@----------------------------------------------------------------------------@ ! Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP) ! ! ! ! SCAVENGING & RECRUITMENT FAQ ! ! ! ! by coineineagh ! ! version 2.1 ! @----------------------------------------------------------------------------@ Table Of Contents: 1. INTRODUCTION 2. WHAT IS SCAVENGING? 3. HOW IT WORKS - Recruitment skills - Ranked skills from opponents - Random Battles - Event Battles - Ranked skills from allies - Auctioning monsters 4. SCAVENGING GROUPS & LIMITATIONS - Unavailable skills 5. ADVANCED SCAVENGING - Ogre Blade's Bodysnatch - Turning a zombified unit into Undead, then a regular Human 6. ABOUT UNITS - Unit types - Uniques' RT - Getting the most out of your units - Stats of Regular Generic recruits - Snapdragon usefulness 7. CURSED WEAPONS & SNAPDRAGON - The Snapdragon process - Maxed Cursed Weapons - Recommended snaps 8. ENEMY EQUIPMENT - What to expect - What can drop? - Equipment tips 9. USEFUL INFO & CREDITS - Rare item drops - Missables - Rare steals - All about weapons - About Fortify, Strengthen & Spellcraft - Credits 10. VERSION INFORMATION ___________________________________________________________________________ DISCLAIMERS This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any website or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other website or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. This document may not be bought or sold, or used in any way for profitable gain. This FAQ is authorized to be hosted on the following websites: www.gamefaqs.com www.gamespot.com www.neoseeker.com This guide is copyright 2013 by Thomas de Jong, e.g. coineineagh. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. ___________________________________________________________________________ <3 <3 <3 Dedicated to my wife Suby, my son Owen, and my bouncy baby boy Andy! <3 <3 <3 {1} INTRODUCTION ---------------- If you are a beginning player, just learning the ropes, then Scavenging & Recruitment should *not* be the first thing you learn about this game. If you are a newbie, I strongly recommend you read the chapter Early-Game Advice in my Skill Improvement FAQ first and foremost, as it has more directly relevant information for you. Return to this FAQ when scavenging comes into play. This guide was written mainly as an aid for players in mid-game who don't yet understand how scavenging works. All aspects are discussed, from the most basic form of scavenging, to more complex and involved forms. The Advanced Scavenging and About Units chapters were transplanted from my Skill FAQ, but have been tailored for use in this FAQ. The scope of this FAQ has been expanded since its creation, which necessitated a renaming. A lot of loosely related info about weaponry and equipment is also included now. Be advised that scavenging a unit's skills requires that a unit in your roster is deceased, and this is not compatible with the requirements of certain titles that can be acquired in the game. Titles offer no advantages in the game, so many players, like myself, simply choose to forgo the effort of obtaining them. Out of the almost 100 songs in the Warren Report, one can only be unlocked by beating the game with no deaths, incapacitations, or use of the Chariot tarot. {2} WHAT IS SCAVENGING? ----------------------- Scavenging is the process of transfering the skills from a deceased unit onto a living unit. Many players often have questions about what kind of things can be scavenged. A lot of people have the mistaken impression that spells are also transferable, but this is not the case. Only skills can be scavenged. Ranked skills are not cumulative; they can only override the target's ranked skill, if the target has lower skill rank. To be able to scavenge a unit's skills, it must first be deceased. This means it must permanently lose a heart in battle three times. When a unit loses all of its hitpoints, it is merely incapacitated. A timer starts, with a number indicating the amount of units turns before the unit actually loses a heart, starting at 3. If battle ends before the timer expires, then the unit is rescued before it dies. It is included in the victory screen, obtains XP and SP, and will not lose a heart. There are exceptions, like falling into bottomless pits, which do not allow a timer. This saves time if you want to kill off a unit. Undead can only be killed by bottomless pits and exorcism, and Lanselot Tartaros has a finisher which takes away a heart. Once all 3 hearts are gone, a unit can no longer take part in combat, or purchase skills with skill points. Keep this in mind when preparing a unit for scavenging. {3} HOW IT WORKS ---------------- All skills of the deceased unit are scavenged onto a selected target, at the cost of a Silver Oberyth. This is why it is wise not to sell of all your Silver Oberyths. I kept 10 of them in my inventory at all times, but after frequent scavenging, those still ran out. Story battles often drop them, but there are vast areas with few non-story battles, like Palace of the Dead, where they are very hard to come by. Humans can only scavenge onto other humans. This doesn't include winged race, but Divine Knight is part of the human scavenge group. Further details on scavenge groups can be found in the Advanced Scavenging chapter. --- Recruitment skills In order to get hold of suitable targets with the skills you are looking for, it is often not enough to wait for storyline characters to join your roster. Units you encounter in battle have a variety of skills equipped, but remember that only the skills present in the first four skill slots are retained upon recruitment. Usually, the only ranked skills present in the first 4 slots are weapon skills. This is nevertheless very useful, as weapon skills are quite hard to improve through AI Skill Improvement. The Fusils and Spellbooks weapon skills are also hard to acquire without using rare classmarks to switch class, so it is often more practical to get hold of these ranked skills by scavenging. - Humans & Winged: Recruit (from Cleric, Rune Fencer/Valkrie, Knight, Ranger, Princess, Paladin, White Knight, and Songstress) - Beasts: Subdue (from Beast Tamer) - Lizardmen & Lamia: Coax (from Wizard/Enchantress, Buccaneer, P/Matriarch) - Dragons: Tame (from Beast Tamer) - Divine Knights: Seraph's Pact (from Cleric, Divine Knight, Priest, Princess) - Orcs, Imps, Zombie Humans and Zombie Winged: Demon's Pact (from Lich) - Fairies: Fey Pact (from Rogue, Vartan, Shaman) - Skeletons & Ghosts: Master Undead (from Necromancer) - Golems & Pumpkinheads: Control Golem (from Warlock/Witch, Wicce) Recruiting opponents in battle can have other beneficial effects besides scavenging skills. During the difficult mid-game, equipment and money are hard to get hold of. Recruiting an opponent guarantees that you will receive the entire equipment it had in battle. This is a great source of up-to-date gear, preventing the need for buying or crafting it yourself. If the gear is of no practical use, then it can be sold for Goth. --- Ranked skills from opponents These are locations where you can scavenge useful skills: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/58370371 /688396854 www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/63779092 www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59665872 An edited/updated repost by BlueMage279 of info provided by Humble_Novice, with new sightings by beatumdown and supersaiyangohan: !!Pay attention to whether an opponent is listed in Random or Event battles!! --Random Battles FISTS - Male Berserker (Rank 4 - The Reisan Way) Umbra Rogue (Rank 5 - Neimrahava Wood) Umbra Rogue (Rank 5 - Bahanna Highlands) DAGGERS - Reptile Warrior (Rank 5 - Lambiss Hill) Female Rogue (Rank 5 - Bortegun Fens) Imp Rogue (Rank 5 - Belmorose Highwilds) 1H SWORDS - Zombie Valkyrie (Rank 5 - Neimrahava Wood) 2H SWORDS - Female Warrior (Rank 4 - The Reisan Way) Reptile Warrior (Rank 5 - Bahanna Highlands) Umbra Warrior (Rank 5 - Belmorose Highwilds) Lamia Juggernaut (Rank 5 - Lambiss Hill) Reptile Warrior (Rank 5 - Madura Drift) Phantom Terror Knight (Rank 5 - Neimrahava Wood) AXES - Reptile Berserker (Rank 4 - Madura Drift) Phantom Terror Knight (Rank 5 Neimrahava Wood) HAMMERS - Reptile Berserker (Rank 4 - Madura Drift) Phantom Terror Knight (Rank 5 - Neimrahava Wood) SPEARS - Winged Rune Fencer (Rank 5 - Lambiss Hill) Zombie Rune Fencer (Rank 5 - Neimrahava Wood) Winged Rune Fencer Rank 5 - Belmorose CUDGELS - Female Cleric (Rank 3 - Tynemouth Hill) BLOWGUNS - Umbra Rogue (Rank 4 - Qadriga Fortress) BOWS - Male Archer (Rank 4 - Bortegun Fens) Winged Archer (Rank 5 - Lambiss Hill) Winged Archer (Rank 5 - Mount Hedon) Phantom Archer (Rank 5 - Neimrahava Wood) Winged Archer (Rank 5 - Lambiss Hill) CROSSBOWS - Winged Archer (Rank 5 - Lambiss Hill) Phantom Archer (Rank 5 - Neimrahava Wood) Phantom Archer (Rank 5 - Belmorose Highwilds) Winged Archer (Rank 5 - Mount Hedon) FUSILS - Male Fusilier (Rank 3 - The Leupha Coast), also many in the Shrines THROWN - Umbra Rogue (Rank 3 - The Reisan Way) ANATOMY - Archer (Rank 4 - Tynemouth Hill) Enchantress (Rank 4 - Golborza Plains) MEDITATE - Human Enchantress (Rank 4 - The Reisan Way, Human Enchantress (Rank 4 - Rhea Boum Aqueduct) BLACK MUCUS - Octopus (Rank 3 - Rhea Boum Aqueduct) --Event Battles 1H SWORDS - Reptile Hoplite (Rank 5 - Phorampa Wildwood: Wonder at the Gods Above Ch. 4) 1H KATANA - Ninja (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4) 2H KATANA - Female Swordmaster (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4) WHIPS - Female Beast Tamer (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4) CUDGELS - Human Wizard (Rank 3 - Vasque Ch. 4) Phantom Wizard (Rank 4 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Cape of Spite CODA) SPELLBOOKS - Human Warlock (Rank 4 - Vasque Ch. 4) Phantom Warlock (Rank 4 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Cape of Spite CODA) BOWS - Winged Archer (Rank 6 - Floating Ruins 4F Coda) CROSSBOWS - Winged Archer (Rank 6 - Floating Ruins 4F Coda) THROWN - Reptile Juggernaut (Rank 5 - Phorampa Wildwood: Wonder at the Gods Above Heavenly General battle) AUGMENT EARTH - Earth Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4) AUGMENT LIGHTNING - Thunder Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4) AUGMENT WATER - Flood Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4) AUGMENT FIRE - Flame Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4) AUGMENT ICE - Frost Dragon (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4) AUGMENT LIGHT - Human Witch (Rank 4 - Brigantys West Curtain Wall) Arc Dragon (Rank 4 - Lambiss Hill Ch. 4) AUGMENT DARKNESS - Human Warlock (Rank 4 - Brigantys South Curtain Wall) Human Witch (Rank 4 - Brigantys South Curtain Wall) Dark Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4) TELLURIC RESONANCE - Earth Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4) CHARGED RESONANCE - Thunder Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4) AQUATIC RESONANCE - Flood Dragon (Rank 4 - The Vanessan Way Ch. 4) BLAZING RESONANCE - Flame Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4) ICY RESONANCE - Frost Dragon (Rank 4 - Bahanna Highlands Ch. 4) LUMINOUS RESONANCE - Arc Dragon (Rank 4 - Lambiss Hill Ch. 4) SHADOW RESONANCE - Dark Dragon (Rank 4 - Tzorious Field Ch. 4) BLACK MUCUS - Octopus (Rank 4 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Cape of Spite Coda) FEATHERSTEP - Cockatrice (Rank 4 - Oeram Ch. 4) EMPOWER BEAST - Winged Beast Tamer (Rank 5 - Pirate¡¯s Graveyard: Bosom of the Sea God) --> Iuria questline -Of particular interest may be: Meditate - Human Enchantress (Rank 4 - The Reisan Way) -Not in this list, and from my own experience: The shrines are full of Fusiliers with rank 3 Fusils. This is a hard skill to acquire normally. Fusils skill is only selectable from Fusiliers at level 15! I scavenged many of them. Chapter 4 may have some rank 4 Fusils, as the story battles in this chapter have many rank 4 skills, making them the best place to find skills. -Bortegun Fens, the area before Palace of the Dead, is brimming with units that have multiple rank 4 skills each. You can recruit human Warriors (Fist, 2H Sword & Whip), Archers (Bow & Crossbow) and Rogues (Fist & Dagger). Opponents in chapter 4 story battles also have many rank 4 weapon skills. -Many Heavenly General battles have Winged, Lamia and Orc Archers with rank 6 Bow & Crossbow skills. The Winged are in San Bronsa Floating Ruins floor 4. Some Orc and Lamia Archers can be recruited in Palace of the Dead floor 89. --- Ranked skills from allies Many allies come equipped with certain ranked skills upon recruitment, and you might consider scavenging the ones you don't plan to use for those skills. This subchapter should not be given too much weight: You should not go out of your way in storyline or World mode just to get hold of a halfway-leveled Augment. If they happen to be upon your path, that's useful, but otherwise most of those skills can be better trained in AI battle. Special thanks to "Badposter" for registering to help me complete this list. Ranked skills below rank 2 and non-ranked (tiered) skills were omitted both for simplicity, and to dissuade players from scavenging units for unimportant skills. I list the units with the most noteworthy skills for *scavenging* first, also taking the ease or difficulty of (re-)recruiting each unit in World mode into consideration: Lanselot - Augment Light 4, Parry 4, Overpower 4, 1H Swords 4 Rudlum - Golemy 3, Daggers 5 Chamos - Augment Fire 3, Meditate 3, Cudgels 3 Oelias - Augment Light 3, Anatomy 2, Cudgels 4 Tamuz - Augment Light 3, 1H Swords 3, Crossbows 3 Dievold - Augment Darkness 3, 2H Swords 4 Phaesta - Augment Lightning 3, Spears 3 Warren - Augment Lightning 4, Augment Darkness 4, Daemonology 2/3? Lindl - Fusils 4, Crossbows 4, Anatomy 3 Ozma - Augment Ice 3, Parry 2, 1H Swords 4, Whips 4, Resist Stun 4 Ravness - Augment Lightning 3, Deflect 3, Spears 3 Deneb - Augment Fire 3, Cudgels 3, Golemy 2, Control Golem 2 Ganpp - Subdue 2, Empower Beast 2, Teratology 3, Anatomy 2, Deflect 2, Axes 3, Resist Slow 4 Occione - Tame 2, Empower Dragon 2, Draconology 2, Parry 2, Axes 2, Thrown 2 Cerya - Augment Fire 2, Anatomy 2, Spears 2, 1H Swords 2 Gildas - Augment Light 2, Anatomy 2, 2H Swords 2, Axes 2 Mirdyn - Augment Light 2, Anatomy 2, 1H Swords 2, Spears 2 Ehlrig - Augment Light 2, Thanatology 2, Anatomy 2, Hammers 3, Cudgels 2 Azelstan - Herpetology 2, Anatomy 2, Parry 2, 1H Swords 3, Fusils 2 Jeunan - Draconology 2, Anatomy 2, Spears 2 Cressida - Augment Darkness?, Resist Stun 5, Resist Silence 5 Iuria - Instruments 2, Daggers 2, Resist Silence 2 Catiua - Augment Light 2, Anatomy 2, Cudgels 2 Sherri - Augment Earth 2, Augment Darkness 2, Empower Golem 2, Cudgels 2 Olivya - Augment Light?, Anatomy 2, Cudgels 2 Obda the Younger - Featherstep 2, Resist Charm 4 Berda the Younger - Featherstep 2, Resist Charm 4 Vyce - 1H Swords 2, Parry 2 Hobyrim - 2H Katana 2?, Anatomy 2 Xapan - Axes 2 Folcurt - 1H Swords 2 Arycelle - Bows 2 Cistina - Anatomy 2 Bayin - none Donnalto - none Voltare - none Sara - none Canopus - none Denam - none There are unique units known to come with higher skill ranks when recruited at higher level, as well as hard-to-acquire spells such as Heal IV, Heavenly Judge II and tier II Draconics. I have strived to report the *highest* version of any ranked skill, but there may still be inaccuracies. Also brace yourself for disappointment in case early recruits have less impressive skills than listed. --- Auctioning monsters Monster recruits have no gear besides jewelry, but they can be auctioned to shops for a profit, and their sale makes a variety of crafting components and consumables available in the shop. An overview of the auctioning components: - Auctioning a DRAGON in a shop will make 2 Orbs of the Dragon's element buyable. The Orbs can be bought from Deneb's shop to recruit her (5 of each 9 Orb types must be bought). You can also buy a Dragon Steak, which slightly raises STR & DEX. 2 of the dragon's classmarks also become buyable. All dragons yield the following crafting components upon auction: 6 Iron Ore, 4 Silver Ore, and 2 Baldur Ore. Earth Dragon also yields 8 Graphite. Thunder Dragons also yield 8 Saltpeter. Cloud and Flood Dragons also yield 8 Tin Ore. Frost Dragons also yield 8 Limestone. Flame Dragons also yield 8 Sulfur. Dark Dragon also yields 8 Saltpeter. Arc Dragon also yields 8 Graphite. - Auctioning a HYDRA in a shop will make 2 Void Orbs buyable. The Orbs can be bought from Deneb's shop to recruit her (5 of each 9 Orb types must be bought). They yield 6 Iron Ore, 4 Silver Ore, 2 Baldur Ore, 1 Gold Ore, 1 Gemstone, 1 Krystallos Ore, and 8 Beasthide. You can also buy a Minced Patty, which slightly raises AVD & RES. Hydras have no classmarks. - Auctioning a GOLEM to any store will only make a mix of crafting items buyable, but it doesn't allow you to buy a stat-raising food (Beast & Dragon), or an Orb (Dragon). After auctioning, all 4 golem types make buyable 4 Iron Sand & 2 Silver Ore. Clay & Stone Golems yield: 8 Tin Ore, 8 Graphite, 4 Iron Ore, and 8 Limestone. Iron Golems yield: 4 Tin Ore, 4 Graphite, 16 Iron Ore, and 4 Limestone. Baldur Golems yield: 4 Tin Ore, 4 Graphite, 16 Baldur Ore, and 4 Limestone. 2 of the golem's classmarks also become buyable. - Auctioning a GRYPHON in a shop will make a Braised Skewer buyable, which slightly raises DEX & AGIL, as well as 4 Silver Ore, 2 Gold Ore, 1 Platinum Ore, and 8 Beasthides. - Auctioning a COCKATRICE in a shop will make a Minced Patty buyable, which slightly raises AVD & RES, as well as 4 Silver Ore, 2 Gold Ore, 1 Platinum Ore, and 8 Beasthides. - Auctioning an OCTOPUS in a shop will make a Steamed Mollusk buyable, which slightly raises INT & MIND, and also 8 Silver Ore, 2 Gold Ore, 1 Platinum Ore, 1 Gemstone, 1 Krystallos Ore, and 8 Beasthides. - Auctioning a CYCLOPS in a shop will make buyable: No meat, 12 Tin Ore, 12 Graphite, 8 Saltpeter, 8 Sulfur, and 8 Limestone. {4} SCAVENGING GROUPS & LIMITATIONS ----------------------------------- Be advised that some weapon skills from newly recruited units in battle have been observed to lose ranks if the unit changes classes. Although I believe the phenomenon only takes place when a ranked skill is entirely unused (0 Skill XP), this is not yet confirmed. This already occurs before scavenging, though. Skill ranks are transferred, but skill XP is lost. This doesn't mean that accumulated skill XP is lost if the target unit has the same or higher skill rank. Scavenged skills do not override existing ones, only improve. An example: A deceased body has rank 3 Blowguns with 55XP, and rank 4 Daggers with 70XP. Selected recipient has rank 3 Blowguns with 12XP, and rank 3 Daggers with 15XP. After scavenging, it has rank 3 Blowguns with 12XP, and rank 4 Daggers with 0XP. As you can see, the rank 4 Daggers skill is transferred, but without accumulated skill XP. But the scavenged body's Blowguns skill was lower than the target's, so the target has unchanged skill. Skills are not added to each other's ranks, so the deceased body's Blowguns skill was wasted in this example. --- Unavailable skills There are restrictions as to which races can scavenge onto each other. These are the groups, including their accessible classes in parentheses (). I list all skills that that the races can make use of, but not purchase themselves: REGULAR HUMANS and DIVINE KNIGHTS. (ALL EXCEPT Hoplite, Juggernaut, Patriarch, Familiar, Vartan, Songstress and monster classes). - Agonal Scream, Lingering Kiss, Coquettish Kiss, Selfless Kiss. WINGED HUMANS (Warrior, Archer, Wizard, Cleric, Rune Fencer, Beast Tamer, Vartan, Buccaneer* and Songstress*). - Tactician II, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II, Rampart Aura II, Blowguns, Recruitment skills. FAIRIES (Rogue & Familiar). - Max TP IV, Reflect Damage II, Recruitment skills. LIZARDMEN (Warrior, Berserker, Hoplite, Juggernaut, Patriarch). - Reflect Magic II, Treasure Hunt II, Recruitment skills. LAMIA (Warrior, Archer, Enchantress, Witch, Hoplite, Juggernaut, Matriarch). - Divine Magic, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II, Recruitment skills. ORCS (Warrior, Archer, Wizard, Rune Fencer, Terror Knight, Berserker, Hoplite, Juggernaut, Patriarch). - Treasure Hunt II, Recruitment skills. IMPS/Gremlins (Rogue & Familiar). - Max TP IV, Reflect Damage II, Recruitment skills. ZOMBIE HUMANS (ALL generic classes. Zombie humans & winged are Umbra race). - Agonal Scream, Lingering Kiss, Coquettish Kiss, Selfless Kiss. ZOMBIE WINGED (Warrior, Archer, Wizard, Cleric, Rune Fencer, Beast Tamer, Vartan). - Tactician II, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II, Rampart Aura II (for RF) and Blowguns (for Beast Tamer), Recruitment skills. SKELETONS (Warrior, Archer, Wizard, Knight, Terror Knight). - Sanctuary II, Treasure Hunt II, Recruitment skills. GHOSTS (Wizard/Enchantress, Warlock/Witch). - Divine Magic, Max TP IV, Tactician II, Teasure Hunt II, Trajectory, Recruitment skills. PUMPKINHEAD golems (Songstress & Familiar). - Max TP IV, Reflect Damage II, Treasure Hunt II, Recruitment skills. GOLEMS (Clay, Stone, Iron and Baldur). - None DRAGONS (all 8 elemental types, not Hydra). - Divine Magic, Dark Magic (no actual spells castable by dragons) HYDRAS - None GRYPHONS - None COCKATRICES - None OCTOPI - None CYCLOPES - Absorb MP II (apparently impossible to scavenge in any way) * these are special classes for Canopus and Iuria, respectively. Keep in mind that Iuria can't be a Vartan. These are your limitations for most of the game. But after you have opened up the Palace of the Dead and San Bronsa ruins, you can do a bit more. {5} ADVANCED SCAVENGING ----------------------- Most people will end up playing with the humans mainly, because there are unique characters with special classes. Humans have access to most classes, and can acquire almost all skills without needing to scavenge. But for a few skills you will need to use complicated methods in order to acquire them from another race. There are only 2 methods that can change a unit's race: (1) Bodysnatch ability of the Ogre Blade 2-handed sword, and (2) creating a zombie, turning it into an undead, then reverting it to human/DK form. The latter is technically combining three race-changing methods, but practically speaking, Undead are not useful, as they can't be healed normally or cast Divine Magic, Skeletons and Ghosts have very few class options, Skeletons actually get +1 RT making them slower, and Zombie units don't gain any XP or SP after battle (they do drain XP & SP gains). To prepare for these methods, look up item drops in the loot spreadsheets: www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59010574 If you are on Neutral Route in story, then you will not be able to do any of these things yet, because one of the characters required for unlocking CODA 1 is dead. Fortunately, world mode is available after finishing chapter 4. You should travel back and finish another path first, most easily Chaos Route from the end of chapter 3. --- Turning a zombified unit into Undead, then a regular Human This is a very long task, than can only be completed after your 2nd visit to Palace of the Dead. First you need a Book of the Dead, which first drops on floor 37 of the Palace. Unfortunately, the location for turning a zombie into Undead is on floor 22, meaning you must leave and return to the Palace. Next you must turn your Undead into a regular Human in San Bronsa. Although the 'official' way is to use a Seal of Rebirth in floor 12, you can more easily do it with an Ensanguined Rood (drops on floor 1) on floor 3. This makes your Undead a Divine Knight, but Divine Knight can switch classes into human, and already is part of the same skill transfer group. For all intents and purposes, a Divine Knight is just a regular Generic Human. You will need this method only for acquiring certain Familiar skills which Rogues can use: Agonal Scream, Lingering Kiss, Coquettish Kiss and Selfless Kiss. On a sidenote, Divine Knights can use many skills, but have limited access. For a long time people complained about this, but few realized that the Divine Knight can simply scavenge the skills it needs. It needs to learn beforehand, or scavenge the skills: Rampart Aura IV, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Damage II, Tactician II, Max TP IV, Reflect Magic II and Absorb MP II. --- Ogre Blade's Bodysnatch Getting an Ogre Blade is not easy. There are 2 places you can get hold of one, each with different requirements. For the first option, you must already have all Wind God weapons: Euros, Notos, Boreas and Zephyros. Zephyros is found in San Bronsa ruins, the others can be found in the Palace of the Dead. Once you have them, and have already defeated Nybeth on floor 100 of the Palace, then Blackmoor will appear on floor 100, 1 time only. He will not reappear there, so you must travel back in World if you want him to appear again. Blackmoor's ally Lich King and Lich Queen can drop the Ogre Blade, as well as other Ogre gear. Blackmoor will drop the Crest of Fire, an accessory that is useful for snapping cursed weapons, read below. Alternatively, Rodrick is a story encounter on map 115; this 1 time only map disappears after the story battle, making 114 the final floor if you return there afterwards. Don't forget to keep Catiua, Gildas, Mirdyn & Canopus alive if you plan to use world to repeat this battle. Rodrick sometimes drops the Ogre Blade if you defeat him on floor 115, but not always. Either way, you can't get an Ogre Blade until your 2nd visit to the bottom of Palace of the Dead. the Ogre Blade is a unique weapon, so you can have only 1 at any given time. Bodysnatch ability: It works on generic humanoids only. Not on monster classes, not on uniques, and not on unrecruitable enemies. If your unit can't equip 2 handed swords, then it can't use the ability of course. Both units must be generic humanoids, and the target must be an opponent. Range 2, guaranteed success. Your unit keeps: Name, Loyalty, Skills & Skill Points, Spells, base INT, MIND & Magic Points. Your unit takes from opponent (and loses its own): Location, Race, Nationality, Gender, Alignment, Class, Equipment, base STR, VIT, DEX, AGIL, AVD, RES & Hit Points. Most of this is of little importance, because most Bodysnatches will be performed in order to scavenge skills onto a different unit. Spells will still be lost after the scavenge. I have some tips to convey, when preparing skills for special units. Canopus needs skills from regular humans, meaning a generic must aqcquire the skills and Bodysnatch with a Winged Recruitable Generic. All skills lacking: Fusils, Double Attack, Tactician II, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II, Rampart Aura II (for Valkyrie) and Blowguns (for Beast Tamer).* In Ndamsa Fortress 1st descent, a Winged Rune Fencer may appear with Rampart Aura II, to recruit and scavenge. Winged Beast Tamers spawn on the same map with rank 2 Blowguns. Iuria needs skills from regular humans, meaning a generic must aqcquire the skills and Bodysnatch with a Winged Recruitable Generic. All skills lacking: Spellbooks, Draconic Magic, Tactician II, Treasure Hunt II, Reflect Magic II, Rampart Aura II (for RF) and Blowguns (for Beast Tamer).* A generic Lamia has access to the humanoid-only classes Hoplite, Juggernaut and Matriarch. Orcs and Lizardmen also have access. Orcs have more available classes, while Lizardmen have high STR and VIT. I prefer Lamia, because it has access to the useful classes Archer and Witch. Witch can use Empower Golem on Pumpkinhead Familiars, which is a powerful combo. The only usable skills a Lamia lacks access to, are Divine Magic, Treasure Hunt II and Reflect Magic II. In my opinion, it's not worth using bodyswap for these skills. In level 7 of the San Bronsa Floating Ruins, a Lamia Witch can be recruited with Divine Magic skill. A Pumpkinhead golem, as was mentioned, gets a great boost from Empower Golem skill. Skills it can use but lacks access to are: Max TP IV, Reflect Damage II. Use a regular human with the skills to Bodysnatch with an enemy Pumpkinhead on floor 10 of the Palace, if you consider the skills important. * Be advised that there are very few suitable targets to Bodysnatch in tiers IV and V (floors 76-100 & 101-115) of the Palace of the Dead, which is where you first get access to the Ogre Blade. the only bodyswappable winged are in the Ahurama Heavenly General battle, which requires that you have a Heavenly Fork before entering floor 77 of the Palace (so go to floor 100 before floor 77). Other Heavenly General battles have other races. Asurama on 89 has 2 Lamia and Orc Archers (Archers in Heavenly General battles have rank 6 Bows & Crossbows). If you use the Ogre Blade from floor 100 inside the Palace, you can get yourself a new Ogre Blade on floor 115 from Rodrick for a 2nd Bodysnatch. {6} ABOUT UNITS --------------- --- Unit Types This is a small subchapter to detail the traits of different recruits, so you will know what to expect, and what's best to do with them. There are 4 types of recruits in the game: 1. UNIQUE Characters. These are often important people in the game. They have better average starting stats (STR, DEX, VIT, AVD, AGIL, MIND, INT, RES) than the rest, some much more than others. Many have special classes available to them, as you can read above. They are often the better choice for permanent units in your attack roster. 2. SEMI-UNIQUES: Donnalto is the first example of such a unit. He starts off looking like a generic Cleric, and if you change his class into something else, his portrait and sprite will still appear as that of a generic Cleric. 3. NAMED GENERICS: These are like generic units because their portraits can change when changing their class. Voltare and Sara are examples. The only reason they are not truly generics, is that they still have a character entry in the "Warren Report", and this is quite important. When using the term 'generics' by itself, this group is not what it refers to, but rather the next & last group... 4. REGULAR GENERICS: these are units recruited from shops or in battle. They are unpopular because they lack the boost to their stats that most of the other types get, and they also don't have a reduced Reaction Time (RT). But battle recruits can be of all species and races. This makes them the only units that can be classed into humanoid- or monster-only classes. Humans recruited from shop are the only units you can name yourself, and bodyswapping would allow you to transfer the name onto any humanoid race. --- Uniques' RT. Reaction Time (RT) determines which units get to move first in battle, which can be an advantage, especially at the start of combat. RT is determined by unit, class, equipment weight and actions taken. RT is the only feature of a unit that cannot be changed*. This gives many Unique Characters a permanent advantage. A quick overview of unique units' RT, and access to special classes: 35 - OZMA (Knight Commander, White Knight) 38 - HOBYRIM, RAVNESS (White Knight) 40 - FOLCURT, GILDAS (White Knight) 41 - SHERRI (Shaman), OLIVYA (Shaman), LINDL 42 - CERYA (Shaman), CISTINA (Shaman), IURIA (Songstress, Shaman), JEUNAN, LANCELOT (Paladin) 43 - DENAM/main character (Lord, Buccaneer), CANOPUS (Vartan, Buccaneer), GANPP, MIRDYN (White Knight) 44 - ARYCELLE, RUDLUM, OCCIONE 45 - CRESSIDA, CATIUA (Priest, Princess, Dark Priest), VYCE (Ranger, Buccaneer), DENEB (Wicce, Shaman), AZELSTAN (Buccaneer, Ranger), XAPAN, WARREN (Astromancer) 46 - FELICIA, BAYIN, VOLTAIRE 47 - OELIAS, SARA 48 - PHAESTA, DONNALTO, DIEVOLD 49 - EHLRIG 50 - TAMUZ, Generic Humanoids (includes Pumpkinhead Golems) 51 - CHAMOS, Skeletons* 53 - OBDA THE YOUNGER, BERDA THE YOUNGER 55 - Generic Monsters * It was recently observed that the Skeleton subrace (not Ghosts) gets +1 to their base RT. Note that this is tied to the race, so if the Skeleton unit changes into another race (read previous chapter), it will have an RT of 50. Monster units (Beasts, Dragons and regular Golems) appear to be slow, but they are actually quite speedy due to the fact that they don't wear equipment besides jewelry. This is also their huge drawback, limiting their potential once you have acquired powerful weapons and armour. --- Getting the most out of all your units. As described in this FAQ, there are certain things you can do with recruits. DO WHAT WHO CAN DO IT - Use them in battle ALL (zombies receive no XP or SP) - Scavenge them for skills ALL (for recipient: see Scavenging/ Recruitment FAQ) - Bodysnatch Regular Generics who can use 2H sword - Zombify Regular Generics only - Transform into Undead Zombified Humanoid Generics only - Transform into Human Regular (Skeleton/Ghost) Generics only - Transform into Divine Knight Regular (Skeleton/Ghost) Generics only - Transform into Lich True Unique (Regular Human) Characters and Generic Humans only - Snapdragon into a Cursed Weapon Regular (Humanoid) Generics only As you can see, there are very little options for Unique, Semi-Unique and Named Generic units in your army when they become redundant. You can only scavenge them for skills. I'd avoid the slower uniques for this reason. For Cursed Weapons, the stronger the snapdragoned unit's base stats were, the stronger they will become. Many people enjoy recruiting humans from shop for this, because this allows you to name your future weapon yourself. It takes a long time to improve a unit's base stats to a point that the cursed weapon becomes strong for attacking. I'd suggest snapping a series of weak recruits with varied elements first, if you plan to take advantage of the methods I describe in the Skill Improvement FAQ (link in last chapter). You can later destroy the weak cursed weapons, and return to the Palace to get new Cursed Weapon drops for strong snaps. A recent (re)discovery is that the Crest of Fire from the Blackmoor battle in PotD (Blackmoor drops this; he is mentioned above) will lower the RT of the snapped weapon by 5 if the unit had it equipped at the time. The Crest of Fire will also be returned to inventory afterwards. Equip no other items when snapping, because they will increase weight. To save yourself time in the arduous task of improving the unit's base stats, it's wise to do 2 things: (1) Pick up tarot cards that give stat boosts: STR is best (The Chariot, Strength), and the other relevant stats are VIT (The Hanged Man, The Tower), DEX (Judgement, The Star), MIND (The High Priestess, The Hierophant) and INT (The Hermit, The Magician). Don't bother with AVD, AGIL or RES for a weapon. (2) Team-level a single class. If you have enough equipment, you can be strong enough to take the units through many level-ups of a single class. Every time a unit levels up a class in battle, it gets +0.1 to ALL of its base stats, which amounts to +4.9STR, +4.9VIT, +4.9DEX, +4.9AGIL, +4.9AVD, +4.9MIND, +4.9INT and +4.9RES from level 1 to 50. After battle, if only 1 class gets all the XP, you will see levels go up rapidly, speeding up the process, and giving stat boosts to many units. Technically a 3rd method would be eating Dragon Steaks, which you can buy after auctioning in a shop Dragon units that you recruited in battle. But this only gains the equivalent of 2 tarot cards (+0.1-0.5STR, +0.1-0.5VIT) for your unit. If the Dragon recruit is low level, it will also steal all the XP gains after battle unless you kill it yourself. --- Stats of Regular Generic recruits Unfortunately this subchapter isn't as detailed as you might have hoped. There is a Brady Guide for sale which will tell you about how this works, and even lists stat ranges for recruits. What I can convey, are some simple observations about the recruits I had. First of all, I added up the values of all their base stats, and I noticed some curious things: (1) The total base stats was always similar. A unit may have higher STR than another, but it will have other stats which are lower, so it all averages out. Since there are decimal values involved which are not visible, they probably get exactly the same total amount. (2) Unused units I recruited long ago had lower total stats than similar ones I recruited en masse at the time, which seemed to disprove what I said in (1), but when I got recruits with higher total stats a while later, I understood that recruits' stats improve as your own roster improves. (3) Most humanoid races had the same amount of total stats, which was about 260 at the time I recruited mine. Because of (2), this value will be different for other people at different stages of the game. To give an impression of which stats are more pronounced for which races, I can summarize my observations as: - Regular HUMANS have average stats across the board, with some variation depending on their class when recruited. Average value was about 31-32 for me. Humans' biggest advantage is the variety of classes available. They are the only race that can snap into a cursed 1- or 2-handed katana, for example. - HAWKMEN, FAIRIES and MONSTERS were not tested yet, though this may be added in the future. Monsters are of no relevance for Cursed Weapons, though. From distant memory of old recruits, I recall that Hawkmen had disappointingly low starting stats, which caused me to abandon 4 Winged generics I had recruited. I'd hazard a guess and say that they start with lower average stats, just like Skeletons, Pumpkinheads, Imps and Ghosts do. How much lower is yet untested. Although I've never recruited a Fairy, observations in battle make it clear that Fairies are very fragile, so I expect their stats will resemble the Imps. - LIZARDMEN have significantly higher STR and VIT than other races, which puts them at an advantage when snapping a cursed weapon. Be advised that they have few available classes, so their resulting equippable weapons and snappable elements are quite limited. They had low AGIL & AVD, and INT & MIND was a tiny bit below average. Due to the importance of STR for a weapon, they are the best choice if they can snap into the right element. Due to their high STR & VIT, Lizardmen are tough to kill in battle. Many believe they have a hidden damage resistance, but I suspect this is merely because of their stat distribution. - ORCS have above average STR, DEX, INT & MIND, the other stats below average. This is a good 2nd choice, if Lizardman can't snap the element you need. They also have a wider variety of classes, so you are more likely to snap the element you want with an Orc. - LAMIA also scored well, with stats distribution similar to Orcs, though slightly less favourable. Be advised that they have few available classes, but including valuable mage classes and Archer. - SKELETONS' stats averaged to 250; 10 points lower than most living recruits. Their stronger stats were STR, DEX, AVD and RES. Remember that Skeletons get +1 RT. I snapped a skeleton Terror Knight (89RT), and this value was rounded down to a weapon attack RT of 44, so it didn't affect my weapon. But if your Skeleton's RT becomes an even value, it's another disadvantage. Overall not the best race, but not the worst either. - PUMPKINHEAD GOLEMS also had the 250 average stats that Skeletons got. Pumpkinheads have average STR, INT & MIND, high DEX and low VIT. Snapping from a Pumpkinhead is a lesser alternative. Besides story battles, you can only find them in Palace of the Dead floor 10, and they are the only unit that can be snapped into a Cursed Instrument, because only Songstress can equip it. - IMPS/GREMLINS had very high DEX, high AVD and RES, average STR, low MIND and very low VIT. Their stats also added up to about 250. Since they fill the same role as Fairies, I suspect Fairies are the same. This also explains why they are so fragile. - GHOSTS' stats are quite poor. Total stats added up to 232 average, which is lousy compared to the 250 of Skeletons, and 260 of every living recruit. But they do have considerably high VIT, INT and MIND. Such units might still be decent for snapping weapons that complement casters especially, although they wouldn't do much physical damage. Remember that you can convert Ghosts and Skeletons to Divine Knight quite easily, which can then be reclassed into human. So they can equip all cursed weapons, and snap into anything. --- Snapdragon usefulness I calculated the races' Snapdragon usefulness, by the following method: STRx2 [Strength is added to bonus stats, ATT & DEF bonus, and damage type] + VIT [bonus stats & DEF bonus] + DEX [bonus stats, damage type & ATT bonus] + INT [bonus stats & affinity] + MIND [bonus stats & affinity] = TOTAL 'usefulness' This isn't a foolproof method, because there are many factors to consider. You wouldn't care as much about INT&MIND when snapping a Fist, for example. Results are averaged [number of recruits sampled]. #1= Lizardmen: [4]: 214 #2= Orc [8]: 208 #3= Lamia [3]: 204 #4= Regular Humans [6]: 202 #5= Skeleton [7]: 189 #6= Pumpkinhead [4]: 188 #7= Imp/Gremlin [2]: 181 #8= Ghost [2]: 170 {7} CURSED WEAPONS & SNAPDRAGON ------------------------------- --- The Snapdragon process Cursed weapons have 34 specific drop locations in the Palace of the Dead: 2 for each weapon type. These weapons appear completely useless when you get them, because they have no ATT value, or any other stat value for that matter. Their appeal is the Snapdragon ability that allows the weapon to trap a unit's life force into the weapon. The unit's stats then determine the bonuses that the weapon receives. This information reposted by Woofrikinhaw explains the process by which stats are calculated for the weapon: ATK = (Base STR + Base DEX) * 0.6 DEF = (Base STR + Base VIT) * 0.6 Added STR/VIT/DEX/AGIL/AVD/INT/MND/RES = 1/2 sacrificed unit's base stats Added HP/MP = 1/4 sacrificed unit's base HP/MP (capped at 50) RT = 1/2 sacrificed unit's current RT (rounded down) Damage type modifier (Crush, Slash or Pierce) = (Base STR + Base DEX) * 0.1 Elemental affinity modifier = (Base INT + Base MND) * 0.1 Racial bonus modifier = (Base VIT + Base AGI) * 0.1 The actual damage type, elemental affinity and racial bonus are determined by the class of the sacrificed unit. Any class has a chance to produce any element, but certain classes are highly predisposed towards certain elements. Each weapon will have one damage type, elemental affinity and racial bonus. Classes with two or more damage types or racial bonuses will assign one of them at random. Warrior: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Earth, Fire Human, Beast, Reptile Archer: Piercing Air, Lightning, Ice Human, Divine Wizard: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Air, Earth, Lightning, Water, Fire, Ice, Divine, Dark Phantom, Golem Cleric: Crushing, Slashing Light Divine Rune Fencer/Valkyrie: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Air, Earth, Lightning, Water, Fire, Ice, Divine, Dark Human, Divine, Faerie, Golem Knight: Slashing Air, Earth, Fire, Divine Human Terror Knight: Crushing, Slashing Air, Earth, Lightning, Dark Umbra Berserker: Crushing Lightning, Water Human, Beast Swordmaster: Slashing Air, Earth Human, Reptile Dragoon: Piercing Earth, Ice Dragon Ninja/Kunoichi: Crushing, Slashing Air, Lightning Human, Reptile Rogue: Slashing, Piercing Earth, Water Divine, Umbra, Fairy, Phantom, Golem Fusiler: Crushing, Piercing Fire, Divine Human, Dragon Beast Tamer: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Air, Water Beast, Dragon Warlock/Witch: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Earth, Dark Golem Necromancer: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Dark Phantom Lich: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Dark Umbra, Phantom Divine Knight: Slashing, Piercing Light Divine Vartan: Crushing Lightning Human Songstress: Crushing Air, Fire, Lightning, Light Beast, Dragon, Umbra, Phantom Hoplite: Crushing Ice Beast, Reptile Juggernaut: Slashing, Piercing Fire Reptile Matriach/Patriach: Crushing Water Beast, Reptile, Fairy Familiar: Crushing, Slashing, Piercing Ice, Lightning Fairy --- Maxed Cursed Weapons I have maxed cursed weapons with 50 to every stat, so I thought it might be nice to compare their damage to eachother, to see if any weapon types get advantages. I unequipped all skills and equipment on the units i used in this comparison. I brought along a target for each race I have acces to: Azelstan Human (H), an Orc/Umbra (U), a Lizardman (R) and a Pumpkinhead Golem (G). I also targeted Flame Dragons (D) and Griffon beasts (B) that spawned in Mount Weobry, but keep in mind that these have *variable* spawning stats. Also remember that they all have different classes and base stats, so the actual damage you will see actually says nothing about whether certain races take more damage or not. I personally suspect that there is no such weakness in existance, and only the stats matter for damage, not the race. Each cursed weapon has a racial affinity, which was also maxed at 20. The type is listed in parentheses below. All weapons were crushing damage type, with the exception of the Slashing cursed 2H katana. My lvl41 Lord was equipping most weapons, but I had to bring in Songstress Iuria and Ranger Vyce to test cursed Instrument and Fusil, respectively. Testing other equips in comparison, I could observe that Instrument and Fusil conformed to the damage picture of most other melee/ranged weapons. Denam's targeting results on the 6 above-mentioned targets: ___________________________________________________________ H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 087 |B 160 =Fist(B) H 339 |U 310 |R 305 |G 339 |D 168 |B 220 =Dagger(G) H 285 |U 239 |R 233 |G 244 |D 102 |B 158 =1H sword(H) H 255 |U 240 |R 221 |G 232 |D 086 |B 142 =2H sword(U) H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 159 =Axe(B) H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 246 |D 089 |B 144 =Spear(G) H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 168 =Hammer(B) H 339 |U 310 |R 327 |G 315 |D 164 |B 227 =1H katana(R) H 255 |U 227 |R 234 |G 232 |D 087 |B 140 =2H katana(R, slashing) H 255 |U 227 |R 241 |G 246 |D 088 |B 145 =Cudgel(G) H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 160 =Whip(B) H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 246 |D 088 |B ??? =Spellbook(G) H 255 |U 227 |R 221 |G 232 |D 088 |B 165 =Instrument(B) H 312 |U 283 |R 298 |G 288 |D 145 |B 197 =Blowgun(R) H 312 |U 283 |R 298 |G 288 |D 142 |B 194 =Bow(R) H 312 |U 283 |R 278 |G 288 |D 167 |B 194 =Crossbow(D) H 312 |U 283 |R 278 |G 288 |D 167 |B 194 =Fusil(D) Instrument and Fusil numbers were extrapolated from comparing Songstress and Ranger damage output of these and other equippable weapons, to project what my Lord would have had as targeting results, if they could equip them. The conclusions I have drawn from these observations: 1) Dagger and Katana both get the same very high damage boost to their attacks, which results in roughly +80dmg for my weapons. 2) All ranged weapons also get the same high damage boost to their attacks, which results in roughly +60dmg for my weapons. 3) Swords (1H) gets a slight damage boost to its attacks, which results in roughly +12dmg for my weapon. 4) There is no percievable difference in damage against monsters for slashing and crushing damage, and I respawned multiple battles with the slashing 2H katana to confirm this. I later tested piercing damage with a piercing 1H sword, and confirmed there was no difference in damage against monsters. 5) The maximum of 20 racial affinity resulted in a very minor boost to damage; 13-24HP depending on enemy toughness. 6) And finally, I tried zombifying my targets on the spot, to see if they would have any weakness against Light-elemental cursed weapons afterwards. They do not, and I later confirmed that Light-elemental cursed weapons give no innate bonus damage to Skeletons or Ghosts either. The damage boost must be coded in each existing Light-elemental (& Baldur) weapon individually. Cursed weapons miss out on this bonus, but that's no reason to avoid creating Light-element weapons if it suits your purposes. --- Recommended snaps Snapping a weapon from a fresh generic recruit with low base stats will result in an equally weak weapon. Its ATTACK value will be below the threshold needed to hurt monsters (~70-90ATT), and it will likely do only 1 damage against tough humanoids as well. Its main uses would be as a defensive & caster weapon, giving a substantial boost to VIT, AVD & RES, as well as the caster stats INT & MIND. They are further of great use in A.I. training, because they offer weak attack but high defensive boosts. Read my Skill Improvement FAQ for details. In the end weak cursed weapons become undesirable, so I'd advise destroying your old cursed weapons when you have no further use for them, and returning to the Palace of the Dead to get a new series for stronger snaps with high-base-stats generics. Remember that any equipment worn by the generic when it was snapped will add to the slowness of the cursed weapon's attacks, though it remains weightless. The Crest of Fire has a -10 weight value, though, so euipping this during snapping will shave 5RT off the resulting weapon's attacks. The Crest of Fire is returned to inventory afterwards. Cursed Weapons have NO Augments, so it will not boost elemental damage of magic,
finishers or any other special attack. However, it still seems best to snap a
cursed weapon with the same element as any other attacks your unit employs. For
this reason, I've compiled a list of recommended snaps, with explanations of the
synergy it offers a unit.
FIST: Primarily physical classes use Fists, and I feel that the best synergy is
  with Fire element, to combine with the srong rank 2 finisher. A Warrior can be
  used to snap it, and I give the weapon to Canopus as Vartan or Buccaneer.
DAGGER: Although there is a decent Air element finisher, and this goes well with
  the Rogue's Sparagmos ability, I personally end up giving the cursed dagger to
  a mage class, because of the limited weapon options for mages. A Warlock/Witch
  can be used to snap the weapon, and I prefer Dark element for its versatility.
SWORD (1H): There are many knight-type classes with healing and other uses for
  Light element, but there are only 3 unique Light-elemental 1-handed swords for
  them to use. I snap this element from a RF/Valkyrie.
SWORD (2H): The 2-handed sword weapon type is best put to use by Terror Knights,
  however they have enough skill slots to squeeze in a 2nd element. I believe
  that a  Lightning weapon offers the best synergy with 2 finishers, but I still
  give it to my Terror Knight, which is the class needed to snap it as well.
AXE: Axe is a poor weapon type, so you may opt to forgo the effort of training a
  generic for this. Personally I chose Earth element for mine (Warrior snap),
  but there is also a decent Ice finisher.
SPEAR: The rank 6 Giga Tempest is an impressive Lightning finisher, but you may
  end up regretting a Lightning spear. The best classes to use Spears also make
  good use of Divine Magic, so a Light-element cursed spear is in fact the best
  choice. It is snapped from a RF/Valkyrie.
HAMMER: The rank 6 Fire-elemental Crimson Reach is as impressive as Giga Tempest
  is for Spears, but there is no other consideration this time. Hammers are very
  widely equippable among different classes. You can snap Fire element from a
  Warrior, and I like using it on a Berserker or Paladin (room for 2nd Augment).
KATANA (1H): This Katana can only be snapped from a Ninja, and the best element
  it can become is Lightning, due to a finisher.
KATANA (2H): This Katana can only be snapped from a Swordmaster, but there are
  no elements the snaps and finishers share. I chose Earth, but there is little
  difference. It's a weapon type you may choose to forgo, if you find training
  generics for snapping to be tedious.
CUDGEL: There is only 1 element good for Cudgels, and that is Light. Finishers
  all have the same element. You can snap it from a Cleric, and whether or not
  you actually attack with the Cudgel makes little difference: Without Augments,
  the only purpose of a cursed weapon's element is for attacking anyway; you're
  always better off with a Light Cursed Cudgel.
WHIP: I chose Water element for synergy with the 1st finisher. People often
  choose Ice or Fire to complement Ozma or Deneb, but their elements are easily
  altered. Light may be a possibility for Princess Catiua, but there already are
  Light-elemental Whips, and she has better weapon options. Casters don't have
  many weapon options, so I made my Deneb into a Water Wicce for synergy. Water
  element can be snapped from Beast Tamer.
SPELLBOOK: This became an unexpected dilemma when I was deciding who to allocate
  which mage weapon to. Shaman was the best recipient for the Spellbook, but she
  is barred from using Dark Magic, so she has no synergy with the universal Dark
  element. If you also plan to give your Shaman the Cursed Spellbook, Earth is
  your best option. Either way, you can snap it from a Warlock/Witch.
INSTRUMENT: You need a Pumpkinhead to snap this, because that's the only race to
  allow generic Songstresses (use classmark), the only class that can even equip
  the weapon. Air is the best element, and you'll find the rank 4 finisher quite
  impressive. Though due to its class limitation, this is a low priority weapon.
BLOWGUN: Although Light element would be best to equip on a Familiar with Divine
  Magic, there is no way to snap this element. I used a Ninja to snap Lightning
  element instead, which coincides with the strongest finisher.
BOW: I chose to snap a Ninja for the bow to gain Lightning element. Not only is
  Lightning the strongest Bow finisher, but the best regular Lightning Bow only
  has a range of 7, making the Cursed Weapon's range 8 an improvement. Thunder
  Maiden Arycelle would be the traditional recipient, though I'd use a Ninja
  instead of an Archer: More movement range, and there is no need for Archer's
  damage boosting skills once you equip a maxed cursed weapon.
CROSSBOW: The best element for Crossbow is Fire, for the powerful Brimstone Hail
  finisher. You need to use a Fusilier to snap this element. Great for a Rogue,
  Dragoon, Vartan or Archer.
FUSIL: With no option to create an Air elemental Cursed Fusil, the best element
  for Crossbow is Light for the powerful Attunement finisher. Good for a Ranger.


{8} ENEMY EQUIPMENT
-------------------

--- What to expect
Equipment selection in stores updates very slowly. It is not sufficient to
rely on the selection available there, as you will soon find lucky drops from
enemies to be far better. There are ways to secure a good selection of up-to-
date weapons and armour for your allies, and I will discuss them here. First
of all, I should explain what to expect about enemy levels:

In random battles, enemy units will scale to the level of your highest ally.
In story battles, enemies are at a fixed level on your first playthrough, but
will begin to scale to your highest ally once you are 10 levels above that
fixed level. Once you have finished the main game (after Hanging Gardens),
World mode is unlocked, and replaying previous story battles (even in new
paths) will cause enemies to scale to your allies now. The San Bronsa ruins
adds levels to enemies once you have progressed through the ruins. After San
Bronsa, enemies will forever be 1-2 levels above your highest ally. This is
usually a good thing, since the XP bonus will increase.

Enemies come equipped with a selection of weapons based on their level. It
doesn't have to be the best item they can equip, but it will never be above
what they are able to equip, nor will you find level 30 enemies with much
level 1 equipment. There is usually a variety of 2-4 possible weapons that
they might have. So, a level 30 enemy with Hammers skill may have Yggdrasil
Gnarl (lvl28), Dragon Hammer (lvl25) or Damasc Hammer (lvl22), but it will
not come equipped with a Halt Hammer (lvl 1) anymore.
Generally speaking, equipment will appear within a certain level range.
Exceptions to this level range are the Buckler shield, which high level mages
still use often. Baldur Bows and Crossbows also continue to drop at high
levels, because the selection of 1-handed ranged weaponry is so limited.

The equipment selections follow a broad pattern, that starts with the 'BASIC'
versions, and almost all of these are equipped on enemies of certain levels,
and it is advisable to get hold of these items from drops or battlefield
recruitment. They can often be purchased or crafted, but this is usually a
waste of money and crafting components when you can get hold of the items
from enemies.
Almost all 'basic' equipment has an 'UPGRADED' version, which never drops in
battle. These upgrades are a significant improvement over the basic versions,
so it is worthwhile to get hold of the crafting recipes for these.
And finally, there are ELEMENTAL weapons which come into play later on. They
are the most powerful weapons and armours, and only some of them follow the
'basic' & 'upgraded' pattern mentioned before. Sometimes the upgraded weapon
is not of the same element as its basic version. Some basic elemental weapons
are equipped by enemies, but the most powerful gear only has one specific
drop location, and aren't actually equipped by the enemy who drops them. Many
of the most powerful stuff is also unique; you can only have one of the item.
MOBILITY rings and footwear come into play later on, and movement advantages
far outweigh any damage bonuses later on, when your units are much stronger.

--- What can drop?
Of course, enemies can drop tarot cards, consumables, goth, and any number of
miscellaneous items they did not have equipped. But drop tables are complex
and beyond the scope of what this subchapter is intended to convey. Here I'm
focusing on gear that enemies have EQUIPPED, so you can either kill or reruit
them to get hold of said gear.
Here is a list of the most powerful items that enemies drop, for each item
type. Remember that you won't find any 'upgraded' items, even if they are less
powerful than the items that do drop.
Fists: Hellhound Claws
Daggers: Marauder Knife
1H Swords: Kukri (Walloon Sword is rare; appears within a narrow level range)
2H Swords: Rhompaia (also rare)
Axes: Dragon Axe
Spears: Culnrikolnne
Hammers: Yggdrasil Gnarl
1H Katana: Ghostblade (Muso Blade is rare)
2H Katana: Oakblade
Cudgels: Staff of Restoration & Wands of [element]
Whips: Holy Comet
Spellbooks: Biblion [race]
Instruments: Cavaquinho (not equipped, but many San Bronsa enemies drop it)
Blowguns: Damasc Blowgun
Bows: Thunder Bow (Crescente missable, see Useful Info)
Crossbows: Keening Bowgun
Fusils: Musket
Shields: Rozenzi Shield
Helms: Holy Crown (never Wyrmscale Helm)
Armours: Wyrmscale Armor
Armguards: Wyrmscale Sleeves
Legguards: Damasc Leggings (never Arkhiatros or Mage Trousers)
Rings of [stat]: All except Rings of Intellect or Fortune
Other jewelry: No random drops

--- Equipment tips:
To give some tips as to which items are most worth equipping, I'll say this:
DAGGERS and 1H KATANAS have a very high damage bonus to their weapon types.
However, Daggers in particular have a low base ATT value. Monsters become
impossible to beat when your weapon ATT is too low.
1H SWORDS are a decent starting melee weapon, because they have a double-hit
finisher at rank 2 already, as well as a slight damage bonus.
HAMMERS are very good against monsters, because their high ATT values easily
overcome the monsters' defense threshold. Many classes can use them.
CUDGELS are the best weapon for mages, and all their finishers are Light
elemental. Clerics and other Divine casters can attack best with them.
BLOWGUNS are handy for inflicting status effects on opponents, like Charm or
Petrify. But they do little damage because of their low ATT.
BOWS are the most overpowered weapons in the early game. Keep your Bows up-
to-date and you will easily win most battles. They can lob arrows in an arc,
avoiding many obstacles in city maps.
CROSSBOWS will start to outperform Bows once you enter dungeons, and need to
shoot uphill. THey have a devastating area-effect finisher at rank 2, which
is probably the best finisher in the game.
CURSED WEAPONS can be snapped from untrained allies, but they will have weak
attack. They are still useful for casting and defensive stat bonuses, and
may facilitate skill imprvement sessions in A.I. (See the Skill Improvement
FAQ). If you can train a generic ally to have high STR & DEX, the resulting
Cursed Weapon will become immensely powerful. See the About Units chapter
for more details. For further details on how weaponry and finishers work in
general, read the About Weapons chapter in my Skill FAQ.
BRONZE HELM +1 is a lifesaver in the early game. Your improvement in defense
and offense will be noticeable. It has a nice bonus to STR and a bunch of
innate racial defenses against all races. It takes a while before equipment
will appear that is clearly better than Bronze Helm +1.
WIZARD'S HAT +1 can be crafted by the mid game, and this item has so many
advantages that it will continue to outstrip all other pieces of armour.
Craft many ofthese upgraded hats for the success of your casters. No other
defensive item offers such a high INT boost, and INT is very important.
BRIGANDINE +1 has a high DEX bonus that improves attack accuracy when mid
game players still have problems hitting enemies.
Most WYRMSCALE gear drops frequently at high level, and equipping 3 pieces
will give a unit a handy Dragonslayer TP skill in combat.
MOBILITY footwear (Winged Boots, Sidhe Shoes, Sparkguard Boots and Cloud
Shoes) is extremely useful in the late game, so they are worth getting hold
of multiple times. Rings can do the same, but the jewelry slot is usually
reserved for Chokers.
CHOKER necklaces add a huge elemental damage component to a spell or weapon
of their element on top of their Augment +1, making them the best non-unique
damage booster in the game. Here's some testing done on them by Flaresky:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/67753410
RING OF FORTUNE +1 offers a substantial bonus to luck which won't fade. Even
though most units are better off with a Choker, this ring may be worth using
on a monster. Especially a Gryphon, which gets no benefit from a Winged Ring.


{9} USEFUL INFO & CREDITS
-------------------------

--- Rare item drops
Loot spreadsheets for Palace of the Dead, San Bronsa and Pirate's Graveyard:
www.gamefaqs.com/boards/999440-tactics-ogre-let-us-cling-together/59010574
Those loot spreadsheets handle over 90% of what you need to know, but let me 
add what I learned. Some items are hard to come by, and you may not know of 
their existence yet.

Elixirs: All Octopi in Phorampa Wildwood. Thanks go to Maltherion for 
confirming that they all drop it.

Snipe Gators: Unique boots. Chaotic Rogue Gremlin, Neimrahava Wood non-story 
battle. Thanks go to beatumdown for this (re)find.

Fusilier Classmarks: Fair weather, The Leupha Coast, Fusiliers at (5, 24) & 
(7, 24). Thanks go to grift3r74 for this find. Recruiting Lindl also gives 3.

Dark Priest classmark: 8th, 12th & 18th floors of Hanging Gardens, all drop 
from Cleric Templars. World mode has a shortcut from 1st to 18th floor.

Necromancer classmarks: Drop from 2 Necromancers in floor 18 of Palace of the
Dead, but only if you have recruited Cressida (who also brings 3 classmarks
upon recruitment) in Warren Report. If you go to another route (law/neutral)
the Necromancers in PotD floor 18 will no longer drop classmarks.

Buccaneer classmarks: Only drop if you have Azelstan in Warren Report, alive,
AND present during the battle. 1 mark can be gained in the Pirate's Graveyard
treasure, an Imp rogue in Neimrahava woods can drop it (drops rogue marks 
without Azelstan), and 3 Skeleton Archers in the *Non-story* battle of On
Holy Ground will drop 3 each.

Tier II ninjutsu scrolls: All but 1 are found deep in Palace of the Dead. 
Many also drop in pre-shrine fortress battles. Waveshear II ONLY drops in 
the Quadriga pre-shrine fortress battle. It drops from a Kunoichi.

Tier II Apocrypha: If you faced all the guardians in story battles before 
hitting level 35, only tier I dropped. After level 35, recipe drops are not 
guaranteed, but tier II Apocrypha also become a possibility. I recommend 
saving, reloading and charioting the killing blow until you get it all. Only 
the LAST story guardian you defeat will drop 3 (sometimes 6) Shaman classmarks.
Non-story guardians are very different, and won't drop Apocrypha OR recipes at 
all. Guardians in non-story revisits are not designated targets, and are not 
guaranteed to spawn anymore. They have a chance to drop a Shaman classmark. 
Non-story item drops :
Water- Tlaloc's Bolt (unique spear)
Fire - Fire Gauntlets and Fire Shield
Lightning - Xolotl's Canine (dagger), Wyrm Whisker
Ice - Hoarfrost Greaves (boots), Enchanted Feather
Air - Vainateya's Talons (unique fist), Enchanted Feather
Earth - Nathalork's Mail, Orichalcum
Despite numerous tries, I was never able to get both a crafting component and
an item in the same drop, but classmarks dropped frequently with the rest.

Dark Knight Commanders' Loot: The best place to get these is during CODA 4. 
Read Elyon's CODA guide for details. Ozma can in fact drop 2 unique whips.

The Alluring items are special drops, only accessible in world. They are not 
equipped, but the female only Dress and Highboots will drop from Gousin 
during the story battle at the Golborza Plains, but only when you replay 
this battle in world, not during the first run of the game. Catiua must be 
present, and answer Gousin's question with the 2nd dialogue option. Similarly,
the male-only Corset and Boots drop when Oz dies in Phidoch Great Hall chapter
3, but only when you replay in world. They won't drop in the CODA 4 battle.

The Abyss I & II scrolls can be found in Palace of the Dead, but are easily 
missed. Abyss I drops in the pre-Fortress battle with the Lich, Water Shrine.
One of the Ghost Witches has it, but only when replaying in world. Abyss II 
can be found in world in a special battle against Xapan in Golyat: You need to
have rescued him before, and refused to recruit him. The battle is only 
available in lawful path. The Witch present in the battle drops it.

--- Missables
Only titles are considered missable in this game, but there are also 3 items 
that will no longer drop once your party is beyond a certain level. Since 
Denam must be present in STORY battles, you can't just recruit a bunch of 
low level monster classes you neglected, to pick these up later. If Denam 
has no more low level classes available to him, then you missed your chance.
-Crescente bow: Numerous random & story Archers between levels 24 and 26.
Sharp and Cold the Stars, Hanging Gardens. Disappears after level 34.
After getting one, I saw some in Wonder at the Gods Above, Phorampa Wildwood.
-Treatise on Seduction: Demonpetal Dance for Swordmaster. Chapter 4 Barnicia 
Grand Staircase, from Neutral Swordmaster Templar. Disappears at level 26.
Enraptured Dreams, Hanging Gardens. Disappears after level 34.
-Scroll of the Cicada: Decoy for Ninja. Hagia Banhamuba (vs. Sherri). Drops 
from one of the male Ninjas - the one with lower loyalty up to level 26.
Chapter 4 Heim Courtyard. Drops from male Ninja next to wizard