Genso Suikoden 3 - Strategy Guide (Page 05)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Genso Suikoden 3 - Strategy Guide (Page 05).

Attack:
-------
Let me show you how pleased I am to see you again.
Now I'll get you back.
If you only defend...
When are you going to stand up and fight?
Don't feel too good about that.
Enough messing around!
Here we go...

Defend:
-------
I believe this is how to properly defend oneself.
So, we think alike after all.
It's been a while, let's see if you've improved.
Are you getting enough to eat?  You're not very effective.
Sorry, no effect.
I wouldn't hold still like that.
That was good, but probably the best you can do.
At least you don't fight worse than before.
This is taking too long.

Deathblow:
----------
This will let you know how glad I am to see you again.
And now, the finishing stroke.
Good night, Watari.
I'll help you remember your past.

If you lose to her, Watari will say, "Sayonara, witch" and Ayame will leave.
It can take a while before Ayame shows up again so do your best to win the duel
the first time.  When you beat her, Ayame will join.  Heal up Watari and exit
the screen.  Go back and the Chimera treasure boss will be there again.  Just
use the same tactics as before.  The notable loot I got:

Castle Kennel
? Painting

If you want to fight this boss again later, go ahead and take everything.  Exit
the North Cavern.  Head to the VdZ Trade Shop and buy a GrapeC if you haven't
got one yet.  If you got a Rose Brooch earlier at Iksay you can get Augustine
now.  If you're planning on playing Thomas' chapters, I recommend you leave
him so Thomas can get him later.  You can also fight the Mt. Hei-Tou boss again
if you like (I opt not to since I've got 400,000 potch right now).  Buy a
Sacrificial Jizo from the Guild Hall Item Shop or Lake Castle Item Shop and put
it on Percival.  Make sure you've done everything you want with him in terms of
his skills.  To make the story progress, head back to the west side of Brass
Castle.

At Brass Castle go to the west courtyard to get a cutscene.  Head upstairs to
Chris' room and talk to Louis.  Pick the first choice to advance the story.
You'll then see a cutscene and a conversation with Salome.  When given the
choice, I pick the first option ("Salome...") but it doesn't really matter.  Go
to Chris' room and check the bookcase.  Nash'll pop out and ask you to go with
him.  If you pick the first choice, you'll agree and Chris' chapter 2 will be
effectively over.  If you'd rather do some other things like fight the treasure
bosses again or whatnot, pick the 2nd choice three times.  Nash will leave.  He
will then be in the eastern courtyard of Brass Castle to the left of the Item
Stand.  To advance the story, talk to him again and agree to go with him.  Then
go back to Chris' room and elect to rest and you'll leave with Nash.

Once you agree to go with Nash, Chris will change her outfit and you'll proceed
to the secret passageway.  You'll note that all of Chris' gear has changed-the
stuff you put on her previously is now stored at your warehouse.  Just follow
the passageway to the end-the random monsters won't be any trouble.  If you get
poisoned by the spiders, just use Kindness Drops from Nash's water rune to
heal.  When you reach the exit, there'll be another cutscene and Chris'
chapter 2 will end.

Nei [28/108]*
Toppo [29/108]*
Shabon [30/108]*
Watari [31/108]*
Gordon [32/108]*
Mio [33/108]*
Ayame [34/108]*
Nash [35/108]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4g. Hugo Chapter 2

Pick Hugo's story next.  You'll be on the World Map.  Head to Duck Village to
get a cutscene with Rhett and Wilder coming up asking for help.  To make the
story go, you can head to the left.  Before doing that, I suggest heading to
the right to go to the Item Shop to sell any loot you don't need.  Buy 2
Sacrificial Jizos and put them on Fubar.  Also put the best Medicine you have
in Fubar's remaining item slot.  If you got any Deer Antler or Crystal Balls
from VdZ, you can sell those at the Trade Shop here for a nice profit.  If
you're like me, you probably have about 150,000-200,000 potch right now.  I
recommend you go ahead and play the lottery one more time just to give yourself
a money cushion-Hugo won't be able to fight any treasure bosses until his next
chapter and you'll be able to kill some time quite soon.

When you're done with all that, head to the front of the Rune Shop/Tutor to
see a cutscene with Lilly, whose all grown up since Suikoden II and my personal
favorite character in the game.  When she asks for Hugo's identity, you can
pick whatever choice you like.  Afterward, everyone runs off.  Head to the inn
to get another scene.  When Lilly asks, pick the first choice ("Okay...") to
advance the story.  When you're given another dialogue option, you can pick the
first choice ("Who is the Flame Champion?") to get more background info. on the
Flame Champ or the second option to question Lilly's motives.  When Lilly asks
if you want to join up, you can say no by picking the third choice, asking
the Sgt.'s opinion with the second choice, or agreeing by picking the first
choice.  To make the story advance you'll need to go with Lilly so I just pick
the first choice.  I recommend this setup:

Lilly
Samus
Hugo
Fubar
Reed
Sgt. Joe
(No Support)

A couple of notes about what you can do now.  You have access to the eastern
courtyard of Brass Castle where you can sharpen weapons up to level 7 and visit
the Item Stand and Armor Stand.  There's a Tutor in Duck Village but you won't
have access to a bujutsu teacher for a while.  Although VdZ, the North Cavern,
and the west side of Brass Castle are on the World Map, I don't believe there's
any way to go to those places in this chapter.  You're not allowed to pass
through the middle of Brass Castle and trying the secret passageway by the
Trader at Brass Castle doesn't work.  It's like the Great Hollow showing up in
Chris' chapter 2 even though she can't go there.  Also, Sgt. Joe will likely
get one of the Magic Chant skills soon.  I have no clue why this is because he
can't use the Jongleur Rune that goes with Chanting magic.  You can't make him
forget it, either.  I don't know if it's a programming typo and it should be
Focus or what.

Exit Duck Village.  When you get to the World Map, a new area will open-the
Ancient Highway.  Before going there, I suggest you buy about 3 Antitoxin from
the Item Shop and head to Brass Castle to sharpen everyone's weapon/upgrade
armor.  The only skill I would upgrade is Sgt. Joe's Water Magic to a B at Duck
Village. Unless you're really attached to Hugo's Wind Rune, I suggest you
remove it from him and sell it.  If you do this, you should have him "Forget"
his Wind Magic skill.  The only reason to keep it this long would be to use
Wind of Sleep against the Zexens at the end of his chapter 1.

When you're done preparing your party, head to the Ancient Highway.  You'll see
a cutscene then gain entry inside.  The rare encounter for this area is the
Malifaux with 3 TerrorKnights.  Nothing special and the experience boost you
get from that fight is decent.  If you go west 3 screens, you'll see a screen
with a circular room in the middle with a path to the north on your mini-map.
DO NOT proceed toward that circular room-it will trigger a cutscene and an
optional fight you're not ready to do yet.  Instead, roam around the eastern
part of the Ancient Highway and level up to 32.  This should take you about
10-15 minutes.  When you're done, head back to Duck Village to save and check
the lottery results.

The optional fight in the Ancient Highway isn't tough if you've leveled up Hugo
and Fubar's physical skills in his chapter 1, particularly their Accuracy.  If
you want everyone to make it through that fight alive, put a Sacrificial Jizo
on them-to win the fight you're really only going to need to use Hugo/Fubar to
attack and Sgt. Joe's Water Rune to heal.  SAVE at Duck Village again and head
on over to the Ancient Highway.  Keep proceeding west this time until you get
to the circular room.  Make sure everyone's health is maximum and you have all
your magic spells.  You'll trigger a cutscene.  

When Sgt. Joe asks your opinion, pick whatever choice you want-it won't change
anything.  From here on, your dialogue choices will determine whether or not
you get into the optional fight.  When you're asked what to do, picking the
first choice ("Let's talk to them") means you WILL fight.  Picking the second
choice ("Hmm, what should we do?") will give you another dialogue option, to
which Lilly will suggest an attack. If you DISagree with her, you WILL get the
fight.  If you agree with Lilly, this is the only option that leads to avoiding
the fight (as well as a hilarious cutscene).  If you avoid the fight, you must
proceed west to make the story progress and won't be able to go back to the
rest of the World Map for a little while.  If you want to see the funny scene
as well as fight, just pick the choices to avoid it the first time, view the
scene, then soft reset to come back and do the fight.

The fight itself is against the Man in Black, who Aila, Ace, and Joker met in
Geddoe's chapter 1.  His best weapon is his Eight-Devil Rune, which will knock
out anyone in your party except Hugo/Fubar.  He can only use it once during the
battle though.  His other weapons are two strong melee attacks and a Thunder
Rune, which he'll usually use to cast Soaring Bolt although it won't do much
damage.  My strategy for beating him:

In the first round, use the Tinto combo and send the Hugo/Fubar pair in to
attack.  Rarely will the MIB move before Hugo/Fubar but if he does he'll
usually attack the middle where Hugo/Fubar are, which is what you want.  The
Tinto combo will do very little damage (most of the time only 1 point) but
that's not the point.  What you want to do is just attack with Hugo/Fubar and
have the MIB concentrate his attacks on them as well.  Heal Hugo/Fubar every
other round with Sgt. Joe's Kindness Drops unless the MIB got lucky and did
double damage.  You should be able to take him down before Sgt. Joe runs out of
Kindness Drops.  If not, use Samus' Wind Rune to heal them and if you run out
of _that_, use the Medicine you equipped on Fubar to heal (Hugo will still get
an attack).  Using this strategy, I'm able to win every time, although one of
the Tinto characters or Sgt. Joe may go down if they get hit with the
Eight-Devil Rune.  After you win, you'll get a Gold Emblem and some experience,
although usually only enough to bump a few people up 1 level if everyone's at
level 32.

After you win the battle, you'll learn the MIB's name and continue with your
journey.  If you got into the fight but lost, it'll just trigger another
cutscene but you won't have to start over.  The cutscene just shows the MIB
standing over your party's prone bodies then departing.  If you like, you can
head back to Duck Village afterwards to replenish spells or do whatever,
although you can just proceed west to advance the story.

Keep heading west until you come out of the passageway.  You'll see a cutscene
showing the Zexens' raid on Great Hollow from Chris' chapter 2.  When you're
given the choice, you can pick the first option ("Sgt. we must join!") to get
into some fights or pick the second option to just wait it out.  If you opt to
fight, you'll battle a group of 4 Zexen Regulars who aren't any trouble.  Head
to the front of Great Hollow and you'll get into another fight with the same
group.  They're not worth too much in terms of experience or anything else but
it's up to you if you want to fight them.

Regardless of what you chose, you'll then see a cutscene play out according to
whether or not you opted to duel Lucia with Chris.  Enter the Great Hollow and
you'll trigger a scene when you get to the main area.  You can pick whatever
dialogue option you wish when given the choice.  Another cutscene will follow.
When given the dialogue option, again you can choose whichever option you see
fit.  When you get control of Hugo again, head to the 2nd floor where the
Chief's room is to advance the story.  Dupa will give Lilly some background on
the Flame Champion and you'll get another flashback.

Head to the southeast exit on the first floor on your mini-map to get another
scene.  When Lilly asks you about the Flame Champion, you can pick the first
choice to lie and get called on it by Lilly.  Pick the second choice and Lilly
will fill you in.  When Lilly mentions she's been around someone with a True
Rune before, this is in reference to some events 15 years earlier that played
out in Suikoden II.  After this chat, head to the inn and talk to Anne.  Put
Fubar back in your party.  You can now upgrade your skills with the bujutsu
teacher on the 2nd floor, upgrade your gear, and sharpen your weapons up to
level 9.  I do recommend that you go ahead and "Forget" Samus' Wind Magic and
Lilly's Sword of Magic skills-you won't get much mileage out of them the rest
of the way.  To advance the story, exit the Great Hollow.

Head to the World Map exit and you'll run into a familiar face.  When you get a
dialogue choice you can again pick whatever option you want.  Head back into
the Great Hollow to talk with Lucia, who's standing outside the inn.  When you
get asked about delivering the pentacle, you can act goofy and pick the second
option or just tell the truth by picking the first choice.  After you talk some
more, you'll be given another dialogue choice.  Pick the first one to agree to
the mission or pick the second one if you feel uncertain.

After that's over, you can now close the chapter by leaving the Great Hollow
and exiting from there to the World Map.  If you like, you can go back through
the Ancient Highway to get to Duck Village and the other places available.  I
just opt to move ahead but it's up to you if you want to level up and so forth.

There's also one person you can recruit in this chapter, Twaikin the dwarf.  If
you intend to play Thomas' chapters, I highly recommend you let Thomas recruit
him.  If you want to get him now, head back to the Great Hollow.  At the main
area with the waterfalls, take the SE exit on your mini-map.  Follow this path
to the exit.  On the screen after, you'll hear digging noises.  Follow the path
to the left and you'll run into Twaikin.  Talk to him and when the lizard guard
shows up, pick the dialogue choice "Nothing".  When Twaikin asks, suggest to
him to join your group and you'll successfully recruit him.  You can put
Twaikin in your party now if you like by talking to Anne.  I don't because I'd
rather have Fubar.  Thanks to SimUser for providing info. on getting Twaikin in
this chapter.

[No new Recruits in this chapter]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4h.  Geddoe Chapter 2

Pick Geddoe from the Trinity Site.  Head to the tavern portion of the inn and
talk to Aila and Ace to put them back in your party.  Head outside and take
the stairs up that are to the right of the Rune Shop.  Go back to the outside
of the inn to view some cutscenes.  I guess Sasarai had a hat-ectomy since
Suikoden II.  After that's over, and if you have the money, you can buy Gold
Bars at the Trade Shop here to sell in VdZ for a profit of 20,000+ potch each.

You'll now have the choice of heading to Le Buque to advance the story but I
suggest you go around the rest of the World Map to fight the treasure bosses at
the North Cavern and Mt. Hei-Tou first.  You'll definitely want to check the
Rarity sections of all the Armor/Item Shops-they've got really good stuff like
Blessed Chainmail at Caleria and Brass Castle as well as Thunderbolt Leather at
Brass Castle.  I also recommend that you add Swing to Ace's skill set-he can
get it up to a B+ with just a small amount of skill points.  Unless there's a
special circumstance, I'm leaving the skill selection/leveling up from here on
mainly up to you.  Just do your best not to let your skill points pile up (more
than 500)-use them when you can.  I do recommend that you leave one empty skill
slot for Geddoe.

When you go to the Mt. Path and come to the area where you fought the Twin-Head
Snake boss, you'll notice a new boss-The Rock Golem.  You can safely walk past
him to take the Le Buque route if you want to advance the story.  If you want
to fight him (and I recommend you do to get to the other places on the Map),
here's the strategy I used:

He's got three noteworthy attacks.  The most dangerous is a Fire Rune spell
called Explosion, which will hit everyone in your party for about 150-200 pts.
of damage.  It's very difficult to stop him from getting this spell off by
damaging him.  His other attacks are punches, one that swings around to hit
everyone in the immediate area and a super punch that targets one person. In
the first round, cast Geddoe's Soaring Bolt and Aila's Battle Oath spells.  Use
Ace's Double Tusk attack.  After that, use Geddoe's Berserk Blow, Ace's Double
Tusk, and everyone else's physical attacks.  Heal with Aila's Great Blessing
spell (if everyone's hurt) and Joker's Kindness Drops (if only a pair is hurt).
It'll take a while (usually 6 rounds for me) but you'll wear him down.  If you
keep getting wiped out, consider using the Soaring Bolt items found as Rarity
at the Caleria Item shop and/or equipping everyone with a Sacrificial Jizo.  I
beat this battle with everyone at level 32 except Aila who was level 31.

The notable loot I got was:

Stone of Magic
Blood Armor
Premier Leather
Fine Chainmail
Beautiful Kennel
? Statue

The Blood Armor is a very nice piece of armor that boosts several of your
stats.  It's only problem is that it causes 15 pts. of damage at the end of
every round.  You can counter this by equipping the person wearing Blood Armor
with the Sunbeam Rune you picked up earlier.  Only Ace and Geddoe in this party
can wear this armor.  Remember that Caleria nearby has a warehouse and a Rune
Shop if you either stored your Sunbeam Rune or have it attached to someone
else.

Some things to keep in mind if you opt not to go to Le Buque right away.  Going
'round the world so to speak to fight the Mt. Hei-Tou and North Cavern treasure
bosses and coming back to this spot will take you a solid hour-which is good
because it'll give enough time for the Rock Golem to re-spawn.  If you bought
Gold Bars in Caleria you can sell them at VdZ as well as getting stuff
appraised there.  While you're in VdZ you can buy some Deer Antler to trade
back at Caleria.  When you cross Plain Amur, the Dark Bunnies there may drop
the item !Screw as loot.  You can pick it up if you like to recruit Belle-the
little girl pounding away on a barrel in the eastern courtyard of Brass Castle.
I prefer to recruit her with Hugo because their scene is different but it's up
to you.  The notable loot I got for fighting the treasure bosses:

Blue Mantrix (Mt. Hei-Tou)    Chimera (North Cavern)      Rock Golem (2nd time)
Counter Rune                  ? Painting                  Guardian Chainmail
Fine Armor                                                LightningMagic Ring
                                                          ? Statue

If you got the LightningMagic Ring as well, slap it on Geddoe.  Go back to
Caleria to rest up and replenish your spells.  Also buy everyone a Sacrificial
Jizo but don't equip them with it yet.  After doing all this stuff, everyone
was at level 37.  To make the story progress, take the path north from where
you beat the Rock Golem.  Take the path north on your mini-map on the next
screen.  After that, follow the path east to get back to the World Map.  Select
to go to Le Buque.  You'll have a brief conversation then immediately get into
a fight with three mantor trainers and their mantors.  These guys aren't all
that tough-I just use Jacques' Boronda Hawk to soften them up then knock them
out with Geddoe's Soaring Bolt.  Concentrate the others' attacks on Franz
because he can use Lightning Magic.

A familiar face will come out to break up the fight.  When you're given the 3
dialogue options, pick whichever one you like.  Head into town and you'll see
another cutscene.  Go to the right over by where the Shops are-you'll set off
another cutscene.  Follow Aila over to the Rune Shop.  You'll notice a kid
standing outside the shop and we'll deal with him later.  Run up to Aila and
you'll eavesdrop on the conversation inside the shop.  Head back to the middle
of town for, yep, another cutscene.  Next, go to the left of the inn at the
back of town to overhear a chat between Iku and Franz.  When you get inside
Iku's house you'll be given 2 choices.  If you go for the first ("I guess")
you'll head outside to do some spying.  If you go for the second ("Let's hear")
you'll hear Iku talk more about Le Buque's situation and Harmonia.  It's up to
you but Iku's talk is pretty redundant, IMHO, so I opt for the spying.

If you decided on the spy option, head to the right of the Armor Stand on the
right side of town.  Next to it is a ladder.  Just get close to the ladder and
you'll trigger a cutscene.  Go back to Iku's house.  Head to the middle of town
for yet another cutscene.  When that's over, you can finally roam around the
town freely without worrying about setting off another cutscene every other
step.  You can get an Arabian Kennel by talking to the villager at the back of
town outside the inn.  Inside the inn, you can get Script #4 from the little
kid talking to her grandma.  You can get Herb Seeds by talking to the little
girl sitting to the left of the Item Stand.  After you're done shopping and
exploring, go to the inn and Stay/Save.

Go to the Rune Shop and talk to the kid standing outside.  This is Edge and he
will challenge you to a duel. Accept.  He's at level 42 so he's likely at least
a few levels higher than you.  His comments and what he'll do:

Attack:
-------
Don't get cocky.
You're better than I thought.  Again!
What's this?  All defense?
Don't chicken out on me.
You won't win just by defending.
I suppose I could go easy on you.
You're no slouch, eh?

Defend:
-------
Come on and take a shot!
Nice work.
Why don't you show me what you've got?
Might as well play it safe.
I see we're both cautious.
Don't get shaken...

Deathblow:
----------
Nice work.  Now how about this?
I'll pay you back double.
Try defending against this!
This should finish it.
I'll end this right away.
Let's make this interesting.
This might just finish it...
Time to get serious.
Stand still!

If you lose to him you can just challenge him again until you win the duel.
Once you beat him you'll recruit Edge.  You won't be able to put him in your
active party but no one else has access to Le Buque until chapter 4 so I just
go ahead and recruit him here.  There's nothing special about getting him with
Chris or Hugo, either.  When you're ready to make the story advance exit the
village.  You'll chat with Iku then be on your way.  When you get to the World
Map, a new location will open-Mt. Senai.  Once you enter Mt. Senai and take
care of business in there, you won't be able to go anywhere else on the World
Map for the rest of the chapter-this includes fighting the Mt. Path treasure
boss again.  This is just to let you know in case you really enjoy doing that.
When you're ready for the story to advance, head to Mt. Senai.

Go up to the blue crystal and save.  There are no rare encounters I'm aware of
here and the enemies aren't that hard.  Head north on the mini-map for 2
screens.  Eventually you'll set off a cutscene.  Head north one more screen and
you'll come to an area with a couple of bridges.  Make sure everyone's at
maximum health before you cross and that you've equipped them with Sacrificial
Jizos from before.  Cross over and head north-you'll get another cutscene.
You get 3 dialogue choices.  Here's what they are and what they'll trigger:

A.  Sorry but we have to keep going (2 consecutive fights)
B.  We're both in the defense force (Leads to Choices A & C)
C.  That Bishop is up to something (No fighting at all)

I always opt for A.  The first fight pits you against Duke and his team, the
second one immediately follows without any break and it puts you up against
the Masked Bishop and Sarah.  My strategy for Duke's team:

Cast Berserk Blow with Geddoe on Duke, have Aila/Jacques attack Elaine, and use
Ace's Double Tusk on Elaine.  DO NOT use Geddoe's Soaring Bolt spell-you'll
need it for the next fight.  After that, target Duke and Gau using Geddoe's
Berserk Blow and everyone else's regular attacks.  Once their gone, mop up
Nicolas-he's tough to hit with melee attacks so use Geddoe's level 1 spell and
Ace's Double Tusk.  When you're close to winning, make sure you heal everyone
with Aila's Great Blessing spell since you'll get into another fight right
after.  My strategy for the next fight:

Sarah will either go for Breath of Ice or a Fire spell.  The Ice spell is very
quick and will usually happen before you act.  On occasion, you might get
lucky and Sarah will go for Kindness Rain for her first move or both of them
will opt for melee attacks.  This is pretty rare though. The Masked Bishop will
go for either a Pale Gate or Wind spell usually but it'll come after everyone
in your group has acted most of the time.  I use Soaring Bolt with Geddoe,
target Sarah with Aila and Jacques, and have Ace do Double Tusk on her.  Most
of your guys will probably be reduced to 0 HP after the first round but that's
what the Sacrificial Jizos are for.  Sarah should've gone down in the first
round.  Just repeat what you did before and you should take out the Masked
Bishop fine in the next round.  You get a nice bump in experience and skill
points for winning these battles (I went from level 37 to 39).

After you win, the Masked Bishop will knock you out with a spell and Joker will
note what rune he used.  When that's over, or if you went for the peaceful
choice, your group will gather outside the altar.  For some reason, you can't
just use an Escape Scroll to zap out to the exit so just walk back.  When you
reach the exit, your group will discuss their options.  Head back to Le Buque
and Stay/Save at the Inn.  Go back to Mt. Senai-there'll be a treasure boss
now at the very back where you fought Sarah and the Masked Bishop.  It'll be
a big guy called Nemesis but he's no tougher than anyone else you've already
faced.  Just use the normal attacks (Geddoe with Soaring Bolt, etc.) and you'll
take him down easy.  The notable loot I received:

Script #6 (only if you loaded Suikoden II data)
Stone of Skill
Hunter Rune
Custom Casque
Custom Leather
Custom Tunic
Mangosh
? Statue

When you're done here, use an Escape Scroll and exit.  Go back to Le Buque to
Stay/Save again.  To end the chapter, go back to the Mt. Path and keep going
back toward Caleria.  Before you get to the treasure boss, you'll see a chat
with your group and a flashback.  The chapter will then end.

Edge [36/108]*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4i.  Geddoe Chapter 3

Pick Geddoe at the Trinity Site.  Two things to keep in mind for all three
characters' chapter 3's-don't bother to try to hoard cash for use later.  Keep
it at a decent amount (a few hundred thousand) but don't go for having 999,999
potch at the end of the chapter.  Also, you should have primary armor (such as
the Chainmail, Leather, etc. not accessories) that's at least +60 or better for
them before their chapter 3's are over.  With all the treasure boss monsters
you'll be fighting this won't be much of a problem but it's something to
remember as you play through everyone's chapter 3.  Remember to save an empty
skill slot for Geddoe.

After the opening scene head west through the middle of Brass Castle.  You can
stop by at the bujutsu teacher to boost the team's physical skills if you like.
Head to the west courtyard and you'll see an interesting scene.  Keep heading
west until you come to the blue crystal.  Save and exit to the World Map.  You
have a little freedom to roam somewhat but I suggest you take care of the story
first-there'll be plenty of time to do other stuff later.

Head to Zexen Forest.  The most notable enemy here is the Do Re Mi elves, who
can be something of a pain.  Use Jacques' Boronda Hawk (hopefully he won't get
silenced) and have everyone else attack normally.  You'll also run into a big
orange crab enemy called the Mantikra.  If you get a Crab Rice Bowl as loot
from him, hold on to it.  When you exit Zexen Forest, you can opt to head
straight to VdZ to advance the story or go and fight the treasure boss at the
North Cavern.  The new treasure boss there will be a Stone Golem.  He's a bit
tougher than the Rock Golem because he has more HP and his attacks do a little
more damage.  With all the treasure gear you've gotten plus your skills, it
should be more of a matter of how long it'll take to win rather than if you
win or lose.  Most of my party was bumped up 2 levels after beating him and
this was the notable loot:

Custom Leather
Robe of Mist
Herb Seeds
? Statue

Exit and go to VdZ to make the story advance.  When you arrive inside the gate
you'll see a conversation between your party.  Head to the inn to make the
story go if you like or check out the shops first.  At the Item Shop they'll
now have a Rarity called a Yellow Scarf.  This is one of the best accessories
in the game because it negates status ailments like poison, silent, asleep, and
paralysis.  I suggest you buy one for Joker, Geddoe, and Aila if they have it
and for anyone else in the future who uses magic a lot.  Starting in chapter 5
this item will be a regular item at this shop.  At the Armor Shop they'll now
have Wizard Hats.  I recommend you buy one for Geddoe-this will bump him up
another grade for Lightning Magic and will boost it to an A+ or S depending on
whether or not you got the LightningMagic Ring earlier.  Duck Village will be
open to Geddoe later in the chapter so you can pick up Deer Antler and Crystal
Balls at the Trade Shop to sell there later.

When you're done shopping, go to the inn.  Talk to the man at the counter and
pick Stay.  You'll then see a series of conversations with different members of
your team.  When you get control of Geddoe, head to the exit and save at the
blue crystal right outside VdZ.  To advance the story, go to the North Cavern.
After a brief scene just head to the end like you normally would.  Right before
you reach the hallway with the blue crystal, you'll run into an acquaintance.

When you get the dialogue options, pick the first choice if you want to duel
right away.  Pick the second if you want to heal up first or what have you.
Note that you can't get to the blue save crystal-the closest save is the one
right outside of VdZ.  If you lose this duel you'll go to the continue screen.
The odds are heavily in your favor, though.  Your opponent's comments and what
they mean:

Attack:
-------
Here we go!
I'll return that!
Now this is a fight!  Here it comes again!
Don't put me to sleep, Geddoe.
Well, well.  Aren't you cunning?
Come on now, are you really that meek?
What's wrong, Geddoe?  You wanted the real thing, right?
Not bad at all.  I'll go full speed as well.

Defend:
-------
Don't just stand there-Attack!
The next attack is yours.  Come on!
Nice try.  I'll take it as many times as you can bring it.
How long do I have to wait!
That luck will run out!
Hardly felt a thing.  Try a little harder.
So what do you want to do?  I'll give you a chance.

Deathblow:
----------
If that's your game, I've got a little gift for you.
Is that all it took?  This should finish it.
Better than I thought, Geddoe.  Now take this.
Looking me in the eye won't get you sympathy!
Hold still!

You'll see a cutscene after you win.  If Geddoe got banged up, don't forget to
heal him.  Head to the back where you'd normally fight the treasure boss-you
have to go all the way back toward the light.  This will trigger a meeting with
another familiar face and you'll get a new mission.  You'll then be outside the
North Cavern.  Oddly enough, even though I'd only beat the Stone Golem only
25 minutes or so previous, he was there again.  No notable loot this time but
he still gave 140,000 potch.  To advance the story, head to Lake Castle.

When you arrive, you'll see a cutscene of your party looking at a cutscene.
It's essentially pieces of a puzzle that you can see fit together if you play
through Thomas' chapters.  To advance the story, go to the library in the main
house where Ernie and Eike are.  Before that, you can visit the shops here as
well as the inn.  If you're out of Escape Scrolls, make sure to buy some here.

When you enter the library, it's another cutscene.  Exit and head down the
stairs.  If you want to look around some more, pick the second option when the
dialogue comes up.  If not, just pick the first choice.  If you opted to look
around some more, just come back to the front of these stairs to get the choice
to advance the story again.  When the story progresses, you'll see a very
interesting and revealing conversation between Geddoe and Joker.

When you have control of Geddoe, save at the blue crystal.  You'll want to keep
his regular Lightning Rune on him, BTW-it may come in handy later.  Exit the
main house and head to the front gate.  When you reach it, you'll see a little
more of Thomas' story.  Next up is a fight with 5 Zexen regulars.  Geddoe's
lightning magic will take care of them quickly.  Head to the main house to get
another fight with 5 Zexen regulars.  Continue to the house and you'll see some
more cutscenes before ending up inside.  One more battle with 5 more Zexen
regulars.  You'll get another scene to see how it all plays out.

When you exit Lake Castle, a new spot will open on the World Map, Flame 
Champion Hideaway.  You can head there now to make the story progress but I
suggest you do a bunch of other things first.

If you aren't going to be playing Thomas' chapters, head to the Great Hollow to
recruit a dwarf named Twaikin, if you didn't earlier with Hugo.  To find him,
enter the Great Hollow.  At the main area, take the southeast exit on your
mini-map.  Follow the tunnel to the end.  At the screen with the 3 exits on
your mini-map keep going to the left of the screen.  You'll hear some digging.
Talk to Twaikin and tell the lizard guard that nothing's going on.  Suggest
Budehuc Castle and you'll recruit him.  If you plan on playing Thomas'
scenario, I suggest you wait until then to get Twaikin.

You can fight the Blue Mantrix at Mt. Hei-Tou if you like but I never got any
decent loot for fighting him and I was already at 999,999 potch at this point.
Head now to the Mt. Path.  The good ol' Rock Golem will still be the treasure
boss here.  I got another LightningMagic Ring and a ?Statue.  Go to Le Buque to
rest up then head to Mt. Senai to fight Nemesis again.  Notable loot from that
was a Premier Tunic and ?Statue.  Go to Caleria next.  Talk to the man at the
outside stand to the left of the Blacksmith/Armor Shop.  He will give you the
Copper Hammer.  Head _all_ the way back to Lake Castle.  Give the Copper Hammer
to Peggi and sharpen everyone's weapon up to level 12.  Make sure to train up
all your _physical_ skills that you want.  We're heading to the other side of
the map where the closest teacher is only the Tutor at Duck Village.

If you haven't got a Yellow Scarf yet, you can try again at VdZ and fight the
North Cavern boss again if you want (he still gives very good experience/skill
points).  If you've had enough hiking around the World Map, head to Duck
Village.  At this point, if you really, really like Geddoe's character, then I
recommend you add Fire Magic to his open slot and train it up (it tops out at
a B+).  In case you're curious, when I left Lake Castle this is how my skills
looked:

Queen:                         Geddoe:                      Jacques:
Swing-B+                       Parry-A                      Sharpshoot-S
Accuracy-B+                    Damage-B+                    Accuracy-B+
Repel-B+                       Freeze-B+                    Damage-B+
Heavy Damage-A                 Magic Repel-B                Repel-B
Damage-B                       Accuracy-B+                  Magic Resistance-B+
Magic Resistance-B             Lightning-S                  Swing-C
                               Swing-B+


Aila:                          Ace:                         Joker:
Acccuracy-B+                   Thief-B+                     Counter-Attack-A                      
Repel-B+                       Accuracy-B+                  Continual Attack-E
Shield Magic-B+                Repel-B                      Focus-A
Freeze-A                       Swing-B+                     Accuracy-B
Swing-B+                       Magic Resistance-B           Repel-A
Damage-B+                                                   Water Magic-B+
                                                            Magic Resistance-B

On the way to Duck Village, when you get to Plain Amur North you'll see a bunch
of horses and a cowgirl with a pink hat. Just run by them-we'll get them in the
next chapter.  At Duck Village, go to the Item Shop/Appraiser.  A Rarity there
is Haziness Runes which are very nice "default" runes for your characters who
attack up close.  That is, if you have nothing else to put on them in an open
rune slot, this is a good choice.  They may also have Blue Ribbons, which work
just like Skunk Runes (prevent the wearer from being targeted by single
attacks) but they're an accessory.  Only females can use them.  Buy 1
Sacrificial Jizo but don't equip it on anyone.

If you got the Crab Rice Bowl item from the Mantikra earlier, you can talk to
the girl with a Chef's Hat on the second floor of the Item Shop.  This is
Mamie.  Give her the Bowl when she asks for it and you'll recruit her.  Don't
worry if you don't have it-you'll automatically get a Crab Rice Bowl in Hugo's
chapter 3.  Once you get Mamie, she will be located to the far left on the same
screen as Scott's Trade Shop.  You can give her the recipes you've picked up
once you get her.  To make a wider variety of foods, pick up all the spices
from the Trade Shops (Salt, Sugar, Mayo, Red Pepper, and Soy Sauce) and bring
1 of each to her.

Go to the inn next.  You'll notice there's no counter person.  Exit to the back
of the inn and talk to the fellow with the red hat.  This is Hortez VII.  Talk
to him and give him directions to Budehuc.  He's not recruited yet but you'll
get him in a later chapter.  Talk to the woman in the blue outfit to get Old
Book Vol. 5.  Go to the top hut to trigger a cutscene.  When Kidd asks if you
want to help, pick the 2nd choice ("I'd rather not").  You'll get him in Hugo's
chapter 3 for a very good reason.  Talk to the Duck next to him-this is the
innkeeper.  Go ahead and Stay/Save.  Head to the exit.  On your way out, talk
to the duck sitting by the walkway on the left outside of the Rune Shop/Tutor
to get a Toy Duck.

Go to Kuput Forest. Go right at the first screen.  At the next screen, the path
to the northwest on your mini-map leads to herbs.  If you want to pick them, go
ahead.  If not, head east.  At the next screen, the left path will be a dead
end so don't bother-you won't be able to take that path until Chris' chapter 3.
Take the right path instead.  At the next screen, take the northwest path and
follow it to find a corpse.  Loot it to get a random item.  The rare random
item for this corpse is a Cyclone rune but you'll get something else the vast
majority of the time.  Head back to the previous screen and take the northeast
route this time.  Head east on the next screen and you'll be back on the World
Map.  Go to the Flame Champion Hideaway.

When you arrive, a cutscene occurs.  We're heading to the end of the chapter
just to let you know.  The Bronze Sun monsters in the random encounters are
good for skill points in case you want to boost some of those.  Go north.  At
the next screen, take the northeast path.  Follow it to find a corpse who has
Old Book Vol. 9.  Head back to the previous screen and take the northwest path
this time.  At the next screen, you'll notice the northwest path dead ends with
a white dot marked on the mini-map.  This is your final destination for this
chapter but don't go there yet.  Instead, head northeast.  On the next screen,
take the dead end path to the northeast to loot another corpse who has Old Book
Vol. 1.  When you come back to loot these corpses, the first one closer to the
entrance will rarely have a Pale Gate Rune.  The second one you just looted
rarely has a WaterMagic Ring.  Both items are great but again, they're quite
rare.  Take the northwest route now on your mini-map.  Continue forward and
save at the blue crystal.  Make sure everyone's at maximum health.  If you keep
going north you'll see a treasure boss, the Azzodess.  My preparation and
strategy:

This boss is invulnerable to Geddoe's lightning magic so don't bother with
using that.  She has 3 primary attacks.  The first one shoots beams from her at
one person, doing some nasty magic damage.  The second one she'll summon
another winged creature to damage everyone in your party.  In addition, this
attack has a chance to hit everyone with silence status.  The third is a heavy
duty Lightning magic spell that hits everyone.  If you got a Yellow Scarf from
VdZ earlier, it's a good idea to equip them for this fight.  If you only have
one, put it on Aila so she can heal everyone with her Great Blessing spell.  If
you don't have any, equip everyone with medicine and heal that way.  In terms
of attack, cast Battle Oath with Aila from the start then just use everyone's
melee attacks.  It may take 6-8 turns but you'll eventually take her down.
Notable loot:

Fire Magic Ring
Custom Tunic
Stone of Power
Wind Hat

If you want to progress the story head to the white dot on the mini-map you
saw earlier.  If you want to level up and do some other stuff first, feel free.
I'm at level 45 with everyone in Geddoe's party but if you went around to fight
the treasure bosses at the North Cavern, Mt. Path, Mt. Senai, and Flame Champ
Hideaway again you can easily get it to level 47, not to mention a boatload
more skill points.  It's entirely up to you but level 45 is plenty good.

Before you advance the story by going to the white dot, make sure Geddoe has
all of his spells and that you equip him with the Sacrificial Jizo you bought
at Duck Village earlier (my accessories for him were Iron Boots, LightningMagic
Ring, and the Jizo).

When you reach the white dot, you'll see it's actually a circle etched in the
stone ground.  Walk up to it and you'll trigger a cutscene.  When you get
control of Geddoe, just head north and go through the door.  Keep going north
and the chapter will end.