RF Generation Message Board

Instead of wandering around and finding monsters to battle, to grind in Shining Force, you have to enter an encounter, defeat some enemies (not all), and then leave the battle with your main where you entered. When you return to the encounter you did not finish, all of the enemies will be reset. I do not find this game too "grindy," but I did have to do this a few times for one specific battle. Because your characters earn experience individually and not as a group, some may get behind in their levels and a little grinding can be a necessity.

I've recruited Gong and Gort. Gong can be recruited after the 2nd battle, so the walkthrough is wrong on that point.  That said, I didn't get the hamster.

Laser Eye!!!!

Put my tanks (Ken, Gort, Luke) up front after I have retreated behind them with my Hero. Directly behind my tanks are my healers. I use the tables to my advantage and attack enemies with ranged and spell casters across them. Moving a spellcaster behind a tank can be extremely helpful, especially if you have Blaze 2. Skeletons and zombies are especially weak to fire and you can hit multiples when targeted. Enemies can't dodge spells.

I want to check with a character guide to make sure I'm not investing in characters that aren't very good later in the game, and not ignoring characters that haven't reached their potential yet.  For example, I'm pretty sure I've read before that Ken's usefulness starts to taper off at a certain point, and Arthur becomes one of the best Knights in the game, but right now Ken is a total badass and Arthur is weak and underleveled.

In Chapter 4, during the battle with General Elliot, a weapon called the Heat Axe is suppose to drop off of a Lizardman. However, in my battle this did not happen. Just a guess, but I think that the toon who took out the Lizardman might have been carrying a full load; it might save you guys some money if you make sure each toon has an open slot before the Elliot battle. Immediately after the battle, I entered the town of Pao (the 2nd, moved version) and went to the weapon shop. I checked for "deals" with the merchant and low and behold, there was the Heat Axe for I believe around $6800(?). It sucks that I had to pay for it, but it was well worth it because it is a great weapon for Luke or Gort (does about 20 damage a turn when it hits). It's nice to know that the game allows you to still grab an item that may have been missed due to an unforeseen circumstance. This is the first time I have found a "deal" in this game, but I have been checking in every town and will continue to do so.

To begin, the most important thing you will need for this battle is some time and patience; this encounter can take over 30 minutes alone. After encounter #10, be sure to head back to Bustoke village to revive any party members, remove debuffs, and change your party. I know that Amon and Balbaroy (the birdmen) are very weak in battle, but they are very useful in the Laser Eye encounter, so be sure to add them to your party. When you are ready, head to the bridge for battle.

The Laser Eye is very powerful, but only fires when fully charged. During its turn in battle, it will emit a countdown from 10-1, and then fire on its next turn. It has a wide and long range attack, which you will see in the darken squares that it exposes on the land during it's turn. You can move your troupe up a little, but I suggest not moving up too far and be sure to stay under its line of fire. The important thing to note is that the Laser Eye not only does damage to your party, but to your enemies party as well, so it's best to use this device to your advantage during this encounter.  You will spend many turns just passing and that's okay.

The first thing I do is arrange my party so that my tanking toons are on the right side of my group and at the top of it; I put casters and weaker ranged characters behind them. I also move Amon and Balbaroy to the right into the chasm in an attempt to grab the attention of (but NOT encounter) the flying Pegasus Knights. Once the Pegasus knights start coming toward Amon and Balbaroy, retreat and draw them back to your main group where they can be dispatched. In the meantime, you should still be passing your turns (except to move the birdmen) as the Laser Eye continues to warm up. After about 5-6 rounds, the Laser Eye will fire on your enemies on the bridge and take their health down significantly; after 2 firings, many of them will be dispatched. Though you give up possible earned experience, you do not want to get in a fight on the land bridge and risk being taken out by the Laser Eye.

Once you have dispatched the Pegasus Knights on the lower half of the screen, move Amon and Balbaroy north and grab the attention of the Pegasus Knights up there. Again, draw them back to your main group to be dealt with. You can pass through the Laser Eyes zone with your birdmen, just make sure that you're not in its firing area during the "Fire" sequence.

Once all of the Pegasus Knights are gone, take your birdmen north and go directly northeast along the top of the screen. With one of your birdmen, you can attack the Laser Eye from the top (its north side) and not drawn in other enemies, you might also be able to attack it from the front (it's west side) if there are no enemy mobs around, but don't be in the way when it fires. DO NOT attack it on the east side because it will draw enemies. The Laser Eye has 30 HP and the birdmen only do 1 damage each turn. However, this will either dispatch or severely weaken it until your party gets there. Again, patience is key.

Once all Pegasus Knights are dispatched and the land bridge is clear (or mostly clear, a dark priest may keep himself an another mob alive), wait for the Laser Eye to fire and then make your way onto the bridge. I typically take a few centaurs with range and good damage, and two healers with me. Half way on the land bridge you will see that it has a strip of land that juts south. This strip is out of the range of the Laser Eye, however you have to take out the Dark Elves (archers) on the platform below with your ranged fighters. Dispatch these (all if you can), wait for the Laser Eye to fire again and then rush to attack the Laser Eye before it can fire again. As you move your toons from the strip on the land bridge, also move others from the group that stayed back into the safe spot on the bridge. Some characters with fast movement, like Zylo, can make it across the bridge and help damage the Laser Eye before it fires again.

Once the Laser Eye is defeated, the rest of the mobs are pretty easy. I hope this guide makes sense and helps. If you have any questions, please PM me or ask under a spoiler tag in case others want to go at it alone.

In Chapter 8, after the castle battle where you get the Atlas (best axe), you can return to the weapon's shop and find another Atlas under "deals." This way Gort and Luke can be epically equiped.

For the love of God, be sure you recruit Gort when you get back to the town.  Dude's a badass.  Probably a good idea to get Gong also at the house near the place you fought the first battle.

@DisposedHero - I did get Gort but I haven't noticed Gong yet...I'll look around when I play here in a minute and try to find him. Thanks for the heads up man.

 I just made it to chapter 3...the mountainous village with the quarry battle. I beat the battle...got the moon stone and saved the game, haven't advanced any further. I was just wondering, I promoted My main and ken but they seem a little weaker actually I was hoping for the opposite. Im sure its just because they have been reset to level one again, be it at a higher rank. I was just wondering if the whole promotion thing was worth it or would I be just as good leaving some of the characters at the base classes? I mean are the new classes going to be freaking epic the farther I progress or is it all worth it? any input would be appreciated. My gut tells me they are worth it but some times the climb isn't worth the view if you catch my meaning. Just wondering if it's something that's really going to pay off in the long run(which im pretty sure it will) or would I do just as good to leave the classes alone? Also....

Do any of the shops EVER have deals? lol....I haven't noticed any yet so I was just wondering if there will ever be a shop keeper kind enough to throw a 25% discount on a kick@#$ sword or something? I don't really care I was just wondering about this? thought it was funny the game has a deals tap but so far I haven't been able to save money on nothing lol.....

You have to find the Domingo Egg in Manarina and then hatch it in Pao.

 I DID get the dimingo egg...didn't know what it was for. I've just been carrying it....now I know...cool man. I haven't been to pao yet....but ill definitely remember to look for how to hatch it when I get there.

Max (main character), Ken (though I probably should have ditched him), Tao, Gort, Mae, Zylo, Guntz, Domingo, Lyle, Musashi, Torasu, and Hanzou.

Banana (my main character's name of course), Zylo, Musashi, Torasu, Tao, Gort, Luke, Domingo, Lyle, Diane, Hanzou, and Pelle.  You get Pelle automatically after the Laser Eye battle; he is a beast and I never felt that his value ever went down as it does in some characters like Ken.

I defeated Darksol, he awoke the dragon.  I used Egress and saved.  I went back and I have to do the Darksol battle AGAIN!!!  Not happy!

[img width=700 height=525]http://i1375.photobucket.com/albums/ag478/michaelrancourt/DD591954-A936-472E-BE74-65FE66C01959_zpsi2jdzgwm.jpg[/img] (http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/michaelrancourt/media/DD591954-A936-472E-BE74-65FE66C01959_zpsi2jdzgwm.jpg.html)