_ / \ _ | | / \ |_ --`|\ | |` |__--| \ |___ || Fullmetal Alchemist - Broken Angel (PS2) \ / `\|__ _`| ---------------------------------------- \_/ | / \ Armstrong and Mustang Boss Battle Guide \ \_/ - \ ___ \ \.. /\ Copyright (C) 2019 Matthew Visyak / ----____ | \__-- | A.K.A mev1978 _\ ----_____-- | / \ | . . .. . . . \ \ | . .. \ \ | . . . .. \ \ | .. ... \ \ | ... \ \ | . .. \ \ | . \ \ | . . \ \ | . \ \ | ______ \ \ | / ------ __ \ \ \ | / \ --__ \ |\__\ |/ `--______/_ ==--` \ -/ __ _ / `-` \/ \|\ _/ . | \ . /\ \ / . .. | \__\---` . . . _ | | `=_ . . .. \ \_ | | .. __| _\ \ \ ... _\_ \ \. | \ .. \ _ _. \ \_ | __ | --- __ . \ \ _- _ | -- __ \ -__--``_`, --_\ ............................................................................... Table of Contents _________________ [001] – Version History [002] – Introduction [003] – Background Information [004] – Preparing for the Battle [004A] - Accessory Collecting [004B] - Item Provisions [004C] - Experience Farming for High Level Characters [004D] - Bonus Points and New Game Plus [005] – General Rules of Engagement [006] – Strategy [006A] – Armstrong and Mustang Boss Fight [006B] – Defeating Mustang First (Glass Samurai Accessory) [006C] - Defeating Armstrong First (Demon Fist Accessory) [007] – Legal [008] – Contact Information [009] – Credits [00A] – Appendix Limited Quantity Item Locations You can search via topic or reference number ( Cntl + F keys for keyboard users ). ............................................................................... Version History [001] _____________________ 1.1 - ( July 29, 2019 ) Corrected some minor formatting issues with the apendix table. 1.0 – ( July 29, 2019 ) Guide populated with information, reviewed for grammar, and ready to post to Game FAQs. ............................................................................... Introduction [002] __________________ This guide contains spoilers throughout. If you are new to this game or want to retain the game's surprises, you may want to refrain from reading further. This will serve as your official spoiler warning. This guide covers some strategies for the optional boss battle with Armstrong and Mustang. After fighting the duo several times, I have compiled a good bit of information dealing with this aspect of the game and thought I would share. I tried to keep everything mentioned as close to the game’s terminology as possible. Even though there are many ways this battle can be handled, these methods have worked consistently for me. I hope that others find this information useful. ............................................................................... Background Information [003] ____________________________ At the end of the game, you will battle with Roy Mustang and Alex Louis Armstrong in front of the alchemy works. They have more hit points and are much more powerful than any other boss encountered during the game. Even though you are thrust into the situation as part of the story, the fight itself is optional. You could let them pummel you to end it early without any negative repercussions. However if you choose to fight and are able to take these two down, you can get your hands on the sun medal, demon fist, and glass samurai accessories. In a similar circumstance as the alchemy brother battles earlier in the game, you will need to battle these two twice in order to claim both the glass samurai and the demon fist accessory. This is because you must physically claim each item as a drop when a boss is defeated and the battle immediately ends after you deal the finishing blow on the remaining boss. Both of these bosses have a decent base reward of 9,999 experience points each, which is increased by 20% (11,998 experience) if you deal the finishing blow with a transmuted tank. If Edward is wearing the tall boots, granting him an extra 3% increase to gained experience points, these amounts become 10,298 and 12,357 respectively. You can also walk away with an additional boost of 25% if you defeat each one in a frenzy state netting you up to 15,446. Experience seems to run on a compounded formula with each multiplied portion rounded down to the floor of the whole number and used as the base number for the next percentage increase. In other words, when you equip the tall boots the base experience value is increased by 3% and that number becomes the new base (I.E. Boots + Tank Kill does not equal 23% increase). The formulas are illustrated below. Where C is the compounded experience and P is one of the percentage increases. C1 = Base Exp + Floor(Base Exp * P1) C2 = C1 + Floor(C1 * P2) Cn = C[n-1] + Floor(C[n-1] + P) For a practical example, let us consider our case where a single boss is defeated in a frenzy state with a tank while Edward was wearing the tall boots accessory. The base experience is 9,999 and the percentage increases are 3, 20, and 25. Even though the example tackles the percentages in increasing order, multiplication order itself does not matter because of the commutative property of multiplication. C1 (Boots) = 9,999 + Floor(9,999 * 0.03) C1 (Boots) = 10,298 C2 (Boots / Tank) = 10,298 + Floor(10,298 * 0.2) C2 (Boots / Tank) = 12,357 C3 (Boots / Tank / Frenzy) = 12,357 + Floor(12,357 * 0.25) C3 (Boots / Tank / Frenzy) = 15,446 Unfortunately, the sun and moon medals don’t affect experience points with their 10% and 20% increases but they are worthwhile to equip in their own right. ............................................................................... Preparing for the fight [004] _____________________________ It might not come as a surprise but your preparations for this final battle actually begin throughout the course of the game and decisions made will have direct consequences to how you handle the boss battle. Additionally the actual battle strategy will change slightly depending on what accessory you want to go for during the fight with Mustang and Armstrong. Accessory collecting [004A] --------------------------- Let’s start our discussion addressing the nuances of accessory collecting. The game will allow you to obtain any accessory only once as opposed to many of the consumable items, which cap out at 99. While the amulet can be reobtained once it has been used, it still follows the rule that once you have a copy of it you cannot get another until you consume the one you possess. Once you have a given accessory you cannot get the same accessory even during any subsequent clear “New Game Plus” playthroughs. I strongly advise that during your first run you take the time to gather all of the found accessories from the various red chests scattered through the game to give yourself a decent starting point. This will give you access to a lot of nice equipment including the full set of all four armor plates, bangles, earrings, and rings. If you are not into collecting then at least get yourself the double-edged accessories if nothing else. You can get one of two possible unique accessories following most boss battles depending on your Edward’s current level, starting with the second battle with the alchemy brothers. I refer to these collectively as the low and high-level accessories. For your convenience, I have compiled all of these accessories in the table below along with the applicable level threshold. The threshold is comprised of two values. If your current level is equal to or below the lower number, you will get the low-level accessory. Conversely, if your level is greater or equal to the higher number than you will receive the high-level accessory. Once you have obtained any given unique accessory, any subsequent reward will be changed to an elixir(X). If you are planning to collect all the accessories, I strongly recommend that you start with the low-level ones first since the enemies are stronger on the subsequent new game plus playthroughs. __________________ ___________ _____________________ _______________________ | | | | | | Boss Fight | Level | Low Level Reward | High Level Reward | | | Threshold | | | |__________________|___________|_____________________|_______________________| | | | | | | Alchemy Brothers | (12 / 13) | Bond of Brotherhood | Alchemic Crystal | | (2nd Fight) | | | | | | | | | | Combat Chimera | (14 / 15) | Armlet of Prowess | Armlet of Penetration | | | | | | | Genz (2nd Fight) | (15 / 16) | Alchemy Armor | Bullet Proof Vest | | | | | | | Flying Chimera | (17 / 18) | Armlet of | Armlet of Strength | | | | Consecution | | | | | | | | Water Chimera | (20 / 21) | Red Lioncloth | Armlet of Absorption | | | | | | | Genz (3rd Fight) | (21 / 22) | Tall Boots | Flurry Guide | | | | | | | Three Chimera | (23 / 24) | Cloak | Brawling Guide | | Bosses | | | | | | | | | | Camilla and | (24 / 25) | Cologne | Moon Medal | | Ultimate Chimera | | | | |__________________|___________|_____________________|_______________________| Item Provisions [004B] ---------------------- The next order of business will be stocking the important item inventory. Make a conscious effort to retain as many elixirs as possible as you play through the game. This many include the decision to let Alphonse die from time to time and resurrect him using your alchemy. Once you have the lucky bag at your disposal, dropped Gelb in either alchemy battle fight, equip it to Edward. This will enable enemies to drop more items and help you keep stocked. Another tactic is to recycle used up transmuted objects, ones with a time-limited action, on the battlefield. You can get yourself an extra elixir(S) by re-transmuting used up “Enemy Suckers”, “Cow Bubble Machines” and “Clones”. You will need to have a healthy supply of metal reloaders before the optional battle. If you play conservatively, refraining from reloading used cannons often, you will have a decent amount stockpiled by the end of your journey. If this is not the case, or you want to stack the odds in your favor a little more, there are a couple places where you can farm for these items. The first spot is during the battle with the Water Chimera Boss fight in the Aqueduct, and is one that I recommend for those trying to complete the low-level accessory run. The water chimera will occasionally roar, summoning little crawling helpers that usually leave behind metal reloaders when they are defeated. The crawlers are difficult to hit but they yield very little experience points and sometimes will give you an elixir(M) to help with any mistakes you might make during the farming process. Always keep track of the boss during the fight and be ready to dodge any incoming attacks. On the other hand, if you are not currently under level constraints, I would suggest my favorite late game farming area in Heissgart castle. The exact spot is near the beginning of the castle where you can zone between the dining room and east hallway 2. I describe the item and experience farming method in more detail in the next section, “Experience farming for High Level Characters [004C]”. The enemies in this area will drop metal reloaders in addition to a myriad of other goodies that include herbs, capsules, elixirs(L), and doubalixirs(L). For a final rule of thumb remember to conserve all of your capsules, especially the attack and magic ones since they can be obtained in fixed amounts during each playthrough and are not obtainable in great quantities through enemy drops. For convenience, I have compiled a short list of the limited items in the appendix of this guide, including acquisition locations for anyone interested. You will need at least one attack, alchemy, and defense capsule for the outlined strategies in this guide. Experience Farming for High Level Characters [004C] --------------------------------------------------- If you are not going for a low-level accessory run, you might want to get at least Edward to level 99. This has several obvious benefits but will also get you additional bonus points from the level ups, which can carry over to the next play through. Leveling will also push your hit points to the maximum, reachable around level 80, so you can free up accessory slots that might have housed vitality-boosting accessories. This brings us to the discussion of the best place to farm for experience. If you read the previous section, this should not come as a surprise that the spot I recommend is the dining room and east hallway 2 zones in Hiessgart Castle. This area has one of the best item farming locations with optimal transmutable object placement for quick, repeatable room clearing. At this junction, you can enter either room and have a transmutable Gatling gun at your disposal within a couple seconds. I enter the dining hall and walk at a forty-five degree angle to my right while charging Edward’s alchemy gauge. When you get to the gun object, transmute it with a level two charge and immediately hit R1 to command Alphonse to use the cannon. Immediately walk away from the cannon to the opposite side of the room, near the door you came in, to lure the enemies in your direction and away from your partner. Alphonse will take care of the enemies for you, leaving you with at most a few to dispatch on your own. Once the dining room is clear, head into the east hallway 2 and walk straight ahead while charging your alchemy gauge. Transmute the nearby cannon with a level two charge and have Alphonse mount the cannon with the R1 command. Continue straight from your location and transmute the pole into an enemy sucker. Activate this object with the triangle button to pull the lingering enemies from around the corner into Alphonse’s firing range to join the others. If you have certain accessories, you can increase your experience yield from the individual enemies as well as the combo chains. Give Edward the Tall Boots and the Ultra Combo guide. The regular Combo Guide is a good substitute if you have not obtained the superior one yet. Let Alphonse have the Lucky Bag to help with the drop rate and Training Manual, if you want him to gain an extra 5% experience. For an extra boost, consider filling up your frenzy gauge first by attacking enemies with Edward and Alphonse’s melee attacks. The enemies you defeat in a frenzy state will yield 25% extra experience points. You will have to exercise a little more caution in this state because Alphonse getting defeated or a fall without a successful break fall will terminate the enhanced state. You will most likely have to utilize Edward a little to help clear the room of enemies once Alphonse has exhausted all of the Gatling gun’s ammunition. However as your level grows to about 40 he will be able to clear the room most of the time on his own unless the artificial intelligence gets a little wonky. The yields from this spot really shine from level forty to the mid-fifties. Beyond this, your power will continue to grow to the point where your combo bonus will start decreasing because it will take fewer shots to kill each enemy. Regardless, I still find that this is the most efficient area and you will still get the benefits of the combo boost up to level 99 where the combos per room will be around the high teens to the mid-twenties. A friendly word of advice is to travel forward to the great hall or back to the entrance save spot every so many levels to bank your progress. Interacting with a save spot will remove your frenzy state but it is easy enough to regain before you start another round of experience grinding. Bonus Points and New Game Plus [004D] ------------------------------------- You should try to retain as many accumulated bonus points as possible throughout the game, especially if you are performing a low-level accessory collection run. Points are awarded mots times after Edward gains a level or you achieve a ranking of "B" or above on a boss fight. If you happen to have a growth seed in your inventory, it is consumed automatically in exchange for more points on Edward’s level up. Be warned that you can only carry a single seed in your inventory at a timetime and a second seed will only override the original one in your inventory. If you need to consume any bonus points, make sure they go toward your attack or defense. I would not expend any toward your alchemy or vitality statistics. Provided you are not engaged in a low level accessory run, your vitality will climb to the max amount of 200 on its own through leveling and you can equip a ring to augment it on a temporary basis to raise your hit points. Edward will gain the maximum vitality naturally around level 80, sometimes a little sooner, but can have the maxed effect a little earlier using an appropriate accessory. Alchemy is another statistic that will climb high naturally through your level advancement. On new game plus runs, you can give yourself a nice boost at the beginning of the game by allocating 50 points to Edward’s attack and defense and still get enough through the course of the game and leveling to offset this expenditure. Doing this will allow you to offset the increased damage from enemies and carry you through the game with very little effort. Sometimes I increase the amount of points allocated to Edward’s attack to 75 so he can take down flying enemies with one hit, increasing the initial total investment to 125. You can further increase the benefits by equipping any status boosting accessories such as the tall boots, moon medal, or sun medal. This setup is great but watch out for alchemy-based attacks though because they will still pack a punch. .............................................................................. General Rules of Engagement [005] _________________________________ Before we dive into the actual battle strategy, I wanted to share some of the tips I have gathered from the many successful battles, with the occasional brutal defeat, against Armstrong and Mustang. You should have a good chance of victory by following this guide, especially with decently leveled characters. However, I have always found the battle itself to be adrenaline inducing no matter how many times you repeat it. It seems that no two times does the battle unfold exactly the same way. Hopefully the wisdom that came from these trials will benefit you as well. Alphonse is about worthless as a damage dealer since the bosses can easily out maneuver his artificial intelligence with their own attacks. While it might be tempting to let him perish and continue the fight solo, it is imperative that he remains alive during the battle. While you can improve Alphonse’s accuracy by transmuting a weapon from the battlefield like a hammer, he is still the most effective as a decoy during the battle to distract the bosses with another target. Trust me you do not want both bosses coming after Edward so always make sure he is alive through the battle. The easiest way to do this is to keep him healed using elixirs from your inventory. While this can be resource intensive, it is by far the best way to ensure he stays alive. If you want to go for a more risky, economic avenue, you could let him perish and then revive him with your alchemy, consuming no resources in the process. During the course of battle, you might have to resurrect him on occasion anyway but use great care. When he is incapacitated, it means that both bosses will turn their focus on Edward exclusively. This means that getting to Alphonse with a double alchemy charge for resurrection might prove to be difficult. The first thing you might have to do is lure the bosses away from Alphonse’s body and gain some breathing room to revive him. Armstrong and Mustang love a stationary target so approach Alphonse while you are charging your gauge. This way you will have a less of a chance of being encircled while you make your rescue attempt. Don’t be afraid to back off if they intercept you and make another attempt verses trying to muscle your way through their attacks. If you plan on using transmuted weapons consider going around in the beginning of the battle to transmute each one before engaging your enemies. With the exception of Edwards clone and some of the traps, transmuted objects will remain on the battlefield until you pick them up. By spawning everything early, you will have these at your disposal rather than trying to transmute objects when the bosses become more aggressive later. For a comprehensive map and chart showing the location of these objects as well as their transmutation options please refer to the beginning of the “Armstrong and Mustang Boss Fight [006A]” section of the guide. Constantly dodging is the best way to get around during the battle. Edward can perform a series of somersault rolls and flips by tapping the R2 button while moving with the analog stick. Use this method to move about as an alternative to just moving with the stick. It is a faster way to cover ground and allows you to change your direction very quickly to avoid any sudden attacks. If you press R2 at the right moment, Edward can also move through Armstrong’s homing stalagmites without taking damage. You might be tempted to use your special attack options with Alphonse during the battle. This is especially tempting if you happen to have a frenzy activated at the time. I generally tend to avoid using these and instead try to utilize the frenzy effect to land more damage from my ranged attacks. The first issue with the special attack is that you are intentionally getting both of your characters close to the bosses in order to get them within the effective range of the attack. The second issue is that a special attack only slows down your opponents during execution and does not stop them completely. This allows your opponents a clean shot once the attack has concluded. In addition, you are frozen in place when you use the special attack meaning any stray floating fireballs nearby will congregate on your location, waiting for the move to end. This will in turn hit you before you can dodge setting you up for cumulative attacks and damage. Another thing to consider is the execution speed, especially for the regular non-frenzy special attack. While your teammates are summoning the pillar for the attack, your foes can still move out of your effective range even with the slow down sequence. Mustang especially has the raw speed to leap out of the transmutation circle before the attack begins. The frenzy special has quicker execution and is the preferred method if you are gung ho about utilizing special attacks in the battle. Consider using these attacks early in battle, if at all, when the bosses’ attacks are not as aggressive and then graduate away from it when the battle is in its later risky stages. .............................................................................. Strategy [006] ______________ The actual strategy for the Mustang and Armstrong fight starts a couple battles before where you face off against the three chimeras. This battle is the last place where you can transmute a boomerang and we will be carrying that forward to the optional fight. It is an extra thing to keep track of but with a few pointers, it should not interfere too much with your battles. The three chimera battle starts off a series of back-to-back end game battles encountered when you enter the castle keep. During this battle kill off two of the three chimeras but pause before dealing with the third to end the battle. Generally, I take care of the flying and water chimeras first leaving the ground based combat chimera for last. Both can be stunned from a transmuted cannon blast and then finished off with Edward’s melee attacks. Turn your attention to the object scattered around the area. You will find a spear object resting point first, embedded in the ground near the place where you first started the battle. Use your alchemy to transmute this into a boomerang and equip it. This will allow you to carry the boomerang to the next battle. Refrain from transmuting the boomerang further into the chakram or give it an elemental attribute. We just want the plain old boomerang with its initial attack power. Either of the aforementioned changes would decrease its attack power in exchange for multiple hits per boomerang or the ability to toss more than a single one at a time. It is time to finish the battle now that we have the boomerang in tow. The weapon is not an effective weapon for this battle, which is why I normally leave the combat chimera for last. He can be handled through transmuting bombs or, at a higher level, by using the five-shoot crossbow and cannons. The crossbow can be a decent choice for all the Chimeras, including the Flying Chimera as long as he isn’t hovering too high above your location for the weapon’s effective angle to reach. The next battle will be with Camilla and the ultimate chimera. When the battle start immediately drop the boomerang, opting for a more effective weapon or go with your default hand blade. Kill off the ultimate chimera immediately to clear a path and turn your attention to locating the crossbow found toward the center of the arena. The crossbow can sometimes be difficult to locate and may be found underneath the ultimate chimera’s body. An effective way to search for it is to walk around while charging your alchemy gauge. When in this form you will be able to see the transmutable options from nearby objects even though the object itself might be obscured from your view. Be on guard for Camilla trying to revive the ultimate chimera while you are searching though. The ultimate chimera will immediately spew a wave of purple projectiles toward your location if Camilla revives it. Have Edward erect one of his alchemy rock wall barriers to protect yourself from the onslaught and then defeat it again to prevent additional attacks. Transmute the crossbow once you have located it and have Alphonse mount the weapon. Alphonse will begin to fire away fire away at Camilla when she is within range. The arrows home in on Camilla and the consecutive shots lock her in place. Take this time to close the distance with Edward and join in the combo chain with some attacks of your own. In a low level run you, Alphonse’s arrow shots will deal single damage so you will need Edward to land some of his more powerful attacks to get the job done. Edward can also benefit from an attack capsule in this circumstance to increase the effectiveness of his attacks. On the other side of the coin, a high-level team can do 200 plus per arrow and end the fight with one or two volleys. Regardless your goal is to finish the fight. You do not have to worry about picking up the boomerang this time before ending the fight. Once Camilla falls and the storyline moves forward, you are placed back in the purple area with the goal of collecting scattered features. The area will be in the same state it was during the previous battle with your discarded boomerang waiting. Have a quick look for the possible grindstone rare drop from the ultimate chimera. It will be in a crimson rectangular box with orange trim and a yellow design on its top cover. Next, turn your attention to equipping the boomerang so you do not forget to carry it over to the next fight. Finally collect the feathers to continue the storyline. The game gives you the option to save before the optional battle with Mustang and Armstrong. Feel free to do so if you have kept the boomerang up to this point and you are satisfied with your performance from the previous battles. Armstrong and Mustang Boss Fight [006A] --------------------------------------- The location for the optional battle will be the level courtyard in front of the alchemy works. I have provided an ASCII map to give you an idea of the battlefield geography as well as a map for all of the available transmutable objects at your disposal during the fight. The chart accompanying the map outlines the transmutation options for each object on the battlefield. _ _ / | ____________ | \ / | | | | \ / \ | ( Stairs ) | / \ / \_ | | _/ \ / Small \__ | / Bosses \ | __/ Small \ / Post \___________| \ Spawn / |___________/ Post \ | |____________| | \ Torch Torch / \ Bags Bags / \ / Starting \ / / \ Position / \ / \ / \ / \ | Light Light | \ Post Post / \ / \ / \_____ _____/ ---_ Bags Bags _--- \ / | Planter Bricks | |__ __| \_ _/ \__ __/ \________________/ | | |____________| Transmution Table [Red = Edward, Blue = Alphonse, Green = Both or Battlefield Item] _____________________ ______________________ ______________________ | | | | | Transmutable Object | First Form | Second Form | |_____________________|______________________|______________________| | | | | | Bags | Land Mine (Green) | Bomb (Green) | | Bricks | Knife (Red) | Lance (Red) | | Bricks | Knife (Red) | Lance (Red) | | Light Post | Tank (Green) | -- None -- | | Planter | Sword (Red) | Edward Clone (Green) | | Small Post | Stone Pillar (Green) | Hammer (Blue) | | Torch | Oil Can (Green) | Torch (Green) | |_____________________|______________________|______________________| Once the battle starts, you spawn right in front of the entrance stairs to the alchemy works with both bosses directly in front of you. Immediately use R2 to dodge to the right to avoid any opening attacks that they launch in your direction and immediately go to your inventory screen. We need to prepare ourselves before engaging any further. Alphonse will serve as a distraction during the battle to give the bosses more than one target to focus on. This will allow you to get away long enough to launch an offensive. As our decoy, we will be optimizing his defensive capabilities as much as possible through accessories and capsules. Save any bonus point allocation for Edward. Begin by giving Alphonse the double-edged armor. This will effectively increase his base defense by 25% while lowering his other statistics by 50%. This won’t really matter since he will not be our primary damage dealer and he lacks an alchemy statistic. Use the other empty slot for any all-stat boosting item that you do not intend to give Edward, such as the sun or moon medal. He should have the alchemy or steel armor at the very least. Once the accessories are in place, give him a defense capsule to raise his defense another 20%. If you have completed this battle previously we will want to refrain from equipping Alphonse with the demon fist to prevent any accidental instant deaths that might mess up the boss order. We now have to make a decision. Do we want to go after the glass samurai or the demon fist accessory during the battle? I have personally found that the glass samurai is more difficult to obtain because Mustang tends to be the more agile fighter. He is more likely to die last from direct assaults despite having less hit points than Armstrong has. This is due to the fact that Mustang will fall down after a couple hits or go airborne with a cannon blast. Armstrong on the other hand will just stand there and take the punishment allowing you to pile on the damage quicker. Because of these different characteristics, we will be taking a slightly different approach depending on what item you want to go after first. Defeating Mustang First (Glass Samurai Accessory) [006B] -------------------------------------------------------- In this scenario, we will want Mustang to be the first to fall and avoid damaging Armstrong as much as possible. Mustang is pain to engage close range because of his crazy agility and ability to dodge most melee attacks. This is where the boomerang that we painstakingly carried from the previous battles comes into play. We will avoid using the cannons on the sides for the first portion of this battle and will rely solely on our attack power to get the job done. The first task, before we even begin the fight, is to make sure Edward’s attack is as close to 999 as possible. The method for doing this will vary depending on your current level and situation. The general idea will be to augment your statistics with accessories that have only positive effects first if possible, resorting to using the double-edged equipment if you are really in a pinch. If you are in the midst of completing a low-level accessory run, take the time to put all of your battle points into Edward’s attack statistic. Equip the double-edged bangle to bump your statistic up by 25% if your current attack is far away from the maximum. This bangle will also decrease your other statistics by 50% so you will need to be very careful taking this route. You can add an additional 20% boost to your attack by using an attack capsule. Equip any other statist-increasing accessory to your remaining empty slot such as the tall boots, sun medal, or moon medal. Unless you carried over accessories from a cleared game, you will probably only have access to the tall boots at this point. If you are doing a high-level accessory run for the first time or have carried over resources from a new game plus you might not need to use any bonus points. Your attack statistic might be high enough that you can also forego the double-edged bangle and directly equip the tall boots, sun medal, or moon medal accessories in both slots. At this point, you can give Edward an attack capsule and call it day. If your attack is in the upper 800s after the accessories are equipped feel free to use a magic capsule rather than an attack capsule. A magic capsule will raise all of your statistics by 10% vs a specialized capsule that raises the targeted single statistic by 20%. With the necessary equipment and preparations for both brothers complete exit out of the inventory screens and gain some distance from your opponents. Take the time to adjust your map to the close up version by toggling through the views with the L2 shoulder button. This will allow Mustang and Armstrong to appear as white dots on the map and enable you to keep track of their relative distance away since you will be spending a majority of the battle running away from their attacks. Mustang tends to crowd you so the faster moving dot on the map will most likely be him. This guide assumes you will be using the boomerang however, if you would like to utilize any of the weapons in the area, my suggestion would be to transmute these before the bosses become too aggressive. You can then claim the weapons whenever you need to do so. If you are going to transmute a tank, I would suggest transmuting it while you are standing between the object and the wall so that it forms facing toward the center of the area. Having it facing in the correct direction will save you precious time by not having to reposition it during the heat of battle. You can also form a clone by transmuting the planter object. While this is not very useful as a decoy, you can collect an extra Elixir(S) by transmuting the clone’s remains when it stops moving. We now need to gain some breathing room in order to launch an attack. Head to one side of the battle area and then retreat to the other side if both fighters are right on your tail. As you move about consider using the dash button continuously instead of just running. It allows you to move a little quicker and a simple change of the analog button can turn a dash into a quick dodge in any direction. This is especially useful should they blindside you and you need to escape quickly. When you do get an opening hold forward on your analog stick to point your character toward Mustang and throw the boomerang. Mustang does not have a tendency to dodge ranged attacks allowing you to strike him from a distance. Edward can sometimes get in multiple attacks as Mustang closes the distance but this depends on how far away your foe is. You can also get lucky and hit him twice with a single attack as the boomerang makes it return trip. The focus should be landing blows and then getting away clean. If a situation arises where you can safely get in multiple hits, then take it but do not get careless trying to move the battle along. It will take some time to chip away at his hit points but patience and persistence will win the fight. A level 19 Edward, with double-edged armor and tall boots, takes out around 10 per boomerang hit while a higher leveled character with a maxed out attack will take out 68 to 69 points per hit. While whittling down Mustangs health avoid hitting Armstrong too much. However if he occasionally gets in the way, throw the boomerang through him to get at Mustang. You can sometimes lure Mustang away from Armstrong by retreating because he tends to stay close to your characters. You can also line up your shot as he is jumping by studying his movements and connect with a boomerang throw once he lands. You will not have a health bar for these bosses but you can still take a relative guess on how much hit points remain based on their attacks. Like Armstrong, Mustang tends to get much more aggressive and scale up his attacks, as he gets closer to death. The best thing of all is that he will telegraph his move vocally before he launches it giving you time to react. He will start the battle with simple fireballs and progress to flaming area explosions, which grow in diameter throughout the course of the battle. A “Stand back” will alert you that he about ready to unleash an area explosion. As these explosions progress you will need to watch out for a secondary wave of explosions that fall outward from the perimeter of the first area blast. After that, he will create fireballs that float around the battlefield homing on your character and start snapping his fingers in rapid progress to launch multiple linear flame bursts. The homing fireballs will remain on the field for some time after the attack and will slowly meander about sometimes crawling toward your location. While the fireballs are not too aggressive they can be problematic as you maneuver about and a single misstep can set you up for cumulative damage if Mustang is nearby. Mustang will eventually detonate the group of flaming landmines after a while so make sure you don’t make it a habit to congregate to closely. Refrain from utilizing a tank or executing a special move if one of these fireballs is nearby. The linear flame bursts are a completely different monster and probably his most dangerous move. These are best evaded by dodging to the side when you hear him say, “No Use Running Around”. This move can be particularly problematic because a single hit has the tendency to launch you into the air upon contact, setting up your helpless character for multiple consecutive hits. You will know he is on his last leg when he says, “This is the end”, and executes his flaming meteor attack. This move consists of Mustang standing in place extending a light ray to the heavens, as a large volley of flaming meteors descend onto the battlefield and explode on impact. When you first hear this move, immediately gain some distance from him and, if you have time, call Alphonse away with the R1 command because he has a tendency to get himself caught in the middle of it. The good news is that his last attack leaves him open from a distant boomerang attack and a single hit will terminate the attack. You just have to line up your shot with the light ray and you have him. Claim the glass samurai as soon as Mustang falls. From this point forward, you can turn your attention to Armstrong to finish the fight but do not be deceived because Mustang’s indicator dot will still be on the map. Just remember where he fell to avoid any potential confusion. Armstrong can be handled any number of different ways. Feel free to transmute the tanks and begin firing away at him from opposing sides if the boomerang technique has grown stale. If you do consider using the tanks, you could enhance effectiveness of the tank damage by changing your accessories to favor alchemy instead of attack. If needed you could also take an alchemy capsule to push your effectiveness even further. Keep in mind that using a secondary capsule during a battle will override the effects of the previous capsule. This means that you can change your boost augmentation at any point during the battle. For more in depth tactics, consider reading the “Defeating Armstrong First (Demon Fist Accessory) [006C]” section below, where I delve into tank strategy and handling the muscular fighter. Defeating Armstrong First (Demon Fist Accessory) [006C] ------------------------------------------------------- In order to get our hands on the demon fist accessory we will need to defeat Armstrong first. The same boomerang technique that we used on Mustang will also work on him but we can be more efficient using the tanks on the sides of the battlefield. The tanks allow us to unleash larger amounts of damage within a shorter amount of time at the expense of going through some metal reloaders to keep the tanks supplied with ammunition. In direct contrast to Mustang, Armstrong will not fall down or become airborne when damaged. These characteristics couple with his unwillingness to dodge allow us land multiple consecutive blows at a time. You will also notice that physical attacks do at least twice as much damage to Armstrong than they do on Mustang. Even though he has more hit points than Mustang, he is much more likely to fall first in a battle with a sustained offensive. Before we even turn our attention to transmutation and get the tanks involved, we will need to outfit Edward to favor alchemy. The alchemy statistic is Edwards highest when you take normal growth into consideration and ties in directly with the amount of damage that the tanks can deliver per blow. At level 99, his alchemy will be at 656 without any additional assistance. As you might have guessed, our goal is to get Edwards Alchemy statistic as close to 999 as possible. As before, the method for doing this will vary depending on your current level and situation. We will need to see what the available accessories can do for us first and then consider using capsules, leaving double-edged equipment as a last resort. If you are in the midst of completing a low-level accessory run, begin by pouring all of your bonus points into Edward’s Alchemy Statistic. Consider equipping the double-edged earrings if you find yourself considerably short of the goal. This accessory will give your alchemy a healthy 25% boost at the cost of decreasing your other statistics by 50%. Then use an alchemy capsule boosting it another 20%. Utilize your other remaining empty slot to equip any other statistic-increasing accessory such as the tall boots, sun medal, or moon medal. More than likely, you will only have access to the tall boots if you are doing the low-level accessory run on your first play through. If you are doing a high-level accessory run for the first time or have carried over resources from a new game plus you might not need to use any bonus points. Edward’s alchemy rating will reach 656 by leveling him up to level 99 naturally, which is high enough to forego the double-edged earrings. Consider filling both of your accessory slots with the tall boots, sun medal, or moon medal accessories if you have them available. Add an alchemy capsule for a 20% additional boost to complete the setup. If your play style allocated some extra bonus points to Edward’s alchemy during your adventure and you find his alchemy is floating in the high 800s, you might consider using a magic capsule instead. This will give all of your statistics a 10% boost instead of the 20% awarded to a single statistic from the specialized capsules. Now that both characters have been properly prepared exit out of the inventory screens and gain some distance from your opponents. Take the time to adjust your map to the close up version by toggling through the views with the L2 shoulder button if you haven’t previously. This will allow Mustang and Armstrong to appear as white dots on the map and enable you to keep track of their relative distance. Even though the two bosses tend to pair up you will note that each dot behaves differently. Armstrong tends to move at a fixed speed while Mustang tends to be more erratic and quicker paced, flying around in different directions, especially when attacked. Even though both will home in on your location, Mustang tends to use his agility to stay on your tail and close any distance quickly. Mustang will be close behind most of the time with Armstrong approaching from the distance. You can use these behaviors to distinguish boss placement via map without having to turn around to identify them directly. Make your way over to both sides of the battle field and transmute the two green light posts into tanks. It is a good idea to position yourself between the outer wall and the light post and then transmute the object. This way the tank will spawn facing toward the center of the arena and save you valuable time rotating it yourself. Once you have both tanks formed, you can begin to use the tanks the chip away at Armstrong’s hit points. The tanks are very valuable in this fight so you will want to make sure they are not destroyed by sustaining too much damage. The good news is that the tanks cannot sustain damage from attacks unless you are currently operating it. You will need to pay attention to where your enemies are located and refrain from using the tank if there are any incoming attacks headed your way. Pass on using the tank if enemies are crowding you and instead run to the opposite
side of the arena and attempt to use the other tank.  This will allow you to
safety mount the tank after putting some distance between your foes and fire
off some shots before they start to retort.  Watch out for any incoming
attacks especially Mustangs homing fireballs that hover about the arena.  Do
not attempt to utilize a tank if there is a nearby fireball hovering because
it will most likely migrate toward the tank if you use it.

While playing it safe will allow you to keep the tanks around during the fight,
you will need to get a couple shots in on your own.  Each tank will have a
full battery of ten shots at your disposal with the need to refill in between.
You will have very little time before they are upon you so aim your turret and
plan your shots quickly.  Your character will leap into the air as you mount a
tank and then land into the cockpit.  During this animation period, you can
use the right analog stick to begin rotating the camera around to see the
center of the arena.  This helps a lot since most of the time you will be
running toward the tank with your foes behind you and out of view.  My advice
is to rotate the camera and pan the turret to line up your shots without
actually moving the tank itself from its spawn position.  The original position
of the tank seems to be ideal since it is located right on the sides without
too many other objects obstructing your line of fire.

Mustang will probably be hovering close by and will have a tendency to group
close by Armstrong.  If he is excessively getting in your way, feel free to
back him off with a canon blast before unloading on Armstrong.  A single shot
will send Mustang flying and out of the picture for a little bit, allowing you
to focus solely on Armstrong.  As mentioned earlier, Armstrong will take
whatever punishment you can dish out without being knocked down or launched
into the air.  This characteristic allows you to line up a shot and then
quickly launch additional blasts on him for cumulative damage.  In a similar
fashion, you could start firing directly at Armstrong not paying attention to
Mustang.  The shots will sink into Armstrong, and more times than not,
Mustang’s tendency to position himself near his ally will result in him
becoming airborne from the blast radius while you pelt away.  You don’t have
to worry about hitting Mustang because you will be dealing a lot more hits and
damage to Armstrong in the long run.

The general flow will be to mount a tank when your opponents provide a window.
Use the tank to land as many shots as possible by lining up a shot and then
mashing the fire button.  Leap back out of the tank if you see any signs of
potential counter attacks, a boss getting too close, or you run out of
ammunition.  This way you will land some blows and prevent the tank from
taking too much damage.  Normally you will hear them shout a command before
executing the attack, giving you enough time to vacate.  Retreat to the tank
on the opposite side and repeat the procedure.

You will need to reload the tanks after every round or so depending on how
many shots you get off.  Using the same tactic as we do when we line up our
tank shots, you will want to gain some distance between your foes to allow for
the alchemy charge time needed to reload.  Run to the opposite side of the
battlefield and, if circumstances permit, reload the tank.  Do not attempt to
mount a tank immediately once you have reloaded it.   Your foes will be
closing the distance if not already upon your location by the time you have
finished.  Instead, run to the other side to launch an attack or reload the
other tank before returning to your position.   This method of alternating
sides will keep the bosses from ganging up on you in close quarters and allow
you the necessary time to launch a counter attack. The general rule of thumb
is to reload the tank if your remaining shots drop below four or so.  If you
have a very limited amount of metal reloaders in reserve, you might want to
reload once the tank is completely empty.   

If the tanks are destroyed or you run out of reloaders you can resort to long
range boomerang attacks.  The boomerang will allow you to engage Armstrong
while staying out of the range of his dangerous critical melee punches.  You
might want to take the time to change your characters alchemy augmentation to
attack through an attack capsule or adjusting your active accessories.  This
is because attack directly affects the strength of your boomerang hits.  

Armstrong, like Mustang, does not have a health meter to gauge how much damage
he has taken.  Both seem to change and enhance their attacks throughout the
battle as they take damage. You can use their current attack pool to determine
how close they are to being defeated.  While not as vocal as Mustang,
Armstrong will telegraph his moves with a vocal cue.  He is a little harder to
follow with Mustang doing most of the talking but with a little practice, you
can attune your ear to his attack commands.  Armstrong will become more
aggressive during the fight, just like his counterpart, as he gets closer to
defeat. 

He begins with standard boxing moves and a set of dual homing stalagmites.
When you hear him say, “take this”, he will punch the ground, levitating a rock
to waist height.  Then he will punch the levitated rock splitting it into two
homing stalagmites.  This move will increase to three stalagmites before he
adds more moves.  The next move to come out will be a wave of stalagmites that
travel in a straight line toward the intended target.  Even those these can be
easily side stepped, Armstrong can launch this attack quickly with only a
growl to indicate the incoming barrage.  As the battle progresses, he starts
to chain this attack multiple times.  The next phase will ramp up the frequency
of critical punches to the mix that are hard to detect until it happens.  While
you can avoid this attack by not engaging Armstrong at close range, you will
be able to tell when this attack happens because the screen will flash a blue
tint for a second.  If this happens, you might want to turn your attention to
Alphonse since he will most likely be the recipient, if you are following the
tactics outline in this guide, and possibly in need of a restorative.  Around
this time, he will increase the number of homing stalagmites again to five at
a time.  

Once enough damage has been absorbed, Armstrong will bring out his final
attack.  He will shout, “This is alchemy at its finest,” and then pull up a
boulder from the ground.    Get away quickly when he does this because the
boulder will break into a whole swarm of homing stalagmites that have the
ability to end the battle in the blink of an eye from a nasty combo. I am not
sure exactly how many projectiles he has from this attack but I have counted
at least ten.  This move is probably the most dangerous one you will encounter,
even worse than Mustangs flaming line attack.  The good news is that it takes
him a little while to set up the finishing attack giving you ample time to
gain some distance.

Once Armstrong falls immediately claim the demon fist before going after
Mustang to finish the fight. Armstrong’s white dot indicator will still be
present on the map where he was defeated.  While he will remain in this spot
and not interfere during the remainder of the battle, his appearance on the
map can still cause some confusion.  I would just make a mental note of where
he fell and instead focus on the remaining moving dot to track Mustang’s
position.  

With Armstrong out of the picture and the demon fist in our possession, we can
finish the fight by defeating mustang.  The tank is not quite as effective
against Mustang but it can be used to deal with him using a slightly different
tactic.  As mentioned before, Mustang becomes airborne when he is hit with the
tank’s turret.  Using this you can land one shot, wait for him to get back up,
and then fire another.  You will have to be careful with your aiming since he
likes to leap away from his previous position upon recovering for a blast.  A
better tactic might be to fire consecutive blasts toward him with the idea that
you can land multiple shots on him while he is in midair.  The tactic tends to
waste shots unless you can get the timing down to continue the juggle status.
Consider going after Mustang using the boomerang method outlined in the
previous “Defeating Mustang First (Glass Samurai Accessory) [006B]” section
if the tank does not suit your fancy.


...............................................................................

Legal [007]
___________

This guide may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. This guide is not to be used for profit. It may not be
placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. You may contact me at the email address provided below in
the "Contact Information" section. Use of this guide on any other web site or
as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of
copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.

For now, this guide is exclusive to http://www.gamefaqs.com.


...............................................................................

Contact Information [008]
_________________________

My contact email is listed below.  Just replace the parenthesis items with
the actual symbols and omit any spaces.  Please use "Fullmetal Alchemist" in
the email header.  I will get back to your message when I can.

mev1978.guides (at) gmail (dot) com

I also have a YouTube channel "mev1978" where I post gameplay footage for fun
and discussion.  Retro gaming on original hardware is normally my forte but I
sometimes dive into the modern stuff as well. I invite you visit the channel
if you are into video game endings, personal gameplay challenges, long plays
or completionist runs.

https://www.youtube.com/user/mev1978/


...............................................................................

Credits [009]
_____________

Racjin and Square Enix for developing and publishing the game.

GameFaqs for providing their legal disclaimer template and allowing guides to 
utilize it.


..............................................................................

Appendix Limited Quantity Item Locations [00A]
______________________________________________

The chart below lists the limited quantity items found in the game along with
their known permanent locations.  You will need to play the game through
multiple times if you would want a higher quantity of the exclusively found
items.  This is possible through a clear file save.  Once you clear the game
and wade through the entire prologue, you will get the option to save your
game in a clear file save.  By loading this clear save file you can play
through the game again which is what I call new game plus.  A couple entries
in the chart mention new game plus, abbreviated as NGP. 

AGL-Caps, ATK-Caps, and Special Potions can be obtained through rare enemy
drops in addition to their listed areas.  The agility capsules are rare drops
by the flying gargoyle enemies.  The central area of Old Hiessgart is a good
place to find these enemies, as they tend to congregate around the water
fountain.  The grey gargoyle enemies found in the Hiessgart Courtyard and
Garden areas also drop agility capsules. Tanks drop attack capsules and are
found on the fourth floor of the Fortress.  A good area to zone for these
would be on the final east section of the fourth floor, last area visited
before arriving at Nemda’s office.  You could defeat the two tanks found at
the beginning of this section and then respawn by entering / exiting the
nearby connecting corridor.  The large bouncer looking enemies that fire
missiles from their hands at a distance sometimes drop special potions.  These
can be found in abundance in the Drawbridge area of New Hiessgart and wear
bright red suites.  The large white beast creatures in the underground
Hiessgart Laboratory will also drop special potions on occasion.

 _______________ ____________________________________________________________
|               |                                                            |
| Item          | Rough Location                                             |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| AGL-Caps      | New Hiessgart Downtown - North Side Path at Midway Alcove  |
|               | New Hiessgart Downtown - Far West Side Penninsula with Car |
|               | Fortress Compound South -SW Behind First Left Wall You See |
|               | Fortress Floor 3 East - SE Corner                          |
|               | Waterway A - SW Corner Alcove on Inclined Section of Wall  |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle East Hall 1 Guest Bedroom             |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| ATK-Caps      | Hiessgart Upper Subburbs - All the Way to the West         |
|               | Fortress Compound North - In East Alcove of the SW Corner  |
|               | Waterway B - East Drainage Pipe Opening in Central Room    |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle West Hall 1 Guest Bedroom             |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| Doubalixir(X) | Pink Alchemist Drop NGP                                    |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Great Hall - Bottom W Side of Stairs  |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Tower Floor 1 Chamber - Lower Section |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Floor 2 First Room on Left            |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Floor 2 Second Room on Right          |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Tower Floor 5 Hub Chamber 4           |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| Elixir(X)     | All NGP bosses after you get the unique accessory          |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Tower Floor 4 Spiral Stairs - Top     |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Tower Floor 5 Hub Chamber 1 (x2)      |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| Frenzy Potion | New Hiessgart Downtown -Left of Path Exiting to Drawbridge |
|               | Fortress Compound South - SE Corner Around Base of Stairs  |
|               | Fortress Floor 4 West - End of Long Cooridor in the Center |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Tower Floor 5 Hub Chamber 3           |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| Growth Seed   | Mountain Pass North - NE Elevated Platform Before Exit     |
|               | Graveyard - West Side Behind Stairway Wall                 |
|               | New Hiessgart Drawbridge - NW Corner Next to Save Spot     |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Courtyard - NW Corner                 |
|               | New Hiessagrt Castle Laboratory - Entrance Under Table     |
|               | Fortress Floor 2 - Room to the Far South West              |
|               | Waterway C - East of North Exit Behind Debris              |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Courtyard - NE Corner                 |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Floor 4 Tower - W after 1st Room Set  |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| Magic-Caps    | New Hiessgart Castle Garden - Next to Crab in Caged Area   |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Floor 4 First Room on Right           |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Tower Floor 5 Hub Chamber 3 (x2)      |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Tower Floor 5 Hub Ledge Jump from Top |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|
|               |                                                            |
| Special       | Hiessgart - Lower Subburbs in Professors Alcove            |
| Potion        | Fortress Floor 3 West - By wall outside SW Locker Room     |
|               | Waterway C - Lower Floor Left of Save Spot Location        |
|               | New Hiessgart Castle Great Hall - Upper East Balcony       |
|_______________|____________________________________________________________|