=============================================================================== Shadow Hearts: Covenant =============================================================================== Platform: Playstation 2 Author: Georgi Samaras Developer: Midway, Aruze, Nautilus (2004) E-mail: SophiaLee04@yahoo.com Genre: Turn-based RPG, Historical Fantasy Version: 1.15 Rating: T (Language, Partial Nudity, Last Updated: May 21, 2008 Suggestive Themes, Violence) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction .................................................... [int] 2. Controls ........................................................ [con] 3. Battle Basics - Character Stats ............................................... [chs] - The Action Menu ............................................... [act] - The Judgment Ring ............................................. [jud] - Crest Magic ................................................... [cre] - The Class System .............................................. [cla] - Combos and Affinity ........................................... [com] - Ailments ...................................................... [ail] - Forming a Party ............................................... [for] 4. Walkthrough - Disc One - Apoina Tower ................................................ [ea1] - Domremy ..................................................... [edo] - Ardennes Forest ............................................. [eaf] - Paris ....................................................... [epa] - Le Havre .................................................... [elh] - Wine Cellar ................................................. [ewc] - Port of Southampton ......................................... [eps] - Rhondda Mine ................................................ [erm] - Wales ....................................................... [ewa] - Florence .................................................... [efl] - Manmariana Island ........................................... [emi] - SG Italian Branch HQ ........................................ [esg] - Neam Ruins .................................................. [enr] - Cannes ...................................................... [eca] - St. Marguerite Island ....................................... [esm] - Petrograd ................................................... [ep1] - Goreme Valley ............................................... [egv] - Mirror Castle ............................................... [emc] - Petrograd ................................................... [ep2] - Idar Flamme ................................................. [eif] - Finishing Europe ............................................ [efe] - Apoina Tower ................................................ [ea2] - Disc Two - Brick Warehouse ............................................. [jbw] - Yokohama Streets ............................................ [jys] - Battleship Mikasa ........................................... [jbm] - Hojo Research Lab ........................................... [jh1] - Foreigner's Cemetery ........................................ [jfc] - Nihonbashi .................................................. [jni] - Hojo Research Lab ........................................... [jh2] - Forest of Wind .............................................. [jfw] - Inugami Village ............................................. [jiv] - Immortal Mountain ........................................... [jim] - Azabu Kamiyashiki ........................................... [jak] - Finishing Japan, Back to Europe ............................. [jfj] - Queen's Garden .............................................. [eqg] - Asuka Stone Platform ........................................ [jap] 5. Sidequests - Deeper into the Neam Ruins .................................... [snr] - Tiffauges Castle .............................................. [stc] - Chasing Lenny ................................................. [scl] - The Dark Seraphim ............................................. [sds] - The Doll House ................................................ [sdh] - The Wolf Bout ................................................. [swb] - The Fort of Regrets ........................................... [sfr] - The Man Festival .............................................. [smf] - Item Trading .................................................. [sit] - The Black Forest .............................................. [sbf] - The Dog Shrine ................................................ [sdf] - King Solomon's Key/Trials ..................................... [sks] - Quizzes ....................................................... [sqz] 6. Recaps - Ring Soul Locations ........................................... [rrs] - Ultimate Weapons/Armor/Unique Accessories ..................... [rwa] - Lottery Members ............................................... [rlm] - Important Items ............................................... [rii] - Maps .......................................................... [rmp] 7. Miscellaneous - Credit/Thanks ................................................. [mct] - Author's Notes/Version History/Hosts/Legal Info ............... [mal] I've done my best to implement an in-document search system. For best results, copy and paste the letters and numbers (complete with brackets) into the browser's Find feature under Edit. Be warned that this walkthrough is spoilery because I just can't shut up when it comes to commentary. Boss battles are indented and item and enemy lists are provided at the beginning of each section, so if you want the bare essentials in terms of aid, then pay no attention to all the text in between the beginning of a section and boss strategy scattered throughout. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction [int] After the end of the first Shadow Hearts, Yuri Hyuga and Alice Elliot were on a train bound for Zurich. Unfortunately, due to Malice poisoning after saving Yuri's soul, Alice would never leave the train alive. With tears in his eyes, Yuri pledges not to squander the life for which she died. Months later, World War I breaks out. A troop of German soldiers looking to take the city of Domremy in France are decimated by a demon residing in the local church, a demon that seems to be able to take human form, a demon that seems to emanate sadness... ---- For those of you who've played the original Shadow Hearts, get ready for a wonderful surprise. For those of you who haven't, you're still in for a treat. Shadow Hearts: Covenant is a monster of an RPG and one of my absolute favorites, so I decided to try my hand at writing a guide for it. Playing the first game is partly recommended since Covenant references it, but you shouldn't be left out plot-wise and you definitely don't need to play the first one to appreciate this game's humor and awesome battle system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Controls [con] left analog stick/directional buttons: move character/navigate menus triangle: open Command Menu, display specific information on items, skip cutscenes (when paused) circle: run (when using directional buttons to move), cancel X: confirm, talk, examine square: sort items in menus, change camera angle in battle L1/R1: cycle through different menus/pages L2/R2: scroll through pages in menus R3: close current menu start: pause, list all entries in library select: toggle subtitles during cutscenes/navigation map out of battle ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Battle Basics (mostly for those without an instruction manual or who would rather not look at the game's help file) Character Stats [chs] First off, you need to know what each of your character stats are and what they mean. Basic stuff, yes, but important to know since you can boost a character's base stats with Seal items, and you need to know your mages from your fighters when you're forming a party and equipping stat boosting accessories and whatnot. Hit Points (HP): how much damage a character can sustain Mana Points (MP): capacity for using special attacks Sanity Points (SP): how long they can stay in battle without going crazy Dominance Capacity Points (DCP): crests they can hold according to level Strength (Str): physical attack power Intelligence (Int): special attack power Vitality (Vit): physical defense power Power (Pow): special defense power Agility (Agl): affects evasion rate and how many turns they get in battle Luck (Lck): affects how often critical blows are dealt Below are the stats that are affected when you equip accessories, as opposed to the base stats above that only change when a character levels up. P-Atk: physical attack strength S-Atk: special attack strength P-Def: physical defense S-Def: special defense It goes without saying that the higher the numbers, the better, but be wary when equipping items. Sometimes it's better to sacrifice an increase in stats for, say, an accessory with a healing effect. This will become more apparent as you gain more in the way of equipment. ---- The Action Menu [act] Whenever you find yourself in a fight (which will be often) you will have to navigate the Action Menu. Most selections will require a spin on the Judgment Ring, a disc representing motive, action, and outcome that appears on the screen when an action is chosen and has a rotating needle. The object here is to hit certain areas of the ring when the needle sweeps over them. Below are the different actions you can take and a description of each. Attack: This is the standard way to show your enemies who's boss. This prompts a ring with orange hit areas and red strike areas. Pressing X over the orange will let you execute an attack. If you hit the red areas, your attack will cause more damage. Missing the first orange area means your attack fails completely. Hitting the first but missing any others means you'll execute a number of attacks equal to the number of areas you hit. There are different ways to attack (Standard, Hard Hit, High Angle, and Knock Down) but these are used for combos more than anything. Normally, the indicator only sweeps around the ring once, but items called Keys allow 3, 5, 7, and even an unlimited amount of sweeps of the needle when used. Special Abilities: Every character has a special ability that sets them apart from the rest. For example, Yuri's is the ancient art of fusion. All abilities differ in strength, property, and element so get friendly with the notes on the bottom of the battle screen to know which does what. It's way too much to summarize here. Crest Magic: Crest magic is new to Shadow Hearts and is basically magic that everyone can use (see the Crest Magic section for more details). Special abilities and crest magic share the same kind of Judgment Ring. Magic hit areas are blue but still have a red strike area to make the move more potent. The hit areas of some magic attacks have what are called modulate areas, ranging from white to blue in color. Hitting in the white will execute a weak attack while aiming for the blue will make the attack stronger. Most magic has green areas called step areas that must be hit in order to perform the spell at all. Items: This option allows you to use an item from your inventory in battle. This also requires a Judgment Ring with hit and strike areas. The strike area will make the item more effective (for example, if it were a healing item, it would restore more HP than normal). Missing the hit area means the item will not be used, and it will still be in your inventory, so you haven't wasted it. Defend: One of the few actions that does not require the Judgment Ring, defending makes a character sacrifice a turn to reduce damage from an attack. There are two types: Block simply reduces damage and Resist sacrifices SP to let you stand your ground (used mostly for combos). Combo: Another new addition to Shadow Hearts is the awesome and sometimes frustrating combo system. There's a lot to discuss here, so refer to the Combo and Affinity section below to learn how it works. Run Away: Simple. Run away like the coward you are (no Judgment Ring required)! Note that you cannot escape from every fight, and you get nothing after battle no matter what. If you do well at fighting, the game actually rewards you. Say, if you hit the strike area for every party member's Judgment Ring or finish off all your opponents without taking any damage, you'll get bonus EXP, soul energy, cash, or items. ---- The Judgment Ring [jud] Here we go into the Judgment Ring, the thing that governs the characters' fates and makes the game interesting. Actually, the basics of usage were pretty much outlined in the above section. It's a game of timing and reflexes. What this section is really about is how you can customize it. Yes, your fate is in your hands for a change! This feature lets you make battles easier or harder for you and is uber important to understand. There's an in-game tutorial on this, but the nitty gritty is outlined below. All these options appear under Ring Customization in the Command Menu. Hit Area Width: Having trouble with a certain hit or strike area? If you have Hit/Strike Area Expand items, you can widen certain areas on the Judgment Ring so you can hit them easier. Add-On Effects: Enemies do this, now you can too! Certain items allow you to add a status/parameter ailment to a character's normal attack. Now you can coat Karin's sword with poison or lower an enemy's defenses with a punch from Yuri. They range in strength from 1-4 (ex: Poison 4 has a higher probability than Poison 1). Hit Area Number: Each character starts off with a certain number of hit areas on their Attack Judgment Ring. With Attack Boost items, you can increase this number (the max is two). For example, Yuri's normal combo can include up to five attacks. Ring Types: This allows you to shake up your ring. Normal is the standard model. Practice is good for beginners: if you miss a hit area, you still get the chance to hit the others so this allows for mistakes. However, there are no strike areas. Technical rings are for pros: you have to hit all the areas or you execute no attack whatsoever. This ring allows for really powerful attacks. Gamble rings are similar, with only one hit area. Hit it, and it's as if you hit every area on a normal ring. Auto Ring: This automates your ring, making you almost obsolete. Not advised if you want to get the full experience, you lazy bum. ---- Crest Magic [cre] A new addition to Shadow Hearts is magic that everyone except Harmonixers can use. Magic spells are stored in demon crests that can be equipped to characters with enough DCP. This allows you to customize your magic users to the fullest. Anyone can wield any type or element of magic, as long as you have the crest and they have the DCP. There is an in-game tutorial on how to use crests, but there's really not much to it. Most characters join your party with crests already equipped. Early on in the game, you'll get something called Solomon's Key, which is a puzzle concerning all the crests you have, so be sure to pick them all up. Completing the puzzle makes the crests stronger and will ultimately lead to a tough battle and one hell of a powerful magic spell, but more on that later. Magic comes in five types: Single, Circular, Linear, Piercing, and All. Single targets (surprise) one enemy only. Circular spells can hit multiple enemies; a circular hit radius engulfs your target and everyone unfortunate enough to stand next to it. Linear is the same except that it starts from the caster's position and hits enemies standing in front of and behind the target. Piercing shots are a combination of the former two: they start in a linear motion, hitting and knocking back all enemies in their path, and then finish off in a circular blast. All-type spells are rare but powerful. As you could probably tell, they target all enemies on the field, no matter where they are. Be careful when using magic during combos. Spells can be High Angled, Hard Hitting, or ones that Knock Down opponents. There are also some magic spells that are Anti-air or Anti-ground. Anti-air will completely miss any opponent that is knocked down low to the ground, and Anti-ground misses any enemy in the air during combos. (Seems backwards to me, but that's how it goes.) ---- The Class System [cla] Nearly every character and enemy has a class or an element. This is important to know in battle. Certain classes are opposed: Water and Fire, Earth and Wind, Dark and Light. This means that Water attacks do more damage to Fire types, and Wind attacks will not harm Wind class monsters as much as Earth attacks. It also means that opposing types that are fighting each other are equally susceptible to the other's attacks. As I like to put it, it's a twist on the classic rock-paper-scissors set-up: rock and paper duking it out while scissors is off fighting a pencil or something. It's a good idea to give your characters a variety of classes when equipping crests so they can handle any class pitted against them. There are some enemies that have no class (ha ha), in which case the rules here do not apply. ---- Combos and Affinity [com] The combo system is a neat feature that allows you to rack up tons of damage and perform special magic if done properly. It also looks cool. To start a combo, use the Combo command from the Action Menu. Then, choose a character you'd like to combo with and how you'd like them to wait (doing nothing or preparing to weather an attack). Keep an eye on the turn priority meter at the top of the screen to know when your opponents are going to attack so you know how to wait/defend. The active party member will then run over and stand next to their combo partner until one of them gets a turn. You can do this with two, three, or all four party members. Sometimes fighters will even be knocked into combo position by enemy attacks. Once it's one of the combo members' turns, you'll get the option of how you want to attack (normally, with magic, with a skill, etc.). If you were successful at the Judgment Ring, it will start to spin and you'll see one of the four face buttons on the Playstation controller. Hit that button before the ring stops and you'll have successfully passed the combo baton. The first character will attack, immobilizing the enemy and giving the next person in line the chance to add insult to injury. Failing the ring or the button-pushing sequence or missing the enemy will end the combo. Combos can get interesting. Using all the different attack options (Standard, Hard Hit, High Angle, and Knock Down), one character can flip an enemy in the air and the next can bash it into the ground. This is also where combos get annoying. Depending on an enemy's weight, your timing can get screwed up, destroying a combo. For example, High Angling a lighter enemy will mean the person next in line may miss with some of their attacks since it will fly higher and so stay airborne longer, and knocking down a small enemy is the same as them ducking, evading damage. You also have to pay attention to how your fighters actually attack. For example, Yuri's second move in his normal attack is a low punch, so he's be able to hit an enemy low to the ground, no matter their height. Combos take some practice in this sense. If you successfully pull off a four-person combo, the last person in line will have a new option in the Action Menu: Combo Magic. This is super powerful magic that adds a nice finishing blow. There's one for each element but only certain characters can perform certain spells due to their class. It's also worth noting that Harmonixers can perform combo magic. The first time you use it, it will only be labeled ????. Afterwards, it will have a name and an element listed. Affinity is important in building combos and is just what it sounds like: how attracted certain party members are to each other. Certain events in the story affect affinity, but it's mostly built up by having characters perform combos together. When two characters with high affinity perform attacks right after each other, extra bonus damage is dealt. Affinity may also lead characters to protect one another in battle, but I can't prove this. In certain instances, I've seen Yuri yell out and jump to protect Karin, but this is rare. Bottom line: make sure your party members are friendly with each other if you're going to be using combos a lot. Enemies can combo as well. Use a Hard Hit to knock them away from each other to keep this from happening. Some opponents can even use combo magic, and they will guard against your attacks to stay in place. Act fast before they unleash a combo and possibly end up killing one of your party members. There is an in-game tutorial that explains combos really well and even tells you how to semi-automate the process if you like. ---- Ailments [ail] Ailments can make or break a fight, and there are a hefty amount of them you need to watch out for. There are three kinds: status, ring, and parameter. Status ailments affect your characters' health and how well they can fight. The Heal/Arc Heal spells and Soul Benediction item will cure any and all ailments. You can wait for ailments to heal themselves, and they can also be prevented by wearing a Crucifix or a certain accessory, outlined below. Unconscious: When a character runs out of HP, they are rendered unconscious and cannot perform any action. This is especially bad for Harmonixers, as they will return to normal if fused. Bring them back with life- restoring magic or a Talisman item. Poison/Deadly Poison: Poison steadily drains HP. If a poisoned character is poisoned again, their condition escalates to Deadly Poison and drains even more HP. Wear Shell or Cosmic Bracelets to prevent this. Paralysis: Paralyzed characters are useless on the field. They're immobilized and simply skip their turn when it comes. Wear Bhodi/Zodiac Bracelets as protection. Paralysis is one of the three "game over" ailments; since paralyzed characters can't act, it's game over for you if they're the last ones standing on the battlefield. Seal: Magic users beware, Seal is the inability to use magic or special skills. Bell and Cosmic Bracelets prevent this. Petrify: One of the more horrible ailments, petrifaction is Paralysis and Instant Death combined. Petrified characters cannot perform any action and will shatter if the enemy touches them, making them unconscious instantly. Mirror and Zodiac Bracelets will save you here. Petrify is another "game over" ailment. Instant Death: Does what it says, instantly knocks a party member out. Cure it the same way you would unconsciousness or bring a Leonardo's Bear into battle. Instant Death is the third "game over" ailment. Mental Break: Poisoning of the mind! Mental Break drains the afflicted character's MP every turn. Wear Silver/Cosmic Bracelets to protect yourself. Panic: An important thing to remember in Shadow Hearts is that battles test your party's sanity. They lose one SP every turn no matter what, but Panic drains the sanity a lot quicker. Feather and Cosmic Bracelets protect from Panic. Berserk: When the sanity runs out, a character goes Berserk. The music in the background becomes disoriented to let you know, and you lose control of the afflicted fighter. The character's picture in the turn priority meter at the top of the screen turns red as well. Restore sanity with Pure items right away because it will go into the negative range. Berserked fighters attack and use items indiscriminately. However, they may also just space out in battle with humorous results. If a character is wearing a Blood Jewel, you can restore SP with a successful Spin Ring when they go Berserk. Certain enemies have an SP Lowering attack that halves SP in battle, but Will Power accessories prevent this. Berserked characters get no EXP at the end of a fight. Judgment Ring abnormalities are a major pain but are easily avoided. Phoenix Tail items and Heal/Arc Heal magic cures them, but Pocket Watches and Crucifixes nullify them. Fast: The indicator speed is doubled. Tight: The size of the hit and strike areas are halved. Small: The entire ring shrinks. Random: Each time a new Judgment Ring is prompted, the speed of the indicator is different. Fickle: The indicator speed changes different times on the same ring. Blind: All the hit and strike areas are invisible. Up: The speed of the indicator steadily increases as it spins. Fake: Fake hit areas will appear on the ring to throw you for a loop. Reverse: The indicator sweeps backwards. Parameter ailments affect a character's stats and how well they can attack, defend, evade, etc. They can't be prevented or healed. The only thing to do is to counter them with a magic spell that does the opposite of the ailment. They're all pretty self-explanatory. Physical Attack Down, counter with Rage Physical Defense Down, counter with Shield Special Attack Down, counter with Surge Special Defense Down, counter with Barrier Evasion Down, counter with Mirage Action Speed Down (reduces number of turns), counter with Gale Delay (completely puts off character's next turn) There is also a special condition that is not an ailment per se but is important to know about. Bind is when a character is immobilized until his/her next turn. When bound, any damage done to that character is treated as combo or bonus damage. Few enemies use this and few of your fighters can use it in turn, but it can be devastating either way. Bind is indicated by a blue icon with a circle in it next to the damage display. Note that, as explained in the Judgment Ring section, most of the status and parameter ailments can be attributed to your normal attack and used against your enemies with great results. ---- Forming a Party [for] One of the BEST improvements over the original Shadow Hearts is how you can organize and manage your party. Accessing the Command Menu will let you see all your current party members; you can change their equipment, crests, view their personal info and so forth at any time. Your battle party can consist of four characters, the top four on the list. Whenever you have more than four people to choose from, you can pre-form up to three parties and cycle between them, making it easy to form teams good for certain tasks (ex: it is a really good idea to form a party specifically tailored for boss battles). This is all explained in an in-game tutorial. After winning a battle, your active party will claim the EXP spoils as usual, but your other party members will also get in on the action: they'll each get half of what the fighters got, meaning no one is really left out. As for fighting, choosing characters you like and are comfortable with is a bit of a no-brainer, but it wouldn't hurt to try to keep everyone level since you'll be forced to use everyone if you want to do all the extra stuff. Yuri does not have to be in your party all the time anymore, but he is really good to have since his fusions make him a really well-rounded fighter. Some party members are more suited for magic, while others are pure strength, and all have really unique special skills that make them a good asset in a fight. Keep a nice balanced party with a good supply of defensive and offensive crest magic, and you can't go wrong. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Walkthrough There's a lot left to be explained in this game but it's much easier to go over it when we get to it while playing. The one thing left to tell you now is that the little map in the upper left-hand corner of your screen is your best friend. Most of the directions given in this guide are according to that navi-map. I also need to mention that this walkthrough was written while playing a reloaded save file with all the crests/fusions etc. so I could note the differences and consult the library. I tried my best to avoid referencing something first-time players might not have yet. NOTE: If you're still confused about anything, the game actually has a built-in Help file accessible through the Command Menu. If this is your first time through, new topics will be highlighted in orange. =============================================================================== Disc One =============================================================================== Ah, Europe. Where the last game left us and where our new adventure begins. The entire first disk will take us all over the European continent. We've got a lot to look forward to after the amazing opening cutscene! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apoina Tower [ea1] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Thera Leaf Enemies: Revenant ___ Talisman of Luck Statue ___ Mana Leaf Gargoyle ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Attack Boost ___ Pure Leaf ___ Evasion Down 1 ___ Tent After the lovely history lesson, head forward to get into your first fight. There's a tutorial available on battle basics; I'd recommend watching it if this is your first time playing. After the scene, note the blue glowing spot on the floor; it's your save point. From there, head left up the nearby staircase to find a chest with a THERA LEAF. Then head right and go up the little spiral staircase here to grab a TALISMAN OF LUCK. Now go up the large stairs to the southeast. Whenever you get into your second fight, you'll get the option to see a tutorial on combos. This is important stuff; view it if you need it. Follow the path until you get a scene. Head left to find a chest with a MANA LEAF. Go to the right to find a chest with a HIT AREA EXPAND. Continue to the right to run into the Ring Soul. He'll give you an ATTACK BOOST. You can now customize your Judgment Ring and have the option to see yet another tutorial. You get an EVASION DOWN 1 whether you view the tutorial or not. (Don't listen to Nicolai; using that Attack Boost on him is not wise since he won't be with us for very long.) Continue up the stairs. Before you activate the portal on the floor in this area, look to the right of it to find a PURE LEAF. Now step on the portal and hit X to get transported. You might want to use the save point to your right to heal up and save. You'll find a conveniently-placed TENT in the right-hand corner here. Head north. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gargoyle Class: Dark HP: 140 MP: 90 EXP: 50 Cash: 200 Souls: 0 Drop: Pure Seed Nicolai could do this fight all by himself without any problems. Since it's Dark class, his Blessed Light attack will be more than enough to bring it down. Karin can attack and support with items in case he runs out of MP or needs some curing. If you're not quick, Karin will go Berserk since she has little SP. Watch the turn priority meter and use a Pure Leaf on her before she goes nuts. (Her picture appears red on the turn it happens.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Nicolai will get the item he needs, so now we can set out for Domremy. We won't be able to go back to Apoina Tower for quite some time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Domremy [edo] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Mana Leaf Enemies: Ducky Toy ___ Thera Lead Wooden Lion ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Strike Expand ___ Tent ___ Thera Seed ___ Pure Leaf Take the northwest fork up to a chest with a MANA LEAF. Go northeast/north to the next screen. To the northeast is a THERA LEAF on the ground. Take the northwest branch all the way past the soldier to find a HIT AREA EXPAND. Go back and head northeast to the little town of Domremy. The soldier here will fully heal you if you speak to him. There are trip wires scattered throughout the area but going through them is no big deal. One is above and to the right of the soldier. A STRIKE EXPAND lies in the chest in that little yard. Head north in the main area and you'll see another trip wire guarding an area to the right (it's much easier to see on your navi-map). There's a TENT back there. Going north, there's another trip wire to your immediate left on the next screen. The chest beside the soldier here contains a THERA SEED. When the main path goes northeast, look for a faint area on your map to the southeast. Back here, there's a PURE LEAF in a chest. Continue on, past the save point, to the church. What follows is a lengthy scene. Seems Nicolai is pissed about what happened during the first Shadow Hearts, and he aims to finish what he never started. After the flashback and crazy dream sequence, you'll be ready to set out with a new party. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardennes Forest [eaf] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Focalor ___ Tent Enemies: Death Snail ___ Andras ___ Barbatos Skeeter ___ Furfur ___ Thera Leaf Zoism ___ Mana Leaf ___ Hit Area Expand Arachne ___ Battery ___ Soul Benediction ___ Pure Leaf ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Soul Benediction ___ Poison 1 ___ Leather Cap ___ Vassago Talk to Gepetto to get three crests: FOCALOR, ANDRAS, and FURFUR. Yuri can't use crests, but Gepetto and Blanca can so equip them ASAP. Talk to Karin to get going. You'll get into a fight soon afterwards. Now, there are two ways to get to your final destination in this forest. For the sake of item hunting, we'll go through both. If you'd rather forge your own path with a map of this area, here's a link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/ardennesforest.jpg Head left to the next screen. Take the northwest branch here for a MANA LEAF. Now go northeast and head left. Follow the path along the cliff. Grab the BATTERY in the chest on the way. There's a PURE LEAF in the chest on the next screen. Keep going, going, going until you see a wooden fixture. Examine the poster here for a SOUL BENEDICTION. Use your battery on the lift. It'll take you down, but that's your final destination and we're not done yet. (If you'd rather just go, head out into the open area for a scene and skip to the fight.) On the lift again, hit the "Power Operation" button and take it to the top level. There's a LEATHER CAP in the alcove and a TENT by the wooden fence. Go down one level. Backtrack about three or four screens until you're in the woods again. There is a hidden path leading to the right just barely visible on your map. Angle Yuri to your right as you run to find it. Go right over the bridge to find the BARBATOS crest in a chest. From here, keep going south until you're over the log bridge and back where you started. Go north and north again. At the next fork, go northwest, then left for a THERA LEAF. Head right and then right at the next fork to find yourself near a lake. When the path curves to the north, you can find a hidden path leading to the right. A HIT AREA EXPAND is hidden back here. Continue north. At the next fork, head left for a SOUL BENEDICTION in a chest. On the next screen, you'll see a drawbridge. Examine the panel and pull the right, middle, then left levers. Halfway across the bridge, you'll find a HIT AREA EXPAND. Heal up and save before continuing on. Yuri will collapse and find himself in the Graveyard of his soul. After a scene, you'll get to pick a fusion, any fusion. You'll find the Fire, Wind, and Light classes to the left and the Water, Earth, and Dark classes to the right. There's nothing to do to the north. Pick whichever one suits your fancy by having Yuri hold his hand up to its altar. Attempt to leave and the cinematics will take over. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Arachne Class: Earth HP: 300 MP: 77 EXP: 70 Cash: 1000 Souls: 40 Drop: Poison 1 Vassago There are plenty of different ways to go about this fight depending on which fusion you chose for Yuri. (Be sure to fuse now that you have that option!) If you chose one with higher magic stats, then pile on the magic. If not, have Gepetto or Blanca cast Air Edge on Yuri since all his fusions have higher physical strength compared to his normal P-Atk. If you're not sure either way, experiment. Combo if you like and break out all your Wind magic. You shouldn't have any problems since you've got three characters to watch out for each other. This monster can and will try to poison you; if it succeeds, use a Soul Benediction to cure it. The only other threat is its Crag attack. Nothing a Thera Leaf can't cure. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Karin freaks out afterwards, then gets Harmonixer 101 from Gepetto. All that Soul Energy that you've been collecting is the key to unlocking the rest of Yuri's fusions. When you have enough, go to the Graveyard from a save point or the world map and power up a fusion by charging its altar with your Soul Energy. You can continue to increase a fusion monster's power by feeding it Soul Energy through Yuri's personal info in the Command Menu. If you keep powering up the altar in the Graveyard, you'll eventually upgrade your fusions to level 2, making them stronger and giving them new spells. There are plenty of souls to go around so use them however you want. You'll want to unlock all the classes first and then focus on powering up the fusions of your choice. When ready, head to Paris. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paris [epa] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Nibelung Prelude ___ Shell Bracelet Enemies: Clawed Soldier ___ Mr. Sommelier ___ Phoenix Tail Tetsu ___ Mr. Matador ___ Talisman of Luck Sting ___ Crocell ___ Pocket Watch Ekimmu ___ Thera Leaf ___ Attack Boost Castor ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Sp-Defend Down 1 Pollux ___ Stamp Card ___ Pure Leaf ___ Point Card ___ Amy ___ P-Defend Down 1 ___ Soul Benediction ___ Thera Leaf ___ Fuse ___ Haures ___ Sitri ___ Tent ___ Zepar ___ Strike Expand You'll get a couple of scenes when you enter Paris. (Gepetto sure is a wily old man.) Clawed Soldiers will burst through the skylight after a bit; send 'em packing. After seeing how good Karin is with a sword, Gepetto will give her the NIBELUNG PRELUDE, and she'll learn a sword technique. This is her special ability, and it's powered up and added onto by finding all of Wagner's scores. Afterwards, Yuri will automatically pick up MR. SOMMELIER and MR. MATADOR, two Stud Cards. (Note: You will only get two cards if you have a save file from the first Shadow Hearts on your memory card. Otherwise, you will only get Mr. Sommelier right now.) The CROCELL crest is by the save point. Enter the nearby door and open the chest for a THERA LEAF. Go outside and head south, admiring the view. If you go too far south, you'll get attacked. Instead, go down the stairs to the right and down the hatch. Follow the linear path up and out of the subway. You're now in Montmartre. Go all the way up the stairs north of you, as far as you can. There's a HIT AREA EXPAND up by the lamppost. Go back down the stairs a ways and enter the bar for a scene. Go back the way you came, and you'll be stopped by a man named Ernest. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tetsu Class: Wind HP: c. 90 MP: --- EXP: 20 Cash: 100 Souls: 0 Drop: Coral Lariat This is just meant to get Blanca's paws wet. Physical attacks will get you through just fine. Try and finish him off before Blanca goes Berserk, but it's no matter if you sacrifice a turn to heal. He'll try to lower your P-Def, but he's no threat. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ernest will give you the STAMP CARD. This marks the start of Blanca's major sidequest, the Wolf Bout, and gives him his special skill. See the sidequest section for more info. Go back to the subway station and take the train to the Champs-Élysées. Oh goody! Walk forward and Pierre and Gerard Magimel will catch you. Gerard gives you the POINT CARD. He's your item shop. That card allows you to try for discounts and mark-ups; the more times you shop, the more points you get, and the higher the discount/mark-up you can go for. Discounts and mark-ups are governed by a Spin Ring, a ring game. Choose which one you want, nail all the wedges, and you get it. Miss, and you must pay the original price. Upgrade everyone's weapons while you're here. Pierre is a tailor and makes dresses for Cornelia, Gepetto's puppet. Each dress has a class and powers Gepetto's special ability: magic spells he and Cornelia can do, one for each class. When you have more than one dress, you can change it in Gepetto's personal info in the Command Menu. Pierre will only make dresses for you if you have Stud Cards; you have at least one so go ahead and pick out some nice clothes. After all is said and done, go behind the stairs you came in on and look for a P-DEFEND DOWN 1. Go right down the street. Examine the light post by the kid with his mum by the car to find a THERA LEAF. Continue right. North of the little girl by the light post is a hotel. Inside, the HAURES crest can be found in a chest behind the check-in desk. Upstairs, enter the last door on the right to find Dr. Gautier and a TENT. Now backtrack to the station and talk to the foreman guarding the stairs leading down. If you'd like a map for the up-coming journey through the tunnels, here's a link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/subway.jpg. It's drawn in relation to how the area looks while walking on the screen, not the navi-map. Follow the linear path to see that we're being followed once again. Our escape route is blocked ahead so follow the open path to see a three-way split. On the far right side of this area is a STRIKE EXPAND in a chest, and a SHELL BRACELET is to the far left, next to the hay in the wood corral. Take the middle path first. Head north, and you'll meet the Ring Soul for an ATTACK BOOST by the car that says Amu-328. Head left. South is a partially hidden chest with a SP-DEFEND DOWN 1 inside. Go north to the save point. Flip the switch you find here. Backtrack to where you found the Ring Soul and head all the way south until you're at a two-way junction. There's a PURE LEAF in the upper left-hand corner here. Head left (south on your map), and you're back at the three-way junction. Now head up the rightmost path. You'll come to a two-way split; take the upper path and snag the POCKET WATCH. Go back and take the other one now. There are two paths leading left farther down, take the first one you see. Go north, then left, then north to a chest with a PHOENIX TAIL. Head back and left yet again. Go north for a TALISMAN OF LUCK. From here, go south, right, south, right to the engine. Remember that switch we pulled? It moved this engine so we can continue north, but we have to go around. Go right, north, left, and then as far north as you can to find the AMY crest. Head down and go right. North is a ladder. Climb it and you'll be in the cathedral district. Among the boxes around the shop is a SOUL BENEDICTION. Enter the shop and talk to the junk dealer to get a FUSE. You can also stock up on items here. Go back down to the tunnels and backtrack all the way to the beginning of this tunnel madness, past the three-way junction and back to our blocked escape route. You'll be attacked on the way. Use the fuse on the engine to your right. Be sure to use your new save point and make sure you've equipped someone with your Pocket Watch. After giving Lenny the slip, Yuri and co. will run into Veronica. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Castor Class: Fire Pollux Class: Water HP: 275 MP: 100 HP: 275 MP: 100 EXP: 75 Cash: 550 EXP: 75 Cash: 550 Souls: 25 Drop: Tent Souls: 25 Drop: Lottery Ticket Sitri Zepar These guys are going to combo attack you, so it is vitally important to focus all your energy on killing one of them first. Hopefully you've unlocked more of Yuri's fusions, so you can pick one of the opposing classes and wail on your target. Your most recent crests should have given you the Heat Edge and Red Rave spells which will come in handy against Pollux. It is very possible to eliminate one of them with a single four-person combo if you've been building affinity and are good at the Judgment Ring. They can cause the Tight Ring ailment and have basic attacks and magic spells. The only real danger is the fact that they can combo. Once one of them is down, it's a pretty easy battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Veronica vanishes, and we can now go to Le Havre. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Le Havre [elh] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Seal of Force ___ Strike Expand Enemies: Grand Papillon ___ Pure Leaf ___ Star Brooch Thug ___ Thera Seed ___ Lottery Ticket Fat Thug ___ Attack Boost ___ Thera Leaf ___ Wool Coat ___ P-Attack Down 1 ___ Bathin ___ Mana Leaf ___ Hit Area Expand At the bottom of the stairs, you'll find a SEAL OF FORCE by the light post. Gerard is here; be sure to upgrade your armor and sell your excess stock and whatnot. Head south from here over the bridge. Up the stairs to Yuri's left is a PURE LEAF. Loop around the building here to find a chest with a THERA SEED. The Ring Soul is waiting by the tree south of this chest; he'll give you an ATTACK BOOST. Go back a screen and continue north. Talk to the men here to try to get a ride. Continue on past the save point to the next screen. At the end of this alley, you'll find a bum and a WOOL COAT. Now head over from the save point and a man will accost you. He's a Lottery Member and forces you to play his game for a ticket. The Lottery is just a ring game; a Judgment Ring will appear on the screen with different color wedges that correspond to different prizes, listed to the left. The needle will spin until you hit the X button. If it hits a color, you get that prize. Choose your wedge carefully; red wedges are generally considered the best prizes since you can only win one of each, so they're also the hardest to hit. If you fail to hit any color wedge, you get tissues which only have one use in the entire game during the Fort of Regrets sidequest much later on. Lottery Member #16 Ring: Normal Bathin *The special prize here is the BATHIN crest; try Hit Area Expand your best to win it now. If you miss, be sure to Daphne Fruit come back when you've got another ticket. Pure Leaf Tissues As you'll see, you can only play with Lottery Members when you have a ticket. There are plenty of them scattered around though. Be sure to get as many as you can and play all the lotteries you come across. Keep going down to the mayor's house. Pick up the HIT AREA EXPAND outside the storage room to the right of the entrance. Inside, you'll find a STRIKE EXPAND to the left and a STAR BROOCH in the back. Now talk to the mayor in the house. Examine the bear skin rug for a LOTTERY TICKET. Go upstairs and examine the mayor's portrait for a THERA LEAF. Talk to Cole on the right when ready. Leave and head out to the docks to get your assignment. Head south to the shop by the tree, look around, and leave. Head for the warehouses next. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Grand Papillon Class: Earth HP: 355 MP: 55 EXP: 50 Cash: 250 Souls: 0 Drop: P-Attack Down 1 Seal of Vitality This guy's got great physical strength, can drain your HP to heal his, and can lower your P-Atk. Other than that, there's not much to this fight. Wind magic and Air Edge are good, and combos will just leave him in pain. Make sure to watch your HP, but if you're so close to beating him that you can afford to let it drop, go for it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Afterwards, he'll turn into a bat and fly away, leaving you with some snide remarks. He should seem extremely familiar to those who've played the first Shadow Hearts. After you meet with the mayor, go back to the shop. You'll get a scene. There's a MANA LEAF back behind Granny Lot's bar when it's over. Head back to the mayor's to do the right thing. No good deed goes unpunished; fight off the mayor's cronies and head back to the shop. Joachim will now join you to defend justice, and you get the option to view a tutorial on forming parties. Leave town and go to the Wine Cellar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wine Cellar [ewc] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Bhodi Bracelet ___ Sp-Attack Down 1 Enemies: Thug ___ Seal of Wisdom ___ Sallos Fat Thug ___ Mana Seed ___ Solomon's Key Centipede ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Mr. Chef Gregor (Samsa!) ___ Thera Seed Roach Queen ___ Silver Bracelet Veronica ___ Raum Mersault ___ Pure Seed Kelly Joachim must be in the party for this section. If you'd like a map for this area, feel free to go here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/winecellar.jpg. You'll get attacked past the save point. Go all the way north, ignoring the paths to the right, until you can enter a room to the left. Climb the stairs up and over and enter the door. There's a BHODI BRACELET in a chest in this room. Back in the previous room, go up and over the stairs south of you to nab a SEAL OF WISDOM. Leave the room and go back a screen. Take either of the two paths going right; go north to the next screen when you get a chance. Head up and go through the door on the right. There's a chest with a MANA SEED over the stairs and under the metal platform on the other side of the room. Flip the switch by the door. Go up those stairs and hit the switch. Go through the newly-opened door for a LOTTERY TICKET in a chest. Backtrack to the main path. Go south, left, and enter the room on the left side of this area. Go to the left and down to find a switch under the metal grating; flip it. Go back to the entrance, nab the THERA SEED in the chest, go up the stairs and through the door for a SILVER BRACELET. Backtrack once again to the main path. Exit to the north. There's a save point in the next storeroom. Go up the stairs and flip the switch. Go back down and up the stairs on the other side of the room. Flip the switch underneath them. Go back to the other set of stairs and flip the switch on the other side of the room. Go up the stairs directly behind you and through the newly-accessible door. Flip the switch under the stairs to the south, go up, and flip the switch there. Climb the stairs on the north side of the room and flip that switch. Go up and over the stairs to the south and flip the switch under them. Go through the door to the east for the RAUM crest in a chest. Go back to the stairs on the north side of the previous room to find a chest with a PURE SEED in it. Backtrack to the room with the save point and head through the door to the north. Make sure you've got as many Bhodi Bracelets equipped as you have. Approach Veronica. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Veronica Class: Water HP: 220 MP: 90 EXP: 100 Cash: 250 Souls: 0 Drop: Sp-Attack Down 1 Joachim will be in his Grand Papillon form, meaning he's stronger than usual. Physical attacks are the way to go here since she'll try to lower your S-Atk. You can use Drain Touch to heal yourself and do damage at the same time, but don't be shy about using a Thera item if you really need it since Drain Touch doesn't seem to drain much. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Afterwards, Veronica stops playing around and summons a familiar. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mersault Class: Wind HP: 666 MP: 170 EXP: 200 Cash: 1500 Souls: 55 Drop: Sallos If Joachim was hurt badly in the last fight, be sure to heal him. Also make sure you take out the two smaller enemies before tackling the big guy. He can paralyze you so make sure you've got Soul Benediction items handy and Bhodi Bracelets equipped. Other than that, do the usual: combo, use all the Earth magic you've got, and start using your support spells. If you've got the Fire fusion, you'll have access to Rage, which is great for Yuri and Joachim. You've got room to experiment as long as someone has the Cure magic handy. Watch the SP, especially if Karin's fighting. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You'll be back at the mayor's house. Go back to Granny Lot's and speak with her to get SOLOMON'S KEY. See the sidequest section for more detail on what it's for. Yuri and co. can now board the ship to England, but there's more to do in the Wine Cellar, so head back. Go north two screens and west to find that a man has set up shop here. His game, Lucky Chests, is a memory game. The first level isn't hard. Pay the 100 cash and try to win the prize, the MR. CHEF Stud Card. Now go back to where you fought Veronica to find a wolf. Give Blanca a Pocket Watch and speak to it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Kelly Class: Fire HP: c. 200 MP: --- EXP: 66 Cash: 300 Souls: 0 Drop: Strike Expand Seal of Luck His special attack inflicts Fast Ring, but the Pocket Watch you [hopefully] equipped will save you. If not, use a Phoenix Tail or just put up with it. That's all that he's got up his furry sleeves, really. Water magic will deal good damage. The length of this fight depends on what spells you've got and your level. Make sure to heal Blanca's SP if you can't finish him quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Blanca's Soul Comet is powered up if you win. Now go to Le Havre and catch your ship to Southampton by speaking to the guys near the save point. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Port of Southampton [eps] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Hit Area Expand Enemies: Great Gama ___ Mr. Detective ___ Strike Expand ___ Nibelung Scene 4 ___ Dried Straw ___ Leonardo's Bear ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Slow 1 ___ Seal of Aura ___ Locker Boy, we really are in England; check out that weather! Go straight to the inn, Hope & Anchor, across from the entrance to town. Inside, we'll meet a familiar face: Kato from the first Shadow Hearts. Afterwards, nab the chest by the stairs for a HIT AREA EXPAND. Go upstairs. In the first room on the right is a chest with MR. DETECTIVE. Kato's in the second room. Talk with him to recap his and Yuri's hardships and see how wasted Gepetto and Karin are. Yuri will talk with Jeanne next. Head outside and check the left statue next to the town entrance to find a STRIKE EXPAND. Head up to the other side of this area. Talk with the man at the bottom of the steps to receive the NIBELUNG SCENE 4. Go up those steps for a scene and a piece of DRIED STRAW. Yuri is not kidding when he says this will be a pain in the butt; this marks the beginning of a new sidequest, and there's more info on it in the sidequest section (Item Trading). There's a hidden chest with a LEONARDO'S BEAR to the right of the stairs before going down. Downstairs, keep going to the back of this area to find the Magimel brothers, an old woman, and a lamppost. Check the posters on the wall next to the post for a LOTTERY TICKET. The old woman is a Lottery Member. Lottery Member #15 Ring: Normal Slow 1 *Try to nab the SLOW 1 if you're one who likes Hit Area Expand customizing your Judgment Ring. Talismn. of Mercy Thera Seed Tissues Do some shopping, equip your new Leonardo's Bear on Joachim, then head left to find a wrestling arena. You'll meet Joachim's teacher, the Great Gama. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Great Gama Class: Light HP: 250 MP: 0 EXP: 100 Cash: 10 Souls: 0 Drop: Tissues If you did not equip a Leonardo's Bear, there is no way you will win this fight. His Grand Slam technique will knock you clear out of the ring, which is Instant Death. If you have Rage magic, now would be an excellent time to use it. You can use Dark magic if you like to rack up damage as well, but Rage works much better. Use Thera items or Cure to heal rather than Drain Touch since Gama packs a punch. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Joachim will learn a new wrestling technique, powering up his special skill. If you want to see the nuttier side of Shadow Hearts: Covenant, you will definitely want to keep in touch with the Great Gama. There's a SEAL OF AURA in a chest on the left side of the arena. Examine the LOCKER in the lower left-hand corner and Joachim will take it with him as his new weapon after admiring its beauty. This is the cool thing about Joachim: you never have to buy weapons for him. Just look for weird objects lying around, and he'll take care of it himself while Yuri makes fun of him. Just remember to equip it. (Note that one of the kids on the north side of the ring is named Tyson, the Dreamer!) Leave town and enter Rhondda Mine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rhondda Mine [erm] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Pure Seed Enemies: Barghest ___ Mana Seed ___ Studded Belt Propolis ___ Thera Seed ___ Pure Seed Tammuz ___ Thera Seed ___ Murmur Lambton Worm ___ Whetstone ___ Seal of Strength Grimlock ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Attack Boost ___ Lantern ___ Seal of Speed ___ Fine Rapier If you want a map of the mines, here you go: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/rhonddamines.jpg. It might be a little cramped due to all the lifts. Go forward and left all the way to a LOTTERY TICKET in the corner. Go north, then southwest to a chest with a MANA SEED. Backtrack to where you came in and go up to the save point. Go north on the next screen to loop around and find a THERA SEED. Now go back and go west. Follow the path around to the next screen. Hidden in the corner ahead is a chest with a THERA SEED. Go east at the next junction and east again for a WHETSTONE. Go north and continue to go left to come to a lift. Examine the poster for a LOTTERY TICKET and go down. Straight south, the Ring Soul waits in the corner with an ATTACK BOOST. Ignore the north fork; it's too dark to continue. It's the same if you go too far left on the next screen. Instead, go south to a lift. There's a LANTERN in the little shack here. Go back up and go to the north junction that was too dark before. Yuri will light the lantern and you can see a shack ahead. Inside is a SEAL OF SPEED. Go back and go all the way to the left now that we can see. Go north, then south to a chest with a FINE RAPIER. Go back to where you originally turned north and head south. Keep going south to loop around to a dead end with a PURE SEED on the ground. Go back and head west. Go northeast when you get a chance, then east. At the end of this path is a lone man, a Lottery Member. Lottery Member #14 Ring: Invisible Third Key *Don't sweat that his Ring is invisible. You'll Hit Area Expand get a glimpse of the wedges and they're pretty Daphne Fruit large. Mana Seed Tissues Go back and go north and then west at the next junction. At this four-way intersection, left is a STUDDED BELT, north is Gerard, and south is a lift. Take it, go south, and check the alcove on your left for a PURE SEED. Get ready for a fight in the next area. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Grimlock Class: Dark HP: 780 MP: 215 EXP: 425 Cash: 1600 Souls: 65 Drop: Murmur This monster will cast Gale on itself, giving it more turns in battle, and its special attack causes Slow, giving you less. You should have Gale in your arsenal; use it to counter Slow. Being Dark class, of course, use all the Light magic you have or go the physical route using Rage, Holy Edge, and combos. Oddly enough, it knows Heaven (a Light-based attack) so watch out if it casts it on Yuri a lot unless you've fused him to a class other than Dark or he's not in your party. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Directly behind you is a chest with a SEAL OF STRENGTH. Exit the mines and head to Wales. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wales [ewa] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Seal of Life Enemies: Clawed Commander ___ Hit Area Expand Lenny ___ Attack Boost ___ Bearclaw ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Forneus ___ Paralysis 1 Yuri will give you some backstory (with his own illustrations!) in the shadow of Nemeton Monastery. The chest to your right has a SEAL OF LIFE inside. Head down and to the right to find a chest with a HIT AREA EXPAND. Approach Roger's house, as strange as it ever was. On the right side, the Ring Soul awaits with another ATTACK BOOST. To the far left of the entrance is a chest with the BEARCLAW. Go inside. The table south of the entrance has a LOTTERY TICKET on it, and there's a chest to the northeast with the FORNEUS crest. Roger's nowhere to be found, and the vending machine in the back is busted so you can't go shopping. Equip all the Bhodi Bracelets you have and head outside. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Lenny Class: Earth HP: 570 MP: 0 EXP: 666 Cash: 300 Souls: 70 Drop: Paralysis 1 Get rid of the Clawed Commanders before tackling Lenny or else they'll try to pull off some combo attacks. Lenny's vulnerable to S-Def Down so if someone has that on their ring, have them physically attack, hope it takes effect, and then go in with your Wind magic. It's a good idea to have someone casting support magic and using healing items in the background since Lenny is no novice when it comes to fighting, and you don't want your party paralyzed in the middle of a crisis. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You'll meet a new face after the fight, Thomas. He's got some gruesome info on Sapientes Gladio for everyone. He also urges you to go to Florence to meet someone named Carla. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florence [efl] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Strike Expand Enemies: Jerome ___ Thera Seed ___ Vepar ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Underground Film ___ Seal 1 ___ Bat's Gold ___ Nibelung Scene 7 ___ Pedometer You get a scene upon arriving wherein Yuri lusts after the newest pretty face to cross his path. Afterwards, search the statue on the left on the north side of the room to get a STRIKE EXPAND. Go south to enter town. To your left is a THERA SEED in a chest. To the right, examine the fountain to get the VEPAR crest. (Christoph has pointed out in an e-mail that if you did not get Mr. Matador in Paris, you will be able to get this Stud Card from a woman south of the fountain.) Farther to the right, along the north wall, is a LOTTERY TICKET by a lamppost. South of there is a man involved in the trading sidequest; he'll give you an UNDERGROUND FILM for your straw. There's also a Wolf Bout opponent nearby. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Jerome Class: Water HP: c. 250 MP: --- EXP: 110 Cash: 350 Souls: 0 Drop: Seal 1 If you're leveled high enough, this guy is an absolute pushover. He'll try to inflict Seal, but physical attacks are more than enough to bring him down. (What does that say about schooling, eh?) If you'd like to use magic before he Seals you, stick with Fire attacks. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Comet will be powered up afterwards. South of here is a chest with BAT'S GOLD. Go across to the fountain again and talk to the man (the one who was none too happy about Lucia's reading) on the south side to get the NIBELUNG SCENE 7. Try to exit town to the southeast to be interrupted by Rooney, the head of the World Fitness Walking Society. Yuri experiences déjà vu as he's handed a PEDOMETER. Equip this on someone; it'll count your steps in monster- infested areas, and you'll get prizes depending on how far you've gone. Leave town for a scene. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Manmariana Island [emi] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Gemini Tile Enemies: Fortune Stick ___ Virgo Tile ___ Cancer Tile Domovoi ___ Aquarius Tile ___ Sagittarius Tile Katherine ___ Taurus Tile ___ Pisces Tile Andre ___ Pure Seed ___ Scorpio Tile ___ Seal of the Soul ___ Fifth Key ___ Libra Tile ___ Thera Seed ___ Aries Tile ___ Feather Bracelet ___ Capricorn Tile ___ Beleth ___ Attack Boost ___ Purson ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Ocean Oil ___ Star Key ___ Misty Oil ___ Petrify 1 ___ Mana Seed ___ Leo Tile Head into the mansion for a scene and a fight. To your left is a HIT AREA EXPAND. Ignore the stairs for now and head north to the next room. Open the chest for three tiles: VIRGO, AQUARIUS, TAURUS. Head back and go up the stairs to your right. To the right of the door to the north is a PURE SEED. Check the third lamp on the left for a SEAL OF THE SOUL. Go right when you get the chance to grab the LIBRA, ARIES, and CAPRICORN tiles. The Ring Soul is hiding behind the table with an ATTACK BOOST. Before you leave, look south of the exit for a LOTTERY TICKET. Go north in the corridor to the next room to get the STAR KEY. Backtrack to the entrance hall and go up the stairs to the left now. On the table in this room are some fortune cookies. Eat some if you want, but beware that not all fortunes are good. They'll either drain or replenish your HP or MP. Exit north and go as for north as you can to the next room. The puzzle here could be complicated but is explained really well by Karin. All you have to do test everyone's blood type with Karin and Lucia. If the same person lights the lamp above the door with both of them, his blood type is AB. You can try it out or *SPOILER* take my word for it that Gepetto's blood is AB. Inside is PETRIFY 1 (the treasure that would have disappeared had you failed the puzzle) and the LEO, GEMINI, and CANCER tiles. Go back and head west when you get a chance. In this room are the SAGITTARIUS, PISCES, and SCORPIO tiles. Go back to the room where we first learned of the zodiac puzzle. Try another cookie on your way back; maybe your luck's changed! The door on the far left deals with an archer, children, and a wild beast so look for the Leo tile and place it in the far right slot since the lion is the only man eater in your lot, and where else would a beast hide but in the bushes? The middle tile is Sagittarius because he's an archer, and the children, Gemini, are behind him since the archer is supposed to protect them. Go through this door to get a FIFTH KEY. The left-hand side of the middle door deals with livestock. Wool is the least valuable, so put Aries the sheep on the bottom of the pyramid. Cheese is better. What makes cheese? Goats (even fish-tailed ones) so Capricorn is above Aries. Meat is best, so Taurus the bull is up top. For the right-hand side, follow the arrow. First is fish, so put Pisces in the bottom slot. Next it grew legs, which is a perfect fit for a crab, Cancer. Next it developed poison which sounds like a scorpion, so Scorpio is last. Enter and pick up the THERA SEED. You can proceed if you like. The rightmost door is probably the toughest. It's not hard to figure what tiles to use, just where to put them. Virgo should go on the upper of the two scales since it's her weight you're trying to match. Aquarius looks like he's pouring water into something so put him on the lower scale. The Libra tile simply goes in the leftover bottom slot. This door and the middle one both lead to the same area. There's a FEATHER BRACELET in the lower left corner. Heal, equip Pocket Watches, save, and go down the stairs. Lucia tries to pull a fast one and fails. Silly Lucia, cats never follow orders. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Andre Class: Fire HP: 830 MP: 260 EXP: 1200 Cash: 1900 Souls: 75 Drop: Beleth By far, the most obnoxious thing about this boss besides its look is its Cash Steal attack. Instead of inflicting damage, it just steals your hard-earned money. Andre will also try to inflict Fake Ring, which is the most annoying Judgment Ring ailment ever. Get those Phoenix Tails ready. He's susceptible to P-Def Down so inflict it if you can, then pile on the combos. Water magic is effective as well. He's only really tough if you let Fake Ring get the best of you. His Blaze attack is easily countered with a healing item/spell. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You'll automatically be taken back to Florence, and Carla gives you the PURSON crest. She'll then give you her story, and Lucia the ditz will join your party. You'll get a primer on her special skill using Tarot cards, and Carla will give her OCEAN OIL and MISTY OIL to mix for her other skill, Aromatherapy, which is actually quite useful. You won't know what the oils do until you mix them, so experiment. Leave town and go back to Manmariana Island to where you fought Andre. There's a chest with a MANA SEED to the far left. Now head to the world map and select the SG Italian Branch HQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SG Italian Branch HQ [esg] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Delay 1 ___ Seal of the Urn Enemies: Gremlin ___ Uvall ___ Strongoids Langsuir ___ Thera Root ___ Talsmn. of Mercy Clawed Commander ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Justice Janus ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Sp-Attack Down 2 Henri ___ Toggle Switch In the northeast corner of the first room inside is a chest with DELAY 1 behind a pillar. In the next room, there are books scattered all around. Up by the piano, you'll find the very useful UVALL crest in a chest and a black book for you to read. There's a red book on the table to the south. A blue book sits in the southeast corner. North of there is a yellow book on a shelf. Examine the clock in the northeast corner. The books scattered around all mention specific times that can be put into the clock in the corner. The only book you needed to read to proceed was the blue one, so if you want to go ahead, set the time to nine. You might get a kick out of checking out the others times too. In this corridor, go all the way to the right and examine the painting to gain access to a secret room. Flip the switch on the left control panel. The machine to the north is missing a part. Go back and head north through the new passage. Go south to grab a THERA ROOT. Go up past the ladder to find the password in the middle of the bookshelves. Go back to the entrance and go east to the other side of the room for a LOTTERY TICKET. Go back to the room with all the machinery and use the password on the console to the left. Now go south through the newly-opened passage. There's a switch in the northeast corner of this room and a HIT AREA EXPAND in a chest to the northwest. Open the chest downstairs for a TOGGLE SWITCH. To the left is a SEAL OF THE URN in a barrel. South, you'll find STRONGOIDS in a chest. Go back to the machinery room and use the switch on the machine to the north. Go to the clock and ride it to the third floor. On the south side of this room, the second vase on the left hides a TALSMN. OF MERCY. Heal and save in the next room. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Janus Class: Light HP: 880 MP: 69 EXP: 2000 Cash: 2300 Souls: 85 Drop: Justice Sp-Attack Down 2 Janus can lower your S-Atk so it's probably best to go with a physical approach. Rage magic and Dark Edge are good spells to cast. Watch out if Yuri or Lucia are in the party since it will cast Light-based magic, and they are susceptible to extra damage. Its normal combo is also quite powerful, which is why a dedicated healer is always an asset. The Uvall crest you picked up has the Arc Cure spell, so if you equipped it on someone, they'll do fine healing your party. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Afterwards, head to Florence. Yuri gives us more backstory concerning the Vatican's forbidden books that caused such a ruckus in the first game. Talk to Carla to replenish your party's health. Go back to the SG Italian HQ to where you fought Janus to find a wolf waiting in the rubble. Equip a Pocket Watch before speaking to it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Henri Class: Earth HP: c. 300 MP: --- EXP: 166 Cash: 450 Souls: 0 Drop: Mana Extract Poor old Henri can inflict Reverse Ring, which isn't too bad. He also knows Thorn. Blanca's Wind class so that could be bad, but your level should be high enough that it won't cause a problem. Use Thera items to cure your ills. Soul Comet, being Wind-type magic, is really good for damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Comet is powered up yet again. Now head to Wales. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neam Ruins [enr] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Red Mailbox ___ Leonardo's Bear Enemies: Calamity Orb ___ Rope Ladder ___ Phenex Ofnir ___ Face Guard ___ Getitup! Otheon ___ Mana Seed ___ Berith Star Gazer ___ Talisman of Luck ___ Attack Boost Grail Gazer ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Mana Extract ___ Thera Seed ___ Instant Death 1 ___ Seal of Vitality ___ Ose ___ Lottery Ticket You should see a RED MAILBOX, an English classic, next to Roger's house. Examine it and Joachim will claim it. Inside, you'll find a chest with a ROPE LADDER up by the save point. The vending machine is now working; do some shopping while you can. Now go out and head north to the fissure. Use your ladder to climb down. Grab the FACE GUARD near the save point. Get ready for a puzzle on every level of these Godforsaken ruins. Step forward and ride the block. Follow the path and ride the next one. Ride the one to the north (according to your map) and get the MANA SEED. Ride that block back, step on it again, and go left this time to ride the block there. Ride the nearest block to go south. Ride the northern block here to a chest with a TALISMAN OF LUCK. Step on the red block to go to the next level. Push the triangle button to your right to manipulate the color of the blocks. You can only ride blocks here if their color corresponds to that of the "receiving" block, a dock if you will. Ride the gold one over. Ride the other gold one on this platform to a chest with a HIT AREA EXPAND. Push the button and ride your new blue block over. Ride the gold block across from you to nab a THERA SEED. Ride the other gold block back to the central platform. Ride the blue block across from you to a platform with two gold blocks. Ride the left one, push the button, ride it back, and ride the right blue block to the red panel. Cross the blue light bridge and push the button you see above you. Get the SEAL OF VITALITY in the chest as you go north. Cross the pink light bridge, push the button three times, and follow the path to a LOTTERY TICKET. Now go back to that pink button and press it two more times to get to the red panel. There's a save point here if you need it. Ride the block. Then ride the one next to it down, hit the yellow button, then ride it back up. Cross the yellow block and ride the blue one down. Go to the northwest corner of this area to find a yellow button. Press it and go south and east through the new opening. Ignore the blue block here for now. Go north to a chest with a LEONARDO'S BEAR. Now go back and ride that block up. Take the one directly north of you up to a chest with the PHENEX crest. Back down, go as far north as you can and press the yellow button. Go back south and look for a little path to the left hidden by the rock formation. Take this block down and flip the yellow switch (you've been down here before so it should look familiar). Take that block back up and hit the yellow button to the north again. Now go all the way south and cross the yellow block to get a chest with a GETITUP!. Push the yellow button to the north again and ride the leftmost block up to another blue block that will take you to the exit. You'll get a scene here. Continue on to yet another fun puzzle. Step on the green, then the blue twice to make the stairs climbable. There are two of these puzzles in the next room. (Ugh.) Ignore the first one you come to by stepping on it and hitting "None". Go the left and tackle this puzzle first. Step on the colors in the following order: blue, yellow, yellow, blue, blue, red, red. Up these steps is the BERITH crest. Now go solve the other puzzle by selecting these colors: green, green, yellow. As soon as you enter this area, head straight to the right to meet the Ring Soul in the corner for an ATTACK BOOST. The brothers have set up shop in the opposite corner next to a save point. (Why did they have to reset all the puzzles they'd already solved? What a big help they are.) If you like to play it safe, buy enough Leonardo's Bears for your entire party or make sure you have at least one and some Talisman items. Head north to a red panel. Yuri will automatically demonstrate what you need to do to progress in the next area. Step on the yellow blocks to get a glimpse of the path, then follow that path to make it appear permanently. Once you step on the path, you can't fall off the edge. However, I recommend deviating from the path and falling over at least once since it's pretty amusing. On the third path, head to Yuri's right to fill out a walkway that leads to a chest with a MANA EXTRACT and a shortcut if you fall. Head back and fill out the rest of that last path to a red panel. Heal and save and make sure you've got Leonardo's Bears equipped. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Grail Gazer Class: Water Star Gazer Class: Water HP: 1240 MP: 409 HP: 320 MP: 0 EXP: 2900 Cash: 2500 EXP: 200 Cash: 200 Souls: 90 Drop: Instant Death 1 Souls: 2 Drop: --- Ose The two Star Gazers' special attack inflicts Instant Death, and they will combo with the Grail Gazer so you want to take them out as soon as possible. Hit hard and fast; combos with Heat Edge or Fire Magic work well if you've been building that affinity. The Grail Gazer has circular magic so watch out when performing combos around it. Again, anything Fire based is good for offense. It is susceptible to both P-Atk and S-Atk Down, the latter of which might come in handy since it likes to use Hail Breeze a lot and can rack up nice damage against Fire class fighters. Your dedicated healer should have Arc Cure available; that spell is nice to have here since Hail Breeze can and will hit multiple party members. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Yuri will black out afterwards and find himself in the Graveyard. Looks like his soul is trying to give him ideas. Now it's off to Cannes to deliver the book and save Roger. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cannes [eca] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Seal of Force ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Grass Oil ___ Treasure: Dawn ___ Waterway Key ___ Mr. Samurai ___ Marchosias ___ Limestone Block ___ Western Belt Head down the stairs. Check the second flower box above you for a SEAL OF FORCE. Go east. Before going down the next set of stairs, check the lamppost above Yuri for a LOTTERY TICKET. You'll find GRASS OIL in the fountain at the base of the stairs. To the left is Loud Croft, who'll challenge Yuri to find some treasure he's hidden. Your first clue is TREASURE: DAWN. Be sure to read it in your inventory and keep it in the back of your mind. Enter the bar next to him. At the back is Nelson, the man who'll get you to St. Marguerite. He lets you use his boat and gives you the WATERWAY KEY in exchange for keeping him out of it. The other man in the bar will give you the MR. SAMURAI Stud Card for buying him a drink for 500 cash. Talk to him again to learn that he's had enough. Back outside and farther to the left is a Lottery Member. Lottery Member #13 Ring: Small Marchosias *You'll definitely want the MARCHOSIAS crest; the Face Guard red wedge is at about 7:00 and isn't too hard to Hit Area Expand hit. Pure Seed Tissues There's also a kid walking along this stretch of walkway that will take your underground film and give you a LIMESTONE BLOCK. Pierre and Gerard are on the next screen. South of here is the dock. There's nothing interesting on the beach so head all the way down to a chest with a WESTERN BELT by Nelson's boat. Set sail to St. Marguerite. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Marguerite Island [esm] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Camio ___ Fountain Pen Enemies: Stray Wolf ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Adhesive Paladin ___ Face Guard ___ Bifrons Clawed Admiral ___ Slow 2 ___ Bent Wire Philippe ___ Ring of Keys ___ Handmade Key Oscar ___ Temperance ___ Nibelung Scene 2 Kheperer ___ Poison 2 ___ Daphne Fruit Gatorback ___ Wheel of Fortune ___ Seal of Strength Godhand ___ Strike Expand ___ Earthen Pipe ___ Sp-Defend Down 2 ___ Pure Root ___ Attack Boost ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Tent ___ Treasure: Love ___ Pure Extract I have a map for this area; I don't know how easy it is to read, but if you would like it, it's here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/stmisland.jpg. Right off the bat, Yuri will get the key stolen by a wolf. You'll now be in control of Blanca. Through the hole, there's a save point and a saleswolf to the north if you need anything. Past him, you'll find the CAMIO crest on the ground. To the northeast is the thief. Beat him down! You'll automatically be taken back, so you can head inside. In the room with the card table, check the corner for a LOTTERY TICKET. Past here, the north gate is locked and the warehouse is useless now, so head right. Your exit is locked in the next room, and you need to talk to the cellmates to learn the code. At the end of the southernmost row of cells, you'll find a FACE GUARD in a chest. Talk to the guy closest to you to learn there's an 8 in the code. The next guy hints that the numbers are in descending order and are all 4 or higher. The cells in the next row up house a Lottery Member. Lottery Member #12 Ring: Fickle Slow 2 *The needle is fickle but it starts so slow that if Western Belt you hit the wedge on the first rotation, you won't Talsmn. of Mercy notice and can easily get the SLOW 2 if you want. Thera Seed Tissues The guy next door says all the numbers are even. Putting all your clues together, you will get the code 864. Input it and move on. You'll get a couple scenes down the stairs. What follows is a staple of the Shadow Hearts series. First off, Veronica is going to choose someone to play with. It's hard to tell who she's looking at when cycling through the options, but you can make an educated guess as to who it is, and guessing is half the fun. Pick someone and she'll take them away. Now, there's a prize for getting through her torture. If you get through without getting shocked, you'll get the best prize: a new weapon for the victim. Choose the first option every time to ensure you don't get shocked and survive Veronica's game. There are lesser prizes to win based on the second and third options as well. Really, getting a prize isn't that big of a deal. I say just play through this for the entertainment value since some of the things your party members can say to Veronica are downright hilarious. We're switched over to Blanca again to save the day. Head through the hole, equip a Silver Bracelet, and go to the northeast to encounter a Wolf Bout opponent. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Philippe Class: Dark HP: c. 360 MP: --- EXP: 240 Cash: 600 Souls: 0 Drop: Pure Extract Shell Bracelet Philippe's special attack causes Mental Break, so use your magic while you can before your MP is totally depleted (unless you equipped a Silver Bracelet). Attack however you want as long as you make sure to take a turn or two to heal your HP. Don't worry about replenishing MP since this fight shouldn't last long and physical attacks and Thera items will pull you through. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Blanca will learn Full Moon for winning. Back inside, you'll run into guards (red triangles on your map) that will attack if they see you. Honestly, it's not a big deal if they do. You get EXP if you fight, and it gets harder to avoid them later on; it's just so much easier to fight than flee. Run past the first one, *walk* over the branches to the north, and go south. Enter the door to the right while the two guards here are looking away (don't worry about that chest, we can get it later). Use the pillars to hide from the guard in this hall. In the office room, search around until you get the RING OF KEYS. Head back out and exit to the right. The guard here is extra alert so be careful when making your way north. More guards await down the stairs. Your destination is the northern door. To draw the guards out in the next room, walk right up behind the gate to get their attention. This will make them patrol around this little room so you can play hide-and-go-seek with them via the pillars. Go through the north door. Make sure you have a Shell Bracelet equipped before you step forward! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oscar Class: Wind HP: 400 MP: 0 EXP: 600 Cash: 2000 Souls: 0 Drop: Temperance Poison 2 Oscar's deadliest attack is his ability to poison you. If he poisons you once and gets you again, he'll give you Deadly Poison. He also knows a spell called Remove, which will cancel out all support magic you cast, so don't bother. Since you're fighting alone, always heal first and attack second. His magic attacks are Wind class so Blanca can weather them. If you have either P-Atk or S-Atk Down on Blanca's ring, you can lower the amount of damage Oscar inflicts and start piling on your own. P-Atk Down is definitely the preferred of the two. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Remember your treasure clue? Mash the X button near the end of the chain to find the WHEEL OF FORTUNE card. The chest on the upper right side of the room has a STRIKE EXPAND. Head down the stairs to find your party. The chest to the left has your prize for the torture scene, and SP-DEFEND DOWN 2 is hidden in the boxes nearby. Make use of your new save point as well. Go south past where you fought Oscar, exit south, then head straight right in the next room to meet the Ring Soul for an ATTACK BOOST. Exit to the south. Up the stairs, a man will stop you and offer to make a key for Roger's cell if you can get him the supplies. To the south in this hall is a chest with a TENT. Exit to the west. Go upstairs to find a chest with a PURE EXTRACT; examine the desk for a FOUNTAIN PEN. Before going downstairs, go to the left and go through the metal gate in this hall. Go in the warehouse to the left to get some ADHESIVE. Back through the gate, exit left. Go straight left to get that chest we saw earlier; it has the BIFRONS crest. Go to the southwest corner of this area to the hole where Blanca came in. The wolf outside will give you a BENT WIRE. Head all the way back to the locksmith in the cell. (Exit east as far as you can, and he'll be to the north.) You'll get the HANDMADE KEY and the NIBELUNG SCENE 2. Exit west and go downstairs now to a chest with a DAPHNE FRUIT. The next room is Veronica's and should look familiar. There's a SEAL OF STRENGTH by the machine. Exit to the right, and you'll see an EARTHEN PIPE on the ground. Examine it and it's yours. The chest up top contains a PURE ROOT. Hidden up on the other side of the room is a LOTTERY TICKET. Up the stairs and through the door puts you with the prisoners that helped you with the code lock. Exit west, north through the gate, and west. You want to go in the north door in this area. There's a save point beyond it; make good use of it. Equip Mirror Bracelets if you have them or just make sure you've got ways to combat Petrify. Inside, we have one more obstacle keeping us from Roger. There's a couple of easy battles before the big one. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Godhand Class: Earth HP: 1960 MP: 0 EXP: 4400 Cash: 4000 Souls: 95 Drop: Thera Extract Bandit Earrings Lenny in his new form can cause Petrify, which is a terrible, terrible status ailment. If you don't have Mirror Bracelets but Lucia is in the party, you can use her Aromatherapy skill with Misty and Ocean Oils to protect everyone from status abnormalities. This is only for one turn, so it can feel tedious casting it over and over, but petrifaction is no laughing matter. At least make sure someone is on hand with Heal magic or Soul Benediction items. You can also try and inflict Slow on him to give yourself a little more breathing room. The Godhand is all raw power. He can attack multiple party members with his Deadly Three attack, and if one of the bystanders happens to be petrified, things get ugly. Shield magic or Lucia's aromatherapy will come in handy boosting your defenses, and Arc Cure is also a good idea. Pile on the Wind- powered combos and watch your SP because this fight might drag on. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Afterwards, everyone has their laughs at Roger's expense. You can try to name him if you want, but (like in the last game) he won't have it. Next stop, Cannes, to hear what Roger knows about Sapientes Gladio. Before you head back to Wales, talk to Croft outside the bar to rub your hunting prowess in his face and get a new clue, TREASURE: LOVE. It may look weird, but read it backwards and it'll be clear. Talk to Roger in his house and then flip the switch on the right wall. Take the elevator down and head left. Roger will unveil his airship to miraculous applause. Heh. He'll then fly us to Russia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Petrograd [ep1] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Seal of Life ___ Super Piroshki Enemies: Pendulum ___ P-Attack Down 2 ___ Lottery Ticket Quartzback ___ The Empress ___ Espada Wormgaur ___ Mana Root ___ Prism Band Victor ___ Pure Root ___ Circlet R-3 ___ Hit Area Expand ___ Eligos ___ Seal of Wisdom ___ Bell Bracelet ___ Furcas ___ Halphas ___ P-Defend Down 2 ___ Night Oil ___ Strike Expand ___ Lion Shrine Key ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Pirate Earrings ___ Nibelung Scene 5 You'll get a scene. Enter our newest enemy, the Mad Monk Rasputin. Prepare to forsake all your history schooling, as we meet Anastasia next. The Winter Palace is pretty big, and it's easy to get lost if it's your first time through. Therefore, I've got a map: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/winterpalace.jpg. Be warned that you're going to be making multiple trips through the halls, and this map covers the whole palace, so there's places on it you won't be able to get to yet. For now, let's go item hunting, shall we? Exit this hall to the south. Go in the second door on your right to find a chest with a SEAL OF LIFE by the beds. Exit the hall to the south and go to the next hall over since two guards are blocking the staircase. Before going in, check this corner for a hidden chest with P-ATTACK DOWN 2. In the first door on the left, check the teddy bear for THE EMPRESS. The chest by the bed contains a MANA ROOT. Leave and speak to Ewan in the third room on the left. Go back to Anastasia's room (the one with the save point). Choose to sleep to move on. She'll automatically sneak out to Edgar's shop to get a camera. Seems Kato's in town as well... Outside, you'll get a primer on Anastasia's special abilities, Snap Shot and Album. Whenever she's in a fight, she can take pictures of enemies to figure their stats, replacing those annoying question marks we've seen up until now. Fun fact: This is also the only special ability in the game that does not require the Judgment Ring. However, you'll only get to see this info when she is in the battle party or through your library. Certain enemies grant her summoning abilities so make sure you snap as many pictures as you can. Back to matters at hand, the chest right next to you has a PURE ROOT. North is the way out of town. Go south (looks like left from this camera angle) two screens to be outside the palace. Go to your left for a chest way back in the corner of the screen for a HIT AREA EXPAND. Check the lamppost closest to the screen for a SEAL OF WISDOM. Pierre and Gerard are in the right-hand corner. Go to the opposite side of this area, near the palace entrance. North of the steps is a chest with the FURCAS crest. Exit this area through the tunnel, the way you came. Go back to the intersection and head right (towards the screen). Anastasia will spot Rasputin and hide. Follow him to the next screen. Make note of where he goes next, then run towards the camera to the corner for a P-DEFEND DOWN 2 in a chest. Go over to the bridge and check the left lamppost for a STRIKE EXPAND. Go down the little stairs for a scene. Anastasia will get into trouble; guess who comes to the rescue? Be sure to take a picture of the monster when fighting, and you'll get her first summon attack. Afterwards, it's a party at Edgar's place. There's a LOTTERY TICKET behind the counter but nothing in the back room. Outside, speak to the old man south of the shop on the way to the palace; now that Karin's with you, he'll give you the NIBELUNG SCENE 5. You might want to go shopping before heading inside and, if you have it, talk to the artist near the brothers to trade your limestone block for a SUPER PIROSHKI. A scene occurs. Politics are fun, yes? Go in the door past the save point, then north to the next room. Check the second flower pot for a LOTTERY TICKET. The next room up has the ESPADA in a chest. Head back to the save point and go up the stairs to the east hall. Enter the second door on the right and speak to the woman on the right to play the Lottery. Lottery Member #11 Ring: Reverse Prism Band *The PRISM BAND is one of Joachim's special Replacement Man accessories; luckily, winning it is a cinch. Hit Area Expand Mana Seed Tissues Past the save point, go in the door to the left and then the north to meet with the Empress. Go into one of the two doors to the north; inside, check behind the bed for a CIRCLET. Now do as your mother says and go to your room. (It's the first door on the left in the west hall if you've forgotten.) Enjoy your history lesson; most of it is actually true (except for the part about Nicholas being a good man.) Afterwards, form your team, of which Anastasia must be a member, because you'll start getting random encounters in the halls. Head out to the main hall, go down the stairs, and go through the door to the north and then through the next. Go north yet again. Through the door between the stairs is a store room of sorts. In the northwest corner is the ELIGOS crest. Go back and up the stairs to the left-hand side of the room to grab a BELL BRACELET. Enter the door on the right-hand side. In this hall, enter the door to the far right. Go south, then to the first door you see on your right to confront Victor. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Victor Class: Fire HP: 1800 MP: 200 EXP: 5200 Cash: 4200 Souls: 100 Drop: Halphas Night Oil Victor will fight you with his Pendulum familiar. He'll use Entrance to boost its magic power so you want to focus on killing it first so they can't work together. Pendulums can poison you as well as inflict Reverse Ring; Victor knows Magma, can attack with his sword, and can inflict Seal. This is where Blanca's Full Moon ability saves lives! Once you've taken out the Pendulum, get to work on Victor. Anastasia is Water class so she needs to be especially careful of Victor's magic. He can pack a punch and hit multiple party members with Magma. Try inflicting P-Atk or S-Atk Down if it's on your ring. Hit him hard with combos and all your Water magic. If you remembered to take a picture of the Pendulum, Anastasia can use Aqua Raise on him. Be always mindful of SP since Anastasia's is low to begin with, and Victor will hang in there. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pick up the LION SHRINE KEY afterwards. Go up past the save point. In the second room on the right is a chest with PIRATE EARRINGS. The door at the end of this hall is the Lion Shrine. Save if you like, then head up for a scene. No fight with Rasputin this time, as it seems we can't break that shield of his. Yuri then flashes back to scenes of the first game before passing out due to the curse. Looks like we're not going to be welcome in Russia again for a while. Don't leave town yet because a Wolf Bout opponent has shown his face in the alley where Anastasia met her first monster. Equip a Feather Bracelet and speak to it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- R-3 Class: Light HP: c. 500 MP: --- EXP: 400 Cash: 900 Souls: 0 Drop: Feather Bracelet Strike Expand The emoticon-using pooch from space can cause Panic (as all space creatures would among Earthlings). Since Blanca's SP isn't too great, this could be a problem. Cast Shield/Barrier and Rage and you're good to go. If you didn't protect against Panic, Shield and Barrier will make his attacks super weak, giving you enough health to be able to sacrifice a turn to use a Pure item. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Comet is powered up. Leave town; the soldiers won't let you do much else. Head to the Goreme Valley. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goreme Valley [egv] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Marax ___ Seal of Aura ___ Seere ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Blue Cape ___ Evasion Down 2 ___ Attack Boost Hey, it's Thomas Lawrence. Er, Edward Lawrence. (Does that name sound familiar, you World War I buffs?) Head into the valley. That chest holds the MARAX crest. The brothers are here as well. Head towards the entrance to get stopped by Sarah. This marks the start of King Solomon's Trials, which are the pit fights reincarnated. They're actually a mix of fights and puzzles. They're worth your time to finish since Sarah will give you prizes for completing them. See the sidequest section for strategy and prize lists. You can do the first four trials right now if you wish. Inside, in the first door to your right, you'll find a chest with a SEAL OF AURA. Outside, head up the stairs. What a beautiful sunset. Remember your last treasure clue? Mash X around the pillar to get the SEERE crest. In the next room to the right, you'll find a LOTTERY TICKET on one of the tables. Go up and talk to Lawrence and head inside. There's a short hall to your right down this corridor; inside is a chest with a BLUE CAPE. Now continue down the corridor to meet with Jovis. Afterwards, look behind the altar in this room for an EVASION DOWN 2. Your destination is the door in the northeast corner of this room. Before going up to talk with Jovis again, head to the right side of this room to meet the Ring Soul again for an ATTACK BOOST. When ready, speak to the bishop to get going. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mirror Castle [emc] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Third Key Enemies: Tweedledee ___ Glass Key Tweedledum Ogoroja Karin Yuri Amon You'll be in the Graveyard to start. Do any soul fusion business you might have, then head through the door north of the Yuri Tree. After a chat with Jeanne, go through the northern door. Take a few steps forward to get into a scripted fight. This castle is a one-time only visit, but there's really not a lot to do. I've drawn a map to provide a visual to help you see how the mirror system that's in place here works: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/mirrorcastle1.jpg. You'll need to get used to it if you want to do a certain sidequest later. Follow the corridor through the door. You'll pass some mirrors on your way around the place, but we can't do anything with them yet. At the end of the second corridor, pass through the mirror-like archway to the right and through the door to the north. In the fireplace lounge, examine the mirror since there's nothing through the door to the north right now except a save point. You'll have to fight your reflections, which makes for an odd but easy battle since Mirror Yuri won't fuse and both are pretty weak. You're now inside the mirror part of the castle. Karin explains how this works, and Jovis will fully heal you. Go through the north door to get a THIRD KEY in a chest. Now go south through the lounge. Our destination is the mirror version of where we started in the castle. Go through the archway to your right and follow the corridor down, ignoring all the mirrors. When you get to the circular room, open the chest for the GLASS KEY. Backtrack and fight your way through the first mirror you see to your left. Now make your way back to the fireplace lounge and go through the door to the north. Heal and save, open the door, and step on the circular pattern to get Amon to show himself. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Amon Class: --- HP: 765 MP: 268 EXP: 6800 Cash: 6000 Souls: 105 Drop: Pure Extract Seal of the Urn Yay for swanky new battle music! Amon looks intimidating: he has no class and so no glaring weaknesses. He's also immune to all ailments, so this is really a battle of pure strength. Fuse Yuri and boost his attack stats with either Rage or Surge (depending on which fusion you chose). Karin is best suited for acting solely as support. Amon has two special attacks, Demon Rays and The End, and the standard combo; depending on your level, they might not do much damage, but it can and will add up. This battle is not tough and shouldn't pose a real challenge as long as you don't forget to heal and protect yourself. In other words, don't rush. If you have the Fire fusion leveled up, Rage and Energy Charge will absolutely blow Amon away. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Afterwards, Yuri meets up with an old friend from the first Shadow Hearts: Albert Simon. Leave it to Albert to make us feel like crap after beating him in the first game. You'll get Amon's soul afterwards and a scene with Nicolai and Rasputin for more WWI history. After Yuri and Karin talk, go to the bishop's room (the one with the Blue Cape earlier) to start a whole 'nother series of cutscenes until we're back in Petrograd. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Petrograd [ep2] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Mana Seed ___ Plastron Enemies: Jack ___ Nibelung Scene 8 ___ Silver Locket Jill ___ Thera Root ___ Ipos Agony ___ Lottery Ticket ___ Talsmn. of Mercy Necros ___ The Magician ___ Haagenti Peryton ___ Attack Boost ___ Moon Oil Night Queen ___ Leraje ___ Mr. Swan ___ Leonardo's Bear ___ Tissues ___ Andromalius ___ Purple Bondage ___ Seal 2 ___ Silver Angel ___ Talisman of Luck ___ Frozen Tuna ___ Strongoids ___ Panoramic Lens Make your way to the area where Anastasia tracked down Rasputin and took his picture last time: the stairs by the bridge out of town. Jeanne will interrupt you to tell you that you can now attain level three fusions by collecting certain items (Soul Drops), but more on that later. Down the stairs, speak to Prince Yusupov to gain entrance to the Gallery of the Dead. Go back up the stairs and check the boxes here for a MANA SEED. Back down, examine the skeleton to get the NIBELUNG SCENE 8. There's a map available for this area: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/gotd.jpg. Ahead is a gate and a lever, both with a Cyrillic/Russian character on them. (ASCII doesn't like me using actual Cyrillic characters, so I'm going to try to mimic them with an English equivalent to the best of my ability.) Anastasia will give you a grammar lesson each time you find one of these, and Gepetto explains how to use them to get through this area. Pull the lever and continue on. Examine the next skeleton you see for a THERA ROOT. Go north when you can. Then head west, check the skeleton for a LOTTERY TICKET, and flip the "E" switch. Go back and head all the way north and check the right-hand corner for THE MAGICIAN. Go down and head right under the "E" gate. You should notice a wolf in one of the cells ahead of you. Equip a Bhodi Bracelet before speaking to it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Necros Class: Dark HP: c. 550 MP: --- EXP: 650 Cash: 1300 Souls: 0 Drop: Talsmn. of Mercy Necros can paralyze you, and that's about it. After you neutralize that special attack, he's a normal wolf, and you should be used to them by now. If you didn't protect against paralysis, hope it doesn't take effect when he uses it since you can't battle with a paralyzed one-person party. Use Rage and/or Surge to make short work of him. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Soul Comet is powered up. Go south according to your map and hit the "K" switch. Head all the way north and go as far east as you can to meet the Ring Soul again to get an ATTACK BOOST. Go south the get the LERAJE crest in a chest. Now go back to where you found the Magician card (northwest of the wolf fight); the gate nearby should be raised. Go as far west as you can to nab the LEONARDO'S BEAR in the corner here. Follow this path until you come to a room. The exit is north and west, but it is blocked. Go north anyway and turn right to flip the "A" switch. Back in the room, examine the coffins and the wall to find out who is blocking our exit. The sign on the other side of the wall shows what gates are open and how many are left. Check the southwest corner of this room for the ANDROMALIUS crest. Save if you want and head south. Go left when you get a chance and open the chest in the corner for a SEAL 2. Follow the path and examine the skeletons you find before the intersection for a TALISMAN OF LUCK. Start by taking the west path and follow it as it loops around and around, checking the one metal gate you see for STRONGOIDS. Take the north path to a chest with a PLASTRON and the "B" switch. That gate was down the east path, right next to the "P" switch. Following this path will take you back to the original intersection. The southern switch, "b", is now unblocked. Flip it. Head north back to the room with the save point. Go east, south as far as you can, west, then south to find the SILVER LOCKET. Use the left path past the save point to get back to the coffin room quickly; just follow it north. Examine the middle coffin to give the man his locket. Now you can exit these tunnels by going north, then west. Dimitri will meet you, and you can proceed to the palace for a scene. (Thank goodness the Tsar has more sense than his wife.) When you gain control, go left, down the stairs, and to the right. The brothers have set up shop next to a save point. Stock up on Leonardo's Bears if you want to play it safe with the next boss. Head through the door south of them and continue south to find a chest with the IPOS crest (give that to someone ASAP). Head right for a scene and a scripted fight. Go south and check the fountain for a TALSMN. OF MERCY. Now head up the spiral staircase after making sure you have all your Leonardo's Bears equipped. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Night Queen Class: Water HP: 2380 MP: 420 EXP: 9900 Cash: 8000 Souls: 110 Drop: Haagenti Moon Oil Take care of the two Peryton first. As noted before, the Night Queen's special attack causes Instant Death. If you didn't equip Leonardo's Bears, it's not the end of the world as long as you make sure the next person in line sacrifices their turn to revive the fallen party member. She's vulnerable to P-Def and S-Def Down, so try to inflict it if it's on your ring to make your attacks worth more damage. The Ipos crest you recently got has the extremely useful Arc Gale spell, which gives your entire party more turns in battle. You can imagine how awesome that is; cast it as soon as possible! Have your magic users buff everyone up and heal when needed. The Night Queen has a variety of spells at her disposal and she knows your characters' weaknesses so she'll pick their opposing class to maximize damage. This means Barrier magic is good to have here. Arc Gale will give you enough turns to cure whatever ails you. Use Heat Edge, Arc Rage, Surge, combos, and all that good stuff to bring the Night Queen down. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You get an amazing cutscene for winning. Afterwards, talk to the guard walking along this corridor to get the MR. SWAN Stud Card. Head over to the east wing; now we can finally snoop in Rasputin's bedroom (it's the sixth door on the right). Check both sides of the bed for TISSUES and PURPLE BONDAGE. You can shop for new equipment from the hefty man near the save point in the main hall. Make your way back to the roof where you fought Veronica (north until you hit the stairs, then east and south and up the stairs), and check the snow to the northwest for a SILVER ANGEL, something you won't have a use for for a while yet. You'll get a scene when you go outside. When you gain control, head south and examine the FROZEN TUNA stuck in the snow outside the palace. Go give Pierre that Purple Bondage and your new Stud Card; I'm sure he'll love them. Make your way to Edgar's place and speak to him for Anastasia's PANORAMIC LENS, supper, and a scene. Head to the world map to Idar Flamme. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idar Flamme [eif] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Items: ___ Mana Root ___ Third Key Enemies: Gigafilaria ___ Jupiter Fan ___ Feather Bracelet Megafilaria ___ Paralysis 2 ___ Hit Area Expand Zamuza ___ Cosmic Bracelet ___ Will Power Echidna ___ Soul Benediction ___ Pure Root Hati ___ Strike Expand ___ Seal of Speed Mother Filaria ___ Bat's Gold ___ Replacement Man Asmodeus ___ Thera Root ___ The World ___ Silver Bracelet Ugh, I hate this place. Thank goodness it's a one-time only visit. There are items scattered around these landmark-less tunnels, but if you ever want to get to your destination quickly, just head north. If you would like a map of this area to follow instead, here's a link to one: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/idarflamme1.jpg. Go up past the save point until you see a pod blocking your way. Running into it will get you into a fight with some normal enemies; just be aware that these things are scattered around the tunnels as well as fake walls that disappear as you approach. Also, have Anastasia snap the Hati enemy in this area for the Direct Press album. The first intersection you come to will have a chest in the upper left corner with a MANA ROOT. Continue up this path and turn right at the next opportunity. In the U-bend of this skinny path is a chest with the JUPITER FAN. Follow it until you come to a four-way split. Take the lower right path and fight your way through the pod for a chest with a PARALYSIS 2. Go right at the three-way intersection and right again at the next. As it loops around, it'll take you to yet another three-way after a pod fight; take the skinny path leading right to a dead end with three chests to nab a COSMIC BRACELET, SOUL BENEDICTION, and STRIKE EXPAND. Go back to the intersection and take the upper left path. It will lead you to yet another three-way split. Take the southern path to a chest with BAT'S GOLD but then go back up to the split and take the left path now. Go south and then left at the next intersection. Follow it to a pod and another three-way split. Take the northern path for two chests at a dead end for a THERA ROOT and a SILVER BRACELET. And that is it for treasure in this hellhole. Find the nearest main path (go to the last intersection and turn left) and then go north as far as you can to reach a save point and the Maigmel brothers. If you need to return to the beginning of this stage for any reason, ask them to give you a ride. Exit to the north. Here's a [somewhat condensed] and color-coded map for this new area: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/sophialee/SHC/idarflamme2.jpg. Head right to the next screen and keep going as far right as you can. North is a THIRD KEY. Go left and north to hit the purple switch by the fan. Go left again but instead of going through the new door, continue left to the next screen. Hit the light blue switch to the far left and go through the nearby door north of you. Go north, then west to hit the green switch. Now go east and hit the yellow switch. South and then east is a chest with a FEATHER BRACELET. Straight east through the nearby door is another chest with a HIT AREA EXPAND. North is a save point. Go south to the next screen. Head right to go enter that door you opened earlier. Go east as far as you can and hit the purple switch to the south. That reveals a chest with a WILL POWER to the north. Now go west and hit the pink switch by the fan. Go back a screen and head north, then east to hit the other yellow switch. Go west until you hit a save point. Heal and save. Immediately after going through the yellow door but before going to the next screen, you'll see a chest with a PURE ROOT to your right. You'll automatically be brought into a fight in the next room. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mother Filaria Class: Light HP: 700 MP: 230 EXP: 3000 Cash: 2000 Souls: 30 Drop: Mana Extract You'll have to fight four of these things total (two per fight). Focus on them one at a time. Get in the habit of casting all your Arc spells at the beginning of each fight if you haven't already. You'll need ones like Gale and Rage to keep on top of these guys since they know Cure. Use combos and exploit their weaknesses to eliminate at least one before they can start healing each other. If Anastasia's in your party, she can use her new Direct Press skill to halve these guys' HP. Attack-wise, they can combo and know basic Light magic, so Dark fighters beware. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Afterwards, check the left side of the room for a SEAL OF SPEED and run along the wall on the right side to find a REPLACEMENT MAN. Heal, save, and give your fighter with the least SP that Will Power accessory you found (or any others you might have) before moving on. I have to say, there is something oddly funny about hearing the Mad Monk turn Yuri's catchphrase on him. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Asmodeus Class: --- HP: 2880 MP: 468 EXP: 14,500 Cash: 12,000 Souls: 150 Drop: The World Warlock Earrings Get out those Arc spells. As with Amon, Asmodeus has no real