Guide to Shining Force for Sega Genesis

Additions and corrections are welcome.

• Ranks
• Members of the Shining Force
• Weapons
• Spells and Ranges
• Spells, Members, and Levels
• Potions
• Rings
• Monsters
• Shops
• Action
• Nova's Advice
• More Strategy
• Answers
• Obscurities
• Useless Items
• Cheats
• Game Credits

RANKS—symbols, names, and moves

MEMBERS OF THE SHINING FORCE

*

Character is optional.

†

Character is intended to be required. To prevent the character from joining, do not speak with the King of Guardiana. Herd the blond man toward the town gate till he occupies a space between a guard and the middle of the gate. Then approach the gate. Only one guard will be able to block your passage. Proceed south to leave the town. If you leave or lose the battle at the Gate of the Ancients, you will reappear in Guardiana and must repeat the procedure.

‡

Speak with Diane's mother to be allowed to enter the quarry. You need not recruit Diane.

WEAPONS—name, range, damage, ranks, magic power

Name	Range	Damage	Magic	User
Swords
Short Sword	1	5		BDMN, SDMN, WARR
Middle Sword	1	8		BDMN, SDMN, WARR
Long Sword	1	12		BDMN, SDMN
Steel Sword	1	18		HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR
Broad Sword	1	20		HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR
Doom Blade	1	25		HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR
Katana	1	30		HERO, NINJ, SKYW, SMR
Sword of Light	1	36	BOLT II	HERO
Sword of Darkness	1	40	DESOUL I	HERO, SKYW
Chaos Breaker	1	40	FREEZE III	HERO
Missiles
Wooden Arrow	2	8		ACHR, ASKT
Steel Arrow	2	13		ACHR, ASKT
Elven Arrow	2–3	18		ASKT, BWMS
Assault Shell	2–3	27		BWMS, SKNT*
Buster Shot	2–3	35		BWMS, SKNT*
Spears
Spear	1–2	8		KNT, SKNT, WKNT
Power Spear	1–2	15		KNT, SKNT, WKNT
Valkyrie	1–2	35		PLDN, SBRN, SKYL
Lances
Bronze Lance	1	9		KNT, SKNT, WKNT
Steel Lance	1	18		PLDN, SBRN, SKYL
Chrome Lance	1	22		PLDN, SBRN, SKYL
Halberd	1	25	BOLT I	PLDN, SBRN, SKYL
Devil Lance†	1	35		PLDN, SBRN, SKYL
Axes
Hand Axe	1	7		WARR
Middle Axe	1	11		WARR
Battle Axe	1	16		WARR
Heat Axe	1	22	BLAZE II	GLDR
Great Axe	1	26		GLDR
Atlas	1	33	BLAZE III	GLDR
Staves
Wooden Staff	1	4		HEAL, MAGE
Power Staff	1	12		HEAL, MAGE
Guardian Staff	1	18		VICR, WIZD
Holy Staff	1	26		VICR
Demon Rod†	1	35	steal M.P.	WIZD

†

Cursed.

SPELLS—Magic Points, distance, and range of effect

SPELLS, MEMBERS, AND LEVELS

Member	Spell	I	II	III	IV
<leader>	EGRESS	<>
Alef	BLAZE	<>	<>
	BOLT	<>	L12	L17	L25
	DESOUL	L21
	FREEZE	<>	<>
Anri	BLAZE	<>	L8
	BOLT	L19	L26
	FREEZE	L5	L13	L16	L23
	MUDDLE	L10
Arthur	BLAZE	L15
	BOLT	L25
	FREEZE	L20
Domingo	BOOST	L20
	DESOUL	L17
	FREEZE	<>	L4	L13	L26
	MUDDLE	L7
Gong	AURA	L30
	HEAL	<>	L8	L16	L24
Hanzou	DESOUL	L25
	DISPEL	<>
	SHIELD	L15
	SLEEP	<>
Khris	AURA	L20	L28
	HEAL	<>	L5	L16	L21
	QUICK	L12
	SLOW	L8
Lowe	DETOX	L24
	HEAL	<>	L7	L16	L22
	QUICK	L13	L25
	SLOW	L10	L19
Tao	BLAZE	<>	L4	L12	L20
	BOOST	L27
	DISPEL	L16
	SLEEP	L8
Torasu	AURA	<>	L14	L18	L22
	DETOX	<>
	HEAL	<>	<>
	SHIELD	<>

POTIONS

RINGS

*

Only enemies have this.

†

Cursed.

MONSTERS

* Not used.

SHOPS

ACTION

1. Runefaust Invasion.
2. Spirit of the Holy Spring.
3. Secret Weapon of Runefaust.
4. The Great Fortress of Balbazak.
5. Gateway to the Hidden Shrine.
6. Descendant of the Sacred Dragons.
7. The Lost Civilization.
8. Rise of the Ancient Castle.

1. Runefaust Invasion.

• Guardiana. Meet Lowe. Meet Gort.
• Guardiana Castle. Meet Mae.
• Guardiana. Luke, Ken, Tao, and Hans JOIN. Lowe JOINS.
• Guardiana Castle. 100 coins.
• Gate of the Ancients. BATTLE 1. 1 Rune Knight, 2 Dark Dwarf, 5 Goblin.
• Village. Meet Jogurt. Meet Gong. Gong JOINS.
• Return to Guardiana. BATTLE 2. 2 Rune Knight, 3 Dark Dwarf, 6 Goblin.
• Guardiana. Gort JOINS.
• Guardiana Castle. Mae JOINS. 50 coins, 1 power potion, 1 defense potion, 1 angel wing, 1 antidote.
• Guardiana to Alterone. BATTLE 3. 5 Rune Knight, 5 Dark Dwarf, 5 Giant Bat.
• Alterone. 50 coins, 50 coins, 70 coins, 1 medical herb, 2 healing seed, 1 power potion, 1 middle sword, 1 bronze lance.
• Alterone Castle. Meet Khris. 100 coins, 1 healing seed, 1 bread of life, 1 defense potion, 1 wooden staff, 1 wooden arrow, 1 middle sword. Khris JOINS.
• Alterone. BATTLE 4. 1 Dark Mage I, 2 Sniper, 4 Rune Knight, 4 Dark Dwarf, 4 Giant Bat.
• Alterone Castle. 50 coins, 1 healing seed.

2. Spirit of the Holy Spring.

• Rindo. Meet Guntz. 1 Speed Ring.
• Rindo to Manarina. BATTLE 5. 3 Dark Mage I, 4 Zombie, 2 Sniper, 3 Dark Dwarf, 4 Giant Bat.
• Manarina. Meet Anri. Meet Arthur. 1 Domingo egg. Anri JOINS.
• Cavern of Darkness. BATTLE 6. 1 Skeleton, 4 Dark Mage I, 3 Zombie, 2 Sniper, 5 Giant Bat. 1 wooden staff, 1 power ring, 1 power staff, 1 medical herb, 1 orb of light.
• Manarina. Arthur JOINS.
• Rindo. Circus Tent. BATTLE 7. 1 Marionette, 2 Dire Clown, 3 Mannequin, 3 Evil Puppet, 3 Giant Bat. 50 coins, 1 steel arrow, 1 defense potion.
• Shade Abbey. Meet Amon.
• Chapel. Meet Balbaroy. BATTLE 8. 1 Ghoul, 3 Skeleton, 6 Zombie.
• Shade Abbey. Balbaroy JOINS. Amon JOINS.

3. Secret Weapon of Runefaust.

• Bustoke. Meet Diane. Diane JOINS.
• Quarry. BATTLE 9. 1 Master Mage, 1 Lizardman, 4 Dark Priest, 2 Dark Elf, 2 Dark Mage II, 6 Skeleton. 1 Moon Stone.
• Bustoke. 1 Lunar Dew. Meet Kokichi. Meet Zylo. Zylo JOINS.
• Bustoke to Bridge. BATTLE 10. 2 Lizardman, 4 Pegasus Knight, 2 Dark Priest, 2 Dark Mage II, 5 Skeleton.
• Stone Bridge. Meet Pelle. BATTLE 11. 2 Silver Knight, Laser Eye, 3 Pegasus Knight, 5 Lizardman, 3 Dark Elf, 2 Dark Priest. Pelle JOINS.

4. The Great Fortress of Balbazak.

• Pao. Jogurt JOINS. 1 long sword, 1 bread of life, 1 legs of haste. Meet Earnest. Kokichi JOINS. Meet Vankar. Vankar JOINS.
• Pao Prairie. BATTLE 12. Elliott, 1 Artillery I, 4 Silver Knight, 4 Pegasus Knight, 5 Lizardman, 3 Dark Priest.
• Pao. Guntz JOINS. Meet Domingo. Domingo JOINS. 1 Steel Sword. 1 Elven Arrow.
• Fortress. BATTLE 13. 2 Hellhound, 1 Artillery I, 6 Silver Knight, 3 Pegasus Knight, 3 Dark Priest.
• Uranbatol. Earnest JOINS.
• Harbor. BATTLE 14. Balbazak, 2 Hellhound, 5 Seabat, 3 Artillery I, 2 Silver Knight, 1 Evil Puppet, 1 Dark Priest.

5. Gateway to the Hidden Shrine.

• Shipboard. BATTLE 15. 2 Shellfish, 3 Conch, 4 Seabat, 3 Pegasus Knight.
• Waral. 1 mobility ring. 1 bread of life. 1 defense potion. 1 shower of cure. 1 medical herb.
• Ring Reef. BATTLE 16. 1 Master Mage, 3 Worm, 5 Hellhound, 4 Seabat, 5 Skeleton.
• Waral.
• Shipboard. BATTLE 17. 1 Gargoyle, 6 Conch, 4 Shellfish, 5 Seabat, 2 Pegasus Knight.

6. Descendant of the Sacred Dragons.

• Rudo. Meet Lyle. Lyle JOINS. 1 healing seed. 1 holy staff.
• Rudo to Dragonia. BATTLE 18. 1 Durahan I, 1 High Priest I, 5 Golem, 3 Worm, 4 Master Mage, 5 Artillery II.
• Dragonia. 1 healing seed. 2 shower of cure. Meet Bleu. Bleu JOINS. BATTLE 19. Kane, 2 Durahan I, 4 Golem, 3 Gargoyle, 2 High Priest I, 3 Master Mage. 1 halberd. 1 broad sword.
• Rudo.
• Rudo to Demon Castle. BATTLE 20. 2 Bowrider, 3 Belial, 4 Golem, 2 High Priest II, 4 Master Mage, 2 Gargoyle.
• Demon Castle. BATTLE 21. Mishaela, 3 Bowrider, 3 Belial, 2 Durahan III, 1 High Priest II, 4 Master Mage, 3 Gargoyle. Sword of light, 1 white ring, 1 black ring, 1 evil ring, 1 power potion, 1 shower of cure, 1 healing seed.

7. The Lost Civilization.

• Prompt.
• Prompt to Tower of the Ancients. BATTLE 22. 1 Minotaur, 2 Wyvern, 2 Torch Eye, 2 Jet, 4 Durahan III, 2 Belial.
• Tower of the Ancients. 1 devil lance. 1 turbo pepper. BATTLE 23. 1 Demon Master II, 5 Ice Worm, 2 Wyvern, 3 Torch Eye, 4 Steel Claw, 3 Jet. 1 valkyrie, 1 demon rod. Meet Alef and Torasu. Alef and Torasu JOIN.
• Prompt. Sword of Darkness. Musashi JOINS.
• Metapha. Meet Adam. BATTLE 24. Chaos, 2 Minotaur, 3 Demon Master II, 4 Torch Eye, 4 Ice Worm, 4 Jet. Chaos breaker. Adam JOINS.
• Prompt.
• Prompt to Runefaust. BATTLE 25. 5 Armed Skeleton, 3 Horseman, 4 Cerberus, 2 Demon Master I, 3 Minotaur, 1 High Priest II.

8. Rise of the Ancient Castle.

• Runefaust. Hanzou JOINS.
• Runefaust Castle. BATTLE 26. 3 Blue Dragon, 5 Chimera, 3 Armed Skeleton, 3 Cerberus, 3 Horseman, 2 High Priest III. 1 atlas. 1 halberd. 1 atlas from Armed Skeleton. BATTLE 27. Ramladu, 6 Torch Eye, 6 Steel Claw.
• Runefaust.
• Castle of the Ancients. BATTLE 28. 3 Colossus, 6 Chimaera, 3 Blue Dragon, 3 Jet, 2 Horseman, 3 Armed Skeleton. BATTLE 29. Phase 1: Darksol, 8 Torch Eye, 5 Steel Claw, 2 Blue Dragon, 2 High Priest II. Phase 2: 3 Dark Dragon, 2+ Armed Skeleton.

NOVA'S ADVICE

• A word of advice. Seek the hermit who lives by the Gate of the Ancients!
• Beware of giant bats! They fly swiftly and fight fiercely.
• The enemy's mages and archers attack best from afar. Charge them quickly.
• Zombies and other unnatural creatures suffer greatly from magical fire.
• In tight places, such as caverns, look before you leap into battle. Plan ahead!
• Greater numbers alone will not win battles. Keep your troops in close formation!
• Mages are powerful, but even their power has its limits. Use magic sparingly!
• Use your flying friends well. Also, monks and priests gain experience by healing.
• Use healing powers as much as possible.
• When fighting in woods, plan well before moving. Keep your troops together. Air warriors and long-range weapons are very useful in certain situations.
• There is no refuge on the Pao Prairie. Stick together when fighting.
• Be sure to use your archers, mages, and knights to attack from afar.
• Clever use of the skills and strengths of your troops is the key to victory.
• You must protect against attacks from both air and sea. Don't forget!
• To confuse the enemy, divide your troops and advance from several directions at once.
• Remember to watch for both air and sea attacks!
• Woods and mountains are difficult terrains. Plan your attack carefully.
• This is a strange village. It would be sure death to face a powerful foe here alone.
• You still have a long way to go. Use magic wisely. Give herbs to everyone.
• Thick woods are tough to get through. Close your ranks and fight as a unit.
• Move cautiously against flying opponents. They move faster than your troops.
• <leader>! Is there anyone left to promote? Now is the time!
• Your strongest foes and toughest battles are still ahead of you.
• Keep weaker folk away from the front lines!
• Darksol has gathered his best warriors for the final battles. Prepare yourself!
• Against a mechanical enemy, brute force may be the best strategy.
• Do not exhaust yourselves here. Use Egress to retreat from overwhelming odds.
• I have no more advice for you. Fight as best you can.

MORE STRATEGY

1. Concentrate your forces on a few enemies at a time so as to kill them quickly.
2. Combine attackers whose combined damage just suffices to kill their enemy.
3. Do not waste time! Use every move to kill or injure an enemy if you can.
4. Use healers freely for healing and other spells.
5. Do not hasten to attack an enemy that has just attacked you. The other enemies are more important. Their turns will come first.
6. Provide your magic-users with medical herbs and healing seeds, so that they can be useful when their magic is exhausted.
7. When fighting indoors, consider circling around rather than charging directly at the leader.
8. It is seldom useful to withdraw from a won battle and fight it again for the sake of experience points. It may be helpful to do so to get more coins and weapons from the enemy.
9. A member with the Mobility Ring and the Power Ring can equip the Mobility Ring to advance far, then equip the Power Ring in the same move to attack hard.
10. You can advance a weak member easily by having him fight a Dark Priest. The Priest keeps healing and the member keeps gaining experience. (From Eugene S. G. Ping.)
11. If you must have a Jogurt Ring, set Jogurt to fight the Artillery units in Pao Prairie and outside Balbazak's fortress.

ANSWERS

1. The members' initial statistics are somewhat random. So are their gains.
2. Promotion undoes the cumulative effect of potions, and further reduces hit points, magic points, attack, defense, and agility. The reductions for each member are fixed but somewhat random.
3. A mage's attacking strength does not affect her magical attacks.
4. You usually cannot gain an enemy's possessions after defeating him.
5. Jogurt cannot rise above Experience Level 1 and one HP. He is useful chiefly for his high speed, which helps him evade attacks.

OBSCURITIES

1. After Guardiana is overrun you can visit the castle's treasury and help yourself.
2. Search in Manarina to find the Domingo Egg.
3. Arthur joins only after you win Battle 6.
4. Search Kokichi's apparatus in Bustoke and he will give you a demonstration, and later join you in Pao.
5. Boken, whom you meet in many places, is useless, except for releasing you from your cell in Prompt.
6. The husband's offer to join after the battle in the quarry is idle.
7. If you met Jogurt outside Gong's cottage, he joins tacitly if you visit the upper left part of the chapel in Pao I.
8. Vankar is left behind when Pao I departs. You can enlist him there at any time before the end of Chapter 4.
9. You can hatch the Domingo Egg only in the Item Shop in Pao II.
10. Step on the big fish in Waral to meet Boken.
11. When you visit the King of Waral after the battle in Ring Reef, you will leave Waral at once without visiting any more shops.
12. You must find Bleu in Dragonia before you can fight Kane.
13. The chests in Dragonia can be looted both during battle and before or after battle.
14. Musashi joins only when you read a sign on a wall in Prompt after you speak with Kane.
15. If you find the Sword of Light before defeating Mishaela, the chapter ends when you defeat her. You cannot search any more chests.
16. Hanzou hides in a bush in Runefaust. Look for a throwing star.
17. At the end of the game, even if you did not recruit Luke, Ken, Tao, Hans, Lowe, and Anri, they will be there to mourn the loss of Max.

USELESS ITEMS

1. Search a wall of the Moon Stone Cave in Bustoke Quarry to find a chest with the Sugoi Mizugi (Awesome Swimsuit). Give it to Tao and she will wear it.

           #####.##
           #####.##
           #####*## Moon
           #####.## Stone
           #.....##
           #.....##
           #...####
    Sugoi  #!#.####
    Mizugi ###.####
           ###.####
   

2. Search a corner of the archers' butte near Pao Bridge to find a chest with the Kitsui Fuku (Daring Dress). Give it to Anri and she will wear it.

           ....................
           ....................
           #.....#########.....
           #######    #####....
    Kitui  ##!.....   ...##.#..
    Fuku   ##.......  #.....#..
           ##...............###
            ###.....# ##......#
            ########    #...###
            ########    #####..
            ### ###     ###....
   

3. A chest hidden in an alley outside Balbazak's Fortress contains Kenji (Kenji Orimo), who has no known use.

           ######.##############
           ###.....#############
           ###.....#############
           ####..#.#####!####### Kenji
           #####.#######.#######
           ####.....##.#..######
           #.....##.......##..##
           ###...###...#...##.##
           ##......###...#.....#
   

4. On the ship's first voyage, search the starboard (left) end of the bow from the space to its left to find another Moon Stone, which has no use.

           ####..###
           ###...###
           #........
           .........
           ##.....#.
           ##.......
           ###......
           ######...
           ######..#
           #####...#
           ##......#
           ##.......
           ##.#.....
     Moon  ##.!#....
     Stone  #####...
   

5. A chest hidden in the port bow of the ship on the second voyage contains the Teppou (Rifle), which has no known use.

           ....#....#
           .........#
           ........##
           ........##
           ..#.....#
           ..#.#...#
           ..###....
           .......##
           .......#
           ......##
           .....!#  Teppou
           ######
             #
   

6. Search a rock near the Dragon Shrine during Battle 19 to find a chest with the Youji, which has no known use.

           #######
           ####**|
           oo!***|  Youji
           -|..|-|
           #|..|#|
   

7. Search a wall in the northwest part of the Colossus Room during Battle 28 to find a chest with the Kaku-chan (Papa Doll), which has no known use.

           ####H...
           ###!H...  Kaku-chan
           #...HH..
           #...HH..
           #==.....
           #.......
   

8. An item called a Kindan no Hako (Forbidden Box) cannot be found anywhere.

CHEATS

1. Name all characters. Start a new game and go to the Name Your Character screen. Press and hold Start, A, B, and C on controller 2 and press Start, A, and C on controller 1. Another character appears. Now you can cycle through and name every character in the game.
2. Battle Test. Hold Up and Start on controller 2, then press Reset. Let go of the buttons as soon as the Sega logo begins to appear, then hold down the A and C buttons on controller 2. Select Continue and skip through until Simone's message begins with Good Luck. Hold the A button on controller 1 (while still holding A and C on pad 2). This takes you to the Battle Test mode, where you can fight in any of the game's 30 battles. (Disabled.)
3. Message Test. You can also access a special Message Test simply by holding the B button at Simone's Good Luck message. Now you can read all of the game's dialogue. (Disabled.)

GAME CREDITS

Game Design

Hiroyuki Takahashi

Scenario

Masaki Wachi, Yoshitaka Tamaki, Hiroyuki Takahashi

Subscript

Masaki Wachi, Kenji Orimo, Haruki Kodra, Hiroyuki Takahashi

Scenario Assistant

Ritsuko Hisasue, Tadashi Iwase

Programmers

Yasuhiro Taguichi, Yohsinori Tagawa, "Okochama" Naitoh, Haruki Kodera

Technical Support

Masumi Takimoto, Kiyoaki Matsumoto

Character Designs by

Yoshitaka Tamaki

Graphics Directed by

Hidehiro Yoshida, Yoshitaka Tamaki

Graphic Design

Hidehiro Yoshida, Yoshitaka Tamaki, Ryushiro Miyazaki, 1610. Nakashima, Hirotada Kakusaka, Mizuho Mochizuki, Yojiro Hirashita, Ryutaro Ishimatu

Music Composed by

Masahiko Yoshimura

Sound Effects

Dogen Shibuya, Enzan Shibuya

Special Thanks to

Naoki Aoki, Kotaro Hayashida, Shiro Tsuchiya

Directed by

Yasuhiro Taguchi, Kenji Orimo

Promotion Directed by

Shinya Nishigaki

Produced by

Hiroyuki Takahashi

Created by

Sonic Co., Ltd.; Climax Co., Ltd.

Presented by

Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
©1993 Sega