ASTLIBRA Revision - Tips, Tricks, and Brief Guide

The premise of this guide is to point out what might not be immediately obvious (gameplay, menu, item, or otherwise) as well as help prevent missing what is permanently missable.

This guide is not spoiler free. There should only be minor spoilers until you hit the Hidden Bosses/Gods section. From there onward, there are major spoilers. I don't think there are any plot spoilers, just secrets type spoilers.

I wrote most of this for myself as a reminder for subsequent playthroughs. I love this game, and have played it through many times, on many difficulties now. Coming back to the game after a year, and seeing that there weren't any new guides, I figured I might as well share mine. To that end, on the last playthrough I did also add what I thought might be generally helpful to new players.

The game has been updated, possibly more than once, since I originally wrote most of this guide. As such, there might be parts of the guide that are outdated, though I didn't notice anything major on my last playthrough. The English translation has definitely changed, so if I use the wrong/outdated name or term in the guide, my apologies. You will see parts where I use two names, separated by a "/", for some items. I am including what it used to be called and what it was called the last time I played.

I also wrote most of the guide while playing on Hell or Impossible difficulty, so some of the advice may not apply for lower difficulty levels.

Credit to Steam user MadCrabPrime and his guide. I definitely used it when playing through the second time and that gave me the idea to start my own guide. Thanks to everyone else who wrote a guide as well. I wouldn't have had the patience to add equipment and ability info to my guide, so I am glad other people already did!

Difficulty Levels

I have included my thoughts on the difficulty levels that I have have played all the way though.

• Difficult aka Hard – If you are a decent gamer, but not great at 2D action platformers, then this might be a good level. You can definitely grind a bit if you are having issues. I found that the post-game was too easy at this difficulty though, so I decided to start over on Hell.
  
  
• Hell – If you are used to this type of 2D action game, then I would start here. Blocking and dodging matter more. You can also only grind so far, so you never feel overpowered. The hidden bosses, thankfully, don’t seem to get much stronger. The regular mobs will become increasingly more difficult to deal with starting at around chapter 6. By chapter 8, you really need to be more careful. There are also more enemies.
  
  
• Impossible – Same warnings as Hell, but with the caveat that grinding to max out the Grow board, and get all weapon/armor formulas, is pretty much mandatory. The regular mobs in each chapter will be difficult to deal with until you get the best weapons/armor for that chapter. On your first pass through each chapter, you can take two/three hits at most before you are loading a save. You pretty much need to be careful the whole game. With the Grow board maxed, and the best gear equipped, I didn’t find the bosses to be much more difficult than on Hell.
  
  
  • I've played through the whole game on Impossible three times now. I will say that if you want the post-game/postscript to be at all challenging, Impossible is the difficulty level you want to play on. Even then, the challenge drops off pretty quickly as you fill out the Grow board and start to collect post-game items. That is especially true if you save all your items from the whole game to use to enhance you weapon/armor/shield at the start of the postscript. It won't be long before you are just face tanking most things.

Notes:

• You can decrease the difficulty at any point in the game. You can only increase the difficulty up to the start of chapter 2. Might as well start on a harder setting since you can always decrease the difficulty.
  
  
• Between Difficult, Hell, and Impossible, I think I enjoyed Hell the most. It was a good balance of challenge, but not dying a lot (like to trash mobs on Impossible). Though the post-game is more enjoyable on Impossible as you get stronger quickly.
  
  
• On Hell and Impossible the game does not pause while you are picking your summon/possession. I didn’t find this to be a big adjustment over Difficult. You can still pause the game using the menu in order to use healing items.

Stats

• HP: Self-explanatory. Probably the stat you will raise the most.
  
• ATK: Melee damage.
  
• DEF: All damage mitigation.
  
• MAG: Affects summon/possession damage and magic staff damage.
  
• SPD: Called agility on trinkets. Affects attack speed. More importantly, it also reduces your Gross Weight. If your weight gets above 70, the slowdown in attack speed is noticeable. Above 80 it is almost intolerable.
  
• LUC: The game says it affects exp and money drop rates. I presume it affects treasure chest and crafting materials drop rates as well.
  
  • According to Steam user MadCrabPrime luck does affect treasure chest and item drop rates. My subsequent playthroughs do seem to indicate that silver and gold chest drop rates are affected by luck.
• ADA: Affects how long you can hold your breath underwater and I think how slowed you are by water/snow. It also increases your debuff resistance. I never raised this (other than the Grow board) and didn’t have issues. Trinkets will cover the resistances.

General Tips

• You normally can’t leave a chapter once you start it (i.e. normally when you leave Rispadar), so make sure to take care of any odds and ends before journeying to a new area.
  
  
• Make it a priority to master all the weapons, shields, and armor you have access to. The Karon abilities and Magic Crystals earned by doing so will help immensely.
  
  
• Complete each new arena cup between chapters. The rewards are nearly essential if playing on Hell or Impossible difficulty. At the start of each new chapter, you normally wake up in your house. To unlock the next arena cup, you usually need to go talk to someone at the bar in order to start the chapter progressing (but not actually leave for a new area yet).
  
  
• Save often, even when running around towns talking to people. There are several points in the game where picking a certain dialogue choice will end the game and roll credits. Then you are left loading your last save.
  
  
• It isn’t immediately obvious, but at the top of the page when adding an item to a scale pan, there are filters. On the left, you can filter by attribute type and on the right, you can sort by karma weight.
  
  
• The gatcha in Mokyu’s shop will always give you the same number of items in the same order on any given play through. So, you might as well use it whenever you have the medals to do so.
  
  
• If you pause the game, you will see your current objective listed at the bottom of the menu screen.
  
  
• Attack power seems to affect mining power as well. I noticed that I was failing to completely finish a mining spot if I switched to a weaker weapon in the post-game.
  
  
• A weapon that does elemental damage that a boss is weak to will often do more damage than a weapon of a significantly higher base damage that is the wrong element or no element. The difference is further increased if using the Karon ability to match the elemental damage of the weapon.

Item Tips

• For most of the game, money is easy to come by, especially if you use Karon abilities and trinkets that help earn coin. As such, it is a good idea to always keep max, or near max, Copper Keys and healing items. It is also a good idea to keep a healthy supply of pickaxes and light emitting items (Torches or Lanterns). You can only buy up to 99 of an item at a time, but the game will let you pick up drops of the same item even if you already have a stack of 99 (i.e. if you have 99 already and find an item in a chest, you will then have a stack of 100).
  
  
• Keep one of everything, including monster drops. Almost everything can be used on the scales and you are going to want choices when it comes to balancing the weight. Cards are perhaps the exception here as you are probably better off just using them for the attribute points.
  
  
• Keep all ores, smelted bars, and monster crafting materials. They can all be used in the post-game.
  
  
• It is fine to sell all but one of each of the gems. They serve no purpose other than using on the scales or selling.
  
  
• Not all goods are available at all item shops. When you come across a shop that has stronger pickaxes or cooking/synthesis ingredients that are normally only found as drops, it is a good idea to stock up.

Treasure Tips

• There are three ways that hidden chests can be exposed:
  
  • One way is simply by beating all the enemies on a screen, which usually includes destroyable items like trees/bushes/rocks/etc.
    
  • Another way is by shooting archery looking targets (throwing an arrow, using a wand/staff, or using a bow/crossbow).
    
  • The last way is by finding little green upward pointing arrows on the ground, standing on them, and then pushing your up control.
  
  
• With the exception of two chests in Rispadar and two chests in chapter 7, you can get all treasure chests in a chapter without having to come back. Sometimes you do need to acquire an item later in the chapter and backtrack.

Force Tips

• Offensive possession skills will grant you a small amount of force of the same attribute as the skill itself when used on an enemy. This can help you max out the Grow board in early chapters.
  
  
• Some of the craftable food will give you force when eaten. If you can farm the items to make the food, this is faster than trying to use possessions to get a certain type of force.
  
  
• Don’t exchange too much force of one color for another color. It isn’t efficient and you will always need more force. Even if you max out the Grow board in each chapter, you will be able to use all the force you save up in the post-game.

Control Tips

• Air Dash can be finicky. I wish it just worked by hitting the key/button, but you have to make sure you are pushing in the direction you want to go as well. If you are using a controller with an analog stick and you aren’t pushing in exactly the direction you want to go, then sometimes Air Dash won’t work.
  
  
• You can cancel the use of an item by hitting the “Select Item” key/button (the control that brings up the hotbar). On more than one occasion I selected “Use” on a crafting material when I meant to hit “Synthesize” and cancelling it saved from me more farming.
  
  
• I found that using Steam controller layouts to allow turbo on the attack button was helpful for the first chapter. I'm getting old and I don't need more risk of repetitive stress injury by mashing buttons. In chapter 2 you will get a Karon ability that will do this natively and won’t interfere with combat moves like turbo will.

Hidden Bosses/Gods

****This is the start of the spoiler heavy sections of this guide. No more spoiler tags are used from here on.****

The enemies in each area leading up to the boss are a good check to see if you can handle the boss. If you struggle with, or can’t defeat the normal mobs, then defeating the boss is probably beyond you. If you want a real challenge, then you could try these bosses at chapter 6 on Difficult or chapter 7 on Hell. For less frustration, wait a chapter longer. Other than Lieselotte, and maybe The Star Eater, I would wait until chapter 8 to try the bosses on Impossible.

You will not be able to effectively use the weapons the bosses drop, due to their weight, until chapter 8 or later unless you pour a bunch of stat points into SPD. The gems you get for mastering the weapons aren't needed until the final chapter anyway. The trinkets/armor/shield are still helpful as soon as you get them though.

My recommended order, which is based mainly on how useful the rewards are:

Lieselotte > Beatrice > The Star Eater > Gerdaltine > Al-Khamis > Adolphus

Lieselotte:

• Location: Rispadar – Painting in empty house near castle gates.
  
• Battle: Straightforward. Eliminate helps, but this is mostly blocking and dodging.
  
• Rewards: Magic staff Verethragna and Lollipop trinket. Lollipop helps with grinding as it heals you on each enemy defeated.
  
• Notes: I was able to beat her on Impossible difficulty at the start of chapter 6 on the last couple of playthroughs. I had maxed out the Grow board and had all the weapon/armor Karon abilities available at that point. The Ice Sword with the Undine Karon ability did the most damage of the weapons I had.

Beatrice:

• Location: Elysium – Immediately to the left of the entrance.
  
• Battle: Make use of the two platforms to hide under and attack from for most of the battle. Lots of healing items recommended. She will use an ability to drop you to 1 HP periodically, so make sure to be ready and heal fast. She occasionally spawns mushrooms that lock possessions that need to be dealt with. She will also summon monsters from her level occasionally, so if you struggled with them on the way to her, you aren't going to have a good time fighting her.
  
• Rewards: Two-handed sword Excalibur and Stardust armor. The armor is the best you will have until the final chapter.

The Star Eater/Legion:

• Location: Rispadar – At the bottom of the well.
  
• Battle: Mainly dodging and blocking. There is some bullet hell, so Eliminate will help a lot.
  
• Rewards: Two-handed spear Gungir and Deep Rhythm/Dewprism shield. The best shield you can get until the final chapter. It will give you the ability to use a two-handed weapon with one hand so you can keep a shield equipped.
  
• Notes: Getting to the bottom of the well is harder than the boss fight. The last playthrough I just ran (well Air Dashed) past all the enemies on the way down. I am putting this note here to remind myself to try this fight during the dungeon escape the next time I play. As long as you make good use of Eliminate, this fight is actually pretty easy. I normally don't try it until Chapter 8 and I don't think I died at all the last playthrough or two.

Gerdaltine:

• Location: Belkade Volcano – One screen left and one screen down from the starting point of the chapter.
  
• Battle: Just blocking. After a certain amount of time, he will do a full screen attack that cannot be blocked, though you might be able to evade it using a possession at just the right time. If you are doing enough damage, you can kill him before he does this attack, which is probably the easier strategy. After you take out his two guards, it is a good time to use the Karon ability Berserk.
  
• Rewards: One-handed sword Ridill and Level Emblem trinket.

Al-Khamis:

• Location: Demon King’s Continent – In the underground on the screen immediately to the left of the hut.
  
• Battle: Mainly dodging and blocking if you prep right. Has an attack that will petrify (Stony Glare) and does a lot of guard damage if you try to block it with a shield. So don’t use Auto-Guard! Then follows up quickly with an attack (Distortion) that does little guard damage, but will probably one-shot you if you aren’t guarding it. Also applies bleed often and paralysis occasionally. If you get your petrify and bleed resistance to 100, and your paralysis resistance pretty high as well, then this battle becomes a lot easier. When he uses Stony Glare it won’t petrify you and then you can guard right away for Distortion.
  
• Rewards: Two-handed sword Aroundight and Lion Head trinket. The trinket has 20 agility, which will help if you can’t use the god weapons due to weight.

Adolphus:

• Location: Belkade – Up the ladder in the Sage’s Tower.
  
• Battle: Mainly dodging and blocking. Eliminate helps a lot here. There are some mushroom patches that need to be periodically dealt with or your items will be sealed.
  
• Rewards: Two-handed hammer Ragnarok and Adamant Shell trinket.

Exploits

• If you use the Deep Rhythm/Dewprism shield to equip God’s Left Hand, you can equip a two-handed weapon as a one-handed weapon which, in turn, let’s you keep Deep Rhythm/Dewprism equipped as well. If you then equip another shield, you will still be able to keep the two-handed weapon equipped as a one-handed weapon as well as keep the new shield equipped. This does not work when using Karon and Magic Crystals to enable God’s Left Hand.
  
  
• Using a mining point will remove any abnormal status you have.
  
  
• Using Polin's/Porin’s ability to find items on the ground will remove any abnormal status you have.

Chapter 1

Missables:

• None.

Notes:

• After you get access to the Grow board, I would prioritize mastering the Tree Branch. The Karon ability you get from it (Swordsmith) will let you master weapons/shields/armor faster. I say after you get the Grow board, because it is not efficient to use the Tree Branch until you can boost your stats a bit. Master each new weapon you get first, but then switch back to the Tree Branch whenever possible. You should be able to master it by sometime in chapter 2 this way.
  
  
• You can take back the last Blue Orb, the one before the boss, after using it. It can be used on the scales.

Chapter 2

Missables:

• None.

Notes:

• You can take the skulls back off the pedestals after defeating the boss. They can be used on the scales.

Chapter 3

Missables:

• None

Notes:

• There is a treasure chest just inside the entrance to the hidden boss stage. You can duck in, grab it, and duck back out. I think this is the only treasure chest I found in a hidden boss stage.

Chapter 4

Missables:

• Choose to feed the herb to Kuro with your mouth to receive a Love.

Notes:

• When meeting Astrea, you can examine her before using the time box. This just leads to some amusing dialogue.

Chapter 5

Missables:

• Once you go back to the past, decline to bring Sheero with you. Towards the end of the chapter, when you have Gua with you, make sure to go back and talk to her. This will unlock a hidden boss that appears after the normal boss battle at the end of the chapter. You will get another Love for your trouble.

Notes:

• None.

Chapter 6

Missables:

• None.

Notes:

• If you are a glutton for punishment, you could try your hand at some of the hidden bosses now. It is probably manageable on Difficult , and maybe on Hell if you really like pain. Most will one-shot you on Impossible.
  
  
• I'm adding this from memory, so I am not sure exactly when you can do this. Once you escape prison you can use the key you used to escape your cell to open the door in the empty house near the castle gates. This lets you grab the treasure chest inside.
  
  
• At the start of the Snowy/Urugut Mountains, there is a stone statue holding a shield. After a certain point in the level (likely either after reaching the point you need more weight or after the avalanche) you can come back and take the shield by examine the statue. You may need to examine it several times before you get the shield.
  
  
  • Thanks to Steam user Dreamare for pointing out that the shield can be acquired before completing the level. I though you had to come back at the start of Chapter 7. I did confirm it to be true, but I had made it to the save crystal at the end of the level before I backtracked to check.
  
  
• After the avalanche you will find items buried in the snow throughout the level. The only unique item is located after passing through the first hedge arch doorway. It is a trinket called the Turtle Shell, and is found on the third screen from the arch. It is the screen immediately after you climb the second cliff. The other items I found were consumables or cards.
  
  
• At the stairs that lead up to the boss, just past Kuro, you can jump into the pit to find a hidden room with a treasure chest. There is a hollow in the right wall with something you need to destroy in it to cause the chest to spawn
  
  
• The formula for Mjolnir can be a pain to get to drop.
  
  
  • On my first playthrough of Impossible, I tried grinding for it for over an hour. I came back after completing chapter 6 and changed my attribute points and trinkets to maximize luck (got it to 764). After that, the formula dropped within 30 minutes of grinding.
    
    
  • On my second playthrough of Impossible, the formula was the first one that dropped. Not sure if it was RNG or if one of the updates changed the drop rate. Only had about 220 luck that time. Starting to think that certain areas of a chapter are more likely to drop gold chests. In this case, it was before the first boss on the Snowy/Urugut Mountain.
  
  
• Fighting the mechanical soldiers at the start of the boss fight isn’t mandatory. You can just run to the left side of the screen to move on to the next part. I was able to beat them on Hell, but they kicked my butt on Impossible, so I decided to skip them.

Chapter 7

Missables:

• Towards the end of the chapter, you will return to Rispadar and come across a barrier with three mini-bosses on the other side. You can attack them through the barrier. You will be rewarded with a Love if you defeat them and talk to the baker’s daughter.

Notes:

• Once you leave Rispadar to start chapter 7, you will not be able to travel freely (i.e. visit past chapter areas) until part way through chapter 8.
  
  
• You could try your hand at fighting some hidden bosses. You should be able to handle all of them on Difficult and probably most of them on Hell. Still gonna be really tough on Impossible.
  
  
• It is difficult to earn money for the rest of the chapter after passing the save point at the end of the mountains. It is helpful to have at least 30,000 in reserve if you want to buy all the weapons and armor in the second half of the chapter. It is also helpful to have stocked up on healing items ahead of time, so you don’t have to use money when it is scarce.
  
  
• There are two hidden chests that you will have to come back for once you are part way though chapter 8. The first is on the way to Belkade Cave, in which you need to traverse a chasm to expose the chest. The second is up a ladder in the Sage’s Tower that you can’t reach without Karon.
  
  
• I didn’t see any gold chests drop in the second half of the chapter. To get a formula I was missing, I went back to the starting area of the chapter and had a gold chest drop in less than 10 minutes. Could be RNG or it could be that gold chests are more likely to drop in certain areas.

Chapter 8

Missables:

• None.

Notes:

• You can skip the first Ranker fight by running past her to the left.
  
  
• Once you meet up with Kai, you will find that scale/World Tree Blossom travel is active again. If you use the World Tree Blossom while Kai is following you, then Kai will come with you when you travel back to other areas. Helps with the arena.
  
  
  • You can go back and get the chests from chapter 7 you couldn’t get before.
    
    
  • You can take on the "Tokyo Cup" at the arena. If you are playing on Hell or Impossible, you might have issues with the “Harem” battle in the "Tokyo Cup", but the rest should be doable. If you get the treasures available on the Grow board and max out the HP, ATK, and DEF stats on the Grow board, then the “Harem” battle should be doable. The Lollipop trinket helps as well, since you can’t use items.
    
    
  • You can also use the sleeping aid powder to get the chest across the mote at Rispadar Castle.
  
  
• You can buy Mokyun Dolls from the baker in Rispadar. These are very helpful when playing on Impossible as you are apt to die even when just grinding trash mobs.
  
  
• The trash baskets on the way to the research lab appear to be the only things that drop Sugar. So you might as well grind in this area for force, formulas, exp, etc., and get Sugar while at it. You will need 14 Sugar total if you want to buy all the gear (6 Sugar) and keep one of each item you can make with it (8 Sugar) for use on the scales.
  
  Alternatively, you can buy Jam Rolls at the bakery and disassemble them to get Strawberry Jam, which can then be disassembled to get Sugar. Steam user SHIFTACE left a comment that made me realize I didn't specify that the bakery I am talking about is located in Rispadar.
  
  
  • According to Steam user Breadlust, you can also get Sugar from the plants and potted plants inside the research lab. I'll try to keep an eye out next time I play. Thanks Breadlust.
    
    Update - I confirmed this to be true on my last playthrough.
  
  
• After the boss is defeated and the credits roll, you will be asked if you want to save your game. Make sure you do. Then, at the main menu, load that save to start the final chapter.

Final Chapter

Missables:

• If you don’t complete the Sage’s quest before you finish the chapter, you might not be able to finish it. Not sure if it can be done in the post-game.
  
  
  • From Steam user Seji: You can indeed complete the Sage's quest in postscript, but you will have to wait all the way until you can freely travel there again, so it is best to get it as soon as possible.

Notes:

• Time to hit up the arena again.
  
  
• After finishing the arena, you should have enough medals to get the recipe book from the gatcha. Finish mastering all the god weapons to get the gems needed for the formulas. Create the last gem, Alexandrite, and take it to the bakery for the final armor.
  
  
• Once you beat Ranker, you can get the last gatcha medal. That will let you get the last shield from the gatcha, after which, you can return to the Sage to complete his quest.
  
  
• Make sure to save after the “Thank you for playing” screen. You will need to load that save in order to start the post-game.

Post-Game/Postscript

Missables:

• None.

Notes:

• You will only get Board drops for items you have in your inventory. I recommend selling all the weapons, shields, armor, and trinkets that you don’t think you will use. The game will only let you sell items that you purchased from a shop to begin with, so you can always go back and purchase them again if you want to. This will increase your chances of getting Boards for the items you want to use.
  
  
• Boards are replaceable and there can be up to three assigned to any item. So don’t be afraid to fill up all three slots on an item with the first three Boards you find for it. You can replace them if you find better Boards later.
  
  
• Some Boards have a special stat (let's call it the Skill Cap stat) that reduces the diminishing returns when assigning stat points on the level up screen. This is perhaps the most important stat to get on Boards. The more of the Skill Cap stat you have, the more effective your stat points become. For example, get enough of this stat and each point that was only giving 2 HP when you assigned it could be giving over 100 HP now. You don't have to go back and reassign the points to make it work, you will see the increase in stats right away.
  
  
  • It looks like the Skill Cap stat stops being effective above 50 points, at least at level 99. I.e. any Skill Cap points you get above 50 will not change the diminishing returns on your other stats at all.
  
  
  • One caveat to this. The stat points don't always have a linear progession. This is noticeable with SPD. This is just an example of what I mean, and not really the correct values. Say the first 10 points in SPD give you an increase of 2 SPD per point. The next 5 might give you 3, then the next 5 might give you 2 again. After that each point might give you 4. So, you might find that after getting some points into the special stat that your SPD has gotten worse. I did, and then needed to either add more points in SPD or use a trinket with agility to compensate in order to keep using my weapon.
  
  
• You can upgrade the stats on weapons/armor/shields. I like to use the Deep Rhythm/Dewprism shield for the God’s Left Hand ability and pair that with the Anes Zesia two-handed sword to make it through the postscript story. If you want to use Super Ultimate Laser Blade Muramasa, which you get for turning in enough Love, then you might want to save some/most of the weapon upgrade materials for when you get it. The reality is that there are enough ways to make yourself stronger that you can pretty much use whatever weapons, armor, and shields that you want to. You can always grind the last dungeon for a couple of hours and have enough materials to upgrade something into viability.
  
  
• Some of the socketable gems you get will only be effective if socketed into specific equipment types. For example, the gem that reduces weight will only help if socked in a weapon or shield, since they are the only types of equipment with weight. There is a gem to remove the element from your weapon that I assume only works when socketed in the weapon.
  
  
• At some point, the Scale Pans become upgradable to the tune of 50,000 coins each. This is done on the Libra page of the menu. I am not sure exactly when this becomes available, but it is probably after you complete the first chapter of the postscript (i.e. get the scales a second time). I always forget this when I am playing through again and skipping text. Due to the cost, you probably won't be upgrading most of the pans until you are grinding in the last dungeon anyway.
  
  
• You will probably struggle with some of the arena fights at first, but completing them as soon as possible gets you helpful equipment. The most important item you get is the KEIZO Emblem. It increases the chances that you will get Board drops for items currently equipped. I also noticed an increase in rare Board drops. You only get it after the last fight though, and on Impossible I had to make it at least part way thought the postscript before I was strong enough to complete the last two arena fights.
  
  
  • On my last playthrough I did the last two arena fights when I had most of the Grow board filled up. I was around level 90 and it was when I had Shiro in my party before heading to Akrasinon. The fights were pretty easy at this point. I'll try the fights earlier next time to see how it goes.
  
  
• Probably not worth trying to grind Boards too much until you get the KEIZO Emblem. Even if you sell every piece of equipment you can, you will still have a lot. So you will still get a lot of Board drops for equipment you aren't using.
  
  
• Grinding for Boards, upgrade materials, coin, force, and exp is most efficiently done in the dungeon on Gaia’s surface (i.e. the last dungeon). You are going to have to grind the boss fights for Love anyway, so might as well do all the grinding at once. Grinding layer 4 of the dungeon (i.e. warping to the end of layer 3 from the bar) is probably best as the enemies will drop Primordial Fragments which can be used to enhance any type of gear. You can kill the layer 4 bosses to try to get Love and then return to the bar to get Love from whatever companion you had with you.
  
  
• You do not have to take companions to the Gaia's Abyss dungeon to raise they affinity gauge, anywhere you enter combat with them will raise the gauge. So if you missed anything and are backtracking to completed levels, take someone with you to raise their gauge. It seems like the gauge is raised by enemies killed. I noticed that even destroying the trees in town would raise the gauge. If you return from the dungeon and find that the gauge is just shy of full, go kill some trees and you can max it.
  
  
• Polin’s ability to find items on the ground can be used to find Love in the Gaia’s Abyss dungeon. Seems the ability can find any crafting material or consumable, which includes Love, though rarely. Not sure if luck helps with this. Some people say luck helps with Love showing up in boss chests, so who knows.

[Arioth]

@MadCrabPrime: Thanks for the comments. I added your note about luck to the guide.

[Arioth]

@Dreamare: Thanks for the note. I coincidentally discovered this on my last playthrough as well. I gave you credit in the guide since you beat me to it!

@JaidynReiman: That's rough. If you haven't already, I would let the developer know. Not sure what other places are available, but you can certainly start a thread in the discussion section on Steam about it. I have seen the developer post there as well as in response to reviews of the game, so they are watching.

@SHIFTACE: I did have that part about sugar in the Chapter 8 section of the guide, but maybe it is easy to miss due to being at the end of a paragraph. I will try to format it to make it more obvious.

[SHIFTACE]

SUGAR= You can buy and disassemble JAM ROLLS from the bakery in RISKPADAR CASTLE to end up with SUGAR.

Jam Rolls > Bread + Strawberry Jam > Starberry Jam= Sugar + Strawberry

[JaidynReiman]

(I wish I could edit my last comment)

Correction:
After reviewing my videos, I got a Vijaya in Belkade during Chapter 8 (after I went back to get a Metal I missed). As such, the rewards didn't restart in Postscript but instead they restarted before I finished the main game. The last item I successfully got was the Espada Ropera (which I got in Anesta).

I found where it officially reset--I acquired a Small Metal from the Arena (I was behind on Arena and I finished Urugut/Anesta). I went back to the future again and used the Metal which got me a Mokyun Doll. However, it should have been Apple From Demon King's Castle. So it didn't glitch in Postscript like I thought, it glitched in Chapter 8.

The bug I had with the Sage's Tower upper level (the guard being unresponsive and I can just walk in without needing to put him to sleep) also happened before Postcript.

[JaidynReiman]

Not sure where else to drop this, but I do have a bit of a warning for the Switch version of the game (I have no idea if its happening on Steam or not, but nothing I have seen reported this):

1. I started Postscript without finding all Small Metals and clearing the rewards. In Postscript, Mokyun's gacha rewards RESET, blocking me from getting all items correctly. In a second playthrough, I got all Gacha items before Postscript. In Postscript, I saved before using them just to be safe, but I did manage to get all main game and Postscript Gacha rewards this time.

2. I didn't fight the secret bosses until Postscript either. For some reason, the well boss was permanently stuck in its "boss defeated" state, without actually defeating the boss or acquiring the rewards.


On a second playthrough on Hell, I did these during the main story before finishing the Final Chapter, and here everything worked fine.

[Dreamare]

Actually, the ability to grab the shield may also be triggered by the weight requirement needed to bypass the snow for the Big Foot boss. Not sure.

[Dreamare]

Wanted to note that for the statue at the start of chapter 6, I was able to take the shield within the same chapter by coming back after the avalanche event. No need to come back after completing the chapter.

[MadCrabPrime]

luck does indeed increase drop rate of chests and items

[MadCrabPrime]

Thanks for the praise and glad that it helped you and that it inspired you to make your guide.

This blows mine out of the freaking water.

[Arioth]

Thanks Seji. I added your note to the guide.