Making Chu-Chu a Demigod (OR, How to Build Yourself a Super-Rat) Version 1.00 By Sky Render Table of Contents Read This First Foreword Revisions The Making of Chu-Chu - How to Get the Goods Step 1: Collect the Gold Step 2: Get the Drive Step 3: Administer, Rinse, and Repeat The Making of Chu-Chu - The OTHER Way to Get the Goods Chu-Chu God Gaiden (Or, How to Get the Trader's Card) How Chu-Chu's Gear Stats are Calculated Sizing it Up - How Chu-Chu Compares To the Other Gears The Benefits The Drawbacks Conclusion ================ Read This First ================ THIS FAQ CONTAINS MANY SPOILERS! If you haven't gotten to the final chapter of the game, then DO NOT READ THIS FAQ! YOU WILL HAVE THE PLOT SPOILED FOR YOU! If you have reached the final chapter, or have won the game before and are on a re-play (which wouldn't suprise me in the least bit), then read on... ========= Foreword ========= Chu-Chu is probably Xenogears' most underrated character. Although enhancing her takes more work than other characters and their Gears, she can, with enough Drive drugs, become the biggest and most powerful "Gear" on your team. ========== Revisions ========== Version 1.00: * First public release, essentially identical to beta 2 Version beta 2: * Added the alternate method of getting cash for the Drive * Added a guide to getting the Trader's Card * Some misc. changes to various sections Version beta 1: * Added most everything to the FAQ ============================================= The Making of Chu-Chu - How to Get the Goods ============================================= Obviously, you can't exactly enhance Chu-Chu without the right stuff (the right stuff being Drive). In order to make Chu-Chu a worthy contender, you first need a bit of knowledge on how to do so, and that's what this section is all about. NOTE: You can't really do this without reaching the final chapter of Xenogears, for reasons that become apparent as you play through Disc 2. Step 1: Collect the Gold This step is pretty easy. Go to the Anima Relic 2 dungeon, and burn up those pesky Croaker Tribes. I REALLY hope that you got the Trader Card from the fight with Hammer, because it's the only way you'll get enough Scales to do this. Take Emeralda in, and have her use one of her hit-all-enemy spells (I recommend Thermo Geist, it's the shortest) on those croakers. You can also get quite a bit of Ivory by beating up Tusk Tusks, but don't bother trying to collect 99 of them, it'd take forever. Also, avoid fighting Griffons, they give barely anything for experience, and give no item or cash rewards. Once you've got 90 Scales, head to Nortune, and visit the former location of the Administrative District. The Bluecrystal there will offer to trade your monster items for G. Trade in your hard-earned Scales (and any Ivory you got). The scales should net you 135,000 G, which is enough to buy 13.5 Drive drugs. Step 2: Get the Drive Probably one of the easiest steps in history. Fly the Yggdrasil south, to the Lighthouse in the Aquvy island area. Go inside, and make your way to the second doorway down the main street. (NOTE: If you haven't visited the Zeboim city before this, then take Emeralda with you, and explore around a lot; you might just get a few pleasant surprises). The second doorway leads to none other than Big Joe's shop! You can get some of the best Gear items here, as well as a lot of Drive drugs. The regular Drive costs 10,000 G a pop (spendy!), and the HP/EP Drive drugs cost 20,000 G a pop (double spendy!). Obviously, you'll only be able to get about 13-20 Drive, depending on how much you made from the Anima Relic 2 dungeon. Once you have the goods, go back to the Yggdrasil. Step 3: Administer, Rinse, and Repeat A quick and painless step, really. Have Margie put Chu-Chu in your party (if she isn't already there), and administer the Drive drugs. Then, go into the long room on the right side of the hall (when facing the Gear docks, anyway), and rest. Now, for the fun part! Go BACK to Anima Relic 2, and repeat these steps AGAIN! Keep going until you either a.) get sick of it, or b.) get Chu-Chu up to a demigod of Gear power. Have fun! ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED PER RUN-THROUGH: 45 Minutes - 1.5 Hours (It can take longer if your Gears are poorly equipped, or if you get a lot of Griffon/Tusk Tusk encounters, or both) ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED OVERALL: 30-60 Hours (Ouchies!) ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RUN-THROUGHS: 45-55 (It can take a while) ESTIMATED TOTAL COST: 6 to 8 million G (*whistles* Damn...) This was the first method I tried to get money for beefing up Chu-Chu with. I realized in very short order, though, that it would take FOREVER, so I moved on to the next strategy (which I HIGHLY reccomend). ======================================================= The Making of Chu-Chu - The OTHER Way to Get the Goods ======================================================= Naturally, this isn't the only way to get enough G to raise the rat up to max stats. There are other good sources of cash in the game, most notably, Anima Relic 1. Here's what to do... 1. Go into the dungeon, and start beating up the guard robots. They actually drop money, and (if you have the Trader's card) a very useless, very valuable Gear add-on called Cast Ar. Fight until you have 97 to 99 Cast Ar's. Go sell the Cast Ar's to the Gear part salesman outside of the dungeon for 2,000G a pop! You can get up to 3 per battle (or 2, if you get the lesser encounter, or none, if you encounter the pesky DeathEaters), so getting 97+ shouldn't be too hard. Plus, you can boost your earnings by killing DeathEaters (they drop Evasion Rings, which are worth 1,200 G each). 2. Exit Anima Relic 1, go to the lighthouse, buy your drugs, and administer them to Chu-Chu. Given that you get gold for every one of the guard robots defeated, you should be able to buy a lot more drugs than you can with method 1 (specifically, about 25 to 30 of them). 3. Repeat until satisfied. ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED PER RUN-THROUGH: 30 Minutes - 2 Hours (It can take longer if your characters are at low levels, do barely any damage, or both) ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED OVERALL: 20-40 Hours (Not nearly as bad) ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RUN-THROUGHS: 25-35 (Quite a few less) ESTIMATED TOTAL COST: 6 to 8 million G (Still the same price) Overall, I'd say this method works a hell of a lot better. But it's much more character-intensive, so low-level or poorly equipped players should avoid this method until they get better equipment or higher levels. ====================================================== Chu-Chu God Gaiden (Or, How to Get the Trader's Card) ====================================================== You probably noticed that getting funds requires the Trader's Card, for the most part. Well, I bet you're wondering (or not wondering, if you already know), "What the hell is the Trader's Card, and how do I get it?" The Trader's Card is a neat little item that guarantees you will get rare items from enemies when it happens to be equipped on a party member in your active party. How to get it, though, is a bit of a tough one. The boss that you can get it from is Hammer, in Anima Relic 2. Sound familiar? If you don't have the card, then you know what the prolbem is. Yep, he blows up the second turn after saying that maybe you should escape. You have to beat him up in that time, without him cheerily blowing up, and taking the ever-so-useful card down with him. How? Here's how... HAVE ELLY IN YOUR PARTY! You've probably realized that you aren't going to be able to use her at all at the end of the game (hey, I told you there'd be spoilers), so don't equip her with any accessories/weapons/etc. that you want to hang on to. You will find an EtherDoubler in the Anima Relic 2 dungeon. I know, they're hard to come by, but equip Elly with it, and give her 3 (yes, 3) Power Magics. Now, before you fight Hammer, save, and (just to be safe, Xenogears does have some bugs) check all of Elly's equipment (character and Gear) before going in and getting the Relic. Once the battle with Hammer starts, hammer him (no pun intended) with Fei and your other ally (who I should hope you chose Citan or Emeralda for, because they're fast), and have Elly pound Hammer with Aerods. But save a bit of fuel up if she starts running low (at least enough for 2 good bursts). It's hard to predict, but when Hammer is probably about to panic, have Fei go into Id mode (if he's not in Infinity Attack mode already). Then, as Hammer does panic, HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! Your best Infinity-level attacks, Aerods, etc. By using Booster, you increase your chances of success greatly, so be sure to switch it on at the start of the battle. TO MAKE THE BATTLE EASIER: Equip Fei and Citan/Emeralda with Holy Pendant accessories. They make the natural Infinity Attack mode last for twice as long, or 6 turns. That can mean the difference between Hammer blowing up and curling up in a ball (and dropping the card in the process, too). It won't work for Id Mode, though. This should prove unnecessary, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right? HOW TO GET THESE STRANGE ACCESSORIES: Yes, you might not know where these accessories can be bought, I realize. Well, you're probably going to be a bit pissed to know that you can only get the Holy Pendant and EtherDoubler in the Nisan store, and only before going up to Shevat. You're probably thinking right about now, "How am I supposed to get all of that (censored) money so early in the game?!" Well, it's not as hard as it may seem. Go into the Tower of Babel, beat up the monsters there, and you should have plenty of cash before you know it. Then, buy two Holy Pendants (you get one for free on Billy), and at least one EtherDoubler (for after Elly leaves the party). HOW TO GET A FEW OTHER USEFUL ACCESSORIES: These accessories can immensely help in making Chu-Chu (and your other characters, for that matter) a super-being. You can get a Speed Ring S in the lab section of Solaris, shortly before entering the final stretch of that area (it's in a room with holograms of your characters, I believe). You can also win one from the Kislev Battling Arena on either disc 1 or 2. Three other useful accessories can be won in the same place: PremierShoes, SuperGoggles, and Speed Shoes. You can also win Speed Shoes from Sluggers in the forests around the Aquavy Island area (when you have the Trader Card equipped). Of course, this does mean that if you're at the end of the game, and don't have the accessories (not even the Trader's Card), then you have a LOT of battles ahead of you to collect enough cash. If this is the case, then my condolences; that's a lot of battles to have to fight... ======================================== How Chu-Chu's Gear Stats Are Calculated ======================================== All of Chu-Chu's base stats are affected in Gear form. Here's a brief overview of the most significant changes: HP: 50x regular HP Attack: 8x base (ie. non-equipment-enhanced) Attack Defense: 12x base (ie. non-equipment-enhanced) Defense Ether Defense: 7x base (ie. non-equipment-enhanced) Ether Defense Note that any attack or defense items you equip on Chu-Chu have no effect on her in battle, so you don't have to equip her with armor if you're only going to use her in Gear battles! This means you could have her equipped with, say, 2 Speed Ring S's and a pair of Speed Shoes. She'd be faster than Emeralda that way! As well, her spell Forest Dance becomes 10x stronger (since she has an Ether Amp. stat of 10). With 200 Ether, Forest Dance can restore 10,000 HP (to Gears and character-sized players). IMPORTANT NOTICE: Using an EtherDoubler on Chu-Chu DOES NOTHING! She won't restore more HP with Forest Dance that way. Consider yourself forewarned... ======================================================= Sizing it Up - How Chu-Chu Compares To the Other Gears ======================================================= It wouldn't be fair to just say that Chu-Chu can be superior and leave it at that. Here's a fine example of how beefy she really can become: Chu-Chu: Maximum HP: 49950 Maximum Attack: 1600 Maximum Defense: 2400 Maximum Ether Defense: 1400 Other Gears: Maximum HP: 31500 (Siebzehn) Maximum Attack: 2150 (OMEGA100 + 3 GNSR50's) Maximum Defense: 1300 (GOLD100 + 3 Extra Ar DX's) Maximum Ether Defense: 800 (200 base EthDef + 3 Ether Ar +3's) Needless to say, Chu-Chu can easily become your best Gear-sized character, if only for her massive potential EthDef and Defense. No other Gear can match up to her overall potential, as shown above, since they would have to have all 3 accessory slots filled in with stat-enhancing items to even come close, in most cases. ============= The Benefits ============= Chu-Chu can really be useful in Gear form, when properly enhanced. Examples: * Great potential Defense and Ether Defense * Can restore any Gear's HP by 10000 for a mere 2 EP at 200 Ether * Doesn't use fuel! * She can actually get critical hits (ie. 1.75x damage) * She's essentially immortal with max Defense and Eth. Def.! * You can restore her to full health out-of-battle easily (her character-sized HP reflects her Gear-sized HP) All of these can be very useful stats in the last battles of the game. ============== The Drawbacks ============== Naturally, Chu-Chu has some drawbacks. Most people already know them, and that's why they avoid using her (along with her very low natural stats). * It takes a LONG time to buy enough Drive to enhance her fully * She can't do deathblows, and thus can only do basic attacks * She can also get minor damage attacks (.25x damage) from time to time * She can't heal Gears out of battle, unfortunately * She's SLOW! As slow as Rico, in fact * Unfortunately, she can be a pretty bad aim, too The speed issue can be counteracted with a Speed Ring S, or a pair of Speed Shoes (or both), and the aim issue can be improved with the Glasses, but the other three can be quite annoying. =========== Conclusion =========== Although Chu-Chu's not exactly an assault weapon, she can be a great healer for a Gear team, and can require very little healing herself, with proper Defense and Ether Defense raising. The effort may seem excessive, but (to me personally) it seems like it's more than worth it, as it frees up a slot for the other two Gears to equip something other than a FrameHP item. 2001 Sky Render of Sky Render Translations