Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ Sony PlayStation North American Version Version 1.5 Made by Exdeath E-Mail: exdeath@earthlink.net Page: http://gannex.simplenet.com Exdeath's Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ This is the Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ. This copyright belongs to me and may not reproduced in any way without consent of me. This is freely distributed as long as the copyright remains. You may use this Strategy Guide only in its entirety, but give me full credit where it is due. This is the North American version of my Star Ocean: Second Story FAQ. I have another version for the Japanese game, and I have totally translated that FAQ into this one to include the North American translations. Please take this into account. This FAQ is not yet totally complete. If you have something to contribute, please mail me at . ---------- Contents: ---------- Version Info Notes Introduction -Episode Description -Episode 1 Description -Episode 2 Description Star Ocean: The Second Story Glossary Private Actions Battle System -"Active Time Battle System" -Killer Move and Spells -Differences from Star Ocean -Status Ailments -Battle Tactics -Fighter Tactics -Spell-Caster Tactics -Rena's Tactics -Battle Formations -Anger Explosions Game System -Game Modes -Earth -Galaxy -Game Controls -Camp Menu -Status Screen -Element -Talents -Ending System General Strategy Characters -Claude Kenni -Rena Lanford -Celine Jules -Ashton Anchors -Opera Vectra -Ernest Raviede -Bowman Jean -Precis Neuman -Dias Flac -Leon Geeste -Noel Chandler -Chisato Madison Killer Moves List Spell List Skills List Character Ratings Useful Killer Move Combinations Frequently Asked Questions Mini Games Bonus Dungeon Plot Information Item List Accessory List Item Creation -Specialties -Super Specialties Secrets -Save/Swap Technique -Instant Kill Technique -GameShark Codes Thanks -------------- Version Info: -------------- -Version 1.5 (6/23/99) *Much more Item Creation data and information *Fixed up many of the FAQ formats/structure *Translated many more items/menus/locations *Translated all Killer Moves and most Spells -Version 1.0 (6/13/99) *Basic structure to FAQ made *Translated all information from Japanese version *Sections touched up on *Corrected differences in North American version *Left the Glossary section in, added translations -Coming in next version: *Completely retranslating the FAQ for the North American version of the game *Still need more translations of items/spells ------- Notes: ------- This is the preliminary version of my Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ for the North American version of the game. Recently, I've been building a lot onto this, and it will be updated a lot more once the English version comes out. It seems that a lot of the translations will be changed for the North American version of the game, so I will need to make a lot of changes to this FAQ. Look out for the newest version of this FAQ when it comes out for the North American version of the game. This is the first FAQ version of the North American release of the game. It will cover everything from the North American version. This means that all of the North American translations will be used in this FAQ if they are known and found in the FAQ. This game is immense, and I am currently producing a walkthrough for the North American version of the game. This FAQ deals with so many of the features of the game, and you'll definitely want to have the FAQ in addition to the walkthrough. Make sure you pick up the full walkthrough when it comes out from one of two sites: http://gannex.simplenet.com http://www.gamefaqs.com Also, the Item Creation section is not complete yet, but when it is completed, it will be huge. I intend on adding huge sections on what items you can make from what other items, and if you've played through the game, you'll know that there is a tremendous amount of items and item creation combinations to be made. Experimenting with each of the items to get Item Creations is going to take a large amount of time, so try to experiment on your own with it for awhile until I can get the section up. I am really needing help in translations! If you see anything that is not translated correctly, and you know the real North American translation, tell me! I want to make this FAQ completely based on the North American version. I could really use help in all of the item lists, as I haven't gotten most of the translations yet. I could especially use help with Bowman's Killer Move translations, since I didn't choose him as a character in either of my two games used to write this FAQ (I never really liked him). If you have any Item Creation submissions, be sure to mail me at with the type of Item Creation (Saiku, Customize, and such), what items are needed to receive the item, and what the item does. -------------- Introduction: -------------- Star Ocean: The Second Story is a unique Role Playing Game for the Sony PlayStation console. Star Ocean: The Second Story is unique in its combat system, skills system, emotional system, and story. Star Ocean: The Second Story is actually the second Star Ocean game, the original Star Ocean was released on the Super Famicom in Japan in 1996. The original Star Ocean was a 48 megabyte cart, and used the full abilities of the Super Famicom. Star Ocean was made by Tri-Ace, and published by Enix (who is famed for many popular games including the tremendously popular Dragon Quest series of games). Star Ocean was one of the unique games, simply because it was so original for a Role Playing Game. Almost every Role Playing Game to date has used a turn-based type of system in combat, but Star Ocean came through to create a very unique active-time system in which everyone attacks and uses their abilities at the same time, making strategy in location a big aspect in battles. Star Ocean: The Second Story begins 30 years after the original Star Ocean left off, when Ratix and his friends destroyed Jie Revors and restored peace to the world, and cured the Roakians of the stone disease. Claude is the son of Ronixis, who was made a hero by the Federation for his work with Ratix in destroying Jie Revors. The story begins when Ratix is on his father's ship, and later on an away team. Star Ocean: The Second Story was made by Tri-Ace. Tri-Ace has made other great games like Tales of Phantasia. Tri-Ace has a great page that gives a lot of information about their games. Check their page out: http://www.tri-ace.co.jp *Episode Description: "In an endless sea of stars, at the edge of the universe, a single fateful encounter is about to take place. For the gods have set forth on a quest to destroy the universe. And a deadly meteorite, which they huried into the vastness of space, has collided with an unsuspecting planet, Expel - putting the whells of fate in motion. Now, two people are about to cross paths, and their meeting will force them to endure both the gods and their devilish advisors." *Episode 1 Description: "After attaining the rank of Ensign in the Earth federation, Claude C. Kenni is given his first assignment. When a mysterious energy field is found on the planet of Milocinia, a survey party is dispatched to investigate. As an escort, Claude boards the starship of his father, Ronixis J. Kenni, and heads toward Milocinia. Upon landing on Milocinia, Claude and the rest of the party discover a gigantic dome-shaped building on the desolate land. The interior of the dome appears to have been devastated by enormous explosions. All that remains inside are pieces of broken equipment and, in the center of the room, a mysterious looking machine. While Ronixis and the rest of the survey team cautiously attempt to examine the object from a distance, Claude becomes impatient. "Just quaking in our boots is getting us nowhere," he thinks. Brashly ignoring his father's warnings, he approaches the object. Suddenly, and without warning, a powerful force takes hold of Claude. A blinding flash fills the room, and when it subsides, Claude is nowhere to be found." *Episode 2 Description: The planet Expel is a lush green world with abundant natural beauty. However, three months ago, after a meteorite crashed to the surface, monsters began to appear and word of strange happenings spread across the land. The people began to regard the meteorite as an omen of disaster, and dubbed it "the Sorcery Globe." At this time, a young girl from the village of Arlia, named Rena, decides to visit the Shingo Forest, which is some distance away from her home. Although her mothes tries to stop her-warning of the appearance of monsters and other strange happenings since the arrival of the Sorcery Glove-Rena insists on going into the forest alone." --------------------------------------- Star Ocean: The Second Story Glossary: --------------------------------------- Star Ocean: The Second Story contains many Japanese terms that could confuse the player. Star Ocean: The Second Story is a big game, and you'll probably need to know most of these terms for the game, especially if you care about your character's ratings toward the other characters. This Glossary only refers to the terms from the import version of the game, but they can still be useful if you're playing the North American version of the game. Aijodo (Love Level): The variable that measures a character's love toward another character. This value is used to determine pairings of opposite-sexed characters in the many endings. Kanjodo (Emotion Level): The variable that measure's a character's feelings toward the other characters in the group. Encompasses Aijodo and Yujodo. Kobutsu (Favorite Food): Favorite food or drink. The special foods and drinks can be used on the characters, and if it's their favorite, it will usually heal them to full HP every time. Killer Move (Kill Technique): Refers to a special technique in a specific fighting style. They are gained through level-ups. Only the fighting-type characters can use Killer Move. Item Creation: Star Ocean boasts a unique system of making your own items by mixing or customizing different other items. There are many different kinds of Item Creations, check the "Item Creation" section for more info. Proficiency (Practice Level): The level of each Killer Move and spell. Each time you use a Killer Move or spell, this number goes up by one, excluding the spells that don't increase at all. Jumon: An individual spell. Pretty much the same as Monshojutsu. Monshojutsu (Crest Skill): This is what magic is called in Star Ocean: The Second Story. The magic of the Star Ocean world. Private Action: A special part of the game in which characters split up and move into towns on their own, so you can associate with your own characters. Skill Points: Points that each character gains after gaining a level. You can distribute these points on skills. Sometimes referred to as SP. Element: The type of attack/defense an item/weapon/armor/spell has, like Fire or Ice. Yujodo (Camaraderie Level): The variable that determines how friendly characters are toward each other. This also has effect on the endings, it determines pairings of same-sex characters at the end. ----------------- Private Actions: ----------------- Private Actions are a very unique feature that began in the first Star Ocean. When you are outside of a town, in the upper-right corner, you will see the worlds "(Triangle button) Private Action". If you press the Triangle Button, your party will split up, and you get to explore the town on your own. When you are in a Private Action, your characters can react with others, get unique treasure, and even change Aijodo/Kanjodo/Yujodo with the different characters. You can complete the game without doing any Private Actions at all, but it's really good to do it, since you learn so much about the story, and can change the way characters feel about another. I strongly recommend doing every Private Action in the game. There are just so many Private Actions, depending on the combinations of characters you choose, so I haven't even seen everything yet. In fact, there are so many possibilities for characters, Private Actions, and ratings, that there are 86 total endings. --------------- Battle System: --------------- "Active Time Battle System": Star Ocean: The Second Story's battle system is much more unique than most RPGs. Battles take place in real time, meaning all of your characters, and the enemies, all attack at once. This causes a lot of strategy is deciding where your characters should be, and makes the battle more real and action-like. Star Ocean: The Second Story has a very complicated system of Killer Move and Jumon, but that's what makes the game so good. You control one character at a time, while the other characters are controlled through artificial intelligence and tactics. You can switch the character that you control anytime you want in battle, though. Most of the battles, especially boss battles, will take a lot more strategy than the normal RPG, and location, Killer Move, character combinations, and tactics all make the battles a lot more strategical. The battles are often much more fun than an average RPG, and that's the thing I like about the Star Ocean games so much. *Killer Move and Spells: There are two types of characters in Star Ocean: The Second Story. Fighting characters, and Spell-casting characters. Fighting characters: Claude, Ashton, Opera, Bowman, Precis, Dias, Ernest, and Chisato. Spell-casting characters: Rena, Celine, Leon, and Noel. Killer Move are used in battle. To use a Killer Move, first assign it to a character, and then press L1 or R1, depending on what button you assigned them to. Each time you use a Killer Move, its Proficiency level goes up by one. When you get past a certain point (it differs for all Killer Move), the character will be able to pull off advanced forms of the same Killer Move (in example, Ashton's Leaf Slash hits three times instead of two after the Proficiency on it gets to a certain point). If you have a Link Combo Ring, you can do two Killer Move in succession. For more about the Link Combo Ring, check the "Differences from Star Ocean" section. Spells are also used in battle. If you want to cast a certain spell, make sure you're controlling the character you want to cast it (press X and select your character), and then press Triangle. A command ring menu will appear above that character. From here, you can select "Spells", and you can select it by pressing the Circle button. Each time you use a Spell, your Proficiency for the spell is increased by one point, with the exception of several spells that will never increase in Proficiency, because they don't need to (like Rena's Antidote spell). ----------------------------- Differences from Star Ocean: ----------------------------- There are several differences in how the game is run from the original Star Ocean, especially having to do with the battle system. 1) Link Combo is now an item, no more chains of four attacks. Link Combo Rings can be found in the game. When you equip the Link Combo accessory, you can go to the Killer Move assigning screen, and press Triangle. Now that character can choose a character to steal Killer Move from. When you steal Killer Move from one of your characters, he or she cannot use Killer Move at all. It is a good strategy to steal Killer Move from a spell-casting character, since they have no Killer Move to begin with. Once you have stolen a character's Killer Move, you can assign combos of two Killer Move. 2) The battlefield. This is a pretty big difference. The battlefield is now true 3D, and it is much larger than the battlefield from Star Ocean. The original Star Ocean's battlefield was only a plane, as opposed to Star Ocean: The Second Story's 3D battlefield. Also, there are rocks, train cars, and other obstacles in particular areas. For this reason, you'll have to plan your attacks better, and you can even use the obstacles as an advantage (for an example, drawing enemies into the train cars in a certain area). 3) Killer Move system is slightly changed. In the original Star Ocean, you would have four attacks distributed between four buttons, 2 for long range, and 2 for short range attacks. In Star Ocean: The Second Story, you only assign one Killer Move to each button, but some of the Killer Move will be different depending on where you execute the Killer Move from (for instance, Claude's "Kuhazan" is a shockwave across the ground toward the enemy at long range, while at short range, Claude sweeps the ground with his sword, creating bolts of energy around him). 4) No Ougi. In the original Star Ocean, you could get Ougi books through the game, and when used on a character, could give them new Killer Move. The Killer Move that was given by Ougi was often very much stronger than normal Killer Move. In Star Ocean: The Second Story, however, there are a few special Killer Move you must find or make from verious Item Creations. 5) New Proficiency system. In Star Ocean: The Second Story, there is a new system dealing with Killer Move called Proficiency. Each time you use a Killer Move, its Proficiency level goes up by one point. The Killer Move becomes much stronger as its Proficiency level goes up, and when build up, graphics on the attack could change, as well as added effects (like making more hits than the original Killer Move did). 6) Recovery time after casting a spell. Star Ocean: The Second Story adds a new spell system. After you cast a spell, there will be a bit of lag time before you can cast another, as a little bar will appear the spell-casters head, and when the bar goes all the way empty, you can cast a spell again. This lag is very quick, though, and I really don't think it makes much of a difference from the original Star Ocean. ----------------- Status Ailments: ----------------- The status ailments in Star Ocean: The Second Story are exactly the same as the ones from Star Ocean, and there are only four total status ailments. Doku (Poison): HP constantly drops in battle, and also drops as you walk. Mahi (Paralysis): You are stopped in place. This ailment has the same general effects as Sekika. You can't do anything when paralyzed, and you can't get injured, either. You don't win any experience points after battle when paralyzed. Sekika (Petrified): Your character is turned to stone, and you can't do anything at all. You cannot be injured while petrified. If you win a battle when petrified, the petrified character doesn't receive any experience points. Sentou Funou (Incapacitated): This 'ailment' occurs when your HP drops all the way to 0. You can't do anything at all until you are back to normal HP. ---------------- Battle Tactics: ---------------- *Fighter Tactics: Only fighter characters use fighter tactics. The fighter characters are Claude, Ashton, Opera, Dias, Bowman, Precis, Ernest, and Chisato. 1) Zenryoku de Teki o Kogeki se yo! (Do your best attacks!) -Don't pay attention to MP at all, just keep using Killer Move on all enemies. 2) Mikata o Mamore! (Protect all friends!) -Only fight enemies that come toward your characters; use defense. 3) Killer Move o Onzon se yo! (Save Killer Move!) -Only rarely use Killer Move, save up MP. 4) Bunsan Shite Kogeki se yo! (Spread out and attack!) -Try to fight all enemies at one time; don't attack enemies that the other characters are already fighting. 5)Teki kara Hanare yo! (Run away as much as possible!) -Always try to run from battles. 6) Nani mo Suru na! (Do nothing!) -Just stand still on the battlefield. *Spell-Caster Tactics Only spell-casting characters use these tactics (other than Rena). The spell-casting characters that use these tactics are: Celine, Leon, and Noel. 1) Seishinryoku no Tsuzuku Kagiri Kogeki se yo! (Attack with mental power!) -Keep casting spells, don't worry about MP loss at all. 2) Seishinryoku o Onzon Shite Tatakae! (Conserve mental power!) -Cast an average amount of spells, save up MP sometimes. 3) Hanareta Teki o Kogeki se yo! (Attack enemies from afar!) -Target enemies in the back with spells first. This tactic is useful for all of those annoying mages in the game. 4) Monshojutsu o Tsukau na! (Don't cast Monshojutsu!) -Cast no spells at all. 5) Mizukara no Nikutai de Kogeki se yo! (Fight with your power!) -Makes you fight with your weapon rather than with spells. 6) Nani mo suru na! (Don't do anything) Stand still, not doing anything. *Rena's Tactics: Rena has her own special tactics. a) Nakama no Kaifuku o Sennen se yo! (Focus on healing allies!) -Always cast healing spells when a character is hurt. b) Mikata o Hojo se yo! (Support allies!) -Mainly cast assistance spells to the allies (such as defense raising spells), also heal when very low HP. c) Kaifuko o Hozon shi, Hojo wa suru na! (No support and low healing) -This tactic saves a lot of HP. Don't cast support spells, but heal when very low on HP. d) Jumon wa Tonaeru na! (Don't cast any spells!) -I don't see the difference between this and "Mikata o Hojo se yo!". e) Mizukara no Nikutai de Kogeki se yo! (Fight by yourself!) -Fight enemies yourself without casting any spells at all. f) Nani mo suru na! (Do nothing) -Don't do anything at all. ------------------- Battle Formations: ------------------- Yet another interesting feature about Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story is the battle formations. I think battle formations play a bigger Battle formations play a bigger role in Star Ocean: The Second Story, since the battlefield is much bigger, and there are obstacles, and some bosses are more easily beaten if you use certain formations. 1: Character in first position on the camp screen 2: Character in second position on the camp screen 3: Character in third position on the camp screen 4: Character in fourth position on the camp screen Here are what the battle formations look like, going from top to bottom on the tactics select screen: Linear Motion Square Shift 1 Tri-Shift 1 Tri-Shift 2 Free Fight _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ ____________ | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 4 | | 3 | | 3 | | 2 4 | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 4 | | 1 4 | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 3 | | 2 | | 2 | | 1 3 | | 1 | | | | | | | | | |_____________| |_____________| |_____________| |_____________| |____________| Upper Guard Under Guard Square Shift 2 Astral Shift Escape Shift _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ ____________ | 3 4 | | | | 2 4 | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | 4 | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 3 | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | 1 3 | | | | 2 | | | | 2 | | | | | | 1 4 | | 1 3 | | | | 3 4 | |_____________| |_____________| |_____________| |_____________| |____________| Assault Shift Upper Caution Under Caution _____________ _____________ _____________ | | | 2 4 | | | | | | 3 | | | | 3 | | 1 | | | | 1 4 | | | | | | 2 | | | | 1 | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | 2 4 | |_____________| |_____________| |_____________| Linear Motion: This is a very basic formation. Use this formation if all of your characters are equal in terms of strength. Square Shift 1: This is a great formation when you have two fighters and two spell-casters, as it makes a great defense and allows the spell-casters to get all of their spells off in time. Tri-Shift 1: This is one of the most overall useful formations in the game. It is best to have Claude in the first position, and your spell-casting character in the fourth position. Tri-Shift 2: This is another overall useful formation. Use this formation when you want Claude (or another powerful fighter) to start close the enemies. Free Fight: I never found much use for this formation. I guess it would be good if you had two fighting characters in the front, and two spell-casting characters in the back, but I usually use three fighters and one spell-caster. If you like spell-casting characters, though, this is a good pick. Upper Guard: As the name suggests, this is the formation to use when you want to cluster all characters to the top, creating a more secure defense. This formation comes into use in a certain end dungeon in which the boss has a laser that shoots up the middle of the field, and this will prevent that. Under Guard: Like the Upper Guard formation, but defends from the low part of the battlefield rather than the top. Has pretty much the same advantages and disadvantages as Upper Guard. Square Shift 2: This formation is essentially the same as Square Shift 1, except the characters are a bit more spaced from each other. Not much different. Astral Shift: This formation uses the same principles as the Tri-Shift formations. Again, useful for three fighter characters and one spell-casting character. Escape Shift: As the name suggests, this formation is useful if you want to escape battles. This formation isn't useful for much anything else. I didn't use this one much. Assault Shift: This is perhaps the most unique formation. When you select Assault Shift, all characters will appear in the middle of the enemies. This formation is useful if you have four fighter characters, and want to defeat the enemy very quickly. Upper Caution: Essentially the same as Upper Guard, allows good defense from the upper area of the battlefield. Under Caution: Like the Under Guard, this allows a great defense from the bottom of the battlefield. Use this when you want to avoid rushing straight to the center. As you can see, there are many variations of battle formations. My personal favorites are Tri-Shift 1, especially if you have one spell-caster and four fighter characters, and Tri-Shift 2 if you have Claude as your first character. It definitely depends on what characters you have in your party, but I use Tri-Shift 1 or 2 through most of the game. *Anger Explosions: When a character falls in battle, there is a chance that the other characters will fly into rage, causing an "Anger Explosion". While in an Anger Explosion, characters gain huge amounts of power from increased statistics. Power, defense, speed, and magic power are all increased from Anger Explosions. Aijodo/Kanjodo/Yujodo have a lot to do with when/who will fly into an Anger Explosion. If a character has high Aijodo/Kanjodo/Yujodo toward the character that has fallen, chances are much greater that he or she will fly into rage. *Note: It seems that Ashton flies into an Anger Explosion more than any other character in the game. ------------- Game System: ------------- Star Ocean: The Second Story's game system is obviously the main factor that sets the game apart from other RPGs. The game includes totally unique features, and these features take awhile to get used to and master. *Game Modes: Star Ocean: The Second Story adds replay value because of the fact that there are several game modes, each is increasingly more difficult. To get Galaxy and Universe mode as playable options, you need to build up your Voice Collection List. This list is a collection of all 1,278 voice samples in the entire game. Each time you hear a voice sample in the game, it will be added to your list. The requirements for the two hidden game modes are as follows: *Galaxy: 30% of all voices in the game (384 total samples) *Universe: 50% of all voices in the game (639 total samples) *Must Test: 70% of all voices in the game (895 total samples) If you wish to play on one of the hidden game modes, follow these easy instructions: 1) Before starting a new game, go to the Voice Collection Screen 2) If you exceeded the amount for one of the hidden game modes, you will hear a chime noise, and the message "Go back to the main screen and select New Game" will appear. 3) Do as the message says and start a new game. The Music Test game mode is not really a game mode. Once you get it, you will get to access to the sound test where you can listen to any track in the game that you wish to hear. *Earth: This is the normal setting that the game starts on. Enemies are at their normal levels in terms of strength. You have to use Earth mode for the first game you play. *Galaxy: In Galaxy mode, ememies receive a big HP and attack power bonus, and the game is more difficult. *Universe: Universe is a huge challenge. Enemies receive the HP and attack power bonuses they receive from Galaxy mode, in addition to much higher defense, and harder artificial intelligence. Universe mode is insanely hard, and the last boss seems pretty much unbeatable on Universe. *Game Controls: X - X O - O T - Triangle Button S - Square Button Towns, Dungeons, Overworld: O - Run X - Talk/Examine/Confirm S - Start Private actions, Pickpocket T - Open Camp screen L1/R1 - Rotate screen Counterclockwise or Clockwise on overworld Start - Open/Close/Zoom Map Window Status Screen: O - Canel X - Confirm S - Open special panels, such as Item statistic panels, turn spells on/off T - Open special menus, including Talents L1/R1 - Scroll up/down in item/skill/technique fast L2/R2 - Scroll through character list fast Battle: O - Cancel Targeting or change characters X - Target/Attack S - Hold and move character around with control pad, and/or change views T - Open Command Ring menu L1/R1 - Target/Use assigned Killer Move L2 - Switch character to next character on roster R2 - Switch character from auto/manual control Select - Taunt enemy (Chohatsu skill) *Camp Menu: The following are translations and what each camp menu option does. The camp menu is not too difficult to learn, even if you don't know Japanese. Specialty: The Specialty menu is where you assign your character's Killer Move, but later in the game, as you gain Specialty, several other options will open up here as well, like Music and Familiar. Aitemu (Item): This is a list of all of the items in your inventory. If you want to use items on your characters, press the Circle button on the item you want, then move to the character you want, then press Circle again. You can arrange the items here by pressing Triangle, then selecting in which order you want to arrange them. Also, you can press Triangle and go to the second option down to do Item Creations. The third option down is Super Specialty. Equip: You can equip each character with the weapons/armor/accessories you have in your inventory. Skills: Choose a character, and the Skills screen opens. You can select Skills for that character to increase levels in if you have Specialty points. Pressing Triangle here will allow you to see that character's levels for all of the Skills. Status: Check each character's parameters, hit points, magic points, level, total experience, experience to next level, equippment, and portrait. Pressing Triangle here will allow you to view the Talents that each character has. You can scroll through characters by using the L2 and R2 buttons. Configure: You can configure several game options. Screen: After selecting Screen, you get three options. The top option lets you choose battle tactics for each individual character. The second option allows you to choose which characters out of the party you want to send into battle. The left side goes into battle while the right side stays behind. The third option allows you to choose battle formations. Kaado: Kaado allows you to either save or load a game. The option on the top is save, while the option on the bottom is load. *Status Screen: Name: Your character's name. Race: Your character's race. HP: Your character's current and maximum Hit Points. MP: Your character's current and maximum Mental (Magic) Points. Level: Your character's current level. EXP: Your character's current experience. NEXT: The experience your character needs to get to the next level. STR: Strength. Affects Kogeki. CON: Constitution. Affects Bogyo. DEX: Dexterity. Affects Meichuritsu. AGL: Agility. Affects Kaihi. INT: Intelligence. Affects Maryoku. LUC: Luck. With high Luck, your character's accuracy in hits and agility will increase. Luck also determines how accurate you are with certain Item Creations. STM: Stamina. Each character has a set amount of Stamina. When you attack or use Killer Move, your Stamnia decreases. At the end of a battle, whatever Stamina each character has remaining is healed in the form of HP and MP. If you used all of your Stamina up in a battle, you will not heal. GUTS: Guts is your character's spirit. It affects the game in several different ways. If you have a high Guts rating, you can sometimes make fatal hits that do up to double damage, and you could receive a rush in which your character's attack and defense levels raise. Also, sometimes when you get a fatal hit that would bring you below 1 HP, you will stay alive with 1 HP. Having Guts is very useful in the game, especially toward the end, where the bosses will hit for lots of damage, you'll want to stay alive. Kogeki: Attack power. This is the sum of your STR and weapon power. Bogyo: Defense. This is the sum of your CON and armor defense. Meichuritsu: Accuracy. This is how often you hit an enemy for the full amount of power. This is determined by your DEX value. Kaihi: Evasion. The value is determined by your AGL level and the shield that your character is carrying.This is your ability to block attacks Weapon: Your weapon. Armor: Your main body armor. Shield: Your shield. Helmet: Your head armor. Greaves: Your leg armor. Accessory 1: Your character's first accessory. Accessory 2: Your character's second accessory. Favorite Food: This is each character's favorite food/drink. When a character eats/drinks his or her favorite food/drink, his or her HP will be healed very high, and most of the time you will regain full HP. Press the Square button on a character's Status Screen to view each character's Element. The first line on the window is the Element of that character's attack. The Second line is the type of defense a character has against a certain kind of Element. For attack Element, when on, the icon of the Element is highlighted. When off, all Element is greyed out. For defense Element, each Element is assigned a plus or minus sign. A plus sign means that a character is strong toward that Element, while a minus means that the character is weak against that Element. *Element: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Star, Negative, Light, Dark, and Mu (Physical). Pressing the triangle button on a character's Status Screen will bring up that character's Talents. Talents are randomly assigned to character's at the beginning of the game. You can learn new Talents through the game, save the Talent "Mana no Shukufuku" (Mana Power), which is only given to each spell-casting character. *Talents: Originality (オリジナリテイ): The ability to make unique things. Cooking Sense (-｡覚): The ability to determine taste in food. Skill of Fingers (器-pな指先): The ability of having quick fingers. Design Sense (デザイ"セ"ス): A sense of form and balance in work. Literary Ability (文才): The ability to write books/music. Rhythmic Sense(リズム感): Knowing rhythm in music. Musical Sense (音感): The ability to successfully read and perform Music. Liked by Animals ("(r)物好き): A love of living things. Wild Instinct (-生の勘): An instinct that animals are near. Mana Power (マナの祝福): The ability to cast magic. Only the spell-casting characters receive this Talent. *Note: You'll need a Japanese character viewer to view the Japanese text here, but you don't need one. If you don't know Japanese, just look at a kana and hiragana chart to determine which Talent is which. *Ending System: The ending system in Star Ocean: The Second Story is very complicated. There are a total of 86 endings, depending on what you do through the game, Private Actions, and what characters you choose. It is very hard to get a specific ending, just because there are so many ending possibilities, but most of the alterations in the endings have to do with male characters paired with female characters. For instance, if you want Claude to hook up with Rena in the ending, you must be kind toward Rena through the game and in Private Actions. ------------------ General Strategy: ------------------ -Talk to everyone. The world is vast and huge in Star Ocean: The Second Story, and Enix has really worked hard on the text, and you'll be given a lot of information on the story by talking to every available. -As with the typical RPG, if you are constantly getting killing, or losing to a boss, stop to gain some levels. Gaining levels increases your stats by a lot, and you can pick more Specialties, and eventually overpower the bosses easily. -Take time to explore the dungeons. Most dungeons have some really great treasure, and you'll want to take time to look for all of the rare items in the dungeons. Also, there could be a hidden passage or some other secret in a dungeon. -Every time you get to a new town with new weapons and armor, buy all of it. Better weapons and armor help you survive much better in the dungeons, and will make things for you a lot easier. -Try different Killer Move and spells. Sometimes you'll get attached to a certain Killer Move or spell for a long time, but trying out the others really helps, because there is always some attack that is better. Try different combinations of Killer Move in Link Combos as well. -Try all of the different formations and decide which is best for each circumstance. Certain formations can have huge strengths in certain areas, while others will really be damaging to use. Also, some battles are heavily dependent on the formation, and you'll want to have the best formations for each area. -Always equip your weapons/armor/accessories right after you receive them. -Use different kinds of tactics on each character, and find the ones that you like best. You won't want your characters to constantly use up all of their MP for Killer Move unless you want to build the Proficiency up, so make sure characters are using unnecesary MP. -If you don't have enough Fol for