=============================================================================== --------------------- UNLIMITED SAGA GENERAL BASICS FAQ ---------------------- =============================================================================== (A TUTORIAL for Beginner-Intermediate Level Players) Last Updated: [November 9th, 2005] v.3.20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Written & Compiled by Joewoof ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Updates II. Introduction 1. About Unlimited Saga & this FAQ 2. The Creator's Talk 3. Storyline Selection Guide III. The Basics 1. Towns a. Inn b. Magic Shop c. Blacksmith c1. Upgrading Weapons c2. Changing Ability Sets d. Carriers' Guild e. Other 2. World Map 3. Quests a. Controls b. Main Menu c. Skills d. Enemy Detection e. Traps f. Opening Treasure Boxes f1. Fortuneteller f2. Sharpeye f3. Defuse f4. Locksmith f5. Melee g. Status Menu g1. Status (Ability Display) i. Symbols ii. Level Graphs iii. "Making" Graphs g2. Magic Tablets g3. Character Position g4. Panel Bonus g5. Sort Combos g6. Skills and Arts g7. Main Attack Setting g8. Ability Help IV. Battle System 1. HP/LP System 2. Mastering the Reel 3. How to Combo 4. Party Formation 5. Durability 6. Learning New Skills & Magic a. Equipment Abilities b."Sparking" New Skills c. Learning Magic Spells 7. Attack Types 8. Main Magic Types 9. Status Effects a. Stun b. Poison c. Darkness d. Numbness e. Fear f. Confusion g. Berserk h. Sleep i. Paralysis j. Blackout k. Petrify l. KO 10. Status Changers V. Customization 1. Status a. Strength b. Skill c. Spirit d. Magic e. Endurance f. Elements 2. Weight 3. Weapons & Martial Arts Purposes a. Slashers a1. Axes a2. Swords a3. Spears b. Piercers b1. Daggers b2. Bows & Arrows b3. Guns c. Blunts c1. Staves c2. Martial Arts (Melee) d. Comparison Table e. Styles of Equipping e1. Slasher & Piercer e2. Offensive & Defensive 4. Armor & Recovery Rate 5. Growth Panel Types a. Enhancers b. Tool Panels c. Negative Panels 6. Getting Growth Panels VI. Miscellaneous 1. Life Protection 2. Equipping in the Wrong Slot 3. Market Rank 4. Monster Types 5. Ecology System 6. Tetra Force VII. Quick Summary VIII. Credits IX. Legal Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** ***** ***** --- LAZY READERS SHOULD SKIP TO THE "QUICK SUMMARY SECTION"! --- ***** ***** ***** =============================================================================== I. UPDATES 03/10/03 v.0.10 o Started on writing the FAQ. 05/10/03 v.0.40 o Roughly half of the FAQ finished. o The Basics section is complete, except for Sort Combos. 09/10/03 v.0.70 o About 3/4 of FAQ done. o Made minor corrections. o Changed "Controls" to default button settings. o Completed Section IV (1-3) and Section V (1-2, 4). 11/10/03 v.0.75 o Removed "Tips Compilation" section o Added "Quick Summary" o Added "Comparison Table" to "Weapons & Martial Arts Purposes" topic. 23/10/03 v.0.80 o Corrected Gun attacks information o Corrected "Fortuneteller" information o Added "Styles of Equipping" section o Added information for "Combo Rate" indicator 24/10/03 v.0.85 o Fixed minor errors o Added "Armor & Recovery Rates" section o Added "Growth Panel Types" section 1/11/03 v.0.90 o Added a bit more to "Negative Panels" o Updated "Comparison Table" for weapons o Updated & improved info on weapons o Added "Party Formation" section 2/11/03 (FULL REVISION) v.0.95 o Lots of minor corrections and additions o Updated "Blacksmith" information o Added "Tetra Force" section o Added "Durability" section o Added "Status Effects" section o Added "Status Changers" section o Added "Main Magic Types" section 4/11/03 v.1.00 o Fixed minor errors o Added "Melee" to "Opening Treasure Boxes" section o Added "Sort Combos" o Added "Start with Magic" to "How to Combo" o Updated "Main Attack Setting" o Added "Attack Types" section o Added "Learning New Skills & Magic" section o All originally planned sections completed! o Plans begun on new "Miscellaneous" section 5/11/03 v.1.05 o Some revisions and corrections 6/11/03 v.1.10 o Corrected "Weapon Upgrade" example o Added "Monster Types" section 10/11/03 v.1.15 o Moved "Tetra Force" o Added "Laura" & "Mythe" to "Storyline Selection Guide" o Started on "Life Protection" 12/11/03 v.1.20 o Updated "Weapons & Martial Arts Purposes" section o Added "Melee" to "Comparison Table" 13/11/03 v.1.30 o Corrected "Attack types" information o Removed "Believe in Your Instinct" from "Mastering the Reel" o Rewrote "The Grand 5-Hit Combo" o Updated "Weapons & Martial Arts Purposes" section o Added a bit more to "Enemy Detection" o Updated "Quick Summary" o Completed "Life Protection" 16/11/03 v.1.40 o Started on "Ventus" for "Storyine Selection Guide" o Adjusted "HP Recovery Estimates" table o Minor adjustments on "Weapons & Martial Arts Purposes" o Added "Magic" category to "Comparison Table" o Updated "Carriers' Guild" information o Added "Magic Blender" information to "Learning Magic Spells" o Updated "Main Magic Types" o Added "KO" to "Status Effects" o Added "Climate" information to "Armor & Recovery Rate" 17/11/03 v.1.50 o Added new tip for "Magic Blender" 18/11/03 v.1.60 o Updated "Melee" under "Opening Treasure Boxes" o Updated "Skills & Arts" under "Status Menu" o Updated "How to Combo" o Added new tip for "'Sparking' New Skills" o Added "Dash Attacks" to "Attack Types" o Updated "Attack Types" o Updated "Armor & Recovery Rates" 19/11/03 v.1.65 o Updated "Attack Types" 21/11/03 v.1.70 o Moved & Updated "Storyline Selection Guide" o Added new tips for "Blacksmith" o Added new tip for "Quests" 22/11/03 v.1.75 o Tips & more minor info added 24/11/03 v.1.80 o Added "Equipping in the Wrong Slot" o Added "Market Rank" 25/11/03 v.1.85 o Labeled weapon abilities for "Weapons & Martial Arts Purposes" 30/11/03 v.1.90 o Minor updates and revisions o Added "Hitting Hi-Level Arts for Weapon Combos" for "How to Combo" o Completed "Ventus" for "Storyline Selection Guide" 5/12/03 v.2.00 o More information on "Ruby" for "Storyline Selection Guide" o New tip for the "Others" section under "Town" 7/12/03 v.2.10 o Adjusted "Storyline Selection Guide" o New bit of info for "Sparking New Skills" o Added "Weapon Ability Set Change" to "Blacksmith" o Added new tip for "Blacksmith" o Added new "In-Depth Reference Lists" section o Added new "Weapon and Melee Arts List" o Added new "Magic Arts List" o Added new "Growth Panels List" 9/12/03 v.2.15 o Clarified "Weapon Ability Set Change" o Rearranged "Magic Arts List" 10/12/03 v.2.20 o Added brief descriptions for "Weapon and Melee Arts List" 11/12/03 v.2.30 o Corrected several spell names for "Magic Arts List" o Added example for "Comparison Table" 14/12/03 v.2.40 o Revised "In-Depth Reference Lists" o Added "Ruby" to "Storyline Selection Guide" o "Shield Spells" added to "Main Magic Types" o Minor corrections and revisions throughout 21/12/03 v.2.50 o "In-Depth Reference Lists" section removed (new FAQ added for that) o Tip added for "Learning Magic Spells" (about where to find Tablets) o Minor corrections and revisions throughout 30/12/03 v.2.60 o Added "The Suggestable Random System" explanation 2/1/04 v.2.70 o New locations added for where to find Magic Tablets 4/1/04 v.2.80 o New tips added for "Learning New Skills & Magic" o New tip added for "Changing Weapon Ability Sets" 18/12/04 v.2.81 o Preliminary revisions done o Revised "Introduction" o Made small changes to "Storyline Selection Guide" o Completed "Judy" for "Storyline Selection Guide" o Corrected "Status" under "Customization" 22/12/04 v.2.91 o Full revision of the entire FAQ done o Completed "Armic" for "Storyline Selection Guide" o Replaced "Suggestable Random System" with "Getting Growth Panels" 23/1/05 v.3.00 o Minor fixes throughout o Status Effects: Added "Fear" & Corrected "Confusion" o Status Effects: Corrected "Physical/Mental" Effect Labels o Miscellaneous: Added "Ecology System" 24/1/05 v.3.10 o Minor Spirit-tactics-related fixes 9/11/05 v.3.20 o Polished "Storyline Selection Guide" o Completed "Kurt" for "Storyline Selection Guide" =============================================================================== II. INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. About Unlimited Saga & this FAQ Unlimited Saga is a wonderful and extraordinary game that breaks all bondaries in its goal to redefine the meaning of role-playing games. It does what it sets out to do - by proving that games do not neccessarily have to follow the so-called conventions of the mainstream. With spectacularly beautiful watercolor artworks and magnificient musical scores, the world of the Seven Wonders is given life while still retaining its nostalgic novel-like feel. The uniqueness is unparalleled. From its stylish graphical presentation to its incredibly innovative battle system, all aspects of the game are laced with the makers' determination to place players on a totally different perspective. Instead of having the game simulate everything, the players are forced to use their imagination and weave their own world upon what is shown to them. Unlimited Saga is no different than that of an art or a poem, where it all comes down to the readers or viewers themselves to interpret and discover the true themes hidden beneath the layers of delicately woven colors and words. Unfortunately, this may prove to be too hard for those simply looking out for enjoyment, as the developers chose to leave it upon the players themselves to actually figure out how the game works and then share amongst themselves what they've uncovered from their experiences with the game. That may be the exact reason why they hardly included any descriptions in the game itself. This made Unlimited Saga even more of a mystery. An unbelievably complex mystery that many gamers find too frustrating to solve. That is where this FAQ comes in. This handy guide will lead you through the game and explain every single one of its concepts in full detail. All facts are simplified so that you won't be bothered with confusing tables of numbers. Examples will be given throughout to help you understand easier. If you wish to dig deeper into the Pandora's Box of Unlimited Saga and gain more knowledge of its secrets, look elsewhere. Information included in this FAQ only lets you understand the tip of the iceberg - though that is already more than enough for progressing through the game. Recommended FAQs for further reading: o Joewoof's Skills & Magic Arts FAQ (Strategic Guide for the Intermediate) o Ajora's Panel Ability FAQ (Intermediate) o Ajora's Panel Growth FAQ (Advanced) o fredga's Panel Bonus Guide (Advanced) Since many of you have questions regarding why the developers used a particular style or feature, I'll try to give answers based on my insights into the game. These are not neccessarily true, but they do serve to explain much of why Unlimited Saga is the way it is. Feel free to skip everytime you see "insight" or "tip" if you don't want to read them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. The Creator's Talk For those of you wondering why Unlimited Saga is how it is, you can get a glimpse into the mind of the creator, Akitoshi Kawazu, from this excerpt from an interview translated by Chris Winkler featured in "The Creator's Talk" section at www.rpgfan.com. Q: Regarding the movement on the field (map) in UNLIMITED:SaGa, it's done in the style of in a board game where you proceed in the area one square by one. Battles are fought by spinning the reel and pressing a button to make it stop. This has become a sensational game with an extraordinary analogy which is making me think of a board or roulette. One gets that impression of a table RPG played with pen and dice rather than of a computer RPG. A: If you increase the level of reality and complicate the game, it becomes a kind of reality simulation. However, originally games were putting a knife into the flank of reality. Usually somewhere there is a deformed thing or a symbolized thing has been implemented - Isn't that what you call a game? Where to cut from the reality, where to symbolize, is the game design part. However, as far as UNLIMITED:SaGa is concerned, we said let's tackle the basics of game design once again. We didn't try to emphasize the realistic details, but rather symbolize, and cut out the parts we didn't need. We thought, let's dare to do a "not express" thing and we calmly sticked to that route. Q: The visuals as well as the illustrations have been particularly emphasized. Among all the 3D CG games, it's something entirely original. A: Right from the beginning we decided to do the game in that style. As one would expect, in this age, battle scenes should be done in 3D to be appealing, so we thought let's do them in 3D, but as for the events, we didn't hesitate to give up 3D. Q: The way of the presentation and the game's structure, the challenge to do new things is the major characteristic of the SaGa series. If Final Fantasy is the "rule of right", SaGa carries the image of a pioneer. A: Indeed. It was Final Fantasy, that by selling a lot of copies, prepared our company-intern infrastructure (laughs). In case of SaGa, there is no such thing, I guess. We have to unfold new worlds. If interested, you can see the rest of the translated review at: http://www.rpgfan.com/features/creatorstalk/index1.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. STORYLINE SELECTION GUIDE Which of the main characters' stories should you start with? Which are you going to go for next? What are the differences between them? This section covers exactly that. When you first go through this, you will be faced with many unfamiliar terms. Don't worry about them now; you can always refer back to this section later. Don't worry. There are no spoilers here. Here's a quick list to summarize the information. The storylines are arranged in the reccomended order that you should take: o Laura = Epic, Linear, Medium, Very Short & Simple Story o Ventus = Revenge, Non-linear, Easy, Good Character Development o Judy = Search, Linear, Easy, Amusing Story o Ruby = Save the World, Non-linear, Medium, Interesting Characters o Mythe = Romance, Linear, Hard, Complex Characters & Story o Kurt = Non-linear, Hard o Armic = Scavenging, Non-linear, Hard, Faery Tale Basically, you MUST either start with Laura or Ventus. Laura has the easiest beginning and is generally best to introduce a beginner into the game. However, she has to face the second hardest version of the last boss. Most players have trouble with that. Ventus, on the other hand, is much easier on average. His version of the last boss is quite weak, not to mention that he has one of the toughest parties with the most LP overall. The problem is that he has one of the more non-linear storylines, which can confuse some players. Take your pick. (* = lowest, ***** = highest) --- a. Laura Style ------------- : Traditional Epic Story & Characters : ** Starting Difficulty : * Ending Difficulty : **** Overall Difficulty : Medium Party Makeup ------ : Various Hybrids Party Disadvantage : -none- Laura's story is by far the easiest to start with. Laura has most of the necessary Key panels to begin with, making it much easier to deal with dungeons. She also starts with pretty high HP and begins her journey with the company of another character. In addition, you have access to a Blacksmith very early on. Her story is also the only one to have two story paths. This means that if you screw up, you can try the other story path instead when you start over. Despite that, it's actually quite straight forward. You usually know exactly where to go next. The only difficult thing about Laura's is that she has some of the harder boss battles in the game, including probably the second hardest version of the last boss. Unfortunately, there isn't much depth to her storyline and character development is relatively poor. If you want to start with a character with a more interesting storyline, go with Ventus. Laura's party consists of all types of characters, ranging from tough defenders to agile magic casters. Half of the characters have decent magic casting ability and the rest are powerful melee attackers and defenders. Several characters, including Laura, already have countless spells learned - an advantage. This bonus also makes it slightly easier for newbies to get used to the magic system, since they do not have to go through the slow learning process. *Tip* Equip Laura with an Axe, Sword, or Spear the first chance you get. Although she starts with a Dagger and has a Lv3 Dagger Arts panel at the beginning, her Skill stat growth is very low - only 1, meaning that she won't be able to deal much damage with a Dagger. Her Strength growth is much higher at 4, which means that she's going to be much better off with Slashers (more info on "Slashers" under "Customization"). *Tip* Laura's storyline is the only one that lacks the option to level up indefinitely, due to the fact that you can use the Tetra Force at the end of her Seven Wonder quest only once. Make sure that you keep key leveling up quests, such as "Knight's Mausoleum", open by always letting the turns run out. You may find yourself in a hopeless situation when your party is not strong enough to defeat the last boss and you have no place to improve your characters. --- b. Ventus Style ------------- : Duty & Revenge Story & Characters : **** Starting Difficulty : ** Ending Difficulty : *** Overall Difficulty : Easy Party Makeup ------ : Heavy Defensive Slashers Party Disadvantage : Poor At Magic Ventus's story is unique for its accessibility to Carrier Missions. You get to deliver goods and gain access to just about every town in the game. However, this also makes his story very non-linear. Half of the time, you'll have no idea of where to go next and the only choice you have is to take more Carrier Missions until something new shows up. This non-linearity also makes getting new characters somewhat difficult. Although Ventus does not go on many main quests, compared to other characters, the few ones he goes to are pretty challenging. On the other hand, being able to do Carrier Missions provide Ventus with the best ability to level up indefinitely. Despite having to start with only one character, Ventus benefits from gaining access to the Blacksmith extremely early on. Overall, Ventus is a not really a good character to start with, due in large part to its non-linearity. It's better if you try out Laura's first to get familiar with the game first. It is, however, the absolute easiest. Ventus's storyline is quite interesting compared to others. It has several flashbacks and rather in-depth character development compared to other characters. The few main quests are often more engaging. Ventus also gets to go onto several Seven Wonders. The plot iself starts off slow and quickly picks up pace. It gets more interesting as you progress through the game, but it gets a bit boring around the middle (mostly due to the uneventfulness of Carrier Missions). Ventus's party is simply a "body-builder club" - all you see is muscle. Most of the characters are tough melee fighters or defenders. Many of them, including Ventus himself, have very high HP Recovery Rates and LP (half of them have 19-22). Half of the characters have relatively high chance of getting Shield and Iron Body panels that are very important for defense. Ventus's party is designed for quickly bringing down the enemy's HP, since its filled with Axe users (Axes are good for damaging HP). Thrown in for variety are also a few girls that are also rather tough themselves (high LP for female characters). By far, Ventus's party is the easiest to use with all these tough characters. As some readers asked to clarify, "Poor At Magic" doesn't mean that Ventus's party has low magic casting ability. It concerns the fact that his party is the only one that has no preset magic ability. None of its members neither have pre-learned magic spells nor Magic Tablets. Because of this, Ventus's party is the least suited to cast magic. --- c. Judy Style ------------- : Search for Family Story & Characters : *** Starting Difficulty : **** Ending Difficulty : * Overall Difficulty : Easy Party Makeup ------ : Defenders & Mages Party Disadvantage : Lowest LP Damaging Ability The special treat you get in Judy's scenario is her access to Forbidden Arts. Judy gets an Ancient Magic Tablet from the beginning, allowing her to learn the powerful spells. As you progress through her story, you will also get additional Forbidden Magic Tablets. Unfortunately, there's a catch. To use Forbidden Arts, you must find a material called Demonite and forge it into an Armlet. Demonite is rare and without a high Market Rank, there is little chance to find one (and you'll probably need several). Due to this, Judy should not be one of your first characters. You need to bring over Market Rank from past completed characters into hers (to do so, load a "Completed Character" save before starting a new game). The main difficulty in Judy's story is that she has to do some of the harder and more confusing quests early on in the game. One main quest of hers in particular is sure to frustrate any newbie. It also takes quite a long time until she reaches a Blacksmith, which is a huge hurdle since you have to conserve the durability of her staff. After that though, the difficulty goes downhill. Her version of the last boss is quite easy. It should not be a suprise that Judy's party concentrates on spellcasting. Like Laura's scenario, many of her companions already have Magic Arts prelearned. The big difference is that Judy's party members have comparatively high Magic stats growth. This means that they are more versatile and can use many magic Arts at once, instead of concentrating on a single element. To complement the mages, Judy also have several tough defenders in her party. On the downside, Judy's mages do not have very high Skill to support Piercing weapons that are essential to finish the enemy off after those Magic Arts have done their job. A couple of the defenders have high Skill growth, but they are more proficient in wielding Slashing weapons (for more information on weapon types, refer to the "Customization" section). *Tip* Due to the nature of Magic Arts and the defenders' proficiency in using Slashing weapons (aka: Axes & Swords), it best to have them learn the Aim and Multi attack Arts of those weapons (refer to "Attack Types" under "Battle System"). Reverse Delta, Fuji View, Bopeep, Reckless Slash and Doppleganger in particular are what you should get (refer to the "Skills & Arts FAQ" for more information). --- d. Ruby Style ------------- : Save the World Story & Characters : **** Starting Difficulty : *** Ending Difficulty : *** Overall Difficulty : Medium Party Makeup ------ : Balanced Lightweight Fighters Party Disadvantage : Lowest HP Recovery Rates The highlight of Ruby's scenario is the fact that you have to conquer every one of the Seven Wonders. This makes her story more difficult than Ventus's and Judy's, since she faces quite a large number of difficult bosses, though not as difficult as the ones at the end of Laura's story. Ruby starts out with several characters and heads immediately to many very simple quests. However, Ruby's party is difficult to work with, as most of the characters have unusual stats and rather strange initial grid make-ups. Most characters do not come with weapon or spell panels, giving you little clue as to what to turn them into. Players should understand character customization pretty well before heading into Ruby's storyline. Speaking of storyline, Ruby has a fairly interesting story, although it becomes very vague and mysterious at times. Ruby's party consists of lightweight fighters. Similar to Laura's party, there is a large variety of characters. The most notable aspect of Ruby's party is that almost every character is strong in two different stats. For example, Ruby can be turned into a melee fighter or a magic caster. The drawback of Ruby's party is the fact that most of its members suffer from Asthma - they have really low HP Recovery Rates. This means that healing spells such as "Life Boost" and "Purify" are absolutely essential. Luckily, most of the characters have decent magic casting ability. You should know your way around Magic Arts before attempting Ruby's scenario. --- e. Mythe Style ------------- : Strange Romance Story & Characters : ***** Starting Difficulty : *** Ending Difficulty : ***** Overall Difficulty : Hard Party Makeup ------ : Female Piercers & Mages Party Disadvantage : Lowest LP Mythe has a very insteresting story and a lot of character development. Although it is clear as to what he wants, Mythe is many times uncertain of the goal. There is much mystery involved in his story and they will slowly be revealed as Mythe himself changes and grows. At the beginning, Mythe is exceptionally powerful. Being able to use Guns, he can kill most enemies in one shot early in the game. However, first-timers may have trouble mastering the use of the Gun. Mythe's main quests are not particularly difficult; in fact, some of them are even easier than Laura's (less straight-forward though). However, Mythe has the hardest last boss out of all 7 characters; so hard that it makes Mythe the most difficult storyline to finish. Make sure you get ready for it. Mythe's party is filled with women, except for Mythe himself, of course (it's basically a Harem). As a result, most of the characters are either magic casters or piercing weapon users. Of all character parties, Mythe's have the lowest LP average, going as low as 6LP and having only a maximum of 15LP. There are no defenders in Mythe's party, making it very difficult to survive through long dungeons and hard boss battles later in the game (one of the main factors that make Mythe's scenario the hardest to beat). --- f. Kurt Style ------------- : Mystery & Knighthood Story & Characters : **** Starting Difficulty : ***** Ending Difficulty : **** Overall Difficulty : Hard Party Makeup ------ : Rare Panel Holders Party Disadvantage : -none- What's unique about Kurt's storyline is having to fight "Gauntlet battles". Throughout the game, you will often be suddenly thrown into these one-on-one boss battles that take place within Kurt's mind. They are excruciatingly difficult, requiring you to apply every single strategy you know about Unlimited Saga. Fortunately, there is no penalty whatsoever for losing these battles. The problem is that if you need to defeat them to make the most out of Kurt's permanent Gauntlet panel, which automatically levels as you defeat harder Gauntlet battles. Kurt has one of most difficult beginnings, forcing you to attempt one of the hardest quests in the game when you only have two characters. To progress through his story and unlock new towns, you have to do various sidequests. Normally, this isn't a big deal, but not having early access to many towns means that you will have to face many sidequests without a full party. Like Laura's team, Kurt's party is very varied and well-balanced. More importantly, it consists of members that start with some of the rarest panels and spells in the entire game. Although this can be seen as a great advantage, you need experience to be able to fully utilize those panels. It also makes leveling up more difficult, as you will be constantly faced with the dilemma of whether to replace a rare panel with a higher level common panel. Some of the panels are so incredibly rare that you will never come across it again once you replace it with another panel. Because of this, you can easily make irreversible mistakes; thus, you should save this storyline for later. --- g. Armic Style ------------- : Treasure Hunting Story & Characters : * Starting Difficulty : ***** Ending Difficulty : * Overall Difficulty : Medium Party Makeup ------ : Unique Specialists Party Disadvantage : Lowest Spirit Armic's story revolves around on collecting various materials for a ritual at the end of the game. Since you'll rely largely on shops for those, having a high Market Rank to begin with is vital for success. However, despite the need for items, Armic has access to an extremely limited number of towns; and thus, you will find it very difficult to find sidequests to do that you so desperately need. Armic's journeys are very unpredictable. Depending on your choices, you may not have access to the Blacksmith until quite late into the game. Characters you get also vary depending on which path you have decided upon. At the beginning, you'll can only visit two towns until you collected enough materials. Because of that, you may be forced to do quests or even fight bosses that are way too difficult for your party. If you know exactly what you're doing, it may be easy; otherwise, it can be suicide for some newbies attempting this story. Armic's party is made up of unique specialists. These characters each have one major strength and a great status growth in that area. For example, a mage that you'll get earlier on has the powerful Thunderbringer Wood Art (the most powerful spell that you can learn from a normal Magic Tablet) and has Magic growth of five. Along with that, it is given two Magic Tablets to begin with. Although it has decent Strength and Skill growth, that character specializes entirely on casting spells. Their downfall is their comparatively low Spirit growth. Since Spirit affects resistance against Mental status ailments, this means that Armic's party is vulnerable to Fear, Confusion and Berserk. Spirit also affects the amount of HP restored by healing spells (for the target; not the caster). =============================================================================== III. THE BASICS As you might've guessed, information included in this section is comprised of how the game functions. It's mainly for those beginners who haven't gotten a grasp of things yet, and have a difficult time adjusting to the game. If you are one of them, let this section lead the way for you to truly enjoy Unlimited Saga. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. TOWNS Starting out, you may find yourself lost about where to go and what to do. Although it may seem very complex at first, gameplay in Unlimited Saga actually follows a rather simple format. First, go to an Inn. Next, select an Adventure. You will immediately enter into the quest. After completing the quest, you will arrive in a new town or return to your current one. Now, you do some shopping, save, and choose a new Adventure. That is basically how the game works - pretty simple, isn't it? *Insight* Many players complain about the lack of exploration and the style of dialogue used. The question is, is that really a problem? You must take note that Unlimited Saga only adopted the text adventure and simulation-RPG styles of gameplay. Some good examples are Final Fantasy Tactics and Front Mission. Simulation-RPGs involve mostly menus for navigation and there is nothing wrong with that. The static dialogue style is done so that the game resembles more of a fiction novel. The more real it is, the less control we'll have over how the character acts. Here, we have to animate those characters themselves in our mind, rather than watch an interactive movie. This gives more meaning to the concept of "role-playing". --- a. Inn The inn is basically your "base of operations". Most of the game revolves around the inn. Here, you save, buy & manage equipment, talk to townspeople (sometimes recruiting new characters), and most importantly, pick a new scenario to begin. The inn also serves as a place for some town events to take place. o Adventures - Choose a new scenario and begin your journey. You usually have a choice between main and side quests. Be ready before you go, as most of them do not allow you to return to town before completing/failing the quest. If you have over 7 characters, then you'll be brought to a party selection screen before you go. Also take note that this is usually the only way to visit new towns. o Shop - Here, you can buy new equipment and materials used for forging and fixing. At first glimpse, it feels just like a shop in any other RPG, but actually, there is a little more under the surface. There are two ways of buying items - with Kr (money) or with bartering (trading). Bartering allows you to trade in whatever you have with what you want. Trade shops usually sell cheaper merchandise though. Another interesting feature is the ability to use character skills to "manipulate" the salesperson. For example, if Laura has the skill, "MongerL3", you just select her (L/R buttons), bring up the "use skill" menu, and pick "Negotiate until he cries". You can now buy anything at a 15% discount! You can use shop skills at any shop, anytime, without any risks. Shops restock their items after you finish a new quest. What's available depends upon the location of the shop (eg. a remote rural town will tend to hold more organic items than metallic minerals). A higher Market Rank increases the chance of shops selling better items (more on "Market Rank" under "Miscellaneous"). o Information - Have a chat with some of the townspeople. This allows you to learn a bit more about what's going on and occasionally allows you to recruit new characters. o Equipment - Change/Remove equipment for sale, fixing, etc. o Adventurer's Log - Save. --- b. Magic Shop Magic shops work exactly like regular shops, except that you don't find them in inns and they only sell magical equipment. Magical equipment are required for every spell caster. For instance, if you want to cast "Build-up" (a supportive Earth elemental spell), you need to buy an armlet with the ability "Earth Arts" learned. Only a few towns have Magic Shops. Magical equipments bought from Magic Shops usually have a spell or two attached to them that can be used immediately in battle. Reforging these equipments at the Blacksmith will always remove the attached spells. To fix these magical equipments without losing the attached spells, either use "Quick-Fix" or "Recycle" during a Quest. As a bonus, most magical equipment have all weapon abilities (not skills) learned. *Tip* Later on in the game, having Familiar panels of Lv3 or higher allows you to use unlimited offensive spells such as Fire Arrow (only Fire & Earth Familiars). Lv4 Water & Metal Familiars give you offensive spells. --- c. Blacksmith At the Blacksmith, you can forge new weapons, increase an existing weapon's durability, or fix one (and at no cost). To do any of these, you need a base equipment or material and a secondary one. Basically, the base determines what kind of weapon will be forged and the second changes its durability. This is an important part of the game, because weapons usually have to be fixed after completing a mission. This is just the basics; it gets much more complicated. Like everything else, there is a "risk factor" thrown in. You may get different results for forging an existing equipment, depending on the compatibility between your equipment and the material you used to forge it with. Here are the usual results: o "That's just about right..." The Blacksmith screwed up big time. You have a chance of losing an equipment ability when this happens, and it's mostly because you put the wrong material with wrong equipment. o "Not to shabby." Everything went fine. You neither lost nor gained anything. o "Now we're talking!" It's a miracle! Either you get a new weapon, a new ability for it, or (boo-hoo) nothing happened. *Tip* Every Blacksmith is different, so don't stick to only one. Here's a list of the various Blacksmiths and their strengths: o Longshank (Mythe Works) - Higher chance of upgrading equipment o Gadiera - Best at increasing Durability (+1 bonus Durability) o Vaftom - Best at fixing broken equipment o Wanda - Only Blacksmith that handles Guns *Tip* It's better to use materials instead of equipment for your secondary item. Materials are cheaper and it is not worthwhile using an equipment to forge as there is little difference (it's usually better to sell them to buy new materials). The best materials for increasing durability are usually Lead, Copper, Quartz, Serpetine, Marcasite, and Scale. *Tip* Stock up on materials. Everytime you see a good material in store, grab it. Items are often changed after completing a new quest. *Tip* Never pick a random material for your secondary item. If you forge a metallic equipment with a fang, don't be surprised to find an ability gone. Always match materials that are most similar to the weapon to minimize the loss of an ability. "Cotton", "Fur", and "Copse" are some of the poorest materials; forging them with weapons will almost guarantee the loss of an ability. *Tip* If you have a "Quick-fix" skill, you can fix equipment by yourself. To use it, the weapon you have to fix must have below 20 durability points. This is an exceptionally useful skill especially early on in the game where you either don't have access to a Blacksmith or enough money to buy materials. "Quick-fix" does not take up any turns. *Tip* The Wood Art "Recycle" allows the caster to fix his or her main weapon (Weaponry 1). To do so, the weapon must have less than 30 durability points. *Tip* You cannot forge body armor, headgear, and footgear at any Blacksmith. The only way to get better defensive equipment (with the exception of Shields), is to find them in treasure chests or buy them from shops. - c1. Upgrading Weapons (Beginners should skip this and read it later.) On some occasions, you may hit a jackpot and get a new weapon. This is done by combining the right weapon with the right materials. Some combinations will guarantee that you will get a new weapon (such as Iron & Cedar), but others, such as Silver and Carnelian, have only 10% chance of success. It all depends on the combinations. Some examples of Weapon Upgrades are (if failed, you get the common result): o Iron/Ironstone + any Wood = Iron Weapon (100%) o Iron Weapon + any Wood = Steel Weapon (100%) o Silver Circos (shield) + any Bestial Gem (eg. Topaz) = Faerie Shield (10%) o Silver Weapon + any Bestial Gem = Platinum Weapon (10%) o Meteorite + any Metal = Meteoric Iron Weapon (20%) o Diamond + Diamond = Roadster (??%) *Tip* One of the best types of weapon you can forge at a Blacksmith are Black Weapons made out of "Damascus". To forge "Damascus", you need to forge special "Mullock" and special "Steel" equipment and then combine them. To forge special Steel, just forge with the normal items (Iron & Wood), but you must get the weaker version of the Steel equipment. For example, normally Steel Spear has 58 attacking power after forging, but occasionally, you may get 57 attacking power. That is the special form. Keep reforging Steel with Cedar or Copse into another weapon if you can't get the special form. To get special Mullock, simply forge a Mullock weapon with any Bestial Gem. Although nothing seems to have changed, Mullock will be changed into the special form (100% success). Like mentioned above, after you have both special items, combine them to get a Black weapon (Damascus). *Tip* Another powerful type of weapon is Bilq made from "Queen Shiva". To forge "Queen Shiva", you must combine two "Corundrums" of opposing elements. There are two types of Corundrums - Fire and Water. To find out whether one is Fire or Water, simply forge it into an accessory. If it has Fire Arts on it, it's a Fire elemental Corundrum. It's risky though, as there is only about 20% chance that you will end up with "Queen Shiva" from this combination. It's best left until much later in the game. *Tip* "Weapon Smith" and "Accessory Smith" panels improve your chances of getting new skills and upgrades of some equipments. This is because it opens up more options at Mythe's Works (best at upgrading equipment). - c2. Changing Weapon Ability Sets (This section is for Intermediate players only. It's quite complicated!) Along with gaining or losing abilities and getting weapon upgrades, you can also change the ability set of weapons by modifying its weight (refer to the "Weight" section for more info). It's very confusing, especially for a newbie, so it's suggested that you do not try this yet until you're comfortable with the Blacksmith system first. Now, suppose you forged a Steel Sword. On it, you have the following abilities: o Multi Blade o o Slash o Stardust However, you do not want those skills. Instead, you prefer a Steel Sword with: o Multi Blade o o Rear Blade o Cross Slash The weight of the weapon determines which ability set it will have. For example, a stone weapon (eg. Serpentine) has "Rear Blade" and "Cross Slash", while heavier metallic weapons (eg. Iron) are stuck to "Slash" and "Stardust" (even heavier ones will get "Blast"). Here's how to change the weight and the ability set of the weapon. In this case, you want the Steel Sword to be much lighter so that it will have "Rear Blade" and such instead. First, you must forge it with anything into another weapon, such as a Steel Dagger. Next, forge the Steel Dagger back into Steel Sword using an extremely light weapon - Feather. After that, you should have a Steel Sword with "Rear Blade". If not, repeat the process and try again. You must forge a different weapon with something into the weapon you want. For example, forging Steel Sword directly with Feather would do nothing other than increasing durability points. If you already have other Steel weapons, you do not have to waste time turning your Steel Sword into another weapon; just combine Feather with the other weapon into a Sword. The other way around also works. If you want a heavy ability set on a light weapon, simply turn it into another weapon (or just use another weapon of the same material if you have one) and forge it with the heaviest material - Lead - back into the original weapon. If it doesn't work, just try again. For the sake of clarity, here's another good example. Suppose you have a Steel Dagger with the following abilities: o Quick Thrust o o Trick Shot o Stunner Since you want "Dice", the most powerful Dagger ability, you need to increase its weight. To do so, you must change the Steel Dagger into another weapon. You may combine Steel Dagger with Cedar to forge a Steel Sword. After that, you need to combine Steel Sword with Lead (heaviest material) to forge back the Steel Dagger. You should get a result similar to this: o Quick Thrust o Stunner o Speedy Bleedy o Dice There are more than two skill sets. Other than the very light and heavy are also ones such as medium, medium-heavy, medium-light, etc. Use trial and error to customize your weapon to best fit the style you want! *Tip* To see which weapon abilities are heavy and which are light, simply check the "Skills & Arts" list under the "Status Menu" during a quest. The abilities of each weapon are listed from the lightest to heaviest - top to bottom. Use it as reference. *Tip* Lighter abilities often deal better LP damage, while heavier ones deal better HP damage. --- d. Carriers' Guild If you're not playing as Ventus, just ignore them. Carriers' Guilds - only accessible in Ventus's storyline - works similarily to the Adventure option in Inns. When in one, you'd have 4 deliveries to choose from. "Difficulty" usually indicates the distance of the delivery you have to make. The reward money is self-explanatory; it's simply what you get for completing a delivery. The higher the difficulty, the higher the reward money you'd get. Selecting a Carrier Mission "locks" you into completing it. In other words, you cannot go on any "Adventure" and revisit other towns until you've finished the mission. Some of the more difficult missions usually mean traveling through several towns to reach the destination. To begin a mission, simply choose to "Leave Town". Instead of going to the world map, you'd enter the Quest mode. Just like a normal side quest, you will receive Growth Panels at the end of a Carrier Quest (or part of it if it is long). Unfortunately, you won't receive as much HP increase. After reaching the destination and handing in the item, you would also receive points for Carrier Rank. When you have enough points, you would receive a Carrier Rank upgrade, shown at the bottom of the Carrier Mission Selection Menu as a row of red stars. The more stars you have, the higher your Carrier Rank is, and the better missions you'll be able to do. Maxing Carrier Rank (meaning getting all the red stars you can possibly get), often takes over 80hrs. This provides an additional challenge for the most hardcore players. --- e. Others Other than the standard set of locations are special structures, such as ruins, that often play a crucial part in a particular character's storyline. If your character has nothing to do with that place, nothing will happen when you select it. One of these can be accessed directly from the world map. *Tip* The special location, "Abandoned Fortress", at Iskandaria allows you to check your character status, use Quick-Fix on your weapons, etc. It's especially useful when you recruited a new character and have no idea what to equip on him or her. This is due to the fact that you can enter and exit the Abandoned Fortress at will. You can come in, open the Status Menu, look at the stats of the new character and leave immediately. It's also a good place to fight monsters just for the heck of it as there are no goals unless it becomes a part of a main quest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. WORLD MAP The world map allows you to move between towns in an instant. You can only go to towns that you've visited before through your adventures; you cannot go to new towns on the world map. You must use the world map, because different towns have different merchandise and options. You'll want to travel quickly from town to town, looking for materials to use at the Blacksmith. You enter the world map by choosing "Leave town". You have to "Zoom Out" until you see the town you want to go and select it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. QUESTS Quests make up the most part of Unlimited Saga. In this game, dungeon exploration is taken onto a
different level. On the surface, you do exactly the
same thing you would if playing a traditional RPG -
running around a maze, crossing obstacles, solving
riddles, collecting treasure, and eventually reach a
goal. However, it is transformed into a simulation-RPG
style, where you must think, use strategy and test your
instincts.

There are two types of quests - main and side quests.
Main quests are often straight-forward with a specific
goal. You get unlimited turns in main quests. Side
quests are harder on average, because you get
limited turns and, many times, you are given a riddle
to solve. In some of them, you have to figure out
what to do by yourself. You have to learn to not be
greedy during side quests, as opening treasure
boxes can take lots of turns.

When you run out of turns, you'll be forced to quit
the quest and you won't receive any Growth Panels.
Fortunately, you're allowed to keep any treasure and
new skill you got during the quest. 

Battles also use up turns. If you spend only one
single turn fighting a battle, there is no penalty.
However, if the battle drags on, you will lose 1
turn per round in battle.

Everything you do successfully in the quest earns
you a Growth point for it. This includes fighting
battles, opening treasure chests, defusing traps and
such. Growth points increases your chances of getting
higher level Growth Panels after completing the quest.
Growth points are unfortunately never displayed.

*Tip* Some veterans earn lots of money by purposely
letting the turn limit run out. Remember that when
you're out of turn limits, you can keep any treasure
you've found. The sidequests at Chapa Village are
particulary good for this since money bags are
often littered all over the area.

*Tip* Completing all side quests unlocks a secret
final side quest! This is only available if your
character has access to Chapa Village and there
are no main quests to do at the moment.

*Insight* This adds more challenge and purpose to
dungeons other than serve as a "stage" where
random battles (which are usually the real challenge)
take place. In many RPGs, dungeons are empty
with only a few minor obstacles blocking the way.
Treasure boxes are littered all around to be picked up
along the way as "bonuses". Most of the time, you
run around without thinking at all. Unlimited Saga
changes all that. You must always stay on your toes
and make decisions all the time - whether to rest
now or find a safer location, take a risk opening
a treasure box, stay on the main path or take a
detour, avoid an ambush or run straight into it, etc.
That's not all, every dungeon is totally different from
each other, in both style and mission. It's difficult
to get bored with this much variety.

---

a. Controls

*Note* These buttons may differ depending on your version
and settings.

X - Confirm
TRIANGLE - Cancel

CIRCLE - Map - Shows a larger view of the map. Having the
correct "guide" skill allows you to see more of the
explored map.

SQUARE - Misc. - Enters the "Status Menu".

D-Pad - move menu cursor

L1/R1 - Switch character. The character chosen will be the
one to perform actions and skills.

L2 - Toggles between transparent & opaque for HP & characer display.
R2 - Toggles between transparent & opaque for location display.

Analog Stick (L3/R3):
o Tap Lightly - Displays the "hostility" of the corresponding
location. Remember that Blue means "safe", Yellow
means "danger", and Red means "ambush".
o Hold Direction - Displays "hostility" and moves
character in that direction.
o Press - "Stand-by". Use this to restore HP. (press means
to push down [not down as in direction] on the L3/R3 analog
stick as if it is a button, you should hear a soft "click")

*Tip* Resting immediately after a battle has both pros and
cons. On one hand, quickly restoring HP will prevent you
from losing LP if you fall into traps. It also helps in
discovering treasure boxes that enemies left behind. On
the other hand, enemies have a tendency to attack a
resting party - it may sometimes be better to find a
safer spot, such as a room or a dead-end to rest. If you
have limited turns though, this is a bad idea as it wastes
lots of turns. You have to look at the situation and decide
when to rest - or you can try trusting your instincts.

---

b. Main Menu

Skill - Performs actions/skills & examines objects/obstacles/
locations. Treat this as your main command. Choose your
target with left and right directional buttons and select
"Action" to examine it. This is how you fight enemies, pick
up items, open treasure boxes, etc. In the same way, you can
use a skill on the target. Pressing SQUARE switches map targets
with party targets. Every skill or action you take uses one
turn, so think before you do during side quests.

*Tip* Peforming an "Action" on some locations may reveal secrets,
such as a hidden lever, etc. This, however, is usually unneccessary.

*Tip* You can also use abilities from unequipped items. If you
go below the character's skills and equipment list, you'll come
to the collective items list. Here, you can use a magic Art to
break a magical lock, for example.

*Tip* Many magic spells can also be used on the adventure
map. Detect Undead, for example, shows the location of
those monsters as red dots on the map. This is especially
useful, since undead monsters always attacks the party. Magic
spells can be accessed through Familiars and magical
equipment.

Item - Opens a list of the items you have. You barely use this,
since there are barely any healing items in the game. The main
purpose of this menu is to allow you to view all the items you have.
In this screen, you can pick an equipment to use "Quick-fix" on.
As a reminder, "Quick-fix" does not consume any turns.

Equipment - Manage equipment. You have to unequip equipment
you want to fix here.

Status - Displays the status of the character.

Quit - Save and quit. Saving this way allows you to continue
the game later (yes, even with power shut off), but you cannot
return to this save when you die, because it erases itself
everytime you load it. You will start over at an "Adventurer's
Log" save if that happens.

---

c. Skills

Most map skills have the following purposes:
o Cross obstacles, such as climbing over big boulders,
swimming across rivers, unlocking doors, avoiding
ambushes, etc.
o Find & open treasure boxes.
o Detect enemies.

Almost every skill activates the Reel. Map reels are
different from battle reels as they change more often
and don't stop at the exact moment you press the
button.

Green Circle - Success. You activated the skill.
Red X - You failed. Either nothing happens or you're
mildly penalized.
Bomb - You failed miserably! The often causes
the opposite of what you're trying to do. For example,
if you're trying to "Defuse" a trap, you just set it off!

Higher level skills increase the number of Success
panels on the Reel. On the other hand, the higher the
level of the treasure chest or obstacle, the less
Success panels you will get.

---

d. Enemy Detection

During a quest, you can detect enemies in three ways:
o Look at the "hostility level" of the next location as
mentioned under the Controls section.
o Use the "Eavesdrop" skill. This shows enemies in red
dots in the whole area (even unexplored locations).
o Use a Detect spell, such as "Detect Undead", which reveals
where all Undead enemies in the area are as red dots.

Enemies move every single turn. Some may take rests in
between movements (eg. Slimes), while large monsters sometimes
can 2 steps per turn (eg. Sabertiger). Aggressive monsters have
the tendency to chase you, while passive ones usually just move
on.

*Tip* Needless to say, it's best to avoid ambushes (red
labeled locations). If given a choice, always take detours.
Otherwise, the "Aura" skill comes handy.

*Tip* Detect spells are most useful for "extermination"
quests where you have to kill all monsters of a specific
type.

---

e. Traps

There are countless traps hidden all throughout
virtually every dungeon (they show up on "hostility" just
like monsters). Most of them though, are pitfalls or falling
ceilings that have spears attached to them. They aren't
dangerous except if you're not full on HP - if so, then
you risk losing precious LP. Who falls into a trap is not
totally random; the "weight" of characters seem to have
something to do with this, as heavier characters usually
fall into traps the most often ("Weight" covered later).

Success - You avoided the trap. Nothing lost.
Fail - You got hit! HP damage.
Bomb - Critical hit! Extra points to HP damage.

(Refer to "Mastering the Reel" section for tips on avoiding
traps.)

---

f. Opening Treasure Boxes

The most complicated thing in this game is opening
treasure boxes. Unlike other RPGs, you can't simply
open it just like that; you have to use a bunch of skills
to do it instead. There are three major steps to
opening one - determine, defuse, and unlock. You
may first want to check to what's inside and how
the treasure box is rigged. If the traps are dangerous,
you better defuse them before you open the box.
Most treasure boxes have locks on them; you need
to take care of them before opening the box. All
steps are optional except for the unlocking part. The
following skills are the ones you need in chronological
order.

All skills take up one turn (even if you retry). Except
"Sharpeye", they all spin the Reel. The difficulty of the
Reel depends upon the level of your skill and the level
of the treasure box. For example, if you use "Locksmith
Lv1" on a "Treasure Chest Lv99", chances are you're
going to find only one "success panel".

Even if you find treasure boxes difficult, you have to
open them, because this is your main source of income.

*Tip* Use "Detect Gold" (Metal Art) to find treasure
chests!

*Tip* Losing patience with treasure chests? Simply use
"Melee" in that case!

f1. Fortuneteller (Gamble)
Think of Fortuneteller as "Gamble", becuase what it does
is upgrade or downgrade the treasure depending on what
you get on the Reel. Definitely use this when you
find a treasure box dropped by the enemy, but other
important treasure boxes should be opened as they are.
Not recommended for quests with very limited turns.

Success - Treasure upgraded about 5 levels and what's
inside is revealed.
Failure - Treasure downgraded about 5 levels.
Bomb - Treasure downgraded to Lv1 and opens automatically.
You get about 1 gold (kr).

*Tip* A quick and easy way to determine the value of
what's inside is to look at the level of the treasure box.
The higher the level, the better the item - usually. Use
"Fortuneteller" on low level treasure boxes.

*Tip* Warning! Don't overuse Fortuneteller! You not
only risk losing all the gold you increased using that
skill in the chest (hitting a "Bomb"), but also there's
the fact that it gets harder and harder to open chests
as their levels go up.

f2. Sharpeye
This skill shows all the traps and the type of lock the
chest has. This is important, because it gives
information for you to decide whether you should go
through with defusing the chest or not. If there is only
a Needle trap, then don't waste time defusing it - just
go straight to unlocking it. On the other hand, if
you see an Explosive trap, you must defuse it first.

f3. Defuse
Defusing traps is an important step. Opening chests
without defusing can result in an Explosion which
often damages LP and destroys the treasure.

Success - You disarmed the trap.
Fail - Nothing happens.
Bomb - You blew it, and it blows.

Here are the many traps treasure boxes hold:
o Needle - About 20 points of damage. Ignore them.
o Poison Gas - Medium damage. If you get poisoned, you
cannot restore HP for a few turns.
o Mimic (goo symbol) - You fight a chest monster.
o Explosion - Defuse or avoid at all costs! These cause
massive damage to half of your party and often knocks
off an LP! And worse, the treasure inside is blown away
to bits as well!

*Tip* On quests with limited turns, it's sometimes
better to disable Needle traps as some treasure boxes
are rigged with multiple traps. You may waste up to
5 or more turns if faced with multiple Needle traps.

*Tip* Some veterans set off "Mimic" traps on purpose.
This because they drop "Magic Tablets", which are needed
to learn new magic spells.

f4. Locksmith
Almost always a must, since about all treasure boxes
have locks on them. Some of the chests have special
magical locks on them. To break these, you need to cast
and offensive spell, such as Fire Arrow, on the chest.
(Reminder: Magic spells can be accessed through Familiars
and magical equipment in the "Skill" menu.)

Success - Unlocks.
Fail - Nothing happens.
Bomb - Triggers trap if not defused yet. Other than that,
nothing happens.

f5. Melee
As a last resort or when you do not have the "Locksmith"
or "Defuse" skill yet, you can use "Melee" (sword symbol)
to break open treasure chests using force. Be careful about
using this, as even a Success can result in
destroying the treasure inside. You can also activate
weapon abilities by selecting weapons in the menu. Using
melee is often better though, since you do not lose
durability points ("durability" covered later).

Success - Disables trap and opens treasure box. Sometimes
destroys the treasure inside as well. Also halves the
amount of Gold(kr) you get.
Fail - Nothing happens.
Bomb - Triggers trap if not defused yet. Otherwise,
nothing happens.

*Tip* It is a good idea to use this for treasure chests
that are not important (such as ones that monsters
dropped), because it saves both time and turns.

---

g. Status Menu (Misc.)

The Status Menu holds all the extras that shouldn't be
neglected. Some functions, such as "Magic Tablets" is
required to improve your characters. It, however, deals
mostly with displaying important information about your
character status and abilities.

g1. Status (Ability Display)

This section displays the status and growth panels of
the character.

i. Symbols
o Strong Arm/Bicep - Strength
o Sword - Skill
o Heart - Spirit
o Staff - Magic
o Fist - Endurance
o Fire - Fire
o Blue Droplets - Water
o Brown Rock - Earth
o Tree - Wood
o Gray Stone - Metal

(For more information on Status, please refer to the
"Customization" section)

ii. Level Graphs
These graphs (Ability Lv & Elemental Lv) show the current
status value of the character. This simply makes it easier
for you to determine what are the strengths and weaknesses
of the character. Also very useful for comparing characters.

iii. "Making" Graphs
These graphs (Ability Making & Elemental Making) are very
important to customization as it shows how fast the character
will grow in each status. For example, even though Laura
starts out using a Dagger, her Ability Making graph shows
that she is better at using Melee and slashing weapons, such
as Swords (go to the Weapons section for more info as
to why). Because her Strength Making is 4, while her Skill
Making is 1, her Strength value will grow much faster than that
of her Skill. In other words, it shows the character's
potential. Always check here when you get a new character.

*Tip* As mentioned before, you can go to Abandoned Fortress
in Iskandaria to check a new character's status and leave,
given that it's not a main quest at the moment.

g2. Magic Tablets

Here, you select which Magic Tablet you want your character
to learn. Everytime you place a new Magic Tablet panel, you
must come back here to tell your character to learn it; if you
don't do this, then your character cannot learn a spell.

*Insight* You need to do this, because characters can equip
multiple Magic Tablets on their Panel Grid.

(For more information on learning Magic, please refer to the
"Battle System" section.)

g3. Character Position

This section simply allows you to rearrange the order that
your characters will appear at the Character Selection Reel
during battle. You should arrange them in the order of how
often you're going to use them, from most to least. Ordering
them from greatest to worst defense is also a good tactic for
reminding yourself on who to use the most often in battle
(defenders - characters with high LP - should come first).
This does not affect party formations in battle.

g4. Panel Bonus

You can check if you've gotten stat bonuses from clever
placement of growth panels. There are three kinds of
bonuses:
o Joint - Two adjacent panels of the same type (cannot
include center panel). Raises a couple of stats slightly.
o Triangle - Three panels aligned in the shape of a
triangle. Raises stats reasonably.
o Line - Three panels of the same type placed in a
straight line. Raises stats greatly.

St = Strength
Sk = Skill
Sp = Spirit
Mg = Magic
Ed = Endurance
Fr = Fire
Wt = Water
Et = Earth
Mt = Metal
Wd = Wood

g5. Sort Combos

As far as most of us know, "Sort Combos" is not important
and should be ignored. In this menu, you can move a line
divider to separate the combos you want to save from the
ones you don't want. As you trigger newer combos, old ones
from this menu will be discarded and newer ones will be saved.
How many times you repeated a particular combo is also
recorded here.

So what does it do? According to the manual for the
European version, you can increase the effectiveness and
strength of specific combos that you've saved. For example,
"Fire Arrow, Boulder, Bubble Blow" has an average combo rate
of 140%. Suppose you save it and use it for 90 more times.
That same combo will now have a combo rate of about 190%.
The effects usually do not show until you've used a combo
over 50 times. High-hit combos (such as 5-hit) seem to
benefit the most from this.

g6. Skills and Arts

Allows you to view learned character skills, arts, and
equipment abilities. All weapon abilities are shown, but
not yet acquired skills and magic arts are kept hidden.
Be sure to check here whenever you learn a new skill or
magic, as it may cause effects other than damage (e.g.
"Sinker" lowers Strength).

(refer to my "Skills & Magic Arts FAQ" for more
information on each Art)

Weapon abilities are shown with the Sword & Paper icon
(these are the ones that all characters come with),
while special abilities, including Magic, are shown
with the Sword-only icon (these must be learned).

g7. Main Attack Setting

This is where you choose which set of commands to
appear first when you select the character in battle. This
should be the ones that you will use most frequently. For
instance, you use Laura's Melee attacks more than her
Weapon and Magic attacks; you then choose Melee as
her Main Attack.

The default setting for all characters is "auto memory",
meaning that the cursor will always highlight the previous
action the character took. Using this menu sets a default
action; thus, canceling the "auto memory" mode. The cursor
will then always reset itself to the set of commands you've
chosen for the character here. It's recommended that you
ignore this menu and stick to the "auto memory" mode.

Equipping new weapons or adding new Familiar panels
sometimes cancels the Main Attack Setting.

g8. Ability Help

Displays all defensive equipment abilities and what
effects each of them has.

===============================================================================

IV. BATTLE SYSTEM

Unlimited Saga features a totally unique and innovative
battle system that centers around the perfectly
original Reels system. At first glance, the battles
doesn't seem to be very complicated, but when you
understand it, you'll come to realize how well thought
out it really is - and that is when you can really enjoy
it to the fullest.

Why fight battles? Most beginners are confused, because many
of them are too rooted into the EXP and MONEY systems. This game
doesn't use both of those common systems. Instead, you
fight battles to unlock equipment abilities, learn new
skills, learn magic spells from tablets, and occasionally
gain materials (even magic tablets if you're really lucky).
HP growth at the end of a scenario depends on how many
battles you fought, meaning that fighting no battles at all
will often result in no increase in maximum HP in the end.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. HP/LP System

One of the first things to note about this game is that HP
isn't used like in other RPGs. Instead, it is treated as
"stamina". All actions during battle consume HP. More
importantly, HP serves as a buffer or shield for LP. LP
(Life Points) is the true factor for the character's condition.
A character will die when he or she runs out of LP, not HP.

There are several ways to restore HP. During battle, you
have to put the character you want to restore on standby
for that turn. Standby simply means to not use that character.
When on standby, the characters will gradually recover
their HP. Outside combat, you can use a turn to let all
characters standby by pressing the R3/L3 (analog stick)
like a button. Returning to town also fully restores HP.

LP cannot be restored during the entire quest. Returning
to town will automatically fully restore your LP.

At the character selection screen during battle, pressing
SQUARE allows you to view all the HP and LP of your characters.
This is especially useful when you're going to use healing
spells.

*Tip* When fighting boss battles, you must always rotate
between characters with low and high HP to give the wounded
ones time to recover their HP. This becomes more and more
important as you progress through the game as doing so
minimizes the loss of precious LP.

*Tip* Always note the character's Recovery Rate (indicated
on the Status screen during a quest). If the Recovery
Rate is low (D or E), putting on heavy equipment with
"Heal-20" will almost disable the character's ability to heal.
It is wiser to equip lighter equipment on them.

*Tip* Having equipment with "Life Protection" greatly
reduces the chance of you receiving LP damage. Wood
and bone equipment can sometimes unlock Life Protection,
along with most non-Metallic body armor. Most veterans
consider this as a must for completing the game.

*Tip* Healing Herbs!
Many people believe that there are no healing items in
Unlimited Saga at all, but actually, there are! If you go
on the "Healing Herbs" side quest at Chapa Village, you
get to collect about 10 herbs that restore HP AND LP! What
are you waiting for? Go and get 'em! (That's all you get for
the entire game, though.)

*Tip* Watch out for Birds!
Many flying enemies, especially birds, have attacks that
deal LP damage even with full HP! Make sure to quickly get
rid of them when facing them in battle. Other enemies and
many bosses also have attacks that target LP (such as "Big
Bite"), so beware of them. Piercing attacks, such as arrows,
also have a higher tendency to do LP damage.

*Tip* HP also slightly affects HP damage you inflict upon
enemies. Lower HP equals higher physical attack HP damage,
while higher HP equals higher magic attack HP damage. Having
mages cast their spells before the fighters make their attacks
is a good strategy (but be sure to position them at the back
so that they take less damage - more on that in "Party
Formation").

*Insight* Think of it like this. Every action you make takes
up your energy - and you lose HP. When you swing the bat hard
in a baseball game, you feel more tired - and if your energy
is HP, you will lose some HP as a result. When you sit
down and take a rest, your energy (HP) will gradually be restored.
When you get in a fight, if you still have full stamina (HP),
you can probably take a punch or two with only superficial
damage. However, when you're tired, a punch can knock
you back and cause a broken bone or bruise. LP represents
permanent damage that can only be treated if you go to
the hospital.  Instead of using magical potions to fully
restore you even if you're on the verge of death, you
take damage that lasts until you return to town where
your wounds can be treated. In many adventure novels,
characters often do not have magical potions to
restore their health during their journey (if so, only a few).
The only way to be fully restored is to find a doctor in
the next town or so. This HP/LP system is very cleverly made
to simulate exactly that.

*Insight* The LP system adds more strategy to dungeon
exploration. You cannot go ahead and fight every monster
in there, or else risk not having enough LP to survive the
boss battle at the end. You have to always play conservatively,
trying to save as much LP as possible. One way to do that
is to avoid unneccessary battles - by taking detours, using
the "Aura" skill, fighting single monsters to stop them from
ganging up, etc. It's not as hard as it sounds - you just have
to think a bit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Mastering the Reel

The Reel appears both in battles and on the Adventure
map. In battles, you mostly use it to trigger special attack
skills, while on the map, it decides whether you can use a map
skill or evade a trap. Many beginners often find the Reel to be
difficult to master, but in reality, it is not as hard as it seems.
The reflexes required is not much more than in fighting or
sport games.

Green panels trigger normal attacks, while Blue, Pink, Orange,
and Yellow panels trigger higher level skills.

When you use a Magic spell, you will instead get elemental
Panels. In addition to the 5 main elements, there is also
the Forbidden (non-elemental) panel. The panel you trigger
will change the strength of the spell. For example, when
casting Fire Arrow, landing on Fire will result in slightly
higher damage (roughly 20%), while landing on Water means slightly
reduced damage. Landing on the correct elemental panel also
allows you to learn new spells of that element faster for that
battle.

Higher level Growth Panels increases the number of "Success"
panels of the corresponding attack type. For example, you have
"Reverse Delta", a Lv4 Axe Art. If you have a Lv1 Axe Arts panel,
you will probably only see a single panel to trigger "Reverse
Delta". On the other hand, if you have a Lv4 Axe Arts panel, the
Reel will give you an additional panel.

Here are some useful tips to master the Reel:

o Aim to Miss
The Reel spins fast enough so that when you press the
button, you will often land one panel after your
target panel. Therefore, you should instead aim for the
panel just before the one you want.

o Know the Pattern
All Reels spin in a specific pattern. You may want to let
the Reel spin fully spin around a couple of times to
learn the pattern before you press.

o Aim for the Pair
Often times, success panels come in pairs. Pairs come in
two forms: "OO" and "OXO". Although the latter is harder
to hit, both of them should be prime targets for every
Reel. These are by far the easiest to hit, so look out
for them.

o Aim for the Cluster
Magic and map Reels often have different patterns (there
are about 20 versions varying in difficulty) often
and the target is hard to see. For those, it's better to
instead aim for the cluster. Often in those Reels, the
favorable panels are grouped together. Let the Reel
fully spin a few times to see where the group is and
press roughly around the center of the group.

*Tip* What if you're trying to open a Lv99 Treasure
Chest and there are no pairs or clusters at all?
Tough luck, your key skills are not good enough. This
is when you should resort to Melee, as they often have
more panels (more likely to get pairs or clusters).

*Insight* Why the Reel?
Some players may not understand why the developers
choose to use the Reel as a major part of Unlimited
Saga. First of all, the Reel is new and original. You don't
find a system such as this in other RPGs. Second, the
Reel replaces the MP system with something more
engaging. Both serves the same purpose - to limit the
the use of skills and abilities. With MP, it's simply a
matter of conserving it or buying items to support it.
All you do is access the menu, pick the skill, and use
MP to activate it. Out of MP? MP restoration items. It soon
gets repetitive. With the Reel system, however, how
many times you can use skills isn't limited by how
much MP you have left, but how good your timing is
at hitting the right panels. In a sense, it simply changes
from how often you can use skills, instead of how many
times. This adds to the "uncertain" factor - one of the
trademarks of the Saga series. It always adds to the
excitement when you don't know what to expect.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. How to Combo

Combo-ing can be really tricky to pull off. After you selected
all the commands, you will be given an option to attack with
the highlighted character immediately (X button) or "Hold" to
combo (O button). Combined attacks always deal more damage
than single attacks. If five characters attack separately, they
may deal 2000HP and 5LP damage, but when combined, they
can do up to 3000HP and 10LP damage with the same attacks.
Combos can also be effective against enemies with LP
defense since they deal extra points of LP damage. As an
added bonus, using combos increases the chance of you
learning a new skill or unlocking a new equipment ability!
However, combos are like a double-edged sword, because
enemies can interrupt your combos with a slightly higher
chance of LP damage to yourself (this is NOT random, it depends
upon several factors, mainly on the speed of actions). Not only
that, some bosses have anti-combo defense (they receive less
damage from combos than single attacks) and others are
especially good at interrupting combos (eg. tentacle monsters -
they have very many turns).

When you Hold an attack, the Reel of the "Held" attack will
move to the back of the new Reel, forming several "layers"
of Reels. The back layer Reels have highlighted panels
moving across. These determine which panels of the back Reels
you'll get the moment you hit Go. It doesn't matter at all
whether or not you hit Hold on a high level panel, as which
attack is executed depends on the where highlighted panels
of the back layers land when you hit Go. The frontmost Reel
works normally during a combo.

All physical attack abilities will be converted to Lv1 when
your combo is interrupted, regardless of hitting a high level
panel when you press Hold.

The "Combo Rate" bar that appears at the bottom right corner
of the screen indicates how much more damage is increased.
For example, if it reads 125%, then your combined attacks are
25% more powerful as a result of the combo. Use this to
determine whether the boss or enemy has a resistance to combo
attacks. Comboing attacks with more characters greatly
increases the Combo Rate. A 5-hit combo by only one character
usually is only 9% more powerful, while a 4-hit combo with
4 characters often go up to 50% extra damage!

*Tip* In case you haven't noticed, you can change the order
of attacks by pressing Left or Right on the Directional Pad
when the Reel spins to switch to the character you want to
use first. This allows you to keep your mages in the back row
and still begin the turn with a magic attack (more on "formation"
later). As mentioned earlier, having mages cast spells first
is a good strategy due to HP effects.

Here are some tips at combo-ing:

o Watch the Enemy
All enemies, including bosses, have a limited number of
actions per turn. Getting to know how many attacks a
particular enemy makes per turn is very important for
a combo. It's often safe to make a combo after the enemy is
exhausted during that turn - you can usually pull off a
devastating 4-hit combo! Most enemies make roughly
1-2 attacks per turn, while bosses do up to 7 attacks. The
maximum number of actions that enemies can do in a single
turn is 7, regardless of having more than 7 monsters in the
battle. Each enemy in battle adds one extra action to the
"Action Pool". The Action Pool starts with one action. For
example, if there are 3 monsters in the battle, that's +3
actions to the action pool, making a total of 4 actions.
When you think it's safe to combo, go for it!

o Start with Magic
According to Rockpsl76, casting a magic spell as a the first
action is a very effective tactic, because it's a very slow
action. Doing this, there is a greater chance that you can
pull off a high-hit combo, since enemies will often use up
all their actions after that.

o Do Not Start with Hold
Holding on the first attack is very risky as the enemies
usually still have several more attacks to make. Don't be
surprised if you get interrupted often when you try to
combo at the beginning. It's much safer to combo later
during the turn as enemies are more likely to be
exhausted by then. The only time to start with a Hold is
when you're going for a 5-hit combo.

o Same Speed
It is much easier to combo when each of the combined
attacks has about the same speed. You can often link
2 quick attacks (eg. Quick Thrust) at the start and 2
slow attacks at the end. Combining a quick and a slow attack
often will cause a combo to fail (such as a dagger attack and
a magic spell). Most Magic Arts are very slow, except for
healings spells, such as Purify and Life Boost.

o The Grand 5-Hit Combo
The trick to a 5-hit combo is to use Magic! It is much less
effective to combo with physical attacks later in the game
as hitting high level attacks skills is more powerful than
chaining a bunch of low level attacks. When using Magic spells,
on the other hand, you don't have to worry as much about
hitting the wrong panels as they make relatively little
difference in the resulting damage. As mentioned before,
starting with a Magic spell equals a higher chance of the
enemy becoming exhausted before you begin chaining combos.
Now, if you use all 5 turns to cast Magic spells, it will
slow your party down so much that the enemy will use often
use up all its turns. Against a lowly weakling, you're
almost guaranteed to get at least get one 5-hit combo every
other battle. This sometimes even works with bosses! One more
thing: Always use as many characters as possible - the more
characters you bring into this combo, the higher damage you
can do!

o Hitting Hi-Level Arts for Weapon Combos
Most players avoid comboing physical attacks when they have
high level Arts (such as Lv4), because there is a very low
chance to get high level Arts on every Reel in the combo,
especially when there are more than 2 characters in the
combo. Isn't there a way to always hit high-level skills
for physical attacks? YES! Now, listen up, because here's
how to do it, ignoring all the little details as on "why".
First, plan ahead. If you're going for a combo using more
than 2 characters, make sure that they're in order from
left to right. Otherwise, this method may become difficult.
Second, hit on the first cluster of high-level panels that
fly your way! In other words, don't wait. Since the Reels
in the background spin at slower rates than the one in
front, the more time you waste in "waiting for that
moment", the less chance you'll have of getting Lv3 Arts
for all your characters in the combo. For example, for the
Reel of the last character in the combo, hit the first
Lv2, Lv3, Lv4, or Lv5 panel you see. Amazingly, almost
every character in the combo will use a high level skill!
I can guarantee that it works 80% of the time (assuming
the other characters have skill panels of the same level).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Party Formation

How you place your characters each turn in battle can decide
the outcome of the battle - it's that important! Party
formation in Unlimited Saga can be changed every single turn,
unlike other RPGs where you have to decide on a set formation
outside of battle. The order that you select your characters
determines how the formation will be set up for that turn.

At the beginning of battle, the first 5 characters will
stand in a particular formation. This initial formation
setup shows you how the rows are set up. Characters are
positioned from front to back.

There are 3 rows to a formation - front, middle, and back.

Here's the important part. Rows do NOT affect attack range.
There is no such thing as a short or long range attack in
this game. Rows affect ENEMY FOCUS / CHARACTER ATTENTION. In
other words, the closer the character, the more chance
that the enemy will notice him or her and attack, since
that character is receiving the highest attention. Characters
in the back row will often be ignored; thus, there is
less chance that enemies will notice them and attack.

It's easier to understand using examples, so here are some
of them.

o Pentagon Formation

FRONT :    [] 
MIDDLE: []    []
BACK  :  []  []

This is the most common formation in the game. Here, the
first character will have the highest chance of being
attacked by enemies, the 2nd and 3rd characters have
and equally lower chance than the first character of
being attacked, while the 4th and 5th characters have
the least chance of being attacked.

o X Formation

FRONT : []    []
MIDDLE:    []
BACK  :  []  []

Sometimes characters will stand in the X Formation
instead. Here, both the first and 2nd characters have the
highest chance of being attacked, the 3rd character have
less chance of being attacked, while the 4th and 5th character
have the least chance of being attacked.

*Tip* Always place characters with high LP and/or recovery rates
(A or B) in the front row. It's also better to equip them with
shields or defensive weapons. Characters with low LP and/or
recovery rates, such as mages, should be placed in the back row.

*Tip* If you use less than 4 characters, then there will be no
back row. However, there is also the advantage of less characters
receiving damage from a mass attack. Against bosses and enemies
with powerful mass attacks, it's often better to use 2-3
characters each turn. On special battles where there are
participant limitations (eg. only 3 characters allowed per
turn), there may be a back row.

*Tip* You should always have fighters in the front and spellcasters
in the back row. For physical attacks, having lower HP slightly
increases your damage (to a max of 10%). On the other hand, having
high HP ensures maximum damage for spells. This optimizes your
ability of doing HP damage.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Durability

Durability (EN) is how long an equipment lasts. Every time
you use a weapon or a magic spell, the durability value
of it drops by 1 or 2 (depending on the attack ability used).
When you run out of durability, the weapon breaks and the
only way to fix it is to bring it to a Blacksmith. During
quests, one way to fix an equipment and increase its
durability is to unequip it, go to the "Item" menu, select
it, and use the "Quick-Fix" skill (need "Quick-Fix" panel).
An alternative way is to use the Wood Art, "Recycle".
"Recycle" repairs the weapon equipped in the first weapon
slot (Weaponry1) of the spellcaster.

A weapon can NOT break during a battle. This means that you
can keep on using it even when it has 0EN left! It will
become unusable after the battle.

*Tip* Always conserve your durability by using Martial Arts
or Familiars, especially if you don't have the "Quick-Fix"
skill.

*Tip* You can keep increasing durability by re-forging equipment
several times up to a maximum of 99. Without "Quick-Fix", it's
very important to visit the Blacksmith and raise durability
up to about 40 before going on an Adventure.

*Tip* Having the "Thrift Saver" panel can save you about 40% of
your durability. It randomly allows you to use attacks without
losing a durability point. For example, a character uses 5 attacks
in a row with a Sword. Normally, he or she should lose 5
durability points, but with "Thrift Saver", he or she can sometimes
lose only 3 points instead.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Learning New Skills & Magic

Another interesting feature that sets Unlimited Saga even
further apart from other games is how new skills and magic
spells are learned.

---

a. Equipment Abilities

Any equipment in this game can have up to a maximum of 4
abilities. To get new abilities, you have to unlock them
either by fighting battles or reforging the equipment at
a Blacksmith. In battles, you must use the character with
the equipment equipped to unlock the new ability. Whether
or not you can get abilities unlock depends on your luck
and the difficulty of the battle you fought, meaning that
the stronger the enemies, the better chance you'll have of
unlocking a new ability. When the battle ends, messages
will appear indicating which abilities were unlocked. If
you don't get anything, just keep fighting more battles,
preferably with more difficult enemies.

*Tip* Performing high-hit combos, especially 5-hit combos,
slightly increases your chances of unlocking equipment
abilities.

*Tip* Having the "Artiste" panel greatly increases the chance
of unlocking a new ability after a battle!

---

b. "Sparking" New Skills

To learn new attack skills, you simply have to attack
the enemy with a weapon ability, such as a Bow's "Quickshot".
With each and every attack you make, there is a small chance
of a lightbulb appearing over the character's head - also
known as "sparking" - and learning a new attack skill.

Normally, the chance to "spark" a new skills is incredibly
low. Because of this, it's recommended that your character
should use the weapon that matches the weapon Arts panel
that he or she has. A weapon panel greatly increases the
chance of "sparking" a new skill (it's NOT required). Another
important factor is how powerful the enemy you're attacking is.
Always keep in mind that the stronger the enemy, the better
the chances you'll have of "sparking". For example, you'll
probably have only 0.001% chance of sparking a Reverse Delta
(Lv4 Axe skill) when attacking a lowly Slime, but against the
last boss, you can have as high as 10% chance of sparking that
same skill!

Attack abilities can learn up to a maximum of 4 new skills,
ranging from Lv2 to Lv5. However, it's important to note that
not all attack abilities can learn up to 4 skills. Only a
handful of attack abilities have Lv5 skills. Some attack
abilities, such as "Grasshopper" (Spear) and "Earth Dragon"
(Staff) only can learn one new skill.

Many skills can appear on several attack abilities
when learned. For example, after you learned "Lightning
Thrust" (Dagger), it appears as a Lv3 skill on "Quick Thrust"
and as a Lv2 skill on "Stunner".

The learning rate of weapons differs between each character.
A particular character may need only a single battle with a
powerful boss to learn several Lv4 skills for a Bow, but
take forever to learn Lv4 skills for a Dagger. One such
example is Silver Girl. She is able to learn Lv4 Axe Arts
such as Reverse Delta and Fuji View very fast, but is not
as good in learning the high level skills of other weapons.
The initial weapon(s) that the character starts with often
is the one that he or she is most proeffiecient at.

Recommended enemies for different skill levels (assuming that
you have the neccessary Art panels):
o Lv2 skills - normal enemies (Hammer Wildling)
o Lv3 skills - powerful enemies, giants & minor bosses (Sabertiger)
o Lv4/Lv5 skills - only major bosses (Elder Dragon)

*Tip* The Giants at "Knight's Mausoleum" (Vaftom) and "Titan's
Flute" (Escata) are the best side bosses for learning new Lv4
and Lv5 skills. The bosses at the end of "Leith Torle's Tower"
(Nivacolina) are also good for learning high level skills.
The dragons at "Dragon's Haven" (Kimbali) are not bad either.

*Tip* The sooner you fight very difficult bosses, the better
chance you'll have of learning high level skills. For example,
going in with everyone having Damascus weapons and over 600HP
each will almost earn you nothing, one Lv4 skill at most if
you're lucky. Fighting at about 200HP for each character and
having really poor weapons, such as Wooden ones, may let you
learn every single skill there is to learn in one go. The
catch is that you may not survive the battle and keep those
skills.

---

c. Learning Magic Spells

Learning magic spells is much more complicated than learning
attack skills or unlocking equipment abilities. First of all,
you need to find a "Magic Tablet". These are placed as one of
the character's Growth Panels. Second, to begin learning from
them, you must go to the "Status Menu", enter the "Magic Tablets"
menu, choose your character, and pick the Magic Tablet you want
to learn from the list of the character's skills. After you've
done that, you have to cast spells in battles to "decipher" or
learn from the Magic Tablets. At the end of battle, the character
and his or her Magic Tablet will appear. You will have up to a
maximum of three spells to learn from. Choose one to start filling
up the bar. When the bar of one of the spells is full, the Magic
Tablet will reshuffle the spells (keeping the learned points) and
you will have to pick from 3 more spells. This is repeated until
you've learned all the spells from the Magic Tablet.

The rate at which spells are learned depends on many different
factors. The most important is the level of the spell itself.
Metal Art "Shock", for example, requires a much longer time
than Metal Art "Detect Gold" to learn. The second factor is
the elemental making of the location where the battles take
place. For instance, it's much easier to learn Fire Arts in
a burning building, because there are much more Fire panels
on the magic Reel. In other words, the Magic Reel depends how
fast magic spells are learned. The more of the right element
there are on the Magic Reel, the faster you can learn new
spells - and its mostly dependent on the location. The third
factor is which elemental panel you've landed on during the
battle. If you want to learn Wood Arts quicker, you should
land on more Wood panels when casting magic spells. Lastly,
casting a spell of the same element as the one you're trying
to learn greatly increases the learning rate - sometimes
even doubling it! If you're trying to learn "Recycle" (Wood
Art), make sure you cast Wood spells, such as "Life Boost".

With Magic Tablets, however, you can only learn up to medium
level spells. To learn high level spells that can cause
massive damage, you need a special panel called "Magic
Blender". Magic Blender is able to combine several lower level
spells into an extremely powerful spell (stronger than a Lv5
weapon art). In addition, two more HP recovering spells would
be available with Magic Blender. Sadly, "Magic Blender" is
an unbelievably rare panel in the game.

*Tip* To increase your chances of getting Magic Blender, use
Fortuneteller and Forbidden Arts often. Other Magic Arts also
increases your chances, but extremely slightly so.

*Tip* The "Arcane Tongue" skill also helps you learn magic
spells faster. Although it doesn't improve the speed of
deciphering spells, it increases the chances of you being
able to learn the best spells off the tablet first.

*Tip* A Magic Tablet panel will provide stat bonuses by itself
after you've mastered it (all spells learned).

*Tip* Here are some locations for finding Magic Tablets:
o Nivacolina = The main treasure in "Leith Torles's Tower".
o Wanda = Both "Night Desert" & "Lumina Stones" quests each
have one lying on the desert floor.
o Loch Vaan = At the bottom of a well. "Swimming" skill
required.
o Iskandaria = Fight mural monsters at "Cave Murals" quest.
The Seven Wonder there, "Undercity Pharos", also has one in
a treasure chest lying at a dead end (only accessible with
Ventus, Ruby or Mythe).
o Longshank = At "Cemetery" quest, fight tombstone ghosts and
defeat the boss. The secret treasures in the shed also
sometimes hold a Magic Tablet. There are also a couple of
Magic Tablets in "Fugar's Mansion".
o Gadiera = Behind a locked door in "Pirate's Invitation" quest.
o Solophero = There's one in a treasure chest at the end of
the "Colliseum Ruins" quest. You must first win the boss battle
there to get to it. It seems to be behind a locked door.
o Serin = Go to the "Monsters' Lair" quest. In the final big
room, win the boss battle and treasure chests will appear.
One of them holds a Magic Tablet.

*Tip* You will have better chances of getting high level Magic
Tablets (such as Lv4), if you are farther into the game. Which
means that it is best to save quests where you can find Magic
Tablets for last, because you can learn better spells. On the
other hand, you may not have enough time to learn all the spells
off that Lv4 Magic Tablet you may get. That's where "Arcane
Tongue" comes in, allowing you to focus on the most powerful
spells first.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Attack Types

(Refer to "Skill & Magic Arts FAQ" for more information.)

o Quick Attacks (Speed & Accuracy)
> Quick attacks are the basic abilities of most weapons.
These attacks hit enemies with such swiftness that it appears
as if the character didn't move at all.
>> Quick attacks are the most accurate of all attack types.
They also have the highest speed of all attacks, preventing
enemies from being able to chain combos with the character's
attacks. Additionally, the small delay after using it allows
Quick attacks to be easily linked into a combo. Quick attack
Arts are the easiest to learn of all attacks.
>> Quick attacks have the weakest skills overall, with awful
Lv2 & Lv3 Arts. They also often lack Arts of certain levels.
Their Lv4 Arts are decent though, and are more powerful than
those of Throw attacks. Quick attacks deal decent HP damage,
but horrible LP damage. Very low HP cost.
(eg. Woodcutter, Flash Pierce, Quick Thrust, Quickshot, Slam)

o Throw Attacks (Speed)
> The weapon is hurled at the enemy as a projectile.
>> Throw attacks are slower and less accurate than Quick
attacks, but are more powerful overall.
>> Lv2 and Lv3 Arts of Throw attacks are greatly more
powerful than than that of Quick attacks. Throw attacks
have more skills than Quick attacks. These, along with
having the lowest HP cost of all attack types, mean that Throw
attacks is the most effective attack type at the beginning of
the game. Unfortunately, their usefulness is less later on
as their Lv4 Arts are often weaker than that of Quick attacks.
(eg. Javelin, Tomahawk, Knife Throw)

o Dash Attacks (Balanced)
> Character dashes past the enemy, inflicting damage along
the way.
>> Dash attacks are slower than both Quick and Throw attack.
It has less accuracy than Aim attacks.
>> Dash attacks are unique due to its compensative nature.
For example, the Dash attack for a Slasher, such as an Axe,
will deal more LP damage than other attacks. On the other
hand, the Dash attack for a Piercer, such as a Knife, will
deal more HP damage than the rest. In other words, Dash
attacks have balanced ability to inflict both HP and LP
damage. Dash attacks have powerful high level Arts. In addition,
they have the most powerful Lv1 Art of all attack types. In
short, they're versatile and can be used in all situations.
Average HP cost.
(eg. Speedy Bleedy, Slash, Time Lapse)

o Stun Attacks (Stun)
> Stun attacks are usually the weakest of all, since they
specialize not in causing damage, but instead in the ability
to disable the enemy by inflicting Stun, Paralysis, Blackout
and other Status Effects. Very effective against normal
enemies, but can also be used to turn the tide during boss
battles.
>> Their effectiveness can be increased by inflicting
enemies with the Status Dropper - "Lower Endurance".
"Lower Endurance" decreases Physical Status Resistance,
improving the chances of inflicting Stun, Paralysis,
Darkness(Blinded), Nutcracker(Break Armor) and Blackout(Death).
Remember that these work on bosses!
>> Stun attacks have very powerful Lv3 and Lv4 Arts that
specialize in either HP or LP damage.
(eg. Grasshopper, Rear Blade, Stunner, Earth Dragon)

o Aim Attacks (LP)
> Energy is accumulated onto the tip of the weapon before it is
unleashed in a precise and deadly blow. 
>> Aim attacks have the second highest accuracy and are
specifically designed to consistently inflict LP damage.
>> Aim attacks have the most powerful lower level Arts overall.
More importantly, they have some of the most powerful LP
damaging Arts. On the downside, they are very slow and has a
high HP cost. Very effective in finishing off tough enemies
and against bosses.
(eg. Aim, Sniper Shot, Hammer, Cross Slash, Coma Dose, Trick Shot)

o Multi Attacks (HP & LP)
> While Aim attacks target a single critical spot to deal one
LP damage, Multi attacks strike several random areas on the
enemy at once and hope for a chance to deal several LP damage.
>> Multi attacks are cumulatively the strongest attack type,
having the ability to inflict both high HP and LP damage. Multi
attacks have the greatest ability to deal LP damage, even
surpassing that of Aim attacks. Like Aim attacks, Multi attacks
are powerful at all levels, including Lv1. It even has lower
HP cost than Aim attacks. Many Multi attack Arts are the best
in the game.
>> Unfortunately, Multi attacks also have a great disadvantage.
Due to its random nature of dealing multiple hits, the damage
of Multi attacks often fluctuate a great deal. For example,
some attacks may be only half as powerful as its maximum
potential. To ensure that all strikes hit the enemy, the
character must have high accuracy (affected by the Skill stat).
To make things worse, Multi attacks have low accuracy. This
means that characters without high Skill are better off using
Aim attacks, since it scarcely fluctuates. 
(eg. Multi Hit, Multi Shot, Multi Blade, Multi Poke, Dice)

o Power Attacks (HP)
> The enemy is struck with a massive blow from a weapon with
pure energy collected at its tip.
>> Power attacks are mighty HP damagers. These attacks consume the
highest amount of HP to cause very high HP damage (Lv4 Power attacks
deal twice as much HP damage as Lv4 Quick attacks).
>> As you might've guessed, these attacks are the slowest, the
poorest at dealing LP damage, and have the lowest accuracy. Use
Power Attacks to completely obliterate normal enemies and wear down
the HP of major bosses.
(eg. Power Shot, Charge, Bash, Stardust, Blast, Bone Crusher)

*Note* As a rule, spectacular explosive attacks are often better
at dealing HP damage. While on the other hand, intense concusive
high-speed attacks, although not as grand, are great at dealing
LP damage. Don't let the graphics fool you!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Main Magic Types

Here are some general descriptions of the main groups of
magic spells. Fire and Forbidden spells are mostly designed
for offense, and are the most powerful. Water and Metal
have a good mixture of both offensive and defensive spells.
Earth and Wood are mostly defensive. There are exactly 12
spells per element (except for Forbidden Arts, which has 10).
Eight of those can be learned be learned from Magic Tablets,
while the rest require a Magic Blender. All Forbidden spells
can be learned from Magic Tablets.

(Refer to "Skill & Magic Arts FAQ" for more details.)

o Detect Spells
Detect spells serve two purposes: reveal enemy locations
on the Adventure map and weaken enemy defenses of the
corresponding type. For example, casting "Detect Animals"
will reveal where all the Wildlings, Beasts, and Giants
are on the map. In battle, casting the same spell will reduce
the HP defense of all those enemies, but it will not affect
enemies of other types, such as Undead. Detect Gold is
mainly used to find treasures, since the Gold monster scarely
shows itself. Detect Blood reduces LP defense of all monster
types.

*Tip* Since Detect spells only reduce about 5% of the enemy's
HP defense, it's often only useful very early in the game
where you do not have access to offensive spells yet. Later
in the game, use it only when you're ambushed by a large group
of monsters or at the beginning of a boss battle (yes, it's
worth it).

*Tip* If the enemies turn around and face away from the party
when the Detect spell hits them, it means that the spell does
not work with those types of monsters. Notice that casting Detect
Gold on most monsters will cause them to turn around, meaning that
Detect Gold does not work with them.

*Insight* How do Detect Spells reduce enemy defense? Logically
speaking, Detect enemies is like scanning them for weaknesses;
using these spells reveal where the weak points of the enemies
are. Therefore, it becomes easier to inflict higher damage on
enemies. Detect Blood works on the same principle. It reveals
where the main arteries and the main organs (such as the
heart) are located, allowing characters to have a higher
chance of dealing LP damage.

o Offensive Spells
Most of these simply cause HP & LP damage. Generally, there
are 3 levels of offensive spells. The lowest level consists
of weak single attack spells such as "Fire Arrow" (Fire Art),
"Bubble Blow" (Water Art), and "Boulder" (Earth Art). Second
level spells can attack all enemies at once. These include
"Ice Needle" (Water Art) and "Corona" (Fire Art). Third level
spells are those ones that can only be acquired using "Magic
Blender". Third level spells are outrageously powerful. One
such example is "Rock Rain" (Earth Art) that far surpasses
any Art in the game in the ability to wipe out an entire mob
in one single attack.

o Healing Spells
Restorative spells are more or less self-explanatory. The Wood
Art, "Life Boost", increases HP Recovery Rate roughly 50%.
Wood Art "Recycle" restores durability of the first weapon
of the caster. There are also several spells that can restore
HP in and out of battle. The most common one is "Purify" (Water
Art), which also removes any status ailments. Unfortunately,
the other HP restoration spells are high level spells that
need Magic Blender to gain access to. 

o Supportive Spells
There are two types of supportive spells - stat raisers
and elemental. Stat raisers, such as Power Surge,
increase stat values by a set percentage (mentioned in
"Status Changers"). Elemental supportive spells, such
as Fire Veil and Overgrowth, increase the effectiveness
of magic spells of the corresponding type. "Veil" spells
directly increases the effectiveness of the same element
by raising the stat value for that element. "Overgrowth"
and "Rainbringer" work differently. It changes the
surrounding environment instead of affecting the caster.
Casting "Overgrowth", for example, will add more Wood
panels to the Magic Reel and increase chances of landing
on a Wood panel; thus, it indirectly accelerates the
learning rate of Wood spells. Having more panels of the
same element on the Magic Reel also increases the
effectiveness of Magic spells of the same type, just
like a "Veil" spell, although the effect is not as much.

*Tip* Status raising spells are invaluable to any boss
battle. Power Surge (Fire Art) in particular increases
the HP damage done by 30%! This means that if you
original deal 800HP damage, it will be increased to
1040HP damage! That's roughly the difference between
Lv3 and Lv4 attacks, meaning that you're essentially
increasing the power of Lv4 attacks to the level of
Lv5 attacks!

o Shield Spells
These spells, such as "Fire Shield" or "Water Shield",
allow the caster to block attacks that the spell is
designed to defend against. They act exactly like
real shields and evasive weapon abilities (eg. Deflect).
Casting it doesn't mean that you can block all attacks
of a specific type or element; it appears only occasionally
like a shield suddenly popping in front the character.
"Aegis Shield" is one of the best defensive spells as
it allows the caster to block attacks of any element,
especially useful for mage-defenders, such as Anzam
or Kong Ming. Other shield spells include "Missle Guard",
"Mind Lock", etc.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9. Status Effects

During battle, you'll sometimes be inflicted
with status effects. Most of these are not obvious
in what they actually do to the character so be sure
to read remember these well. Some status effects, such
as poison, last even after battle ends. Most status
effects will disappear after a number of turns pass by.
Disabled (cannot act) characters will automatically take
out one turn slot.

When you inflict Status Effects on enemies, it often
seems like nothing happens, because there are no
indicators (except for Stun). This means that you have
to use your observational skills to determine whether
the enemies are inflicted with Status Effects or not.
For example, when enemies do nothing for 2 or more
turns, it means that they are either inflicted with
Paralysis or Sleep. When they suddenly die without
receiving any LP damage, they were affected with Blackout.

The chances of receiving Status Effects are reduced by
Endurance and Spirit. Endurance is more important as
it resists most of them. Spirit, on the other hand, only
applies to a few Status Effects. However, Spirit is more
important when it comes to being healed with spells, such
as Purify.

*Insight* This way, battles become even more realistic.
In real life, you do not see the words, "Internally
Wounded", floating above your opponent's head. Giving
no indicators seem to simulate this. Either that, or
the developers decided to revert to a retro-style.
In old school RPGs, such as Final Fantasy 4 (2 in the
States), there are also no indicators given when
monsters are inflicted with Status Effects. You have
to gradually learn from experience and notice by
yourself whether the Status Effect was inflicted or
not. Since Unlimited Saga was designed for the
hardcore audience, the developers probably went with
it for this reason.

*Tip* The Water Art, "Purify", can remove any status
effect and restore HP in battle.

a. Stun ("STUN" text indicator pops up)
o Lasts one turn.
o Cancels about half of character actions that turn.
o If one action is left, it is canceled.
o Physical Effect

b. Poison (green bubble symbol)
o Stops HP Recovery.
o Inflicts HP damage each turn (reduced with Endurance stat).
o Physical Effect

c. Darkness (white-outlined figure, black background)
o Accuracy halved.
o Physical Effect

d. Numbness (surprised figure with 2 yellow jagged lines)
o Numbness panels appear on attack Reel.
o Numbness panel = reduce attack damage & disable skill panels
o Physical Effect

e. Fear (figure with one question mark)
o Fear panels appear on attack Reel.
o Fear panel = reduce attack damage & disable skill panels
o Mental Effect

f. Confusion (figure with two question marks)
o Cancels 2/3 of all attacks that turn.
o Mental Effect

g. Berserk
o HP Recovery Rate halved.
o Strength increased.
o Skill decreased.
o Reduced effectiveness of healing spells upon the inflicted.
o Mental Effect

h. Sleep (figure with snooze "zzz" mark)
o Cannot act.
o HP Recovery Rate increases 25%.
o Character wakes up when loses LP.
o Some sleep attacks cause Confusion after waking up.
o Enemies do nothing until LP is lost.
o Physical Effect

i. Paralysis (surprised figure with 2 gray jagged lines)
o Cannot act.
o HP Recovery Rate halved.
o Enemies do nothing for 2 or more turns (works with bosses).
o Physical Effect

*Tip* Attack skills that have the Paralysis effect are
extremely useful against high level bosses. One player
defeated over 5 Sabertigers without a single scratch
by inflicting them with Paralysis! Some of the toughest
bosses in the game, such as the Spear Giant, can be
brought down very easily using Paralysis. Paralysis
skills include "Lightning Thrust" (Dagger) and
"Shadow Skidder" (Bow). "Seal of the Abyss" (Forbidden
Art) also causes Paralysis.

j. Blackout (unconsciousness; figure with stars)
o Cannot act.
o Stops HP Recovery.
o Inflicts Death on enemies (works with bosses!).
o Physical Effect

k. Petrify (gray stone symbol)
o Cannot act.
o Stops HP Recovery.
o Very difficult to Rescue (more Weight).
o Physical Effect

l. KO (knocked out; death; no symbol)
o Out of LP.
o Cannot act.
o Stops HP Recovery.
o Cannot be restored until end of Quest.

(Credits to Niu for info.)

---

10. Status Changers

There are countless spells and skills that drop
status, including Detect Animals and Drag Down. Other
spells, such as Power Surge, can increase a characters'
status. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to tell
when an attack was able to drop the target's status,
since there are no symbols to indicate the successfulness
of the effect.

How effective are stat changers? Very. Most stat droppers
reduce a specific status up to 30%! For example, if an
enemy has 30 Strength, it'll be reduced to about 20! That
means that if an enemy can deal about 400HP damage to a
character, it will only be able to do 240HP damage instead!
This also applies to stat raisers.

Characters and enemies can be affected by at most 3 stat
droppers or raisers at any given time. That, however, doesn't
mean that all 3 stats will be reduced by 30%. The 30% will be
shared among the 3 stat droppers. This means that having
2 stat droppers will drop each stat by 15%; 3 stat droppers
will drop each stat by 10%. For example, you used Drag Down
(reduces Strength), Triple Hit (reduces Endurance), and
Skull Splitter (reduces Magic) on an enemy. Assuming that
they all hit, the enemy will lose 10% of its Strength,
Endurance, and Magic status. If you only used Drag Down,
then the enemy will lose 30% of its Strength.

Casting a stat raiser on a character that was inflicted by
a stat dropper immediately cancels out the stat dropper.
Use them to cure stat droppers.

All bosses can be inflicted with stat droppers, including
the last boss.

*Tip* Reducing Endurance increases the chances of inflicting
Status Effects. Raising the chance of killing a boss in one
blow with the Blackout effect by 30% is priceless.

*Tip* "Aqua Lunar" (Staff Art) reduces Spirit. Although
Spirit increases resistance against Mental Status Effects,
only a couple of Blended Magic Arts can inflict Fear and
Confusion. Unless the enemy has healing spells, reducing
Endurance is much more effective. 

*Tip* The "Nutcracker" effect reduces the enemy's actual
armor defense. Use it when facing enemies with strong
defenses.

(Thanks, again, to Niu for info.)

===============================================================================

V. CUSTOMIZATION

Another large part of Unlimited Saga involves customization.
You have lots of freedom in shaping each and every one of
your characters. You have choices between which weapon
the character will use, whether to equip two weapons or use
a shield, light & quick or heavy & slow armor, and what sort
of skills you want him or her to learn. The possibilities are
endless; or shall we say - "unlimited"!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Status

Knowing how each status value works is fundamental
for any kind of customization.

There is usually great confusion about which status ability
affects what value. However, I can assure you that this
information is very accurate, thanks to Ramtiger's information.

Numbers inside the brackets [*] indicate the magnitude of the effect.

a. Strength
o [3]Increases HP damage for Martial Arts, Swords, Axes, Spears, and Staves.

b. Skill
o [3]Increases HP damage for Daggers, Bows, and Guns.
o [1]Slightly increases HP damage for Martial Arts.
o [1]Slightly increases chance of inflicting LP damage for all attacks.
o [1]Slightly reduces chances of receiving LP damage.
o [2]Increases accuracy for all attacks (physical AND magic).
o [1]Reduces delay after attacks.

c. Spirit
o [2]Increases effect of restorative spells on self.
o [2]Increases resistance against Mental Status Effects.

d. Magic
o [2]Increases HP damage for all Magic spells.

e. Endurance
o [3]Reduces damage from the Poison effect.
o [2]Increases resistance against Physical Status Effects.

f. Elements (Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, and Metal)
o [3]Increases HP damage for Magic spells of a specific element.

*Tip* Elements are more important than Magic when it comes to
doing HP damage (except for Forbidden spells), but are less
important when it comes to LP damage. Magic allows for more
versatility in using Magic spells and further increases their
power. Pure spellcasters need both Magic and an Element to do
real damage.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Weight

Weight actually plays a big role and affects many stats
with little (or any) indication. It is determined by the materials
of the equipment you fitted the character with and the weight of
that character him or herself. It's difficult to know whether
your character is light or heavy, since there is nothing to
show the change in weight. 

Weight affects the following values:
o Slightly increases Martial Arts Damage
o Increases Damage FROM Multi Attacks 
o Decreases Speed
o Decreases Physical Attack Accuracy
o Decreases Evasion
o Decreases Effectiveness of Evasive Skills
o Affects Martial Arts Type (high Weight disables Light Martial Arts)
o Harder to "Rescue"
(lighter characters will find it difficult to rescue heavier ones)

Note again that Weight can be determined from two values:
o Character's Initial Body Weight
o Character's Equipment

The character's body weight can usually be determined graphically. A
slender female mage is obviously lighter than a heavily armored male
warrior. The age of the character is also a good indicator. Being
child-sized, Judy and Armic are the lightest characters in the game.
Ventus and Laura have average Weight, while fighters, such as Kurt
and Francis, are very heavy. The heaviest characters are Anzan and
Musol Yanni, since they are made of rocks and metal respectively.

To make it easier to remember, materials are categorized below
and ordered from lightest to heaviest. Lead (heaviest) is 8 times
heavier than Feather (lightest).
o Naturals (Fang, Wood, etc.)
o Scales (Scale, Shell, etc.)
o Gems (Lazuli, Topaz, etc.)
o Stones (Quartz, Serpentine, etc.)
o Metals (Copper, Iron, etc.)

The Weight of a Weapon affects its ability to block attacks.
Lighter weapons can Parry, Deflect, or Block better than
heavier ones. This means that Ash - the lightest wooden
material - is best for forging a defensive weapon. This
does NOT apply to the Japanese version, unfortunately.

*Tip* Special materials, such as Dragon Shell, are
sometimes much heavier (or lighter) than others of the same
category.

*Tip* Some characters are so outrageously heavy that you can
forget all about trying to Rescue them when they're disabled
or unconscious. For example, it is next to impossible to
Rescue Musol Yanni as he is one of the heaviest character in the
game. You must have an equally heavy character, such as
Anzan, to do so. Make sure to let heavy characters run out
of LP the slowest of all your characters. Otherwise, you
may find yourself with an unmovable statue wasting one
character slot.

*Tip* Heavier characters are better at rescuing characters,
while not surprisingly are the hardest to be rescued
themselves. Because of this, try to keep characters from
being too light or too heavy.

*Tip* Although Roy looks fat, he's actually the lightest
character in the entire game. Being a mage, he probably
has a floating spell permanently cast upon himself. Roy
is the only special exception.

(thanks to Niu for providing information for this section)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Weapons & Martial Arts Purposes

Unlimited Saga does an impressive job of balancing all
attacks types and weapons and giving a unique role to
each and every one of them. Every weapon has it's own
strengths and weaknesses and is special in one way or
another. The information for each weapon is based on
looking at all the skills that the weapon has. The
actual attack powers of different weapons matter less
than the skills that can be learned from them. On
average, each weapon has about 20 skills.

An important thing to remember is that evasive skills,
such as "Parry", will only work if equipped in the
character's second hand. The same applies to shields.
Their effectiveness decreases with Weight, meaning that
it is better to use lighter equipment for blocking.
Lighter shields are better at blocking if the character
has the Shield Panel. Otherwise, use heavier ones.

Only the Sword and the Spear can use Lv5 skills. However,
each weapon has one Lv4 skill that is equivalent to Lv5.
Each weapon has only one true Lv5 skill - that is the
ultimate skill for that particular weapon.

*Tip* It's always good to have a mix of different
weapons to make up for each others' weaknesses.

(Please refer back to the "Attack Types" section for
information on properties of each weapon ability.)

(For in-depth details and strategies on Weapon Arts,
please refer to the "Skill & Magic Arts FAQ")

2EN = Consumes 2 Durability Points

---

a. Slashers

The Slashers are designed for bringing down tough
monsters with lots of HP. Their skills are the most
powerful in the game, but unfortunately, they suffer
from not being able to do much LP damage. These
weapons are entirely affected by Strength.

Remember that Power attacks deal about twice as much
HP as Quick attacks, while Multi and Aim attacks
often deal LP damage ten times as often as both of those
attacks. This becomes very apparent with higher level
Arts.

*Insight* Slashers can make a huge gash on the enemy
draining blood (HP) and severely weaken them for
Piercers to hit their vital points.

a1. Axes

* Heavy HP Damager *
The axe is the most destructive weapon, being able
to do massive HP damage. However, it is one of the
slowest weapons and deals the least LP damage. It also
suffers from low durability. All Axe skills deal
high HP damage but low LP damage, with the
exception of its ultimate skill - "Reverse Delta" (Lv4
but as powerful as Lv5). Axes should be equipped on
characters with high Strength. Due to the lack of uses,
the Axe must only be equipped as the primary weapon.
o Quick = Woodcutter
o Throw = Tomahawk
o Dash  = Time Lapse
o Aim   = Hammer (Hyper Hammer)
o Power = Bash (2EN)

a2. Swords

* Versatile HP Damager * Defender *
The sword is the most versatile weapon in the game.
It has average attacking power and speed with pretty high
accuracy. Low level sword skills are weak, but the higher
level ones are exceptionally powerful. Swords also have
the best HP-damaging Lv5 skill in the game (Golden Dragon),
only rivaled by the Spear. Some of them have the evasion skill,
"Deflect", which means the sword can be used as a defensive
weapon, making it a good secondary weapon. The major downside
to this weapon is that, like the Axe, it deals incredibly
low LP damage.
o Multi  = Multi Blade (Twin Blade)
o Dash   = Slash
o Stun   = Rear Blade
o Aim    = Cross Slash
o Power1 = Stardust
o Power2 = Blast (Smash) (2EN)

a3. Spears

* Balanced Damager (HP & LP) *
The spear is a cross between a Slasher and a Piercer; a Slasher in
the disguise of a Piercer. It does less HP damage as the sword,
but more LP damage. It's skills can do high damage to both HP & LP,
meaning that it's the most balanced of all weapons. If you're lucky,
you may be able to learn "Reaper" (Lv3 Grasshopper), which is a very
useful mass-stunner. However, it's much slower and does not have an
evasion skill; thus, it cannot be used as defensive weapon like the
sword.
o Quick = Flash Pierce
o Throw = Javelin
o Stun  = Grasshopper
o Aim   = Aim
o Multi = Multi Poke (Double Stab) (2EN)
o Power = Charge (2EN)

---

b. Piercers

Piercers are the opposite of Slashers. Instead of
using force to strike the enemy, Piercers make quick
and accurate attacks to strike at the enemies' vital
organs. All Piercers deal more LP damage than Slashers,
but are usually not as powerful when it comes to damaging
HP. Piercers are all affected by Skill, which means that
they are naturally faster and more accurate than Slashers.

b1. Daggers

* Precise LP Damager * Defender *
Although the dagger is the weakest of all weapons (being able to
do the least HP damage), it has many strengths of its own. The
dagger is the fastest and most accurate weapon and deals the
most LP damage of all weapons. All Dagger skills deal high LP
damage but low HP damage. Daggers are also unique for being the
only weapon that has several powerful abilities capable of
inflicting "Paralysis", which stops an enemy (even bosses!)
from doing anything for several turns. It's probably the best
secondary weapon as just about every daggers have the "Parry"
evasion ability. Very high durability.
o Quick = Quick Thrust
o Throw = Knife Throw
o Dash  = Speedy Bleedy
o Stun  = Stunner
o Aim   = Trick Shot
o Multi = Dice (2EN)

b2. Bows & Arrows

* Versatile LP Damager * Mass Attacker *
The bow is more balanced than the dagger. It deals much more
HP damage than the dagger, but the capacity to do LP damage is less.
The bow is almost as versatile as the sword, since it has many
specialized attacks. Its greatest strength though, is its "Random
Arrowshoot" ability, which is the best mass attack that deals
a great amount of LP damage to all enemies - incredibly useful
when facing an ambush. Ironically, bows are rather slow (probably
due to the time it takes to load an arrow) and some of their
attacks have low accuracy. This is not a big problem since it is
balanced by the users' Skill stat.
o Quick = Quickshot
o Stun  = Warning Shot
o Mass  = Random Arrowshoot (2EN)
o Aim   = Sniper Shot
o Multi = Multi Shot (Double Shot)
o Power = Power Shot

b3. Guns

* Unique Weapon * Balanced Damager *
The Gun is most powerful weapon earlier on, dealing high damage
in both HP and LP. An advantage of Guns is that adding Gun panels
will greatly improve their effectiveness. The fact that its Lv4
Art (Golden Hit) comes prelearned makes it the most powerful
weapon at the beginning of the game. However, it is the slowest
weapon - about as slow as casting a Magic spell, and requires
the mastering of the Reel to use it - making it also the hardest
weapon to use. Very low durability.

Guns are very rare. It only comes equipped on a few characters,
and cannot be found as a treasure. There is also only one
variation of the gun - you cannot create a gun and it's
impossible to change it to anything other than Iron. This is
not a weakness, though, since the strength of the guns
improve as you gain better gun panels.

*Tip* Do NOT equip a Gun on a character with no Gun panels. You
will only get 3 Green Hit panels, which makes Shoot very
ineffective. A Lv1 Gun Arts panel is enough to gain "Golden Hit",
the ultimate Gun Art.

---

c. Blunts

Blunt attacks are relatively weaker than Slashers and
Piercers, since they do less HP damage & LP damage
than both of them. On the other hand, Blunt attacks have
special purposes that far surpass their weaknesses, making
them very essential to the game.

c1. Staves

* Status Dropper * Defender * Mass Attacker *
The staff - affected by Strength - deals little HP and LP damage
compared to other weapons (slightly more LP damage than a Sword
though), but it has the most uses of all weapons. Almost every
single one of its abilities have very useful status-changing
effects (90% of its skills have this property). The ability to
lower Endurance (and thus reducing the enemy's resistance against
physical status effects) greatly benefits Dagger and Bow Arts.
With it, you would have 30% higher chance of inflicting
Paralysis on a boss, for example. "Aqua Lunar" (Spirit-dropper)
is the only attack capable of reducing a few bosses' ability
to heal itself. "Earth Dragon" attack ability, which serves as
both a Stun & Mass Attack. It is the single-most powerful attack
for normal battles. "Nutcracker" is the only skill in the game that can
actually break enemy armor and sharply reduce HP defense. "Block"
also allows it to be a defensive weapon.
o Quick       = Slam
o Dash        = Roundhouse
o Aim         = Coma Dose
o Multi       = Multi Hit (Double Hit)
o Power       = Bone Crusher
o Mass & Stun = Earth Dragon

*Tip* Always remember that Staves are not meant to cause high
damage and that its strength lies in its ability to drop
enemy status. This means that they're suitable for mages, since
they usually have low Strength and Skill.

c2. Martial Arts (Melee)

* Durability Saver *
Melee attacks are very useful since they do not consume
durability as weapons do. When fighting normal battles,
using Melee instead of weapons will allow you to conserve
over 40 points of durability per quest on average. Melee
is best for fighters that use swords, axes, or spears, because
it is affected by Strength. 

Melee attacks may change depending on the character's
weight. Very light characters will get different
variations of the attack - twice more LP damaging than the
standard set. An ultra-light character may be able to use
Hummingbird instead of Uppercut.

In comparison to weapons, "normal melee" attacks do much less LP
damage and slightly lower HP damage. On the other hand, "light"
and "heavy" melee attacks deal as much LP damage as weapons do. 

Kick attacks do the most damage, but Punch attacks are greatly
faster and more accurate. Throw attacks are weaker than both,
but they have the ability to inflict Stun.

Martial Arts are affected by both Strength and Skill. However,
Strength is 3 times more important than Skill.

*Tip* Not equipping any armor (or equipping only very light
ones, like Feather) on lightweight characters such as Ruby or
Silver Girl allows you to use Hummingbird and such. In contrast
to "normal melee", these "light melee" attacks are much more
powerful than weapons.

*Tip* "Heavy melee" attacks are some of the strongest attacks
in the game. To access them, you must not have the
corresponding Martial Arts Panel for it. This makes them the
hardest attacks to both learn and use (several times harder
to use than Guns) in the entire game. Only advanced players
should try them.
---

d. Comparison Table

This table sums up the information about weapons. Melee and
Magic are also compared.

HP - ability to inflict HP damage (average)
LP - ability to inflict LP damage (average)
SPD - weapon speed (faster means less delay & higher chance of initiative)
ACC - average hit rate

(5 = highest, 1 = lowest)

WEAPON - - - HP - - LP - - SPD - - ACC
Axe -------- 5 ---- 1 ----- 1 ----- 1
Sword ------ 4 ---- 2 ----- 3 ----- 4 (+ E)
Spear ------ 3 ---- 3 ----- 2 ----- 3
Bow -------- 2 ---- 4 ----- 3 ----- 2 (+ MA) 
Dagger ----- 1 ---- 5 ----- 5 ----- 5 (+ E) 
Gun -------- 3 ---- 3 ----- 1 ----- 4
Staff ------ 2 ---- 1 ----- 4 ----- 3 (+ E, MA & SD)

Melee ------ 3 ---- 2 ----- 4 ----- 4
Magic ------ 5 ---- 1 ----- 1 ----- 5 (+ MA & SD)

E = evasive ability; defensive weapon
MA = mass attacker
SD = stat dropper

Again, for the sake of clarity, here's an example of
a comparison. Let's take a look at the Axe and the
Dagger. Since Axe has HP damage rank of 5, while
Dagger has only 1, it means that the Axe can deal
twice as much HP damage as the Dagger. On average,
the Axe can deal about 400HP damage, while the
Dagger often can deal only 200HP damage. The same
is true for LP damage rank. Dagger has 5, while
Axe has 1; Dagger has twice as many chances as
Axe of dealing LP damage. In addition, the Dagger
is twice as fast and accurate as the Axe.

---

e. Styles of Equipping

Here are several common strategies in outfitting
a character with weapons. Remember to check the
"Ability Making" graph under the "Ability Status"
menu to determine which stat the character is best
in. Equipping an Axe on a character that has only 1
in the Strength Ability Making value is suicide, as
that stat will grow extremely slow; you should
equip Axes, Swords, and Spears on characters with
high Strength Ability Making and Daggers, Bows, and
Guns on characters with high Skill Ability Making.
Staves are not meant to cause high damage so you can
put them on anyone.

e1. Slasher & Piercer Combination

An obvious way to outfit a character is to put a
Slasher (Axe, Sword, Spear) in one hand and a
Piercer (Spear, Dagger, Bow, Gun) in the other.
In battle, the Slasher will deal heavy HP damage
to soften up the enemy and then the Piercer will
be used to finish it up by dealing LP damage.

Best suited for characters with balanced stats
(3 or more for both Strength and Skill Ability
Making). Only use this setup for backrow
characters that are not going to be taking
many hits.

Some possible combinations are:
Axe & Dagger
Axe & Bow
Axe & Spear
Axe & Gun
Sword & Dagger
Sword & Bow
Sword & Spear
Sword & Gun
Spear & Dagger
Spear & Bow
Spear & Gun

e2. Offensive & Defensive Combination

The most effective way of equipping a character
is to put on an offensive and a defensive
equipment. Defensive weapons include lightweight
Swords (Deflect), Staves (Block), and any Dagger
(Parry). Shields also serve as a good defensive
weapon (best for early in the game because
shields are often cheaper than weapons).

*Tip* The Sword is best for characters with high
Strength. The Dagger should be used with
characters with high Skill. Staves can be used
with anyone, but it's recommended for mages
as damage is not important. Shields must only
be used for characters with high recovery rates
as many of them have the "Heal-10" penalty.

*Tip* Evasion skills (Deflect, Block, Parry) can
block even magic spells - something shields cannot
do. However, good shields (e.g. Silver), on the
other hand, does a better job of blocking physical
attacks than evasion skills, especially if you have
shield panels.

*Tip* Remember that evasion skills in the main hand
(Weaponry 1) do not work. They must be equipped in the
secondary hand (Weaponry 2) for them to be activated.

Best suited for front-row characters that are
bound to be the most often hit in battle.

Some possible combinations are:
Dagger & Dagger
Bow & Dagger
Gun & Dagger
Axe & Sword
Spear & Sword
Sword (heavy) & Sword (light)
(any weapon) & Staff
(any weapon) & Shield

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Armor & Recovery Rates

The main - and often only - method of restoring
HP is for a character to spend a turn resting or
on "Standby". Each character have different
recovery rates, varying from A to E. Since most
armors & other defensive gears reduce recovery
rates, it is always important to find a balance
between the character's recovery rate and the
armor to be equipped.

Recovery Rate Estimates:
A = 50% per turn
B = 40% per turn
C = 30% per turn
D = 20% per turn
E = 10% per turn

The "Heal+/-#" (e.g. "Heal-10") ability of the
armor affects the percentage of HP increase per
turn.

The trick here is to try to find the set of
equipment that best suits each character.
Putting on Stone Shield (Heal-10) and Chain Mail
(Heal-25) on a character with Recovery Rate E is
a poor decision, since the total penalty adds up
to Heal-25 ('Heal-10' + 'Heal-25' + 'Recovery
Rate E'). There is a limit on how low HP Recovery
Rate can get though, which is about 5%. Recovering
5% HP per turn won't get you anywhere.

As your maximum HP amount grows, your Recovery
Rate will gradually drop. Let's say you have
a character with Recovery Rate A (that's 50%
recovery per turn). That character can restore
50%HP per turn at 200HP maximum. Later in the
game however, when the same character reaches
600HP maximum, the Recovery Rate will drop
to roughly about 30%.

*Tip* The Climate of an area has a large effect
on a character's HP Recovery Rate. While at
"Highroad" (sunny), you may be able to restore
45% HP per turn. With the same equipment, that
same character will only be able to restore 15%
HP at "Silver Hills" (snowy). The same also seems
to apply to the desert climate. The "Adaptability"
panel helps characters restore more HP in bad
climates.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Growth Panel Types

There are lots of Growth Panels given in what
looks like a random order. However, in fact, that
is not the case. Character status, the panels
that are already placed on that character's panel
grid, the difficulty level of the quest taken, the
innate property of the character itself, and several
other factors all play a role in determining which
panels you will get after completing a quest. The
most significant factor is using abilities that
correspond to the panel you want (explained in the
following section). All panels can be grouped into
several distinct functions - each important in its
own way.

---

a. Enhancers (Combat Panels)

Enhancers, also known as combat panels, are meant
to improve a character's performance in battle.

o Weapon & Melee Panels
Increase chances of sparking a new skill and
add more success panels to the Reel. These panels
are the best stat-raisers. Melee panels reduce
the character's Weight as a bonus. Gun panels
also add HP & LP damage for the Gun.

o Shield Panels
Greatly increase evasion rates with an equipped shield.

o Support Panels (stick figure symbols)
Does not affect equipment. Increase resistance
against physical attacks or status affects.
A variation of these panels, the "Savers"
(flying kick symbol), such as "Thrift Saver",
randomly lets you use attacks or skills without
losing HP, durability, etc (they do not reduce
the actual amount of consumption).

o Familiars (goldfish symbol)
Familiars allow mages to use basic spells
and learn new spells from Magic Tablets
faster (by casting the same) while conserving
durability at the same time. These also come
with Guide skills - a big advantage. However,
Familiars give the worst stats of all
panels, and should be used with caution. Any
character can receive Familiar panels; it's
not limited to mages. Judy's Fire, Water &
Earth Familiars are special. They are the same
as other familiars in all ways except for giving
higher Spirit bonus; in other words, they're more
defensive.

o Magic Tablets
Essential for mages to learn new spells. You
can collect up to three of these during a quest.

---

b. Tool Panels

Tool panels are mostly used outside of battle
as skills for opening treasure chests,
crossing obstacles, or shopping. Many of these
panels do not fit under a specific role.
Eavesdropping, for example, although is a key,
is used for enemy detection instead of breaking
locks and disabling traps.

o Key Panels
As the name implies, these are keys for use
in opening locks and defusing treasure.
Obstacles that require the use of keys are
broken after only one success.

o Guide Panels (scroll symbol)
Guides come in two forms - maps and obstacle
crossers. Higher level map panels give bigger
views of the map when zoomed out, while
obstacle crossers are essential for climbing
over huge boulders and swimming across rivers.
You need to reuse a Guide skill to recross
these obstacles.

o Negotiators (Talk Panels)
Most of these are used to manipulate shops to
receive discounts, items of better quality,
rare items, etc.

o Blacksmith Panels
These panels deal with improving and fixing
equipment - some of them to be used with
forging weapons - others freely during quests.

o Other Panels
In addition to the main groups, there are also
other important panels with independent roles.
Fortuneteller lets you gamble, for example.

---

c. Negative Panels

A negative panel, such as a Phobia, gives you
a weakness in exchange for slightly better
stats. These are as good as Enhancers in terms
of raising stats, but they give better bonus stats.
Once placed, it cannot be removed; it can
only be replaced with another negative panel of
the same type. Not recommended for beginners.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. GETTING GROWTH PANELS

To gain particular panels for a character, all you have
to do is to use abilities that correspond to the type
of Growth Panel you want. For example, you have a Gun
equipped on a character that does not have Gun Arts panels.
To get a Gun Arts panel at the end of the quest, all you have
to do is to repeatedly use the Gun in the battle. Doing
so increases the chance of getting panel. You do not
need a Gun Arts panel to begin with.

Unlike Weapon Arts panels that are easiest to obtain, other
panels are trickier to get. You can get the Shield panel by
blocking often with a shield in battle. This means that the
character should be placed in the front row of every battle
so that they will get hit the most often; thus, allowing
the most chances of blocking. You may even get an Iron Body
panel that requires the character to take massive amounts of
damage during the quest (that character must almost always
stay at the very front to get the best chance of receiving
Iron Body).

Support panels are extremely difficult to get since you
would have to be hit repeatedly with magic spells or be
inflicted with status effects several times in one quest.

Various tool panels are made available to you through
using tool abilities that are closely related to it.
For example, you need a Locksmith panel. To raise your
chances of getting it, you have to use Defuse or
Eavesdrop often during the quest.

Party members' actions also affect what panels you get.
For instance, having an active spellcaster in the party
will ensure that you'll get Familiar panels for all the
characters in the party.

===============================================================================

VI. MISCELLANEOUS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. LIFE PROTECTION

Although not really a neccessity early on,
it becomes gradually important as you
progress through the game and almost
becomes a must when facing the last boss.
Life Protection reduces the LP damage you
receive, which means that instead of
receiving 3LP damage everytime "Overkill"
(an inaccessible Forbidden spell) hits you, you
can receive only 1 or no LP damage at all.

Most body armor equipment can learn Life
Protection, except for metallic and bestial
ones. The lighter the armor is, the faster
it can unlock Life Protection. If you have
a character with Cloth Armor and one with
Rock Mail, chances are, you will get Life
Protection on Cloth Armor first.

Wooden and bone accessories are good
equipments for unlocking Life Protection.
Other good materials include Angelite,
Demonite, Damascus, among others.

Headgear and Footgear can never unlock
Life Protection. There is only one Headgear
and Footgear in Laura's story that has
Life Protection; none of the rest have it.
This means that most characters can have
up to 3 Life Protection equipment at most.

Life Protection can be acculumated, or
"stacked"; having more of them reduces
LP damage even further.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. EQUIPPING IN THE WRONG SLOT

One of the more bizarre things you can do
in this game is equipping things in the
wrong slot. If you haven't tried it out
for yourself yet, you can actually put
body armor where you're supposed to equip
your weapon! However, it will not work
properly as a body armor, and none of its
skills will be activated, just like
equipping a shield in the main weapon
hand. You won't receive extra defense
points and such. It's just like you're
holding a piece of armor in your hand or
tying body armor on your leg.

The only benefit to doing this is that it
allows you to unlock equipment abilities.
It's especially useful when you have a
character with an "Artiste" panel (higher chance
of unlocking equipment abilities). Suppose you
want to unlock Life Protection on several
body armors for other characters, you can
equip them all in the wrong slots for the
character with "Artiste" to hasten the
unlocking process.

This is also useful at the beginning of the
game as you won't have some armor parts and
you may have excess armor and weapons. Unlocking
Life Protection on extra body armors and then
selling them can earn you lots of money early on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. MARKET RANK

Market Rank determines the quality of items
sold in shops. The higher Market Rank you
have, the better and more expensive
equippment you'd be able to buy. For example,
at the beginning of the game, there is little
to no chance of finding a piece of armor that's
made from "Glossed Silk". After about having 5
or more Market Rank Upgrades, you may start
seeing them in shops.

To increase your Market Rank, all you have to
do is to complete as many quests as you can.
At the end of a quest, you may get a Market
Rank Upgrade.

Market Rank is the only bonus that gets
passed over to the next character storyline
after you completed one. It is not
neccessarily important though; I suggest
you do not worry about it and start a new
storyline whenever you feel like it. Only
Judy's and Armic's storylines need a high
Market Rank to begin with.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. MONSTER TYPES

The first time you face a new monster, only its
"type" will show up when you select it (eg. "Wildling").
To see its name, you must face it for the second time
(eg. "Dragonid").

Here's some general monster type properties that
may be useful during an Adventure.

a. Slimes
o Aggressiveness = low
o Resistance against Slashing & Hit attacks
o Affected by "Detect Vegeplants"

b. Vegeplants
o Aggressiveness = low
o Stat-changing attacks
o Weak attacks
o Affected by "Detect Vegeplants"

c. Insects
o Aggressiveness = high
o Most are very fast
o Affected by "Detect Vegeplants"

d. Birds
o Aggressiveness = medium
o Good at damaging LP fast
o Low HP
o Affected by "Detect Animals"

e. Aquans
o Aggressiveness = high
o Very good at damaging LP
o Affected by "Detect Undead"

f. Wildlings
o Aggressiveness = medium
o Weapon users
o Come in various forms (different strengths/weaknesses)
o Affected by "Detect Animals"

g. Beasts
o Aggressiveness = medium
o High HP & LP; tough
o Good at damaging HP
o Affected by "Detect Animals"

h. Giant Beasts
o Aggressiveness = low
o Very high HP & LP; tough
o Some stronger than bosses
o Affected by "Detect Animals" or "Detect Aura"

i. Demons
o Aggressiveness = high
o Ability to cast magic spells
o Most are powerful
o Affected by "Detect Undead"

j. Undead
o Aggressiveness = unavoidable
o Low LP
o Stat-changing attacks
o Ability to cast magic spells
o Affected by "Detect Undead"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. ECOLOGY SYSTEM

Unlimited Saga has an intuitive "Ecology System" that
determines which monter races and how many of them
appear in a map. All races are inter-connected.
Killing a large number of Slimes, for example, will
reduce the amount of water in the world; thus, the
Aquan population will drop dramatically. However,
since Aquans feed on Insects and Undeads, there
will be more Insects and Undeads as a result. The effect
of this system is not immediate; the next map will be
affected instead. Of course, the environment still
have a definite affect on what monsters will appear.
For instance, you will have to fight Aquans at the
shores no matter how many Slimes you killed. Their
numbers will be greatly reduced. However, the moment
you step into a haunted mansion or a graveyard, you
will face a huge number of Undead monsters (remember
that Aquans feed on the Undead). Slaughtering those
Undead will then trigger another chain reaction and
so on. Through this, the "Ecology System" is designed
to provide players with more variety depending on their
own actions.

Due to its complexity, this will not be elaborated further
(at least not yet). Just keep in mind that such a system exists.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. TETRA FORCE

The Tetra Force - found near the end of a Seven Wonder
quest - lets you develop your Growth Panels (level up)
just like when you finish a scenario and allows you to
save. With these, you can level up almost indefinitely,
except for the one in Laura's storyline. Think of these
as save points. You continue the Seven Wonder quest after
saving.

Whether or not one appears at the end of a Seven Wonder
varies between each storyline. For example, while playing
as Ruby, you may find a Tetra Force at the end of Avalon,
but with Laura, you don't. It most often appears if that
Seven Wonder is a main part of your character's storyline;
taking on a Seven Wonder as a side-quest usually results
in finding no Tetra Force near the end.

The total LP of your party must be lower than the first
time you use it in order to reuse the Tetra Force. In
other words, that the more times you use the same Tetra
Force, the lower your LP must be to use it again.

===============================================================================

VII. QUICK SUMMARY (QUICK TIPS)

To briefly sum everything up, here's a list of all the important info:

--- BASICS ---
o Start with either Laura or Ventus for your first playthrough
o The Inn is the "base of operations". Here, you shop, talk,
manage equipment, save, and select the next quest.
o Magic Shops sell equipment with magic spells attached.
o Blacksmiths creates and repairs equipment.
o Select a new job mission at a Carriers' Guild (Ventus Only).
o Go to the World Map to revisit previous towns.
o R3/L3 (analog stick) moves party in dungeons.
o Press R3/L3 (analog stick) as a button to rest and recover HP.
o Press CIRCLE to zoom out in dungeons (need "Guide" skills).
o Selecting "Action" under the "Skill" does the basic stuff in
dungeons - fighting monsters, picking up treasure, etc.
o Use skills to cross obstacles, open treasure chests, etc.
o Location labels - blue means safe, yellow means hostile, red means ambush.
o Enemies move around the map each turn.
o There are 4 optional steps in opening a treasure box:
(1)Fortuneteller (optional), (2)Sharpeye (optional),
(3)Defuse (optional), and (4)Locksmith (usually required).
o As a last resort, use "Melee" to break open the treasure box.
o In the Ability Display of the Status Menu, the "Making" Graphs show
how fast the character will grow in each status.
o To learn new magic, choose which Magic Tablet to learn from in the
Status Menu. 

--- BATTLE ---
o Treat HP as "stamina" and LP as "blood".
o Resting restores HP; not participating for a turn in battle restores HP.
o Higher HP = less chance of receiving LP damage.
o Some skills do LP damage even to full HP.
o LP cannot be restored until end of quest.
o Character dies when LP reaches 0.
o Reel acts like MP to limit usage of high level skills.
o Combo-ing increases HP & LP damage and raises the LP damage limit.
o Order of character selection determines character position and rows.
o Rows affect attention received from enemies, not damage.
o Durability = weapon ammo
o Harder monsters = easier to learn skills and abilities.
o Having the correct weapon panels allow you to learn skills
and abilities faster.
o There are several different groups of attacks, each serving
distinct functions. "Quick" and "Throw" attacks are designed for
speed and accuracy. "Dash" attacks have balanced stats. "Aim" and
"Multi" attacks deal the most LP damage. "Power" attacks are HP-damagers.
o Detect spells weaken enemies of the same type.
o Stat-droppers can reduce enemy status up to 30%.

--- CUSTOMIZATION ---
o Strength affects defense and HP damage of Melee, Sword, Axe,
Spear, and Staff.
o Skill affects accuracy, LP damage, and HP damage of Melee(slightly),
Dagger, Bow, and Gun. It also improves speed and LP defense.
o Spirit affects mental stat change resistance and effectiveness
of HP restoring spells upon self.
o Magic and Elements affect HP damage of spells.
o Endurance affects physical stat change resistance and
reduces Poison damage.
o Weight affects speed, accuracy, melee type & damage, and rescue rate.
o Lighter weapons block more effectively (English versions only).
o Slashers deal more HP damage.
o Piercers deal more LP damage.
o Blunts deal less HP & LP damage than Slashers and Piercers,
but have other advantages.
o Axes deal most HP damage.
o Swords deal high HP damage and are versatile. Defensive weapon.
o Spears deal average HP and LP damage.
o Bows deal high LP damage and are versatile. Mass attacker.
o Daggers deal most LP damage. Defensive weapon.
o Guns deal high HP & LP damage, but hard to use.
o Staves have stat-dropping skills. Defensive weapon. Mass attacker.
o Melees are weaker, but use no durability.
o Punch = higher speed and accuracy
o Kick = higher damage
o Throw = stun effect
o Evasion skills only work if equipped in the second hand.
o There are two main styles of equipping weapons:
"Slasher/Piercer" & "Offensive/Defensive"
o Always be sure to balance armor penalties with recovery rates.

===============================================================================

VIII. CREDITS

Thanks to the following people for information:
utopianh
Niu
SaintAjora
Rockpsl76
fredga01
Joel Belmont
Ramtiger
...and anyone else who helped me out.

Credits to www.rpgfan.com for their interview section.

And thanks, of course, to Squaresoft (Square-Enix) for making this
wonderful game!

===============================================================================

IX. LEGAL INFORMATION

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances
except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on
any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site
or as a part of any public display is allowed, but it must retain
the exact same form. Otherwise, it is a violiation of copyright.

CONTACT:
E-MAIL - dat_g@hotmail.com (I don't check emails often)
MESSAGE BOARDS - GameFAQs Unlimited Saga Board

Copyrights @ 2003-2004 Dawit Thepchatree
===============================================================================