\  -- __          ---- ___
                      \       \       |         \
                        \      \      |         _|
                         \       \    |       /
            ____     _____ \      \  |       |
           |    |   |    /  \       \|       |
           |    |  /   /      \              |
           |    |/   /         \            |
           |       /             \          |
           |     /          g  o  d     o  n  l  y     k  n  o  w  s
          /     |  ___  _   ___   _|_    __|    ___    ___    _  __   ____
        /       | / _ \ \ \/   | / _ \  / _ \  / _ \  |___ \ | \/__|/  ___|
      /   /|    || |_| ||   /| || | | || | | || |_| |  ___| ||  |   \  \
    /   /  |    ||  __/ |  | | || | | || |_| ||  __/  /  _  ||  |     \  \
  /   /    |    || |__/||  | | || |_| | \__  || |__/||  |/  ||  |   ___|  |
/____|     |____| \___/ |__| |_| \___/  ___| | \___/  \__/|_||__|  |_____/
                                 |     |____/       \
                                |       |     \       \
                                |       |       \      \
                               |       |         \       \
                               |       |           \      |
                               |       |             \___/
                              |       |
                              :       :

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


                        XENOGEARS FAQ v0.4
            for the Sony PlayStation (American Version)
                   mantained by Ignacio de Lucas
       Japanese version originally co-written with Kao Megura


 Unpublished work Copyright 1998 and 1999 Ignacio de Lucas

 This FAQ is for private and personal use.  It can only be reproduced
 electronically, and if placed on a web page or site, may be altered
 as long as this disclaimer and the above copyright notice appear
 unaltered and in full.  This FAQ is not to be used for profitable or
 promotional purposes.  This includes being incorporated, reprinted,
 or otherwise used by magazines, books, guides, etc., in ANY way.

 The Japanese version of this FAQ was created by Ignacio de Lucas and
 Kao Megura. Currently, this American version is being mantained by
 Ignacio de Lucas {de_lucas@yahoo.com}. All copyrights and trademarks
 are acknowledged that are not specifically mentioned in this FAQ.

 Xenogears is (c) Square Soft and (c) Sony Entertainment of Japan.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ, and future revisions of it, can be found at:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kao Megura's Home Page                            i.am/kao
GameFAQs                                          www.gamefaqs.com


===================================
 T A B L E   O F   C O N T E N T S
===================================

 1.  U P D A T E S   /   I N T R O D U C T I O N
 2.  D I S C   O N E   W A L K T H R O U G H
 3.  D I S C   T W O   W A L K T H R O U G H
 4.  S E C R E T S
 5.  A C T I O N   R E P L A Y   /   G A M E   S H A R K   C O D E S
 6.  P L A Y I N G   T H E   G A M E
      - Characters
      - Controls
      - Main Menu
      - Sleeping and Shopping
      - Battles
 7.  L I S T S   A N D   C H A R T S
      - Item List
      - Character Equipment List
      - Character Weapon List
      - Gear Equipment List
      - Gear Weapon List
      - Skills, Abilities and Gear Options Lists
      - Status Effects
      - Selling Prices
 8.  M A P S
      - Yggdrasil Map
      - Bledavik Waterway Map
 9.  M I S C E L L A N E O U S
      - "Small Two of Pieces" Lyrics
10.  L I N K S
11.  S P E C I A L   T H A N K S
12.  A U T H O R ' S   N O T E


==========================================================================
   1   .   U P D A T E S   /   I N T R O D U C T I O N
==========================================================================

UPDATES  ________________________________________________________________


American Version Revision History  ______________________________________

Version 0.4 (April 6, 1999)
  You're probably wondering what have I been doing these four months. Check
    the "Note for Version 0.4" (just below this section) for an answer.
  Expanded the walkthrough to cover up to the battle with Achtzehn.
  Finally replaced the songs' names with the official ones, thanks to Oscar
    Nieto Colino. Also, reformatted the list and added the original
    soundtrack's order number for each track (it took a whole evening :P).
  Added "BGM Select" Action Replay code, along with its corresponding list.
  Added "Infinite BP" Action Replay code.
  Completed the Gear Engines, Frames and Armor lists.
  K.M.'s FF7 FAQ "Idiot List" lives on in this FAQ, albeit with only one
    idiot. Look for it after the "Special Thanks" section.
  Added a bit of explanation on how to change Billy's guns ammo to "Equip
    Menu" under "Main Menu" in section 6.
  Incorporated "The Hiding Boy" and "The Three Stones" sections into the
    Walkthrough.
  Removed "The Duneman's Desert" part. Reasons in "Note for Version 0.4".
  Dimetric Simone Houston (dhousto@tiger.lsu.edu) is to be thanked yet again
    for pointing out that I hadn't corrected Elly's Skills' names from the
    Demo, and for sending the proper ones. Much worried for this, I've
    started checking other Skills, etc... and have found more differences:
    I've fixed what I've seen, but I still have to check Gear Skills.
  He (Dimetric Simone) also corrected one more thing: the Cool Glasses
    prevent Confusion, not Blindness as I had listed.
  Added how to get the B&J M686 Gun thanks to Matthias Lambrecht 
    (mlambrecht@handshake.de). This info is at the end of "Reaper's Ship"
    episode in the Walkthrough.
  Added how to bargain at the Bledavik Market thanks to Stephen Xie Minggeng
   (dayspring@stones.com).
  Corrected Calamity's Exp and G awarded amounts thanks to Jayce A. 
    (seikenshi@postmark.net)
  Added a Hob Meat and two Hob Jerky's in the Bledavik Castle's kitchen, 
    thanks to Bryan H (fallingasleep@hotmail.com).
  Added information about a minigame in the Kaiser's room in Nortune, thanks
    to d. Page (d@prometheus.frii.com) and Ion Ioner (ionero0@yahoo.com).
  Added how to talk to the Nortune doctor in A Block.
  Added the use of the Spider Web for those that were wondering.

Version 0.3 (December 1, 1998)
  Revised the Walkthrough a bit as a result of having to restart: most
    noticeably, I changed the course to follow to deactivate the sand
    sensors in Stalagtite Cave, and revised the Tournament part as well.
  Included the locations of the notorious three stones at Shevat. Information
    on them was provided by: Pauzanes Neto (shinji08@geocities.com), Daryl
    (daryl@dnet.net.id) and Jason F. Long (tobin@eldrick.simplenet.com).
  Added how to get the Hide and Seek Badge in Aveh, thanks to Beth
    (BIZAROELNE@aol.com).
  Added the conversion to metric units of XenoGears' measurement units,
    again thanks to Pauzanes Neto (shinji08@geocities.com).
  Added that if you don't beat Dan at the tournament, he gives you the
    Wedding Dress. Thanks to Shalloween (Shalloween@aol.com), Andy Schiestl
    (ajs2916@unix.tamu.edu), Yao (amici@the.net.ph) and Patrick Miller
    (pmiller@cis.ysu.edu) for this.
  And more about the tournament: if you make the fights last longer, Bart
    will encounter less guards in the castle. 
  Added a way to get an M Disk early in the game thanks to Stuart Logan
    (Sturat@webtv.net).
  Added how to get 120 G In Citan's house thanks to Jim Argyros
    (jargyros@iastate.edu).
  Corrected all Gear Skills : I had put them with the Japanese buttons.
    Thanks to Dimetric Simone Houston (dhousto@tiger.lsu.edu) for making me
    note this.
  Also, for some reason I forgot to correct Citan's with Katana's Skills
    when I got the US complete version. Their proper names have been kindly
    sent in by Hieu Le (mad_ogre@hotmail.com), however, and have been
    corrected.

Version 0.2 (November 5, 1998)
  Since I (shock!) actually have the game now, I was able to check and
    correct quite some things, especially the walkthrough, which has also
    been expanded and now covers up to Nisan. This has taken a lot of time
    and left my eyes bleeding, but it's been worth it. Now let me die in
    peace.
  Ah, so they went ahead and changed the item names from the demo version,
    huh? OK, I revised all lists and set everything straight (phew!).
  Added "Selling Prices" to "Charts".
  Added "Status Effects" to "Charts".
  Added all Gear Skills to "Charts".
  Added "Bledavik Waterway Map" to, of all sections, "Maps".
  Added "Action Replay / Game Shark Codes" section
  Added the location of Fei's savings. Stuart Logan (Sturat@webtv.net) and
    Mike Bridge (z964453@wheat.farm.niu.edu) are to be thanked for this.
  Added the location of the Mermaid Tear, again thanks to Stuart Logan.
  Added the location of a Spider thanks to Strahinja "Strasa" Acimovic
    (victor_tzimisce@ hotmail.com) and yet again Stuart Logan.
  Corrected a mistake thanks to Brian Youn (bwa@us.ibm.com): Attack Levels
    1, 2 and 3 do not multiply the amount of fuel recovered with a Charger
    (as Level Infinite does), but rather, add 20, 40 and 60 to that amount.
  Made lots and lots of small corrections, mostly on names from the
    Japanese version. Everything should be correct now, but I know it won't.

Version 0.1 (October 15, 1998)
  First version of the US FAQ, released before even the game itself. Already
    contains almost complete (?) item, Abilities and Skill lists, except for
    Gear Skills and some other things.
  Also contains the beginning of the walkthrough from the Japanese FAQ,
    translated and somewhat modified (added some items that can be obtained
    at Lahan). I've almost completelly rewritten the "Battle" section under
    "Playing the Game", which was fragmented and incomplete (no Skill
    explanation! Ulp!).
  All in all, this is much like version 0.7 of the Japanese FAQ, adapted
    for the US release, and with a couple of additions.


Japanese Version Revision History  ______________________________________

Version 0.7 (June 11, 1998)
Version 0.6 (April 28, 1998)
Version 0.5 (April 14, 1998)
Version 0.4 (March 21, 1998)
Version 0.2 (March 2, 1998)
Version 0.1 (February 26, 1998)
Version 0.0 begun on February 10, 1998




NOTE FOR VERSION 0.4 ____________________________________________________

Hi! I'm sure you all thought I was dead or something. ^_^; Well, a more
than four month delay is one worth at least an explanation, so here we go.
Less than a week after uploading the last version of this FAQ, my Internet
connection went down permanently. If you happen to live in Spain you will
know that the Internet situation is not too good lately, and for that
reason it took me about three months (until early March) to get a new (and
quite a lot slower) connection. However, when I reconnected and checked my
mail account, I had no less than 272 messages in it! I've tried to answer
them as fast as I've been able to, but so far I haven't even finished with
November's messages. For some reason Yahoo doesn't support POP3 downloading
(as in, you can't download messages from a Yahoo account). Oh, I also forgot
to tell you that phone rates in Spain are some of the most expensive in the
world (more than 1$ US a hour), thanks to a bastardly vampiric monopolist
company whose cursed name I won't mention except to say it's "Telefonica".
*beep*'em.

Which leads me to the second, and more important, point of this introduction.
Since it's obviously impossible for me to answer all of these mails, I've
decided to answer none of them. Believe me, this causes me more pain than
you can imagine, as I love to chat a bit with fellow RPG gamers, but I just
have to have a life.

Also, due to the extremely high amount of mail I have yet to even READ (and
my really slow Internet connection), I ask you not to mail me unless
COMPLETELY and ABSOLUTELY neccesary.

In order to stop the tide of mails, I've put here the most frequent reasons
to mail me and the results they will bear:


    G e n e r a l   q u e s t i o n s   /   c o n t r i b u t i o n s


Questions for parts of the FAQ not yet covered.
   How am I supposed to help you in a place I've not been to yet? Duh.

Questions for parts of the FAQ already covered.
   Questions about important bits left unexplained in the FAQ are quite
   rare, and I'd like to think it's because my walkthrough is comprehensive
   enough ^_^; However, if you have a good point, I'll revise that part in
   future versions.

Contributions for parts of the FAQ not yet covered.
   After much thinking and pondering, I've finally decided that I will
   ignore these. There are two reasons for this:
   First, it's not fair for people that wait until I reach that point to
   tell me, not to mention it's not fair for ME, who most of the times could
   have found the thing for myself (you'd be surprised to hear what some
   people contribute).
   Second, these questions form the bulk of the 200+ mails in my account,
   since for some reason everybody seems to have found a extremelly well
   hidden secret in places I've not yet been to (but very few do in places
   I've already been in, surprisingly).
   Since I already told not to send me these contributions in version 0.3
   of the FAQ, I feel I have every right to ignore them from now on. Sorry.
   You might be wondering why did I put the "Three Shevat Stones" thing
   then. Well, I wish I hadn't... 

Contributions for parts of the FAQ already covered.
   When I'm able to read them (which will take quite a lot of time, as you
   already know), I'll file them and add them to the FAQ later (not
   neccesarily for the next revision, since I'm currently browsing and
   separating mail). Note that I won't mail you back to thank you, but rest
   assured, you have my sincerest gratitude, and I'll thank you properly in
   the FAQ itself.


              S p e c i f i c   q u e s t i o n s


"Hurry up and finish the dang walkthrough!"
   Go bother someone else. Oh, if you get stupid enough you might get a
   place along with ProPimp9 in the Idiot List.

"Can you send me new revisions of your FAQ?"
   For some reason, this is the single most asked question (with all its
   "send me your FAQ now" etc... variation. Well, in a word, NO. Even if
   it's to put it up in your cool huge megahit page, I will only send new
   revisions to GameFaqs and K.M.'s page.

"Can you notify me when you update your FAQ?"
   Sorry, but no. You don't seem to realize that you are hundreds and I just
   can't spare the time.

"Can I put your FAQ in my page?"
   You don't need to send me these, as I'll always grant you permission to
   do so (no need to ask nor even notify me) AS LONG AS you don't edit or
   otherwise modify this document, and as long as you assure you'll get new
   revisions of it from the above pages.

"Your grammar and spelling aren't too great. You should have someone check
them"
   I received just one of these, but it bothered me somewhat so I though
   I'd address it in a separate paragraph.
   1) I'm Spanish. This FAQ is about all the English practising I'm doing
   now. Try to write a FAQ in Spanish, and then you tell me about errors,
   OK? Besides, I honestly think that my English is quite acceptable for a
   Spanish.
   2) Because of living in Spain, I don't have access to any spellchecking
   program in English. Don't go offering me any of these, though: even if
   I had one, it's probably too much work to bother.
   3) Finally, if you're that much concerned about grammar and spelling, how
   about sending in some (shock!) corrections? Or is it too much bother for
   you?

"Can I co-write / translate to other language / htmlize / spellcheck the
FAQ?"
   In one word, no. I accept no co-writers, nor do I support any translation
   or HTML version of the FAQ (and bear in mind that since my work is
   copyrighted, you can't do any of these without my permission). BTW, I
   really am Spanish and talk in Spanish, but I decided to write this FAQ in
   English so it would reach more people (you need to know English to play
   the game anyway). There's no Spanish version of the FAQ and again I won't
   support one
   Finally, since I can't support a whole spellchecked FAQ from anyone
   without comparing both FAQs word by word (and that, I assure you, I'm not
   going to do), I'll pass on the latter one as well. With that said,
   individual corrections of any kind will of course be accepted and much
   thanked.

"Hi! Remember me? I'm {insert name of former contributors I started to chat
with}. How are you doing?" (and sometimes, not unreasonably "Are you still
alive?" ^_^;)
   These will (sob) have to be (sniff) temporarily delayed, because I have
   my hands full with just reading all the mail. I've not talked with even
   K.M. or Zhou Tai An for the last four months or so, so sorry and be
   patient ;_;. I know this sucks (hell, one of the main reasons I write
   walkthroughs is to talk to people who share my tastes...).


 S p e c i f i c   q u e s t i o n s   r e g a r d i n g   g a m e p l a y


"Could there be any other characters than the ones listed in the FAQ?"
   No. I knew all of them thanks to my Action Replay even before playing
   the game through, so I knew who would show up beforehand, and there's
   no one else.

"Booohooo! But Ramsus/Id/{insert NPC name here} is soooo cool!"
   Sorry.

"Boohoo!"
   Oh, do shut up.

"The measurement unit ratio from Pauzanes Neto isn't correct. If you
divide Weltall's height in meters by it in Sharls you get 0.97."
   Yes it is. He didn't use Weltall to OBTAIN it, and due to rounding
   there's no way to get all conversions to match 100%. Think, people.

"Where's {insert item name here} which's mentioned in your item lists but
not in your walkthrough?"
   The item lists were made using an Action Replay. Even so, most of these
   items have been confirmed by contributors, but I'm not putting them until
   I reach that far into the game. Of course, if they are obtained in a part
   the walkthrough already covers, I've, ohmygosh, completelly missed them.
   So if you happen to have found them, please be so kind as to send me
   their locations, thank you kind reader.

"I've found that in the Duneman's Desert..."
   AAAARRGHH! Shut up already!! I know!! Sorry people, but for some reason
   everyone has thought it fit to bomb me with info about the couple of
   items I left out in the mini-guide for that place.
   The thing is, that part was from the Japanese walkthrough. Back then I
   didn't double and triple-check things as much as I'm doing now with the
   Walkthrough, so I missed some items (OK, I just followed Tatsushi Nakao's
   guide step by step and didn't bother to explore on my own, I own up
   ^_^;).
   I guess it as much as proves that "if you are going to do something,
   better do it through", so I've decided to remove all parts not yet
   covered by the American walkthrough. Namely, the Duneman's Desert, since
   all other parts have been incorporated into the walkthrough.



You can contact me at:

             {de_lucas@yahoo.com}

If you mail me after all (remember: don't unless absolutelly neccesary),
please make sure to mention what's it about with as much detail as possible
in the "Subject" field of your message. Don't ever bother writing
"Xenogears", I don't receive mail about anything else ^_^;



INTRODUCTION  ___________________________________________________________

As mentioned above, this FAQ is based on the American version of Xenogears.
It seems that Square has finally redeemed themselves in their (IMO) only
fault (that is, translation quality). I'm happy to see that the quality in
Xenogears' translation is amazing, almost back to the times of Ted Woolsey
or so. This couldn't be more in time, also, since in my opinion Xenogears is
the real masterpiece in Square's history, kicking some serious backside of
pretty much everything else that isn't from Square, as usual, and being
quite superior in most aspects (except maybe graphically) to anything else
Square has to offer.

ALL information in this FAQ applies to the American version of the game 
only, ESPECIALLY the Action Replay / Game Shark codes. They will NOT work 
in the Japanese version of XenoGears. If you happen to have that version,
you should check GameFaqs for the Japanese version of this FAQ. Note,
however, that it's quite outdated, that its walkthrough is incomplete and
discontinued, and that I probably won't be updating it at least until I
finish the US game, if at all. However, you can use the walkthrough in this
(the US) version to help you.

Well, remember that I'm Spanish, which means English is my second language.
So expect errors. I seem to be especially good in making up non-existant
Spanglish words ^_^; so please bear with me.



==========================================================================
   2   .   D I S C   O N E   W A L K T H R O U G H
==========================================================================

Until this walkthrough is finished, remember that you can find David
Johnson's complete walkthrough at:

                 {www.gamefaqs.com}


About the monsters: The information is arranged like this:

   Name of monster
     How many HP it has, then, experience and money it awards when beaten,
     and if applicable, items obtained by beating it.
     "Character-sized" or "Gear-sized", then a physical description.
     If applicable, techniques it uses, sometimes with an explanation.

Most of the info is self-explanatory. The bit about "character-sized" or
"Gear-sized" means whether if it is a character-sized, hand-drawn enemy or a
Gear-sized, polygonal one. You'll understand as you play...

BTW, the HP ratings have been obtained by editing the PSX's memory so they
are 100% accurate. This is also how I obtained the HP of indestructible or
even untargettable enemies (or allies).

The monster info's format is provisional, since I plan on separating the 
monster list from the walkthrough once I finish it. I know it's a bit 
bothersome having them intertwined like this, but it's a lot easier for me 
to handle. Be patient.

Another thing to note is that some enemies award different amounts of
Experience and G when encountered at different times of the game. This is
especially noticeable in battles that are fought at certain points of the
story. For example, the first time you encounter a Trooper, its description 
is:

   Trooper
     HP 180, Exp 180, G 250.
     Gear-sized. One-eyed desert Gear.

But from there on, when you find a Trooper in a random encounter, its stats
will be as follows:

   Trooper
     HP 180, Exp 250, G 100. Leaves Extra Ar.
     Gear-sized. One-eyed desert Gear.

even though it's exactly the same enemy. Since it would be a mess to list
all variants, I'm only listing the stats for the first time you meet a given
kind of enemy.

As a final note, I will try not to describe anything happening in
conversations and sequences, to minimize the risk of spoiling things for
people. I won't tell you to talk to any people but the neccesary ones
either, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't. In fact, one of the many high
points of Xenogears is that about everyone has something to say that is
worth listening to. So improve your social skills! ^_^;



               ---------------------------------
               W A L K T H R O U G H   S T A R T
               ---------------------------------



        =================================================
        E P I S O D E   1   :   L a h a n   V i l l a g e
        =================================================


                   L a h a n   V i l l a g e

   Items in this area: Aquasol x5, Aquasol S, Spider Web, Eyeball, 
   Power Ring, RPS Badge, 200 G, 120 G, 80 G.

   After the FMV showing the crash of a huge ship into your planet long
   ago, and the non-interactive sequence showing a glimpse of the present,
   you'll find yourself reconstructing the sequence of events that led
   there. In other words, you begin playing a flashback.

   Your main character is Fei. 

   Fei's initial equipment: Martial Wear, Martial Cap, Stamina Ring.
   Fei's initial items: None.
   Fei's initial money: 100 G.

   The control switches to you after Fei finishes his picture. You can
   check the nice pictures he's done in this very room. Check Fei's bed
   and he'll pick up his savings, 200 G. Thanks to Stuart Logan (Sturat@
   webtv.net) and Mike Bridge (z964453@wheat.farm.niu.edu) for this. You can
   also sleep here whenever you want to recover all your HP / EP to full).

   In the northern room of this very floor you can talk to a maid who
   will tell you of your arrival to Lahan town. In the westernmost room
   there are two barrels containing one Aquasol each. Also in this room,
   you can jump up to grab the Spider Web on the wall. It might save you
   50 G quite a bit later on.

   Up the stairs then. Here you can talk to Timothy (Alice's fiancee and
   Fei's friend) and Lee (the village chief and sort of Fei's foster father)
   among others. When you try to leave, Dan (Alice's brother) will come in
   and ask you to talk to him outside.


   Talk to Dan outside if you want. I don't think the choice you have to
   make here affects the game in any way.

   You can also listen to the woman by the cow and tell her that what she
   says makes sense (well it does). You'll receive another AquaSol.
   Generally speaking, I've found that every single of Xenogears's
   inhabitants have something either insightful or funny to say (sometimes
   both... whatever they are paying the translator, it's too little).

   If you want more Aquasol, talk twice to the old man next to the cow
   behind the elder's house. Then talk to him again for yet another
   Aquasol.

   Throw yourself into the well a few times. Really! You'll get an Eyeball
   the first time, an Aquasol S the second and a Power Ring the third.


   There are quite some buildings in the town outside. For one, there's
   a shop which sells:

   Character Items:
   Aquasol                  20
   Rosesol                 100
   Omegasol                 50
   Survival Tent           150

   BTW, never EVER buy Survival Tents. Get Omegasol instead. The reason for
   this is that they have the same cost/effect ratio (since the Tents heal
   all three characters, but cost thrice as much), but Tents MUST be used
   on all characters AND they can only be used in Memory Cubes or in the
   World Map!


   There is also a bar, in which you can talk to the customers (often 
   resulting in quite funny dialogue ^_^). Talk to the drunk man and
   tell him that drink won't make his situation any better, and he'll
   give you the Mermaid Tear, which will be useful later. Thanks again
   to Stuart Logan (Sturat@webtv.net) for this.
   Upstairs, you can find a mother and his daughter, and talk to them.


   Another house has a guy playing rock, paper, scissors. If you decide to
   challenge him, you'll have to select the option quite quickly (as you 
   would in a real RPS game). Each time you win, he'll give you 50 G, and
   each time you lose, he'll take 50 G from you (fair enough ^_^). However,
   should you manage to beat him five times in a row, he'll give you the
   "Mythical RPS Hero Badge" (AKA RPS Badge), which will be useful later.
   Unfortunatelly, all efforts of trying to rationalize this guy's strategy
   when picking choices have proven useless to all people who have tried
   (including myself). Though we thought there was method in his madness, it
   seems that his choices are completelly random, so good luck.

   Of course, if you happen to own an Action Replay or Game Shark, you can
   still just use my "have won 4 RPS games in a row" code, and just win a
   fifth. I'm not sure if you can find and challenge him later in the game,
   or obtain the RPS Badge otherwise, so don't overlook this event.

   In this very house, you can talk to the woman downstairs and choose
   the first option to receive 120 G.


   There's the village consultant's house too (it's the typical "tutorial"
   place). It would be a good idea to check the explanations on Skills and
   so on. Since the translation quality is so high, the explanations are
   quite clear, and even interesting.

   Lucca from Chrono Trigger will explain the save procedure (and she IS
   Lucca ^_^! Answer "no" when she asks you about hearing her explanation!).
   You can also ask the village's consultant about general battle commands,
   and the guy in front of him about Abilities and Skills. This guy will
   give you 80 G if you ask him about Death Blow Skills. Lastly, the woman
   will tell you about spinning the view using L1 and R1.
   

   You might want to wander outside the town (but not by its northern
   side, which leads to the mountain) to check the world map. Since you'll
   have to go out of the town later anyway, enemies you can find there are
   explained later.


   You can also go to the mountain North of Lahan if you want, but you'll
   be going there in a moment anyway, so...


   When you're done, go to the house which has a woman at its door and
   talk to her. Go through the door and up the stairs to meet Alice.

   Once the scene's over, go to the mountain north of the village. This
   is the first "dungeon" of sorts.


        =================================================
        E P I S O D E   2   :   M o u n t a i n   P a t h
        =================================================


                    L a h a n   M o u n t a i n

   Items in this area: Aquasol x2, Bird Egg, Spider.
   Enemies in this area:
   Hobgob {brown}
     HP 15 (of a maximum of 30), Exp 2, G 0. Leaves Hob-Jerky. Leaves
     Hob-Steak if defeated with a fire-elemental attack.
     Character-sized. Potato-like thing ^_^;
     Uses "Gobble-gobble/HP Absorb". Absorbs HP on an amount equal to one
     fifth of a character's maximum HP.
   Jackal
     HP 14, Exp 3, G 0.
     Character-sized. Blue wolf-like creature.
     Uses "Jackal Tackle". Physical attack.

   Now that we're talking about that, the bit about roasting the Hobgobs to
   get Hob-Steaks is extremelly useful, specially when you get Elly later
   on (which has fire-elemental Ethers). Hob-Steaks recover 150 HP (but
   can't be used in battle) and can be sold for 150 G.

   If you check the rock just Northwest of the Memory Cube, you'll notice a
   lighter, sand-colored streak. You can walk up that streak without
   falling, and once you reach the tree, jump up to grab a Bird's Egg
   (choose the first option). However its owner won't be too pleased about
   it, and it will follow you to the end of this section demanding you to
   return the egg. Each time you answer no (bottom option), it'll peck you
   for 1 damage. It'll go away if you enter Lahan but it'll be back on top
   of your head if you go back into the mountain.

   In the first crossroad where the Memory Cube is, take the West path for
   the shortest route, or the East for a longer one (including a jump)
   during which you can get an Aquasol. Anyway, you'll end up in a platform
   with a boy on it. He'll tell you to make a running jump across the ledge.
   Do so, then cross the bridge. After that you can jump down to get (you
   guessed it) another Aquasol. Then climb back up, but before you exit
   North, check the tree that's near a rock to the West of the sign. Jump up
   to reach its branches and a spider will appear. Don't be afraid of it,
   and just jump again and press Cross to grab it. It will be useful later.
   Thanks to Strahinja "Strasa" Acimovic (victor_tzimisce@hotmail.com) and
   Stuart Logan (Sturat@webtv.net) for this tip.


                      C i t a n ' s   H o u s e

   Items in this area: Aquasol, Midori's Ring, 120 G.

   Head to the back door of the house. There will be some flowers there,
   leaving a small space between them and the wall of the building. Well, 
   jump over to that space, then search the flowers from that side to 
   receive Midori's Ring (it doesn't show up in the item list).
   You can also check the top of a rock near that: there is bird food
   over it (it doesn't serve any purpose, though). You can even check
   them again and the message will be different (this happens a lot in
   this game).
   After that, check the door in the middle floor of the observatory. A 
   chicken will pop up ^_^ but if you search where it came from, there's 
   an Aquasol. 
   Elsewhere, you can explore the place at your leisure. The top floor's
   room has a ladder that leads to a telescope, with which you can check
   a bit of the world map. If you jump down to the small roof of the room
   you climbed up to the telescope from, and check the chimney, you'll get
   120 G (whoa, stealing from Citan... how low can you get? ^_^;). Thanks a
   lot to Jim Argyros (jargyros@iastate.edu) for this tip.

   Inside the room at ground level of the building, you'll meet Citan's
   wife, Yui, and daughter, Midori. Talk to Yui, and, if you have it,
   Fei'll give her the Bird Egg. Note that Fei won't give Midori her ring,
   though! ^_^;

   Now head to the building with the Land Crab over it (that insect /
   helicopter machine). Enter it after the sequence, and touch the music
   box in there. This will trigger some sequences.

   After the sequence, it will be at night. If you brought the Bird Egg to
   Yui, she'll comment on how it improved the meal, and there'll be a
   comment about how Fei has gained some weight (this is actually true,
   since he begins at 167.2 and weights 189.2 after the meal if you brought
   the egg ^_^;). BTW, for those of you that are wondering, you can't get
   the egg from the nest past this point, which means that you can't keep
   the egg either way.


        ===================================================
        E P I S O D E   3   :   F a l l e n   S h a d o w s
        ===================================================

    
                    L a h a n   M o u n t a i n

   Head back to Lahan through the mountain. There are no monsters now. Save 
   at the Memory Cube if you want.


                        L a h a n   T o w n

   After another sequence, a Gear battle will ensue. Refer to the
   appropriate section for controls, etc...

   Battle: 
   Musha Mk100 x2
     HP 150, Exp 90, G 50.
     Gear-sized. Somewhat old-looking war Gear.

   Really easy. You'd have problems trying to lose against them.

   Some dramatic events will follow now. Once the sequences are over,
   you'll find yourself in the world map again.


        ===================================================
        E P I S O D E   4   :   I n t o   T h e   W o o d s
        ===================================================


            W o r l d   M a p   ( L a h a n   A r e a )

   Enemies in grassland areas:
   Hobgob {brown}
   Hopper
     HP 100, Exp 8, G 0. Leaves Fencing Wear.
     Character-sized. Two-legged green creature.
   Lil' Kobold
     HP 35, Exp 3, G 0. Leaves Fencing Hat.
     Character-sized. Kobold (goblin-alike) with a bow.

   You can't enter Lahan (rather, there's not much Lahan left to enter to),
   but you can go to the mountain instead. Don't, though.
   Head for the forest West of where you are, and find an entrance on its
   north-easthern border.


                B l a c k m o o n   F o r e s t
                   f i r s t   s e c t i o n

   Items in this area: Aquasol
   Enemies in this area:
   Hobgob {brown}
   Jackal
   Armor Grub
     HP 7, Exp 35, G 0. Leaves Bizfruit.
     Character-sized. Armored insect-like creature. All physical attacks
     inflict 1 damage (including Skills), so use either Triangle attacks or
     the "Guided Shot".

   During this dungeon, you will find Hobgobs around. You can "talk" to
   them to fight them, but beware that you won't be able to run from these
   battles. 

   Proceed SW until the crossroad. Take the leftmost (easthernmost) path.
   Jump to the small rock, then to the big, stepped one. Jump up the steps 
   to the fallen tree-trunk. Walk over it until you come across another
   tree-trunk over which this is leaning. Jump down to its left (SW) side
   and grab the (sigh) Aquasol. Go all the way to the SW and climb the rock
   with the tree roots on it to reach the Memory Cube. Continue through the
   winding ledge to reach another tree-trunk. Fight the Hobgob group
   standing before the rock. You have three options now: A) Get rolled over
   by the boulder (-5 HP), B) Run Indiana Jones-like all the way through the
   tree only to realize there's no more tree and you have to jump down to
   almost the start, or C) jump to the ledge you came from as soon as you
   see it moving. You guessed it: C) is the right answer. It's easier said
   than done, so pay attention when the fight against the Hobgobs ends.
   After that, jump back and continue through where the boulder was.

   There'll be an anime scene introducing (yes!! yes!!) Elly now, after
   which you'll fight two enemies.

   Battle: 
   Forest Elf {type 1} x2
     HP 41, Exp 21, G 0. Leaves Zetasol.
     Character-sized. Blue humanoid.

   It'll take less than two rounds (in fact, you'll be fighting Forest Elfs
   as regular enemies from now on). After this, there'll be another scene,
   then you'll be in the next part of the forest.


        ===================================================
        E P I S O D E   5   :   G i r l   I n   F o r e s t
        ===================================================


                B l a c k m o o n   F o r e s t
                 s e c o n d   s e c t i o n

   Items in this area: Aquasol, Survival Tent, Arcane Rod
   Enemies in this area:
   Dive Bomber
     HP 30, Exp 19, G 0.
     Character-sized. Green, raven-like bird.
     Uses "Watches in wait". This basically makes them lose a turn, but they
     can't be hit using physical attacks when they're on a tree.
     Uses "Flutter". Flaps wings for a three hit combo.
   Forest Elf {type 1}
     HP 41, Exp 21, G 0. Leaves Zetasol.
     Character-sized. Blue humanoid.

   Elly has joined you at this point.

   Elly's initial equipment: Magical Rod, Pilot Uniform, Ether Stone, 
   Anti Eth Stone.

   Go South to the crossroad. To the right (West) is an Aquasol. Go back and
   take the left (East) path, then continue South to another crossroad. The
   left (North) path leads to a fallen tree which tilts under your weight
   allowing you to go back to the first section, but it's not too useful, is
   it? Take the right (South) path then. Just before the jump, you can turn
   to the West and jump down to a platform containing a chest with an Arcane
   Rod for Elly. From here, you have no choice but to jump down and continue
   NE up to the first crossroad of the section. Like before, go East, then
   South, but this time jump across the gap. You'll find a Memory Cube and a
   chest containing a Survival Tent. After that, continue through the stone
   bridge to trigger a fight.
   
   Battle: 
   Forest Elf {type 1} x2, Dive Bomber x2

   Just the same as a regular battle, but it is always triggered when 
   crossing the bridge (or jumping over the gap). Also, you can't run 
   from this one.

   Right after the fight, there will be another scene with some anime, then
   Elly will leave the party and she will be attacked by the Rankar (Star
   Wars, anyone?). However, if you didn't get the Arcane Rod before, you can
   (quite unpolitely) hop to the ledge North of the one you're standing on
   to get it (uh, it's for her, so I guess she won't get angry with you
   ^_^;). However, this way you won't get to use it until much later (since
   Elly's no longer in your party). You can get the Rod even later if you
   want to be a gentleman, though. You can also save in the Memory Cube if
   you want. Go SW after that to face the Rankar.

   Boss: 
   Rankar Dragon
     HP 99999, Exp 348, GP 0. Leaves Scales.
     Gear-sized. Tyrannosaur-like.

   There's no way you can win this battle on foot (not without an Action
   Replay, anyway), so just select "defend" for a while until Citan arrives
   in the Land Crab with the Weltall.

   Boss: 
   Rankar Dragon
     HP 480, Exp 348, GP 0. Leaves Scales.
     Gear-sized. Tyrannosaur-like. 
     Uses {No Name}. Causes "Slow".

   When inside the Weltall, alternate between Cross attacks to charge your
   Attack Level (you have plenty of fuel and the Rankar's evade rate is
   quite low), and Triangle, Triangle Skills to use it. Remember than the
   single attacks will charge your Attack Level even if they miss. Cross
   attacks inflict around 70 damage and T,T Skills around 140. The Rankar
   will use an attack which causes "Slow" but there's not much you can do
   about it. Anyway, he should be out in about eight rounds.

   After then, there'll be a scene. Elly will leave, and Citan will join.
   Finally, you'll leave the Blackmoon Forest.

   Citan's initial equipment: Fencing Wear, Glasses, Step Shoes. 


        =================================
        E P I S O D E   6   :   D a z i l
        =================================


            W o r l d   M a p   ( D a z i l   A r e a )

   Enemies in grasslands areas:
   Hobgob {brown}
   Lil' Kobold

   Enemies in desert areas:
   Sand Shark
     HP 111, Exp 121, G 0. 
     Character-sized. Fish-like green creature.
   Sand Man
     HP 50, Exp 60, G 75. 
     Character-sized. Looks like a Tusken Raider in a raincoat ^_^;

   You can enter the desert town of Dazil (by its North or its West gate),
   or wander off into the deep desert, which will reveal a field screen with
   enemies (Sand Sharks and Sand Men) that loops indefinitelly. So go to
   Dazil.


                          D a z i l

   I'm assuming you're entering the town by its North gate; if that's not
   the case, the order of the buildings will be reversed.

   In a stall (improvised with wheels ^_^;) you can buy the following:

   Character Equipment:
   Magical Rod              50
   Arcane Rod              100
   Leather Whip             60
   Martial Wear             50
   Fencing Wear             80
   Martial Cap              30
   Fencing Cap              40
   Power Ring              200
   Stamina Ring            150

   Just opposite of that, there's a building which you must enter. Talk to
   the man behind the counter and he'll talk you about his sandbuggy (you
   need to do this). Further into the town, there's another stall in the
   street surrounded by people, which sells:
   
   Character Items:
   AquaSol                  20
   RoseSol                 100
   Physisol                 10
   Mentsol                  20
   Survival Tent           150

   Get as many Aquasol as you think you'll need. Rosesol aren't that useful 
   since Abilities play a quite secondary role in XenoGears. Also, it's a
   good idea to get some Physisol and Mentsol: they recover status effects.

   One of the many buildings in the town contains a Memory Cube. In another
   one (the inn, cost 10 G), you will meet Big Joe. 

   Finally, enter the large building with the cross-like signs (which you'll
   get to see quite a bit). You'll be told why you can't get the parts you
   need.

   Once you've done this, go back to the sandbuggy's owner's house. The
   buggy will be outside it and there'll be a scene. Now enter the house and
   talk to the owner again. He'll lend it to Citan, who will leave your
   party. Now leave Dazil and enter the Western part of the desert.


                           D e s e r t

   Enemies in this area: 
   Sand Shark
   Sand Man
   Aveh Soldier
     HP 60, Exp 75, G 35. Leaves Aquasol, Rosesol.
     Character-sized. Soldier with brown helmet and aviation glasses on.

   You'll spot two Aveh Gears as you enter. Continue straight until you
   reach the end of the screen. Another scene will follow. Then, you'll have
   to cross two more screens.
   After than, Fei will borrow a bike from an Aveh soldier and use it to
   cross the desert (boo! I was expecting a mini-game here...) until he's
   surrounded by Aveh Gears. Citan will come to the rescue in the Weltall,
   at which point he'll as usual leave the honors to you.

   Battle: 
   Trooper x2
     HP 180, Exp 180, G 250.
     Gear-sized. One-eyed desert Gear.

   Easy. Take one down with two Cross attacks, then the other with any Skill
   you like.
   At this point, Grahf will appear and after some talk, he'll summon a
   giant worm-like creature.

   Boss: 
   Wyrm
     HP 200, Exp 1044, G 0. Leaves Eyeball.
     Gear-sized. Worm-like three-jawed monster.
     Uses "Slurp/absorb fuel". Drains 60 fuel.
     Uses "Counter Slurp/absorb fuel". Wyrm will drain 60 fuel every time
     you use a physical attack against it.

   You can only hurt Wyrm with "Guided Shot" or with the second hit of a 
   string. The former inflicts around 60 damage, so it's your best option.
   The T,S ("Reppu") Skill causes 80 damage and you'll most likely have
   learnt it by now, so it's not bad either but keep in mind that you will
   lose one out of each two rounds charging your Attack Level. BTW, use
   Triangle attacks to do so: all three kinds of regular attacks will
   inflict 0 damage and Triangle cost less fuel (which is critical in this
   battle). If you don't have that Skill, T,T ("Raigeki") inflicts around 40
   damage (so don't use it unless you've depleted your EP somehow).

   After that, you'll be surrounded by Gears again, and this time you'll
   have to surrender. You'll find yourself in a Transport afterwards.
   Save your game in the Memory Cube. Talk to Citan twice and the second
   time choose the second option to keep talking or the first one to go to
   sleep.


        ===================================================
        E P I S O D E   7   :   D e s e r t   A t t a c k !
        ===================================================


                        T r a n s p o r t
                     m i d d l e   f l o o r

   Items in this area: Survival Tent, Rosesol

   Once the scenes are over, you'll find yourself in the same cell you were
   in. The door is open, but the SandCrawler is sinking into the desert and
   sand is starting to fill the floor! The sand level rises continuously, so
   you better be fast. If it ever covers above your head, you'll have to
   restart from the cell again (though you'll keep the items you got before
   "drowning"). I'm not sure if doing so affects the game or not, but I
   don't think so.

   Once you exit the cell from the North, you can head to the East or to the
   West. Since I assume you want to get all items, here's what you have to
   do: Go to the East, then South into a small room and open the chest
   containing a Survival Tent. If you continue to the East, you'll reach a
   ladder leading directly to the upper floor (unless you are too late and
   sand is already spilling from it), but you don't want to, because that
   way you'd miss the items in the lower floor. So go back to the West and
   enter the first door to the South after the cell's. Get the RoseSol and
   exit the room. Now keep going West until you come across a ladder going
   down to the lower floor. If you want, you can push the switch on the door
   to shut it and prevent the sand from entering the room (it won't matter
   once you go down the ladder, though).
   

                        T r a n s p o r t
                      l o w e r   f l o o r

   Items in this area: Extra Ar +1, Leather Vest
   Enemies in this area:   
   Aveh Soldier
   Aveh Corporal
     HP 60, Exp 75, G 40. Leaves Leather Hat.
     Character-sized. Bigger soldier with white helmet and aviation glasses
     on his head.

   When fighting in the Transport, "Fire from the Engine Room!" will happen
   every two turns or so. This causes around 30-40 damage to all, including
   enemies.

   Head East, then climb the ladder to the North (as time goes on, a hole 
   will open in the floor below it, but you can still reach the ladder by 
   jumping from its side). Go all the way to the North, then West to get an
   Extra Ar +1 (Gear equipment). Go all the way back to the East and South,
   then go up the staircase leading South. Cross the walkway and get the
   chest containing a Leather Vest. Note that if you take too long, some of
   the planks in the walkway will fall and you'll have to jump over them. It
   is still possible to get the Leather Vest: jump as far as you can and
   press Cross as you touch the chest in mid-air (you'll fall through the
   hole, so go back South, up the stair, West and North). Anyway, follow the
   walkway to the East and up the ladder to the upper floor.


                        T r a n s p o r t
                      u p p e r   f l o o r

   Enemies in this area:   
   Aveh Soldier
   Aveh Corporal

   Phew! There are no hurries now. Save in the Memory Cube. Go North, West,
   then South. As far as I know, there is no way to climb the crates.


                        T r a n s p o r t
                             d e c k

   Go South through the crane. Don't worry about falling off, Fei will 
   pull himself up again. If you take too long to cross the crane, you'll 
   have to start from the cell again. If that happens, remember you keep 
   all the items you got before that, so go East when you exit the cell to 
   go directly to the upper floor. But remember to reach the ladder before 
   sand begins to spill from it.
   The crane is composed by two bars, between which you have to switch 
   because they're blocked at different points. Start on the Eastern one, 
   then switch each time you can while going South. I've found that it's
   actually easier to switch bars by jumping than by walking over the
   transversal bars, BTW.
   When you get to the other side of the crane, Fei'll get into the Weltall,
   and Bart will attack him in the Brigander.

   Boss: 
   Brigandier
     HP 800, Exp 0, GP 0.
     Gear-sized. Red Gear with whips attached.
     Uses "Wild Smile". Causes "Camera Damaged".
     Uses "Chain Whip". Physical attack.

   As usual, turn on the booster the first round. He will use Wild Smile, 
   which lowers your Accuracy and Evade. Therefore, don't use any Cross
   attacks while you're blind, as he'll evade them most of the times.
   However, this status will wear off, so pay attention to the "Camera
   Damaged" sign below your usual bunch of Gear info in your turn, and use
   Cross attacks again once it dissapears.
   Guided Shot causes around 150 damage. You're probably better off with T,S
   strings, though; they will hit most of the times and cause around 250
   damage (each 2 rounds, remember). Anyway, not very hard.

   After the fight, you'll both sink into a cave below the sand.


        =====================================================
        E P I S O D E   8   :   S t a l a c t i t e   C a v e
        =====================================================


                 U n d e r g r o u n d   C a v e

   Items in this area: Gold Nugget, Iron GWhip
   Enemies in this area:   
   Sand Man
   Tin Robo
     HP 138, Exp 680, G 210. Leaves Extra Ar, Extra Ar +1.
     Gear-sized. Blocky, construction type-looking Gear with a crane arm.
   Nomad Fix Bot
     HP 110, Exp 420, G 200.
     Gear-sized. Grayish-green repairs Gear with pincers.
     Uses "Fill up/restore fuel". Restores about 250 of YOUR Fuel.
     Uses "Repair/restore Gear HP". Restores about 90 of YOUR HP.
   Medusoid
     HP 65, Exp 698, G 0.
     Gear-sized. Jellyfish-looking creature.
     Uses "Charging". Loses a turn, but uses "Flash" the next one.
     Uses "Flash". Causes "Camera Damaged".
   May Fly
     HP 555, Exp 1410, G 690. Leaves Extra Ar +1, Eyeball.
     Gear-sized. Strange cross between a huge fly and a Gear. Takes little
     or no damage from any attacks except second hits of Gear Skills.
     Uses {No Name}. Causes "Armor Damage".

   Bart has joined you at this point. Besides, you get to control your Gears
   for the first time.

   Bart's initial equipment: Leather Whip, Red Mail, Power Ring, Stamina
   Ring.
   Weltall's initial equipment: Extra Ar, Extra Ar, Old Circuit.
   Engine : G4-1200. Frame: WELT-01800. Armor: MS 3.
   Brigandier's initial equipment: Leather GWhip, Extra Ar +1, A/C, Lens
   Cover.
   Engine : G4-1200. Frame: BRIG-01900. Armor: MS 3.

   In this cave, whenever you fight a Nomad Fix Bot, don't destroy it just
   yet and it'll very nicely restore your HP and Fuel. It'll randomly attack
   you as well, but the damage it inflicts is minimal.

   Replace one of Weltall's Extra Ar for the Extra Ar +1 you got in the
   Transport. Also, as soon as a beaten Tin Robo leaves another Extra Ar +1,
   replace the remaining Extra Ar with it.
   Save, then head straight to the South and follow the wall to the West.
   Press Cross at the rock blocking your way to push it. After the scene,
   head straight South again to get the Gold Nugget (it will be useful MUCH
   later on, almost at the end of the game. Thanks to Tatsushi Nakao for the
   info). After that, go West and cross the entrance.

   Go SW until the end of the long passageway (as if you had any other
   option). In the new section, cross the bridge until the green Gear. Head
   West, then North, and jump up the platforms (the one with nothing on it,
   the one with the black and red machine, then the one with a chest) to get
   an Iron GWhip for the Brigandier. Jump down and go back South and East,
   then SW after the green Gear to get to a new section.

   Jump up the platforms. Go SW and save at the Memory Cube. Then get off
   your Gears and enter the small cave entrance.

   After the dialogue, talk to Balthazar (Bal) for more of it. Then, you can
   talk to him again and choose the third option to buy things from him.

   Gear Engine:
   G6-1200                1200

   Gear Frame:
   WELT-02100              400
   WELT-02500              800
   HEIM-03200             1800
   BRIG-02200              500
   BRIG-02700              900

   Gear Armor:
   MS Steel Plate #6       500

   Gear Weapons:
   None

   Gear Parts:
   Extra Ar +1              50

   Character Items:
   AquaSol                  20
   RoseSol                 100
   OmegaSol                 50
   Survival Tent           150

   You should upgrade both Gears' Engine, Frame and Armor; though it's going
   to cost almost all the money you have, it will be worth it. Especially,
   as Bal says, the Engine: it'll double the damage you inflict, not to
   mention it allows you to carry more fuel. Beating this dungeon's boss
   will be VERY hard without them. If you need money, sell Brigandier's
   Leather GWhip (since you have an Iron GWhip).
   As in every other place in which you can buy Gear stuff, you can also
   replenish your Gears' HP and Fuel (for a price) here. Generally speaking,
   you should always do so, but not before you've upgraded your frames and
   engines, since they can hold more HP and fuel. In this case the engine
   holds the same amount of fuel, though. Replace all the Extra Ar parts you
   have equipped by Extra Ar +1. Also, if you haven't done so already, this
   would be a good time to stock up in Omegasol.

   After you're done, exit Bal's place and get into your Gears again. You 
   have to find two sensors now. Actually, you have already come across one 
   of them; it was the machine near the chest which had an Iron GWhip.
   However, you should deactivate the other one first.

   In the following section, you'll be in a stone bridge over the place 
   with the green Gear and the first sensor, so be sure not to fall off
   (actually, I think you can't ^_^;). After this, you'll be in a long
   passageway to the North, so you know what you have to do.

   After that, go to the North and you'll find a bridge to the West. Now you
   want to be careful. Remember the section that's below you right now?
   That's right, it's the very beginning of the entire dungeon! Go through
   the bridge and deactivate the sensor by pressing Cross in front of it.

   Then drop down to the South. Yes, you heard me right: drop down to the
   first section of the dungeon. Keep going South, and go through the
   passage. Once you're back to the section with the bridge and the green
   Gear (BTW, you can talk to him and he'll tell you the locations of the
   sensors again), head for the second sensor. In case you've forgotten,
   that's through the bridge, Northwest after that, then up the platforms.
   Presss Cross at the sensor to deactivate it. Then head back to Bal's
   house. Talk to Bal and the gate will open. After the scene, you'll be
   outside Bal's house; you can still go back and buy from him, though. In
   fact, you should if you haven't completelly upgraded your Gears yet, as
   you'll have more money than last time.

   Go South through the huge gate. In the new section, go South, then get
   out of your Gears and enter the Gondola to the East. Turn the red switch
   on (select the first option when prompted) and go back to your Gears. Now
   go to the elevator to the West and activate it. Head to the South, down
   the steps then up again, save at the Memory Cube, then take the elevator
   down.
 
   In the next room you'll see Calamity flying around. You can walk through
   the cave a bit before it attacks you, but there's not much you can do.

   Boss: 
   Calamity
     HP 2500, Exp 4321, G 2000.
     Gear-sized. Huge, bulky Gear with twin engines on its back.

   Thanks to Jayce A. (seikenshi@postmark.net) for the info about the
   Experience and G awarded by Calamity's defeat. I had previously listed
   them as 0, but Jayce checked his characters' stats before and after the
   battle and noticed these changes.

   Put on Booster as soon as you start. Finger Bullet does 0 damage, so
   don't bother. Use Skills instead: Fei's T,S and Bart's T,T (unless you
   made Bart fight outside the Brigandier, in which case he could have
   learnt T,S, but it's not worth the trouble). His evade rate is almost
   nil (he does block sometimes, though), so you can abuse Cross attacks:
   they only do around 70 damage, however. Bart's T,T does around 180, and
   Fei's T,S around 200.
   Calamity's punches do about 140 damage, and throwing arms around 200, 
   but since you can't heal your HP yet, they're not to be taken lightly. 
   Bad news is that he has a spread missile attack that hits for 450 damage 
   or so, but he doesn't do it often. Furthermore, he's quite slow, so with
   Booster on, you should be able to get in two actions per character for 
   each one of his. All in all, it shouldn't be too difficult.

   There'll be a sequence then, with Calamity coming back to life and Fei
   defeating it with an Infinite Level Skill (no, you don't get it now! :P).
   After that, go East and take the round path which leads to the side of
   the broken road. Jump on the platform, then onto the road and head South
   to exit the cave. The next scene will leave you on the Yggdrasil, Bart's 
   sand ship.


        =================================================
        E P I S O D E   9   :   P i r a t e ' s   L a i r
        =================================================


                        Y g g d r a s i l

   The Yggdrasil is quite big, and you'll be walking through it quite a lot,
   so get used to it as soon as possible. Check the map of it in the "Maps"
   section.

   The floor you're in is the lowest one, the hangar for Gears. Gears are
   stored in stands like the one Weltall is now in. You can approach these
   places and talk to the person in them to look at them (first and second
   options: look at the Gear's back or front) or ask them for information
   about the Gear (third option). Talk to the person to the South to rename
   it.
   There's also a Gear shop in this floor; it's the building at the East. It
   is quite important that you remember this, because it updates its stuff
   quite frequently and most of the time it has the most advanced equipment
   available where you are. Right now they have:

   Gear Engine:
   Z9-1500                1800

   Gear Frame:
   WELT-03000             1400

   Gear Armor:
   MS 9                   1500

   Gear Weapons:
   Iron GWhip             1600
   Snapper GWhip          2000

   Gear Parts:
   Resp Circuit           2500
   Def Circuit            2500
   C Circuit               250
   MagneticCoat           4000
   Lens Cover             2500
   Engine Guard           5000
   Tank Guard             3000
   Ar Repairer            4000
   Motion Guard           4000

   By now you should have enough money to get all the upgrades. If you have
   enough G get a MagneticCoat too: it'll improve your Response (Accuracy
   and Evade) quite a bit. The rest of the Gear parts are not too useful.

   Exit the hangar, then go straight North and enter the door to meet Maison
   again. Here you can buy items and character equipment, but sadly, he 
   does not update his stuff.

   Character Items:
   Aquasol                  20
   Aquasol S               100
   Rosesol                 100
   Rosesol S               300
   Zetasol                 100
   Physisol                 10
   Mentsol                  20
   White Star              500
   Brown Star              500
   Red Star                500
   Blue Star               500
   Hard Star               800
   Speed Star             1000
   Omegasol                 50
   Survival Tent           150
 
   Character Equipment:
   Power Ring              200
   Stamina Ring            150
   Speed Ring             1200
   Guardian Ring          2000

   I'd reccomend you get some Zetasol: they're the equivalent of Phoenix 
   Tails (recover from 0 HP condition). However, since in XenoGears such
   characters are recovered with 1 HP at the end of the battle, these items
   aren't as important as in FF games. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to
   keep some handy for hard boss battles. You should get some Aquasol S too.
   The rest of the items are a bit too expensive to justify their purchase
   for now. The problem with the Guardian Ring is that it doesn't show how
   much does it improve defense. I think it works like if you'd been cast a
   Defense Up effect.

   Regarding accesories, I specially like Speed Rings, and they're not that
   expensive either. According to Tatsushi Nakao, they also work when you're
   on your Gears!

   You can explore the Yggdrasil and become familiar with it (again, use the
   map). There are some things you can't do yet, though (like changing party
   members... it will be quite some time until you can). When you're done,
   go to the bridge. You can talk to the crew here, including Franz, a
   dolphin guy who can play random sound effects if you ask him. You can
   also check the ship's chart, with all the places you've visited.
   Afterwards, talk to Sigurd.


                  B a r t ' s   H i d e o u t

   Items in this area: Iron Whip

   After you arrive at Bart's base, follow Maison and Citan to the dining
   hall. There a scene will follow explaining the situation about Bart
   and Aveh's current leader, Shakhan, among others. After that, you can
   talk to the people in here. In the very dining hall there's a shop which
   sells:

   Aquasol                  20
   Aquasol S               100
   Rosesol                 100
   Rosesol S               300
   Zetasol                 100
   Physisol                 10
   Mentsol                  20
   White Star              500
   Brown Star              500
   Red Star                500
   Blue Star               500
   Hard Star               800
   Speed Star             1000
   Omegasol                 50
   Survival Tent           150

   Exit the dining room, then go East to the electronics room. After the
   scene, you can explore the base at your leisure (actually, you also could
   before, but it's seems more fitting to do it now). To the North there are
   the quarters, in which you can rest and save. The West hallway leads to
   the World Map. Finally, the door to the South leads to Bart's room.
   There's a warning sign about not entering it, but ignore it ^_^; You can
   get an Iron whip for Bart, and when you try to exit, another scene will
   take place.

   After that, take the elevator down and try to enter the Yggdrasil. Bart
   will pop out and talk to you. After that, he'll tell you the mechanic
   wants to talk to you. So go to the base's Gear hangar then. You need to
   take an elevator which is in the same floor as the Yggdrasil's deck (it's
   on the opposite side of the elevator which leads to the base). Then, talk
   to the mechanic to trigger a scene.

   When it is over, go back to the quarters, save and rest there. After the
   scene, go down to the Yggdrasil, and a sequence will follow. Then, you'll
   have to fight some Gebler Force soldiers.

   Boss:
   Swordknight
     HP 700, Exp 1500, G 300.
     Gear-sized. Light red Gear with twin metallic whip-blades and a cannon
     for right hand.

   For this battle, you'll have Bart (in the Brigandier) and two of Bart's
   soldiers in some red Gears. Anyhow, it's so easy I won't even comment.

   Aegisknight
     HP 700, Exp 1500, G 300.
     Gear-sized. Big light blue Gear with two large shields.
     Uses "Pile Driver/Weaken Ar". Causes "Armor Damage".

   You have Citan in his brand-new Heimdall for this battle. Again, really
   easy.

   Wandknight x2
     HP 620, Exp 1500, G 200.
     Gear-sized. White Gear with a large rifle.
     Uses "Power Beam/Beam Atk". Beam attack.

   For this battle you'll have both Citan and Bart. Easy too.

   Clawknight
     HP 600, Exp 1500, G 300.
     Gear-sized. White Gear with a claw and a razor shield.

   Now it is Fei who comes to the rescue. This is really hard... OK, I was
   kidding. Piece of cake.

   Schpariel
     HP 4649, Exp 17890, G 1700. Leaves Beam Coat.
     Gear-sized. Huge, weird-looking round Gear.
     Uses {No Name}. Causes "Armor Damage" to two targets (can be the same
     one, doubling the amount of Armor Damage).

   You knew this was coming, huh? It's not that hard either, since you have
   all three good guys now. Just keep those T,T or T,S Skills and he'll be
   geography (um...).

   After this, there'll be more scenes, then you'll be in the Yggdrasil.


        =====================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 0   :   O p e r a t i o n   A v e h
        =====================================================


                     Y g g d r a s i l

   At this point, Citan will be able to use the Heimdal.

   Heimdal's initial equipment: Extra Ar +3, Old Circuit, Old Circuit.
   Engine : Z9-1500. Frame: HEIM-02500. Armor: MS 6.

   Talk to Sigurd in the bridge, and choose the first option to leave Bart's
   hideout. You'll be controlling the Yggdrasil, so refer to the "Playing
   the Game" section for details on how to control it. In any case, head for
   Aveh's capital, Bledavik. You'll have yo get off the Yggdrasil to enter,
   of course.


            W o r l d   M a p   ( B l e d a v i k   A r e a )

   Enemies in desert areas:
   Neo Tin Robo
     HP 438, Exp 1100, G 150. Leaves Extra Ar +1.
     Gear-sized. Same description as a Tin Robo. Blocky, construction
     type-looking Gear with a crane arm.
   Spear Trooper
     HP 600, Exp 1050, G 1000.
     Gear-sized. Yellow Gear with shield and forked spear.
   Trooper
   Sand Man

   Enemies in grasslands areas:
   Hobgob {brown}
   Lil' Kobold


                         B l e d a v i k

   Items in this area: H&S Badge

   Bledavik is so large (at last a city-sized city! ^_^) that it has its own
   map. However, upon entering the first section, a scene will follow
   introducing quite some new key characters. Once it is over, you'll be in
   the marketplace section of Bledavik.

   Is it just me, or the sign at the entrance says (more or less) "Welcome
   To Fiesta de Aveh" (Fiesta is "Party/Celebration" in Spanish)? Anyway,
   talk to a woman in blue just after entering: she'll give you the
   directions of an hotel.

   In a stall near the South gate you can buy Radishes at 10 G each; in
   another one deeper in the market you can get Ariberries for the same
   price; and finally, in a third stall you can buy Elfananas, again for
   10 G. Both Ariberries and Elfananas restore some HP when eaten outside
   battle, but since you get them one at a time you probably won't have the
   patience to get enough to use them consistently. I don't know if Radishes
   are of any use yet, though ^_^; Also, according to Stephen Xie Minggeng
   (dayspring@stones.com), you can obtain them for a lower cost. I'll 
   just quote:

In the Bledavik market, you can buy some stuff like the Lahan Radishes, 
Elfananas and Ariberries below the offered price of 10g? In fact, you can 
buy most of them for only 8g each! As in a real market, you need to learn 
how to bargain! :) Well, all you have to do is to Not buy them at the 1st 
price of 10g, after a while, the seller will offer you them at 9g....wait a 
while still, she will then be willing to sell them to you at 8g each! But 
she will rather not sell to you then give you a lower price than 8g! 

   In another stall you can sell any Fang, Eyeball or Scales you might have
   for 150, 300 and 600 G respectivelly. Their selling prices in a regular
   shop are 100, 200 and 500 G respectivelly, so it's a better deal. As far
   as I know there's no use for any of them other than that, so go ahead.
   Unless, of course, you want to save them and sell them in Kislev, for
   example, where they have better rates. For more information check
   "Selling Prices" under "Charts".


   Bledavik is quite a big place and at this point you should explore and
   enjoy it at your leisure. It's also one of my favorite cities in the
   game.


   There's a restaurant to the West of the market and a bit to the North
   (its door is in the same wall as the hotel's; a sign over it seems to
   spell "Marine" or "Mario's"). In it's second floor, you can talk to the
   waitress by the aquarium to order some food. There are three options:

   Something delicious: Recover full HP/EP, raises weith a bit, costs 300 G.
   Something cheap    : Recover some HP/EP, raises weith a lot, costs 90 G.
   Something fast     : Recover some HP/EP, raises weith a bit, costs 210 G.
   (additionally, and quite humorously, she'll run like mad if you order
   something fast ^_^).


   There's also an Ethos facility in the same wall as the restaurant, to the
   South. It has the Ethos symbol over it. In there you can buy:

   Gear Engine:
   G6-1200                1200

   Gear Frame:
   WELT-02500              800
   HEIM-03200             1800
   BRIG-02700              900

   Gear Armor:
   MS 7.5                 1000

   Gear Weapons:
   Iron GWhip             1600

   Gear Parts:
   Resp Circuit           2500
   Def Circuit            2500
   C Circuit               250
   MagneticCoat           4000
   Lens Cover             2500
   Engine Guard           5000
   Tank Guard             3000
   Ar Repairer            4000
   Motion Guard           4000

   Oddly enough, all this stuff is the same or worse of what you already had
   access to, so...


   In the southeastern part of the city there's also a weapon shop
   (unmistakably marked "Weapon"). There you'll be able to get:

   Character Equipment:
   Magical Rod              50
   Arcane Rod              100
   Iron Whip               120
   WhippaSnappa            280


   Also in the eastern wall, there's an armor shop.

   Character Equipment:
   Leather Vest            150
   Leather Hat              80
   Power Ring              200
   Speed Ring             1200

   You can also get the H&S Badge now instead of later (see below for
   details).

   When you're done, go to the hotel the woman in the entrance told you
   about. There you will be encountered by a nun sent by Nisan. You can
   rest here and even get a discount if you tell the owner you have a
   reccomendation. Tell the truth, i.e. that the woman didn't tell her name.
   In any case, you should go to the nun's room, and there you'll learn of
   the difficulty of accessing the castle where Margie is kept. So to the
   streets you go again to find some info. Head North to exit to Bleidavik's
   map, then enter Shakhan Square.


                    S h a k h a n   S q u a r e

   There's a camel-man (or something) selling toys at a stall. You can get
   a Toy Gun for 80 G or a Gear Figure (Minigear) for 120 G. If you buy the
   Minigear, you can give it to the eagle-boy near the stall, and in return
   he'll tell you about the Gold Nugget in the restaurant's aquarium (which
   you'll get a bit later). As far as I know, the Toy Gun has no use,
   however (but I bought it anyway).

   In another stall you can buy "Bartweiser" ^_^ beer (50 G, makes you gain
   weight and makes the camera wobble). After that, that same stall will
   sell Durian juice, Nisan Water and Aveh Water items, all for 10 G and
   with no use as far as I know (by now your inventory should be full of
   background items... I know mine is! ^_^).

   There's quite some more fun you can have here, including meeting Fox
   Mulder (not really ^_^); learning to breathe fire from the guy who
   breathes red fire (hold R2 and press Cross... it's fun!); buying some
   cakes (the spiced cakes cost 20 G and will make you gain weight, the iced
   ones will make you lose weight for 30 G, both with amusing side effects);
   getting a balloon in front of a tent which you can't enter just now...

   Anyhow, keep going North and Bart will tell you he must leave the party
   so he doesn't get recognized by Shakhan's forces. Do so, then go North
   to enter Fatima Castle's section.


                    T o u r n a m e n t   A r e n a

   Citan will tell you about entering the tournament to distract the guards
   while Bart slips in. So off to the counter you go. You'll be able to
   enter a nickname by combining one of four adjectives with one of four
   nouns. Choose whatever you like the most, then go back to Bledavik.


                           B l e d a v i k
   
   Now go to the East wall of the market. Walk either to the northern
   stairs and go South, or the southern stairs and go North. You'll find
   some people near a grate. Talk to the man nearest to it and he should
   tell you about the underground waterways. Once you've done this, you can
   do one of two things. Either you go back to the hotel and enter the nun's
   room, in which you'll put together a course of action, or you talk to the
   hiding boy (see below). Once you've done one of those things, go back to
   the old man near the grate and talk to him. Choose either the second or
   the third choice and he'll give the key to you.
   
   However, let's pause here for a while so you can get the H&S Badge (Hide
   and Seek Badge). Full credit for how to obtain it is due to Beth
   (BIZAROELNE@aol.com). The following section was originally written by
   Beth and slightly edited by me:

There is an extra part in Bledavik where you can get a "Hide and Seek" badge
from the boy from the armor shop. Go to the East well and talk to the little
boy hanging around the old lady that talks about the laundry. He'll ask if
you want to play. You then have to find the little boy from the armor shop.
(He's the one who hid in the well and tells you where you can find the key).

1. The first time he is hiding, you will find him up the stairs out in the
open where the two kids that steal from the woman merchant go (below the kid
who is standing on the rooftop who talks about his brother in the war).
The easiest way to get there is through a gap in the stalls in the West wall
of the market. The gap can be easily seen because it has a red stripped
broken marquee over it.

2. You will find him in the North gate of Bledavik's market area, just
before you actually go to Shakhan Square. Rotate the screen until you see
him standing on the East side.

3. Next he hides behind the barrels to the South of the hotel, in the
Southwest corner.

4. You will find him next under the doorway that's just South of the
restaurant door. You have to rotate the screen view otherwise you'll miss
him. He is on the left side of the doorway.

5. At this point he'll say "Aw gee, you found me here too?!" And he says
something about a "secret hiding place". This time he hides in a very
difficult spot. You will find him on the left hand side where the lady tells
you about the hotel and welcomes you to Bledavik. Up in the East corner of
the screen there is a hidden part where you can walk a few paces to the
North, behind the building, and keep hitting the X button until you find
him. Rotate the screen if you have to.

After you have found him in the corner, he gives you his "Hide and Seek"
badge, and says he's not playing anymore, and that "you shouldn't either,
you are too old for the game" or something to that effect.

   OK, back to Ignacio. As far as I know, you can't get the H&S Badge later
   in the game, just as you can't get the RPS Badge after Lahan. I may be
   wrong, as I'm not that far into the game, but it would seem logical for
   this badge to follow the same trend as the previous one.

   Also, the first time I played the American version, I talked to the boy
   but he didn't tell me anything about the key at all, and I didn't talk to
   him after speaking with the guy by the well: I just went back to the
   hotel, Bart said we should find the key, I spoke again with the guy near
   the well and he gave the key to me like that.

   But what's even more strange is that the second time, I didn't speak with
   the hiding boy; instead, another one told me he was looking for him. I
   then found him in the first three hiding points, and he'd make all his
   long speech about the waterway each time (believe me, it got quite
   boring... it almost looked like it was a bug in the game). Then I went to
   the guy by the well and he gave me the key. What this seems to mean is
   that you can do any one of these two things (talk to the hiding boy or go
   back to the hotel) to get the guy by the well (G.B.T.W. by now ^_^;) to
   give you the key.

   Now go back to the hotel once more. Talk to the nun, and Citan and Bart
   will leave your party. Now, you could talk to either Citan or Bart and
   choose to rest, and it would advance the story, but don't do that just
   yet. Instead, go back to Shakhan Square.

   Remember the tent you couldn't enter? You can enter it now, and the blue
   guys in here will allow you to play a couple of sub-games, called "Merry
   Go Pop" and "Whose Balloons", for 10 G each. They will be covered in a
   future sub-games section of the FAQ; however, about the best thing you
   can get are Physimentsol, so don't worry too much about them. They're
   fun, though, and not a bad way of making money. Also, you can enter a
   third door for 10 G which leads to a mirror in which you can see yourself
   reflected. The reflection will be wider or thinner depending on your
   character's current weight.

   Once you're done with the mini-games, head back to the hotel and talk
   to Citan or Bart and choose to rest. The next morning, Citan will brief
   you on the plan. So go to the Fatima Castle section, where the tournament
   is being held.


        =====================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 1   :   T h e   T o u r n a m e n t
        =====================================================


                    T o u r n a m e n t   A r e n a

   Talk to one of the guards to enter the tournament grounds, then head
   northeast and talk to yet another guard. Citan will leave at this point.

   Now, if you rotate the camera so that "up" is southeast or southwest,
   and approach the castle tower, you can see Shakhan on top of it! In the
   west tent there are some participants, including Big Joe (yes, he fights
   in this tournament). Enter the East tent and to your surprise, you'll
   find Dan here. After talking to him and a mysterious man, the control
   will switch over to Bart.


                           B l e d a v i k   

   As Bart, exit the hotel and enter the waterway. You can access it from
   any of the two wells (there's one to the East and another to the West),
   but by all means use the western one (just a little South of the hotel).
   It allows for a shorter route and on top of that it allows you to get
   most items along the way.


                    T o u r n a m e n t   A r e n a

   Items in this area: Wedding Dress

   The scene will switch to the tournament again, and Fei'll face his first
   opponent.

   Boss:
   Gonzalez
     HP 400, Exp 500, G 0. Leaves Survival Tent.
     Character-sized. Gray fat guy with a mace.
     Uses "Can't take it anymore!". Physical attack combo for around 60
     damage. Gonzalez will use this attack in his turn whenever you use a
     Skill in yours.

   If you lose against this or any of your subsequent opponents, the game
   will not be over (this is a tournament, after all). However, once you are
   eliminated from the tournament (or if beat your opponent too early, see
   below), there will be a lot more guards in Fatima Castle, making Bart's
   task harder. Besides, you'll miss part of the story since you won't fight
   Dan or Wiseman.

   However, there's more to these fights than just that. You see, remember
   that Citan said that the longer the fight last, the more time the guards
   will be distracted? Well, he wasn't kidding you. If you make the fight
   last long enough, the number of guards in Bart's section (Fatima Castle
   to be precise) will be significantly increased. However, if you make them
   last enough, Bart will be able to sneak through the castle without having
   to fight a single guard.

   OK, back to the fight. Disregard what I said about making the fight last
   for this round, Bart will most likely not be able to reach Fatima Castle
   before the next fight.
   Beware of this guy. His "Can't take it anymore!" combo can make you kiss
   the floor if he uses it three times, which is less than you need to kill
   him. However, his regular attack deals about 30 damage, so it's not worth
   using regular attacks (which inflict little damage) just because of that.
   What I did was to use "Senretsu", he did his special, I used "Senretsu",
   he did his special, I used "Inner Healing", he did a regular attack, and
   then I did Senretsu two times in a row, because my Agility was superior
   to his. Another thing you can try is build up your AP bar and unleash a
   powerful combo.

   Whether you beat Gonzalez or not, the menu screen will automatically
   appear now. If you're wondering, this is so you can heal. Do so. Of
   course, you can change your equipment, etc... too (but strangely, not
   save).

   Once you exit this menu screen, you will be in control of Bart, which
   is swimming through the waterway to reach Fatima Castle. However, control
   from now on switches back and forth from Fei to Bart (once he wins or
   loses each fight) and from Bart to Fei (this happens at regular intervals
   of time) so I will just list all of Fei's opponents and then everything
   Bart has to do.

   Boss:
   Big Joe
     HP 912, Exp 1, G 1. Leaves Metal Vest.
     Character-sized. Elvis-like green-haired character (like if you didn't
     know what Big Joe looks like already).
     Uses "Grrrreat!". Dash punch for 1 damage.
     Uses "Grrrreat!", "And dynamic!". Double dash punches for 2 damage ^_^
     Uses "Joe's fans attack". Sometimes when you attack Big Joe, the crowd
     will throw objects at you for about 60 HPs worth of physical damage.
     Uses "Joe's fans cheer support". Sometimes when you attack Big Joe, the
     crowd will cheer him and heal him 140 HPs.

   It's very easy to stall (for the reason mentioned above) this fight. Just
   defend; Big Joe's attacks are rather sad.

   The only danger in this fight comes from the crowd, and since they won't
   attack unless you do, this fight shouldn't be too hard. Just remember to
   heal often. Big Joe has quite some HP, however, and when he gets low on
   life the crowd will heal him often (but not always). You might also want
   to consider building up your AP storage meter (by doing single Triangle
   attacks), then bring him down to about 400 HP using Skills, and then
   unleash a 28-AP combo to finish him.

   By the way, be sure to equip the Metal Vest that Big Joe leaves as soon
   as you beat him (once the menu screen pops up).

   Boss:
   Scud
     HP 300 (of a maximum of 350), Exp 500, G 0. Leaves Samson's Hair.
     Character-sized. Green-robed hermit-looking character with long orange
     hair and a backpack.
     Uses "Strange Pill". Has no effect.
     Uses "Strange Pill". Lowers Attack.
     Uses "Strange Pill". Causes "Poison".
     Uses "Strong Pill". Raises Defense.
     Uses "Strong Pill". Raises Agility.
     Uses "Happy Pill". Recover 200 HP.

   It's not too hard to stall this fight either. The best way to do so, and
   at the same time beat Scud easily when needed, is to charge up your AP
   meter. You remember how it was done, don't you? Just use a Triangle
   attack, then press Circle to cancel the string. When you're at 28 AP, I
   reccomend you take advantage of this fight to learn any Skill Fei hasn't
   learned yet. Typically, this would be Hagan (Square, Circle). Since Scud
   heals and evades most of your attacks, you can keep losing time this way
   (heal occasionally). When you're tired (20-30 rounds should be enough),
   unleash a combo and fry Scud (remember to use "Iron Valor" first).

   Boss:
   Dan
     HP 450, Exp 500, G 5.
     Character-sized. Big-headed boy (how else could I describe Dan? ^_^;)
     Uses "I'm gonna take you down!". Does nothing.
     Uses "This is for all of Lahan!". Physical attack for about 20 HP.
     Uses "This is for Timothy!". Physical attack for about 20 HP.
     Uses "This is for my sister!". Physical attack for about 20 HP.
     Uses "You scum!". Huge energy blast for about 100 HP of Ether damage.

   Where did Dan learn to make these kind of fireworks? OK, OK, so
   apparently everyone but me tried to see whether if something happened if
   you didn't attack him, and wouldn't you know it, something does actually
   happen! If you don't attack him but defend or heal instead, he won't use
   "You scum!" (I think), and after quite some rounds of beating you, he'll
   realize Fei doesn't want to fight him (Fei : "There's no way I could ever
   bring myself to strike you"... yeah, right ^_^), and he'll give you
   Alice's Wedding Dress.

   Thanks for this tip are due to: Shalloween (Shalloween@aol.com), 
   Andy Schiestl (ajs2916@unix.tamu.edu), Yao (amici@the.net.ph) and
   Patrick Miller (pmiller@cis.ysu.edu).

   Should you decide the little guy's signed his death sentence when he
   challenged you (just kidding... his reaction is only logical), here's how
   to beat him. Well, he has quite a high Defense rating, so it'll take a
   while to beat him. Use Iron Valor as soon as the battle begins; due to
   Dan's high defense, it will double the damage you inflict (the reasoning
   being a little too long to explain here). Don't ever let your HP drop
   below 100, because if he uses "You scum!" (now that's a name for a
   technique), you're toast. Keep hammering with "Senretsu" (or whatever
   you've got) and heal with "Inner Healing" or Aquasol S.
   On a side note, the second time I reached this part, he only did about
   5 HP of damage with each attack. I first though it might be because of
   me not attacking him, but it doesn't seem that way. Since I had the same
   armor, etc... I don't know why this could be. Cyan Garamonde
   (shenancalhar@hotmail.com) brought my attention over this too...

   Also, assuming you want to get the Wedding Dress, you can't control the
   duration of this match. It will be long, however: Dan is as stubborn as
   big-headed (same word in Spanish, in fact ^_^;).

   Boss:
   Wiseman
     HP 999, Exp 0, G 0.
     Character-sized. Ominous-looking man with blue cape and hood, and a
     white mask. Wiseman evades all physical attacks and receives minimum
     damage from Ether attacks.

   As you can imagine, there's no way in which you can beat him. He doesn't
   attack you either, and after a while of talking he will leave.


                   B l e d a v i k   W a t e r w a y

   Items in this area: Gold Nugget, Survival Tent, Rosesol S, Aquasol S

   There is a map of the waterway in the "Maps" section of the FAQ: I'd
   reccomend you check it out. BTW, I'm assuming you entered the waterway
   via the West well.
   You'll have to swim northeastward against the current. You can and should
   hold Circle button to swim faster; however, the current will sometimes
   rise in strenght and make you go backwards: in most of such cases, you
   can release both the Circle button and the control pad, then hold them
   again to regain your speed.

   In the junction, continue straight to the northeast. Climb the pipe and
   jump when you're at the top of it: this will lead you to the famous
   restaurant aquarium, in which you can finally get hold of the Gold Nugget
   within the chest. After that, press the Cross button to descend.

   Keep swimming northeast, then North and this time go southeast at the
   junction. Get the Rosesol S and head back to the junction, and take the
   North way again. At the next crossroad, you could take the northeast path
   to get a Survival Tent, but it's quite a long way and, well, it's just a
   survival tent ^_^.

   So take the northwest path instead. Then, take the south way in the next
   one. Get the Aquasol S and head back North. Keep going North, then
   northeast. At the four way junction, you can go South if you want to
   climb a pipe that leads to the interior of the fountain in Shakhan
   Square. This has no practical usefulness, but it looks fun ^_^.

   In any case, head straight North and you'll enter Fatima Castle.


                   F a t i m a   C a s t l e

   Items in this area: Cobra Cracka, Iron Mail x4, Aquasol S, Hob Meat, 
     Hob Jerky x2.
   Enemies in this area:
   Aveh Guard {soldier}
     HP 80, Exp 242, G 45. Leaves Aquasol.
     Character-sized. Same description as an Aveh Soldier. Soldier with
     brown helmet and aviation glasses on.
   Aveh Guard {corporal}
     HP 80, Exp 242, G 45. Leaves Aquasol.
     Character-sized. Same description as an Aveh Corporal. Bigger soldier
     with white helmet and aviation glasses on his head.

   Get out of the pool climbing the ladder to the East. Talk to the old man
   for a lenghty conversation, then save in the Memory Cube. You can close
   the flood gate using the switch at the other end of the bridge, but I
   don't know if that's of any use.

   Climb the ladder and you'll be in the middle of the castle's inner
   garden. From now on there will be guards patrolling the castle (their
   numbers depending on how good did you do with Fei at the tournament).
   If you have played Metal Gear Solid, you'll feel at home: they have a
   vision cone too, and if they see you, they'll run to your encounter.
   They don't activate any alarm though. Besides, they're really easy.

   OK, here's how to proceed. Head to the South of the inner garden. You
   should see two guards, and after them, a large wooden door. There's no
   way you can sneak past these guards, so run like mad between them. If
   you're fast enough, you'll be able to reach the door before they can
   recover from the surprise: quickly press X and you'll cross it. They
   won't follow you into the castle, and in fact if you come back to the
   garden (which you will right now), they won't remember about you ^_^;
   So go back to the garden.

   The doors in the West wall lead to the dinning room and the kitchen. 
   Contrary to what I formerly said, it seems there are items in the 
   kitchen. I've not checked this yet, but according to Bryan H 
   (fallingasleep@hotmail.com)...:

When you are playing solo with Bart during the tournament and he is in 
Fatima Castle, you can get a Hob Meat and two Hob Jerky's in the Kitchen.  
Jump up where you see the meat hanging down from the ceiling.

   (Ignacio rubs forehead) Well, at least I hope that there actually isn't 
   anything in the dinning room, or I should stop writing FAQs ^_^;. 

   One cool thing is that whenever you open a door from the castle to the 
   inner garden, you can take a peek out to see if there are any guards.
   You can use this to exit when no guards are looking if you're patient
   enough.

   The southernmost door of the East wall leads to a room in which you can
   get the Cobra Cracka for Bart. It has one point less of Attack power than
   the Whippa Snappa you can buy in Bledavik's weapon shop, but it poisons
   enemies, so I'd reccomend you equip it.

   The middle door of the East wall leads to a room with nothing of interest
   (except the amazing level of detail that's usual in Xenogears).

   The North door of the East wall leads to the armory. You can pick up the
   four armors standing in bars near the entrance: they're Iron Mails. Equip
   one right away, and remember to equip the rest on Fei and Citan when you
   can. If you talk to the guard, he won't pay attention to you, but when
   you head to the door he will notice and pursue you to fight. It's really
   easy to exit without fighting him, however (and why is it that every
   single guard you fight is in fact two? Instantaneous mithosis?).

   Since all three North doors are locked, you only have the South door
   remaining. So go back again through it to the main hall. The South door
   leading outside is locked too, so go up the stairs.
   The door in the northwest leads to a room with a guy in it, but nothing
   of interest. Same goes for it's northeast counterpart. You can't cross
   the curtains to the South since they lead to the tournament's arena. Take
   the North door then.

   You'll be in a balcony surrounding the inner garden. There will be quite
   some guards here even if Fei wasn't eliminated in the tournament. The
   first door to the West leads to the library, in which you can learn about
   Aveh's foundation (more interesting than you might think), and that
   winners write history. The other two doors lead to a room with nothing
   worth of remark except the castle's bishop.

   The first door to the East leads to a sort of special weapons room with
   the recently unearthed weapon Shakhan was talking about with Ramsus. The
   other two lead to a room packed with guards, but take the northernmost
   one since you'll sneak behing a wall and be able to overhear their
   conversation. There's also an Aquasol S in this room. To get it, you'll
   have to pass near the guards, and they'll pursue you. It is possible to
   get out of the room without them getting you (I did it, but so barely
   that the battle BGM was playing when the game was loading the garden
   section ^_^;).

   If you follow either wall to the North, you'll reach a door leading
   to the interior of the castle again (it doesn't matter which side you go
   through). To the North there is a large dinning, but what you have to do
   is climb the stairs to the third floor.

   North of the third floor is a bedroom with (you guessed it) nothing of
   interest. If you go upstairs and cross the door to the North (you'll have
   to fight two guards), you'll be in Shakhan's room. But there's nothing
   here, right? Wrong. If you press Cross in front of the green bottle to
   the East, a panel will slide revealing a screen which is connected to a
   camera system throughout the castle. After picking a location, you can
   move the view around with the control pad and even zoom in and out with
   the Square and Circle buttons. You can see that Margie's in the East
   Tower, so there we go (actually, it's the only place left).

   Go downstairs to the third floor and head to the door that's to the East.
   You'll be in a room with an elevator that doesn't work and another door
   after a corridor to the North. Here you will find Margie at last.


        =======================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 2   :   M a r g i e ' s   R e s c u e
        =======================================================


                   F a t i m a   C a s t l e

   Save in the Memory Cube and go back to the room with the corridor.
   However, upon crossing it Ramsus and Miang will appear. For this battle,
   you'll have Margie helping you.

   Boss:
   Ramsus
     HP 400, Exp 0, G 0.
     Character-sized. Blue-clad knight type with sword.
     Uses "Mirror Stance/predict atk". Ramsus will adopt a defensive stance.
     All physical attacks will miss while he's in that stance. Additionally,
     he'll counterattack for about 130 HP of damage if he's attacked.
   Miang
     HP 999, Exp 0, G 0.
     Character-sized. Blue-haired girl dressed in white. Cannot be targeted
     by anyone.
     Uses "Restore". Restores 40 HP to Ramsus.
     Uses "Remove Status". If Ramsus has been affected with Status Effects,
     Miang will use this to heal him.
   Margie
     HP 9999, Exp N/A, G N/A.
     Character-sized. Girl with a red cape. Cannot be targeted by anyone.
     Uses "Good luck Bart!". Randomly restores 0, 20 or 40 HP to Bart.

   Don't count on Margie too much. In any case, Ramsus is not too hard if
   you know you mustn't attack him when he's in his Mirror Stance. If you
   do, he'll slash the stuffing out of you. Take advantage of the time he's
   in that stance to heal. You can also attack him with Ether attacks,
   thanks to Cyan Garamonde (shenancalhar@hotmail.com) for pointing this
   out. Having the Cobra Cracka helps a lot, because it will poison Ramsus
   sometimes, and Miang will waste her turn healing him.

   After inflicting 400 points of damage upon Ramsus, Fei will join the fun.

   Boss:
   Ramsus
     HP 800, Exp 0, G 0.
     Character-sized. Blue-clad knight type with sword.
     Uses "Mirror Stance/predict atk". Ramsus will adopt a defensive stance.
     All physical attacks will miss while he's in that stance. Additionally,
     he'll counterattack for about 130 HP of damage if he's attacked.
   Miang
     HP 999, Exp 0, G 0.
     Character-sized. Blue-haired girl dressed in white. Cannot be targeted
     by anyone.
     Uses "Restore". Restores 100 HP to Ramsus.
   Margie
     HP 9999, Exp N/A, G N/A.
     Character-sized. Girl with a red cape. Cannot be targeted by anyone.
     Uses "Good luck Bart!". Randomly restores 0 or 20 HP to Bart.
     Uses {No Name}. Randomly restores 0 or 20 HP to Fei.

   To make up for Fei's presence, Ramsus has twice as much HP, he can't be
   poisoned, Miang now heals 100 HP and Margie no longer heals 40 HP. Still,
   I didn't find this battle as hard as some people say. The only thing that
   can really be a pain is when Ramsus stays in the Mirror Stance and Miang
   keeps healing him... even using Ether attacks on him, she'll heal faster
   that you can hurt him. In any case, just use your best Skills and heal
   via Fei's "Inner Healing", and he should be defeated.

   Once he's down, you'll all escape thanks to Margie. After exiting the
   elevator, go East through the hallway. Another sequence will follow, in
   which you'll finally escape thanks to Elly.


        ===================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 3   :   R o a d   t o   N i s a n
        ===================================================


                        Y g g d r a s i l

   Items in this area: Ether Veiler.

   You'll be on the deck of the Yggdrasil now. Enter it, then press Cross
   in front of Chu-chu (the pink little one who's in front of the bridge's
   door). Bart will tell you to ask Margie to take it from there, so go to
   her room (check the map, it's near the Gear hangar). You'll have to input
   a name for it ("Chu-Chu" is the default). Then you'll realize it isn't a
   stuffed toy at all but a living being. Before you leave this room, if you
   got the Spider in Lahan Mountain, you can give it to Chu-Chu (talk to
   her) and she'll give you an Ether Veiler in exchange.

   After that, go to the bridge and talk to Sigurd twice. He'll tell you to
   pilot the Yggdrasil to the path to Nisan, which is marked by a single
   tree in the desert. It's all the way to the North from Bart's Lair, just
   follow the West coastline and you'll reach it. Enter the road to Nisan
   while still in the Yggdrasil, and it will sink into the sand and cross
   the sea.


        ===================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 4   :   C i t y   o f   P e a c e
        ===================================================


                            N i s a n

   Nisan, like Aveh, is quite a big city and has its own map. If you exit
   Nisan you'll be in the World Map (obviously).


            W o r l d   M a p   ( N i s a n   A r e a )

   Enemies in grasslands areas:
   Hobgob {brown}
   Lil' Kobold

   Enemies in desert area:
   Sand Shark
   Neo Tin Robo

   Not much to do here, but it's my obligation to put the enemies you can
   find here, so... ^_^ We now continue with your scheduled programme. :)


                            N i s a n

   Enter the city section from Nisan's map. Even this section is quite big
   and it's easier to get lost than in Bledavik. The first house to the West
   as you enter is an inn, in which you can't rest now, but its owner will
   give you some tea which will make you lose weight, in return.

   You can enter the house that is northeast just besides the stairs. After
   some conversation, you can buy the following from their owners:

   Character Items:
   Aquasol                  20
   Aquasol S               100
   Rosesol                 100
   Rosesol S               300
   Zetasol                 100
   Physisol                 10
   Mentsol                  20
   Omegasol                 50
   Survival Tent           150
 
   Character Equipment:
   Power Ring              200
   Stamina Ring            150
   Speed Ring             1200
   Guardian Ring          2000
   Holy Pendant           8000
   Life Stone            20000
   Ether Doubler         38000

   The new Accesories are quite interesting, but they're REALLY expensive
   and most likely you won't have much money about now anyway. You can also
   find one of Bart's crew in here, which will sell you the following from
   the Yggdrasil:

   Gear Engine:
   Z9-1500                1800

   Gear Frame:
   WELT-03000             1400

   Gear Armor:
   MS 9                   1500

   Gear Weapons:
   Iron GWhip             1600
   Snapper GWhip          2000

   Gear Parts:
   Resp Circuit           2500
   Def Circuit            2500
   C Circuit               250
   MagneticCoat           4000
   Lens Cover             2500
   Engine Guard           5000
   Tank Guard             3000
   Ar Repairer            4000
   Motion Guard           4000

   If you go further to the northwest, you'll find the town hall. You can't
   enter it but you can overhear a conversation about the state of things.

   Anyhow, go downstairs and to the North to meet with Margie. Talk to the
   person in front of the gate, then to Magie and head North to the
   monastery.


                   N i s a n   M o n a s t e r y

   After the scene (wow! Even the sisters have character development!),
   you'll have to follow Margie through the monastery. She's in a door to
   the East. Follow her upstairs, then talk to her again. More character
   development (nice idea the bit about the two angels... and how it goes
   entirelly over Bart's head ^_^).
   Afterwards, follow Margie to the northmost door (skip the other door for
   now) and up the stairs. Here you'll see a beautiful drawing of Sophia
   (that has been my Windows 95 wallpaper for the last few months ^_^), and
   the usual does of mystery will be thrown at you.

   Go back the way you came here, but enter the door you skipped. Talk to
   the sisters here if you want, then to Agnes (I think this is optional,
   though).

   You can exit the monastery now, but note there are some people downstairs
   now you might want to talk to.
   

                            N i s a n

   Back in Nisan's city section, go to the South exit. However, before
   reaching it, Maison will call you from a house's door. Enter that house,
   and you'll have the chance to know quite a lot more about Solaris. After
   asking about the four possible topics, you'll be given the chance to
   repeat any of them if you want. After this, you can talk to Sigurd and
   Maison if you want (Maison will say he knew about Sigurd having been in
   Solaris).

   Exit the house, then go to the bridge that's just behind the house you
   bought all that stuff from. Talk to Bart there. More scenes (isn't the
   translation wonderful? Ahh...), then go to the town hall. Citan, Sigurd
   and Bart will elaborate a strategy for liberating Aveh (and quite a risky
   one too!).

   The next morning, talk to Bart and tell him you're ready. After some
   scenes (and a FMV), you'll be back in the Yggdrasil.


        =====================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 5   :   R e c a p t u r e   A v e h
        =====================================================


                        Y g g d r a s i l

   As Citan, talk to Maison to cheer him up a little (you can also buy from
   him, but he doesn't have anything new). Save, then head to the highest
   floor of the Yggdrasil and climb the ladder leading outside.


             K i s l e v   B o r d e r   M o u n t a i n

   Items in this area: Extra Ar+2, MagneticCoat, Gold Nugget, Rosesol S.
   Enemies in this area:
   Medusoid
   May Fly
   Nomad Fix Bot
   Edelweiss
     HP 815, Exp 880, G 0. Leaves Fang.
     Gear-sized. Blue and yellow vaguelly reptilian animal with a
     flower-like head.

   The enemies in this dungeon are just weaklings ("Medusoids? Gimme a
   break... I fought them in the FIRST dungeon!").

   Go East and climb the ledge. Jump to the southwest ledge then grab the
   Extra Ar+2 and equip it. Go back northeast, then jump to the ledge to
   the North (your Gear can jump more than it seems). Climb the platform to
   the northwest, then jump to the one to the southeast. Follow this one to
   the South and get the MagneticCoat from the chest. Equip it instead of
   the Old Circuit, if you still have it. Go back all the way to the North,
   then jump up the ledge to the northeast and enter the cave. 

   There must be some problem with the compass, because now it seems like if
   you came FROM the northeast! ^_^ In any case, continue to the southwest,
   and when you have a platform behind you to the East, jump to it from the
   one that's more or less at its level. It's a very tight jump, but it
   will save a lot of time, not to mention some jumps (if you can't make it,
   you can just go West, North and then East).

   In any case, keep going up (Northeast, then north). At the junction, go
   East. Climb a ledge and get the Rosesol S. Go back West, keep going
   northwest, jump over the crevice and get the Gold Nugget. Keep climbing
   North, jump over the crevice to the East, and climb up where the Repair
   Bot is. Talk to him and he'll offer the following:

   Gear Engine:
   Z9-1500                1800

   Gear Frame:
   WELT-03000             1400

   Gear Armor:
   MS 9                   1500

   Gear Weapons:
   Iron GWhip             1600
   Snapper GWhip          2000

   Gear Parts:
   Resp Circuit           2500
   Def Circuit            2500
   C Circuit               250
   MagneticCoat           4000
   Lens Cover             2500
   Engine Guard           5000
   Tank Guard             3000
   Ar Repairer            4000
   Motion Guard           4000

   Sounds familiar, huh? Sigh. At least, you can replenish your HP and fuel
   here. Don't tell him you don't trust him, or you'll have to fight him!
   Save in the Memory Cube, then go through the exit to the North. What's up
   with that damn compass!! Now it's like if you just exited FROM the North!
   Note also that you seem to be facing the right direction, i.e. North in
   this case, though it's where you came from. Strange...

   In any case, go East and a sequence will follow. Our girl Elhaym's
   squadron will attack you now (Hey guys, didn't you hear your commander?
   Take it easy!).

   Boss:
   Wandknight x2
     HP 620, Exp 1500, G 200. Leaves Extra Ar+2.
     Gear-sized. White Gear with a large rifle.
     Uses "Power Beam/Beam Atk". Beam attack.

   These guys are just as worthless as before (worse in fact, because you're
   on a higher level now).

   Boss:
   Clawknight
     HP 600, Exp 1500, G 300.
     Gear-sized. White Gear with a claw and a razor shield.
   Swordknight
     HP 700, Exp 1500, G 300.
     Gear-sized. Light red Gear with twin metallic whip-blades and a cannon
     for right hand.
   Aegisknight
     HP 700, Exp 1500, G 300. Leaves Extra Ar+2.
     Gear-sized. Big light blue Gear with two large shields.
     Uses "Pile Driver/Weaken Ar". Causes "Armor Damage".

   Even when they're three against one, these guys aren't much of a
   challenge: however, they're at least not as pitiful. Take out the
   Swordknight first, since it's the one who does the most damage; and the
   Aegisknight the last, since it's the toughest and the one that does the
   least damage. If the Aegisknight pesters you too much with "Pile Driver",
   use "Inner Healing" to recover the lost armor. Actually, the point of
   this fight is to weaken you for what's coming next, and that, those guys
   do well.

   After learning more about that mysterious incident Elly remembered about
   in the Blackmoon Forest, you'll have to fight her.

   Boss:
   Vierge   
     HP 2400, Exp 0, G 0.
     Gear-sized. White and pink female-looking Gear.
     Uses "Aerod/Eth Atk". Ether attack for about 300 damage.

   Fortunatelly, her regular attacks aren't very powerful. Unfortunatelly,
   the Aerods are, and you don't have any way to heal yourself yet. Use
   booster and keep hitting her with "Reppu". You'll win eventually.

   You'll appear near the Memory Cube again, but this time you can keep
   climbing to the summit. Keep going up, and West / East alternativelly
   until you reach a very bright spot. Upon walking over it, a scene will
   trigger.


                   F a t i m a   C a s t l e

   As Bart and Citan, head up the ladder. There'll be another sequence (I
   hate to sound so dumb ^_^;, but I don't want to spoil anything
   unnecesarily).


        =====================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 6   :   D e s e r t   D e s p a i r
        =====================================================


                        Y g g d r a s i l

   Just save and exit the room.


              K i s l e v   B o r d e r   D e s e r t

   Enemies in this area:
   Sand Tripper
     HP 180, Exp 550, G 110.
     Gear-sized. Yellow Gear with sort of skies and a machinegun.
   Gigafoot
     HP 500, Exp 320, G 220. Leaves C Circuit.
     Gear-sized. Yellow four-legged Gear with a back-mounted cannon. Stands
     on two legs once it is inflicted 60 or more damage.
   Trooper

   Welcome to the desert attack mini-game! You have to dodge the mines
   (-15 HP... Oh! The pain! ^_^), the shoots from the ships (-1 HP each
   time... I'll live too) and the enemy Gears, which will attack you on
   contact (the taller ones are two Sand Trippers, the shorter ones are
   a Giga Foot, sometimes with two Troopers). Your mission is basically to
   go West, then... to go West.

   After that, it's boss time against the so talked about Kefeinzel Gun.

   Boss:
   Main Gun
     HP 1800, Exp 7000, G 0. Leaves Gold Nugget.
     Gear-sized. LARGE cannon (remember you're in a Gear!).
     Uses "Readying Kefeinzel Gun!". Does nothing (yet).
     Uses "Clear the deck!". Does nothing (still).
     Uses "5". Does nothing (but giving you a bad feeling).
     Uses "4". Does nothing (but making you nervous).
     Uses "3". Does nothing (but making you want to be elsewhere).
     Uses "2". Does nothing (but making you wonder how many HP does the darn
     cannon have remaining).
     Uses "1". Does nothing (but scaring the hell out of you).
     Uses "Firing Kefeinzel Gun!". Does about 400 damage (that's all? Boo).
  Small Gun x2
     HP 590, Exp 0, G 0.
     Character-sized. Smaller turret-like cannon. It's the only
     character-sized enemy that's made of polygons in the entire game.

   Sorry about the countdown thing, but if you want to be methodic, you have
   to be methodic, and a little humour was in order to make it less boring.
   Right. So stop with the tomatoes will ya!!
   Anyway, considering that the small cannons do like 1 damage, that I could
   have beaten the cannon while it was on "2" or so (I wanted to see what it
   did), and that it just deals 400 damage after all that buildup, you'd
   have to be really bad to lose this fight. Ignore the Small Guns, they'll
   be destroyed automatically after the Main Gun's down. 

   But wait! Vanderkaum's not over yet!

   Boss:
   Dora
     HP 3000, Exp 13393, G 2000. Leaves Extra Ar+3.
     Gear-sized. Huge, scary-looking thing with turrets and pincers.
     Uses "I'll kill you!". If he's got any of Bart's soldiers in his
     pincers when he's attacked, he will counterattack for about 140 damage
     with each one of them.
     Uses "Head cover broken, Def DOWN". Dora's defense will be lowered.
     He will use this after he's hit about eight times (whether they do
     damage or not).

   Dora does actually put up quite a fight. The first thing to remember is
   not to attack him when he's got any of the soldiers in his pincers
   (especially when he's got both). Attack with the soldiers too even though
   they'll do zero damage, you'll break his head cover.

   Once you break it, it's show time! Turn on Fei's booster and attack with
   all your party. The bad news is that the cannon does quite a lot of
   damage (about 600 on the soldiers and 400 on Fei), but if Fei was in
   good condition before the start of the fight (i.e. you didn't get hit by
   the Kefeinzel Gun), he should live long enough. However, because
   Vanderkaum attacks Fei most of the times, it IS possible that the
   soldiers will survive Fei. They're capable of finishing Dora, so don't
   give up!


                   A v e h   A r e a   D e s e r t 

   More sequences, then Bart will try to take on a quite formidable foe.

   Boss:
   ?
     HP 99999, Exp 0, G 0.
     Gear-sized. Red, KEEEEWL looking Gear (the coolest in the game, IMHO),
     with metal wings that extend into six energy wings.
     Uses "Kishin". Energy palm combo for 19998 damage.

   Do you think you can win this battle? I thought so. His coolness alone
   could shred you to pieces ^_^;

   After you're pummeled, one of the game's coolest scenes will take place.
   Then, you'll be able to save your game if you want. Some more scenes,
   then you'll wake up at...


        =====================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 7   :   K i s l e v   C a p i t a l
        =====================================================


                   N o r t u n e   D   B l o c k

   Items in this area: Dog Food

   Save in the Memory Cube, and get ready for the fight. You don't need to
   beat all (or any) of the following opponents, but the number of them you
   defeat will determine which rank you get, which will affect the
   following:

   Some parts of the dialogue, especially with Hammer, the doctor and Citan.
   Prices at which you can sell monster parts at the Ethos facility.
   The dish you get when you order a "dish a la rank".

   However, since A) the mentioned prices will rise to the "Battler Class"
   prices eventually and B) dishes a la rank don't do much actually, I don't
   think rank is all that important. In any case, here we go.

   Boss:
   Leonardo
     HP 500, Exp 300, G 150.
     Character-sized. Same description as Forest Elf. Brown humanoid.

   Er, hasn't this guy changed a bit for the battle? Anyhow, keep attacking
   him with your best Skill. He doesn't do much damage, and in three or four
   rounds he'll be down.

   Boss:
   Heinrich
     HP 500, Exp 300, G 150.
     Character-sized. Same description as Forest Elf. Brown humanoid.

   Are these guys clones? At least he uses a different attack (that does
   20 damage instead of 15). He's prety easy too.

   Boss:
   Vargas
     HP 500, Exp 300, G 150.
     Character-sized. Same description as Forest Elf. Brown humanoid.

   This one combines the attacks from the previous two. Not too difficult
   either, but remeber to heal when needed. He's faster too, and he does
   almost two attacks for each one of yours, but this extra attack is
   usually an uppercut that does 6 damage.

   Boss:
   Suzarn
     HP 800, Exp 500, G 0. Leaves Metal Jacket.
     Character-sized. Witch-like looking girl with a menacingly big scythe.
     Uses {No Name}. Shadow scythe slash which drains all EP you have (!).
     Uses {No Name}. Shadow scythe slash which halves Fei's HP.

   Oops! Don't worry, she's not as tough as she looks. Her regular attacks
   do 1 HP, so the only way she has to kill you is to half your HP over and
   over until you're really low, then finish you with that. The problem is
   that she'll drain all your EP at the beginning of the fight, but if you
   get that low on life you can still use an Aquasol.

   Boss:
   Rico
     HP 9999, Exp 0, G 0.
     Character-sized. Green, somewhat alien-looking wrestler.
     Uses "Steel Body". Raises Defense.
     Uses "Steel fist". Raises Attack.

   After performing "Steel Body" and "Steel fist", Rico will unleash a combo
   which will hit for about 1300 damage. In other words, you can't win.

   You'll wake up again in the same building. Cue to some chatting with the
   doctor, which will tell you your rank. The rank you get is as follows.

   Beat no opponents (Leonardo beat you)     :  Rank D
   Beat one opponents (Heinrich beat you)    :  Rank C2
   Beat two opponents (Vargas beat you)      :  Rank C1
   Beat three opponents (Suzarn beat you)    :  Rank B
   Beat four opponents (Rico beat you)       :  Rank A

   Go upstairs, and you'll find you're in a sort of inn. Talk to the cook in
   front of the counter, and he'll offer you the choice to get the "Daily
   Special" or the "Dish a 'la Rank". Some of these dishes are said to have
   a beneficial effect on certain stats, but I haven't noticed any increase
   of them in the Status screen. It might be still true...

   There are two possible "Dishes a 'la Rank" for each rank, chosen randomly
   each time you re-enter the inn. They are:

   Rank D  : Thunder Gruel (?)      / Fried Grueger       
   Rank C  : Ether Omega (Ether)    / Stamina Uppen (Stamina)
   Rank B  : Heavyweighter (?)      / Nortuna Fish (Wisdom)
   Rank A  : Boosta Limit (Agility) / Battlin Steak      
   Rank S  : Choose any of the above

   The "Daily Special" is choosen randomly from the following.

   Mightymite (Defense and Ether Defense)
   Baste Grand

   In any case, head to the door in to the West. You'll be in a street.
   As a bystander will tell you later, there are quite some signs in the
   walls that you can read.

   To the northest there's nothing but the alley you endured your "Baptism"
   in (furthermore, the signs in its wall can't be read, for some reason).
   The house just in front of the restaurant has some people you can talk
   to, but nothing more (talk to the little girl twice ^_^).

   You can climb the ladder to the roofs. There you can go northwest to the
   entrance to the sewers (a sewer entrance in a roof?), but you'll go there
   later anyway. There's also a dog who will bark anytime you get near it,
   and a guard that will offer to sell you some dog food for 5 G, provided
   you made the dog bark before. You can then give it to the dog. I don't
   have a clue if this serves any purpose, though. There's not much else you
   can do in the roofs, even if you climb the ducts.

   To the South there's a Nisan facility that seems to give shelter to some
   refugees. You can climb the ladder in the second floor to reach the
   building's roof, but as before, there's not much to do.

   Continue to the East and you'll find a bar. Upon entering here, you will
   meet Hammer, a camel-like looking guy. He'll introduce himself (the
   dialogue here is COMPLETELLY different depending on which Rank you got;
   in some cases Fei will sound more aggresive than in others and in one
   case he almost sounds like he's apologizing instead). He'll also offer
   to sell you some items and accesories.

   Character Items:
   Aquasol                  20
   Rosesol                 100
   Zetasol                 100
   Physisol                 10
   Mentsol                  20
   Omegasol                 50
   Survival Tent           150
 
   Character Equipment:
   Metal Jacket            550
   Metal Helmet            200
   Poison Guard           1500
   Sleep Guard            1500
   Brain Guard            1500
   Guardian Ring          2000

   The character items aren't too hot, but the equipment is mostly new. Get
   a Metal Helmet for Fei, and if you didn't beat Suzarn, you'll need a
   Metal Jacket too. Now exit the bar and go North to reach the two last
   houses of this sector.

   The one to the East is an Ethos facility in which you can sell any
   Hob-Jerky, Fang, Eyeball or Scales you might have. Their buying prices
   differ depending on your Rank: check the "Selling Prices" section for
   details.

   The one to the West is actually the inn-like thing you awakened in, so
   don't bother. Instead, go northeast and the guard will tell you that the
   Imperial Battling Comittee is looking for you.

   Go back to the bar and a scene will take place. Then go back to the inn
   and another scene will follow. When Citan asks you what to do now, you
   can tell him you want to rest before and you'll be able to move around
   (and save). After that, talk to Hammer to bring up the same three
   choices. You can safely tell him to deactivate the collar, don't worry.
   Or you can tell him to forget about it (but I reccomend you tell him to
   try it). Either way, some more scenes will happen, then you'll be in the
   basement of the inn.

   Oddly enough, though you are registered as a battler, the monster parts
   exchange rates at the Ethos facility will be the same as before. Oh well.
   Head to the exit of the D block (to the northeast from the Ethos
   facility), and the guard will finally let you pass.


                         N o r t u n e

   At last, you're in Nortune's map. Unfortunatelly, the only areas you have
   access to as a prisoner are the D block and the C block, where the
   Battling is. So go there.


        =====================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 8   :   B r a v e   B a t t l e r s
        =====================================================


        N o r t u n e   C   B l o c k   ( B a t t l i n g )

   You'll be greeted by Rue Coen again as you enter. After that, you can
   talk to the clerk nearest to the exit to get a detailed explanation about
   the Battling, controls, etc. Inside the other room, you can save in the
   Memory Cube, and talk to Hammer to buy items and Gear parts. The items
   are the same as before (he doesn't sell character equipment now); as for
   the Gear parts... he'll say you've not been assigned a Gear yet (very
   true, but then why did he offer them? ^_^;). Talk to Rue then and tell
   her you're ready.

   She'll show you your Gear. It's the Weltall! (it looks cool from this
   angle). You'll be given four choices: get an explanation of controls
   (it's the same as when you talked to the clerk before); engage a
   Tutorial Mode (you should do this the first time around); enter Practice
   Mode (also reccomended), or begin battle.

   First Battle : Ganador

   It doesn't matter whether you win or lose this match, since before you
   end it, the Weltall will overheat and you'll lose.


        =================================================
        E P I S O D E   1 9   :   S e w e r   H o r r o r
        =================================================


                   N o r t u n e   D   B l o c k

   The next day, you'll be in the inn's bed again. You can talk to Citan and
   Hammer; the latter will tell you how this running around (from the
   Battling to here) is killing him. You can buy items and accesories from
   Hammer as before.


        N o r t u n e   C   B l o c k   ( B a t t l i n g )

   Go to the Battling, and Hammer will already be there waiting from you
   (now you understand what he meant ^_^). You can finally buy Gear parts
   from Hammer.

   Gear Engine:
   V10-2000               2000
   V12-2000               2600

   Gear Frame:
   WELT-03600             2200
   WELT-04300             2200

   Gear Armor:
   MS 12                  2500
   MS 15                  3500

   Gear Parts:
   Extra Ar +1              50
   Extra Ar +2              75

   At last new stuff! Upgrade the Engine, Frame and Armor (as always, the
   Engine first), then replenish HP and Fuel. Now that you're at it, equip
   the Extra Ar +3 you got from beating Dora. I'm not sure whether all this
   equipment affect your stats at the battling or not, but it won't hurt,
   will it?

   Talk to the clerk to the left of the one who told you the rules of
   Battling, and she'll tell you that your scheduled opponents, Leonardo and
   Heinrich, won't be able to fight against you (technical problems? That's
   quite a funny way to put it ^_^;). Anyhow, tell her you're ready to enter
   the Battling.

   Second Battle : Tin Robo               Price money :  300 + 100 / 200 G

   Keep the pressure on him. He's quite slow, so if you attack contunuously,
   you'll interrupt his attacks most of the times. When he gets away, nail
   him with three Ether Bullets and pursue him (he should be down). Also
   remember to throw an Ether Bullet whenever you know him down (neither the
   S,S,S nor the X,X,X chains do that, so be sure to mix attacks up in
   strings). It's a rather easy battle actually. Besides, if you lose,
   you'll just have to fight him