===============================================================================
|                       Phantasy Star II Rolf Solo Guide                      |
|                                 Version 1.0                                 |
|                                by Necrolesian                               |
===============================================================================
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Table of Contents|
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I.    Introduction
II.   Legal Crap
III.  Contact Information
IV.   Version History
V.    Notes
VI.   Walkthrough
VII.  Stat Maxing
VIII. Equipment
IX.   Closing
X.    Credits
----------------
I. Introduction|
----------------
This guide will walk you through the process of completing Phantasy Star II
with just Rolf. If you're looking for a thorough guide to the game in general,
look elsewhere. Those who are familiar with the game may find this guide too
"hand-holding," while those who are not very familiar with the game may think
that it is insufficiently thorough. I don't care.
If you need maps, try http://www.phantasy-star.net/psii/psii.html or
http://rpg-home.lunar-net.com/psii-web/index.html.
Warning: This guide contains a few spoilers. I'm assuming you've already beaten
the game at least once.
---------------
II. Legal Crap|
---------------
Basically, this guide is mine. I used information from other guides (which are
credited below) in this one, but I verified this information myself. Feel free
to use any information in my guide for your own guide, as long as you let me
know about it and credit me. If you want to post this guide on your site, email
me first and ask me. Don't use this guide to make money.
-------------------------
III. Contact Information|
-------------------------
You may email me with contributions or corrections at necrolesian@hotmail.com.
Put "Phantasy Star II," or something similar, in the subject line so I know
what the email is about. Emails with ambiguous subject lines, or that are
obviously spam, will be deleted without being read. Please let me know if I got
anything wrong, left anything out, or if you have any additional tips or ideas.
--------------------
IV. Version History|
--------------------
Version 1.0 - 29 Feb 08
Initial release.
---------
V. Notes|
---------
This is a single character challenge. This means that you cannot use any other
characters. Rolf is the only character that you can use throughout the game,
unless it is impossible to proceed with the game without using another
character (there is one such situation, which I will detail below).
Note that you cannot remove Nei from the party until she dies (permanently) at
the hands of Neifirst. You'll have to let her get killed in the first battle,
and then never revive her (at least until you're ready to fight Neifirst;
details below). You cannot use Nei's inventory space to store items. You can
acquire the other characters by stopping by Rolf's house, but you cannot use
them or put them into your party.
As far as I am aware, there are five different ways that you could be playing
this game: the original Sega Genesis version, as part of Phantasy Star
Collection (for Game Boy Advance), as part of Sega Genesis Collection (for
Playstation 2), on the Virtual Console (on a Wii), or on an emulator. I'm not
familiar with the Virtual Console version, so I won't discuss it. I'm not going
to go into detail about version differences, but there is one difference that
is very important. In the Genesis and GBA versions you can only save at the
Data Memory buildings located in each town, or by using an item called the
Visiphone. In the PS2 version, you can save at any time (without the Visiphone)
by using the Select menu. You can even save in battle. On an emulator, of
course, you can use save states at any time.
If you're playing this challenge on either the Genesis or GBA version, you have
a problem: namely, you cannot acquire the Visiphone (since doing so requires
building Shir up to level 10 and then using her to steal it from the Baggage
Room in the Central Tower in Paseo), and therefore you can only save in a town
throughout the game. This will make your life much more difficult, since you
must battle your way through each dungeon, with Rolf only, without the ability
to save. Also, your closest save point to Noah will be the town of Aukba. I
suggest playing the PS2 version or on an emulator while playing this challenge,
or just cheating and using Shir to steal the Visiphone. If you'd like to make
it even more difficult, play it on the Genesis or GBA and don't get the
Visiphone. Even on the PS2 or an emulator, the lack of the Visiphone is
annoying, since you can't tell how close Rolf is to his next level without
stopping by a town. I played the Playstation 2 version while making this guide.
Whichever version you're using, save as frequently as you can.
----------------
VI. Walkthrough|
----------------
-----
Paseo
-----
The first thing you should do is change your order so that Nei is in front.
Unequip all of her equipment, and sell all of it except the Ribbon (you want
her to have an item in her inventory for the first battle. Go buy another Knife
for Rolf, as well as a Headgear. Then save and wander around outside Paseo
until you get into a battle.
In this battle, you will kill off Nei. Have Nei use her Ribbon (which will do
nothing). You want her to have a useless item to use because if she doesn't
she'll have to use the Defend command, which will make her harder for the
enemies to kill. After she uses the Ribbon she'll automatically switch to
Defend, so you'll have to manually order her to use the Ribbon each round until
she dies. Have Rolf attack until you're only one round away from killing all
the enemies, then have him Defend until Nei is dead. Once Nei's dead, use Rolf
to kill the enemies and reap the experience. If you accidentally kill all of
the enemies before Nei dies, you'll have to reset and try again, as you don't
want Nei gaining any experience.
After this battle, change your order again so that Rolf is in front, and go
sell Nei's Ribbon. Obviously, don't revive Nei. Heal at the hospital for 8
meseta if needed. Now it's just a matter of walking around outside Paseo,
acquiring EXP and meseta, and healing at the hospital as needed. Beware
Poisoners, who can Paralyze you. (You'd think that, given their name, their
special attack would cause Poison rather than Paralysis.)
Fight until you have enough money to buy a Fibercoat. You should already have
two Knives and a Headgear. Don't bother with the other weapons for sale in
Paseo. The Bow Gun (a two-handed weapon) does less damage than a single knife,
much less two. Sonic Guns (despite having such a much higher attack value) do
no more damage than the Knives, and they cost 640 meseta each. The only
advantage of the Sonic Guns is that they don't miss (also, their attack
animation is slightly shorter). If you really want them, though, go ahead and
get them.
Level up to at least level 8. You learn Res at level 8, which will be very
useful. I strongly suggest that you buy 2-4 Dimates for emergency healing in
battle. Don't waste a round on Res in battle. Whenever you've taken 20 or more
points of damage, use Res out of battle. If you desparately need healing in
battle, use a Dimate.
I also suggest that you buy 1-2 Antidotes in case you're poisoned. Rolf never
lears Anti, so the only ways to heal Poison are by using an Antidote or going
to a hospital in a town. If you're playing the PS2 version or on an emulator
(and can therefore save at any time), you can save those 1-2 inventory spots
for other things if you want. You can save very frequently and reload whenever
you get poisoned. Otherwise, carry at least one. If you find yourself poisoned
in a dungeon with no way to heal it, you'll have to go all the way back to
town.
If you're willing to sacrifice the inventory spots, you can also buy an
Escapipe and a Telepipe in case you get yourself into deep trouble. If you
don't have these items, I strongly recommend always saving 12 TP for Hinas and
Ryuka (or at *least* 4 TP for Hinas). That way you can always get back to town
quickly if you run into trouble.
Once you're at least level 8, and have a Headgear, Fibercoat, two Knives, and
2-4 Dimates (and possibly 2 Sonic Guns, 1-2 Antidotes, an Escapipe and a
Telepipe as well), head towards Arima.
-----
Arima
-----
Once you reach Arima, you can head back to Paseo if you'd like to make Rudo
appear, but of course you can't add him to your party. (Don't spend 60 meseta
to teleport between Arima and Paseo; it's a waste of meseta to spare yourself
such a short walk when you need the EXP and meseta anyway.)
Buy a Sword as soon as you can afford it. It's much better than the Knives or
Sonic Guns. (You'll have to sell your old equipment in Paseo.) Now it's time to
earn even more EXP and meseta. Cross the bridge to the east to fight some
tougher monsters. You can cross the next bridge, towards Nido, for even tougher
battles. There are three monsters you should be particularly wary of. First,
Armorants can paralyze you, and do a good amount of damage per hit. With the
Sword they'll generally take two rounds to kill. Second, Waspys do 3-4 damage
per hit, and sometimes come in groups of 4. It takes 1-2 rounds to kill one.
Third, Froggys can do 10 points of damage in a single attack, though their
regular attack does much less. Use Dimates in battle if you need them.
Once you have 5600 meseta, buy two Ceramic Knives. Each knife does more damage
than the Sword, and with two of them you can kill Armorants and Waspys much
more quickly. Waspys should go down with a single hit now (and you can kill two
of them per round), but Armorants will still take two hits to kill.
Now you can go to Nido and fight the monsters in the entrance room. Be
especially wary of Spitkills. If they put you to sleep, it's game over. Once
you've reached level 12, you should be strong enough for Shure.
-----
Shure
-----
At level 12, there are no serious threats in Shure, even on the top level. The
only monsters you need to watch out for are the Armorants, which can paralyze
you. The only items you need from Shure are the Small Key and Letter (both on
the top floor), and both Dynamites. You might as well get all the items though.
You could use the EXP and meseta, and might reach level 13 by the time you're
done. If you need to, use Hinas/Ryuka (or your Escapipe and Telepipe) after
you've gotten the Small Key and Letter, and go back for the other items. If
you're in good shape, though, just walk it for the EXP.
Don't forget to free up a spot in your inventory by putting the Small Key in
the baggage room in Paseo when you're done. Now head to Nido, which will be
more of a challenge.
----
Nido
----
The only thing you need here is Teim, although the Trimate might be useful as
well. However, like in Shure, you might as well get all the items, if only for
the EXP. As before, be wary of Spitkills; take them out first. You shouldn't
have any problems until you reach the top floor. Be very careful here. You may
run into monsters called Blasters. These creatures are very dangerous. They
come in groups of two, can do over 20 points of damage each in a single attack,
and each takes *three* hits to kill. Don't hesitate to use Dimates if you need
them, and techniques if you have TP to spare.
If you're in bad shape when you get Teim (or are worried about Blasters),
teleport out. Otherwise, walk it for the EXP. You should definitely be level 13
by the time you're done here.
-----
Oputa
-----
Cross the North Tunnel and head towards Oputa. Once you get there, you can go
back to Paseo and make Amy appear if you'd like. The only equipment upgrade
available in Oputa is the Fibergear. You might as well learn Musik too while
you're here.
Now head towards the Biosystems Lab and spend some time leveling up. In the
area encompassing Oputa and the Biosystems Lab (which are separated by
obstacles) you will encounter monsters you've already fought. There's nothing
particularly dangerous here, but the Vortex can do an appreciable amount of
damage. You'll also run into very weak monsters that will do nothing but waste
your time. In the area to the west of the Lab you'll encounter new monsters:
Locustas, Stingers and Fire-Eyes. These monsters do a good amount of damage per
attack and Stingers and Fire-Eyes take a few hits to kill. You could use Gifoi
or Gra against them, but I prefer to save the TP for healing. In the
entranceway to the Biosystems Lab you'll face even tougher battles. When
fighting two Vortexes and a Spitkill, take out the Spitkill first (due to its
ability to kill you instantly by putting you to sleep). Two Mushrooms will give
you over 200 EXP. You'll also encounter Blasters and Jellys. Jellys are
potentially very dangerous. Their regular attack only does a few points of
damage, but occasionally they'll try to put you to sleep, which will kill you.
Wherever you choose to level, fight until you reach level 16, at which point
you will learn Gires. Use it instead of Res from now on, as it is more
efficient. Load up on Dimates; it's time to tackle the Biosystems Lab.
--------------
Biosystems Lab
--------------
You should be able to make it through the Lab without too many problems. Just
watch out for the monsters who can kill you instantly (Jellys and Spitkills),
and don't get caught with low HP. Be sure to grab the Star Mist on the second
floor (although I would still recommend getting all the items). In a solo game,
Star Mists are no better than Trimates, but you might as well pick it up.
In the basement, you'll run into groups of two Blasters, which can still be
dangerous at this point, and Insectas, which won't be a problem. Once you have
the Recorder, get out of there (via walking or teleportation), head to Paseo to
talk to the governor, make Hugh appear if you'd like, and then it's off to
Zema.
----
Zema
----
When you reach Zema, buy a Titanium Helmet, Boots, and two Laser Knives. You
should have several times more meseta than necessary at this point. The Ceramic
Sword actually has a slightly higher attack value than two Laser Knives, but it
does a lot less damage. If you want, go to Paseo and make Anna appear, and then
head to Kueri.
-----
Kueri
-----
Buy a Titanium Chest in Kueri, sell any Dimates you may have left, and stock up
on Trimates. If you'd like, make Kain appear in Paseo, then teleport back to
Zema and walk to Roron.
Hang around in the entrance area to build up some more. The most significant
new monster here is the Slugmess (you can also encounter them outside Roron).
These monsters are very dangerous, able to do 10-15 points of damage per attack
each. They can also reproduce, making a copy of themselves in an adjacent empty
monster slot. Each copy has the same remaining HP as the original. There can be
as many as 5 of them at any one time. You *will* be using Trimates in battles
with the Slugmess. I strongly suggest using Gizan on them (use Trimates to heal
instead of Gires; save your TP for Gizan), but even then you'll use one or two
Trimates before you defeat them. After three rounds of Gizan (21 TP, which
means you'll only be able to do this about three times per trip) you should be
able to use physical attacks to kill them.
Why fight the Slugmess? You get a *lot* of EXP for killing them. For each
Slugmess you kill, you get 232 EXP. Three Slugmess and two Mushrooms will give
you 896 EXP, and five Slugmess will get you 1,160. What's more, while it's
dangerous, you can intentionally prolong these battles, and generate more and
more Slugmess to kill, by always leaving at least one Slugmess alive. After
three rounds of Gizan (or not), when you're using physical attacks, whenever
you think you would kill all remaining Slugmess in the next round, use the
Defend command until they reproduce. Theoretically, you could prolong this
EXP-generating battle until you run out of Trimate, or even further, until you
run out of TP with which to cast Gires. You can earn well over 10,000 EXP in a
single battle this way. The most EXP I've gotten in one battle from the
Slugmess is 35,315.
It shouldn't take too long to get to level 20.
-----
Roron
-----
Once you're reached at least level 20, you're ready for Roron. At this point, I
was at level 21 with a Max HP of 160 and a Max TP of 80. Your stats may vary,
as the increases on each level are somewhat random.
You don't need either of the items here (though you can get them if you want
some extra EXP). All you need is the Jet Scooter. You shouldn't have much
problem getting to the bottom floor and getting out again. Just beware of
Slugmess. Also beware of Squat, which can poison you. The only way to cure
poison is with an Antidote.
-----
Piata
-----
Once you have the Jet Scooter, head to Piata. Buy a Ceramic Chest for Rolf.
Despite the fact that the Laser Sword has a significantly higher attack value
than the two Laser Knives, the Laser Sword *still* does less damage than the
two knives combined. The only advantages of the sword are the higher defense
value and the fact that it only takes up one slot in your inventory, freeing a
slot for a Trimate. It's your call, but I recommend keeping the knives.
Teleport to Paseo, and make Shir appear at Rolf's house. There are two ways in
which it might be beneficial to cheat here by using Shir. The first is to use
her to steal a Moon Dew from the Item shop. Nei must be alive when you speak to
Neifirst in Climatrol. If you don't use Shir to steal a Moon Dew, you'll be
working Rolf up to level 30 before the Neifirst battle so he can use Rever.
(Another option is to revive Nei at a Clone Lab before the battle, then use the
"no random encounters" trick to reach Neifirst without Nei being killed.) I
didn't bother with the Moon Dew, because I wanted Rolf at level 30 before
Neifirst anyway.
The other use for Shir is to steal a Visiphone from the Baggage Room in the
Central Tower. If you're playing on a Playstation 2 or an emulator (and
therefore have the ability to save at any time) this is useless. However, if
you're playing on a Genesis or Game Boy Advance, I recommend doing this. The
inability to save except when in a town is going to become increasingly more
frustrating as you progress through the game, and the closest save point to
Dark Force and Mother Brain will be Aukba. If you do choose to steal the
Visiphone, you'll have to work Shir up to level 10 first. Keep in mind that the
Visiphone will take up an extra slot in your inventory that would otherwise be
occupied by a Trimate.
Regardless of whether or not you steal a Moon Dew and/or the Visiphone, head to
Uzo.
---
Uzo
---
You should be able to get the Maruera Leaf and get out of here without spending
any more time leveling. The monsters here are more dangerous than those you've
faced previously, though, so expect to use several Trimates.
When you have the Leaf, get out of here, head back to Kueri to get the Maruera
Gum, then go to Climatrol.
---------
Climatrol
---------
Climatrol is tough. In the basement, you will face Slugmess. The other monsters
in the basement can be semi-dangerous, but the Slugmess can be a real pain if
you encounter them repeatedly. It gets slightly easier on floors 1-4. Watch out
for Fanbites though. Rarely, their attack will cause instant death. You don't
need any of the items here, but if you'd like to get them, go ahead. Keep in
mind that floors 6-8 are inhabited by very tough monsters. If you do get the
items here, be sure to go back to town, heal up, and restock on Trimates before
coming back to Climatrol.
On the fifth floor of Climatrol you'll encounter monsters called Blastoids (you
can actually find them in floors 1-4 as well, but they're much more common on
the fifth floor). They come in groups of three. These creatures can reproduce
in the same way that the Slugmess can, but they do a lot less damage. Don't
bother with techs against them; just use physical attacks. Each Blastoid you
kill is worth 371 EXP. By constantly keeping at least one of them alive (like
you did with the Slugmess earlier) and killing them off as they reproduce, you
can earn a large amount of EXP in a small amount of time. You won't have to use
Trimates nearly as often, so you can really rack up the EXP.
Apparently, the maximum amount of EXP you can earn per battle is 65,535. If you
earn more than that, the EXP count resets back to zero and starts over again.
(Meseta does not seem to have this limitation.) Therefore, the maximum number
of Blastoids you should kill in a single battle is 176. This will earn you
65,297 EXP. (Interestingly, 176 * 371 = 65,296, so somehow you're actually
getting an extra 1 EXP.) If you want to be extra cautious (especially if you
can't save during battle), just end the battle after 125-150 kills.
If you don't have a Moon Dew, you'll need to do this until you reach level 30.
That's when Rolf learns Rever. Even if you do have a Moon Dew, though, you
might want to build up to level 30 anyway, to make the upcoming boss fight
easier. Each of these battles can take 30 minutes or more, so it may take quite
some time to reach level 30. By the time you're done, you'll have enough meseta
to last you the rest of the game.
Once you've reached level 30 (and you've healed and restocked on Trimates),
you're ready for Neifirst. Make sure you revive Nei (using Rever or a Moon Dew)
before speaking to Neifirst. Nei will obviously die in one hit, making the real
battle come even quicker.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Boss: Neifirst                                                               |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|HP:      1,100                                                               |
|Attack:  178                                                                 |
|Defense: 10                                                                  |
|Agility: 92                                                                  |
|EXP:     1,111                                                               |
|Meseta:  1,111                                                               |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|At level 30, this is a very easy battle. Cast Nafoi until you run out of TP. |
|You'll do about 130 points of damage per casting. Nathu does only slightly   |
|more damage, but costs much more TP. Don't worry about saving TP for healing;|
|you should have plenty of Trimates left. When you run out of TP, switch to   |
|physical attacks. Each hit should do about 50 damage, combining for about 100|
|damage per round.                                                            |
|                                                                             |
|Neifirst has two attacks: a "claw" attack that does about 25-30 damage, and a|
|"light saber" attack that does about 45-50. Neither of these is a threat at  |
|your level. You should only have to use one Trimate during the course of the |
|battle.                                                                      |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the battle, Nei is gone, and you no longer have to look at her name
during battle and in various Menu screens. Heal at the Hospital, drop off the
Maruera Gum at the Baggage Room, and teleport to Piata.
-------------------
Piata Control Tower
-------------------
If you didn't learn Musik in Oputa, go learn it now. Don't bother restocking on
Trimates unless you're nearly out. There's nothing in here that you should have
a problem with. Just get the cards and get out.
Go back to Paseo and put all the cards in the Baggage Room except for the Red
Card. You'll want to only take the card that you need with you, leaving more
room for Trimates. Restock your Trimates, and head to the Red Dam.
-------
Red Dam
-------
The only item of potential use here is the Sword of Anger. The sword seems to
do about the same damage as two Laser Knives. The advantage of the sword is
that it only takes up one slot in your inventory, freeing a slot for a Trimate.
The disadvantage is that it has no Defense bonus, so your Defense will be 10
less with the sword than with the knives. It's up to you whether you want to
use it or not.
Unfortunately, some of the mechs are very resistant to bladed weapons, and so
they will take several rounds to kill, unless you want to use TP to cast Nafoi
at them. TP is still useful for healing at this point, although it won't be
after the next dungeon. Be especially careful of the Poleziax, which can
paralyze you. A group of four of them can easily kill you if you're unlucky. I
recommend saving after every battle from now until the end of the game, just to
be safe.
Once you've unlocked the dam, go sell anything that needs to be sold, grab the
Yellow Card, heal, restock on Trimates, and go to the Yellow Dam.
----------
Yellow Dam
----------
There are two items that you'll want to pick up here, including perhaps the
most useful item in the game. Once you have the Amber Robe, it will remain in
your inventory for the rest of the game. It casts Gires on you when used in
battle, healing you by 60 HP. It has unlimited uses, but can only be used in
battle. Keeping this item in your inventory will take away a Trimate slot, but
you won't be using Trimates nearly as often anyway with the Amber Robe.
Whenever your current HP is 60 or more below your max HP, use the Amber Robe.
This should be enough to get you through most battles. If you're in bad shape,
use a Trimate. Since the best healing tech you learn is Gires, TP is no longer
useful for healing, since you have an item which casts Gires for free. Feel
free to use Nafoi on the more damage-resistant mechs, but I still recommend
reserving 12 TP for Hinas and Ryuka.
(Note that there are other items in the game that cast Gires, and you could use
them instead if you like, but I'll be referring to the Amber Robe in this guide
because it's the first Gires item you come across in the game. Once you have it
there's no need to pick up any more.)
You'll also find a Crystal Chest in the Yellow Dam, which will provide a needed
boost to your Defense stat (especially if you're using the Sword of Anger).
Unlock the Yellow Dam, grab the Blue Card, restock, and head to the Blue Dam.
--------
Blue Dam
--------
There are several useful items in this dungeon. The first is the Storm Gear,
which casts Gizan on *all* enemies (not just all enemies of a particular type)
when used in battle. The second is the Colorscarf, which casts Saner on you.
The third item that you definitely want to pick up here is the Snow Crown. The
Snow Crown is one of the most useful items in the game, along with the Amber
Robe, because it casts Deban (which significantly reduces the damage you take).
Use the Snow Crown at the beginning of every battle; this will make these
difficult battles much easier.
The other items here aren't useful. When you're done, head back to Paseo. Keep
the Snow Crown, and put the Colorscarf in the Baggage Room for possible later
use. You could also put the Storm Gear away, but I think it's worth keeping in
your inventory to use against highly damage-resistant mechs, especially when
there are two or three of them. You can sacrifice the Trimate slot at this
point, since you're not having to use many of them anyway.
If you have the ability to save at any time (or at least after each battle),
you might want to sell your Antidote(s) as well. It'll free up a spot in your
inventory, and you can always reset if you get poisoned.
---------
Green Dam
---------
Get the Green Card, restock on Trimates, and it's on to the last dam. There's
nothing useful here, so unless you want some extra EXP you can just go directly
to the dam controls. When you unlock the last dam, you're immediately thrust
into battle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Boss: Army Eye (x3)                                                          |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|HP:      3,000                                                               |
|Attack:  35                                                                  |
|Defense: 104                                                                 |
|Agility: 38                                                                  |
|EXP:     2                                                                   |
|Meseta:  0                                                                   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|You can't win this battle, so don't even try. Just keep yourself alive (this |
|should be very easy since they don't do much damage) until the end of the    |
|third round.                                                                 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Gaira
-----
Run from any battles (since that's all you can do), and head to the controls.
When you get back to Paseo, sell anything that's not useful, restock on
Trimates, and take the spaceship to Skure. By this time I was level 32.
-----
Skure
-----
You must get the Mogic Cap before going to any towns. You can also get the
Laconian Chest and Gardaboots if you don't want to buy them in the towns, but
you should have well more than enough meseta at this point.
You'll have to make three separate trips through Skure to get to the three
towns on Dezo. You'll also have to make a fourth trip later when going to
Naval. Other than that, you shouldn't have to deal with this dungeon much.
You can teleport from any of the towns directly to the center of Skure, and, if
the last time you've saved has been with the Visiphone on Dezo, you can cast
Ryuka to be teleported directly to Aukba.
Here's how Ryuka (and Telepipes for that matter) works on Dezo. If the last
place you've saved is at the Data Memory building in one of the towns on Dezo,
then Ryuka will take you to that town. If the last place you've saved is with
the Visiphone, then Ryuka will take you to Aukba. If the last place you've
saved (and by save I mean use the in-game save function that is in all versions
of the game; save states on an emulator or using the Select menu to save in the
PS2 version don't count) is on Mota, then Ryuka will take you to the center of
Skure, right next to the ship. Therefore, as long as you never save on Mota
again, you can just cast Ryuka as soon as you get to Skure to teleport to one
of the Dezo towns (though if you don't have the Visiphone you'll have to wait
until you save at one of the Data Memory buildings on Dezo for the first time).
Go through Skure to each of the three Dezo towns and buy upgraded equipment.
Rabbits can poison you; remember to save after every battle and reset if you're
poisoned, unless you have Antidotes.
-----
Aukba
-----
There's nothing worth buying here, but be sure to save here if you're not
carrying the Visiphone. You want Ryuka to take you back here, not to Skure.
Also, make sure you remember to re-equip Rolf's regular helmet after you're
done in a town. The Mogic Cap is crap.
----
Zosa
----
There's nothing to buy here either. Unfortunately, Rolf can't equip the
Laconian Helmet. You're stuck with the Titanium Helmet until you get the
Neimet. The only reason to come to Zosa now is to ensure that it appears in the
teleport list later.
-----
Ryuon
-----
Here you can finally buy a Laconian Sword. Also pick up a Laconian Chest and
Gardaboots if you didn't get them in Skure. Ryuon is the only town on Dezo that
sells Trimates.
-------
Crevice
-------
Restock on trimates and head to the Crevice. There are no items here, so just
head on through. Be careful though: The Ohx have a special attack that can
eliminate *all* of your TP. You're going to have to walk through this dungeon
at least four times, so learn the route.
-------------
Esper Mansion
-------------
Talk to Lutz and get the Prism (yet another item that you must haul around in
your inventory, taking up space). Now it's time to head to the first of the
"hidden" dungeons, Menobe.
------
Menobe
------
There are eight Nei items in the next four dungeons which you must get. Only
one of them can be equipped. Chances are, you'll have to go back to Paseo to
drop Nei items off in the Baggage Room between dungeons (you can do this after
each dungeon, or wait until after the second or third dungeon).
The Sakoffs can poison you, and Wrestlers can paralyze you, so be careful.
Nazan works pretty well against groups of three Darksides; it'll take about
three rounds of it. Nazan also works against other dangerous enemies, like
Sakoffs, when you face them in groups. Remember to save at least 12 TP for
Hinas and Ryuka, though.
The higher you go in the dungeon, the tougher the monsters become. Be very
careful on the upper floors. Gloswords do a lot of damage, and Mesomans and
Skytiaras can put you to sleep, resulting in instant game over. The Neimet is a
big upgrade from the Titanium Helmet. You'll also pick up the Neicrown here.
------
Guaron
------
You'll run into many of the same dangerous enemies here, including Darksides,
Skytiaras, Wrestlers, Sakoffs, and Mesomans. You'll also find new enemies on
the upper levels. Keep saving after every battle, and be prepared to reset if
things go badly. Don't forget to use the Snow Crown at the beginning of every
battle. You may have noticed that some of these battles are starting to take a
while, and you're having to use the Amber Robe quite frequently. It's only
going to get worse.
When you reach level 35, though, you'll learn Megid, which is useful when
facing an extremely tough battle. Megid will do about 350-450 damage to all
enemies, which is pretty much guaranteed to end a battle immediately. Also,
Megid normally damages all party members except for Rolf by an amount equal to
half their current HP, but since Rolf is alone, there are no other party
members to damage, so there's no downside. However, it costs a whopping 55 TP,
so you'll probably only be able to use it twice (keep in mind the need to save
12 TP).
You'll find the Neicape and Neiarmor here. The Neiarmor is on the top floor,
along with some very powerful enemies. Now might be a good time to use Megid,
if you have the TP. Unfortunately, there is no Neichest for Rolf to equip, so
you're stuck with the Laconian Chest.
-----
Ikuto
-----
You'll have to make at least two trips through this dungeon, to get the Neishot
and the Neislasher, and I recommend using Hinas to escape instead of making
your way to the bottom floor and climbing the stairs. Therefore, you'll need to
save at least an extra 4 TP for Hinas. If you want to get all the items here,
then you'll have to make five trips, requiring four extra castings of Hinas (16
extra TP).
Here the difficulty level picks up a notch. You'll run into the normal enemies
here, which are dangerous enough, but you'll also find new enemies that do even
more damage. Some encounters are particularly problematic, such as three
Gloswords. The Amber Robe can only heal 60 HP per turn, and the Gloswords can
do more than 20 points of damage each per hit. If you find yourself in such a
situation, heal with Trimates instead of the Amber Robe. Don't be afraid to use
Nazan or even Megid if needed; just be mindful of your TP total. If needs be,
run (easier said than done), or just reset if you encounter a battle that you
don't have the resources (Trimates and TP) to handle. You should be saving very
frequently. If you're playing on a Genesis or GBA, and you don't have the
Visiphone, good luck.
-----
Naval
-----
In order to even reach Naval, you must make one more trek through Skure. This
is hopefully the last time you have to spend more than five seconds looking at
the inside of Skure, unless you choose to go without the Mogic Cap later.
In Naval are the last two Nei items that you need to find, the Neishield and
the Neiemel, and getting them will require two trips through the dungeon. As in
previous dungeons, the monsters get stronger the higher you climb. Battles with
two Archdrgns can be problematic, since even after you've used the Snow Crown
they can do 25-30 damage per attack each. Use Trimates to heal, use Megid to
end the battle quickly, or be prepared to spend several rounds using the Amber
Robe for every one round attacking.
Once you've gotten the final Nei items, head back to Paseo.
----
Noah
----
In order to obtain the Neisword and gain access to Noah, you must speak to Lutz
with all eight Nei items in your inventory, *and* an extra empty slot for the
Neisword. This means you're going to have to leave something behind. You need
your four equipped items in your inventory, one of which is the Neimet. You'll
also need the remaining seven Nei items, plus the empty slot for the Neisword,
for a total of 12 slots so far. Two of the remaining four slots will be taken
by the Amber Robe and Snow Crown, leaving you room for two more items.
You shouldn't be carrying any Antidotes, Escapipes, or Telepipes around at this
point in the game, but if you are, leave them behind. You can't sell the Prism,
nor can you drop it off in the Baggage Room (the game won't let you), but you
*can* get rid of it. All you have to do is take another character in your
party, pawn the Prism off on that character, then leave him or her back at the
house. If you feel that this is cheating, then don't do it, but it frees up a
much-needed slot in your inventory. If you're playing on a Genesis or GBA,
there really is no alternative to carrying around the Visiphone. If you're
playing on an emulator or a PS2, you don't have the Visiphone (because you
don't need it), so you don't have to worry about it.
If you don't have the Visiphone, and you got rid of the Prism, then you're all
set. However, if you do have the Visiphone, or if you're keeping the Prism in
your inventory (or both), you'll have to get rid of the Storm Gear, and
possibly the Mogic Cap as well. Leaving behind the Storm Gear is no big deal.
You won't have it with you in Noah anyway, because you won't need it and
another Trimate will be much more useful. Leaving the Mogic Cap behind is more
annoying. You won't be able to do anything in any of the towns on Dezo
(including teleporting to the center of Skure), therefore, once you get the
Neisword and gain access to Noah, you'll have to teleport to Aukba using Ryuka
and then *walk* all the way to the center of Skure.
Regardless, go to the Esper Mansion (through the Crevice), talk with Lutz, and
receive your Neisword. Once you have it, make your way back to Paseo either via
teleportation or on foot.
Put the Nei items (except the Neimet and Neisword, of course) back in the
Baggage Room. Also, leave behind the Storm Gear if you still have it. You need
your four equipped items, the Amber Robe, and the Snow Crown. If you have the
Visiphone, you need that too. You may also have the Prism in your inventory if
you think using another character to get rid of it is cheating. You don't
necessarily need the Mogic Cap, but if you don't bring it, you'll have to walk
back to Paseo after the Dark Force battle in order to restock on Trimates.
Whether an extra Trimate is worth it is up to you. The only other potentially
useful item is the Colorscarf, which you should have in the Baggage Room. The
Colorscarf casts Saner, which increases your agility. This might help you have
your turn before Dark Force's more often. Again, whether it's worth it is up to
you (my recommendation: don't bother). Stock up on Trimates, head back to the
Esper Mansion, and let Lutz send you to Noah.
Whenever you want to leave Noah, you can use the Neisword as an item. This will
teleport you back to the Esper Palace, where you can heal and go right back.
You're going to use this to your advantage to (relatively) quickly level up to
level 50. Walk around Noah until you get into a battle, then immediately cast
Megid to win it. Don't bother with the Snow Crown; just cast Megid. Repeat
until you don't have enough TP to do it again, then use the Neisword, heal, go
back, and repeat the process until you reach level 50. Despite the fact that
you need a total of 6,927,113 EXP to reach level 50, it won't take as long as
you think. You can get 10,000-20,000 EXP per battle. Unfortunately, your
command will not remain Megid from one battle to the next; it switches back to
Attack every time, forcing you to manually select Megid each time. This doesn't
take too long though.
Be sure to save once in a while though. You can still be ambushed, and the
monsters can still poison/kill you before you can do anything. Lutz will *not*
cure poison (although interestingly he will still heal your HP and TP), so if
you're poisoned you must reset (unless you want to teleport to Aukba to cure it
then walk all the way back again). Also, Megid might not kill Fiends
immediately, forcing you to end the battle in another way, so be careful. And,
of course, don't use any Trimates.
The entire process should take no longer than a few hours. Note that this is
also the fastest way to level up at the end of the game during a regular
playthrough; it'll just take longer.
After several hours of leveling up, I finally had the following stats:
Level: 50
Equipment: Neisword, Laconian Chest, Neimet, Gardaboots
HP: 363
TP: 180
Strength: 357
Mental: 278
Agility: 209
Luck: 265
Dexterity: 253
Attack: 412
Defense: 403
(Note: The Attack, Defense, and Agility stats are with weapons and armor
equipped.)
I list these stats for the purpose of comparison. Stat gains on level up are
somewhat random (see section VII) so your stats may vary significantly. If your
stats are higher than mine, the final boss battles may be easier than what I
describe. If your stats are significantly lower, you might have a tougher time
than I did. My stats were actually below average for level 50. Hopefully you
have at least 165 TP so you can cast Megid three times in a row (if you
actually have 220 TP, and can therefore cast it four times, so much the
better).
Now that you're as strong as you're going to get, you're as ready as you'll
ever be for Dark Force. Make your way through Noah, avoiding using TP or any
Trimates. Save frequently and heal with the Amber Robe (don't forget to use the
Snow Crown too). Or you can just use the "no encounters trick" (push the
"examine" button repeatedly while walking) and not have to worry about random
encounters at all. Make sure you're at full health and save before you open the
treasure chest.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Boss: Dark Force                                                             |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|HP:      2,560                                                               |
|Attack:  320                                                                 |
|Defense: 30                                                                  |
|Agility: 148                                                                 |
|EXP:     2,222                                                               |
|Meseta:  0                                                                   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Dark Force is so big it takes up most of the top half of the screen,         |
|preventing you from seeing how much damage you're doing to it; don't worry,  |
|though, your hits are connecting.                                            |
|                                                                             |
|Dark Force has two attacks: a regular attack that hits you for about 50      |
|damage (after you've used the Snow Crown), and a hypnosis attack that turns  |
|you "evil." The hypnosis attack inflicts one of six unique status ailments   |
|upon you, described below:                                                   |
|                                                                             |
|"Turns doubtful": you do less damage and have a greater chance of missing.   |
|                                                                             |
|"Loses confidence": you cannot use any techniques.                           |
|                                                                             |
|"Gets lazy": your agility decreases, making it more likely that Dark Force   |
|will have its turn before yours.                                             |
|                                                                             |
|"Crushed by despair": you can't do anything; you just stand there.           |
|                                                                             |
|"Turns greedy": you try to steal items from your party members (but of course|
|you don't have any). In other words, you just stand there, unable to do      |
|anything.                                                                    |
|                                                                             |
|"Turns traitor": you try to flee every round, but are unsuccessful. Again,   |
|this means that you can't do anything.                                       |
|                                                                             |
|In my experience, when you're afflicted with the "turns doubtful" and "gets  |
|lazy" effects (and possibly "loses confidence" as well), there is a chance   |
|each round that you will do nothing at all. Obviously, the last three effects|
|are very bad, and may result in a game over screen.                          |
|                                                                             |
|However, at random (but only when you have been hypnotized with one of these |
|six effects), the Neisword will glow and the hypnosis will be dispelled.     |
|There's no way to make this happen; it's just a matter of luck. But if you   |
|get hit with one of the three debilitating status effects, you still have a  |
|chance.                                                                      |
|                                                                             |
|When you are not hypnotized, Dark Force seems to use its regular attack about|
|half the time and its hypnosis attack about half the time. When you're       |
|hypnotized, Dark Force will not try to hypnotize you with another effect (you|
|can only be afflicted with one effect at once), and will use its regular     |
|attack every time. After the Neisword dispels the hypnosis, Dark Force is    |
|free to hypnotize you again, and which effect you get is random.             |
|                                                                             |
|Despite all of that, this is actually a very simple battle. The first thing  |
|you should do is to use the Snow Crown. If you have the Colorscarf, you can  |
|use it too, but your Agility should be high enough that you don't need it.   |
|Then cast Megid until you don't have enough TP to cast it anymore. After     |
|that, if you have enough TP, you can use Nathu or Nafoi if you like;         |
|otherwise, attack physically. When your HP drops perilously low, use a       |
|Trimate.                                                                     |
|                                                                             |
|And that's it. This battle is mostly a matter of luck. If you get hit with a |
|bad hypnosis effect, and the Neisword doesn't dispel it, you may have to     |
|reset. If you're playing on an emulator or a PS2, you can save during battle.|
|This means that you can save every round, and reset if you get hypnotized (or|
|at least if you get a bad effect). If you have to reset several times in a   |
|row because Dark Force keeps hypnotizing you, try varying your timing. Wait a|
|few seconds before taking your action. Sometimes it can affect what Dark     |
|Force does. If you think that saving during battle is cheating, by all means |
|refrain. It shouldn't take too many tries before you win.                    |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You've just won the most difficult battle in the game. Use the Neisword, heal,
and restock on Trimates. If you don't have the Mogic Cap with you, you'll have
to walk from Aukba to Paseo. If you do have it with you, you might as well
leave it behind in Paseo this time; you won't need it anymore.
Make your way from Aukba to the Esper Mansion, walking through the Crevice yet
again (for the final time), and head back to Noah. As you did on the way to
Dark Force, refrain from using TP or Trimates on the way to Mother Brain