ZELIARD BOSS STRATEGIES GUIDE

Author: Sashanan (sashanan@hetnet.nl)
Latest update: 23 October 2000
Version: 1.1

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=================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================

- About this FAQ
- Generic advice
- Boss-specific advice
- Revision history
- Final words


===========================================================================
ABOUT THIS FAQ
===========================================================================

This guide came about during a particularly slow day at work. I chose to 
write a guide about Zeliard because very few (if any) seem to be in 
existence. The choice to write a boss guide rather than a full walkthrough 
was made because it"s been a while since I played, and I cannot write a 
full FAQ off the top of my head. This boss guide may grown into a full 
walkthrough eventually, but right now, this will have to do.

I start this boss guide with some generic advice on how to prepare for a 
boss fight. Then, I give specific instructions on how to beat each of the 
ten bosses in this game.


===========================================================================
GENERIC ADVICE
===========================================================================

It goes without saying that you should prepare for a boss fight as well as 
you can. Going into one of these fights without full health is foolish. 
Going in without the best possible equipment and training can be dangerous 
as well. Actually, training becomes less important later on in the game, 
when a little more or less life (or a few extra spells) won"t matter much. 
Equipment is important throughout the game. In general, try to get your 
hands on the most powerful sword and shield you can get before challenging 
an area"s boss.

WEAPONS AND SHIELDS
For each boss, try to get your hands on the following equipment before 
challenging him:

BOSS            WEAPON                          SHIELD
Cangrejo        Wise Man"s Sword                Wise Man"s Shield
Pulpo           Wise Man"s Sword                Stone Shield
Pollo           Spirit Sword                    Stone Shield
Agar            Spirit Sword		        Honor Shield
Vista           Knight"s Sword (*)              Honor Shield
Tarso           Knight"s Sword                  Light Shield
Paguro          Knight"s Sword                  Light Shield
Dragon          Illumination Sword              Titanium Shield
Alguien         Enchantment Sword               Titanium Shield
Jashiin         Enchantment Sword               Titanium Shield

* Vista can only be harmed with the Knight"s Sword. Earlier weapons, any 
magic or the Magia Stone have no effect. In other words, you don"t have a 
choice in this case; you must have the Knight"s Sword to win!


ITEMS

You should carry a few useful items to make your life easier. The most 
obvious is some kind of healing item. Early on in the game, the Ken"ko 
potion can serve this role, but it becomes too weak to be useful fairly 
soon. From the third town on, you should rely on Juu"en fruit instead, 
which will completely heal you. It pays to have two or three healing items 
with you, more if you"re in doubt (but remember you can only carry 5 items 
at a time).
If you are going to rely on spellcasting during a battle, two other items 
are of interest. The Elixir of Kashi restores all spells of a single type. 
Select the type you wish to refill as your active spell, then drink the 
Elixir. The more powerful Chiriga Powder restores all your spells.
A Sabre Oil will temporarily increase the damage done with your sword 
(specifically, until the next time you visit a town). They are expensive, 
but putting one on your weapon can help a lot in taking down a big boss 
quickly. Sabre Oils are also cumulative, so putting two or three on your 
sword helps even more; but make sure you leave enough space for healing 
items!
Finally, the Magia Stone can help a lot against three of the bosses 
(Cangrejo, Pulpo and Agar). It is moderately useful against Pollo and 
almost useless against the others.
Choose the items you are going to take with you wisely, you can only carry 
five at a time.


RESTING

You should always rest up your character before facing a boss. You can tell 
you"re in front of the boss" lair if you are at a red door and you hear a 
rumbling noise. (You may have to turn the music off with F2 for a moment in 
order to hear it, it"s not as loud as it should be.) Usually, you"ll be 
able to find a safe spot nearby where no monsters will bother you, and you 
can rest there. In some cases, there is a full healing potion hidden in a 
wall nearby, so try to strike some walls near the door and see if you get 
lucky.
There is one case in which you cannot safely rest in front of the door and 
there are no healing potions nearby: in the Cavern of Peligro, before 
fighting Pulpo. However, as you will see, you can actually rest DURING that 
battle!


===========================================================================
BOSS-SPECIFIC ADVICE
===========================================================================

Boss: CANGREJO
Type: Giant Crab
Location: Malicia

Cangrejo moves slowly, but when he feels like covering a lot of distance, 
he will jump. His aim is to land on top of you, which is indeed quite 
painful.
The best way to handle him is to go on the offensive immediately. Run up to 
him, stop next to him and start hacking (make sure you *stop* in front of 
him, continually running into him is bad for your health). When you see 
Cangrejo tensing his legs to prepare for a jump, run away. You"re quick 
enough to get out of his landing zone. When he lands again, run up to him 
again and start hacking away.
Eventually, Cangrejo will drive you into the left corner, so you can"t run 
any further. At this point, when he jumps, run to the right and pass under 
him while he"s in the air. He"ll spit at you and he may hit, but that"s not 
too painful. Just make sure that creep doesn"t land on you!

With a Wise Man"s Sword, you can take Cangrejo down before you know it. 
Alternatively, with a Magia Stone, just standing right next to him and 
watching as your aura does the hard work is enough. Cangrejo becomes a 
pushover that way.



Boss: PULPO
Type: Giant Octopus
Location: Peligro

Pulpo is stuck in the right part of the cavern. He cannot move, and better 
yet, he will not attack until you do! This means that you can rest up in 
his cave before attacking him (which is safer than resting in front of the 
door to his lair, where you will constantly be bothered by spitting frogs.)
When you are ready to engage, walk up to him and start slashing at his 
tentacles. You"ll be able to do significant damage before he withdraws 
them. At this point, he starts spitting at you, it is vital you jump over 
his spittle. It will keep damaging you until you do.
The best way to take Pulpo is to jump up and down in front of him (I said 
in front of him, not *against* him!), meanwhile slashing your sword. When 
he spits and you are driven back, jump up and right to clear the spittle, 
run back up to Pulpo and repeat. Your Stone Shield will last a lot longer 
than Pulpo.

Magic is worthless against this guy, all you have is Espada, and that 
barely harms him at all. Just trust your sword for this one.

The cheap way to win this battle is to hit Pulpo"s tentacles with the aura 
of a Magia Stone. He"ll be dead before he has a chance to withdraw his 
tentacles and start fighting back.



Boss: POLLO
Type: Giant Chicken
Location: Madera/Riza

A Giant Chicken? Yeah, but a pretty powerful one. The trick here is to hit 
his head, it is far more vulnerable than his body. Approach him carefully 
and watch him. If he flaps his wings once, a projectile is coming your way. 
Kneel to avoid it, then continue your advance and hack away when you"re in 
range. Jumping up and down while slashing is the best way to hit his head. 
Again, do not jump against him. If he advances, retreat a few steps before 
you get into actual physical contact, that hurts the most.

You"re in trouble when Pollo starts beating his wings furiously. 
Immediately withdraw to the left, because a swooping attack is coming up. 
Go back as far as you can, and with luck, he won"t be able to fly the whole 
distance (chickens can only remain airborne for a very short time). If he 
can reach you, press your back against the left wall, then just before he 
pecks, jump up and stab your sword straight down at his head. That"ll teach 
him!
(This is a manoeuver you should practice, it comes in handy against many 
foes. Jump up, then immediately hit down and the attack button 
simultaneously.)

Magia Stone gets in a little damage against Pollo, but nothing spectacular. 
Save your money for a Spirit Sword instead, it"ll help more. Also, neither 
Espada nor Saeta is particularly useful against Pollo, so you will need to 
rely on your weapon.



Boss: AGAR
Type: Giant Ice Cube
Location: Glacial/Escarcha

Agar behaves similarly to Cangrejo, moving back and forth slowly, and 
trying to crush you by jumping on you. The thing is that his jumps are 
quicker and it"s harder to see them coming. Oh, and those ice balls he 
occasionally sends your way do not help. You must kneel to dodge them, and 
Agar just loves to jump on you while you do.

There are basically two things that hurt Agar. One is hitting him with your 
sword, obviously. The other is a well-timed Fuego spell. If you can get 
Agar to land on a burning Fuego rather than you, the impact on his health 
is significant.

Agar is actually one of the hardest bosses in the game. He can take a lot 
of punishment, and getting hit by him harms you quite a bit. With a Magia 
Stone, however, you can harm him very quickly. If you can drive him into 
the right corner, he won"t be able to get out (the Magia Stone"s aura will 
keep him reeling), and he"ll be dead quickly. If you decide to fight him 
without one, you"re facing a challenge.

One last thing: it is possible to get to Agar without the Ruzeria Shoes 
found in the ice caverns, and it is possible to fight him without them. I 
just don"t recommend it. The last thing you need is not being able to move 
out of the way because of the slippery floor. Get those shoes before you 
seek him out!



Boss: VISTA
Type: Giant Fish
Location: Corroer/Cementar

Vista is an interesting boss, in the sense that only the Knight"s Sword can 
harm him. Should you seek him out before you have it, you are officially 
doomed. Only a Kioku Feather, which allows you to flee, can save you from 
certain death. None of the spells you have has any effect on Vista, and 
neither does the Magia Stone.

The way to defeat Vista is to keep moving. Run in the same direction he is 
moving to stay ahead of him, then suddenly turn around and run under him. 
Immediately turn around when you"re out of his reach, jump up and slash. Do 
a second slash if you"re very quick and confident, then start running away 
again. If you keep moving, Vista won"t be able to hit you, and you can get 
in at least one good hit every time he comes down to attempt to bite you.

Things get nasty once Vista drives you into a corner. Therefore, try to 
stick to the middle of the screen as much as you can. If you find yourself 
being driven to one end of the cavern, don"t attack for once - just run 
under him and use the time he needs to bite to get back to the middle of 
the cavern.

Note: you"ll never get to Vista alive without the Piraka Shoes, so look for 
those first.



Boss: TARSO
Type: Titan
Location: Tesoro/Plata

Defeating Tarso is a long process, because he can take a lot of damage. 
Spells or the Magia Stone will barely help you at all. Only Rascar does 
reasonable damage, but your chances of hitting him with that are slim.

Just run up to Tarso and strike, and be ready to run to the left when 
necessary. He will frequently attempt to step on you, and although a well-
timed sword hit will cause him to abort that move, you must always be ready 
to avoid.
Occasionally, Tarso will toss a rock at you. He"ll stomp his foot on the 
ground, and the rock will come flying at you. Immediately run away and wait 
until the rock has stopped bouncing (and begun rolling). Then turn around 
and jump over it. It"s similar to Pulpo"s spittle at this point, just more 
painful. Whatever you do, don"t attempt to kneel and dodge the rock while 
it is still bouncing. That"s asking for it!

Note: although it is possible to get to Tarso without the Silkharn shoes, 
you cannot leave the gold caverns without them, even after defeating Tarso. 
There"s no reason to bother with Tarso until you have those shoes.



Boss: PAGURO
Type: Giant Flaming Cube
Location: Llama Town

Paguro is hiding out in one of the larger houses in Llama. The inhabitant 
will stand outside and ask for your help. The best way to beat Paguro is by 
using the Agua spell, which the local sage will teach you. Allow Paguro to 
get close, then throw an Agua at him for massive damage. Allow him to close 
the distance again, and repeat. The 4 Aguas you get will be enough to kill 
him.

Paguro is very similar to Agar, only tougher. If you decide to go without 
Agua, a few good hits from the Knight"s Sword will do the trick as well, 
but be careful.



Boss: DRAGON
Type: Dragon (duh)
Location: Caliente/Reaccion/Correr

Welcome to the most dangerous boss in the game. Dragon is very powerful, 
and there is no cheap trick to defeat him. Even Agua will do little damage. 
Nevertheless, using all your Aguas and Rascars on Dragon at the start of 
the battle is a good way to soften him up, if only a little.

Basically, Dragon has three ways to breathe fire at you. One is a blast of 
fire far away from him, which he"ll use when he is far away from you. 
Another is a blast of fire directly in front of him, his favorite when you 
are close in. The last one is a horizontal blast of fire which can be 
avoided by kneeling. He will use this at moderate distance, or if you jump.

First rule with Dragon is "don"t jump". He"ll bring his head down if you 
do, and touching Dragon is very, very painful. Second rule is not to get 
hit by his fire, and if you must suffer a hit, catch it on your shield. 
Fire on your unprotected back is very deadly, Asbestos Cape or not.

The only way to get Dragon is to maintain a moderate distance, prompting 
him to use his "long range" fire. When he gets ready to breathe it on you, 
dash forward. This requires good positioning, because if you were too close 
already, he"ll use a "short range" fire blast instead, and you have to back 
off in order not to get hit. If you can get him to use his long range blast 
and you can position yourself between his fire blast and his body, you"ve 
done it correctly. Use the time you get to hit him with your sword. 
Illumination Sword is a must, and a Sabre Oil on it won"t hurt! When Dragon 
finishes his fire attack, retreat before he breathes right on your head. 
And remember, don"t jump!

The biggest difficulty is finding the exact spot where Dragon will still 
use his "long range" fire, but you can close on him when he does, without 
getting fried. You must wait until he starts breathing fire (or he"ll 
switch to a different attack when you come closer), but if you are too far 
away, you"ll never get out of the blast range in time when he starts his 
attack. You"ll need to develop some feeling for this. Don"t worry, this is 
the toughest boss of the bunch, and you can be proud of yourself after 
beating him.

For this battle in particular, remember than you can bring the Game Speed
down by pressing F9.



Boss: ALGUIEN
Type: Giant Bat
Location: Absor/Milagro/Desleal/Falter

Alguien uses a non-avoidable breath attack on you which doesn"t do too much 
damage. The trick is to jump right through it and slash his tail with the 
Enchantment Sword. Try not to touch Alguien himself, that *does* hurt! 
(Make sure you wear the Feruza shoes for this battle.)

If you can spare an Elixir of Kashi or Chiriga Powder, use the Guerra spell 
instead. A mere three or four castings is enough to kill him, because this 
spell does massive damage. Just use the appropriate item to restore your 
Guerras afterwards, you"ll probably want them in the last battle.



Boss: JASHIIN
Type: Master Villain
Location: Final

At the start of the battle, Jashiin is invisible. Just wander around a bit 
and wait for him to appear. When he does, he will either be standing and 
fire a Fuego, or he will be kneeling and fire a Lanzar. In either case, 
jump at him quickly (he"ll only be visible and vulnerable for a second or 
so), jumping over the spell and delivering a blow with the Enchantment 
Sword. You need to wear the Feruza Shoes for this, or you"ll never get high 
enough.

Alternatively, you can cast a Guerra to harm Jashiin while he"s temporarily 
visible. This takes off only a little health, but with enough Guerras in 
reserve and Elixirs of Kashi / Chiriga Powders to restore them when you run 
out, you can beat Jashiin with Guerras alone. (It takes about 15 in total, 
assuming you don"t miss. You must cast before Jashiin phases out again.)

When Jashiin is almost out of health, he loses the ability to phase out, 
although he can still cast his spells. Mainly, however, he will be running 
backwards, away from you, and he will jump over you when you corner him. 
Also, he"ll be regenerating health at an alarming pace. If he manages to 
recover it all, he"ll regain his phasing ability and you can basically 
start the battle over again. The trick is to get him down to zero health 
before he does. Your best bet is hitting Jashiin while he is in the air to 
jump over you. And try not to touch him; Jashiin can kill you at full
health if he comes into contact with your unprotected back.

The easiest way to finish Jashiin off is to keep two Guerras handy. When he 
stops using his phasing ability, cast them immediately before he can start 
to regenerate. That will do him in. That wasn"t too hard now, was it?

Note: if Jashiin defeats you (or you bug out with a Kioku Feather), Alguien 
is also revived. In fact, even if you kill Jashiin, then use a Kioku 
Feather, both Alguien and Jashiin will be revived. You must collect the 
last Tear of Esmesanti to end the game.


===========================================================================
REVISION HISTORY
===========================================================================

v1.0: (20 Oct '00) First version of the FAQ.
v1.1: (23 Oct '00) A few small corrections.

Future plans include a full walkthrough for Zeliard, and if I get the hang
of FAQ writing, more RPG FAQs.


===========================================================================
FINAL WORDS
===========================================================================

For questions, comments, suggestions, praise and criticism, contact the
author, Sashanan, at sashanan@hetnet.nl. Any serious mail will be answered.
Please put "Your Zeliard FAQ" or something like that in the topic.

If you wish to do anything with this FAQ except for just reading it, check
the Disclaimer section at the top of the FAQ to find out what you can and
can't do.

I have a small RPG review/walkthrough site called Sashy's RPG Temple at
http://come.to/sashy, feel free to check it out.

"Much that I bound, I could not free. Much that I freed returned to me."
(Lee Wilson Dodd)

This document copyright 2000, Sashanan. All rights reserved.