Chrono Cross - Strategy Guide (Page 01)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Chrono Cross - Strategy Guide (Page 01).

CHRONO CROSS GUIDE & FAQ
By ToastyFrog 
(J. Parish - tfrog@camalott.com)
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REVISION 1.9.5
Sept. 23, 2000
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PLEASE READ BEFORE USING THIS GUIDE:

Before you use this guide, I have three simple requests:

1. I'm still playing through the US version - until I'm done (revision 2.0),
PLEASE DON'T FILL MY INBOX WITH CORRECTIONS. There are many holes and
inaccuracies in this guide, but I need to fill them myself. Anything submitted
before Rev. 2.0 will be deleted without being read.

2. Don't email me looking for help. If it isn't here, I don't know. Try other
FAQs, the official guide, message boards, whatever. But please be courteous -
I currently have 900 Chrono Cross related emails from people who aren't.
Almost all of them have been ignored, because I simply DO NOT have time to be
a help line.

And it probably goes without saying, but you'd be surprised at how dishonest
(or stupid) some people can be: do not use this guide without my permission.
Don't rewrite it, don't hack it up for your website, don't copy it, and don't
post it without my name. For most people this is an obvious matter of respect,
but I'm worried about the 4 or 5 freaks out there who failed their ethics
classes. Think before you steal, eh?

Thanks for your courtesy.

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CONTENTS:

I. ABOUT THIS FAQ
II. ABOUT THE GAME
 A. KNOWN GAME DETAILS (PRE-RELEASE)
 B. GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS
  1. COMBAT
  2. MAGIC (ELEMENTS)
   a. CLASSES
   b. CUSTOMIZATION
  3. WEAPON UPGRADES
  4. FIELD EFFECT & SUMMONS
  5. COMBINATION ATTACKS
  6. THE MENU SCREEN
  7. AFTER THE BATTLE
  8. STATISTICS
 C. GENERAL GAMEPLAY TIPS
III. WALKTHROUGH - DISC ONE
 A. CHANGES FROM THE DEMO
 B. CHRONO'S MYSTERIOUS DUNGEON
 C. ARNI VILLAGE: Where tides begin to turn
 D. OPASSA BEACH: A calling from beyond time
 E. ARNI VILLAGE: Nothing has changed but everything
 F. CAPE HOWL: A reminder of one's former self
 G. THE PORT TOWN OF TERMINA: The pride of the Acacian Dragoons
 H. VIPER MANOR: Where lie the keys to the past
    1. GUILE'S PATH
    2. PIERRE'S PATH
    3. NIKKI'S PATH
    4. ALL PATHS
 I. GULDOVE: Where ripples become waves
    1. ODDS AND ENDS
    2. HELPING A FRIEND
    3. ALTERNATE PATH
 J. HERMIT'S HIDEAWAY: A meeting with the 'other' swordsman
 K. FROM PIRATE SHIP TO GHOST SHIP: A mariner's worst nightmare
 L. ON TO THE WATER ISLE: In search of the dragon blue
 M. FORT DRAGONIA: Ancient dragon's dream in ruins
    1. EAST DOOR
    2. NORTHEAST DOOR
    3. NORTHWEST DOOR
    4. WEST DOOR
    5. SHOWDOWN
 N. DIMENSION VORTEX: Where lost souls wander
 O. BACK FROM THE DARKNESS: And on with a new journey
 P. TERMINA: Knight or day?
 Q. MARBULE: VIllage of the demi-humans
 R. THE MASAMUNE: The blood-stained sword of evil
 S. THE DEAD SEA: A place forsaken by the gods
 T. A PORTAL REOPENED: And the planet begins to shake
 U. BACK TO VIPER MANOR: A captive audience awaits
 V. SURPRISE ATTACK!: Pursuers with heavy hearts
 W. TO THE SEA OF EDEN: Through the hidden holes of time
IV. WALKTHROUGH - DISC TWO
 A. THE ARBITER OF TIME: On whom the Three Fates smile
 B. CHRONO CROSS: The point where destinies meet
 C. TERRA TOWER: Caught in the echo of time
 D. FOR ALL THE DREAMERS: Our planet's dream is not over yet
 E. NEW GAME+
 F. ENDINGS
V. CHARTS
 A. ELEMENTS
 B. SUMMONS
 C. COMBINATION TECHS
 D. WEAPONS
 E. ARMOR
 F. ACCESSORIES
 G. TRADING
 H. KEY ITEMS
 I. CHARACTERS (POSSIBLE SPOILERS!)
 J. MORPHS
 K. BEASTIARY
 L. BOSS BEASTIARY
 M. STOLEN ITEMS
 N. SOUNDTRACK LISTING
VI. FAQs
VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, ETC.
 A. REVISION HISTORY
 B. LINKS
 C. MUCHAS GRACIAS
  
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PART I: ABOUT THIS FAQ

The ultimate goal for this Guide is to be a comprehensive resource for the
game Chrono Cross. Now that the English game is out, there should be no
inaccuracies (in theory, but I'm only human). Story information for the rather
convoluted plot is contained at the end; don't read it if you don't want to
know! And each event written up does contain story spoilers, so I would
recommend you don't read ahead unless you just don't care. As with all guide,
the intent is to be a reference for when you get stuck, or to provide general
advice, or to let you know what you've missed for a second playthrough. 

This Guide may be distributed, reproduced, copied, folded, spindled or
cited, so long as you credit me and don't change the text. If you don't
like the way I write, feel free to create your own guide - all I ask is
that you respect my intellectual property and investment of time! This
Guide may NOT be distributed for profit, under penalty of, uh... death, or
something. Thanks. 

The most recent version of this document will always be available at and Please compare it to
the latest version before writing to me!

And finally, there are going to be spoilers in this Guide. If you don't
want to spoil the game for yourself, for crying out loud, DON'T READ THIS
GUIDE! You'd think that would be obvious, but then again some woman made
millions of dollars because McDonald's didn't tell her that coffee is hot,
so you can't be too safe these days.

Anyway, enjoy - I'm sure you're sick of my prelude, so here's the Guide.

  [FLASHBACK POINT: CHRONO TRIGGER]
  Whenever you see this indicator, I'm making a note of a connection to the 
  original game. That way, those of you who haven't played Chrono Trigger  
  (shame on you!) will know what you're missing out on. Act of kindness, or 
  cruel taunt? You make the call.
  
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PART II: ABOUT THE GAME

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A. KNOWN GAME DETAILS (PRE-RELEASE)
   A preview of sorts

Chrono Cross, as you hopefully know, is the sequel to 1995's extremely
successful uber-RPG Chrono Trigger. The game takes place 20 years after the
original... well, 20 years after the main time period, I suppose, making it
65,000,020 years after Ayla's time and about 979 years before the Day of
Lavos. Erm, anyway.

The battle system is similar to, yet shockingly different from, the system
in Chrono Cross. I'll get to that later; but another major difference is
the premise of the game. While Chrono Trigger focused on time travel and
the resulting paradoxes (as well as the malleability of the past - who
would have known that selling a piece of beef jerky would generate 20
generations of greed?), Chrono Cross focuses more on inter-dimensional
travel and the causes thereof. Not dimensions as in 2D and 3D (although CC
*does* make the jump from 2D to 3D), but rather parallel worlds and alternate
realities. So don't expect to hear Serge say, "Ich bin ein Flatlander!"
However, the game does focus on actions and consequences even moreso than
Chrono Trigger - the parallel worlds allow you to see "what if?" even more
clearly than in CT, but without that icky time paradox.

A few CT characters are known to be returning, if only in reference. First and
foremost is Lucca, whose presence was indicated by the sight of her home in
flames at the end of the Chrono Cross demo. It should also be noted that in
the recent Playstation rerelease of Chrono Trigger, new endings were added
that presumably lead in to Chrono Cross. Of particular note are the marriage
of Crono and Marle (why, Crono, why?!), the marriage of Ayla and wuss-boy
Kino, Frog's transformation back into Glenn and his subsequent knighting, and
Lucca's adoption of an orphaned child bearing a mysterious pendant.
Additionally, the Masamune Sword (aka Grandleon, for those playing the
Japanese version) was stolen in one of the new endings. Surely they wouldn't
go to the trouble of adding these new details unless they planned to DO
something with them, right?

The initial plot is based on a Super Famicom text adventure called Radical
Dreamers, which was briefly available by Satellaview (a dial-up
downloadable Super Famicom game service in Japan). You'll see references to
"Radical Dreamers" throughout the game, and even a bit of text from the actual
game, so this is important info. Pay attention! In that regard, Chrono Cross
is more of a remake than a new game, with a plot centered on finding a relic
called the Frozen Flame, which can grant the ability to twist reality
according to the will of whomever holds it. Lynx (who is known as Yamaneko in
the Japanese version), an anthropomorphic cat in a Soviet military dress
uniform, appears to be the main villain. However, this is a Square game, and
Square games are noted for their plots twists; I imagine defeating Lynx and
acquiring the Frozen Flame are about as likely to be the ultimate goals of the
game as much as beating President Shinra was the goal of Final Fantasy VII.

The game is being designed so that random battles are rarely necessary. Not
only can you see your enemies on screen to avoid them, but you can win the
game without spending much time leveling up (boss fights, of course, will
be necessary). No doubt people who take time to boost their levels will
blow through, but those who are tired of constant combat won't be penalized
for their reluctance to fight. Additionally, traditional experience levels
are not an element of this game; you earn status improvements a little at a
time after many battles, like in the SaGa games.

Small, piddling production details: the characters, for better or for
worse, are designed by Nobutero Yuuki. Yuuki also designed characters for
Record of Lodoss War, Seiken Densetsu 3, Vision of Escaflowne and more
recently, Tail Concerto. Serge looks almost exactly like Yugo from Battle
Angel, in fact. The prerendered FMV is being churned out by the amazing people
who put together Final Fantasy VIII's video sequences. Yasunori Mitsuda
(composer for Chrono Trigger and Xenogears) has written the music, which so
far sounds excellent. In fact, much of the Chrono Cross staff is comprised of
Chrono Trigger alumni, which really shows as you play the game.

B. GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS -------------------------

Chrono Cross has one of the most balanced gameplay systems I've seen (although
Serge tends to be too strong, bleah). Combat requires planning before and
during fights, and careful balancing of attacks, defense, magic and healing.
There are a lot fo factors to take into consideration, so read up now:

-- 1. COMBAT ---------------------------------

Neither turn-based nor active-time - what madness is this? Why, it's the
Chrono Cross battle system, of course.

Describing Chrono Cross' battle system is much easier with visuals, so if
this text is incomprehensible for you, check the charts I've made at Anyway, here's my best effort at a text-based
description.

Chrono Cross has three numbers which indicate a character's battle status. 

  The first and most obvious is HIT POINTS, which determine who lives and 
  who dies. 

  The second number is the ELEMENT LEVEL. Rather than using Magic Points, 
  Chrono Cross Element use is determined by a histogram which rather 
  resembles the level displays on a stereo. Refer to the Magic section 
  below for more information.
  
  The third number is shown at the bottom of the character status 
  indicator, and that is STAMINA. Stamina determines who can attack, and 
  the number and power of their possible attacks at once.

Each character begins battle with his or her stamina at 7 (maximum), the
Elements at 0 (minimum) and with however many hit points are carried over
from previous battles. Because the game is not real-time like Final
Fantasy's Active-Time Battle system, you can stand and stare at your enemy
for as long as you want while you devise a strategy. 

What does determine the flow of battle is Stamina points. For each attack a
character launches, that fighter uses a set number of Stamina points.
Similar to Xenogears, a strong attack uses 3 Stamina points, a medium
attack uses 2, and a weak attack inflicts little damage but uses a paltry 1
Stamina point. But while a fighter's Stamina is being used up by physical
attacks, 2 things are happening. 

 1. Other characters (enemies and allies alike) are recharging their own 
 Stamina to prepare for an attack. 
 
 2. The active character builds his or her Element Level for each successful
 attack landed. 
 
A successful attack that costs 3 Stamina Points will add 3 Levels to the
Element meter if it connects (and whether or not it connects, everyone else's
Stamina will rise 3 points); but a 1-Stamina Point attack will only add a
single level to the meter. A strong attack that misses is a real waste - not
only do you lose 3 Stamina Points, but you earn nothing on your Element Meter,
leaving you more vulnerable. Using an Element attack drains seven Stamina
points - so if you have only 1.0 Stamina point left, using an Element will
knock you down to -6.0, out of combat for 7 points on the Stamina meter. You
must have at least 1 full point of Stamina in order to initiate any move;
otherwise you will have to wait until enough combat "time" elapses to bring
you up to one Stamina point. 

When you begin to attack an enemy, a small box opens that displays your
chances of landing a successful blow. With each successive strike, your
chances improve. Weak attacks are more likely to hit than strong attacks,
especially at the beginning. But as you score more damage, you will have
more success with strong blows. A 3-point attack may have only a 60% chance
of connecting at the beginning of a round, but after landing a few 1- or
2-point strikes, a strong attack may rise to 85% success or even higher.
Balancing your attacks is imperative.

However, despite the obvious advantage of consecutive strikes, you're not
required to strike only a single enemy per move. Nor are you required to
attack with the same fighter. At any time, you can switch your attacks to a
different foe; you may also choose to have a different character pick up
the attack. However, switching targets or fighters will destroy the
statistical advantage your successful attacks against an enemy may have
generated. But aborting attacks is the key to effective Summoning and
Combinations, rather like Xenogears' AP but less tedious.

One other consideration - enemies can interrupt your attacks to launch their
own strikes between your hits. If an enemy targets the active character (a
successful hit isn't necessary, so long as your character is attacked) after
two successful weak hits, it will destroy that character's statistical
advantage and all hit % ratings will drop to where they started.

Personally, I rarely use all 7 Stamina points for attacks. If I'm down to
one last enemy, I'll use my last Stamina point for an Element to end the
fight quickly. But if I'm up against multiple enemies, especially those
which use strong attacks, I'll use my last Stamina point to Defend and
reduce damage. Yes, that's right - Chrono Cross may be the first RPG ever
in which defending is not only useful, but something that can be done
frequently without bogging down the battle. Amazing but true! Defending
cuts physical attacks by as much as 2/3, so judicious defending is a wise
combat decision. Be aware that Defending also causes 1 Stamina point to be
regenerated rather than used.

-- 2. ELEMENTS (MAGIC) -----------------------

Elements serve the role of Magic in Chrono Cross; a rose by any other name
kicks just as much butt. Like in Chrono Trigger, Elements are divided into
a series of classes. Additionally, spells have a power level to them which
can be enhanced or diminished depending on their placement in your magic
hierarchy.

-- a. CLASSES --------------------------------

This is fairly straightforward. Each spell is ranked in a category that
seems to match up with Chrono Trigger's system, with a few small changes.
Each character seems to have an Elemental affinity; while they can cast
spells of various kinds, it seems the spells for which they have the most
affinity will be more effective. For instance, Serge is White/Cosmic, Kid
is Red/Fire and Glenn is Green/Wind (in the demo he was Blue/Water, just like
Frog, but they wisely changed that for the final game).

 1. WHITE - This seems to be the equivalent of CT's Lightning magical class. 
      Attacks are both energy-based (Holy, Laser, Photon) and physical 
      (Comet, Shooting). Also includes RecoverAlly magic, like Revive.
 2. RED - Fiery attacks. Surprising, huh? Spells include Volcano, 
      Meltstone and the Salamander Summon.
 3. BLUE - Ice, water and healing. Spells include Deluge, IceLance, and 
      Cure/CurePlus. 
 4. GREEN - Air and nature-based attacks, such as BushWhacker and Tornado. 
      Also incorporates earth-based attacks, like BushBasher.
 5. YELLOW - This seems to encompass a number of different spells types, 
      really. Some of them are straightforward electrical attack spells, 
      like Lightning and ElectroJolt. Also, there seems to be a number of 
      earth-elemental spells here as well, such as Uplift.
 6. BLACK - The antithesis of White. As you might well imagine. This seems 
      to consist of complimentary versions of White Elements, such as Hell
      Laser, the yang to Laser's yin.
      
Elements exist in pairs - White and Black, Blue and Red, Green and Yellow.
Enemies with a certain elemental affiliation will be weak to its opposite
Element - a Green enemy will take more damage from a Yellow attack than from a
Blue or White attack. But Green elements will also damage a Yellow enemy in
turn. Furthermore, sometimes using spells of an enemy's type will actually
heal it (for instance, certain plants recover HP when hit with Green spells).
Use this to your advantage, but be aware that enemies aren't shy about
exploiting Elemental opposites either - I've noticed that enemies tend to go
after characters who are opposite to their own nature. 

It seems also that there are "light magic" and "dark magic" - the "light"
Elements, or those with curative properties, White, Green and Blue, tend to
have a stronger effect on "dark" Elements which can only cure in the form of
consumables. This split also has an impact on Pip's nature, but more on that
later.

Additionally, each element can inflict a certain status ailment on your party
or on enemies. An (*) indicates a condition that heals automatically after
battle. Each condition can be healed with Stock Elements of the same color.

GREEN:  Poison (saps HP for every battle increment)
        Afraid (receive critical hits easily)(*)
BLACK:  Blind (hit accuracy % is cut in half)(*)
        Cursed (Lose stamina when struck in battle)(*)
RED:    Burn (receive more damage in battle/on "damage zone" ground).
        Confused (characters attack randomly)(*)
YELLOW: Sprain (attack down/characters can't run while exploring)
        Dizzy (dodge rate decreases)
BLUE:   Frozen (characters are inactive for several turns)(*)
        Flu (Slow stamina recovery/hard to control in field)
WHITE:  Exhaustion (characters exert additional stamina with each move)(*)
        Sleep (Character is immobile and vulnerable)(*)
 
-- b. CUSTOMIZATION --------------------------

The Element system is an interesting hybrid of other magic systems. It
resembles Suikoden and the original Final Fantasy in that each character
has a hierarchy of spells to use - Level One spells are weak, but can be
cast with only a single level built on the Element Meter in combat. Level
Five spells take five successful physical strikes to activate, but are much
more powerful than Level One spells.

However, what makes the Element system different from those terribly
limited games is that it's completely customizable, like Junctioning in
Final Fantasy VIII. By opening the status screen, you will have access to a
grid that allows you to switch around the Elements you find. Yep, magic in
this game is not learned but rather earned and found. The more you find of
a particular Element, the more frequently you can use it. 

Each spell slot on your grid can only be used once per battle, so you need
to use them with discretion. Choosing which Elements to take into battle
(should you equip 5 slots with CurePlus, or focus more on heavy-hitting
attacks and eschew the curative Elements in favor of offensive spells?)
will offer many hours of tingly fulfillment for people who like to twiddle
with stats, but it's still simple enough a system not to be overwhelming to a
casual player.

An interesting note about Elements is that each spell has a basic power
level. If you put a Level 3 Element in a Level 3 slot, it will be at its
natural power. However, if you want to be able to cast that spell more
quickly, you can knock it down to a Level 1 slot; but, you will lose some
of that Element's power, which will be denoted by a negative number after
the spell's name (i.e., Tornado-2). On the other hand, you can crank up an
Element's power by dropping it into a higher level slot - so taking a Level
One spell like Cure to a Level 5 slot will yield Cure+4. Additionally,
there are non-Elemental items you can equip, such as curative tablets and
capsules. The possibilities are sickeningly immense. Some limitations apply:
Summons and high-level Elements like Tornado and BlackHole can only be used by
characters who have an affinity toward those elements (i.e., Iceburg is only
available to Blue characters).

When you're equipping Elements, press the Triangle button to bring up a menu
with three choices. These allow you to organize your Element list by function
and color, which can make scrolling through the list MUCH easier.

As mentioned before, casting Elemental attacks requires 7 Stamina points. So
if your Stamina meter is low, using an Element will knock it into a negative
number, forcing you to sit out a portion of the battle until your Stamina
builds back up.

-- 3. WEAPONS --------------------------------

As is becoming increasingly common in RPGs these days, you can't just run to
the store and say, "Hey! I'd like to buy Excalibur please!" Instead, you have
to build your weapons and armor, much like the system in Final Fantasy VIII -
or more specifically, like the barter system in Chrono Trigger's 65,000,000 BC
era. However, you don't have to keep trekking to the Hunting Grounds to find
your weapon components this time; rather, you find components during regular
combat and in chests all around the archipelago. You may then take those bits
and pieces to a forge, where you can have a smithy assemble them into new
parts. Old gear can be disassembled and the components salvaged; why sell an
old copper item when you can use the hard-to-come-by Carapace it's made from
to build a better Iron item? Another way to acquire components is to speak to
a trader, who will swap Elements for components (however, you cannot acquire
the "key" components from most traders). Those key components are:

- Ivory (Bone)
- Bronze (Copper)
- Iron
- Mythril (Silver)
- Denadoro (Denadorite)
- Prism (Rainbow Shell & "Shiny" materials)

Once you have items from a higher class, you can begin forging equipment of
that particular type. The best way to get ahold of better equipment is by
theft. Yes, I know your mommy told you that stealing is wrong, but so is all
the killing you do in this game; you're damned either way, so you might as
well make the most of it. 

However, it seems that even if you have, say, @Denadorote early in the game,
you can't actually create a Stone Axe until you pass a certain point, which is
when the smiths learn more advanced forge techniques. So unlike Final Fantasy
VIII, where you could theoretically build Squall's most powerful sword as
early as Disc Two, the system here is more regimented.

-- 4. FIELD EFFECT & SUMMONS -----------------

As you fight, you will probably notice a little series of concentric
circles in the upper left-hand corner labelled "Field Effect." The Field
Effect Meter is affected by the natural terrain in which a battle
transpires and also by the Elements used during combat. 

Field Effect is the key to using Summons in the game - for instance,
Salamander can only be summoned when the Field Effect meter is all red
(i.e., three consecutive fire attacks have been used). This is more easily
said than done; if an enemy uses an Element of a type other than what
you're trying to build on the meter, it can screw up your efforts. And if
you're being beaten down mercilessly and have to heal, the Elements or
Items you use for healing will register on the Field Effect meter as well.
Therefore, expect Summoning to be a difficult and challenging affair,
requiring a bit of luck and a lot of good planning. Fortuntely, there are ways
to ease the Summoning process, but it requires the proper Elements and setup.

Additional notes: To summon a beast, you need to possess Stars. Your party
will earn Stars after certain events (such as whalloping a boss), but each
use diminishes your Star total, and you have to stay at an Inn to replenish
them. And this would seem obvious, but I get questions about it all the time:
to use a Summon, you MUST FIND A SUMMON FIRST. Just like in every other video
game in the history of the industry. And one other thing: Summons can only be
equipped by characters who have a matching Elemental affinity.

-- 5. PRISM ----------------------------------

Finding Prism equipment is terribly difficult. You will only find one or two
Prism items in the course of the game; the rest you have to create on your
own. To create any kind of Prism equipment, you must have Shiny Elements (the
type and quantity depend on what you're creating). Depending on what you wish
to forge, you may also need a Rainbow Shell. There are only a few Rainbow
Shells in the game (I think I've found seven), and the Shiny items are even
harder to come by: the only way to create Shiny items is to use a summon to
destroy an enemy. The Summon's Affinity determines what kind of Shiny material
you receive (one per enemy killed); if you use Salamander to kill four
enemies, you will receive 4 Shiny Embers. If you use Sonja to kill one enemy,
you will receive one Shiny Leaf. The Shiny items are:

 - Shiny Leaf (Green)
 - Shiny Ember (Red)
 - Shiny Sand (Yellow)
 - Shiny Salt (White)
 - Shiny Dew (Blue)
 - Shiny Soot (Black)
 
See the Weapon/Armor/Accessory lists to see how much of each item is required
for various items.

A second source for Shiny items are the various Elemental Emblems you receive
(Forest Emblem, Fire Emblem, etc.) - these can be disassembled to acquire a
single Shiny item per accessory. Not efficient, but there are enemies from
whom Emblems can be stolen, so it's a good alternative if you're having
trouble with Summons. 

 [FLASHBACK POINT: CHRONO TRIGGER]
  In Chrono Trigger, the most powerful weapons and accessories could be forged 
  from a rare item called the Rainbow Shell. However, it could only create a 
  very limited number of items (a sword, Sunglasses, and your choice of 
  helmets or vests), and acquiring the Shell was a subquest in itself (which 
  involved the Guru Melchior, a trip through a hidden cave, and a rigged 
  criminal trial intended to do away with King Guardia). Prism equipment is a 
  LITTLE easier to come by in Chrono Cross... but not by much.

-- 6. COMBINATION ATTACKS --------------------

And of course, the combination attacks are back. These seem to combine
character's unique skills to enable attacks that are vastly more powerful
than a lone attack would be (unlike in Chrono Trigger, where combo attacks
were often less effective than solo attacks).

Combinations require two characters with compatible skills to have built
both Stamina and Element Levels to an appropriate degree. For example,
Serge and Glenn share a combination attack in the demo called X-Strike
(hey, just like Crono and Frog! Err... forget I said anything). For
X-Strike to be enabled, both Serge and Glenn need to build their Element
Meter to Level 3 so each can use their respective skills that form the
X-Strike combo. Additionally, they need to have at least 1 Stamina point.
When these prerequisites are fulfilled, either one of them can activate the
X-Strike by choosing his respective skill. You can see when they're ready,
because the name of the skill will change to X-Strike.

When using combos, switching between characters during a round is extremely
useful to help minimize Stamina depletion. Undoubtedly, there will be many
more combos to discover; hopefully more than one per character.

The combos link character-specific skills. Each character has a Lv.3, Lv.5 and
Lv.7 Elemental skill. With 40+ characters who have 3 skills apiece, with three
possible party members at a time, I think you can see the sheer possible
number of permutations, and why it's not necessarily easy to find them!

Interestingly, the combo attacks tend to have their own unique elemental
affiliation which has no relation to the skills which comprise the attack.
Using the X-Strike attack as an example again, the two components are White
(Dash&Slash) and Green (Dash&Gash). But when used together, they create
X-Strike, a Red skill.

-- 6. THE MENU SCREEN ------------------------

The menu screen functions rather like Xenogears' menus, except with more
options and polish. In the right hand corner is a small odometer; moving
the dial up and down allows you to access various functions.

From top to bottom, the menu functions are:

 STATUS
 ELEMENT
 EQUIP 
 ITEM 
 CUSTOMIZE
 FILE 

- STATUS: Allows you to examine the current status of your characters. 
  Press Action (Circle button) to toggle between statistics and equipment. 
  Note: press left when the left-most character is highlighted to bring up a 
  list of all characters in your party. You can view their status from the 
  menu.
  
  The following are the meanings for the numerical statistics displayed on the 
  character status screen, from left to right, top to bottom (courtesy of 
  tennin):

 STR. (Strength)
    Affects the power of physical attacks.

 ACC. (Accuracy)
    Affects the hit rate of physical attacks.

 MAG. (Magic)
    Affects the power of magical Elements.

 RES. (Reistance)
    Affects defense against physical attacks.

 AG. (Agility)
    Affects evasion rate.

 MDEF. (Magic Defense)
    Affects defense against magical attacks.

  STAMINA RECOVERY
  Affects rate of stamina recovery. This is the equivalent of speed. Ten is
  the base rate, but different characters recover at different speeds. For 
  every 10 points of Stamina RecoverAlly a character posseses, their Stamina
  Meter builds one point for every point expended by another character. So a 
  character with a 12 Stamina RecoverAlly rating will build up 1.2 points 
  every time another character launches a weak attack; meaning they'll build 
  up to 6 Stamina points in only 5 moves. Conversely, a character with a 9 
  rating will only recover .9 Stamina points for every weak attack, meaning it 
  will take 8 weak attacks to bring that characters Stamina from 0 to 7.

- ELEMENT: Use and equip Elements.
  - USE: Allows you to make use of Stock Elements such as Tablets and 
    Medicine to heal between battles or power up.
  - ALLOCATE: Allows you to switch Elements around on your characters' grids.
    - REMOVE ALL: Allows you to remove all Elements equipped on a character.
    - REMOVE: Allows you to remove a single Element from a characters' grid.
    - AUTO-ALLOCATE: This option allows you to place Elements on a character's 
      grid automatically. I'm not certain how it determines which Elements 
      to put in various places, but it can save a great deal of time. You can 
      do this for a single character or the entire party.
    - FILL BLANKS: Fill empty grid slots with Elements. Sometimes handy, 
      sometimes annoying, depending on how the game allocates skills. This 
      also can be done for a single character or for the entire party.
      
- EQUIP: Allows you to change a character's equipped items. Press left when 
  the leftmost character is highlighted to see a list of all characters. The 
  R1/L1 shoulder buttons can be used to toggle between the three active party 
  members.
  
  - WEAPON
  - ARMOR
  - ACCESSORY (Can equip up to three accessories per character)
  
- ITEM: Allows you to view Key Items, such as the Heckran Bone and Komodo 
  Scales.
  
- CUSTOMIZE: Allows you to configure your settings to match your 
  preferences (thanks to tennin for help).
  - SOUND: (Stereo) Mono
  - WINDOW: (Default) Custom
    Allows you to change the style of your windows on-screen. I prefer the 
    default until I find new window styles throughout the game (I personally 
    like Red Vision and Porre's Furnace myself).
  - CURSOR POSITION - (Regular) Memory
    Regular defaults a menu cursor to its original location. Memory will 
    maintain the cursor position in menus and point at the most recent
    location when you open a menu again.
  - BATTLE ATTACK SELECTION - Manual (Auto) 
    When in battle, automatically advances the Attack cursor to the next 
    highest attack with and 80% chance or better of success.
  - CONTROLLER - (Normal) Custom
    Allows you to set your controller settings. You can adjust this as you 
    see fit, but I think the default is fine. Interestingly, it seems you 
    can set the "L3" and "R3" buttons to be Action and Cancel, which is a
    rare feature.
  - X-BUTTON ON - Run (Walk)
    Causes Serge and party to run or walk during exploration sequences by 
    default, and to toggle between the two by pressing X.
  - LEFT STICK SENSITIVITY - (Digital) Analog
    Active will allow you to switch between walk and run based on how far you 
    press the left stick. Digital means you need to press X to switch.
  
- FILE: Choose to SAVE or LOAD a file. You can only save at Records of Fate, 
  but you can load anywhere. A nice touch!

-- 7. AFTER THE BATTLE -----------------------

Once battle has ended, you will see a number of screens as a familiar tune
plays. The first screen displays any statistical improvements a character
has earned (since Chrono Cross has discarded regimented levels, characters
power-up in more frequent bursts of small increments). The second screen
gives you three options:
 
 - Replenish HP and status using battle Elements
 - Replenish HP and status using stock Elements
 - Do not replenish HP and status
 
The post-battle options are fairly intelligent. The first choice will
automatically use healing spells up to the Element level your characters have
remaining on their meter at the end of battle. So if one character equipped
with RecoverAll+3 has his Element meter built to L.7 when combat ends, choice
one will cause this character to use RecoverAll on the entire party
automatically. Choice two instead uses Elements like Tablets and Capsules to
restore HP, and is a useful option after a tough battle where your Elements
are expended and levels are low. Choice three simply lets you restore your HP
at your own discretion through the menu screen. Note: fallen characters cannot
be healed with option one or two; although "dead" characters automatically
recover with a single HP after battle, they do so after the auto-recover
screen. So be sure to use the menu screen to replenish the HP of anyone who
bit the dust during combat. The game will display the Elements you used for
recovery; this DOES NOT cause those Elements to disappear from your inventory
(except consumables), so don't be afraid to charge up after battle. Your
Element levels don't carry into the next battle, so there's no reason NOT to
heal up.

After the recovery screen, you will receive a list of all the items you
have won during battle. 

D. GENERAL GAMEPLAY TIPS ---------------------

-- 1. COMBAT ---------------------------------

Learning to make the most of Chrono Cross' battle system can be tricky; but as
you learn the game's strategies, you'll find there's a lot of flexibility and
strategy in the game. You COULD barrel straight ahead and annihilate
everything with your strongest attacks, but that won't always be the best
solution.

Remember that using an Element, no matter what level it is, requires 7 Stamina
points. If you knock your Stamina down to 1 and then cast a spell, you'll be
out 6 points. That's 13 measures of combat you'll have to wait before your
Stamina is full recharged, and 7 measures until you can even defend again.
Obviously, standing there helplessly against a tough enemy can be a very, very
bad idea. Learn to defend whenever you can! Defending only causes a single
measure of combat to advance, and it can cut the physical damage you suffer by
as much as 2/3.

Learning to balance attacks is especially important once you start acquiring
Level 7 & 8 Elements - even with the Dreamer's Scarf, which automatically
gives you a headstart to Level 1 on your Element meter, it will take more than
just a single turn (of 7 Stamina points) to boost Elements to 8 and cast a
spell. A good technique to use is to stop at 1 Stamina point and defend, then
switch back to the character who is building his Element meter once his
Stamina has risen a few points. While toggling between characters like this,
it's a good idea to have the character whose turn is being cancelled defend as
well.

Another wise strategy is to assign a single character as a healer in tough
battles, and to keep that character's HP high and their Element meter boosted
as much as possible. This way if you're hit by a sudden strong attack, you can
switch right over to that character and heal immediately - an especially good
idea when facing multiple strong enemies. However, don't make that person the
only one who can heal! Be sure to give everyone healing Elements to be safe,
and try to have a good selection of single- and group-effect spells on hand. 

Revive spells are hard to come by; be sure not to give them all to a single
character, in case that one fighter gets taken out. A nice trick about Revive
is that the higher the slot it's placed in, the more effective it is. While a
Level 1 Revive spell will restore a fallen character to life with a few HP,
Revive+5 will restore that character as well as all or most of their HP. On
the other hand, you may not want to have to build five levels on your meter to
be able to restore a fallen character, especially if the one who fell was your
main healer or attacker, so placing Revive in a low-level slot can be smart as
well. Experiment and see what works best for you.