Valkyrie Profile Character FAQ ============================== Written by: Chief Ug (sidekick@iobox.com) Version 1.1 (23.5.2001) - Some fixes, item updates, tip updates. Almost all the questions marks gone. Version 1.0 (25.1.2001) - First release, finally. Some leftovers from the Japanese versions still exist. So don't freak out if you see some items or techniques with strange names. And yes, a few things are missing but I'll complete them eventually. 1---5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5----0----5---- =============================================================================== Contents: I. Introduction II. Miscellaneous Hints & Tips III. Sometimes Asked Questions IV. Characters V. Instant-kill weapons VI. Item locations VII. Challenges VIII. Changes from Japanese to English IX. Conclusion =============================================================================== I. Introduction --------------- Valkyrie Profile sports quite a cast. So, this FAQ tries to explore them a bit further. Every character deserves some thorough examination. The bottom line is, no character in Valkyrie Profile is completely worthless. Even those you thought weak can be surprisingly strong if used right. I have spent hours trying to discover the strengths of each character, and this is what I ended up with. Feel free to disagree, of course. And if you spot mistakes in this FAQ, please do send me corrections. I have included the original Japanese names in parenthesis. Though, they are up to debate since they are originally in katakana. This is not meant to be a complete FAQ. I only cover a few things here. Read other FAQs for combat basics, etc. Of course, this FAQ will contain some spoilers. Namely, you will see who will join you. None of the plot is given away so you're safe on that. Almost. The layout of this FAQ is extremely ugly. Live with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Miscellaneous hints & tips ------------------------------ So this is a character FAQ. Still, why not have some useful information? - Kill those annoying spellcasters! Enemies love to put their mages in the back row. They can be quite a pain when casting spells at you while you have to go through the enemy frontline first. Solution: archers can shoot enemies in the back row. If you equip Valkyrie with a bow, and attack a backrow enemy at the same time as your mage and another archer, chances are you can pull off a Finisher combo and consequently kill the mage. If your archers are not powerful enough, build up their Noise Arrow skill. With a skill level of 8, you have a good chance of silencing the enemy spellcaster when attacking. Beware of the Wise Sorcerers and their lookalikes, though, since their physical attacks are even more devastating than their magic. - Chaining for maximum damage If you are fighting an enemy with a lot of HP, try to pull off Finishers from all the characters at once. Damage is increased each time you chain a new Finisher. If you start your 4th Finisher when you have enough (about 50) hits already racked up, you will end up doing double the normal damage! So practice chaining. Just remember, the first Finisher needs to give at least 20 energy, the next 40, and the next 60. - Circling fun The skill Dark allows your characters to quickly leap behind the enemy before striking. If you have 3 fighters in your party, all with the Dark skill activated, press left on your controller before hitting all of their buttons at once. Also, give all of them 3-hitting weapons if possible, so you can keep mashing those buttons away. Your characters will end up running in circles around the enemy, which not only looks funny but will break through any Combo Guard. This works best with characters whose attacks cause them to go behind the enemy naturally (Valkyrie, Suo). - Last dungeon (normal ending) Jotunheim is a breeze with the correct spells. All you need Poison Blow. Gandar is good for this, as he starts with it. Simply select Poison Blow from the spellcasting menu, and BAM! No more enemies. Actually, this doesn't quite work for the stationary soldiers (they will only take half damage) but it's enough to kill ordinary soldiers along with enemy mages. - Becoming invincible There is a way to configure your party to be near-invincible. What you need is for everyone to have the skills Guts and Auto Item active. Set the Auto Item to use 100% Union Plumes, and if you feel like it, some Elixir variations. Finally, equip an Angel Curio in both accessory slots. This combination will last for a LONG time, and even the toughest boss will die before you run out of luck. - How to defeat that annoying dragon Blood Bane is the most difficult boss you will face in Valkyrie Profile. Not counting bosses of the Seraphic Gate, of course. However, if you prepare your characters correctly, he's actually quite easy. There are two basic ways you can go about defeating him: one is to make yourself invincible, the other is to kick his ass. Or both. For making yourself (almost) invincible, see above. The second way needs more planning: Have in your party: * Valkyrie (duh...) with a 3-hitter sword * A combo builder character (Lucian, Janus) * A character with a powerful Finisher (Lawfer, Aelia) * A spellcaster with a multi-hit attack spell (Mystic Cross, Prismatic Missile) with a NORMAL staff (i.e. not a Massive Magic one) This strategy involves relying on one character doing almost all the damage, and the others being simple support. With Might Reinforce combined with chaining 4 Finishers, your powerful character should be able to deal plenty of damage so Blood Bane won't last long. Just pound on him with everything you have. The best way to chain 4 Finishers is to have your first 2 fighter characters do their Finishers, followed by your spellcaster. This should get you enough hits, and still be able to start your last Finisher, by your damage-doer. Best of all, Bloodbane will never use Gravity Blessing on you this way. Example: (Valkyrie, Lawfer, Lucian, Shiho) - the best team IMHO Everyone - Stun Check. Why? It reduces fire damage by 50%! Valkyrie - Gram sword (or most powerful 3-hitter) Lawfer - Dinosaur spear, Power Bangle Lucian - Valkyrie Favor sword, or the most powerful sword that uses attack 3 Shiho - Adventia staff Turn 1 - Shiho casts Might Reinforce. Others attack. Lawfer uses Finisher. Turn 2 - Shiho casts Reduce Guard. Others attack. Turn 3 - Everyone attacks, begin with Shiho using Prismatic Missile. Finishers in the following order: Lucian, Valkyrie, Shiho, Lawfer. Blood Bane croaks. Now, if you have Lawfer with the Dinosaur spear and Power Bangle, he alone should do well over 100,000 damage, plenty to toast the dragon. One little thing: if Blood Bane's HP goes to around 50%, but not low enough for him to start casting Gravity Blessing, he will use Heal. Annoying. So make sure to hold back when his HP gets around 60%, and wait until you can unleash a powerful combo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Sometimes Asked Questions ============================== Q: What's the best party? A: There isn't one party that is best for every situation. Ordinarily, having party consisting of Valkyrie, one mage, one combo builder, and one heavy-hitter is a good choice. For this kind of setup, I would say Lawfer and Lucian (or if he's absent, Janus) are your best choices for fighters. Sometimes having two mages helps, if you are able to cast dual Celestial Stars. Inside the Seraphic Gate, Brahms and Freya work well. Q: How do I get past that annoying statue in the Dragon Halls? A: It's a bit tough. Once you get to the final statue, do this. First follow him around until he reaches the left side of the screen. Keep a distance of about 1/3rd of a screen at all times. When he turns around, he will start chasing you. Run, while keeping your distance. When you get close to the right border, jump, and let the statue pass under you. (This sounds easier than it actually is.) Now the statue will chase you to the left. Keep repeating until he stops. This happens after about 3 jumps. Q: Where are the 8 Flame Jewels? A: First, you must be playing in HARD mode. The Flame Jewels are found in different dungeons, inside treasure chests. Equip a Treasure Search to make finding them easier. Here are their locations: Salerno Academy - in a room with red perfume (2nd red room) Dark Tower of Xervah - when jumping into one of the "jaws" which takes you to a subterranean room Citadel of Fire - near the end, you must fall into a leftside pit and create an ice crystal that you can jump on, then fall again from the top, on the crystal Water Shrine - after swimming up the long pit with walls closing in Tombs of Amenti - very beginning, on the top of a doorway Tombs of Amenti (again) - near the end, out in the open, easy to find Arianrod Maze - room 11 Celestial Castle - near the beginning, out in the open, easy to find Q: What is a good way to get MP? A: One good way is to wait until you have finished chapter 4 and acquired the Creation Jewel. Collect Broken Spears, they are dropped by a few monsters. Transform them into Crimson Edges, and once you have at least one for your fighters, sell the rest. They are worth 6250MP each! Also collect other Broken equipment, each one is worth a good amount of MP once transformed with the Creation Jewel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Characters =============== Spellcasters are mostly the same. Their only differences are in stats, and in the spells they start with. That's why this section focuses on fighters. I've put up some kind of a rating system. It goes like this: Hit: (1-5) Attack: Power (1-5) Combo (1-5) Finisher: Power (1-5) Combo (1-5) Hit implies how well the character can connect attacks. Many attacks tend to miss if not timed correctly. Some characters are better than others at connecting in a multi-hit, all-out combo. Attack values are for normal attacking. Power is the damage caused, and Combo is the amount of technical energy built up. Finisher is the same as above for "Purify Weird Soul" combos. Some characters have skills and equipment which really help them out. I have marked those down separately. I have left out the obvious, like Reverie and Guts (which all of your characters should have if possible.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________ Fighters ________ ------------------- Valkyrie (Valkyrie) ------------------- Class Chooser of the Slain Race Aesir Age 23 (Midgard Reckoning) Gender Female Home Valhalla ________________________________________________ Sword Attacks Bolt Slash Energy +25, Hit +1 Moment Slide Energy +15, Hit +1 Vertical Raid Energy +24, Hit +2 Nibelung Valesti Energy +60, Hit +9 [CT +4] (varies) Hit **** Attack power *** Attack combo **** Finisher power ** to ***** (depending on weapon) Finisher combo *** Bow Attacks Spread Shot Energy +20, Hit +2 Tri-Blast Energy +9, Hit +3 Infinity Blast Energy +24, Hit +4 Nibelung Valesti Energy +85, Hit +12 [CT +4] (varies) Hit ***** Attack power **** Attack combo *** Finisher power ** to ***** (depending on weapon) Finisher combo ***** Pros: Good at combos, can equip both swords and bows, she's just plain cool. Cons: Rather low damage for most of the game. As the main character, you would expect Valkyrie to be pretty good at fighting. And yes, she is pretty good. Not the strongest, nor the best combo builder, she is very well-balanced in combat. She has to be in your party at all times, but fortunately she isn't someone you would really want to replace. She can equip both a sword or a bow, and her weapon changes her combat role quite a bit. When equipped with a sword, she can hit with great accuracy for good damage. She is quite adept at giving you a good amount of energy needed to start up a combo. However, Valkyrie's damage isn't all that great with most swords. Her damage becomes significant only near the end of the game. With a bow, Valkyrie will do less damage compared to a sword but also hit more reliably, and more importantly reach those ever-annoying enemy mages in the back row. Do not underestimate Valkyrie's power with a bow. Sometimes good swords are hard to come by, and Valkyrie will simply be better off with a bow, no matter what. Don't be afraid to try out bows with her. Eventually, as the game goes on, Valkyrie will outrank the other characters simply because her levels will be higher. Her Finisher will also power up as she gets more powerful weapons. Valkyrie recovers from status abnormalities at the end of a combat automatically, and also seems to be more resistant to them than other characters. Overall, you can choose whether you want Valkyrie as combo support, or a heavy damage-doer. She does well enough in both categories, though I would say she works better with combos. Most of the game, I have her equipped with a multi-hitting sword. However, once in a while you will find a good bow, and in this case you should consider switching. Useful equipment / skills: Nibelungen Ring - 50% damage from Dark elemental, unequip during Sacred Phase! Timer Ring - enemies move at 50% speed Mighty Check - she's the one person you don't want with a bad status Treasure Search - it's better to have this on all the time. This way you will not miss treasure chests. Enemy Search - handy for knowing beforehand if enemies are close by Splash - the perfect skill for Valkyrie! Since it's easy to connect with her, why not add more damage? Of course, once you get Reverie, ditch this. Cure Condition - with Mighty Check, Valkyrie is great for healing your party's status ---------------- Arngrim (Aryuze) ---------------- Class Heavy knight/Merc Race Human Age 26 Gender Male Home Artolia ______________________________________________ Attacks Spinning Back-knuckle Energy +15, Hit +1 High Wind Energy +30, Hit +1 Wrenching Swing Energy +25, Hit +1 Finality Blast Energy +80, Hit +8 [CT +6] Hit ** Attack power **** Attack combo *** Finisher power **** Finisher combo ***** Pros: High DME, good damage, can equip 2-handed swords. Cons: Hard to connect, long charge time. Arngrim is pretty much a powerhouse, at least that's your first impression. Well, not through and through. He is not quite as great as you would first think, but he is still one of the better fighters. For starters, a very high DME keeps him alive for a long time. Next, his special is one of the most powerful ones in the game. Great damage, plus the energy gain of 80 means you are guaranteed another combo to follow it up. Too bad it has a charge time of 6. It will be one of your best attacks against bosses, until later in the game when some other characters will get more powerful weapons. Arngrim is a good choice for almost any situation, given his durability and strength. Connecting attacks with him is a bit hard, though, so be careful. Useful equipment / skills: Power Bangle - makes his damaging attacks even more damaging ----------------- Belenus (Belinas) ----------------- Class Knight/Guard Race Human Age 37 Gender Male Home Gerabellum ______________________________________________ Attacks First Slash Energy +15, Hit +1 Rising Slash Energy +24, Hit +2 Piercing Crusade Energy +20, Hit +2 Extreme Void Energy +30, Hit +2 [CT +3] Hit **** Attack power *** Attack combo *** Finisher power **** Finisher combo ** Pros: Great damage, good for close-range melee. Cons: Not the best for building combos. Easily the second-most underrated character in the game. Most players never give Belenus a chance. Since your choices on sending up a character in chapter 1 are rather limited, Belenus is usually the one who gets sent up to Valhalla. Too bad, really, since Belenus is actually a good fighter. Connecting attacks with him is easy enough, and they do decent damage as well. His best asset, however, is his Finisher which very powerful. Only Lawfer and Aelia can match the damage done at similar levels and with similar weapons. Belenus is certainly a worthy addition to any party, since he does rather well on both the combo and damage departments. Give him a chance, you might be surprised. ----------------- Llewelyn (Laurie) ----------------- Class Archer Race Human Age 18 Gender Male Home Crell Monferaigne ______________________________________________ Attacks First Shot Energy +5, Hit +1 Twin Shot Energy +10, Hit +2 Aiming Wisp Energy +10, Hit +2 (varies) Layer Storm Energy +35, Hit +5 [CT +2] (varies) Hit **** Attack power * Attack combo ** Finisher power ** to ***** Finisher combo *** to ***** Pros: Can shoot back row enemies, great damage against large enemies. Cons: Dies easily, useless against small enemies. Llewelyn's usefulness depends largely on the type of enemy you are fighting. His attacks are great against large enemies, but tend to miss the smaller ones. If fighting a large monster like a Dragon Zombie, he can be really helpful. He can hit at least 15 times, raising a great amount of energy in the process. His usefulness does wear out as the game progresses, mostly because powerful bows are hard to come by. He is a pretty good choice for a combo builder (though as far as archers go, I prefer Janus.) Since normally you can send up either Llewelyn or Belenus in chapter 1, I'd recommend sending Llewelyn to the gods. -------------- Lawfer (Roufa) -------------- Class Knight/Spearman Race Human Age 20 Gender Male Home Artolia ______________________________________________ Attacks Smash Axe Energy +24, Hit +1 Prisoner Fang Energy +30, Hit +1 Triple Thrust Energy +30, Hit +3 Justice Stream Energy +25, Hit +10 [CT + 2] Hit *** Attack power ***** Attack combo ***** Finisher power ***** Finisher combo * Pros: Damage king, combo king, short charge time. Cons: Hard to chain anything after his finisher (not that you would need to...) Here is the most underrated character in the game. FAQs generally totally trash Lawfer, because few people take the time to actually size him up. This is something I can't understand. Lawfer absolutely, positively ROCKS! Yes. He totally owns you. He is in fact the best fighter in the game, hands down. With a multi-hitting spear, he can easily build up a combo nearly all by himself. That's not even the best part of him, not by far. With a single-hitting, more powerful spear, he can absolutely decimate enemies with his Finisher. If we forget about the Seraphic Gate, Lawfer has the most damaging Finisher of all the characters. We're talking about 10 powerful hits here. So what if the energy gain is only 25? If you are fighting enemies that can survive his Finisher, equip him with a Combo Jewel it's easily boosted up to 45. Normal enemies don't usually survive his attack, so it's not really a big issue anyway. The quick Charge Time of 2 helps too. If you don't believe me, feel free to try him out. You thought Aelia had a powerful Finisher? Give Lawfer the same weapon and have him at the same level and watch. When facing a tough boss with plenty of HP, you can't have a better choice in your party than Lawfer. Even for exploring, he's great for tearing apart enemies without ever using his Finisher. Lawfer's true power is not revealed until chapter 4. At first you will have to use ordinary spears. However, once you get the Crimson Edge in chapter 4 he will rise above all the others. And in Chapter 8, the Dinosaur spear will complete his supremacy. And don't come to me crying because Lawfer is actually stronger than your favorite character. Useful equipment / skills: Power Bangle - unleash the true power of Lawfer! 120,000 damage, awe yeah! Combo Jewel - you need this if you want to chain Finishers with Lawfer Charge - This is actually useful when using the Triple Thrust attack. Works nicely in conjuction with the Dinosaur spear, you can do close to 25,000 damage with a normal attack when paired with Reverie. ------------------ Janus (Jake Linas) ------------------ Class Knight/Archer Race Human Age 40 Gender Male Home Crell Monferaigne ______________________________________________ Attacks Diseased Needle Energy +2, Hit +2 Tri-Stinger Energy +3, Hit +3 Restrain Flame Energy +50, Hit +1 Guilty Break Energy +72, Hit +9 [CT +2] Hit ***** Attack power *** Attack combo **** Finisher power *** Finisher combo ***** Pros: Great for combos, poison attack. Cons: Low DME, damage becomes low near the end of the game. Janus is right up there with the most useful characters. Not a powerful fighter by any means, he is an awesome combo builder. One of his attacks raises energy by 50 points! Great for starting combos. His Finisher is decent in power until later, when bows start to suck. However, you can almost certainly connect another Finisher once he's done with it. Plus, it is really cool-looking! An added bonus is his Diseased Needle attack, which randomly inflicts enemies with the Poison status. Especially handy against monsters with lots of HP, like Dragon Tooth Warriors. Like all archers, Janus has low DME, so protect him appropriately. Janus is someone you will definitely want to keep with you all the way through the game. The best archer, if you ask me. Useful equipment / skills: Protect Jewel - Janus needs all the protection he can get ---------------- Kashell (Kashel) ---------------- Class Heavy Knight/Adventurer Race Human Age 24 Gender Male Home Gerabellum ______________________________________________ Attacks Low Swing Energy +10, Hit +1 Beast Tackle Energy +5, Hit +2 Air Pressure Energy +24, Hit +1 Flashing Blade Energy +69, Hit +3 [CT +5] Hit *** Attack power **** Attack combo *** Finisher power ** Finisher combo **** Pros: High DME, good for combos, can equip 2-handed swords. Cons: Weak finishing strike. Kashell is a cool character, with a cool voice, but unfortunately he is not nearly as good as he could be. He gets powerful weapons, and has a good base strength, but his Finisher is disappointingly weak. Not only does it get a mere 3 hits, but the second hit also has a tendency to miss. It is good for chaining combos, but that's it. He has a very high DME, on par with Arngrim. For the most part, you don't really need Kashell since Arngrim is better than him in just about every category. He is good at building combos if you can connect his attacks, but like Argrim, they are a bit hard to pull off. Air Pressure is a good move though. One good use for Kashell is to team him up with Arngrim, when fighting a tough boss. If you need every last bit of DME you can get, Kashell and Arngrim are the ones who last the longest. Also, since he can equip 2-handed swords, he is a good choice for unique weapons such as the Infernas, which kills Fire in one hit. He's better at connecting than Arngrim (but not as good as Grey.) He's someone you use when you feel like it, not because you would need him. --------- Jun (Jun) --------- Class Samurai Race Human Age 21 Gender Male Home Hai-Lan ______________________________________________ Attacks Senko-Zan Energy +10, Hit +2 Koei-Zan Energy +5, Hit +1 So-Enbu Energy +24, Hit +2 Senko-Jin Energy +30, Hit +15 [CT +2] Hit *** Attack power *** Attack combo *** Finisher power *** Finisher combo ** Pros: Can equip katanas, short charge time. Cons: Has nothing outstanding about him. Jun is a rather average fighter. He would be a lot better if only he could cause more damage. You will not find many useful katanas in the game, so if you want to use Jun effectively just give him a sword. His finisher hits many times, but is not too powerful, nor does it give you a lot of energy. However, he does have one good use. Since his Finisher hits 15 times, it is good for building up hits in a combo for a more powerful character. He is another character whose role is to be used only occasionally, when you decide better characters need a break. Useful equipment / skills: Combo Jewel - raises the energy of his Finisher to 60 ----------- Aelia (Amy) ----------- Class Spearman/Adventurer Race Dragonian Age 25 Gender Female Home Gerabellum ______________________________________________ Attacks Roundkick Energy +6, Hit +2 Sonic Edge Energy +1, Hit +1 Spinning Edge Energy +24, Hit +3 Dreaded Dragon Energy +45, Hit +1 [CT +3] Hit * Attack power *** Attack combo * Finisher power **** Finisher combo *** Pros: Great damage. Cons: Sucks at connecting hits, outclassed by Lawfer. Aelia is a heavy-hitting character through and through. She has one of the most damaging Finishers in the game, and gets powerful weapons as well. However, for the most part she is not as good as Lawfer. They are about equivalent functionally, but Lawfer comes out on the top in most categories. Trying to hit enemies with normal attacks can be a real nightmare. Her Spinnind Edge is good for collecting gems, but trying to pull it off in mid-air is very hard indeed. Normal attacks are hardly the best part of Aelia. Her strength lies in her Finisher. It is the most damaging single-hitter in the game by far, but in total damage not equal to Lawfer's. Other than her Finisher, though, she's about average. Combine that with the fact that Lawfer can do just about everything she does, and better, she's not quite that great. It's not her fault, really - she is good, but Lawfer completely overshadows her. If you get bored with Lawfer, Aelia makes a good alternative. Useful equipment / skills: Power Bangle - good if you want to hit hard -------------- Lucian (Lucio) -------------- Class Swordfighter Race Human Age 19 Gender Male Home Villnore ______________________________________________ Attacks Air Slash Energy +25, Hit +1 Slanting Blow Energy +15, Hit +1 Shining Bolt Energy +36, Hit +12 (!) Round Rip Saber Energy +40, Hit +5 [CT +3] Hit ** Attack power ***** Attack combo ***** Finisher power ** Finisher combo *** Pros: SHINING BOLT! Cons: Weak finisher, can't keep him for long if you want ending A. Lucian might seem weak at first. He doesn't hit too hard and his Finisher is rather weak. This happens if you don't give him an appropriate weapon. To unleash the true power of Lucian, he MUST have a weapon that will let him use Shining Bolt (attack #3). This move is easily the best normal move in the game, for several reasons: * It does great damage all by itself - more than his Finisher! * With a Combo Jewel, this one move gives you 60 energy * With 12 hits, it is easy to do build up combo damage with more hits * If an enemy Combo Guards against this move, a Guard Crush is very likely * You have a very good chance of getting a pile of violet orbs/treasure chests/mystic gems. Great for cancelling the charge time of your mages. * If Lucian's weapon has a status effect, there is a very high chance of it being activated. Remember that you hit 12 times, therefore you get many more chances of causing an effect. Icicle Sword means a near-guaranteed freeze, for example. Lucian is probably the best combo builder you can get. He is also a magician's best friend, allowing them to cast spells nearly every turn. It's too bad you will not be able to have him for long (you are trying to get the best ending aren't you?) Being a pure, selfless hero, he starts with a sky-high hero value, as if to give you a hint as to what you should do with him. So, enjoy Lucian. While you can. Useful equipment / skills: Combo Jewel - THE accessory for Lucio. A Finisher is almost guaranteed. Charge - good for getting more damage out of Shining Bolt ----------------- Badrach (Badluck) ----------------- Class Archer/Thief Race Human Age 40 Gender Male Home Villnore ______________________________________________ Attacks Flare Shot Energy +15, Hit +1 Fifth Way Energy +5, Hit +5 (varies) Lunatic Shot Energy +7, Hit +7 (varies) Sphere Strike Energy +30, Hit +1 [CT +2] Hit **** Attack power * Attack combo ** Finisher power ** Finisher combo ** Pros: Great for gem/treasure hunting, good for causing bad statuses. Cons: Everything else. Badrach... well, sucks. His attacks are weak, and he's not hot at doing combos either. He still does have some uses, namely against big monsters. He gets in several weak hits, and as a result usually collects a good amount of gems/stones/chests. Those can also be good for inflicting bad status ailments on enemies, and getting your mages ready to cast spells quickly. Against smaller enemies, though, he will only be able to connect with one or two hits. His Finisher is weak as well. It is a single hit, but in total damage it's behind both Janus's and Llewelyn's. The only advantage in fighting that he has over Janus and Llewelyn is that some weapons are better for him. For example, Bolt Aqqar has an attack power of 1200 but only gets off attack #1. This is worthless for Janus, since his #1 attack is weak, while it is decent for Badrach. Still, Janus is far better than Badrach except when you are hunting gems and treasure chests. If you want to use him, make sure the other 3 characters can hold the monsters at bay on their own because Badrach will not contribute any significant damage or energy. ----------- Grey (Grey) ----------- Class Heavy Knight Race Human Age Unknown Gender Male Home Unknown ______________________________________________ Attacks Razor Edge Energy +15, Hit +1 Mortal Razor Energy +25, Hit +1 Energy Cannon Energy +15, Hit +3 Icicle Disaster Energy +58, Hit +8 [CT +2] Hit **** Attack power **** Attack combo *** Finisher power * Finisher combo *** Pros: Can equip 2-handed swords, hits easily. Cons: His attacks deal pitiful damage. Grey is a decent swordfighter, but he is way too weak to be considered good. Connecting hits with him is easy, and the damage he does is not bad at all. Unfortunately, his Finisher is the weakest in the game. The amount of damage done is simply laughable. This means that Grey is essentially useless, as all other swordfighters overshadow him. Well, if you are relying on others to do the damage, Grey can be a decent combo builder and supporter but then again there are better combo builders out there. He can act as an alternative to Arngrim and Kashell if you are trying to kill monsters with a unique two-handed sword, but nothing much else. ------------- Jayle (Jayle) ------------- Class Swordfighter Race Human Age 20 Gender Female Home Crell Monferaigne ______________________________________________ Attacks Gleam Charge Energy +25, Hit +1 Round Dance Energy +15, Hit +1 Hind Edge Energy +10, Hit +1 Eternal Raid Energy +56, Hit +7 [CT +4] Hit *** Attack power *** Attack combo *** Finisher power *** Finisher combo *** Pros: Average at everything. Cons: Average at everything. Jayle is yet another fighter who falls into the category of "average swordfighter". She's average at connecting hits, the damage she does is average, for building combos she's average... you get the idea. Another character whom you will use for fun, rather than really needing her. ----------- Suo (Suhou) ----------- Class Samurai Race Human Age 24 Gender Male Home Hai-Lan ______________________________________________ Attacks Shisen Energy +25, Hit +1 Hyo-Rappa Energy +10, Hit +1 Yasha-Uchi Energy +16, Hit +2 Hyoso-Hojin Energy +48, Hit +6 [CT +3] Hit **** Attack power *** Attack combo *** Finisher power *** Finisher combo *** Pros: Can equip katanas, good to hit with. Cons: Rather weak compared to the stronger characters. And for the last of the normal characters, I present you with Yet Another Average Fighter. Nothing much can be said about Suo, except you get him late in the game, he's good to connect with, he deals average damage and has nothing outstanding about him in combat. He does have a very high hero value, though. That means, send him up. -------------- Brahms (Brams) -------------- Class Lord of the Undead Race Vampire Age Unknown Gender Male Home Unknown ______________________________________________ Attacks Bloody Knuckle Energy +30, Hit +1 Deadly Raid Energy +30, Hit +2 Immortal Blow Energy +30, Hit +3 Bloody Curse Energy +42, Hit +17 [CT +2] Hit ***** Attack power **** Attack combo **** Finisher power **** Finisher combo *** Pros: Great for combos, good damage, short charge time. Cons: Not as powerful as some other characters. The first of the secret characters. He hits for the highest number of times from any fighters, 17 on his Finisher. He also is quite strong. He wouldn't overshadow your best characters though, if it were not for the fact that he gets an insanely powerful weapon. By all means stick to him once you get him, at least once you find him his best weapon. ------------ Freya (Fray) ------------ Class Giver of Life Race Aesir Age 26 (Midgard Reckoning) Gender Female Home Valhalla ______________________________________________ Attacks Critical Flare Energy +24, Hit +9 Aerial Burst Energy +21, Hit +3 Thunder Sword Energy +50, Hit +5 Ether Strike Energy +10, Hit +1 [CT +6] Hit **** Attack power ***** Attack combo ** Finisher power ***** Finisher combo * Pros: Unbeatable damage queen. Cons: Can't chain anything after finisher (like you would need to), SLOW! The other fighter-type secret character. Freya does accompany you in the beginning, where you get a small demonstration of her power. Now this power is finally yours, at least once you find her a better weapon. Her Finisher is by far the most damaging in the game (can go over 500,000 in ideal conditions). Her attacks are S-L-O-W, so most likely you will only see her first attack before having to start the Finishers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____________ Spellcasters ____________ ---------------- Jelanda (Sherad) ---------------- Class Sorceress/Princess Race Human Age 14 Gender Female Home Artolia Starting spells: Fire Storm Heal -------------- Yumei (Yumeru) -------------- Class Sorceress Race Mermaid Age 16 Gender Female Home Hai-Lan Starting spells: Stone Torch Frigid Damsel Icicle Edge --------------- Nanami (Nanami) --------------- Class Sorceress/Maiden Race Human Age 17 Gender Female Home Hai-Lan Starting spells: Lightning Bolt Fire Storm Normalize ----------------- Lorenta (Lorenta) ----------------- Class Sorceress/Teacher Race Human Age 36 Gender Female Home Flenceburg Starting spells: Fire Lance Mystic Cross Heal Sap Guard Invoke Feather ----------------- Mystina (Meltina) ----------------- Class Sorceress/Researcher Race Human Age 23 Gender Female Home Flenceburg Starting spells: Dark Savior Mystic Cross Ignite Javelin Normalize Sap Guard ------------- Shiho (Shiho) ------------- Class Sorceress/Song-maiden Race Human Age 21 Gender Female Home Hai-Lan Starting spells: Might Reinforce Guard Reinforce Invoke Feather Heal Normalize ----------------- Lyseria (Lyseria) ----------------- Class Sorceress/Seeress Race Human Age Unknown Gender Female Home Unknown Starting spells: Mystic Cross Ignite Javelin Might Reinforce Guard Reinforce Invoke Feather Note: only in HARD mode, find her in the Archdain ruins in chapter 7. ---------------- Gandar (Ganossa) ---------------- Class Sorcerer/Officer Race Human Age 67 Gender Male Home Villnore Starting spells: Prismatice Missile Shadow Servant Poison Blow Fire Lance Shield Critical Note: to recruit him you must clear the Dragon Halls in chapter 8. ----------------------------- Lezard Valeth (Lezard Valeth) ----------------------------- Class Sorcerer/Necromancer Race Human Age 24 Gender Male Home Flenceburg Starting spells: Dark Savior Poison Blow Stone Torch Fire Lance Prismatic Missile Mystic Cross Invoke Feather Guard Reinforce Dampen Magic Shield Critical Note: only at the Seraphic gate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Instant-kill Weapons ------------------------ Notice how some weapons say "DEATH" next to an elemental icon? That means an enemy which has the corresponding elemental weakness will be killed instantly with a hit. Instant-kill can be a lifesaver many times. In addition, there are weapons which instantly kill certain types of monsters with a hit. Here is a list of them, and where they can be found: Dragon Slayer - Arngrim's house, various chests in dungeons Demon Slayer - various chests Beast Slayer - various chests Mage Slayer - Dark Tower of Xervah, hidden room you enter by dropping into jaws Raven Slayer - Janus' house Glance Reviver - Seraphic Gate. This weapon can instant-kill nearly any non-boss monster and heal you in the process! Fire: Infernas - Artifact at the end of the Citadel of Fire (HARD mode, chapter 6) Ice: Icicle Sword - Transmutate a Book on Everlasting Life (first dungeon) Lightning: Jewelled Blade "Grimrist" - Artifact at the end of the first dungeon ??? - Artifact at the end of the Sky Palace (HARD mode, chapter 8) Poison: Glare Sword - Transmutate a Broken Armor Dark: Gram - Transmutate an Orihalcon (buy for 100000 MP). Also, sometimes given by Freya in the Sacred Phase between chapters 7-8. Holy: ??? - Found at the Seraphic Gate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Item Locations ----------------- You have probably wondered where to find all these important items I keep mentioning. So here you go, a list of all important items that you can't Divine or find easily: Creation Gem - find in Lezard's Tower, you must activate the two lights to make a teleporter appear. Don't use the teleporter next to the last save point (yet), but find another by tracing your route back towards the start. Creation Jewel - transmutate an Orihalcon while equipping Creation Gem. This item is a MUST, since without it you will not be able to get any of the more powerful items. Once you have both Creation items, you can have hours of fun experimenting with all the new possible transmutations that are available to you. Orihalcon - you can buy it for 100,000MP starting from chapter 6. Or, you can transmutate a Fairy Bottle or Manual of Resurrection with the Creation Gem. Fairy Bottle - artifact at the end of the Black Dream Tower (NORMAL, chapter 4) Manual of Resurrection - artifact at the end of the Dark Tower of Xervah (HARD, chapter 4) Icicle Sword - transmutate Book on Everlasting Life with the Creation Jewel Glare Sword - transmutate Broken Armor with the Creation Jewel Crimson Edge - transmutate Broken Spear with Creation Jewel Unicorn Staff - transmutate Unicorn Horn with Creation Jewel Broken Armor - dropped by ? Broken Spear - dropped by Dragon Zombies in chapter 4 Unicorn Horn - find in Brahms' castle, which you can find on the left side of the world map in chapters 3-8 Elven Bow - artifact at the end of the Forest of Spirits (chapter 7) Apocalypse staff - chest in the Arianrod maze (HARD mode, chapter 8) Treasure Search - in the very first dungeon, find it near the end in a large hall. To reach it, you must use ice crystals to be able to climb the rightside wall. Then, you must first succeed in connecting an ice crystal with the edge of the leftmost platform while jumping back down, and then climb up again and this time step on the ice crystal. Enemy Search - transmutate Lapis Lazuli Timer Ring - find in Lezard's tower next to the Creation Gem Dinosaur Spear - you must first clear the Dragon Halls of chapter 8. After opening up the artifact chests, stack them on the top of each other at the left edge of the screen. Then, you must use your ice crystals to get Valkyrie to the top left of the screen, by having her step on the crystal dust. It's hard, but very well worth it. Once you finally reach it, be careful because the chest is trapped. If you don't move out of the way, the explosion will send you back down and you will have to climb all the way back up again. DON'T GIVE UP! :) Dimension Slip - transmutate Bark of the Dryad with the Creation Gem. WARNING: DON'T EVER EQUIP THIS ITEM! It completely ruins the gaming experience. If you really have to use it, ONLY use it in the Seraphic Gate. Bark of the Dryad - artifact at the end of Netsov Swamp (chapter 2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Challenges --------------- Think you have mastered Valkyrie Profile? Think again! Here are a few nice challenges for a true master of the game. Try these if you have done everything else. * Maximum possible hits Just how many hits is it possible to get in one combo? I have not tried this myself too much, but a combo of over 100 hits should be possible. (My best is a mere 85). * Surviving against the Iseria Queen's attacks Sure you can beat the Iseria Queen, when you have Guts, Angel Curio, and Auto Item. But can you do without them? Try to survive a Queen's War Dance. Or try to survive a Cosmic Spear. Both are possible. * Beat Gabriel Celesta in one round It's possible. 800,000 damage or so. * Beat Iseria Queen without having her transform About the same as above. I don't think it's possible to kill her in one round. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. Changes from Japanese to English -------------------------------------- Did you know that the American release of Valkyrie Profile had quite a few things changed from the original Japanese version? Here is a list of them: * Language and voices changed from Japanese to English Er... duh. * Some namechanges Besides the player characters, some other names were changed too. Hrist was known as Alia (Arlia?) in the Japanese version. Freya and Fray were interchanged. Genevieve's name was J.D. Wallace (sounds weird doesn't it?) * Random bugfixes The Japanese version was prone to crashes at some points. Some lesser weird bugs also made appearance. Although not all bugs have been fixed, the USA release is still more stable, and suffers less from crashes. One funny bug present in the Japanese version occurred after the fight against Iseria Queen. The music speeds up, but after that it never slows down. After that fight, EVERY SINGLE MUSIC until reset is played too fast. Even in the sound test. * Interface tweaks The American release also features a slightly improved interface. For example, equipment could only be changed from your 4 party members in the Japanese version. The USA release lets you change equipment on everyone, whether or not they are in your party. Also, you are warned when you change Valkyrie's weapon from bow to sword, or vice-versa, that skills are reset. They are also kept in memory, and returned once you re-switch weapons. In the Japanese version, no warning existed meaning it was easy to forget to change skills back to active after a weapon change. Previous skills were not kept in memory either. So, in short, small but nice interface improvements were made to the American release. * Extra FMVs The USA release contains 2 extra FMV clips not seen in the Japanese version. The first is in the beginning, with the huge doors opening. The second is when Lezard's tower starts, and you see a clip of his tower (windmill?). Neither of these was present in the Japanese original. * Voice variety A small detail, but in the American release Valkyrie has multiple voice clips in the field when swinging a sword. She only had the one, same sample in the Japanese version. * Censorship Censorship sucks. We all agree on that. Valkyrie Profile has thankfully avoided most of it. However, not completely. And the way it was done is beyond me. All the violence and gore from the Japanese version was kept intact. Even the very mature talk between Lezard and Mystina was kept intact. Sex and violence, that's good. But why on Earth did Enix of America have to censore SMOKING? Badrach was always seen with a cigarette in his mouth in the Japanese version. His battle poses were different (taking whiffs now and then). Even his Finisher was changed! In the USA version, after throwing ashes around his enemy he merely shoots them. In the Japanese version, after throwing the ashes he takes a whiff and then throw the butt into the ashes. This results in the explosion. He never shoots. So, you have to wonder... why censore smoking if everything else was (thankfully) kept intact? So, a surprising conclusion is that for the most part, the USA version is actually superior! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IX. Conclusion & Stuff ---------------------- Thanks to: * Tri-Ace for making what is probably the best PSX RPG ever. * Enix for publishing it. * Steven Bruck's FAQ for helping me out with the Japanese game before I was able to get the english version. * duckroll for all his help. * Masta_D and Hyu for ideas and contributions. This article Copyrighted 2001 Chief Ug. If you wish to post this FAQ somewhere or even parts of it, please ask me for permission first or I'll send a Nibelung Valesti down your way.