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                           BREATH OF FIRE IV
                  COMPLETE WALKTHROUGH - VERSION 0.11
                    HAPPY MATT - happy_matt@msn.com

                                           (No ASCII Art, I am afraid...)
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REVISION HISTORY:

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Version 0.11 - 30 June 2000
- More updates on various stuffs.
- A "Skill Walkthrough" section is added.

Version 0.10 - 27 June 2000
- Updated enemy list, magic list, and other things.
- New sections in Appendix E, special enemies, best weapons, etc..

Version 0.09 - 23 June 2000
- Corrected a rather embarrasing mistake in the "Introduction" section.
- Completed walkthrough.

Version 0.08 - 22 June 2000
- Walkthrough up to, but not include, the final confrontation.
- Corrected some information in the "Manillo's Shop" Section.
- Completed section on Dragon Gene.
- Added information on Fishing Points of individual fishes.
- I have completely forgotten to implement a section for the blacksmith.
  I'll try and do something in the next update.

Version 0.07 - 19 June 2000
- Corrected many mistakes...
- The "Characters" section is modified, now that I know more about them.
- Lore Master, Skill and Fishing Data completed.
- Fairy's Colony Section updated.
- Combo Section modified and updated.
- Continued walking through the final chapter.

Version 0.06 - 18 June 2000
- Added lots and lots of new things everywhere.
- Nearly completed the lists for lore masters and skills.
- Nealry completed the lists for the fishing mini-game.
- Completed walkthrough for Chapter Three.

Version 0.05 - 10 June 2000
- Continued walkthrough on Chapter Three.
- Added many new things in the lists.

Version 0.04 - 06 June 2000
- Corrected mistakes here and there (including this sentence!)
- Started walking through Chapter Three.
- Added new lore masters, dragon genes, summons and other things.
- Added a new section on combo, under Appendix B.

Version 0.03 - 04 June 2000
- Completed walkthrough on Chapter Two.
- Added hints in many appendix sections.

Version 0.02 - 31 May 2000
- Added a "Hints" section.
- Started walkthrough on Chaper Two.

Version 0.01 - 28 May 2000
- Completed walkthrough for Chapter One.

Version 0.00 - 24 May 2000 (unpublished)
- Document created.
- Completed the "Introduction" and the "Background and Characters"
  sections. Formatting of the lists has also been decided.
- Started playing the game, i.e. started walking through the game myself.

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CONTENTS:

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- Introduction
- Hints
- Characters
- Walkthrough - Chapter 1 - He Who Awakened
  - 1.0  - Opening
  - 1.1  - Ryu and Nina
  - 1.2  - Awakening of Emperor Fou-lu
  - 1.3  - Town of Sarai
  - 1.4  - Valley of Sand Boat
  - 1.5  - Town of Chinba
  - 1.6  - Cursed Town
  - 1.7  - Dragon Eye Dream
  - 1.8  - Clock Valley
  - 1.9  - The Mud Dragon
  - 1.10 - Village of Kyria
  - 1.11 - Missing Mayor
  - 1.12 - Secret Route to Senesta
  - 1.13 - Town of Senesta
  - 1.14 - Maroku's Errands
  - 1.15 - Dragon Fou-lou
  - 1.16 - To the West Continent
  - 1.17 - Town of Astana
  - 1.18 - Waterway Bridge
- Walkthrough - Chapter 2 - He Who Is Unchanged
  - 2.1  - Town of Rudia
  - 2.2  - Town of Shedo
  - 2.3  - Forest of Pauzzu
  - 2.4  - Town of Fulan
  - 2.5  - Golden Plain
  - 2.6  - Gu's Volcano
  - 2.7  - Dream Devil Buster
  - 2.8  - To the Rescue
  - 2.9  - Tabo's Temple
  - 2.10 - On the Way to Windia
  - 2.11 - Windia
  - 2.12 - Kasuku Forest
  - 2.13 - Windia Catacombs
  - 2.14 - Wind Tower
  - 2.15 - Great Snow Mountain
  - 2.16 - The Village of Check
  - 2.17 - Master Mind
  - 2.18 - Village of Son
  - 2.19 - Ancient Sorceress
  - 2.20 - Temple of Arukai
  - 2.21 - Yogi Volcano
  - 2.22 - Dragon Summon
  - 2.23 - Invasion of Check Village
  - 2.24 - The Kaiser Dragon
- Walkthrough - Chapter 3 - Flow
  - 3.1  - Fou-lou's Escape
  - 3.2  - Down the Mountain
  - 3.3  - Going West?
  - Interlude
  - 3.4  - Mt Giga and Check Point
  - 3.5  - Town of Shuku
  - 3.6  - Sea God Shrine
  - 3.7  - Ready to Sail?
  - 3.8  - Mountain Island of Fire
  - 3.9  - Town of Rip
  - 3.10 - Pabu Pabu
  - 3.11 - Sardin Island
  - 3.12 - Fou-lou's Revenge
  - 3.13 - Way to the West Continent
  - 3.14 - Town of Coushia and River Shiyan
  - 3.15 - Village of Chikua
  - 3.16 - En Ju Ruin
  - 3.17 - The Canal
  - 3.18 - Town of Pauku
  - 3.19 - Emperor's Tomb
  - 3.20 - Route to the Imperial Capital
  - 3.21 - Elina's Fate
- Walkthrough - Final Chapter - He Who Changes
  - 4.1  - To The Imperial Capital
  - Interlude
  - 4.2  - The Imperial Capital
  - 4.3  - The Imperial Palace
  - 4.4  - Final Confrontation
- Appendix A - Equipment and Items
  - A.1  - Weapon
  - A.2  - Armour (To be updated)
  - A.3  - Option
  - A.4  - Item
  - A.5  - Manillo's Shop
  - A.6  - Blacksmith (To be implemented)
- Appendix B - Masters, Enemies and Skills
  - B.1  - Lore Masters
  - B.2  - Enemies (To be updated)
  - B.3  - Skills
  - B.4  - Magic
  - B.5  - Dragon Genes
  - B.6  - Combo
- Appendix C - Fishing
  - C.0  - Fishing Basics
  - C.1  - Rods and Lures
  - C.2  - Fishing Spots
  - C.3  - Fish Data
- Appendix D - Fairy's Colony
  - D.0  - Fairy's Colony Basics
  - D.1  - Shops
  - D.2  - Metal Trader
  - D.3  - Explorer
  - D.4  - Soldier and Insurance House
  - D.5  - Artist and Musician (To be updated)
  - D.6  - Inn and Arcade
- Appendix E - Miscellaneous
  - E.1  - "Treasure Exchange"
  - E.2  - Rei and Teepo's Shop
  - E.3  - Difficult Fishes
  - E.4  - Special Enemies
  - E.5  - Best Equipment
  - E.6  - Skill "Walkthrough"
- Credits
- Legal Note

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INTRODUCTION:

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Breath of Fire IV is a Japanese styled console RPG developed and
published by Capcom of Japan. As the name has suggested, it is the fourth
instalment of the popular Breath of Fire series. I have always been a fan
of the series - and the hero Ryu and the heroine Nina are always on top
of my own "favourite characters list". Breath of Fire IV is a large
development, not in terms of memory, but in terms of game-play and many
of the new features. The game is developed for the PlayStation. It
features a single CD-ROM disc and is compatible with the DUAL SHOCK
analogue controller. The fishing mini-game is compatible to a special
fishing controller. The game requires 1 block of memory to save.

*Note* This guide is written based on the original version of the game.
This version was released in Japan on 27 April 2000. Some of the
features may change when the game is translated. Also, I have tried my
best to translate the names. It may not be totally correct. I put [square
brackets] around names I am not too confident with. (I do not speak
Japanese, but I can understand much of the scripts based on experience of
playing Japanese titles. I also have a Japanese-English dictionary with
me most of the time for doing the translations.)*

The most updated version of this guide will always be posted to GameFAQs
(http://www.gamefaqs.com/).

In addition, I'll probably have this guide re-edited for the English
version in the future, so you don't have to ask me the same question via
email. But it will have to wait until the European version is out. (Yes,
that's where I live, so don't ask me anything about the North American
release. I do not know when this game will be released there.)

I do make mistakes. If you spot any errors in this document, please send 
me an email. Any POSITIVE suggestions are also welcomed. Full credits
will be given to anyone who has contributed to any useful suggestions.

Please DO NOT send me advertisements. I NEVER read them.

(Note: I made a little mistake earlier by saying that the game was
released in April 1999, but obviously it was wrong. The error was spotted
by a nice guy from the UK. Thanks to Edward Lee (tsuwaiku@hotmail.com).)

Enjoy the game!

:-) Matt - June 2000

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HINTS:

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- Money, money, money... The currency unit in the Breath of Fire series
  is Zenny, or simply Z.

- Just like Breath of Fire III, there are random ? spots on the world
  map. Each of these spots contains an item. You can also fight random
  enemies on these spots. You can wander around in these locations if you
  want to build up your characters or when you are short of Z.

- The camera angle is annoying, huh? You can use Nina's Personal Action,
  Jump to get a better scope. Alternatively, if you hold R1 while using
  the directional button, you will be able to rotate the camera slightly,
  like you did in Breath of Fire III.

- Use the Select button on the world map to get a better scope and to
  access more shortcuts. Hold down the square button to move the cursor
  faster. L1 and R1 will take you to the area closest to the cursor.

- In the Item menu, you can use the directional button to change to the
  Weapon, the Armour and the "Option" menus. The same goes to the menu
  for Special Ability. You can use the directional button to go to swap
  between the Magic and the Skill menus.

- Ryu's Status menu shows the current / maximum HP of all the Dragon
  Genes you have obtained in the game. The Status menu of the other
  characters will show the game statistics including the number of
  encounters, maximum hit combo, maximum damage, fishing points and your
  current game points.

- Each character has the following attributes: HP, AP (Ability Point),
  CP (Concentration Point), Attack (sword icon, physical attack), Defence
  (shield icon, physical defence), Speed (boot icon, character speed),
  and Intelligence (magic wand icon, magic attack). These attributes can
  be adjusted by different equipments and also by levelling up.
  Association with a Lore Master will also affect these statistics on
  level up. Blue arrow stands for positive effect and red arrow stands
  for negative.

- After battle, any dead characters are revived with 1 HP, but his / her
  maximum HP will drop slightly. This can be cured by staying at an inn
  (or anywhere with a proper bed).

- You can set up camp anywhere on the world map. Don't bother using the
  inns unless you have died in battle. Use camps to rest instead.

- You can use the diary in camps and other places to save, to view /
  change your characters' skill lists and to talk to your lore masters.

- Magic spells are unique to each characters, but you can change skills
  around. You can modify your skill lists in camps and other save points.
  A Metal will be consumed for this action.

- You learn skills either from enemies or from lore masters. If you see
  an enemy skill written in blue, it means you can learn the skill from
  the enemy by defending. Learning skills from lore masters require
  different conditions. Check with individual lore masters for the
  particular requirements. The party can only learn a particular skill
  once. Learnt skills will be written in the party skill pool. You can
  examine the skill pool in camps and other save points.

- During battle, pressing R1 will bring up two new commands, Change and
  Escape. (Change means automatic physical attacks.) You can also use
  the menu button to see the statistics of the enemies.

- The colour of the screen before battle has its meaning. A green colour
  means pre-emptive attack. A blue colour means normal battle. A red
  colour means you are being ambushed.

- The bad statuses in this game are: Poison, Sleep, Confusion, Blindness,
  Silence, Unable to fight (death) and Egg.

- A character loses HP per turn / per step if he / she is Poisoned.
  Poison will not be cured automatically. Cure it with an item or by
  casting a [Yakuli]-series spell.

- Sleep is cured automatically after 3 turns, after battle, or if the
  character is attacked. The character cannot do anything when Asleep.

- You cannot enter command to a Confused character. Cure him / her by
  using an item / spell. Confused character is also cured when he / she
  is attacked or when battle ends.

- Blindness causes a drop in hit rate. Silence prevents the use of magic.
  You can cure these statuses using items / spells. Alternatively, by
  putting the character in the back row for 3 turns will also cure these
  statuses. These statuses are cured automatically when the battle ends.

- Always try and revive a dead character, or his / her Max HP will drop
  after battle.

- An Egged character will have no defence what-so-ever, but his / her
  HP and AP will recover fully after 3 turns.

- Play the fishing mini-game and the Fairy's Colony mini-game every now
  and then. Who knows? You may get some goodies out of these games.

- I can't think right now. Can you think of more?

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CHARACTERS:

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- Ryu -

As in the previous titles in the series, the hero of the game always has
the name "Ryu" (or Dragon). As in Breath of Fire III, it seems that our
hero is having an identity crisis again. It is worse this time - he has
completely forgotten his own identity, race and birthplace when Nina
found him in a desert area of the Eastern Continent in the beginning of
the game. Ryu has an artefact called "Dragon Eye" in his possession. A
prophecy says that "He who holds the Dragon Eye will rule the world and
destroy it". Who is Ryu and what is he going to do with the "Dragon Eye"?
Ryu will begin his journey with Nina to search for the answer.

As the hero of the game, Ryu is a pretty good all rounder. He is both a
strong fighter and a good magic user. He has high HP as well as an
adequate amount of AP, so you can give him whatever skills you like. Ryu
has the Fire element and so he will take less damage from Fire-based
abilities, but will also take more damage from Water-based abilities.
Ryu has a high Learning rate as well, so it is good to use him to learn
skills from enemies.

Ryu can learn the ability to transform into dragons during battles. As
dragons, he will be able to cast special magic using the language of the
dragon. Later in the game, he can also summon various dragons to his aid.

His Personal Action on field map is "Slash", useful for hunting and for
cutting through obstacles.

- Fou-lu -

Fou-lu is the founder and the first Emperor of the Empire in the Western
Continent. His superficial strength allowed him to conquer and unite all
of the Western Continent and he found the Empire several generations ago.
In a self-proclaimed prophecy, it was told that he will be resurrected
from his grave in a few hundred years after his death. Fou-lu is revered
as god-like by most citizens in the Empire.

At the beginning of the game, he will be awakened from his grave. I don't
know about you, but the look of the emperor reminds me of Teepo in
Breath of Fire III. Fou-lou is a strong fighter and he has the power of
the dragon as well. He belongs to the Water element.

- Nina -

A Breath of Fire game is incomplete without Nina, the princess of Windia.
The people of Windia is a Winged race. This time, Nina has a short pair
of wings at her back with white / pink feathers. Windia is one of the
many nations in the Eastern Continent. These nations have formed an
alliance to fight against the powerful Empire in the Western Continent.
One year after the signing of a peace treaty, Nina's elder sister, the
princess Elina went missing. She was last seen in a frontier town. To
avoid alarming the allies and the enemy, it was decided that Nina should
go on a journey alone to search for her sister. She found Ryu instead,
while she was travelling through a desert area in the Eastern Continent.
Apparently, Ryu was completely at a lost but soon decided that he should
travel together with Nina.

As in previous titles, Nina is strong in magic. She comes with many
recovery magic abilities as well as Wind based offensive spells. Nina has
the Wind element and she has a high natural evasive rate. This 4th Nina
is so much more useful than the ones in the previous two titles. OK, she
is still quite weak on the physical side, but her HP and Def are at least
adequate. For once, her physical attacks are not completely hopeless
either. Coupled with her strong magic, high speed and high evasive rate,
she is actually one of the best characters in the game.

Her Personal Action on the field map is "Jump" - for getting a better
scope in towns / dungeons. When you put her in the back row, she would
use her Will, "Fight", every now and then. Fight heals a smallamount of
damage for all party members in the front row.

- Cray -

Remember Rei in Breath of Fire III? Cray looks just like him, only that
Cray is a much tougher warrior. The tiger-man is the chieftain of one of
the nations of the Eastern Alliance. Cray was travelling with Nina in her
search for her missing sister before they were "attacked" by a mysterious
"Dragon" while they were on board a sand ship. He will rejoin the party
later when you meet with him again. Cray is a responsible person, but he
can also become emotional at time. He has gained some merits during the
war between the Empire and the Alliance.

Fighting with a large club, Cray is strong in physical abilities. He is
the strongest fighter in the game with the best HP, Atk and Def, but his
speeed and his magic abilities are on the poor side. Cray belongs to the
Earth element. His magic list consists mainly of Earth element and
assistance magic. Cray has a high Counter Attack rate as well. His
Personal Action on field map is "Push", for pushing away heavy obstacles.

- Master -

Dressed inside a completely-sealed, robot-looking costume, Master will
not take his "armour" off even when he is eating / sleeping. Nobody has
seen his true face or have any knowledge about his race. Master joins
the party after leading them through the cursed area North of the town 
of Chinba. Who knows what secret is hidden behind that armour?

Master has very special attack styles. Many of his skills look robotic
and mechanical. He uses special gloves for fighting. Master is strong in
physical abilities. He has high HP, Atk and Def. His AP and Int are on
the poor side at first, but they will become much better after an event.
Although Master's AP is low, his CP is very high so he will never really
run out of AP like the other characters do. Master can deliver very
strong physical attacks, but he does tend to miss a lot as well. After an
event in a game, his magical abilities will become increasingly strong.
Like Ryu, Master also has high Learning rate.

His Personal Action is Body Smash, useful for knocking down objects. When
you put him in the back row, Master will use his Will, Backup Fire, every
now and then to attack one of the enemies.

- Scias -

Scias is probably a doggie man like Bow in Breath of Fire I and II. Scias
is a mercenary soldier hired by the Eastern Alliance during the war. Now
that the war has ended, he has lost his purpose and his job. He joins Ryu
and Nina because he has nothing better to do but wandering around.
Despite his love for alcohol, Scias is actually a reliable character.

Scias is a strong fighter and a skilled swordman. He can use many double
hit weapons, so he can be very useful in a combo. Scias belongs to the
Water element, and he also has a good tendency to counter attack. He has
many magic abilities, ranging from recover spells, to water element
offensive magic and physical abilities. He also has a special magic that
allows him to "analyse" the enemy during battle.

- Ursula -

Ursula looks like a wolf-human hybrid. She is a captain in the Army of
the Western Empire. Ursula was recruited by a general for her skills in
magic. She is regarded highly by her fellows even though she does not
have noble blood in her. She was sent to the neutral areas in the Eastern
Continent in a mission to find dragons. It turned out that she found Ryu.

Ursula fights with magical guns. Many of these are all effect weapons.
She is strong in both physical and magical attacks. Ursula has the Fire
attribute. Her magic list contains many Fire element abilities as well as
abilities that inflict bad status. Her Personal Action on field map is
Shoot, very good for hunting in the Fairy hunting grounds.

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WALKTHROUGH - CHAPTER ONE - HE WHO AWAKENED:

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- 1.0 - Opening -

Items : Royal Sword

You would begin the game with Nina and Cray riding a sand boat across the
desert to the frontier town of Senesta in search of Nina's missing
sister, Elina. One morning, the party spotted a "dragon" coming from
nowhere in the middle of the desert. They tried their best to out-
manoeuvre the dragon, but it was much faster and the party was fored to
crash-land the sand boat on the desert.

The sand boat was damaged, but repairable. Cray decided that they would
need to obtain parts for the sand boat to repair its damage. Cray was,
however, afraid that the boat might get stolen by pirates if they left it
alone in the middle of the desert, so Nina decided that she would travel
to the nearest town on her own while Cray would remain in the crash site
to guard their vehicle. Cray would then tell Nina that the nearest town,
Sarai, was just South of this site. He would ask Nina to carry the Royal
Sword with her, a sword that belonged to the royal family of Windia.

Once you are in control of the Nina, exit the area and you will be on
the world map. Go South and you will get to a ? site. Enter by using the
OK button.

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Nina's Initial Statistics:

Level        : 5
HP / AP / CP : 301 / 21 / 3
Atk / Def    : 19 / 18
Spd / Int    : 22 / 26
Weapon       : Barton
Armour       : Traveller's Clothes
Option       : [Kachussha]

You will also begin with 3 Medicinal Herbs and a Metal in your inventory.

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- 1.1 - Ryu and Nina -

Items   : Gas Medicine
Enemies : Eyeball Gumi, [Kyappu], [Sand Sasori], Mage Gumi

When Nina entered the area, she would see a merchant coming out from a
large crater. He would run away trying to escape from something 
invisible. When Nina tried and investigate, she would fall down the 
crater herself. In front of her, she would see a dragon. Invisible first,
it revealed itself to Nina, roared and made a show of its strength before
flying off. (These dragons surely had nothing to do...) When the dragon
was gone, lying there was a rather naked young man. Being a princess,
Nina was probably not accustomed to seeing naked young man lying in the
middle of nowhere and she went all red-faced and embarrassed.

While the yound man dressed himself using what was left in the merchant's 
cart, he introduced himself as Ryu. (Nina thought it sounded weird.) She
decided that Ryu must