Golden Sun: Dark Dawn playthrough

[Life]

A little bit of backstory might be needed for those of you have haven't read any of the "Golden Sun" thread that are probably on the next page.

I personally have been waiting for this game to exist since I finished Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Which was grade 8 if I recall correctly. I am now 2 years out of high school so yeah...

As for the style of run, I'm going to try getting everything. Classes, Djinn, Items, Equips, you name it, I'll get it. Trust me. I'm also going to be messing with my Djinn a LOT and will periodically comment on certain classes. Especially if the Power/Resist system works the same as it did in the first two games. Oh and spoilers will be abundant since the game came out 2 days ago. So here we go...

Introduction:

After downloading the ROM and opening it up, I get to the Start screen. Awesome. This game now allows for 7 character names but I shall be using the given name for our main character, Matthew. I think it's safe to say that Matthew will probably be a silent protagonist. And the Yes/No options are back and look as cool as ever.

Now we get an introduction to Weyard, the world of the Golden Sun.

"Long ago, the ancients of Weyard discovered the secrets of Alchemy.

They found that all life in Weyard was based on the four elements: earth, wind, fire, and water.

They used their knowledge of Alchemy to forge a dazzling civilization from the elements.

And the ancients made their wildest dreams come true.

And then began the nightmare of Alchemy.

Abuses of Alchemy threatened to tear apart the entire civilization. So the ancients did the unthinkable; They sealed away the power of Alchemy so no one could use it.

Civilization was saved, but the physical world itself began to die a slow death.

For the ancients didn't realize that Alchemy was what held Weyard together.

Without the force of Alchemy, lands went barren, seas went dry, and the planet began to crumble.

And civilization itself fell into the darkest of ages that came before its final fatal extinction...

The ancients had sealed away Alchemy to save civilization. But they had doomed Weyard.

But while the oceans churned and life on the continents slid slowly towards oblivion over the eons....

A legend was kept alive that held the key to Weyard's survival.

If four Elemental Lighthouses could be ignited, their energy would trigger the Golden Sun event over Weyard.

The Golden Sun would unleash the force of Alchemy-saving the world!

Thirty years ago, a group of heroes did save the world with the Golden Sun. But now a shadowy threat is spreading..."

I'd like to point out 2 things here.

1. The irony is quite amusing in how saving life fucks it over in the long run.

2. The Golden Sun doesn't happen until the end of the 2nd game. The END. I bet people were confused why the first two games were even called Golden Sun until they beat the Fusion Dragon on top of Mars Lighthouse since the term Golden Sun isn't actually used in that game.

So the scene changes to a futuristic ship thingy hovering over a mountain. Weird. Then more dialogue.

"It has been 30 years since the Golden Sun event over Weyard. The world was saved-and changed.

Eight heroes took part in the quest to light the Elemental Lighthouses."

2 things wrong with these lines.

1. 7 heroes, not 8. Piers was a useless fuck who ran utility for most if not all of the second game. It's like crediting Cyan for beating Kefka when he's sitting in the 14th slot, the useless prick.

2. Isaac and co. were busy trying to stop Felix and the gang during the first three lighthouse. I wouldn't call that "taking part in the quest to light" the lighthouses.

"Four of these brave warriors were from the town of Vale.

The Warriors of Vale, as they are now known throughout Weyard, are praised-and blamed-for their efforts."

Aren't we forgetting about the other 4 that, you know, weren't from Vale? Like 2 aliens, a cleric and a pussy?

"They had long lived at the foot of Mount Aleph, home to a people charged with a sacred duty from the ancients.

That was to protect Sol Sanctum, where the forbidden keys to the Elemental Lighthouses were hidden.

It was also home to the godlike Wise One who protected Weyard."

Yeah. The goal was to NOT light the lighthouses. Great job, guys. The Wise One must have been PISSED at Isaac and Garet specifically.

"Vale kept the sanctum's secrets for generations, ever vigilant against the return of Alchemy.

But, the Warriors of Vale were among those who pursued the forbidden returns of its power."

Aren't we forgetting the fact that Saturos and Menardi kidnapped Jenna and Sheba and had Felix under their thumb before dying?

"Because of their courage, the world of Weyard was saved 30 years ago...

But while Weyard was saved, the new dawn of Alchemy has been anything but bright. For while Alchemy brings life, it has also unleashed chaos."

Wasn't the World of Balance in FF6 a lot nicer and brighter than the World of Ruin, even with Empire problems? Just a question.

"When the Golden Sun event happened, raw power exploded from the sky over Mount Aleph.

Mount Aleph was largely destroyed by the explosion. And not a trace remains of the peaceful village of Vale."

Vale was boring anyways, aside from Luff living in that cave behind Kraden's house. At least I think it was Luff. So nobody missed it.

"The planet itself is still caught in the violent throes of rebirth. Natural disasters continue to torment the people of Weyard."

*prays that there are no more tidal waves bringing fucking useless Water Adepts to the party*

Seriously. Crown and Harmony better fucking be good. Or I will rage. We need a decent Water Adept and while Mia was OK, Piers was pretty shit.

"But the survivors live on, driven to new desperation.

And the good people of Vale, though forced to resettle, continue their sacred vigil."

OF WHAT?! Mount fucking Aleph and Sol Sanctum are gone. What the hell are you praying to now, a big ol' oak tree?

"They persist in their duty to Sol Sanctum at Mount Aleph. Or at least what remains of it."

God damn it, Sol Sanctum was only important because it had those 4 stars. Even the monsters on northern Indra were stronger than the ones in SS and must I remind people of how much of a joke the Punch Ants were?

"Two survivors live near the crater where Vale once was.

The area rocks with eruptions, but they still watch Mount Aleph from the newly upheaved Goma Plateau."

And I thought that goods going from Bilibin to Vault had problems in the cave. I can't wait to see Silk Road.

"They're Isaac and Garet, two of the Warriors of Vale.

These men, praised and blamed for the dawn of this new day, study the aftereffects of the Golden Sun carefully."

Garet? Study? Are we talking about the same kid who used to drink stagnant water?

Oh and I bet Jenna's dead. Serves the player right since Jenna should have hooked up with Garet in the first place. And yes, Isaac and Garet DO live together.

"And from their lookout cabin, Isaac and Garet also train their children to be powerful warriors.

For this world will soon need a new generation to face the darkness of this new dawn..."

Matthew had better use axes. That's all I'm gonna say on the matter.

As the text was going up, we were following a seagull to the lookout cabin. Pretty cool. And here we go, Golden Sun THREE!

Wouldn't it be easier for Tyrell to throw himself at the ground and miss?

Fuck, my ROM is buggy. Might have to start it over. And ISAAC LOOKS BADASS! Matthew looks like Isaac from 30 years ago, mind you. Also, GS3 uses a similar system to FE12 in the whole name map thing.

AND THE HEAD THING IS BACK! You know, the teardrops, angry faces and all those? They're back! I love this game.

So Isaac basically sums up what I just read to Matthew (like Matthew hasn't heard this shit every day of his life). Isaac also likes praying the Wise One (you defied that fucker, remember?). And... Oh wow.

Garet has a mustache! A FUCKING MUSTACHE! This game is going to be epic. They should have shown him in the spoilers. Garet also calls the Wise One a hunk of rock and insults Isaac for praying to him (good).

Apparently, there are these things called Psynergy Vortexes that have appeared since GS2 ended. They're distortions in space that suck energy out of the world and Adept too. Hence being called vortexes. Also, there's a bigass one in the middle of Angara called the Mourning Moon.

I'M SURE WE'RE NEVER GOING TO HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT.

Luckily, Ivan's built a... mini pair of Icarus Wings called the Soarwing. And if you don't know who Icarus was, go read some books. Speaking of Ivan, he now lives in Kalay with his daughter Karis. NOT Contigo.

Did I mention that Garet's a bit fat? That's probably his sprite but still... Oh and I know Matthew's HP and PP counts (I've seen them on the top screen since Isaac and Matt appeared, but I'll give them when I get to the stats).

Anyway, Karis is giving Tyrell (Garet's son) Soarwing lessons. Which aren't going so well. I smell a Garet tribute since Tyrell is on a roof... Also, Karis is good friends with Matt and Tyrell and apparent visits often. No clue if Ivan tags along though.

Oh and Tyrell's bio:

"He has a reputation for being a troublemaker, but Matthew is still proud to call him his best friend."

YEP, HE'S GARET'S SON ALRIGHT.

Also, a new feature allows us to choose Matt's emotions. Pretty cool since he's silent. Whatever you choose actually has implications on the text afterwards but I'm not sure if it affects the game in a bigger way.

So Matt, Isaac and Garet go onto the roof to convince Tyrell not to do anything stupid (we are so getting the roof broken) and... yeah, like that's gonna happen. Tyrell soars off the roof and gets stuck in a spiral. Isaac yells to Tyrell to land on the other side of a forest and Garet tells his son to man up.

And Isaac speaking is the best thing that happened to him. He has gotten so cool since GS1 ended. First lines and now a real personality. Can't wait to see Felix and Sheba now. Mind you, both him and Garet are 50ish now and can still probably kick ass.

So as it turns out, the 4 of us are going to look for Tyrell. That's Garet too. I don't remember seeing pictures of him in a party... So anyways, Karis teaches me to equip items and wow, this screen looks cool. She also teaches me how to save.

So the nearby chest in Matt's room has a Short Sword (8 Atk). And Karis gave me a Leather Cap (3 Def) so time for base stats!

Matthew - Level 1 Squire

42 HP

19 PP

20 Att

9 Def

12 Agl

3 Luk

Move (2)

Growth (4)

Retreat (6)

Cure (3)

A quick glance at the Elemental Levels means that the system hasn't been changed. PERFECT.

For those who don't know, hitting Level 99 isn't going to mean squat-diddly do when it comes to using Psynergy or Summons. In fact, Matt at level 1 will do the same amount of damage with... say Quake as Matt at level 99 without any Djinni. This is because every adept starts with 104 Power in their home element and this only goes up thanks to equips (not many power boosting equips in the last game, mind you) and djinni (mostly only thanks to djinni). GS1 had a max of 7 Djinni per person while GS2 added 2 more. Each Djinni adds 5 Power and 5 Resist to that element meaning that the max Earth Power that Matt will ever have is 149 (assuming a max of 9 per person). It sounds complicated but it's quite well thought out.

If you didn't understand what I just said, think of it like this. All of your adepts are equally good at casting psynergy spells. How strong the spell will be depends on their elemental levels. This means that if Tyrell has Flare and Matt has Quake, they will be equally strong if Flare and Quake have the same base power.

Note: While Flare and Quake are strong in FF, they're weak in Golden Sun. You learn them both at level 2 in this game (I think). Had to point that out. Also, it should be pointed out that Matt knows Growth and not Quake. Which is strange since the Squire class never had the Growth series. As long as Squire gets earlygame Gaia, I'm happy.

And that's all for now!

Edited December 4, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Life]

Battling Blues:

Matthew runs with his arms outstretched! Cool! You look like a dork, kiddo.

A chest in the attic yields Padded Gloves (2 Def). Isaac's study has a book about Psynergy I can use out of battle (Move and Growth specifically). I'm still quite surprised about having Growth as a Squire but I guess it means no Djinn switching for it. There's also a Sun's Saga 1 that you can pick up from the bookshelf, detailing the chronicles of Isaac and the gang during the first 2 games.

Sun's Saga 1 starts with Isaac, Garet and Jenna going into Sol Sanctum up to Isaac and Garet accepting the job to stop Saturos and Menardi in the Vale Sanctum.

After raiding the house, Karis joins Matthew and we get our second Adept.

Karis - Level 1 Wind Seer

28 HP

36 PP

10 Att

5 Def

19 Agl

4 Luk

Whirlwind (5)

Shit. Wind Seer and Squire are almost identical to thier original counterparts. Which means that Harmony's probably going to be a Mariner... fuck my life.

Anyway, we meet Isaac and Garet at the bridge. And Karis whips out a great line after we overhear Isaac and Garet deciding to let us (Matt and Karis) take the front lines.

So Goma Plateau time! Gotta rescue Tyrell. The battle screen also does something amazing. It actually shows my Power levels in each element. This will come in handy in the future by a mile.

Anyways, Karis basically one hits everything with Whirlwind and she's got the PP and agility to cast it, making this dungeon cake. Matt has to shove a rock out of his way to move on while Isaac and Garet look on.

So after getting through the Goma Plateau, it's time to pass through the Tanglewood, a pretty evil forest. Nothing like Mogall but still... But we're gonna get slaughtered by the animals! Never fear, Isaac is here! Isaac actually lends us some Djinn (I bet it's Flint!) until we find Tyrell. And Isaac calls out... FLINT! YAY! I like Echo too but Flint's much cooler.

Note: Djinn are actually different in this game. Not only do they each give out specific boosts like the last two games (each Djinn had it's own natural boost), they now have physical looks. Like Echo and Flint look different. Which is pretty cool, mind you. I also mentioned earlier that a Djinn raises Power and Resist. 5 each. I won't explain how to use Djinn since that's gameplay. But the important thing to note is that if Karis has a Venus on her and has access to something like both Gaia and Plasma, Gaia may be stronger damage wise (I think it was in GS2) but her Earth power will only be 82 at that point (77 base Earth on a Wind Adept). Wind Power will be 104. Which affects damage a lot. It's a lot more noticable with stronger moves so the differences between Grand Gaia and Spark Plasma will be quite something before considering enemy weaknesses.

Most people just play with each Adept wielding only their own element. Which is fine but I like abusing the game. Similar to Narga with FF5 (apparently Syldra is Wind!). Hence just using Whirlwind to destroy Goma Plateau.

And Ramses looks SICK! Seriously. He shoots out his fist for miles to punch the brains out of enemies.

Anyway, Garet and Isaac send over 6 Djinn for temp use (6! I'm summoning Cybele ASAP) and Felix gets a mention. The guy's been missing since everyone returned to Vale. What gives? Anyway, Isaac and Garet join the party but I really only control Karis and Matt. Eh, that's fine. Can't wait for Garet to clean up shop.

Anyway, Djinn time! I have 3 Fire (Torch, Spark and Shine) and 3 Earth (Sap, Ground and Granite). Time to quickly check out the new classes!

Brute: Brute has always been a problematic class in Golden Sun. It's great for dealing damage but when you need it the most (earlygame damage for the most part), there's never enough PP for the moves. Lots of HP and Att, very little Agl and PP. Probably works better on Matthew than Tyrell since Matthew will definately have more base PP than Tyrell. Brute also gets the Fireball series in this game, something that used to be Guard exclusive. Suddenly, I'm not too worried about Mariner.

Seer: Welcome to destroying shit 101. Seer now has the Whirlwind series, along with Cure. Stats are all around good especially since they help Def and HP (a known problem for all Wind Adepts in this series) without crippling the strengths. Pretty good for right now.

Pilgrim: Eh... probably Wind Adepts weakest double element class. It now has Whirlwind along with Slash but Fire moves will take a long time to appear (only has access to Volcano and its offspring).

Right now, the best set-up is Torch, Spark and Ground on Ruffian!Isaac and Sap, Granite and Shine on Diviner!Karis. Karis has 70 HP and 21 Def while Matthew sports 18 Agl and 27 PP to cover the weaknesses in their classes. Too bad that Fireball costs 6 PP and not 5.

Umm... holy shit. Isaac and Garet wield bigass weapons while Matt's blade is kinda puny. Also, Torch destroys everything in Matthew's way while Karis has Whirlwind, Sap and Shine to play with. She also learns Bolt at level 2. Garet and Isaac will do massive damage to enemies... if they attack. Garet's unleash does upwards of 200+ damage. Now while he was doing that much about 30 years ago in Venus Lighthouse, he also has 17 year old kid to look after and he's 47 years old. So that's pretty good, I'd say.

So passing through the forest is easy. Chests give off a Herb and a Bramble Seed. Garet will burn way the roots for you to continue... or not. After 2 fails, he'll aim at a giant flower which will remove all of the roots in the way. Nifty.

Mine if I clean this place up?

Further into the forest, we find the cave and the Soarwing. or what's left of it. No Tyrell though. Time to go inside the cave to find the bastard.

And... oh shit. There's a blackish ball of... stuff floating in the cave with Tyrell passed out beside it. That can't be good. Isaac and Garet mention the Lighthouses (please don't make me climb them AGAIN) and we're off to save Tyrell. And if you burn the plant beside the Vortex...

Boss: Tangle Bloom

First boss of the game and he's pretty easy. A summon rush will 1 turn him (but that's for pussies) while Torch, Blaze and Kindle (one of Garet's Djinn) can allow you to summon Tiamat on Turn 2 for lulz. I don't think it's possible to lose the battle, though.

So yeah. Kill the Tangle Bloom and Isaac and Garet will heal Tyrell. And then it's time for an adventure! We need to travel to Morgal, a new country that's popped up on the other side of Angara, to get a feather from a special bird to fix the Soarwing. It contains Kolima (loved that place, hope Tret's still kicking) and a new place called Port Rago. Not to mention that the Bilibin Crossing has now turning into Border Town. Wow, Angara's changed in 30 years.

So, just like 30 years ago, a little mundane thing (climb Mount Aleph, get a feather) starts a nice big adventure. YAY! Oh and... fuck, Kraden's not dead yet. Karis tags along because she wants to join in and... yeah, we're missing a Mercury Adept. What else is new in Golden Sun?

We're Off To See The Wizard!

So apparently, we're meeting Kraden at Carver's Camp, somewhere west of Bilibin. It's not that far away so let's get going. Sadly, we can't keep any of the Djinn from Isaac and Garet so we have Squire!Matthew, Guard!Tyrell and Wind Seer!Karis. And speaking of Guard!Tyrell...

Tyrell - Level 4 Guard

70 HP

24 PP

28 Att

15 Def

14 Agl

2 Luk

Fireball (6)

Flare (4)

Not bad. Matthew is Level 5 and Karis is close to leveling up so they have a bit of a lead on Tyrell. Matt also knows Quake (4) and Earthquake (7) while Karis is still stuck with just Whirlwind. Strange, I thought she'd know Ray by now...

Anyway, time to set off. If you walk south a bit, Flint actually comes to join you. Pretty cool, to be honest. Flint actually works best on Seer!Karis, giving her a significant stat boost along with Cure and Growth. She loses 6 Agl but she's still got more than double Tyrell's base at this point. Alternatively, Tyrell could go Brute at this point but the problem is the low PP count.

And we arrive at a small hamlet called Patcher's Place. Apparently, all the Vale refuges moved here after Vale got... well, flattened. And Patcher apparently has a bone to pick with none other than...

Tyrell, what did you do to Patcher? Oh wait, you almost burned down the shop. Good job. And did Karis make a very subtle sexual joke about Tyrell's fireballs? I bet she wants them too.

Treasure time! There's an Elixir in a barrel outside on the 2nd floor, an Antidote in a jar in the house right there and a Mars Djinni near the top! To get to it, you need to go to the Psynergy Training Grounds, a place dedicated to GS1/2's exploits. And I refuse to say "Warriors of Vale". Climb down a Growable Vine (push some logs to get to it) to pick up Forge. Put him on Tyrell since making Matt a Brute will actually cripple him for right now.

Sun Saga 2 can be found in the house on the left of the ladder to the Psynergy Training Grounds. There's a Smoke Bomb in the barrel outside of the Sanctum and 11 Coins in a dresser in the bottom house. 3 more coins are just above the growable vine in town. A house in Patcher's store has a Herb in a barrel and the treasure chest has Power Bread.

That's everything, I think. Aside from that, I stocked up with weapons and whatnots. There's a new weapon type that can be used... Bows! Karis can use them and apparently quite well.

Now, time for the main attraction. The Psynergy Training Grounds. Isaac wanted us to visit here so we'll do that. You can learn a bunch of stuff from the signs such as...

- Tret's still going strong and he's still friendly with Isaac. Apparently he knows about the birds that we're looking for. Great, Kolima Forest AGAIN...

- Gondowan is no longer connected to Angara. And the Karagol Sea is now part of the ocean.

- Jupiter Lighthouse is now in Western Gondowan. I have no idea how this one happened. Mars Lighthouse has also moved but now to North Angara.

- Lemuria still exists. Piers now sails the seas in his ship, looking for strage stuff.

When you get to the end of the Psynergy Training Grounds, you find yourself in a battle with...

Boss: Dim Dragon

Yeah, this guy is a cardboard cut-out of the Doom Dragon. He can actually do some nice damage with Pebble Breath and another attack which I've seem to forgotten. That being said, he's weak to fire and you just got Tyrell. Pound him into oblivion with Fireball and a Mars summon. Earthquake will also do some nice damage.

There's two chests behind Dim Dragon after you kill him. At least one of them holds the Gate Card for getting through the Konpa Ruins. Then head south out of the hamlet towards your destination.

Something cool has been added to regular weapons. Unleashes! Matthew and Tyrell both have access to Spin Strike (hits both enemies) and Critical Strike with thier Long Swords while Karis gets Double Shot with her Short Bow. To access these unleashes, you must level up your Weapon Skill which comes from using the Attack command. There is also a new Wind Healing series which starts with Fresh Breeze (learned at level 6 and is a weak Wish) that is exclusive to Wind Seer. Somehow, I get the feeling that Page/Apprentice is finally going to be better than Hermit.

Carver's Camp is just to the north, over a stone bridge. As soon as you walk in, a Jupiter Djinni appears! Get it! Make sure to grab the Mint after the goldola ride first. Then we have to save a kid... all in a day's work. However, the bridge is out thanks to a Vortex so we need to take another route. Hence why we went and did the Psynergy Training Grounds for the Gate Card! Talking to Carver enables a little cutscene which unveils some new Psynergy. Grip! It grabs a faraway object and brings it towards you. Head behind the house to Move a log in order to access a gondola in the previous screen. This will take you to the Jupiter Djinni we saw earlier. And I'm happy to say that the puzzles look harder in this game than previous ones.

Grab Gust after pounding the shit out of it (Growth on Karis will do more than Flash Bolt, proven fact) and put him on Isaac for WTF Gaia, my personal favourite earlygame Psynergy. Fun fact, Gaia pounds the shit out of Goma Cave, Kolima Forest/Tret Tree, Dehkan Plateau and Air's Rock from the previous games. We're talking 40+ damage on Earth Resistant monsters. And for the first time ever, I am stumped by a puzzle in Golden Sun to try to get a treasure chest. In any case, shoot for the Konpa Ruins to the south of Carver's Camp.

[Life]

Shoot The Shit With Kraden... Again.

On the path south, you can actually run into a Mars Djinni! Nice! Gust will actually OHKO this guy if Matt hits twice. Pick up Fever as your prize. I'd go with with Wanderer!Karis since she gets a significant Attack boost from two Mars and make Tyrell a Brute. Run back north to Carver's Lumberyard to create a permanent path between Patcher's Place and the Konpa Ruins. Solve the puzzle in Carver's Lumberyard to get to a cave with... the Zagan summon? Hell yeah!

Time to continue the quest. On the World Map, head south and around the mountain to get to Konpa Gate. Ring the bell to wake the old man up and pass through. The stairs behind the cabin actually lead to your 2nd Venus Djinni, Flower. Make Tyrell a Ruffian and move onwards.

Once you get to Konpa Ruins, time for Djinni switching. As a Wanderer, Karis' big move is Whirlwind (about 20 Dam) which fails to impress me anymore given that the enemies can now survive your basic attacks. Wind Seer gives her access to both Plamsa and Fresh Breeze but enemies aren't doing enough to warrent serious healing concerns. Diviner's her best class at the moment, giving her Flash Bolt and Cure just in case. Matt can actually work well as a Ruffian since enemies are Fire weak right now but Page!Tyrell is actually the kicker here. Tyrell is your damage dealer and while he doesn't have Flare Wall and Starburst for party killing, he now has the PP and Agl to back up Fireball and Volcano (level 8 like usual) spamming. If Matt needs some extra OOMPH, he has Fever to unleash.

Traverse the dungeon (this isn't a guide, it's a playthrough) and for the love of all that is good and holy, get the Elvan Shirt since it is one of the best earlygame armours around. 1.5x boost to Agl will make you hold onto it for a long time. I put it on Tyrell to give him first shot in battles.

Figuring out the puzzle grants you the Glyph Book. Pretty cool. The next puzzle raised the center platform to the 4th floor of the Konpa Ruins and make you start fighting monsters (monsters don't appear on the first 3 floors). The next important room will give you the Grip Crystal, a hybrid of Lash and Catch. Literally. Using Grip, snag the Jupiter Djinni that's chilling on the ruins. Kill it and claim Jolt for your own. Jolt is a new Djinni that revives fallen allies since the rest existed in the previous games. This guy should be your 6th Djinni at this point.

As for fighting, Fever trivilizes everything, especially once Jolt joins the party. Had I bought a Battle Axe for Matt also back at Carver's Corner, I'm sure that I could be seeing 100+ damage from Matthew. If Gust connects on its 2nd shot, you can also see high damage numbers but trust Illusionist!Tyrell's Volcano to be more reliable. Wanderer!Karis can control big mobs with Flash Bolt which is quite nice. Skeletons should be your first concern since even though they're slow, they can hit for quite hard with Bone Charge and are NOT Fire weak. Everything else (Spiders, Amazes, Zombies) are typical cannon fodder.

In the cave below the ruins, grab the Elven Rapier. It is a LOT stronger than anything you have and will give a major boost to Matt's Fever unleashing. There's also a BIGASS vortex with Nowell and Kraden looking at it while waiting for Matt and co. Nowell is Crown's (Reif) sister and studies under Kraden along with her brother. And Crown is Mia's son. No... No... Crown, don't touch it... Crown, you're turning into Tyrell... Crown stops being stupid, good.

And Kraden mentions hearing a machine from inside of the Vortex. Curious. If he hears it, I bet someone's behind these things. And... oh shit. Surrounded by soldiers?! Let's take them out!

Boss: Stealthy Scout x3

These guys are actually a bit of a pain. They love throwing Psy Grenades which... drain a shitload of PP from the entire party. Like about 15-30 PP from each person. They also have pretty strong physicals and toss Herbs every now and again. A high HP count doesn't help too.

The best way to beat these bozos up is to spam Djinn and Summons. Seriously. Karis will lose all of her PP after 4ish Psy Grenades so use Flower to heal. Unleash Forge before the party runs out of PP completely and concentrate on taking these guys out one at a time. And Kirin is sick.

After the battle, Crown goes missing. And we meet... yep, it's official. Ace = Alex. And now I know WHY he doesn't look much older. Apparently, those who got directly hit by the Golden Sun (both parties, Kraden and Alex) don't age so fast anymore. Toss in the fact that Piers doesn't age... period and yeah, he's gonna outlive a shitload of people.

Ok, so we have Spade (Blados but FUCK THAT) who decides that he's going to toss Crown to the wolves. Literally. Alex (masked man but he's already said that he knows Kraden and I'm not going to be oblivious about it) tells us to go to Harapa, a new town in the south, if we want to save Crown. Since I want another party member, fine. And Spade is ready to chop Karis into little bits. I can't wait to do the same to him.

And goddammit, Kraden, of COURSE you know his voice! It's fucking Alex! So Kraden and Nowell go north while the three of us head south. Let's find Crown! Thing is, we can't follow Kraden afterwards so we'll need to cross the Khiren Mountains... yeah, rock climbing. We're going to meet in Belinsk, the capital of Morgal. And this is strange, Morgal is the country of beastmen. But I just beat Briggs in a GS2 run and I know that there's NO way Maha moved up to Angara with his clan. So what gives?

Anyways, we're heading for southeast Angara, known as Ei-Jei. It houses 3 new nations and a golden oldie, Champa! Hope Briggs is still alive, I loved Briggs in GS2.

As soon as we hit the southern exit, Spade's men seal it off. Ok, I'm starting to get pissed now. Spade taunts us a bit and then tells us to run off. And since there's nothing we can do, might as well oblige. And we have a Crown in the box! But wait, if Kraden and Nowell went north but we were directed south to Crown for a reason... I know what comes next, don't I? But Spade made a bit mistake by claiming that we're stuck. THIS IS GOLDEN SUN, BOY! WE NEVER GET STUCK! And thank god that my party isn't stupid because Spade mentioned that we'd be pawns for him somehow. I just don't want to know how. And Crown joins the party! Let's check the guy out.

Crown - Level 10 Water Seer

91 HP

70 PP

37 Att

22 Def

33 Agl

6 Luk

Douse (5)

Ply (4)

Cure Poison (2)

Ice (5)

Excuse me while I start swearing. FUCK. It's Mia all over again. He also comes with Sleet, another old Djinni.

Trivia: Remember how Tyrell arrived at level 4? Well back in GS1, Ivan joined up in Vault at level 4 while Mia was level 10 in Mercury Lighthouse. That being said, most people need to grind to match Mia's level even after Kolima Forest while Crown's now a level behind Matt, Karis and Tyrell on a blind run.

Djinni switching time! Crown is in his base class which still looks like it sucks. Trading Djinni with Matthew will actually put in Wanderer which is fantastic for him. Matthew then becomes a Crusader (they changed it to that from Swordsman), giving him Cutting Edge and Thorn. At that point, it's a toss-up as to if you want Crusader!Matt or Swordsman!Tyrell. I'd personally go with the 2nd option with Tyrell now holding onto the Elven Rapier to counterbalance damage problems. Not to mention that Gaia hits multiple targets while Volcano doesn't.

Before leaving the Konpa Cave, grab the Cookie.

Meet The New Shit, Same As The Old Shit.

The town down south is Harapa, city of ruins. Time to shoot the breeze here!

Weapons: Witch's Wand unleashes good ol' Stun Voltage. Give it to Crown since... well, he's Crown. Karis is similar to her dad in the fact that she can actually hold onto Light Blades so I would in fact give Crown the pick of the litter when it comes to Staves. Skip the Magic Rod for Karis and just buy the Longbow. It's a bit pricey but Karis enjoys Snipe Shot. She's also the only person in the party who uses arrows. Matthew can grab a Hunter's Sword for a nice upgrade in attack.

Armour: Just get the best stuff possible. If you can't afford everything, beef up Karis and Crown before Matt and Tyrell.

Tyrell: "A Fire Adept can start fires. But we can't put them out. It's a sore subject for us."

Bullshit, you have a Mercury Djinni on you. Maybe no Douse but just use Cutting Edge or something.

Basically, going south gets a cutscene where Crown shows that he's a Water Adept but hell, we knew that already. And Tyrell is... well, rash. Oh and if you go into the fortune teller tent, you get some gold. Literally. Apparently your future is bad enough to have one of the forture tellers on the ground in fear. And I need to go beneath a tree for... something while two vicious generals try and stop me. Spade and Alex anyone?

Also, some people speak of a monk who came to help out. Checking out the Sanctum bookshelf gives you his name: Nyunpa. I remember that guy! He's probably dead, though.

Also, the ruins to the north yield a Mars Djinni! Cinder joins if you take the path along the 2nd level of the Sanctum. He's basically Jolt, though since he also revives the dead. Other hidden items include but are not limited to an Apple, a Sacred Feather and coins.

Now, we should be going to the mountains but screw that, I want to go exploring and find another Mercury Djinni. So we're off! Go past the mountains and south to reach Ayuthay which is being taken over by Kaocho as we speak. And Ayuthay should sound family to anyone who read about Harmony.

To the northeast is Kaocho. It looks a LOT like old Xian used to. And the ruler, King Wo is looking for eternal life. A library mentions Babi of 30 years ago and Nyunpa but this guy is looking elsewhere for it. I also have to take a gift of some sort to Sana as per request.

Supplies: Get the Blessed Ankh for Crown. He likes it. A lot. Upgrade Karis to the Witch's Wand and get Matt a Broadsword. That should work for the most part.

Time to check out the palace. Apparently King Wo wants Adepts. Why don't we drop in then? But wait, he was expecting Adepts today? This is weird... and it kind of reminds me of speaking to Lord McCoy 30 years ago. And... hi Heart (Chalis). Looks like she's Wo's adviser. And her soldiers... look like Spade's. Thank god that we actually NOTICE this since I'm so used to stupid RPG parties.

Then Tyrell does the unthinkable. He mentions Spade. At least it gets us into Wo's good graces since he also knows our man. And they think we're going to help them... yeah, like the game gives me another option. So I now have to help Kaocho with their war against Ayuthay. Or not since I end up falling through a trap door. Great... I escape easily with a bit of Psynergy and wind up back in Kaocho. And there's a Venus AND Mars Djinni I can't get. Either of them. Goddammit.

Time to recheck out Ayuthay. I can probably use the letter that Wo gave me to sneak past the guards and whatnots. Whirlwind lets the raft move across the water and snag a Cookie from a chest. Head to the palace to chat to Tweedle A and Tweedle B. They want us to clear out the place of... spirits? Sure? The place isn't that interesting and Crown suggests going to Passaj, a village in the middle of the Khiren Mountains... hey, don't I have to cross those to find Kraden? I guess it's time to get going!

Mountains, Mountains, Everywhere!

After the detours to Ayuthay and Kaocho, it's time to meet up with Kraden. Spade insulted me by saying that we can't make the climb so let's prove him wrong.

Start climbing up the inside and soon you'll run into a Venus Djinni. Pound him to aquire Bark, a new friend to Granite, Shade and Torch.

At the top, welcome to Passaj. And nice name.

Basically, there's apparently a way to cross the peaks from the highest point in Passaj. But Kraden has no idea how. Not surprising but yeah. There's also apparently some sort of a machine in town that's not working but might help.

And the machine turns out to be Kibombo like. Remember the power lines in the Great Gabomba? Yeah, this is similar. After connecting up the power lines and turning it on, some old geezer named Bogho runs in and starts berating the party. After Crown explains the situation, Bogho calms down big time. The thing is... it needs a part to work fully. And this part is... wait for it... in that maze under Kaocho Palace. FUCK. Backtracking ahoy!

Crown: "Kraden's quite proud of the role that he played."

What role did Kraden play in GS1 and 2? Be that old fart who slowed the party down? Aside from that, WE did all the fighting.

Anyway, Bogho invites us to the town hall to learn more but basically, we have to get back to Kaocho and evade Heart and King Wo. Fun stuff. Oh and there's a Sun Saga 3 in the bookshelf in Bogho's place. Just in case it sounded like I was missing it.

Now, I'm guessing that you weren't supposed to visit Kaocho and Ayuthay until now. I guess I jumped the gun a bit. So now, we are Ayuthay bound to find Harmony (Amiti).

I'm Not Going To Write You A Harmony.

After quickly making my way to the tree in the courtyard, Matt plays the Tree Flute that Baghi (Bogho's grandson) gave us. And we meet Harmony! And his uncle is one hell of a king. Makes me want to see Briggs again. And... wait, Harmony thought he was Jesus since he didn't have a father? Do I know who the father is...?

So the father was an Adept. A powerful one. A Mercury Adept... Fuck it, just say Piers' name already. But nobody has seen his face... We're so going to look for Piers at some point, aren't we? And we find about the Insight Glass. Which sounds like a fancy way of saying Reveal... Oh yeah, Karis doesn't have Mind Read! Forgot to mention that. Harmony joins us to get the Insight Glass but he doesn't join the party... yet.

So we go to the Alchemy Well and Harmony goes a bit psycho. He hears these voices in his head about a Sand Prince. And the room behind has a lot of sand in it. If you play the Tree Flute, a battle will start.

Boss: Sand Prince

Contrary to popular belief, this guy is actually weak to Water, not Wind. Strange. But what's even more strange is that he's strong against Fire and not Earth. Huh. He's got some heavy attacks but nothing really to be scared of. Arid Blast might hurt a bit though.

Gust is probably the most useful Djinni in this battle. Unleash Gust, summon Jupiter, rinse and repeat until Matt has a lot of Wind Power and then stick to Astral Blast. Karis is your healer, Tyrell wants to do the same thing as Matt but with Sleet and Crown is... utility? I'd go with Drench for the most part. Summons also work nice but I'd stay away from a summon rush in this battle.

After you win, you gain the Sand Prince. Equip it on Tyrell to gain Arid Heat. Works like Parch except that it's Fire based. And guess who had Parch?

Anyway, make your way to Barai Temple and go down. Once you get to the bottom, some thing in a waterfall grants you the Insight Glass which is less like Reveal and more like Hint. You know, Hint when you're playing Solitare? Oh and Harmony is the only one who can use it, mind you.

On the way, the group passed a Mercury Djinn with no way of getting to it. Well, not anymore! Drain the pool, cast Fireball on the sucker and fight it to own Surge. Tyrell's Arid Scorch will knock off a good 175 damage, making him your best magic caster in the party. Go figure. The thing is that Arid Scorch costs 15 PP but this game goes easy on the PP for the most part. Leave the Barai Temple ASAP since it's got nothing else for you aside from the Storm Brand.

And Harmony joins the group! Sick! Since I swear that his dad HAS to be Piers (too many clues for it not to be), we now have 5 kids of the original 8 in the group. Harmony runs out to change clothes and we get to explore the rest of Ayuthay before we set out for Kaocho. Wait with supplies until Harmony is a real party member.

Harmony - Level 14 Aqua Squire

151 HP

60 PP

59 Att

30 Def

54 Agl

4 Luk

Douse (5)

Insight (1)

Diamond Dust (6)

Drench (10)

Cool (6)

Ply (4)

Cure Poison (2)

Restore (3)

Shit. Name of the class might be different to his father but Harmony's Psynergy is almost a carbon copy of Piers'. He also comes with new Djinni: Claw, Mellow and Mist. I'm also missing a Mercury Djinni which sucks since I can't backtrack.

Walk outside... and the fatass generals stop us and claim that we're traitors by not ridding the place of laughter. Oh dear...

Boss Battle: Ku-Tsung and Ku-Embra

Ok, these guys are pretty dangerous. They have the power to almost OHKO any of your weaker guys (Harmony, Rief, Karis) with a berserker style move that damages them too. Zealous Fury can also put some serious hurt on a weaker guy. Gong of Battle is Protect but if they use Fireworks, be prepared to kill them in return. Fireworks will put a random Djinni on Standby. While this is no Djinni Storm, it may mess up a strategy if you need all your Djinni set.

That being said, they'll actually go down pretty quickly if you know what you're doing. Tyrell's Arid Scorch will do massive damage to the pair along with an Impact Boosted Planet Diver from Matthew. I'd bring in Harmony and Karis too for Impact and then unleashing/summoning right afterwards. If Harmony gets off Nereid, she can do some heavy damage. Same thing with Karis about Atalanta. Keep your HP up and the battle should over soon.

So after the battle, Paithos will drag the two generals into Ayuthay and we're off to Kaocho.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Suichimo]

2 things wrong with these lines.

1. 7 heroes, not 8. Piers was a useless fuck who ran utility for most if not all of the second game. It's like crediting Cyan for beating Kefka when he's sitting in the 14th slot, the useless prick.

2. Isaac and co. were busy trying to stop Felix and the gang during the first three lighthouse. I wouldn't call that "taking part in the quest to light" the lighthouses.

Piers still counts... as much as it pains me to give that useless sack of crap any kind of credit, Felix wouldn't have even made it half way through his journey.

As for the second point, thats mostly true but they did change sides and the people who knew about it did know that they were pretty much lead into it by false premises.

Aren't we forgetting about the other 4 that, you know, weren't from Vale? Like 2 aliens, a cleric and a pussy?

Half the group is from Vale, perfectly fine to call them the Warriors of Vale in my opinion. Also, thats where the entire thing started.

Aren't we forgetting the fact that Saturos and Menardi kidnapped Jenna and Sheba and had Felix under their thumb before dying?

No, but I wouldn't doubt that Jenna had an idea of what was going on, I don't think that she would've gone along with it just because of Felix, and Sheba did have her own ideas about the quest even though she was kidnapped. Felix was probably informed as soon as he was taken back to Prox.

Vale was boring anyways, aside from Luff living in that cave behind Kraden's house. At least I think it was Luff. So nobody missed it.

Except for everyone who lived there.

OF WHAT?! Mount fucking Aleph and Sol Sanctum are gone. What the hell are you praying to now, a big ol' oak tree?

Its their entire culture. Do you really think they'll just let it go so easily?

Garet? Study? Are we talking about the same kid who used to drink stagnant water?

Oh and I bet Jenna's dead. Serves the player right since Jenna should have hooked up with Garet in the first place. And yes, Isaac and Garet DO live together.

I don't want to spoil it so I'll just say this, Jenna is still alive and kicking.

Also, from what I understand, the house where Isaac and Garet are currently is probably just a temporary residence.

Matthew had better use axes. That's all I'm gonna say on the matter.

He can.

Can't wait to get my own copy.

Also, whats wrong with Blados? Its still the card them, just Tarot cards rather than regular playing cards.

[Narga_Rocks]

So are there no item classes in this game? You've already gotten 5 characters so I would've thought if there were that you'd have one by now. I skimmed maybe half of your post and read the rest so I may have missed it, but I don't think so. The item classes are like the only thing that makes Piers a competent fighter (though I normally give them to Sheba or Jenna depending on what point in the game I'm at), so I was hoping if they screwed over Harmony (and the second wind adept) in their normal classes that they could at least use an item class to get a reasonable atk% class + EPAs.

[Suichimo]

So are there no item classes in this game? You've already gotten 5 characters so I would've thought if there were that you'd have one by now. I skimmed maybe half of your post and read the rest so I may have missed it, but I don't think so. The item classes are like the only thing that makes Piers a competent fighter (though I normally give them to Sheba or Jenna depending on what point in the game I'm at), so I was hoping if they screwed over Harmony (and the second wind adept) in their normal classes that they could at least use an item class to get a reasonable atk% class + EPAs.

Yeah, the Item Classes aren't there. However, you shouldn't worry about Sveta's usefulness, not sure about Amiti's usefulness though.

[Narga_Rocks]

Which one is which? I haven't really read up on this game too much so I don't know which of those two characters you mentioned are which type of adept.

[Colonel M]

So are there no item classes in this game? You've already gotten 5 characters so I would've thought if there were that you'd have one by now. I skimmed maybe half of your post and read the rest so I may have missed it, but I don't think so. The item classes are like the only thing that makes Piers a competent fighter (though I normally give them to Sheba or Jenna depending on what point in the game I'm at), so I was hoping if they screwed over Harmony (and the second wind adept) in their normal classes that they could at least use an item class to get a reasonable atk% class + EPAs.

So far, I haven't seen any (I'm up to:

Just beat the Mountain Roc

I haven't seen one yet. Which is a pity because I would've loved the Summoner class (I think that's what it's called?) back. Oh well, there's always Disciple and Samurai at this point for me.

As for Amiti, I just recommend slapping the Water Djinn on him and making him work like Piers. Sadly, its the only class that really gives him an offense, but it's still absurdly good. Nothing wrong with Diamond Break aside from its high cost and Amiti's semi-low PP, but I've gotten over it alright.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Tyranel M

[Suichimo]

Which one is which? I haven't really read up on this game too much so I don't know which of those two characters you mentioned are which type of adept.

Amiti is Harmony and Sveta is the second Wind Adept.

[Narga_Rocks]

As for Amiti, I just recommend slapping the Water Djinn on him and making him work like Piers. Sadly, its the only class that really gives him an offense, but it's still absurdly good. Nothing wrong with Diamond Break aside from its high cost and Amiti's semi-low PP, but I've gotten over it alright.

Assuming it is like Piers, my problem with this has always been the cost of multiple Wish users. You can stick 4 waters on some non-Mercury adept, and stick 4 of the same non-water on Piers and you get two guys with Wish. Stick your Water all on Piers and you get nobody with Wish and if you want full party healing need to stick 4 Mars on Jenna. Plus Mariner was a slow class. Of course, I guess the difference is that Harmony is showing up second so you should have extra djinn to pass around if you don't care about the class the 5th character ends up as. And you can keep Crown since you'd probably lack 8 Mercury (4 each) for a while if you still want Wish. I guess.

Amiti is Harmony and Sveta is the second Wind Adept.

Then do we know if Sveta is more Ivan/Sheba or Piers? I'd guess she doesn't use normal weapons and instead uses claws or something, but what if the designers tried to make her physical like Piers was clearly intended except they are as bad at it with her as they were with him? Like, if Claws are supposed to duplicate Long Swords. She'll basically end up being bad at fighting and lowish PP for magic like Piers. Like a Wind Adept version of Piers, pretty much.

But then, the trademarks of Wind Adepts are high agi and pp, so hopefully they won't change that.

Among the other problems with Piers, though, were his inability to equip some of the +water power artifacts that boost wish-ing like Clear Bracelet and Pure Circlet. Depending on what +Jupter and Mercury power items exist and what she can use, she might have a similar issue.

[Colonel M]

Assuming it is like Piers, my problem with this has always been the cost of multiple Wish users. You can stick 4 waters on some non-Mercury adept, and stick 4 of the same non-water on Piers and you get two guys with Wish. Stick your Water all on Piers and you get nobody with Wish and if you want full party healing need to stick 4 Mars on Jenna. Plus Mariner was a slow class. Of course, I guess the difference is that Harmony is showing up second so you should have extra djinn to pass around if you don't care about the class the 5th character ends up as. And you can keep Crown since you'd probably lack 8 Mercury (4 each) for a while if you still want Wish. I guess.

This is pretty easy to bypass.

How I have it set up, I technically have two units that can Wish. Karin as one of them, then Rief as the other. To be honest, you only need one Wish user (at least so far) and the offense is much better to have anyway with Tyrell and Matthew (hence why I have Disciple and Samurai for them). I'm only stating how its best to use Amiti, not that he's good (though to be honest I never thought Piers completely sucked... okay fine maybe he did outside of in-game).

I have 5 people (Matthew, Tyrell, Karin, Amiti, Rief). I have 9 Earth, 11 Water, 7 Fire, and 9 Wind.

Matthew - 4 Fire / 4 Wind (Disciple)

Tyrell - 4 Earth / 3 Wind (Samurai)

Amiti - 7 Water

Karin - 4 Water / 3 Earth (White Mage)

Rief - 3 Fire / 2 Wind / 2 Earth (Wanderer)

Rief is useless, yes, but all I need is one more Fire Djinn and he will be capable of using Wish and Wish Well. Aqua Lord ties in Agility with Samurai too. :/

I'm not saying Amiti is the best person by far, but just stating how to make him the most useful. It's a pity he didn't have access to the offensive classes like Tyrell and Matthew do; he'd be a lot better for sure. As for how I have two Wish users, I just temporarily move the Fire Djinn around. Or as soon as I get the other one. :/

Edited December 2, 2010 by Tyranel M

[Narga_Rocks]

How did it go earlier, though? Before you had that many djinn?

And I said my problem in TLA was "water on Piers = zero wish users". I'll grant 1 wish user is fine most of the time. Just certain boss fights where it's nice to have two that are capable, even if most of the time one of them is buffing instead of healing. Every once in a while the boss will take both "turns" with his most powerful attack, or near enough, and then double-wish is nice.

[Colonel M]

How did it go earlier, though? Before you had that many djinn?

The # of boss fights is pretty slim, and if you really wanted to Karin can use her Wind Djinns to obtain Healing Wind. There aren't that many boss fights, and at the worst if I desperately needed a Wish user I could just rig for one outside of battle. Like I said in the spoiler, I just beat that thing with only one healer, but the monster only attacks once. Once I start facing the 2 attacks per turn I'll start worrying.

I admit in TLA you definitely wanted two Aura users, and it sucked with Piers that you were forced with 1 Wish user if you didn't want to gimp your offense (well, at least make it so that all he has left is spell casting).

You got AIM man? You don't hop on IRC anymore. >_>;

Edited December 2, 2010 by Tyranel M

[Narga_Rocks]

The # of boss fights is pretty slim, and if you really wanted to Karin can use her Wind Djinns to obtain Healing Wind. There aren't that many boss fights, and at the worst if I desperately needed a Wish user I could just rig for one outside of battle. Like I said in the spoiler, I just beat that thing with only one healer, but the monster only attacks once. Once I start facing the 2 attacks per turn I'll start worrying.

I admit in TLA you definitely wanted two Aura users, and it sucked with Piers that you were forced with 1 Wish user if you didn't want to gimp your offense (well, at least make it so that all he has left is spell casting).

Jenna is functional as an attacker. She's got all of Garet's better classes and Light Blades and Staves have pretty good weapons all the way up until Isaac and friends merge. At that point, you can have Isaac + Felix + two healers or whatever and you'll be fine. Or Isaac + Felix + Garet + healer. It's no big loss to make Sheba and Piers your wish-bots before then.

You got AIM man? You don't hop on IRC anymore. >_>;

No AIM. I kinda got sick of dealing with making IRC let me on. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't if you don't pay them. It used to take like 2 or 3 tries before it would work. I might try again some day.

[Colonel M]

Jenna is functional as an attacker. She's got all of Garet's better classes and Light Blades and Staves have pretty good weapons all the way up until Isaac and friends merge. At that point, you can have Isaac + Felix + two healers or whatever and you'll be fine. Or Isaac + Felix + Garet + healer. It's no big loss to make Sheba and Piers your wish-bots before then.

Well, Jenna can also function as a Wish user (well okay, it's called Aura and its inferior I know). Aside from that, yeah, usually Piers and Sheba are Wish bots before hand, or at the very least Sheba is and I'll attempt to figure a secondary way to heal (even if it is inferior). I dunno, I haven't played TLA in years so I can't remember what I did.

No AIM. I kinda got sick of dealing with making IRC let me on. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't if you don't pay them. It used to take like 2 or 3 tries before it would work. I might try again some day.

Try Mibbit.com. It's free and it is almost like IRC.

[Narga_Rocks]

Well, Jenna can also function as a Wish user (well okay, it's called Aura and its inferior I know). Aside from that, yeah, usually Piers and Sheba are Wish bots before hand, or at the very least Sheba is and I'll attempt to figure a secondary way to heal (even if it is inferior). I dunno, I haven't played TLA in years so I can't remember what I did.

I know that the Fume series is pretty powerful single-target and I love looking at the Beam series since it looks cool, but I can't bring myself to use her Mars only classes aside from for brief spurts of fun with Beam-watching. Aura is alright but not great. Especially when she makes a much better attacker than Piers, and he makes a better healer (wish) than her. I don't see a reason to use an inferior attacker and inferior healer when I could give him 4 fire/wind/earth to get wish and give her something that lets her attack well. And strap Mercury on Sheba and give her Clear Bracelet and Pure Circlet and have her healing for a lot more than either Piers or Jenna could dream of.

[Colonel M]

I know that the Fume series is pretty powerful single-target and I love looking at the Beam series since it looks cool, but I can't bring myself to use her Mars only classes aside from for brief spurts of fun with Beam-watching. Aura is alright but not great. Especially when she makes a much better attacker than Piers, and he makes a better healer (wish) than her. I don't see a reason to use an inferior attacker and inferior healer when I could give him 4 fire/wind/earth to get wish and give her something that lets her attack well. And strap Mercury on Sheba and give her Clear Bracelet and Pure Circlet and have her healing for a lot more than either Piers or Jenna could dream of.

Yeah I know. But Diamond Berg looks so sick. And sounds sick too.

;_;

[Narga_Rocks]

Yeah I know. But Diamond Berg looks so sick. And sounds sick too.

;_;

Maybe. I've never seen it. haha. I've used Diamond Dust once or twice, but I don't think I've ever used Diamond Berg. Or so few times that I've forgotten what it even looks like. Even Cavalier is better than Piers' Water class. At least it gets wish. More atk, more def, same PP and Luck and Agi, almost as much HP (until Guardian/Luminier where it ties and also wins PP), plus it gets wish (yes, saying it twice is intentional). And the Dragoon series is way better.

Much better to just stuff Jupiter on Piers and be happy with Wish + Impact + being fast. Or White Mage to get Wish + Revive + still better speed than Mariner. Or Tamer to get similar spd and better attack.

[Colonel M]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDQRW3LMOXs

That's Diamond Berg. Like I said, it just looks and sounds sick I guess. It's just a pain that Piers is left to being awkward outside of classes like Sorcerer.

[Narga_Rocks]

Interesting. It doesn't start all that cool (to me) but the last 70% of it is cool enough.

[Shadow Mir]

My eyes didn't deceive me, did they? Bows are actually a usable weapon type in Dark Dawn?!

[Narga_Rocks]

That's Diamond Berg. Like I said, it just looks and sounds sick I guess. It's just a pain that Piers is left to being awkward outside of classes like Sorcerer.

Oh, I didn't check this part out.

Um, Sorcerer is Sheba/Ivan's final Jupiter only class. He can't be that. Do you mean the Hermit series which ends with Sage and then Wizard in TLA?

[Life]

Piers still counts... as much as it pains me to give that useless sack of crap any kind of credit, Felix wouldn't have even made it half way through his journey.

As for the second point, thats mostly true but they did change sides and the people who knew about it did know that they were pretty much lead into it by false premises.

Half the group is from Vale, perfectly fine to call them the Warriors of Vale in my opinion. Also, thats where the entire thing started.

No, but I wouldn't doubt that Jenna had an idea of what was going on, I don't think that she would've gone along with it just because of Felix, and Sheba did have her own ideas about the quest even though she was kidnapped. Felix was probably informed as soon as he was taken back to Prox.

Except for everyone who lived there.

Its their entire culture. Do you really think they'll just let it go so easily?

I don't want to spoil it so I'll just say this, Jenna is still alive and kicking.

Also, from what I understand, the house where Isaac and Garet are currently is probably just a temporary residence.

He can.

Can't wait to get my own copy.

Also, whats wrong with Blados? Its still the card them, just Tarot cards rather than regular playing cards.

I wrote all of this in the moment.

And I can't believe that nobody caught the fact that Piers HAS to be Harmony's Dad.

Also, Colonel, are you on the Japanese version or American version? Since I downloaded the ROM on the 1st and have basically been playing non-stop and I only just beat the Cloud Passage (fuck, these puzzles get hard).

Also, couple of Djinni questions.

1. How many Djinni did you have walking into Craggy Peak? I have 3 Venus, 4 Jupiter, 5 Mars and 6 Mercury. The game claims that I'm missing the first possible Mercury (before Crown joins apparently) along with the 3rd Jupiter (Jolt is found in Konpa Ruins while Breath is outside of Ayuthay). And I've been looking around on the paths which have made me stupidly overleveled (Harmony joins at 14 but all of my guys were level 17 at the time).

2. Did you get both of the Djinni in Koacha or just the Mars and not the Venus?

As for Amiti, I just recommend slapping the Water Djinn on him and making him work like Piers. Sadly, its the only class that really gives him an offense, but it's still absurdly good. Nothing wrong with Diamond Break aside from its high cost and Amiti's semi-low PP, but I've gotten over it alright.

Uh... no. True that Harmony (and Crown) are useless for a while but Frostbite does incredible damage and Harmony will have it if he equips the Ice Queen. All you have to do is then stick him in a class with high PP and healing moves (Ascetic - 4 Mars or Scholar - 4 Jupiter). He's the strongest guy in my party, hands down.

As cool as the name Aqua Squire is, it's Mariner all over again. And Mariner stank. Decent moves... but low stats and nothing to back it up. Not to mention that everyone wanted Mercury in GS2. This game is allows another person to deck themselves out with Mercury as soon as Harmony joins so it is a possibility. But Ascetic and Cavalier (once I get 6 Earth, I'm going this route since Mia was epic with it) are probably his best classes.

Don't get me wrong. Mercury Adepts have always sucked and will always suck. But Harmony's higher base physicals might make him the best one yet since he's already got a problem fixed that Piers could never do (his offense).

Edited December 3, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Colonel M]

I'm playing the American one (I bought the cart the day it came out).

1. How many Djinni did you have walking into Craggy Peak? I have 3 Venus, 4 Jupiter, 5 Mars and 6 Mercury. The game claims that I'm missing the first possible Mercury (before Crown joins apparently) along with the 3rd Jupiter (Jolt is found in Konpa Ruins while Breath is outside of Ayuthay).

Shit, Craggy Peak. That's... right where one of the Wells is right? I think I had something like that. All I know is that you find a ridiculous amount of Jupiter and Mercury Djinn, so it should come as no surprise. I didn't log what I did sadly. :(

2. Did you get both of the Djinni in Koacha or just the Mars and not the Venus?

Remind me where Kaocha is. I'm afraid I can't remember.

Narga said that

Er, whichever was with the Book. I can't remember anymore. ;_;

Edited December 3, 2010 by Tyranel M

[Life]

I'm playing the American one (I bought the cart the day it came out).

Shit, Craggy Peak. That's... right where one of the Wells is right? I think I had something like that. All I know is that you find a ridiculous amount of Jupiter and Mercury Djinn, so it should come as no surprise. I didn't log what I did sadly. :(

Remind me where Kaocha is. I'm afraid I can't remember.

Craggy Peak is what I've dubbed Zodiac Tower. Should seem obvious why.

Kaocha was on top of the Ouroboros. It's the city where King Wo rules and there's 2 Djinni just sitting out in the open (one requires clairvoyance or Insight Glass to be more precise to get).

So are there no item classes in this game? You've already gotten 5 characters so I would've thought if there were that you'd have one by now. I skimmed maybe half of your post and read the rest so I may have missed it, but I don't think so. The item classes are like the only thing that makes Piers a competent fighter (though I normally give them to Sheba or Jenna depending on what point in the game I'm at), so I was hoping if they screwed over Harmony (and the second wind adept) in their normal classes that they could at least use an item class to get a reasonable atk% class + EPAs.

I covered it in my last post (speaking to Colonel) but I'll give you the rundown now.

You know how I've been singing Arid Scorch's praises (120 Dam attack at level 16 or so for me)? Well, there's an item that you get soon after called the Ice Queen. Yes, it is EXACTLY like the Sand Prince but it teaches the Cold Snap series. Which is Frost but whatever. You get the 3rd psynergy in this series as soon as you equip it. That would be Frostbite (20 PP). And it's only equipable on Water Adepts.

Bye bye offensive problems for Harmony!

Edited December 3, 2010 by Cthulhu