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Star Ocean: The Second Story
Spell combining FAQ
Version 1.0(1/10/01)
By AnotherGamer(gamer777@hotmail.com)
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1.Disclaimer:
Use for whatever you want, as long as money isn't involved and I'm credited as
the maker of this FAQ.
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2.Contents:
1.Disclaimer
2.Contents
3.Introduction
4.Pros and cons of combining spells
5.Notes on Motormouth
6.Rules for combining spells and list of combineable spells
7.Ratings for spells combinations and timing for them
8.Credits
9.Version history
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3.Introduction:
"Combining spells? I've never heard of this before!" Indeed, the ability to
have 2 spells combine into 1 more powerful spell is one of the lesser-known
features of Star Ocean 2.
It's not something that happens completely randomly and isn't mentioned
anywhere in the game, either; with little practice, you'll be able to combine
any 2 combineable spells 100% of the time.
And for the record, this feature is mentioned in the game as well; if you read
a book titled "Heraldry Arts System 1" in Elder's House in Mars Village, it
mentions that "attack spells cast by allies will induce fusion the instant
that they touch each other, resulting in much greater energy which attacks
the enemy".
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4.Pros and cons of combining spells
Pros:
-The most noticeable pro in combining spells is the spell effect itself.
Depending on the spells being combined, these effects can be either barely
noticeable (Earth Grave+Star Flare) or they can fit in perfectly
(Shadow Flare+Lunar Light).
-In some cases, a spell combination can have much greater effects than just
casting the 2 spells separately (More on this later).
Cons:
-Since the maximum amount of damage a single spell can do is 9999
(with one important exception), sometimes the spells could end up doing more
damage if they were cast separately.
-To combine spells efficiently, you should turn off Motormouth, which can be a
pain for all the non-combineable spells you are going to cast.
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5.Notes on Motormouth
Like I mentioned in the previous chapter, you should turn Motormouth off if you
wish to experiment with combining spells. "Why the hell should I do that?!",
you ask.
Well, the fact is that having Motormouth on when experimenting with
spell combinations can be extremely frustrating. Why? Well, since Motormouth
works randomly, you have no way of knowing when it's going to activate.
And since it cuts the casting time next to nothing and combining spells is
based on timing, it does more harm than good. Don't believe me? Here's an
example:
Let's say that Celine is casting Lunar Light and Leon is casting
Shadow Flare. Without Motormouth, their timing is perfect, meaning that the 2
spells will combine. But, if either one of them succeeds with Motormouth, that
person's spell will be cast much eariler than the other's, screwing up the
timing.
Sure, they both might get lucky and succeed in Motormouth, combining
the spells successfully with less waiting time, but the chances for that
to happen is half of just one of them succeeding in it.
Besides, it's not like you need Motormouth that badly; you weren't planning on
practicing combining spells on Iselia Queen, were you?
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6.Rules for combining spells and list of combineable spells
First, you need to know what you need to be able to combine spells. No, you
don't need a super-rare accessory that you need to equip on all your mages or
anything like that; the truth is that the only thing you need is the spells
themselves and a little bit of timing.
The most important thing in combining spells is timing. I know, I said it
already, but it's _that_ important. To combine 2 spells, you need to have the
mages cast them _almost_ at the same time. If you are successful, you'll see
something like "FriendLg -> Absorb ->FriendDk" in the lower right corner of the
screen and see the 2 spells being cast simultaneously.
Those are the basic rules for combining spells. But you can't just try to
combine Fairy Light and Meteor Swarm and expect it to work. No, to be able to
combine spells, they must fulfill the following rules:
1.Only mid-level attack spells may be used in spell combinations. That means
that you can't use stuff like Wind Blade or Extinction in spell combinations.
2.To be able to combine these spells, they must:
a)either have the same element
or
b)have compatable elements.
Below is a list that explains what spells can be combined and their elements:
Earth: Earth Grave
Water: Acid Rain, Deep Freeze, Noah
Fire: Eruption
Wind: (none)
Thunder: Thunderstorm, Thunder Cloud
Star: Starlight, Tractor Beam
Vacuum: Energy Arrow, Blood Sucker
Light: Ray, Light Cross, Lunar Light, Star Flare
Darkness: Shadow Bolt, Black Saber, Shadow Flare
Void: Press, Gravity Press, Gremlin Lair
As you can see, no wind-elemental spells that can be used in spell
absorbtion. Too bad, I would have loved to see another spell combined with
Magnum Tornado. And yes, you can combine 2 of the same spell.
"Acid Rain?! Huh? Acid Rain isn't an attack spell!" Yes, you're right, but
it has a very useful function when combined with another spell: it
automatically makes any enemy hit by the other spell take 9999 damage.
Very useful. The bad thing is that if the enemy is able to absorb the
element you attacked them with, they'll instead get the 9999 HP instead.
As for which elements are compatable, here's another list:
Earth + Water
Earth + Light
Water + Fire
Water + Thunder
Fire + Vacuum
Star + Light
Star + Void
Light + Darkness
So, to sum it all up: the spells you're going to combine must have the same or
compatable elements, must be from the above list and must be cast at the same
time.
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7.Ratings for spell combinations and timing for them
Note: Be sure to put all your mages on manual control. They're not smart enough
to combine spells other than by pure luck.
Another note: I won't bother to list combinations with 2 same spells, since the
animation doesn't change and the spell simply does double damage.
Spells used: What spells you need to cast
Name: A made up name for the spell combination
Description: Brief description on spell effect
Timing: How to time the 2 spells to get them to combine
Comments: Self-explainatory
Rating: *=useless, don't bother
**=use only if you don't have better options
***=slightly useful, use if you want
****=quite useful, worth using
*****=very useful, use it a lot
Spells used: Acid Rain, Earth Grave
Name: Acid Grave
Description: Acid rains on opponents as jagged rocks skewer them
Timing: Cast Earth Grave, wait ½ seconds before pressing O, then cast
Acid Rain
Comments: The most useful Acid Rain combination, takes little MP and does 9999
damage while hitting all enemies.
Rating: *****
Spells used: Deep Freeze, Earth Grave
Name: Earth Freeze
Description: Ice blocks rain on enemies, forming diamonds as jagged rocks skewer
them.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at
an enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Not all that good, doesn't do much damage and only hits on a certain
radius around the target.
Rating: **
Spells used: Noah, Earth Grave
Name: Noah's Grave
Description: A tsunami sweeps over the enemies as jagged rocks skewer them
Timing: Cast Noah first and then take a look at the energy ball in Leon's hand.
After it has pulsated 2 times, cast Earth Grave.
Comments: Doesn't do much damage, although it hits all enemies. Don't bother.
Rating: **
Spells used: Ray, Earth Grave
Name: Earth Ray
Description: Rays of light hit the enemy as jagged rocks skewer them
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing
at an enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Looks pathetic and does hardly any damage. Don't bother.
Rating: *
Spells used: Light Cross, Earth Grave
Name: Earth Cross
Description: White lights sparkle over the enemies as jagged rocks skewer
them
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing
at an enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Little damage as usual, not worth the trouble.
Rating: *
Spells used: Lunar Light, Earth Grave
Name: Lunar Grave
Description: Jagged rocks skewer the enemy, followed by a massive explosion.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait 1½ seconds and then cast Earth Grave.
Comments: Does very nice damage but is kinda hard to pull off.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Star Flare, Earth Grave
Name: Earth Flare
Description: Cubes of light hit the battlefield and explode.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing
at an enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Yes, sadly you won't ever see the Earth Grave part of this spell,
you only hear it. It does do semi-nice damage, though.
Rating: **
Spells used: Acid Rain, Eruption
Name: Acid Eruption
Description: Acid rains on opponents as a fiery explosion rains lava on them.
Timing: Cast Eruption, wait 1 second, then cast Acid Rain.
Comments: Not as useful as Acid Grave, since it only affects an area of enemies and
costs more MP. Still, useful on enemies you meet before getting Noel.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Deep Freeze, Eruption
Name: Freezing Eruption
Description: Huge snowflakes float around the battlefield as a fiery explosion rains
lava on them.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Not all that useful. Only targets a group of enemies and doesn't do much
damage.
Rating: **
Spells used: Noah, Eruption
Name: Noah's Eruption
Description: A tsunami sweeps over the enemies as a fiery explosion rains
lava on them.
Timing: Cast Noah, wait 1 second, then cast Eruption.
Comments: Kinda useful, hits all enemies and does nice damage.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Acid Rain, Thunderstorm
Name: Acid Storm
Description: Acid rains on opponents as lighting bolts strike them.
Timing: Cast Thunderstorm, wait 1½ seconds, then cast Acid Rain.
Comments: 9999 damage on all non-thunder-absorbing enemies. Very nice.
Rating: ****
Spells used: Deep Freeze, Thunderstorm
Name: Freezing Storm
Description: Huge snowflakes float around the battlefield as lighting bolts strike
the enemies.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell. However, if you
are too fast, the spells won't combine.
Comments: Hits only a group of enemies and doesn't do much damage.
Rating: **
Spells used: Noah, Thunderstorm
Name: Noah's Thunder
Description: A tsunami sweeps over the enemies as lighting bolts strike them.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Hits all enemies for a nice damage total, but costs a lot of MP for
both Celine and Leon.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Acid Rain, Thundercloud
Name: Thunder Rain
Description: Acid rains on opponents as lightning bolts from a huge thundercloud
strike them.
Timing: Cast Thundercloud, wait 3(!) seconds, then cast Acid Rain.
Comments: Hard to time, takes more MP and does the same damage as Acid Storm.
Don't bother.
Rating: **
Spells used: Deep Freeze, Thundercloud
Name: Freezing Thunder
Description: Huge snowflakes float around the battlefield as lightning bolts from
a huge thundercloud strike the enemies.
Timing: Cast Thundercloud, wait 1 second, then cast Deep Freeze.
Comments: Does a moderate amount of damage and hits all enemies.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Noah, Thundercloud
Name: Tsunami Thunder
Description: A tsunami sweeps over the enemies as lightning bolts from
a huge thundercloud strike the enemies.
Timing: Cast Thundercloud, wait ½ second, then cast Noah.
Comments: Does a semi-high amount of damage on all enemies. The weird thing is that
all the enemies get damaged already when the Noah part is over (meaning that if
they are killed, the game will still show the Thundercloud animation with enemies
already dead) and the lighting bolts from Thundercloud don't create explosions.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Blood Sucker, Energy Arrow
Name: Blood Arrow
Description: Countless purple energy beams converge on the enemy as a green bubble
appears on it, turns into smaller bubbles and converges on Noel.
Timing: Cast Energy Arrow, wait ½ second, then cast Blood Sucker.
Comments: Hits only 1 enemy and doesn't do much damage. The bonus is that Noel gets
some HP back when it's cast.
Rating: *
Spells used: Eruption, Energy Arrow
Name: Eruption Arrow
Description: Fiery explosion rains lava on an enemy as countless purple energy beams
converge on it.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Does next to no damage and hits only 1 enemy. Pretty useless.
Rating: *
Spells used: Eruption, Blood Sucker
Name: Blood Eruption
Description: Fiery explosion rains lava on an enemy as a green bubble appears on it,
turns into smaller bubbles and converges on Noel.
Timing: Cast Eruption, wait ½ seconds, then cast Blood Sucker.
Comments: Like Blood Arrow. The bonus is that Noel gets some HP back when it's cast.
Rating: *
Spells used: Starlight, Tractor Beam
Name: Star Beam
Description: A group of stars flies up as A rainbow-colored energy cylinder appears
on around the enemy, lifts it up and drops it on it's head.
Timing: Cast Tractor Beam, wait 1½ seconds, then cast Starlight.
Comments: Doesn't do much damage, as everything with Starlight.
Rating: *
Spells used: Starlight, Ray
Name: Star Ray
Description: A group of stars flies up and shoots each enemy with a beam as yellow
beams of light hit them from above.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: One of the earliest spells combinations you can do. As you can expect, it
doesn't do much damage.
Rating: *
Spells used: Starlight, Light Cross
Name: Star Cross
Description: A group of stars flies up as white explosions rock the battlefield.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: You'll be able to use this pretty early too. At least it hits all enemies.
Rating: *
Spells used: Starlight, Lunar Light
Name: Lunar Star
Description: A group of stars floats towards the enemies and disappears, followed by
a massive explosion.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait 1 second, then cast Starlight
Comments: Does a nice amount of damage and hits everyone.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Starlight, Star Flare
Name: Heavenly Flare
Description: A group of stars floats towards the enemies and disappears, followed by
several explosions.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Doesn't do all that much damage. Still, it hits everyone.
Rating: **
Spells used: Tractor Beam, Ray
Name: Ray Beam
Description: A rainbow-colored energy cylinder appears on around the enemy, lifts it
up and drops it on it's head as yellow beams of light hit it from above.
Timing: Cast Tractor Beam, wait 1 second, then cast Ray.
Comments: Only hits a group of enemies and doesn't hit flying enemies. Doesn't do all
that much damage either. Skip it.
Rating: *
Spells used: Tractor Beam, Lunar Light
Name: Lunar Beam
Description: A rainbow-colored energy cylinder appears on around the enemy and disappears,
followed by a massive explosion.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait for 1 second, then cast Tractor Beam.
Comments: Nice amount of damage and hits all enemies.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Starlight, Press
Name: Star Press
Description: A group of stars flies up and shoots each enemy with a beam, followed by a huge
weight that falls on the enemy.
Timing: Cast Starlight, wait ½ second, then cast Press.
Comments: Only 1 hit and not much damage. Pretty useless.
Rating: *
Spells used: Starlight, Gravity Press
Name: Gravity Star
Description: A group of stars flies up as a swirling mass of black clouds drops countless
100-ton weights on the enemies.
Timing: Cast Gravity Press, wait ½ second, then cast Starlight.
Comments: Only hits a group of enemies and does next to no damage.
Rating: *
Spells used: Starlight, Gremlin Lair
Name: Star Lair
Description: A group of stars lands on the enemy as a gremlin appears, throws countless energy
sickles and bites each enemy 4 times.
Timing: Cast Gremlin Lair, wait 1 second, then cast Starlight.
Comments: Ah, this is better. This is the weakest spell combination with Gremlin Lair and it
already does almost 1000 damage per hit. Since the spell combined with Gremlin Lair increases
the damage every hit does, this is THE spell to combine with other spells.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Tractor Beam, Gremlin Lair
Name: Gremlin Beam
Description: A rainbow-colored energy cylinder appears around the enemy and disappears as a
gremlin appears, throws countless energy sickles and bites each enemy 4 times.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: The best spell combination in the game, perioid. It's the only spell combination that
can easily exceed the 9999 damage limit and it's extremely easy to pull off as well. Use it a lot.
Rating: *****
Spells used: Ray, Light Cross
Name: Ray Cross
Description: Holy explosions sweep over the battlefield as yellow beams of light strike the
enemies.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Not very good. At least it hits all enemies.
Rating: **
Spells used: Ray, Lunar Light
Name: Lunar Ray
Description: Yellow beams of light strike the enemies, followed by a huge explosion.
enemies.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait 2 seconds, then cast Ray.
Comments: Powerful, hits all enemies. But then again, all spell combos with Lunar Light do so.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Ray, Star Flare
Name: Ray Flare
Description: Yellow beams of light strike the enemies as cubes of light strike the battlefield
and explode.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Average amount of damage, hits everyone.
Rating: **
Spells used: Lunar Light, Light Cross
Name: Lunar Cross
Description: Bright lights shine all over the battlefield as a huge explosion strikes the enemies.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait 2 seconds, then cast Light Cross.
Comments: Damaging as ever and hits everyone. Yay.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Lunar Light, Star Flare
Name: Lunar Flare
Description: Cubes of light strike the battlefield and explode, followed by a huge explosion.
and explode.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait 2½ seconds, then cast Star Flare.
Comments: Very nice damage. Looks cool to boot, too.
Rating: ****
Spells used: Ray, Shadow Bolt
Name: Shadow Ray
Description: A black ring appears around the enemy as yellow beams of light strike it from above.
Timing: Cast Shadow Bolt, wait ½ second, then cast Ray.
Comments: Pat-he-tic. Probably the weakest spell combination in the game. Hits only 1 enemy and
does
next to no damage.
Rating: *
Spells used: Ray, Black Saber
Name: Ray Saber
Description: A black blade of energy hits the enemy as yellow beams of light strike it from above.
Timing: Cast Black Saber, wait ½ second, then cast Ray.
Comments: Hits only 1 enemy and doesn't do much damage.
Rating: **
Spells used: Ray, Shadow Flare
Name: Ray Flare
Description: Yellow beams of light strike the enemy as black cubes of energy hit the
battlefield and explode.
Timing: Cast Shadow Flare, wait 2 seconds, then cast Ray.
Comments: Does a medium amount of damage and hits all enemies.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Light Cross, Shadow Bolt
Name: Light Bolt
Description: A black ring appears around the enemy as holy explosions sweep over the battlefield.
Timing: Cast Light Cross, wait ½ second, then cast Shadow Bolt.
Comments: Weak as expected. Well, at least it hits all enemies.
Rating: **
Spells used: Light Cross, Black Saber
Name: Black Cross
Description: A black blade of energy hits the enemy as bright lights shine all over the
battlefield.
Timing:Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Not all that good. Might be useful when you first get it.
Rating: **
Spells used: Light Cross, Shadow Flare
Name: Flare Cross
Description: Black cubes of energy hit the battlefield and explode as bright lights shine all
over the battlefield.
Timing: Cast Shadow Flare, wait 2 seconds, then cast Light Cross.
Comments: Nice damage, hits everyone.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Lunar Light, Shadow Bolt
Name: Lunar Bolt
Description: A black ring appears around the enemy, followed by a huge explosion.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait 2 seconds, then cast Shadow Bolt.
Comments: Does hardly any extra damage, it's much easier to cast Lunar Light on it's own.
Rating: **
Spells used: Lunar Light, Black Saber
Name: Lunar Saber
Description: A black blade of energy hits the enemy, followed by a huge explosion.
Timing: Cast Lunar Light, wait 1 second, then cast Black Saber.
Comments: Hits everyone, increases damage nicely. Can be quite useful when you first get Leon.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Lunar Light, Shadow Flare
Name: Lunar Shadow
Description: Black cubes of energy hit the battlefield and explode, followed by a huge explosion.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Does a ton of damage, which is not surprising, considering that Lunar Light and
Shadow Flare are the most powerful combineable single-hit spells. Looks nice too.
Rating: ****
Spells used: Star Flare, Shadow Bolt
Name: Star Bolt
Description: A black ring appears around the enemy as cubes of light strike the battlefield
and explode.
Timing: Cast Star Flare, wait ½ second, then cast Shadow Bolt.
Comments: As you can expect, Shadow Bolt doesn't add much damage. It isn't terribly hard to pull it
off, though.
Rating: **
Spells used: Star Flare, Black Saber
Name: Star Saber
Description: Cubes of light strike the battlefield and explode.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Like in Earth Flare, you'll never see the Black Saber part. Use the same way as Lunar
Saber.
Rating: **
Spells used: Star Flare, Shadow Flare
Name: Shadowstar Flare
Description: Cubes of light and darkness rain on the battlefield, creating multiple explosions.
Timing: Cast Shadow Flare, wait 2 seconds, then cast Star Flare.
Comments: Attack Of The Flares. Looks nice. Does relatively good damage too.
Rating: ***
Spells used: Press, Gremlin Lair
Name: Gremlin Press
Description: A 10-ton weight falls on an enemy as a gremlin appears, throws countless energy
sickles and bites each enemy 4 times.
Timing: Cast Gremlin Lair, wait 1½ seconds, then cast Press.
Comments: The smallest damage increase of any spell. Too hard to pull off, too.
Rating: *
Spells used: Gravity Press, Gremlin Lair
Name: Gravity Lair
Description: Countless 100-ton weights fall on enemies as a gremlin appears, throws countless
energy sickles and bites each enemy 4 times.
Timing: Immediate, select either spell first and when the cursor is pointing at an
enemy, press X and O in quick succession, then cast the other spell.
Comments: Nice. Seems to do the same amount of damage as Gremlin Beam.
Rating: *****
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8.Credits
STam: For his FAQ where I first learned about the lesser know SO2 feature
of combining spells. I'd also like to thank him for allowing me to borrow his
list of combineable spells and what elements are compatable.
Me: For writing this thing.
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9.Version history
