Xenosaga: Episode 1
Skip scenes
Whenever you are viewing a previously watched scene, press Start then press Triangle. You will then skip the entire scene until you are in quest mode again. Also, pause the game and you will be prompted if you want to resume or skip the scene. This is useful when you have saved a game before a scene and get killed afterwards.
Game completion data
Once you complete Xenosaga: Episode 1 , after the ending credits roll, the game will ask if you want to save. Answer “Yes” and the game completion data will be saved. Although you cannot load this saved game data with the Episode 1 game disc, do not delete it. It is likely that this game completion data will be used to load your characters stats into Xenosaga: Episode 2 .
Easy money
- Compatible across virtually all gaming platforms and devices
- An unmatched, immersive gameplay experience (THX 7.1 surround sound capable, detachable mic, and more)
- Gel padding is incredibly comfortable across a wide range of head sizes
Get the Casino Card from the Durandal’s Casino (north and east of Shione’s room on the Durandal). Then, play Poker. Start with 100 coins (900 bucks) and play level 1 until you get about 200. Then, move straight to level 3 until you get about 700. Then, play level 4. The way to always beat the house is as follows. Always hold a pair or any other scoring combo. After you win, always do double or nothing. If the number is greater than 7 bet low, if the number is 8 it is your choice, and if the number is 9 or above it is best to go low. After accumulating about 45000 coins, get 99 starter decks of cards and sell them for 20,000. It takes a total of two hours to make about 100,000 (and all the prizes and art.)
When you get the Casino passport from the casino on the Durandal, go into the passport and buy a amount of coins you can afford so you can play. Select Poker on the level 1 game and play that until you get about 1,000 coins. Then, move up a level or two. When you get about 2,000 to 3,000 coins, go to level 4 for the big money. When you get about 15,000 coins, buy 99 Recovery Sets for about 9,900 coins, leaving your about 5,000 coins. Sell the items that were in the Recovery Set for about 11,000. Then, repeat the process. The Recovery Set contains a Med Kit, Ether Pack, Revive, And Cure-All. You should have 99 of each when you buy the 99 Recovery Sets.
Playing the slot machine can earn more coins than playing Poker. Take more than three minutes to play in Level 1, by betting one coin only in one of the pay out lines. This is just for practice for you to get used to the timing of when to press the Circle. Carefully look to notice of pattern of 7 repeating in each reel. There are two 7s sticking together in the first reel, one in the second reel, and three with one separated (for example, 77XX7X) in the third reel. Once you learn the pattern repeating in the reel and get used to it, try to get good timing with them. Try counting a quick one, two, three, and four to get the 7. When you can make three 7 in a rows — good. You are now ready to get the Special reel of Super 7. The pattern for Super 7 is as the same as the ordinary 7, which is an advantage for you once you have gotten used to the 7s. Now is the best opportunity once you get into the Nine reel, with only X and O. Its the easiest among the reels. Get all Os without any Xs to win more than 100,000 coins. Trade all the coins and you will get A-05 as soon as possible or any desired items.
After finishing the Encephalon stage, return there using the EVS and run into the spotlights. After defeating all the enemies on screen, exit using the EVS and repeat the process. Every time you do this, you get 8,000 and precious stones which you can sell at the shop plate for some extra money. The enemies here also give good special points; make sure to end every battle with the points bonus icon.
Easy Tech, Skill, and Ether points
Use the following trick in the very beginning of the game for easy Tech, Skill, and Ether points. However, it can only be done with Shion. Go to the Gear hanger. Talk to the man that is working on a Gear. He will ask if you want to do a simulation. Say “Yes” and go into battle Winning this battle will earn you 16 to 180 points depending on if you got a x2, x4, or x10.
One of the best places to gain ability points and gold is in the EVS in the Encephalon in the beginning. Here you will fight the enemies in the searchlights, which consist of four Dirlewangers and one Kubel. Each battle rewards 1,600 gold and several dozen Tech, Skill, and Ether points. The real trick is to use an attack which hits the entire group on a turn when the character has the bonus points icon in the Event Slot. The problem is getting that icon in an order will you can have it on one of your characters instead of the enemy. Try weakening the enemies so that they will all die in one hit, and wait a few turns to see if someone will boost and change the Event Slot order. If about four turns pass by, then try killing a Dirlewanger or two to change the order. If you can successfully kill them all in one hit, you can get about 60 Tech and Skill points, and about 40 Ether points, with the 2x effect. The big payoff is when you hit them all on a 4x or 10x, which rewards 100 to 200 points; even better if you have ability increasing items or skills equipped. Clearing the area two to three times rewards about 8,000 gold and 1,000 Tech and Skill points, and 500 Ether points, depending on your luck.
Go to the Cathedral Ship, then go to the mall (just after the second save point). Go to the room on the lower level with the two Unicorn battles. One of the battles will be against a Unicorn and two Ogres, and the other against a Unicorn and two Cerberuses. You can use the following trick for both battles. During either of these fights, kill one Cerberus or Ogre on the Bonus Point turn, but only one. Wait for the Unicorn’s turn; defend or weaken the other Cerberus or Ogre until then. Once its turn comes, he will revive the Cerberus or Ogre you just killed. Then, kill another Cerberus or Ogre on the Bonus Point turn (only one, again). On the Unicorn’s turn, the Cerberus or Ogre will be revived again. Keep doing this repeatedly. If the Unicorn does not revive the Cerberus or Ogre, then you cannot do the trick any more for the rest of the battle. Just kill the last Cerberus or Ogre and the Unicorn (preferably on the Boost Point turn). By the end of the fight, you have a chance of accumulating anywhere between 50 to 500 Tech Points, Skill Points, and/or Ether Points, depending on how many multipliers you get and of what caliber they are.
One of the best places to earn Tech Points is the Encephlecon. Get caught in one of the searchlights, and the warning sign will appear. Take them out with X-Buster, Mystic Nocturne, Angel Blow, Angel Requiem, Meteor Shot, Executioner, etc. They should all be defeated in about two or three consecutive moves. Use the same tactics for the other searchlights. You must use the EVS platform to return and get back. Avoid using your AGWS unless you want to spend 100G every time you are low on health. Use any Ethers you want. Use the EVS at the Dock Colony up the small flight of stairs. That way, you can quickly return to the Dock Clinic and restore HP and EP. You should earn about 30 to 60 Tech Points every battle, since there are four soldiers and one helicopter. Before the Song of Nephilum is a good time to level up. Get Ziggy to level 26 and enought Tech Points to set it in the HI slot. Get X-Buster on the high slot as well (KOS-MOS). Before the Song of Nephilum, you should have Throni Blade, Dominion Tank, and the head Ether. You will get the body later in the game. When facing Albedo in Proto Merkabah, you must have Erde Kaiser, otherwise it is nearly impossible.
Easy leveling
Enter a battle where you know the character you wish to level up is capable of taking on the enemy(s). It may be helpful to move that character into the back row before the battle begins, as you want the other two characters in the front to intentionally be killed. When this is done, move your character to be leveled up back into the front row and defeat the enemies. By doing this, you do not have to share the EXP, Tech, Skill, or Ether points.
The best place to gain levels (not Tech points) is to fight the semi-secret boss, Din Gareth. He is the orange AGWS. piloted by Ace Pilot. He has about 8500 HP, but if you have AG-05 and are good you can defeat him. Go into the fight with two HGG-AG5s. Go back to the U-TIC ship, and then to the room with the segment address in it. It is the room where when you tried to enter it before; the door would alarm and you would have to fight a battle. Or, go into the large area with the three plants at the upper left of the screen then go into the room at the upper right of the screen. There should be a soldier in there, but he will not attack you. You have to approach him. Go in with the person that you want to level up with Master’s Pendant and have him or her set to pilot the AG-05. Also remember to have Guard Recovery, possibly Auxiliary Armor B or A, and/or Fast Circuit 25 (which might be obtainable by stealing from Din Gareth). Guard Recovery is insane in the AG-05 (600 HP for guarding). For some reason, Shion cannot be in the AG-05 before the Ace Pilot gets killed or else you get Meld Gareth, the green AGWS. Have the person with AG-05 start with a good amount of health (over 300+ recommended), then have them defend. Have one other person kill Ace Pilot (he only has 360 HP), and have the other either defend or use Hemlock on himself or herself, or on the person who just attacked. Din Gareth should be out already. Get the person you want into AG-05 and place him or her in the middle of the back row. Din Gareth should be killing off one or both of the people not in AGWS right now. Do not worry, as this is expected. If Din Gareth is not killing off your people, unequip them of their armor next time. Have AG-05 do the guard, then the W-ACT routine (does about 1500 damage) until you whittle away Din Gareth’s 8,500 HP. The guarding is to keep you from dying. This should not be a problem because of your Guard Recovery. If the person you wanted to level up had Master’s Pendant equipped, then they will get 10,000 EXP points after the battle. If he or she had Master’s Pendant and EXP + 25, then they should get 12,000 EXP. Within twenty minutes, you can gain about four levels. If you landed on Special Points Up, you might only get about 130 Tech points each battle, which is not really worth it compared to the experience. Staggering for Stat Points can be difficult here; make a note of this for the next section. As for KOS-MOS and Ziggy level ups, the people outside of the party during the battle still gain experience. They will get 75% of Din Gareth’s base of 8,000 EXP. Since KOS-MOS and Ziggy cannot pilot AGWS, just put them outside of the party and fight Din Gareth with the person of the lowest level in the AGWS. Do not have the same two people accompany the person in the AG-05 for more than one or two battles unless you really do not want them to level up or do not want to waste Hemlocks.
Note: You must have taught Boost 1 to at least one character amongst those you are training, and one character must have a Tech Attack at [HI] level and must hit everyone (i.e. Angelic Requim- Jr.) for this trick. When training at the Encephalon area against the searchlights, use the following steps to increase your experience gains. During the battle, look at the current slot event on your first character’s move. If s/he is currently on an Experience Bonus round, have them attack and attempt to kill all the enemies immediately. If not (either it is not an Experience Round or they are too weak to one-hit kill them all), there are two options. Have him/her attack the Helicopter in the middle, as it has 800 HP whereas the soldiers only have 380 HP; or Get him/her cast Boost 1 on your character with the [HI] hit-all tech (Jr.’s Angel Requiem works extremely well). Choose the first option if this character does not know Boost 1 or the second option if s/he does. If this character is not the one with Boost 1, continue as usual until the character with Boost 1 has their turn, and casts it on your [HI] Tech-attack character. Next, watch the Event Reel. It follows this pattern: No Event, Critical Hit Bonus, Boost Gauge Bonus, Experience Bonus. Watch the events until the current fighter has a “Boost Gauge Bonus” event. When this happens, boost in your strong character immediately (during their turn), so that an enemy does not boost before you do. Your strong character will then boost into an Experience Bonus round. Have them use their moves to wipe out all the enemies, and get a x2, x4 or (if you are lucky) a x10 multiplier. Note: If your character does not kill all the enemies on that round, cast Boost 1 on him/her again, then boost him/her into the next experience round. If you always kill during an Experience increasing round, you will get Tech Points a lot faster.
Playing mini-games
To play mini-games, you must have the game passport. You can get them by talking to certain people in the game. Once you have the passport, go to a save point with “EVS” above it. Once there, you go to the menu and select key-item. Choose the game passport you want to play and press Action.
Decoder #8
When you visit the Dock Colony for the first time, a woman in front of the clinic tells you of a Fish Detector that her husband lost. Go to the Kukai Foundation’s cleaning place and inspect the tuxedo to find the Fish Detector. Talk to the girl in the Iron Man bar, sitting at the lower left table. She says that she lost an important ring and asks you to find it. Go to the Private Beach and go in the water where the fish show up on the radar screen. Run up to every fish and press Circle. Sometimes you will get an item, and sometimes you will not. You can get a Med Kit, a Speed Stim, and the Engagement Ring. If you return to the beach on any return trips, the Med Kit, and Speed Stim will be there again. Give the ring back to the girl in the bar. She will give you the Decoder #8 to open the red door.
- Compatible across virtually all gaming platforms and devices
- An unmatched, immersive gameplay experience (THX 7.1 surround sound capable, detachable mic, and more)
- Gel padding is incredibly comfortable across a wide range of head sizes
Hazardous Area Map
On board the Elsa, you will see the pilot walking around in Hangar 1 (A.G.W.S. hangar), looking for a map. He does not give any concrete details, except to look everywhere, and that the captain wants it. To get the map, speak with the captain on the bridge. He will give it to you to take to the pilot.
MOMO’s first transformation
Go to the Cathedral Ship (inside the Gnosis). When you get to the stairs to go up (not the ladder), have MOMO as your lead character and search near the boxes. It should be there.
See Shion or MOMO in a swimsuit
When you are saving the people at the Kouki foundation, there is a chest in the hotel. When you get it, it will say “Swimsuit”. You can equip it to Shion or MOMO. This allows their TP reward to increase by 25%. Also, when they are fighting they will be in a swimsuit. If you saw the intermission sequence where they are at the foundation’s beach, you will see MOMO and Shion in a bathing suit. That is how they will appear as when they fight with the swimsuit equipped. Also, the same item can be won by completing Mission 4 of the Driller Game. A third and final swimsuit is to be found by defeating Great Joe. Note: Jr. and Chaos can also wear the swimsuit, and can be seen in swimming trunks.
Shion’s Giant Robot Ethers
In the bottom of the Gear Shop in the Kukai Foundation, you can meet a strange professor who wants you to find parts so he can build a giant robot. Finding the six different parts, consisting of two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head will reward you with four different Ether attacks for Shion. These parts are located in the various Segment address rooms, which you find through exploring. The first attack is rewarded when you find both arms, and is called the Throni Blade. Next, you will find both legs which reward you with the Ether attack called the Dominion Tank. The head is the next item you can get, unlocking an attack called the Seraphim Bird. Finally, you will find the body which combines with all the other parts to create the summon of Erde Kaiser. This is the most powerful attack in the game, causing 9999 damage, but requires twelve Skills slots it makes it the only Ether that Shion can use.
Slide Deck Key
When you are onboard the Elsa, before the ship is attacked, you can speak to the repair robot in the A.G.W.S. hangar. He mentions that he is the hardest worker, and that while he was cleaning one of the cabins he lost his key to the Slide Deck. The key can be found on the couch in the lounge of Cabin 2 (the southern-most cabin).
Keeping Shion safe during the Gnosis attack
During the Gnosis attack on the Starship Woglinde at Shion’s second encounter with the Gnosis, as they chase her she must run through the partition and quickly press the red switch on the other side to close it to stop the Gnosis from touching her. As this is difficult to do, there is a second, easier option. Have Shion keep running. Ignore and pass both red switches. Go through the open door into the empty room a few steps further down the hallway. Wait a few seconds in the room. The Gnosis will lose track of Shion. Then, give up and return to where they were before the chase. The coast will be clear and Shion can go safely to her next stop.
Fast sneaking
If you do not want to alert the enemies with your loud footsteps, you can walk by pressing R2. Additionally, if you want to save time, repeatedly press R2 while moving behind or out of the range of the enemies’ view.
Destroying objects
After receiving an e-mail about the “vapourizer plug-in”. press Square on an object with target to destroy them. When multiple objects are nearby, you can switch targets by pressing L1 or R1.
AWGS at Dock Colony
Aside from the three standard ones you get with Shion, Junior, and Chaos join your crew, you can also actually buy three other AWGS units at the Dock Colony. They are a category in the shop “Talk to Me”. Each one can equip its own specific weapons bought at the same place. The best one is a Super Heavy Weight that starts with 6000 FHP. However, these units are not cheap. They are priced from the weakest at 50,000g, to the medium at 80,000g, to the strongest at 300,000g.
In-game reset
While playing the game, hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 + Start + Select.
General tips
Whenever possible, fight. You will never know when a Boss is lurking around the corner. Utilize all of your T, E, and S points. Upgrade each attack accordingly and level up your characters. Also save your items (such as medkits and ethers). Whenever possible, evolve your Ethers. One of the most powerful character encountered using is KOS-MOS. She levels up quickly, and when she receives weapons and such she becomes more powerful. Note: In certain parts, KOS-MOS will not be a playble character. Keep your characters at even odds. The game is very unpredictable. Also take advantage of “Booster”, as a lot of times you will DIE. All enemies possess the same abilities as you do. Whenever possible, stock up on Medkits and also upgrade your AGWS’s.
To make ensure that you do not get stuck at a hard level, fight as much as you can near a rest area and level up. Remember, you can also train with the phone device when the save point has a blue icon on top.
When fighting, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy or Boss that you are facing. Some enemies and Bosses have different weaknesses such as long-range attacks (Triangle), short-range attacks (Square), and Ether attacks. Some enemies are even weak against the A.G.W.S. units.
Defeating Zolfo and the two Mecurio
Since Zolfo will not attack until both Mecurio are out, take out the Mecurio as Zolfo will use his shields.. If you use MOMO’s Sleep Ether attack (to the right of life shot), it will put one of the Mecurio to sleep. When it is Zolfo’s turn, he will attack his own Mecurios and reprimand them for sleeping. This should hurt them for at least 100. Attack once or guard with Ziggy. When you have the AP, attack the one that is awake (if any). Zolfo becomes quite easy when they are both gone; just heal and attack as usual.
Defeating Din Garreth
Once you have completed the Song of Nephilim and return, you can fight another version of the Ace Pilots Gear called Din Gareth. To do this, you have to kill the Ace Pilot while you have only one or less Gear in battle. Otherwise, it will just be another Meld Gareth. Din Gareth is roughly twice as hard as its counter part, giving twice as much experience and slightly higher ability points, and a Fast Circuit 25 as the rare item.
Defeating Great Joe
This Great Joe Boss also appeared in Xenogears. You can fight him as soon as you have control of Junior in the Durandal. Have Junior in the lead and destroy the walls in the top right room in the residential area. Great Joe will appear and challenge you to a fight. Great Joe is not too tough, as long as you have access to Shion’s Medica All spell to deal with Great Joe’s Soul Crusher, which does a few hundred damage to each character. Keep you character’s HP high as you whittle down Great Joe’s 9999 HP. Upon killing him, you will get Junior’s tech attack Soul Rhapsody and the ability to summon Great Joe in battle.
Defeating Meld Garreth
The first optional Boss type of enemy appears soon as you have access to the U-TIC Battle ship in the EVS. The Boss starts the same Ace Pilot that you saw when Junior goes through the first time. The Ace Pilot has 360 HP and as soon as you take that much off, he boards his Gear called Meld Gareth. If you are at fairly low levels and do not have properly equipped Gears, this fight is bad news. Meld Gareth has 5500 HP and can case as much as 300 points of damage to each character with its missile attacks. Meld Gareth also is extremely fast, usually getting a turn after two of your characters attack. Early in the game, the best way to kill it is to have three characters in Gears with gatling guns and flame throwers for the W-Attack, as well as Frame Restores to survive its constant barrage. If you manage to kill it, you will receive 1333 experience points per character, 1000 gold, and either A Frame Repair Z ( common), or a B-Max Circuit (rare), as well as decent amounts for all three types of ability points.
Defeating Minita
- Compatible across virtually all gaming platforms and devices
- An unmatched, immersive gameplay experience (THX 7.1 surround sound capable, detachable mic, and more)
- Gel padding is incredibly comfortable across a wide range of head sizes
If you are not properly prepared, she can be one of the hardest Bosses in the game. Minita is first available when the Kukai Foundation is under attack by the Gnosis, and resides in Sector 26 above the Iron Man Bar. To get to her, you have to first lower the overhang above the entrance to the Iron Man Bar. Next, go to Our Treasure Inn, climb to the second floor, and exit to the catwalk. Go to the right until you find a pile of junk, which can be destroyed to reveal an Ether Upgrade S. Once there, jump off the side and work your way across the overhangs until you can enter the archway. Before going in, arrange your party with all female characters and have a battle formation with Shion behind Kos-Mos, and MOMO in the front to the side. If possible, use tech points on Kos-Mos to allow her to use her R-Cannon each turn, and whichever of MOMO’s long range attacks you use, because Minita is flying in the air. Having Chaos’s Healing Dew on Shion is good, because the higher healing of Medica is not recommended for this battle. Also, put Attack Poison Guards on everyone so that you will not waste turns to cure it. Also, Minita can lock Circle with her attacks, making it impossible to do a tech attack until that character is healed. If you choose to use male characters, you will have things considerably difficult because Minita does not like men. She will counterattack and use her Bibo’s summon far more often when they attack. Minita has 7777 HP and her main attacks are Dark Star, which hits for around 300 HP and can knock party members back. Her other attacks are the two forms of Bibo which she summons to either hit the entire party for one quarter of their current hp, or the far worse one which takes all but one character’s current HP and adds it to Minita’s health. To combat this. try to keep your characters HP at about 400 so that they can survive Minita’s Dark Star attack, and limit her ability to drain large amounts of HP from your characters. This battle is also hindered by the fact you cannot use AGWS, and Shion’s robot attacks almost always miss. When Shion has a free turn, try to use her Queen’s Kiss to steal Minita’s rare item called the Craft Apron, which is very valuable. The best strategy is to constantly use Kos-Mos’ and MOMO’s long range tech attacks and have Shion heal the characters to keep them alive, but not higher then 500 HP. Due to the evasion of Minita, you will miss frequently and do low damage when you hit. Keep at it for a while, and as long as Minita drains less HP than the damage you inflict, she will die sooner or later giving MOMO her Dark Scepter attack.