||Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk||
|| A Guide to Gladsheim ||
()--------------------------------------()
Copyright 2008, Raymond Cheung (memnarch6, cyndaquill6@hotmail.com)
- This document cannot be distributed publicly without my permission.
- All characters and trademarks of this game belong to Namco, Bandai, etc.
- Obligatory Spoilers Reminder.
Version 1.0
Index
-----
1) Version History [VER]
2) What is Gladsheim [GLA]
3) Gladsheim Facts [GLF]
4) Floor Strategies [FLS]
5) Album Atrum, Revisited [AAR]
6) Miscellaneous [MIS]
7) Special Thanks [THA]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
()========================()
||1) Version History [VER]||
()========================()
Version Number, Date - Updates
1.0, 12/15/2008 - Got the last holes filled in. All relevant data about how to
do Gladsheim available.
0.8, 12/14/2008 - Rough copy of FAQ complete. Some elements missing, but for the
most part, ready.
0.1, 11/28/2008 - Gladsheim Thread started on Message Board.
()=====================()
||2) What is Gladsheim||
()=====================()
You know how in RPGs, there's that optional dungeon full of crazy things and is
ridiculously baffling the first time through, then annoying on consecutive runs
This is the one for Tales of Symphonia II. Imagine it a mirror to the Book to
Niflheim from Tales of Symphonia. A twisted, broken, jagged-edged mirror.
Gladsheim is, similarly to Niflheim, a randomly-generated dungeon. The change
Each level's random generation literally takes 20 to 30 minutes to deal with.
This dungeon tends to be a headache. A bad headache. Bring some aspirin and
water, because you're going to need it.
()========================()
||3) Gladsheim Facts [GLF]||
()========================()
The most important thing about Gladsheim is that you cannot directly access it
the first time you play. Gladsheim opens up in Chapter 8, after Lloyd joins your
team, and if you are playing a New Game+ (second run or beyond).
Gladsheim consists of ten floors. In order to advance past a floor, you must
destroy the four non-Archdemon enemies on that floor. Archdemons are the creepy
blue guys dual-wielding those jagged swords. Each floor of Gladsheim, bar the
tenth, is an 8x8 square. Those non-Archdemon enemies lurk at the corners of each
level (the corners of the square).
Each room, except for four-way rooms, has a seal and a chest. In order to unlock
the chest, you must defeat the enemy atop of the seal. In the majority of these
rooms, Archdemons will be atop the seals. At the four corners of the map,
non-Archdemon enemies will rest on the seals. Items in the chests will vary;
however, the higher up you are, the better of a reward you can expect.
The reprieve offered by the game creators is a save circle at the entrance to
Floors 3 and 6. This gives you the opportunity to segment your journey through
the Underworld Labyrinth and not have to sit in front of your TV for 4 to 5
hours trying to get to the corners each time. Unfortunately, they're the Yellow
Save Circles, so you'll want to be stocked up on supplies before entering.
At any time, if you are at the entrance of a Floor (or, in general, a blue
portal), you are given the option to leave Gladsheim. If you do, you will be
freed from the torture of continuing it, but as a drawback, when you re-enter,
it will be at Floor 1, with the maze entirely re-randomized. Damned if you do,
damned if you don't.
Remember what I said about random level generations The game generates the
Floor patterns as you go, so you can't save on Floor 3, map out Floor 4, and
reload to save time. Namco thought this one through, you know. Well, not enough,
I'd say. It's really a devilish place, so try not to freak out because you're
lost.
Finally, one last note. The entryway does not spawn at the center each time.
Random generation means "Let's plop you down wherever we feel like it so you
struggle in order to find a corner!" The only saving grace is that the entryway
room is that it cannot be on a corner or an edge, since all entryways are four-
way rooms.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, shall we proceed with some strategies
in proceeding past this place
()=========================()
||4) Floor Strategies [FLS]||
()=========================()
--=Stock Up=--
This is rather important. Don't go in blindly and expect to do fine. You're
usually in the area of Level 50 by the time this place opens up on your second
run. Monsters inside will beat the stuffing out of you, so load up.
Side Note: Don't max out on Lemon, Pineapple, or Miracle Gels. They tend to be
the contents of the chests on earlier Floors (1-3).
--=Old Symphonia Cast=--
Avoid using the Symphonia characters inside Gladsheim. Let's be honest, they're
capped at level 50. Monsters, on average, seem to be around Level 90 or higher.
They will get beaten. They will run around like headless chickens. You'll be
wasting Life Bottles. Note that I do not believe in forbidding them, but rather
monsters will do a better job down in there. Old Symphonia members just need to
be watched carefully. Five hits of an Archdemon's Absolute can weaken Emil, but
it will destroy Genis.
Personal Tip: If your other party members are drained of TP, rotate them with
Symphonia members for several battles. This way, the TP you get at the end of
battle will slowly accrue and return to your favored battlers.
--=Training/Farming=--
Should you feel unprepared for Gladsheim initially, feel free to attack a couple
of monsters near the entryway. They tend to be loaded with decent base EXP, so
ratch up your hit combo to make each battle count.
Archdemons come in pairs and are accompanied by an oversized enemy (Bat, Plant,
Ghost, or Polwigle). These enemies are over level 100 and have a hefty HP count.
This makes them prime targets of high hit combos, since they'll withstand your
barrage multiple times. The best part is that they usually carry a Philosopher's
Stone to be stolen (Marta's Roaring Phoenix or Colette's Item Thief should do
the trick), as well as high-level Manuscripts for monster experience as a drop
item.
--=Search Strategies=--
The center room will randomly spawn on the interior of the 8x8 grid (the smaller
6x6 square inside the 8x8 one). Your best bet is to choose a corner and map
your way there as fast as possible. The dungeon tends to make multiple loops and
dead ends, so patience is key.
Remember that the only rooms that can be at corners are the Two-Way Rooms or
Dead-End Rooms. Once you finish off the fourth non-Archdemon, the portal will
appear on the seal, allowing you to proceed to the next level. Keep in mind that
on Floors 3 and 6, you may want to make the portal appear close to the Save
Circle at the entryway. That way, you'll give yourself a decent back-up should
power go out or you shut your Wii off in frustration.
--=Mapping Tips=--
Remember when I told you to grab pencil and paper to create a map Here are some
basics things you can do to map your path.
1) Never presume where the center is.
- The entrance room is randomly set on the map, so don't think about using graph
paper and plopping the center at 4,4 or something.
2) As you enter each room, mark the ways out of it.
- The first time you run through, you'll probably be stumped for the most part
as to what pattern the rooms are. Scout out an entire room without getting
ambushed by an enemy, and you'll notice where the exits are.
3) Use a specific set of symbols.
- My personal legend when I made my maps was to use a cross for a four-way room,
a T-shape for three-ways rooms, a straight line (-) for a two-way room, a
L-shape for a corner room (the portals form a right angle), and a dash plus a
circle or box to indicate a dead-end room. The circle indicates a corner of the
map, the square indicates a dead-end that is not a corner.
4) Only L-shapes and dead-ends can have non-Archdemons.
- Since Gladsheim is designed to have the monsters at the four corners, the only
two types of rooms that can exist at corners are the dead-end rooms or the
right-angle two-way rooms.
--=Room Types=--
Well, I guess this'll make your life easier...
The dungeon is naturally shaped like an X. These room maps can be rotated 45
degrees clockwise to make things easier for you.
Corner Rooms Legend
------------ ------
[] ^, V, <, > - Portal (Entrance/Exit)
[ ] T - Tortoise (Monster #107)
[][K][S][K][>] K - Lusca (Monster #117)
[T] I - Incognito (Monster #153)
[V] D - Demon (Monster #159)
L - Lamia (Monster #162)
[] B - Bakunawa (Monster #175)
[ ] A - Aello (Monster #100)
[<][I][S][ ][] T - Chirpee (Monster #084)
[D] S - Seal (May have an Archdemon or something else on it)
[V] - Chest Location (can appear in either spot)
[^]
[L]
[<][B][S][ ][]
[ ]
[]
[^]
[A]
[][T][S][A][>]
[ ]
[]
Dead-End Rooms Legend
-------------- ------
[ ][ ][ ] ^, V, <, > - Portal (Entrance/Exit)
[ ][S][ ] B - Bakunawa (Monster #175)
[ ] Z - Bastiage (Monster #187)
[][B][ ][Z][] G - Ice Titan (Monster #210)
[V] E - Epitaph (Monster #220)
I - Incognito (Monster #153)
[] T - Tortoise (Monster #107)
[G] [ ][ ] D - Demon (Monster #159)
[<][ ][ ][S][ ] L - Lamia (Monster #162)
[E] [ ][ ] S - Seal (May have an Archdemon or something else on it)
[] - Chest Location (can appear in either spot)
[^]
[][I][ ][T][]
[ ]
[ ][S][ ]
[ ][ ][ ]
[]
[ ][ ] [D]
[ ][S][ ][ ][>]
[ ][ ] [L]
[]
Two-Way Rooms Legend
------------- ------
[][N][] ^, V, <, > - Portal (Entrance/Exit)
[ ] [ ] N - Neurotica (Monster #073)
[<][ ][S][ ][>] P - Popsicle (Monster #068)
[ ] [ ] C - Chimera (Monster #053)
[][P][] H - Hippogryph (Monster #058)
S - Seal (May have an Archdemon or something else on it)
[^] - Chest Location (can appear in either spot)
[][C][ ][H][]
[ ] [S] [ ]
[][ ][ ][ ][]
[V]
Three-Way Rooms Legend
--------------- ------
[^] ^, V, <, > - Portal (Entrance/Exit)
[][O][ ] O - Orion (Monster #028)
[S] [ ][H][>] M - Mandocello (Monster #005)
[][M][ ] H - Hippogryph (Monster #058)
[V] T - Chirpee (Monster #084)
A - Aello (Monster #100)
[][S][] K - Lusca (MOnster #117)
[T] [K] N - Neurotica (Monster #073)
[<][ ][ ][ ][>] C - Chimera (Monster #053)
[A] P - Popsicle (Monster #068)
[V] B - Bastiage (Monster #187)
E - Epitaph (Monster #220)
[^] G - Ice Titan (Monster #210)
[ ][N][] S - Seal (May have an Archdemon or something else on it)
[<][C][ ] [S] - Chest Location (can appear in either spot)
[ ][P][]
[V]
[^]
[E]
[<][ ][ ][ ][>]
[B] [G]
[][S][]
Four-Way Rooms Legend
-------------- ------
[^] ^, V, <, > - Portal (Entrance/Exit)
[M] O - Orion (Monster #028)
[<][O][ ][O][>] M - Manodcello (Monster #005)
[M]
[V] Note: Four-way rooms have no Seals or Chests.
()===============================()
||5) Album Atrum, Revisited [AAR]||
()===============================()
Once you reach the tenth floor, you can pretty much go in any direction. The
four portals will take you to dead-end rooms; atop the seal is Album Atrum. If
you've visited the Twilight Palace before this, you'll remember how annoying he
was. The benefit this time He's alone. The drawback He's Level 200. Good luck!
Okay, on a more serious note, let's give some data and strategies.
(Data based on a Normal battle.)
Album Atrum
Level 200
Darkness Element
HP -
EXP - 65,000
Gald -
/---------------------------
| Drop - Amethyst |
| Drop - Kismet |
|Steal - Philosopher's Stone|
---------------------------/
Album Atrum has three states: normal, physical, elemental. The normal state is
his initial state: he'll be susceptible to most any attack. At times, he will
glow and convert his state to physical or elemental. The most noticable change
is that his face should rotate from brown to blue. When his face is blue, he is
physically resistant. When his face is brown, he is elementally resistant. While
he is in the physical state, physical attacks will be effectively nullified.
Physical attacks, such as swords, kicks, or the like, will be reduced to 1.
Likewise, Mystic Artes of that alignment will be effectively rendered useless.
The elemental state renders spells useless: they'll do 1 damage. Spell-based
Mystic Artes will do little to nothing.
Strategies
Avoid letting him cast spells like Meteor Storm or Ground Dasher. Keep part of
your Unison Gauge filled at times, to cancel his attacks. If you're having
trouble filling your Gauge, aim for high-hitting combos. Raining Fangs can hit
four times and Sword Rain Alpha can optimally hit eight or nine times. Combined
with your allies hitting him, your Gauge should easily refill over time.
Optimize for his state. If he's currently Physical, spam spells in order to deal
damage while you keep him stunned, even if it means doing only 1 damage per hit.
If he's Elemental, switch your focus over to beating the stuffing out of him.
Keep in mind that sometimes, he will not make it fully clear that his status
changes, so you want to test the waters by hitting him once or twice.
Album Atrum has a lot of HP. A lot. Shortcut multi-hit artes for your NPCs and
keep him stunned. If he can't regain his composure, he won't switch his status,
cast devastating spells, or teleport away from you. Not to mention that if you
keep the combo going, the experience gain will be amazing.
Watch for the elemental field alignment. Avoid Darkness-aligned arte usage:
should the main element become Dark, he will slowly regain HP, and you don't
want that. Remember that Emil has SP skills that grant elemental alignments on
certain artes. Keep that in mind when clearing up the field.
Kismet, a rare Spinner, has approximately a 5% drop rate. It can be very
frustrating since it only drops and cannot be stolen. Bringing Presea can be
helpful: she has two Item Finder skills that can increase the drop rate. Besides
that, some monsters have Item Finder skills on their own, or can be taught them
(Message: Hawkeye) through books. Finally, one of the monster statues, Arcanum
Wings, offers additional drop rate, so if you make or find any, equip them to a
monster participating in the battle. The other alternative is to get a monster
with the synch Sigh of Luck, which increases the drop rate at the end of the
battle each time it activates during combat.
Once beaten, Album Atrum will retreat into Gladsheim, daring you to come and
try your hand again one day. And thus, you will be freed from your hours-long
odyssey in Gladsheim.
()======================()
||6) Miscellaneous [MIS]||
()======================()
In each room, bar the four-way rooms and floor 10, is an item chest that cannot
be unlocked without breaking the seal in that room. You kill the enemy on top of
a seal, you will unlock the chest and can open it. There is a general pool of
items each floor's chests draw from.
Floors 1-3
----------
- Mid-tier Gels (Lemon, Pineapple, Miracle)
- Sage
- Savory
- Base level crafting items
Floors 4-6
----------
- Mid-tier Gels (Lemon, Pineapple, Miracle)
- Blue Herbs
- Mid-tier crafting items
- Symbol accessories (Holy, Spirit, Mystic, etc.)
Floors 7-9
----------
- Mid-tier Gels (Lemon, Pineapple, Miracle)
- High-tier Gels (Specific/Treat)
- Blue and Red Herbs
- High-tier crafting items
- High-tier spellbooks (Resurrection, Meteor Storm, Gravity Well, Prism Sword)
+-----------------+
|Special Equipment|
+-----------------+
To make your journey(s) in Gladsheim sufferably bad, the makers inserted special
unique equipments along the way on Floors Two through Nine. They will appear at
random in Item Chests in rooms ( on the above grids). (Thanks to TinyMidget for
posting all of the item descriptions on the thread.)
Floor Two
---------
Name: Crossroad
Character: Marta
Type: Glove (Arm)
P. DEF +10, A. DEF +14
Effect: Resist Sick 1, LUCK Increase 3
Description: Gloves crafted by the fairy of the spinning wheel. They are able to
heal sickness.
Floor Three
-----------
Name: Soul Forge
Character: Emil
Type: Gauntlet (Arm)
P. DEF +31, A. DEF +18
Effect: Relax, Regenerate 1
Description: Gauntlets with souls of all monsters sealed within. They can change
color depending on the angle.
Floor Four
----------
Name: Puppet's Ribbon
Character: Marta
Type: Ribbon (Head)
P. DEF +14, A. DEF +18
Effect: Happiness 2, DEX Increase 2
Description: A ribbon crafted after the puppet master in the "Melody of the
Abyss."
Floor Five
----------
Name: Rogue's Bandanna
Character: Emil
Type: Bandanna (Head)
P. DEF +13, A. DEF +8
Effect: Item Finder 2, DEX Increase 2
Description: Bandanna crafted after the bandit in "Relic Ship Wars."
Floor Six
---------
Name: Prime Evil
Character: Marta
Type: Cloak (Body)
P. DEF +119, A. DEF +158
Effect: Accelerate, Light Element
Description: A cloak with mysterious powers. It is said to be an incomplete
manifestation of Tenebrae.
Floor Seven
-----------
Name: Trick Bind
Character: Marta
Type: Spinner (Weapon)
P. ATK +299, A. ATK +395
Effect: Delay, Concentrate 2, Speed Decrease Attack 2
Description: A spinner that is said to be made by the devil. It is said to be
blessed by the beloved of light.
Floor Eight
-----------
Name: Incinerator
Character: Emil
Type: Armor (Body)
P. DEF +152, A. DEF +88
Effect: Resist Paralysis 1, Resist Ice 1, P. ATK Increase 1
Description: A breastplate forged with steel of evil fire that emits high
temperature.
Floor Nine
----------
Name: Mesmeric Trance
Character: Emil
Type: Sword (Weapon)
P. ATK +495
Effect: Poison Attack 3, HP Decrease 1
Description: A sword that emits miasma from the blade. It is said to be an
incomplete manifestation of Ratatosk.
Note that I do not actually know the exact effect of each piece of equipment;
you're better off researching that elsewhere.
()=======================()
||7) Special Thanks [THA]||
()=======================()
First of, a bunch of thanks to:
- My brother, for helping me gather info in the US release of ToS II.
- LadyCelebi249, TinyMidget, and other posters on the Gladsheim thread on the
ToS II board.
- Raging_Time for his Monster Breeding FAQ for monster numbers/IDs.
- Namco/Bandai for creating the game, but not the dungeon, since it's a terrible
excuse for a timesink.
I hope this FAQ helped you on your journey through the Underworld. Until next
time...
-Raymond
