~B
Super Robot Wars Alpha (PSX) Upgrade Guide
by Dr.Hell ( dr.hell@tiscalinet.it )
Version: 0.6
Date: 03/10/2001
------------------------------
Contents
1) Legal
2) About
2.1 Super Robot Wars Alpha & this FAQ
2.2 What's new
3) General Hints
4) What to upgrade
4.1) Gundam
4.2) Mazinger
4.3) Getter
4.4) Lord of elementals
4.5) Gunbuster
4.6) Combattler V
4.7) Voltres V
4.8) Raideen
4.9) Evangelion
4.10) Giant Robot
4.11) Macross
4.12) Dancouga
4.13) SRX
5) Special upgrades
5.1) Maximize
5.2) New Weapons
6) Items
7) Ok what's next ?
8) Credits & byez
1) Legal
This Faq may only be reproduced once into a single PC for personal use only.
Commercial use of this Faq is prohibited unless approved by copyright owner
(Dr.Hell). Notification of the author (Dr.Hell) is required if the faq is to be
used elsewhere other then www.gamefaqs.com. This copyright extends to all
contents in this and all duplicates of this faq whether in part or whole.
Please don't steal, rip, cut & paste my work ...
Thank you.
2) About
2.1) SRWA & this FAQ
SRWA is Super Robot Wars Alpha. If you dont' know what I'm talking about, so
why did you download this file ? ^_^. This is a guide to upgrade your
robots/battleships : you won't find a strategy/level guide here since there're
good ones available at gamefaqs.
All the things written here come from _MY_ playing experience, but the most
interesting aspect of SRW games is that you can choose your own heroes.
I've played a lot of Robot Wars (SRW Ex, SRW 4, Shin SRW, SRW F, SRW ALpha );
you can trust me: if I say that a unit is weak, probably is weak ... ^_^
Just to be clear, this is the guide for Super Robot Wars Alpha, not for Super
Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden. Some hints are ok with SRWA Gaiden, but the upgrade
system of the weapon is completely different; wait for a specific FAQ. ;)
This is my first FAQ, English is not my natural language (I'm Italian!) and I
don't understand Japanese. Please forgive errors, mispelling, bad words.
I just like the game and I want to give some help ... ^_^
2.2) What's new
0.1 05/29/2001
First release ever!
I'm so excited....
0.2 05/31/2001
- some corrections (more than some ...)
- contents re-arranged, text cleaned
- added some robots (EVA,Lord of Elementals)
- added cost of weapon upgrade
0.3 06/06/2001
- minor corrections
- added Dancouga,Macross
0.4 15/06/2001 (unreleased !)
- added SRX
- Expanded Gundam Wing section
0.5 30/07/2001
- corrections to release 0.4
0.6 03/10/2001
- minor corrections
- probably the last release (?)
3) General hints
Ok, Let's begin with some "basic" hints :
*) Don't waste money ! Do not spend all your money in a single unit. Upgrade
less but upgrade better.
*) Do not upgrade useless/weak units ! Do not upgrade units that you're not
going to use : why spend 50000 to upgrade twice a GMIII beam when, for the same
amount of money you can upgrade a more powerful MS like Quattro's Hyaku Shiki ?
*) Which weapons ? Upgrade what you use most. It's useless to upgrade a weapon
that you'll use just a couple of times in the whole game. Upgrade long range
weapons (i.e. Nu-Gundam's Fin Funnels, Wing Zero's Beam, Dendrobium GP-03's
Beam). Do not care 'bout MAP weapons : you'll use 3-4 times then you'll prefere
brute force instead. Sometims MAP weapons can be useful to lower enemies' HPs,
just to let your weaker units level up.
*) Don't buy new weapons! If you upgrade some weapons (i.e. Mazinkaiser's Fire
breast) you'll have the chance to buy a new (expensive) MAP weapon. I've
already told you my opinion on MAP weapons, so my advice is : upgrade, but do
not buy the new weapon.
*) Never get killed ! Never let your unit be killed (except for final stage).
You need money and you don't want to repair your killed unit. Eva-01 repair
cost is 40.000 : with 40.000 you can upgrade a lot of units...
*) Earn money ! Use Luck magic : it costs just 40 SP but you'll get a doubled
amount of money from the enemy you kill. Take battleships down with Lucky and
you'll be rich. Remember that you MUST KILL the enemy with the "lucky" unit.
*) Play it again ! if you really need money, get a game over, then replay the
stage. All your money and experience will be intact. In some stages you can
earn over 500.000 : replay them and you'll obtain a lot of money to spend!
4) What to upgrade
Why upgrade your units? because you'll need a lot of power,speed,armor,HPs to
finish the game and items are not enough, but you have to upgrade wisely your
units.
First of all, do not upgrade your battleships: you won't use them in battle.
You can just level up a litle their HPs and Armor but do not mind 'bout weapons.
And now let's see ...
4.1) Gundam
Do NOT waste money on : Gundam RX-78, Gundam RX-78 NT1, GM, GMIII, Guncannon,
Guntank, Core fighters. You won't even use those units so do not upgrade at
all.
In general, upgrade agility to dodge enemy's fire an do not spend too much on
HPs or Armor.
Rick Dias. Upgrade beam rifle a couple of time. This will be your most useful
unit in the beginning of the game; later you'll use more powerful MS, so don't
waste too much money and use items.
spend: 20.000
Gundam MKII (RX178). Same as Rick Dias. Upgrade a little; later it can be
combined with G-Defensor to form Super Gundam wich will be a really useful unit
in the middle of the game. Upgrade HPs,agility and rifle.
spend: 60.000
ReGZ. Upgrade the beam and the energy, but again do not waste too much money.
spend: 30.000
Z Gundam (MSZ006). Upgrade it! Upgrade Particle Cannon over 3200, upgrade
Energy and agility. Camille is one of the most useful pilot and with the power
of Z Gundam he will become a real killer ...
spend: 300.000
ZZ Gundam. The MAP is almost useless (too short), but upgrading beam is OK.
spend: 100.000
F91 Gundam. Upgrade the VBRM beam : it has a range of 7 and do not waste too
much energy. Also upgrade energy and agility.
spend: 250.000
Nu Gundam (RX93). Upgrade Fin Funnels; they have a range of 8! Amuro will
become your second best pilot, once inside RX93. Also upgrade Agility.
spend: 200.000
Hyaku Shiki.Upgrade it, but wisely. The most interesting thing is that
upgrading the original Hyaku Shiki, all your power ups will be kept in Hyaku
Shiki Kai. Upgrade the beam : it's worth. Also upgrade energy and agility.
spend: 200.000
RX78-Gp01.Useful unit in the beginning, but almost useless later. All the
upgrades to Gp01 will be in GP01 Fb. So, give it a little power up.
spend: 30.000
Rx78-Gp03.Do not mind 'bout Gp03s : you won't ever use it! Upgrade Gp-03
Dendrobium (the mobil Armour) : Upgrade the beam and the energy. Do not
forget to give a little boost to HPs. Ko Uraki will do the rest...
spend: 220.000
V Gundam. It's OK to boost is up a little, but wait for V2 Gundam: it have a
nice long range beam (but only 6 shots!). Anyway V Gundams are good "training"
Units to level up Gundam pilots.
spend: 60.000
Gundam Wing. Do not upgrade: you'll use a little in the middle of the game, so
it's better save your money for other units. Upgrade Gundam Wing Zero's beam :
boost it to 4500 and shoot them down ! Also upgrade the energy and armor.
spend: 220.000
Death Scythie. Quite useful unit, if Duo hits the target. Give DS a little
boost to agility and it will dodge almost every attack. Upgrade the Scythie.
Later all your upgrade will be kept in Death Scythie Hell Custom.
spend: 30.000 in the beginning
80.000 later on
Sand Rock. Do not spend too much money on this Gundam, but train Quatre (his
pilot). Upgrade the double swords attack and agility.
spend: 40.000
Natak. Upgrade agility and you'll be able to dodge almost everything. Upgrade
the Dragon Fang attack : it will be available also in Natak "Endless Waltz".
spend: 80.000
Heavy arms. Very dangerous from long range because it doesn't use beam based
weapons, so upgrade the rifle and the "full weapon attack" (don't know the
real name). Upgrade will be kept in "Endless Waltz" version.
spend: 60.000
4.2) Mazinger
Upgrade Armor and HPs: don't try to upgrade agility in the hope that they'll
dodge or you'll be disapointed ^_^ Also their weapons use a lot of energy, so
be prepared...
Hover pilder, Jet pilder, Condor Brain. Do not spend money.
Mazinger Z. breast fire! Breast Fire! BREAST FIRE! but do not forget the rocket
punch, for long(!) range attacks. All the upgrades to Mazinger Z will be in the
new Mazinger Z or in Mazinkaiser, so don't worry spending your money. Upgrade
Armor too.
spend: 120.000 in Mazinger Z
400.000 in powered Mazinger Z (or Mazinkaiser)
Great Mazinger. Armor, Energy and the lethal Thunder break. Do not upgrade
Great Booster : one shot and it's over; consider upgrading Atomic Punches:
you'll use them if you run out of energy ...
spend: 250.000
Mazinkaiser. If you haven't upgraded in Mazinger Z : FIRE BREAST ! Also the new
rocket puch is a dangerous weapon. Upgrade a lot the Armor; you'll be able to
send Koji against the most powerful enemies and he will take pratically no
damage.
spend: 400.000
Aphrodite A/Diana A. Do not upgrade. Hovewer your upgrades to Aphrodite will be
in Diana A ...
Venus A. Read the line above.
Boss Robot. Are you kidding ? ^_^
4.3) Getter Robot
Getter Machines. Do not upgrade! At All !
Getter 1 / Getter Dragon / Shin Getter 1. All power ups to Getter 1 will be in
Getter Dragon and in Shin Getter 1. Getter Beam is the weapon you'll use most,
so upgrade in Getter 1. Upgrade a little Getter Dragon's Shine Spark but wait
for Shin Getter 1's Stoner Sunshine: it's one of the deadliest weapon of the
game and that's the weapon to upgrade. Give Getter a lot of energy and also
take care of HPs.
spend: 500.000
Getter 2 / Getter Rigar / Shin Getter 2. Have I use it ? maybe once ... Anyway
all upgrades in Getter 1 will be also in getter 2 and 3, so it will be enough
strong. upgrade the missile if you want but you'll use a couple of time ...
spend: 50.000
Getter 3 / Getter Poseidon / Shin Getter 3. Upgrade Dai-Setsu-Zan-Oroshi a
couple of times: you'll find useful with giant sea monsters ...
spend: 70.000
Texas max. Do not bother with it ...
Musashi's Getter 1: Musashi is back from death with a powered up Getter 1 !
upgrade the new Getter beam, wich has a range of 3, but do not waste money on
this unit. We're near the end of the game and we need money for other upgrades
spend: 70.000 (just for fun)
4.4) Lord of elementals
Cybaster. Very useful in SRW4 and SRWex, but here is almost useless. Its
Funnels have a range of 6 and don't do much damage. upgrade agility an with a
couple of items it will dodge almost every shoot.
spend: 100.000
Gorazon. Massive damage with the "black hole" beam: upgrade just before the
last stage and it will make easier finishing the game. Do not mind about HPs
and armor.
spend: 120.000
Ryune. Never used ...
4.5) Gunbuster
RX robots.Do not upgrade, you'll use just in the first stage and once in the
middle.
Gunbuster.Upgrade Izuna kick over 5500. Upgrade Energy over 350. do not mind
about HPs, since it has 12000 ...
spend: 200.000
Gunbuster "Sizzler Black". Good unit, enough powerful and with a little upgrade
it will be definitely a good killer.
spend: 150.000
4.6) Combattler V
Combattler Machines.Do not upgrade
Combattler V. Upgrade Chodenji spin, but do not waste too much money, later
Combattler will have a new final weapon and with a range of 6 ! Upgrade HPs
armor, Energy ('cause you'll need a lot of energy)
spend: 300.000
4.7) Voltres V
Voltres Machines.Do not upgrade
Voltres V.Upgrade Enkouken, but also Voltres V will get a new final attack. So
upgrade HPs, armor, Energy.
spend: 300.000
4.8) Raideen
Raideen. Upgrade HPs, armor, Energy. Also Raideen will get a new powerful
attack later, so do not waste too much money ... Anyway it's one of the most
damaging super robot you'll get, very useful in the middle of the game.
spend: 350.000
Raideen Flying units (don't know the name). Leave them alone ...
4.9) Evangelion
Do not mind about Eva. Their AT field will protect from almost everything, so
there's no need to upgrade their HPs (a little, just in case ... ;)
Eva00.Upgrade rifle and prog knife.
spend: 50.000
Eva01.Upgrade rifle and prog knife. Later you'll get new weapons for unit 01 :
the sword is very dangerous, so upgrade it. Also the MAP wapon is very deadly
and has a good range. Finally, not really an upgrade, but anyway it will cost
40000 : let Eva 01 be destroyed in scenario 47 by Zeruel (the angel)- it will
go berserk and kill the angel. You'll have to repair it for 40.000, but Eva 01
will get a S2 engine and won't need umbilical cables anymore; I think is a good
upgrade for Eva.
spend: 170.000
40.000 additional to get S2 engine
Eva02.Upgrade rifle and prog knife.Later you'll be able to use AT field as a
weapon and you'll do a lot of damage.
spend: 100.000
Eva03.Get Eva03 (Fight Bardiel in scenario 45) because it has a really good
rifle and Toji is a strong pilot. Upgrade the rifle and shoot'em down !
spend: 100.000
4.10) Giant Robot
Giant Robot.Upgrade Giant Punch and the cannon. Also put some money in HPs and
Armor. Giant Robot is one of your toughest unit in the middle of the game.
spend: 150.000
Type-1,Type-2. Do not waste money: it's a support unit.
4.11) Macross
SDF1. Do not mind 'bout the fortress. It has a lot of HPs and can survive to
almost every enemy shot.
Valkyrie. Upgrade Agility and you'll be able to dodge almost everything.
give a little boost to missiles, but do not waste too much money.
spend: 25.000
YF-19. This is a good unit, and Isamu has Lucky, so you'll better give YF19
some good items and a little upgrade: Agility, Hps, energy and also the energy
attack (don't know the name). use to take battleships down an you'll gain a lot
of money to spend.
spend: 50.000
YF-21. Good supporting unit. Upgrade Agility,Energy and Energy attack.
spend: 40.000
4.12) Dancouga
Dancouga machines. Do not upgrade them! Give some items and resist until you
can combine Dancouga. Real battle starts here ...
Dancouga. Upgrade Dankukokaken (sword cut) wich is good weapon to increase
moral and the beam wich can be really deadly. Also level up HPs, Armor an
maximize the energy.
spend: 200.000
4.13) SRX
SR1,SR2,SR3. Do not spend too much money on those. Give some items and wait
until you'll be able to combine SRX.If you're really desperate give them a
little boot to HPs.
SRX. Upgrade the "best" attacks, but remember that you can combine SRX just 10
times in the entire game. Even worse : you can't keep it combined just like
Voltres,Dancouga,Combattler, so you have to unload all the 3 parts and then
combine... I really don't like SRX, there are more powerful robots and you
can use them without those heavy limitations. My opinion OK ? ^_^
Anyway it has powerful attacks but needs a lot of energy.
spend: 90.000
5) Special Upgrades
5.1) Maximize
If you maximize every attribute of a unit (spending up to 676.000) you'll be
given a free special bonus. You can choose between :
+2000 HPs +1 mobility
+150 EN A grade air
+30 agility A grade ground
+400 armor A grade sea
+30 limit A grade space
I discourage you to spend 676.000 on a single unit. Anyway spending 500.000 on
Shin Getter is worthy, so why do not upgrade it to max and get a energy bonus?
Shin Getter will be able to launch more Stoner Sunshine...
5.2) Special wepons
If you upgrade some weapons to the max (spending up to 370.000) you'll get the
chance to buy (BUY, not for free) a new weapon for 75.000. Let's see :
Mazinger Z : Upgrade Breast Fire to get MAP Breast Fire
Great Mazinger : Upgrade Breast Fire to get MAP Breast Fire
Upgrade Thunder Break to get MAP Thunder Break
Mazinkaiser : Upgrade Fire Breast to get MAP Fire Breast
Dancougar : Upgrade Dankukokaken to get a new (dangerous) Dankukokaken with
1~4 range (note: this is not a MAP weapon)
Nu-Gundam : Upgrade Fin Funnels to get MAP Fin Funnels
Quebley MKII : Upgrade Fin Funnels to get MAP Fin Funnels
Sazabi : Upgrade Fin Funnels to get MAP Fin Funnels
Gundam Wing Zero : Upgrade Beam rifle to Get MAP weapon
(very dangerous weapon, but you have only 1 shot)
The only one I can suggest you to buy is Wing Zero MAP, because :
1- you'll have the beam maximized and is a very good weapon (1~9 range!)
2- you'll get a good MAP weapon
For the same reasons you can upgrade Great Mazinger's Thunder break and get the
MAP, but only if you have a lot of cash. Ignore the others ...
6) Items
Items are useful to "upgrade" a unit without spending money on it.
booster - increase mobility by 1. mega booster - increase mobility by 2.
apogee motor - increases mobility by 1, agility by 5.
Some units are very slow (Combattler,Voltres) and a +2 to range of
movement is very useful to use their final attacks with range 1.
Best with: Combattler,Voltres,Daitarn3,Getter,Mazinger
anti-beam coating - Unit have anti-Beam coating
I-Field Generator - Unit have I Field barrier
Pin-point barrier - Negates all damage below 1800
inertial canceller - Negates all damage below 2500
Damage from beams is reduced or negated. useful for all units,
especially for weak Gundams/GM/Rick Dias.
Best with: Rick Dias,Aphrodite A,Diana A,Venus A,Core Booster
repair kit - recover HP by 2000 (use once)
repair kit S - recover full HP (use once)
Use repair kits with battleships (Aghama,Exelion) and huge robots.
Best with: Battleships,Voltres,Combattler,Gunbuster,Daitarn
Propellant Tank - recover EN by 50 (use once)
Propellant Tank S - recover EN by 200 (use once)
Energy charge is useful with Super Robots that need a lof of energy and
Morale. if you don't wanna recharge your units' energy by sending in
your battleship (and losing 10 points of morale), then equip it with
propellant tank.
Best with: Shin Getter,Voltres,Combattler,Raideen,Gunbuster.
magnetic coating - increase agility by 5, limit by 20
bio sensor - increase agility by 10, limit by 15
psycho-frame - increase agility by 15, limit by 30
These are goods for Gundams to increase their agility, so they can
avoid attacks.
Best with: Gp-03,Nu-Gundam,Hyaku-shiki,Cybaster,Billvine.
chobam armor - increase HP by 500, armor by 150
hybrid armor - increase HP by 800, armor by 200
super alloy Z - increase HP by 1000, armor by 300
new super alloy Z - increase HP by 1500, armor by 400
For Super Robots! make your unit tough to kill and you'll win.
but also you can increase a week unit resistance ...
Best with:Super Robots,weak units in the beginning of the game.
Minovski craft - unit will be able to fly, and have a grade A in air
Minovski drive - same as Minovski craft, but also mobility +2
A flying unit can ignore ground obstacles and attack other flying
units. And I like Eva 01 flying in the sky ... ^_~
Best with: Eva01,Hyukevain-MkII (your mech),Gp-03 (if you want to use
it on Earth)
high performance targeter - accuracy of all weapons +30%
high performance radar - range +1 to weapons. You can equip multiple hp radars
I won't miss a shoot. HPT is very useful : you won't need "concentrate"
anymore. Also HPR is good for long range attacks.
Best with:Hyaku Shiki, Nu Gundam, Wing Zero, Combattler V,Dancougar
Tem Rei circuits - mobility -10 agility -15, but repair cost is 10.
Your most expensive unit ? Eva 01. Your most dangerous unit ? Eva 01.
Send it into battle with this, let it go berserk then pay 10 for Eva01
Best with: Eva 01
Minmei doll - +5 morale.
Camile (Z Gundam) can't use Particle Cannon if his morale is not 105.
Send him in battle with a Minmei doll untill he kills 50 enemies; then
he will go to battle with 105 moral.
Best with: Z-Gundam,Eva 02,Nu Gundam
fried Andromeda - recovers all SP (use once)
Give it to units with multiple pilots (Dancougar,Voltres,Combattler) to
restore SP.
Best with: Dancougar,Voltres,Combattler,Shin getter
7) Ok what's next ?
This FAQ is still under contruction. I've played only Real Robot Side and I've
taken just 2 paths; anyway major series' units are covered. I'm re-playing the
game and if I discover interesting addiction I'll be out with a new release of
the FAQs.If you find something wrong or new or different please drop me a line:
my e-mail address is at the top of this document.
To Do:
- Aura battler dunbine
- Gundam X
- Turn A Gundam
- Write a complain letter to Banpresto : why did you take out Grendizer ?
8) Credits and Byez
I'd like to thanks:
- Zhou Tai An for a good SRWA FAQ : I've taken some Items names from his work.
- Mark Neidengard for dialogue translation.
- Kao Megura for some other good FAQs that give me "inspiration"
- my friends for moral support
- YOU! for reading this
