Author Topic: Official Tales of Symphonia Help Thread (Read 50350 times)

Dasmos · « **Reply #100 on:** December 24, 2004, 10:47:59 PM »

What's the easiest way to defeat Abyssion? He's the Devil's Arms guy he is ultimately strong....my party members are aroung Lvl 76-78 do they need to be higher??

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #101 on:** December 25, 2004, 07:31:01 PM »

Your party levels are just fine. Now's it's all about your approach, your character choices, and how you customize them.

If Abyssian seems to DESTROY your party after fighting for only a couple minutes, consider using an All-Divide early in the match. The plus side is Abyssian takes longer to kill YOU, so you can stay in the fight longer. The downside is the overall fight lasts mush longer.

Some general pointers:

- Have Raine's strategy set to HEAL, and have her cast only ONE spell: Revitalize (don't turn off her Magic shield/block thingy). Casting time is precious, so I think you'd rather not have her preoccupy herself with other spells.
- Set your spellcasters to cast as fast as you can allow. Give them whatever they need so there's no worry about running out of TP.
- Set everyone to have as much Elemental Defense as possible. Depending on what armor and EX skills you have, Raine could have very high defense from all elements, and Lloyd might be immune to Fire, for example.
- Use U.Attacks to prevent Abyssian from casting nasty spells (especially Meteor). It's up to you to identify early what Abyssian is casting.
- Keep Abyssian staggered as long as possible; chain your combos with your teammates' attacks as much as possible. If Abyssian can't fight, he can't hurt you.
- Adjust to how Abyssian fights. Know when/what to block. If you can avoid an attack by running away, then RUN. He uses the same techs over and over, so don't get caught off-guard each and every time.

Just from personal experience:

My original attempt at Abyssian from my first play-thru of the game involved Lloyd, Presea, Genis, and Raine, and they were at similar levels to your guys. It took me about 30min to beat Abyssian, using an All-Divide. I keep a separate save file so I can revisit the fight. After different approaches and adjustments (while still at the same exp. level), my Lloyd, Presea, SHEENA, and Raine party can beat Abyssian in 15min (w/ All-Divide). Sheena's awesome. Genis is a slow monkey. 3 fighters thrashing-away at Abyssian from all sides seemed to be more advantagous than waiting for Genis to cast something. Having generously high HP and Def, or playing multiplayer with people who know what they're doing, may eliminate the need for an All-Divide.

Dasmos · « **Reply #102 on:** December 25, 2004, 07:49:38 PM »

Ok. My party consists of Lloyd, Presea, Raine and Genis. I will try Sheena although i rarely use her. (Only with the Summon Spirits and Kuchinawa)
I will try an All-Divide and i have basically already tried all the other the things you suggested so i guess as the old saying goes "If at first you don't succeed try and try again."

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #103 on:** December 25, 2004, 11:48:57 PM »

Defeating him is one victory. Earning a positively-valued Grade from that fight is another.

*o*

Ermanil · « **Reply #104 on:** March 29, 2005, 03:50:39 PM »

Hey I'm new, but I have beaten the game once, and on my second round.

I have a question. I have a guide to all the little tidbits that I missed, but one of the items you need doesn't sound familiar. Does anyone know what the Vinheim key is? Or where I can get it? I migh've gotten it the first time around, but as I said, it doesn't ring a bell.

Has anyone answered the questions from the first page? Like how you get a higher grade in battles? I didn't want to read through all 6 pages just to find out. I can help with that if need be.

anyway some help would nice. Thanx in advance!

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #105 on:** March 29, 2005, 04:52:02 PM »

Remember the silly dark Dragon guarding the big door which leads to Mithos at the very end of the game, inside Mithos' fortress? He drops the Vinheim key after defeat, and that's key to open the door behind him.

I never read the first page... but getting high HIGH grades in battles are largely dependent on how low your characters' levels are compared to the enemies you fight. I've earned grades of 10.00 - 20.00 on bosses in my replays during multiplayer via good teamwork, so being able to DESTROY bosses without leveling your characters much at all yields big grade rewards (in other words, visit/beat bosses as early as possible, AND do it well). The other conditions I'm aware of that affect grade are how quickly you finish battles and how well you and your party members block attacks; getting hit by anything can easily lower your grade.

Ermanil · « **Reply #106 on:** March 29, 2005, 05:23:41 PM »

Yeah, I also found out that if you use newer attacks, or recently learned attacks, then that will also help affect the grade. Using those in the UNison attacks also help, as well as if you combine anything in the unison attack. If you follow.

Just curious if anyone answered that, It wasn't answered the first couple pages and I guess someone was curious about it.

Okay, well, I'm just glad I didn't miss the key. Thanks again for that info.

guitar_nathan · « **Reply #107 on:** March 31, 2005, 02:27:59 PM »

alright ummm i just beat that balacruf masoleum boss and collette didnt learn holy song , and then when i left ,that cutscene that is supposed to contain something about hot and cold coffee didnt happen all that happened was collette fell down there was some talking and they set up camp and said something aobut dreaming. then i went to luin but it wasnt destroyed, what am I supposed to do?

Ermanil · « **Reply #108 on:** March 31, 2005, 04:32:11 PM »

On that I'm not sure. It could be a glitch, or you could have done something out of order. Hasn't happened to me so far. I would try going back to Balacruf temple place and pretty much walk through it again. go into the chamber where you fought the boss and walk back out. If it's a glitch it won't work, but you might be able to continue playing.

That's my advice, but it does sound like a glitch. if so, do the thing that most gamers hate to do. restart.

Any one is welcome to prove me wrong on this.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #109 on:** March 31, 2005, 05:04:54 PM »

If you went North of Izoold to get to the new continent instead of taking the fishing boat, you could slightly change the cutscenes (and may lead to a freezing glitch later in the game) and the order of the temples. Not a big deal.

Don't pay too much attention to walkthrus, and keep on playin'. There's no way to "collect everything" on the first run, btw.

Ermanil · « **Reply #110 on:** April 04, 2005, 02:36:43 PM »

Ok another set of questions...

1) For the Devil's arm in Walgia..or whatever place it is..where is it? do I need to find before the final battle, or can I get after freeing my comrads from their respectable traps?

2)And another thing, not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but the third and final time the sword Dancer appears in Iselia forest, does he disappear? If so, when? 'Cause I can't find him, and he was there before Derris Kharlan decided to make an appearence for the first time.

3) What is an easy way to defeat said sword dancer? My party usually consists of Raine, Kratos/Zelos (depending on who I have at the time), both chars set on heal. And either Sheena or Genis.

Some help would be awefully nice. But I get the feeling i"m going tohave play through a thrid time.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #111 on:** April 04, 2005, 04:18:08 PM »

1) You can get the Devil's Arm in Welgaia at any time. It's in the building that has 5-something floors, with an elevator inside.

2) Sword Dancer 3 remains till the end of the game. I think Colette must be in your active party before you enter the forest zone to make him appear.

3) An All-Divide helps (tho you should save one for later...). Having high levels helps, at 65+ (tho i think it's more fun to struggle at levels 45-50). Raine is nice to have. Sword Dancers are weak against Light Magic. An optimum combination of EX Gem skills for your characters is helpful, depending on your strategy. Careful blocking is a must since the best time to attempt/start a combo is after he finishes swinging.

Ermanil · « **Reply #112 on:** April 04, 2005, 07:27:09 PM »

1) what lvl is the devil's arm on, do u know?

2) u mentioned something about ex skills order. what would u suggest? I pretty much have personal on all the one's that it will help in battle or dungeons.

thnks for your help once again.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #113 on:** April 04, 2005, 08:10:14 PM »

1) It could be 1F, 2F or 5F. I don't remember. At worst, you just visit both rooms in each floor.

2) Well, there's LOTS of combinations, and I don't remember most of them. Because I use Sheena most of the time, i use (Add Combo + Prolong + Dash + Speed Cast), which enables Quick Turn, Combo Force, and Hard Hit. These make her a more effective fighter and nice to control. If you can use her well, she can significantly shorten the length of boss battles thanks to her status effects. Raine and Genis should, at the least, have Speed Cast + Spell Save. Slasher + Super Chain + Eternal allows Zelos to have Super Blast. And Stat Boost + Vitality + Spirit allows Colette to have Life Thief and Spirit Thief. Remember to fight a regular battle to activate these Ex Combos after you set them.

Ermanil · « **Reply #114 on:** April 05, 2005, 09:30:26 AM »

I just fought Abyssion. I had Kratos, Raine, Sheena and I was playing as lloyd. With Kratos and Riane on Heal, and with Raine on don't pursue with an all divide seemed to work pretty well. I don't I had to resurrect anybody a whole lot leaving Raine to mostly Heal. I also equipped her with Ray and Photon for the times that I used the Unison attack. Sheena I pretty much just equipped the summon spirits, not sure if that helped ornot...but yeah. He wasn't that hard...when I actually let him make the first move instead of trying to draw first blood.

Any way, that's my experience. gonna have to do it again sometime.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #115 on:** April 05, 2005, 01:58:24 PM »

Consider you were near the end of the game already. You had pretty strong, fully accessorized characters. At least it didn't feel impossible for you; a lot of people don't think of using the All-Divide during the match on the first try, and they simply get run-over. So, try without the All-divide next time.

I usually fight him around lvl 65, right after the first visit to Welgaia, from a game started from scratch, using an All-Divide, beating him in under 10 minutes, without Raine. That's when you have to work hard. If I have Raine, then I'd end up with a positive grade. Really, I have a file saved just for this purpose; it's like revisiting a fighting game for a few quick matches.

Ermanil · « **Reply #116 on:** April 05, 2005, 06:58:13 PM »

True, i was around level 75 when I tried it. The fight three times with different strategies and didn't work real well. Then I figured y not? I had 2 all-divides so I thought i'd give it a try. and it seemed to work. I'm just glad that I didn't have to pound thegame in out of frustration of not beating him. I had a harder time with a summon spirit, Undine I think than with anyone else. Even the later bosses.

Ermanil · « **Reply #117 on:** April 05, 2005, 11:03:42 PM »

another question. Have you completed the adv team option for the colleseum? If so, can you give me some tips? 'cause it seems to not like me.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #118 on:** April 06, 2005, 08:00:27 AM »

*o* Yes I have.

As with many RPGs, the easy way to win is to have very high levels/stats and use that "unfair" advantage to wipe the floor with your enemies. So with higher stats, the less trouble you'll have. But if you're like me, you're seeking a challenge, and maybe you also want to get the rewards of the Colosseum as early as possible (it opens right after completing Latheon Gorge, i think). Again, it's ridiculousy difficult at low levels (65?), and I can only speak of what I've experimented with.

As usual, people like having Raine in their party, for obvious reasons. If you think she can take care of herself, then great. But the problem I had with her is you're often outnumbered, and enemies will gang up on her, and since she's blocking or simply getting killed she's too busy to do anything useful, like healing (there's an EX Combo that solves this problem tho), forcing you to become her bodyguard. That's a waste of my energy.

So at lvl65, it was basically impossible for me to beat it having Raine. Instead, I chose 3 fighters, Sheena, Regal, and Zelos. Zelos has decent healing skills, Regal also has limited healing, and Sheena can use Purgatory Seal like a weak but faster version of Ressurrection. Plus, Sheena has nice summons, and they can all fight. Using Sheena, I run around and weaken all the enemies, while the other two Scatter and work on enemies separately. I also make sure to prevent magic enemies from casting spells, so I'm switching targets often. Changing the party Strategy to fit the needs of each match does help. Have some good food available for some nice home cooking between fights. And I think some kind of Poison prevention is helpful in one of the matches; at least, for my Sheena.

vudu · « **Reply #119 on:** April 06, 2005, 08:59:20 AM »

Ug. I was planning on replaying this game starting from the Ice city where you choose if you will finish the game with Zelos or Kratos. But after reading some of these posts I'm amazed by how much of this game I've already forgotten. It doesn't seem likely that I'll ever start again, and if I do, I'll be completely lost if I pick it up mid-game. On my first playthrough I chose to finish the game with Zelos. Can someone let me know what would have happened had I chosen the other path? Thanks.

Ermanil · « **Reply #120 on:** April 06, 2005, 09:49:16 AM »

Not much different, except instead of Zelos you have Kratos. Of course, u kinda have to sacrifice Zelos in the end, but hey, me personally think it was a wonderful idea. You also learn ur history with Kratos if u decide to speak with him.

Also, can all three opponents heal/resurrect? I know of at least two. But one could have an item.That's my main problem. so should it be divide and conquer?

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #121 on:** April 06, 2005, 10:33:53 AM »

Are you talking about the party exhibition fight at the end? In that case, I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming that Meredy (spellcaster) has the Ressurrection ability, plus 1 "Life Bottle" remaining for the whole party. So it's arguable to take out Meredy twice, as soon as possible. Easier said than done.

The best I could do was scatter my party to keep each opponent busy. I usually fought Farah to keep her attention on me, otherwise she'd rip my teammates apart. She's a little terror. Of course, I'd change targets occasionally to aid my teammates (so they don't DIE so quickly).

Items are allowed in this battle, and All-Divide always helps (only 1 All-divide is necessary in a match). Practically my entire inventory of healing/life bottles gets used up in this battle.

Ermanil · « **Reply #122 on:** April 07, 2005, 12:26:42 AM »

Does anyone have the anime cutscenes from the Gamecube version? I woud like to download, but I can't exactly record the clips as of yet.

vudu · « **Reply #123 on:** April 07, 2005, 08:57:24 AM »

As long as we're asking for clips, I'd like to see the extra clips in the Japanese PS2 version. Professional, I'm looking at you here, since you seem to have more media than you can shake a dead cat at.

Ermanil · « **Reply #124 on:** April 07, 2005, 09:39:58 AM »

Yeah, my above questioin still stands.

How do you get Regal's and Presea's strongest weapon? On the nformation I have it says to walk out of the place and walk back in. Did that and I still didn't get the weapons. And yes, both were at level 80. A little help?

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Author Topic: Official Tales of Symphonia Help Thread (Read 50350 times)