================================================== Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir ================================================== Complete Game Walkthrough v1.2 by: glennkcl ----------------- Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Version History 2. Introduction 3. Tips 4. Walkthrough 5. Extras 6. Contact 7. Thanks/Credits ======================= 1. Version History ======================= 07/29/05 Version 1.2: Just minor changes, so I'm not sure it warrants a new version update, but then again who reads these anyways, right? Made some additions to the easter eggs section. 07/21/05 Version 1.1: Yeah okay, call me a liar. I know I said I probably wouldn't come back to the guide, but I kept track of goodies that I just had to share. I do it for the fans man...the fans. Enjoy the easter eggs and the image crystal locations in the new "Extras" section. 07/19/05 Version 1.0: (Complete) I noticed the absence of walkthroughs of any sort for this game, and figured I'd break the ice by making one. I suspect that I'm over and done with this guide, so I don't plan on making any version updates. I welcome feedback nonetheless... ================== 2. Introduction ================== Good ol' Ed and Al return in Square's second installment of the FMA franchise. Ah, FMA...it seems like only six months ago that we saw you. Wait...we DID see you only six months ago, in the first game dubbed, "Broken Angel." What's nifty about this game is that it includes a bonus DVD with 2 episodes from season 2 of the anime series, which is slated to debut in September on Cartoon network. Die hard fans who can't wait to see what happens next in the story should gobble it right up. FMA 2 takes a lot of what was wrong with the first one and skillfully overhauls it here. In addition to the newly rendered cel-shaded graphics, the battle system has been improved and alchemy skills have been added. New original animation augments the already compelling universe of FMA, and even in-game scenes are fully voiced by characters from the show. From the Square Enix website: "FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 2 begins in Lior, the desert city that the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse, encounter in the first episode of the anime series. Just as the brothers are unveiling the secrets of a cult called Leto, they engage in a battle with creatures from the unknown. Immediately after this, they encounter a mysterious woman who hands the brothers a ring and then disappears without a trace." This walkthrough aims to provide a fairly complete guide for the player who just wants to finish the game, but is in no way comprehensive. Like the first one, you can replay the game with all the items you've previously earned. During a second playthrough, you can also hunt for crystals that unlock game art in the gallery. Alas, this walkthrough does not cover those features. (As of v1.1 it does!) Otherwise, it's still a pretty decent walkthrough if I do say so myself. So away you go now, and don't forget to wash behind your ears. ============ 3. Tips ============ - During the in-game tutorials, the game neglects to teach you one move Ed can do: the high kick. To do it, tap the left analog stick away from the direction Ed is facing and press [square] and [X]. Use it with your handblade to get a longer and cooler looking combo! Try this one: [square]x3 => [triangle]x3 => high kick => slide kick => foot sweep - Counterattack, counterattack, counterattack. - Al is STILL a much better shot than you are. This is, of course, in reference to the first game which takes place AFTER the events of this game. I guess its more accurate to say that Al HAS ALWAYS BEEN a much better shot than you? - Reloaders are plentiful. Don't be afraid to reload mountable weapons. There are more than enough reloaders in the game to keep your trigger finger happy. - Al is a lot more helpful than you may initially give him credit for. Don't forget about how strong Al is, despite his lack of initiative to fight. Egg him on by constantly tapping the R1 button when Al is near enemies. - Use tonics as you obtain them. They permanently increase Ed or Al's stats by 1 point, so there is no point in saving them for later use. Early in the game, use vials at your descretion. It may be wise to save them for the bosses. - If, however, you're of the anal variety, and you feel incomplete without obtaining every single item in the game and acheiving the highest possible rank on every single boss, do save those tonics for subsequent playthroughs. Like the first one, you can keep all the items you have in your inventory for the second go around, and getting an A-rank on some of those bosses require an extraordinary amount of help. - Speaking of increasing stats, NEVER distribute your bonus points or tonics on Al. He's just fine the way he is. - Because Al can carry transmuted weapons as well, use him as a "transport" to take certain types of weapons into boss fights or heavily guarded areas. If you discover that a certain type of weapon works particularly well on a boss, then it can't hurt to have TWO of those weapons with you. To prevent Al from using the weapon, press R1 as soon as you enter a new area and Al will drop his weapon to do a foot sweep. =================== 4. Walkthrough =================== ************************************* * * * Chapter 1: The Desert City Lior * * * ************************************* -------------------- Lior Town Square -------------------- Items: Elixir (S) x4 Our story begins when the brothers arrive at the desert city of Lior. The game introduces a few basic tutorials here as you explore the town. Make sure you find all four chests containing the Elixir (S) item. Head north to find a save point, and proceed into the next area. ----------------------------- Lior Residential District ----------------------------- Items: Elixir (S) x2 Ed and Al will be greeted by Leto Cultists, and the game will give brief tutorials on offensive manuevers and alchemy skills. Defeat the wave of enemies to learn about leveling up, and look for two chests containing two more Elixir (S) items. -------------------------- Lior Business District -------------------------- Items: Elixir (S) x3 Another wave of enemies approach as you enter this area, and again their defeat is mandatory. A second wave of cultists appear, and after you finish them off, one will have left a Lead Bangle item for you. After reviewing the accompanying tutorial, equip the Lead Bangle on Ed and proceed north on the map. ------------------------ Lior Temple Approach ------------------------ Items: none A considerable number of cultists will swarm you in this area, but you can make short work of them by transmuting the various wooden barrels into clusters of mice-bombs. These mice-bombs will scamper around the room trying to track your enemies, and explode on contact. They won't hurt you nor Al, however, so transmute to your heart's content. Once you finish off the last cultist, a few events will unfold before you find yourself inside the temple's walls. ------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Prayer Hall ------------------------------- Items: Elixir (S) x2; Lead Ring More cultists await a beating from Ed and Al, so make sure you defeat them before you search the temple for treasure. Afterwards though, call Al over to the southwest corner and perform an alleyoop up to the ledge. Climb the ladder to reach the western balcony, and look for a Lead Ring at the end of the room. Return to the fist floor to acquire two more Elixir (S) items, and alleyoop up the southeastern ledge this time to climb the ladder. A save point is available before heading through the doors. ------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Easthall 2F ------------------------------- Items: none You can use the previously employed method of transmuting barrels into mice- bombs to finish of most of the enemies here. For your additional benefit, there are a few suction devices to keep them clustered in one big group! ------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Westhall 2F ------------------------------- Items: Reloader; Elixir (S) x2 No enemies in this room, although you will have to deal with the sentry guns mounted on both sides of the narrow corridor. No worries however, as this is where the game introduces a tutorial on transmuting large weapons. Transmute a cannon from the nearest torch, and destroy the sentry guns within range. If you have trouble hitting some of the further guns, there are additional torches along the way. Note that each destroyed sentry gun drops a reloader item, so remember to stock up on a few before they disappear. ------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Westhall 1F ------------------------------- Items: Reloader; Elixir (S) A new enemy appears, and the game will give tutorials on defensive manuevers. The counterattacking skill is one of the most useful techniques in the game, so try and familiarize yourself with it here. You'll find that if you try to defeat the statue with your handblade, you'll only be chipping away at the statue's HP. Use R2 to counterattack and make short work of the statue. After the first one falls, three more will greet Ed and Al from two sides. You can counterattack all three of them until they're destroyed, but a newly available (and much faster) way to destroy them has become available in the form of bombs. Transmute bombs from the clay pots on the floor. Each statue will take two direct hits before crumbling. Before you leave the area, replenish your bomb supply by transmuting another pot. -------------------------- Temple of Leto: Egress -------------------------- Items: Reloader; Elixir (S) A small group of odd black creatures appear from the dark puddle on the floor. They're neither strong nor powerful, but dealing with them in large groups can get frustrating (as you'll learn later in the game) since they scatter and may try to get away from you. Better to use a nearby suction device to keep them in one place, and toss the bombs into the group. Once you defeat them, you're auto- matically taken into the next room, so you may want to make it a point to open the two chests in the area before you kill the last enemy. ------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Easthall 1F ------------------------------- Items: Reloader It's a good idea to make use of that save point in this room as the next room will be your first boss fight in the game. Approach the large double doors to the north after you've done so. --------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Charnel House --------------------------------- Items: Lead Armor After a lengthy dialogue and a movie sequence, your first boss fight against the lion chimera begins. +--------------------+ | Boss: Lion Chimera | +--------------------+ Don't expect to run up to the Lion Chimera and mash the attack button to win. This kitty is fairly capable of taking your attacks and returning the favor with powerful swipes or lunges. Keep Al close and track it as it runs around the room. Command Al to attack when he's close and try to counterattack the Lion Chimera if it comes at you swinging. You'll have to be quick tho, as this boss doesn't telegraph it's attack like the statues did. When the Lion Chimera rears itself up to attack with a flame breath, circle around him and use that opening to get in a quick combo with the lance. Have Al attack with you at the same time to get a high combo score. A-rank item: Lead Earring B-rank item: Lead Earring C-rank item: Lead Earring D-rank item: Lead Earring After you beat the Lion Chimera, you'll have to chase down Cornello. Before you exit the Charnel house, head up the stairs to the northwest corner and open the hidden chest in front of the door for a Lead Armor accessory. Head out the door to the northeast to resume chase. ---------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Secret Passage ---------------------------------- Items: Elixir (S) The metal barriers in front of you can be transmuted into large steel balls that do massive damage on enemies. Hit the balls in the direction you want them to go and they should be able to kill all the enemies in front of you. You'll have to be careful using these weapons however. Both Ed and Al can take damage from them too while they're rolling around, so make sure not to get in their path. Repeat this tactic on the enemies around the corner and follow Cornello out from the south. Pay attention to the background as Cornello runs down Easthall. You'll notice that he'll run past a kitty in a box on the floor. After the event and movie sequence, Ed and Al will wind up back in the Temple Egress, and you'll have the Ring of Riddles accessory in your inventory. -------------------------- Temple of Leto: Egress -------------------------- Items: none Save your game but DO NOT exit the temple. Remember that little kitty you saw in the cut scene with Cornello? We're gonna go pick him up. Exit to the north and head back to Easthall 1F. ------------------------------- Temple of Leto: Easthall 1F ------------------------------- Items: Tama Walk north and round the corner to find Tama on the ground. Approach it to trigger a scene with Al. After the scene, you'll have Tama in your inventory. Equip (can you equip a cat?) Tama on Al and return to the Egress. -------------------------- Temple of Leto: Egress -------------------------- Items: none Save your game again if you haven't done so and exit through the doors. Another boss fight will begin shortly. ----------------------------- Temple of Leto: courtyard ----------------------------- Items: none +--------------------+ | Boss: Leto Statues | +--------------------+ In this two part battle, your first obstacle is to defeat five white Leto Statues. They're larger, tougher, and more powerful than their smaller brethren, but they're only slightly faster and still telegraph their attacks for you. Again, countering their attacks cause the most damage, but if you've collected a lot of reloaders during your time in the Temple, you can transmute a cannon from one of the torches and make short work of them altogether. Try not to use any of the other transmutable objects in the stage for this fight, as you'll want to save them for the real boss fight afterwards. This one also doesn't count towards your boss scorecard afterwards, so you're free to take as much time or as much damage as you want. +----------------+ | Boss: Cornello | +----------------+ Before the battle with Cornello begins, you'll be given a tutorial on Rage attacks. Additionally, your rage meter will be filled so you can try out your new skill. This is fortunate, as it will make achieving a high combo score a cinch. Cornello calls a bunch of cultists to his aid, so begin the battle by transmuting a suction device. When they're in a group, unleash a Rage attack, and you should rack up a fairly decent combo score while disposing of most of the cultists. The remaining ones, including Cornello, will be momentarily stunned after the Rage attack, so take this opportunity to transmute (or reload) a cannon and focus your attacks on Cornello. Once you get Cornello in your line of sight, fire the cannon rounds in rapid succession and you'll juggle Cornello for a few quick hits. If he falls, wait for him to recover before firing again. The cannons should be all you need to defeat Cornello, but if the remaining cultists make trouble for you, don't forget about the other suction device and the mice-bombs in the area as well. A-rank item: Charm of Renewal B-rank item: Charm of Renewal C-rank item: Elixir (M) D-rank item: Elixir (S) ************************************* * * * Chapter 2: Trouble in East City * * * ************************************* -------------------- East City: Plaza -------------------- Items: Alchemy Tonic; Elixir (S); Dog Tag Before you chase after the mysterious man, take the time to explore the area for a chest containing an Alchemy Tonic and another containing an Elixir (S). Enter the alleys afterwards. After the initial event with three bandits in the next area, return here to obtain the Dog Tag accessory near the wreckage of the car. ------------------------- East City: Backalleys ------------------------- Items: Alchemy Vial; Elixir (S) Three bandits impede your progress. Defeat them for access to the backalleys. As you proceed, you'll encounter various other bandits that guard the area. They're all easy to defeat, but transmuting washtubs from the trashcans will stun all bandits on the screen, making your job that much easier. Find the manhole and head into the sewers afterwards. -------------------- Sewers: Entrance -------------------- Items: Belcini; Reloader; Elixir (S) Another cat awaits rescue behind a trashcan on the southwest corner of the map. After Al picks up Belcini, follow the mysterious man deeper into the sewers. --------------------------- Sewers: Central Chamber --------------------------- Items: Knife Examine the shiny object on top of the metal steps to obtain the Knife accessory and continue into the next area. -------------------------- Sewers: Main Sluiceway -------------------------- Items: Reloader Your quest after the mysterious man must be put on hold as now you must find a way to cross the rushing torrent of water. Look for a chest next to the steps, and return to the entrance of the sewers. -------------------- Sewers: Entrance -------------------- Head to the door you couldn't previously enter to find yourself in a different section of the central chamber. --------------------------- Sewers: Central Chamber --------------------------- Items: Elixir (S) Pick up the item in the corner of the room. Move along; there's nothing to see here. ---------------------- Sewers: Floodgates ---------------------- Items: none Before you figure out how to close the floodgates, you'll be attacked by a group of bandits eager to stop you in your tracks. Transmute a machinegun from the pile of debris near Ed and let Al do most of the dirty work. Since he's a much better shot than you are, Al should be able to defeat most of the bandits. Mop up whatever he doesn't finish to begin a cut scene. After the event, transmute the burning control panel into a cannon and knock down those floodgates! Why Ed can turn this cannon into one with unlimited ammo and not others, I dunno... Retrace your steps back to the main sluiceway to resume your chase after the mysterious man. Along the way you'll encounter a save point, and all the areas are now infested with bandits. -------------------------- Sewers: Main Sluiceway -------------------------- Items: Protection Vial Now that the water has been shut off, you can cross over to the other side by going down into the flowbanks and take a ladder up the other side. There are bandits all over the area, but take advantage of your surroundings and make the most of the objects around you. ----------------------------- Sewers: Materials Storage ----------------------------- Items: Reloader; Bulletproof Vest Transmute two wrecking ball cranes in the large open area before you. Let Al operate one while you man the other, and enjoy the sight of flying enemies. After you clear the area, head to the room in the upper northwest, defeat the enemies there, and claim a Reloader and a Bulletproof Vest. The mallet is also available here for the first time in the game. Fans of the previous game will remember the mallet as a great tool to gain levels with. It's not quite the same level of cheese this time around, but its still a great weapon for building combos. Take it with you if you want to get a high combo score easily in the next boss fight. ------------------ Sewers: Depths ------------------ Items: Elixir (M); Charm of Renewal; Strength Vial There are quite a few bandits to deal with in this room, so use those transmutable weapons liberally. Because of all the bandits in this area, there's a good chance that you'll have a Rage attack saved up before the fight ends. Try to save the Rage attack for the boss instead of wasting it on these small frys. Make sure you visit the top of the platform on the northeast end of the depths to plunder two chests. Visit the save point to replenish your health and save your game, because a boss battle is about to begin. ------------------------------------ Sewers: Water Treatment Facility ------------------------------------ Items: none +------------+ | Boss: Bald | +------------+ Hopefully you come into this battle with two things that will make your life much easier: a Rage attack and a mallet. Assuming you have both, use your Rage attack right away. If you give Bald enough time, he'll call forth a small group of bandits to help and you'll have to deal with them as well. A Rage attack will stun Bald, giving you a window to launch an offensive wave that will deplete much of his HP. All around the room are small piles of steel pipes that will transmute into firecrackers. The firecrackers do quite a bit of damage to Bald, but lose their tracking effectiveness the further their target is from them. This is why it is necessary to stun Bald, a runner and a blocker, before you attack with the firecrackers. Again, after you activate a Rage attack, find a pile of pipes nearest Bald and transmute them into firecrackers. As the firecrackers do their trick, use the mallet to achieve a high combo. After you fulfill your combo requirement, ditch the mallet and opt for the sword. When Bald recovers, stun him again with the washtubs and look for some more firecrackers to repeat the strategy. Continue this strategy and Bald should fall rather easily. If you run out of washtubs and firecrackers, use the suction devices to keep Bald from running away, and finish him off with melee weapons. A-rank item: Lucky Pouch B-rank item: Lucky Pouch C-rank item: Elixir (M) D-rank item: Elixir (S) *********************************** * * * Chapter 3: The Tucker Mystery * * * *********************************** ---------------- Tucker Manor ---------------- Items: Strength Tonic; Protection Tonic; Alchemy Tonic Save your game before you explore the house. Grab the Strength Tonic at the top of the stairs and go into the library on the west end of the house for an event. Scattered around the library are Tucker's research notes, which will reveal haunting information about the nature of his experiments. After you find all the notes, alleyoop to the top of one of the shelves for a chest. Remember this part of the house, because you'll return here later to rescue another kitty. Head down into the cellar when you're ready. ---------------------------- Tucker Manor: Laboratory ---------------------------- Items: Dog Collar Look for a shiny object on the floor to acquire the dog collar. Exit the room from the east. --------------------------- Tucker Manor: Storeroom --------------------------- Items: none A flock of winged snake chimeras attack when you enter. Defeat them and move on. -------------------------------- Tucker Manor: Back Storeroom -------------------------------- Items: Elixir (S) Two smaller brothers of the first Lion Chimera boss guard this room. They have nearly all the attacks of their bigger boss brother but don't do as much damage. That said, a pair of them can still be formidable. Transmute a dummy Ed or two from the boxes laying around, and use the mice-bombs to knock off some of their HP. Defeat them one at a time. Proceed through the hole in the wall to trigger the next event, but you won't be exploring the next area just yet. When you regain control of Ed, return to the library in Tucker Manor to rescue a kitty who has mysteriously appeared atop the bookshelves. ---------------- Tucker Manor ---------------- Items: Scratches Scratches sits in a box on top of one of the center bookshelves. Alleyoop Ed onto the bookshelf to activate the event and pick up Scratches. --------------------- Sewers: Sluiceway --------------------- Items: Reloader; Elixir (M); White Loincloth More lion chimeras can be found in the sluiceway, and they happen to love their fire breath here. This makes them difficult to approach, so transmute a boomerang from the debris on the floor and attack them individually from a distance. Another group of lion chimeras sandwich the sluiceway on the opposite end, but they're more aggressive than the first group. As you approach the end of the sluiceway, turn towards the north and look for a large steel drum and transmute it into a shotgun cannon. The shotgun cannon works wonders against the lion chimeras, but it comes with only five shots! Make each shot count, as more lion chimeras will appear in place of fallen ones. Reload when you run out of ammo, and remount the weapon if you get knocked off. Trying to take on the entire group of lion chimeras with melee weapons is more trouble than its worth. Explore the rest of the sluiceway for chests after you defeat all the chimeras and exit through the door when you're ready. ---------------- Sewers: Exit ---------------- Items: Elixir (M) It's an empty room until you approach the lone chest in the corner, at which point winged snake chimeras fall from the ceiling. Finish them off and save your game before you go up the ladder. It may also be in your best interests to revisit the sluiceway to build a Rage attack. The next boss fight can be tough! ------------------------- East City Freightyard ------------------------- Items: Elixir (S); Fasthold Gloves +------------+ | Boss: Scar | +------------+ Scar is a formidable boss and can be intimidating if the player goes in without a strategy to beat him. His attacks are capable of draining nearly half your HP and he can also counterattack most of your punches. He also has a considerable amount of HP, and in your current state, most of Ed and Al's attacks do very little damage. As a matter of fact, the game is betting that you'll lose this battle, which is why you're NOT required to defeat Scar to advance the game. Fortunately, there is a bevy of hidden options in this battle to even the tale of the tape. All of the containers and crates in this level can be destroyed (not by you, by Scar) and some will reveal additional weapons or chests for you to use. Pay particular attention to the large green containers in the upper northwest corner of the map. Behind these containers is the IMMENSELY useful Artistic Cow that causes tremendous damage, although it can hurt Al and Ed too. If you have a Rage attack saved up, don't be hasty to use it. If your goal is to obtain a high boss rank, you may need to do some prep work. Begin the battle by avoiding Scar's initial energy wave attack and transmute and equip some shurikens from the object near the crates in the center. Lure Scar into a corner (either the corner of a map or the corner of two containers) and unleash a Rage attack. Having stunned Scar with the Rage attack, unload all your shurikens into Scar. If done properly, the shurikens should push Scar into the corner without giving him a chance to escape. Do not command Al to attack if he's far away. Al's shoulder charge will knock Scar off his feet and cancel your combo with the shurikens. If he's close to Scar, however, feel free to call up Al's service. It will only add to the combo. Now that you've achieved a good combo, alleyoop to the top of large green container in the northwest corner and wait for Scar to destroy it. You may have to do some taunting to get Scar to destroy the crate. When he does, transmute the jar behind it into the powerful Artistic Cow and let it go to town on Scar. Going to town on Scar, however, does require a bit of coaxing on your part. The cow is much slower than Scar and will occasionally miss. Your best bet is to always keep the Cow between Ed and Scar in a straight line. As Scar runs towards Ed, he should run right into the path of the Cow's attack. Alternatively, you can also use the center crates to keep a barrier between Ed and Scar. Make sure the Cow is on Scar's side, and position yourself across the crates from Scar. Unless he destroys the crates, the Cow should hit Scar over and over again as he tries to run towards Ed. When the Artistic Cow expires (turn him into some Beef!), you'll have knocked off at least half of Scar's HP. For the remainder of the fight, keep a safe distance from Scar as he dances around you, and watch for him to do his rushing attack. When you see him coming, press R2 for a quick counterattack and repeat this strategy until Scar is beaten. Again, it isn't necessary to defeat Scar to advance the game, but you do get a pretty useful item for doing it. Behind the wooden crates on the south side of the map is a chest containing the Fasthold Gloves. Behind another green container on the east wall is a chest containing an Elixir (S) item. Don't forget to pick them up sometime during your fight with Scar. By the by, I think the best time I've ever seen for this battle was somewhere in the neighborhood of three minutes...I kid you not. A-rank item: Sunglasses B-rank item: Sunglasses C-rank item: Sunglasses D-rank item: Sunglasses ********************************** * * * Chapter 4: Back in Resembool * * * ********************************** ----------------------------- Rockbell Home: Front Yard ----------------------------- Items: Amazon Wrench; Camaraderie Crest +-----------------+ | Boss: Armstrong | +-----------------+ Strangely enough, Armstrong is considered a boss even tho you fight him at the beginning of this chapter. He is also another boss where your victory isn't required to progress in the game. Like Scar, however, beating Armstrong will yield items you can't obtain anywhere else. Armstrong's battle is particular because you can't use any alchemy skills. "Physical combat is the name of the game" as Armstrong would say, so concentrate exclusively on building combos with Al and effectively using counterattacks. Armstrong's most punishing attack is his "Majestic Muscle Mambo" (PLEASE turn up your speakers when he says this) which is a flurry of punches that you can't escape from. If his final punch connects, you'll be sent flying halfway across the stage and will likely be knocked dizzy. Because of this, it is wise to keep your HP at a fairly high level at all times. Try to avoid it altogether by listening for a tell-tale chime before he executes this move. Try to sandwich Armstrong between Ed and Al at all times. Circle around him until he's between the two brothers. Armstrong has a tendency to block, but he can't block whoever is attacking him from behind! Try to get a combo going between Al and Ed to cause the most damage. If you neglect healing Al (you may be low in healing items after the battle with Scar), Armstrong will likely knock him out at least once during this battle. You can't bring Al back because alchemy is forbidden, so you'll be on your own for a few minutes if Al gets KO'd. If you're left alone with Armstrong, concentrate on counterattacking Armstrong until Al revives himself. After defeating Armstrong, your co-op tactics with Al will have moved him so much that he presents to you the Camaraderie Crest. Additionally, you also receive the Bond of Brotherhood if you get a high enough score. A-rank item: Bond of Brotherhood B-rank item: Bond of Brotherhood C-rank item: Elixir (M) D-rank item: Elixir (S) ----------------------------- Resembool: Outlying Hills ----------------------------- Items: Elixir (M) Follow the dirt path up the map to find a save point. It's not necessary to save your game here since there's another save point in the next area. When you approach the mouth of the caves, you'll be ambushed by a small group of golems posing as humans. Defeat them and enter the caves. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 1 ------------------- Items: Reloader The cave is made up of multiple chambers that branch out in different directions. It can be easy to get lost in the caves, but savvy players might notice that there are maps along the walls in all of the chambers. The maps always highlight the currently occupied chamber, so look for a map on the wall to orient yourself if you get lost. In this first chamber, there are three exits to choose from. From the event that transpires, you'll find out that the eastern exit is blocked off and you must go spelunking to find the missing puzzle pieces. To start, take the western exit. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 2 ------------------- Items: Strength Tonic; Fireguard Cloak When you head into the southern area of this chamber, a new golem will appear near the waterfall. There are four of these types of golems in the caves, and each one possesses a piece of the puzzle. You must defeat all four golems to gain access to the room in chamber 1. These golems have strong attacks and can summon smaller golems to their aid, but they're not difficult to kill. Ed automatically receives a piece of the puzzle when the golem is destroyed. Return to chamber 1 and take the northern route. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 3 ------------------- Items: Gold Ring By now, Ed has learned how to transmute the final weapon in his learned alchemy menu, making it complete. Use the hammer to break the wooden boards. There are three exits in this cave including the one you came in from. Take the eastern exit first. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 4 ------------------- Items: Elixir (M); Gold Bangle No pieces of the puzzle to be had in this chamber, but the Gold Bangle accessory is probably worth your time. Retrieve it from one of the chests in the chamber, and swarms of floating golems will engulf the room. They're not particularly dangerous, and even at these numbers they're easily defeated with just one swipe of your sword. The problem with this room is that they spawn incessantly. Your instinct may be to remain in this room to build levels with these enemies, but tragically, each golem only gives you 5 measly EXP points and its tough to pull off a combo on them. Take heart though! They DON'T respawn infinitely (there are only a few HUNDRED or so to defeat), but if you're patient enough to kill all of them, a new enemy which only appears later in the game will make a preview. This blob-like golem has awesome defense but not a lot of HP, so you can take him out pretty handily. When you do, your reward is 700+ EXP points!!! Return to Chamber 3 and find the exit to the west. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 5 ------------------- Items: Alchemy Tonic There's a circular path around this chamber and a small room to the south. Explore this southern room for an item and look for the accessible exit to the north. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 6 ------------------- Items: Gold Armor; Protection Vial Chamber 6 is the largest chamber yet, and the second piece of the puzzle is found here. There are a lot of enemies that guard this chamber, so take your time as you fight to get to the big golem that has what you're looking for. As you approach it, look for boulders that you can transmute into shurikens, and you may even be able to kill the golem from a distance without engaging it at all. Return to chamber 5 and take the exit to the west. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 7 ------------------- Items: Reloader; Advancement Guide There is a small room to the south of the chamber still boarded up by wooden planks, so head there before you exit. Find the pick axe that transmutes into a pogo stick for a creative way to defeat the golems in the room. Claim the spoils of victory and take the exit to the west. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 8 ------------------- Items: Protection Tonic; Elixir (M) The third piece of the puzzle is guarded by a golem in the southern room of this chamber. By now you should be able to transmute lv 2 gauntlets from the boulders, so use them to make short work of the golems. A large group of golems appear as you try to exit this chamber. It wouldn't hurt to defeat them all for some good leveling, but if you're running low on healing items or HP, play it safe and run away. Return to chamber 7 and exit to the north. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 9 ------------------- Items: Elixir (M) The fourth and final piece of the puzzle is found in this room. The two oil lamps near the entrance can be transmuted into taming rods that do massive damage on enemies. Collect the last piece and save your game before you exit to the south. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 5 ------------------- Items: Gold Earring You'll be back in Chamber 5 on a high ledge that was inaccessible from the way you came in. Two small golems are minor nuisances as you try collect the Gold Earring accessory. Once you open the chest, make your way back to Chamber 1. ------------------- Cave: Chamber 1 ------------------- Save your game but do not go through the doors. Approaching the doors with all pieces of the key will trigger an event that opens the doors, but don't go through just yet as there are some things left to do in this area. The boss is waiting in the next area, some prep work may be in order to make things easier. First and foremost, exit the caves altogether to pick up another kitty. When you return, consider the following: - If you haven't learned how to create lv2 gauntlets yet, level up until you do. Gauntlets can be transmuted from boulders, and lv2 gauntlets are glowing with flames. - Equip both Ed and Al with the gauntlets, but save all of its uses on the upcoming boss fight. Even though you're equipping Al with one, the strategy here is to have Al drop his gauntlets as soon as the boss fight begins, effectively giving you TWO gauntlets to use on the boss. You'll find that Ed is much more effective with the gauntlets than Al is anyway. - As with most of the boss fights, its always a good idea to build up your Rage attack bar before the fight starts. Do so in one of the chambers. ----------------------------- Resembool: Outlying Hills ----------------------------- Items: Ryuke Ryuke can be found along the fence. Approach him to watch an amusing scene between Ed and Al. Afterwards, return to chamber 1 of the caves, save your game, and prepare yourself for a boss fight as you enter the newly accessible area. ------------------------------ Cave: Alcove of the Circle ------------------------------ Items: none +---------------------+ | Boss: The Phantom 1 | +---------------------+ As you'll eventually learn, this mysterious creature was actually a woman named Elma in a previous life. A turn of events has made her into quite a formidable enemy, so don't go easy on her by any means. This battle with the Phantom can be either incredibly challenging or incredibly easy, depending on your battle strategy. If you did your homework and subscribed to some of the tips laid out earlier, this battle will be much shorter than it has to be. If both Ed and Al have taken gauntlets into battle, command Al drop his right away. You don't want Al wasting the gauntlet on the golems that appear in this fight, and you especially don't want it getting knocked out of his hands by a critical hit. Run right up to the Phantom and wail away with Ed's own gauntlets. It's best to focus your attention exclusively on her while you have the gauntlets because they're only good for about 30 hits. If golems happen to get caught in your barrage of attacks, all the better. They will only add to your combo score, but keep the Phantom as your primary target. When the gauntlet is used up (or gets knocked away), find the one that Al dropped and continue your offense strategy. Without the gauntlets, you'll find that the Phantom is MUCH more resistant to your attacks. If you do happen to lose the gauntlets, make use of the oil lamps around the arena and turn them into taming rods. While they're not as effective as the gauntlets (they knock her down), they still do considerable damage and a much better alternative to your bare fists. The Phantom's attacks are powerful if you get caught in them. She can create large bell objects to rise from the ground and knock Ed off his feet. They can only be destroyed with either the hammer, the taming rods, or the gauntlets. She also uses them to ricochet fireballs around the room as the fight winds down, so try and beat her as quick as possible. The Phantom also summons golems to her aid in regular intervals during the fight. You can choose to use the Rage attack anytime you feel comfortable, but I like to save it for a moment when she has summoned a lot of golems. It's a great way to give yourself some breathing room if you find that there are too many enemies on the screen to deal with at once. Use it before Al gets knocked out. Sometime during the battle, you'll have to try to get a good combo going if you're aiming for a high boss rank. Wait until there are a few golems in the arena, combo one, then look for another. Repeat until there are no more standing enemies left to combo! A-rank item: Armlet of Absorption B-rank item: Fullmetal Bracer C-rank item: Elixir (M) D-rank item: Elixir (S) ******************************************* * * * Chapter 5: Bord'wan: the Dead Village * * * ******************************************* -------------------------- Bord'wan: Village Gate -------------------------- Items: Elixir (M) Lieutenant Hawkeye joins your party and is actually fairly adept at holding her own. You won't need to protect her or anything because she can't actually die. If she takes enough damage, she'll be knocked out momentarily, but like Al she revives herself after a few minutes. Nonetheless, coming to her aid if she gets in trouble is more than just chivalrous. If you keep her from ever being KO'd, you can obtain an extra item before the chapter concludes. The road through the village will bring about many golems, so it never hurts to have another pair of helping hands. ----------------------- Bord'wan: West Road ----------------------- Items: Armlet of Piercing; Alchemy Vial More enemies appear as you make your way deeper into the village. Always try to defeat all the enemies. Nobody gains levels by not fighting! ---------------------------- Bord'wan: Village Square ---------------------------- Items: Lucky Haversack After the event, open the chest near the save point and save your game. The path to the village square now branches into two directions, but for the moment you can only take the southern path. If you try to head to the northeast, Al and Hawkeye will try to convince you otherwise. Try to do it anyway to watch their reactions. --------------------------- Bord'wan: South Road --------------------------- Items: Charm of Renewal Step 1: Kill bad guys. Step 2: Follow road. Step 3: Exit east. ------------------------------ Bord'wan: South Road Annex ------------------------------ Items: Strength Vial A new golem type introduces itself by rolling towards you. It's the strongest and toughest type of golem in this chapter, but between the three of you in the party, this golem shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you've wandered a little further into the map and caused smaller floating golems to appear. Another big golem appears a little further down the road. --------------------------- Bord'wan: Elder's House --------------------------- Items: Ring of Vows - His Approach the burning house to trigger an event. Learn the fate of the residents by picking up the diary near the front door and obtain the Ring of Vows - His accessory. The area becomes filled with floating golems after you read the diary. As in the fourth chamber of the caves in the previous chapter, the golems seem to respawn forever but there is a limit. The same blob golem appears if you're patient enough to kill all floating golems again. Return to the village square afterwards. ---------------------------- Bord'wan: Village Square ---------------------------- Items: Ring of Vows - Hers This time the village square appears to be occupied with a few villagers; yet there is something strange about their behavior. Not surprisingly, they turn into golems, and you must defeat all of them in order to move on. After the dialogue that follows, save your game and take the northeast exit out of the village square. Before you exit, look for the shiny object on the floor near the road to obtain the Ring of Vows - Hers accessory. ----------------------- Bord'wan: East Road ----------------------- Items: Elixir (M) The dilapidated old wagon that sits before you can be made much better use of as a tractor. Take one for a ride and use it to get rid of the two big golems in this area. The smaller golems that appear may be too quick to destroy with the tractor, so get your hands a little dirty if the tractor doesn't work. Continue up the road and into the next area. --------------------------- Bord'wan: Mountain Pass --------------------------- Items: Reloader; Red Loincloth Two large golems roll towards you as soon as you enter the mountain pass, so try to side step them and head towards the wheelbarrow a little further up the road. Transmute it into a suction device and attack the cluster of enemies while they are incapacitated. Just around the elbow is another spawning point for floating golems, but other golems will roll in from the forest as well. There is no prize for slaying all the floating golems this time; the blog golem has wisened up and does not appear. Exit to the south when you're done playing exterminator. ----------------------- Bord'wan: Outskirts ----------------------- Items: Elixir (M) Return here after the events in the house for the most amusing kitty rescue yet. ------------------ Secluded House ------------------ Items: Bullet of Faith; Journeyman's Guide; Elixir (L) If you've managed to keep Hawkeye in good shape the entire way here, look for a shiny object near the door and examine it to obtain the Bullet of Faith. If she was knocked out even once, you won't be able to obtain this item. Explore this house to learn a thing or two about the history of the golems and the role they played in the lore of an ancient city. Take the ladder upstairs and search the pile of books in the south end of the balcony for a required item. Before you head into the backroom to save your game, exit the house again. ----------------------- Bord'wan: Outskirts ----------------------- Items: Antonio Antonio sits near the side of the house. Walk up to Antonio and watch as Al's part-time kitty sheltering job gets him into trouble with Ed and the lieutenant. Return to the house and save your game before exiting from the back. ---------------------- Bord'wan: Cemetary ---------------------- Items: none +--------------------+ | Boss: Horned Golem | +--------------------+ Let's get this announcement out of the way immediately: the horned golem is your toughest boss battle yet. Even with some pre-battle prep work, this boss doesn't give you anything. You're on your toes the entire battle, and if you relax for even a bit the horned golem will make you pay. As a quick reference for those who are trying to get a high boss rank, you must win this battle in five minutes or less, obtain a 100+ hit combo, and take less than 750 points of damage for a perfect game. An A-rank is between 13-15 points on any boss, so you DO have a bit of leeway but not much. The difference between four and five points on the combo score is one shot of the shotgun; the difference between four and five points on the damage score is one hit of his energy beam. The first thing the golem usually does is eject eggs from its back. Left unchecked, these eggs will hatch imp golems unless you can transmute them into something a little more useful for your purposes. There are a few things you can transmute from the eggs; watch the transmutation icon to know what you're getting. You can create two shotgun cannons from the two wagons in the cemetary. These cannons will most likely be the preferred way to obtain a high combo, but one must be careful to make every shot of the cannon count. To do this, lure the horned golem until he's literally within point blank range and activate a frenzy (you DID build a frenzy before this battle, RIGHT?) to stun the golem in place. Hop into the cannon and unload on the golem until you run out of ammo. As a side note, every transmutable object in the cemetary comes in pairs. There are two shotgun cannons on each end of the map, but you'll also find that there are two suction devices as well as two extending staffs. The latter two items can be quite effective when used in conjunction. Transmute a wheelbarrow into a suction device and wait for the horned golem to get trapped. When it does, find the mining tools nearby and transmute them into an extending staff. Since the staff magically extends, keep a safe distance from the golem and attack. The golem will try a body slam attack, but the suction devices will prevent him from going anywhere for a while. Keep attacking, but make sure not to get too close to the shock radius when the golem lands from a body slam (or dodge it with a backflip) or else Ed's staff will get knocked out of his hands. Repeat this strategy with the other suction device and you should be able to deplete a good amount of the horned golem's HP. If Ed drops his staff, retrieve the other one and attack until you lose it. When you finally have no choice but to engage the golem at close range, wait for him to create more eggs and quickly find one that will offer the gauntlets. That said, transmute AS MANY of the eggs as you can before the horned golem attacks you and pick up the gauntlet after you know you can't reach anymore eggs. If you neglect the eggs too many times, the entire stage will be filled with imp golems before you know it. Get up close and personal with the horned golem, and introduce yourself with the gauntlets as many times as you can. By now, the golem will have lost enough HP to get serious with you. When it rears up on its hind legs, it's getting ready to do one of two things: cover the area with fireballs, or shoot a massively damaging energy beam from its mouth. Learn to distinguish between the two (the golem won't turn to face you when it does the energy beam attack) and sidestep them accordingly. If he's getting ready to cover the area with fireballs, quickly step into his body and attack. When you're nearest to him, his own fireballs can't hit you. When he's using the energy beam attack, get over to his side or back and get in as many hits as you can. A-rank item: Armlet of Retribution B-rank item: Armlet of Retribution C-rank item: Elixir (M) D-rank item: Elixir (S) ******************************************* * * * Chapter 6: Siam-Sid: City of Illusion * * * ******************************************* --------------------------- Siam-Sid: South Quarter --------------------------- Items: Strength Tonic; Elixir (L); Elixir (XL); Fullmetal Armor Upon reaching Siam-Sid, Ed discovers that its citizens are less than hospitable. Fortunately the game doesn't require you to speak to any of the NPC's in the city, so merrily make you way through south quarter and pick up the items along the way. As you walk through the city, see the statues of the four-legged golems around? Take out your hammer, jump, and hit it in the head. See how it shatters? Remember this when these innocent looking statues get "unfriendly." ----------------------------- Siam-Sid: Grand Promenade ----------------------------- Items: Reloader; Elixir (L) x2; Fullmetal Earring; Protection Vial; Roxanne Pick up Roxanne behind one of the small obelisks on the east side of the promenade and rejoin Hawkeye and Glostner just outside the entrance to the Spire of Lebis. After the event, you'll find yourself back in the grand promenade, only now all the citizens have been replaced with golems. Defeat them all to buy Hawkeye and Glostner some time to escape. --------------------------- Siam-Sid: South Quarter --------------------------- Items: Elixir (L) Those previously static golem statues have now become laser turrets set to target YOU. Take them out with the hammer, but be careful walking past the other golem statues. Those don't shoot you, but are set to fall on top of you when you get close enough, so take measured steps and avoid getting stunned. A doorway to a road heading north has now been opened in the south quarter, so take it into the next area. A familiar golem guards the exit, but has added a deadly new attack to his arsenal. This golem now shoots a powerful purple laser beam from its mouth which can juggle you the entire length of the beam if you get caught with a direct hit. Needless to say, this can drain massive amounts of HP very quickly, so take him out fast and hard. ---------------------------- Siam-Sid: Merchant's Way ---------------------------- Items: Elixir (L); Alchemy Vial; Alchemy Tonic Watch your back as you cross Merchant's Way. Enemies can appear both in front of and behind Ed and Al. -------------------------- Siam-Sid: West Quarter -------------------------- Items: Strength Vial; Elixir (XL); Fullmetal Bracer; Elixir (L) x2; Flurry Guide The golem knights are strong foes but moderate in number. The hammer works well against them as do your counterattacks, so don't rush things and take your time. Use your Rage attacks as you build them to get rid of multiple enemies, and also look for throwing knives transmutable from barriers. It's a projectile weapon with a spread effect and has a high attack power, so use them to clear a room quickly and painlessly. The turrets here usually guard treasure chests, so take care as you try to obtain them. There is a save point at the top of the steps. Use it before you drop through the hole in the roof of the nearby building and into the next area. -------------------------- Siam-Sid: Holy Quarter -------------------------- Items: Elixir (L); Fullmetal Ring Various golems can be found in the Holy Quarter, so be on guard as soon as you enter. Use the available katanas to even the field a little. ----------------------------- Siam-Sid: Residential Way ----------------------------- Items: Reloader; Protection Tonic; Elixir This short avenue resembles Merchant's Way, but you'll traverse this road having to face more powerful golems. Defeating the first few enemies will summon a pair of extra large golems that defend the exits. Defeating them can be tricky - while focusing your attention on one, the other on the opposite side of the map can shoot its purple laser at you and catch you in a corner. A Rage attack really helps in this area, but the taming rods can make short work of the enemies too. --------------------------- Siam-Sid: North Quarter --------------------------- Items: Fullmetal Earring; Strength Tonic; Reloader x2; Elixir (L); Elixir (XL) x2; Protection Vial; Fullmetal Armor After you defeat the enemies in the first area, transmute some lv 2 bombs for yourself and climb the rope ladder to the other side of the buildings. As soon as you enter the small enclosed courtyard, transmute a few flamethrowing devices scattered around the floor to help you defeat the enemies that appear. Climb the other rope ladder, defeat the remaining enemies, and rejoin Hawkeye and Glostner at the top of the steps of the Temple. If you're trying to obtain an A-rank on the next boss, bring a mallet with you as well. ------------------- Temple of Lebis ------------------- Items: Elixir (L); Elixir (XL) Save your game and collect the two items in the chest in front of the save point. Enter the temple chamber to trigger an event and approach the pedestal overrun with moss to learn more about the Glostner's relationship with Elma and Crowley. A boss fight follows. ----------------------------------------- Temple of Lebis: Cloister of Devotion ----------------------------------------- Items: none +--------------------+ | Boss: Spider Golem | +--------------------+ As big as the spider golem is, it's actually not a tough boss compared to the previous golem you had to fight. It's most damaging attack is a body slam, but it will cast a tell-tale shadow on the ground so you can avoid it fairly easily. At regular intervals, this boss will retreat into its puddle and summon other golems to attack you. You must defeat its minions to get the boss to reappear. Most of it's attacks are easy to avoid if you don't get caught up in button- mashing the boss to death. It is especially vulnerable after it's body slam, so you can take advantage of those moments to help reach your target combo with the mallet. When the spider golem lowers itself, it is getting ready to shoot green beams from its eyes, so stand in front of one of its legs to avoid them. Don't bother using your Rage attack on this boss. It doesn't do much damage and does nothing for your combo score. Instead, use it on one of the small groups of golems it will summon. I like to save it for the humaniod golems instead of the floating or imp golems, which are easily defeated anyway. A-rank item: Moon Medal B-rank item: Moon Medal C-rank item: Elixir (M) D-rank item: Elixir (S) *********************************** * * * Chapter 7: The Spire of Lebis * * * *********************************** ---------------------------------------- Spire of Lebis: Hall of Displacement ---------------------------------------- Items: none After the stylish and entertaining arrival of Mustang and Armstrong, Ed and company will resume their journey inside the Spire of Lebis. Their first stop beyond the Square of Lebis is a room with three transmutation circles that serve as transportation devices. The three military officers are whisked away in each trasnmutation circle, and Ed must choose one to follow. Each transmutation circle takes you to the same map, but you will get a different item near the end depending on which officer you follow. Mustang will give you the Flame Gloves, Armstrong will give you the Strong-Arm Gauntlets, and Hawkeye will give you the Bullet of Resolve. IMHO, no one item is better than the others, but since you've already partied with Hawkeye, following one of the State Alchemists will give you a chance to see what they can do. Hawkeye is to the West, Mustang is to the North, and Armstrong is to the East. Pick your favorite character and move on. -------------------------------- Spire of Lebis: First Ascent -------------------------------- Items: Reloader; Elixir (XL) x2; Alchemy Vial; Tear of Lebis Transmuting the rock cubes at the top of the steps into spiked balls and sending them down the stairs can damage or defeat a few of the golems that wait at the bottom. Take another flight of stairs down to the north for a chest. You'll end up at the top of a ledge that overlooks a great hallway. Before you jump down into the hallway, transmute the stone debris into columns and let them fall on the golem knights that wait for you below. If you're successful, you can take away a lot of HP from a distance, making your work up close much easier. After you defeat all the enemies, head north into the next level of the spire. --------------------------------- Spire of Lebis: Second Ascent --------------------------------- Items: Elixir (XL) x3; Alchemy Tonic The humaniod golems camping at the end of this hallway are a pain. From all the way across the room, they shoot laser beams at you and your party, but golems will appear as you try to reach them. Nonetheless, its best to get rid of them ASAP before you deal with the rest of the enemies, since the duo of laser beams can do quite a number on Ed and Al if left unchecked. Transmute a dummy from the rock pile nearby to draw their fire, and dispose of them quickly when you reach them. After they fall, another pair appears BACK at the mouth of the stairs, and you'll have to backtrack to get rid of those as well. On your way, more golems will continue to spawn. Make use of those dummies and Rage attacks if you have one available. The turn takes you to another great hallway where large golems stand on either side and shoot purple beams that crisscross the width of the hallway. Katanas are available from the broken barrels and will help tremendously. -------------------------------- Spire of Lebis: Third Ascent -------------------------------- Items: Tear of Lebis; Elixir (XL) x2; When you reach the square chamber at the top of the steps, the doors will close and trap you in the room with a group of enemies that you must defeat. A Rage attack will work wonders here, but the suction device/shotgun cannon combination will also take care of clusters of enemies quickly. After you defeat all the enemies, the character you followed will give you a special item and the doors will re-open. The small room to the north can be fun. Many floating and imp golems will appear, but all the barrels in this room can be transmuted into firecracker bombs. As you cross the room, transmute the barrels along the way, and watch the firecrackers hit their mark and clean the room for you. The remaining enemies won't be a challenge without their numbers. The last chamber leads to a flight of stairs into the next level of the spire, but many golems await you here. Transmute the golem statue found nearby into a tractor and mop up the enemies before you proceed. --------------------------------- Spire of Lebis: Fourth Ascent --------------------------------- Items: Alchemy Vial; Elixir (XL) x3; Tear of Lebis x2; The hallway ahead marks the last floating golem spawn point in the game, but like the previous one, no special incentive prompts you to stay. The ledge at the end of the hall will drop you into the last chamber of the spire before the boss fight. Once you drop down, you've reached a point of no return because you can't jump back up to the hallway from the chamber below. With that in mind, make sure you obtain all the chest items and equip your characters with the proper weaponry for the boss fight in this level. Personally, I like to use the gauntlets, and they can be found in the large square chamber on this map. Enter the door to the north when you're ready. ------------------------------------- Spire of Lebis: Hall of the Twins ------------------------------------- Items: none Work yourself into a Rage and save your game. Your next encounter will be with a much nastier version of Elma. -------------------- Queen's Chambers -------------------- Items: none +---------------------+ | Boss: The Phantom 2 | +---------------------+ It's my personal opinion that Elma revisited is the toughest boss battle in the game. The Phantom hasn't lost any of her speed, but she HAS gained more HP, defense, and power. This arena is large, but it only means you'll have to cover a lot more ground as you chase her around the room before you can get close enough to hit her. All of her old attacks have returned but she's added a new transmutation spell to her repertoire. She tosses a glowing cloud into the circular garden in the center of the room and creates a vortex that sucks you in. If you get caught, black arms slap you around for massive damage and has a chance to dizzy you, leaving you open for another attack. Like your first encounter with the Phantom, the gauntlets are the best weapons to use against her. If both Ed and Al have taken one into this battle, make sure you command Al to drop his so he doesn't get it knocked away from one of the Phantom's attacks. With the gauntlets, you should be able to take away a good chunk of HP from the Phantom before she gets aggressive. Try to save your Rage attack for multiple enemies as she will summon golems to her aid once more. You'll have to keep Al fairly healthy at all times, however, or you run the risk of losing your Rage if Al gets knocked out. When the gauntlets break, opt for your handblade or the sword. If you have trouble with the melee weapons (She can break your combo and juggle you in the air for a combo of her own), there are four taming rods in the area that will do considerable damage without giving her a chance to counterattack. The longer this fight drags on, the messier the room will get. When you've taken away a portion of her HP, Elma will summon the large golems from the air. They appear in the corners or near the center, but they shoot their purple laser beams at you from a distance, rapid fire projectiles when you're close, and alchemic bombs when you're point blank. While dealing with both the Phantom and golems, the Phantom will summon those large cylindrical objects from your previous battle to further get in your way. Finally, she can still create those fireballs that can ricochet off walls and bells, except she does it with much greater frequency this time around. The room can look quite literally like a war zone after a few minutes. Good players can defeat her quickly, great players will do it without taking a lot of damage, but only great players with a little luck will get a decent combo score. The trick is to use the two automatic machine guns in the stage, but getting Elma to stand still for them to connect is a lesson in patience. When you're ready to attempt your combo, make sure you've transmuted both of them and lure Elma near the center of the stage. She's a blocker, so use a weapon that can break her defense (the gauntlets, the taming rods, or your hammer) and hit her as the machine guns are shooting at her. When her defense breaks, the machine guns will add to your combo. However, be careful not to knock her down. If she gets knocked down, the window of opportunity to continue your combo may close, and you'll have to start the process all over again. A-rank item: Alluring Cologne B-rank item: Armlet of Absorption C-rank item: Elixir (XL) D-rank item: Elixir (L) ----------------------------- Underspire: First Descent ----------------------------- Items: Tear of Lebis x3; Reloader Save your game before you begin. After a difficult fight with Elma, the last thing you want to do is start all over because of a silly mistake. The two statues in front of you can be transmuted into gatling guns. Chests can be found in the two small terraces that flank either side of the path. If you open the chests, golems appear (in addition to the two blob golems on the east terrace). The pair of large golems near the north should be taken out from a distance with the shurikens. Turn them into lv 2 shurikens if you can for added damage. ------------------------------ Underspire: Second Descent ------------------------------ Items: Elixir (XL) x4; Reloader; Elixir (L) x2; Tear of Lebis; Alchemy Tonic x2; Strength Vial; Protection Vial; Alchemy Vial; Strength Tonic x2; Protection Tonic x2; Armlet of Perception; Ophelia; Evasion Guide The second descent of the Underspire is huge but can yield much bounty if one takes the time and effort to collect all the items. The seventh and final kitty also awaits rescue in this map, and as you'll see, it's the most difficult rescue mission yet. The huge golem statues on either side of the map create gusts of wind that can blow you off the main path. You'll end up in the ditches on either side of the path, so its best to observe the patterns before you walk blindly up the road. That said, most of the ditches have chests, so you may want to pay them a visit anyway before you try to cross the upper path. After you cross the first set of wind machines, you'll arrive at a series of stone obelisks and the next set of wind machines. The upper path is now split in the middle with a wide gap, and the wind machines pull you towards the east. The gusts from the first wind machine here are not that strong, so you can walk against the force that pulls you. Before you get to the second machine, pause and observe the ground. The floor glows brighter here than on the first machine, indicating that the winds are stronger and WILL pull you down into the cavern below. However, if you cross the path AFTER the machine stops, you won't have enough time to make it all the way across. Begin to cross BEFORE the winds cease, so that it stops just before it pulls you off the path, and cross the rest of the way when the air is calm. Get to the stone pedestal that blocks you from the winds of the third machine, retrieve the chest items there, and use the pull of the winds to help you cross the gap to the other side. Once you're on the other side, try to get on the very narrow strip of terrain that bridges the gap to the north. Get as close to the next wind machine as you can without being blown off and watch for a good moment to cross. You must cross the winds created by two wind machines here without any pedestals to block you from falling. As soon as the winds stop, head northwest as quickly as you can. When the machines start blowing (sucking?) again, you'll have gone inland enough to get safely to the strip of terrain not affected by the winds on the other side (Actually, you have enough time to walk straight across to the other side, but doing it this way provides some room for error). Open all the chests for a variety of goodies, but do NOT fall off the ledge. After you collect all the chests, head back up to the northwest corner of that small strip of terrain safe from the winds. Jump down from the northwest corner to find useful Ophelia, and watch her rescue and the humorous after-effects! Thankfully, you've been enemy-free this whole time, but the rest of the descent is still infested with enemies. In the large cavern below, find the path to the west and take it to the third and final set of wind machines. By now you should have enough experience with the machines to cross without much trouble, so retrieve the rest of the items in this stage and exit to the north. ----------------------------- Underspire: Third Descent ----------------------------- Items: Earring of Blades; Elixir (XL) x3; Armor of Blades; Bangle of Blades; Ring of Blades; Elixir (L) A few feet from the entrance to the Third Descent is another point of no return similar to the one in the Spire of Lebis. The ledge is too high for Ed to jump up to once down in the lower area, but this time around all the potentially necessary weapons can still be found ahead. As you proceed, remember to check the layout of the map. The Armor of Blades, Bangle of Blades, and Ring of Blades can only be obtained with a little help from Al. ------------------------------ Underspire: Fourth Descent ------------------------------ Items: Elixir (XL) x2; Elixir (L) It's a straight shot to the final boss from here, so take the time to defeat the remaining enemies to get the experience needed for another level if either Ed or Al is close to leveling up. Equip Al with Ophelia and any stat boosting item. For the target combo on the next boss, I like to equip Ed and Al with lv1 shurikens each, so if you follow the boss strategy, hike back and retrieve one for each brother. Save your game one last time before your encounter with the next boss. It's a two-fer, and A-rank seekers may need to play it a few times. It's also worth it to note right now that as with the first FMA game, a new game plus option is available after you beat it the first time. Bonus art can be unlocked during the next playthrough, but all items, accessories, bonus points and learned alchemy skills are also saved. The enemies and bosses are much stronger during subsequent playthroughs, but keeping your skills and goodies make it very managable. By now Ed and Al should be in the neighborhood of level 35. If you do plan on playing the game a second time, it may be worth your time to level up a bit. At level 40, Ed learns to create lv3 stonespikes. At level 45, Ed learns learns to create three rockblockers. These skills carry over, and won't have to be relearned! BTW, at level 99, Ed learns to create the awesome lv2 flash grenade. They're rare in the game to begin with, but at lv2 can kill all the enemies on the screen, even bosses! Are you patient enough? ------------------- King's Chambers ------------------- Items: Crimson Stone (2nd playthrough) +---------------+ | Boss: Crowley | +---------------+ The final showdown with Crowley begins here with round one of your two part battle. Crowley may be a lot of things, but he's no push-over, so don't let down your guard for a minute. His alchemy skills parallel Ed's in many ways: Crowley can also transmute weapons, create stonespikes, and counterattack your moves. If you equipped the Elric brothers with lv1 shurikens, you can get a good combo off on Crowley right away. Crowley usually begins the fight by charging at you, but since the brothers start on the opposite end of the circular arena, you can both chuck shurikens at Crowley until you run out. You may miss a few times, and you can't command Al to throw those shurikens any faster than he does, but with your combined efforts you should be able to pull off about a 20 hit combo. Make sure you're using lv1 shurikens tho; the lv2 shurikens will knock Crowley off his feet. The rest of the battle should be fairly simple. There isn't a "better" time to use Rage attacks in this fight, so use it up if you have it saved. It should drain a solid chunk of his HP, but Crowley is so tough that it probably won't stun him like it does other enemies. This is no button-mashing contest either. Crowley is very skilled in counterattacking and will send you flying from behind if you just mindlessly press the attack button. During melee encounters, I have found that the sword works best if you are careful with your defense as well. If Al is equipped with Ophelia, he will become much more aggressive and execute longer flurries of punches. Crowley will occasionally turn his attention to Al, and when he does, make sure you let him have it with a few hits of your own. Most of Crowley's alchemy attacks are preceded by verbal clues, giving you time to block or avoid them once you learn his patterns. If your reflexes are good, you can counter his regular sword attacks, but sometimes Crowley will "counter your counter." If you see this happen, you can perform yet ANOTHER counterattack, effectively "countering his counter from your counter." Whew! A-rank item: Glass Samurai B-rank item: Sun Medal C-rank item: Elixir (XL) D-rank item: Elixir (L) +---------------------+ | Boss: Golem Crowley | +---------------------+ In Crowley's final form, he has taken his power to create golems and transmuted himself into a golem as well. He has gained much more HP and power from his previous form, and he's got a whole new bag of tricks. Most of his attacks are now area attacks. He can summon huge energy balls that cause splash damage even if you manage to avoid the main impact. Defensively, Crowley is also tougher to hit this time around. Attacking head on will usually prompt Crowley to retreat backwards, and he can block a lot of attacks as well. The sword is still your weapon of choice in this battle. Keep Al close and try to get behind Crowley during his attacks. Combo him with Al and keep up this tactic in the beginning. When Crowley transmutes a sword, he is getting ready to do a very damaging attack. He'll charge at Ed from wherever he's standing and pummel Ed with a combination of blows. His last swing sends Ed flying backwards, but creates a wave of spikes from the ground that catches you as you fall for added damage. When you see Crowley coming for you, make sure you sidestep this attack. At some point during the battle, Crowley will create a bunch of rectangular pillars outfitted with eyelets that shoot lasers if you stand in front of them. Although they can cause trouble for you and Al, they're actually quite helpful since you can re-transmute them into weapons for yourself. When you see these pillars come up out of the ground, run around and transmute as many as you can into weapons while doing your best to avoid their laser beams. From each group of pillars that he creates, you can usually find at least one that will turn into firecracker bombs and one that will turn into shurikens. Both will help you tremendously because they can hit Crowley from a safe distance. It's never good news when Crowley takes to the air, because it means he's going to do one of two things. If he floats up to the middle of the room, he's preparing a huge fireball storm that covers the entire arena with fireballs. You'll have to nearly hug the walls for a safe spot to stand. If he simply rises a few feet into the air anywhere else, he's going to create a big ball of fire that sends waves of flames coming out from different directions. Keep running to avoid the waves. You have plenty of time to defeat Crowley with a high score, and by now you should also be stocked up on healing items. The only thing that may give you trouble in obtaining a higher boss score is the combo. Use the shurikens like you did before, but since Crowley is a floater, it's safe to use lv2 shurikens if you have them. Even so, you may need to command Al to get in a few hits of his own as well. Congrats! You just beat the last boss in the game! A-rank item: Whetstone of Ages B-rank item: Galaxy Medal C-rank item: Tear of Lebis D-rank item: Tear of Lebis After you defeat Golem Crowley, you'll end up behind the King's Chambers in a hallway with a grid floor. During a second playthrough, if you managed to collect all the image crystals, there will be a chest at the end of the hall containing the Crimson Stone. -------------- Underspire -------------- Items: none A series of events will reveal the last bits of Lebis's tragic fate. Look for the glowing red orbs floating around the white room to activate a previous memory of Lebis. When Ed comes to, Glostner shows up and teaches Ed how to destroy the crystal. Remove the three pillars that surround the bloody fountain using alchemy, and rid the world of golems forever. Congratta-dooby-doo! ============ 5. Extras ============ ------------------ Alchemy Skills ------------------ As you progress and gain levels, Ed learns to upgradge certain objects to more powerful versions. Check the list to find out what you learn at which level. Level 14: Create 2 Rockblockers Level 16: Lv2 Gauntlets Level 18: Lv2 Bombs Level 20: Lv2 Cranes Level 21: Lv2 Stonespikes Level 24: Lv2 Steel Balls Level 26: Lv2 Shurikens Level 40: Lv3 Stonespikes Level 45: Create 3 Rockblockers Level 99: Lv2 Flash Bombs --------------- Easter Eggs --------------- Fans would take pleasure in some of the easter eggs that have been scattered around the game. A few can only be seen on the second playthrough, and a few references to the first game that only those who played would recognize. - When you turn on the game, when the Square Enix logo is shown, one of the characters in the game will say "Square Enix". The character that says it depends on the date set in the PS2. Adjust the date and restart the game if you want to hear all the voices. - In Lior, if you peer into the window of the post office, you will notice that Lust and Gluttony are both standing inside. - In Lior, to the left of the fountain (while facing the drunk) there is a small shop with a sign on top that reads: "Broken Angel". This is the title of the first game. - During a second playthrough, after Al fixes the radio in the cutscene, a red- haired girl comes into view. She is Armony Eiselstein from the first title. After the scene ends, she can be found near the Broken Angel store. - Throughout Lior, there are wanted signs that show the face of a military officer. This is the Military Man at the end of the first stage of the first game. - During a second playthrough, there is a stand near the Broken Angel store that displays all the cats you "rescued" during your previous run through the game. When you examine the stand, Al will sit down to watch the cats for a while. If you have rescued Ophelia (chapter 7), each of the previous six cats will meow but Ophelia makes a variety of animal noises each time you examine them. - After the car bombing in East City, look for a small jewelry shop across from the HQ building. Inside stand three military men. On closer examination, its Breda, Feury, and Falman from the series. - During a second playthrough, if you return to the plaza after defeating the terrorists in the alley, you'll find Lt. Hawkeye standing outside the HQ building. When you approach her, you'll trigger a scene where she goes and picks up a stray puppy, then runs off with it. This is a running gag in the series. - When you are in Sewers: Main Sluiceway, there are measurement marks beside each of the ladders which are marked in meters. You can measure the height (and it's correct) of the two boys, with Edward being 4'9" (1.5 meters) and Alphonse's armor being 6'5" (2 meters). (Thanks to pianofreak531!) - After you finish the game, there is an epilogue scene after the credits. As Ed, Al, and Armstrong are entering the train, a man dressed in a black State Alchemist uniform can be seen standing off to the side. This is General Genz Bresslau, or "The Armor Piercing Alchemist" from the first game. - In several areas in the game, it is possible to transmute a small wind-up cow that weilds a giant paint brush. In addition to being an awesome weapon, the cow is also a caricature of the creator of the series, Hiromu Arakawa. - In the anime, there are two mentioned instances of an "ancient city that was wiped out in a single night." Lebis seems to fit the description. -------------------- Accessories List -------------------- Lead Ring Gold Ring Fullmetal Ring Ring of Blades Lead Bangle Gold Bangle Fullmetal Bangle Bangle of Blades Lead Armor Gold Armor Fullmetal Armor Armor of Blades Lead Earring Gold Earring Fullmetal Earring Earring of Blades Moon Medal Sun Medal Galaxy Medal Armlet of Piercing Armlet of Absorption Armlet of Retribution Arlmet of Perception Fullmetal Bracer Bulletproof Vest Fireguard Cloak Fasthold Gloves Bond of Brotherhood Lucky Pouch Lucky Haversack Alluring Cologne Glass Samurai Whetstone of Ages Crimson Stone Charm of Renewal Advancement Guide Journeyman's Guide Flurry Guide Evasion Guide Knife Dog Tag Sunglasses Amazon Wrench Camaraderie Crest Strong-Arm Gauntlet Bullet of Faith Bullet of Resolve Bullet of Discipline Flame Gloves Ring of Vows - His Ring of Vows - Hers Milk Ring of Riddles Crimson Shard White Loincloth Red Loincloth Dog Collar Tama Belcini Scratches Ryuke Antonio Roxanne Ophelia ---------------------- Crystals Locations ---------------------- Crystals unlock bonus art in the gallery. Look for them in these areas during your second playthrough. No, I won't tell you exactly where they're located. It's more fun if you find them yourself! CHAPTER 1 Lior-Fountain Plaza Temple-Easthall 2F Temple-Westhall 1F Lior-Residential District Lior-Business District Lior-Temple Approach Temple-Prayer Hall Temple-Charnel Temple-Egress Temple-Westhall 2F Temple-Secret Passage Temple-Easthall 1F --------------------------- total crystals to point: 12 CHAPTER 2 East City-Plaza East City-Back Alleys Sewers-Entrance Sewers-Depths Sewers-Main Sluiceway Sewers-Materials Storage Sewers-Central Sewers-Floodgates --------------------------- total crystals to point: 20 CHAPTER 3 Tucker Manor Tucker Manor-Labratory Tucker Manor-Back Storeroom Tucker Manor-Storeroom Sewers-Sluiceway Sewers-Exit East City-Frieght Yard --------------------------- total crystals to point: 27 CHAPTER 4 Rockbell Home-Front Yard Resembool-outlying hills Cave-Chamber 1 Cave-Chamber 2 Cave-Chamber 3 Cave-Chamber 4 Cave-Chamber 5 Cave-Chamber 6 Cave-Chamber 7 Cave-Chamber 8 Cave-Chamber 9 --------------------------- total crystals to point: 38 CHAPTER 5 Bord'wan-Villiage Gate Bord'wan-Villiage Square Bord'wan-Outskirts Bord'wan-East Road Bord'wan-Mountain Pass Solitary House Bord'wan-South Road Annex Bord'wan-South Road Bord'wan-West Road Bord'wan-Elder's House --------------------------- total crystals to point: 48 CHAPTER 6 Siam-Sid-Grand Promenade Siam-Sid-Merchant's Way Siam-Sid-South Quarter Siam-Sid-North Quarter Siam-Sid-Residential Way Temple of Lebis Siam-Sid-Holy Quarter Siam-Sid-West Quarter -------------------------- total crystals t point: 56 Chapter 7 Spire of Lebis-First Ascent Spire of Lebis Second Ascent Spire of Lebis-Third Ascent Spire of Lebis-Fourth Ascent Underspire-First Descent Underspire-Second Descent Underspre-Third Descent Underspire-Fourth Descent --------------------------- total crystals to point: 64 =============== 6. Contact =============== Feel free to email me at: glennkcl@yahoo.com (and be nice...) ====================== 7. Thanks/Credits ====================== Author: Dat be me, yo. Extras: SQEX QA team. Thanks to: Square-Enix for being groovy the reader for being peachy keen Copyright (c) 2005 Glenn Lee. All Rights Reserved. This document may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, or private use. This document may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without expressed written concent of it's respective owner. Use of this FAQ on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. SQUARE ENIX, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST and other names of products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Square Enix Co, Ltd. in Japan and/or other countries. All rights reserved.