Shinki Gensou: Spectral Souls II FAQ Version 3.0 3/11/2005 jae@puroresufan.com Just a quick intro. This FAQ will cover the basics, along with a rough outline of how to get every character, along with some hints and secrets. I am going to assume everyone playing has at least basic Japanese knowledge. For reference in the FAQ, when I say Shinsei, I mean the New Shimba Imperial army, led by Naiz. When I say Neverland, I mean the Neverland Imperial army led by Rose and Hiro, and when I say Roses, I mean the Roses Liberation Army, led by Mue. I. World Map Screen II. Towns and Shops III. Status Menu IV. Historical Point V. Battle VI. True Ending Route VII. Tips and secrets VIII. Credits I. World Map Screen As the name may suggest, this is the screen you see when you are on the world map. Pressing triangle will bring up the menu options. Move. Self explanatory, pick where you want to go. You can also do this manually by moving the cursor. Status. This will bring you to the screen where you can manage your characters. More on this later. Change Power. This lets you switch between the 3 kingdoms. Help. Self explnatory, use the tutorials if you need to. Hold attack notes. In shops you can buy notes that reveal different hold and charge attacks. You are able to look at them with this choice. Titles. Completing certain tasks will net you a new title and an item. Check with this often to see if you fulfilled anything. Combination notes. Same as hold attack, just for combination. Item Book. This keeps track of all the items you have found throughout the game. Completing it will net you a title and item. Rumor has it fully completing every page will make EVERYTHING in the game available for sale, including things like level 5 skills/spells and character original skills. History. This shows the game timeline, will changes as you play and pick different routes. Options. Set your game settings. File. Save and load. View character profiles, and look at gallery photos. II. Towns and Shops. Over the course of the game, you will have access to different towns and such. Each is identical in that they feature an item shop, guild, combination house, and a person standing outside to welcome you and sometimes give info on hidden areas. Item shop. Self explanatory, simply buy and sell. Guild. 3 options: Search, Class Change, Party Point Distribute. Search lets you scan areas for hidden areas and items. Each character has their own proficiency, so better characters will yield a bigger search circle. There are tons of things to be found with this option, hidden dungeons, items, and characters. Class Change will become available for characters when they hit level 25 and 40. The only character without 2 changes is Audried. The first change at 25 costs 3000 gold and will put the characterin a 1 on 1 battle with a random enemy, and is usually pretty easy. The second change costs 10000 and will pit them against a level 50 doppelganger of themself, and get be hard. Party Point Distribute. This allows you to level up stats with bonus points obtained after completing battles. Combination Shop. 5 options here. Combine, Allot EP, Upgrade, Skill Create, and add to shop. Combine is self explanatory. The only thing of note is combining items that don't have a natural recipe together will make a random item. This isn't always bad, as you can get some really great equipment from random synthing. Allot EP applies EP gained in battle to weapons, to rank them up. Weapons cap at rank 5, and of course the stronger they are, the more EP it takes. You can also use this to rank up auto-skills and make their effect better. Upgrade. Once a piece of equipment is rank 5, sometimes it can be upgraded to the next level. Example: A rank 5 Silver Sword can be upgraded to a Platina Sword. You can check and see what an item turns into by unequipping it and checking this option. Skill Create. Very important here, as this allows you to create new spells and skills. You can check to see what ingredients are needed for each even if you can't make them so be sure to do that. They follow this pattern: 1-31 are elemental spells, in this order: Attack ->Level 2->Level 3->Level 4. The only exception is the Nothingness element, that has no attack. 32-58 are weapon skills. Level 2->3->4. Level 3 is usually a weak area attack. Personally speaking, Sonic Edge for sword and Trick Dagger for dagger are the only ones worth it. Level 1 skills are purchased in shops. 59-66 are recovery spells 67-73 are stat up spells, such as Speed Shell. 74-82 are negative status and other oddball skills like steal and Rua. 83-88 are attack skills and self status boosts like Perception and Move Charge. Add to Shop. Some items when they become rank 5 can be added to shop inventories. This can save you EP in the long run for items you will repeatedly have to make, such as Magicians Rod and Silver Sword. For the most part you may not use this so much. III. Status Menu Choosing status will bring up your party menu. Here you can micromanage you characters. Press triangle to bring up the menu. First option is Item. This lets you equip them or use items that boost stats. The bottom choice shows your entire inventory. Hit start to organize them either automatically or manually. Second option lets you set weapon skills and spells. The icons of course will denote what can be equipped there. 3rd option sets Auto Skills, such as Move+1 or poison resistance. These can be equipped as long as you have an empty slot. To remove an auto-skill from a piece of armor, simply equip it on any character, then remove it. This will take the auto-skill off and allow it to be equipped on anyone and any armor. 4th option lets you organize your characters, by Number, Level, or manual. IV. Historical Point. One of the focal points of the game, Historical Points (or HPs), let you play out this edition of Neverland War from whichever perspective you wish. This will alter history and your ending. Once the HP message pops up and you enter the HP, the next move you make will play out in that armies' POV. Early on, for example, if you advance as the Shinsei army, you will be attacking a castle, while if you play as Neverland, you will be defending it. Along with the other branching paths the game offers, you can make every playthrough unique. V. Battle. Obviously the bread and butter of the game. Every action requires AP to execute. First option is move. Which ...allows you to move. This will always take up 6 AP regardless of how far or not so far you are moving. Be careful which direction you end up facing, because being attacked from behind or from the side will greatly increase damage given. Use this to your advantage, too. Since every movement is 6 AP, always move to the enemy side or rear, if possible. Second option is your skill pool. You can do them on their own, or use a "Hold". Hold is essential, and new to this edition of the game. Hold lets you chain multiple skills together in one turn, sometimes making stronger skills. Early on you will learn that using hold with 2 Slash skills will make Triple Slash. There are tons of combos to be found, so experiment. The general rule is, 2 level 1 skills will make a level 2, 2 level 2s will make a 4. Combine a 1, 2, and 4 to make a level 5. There are also skills that come out when combining elemental spells with attack, among other things. Experiment and have fun. 3rd option is Charge. This brings you back to the skill menu, where you can choose normally. This will "charge" the action so the next time your target is attacked, the action will trigger with a damage bonus. You can use this to make combos between 2 characters or just add a damage boost. Manipulating chargeand hold is the key to successful battles. Example: Naiz charges Slash on Enemy A. Duelers' turn comes up next, and he uses Slash on Enemy A. This triggers Naiz' Slash, and will make a 2 person Triple Slash. 4th option lets you use items. Unlike SS1, this game uses a "party bag" system, so every character has full access to all your items, instead of having to carry their own. 5th option is the status screen, which shows you stats and such for both your characters and enemies. Use it to check weaknesses and what weapons certain strong enemies might drop for you. 6th option ends a characters turn. VI. True Ending Route This path will get you every single character, and the best ending. I don't mention Ikai no Mon or Battle Points, but I do recommend clearing them to the highest possible level in between each HP. Opening After the opening, choose Neverland, and choose to go to Golden area. Clear the battle in Milabero in under 75 turns. Switch to Shinsei. With Shinsei choose to fight at the fort. Win in under 99 turns. Finish up with Neverland. Clear the HP1 with Shinsei With Neverland, clear the desert in under 200 turns. After clearing Marengo, switch to Shinsei. Take the forest route with Shinsei. Recruit Himika. Clear the forest stage in under 100 turns. Continue to Mazina, and defeat Hiro in the battle, don't win by the other condition. Choose Neverland for HP2 With Neverland choose the rebel suppression route. Advance to Lithanit, then recruit Curme. Switch to the Roses, choose to meet Cuo, and advance to South-West. Switch to Shinsei and choose the detour route. Clear Rapis Beach in under 75 turns. Clear the 2 Maldar Fort battles in under 150 and 200 turns, respectively. Recruit Yam-Ku. Choose the Roses for HP3. If you can't, use Shinsei. Make sure you kill Orban. Start off as Neverland, choose the sea route. In the firts battle, keep Levy alive, so she will join. Advance all the way through their story battles. In the last battle in Varanoir, don't kill Reinmilan. Change to the Roses. In the first battle in Neibos, make sure at least 3 civilians survive, and last the whole 150 turns. Finish up all their battles, winning in Dupan in under 150 turns. Finish up with Shinsei, choose the camouflage route. Choose the Roses or Shinsei for HP4. With Shinsei make sure to kill Iraena. Start as Shinsei, play the first battle with the Ikai characters. When prompted, choose the sea route. Change to Neverland, choose the detour route. Recruit Roseblod and Nail. Advance all the way through their story. (If you go back into the desert right after clearing it and before going to the castle, you can fight a bonus battle). Clear Shinsei, then the Roses. Beat HP5 with Shinsei. Start with Shinsei. Take the Gaugabul route, finish all their battles. Switch over to the Roses, clear all the way through. Choose "shingari". Finish up with Neverland. Beat HP6 with Neverland in Almana fort. Beat the Roses battles in the order of: Ferias->Ashiria->Gatzo->Beminapa. Play through Neverland, choosing the Ferias route. With Shinsei take the Shirineeg route. HP7 with Shinsei. Start as the Roses and recruit Shell. No specific order from here on. HP8 will be compulsive Roses After the armies integrate, clear the Temple with no Name before proceeding to Elentz Port. If you fight 7 battles instead of 6, you got the true route and ending. VII. Tips and Secrets. --Hidden characters: -Himika Before HP3 ends. Clear Ikai no Mon through level 3 as Shinsei and Neverland. This will open a battlefield in the Garena regions. Clear as Shinsei, then go to Lit. Himika rules. -Yam-Ku Clear Shinsei Battle Point 1, which will open a battle field in the Golden Area. Clear to that with Shinsei to get the Super Ape man, Yam-Ku -Curme Clear Ikai no Mon through floor 6, then Neverland Battle Point 1. Search for and clear Bruck Valley, making sure Curme lives. The winged spearman will be yours. -Arsas Clear HP3 with the Roses. This may conflict with the true ending route, because you probably have to choose to not meet Cuo with the Roses in order to get the option to play HP3 with them. He is outclassed by Nagi in every way, so don't worry too much about missing him. -Levy Start with Neverland after clearing HP3. Choose the sea route and make sure she survives. Best mage Neverland gets. -Roseblod and Nail After HP4 and the Neverland story has been started. Clear the Ikai no Mon up to floor 12, then search for and clear the Rotted Ruins. Both should get spots in your permanent party. -Jade Start with Shinsei after clearing HP4. Choose the sea route. He will join after the last fight in the series. Shirtless pirate gunman. --Hidden areas In addition to the 2 areas that get you hidden characters, there are also a few other hidden battlefields that can be foudn with search. The timing and requirements to find them can be infuriating and random at times, so if you miss one or simply can't find one despite fulfilling the requirements, blame the game. (One of my few problems with the game is this). One tip I can give, is even if it isn't listed as a requirement, try clearing the most recent battle point and the Ikai no Mon as far as you can. The exp and EP isn't going to hurt you. Forgotten Cave (Shinsei): Timing: After clearing HP2, before clearing HP3 When given the option, choose the detour route. Clear the Ikai no Mon through floor 6, and also clear Shinsei BP1 (you would do this to recruit Yam-Ku anyway). In the first battle (Lavis Beach), there is a breakable rock at the highest point. Break it. Go to Niva, and you will hear some info about it. Go to the guild and search, it is in the Garena area, to the right of Maldar. The battle contains 3 Clear Doll enemies worth 100EP, and the breakable rock has an item required to make the spell Stardust. Make sure you have Status Clear, or a lot of status cures, because the Dolls have a full array of status+ spells, and a ton of AP to use them. Bruck Valley (Neverland): Timing: After HP2, before HP3 Clear Ikai no Mon 6, and Neverland BP1. Talk in Niva to get info (do this before or after doing the Forgotten Cave with Shinsei). The search area is a bit to the north of Niva, right before the northern border comes to a point. Curme will join on this battlefield, and it can be hard depending on your enemy allotment. You will get 1-3 Warlocks, who will spam Atomic Hole, sometimes at Curme. If he dies, you lose him for good. Once the spellcasters are out of the way, it's easy, just watch Curme, since he is pretty reckless. Nothing too spectacular in the breakables. Spectacular Rocks (Roses): Timing: Right after Mick joins the Roses. In part 1 of the 2 part battle in Neibos, stall for 120 turns (bring the enemy ranks down to 1, and just surround him). After Mick joins, go to Lit with them to get info. 3 Clear Dolls here, 100EP a pop. Nothing special in the breakable in my go through. Rotted Ruins (Neverland) Timing: After HP4 Start the story rolling with Neverland, and open up the first battlefield. Go through floor 12 in the Ikai no Mon (3 level 40 Dragons, it can be tough at this stage of the game). Now go to Hellphanepool to get the info. Search the Valhalla area to the north, in the snowfield. There are to patches of brown with seem to point to the spot in the middle, it's around there. Battle is nothing special, but you can get 2 good daggers in the crates. Great for the incoming Roseblod, who will join you, along with Nail, after you win. Cave of Grief (Shinsei) Timing: After clearing Shinsei BP4, and Jade is in the party. Info is obtained in Marichik. Location is just to the right of Aspern Fort, in Shurak Sea area. After you whittle the enemies down to 2 or 3, 3 Clear Dolls will spawn, again 100EP each. Breakable had a fist weapon. Beminapa Forest Interior (Roses) Timing: Shortly after clearing Beminapa Forest proper. Get the info in Noishulan, then search a little to the right of the actual forest, near the triangle border. You will fight a boss in here (Titan), who drops the item to make Earthquake. The crate is usually nothing good. Eastern Dark Marsh (Neverland) Timing: Opens between HP6 and 7, but requires unknown triggers, Dialgo area. Search the right side of the black area after hearing about it in Noishulan. You fight a Vampire here, who will drop the item to make Grand Cross. I don't remember breakables. Forest of Light Outskirts (Shinsei) Timing: After clearing the Forest of Light. Info is obtained in Noishulan (if you triggered the Eastern Dark Marsh you will have to find and clear it first). Search a little to the upper right of the forest. Depending on which route you take, you may not have the option to clear the Forest of Light, hence making this area inaccessible. Dragon's Mouth (Roses) Timing: After clearing the Forest of Light outskirts. This appears normally as an HP area for the Roses, so memorize it's location. Info can be obtained in Noishulan after clearing the Forest of Light Outskirts. The battle contains 4-6 level 70 Dragons, who will probably stomp you into the ground if you attempt it as soon as you can. It will be game over...so my advice is to just open it, and not go there until after you beat the game. If you clear with the Roses ending, you can come back here and level for the post-clear madness. Lake Town Mare. Timing: After HP7, after the event on the Nameless Hill but before doing anything else with the Roses. The only way to open this area is to be finishing on the Roses route (best ending). Before going on to fight the Roses series in Grana Church, search just south of Yulid Lake in the Eiks area (on the little peninsula or thereabouts). Shell will join in this battle...but will be level 1. Fontinoa Timing: Anytime after all the armies integrate. Search the lower middle portion of the newly opened Hellphanepool area. Look for the area where the forest and plains start to meet. The breakables will yield one Tri-Guard apiece, which has the Counter auto-skill. Namless Temple Timing: After integration. You can only find this area if you are getting the Roses ending. It's somewhere in the Kaizelorn area, which was only accessible during their portion of the game. If you are getting the true route ending, Shiro will join from here. --Post Clear Activites After your ending finishes, you will get the option to save. Do so in an empty slot, if possible. If you choose to load this save, you get 3 options. First option is to start a new game. If you do this, you will play a new game from the beginning. Once you get past the opening battles, and can freely move, you will notice that you have 1200 or so EP, between 300 and 500 PP, and a random allotment of the items you had at the end of your last play. They will be divided among the 3 armies, randomly. The distribution is set when the clear file is made, so if you don't like the hand you were dealt, you will have to beat the game again to mix it up. With the exception of Hiro and the breaker users, odds are you won't get too shafted, equipment wise. Obviously this makes this playthrough much easier. You should take 1 damage from everything until HP6 at the earliest.... If you choose to just outright Load your clear file, you will be back on the world map with your party. You will notice right away you have access to every area in the game, in addition to 1 new one, the Spectral Tower (you can't enter there yet...). There are several things to do here. First thing you have access to, are floors 25-50 in the Ikai no Mon. Difficulty ramps up pretty high starting on floor 25, so be prepared. (My end game party was destroyed by gremlins who spammed multiple Grand Cross on every turn). There are a myriad of bosses and strong enemies, culminating with Double X at the end. After beating that, take a breath and start over on floor 1. Clear up to 50, facing mostly the same things (some item drop changes and bosses will be a bit stronger). Floor 50 will feature Double X and Ambrosia, a returning face from SS1. Tired yet? Well, after doing this, you now can go through a powered up version of the last dungeon. You will face a steroid enhanced end boss...and possibly a few other henchmen at the end. That has to be it, right? Head over to Granas Church (where you fought 3 straight battles in HP7 as the Roses). Here you get to fight all 4 members of the Sacred Imperial Army... Now go to Walans Castle. The Imperial Guard is back, along with their leader (who you may or may not have gotten to fight, depending on your ending). Phew....you're almost there! After you do ALL of that, you can finally head to the Spectral Tower. Nothing too bad...only 3 floors. At the end though...is Wave. Wave is the father of Scarface...and the strongest being in the Neverland universe (except Next, the universe itself....). Have fun. The 3rd option you get is to cancel .... Not too exciting after the other 2 choices. I recommend a minimum of 2 playthroughs before you even attempt this, since you will need the extra PP to max out stats. Multiple copies of the better armor and auto skills will also be invaluable. Beat all this and you will surely be a Spectral Souls 2 master! --Some tips -Recommended skills: Inviga: Glacier + Sparkshot. 9-13 hits to one enemy. Tempest: Tempura + Sparkshot + Glacier. 9-13 hits to all enemies in a huge area. By far the most damaging spell in the game that can be done by one character. Thousand Kill: QAttack x 6. Ridiculously strong and high hitter. 80-100 chain and 200K damage in later stages. Gospel: Doubles AP on the next enemy killed by character it's used on. Great for those 100EP chest enemies. That's all for now, updates will come as I clear more and find more. VI. Disclaimers, revisions and credits/thanks This FAQ was created by me, Jae Church. Do not post it, reproduce it, or steal bits of it without permission. Odds are if you ask, I will so yes, so have some manners. Idea Factory for continuing to make wonderful Neverland games. New Wind of Kotaro and their BBS for helping unravel the many secrets http://homepage3.nifty.com/new_wind_of_kontaro/spectoralsouls2-capture-top.htm Everyone on the Surpara BBS and 2ch, for the same reasons as stated above. This is version 3.0, 3/11/2005.