.^^-._.^^.-._.-^^-._ .^-. ^. ^.^ ^^-.._.^^. :^-^.. ^.. _ ^. .^ ^. .^-. THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO ^-.__.^ .^ ^ .-^^-. ^. ^-^-^^. ___ __ _ _ .--^ ^. .-. ^ .^ .-^-. ^. ^.^ .^ ^-. -^ ^. ^ ^. .^ ^ ^.-^-.^-^ ^. ^. ..^..^ ^. .^ ) ^ ^ ' ' ' ' ._.^ . ^ ^_.-^^ ^-.^ ^. ^-. ._.^ ( .^^--^ ^ ^; ^^ ; ^ ^. ^..^.^ ^ -. .^ ^-^. ^..-^ ^. ^-. ; .-. ; : _ .^--^.. . ^-.. .^^ . .^ .^-. ^-. ^.; ; : . .^. .^. ; ^^-._.^ ^-..-^ . ^--^-.-^ . .^ ^. ^. : ; : ; " ; : .-^ ^. . .^ ^-..-^ .^ .^.^ .^^-. ; ) : . ; ; ; ; .^ ^...^^-.-^. .^.__.^ ^-.-^ ^. ( ^^ ; ^-^ : ; . ; ^-._ ^. .^ ^-.^.__.^ ^-._.^._..^ ^. _- _. . .^ ;_ ^^^-^-.__...-^.._^.__.^-^^ ^-.___.(_) ^-.__.-(_)___.' '._.(_) | |.-. __| .^^-.^. S E C R E T O F M A N A .^ ^. ^._.^-^ ^-._.^ |// _.-^^-. | / .-^^^-._ v3.00 final - May 20 -. _ .-^^-. / ^\^ .-^^-. Copyright (C) JD Cyr, 1999 _.^ ^.._.-/^_ .^\ ^\-^-.^ .-^^-. ^-.____/^ /_\ |_//\ ^\__^..^ ^._________________________________ THIS DOCUMENT IS BEST VIEWED USING NOTEPAD AT A RESOLUTION OF 640x480 _____________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: I. Walkthrough II. Find Every Orb III. Secrets Revealed IV. Short FAQ V. Top Six Challenges VI. Epilogue Etc. ____________________________________________________________________________ I. WALKTHROUGH 1- The Rusty Sword After falling into the pond, find your way onto the path and follow it up to where it is blocked by underbrush. Enter the pond to the left, and retrieve the sword. Use the sword to get through and follow the path which leads to the village. Do not avoid fighting. You should reach at least level 3 before entering the village. Here you should save and go to the elder's house (top right). You will fall into a hole and encounter the Mantis Ant. This is an easy boss, simply time your attacks so that it doesn't hit you back right away. No need to worry about this battle, you get revived if ever you die. MANTIS ANT; 150HP,20MP reward: Sword Orb After this fight, Jema, a knight adresses you. Go talk to the elder and visit the basement for the items it contains. Now you must head north to see Luka, the guardian of the "water" mana seed. 2- Luka at the Water Palace You can either use canon travel just southeast of the village, or take the long way around by walking. The canon travel is free, but level building is important at this stage of the game, so I recommend walking. There are signs to guide you, so you should have no trouble. You can visit Neko, a feline items seller; don't buy his overpriced merchandise yet. Right before the palace is a troop of soldiers, talking to them will teach you about Dyluck and the witch Elinee. In the water palace, activate the switch to pass across the bridge and go talk to Luka. After you re-energized the seed and receive the spear, you must go to Gaia's Navel. 3- Taken alive! Head south back from where you came from. Along the way, carnivorous orcs capture you, but you are rescued by a girl who flees before you have the chance to ask her her name. Keep going south and enter Pandora. From here, follow the west boundary of the village until you get to a bridge, cross it and follow the path. The path will lead you to Gaia's Navel. This path is a good area to practise with your new weapon and perhaps up it's level. *NOTE* If you decide to explore Pandora and visit the castle, the girl will join the team. This is not in your favor since the quest ahead will direct you straight to a more difficult area. 3- Gaia's Navel At the end of this path is a village; visit it for new armor and items then exit. Go up to Gaia's Navel, a pond in the center of cliffs. Follow the winding path down to the pond. Don't go up to the Enchanted Forest yet (near the Canon Travel). At the bottom, enter the pond and take the LEFT entrance. 4- The Caves of Gaia The "drop" enemies in this cave will keep multiplying as long as one of them is kept alive. This is especially good for level gaining; just kill off any threatening monsters, and eliminate one drop at a time making sure not to let your HP get too low. Keep exploring the cave, and at a certain point you will be blocked off by lava... find a skull switch on a wall and hit it to drain the lava. In one small subcave of the lava-filled room, two Kid Goblins guard a chest; kill them and open the chest to receive the Magic Rope. You eventually make your way into an underground village of dwarfs. 5- Village of the Dwarfs Explore the village, save, and make your way to Watts the blacksmith (top left cavern), who will reforge your sword for 100 GP. Visit the rooms to the right. You are asked to pay 50 GP to see a short play, then an extra 100 GP. Pay, then exit and visit the back room (via the right branch of the hall) to get a refund. After this, the ground starts to shake, go into the main room, and you are engaged in a battle against Tropicallo, an underground beast. To beat him, keep moving to avoid his attacks, and as soon as he sticks his head out of the ground, hit it! TROPICALLO; 315HP,0MP reward: Spear Orb The sprite joins you once he is beaten, bringing along a boomerang and a bow. Visit the blacksmith again, and reforge the spear and buy the Axe. Now make your way to the canon travel area in the northwest section outside Gaia's Navel. Here, equip the sprite with the bow, and yourself with the sword. Step on the teleporter pad at the top of this area and you will enter a misty forest. 6- The Haunted Forest; "So, we meet again!" / Elinee's Castle To get to the guys shooting arrows, cut down the bushes surrounding them and kill them. In this area the sprite is more efficient with the bow. Save at Neko when you see him. You'll eventually meet with the girl who saved you from the Orcs. Help her and kill the two enemies and she will join your team, and bring along the Glove. After the teleporter, take the right path and kill the Eye-Spy, then take the teleporter a bit further. Smash the statues there with the axe, and return and take the left path. Keep exploring the forest until you get to Elinee's castle. Enter the castle and follow the simple maze which is crowded with tough enemies. Rescue the soldiers in the basement and save at Neko. Now buy everything you can, including the cups of wishes and Royal Jams; the next enemy is extremely tough! Go up until you reach the boss of this area; Spikey. Attack full-out when he is on the ground. He uses Fire Bouquet and Flame Breath; both are quite powerful... reverse their effects using Medical Herbs. A good technique that was suggested to me is to assign one character to the second controller, and to let him get chewed on by Spiky while the other 2 attack full force. SPIKY TIGER; 520HP,21MP Reward: Boomerang orb When he is beaten (may take a few tries), Elinee gives you the Whip and 50 GP. Head back to the Water Palace quickly by crossing the gap with the Whip. 7- Undine At the water palace, Luka tells you about her friend Undine, an elemental that might be able to help you. Get out of the palace and turn right into the pond. Here are some rather tough enemies, best kill them with the whip. Enter the cave at the end of the path. Inside, you must fight Tonpole. Crowd him and set all the characters on their most agressive level and no charge attacks, then keep hitting him not to give him any time to attack or to heal. To get close to him, approach him at an angle so he can't lash at you with his tongue. TONPOLE; 770HP,6MP reward: Glove orb Once he's dead, Undine appears, gives the girl and the sprite the ability to use magic, then gives you the Pole Dart. Again, return to Gaia's Navel and enter the cave on the right to get your glove and your boomerang reforged. >From here, enter the passage at the end of the main hall. In the room you entered will be a dark orb; use the sprite's magic on it. 8- Crystal Cave / Underground Palace This is a very difficult area; stock up on every healing item then dash through the whole dungeon, first heading right and down from the first large room to hit a switch, then back to the main room, and left and down to hit the other. When both switches are activated, go back to the large room and up the new staircase. Ignore the horse-like monsters, in fact, ignore all the enemies but those in your way. When you reach a gap, quickly cross it with the whip. This dungeon usually takes more than one try, even at very high levels. At the end of this place is Gnome and another Mana Seed. You must beat the Fire Gigas to get to the seed. The Gigas is easy, simply attack him as soon as his physical shape appears, and use the girl to heal. FIRE GIGAS; 850HP,66MP spells: Fire Ball, Exploder, Lava Wave weakness: Undine (Freeze) reward: Axe orb For this Gnome gives you his powers - you also get to seal a second mana seed so now you can raise your magic levels to 2. Exit the cave and make your way out of Gaia's Navel and back east to Pandora village. 9- The Pandora Ancient Ruins Once in Pandora, save and go to the southern exit of the town. The girl's friend Phanna will be there then disapear. Now go to the ruins, where weird people are wearing masks and being very quiet. Walk up to the gate and talk to Phanna. She disapears into the castle. Enter the castle and go through the maze, which is long, but linear. At the end is a large room with a staircase; climb it and talk to Thanatos. You then fall into a room below, in which you must fight a Wall Face. Use the sprite's Gem Missile against the middle eye and continuously attack the side eyes while evading their attacks. Direct the girl's attacks to the middle eye and use her to heal whenever needed. If the battle lasts too long, the wall will start advancing to crush you against the back wall. If this happens, keep whacking it with normal attacks. WALL FACE; (sides) 330HP,99MP - (middle) 920HP,99MP spells: Cure water, Energy Absorb, Acid Storm, Freeze reward: Bow orb After the fight, exit that area and head to Pandora where things will be back to normal. Go to the castle and to the throne room, where the treasure room is free for you to explore. Inside are each a Spear and Sword Orbs and gold. After taking these, head to the Water Palace. 10- The Mana Thief! At the Water Palace, you learn that someone has stolen the seed. Head to the dwarf village, where Jema is, and hop into the moon-shaped hole in the ground. In here, grab the Whip orb on your way to the room where you must fight the enemy lord Kilroy. This robot spins around, causing damage and transformations to the heros. Physical attacks work well on him. KILROY; 900HP,18MP spells: Lunar Boost weakness: Javelin reward: Javelin orb After recovering the seed and the Javelin Orb, return to the Water Palace. There, some other thieves want the seed. You will have to fight Jaberwocky; he is quite easy. Approach, strike, and retreat. Do this until he is dead. JABERWOCKY; 950HP,90MP spells: Acid Storm, Cure Water reward: Whip Orb After another "cut scene", Jema gives you a Glove Orb and tells you that you must go to the Upper Land. You can go to the Upper Land via the Canon Travel centre near Potos Village. 11- The Upper Land This is home of the sprites and moogles. It seems a troop of pebblers have taken over a nearby moogle vilage; find it and kill the pebblers. The moogles will move back in, and Watts and Neko will also be there. Grab the Axe and Whip Orbs in the chests. After the sprite remembers the old saying, go out- side and walk counter-clockwise around the 4 areas that represent the 4 seasons. For help, follow the flying beasts that can be seen hovering above you once in a while. When done, a new passage is revealed. Save and return to it to fight the boss. The boss is a bird, attack Spring Beak with spells and normal attacks and use the bow when he is on a ledge. SPRING BEAK; 720HP,90MP spells: Thunderbolt weakness: Earth Slide reward: Boomerang Orb Finished, head north past the abandoned village and enter the temple. There will lie the sprite's granpa. He will heal you and let you save. Activate the seed and with your new magic (sylphid), exit and head southwest until you reach a dark orb. Use the sprite's Sylphid magic on it to pass. The next area may seem confusing, but just keep going north until you find a cave. You'll also notice that the nearby Canon Travel is unoperational for now. *TIP* Steamed crabs in the Upper Land sometimes give the expensive Faerie Walnuts when defeated. Very useful early on when you don't have much cash. 12- Home of the 'Shrooms - Fung Castle Enter the cave and finish off the enemies, then turn left and enter the passageway. You are now in Matango, a place where peaceful mushrooms reign. Visit the shop and purchase new armor, then see Watts to get your weapons upgrades and finally, visit the king. After you have spoken to the king, use the Inn and save, then exit through the previously inaccessible door and go north through the outdoor mushroom maze. Enter the cave, and follow the path, hitting switches along the way to finally reach a clearing outside, where the Great Viper resides. Physically attack the big snake, and heal when needed. Gnome's spell Thunderbolt works well on this enemy. GREAT VYPER; 1330HP,8MP spells: Gem Missle weakness: Sylphid(Thunderbolt) reward: Sword Orb Go up and enter the new cave and talk to the creature. After you appear back in the throne room and are done talking, go grab the Javelin Orb, then visit the Canon Travel center in front of the caves of Matango. Talk to the canon man there, destination: Kakkara desert. 13- Kakkara Desert You will land in a barren desert at an undisclosed location. Head as far north as you can (you will have to take a few left turns) and in about 3 minutes of travel you will fall upon a Tasnican sandship. They take you in as workers. As the boy, talk to the pirate in the engine room and do as he says. Once escaped, head to the right area of the ship and down a staircase leading to the kitchen. In here, the sprite joins you. Exit and make your way to the front of the ship, and enter the door. Inside, choose the left branch to save then go back down and enter the room at the end of the hall. The ship comes to a stop when the empire shows up. Gehstar and his bike will attack you as Mech Rider. Strike from above to avoid the attacks, and use Gem Missile for high damage. MECH RIDER; 980hp,18mp spells: Speed up weakness: none reward: Whip orb After the fight you'll again find yourself stranded. Talk to everybody and you will eventually end up in Kakkara. Nothing of interest for now, just take Canon Travel (right of village) and go to the Ice Country. You land right in the middle of a snowy christmas village. 14- The Ice Country Buy armor and visit Watts in the blacksmith shop, then save and exit the village. Here are some tough but rewarding monsters; the wolves give lots of experience, but try to avoid the floating puffs. Follow the trails, which all ultimately lead to the same place. About midway, you will come across a house with a frantic deer running around. Inside the house is a Spear Orb. Keep following the path and you'll reach tough boss Boreal Face. Charge your attacks cause he's nearly immune to all magic. Thunderbolt will inflict the most damage, but not enough. Make sure to Heal often. BOREAL FACE; 110HP,12MP spells: Burst, Cure Water, Sleep flower weakness:none reward: Bow Orb Go north to reach a "tropical" village. Check out the fireplace in the center of the town to gain Salamando magic. From here, head north and when the trail branches, go left to meet Neko and save. Go back and take the right trail to go to the Ice Palace. Inside, follow the path which will split; go right to get the Glove Orb (the only "good" item in this place so don't break your head searching). Follow the maze, you'll get to a room with 3 mini-boss type monsters. They don't all wake up if you don't bug them so try to kill them seperately. Keep going and you'll come face to face against enemy lord Frost Cigas. He is weak against fire, so use Flame Blade and the sprite's fire spells. After the battle, seal the seed and Cannon Travel back to Kakkara Village. FROST GIGAS; 1140HP,99MP spells: Freeze, Acid Storm, Ice Saber weakness: Salamando reward: Boomerang Orb 15- The Fire Palace Back in Kakkara, save and exit the village. From here, go south once, then west once, then north to get to the Palace. This place is somewhat compli- cated and pretty long; cast Salamando on the first 2 dark orbs, and Undine on the last one. There's an Axe Orb in this dungeon, make sure not to miss it. In the room with the pillars, walk between the only 2 lit lanterns and you'll fight Minotaur. Keep away and pummel him with magic, and make sure to use the healing trick since his magic is very strong. MINOTAUR; 1200HP,99MP spells: Earth Slide weakness: Thunderbolt reward: Javelin Orb After fighting the boss you'll get the Javelin's Orb, and you'll get to re- enegize a new seed. Go back to Kakkara and talk to the town leader near the dry well, he is glad you've returned the seed, but says he needs a Sea- Hare's tail. Now once again visit Watts to upgrade your weapons, then enter the Canon Travel center and head for the Empire. 16- The Empire The Empire is composed of three towns; North Town, South Town and the Gold Isle. You've landed in Southtown. What you must do here, is find a way to get to North Town. Find the northwesternmost house where tasnican spy Mara resides. She says the code to sewer access is 364. Go to the east border of town to find the sewer access gate. Go through the sewers and kill the slimes and fish (pretty tough, heal often!) to eventually find yourself in the resistance's main base. Here you will talk to Krissie, then exit the house and buy new equipment, since the armor here, while being expensive, isn't half bad. Save and go northeast to the Ancient Ruins. 17- The Empiral Ruins Go up until you meet Phanna, and watch the little scene. Now enter the ruins, which this time around are about 3 to 5 times as large as the previous ones. Make sure to find the 3 treasure chests containing weapon Orbs (Bow, Spear, and Sword). These are situated in the left and right towers, and in a small room along the way (the door to this room is surrounded by spikes; hit a switch on the bottom floor to deactivate them). At the end, you will be in a large room where Dyluck is standing. Talk to him. After a bit, you will have to fight Doom Wall (use the same techniques as for Wall Face); DOOM WALL; (sides) 425HP,99MP - (middle) 1180HP,99MP spells: Acid storm, Energy Absorb reward: Whip Orb Now you have another problem, a giant Vampire. He is not specifically di- fficult but the battle can be very long. He casts attack spells often but eventually runs out of MP. He jumps around the room when he's not flying, which is when you have to hit him - time your attacks well. VAMPIRE; 2550HP,99MP spells:Dark Force, Freeze weakness: Earth Slide reward: Boomerang orb After this area, in the Resistance's base, Krissie is invited to the Em- peror's tower... follow her there (after saving of course). 18- The Emperor's Tower This is situated at the far north end of Northtown. At first, everyone seems very nice, but after meeting the emperor, you find yourself in a jail cell. Talk to the guards, who will throw you in a pit to fight the Metal Mantis. This beast can effect-magic your characters, but has fairly low HP. Whack it with all you've got for a quick victory and a Glove Orb. METAL MANTIS; 1220HP,40MP weakness: Earth Slide reward: GLove Orb After killing the beast, make your way back up and save the members of the resistance, then find a way up the top of the tower. Don't miss the long room containing the 2 chests! This room is in the right wing of the tower and is accessed from the outside. In the first room is a chest being guarded by 2 enemies; this contains a Whip Orb. Keep going up and walk into the next area to get an Axe Orb. The last area is tricky, first go left and trip the right switch. You'll appear to the right. There's a near-invisible switch on the wall, hit it so you can pass. Atop the tower, Ghestar will attack you again as Mech Rider 2. Beat him easily by constantly hitting him with random spells, and hit him when he's close. MECH RIDER 2; 1258HP,40MP spell: Speed Up weakness: Thunderbolt reward: Javelin Orb You'll get a Javelin's Orb. The tower will start to crumble, but at the last minute, an old friend decides to show up for a visit. Drop him off at his home in Matango (near a mountain range in the Upper Land). *TIP* The Emporer's Tower is a great spot for level building! Embermen give loads of experience AND gold! Plus they sometimes drop armor! In 30 minutes of fighting these guys, you'll gain about 10 levels, not to mention 50000GP! 19- Flammie the Dragon Now that you have Flammie, you must learn to properly "use" him. To call upon him, select the drum from the inventory and press B. He will dash out of the sky and pick you up. Controlling him is easy - simply use the arrow pad to go in the direction you want to go. He can even fly towards the screen. When you get close to the ground, the view changes and the camera angle is set to "top view". To obtain this effect high up, press -L-. Press -start- to bring up a complete 3D model of the world. To see the map as a flat illustration, press -L- while in map mode and a screen will load. Now is a good time to get the Moogle Belt and Midge Mallet. Find the small island shaped like a diamond, then lower Flammie over a nice landing spot to set you down. From there, visit the shop and obtain the Sea Hare's tail and bring it to Kakkara village to trade it against the Moogle Belt. Now visit Gaia's Navel and speak to the dwarf behind the large moon-shaped hole in the ground. He is so happy to see you that he gives you his Midge Mallet. Another interesting site is the Lighthouse Island, try to find it! When you're done messing around, head for Mandala. This small village is located in the mountain range of your home continent. Land at the small houses in on of the clearings. 20- A Lot of Stuff to Do... In the mountain village is a shop selling excellent gear for now. Buy what you need and save. If you want, visit the temple to the north of town, but head south to advance in the game. Follow the path and kill the pretty tough monsters along the way. The cave you cross is the Palace of Darkness... don't go in yet. Follow the path. At one point you MIGHT find Neko if there are less than 3 enemies on the screen at the time (the limit of NPCs on screen is 3 - thanks to James Smith for telling me this). Just use him to save. This is my favorite area in the game, and houses my favorite enemy; the Eggatrice is hilarious and great fun to kill. At the end of the trail, enter the cave. Talk to "jehk" who tells you that Sage Joch is out to the Palace of Darkness, right below the mountain (the cave you saw earlier is the palace). So go back down and enter the cave. 20a. Enter the cave, which has some medium-hard enemies. This area is a little too complicated to chart out verbally so instead I'll give you some pointers; start off by going RIGHT, check all the rooms for treasure chests (one contains a Glove Orb), and after you remove the barrier from the main hall, don't go back down right away - go find a gap to cross with the whip and hit the switch, then use the Magic Rope to go back. Once up the last flight of stairs, you must fight the Lime Slime. Go right for his core and whack away at it, healing constant- ly. You'll get the Javelin's Orb when you beat it. LIME SLIME; 2888HP,99MP spells: Dark Force weakness: Salamando (exploder) reward: Javelin's Orb After that you can enter the seed room and meet shade, who'll give his power to the sprite. Make sure to get the Orb, many people miss it! Return to the top of the mountain, talk to Jehk and he will now say that Joch is gone to the Gold Isle. 20b. Visit the Gold Isle, which is near the main continent of the Empire - it is easy to distinguish since it glitters. Here you must visit the tower up north, but you need the key! Talk to the Guard walking around on the elevated walkway to hear what he has to say, then head for Southtown and talk to Mara, who will give you the key to the tower. Go back to the tower, and follow its pretty linear path. The monsters are pretty tough so make sure you've got good armor equipped (the armor sold at the Gold Isle is expensive, but worth it). Make sure to find the chests containing the Axe and Spear Orbs. You'll eventually come across the enemy lord Blue Spike. He's very tough, so pummel him with Gem Missile, and keep healing! His demise will land you a Boomerang Orb. BLUE SPIKE; 1980HP,99MP spell: Fire ball weakness: Earth Slide reward: Boomerang Orb Next story of the tower you have to beat the Gorgon Bull, who is easier but still a threat. Zap him with your best spells and whack him as he runs by, you'll get Bow Orb. GORGON BULL; 2470HP,99MP spells: Earth Slide, Defender weakness: Sylphid (Thunderbolt) reward: Bow Orb The girl will receive Lumina. Seal the seed and go back to the mountains and find Jehk. He tells you that now Joch is at the Moon Palace. 20c. Go to the Kakkara desert, in which a large black void fills one area. Land as close to the void as possible and walk up from the Kakkara desert to a ship who will transport you to the Palace. In here is a super large empty room with no walls. You must find a crystal orb, and use Lumina magic on it. To find it easily, start off at a landmark (a monster for example) and run diagonally until you reach that same monster again (the landscape loops). From here, go up a screen's height and run in the same manner. You will eventually find it and be sent to a room where Luna is. She'll give the girl and the sprite her magic powers. Go back to Joch's. Arrg! He still isn't here. Go to Tasnica. 21- Tasnica and The Empiral Spy Tasnica is just off a mountain range on a large chunk of land attached to the main continent. Land on the tower protruding into the sea. Here, you learn that there is an Empiral Spy inside the castle. There are no items of interest in this place as of yet, so just head straight for the throne room. Talk to the king and find out who the spy is - I think you'll be pleasently surprised! Kill the Dark Stalker (the spy - he gives you a Sword Orb), and explore the castle if you wish. The only thing you may want to visit is a shop which is hidden in a room. To get to this shop, go to the room that has a bar and two stories. Enter the bar (the whiskey type bar) and go down. You will enter the wall! Go right alot, then up then left and talk to the dan- cing person. There's nothing that great for sale, but hey. Now exit this place and do has Jema told you; return to the Lofty Mountains to Joch's. 22- Test of Courage Once back, Jehk introduces you to Joch, who speaks the ancient tongue. He says that you must find your inner courage. Answer YES when he asks if you will do it, then take the newly accessible path. The monsters in here are nearly impossible to kill, so just pass by everything (no special items in this area, no need to search). Use the Whip to cross ravines and use the Axe to clear the path of rocks. You'll come across the Dopplegangers, clones of your group. Once they're dead, Joch reveals his true identity. After all this, use Flammie to make your way to the Tree Palace (bottom of map). 23- The Tree Palace Suffice to say I don't like this place. It's the biggest maze I've ever seen, and it has no save points, so if you die, you're screwed. This maze is hard to explain but I'll do my best. I'll divide this long area into 4 parts; PART A: Fortress Rising The monsters here are very hard, so make sure you have at least the Tiger Suit and/or Tiger Bikini equiped. When you first enter, you meet with the Emporer, Sheex and Phanna. Sheex is pissed so you have to fight him as Aegagropilon. Dispel his Wall and blast him to get your Spear Orb. AEGAGROPILON; 3019HP,99MP spell: Burst, Wall, Sleep Flower weakness: Sylphid reward: Spear orb After the battle go left and down the stairs to get Dryad's powers. After the continent rises, use Flamie to go save somewhere, then go back to the continent and decend onto it. Jema and some troops are down there securing the area, but needs help getting inside. PART B: Entering The Abyss >From outside, go down the stairs on the left and through the waterway to get to a flight of stairs. In this area little plants block you, and waterfalls prevent you from walking up in some areas. In the first small room, use the axe to get through, then take the high-stepper to reach the second level. Open the chest to get the Boomerang Orb, and run to the door on the left. Here's is a million things growing out of the ground. Chop them, but don't hit the switch in the middle of the room unless you want them all to grow back. Make your way all the way up then left, where a waterfall will block your path. Try to run across and it won't work, but while being trapped in the current, there's a switch somewhere along the left wall of the water- fall, hit it! Now do the same for the next waterfall, but the switch will be on the right wall this time. Go through the door and fight the enemy lord Hydra, a 3-headed monster. Attack it physically and with your best magic, and it should die easily. HYDRA; 3382HP,99MP spell: Acid Storm, Freeze, Energy Absorb weakness: Salamando reward: Whip orb PART C: One Hellish Maze One tip for this maze, there are little borders around the place which let you go down but not back up, so make sure which way you're going. Anyhow, start by going downstairs and through the middle door, then take the left elevator down. Go through the hidden door on the left and hit the switch to get rid of the barrier, which you go through to get to a room where the Re- sistance is staying. Krissie will heal you and Watts can upgrade your gear, but you can't save. Go through the corridor to an elevator, and press the switch on the right (this removes a barrier in a main room). Go through the corridor until you get to a plate of 4 dots on the floor. Step on it to shut off a barrier. Keep going until you get to the 4 colored light switches. Flick them in this order: RED, BLUE, YELLOW, GREEN. Now go down. Hit the switch where the 2 Kimono Wizards are BEFORE going down or else you'll have to restart everything. You'll get to the subway station. The enemies in here are all easy except for the last ones; an eggplant and some spiny things that kill you in one shot. For your sake, ignore them. When you exit the train... well what do you know! Face to face with Kettle Kin, just kill him like you did Kilroy and you'll get a Bow's Orb. Whew! Let's exit this dump. KETTLE KIN; 1230HP,33MP Magic:Lucent Barrier Weakness:none - Earth Slide on lv.7 most effective Reward:Bow Orb PART D: Faceoff Now you're outside. Talk to Jema and go through the entrance into the Grand Palace. This place actually isn't that bad, just cast the appropriate spells on their dark orb to remove the barrier in the main area. Don't miss the Sword Orb in a chest near the Lumina dark orb. When you get out of this place it's time to end this darn maze with a fight with the Snapdragon. Easily killed with fire spells, or else just do the same trick as with the guy in Undine's cave. You'll get a Javelin Orb for his defeat. SNAP DRAGON; 1215HP,6MP spells: Cure Water weakness: Salamando reward: Javelin Orb Go downstairs where you'll find the Emporer dead. Tired? Cause now you have to fight Hexas... just whack at it and you'll easily win and get a Whip Orb. HEXAS; 3465HP,69MP weakness: Earth Slide reward: Whip Orb Wait that's not all! Here's the FINAL Mech Rider Battle. He's been holding out on you and now he's pissed as hell! Charge your attacks and forget magic because it'll mostly be useless. You might need to revive characters a few times until it dies. After one hell of a cut scene, you'll be riding Flamie. MECH RIDER 3; 4327HP,38MP spells: Wall, Speed Up weakness: none reward: Spear Orb Ignore the Mana Fortress and go back down to the Tree Palace to speak to Jema and Phanna (inside) and most importantly; to buy armor from Neko (you'll need it). Neko sells you the best stuff you can buy, but you need at least 350K to buy it all, so you might need to sell some of your old stuff first. Jema teaches you that there's still hope - just find the "Mana Volcano" (it's really called the Pure Land, but looks like a volcano) and find the Mana Tree itself. Save your game, and find the thing he's talking about. Land right in the middle area where it looks like you shouldn't be able to land. 24- The Pure Land The monsters here don't even compare to the ones in the Tree Palace, so make sure you have good armor. Now, go through the long maze, taking ANY course because there are no special items along the way. The first enemy boss you encounter will be a Dragon Worm. Hit him with all you got when he's in plain view and you'll get an Axe Orb. This guy's always hiding so he's pretty hard. DRAGON WORM; 3525HP,99MP spell: Earth Slide weakness: Salamando, somewhat Sylphid reward: Axe Orb After this, you'll come across a "save point" that says "If you can beat the dragon to the right of this area, you can pass". Do just that. SNOW DRAGON; 3000HP,99MP spell: Freeze weakness: Salamando reward: Bow Orb Keep going you'll come across an Axe Beak, weak against Undine; kill him to get the Javelin's Orb then keep going and save at the save spot. AXE BEAK; 2800HP,99MP spells: Fire Ball, Blaze Wall weakness: Freeze, Acid Storm, Salamando reward: Javelin Orb Go left, kill the Red Dragon (weak against Undine), get the Glove Orb then return, save and go on further. The next enemy boss is an extremely powerful Thunder Gigas that's weak against Gnome (Gem Missle). Do not let him hit you, because chances are you'll just instantly die. Pummel him with Gem Missles (level 6 or higher recommended) and attack with the other charac- ters. After this guy dies and gives you the last Sword Orb. THUNDER GIGAS; 4462HP,99MP spells: Air Blast, Thunder Saber weakness: Earth Slide reward: Sword Orb Save at the NEW save point, and go left to kill the Blue Dragon. BLUE DRAGON; 3200HP,99MP spell: "air" magic weakness: Earth Slide reward: Boomerang Orb Go through the pass thing and you'll have found the Mana Tree. After the big melodrama, you're ready to beat the fortress. *NOTE* The Pureland is the only place in the game you can obtain the boy's best helm, the Griffin Helm. This rare item is dropped by Griffin's Claws at approximately 75/1 odds. 25- Intermission / Training Because you're now ready to take on the Mana Fortress, you should try to get your weapon and magic levels up. The best spots for gaining easy weapon levels (and magic levels for the sprite), I found are; the area before Potos Village (where you start off the game), the Upper Land summer area, and the Wolf Forest in Ice Country. An easy way to gain the girl some magic levels is to go to the Wind Palace (where the sprite's granpa is) and to keep casting low MP cost spells on whoever, then when she's drained, to talk to the old guy. For easy character levels, the easy place is obviously the non-boss areas of the Mana Fortress and the Pure Land. Beware of fighting too long in the Mana Fortress, sometimes characters will get stuck in walls and you'll have no way out (even using the Magic Rope) and will have to restart it all! 26- The Mana Fortress Pretty standard maze. The crystals blocking your path can be chopped down with either the sword or the axe. Equip one character with one of these, and another with the whip to get across the gaps. Not too far in the maze, you have the choice of going down past a gap using the whip, or going left. Go down, the left path leads to nothing. The first boss is a Vampire and very easy to beat. Simply pummel him with Gem Missile and Lucent Beam, and attack him when he lands. BUFFY; 4200HP,99MP spells:Dark Force, Dispel weakness: Lucent Beam After this boss, you can go left or right. Both paths lead the same way, but the right path is much less troublesome. One area you will have to go up passed a gap, or down to a maze of new rooms. Go up, the other way leads nowhere. The second boss is a giant slime immune to all physical attacks. Use Shade spells on him, or Gem Missile - he is fairly easy. LIME SLIME; 5000HP,99MP spell: Acid Storm weakness: Dark Force After passing through the areas where Terminators are situated, a room will be shaped in a "no entry" type design. When you enter the warp plate in the middle, you are in a large room. When you take the right teleporter out of this room you have no choice but to beat the game. The Dark Lich (thanatos's soul) is weak against Lumina and nearly useless without his magic, so have the girl cast Lucent Beam and the Sprite use Magic Absorb or Gem Missile for a quick victory. DARK LICH; 6666HP,99MP spell: Dark Force, Freeze weakness: Lucent Beam After a dramatic sequence, you come face-to-face with a huge mana beast. Equip the sword and have BOTH magic users cast Mana Magic on it to revive it. It is possible to kill this beast without the Mana Sword, but it takes VERY long! Use Defender and Speed Up on the boy and attack the beast when it flies close enough to be hit. That's it! THE MANA BEAST; 9999HP,99MP spells: Wall, Lucent Beam weakness: Mana Sword *NOTE* Many non-boss monsters in the Mana Fortress give away great armor and even weapon orbs, as well as lots of experience. Every character's best armor can be found here (excluding the Griffin Helm), simply by fighting enemies, who sometimes drop things when they die. 27- The End Once you kill the Mana Beast, you've done it! Sit back and enjoy the great ending. I'm sure this isn't the last time you'll be playing this great game. _____________________________________________________________________________ IV. FIND EVERY ORB Swords ------ 1. Rusty Sword: Found at the beginning of the game in a pond. 2. Broad Sword: Received after defeating Mantis Ant in Potos Village 3. Herald Sword: From treasure chest in vault of Pandora Castle 4. Claymore: Won after defeating Great Viper in Forest of Matango 5. Excalibur: Found inside a treasure chest in Northtown Ruins 6. Masamune: Given by King after beating Dark Stalker in Tasnica 7. Gigas Sword: Found inside a treasure chest in Tree Palace 8. Dragon Buster: Won after defeating Thunder Gigas in Pure Land 9. Mana Sword: 1. Load up game that you want the ninth sword orb on. (preferably already having 8th sword orb upgrade) 2. Fly over the Ice Country and land ON ONE OF THE SMALL ISLANDS BESIDE IT! NOT ON THE ICE COUNTRY ITSELF!!!! 3 You will appear in front of Neko. Create a save log. 4. Press reset code R,L,(start),(select). 5. Start a new game. 6. Go all the way to the Mantis Ant. 7. When all the dialogue is over (exactly when fight begins), hold reset code for about 5 seconds. 8. Load the Neko save Log. 9. Finish off the Mantis Ant, and get last Sword Orb! Now call on Flammie and fly away. Gloves ------ 1. Spike Knuckle: The has it when she joins your team. 2. Power Glove: Won after defeating Biting Lizard in Undine's Cave. 3. Moogle Claw: Given by Jema after beating Jabberwocky in Water Palace. 4. Chakra Hand: Found inside a treasure chest in Ice Palace. 5. Heavy Glove: Won after defeating Metal Mantis in Emperor's Castle. 6. Hyper-Fist: Found inside a treasure chest in Palace of Darkness. 7. Griffin Claws: Won after defeating Red Dragon in Pure Land. 8. Dragon Claws: Defeat "Kimono Wizards" in Mana Fortress to obtain. 9. Aura Glove: Defeat "Wolf Lord" enemies in Mana Fortress to obtain. Axes ---- 1. Watt's Axe: Bought from Watts in the Drawf Village. 2. Lode Axe: Won after defeating Fire Gigas in Underground Palace. 3. Stout Axe: Found inside a treasure chest in Moogle Village. 4. Battle Axe: Found inside a treasure chest in Fire Palace. 5. Golden Axe: Found inside a treasure chest in Emperor's Castle. 6. Were-Buster: Found inside a treasure chest in Golden Tower. 7. Great Axe: Won after defeating Dragon Worm in Pure Land. 8. Gigas Axe: Defeat "Fiend Head" enemies in Mana Fortress to get. 9. Doom Axe: Defeat "Fiend Head" enemies in Mana Fortress to get. Pole Arms --------- 1. Spear: Given to the boy by Luka at the Water Palace early on. 2. Heavy Spear: Won after defeating Tropicallo in Dwarf Village. 3. Sprite's Spear: Found inside a treasure chest in Castle of Pandora. 4. Partisan: Found inside a treasure chest in Santa's House. 5. Halberd: Found inside a treasure chest in Northtown Ruins. 6. Oceanid Spear: Found inside a treasure chest in Golden Tower. 7. Gigas Lance: Won after defeating Aegagropilon in Tree Palace. 8. Dragoon Lance: Won after defeating Mech Rider 3 in Mana Fortress. 9. Daedalus Lance: Defeat Mana Fortress enemy "Tsunami" to obtain. Whips ----- 1. Whip: The weapon itself is received from Elinee. 2. Black Whip: From treasure chest in Dwarf Village (big hole). 3. Backhand Whip: Found inside a treasure chest in Moogle Village. 4. Chain Whip: Won after defeating Mech Rider 1 in Kakkara Desert. 5. Flail of Hope: Won after defeating Doom's Wall in Northtown Ruins. 6. Morning Star: Found inside a treasure chest in Emperor's Castle. 7. Hammer Flail: Won after defeating Hydra in Underground City. 8. Nimbus Chain: Won after defeating Hexas in Tree Palace. 9. Gigas Flail: Defeat Mana Fortress enemy "Terminator" to obtain. Bows and Arrows --------------- 1. Chobin's Bow: Given to you by the sprite as he joins your team. 2. Short Bow: Won after defeating Wall Face in Pandora Ruins. 3. Long Bow: Won after defeating Jabberwocky in Water Palace. 4. Great Bow: Won after defeating Boreal Face in Ice Forest. 5. Bow of Hope: Found inside a treasure chest in Northtown Ruins. 6. Elfin Bow: Won after defeating Gordon Bull in Golden Tower. 7. Wing Bow: Won after defeating Kettle Kin in Ancient City. 8. Doom Bow: Won after defeating Snow Dragon in Pure Land. 9. Garuda Buster: Defeat the "Metal Crab" enemy in Mana Fortress. Boomerangs ---------- 1. Boomerang: Also received from the Sprite. 2. Chakram: Won after defeating Spiky Tiger in Elinee's Castle. 3. Lode Boomerang: Won after defeating Spring Beak in Sprite Village. 4. Rising Sun: Won after defeating Frost Gigas in Ice Palace. 5. Red Cleaver: Won after defeating Vampire in Northtown Ruins. 6. Cobra Shuttle: Won after defeating Blue Spike in Golden Tower. 7. Frizbar: Found inside a treasure chest in Ancient City. 8. Shuriken: Won after defeating Blue Dragon in Pure Land. 9. Ninja's Trump: Deafeat "Master Ninja" enemy found in Mana Fortress. Darts ----- 1. Pole Dart: Gotten from the vault in PanDora castle. 2. Javelin: Won after beating Kilroy in Dwarf Village (big hole). 3. Light Trident: Found inside a treasure chest in Matango. 4. Lode Javelin: Won after defeating Minotaur in Fire Palace. 5. Fork of Hope: Won after defeating Mech Rider 2 in Emperor's Castle. 6. Imp's Fork: Won after defeating Lime Slime in Palace of Darkness. 7. Elf's Harpoon: Won after defeating Snap Dragon in Tree Palace. 8. Dragon Dart: Won after defeating Axe Beak in Pure Land. 9. Valkyrian: Defeat enemy "Whimper" found in Mana Fortress. _____________________________________________________________________________ III. SECRETS REVEALED Enemy Attacks That Heal ----------------------- This is my alltime favorite trick in SoM. Whenever at enemy casts a magic spell on you or an ally, use a candy, or healing or effect spell on the one who is about to be hurt. If you time it right, the spell effect of the enemy will be replaced by the effect of your own spell or item! Outta My Face, Potos Jerk! -------------------------- Not quite an original a trick, but still pretty cool! To sneak back into Potos after being banished, wait until you have at least 2 characters, then walk up to the guard, and while you keep walking towards him, press (select) repeatedly... eventually one will get through and the rest will follow! This lets you access the game's first area, which is great for weapon and magic level building. To get out, either call upon Flamie, or try to get out in the same manner (difficult!) Rare Scenes ----------- After exiting Potos at the very beginning, take Canon Travel to the Water Palace, then without entering the Palace, backtrack by foot to Canon Travel and go to Gaia's Navel. From here enter Pandora through the back way and visit the Castle. The girl will instead of joining you, hit you in the face and run off. Now you can visit the King and the girl's Fiance. If you go to the Haunted Forest, you can get the girl to join you. With her on your team, keep going in the forest until you arrive at the spot where you need the axe to get through (she'll point it out). Now you can take her to Gaia's Navel without her refusing, and you can get your sword upgraded before Luka even tells you to! Careful though, if you get the Sprite on your team before getting the spear, you can no longer get the spear at all! Return to the Palace and continue the game. Thanks very much to James Smith for this info. Get Past Weapon Level 8 ----------------------- I've received alot of emails from people who were unable to raise their levels past 8:00 even after obtaining all the orbs. To get all your weapons to their maximum, here is what to do; First, equip 2 characters with weapons already maxed out (8:99), and your third with the weapon which will not rise in levels. Next, go fight at a good level-rasing area (such as the path to Potos), and there you go. Now all the weapon points will go towards the weapon who will not go up. If it still doesn't work, try killing 2 or 3 enemies at a time, that will get it going for sure. Power Bonus! ------------ This trick allows your characters to permanently have super strength, speed, defense, or any other power from the girl's magic menu. Simply cast the spell of your choice on any single character, sleep at the Inn and immedia- tely save your game. Restart, and the next time the game is loaded, your character will have that power permanently. You can do this with as many power spells as you like, but some spells may interfere with others and cause previous powers to disapear. Nevertheless, this trick is great for if your character is already at its maximum power level and you aren't satis- fied with his skills. Get 2 Mana Swords! ------------------ This idea came to me from my friend Mr.Kank. It is quite a task, but in fact possible to do. Notice how the Mana Sword turns to a Glove when you upgrade it once more? Well you can turn the Pole Arm into a Sword if you have the patience to use the 9th sword orb trick a dozen times and continuing all the way to Salamando (who gives a Spear Orb). Then you can upgrade THAT sword until it turns into a Mana Sword. Yeah! Permanent Weapon Powers ----------------------- Like the trick above, but gives the power to a weapon instead. Cast a spell on a single character equiped with the weapon of your choice, and simply go to the weapon selection menu and switch the powered-up weapon with a non- powered up weapon equipped to someone else. I recommend casting Lunar on the sword for constant HP regeneration. Cliff Jumping ------------- This great trick was given to me by James Smith. You can use it at any gap which you can cross with the whip. Simply get your characters on the jumping area, and tap the controller in the direction you want to jump. Now charge the whip to level 5 and release. You will jump towards where you are facing! This trick is a useful shortcut at certain areas in the game, like Joch's mountain path. In other areas, it'll just get you stuck in a wall or such. High-Powered Attack, Low-Level Weapon ------------------------------------- Equip one character with a low-level weapon, and another with a high-level weapon. Assign each character to a different controller. Have the character with the high-level weapon charge up to maximum, and with the second contro- ller, bring up the weapon menu, and switch weapons with the other character with the charged weapon. When released, the weapons will switch, and the one with a low power level will perform a high-level attack! Cumulative Attack / Combo Group Attack -------------------------------------- Have the sprite cast consecutive attack spells. While this happens, the boss is incapacitated and cannot harm you. Cast as many spells as it would take to take off 999 HP and then let the damage happen, and repeat as needed. You can also have all your characters attack individually at the same moment for the same effect. Smoked Sprite ------------- Buy a barrel and equip it on one character (the Sprite makes for a better show). Now have the girl cast one of the Saber spells on him (flame saber for a fiery effect). The barrel will glow red and the Sprite will seem be cooking inside the barrel. Make him run around frantically for best comedic impact. Random Power Attack ------------------- Sometimes you'll charge up an attack and hit the enemy, and immediately afterwards be able to hit him for a level 1 charge attack. This happens when you and ally hit the same enemy at once. Strafe ------ This is very useful, I have personally become accustomed to using it. It lets you face the enemy and attack while being able to walk away at the same time. Hold R and control as you usually would. It's as simple as that. Super Magic Spells ------------------ Elementals reaching level 8:99 sometimes have strange effects. Get the sprite's levels up to that level and cast random spells on enemies, sometimes the spell effect or "look" will vary. Here are a few examples: Air Blast = Becomes "Tornado" Blaze wall = Flames are twice as high Burst = Three times longer and, bigger Cure water = Effect looks like a Royal Jam was used Dark Force = Last 3 times longer, finishes with large explosion Earth Slide = Smiley faces on rocks Evil Gate = Large face is replaced by dozens of creatures running around Fire Ball = Three dragons attack the enemy Freeze = Ice bombs are five times bigger Lava wave = Your foe seems to be sinking in lava Lucent Beam = A lot more beams attack the ennemy Hidden Face ----------- As in FF2, a face can be seen on the overworld of SoM. As you exit the Mana Fortress, fly directly south and look to the right. As you fly on by, you will see a small face if you look very carefully. The 7 Secret Passages --------------------- 1- Scroll the walls in the Inn of Matango. You can get behind the counter! 2- Go to the southern-most pathway in Southtown. From here walk towards the left until the character is blocked. You should have walked through the trees and appeared in a small clearing. 3- In Tasnica, go to the left wing of the castle where there is a "bar", and scroll the bottom wall while walking towards the right. You will enter a secret pass, which leads to a merchant (who sells nothing of interest). 4- In tasnica, take the left branch and keep going until you reach the far- thest room. You will notice a carpet that seems to go right into the wall ...it does. It will lead you to the right route. 5- Go to Todo Village and walk to the bottom bridge. Stand right in the cen- ter and walk up. You will walk up onto the ice. 6- This will lead you to Charon's Ferry before you get Flammie. Start off in Kakkara desert and walk outside into the desert. Walk as far north east as possible. There will be a blocked path. Stand at a certain spot near the "gate" and run left. You will pass through and appear on another screen. 7- In the fight against the Mana Beast, as he charges you, run left and down, and with the other controller have both magic users cast Mana Magic on you. If timed properly, as the Mana Beast charges, you will be knocked straight off the platform. You can walk around a bit until the game freezes, and some say they have walked far enough to see Charon's Ferry. Could this be part of a trick to escape the final fight with your magic users having Mana Magic? Confuse Cure ------------ Those not used in controling a Confused character (handling the controls backwards), there is a simple answer. Go to the controller settings menu and reverse the commands. Now everything works as normal! Screen Glitch! -------------- This is hard to get to work, but I've seen it happen. Have the girl cast a spell, and immediately call upon Flammie. The screens might overlap, or make the spell freeze on the screen as your characters are getting picked up. _____________________________________________________________________________ IV. SHORT FAQ This section will answer questions about SOM that people have asked me that may not be covered in my walkthrough above. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at JDCYR@HOTMAIL.COM Q. How come I keep dying at the bosses, and even because of normal monsters? A. Spend an hour or so gaining levels, switching weapons whenever its level is maxed out, then use your new money to buy the best armor you can find. Q. I finished with my axe at only level 7:99 even after getting its orb from an enemy in the Mana Fortress, did I miss an orb earlier on? A. Possibly, but note that the Fiend Heads in the Fortress give 2 axe orbs. Q. Why is it that sometimes I use Analyzer on a boss and it says he is weak against a certain elemental, then I use that elemental and it only takes off 1 HP from him? A. Ok, when this happens, you're probably not using the right spell from that category. Say it says that a boss is weak against Salamando, then you use Fireball, and nothing happens - use another spell, like say, exploder. If that doesn't work (and sometimes it doesn't), then... ???! Q. Why can't I get a certain weapon past 8:00 even after I upgraded it to 8? A. This is my most asked question. The answer is in "Secrets Revealed". Q. Why doesn't the 9th Sword Orb trick work? A. You probably didn't land on the island near the Ice Country. You probably landed ON the Ice Country and tried getting there on foot. You HAVE to land on the damned island BESIDE the Ice Country, NOT ON THE ICE COUNTRY ITSELF!!!! Q. How come Flammie won't land on the "volcano" up north? A. First off, you can't land there any time before the Mana Fortress is floating in the air, so go beat the Tree Palace and try again. Second, it seems that everyone just tries to land beside the volcano, or on the stream running down it's side; try landing on the green fuzzy area that looks like you shouldn't be able to land on instead, then it'll work. Q. How come all my @&*$# games got erased!!!??? A. There seems to be a battery backup problem with certain Square games. In SOM, although rare, the games will get erased for no apparent reason. It happened to me... 3 times! And once to my friend who consequently started crying like a girl. What can you do. _____________________________________________________________________________ V. TOP SIX CHALLENGES Here's a section for you hardcore SoM freaks out there. See if you can match me by accomplishing each of these feats without cheating. 6-Up every weapon to level 8:99 5-Up every elemental to level 8:99 4-Beat the Pure Land without the Magical Armor 3-Beat the Mana Beast without the Mana Sword 2-Get the maximum amount of gold! 1-Get every character to level 99 _____________________________________________________________________________ VI. EPILOGUE ETC. There it is! You're at the end of my FINAL RELEASE of my SoM walkthrough. I mainly made this version so that like all my other walkthroughs it could be read from a regular NOTEPAD document (and not that wretched Wordpad piece of crap). I gotta tell you, making an 80k text file small enough so that it can be opened by a program that only reads files of 60k or less is one giant hell of a pain! And if you'll notice, I'm exactly at the byte limit! Anyhow I even managed to add some more useful data. Consequently I had to redo the ASCII art at the top (it looks better if you blur you eyes), and I had to remove alot of the less pertinent stuff this used to contain. If you enjoyed my guide, check out my webpage which also homes my Final Fantasy 3 and Chrono Trigger walkthroughs, plus alot of stuff on camping which I wrote. Always feel free to email me about anything, I'm always happy to answer! jdcyr@hotmail.com http://www.attcanada.net/~mrpopo (C)JD Cyr, 1999