In-game reset:
Hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2
+ Start + Select during game play.


Skip scenes:
Whenever you are viewing a previously watched scene,
press Start then press Triangle. You will then skip
the entire scene until you are in quest mode again. Pause game play and you will be prompted if you want to resume
or skip the scene. This is useful when you have saved a game before
a scene and get killed afterwards.


Moving quickly and silently:
Tap R2 rapidly when walking around to can hover
quickly without making a sound.


Hint: Bravesoul:
Once you get the Bravesoul from the casino mini-game,
you can extract the HP Stong skill from it. It makes your strength
increase as your HP decreases in battle. You can extract it for
500 points, but your skill level has to be at skill level 4. You
can also do the same thing with the Double Buster, which you also
must be at skill level 4. Note: You cannot extract from anything
that another person has equipped.


Hint: Decoder #8:
When you visit the Dock Colony for the first time,
a woman in front of the clinic tells you of a Fish Detector that
her husband lost. Go to the Kukai Foundation's cleaning place
and inspect the tuxedo to find the Fish Detector. Talk to the
girl in the Iron Man bar, sitting at the lower left table. She
says that she lost an important ring and asks you to find it.
Go to the Private Beach and go in the water where the fish show
up on the radar screen. Run up to every fish and press Circle.
Sometimes you will get an item, and sometimes you will not. You
can get a Med Kit, a Speed Stim, and the Engagement Ring. If you
return to the beach on any return trips, the Med Kit, and Speed
Stim will be there again. Give the ring back to the girl in the
bar. She will give you the Decoder #8 to open the red door.


Hint: Hazardous Area Map:
On board the Elsa, you will see the pilot walking around
in Hangar 1 (A.G.W.S. hangar), looking for a map. He does not
give any concrete details, except to look everywhere, and that
the captain wants it. To get the map, speak with the captain on
the bridge. He will give it to you to take to the pilot.


Hint: Deadly Jr.:
Play poker in the casino long enough to buy the coveted
Brave Soul. Then, either equip Jr. with it or have him extract
and equip the skill. Jr. is ideal for the Brave Soul because he
has many physical attacks. All his normal attacks use his guns,
and he has the all-powerful Angelic Requiem at his disposal, which
does physical damage to all enemies. Equip Jr. exclusively with
tech attacks that do physical damage. Attacks such as Storm Waltz,
Prelude to Battle, and Angelic Requiem are good, while Ether attacks
such as Mystic Nocturne and Moonlit Serenade should be avoided.
Angelic Requiem should be in his HI slot, if available. During
battle, use a Hemlock on Jr. to hurt him badly, then immediately
heal him for 150 to 300 points to keep him from dying too easily.
Using Shion's Safety Level Ether is even better. Now that Jr.
is thoroughly hurting, try attacking an enemy. Near the middle
to end of the game, he can do over 500 to 700 damage with just
his normal attacks, and anywhere from 700 to 1200 with his Tech
attacks. As long as you can keep Jr. from taking too heavy a hit,
or keep him protected with Safety Level, there should be few things
that can stand up to him for long.


Hint: MOMO's first transformation:
Go to the Cathedral Ship (inside the Gnosis). When
you get to the stairs to go up (not the ladder), have MOMO as
your lead character and search near the boxes. It should be there.



Hint: See Shion or MOMO in a swimsuit:

When you are saving the people at the Kouki foundation,
there is a chest in the hotel. When you get it, it will say "Swimsuit".
You can equip it to Shion or MOMO. This allows their TP reward
to increase by 25%. Also, when they are fighting they will be
in a swimsuit. If you saw the intermission sequence where they
are at the foundation's beach, you will see MOMO and Shion in
a bathing suit. That is how they will appear as when they fight
with the swimsuit equipped. Also, the same item can be won by completing Mission 4 of the
Driller Game. A third and final swimsuit is to be found by defeating
Great Joe.

Note: Jr. and Chaos can also wear the swimsuit, and can be seen
in swimming trunks.


Hint: Ziggy finding MOMO:
When Ziggy is finding MOMO, the soldiers in the first
room of the Solitary Ruins are watching. Go to the wall in the
middle and turn back to the side. Do not do anything until the
soldier had passed you. The second Solitary Ruin is the same,
only do not battle anyone in there if you want Ziggy to be alive;
or try to escape then run really fast.


Hint: See Shion without her coat:
Immediate before the part where the Woglinde gets attacked,
Shion goes to rest in her room. Notice that she takes off her
coat. When the intermission sequence ends, you have the option
to take a nap. Answer "No" and you can walk around as
Shion without her coat.


Hint: Shion's Giant Robot Ethers:
In the bottom of the Gear Shop in the Kukai Foundation,
you can meet a strange professor who wants you to find parts so
he can build a giant robot. Finding the six different parts, consisting
of two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head will reward you with
four different Ether attacks for Shion. These parts are located
in the various Segment address rooms, which you find through exploring.
The first attack is rewarded when you find both arms, and is called
the Throni Blade. Next, you will find both legs which reward you
with the Ether attack called the Dominion Tank. The head is the
next item you can get, unlocking an attack called the Seraphim
Bird. Finally, you will find the body which combines with all
the other parts to create the summon of Erde Kaiser. This is the
most powerful attack in the game, causing 9999 damage, but requires
twelve Skills slots it makes it the only Ether that Shion can
use.


Hint: Robot parts:


Torso 2: Dock Colony, Junk Store. Defeat the Arthra 26 series
that appears on the central floor of the second tower on Song
Of Nephilim system. Destroy the fourth box in the location where
five boxes are in a line.


Right leg 3: Kukai Foundation Cleaners 1F. The treasure box in
Bunnie's house in the Encephlon.


Right arm 7: Woglinde, front of Sergeant Major Swagger. Talk to
Swaine on Woglinde during the Gnosis attack.


Left Leg 8: Elsa, corridor of the cargo bay. Before the Gnosis
attack, talk to the woman in Ironman Bar in Kukai Foundation City
Sector 26/27 to learn about the Engagement Ring. Search The White
Tub on the second floor of the cleaners to obtain Fish Detector.
Go to Gaignun's private beach and catch the fish that has the
Engagement Ring. Return to the bar and give the ring back to the
woman.


Left arm 9: Inside Gnosis mothership, Research Lab 3F. The treasure
box guarded by Stribog (the long armed monster) inside the Gnosis
mothership.

Hint: Slide Deck Key:
When you are onboard the Elsa, before the ship is attacked,
you can speak to the repair robot in the A.G.W.S. hangar. He mentions
that he is the hardest worker, and that while he was cleaning
one of the cabins he lost his key to the Slide Deck. The key can
be found on the couch in the lounge of Cabin 2 (the southern-most
cabin).


Hint: Hidden e-mails:
Talk to the orange worker in the Woglinde near the
right exit, then just run around anywhere to acquire new items
or pictures of other Namco games. Note: If you do not know how
to help Vector with the hacker problem in the Woglinde, leave
the Realian infirmary and enter it again then run for the starboard
door.


Hint: Keeping Shion safe during the Gnosis
attack:
During the Gnosis attack on the Starship Woglinde at
Shion's second encounter with the Gnosis, as they chase her she
must run through the partition and quickly press the red switch
on the other side to close it to stop the Gnosis from touching
her. As this is difficult to do, there is a second, easier option.
Have Shion keep running. Ignore and pass both red switches. Go
through the open door into the empty room a few steps further
down the hallway. Wait a few seconds in the room. The Gnosis will
lose track of Shion. Then, give up and return to where they were
before the chase. The coast will be clear and Shion can go safely
to her next stop.


Hint: Defeating Albedo:
There are two ways to defeat Albedo. First, you can
be very cheap and use the Erde Kaiser Ether to defeat him with
Shion. Or, you can be courageous and follow this strategy. Albedo
has 7,400 HP, which is less than Proto Dora. Have Shion, Jr.,
and Kos-Mos in your group. You will need Shion's Erde Kaiser for
Sophie Peithios, who has 16,000 HP. Albedo attacks like a rabid
dog and uses Ethers to increase his speed. He also restores his
health with devastating attacks. Using an AGW is not recommended,
as he will drain more than 1,000 HP from it at a time. The following
are some of his moves and how to respond to them.

Demonic Gaze: This is Albedo's first and primary move, just to
annoy you. He takes off about 700 HP, usually from Jr. Use Medica
Rest on whoever is damaged. If you extracted Supreme Judgment
from Chaos, then use that to greatly lower his healing ability.
This is how Albedo heals himself. He pounds the ground and a blue
sphere rises from the ground. Remember to accumulate Boost or
keep using Boost1 and then unleash everything you have at once.
Guard often to save up Boost for everyone, and do not let him
hit you too much.


Phoenix Flames (or something similar): Equip yourself with fire
resistant garments to lower the damage. He is also not weak against
anything. He rises in the air and says "Taste the flames
of hell". Note: Use powerful Tech Attacks such as X-Buster,
R-Blade, Storm Waltz, or Last Symphony. Also, use Rain Blade or
Spell Ray.


Fallen Angel: This is the most powerful attack that Albedo has,
wiping out about 900 Hp. He powers up and says "It's over!"
Quickly heal your ally as much as possible. This attack can kill
your warrior immediately.

Albedo also increases his speed with different Ethers as well
as his power. Hangs over and his back either swirls with a clock
or with bluish purple mists. This is the best time to use a boost
and attack him before he attacks you. The easiest way to beat Albedo is to first get the Bravesoul from
the casino passport. Next, equip the Bravesoul to KOS-MOS. Then
when the battle begins use KOS-MOS' R-Dragon and it will do 1000
to 2000 damage, depending on how much HP remains. Then, you got
to do is put your strongest players in the fight and win. Use KOS-MOS' R-Dragon and equip her with the Bravesoul or extract
it. It seems that Albedo attacks the strongest player with the
Armor Break and Fallen Angel attacks. If you are lucky, it will
miss and use the R-Dragon. The attack power will sometimes range
from 1000 to 2500.


Hint: Defeating Zolfo and the two Mecurio:

Since Zolfo will not attack until both Mecurio are
out, take out the Mecurio as Zolfo will use his shields.. If you
use MOMO's Sleep Ether attack (to the right of life shot), it
will put one of the Mecurio to sleep. When it is Zolfo's turn,
he will attack his own Mecurios and reprimand them for sleeping.
This should hurt them for at least 100. Attack once or guard with
Ziggy. When you have the AP, attack the one that is awake (if
any). Zolfo becomes quite easy when they are both gone; just heal
and attack as usual.


Hint: Easy money:
Get the Casino Card from the Durandal's Casino (north
and east of Shione's room on the Durandal). Then, play Poker.
Start with 100 coins (900 bucks) and play level 1 until you get
about 200. Then, move straight to level 3 until you get about
700. Then, play level 4. The way to always beat the house is as
follows. Always hold a pair or any other scoring combo. After
you win, always do double or nothing. If the number is greater
than 7 bet low, if the number is 8 it is your choice, and if the
number is 9 or above it is best to go low. After accumulating
about 45000 coins, get 99 starter decks of cards and sell them
for 20,000. It takes a total of two hours to make about 100,000
(and all the prizes and art.) When you get the Casino passport from the casino on the Durandal,
go into the passport and buy a amount of coins you can afford
so you can play. Select Poker on the level 1 game and play that
until you get about 1,000 coins. Then, move up a level or two.
When you get about 2,000 to 3,000 coins, go to level 4 for the
big money. When you get about 15,000 coins, buy 99 Recovery Sets
for about 9,900 coins, leaving your about 5,000 coins. Sell the
items that were in the Recovery Set for about 11,000. Then, repeat
the process. The Recovery Set contains a Med Kit, Ether Pack,
Revive, And Cure-All. You should have 99 of each when you buy
the 99 Recovery Sets. Playing the slot machine can earn more coins than playing Poker.
Take more than three minutes to play in Level 1, by betting one
coin only in one of the pay out lines. This is just for practice
for you to get used to the timing of when to press the Circle.
Carefully look to notice of pattern of 7 repeating in each reel.
There are two 7s sticking together in the first reel, one in the
second reel, and three with one separated (for example, 77XX7X)
in the third reel. Once you learn the pattern repeating in the
reel and get used to it, try to get good timing with them. Try
counting a quick one, two, three, and four to get the 7. When
you can make three 7 in a rows -- good. You are now ready to get
the Special reel of Super 7. The pattern for Super 7 is as the
same as the ordinary 7, which is an advantage for you once you
have gotten used to the 7s. Now is the best opportunity once you
get into the Nine reel, with only X and O. Its the easiest among
the reels. Get all Os without any Xs to win more than 100,000
coins. Trade all the coins and you will get A-05 as soon as possible
or any desired items. After finishing the Encephalon stage, return there using the EVS
and run into the spotlights. After defeating all the enemies on
screen, exit using the EVS and repeat the process. Every time
you do this, you get 8,000 and precious stones which you can sell
at the shop plate for some extra money. The enemies here also
give good special points; make sure to end every battle with the
points bonus icon. Go to the Cathedral Ship after you get MOMO's Dark Scepter tech.
This allows you to change Gnosis into gems that you can sell.
Fairies give Sapphires (1000), Cerberuses give Rubies (1500),
and Unicorns give Emeralds (2000). You can make 5000 G in one
fight. Make sure to boost MOMO's speed so that she gets a lot
of turns. The easiest way to earn money is to play at the slots in the casino.
At first you may think it is difficult to get money because of
the timing needed to land in good slots. However, it is not difficult.
First, make about 50,000 to 100,000 coins playing level 4 poker.
Then, bet the maximum amount of coins on each slot (there are
five), and start spinning. Having a controller with an auto-fire
feature will help, but is not necessary. Keep pressing the spin
button until you reach a new reel with the Super 7s. The only
icons you need to be able to match up at all in slots are the
Super 7s. The Super 7 reels come out randomly when you line up
three "New Reel" icons. Once at the Super 7 reel, match
up three Super 7s to go on to the Nine reel. This reel has nine
separate horizontally scrolling reels that have only "X"
and "O". if you hit an "O", all of your winnings
so far (shown on the lower right corner of the screen) will double.
If you manage to hit all nine "O"s you will have gained
a money multiplier of 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2, or 512. Playing at level
one slots and hitting all nine "O"s can net you over
100,000 coins if you were lucky. Playing at level 4 slots will
result in much more. If you lined up three Super 7 icons, you
will gain around 1,300,000 coins. If you lined up five Super 7
icons, you will gain about 2,700,000 coins. The limit for the
amount of coins you can hold is just 9,999,999. Playing at the
level 4 slots, you can reach this limit in under an hour of constant
playing. Get this, every coin that you earn past 9,999,999 is
multiplied by about 8 and turned instantly into G. For example,
with about 8,700,000 wing 2,700,000. 1,299,999 of them are used
to reach the 9,999,999 ceiling. The other 1,400,001 coins are
converted into 8,800,000 G.


Hint: Easy Tech, Skill, and Ether points:

Use the following trick in the very beginning of the
game for easy Tech, Skill, and Ether points. However, it can only
be done with Shion. Go to the Gear hanger. Talk to the man that
is working on a Gear. He will ask if you want to do a simulation.
Say "Yes" and go into battle Winning this battle will
earn you 16 to 180 points depending on if you got a x2, x4, or
x10. One of the best places to gain ability points and gold is in the
EVS in the Encephalon in the beginning. Here you will fight the
enemies in the searchlights, which consist of four Dirlewangers
and one Kubel. Each battle rewards 1,600 gold and several dozen
Tech, Skill, and Ether points. The real trick is to use an attack
which hits the entire group on a turn when the character has the
bonus points icon in the Event Slot. The problem is getting that
icon in an order will you can have it on one of your characters
instead of the enemy. Try weakening the enemies so that they will
all die in one hit, and wait a few turns to see if someone will
boost and change the Event Slot order. If about four turns pass
by, then try killing a Dirlewanger or two to change the order.
If you can successfully kill them all in one hit, you can get
about 60 Tech and Skill points, and about 40 Ether points, with
the 2x effect. The big payoff is when you hit them all on a 4x
or 10x, which rewards 100 to 200 points; even better if you have
ability increasing items or skills equipped. Clearing the area
two to three times rewards about 8,000 gold and 1,000 Tech and
Skill points, and 500 Ether points, depending on your luck. Go to the Cathedral Ship, then go to the mall (just after the
second save point). Go to the room on the lower level with the
two Unicorn battles. One of the battles will be against a Unicorn
and two Ogres, and the other against a Unicorn and two Cerberuses.
You can use the following trick for both battles. During either
of these fights, kill one Cerberus or Ogre on the Bonus Point
turn, but only one. Wait for the Unicorn's turn; defend or weaken
the other Cerberus or Ogre until then. Once its turn comes, he
will revive the Cerberus or Ogre you just killed. Then, kill another
Cerberus or Ogre on the Bonus Point turn (only one, again). On
the Unicorn's turn, the Cerberus or Ogre will be revived again.
Keep doing this repeatedly. If the Unicorn does not revive the
Cerberus or Ogre, then you cannot do the trick any more for the
rest of the battle. Just kill the last Cerberus or Ogre and the
Unicorn (preferably on the Boost Point turn). By the end of the
fight, you have a chance of accumulating anywhere between 50 to
500 Tech Points, Skill Points, and/or Ether Points, depending
on how many multipliers you get and of what caliber they are.
One of the best places to earn Tech Points is the Encephlecon.
Get caught in one of the searchlights, and the warning sign will
appear. Take them out with X-Buster, Mystic Nocturne, Angel Blow,
Angel Requiem, Meteor Shot, Executioner, etc. They should all
be defeated in about two or three consecutive moves. Use the same
tactics for the other searchlights. You must use the EVS platform
to return and get back. Avoid using your AGWS unless you want
to spend 100G every time you are low on health. Use any Ethers
you want. Use the EVS at the Dock Colony up the small flight of
stairs. That way, you can quickly return to the Dock Clinic and
restore HP and EP. You should earn about 30 to 60 Tech Points
every battle, since there are four soldiers and one helicopter.
Before the Song of Nephilum is a good time to level up. Get Ziggy
to level 26 and enought Tech Points to set it in the HI slot.
Get X-Buster on the high slot as well (KOS-MOS). Before the Song
of Nephilum, you should have Throni Blade, Dominion Tank, and
the head Ether. You will get the body later in the game. When
facing Albedo in Proto Merkabah, you must have Erde Kaiser, otherwise
it is nearly impossible.


Hint: Easy leveling:
Enter a battle where you know the character you wish
to level up is capable of taking on the enemy(s). It may be helpful
to move that character into the back row before the battle begins,
as you want the other two characters in the front to intentionally
be killed. When this is done, move your character to be leveled
up back into the front row and defeat the enemies. By doing this,
you do not have to share the EXP, Tech, Skill, or Ether points.
The best place to gain levels (not Tech points) is to fight the
semi-secret boss, Din Gareth. He is the orange AGWS. piloted by
Ace Pilot. He has about 8500 HP, but if you have AG-05 and are
good you can defeat him. Go into the fight with two HGG-AG5s.
Go back to the U-TIC ship, and then to the room with the segment
address in it. It is the room where when you tried to enter it
before; the door would alarm and you would have to fight a battle.
Or, go into the large area with the three plants at the upper
left of the screen then go into the room at the upper right of
the screen. There should be a soldier in there, but he will not
attack you. You have to approach him. Go in with the person that
you want to level up with Master's Pendant and have him or her
set to pilot the AG-05. Also remember to have Guard Recovery,
possibly Auxiliary Armor B or A, and/or Fast Circuit 25 (which
might be obtainable by stealing from Din Gareth). Guard Recovery
is insane in the AG-05 (600 HP for guarding). For some reason,
Shion cannot be in the AG-05 before the Ace Pilot gets killed
or else you get Meld Gareth, the green AGWS. Have the person with
AG-05 start with a good amount of health (over 300+ recommended),
then have them defend. Have one other person kill Ace Pilot (he
only has 360 HP), and have the other either defend or use Hemlock
on himself or herself, or on the person who just attacked. Din
Gareth should be out already. Get the person you want into AG-05
and place him or her in the middle of the back row. Din Gareth
should be killing off one or both of the people not in AGWS right
now. Do not worry, as this is expected. If Din Gareth is not killing
off your people, unequip them of their armor next time. Have AG-05
do the guard, then the W-ACT routine (does about 1500 damage)
until you whittle away Din Gareth's 8,500 HP. The guarding is
to keep you from dying. This should not be a problem because of
your Guard Recovery. If the person you wanted to level up had
Master's Pendant equipped, then they will get 10,000 EXP points
after the battle. If he or she had Master's Pendant and EXP +
25, then they should get 12,000 EXP. Within twenty minutes, you
can gain about four levels. If you landed on Special Points Up,
you might only get about 130 Tech points each battle, which is
not really worth it compared to the experience. Staggering for
Stat Points can be difficult here; make a note of this for the
next section. As for KOS-MOS and Ziggy level ups, the people outside
of the party during the battle still gain experience. They will
get 75% of Din Gareth's base of 8,000 EXP. Since KOS-MOS and Ziggy
cannot pilot AGWS, just put them outside of the party and fight
Din Gareth with the person of the lowest level in the AGWS. Do
not have the same two people accompany the person in the AG-05
for more than one or two battles unless you really do not want
them to level up or do not want to waste Hemlocks.

Note: You must have taught Boost 1 to at least one character amongst
those you are training, and one character must have a Tech Attack
at [HI] level and must hit everyone (i.e. Angelic Requim- Jr.)
for this trick. When training at the Encephalon area against the
searchlights, use the following steps to increase your experience
gains. During the battle, look at the current slot event on your
first character's move. If s/he is currently on an Experience
Bonus round, have them attack and attempt to kill all the enemies
immediately. If not (either it is not an Experience Round or they
are too weak to one-hit kill them all), there are two options.
Have him/her attack the Helicopter in the middle, as it has 800
HP whereas the soldiers only have 380 HP; or Get him/her cast
Boost 1 on your character with the [HI] hit-all tech (Jr.'s Angel
Requiem works extremely well). Choose the first option if this
character does not know Boost 1 or the second option if s/he does.
If this character is not the one with Boost 1, continue as usual
until the character with Boost 1 has their turn, and casts it
on your [HI] Tech-attack character. Next, watch the Event Reel.
It follows this pattern: No Event, Critical Hit Bonus, Boost Gauge
Bonus, Experience Bonus. Watch the events until the current fighter
has a "Boost Gauge Bonus" event. When this happens,
boost in your strong character immediately (during their turn),
so that an enemy does not boost before you do. Your strong character
will then boost into an Experience Bonus round. Have them use
their moves to wipe out all the enemies, and get a x2, x4 or (if
you are lucky) a x10 multiplier. Note: If your character does
not kill all the enemies on that round, cast Boost 1 on him/her
again, then boost him/her into the next experience round. If you
always kill during an Experience increasing round, you will get
Tech Points a lot faster.

Note: Having Erde Kaiser makes the following trick much easier.
In the hallway before the final Boss, go into a battle, and intentionally
allow your two other characters to get killed and kee[ Shion alive.
Try to use Erde Kaiser on a bonus slot. When you win, you will
get about 14,000 to 15,000 EXP points and a large amount of Tech,
Ether, and Skill points. The characters who are not in the party
will still get a decent amount of EXP points. It helps to have
the accessory that have you start battles with 1 boost. Also,
having the Masters Pendant helps, as you will get 25% more EXP.



Hint: Easy items:
You need MOMO and her skill "Prayer" as well
as "Sheep Beam" to do this trick. After you get set
up by the U-TIC organization, you will make your way to KOS-MOS'
memory "hard-drive". The characters that you have are
Ziggy, MOMO, and Jr. Get into a battle with the A.G.W.S. enemy
units that are around. Have MOMO in the back row and put the A.G.W.S.'s
to sleep. Remain there and cast "Prayer" repeatedly,
The items it gives you are completely random. At this point in
the game you have probably found about one Medic Pack MAX and
one Ether Pack MAX. This trick will allow you to get your party
99 of each, along with all the other items such as Medic Pack
S/DX and Ether Pack S/DX.


Hint: Play level 10 cards without level
1 first:
You can play level 10 cards without ever bothering
to play the level 1 card first. For example, you can play a level
10 Shion without ever having a level 1 Shion in your deck. The
catch is, you must first miss out on the special rewards of the
level 1 card and you cannot play the card straight to the battlefield,
but instead must put it in the standby area then place it on the
battlefield on the next turn. For example, to play a level 10
Shion, you have to satisfy its requirement for three human cards.
However, if you have a level 1 Shion card on the field already,
you can replace it with the level 10, even if the requirements
are not met. Even if you miss out on these two effects, simply
playing the level 10 can be well-worth it. It takes the same number
of turns, and uses less cards. You do not have to waste slots
in your 40-card deck for the level 1 cards, and the enemy will
not have a hint at what you are doing (they may expect it when
they see the level 1 card). Also, the rewards from level 1 cards
are not always very valuable. For example, you may still need
to satisfy the card requirements (like level 10 Momo) and get
no special effects except instantly playing it on the field, by
replacing the old card. The choice is yours.


Hint: Fast sneaking:
If you do not want to alert the enemies with your loud
footsteps, you can walk by pressing R2. Additionally, if
you want to save time, repeatedly press R2 while moving
behind or out of the range of the enemies' view.


Hint: Eliminate enemy power-ups:
Quite often the enemy (especially Bosses) will use
spells on themselves that wreak havoc on your party. There are
spells that increase speed and attack power, cause a 50% chance
of healing instead of being hurt, and charge up power just before
an attack. Use a spell such as Refresh or an item like Cure-All
on the enemy to clear all their statuses (good or bad) and wipe
out the threat. Be careful; this also wipes out any bad status
effects that you have put on them.


Hint: Fighting Din Gareth before Song of
Niphilim:
In order to fight Din Gareth before the Song of Niphliim,
you must have access to the U-TIC battleship in the EVS system.
First, fight Meld Gareth about fifty times. After you defeat him
enough times, you will be able to fight Din Gareth. Note: Unless
you have really trained hard, it can be difficult to defeat either
one of these enemies this early in the game.


Hint: Defeating Din Garreth:
Once you have completed the Song of Nephilim and return,
you can fight another version of the Ace Pilots Gear called Din
Gareth. To do this, you have to kill the Ace Pilot while you have
only one or less Gear in battle. Otherwise, it will just be another
Meld Gareth. Din Gareth is roughly twice as hard as its counter
part, giving twice as much experience and slightly higher ability
points, and a Fast Circuit 25 as the rare item. An alternate way to fight Din Garreth is to get a Major Overkill.
Try doing this with about 1200 damage using Shion's default A.G.W.S.
equipped with Lancer arms and its best generator.


Hint: Defeating Great Joe:
This Great Joe Boss also appeared in Xenogears.
You can fight him as soon as you have control of Junior in the
Durandal. Have Junior in the lead and destroy the walls in the
top right room in the residential area. Great Joe will appear
and challenge you to a fight. Great Joe is not too tough, as long
as you have access to Shion's Medica All spell to deal with Great
Joe's Soul Crusher, which does a few hundred damage to each character.
Keep you character's HP high as you whittle down Great Joe's 9999
HP. Upon killing him, you will get Junior's tech attack Soul Rhapsody
and the ability to summon Great Joe in battle.

On the Durandal, there is an optional Boss named Great Joe. To
fight him, you must have Jr. lead. Go to the residential area
and follow the path towards the game room. When you get to the
first split in the path, turn left and go through the door. Go
up until you reach another split. Turn right and enter the room.
On the far left side of the room, there will be two doors that
you can destroy. The one on the right is hiding Great Joe. Choose
to challenge him and the fight will begin. A party of Shion, Chaos,
and Jr is recommended. Great Joe is very difficult; it is recommended
that your characters be at about level 30 or 35. Erde Kaiser will
also work. When Great Joe loses about half his life, he will ask
if Jr. wants to fight him. From this point on, until he gets angry
and threatens to destroy all of your characters, attack only with
Jr. You can have others heal him, however. Watch out for his Soul
Crusher move, as this can easily shave off 300 to 500 health from
all of your characters. When he threatens to kill your team, he
will use a move that gives you him a 50% chance of healing rather
than taking damage. This is where Chaos is extremely helpful.
Immediately, cast Light And Wings with Chaos. It is all right
if it heals him, but it will also clear him of the status change;
all of your attacks will do damage for the rest of the battle.
Your rewards for defeating Great Joe are Soul Rhapsody (Tech attack
for Jr. that absorbs Gnosis), Magnum Joe (summon Ether for Jr.),
and a swim suit (if you stole it using Jr's Psycho Pocket skill).



Hint: Defeating Meld Garreth:
The first optional Boss type of enemy appears soon
as you have access to the U-TIC Battle ship in the EVS. The Boss
starts the same Ace Pilot that you saw when Junior goes through
the first time. The Ace Pilot has 360 HP and as soon as you take
that much off, he boards his Gear called Meld Gareth. If you are
at fairly low levels and do not have properly equipped Gears,
this fight is bad news. Meld Gareth has 5500 HP and can case as
much as 300 points of damage to each character with its missile
attacks. Meld Gareth also is extremely fast, usually getting a
turn after two of your characters attack. Early in the game, the
best way to kill it is to have three characters in Gears with
gatling guns and flame throwers for the W-Attack, as well as Frame
Restores to survive its constant barrage. If you manage to kill
it, you will receive 1333 experience points per character, 1000
gold, and either A Frame Repair Z ( common), or a B-Max Circuit
(rare), as well as decent amounts for all three types of ability
points.


Hint: Defeating Minita:
If you are not properly prepared, she can be one of
the hardest Bosses in the game. Minita is first available when
the Kukai Foundation is under attack by the Gnosis, and resides
in Sector 26 above the Iron Man Bar. To get to her, you have to
first lower the overhang above the entrance to the Iron Man Bar.
Next, go to Our Treasure Inn, climb to the second floor, and exit
to the catwalk. Go to the right until you find a pile of junk,
which can be destroyed to reveal an Ether Upgrade S. Once there,
jump off the side and work your way across the overhangs until
you can enter the archway. Before going in, arrange your party
with all female characters and have a battle formation with Shion
behind Kos-Mos, and MOMO in the front to the side. If possible,
use tech points on Kos-Mos to allow her to use her R-Cannon each
turn, and whichever of MOMO's long range attacks you use, because
Minita is flying in the air. Having Chaos's Healing Dew on Shion
is good, because the higher healing of Medica is not recommended
for this battle. Also, put Attack Poison Guards on everyone so
that you will not waste turns to cure it. Also, Minita can lock
Circle with her attacks, making it impossible to do a tech
attack until that character is healed. If you choose to use male
characters, you will have things considerably difficult because
Minita does not like men. She will counterattack and use her Bibo's
summon far more often when they attack. Minita has 7777 HP and
her main attacks are Dark Star, which hits for around 300 HP and
can knock party members back. Her other attacks are the two forms
of Bibo which she summons to either hit the entire party for one
quarter of their current hp, or the far worse one which takes
all but one character's current HP and adds it to Minita's health.
To combat this. try to keep your characters HP at about 400 so
that they can survive Minita's Dark Star attack, and limit her
ability to drain large amounts of HP from your characters. This
battle is also hindered by the fact you cannot use AGWS, and Shion's
robot attacks almost always miss. When Shion has a free turn,
try to use her Queen's Kiss to steal Minita's rare item called
the Craft Apron, which is very valuable. The best strategy is
to constantly use Kos-Mos' and MOMO's long range tech attacks
and have Shion heal the characters to keep them alive, but not
higher then 500 HP. Due to the evasion of Minita, you will miss
frequently and do low damage when you hit. Keep at it for a while,
and as long as Minita drains less HP than the damage you inflict,
she will die sooner or later giving MOMO her Dark Scepter attack.



Hint: Destroying objects:
After receiving an e-mail about the "vapourizer
plug-in". press Square on an object with target to
destroy them. When multiple objects are nearby, you can switch
targets by pressing L1 or R1.


Hint: Robot:
Head 1: Kukai Foundation Roof Of Our Treasure (inn).
Talk to the Tom in the dock colony's weapon shop to learn about
the Pink Bug. Then, talk to the Pink Bug in Kings Warehouse on
Kukai Foundation City Sector 26/27. Select "Great Story",
then check the planter in Durandal's. Next, check the planter
in Durandal's observatory.


Hint: AWGS at the Dock Colony:
Aside from the three standard ones you get with Shion,
Junior, and Chaos join your crew, you can also actually buy three
other AWGS units at the Dock Colony. They are a category in the
shop "Talk to Me". Each one can equip its own specific
weapons bought at the same place. The best one is a Super Heavy
Weight that starts with 6000 FHP. However, these units are not
cheap. They are priced from the weakest at 50,000g, to the medium
at 80,000g, to the strongest at 300,000g.


Hint: Luty at the Dock Colony:
When you first go to the Dock Colony, go into the Dock-Clinic.
Go through the door all the way on the left side of the room.
Keep moving left until there are no more doors to go through.
You should have only gone through two rooms; the waiting room
and a doctors pation room. You should now be standing in a smallish
room with a little girl. If you try to talk to her, all she says
is "...". This is Luty, and she is mute. Get back on
the Elsa, and you will be taken through an intermission sequence.
Then, you will end up inside of the Gnosis Catherdral ship. Advance
yourself through the ship until you get to the first mall building
(it has a U.M.N. Save port and a silver shop port). Go inside
and defeat the Lightning Gnosis. He is big and blue. Then, go
up the stairs and defeat the Hydra Gnosis. It resembles a big
plant. You should receive decoder number 15. Then, go behind it
and then to your left. You will see a blue shining packet on the
counter. Take it. It is a packet of Flower Seeds to the Ariadne
Flower. The next chance you get, go back to the Dock Colony and
give the seeds to Luty. Then, every once in a while, go back to
the colony and check on Luty and her now plant. Once it is fully
grown, you should receive a Tech Upgrade Z.


Hint: HP Strong skill:
Once you have the Bravesoul from the Casino mini-game
for 15,000 points, you can extract the HP Strong skill from it
for each of your party members. However, your skill level has
to be level 4 and you must have 500 points to extract it. The
same can be done for the Double Buster as well.


Hint: Card game:
Place a Zohar Emulator and a Gnosis card on the battlefield,
with any Mech, Human, Realian, etc. cards you want to boost. During
the block phase (not the event phase) in the enemy's turn, discard
the card to give your Gnosis +2 attack on your next turn. Make
sure your other cards will not suffer or die from enemy attacks
that the Zohar was supposed to block. When your move phase comes
up, have your Gnosis card trade places with another battle card
on the battlefield. The card will receive a +2 on its attack,
and the Gnosis card loses it and returns to its old attack power.
Next, trade them back to their original places, and the Gnosis
card regains its +2 attack, and the other card keeps its own +2.
You can now repeat the process for the other two battle cards,
giving all the cards on the battlefield a +2 attack. The effect
will last for one turn (as the Zohar Emulator card says); make
good use of it. This will also work on any attack type, including
spread, piercing, homing, etc. Note: Be careful not to move a
Gnosis card onto a blank spot or the standby area, or it may lose
its +2 attack permanently.


Hint: Playing mini-games:
To play mini-games, you must have the game passport.
You can get them by talking to certain people in the game. Once
you have the passport, go to a save point with "EVS"
above it. Once there, you go to the menu and select key-item.
Choose the game passport you want to play and press Action.



Hint: Game completion data:
Once you complete Xenosaga: Episode 1, after
the ending credits roll, the game will ask if you want to save.
Answer "Yes" and the game completion data will be saved.
Although you cannot load this saved game data with the Episode
1 game disc, do not delete it. It is likely that this game completion
data will be used to load your characters stats into Xenosaga:
Episode 2.


Hint: General tips:
Whenever possible, fight. You will never know when
a Boss is lurking around the corner. Utilize all of your T, E,
and S points. Upgrade each attack accordingly and level up your
characters. Also save your items (such as medkits and ethers).
Whenever possible, evolve your Ethers. One of the most powerful
character encountered using is KOS-MOS. She levels up quickly,
and when she receives weapons and such she becomes more powerful.
Note: In certain parts, KOS-MOS will not be a playble character.
Keep your characters at even odds. The game is very unpredictable.
Also take advantage of "Booster", as a lot of times
you will DIE. All enemies possess the same abilities as you do.
Whenever possible, stock up on Medkits and also upgrade your AGWS's.
To make ensure that you do not get stuck at a hard level, fight
as much as you can near a rest area and level up. Remember, you
can also train with the phone device when the save point has a
blue icon on top. When fighting, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy
or Boss that you are facing. Some enemies and Bosses have different
weaknesses such as long-range attacks (Triangle), short-range
attacks (Square), and Ether attacks. Some enemies are even
weak against the A.G.W.S. units.


Hint: Biblical references:
In the book of Genesis, Jacob the son of Isaac had
taken four wives and of his four wives he bore 12 children. The
names of these children are the name of the E.S.s. Asher, Dan,
Dinah, Gad, Issachar, Joseph, Judah, Levi, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon
and Zebulun. The names of the 12 Zohar emulators, not including the main emulator,
are the twelve apostles of Jesus; Andrew, Bartholomew, Boanerges,
James, John, Judas, Marienkind, Matthew, Peter, Philip, Simon,
Thaddeus, and Thomas. Joachim Mizrahi: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it
and death and Hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and
they were judged, every man according to their works! And death
and Hell were cast. They were cast into the lake of fire! And
with it came about the second death! And whosoever not found in
the Book of Life… was cast into the lake of eternal fire.
This is a quote from Revelation 20: 13-15.



Hint: Friedrich Niestzche reference:
All three Xenosaga episodes are named after
Friedriech Niestzche books.