Star Ocean - Ougi FAQ
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written by: Chief Ug (sidekick@iobox.com)
Version 1.0 (29.7.2001)
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* First release
I. Introduction
II. Gaining Ougis
III. Ougi List
IV. Miscellaneous tips
V. Conclusion etc.
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I. Introduction
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Star Ocean is an old cartridge game for the Super Famicom. It was never
released in the United States, so if you manage to find a copy, you would
have to play it in Japanese. The most powerful techniques in the game are
called Ougis (secret skills), but unfortunately, gaining them can be a bit
tricky, especially if you cannot read any Japanese. So, this guide will give
you detail on how to get all those powerful techniques and make your battling
easier.
Most of this information can be found in other Star Ocean FAQs, namely the
Star Ocean FAQs of Ian Kelley. However, I felt that no guide gave a concise,
precise explanation for Ougis, so I decided to write this little FAQ. Playing
the game through normally, you are not likely to get too many Ougis. If you
want to gain every single Ougi technique for every character, you must
battle some time with only this specific purpose in mind.
Knowledge of katakana is very helpful. I have tried to make this guide
precise enough to be useful to people who cannot read katakana, so it is
not a full necessity. Still, it is recommended.
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II. Gaining Ougis
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The basic theory on gaining Ougis is simple: every single Ougi is based on
some other battle move, and is essentially a powered-up version of the
original. The moves Ougis are based on are either normal battle techniques,
or other Ougis. Use these base moves in battle, and eventually your
characters will learn their Ougis. Sounds simple? It is. However, Ougis have
a few requirements that you should be aware of:
- Ougi techniques belong to a certain "class" of Ougi. Ougi classes are
learned from story events, and show up in your characters' skill menus.
If a character does not possess an Ougi skill, he/she will never gain
any techniques for that class. Ougis appear last in the skill menu,
starting from slot number 37.
- Learning Ougis requires a character to be proficient in fighting. Each
fighter character has a slot for fighting techniques in their skill
menus. This is slot number 36. For Ratix, it is "Edarl Ken", for Marvel
it is "Raven Orb" etc. In order to learn Ougis, characters must spend
skill points to their fighting skills first. This skill level must be
high enough before any Ougis can be learnt. A level of at least 5 is
recommended before trying to learn Ougis. If enough skill points are
available, level 10 doesn't hurt either.
- Learning Ougis is based purely on luck. Once all the requirements are met
for being able to learn Ougis, there is nothing else to do but battle.
Battle lots. Battle, using basic moves until characters will start
learning Ougis. Sometimes Ougis techniques can take a long time to learn.
That's the theory part. That might not be fully clear, so next up is a
detailed example. Let's assume the role of Ratix. The game has progressed
some, and Ratix has gained his first Ougi class, Shichisei Ougi, from a
story event. His level is 25. He has been saving his skill points for some
time, so he has a few of them to spare. He decides that now would be a good
time to start learning his first Ougis.
- First, Ratix spends skill points on his swordfighting skill, Edarl Ken,
to boost it to level 7.
- He puts the Souhazan technique into one of his killer move slots.
- Now comes the fighting part. Walk around the world map, right outside a
town just to be safe, and encounter enemies. Keep encountering them. Use
Souhazan constantly in battle, nothing else.
- Sooner or later (later if you are unlucky), when triggering the Souhazan
move, something else will happen. The action will pause, Ratix will turn
red with Fury while shouting "Ougi!" and Japanese text will appear at the
bottom of the battle screen. Then, Ratix runs up the nearest enemy and
smites him with his newly learned Shichiseisouhazan technique.
- After the battle is over, Ratix can now select Shichiseisouhazan as one
of his killer move techniques. You have learned the Ougi! Congratulations!
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III. Ougi List
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Here is a table where I have first listed the Ougi classes available to
a character and their locations, followed by individual Ougis and the
base move that they are learned from. If you are unable to learn katakana,
try matching the type (S/L) and MP usage from the tables to find the
technique you want. Unfortunately, these change with fighting skill
proficiency, specifically MP cost diminishes for higher skill levels. MP
cost for this table is the one for a fighting skill level of 10.
Note that for the Shichisei Ougi, each character has to learn it
individually. This means that you must fight through the arena fights all
the way to rank C with all concerned characters. It is boring, but don't
skimp out on it because all those Ougis are quite powerful. If rank C is
too hard for a certain character, come back at later levels.
Ratix
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Classes: Shiseijuu - given by the king of Van after completing the trial cave
Shichisei - win the Tatoroy tournament at rank C
Kouryuu - given by Ashlay in a PA **
Shiseijuu:
Souryuuseiraizan (S+L, 8): learned from Shoureiha (S+L, 4)
Suzakushougekiha (S+L, 10): learned from Shouretsuha (S, 0)
Shichisei:
Shichiseiraimeiken (S, 11): learned from Raimeiken (S, 1)
Shichiseisenkouken (S, 21): learned from Senkouken (L, 1)
Shichiseisouhazan (S, 23): learned from Souhazan (S, 7)
Kouryuu:
Kokuryuutenraiha (S, 30): learned from Kouryuuha (S, 9) **
Hiryuutenraiha (S, 30): learned from Suzakushougekiha (S+L, 10) **
Souryuutenraiha (S, 30): learned from Souryuuseiraizan (S+L, 8) **
Iria
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Classes: Shiseijuu - given by the king of Van after completing the trial cave
Hakkake - found in the treasure room of Moore castle
Uraouka - found in the Sylvalant ruins (2nd bonus cavern)
Shiseijuu:
Souryuuseiraiha (S+L, 5): learned from Kikoushou (S+L, 1)
Genbuhaouken (S, 11): learned from Kikoushuu (S, 4)
Byakkokouhadan (S, 8): learned from Renkiken (S, 6)
Suzakushougekiha (L, 7): learned from Ryuuseishou (S, 3)
Hakkake:
Oukahakkeshou (S, 14): learned from Genbuhaouken (S, 11)
Uraouka:
Uraoukasakukou (S, 19): learned from Oukahakkeshou (S, 14)
Cius
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Classes: Shiseijuu - given by the king of Van after completing the trial cave
Shichisei - win the Tatoroy tournament at rank C
Shiseijuu:
Souryuushorai (S+L, 10): learned from Senkouken (S+L, 8)
Genbushourai (S+L, 12): learned from Shoureiha (S+L, 3)
Byakkoshourai (S+L, 14): learned from Shouretsuha (S, 1)
Shichisei:
Shichiseiraimeiken (S, 16): learned from Raimeiken (S, 5)
Shichiseigurenken (S, 18): learned from Gurenken (L, 7)
Shichiseisouhazan (S, 21): learned from Souhazan (S, 6)
Marvel
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Classes: Shichisei - win the Tatoroy tournament at rank C
Shichisei:
Southern Cross (L, 16): learned from Flare Orb (L, 8)
Seven Star (L, 19): learned from Hail Orb (L, 9)
Galaxy (L, 26): learned from Thunder Orb (L, 11)
Fear
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Classes: Bushin - given by the king of Astral when (if) Fear joins for good
Bushin:
Silvan Sword (L, 25): learned from 3-Way (S, 14)
Unholy Terror (S+L, 29): learned from Galaxy GB (L, 22)
Victory Terror (S+L, 31): learned from Unholy Terror (S+L, 29)
Ashlay **
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Classes: Shiseijuu - given by the king of Van after completing the trial cave
Shichisei - win the Tatoroy tournament at rank C
Kouryuu - starts with it
Ashlay learns Ougis by leveling up, instead of gaining them like others.
Except, it seems the Shichisei Ougis must be learned normally, and they are:
Shichiseisouhazan: learned from Souhazan
Shichiseiraimeiken: learned from Raimeiken
Tinek **
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Classes: Shichisei - win the Tatoroy tournament at rank C
Hakkake - found in the treasure room of Moore castle
Hakkake:
Gurensenpuukon (S, 10): learned from Senpuukon
Shippuuhariken (S, 14): learned from Shippuukon
Oukahakkeshou (S, 19): learned from Haoushippuukon
Shichisei:
Shichiseiranbu (S, 23): learned from Oukahakkeshou
Perisie **
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Classes: Neko - found in the treasure room of Moore castle (might need a PA)
Neko:
Magical Dance (?, 60): learned from Prismic Dance
JP Summersault (?, 18): learned from Nerichagi
Dream Combo (?, 28): learned from Ei! Yaa! Toh!
NOTE: sections marked with a ** are ones I have not confirmed myself, since I
have only played the game through once, and have not received all characters.
All information in those sections is from other sources, mostly Ian Kelley's
FAQ and some Japanese websites.
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IV. Miscellaneous tips
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- Short/longe range mix-up
LBL's Star Ocean Powerup Guide mentions a trick for being able to execute
battle techniques from anywhere in the field, without range restrictions. In
short, you can equip short-range techniques in the long-range slot and vice
versa. For this, all that is needed is the Link Combo at a high enough level
to be able to put in 2 link commands. Put in any technique in the slot where
you want to "cheat". Press right, and put the desired technique in the 2nd
link slot (link combos have no range restrictions). Now go back to the 1st
link combo list, and remove the first technique. Now, when you exit and
re-enter the menu, you will see the desired technique in the slot where it
is not normally allowed!
This trick is very helpful when trying to learn Ougis. Range restrictions
are irritating when one cannot pull off the desired moves. So, simply use this
trick to put the one base technique you want to train in both the Short and
Long range slots. Now you can keep hitting that killer move button without
having to worry about being too close or too far away.
- Effort skill
The skill called Effort (Doryoku, slot 16) diminishes the skill points
needed to learn any further skills. A few skill points in this skill is a very
good investment. Learning this skill to level 5 or so does not cost much skill
points and already gives a very good return. Spend a few points on this early
on, and you can learn skills much faster.
- Just keep pulling off that base move
To make learning Ougis as fast as possible, have all characters except one
do nothing in battle. Equip the character you want to train with the weakest
possible weapon. Provided the battles aren't too tough, you should be able to
pull off basic techniques many times in just one battle. An even better way
is to fight monsters which absorb certain elemental damage, and equip your
character with a weapon with the corresponding element. Also, have spellcasters
cast spells on the enemies which heal them. This makes the fights last much
longer, and as a consequence you will be able to use your basic techniques a
lot more, greatly reducing the time required for learning Ougis.
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V. Conclusion etc.
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Thanks to:
* Tri-Ace for making a great RPG.
* Enix for publishing it.
* The FAQs of Ian Kelley and LBL for helping me out with the game.
This article Copyrighted 2001 Chief Ug. If you wish to post this FAQ somewhere
or even parts of it, please ask me for permission first.