Terminology:

• A * means that the spell/skill/power attack is able to affect multiple enemies or allies at once.
• The chart columns for spells are from left to right as follows: Class name, Wisp, Shade, Gnome, Jinn, Salamander, Undine, Dryad, and Luna.
• (L) and (D) indicate if a character class is Light or Dark. (N) indicates the class is Neutral.

No matter what class you choose for Angela, her use is always the same. Since she can't fight worth a bean and her power attacks always affect just one enemy, her main use is clobbering certain dangerous and annoying enemies. With the right spell, she can be quite handy against Heath, the Death Eating Man, and especially the Earl of the Evil Eye, but having to stop the action every five seconds to choose her spell becomes tedious and can make major battles seem to last forever. Plus, many enemies have a powerful counter attack that goes off sometimes when they're hit by one of Angela's spells. By far, Angela's best class is the Rune Master. Her level 3 element spells are cheaper than--and just as effective as--Ancient, Double Spell, and Rainbow. The Rune Master's spells also have added effects such as silence and paralyze. Her Death Spell works nicely to prevent enemies from using counter attacks after being hit with magic.

Angela Special Spells/Skills

Angela Power Attacks

Charlotte's ability to learn Heal Light before any other character makes her one of the most handy characters in the game. Without her, finding ways to heal your heroes can be a pain. Like Angela, her physical attacks are pretty puny and her power attacks only affect single enemies. Charlotte doesn't really have a best class but the Sage is definately her worst class. The Sage learns no summon monster magics and no status weakening spells like the other classes. The trade-off is supposed to be the ability to use element sabres on the entire party but rarely, if at all, does the need ever arise for more than one sabre immediately and since Charlotte is such a weak fighter, entire party sabres are just wasted on her. Besides, you can always buy element sabres if necessary.

Charlotte Special Spells/Skills

Charlotte Power Attacks

If you hate spending five minutes at the beginning of every major battle using items to raise your party's stats then you'd probably agree that Riesz is the most helpful character in the game. Not only do her spells allow you to temporarily increase your attack and defense by 1/3 but she is also a somewhat decent fighter. Riesz is also able to summon monsters which, aside from doing a fair amount of damage, also afflict the enemy with various status ailments. However two of the four suck tremendously (Freya midget-izes all enemies making them worth 0 experience and Jormundgandr just plain looks retarded). Riesz's dark classes are much more useful than her light classes since lowering one enemy's defense is the same as raising your entire party's attack against that enemy. Plus, you can buy items to raise your own stats but can't buy items to lower the enemy's. This means that if the need ever arose to completely tear apart any enemy, you could do so by using Riesz to lower that enemy's attack and defense by 1/3 and use items to raise your own by 1/3. The Fenrir Knight and Star Lancer are the best classes for Riesz.

Riesz Special Spells/Skills

Riesz Power Attacks

Duran blows. That's really all there is to say about this character. But for the sake of doing this whole thing the right way, an explanation will be given. The most irritating thing about Duran is that he is slow as tar. Though all the characters are supposed to have the same recovery time (I think) it seems to take an eternity for Duran to catch his breath after swinging his sword. Duran's talent is supposed to lie in fighting but unlike Hawkeye and Kevin, he only gets to swing once before needing to recover. His high strength is supposed to make up for this but it really doesn't. He also has no special skills, his power attacks are ho hum, he looks like a total nob in every single one of his sub-screen poses, and all his spells can be found in other (better) characters who are able to use the spells more effectively. Duran's one redeeming quality is that if you choose Light for his first class then he can wear a shield which raises his evade. Actually, make that two redeeming qualities: Duran is also the only character who is able to learn both leaf and moon sabers for the same class. The Sword Master is probably his most useful class. In order to learn some of his spells, Duran will need an increase in "PIE".

Duran Power Attacks

Hawkeye is, without a doubt, the character with the most variety in terms of spells, skills, and power attacks. Though he's not supposed to be very strong, his ability to swing twice makes him an excellent fighter. Of all the characters, Hawkeye has the most spells and skills to choose from, many of which are totally exclusive to him. In addition to looking swell, all his power attacks look really neat and he has a knack for disarming trapped treasure chests. There's just nothing bad to say about Hawkeye other than his sub-screen pose for the Wanderer is, hands down, the worst of any character. In order to learn some of his skills, Hawkeye will need an increase in "DEX".

Note: some of the names for Hawkeye's skills will be in Japanese followed by a name in blue parenthesis. This name is just the name I use for the skill based on its appearance since I don't know the literal translation.

Hawkeye Special Spells/Skills

Hawkeye Power Attacks

Kevin is definately the best fighter. Adding Kevin to your party results in easy victories no matter who else you choose for supporting characters. Being both quick and powerful, Kevin guarantees that your party can win against enemies you shouldn't be able to fight for at least another five to eight experience levels. Kevin is also the only character to have more than one power attack for the same class. However this is not necessarily a good thing since he sometimes only executes his power attack on a single enemy. Due to this character's lack of spells there is not much one can do with Kevin other than get in the enemy's face and pound them into chowder. Kevin is effective but he's not much for variety.

Kevin Special Spells/Skills

Kevin Power Attacks

Seiken Densetsu 3 is a two-player simultaneous game (actually it might even be three-player simultaneous if you have one of those extra controller hook-up gadgets). All you have to do is plug in another controller and push "Start." So if you can get someone as nerdy as yourself to play with, this game becomes much more entertaining.

Instead of using Tinkle Rain to fix status ailements just use the Midge Mallet twice. You won't have to wait for Charlotte or Duran to chant the spell and when you revert to your original size you'll be back to your normal self no matter what the ailement.

If you're using Hawkeye or Kevin always use their level 1 power attack instead of their higher level attacks. Because they get to hit twice, they can deal the same amount of damage with a level one power attack as they can with a level 3 power attack. They can also execute five level 1 power attacks in the same amount of time it takes to use two level 3 power attacks.

Sometimes if you're quick enough you can bring an ally back to life without using a Cup of Wishes. When your buddy is dealt the fatal blow it is sometimes possible to access their menu list and make them use a spell. While they are chanting the spell, toss them a healing item such as candy or chocolate and they'll be able to receive the HP. However, this won't work if the hero you are trying to revive is the same one you've selected to be in control of.

With the exception of Wisp and Shade, all of the Mana Spirits have a day of the week on which their spells become stronger (for example, on Undine Day water magics are strong). Make sure that you don't take on a boss on its favorite element's day. Fighting the 8 Mana Beasts becomes much easier when it's done on the day of their magic's weakness. (yeah, I know, this one is kind of a no-brainer)

Their is a whole set of equipment which isn't quite as good as the best weapons and armors but which is better than the equipment sold at the Lost City. I suppose you could say it's the best equipment available without having the second class change. All you have to do is plant a dark brown equipment seed before you get your second class change and, depending on what your class is, you'll get stuff like the Dragon Bane and Dragon Claw. This is useful if you ever want to try to finish the game without getting the second class change. If that's even possible...

This depends on what you want. Duran & Angela have the most difficult time getting brown equipment seeds and their final area contains the toughest enemies but they also get a little bit more plot developement, an interesting final boss, and the chance to lock horns with the...Black Rabite!!! *echo* Kevin & Charlotte have a moderately tough time finding brown equipment seeds, the most puzzling final area, and a boring final boss. Hawkeye & Riesz have the easiest time finding brown equipment seeds, kinda touph enemies as well as bosses in the last area (Isabelle can really take a beating and the Earl of the Evil Eye can be a nuisance if you don't have a good fighter), and have a so-so final boss.

At first, each member of your party will only be able to receive the special ??? items for the final two classes their current class allows. And since this makes absolutely no sense I will illustrate what I'm trying to say with an example: If Charlotte is currently an Enchantress then she will only be given the Jar of Ash to become a Necromancer or the Jar of Blood (eew!) to become the Evil Shaman. However, once everybody has obtained their second class change you will be able to obtain the special ??? items for all your characters' final classes. Of course this doesn't mean that you can change into any class you want but it does mean that you get to use these items in battle. For some reason though, you sometimes will get only the usual ??? items. But in case you're wondering what these items do besides allow for a second class change, I've drawn up a list of every special ??? item's effect in battle. Since I don't know the real names of all the items, I'll just refer to them according to whichever class they are needed to obtain.

Note: I'm not so sure if the effects for the Bishop Jar and the Sage Jar are 100% correct. Sorry.

Angela Items

Charlotte Items

Riesz Items

Duran Items

Hawkeye Items

Kevin Items

• Angela: Rune Master Kevin: Warrior Monk Riesz: Fenrir Knight

This is probably the most effective group. The Warrior Monk will be able to heal the group when he's not busy tearing apart the enemy. The Fenrir Knight can weaken all the enemies with her magic and the Rune Master can easily finish off or silence enemies with her level 3 element spells and her Death Spell.

• Duran: Lord Charlotte: Sage Angela: Grandevina

Probably the worst group possible. All of the characters swing only once during each attack and none of the heroes have a level 3 power attack capable of hitting more than one enemy. The Sage and Grandevina aren't very effective fighters and their spells don't quite make up for it. The Grandevina does have the Double Spell but it looks so retarded you'll eventually learn to hate the spell so much that you'd prefer your group perish rather than use it to get yourself out of a jam. Healing yourself should be a snap, though.

• Hawkeye: Wanderer Duran: Sword Master Charlotte: Evil Shaman

This is a nice little party for those who want variety. The Evil Shaman can heal your group, use Anti-Magic (whatever that does), summon monsters, and use Demon Breath which does a fair amount of damage to all enemies as well as some funky stuff to the enemies' stats. The Sword Master will provide your group with Leaf and Moon Saber and any element saber you might want. He also has a powerful level 3 power attack. The Wanderer will be able to use a whole slew of fun and useful spells like Aura Wave and Trans Shape. His Reflect Magic is also extremely useful.

• Riesz: Star Lancer Kevin: God Hand Hawkeye: Rogue

This is a fun group to play with. The Star Lancer adds convenience with status raising spells and also can summon Marduk; just about the best spell in the game. The God Hand can provide Aura Wave for the Star Lancer and can also heal single members. And, of course, since it's Kevin, the God Hand can also whoop some ass if you need him to. The Rogue is neat because he gets a whole slew of skills which aren't listed in the manuel so you sorta feel like you're playing with a secret character. The Rogue has a spell for just about any occasion.

And finally there is the super secret enemy called the...Black Rabite!!! *echo* In order to tango with this little nasty you have to have chosen Angela or Duran as your main character. Go to Dragon's Maw and defeat the Scarlett Magician. After doing this go as far northwest as you possibly can from the room after fighting the Black Knight. You'll have to wind around here and there through different rooms. You'll know you're there when you find yourself in an empty vertical corridor. If you follow the corridor south and you come out into a room with a little, tiny slope you can slide down but can't walk back up, then you know you are definately in the right spot. Anyhow, go back up to the empty verticle corridor and push on the wall on the left. You'll bust into the Black Rabite's lair and the little spud will attack and you'll get the usual musical funk to jam to. I'm not really sure on exactly how you're supposed to kill the Black Rabite but I do know that his HP is not really as high as it may seem. The problem is that whenever he glows white it means that he just restored all his HP. I've managed to defeat him once after only hitting him about four or five times and I think it has something to do with using Wisp/Light based attacks. Defeat him and you'll get a neat little item to play around with.

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Well, that's it! This was my first one of these thingies so how'd I do? Now I know that some of you might be thinking, "Hey! Those aren't the correct names of those items! I'm going to e-mail this bozo (marius@ucinet.com)and set him straight a few things and give him any info that will improve this guide of his." And that's very good of you to do so. I'm eagerly awaiting input which will make this whole thing as accurate as possible. So please don't hesitate to show me what's what on the translations since my ability to translate is limited in the extreme.

Let's All Give a Big Round of High Fives For:

Square. For making such a swank game which is both fun and easy to get the hang of.

Ian Kelley. For helping with the translations and for not telling me to "F-off!" for asking so many nit-pickey questions. Yet.

Sheex. For making the Seiken Densetsu 3 Monster Chart which I referred to quite a bit and for telling me how to find...the Black Rabite!!! *echo*

Arond. A bad ass dude who showed me how to rock.

Whomever made The Unofficial Seiken Densetsu 3 Homepage. For introducing me to SD3 and for having the most thorough page on the game ever. Shame on you for taking it down, though.

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