After completing the opening Prologue bit of Sea of Stars, you will go back in time ten years, to a flashback. Once you regain control, you will see a campfire to your right, which is nothing to you right now, as well as a book on a pedestal to your left. This is how you save in Sea of Stars, so go ahead and do that right now. Exit the cave and climb the stone ladders to reach Mooncradle, the town where your protagonists live.
Meet Erlina and Brugaves, two of the Solstice Warriors.
Exploring Mooncradle¶
Unfortunately, there’s not really much to do in Mooncradle right now. You are able to explore the town and speak to some NPCs, but nothing of value is really gained here. Make your way to the center of the village, where you will see a cutscene that introduces Brugaves and Erlina, two Solstice Warriors. Some more talking will occur, then Garl, your childhood friend, suggests going to the Forbidden Cavern. You’ll be able to move again after this, allowing you to continue exploring Mooncradle, if you wish.
To get to the Forbidden Cavern, you simply need to head north from where you were talking about it. Passing through the large gate there will put you on the world map, where you can just follow the trail to reach the Forbidden Cavern. There is another save point on the left, as you enter the area, but to continue, inspect the door. More talking will happen, then you will open the door to the Forbidden Cavern, allowing you to go inside. Just move straight north, until you witness another cutscene, leading to you eventually being brought to the Zenith Academy.
(1 of 2) The book on a pedestal will act as the game’s save point system.
The book on a pedestal will act as the game’s save point system. (left), The world map is similar to Chrono Trigger’s map. (right)
Zenith Academy¶
After the incident that occurred inside the Forbidden Cavern, you are taken to the Zenith Academy to train. You’ll learn some things here, like how you’ll get some magic, how to fight, and even that you’ll be sewing for many years - yes, sewing. When you return to the main building, you’ll finally be able to explore, but as with Mooncradle, you can’t really do anything, so it’s best to just continue with the story. Enter the opening on the right side to find the dormitory, which is where your beds will be.
As the Headmaster mentioned, you need to choose the one with your alignment, so depending on who you chose at the beginning of the game, that character’s bed will be on the right or left side of the room. Interact with the lead character’s bed to go to sleep and progress to the next day. Your training will now begin with Brugaves, then you’ll have to go meet with Erlina. Exit the room with Brugaves, then head south in the main hall to find Erlina. More cutscenes will happen here, then you’ll need to move to the main hall once more for another scene.
(1 of 2) Yes Valere, many years of sewing.
Yes Valere, many years of sewing. (left), Choose the bed of your leading character to continue the story. (right)
Upon being woken up, head to the terrace once more, where you met Erlina prior, for one more scene. This will trigger a montage of training, fast forwarding the time to the present era. Once this is done, report to Headmaster Moraine in the main hall and it’s time for the final test. Brugaves and Erlina will join you, who will help you review the basics of combat, so it’s a good idea to do that right now. Note that you should do Brugaves first, as the basics of combat will help with Erlina’s lesson.
Timed Hits and Blocks Overview¶
Brugaves will give you a tutorial about Timed Hits and Timed Blocks. While this is completely optional, they do help in dishing out more damage and mitigating the damage you take. The first thing he teaches you is that when it’s your turn to attack, you are able to use the directional pad to cycle through your characters. After a character uses their turn, they will be unable to act for the remainder of that round, until all other party members act. The next lesson will be about Timed Hits, which extends to your basic attacks, as well as spells.
The goal is to press the X (PS)/A (Xbox)/B (Switch) button whenever your initial hit is about to connect. If timed right, your characters will strike a second time, dealing more damage. For the third lesson, you will be learning about Timed Blocks. This is pretty much the same thing as Timed Hits, except you will be pressing the same button whenever an enemy’s attack is about to connect with you. While timing your hits is easier, since you have the same animations all the time, timing your blocks will prove a little more difficult, as the enemies’ animations will differ from one to another.
(1 of 5) You’ll want to hit the button right as your attack connects to get the second hit.
For the final lesson from Brugaves, you will learn what happens when one of your characters gets Knocked Out (KO’ed). When this happens, they will be on the ground and you’ll see a number of stars above their head. For every round that passes, one of the stars will be removed. Once all the stars are gone, that character will be revived with 50% HP, so you will want to play things a little defensively, until the KO’ed character becomes active again.
Magic, Locks and Combos Overview¶
Erlina will teach you about the use of magic and how to prevent enemies from using skills. Whenever an enemy is preparing a spell, you will see some icons appear next to that enemy. These are Locks and each one corresponds to a type of damage that your characters can use. For the first lesson, you will see two swords and two hammers. If you didn’t know, Valere’s normal attack deals blunt damage, while Zale’s normal attack deals slicing damage. You will also see a little clock-type icon to the right of the damage icons.
This is how many turns you have before the enemy’s spell is used. In this instance, you have four locks and four turns to break them. This is where mastering the Timed Hits bit of the combat system comes in handy, as it helps break the locks in less turns. After breaking the first set of locks, Erlina will move onto a second set, which will require you to use your spells (Zale is sun and Valere is moon). Use the designated skills to break this second set of locks (don’t worry about doing the whole timing thing right now).
(1 of 5) Use the correct damage type to destroy a Lock, weakening the power of the enemy’s skill.
For the third lesson, Erlina will talk about how to regenerate MP for your characters, which just boils down to you using normal attacks. Timed Hits don’t regenerate more MP normally, although you may encounter accessories that give you a bonus. There is a little bit of strategy here, too, as you might not want to use normal attacks when you have a full MP bar, but you also don’t want to use spells like crazy, or you might encounter a situation where you might need them. The final lesson will be about Combo Attacks.
Pretty much every action in combat will help fill up the Combo meter, which is just above your characters’ health in the lower left corner of the screen. When you have a little diamond filled up, you will be able to unleash a Combo. In this instance, you start with one called Solstice Strike, which requires both Zale and Valere, and it only takes one diamond (some Combos can require more than one).
When you have taken up the lessons from both of them, it’s time to take your final test. Speak with Headmaster Moraine to begin the final test before you’ll be able to finish with Zenith Academy.
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