11 Starting Level 2.3 2.7 3.3 4 Level 12 Atk,Tec 3 Level 13 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 14 Gen,Tec 4 Level 15 Atk,Tec ------------------------------GEN---ATK---TEC---LUK- Level 16 Gen,Atk,Tec Level 17 Atk,Tec Level 18 Gen,Tec 5 Level 19 Atk,Tec Level 20 Gen,Atk,Tec 3 4 6 ---------------------------------------------------- FINAL STATS 3 4 6 4 ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- LV20 BASE STATS FOR ALL CHARACTERS: ---------------------------------------------------- GEN ATK TEC LUK Milanor 4 6 5 5 Yggdra 6 5 6 3 Durant 6 5 4 2 Nietzsche 4 5 3 5 Rosary 4 3 5 6 Roswell 5 4 4 4 Russell 3 6 5 4 Cruz 5 4 5 2 Elena 3 4 6 4 ---------------------------------------------------- Some tips for building stats: - There are at least 2 EAT effect items for each stat that I know of (ATK has 4 or more), at least 2 that raise a random stat, and at least 1 that raises all stats. And if I can find them they MUST be easy to get 8P. - IMHO, you only need to concentrate on five or six characters. Only five characters can participate in a union, and there are only five weapon types available to the player (there is a sixth weapon type, but it is only available late game as a 3 map Equip item). - To use MVPs to max a character's stats, you either have to keep reseting a level until you get the Bonus stat you need (not fun), or you must have him as MVP for multiple Battlefields (needs luck. Thats real-life luck). However, if you're trying to max several stats on the same character then MVP'ing multiple battlefields is probably best. - Characters with no stats that max at 6 are good candidates to be frequent MVPs. Don't use EAT items on frequent MVPs unless you have a surplus. - If a character has a stat maxed at 5, then you CAN play a short battlefield (use the MVP turn list to get a rough idea of the short Battlefields, but ignore BF's 33 and 34), get the character the MVP and reload if its the wrong stat (Don't replay. Reload). I only really recommend this for perfectionists though. You'll have more fun playing a normal game, getting the character a few MVPs and if you have bad luck just use equipment. Btw you can forward through game dialogue by holding down the R button. - You can raise a stat that a character naturally maxes at 4 Big Stars to 6 Big Stars with only one stat raising item if you use it when he has 3 Big stars and no small Stars. Yes that sentence makes sense, it just sounds clumsy. Hey, I warned you in the Intro. - Stats that max at 3 are troublesome, you need to use both MVPs and EAT items to max them if you want to stay sane. Try to use MVP Bonuses and levels to get him to 3 Big stars asap, feed him an item, then MVP some more. It will take 1 item and 6 stars, which is 3 full MVPs (by full I mean an MVP within the turn limit). Remember that the MVPs you use to reach 3 Stars still count toward this. - If a stat maxes at 2 don't even bother... Fine, just follow the advice for 3 stars. Boost your character to 2 Big stars using MVPs, then use TWO items sequentially. So thats 2 items and 6 stars (3 full MVPs). Alternatively you can use 1 item when you reach 2 Big stars and get 12 stars (6 full MVPs). Since Cruz doesn't have any stats at 6 and Durant only has GEN you won't waste much this way. The only stats that max at 2 are Durant's and Cruz's LUK though. As long as you don't use them to land the killing blow on enemies that carry items, you don't have to worry about it much. - Alternatively, rather than maxing stats, you can raise them high and use equipment items to max them. However no equipment can raise a stat beyond its next big star. So you still have to get 5 stars if you want max stats with equipment. It saves you 2 small stars, which is one full MVP. Although you usually want to choose equipment based on their effects (abilities). - Yggdra has 2 Battlefields she is guaranteed to MVP (you'll know them when you see them) if you don't replay. They're short too, so you can probably reset them a few times and not get frustrated. Milanor is the only permanent character who can get the MVP (the Flunky CAN get it) in Battlefield 1. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== DAMAGE RATING (Thanks Twily) #DAM# ========== The damage ratings are the coloured square that appears near the bottom of the battle screen. There is one each for both participants in the battle, and they appear next to the portrait of their corresponding side. Damage rating is described by a combination of colour and symbols, where : Grey X < Grey A < Blue A < Blue - < Green - < Green O < Yellow O < Yellow * < Red * Where The Colour refers to the colour of the damage rating square X is Cross A is Triangle - is Hyphen O is Circle * is Star Damage rating in Neutral (or the enemy's normal) mode is determined by the checks in the following order: /----------------------------------------------------------------------------\ | | |[Green - ] for absolute neutrality (no bonuses or penalties) | | | |If you have a weapon Disadvantage versus your opponent's weapon, your damage| |rating is set to Blue A. | | | |If you have a weapon Advantage versus your opponent's weapon, your damage | |rating is set to Yellow O. | | | |If you have a Terrain penalty, your damage rating is set to Blue A. | | | |If you have a Terrain or Time bonus, your damage rating is set to Yellow O. | | | |If you have a Unit disadvantage, your damage rating is set to Grey X. | | | |If you have a Unit advantage, your damage rating is set to Red *. | | | |If the Dragon Killer skill is active, your damage rating is set to Red * | | | \----------------------------------------------------------------------------/ /----------------------------------------------------------------------------\ |Moving into Aggressive mode raises your Damage rating by 2 steps. | |Moving into Passive mode lowers your Damage rating by 2 steps. | | | |Being in RAGE raises damage rating by 1 step. | |Being in MAX raises damage rating by 2 steps (from normal mode). | | | |Damage rating can never rise higher than Red * or lower than Grey X however.| | | \----------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Note that the order of the checks is important. For example, if you have a weapon Disadvantage versus an opponent you would expect a Blue A in neutral mode. However if you also have a Noon bonus (and its noon) you would instead have a Yellow O. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== CHARACTER AND ITEM EFFECTS #EFF# ========== Almost all effects are made up of symbols AND words. Since its difficult to make a small ascii representation of some symbols, if you can't find an effect try FINDING (Ctrl+f) the words. This isn't an ideal setup but I'm not a magician so... yeah. I have provided a legend of what my Ascii representations are supposed to represent below. Legend : # = setting(hazy) sun symbol for evening (\ = crescent moon symbol for night * = large red asterisk symbol for noon :) = yellow smiley face symbol for Strong :( = purple sad face symbol for Weak O = a pie chart symbol for Morale [] = a square. A description inside the Brackets describes whats inside the box ingame. List of Effects ----------------------------------------------------- [-] NEUTRAL EFFECTS ----------------------------------------------------- [-]Cntr same damage Character counters with the same damage inflicted on him when charged, even if he might have inflicted more without the effect. [-]Geo 0% The Character's current square is always treated as having 0% GEO. They still receive any non-Geo Square terrain bonus in battle (such as [o]Road :) bonus damage) if applicable. [-]HP control system The Character cannot be damaged in battle. His morale decreases as long as he is in battle. The effect will not reduce his Morale below 1 however. [-]Infinite Aggressive Always aggressive. It consumes the gauge at the same rate as normal aggressive mode. However you'll stay in aggressive mode even when the gauge is at 0%. [-]Move->Fly The Character's Move type is changed to Fly. The Character can move over any Square with no movement penalties. The Character can also step through squares occupied by enemy units. He can pass over but cannot stop on Water squares. However the Character's current square is always treated as having 0% GEO. They still receive any other non-Geo Square terrain bonus in battle (such as [o]Road :) bonus damage) if applicable. [-]Move->Horse The Character's Move type is changed to Horse. Can step through squares occupied by enemies. [-]Move->Warp The Character's Move type is changed to Warp at night. The Character warps past every odd numbered step. This allows him to step past otherwise untraversable squares. He can also step through enemies, even on even-numbered steps. He can neither walk nor warp over Water squares. He can warp over 'non-existant squares' as long as the non-existant square is adjacent to at least 2 existing squares. [-]Recover O Recover 20% of morale when consumed (press right at character select screen). ----------------------------------------------------- [o] POSITIVE EFFECTS ----------------------------------------------------- [o]O UP gradually At the beginning of a Character's side's turn, the character regains 10% of his Max Morale. [o]O UP in water At the beginning of a Character's side's turn, if the character is on a water square, he will regain 15% of his Max Morale [o]O UP slowly At the beginning of a Character's side's turn, the character regains 5% of his Max Morale. [o]O UP when low At the beginning of a Character's side's turn, if the character's morale is below 50% of his Max morale, he will regain 15% of his Max Morale. [o]O damage max If the Character wins a battle, Morale damage is inflicted on the enemy as if all of the unit's members survived (ie, Surviving Units is set to 60%). It has no other effect, though it shows an Equipment Bonus. [o]# :) The Character deals more damage in battle during evening. [o]# mv:O UP Morale increases by 2% of Max for every step a character takes at evening. [o](\ mv:O UP Morale increases by 2% of Max for every step a character takes at night [o](\ :) The Character deals more damage in battle during night. [o]* :) The Character deals more damage in battle during noon. [o]* mv:O UP Morale increases by 2% of Max for every step a character takes at noon. [o]> Archers The Character deals much more damage in battle against units that wield bows. [o]> Dragon The Character deals much more damage in battle against units that ride dragons. [o]> G. Rider The Character deals much more damage in battle against units that ride Griffons. [o]> Golem The Character deals much more damage in battle against Golem units. [o]> Knight The Character deals much more damage in battle against Knight units. [o]> Skeleton The Character deals much more damage in battle against Skeletons. [o][element] attack UP Increases the effectivness of Card skills that use the specified element damage, but enemies that void the element are still immune. It increases the damage of aggressive/rage attacks of the specified element only if the opponent does not already have [x]<[specified element]. [o]1-hit kill % UP The Character has a chance to kill everyone in the opposing unit during a charge, seperate from critical hits. [o]1 on 1 = win If the Unit Head and the Opponent's Head are the only ones standing, the Character wins. [o]1 time-revival When morale reaches 0, revive with 50% of max morale. Zero reset still occurs. [o]A.S. Shield The Character is immune to all Card Skills. If the Character's Morale is reduced to 1 however, he loses this effect and gains [o]S. Shield in its place. [o]All attributes UP UP Increases the damage tremendously of all Card skills and aggression attacks that use elemental damage. Any Card skill the Character uses that does element based damage automatically does Fatal Impact damage, which is equivalent to Overkill (the entire enemy unit is defeated). Card skills even work if the enemy voids the card's element. [o]Always Ace The Character is an ACE with any card, ie. if the Character is the Union leader the current Card's weapon type is treated as ALL. If there are any extra requirements for the card, the Character still needs to meet these to actually use the Card skill. [o]Block catapult The Character is immune to Catapult shot. [o]Block charge The Character blocks all charges. [o]Block counter The Character blocks all counter-attacks. [o]Bridge :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Bridge Objects. While standing on Bridge Objects the Character receives an extra +10% to Geo (20% Geo total). [o]Critical 50% The Character's critical-hit rate is set to 50% [o]Cure ailments If the Character is inflicted with an ailment, it is cured after the current union ends, and the item is lost. [o]Destroy objects When the Character moves (and stops) on an object (town, bridge etc.), the object is destroyed. [o]Drop rate 100% If the Character kills an enemy, any item the enemy may have had is guaranteed to drop. [o]Eat: All UP Raises GEN, ATK, TEC, LUK to their respective next Big Stars when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield) [o]Eat: ATK UP Raises ATK to next Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [o]Eat: GEN UP Raises GEN to next Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [o]Eat: LUK UP Raises LUK to next Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [o]Eat: stat UP Raises a random stat to next Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [o]Eat: TEC UP Raises TEC to next Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [o]Evade panic Removes the panic timer when the character receives a critical hit. [o]Evade criticals The character automatically evades critical hits. This doesn't prevent the Enemy from attempting a critical hit, but it will prevent any damage from the entire charge when they do attempt it. [o]Exp +1 Gives an extra Experience point for every battle the character fights, whether won or lost. [o]Exp +2 Gives an extra 2 Experience points for every battle the character fights, whether won or lost. [o]Exp +3 Gives an extra 3 Experience points for every battle the character fights, whether won or lost. [o]Foe Geo 0% The Character's Opponent's square is treated as having 0% GEO. They still receive any other non-Geo Square terrain bonus in battle (such as [o]Road :) bonus damage) if applicable. [o]Forest :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Forest Squares. While standing on Forest Squares the Character gets a bonus +20% to Geo (40% Geo total).Also the Character always Guards (takes no damage) against Ivy Whip. [o]Fort :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Fort Objects. While standing on Fort Objects the Character receives an extra +10% to Geo (50% Geo total). [o]Gauge = Max The Character's Gauge is maxed at the start of his battles. [o]Gauge = maybe Max The Characters Gauge might be maxed at the start of his battles. [o]Gauge fills Gauge fills automatically at twice the rate of passive mode. It does not affect Gauge increase or decrease during aggressive or passive mode. [o]Gauge fills fast Gauge fills automatically almost instantaneously (at 4 times the rate of passive mode). [o]Geo + 10% The Character's Geo square is given +10% GEO. [o]Geo + 20% The Character's Geo square is given +20% GEO. [o]Geo card anywhere The Character can use Card Skills with a Square terrain requirement (Ivy whip, Mantrap, Rockfall, Sandstorm) anywhere. [o]Geo card in water I believe it SHOULD let the Character use Card Skills with a Square terrain requirement (Ivy whip, Mantrap, Rockfall, Sandstorm) when standing in water. It appears to be bugged though. So it does nothing. If anyone has more info please email me. [o]Hvy counter % UP The Character has a chance to deal Fatal damage during a counter, killing everyone in the opposing unit except the Head, and damaging the Head. [o]Instant Charge B-type card skills can be activated without charge time (the time spent holding B down). [o]Move->Dragon The Character's Move type is changed to dragon. Can step through squares occupied by enemies as well as Water squares (but cannot stop on them). [o]Move->Swim The Character's Move type is changed to Swim. Can step on Water squares. [o]Mv: O UP Morale increases by 2% of Max for every step a character takes. [o]No battle penalty The Character incurs no penalties for fighting multiple battles in the same union (ie, he always begins a battle with the highest possible number of members). [o]No zero reset If the Characters Morale is reduced to zero, he is removed from the field but loses no experience. [o]Power 25% UP Morale damage inflicted by the Character is increased by 25%. It has no effect during battle. [o]Power 50% UP Morale damage inflicted by the Character is increased by 50%. It has no effect during battle. [o]Rate fill=slow When in battle with the Character, the enemy's Rage gauge increases at 50% of its normal speed. [o]React to an item Allows the Character to find specific items on specific Battlefields, depending on the item the effect is on. [o]Road :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Road Squares. While standing on Road Squares the Character gets a bonus +10% to Geo (20% Geo total). [o]S. Shield The Character is immune to all Card skills except for Crusade. [o]Sand :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Sand Squares. While standing on Sand Squares the Character gets a bonus +20% to Geo (0% Geo total).Also the Character always Guards (takes no damage) against Sandstorm. [o]Skill time 2x Doubles the Duration of all A-type Cards for the Character. [o]Town :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Town Objects. While standing on Town Objects the Character receives an extra +10% to Geo (40% Geo total). [o]Void [element] The Character is immune to the listed element. This overides [x]<[element] so a character who has both vulnerability and immunity to an element will in fact be immune to it. [o]Void ailments The Character is immune to all ailments. [o]Void all attr The Character is immune to all elements. [o]Void all but [dark] The Character is immune to all elements except Dark. If the character has [o]Void [dark] he is immune to Dark as well. [o]Void Poison The Character is immune to Poison. [o]Void Stone The Character is immune to Petrify. [o]Wasteland :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Wasteland Squares. While standing on Wasteland Squares the Character gets a bonus +10% to Geo (10% Geo total). Also the Character always Guards (takes no damage) against Rockfall. [o]Water :) The Character deals more damage in battle when standing on Water Squares. While standing on Water Squares the Character gets a bonus +50% to Geo (50% Geo total). [o]Win = drain O If the Character wins a battle, he receives a morale increase equal to 25% of the morale damage inflicted. ----------------------------------------------------- [x] NEGATIVE EFFECTS ----------------------------------------------------- [x]O DW slowly At the beginning of a Character's side's turn, the character loses 5% of his Max Morale. The effect will not reduce his Morale below 1 however. [x]< [element] The Character receives more damage in battle from the specified element, both from cards and aggressive/rage attacks of the specified element. [x]< all units The Character deals much less damage in battle against all units. [x]< Archers The Character deals much less damage in battle against units that wield bows. [x]< Hunters The Character deals much less damage in battle against knight units . [x]< Necro The Character deals much less damage in battle against necromancer units . [x]Can't Counter The Character cannot counter a charge. [x]Can't join Unions The Character cannot be included in unions. [x]Can't remove The item can't be removed (which is true of any item really but... eh). [x]Critical 0% The Character's critical-hit rate is set to 0% [x]Eat: ATK DW Lowers ATK to previous Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [x]Eat: GEN DW Lowers GEN to previous Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [x]Eat: LUK DW Lowers LUK to previous Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [x]Eat: TEC DW Lowers TEC to previous Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield). [x]Foe Critical 50% Opponents' critical-hit rate are set to 50% in battle with this Character. [x]Forest :( The Character deals less damage in battle when standing on Forest Squares. While standing on Forest Squares the Character gets a penalty -40% to Geo (-20% Geo total). Also the Character always takes Fatal Damage against Ivy Whip. [x]Lowers Gauge When the Character is in battle, the gauge is lowered at the same rate as if he were in aggressive mode. It does not affect Gauge increase or decrease during aggressive or passive mode. [x]Move->Slow The Character's Move type is changed to Slow. He may only take one step on any turn. [x]Move cost 2x Every step a Character takes costs an extra movement point. [x]Mv: O UP Morale DECREASES by 2% of Max for every step a character takes. The effect will not reduce his Morale below 1 however. Look at the Category square to differentiate between [o]Mv: O UP. [x]Noon = sleep The Character is inflicted with sleep status at noon. The ailment is automatically removed after noon turns are over. [x]Sand :( The Character deals less damage in battle when standing on Sand Squares. While standing on Sand Squares the Character gets a penalty -20% to Geo (-40% Geo total). Also the Character always takes Fatal Damage against Sandstorm. [x]Skills unusable The Character cannot use Card skills. ----------------------------------------------------- [!] - EXTRAS ----------------------------------------------------- [!]Ex:Cards [!]Ex:Characters [!]Ex:Item List [!]Ex:Sound Mode [!]Ex:War Chr. ----------------------------------------------------- [?] - BLUE APPLE EFFECT ----------------------------------------------------- [?]?????? Lowers LUK to previous Big Star when eaten (To eat, Equip it, then move once during a battlefield) If I missed an effect please let me know in an email. Use my representations if you can and explain what its supposed to look like in words if you can't. If you know what the effect does please describe it, otherwise mention the item it appears on, its location and any conditions you might know of to obtain it and I'll hopefully figure it out (read: ask other people and pretend I figured it out ^_^ ). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== CARDS #CAR# ========== -For ANYONE to be able to use the card skill during a union, the Leader of the union needs to be an ACE (either have the same weapon type as the Card's Ace Type, or have the [o]Always ACE effect). The ALL Ace Type means that every Character is an ACE with the Card. -In addition to the union Leader being an ACE, for any particular character to use a card skill he also has to meet any extra requirements the card might have (listed in "Qualify to use"). Note that if the leader is an Ace, but does not meet the extra requirements, he cannot use the skill. However any characters in his union who do meet the requirements still can. For example, if Cruz is the Leader for a union at night, he cannot use the Bloody Claw skill. However if Elena is included in the union, she will be able to. This is a list of cards with a description of their effects. The list is in the order the cards appear in the card selection screen, left to right, top to bottom. It is possible to miss getting a few cards. I've marked them as MISSABLE! Also, since I provide information on obtaining cards, this section is full of minor spoilers, but only on card locations. -------------------- Doll Craft -------------------- Default Power : 1400 Move : 11 Ace Type : RD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Witch Only. Details : Strength is 1. Card Acquired : (BF 8) Spoils after BF 8. Kills one enemy member (but never the Head), and summons a golem to the map after the current union is over. Since the main use of this card is to summon a golem I'll focus on them. Golems are a large size unit, with a weakness to lightning. Their move type is slow, which means that they can only move one square per turn. As soon as they step on an Object on the map, it is destroyed. Golems, like their exclusive card skill, are a bit dangerous to use. Its very possible to render a Battlefield unwinnable. You can only have one monster on the Battlefield at a time, so it can become very difficult to actually get a golem to be where you want it. You can't get a golem across a bridge, you would have to have the golem destroyed and then re-summon a golem if your cards are renewed. Summoned monsters don't have a union formation, so if you use them as leader in a union, they have to battle alone. Earthquake is a worthwhile (but dangerous) card, but to use it you usually have to either fight multiple battles with only the golem, or use someone equipped with the [o]Always Ace effect as union leader. Actually, fighting multiple battles alone can be convenient, you can win a few battles, lose a few battles, and on that turn or during the enemies counterattack your golem might be destroyed. So you can summon him again when you get the opportunity, with no real loss except possibly some pride. Which comes to the next point, cannon fodder. Summon units make great sacrificial units. You can use them to distract or block the enemy for a turn, or place them in a union matched against an enemy your other characters can't beat. They are also immune to the Stone ailment. -------------------- Necro Gate -------------------- Default Power : 1400 Move : 11 Ace Type : RD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Necromancer only, Can only use at night. Details : Strength is 1. Card Acquired : (BF 9) Spoils after BF 9. Kills one enemy member (but never the Head), and summons a skeleton to the map after the current union is over. Since the main use of the card is to summon a skeleton, I'll focus on that. Skeletons are a small size unit, with a weakness to light. Skeletons can only be summoned during night, and are inflicted with Sleep during noon (they are awakened automatically after noon). While asleep, they cannot be moved, they do not fight back in battle, and they cannot be used in a union started by your characters. They can be drawn into unions started by your opponents though. Skeletons do much better during all night missions than in missions where time progresses. Summoned monsters don't have a union formation, so if you use them as leader in a union, they have to battle alone. When using the skeleton's exclusive card skill, Poison Breath, a kamikaze approach is usually a good idea. Try and start a union with the skeleton against as many tough units as you can, and Poison them. Your aim isn't really to win, just spread the poison. Summon units make great sacrificial units as well. You can use them to distract or block the enemy for a turn, or place them in a union matched against an enemy your other characters can't beat. They are also immune to the Stone ailment. -------------------- Medusa Eye -------------------- Default Power : 2550 Move : 9 Ace Type : BW Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Hits if Your TEC is Greater or Equal to Enemy's GEN Card Acquired : (BF 32) Spoils from BF 32 Turns the entire enemy unit to Stone. It doesn't work on boss characters, whether or not they void ailments. A stoned character is basically useless (hey, stop laughing) as they can't take part in battles. You can step passed them, but you can't stop on their square. You can also 'destroy' them with Golems. Its a useful card skill against 'normal' enemy units. However you do no morale damage, so their card Power points go to waste. It also blocks you from using some squares for a bit of time of course. -------------------- Poison Breath -------------------- Default Power : 1650 Move : 10 Ace Type : LM Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Skeleton only Details : Hits if Your TEC is Greater or Equal to Enemy's GEN Card Acquired : (BF 10, BF 11A) Received if you defeat Roswell on BF10, or as Spoils after he joins you. You can't miss it. The enemy unit is inflicted with the Poison ailment. He loses 10% of his Current Morale at the beginning of his side's turn, and members are killed quicker during battle. A useful card to use against a tough boss character, however it requires some patience and planning unless you use it during an all-night battlefield. To use it, first you will have to wait for a night turn to summon a skeleton, keep the skeleton alive for the enemy's turn, then keep the skeleton alive during the entire noon turn, and then you get the chance to use Poison breath. Somewhat of a hassle, but the ailment is very debilitating, because of its affect in battle more than because of morale reduction. Poisoned enemies mean shorter battles (if you win at least), which can be very helpful when trying to avoid the activation of enemy card skills. -------------------- Gravity Chaos -------------------- Default Power : 2150 Move : 9 Ace Type : AX Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). (for Curse Ailment) Hits if Your TEC is Greater or Equal to Enemy's GEN. Card Acquired : (BF 16) Spoils from BF 16 When used, the Enemy unit receives Dark damage (read about Flame for an explanation of elemental Damage cards), and is inflicted with curse status (can only move one square per turn, and deals damage at a much slower rate). One of the most useful card skills in the game. If you are having trouble with particularly tough units, and they don't void ailments, use this card. Necromancers and Assassins void dark, and Assassins especially appear often enough. Valkyries are weak to it. There are also many [o][Dark]attack UP items to find. Anyway, even without the damage Gravity Chaos would be a great card just for the curse. -------------------- Item Break -------------------- Default Power : 1750 Move : 8 Ace Type : SD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Fencer only Details : Hits if Your TEC is Greater or Equal to Enemy's GEN Card Acquired : (BF 8) Spoils from BF 8 If the enemy has an item, it is destroyed. Being a pack rat I can't really recommend this. But if you've already used up your Steal card and an enemy still has an item equip that makes him difficult to just straight out kill, it can be useful. But even then I'd recommending using another card that will help overcome the item, and hopefully you can get his item to drop when you kill him (kill them with a character with equal or higher LUK). -------------------- Steal -------------------- Default Power : 1000 Move : 12 Ace Type : AX Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Milanor Only Details : Hits if Your TEC is Greater or Equal to Enemy's GEN Card Acquired : (Start with it) If an enemy has an item, you steal it. A card you should bring to every Battlefield. I'm at odds about whether to say its awesome because you get a new item, or because you deprive an enemy of their's. Don't forget the 12 move either. If you are fighting a tough enemy, steal their item first (or maybe second after using Gravity Chaos on them). If there are multiple enemies with items you have several choices. Either you can put Milanor alone in a union that includes all the item carrying enemies, which is actually your only option if several enemies have protect status (sometimes you can also create a union with 2 or three characters, but make sure that the Head can be ACE and that Milanor faces all the enemies that you wish to steal from). Or you can steal from one enemy (either the hardest or the one with the most LUK), and force the others to drop their item (kill them with a character with equal or higher LUK). -------------------- Bloody Claw -------------------- Default Power : 1700 Move : 9 Ace Type : BW Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Can only use at Night. Can only be used by Assassins. Details : Hits if Your TEC is Greater or Equal to Enemy's GEN Card Acquired : (BF 6) Spoils from BF 6. When used, it kills the enemy Head. Which means not only are you taking of a considerable portion of the unit's total health, but you are completely disabling their rage gauge, so no damage bonus, no card skills, and no elemental damage (which might be a bad thing). It doesn't actually stop the Rage gauge from charging though so it will be carried to the next battle in the union. Still, paired with the Assassin's ability to not be countered, this is one of those cards that can regularly win you every battle during 1 on 5 unions, provided the last 2 battles are easy match-ups, and that you can take an activation or two of the enemy card skill. -------------------- Chariot -------------------- Default Power : 1800 Move : 9 Ace Type : SP Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Knight Only Details : Strength depends on your members lost and enemy members left. Card Acquired : (BF 9) Spoils from BF 9. Reduces the enemy to the same number of members as you. Very useful, since it doesn't matter whether the enemy is large or small. So you mostly want to use it against small units. If you can activate this card quick enough in a battle, it will give your knights a winning edge over even Axe-wielders. Its useless against large units though, unless you start the battle with a battle penalty. -------------------- Shield Barrier -------------------- Default Power : 1500 Move : 6 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : A Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Duration of Effect is short Card Acquired : (BF 4) Spoils from BF 4 While active, you will take no damage. Its a good card, but its not a great card, since the duration is short. Like all A-type cards, you can let go of the A button at any time while its active, and retain whatever portion of the gauge you haven't used. This coupled with its effect makes Shield Barrier the perfect card to counter other cards. If the enemy has an A-type card (Banshee's Cry, Shield Barrier, etc.) then wait for them to activate it, and while their skill timer is on, tap the A button. You'll activate Shield Barrier (you can use any A-type card really), cancelling whatever skill they are using, while retaining your 100% gauge for the next battle or for aggression. Best of all their rage is still reset ^_^. If they have a B-type card that directly affects you (Flame, Revolution, Gravity Chaos, etc.), then you need to activate Shield Barrier before they use their card, and keep it activated until they do. Then both your and the enemy's skills are cancelled. You keep whatever gauge you have left, but their rage is reset. It won't work with any of the enemy-exclusive cards though. -------------------- Flame -------------------- Default Power : 1250 Move : 7 Ace Type : RD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (BF 3) Spoils from BF 3 Deals Fire(Red) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone (for large units, take the number and divide by 2. You can reduce a large member's health by half). If the enemy voids Fire damage, then they Guard the attack (no damage at all is inflicted). Otherwise, if the enemy has [x]<[Fire], OR if you have [o][Fire] attack UP, then you inflict "Fatal Damage !"(inflicts some damage on the Head and kills all his members if he has any, if he is alone it kills him). If the enemy has [x]<[Fire], AND if you have [o][Fire] attack UP, then you inflict "Overkill !"(kill any enemy members and the Head). The usefulness of this card depends on the equipped elemental effects of your Characters and the elemental effects of enemies you face in a BF. Undines have a weakness to fire. Unfortunately, you'll face most of them before you actually have a RD user. Witches and Imperial knights void fire too. There are a fair number of [o][Fire] attack UP items though. -------------------- Blizzard -------------------- Default Power : 1350 Move : 7 Ace Type : SP Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Anyone, if used by an Undine turns all water squares on the Map to Ice Squares until Noon. Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (BF 5) Spoils from BF 5. Deals Ice(Blue) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone (for large units, take the number and divide by 2. You can reduce a large member's health by half). If the enemy voids Ice damage, then they Guard the attack (no damage at all is inflicted). Otherwise, if the enemy has [x]<[Ice], OR if you have [o][Ice] attack UP, then you inflict "Fatal Damage !"(inflicts some damage on the Head and kills all his members if he has any, if he is alone it kills him). If the enemy has [x]<[Ice], AND if you have [o][Ice] attack UP, then you inflict "Overkill !"(kill any enemy members and the Head). The usefulness of this card depends on the equipped elemental effects of your Characters and the elemental effects of enemies you face in a BF. Undines void ice, but you won't face that many after the early game. Imperial knights and griffons have inherent weakness to ice. You will battle a fair number both of them and they are some of the tougher enemies. There aren't many [o][Ice] attack UP items in the game, but Blizzard is still probably the most generally useful of the elemental damage cards. -------------------- Thunderbolt -------------------- Default Power : 1550 Move : 7 Ace Type : BW Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (BF 7, BF 8, BF 9, BF 12, BF 23.5) Force Mizer to retreat (lower his morale) or kill him, and you'll receive it as Spoils. Deals Thunder(Yellow) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone (for large units, take the number and divide by 2. You can reduce a large member's health by half). If the enemy voids Thunder damage, then they Guard the attack (no damage at all is inflicted). Otherwise, if the enemy has [x]<[Thunder], OR if you have [o][Thunder] attack UP, then you inflict "Fatal Damage !"(inflicts some damage on the Head and kills all his members if he has any, if he is alone it kills him). If the enemy has [x]<[Thunder], AND if you have [o][Thunder] attack UP, then you inflict "Overkill !"(kill any enemy members and the Head). The usefulness of this card depends on the equipped elemental effects of your Characters and the elemental effects of enemies you face in a BF. Golems are the only units with inherent weakness to Thunder, while Fencers are a fairly common enemy with a resistance to it. -------------------- Banish -------------------- Default Power : 1150 Move : 7 Ace Type : SD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN).. Card Acquired : (BF 1) Yggdra brings it with her. Deals Light(Green) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit, but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone. For large units, take the number and divide by 2. You can reduce a large member's health by half. If the enemy voids Light damage, then they Guard the attack (no damage at all is inflicted). Otherwise, if the enemy has [x]<[Light], OR if you have [o][Light] attack UP, then you inflict "Fatal Damage !"(inflicts some damage on the Head and kills all his members if he has any, if he is alone it kills him). if the enemy has [x]<[Light], AND if you have [o][Light] attack UP, then you inflict "Overkill !"(kill any enemy members and the Head). The usefulness of this card depends on the equipped elemental effects of your Characters and the elemental effects of enemies you face in a BF. Unfortunately you will face alot of valkyries, who void Light, and not as many necromancers, with a weakness to Light. There aren't many items with [o][Light]attack UP either. -------------------- Dragon Killer (MISSABLE!) -------------------- Default Power : 2800 Move : 8 Ace Type : AX Skill Type : A Qualify to use : Can only use when fighting dragon riders. Details : Duration of Effect is normal. Card Acquired : (BF 26) You need Roswell, or Rosary with the warp shoes equipped. At the north end of BF 26, there is an isolated square that can only be reached by warping. If you step on this square you receive the card. If you are using Rosary, you need to get the warp shoes by obtaining Mizer's equipped item (through steal or drop) on BF 7, BF 8, BF 9 AND BF 12. You automatically receive a red * for your damage rating (the maximum). It has no direct effect on the enemy in battle though. Also, if you win the battle with the skill still in effect, you receive an 80% Dragon-slay Bonus to morale damage inflicted. It only has one use, to kill dragons, but it is really good at it ^_^. Because of the Dragon-slay Bonus you don't have to worry too much about keeping the card powered up though. You really only need to bring it to the Battlefields with dragons. -------------------- Earthquake -------------------- Default Power : 1650 Move : 10 Ace Type : LM Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Golem Only Details : Strength of the card is 1/2 of remaining enemy members, rounded up. Destroys all objects within 2 squares of the user. Card Acquired : (BF 10, BF 11b) Received if you defeat Rosary (BF 10), or as Spoils after she joins you. You can't miss it. Kills half of the remaining members of your opponent's unit (rounds up), but will not kill or damage the Head. It is a nice enough skill, unfortunately only Golems can use it. Which means you have to summon them, and you have to get them into the union afterwards. Oh, and you have to kill the rest of the unit with a Golem. You also destroy any Objects on the map within 2 squares of the Golem, which runs the risk of making a Battlefield unwinnable, and places a further limitation on when you can use the Card (the "doesn't mess up your chances of winning" qualification). Yeah, I'm not a big fan. -------------------- Mind Change -------------------- Default Power : 1300 Move : 6 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : The enemy must be the same size and gender as the User. Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (Start with it) When activated, it removes 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] non-Head members from the enemy (divided by 2 and rounded down for large units), and increases your members by the same number that the enemy lost. It is capable of raising your members up to 6, even if you started the battle with a penalty. Nice card, but it requires good character positioning in unions to make full use off, as you need to match similar units to similar units. -------------------- Revolution -------------------- Default Power : 1300 Move : 10 Ace Type : SD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Yggdra only, when only unit Head is alive. Details : Infinite damage to all members of a unit but the Head. Card Acquired : (BF 1) Spoils from BF 1 When activated, inflicts "Fatal Damage !" (inflicts some damage on the Head and kills all of his members if he has any, if he is alone it damages him but never kills him). Note that unlike all other Fatal Damage ! capable skills, Revolution will only damage the Head, but never kill him. A great card that can turn battles that usually could go either way, or that Yggdra loses by a small margin when she has a full unit. It makes the battle penalty irrelevant for Yggdra, except in the last two battles if she starts a 1 on 5 union. Just remember the damage to the Head isn't enough to get you a win against most Large units. Don't expect a win against knights in particular. -------------------- Crusade -------------------- Default Power : 3300 Move : 12 Ace Type : SD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Yggdra only, when only unit Head is alive. Details : Infinite Strength Card Acquired : (BF 34) Given to you during BF 34 The entire enemy unit is defeated, and you receive a 50% Crusade Bonus to morale damage inflicted. Amazing card really. As long as you can get a full gauge and charge up before you die you are guaranteed a win. There's really not much else to say here. Well... If ever there was a card meant for 1 on 5 unions, this is it. The battle penalty can actually work in your favour since you get to use Crusade sooner and lessen the time the enemy has to activate a potentially devastating card skill. However the 4th and 5th battle in the union can be risky since you might not have a chance to max your gauge. -------------------- Sanctuary -------------------- Default Power : 1100 Move : 8 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Can only use at Noon. Details : Strength is determined by Your TEC Card Acquired : Yggdra brings it with her (BF 1). When activated, you resurrect as many members as your TEC (divided by 2 and rounded down for large units). It will never raise your members above the number you started the battle with, however. Sanctuary is a very useful, albeit restricted, card that can be used effectively in several ways. If a character can handle the battle, you can still use the skill near the end of the battle to boost the Surviving Units percentage for Morale Damge. It won't win any difficult match-ups for you until your character has a decent TEC stat though. If your character has a TEC stat of 4 or more, you can activate the skill, recharge the gauge in passive mode, and repeat ad nauseum. You'll find you'll be able to beat most any enemy this way, provided they don't have a strong bonus (the [o]> effects) against your character. Sanctuary works best in large unions. -------------------- Refreshment -------------------- Default Power : 1050 Move : 3 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Can only use at noon Details : Always succeeds. Card Acquired : (Start with it) Removes any ailments that your unit might be afflicted with. This card is a joke really. The developers are laughing at you everytime you highlight it. And I mean milk shooting out of their nose kind of laughing. The 3 move and noon restriction doesn't help its cause much either. It can't heal the stone ailment, because your character can't enter a battle to use it once he's stoned... uh petrified. There is only one good, specific use for the skill, to counter against Gravity chaos. Actually since your Refreshment card's Power will very likely be low, you probably can't kill the enemies that use Gravity Chaos easily while using it. Which means you risk getting hit by Gravity Chaos again on the next turn anyway. My best advice would be to use a REAL card to kill all ailment inflicting enemies, and then use Refreshment on the next noon turn after that. And hope you are able to get the characters you need to in a union. Also, remember you can guard against all ailments if you GEN is higher than the enemies TEC. Did I mention this card sucks ? -------------------- Kiss of Death (MISSABLE!) -------------------- Default Power : 2950 Move : 6 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Can only use at Night. Details : Duration of Effect is 7.77 seconds. Card Acquired : (BF 27) Check the Town that only appears at night during the third part of BF 27. For 7.77 seconds, you gain an amount of Big stars in ATK, and the enemy loses an amount, based on your character's REP. You gain an extra Big Star in ATK for every even number in REP (ie, at 0 or 1 REP you gain +1 Big Star, at 2 or 3 you gain +2 Big Stars, etc.) while the enemy loses another Big Star for every odd number in REP (ie, at 0 REP he loses no Big stars, at 1 or 2 REP he loses 1 Big star, etc.). Also, the enemy cannot activate any card skills. However, if the battle is not over in 7.77 seconds, your Head dies, and the ATK stars are reset. Also, no matter what happens after the card is activated, once the battle (battle, not union) is over you lose all your REP points. If you won the battle though you will then gain 1 REP point. You really want to time this skill well, since even winning the battle without the Head means you lose the Head-Alive Bonus (40%) to the Morale damage you inflict (you also should keep in mind that you'll expend all of this character's current REP). If you're the cautious type, you might consider it too risky to use, however there are a few somewhat useful, risk free ways to use it without losing the head. Firstly, if the battle ends with the card still in effect, the increased/decreased ATK stats are used to determine Morale damage. So if you use the card near the end of a battle you can raise the Ability Difference if you won, or reduce the Ability Difference if you lost. Mostly this is useful for easy enemies that just need that extra nudge to kill in one battle, or enemies with high Gen and Geo. Secondly, if you can manage to reactivate the skill before the 7.77 seconds are up, you can reset the timer. This is possible if your character has the [o]Gauge fills or [o]Gauge fills fast effect. You also get to see a completely harmless graphical glitch ^_^. Thirdly, activate this skill when you are about to be hit by a powerful card that will end you, and you earn yourself 7.77 extra seconds to win the battle. -------------------- Fortune (MISSABLE!) -------------------- Default Power : 2600 Move : 6 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : A Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Duration of Effect is long. Card Acquired : (BF 23, BF 24) Defeat Pamela on BF 23 or BF 24 While active, LUK is used to determine combat ability instead of ATK. You want to use this when the difference between your and the enemies LUK is greater than the difference between your ATK. A very useful card since this happens often. If you win the battle while the effect is still active, the LUK stat is used in place of ATK to determine Ability Difference. Since Fortune has no effect on GEN, if your ATK is higher than your LUK, let go of the A button when you're close to winning. If the enemy is going to win, let go of A if the enemy has less ATK than LUK. -------------------- Mirage -------------------- Default Power : 1350 Move : 4 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : A Qualify to use : Can only use at Noon. Details : Duration of Effect is normal Card Acquired : (Start with it) You and the enemy switch Geo terrain. You gain whatever terrain bonuses you might be entitled to on the switched terrain, and if the battle ends with the skill still activated the switched Geo's are used for Geo Defense. The skill has its moments, but I can't really recommend using this card constantly. It has a restriction on use, and even when you do meet the requirement, it probably will not be helpful in every battle of a union, and even harmful (if used) in some. Its useful sometimes, but there are more reliable cards to waste card Power points on. -------------------- Banshee's Cry -------------------- Default Power : 1050 Move : 8 Ace Type : SD Skill Type : A Qualify to use : Anyone Details : Duration of Effect is normal Card Acquired : (BF 2) Spoils from BF 2. For as long as the skill is active, the enemy's ATK is set to 1 Star. So basically they'll attack and defend badly. A very useful effect that actually gets more useful as you get further into the game, and with a decent duration to boot. If the effect is still active when you lose a battle, then the 1 ATK star is used in Ability Difference. So you can save yourself from some, possibly all, morale loss this way. -------------------- Ivy Whip (MISSABLE!) -------------------- Default Power : 2300 Move : 5 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Enemy is on a Forest Square. Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (BF 22, BF 23, BF 24) Given to you if you recruit Russel. Otherwise you will have to find and defeat all imperial units in BF 23 (and not recruit Cruz) or BF 24. Deals physical (non-elemental) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit, but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone (for large units, take the number and divide by 2. You can reduce a large member's health by half). If the enemy is strong in Forest (has the [o]Forest :) effect), then they Guard the attack (no damage at all is inflicted). If the enemy is weak in Forest (has the [x]Forest :( effect) then you inflict "Fatal Damage !"(kill any enemy members and the Head). Unfortunately there is a very short space of time when you can make good use Ivy Whip, and you might not see much battle during this time either. If you equip a [o]Geo card anywhere effect, the skill can be very good against the plentiful normal Knight unit though. Whether you feel you need much help against the normal Knight unit is another matter. -------------------- Sandstorm -------------------- Default Power : 2500 Move : 5 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Enemy is on a Sand (Desert) square. Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (BF 28) Given to you after BF 28 Deals physical (non-elemental) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit, but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone (for large units, take the number and divide by 2. You can reduce a large member's health by half). If the enemy is strong in Sand (has the [o] Sand :) effect), then they Guard the attack (no damage at all is inflicted). If the enemy is weak in Sand (has the [x]Sand :( effect) then you inflict "Fatal Damage !" (kill any enemy members and the Head). Not too bad of a GEO requirement card. No enemies are inherently strong on sand. Undines are weak on sand, but unfortunately you won't see many after gaining this card, and none actually on sand. -------------------- Mantrap -------------------- Default Power : 3200 Move : 5 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Enemy is on a Swamp (Poison Marsh) square Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (BF 39) Given to you after BF 39. Deals physical (non-elemental) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit, but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone. Only usable for one solitary BF, unless you equip a [o]Geo card anywhere effect. No one is strong (or weak) against it. -------------------- Rockfall -------------------- Default Power : 1100 Move : 5 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Enemy is on a Wasteland square Details : Strength is determined by (Your TEC - Enemy's GEN). Card Acquired : (Start with it) Deals physical (non-elemental) damage to the enemy unit. It kills : 1 + [Your TEC] - [Enemy GEN] members of the enemy unit, but does no damage to the Head, even if he is alone (for large units, take the number and divide by 2. You can reduce a large member's health by half). If the enemy is strong in Wasteland (has the [o]Wasteland :) effect), then they Guard the attack (no damage at all is inflicted). Of all the cards with a Geo requirement (Ivy Whip, Mantrap, Rockfall and Sandstorm) this is probably the most reliable. Wasteland Squares can be found on BF's throughout the game. Unfortunately no-one has a weakness to Rockfall, and Imperial knights are strong against it. -------------------- Ace Guard -------------------- Default Power : 1600 Move : 4 Ace Type : ALL Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Only the Union Leader can activate it. Details : Always succeeds. Card Acquired : (BF 3) Given to you by Durant. Ace Guard blocks all enemy charges and counterattacks for the rest of the battles in the union. A powerful effect, but a very lousy move score. Optimally you would choose this card over others when you know your union leader can handle his first battle, since it will provide absolutely no benefit to him in it. The effect is good enough to risk losing the first battle though. =============================================== ENEMY-EXCLUSIVE CARDS =============================================== These are the cards that the player never gets to use. Which of course means they are all awesome. Since I mention who can use them, consider this a spoilers section (but just names though). ********************************Spoilers************************************** -------------------- Genocide -------------------- Move : 10 Ace Type : SY Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Gulcasa Only. Details : Strength determined by number of members alive. Gulcasa's card. When activated, all remaining members are killed, and the Head's fighting ability is boosted. The boost is dependant on how many members are standing when the skill activates. The skill then breaks the player's gauge. Which means that the player is forced into neutral mode, and is unable to use card skills until the battle ends. If Gulcasa wins, he receives a Genocide Bonus (80%) to morale damage inflicted. This card is not an instant win. Provided the player's unit has enough members remaining and has killed enough of Gulcasa's members once Genocide activates, he can defeat Gulcasa before Gulcasa defeats him. Remember that you can delay the activation of Genocide with the Kiss of Death card, and totally prevent it with Bloody claw. -------------------- Reincarnation -------------------- Default Power : 2100, 8200 Move : 2 Ace Type : BK Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Nessiah Only. Details : Always Succeeds Nessiah's card. When he activates it, it brings any members he has lost back to the battle, and changes the entire unit's class to a class that counters his opponent's (thats you) weapon. If his opponent (you again) is a bow wielder however, Nessiah's unit becomes a hunter class. A really great card, it automatically increases Nessiah's damage rating while lowering his opponent's, unless its a bow wielder. And the Power is just scary. Delay its activation with Kiss of Death, prevent with Bloody claw. Use bow wielders with good card skill support. -------------------- Angelic Thunder -------------------- Default Power : 666 Move : 1 Ace Type : RD Skill Type : B Qualify to use : Marietta Only, Morale is greater than 1 Details : Infinite strength to all enemy members. Marietta's card. Instant win once it is activated. Thankfully there's no Morale Damage Bonus like for Crusade, and the card itself has a low Power rating. Also, Marietta cannot use it once her Morale is suitably reduced. Actually all things considered that doesn't help the player much ^_^. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== BEATING THE FINAL BOSS #BOS# ========== *************SPOILERS Page down 3 times to skip****************************** Right, Marietta. She's a real... pain. If you don't like reading much, just skip down to 'Steps'. So what are you up against ? Well, first the bad news. Little miss "I'll Angelic Thunder you to next tuesday" is pretty much invulnerable to everything. This includes ailments, most card skills, the 1 on 1 = win effect, and normal battle attacks (well attacks DO have an effect, but you won't win any battles with them). Her own personal card skill, Angelic Thunder, is an auto-win. And to top it off, she starts with a total morale of approximately 20,000. Now the good news. This is your last chance to stop me robbing you of the satisfaction of figuring this all out yourself by the way. She doesn't regen morale. She is invulnerable to the effects of cards, but she doesn't actually stop the card from activating. So you can use card effects that only affect your unit. Oh, and she is not invulnerable to A-type cards. Considering the battlefield and the opponent, this effectively means the only cards that are usable are Shield Barrier, Kiss of Death, Banshee's Cry, Mirage, Ace Guard and Fortune. Mind you, none of these cards will ever actually help you win a battle against Marietta ^_^. There is one other card that will work under specific circumstances, Crusade. Yep, Yggdra can lay the beatdown on her, but only if Marietta is down to exactly 1 Morale -_-. Also, if Marietta is down to 1 Morale, she can't use Angelic Thunder! So how do you bring her Morale down if you can't even win a battle ? Let her beat you up. Everytime you battle her, you are bringing down her morale (it won't show till you bring her below 10000 morale though). You might be thinking that maybe Angelic Thunder costs her morale, but it doesn't. She just isn't allowed to use it once her morale is sufficiently low. So you don't HAVE to last long enough for her to use it. However battling alone will never bring her Morale below 1, so you have to actually win the last battle. So yeah, be her punching bag for a few turns, then whip out crusade. And don't try to be smart, she's still immune to other cards, Bloody Claw included. Steps : - Maximize morale for every character you bring into the final BF. - Choose any 15 cards you feel like, and Crusade. Make sure you remember not to use the Crusade card for any turn but the last. - Puff up your chest, look threatening, walk your characters up next to Marietta, keep attacking her every turn with five character unions (yes, you'll lose). Check Marietta's morale every once in a while. - When Marietta's Morale shows up as an actual number, do the Dance of Joy, you're more than halfway there. Keep attacking her. - When Marietta's Morale drops down to 1, do another DoJ, pull out Crusader and cackle gleefully while Marietta bites the big one. ******************************END OF SPOILERS********************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== FAQ #FAQ# ========== Frequently asked questions (that I've seen on some boards and know the answer to, no one will actually ask me questions directly because I confuse them. And I made a couple of them up). 1. How do I unequip items ? You don't. They deteriote after a set number of battefields are complete (Listed as # Map next to the item name). 2. Are the Stat gains from Equipment items permanent ? Only if the item is Edible. It will have the word EDIBLE next to the item effect, and the effect itself will begin with Eat. Note you still have to EQUIP an edible item, not use it in the Morale screen. If an equip item isn't edible, then the Stat changes last for as long as the item is equipped. 3. Should I side with Rosary or with Roswell ? Rosary ! She's female. Ok seriously, they're both good, and its not exactly a game breaking decision. Roswell does however have the ability to warp at night, which is the only way to get some items, but warping can also be a pain if you don't prepare for it. Also, both characters have a card that only they can use (Doll craft for Rosary, Necro Gate for Roswell), which creates units that only they can summon. 4. Help... morale..dropping... don't wanna... waste item..*gasp* Medallions are only there to raise Morale. If you just don't like the idea of your characters consuming your items instead of using them, there are a few items that raise your morale or let you drain enemy morale when you equip them. If you're worried about keeping items for exchanging, I can't swear by it but I'm pretty sure that items that enemies drop (or that you steal) are never needed for trades. 5. How come I can't use these Skills my cards have ? AKA I can't steal anything! Get further into the game (Battlefield 7 to be exact). 6. New game+ ? No. 7. Aarrg, Yggdra sucks. She died to this (insert guy wielding lance here)! Axe>Spear>Sword>Axe -_-. For a full list look at Weapon Types in the Main Menu. 8. Oh no I'm underleveled. I'm getting owned. Help meeee. Die. No, seriously. Use up all your cards and lose the Battlefield. You keep any gained Xp and Card Bonus points when you lose. Try to get as much Card points as you can before you die though because when you restart the level enemies give less Card bonuses than before (even the ones you never touched). It is halved everytime you die. Also everytime you lose a battlefield the enemies get weaker (they lose stats, not levels). By the way, when you lose a Battlefield your character's equipment and inventory gets reset to what it was before the Battlefield began. So you can equip a character with an exp+ item, reap in the the extra exp, then lose and have it back in your inventory ^_^. 9. Are there any bad side-effects to replaying/retrying a Battlefield ? Yes. If you retry a Battlefield you give up the MVP stats for that Battlefield. Also, there are a few items in the late game than are only obtainable if you never replay a Battlefield. 10. How does this gauge recharge work ? If you fight passively ( hold <- ) your attacks are weaker but your gauge charges up. If you fight aggressively ( hold ->) your gauge decreases but you fight harder. Also, if you fight aggressively your attacks carry your unit's element (if any). If you lose a battle, the next battle in the union will start you off with a considerable boost to your gauge. If you win a battle, you move on to the next battle in the union with a bonus to your current gauge based on your surviving units and your stats. You can't use a card skill unless you have a full gauge. 11. My gauge is empty ! Should I fight neutral, or switch between passive and aggressive ? If you don't wanna use your card skill, or save up gauge for the next battle, go neutral. Its more effective than spending equal time being passive and then aggressive. Unless the unit you are fighting is vulnerable to your unit's element. Then do the switchy thing (A unit's attack's will be elemental only in aggressive mode). 12. Elements ? So which elements are weak to which ? Your Character's attack with their element (if they have one) when you are in aggressive mode. Opponents attack with their element only while they RAGE, and stop once they reach MAX. A unit's elemental weakness is NOT determined by their element. Vulnerability to an element is a seperate effect that you can look up in their status screen, shown as "[x]<[element color]". So if a unit's element is fire, it may or may not be weak to ice. Most units (but not all) do void their own element, and its still listed as an effect in the status screen, shown as "[o]Void[element]". If a Character can attack with an element, a small box appears below his damage rating (with the same colour as his element) when he RAGEs/enters aggressive mode. 13. How does rage work ? Enemy units have three rage modes, normal, RAGE, and MAX, determined by the charge on their rage gauge. Normal mode is well, normal. Once they enter rage mode, they deal more damage, and all their attacks carry their element. Once they hit Max, they are capable of (and always will if they meet all other requirements) using their card skill. They also deal even more damage, but stop attacking with their element. Once they use their card skill the Rage gauge is reset. If you win a battle against the enemy, then their gauge is carried on to the next battle in the union. If they win a battle, it is lowered by one level. HIGH units, however, always start with a RAGE level. 14. Help ! This tough enemy is beating me senseless ! If an enemy is giving you trouble, use Gravity Chaos on him if he doesn't void ailments. Poison Breath can be very useful too if you can afford to use a turn summoning a skeleton. Steal his equipment from him, or use Item Break if you don't care about obtaining it. Kill all his nearby backup so you can face him 5 on 1 (war isn't fair), but save your best cards for when his alone if he is particularly tough. Keep in mind that enemies have no choice about whether to attack with their element, so if you have a character that voids their element, use him. Particularly good cards to use include Ace Guard, Fortune, Poison breath and damage cards with some advantage over the enemy. Or if you feel their card is particularly dangerous, then you can stop the enemy from activating it with Bloody claw, delay its activation with Kiss of Death, or cancel it with Shield Barrier (but it doesn't work on all cards). Don't forget you can see a character's equipment and various attributes if you highlight him, hold B and press select. 15. I heard that characters can change their class. How ? ************Spoilers**************** Only Durant and Yggdra can change their class. Yggdra's class change is forced by the story, you can't miss it, so don't worry about it. Durant can change his class by equipping the Stray Dragon item. Once the item deteriorates (after 3 battlefields) he reverts to his original class. You can find the Stray Dragon in the top left corner of BF 43-1. ***********End of Spoilers********** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== THANKS ========== - Yggdra for providing the MVP turn limits and a few corrections. - Darkharvester for Rosary's final stats. - Bloodslayerex, Daflyye for various item effects. - Twily for pointing out that small stars affect Max Morale, and discussing Damage Rating. - Jedimindtryx, Kairiy, Kelifrag, Drsturm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========== OUTRO ========== Ok thats it. What, you want a long goodbye ? If there are any wrong facts or if you feel like making some contribution to the faq please email me. Have YGGDRA UNION FAQ as the subject. If you have contrasting advice I'd like to hear it. I usually can only check my mail on weekends so allow some time for replies. Keep flames to a minimum if at all possible. And keep my mother out of it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------