World Map

• At location entrances, press Square to view the area’s facilities. The game will convey whether certain facilities are present, such as shops or healing services.
• The shoulder buttons L2 and R2 change the zoom level of your surroundings.
• While Start is held down, nearby locations visible on-screen will have their name displayed.

In Towns and Dungeons

Check around for treasure chests before shopping. Sometimes you get a useful item or a good piece of gear for free, which happens to be for sale in the nearby shop. For example, many players bought the Sparkle Arrow in Bale, and then found the free copy in Indels Castle.

Secondly, some gear will only appear in treasure chests and never be sold. This applies to highly effective gear like Therapy Ring and Angel Robe.

Note that once in a while gear appears much earlier in shops. This is the case with the Heat Blade; it’s for sale in Kazas, which will be useful in chapter 2. However, if not purchased, it can’t be acquired again until chapter 3, when many water enemies and bosses have already come and gone.

Equipment

For the most part, equipment upgrades will be linear. This applies to all slots. However, over time, you’ll have more than one viable option in most slots. Knowing your gear will empower you to win battles far more than one or two level-ups.

Elemental weapons do more damage to opposing-element enemies, even when compared with late-game weapons.

In Battle

• Foes reduced to 1/2 or less or their total HP are more likely to use their special abilities. This can range from harmless effects to dangerous ones. Generally, try to focus down one enemy at a time.
• Effects usually stack. However, Phantom Shield won’t have any effect if also wearing Legend gear. Secondly, Power Up’s damage reduction won’t stack with the Rose Storm.