Vagrant Story - Strategy Guide (Page 11)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Vagrant Story - Strategy Guide (Page 11).

HEAVY MACES
01. Langdebeve
02. Sabre Mace
03. Footman's Mace (2-H)**
04. Gloomwing
05. Mjolnir
06. Griever
07. Destroyer
08. Hand of Light

**Don't get this confused with the one-handed Mace also called Footman's Mace.


STAVES
01. Wizard Staff
02. Clergy Rod
03. Summoner Baton
04. Shamanic Staff
05. Bishop's Crosier
06. Sage's Cane


POLEARMS
01. Spear
02. Glaive
03. Scorpion
04. Corcesca
05. Trident
06. Awl Pike
07. Boar Spear
08. Fauchard
09. Voulge
10. Pole Axe
11. Bardysh
12. Brandestoc


CROSSBOWS
01. Gastraph Bow
02. Target Bow
03. Light Crossbow
04. Windlass
05. Cranequin
06. Lug Crossbow
07. Siege Bow
08. Arbalest


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARMOUR LIST
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SHIELDS
01. Buckler
02. Targe
03. Pelta Shield
04. Quad Shield
05. Circle Shield
06. Tower Shield
07. Spiked Shield
08. Round Shield
09. Kite Shield
10. Casserole Shield
11. Heater Shield
12. Oval Shield
13. Knight Shield
14. Hoplite Shield
15. Jazeraint Shield
16. Dread Shield


HELMS
01. Bandana
02. Bear Mask
03. Wizard Hat
04. Bone Helm
05. Chain Coif
06. Spangenhelm
07. Cabasset
08. Sallet
09. Barbut
10. Basinet
11. Armet
12. Close Helm
13. Burgonet
14. Hoplite Helm
15. Jazeraint Helm
16. Dread Helm


BODY ARMOUR
01. Jerkin
02. Hauberk
03. Wizard Robe
04. Cuirass
05. Banded Mail
06. Ring Mail
07. Chain Mail
08. Breastplate
09. Segmentata
10. Scale Armour
11. Brigandine
12. Plate Mail
13. Fluted Mail
14. Hoplite Armour
15. Jazeraint Armour
16. Dread Armour


LEG ARMOUR
01. Sandals
02. Boots
03. Long Boots
04. Cuisse
05. Light Greaves
06. Ring Leggings
07. Chain Leggings
08. Fusskampf
09. Poleyn
10. Jambeau
11. Missaglia
12. Plate Leggings
13. Fluted Leggings
14. Hoplite Leggings
15. Jazeraint Leggings
16. Dread Leggings


ARM ARMOUR
01. Bandage
02. Leather Glove
03. Reinforced Glove
04. Knuckles
05. Ring Sleeve
06. Chain Sleeve
07. Gauntlet
08. Vambrace
09. Plate Glove
10. Rondanche
11. Tilt Glove
12. Freiturner
13. Fluted Glove
14. Hoplite Glove
15. Jazeraint Glove
16. Dread Glove


-----------------------
Miscellaneous Items
-----------------------

Cure Root
Roots of an herb that restores strength.
Item effect: restores 50 HP.
Almost any creature can surrender a Cure item, if the game thinks you're 
struggling to stay healthy.

Cure Bulb
Bulbs of an herb that restores strength.
Item effect: restores 100 HP.

Cure Tonic
Extract of an herb that restores strength.
Item effect: restores 150 HP.

Cure Potion
Potion made from an herb that restores strength.
Item effect: restores all HP.

Mana Root
Roots of an herb that restores mentual acuity.
Item effect: recharges MP by 25 points.

Mana Bulb
Bulbs of an herb that restores mentual acuity.
Item effect: recharges MP by 50 points.

Mana Tonic
Extract of an herb that restores mentual acuity.
Item effect: recharges MP by 100 points.

Mana Potion
Potion made from an herb that restores mentual acuity.
Item effect: recharges all MP.

Vera Root
Roots of an herb that restores concentration.
Item effect: Lowers RISK by 25 points.
Practically any creature going can surrender a Vera item, whenever the game 
thinks you're not doing so well on keeping a low RISK.

Vera Bulb
Bulbs of an herb that restores concentration.
Item effect: Lowers RISK by 50 points.

Vera Tonic
Extract of an herb that restores concentration.
Item effect: Lowers RISK by 75 points.

Vera Potion
Potion made from an herb that restores concentration.
Item effect: Clears all RISK.

Acolyte's Nostrum
Nostrum used by the acolytes of Lea Monde.
Item effect: Restores 100 HP and MP.

Saint's Nostrum
The nostrum that a high priest received from the heavens.
Item effect: Restores all HP and MP.
You can win these occasionally from Deaths.

Alchemist's Reagent
An experimental potion made by Valnain's alchemists.
Item effect: restores 25 HP; lowers RISK by 25.

Sorcerer's Reagent
Reagent made by sorcerers in ancient times.
Item effect: restores 50 HP; lowers RISK by 50.

Yggdrasil's Tears
Extract of Yggdrasil known to heal status abnormalities.
Item effect: cures "Paralysis".
You can win these from Goblins.

Faerie Chortle
Made by the faerie king as a remedy for use in battle against serpents.
Item effect: cures "Poison".
Win these from Poison Slimes.

Spirit Orison
Pellets made from flower petals and dried yak livers.
Item effect: cures "Numbness".

Angelic Paean
A talisman bearing the icon of St. Iocus.
Item effect: cures "Curse".
Win these from Harpies.

Panacea
Potion made with odd bits of herbs.
Item effect: cures "Paralysis", "Poison", "Numbness".

Snowfly Draught
Potion of dried snowfly wings.
Item effect: cancels all magical effects cast on target.
Win these from the Ichthious and Basilisk in the Snowfly Forest.

Faerie Wing
Powder that faeries use to accelerate movement and improve jumps temporarily.
Item effect: imbues "Quickness".
Win these from the Ichthious and Basilisk in the Snowfly Forest.

Eye of Argon
Temporarily enables Ashley to see traps set in the room.
Item effect: reveals traps in the room
You can win these from Bats and Stirges.

Valens
A Lea Monde red wine with a delicate, yet robust, flavour.
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to STR.

Prudens
The most elegant red wine, with a gentle flavour and bouquet
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to INT.

Volare
A Lea Monde white wine known for its honey-like fragrance.
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to AGL.

Audentia
A Lea Monde quality sweet wine allowed to age to perfection.
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to maximum HP.

Virtus
A sparkling wine made from a blend of three grapes.
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to maximum MP.
You can win these, very rarely, from Mimics.

Elixir of Queens
Elixirs given to soldiers by Lea Monde's monks in ancient times.
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to HP.
You can win these from the Crusaders of Iron Maiden B2.

Elixir of Mages
Elixir the mages of Lea Monde once used.
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to maximum MP.
You can win these from Deaths and Lich Lords.

Elixir of Kings
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to STR.
I've won one of these from a Dullahan, but only rarely.

Elixir of Sages
Item effect: permanently adds a few points of INT.

Elixir of Dragoons
Item effect: permanently adds a few points to AGL.







==============================================
16. THE BESTIARY
==============================================

Note that your encyclopaedia doesn't cover all the creatures you'll fight. 
Humans are excluded, and there are various modes of undead fighters (archers, 
halberdiers, etc.) covered by just one entry.

Monster stats and tactics are detailed in the level guide text, but I'll be 
filling this section out properly for quicker reference.

Encylopaedia List

(01) Zombie
(02) Mummy
(03) Ghoul
(04) Ghast
(05) Zombie Fighter
(06) Zombie Knight
(07) Zombie Mage
(08) Skeleton
(09) Dark Skeleton
(10) Skeleton Knight
(11) Ghost
(12) Wraith
(13) Goblin
(14) Goblin Leader
(15) Orc
(16) Orc Leader
(17) Lizardman
(18) Blood Lizard
(19) Lich
(20) Lich Lord
(21) Death
(22) Gargoyle
(23) Imp
(24) Gremlin
(25) Mimic
(26) Shadow
(27) Silver Wolf
(28) Hellhound
(29) Bat
(30) Stirge
(31) Slime
(32) Poison Slime
(33) Dark Eye
(34) Basilisk
(35) Ichthious
(36) Harpy
(37) Quicksilver
(38) Shrieker
(39) Minotaur
(40) Minotaur Lord
(41) Minotaur Zombie
(42) Durahan (sometimes written 'Dullahan')
(43) Dark Crusader
(44) Nightstalker
(45) Last Crusader
(46) Golem
(47) Iron Golem
(48) Damascus Golem
(49) Ogre
(50) Ogre Lord
(51) Ogre Zombie
(52) Giant Crab
(53) Iron Crab
(54) Damascus Crab
(55) Air Elemental
(56) Djinn
(57) Fire Elemental
(58) Ifrit
(59) Earth Elemental
(60) Dao
(61) Water Elemental
(62) Marid
(63) Dark Elemental
(64) Nightmare
(65) Wyvern
(66) Wyvern Knight
(67) Wyvern Queen
(68) Dragon
(69) Sky Dragon
(70) Flame Dragon
(71) Earth Dragon
(72) Snow Dragon
(73) Arch Dragon
(74) Dark Dragon
(75) Dragon Zombie
(76) Kali
(77) Ravana
(78) Asura



==============================================
17. TRAINING DUMMIES
==============================================

If you revisit a room to hear a hollow rattle rather than the noises of its 
usual inhabitants, you may have discovered a new Training Dummy. These inanimate 
sparring partners are marked with the Rood, and will happily take a few hits or 
spells directed against them. You can actually break them by getting a little 
bit, shall we say, 'overzealous': and the reward is an item in the class of 
potions, tonics and elixirs (not always worth the effort, in other words). If 
you want the Dummy to regenerate, you'll need to leave the area entirely (ie. 
that level map) and return. 

Initially useful for practising combo timings, Dummies also come in different 
creature classes so that you can build up a weapon's strengths against a 
specific class. The nature of the Dummies means that you'll often win Physical 
bonuses too, but this is very often at the expense of your Elemental ones. For 
this reason, it's recommended that you only use them briefly to take a novice 
weapon to a low level of competency. Even late in the game, there may be good 
reasons for doing this: you might wish to nurture another weapon type without 
reshaping the blade you already use for that class, so that you have a choice of 
both Blunt and Edged, or one-handed and two-handed, or long & short range 
weapons, versus a particular class. But because of the negative elemental drain, 
on the whole, it's nowhere near as effective - or as fun - as fighting the real 
thing.

Hits on training dummies also count towards your acquisition of Battle 
Abilities, so after acquiring your new Abilities for the very first time in the 
Minotaur's arena then you could easily acquire the next one mere seconds later. 
However, you will need to attack a real opponent afterwards for the choice of 
new Ability to be granted.

Training Dummies are 'unlocked' gradually according to your position in the 
game, but it's not really worth checking back until you have the Teleportation 
ability. By design, all of them are placed usefully near to Magic Circles.

HUMAN
Blackmarket, Wine Cellar (Crimson Blade)
Worker's Restroom, Wine Cellar (Crimson Blade)

BEAST
The Dark Tunnel, Abandoned Mines B1 (Ogre)

UNDEAD
Hall of Sworn Revenge, Catacombs (Skeleton Knight)

PHANTOM
From Boy To Hero, City Walls North (Ghost)

DRAGON
The Boy's Training Room, City Walls South (Lizardman)

EVIL
Gharmes Walk, Town Centre East (Gremlin)


The excellent Sam Minh , another VS FAQ author, has 
proposed that getting elixirs from these dummies is a case of beating them with 
record chains, either before or, as a method of, the kill. I haven't got this to 
work yet, but I'm still eager to learn the rule that decides whether you get 
potions or elixirs from them. Anybody?


==============================================
18. SECRETS AND EXTRAS
==============================================


-----------------------------
(a) Getting the Rood Blade
-----------------------------

We've already mentioned that the creatures in each room vary depending on your 
strength and power. Essentially, this trick relies on keeping yourself weak in 
order to find a wholly different, and unexpected, kind of occupant.

The key is to enter the rooms of Iron Maiden B2 on less than 150 HP. Instead of 
Lich Lords or Ogre Lords, you'll find Last Crusaders waiting to take advantage 
of your vulnerability. What's special about these creatures is their equipment: 
all of them are packing Damascus weapons, including the 'Dainslaif' and 'Pinaka' 
Rhomphaia blades and - best of all - the 'Excalibur' Holy Win Rood blade that 
Guildenstern wields in the last battle! Fight the Crusaders for long enough and 
you'll start winning these items, as well as the superior gems and Spiral Hilt 
grips attached to them. Even if you don't win a weapon, you might pick up some 
useful Elixirs.

My recommended starting technique is to get all the way through to the Judgment 
crossroads in Iron Maiden B3 as usual. Reduce your health by fighting either the 
Lich Lords in the treasure rooms to each side (St. Elmo's Belt and Dunking The 
witch) or the last Ogre and Ogre Lord with Break Arts, then go back through The 
Iron Maiden, B2, and enter Tormentum Insomniae in low health. Instead of an Ogre 
& Ogre Lord, you should find a Last Crusader. Keep stepping between the two 
rooms.

A warning, here. The rood blade is given out about as rarely as the Minotaur's 
Hand of Light, so you won't get hold of one easily. Make sure you have space for 
the whole weapon - blade, grips and two gems - as I'm not sure the game likes 
giving away this special prize as disassembled components. If you're still 
getting nowhere then try different killing methods rather than doing the same 
thing on the same hit locations each time.

If you want to venture further back into B2 then, by starting at the far B3 end, 
at least you'll be well-placed to heal and run for The Keep when you've got what 
you came for. 

The rood blade also possesses some unusual combination properties. Place it in 
the first slot of Combine / Blades and, as long as the weapon you add to it is 
sufficiently powerful, you'll produce that second weapon in Damascus while 
retaining its design.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
prize list
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Eunic's Lot
(1) Shrieker x 2
(2) Dark Crusader with 'Brionac' (H) Rhomphaia plus Power Palm, Polaris gem, 
Sigguld gem (+30 vs Dragons)

The Oven at Neisse
(1) Dark Crusader with 'Mjolnir' (S) Rhomphaia plus Power Palm, Basivalen gem 
(PHY/FIR/WAT + 20, -10 all else), Altema gem (+30 vs Evil)

The Mind Burns
(1) Shrieker x 3 (2 with Kris (D), 1 with Agrippa's Choker)
(2) Dark Crusader with 'Pinaka' (D) Rhomphaia plus Power Palm, Galerian gem 
(PHYS/LIT/DRK + 20, -10 all else), Titan Malachite gem

The Rack
(1) Ogre
(2) Dark Crusader with 'Sarnga' (H) Rhomphaia plus Murderer's Hilt, Vedivier gem 
(+5 all), Djinn Amber

The Cold's Bridle
(1) Ogre
(2) Dark Crusader with 'Izanagi' (S) Rhomphaia plus Murderer's Hilt, Berion gem 
(+10 all), Ifrit Carnelian

The Spider
(1) Shrieker x 3
(2) Dark Crusader with 'Ascalon' (D) Rhomphaia plus Murderer's Hilt, Gervin gem 
(+15 all), Dao Moonstone

Tablillas
(1) Dark Crusader with 'Isolde' (H) Rhomphaia plus Spiral Hilt, Tertia gem (+20 
all), Malid Aquamarine

Brank
(1) Dark Crusader with 'Dainslaif' (S) Rhomphaia plus Spiral Hilt, Lancer gem 
(+25 all), Seraphim Diamond (+30 Light)

Tormentum Insomniae
(1) Ogre Lord (with Griever, Cross Choker), Ogre
(2) Last Crusader with 'Excalibur' (D) Holy Win plus Spiral Hilt, Arturos gem 
(+50 everything), Berial Blackpearl gem





-----------------------------
(b) Enemy Occurrence
-----------------------------

As mentioned at the start of the level guide, there's no fixed number or type of 
enemies you might encounter when entering a room. On first play you'll find bats 
and wolves make up your initial opponents, for example, but by second play 
you'll have spotted that zombies and ghouls start cropping up earlier than 
before.

Essentially, Vagrant Story offers a reactive difficulty level. There's some form 
of points system, tied into your current health and power, that determines the 
occupants of any room you enter. If you're incredibly low on health, then the 
Wine Cellar might offer little more than a bat to fight. A little stronger, and 
you might find more bats, or wolves replacing those bats. Stronger still and you 
could face bats, wolves and Undead in the same room.

Even later in the game, you might come back to somewhere like the Crumbling 
Market to discover that the expected Dullahan has been replaced by a Lich or 
Lich Lord more worthy of your exceptional health and prowess. 

The Last Crusader trick is a special case of this rule, offering up more deadly 
enemies with incredible kit when you least expect it, but that's not to say you 
won't get unusual results on other levels too. Try re-entering Catacombs or 
Sanctum on very low health and spot the number of slimes replacing the usual 
skeleton enemies. 

Admittedly, there are places where the enemies never change. You're unlikely to 
find anything but Crimson Blades by stumbling through town on low health.  But 
it's an interesting tactic to consider, and one that you might exploit for a 
Title-winning time of less than 10 hours for completion. If you're weak, your 
enemies might not be so daunting. And if you're au fait with Raging Ache, 
they'll fall even quicker. Get the idea?

-----------------------------
(c) Record Game Times
-----------------------------

The previous tricks came courtesy of Vincent Merken, who says he finished the 
entire game in 10 hours *on first play* by adopting this technique of staying 
weak and moving on, thus inviting weaker opposition, rather than resting up and 
getting strong.

Furthermore, Vincent contends that it's possible to get through the entire game 
this way and rely on no more than one weapon and a couple of spells. I'm hoping 
he'll do a Speed FAQ of his own at some point to inform the rest of us mere 
mortals (although I understand his hands are tied in some respects, so he 
couldn't give anything away), but within the remit of this FAQ I'm happy to 
record any other speed tricks and techniques other players might have found.

Director Yasumi Matsuno himself told the Japanese games press that he thought it 
could be finished in 3-4 hours, although a mistranslation of the quote led some 
Western game sites to erroneously report that Vagrant Story was *only* 3-4 hours 
in length. Currently, the suggested record seems to stand at something around 80 
minutes.

Even if you've taken longer, I'd be casually interested to hear how long you 
took to finish the game first time, and also how long you've been spending on it 
since... (average current time for first play seems to be 25-30 hours).


-----------------------------
(d) Getting the Minotaur Club
-----------------------------

The good news is that you can win this weapon, and pretty soon in the game too. 
On the other hand (like me, tch...), you may fight the same battle for hours and 
turn up zilch. It's possible to get it on your first fight, according to some, 
but it's a very rare prize. 

If you don't succeed on first go (and the odds are against it) then there are 
several places to try later. The weapon itself is the 'Hand of Light', and 
you'll already appreciate both its range and STR potential from being on the 
business end of it. There are subtle differences in the weapon assemblage that 
you'll win, though, depending on where you win it.

MINOTAUR
I've now confirmed that you can win items from creatures in the Time Challenges. 
So once you've acquired the Kalmia Sigil for the Keep, stepping into the Time 
Challenge repeatedly will provide you with an endless sequence of battles with 
the game's first Minotaur.
Prize: Hand of Light (I) plus Czekan Type grip

MINOTAUR ZOMBIE
Once you've acquired the Stock Sigil, it's also possible to fight the Minotaur's 
Zombie incarnation repeatedly by teleporting out and back to the Blackmarket.
Prize: Hand of Light (H) plus Runkasyle grip

MINOTAUR LORD
The Minotaur Lord in the Temple of Kiltia is also a recurring enemy, and once 
you have the Silver Key from his room then the easiest way to keep fighting him 
is to switch Puzzle Mode to OFF in the options, run back outside and take the 
side door to the Limestone Quarry, then step back into the Temple of Kiltia and 
climb up to the Temple of Meschaunce. The Minotaur Lord's Hand of Light has a 
Titan Malachite attached, and this is one of the most useful gems for tackling 
Lich-type opponents.
Prize: Hand of Light (H) plus Runkasyle grip, Titan Malachite gem


Quite apart from its comically huge and unwieldy appearance, the Hand of Light 
also has some other bizarre properties. Like the rood blade, it's a metal 
converter: place it in the second slot of Combine / Blades, stick any other item 
in the first slot and you'll produce that first item in the same metal as the 
Hand of Light (Iron or Hagane). In reverse, there are some alternative 
combinations possible that result in existing weapon types. It doesn't seem 
possible to make a Damascus Hand of Light, incidentally.



-----------------------------
(e) Record Combo Chains
-----------------------------

In all honesty, mine's a mere 22 Chains. This isn't the place for a high score 
chart, but I'd be interested to hear from anybody who has bona fide tips on 
massive chains. My only advice is that, as far as I can gather, it's not enough 
to keep up a rhythm or observe the appearance of the '!': there seem to be 
regular waypoints where the timing window moves slightly as Ashley pauses or 
rushes, in order to catch you out at the same chain lengths every time.


-----------------------------
(f) Evolve Or Die
-----------------------------

You'll need to crack of handful of old-fashioned cube puzzles to make your way 
through some of Vagrant's Story's rooms and passages. If you then return to a 
room where you've already beaten a serious cube puzzle to progress, you'll be 
thrown into a time challenge version of the same puzzle called Evolve Or Die.

There's no prize for beating any of the time challenges, and no secret awaits 
you for doing them all or trouncing the suggested times. It's just a minor 
diversion with a touch of humour, thrown in for good measure. 

If you look through the Options via the Main Menu then you'll see a Puzzle Mode 
toggle. This is ON by default, and means that you'll enter an Evolve Or Die time 
challenge every time you return to a solved puzzle. Switching the puzzles OFF 
won't remove any that you haven't yet encountered, but any puzzle you've beaten 
will remain solved so that you don't have to do it more than once. (Sometimes 
the crates you'll find with Puzzle Mode OFF aren't an exact copy of the 
solution, just useful steps to get you out of the room).

YOUR PLACE ON THE FOOD CHAIN
I haven't tried for a complete list, but here's a rough summary of the ranks you 
can win. As you can see, the extensive range of loser titles implies that you're 
supposed to fail often and win rarely, so don't be put off by that 'average' 
time being consistently tough to beat.

Little Green Man   -  Beat the challenge with a superb time.
Homo Sapiens       -  Win in roughly the given time.
Neanderthal        -  Ooh, just missed it.
Baboon             -  A couple of seconds late.
French Poodle      -
Capybara           -  A kind of guinea pig, apparently.
Dodo Bird          -
Platypus           -
Horny Toad         -
Scallop            -
Sea Slug           -
Amoeba             -
Amino Acid         -  Mmm, primordial soup.
Game Designer      -  Bottom of the evolutionary scale.

Unplaced: Protozoa, Pregnant Yak...

-----------------------------
(g) The Bird
-----------------------------

Silly one, this, but if you look up into the sky in first-person PAUSE while in 
an exterior town location then, very occasionally, you might catch sight of a 
bird with a long wing-span circling in the skies above. Because of the excellent 
ambient background sounds (Lea Monde still has some 'ordinary' wildlife, then, 
despite the corruption of Bats and Wolves by the Dark?) I must admit that I 
assumed it was a bird, and not something more serious...

-----------------------------
(h) Fine Wines
-----------------------------

I normally reserve nothing but disdain for those "you can get Gau's Dad as a 
secret character!!!" rumours, so here's the deal.

In the second intro scene, Ashley tells Merlose that if he finds any Lea Mondean 
fine wines - all of which will have been laid down for at least 25 years, 
remember - then they're hers.

I stocked up all of my wines to the end of the game, and finished, and saved a 
Game Clear Data without using any of them. You get nothing for doing that. It's 
an intriguing piece of personable character dialogue, nothing more. Wines are 
basically elixirs with interest, so you just miss out on improving your stats by 
putting them by. Go on, prove me wrong.