Gaming Star Ocean

[Rachmaninoff]

Well I?m playing it on the normal level since you can?t earn battle trophies on the easiest level. And so far it?s going along just fine. I?ve gotten past the first big plot spoiler where you find out more about Fayt. I wasn?t too surprised since the whole story had been indicating that [spoiler] the force that attacked the planet he was on in the beginning were after him. [/spoiler] It did have a nice spiffy cut scene that I enjoyed.

And now I have another member on my team. Maria isn?t too bad and she?s pretty cute, but she has the most boring and uninspired sayings in battle. And her self important ones when she levels up kind of grate on my nerves. Anyway, I?m now on my way to the Shrine of Kadan.

I?m still liking it, though I kind of wish I could do more customization, but at this point in the game I can?t recruit very many inventors yet. Still it was useful for whipping up a bunch of healing items since you can only carry so many of one type. So having more than one option to cure a status issue or health is nice.

I also did what you suggested SunfallE and spent the time needed to get the regeneration symbols. Those are unbelievably useful. I think the game would be annoying me at this point if I didn?t have them to equip on my characters.

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkRed][quote name='SunfallE][COLOR=RoyalBlue] I was rather fond of using Albel in my party and I ended up with what is known as the [spoiler] Fayt & Albel ending. [/spoiler] The parts about the rest of the characters were a bit on the whatever side for me, but the final part right before the end where it shows you what [spoiler] Fayt & Albel are up to now that the universe has been saved was just too funny. ^_^ [/spoiler'][/COLOR][/quote]I got the same ending. Hehe, it was priceless, I just laughed and laughed when I saw the part with [spoiler] Fayt & Albel. [/spoiler]

I haven?t started on the bonus dungeons though since I?ve been too caught up in playing Twilight Princess. But I definitely intend to go back and do so. Over all my opinion of the game is very similar to what you posted. The one thing that disappointed me in the end was the lack of a [spoiler] finishing blow. [/spoiler] After the big revelation in the first part of the game that Fayt [spoiler] was a type of living weapon. [/spoiler] I was expecting some sort of manifestation of that [spoiler] ability to finish off the creator. [/spoiler] So that was a let down for me.

Still as much fun as I had playing the game it wasn?t enough to keep it from being one of my favorite games ever. And I still think Fayt is absolutely adorable. :catgirl: [/COLOR]

[Rachmaninoff]

Well I finished the Shrine of Kadan and then the following section where you go to the desert. And of all things I?m now on my way to pick up [spoiler] Albel the Wicked. [/spoiler] After the few times I?ve run into him I?m thinking that he?s going to be rather interesting to [spoiler] have as a party member. [/spoiler]

I can?t imagine that he?s going to be very happy about it. I would imagine someone like that in real life would rather [spoiler] kill you than work with you, especially after your party humiliated him when you defeated him in battle. [/spoiler] Good thing it?s just a game right? ;)

I still wish I was at a point where I could do more customizing. I?ve picked up some more inventors, but I understand I?m not to the point where I can really beef up my weapons yet.

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]I positively love having [spoiler] Albel the Wicked [/spoiler] as one of my party members. His sayings in battle and when he levels up still never fail to crack me up and he?s wonderfully aggressive, making him a good front line character in battle.

If you haven?t used the book that grants a character the ability to use healing symbology yet, Albel is an excellent choice since unlike Nel and a few others; he actually will pull back and use it before it?s too late. I usually do not have Nel in my final party since she simply will not use her healing spells effectively and dies all the time. Where Albel, Cliff and Fayt can and do use them effectively in battle when you are not controlling their character. And now that I?m on the hard level, that really makes a difference.

Speaking of customization, I finally got to the point where I could upgrade my weapons with both attack and a defense boost. I really missed having that. lol! You actually aren?t that far off from reaching that point and if you find yourself ready to go after [spoiler]Croswell and haven?t upgraded yet. [/spoiler] Be sure to pester me for tips since you will want to upgrade before you take on that battle. You can still do so a little later, but some of the upcoming battles before you can will be a total pain in the butt if you haven?t upgraded them at that point.[/COLOR]

[Rachmaninoff]

Well after getting sidetracked on other things I got back into playing this game. And I must say that twist with the [spoiler]Executioners was really sucking me in until we ended up in 4D space. [/spoiler] Here I was falling for the [spoiler]religious twist [/spoiler] only for the game to yank that one out from under my feet. It was a combination of being annoyed since I was looking forward to putting the hurt on the [spoiler]Creator [/spoiler] and yet finding it funny that your characters [spoiler] weren't even real. lol [/spoiler]

I have reached the point where I am back on Elicoor II and I've been customizing things before I tackle the company that made the [spoiler]Eternal Sphere since the monsters certainly went from being fairly easy to unbelievably hard. I died several times trying to get to the time gate! o_O [/spoiler] Anyway as soon as I finish making my weapons and armor a bit better I'm going to go back into [spoiler] 4D space and take on the next challenge. [/spoiler]

Oh and I agree [spoiler]Albel the Wicked[/spoiler] is wonderfully aggressive and I now have them in my main fighting party. And those snarky replies they use are great.

[Kirra]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I STILL haven't beaten this game. I stopped playing it for a while when I got Kingdom Hearts 2, then I came back to play it, couldn't beat the final boss still, and then I went to go train, but I forgot how to get back to where he was. :animecry: So yeah. Also I was never able to get [spoiler]Albel the Wicked[/spoiler], I don't know how.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[FONT=Tahoma]Just noticed I've never posted in this thread...amazing how this slipped by me. But in any case, rather then go on about my experiences and what not i'll just say that i've beaten the game quite a while ago yet I still enjoy going back to it every now and run around in [spoiler]the maze of tribulations or the Sphere corporation[/spoiler] and whatnot. A friend of mine is playing through it for the first time and I've rather been enjoying reliving the main storyline with her as she plays through it while I'm around.

Indeed Albel is an awesome character, probably my favorite in the game personality and fighting style wise, eventhough generally he isn't all that terrific of a fighter in comparison to the majority of the other party members. Even [spoiler]Dragons Roar[/spoiler] leaves a lot to be desired in terms of versatility, despite it being a wickedly cool looking move. With Albel specifically I haven't gotten any of his advanced moves yet. At the point he is at though, he is relatively still not as capable as my stronger characters so I can't imagine his item granted special attacks proving too useful for that aspect.

In almost any party I use, Maria and Nel are almost always my lead characters for many reasons, including them being my favorite characters for short and long range versatility in attacks, great flow for cancel bonuses, greatest ability for battle bonus preservation, and (in Maria's case) ample battle mediation skills. [spoiler]Gravity Bullet, Mirror Slice, Crescent Locus, Flying Guillotine, Energy Burst, Divine Wrath[/spoiler] are just some of the absolute best skills in the game for mid-high level stakes respectively. I take good care of my leading ladies :).

In addition to a real fantastic story and follow through, great characters and gameplay, and fun and challenging battle system, Star Ocean also has terrific replay value. It procures quite a special place in my heart ;P. [/FONT]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][quote name='Kirra][COLOR=RoyalBlue][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I STILL haven't beaten this game. I stopped playing it for a while when I got Kingdom Hearts 2, then I came back to play it, couldn't beat the final boss still, and then I went to go train, but I forgot how to get back to where he was. :animecry: So yeah. Also I was never able to get [spoiler]Albel the Wicked[/spoiler], I don't know how.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]If you are to the final boss of the game, getting Albel isn't possible. Since at that point you've already got all of your final team members. If you're planning on playing it again then one way to help you end up with [spoiler]Albel is when you run into Roger and he wants to join your party, this happens when you are going to rescue the flower girl, Anyway, be sure to say no. [/spoiler]

Also there are certain character interactions that determine who Fayt likes the most. One even that helps is when you first get Albel in your party. Go to Peterny and stay in the inn there as that will trigger a skit if you will. At the end you will be given two choices to a question that [spoiler] Albel asks Fayt. Be sure to pick the one that says 'not really' as that makes Albel like Fayt. When you are done there, leave the inn and go down the street to find him walking there. Talk to him again and when he asks you a question about the war, you need to choose the option that his country should have been more ruthless. [/spoiler]

There are other points that will help you end up with him in your party, but if you still end up with Nel or Roger, the moment you can return to other worlds, before you head to the [spoiler]Sphere Company in 4D space. [/spoiler] return to Elicoor II and head for where [spoiler]Croswell is. Albel will be there training since he's preparing to beat you. He'll challenge you to a fight and if you win you'll get the option to add him to your party.[/spoiler]

There are other things you can do, but I'm not where my game guide is at the moment. ;) He's definitely one of my favorite characters and in my opinion, well worth starting the game over so I can have him in my party. [/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkRed][QUOTE=SunfallE][COLOR=RoyalBlue]I usually do not have Nel in my final party since she simply will not use her healing spells effectively and dies all the time. Where Albel, Cliff and Fayt can and do use them effectively in battle when you are not controlling their character. And now that I?m on the hard level, that really makes a difference.
[/COLOR][/QUOTE]Yeah, I noticed that too now that I'm playing the hard level. Good lord that woman is good at dying! It's freaking annoying! Since I don't like controlling her I prefer to control Fayt. :animesigh I was glad to finally reach the point where I had someone else in my party, even if it was Maria since I don't really care for her either.[quote name='Kirra][COLOR=RoyalBlue][FONT=Comic Sans MS]I STILL haven't beaten this game. I stopped playing it for a while when I got Kingdom Hearts 2, then I came back to play it, couldn't beat the final boss still, and then I went to go train, but I forgot how to get back to where he was. :animecry: So yeah. Also I was never able to get [spoiler]Albel the Wicked[/spoiler], I don't know how.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]Another way to make sure you have Albel in your party is when you get the chance to add Peppita be sure to say no since telling her yes ends the possibility of having Albel in your final party if you don't already have him. I rather like Peppita and her dance moves that boost your parties abilities so since I usually have Albel I tend to pick her as one of my final characters. ^_^

My final party tends to be Fayt, Albel, Cliff and Peppita. I just rotate characters out every now and then. My all time favorite combo is Fayt, Albel and Cliff though since once you reach the point where you can set the [spoiler]no guard battle skill so they don't get sent flying when hit [/spoiler] those three really dish out the damage as well as each one is good at pulling back and healing when you need them too.

Fayt has good symbology skills as well as the physical ones like side kick and dimension door. And Cliff's Hammer of Might combined with default settings of increase hp/mp hits really dishes out the damage as well as his Acrobat Locus attack. And Albel, my favorite after Fayt, is wonderfully aggressive. ^_^ I love using a combo of his double slash along with the Dragon Roar, which when you are fighting meaner enemies does quite a bit of damage. That and I love his sayings in battle. Hehe.

So if you plan on it, definitely start over, and give it a try. I love having Albel in my party. Like SunfallE mentioned earlier I too customized my characters really well, so beating the game on the normal level was fairly easy. I took that final boss down in under five minutes as well. I'm looking forward to kicking butt when I get there on the hard level. ^_^

Though if you simply want to beat it, following the advise she gave about customizing your weapons with the [spoiler]boots of prowess [/spoiler] will make it much easier for your characters to win. If you want the details just go back a page or two in the thread, since she listed other tips that help as well. ^_^[/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[FONT=Tahoma]Indeed customization and tradeskills have done quite a good job of running me down on money, heh. Though I can't really imagine what else I would have used the money on, except the usual healing items and whatnot. Synthesis, compounding, and crafting are especially handy to delve into, in fact synthesis is pretty much compulsory :p.[/FONT]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkRed][quote name='BKstyles][FONT=Tahoma']Indeed customization and tradeskills have done quite a good job of running me down on money, heh. Though I can't really imagine what else I would have used the money on, except the usual healing items and whatnot. Synthesis, compounding, and crafting are especially handy to delve into, in fact synthesis is pretty much compulsory :p.[/FONT][/quote]Hehe I agree, also another good thing to do is to when you first get access to the Fighting Arena is to enter the Team Battle level C since you can win it six times and earn a Tri-Emblum for equipping on your characters. You can't customize it and it's not available to buy until you get to the Maze of Tribulations. But it's a wonderful item to put on your character since it adds huge variety of effects. Starting with increasing your recovery strength at the end of battle, but that's not all...

Adds earth defense (1/2 damage) Adds water defense (1/2 damage) Adds fire defense (1/2 damage) Adds wind defense (1/2 damage) +5 Battle Bonus Gauge increase, -40% Battle Skill HP use, But best of all... [B]100% instant incapacitation prevention[/B] as well as raising normal attack decision by 2

Equip that along with the symbol of regeneration that restores MP at a fixed rate in battle and your set! And if you don't have symbols of regeneration, SunfallE already mentioned where to find them earlier in the thread. ^_~

Combing customization with great stuff to put on your characters is great fun. I especially like the protection against instant death since those attacks and spells are annoying. Well only when I'm not the one using them. Hehe. ^_^[/COLOR]

[Kirra]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=RoyalBlue]I went back to playing today and I went to Peternia, but I didn't find Albel there. Does anyone know where he might be and how to get there? Right now I'm in 4D space at...Gemini? (The game place) I'm using the world transporter there to go places.
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[QUOTE=Kirra][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=RoyalBlue]I went back to playing today and I went to Peternia, but I didn't find Albel there. Does anyone know where he might be and how to get there? Right now I'm in 4D space at...Gemini? (The game place) I'm using the world transporter there to go places.
[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[font=tahoma]If your accessing the eternal sphere from Gemity for the first time and are at the proper point where you can recruit Albel, he is [spoiler]In the Urssa Lava Caves, where you fought Crocell. You have to trigger it first by speaking with Woltar in the storm brigade's mansion though. Be sure to prepare Fayt with your best equipment since it will be a one on one fight you'll have to win.[/spoiler] If however this isn't the case, and you've already recruited your eight characters, then you'll have to get him the next time around you play the game.[/font]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][QUOTE=Kirra][FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=RoyalBlue]I went back to playing today and I went to Peternia, but I didn't find Albel there. Does anyone know where he might be and how to get there? Right now I'm in 4D space at...Gemini? (The game place) I'm using the world transporter there to go places.
[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]BKStyles is right, if you're already past the point where Albel has[spoiler] left your party you'll have to go to the caves. I don't know about speaking to Woltar first though since I didn't and he was still there. [/spoiler]

But finding Albel walking around in Peterny only happens[spoiler] if he is currently in your party.[/spoiler] And the skits indifference mention only happen [spoiler]if it's when you first get him, before you battle with Croswell. [/spoiler]

If you have eight players, you're out of luck, you'll have to start a new game to get him.[/COLOR]

[Lt.Zero]

I need help help with a part in Till the End of Time. I'm at the part where I just defeated the boss in the cave after Nel saves Fayt and Cliff. I'm trying to get out of the caverns. I can't fiqure out the path to take with the haulers. Can any one help?

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]All right, to get past the area where you use a Hauler: [spoiler]First choose the "Steady" Hauler type. From the start of the Mines, set your speed to about 20 km/h and pass by the first stop. Turn left and then right though the gate. And by turn I am referring to when the arrows indicating a "Switch" appear at the top of the screen. You can stop here to recuperate stress or continue onward. It's a good idea to recuperate stress, so stop and then get back into the Hauler. Then when the option to turn comes up again turn left and then left again at the next choice, for a total of two left turns. Be careful around the falling rocks, by slowing down to 5 km/h you can completely avoid the first set and most of the second set of rocks. Then bump your speed to about 23-25 km/h to bulldoze through the next four gates. As soon as the "Switch" sign appears, turn left and then slow your Hauler down to about 20 km/h as you make the final left turn into the exit. [/spoiler]

It might take a try or two since those last four gates can be tricky, but what ever you do, do not slow down for them since they catch on the Hauler and drag along side resulting in the Hauler collapsing. I haven't done that area in a while but somewhere between 23-25 km/h gets you through it quick enough so that your Hauler doesn't collapse from stress. I just don't remember the exact speed, but it was in that range. [/COLOR]

[Kirra]

The Hauler maze is a pain. I had to do it soooo many times and then I forgot to save. T_T So I had to do it a whole bunch more! It sucked. I don't remember how to do it anyways, I just remember that my Hauler went opposite directions of what I did.

Back to the Albel thing. I have only 7 characters in my party. Or at least one extra space. So do I just go to the Urssa Lava Caves? Where are those by the way. I just got back into playing the game yesterday after about 7 or 8 months.

[TheResplendent]

[QUOTE=Kirra]The Hauler maze is a pain. I had to do it soooo many times and then I forgot to save. T_T So I had to do it a whole bunch more! It sucked. I don't remember how to do it anyways, I just remember that my Hauler went opposite directions of what I did.

Back to the Albel thing. I have only 7 characters in my party. Or at least one extra space. So do I just go to the Urssa Lava Caves? Where are those by the way. I just got back into playing the game yesterday after about 7 or 8 months.[/QUOTE]


[font=tahoma][spoiler]Are 2 of your 7 characters any 2 out of Nel/Roger/Peppita[/spoiler]?[/font]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=DarkRed][quote name='Kirra]The Hauler maze is a pain. I had to do it soooo many times and then I forgot to save. T_T So I had to do it a whole bunch more! It sucked. I don't remember how to do it anyways, I just remember that my Hauler went opposite directions of what I did.[/QUOTE]There are a number of reasons why your Hauler would have gone the wrong way. Only the steady one obeys your commands and even then, if you're going to fast it decides which way it wants to go. The rest of them have quirks, including an Ill-Natured one that always goes in the opposite direction that you tell it too. [QUOTE=Kirra']Back to the Albel thing. I have only 7 characters in my party. Or at least one extra space. So do I just go to the Urssa Lava Caves? Where are those by the way. I just got back into playing the game yesterday after about 7 or 8 months.[/quote]As for Albel, If you only have seven characters then you should be able to get him. The problem is whether or not you remember how to get to the [spoiler]Urssa Lava Caves. A quick way to at least get you on the right path is to just out side of the Royal City of Airyglyph, there is a member of the dragon brigade there. If you approach him, he'll give you a ride to the Bequerel Mountain Path. You want to go up the path and enter the Mountains of Barr. Shortly up that path there is a cave underneath a water fall that goes inside the Barr Caves. Shortly after entering the caves there is a path that goes to the right. Take it. The entrance to the Ruins of Barr should be there, just head straight in the ruins to get to the Urssa Lava Caves and then pick the straight path again to get to where Croswell is.

If you spoke to Woltar in the Mining Town of Kirlsa, then Albel should be in the cave with Croswell.[/spoiler] I'd head there and talk to Woltar first just to be sure. In the end you might have to wander around a bit to familiarize yourself with the area, but once you do you'll find him.

Now I'm assuming that your group already has these characters: [spoiler]Fayt, Cliff, Sophia, Maria, Mirage and Adray. [/spoiler] If you have seven characters and are missing one of those that I listed, then you are out of luck, since those six are default characters that you get no matter what. And the reason you can't find Albel is because you simply haven't reached the point in the game where the one you are missing automatically joins your party. Since both [spoiler] Mirage and Adray [/spoiler] don't join until later in the game. Or rather one of them may not join you until you are headed towards the [spoiler]Ancient Ruins of Mosel in order to head for the final area of the game.[/spoiler] Without knowing exactly where you are as far as the game goes. I can't really say for sure if you can get Albel or not. [/COLOR]

[Kirra]

[QUOTE]Now I'm assuming that your group already has these characters: Fayt, Cliff, Sophia, Maria, Mirage and Adray. If you have seven characters and are missing one of those that I listed, then you are out of luck, since those six are default characters that you get no matter what. And the reason you can't find Albel is because you simply haven't reached the point in the game where the one you are missing automatically joins your party. Since both Mirage and Adray don't join until later in the game. Or rather one of them may not join you until you are headed towards the Ancient Ruins of Mosel in order to head for the final area of the game. Without knowing exactly where you are as far as the game goes. I can't really say for sure if you can get Albel or not.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=RoyalBlue][FONT=Comic Sans MS]
Well...Actually. I'm nearly finished with the game. I was trying to beat the final boss at the end of time place. And I could only beat him once, the second time I'd always lose. So I went to go train. Shortly after that, I got a new game and forgot about Star Ocean, so I'm now back. Also the only extra character I have is Nel. So I should be able to pick Albel up. I'll go check Kirlsa. By the way, does anyone know where to get Mackwell? Or any other good alchemist? I want to make myself an Orichalum so I can equip it to my characters so I can hopefully beat the final boss.

Finally, does anyone have any suggestions on what attacks to use. I don't know if there's a way to level up my stats, because as of now, I can only have a maximum of 15 attack slots filled. So that's like 2 moves and No Guard on. That makes it kind of tricky. The two moves I've been using are Blade of Fury and Dimension Door. I used to use BoF, Ariel slash (something like that) and side kick. Those worked well, but I couldn't have No Guard on. After reading what some people suggested, I figured it might be best to turn No Guard on. So I did.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][quote name='Kirra][COLOR=RoyalBlue][FONT=Comic Sans MS] By the way, does anyone know where to get Mackwell? Or any other good alchemist? I want to make myself an Orichalum so I can equip it to my characters so I can hopefully beat the final boss..[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]Forget Mackwell or Orichalum, at this point you want the Boots of Prowess. I've already included information on what to do to refine them as well as were to go to get the inventor that you need, just read this post here: [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=761151&postcount=67]Post[/URL] Those will be far better than the Orichalum due to the addition of both attack and defense. Though if you really want Mackwell [spoiler]he's in Castle Aquaria in the library in the Sacred City of Aquios, but you'll need the Book of Prophecies 1 to get him to work for you. If you don't have it already it's in the Shrine of Kaddan. In the corridor right before the save point before you battled the main crystal boss the first time you were there. There is a wall with cracks, once you destroy the wall via disintegration ring, the room revealed has the book there in a treasure chest. [/spoiler][QUOTE=Kirra][COLOR=RoyalBlue][FONT=Comic Sans MS] Finally, does anyone have any suggestions on what attacks to use. I don't know if there's a way to level up my stats, because as of now, I can only have a maximum of 15 attack slots filled. So that's like 2 moves and No Guard on. That makes it kind of tricky. The two moves I've been using are Blade of Fury and Dimension Door. I used to use BoF, Ariel slash (something like that) and side kick. Those worked well, but I couldn't have No Guard on. After reading what some people suggested, I figured it might be best to turn No Guard on. So I did.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]15 slots is all you get, as for what attack to use, if you beef things up with the boots of prowess, the additional defense will make things easier so the attacks you use won't matter since the no guards keeps you from getting clobbered or rather from needing time to recover between blows. So you'll still get in quite a few hits. Though if you want you could get the Tri-Emblum's Aaryanna mentioned since that will reduce the damage you get quite a bit as well as protect you from instant kill attacks. Those help the battle to go easier as well. [/COLOR]

[TheResplendent]

[FONT=Tahoma]I've been able to do quite fine without a good majority of the support skills as long as they were sacrificed for useful battle skills. Some of them are handy, but having the right battle skills is more important.

You basically want a good mix of close range and short range offense in your team as a whole, not so much on one person as long as you can make good combinations. Of course your healers are obvious choices, I had Nel and Fayt doing secondary healing duty and they were pretty efficient at it for the most part. Certain characters have a great balance of short and long range ample offense (Maria and Nel for instance). For the most part, all the later skills you learn are the best you can get (the level 50+ ones, gravity bullet, dimension door, mirror slice, etc), especially the item granted skills (but don't worry about those yet since you've yet to beat the game). The only notable skills you should keep because of specific usefulness out of the mid-level learned ones are [spoiler]Crescent Locus for quick short range knockdown (the knockdown effect works a good majority of the time, more so on weaker enemies), Aiming Device can confuse enemies and is a great mediation skill from long range but don't count on it for a lot of damage, Fists of Fury for pretty pretty numbers >.>....nah, it's a great skill to keep an enemy in place and if set to O it will break guard even if the enemy manages to get his fury up during, Aura Wall for MP kills if you've got a good combination of MP damaging skills going on, Flying Guiolltine for great long range multi-hit damage[/spoiler]. I personally didn't use Fayt in my final battle, but i'd say keep [spoiler]Air Raid and Side Kick handy aside from Dimension Door[/spoiler]. Make some judgement calls on what works well for you, just try to remember that you can take the role of any part essential to the party, not only the big damager.[/FONT]

[Magus]

[font=comic sans ms]I'll eventually read those comments sooner or later ;).

I just got this game yesterday, and, well, it's definately a breath of fresh air to play a rpg without the turn based combat. I just beat Norton, and I'm on my way back to Wipple/Whipple? (Whatever the name of that town is called.)

So far there hasn't been anything that's really been impressing, but nothing annoying (outside of Meena. Her voice is.... argh)

Cliff is a cool character. I like him better than Fayt so far. He reminds me of Yuri (Shadow Hearts: Covenant) with the whole black outfit and fighting style. Too bad his voice don't seem to match him too well.

Fayt seems like another Sora. A bit on the naive side.

Sohpia's a... [strike]freak. I don't normally see girls walking around with their pants unbuttoned and unzipped :) (Trying to seduce Fayt)[/strike] I don't really have much of an opinion about her just yet. ;)

Peppita. More than likely I'll end up hating her more than any character in this game.

That's about it for now.[/font]

Edit: I just made it pass the caverns, (Kirsla, I believe that's the name) but I think I missed out on quite a few items while riding those Maulers. (Mainly the Earth thingy) Is that item a necessity or can I get by without it? If it is necessary, is there another place to get it, and will I need it for any upcoming battles?

Bah, I need to get my hands on that guide >_>

[TheResplendent]

[FONT=Tahoma]Earth thingy? I did the hauler maze quite a few times and if i remember correctly the treasures include a scale armor, blackberries, charm of insight, fresh sage, a weapon for Nel, and some ripe berries. They are all pretty worth getting, but obviously you can do without the buyable items and even not having the armor or weapon won't hurt you too much. Ripe berries and it's cousins magical and perfect are definitly things you wanna try and pick up as many as you can find.

I'm sure the boss dude drops something too, i don't remember what it is but you should have it anyway.

It has been a while though since i've done it, my game progress is at around 130 hours right now, so it's very possible i'm leaving a thing or two out.[/FONT]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][QUOTE=Phenom][font=comic sans ms]Sohpia's a... [strike]freak. I don't normally see girls walking around with their pants unbuttoned and unzipped :) (Trying to seduce Fayt)[/strike] I don't really have much of an opinion about her just yet. ;)

Peppita. More than likely I'll end up hating her more than any character in this game.

That's about it for now.[/font]

Edit: I just made it pass the caverns, (Kirsla, I believe that's the name) but I think I missed out on quite a few items while riding those Maulers. (Mainly the Earth thingy) Is that item a necessity or can I get by without it? If it is necessary, is there another place to get it, and will I need it for any upcoming battles?

Bah, I need to get my hands on that guide >_>[/QUOTE]Personally I find Sophia extremely annoying, but later on it's worth leveling her up since she does have some nice attacks and recovery symbology. I never keep her in my main party though.

Peppita, ironically turned out to be less annoying than Sophia and though she's not a main character for me, I have had her in my party and used her character. She's surprisingly useful with her frozen daggers and instanto blast attack.

Anyway, as for the caverns, at this point in the game there's a bunch of stuff that you can't get to yet. Some of it you have to run the caverns using an aggressive hauler since they are strong enough to smash through some of the walls blocking some of the tracks. It's a pain since you can't control the hauler, but after a few tries you usually end up finally breaking those barriers. Once they are gone unlike the gates they don't return so you can then go back with a steady one to pick up the stuff. You can't get the ripe berries, Fresh Sage or the 5000 fol otherwise.

There's also a charm of insight, blackberries, falchion, Aquaberries and an Earth Pixie, though the Earth pixie is a pain to get since you need the Whimsical hauler to get it. And later you can invent one anyway, so it's not necessary to get it.

Later once you've gotten the[spoiler] ring of disintegration[/spoiler], you'll want to return since then you'll be able to access the Trading Card EX4, 2 ripe berries, perfect berries, magical berries, Antique Jewelry, Water pixie, synthesis materials and 3000 fol.

Once you start customizing, the synthesis material will be a must and the Antique Jewelry will be required in order to get the inventor Balbados to work for you. [spoiler]He will be the inventor wandering around in the Mosel Dunes, he's good at crafting so when the time comes he'll be good to have on your team for crafting things.[/spoiler] So the synthesis material as well as the Antique jewelry, both of which you can't get yet, are the only things you really need from this area.

And yeah, the guide is pretty damn useful. Not only does it have maps showing where everything is it has great tips on all that you need to do to get everything. In fact it's where I'm getting my information from. ^_~ The one by BradyGames is 268 pages thick. I've used mine a lot since I'm about half way through on the Universe level. I've only got a few more battle trophies to earn in order to unlock the hardest level. The 4D level. Though I'm wondering how in the world I'll manage to survive the first fight. I died the first time I tried to get past it on the harder Universe level. o_O [/COLOR]