Xenogears Tidbits, Secrets & Tips FAQ  2.0 (NA)
Maintained by Matthew Emirzian (mtemichan@aol.com)
Last update : 12/10/98






  As you play through Xenogears, you'll come to appreciate the enormous depth
that the game offers, both in philosophy, religion, and also in managing to ad
d
sections of comedy that rescue the game from being a graveyard of depression a
nd
loss.  Ofcourse, it's not without it's sad, touching moments, but there's some

funny parts in the game you might not want to miss!

  Being a quality game, Xenogears also has it's fair share of secrets and
various optional quests & areas.  Many of these were gathered from countless
resources, message boards, a few other FAQs, although by no means plaguarized
or
stolen word-for-word.  Some of them are from me!  All of them were recalled fr
om
memory, and I never remember the exact compass 'directions', but I tried my
best. ^_^  It should all be mostly accurate.

  The tidbits are really interesting parts of the game that are unique and
funny.  I reccomend you talk to everyone everywhere, at all times if
possible, because the translation job is one of the most excellent I've ever h
ad
the chance to witness.

note:  I've tried to keep the FAQ as spoiler free and storyline befreit as
possible.




Disclaimer :

Not responsible for any damages including works of god.  (pun intended!)

This article cannot be reproduced electronically, manually, or by any other
means including radio, TV, and HAM radio broadcasts without the sole, written
permission of the author.  All plagurizers (and Gamefan+Gamecave) beware!  All

violations will be dealt with under full extent of the law.




Where can I find updates of this FAQ? :

www.gamefaqs.com is always sent the frequently updated FAQ and is excellent in

promptly adding it.  Go there to get the latest version!  Gamefaqs also hosts
plenty of other excellent Xenogears FAQs, including walkthroughs.









Update History :

Version 2.0 (12/10/98)  Did some clarifications, added a few tips and things
from some e-mail.  Thanks for the help. ^_^  Playing the game again so I can
verify chests & directions.  I did a streamline lookover of the FAQ and
corrected some misspellings as well as fixed some errors in design.  The FAQ o
n
the whole is much better now!  Its now also fairly printer friendly.. ^_^

tomasbn@indodsat.net.id (Rahmat Mulyadi)  Contributed a tidbit to the first
Aveh section.

Ive also changed the name of the FAQ to Xenogears Tidbits, Secrets & Tips FAQ

Version 1.6 (12/5/98) - worked on some sections, mostly the hints and tips

Version 1.3 (12/3/98) - fixes some mistakes around the end of the game.  Note
that I hadn't tried these secrets till I got to them... and I still haven't
beaten the game.  Scratch that, I just did!  Woohoo!  Added a "Tips and Good
Stuff" section!  Corrected some spelling, added a few things.  Thanks LightRan
ma
^_^.

Version 1.0 (12/2/98) - first version!  I'm sure there's plenty that I've miss
ed
and some mistakes.  Feel free to mail me!





Table of Contents:


0  : Tips and Good Stuff
1  : Lahan Village
2  : Mt Path & Uzukis
3  : Blackmoon Forest
4  : Bledavik
5  : Castle Invasion
6  : Nisan
7  : Imperial Palace
8  : Nortune A Block Civilian Area
9  : Thames
10 : Orphanage
11 : Transport Ship
12 : Ethos HQ (afterwards)
13 : Shevat
14 : Aveh Revisited
15 : Kislev revisited
16 : Anima Dungeon 2
17 : Snow Hideout
18 : Lighthouse/Zeobim
19 : Dunemans Isle
20 : Melchiors House





0 : Tips and Good Stuff


Learning Deathblow Skills :
  The key to learning deathblow skills fast and quick is to never use them onc
e
you've learned them!  Almost all battles will be easy enough to handle without

using them at all.  Repeating the button sequences builds up your meter to
learning the skill, until it gets to 100 and you learn it if you're a high
enough level.

  Another good technique is to train up the deathblow one higher than the one
you're trying to get.  That way you'll learn all of them below you faster as
well!  You can also combine this with taking one character in a gear and anoth
er
on foot, fighting giant-sized monsters.  The monsters will ignore the characte
r,
who can whack away at the giant, while the gear takes all of the heat,
(hopefully none at all)!  Once you obtain one or two Wizardry Rings, equip the
m
(two is even faster) on your character and start whacking away!

  If you see that your deathblow skills show nothing but the ones you've
learned, don't despair!  That just means they haven't reached over 50 points,
so
they don't show up.  They will if you keep fighting.






Why can't I kill the big bad gear boss?? :
  While most people feel that gears are unoriginal and have no customization,
that's just not true.  One of the major decisive factors of your Gear in a
battle is the EQ you've got on when facing the enemy.  If you keep on losing,
there's a few tips you should follow.

1.  See if you can upgrade your gear parts (engine especially).
2.  Determine the bosses technique and attacks.  equip yourself accordingly, t
o
nullify or reduce their attacks.
3. Speed shoes are auto-booster while in a gear.





How do I kill Calamity? :
  Backpedal to Ol' Man Baal and buy an engine atleast.






How do I kill Ramsus/Miang combo? :
  Equip HP30/50 items and good Ether defense.  Don't waste too much fuel on
Ramsus, and don't use ID mode.  Once he's out of the picture, concentrate on
building up your attack levels on Miang, but don't attack her too many times i
n
a row because her Eth attacks are devestating after a while.  Once you've
managed to weaken her, all she does it keep casting while her eth strength
increases, so let it all out on her, especially ID mode!





How do I kill the elements gang at Babel? :
  Give Elly a FlareG Rod to do extra fire damage on Dominias dolphin pal.
Either that or equip Power Magic ethamp accessories and cast fire spells.  Tea
m
up on the dolphin, then take out Dominia.  Dont use your boosters cause youll
have to fight them both again.  The same strategy should be utilized, though.

  The next battle is old hat, just remember that the bird is weak against eart
h,
and the lion is weak against water.  Try to gang up on the bird because it doe
s
the most damage.  When you have to do the two fights over again, turn your
boosters on and hold out, you should be able to kill them eventually.





How many times do people have sex in the game?:
Well I'm glad you asked. :P

1.  "Miang" & Ramsus sleep together in the same bed.
2.  Chu-Chu has a big chu-orgy after Shevat.
3.  When Fei and Elly do it in the Yggdrasil.
4.  That ol' dog of the sea Hans went and did the widowed Anne.  His stepson
hates him, though.





What's weight got to do with the game?:
Not much as far as I can tell.  If you're overweight you lose speed, if you're

underweight you lose strength.  Make sure you're in balance!  Not much to worr
y
about though unless you devour fifty or so steamed cakes at the Aveh
tournament.. :P

p.s. anyone notice how TALL everyone is in the game?  Look in the manual!  The
y
all look like the casting group for NBA tryouts.. Citan, 6 foot 1??  Yeah righ
t!
The shortest guy is Billy at 5"7.  How about us short people huh??





Tips on getting an Ether Doubler at Nisan!:
  At the Nisan general store, they sell an EtherDoubler for 38k.  It's 2xEP fo
r
2x the spell effect.  I wanted it so much I restarted the game over again!
Here's some tips to follow to get that cash flowing!  I was able to get up 40k

and buy it!

  But if you don't feel like getting it right away, you can forget about it an
d
come back later.  But make sure it's before you don't absolutely have to retur
n
to Nisan, because the items shop changes by then.

1.  De-equip party members that're about to leave you.  especially Elly, whos
initial equipment can be sold for 2.5k.

2.  Don't buy any items!  Only upgrade equipment if necessary. (in Dazil, etc.
)

3.  When you have the choice of upgrading gear parts with Balthazar before
fighting calamity, it'd be wise only to upgrade the engines.  You can still
survive the next few gear battles pretty easily.

4.  When you're in the stalactite caves, make sure y