(c.) 2000-2001 Shaun M. Thomas, All Rights Reserved.
This FAQ is protected by Copyright Law. All text copied from this
FAQ can only be done with the consent of Shaun Thomas. An updated
version of this FAQ can be obtained at gamefaqs.com or my personal
website.
-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- Intro:
-=-=-=-=-=-
Most people I've talked to seem to think Tetra Master is incomprehensible.
annoying, and fruitless. Well... it is, but that doesn't mean there isn't
some rhyme to the horrible chaos that is Tetra Master. The fact is, it
does have rhyme and reason, just a bit too random. Fortunately, all of
this can be overcome, and eventually you'll reach the top collector level.
Special Note: No. There wasn't, isn't, and never will be any kind of
tangible reward for playing Tetra Master. You don't win items, gold,
hidden FMV's, or even fame by reaching the top collector level. The
reward for putting in the hard hours required is absolutely zip, zilch,
nada, nothing, nil, zero, the big goose egg, total and complete
vacuum - a veritable oblivion. The game seems solely to exist for
bragging rights, as it has no other function in FF9 other than making
you waste time.
For those of you living in Germany, a company known as Dino contacted me
to write the rules for a tabletop version of Tetra Master. The game has
gone into production, and should be available in stores. I suggest
picking it up, it's a good adaptation. I have been informed that the game
will most likely not reach US shores, so I suggest berating Squaresoft
until they relent! If we can get enough demand, you may be able to play
Tetra Master without a copy of FFIX! Send emails, send faxes, send snail-
mail, call your congressman! Whatever you do, tell Square you want this
game!
And now, back to your regularly scheduled FAQ.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- Contents:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I. History
II. Rules
A. Requirements
B. Getting Cards
C. Getting Ready
D. The Game
E. Card Numbers
F. Card Stats
G. Arrows
H. Battles
I. Combos
J. Winning
K. The Point System
L. Collector Levels
III. Card Types
A. Card Power
B. Card Defense
C. Physical Cards
D. Magic Cards
E. Power Cards
F. Advanced Cards
IV. Strategies
A. Blocks
B. Picking Cards
C. Combos
D. General Tips
V. Card List
VI. Credits
VII. Contact
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- I. History
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Version 0.95 : June 19, 2001
-- Added MaxStats for all cards. Big thanks to RandREdwards! If you have
updates to this list, please tell me.
Version 0.90 : June 11, 2001
-- Lots of little fixes. Redid the formulas for estimating approximate
chances of winning, plugged the new game in Germany, added information
I got from Squaresoft.
Version 0.81 : January 22, 2001
-- Apparently, I can't add. 256 arrow combinations, not 258. Also
corrected a typo.
Version 0.80 : January 10, 2001
-- Small changes to card list, added some more rankings, revised the
intro, various cosmetic changes.
Version 0.76 : December 13, 2000
-- Finished the card list, now just need the M/P stats on a few of them.
Version 0.74 : December 6, 2000
-- Lots of little changes, filled out the ranking chart. Added "Combo"
section.
Version 0.70 : December 5, 2000
-- Added more cards, revised a lot of the section III text, added a
section on card stats, and revised some tables.
Version 0.50 : December 4, 2000
-- Added more cards, new rank levels, and fleshed out the physical
card section.
Version 0.28 : November 29, 2000
-- Added about 1/4 of all cards to card list. Revised point tallies for
extra cards.
Version 0.15 : November 27, 2000
-- Second FAQ. Added "Getting Cards", "Advanced Cards",
"The Point System". Revised text on "Power Cards". Corrected errors
in "Collector Levels".
Version 0.1 : November 24, 2000
-- First FAQ, contains layout, rules, card types, strategies and
credits. A card list is the works.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- II. Rules
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A. Requirements:
----------------
-- 2 players
-- 5 cards for each player
B. Getting Cards:
-----------------
In order to get those five (or more) cards you'll need to play the game,
you'll need cards. There are a few ways to get them:
1.) Find them hidden in the towns/dungeons.
2.) Get characters to give them to you.
3.) Win them in card battles.
4.) Get them at the end of a random encounter.
5.) Buy Them
As a note, the arrows and stats of these cards is not determined until
you actually own it. So for cards you find in towns and dungeons, or
obtain from other characters, you can reset the game until the card
has the stats you desire. This works on all cards, even rare ones -
so this can help you in getting that top collector level.
C. Getting Ready:
-----------------
Walk up to a character, and press [] (square) to initiate a card game.
Not everyone plays, but quite a few do. Once the card game has been
initiated, pick five cards and confirm them as you final pick. Once
you've done this, the game begins.
This game grid may have anywhere from 0-6 random spaces blocked off
at the beginning of the game, restricting where cards can be placed.
A coin is tossed to determine who starts the game. Whoever starts
must place a card in one of the grid spaces, and the flow of the
game turns to the second player.
E. Card Numbers:
----------------
Cards, being collectible, are given numbers. There are 100 cards in
the game, and you can only have 100 with you at any one time. So,
if you really wanted to be a master player, you can only have one of
each card. That is no easy task.
As a note, I don't quite understand why you can only hold 100 cards.
That's roughly the size of two decks of playing cards, and many people
who play Collectible Card Games often carry around 6 favorite playing
decks. The card limit is more than a little arbitrary.
F. Card Stats:
--------------
Cards will have a few stats below the picture. Here's what they mean:
PTDM
----
P : the power of the card in hexadecimal.
T : the card type, P, M, X, or A.
D : the card's physical defense in hexadecimal.
M : the card's magical defense in hexadecimal.
Example: 1P40
What is hexadecimal, you ask? Hexadecimal is the numbers represented
from 0-15 by letters and numbers. So 0 is 0, and 15 is F. This means
the strongest card in the game would be FAFF, since A is the strongest
card type.
Here's the confusing part. While the card's stats are represented in
hex, those stats represent another number entirely. Here's a chart.
Why the "Hex" column? Notice how the first number in the hex
column matches the number in the stat column? That's how hexadecimal
works. For a two digit hex number, you take the first number,
multiply by 16 and add the value of the second number. So 6F is
6*16+15 = 111. The minimum value would be 60 or 6*16+0=96.
Card types are discussed later in the FAQ.
G. Arrows:
----------
Each card will usually have a set of arrows in any of 8 directions.
A sample card with all directions lies below:
_______
|\ | /|
|- -|
|/ | \|
-------
Here are a few cases where the arrows will not do anything:
1.) The first card played obviously can not affect other cards.
2.) A card is played next to another card, but has no arrows
pointing to the opposing card.
3.) A card is already on the board with an arrow pointing to
a square. A new card is placed in that square, but the
new card doesn't have an arrow pointing to the first card.
Basically, this means that nothing will happen unless the card that
is played has an arrow pointing to another card.
The player that placed card two now owns card one. These ownerships
can change through the game, and whoever ends up owning the most
cards at the end of the game wins. Cards may have *no* arrows, and
these are discussed in the "combos" section.
H. Battles:
-----------
There is one final possibility remaining. If a card is placed next
to another card, and they both have arrows pointing at each other,
a battle ensues.
The above placement would result in a card battle. Each battle has
three phases where different numbers are displayed.
Phase 1:
* Each card has a power as discussed previously. This value falls
between the min and max listed in the table. Each card also has
a defense fitting the the above chart.
A B
Example : 4P22 attacks 1M01
The first number that appears on card A is its attack power, say
70 (4 = between 64 and 79). Card A is a physical card, and card
B has 0 physical defense, so the first number to appear on card
B is its defense, say 7 (0 = between 0 and 16).
Phase 2:
# Next, the computer rolls a number between 0 and the number shown
in phase 1. This will be the *actual* attack or defense. Let's
say it rolls a 66 for card A, and 1 for card B.
Phase 3:
# The number rolled in phase 2 is subtracted from the number in
phase 1. This guarantees that the number will be positive, and
the highest number wins. So:
Card A: 70 - 66 : 4
Card B: 7 - 1 : 6
There are a few things this should tell you :
1.) Higher rolls are BAD. You want low rolls so less is subtracted
from the total number.
2.) A weak card can defeat a strong card if the roll is in its favor,
look at how the 1M01 defended itself against a 4P22.
If you want to know how likely a card is to win a battle, here's the
basic formula:
1 + Power of Weak
100 * (1 - ----------------------)
2*(1+ Power of Strong)
So in our example, card A will win the battle 94% of the time. But
in the example of the battle, it lost because of a bad roll; that's
the 6% it loses.
But, since you may not know attack/defense values right away, you
can get a basic idea. Using our example again, take the maximum
attack card A could have (79) and the lowest defense card B can have
(0) and use our equation. The result is 99.4%. Now, take the minimum
attack card A can have (64) and the maximum defense card B can have
(15) and use our equation. The result is 87.7%.
So, in our example, if you don't know the values of the cards fighting
it out, card A will have a 88-100% chance of beating card B if it
is attacking.
If you played card A, good job. You would have won the card battle,
but you had a 6% chance of losing, and lost. Your opponent now
controls both cards. If you had won, you'd control both cards.
I. Combos:
----------
Sometimes a card that loses a battle may also point to other cards.
This is a very dangerous situation, and can lead to those cards
being lost as well. For instance, let's assume player 1 owns
cards one and two, player two puts down card three.
We'll assume card three is really powerful, and wipes out card two.
Player 2 now owns all three cards, because the losing card had an
arrow pointing to card one. Avoid this at all costs! A properly
placed combo can flip up to eight other cards on a full board.
Normally cards with a lot of arrows are good due to their great
defense abilities, but the potential for combos is dire. We'll talk
about how to fix this problem later.
Some of you may have encountered cards with no arrows on them, and
rightly wonder what they're good for. They're good for one and only
one thing so far as I have seen and heard: sheer numbers. These cards
have no combo power, are completely defenseless, and are very rare.
But keep in mind that if played last, you have no fear of setting off
combos where you may lose cards. They're a completely safe play if
all you need to do is win one more card to win the card game. They
also make wonderful combo fodder.
J. Winning:
-----------
Whoever controls the most cards when all cards are on the board wins
the game. After winning, the winner gets to pick a card from the
loser's deck, but only a card that was flipped during the course of
the game. If all of the cards are flipped to one player or another,
the game is called "perfect", and they get to keep all of their
opponent's cards. Good if you win, *really* bad if you lose.
K. The Point System:
--------------------
As you play through the game, you'll win points. How these points are
awarded, however seems to be a bit of a complexity. Points are awarded
not by your win/loss ratio as it would seem, but on the cards you own
and how their arrows are arranged. Here's a quick explanation.
- One Unique Card : 15 points
- Unique card, non-unique arrows : 10 points
- Extra cards : 5 points per card
- Extra cards, non-unique arrows : 0 points per card
- X card : 1 bonus point
- A card : 2 bonus points
So, if you have one "A" card, and it has no arrows the same as any other
card, you'll have 17 points for that card. Logic would dictate that
in order to reach the top collector level, you'd need all 100 of your
cards to fit this criteria for a maximum of 1700 points. Ouch.
So far as arrow configurations are concerned, there are more than a
hundred, here's how they're broken down:
So, you have a total of 256 total arrow combinations, and you only
need 100. Also keep in mind that 163 of those have 4 arrows or more,
so you don't need to feel defenseless.
That still doesn't detract from the fact you'll have to have 100 "A"
level cards, each with a different arrow configuration to reach the
top collector level, but everything is worth effort, right?
L. Collector Levels:
--------------------
The game keeps track of all wins, losses, and draws, but they don't
mean anything to your collector level. Your collector level is
determined by the total value of all of your cards as explained above.
This may seem unfair, but it's how things work. Collector level is
awarded by point values, as shows in this table:
What, not 1700? I'd like to take this time to quote a poor soul
who wasted many hours playing this game.
"So what happens at 1700, you ask? Well, under your collector
pts. where Master was written it now says, superimposed over
everything, 'Would you like to discard?'. So, after a hundred
hours of playing this game I am rewarded with a F***ING
GLITCH!!!"
-- ik141
We feel for you, man, we really do. All I can say, is may Squaresoft
learn a lesson from this! I bet they didn't think anyone was crazy
enough to actually reach the maximum number of points possible.
That'll teach 'em.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- III. Card Types
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A. Card Power:
--------------
Each card will have a set stats, arranged to look like: 0P00.
The first number is the card's attack power in hexadecimal. Refer
to "Battles" for how this works.
Cards that defeat other cards in many battles, or flip many cards
eventually get stronger. So a 0P00 that is used often will make
it to a 1P00. These values have maximums however, and I'm still
determining the maximums for each card. I'd appreciate help on
this one.
B. Card Defense:
----------------
Cards have two types of defense, physical and magical. Like power,
defense is listed in hexadecimal. If a card is classified as
0P12, 1 is the physical defense, and 2 is the magical defense.
Like Power, defense can increase if a card defends attack often
enough. So a 0P00 can become a 0P01 or a 0P10 depending on whether
it defended many physical or magical attacks.
C. Physical Cards:
------------------
You probably noticed that I've been listing my examples as 0P00 or
some variation. What I was actually assuming is that the cards in
my examples are physical cards. Hence they do physical damage
in their attacks. A card with "P" in the middle of its stats is a
physical card.
Like mentioned above, physical abilities are not based on the number
in the attack power alone. A 1P00 card can still lose to a 0P00 card
if the 0P00 card gets a better roll. Generally, cards with higher
card numbers are stronger, but you can't count on that.
Confused yet?
D. Magic Cards:
---------------
Cards with an "M" in their stats are magic cards. They deal their
damage through some kind of magic. Unfortunately, most magic cards
will be horribly slaughtered by a physical card. Hence it's essential
to have a good balance of each in those chosen for the game. On the
other hand, a strong magic card will liquefy a physical card with low
magic resistance. Beware!
E. Power Cards:
---------------
Next are power cards. These can exist in any of the card numbers, and
are denoted by an "X" in the card stats. Most often, you'll have
a monster you have many multiples of, and maybe only one of them is
a power card. These can be obtained in a couple of ways:
1.) Win them.
2.) Use a normal card until it turns into one.
Power cards seem excessive at first. They appear to have higher stats
compared to the other cards you may have in your inventory. But how
do they work?
See a pattern here? If you play a power card, the lowest of the
defender's defense powers will determine the type of attack your card
uses. Strong physical defense? Use a magical attack. Strong magical
defense? Use a physical attack.
As you can imagine, taking a power card can be difficult. But there
are a few ways to do so.
1.) Take the card on an unprotected corner.
2.) Use a powerful card that will overwhelm power card defenses.
3.) Use a card with high defense stats.
Three may not make much sense, but it works. Remember, power cards
only gain an upper hand when defense values of the other card are low.
A card with 0P9A stats would most likely demolish a power card that
was 2X32.
At least at the beginning of the game, disks one and two perhaps, save
them for the last card you play if at all possible. They can swiftly
turn the tide of battle, and work wonders when used in combos.
The more you use your cards, the better. Any normal card has a 1.56%
chance of upgrading to an "X" card. This occours whether or not the
card lost any card battles; the usage is the important part.
E. Advanced Cards:
------------------
There is one more type of card that has a huge advantage over all other
cards. This is one step above X cards, and instead identifies itself
with an A. 1A12 for example. You can get them a couple of ways.
1.) Win them.
2.) Use an X card until it turns into one.
So what are these wondrous cards, and how do they work? Like X cards,
they take the lowest of the defense values, but to add a little spice
to the mix, they also throw in the attack power. For example:
Yes, that's right. The lowest number in all of the stats is used
as the card's defense. I don't think I have to tell you how horrible
this can be. But wait, this isn't all! Take a look at the following:
Attacking "A" card | Actual Attack
-------------------------------------
0P12 | 2
9M09 | 9
3P9A | A
Yes, you see right. Not only does the defending card have a very
low defense, but the "A" card uses the highest number on the card
as the attack. Now an "A" level Genji card doesn't look so useless
as it did before, does it?
These are more rare than power cards since they are upgraded from
power cards. Taking these cards can really only be done one of two
ways.
1.) Take the card on an unprotected corner.
2.) Use a card with higher stats in all aspects.
If you want to take a 2A33, you'll need at least a 3P33 for equal
footing, probably higher to be on the safe side. If the computer
plays one of these cards, take it! Do what ever you can to make
that card yours. If you don't get it the first time, rematch until
you do. These cards will most definitely complete your arsenal.
You may upgrade "X" cards to "A" cards as they are used. The percentage
of this occurring is lower, about 0.56%. This means you must use your
"X" cards twice as much to get them to upgrade to "A" cards.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- IV. Strategies
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Winning Tetra Master is usually easy at the beginning of the game,
but as it goes on, you'll find yourself frequently outclassed by
players with more powerful cards and more opportune arrow placement.
Be careful!
A. Blocks:
----------
Remember that the game can start with anywhere from 0-6 squares
blocked from play. These sometimes create spots where one or
two cards can be placed in complete immunity. Use these first!
The less cards you leave open to combos, the better. Try to use
your weakest cards in these spaces, or cards that have arrows
that wouldn't work well in the board layout. These cards you
would have lost have suddenly turned into cards you'll keep.
Blocks can also be used as strongholds. Sometimes there is only
one way to attack cards behind certain blocks. You can block combos
and other nefarious attacks by putting a card here that has no
arrows in the area that can be attacked. If you stack two or three
more cards behind this defender, you may lose the defender, but the
other two are 100% safe. For example.
Why? Because if the cards are strong enough, they'll hold the corner
you put them in. You don't want to place a card that'll be taken
without a fight unless you're setting up combos. These cards make
great first moves. I suggest at least two of these, in case a block
ruins one of your corners.
Next you'll want at least one card that can clear the board in your
favor. This is fairly simple, just pick a card with as many arrows
and high stats as you can manage. In most cases, this will be your
last card, and will activate as many combos as possible. Power cards
work very will here. You should only need one of these.
Finally, you'll want two wall cards. Any of these patterns are
usable:
These are mostly good at protecting other cards from combos. They'll
be the cards you play in the middle of the game to set up combos or
protect cards you've just won from being taken away.
Remember, you can add as many arrows as you wish to these examples,
but I strongly advise against taking arrows away unless you have a
good combo in mind. Cards with less than three continuous arrows
are almost defenseless unless protected by blocks, and you can't
count on whether or not the computer will even use blocks.
Cards that only protect one side are perfect for combos, and they
can block access to other cards. Use them in the right place, and
the best the computer can do is take the card you used, leaving the
rest under your control.
C. Combos:
----------
Sometimes the best way to win Tetra Master, and do so with a higher
probability of a perfect, you must make good use of combos. The basic
strategy here, is to take a very weak card with all 8 arrows, and
play that first in a very open location. For example...
Any of those four spaces in the middle will work just fine. Let
the computer take the card. In fact, you might use a lot of weak
cards, and let them lose battles as well, and just use one really
strong power card to take them all back in one fell swoop. Remember,
the last card you play only has to be strong enough to defeat the
8-arrow card. The computer has more incentive to play around the
8-arrow card if you own all or most of the cards around it, so defeat
the 8-arrow card as many times as possible until you lay the last card.
If there are no blocks in the way, and you go second, you have the
opportunity of sweeping the board with this strategy.
D. General Tips:
----------------
At all costs, avoid capturing cards in corners with a card containing
a lot of arrows until the end of the game. Take the following
example, you just took all of your opponent's cards with the card
marked with a *. Four cards are suddenly yours, and the card that
battled was very powerful, and not likely to cause a combo later.
But your opponent had a power card (marked by an X) and even though
it only had one arrow, it turned your card into instant puree.
Would you look at that? You've now lost five cards, and there is
no way you can get them back. Even if you flip the card the computer
used to cause the combo, you'll still probably lose. When not paying
attention, I've lost up to six cards this way, with no way to get
any of them back. In a worst case scenario, up to eight cards can
be lost in a combo, and with that many cards on the board, openings
are slim, and those cards may be lost forever.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-=- V. Card List
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The type listed is the initial type the card has when first obtained.
It may change to X or A later. Aside from the type, I have listed the
maximum stats as known at this time. If you've gotten a higher stat,
send a screenshot and I'll update the FAQ.
