text:
Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ Sony PlayStation Version 1.0 Made by Exdeath E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Page: http://gannex.simplenet.com Exdeath's Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ This is the Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ. This copyright belongs to me and may not reproduced in any way without consent of me. This is freely distributed as long as the copyright remains. You may use this Strategy Guide only in its entirety, but give me full credit where it is due. This FAQ is not yet totally complete. If you have something to contribute, please mail me at
. ---------- Contents: ---------- Version Info Notes Star Ocean: The Second Story Glossary Private Actions Battle System -"Active Time Battle System" -Hissatsuwaza and Spells -Differences from Star Ocean -Status Ailments -Battle Tactics -Fighter Tactics -Spell-Caster Tactics -Rena's Tactics -Battle Formations -Anger Explosions Game System -Game Modes -Earth -Galaxy -Game Controls -Status Screen -Zokusei -Talents -Ending System General Strategy Characters -Crawd C Kenny -Rena Lanford -Celine Jules -Ashton Anchors -Opera Vectra -Ernest Ravito -Bowman Jean -Precis Neuman -Dias Flac -Leon Geeste -Noel Chandler -Chisato Madison Hissatsuwaza List Spell List Skills List Character Ratings Useful Hissatsuwaza Combinations Item Creation Thanks -------------- Version Info: -------------- -Version 1.0 (5/10/99) *Basic structure to FAQ made *Added info on Private Actions, Battle System, and Characters *Game System section *Hissatsuwaza List section *Spell List section *Skill List section *Useful Hissatsuwaza Combinations section *Japanese Star Ocean Glossary section -Coming in next version: *Toguki List *Super Toguki List *Large Item Creation section *Frequently Asked Question section *Baisc Plot section *Bonus Dungeon information ------- Notes: ------- This is the preliminary version of my Star Ocean: The Second Story FAQ. I'm currently building a lot onto this, and it will be updated a lot more once the English version comes out. Currently, I'm writing this FAQ from the Japanese version of the game, but the English version has been confirmed, so when that version is released, I'll play through it and make needed changes. I'll probably keep most of the Japanese names, but I'll also add English translations of needed things. This game is immense, and I will be producing a walkthrough for the game as it hits North American shores as well. This FAQ deals with so many of the features of the game, and you'll definitely want to have the FAQ in addition to the walkthrough. Make sure you pick up my walkthrough when it comes out from one of two sites: http://gannex.simplenet.com http://www.gamefaqs.com Also, the Item Creation section is not complete yet, but when it is completed, it will be huge. I intend on adding huge sections on what items you can make from what other items, and if you've played through the game, you'll know that there is a tremendous amount of items and item creation combinations to be made. Experimenting with each of the items to get Item Creations is going to take a large amount of time, so try to experiment on your own with it for awhile until I can get the section up. If you have any Item Creation submissions, be sure to mail me at with the type of Item Creation (Saiku, Customize, and such), what items are needed to receive the item, and what the item does. --------------------------------------- Star Ocean: The Second Story Glossary: --------------------------------------- Star Ocean: The Second Story contains many Japanese terms that could confuse the player. Star Ocean: The Second Story is a big game, and you'll probably need to know most of these terms for the game, especially if you care about your character's ratings toward the other characters. Aijodo (Love Level): The variable that measures a character's love toward another character. This value is used to determine pairings of opposite-sexed characters in the many endings. Kanjodo (Emotion Level): The variable that measure's a character's feelings toward the other characters in the group. Encompasses Aijodo and Yujodo. Kobutsu (Favorite): Favorite food or drink. The special foods and drinks can be used on the characters, and if it's their favorite, it will usually heal them to full HP every time. Hissatsuwaza (Kill Technique): Refers to a special technique in a specific fighting style. They are gained through level-ups. Only the fighting-type characters can use Hissatsuwaza. Item Creation: Star Ocean boasts a unique system of making your own items by mixing or customizing different other items. There are many different kinds of Item Creations, check the "Item Creation" section for more info. Jukurendo (Practice Level): The level of each Hissatsuwaza and spell. Each time you use a Hissatsuwaza or spell, this number goes up by one, excluding the spells that don't increase at all. Jumon: An individual spell. Pretty much the same as Monshojutsu. Monshojutsu (Crest Skill): This is what magic is called in Star Ocean: The Second Story. The magic of the Star Ocean world. Skill Points: Points that each character gains after gaining a level. You can distribute these points on skills. Sometimes referred to as SP. Zokusei: The type of attack/defense an item/weapon/armor/spell has, like Fire or Ice. Yujodo (Camaraderie Level): The variable that determines how friendly characters are toward each other. This also has effect on the endings, it determines pairings of same-sex characters at the end. ----------------- Private Actions: ----------------- Private Actions are a very unique feature that began in the first Star Ocean. When you are outside of a town, in the upper-right corner, you will see the worlds "(Triangle button) Private Action". If you press the Triangle Button, your party will split up, and you get to explore the town on your own. When you are in a Private Action, your characters can react with others, get unique treasure, and even change Aijodo/Kanjodo/Yujodo with the different characters. You can complete the game without doing any Private Actions at all, but it's really good to do it, since you learn so much about the story, and can change the way characters feel about another. I strongly recommend doing every Private Action in the game. There are just so many Private Actions, depending on the combinations of characters you choose, so I haven't even seen everything yet. In fact, there are so many possibilities for characters, Private Actions, and ratings, that there are 86 total endings. --------------- Battle System: --------------- "Active Time Battle System": Star Ocean: The Second Story's battle system is much more unique than most RPGs. Battles take place in real time, meaning all of your characters, and the enemies, all attack at once. This causes a lot of strategy is deciding where your characters should be, and makes the battle more real and action-like. Star Ocean: The Second Story has a very complicated system of Hissatsuwaza and Jumon, but that's what makes the game so good. You control one character at a time, while the other characters are controlled through artificial intelligence and tactics. You can switch the character that you control anytime you want in battle, though. Most of the battles, especially boss battles, will take a lot more strategy than the normal RPG, and location, Hissatsuwaza, character combinations, and tactics all make the battles a lot more strategical. The battles are often much more fun than an average RPG, and that's the thing I like about the Star Ocean games so much. *Hissatsuwaza and Spells: There are two types of characters in Star Ocean: The Second Story. Fighting characters, and Spell-casting characters. Fighting characters: Crawd, Ashton, Opera, Bowman, Precis, Dias, Ernest, and Chisato. Spell-casting characters: Rena, Celine, Leon, and Noel. Hissatsuwaza are used in battle. To use a Hissatsuwaza, first assign it to a character, and then press L1 or R1, depending on what button you assigned them to. Each time you use a Hissatsuwaza, its Jukurendo level goes up by one. When you get past a certain point (it differs for all Hissatsuwaza), the character will be able to pull off advanced forms of the same Hissatsuwaza (in example, Ashton's Leaf Slash hits three times instead of two after the Jukurendo on it gets to a certain point). If you have a Link Combo Ring, you can do two Hissatsuwaza in succession. For more about the Link Combo Ring, check the "Differences from Star Ocean" section. Spells are also used in battle. If you want to cast a certain spell, make sure you're controlling the character you want to cast it (press X and select your character), and then press Triangle. A command ring menu will appear above that character. From here, you can select "Spells", and you can select it by pressing the Circle button. Each time you use a Spell, your Jukurendo for the spell is increased by one point, with the exception of several spells that will never increase in Jukurendo, because they don't need to (like Rena's Antidote spell). ----------------------------- Differences from Star Ocean: ----------------------------- There are several differences in how the game is run from the original Star Ocean, especially having to do with the battle system. 1) Link Combo is now an item, no more chains of four attacks. Link Combo Rings can be found in the game. When you equip the Link Combo accessory, you can go to the Hissatsuwaza assigning screen, and press Triangle. Now that character can choose a character to steal Hissatsuwaza from. When you steal Hissatsuwaza from one of your characters, he or she cannot use Hissatsuwaza at all. It is a good strategy to steal Hissatsuwaza from a spell-casting character, since they have no Hissatsuwaza to begin with. Once you have stolen a character's Hissatsuwaza, you can assign combos of two Hissatsuwaza. 2) The battlefield. This is a pretty big difference. The battlefield is now true 3D, and it is much larger than the battlefield from Star Ocean. The original Star Ocean's battlefield was only a plane, as opposed to Star Ocean: The Second Story's 3D battlefield. Also, there are rocks, train cars, and other obstacles in particular areas. For this reason, you'll have to plan your attacks better, and you can even use the obstacles as an advantage (for an example, drawing enemies into the train cars in a certain area). 3) Hissatsuwaza system is slightly changed. In the original Star Ocean, you would have four attacks distributed between four buttons, 2 for long range, and 2 for short range attacks. In Star Ocean: The Second Story, you only assign one Hissatsuwaza to each button, but some of the Hissatsuwaza will be different depending on where you execute the Hissatsuwaza from (for instance, Crawd's "Kuhazan" is a shockwave across the ground toward the enemy at long range, while at short range, Crawd sweeps the ground with his sword, creating bolts of energy around him). 4) No Ougi. In the original Star Ocean, you could get Ougi books through the game, and when used on a character, could give them new Hissatsuwaza. The Hissatsuwaza that was given by Ougi was often very much stronger than normal Hissatsuwaza. In Star Ocean: The Second Story, however, there are a few special Hissatsuwaza you must find or make from verious Item Creations. 5) New Jukurendo system. In Star Ocean: The Second Story, there is a new system dealing with Hissatsuwaza called Jukurendo. Each time you use a Hissatsuwaza, its Jukurendo level goes up by one point. The Hissatsuwaza becomes much stronger as its Jukurendo level goes up, and when build up, graphics on the attack could change, as well as added effects (like making more hits than the original Hissatsuwaza did). 6) Recovery time after casting a spell. Star Ocean: The Second Story adds a new spell system. After you cast a spell, there will be a bit of lag time before you can cast another, as a little bar will appear the spell-casters head, and when the bar goes all the way empty, you can cast a spell again. This lag is very quick, though, and I really don't think it makes much of a difference from the original Star Ocean. ----------------- Status Ailments: ----------------- The status ailments in Star Ocean: The Second Story are exactly the same as the ones from Star Ocean, and there is only four total status ailments. Doku (Poison): HP constantly drops in battle, and also drops as you walk. Mahi (Paralysis): You are stopped in place. This ailment has the same general effects as Sekika. You can't do anything when paralyzed, and you can't get injured, either. You don't win any experience points after battle when paralyzed. Sekika (Petrified): Your character is turned to stone, and you can't do anything at all. You cannot be injured while petrified. If you win a battle when petrified, the petrified character doesn't receive any experience points. Sentou Funou (Incapacitated): This 'ailment' occurs when your HP drops all the way to 0. You can't do anything at all until you are back to normal HP. ---------------- Battle Tactics: ---------------- *Fighter Tactics: Only fighter characters use fighter tactics. The fighter characters are Crawd, Ashton, Opera, Dias, Bowman, Precis, Ernest, and Chisato. 1) Zenryoku de Teki o Kogeki se yo! (Do your best attacks!) -Don't pay attention to MP at all, just keep using Hissatsuwaza on all enemies. 2) Mikata o Mamore! (Protect all friends!) -Only fight enemies that come toward your characters; use defense. 3) Hissatsuwaza o Onzon se yo! (Save Hissatsuwaza!) -Only rarely use Hissatsuwaza, save up MP. 4) Bunsan Shite Kogeki se yo! (Spread out and attack!) -Try to fight all enemies at one time; don't attack enemies that the other characters are already fighting. 5)Teki kara Hanare yo! (Run away as much as possible!) -Always try to run from battles. 6) Nani mo Suru na! (Do nothing!) -Just stand still on the battlefield. *Spell-Caster Tactics Only spell-casting characters use these tactics (other than Rena). The spell-casting characters that use these tactics are: Celine, Leon, and Noel. 1) Seishinryoku no Tsuzuku Kagiri Kogeki se yo! (Attack with mental power!) -Keep casting spells, don't worry about MP loss at all. 2) Seishinryoku o Onzon Shite Tatakae! (Conserve mental power!) -Cast an average amount of spells, save up MP sometimes. 3) Hanareta Teki o Kogeki se yo! (Attack enemies from afar!) -Target enemies in the back with spells first. This tactic is useful for all of those annoying mages in the game. 4) Monshojutsu o Tsukau na! (Don't cast Monshojutsu!) -Cast no spells at all. 5) Mizukara no Nikutai de Kogeki se yo! (Fight with your power!) -Makes you fight with your weapon rather than with spells. 6) Nani mo suru na! (Don't do anything) Stand still, not doing anything. *Rena's Tactics: Rena has her own special tactics. a) Nakama no Kaifuku o Sennen se yo! (Focus on healing allies!) -Always cast healing spells when a character is hurt. b) Mikata o Hojo se yo! (Support allies!) -Mainly cast assistance spells to the allies (such as defense raising spells), also heal when very low HP. c) Kaifuko o Hozon shi, Hojo wa suru na! (No support and low healing) -This tactic saves a lot of HP. Don't cast support spells, but heal when very low on HP. d) Jumon wa Tonaeru na! (Don't cast any spells!) -I don't see the difference between this and "Mikata o Hojo se yo!". e) Mizukara no Nikutai de Kogeki se yo! (Fight by yourself!) -Fight enemies yourself without casting any spells at all. f) Nani mo suru na! (Do nothing) -Don't do anything at all. ------------------- Battle Formations: ------------------- Yet another interesting feature about Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story is the battle formations. I think battle formations play a bigger Battle formations play a bigger role in Star Ocean: The Second Story, since the battlefield is much bigger, and there are obstacles, and some bosses are more easily beaten if you use certain formations. 1: Character in first position on the camp screen 2: Character in second position on the camp screen 3: Character in third position on the camp screen 4: Character in fourth position on the camp screen Here are what the battle formations look like, going from top to bottom on the tactics select screen: Linear Motion Square Shift 1 Tri-Shift 1 Tri-Shift 2 _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ 4 2 4 3 3 3 1 4 1 4 2 1 3 2 2 1 _____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ Free Fight Upper Guard Under Guard Square Shift 2 _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ 3 4 2 4 2 4 2 1 3 1 3 2 1 4 1 3 _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ Astral Shift Escape Shift Assault Shift Upper Caution _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 3 1 4 1 3 2 2 2 4 _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ Under Caution _____________ 1 3 2 4 _____________ Linear Motion: This is a very basic formation. Use this formation if all of your characters are equal in terms of strength. Square Shift 1: This is a great formation when you have two fighters and two spell-casters, as it makes a great defense and allows the spell-casters to get all of their spells off in time. Tri-Shift 1: This is one of the most overall useful formations in the game. It is best to have Crawd in the first position, and your spell-casting character in the fourth position. Tri-Shift 2: This is another overall useful formation. Use this formation when you want Crawd (or another powerful fighter) to start close the enemies. Free Fight: I never found much use for this formation. I guess it would be good if you had two fighting characters in the front, and two spell-casting characters in the back, but I usually use three fighters and one spell-caster. If you like spell-casting characters, though, this is a good pick. Upper Guard: As the name suggests, this is the formation to use when you want to cluster all characters to the top, creating a more secure defense. This formation comes into use in a certain end dungeon in which the boss has a laser that shoots up the middle of the field, and this will prevent that. Under Guard: Like the Upper Guard formation, but defends from the low part of the battlefield rather than the top. Has pretty much the same advantages and disadvantages as Upper Guard. Square Shift 2: This formation is essentially the same as Square Shift 1, except the characters are a bit more spaced from each other. Not much different. Astral Shift: This formation uses the same principles as the Tri-Shift formations. Again, useful for three fighter characters and one spell-casting character. Escape Shift: As the name suggests, this formation is useful if you want to escape battles. This formation isn't useful for much anything else. I didn't use this one much. Assault Shift: This is perhaps the most unique formation. When you select Assault Shift, all characters will appear in the middle of the enemies. This formation is useful if you have four fighter characters, and want to defeat the enemy very quickly. Upper Caution: Essentially the same as Upper Guard, allows good defense from the upper area of the battlefield. Under Caution: Like the Under Guard, this allows a great defense from the bottom of the battlefield. Use this when you want to avoid rushing straight to the center. As you can see, there are many variations of battle formations. My personal favorites are Tri-Shift 1, especially if you have one spell-caster and four fighter characters, and Tri-Shift 2 if you have Crawd as your first character. It definitely depends on what characters you have in your party, but I use Tri-Shift 1 or 2 through most of the game. *Anger Explosions: When a character falls in battle, there is a chance that the other characters will fly into rage, causing an "Anger Explosion". While in an Anger Explosion, characters gain huge amounts of power from increased statistics. Power, defense, speed, and magic power are all increased from Anger Explosions. Aijodo/Kanjodo/Yujodo have a lot to do with when/who will fly into an Anger Explosion. If a character has high Aijodo/Kanjodo/Yujodo toward the character that has fallen, chances are much greater that he or she will fly into rage. *Note: It seems that Ashton flies into an Anger Explosion more than any other character in the game. ------------- Game System: ------------- Star Ocean: The Second Story's game system is obviously the main factor that sets the game apart from other RPGs. The game includes totally unique features, and these features take awhile to get used to and master. *Game Modes: Star Ocean: The Second Story adds replay value because of the fact that there are several game modes, each is increasingly more difficult. To get Galaxy and Universe mode as playable options, you need to build up your Voice Collection List. This list is a collection of all 1,278 voice samples in the entire game. Each time you hear a voice sample in the game, it will be added to your list. The requirements for the two hidden game modes are as follows: *Galaxy: 30% of all voices in the game (384 total samples) *Universe: 50% of all voices in the game (639 total samples) *Must Test: 70% of all voices in the game (895 total samples) If you wish to play on one of the hidden game modes, follow these easy instructions: 1) Before starting a new game, go to the Voice Collection Screen 2) If you exceeded the amount for one of the hidden game modes, you will hear a chime noise, and the message "Go back to the main screen and select New Game" will appear. 3) Do as the message says and start a new game. The Music Test game mode is not really a game mode. Once you get it, you will get to access to the sound test where you can listen to any track in the game that you wish to hear. *Earth: This is the normal setting that the game starts on. Enemies are at their normal levels in terms of strength. You have to use Earth mode for the first game you play. *Galaxy: In Galaxy mode, ememies receive a big HP and attack power bonus, and the game is more difficult. *Universe: Universe is a huge challenge. Enemies receive the HP and attack power bonuses they receive from Galaxy mode, in addition to much higher defense, and harder artificial intelligence. Universe mode is insanely hard, and the last boss seems pretty much unbeatable on Universe. *Game Controls: X - X O - O T - Triangle Button S - Square Button Towns, Dungeons, Overworld: O - Talk/Examine/Confirm X - Run S - Start Private actions, Pickpocket T - Open Camp screen L1/R1 - Rotate screen Counterclockwise or Clockwise on overworld Start - Open/Close/Zoom Map Window Status Screen: O - Confirm X - Cancel S - Open special panels, such as Item statistic panels, turn spells on/off T - Open special menus, including Talents L1/R1 - Scroll up/down in item/skill/technique fast L2/R2 - Scroll through character list fast Battle: O - Target/Attack X - Cancel Targeting or change characters S - Hold and move character around with control pad, and/or change views T - Open Command Ring menu L1/R1 - Target/Use assigned Hissatsuwaza L2 - Switch character to next character on roster R2 - Switch character from auto/manual control Select - Taunt enemy (Chohatsu skill) *Status Screen: Name: Your character's name. Race: Your character's race. HP: Your character's current and maximum Hit Points. MP: Your character's current and maximum Mental (Magic) Points. Level: Your character's current level. EXP: Your character's current experience. NEXT: The experience your character needs to get to the next level. STR: Strength. Affects Kogeki. CON: Constitution. Affects Bogyo. DEX: Dexterity. Affects Meichuritsu. AGL: Agility. Affects Kaihi. INT: Intelligence. Affects Maryoku. LUC: Luck. With high Luck, your character's accuracy in hits and agility will increase. Luck also determines how accurate you are with certain Item Creations. STM: Stamina. Each character has a set amount of Stamina. When you attack or use Hissatsuwaza, your Stamnia decreases. At the end of a battle, whatever Stamina each character has remaining is healed in the form of HP and MP. If you used all of your Stamina up in a battle, you will not heal. GUTS: Guts is your character's spirit. It affects the game in several different ways. If you have a high Guts rating, you can sometimes make fatal hits that do up to double damage, and you could receive a rush in which your character's attack and defense levels raise. Also, sometimes when you get a fatal hit that would bring you below 1 HP, you will stay alive with 1 HP. Having Guts is very useful in the game, especially toward the end, where the bosses will hit for lots of damage, you'll want to stay alive. Kogeki: Attack power. This is the sum of your STR and weapon power. Bogyo: Defense. This is the sum of your CON and armor defense. Meichuritsu: Accuracy. This is how often you hit an enemy for the full amount of power. This is determined by your DEX value. Kaihi: Evasion. The value is determined by your AGL level and the shield that your character is carrying.This is your ability to block attacks Weapon: Your weapon. Armor: Your main body armor. Shield: Your shield. Helmet: Your head armor. Greaves: Your leg armor. Accessory 1: Your character's first accessory. Accessory 2: Your character's second accessory. Kobutsu: "Favorite Thing". This is each character's favorite food/drink. When a character eats/drinks his or her favorite food/drink, his or her HP will be healed very high, and most of the time you will regain full HP. Press the Square button on a character's Status Screen to view each character's Zokusei. The first line on the window is the Zokusei of that character's attack. The Second line is the type of defense a character has against a certain kind of Zokusei. For attack Zokusei, when on, the icon of the Zokusei is highlighted. When off, all Zokusei is greyed out. For defense Zokusei, each Zokusei is assigned a plus or minus sign. A plus sign means that a character is strong toward that Zokusei, while a minus means that the character is weak against that Zokusei. *Zokusei: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Star, Fu (Negative), Light, Dark, and Mu (Physical). Pressing the triangle button on a character's Status Screen will bring up that character's Talents. Talents are randomly assigned to character's at the beginning of the game. You can learn new Talents through the game, save the Talent "Mana no Shukufuku" (Mana Power), which is only given to each spell-casting character. *Talents: Originality (ÉIÉäÉWÉiÉäÉeÉC): The ability to make unique things. Cooking Sense (-°äo): The ability to determine taste in food. Skills of Fingers (äÌ-pÇ»éwêÊ): The ability of having quick fingers. Design Sense (ÉfÉUÉCÉ"ÉZÉ"ÉX): A sense of form and balance in work. Literary Ability (ï∂çÀ): The ability to write books/music. Rhythmic Sense(ÉäÉYÉÄä¥): Knowing rhythm in music. Musical Sense (âπä¥): The ability to successfully read and perform Music. Liked by Animals ("(r)ï®çDÇ´): A love of living things. Wild Instinct (-Ãê∂ÇÃä®): An instinct that animals are near. Mana Power (É}ÉiÇÃèjïü): The ability to cast magic. Only the spell-casting characters receive this Talent. *Note: You'll need a Japanese character viewer to view the Japanese text here, but you don't need one. If you don't know Japanese, just look at a kana and hiragana chart to determine which Talent is which. *Ending System: The ending system in Star Ocean: The Second Story is very complicated. There are a total of 86 endings, depending on what you do through the game, Private Actions, and what characters you choose. It is very hard to get a specific ending, just because there are so many ending possibilities, but most of the alterations in the endings have to do with male characters paired with female characters. For instance, if you want Crawd to hook up with Rena in the ending, you must be kind toward Rena through the game and in Private Actions. ------------------ General Strategy: ------------------ -Talk to everyone. The world is vast and huge in Star Ocean: The Second Story, and Enix has really worked hard on the text, and you'll be given a lot of information on the story by talking to every available. -As with the typical RPG, if you are constantly getting killing, or losing to a boss, stop to gain some levels. Gaining levels increases your stats by a lot, and you can pick more skills, and eventually overpower the bosses easily. -Take time to explore the dungeons. Most dungeons have some really great treasure, and you'll want to take time to look for all of the rare items in the dungeons. Also, there could be a hidden passage or some other secret in a dungeon. -Every time you get to a new town with new weapons and armor, buy all of it. Better weapons and armor help you survive much better in the dungeons, and will make things for you a lot easier. -Try different Hissatsuwaza and spells. Sometimes you'll get attached to a certain Hissatsuwaza or spell for a long time, but trying out the others really helps, because there is always some attack that is better. Try different combinations of Hissatsuwaza in Link Combos as well. -Try all of the different formations and decide which is best for each circumstance. Certain formations can have huge strengths in certain areas, while others will really be damaging to use. Also, some battles are heavily dependent on the formation, and you'll want to have the best formations for each area. -Always equip your weapons/armor/accessories right after you receive them. -Use different kinds of tactics on each character, and find the ones that you like best. You won't want your characters to constantly use up all of their MP for Hissatsuwaza unless you want to build the Jukurendo up, so make sure characters are using unnecesary MP. -If you don't have enough Vol for weapons/armor/accesories, go onto the overworld or into a dungeon and gain enough money to buy them. They'll really help in the longrun, and you'll also get a chance to gain some more levels for your characters. -Experiment with different parties. You may become attached to certain characters as you play through the game, but once you try each character out, you may find a new favorite party. Use different Hissatsuwaza as well. -Take some time to stop playing through the game to experiment with Item Creations. The most powerful weapons and armor in the game can only be received through Item Creations, and utilizing Item Creations is absolutely neccesary for beating the game, as toward the end of the game, many of the bosses are very hard. It takes a lot of time to master creating weapons and armor for your characters, but in terms of the strength it gives you, the Item Creations you use are entirely worth it. ------------ Characters: ------------ There are twelve total characters in Star Ocean: The Second Story. All of the stats about the characters are taken directly from the manual that came with the game. Note that some characters are not listed in the manual, and therefore I don't have all information on some characters, especially in the height and weight categories. If you can point out where these characteristics are noted, please tell me. --Crawd C. Kenny-- Age: 19 Race: Human Birthday: January 23rd Height: 175 centimeters Weight: 68 kilograms Likes: Food, Computer Games Dislikes: Being a Federation Officer, studying different things. Good At: Being late, Slacking off, Martial Arts His "type.": Someone Active and Cheerful Kobutsu: Steak Best Instrument: Trumpet Background: The son of Ronixis Kenny, renowned hero from the first Star Ocean, he is a new officer in the Interplanetary Space Federation, serving on Ronixis' ship, the Calnus. Crawd is brought into the adventure when he is on a team to explore an uncharted planet, where he was mysterious sucked into a time-space portal, and he eventually ends up on the planet Expel. Crawd is searching the planet for a way off, and trying to find out as much about the planet as possible. Crawd hopes to eventually learn about the culture on the new planet while trying to escape as well. Crawd is a basic guy that gets along with others pretty well. Crawd is nice to all of his allies, and treasures their cameraderie. Crawd respects his father for being a great hero in his day, but at other times he is jealous because others look at him in a different way because he behaves differently then his father. Crawd wants to increase in physical strength, and is somewhat jealous of others for being stronger than him. Crawd uses a longsword as his weapon, and can equip heavy armor. He is the basic fighting character, and in his Hissatsuwaza, he combines both sword and martial arts attacks. Starting Statistics: Level 1 HP: 130, MP: 20 STR: 10, CON: 5, DEX: 10, AGL: 10, INT: 0, LUC: 132, STM: 15, GUTS: 20 Skills: Kagaku Gijutsu, Kinobi Crawd's Strengths: -The most powerful attack fighter in the game. -Can equip the best armor in the game, and the best weapon, the Eternal Sphere. -Has the most well-rounded stats, and some of the most effective Hissatsuwaza. Crawd's Weaknesses: -Needs to gain much more Jukurendo than most of characters to build up his Hissatsuwaza. --Rena Lanford-- Age: 17 Race: Expel Birthday: May 13 Height: 161 centimeters Weight: 45 kilograms Good at: Cooking, Helping others, Gymnastics, Fist attacking Likes: Running away to the Forest of Holy Protection, beautiful things Her "type": Someone with a sense of humer, someone that doesn't turn mad easily Kobutsu: Shortcake Best instrument: Lyre Background: Rena is from the small village of Arlia, where she has been raised for her entire life. Rena finds Crawd in the Forest of Holy Protection, where Crawd saved Rena from being attacked by a gorilla. Rena eventually befriends Crawd and helps him investigate a way to get home. Rena is informed near the beginning of the game that her foster mother, Westa, was not really her real mother. Rena's new mission is to find out who Rena's real mother was. Rena also wonders about the mystery of her magic, and why no one else in her village has the healing powers that she does. Rena's personality is very kind toward friends. Rena gets worried easily, although she will eventually forgive others for what they do. Rena keeps each friend of hers very close. As she is very experienced in martial arts, Rena fights only with her fists (or claws on them), and uses healing-type magic, although she eventually will gain several Light Zokusei attack spells. Starting Statistics: Level 1 HP: 130, MP: 40 STR: 5, CON: 2, DEX: 10, AGL: 8, INT: 0, LUC: 130, STM: 10, GUTS 30 Starting Skills: Hocho, Recipe, Mekiki Rena's Strengths: -Her healing spells heal for the most amount of HP in the game. -Best physical attacker of all mages. -Is only character in the game that can cast Raise Dead, one of the most useful spells in the game. Rena's Weaknesses: -Has low defense power, and often dies in battle when not defended by other characters. -When she runs out of HP, you won't be able to heal your characters as easily. --Celine Jules-- Age: 23 Race: Expel Birthday: September 18 Height: 167 centimeters Weight: 50 kilograms Good at: Treasure Hunting, Attack magic Likes: Jewels, different clothing styles, makeup and perfume Dislikes: Selfish people Her "type": Someone strong physically Kobutsu: Kousagi Rizotto Best Instrument: Violin Background: Celine is an attack magician, and was raised in the village of Mars. Celine is a treasure hunter, always travelling the world for money or precious treasure. Celine befriends Crawd and Rena when they find that she knows where a special treasure is located. Celine begins to be fond of Crawd from when they meet. Celine is an attack mage. Celine has the most rounded attack spells in the game, and has two of the most powerful attack spells in the game. Celine is the weakest character physically, and when forced to physcailly fight, she uses a rod. Starting Statistics: Level 8 HP: 400, MP: 100 STR: 15, CON: 8, DEX: 12, AGL: 5, INT: 0, LUC: 154, STM: 14, GUTS: 45 Starting Skills: Kobutsugaku, Craft, Biteki Kankaku, Kagaku Gijutsu, Yoseiron Good points about Celine: -Most rounded attack spells in the game. -Usually starts with many Talents. -Wonderful luck. Bad points about Celine: -Is the weakest character, so in turn she dies in battles very easily. -Can equip the weakest of armor. -Drains MP fast on some of the better attack spells. --Ashton Anchors-- Age: 20 Race: Expel Birthday: September 28 Height: 180 centimeters Weight: 80 kilograms Good at: Sewing cloth, Monshoken Likes: Good luck Dislikes: Omens, Fortune Telling, Cursed Objects His "type": Someone helpful, pure, and kind. Kobutsu: Hamburger Best Instrument: Piano Background: Ashton is a basic young man who is travelling the world to look for missions that will make him more known in society. Ashton seems to have horrible luck, as when he goes into a mine, two dragons, Gyoro and Ururun, are mysteriously drawn to Ashton, and when Ashton becomes distracted, the two dragons graft themselves into his back. The two dragons become a part of Ashton, and Ashton decides not to have them taken off if possible. The two dragons criticize Ashton, although they are also good friends to him. Ashton decides to travel with Crawd and Rena because they helped him try to find a way to detach his dragons. Ashton is a good guy, and always cares for others, but has terrible luck, which seems to get him into a lot of trouble. Ashton has a powerful conscience, and Ashton would never hurt anything that has been kind to him. Ashton is a Monoshoken, he uses a mixture of sword techniques along with elemental magic. Ashton has two swords that he slashes the enemy quickly with, and uses a lot of magical abilities like splitting into multiple images or disappearing and then reappearing near the enemy. Ashton uses a wide variety of Hissatsuwaza. Starting Statisticss: Level 17 HP: 1000, MP: 120 STR: 83, CON: 32, DEX: 50, AGL: 5, INT: 0, LUC: 18, STM: 26, GUTS: 32 Starting Skills: None. Ashton's strengths: -The second most powerful character in the game, second to only Crawd -Can equip some of the most powerful weapons and armor in the game -Has many quick Hissatsuwaza that do multiple powerful hits on the enemy -Flies into rage in battle more than any other character Ashton's weaknesses: -A few of his Hissatsuwaza take a terrible amount of time to execute, and therefore, are almost useless -Terrible luck, his luck will never go higher than 18 through the game --Opera Vectra-- Age: 23 Race: Tetragenes Birthday: August 24 Height: 160 centimeters Weight: 50 kilograms Good at: Using range weapons, repairing things, piloting Likes: Wine, Long journey, Shopping, Jewelry Dislikes: Compromising, People that act tough Her "Type": Guys that are intelligent and can make decisions Kobutsu: Dulfol Best Instrument: Piano Background: Opera is a high-ranking official on an advanced planet with many scientific advances. Opera travels through the universe with Ernest, her boyfriend. As Opera and Ernest are exploring the universe, their ship crashes into the planet Expel, and Opera and Ernest are seperated. The party meets Opera in a bar, where Crawd and Rena give Opera a lead to where Ernest may be. Opera is an aggresive woman, and always completes what she does, no matter what the cost. Opera usea a large magic-infused rifle called the "Kaleidoscope". As you go through the game, you collect boxes, which are basically discs that Opera inserts into the Kaleidoscope. Opera uses many projectile attacks from the Kaleidoscope, like ice beams and fire bombs. Opera swings the Kaleidoscope at enemies as her normal attack, and fires a basic bolt out of the Kaleidoscope at airborne enemies. Starting Statistics: Level 21 STR: 60, CON: 31, DEX: 52, AGL: 30, INT: 0, LUC: 142, STM: 21, GUTS: 60 Starting Skills: Craft, Cast, Kinobi, Kikai Sosa Good Points about Opera: -The best long range and projectile Hissatsuwaza in the game -Has a very quick attack -Receives strong weapons very early in the game Bad points about Opera: -Her Hissatsuwaza takes tons of Jukurendo to power up -Has to be at specific distances away from the enemy to do both short and long range Hissatsuwaza -Can equip less powerful armor than the other fighter characters --Precis F. Neuman-- Age: 16 Race: Expel Birthday: February 29 Height: 155 centimeters Weight: 43 kilograms Good at: Machinery, Inventing Likes: Handagote, Turbo Zakku, Mujin-kun, Chocolate Dislikes: Reptiles, Slimy objects and animals Her "Type": A guy that is pretty cool but is not an idiot. (typical ^_^) Kobutsu: Choco-Crepe Best Instrument: Harmonica Background: Precis is daughter of the famous inventor of machinery in the town of Ringa. Precis is somewhat trying to follow in her father's foosteps, as she messes with machinery and makes her own items often. Since Precis is inventing and doing things other people on Expel have not done before, others look down on her for being srange and abnormal. Precis joins your group in hopes of becoming friends with your party members. Precis' father wants you to take Precis along because you are the only people that can get along with her, and she needs friends. Precis develops a crush on Crawd early on. Precis gets in to trouble often, and is often a rebel. Precis is sometimes somewhat annoying to the other characters, but she can also be very kind and truthful to her friends. Precis weilds a pet robot of hers named Mujin-kun. Precis' fighting style is very unique, she attacks with a robotic hammer attached to her backpack, and controls the functions with a controller. Precis often utilizes Mujin-kun in her Hissatsuwaza, and also uses many unique projectile Hissatsuwaza, using Mujin-kun as a weapon. Starting Statistics Level 15 HP: 950, MP: 100 STR: 42, CON: 31, DEX: 40, AGL: 5, INT: 0, LUC: 153, STM: 26, GUTS: 32 Starting Skills: Kinobi, Kikai Chishiki, Kikai Sosa Precis' strengths: -Second to only Opera in terms of proectile Hissatsuwaza. -Some Hissatsuwaza makes her invincible while executing, which is such a huge advantage, especially later in the game, when taking damage quickly can insure fast death. -A well balanced fighter in any situation. Precis' weaknesses: -Can't wear as good armor as the other fighting characters, just like Opera. -Most of her Hissatsuwaza takes a lot of MP, and even if you equip her with Accessories like an Emerald Ring or Fairy Ring, her MP will drain quickly. --Bowman Jean-- Age: 27 Race: Expel Birthday: August 24 Good at: Mixing medicine, Sports Likes: Herbs, Medicine Dislikes: Incurable diseases, Deadly diseases His "type": He says that his wife will get mad at him if he says. ^_^ Kobutsu: Daikon no Misoshiru Best Instrument: Harmonica Background: Bowman is an alchemist that runs a medicine shop in the town of Ringa. Bowman is Keith's friend, who is a translator of ancient writing, and one of the only translators on Expel. When the party meets Bowman, they say that they need to find a translator, and Bowman notes Keith. Bowman says if you can find him a rare herb in the Ringa mines for him, he will make Keith talk to you. After completing Bowman's task, he will decide to come with your party. Bowman is an easy-going guy, and doesn't get angry very often. Bowman is interested in science, especially in nature. Bowman is a martial artist, and uses only his hands, feat, and head to fight. Bowman's Hissatsuwaza cosists of punch and kick combinations, and medicine skills. Starting Statistics: Level 25 HP: 1500, MP: 170 STR: 90, CON: 50, DEX: 62, AGL: 5, INT: 0, LUC: 118, STM: 35, GUTS: 36 Starting Skills: Yakusogaku, Seibutsugaku, Seishingaku Bowman's strengths: -Second lowest in MP consumption in his Hissatsuwaza, second to only Ernest. -Is great with a Link Combo Ring, does linked Hissatsuwaza very fast in battle. -Is very quick. Bowman's weaknesses: -Bowman's normal attack has the worst range in the game, even Noel's normal attack has a better range. -Like Opera, Bowman can not equip some of the strongest armor, unlike the other fighter characters like Crawd, Dias, and Ernest. --Ernest Ravito-- Age: 35 Race: Tetragenes Birthday: August 31 Height: 190 centimeters Weight: 90 kilograms Good at: Searching and excavating ruins Likes: Adventure, Travel Dislikes: Tomb and grave robbers His "Type": Smart women Kobutsu: Senchuyasaku Best Instrument: Cembalo Background: Ernest is an experienced archaeologist who does a lot of travelling across the universe with Opera. Ernest travelled with Opera to Expel, where the couple planned on investigating the ruins there. Ernest is the man that Opera is chasing after, and you can only get Ernest in the party if you already have Opera. Ernest is very intelligent, and is often interested in things other people aren't. Ernest enjoys doing scientific work, and exploring places that haven't been chartted or understood yet. Ernest uses a whip in combat, and his Hissatsuwaza consists of multi-hitting whip attacks or charging his whip with different Zokusei to do different elemental attacks to the enemy. Starting Statistics: Level 25 STR: 100, CON: 37, DEX: 60, AGL: 50, INT: 0, LUC: 121, STM: 23, GUTS: 45 Starting Skills: Yakusogaku, Nintai, Kuchibue Ernest's strengths: -Is a great fighter character, can equip some of the best armor and weapons in the game. -The range of his normal attack is the longest in the game, and it is very useful for flying enemies as well. -Uses very little MP, the least in the game, which makes him a great character to give a Link Combo Ring to. Ernest's weaknesses: -Ernest's normal attack is pretty slow. -Some Hissatsuwaza Ernest uses is very slow and almost useless in the game. --Dias Flac-- Race: Expel Age: 25 Birthday: August 5 Height: 192 centimeters Weight: 82 kilograms Good at: Unique martial arts Likes: Sleep Dislikes: Bandits and robbers His "type": Dias doesn't say through the entire game. :) Kobutsu: Chiniwatori Kushiyaki Best Intstrument: Cembalo Background: Dias was a childhood friend of Rena, and is from Arlia. In a terrible attack, Dias' family was hurt, which made him feel weak for not being able to defend the people he loved, so he set out into the world as a swordsman, wanting to some day get revenge on those that hurt him so badly. Dias has a huge ego, and people from Expel think he is the most powerful man alive. Dias is a loner, and barely even talks, but since Dias cares for Rena, he joins the party. Dias barely makes an expressions or speaks. Dias is boastful about how good he fights, and believes that he is in fact the strongest man alive, and he will ignore anyone that says otherwise. Dias' unique style of fighting is different from the other characters. Dias uses longswords like Crawd, but Dias uses a special method in which he gives a strong strike as fast as he can, then sheathes his sword again very quickly. Dias gains several special sword-attack Hissatsuwaza, and takes advantage of his very fast speed. Dias also can use special Hissatsuwaza in which he charges his sword with special powers and then releases them to the enemy. Starting Statistics: Level 35 STR: 175, CON: 70, DEX: 120, AGL: 20, INT: 0, LUC: 96, STM: 45, GUTS: 50 Starting Skills: None *Note: Dias can only join your party if you are playing Rena's scenario. Dias' strengths: -Second best character in terms of pure physical strength. -Has the fastest normal attack of all of the characters. -Can equip the best armor in the game. -Has some of the most powerful single-hitting Hissatsuwaza in the game. Dias' weaknesses: -Starts off as the best fighter, but slowly dwindles to only average toward the end of the game. -Has no rengeki Hissatsuwaza, and can only do a maximum of three hits on any given Hissatsuwaza. -A lot of his Hissatsuwaza uses a lot of MP. --Leon Geeste-- Age: 12 Race: Felpool Birthday: November 25 Height: 135 centimeters Weight: 36 kilograms Likes: Chess, strategy games Dislikes: Work, his parents nagging at him His "type": Leon is young, and doesn't note this through the game. :) Kobutsu: Carrot Juice Best Instrument: Violin Background: Leon is a special scientist that knows a lot about magical power in the kingdom of Racool. Leon does work with his parents, benefitting the kingdom. Leon is unique to the people on Expel in that no one else can develop the unique and special magical technology that he can. Leon meets the party unexpectedly in the lower levels of Racool castle, and puts you to helping him find an "Energy Stone" for the kingdom's benefit. After going on Leon's special quest, he will join you, and his new mission will be to find where the Sorcery Globe fell to. Leon is very intelligent, even though he is very young. Leon studies many topics, especially magic machinery, and always boasts about how he always comes through with his work. Leon brags often, but also does it fairly jokingly. Leon is a spell-casting character. In battle, he uses books to attack (using a special spell locked within the book), and has mainly Water, Darkness, and Mu spells. Leon has many offensive support spells, as well. Starting Statistics: Level 30 STR: 40, CON: 30, DEX: 35, AGL: 5, INT: 0, LUC: 120, STM: 23, GUTS: 10 Starting Skills: Kobutsugaku, Kagaku Gijutsu, Yoseiron *Note: Leon will only join your party if you are playing Crawd's scenario. Good points about Leon: -Has the most MP in the game. -Starts with many talents. -Very quick. Bad points about Leon: -Has a less variety of spells than any other spell-casting character. -Like the other spell-casting characters, he is very weak in combat, and can equip only the worst of armor. --Noel Chandler-- Age: 24 Race: Nedian Birthday: February 2 Height: 173 centimeters Weight: 74 kilograms Good at: Helping animals Likes: Animals Dislikes: Nothing in particular His "type": Someone that shares his interests in nature Kobutsu: O-toro Best Instrument: Shamisen Background: Noel protects the animals on the planet Ned. Noel lives by himself in a cabin where he loves to observe nature and be with his animal friends. Noel is a scholar, and is experienced in both attack and healing magic. Noel joins the party to help them find a Sainard to travel on, and after going with you on the Sainard quest, he will eventually join the party and seek the Sorcery Globe. Noel is one of the more mysterious characters of your party. Noel always does his best for the benefit of his friends, and is opposed to fighting of any kind, but when his friends are in danger, Noel will always come through to help. Noel is a spell-casting character that uses both healing and attack magic. Noel has the widest variety of spells in the game, and his attack magic is basically cenetered around Wind and Earth elemental spells. Noel uses fists and claws to physically fight enemies. Starting Statistics: Level 40 HP: 2700, MP: 340 STR: 61, CON: 55, DEX: 50, AGL: 5, INT: 0, LUC: 87, STM: 30, GUTS: 28 Starting Skills: None Noel's strengths: -Only character other than Rena to use healing spells. -Can most fighter-type armor, giving him a huge defensive advantage over the other spell-casting characters. -Has the widest variety of spells in the game. Noel's weaknesses: -Noel's healing spells heal for much less HP than Rena's healing spells. -Noel's attack spells do much less damage than that of both Celine and Leon. --Chisato Madison-- Age: 22 Race: Nedian Birthday: October 22 Height: 164 centimeters Weight: 52 kilograms Good at: Spying, collecting special data Likes: Information Dislikes: Hypocritical people Her "type": Someone that is truthful and willing to work Kobutsu: Fruit Sandwich Best Instrument: Organ Background: Chisato is a reporter that lives in Central City, who notices that your party are outsiders and immediately decides to stalk you and find out more information about the party. The party notices Chisato in many places, and finally finds out who she is when she drops her business card in a dungeon. When you ask Chisato why she is following you, she tells you that she wants more information about you, so you decide to let her join your party. Chisato is totally dedicated to her work as a reporter. Chisato knows that you are the guys trying to save the planet, and she wants to help you through. Chisato uses guns as her normal weapon, and uses all sorts of special martial arts type Hissatsuwaza. Chisato has a lot of Hissatsuwaza that do a combination of punches and kicks to the enemy. Chisato uses her phone to summon special machines to help her as well. Starting Statistics: Level 40 STR: 164, CON: 60, DEX: 150, AGL: 50, INT: 0, LUC: 119, STM: 32, GUTS: 42 Starting Skills: Copy Chisato's strengths: -Is very quick. -Has rengeki Hissatsuwaza that hits for the most amount of times in the game. Chisato's weaknesses: -Is much weaker in terms of strength than the other characters. -Has very few Hissatsuwaza, some uneffective Hissatsuwaza, and some that takes up too much MP for what it's worth. -Can equip only weak armor. ------------------- Hissatsuwaza List: ------------------- Here is a complete list of all of the Hissatsuwaza in the game. "Final Change" means that it takes that many Jukurendo points to become its strongest form. For examble, when Crawd's "Kuhazan" Hissatsuwaza has 200 Jukurendo, the shockwave is now gold, and is Stronger. *Crawd's Hissatsuwaza: Phase Gun MP: 0 Gained: Level 1 Final Change: None This is a phase gun that Ronixis gives Crawd in the very beginning of Crawd's scenario. The people in Arlia think that this is the legendary "sword of light". Kuhazan MP: 4 Gained: Level 3 Final Change: 200 Short range: Crawd sweeps his sword around him, creating bolts of energy. Similar to the original Star Ocean's Shoretsuha move. Long range: Crawd creates a shockwave across the ground to the target. At final change: The shockwaves turn gold and do a lot more Damage to the target. Ryuseisho MP: 7 Gained: Level 7 Final Change: 300 Short range: A series of pummeling punches. Long range: Crawd fires a large bolt at the enemy. At final change: At short range, Crawd hits more times with his punches and they go faster, and at long range, the energy bolt turns to a gold color and does more damage. Kabutowari MP: 9 Gained: Level 12 Final Change: 260 Crawd jumps very high up in the air, then drops down on the enemy, Hitting them with is sword. At final change: Crawd will spin his sword downward rather than Stabbing it. Katsujinken MP: 11 Gained: Level 20 Final Change: 200 This is a simple healing Hissatsuwaza. At final change: Healing area expands and others can reive healing If close to Crawd. Burst Knuckle MP: 12 Gained: Level 28 Final Change: 100 Short range: Crawd punches the enemy with a fist of fire. Long range: Crawd throws a flame of fire at the enemy. At final change: Crawd does more damage with the fire. Bakuretsuha MP: 17 Gained: Level 38 Final Change: 270 Crawd thrusts his sword downward and lots of earth spikes come up to hit the enemy. At final change: The spikes spread outward more, so you can hit Multiple enemies easily. Sohazan MP: 15 Gained: Level 45 Final Change: 160 A double-slice of the sword. At final change: Crawd will do four slices instead of two. Koryuha MP: 28 Gained: Level 53 Final Change: 500 Crawd raises his hand, and a dragon appears above his head to breathe bolts at the enemy. At final change: The dragon fires more bolts at the enemy. Sword Bomber MP: 32 Gained: Level 62 Final Change: 420 Crawd jumps in the air, slashes his sword, and several fireballs will hit the enemy from above. At final change: Crawd fires up to 5 fireballs from his sword. Kyomensetsu MP: 38 Gained: Level 70 Final Change: 460 A series of very powerful strikes, ending with a powerful jumping slash with the sword. At final change: Crawd will slash many more times than usual. *Ashton's Hissatsuwaza: Twin Stab MP: 4 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 100 A double-stab with swords. At final change: The strikes do more damage to the enemy. Cross Slash MP: 8 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 100 A jumpin slash, and then charges into the enemy with a charging dash hit. At final change: Both of the strikes do more damage to the enemy. Leaf Slash MP: 19 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 200 Ashton disappears, a shockwave surrounds the enemy, then reappears close to his enemy, and does two strong slashes. At final change: Ashton does three slashes after reappearing. Northern Cross MP: 9 Gained: Level 18 Final Change: 200 Two slashes with his swords, and then creates a large bolt of ice in front of him, and releases it to hit the enemy. At final change: Ashton's slashes do more damage. Piercing Swords MP: 12 Gained: Level 22 Final Change: 130 Ashton throws two swords into the ground, and then throws two other Swords at the enemy. At final change: Ashton will throw more swords at the enemy. Hurricane Slash MP: 16 Gained: Level 45 Final Change: 200 Short range: Ashton slashes while spinning, and a whirlwind hits the Enemy. Long range: Ashton jumps twoard the enemy and does a slash, and then Creates a whirlwind and releases it to hit the enemy. Final change: Ashton does the attack faster, and it does more damage. Death Triangle MP: 19 Gained: Level 53 Final Change: None. Ashton appears in three images around the enemy, and all three of The Ashtons create a force around the enemy, and then the force Expldes and does high damage, and freezes the enemy in place. Dragon Breath MP: 28 Gained: Level 64 Final Change: 140 Ashton's two dragons, Gyoro and Ururun both breathe fire and/or ice bolts at the target, doing many hits. At final change: Both dragons will fire their Zokusei at the enemy. Sword Dance MP: 32 Gained: Level 70 Final Change: 400 Ashton's most powerful technique. Ashton slices at the enemy many Times in different areas, each slice doing lots of damage. At final change: Ashton will slash many more times at the enemy. Tri-Ace (you find this Hissatsuwaza in a treasure chest) MP: 45 Final Change: 140 Ashton puts his swords together and they form a single sword, then the two dragons come together into the sword, and Ashton swings it on the battlefield, doing massive damage on all enemies. At final change: Ashton will do much more damage on all enemies. *Opera's Hissatsuwaza: Photon Prison MP: 10 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 270 Opera fires a freezing beam at her enemy, freezing it in place. At final change: The enemy's actions are freezed for a longer amount of time. Flame Launcher MP: 7 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 200 Short range: A blash of fire at the enemy for multiple hits. Long: Shoots a fireball, it lands near the enemy and then the fireball explodes. At final change: The attacks are done faster and do more damage to the enemy. Alpha on one MP: 23 Gained: Level 24 Final Change: 440 Opera fires multiple homing bolts that seek the enemy and do electric Zokusei damage. At final change: Opera shoots many more bolts. Spread Ray MP: 16 Gained: Level 34 Final Change: 540 Opera leaps up and the fires lots of energy bolts down at her target. At final change: Opera shoots many more bolts. Cold Wind MP: 25 Gained: Level 41 Final Change: 300 A cold mist is fired and hits the enemy many times for ice Zokusei. At final change: Opera shoots the mist faster, and the mist does more hits to the enemy. Gravity Shell MP: 20 Gained: Level 54 Final Change: None. Opera fires a capsule high into the air, it opens up and a sphere of gravity Zokusei hit the enemies in its range. Lightning Bullet MP: 20 Gained: Level 69 Final Change: 200 Short range: Opera shoots lightning into the ground, and a wall of Electricity and spreads out. Long range: A simple beam of electricity Zokusei. Heal Star (Machinery Hissatsuwaza, Black System) MP: 9 Final Change: None. A healing beam shot in the air that heals all allied characters. Laser Bit (Machinery Hissatsuwaza, White System) MP: 8 Final Change: 300 A prisimic light thrown, then Opera fires a split beam that hits all enemies in range. At final change: The special beam is split into many more beams, making hits to a longer range.. Hyper Launcher (Machinery Hissatsuwaza, Green System) MP: 34 Final Change: 500 Opera's most damaging Hissatsuwaza. A huge beam is fired, doing many hits to everything in its path. At final change: The beam does many more hits to the enemies in the beam's range. *Bowman's Hissatsuwaza: Kikogeki MP: 4 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 200 A blast from the fist. At final change: Bowman will make two hits instead of only one. Dokukidan MP 5 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 250 Bowman throws posion-laced bombs at the enemy to do damage, and sometimes poison status. At final change: More poison-laced bombs will be thrown. Kubikaze MP: 6 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 380 Short range: Bowman jumps and does a weird flip manuever and lands on top of the enemy. Long ranger: Bowman teleports on top of the enemy and lands on it. At final change: Bowman will hit multiple times. Suzaku-Sosogeki MP: 10 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 400 Bowman channels fireballs and shoots them at the enemy. At final change: Bowman shoots double the amount of fireballs at the enemy. Hisenkan MP: 8 Gained: Level 28 Final Change: None. Bowman eats a pill and heals himself. Shihojin MP: 13 Gained: Level 35 Final Change: 100 Bowman becomes two images, and then charges at the enemy from both sides. At final change: Bowman splits into four images instead of two, and all images charge the enemy for more damage. Senpusho MP: 15 Gained: Level 43 Final Change: 400 Bowman spins around, creates a tornado, and flings it at the enemy which delivers a blow that sends them flying. At final change: Bowman does a double hit that sends the enemy flying into the air. Sakuretsusho MP: 28 Gained: Level 51 Final Change: 200 Short range: Bowman makes a forcefield around him, and then throws his Body into the enemy. Long range: Bowman fires the forcefield directly at the enemy. At final change: Bowman's forcefield becomes bigger and gets stronger. Hasaidan Level 66 MP 20 Final Change: 200 Bowman throws a bomb of fire at the enemy, and it does fire Zokusei damage. At final change: Bowman throws multiple fire bombs, and the range of the explosion expands greatly. Okarengeki MP: 36 Gained: Level 74 Final Change: 250 Bowman quickly fires multiple punches and kicks to the enemy, doing high damage with multiple hits. At final change: Bowman will execute more punches and kicks. *Precis' Hissatsuwaza: Rocket Punch MP: 4 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 120 Precis launches a punch at the enemy from her backpack. At final change: The punch's range gets better. Hop Step MP: 5 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 140 Precis jumps up, and then lands down on a enemy, punching them with a hammer. At final change: Precis will do two hits instead of one. Mole MP: 7 Gained: Level 17 Final Change: 100 Precis changes her backpack to a ram-drill, then gets in and submerges underground, and then surfaces at the enemy, doing damage. At final change: Precis will hit several times with the drill. Ei! Yaa! MP: 8 Gained: Level 25 Final Change: 220 Precis will throw Mujin-kun at an enemy for damage. At final change: Precis does a second Mujin-kun after the first. Barabara Beam MP: 12 Gained: Level 38 Final Change: 240 Precis pulls out a long antenna from the backpack and fires beams of light at the enemy. At final change: Many beams will be fired from the backpack at the enemy. Pokapoka Attack MP: 15 Gained: Level 49 Final Change: 510 Precis hits the enemy twice with a double-hammer strike. At final change: Precis swings the hammers many times, doing multiple hits on the enemy. Bloody Mary MP: 32 Gained: Level 57 Final Change: 360 Precis makes Mujin-kun huge, and then gets in the seat and charges the Enemy with the drill, doing multiple hits on the enemy. At final change: Precis will do many more multiple hits from the drill. Mujin-kun Super Beam (Machinery Hissatsuwaza, High Mecha Launcher) MP: 24 Final Change: 120 Mujin-kun grows huge and fires a large beam at the enemy for a lot of strong, multiple hits. Barrier (Machinery Hissatsuwaza, Plasma Biribiribo) MP: 28 Final Change: 200 With this attack, Precis throws Mujin-kun at her enemy in an arc, and when he hits the ground creates a large explosion. Once this hissatsuwaza is powered up Precis will throw a second Mujin-kun at the enemy. This hissatsuwaza must be created through the Machinery skill. *Holoholograph (Private Action Hissatsuwaza) Final Change: 130 Precis makes a holograph that looks like Ashton, and then Ashton slices The enemy many times with his swords. *Note: You can only get this Hissatsuwaza through a certain Private Action in the game. *Ernest's Hissatsuwaza: Dimension Whip MP: 5 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 240 Ernest whips his whip into a vortex, and the whip goes through the vortex and hits the enemy from the top. This Hissatsuwaza even hits from far distances. At final change: Multiple whips come out of the hole and hit the enemy Four times. Spiral Whip MP: 7 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: None. Short range: Ernest uses his whips to hit a few times and create a whirlwind, then fires it toward the enemy. Long range: Ernest fires the whirlwind from far distance at the enemy. Arc Attack MP: 7 Gained: Level 32 Final Change: 200 Ernest throws his whip toward the sky and swings on it, kicking at the Enemy. At final change: Ernest will kick the enemy as many as four times while in the air. Thousand Whip MP: 10 Gained: Level 41 Final Change: 120 Ernest lashes out multiple whips at the enemy and keeps twirling them Around, doing multiple hits. At final change: More whips will hit the enemy multiple times, doing many hits on the enemy. Cloud Dust MP: 18 Gained: Level 49 Final Change: 100 Ernest flicks his whip around himself, creating a storm of sand that He fires at his target. At final change: Ernest will also increase his dodge level after Using this Hissatsuwaza. Broken Heart MP: 17 Gained: Level 58 Final Change: 200 Ernest flings his whip into the ground, and it comes up at the enemy with thorns on it, and a rose appears on the enemy. At final change: Ernest will hit the enemey many times from the ground. Thunder Whip MP: 22 Gained: Level 65 Final Change: 200 Ernest raises his whip into the air, charging it with lightning, then he whips the enemy with it. At final change: The With this technique, Ernest raises his hand into the air, draws a lightning bolt on his whip, then he shoots it toward the enemy for multiple hits of lightning Zokusei. At final change: After shooting the lightning bolt at the enemies, the whip spreads into many seperate bolts, having a great range and adding more hits. Sonic Whip MP: 25 Gained: Level 73 Final Change: 100 Ernest whips the whip through the air, creating a huge vacuum that does multiple hits on any enemies in range. At final change: Ernest does more hits on the enemy and the range of the vacuum increases. *Dias' Hissatsuwaza: Cross Slash MP: 8 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 120 Dias jumps in the air toward the enemy, doing a double slice to hit the enemy twice for damage. At final change: Dias executes the move faster and does more damage. Kuhazan MP: 4 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: None. Dias swings his sword through the ground, creating a fast blue shockwave that heads for the enemy. Similar to Crawd's Hissatsuwaza of the same name, except Dias' Kuhazan goes much faster. Oboro MP: 10 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 130 Dias does a powerful slash toward the enemy, creating an arc of energy that pierces through the enemy's defense to do big damage. At final change: Dias will hit two times with Oboro instead of one. Chaos Sword MP: 5 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 120 Short range: Dias does a very fast slash that creates a blue field to do damage to the enemy. Long range: Similar to the Kuhazan. Dias puts his sword into the ground, and a shockwave travels toward the enemy, except the shockwave looks different. At final change: At short range, Dias can hit up to three times with his sword. At long range, Dias' shockwave travels faster. Shippuzuki MP: 10 Gained: Level 40 Final Change: 130 Dias charges the enemy with a fierce stab. At final change: Dias can hit the enemy twice instead of only once. Kogetsusen MP: 13 Gained: Level 48 Final Change: 100 Dias slashes through the air, firing an arching shockwave that hits the enemy from a big distance. At final change: Dias executes the Hissatsuwaza faster and it does more damage. Hokoha MP: 16 Gained: Level 56 Final Change: 100 Dias holds his sword out, collecting energy to form a Phoenix image, then releases it at the enemy from a distance. At final change: Dias hits the enemy for many times and the range that the Phoenix travels through the battlefield is greater. Engetsuzan MP: 25 Gained: Level 63 Final Change: 100 Dias flings his sword around his body, making a field of energy that launches an invisible projectile. At final change: Dias spins around very fast and releases the invisible projectile very soon. Mugen MP: 21 Gained: Level 70 Final Change: 420 A special double-slash at close range. At final change: Dias will slash more times, and the swords will fly around faster. Suzaku-Shogekiha MP: 30 Gained: Level 78 Final Change: 200 Dias jumps high in the air, and transforms into a Phoenix, and the Phoenix dives down on the enemy, doing fire Zokusei. At final change: Dias will hit multiple times and the dive range is bigger. *Chisato's Hissatsuwaza: Oborokuruma MP: 5 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 240 Chisato turns into a ball and rolls into the enemy, spinning around and around multiple times to do multiple hits. At final change: Chisato will do many more hits while rolling around. Burning Cards MP: 10 Gained: Starts with it. Final Change: 200 Chisato throws multiple cards at the enemy, striking an enemy from a distance. At final change: Chisato will throw six cards at the enemy. Tsumujikaze MP: 14 Gained: Level 40 Final Change: 200 Chisato does a spinning high kick to the enemy, then does a tripping move for a great double hit. At final change: Chisato executes an axe kick after the first two kicks for a total of three hits. 100,000 Volts MP: 22 Gained: Level 44 Final Change: 200 Chisato fires a large electrical field out of her stun gun at the enemy. At final change: The range of the the electrical charge is much bigger. Flame Thrower MP: 20 Gained: Level 53 Final Change: 200 Chisato uses a big flamethrower on the enemy from close range, doing multiple hits of fire Zokusei. At final change: Chisato fires the flamethrower more towards the air, and the flame falls into the enemy for more hits. Noboriryu MP: 17 Gained: Level 62 Final Change: 200 Chisato does a three hit combo, hitting once low, then once mid, and then once high on the enemy. At final change: Chisato executes six moves instead of the usual three. Tear Gas MP: 32 Gained: Level 68 Final Change: 0 Chisato phones a big machine out of the ground, and it blasts a huge cloud of gas on the oppenent, doing many hits. Preparation MP: 25 Gained: Level 72 Final Change: 240 Chisato uses her phone again and many bombs are dropped on the enemey from above. At final change: More bombs will fall down on the enemy. ------------ Spell List: ------------ Here is a complete list of every spell in Star Ocean: The Second Story. Only spell-casting characters (Rena, Celine, Leon, and Noel) can cast Spells. The spells are arranged by healing and effect spells first, then attack spells. Also note that some spells don't have power up as you cast them, these spells have been noted with "No Jukurendo" at the end of the spell info. Heal Heals an ally for a small amount of HP. MP: 3 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Starts with it, Noel: Starts with it. Cure Light Heals an ally for a medium amount of HP. MP: 11 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 10, Noel: Starts with it. Cure All Heals every ally for a medium amount of HP. MP: 18 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 20, Noel: Level 41 Fairy Heal Fairies dive down on a character, and that character is healed for a large amount of HP. MP: 30 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 52, Noel: Level 55 Fairy Light Faries surround each ally, and each character is healed for a very large amount. MP: 40 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 65, Noel: Level 77 Raise Dead Revives a single incapacitated character and heals them to about 50% of their total HP. MP: 45 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 60 No Jukurendo Antidote Extract poison from a single character's body. MP: 5 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 3, Noel: Starts with it. No Jukurendo Dispel Extracts Poison, Paralysis, or Petrification from a single character. MP: 24 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 25, Noel: Level 60 No Jukurendo Neutral Cancels all effect spells that have been cast on a target. For instance, if one of the enemies casts a spell that lowers a character's defense, you can cast this on that character and return to his or her original state. MP: 17 Zokusei: None Characters: Celine: Level 27, Noel: Level 45 No Jukurendo Curse This spell is the same as Neutral, for some odd reason. Any effect spells will be nullified on a single character. MP: 20 Zokusei: None Characters: Celine: Level 39, Noel: Level 66 Silence This spell makes a single target not able to speak. That target cannot cast any magic for a battle. MP 14 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 12, Noel: Level 41 Forget A huge bolt of lightning strikes one target, and that target "forgets" all of his or her spells, and is unable to cast them. Similar to Silence. MP: 10 Zokusei: Lightning Characters: Celine: Level 15 Deep Mist A cloud of mist surrounds enemies, and the enemies are blinded, making it hard for them to hit your characters (lowers accuracy). MP: 11 Zokusei: Darkness Characters: Rena: Level 8, Leon: Starts with it Acid Rain Acid rain falls on all enemies. Each enemy's armor melts, and their defense level is lowered. MP: 7 Zokusei: Water Characters: Leon: Starts with it Haste Increases the running speed on a single ally during battle. Very useful for the last boss, especially. MP: 20 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 42, Leon: Level 42 No Jukurendo Delay Makes the moving speed of an enemy much slower than what it originally was. MP: 18 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 22, Leon: Level 36 Fixed Cloud A big cloud falls down onto the battlefield, creating a shockwave that stuns all enemies on the battlefield. MP: 12 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 18 Growth Increases one character's strength in battle (increases attack power). MP: 22 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena Level: 47, Leon: Level 50 No Jukurendo Protection Gives a character increased defense for a single battle. MP: 18 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 33, Leon: Starts with it No Jukurendo Bless Increases a character's accuracy for a single battle. MP: 18 Zokusei: None Characters: Celine: Level 28, Noel: Level 72 No Jukurendo Reflection A shield of light energy surrounds a character and gives that character increased defense for a single battle. MP: 8 Zokusei: Lightning Characters: Celine: Level 19 Anti A barrier of magic energy surrounds all allies on the battlefield, giving each character increased magic defense power (spells do less damaage). MP: 40 Zokusei: Mu Characters: Rena: Level 54, Celine: Level 59 No Jukurendo Angel Feather Summons a guardian angel to increase every of a single character's parameters for a single battle. MP: 30 Zokusei: None Characters: Rena: Level 72, Celine: Level 76 No Jukurendo Grave A large piece of earth ruptures through the ground a spikes an enemy. MP: 4 Zokusei: Earth Characters: Noel: Starts with it Earth Grave Numerous pieces of sharp earth shoot out of the ground and hit all enemies facing the spell-caster. MP: 16 Zokusei: Earth Characters: Noel: Starts with it Earthquake A huge earth golem comes out the ground, slams the battlefield with his right fist, then his left fist, and then both fists to make a gigantic earthquake on the battlefield. Flying enemies or enemies hit into the air will not be affected. MP: 65 Zokusei: Earth Characters: Noel: Level 82 Fire Bolt A small bolt of fire is summoned by the spell-caster, and then fired at the enemy from a distance. MP: 2 Zokusei: Fire Character: Celine: Starts with it Eruption Lava shoots up out of the ground in a radius, and all enemies in the eruption's radius will get fire Zokusei damage. MP: 30 Zokusei: Fire Characters: Celine: Level 34 Explode The most powerful fire-based spell, Explode summons a series of huge explosions, damaging all enemies facing the caster. MP: 54 Zokusei: Fire Characters: Celine: Level 66 Ice Needle Summons a spear of ice to shoot out at an enemy target. MP: 2 Zokusei: Water Characters: Leon: Starts with it Deep Freeze Many ice needles fly at the enemy within a range from the spell-caster. MP: 15 Zokusei: Water Characters: Leon: Starts with it Noa A huge tital wave hits all enemies, killing most weak enemies outright, and doing huge damage to stronger enemies. MP: 35 Zokusei: Water Characters: Leon: Level 54 Wind Blade A very small vortex is shot across the ground to the target from the spell-caster. MP: 2 Zokusei: Wind Characters: Celine: Starts with it, Noel: Starts with it Tetnus Wind A large vacuum of pointed objects slice a single enemy. MP: 10 Zokusei: Wind Characters: Noel: Starts with it Sonic Saber A vacuum blade is launched from the spell-caster, travelling across the ground in a single path, doing damage to any enemy that is within its path. MP: 11 Zokusei: Wind Characters: Noel: Starts with it Magnum Tornado A tornado is shot from the spell-caster, damaging any enemy that comes within its straight path. MP: 18 Zokusei: Wind Characters: Noel: Starts with it Phane The most damaging wind spell. Shoots a huge wave of powerful wind that slices at all enemies on the screen. MP: 25 Zokusei: Wind Characters: Noel: Level 52 Thunderbolt A single small bolt of lightning comes down to attack a single target for a very small amount of lightning Zokusei damage. MP: 4 Zokusei: Lightning Characters: Celine: Starts with it Thunder Storm Many bolts of lightning strik all enemies facing the spell-caster to do lightning Zouksei damage to all enemies. MP: 28 Zokusei: Lightning Characters: Celine: Level 31 Thunder Cloud Thunder Cloud is the most powerful lightning spell; it creates a very large stormcloud which sends down several bolts of lightning to strike each enemy facing the caster. MP: 40 Zokusei: Lightning Characters: Celine Level 55 Star Light A star beam is shot into the air, and then several blue beams of light strike every enemy on the battlefield for star Zouksei damage. MP: 10 Zokusei: Star Characters: Celine: Level 17, Leon: Level 34 Tractor Beam A radius of light appears on the ground, then enemies are pulled into the air, and then dropped from the sky to do star Zokusei damage. If cast upon flying enemies, the spell does not do any damage. MP: 22 Zokusei: Star Characters: Rena: Level 36 Southern Cross Five stars crash into the battlefield, causing a big explosion on the ground, doing star Zokusei damage to every enemy facing the caster. MP: 42 Zokusei: Star Characters: Celine: Level 49 Meteo Swarm One of the most powerful attack spells in the game. Many meteorites crash down from space and slam into all enemies facing the spell-caster for huge amounts of star Zokusei damage. MP: 82 Zokusei: Star Characters: Celine: Treasure spell Energy Arrow Multiple bolts of purple energy gathers into a large clump and then explodes on the enemy. MP: 17 Zokusei: Fu Characters: Celine: Level 12, Noel: Starts with it Blood Scylla Drains some of a single enemy's HP and gives it to the spell-caster. MP: 12 Zokusei: Fu Characters: Noel: Level 49 Lost Mental Drains some of a single enemy's MP and gives to to the spell-caster. MP: 1 Zokusei: Fu Characters: Celine: Level 22, Noel: Starts with it Word of Death A magical word is said to an enemy, and some enemies are killed outright. MP: 18 Zokusei: Fu Characters: Leon: Starts with it Ray Multiple beams of energy are fired onto the battlefield, making an explosion and dealing light damage to all enemies facing the caster. MP: 10 Zokusei: Light Characters: Rena: Level 14, Celine: Level 9 Light Cross A large cross of light explodes on the battlefield, doing light Zokusei damage to all enemies facing the spell-caster on the battlefield. MP: 18 Zokusei: Light Characters: Rena: Level 30 Star Flare A big star is summon on the battlefield, and the star fires multiple bolts of light energy to the ground, causing light damage to all enemies on the battlefield. MP: 26 Zokusei: Light Characters: Rena: Level 63 Lunar Light Multiple light bolts come down from the moon to create a huge explosion of light Zokusei on teh battlefield, dealing large amounts of light damage to every enemy on teh battlefield. MP: 38 Zokusei: Light Characters: Celine: Level 43 Wounds A demon is summoned from the demon world and it attacks a single enemy. MP: 4 Zokusei: Dark Characters: Leon: Starts with it Shadow Bolt Multiple of dark energy bolts form a shadow and do small dark Zokusei damage on a single enemy. MP: 7 Zokusei: Dark Characters: Leon: Starts with it Black Saber A bolt of dark Zokusei is fired from the spell-caster, doing damage to any enemy in the spell's straight path. MP: 14 Zokusei: Dark Characters: Leon: Starts with it Shadow Flare A huge fireball from the demo world is summoned to explode all over the battlefield and burn every enemy facing the spell-caster. MP: 32 Zokusei: Dark Characters: Leon: Level 39 Press A huge weight falls out of the sky and does mu damage to a single enemy. MP: 7 Zokusei: Mu Characters: Rena: Gravity Press Many weights falls out of the sky and fall on any enemy in the spell's radius doing mu Zokusei damage. MP: 24 Zokusei: Mu Characters: Rena Level 28 Gremlin Lair A demo is summoned and throws a spinning projectile attack to do damage to all enemies facing the spell-caster, then bites the enemy several times. MP: 26 Zokusei: Mu Characters: Leon: Level 60 Demon's Gate A gate to the demon world is opened, a single demo comes out of the hole and shoots a wave with its staff to do damage to all enemies facing the spell-caster. MP: 37 Zokusei: Mu Characters: Leon: Level 66 Dark Circle A portal of mu energy is opened, and sucks in a enemy will 1/4 or less of the enemy's HP. MP: 65 Zokusei: Mu Characters: Leon: Level 78 Extinction The most powerful attack spell in the game. A huge energy wave consumes all enemies, killing some enemies outright and doing huge damage on others. MP: 90 Zokusei: Mu Characters: Leon: Treasure spell ------------- Skills List: ------------- The skills system in Star Ocean: The Second Story is perhaps the system that allows the most customization of your characters' strengths and weaknesses. Skills allow you to decide what ratings you want to increase in. For instance, if you want to make Crawd have a higher guts rating, taking Poker Face is a good skill for it. Distributing skills is done when you have amassed skill points, which are gained after every level you gain, and after you gain new Talents. Skills are bought in skill guilds in the towns in the game, where you buy sets of skills. Each set contains from 3 to 5 skills. When you buy skill sets, the skills within the skill sets will now appear on your skills screen, where you can now distribute Skill Points to the new skills. There are four types of skill sets. Chishiki Kanren: Knowledge-related skills. Gijutsu Kanren: Technical abilities. Kankaku Kanren: Feelings and sensation related skills. Sento Kanren: Battle-related skills. Each type of skills have 3 levels, and you can buy the different levels of skills as you progress in the game. *Chishiki Kanren - Level 1: Koubutsugaku (çzï®äw ): Knowledge of identification of gems and other rare minerals. Increases learner's Intelligence by Skill Level x 3. Yakusougaku (ñÚëêäw ): Knowledge of the medical uses of herbs for healing. Increases learner's healing of Blueberries and Blackberries by Skill Level x 3%. Recipe (ÉåÉVÉs): Knowledge on food recipies and their effectiveness in taste. *Chishiki Kanren - Level 2: Otamajakushi (ÉIÉgÉ}ÉWÉÉÉNÉV ): Knowledge of musical taste. Increases learner's Dodge level by Skill Level + 2. Seibutsugaku (ê∂ï®äw ): Knowledge of organisms and their enviornments. Increases learner's maximum HP by Skill Level squared x 10. Dougu Chishiki (ìπãÔÃméØ ): Knowledge of equipped items (weapons, armor, accessories). Increases selling price of all items by Skill Level x 3%. *Chishiki Kanren - Level 3: Seishingaku (ê∏ê_äw ): Knowledge of the senses and power of the mind. Increases learner's maximum MP by Skill Level x 5. Piety (ÉsÉGÉeÉB): Knowledge in a heavenly and more perfect power over other life. When Piety Skill Level is raised, one random ability gets increased in power for the learner. Yoseiron (ódê∏ò_ ): Knowledge of the source of living beings and how people came into being. Increases learner's Intelligence level by Skill Level + 2. *Kankaku Kanren - Level 1: Dokyo (ìxãπ ): The skill of doing outrageous things in front of peers without feeling any stress or becoming nervous. Nintai (îEëœ ): The skill of being able to take no pain from physical attacks, having strong will-power in force. Increases learner's defense power by Skill Level + 4. Biteki Kankaku (î¸ìIä¥äo ): A sense of appreciation in art or natural things, and being creative in natural criticism. Mekiki (ñ⁄óòÇ´ ): The abilily to look out for perfect ingredients in terms of tasteful food. Increases the healing potential of healing items. *Kankaku Kanren - Level 2: Asobikokoro (óVǗêS ): The ability to have an open mind toward others and their beliefs. Each time the learner gains an experience level, you will gain some bonus Vol (the higher the Skill Level, the more bonus Vol you receive). Kiken Kanchi (äÎåØä¥Ãm ): The hidden ability to sense danger or dangerous situations. Increases the learner's Stamina by Skill Level x 3. Konjo (ç™ê´ ): The ability to endure the force of physical energy and deadly and powerful plows. This ability decreases the amount of skill points needed to learn all skills. Note that this is one of the most important skills in the game, as if you get a new character with tons of skill points to use, first get this skill up to level 10, then all skills will be decreased by a lot, making getting skills powered up much easier. Poker Face (É|Ã…[ÉJÃ…[ÉtÉFÉCÉX): The ability to stay calm and keep a straight face in even the most dangerous situations. Increases learner's Guts level by Skill Level x 3. *Kankaku Kanren - Level 3: Kinobi (ã@î\î¸ ): The ability to determine what is beautiful, and what is good for functioning in everyday life. Increases learner's Strength, Intelligence, Evasion, and Accuracy by Skill Level + 6. Denpa (ìdîg ): A hidden sense of calling higher powers and more perfect beings to assist you in earthly matters. When you increase Denpa, you get a random item. Doryoku (ìwóÕ ): The ability to concentrate on what one has to do, and persevering in every situation one encounters. When increasing Doryoku's skill level, the less experience points needed to reach the next level for the learner. *Gijutsu Kanren - Level 1: Kuchibue (Ã¥˚ìJ ): The skill of being able to whistle effectively. Copy (ÉRÉsÃ…[): The ability to make an exact replica of an object using the hands, while capturing unique details. Dessin (ÉfÉbÉTÉì ): The abilty to show originality in artwork, but by paintins and molding objects out of clay. Hocho (ïÔÃö:) The ability to effectively use a kitchen cleaver to preform multiple tasks. Increases learner's Strength by Skill Level x 20. *Gijutsu Kanren - Level 2: Kikai Chishiki (ã@äBÃméØ ): Knowledge of how machines work, their functions, and how to make and program them. Craft (ÉNÉâÉtÉg): The ability to have fast reactions to movement, quick reflexes. Increases learner's Dodge ability by Skill Level + 3. Chokyo (Ã≤ã≥ :) The ability to effectively train animals to do tasks that you want them to do. Bunpitsu (ï∂ïM ): The ability of effectively writing long documentation on different subjects.Increases the learner's Accuracy ability by Skill Level +3. *Gijutsu Kanren - Level 3: Enso (ââët ): The skill of being able to effectively play musical instruments. Increases the learner's Evasion rate by Skill Level + 2. Kagaku Gijutsu (â»äwãZèp ): The ability of being able to use multiple tools to preform usedful functions. Increases learner's Strength by Skill Level x 10. Kikai Sosa (ã@äBëÄçà ): The ability to effectively operate machinery to do helpful tasks. Cast (ÉLÉÉÉXÉg): The ability of tempering and bending metal into useful objects and weapons. Increasese learner's Accuracy by Skill Level x 2. Sento Kanren - Level 1: *Note: Combat skills are different from the other three types of skills in that in battle, you have a certain chance of preforming the skill in battle, and raising their skill levels make the skills have a better chance of being executed in battle. Kiko (ãCå˜ ): The ability to concentrate on tough battles and not lose hope. Reduces the damage taken from attacks, raising defense power. Kyusho Nerai (ã}èäë_Ç¢ ): The ability to strike an enemy's weak point, breaking through all defense they have equipped. Ignores a certain percentage of the enemy's defense power, doing more damage to the enemy. Kyoda (ã≠ë≈ ): The ability to launch a powerful blow that makes the enemy fly backward in combat. Cancel (ÉLÉÉÉìÉZÉã): The ability to consistently throw attacks. In battle, right after doing an attack, with good timing, you can press either L1 or R1 buttons to immediately throw your assigned Hissatsuwaza, allowing you to do a great normal attack/Hissatsuwaza combo. *Sento Kanren - Level 2: Mekuri (ÇflÇ≠ÇË ): The ability to hit the enemy in multiple places. Increases learner's chances of running behind the enemy and hitting it from behind with a normal attack or Hissatsuwaza. Hayate (ÇÕǂǃ ): The ability to run very fast in battle. Feint (ÉtÉFÉCÉìÉg): Increases the accuracy of the learner's attacks. Renki (ó˚ãC ): Your character will draw extra hidden energy into his or her attack and the learner's attack power will be greatly increased. *Sento Kanren - Level 3: Counter (ÉJÉEÉìÉ^Ã…[): The learner of this skill can sometimes press the Circle button right as he or she is getting hit by the enemy to counterattack immediately. As this skill is build, the character will counterattack the enemy at a higher percentage. Ukenagashi (éÛÇØó¨Çµ ): The skill of making quick movements on the battlefield. Increases evasion rate, making dodging enemy attacks much easier. Shintai Kankaku (êgëÃä¥äo ): The ability to focus on standing against the enemy. The learner of this skill will have a higher percentage of not being dizzy after a strong enemey attack. Hayakuchi (ëÅå˚ ): The ability to say words and chant songs very fast. The learner of this skill has a higher percentage of very little delay time between casting spells, making casting consecutive spells very easy. Chohatsu (Ãßî≠ ): The ability to successfully provoke and enrage the enemy. The learner can press the Select button in battle to use a battle taunt. When a character uses their battle taunt, all enemies are drawn to attack the taunter. This skill doesn't seem to useful, but when your other characters are being beaten, it is very useful to use. *Sento Kanren - Level ?: Float (ÉtÉçÅ[Ég): The ability to do a special normal attack. The learner will sometimes hits the enemy far into the air with a very powerful blow. *Note: You cannot buy Sento Kanren Level ? in the game, you must find it in a special location. ------------------- Character Ratings: ------------------- In my FAQs, I like to do character ratings on the characters. I think it is a challenge to explore every character and learn their strengths and weaknesses, and determine what I think is the best party. These are my own personal opinions, and are by no means actually correct, so you'll have to decide what the best party for you is. Crawd: Crawd prevails over all characters in Star Ocean: The Second Story, just like Ratix from the first Star Ocean. He has high attack power, HP, MP, great defense, great agility, and gets he best weapon in the game, the Eternal Sphere. He also gets some of the most effective Hissatsuwaza in the game. Most of his Hissatsuwaza is very strong, and when powered up, is the best in the game. He usually gets effective Talents used in Item Creations, and he becomes the best character in the game. Overall rating: A+ Rena Lanford: Rena is going to be your main healer for the game. Her attack, HP, agility, defense, and stamina are quite low, but she has excellent MP and healing spells. You will probably want her in your party at almost all times, and definitely toward the end of the game. Rena can even get some decent weapons toward the end of the game, even though she is a spell-casting character rather than a fighting character. Overall rating: B+ Celine: Celine is tied with Leon as the best magician, if not the best magician. Her attack spells are so strong, and she gets some awesome attack spells early in the game. If you like attack magicians , you'll like Celine a lot. She isn't much of a fighter, though, just like the other spell-casting characters. She can equip decent armor. Overall rating: B Ashton: Ashton is my second favorite character in the game. His multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza is incredibly strong, and he gets *very* strong weapons. He's very fast, has great HP, and pretty good MP, and good stamina. The only bad point that Ashton has is that his Luck will never go about 18 (although you don't really need Luck much in the game). Some of his Hissatsuwaza are virtually useless, since they take so long to pull off, but his multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza is the best in the game. His last two Hissatsuwaza are also two of the best. Overall rating: A Opera: Opera has the best distance Hissatsuwaza in the game. She also gets very powerful weapons early in the game, which makes her a form for the entire game. Opera uses different types of guns and projectile Hissatsuwaza. Some of her later multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza is incredibly effective, and the only bad side to her is that she has to be certain distances away from the enemy for all of her Hissatsuwaza, even close range ones. You have a decision at a point in the game to take either Ashton or both Opera and Ernest, but I usually take Ashton. If you like long-range Hissatsuwaza, though, Opera is your pick. Overall rating: A- Ernest: Ernest has the best distance in the game on his normal attack, And gets some pretty effective Hissatsuwaza later, but starts out getting only Hissatsuwaza that is pretty useless. He'll become really strong as you power him up, and will become a good fighter later in the game, especially if you get some of his best weapons, like the Dark Whip. Also, Ernest uses really low MP for his Hissatsuwaza, which is a definite plus towards the end of the game. Ernest has perhaps the best Hissatsuwaza when powered up in the game, but some of his Hissatsuwaza seems almost useless towards the beginning. I think Ernest has a very wide variety of Hissatsuwaza, and some great rengeki Hissatsuwaza. A really good addition to any party. Overall rating: B+ Bowman: Bowman is probably the weakest fighting-type character in The game. Although he can throw Hissatasuwaza very fast, he doesn't effective ones, and his normal attack is pathetic. His normal attack doesn't even reach as far as Noel's. Even if you like fast linking combos, you probably won't want Bowman, since he's overall not too effective. His Hissatsuwaza uses incredibly low MP, but it really doesn't matter, since his Hissatsuwaza is incredibly weak to begin with. Overall rating: D Precis: Precis has some really good distance Hissatsuwaza, just like Opera. She'll get some great weapons and armor later in the game, and her attacks are really good. If you like projectile Hissatsuwaza, and don't have Opera in the party, definitely choose her, but if you already have Opera in your party, you probably won't have much use for her. Overall rating: B- Dias: Dias is one of the most powerful fighting characters. He is a great fighter, and gets some great powerful and multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza. You'll definitely want to use Dias at almost all times. Later in the game he gets some of the best weapons, armor, and Hissatsuwaza. He also has high HP, decent MP, and high defense. You can only get Dias in Rena's scenario. His main downside is that he doesn't have any regenki Hissatsuwaza, his most multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza does only three hits. Overall rating: B+ Leon: Leon is an excellent attack mage. His attack spells are really, incredibly powerful. When you get to the bonus dungeon, most of his best spells will do 9999 damage, which is vital, since the enemies there have a *lot* of HP. I think overall that he is equal with Celine. His uses books as weapons, and are some pretty good weapons for a spell-casting character. You can only get Leon in Crawd's scenario. A single downside is that he doesn't have as many spells as Celine. Overall rating: B Noel: Noel is similar to Joshua from the first Star Ocean in that he can use both attack and healing spells. He's excellent to use as a back-up healer to Rena during the end of the game, and is really useful for some of the boss battles. He is actually also a decent attacker if you make his best weapons through Customize, but the range on his attack is really bad. He'll be great as a back-up magic attacker as well as healer. Overall rating: B Chisato: Chisato starts out very weak, but once you build her up, she can get some pretty useful multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza later in the game. She is one of the weaker fighting characters, but if you take the time to gain some levels and skills for her, she can become almost as strong. Overall rating: B- ---------------------------------- Useful Hissatsuwaza Combinations: ---------------------------------- A lot of Star Ocean: The Second Story revolves around how effective you use Hissatsuwaza. Sometimes by trying different Hissatsuwaza combinations using the Link Combo Ring, you can find some really effectve combinations to use on enemies. In this section, I will cover some of my favorite Hissatsuwaza combinations. If you want to submit any of your favorite Hissatsuwaza combinations to me, mail me at . *Crawd: For Crawd, you'll basically want to hit an enemy with a single Hissatsuwaza that leaves that enemy at bay, and then follow up with a powerful attack that does a lot of damage. Crawd has some of the most useful multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza in the game, like Bakuresuha, Suhazan, Sword Bomber, and Kyomensetsu, so these attacks make excellent combination enders. *Bakuretsuha, Kabutowari Total MP: 26 *Bakuretsuha, Suhazan Total MP: 32 *Koryuha, Kyomensetsu Total MP: 66 *Sword Bomber, Suhazan Total MP: 47 *Sword Bomber, Kyomensetsu Total MP: 70 *Ashton: Ashton has some of the most powerful multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza in the game. Some of Ashton's Hissatsuwaza takes way too much time to pull off, but some of his best multi-hitting combinations can keep dealing ultimate damage. The idea is to make combinations that make Ashton keep doing multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza on the enemy, not letting the enemy even be able to move. *Leaf Slash, Hurricane Slash Total MP: 35 *Leaf Slash, Dragon Breath Total MP: 47 *Hurricane Slash, Dragon Breath Total MP: 44 *Leaf Slash, Sword Dance Total MP: 51 *Hurricane Slash, Sword Dance Total MP: 48 *Dead Triangle, Sword Dance Total MP: 51 *Dragon Breath, Sword Dance Total MP: 50 *Dragon Breath, Tri-Ace Total MP: 73 *Opera: Opera has the best projectile Hissatsuwaza in the game. Most of Opera's Hissatsuwaza do many hits from afar, so she becomes one of the most valuable characters later in the game, when there are bosses that move around at an insane speed, and you'll really need the projectile distance advantage. Among Opera's most useful Hissatsuwaza for linked combinations are Hyper Launcher, Lightning Bullet, and Alpha on One. *Flame Launcher, Alpha on One Total MP: 30 *Alpha on one, Spread Ray Total MP: 39 *Gravity Shell, Alpha on One Total MP: 43 *Gravity Shell, Spread Ray Total MP: 36 *Gravity Shell, Lightning Bullet Total MP: 40 *Lightning Bullet, Cold Wind Total MP: 45 *Lightning Bullet, Alpha on One Total MP: 43 *Alpha on One, Hyper Launcher Total MP: 57 *Gravity Shell, Hyper Launcher Total MP: 54 *Laser Bit, Alpha on One Total MP: 31 *Bowman: Bowman is the fastest consecutive hitting Hissatsuwaza character in the game, and in addition to having low MP consumption in his Hissatsuwaza, you'll want to have a Link Combo if you choose to use him in your party. Bowman has several Hissatsuwaza that really aren't very useful, though, so you won't really use some of his Hissatsuwaza in effective combinations. *Suzaku-Sosogeki, Kubikaze Total MP: 16 *Senpusho, Shihojin Total MP: 28 *Sakuretsusho, Okarengeki Total MP: 64 *Sakuretsusho, Hasaiden Total MP: 48 *Senpusho, Okarengeki Total MP: 51 *Precis: Precis is the character with the second most useful projectile and long-range Hissatsuwaza, second to only Opera. Most of Precis' Hissatsuwaza combinations are very damaging physically, and she can even throw certain Hissatsuwaza very fast. Precis has some of the most unique Hissatsuwaza as well, because of the fact that some of her Hissatsuwaza leaves her unattackable to enemies while she executes it. *Barabara Beam, Ei! Yaa! Total MP: 37 *Bloody Mary, Barbara Beam Total MP: 45 *Bloody Mary, Ei! Yaa! Total MP: 40 *Bloody Mary, Hoholograph Total MP: 32 *Barrier, Pokopoka Attack Total MP: 43 *Mujin-kun Super Beam, Bloody Mary Total MP: 56 *Hoholograph, Mujin-kun Super Beam Total MP: 24 *Hoholograph, Barrier Total MP: 28 *Dias: Dias has some of the strongest Hissatsuwaza in the game, but most of his Hissatsuwaza only hits one or two times, and his biggest multi-hitting Hissatsuwaza hits only three times, so he'll be at somewhat of a disadvantage in fighting, although his hits are huge in strength. Some of Dias' Hissatsuwaza like Oboro, Mugen, and Suzaku-Shogekiha, so you'll be able to have a unique attacker in the sense that his Hissatsuwaza is some of the most damaging in the game. *Oboro, Cross Slash Total MP:18 *Mugen, Oboro Total MP: 31 *Mugen, Cross Slash Total MP: 29 *Hokoha, Mugen Total MP: 37 *Hokoha, Engetsuzan Total MP: 41 *Hokoha, Cross Slash Total MP: 24 *Suzaku-Shogekiha, Oboro Total MP: 40 *Suzaku-Shogekiha, Mugen Total MP: 51 *Hokoha, Suzaku-Shogekiha Total MP: 46 *Ernest: Ernest has many useful Hissatsuwaza, and perhaps has the most variety in his Hissatsuwaza than any other character. The idea is to keep the enemy at bay from far away, as Hissatsuwaza like Broken Heart and Thousand Whip are good from far away. Ernest will be able to utilize some of the best physical Hissatsuwaza combinations in the game. Also, Ernest uses the least in MP consumption for his Hissatsuwaza in the game, so he's often a very good choice to give a Link Combo to early on. *Spiral Whip, Dimension Whip Total MP: 13 *Thousand Whip, Dimension Whip Total MP: 15 *Thousand Whip, Broken Heart Total MP: 27 *Broken Heart, Spiral Whip Total MP: 24 *Thunder Whip, Dimension Whip Total MP: 27 *Thunder Whip, Thousand Whip Total MP: 32 *Thunder Whip, Broken Heart Total MP: 39 *Sonic Whip, Broken Heart Total MP: 42 *Sonic Whip, Thousand Whip Total MP: 35 *Chisato: Chisato is probably the weakest fighting character, and she doesn't really have that much use, but she has some decent Hissatsuwaza that are very quick. One good side to Chisato's Hissatsuwaza is that her Hissatsuwaza causes the enemy to be dizzy more than any other character in the game. *Oborokuruma, Tsumujikaza Total MP: 19 *Flame Thrower, 100,000 Volts Total MP: 42 *Tsumujikaze, Flame Thrower Total MP: 34 *Tsumujikaze, Tear Gas Total MP: 46 *Noboriryu, Tsumujikaze Total MP: 31 *Noboriryu, Flame Thrower Total MP: 37 *Noboriryu, Tear Gas Total MP: 49 *Oborokuruma, Tear Gas Total MP: 37 *Burning Cards, Preparation Total MP: 35 ---------------- Item Creations: ---------------- In a game with so many unique features, the Item Creation system is perhaps the game's most unique feature. There are many different kinds of Item Creations in Star Ocean: The Second Story. There are many more types of Item Creation creation than in the original Star Ocean, so the game gains even more depth and replay value. *Under construction, look for more in later versions of this FAQ. -------- Thanks: -------- -Tri-Ace, for making the great game on the PlayStation, and for making a sequel to one of my favorite games. Incredible job. Most sequels don't turn out nearly as good. -Enix, for publishing the Star Ocean games. Everything with the Enix logo on it is destined to be a huge hit. -Ian Kelley, for putting up with my coutless questions (just like he did for the original Star Ocean ^_^) on the game, and supplying me with a lot of info on hidden items and Item Creations.</p>