Arcuz

[Meonius]

Getting Started
Just some information about the controls, and purpose of the NPCs. Check the bottom of this guide for more information about skills, composing, and tips on fighting monsters. If there's anything I missed in this guide feel free to send me a message, or post in the Arcuz forum thread. I'll do my best to help.

Special Controls
Jump Attack: K + J - After you reach the peak of your jump (when you're going back down to the ground) you can press the attack button to slam the ground with a short-range aoe attack that does normal damage, and knocks back enemies around you. This attack knocks flying enemies to the ground.
Double-Jump: K + K - In order to use this you have to 'jump off' another enemy. This means you have to be near an enemy that's already as high as your first jump. This includes jumping enemies, flying enemies, centaurs, and anything else as large as a centaur. You can follow the Double-Jump with the Jump Attack. It doesn't do any more damage than the normal Jump Attack.

Map
The map does an excellent job of displaying where you need to go, and how you need to get there. Each area contains several blocks that make up the zone. Except for blue and pink blocks, blocks do not appear on your map until you have visited them. Blue blocks indicate entrances to connecting zones, and pink blocks represent blocks that contain a quest objective. When you enter a pink block you become trapped. If you have a town scroll you can use it to go back to town if you need to. Otherwise you'll have to either finish the objective of the quest, or die to exit the block. Since the map does a good job of telling you where to go I'll leave it up to you to get to your quest objectives unless it's difficult to find.

Town NPCs
All NPCs in town will give you quests at some point in the game.

Wayne - Village Head
Wayne serves only as a quest giver.
Kimura - Ranger
Kimura serves only as a quest giver.
Anna - Little Girl
Anna serves only as a quest giver.
Chung - Merchant
Chung sells the highest level item set available to you with composed stats already on the items, but still have their normal number of composes left. This means the stats on his items are bonus stats, giving them the potential to be the best items in the game (except for blue/gold quality items). Although his items are expensive they're well worth the investment, and are actually cheaper than trying to make the same item with the same stats yourself.
Paul - Sorehead Knight
During the latter parts of the game Paul gives you access to his 5x8 storage container. This gives you a place to store any items you don't need to carry around on you.
Gran - Blacksmith
Gran sells the two highest level item sets available to you that have no stat modifiers on them. These are comparably cheap to Chung's items, but are really only beneficial at the beginning of the game when you don't have much money and out-level gear relatively quickly. New item sets become available every 5 levels. e.g. 6, 11, 16, etc.
Susan - Witch
Susan sells potions, town portal scrolls, and items for composing. She doesn't always sell items for composing, and when she does the crystals/stones she sells are random. Every new act she adds better potions to her inventory for purchase. She's also the NPC that is used for compositions. Refer to the compose section for more information.

Walkthrough
Each chapter I'll give my recommended goals. Main quests will be listed first, followed by optional quests. Following the name of each quest is the name of the NPC that issues it, along with the difficulty of the quest for a specific character level if any.

Chapter I
Goals

• Familiarize yourself with the controls of the game.
• Reach Level 2
• Recommended Skills: Lv. 1 Prefered Weapon Proficiency

Main Quests:
Equip a Weapon - Wayne
Go to Gran, purchase and equip any weapon you like, then return to Wayne.
Kill 3 lv 1 Slimes - Wayne
Exit south of town; kill the slimes there, then return to Wayne.
Kill 10 lv 1 Slimes - Wayne
Exit south of town; kill the slimes there. The fastest way to complete this quest is to kill the 3 slimes just south of town. Then respawn them by going back to town, and south again. Return to Wayne when you're finished.
Level-up and Skill Point - Wayne
Open your Char window, and spend your stat points. Open up your Skill window, and spend your skill point on the Proficiency Skill of your weapon. Speak to Wayne when you're finished.
Weapon Composition - Wayne
Speak to Susan, place the two crystals, the stone, and your weapon in the compose slots, then press the compose button. Reequip your weapon, then return to Wayne.

Chapter II
Goals

• Try to get +drop rate gear.+30 should be enough. Refer to the compose section for recipe.
• Reach Level 11
• Recommended Skills: Lv. 6 Prefered Weapon Proficiency; Lv. 2 Berserk; Lv. 3 Prefered Tier 1 Activated Skill

Main Quests:
Don't Be Proud - Paul; Lv 6
Kill 20 lv 7 wolves, then talk to Paul. The best place for this is the entrance to Silent Hill. I recommend getting the Lv 6 weapon before attempting this quest. You may even want to hold off a few levels if you're not skilled at dodging attacks.
Susan's Honey - Susan;Lv 11 Easy
Kill the Purple Hornet in Rose Forest, then return to Susan. The biggest obstacle in your way of completing this quest isn't the boss itself, but the orange slimes on the way. They hit very hard, and even harder if their fire damage procs. Be careful on your way to the pink block. Once there, the only enemies you face are hornets.

Optional Quests:
Bet Between Two Men - Kimura
Go south of town, and kill 100 slimes in 5 min. I suggest doing this quest the same way as the Kill 10 lv1 slimes quest. It can be tedious, but it's the fastest way to do it.
Teddy Bear - Anna;Lv 7 Hard;Lv 11 Easy
The Wolf boss can be extremely tough if you're not prepared. You "can" beat it at Lv 6 or 7, but you're in for a long fight. The wolf does not flinch, so if you're not prepared to spend a long time dodging then attacking wait until you get the Lv 11 weapon, or some decent armor to mitigate its damage.
Robbed Goods - Chung;Lv 11 Hard;Lv 16 Moderate
Retrieve Chung's goods from the Goblins in the North Forest. It is highly recommended that you wait until Chapter III to attempt this quest. You'll have to make your way through several orange and blue slimes, goblins, and hornets before you reach the pink block. When you get there you're met with a bunch of goblins ranging from lv 7 to lv 15.

Chapter III
Goals

• Focus on getting good stat gear, and more +drop rate gear if you need to. Refer to the compose section for details.
• Reach Level 21
• Recommended Skills: Lv. 10 Prefered Weapon Proficiency; Lv. 3 Berserk; Lv. 3 Holy Light; Lv. 3 Prefered Tier 2 Activated Skill

Main Quests:
Horn of Courage - Kimura;Lv 16 Hard to Easy
Collect 12 Centaur Horns from the centaurs in Goethe Grass, then return to Kimura. This can be difficult if you don't fight the right Centaurs. Unless you feel confident that you can beat the Lv 17s, look for the lv 15 ones 2 blocks east, and 2 blocks north of the Goethe Grass entrance. When you kill them all use a portal scroll to go to town, and take the portal back to respawn them. The Lv 15s are a pale shade of red, and the Lv 17s are an orange color. The centaurs don't always drop a horn, and you'll likely have to kill more than 12 to get them all.
Mission of Anna - Wayne;Lv 16 Hard;Lv 21 Moderate to Easy
Go to the Sadness Forest, and rescue Anna. At lv 16 the goblins are relatively easy. Go straight for the mage, and take him out quickly or his spells might 1-shot you. Once you kill them all two Lv 19 Boss Pink Slimes spawn. They don't flinch, and can hit pretty hard. For this fight you might want to bring an attack and defense potion.

Optional Quests:
Chemistry Lesson - Susan
Compose a Large Potion of Rejuvination. Refer to the compose section for recipe.
Purpose of Saving - Chung
Save 3,000 gold; speak to Chung.
Flickering Ironstone - Gran;Lv 16 Hard;Lv 21 Easy
Find the Ironstone in the Mystery Cave for Gran. You have to defeat all enemies at the pink block in the cave to get the chest containing the Ironstone. Be wary of the poison wolves, and bring some Alexipharmic potions if you need to.

[Meonius]

Chapter IV
Goals

• Reach Level 26
• Recommended Skills: Lv. 4 Increase All Attributes; Lv. 2 Prefered Tier 3 Activated Skill

Main Quests
End Result of Ann's Heart - Ann;Lv 21 Easy
Look for any clues that might tell you what happened to Ann's parents in the Sadness Forest. Kill all the enemies in the pink block to get the chest containing the quest item.
Regain Courage - Kimura;Lv21 Hard to Moderate;Lv26 Easy
Retrieve Kimura's sword from the Guilty Forest. The pink block contains many green and blue goblins. Several of which are casters so you need to approach them carefully. Once you defeat them all a Lv 21 Boss Orc spawns. He does decent damage, but is moderately easy to dodge. At level 21 it'll take a little more time to kill him, but it's more than possible to do so.
Re-see Brightness - Susan;Lv 21 Hard;Lv 26 Hard to Moderate
Get Susan's eyes back from the Centaur Forest. Again, centaurs pack a punch behind their charges, and you'll be facing a lot of them. When you clear the pink block of enemies you'll face two Boss Centaur. There's a chance you may end up dying so if you have the Holy Light skill it'll come in handy here.
Rest of the Souls - Paul;Lv 26 Hard to Easy
Head to the Rest Valley to kill the Skeleton Knights. This is made easy if you have either BladeStorm or Big Bang. You'll face a screen filled with skeletons, and two of which are high enough level they show as ???. However, one cast of BladeStorm or Big Bang will kill them. Once defeated you'll face a Boss Ghost. It may spawn multiple, weaker copies of itself, but they're easily defeated with a few swings. The ghost is more of an annoyance than a threat.

Optional Quests
Gran's Effort - Gran
Compose a shield with Lv 2 Defense Bonus(%), and Lv 2 Chance of Block. Then speak to Gran. Buy a shield from Gran to compose for this quest. Make sure the shield you use has Lv 0 Block, and no Defense Bonus(%) when you accept the quest. Refer to the compose section for recipes.

Chapter V
Goals

• Make sure you're geared up well.
• Reach Level 35 (max)
• Recommended Skills: Lv. 10 Increase All Attributes; Lv. 13 Prefered Weapon Proficiency
• Defeat the final boss.

Main Quests
Jack's Letter - Paul
Give the letter to Wayne.
The Old Scroll - Paul;Lv26 Hard to Moderate
This quest can be somewhat difficult. It's best to try to kill enemies from ranged or with skills rather than normal attacks, and move around a lot to avoid getting hit. You'll have to face two Boss Orcs once you clear the pink block. Once again there's a chance you may die in here, so make sure you have Holy Light active.
The Truth - Paul
Speak to Susan.
Smash the Evil - Paul;lv 26 Hard;Lv 31 Hard to Moderate
Go to the Abandoned Mine, and find the Stone of Nirvana. There are a lot of enemies with thunder attacks so be extremely careful here. You can easily get stun-locked if you're not careful. Your boss fight consists of two Orcs, and one Ghost.
Song of the Valley - Paul;Lv 31 Hard;Lv 35 Hard to Moderate
This is the final quest of the game. It amounts to a gauntlet where you must kill all enemies in a block before you're allowed to progress, followed by the final boss fight at the end. If you're not lv 35 by the end of the gauntlet I strongly suggest porting to town, and coming back to kill more enemies. The boss is significantly harder if you're not max level. You start the fight against the Dual-Head Giant, and a few normal enemies. Start off by clearing the normal enemies, then focus on the boss. The Dual-Head Giant himself is fairly predictable, but that doesn't mean he's easy . . .
Dual-Head Giant - Final Boss
Sage 1
He'll follow you around the area trying to hit you with his massive club. When he's doing this you won't be able to deal any significant damage to him. Stay within range of his attacks; jumping around him to avoid getting hit. Eventually he'll start a combo attack that ends in either a three-way conical ice attack spreading outward from his club, or an ice aoe around him (you can jump to avoid the aoe). After which he'll pause for a moment. If you hit him when he's paused you'll stun him. While he's stunned you'll be able to deal normal damage, but he only stays stunned long enough to get off 4-6 attacks. Don't go all-out yet or you run the risk of having your Tier 3 skill on cool-down when he reaches his second stage.

Occasionally he'll stand in one spot, and summon a volley of meteor spells on you. You need to move quickly or else you run the risk of effectively getting stun-locked from being hit by all the meteors. If this happens you will most probably die. You can stop him from casting the meteors by hitting him, or you can simply wait for him to stop.

Stage 2
When you get him down to about 25% HP he speeds up A LOT, and summons a ghost to distract you. His attacks don't change, but you hardly have any time to stun him after his combo attack. At this point he can easily overwhelm you. I suggest bringing multiple attack, defense, and magic defense potions. Once he reaches this stage of combat quickly use an attack potion, the berserk skill, and time your Tier 3 ability so he takes full damage from it. If you're geared well enough this should take off a significant amount of his HP. At this point it's just a matter of dodging as much as possible, and hoping you don't get stun-locked by his meteors (which you can't outrun very well).

Beyond the Basics
This section of the guide consists mostly of my opinions and experiences with given aspects of the game. For the sake of convenience I've also included all the Compose Recipes here.

Farming the Grind
I mention in the guide that you'll want +drop rate. This is so you can get more gold, and items while you grind levels. Here are a few places you might consider grinding. These aren't the only places you can farm. Many dead-ends are designed just for that purpose. Explore any area you'd like to farm, and you'll probably find a block or two that's viable for farming.

Plain Arcuz - Lv 1 to Low 10s: Dead-end straight north of the entrance to South Mountain.
Gino Mountains - Lv 5 to Low 10s: Go south, west, south from the Rose Forest entrance to find a dead-end filled with lv 3 wolves, and lv 5 slimes.
Gino Mountains - Low 10s: There's a cave located in the Northeast corner. Several blocks in the cave have a bunch of lv 7/9 wolves, and lv 11 slimes.
North Forest - Low - Mid 10s: Not really a place to farm, but there's a dead-end east, north, east of the entrance that has several lv 11 hornets, and 1 lv 17 hornet.
Goethe Grass - Mid-Upper 10s: Two east, one north of the entrance. This block has many lv 17 hornets.
Guilty Forest - Upper 10s to Low 20s: The dead-end quest block.
Rest Valley - Mid - Upper 20s: Northeastern corner, and the block below it.
Rest Valley(Final) - 30+: The whole thing. Lots of enemies on every block.

Stats
To be honest stats don't seem to play as large a role in this game as gear and skills do. That doesn't mean they aren't important; they're vital early on. As you progress through the game they simply become less important. I pretty much just give myself some con early to have the SP I need to use skills, and a little agi mid-game to make up for poor armor. The rest of my points go in to str so I can kill things more quickly. This, by far, is not the only viable way to build your character, and you should add your stats based on what you feel you lack from gear. The increases per point for each stat given are taken straight from the main Arcuz site, and aren't entirely accurate.

Str

• Each point adds +1 Damage
• Each point adds +5 Encumbrance

Agi

• Each point adds +2 Defence
• Every 10 points add 1% Block

Con

• Each point adds +10 HP
• Each point adds +3 SP

Luck

• Each point adds to Drop Rate - Main site says this, but I've not confirmed it.
• Every 5 points adds +2% Crit Chance

Skills
Skills can be broken up into 5 basic groups: Proficiencies, Passive Buffs, Active Buffs, Active Skills, and Finals/Specials. Also note: You do not have to spend skill points the moment you get them. You can save them for use later on skills you can't get now due to level restrictions. At Lv 35, the max level in the game, you will have a total of 38 skill points to use.

Proficiencies - Falchion;Axe;Sword
All three proficiencies add +10 damage per point spent in them for their respective weapon types while you have that weapon equipped. This skill will significantly boost your damage in the early game, and I recommend putting points in one of these.

Passive Buffs

Improve Loading
At first glance this skill might seem useful. However, as you progress in the game you'll soon realize that by the mid-game on you'll have more than enough encumbrance to carry what you need making this skill a waste of points.

Counterattack
I prefer the Active Buff version of this better. This skill is unreliable, and when you max the Active Buff version there's very little time when berserk isn't active.

Increase HP & SP Recovery Speed
As I've mentioned in the forums, and as I'll mention later in the compose section I don't care much for HP regen. SP regen is nice, but this skill isn't worth it just for the little regen it gives.

Increase All Attributes
I love this skill. Each point adds +5 to all attributes. That's equivalent to 4 levels of stat points per level, 40 levels worth when maxed, and really makes a difference.

[Meonius]

Active Buffs

Berserk
Another excellent skill. It more than doubles your damage while active, and, as I mentioned before, when this skill is maxed it's almost always active. Potions of Berserk mimic a Lv 1 Berserk.

Speedup
This skill makes your character move faster. Not really that great of a skill. Remember you only have 4 slots for skills so you have to pick and choose unless you open your skill screen, and juggle your skills (a waste of time).

Holy Light
Another awesome skill. When maxed it will double your current HP/SP. If you die while it's active it will revive you at full HP/SP, and you'll lose the buff.

If you don't die before it ends the cool-down is faster than the duration. Don't recast it while it's active as the game doesn't refresh buff timers. Another thing to note is that when calculating SP for BladeStorm or Big Bang it doesn't calculate the added SP from this skill in their costs. Potions of Archangel mimic this skill. Small ones are Holy Light Lv 1, mediums are Lv 2, and large ones are Lv 3.

Active Skills
Active skills, along with Final/Special skills, require you to have 3 levels in the previous tier skill as a prerequisite for the skill below it.

Hurricane/Hurricane II
I like these skills. Hurricane is an aoe attack that hits all nearby enemies, and throws them away from you.

Hurricane II does the same aoe as Hurricane, then sucks the enemies in to do a second hit before throwing them out. Both skills work great as crowd control.

BladeStorm
The "ultimate" skill you get for taking the Hurricane tree path. This skill is a beast. Your character becomes a massive tornado you can control, and is immune to damage during its effect. While you're whirling around the screen you'll hit all enemies caught within your tornado multiple times.

Energy Wave/Magic Wave
These skills are a little harder to use, and don't work as effective crowed control.

Energy Wave will throw out an arching wave of energy in a straight line from the direction of your character damaging anything in its path.

Magic Wave fires in 3 directions outward from your character in a conical shape. The wave it fires depends entirely on the element attribute on your weapon. If you have no attribute on your weapon it won't fire the wave at all. This skill has a high chance to proc the special ability of the element.

Big Bang
The "ultimate skill you get for taking the Wave tree path. This skill is effective at clearing everything visible on screen when you cast it. A small "bubble" appears around your character, charges for a moment, then expands quickly to hit everything on screen at once for massive damage.

I don't like this as much as BladeStorm for three reasons. First, it's a single hit, and unless you have 100% crit you're only going to get 1 shot at a chance for it to crit against the Two-Head Giant. BladeStorm doesn't have this problem as it hits multiple times. Second, it only hits what's on screen. BladeStorm is maneuverable, and allows you to specifically target enemies that could potentially kill you while you're vulnerable. Third, it has a longer "charge" time before it procs than its counterpart. Many of the enemies later in the game deal lightning damage. If you get stunned before the skill's damage procs the skill won't fire, and you'll have to wait for its cool-down to end to use it again.

Finals/Specials
I purposefully mention these last. I honestly don't care for any of them. Finals add a 5th, stronger, aoe attack to the end of an attack chain. Specials are Active Skills specific to each weapon.

Some of you might try to argue, "How could you pass up on the final combo strikes?" Simple: Delay. More specifically, after you make the strike you can't move for a moment. This makes you very vulnerable; particularly against the large groups of enemies you find later in the game. Additionally, against the final boss these strikes take more time to deal their damage; time you don't have.

Others might argue the specials are great abilities. This might be true, but remember: You only have 4 skill slots, and if you follow my recommendations two of those are Berserk and Holy Light. That leaves you with two slots left. One of those should be your "ultimate" skill. Now you only have one left. Compare the Specials to the Hurricane/Wave skills. Do they still hold up? You also have to invest 3 points in one of the final combo skills that I've already mentioned can do more harm than good.

Mastering Composing
Composing can turn an otherwise mundane item into one of the best items in the game. I'll attempt to explain how composing works, and how to get the most out of it.

Compose Recipes
This is a full list of all compose recipes. You can access these in-game by clicking the "?" to the left of the "Compose" button in the Compose window.

Crystal Compose
There are 4 types of Crystals: Wind; Earth; Fire; Water
One Crystal = Next higher grade Crystal. 25% chance success.
Two same Crystals = Next higher grade Crystal. 50% chance success.
Three same Crystals = Next higher grade Crystal. 100% chance success.
Three different, same grade Crystals = next higher grade Crystal of 4th type.
Stone Compose
There are 3 grades of stones: Blessing; Soul; Holy
One Stone = Next higher grade Stone. 25% chance success.
Two same Stones = Next higher grade Stone. 50% chance success.
Three same Stones = Next higher grade Stone. 100% chance success.
Weapon Compose
Fire + Fire = Fire
Water + Water = Ice
Water + Wind = Thunder
Earth + Wind = Poison
Fire + Earth = Attack Bonus (Static Value)
Fire + Wind = SP Recovery
Wind + Wind = HP Recovery
Earth + Water = Drop Rate
Earth + Earth = Critical Hit
Fire + Water = Attack Bonus (Percent Value)
Armor Compose
Fire + Fire = SP Bonus
Water + Water = HP Bonus
Water + Wind = HP/Kill
Fire + Wind = SP/Kill
Fire + Earth = Block (Shield Only)
Earth + Wind = Defense Bonus (Percent Value)
Earth + Earth = Defense Bonus (Static Value)
Fire + Water = Magic Resistance
Wind + Wind = Critical Hit
Earth + Water = Drop Rate
Accessories Compose
Fire + Fire = SP Recovery
Water + Water = HP Recovery
Wind + Wind = Critical Hit
Fire + Earth = Defense Bonus
Earth + Water = Drop Rate
Earth + Earth = Extra Weight
Fire + Water = Attack Bonus
Potion Compose
One Potion = Next higher grade potion. 25% chance success.
Two Potions = Next higher grade potion. 100% chance success.
One HP Potion + One SP Potion = Same grade Rejuvenation Potion.
e.g. Composing two Small Potion of Healing will result in a Medium Potion of Healing.
Four Large Rejuvination Potions = Large Archangel Potion.
Equipment Level
Any Weapon/Armor + Blessing + Soul + Holy = Same Weapon/Armor +1 Level
Success Rate: +0 to +1: 100%; +1 to +2: 80%; +2 to +3: 50%; +3 to +4: 30%; +4 to +5: 20%

Stat Modifiers
Each modifier has 4 levels, and you must get them in order. i.e. lv 1, lv 2, lv 3, then lv 4. All but the 4th level have a 100% success rate. The 4th has a 50% success rate, and if it fails you lose all mods in the item.
Fire Element - Adds damage to your weapon that works like a critical strike.
Ice Element - Adds a chance to slow enemy movement speed to your weapon strikes.
Thunder Element - Adds a chance to stun enemies with your weapon strikes.
Poison Element - Adds a chance to poison your target dealing damage over time. Ticks of damage depend on the damage dealt when the poison is applied.
Attack Bonus(Static) - +5 damage per level. More effective early game. Less useful later.
Attack Bonus(Percent) - 10% damage per level. Less effective early game, but extremely powerful late game.
SP Recovery - +1 SP recovery per level. Decent, but there are better mods.
HP Recovery - +1 HP recovery per level. Only the transparent red bar is regenerable, not the black bar; you have to use a potion or HP/Kill mod for that. Making this almost useless.
Drop Rate - +5 Drop Rate (I suspect this is a percent value) per level. Works wonders mid-game when you need to save up money to buy gear.
Critical Hit - +3% crit chance per level. Another great mod. Crits double damage, and stack with elemental damage to create some impressive numbers.
SP Bonus - +10% SP per level. A decent mod. A few of these can help. Becomes less useful when you get Holy Light, but still viable.
HP Bonus - +10% HP per level. As with SP Bonus this can be helpful.
HP/Kill - Gain 5 HP per level when you kill an enemy. This is very easily exploitable. If you don't like taking advantage of exploits, then don't use this with a poison weapon.
SP/Kill - Gain 4 SP per level when you kill an enemy. As with HP/Kill this is easily exploitable.
Block - Only applicable to shields. +4% block per level. When paired with a blue/gold or leveled shield you can easily reach 25% block or more with this.
Defense Bonus(static) - +10 defense per point. As with all static bonuses it's only really viable early game.
Defense Bonus(percent) - +10% defense per point. An incredible boost to your defense. If you have over 100 base defense this will give you more defense per point than the static version.
Magic Resistance - +3% resistance per point. This is the only way to increase your magic resistance, and it's worth investing in.
Extra Weight - +50 encumbrance per point. You might want to invest in this early to mid-game when you don't have the str to carry your items alone. After that it's worthless.

[Meonius]

HP/Kill + SP/Kill Bug
I only mention this, because I know many people (myself included) who don't like to ruin the experience of a game through bug exploits. If you deal damage to an enemy after it is dead, but before it finishes its death animation this will proc for each hit you deal. Poison damage also procs these mods, and further abuses this bug.

Avoiding these mods completely can make the game significantly harder. If you don't like taking advantage of exploits, then the best way to avoid exploiting this bug without avoiding these mods completely is by not using them with a poison weapon.

Equipment Level Upgrades
Items found, or purchased, with preexisting equipment levels have additional composes equal to the equipment level of the item. Those that you raise yourself do not gain this increase
Raising the equipment level of a weapon increases its damage.
Raising the equipment level of armor increases its defense.
Raising the equipment level of a shield increases both its defense and its block.

Typically a +2 item has stat values just under the next higher level item. The only exception to this is a shield due to the increase in block. This means you'd have to get a +3 item for it to be better than gaining 5 levels, and simply buying a new item from a vendor. This can be expensive, time consuming, and risky. I suggest holding off on raising equipment levels until you get lv 26 or lv 31 items for this reason, and even then is unnecessary to beat the game. If raising the equipment level fails there's a chance to lose all equipment levels on the item. You do, however, keep all stat mods regardless.

General Composing Tips
Each piece of equipment has a maximum number of composes available to it listed at the bottom of the item's stats. Each time you compose the item this number is reduced by one until no more remain, and the item can no longer be composed. Upgrading the equipment level of an item does not use any composes. The order you place items in the Compose window doesn't mater except for weapons which must be placed in the center slot.

Due to the limited number of composes, and the fact that each level adds the same amount I recommend that you don't try for any lv 4 mods. It's much better to spread lv 3 mods across multiple, same-class items for the same effect without the risk. The only two exceptions to this are elements on a weapon and block on a shield as these modifiers are exclusive to these two items. Here is a list recommended mods for each item type:

Weapons

• Element - Pick one you like. Ice is probably the least useful.
• Attack Bonus(Percent)
• Critical Hit

Armor

• HP/Kill - One or two items is enough, but highly recommended.
• SP/Kill - One item is enough, but highly recommended.
• Defense Bonus(Percent)
• Block - Shield only. You should always get this mod.
• Magic Resistance - Later in the game this can be a life saver.
• Critical Hit
• Drop Rate - As needed.

Accessories

• Defense Bonus - This is a percentage increase.
• Attack Bonus - This is a percentage increase.
• Critical Hit
• Drop Rate - As needed.

Blue and Gold Items
Some items have a blue or gold colored background behind the item name. These items come from blue or gold chests, and have significantly higher base stats than their normal counterparts. Shields also gain significantly more block. In addition to this, these items also come with +1 composes if blue, and +2 composes if gold. You'll likely find a few blue items on your journey through the game, but gold items are vary rare. You'll be lucky to find 1 or 2 gold chests at all; even if you spend a long time looking for them.

Bestiary
Some monsters are easier to kill than others. Knowing how they fight will better help you understand how to beat them. Here I'll list basic tips for defeating the various enemy types in the game. Keep in mind that skills are almost always an effective means of dispatching your foes.

Slimes
Slimes start out relatively harmless, but quickly become troublesome foes when they gain elemental attacks and begin to jump. If fighting only one keep it locked down by continuously swinging at it. If fighting multiples use the Jump Attack to keep them away from you.

Wolves
Wolves can be tricky if you're not careful. They have only one attack: they crouch, then leap (this is not a jump) at you. If you try to chain attacks on them they will back away leaving you swinging at the air, and then perform their leap. To prevent this only swing 2-3 times when doing normal attacks, then either back off or quickly close the distance to repeat your swings. When facing a single, powerful wolf you can stand still, wait for it to crouch, follow with a jump in the direction the wolf is facing, and perform a Jump Attack. This is a slower method, but works well against the unflinchable boss in Silent Hill.

Hornets
Hornets can either be hard, or extremely easy. Additionally, they tend to give more exp for their level than other mobs do making them excellent for grinding levels. I don't recommend using the Jump Attack to bring them to the ground since there is a delay after the attack giving the hornet time to fly away. Instead, jump and attack at the same time. If you do this you'll perform a normal attack in the air. This will knock the hornet down, but won't cause a delay. Once it's on the ground you can pummel it continuously until it dies. If you're faced with multiple foes you can run + jump + attack at the same time to perform a normal attack while moving through the air. You can get off 2 attacks in the air this way. They won't hit the same target, but if there are multiple enemies in the air it's very effective.

Goblins
There are 3 types of goblins. Warriors, Archers, and Mages.
Warriors - These are relatively easy, and should be dealt with like a slime.
Archers - These use bows, and can fire in 8 directions. They're relatively easy as long as you stay out of the 8 directions they fire, or jump over their arrows.
Mages - These pack a punch, and should be your primary target if you see one. Jump Attack them to avoid most of their attacks. They die relatively quickly, but if they hit you be prepared to take a lot of damage.

Centaurs
Centaurs are formidable foes. It is difficult, and nearly impossible when facing more than one, to hit them with normal attacks. Their charge attack knocks you away from them. When you try to close the distance they simply charge you again. To close the distance you will need to jump towards them. Although fast, they do flinch. Performing a Jump Attack once you close the distance when facing one will give you just enough time to start a chain. Against more than one your skills and your Jump Attack are your only friends.

Ogres
Ogres start out as bosses, and become a frequent contender in the gauntlet on your way to the final boss. They have two basic attacks: A normal swing, and a short charge that can hit you multiple times. The best way to deal with these is by waiting for them to begin their attack, then performing a Jump Attack towards their back.

Skeletons
Skeletons are very much like Ogres in the way that they attack. All skeletons have an element on their weapons. It's recommended that you try to take them out with skills, but as long as you're careful you can take them out the same as slimes.

Ghosts
Ghosts are an interesting foe, but are more nuisance than threat. They fly around the screen in circular motions moving in and out of range constantly. Occasionally they throw out an attack or two, but it's usually nothing to worry about. Simply attack it full-force. Their most unique trait is their ability to generate many copies of themselves. These copies are significantly weaker than the original, and pose almost no threat. A skill, or a few swings of your weapon, will make light work of them. Don't take them too lightly though. It is possible for the copies to attack you, and if they chain their attacks together they can prevent you from retaliating. This effectively turns you into a sitting duck. During the final fight they often get in your way making it hard to get to the boss.

Two-Head Giant
Refer to the walkthrough for information on how to defeat the final boss.