Shangrila

Size: 3x4 (Medium) Overall Terrain: Sky Island 24 Hour Period: Long Stage Music: Autumn Sky/ Womanheart Overall Difficulty: 5 Stage Boss: Gares

City & Roshian Temple Information Cities (9) Hidden Cities (0) Roshian Temples (1) Buried Treasure (4) Elshilia   RT #1 (H): On the island 1) S of Montrosa; on the Rebel Base   right in the middle of floating island in the NW Shangrila   where all of the rivers area Boss Castle   meet to form a lake 2) SW of R.T. #1; right Grell Nish     before the mountain W of Montahn; on the     3) NE of R.T. #1; right west central peninsula     before the mountain Interaken     4) SE of Rusheln; right SW of Shangrila     above the mountain on Montahn     small island Slightly NW of Rusheln     5) SW of Rusheln; right Montrosa     to the left of where the NW of Elshilia     two mountains meet Mushatl     6) SW of Interaken; in SE of Shangrila     middle of the sky island Ohlten     all by itself E of Elshilia         Rusheln         SW of Interaken         Shellmat (Shop)         NE of Elshilia

Stage Shop Wares

Shellmat “HEAL” (Cure Stone) 700 Goth “ALL HEAL” (Cure Ankh) 2,000 Goth “BELL” (Dinner Bell) 2,000 Goth “REVIVE” (Ethereal Flute) 2,000 Goth “JOKER” (Joker Tarot) 2,000 Goth

There’s nothing too worthwhile available to buy here, except for maybe the “JOKER” (Joker Tarot).  You should still have plenty, so get some only if you have Goth burning a hole in your pocket.

Neutral Encounters

LV: 18 Cherubim LV: 18 Eagle Man LV: 18 Gryphon High Sky High Sky High Sky

This is a great selection of classes for you.  The reason why is because they are such a high level. You may not have Cherubim to begin with, let alone any at Level 18!  The long and winding road to the Seraphim can be a long one, and befriending a few of these liturgical ladies will practically put you there! All you have to do is can a few levels with them, and hope nothing bad happens to their Charisma & Alignment...  The other classes at this high level are not as important, but still useful.

Enemy Units

Different Types of Units: 8 Total Enemy Unit Deployed: 26 Enemy Level Threshold: 10 - 18 Unit# 13-1

The units on this stage are amongst the toughest you have faced as of yet. One reason is the types of characters that are in these units are really tough, like Tiamats & Titans.  The other factor is that the levels of the characters, with some of them are reaching all the way up to Level 18!  You’re fighting units may even have a hard time here, but it will be a nice stage to boost the levels & classes of your city liberating units. Getting Paladins, Samurai Masters, Muse, Cherubim, and other high classes should be a main priority on this stage if you don’t already have them. And, to add some extra spice, you have to concern yourself with the edges of the sky islands!  Also, most of the enemy units have flyers in them, and there isn’t an easy one in the bunch...

Beat The Stage!

Prologue:  Shangrila was well named: a beautiful island floating in the skies above Zenobia.  This region is the perfect home for Fellana, Goddess of Justice.  Alas, then came the Empire.  The evil forces intend to swat Shangrila out of the skies, dropping in on Zenobia and crushing the areas that the rebels have liberated.  And the cretin sent here to enact this atrocious deed:  Gares!!

If you never got the “BRUNHILD” (Brunhild) and visited the other sky islands, you may be wondering what is going on with the terrain of this stage! Interestingly enough, this is the only sky island that you can get to without needing the mighty “BRUNHILD” (Brunhild).  There are no really super important things to do beating this stage (besides getting a free “HP POT.” (Vitality Potion) if you have Canopus), but this is a very important stage nonetheless. The opportunity to recruit Debonair (the loser you trounced back on Slums of Zenobia) into your party may present itself if you have Norn in your party once you’ve sent Gares packing.  Also, one of the most important items in the game is here:
The “TABLET” (Tablet of Yaru)!!
Ah, but you must beat the stage first, my son....

Deployment Time!
The sky island makes for a nice change of scenery. But it makes for deadly scenery if you are not careful near the edges!  Take extra care with your non-flying units, as they could get insty-killed if they are defeated & pushed off the edge of the island!  There are not too many cities here to worry about, but they are pretty well spread throughout the island. As usual, the enemy will try and take a direct route to your main base, so be ready with your best units. It might be extraordinarily dangerous to send a High Sky city liberator out ahead of everyone on this stage, because the units are so much tougher. The western side of this stage is fairly safe, so send more units up along the eastern side. You get really get a good workout for your city liberators, as the high levels of the enemy units won’t interfere with their high Charisma & Alignment levels. By the time this stage is over, they should be able to promote up to their highest class levels.  That is, unless you have a Cherubim or two! At any rate, your goal are the upper towns of Interaken & Mushatl.  Have your Opinion Leader sit tight and liberate the lower towns & temples while the rest of your guys go to town, literally!  There is a boss confrontation for both Tristran & Rauny, so make sure that they are both in on the fun for this stage!

Step 1:  One strategy for this stage is to make a bull rush to the NE part of this stage, and liberate the towns of Interaken & Mushatl as soon as you can. Then go back and liberate the other towns on this stage later as your units are fighting.  I try and do a combination of both. I send a token unit or two, like Canopus, and send them up the western side of the stage, so that he can liberate the towns of Montrosa, Grell Nish, & Montahn.  Upon liberating the town Montrosa, of if you have Canopus in your party, you will find that his sister Yulia had followed him all the way from Sharom District to find him.  She was worried about him, and gives you a “HP POT.” (Vitality Potion) to help you out on your journey.  Use it on some weak-ass thing like a Golem or Faerie or something. Canopus is buff enough by now!

Step 2:  Upon liberating Mushatl, and especially Interaken, you will get the computer stuck in a few humorous situations. The way that the road out of Shangrila is situated, depending on the position of your unit guarding Interaken, if you beat the enemy unit but don’t kill it completely, you will ‘bounce’ it off of the edge of the map, effectively killing it!  The other fun thing is that when you have a unit or two waiting on Mushatl.  This will draw considerable attention from the CPU, causing flying units to come over for a visit.  When these units attack, the enemy unit will be over the sky. So if you kill off the flying characters in the unit, once that battle ends, any remaining characters left will fall to their deaths!  And, it will count as you beating the unit, so you will not see an endless supply of the same unit you keep pushing over the edge keep coming back for more of the same! As amusing as this can be, you will have to sometime launch your attack on Shangrila.

Step 3:  You have your choice of characters to use in the ensuing battle against Gares.  Both Tristran & Rauny have a score to settle with him.  This is reminiscent of City of Malano, where both of them had “irreconcilable differences” with the boss of the stage. This time around, Tristran is ready to begin his cleansing of the Empire by hitting them right where it hurts by taking on Gares.  Rauny is also ready to confront Gares about his effect on her father and philosophies of being a warrior. Geez, take a number!  There really is no priority of one character over the other, so it’s really up to you.  You could have neither of them do it, but you’ve got them in your party, so you may as well use at least one of them!

Fight It Out!!

Boss Time!

Gares Dark Prince HP 211 LV 21 STR 178 CHA 63 AGI 156 ALI 36 INT 149 LUK 57   LV: 18 Red Dragon II LV: 21 Dark Prince       LV: 18 Red Dragon II   2 Direct, 2 Targeted, & 2 Hit-All

Here’s one tough S.O.B. boss unit. This unit is pretty strong, as the very beefy Red Dragon II’s are pretty solid walls with their high Hit Points.  You can easily take a whole fight defeating one of them, only to have a freshie poop right in and replace it! What you need is to have your unit completely decked out with your best characters: Muses, Cherubim, Liches, if you have any. A “World” is a must.  Gares’s Evil Ring attacks are just too strong to deal with normally.  If you do not have a “Fool” Tarot Card to eliminate the Red Dragon II’s, then another nice card to use the “Justice” card. It will rip his escort creatures apart.  The “Fool” is clear and away the best way to win this fight. Save one the entire stage if you have to! Gares is more evil now (if that’s possible!), so his weakness to White attacks & weapons is even more pronounced. An “Emperor” Tarot Card will allow to get some extra shots in after the bell if they are needed. Just blast away, and eventually you should prevail...

After Gares makes his escape, and you have Norn in your party, you will make a startling discovery. Your Opinion Leader will discover that Debonair is being held prisoner here!  Norn will rush to his aid, and set him free.  Debonair will then talk about how Empress Endora has changed, and that he was thrown in jail for treason when he tried to reason with her.  he will then ask to join your party. You have two options here.
No:
He will repent his past mistakes, admit that his actions were wrong, and give you the “SONIC” (Sonic Blade) weapon. This is a rare weapon, and can only be found in this manner in the entire game.  But hardly worth dissing him! It’s not even that great!  There is no loss in Reputation for choosing this option, by the way. And strangely enough, Norn will remain in your party.  Didn’t she join you to find him in the first place? Kids these days...
Yes:
The option that you should choose! “Choose? I choose Charleston Chews for 60 millions!!!” Sorry about that... With this no brainier decision, you no have both of the Generals that you can possibly get to join you in the game!  and, just like with Tristran, he can recruit some ultra powerful classes unique to him!  Make sure that you see what he’s got to offer...

Ally!

Congratulations!

If you have been following this stage by stage guide in order, you are now exactly halfway through the game.  It moves pretty fast, doesn’t it? The second half of the game contains lots of big maps and tough bosses.  Long gone are the days of 2X2 maps! Not right off the bat, of course.  It’s more gradual, and sneaks up on you.  There are only three more special characters that you can get from now on as well (including Galf, there are four!), so the actual stages themselves will be more of a liberation game than following some stringent list of steps. You should also have a few units that you are pretty pleased with that seem unbeatable.  And they very well might be, thanks to a lucky class promotion item or special character here and there!  These units will be lifesavers in the stages ahead...

Available Items

Not only is there a Zodiac Stone on this stage, but the most important item of them all is here too! The “TABLET” (Tablet of Yaru)!!

SNES Name: HP POT. Selling Price: 10,000 Goth PSX / Full Name: Vitality Potion Buying Price: 20,000 Goth Description: “A medicine for the weak.  Raises a character’s max HP.”

SNES Name: SAPPHIRE Selling Price: 5 Goth PSX / Full Name: Sapphire Buying Price: - - Description: “The ninth stone of the Zodiac.  Signifies victory.”

SNES Name: SONIC Selling Price: 7,100 Goth PSX / Full Name: Sonic Blade Buying Price: - - Description: “Sonic Blade.” Effects: Strength + 12

SNES Name: TABLET Selling Price: 1,500 Goth PSX / Full Name: Tablet of Yaru Buying Price: - - Description: “A tablet engraved with the teachings of the monk Yaru.”

Aftermath

There are two things to do here, and both of them are big time important!

1) Now that Gares is gone, the ruler of this region Fellana, Goddess of Justice, is able to show herself at the castle of Shangrila.  If you visit her there, she will tell you to recover three great treasures from three white wizards that are now living somewhere in the Zenobian region. Visiting the various towns on this stage will give you different clues about which items you are to look for, or, more to the point, who you are to get them from.  Be on the lookout for the Great Boltorano, Gizolfi the White, & the Witch Tarut.  They each have one of the special treasures that Fellana seeks.  Seeing as two of them appear on stages towards the end of the game, you won’t be back with all 3 of them for quite a while! Happy hunting!

2) Once you have finally managed to acquire the “ORB” (Olden Orb), “DOUN GEM” (Gem of Doun), “TRUE GEM” (Gem of Truth), take them to the former boss castle of Shangrila.  Fellana will proclaim you the legendary hero of lore, and swap the three items for the super status symbol called the “TABLET” (Tablet of Yaru).  Congratulations!! You know have the possibility of getting the “World” ending, which is the ‘best’ & toughest to get!! All you need to do now is find all 12 of the Zodiac Stones...

3) Which you can start doing right away!  Visit the only Roshian Temple on the map, which is on the island in the middle of the map. If you have the “TABLET” (Tablet of Yaru), the messenger of the Gods will present you with the “SAPPHIRE” (Sapphire), which is the ninth stone of the Zodiac.

M.O.B.Q. Tip!

4) Now that you have some free time, take a look at the types of classes that Debonair can recruit.  Not only can he recruit Doll Masters instantly, but when he is high enough level, he can recruit Valkyries that will be able to promote up to Muses right off the bat!! So, you can get two classes that each have 2 Back Row Hit-All attacks!! You would be crazy not to pick up at least one or two of each variant, especially those oh so hard to get Doll Masters...