Technical Seiken Densetsu 3 Faq Meeple Lard Date 8/29/03, Version 10.1 Table of Contents: 1.Introduction 2.Back Ground 3.Terms to know 4.Damage Calculations 5.Stat and Equipment Calculations 6.Spell Calculations 7.Support Spells and Effects Calculations 8.Recovery Rates and Spell Casting Times 9.Miscellaneous Q&A 10.Other Faqs to Read 11.Version History 12.Credits 13.Legal Stuff --------------- 1.Introduction --------------- Hi there all you viewers. If you're reading this, then it must be posted. This is my Second Faq, for those who don't know. My first was a Faq for the Same Game, Seiken Densetsu 3, on the Character Hawk. This one is a bit different. If you ever wondered how the Game figures out things like damage, or if you wondered things like "Do Sabers Effect Techs?" this is where most of those Questions will be answered. This Faq is dedicated to all the technical Stuff within the game Seiken Densetsu. Please realize that this is not a regular Faq or a Walkthrough, but an Information Guide so that you can see certain Aspects of the game and whether some rumors related to this are true or false. Anyway, Lets Start. ------------- 2.Back Ground ------------- For those who don't know what this game is, this is an explanation of it. The Game is the Prequel of Secret of Mana, or in Japan, Seiken Densetsu 2. In other words, this Game was made after, but takes place way before the events in Secret of Mana. The game is an Action RPG or an Adventure as some people might consider it. The story is about in a land where Mana is source that brings life; the Goddess has sealed 8 mighty Creatures called the God Beasts in 8 Mana Stones. Years later, Mana is fading from the world, and the Mana Tree, which is the current form of the Goddess, is slowly Dying. A few Malicious Hearted people have decided to take this time to receive the Mana Sword, the mightiest Relic in the World, which houses Power even Greater than the Goddess herself. To do this, they must release the power of the 8 Mana stones and Open the gate to the Mana Holy land. The Goddess sent Faeries to find the Chosen ones for the Sword to save the world. Only one makes it, but that's all that was needed. 6 teenagers are chosen. This is where you come in. You choose 3 of the six, the first is the Main Character, and the other 2 are the supporting ones. The 6 you could choose from are: Duran the Swords Man Mercenary of Forcena Angela the Magician Princess of Altena Kevin the Half Beast Man Grappler, Prince of the Beast Kingdom Carlie the Half Elf Cleric Granddaughter of the Light Priest of Wendel Hawk the Thief from the Navarre Thieves Guild Lise the Amazoness Princess of Rolante Now, the game was not released in the US. Some people imported the Cart from Japan, but a few people translated the game into English and made a patch for the Rom. Most people who played this Game in the US use the Rom, but a few have the Cart. Anyway, this game was a big Hit in Japan, but never released anywhere else since the game had a bunch of bugs in it. Anyway, this Faq is dedicated to how the Game works things out. ------------------------ 3. Terms you should know ------------------------ FS= Full Screen- Hits all enemies on the Screen, regardless ST= Single Target- Always hits one enemy MT= Multi Target- Can be chosen to be FS or ST T= Tech (used in conjunction with FS and ST)-A move used by the B button (default) when your Attack Bar reaches a high enough point WF= Wolf Forms- At night Time, Kevin becomes a wolf, which makes him a different Character in a way SU= Stat Up- Spell or Item that raises Stats of your Characters SD= Stat Down- Spell or Item that lowers Stats of the Enemy HP= Hit Points- how much damage your character can take before they die MP= Magic Points-The amount of Spells that can be used (spells cost a different amount of MP) STR= Strength- Stat that Effects your Attack Power AGL= Agility- Stat that effects your Hit and Evade Rates, and the Speed of the Trap Wheel in chests (The higher the AGL, the Slower the wheel moves) VIT= Vitality- Stat that Effects your HP and Defense INT= Intelligence- Stat that effects MOST of your Offensive Magic and Magic Defense SPR= Spirit- Stat that effects various things centered around magic, explained later in the FAQ Luck- Stat that effects various miscellaneous things, explained later in Fact DEF= Defense- The amount you defend against Physical attacks ATK= Attack- Related to Physical Attacks MAG= Magic- Related to Magic Attacks PWR= Power- How much damage you deal EVD= Evade- How often your Character Dodges attacks WP= Weapon Power- Explained in the Weapon Armor Calculation section AD= Armor Defense- Explained in the Weapon Armor Calculation section PQ= Potential Question- A question that MAY be brought up by some one (to tell you the truth, its my way showing a point as opposed to just plain THROWING it in awkwardly, at least when I can't think of a better way to flow into that particular comment) A= Answer- My answer to the Potential Question CC= Class Change- When a Character becomes a New more powerful Class FC= Final Class- Class achieved after the 2nd Class change, all Light Light, Light Dark, Dark Light, and Dark Dark Classes are Final Classes. Light Classes- Includes Light, Light Light, and Light Dark classes Dark Classes- Includes Dark, Dark Light, and Dark Dark Classes. Active Time- The time during the game in which you are capable of controlling your characters. In other words, when your not using the ring menu or a Spell/Tech is being pulled off. Schematic of classes: Light Light / Light / \ / Light Dark Neutral \ Dark Light \ / Dark \ Dark Dark So, on the Menu screen, an Arrow up means Light and an Arrow down means Dark when showing the Possible Class Changes. --------------------- 4.Damage Calculations --------------------- Now, this is for the Sole purpose of how Damage is dealt in this Game. For Regular attacks, The Characters ATK PWR subtracted by the Enemies Defense Power is the base damage. Then, 1 point of Damage is randomly added or subtracted from that amount. If the amount is 0 or Negative, then the damage dealt is 1. Magic Attacks follow a similar rule. The rule is the MAG PWR of the spell subtracted by the MAG DEF of the enemy. Then, a few minor points of damage are randomly added or subtracted (depends upon the Spell). For elemental spells, they do 1.25 the damage they do on their elements day. This is a chart of the spirits, and the element(s) they corresponds with: Salamando = Fire Undine = Ice and Water Jinn = Wind and Thunder Gnome = Earth Dryad = Leaf and Wood Luna = Moon Wisp = Light and Holy Shade = Darkness The only significance the Mana Holy Day has is that it makes Inns free. Also, people believe that Light spells are stronger at Day and Dark at Night, but this is false. Day and Night determine other random factors like Kevin's WFs and Enemies are examples. When an Enemy is weak against an Elemental attack, the Spell does 2x the damage it would normally do. Now, for techs, they each follow this rule: Level 1 techs: 1.67 x the characters ATK PWR Level 2 techs: 2.0 x the characters ATK PWR Level 3 techs: 2.5x the characters ATK PWR NOTE: Level 2 and 3 techs don't add the random numbers. So, for example, if you take the Duelist, who has an ATK PWR of 351, and put it up against an Enemy who has a DEF of 100, then the Damage dealt would be: Regular Attacks: 251 Level 1 tech: 486 Level 2 Tech: 602 Level 3 Tech: 778 Now, that applies for MAG damage as well, only it's much harder to show examples since they don't give you the MAG PWR of each spell. Now, if Sabers were on the Weapon, then we simply double the ATK PWR of that character (providing the enemy has a weakness to that element), but note that Sabers DO NOT affect Level 2 and 3 techs. So, the Duelist in the same situation has Thunder Saber cast on his weapon against the same enemy who is weak against Thunder: Regular attack: 500 points of damage Level 1 tech: 836 points of damage. So, now that damage is out of the way, on to Stats. -------------------------------- 5. Stat and Weapon Calculations -------------------------------- First we'll start with ATK PWR, since that's what we were discussing. The rule of ATK PWR is this: STR x Weapon's Power = Base ATK PWR Base ATK PWR + Weapon Bonus = Weapon's ATK PWR Weapon's ATK PWR + Character Bonus = Character's ATK PWR Character's ATK PWR + Class Bonus = Listed ATK PWR (referred to as ATK PWR from now on) Now, we'll be doing Calculations with the Strongest Equipment, since it's a lot easier to work with that stuff, and there is the most variety of Best Equipment. This also takes away from the Confusion Factor. So basically, all weapons we will be discussing have a Weapon power of 15, but most have much lower, remember that these are the Strongest Equipment. The WP determines what Level Weapon the character is using, or at least, that's how I like to refer to it as. The WP, in every case, is 1 point higher than the Level of the Weapon. For instance, the Level 1 weapons (the Initially Equipped Weapons of the Main Character) have a WP of 2 The Level 2 Weapons (Initially Equipped Weapons of your Allies when they join) have a WP of 3 The level 14 Weapons (the Ultimate Weapons, or the ones Obtained through Weapon/Armor seeds by all classes except the Neutrals) have a WP of 15. STR is a stat raises your ATK PWR. The STR is based on what character your using, what class he/she is, and how much emphasis you put into raising it when you level up. The Following is the order from the best to worst of what each Characters RANGE in STR is, and what that Range is (Character's Initial STR -> Character's Highest STR): Duran: 6 -> 22 Lise: 5 -> 20 Kevin: 4 -> 19 Hawk: 3 -> 18 Angela: 2 -> 17 Carlie: 2 -> 17 So, Duran has the Highest ATK PWR while Angela and Carlie have the Lowest, generally speaking. So, every point of STR with the Strongest Weapon means 15 points of damage more not including the modifiers from the bonuses that come after. Now, if 2 Classes have Equal STR, then to determine the Higher ATK PWR, you go by the Class Bonuses. Here are the Class Bonuses each Ultimate Weapon gets compared to each other from the same Character: Neutral Weapons: 0 Light Light Weapons: +2 Light Dark Weapons: +4 Dark Light Weapons: +6 Dark Dark Weapons: +8 So, basically, if you take the God Hand (Kevin's Light Light) and the Dervish (Kevin's Dark Dark), both of which have an STR of 18, the Dervish would have a Higher ATK PWR by 6 points since it's a Dark Dark class and the God Hand is a Light Light. Now, granted, 6 points is very little, but Square probably made a few point differences in ATK PWR to make sure that No class of the same character was equally as strong. Next, if 2 classes have the Same STR but are NOT from the Same Character, then this system follows with the Character Bonus Modifiers: Swords (Duran): +0 Spears (Lise): +1 Gloves, Knuckles and Claws (Kevin): +2 Daggers and Swallows (Hawk): +3 Rods and Staves (Angela): +7 Flails (Carlie): +7 How to find the Weapon Bonus is a bit more difficult, since like the WP, it changes constantly depending on which Level Weapon your using. However, unlike WP power, it's not just a simple relation to the Level of the Weapon. Weapon Bonuses don't ALWAYS change when you give a character a higher level Weapon. How to find Weapon Power you ask? Here are two examples of how I'd go about it: Example #1: Weapon: Death Bringer (Dark Dark Ultimate Weapon) Class: Duelist Character: Duran STR: 22 ATK PWR: 351 WP of Ultimate: 15 With this in mind, I did the following: 22(STR)*15(WP)=330 330 + 0(Character Bonus) + 8(Class Bonus)=338 351(ATK PWR) - 338(ATK PWR w/out Weapon Bonus)= 13 Result: The Death Bringer's Weapon Bonus is +13. Example #2: Weapon: Flint Knife (Neutral Initial Weapon) Class: Thief Character: Hawk STR: 3 ATK PWR: 15 WP of Initial: 2 3(STR)*2(WP)=6 6 + 3(Character Bonus) + 0(Class Bonus)=9 15(ATK PWR) - 9(ATK PWR w/out Weapon Bonus)=6 Result: The Flint Knife's Weapon Bonus is 6 PQ: Ok, with all the bonuses and such, what is the Most Important Factor towards the characters ATK PWR? A: Generally Speaking, the most important factor in the ATK of a Character is the WP and the Character's current STR. Early in the game though, the Weapon Bonus might out weigh the WP and STR a bit, but as you get better weapons, the Bonus' become less and less apparent. Class Bonuses and Character Bonuses play the smallest roles in determining ATK PWR, since they have the smallest values. The Bonuses are just there basically to make as Few classes as possible with Identical ATK PWR NOTE: The Only Exception, I believe, to the Identical ATK PWR rule is the Ninja Master (Hawk's Dark Light) and the Grand Divina (Angela's Light Light), whom both have an ATK PWR of 277. Now, on to Defense and Armor. Defense is figured out through a similar Method as ATK PWR. The Rule for DEF is: VIT x Armor Defense(AD) = Base Defense Base Defense + Helmet Bonus + Accessory Bonus = Equipment Defense Equipment Defense + Character Bonus = Character's Defense Character's Defense + Class Bonus = Total Defense (refered to as DEF from now on) Now, the difference between ATK PWR and DEF is that in DEF you can't Surpass 300, while in ATK PWR, you can go as high as it allows. It is possible for all characters to Reach a 300 DEF, but some have an Easier time than others. VIT is a stat, like STR, that you raise when you gain levels and is dependant on what character your using, and what level he/she is. The List of each character's Range in VIT is(Initial VIT -> Max VIT): Kevin: 6 -> 22 Duran: 5 -> 21 Lise: 4 -> 20 Hawk: 3 -> 19 Carlie: 2 -> 18 Angela: 2 -> 18 Now, the interesting thing about VIT is that all the FC's of one character have equal Vitality. Now, there are 2 reasons that let each Character Max out their DEF. Those reasons are: Accessories and Helmets add to DEF and are not related to the Character's Stats. The other is that the Difference in Character Bonus is much higher than that of the Weapon Bonuses. I can't say exactly what each of the Character Bonuses is, but I can give you who have the highest and lowest in that order: Carlie Angela Hawk Lise Duran Kevin NOTE: I am not sure who has the higher Character Bonus between Carlie and Angela, since they both have VIT stats of 18. I'd suggest you look at a FAQ dedicated to Weapon and Armor Values for the Bonus' that each Armor gives. So, its not unlikely that early in the game, Angela and Carlie could have a Higher Def than Kev, even though his VIT is MUCH higher. When it comes to difference in Armor for Classes, it really does not matter much in the Long run, since they all are going to gain the 300 DEF mark at some point. Now, the Helmets and Accessories work differently. They don't include VIT in anyway. Instead, they have there own Constant Defense rating. For instance: A certain Helmet would raise DEF by 3 points and MAG DEF by 1 point Another Helmet would raise DEF by 5 points and MAG DEF by 2 points. You see. It's just added on, not effected by your VIT or INT in anyway. Speaking of INT, I would say its time for MAG DEF. MAG DEF follows the same system as DEF only with INT instead, so this is the system: INT x Armor MAG DEF + Bonus. Now, unlike all the other 2 stats, all the characters have the Same MAG DEF ratings for their Armor. There are only 2, although, which follow this system: The first half of the armor you get is INT x 4 + 7 The Second half of the Armor you get is INT x 8 That means, in all cases, the Character with Highest INT (Considering Equivalent Armor is equipped, no doubt) will have the Highest MAG DEF of the party. The Below is the list of Ranges of INT for each Character (Initial -> MAX): Angela: 6 -> 22 Carlie: 5 -> 20 Lise: 4 -> 19 Hawk: 3 -> 18 Duran: 2 -> 17 Kevin: 2 -> 17 Now, Helmets and Accessories, like in DEF, play a similar role in MAG DEF, as they just Add points to that rating, don't involve INT in anyway. Also, like with Weapons, the darker the Helmets and Accessories, the Higher the Ratings. But the difference is only a point or 2, so it's not much of a difference. However, there is another thing I MUST point out. The MAG DEF the game lists is only MAG DEF against INT based spells. It neglects to tell you MAG DEF against SPR based spells. SPR based MAG DEF is done EXACTLY the same way as INT based MAG DEF, the only difference is that instead of using INT in the calculations, you use the SPR stat. Besides that, nothing else changes. Now, for Evade. I can't tell exactly how Much Agility effects evade, but I believe it raises Differently for Every point of Agility. For instance, if you have raise Agility from 16 to 17, you Evade might go up by 2 points. If you raise Agility from 17 to 18, it might only go up one. Now, the only other thing that Effects Agility is Shields, and the only Classes that can equip them are Duran's Light Classes (Knight, Paladin, Lord) all shields raise Duran's Evade by 20 points, with one Exception. That exception is the Adamant Shield, which raises Evade by 25 points. The other shields, though, don't have anything special about them. They are all just variations of the Gold Shield (in otherwords, don't bother buying/finding any Shield beyond the Gold Shied, unless it's the Oath or Adamant Shield (both used by the Lord)) Now, though at first I thought it was a Bug, I've come to believe otherwise. I think its that because Shields are programmed similarly to Accessories in terms of special effect, they fell pray to something that was intended for Accessories only. For more info on this Accessory situation, refer to section 9. Also, from what I've seen, Evade seems to reach a Limit naturally at 45, since the Ninja Master has that stat for Evade at an AGL of 22, but I also noticed that the Rogue has that Evade at with an AGL of 21. It appears that your Evade sometimes raises during Level Ups by itself. Now, taking Shields into account, the Highest you can raise your Evade is up to 60. Only one class can reach an Evade of 60, the Lord. It is only reached when he gets his AGL Maxed out (I believe its 18) and equips the Adamant Shield (adds 25 to Evade) His Natural evade is 38, all the other Shields make it 58, so you'd expect a 63 Evade from the Adamant Shield, but there's a Limit for Evade at 60. Like with Defense though, it is possible to surpass those Limits by use of a Stat Up. Of course, that's not exactly natural though. The Final Stat I would like point out is Hit Rate. Unfortunately, there is NO way to calculate Hit Rate, since it's a TOTALLY unlisted stat, and finding the enemies Evade (or any of their stats for that matter other than ATK PWR and DEF) is difficult as well. I believe Hit Rate is based on AGL. Now, normally, I would believe Hit Rate doesn't exist, HOWEVER, there are spells that alter Hit Rate like Shurikens or Speed Down, so obviously, and such a stat exists. PQ: Which characters have high AGL and which ones have the lowest AGL? And what's the Numerical stat for each. A: Its listed later in the FAQ, so do not fret. If you're curious to know, check Section 9, the Miscellaneous Q&A section. --------------------- 6. Spell Calculations --------------------- Each spell is affected by different Stat and each Spell is affected differently by that Stat. Here's a list of spell types and what they are effected by: Intelligence: All of Angela's Spells except Saint Beam, Holy Ball, and Death Spell Hawk's Jutsu's Demon Breath (Not Certain) Spirit: Holy Elemental Spells Healing Spells All Summons (Both Carlie's and Lise's) Agility: Throwing spells like Silver Dart Trap Spells like Land Mine All the Night Blade's NEW Spells NOTE: This applies for equivalent Items as well, so a High SPR character best throws Poto Oils, or Ice Coins by a High INT character. The Calculation for Spell Damage, step by step, is the following: Step 1: Base Power = 25 * Spell's MP Cost Step 2: Magic Power = Spell Power * Caster's Stat (depending on Spell, could be either INT, AGL, or SPR) Step 3: Base Damage = Magic Power + Base Power Step 4a: If Spell is "Heal Light," than proceed to step 5. Step 4b: If Spell is SPR or INT based, then Damage = Base Damage - MAG DEF. Step 4c: If Spell is AGL based, then Damage = Base Damage - Defense Step 5: Final Damage = Damage * Character Modifier Character Modifier? If you've read an earlier version of this FAQ, you'll know I never mentioned anything close to this. Well, I'll get more in depth with it later in my Q&A section, but here's a brief description. There are 3 "Levels" of characters and enemies in this game. Those types characters and enemies Levels along with their Modifiers are: Level 1 Targets: 0.5 Level 2 Targets: 0.75 Level 3 Targets: 1.0 In other words, even though an enemy might have lower Magic Defense, and in fact, be a weaker enemy, they will take less damage. As far as YOUR characters go, Neutral classes are Level 1, Dark and Light Classes are Level 2, and FC's are Level 3. Even though Angela's Magus Class might have a good 100 points to her Magician Class in MAG DEF (this is just for description purposes), the Magician will probably take less, believe it or not. NOTE: These NEW estimates are much closer to what they originally were. My Tests were made against Shadow Zero's in the Mana Holy Land after they Transformed. The Reason for this testing is that when a Shadow Zero transforms, they gain the exact unaltered stats that character has, so I know the enemies MAG DEF. If an elemental spell is cast on its Proper Spell, some might be effected this way: Base Damage * 1.25 The following Spells (ones available to YOUR characters only) are effected by the "Day" modifier, as we shall call it, and the corresponding day listed next to them (no particular order): Undine's Day: Ice Smash, Cold Breeze, Mega Splash Salamando's Day: Fireball, Blaze Wall, Explosion, Luna's Day: Half Vanish (believe it or not, Half Vanish DOES increase in damage when used on Luna's Day) Dryad's Day: Poison Bubble, Jinn's Day: Thunder Storm, Air Blast, Stun Wind Gnome's Day: Diamond Missile, Stone Cloud, Earthquake Mana Holy Day: None Despite Popular Belief, Spells on the Opposite day are not any weaker, only spells on the Right day are stronger. Also, Holy elemental is NOT stronger during the day, nor is the Dark Elemental at nighttime. Thus, waiting until Day fall to take on Zable Fahr is just a waste of time, and will hurt you, in fact, if you have Kevin on your team. Since I've given you the General Calculations, I'm gonna state the Spell Power ONLY. NOTE: For spells that have some calculation involved, just ignore them, since I haven't gotten around to doing accurate tests with them. Give me time, and I will eventually get them all. Some of these spells are approximate values, due to repeating decimals; so don't complain if they are not EXACT. Basic Level 1 Spells: 13 Basic Level 2 Spells: 16 Basic Level 3 Spells: 19 Jutsus: 13 Unicorn: 14 Golem: 14 Gremlin: 18 Ghost: 20 Ghoul: 18 Great Demon: 21 Rainbow Dust and Double Spell: 27 God Summons: 16 Ancient: 33 Level 1 Traps: 14 Level 2 Traps: 21 Shurikens: 21 Silver Dart: 21 Cutter Missile: 20 Cresent: 19.3333... Rocket Launcher: 18.14 Axe Bomber: 17.5 Grenade Bomb: 17.5 Poison Bubble: 19 Deadly Weapon: 19.20 Blow Needles: 14 Flame Breath: 14 Poison Breath: 14 Black Rain: 20.20 Heal Light: 25 Demon Breath: 14 Now, the next factor in ALL spells is how many Targets. The Rule is that an MT spell compared to the same Spell targeting 1 enemy is in the ratio of 3:4. Example: Save Angela casts Holy Ball 2x. The First time she casts it, its Single Target, and it deals 400. The 2nd time she casts it, its on ALL enemies on the screen, and that same enemy now takes 300 points of damage. Recap: Holy Ball's Damage Focused on 1 Enemy: 400 Points of Damage Holy Ball's Damage to the same enemy when its MT: 300 Points of Damage Thus, 300/400= 3/4, and that leads us to MT Spells being 3/4 the power of the same spell under same situation when its ST. NOTE: When I say MT and ST here, I mean what form they are being used in. If your using an MT Level 1, for example, on ONE enemy, than its considered an ST spell. When people refer to a spell as "MT Shurikens" for example, it means that if you so please, you can have the spell hit ALL enemies, but you don't have to if you'd rather deal more damage to one enemy. Lets show use an example: Suppose you cast a spell that does 400 points of damage to 1 enemy. Your Character learns to MT that spell, yet does not raise the Stat that Effects the Spell. You now try it on a group of 3 of those enemies; it would do 300 points of damage. Now, these are estimates, but they are relatively Accurate, though. Now there are a few Spells I left out, but that's because either I can't figure out the Equation, or had not have had a chance to test the spells. In an Update, they will most likely be there. And lastly, there's one Unique Attack Spell of them all: Half Vanish. Like all other RPGs with Spells that do damage based off HP%, Half Vanish is no exception. Half Vanish ignores the entire above Equation that all other Attack Spells follow, and proceeds with the following Equation: Damage = Current HP/2 NOTE: AGL spells are effected MAG DEF and DEF increases/decreases, despite what the calculations might let you believe. DEF apparently only decreases by 1/6 for THESE purposes w/ AGL spells, as oppose to the usual 1/3 (see below for more detail), haven't quite figured out how MAG DEF affects the spells, though. Also, oddly, Heal Light, which isn't affected, by any form of MAG DEF actually lowers when you raise MAG DEF (and conversely, raises if MAG DEF is lowered in battle) in battle. Not sure why this is, for either case, but it MIGHT be do to a bug or shoddy programming, but don't want to make any immediate assumptions. ------------------------------------------ 7. Support Spells and Effects Calculations ------------------------------------------ In this game, certain Spells or Items Actually raise your Stats or lower the Enemies. The spells that do so are: The Spells Lise Learns as a Valkyrie are SUs The Spells Lise Learns as a Rune Maiden are SDs The Spell Magic Shield Learned by the Bishop (Carlie's LL class) is an SU Pressure Point learned by Kevin's Light Classes is an SU All spells the Ninja Learns (Hawk's Dark Class) have SD side effects to them The Spell Black Curse used by the Necromancer (Carlie's Dark Light) is an SD Demon Breath used by the Evil Shaman (Carlie's Dark Dark) has SD side effects to them The concept behind SU's and SD's and how much they raise them by is rather simple. Take the current Stat it's raising (IE ATK PWR for PWR Up and Pressure Point) and raise it by 1/3. So if your character has a DEF of 300, and you use Protect up on him/her, then that character now has a DEF of 400 NOTE: Max Def applies to Armor Only; SU's can let that character exceed that max Def temporarily SD's work the exact same way, only Subtract 1/3 of the Stat instead of adding 1/3 of the stat. For instance, you have a MAG DEF of 99, and some one casts Mind Down on you (lowers MAG PWR and MAG DEF), that character now has a MAG DEF of 66. All Stat Changes do not matter whether they are MT or ST, they will always raise the Stats by the same amount. Also, as I said before, they will last until Nullified, Countered with the Opposite effect, character/enemy dies, or battle ends. Also, MT Spells are NOT Cast any slower than the ST version of the spell. NOTE: NO stat spell affects stats like STR or INT, just the stats altered by them. Now, the Next SU's and SD's that are going to be discussed are the ones that Alter HP. 3 Spells/Skills do so: Lunatic (Lowers), Deadly Weapon (lowers) and Life Booster (Raises) The amount they Raise the Stat by is 1/5 only, though, and the effect Does Wear Off over time, unlike the other Stat Effecting Spells which last until the Battles over, the Effects are nullified through Star dust herbs, Anti Magic, or the spells Opposite (IE Speed Down Overrides Speed Up if cast Second, and vice Versa) or if the character dies. These spells were off in the same way, but last a limited time as well. Also, if a characters HP is lowered and his Current HP is Higher than that of his NEW max HP, his HP drops to the Current Max. Now, Kevin's WF. Some people believe Kevin gets a HUGE increase in all stats when he turns into a Werewolf. Well, its true he is stronger, but only in the respect to his ATK PWR, the other stats remain the same. The amount Kevin's ATK PWR raises is equal to that of 1/7 of his total (in other words, roughly 1.14 x Base ATK PWR) Also, Note that all Wolves are pretty much the same. There is no difference in power between Kevin's Werewolf, Black Fang, Bloody Wolf, Wolf Devil, Golden Wolf, and Silver Wolf forms as far as power increase. The only difference is what they look like. The monster equivalents, on the other hand, are a different story. Also, all SDs and SUs that were on Kevin before he transformed are negated, and his stats go to his base stats, so unless the battle happens to change from Day to Night during a fight (There are times this happens, and be thankful when they do :P), and Kevin Transforms mid battle, wait til Kevin transforms before beefing his stats up, as otherwise, it'd be a wasted effort. Also, I think its true in reverse, where if WF Kevin has some sort of SD or SU on him, and he transforms back to his human form, those increases/decreases in stats will be negated as well. BUG ALERT: Apparently, when Kevin is in WF, after he takes one hit, his ATK PWR rises by 1/3, just like if he had Pressure Point or Power Up cast on him. Now, I highly doubt that Square meant for this to happen, so it's probably a bug in the game. So, if I say the "Kevin Bug" this is what I am referring to. Example: Class: God Hand (Light Light) with the Aura Glove (strongest Weapon for the God Hand) at MAX STR (18). ATK PWR as a human=287 ATK PWR after transformation=330 ATK PWR after being hit once in Wolf Form=440 Now, here's something you might have not expected. Duran's, Carlie's, and Kevin's Magic Sabers DO raise your ATK PWR. When cast, they not only give the elemental or Rasping attribute to your saber, but they also give a slight boost in power. A saber raises the effected Character's ATK PWR by 1/10 of their base. But, if a Power Up spell is cast, then this little increase is nullified. If cast the Saber is Cast after the Power Up spell, then the Power Up spell is nullified and the 1/10 increase appears. Confused? Well, maybe an example might help. Character used: Lise Vanadis (LL) with True Spear (Strongest Weapon for the Vanadis) and MAX STR (20) Base ATK PWR=316 ATK PWR after a Saber is cast=348 ATK PWR after SU is cast=421 ATK PWR when Saber is Cast after SU=348 ATK PWR when the reverse of above happens=421 So, as a little tip, if you want to Use both a Saber and a Power Up spell or item, cast the Saber and then the SU. Also, because of the fact that a Magic Saber raises your ATK PWR, this might explain why enemies like Dark Lords or Papa Potos cast Elemental Sabers on themselves when they can't benefit from the elemental attribute. Of course, it is easy to see why those Swords (forgot their name, will appear in an update) in Dark Palace cast Leaf or Moon Saber from that, since they can benefit from the Absorption Powers the Spell gives. Now, for an explanation about the Elemental Factors of Sabers and stuff. Saint Saber: Weapon becomes Holy Elemental Diamond Saber: Weapon becomes Earth Elemental Thunder Saber: Weapon becomes Thunder/Wind Elemental Flame Saber: Weapon becomes Fire Elemental Ice Saber: Weapon becomes Ice/Water Elemental Dark Saber: Weapon becomes Dark Elemental Moon Saber: Weapon heals users HP equal to about %15 of Damage dealt Leaf Saber: Weapon heals users MP equal to about %15 of Damage dealt (and no, it doesn't steal MP from your enemies) With the first 6 sabers, the "Basic" elementals, so to speak, if the enemy is weak vs. that Element, than Damage is doubled. If enemy Absorbs that element, than damage is basically equal to 0, just they make it look realistic by having the enemy hurt by the weapon (Purple Numbers), but healed by the element (Yellow Numbers, in this case, Identical to the previous ones), canceling each other out. Otherwise, damage is not changed at all. Moon Saber is altered only against a few select enemies (perfect example is Zable Fahr), where normally it does normal damage with a special HP healing power, however, to limit its power, some enemies are "Immune" to it, so to speak, and instead, take 1 point of damage (and your characters heal 1 point of HP as well) instead of the normal amount, whatever that is. Leaf Saber's damage is NEVER altered. However, enemies immune to MP "Stealing" affects (Since MP is not actually stolen from the enemy, just added to your characters current amount) are also immune to Leaf Saber's special MP healing power, meaning your characters will LOSE MP instead restoring it. NOTE: Apparently, against some enemies, a delayed reaction type affect occurs, sometimes, the spell doesn't last until AFTER a level 1 tech is used. Its probably a minor glitch in the programming that happens SOMETIMES only, thank you Good Luck Die for finding this out. Now, for Energy Ball. Well, this Spell is SUPPOSED to raise your Critical Hit Rate. Well, in a way it does, but in a way, like most people have experienced, it doesn't work. I'd explain the process, but Alex Jackson, the man who discovered this Bug, can do it better: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From Alex Jackson: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There's a byte in the character status data structure that is normally equal to the character's Luck, but when you cast Energy Ball it shoots up to 50. Presumably this byte is supposed to be the character's critical hit rate. However, it doesn't seem to have any actual effect. Even if you modify it to 255 you'll still only see critical hits once in a blue moon. I can only assume that due to a bug the game ends up testing some other byte instead of this one, and the byte it does test is one whose value is almost but not quite always zero. My Personal Thoughts: What can I say? Finally, somebody figured out WHY Critical Hits almost Never Appear, and why Energy Ball never seems to work. It was because of a Bug, not because of Bad Programming (ok, a Bug is Bad Programming, but its not on purpose), but anyway. The Bottom Line is don't bother Casting Energy Ball regardless of Circumstances (unless you wanna see the spells animation, but its best to wait until AFTER battle to do that...) Counter Magic: Counter Magic is similar to Reflect Spell from other RPGs, but it's not completely the same. It makes it so Certain Attack Spells (not all) will NOT affect the character with this Spell on. Like SU's and SD's this effect is permanent until some sort of Nullifier (Anti Magic, Star Dust Herb, Character dying, etc.) is placed on them, or the Battle Ends. The status allows the spell to be reflected with decreased Damage (1/4, I believe, but not certain), and as Non-elemental damage. Thus, at worst, you'll be dealing 0 Damage to an enemy. Here are a Few Spells Counter Magic Does NOT Repel: Most Enemy Only Attacks Ultimate Spells like Ancient Healing Spells All Support Spells Death Spell Death Roulette Turn Undead Throwing and Trap Spells Summons If an attack spells has a Side effect of either Status Effects or SDs, then those effects will also be reflected back at the user. So if you were to cast, say, Stun Wind (Level 3 Thunder/Wind spell, also adds "Silence" to the enemy) on a Power Boulder (innate Counter Magic Status), not only would Angela feel the brunt of her spell back at her (or at least a portion of it), but she would be silenced as well. Lastly, certain enemies have innate Counter Magic Effect on them, some have it specialized to certain elements, others have the general effect. A few examples of these are: Arch Demon both Forms (which Color and Form depicts which element) Koren (Randomly Changes which Elements) Power Boulder (All Elements, I believe) Interesting Fact: Apparently, some enemies like Mispolm and such, who cast Counter Magic on themselves, for some reason, cannot repel spells of the Dark Element, most notably, Dark Force. Its not that their Counter Magic doesn't work, as the other elements are repelled, including ones they are weak against, so I'm guessing it's a bug of some sort, especially since your characters are protected vs. all elements, including dark, when Counter Magic is cast. Aura Wave: Aura Wave does a total of ONE thing, and that's filled your Tech Gauge to its current max. In other words, if your best Tech is level 2, your Tech Gauge gets filled to Level 2. Lasts until Anti Magic or Star Dust is used on character, Character uses the tech, or the Battle Ends. Transparent: When the spell "Transhape" is cast, or a Dryad Statue is used for that matter, a character becomes Transparent. This effect is temporary, and can also be nullified by Star Dust and Anti Magic. This effect allows you to nullify enemy's regular attacks and level 1 techs, but leaves your character still as vulnerable as usual to Magic Attacks and Level 2/3 techs. Casting: This status effect happens whenever a character is casting a spell. When under the Casting status, the character becomes motionless, and the only way to stop the effect is the finish the spell. Characters under the Casting status are immune to pretty much all Negative Status effects (even death to an extent), don't flinch like normal from physical attacks, and you can't access their ring menu. If the character you control is under the Casting status, you can't switch character to control another until the spell is done. Negative Status Effects: Here is a list of the Negative Status effects and what they do: NOTE: You can have only 1 negative Status effect on at a time, which is how the Chibiko Hammer Trick (use the Hammer 2x on a character, and the effect is Negated) Also, any effect with a * by them indicates the Oath Shield CAN protect against them. *Poison: HP slowly decreases. Lasts character is Healed, Dies, or Battle Ends. Indicated by small green bubbles above person's head. *Chibiko: Character can't use ANY Techs and physical attacks do 1 point of Damage (Magic Spells are still usable though). Lasts until Character is Healed, Dies, or Battle Ends. Indicated by character being Small. *Moogle: Character can't use Any Attacks, Spells, or Techs, and the only action that can be performed is the Item Command. Lasts until Character is healed, die, or Battle ends. Indicated by Characters becoming weird Teddy Bear Like Creatures with Wings *Sleep: Character becomes temporarily inactive in battle, and if other Characters are playable (Not dead, petrified, Sleeped, or Snow Man), then you gain control of one of them. Lasts until character gets hit physically, is healed, dies, battle ends, or effect wears off after some time (whichever comes first in otherwords) Indicated by character laying on the ground with Z's coming out of their mouth. Silence: Character cannot use Spells/Skills or Level 2/3 Techs. Lasts until character is healed, die, or battle ends. Indicated by a Quote bubble with a "..." in it. Snow Man: Character becomes temporarily inactive in battle. Lasts until character dies, is healed, battle ends, or effect wears off over time (whatever comes first) Indicated by character becoming a Snow Man that resembles a Duck of some sort. Petrify: Character becomes inactive in battle, and loses half their Current HP. Lasts until character is healed, or battle ends. If all characters are Petrified or Dead, then it's game over. Indicated by character being turned to Stone. NOTE: Petrify on enemies' yields the same effect as killing them; essentially, on the ones it works anyway. Dead: Character's HP becomes 0 and they become COMPLETELY inactive during battle. If all Characters are Dead or Petrified, then it's game over. Lasts until Battle Ends, or an Angel Grail is used. If the Former, Character comes back to life with 1 HP. Shell Hunter: Character becomes a small little turtle like thingy that has decreased ATK PWR and cannot use Spells or Techs. Lasts until Healed, Character dies, or battle ends. Only effects enemies, and replaces the Chibiko Status. Enemies killed in the Shell Hunter Status give minimal money, and 0 EXP, regardless of level. The following are the ways to heal Status Effects besides Dead: -Have another Status Effect hit the character, which will nullify the first, and the 2nd will take its place. NOTE: This still holds true with the Oath Shield Equipped; however, the only difference is that the 2nd Status Effect does NOT occur. -Puipui Grass heals all status effects -Using a Stardust Herb heals ALL Status effects and Stat Changes with the exception of HP Down and Casting, I believe -Anti Magic nullifies all Status Effects and Stat Changes, with the exception of Casting. -Mama Poto Oil heals all negative status effects, and can be MT -The Tinkle Rain spell used by Carlie (all Classes) and Duran's Lord class heals all Negative Status Effects -Bottle of Salts are an FS item that heals from all negative status effects. ---------------------------------------- 8. Recover Rates and Spell Casting Times ---------------------------------------- This Section is dedicated completely to how long spells take to cast, and how what determines the casting time, as well as Character's Recovery Rates with Physical Attacks. First, I'm gonna start with the Latter. This part is easy. If you've read in other Faqs, you might have noticed they mention Duran Swinging Slower than Other Characters, but they never mention how fast the Other Characters swing, right? Well, there's a good reason for this. The fact is, Duran is ONLY slow in their Minds. It's most likely a Psychological Thing. Anyway, truth be told, ALL Classes and ALL Characters have the same Recovery Time between Attacks, regardless. There are a few things that make Characters SEEM to attack faster than others, though, and those are: NOTE: These are Facts, yes, on what effects Recovery Rate or related things, but only speculations on how the Rumor gets started and is believed. 1. If a Character is attacked while in Recovery Pose, or they do their Mid-air Evade Maneuver (IE Hawk Flipping, Duran Jumping, etc.) so to speak, it will cause the Recovery Counter to Restart. I assume that with Duran, he gets hit Often since they bring him close up into the Fighting spray, and thus, gets hit a lot. 2. They neglect to take into Account that Hawk and Kevin hit 2x on every regular attack they pull off successfully. This is probably why the above reason never seems to apply to them. With Carlie and Angela, they don't care since they are not Fighters, but with Lise, I'm not quite sure, possibly because they don't view her as much of a Fighter either, so don't expect much. 3. Its psychological. Duran's ready pose is him holding his Sword Up, however, his Recovery Pose is DRASTICALLY different, where he's dragging his Sword on the ground. This drastic change in stance might yield people to believe that he swings slower, since its more noticeable, where as the other Characters, their Recovery Poses are marginally different than there Ready Poses. Also, here's a Theory Submitted by Darrien on the Whole Subject: NOTE: This is a LONG theory. Alright, before anyone groans in disgust or posts a flame: No, I did not create this topic to continue that "disassembled code" argument. I have a theory that I'd like some people to help me test out, which I think might solve this matter once and for all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ From Darrien ~~~~~~~~~~~~ I believe that many people are claiming certain characters are slow because they're making a critical mistake in playing them. Do not jam on your attack button in the heat of battle, and do not try to swing when you are in the middle of being hit by an enemy. If you do, then you yourself are actually slowing the character's attack speed. Why is this? Because every time you push the attack button while your character is in the middle of being hit, he or she has to start the recovery process all over again. I think this is what's happening to a lot of people and causing them to think certain characters are slower in battle. If anyone wants to try it out, take any character in the game and let them get into a ready attack mode. Allow them to be hit by the enemy, and while they're in the "hit" animation (you know, the way they're shaking and shuddering from the blow), push your attack button. If you did it correctly, you'll see that the character will not attack at all, he will simply go into his "tired" phase as if he did attack. This is because the game registers that you attacked, but the attack was canceled out by the "hit" animation. This same thing will also happen sometimes if you push your level 1 tech button while you're in the "hit" animation. Your meter will stay full, the attack will not be performed, and your character will go straight to "tired" mode. (Note: Techs can be affected by this, but it does not seem to happen as often as it does with regular attacks). Note: if you hit your attack button just before the enemy's hit connects or just after you've gotten out of the "hit" animation, you will either go through with your attack and just take the damage without flinching, or your character will do the "hit" animation and then perform the attack immediately afterward. This, I believe, is the reason why it looks like there's a difference: Double-hit characters naturally get their attacks off more quickly since they have to fit 2 attack animations into the time it takes other characters to do 1 attack animation. This makes it easier for them to get attacks off in between enemy hits, and it makes them less likely to be interrupted. On the other hand, a single-hit character who swings less often and has one full-length attack animation is more likely to be hit just before the player pushes the button. This results in irritating "lost" attacks and what appears to be a ridiculously long recovery phase. You might wonder, what are the odds of someone hitting the attack button in the middle of this hit animation? It seems to happen more often than one would think. Anyone who rapidly pushes the A button during battles is especially susceptible to it. Well, anyway, this is just something I tested out, and I'm not trying to declare it as law or anything, but I would really appreciate it if some others here would try it out as well. So far, I've tested this out with Duran, Kevin, and Hawk. I'm going to retest this with them and try some of the other characters to follow up. Personal Thoughts on Theory: This is VERY plausible Actually, and might explain why this common error of opinion exists, since it IS possible that many people just SPAM the A button when playing this game. Not sure if its true or not, and if so, to how many people it applies, but nonetheless, a possible Solution to this problem. Now, On to Spell Casting Time! Let me warn you first. These are not 100% accurate. I measured them using a Stop Watch. I started the stop watch right after the screen went back to Normal when I chose the spell (the ring menu completely gone) and stopped it when the spell was started (that includes when Angela or whoever summons the spirit use it. That is part of the spell, so it does not count in the time it takes to cast it.) So if they're a little off, this is why. I am only human, and can't get things exact. First off, what determines the time it takes to cast a spell? Well, there are several things. First off, the kind of spell being cast is the biggest factor. The Character casting it is another factor. If the different characters can cast the same spell, then the speed of the spell is dependant on which character is casting it. The last factor is what class the character that casting it is in. Now, let me warn you, it does not mean what you may think at first. By class, I mean First Class, Second Class, and Final Class. If Final Classes share a certain Spell, providing it's of the same character, they both will cast it at equal times. If, say, someone claims the Arch Mage casts Saint Beam faster than the Rune Master can cast Dark Force, they are wrong. They are Both Level 2 Elementals, and both classes are Final Classes of Angela's, so the casting time is exactly the same. If it appears faster, there are few things that could cause this: A. A Tech or Spell was pulled off during the casting time, which causes a delay in the spell time. Though the spell will the usual amount of Active Time (the time you can control your characters in other words), it will look longer, since the enemy or another character has done some fancy animation in between. B. Its Psychological. This is just like the case with Duran having a slower recovery rate than the other characters. Looks can deceive, and things may only appear to be done a certain way because of what they are (Like Dark Force is a more complicated spell animation than Saint Beam, and thus, it may seem to take longer to cast, but it actually takes the same amount of time) C. If a character is attacked by Normal Attacks (attacks that don't pause the action like Spells or Level 2/3 techs), and they take damage, it will apparently increase the time by a bit needed to pull of the spell. This is probably where the myth of classes of the same Character which are both the same kind of Class (FC or 2nd Class in other words) take longer to cast spells than others. This is the ONLY case where spell Times are delayed, and it applies for ALL classes by the same amount. Finally, whether a Spell is MT or not does not change a thing. The Disadvantage to an MT version of a spell, remember, is that it has reduced the damage as opposed to if it was ST. Spell casting time is exactly the same, in other words, if the spell is ST and MT. Ok, now I know you're dying to see how long it takes to cast spells, and without Further Delay (yes I know, I am delaying you, sorry), I bring you the Spell Times. All spells times are listed in seconds. Thus, the number "3.0" means a spell takes 3 seconds to cast. If no time is listed after spell, assume I haven't tested them yet (at least when this FAQ was posted) If there is a spell I completely neglected, then E-mail me and I will try my best to get back to you. *Angela* Level 1 Elementals: Magician - 3.5 Sorcerress/Delvar - 2.0 Grand Divina/Magus/Arch Mage/Rune Master - 1.25 Level 2 Elementals: Sorcerress/Delvar - 4.0 Grand Divina/Magus/Arch Mage/Rune Master - 2.25 Double Spell: Grand Divina - 3.0 Rainbow Dust: Arch Mage - 3.0 Level 3 Elementals: Rune Master - 3.5 Death Spell: Rune Master - 3.25 Ancient: Magus - 4.0 *Carlie* Heal Light: Cleric - 1.25 Priestess/Enchantress - 0.75 Bishop/Sage/Necromancer/Evil Shaman - 0.00 (No, that is NOT a Typo, once Carlie reaches her FC, she casts Heal Light INSTANTANEOUSLY!) Sabers: Priestess - 2.67 Bishop/Sage/Necromancer - 2.25 Holy Ball: Priestess - 1.75 Bishop/Sage - 1.25 Tinkle Rain: Cleric - 2.0 Priestess/Necromancer - 1.67 Bishop/Sage/Necromancer/Evil Shaman - 1.0 Unicorn Head: Enchantress - 1.25 Necromancer/Evil Shaman - 0.67 Machine Golem: Enchantress - 1.75 Necromancer/Evil Shaman - 1.25 Turn Undead: Bishop - 0.75 Magic Shield: Bishop - 2.0 Saint Beam: Sage - 2.25 Black Curse: Necromancer - 3.25 Ghoul: Necromancer - 1.75 Ghost: Necromancer - 2.25 Gremlin: Evil Shaman - 2.0 Great Demon: Evil Shaman - 2.5 Demon Breath: Evil Shaman - 1.25 Anti Magic: Evil Shaman - 2.5 *Duran* Heal Light: Knight - 1.75 Paladin/Lord - 1.25 Tinkle Rain: Lord - 2.0 Sabers: Gladiator - 3.75 Paladin/Sword Master/Duelist - 3.0 *Hawk* Shurikens: Ninja - 1.33 Ninja Master/Night Blade - 0.75 Justus: Ninja - 2.33 Ninja Master/Night Blade - 2.0 Arrows: Ranger - 1.5 Wanderer/Rogue - 1.25 Spikes: Ranger - 2.0 Wanderer/Rogue - 1.75 Body Change: Ranger - 2.5 Wanderer/Rogue - 2.0 Sleep Flower: Ranger - 2.75 Wanderer/Rogue - 2.25 Transhape: Wanderer - 2.0 Counter Magic: Wanderer - 3.75 Poison Bubble: Wanderer - 3.5 Lunatic: Wanderer - 3.5 Life Booster: Wanderer - 3.0 Energy Ball: Wanderer - 3.75 Half Vanish: Wanderer - 2.5 Aura Wave: Wanderer - 2.5 Rock Fall: Rogue - 2.33 Land Mine: Rogue - 3.33 Silver Dart: Rogue - 0.75 Cresent: Rogue - 0.75 Rocket Launcher: Rogue - 0.75 Axe Bomber: Rogue - 0.75 Cutter Missile: Rogue - 0.75 Grenade Bomb: Rogue - 0.75 Flame Breath: Night Blade - 3.0 Poison Breath: Night Blade - 3.0 Deadly Weapon: Night Blade - 3.0 Blow Needles: Night Blade - 3.0 Black Rain: Night Blade - 1.25 (And yes, Hawk was a pain in the ass to do -_-, especially the Spells that Target enemies) *Kevin* Pressure Point: Monk - 2.0 God Hand/Warrior Monk - 1.25 Heal Light: Monk - 1.75 God Hand/Warrior Monk - 1.25 Sabers: Warrior Monk/Dervish - 3.0 Energy Ball: Death Hand - 4.75 Aura Wave: God Hand - 2.75 *Lise* Stat Ups: Valkyrie - Vanadis/Star Lancer - 1.67 Stat Downs: Rune Maiden - Dragon Master/Fenrir Knight - 1.67 Freya: Vanadis - 3.25 Marduke: Star Lancer - 3.25 Jormungand: Dragon Master - 3.25 Lamia Naga: Fenrir Knight - 3.25 BUG ALERT: This is one very famous and often abused Bug. For some reason, whenever you open the Ring Menu or somebody else casts a Spell or Uses a Tech, the Spell counter still goes down as if the action was still being used. Normally, it's supposed to STOP the timer until you exit the Ring Menu or the Spell/Tech has finished its animation, depending on which situation it is. However, it just keeps going. This is often called by people the "Spam Magic Trick" or the "Chain Casting Trick" Notice how they say "Trick" instead of "Bug" Personally, I try to avoid using either as much as possible. PQ: What are "Spam Magic" and "Chain Casting?" A: These are 2 "Tricks" that involve taking advantage of a Bug. Spam Magic is DELIBERATLY opening your Ring Menu, letting it sit there for a little while, and closing it after some time passes, thus allowing Spells like Ancient in virtually NO Active time whatsoever. Chain Casting is having Characters cast several spells in a row, the first one being a spell that is pulled off relatively fast, but not instantly (like Shurikens for example), by doing so, it will have the same effect as Spam Magic, however, instead of cheaply casting a Long Spell OVER AND OVER again instantly, its casting several spells at once with virtually no time in between each spell. Now, Spam Magic is down right cheating, IMHO. This is because its 100% avoidable. There are rare situations where you cast a spell and need to open the ring Menu to use an item or of some sort, and by accident and ignorantly, imply this trick, but that's usually not the case. I recommend that if you CAN avoid this trick, do so. It takes away a good deal of the challenge from this game. Chain Casting is not as much cheating as Spam Magic, since it's harder to employ. If you do it all the time, that's abusing it, which is just like cheating. But I can't blame you for doing so. Chain Casting is sometimes unavoidable, since we don't know what the enemies going to do and such, and that could cause you to pull off such a trick by accident. --------------------- 9.Miscellaneous Q&A --------------------- As the name of this section implies, it's done entirely in Question and Answer format. The answers, though, are much longer than one might expect in a section such as this, but they're basically topics that either weren't big enough to have a section of their own, couldn't fit them in the FAQ any other way, or are just plain curious questions that some have brought up. And some may even be just some random FAQs I through in there for the fun of it :P PQ: Ahh! I cast Poison Bubble on Dark Lich to restore Hawk's MP, but his MP went DOWN! WTF happened? Is my game Messed up? A. No, your game is fine, don't worry. Since Leaf is not an actual, element, so to speak, it can't be absorbed. However, several Leaf Elemental attacks absorb MP, so for enemies with Leaf Elemental immunity, so to speak, instead of healing from the attack, will cause your Characters to lose MP when as oppose to gaining it. PQ: I built my Tech Gauge up, but all of a sudden it dropped down to 1, and I didn't even use a tech at all. What happened? A: This is a relatively frequent glitch, and annoying as well. Sometimes, for no reason whatsoever, the game will lower your Tech gauge to 1. This seems to happen most vs. Arch Demon, though, so it might just be a spell of some sort he casts that has the Side Effect but haven't discovered it *Shrugs* PQ: How come you neglected that VIT effects HP when raised? I think that's something important, don't you? A. Well, not really. The reason being that raising VIT affects HP in a VERY slight matter. Every Character gets a Certain HP Progression, Kevin having the Highest and Angela the lowest. The characters in between are directly related to who has the Higher VIT. However, raising VIT raises your HP only by 3 Points every 2 points you raise VIT (or, in other words, some levels its 2 points per VIT, while some its 1 point per VIT), regardless of character. Many people think that by Raising VIT they can solve their Low HP problems with Angela, however, at best, they can only raise her HP 16 points, since that's the possible amount you can Raise Angela's VIT. Allow me to also Point at that because Stats MAX OUT when you CC from the Previous Class, if that character has not MAXed out his/hers VIT, and thus, not gotten the HP benefits, he/she will get the HP instantly right after CC. So, to sum it up, VIT effects HP ONLY in the Short Run, and by a small amount of 2 Points of VIT = 3 Extra Points of HP, and they WON'T effect overall HP progression. A character at level 58 who reached MAX VIT early will have the same HP as the same character at Level 58 who reached MAX VIT at THAT Level, no exceptions. So basically, if your raising VIT for HP reasons, then you should really consider putting investment into another stat, since VIT and HP are related by such a small amount its not worth a Level, unless your doing MASS VIT upgrades where the cumulative effect my be overall worth it. PQ: What about MP? What affects that? A: MP progression I believe is based off the characters SPR and INT at a rate of 2 points of INT or SPR (or a combo of both) yields 1 extra point in SPR. I believe that all characters, otherwise, have the same MP progression. Despite what this seems, all classes of the same character will have the same MP progression, as the case with ALL Classes for each character in the game, if one class has higher SPR, then it has lower INT (this is why Carlie and Angela always have highest MP. They get an extra 20 MP total that the others don't get, and thus, they reach the 99 MP limit before Level 50 w/out much problem) Confused? Well, lets give a quick example. Angela's Magus Class has her highest INT w/ 22, but lowest SPR with 18, while on the Flip side, The Arch Mage has Angela's lowest INT but highest SPR, both being at 20. Notice how the Arch Mage lost 2 points in INT but gained 2 points in SPR? I believe Square worked it this way so perfectly just for simplicity with MP progression (supported by the idea that all classes of same character have same Max VIT ratings.) Either that, or its just some random coincedence... PQ: What does Luck do? Everyone tells me that it raises your Critical Hit Rate and Chances of OKs in a Treasure Chest, but is that all it does? If it is, isn't a useless stat? A: This is something that people often ask. Pretty Much everyone knows luck does two Things: Effects the rate of Critical Hits, albeit, not a lot. Effects how many OK's (The Higher the Luck, the more OK's) that appear. Now, Luck does MORE than just those two. In fact, its much more useful than people give it credit for. For one thing, Luck also determines the rate you get the rarer items from an enemy. NOTE: I don't take advantage of Save States like that. If you use a Save State, the random number that decides which item its going to be changes if you save and open right before you start to open the box. For those people who do this, I consider you cheaters. So for me, this aspect of Luck is useful. Next off, Luck does stuff in battle. That's right, it does. There are certain enemies (non bosses) that can use Magic and Level 2/3 techs. They'll either use them as Counter Attacks or just on a Whim. Now, with the Single Target attacks, the Higher Luck the character has, the less likely they are to be hit with a spell like that. Now, I noticed this in Navarre again (I was playing an SCC with both Classes (2 different games, of course)) My Ninja Hawk was being hit with the Lesser Demon's Dark Force every so often, but it was not like every single fight I had with them. Now, with Rune Maiden Lise, she was getting hit with Dark Force every other fight with those demons. And I was not using any spells. When it comes to MT attacks, I believe its Based on the Teams Average Luck. When it's the Team in general, or just those remaining, I am not sure. If you can help me on this, please contact me in some way. Now, regarding Counter Attacks, here's how it works. Counter attacks happen ONLY on spells and Level 2/3 techs, not on Skills (the Rogue's Throwing Weapons are an example of Skills). At least to my experiences any way. Whether the Tech or Spell is Multitarget, it doesn't matter. They all counter attack based one thing: Who was the Character that hit it with the spell? Now, a Character with High Luck has a safer bet of casting a Spell on an enemy like that without him getting royally POed, and hit you with an Attack that, in the long run, caused your attack to hurt you more than it hurt them. A character with Low Luck, as you may have guessed, is more likely to get the Crap beat out of them if they cast a spell. Fortunatly for us, the only Characters who will be casting Spells on a Regular Basis, Hawk, Carlie, and Angela (and maybe the Dragon Master (Lise's DL (The Light Lise Summons cause status effects that Nullify any chance to counter attack))), all of which have the Highest Luck. Duran and Kevin, characters who have no Spells, have the lowest Luck. But don't think they don't have to worry (well, with their High HP, they might not need to), as their Level 2/3 techs can still provoke a Counter Attack, albeit, the enemy will probably die on Contact by their techs anyway, so you won't have to worry that Much. So, as you can see, unless your one of these people who fights using only Physical Characters and Level 1 techs, Luck actually is quite useful. Trust me, this little stat can save you just when you least expect it. Finally, Luck determines one other extra not quite as known factor. Sometimes, when your characters die, there's a small chance that your characters can actually be alive after taking a beating with 1 HP. The rate at which this happens is based off Luck. Its most noticed when your team is spammed with several level 3 techs, but somehow, one character survives w/ 1 HP (what's more, that character is someone like Carlie who has Low HP while the others was someone like Duran who has MUCH higher HP) PQ: WTF Causes the Trap Wheel to spin slower? A: Well, it wasn't till recently that I realized that the Trap wheel does have different speeds. I always thought it was psychological due to the amount of OK's I get with Hawk that it seems to move slowly. Apparently, I was wrong. The speed of the Ring is dependent on one thing and one thing alone: AGL. So, if you want to make sure you don't get killed by a Chest's Trap (Ogre Boxes and Kaiser Mimics anyone?) raise Agility to slow the Ring down and Luck to increase your chances of hitting an OK. PQ: Wait, who exceeds in each of those Stats? I want to know who to use to Open Chests? A: Oh yeah, I guess I should have told you that as well, hehe... ::runs like crazy:: Anyhow, here's the Range for Agility of each Character (Initial -> Max): Hawk: 6 -> 22 Lise: 5 -> 20 Duran: 4 -> 19 Kevin: 3 -> 18 Angela: 2 -> 17 Carlie: 2 -> 17 For Luck on the Other Hand, its: Hawk: 6 -> 22 Carlie: 5 -> 20 Angela: 4 -> 19 Lise: 3 -> 18 Duran: 2 -> 17 Kevin 2 -> 17 Thus, Hawk has the best chance of ANYONE to open a Chest without problems. This is assuming you are raising his AGL and LUCK as much as the other characters. Who is safer after that? It all depends on what you value more, Speed or Quantity of OK's. PQ: Why is Duran so SLOW when it comes to attacking? It takes him forever to pull off one attack. Looking at his AGL, he should have the 3rd fastest swing, right? A: He's not slow. The only reason he SEEMS slower than the other characters is because he has the most noticeable Recovery Pose. Most other Characters Battle and Recovery Poses are similar enough that they are not noticeable (IE Kevin always has his fists up and ready. Just he puts them in a slightly different position in his Battle Pose as opposed to his Recovery pose) enough to make it seem to take a long time. Duran, on the other hand, Drags his Sword around, and then lifts it high up. To sum it up, it's a psychological thing that makes Duran take longer, or anyone else for that matter. Another reason people think Duran is slow is because he's being compared to the other Males. Now, the only reason Hawk and Kevin seem to hit more times is because, well, they do. However, they attack just as many times and have the same time in between each attack as well. PQ: But that doesn't make any sense! Your Crazy! A: Yes, I am crazy, but back to this. It does make sense, since Hawk and Kevin his 2x for every attack they make. Duran, like the females, hits only once with his Big Heavy Sword. Hawk (even if he does have a Swallow equipped, he'll look the same o.o) is using 2 single-handed weapons, allowing him to strike 2x with each. Kevin uses his fists and legs as weapons, allowing him to hit 2x using 2 punches, or a Punch Kick combo or WHATEVER before needing to rest. Duran's swing a rather Heavy Sword, which takes a lot out of him to swing it constantly w/out resting like Hawk and Kevin can do. The Females as well are using rather heavy 2 Handed weapons (well Lise anyway. Carlie and Angela aren't exactly the most physically fit) as well, so they need to recover after one swing too. PQ: Ok, I am convinced that Duran is not slower, but how come he doesn't swing faster than Kevin, Angela, and Carlie if he has the 3rd highest AGL? Isn't the stat that changes Attack Rates? A. No, AGL does NOT affect Attack Rates (how often a character can attack) Believe or not, NOTHING determines Attack Rates except the game itself. All Characters in EVERY class have the same Attack Rate as one another. Even a Level 99 Ninja Master (AGL 22, the games highest) has the same Attack Rate as a Level 1 Cleric or Magician (AGL 2, games lowest), despite these VAST differences in AGL. All characters will have the same amount of chances to attack the enemy. However, there is something that does slow down Recovery Rate. If your character is attacked while in his/her Recovery Pose, it lengthens the time it takes for them to get back into Battle Poses, just like how being attacked while your character is casting a spell lengthens the spells Casting time. This is another place where Duran's slow recovery rate probably came from. Duran probably got a bunch of hits fighting up close to the enemy, and that makes him take WAY longer to recover from his previous attack he made. Kevin and Hawk probably don't seem to suffer under this since they hit 2x. I don't know why this wouldn't make Lise seem to take Longer though, since she's got the situation as Duran essentially. Carlie and Angela are probably not brought up since they are Mage characters, and people tend to not care about how they fair in comparison to the 4 fighters, since they are not supposed to be used for their physical power, but their Magic Skills. PQ: Why did Square bother to put Accessories in this game? They raise Defense stats by amounts that don't really matter much, and don't have any special effects. Might as well have just made Headgear more expensive, yet yield greater upgrades, right? A. Ah, well, no ones asked this (hence why its POTENTIAL), but its something I've been wondering for a while. The truth is that Square originally intended Accessories to have some special effects, ranging from Elemental resistances (aka 1/3 damage decrease from that element), to Status Immunities (like the Oath Shield has), to raising your Vital Stats (ones you raise when you level up, like STR or Luck) However, it appears that later in the programming, they decided not to, for whatever reason, and instead changed it to making such equipment just raise DEF and MAG DEF in the same Hats, Helmets, etc. do. How do we know this? Well, Alex Jackson (Whom I give thanks to again for discovering this and posting this on the SD3 Board) discovered that the game claims only Angela can equip it, can also be used by Carlie, just gotta change exchange the item through the not often used Weapon/Armor exchange screen (generally, I only use it when I get stuff for the Wrong character from Weapon Armor Seeds...)), and that led him to believe, from what I understand, that the Accessories had AT LEAST some ORIGINAL intention. Apparently, Square got lazy, and instead of Deleting the info from the game, they simply programmed in another byte that nulls out the Accessories special affects. Thus, Accessories are nothing more than extra Armor... some Accessories can be equipped by Multiple Characters, just the game doesn't tell you (Example: Angela's Protect Ring, though when buying it But wait, that's not all. Apparently, that extra programming did not apply to Status Immunities, for some odd reason. Apparently, Shield's Special Effects are programmed the same way as Accessories, but the Oath Shield still works, while all the Elemental ones do not. Well, in a game, I was fighting Gildervine, and Hawk was hit with many of Gildervine's Poisonous attacks (like Poison Bubble or Pollen Jet. Remember, if an attack CAN do a status effect, it works 100% of the time, not taking Status immunities into account), but not once did he get poisoned (Poison Bubble still hurt like a ***** though, but that's a different story), while Carlie and Kevin were being hit with them just once and got poisoned. Hawk's Accessory was the Cobra Earrings, which are suppose to Protect against Poison Status, and apparently, they DO work, as Hawk was never poisoned with them on, but when I removed them for a "better" accessory, he was still getting poisoned. So, yeah, there are still a few Unique Accessories out there which DO have special effects, all of which are Status immunities, so if you want to, take the time to go out and experiment a bit with them and see what protects against what, and what is just plain a generic Defense boosting item... PQ: Wait a minute! I know you, you're the person who wrote that Hawkeye FAQ, right? A. Yep, it's the same guy. I wrote the Hawkeye FAQ before this FAQ, as you might have guessed, and it was my first FAQ I've ever written. If you need help with Hawkeye, check that FAQ, since I attempted to cover virtually EVERYTHING there was to cover about Hawk. Just like if you questions about this FAQ, you can also E-mail me questions you have about Hawk that I didn't cover in my other FAQ that you were wondering about. PQ: Hey, are you the same Meeple Lard who hangs around at the SD3 boards and seems to never go away? So that's how you know all this random info about the game! When did you get inspired to write this? A. Well, yes, I am the Insane Meeple Lard himself. I do spend a lot of times at the boards; I am not ashamed to admit it. I don't like to brag (Ok, maybe I do, but who cares at this point, right?) about my accomplishments and when I first decided to write this Faq, I mentioned it on the Board to see if people would find it interesting. Most of them did. I got inspired because at One point (any VET on the board in the Summer of 2001 will tell you this if you ask) one summer, when I was still a Newbee to the boards believe it or not, I had this phase where I was obsessed with the technical stuff and Mathematical Equations on the game works in some areas (I only knew ROUGH estimates back on spells (and I mean VERY rough), and how ATK PWR and Damage calculations were figured out) to help support my rants, and it seemed impossible to find a post where I didn't bring anything like this up. Eventually it stopped, but everyone who was there remembers this stuff. I then asked around if I should write this FAQ, and a lot of the Members thought of it as a good idea. Also, I wanted to prove that some things aren't quite a big a deal as people claim they are, and expose some rumors as being RUMORS in subtle ways. PQ: How did you find out how a lot of the above stuff worked? A. Well, at first, I was just observant to the fact that Characters never did anything HIGHER than their ATK PWR. Then, I noticed on a Transformed Shadow Zero they did Damage exactly equal to their ATK PWR minus the DEFENSE. That's how I first discovered the damage calculations. From there, it was all trial and error. For the Weapon and Armor Calculations, though, I got most of that info by doing my Hawk Faq and getting all the Stastics (I played 2 games at once, one where Hawk was going towards to the Light, and the other towards the Dark so I could get ALL Weapons (I already had a File with the Ninja Master and Rogue already, so I only needed a file with Wanderer and Night Blade) statistics in a relatively short amount of time. It was time consuming, no doubt about that. However, through a lot of trial and error, I eventually got the statistics on Weapon and Armor, and was able to use that info to apply it in this FAQ. The rest is through good old Trial and Error, and a lot of free time on my hands (I tend to lack a much needed life) PQ: How can I contribute to this Faq? A: Well, if you find something Related to this FAQ that's I neglected to put in, or you feel that I have a Mistake in here somewhere (that's not unlikely, so don't feel afraid to try and point one out), just E- mail me at my address listed at the bottom of this FAQ. If it's something worthy of going my FAQ, then I'll put it in and you'll get credit. If your E-mailing me on how much you like/hate it, or are just trying to flame me, I won't put you in this FAQ, obviously. Also, note that because I don't respond to your message doesn't mean your not being put in the FAQ, so if I don't respond after you sent it to me 2x (I say 2, because you may think I didn't get it the first time, which is reasonable), don't expect to get another response. ---------------------- 10. Other Faqs to read ---------------------- Here are a list of Faqs that are really good IMO, not including my own. First of all, if your looking for Good info on the Whole game it self, check out Ryu Seiryuu's Faq. There are a lot of Faqs on the whole game, but his, IMO, is the best one out there. His Faq is still being updated every now and then. Now, what makes his Faq stand out is the Fact that he got other Board Members such as myself to give their opinions on stuff like Classes and Boss tactics, so you see multiple point of views. As a person, he's perhaps the most respected member on the SD3 board, since he's been there a long time, knows a lot about the game, and shares his Knowledge with others to Help them, not to show off. His Faq is truly worth Reading. Next, Tw1light, a fellow board member and of Friend of mine on the boards too. He created the first In Depth Character Faq. His was on Duran, and he has finished it already. He put everything he could about Duran in the Faq, and showed people that Duran DOES NOT suck like many people think. I gave input to his Faq as well. But he's done more. He's also written a Single Character Challenge Faq for those who want a bit of a Challenge in the game. GO there to get the Rules and tips for playing one. I myself am constantly playing Through SCCs Lord Zero is another Character Faq writer, and the one who inspired me to write my Hawk Faq. He did a Faq on Lise in the same way Tw1light did one on Duran. It's the best info you could find if you want to know everything you can about Lise and her classes. He also included some Norse Mythology that relates to her. For those who speak Spanish, he wrote a Spanish Faq for the game as well. He's also a fellow Board Member, so expect to see him on the boards from time to time. Now, an AIM friend of mine also wrote a Character Faq, his on Angela. His name is Thunda Snake. His Faq is still in the early Stages, since it was written not too long ago, but its Still worth Reading. But don't e-mail him saying the Grand Divina Sucks, as he likes that class a lot more than I like the Ninja Master. Another Character Faq that is good to look at is Veib's Kevin Faq. He did a good job on expanding the basic strategy of Kevin, "Beat Down all the enemies in your Path" into a well-developed Faq. If you need good info on Kevin, then his Faq is definitely worth reading. Anemo has written the Sixth Character Faq on Carlie, yet another Board Member. This is the last Character FAQ made, and the one that everyone was waiting for the longest time to be created. Anyway, I suggest Checking out this FAQ if you need help on how to use Carlie or you are convinced she's worthless and all. I wouldn't suggest E-mailing him any ANTI Carlie letters, or even worse, ANTI Evil Shaman, since that's just asking for trouble, as he does like Carlie (he wouldn't have written the FAQ otherwise) a lot, like all us Character FAQ writers. Another worthwhile FAQ to read. Absolute Zero, yet another Board Member has created 2 Challenge Faqs. His first is a Class Change Faq. It's a Faq that involves a whole bunch of ways of playing through game using certain restrictions on which Classes you can use (For Example, not getting the Final Class Change is an example) Interested? Check out the FAQ itself for more info. The other is a Low Level Challenge Faq. It basically is your usual Challenge Faq, with tips, hints, and rules for going about a Challenge. As you might have guessed, this FAQ is on challenge of getting through the game as at low a level as possible. Also sounds interesting? Check that FAQ out as well if you feel bold enough for that challenge. Also, if you want info on all the classes in the game and what's good about them all, check out GoodLuckDie's Class and Class Combination Faq (I think that's what its called) its very well done, and he shows how each class can be used well. Not once does he say "So and So class is better than So and So" or things like that. He looks at each Class Objectively (though, he's a little TOO positive about each class), so its good when you just want to see what the class is capable of. Also, he does throw in whats wrong with the class in his Faq, but doesn't start Harping (is that the right word?) about how the class is bad because of this disadvantage, but rather, just bringing up a point that NO class is without disadvantages. Anyway, if you want Class info, check out his Faq. ------------------- 11. Version History ------------------- Version 1.0-Faq was created Version 2.0-Added Miscellaneous Section Version 3.0-Added more to the Rumors Section -Added info on shields -Added to the advertisement Section, changed the name of versions in Version Updates. Version 4.0-Changed info on the Golden Wolf to the Kevin Bug -Added info on Night Blade Bug -Added info on Magic Saber's effecting attack power. -Changed the Name of Sections 7 and 8 -Fixed up some of the Grammar -Added info on Kevin's WF -Added info on Lise's Summons Version 5.0-Added Section 8 -Changed a few mistakes here and there. Version 5.5- Corrected Date of Update -Other random corrections and additions made. Version 6.0- More Mistakes Corrected -Added people who deserved it in the Credits -Added stuff to the Miscellaneous Section -Added GoodLuckDie's whole theory on the Elemental Sabers -Added Ancient's, the rest of Carlie's Heal Light's and Shurikens' Casting Time. Version 7.0 -Removed Rumor Section -Added more Casting time stuff -Fixed up the Spell Calculations to be more accurate -Corrected many mistakes in damage calculations -Changed the Layout of the FAQ overall -Added a few comments here and there -Changed the presentation the Weapon Calculation Section -Added Bug Alerts -Added Potential Questions and Answers -Changed Section 9 to a Q&A section Version 8.0 -Added Darrien's theory on Recovery Rates of Characters to Section 8. -Relabelled and added a lot of stuff to Section 8. -Changed the Info on Kevin's Wolf Forms -Added info on Energy Ball by Alex Jackson -Added info on Other Support Spells -Added info on Negative Status Effects in section 7 -Added info in spell calculation section. -Changed around stuff in Section 6 Version 9.0 -Changed a few things in the Spell Calculation Section -Fixed a few errors in Spell Calculation Section -Added a few more Spell Casting times -Deleted a few unnecessary things in this FAQ to make it look cleaner Version 10.0 -Changed a few gramatic errors -Minor Cosmetic Changes -Minor Description Changes in section 3 -Added to the Spell casting times -Corrected some mistake on "Tech's Damage Multipliers" as well as examples in damage -Corrected a few things in Spell Calculations -Added another PQ to the Misc. Q&A section -Changed a bit of description about Shields Version 10.1 -Changed a mistake regarding Angela's Multipliers -Changed some mistakes in spell casting times ----------- 12. Credits ----------- I would like to first give credit to Square Soft for creating an amazing game. Next, Gamefaqs for their great site and Message Board I never leave (almost anyway) I would also like to thank all those board members who supported the idea of doing this Faq. I would also like to give my thanks to Gyara Man for, yet again, inspiring me to do this, and Eternal Spirit for helping in ways to figure it out. Thank you Armisael for the help with Lise's and Carlie's Summons Thank you Erpy for notifying me about that Agility affecting the Trap Wheel part. Thank you Darrien for your Recovery Rate theory. Thank you Alex Jackson for your discovery of Energy Ball and why it never seems to work. Thank you LSSJMagus for finally discovering the Relationship between HP and VIT progression. Thank you Good Luck Die, for bringing up the Delayed Reaction with Sabers and SUs, and how Leaf and Moon Saber Work. --------------- 13. Legal Stuff --------------- This Faq is a copyright of Meeple Lard, Copy Right year 2001. If you want to use this Faq to help you in anyway, contact me at my E-mail: DBZfflord@aol.com It can be found at www.gamefaqs.com and they're only. All updates can be found there as well. This Is Meeple Lard saying good day, and hope you enjoyed my Faq on Technicalities. Be sure to look for updates in the Future. And if you can, check out my other Faq on Hawk if you need info on that elusive Character. Good Bye, all of you, and Good Luck in the future.