Blazing Heroes Developed by Micro Cabin for the Sega Saturn SEGA Jan.-Feb. 1996 Original Price $59.95 FAQ Vers. 1.00 _________________ by: Jeremy Moore e-mail bird33@pa.net --- LEGAL CRAP --- This FAQ is written by ME, copyrighted by ME, and owned by ME. =) All names are copyright to SEGA and Micro Cabin respectively... If you would like to use this FAQ on your site... just e-mail me and ask... more than likely I'll say yes... unless of course... I've been deprived of my ever so precious 7-UP... well, then I'm just mean ;) However, in no way will you change this FAQ, or profit from it in anyway. ______________________________________________________________________ 9/3/00 ressurected ancient FAQ I've been dabbling at over last six months it *IS* the #1 saturn game people want a FAQ for after all, and the Saturn does rock =) v: 0.10 9/7/00 finished game again, Walkthrough's coming along swimmingly v:0.50 9/19/00 Finished this sucker WHOOOOHOOO! v:1.00 9/20/00 Ack! ..forgot some bonehead info, fixed it right up now the FAQ's complete... V:1.01 ______________________________________________________________________ Twelve must fight together! "Many years ago, the legendary Twelve Warriors fought against the War-Mage, Bane, to stop his plans to take over the continent of Oldeland. But Bane was not defeated, he was only forced to retreat to his own kingdom." "Ten years have passed, and his army, commanded by five super-powerful leaders has managed to abduct the queen of the realm before retreating. Prince Aragon, the Queen's only son and the hero of our story, has lost his rightful throne. But in Queensland's Darkest hour he knows he is the only hope left, and will fight to the end to win back his homeland." "Prince Aragon needs help. The five leaders under Bane's command are powerful adversaries. Aragon must enlist the aid of eleven adventurers, the strongest warriors he can find. He must travel through the lands of Oldeland, fighting Bane's legions as he gathers his group together for the Final Showdown- against the dreaded War-Mage Bane himself!" - text taken from the manual... ______________________________________________________________________ BASICS -helpful stuff for those of you who don't want all the answers just hints on how to get started. __________ Blazing Heroes (Mystaria) is a Strategy/RPG. You take a party consisting on a set number of characters (depending on the map the number of characters you can take may change) into a battle map area. Map areas include your overworld, Town, area(battle), cave (battle), dungeon(battle), and Castle (battle) Battles consist on a battle area map, each character is capable of a certain range of movement. Depending on how far you move, your character may not havethe remaining ability to use certain skills. ie: the further you move the less skills available to select for an attack. Fighting consists of basic attacks, Magic, Technique or Item use. You can skip your turn, Defend or open treasure chest if you find them. The player, and enemy teams each go full turn, to end your turn simply select End Turn from your menu. After the enemy units turn is over you will be free to start again. Techiques are essential to victory in this game. By attacking you eventually learn new skills, be it Magic or Battle Techniques. You then may allocate these skills to your battle menu, taking the best of your skills with you into a combat area. You may allocate up to 9 skills. All other skills may still be learned but you will need to allocate them if you wish to use them. examples: selecting a heal spell several times, the character will learn a new spell such as a group heal or a ressurection spell (Same goes for offensive spells). Selecting defend consistantly will gain you better defensive skills, and attacking will eventually glean special attacks, pretty straightforward huh? =) Towns are essential stops for your party, not only to buy new weapons and armor, but speaking to people may gain you special items, bits of useful information, and some areas only become available to enter after selecting certain conversation paths. In short, talk to everyone. Each town also has a Bulletin board which sometimes holds bits of useful information. Some towns have fighting arenas (great way to build up weak characters... *and to make some serious cash with powerful fighters* =) Battle areas, be careful when entering new areas, especially at the beginning of the game, some areas hold enemies much too powerful to fight early on. If you enter an area with enemies you just can't beat, try selecting the retreat command in your options menu. If you can't retreat, well frankly, your screwed. Reset the game and avoid that area until you've A. leveled up a bit, or B. upgraded your weaponry. Remember, theres no shame in retreating... come back later and pound them like they pound you now ;) Blazing Heroes is far from being an easy game, take it slow, don't bunch up your characters and try to learn techniques and magic as early as you can, it can mean the difference between winning or losing any battle. ______________________________________________________________________ STORYLINE ______________ Basically its a save the kingdom/world Scenario, you are Aragon, Prince of Queensland, and you've been away, and Bane the evil WarMage has taken over the Continent of Oldeland, basically your pretty much an ex prince of an ex- Kingdom... and you want it back. There are 4 Kingdoms in Oldeland, Queensland, your home and the Kingdom you recently lost. The Kingdom of Dragoon in the west, Rossom to the east, and Midy to the South. Each country has several towns and battle areas. __________ CHARACTERS ______________________________________________________________________ ARAGON - Hero Aragon is the Hero of the game, Prince of Queensland and probably the most well rounded member of your party, he has strong Magic, and is a great fighter. RAIKO - joins after first confrontation with Bane Raiko is a ninja, he has great movement range and is a strong fighter. SAURA - in party from start Saura is a Priest, her Magic is very powerful, a great healer, she'll be in your party for the duration. HECTOR - in party from start Hector is an old soldier, and the greatest archer in Queensland. He is the Hero's mentor. FERRAL - in party from start Ferral is the last of the Lion-men, a INCREDIBLE fighter, and he has faced Bane before... ALETHA - joins after capture by Juza Aletha is an archer, and she learns some great status effect spells such as sleep, shieled, and raising ground. KATZHAI - joins after capture by Juza Katzhai is a Birdman, he's not that strong of a fighter, but has good range and can fly over otherwise unaccesible areas such as rivers. ASHE - joins upon entering the Dragoon castle Ashe is great, he has the ability to change into a dragon, which increases his Att./Def. and lets him fly over rivers, holes and such. Even in human form he is a great fighter and is always a good addition to the battle party. ZERETH - joins after scaling the Muldiv tower Zereth is a strong mage, attack magic is devastating. but I find Zereth went down to easy from attack. KORD - joins inside the ancient cave Kord is an animal, this Giant can do massive damage with a punch, let alone once he gets a weapon in his hand... look out! FEONA - joins after shipwreck on island and island forrest The Pirate is another good fighter, using her has its downside though... she seemed to take damage rather easily. GALFORD - joins after finding him in Sibone after much looking Galford (aka Hawk) is a thief... he has good range and is strong enough to hold his own in a fight... VARGAS - Joins after the rescue of Galford Vargas the wise man is a badass, his magic is by far stronger than any you have up to that point, and if it isn't it soon enough will be, He and Saura can do mass damage when they start casting Holy Avenge... =) HEY!.... but thats MORE than twelve characters.....hmmmmmmm.... ;) White Ray - (not really a character, but its essential to your party) get it after the finding the twelve... ___________ ITEMS ______________________________________________________________________ Item cost effect Heal 10 Restore 100 HP Heal +1 200 Restore 500 HP Heal +2 Restore all HP Mana 100 Restores 50 MP Mana +1 1000 Restores 200 MP Mana +2 Restores 500 MP Amlita 50 Repairs status abnormalities Good-Luck charm ? increases luck(small magic increase?) T. Claw Deathblow Chance increases R. Leg 460 Luck increases W. Shoes 640 Speed Increase B. Orb Protects againts confusion and fear Wing 1 1700 Increase in characters energy P. Glove 500 Att. Up +20 Gauntlet 900 Def. Up +25 Ball +1 ? ?(hand grenade) Ball +2 150 Att. 100 (Hand grenade) Ball +3 ? ?(hand grenade) ARMOR ______________________________________________________________________ Armor cost effect HELMETS Round Hat 15 Def. + 2 Hairband 10 Def. + 3 Tao Band 4100 Def. + 12 Cone 2100 Def. + 8(Protection by wind spirit) Sallet 20 Def. + 5 Trakia 120 Def. + 12 Armet 420 Def. + 23 ARMOR Tunic 5 Def. + 5 Cotton 25 Def. + 14 Chain 15 Def. + 16 Scale 400 Def. + 33 Plate 3300 Def. + 55 Priest 50 Def. + 22 White 1900 Def. + 47 GLOVE/SHIELD's C. Glove 5 Def. + 4 L. Glove 20 Def. + 12 M. Glove 2700 Def. + 35 Wood 12 Def. + 8 Battle 170 Def. + 19 Round 260 Def. + 22 Silver 2300 Def. + 37 WEAPONS ______________________________________________________________________ WEAPONS cost effect Long bow 36 Att. + 27 Crossbow 190 Att. + 41 Gazelle ?(varies) Att. + ? (magic laiden) Long Sword 20 Att. + 25 Baster sword 190 Att. + 43 Paradin sword Att. + 75 Ninja Katana 30 Att. + 20 Bizen Katana 105 Att. + 30 Izayoi Katana 450 Att. + 50 D-Knife Att. + 70 Battle Spear 35 Att. + 29 Gallant Spear 250 Att. + 43 Herbert Spear Att. + 68 PacoPaco 6700 Att. + ? (confusion on enemy) Master ? ? Knight ? ? Desband ? ? ___________ WALKTHROUGH ______________________________________________________________________ First things first, you need to realize, this game does NOT offer many options,(There are a whopping two! optional quests) you really do need to do these things all in specific order, trying to do them out of order will more than likely get you killed instantly (I found out the hardway my first time through when I went straight from Mt Burgeon to Ortoma to fight the pirates... I made it to the island, saved and then got into an unwinnable battle AAAHHHHGGGGHHH 5+ hours down the hole.... ah memories....) ... and without further ado, the quick walkthru, fear not Spoilers will be kept to bare minimums... --- Face to face with Bane Aragon, Ferral, Hector and Saura stand against Bane and his men. Raiko, Katzhai, and Aletha are with Bane here... Theres no way you can win here, just advance, and after a turn or two Bane will cast a Hellfire spell, wiping out his own men. --- Escaping Bane You awaken in the forest to find that you narrowly escaped Bane, Ferral also has brought the injured Raiko along. Raiko, disgusted Bane would slaughter his own troops, offers to join you to bring Bane down. Your goal here is simple. go through the woods following the path, and escape. Bane's men here pose little threat. Upon reaching the end of this area you will come to an abrupt halt in the following area, Juza, Raiko's former master will now face you. This fight is unwinnable. let him kill you, and you will be captured and thrown into the dungeon. --- Escaping the Dungeon The dungeon you awaken in is pretty easy, you find Bane gloating to you at the beginning. As Bane leaves, you here sounds of battle from outside your cell. Aletha and Katzhai have come to rescue you, both of whom seem a bit peeved at Bane for trying to off them. =) Move west the North fighting guards along the way, some guards seem strong to physical attack, use magic to finish them quickly. Make a quick detour with two characters to grab the two treasure chests in the Southwest room (all the other chests are unatainable at this time) Two Heal's will be yours. as you travel towards the stairs (and freedom) you will face Juza again, you can't beat him, so check the door now in the very north west area of the map, after several checks by characters, you'll find the correct key and escape. Do NOT fight Juza or whoever faces him is dead... and won't get any Exp. when you leave the area. =) --- Finding the old Wise Man (Vargas) of the Clouds Your next destination is Mt. Burgeon, buy a few Mana's in Queensheart before leaving for the Mountain. The battles here are tougher than your previous fights. A good strategy is to advance halfway through the area then retreat. Do this several times to gain a few levels and some cash. The higher your level the better, this game is unforgiving and you won't regret doing some mindless leveling up. Level 5 or 6 would be good to reach for now. When you reach the summit the wise man will speak to you telling you of the twelve Legendary heroes that battled Bane long ago, he will tell you that the only way to defeat Bane is to recruit eleven companions to help you in your battle, only twelve can defeat Bane... (personally I'd send about 500 and watch him drop then, but its not a game option... so you have to follow along with the ole' wise man's legend. ;) --- More mindless leveling up Before bothering starting your companion hunting, time to do a little more leveling up... The worldmap is yours to explore at will now. There are borders you must traverse to go from Kingdom to Kingdom, travel west. to the Dragoon Kingdom, travel into the town of Zarma and upgrade all your equipment. Zarma's weapon and Armor shops have some nice equipment for the time being... make sure to upgrade everyone as soon as possible. Now travel south from Zarma, and enter the Forrest Here you can find plent of monsters, fight through the forrest get the treasures. Then retreat from the woods, there is a crystal in the forrest, but its useless for now. Repeat the fighting to level up more if desired, next travel back to Queensland, and then east to Rossam. Travel south east in Rossam and reach the eastern forest which is much like the one you were in, over in the Dragoon Kingdom. Fight your way through collecting the treasures. Repeat until level 10 or 11... Then travel back to the Dragoon Kingdom. --- Your first recruit Enter Zarma and buy all the Mana's you can, and a few Heal's as well if you're low on them. Then enter the Dragoon Castle. Upon entering you will see Bane's troops everywhere pillaging the Castle, One small Knight stands against them. This little guy is Ashe the Dragon Knight, your first recruit. He will join you and ask for help. --- Dragoon Castle Your goal are the stairs on the eastern side of the castle, getting there is far from easy, use Ashe's special ability to change into a dragon, it will be quite helpful, it ups his Att/Def a bit and he's already pretty strong to begin with. Fight only if necessary and keep moving, ignore the Dragoon's and keep heading for the stairs, you'll be pretty battered as is, without sidetracking to speak to the Knights. Once on the second floor,you will be captured, as you wait in the dungeon, Ashe will be forced to bring water to the cell guard... the downside is... the guards don't like you and will shove you if you touch them. You may spill some water once. The second time you must start the whole floor over... ugh... it becomes a bit tedious... watch the enemy for patterns in there movement, and only go when you are sure to be out of a guards reach (check the guards movement by examining there move range).. go down the two floors to the dungeon (easier said than done... but you'll figure it out after a few tries) it seems a bit random as how the enemies will move too... so its impossible to say for certain how to do it. In the basement level get the treasure chest, wine, walk up to the guard and he'll take it, getting himself drunk and passing out in the process. Take the jailkey off him and open up the cell, and walah! ya got your party back. Now get ready for a REAL nasty battle =) You face the first of Bane's warlords (Juza didn't count....yet =) Selene... Selene can be insanely hard or very easy depending on how you fight. To win this fight, ignore her guards and focus soley on Selene, Heal when necessary. Selene becomes difficult when you let your party get divided and spread out working over her guards. So just ignore the fodder and go after her. --- Mindless leveling up Yep, more leveling up, hey don't despair... those levels will be much needed soon enough. Also keep using those Techniques and Spells in battle, you will keep learning new ones as time passes. --- Back to Rossam Head to Kolby the village in the Northeast, Get any Equipment necessary, alot of Mana potions and Healing items if necessary ( I always found healing magic to be enough, but its good to keep a few Heal's just in case). Then head south then a bit west to the Tower. the Specters here are immune to normal weapons, so use magic, or magic weapons (If you can find any...) Use Magic and hurry through the area... The dungeon is straightforward, get through this area, and in the second area get a character to stand on the teleporter on the floor at the one end of the area, once back outside you'll meet your next recruit, Zereth, a mage, and a strong one at that. Save your game, and do any necessary armor/weapon upgrades at either Kolby, or head down to Midy and check the Port town of Ortoma. After your ready head into the hole (aply named Ancient ruins) North of the tower you were just in, This level is also straightforward (they all are!) just get to the exit, and get ready for a boss fight. On this level you will meet Helius, on of Banes's lieutenant's, compared to Selene, Helius is a wuss, off all of his guards first, get the treasures and then take him out, Helius is cake, if your level is over 15 with each character, you should have no worries, hit him with strong attacks, and Heal when necessary, if nobody needs healed have Saura cast her strongest current Attack Magic on Helius, for nice damage. After whooping Helius, Kord will join your party, he is a VERY strong fighter. The next area is simple, kill the enemies and get out of there. --- You know the Drill Level up, upgrade equipment, blah, blah, blah... =) and...when I say level up.... I mean get your characters up to like level 20... at least... and head to Ortoma. --- Nastiest series of battles in the game Once in Ortoma, talk to everyone, someone will mention that they're town is plagued by pirates, and they need help, well your a hero, ain'tcha? time to be all heroic... tell them you'll help them, you will be taken onto a boat, which will promptly be boarded by pirates. The Pirates aren't too tough, skip one or two turns, let them get into striking distance, then hit 'em hard with everything you have, advance through them and take out there captain. This battle is pretty much cake, its just a setup for the nasty stuff. Your battles caused a bit of damage to the ship, and you find yourself stranded on an island in the Northwest corner of the map, the area here is EVIL!... hope your at level 20 like I told ya to be... =) The goal is to head west, but there is a LARGE number of enemies in your way, and their those damned kind that flash and are invulerable to attack (use magic) an when they become solid attack normally. Use Ashe to grab the treasures in the water, but keep moving, the enemies keep getting "reinforcements" (blah... theres already more than enough already... the game is going into overkill here)... make sure you grab the treasures though, there is a Holycrown in one of the chests. If you can make it through this area easily... you're in pretty good shape for the next few battles. When out of the area, control Feona and grab all the treasures you find, then exit her area. In the next area Feona will join, and just kill all the enemies and head back to Ortoma. Talk to the person that asked you for help, and he'll give you a reward. Save your game now... trust me, that island ain't worth going through again... and go through the Dragoon Kingdom then Nothwest to Queensland. --- Return to Queensland, and completing the twelve First things first, check out shops in every town you pass, depending on your level they will have new equipment. I reccomend hitting the ancient ruins and do a little more leveling, but its your call, then head into the Occupied town of Sibone just a bit west of Queensheart. This is a bridge battle, and its pretty straightforward... just kill all the guards and free the town. =) Talk to the Bartender in Sibone about Hawk, then have the bartender post on the billboard that you'd like to meet with Hawk (you need to look at the message board *sign in the back of town* an talk to the bartender a few times... then head over to Dragoon, and then come back, check the board, Hawk wants to meet up (annoyed with all the back and forth crap yet? good =) yay... you'll go to the spot, and be attacked, this battle is cake, a few weak enemies will jump you, nothing to get your panties in a twist over. Afterwards Hawk will talk to Aragon but then he leaves. You'll find yourself in a familiar dungeon from early in the game, and those treasure chests are attainable now =) You have to save Hawk before the enemy takes him out in this area, Raiko will most likely get there first, so don't sidetrack your longer range characters with treasure hunting... just get to Hawk. Once safe, the Thief will join you, his real name is Galford. He is indespensible and should be used often. Zereth will disapear and you will wind up on Mt. Burgeon and the ole wise man will join you, his name is Vargas, and he is a strong character his magic is even better than Saura's... OK folks, you now have control of the White Ray, and can fly anywhere ya need to go. Fly over to Battlum (the only town that can't be accessed by ground) and upgrade your stuff. Also go to Natis in Midy and talk to the people about the missing girl, fly to the castle and rescue her in the relatively easy battle. by now you should be in the mid to high 20's in level so the enemies there should be little threat you. Back in Natis the girl will give Raiko a good luck charm after speaking to her a few times, you will also get some monney as a reward. Then get ready and fly to the island a bit to the side of Queensheart, with a cave on it. These were the only two sidequest areas ( rescuing the girl and going to Battlum), in the game folks, hope you enjoyed it cause its all "straight on til morning" now... that means its just like before the wonderful two sidequests, and the game goes back to its incredible linearity... which isn't all bad... at least ya can't get lost ;) --- Onward to Bane The cave here is easy enough to navigate Vargas will instruct you to use a switch in the area, do so, and advance through, this cave is a decent place to build levels, but fighting in the arena is just as good, but the only problem is the arena level building takes a bit longer =) The next area is cake, all you need do is kill the enemy here, and grab the treasures. The following area is a bit harder, a poison cloud causes damage each player turn. but if you have both Saura and Vargas with you (and you should!) then it shouldn't be a problem. just grab the treasures and move on. The next area sports more of those damned reappearing enemies, just keep using holy avenge and head up the stairs Bane, Juza and a lot of Bowman guards wait for you as you enter this area, frankly, this fight is a joke, Hit the archers with Vargas and or Saura's mass damage magic, all fighters should focus on that bastard Juza (finally =D ) then turn all your characters to Bane, he has a lot of HP's but really is no threat... hit him with your strongest stuff an he'll go down in a few rounds. After the battle you'll discover a few things about those crystals from the forests earlier in the game (remember them?) and alot of plot points are tied up... but even more are now unravelled =) --- The center of Oldeland Take White Ray and land in the clearing in the clouds in the middle of the continent. As you enter this are Galford will take off. For the battle here I reccomend Vargas and Saura and Ferral along with Raiko and Aragon, or taking either Kord or Feona if you're more the beat em up type. The first real area that you will have any problems with here is an area with switches that raise and lower the platforms. Its not as bad as it looks though, I have seen worse... (Wild Arms 2 puzzles come to mind *shudder*... and WA2 is pretty easy... so... you should have very little trouble after a little trial an error, just move everyone together onto the platforms, save one to move the switch, rinse...repeat.... The worst part of this area is the enemies... they can confuse you, so hit them fast. once out of this area, move Galford around an grab the treasures, then continue east to the fairy... --- Out of this world Load up with Mana's and Heal's then head back to the forest and you will see a gate. when you aproach it you will be at battle menu select... take your preferred group (Vargas and Saura for there magic, and Ferral is a good choice for a strong fighter)... The battle here is rather tough, enemies can freeze you (bad thing) so keep moving, and take out enemies as fast as possible, mass damage spells are the way to go. keep moving to the exit of the area, grab the treasures if your strong enough to, but if you're hurting my advice is just to get through there as quickly as possible.... Once in the next area, touch the crystal ASAP! you'll be transported back to one of the forests from early in the game, get out of the forest and load up on any items you may need, upgrade any equipment you need to, and SAVE your game! The next area is painful... --- Endgame Head back into the forest, kick the crud out of the puny enemies here... touch the crystal and head back to the evil place you just left (comments such as "the dark side" come to mind ;) Aragon will confront the Queen (mommy I'm home =) so you don't have him for this next battle... straightforward area, not too tough enemies, just head right through, and head into the next area.... and an unexpected... (ok... everyone and there grandmother should have expected this....) encounter... WELL GEE!!!! I bet you were real surprised now a Boss fight ensues Ceresa is tough but not impossible, she *can* freeze members of your party... so hit her as hard as possible as fast as possible, don't hold back, and you should beat her in two to three rounds. Meanwhile... Aragon will have a little side quest, all you need to do is follow your mother EXACTLY as she walks... simple huh? afterwards she'll tie up some loose ends and you'll get a few items and the Desband sword. Equip this ASAP! (first round of the next battle is as soon as possible btw =)... This battle begins with Aragon coming back to the party, then they will face Bane's 4 lieutenants... first off do NOT bunch up in the center and get surrounded, focus on one Lieutenant at a time. The best order to fight them that I can reccomend is, take out Juza and Helius, and Selene first, they seem to hit harder than the others, Juza in particular is a wimp by this stage of the game =) After the Lieutenants go down you'll face Bane, he's a smarmy sonuva.... nevermind... just hit him with your strongest attacks, and he'll go down soon enough, frankly he *is* strong, but the real threat in this battle are his guard creatures, take them out with mass damage spells from Varkas and or Saura. Keep hitting Bane wit your best attacks from your fighters, and when the guards are dead focus the spells on Bane, keep your party healed and you should suffer no casualties. The next area is plain and simple, escape the castle before it falls apart. Just head straight for the crystal, ignore all the enemies if possible, touch it and get out of there. Meanwhile the group still back in Oldeland get themselves into a battle, this is at best a cakewalk, and at worst its you wishing you bothered leveling up your less used characters (but even if they only got the menial exp. from sitting out of battle, by now they should be able to take care of themselves anyway. --- Cleanin' up the mess One more battle awaits you, take out as many enemies as possible by throwing mass damage spells from Vargas and or Saura, your fighters should go in then and clean up the survivors, take out all the fodder quick, then heal up and recharge MP's with mana's, Ceresa is your next focus, hit her as quickly as possible by all your fighters strongest attacks, it should ony take a round or two to defeat her, another way is to have your fighters head straight at Ceresa, while your magic users focus on the fodder, if your lucky you can kill off all the enemies in two rounds and have Ceresa extremely weakened (but this could cost you a character or two if more than one or two enemies survive) still the option is up to you, once the fodder and Ceresa are dead, heal and focus on Rastigan next. Rastigan is a freaking JOKE! he has high Hit Points, but his attacks did nearly no damage, nothing a Mega Heal didn't cure right up anyway. Rastigan has around 10,000 Hit Points (pretty damn tough for a chancellor huh? maybe I should go into politics...) but you'll eat through them fast. =) ***THE END*** oh guess not... heres the hint section... ______________________________________________________________________ Careful crossing the borders, bandits can jump you, if you lose you'll lose half your money... worse yet, the Characters selected to fight the bandits is random, you can be in for a world of hurt, early in the game... Against strong enemies or bosses,send in a front line consisting of strong fighters, followed by a line consisting of a Mage or priest, and an archer, this will allow you to cast strong spells without worry of the enemy walking up and pounding your priest, meanwhile, your fighters can hit him and take the brunt of the punishment, and the priest can heal them as needed, having an archer there for extra support and increased damage without the threat of immediat retaliation, this doesn't work as well, but is still effective against magic using enemies. *whew* Build UP your characters, equip them with the best equipment possible, and level up as much as possible... cause you WILL need it. Don't be afraid to retreat from an unwinnable (is that a word?) fight. Kill ALL enemies... every bit of experience helps =) Send a scout to snatch treasure chests while the rest of the patry fights... saves time. Save for a very few select items, most things you find in treasure chests in the battles can be bought from towns when you reach certain levels, so if its a choice between life or death to grab some treasure, or survive the battle, just leave it, chances are you can buy it in Battlum later in the game. In Battlum there is a Trials Maze, if by some stroke of luck you survive long enough you can find some nifty items in there... (all I ever seemed to find was Mana + 2's darnit....) but *supposedly there are some sweet items further in* have a go at it, and good luck. And have fun.... its a great game... ______________________________________________________________________ Jeremy Moore bird33@pa.net check out my other FAQ's too: Blazing Heroes for the Sega Saturn (oops thats this one) Alien Vs. Predator for the Atari Jaguar ______________________________________________________________________ Thats it.... game over man........ GAME OVER!!!!!