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```````````````````BREATH OF FIRE V: DRAGON QUARTER````````````````````
```````````````````````````D-Counter Guide`````````````````````````````
```````````````````````Version 4.0 by DavidK519````````````````````````
```````````````````````E-mail- DKK5@comcast.net````````````````````````
```````````````````````Updated November 3, 2004````````````````````````
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=================
Table of Contents
=================
_________________________________________
/                                         \
|    1. Version History                   |
|    2. Introduction                      |
|    3. How the D-Counter Increases       |
|    4. The D-Counter Guide               |
|         A. The Summary                  |
|         B. The Guide                    |
|    5. When Your D-Counter Gets Too High |
|    6. Acknowledgments and Closing       |
\_________________________________________/
To quickly find the section you're looking for, hit Ctrl+F and type in
the name of the section from the Table of Contents above.
=======================================================================
1. VERSION HISTORY
=======================================================================
(11/3/04) Updated to Version 4.0- Possibly the final update. Once again,
I did some reformatting. The mini-walkthrough is layed out much neater,
and I also re-vamped the guide to contain no spoilers. That's about it.
The only other thing I would really like to add are D-Breath formulas
but I can't determine them. If anyone has any valid information about
how the damage is calculated, I would greatly appreciate your input.
(11/21/03) Updated to Version 3.3- I made some slight alterations in
the format, as well as change my e-mail address over to my Comcast mail
box.
(10/3/03) Updated to Version 3.2- No big update here. I just fixed an
error in the Table of Contents.
(9/29/03) Updated to Version 3.1- A very small but interesting update.
I added some general formulas for calculating the D-Counter usage of
D-Dash. I also added some other, very minor things.
(8/16/03) Updated to Version 3.0- Made some major changes in the
formatting, mainly the header and the dividers.
(8/3/03) Updated to Version 2.0- Did an error check, hopefully fixing
any and all spelling and grammer mistakes. Made some slight alterations
in the formatting.
=======================================================================
2. INTRODUCTION
=======================================================================
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter, like all the Breath of Fire games
before it, features its own unique dragon system. After a certain
event early in the game, the main character, Ryu, hosts the powers of
a dragon named Odjn. From that point on, Ryu can transform into a
dragon during battle. In dragon form, you wield incredible powers and
are able to defeat just about any foe in the game with great ease.
However, this power comes at a price. As you progress through the game
and employ your dragon powers, your D-Counter will increase. What’s
the D-Counter? It’s the icon with the little cube inside that ominously
hangs in the upper right corner of your screen. After receiving your
dragon powers, a counter appears under the cube. The counter starts at
0.00% and gradually goes up as you move through the game. It goes up
rapidly whenever you use your dragon powers. When the counter reaches
100%, your entire party is automatically wiped out, and you can
continue your game with the same Scenario Overlay options you get when
your party is defeated normally.
***THERE IS NO WAY TO DECREASE THE D-COUNTER***
Learning to use your dragon powers sparingly and otherwise utilizing
methods to keep the D-Counter from rising too quickly is vital in
order to finish the game.
=======================================================================
3. HOW THE D-COUNTER INCREASES
=======================================================================
------
D-Dive
------
Description- Dragonized Form. Draws out the power of the Wyrm
D-Counter cost- 1.00%
Notes- Provides a great increase in stats and grants you immunity to
all negative status effects and stat lowering spells. It costs no AP
to move and your movement radius is infinite in dragon form. Weapon
range is carried over into dragon form. It costs 2.00% on the D-Counter
per turn to stay in dragon form.
------
Vortex
------
Description- Target: Unit, Universal Damage, Base: Attack Power x2
D-Counter cost- 1.00%
Notes- A Level 1 attack that can only be used in dragon form
---------
Hurricane
---------
Description- Target: Spread, Universal Damage, Base: Attack Power x2
D-Counter cost- 1.25% per target
Notes- A Level 2 attack that can only be used in dragon form
-------
Twister
-------
Description- Target: Unit, Universal Damage, Base: Attack Power x3
D-Counter cost- 1.50%
Notes- A Level 3 attack that can only be used in dragon form. It hits
the enemy twice and has a hit-back effect.
--------
D-Charge
--------
Description- Increase Attack Power for 1 turn
D-Counter cost- 2.00%
Notes- It can be used several times in one turn to increase your attack
power tremendously. Three D-Charges will give you enough power to
defeat nearly any enemy in the game with one Twister.
--------
D-Breath
--------
Description- Target: Line, Universal Breath Attack
D-Counter cost- Dependant on how long the breath is emitted
Notes- The range of this attack is unlimited. The longer the O Button
is held, the more damage the attack will do and the more it will count
towards your D-Counter. This attack makes the D-Counter go up very
rapidly.
------
D-Dash
------
Description- Grants great speed and invincibility on the field
D-Counter cost- Dependant on how long it is used*
Notes- This is Ryu’s special field skill and can be used by holding
down the R2 Button. It is useful for getting past enemies when you do
not want to fight. The most effective way to use it is to approach the
enemy normally and then quickly tap the R2 Button to drive through the
enemy. Doing this only adds hundredths of a percent to your D-Counter,
whereas holding down R2 for several seconds increases the D-Counter
very quickly.
*There are some simple formulas you can use to figure out about how
much the D-Counter will increase while D-Dashing for any given amount
of seconds.
For times of 5 seconds or less, use this formula:
0.08 x Seconds spent D-Dashing
For times between 5 and 10 seconds, use this formula:
(0.915 x Seconds spent D-Dashing) - 5.1
For times of 10 or more seconds, use this formula:
(1.2 x Seconds spent D-Dashing) - 7.68
--------------------------------
The D-Counter Also Increases By:
--------------------------------
0.01% every 9-20 steps outside of battle
0.01% every turn in battle (not including extra turns).
This may seem like the D-Counter is putting a "time limit" on your
game, but this is actually nothing to fret about. That 0.01% is quite
insignificant. Putting this meager 0.01% into perspective, you would
have to exceed well over 100 hours of gameplay to make the D-Counter
hit 100% just by walking! Don't let it bother you!
=======================================================================
4. THE D-COUNTER GUIDE
=======================================================================
This guide is intended to help you keep your D-Counter as low as
possible as you move through the game. This is not a full walkthrough.
It begins at the point in the game at which your D-Counter is
activated. I have also provided the range your D-Counter should be in
at the start of each area.  If your D-Counter is even lower than I
recommend, then you are doing quite well. If your D-Counter is on the
high side of my range, then you should still be ok, but try to hold up
on using your dragon powers a little bit. The guide itself will NOT
contain SPOILERS (it previously did, but I have since revamped it to
exclude major plot spoilers). But if you’re just checking on your
D-Counter, I have provided a summary of all my recommended D-Counter
ranges (Note- My recommendations apply to those who plan on using
dragon form on all the bosses in the final mission). Again, these are
the ranges you should be in at the beginning of each area.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A. THE SUMMARY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lift: Low Sector.............. 2-6%
Low Sector Borough............ 5-8%
Corp Lab...................... 10-15%
Frozen Road................... 11-25%
Storage....................... 11-26%
Industrial Area............... 20-31%
Mid Sector Mall............... 25-35%
Old Trade Sector.............. 25-35%
Trinity Pit................... 28-36%
Lifeline...................... 31-39%
Top Sector Borough............ 35-42%
Power One..................... 35-42%
Centre........................ 40-45%
Cemetery...................... 55-66%
GeoFront...................... 65-76%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B. THE GUIDE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lift: Low Sector
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 2-6%
This mission begins right after leaving End Sector Borough with a boss
battle against three foes, during which Ryu automatically uses D-Dive.
Low Sector Boss
---------------
Enemies: 3
Difficulty: Easy
D-Dive Recommended: Yes (in your first game)
D-Dive Strategy: Use single Vortex or Twister per enemy
Although the three will get to attack you first, they pose no threat
to you in your dragon form. Have Nina and Lin unleash attacks on the
two minions standing behind them. If their combined efforts can’t
defeat both of them during the first turn, simply have Ryu finish them
off. It should take only one Vortex to take out each of them. So you
should come out of this battle with no more than a few percent added to
your D-Counter.
After the fight, go stock up on healing items at the nearby shop.
You’ll pick up a lot of Heal Kits during this mission so you don’t
need to purchase all that much. If you want to pick up some extra
items, head over to the Lift: End Sector 1 area, although you’ll have
to deal with Deathcows if you want the blue chest in that area. To
continue, take the path to Lift: Low Sector 2. This area is home to
several duke enemies, including the powerful Duke Battler who is
asleep and easily avoidable. If you don’t mind fighting a few extra
dukes, pick up Lin’s Blow up! skill in this area. Just remember, if
you don’t want to fight, Fresh Meat is your best friend; use it to
distract pesky enemies. Be cautious going into Lift: Low Sector 3,
because there are more of those spider enemies that drop from the
ceiling here. Either fight them individually or run away. Take the
left hand catwalk if you don’t want to deal with the spiders. When you
reach the forth area, you’ll encounter lots of little worms on the
ground. Use Ryu’s sword to turn them into Heal Kits.
When you reach the danger room at the end, you’ll find yourself fighting
Duke Battlers along with a couple little Duke Magi. Divide and conquer
is the best strategy here. Get rid off all the little Duke Magi and
then have Lin engage the Duke Battlers. Have Lin pluck away at a
distance with multiple Level 1 skills until their armor cracks, then
Ryu should rush in with his sword and finish them off. They counter
physical attacks at a close range, so keep your distance until you’re
ready to charge in. Remember that Nina's magic circles are useful in
keeping them at a distance. After clearing this room, pick up the
Backpack and the other items scattered around and then proceed to the
elevator that will take you back up to Low Sector Borough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Low Sector Borough
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 5-8%
When you get back to town, you’ll notice that the entrance to the Bio
Corp labs near the item vendor is now open. Restock your healing items
here and also make sure to buy a couple of Antidotes as well (at least
three, but get as many as you want). Make a hard save here too if
you’re willing to relinquish a Save Token. When you’re ready, take the
path to Bio Corp to discover, upon examination of the door at the end
of the left path, that you need an id card to proceed. Before going
back to Low Sector Borough, explore the right area to find a few items
and find a fairy behind a door so you can begin cultivating a Fairy
Colony. Return to town, and you’ll get into a boss fight with three
foes again.
Low Sector Borough Boss:
------------------------
Enemies: 3
Difficulty: Moderate
D-Dive Recommended: No
They’ve flooded the area with nerve gas, so your party will be
poisoned every turn. Use Antidotes to cure the poison if it becomes a
bother, but leave three to use after the battle. Each enemy has a
different specialty: sword, gun, and magic. Focus your attacks on the
mage first, because his Iceblast attack deals a good amount of damage.
Just make sure everyone is healed at the beginning of each turn and
you should be fine. Ryu should build AP for a turn and then run in and
hack away with his sword skills. If any of the enemies are close
together, see if Ryu can hit two (or all three) of them at once with
X Blade (Side Slash + Vert Slash). Have Lin constantly hit all three
of them at once with Blow up!, while Nina casts her best spells from
as far away as possible. Once you’re done with the mage, kill the
swordsman, then the gunner. This battle really doesn’t call for D-Dive,
but if they start giving you too much trouble, especially with the
poison and all, just quickly employ D-Dive to either deal a great
amount of damage to them, or finish them off completely. Again, one
Vortex or Twister each should do the trick.
Once the cut scene after the battle is done with, heal anyone who’s
poisoned and pick up the Bio Corp Id near the nerve gas tank. Then
proceed back to the locked door to access the Bio Corp labs. Before
entering the labs you’ll have a chance buy items, weapons, and save.
Stock up and then continue into Bio Corp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corp Lab (Biocorp)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 10-15%
Depending on whether or not you used D-Dive in the previous boss fight,
you should be very careful about using your dragon powers in this
mission. There are no enemies in the initial Corp Lab 1F area, although
there is a D-ratio door that leads to a two floor side area with some
extra items and enemies to fight. But if this is your first play
through, you needn’t concern yourself with that. Pick up all the items
in this area and then move on to and second floor. Make your way to
the middle room with the two catwalks to encounter large groups of
Buzzes hanging out around the catwalks. Either run past them or throw
some Fresh Meat in their midst to bunch them all up into a tightly
packed group. Have Lin initiate the battle and use her Blow up! skill
as many times as she can on the whole group to do huge damage. Defeat
them quickly to get big party XP. But if you let several of them attack
you, you might find yourself in big trouble, so don’t fight unless
you’re prepared. Continue to the southern end of this area and clear
the room full of Rafflesia to obtain the treasure key for Roundsaber,
a very useful skill for Ryu. You should have either Ryu or Lin initiate
the battle and leave the attacking to them. Skip Nina’s turns, because
using magic on Rafflesia makes them stronger. Once you’re done here,
you can either go down to the Corp Lab 1F southern side area, or
continue to the third floor. If you are low on healing items and don’t
wish to fight, just go on to Corp Lab 3F. There’s not much to do on
the third floor except watch a few cut scenes. Pick up all the items
on the floor and ascend to Corp Lab 4F.
Now on this floor, you’ll have to deal with Bio Corp Patrollers. You’ll
know them when you see them (in fact, you may have already seen a pair
of them down on the second floor). These guys are very annoying, and
you should avoid fighting them, not because they’re strong (actually,
they are quite weak), but because if you attack them, much stronger
guards will appear later on in huge numbers. So when you encounter
these Patrollers, either wait for an opening and do some fancy
maneuvering to get around them, or you can use D-Dash. Run up to them
and just tap R2 to blow by them quickly with very little penalty
towards your D-Counter. Believe me, this is MUCH better than D-Dashing
through those large groups of Bouncers. Make your way through this
floor (it’s pretty straightforward) and take the elevator up at the
end to reach the final floor of Corp Lab. But first, if your D-Counter
will allow you to do some extra D-Dashing, kill the Goo Prism in the
northwest area of the fourth floor to make the treasure key for this
floor appear. Then hike back to where the blue chest was in the little
room off to the side of the hall to pick up a Backpack; very nice.
There are no enemies on the fifth floor, so just check the area for
items and head over to the room at the opposite end of the floor to
find the item/weapon/locker girls along with a save point. You won’t
need a huge amount many healing items for this next mission, but if
Bio Corp wore you down, then restock your inventory. Do whatever needs
to be done here and then continue through the big doorway in the
center of this area to find the path to the Frozen Road.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Frozen Road
~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 11-25%
This is a nice, short, and easy mission that shouldn’t require the use
of any of your dragon powers. So, enjoy it while you can. Electric
based attacks are very effective here, so employ Nina’s best electric
spells and use electric based weapons to make the fights here as easy
as possible. On the first floor, there are a lot of items to pick up,
such as Lin’s Greetings skill in the blue chest in the room with all
the Aggrossers. Throw Fresh Meat into their group so they’ll all bunch
up, making it easier to hit all of them at once. But if you’ve been
having trouble taking on large enemy groups, then simply divide and
conquer instead. Be very careful when you begin the second floor,
because there are monsters disguised as item boxes lying around.
Before approaching an item box, throw some Fresh Meat at it to check
whether or not it’s a monster. You need to defeat the Big Jack-Box to
get the treasure key for this floor (Note- The more times you hit
Jack-Boxes, the more zenny they will drop). But that’s not even the
hardest part. Go into the next room, and you’ll find that the chest is
being guarded by a bunch of enemies, including two Deathcows. Yikes!
The item in the chest isn’t worth going for if you don’t think you can
take on the two Deathcows, but there is a Save Token over there as
well. So, if you’re in need of Save Tokens, you might want to consider
going for it. If not, continue to Frozen Road 3F.
On the third floor, you’ll find a group of little Goo Sapphires along
with a big Ice Goo (the grown up form of the Goo Sapphires) who holds
the key to this floor. Get rid of all the lesser Goos then take out
the Ice Goo. The chest is in the next room, which houses a large group
of new enemies called Drill Bugs that look kind of like Nuggets. Either
distract them with Fresh Meat while you go for the chest, or just duke
it out with them. If you want to fight the big one, make sure you
isolate it from all the little ones, or just kill all the little ones
first. When you’re done here, continue into the next room. This is
another danger room, home to two Beaks (lesser Deathcows) and a few
Aggrossers hanging from the ceiling. Throw some Fresh Meat down and
then walk under the Aggrossers so that they’ll go for the food instead
of you. Then fight them individually. If you don’t think you can take
on both Beaks at once, do your best to isolate them. But if you just
can’t separate them, toss Fresh Meat at them so you can keep them
close together. Them have Ryu hit them with X Blade, have Lin use
Blow up!, and have Nina use her strongest electrical spell (probably
Lightning). After beating those two, you’ll only have a few more
Aggrossers to deal with.
On the fourth floor you may encounter some more of those Jack-Boxes,
so be cautious. You’ll have to fight some Gars as well, but they
shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Also, there is a little pod of
those little worm-like creatures called Hychees on this floor, so kill
them and reap their Heal Kits. Near the end of the road, there is an
area with several Beaks roaming around. If you want the last treasure
key, you’ll have to defeat them all. I strongly suggest you get the
skill in that chest, because it will be very helpful in some battles
coming up. If you’re low on healing items, you can go buy some from
the shop at the end of the road and then come back. The best thing to
do here, once again, is to split them up and kill them individually.
Once you open the last blue chest, continue to the end of the road
where you’ll find the item/storage girls. Buy A LOT of healing items,
because you’ll need them for what lies ahead. When you’re ready, make
a save at the save point here and then climb up the next ladder to the
Storage area.
~~~~~~~
Storage
~~~~~~~
RANGE: 11-26%
Before even entering Storage, make sure your party is fully healed.
When your group reaches the main room in the Storage area, you’ll be
ambushed. Now you will have to fight three boss battles in a row with
no chances to heal in between.
Storage Boss 1:
---------------
Enemies: 8
Difficulty: Moderately Hard
D-Dive Recommended: No
In the first fight, you’re up against eight solid fighters consisting
of swordsmen and gunners, divided up into three groups surrounding you.
The trio you have to worry about the most is the one that has the two
swordsmen with the shields and a gunner that raises their defense the
first turn. Take them out first and the other six rangers will be easy.
Have Ryu and Lin stay where they are and build AP for a turn while Nina
sets down a Fragball to get in the way of the swordsmen. The gunners
will shoot at you from a distance while the swordsmen will spend their
turn running towards you. Then, if the two shielded swordsmen managed
to bunch themselves up, have Ryu unleash X Blade on them as many times
as he can, and have Lin nail them with Blow up! If Nina is in range,
she should attack as well. Even after this wave of attacks they
probably won’t be dead, but they should be weak enough to kill during
your next turn. Once those two are out of the way, the rest of them are
easy pickings. Have Ryu and Lin work together to take out the rest of
the enemies while Nina throws in her best attack spells. You should be
able to take out two (maybe three) of them per turn with the combined
efforts of Ryu and Lin. Just make sure you say healed throughout the
battle and you should be able to squeeze by without D-Dive. If the
shielded guys are giving you a lot trouble and you have some room on
your D-Counter, then D-Dive, give them each a Vortex, then cool back
down. Don't go overboard! Due to the sheer number of enemies in this
fight, using D-Dive to kill them all would raise your counter
considerably.
Storage Boss 2:
---------------
Enemies: Multiple (smaller robots respawn)
Difficulty: Easy
D-Dive Recommended: No
The next battle, you’ll be fighting a giant robot. This is a pretty
easy battle, because if you play your cards right, you’ll take little
or no damage. The big robot itself rarely attacks unless you let it
get too close to you, but it spawns two little electric posts called
Annexes each turn that hit you with electric attacks. If you can kill
the Annexes just as quickly as the big robot makes them, you won’t get
attacked. This is really easy to do because Lin’s shot attacks do huge
damage to the little Annexes. Have Nina set Fragballs right in front
of the big robot the entire battle while Ryu slashes away at it with
his sword and Lin takes care of the Annexes each turn. When you’ve
completely depleted the big robot’s HP bar, it will self destruct in
three turns. In the meantime, it will still release Annexes. Continue
the battle as usual until there is only one turn left until it self
destructs. Then have all of your characters get as far away from it
as possible, because anyone caught in the explosion will surely be
killed. There is really no need at all for D-Dive in this battle.
Storage Boss 3:
---------------
Enemies: 3
Difficulty: Hard
D-Dive Recommended: Yes
D-Dive Strategy: D-Charge once and use Twister on the main foe
Finally, you’re up against the main boss, along with two minion
support mages. The key to an easy fight here is to keep the main foe at
bay until you’re ready to unleash all fury upon her. To do this, have
Nina set up a barricade of Fragballs between you and the boss. Instead
of biting the bullet and going through the traps, she’ll go all the way
around the big pile of junk to get to you (that is, if you manage to
completely obstruct her path), giving you about two turns before she
finally reaches you. First off, take out one of the mages, and then
begin gathering AP. Also, make sure to keep your party formation as
spread out as possible so the mages won’t be able to hit multiple
characters with Iceblast. Gather AP until the main boss comes into
your midst, then throw everything you’ve got at her. You should be
able to bring her HP down considerably. After taking enough abuse, she
will spend a turn using Last Resort. Now, finish her off before she
gets another opportunity to attack, or else she’ll use Violet Death,
which can be devastating. Although, this may be difficult to do if she
still has a lot of HP, because she gets a shield after using Last
Resort. If this gives you too much trouble, D-Dive and quickly finish
her off with either a single Vortex or Twister.
After that’s all over, pick up the sword the main boss drops and return
to the item/storage girls at the end of the Frozen Road to have it
identified. Then restock all of your healing items and proceed to the
Industrial Area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Industrial Area
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 20-31%
This is a long, hard mission if you’re going through it for the first
time, so make sure you’re well prepared for it. The majority of the
enemies in the Industrial Area will not go after Fresh Meat, so it’s
going to take some good field maneuvering to survive this mission.
Also, be aware that quite a few of the enemies in this place are weak
against ice based attacks. The mission is divided into two levels:
Indust One and Indust Two. You start at Indust One and work your way
up.
In the first area of Indust One 1F, you’ll run into some Bandits and
Highwaystars. Neither of these guys go for Fresh Meat, and Bandits
chase you relentlessly once they spot you. Thankfully, they aren’t that
hard to kill. Just don’t let them steal from you and get away with it.
There’s also some Odd Hychees around this area too, so find them and
convert them into Mega Aid Kits. As you move on, you’ll find yourself
in an open room with some more new enemies: little Ebonfire bats as
well as their lord, the Baphomet. You could easily ignore them and
simply continue to the next floor, but if you need the XP and have the
patience, it’s worth it to fight them. Try to separate them as best as
you can, taking note that these guys will go for Fresh Meat. If you
can, take out the Ebonfires first, then engage the big guy. They are
quite weak against ice element, so have Nina use her most powerful ice
based spells while Ryu and Lin back her up with some ice elemental
weapons, perhaps. The Baphomet regenerates HP every turn, so make sure
you’re dealing enough damage to it. Also, keep your party in a very
spread out formation so it can’t nail you with Fireblast. After you’ve
killed all those guys, continue to the second floor.
Indust One 2F is divided into west and east wings, starting in the
western section. There’s not all that much to do here if this is your
first run through the game except fight a few new enemies, including
the Capek. These robots are easily dealt with by using Nina’s ice
spells and Ryu’s sword attacks. There’s a big group of them guarding a
D-ratio door in this area, so if this is your first play through,
don’t even bother with them unless you really want the XP. If you do
go through the D-ratio area, you can access an extra blue chest and
shortcut through Indust One 2F East. If not, simply continue to the
eastern wing. In these next few areas, you’ll encounter Petrophages.
These quick little bugs are quite annoying to fight, because they are
so fast. The best way to deal with these guys is to kill them outside
of battle. To do this, quickly run past them so they’ll charge and
flip over after running into a wall. Then run up and slash them with
Ryu’s sword before they can recover. But if you do end up having to
fight them, take note that they are very weak against fire attacks.
The rest of the enemies you’ll see in here you’ve seen before. Pick up
the item in the treasure chest if you wish and then continue to
Indust One 3F.
The first thing you’ll have to do on this floor is fight your way
through a danger room with a lone Baphomet along with a huge group of
Ebonfires occupying an extremely narrow hallway. Fighting the Baphomet
inside the hallway is a bad idea, because that way your characters are
bunched up, making it very easy for the Baphomet to hit everyone with
Fireblast. Throw some Fresh Meat in the doorway and initiate the
battle from the larger room. Then take out the overgrown bat as usual.
Once the leader is gone, toss Fresh Meat into the hallway to bunch up
the Ebonfires, so you can kill them easily with spread attacks. After
clearing the danger room, continue to the final area of Indust One 3F
to find yourself in a huge room crawling with Capeks. Divide and
conquer is the best strategy here if you wish to fight them and gain
access to the treasure chest in this room. Otherwise, just maneuver
around them, being careful not to be seen by them. Pick up the loose
items around here and take the elevator up at the end to reach
Indust Two 1F.
In the first area, you’ll find a bunch of dead rangers lying around
along with two locked doors that require id’s to open. Examine the
dead ranger bodies and a locked door and head to the center of the
room to discover who killed all the rangers. You’ll now have to fight
the first boss of the Industrial Area.
Industrial Area Boss 1:
-----------------------
Enemies: 1
Difficulty: Moderate
D-Dive Recommended: No
This isn’t too hard if you can defeat him quickly. A long, drawn out
battle against this guy will cause you to waste your much needed
healing items. He’ll cast Sleep on your party and most likely use his
trademark spell, Forcacion, which literally drains your stats for
three turns. Whoever falls victim to Forcacion will become almost
useless for attacking for three turns, so rely on your other two
people to deal out most of the damage. Nonetheless, everyone should
still attack constantly. Also make sure to stay healed at all times.
Keep at lest one character, such as Ryu or Lin, close to him so he’ll
use Drain instead of Forcacion. He will slow your progress a little by
using Drain to both harm you and heal himself, but it’s better than
having two (or even all three) of your characters under the effects of
Forcacion. Just be sure you’re able to deal out more damage than his
Drain heals many times over and you should be able to take him down
without D-Dive.
Once Tantra is out of your way, pick up the id card he was carrying
and continue through either of the two locked doors in this room. Both
of these paths are short and ultimately lead to the same place at the
end of the mission, so it doesn’t matter which one you take. Or does it?
There is one enemy along each of the two paths. Taking the path to
Indust Two 2F North takes you to the sub-boss Deegon, and the southern
path leads to Geegagis. You can either fight one of them and continue
to the end of the mission, or head over to the other path after
defeating one of them to fight the other as well. If this mission has
been hard enough already, I highly suggest only fighting one of them.
If you choose to fight Geegagis, be aware of his high defense. Have
Nina pound him with Iceblast while Ryu and Lin use skills that ignore
defense. Just don’t bunch up, or else Geegagis will hit your entire
group with Fireblast. And when he starts to gather fury, either finish
him off quickly or get as far away from him as you can to avoid his
most powerful attack. Deegon can be a little tougher, but definitely
not too hard to handle. Make your combos with Ryu as long as possible,
because Deegon counters with the powerful Sledgehammer attack after
every combo. Otherwise, keep Nina and Lin far away from him as they
commence with their attacking. Ice based attacks are effective here as
well, so utilize them. Be sure to keep a spread formation in this
fight as well, because Deegon also wields the Fireblast spell. When
you’re finished here, head up to the final floor.
Heal yourself in the little prep room and reap all the items inside.
Once you’re ready, continue into the next room to find the next boss.
Industrial Area Boss 2:
-----------------------
Enemies: 1
Difficulty: Moderately Hard to Extremely Hard
D-Dive Recommended: Yes
D-Dive Strategy: No more than 2 D-Charges and a Twister
He absorbs whoever you defeated in Indust Two 2F, thereby gaining most
all of their abilities. If you killed both Geegagis and Deegon, you’re
in for a hell of a fight. But if he only incorporates one of his
fallen buddies, then you should be ok, although don’t expect this fight
to be as easy as the first. He still uses his most bothersome spells
at the beginning of the battle, including Forcacion, Sleep, and Drain.
Have Nina stand back and build AP for a turn while Ryu and Lin spread
out and surround him on opposite sides. Use power-up items to counter
the effects of his Forcacion. You could even steal the precious
7th Sense he’s holding and use it on one of your characters in the same
battle. Have Nina and Lin use their attacks from a safe distance, while
Ryu charges right in and pesters Tantra with his sword skills each
turn. He will use Drain a lot in this battle, as well as employ the
skills he acquired from his fallen comrades. Depending on who he
absorbed, fight him combining the most effective parts of your
strategies against Geegagis, Deegon, and Tantra the first time you
fought them. You’ll end up using a lot of healing items in this battle,
but if you have plenty of them, this fight should turn out to be not
all that hard. Fighting him with only one friend absorbed shouldn’t
require much dragon power, if any. But if your healing items run short
and he starts to get on your nerves, D-Dive and quickly finish him off
with a single Twister. Fighting him with both friends accumulated is a
different story. You may find him too hard to handle this way if you’re
lacking healing items. Try fighting him normally first with the
healing items that you have. If his super form is just too high
caliber, then go ahead and take him to town with no more than two
D-Charges and a Twister.
When you’ve finally put him down for good, continue to the Mid Sector
Mall (Note- If you only fought the last boss with one friend absorbed,
you can still go back to where the other friend would be to get the
blue treasure chest there by killing a Goo Prism).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mid Sector Mall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 25-35%
Consider this just a nice, short pit stop before moving on. You’ve got
everything you need here: item/weapon/storage girls, a save point, and
a fairy if you began your colony. Restock your healing items, identify
all the stuff you picked up in the Industrial Area, and take care of
any other business that needs attending to. Once you’re ready to go,
head over to the Old Trade Sector.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Old Trade Sector
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 25-35%
Although this is a fairly short mission, it’s also a very annoying one.
In this mission you have to deal with undead monsters called Zombies.
You can fight and kill the Zombies all you want, but they will never
go away until their host has been eliminated. Brokenhearts, the little
green ghosts floating around, are the hosts. Kill them, and you’ll
never have to deal with getting around Zombies. The problem is, these
little guys are very evasive. However, they are weak against Nina’s
ice based spells. Also use attacks from Ryu and Lin that are weighed
toward accuracy, such as Too slow!!. Do this, and you’ll have no need
for dragon powers in this mission.
You start in Old Trade Sector A, which is overrun with Zombies.
Thankfully, the Zombies are incredibly slow, making them somewhat easy
to maneuver around to reach their hosts, the Brokenhearts. There’s not
too much to do in the first room besides pick up a few items that may
be lying around. Move on to the second room to find more Brokenhearts
and more Zombies. Also be sure to check around corners and look up,
because there may be a Bandit hanging from the ceiling. Kill all the
hosts in here before moving on to the next room. In the next room,
you’ll find Zombies and new enemies called Worm-Men. Both of them are
easily avoided in here. Just pass through this room to emerge in
another room full of Zombies and their hosts. Kill all the Brokenhearts
in this room to eliminate the last of the Zombies and cause the
treasure key to appear near the chest in the previous room. Pick up
the much needed Backpack and continue to Old Trade Sector In.
This floor is just a very small network of narrow halls, making it
hard to avoid enemies that are in your way. You won’t encounter as
many Zombies and Brokenhearts in this area, but you will see a lot of
pesky Petrophages, who aren’t as easy to dodge in these narrow halls.
Luckily, you can sneak up behind them some of the time. Just be sure
to check around corners. You’ll also probably come across the infamous
Trilizard here. With their high HP and speed and their elemental
changes every turn, these guys are definitely one of the most annoying
enemies in the game. They usually get the first attack, unless you are
super fast, so pay attention to what attack they use. If they use fire,
fight them back with ice, and so on. If you want to explore the entire
Old Trade Sector, head over to the eastern end of Old Trade Sector In
to find a path leading to the side area of Old Trade Sector B and a
small back area of A. If not, simply stay on the west side and head
north. You’ll eventually reach Old Trade Sector B which empties out
into Trinity headquarters.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Trinity Pit
~~~~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 28-36%
Once you reach Trinity Pit, Ryu will be left alone to explore the
place. Have a look around and stop by the item/storage girls to take
care of any necessary business there. To continue, you’ll have to go
have a little chat with Trinity’s leader. Afterwards, you’ll be left
in a room where you can either rest or continue looking around. If
you’re up for a fairly long side quest, don’t rest and go talk to Lin,
who asks if you want to help her on a side quest. Say yes, and you can
go do a optional mission in another area of the Old Trade Sector (the
entrance to it is in the same room where you can choose to rest). The
layout of this side quest is similar to Old Trade Sector In, except it
is much more vast. You’ll mostly see the same enemies you encountered
at Old Trade Sector in addition to some other monsters as well, such
as Gars and Aggrossers. Keep in mind that you will NOT have Nina in
your party for this side quest. I highly suggest you at least go down
there and retrieve Ryu’s Discharge skill, which will be a vital attack
to have later in the game. There are a lot of other good items down
there as well, so consider making the trip. If you decide not to go,
then stock up on healing items and rest.
After resting, you're forced into a boss battle.
Trinity Boss:
-------------
Enemies: 4
Difficulty: Moderate
D-Dive Recommended: No
In order to win the fight, you must keep Nina alive at all costs, which
can be difficult at first because she starts off surrounded by two
soldiers who target her specifically. Since she’ll get the first move,
have her cure herself of the Silence status change she starts the
battle with. Then get as far away from the two goons as possible,
especially the swordsman. Afterwards, the mage still may be able to
hit Nina with Iceblast, but it shouldn’t kill her. Just make sure she
stays healed at all times. As Nina gets away from the fighting, have
Ryu and Lin charge in to protect her. Combine their efforts to take
down the swordsman first, then kill the mage who should go down much
quicker. After defeating those two, two more hoodlums will come after
you. Thankfully, they start out very far away, giving your party a
turn or so to prepare for their arrival. Ryu and Lin should go out
into the other room to wait for them, while Nina stays in the first
room. As long as you don’t let either of the two soldiers get through
that doorway, you should be fine. As Ryu and Lin chip away at the two
antagonists, Nina can build her AP and cast hit-and-run magic right
through the wall every other turn. As long as you keep Nina away from
the fighting and make sure Ryu and Lin’s HP stays high, there should
be no need for D-Dive in this fight. If you were to D-Dive at all
(which I strongly suggest you don’t), only do so to quickly take out
the initial two soldiers, because that is when Nina has the greatest
risk of being double teamed.
After the fight, you can move on to the Lifeline. Make sure you have
plentiful healing items (especially Tonics) before you head off to the
next mission. This would also be a good time to save using a Save
Token. Once you’re ready to go, take the lift up to the Lifeline.
~~~~~~~~
Lifeline
~~~~~~~~
RANGE: 31-39%
The Lifeline can seem like a very long, drawn out mission, especially
if you explore all of the D-ratio areas. But if this is your first
play through, then you don’t have to worry about that. Here you’ll
also encounter some new enemies, as well as some old ones. You begin
at Lifeline Low Sector, where you can encounter a variance of enemies.
Among them are your old friends the Bandits and Trilizards. Bandits
are weak and easily dealt with, while Trilizards will always pose a
problem. You don’t need to defeat any Trilizards to obtain treasure
keys throughout this entire mission, so do your best to avoid fighting
them unless you really need the XP. On this level, you’ll also
encounter Shadowplayers, who look very similar to Bandits except they
are much stronger. Not only that, but they are also really fast. They
are not particularly weak against anything, so just attack them as
usual. There’s not too much to do in the first room unless you have a
high D-ratio, so move on to the second room to find a band of thieves
standing around near a blue treasure chest. Go inside the small room
in the southeast corner on this floor to meet the keeper of the key, a
Gigantis, along with four buddies. Take just a few steps towards them
and they’ll all charge at you very quickly. Slash them with Ryu’s
sword to gain the initiative, because you’ll need it. The Gigantis is
quite strong, and having four little friends around doesn’t exactly
help. Have Ryu hack away at the Gigantis while Lin uses spread skills
to incorporate as many enemies as possible into her attacks. Nina
should do the same with her strongest spells. Stay healed, because
when the Gigantis gets low on HP, he’ll get even stronger. After the
fight, pick up the treasure key and go back to the treasure chest to
pick up a nice skill for Lin. When you’re done exploring here, move on
to Lifeline Mid area.
This section of the Lifeline is just one long straightforward path that
has a D-ratio area running parallel to it. Unless you’re running
through the D-ratio area, there aren’t any treasure chests in either
of the two wings. You’ll pretty much see more of the same enemies in
this area, with the exception of some Goo Prisms and maybe a Wonder
Box. When you reach the end of the first wing you’ll come across three,
yes, three Trilizards along with a DeVogue. They’re all bunched up
together right in front of the door you need to go through. If your
D-Counter isn’t too high, you might want to consider D-Dashing.
Otherwise, divide and conquer. Use Fresh Meat to lure the Trilizards
away from the group one by one. Let Nina get the initiative so she can
use the extra turn to pound the Trilizard with her strongest electric
spells, either Lightning or Valhalla. Don’t worry if the DeVogue gets
caught up in the midst, because he’s easily taken care of with Ryu’s
sword attacks. Also make sure to stay healed, because on normal turns,
the Trilizards will most always get the first attack. Once you finally
get past those guys and reach Lifeline Mid West, things get much
easier. You can probably avoid fighting throughout the rest of this
floor, but don’t skip out on battles if you could use the experience.
In one hall, you’ll find three Gigantis standing together along the
left side of the path. They won’t charge you if you stay as close as
you can to the right wall as you walk by them. Continue until you
reach the lift to Lifeline Top East.
In the first room on this floor, you’ll find a very large group of
Bandits, amongst them is one Shadowplayer who holds the treasure key
for this floor. You may have picked up a few explosive traps on the
previous floor. If you did, lob them into the band of thieves and try
to do as much damage outside of battle as you can. Then run in and
kill the Shadowplayer. You don’t have to kill the whole group, but
once the leader is gone, the rest are pretty easy to take down anyway.
The doorway on the side of the room where the big group of Bandits
were standing leads to the chest and the way out of the Lifeline, but
if you head through the doorway on the opposite side and explore the
vast side areas there, you can pick up a bunch of much needed healing
items from all the little worms in the area. However, these are not
the same little Hychees you’ve been harvesting before. You actually
have to fight these guys in battle because they’re stronger. But, they
do drop better healing items as well. Also make sure, throughout this
entire floor, to check around every corner because there could be a
Gigantis around the bend waiting to charge at you.
Once you’re done there, continue into the next hallway near where the
thieves were to find a bunch of item boxes with a Cerebus trapped
behind them. The Cerebus looks just like a dark colored Trilizard,
except it’s much weaker and doesn’t go through those annoying elemental
changes. Kill it easily with ice spells and it’ll drop an extremely
valuable 7th Sense. Now continue along this path and pick up the item
in the treasure chest near the end of this area. Before continuing into
the next area, make sure your party is fully healed. A boss is waiting
for you in this final area of the Lifeline.
Lifeline Boss:
--------------
Enemies: 1
Difficulty: Hard
D-Dive Recommended: Yes
D-Dive Strategy: Two D-Charges and one Twister
This fight can be extremely tough if you don’t use dragon form. If you