Luminous Arc 3 After Break / Intermission Guide V1.4 - 2010 Aug 30 V1.3 - 2010 Jan 21 V1.2 - 2010 Jan 14 V1.1 - 2010 Jan 13 V1.0 - 2010 Jan 12 Author: cuc V1.4 Update Notes When I first started this guide, I was expecting the game to be announced for localization in a short time. Thus the guide was written in anticipation of the eventual English version. Unfortunately, at this moment no publisher has shown interest in picking this game up. The purpose of this guide is to provide info on a relatively confusing and unintuitive aspect of the game, not to create a full translation aid. However, I do feel the need to add a list of characters and some basic info about the gameplay. Other than that, the V1.4 update is mainly a belated update of info about the completion rate. Table of Contents I. The basics 1.1 Difficulty, New Game+ and advice for new players 1.2 Character and intermission chart 1.3 FP 1.4 Party member intermission 1.5 Bath event 1.6 NPC intermission II. Related topics 2.1 Secret information 2.2 Good luck gifts 2.3 Side quest 2.4 Main story dialogue choices (Glen and Anogia) 2.5 Ending 2.6 Other secrets and features 2.7 100% Completion and bonus content III. Advanced techniques and hacking 3.1 Missable intermission 3.2 Obtaining all intermissions 3.3 The 4-playthrough challenge 3.4 Hacking IV. Intermission dialogue choices 4.1 Party member intermission choices 4.2 Bath event choices 4.3 NPC intermission choices V. Credits and Copyright I. The basics 1.1 Difficulty, New Game+ and advice for new players Before we start, there are some important things to know. Difficulty: -Once the game starts, there's no way to change the difficulty (other than hacking), not even in New Game+. -All enemies have increased stats in Hard mode. The Hard mode is truly challenging. -The enemies have increased stats in New Game+. The stats won't be increased further in subsequent playthroughs. Items retained in New Game+: The inventory, the party's stats, FP and zodiac cards (explained below), status of shop, library and alchemy workshop. For a new player, it's important to know how you want to play the game. There are some unavoidable spoilers. -If you only plan to beat it once, read the "main story dialogue choices" section as soon as you reach Ch19. -If you are aiming for 100% completion, read the related section. 1.2 Character and intermission chart In Luminous Arc 3, each chapter is divided into a day part and a night part. The day part is for main story battles; the night part is for other things. You are given 3 hourglasses each night, that is 3 free units of time to be spent on various activities. There are two types of activities, raising Refi's stats and intermissions. In the Luminous Arc series, an intermission (called "After Break" in the Japanese versions) is an optional dialogue (generally with choices) between the main character and a friendly character, which may raise the latter's relationship value. Exactly how intermission works is different in each game. This guide will explain every aspect of LA3's intermission system. For now, people who've played LA1&2 or similar games may want to know this: -Unlike LA1&2, some NPCs in LA3 have intermissions. -LA3's party member intermissions affect both gameplay and the endings. Obviously, you can do an intermission that costs more than 1 time unit when you have only 1 hourglass remaining. This is one of the game's most basic techniques. As an aside, most services (shops etc.) are open day and night. You can still take quests in the faculty room even before entering a story battle. Only the stats-raising (infirmary, bath and training room) are restricted to the night. List of party members in the order of their joining, with info about their places of hangout at night (slight spoiler): Name |Gender |Element |Weapon |Type |Class |Where? --------------------------------------------------------------------- Refi |Male |Neutral |Great |Phys. |Berserker |main character | |/Silver | sword | |/Ragnarok | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Glen |Male |Fire |Spear |Phys. |Cerberus |training room Elulu |Female |Water |Flute |Magic |Siren |kitchen Ashley |Female |Dark |Swords |Phys. |Valkyrie |garden Heine |Male |Nature |Shield |Phys. |Aegis |outside bath Inaruna |Female |Light |Whip |Magic |Ishtar |shop Sara |Female |Nature |Bomb |Magic |Pandora |library Sion |Female |Wind |Bow |Magic |Venus |classroom Yuu |Male |Dark |Tablet |Magic |Grimoire |alchemist Dhino |Male |Wind |Knife |Phys. |Fenrir |church Olmoldee |Female |Fire |Harp |Magic |Titania |infirmary Raira |Female |Water |Scroll |Phys. |Taoist |fortuneteller Anogia |Male |Light |Lance |Phys. |Siegfried |club List of NPCs with intermissions: Name |Gender |Description -------------------------------------------------------------- Gil |Male? |The librarian. Gender officially unknown. Hiyo |Female |The moon of the twin alchemists. Hina |Female |The sun of the twin alchemists. Samantha |Female |The fortuneteller. Kopin |? |See "100% completion"->"Kopin theatre" Miria |Female |A character significant to the story. -------------------------------------------------------------- Lotta |Female |Rabbit-cosplay waitress. Elisa |Female |Cow-cosplay waitress. Myuu |Female |Cat-cosplay waitress. Pete |Male |Dog-cosplay waiter. Nahato |Male |Horse-cosplay waiter. The intermission chart: The first part is for party members, sorted by their locations at night. The second part is for NPCs, sorted by relations between their events. The first three NPCs' intermissions are not related to anyone else's. Name | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|23|24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sion | | | | | | | |#1| | @|#1|#2| | | |#2| @| |#3| | |#3|#3 Glen |#1| |#1| | @|#2| | | |#2| | | @| | | | | | | | |#3|#3 Sara | | | | | | |#1| | @|#1| | |#2| | @|#2|#3| |#3| | |#3| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashley | | |#1| @| |#1| | |#2| | | @|#2| | | |#3| |#3| | |#3| Yuu | | | | | | | | |#1| |#1| @|#2| | |#2|#3| @|#3| |#3| | Olmoldee | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |#2| |#3| | @| | @|#3| Inaruna | | | | |#1| | @|#1| | | |#2| @| |#2| | | | | |#3|#3|#3 Elulu | |#1| | |#1| @| | |#2| | @|#2| | | | |#3| | | | |#3|#3 Dhino | | | | | | | | | |#1| | |#1| |#2| | @| |#3| @|#3| |#3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heine | | | |#1| | |#1| @| | |#2| |#2| | @| |#3| |#3| | |#3| Raira | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |#2| | | @| | |#3| @|#3 Anogia | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |#3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name | 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|23|24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miria | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | * Kopin | | | | | | | *| | | | | *| | | | | | | | *| | | Samantha | | | | *| | | | *| | | | *| | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiyo | | *| | | | | *| | | | | *| | | | | | | | | | | Hina | | | | | | | | | *| | | | *| | | | | *| | | | | Elisa | | | | | | | | | | *| | | | *| | | | | | *| | | Myuu | | | | | | | | | | |FR| *| | | *| | | *| | | | | Lotta | | | | | | | | | *| | | | *| | | | | | | | *| | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gil | *| | | | | | | | | | *| | | | | | | *| | | | | Pete | | | | | | | | | | | | *| | | | | *| | | *| | | Nahato | | | | | | | | | | | | |FR| *| | | | *| | | *| | #1, #2 and #3: party member intermission. @: bath event. *: NPC intermission. FR: faculty room event. 1.3 FP FP is LA3's name for the relationship system. It stands for "philia point". As can be seen on the character status pages, the FP system is composed of two parts, the heart meter and the stars. The heart meter reflects the relationship variable, here referred to as V. The maximum value of V is 90. V=0 - Empty heart 0=30, you can gain the 2nd star. The 2nd empty star slot becomes larger to reflect that. When you already have 2 stars and V>=60, you can gain the 3rd star. The 3rd empty star slot becomes larger to reflect that. When you have 3 stars for a party member, you obtain a "Zodiac Card". From then on, when Refi is adjacent to this party member, they can perform a powerful "Unison Strike". The game's ending is determined by a combination of heart value and stars, and the exact algorithm is not known. See the "ending" section. The heart value and zodiac cards (that is to say, Unison Strikes) are retained in New Game+, but the stars are not. 1.4 Party member intermission Depending on the conditions, two types of party member intermissions may occur (bath events not included). They'll be referred to as "major events" and "minor events" in this guide. A minor event cost 1 time unit (1 hourglass), contains no dialogue choices, and always increases the heart value by 10. A major event gives you one star. The events for the 1st and 2nd stars cost 2 time units, while the event for the 3rd star costs 3 time units. You can judge an intermission's time cost by the number of exclamation marks "!" over the character's head. In a major event, there are dialogue choices. 1) In the 1st choice, choosing a wrong option results in "Normal Break". 2) Choosing the one correct option gives you the 2nd choice. 3) In the 2nd choice, choosing a wrong option results in "Good Break". 4) Choosing the one correct option results in "Best Break". The increase in heart value is: Normal Break: 10 Good Break: 20 Best Break: 30 A Best Break also gives you one consumeable item. Whether a major event happens depends on three factors: the current chapter, the current number of stars for that party member, and his heart value. If the conditions are not fulfilled, a minor event happens instead. A party member's intermissions can thus be divided into 3 phases, marked in the intermission chart as #1, #2 and #3. The 2nd star can only be gained in Phase 2 & 3, and the 3rd star in Phase 3. Major Event |Star |Heart |Phase -------------------------------- 1st Star |0 |ANY |ALL 2nd Star |1 |V>=30 |2, 3 3rd Star |2 |V>=60 |3 Each minor event is unique, depending on the chapter it takes place in. The major events stay the same. For example, Glen's 1st star major event will always be the same, whether you trigger it in Ch1 or Ch24. It helps to think of intermissions in terms of their chapter placements, with each chapter having its own minor events that are replaced by major events when certain conditions are met. Most party members have 2 P1 events, 2 P2 events and 3 P3 events. Glen has only 2 P3 events, and Dhino has only 1 P2 event. Raira and Olmoldee have no P1 event; they join with 1 star and V=30. Anogia has no P1 or P2 event; he joins with 2 stars and V=60. Obviously, each character's first intermission is always a major event. There's no minor event "underneath" it. As a result of the intermission system, you won't be able to see a character's every intermission in one playthrough (without hacking), since 1 or 2 major events have to happen in place of minor events. But since it's the Zodiac Cards that add to the completion rate, not the intermissions themselves, not seeing these intermissions won't affect anything. 1.5 Bath event In certain chapters, Refi will encounter party members in the bathhouse. These are the bath events. Each party member except Anogia has 2 bath events. In these chapters, at the beginning of the night, you won't be able to find the character at the usual location, since he has gone to the bath (obviously). Once the bath event is over, the character will return to the old spot. In a bath event, you are presented with 1 dialogue choice. Choosing the correct option makes interesting things happen (nothing remotely explicit, it's all teen-rated stuff), and large portraits of characters will be shown (instead of small head portraits). To view a character's 2nd bath event, you must have viewed the 1st one in the same playthrough. If you passed a party member's 1st bath event previously, then try to trigger the 2nd bath event, the 1st event will happen instead. There are chapters where both a male and a female character have a bath event. Bath events have no consequence on other parts of the game, except for the side quests (see the "side quest" section). They don't add to the completion rate. 1.6 NPC intermission Some NPCs (non-player characters) in LA3 have intermissions. Typically, an NPC event presents you with 2 dialogue choices. Similar to party member events, choosing the 1st answer correctly allows you to progress to the 2nd choice, and choosing both correctly results in "Best Break". Unlike party members, getting Best Breaks in NPC events won't give you items. Each NPC (except Miria) has one intermission that contains a battle: 2nd event for Samantha, 3rd event for everyone else. Those battles tend to be relatively easy. If you passed an NPC's intermission, his next intermission won't happen at all (no exclamation mark). NPC events have no consequence on other parts of the game. Each NPC (or group of NPCs) has a special illustration to be seen in his intermissions. The NPC intermissions themselves DON'T add to the completion rate; it's the illustrations and the intermission battles that affect the rate. For Miria, Samantha, Kopin and Gil, the picture is shown if you get Best Break in the last intermission. For the NPC groups, if you've made enough good choices (exact conditions are unknown, so just choose all Best options), some addition story will happen after you get Best Break in the last intermission, and the picture will be shown. Story-wise, most NPC events are not very interesting, so whether they are worth pursuing to the end is ultimately your call. The NPC groups are: 1) Twin alchemists: Hina and Hiyo 2) Knight Club waitresses: Lotta, Elisa and Myuu 3) Knight Club waiters: Pete and Nahato Note: Elisa even has a dialogue choice hidden within Hina's intermission. Of the 5 waiters, only Lotta joins by default. The other waiters must be found. 1) Elisa joins in Hina's 1st intermission, Ch9 2) Pete joins in Gil the Librarian's 2nd intermission, Ch11 3) Myuu joins in a faculty room event, Ch11 4) Nahato joins in a faculty room event, Ch13 As NPC intermission are organized into event chains, it's a good idea to focus on finishing a chain with all Best Breaks in one playthrough. The two chains: 1) Hina, Hiyo and the waitresses 2) Gil the Librarian and the waiters A conflict between the two chains at Ch18 prevents you from finishing both in the same playthrough. For more information on Miria's intermission, see the "side quest" section. II. Related topics 2.1 Secret information Gil the Librarian sells secret info of party members, but only if you are already close enough with them. With the increase of heart value, more secret info will be unlocked. You can replay a character's transformation sequence after buying all his secret info. Refi's sequence is unlocked after buying all secret info. The status of secret info is retained in New Game+, but your status of secret info doesn't affect your completion rate. Since secret info are not exactly cheap, you'll likely be spending your money on more imediately important things at first. |Cost |Heart --------------- S |5000 |V=90 A |3000 |V>60 B |1000 |V>30 C |500 |V>0 D |200 |V>=0 2.2 Good luck gifts Samantha the fortuneteller helps people with their relationships. She'll first divine 3 possible gifts to give to a person, then you choose one, and she'll help deliver it. If the person likes the gift, the heart value increases, and Samantha wouldn't help with this relationship further; if the person doesn't like it, you can try again. As you can control the outcome of any intermission through save/load, there's no practical need for the gifts at all. The selection of gifts themselves may give you a few chuckles though. Once a character's heart value reaches 90, Samantha will no longer help with that person, so visit her before that. Gifts don't add to the completion rate. Heart |Cost |Effect ---------------------------------- V=0 |1000 |Increase V to 1 0 1 2nd star: 4 -> 2 3rd star: 1 -> 2 Elulu 1st star: 3 -> 1 2nd star: 2 -> 1 3rd star: 3 -> 4 Ashley 1st star: 4 -> 2 2nd star: 1 -> 2 3rd star: 3 -> 2 Heine 1st star: 1 -> 3 2nd star: 1 -> 4 3rd star: 4 -> 2 Inaruna 1st star: 4 -> 3 2nd star: 2 -> 2 3rd star: 2 -> 1 Sara 1st star: 1 -> 3 2nd star: 2 -> 2 3rd star: 4 -> 4 Sion 1st star: 1 -> 4 2nd star: 1 -> 1 3rd star: 2 -> 2 Yuu 1st star: 4 -> 2 2nd star: 2 -> 1 3rd star: 4 -> 1 Dhino 1st star: 3 -> 3 2nd star: 1 -> 2 3rd star: 1 -> 3 Olmoldee 2nd star: 2 -> 1 3rd star: 1 -> 2 Raira 2nd star: 3 -> 2 3rd star: 2 -> 1 Anogia 3rd star: 1 -> 2 4.2 Bath event choices Bath event choices are listed by chapters, but do note that if you passed a party member's 1st bath event previously, then try to trigger the 2nd bath event, the 1st event will happen instead. Ch4 Ashley : 1 Ch5 Glen : 1 Ch6 Elulu : 2 Ch7 Inaruna : 2 Ch8 Heine : 2 Ch9 Sara : 1 Ch10 Sion : 3 Ch11 Elulu : 4 Ch12 Ashley : 1 Yuu : 3 Ch13 Inaruna : 4 Glen : 4 Ch15 Sara : 3 Heine : 1 Ch17 Dhino : 3 Sion : 1 Ch18 Yuu : 3 Raira : 3 Ch19 Olmoldee: 3 Ch20 Dhino : 1 Ch21 Olmoldee: 4 Ch23 Raira : 2 4.3 NPC intermission choices Choices for Best Break, listed by chapters. Ch1 Gil : 1 -> 2 Ch2 Hiyo : 1 -> 1 Ch4 Samantha: 1 -> 2 Ch7 Kopin : 1 -> 2 Hiyo : 2 -> 1 Ch8 Samantha: 2 -> Battle -> 2 Ch9 Hina : 2 -> 3 -> 1 Lotta : 1 -> 1 (Elisa joins through Hina's event.) Ch10 Elisa : 2 -> 1 Ch11 Gil : 2 -> 1 (Pete joins through Gil's event.) Myuu joins through the faculty room event. Ch12 Kopin : 1 -> 1 Hiyo : 1 -> Battle -> 1 Samantha: 1 -> 2 Myuu : 1 -> 2 Pete : 1 -> 1 Ch13 Hina : 1 -> 1 Lotta : 1 -> 1 Nahato joins through the faculty room event. Ch14 Elisa : 2 -> 1 Nahato : 2 -> 1 Ch15 Myuu : 1 -> 2 Ch17 Pete : 1 -> 1 Ch18 Gil : 2 -> Battle -> 2 Hina : 1 -> Battle -> 2 Myuu : 1 -> Battle -> 2 Nahato : 2 -> 2 Ch20 Kopin : 2 -> Battle -> 1 Elisa : 2 -> Battle -> 1 Pete : 1 -> Battle -> 1 Ch21 Lotta : 2 -> Battle -> 1 Nahato : 1 -> Battle -> 2 Ch24 Miria : 3 -> 1 V. Credits and Copyright Some of the data are from the LA3 Walkthrough Wiki (Japanese): http://masterwiki.net/la3eyes/ Thanks to DimBright (Youhuang Minyue) and Jackson for some info. This guide is created by me. It can be distributed as long as it's properly credited.