Xak III - Basic Hints, a mini FAQ. Controls: The direction pad moves you around, and also moves you through the menus. Button I: Jump (in action scenes), Continue Text (in towns) Button II: Attack Run: System menu After the title screen, you have 3 options: Load a game Start a new Game Start Game without the opening Cinema The system Menu has the following (in order): Status Load Equipment Talk to your NPCs (even if they're dead!) Inventory A Inventory B Magic Options Warp Save Options: I have no idea what the second one does, but the first one should always be changed. When altered, it allows you to see yourself and other objects that would otherwise be hidden (for instance, you have a wall that is south of you, you normally cannot see anything north of it, with this option set, you can see that stuff [and there are some hidden chests that can only be seen this way]). Magics: Fire Arrow 1 (shoots an arrow straight ahead) Fire Arrow 4 (shoots an arrow in 4 directions) Fireball Heal all party members Lightning 1 Lightning 4 Trouble Spots: First Action Scene (the area after the horse thing). This area probably seems like a dead end, it's not. Go back to the locked door (upper right corner of the screen), and look on the lower left part of this "platform," there is a thin catwalk that you can walk on. Proceed to the left, and when the fence is right underneath you, jump forward and you'll be in the area that you couldn't get to. First Boss (guy on top of the castle) I don't consider this guy a boss, but they did in PCEFan, sooo. .. This guy will run back and forth in a very distinct pattern. Stay out of his way, figure it out, then stand just out side of his path and attack. Easy. Second Boss (guy inside the castle) This guy is tough! Make sure that you are of a high enough level (56-58). For the first part, run around and avoid him, then lure him to the back left corner. You can stand on the other side of the corner, sand as he moves forward, you can land a few hits on him before he gets you. Repeat this until he "morphs." Now, this second part is even tougher. Either heal yourself, or if you have enough life bar left, get him behind the throne, and you stand to right of it, you will be able to match him hit for hit. Second Action Scene (the forest) To proceed, go back to the area where you first entered this scene (top left), there is a path that leads up (through and behind the trees). Take this, then jump over the "entrance," and it's a breeze to make it to the Air Castle from here. Also, you will need to start using things as jumping stones, that is, many things can be pushed around, then you can jump on top of them, which will allow you to jump to previously unreachable spots. Inside the Air Castle, there is a room with about 5 exits, but everytime that you enter the doom, a wall with legs will move itself in front of the door that exits the castle. To get by this, you need to take the Lower Right exit, and it loops back into this room via a different door. There is a large stone that you need to jump over. DO NOT JUMP OVER IT! Instead, push it along the corridor (west, then south) and you will push it right on top of the "moving wall." Third Boss (the skeleton / spinning thing) Avoid him, while you make your way back into the castle doorway. If you stand in the door way, the boss will NOT be able to attack you, and occasionally, he will stop spinning right in front of you, and walk toward you (his head is his weak spot), and you can attack. He will start to move left / right before he gets to you. It may take a long time to kill him this way, but it does work! Third action area (the water scene) Hint: to see where you are when you're underwater, Jump. Eventually, you will reach a cave, go through here, after a few screens, your doorway will be bright, this means you're almost at the end. In the next scene there are two areas above water. The South one has 2 treasure chests (although the south west one is a booby trap). The exit to this area is in the middle of the area to the north. You will need to use the Jumping block to reach both areas. Fourth Boss (the guy on the stone pedestals). So long as you are sufficiently powered up, you can just jump on on of them an attack (I like the lower middle one since it gives you the most room). There is a way back on land on the left side of the screen if you fall in the water. Fifth Boss (the floating skeleton on the Aeroship) You need to jump and attack to hurt this guy. I was only able to beat him with a lot of Herbs. Fourth Action Scene (with the Giant Slug) You need to use magic to get rid of the 3 monkeys. Fifth Action Scene (the "ruins" looking area, as well as the "waterfall") The door that you cannot get through will have to wait, so just go through this area and open as many of the chests as you can. The water fall, there is an entrance way behind the third Major stream of water - this will take you to a "town," once you leave here you will go to the. . . Sixth Action scene. You will need to use the block to jump across the large opening (push the block off of the ledge), it may take some work to get the block at a point where you can reach both ledges, but it can be done. Next you will enter an area with "Green Slime," touching the slime is instant "GAME OVER" - in stead, move left, jump over the opening, move left then down, and look at the small post in the middle of the field, a path through the slime will open up. Eventually you need to go north (on the new path), then left. Opening the chest and going through the door way are both needed, but after doing either, you will be warped back somewhere else, so exit the area and go back for the second part. Then go an talk to the main guy in the Fortress behind the waterfall (last option). You will now be able to return to the "ruins" area, again speak with the bird by the eternal flame, and then the locked door will open up. Whew. You will now return to the Ruins area with the Slime, and a new path (where the monkeys got you last time) will be available to you. to get past the one area with the very high ledge, you will need to stack 3 of the jumping blocks together, then use a single block to jump up on the 3 stacked blocks, to get to the exit (upper right side of the screen). Sixth Boss (the guy with the pitch fork) Best way to get rid of him, use LOTS of magic (the fireball seems to be the most effective). Next? Action area After you've bummed around a bit, you'll need to go back to the dragon in the castle behind the waterfall (you should be able to use the Warp to get there, second from the bottom). Seventh Boss (flying dragon). Shoot his head, if you're at a sufficiently high enough level, you can use the brute force method and beat him easily. Last Action Area (?) You can only heal yourself in rooms where you have planted a Life Tree, so you may need to frequent these often (at first). The guards in these areas are worth a hefty 1800 Exp points, so now is a good time to up your level, if needed. The way out of the first area (with the large door), is this: Fall down the hole in the middle of the floor, then use the stairwell, this will put you on the catwalk in the back middle of the room. Move to the far left side of the catwalk and move the switch so that the door is *down*. You can then jump to a small ledge directly above the door. You will now be in an "island" area (the first of 2), the key to getting through the first one is jumping. Hint: Save before attempting any jump, then if you mess up, you don't have to start over again. Be aware that this trick will not work in the Second Island area. .. In the second Island area, the key is making use of the invisible catwalks. Anywhere that you see 2 pillars next to each other, there is a catwalk extending from them (for instance, the first one is to the left of the stairway). I do not think that you can just start on any of them, you need to start on the first one (as indicated above). Two things to be aware of - not all the catwalks are in the middle of the posts, and the last one has a 90 degree turn on it (where the pillars are on the last island). Either Boss (the Grim Reaper?!) You're alone here, so your best bet is to wait until he appears, then move in (avoiding the circles) and just hack away (healing as need, if necessary). Last Action Area Pretty straight forward, the only hard part is the one puzzle room. There are 2 switches that need to be thrown, the first is in the lower right side of the area, this will enable a catwalk to the big door in the upper left. The other switch is in the upper right area, you will need to use two stacked jumping blocks to get to it. Best thing to do is to push the block from the middle left of the screen, then push the middle right block on top of it. You can then push the two blocks to the last switch, which will enable (not open) the large door (it will open when you get to it). The rest of the action areas are pretty much just run and get through them as quickly as possible taking as little damage as possible. Last Boss Here, you're flying, kind of. The large oval things that are on the "leg" need to be destroyed (I think there's 5 or 6 of them). After you do that, a flying creature will be above you, after you destroy him, it's the end of the game. To destroy the ovals, follow the claws back in, that is, when one comes out, as it retreats, follow it until you can strike, then blast away. I killed the last guy with shear brute force.