LOQO 1 Legendary Hunts

Overview

A simple, straightforward guide to start you on your way to hunting Legendary Monsters in LOQO1. Do NOT be intimidated by a monster's legendary name or status, some are terribly easy to defeat with little more than patience and power-leveling.

(Note: This is a guide with general information and strategies. For the list of Legendary Monsters in LOQO1, click here.)

Party

You only have three free slots in your party (Jake must be present), and while everyone has their own style, generally your selection will break down to the same two obvious roles: Damager or Healer. Jake, of course, is not only a Damager, but likely the best one you have access to. Damagers are there to take down the boss and hopefully absorb the bulk of the damage, and Healers are there to watch their backs as they do so. Conversely, this also means that Damagers are poor Healers, and Healers are better off not taking many hits if at all possible. The best ratio, then, is 2 other Damagers and 1 Healer, which reduces the chances of your Healer taking a bad hit (or worse, crit).

 "Well-Synergy Teams~Parties:

 Physical Team: Hero (Jake), Gath’D, Phalen, and Tirah. Use items for curing SE (Status Effects) or healing as~if need be.
 Magical Team: Hero (Jake), Dargon (or Lucia), Murdock, and Sephira.
 2 Royal Support Team: Hero (Jake), Lucia (or Dargon), Opala, and Farah.
 3 Royal Team: Hero (Jake), Opala, Osira, and Farah.
 Physical Support Team: Hero (Jake), Lucia (or Dargon), Phalen, and Tirah.

 Obviously, an ultimate team, having clvl 50 and Moon~Sun (and etc) gear, makes the game and Legendary Monsters laughable. Clvl 40 yields the most powerful attacks (skills) that you can do, and clvl 50 provides the MT support~buffing spells. Only King Corrus remains difficult. And if you want to be really cheap, use a poison attack (skill) too (HK)."

Equipment

Your gear is among the most important choices in a fight, so make sure you have the best you can afford. And even if you can't afford it, you should probably earn gold leveling up until you can afford it. In general, there are two places where you should shop for gear: the Wintero shop, and Cruiger the Legendary Blacksmith in Hell Dune Cave. Most of your armor should be Royal or better. In particular, some Royal gear also provides resistance against certain elements, or comes with Auto spells. Cruiger will provide some of the most powerful weapons and armor in the game. It gets pretty costly, but it is worth it. Some of the best gear can also be found in the more difficult to navigate areas. Even if the surrounding enemies are powerful, don't be afraid to use the save-and-run approach: move through as quickly as you can, saving when it's safe, and running when it isn't. For the most part, you can raid an area without ever having to fight, if you're fast and careful. Most enemies will not chase you, though a few, such as some Werewuffies and nearly all Zombies, will.

Suggested Gear:

Moon weapons, Royal armors, Cloak of Unfinity, Noble Plate, Heaven Armor, Ring of Divine Strength, Boots of Speed.
 Note: Royal Shields resist Venom, so even though Moon Shields are more powerful, Royal Shields are arguably more useful, at least against Venom-using legendaries. If you want to resist a specific element, the weapon shop on Festival Island sells rare rings that resist each element.

Leveling

You can never level up too much. It is possible to clear the first part of the game (defeating Osira) without too much trouble with most of your party below level 25. But you should really buckle down and focus on leveling for several reasons. Most characters learn a power move at level 40, and their final move at level 50. Level 40+ is a good rule of thumb, as by then you'll have earned enough money to have reasonably upgraded your gear.

One of the best places to power level without too much difficulty is east of Wintero, particularly any group of three Reptile Warriors. They only cast Barrier, and drop lots of gold and experience. You will likely need a Healer.

The Elite Bandit Swordsman and Sorceresses just outside the Bandit Fortress in Greece are great for fast money and experience, once your gear is up to snuff (you're in good shape if you can take one of two down within two turns; better shape if you can also resist her group Thunder spells). Both Bandtis drop Mithril weapons, which can be sold for extra cash. Plus, they're conveniently close to a warp point, so you can go back forth between Greece and the Hell Dune warp point in Egypt, gradually outfutting your party with Moon gear once you have the gold.

"5 Cockalots at night (the second group inside the caves north of Athrosa) earns the most experience in the game early on, and they're very easy to kill. You just need to reach the thresh-hold of being able to kill all of them before they run away. Also, their MT Confuse (and~or other MT Status Effect spells) is very annoying (or possibly even deadly), which is also why reaching the thresh-hold is important (HK)."

"As for gold, I haven't looked up what's the best, but probably most of the game, 5 evil mushrooms at night, are an extremely good source for gold, quick and easy to kill ~ so quick and easy, you'll get sick of fighting them, lol (HK)."

Items

If you're strong enough and well prepared, items may not even come into play. But just in case, have plenty of ways to restore HP and SP, cure a status, or revive a fallen party member in a pinch.

Know Thy Enemy

The worst thing you can do is walk into a fight unprepared (and without having saved first). Research your target thoroughly: know its moves and weakness, and plan accordingly.

On the other hand, don't focus TOO much on its weakness. Do not assume that just because something is weak to a certain element, that you must bring someone who has a matching attack. It could speed things along in certain cases, but it could also seriously hinder you if that attacker is underdeveloped. If your Damagers are outfitted and leveled properly, in most fights you don't need to worry about your target's weakness at all. After all, even though magic-heavy characters generally cover more elemental bases, they can't use shields and are usually the first to go down in a fight.

Before Combat

SAVE. If the fight goes bad, you don't want to find yourself staring at a Game Over.

In Combat

In the best case scenario, your target only does direct damage, without resorting to tricks such as negative status effects for you, or positive status effects for it. In which case all you need to do is pour on the damage and keep your health high enough. This is rarely ever the case with legendaries, of course, although there are some that you can overpower with sheer force before they can pull out too many of these tricks.

In every battle, (assuming you leveled him up enough, which you should) Jake will have Mass Might to strengthen the party, and you should use it before breaking out any big attacks. Likewise, use the first turn to beef up your other stats. It's a great time for Mass Resist or Mass Protect, if you have them. Keep an eye on these boosters, and restore them when you get the chance, especially Mass Might. You want to end each fight as quickly as possible, and boosted attacks are the best way to do that. You may also want to employ negative status on your target to improve your chances of survival.

Be on the lookout for negative status conditions, and get rid of them quickly. Your Healer should be knocking off status conditions when not restoring HP, and if they're not doing either of those, only then should they be attacking or defending.

Play to your strengths. Use your strongest attacks unless there's a reason not to. If you need to, keep a running tally of how much total HP the target has left, so you'll know how much damage you're doing each round, and when you're in the home stretch. If your damage is very low (triple digits or less), you may need to back out and try again when you're stronger. A general rule of thumb is that in an ideal situation, a Damager's attacks are within the 3000-7000+ range, which means you're doing as much as 9000+ damage per attacking turn.

Aim for legendaries with lower HP and fewer tricks first, particularly the ones in Egypt (Serpento, Bagdarus, and Wingbask). If you struggle with them, you're likely not ready for anything harder.

After Combat

SAVE, remember to pay attention to how many legendaries you've defeated, and report back to Castella the Bounty Hunter in Egypt regularly to pick up your rewards. If you go beyond a prize range without collecting the reward, you cannot pick it up later.

 4-11 Monsters: Adventurer Outfit
 12-14 Monsters: Hunter Armor
 15+ Monsters: Castella will have returned to her house on the Path to Crossroads in Greece.

New Game+

Any legendary monsters defeated in the standard game will likewise stay defeated and do not return in New Game+. King Corrus and Emperor of Time are exclusive to New Game+ and can only be fought there.

There are several advantages to defeating legendary monsters in New Game+, as opposed to the standard game. Mercenaries hired, levels, and equipment are retained from the standard game. In addition, New Game+ offers far stronger gear, virtually ensuring that your party is better prepared to face any legendary. Also, you are more likely to have excess gold to spend on gear in New Game+, as it very easy to proceed through the game without buying any new gear for quite some time.

Once you have defeated all legendaries in the Book of Monsters except King Corrus, talk to Castella at her home. She will leave to fight Corrus alone, leaving behind vague instructions on how to find him (his cave is west of Wintero).

Depending on your luck, Corrus may prove to be the most difficult opponent in the game. Sun gear and Ultimate weapons (Supreme weapons if you're using a Royal) are highly recommended, as is having plenty of healing items or a well-defended Healer. Note that while Punishment changes your status, it cannot be removed by Remedy spells.

With Corrus defeated, only the Emperor of Time remains a major threat. Before fighting him, return to Castella's house in order to pick up the Ultimate Sword, likely Jake's best possible weapon in the game. You face the Emperor of Time on the northernmost forest screen before Athrosa.