..               ..
                     ... SHINING FORCE ...
               .........      EXA      ......... 

                   WALKTHROUGH VERSION 1.0
                    WRITTEN BY ANDOYZERMAN

   I never heard of Shining Force Exa until I wandered into EB Games one day 
and saw it sitting there on the shelf.  I thought, 'hey, why not?'.  I remember
playing and loving Shining Force and Shining Force II for the Sega Genesis oh-
so-many years ago, and I generally have a high opinion of the company, despite 
not having enjoyed one of their titles for some time.  The game sat in the 
package for about a week, and when I tossed it into the PS2, watched the intro,
and played the opening sequence, I was dismayed that the game seemed as if it 
would not follow the same format as the turn based strategies I remember from 
the old Sega Genesis.
   Dismayed, I put the game aside for a few more days.  Went to play it again 
on a lazy Saturday and checked out the reviews on GameFAQs.  Interestingly, 
only two people had reviewed the game, and no one had yet submitted an FAQ.  
Seemed like a great opportunity to write a game FAQ, something I've wanted to 
get into for awhile, but hadn't gotten around to yet.
   This will be a standard walkthrough.  I am not usually one to delve deep 
into the intricasies of game mechanics.  I will walk you, the reader, through 
the game, and provide solid tips and strategies on getting through both easy 
and tight spots.  You will not be able to find such information as in-depth 
weapon statistics, character and enemy attributes, etc.  I simply don't have 
that kind of time on my hands.  However, if anyone is interested in creating a 
mechanics FAQ, feel free to contact me and I'll provide any assistance that I 
can mustre up.
   I am also not going to get into the nitty gritty details about the number of
available items in each area.  I will leave it up to you to find them 
individually.  The various caves, fields, etc, are fairly straightforward and
I trust you'll want to explore them extensively.  This is recommended, not only
to find all the loot you can, but to keep your characters buffed up, as well.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (with search codes)

QQ01 Opening Sequence and Chapter 1
QQ02 Chapter 2 - Fortress of Magic
QQ03 Chapter 3 - New Allies
QQ04 Chapter 4 - Rulers of the World
QQ05 Chapter 5 - Beastling Warrior
QQ06 Chapter 6 - Understanding Each Other
QQ07 Chapter 7 - Warrior's Return
QQ08 Chapter 8 - Cyrille's Truth
QQ09 Chapter 9 - Ties of Two
QQ10 Chapter 10 - A Voice From the Past
QQ11 Chapter 11 - Seperation
QQ12 Chapter 12 - The Emperor's Ambition
QQ13 Chapter 13 - Coundown
QQ14 Chapter 14 - Decision and Chapter 15 - Opening the Future

QQ15 Frequently Asked Questions
QQ16 Battle Strategy for Toma and Cyrille
QQ17 FAQ version, copyright, credit, thanks, contact info


   Okay, you start out as Toma, your prototypical mid-teen anime character.  
Toma is skulking in a green forested area, engaged in a boar hunt.  After some 
grunting and rock tossing, he lures a boar out of the foliage.  At this point, 
its up to you to take over.  
   You can defeat the boar by mashing the X button or, if you want to get 
strategic, run around the screen avoiding the boar's attacks while charging 
your weapon.  This is done by holding the X button down until the on-screen 
charge bar fills and starts to flash.  Get in close proximity to the boar, and 
release the X button while facing it.  Wash, rinse, repeat, and you've won 
dinner for the night.
   Watch the brief cutscene.  If you're anything like me, you'll want the 
option to turn off the voice acting.  (Its also interesting to note that 
Gadfort apparently doesn't believe in eating.  Although, I somewhat agree that
a melee sword generally shouldn't be used for hunting wild pigs.)
   There are some things to uncover here.  A bush with several stashes of gold 
coins in it, and a circle shield.  You won't be able to return to this area 
immediately, but it won't be long before you can.
   Head East.  Pass under the guidepost and enter a world full of adventure.


   You'll find yourself in a town/camp area.  Feel free to wonder around and 
talk to people.  There are several things to smash with your sword.  Things 
like crates and vases will have items and money in them.  A window will pop-up 
when you're standing on money/items.  Press the circle button to take the loot.
Unfortunately, you can't attack random people.  How cool would that be?
   Speak with Maebelle.  She says she'll have to go and get the herb, but its 
clear you'll have to get it for her.  You'll note that you can't return to the 
forested area where you came from in the opening sequence.  Likewise, a path on
the right side of the screen is inaccessible.  However, You can proceed at the 
bottom right of the screen toward the cliff path leading from the village.  
Maebelle mentioned the herb she ran out of is at the cliffs.  Practice saving 
your game at the save stone, which looks like an ancient ruins slab.  If you 
searched around a bit, you'll have been able to find a bracelet and enough gold
to buy a headband, and identify the bracelet.  Equip the power headband and the
bracelet.  Your attack and defense stats will get a boost.  When you're ready, 
proceed up the cliff path in the lower right of the area.
   As you travel up the cliff path, you'll encounter some spiders.  Mashing the
X button is probably the fastest way to get rid of them, as they only take a 
few swings of the sword each.  At the top of the path, you'll find yourself in 
a large circular area with a raised dais on the right side.  You can find a 
Mythril Ring in the dais, which provides a slight stat boost.  The herbs you 
need are in the lower left of the area.  Get them, and return to camp.  
Maebelle takes the herbs and a cutscene ensues.
   Now you need to go find Cyrille.  Head back up the cliff path.  A brief 
anime FMV plays.  Back in camp, it's the next day, and time to head through the
guidepost at the upper right of the village area that was previously closed 
off.  At this point, you can also return to the forested area where you fought
the wild boar, and head up the cliff path as well.  If you missed any of the 
loot that I mentioned, now would be a good time to collect all of it.
   Heal yourself at the fountain, do some shopping, save your game, and when
you're ready, proceed through the upper right guidepost.  
   Alright, you've entered a tutorial section of the game.  Learn how to 
perform various combo/charge attacks and pound your enemies into submission.  
This area is rather linear.  Proceed forth down the trail.  Any branches will 
be inaccessible for now.  Pick up any loot from defeated foes, smashed boxes; 
open every chest, and smash every crystal and gather the mythril shards that 
scatter around.  You're becoming rich very quickly!  You'll find a 2H sword for
Toma along the way.  This is a personal preference choice: slow, powerful 
offense over fast, less powerful offense, with a shield for 'D'.  Up to you, 
and whatever your preferred style suggests.  Later on, you'll find a sword
thrust into the ground... it's legendary SHINING FORCE!  Actually, its just the
Stinger.  Not a bad little sword.  Let's continue.
   Eventually, you'll find your comrades and there will be some brief 
conversation.  They will cleverly block off a few branches in the path.  
Cyrille will appear and you will become her.
   Playing as Cyrille is the first real hint at how cool this game can be.  The
gameplay is similar yet different to playing as Toma.  And the hint of 
character-to-character jumping provides a glimpse into further dynamic gameplay
options.  Anyhow, head onwards, ensuring to look around everywhere and kill all
the troll guys and spiders.  Try out the crossbow and different spells.  See if
you can manage to get in a special attack with Cyrille.  Make sure to try out 
her defensive/offensive ice spell.  Its fun to watch defeated enemies get 
bounced around by it until they disappear.
   Eventually, you'll come to a cave.  Watch the brief cutscene.  Lo and behold
its another style of gameplay!  You're Toma again, accompanied by Maebelle and 
Gadfort.  They will attack randomly.  Remember, Toma's healing water has the 
ability not only to heal him, but the others in his party as well.  Let's 
explore the cave now.  Note that you can make your little map expand into a 
full screen size by pressing the L1 button; to get a better look at what you've
explored and a representation of the surroundings, press L2.

--Fur'il Ancient Road Cave--
   Just inside the cave you can save and heal.  There is a blocked off path 
warning you that this branch is for testing your strength and not necessary to
complete the game.  Smash the sign to bits and proceed north east.  The test of
strength will prove rather disappointing, but the battle is pretty cool, and 
you'll pick up even more riches.
   Proceed through the rest of the cave, which is rather linear in nature.  The
enemies are so pathetic here that you could just wander around in a stupor 
while allowing Gadfort and Maebelle to handle everything.  But whaling on the X
button is a lot more fun.  Learn about and defeat the Monster Generator, pass 
the mural, and come to a second Generator.  Defeat it, proceed north and watch
a cutscene.  Draw Shining Force out of the slab!  (you didn't think he'd be 
able to do it either, did you?)

CHAPTER TWO - Fortress of Magic

   Watch the cutscenes and proceed in the obvious manner.  Look around the 
insides of the fortress a bit.  Most of the functions are inoperable.  Go talk
with Zenus again.  (Question: Doesn't Zenus remind you of the time Homer ate
those inferno-hot chili beans and went on a chili-induced spirit quest? His
guide being something that looked awfully like Zenus).  I digress.  Now follow
the dog to the right and than up.  Follow his instructions.  You'll find 
yourself outside.  Smash up the large rock (this may not be immediately obvious
to you, since the rock appears much like other formations in the valley that 
you probably saw earlier and couldn't smash up).  This will activate the Phase
Two Photon Whatchamacallit.  You can't leave this area, except back into the 
fortress.  You can shatter the other rocks, but you won't get anything out of
   Once back inside, you'll receive instructions from Zenus: warp to Lakton
and head east from there to the Ancient Arena and get some Red Metal on the
second sub level.  Before you go, feel free to expend your mythril by forging 
Force Arts at the Force Art forger in the upper right of the control center.  
Its not necessary that you do this now, but you may as well strengthen yourself
as you'll end up doing it at some point anyway.  You may even want to switch to
Cyrille and use her mythril up as well.  This arts system of strengthening will
be relatively familiar to RPG players.  It is a supplemental powering up system
seperate from your character's level; similar to reforging your sword in the
Suikoden series, but a bit more involved and advanced.  Play around with it,
but be aware you have to fill the bar for each art for that art to be learned.
   You can also change your party members by talking to Zenus.  You can bring 
either Maebelle, Gadfort, both, or neither of them with you.  
   Once you're happy, save, and engage the warp device.

--Red Metal--
   Okay, in Lakton, there isn't much to do other than eat Lakton corn, learn a
new Art and have the blacksmith beef up your weapons and armour.  You can see 
where all that gold is going to be spent.  When you're sick of Lakton, go east
into the wilderness area.  Wander around and look for the Ancient Cave.  
Eventually, you'll come upon it.  Before that though, you should find another 
of those 'not required' paths.  This one is a bit more difficult than the one
in the Fur'il Ancient Road cave.  Just use your combo attacks to the best of 
your abilities and keep an eye on Toma's hitpoint bar.  When he gets low, use a
healing water.  The other enemies here are relatively straightforward.  
   You'll find a few more Arts in this area, and your fortress will eventually 
be attacked.  
   Back at the fortress, whoever you didn't bring (Toma or Cyrille and whatever
combination of Maebelle/Gadfort) will be left to defend the place against a 
monstrous hoard.  The only way you could have a problem is if you left Cyrille
alone at the fortress, and if you're careful, it should be cake.  Attack the 
first wave of minor enemies on your way to the monster generators.  Take these 
out one by one, ignoring the Boss.  Now, we'll take him out.  Keep your 
distance and use your flame attack or bow.  If you wait for him to swing and 
then dodge, you can get in close for a few whacks; so if you happened to leave
Toma behind, this will be really easy.  You now learn that these attacks will 
happen somewhat regularly.  Just keep that in mind when deciding who to bring 
and who to leave behind when you're out voyaging.
   Okay, returning to our venturing party, find the Ancient Arena and go 
inside.  This place is too straightforward to even be called a place.  Heal, 
save, kill everything on the first floor and touch the red thing in the center
to proceed to the next floor.  Kill everything here and pick up the goodies, 
one of which is the Red Metal.  When you exit you'll have the option of warping
back to Lakton.  I walked; for the extra gold and experience.  Plus, it seemed
to be a nice day out.
   When you step into Lakton, the town appears to be under seige by a 
stereotypical comedic anime villain named Phillip.  Ravage everything and watch
the cutscenes.  When you're ready, go walk towards the warp sphere, and Chapter
Two will conclude with another FMV.

CHAPTER THREE - New Allies (of the annoying variety)

   Okay, first off.  Fortress defense.  Things are going to be a bit hairy this
time around.  Your castle is virtually not upgraded at all, and the enemies
will come at you a lot more furiously this time.  You have to be dispatching
them like crazy and going after those generators.  If you lose, you might want
to consider going all out crazy on the boss and ending it quickly.  I also
recommend strongly that you always leave one of the party members with the 
partly leader you're not using.  Also, after the boss is down, make sure you 
pick up any Cure Metal that he drops.  It will be extremely difficult to defend
the fortress twice in a row without repairing the damage in between.
   That being said, this is a good time to fart around, forge yourself some 
attribute and skill Arts, evenly level up both Toma and Cyrille, optimize your
equipment and get yourself familiar with the fortress and your party/battle 
options.  Once you get the hang of defending the castle, its really a breeze.  
   After the opening scenes to the Chapter, there are a few things you can do.
Speaking with the dog will progress the story and open up free range, allowing
you to leave the fortress into Lakton and the field area you crossed to get to
the Ancient Arena.  The fox faced chick (merchant's daughter) will charge you 
10G (she actually says 'G' instead of gold) to write a letter to the blacksmith
in Lakton.  He'll go to your fortress... how convenient!  Meanwhile, you can 
now open the treasure chest behind where he was standing in town, which allows 
you to open up a sidequest (graverobbing,anyone?).  

--Black Metal--
   By now, you've probably figured out that this game is a real grind, in the 
sense that there is a lot of stat building and endless equipment options
through customization, etc.  Once you've had enough of this for the time being,
you can go back to the hall outside of the command center and take the #2 Exit
(upper right area of the hall).  Time to head back to the Yi'el Village Ruins.
Along the way, there are some branching paths you can explore, but they'll lead
to gray guidepost dead ends.  Before you get to your destination, the fortress
will be attacked yet again.  This is no random attack.  Some ghouls are 
chasing the children you saw in an earlier cutscene into the fortress.  After a
pathetically easy fortress defense, you'll be introduced to Ami and Faulklin 
and be forced into bringing them with you in your search for the Black Metal.
Return to the Yi'el area.  Once you head west from the village and west again 
from the first boar spot, a cutscene ensues.  After which, don't bother waking
the giant boar.  He's more trouble than he's worth at this point.  From this
large forested area, there's a path to the Southeast and Southwest.  The SE 
path leads to an area of some rather tough boars that can be killed without 
much trouble, yet they can also kill your guys in a few hits.  Eventually, this
path will dead end you as well.
The SW path leads on towards your destination.  This mazelike forest area has
some weaker boars and leads to the boar cave.  Inside, you'll recreate the cave
into a slaughterhouse.  After which, you'll be rewarded with Black Metal and
some other goodies.  You'll be forced into Returning to Geo Fortress.  Woohoo!
You now have access to the fortress's mighty cannon.  Ami and Faulklin will 
(distressingly) join your team.
On to the next chapter...

CHAPTER FOUR - Rulers of the World

   Right, watch the opening cutscene.  Now, I recommend you do a few things.  
You should use one of your core metals to create the training simulator.  This
will create a multilevel dungeon for you to fight your way through.  Its a good
way to quickly earn some gold, mythril and experience.  Have both Toma and 
Cyrille do a runthrough.
   Other than a core metal on the training ground, you should use all the core
metals from your sidequests (and the ones you buy from Gilnay in the defense
scenes) on levelling up the Geo Fortress's energy level and barrier.  This will
give it lots of hp and defense, which is crucial for the random attacks on the
fortress in this chapter.
   Now, there are some sidequests you might want to check out.  Such as the 
Ancient Arena starring Orcs.  This is located in the same area as the Boar Cave
just to the north.  This place works the same as the Ancient Arena where you 
picked up the Red Metal.  Remember, whoever you bring will need to bring the
dark runes to open the door.  
   Once you've done this, take the lower right path from the sleeping Giant
Boar.  The boars in this area pack a punch, but if you're careful, they should
not pose much of a problem.  Avoiding their attacks is key; they're pretty weak
in the defense department themselves.  In the East of this area, you'll find 
the Ancient Arena for wolflings.  You won't be able to conquer it now, but you
can activate the save point and keep it in mind for later.
   Feeling powerful?  Good, go to the screen with the Giant Boar and save your
game.  Go slash at him to wake him up.  After he kicks your ass, you shouldn't
be feeling that powerful anymore.  Alright, on to the Narda Checkpoint.  The
fastest way there is to warp to the Yi'el Village Ruins warp stone that you
were forced to activate in the last chapter.  Take the Northeast path out of 
the village and walk up the path.  You can now head north through the 
guidepost.  Yes, its Phillip!  You'll be forced to defend your fortress, now.
You should find this relatively easy, since there are no endless waves of 
monsters, and if you were smart, you've spent some core metals on wisely 
upgrading the barrier defense and created a robot defense facility and bought
yourself a robot to help with those pesky defensive battles.

--Destroying the Warp Arm--
   Zip, the scene shifts back to the Narda checkpoint.  Follow the little prick
up the stairs.  You'll have to find and dismantle the Empire's menacing device,
the Warp Arm, which will allow them to send endless waves of reinforcements at
the Geo Fortress.  The path outside is linear.  Follow it until you reach the
cave.  Listen to Zenus's instructions and then activate the warp stone.
   Shortly, your fortress should be attacked, as it will take you awhile to
proceed through this area, and you're due for a random fortress defense.  If 
you've leveled up the main fortress energy level and have the barrier at level 
three, you can't lose.  If you haven't... you pretty much can't win, unless 
Toma or Cyrille is ridiculously powerful.  So, if you're woefully unprepared, 
run like hell from your encounter with Phillip and through the cave, and you 
just might make it without Geo Fortress being attacked.  Not exactly a sound
strategy, but I've given you fair warning, and three different methods to avoid
   Anyway, inside the cave there are many directions and side paths.  Explore
it all, as there are a couple of core metals in here, and one of those oh so 
rare cure metals.  Note the few treasures you can see, but not reach quite yet.
In the Southeast area of the cave, you'll find the exit.  Before that, there
will be a planned Fortress defense battle when you step onto a bridge within
the cave.  Nothing to worry about, it just means you're almost out of there.
As soon as you're out, a brief scene, and its finally cannon time.  Just in 
time, as it turns out, for right up the path, you'll run into an obstacle that
only the cannon can destroy.  After you do this, you'll encounter Phillip 
again.  Destroy all his henchmen and toys and return to the Geo Fortress for a
chapter-ending cutscene, complete with some FMVs.

CHAPTER FIVE - Beastling Warrior

   Once you regain control, Gadfort will be forced into your party.  This also 
means that your party has been reset, so talk to Zenus and reassign the other
three members.  Assuming your Geo-Fortress energy is at level 3 and your 
barrier matches, you won't have trouble defending the fortress in this chapter,
but its better to be safe than sorry.
   Now that you can use the cannon, go outside through the number two exit and
head Northeast.  Where the road splits, you can head to the right and explore
the Eastern half of the Fur'il Road.  If you came this way earlier, you might
remember the path was blocked by a massive boulder.  You can destroy this with
the cannon now.  Sadly, there isn't much you can do.  You will run into a cave
that you can't enter, the path dead ends in another spot, and at the furthest
end, where it winds back to the west, you'll find a cave that leads to Magnus.
However, the enemies in here are too tough to wade through right now, and there
really isn't any point anyway.  We'll come back here later.  You can, however,
activate the warpstone for the Fur'il Road; which is good, because as I said,
you'll be returning.
   The Blacksmith has another request.  Give him 3000 mythril, and he'll be 
able to level up your equipment to level 7 now.  Even if you already had all
your weapons, armour and accessories at level 6, this will prove very 
expensive.  If you have the gold, by all means, go ahead, but it isn't strictly
   Talk to Gilnay, and she should have yet another Core Metal for you.  She 
does seem to have quite a talent for finding these things.  Well worth the ten
thousand gold.  You should have collected enough core metals to have your 
fortress defensively buffed, and been able to invest extensively towards the 
cannon, robot factory, and training facility.
   When you're ready, warp back to the Empire's outpost that you ripped to 
shreds in the previous chapter.  Gadfort will instruct you to head further from
the cave we came through earlier towards another cave.  By all means, follow
his instructions.  Its time to rescue Duga; the Wolfling who tried to kill you
not long ago.

--Saving General Duga--
   Go into the cave found East of the Noswald Encampment warp stone.  Also 
known as Goran-Goran Cave 2F, this place is fairly vast.  Explore it 
thoroughly.  Thar be Core Metal in them thar caves!  Make sure you pick up the
piece of Avalon in one of the two passages that lead to Goran-Goran Cave 1F, 
which you passed through in the last chapter.  (Remember seeing those treasures
etc, that you couldn't reach?).  Before you get to the exit at the North-East 
of the cave, your fortress will be attacked, which reveals caves underneath 
Geo-Fortress.  Inexplicably, you couldn't open that door earlier.  Luckily, it 
works now, so you can defend the castle.  Secondly, there's a fairly tough boss
just before the exit, who attacks you without much fanfare, but if you're not 
careful, he can actually waste you.  Just keep your distance and use your 
charge attacks.  Leave the cave.  Brrr, its cold out here.  Right outside the 
cave exit, there's one of those rocks containing a stronger than average 
monster.  Be careful of this guy, he packs a real wallop.  He doesn't have a 
lot of hp, but he can kill you with three swings of his sword.  After this, 
head north, and shortly you'll come to Cantore village.  Explore the village, 
turn on the warp stone.  There's an exit to the Northeast of the village, but 
the two guys won't let you through.  Darn, and the guidepost was red too!  
   Now would be a good time to return to the fortress and explore those caves
underneath that were uncovered in the last non-random defense scene.  Be 
careful of the Medusas down there.  They deal fairly good damage, and they can
petrify you, leaving you a sitting duck.  Keep your healing waters stocked, and
when you run out, use the R3 return function to go back to Geo Fortress.  Save
every time you go back.  In this cave, you'll find another Ancient Arena, the
entrance to the Ruins Temple, and another piece of Avalon.  Unfortunately, 
again, the Arena is beyond you.  So is the Rune Temple.
   Back in Cantore, exit to the West side of the village.  You'll find yourself
in the Cantore Snowfield.  This is a totally linear path, leading to the Old
Noswald Castle Yard.  This place is massive.  You'll hae to go around the
outside of the yard, smashing four different statues.  The corresponding 
statue will light up down the inside of the yard.  There's another piece of 
Avalon, one of his feet, to be found here.  Once you have smashed all the 
statues, return to the start of the yard, and start moving up the center.  
Argh, Geo Fortress is under attack again!  And from yet another new direction.
This defense may seem complicated, but its not.  Circle around the top and take
out the cannons and monster generators you encounter.  As you wind down towards
the bottom center, you'll meet up with a gigantic monster generator.  The 
things it spawns pack a punch, so keep an eye on your hp as you hack away at
them and the generator.  
   Okay, back to the Old Castle Yard.  Each of the statues you lit up will 
break open and become a crystaline giant.  They are nothing to write home 
about, just smash them up and move through the gates as they open.  Once you 
get to the top, you'll fight a short but furious battle with a gigantic one of
these crystalline giants.  Your reward for this is the green metal!  And you 
weren't even looking for it!
   You'll have to return to the Geo Fortress and use the Green Metal for the
gate leading out of the Yard to open up.  This is unfortunate because the game
hasn't given us a nearby warp stone for some time.  So its best to R3 back and
go up to your main terminal, use the Green Metal, and when its done with, go 
back to the Yard through the R3 warp gate you opened up.  Someone decided to
open up that gate in your absence.
   So its on to the Tsungura Ice Field... sounds like a lovely place.  Once you
step in, Gadfort will clue you in that Duga's encampment is nearby.  You're at
the base of a fair sized hill.  Explore around the bottom until you find some
stairs leading upwards.  From here, there are a series of switches that will
bring down walls and portcullises.  You'll have to do some doubling back.  
There are some large invincible wolflings that basically act as monster 
generators.  Once you defeat the smaller wolflings that they spawn, you'll be
able to take them out.  Once you reach the top, you'll encounter Duga.  He'll
have to be beaten.  He's really no problem.  If your armour is relatively
upgraded with secret arts and blacksmithing, the damage he deals is pathetic.
And if you have Faulklin along, he'll be able to easily take care of whatever
hurts Duga deals out; so you won't have to use a single healing water.  You 
could actually go for a beer and let Gadfort take him out, although he has a 
lot of hp, and the annoying ability to knock you over.  Once he's beaten, 
Gadfort will leave your party.  Don't fret, just talk to him and you'll be
transported back to Geo.  Duga's situation is very reminiscent of Zylo in the
original Shining Force for Genesis.  This brings us to the end of Chapter Five.

CHAPTER SIX - Understanding Each Other

   By now, you should have been able to easily take out the Ghosts' Ancient 
Arena and with a slight amount of challenge, wiped out the second level of the 
training facility.  As a way guageing your strength, if you've completed those
two items, you're about where you should be.  Your Fortress should be at level
four.  Now is a good time to do the Wolfling Ancient Arena.  Many of the wolves
in there can kill with a few hits, particularly the boss.  The best strategy is
to bring Cyrille and constantly run away while dishing out her flame magic like
crazy.  This strategy will also work on the Giant Boar, if you haven't defeated
him yet.  From the Wolfling Ancient Arena, head Southwest to begin your search 
for the Blue Metal.  

--Blue Metal--
   You've entered a massive area of plains and forest with several branching
paths and interconnections.  Explore it throroughly.  There is a Path of 
Carnage in the area.  Here, there are several Golems, those big crystal giants.
One of those stones that you smash to fight a powerful enemy has an extremely
stong one of these.  It won't be too tough for Toma, just keep an eye on your
hp.  Cyrille can run and blast it with magic.  Its so slow, if you're 
moderately careful, it won't be able to catch up to you to swing and hit.
   As you head South and West, Zenus will often radio you with directions.  If
you go astray, there are tons of signposts that mention which way the tomb is.
Eventually, you'll find the Giants Ancient Arena.  You should be strong and
skilled enough to take it out now.  Head West from there and you'll be inside
Paoraburr Cavern.  This place is great, because inside, you'll find another 
piece of Avalon, and some more Darkness Runes, because by now, you shouldn't be
able to enter any more Arenas, due to a lack of these.  You can now exit to the
Paoraburr Trail.  Gee, its raining.  The West Paoraburr Trail is linear.  Just 
head in a general north westerly direction, there are no branching trails, and
you'll reach Linbur's tomb.
   The tomb is in the center of a fairly massive graveyard.  Explore all around
the outside edges.  Certain gravestones will trigger mini-bosses that, once
killed, will unlock a treasure chest on top of the central tomb.  Once you get
onto the tomb, you'll be penned in, so fight your way around the edges until
you encounter another mini-boss.  This will bring down the spikes, allowing you
to get underneath the tomb.  You'll have to go underneath twice, starting with
the southwest entrance.  Be careful at this point, you can get burnt to a crisp
if you don't have flame protection or if you're not careful with the healing
waters.  After this, exit through the northeast entrance to the tomb, circle
around to the west and enter again.  You'll go underneath where you were 
before.  Exit out the east side and circle around to the south.  You can now
get the treasures on top of the tomb that you unlocked earlier.  Now you can
get into the tomb proper, fight a relatively easy boss (physical attacks, you
should waste him if you've made it this far), and attain two core metals and 
the Blue Metal.   You're now forced to R3 warp back to Geo Fortress.  There's 
the usual array of chapter's end cutscenes and plot movement.
CHAPTER SEVEN - Warrior's Return

   Now that Duga's got his groove back, he'll be forced into your party for his
innaugural mission with you.  It seems Duga was tricked by Phillip, who has 
been forcing Cantorin villagers into slavery.  Phillip is just asking for
another beat down.
   If you explored thoroughly in Chapter Six, you would have encountered the 
Lightning and Stalker Ancient Arenas.  They should be takeable, with a bit of
care.  Just don't try to take too many enemies at once, especially on the 
second level.  If you're using Cyrille, keep your distance.  Chapter Six was
also a Core Metal bonanza.  By now, your fortress should be at level 5, along
with most of its components.  Be aware, you now also have the healing function
which begins at level 1.  Any spare Core Metals should be used on this.  You'll
probably never need to use a Cure Metal again.

   Teleport to Cantore.  The two guys blocking the exit at the upper part of 
town will let you through.  Pass through the snowfields, fighting your way
along.  There is nothing complex here.  Duga is valuable in that they can't
damage him, but they probably won't be able to hurt Toma or Cyrille much, 
either.  You'll find the Ice Ancient Arena.  To the northeast, you'll pass to
another icy area.  Keep heading north and east and you'll find the cave 
entrance to the mines.
   It is largish inside the mines, but again, not complex.  You'll encounter
Phillip inside.  He sicks a rather unimpressive array of beasties on you with
which you'll have no trouble with.  Afterwards, Duga will make an idiot of
Phillip, in a rather amusing way.  Grab the two Core Metals above where the
Phillip cutscene ends.  Double back the way you came and the jailed area you
passed just before seeing Phillip will open up for you.  Talking twice to the
Elder will warp you back to Cantore.  From there, return to the Geo-Fortress as
soon as you feel willing.  After two seperate conversations with the leaders
of the warring Imperialist factions, the chapter will come to a closer.  Rather
brief and uncomplex chapter, indeed.

CHAPTER EIGHT - Cyrille's Truth

   So, Riemsianne is bombing the Geo-Fortress.  Hell hath no fury like a demon-
goddess scorned.  After these cutscenes, you'll have to run around the castle
and find each of your allies.  For the longest time, I could only find Cyrille,
Duga and Maebelle.  Gadfort, Ami and Faulklin are in the Engineering section.
Note that you now have access to the northern passage outside and above the
control room.  Cyrille's room has also been unlocked, it is parallel to Toma's.
Outside and to the left of her room, there is a Core Metal (and a couple of
confused robots).  Once you've roused all of them, talk to Zenus, and he'll
tell you how to get the Silver Metal, which you need to patch up the fortress.
Big surprise here, although not so surprising in retrospect.
   Note that you can not leave the Geo-Fortress at this time.  So go get that
Silver Metal from the north passage.

--Silver Metal--
   Zenus warns you that once you go after the Silver Metal, there's no going
back.  What an idiot.  At any time, you can use your R3 return function.  So
enter the shiny area unlocked by Toma and Cyrille.  If you've been completing
your training area missions as I've suggested, this quest will seem very 
familiar to it.  It's just like the training dungeons.  In fact, its two in 
one.  If you haven't done the training missions, you'll find yourself in a 
series of four small labyrinths.  To proceed to the next one, you have to find
the colorful shiny round runic symbol on the floor somewhere.  Its rather easy
and these dungeons are a boon of gold and mythril.
   At the end of the first, there is a pathetic boss who will go down from a 
few shots of Cyrille's strongest magic, or a few charge attacks from Toma.  I'm
not sure what the hogs are for, other then they seem to distract the boss if
you release them using the large levers near their cages.
   Proceed to the next training-like dungeon.  The enemies pack a bit more 
punch here and will take a few extra shots to take down, so mind your health 
bars.  The final boss here is similar to the first one, but he'll take you a
bit longer to wear down.  This is okay, because his offense stinks, so hack 
away without fear.  He leaves you the same basic array of treasures that the
first guy did, along with the coveted Silver Metal.  There's nothing you can
really do now, other then run in circles or warp back to the Geo-Fortress, 
where a series of plot-advancing cutscenes await you.

CHAPTER NINE - Ties of Two

   Now that the Fortress is safe and whole again, its time to destroy that 
pesky blaster cannon that started all this trouble to begin with.  However, 
before you get going, note the new features Zenus outlines with the 
Geo-Fortress.  Extended defense/heal, extended cannon range, extended radar.
All those warnings about impending attacks on the Geo-Fortress are now going
to come in handy.  You can be cruising around out in the world, and when an
attack is imminent, you can R3 back to the fortress and turn on defense mode.
(actually, I recommend basic mode, as the sound of the fortress constantly
healing itself is pretty annoying).  As an alternative, even in cannon or radar
mode (that'd be 'search' mode), your fortress will take heavy damage because
the barrier will be turned off.  However, the Geo-Fortress should be at least
level 5 by this point, with defense bots, so unless you're totally inept, its
unlikely the attackers will manage to deplete even one of your five or six
energy bars.  So you can always turn on defense/heal mode after the battle and
let the fortress quickly repair itself.  In any event, things are looking 
pretty good.

--Blaster Cannon--
   To find Magnus's Blaster Cannon, take the south-east exit out of the 
fortress from the ring around the command room.  Once you proceed to the next
area, Zenus will start giving you directions.  His first is a bit unclear,
considering there is no visible temple in the area.  He wants you to take the
path that is south and bends around to the west.  From there, you'll enter a
short cave, which will come out in Magnus land.  From here, you'll head south
for a short bit, and then east.  Keep heeding Zenus's directions and heading
steadily east.  You'll end up in the desert where the Blaster Cannon is.  Be
careful in this general area.  There are a lot of Medusas, and they'll stone
you every time.  They also pack quite a wallop, so keep your thumb over the
square button to heal yourself when you're stoned.  If there are three of them
around you pounding on you when you're petrified, your quest could end real
quick.  As you pass into the desert from the grassy, hilly terrain, there is
a large red dragon standing guard.  You don't strictly have to defeat it, but 
it wouldn't be much fun running past, would it?  The dragon is invincible until
you kill the several groups of smaller dragons that it spawns.  This is 
annoying, because the smaller ones tend to be so close to him, you can't see
them, meanwhile he's flaming away at you with a powerful breath attack.
   Head north and east in the desert area to find the blaster cannon.  It is
defended by quite a horde, including a few of the aforementioned medusas.  Wipe
out all the enemies, and then use the Geo-Fort's cannon on Riemsianne's blaster
cannon.  Afterwords, you'll be forced to return home.  And that's the end of 
Chapter Nine.
CHAPTER TEN - A Voice from the Past

   Again, a series of cutscenes to start the Chapter.  When are Toma and 
Cyrille just going to find a room and get it over with?  In any event, the 
robots are going mad in Geo-Fortress.  Zenus suspects a distress signal being
sent by an old robotic colleague may be the reason why.  Check your radar to
see the exact route.  Toma and Cyrille should both have all their equipment to
level 9 (blacksmith).  The enemies in this chapter are plentiful, and pack 
quite a punch.  When you are defending the Geo-Fort, things have been taken to
a new level.  The attacking monstrous hordes aren't playing around anymore.  
They can do a lot of damage to the Photon Reactors, so be aware of the Fortress
'health'.  Save often.

--Robot Rescue--
   You need to go east in the southern part of the area where you went with 
Duga a few chapters ago to rescue the Cantorins in the slave mine.  From there
it is a long tough slog to the Ancient Ruins, which are your destination.  I
can't put your route into words, but there are a lot of signposts pointing out
the direction to Ancient Ruins.  This icy area is also home to a couple of 
Ancient Arenas (skeletons, succubi and demon), which tends to confuse things a 
bit as the signs area also pointing out Ancient Arenas.  It would do you well 
to uncover the whole area, including a few paths which your cannon doesn't have
the range to open up yet.  If you talk to Gadfort in his quarters, he'll give
you a 1H sword which is strong against dragon-type enemies, which is very handy
around here.  Also, have the Geo-Fort on Cannon-mode; there are a couple 
barriers you'll need to knock down on the way.  Your general direction is East,
but there are many branching paths.  You may as well explore it all.  Hack and
slash and charting maps is the name of the game (well, it would be if it wasn't
called Shining Force Exa).
   When you find the Ancient Ruins, you can teleport home and save.  The foes
inside are two general types: 1: Gigantic robot insects, which can cut Cyrille
up pretty quickly if you're not being careful; 2: Skinny floating, darting
wizard guys, who fire dark magic around like crazy, which can zap Toma in a 
hurry if you don't have a lot of dark defense or again, if you're not being
careful.  I'd advise R3ing back to Geo-Fortress occasionally to save the game
and recharge your healing waters if necessary.
   The first floor of the Ruins is quite expansive.  There are a series of 
doors, chambers and hallways, all making up a pretty big labyrinth.  Large, but
straightforward.  There are no puzzles or secrets or buttons to confuse you.
Old burnt-out robots litter the floor.  You can talk to some of them and 
they'll get up and fight for you, which is handy, because the enemies will 
attack en masse, and its good to have a bit of extra firepower for some of 
those series of mass spawn battles.  Towards the opposite corner from where you
came in, you'll find a stairway down to the second level.  It is not nearly as
large as the first.  There are some 'traps' where dead enemies are laying on 
the floor and you touch them to get an item, but ten or fifteen live ones will
appear and attack.  Very shortly, you'll come to a large open area where Adam,
a robot is in some sort of feedback distress mode.  Seems to be the fellow we
came here to find.  If you head further into that room, a large boss will
attack with his host of insect-robot dudes.  This battle is pretty much what
you've been fighting all along in the Ruins, along with one enemy who can hit
you a bit harder and has a lot more hp.  Not a problem.
   As soon as the boss goes down, Adam becomes uncorrupted, and everyone is 
free to return to the Geo-Fort.  A series of troubling plot-twist scenes and
its time to proceed to the next chapter.


   I never trusted that Ami.  Actually, I did, I just find her and Faulklin
estremely annoying.  In any case, as you've seen, Tona has been kidnapped by
our old friend Riemsianne.  Cyrille's going to have to go it alone for a bit.
What a lucky coincidence that throughout this Chapter, your fortress won't be
attacked, since there'll be no one around to defend it.  The blacksmith is 
ready to start forging stuff to lvl 10, so give him his 3000 mythril.  If you
have your hands on a Trinity Book, you should have Cyrille equip the best one
possible, and beef your flame and ice magic as high as you can, without too
much unreasonable effort.  Now is a good time to clear out some of those Arena
battlegrounds, if you have some you haven't gone into yet.  The only ones you
aren't likely to be able to conquer are the Steel and Demon ones.  You should
also probably be able to beat the fourth training dungeon by now as well.

--Finding Toma--
   Ami isn't forced into your party, but you might as well bring her along.  Go
to the desert area (West Bocan) where you destroyed Riemsianne's blaster cannon
a couple of chapters ago.  At the eastern edge of the map, there's one passage
to the next area (East Bocan).  Go there and hunt around.  This area has a lot
of narrow passageways which are interconnected with extremely short tunnels.  
You'll make use of the Cannon a few times.  To the extreme north, there's an
exit to a new desert area called Diablo's Palm.  Ignore that for now, its 
almost definitely beyond your capabilities to survive effectively.  To the 
north and east, you'll find the passage to Magnus proper.  Ami will get you 
past the gate afterwhich you won't be needing her anymore, unless you prefer 
her in your party.  Before leaving here, I'll note that the last piece of 
Avalon can be found in this area.  So, if you bring it back to Lakton and he 
isn't revived, you've missed one somewhere.  They've generally been found 
right on the beaten path, so you've probably picked up all the pieces to this 
point.  If you're missing one or two, there is a book in Geo-Fortress's 
library that tells you the location of all his bones, and Avalon himself will 
let you know which ones you're missing.  
   The next area will yield the entrance to the prison where Toma is likely 
being held.
   The prison area is relatively straightforward.  There are three levels;
(minimum, medium and maximum security).  There are a lot of demon and succubus
type enemies which are all weak to flame attacks.  There are some magma giants
that are impervious to flame, but weak to ice.  There are mines on the floor
that will glow red for a bit when you step on them, and then explode with flame
damage.  To proceed in the medium security area, you have to destroy a series
of statues which, when complete, will bring down the flame walls guarding the
passage into max security.  In the third area, you'll have to move around the
outskirts of the area, killing a few minibosses to bring down the flame walls.
   You will encounter Riemsianne and her lackey.  You'll have to fight both of
them.  Take down the lackey first, a few shots of Blaze Lvl 2 should do it.  
Riemsianne herself is pretty easy.  She has a weak magical offense and a lot of
magical defense and hp.  They'll retreat after the battle.  You'll find Toma
just above that spot.  Talk to him twice to proceed back to Geo-Fortress and on
to the next chapter.

CHAPTER TWELVE - The Emperor's Ambition
   War!  Ragnadaam's Imperial forces have begun an invasion of Fyrlandt in a
sudden attack on the Magnus.  Riemsianne orders her forces marshalled.  Toma
and Cyrille decide they must stop this war, to prevent the return of Malxatra.
So, you must return to the north.

--The Great Bridge--
   This is relatively straightforward.  You have a long slog ahead of you.  Its
probably best not to bring Maebelle.  Forget about the mushrooms and all that,
she takes heavy damage from frost attacks, and you'll be seeing a lot of traps
that do just that kind of elemental damage.  First of all, teleport to Cantore.
Take the west (left) exit from town.  This is the way you went when you first
fought Duga.  Zenus will direct you around the hill.  By this, he means the
upper right of the screen.  A small group of enemies will attack you, and once
defeated, a portcullis will come down, giving you access to the north, which
was blocked off to you earlier.  You'll arrive at the Great Bridge.
   This is a long, long slog.  In addition to the ice traps I mentioned earlier
you will encounter a lot of wolf and dragon type enemies.  The real buggers, 
however are the knight looking guys, which don't have any particular weakness
and tend to take a lot of hits from physical attacks.  They also have an
annoying habit of disappearing and reappearing in a different spot, taking that
much longer to destroy them.  You'll be making your way steadily eastward.  
Defeating groups of enemies and their robotic spawners will cause gates to open
so you can proceed.  Naturally there will be some doubling back, particularly
if you want to get all the loot here.  Toward the northeast of the first area,
you'll find some stairs leading to the lower level of the bridge.  This is yet
another mazelike hive of enemies.  If you circle around to the northwest, you 
can go back up to the first area, allowing you to open the last of the gates
and access the central area of the upper bridge, for some chests and mythril
crystals.  When you go back below, you'll head for the northeastern area of the
undersection of the bridge to proceed forwards.
   This area is symmetrical and relatively straightforward.  Straight up the
middle you'll come to a room and the guy in there will tell you to destroy all
the machinery in that room and in two rooms east and west of your position.  
You must do this to proceed, as the chambers that allow you access to the 
throne room are filled with lightning generators that will bar your path and
do some decent damage to you if you're foolish enough to try walking through 
it.  Once you can go through these areas, you'll encounter Ragna's sister
outside his throne room.  Talk to her to bring the door down.  Save before
entering.  Inside you'll fight Ragnadaam.  He's more impressive than Riemsianne
was, mostly because he uses a better variety of attacks, moves around a lot
quicker, and tends to attack your support characters.  Still, if you've been
dogged in upgrading your equipment, you won't have much trouble with him.  I
was somewhat disappointed in the supposed 'best warrior alive', after all the
buildup leading to this fight.  After the battle, pick up all the treasure in
the throne room (hey, you defeated the wimp, you might as well steal the 
family jewels, right?).  Talk to him again.  His ambition is revealed, and the
curtains close on Chapter Twelve.


   You're approaching the climax now.  The Gusk is being revived for the first
time in recorded history.  Zenus, Zhirra and Adam don't really have a clue what
is going on.  All you can do is investigate the Nethergate behind Riemsianne's
throne, deep in Fyrlandt in the Crimson Palace itself.  At this point, you 
should have defeated at least the first four training levels, and all of the
Ancient Arena battlegrounds, with the exception of the Demon one.  Toma and
Cyrille are buffed, and so is the Geo-Fortress.  Any attacks on Geo-Fort will 
be furious, but you should be so powerful, you won't have any troubles.  I 
actually have a hard time taking down the monsters surrounding the bosses 
without killing the boss itself by collateral damage.

--The Nethergate--
   Head back to Fyrlandt, and start climbing the mountain above the prison
where Toma was being held earlier.  You'll need the Fortress set on Cannon mode
to destroy the couple of barriers in your way.  After that, Search mode will
be valuable in finding treasures.  Head steadily up the mountain.  In the 
second area, you'll have to teleport around.  Be sure to hit every teleport to
uncover the entire map.  There are a lot of treasure chests and Power Arts to
be found here.  At the summit, you'll find the entrance to the Crimson Palace.
   The Palace starts at the top floor, and you'll be working your way downward,
for three levels.  Each level is a series of rings.  You'll have to work your
way around the outside, destroying fiends to bring down doors and gates, which
will allow you access to new areas.  The bottom level, before the throne room
is the only tricky part.  You need to open doors by putting out the torches 
there.  When you work you way around to the opposite side of the ring, there is
an unobtrusive switch on a wall you need to look for.  This will allow you
access to the inner part of the ring, to put out the final four torches and 
open the way to Riemsianne's throne room.  The monsters in this place are 
generally weak to fire and/or ice.  A good strategy is for Cyrille to use 
inferno, as the rooms tend to fill up with spawning foes, and then switch your
spell to either Ice Spike or Blaze, as the situation dictates, while the 
creatures burn in your inferno.  Some of the mini bosses have no particular
elemental weakness, so they'll fall best to your magical charge attacks.  If
you're using Toma, be sure to equip a weapon which has charge attacks covering
a lot of area and attacking multiple times per charge.
   You'll find the throne room empty.  Circle around to the back and enter the
next chamber.  You'll find Riemsianne and Lurnaezel at their worst.  Give them
a hand.  Ragna enters and a long conversation ensues.  It seems that the very
poor foreign policies of these two has brought about the current crisis.  I
bet you don't feel so bad for invading their sanctums, pillaging their wealth,
and destroying vast portions of their infastructures.


   It would seem that the boundaries between hell and reality are thinning.  
Malxatra's minions have invaded.  You need to go to Lakton and see for 
yourself.  Zenus will direct you out of the southwest exit from Geo-Fortress.
Go through the cave and out into an area of ruins.  Expore this whole area,
fighting off Malxatra's minions.  Before you can get to Lakton, the Geo-Fort
will likely be attacked.  Its no problem.  There's only one way out of the ruin
aside from going back into the cave leading home.  You'll find yourself in
Lakton from the eastern exit.  This sequence should bring back memories from
your first encounter with Phillip.  You need to clear the town out of 
Malxatra's minions.  After this head back to Geo-Fortress.  It seems that the
inevitable has come to pass.  You need to make a decision.  Toma goes to his
room or Cyrille goes to her room for the right to kill the other and become
the full Heritor.  Now would be a good time to clear out Diablo's Palm, if you
haven't done so yet.  The real advantage of that area is the massive amount
of experience you get from the foes there.  They'll stone you and kick the hell
out of your allies, but you can use your healing waters at will and warp back
to the fortress for refills when necessary.  When you've made your decision,
switch to the appropriate character, and enter his or her room.  It may be a 
good decision to create a second save file at this point.

--To Gusk--
   I'll assume you choose Toma, for the purposes of ease of writing.  Once you
take the elevator from his room, you'll find yourself in a training mission 
type of area.  The only difference is, the warps to the next level are purple
instead of green, as in the past.  The enemies here present no difficulty.  
Since you can't return to the Geo-Fortress, you'll become overwhelmed with 
inventory before you reach the end.  Keep whatever suits your chosen character,
or whatever you find most valuable.  
   Once you reach the end, be sure to save.  You'll be going up against a 
moderately tough boss, accompanied by red robots who will petrify you.  Focus
on destroying the robots first, but try to avoid getting them all at you at 
once.  As for the boss, his most devestating attack is a strong spark spell,
which is probably only going to be a problem if you're using Toma and don't
have half decent lightning defense.  Once this guy is done with, you can save
again, and proceed to the area where the Heritors paths meet up.  A cutscene
ensues.  Take your Heritor into Gusk.  Very shortly, you'll encounter a pair of
old 'friends' who will join you.  You are blocked off from any path other then
a linear one to Malxatra.  Engage in an epic battle to seal the evil god away.
Yes!  He's defeated!  Or is he?  The battle turns out not to be so epic.  The
devil god of darkness reveals his true form and lays a smack down on your
Heritor (literally).

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Opening the Future

   What's this!?  Toma's alive!  Well, you probably gathered that from 
Cyrille's statement that she couldn't kill him either.  However, she didn't 
mind beating him over the head, or whatever she did to knock him down.  Was 
that really necessary?  In any case, to proceed, go into Cyrille's room.  Her
portion of Shining Force is back on its pedestal.  Toma will become the true 
and full Heritor now.  The Geo-Fortress will reach its full potential, freeing
it from the rock face.  Talk to Zenus to fly it to Gusk.  You can also bring
characters with you again.

   Take any exit to get into Gusk.  This is very straightforward.  If your 
levels are low, you'll be levelling up like crazy, so don't be dismayed if you
get killed a couple times at first.  After five minutes in Gusk, you'll be
powerful enough.  The experience gained isn't proportional with the difficulty
of the foes.  Although there are some branching paths, proceeding to Malxatra
is relatively linear.  Detroying key enemies and pulling down switches will
open the way for you.  There are three map areas to get through.  Gusk is also
extremely heavy on mythril, allowing you to R3 back to Geo-Fort and seriously
boost your strength with force arts.
   When you get to the throne room where Riemsianne, Ragna and Cyrille were
wiped out earlier, those three will be waiting for you, possessed by Malxatra.
Concentrate on one at a time (they're like lambs to the slaughter) to free
them of the curse.  Riemsianne and Ragnadaam will join the battle on your side
once you defeat them.  Once all three are down, Malxatra's reveals its true
form again.  Your allies will stay out of the fight, only the Heritor can 
truely destroy Malxatra.  In what has to be the easiest final boss ever, you 
will destroy Malxatra in about ten seconds.  Unbelievably, there are no 
further forms or incarnations.  The game is actually over now.  Congratulations
you've beaten Shining Force Exa!  Enjoy the ten second ending sequence and 
credits.  After which, you will be given an option to save your game.  All 
character levels and items will remain, and you are taken back to the beginning
of Chapter 14, where you can choose a different Heritor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q - What's the deal with those rain-causing, Malxatra-monster generating towers
scattered around the world?
A - I'm not really sure what the point of them is.  I'm pretty sure that I got
all of them, although the red rain was still falling in the ruins of Yiel 
village, despite that there was no tower thingy there.  Its possible that I
missed one or two, considering I still had a darkness rune left over, so I'm
pretty sure that I missed an Ancient Arena battleground as well.

Q - What's up with Avalon?  Why won't he join me?
A - His words are somewhat deceptive.  You need to get rid of both characters
accompanying you for him to join you.  Of course, you have to have located all
of his body parts as well.  There is a book in the library that tells you the
map area in which each is located, and Avalon himself will tell you which parts
you haven't brought to him yet.

Q - Am I missing something?  Is this it?
A - I have that feeling as well, but as I stated above, I must not have 
completely uncovered everything.  I've only played through the game once at 
this point.  But I have a feeling there are more then just the Toma-Heritor
and Cyrille-Heritor endings.  I also have four pieces of party character 
equipment that would seem to be used on a dragon or something, yet I never got
that character in my party.

Heritor Battle Strategy

Fighting with Toma takes a bit of caution.  He doesn't have any ranged attacks
other then magic, which he's pretty much useless with.  So you have to get in
there, up in your foes' faces and let them hack at you.  Consequently, I had
him equip a shield for most of the game, with a 1H weapon.  Some of the 2H
weapons found late in the game are extremely powerful, yet in areas such as the
lower levels of the training grounds, not having a good shield equipped will
end up with Toma being killed in one hit.  It depends on your playing style.
I've always been cautious; a defense first RPG player.
When concentrating your power arts, Toma needs a lot more mythril then Cyrille
to make him 'complete'.  Consequently, you have to pick and choose.  Obviously,
arts such as 'power boost', 'stun attack' and 'knockdown attack' are useful
for Toma.  Lots of 'master guard' is important too.  Attach abilities to your
equipment that will boost his physical defense and physical attack.  When it
comes to the 'killer'and 'pursuit' arts that take a ton of mythril, its up to
you to pick and choose.  It would be extremely laborious to get all of them.  
Bringing a magic user along (Ami, Adam) and a healer (Faulklin, Maebelle) is

Cyrille is easier to use then Toma.  If your equipment is keyed to boost 
certain elemental magic (flame is the best one) and you attain force arts that
reduce MP usage, boost intelligence and level up your elemental magics, you can
keep clear of enemies while mashing the triangle button.  Generally, you can
get her magic so powerful, she can clear a screenful of enemies in a tenth the
time it would take Toma, and often they can't even approach Cyrille.  My best
advice is, find all the equipment you can that will boost your flame element,
equip a Trinity Book as soon as you find one, and you'll be set.  If your flame
and frost elements are moderately high, you can switch on the inferno spell and
run around the screen while using the blaze attack or ice spike, as the 
situation warrants.  Its like mowing grass.  When enemies who can't open doors
are stuck behind them, you can stand in front of the door and magic them to
death.  Cyrille should bring along Gadfort (switch to Duga when you get him,
physically, he's second only to Toma) and either Faulklin or Maebelle for 
healing.  Cyrille really is a lot of fun to use.  I think she makes the game a 
bit too easy.  Yet, using Toma is tedious at times.

Whoever you prefer, use them for going out into the world.  The other will gain
the necessary experience defending Geo-Fort.  Those battles tend to be shorter
with lots of exp earned.

Version/Copyright/Credit/Thanks/Contact Info

This is my Shining Force Exa for PS2 Walkthrough, version 1.0.  There have been
no updates at this time.  
version 1.0 - June 22, 2007

I don't believe I can legally copyright this material.  However, it was 
entirely produced by me.  I've submitted it to GameFAQs.com to post it so those
enjoying the game may benefit from any help I can give them.  It is intended
for reference only.  Please don't copy it for any reason.  I'm not really sure
what reason someone may have to do this, and I'm sure that I don't want to 

At this time, the only contributor to the above material is myself, thus the
only person I have to credit is myself.

I'd like to thank Sega for sticking around to make decent games like this one
even though they lost the console war.  Also thanks to Sega for putting out 
another Shining Force game.  It may not be true to the originals, but it was
still pretty entertaining.  
Also, thanks to the administrators of GameFAQs for reviewing and posting this 
material, and for having such a cool and free site to get video game info and 
for engaging in video game discussion on.  GameFAQs rocks!

If you would like to contact me for questions, suggestions, new information,
my email address is nfuerth@cogeco.ca

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