Chrono series

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

In case anyone wants to discuss Chrono Trigger, they can post in this thread too.  But my current RPG variant isn't a Chrono Trigger playthrough.  It's a Chrono Cross Low Tier Character Challenge!


What Is This?

Chrono Cross has 44 playable characters, but most players won't use many of them.  The party is restricted to 3 members, and Serge can't be removed until New Game Plus.  I'll play through the game using weak or gimmick characters such as Poshul to make things more interesting.  To recruit as many characters as possible, I'll be reading GameFAQs often.


Why Not A Solo Run?

I tried a solo Serge run of Chrono Cross not too long ago, but the boss battles took a long time, and that meant a high chance I would die to some status ailment I couldn't do anything about.  In a game where you can't level grind, that would be more frustrating than fun.  So instead, I'll make Serge as useless as possible by either keeping him dead or keeping him from attacking or casting spells in boss fights.  This is almost a duo run.


How Is Chrono Cross Combat Different From Chrono Trigger's?


Both games are turn-based RPGs, but don't have many similarities other than that.  Chrono Trigger plays like an ATB Final Fantasy, with some special moves that use 2 characters at once.  Chrono Cross uses a stamina turn based system.  All characters have 7 stamina, which recovers when other characters take successful actions.  3 levels of physical attacks are available, from the weak and accurate level 1 to the strong but inaccurate level 3.  Weak attack combos make strong attacks hit more often.

Physical attacks build up the Element gauge, which lets you cast spells.  All Elements use the same amount of stamina.  Different characters have different Element grid layouts, and you can only use each Element slot once per fight.  (This restriction doesn't apply to enemies as far as I can tell.)  Every character gets unique Elements for levels 3, 5, and 7.  Some are offensive spells, while others inflict status ailments, deal physical damage, or heal. 


All player characters and enemies have an innate color, which gives them an elemental affinity and weakness.  Serge is White innate, so his White Elements become more powerful, but he has a weakness to Black spells.  Yellow is the opposite of Green, and Red counters Blue.


You can switch between characters at any time, so one good option for physical characters is to attack until they reach 1 stamina, and then switch to another character and start a combo until the first one regenerates their stamina.  It isn't always good idea to finish a combo with an Element, especially if you're using a low MAG party.   



How Does Leveling Work?


Chrono Cross gives Star Levels at the end of most boss fights.  Random battles can drop money, forging materials, and Elements, and minor permanent stat boosts (mostly HP), but you can't power level in this game.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  Poshul Vs. the World



Fort Dragonia Dream

-Serge and Kid are always in the party here, but the third character is random.  I got Fargo this time.  Does the third character reflect a stat growth RNG seed or something?
 
 

(Home) Arni Village

-My first chance to get Poshul the self-proclaimed “Wonder Dog” was in (Home) Arni Village.  Serge found a Heckran Bone under a bed in the restaurant, and gave it to her.  Poshul was delighted, and said “Me will use my Pretty-Miracle-Power-X!  Me will do it, Sergeipoo!” upon joining the party.  I’ll be stuck with her terrible accent and running noise for much of the game.
 

Poshul’s stats aren’t much more inspiring than her personality or appearance.  A Character FAQ by MKL122788
ranks Poshul 42 out of 44.  The only worse Yellow innate according to the guide is Sneff.  Poshul has above average HP and STR, but below average RES, MAG, and M.RES.  Poshul’s Element grid has very few slots for higher levels too.  Fortunately, all three of her unique Elements are physical.  It seems she’ll be the physical tank for the time being.
 

(Home) Lizard Rock


-Lizard Rock was the tutorial dungeon.  Serge decided to go along with his annoying girlfriend Leena’s plan to kill 3 Komodo Pups in order to make their scales into a necklace.  I stripped Serge of all his Elements and gave them to Poshul.  She wouldn’t take long to disappoint.  The two-tailed pink dog attacked the unsuspecting wildlife with belly flops and licks.  Poshul’s 80% ACC ensured she would miss more attacks than Serge, and her low MAG meant her Elements were weak.  Poshul’s “Stamina Recovery” was 9 instead of Serge’s 10 too. 
 
The random battles lowered Serge’s HP to 1 (like Super Mario RPG, dead characters revive after each fight), so I could showcase how bad Poshul was.  She actually had a chance of losing to Mama Komodo!  It took several consumable healing Tablets to survive.  Poshul’s level 1 attack dealt about 3 damage, her level 2 hit for 10, and her level 3 for about 16.  Fireball +2 singed Mama Komodo for about 28.  Yes, that’s the damage with an elemental weakness bonus.  Serge would deal around 50 damage to Mama Komodo with that spell if he were alive.  Poshul killed Mama Komodo in spite of her incompetence, and thus doomed Lizard Rock’s ecosystem to support a fashion fad. 
 
After destroying Lizard Rock’s environment, Poshul declared her victory:  “PO-SHU-SHU!  We now have 3 Komodo thscales.  Ret’th get moving to Opatha Beach and wait for Leena.” 
 
Before going to Opassa Beach and heading to Another World, I went back to Arni Village and picked up the Shark Tooth.  This was required to recruit another character a little later.
 
At Opassa Beach, Serge was swept up by a wave and sent to a parallel universe along with Poshul.  Poshul fared so poorly against the new enemies that I had to escape every fight.  Anyone who’s played Chrono Cross must be laughing right now.
 

(Another) Arni Village, Cape Howl


It turned out Serge's counterpart was dead, and nobody believed he was the same person.  Leena said Serge’s grave was on Cape Howl, and that was the only lead the party had.  I found Poshul’s first Yellow spell there, ElectroBolt.  Too bad it would be useless for the upcoming battle after Karsh kicked her off the cliff!  Karsh’s attempt to kill the “Wonder Dog” may make him the most heroic character in the game. 
 
I had to run away from the boss fight to heal Serge with Tablets.  Running away always works in Chrono Cross, and can help give you a second chance at boss fights if you’re sure you’re going to lose.  Serge and Kid defeated Karsh and his two comic relief henchmen Solt and Peppor the same way they would in a non-variant playthrough.  Mostly by using standard combo attacks combined with Red spells like Fireball and the all-target MagmaBomb.
 
Poshul climbed up the cliff after the fight, and talked about how people should treat animals better.  Refusing Kid’s offer to join the party 3 times made Leena join instead.  She’s too good for this variant, so she’ll be on the bench for the entire playthrough.  I only recruited her to make sure I could get Poshul’s last special move later on.
 
Another World’s fisherman in the northeast house was now worshipping a voodoo doll “from the Far East” named Mojo instead of working.  Giving him Home World fisherman’s Shark Tooth made him consider what he might have done 10 years ago, and made Mojo bounce of the shrine.  He said Serge gave him a purpose or something, and effectively told his worshipper to get a job.  Besides, Chrono Trigger didn’t have a “Far East” region. . .
 
Mojo the “Cursed Voodoo Doll” is quite different from Poshul.  He has above average HP, but the rest of his stats are bad.  Except for AGI and ACC.  Mojo’s ACC is 90, letting him hit more often than Serge.  His AGI gives him the highest physical evasion in the game by a large margin, but GameFAQs suggests that stat doesn’t work properly.  Mojo’s also the first Black innate character you can get, though normal playthroughs would use Guile for that role after reaching Termina.  Mojo seems to have a better element grid than Poshul at least.  His special moves are a mix of physical and magical attacks.      
 
 
Stats
 
 
Mojo
HP:  61
STR:  5
ACC:  90
MAG.:  4
RES:  5
AGI:  21
M.RES:  12
 
Serge
 
HP:  69
STR:  10
ACC:  85
MAG:  7
RES:  5
AGI:  8
M.RES:  7
 
Poshul
 
HP:  95
STR:  11
ACC:  80
MAG:  4
RES:  7
AGI:  5
M.RES:  3

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  How Did Pierre Become Useful?


(Another) Hydra Marshes


-Poshul and Mojo made a detour to the (Another) Hydra Marshes.  The swamp was poisonous because hydras had been hunted to extinction, and stepping in the water drained HP.  It didn’t take long for the party to cross to a safe area and get some additional spells.  One explorer gave me a suit to make everyone immune to the toxic water, but I couldn’t go much further until I could find a way to get past the slapping plants.
 

(Another) Fossil Valley



Fossil Valley was an easy dungeon, despite how pathetic my characters were.  Mojo couldn’t hit for double digit damage even with a level 3 attack!  He was clearly more of a mage, but I didn’t have any Black spells to give him.  So I gave him mostly healing Elements.  Solt and Peppor were the bosses here, and they didn’t have Karsh to help.  Solt remembered to bring a Black spell to use against Serge, but it was. . .TurnBlack.  Solt didn’t have a White spell to capitalize on Serge’s new weakness either.  Peppor’s special attack PepporBox was Red for some reason, even though he was a Yellow innate.  It dealt around 27 damage to Mojo, which was easily healed.  I didn’t bother killing off Serge, but I had him either do nothing or defend.  Solt and Peppor tended to go after Mojo more often anyway.    
 
Defeating Solt and Peppor unlocked each character’s unique level 3 Element.  This was a boon for Poshul, because her K9-Ball was a physical attack instead of a spell.  Mojo got the spell VoodooDance, but I never saw it in action because I put him on the bench as soon as I got to the next town.


(Another) Termina

 
-Termina was the first place I could shop for anything other than the random Red and Blue spells in Arni Village.  The Smithy in particular was welcome.  You don’t buy weapons in Chrono Cross so much as you pay someone to forge them.  Forging new weapons requires parts you can get from defeating random enemies, looting treasure, or dismantling spare equipment.
 
One early game trick you can try out is to find the Profiteer’s Purse in Van’s house, and then dismantle it to get Iron before you’re supposed to.  Poshul received an Iron Glove weapon and Iron Mail armor this way.  I had to trade some of my consumable Elements to get some Leather to make them.
 
The game branches at this point, since you have to hire one of three “guides” to get you past Viper Manor’s security.  Non-variant players will pick Guile or Nikki, but I went with Pierre because that was the suboptimal option.  Pierre’s stats were generally as bad as Poshul’s, without even high HP to make up for it.  All his level 3 special “MedalSome” did in a random battle was heal him for roughly the same amount as the weakest spells.   I forged him a Steel Sword just so he could stand a chance in the upcoming battles.
 


(Another) Viper Manor


-Pierre’s “plan” was to show his medal and Three Musketeers ripoff outfit to the gate guards to apply for the vacant position in the 4 Devas.  The Acacia Dragoons didn’t fall for it.  They challenged me to a random battle that gave me a Star Level for some reason once I defeated them.  Oh well, I guess I can’t complain about easy stat boosts!  The next boss was more challenging.
 
Solt and Peppor returned with a new friend, Ketchop.  Ketchop was the mindless muscle of the group, and always shouted things like “TOMATO!” instead of actual dialogue.  He knocked out Poshul with one punch, but Solt revived her in a cutscene because I guess he wanted a fair fight.  Before long, Ketchop knocked out both Solt and Peppor and fought alone.  Ketchop seemed to be very slow, so I spent most of the fight alternating with regular attacks with Poshul and Pierre.  Using weak characters taught me how to take advantage of the stamina system.  On my first non-variant playthrough, I usually had every character use a combo and then an Element finisher, but that wasn’t the way to go here.  Spells usually weren’t worth the trouble. 
 
Whatever faults Pierre had, he at least had better stamina recovery than Poshul.  Pierre was the designated healer of sorts because I had nothing better to put on his Element grid.  Even with the Blue innate bonus, Cure wasn’t very good.  Pierre managed to finish off Ketchop with one of his attacks, though.  I guess he really was a hero after all! 
 
Poshul and company fell for a mandatory event flag trap so Kid could bail them out.  Several decent spells were available in Viper Manor, especially the Turn(Color) Elements that could manipulate enemy weaknesses.  After a lot of aimless wandering, I could finally open the door leading to the next area.  Aren’t event flags in old RPGs wonderful?  The party had to fall for yet another trap to enter the room leading to the mad scientist Luccia.  No, Luccia isn’t Lucca, despite the similar names and job descriptions.  Luccia spoke in a bad Russian accent for a while and then unleashed her newest Neo N-Bulb experiments on the party. 
 
The Neo-N-Bulbs were mostly generic Green innate enemies, but gave a Star Level after I defeated them with Poshul and Pierre’s attacks.  Luccia was impressed with the party’s strength and offered to help them later.  Poshul secretly unlocked Pip’s cage.  Pip thanked Poshul in an Elmer Fudd accent and said he would escape when the time was right.  Pip is both a low tier character and a gimmick, so of course I’ll be playing with him later.  By this point, Serge had 1 HP, so he would die upon being attacked.
 
Balthasar from Chrono Trigger gave a long-winded speech about parallel universes, but didn’t do anything to stop the Acacia Dragoon Deva Marcy from attacking.  Marcy fulfilled the RPG cliché of “small children are inexplicably powerful”.  She was a strong Blue innate who could hit the party with powerful spells like IceBlast.  Pierre used TurnGreen to try to give her a weakness to Poshul’s attacks.  It seemed to succeed.  Poshul dealt most of the damage with belly flops and licks until she was frozen by IceLance and killed.  Pierre cast Revive to bring the abomination back to life, and Poshul finished Marcy off with regular attacks.
 
Next up was Lynx in the final room.  Lynx rarely used Elements at all, preferring to use combo physical attacks.  Once, he cast Imbecile to lower MAG, but my characters didn’t cast offensive spells anyway.  A Nostrum restored his HP by 200, but he couldn’t stand up to the combined physical combos of Poshul and Pierre.  I remember using K9-Ball before Lynx healed himself.  One of Poshul’s belly flops defeated Lynx’s “shadow”, and the party gained another Star Level. 
 
Well, except for Serge.  Star Levels only apply to surviving active party members or characters on the bench.  If Serge is dead at the end of a boss fight, tough begonias.  He doesn’t get anything even retroactively.  By the end of this playthrough, Serge may end up a bottom-tier character by default.   


(Another) Guldove


 
-Lynx poisoned Kid with hydra venom, and everyone jumped off the cliff.  Korcha took them to Guldove where Kid could rest at the clinic.  Doc said the only cure comes from Hydras, and Hydras are extinct in (Another) El Nido.  Korcha asked what I would do.  If I had picked the realist option and said I could do nothing, Korcha would have become the biggest jerk in the game.  He would have banned me from using Kid’s pendant to travel between worlds for quite a while, and would have yelled a lot.  Korcha was the one who practically said there was no cure available too!  You can see why he’s the most hated character in the game, and why I’ll be using him. 
 
Taking the “Save Kid” route leads to a different scenario from the “Leave Kid Alone” option.  Since I chose to “Save Kid” this time, that meant I could recruit Korcha, Razzly, and Mel.  It’s generally recommended to “Leave Kid Alone” so you can get Glenn, one of the best Green innate characters in the game who also gets a Dual Tech with Serge.  The Guldove shaman hinted that I should go to (Home) El Nido in case hydras didn’t go extinct there.  I saved my game in the shaman’s building and took a break. 
    
 
Stats and Equipment
 
Serge
 
HP:  116
STR:  11
ACC:  85
MAG:  9
RES:  9
AGI:  8
M.RES:  8
 
Weapon:  Sea Swallow (Initial)
Armor:  Ivory Mail (Initial)
 
Pierre
 
HP:  151
STR:  10
ACC:  80
MAG:  4
RES:  13
AGI:  5
M.RES:  5
 
Weapon:  Steel Sword
Armor:  Ivory Mail (Initial)
Accessory1:  Hero’s Medal (Unique)
Accessory2:  Ivory Helmet
Accessory3:  Dragoon’s Honor
 
Poshul
 
HP:  177
STR:  17
ACC:  80
MAG:  4
RES:  12
AGI:  5
M.RES:  3
 
Weapon:  Iron Glove
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Bronze Helmet
Accessory2:  Silver Loupe (Poshul needs all the ACC she can get!)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  Poshul Destroys Another Ecosystem

Team Serge had some unfinished business in Another World before going to Home World and getting the cure for Kid.

(Another) Hydra Marshes

-A dwarf in (Another) Guldove gave the party a Green Tinkler that let me get past the slapping plants in (Another) Hydra Marshes.  There was another bone for Skelly in the next area along with another item that was necessary to get another subpar character.



(Another) Viper Manor

-Luccia was on the terrace at the top of the mansion, and said she only needed an item from a poisonous swamp to bring her newest creation to life.  This was NeoFio, an intelligent Green innate flower.  Since I had it, NeoFio immediately joined the party.  NeoFio could hit all enemies with PopPopPop, her level 3 special move.  Unfortunately, her HP and defensive stats were weak, so she was hard to use.  Luccia joined as well when I talked to her back in her lab.  I might use her later once her level 5 special is unlocked.


(Another) Shadow Forest

-I would have gone here earlier if I chose Nikki as the guide instead of Pierre, but now it wasn't necessary to the plot.  It was, however, a decent place to give random battle stat boosts to NeoFio and Korcha.  Korcha was similar to Pierre in that he was a physical Blue innate character, but Korcha had better magic.  Korcha's animations whenever he kicked or whacked enemies with his fishing pole were awkward, and the HeadButt level 3 special had him "swimming" through the air before charging into the opponent.  The real reason I came here was to get another bone for Skelly in the waterfall cave.


(Home) Hydra Marshes

The local wildlife and demihumans were determined to stop "humans" from defiling the environment by killing the last hydra.  A fairy flew to the western part of the forest, but to get to her, I had to fight Beeba, who constantly summoned more of his kind.  Although Beebas were Yellow innate, NeoFio couldn't even finish one of them off.  Korcha's low accuracy continued to let me down.  I had no choice but to abandon the sidequest and leave Razzly to die. 


A group of dwarves blocked the path to the hydra, and it proved to be a tough battle.  They opened the fight with Hi-HoWarCry, a Yellow attack that caused heavy damage to my whole party.  NeoFio returned the favor with PopPopPop and Green spells like Bushbasher.  Korcha attacked with HeadButt and ice spells.  By the end of the fight, only NeoFio survived to gain the Star Level.


The Hydra was the toughest mandatory fight yet.  NeoFio and Korcha didn't stand a chance against its physical tail swipes and poisonous PutridOdor breath.  Attempting to run away allowed me to heal and prepare, and gave me some dialogue with the dwarves.  The dwarves said they were the ones who fed Razzly to a monster.  As much as the dwarves complained about how evil humans were, they didn't treat the fairies any better.

My second party configuration had Poshul and Mojo.  Mojo's allegedly high evasion was worthless along with his attacks and spells.  Poshul survived quite a while by having the same innate element as the Hydra, and having some Tablets stocked in her level 1 slots.  Even the "Wonder Dog" couldn't outlast the Hydra on her own.

Swapping out Mojo for Pierre was the trick.  Pierre could heal with Elements, even if badly, and his weak attacks helped restore Poshul's stamina.  Pierre dodged far more often than Mojo, making me think the evasion formula was glitched.  (Pierre also evaded quite a few attacks in Another Viper Manor.)

Pierre and Poshul gradually defeated the Hydra with physical attacks, thus dooming (Home) Hydra Marshes.

No Stats and Equipment section this time because my party setup is a bit weird right now.  I may edit it in later.

EDIT:  Equipment is the same as the previous update.  Stats are as follows, with some extra detail I found in the equipment screen:


Serge

HP:  125
STR:  12
ACC:  85
MAG:  9
RES:  10
AGI:  8
M.RES:  8
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  20
DEF:  13
MGC:  9
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  9


Pierre

HP:  173
STR:  11
ACC:  80
MAG:  5
RES:  15
AGI:  5
MRES:  6
STAMINA RECOVERY:  12
ATK:  25
DEF:  19
MGC:  6
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  29
M.DEF:  8


Poshul

HP:  196
STR:  19
ACC:  80
MAG:  4
RES:  14
AGI:  5
MRES:  4
STAMINA RECOVERY:  9
ATK:  32
DEF:  24
MGC:  4
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  5
M.DEF:  10

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  Skippable Boss Fights


Before going to the point of no return pirate ship S.S. Invincible, Serge had a few things to do.  First, I gathered Skelly’s remaining bones on Another World’s islands.  He put himself back together and had a nice reunion with his grandma in Termina.  She was understanding about the whole “being undead” business.  Skelly joined the party to repay the favor. . .and I put him on the bench for a while.  Skelly is a Black innate, and the next few bosses would probably require Poshul.  Having another Yellow innate would give me an Element field advantage and power up the pair.

 
Enter Mel.  Mel was an obnoxious relative of Korcha’s who stole Kid’s Elements.  She would be good friends with Yuffie.  Fortunately, her talent for petty theft would help me in battle.  Normal playthroughs would use Kid or Fargo to steal items, but Mel qualified as a low tier character and therefore eligible for my variant.  Mel started with Iron equipment, so I didn’t have to spend any money or materials to forge new stuff for her.  Her signature weapon was a boomerang that could hit all enemies, but only with a level 3 attack.  Her accuracy was poor, but it was a nice bonus.  Her Yellow spells were noticeably stronger than Poshul’s too.


 
MKL has harsh things to say about Mel in the Character FAQ:  “In a more pathetic display, she has the highest magic of the Yellow innates. . .Sadly, when you are looking for straws to make a Yellow caster viable, it underscores just how terrible Yellow innates are.  Garbage, garbage, garbage.  Not to mention she is a huge brat with no redeeming personality characteristics.”  Ouch!  Mel doesn’t deserve that much scorn. 

 
On the S.S. Invincible, Fargo wanted to test the party’s strength.  First, he sent his weak pirates against me.  This was pretty much a typical random encounter.  Next came Polly.  Polly could hit hard with the Red attack Flap.  Polly hated Poshul the most, and Serge only died later in the battle once the bird lost interest in the “Wonder Dog” for a round.  Poshul’s physical attacks dealt much of the damage, but Mel helped with Yellow spells like Upheaval.  If my memory is correct, Poshul buffed her defenses with HiRes.
 

I forgot to heal correctly in the post-battle screen, so I ran away from Fargo expecting to heal and then return to the fight.  Fargo instead sarcastically complimented me on my ability to flee, and then tossed the party in a cabin.  The ship soon became haunted.  Poshul and Mel fought many tedious battles against Black innate skeletons and wraiths.  It took a long time to find that stupid key!  Pip appeared on the ship once I got past the locked door.  After chasing him for a bit, he joined the party.
 


Pip is a special case.  MKL ranks Pip as the worst character, but this may be unfair.  Pip starts off with low stats, but can evolve like a Pokemon based on which color Elements you use.  I’ll have to see later on if Pip is underrated, or really is that terrible.


    
The final boss on the pirate ship was Dead Head, a combination of several of the spider enemies below deck.  One of its physical combos hit Poshul for a total of 85 damage, which was quite high when even the hardiest characters had around 200 at most!  Luckily for me, it spent most of the fight casting Black spells instead.


Death’sOdor inflicted a status ailment that I guess was supposed to be like Blind from Final Fantasy or something.  It didn’t do much to affect my characters’ accuracy.  DarkBreath was a conventional Black attack, and that finished off my 1 HP Serge.  Diminish was more annoying because it reduced the party’s Element damage.  This meant Mel’s spells were ineffective, and she spent most of the fight throwing her boomerang instead.  K9-Ball still dealt around 70 damage.  Maybe Diminish doesn’t affect physical Elements as much? 

Poshul took the brunt of the damage, but Mel was close to death at one point, so Poshul cast Cure on her.  HiRes buffed both Poshul and Mel.  Mel managed to steal a GravityBlow during the fight, but that didn’t amount to much because that was a common spell.  Mel finished off the boss with one of her boomerang tosses, proving she wasn’t useless after all.
 
Mt. Pyre blocked the path to Fort Dragonia, and the only way to get by was with the blessing of the Water Dragon.  The Dragons hadn’t been seen for a while in Another World, so Serge had to go back to Home World.  But some pesky dwarves were causing trouble there. . .      
 
Stats and Equipment
 
Serge

HP:  131
STR:  13
ACC:  85
MAG:  10
RES:  11
AGI:  8
M.RES:  8
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  21
DEF:  14
MGC:  10
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  9
 
Weapon:  Sea Swallow (initial)
Armor:  Ivory Mail (initial)
 
Poshul


HP:  205
STR:  21
ACC:  80
MAG:  6
RES:  16
AGI:  5
M.RES:  4
STAMINA RECOVERY:  9
ATK:  34
DEF:  26
MGC:  6
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  5
M.DEF:  10
 
Weapon:  Iron Glove
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Bronze Helmet
Accessory2:  Silver Loupe
 
Mel
 
HP:  157
STR:  10
ACC:  85
MAG:  9
RES:  9
AGI:  8
M.RES:  6
STAMINA RECOVERY:  11
ATK:  23
DEF:  17
MGC:  9
HIT%:  87
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  11
 
Weapon:  Steelerang (initial)
Armor:  Iron Mail (initial)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  Dwarf Tossing


Dwarves had invaded Water Dragon Isle to claim a new homeland, and they planned to do so by murdering the local fairies.  All the dwarves were Yellow innate, so you’d think bringing NeoFio would be the way to go.  Wrong!  Defense is important in this game, and I wanted elemental resistance even if it meant doing less damage.  So I picked Mel and Poshul instead.  Don’t worry.  I’ll use other color innates eventually. 
 

Most of the dwarves were easy, including the boss battle with their chieftain.  Mel’s boomerang could hit all 6 or so dwarves at once, and her spells did around 70-80 damage even while resisted.  The element field helped with that.  Poshul used physical attacks as usual.  The party got another Star Level as a reward.

 
At the bottom of the cave, the dwarves sent their Hi-Ho Tank to attack.  The Hi-Ho Tank can be a difficult boss for non-variant playthroughs if you get unlucky or don’t realize you need to take out the two healer dwarves first.  Mel and Poshul killed off the minions with their physical moves, and then concentrated on the tank.  Both the boss and my team cast HiRes.  I had stocked my element grids with RecoverAll spells to recover 50 HP to both characters at once.  This wasn’t enough.  Too many ElementShots and other attacks defeated Mel and Poshul through attrition a couple of times.

 
Then I tried something a little different.  I replaced Mel’s Yellow spells with Green spells like Bushbasher.  They didn’t do much more than normal, which was disappointing.  TurnGreen didn’t help much either.  My best solution involved putting Yellow consumable Capsules in Poshul’s level 3 slots.  Consumables can be used 5 times per slot and are fairly cheap.  Each Capsule healed Poshul for 80 HP, which kept her alive.  

 
The Hi-Ho Tank was too stupid to use ElementShot (any color) every turn, and instead relied on the  much weaker Yellow physical ram and strafe shot attacks.  The strafe shot could be used twice and hit all characters, but area of effect abilities didn’t matter much once Mel had died.  Poshul barely hung on with Capsules and RecoverAlls, and defeated the Hi-Ho Tank with belly flops and licks.  Poshul lived up to her title of Wonder Dog.  One funny part at the beginning was when the Hi-Ho Tank wasted a Black Element Shot on 1 HP Serge, hitting him for far more damage than he had max HP. 
 

All the fairies blamed humans for their problems instead of the genocidal dwarves, and the player characters didn’t try to rebut their argument at all.  This is another example of Chrono Cross’s poorly written environmental message.  It’s not like the dwarves had to go kill the fairies instead of either living somewhere else or coexisting.  Another World had a nice dwarf in Marbule, and it seemed he was doing fine!  Besides, the “humans build machines instead of living in natural harmony” idea falls flat when you realize the dwarves were the ones using high-tech weaponry.  If Razzly (i.e. the fairy the dwarves killed without provocation) had survived in my playthrough, she would have revealed that there were more hydras in (Home) Hydra Marshes, so the dwarves didn’t have to flee their homeland in the first place.       

 
The El Nido archipelago looks pristine compared to Earth, making the game’s message feel even more out of place.  Besides, it turns out later in the game that El Nido is artificial, so it doesn't qualify as “wilderness” in the first place.  (This is why El Nido never appeared in Chrono Trigger.)  Chrono Cross has fun gameplay, but its story sinks to Christopher Paolini standards of fantasy writing.

 
After witnessing the fairy genocide, Kid had an FMV flashback about the time Lynx burned down Lucca’s house.  Kid was an orphan, and Lucca had raised her as a little sister of sorts.  Lynx kidnapped Lucca, and nobody ever saw her again.  (Kid’s true origin is far more stupid, and I’ll talk about it later.)
 
 
Stats and Equipment
 
Serge

HP:  136
STR:  13
ACC:  85
MAG:  10
RES:  11
AGI:  8
M.RES:  8
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  21
DEF:  14
MGC:  10
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  8
MDEF:  9
 
Weapon:  Sea Swallow (initial)
Armor:  Ivory Mail (initial)
 
Poshul


HP:  213
STR:  21
ACC:  80
MAG:  7
RES:  18
AGI:  5
MRES:  5
STAMINA RECOVERY:  9
ATK:  34
DEF:  28
MGC:  7
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  5
M.DEF:  12
 
Weapon:  Iron Glove
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Bronze Helmet
Accessory2:  Silver Loupe
Accessory3:  Silver Pendant
 
Mel

HP:  178
STR:  10
ACC:  85
MAG:  9
RES:  9
AGI:  8
M.RES:  6
STAMINA RECOVERY:  11
ATK:  23
DEF:  18
MGC:  10
HIT%:  90
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  12
 
Weapon:  Steelerang (initial)
Armor:  Iron Mail (initial)
Accessory1:  Magic Ring
Accessory2:  Sight Scope
Accessory3:  Ivory Helmet

EDIT:  The Water Dragon gave the party the "FrogPrince" summon, so expect to see Blue innates in action soon. . .

EDIT2:  It seems there's a glitch involving Pip's stats not increasing when he evolves if you reset at the wrong time, so I may have to leave him on the bench after all.

EDIT3:  I can't get Pip to even change appearance, let alone evolve after a bunch of random battles.  Okay, Pip, you'll have to play with NeoFio and Mojo for a while, at least until I need an eligible White innate for some reason. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  Someday My Prince Will Come


Mt. Pyre had damaging magma floors similar to some dungeons in Dragon Quest games.  To get past the magma intact, I had to use the Water Dragon’s ice breath to freeze the floor.  Fortunately, this didn’t result in Pokemon-style sliding puzzles.
 
Korcha and Pierre were the obvious choices for my team.  They were the only Blue innates that qualified for the variant.  (Leena’s stats and Element grid are too good to be low tier.)  I had forgotten how terrible a spellcaster Pierre was.  He only had 2 slots for each level on his Element grid!  So I loaded him up with CurePlus and stuck one Revive in there just in case.  His sword, surprisingly good evasion, and fast STAMINA RECOVERY made him viable.  Korcha’s awkward kicks, fishing rod lashes, and IceBlast spells made for a good offense.
 
Solt and Peppor confronted the party, but the fight was another tutorial and didn’t even give a Star Level.  Solt explained that his summon Element was stolen by a centipede enemy that used an “trap” spell.  Solt then proceeded to steal one of Peppor’s Elements to demonstrate this.  Peppor was fed up with Solt’s incompetence and spent most of the fight smacking him around.  Careful timing with Blue Elements maxed out the Element field, so Korcha could use his own summon FrogPrince.  The effort was worth it as FrogPrince splashed the enemy party for around 300 damage.  (!) 
 
The next boss was a small FireDragon.  His FireBreath could deal major damage to Korcha and Pierre, and he seemed to ignore Serge.  Pierre’s CurePlus kept the party alive, and Revive came in handy once Korcha died.  I didn’t get to use FrogPrince because the boss kept messing up the Element field with his pesky Red spells.  IceBlast and Pierre’s slashes worked well enough to finish off the FireDragon without any fancy summons.
 
At the end of Mt. Pyre, Karsh, Zoah, and Marcy teamed up to fight Pierre and Korcha.  I made sure to save Marcy for last because she was a Blue innate who could unwittingly set up my Element field for FrogPrince.  Karsh’s AxialAxe and DragonRider combined with Zoah’s Gyronimo put pressure on my party, but Karsh went down early due to his relatively low HP.  FrogPrince defeated Zoah and dealt major damage to Marcy.  An AquaBall from Korcha finished off Marcy and gained the party another Star Level.
 
   
Stats and Equipment
 
Serge
 
HP:  139
STR:  15
ACC:  85
MAG:  12
RES:  13
AGI:  8
M.RES:  8
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  23
DEF:  16
MGC:  12
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  9
 
Weapon:  Sea Swallow (initial)
Armor:  Ivory Mail (initial)
 

Pierre
 
HP:  220
STR:  15
ACC:  80
MAG:  6
RES:  18
AGI:  5
M.RES:  8
STAMINA RECOVERY:  12
ATK:  29
DEF:  27
MGC:  7
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  29
M.DEF:  14
 
Weapon:  Steel Sword
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Hero’s Shield (unique)
Accessory2:  Ivory Helmet
Accessory3:  Dragoon’s Honor
 

Korcha
 
HP:  158
STR:  21
ACC:  85
MAG:  11
RES:  15
AGI:  6
M.RES:  10
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  34
DEF:  25
MGC:  12
HIT%:  87
EVD%:  6
M.DEF:  16
 
Weapon:  Iron Lure
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Bronze Helmet
Accessory2:  Magic Ring
Accessory3:  Silver Earring

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  Pip and NeoFio Save the Day


Fort Dragonia was a boss gauntlet, with a few mildly annoying puzzles in between.  My party members started to learn their unique level 5 Elements after the battle with Karsh, Marcy, and Zoah, but some characters needed to get more Star Levels first. 

 
Since Taurusoid was a Green boss, I brought Poshul and Mel to fight.  Mel wasn’t a good choice because her boomerang dealt very little damage even with the elemental weakness.  She died quickly to Taurusoid’s Green wrestling moves, but she at least got in a few ElectroBolts to deal triple digit damage.  Taurusoid could also cast HealAll to restore around 70 HP, so a good offense was required.  Poshul was up to the task even alone.  She tasted blood (oil?) after the Hi-Ho Tank fight and thought she could take on any boss solo.  She was right.  Her belly flops kept up the pressure, and Capsules provided the healing.  A K9-Ball finished off the minotaur robot.


 
I didn’t have any eligible Red innates for this variant because Kid and Greco were both too good.  So I fought Giant Gloop with Pierre and Korcha instead.  The first attempt was a loss because Giant Gloop froze both of my characters.  Blue innate bosses can be annoying that way. 

 
For Round 2, I made sure to put Medicines in both characters’ grids to cure freezing if necessary.  My team was so bad that I must have confused Giant Gloop’s AI.  It started healing my characters instead of attacking!  The rest of the time, it cast GooeyGoo, an evasion debuff.  Giant Gloop had low magic defense and high physical defense.  Casting spells like AquaBall and IceBlast dealt significant damage even with the resistance.  The real reason I brought Pierre and Korcha was the chance to cast FrogPrince again.  It didn’t do as much damage as before, but it was still worth it.
 

SunOfAGun reminded me of a similar sun-themed boss from Chrono Trigger.  It was as annoying as its counterpart in the prequel.  My first attempt with Black innates Luccia and Skelly was a failure.  SunOfAGun’s White spells like MeteorShower, HolyLight, and PhotonBeam were too much for them to handle, and my Black spells did almost nothing to it.  My next team was the old standby Poshul and. . .Pip?

 
I may have written off Pip as useless in one of my earlier updates, but I was proven wrong here.  Pip was the only variant-friendly White innate so far.  He served as the healer with RecoverAll  and his level 5 move Soothe.  Poshul could help with Capsules too.  Pip and Poshul chipped away at SunOfAGun for about 4-5 damage per attack.  The fight devolved into a standard attack and heal pattern.  The battle took so long Pip evolved into his mid-level Angel form!
 

Defeating SunOfAGun unlocked the elevator to the part of Fort Dragonia I saw in Serge’s dream at the beginning of the game.  Unlike the dream, there was a boss guarding the final elevator leading to Lynx.  For the sake of variety, I switched out Poshul for NeoFio.  NeoFio was the hero of the next fight.

 
Bunyip had two forms.  The first was a Red innate that loved to cast all-target spells like MagmaBomb and Inferno.  Pip healed with RecoverAll while NeoFio used Green Elements like PopPopPop and SlurpSlurp (steals HP and deals 160-170 damage).  After a few rounds, Bunyip opened its mouth and turned into a Black innate cyclops of sorts. 


 
This version knew most Black attacks, and the most dangerous was FreeFall.  One FreeFall was enough to kill Pip, and NeoFio had to solo Bunyip for the rest of the fight.  NeoFio held on much like Poshul did with RecoverAll and Capsules.  After that long fight, it was a good time to save.
 
   
 
Stats and Equipment
 
Serge
 
HP:  144
STR:  17
ACC:  85
MAG:  12
RES:  13
AGI:  8
M.RES:  8
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  25
DEF:  16
MGC:  12
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  8
MDEF:  9
 
Weapon:  Sea Swallow (initial)
Armor:  Ivory Mail (initial)
 

NeoFio
 
HP:  202
STR:  19
ACC:  90
MAG:  13
RES:  15
AGI:  12
M.RES:  9
STAMINA RECOVERY:  11
ATK:  32
DEF:  26
MGC:  13
HIT%:  91
EVD%:  12
M.DEF:  16
 
Weapon:  Iron Glove
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Bronze Helmet
Accessory2:  Knee Pad
Accessory3:  Silver Pendant
 

Pip (Angel, White innate)
 
HP:  211
STR:  16
ACC:  85
MAG:  15
RES:  18
AGI:  20
M.RES:  9
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  30
DEF:  26
MGC:  17
HIT%:  89
EVD%:  20
M.DEF:  14
 
Weapon:  Iron Glove
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Dragoon’s Honor
Accessory2:  Magic Ring
Accessory3:  Angel Charm

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  Can't Rely On Poshul Anymore


General Viper was a generic Yellow innate physical boss.  NeoFio did much of the damage due to being Green, and Pip helped out with healing and White attacks.  After that was Lynx.  Lynx fought the same way he did before, focusing mostly on Black physical attacks along with his level 3 technique GlideHook.  Lynx ignored Serge for the most part and concentrated on the other two, so the protagonist finally got a Star Level for a change.  Don’t worry, I just had him defend or skip his turn to keep him useless as always!
 

Through the power of cutscene contrivances, Lynx swapped bodies with Serge and stabbed Kid.  Kid figured out what happened when “Serge” mentioned Lucca’s name, which she had never mentioned before.  “Serge” then said Kid would join Lucca, but in true villain fashion, he didn’t bother to finish off the heroes. 
 


From now on, I’ll call the protagonist Lynx until he gets his body back.  It’s more convenient that way.  My entire party left after the body-snatching incident.  No more Poshul for a while!  Lynx was sent to an Impressionist alternate dimension inhabited only by 2D monsters and a goblin named Sprigg.  Harle was there too, and gave a long navel-gazing speech.  She joined the party afterwards in an attempt to claim the Golden Stereotype Award.  Who will win?  Kid’s Australian accent, or Harle’s French accent?  Either way, Harle was a powerful Black innate magician.  MKL is so enamored with her stats and Element grid that the Character FAQ calls Harle “a God in a Harlequin’s makeup”.  I’ll kick her off the team as soon as I can to fulfill the variant rules.
 


Sprigg is the obligatory gimmick character, more so than Pip.  Although she’s technically a Green innate,  she works more like Gau from Final Fantasy 6.  Sprigg’s Element grid is tiny, but she can use her technique Doppelgang to transform into any enemy she has personally killed.  While transformed, Sprigg can use an enemy’s Elements unlimited times.  I made sure she defeated a Total Chaos before leaving the Impressionist dimension for good.
 


Lynx and friends landed in (Home) Hydra Marshes.  Sprigg was so happy to be in a “real” world that she was bouncing around.  Harle suggested going to Opassa Beach to return to Another World.  The pendant didn’t work because it only responded to Serge.  The next stop was Arni Village.  Everyone there feared Lynx because they were Space Racists who hated demi-humans in general.  Serge’s mom believed her son when Lynx told her about traveling through alternate histories and becoming a cat-man.  She thought it had something to do with what happened in the Dead Sea/Sea of Eden with Wazuki and Miguel.


 
After that conversation, Radius challenged Lynx to a fight to avenge (Home) General Viper.  Radius acted like a typical physical Green innate for the most part, but he also had spells like Inferno.  Sprigg transformed into Total Chaos.  I didn’t know this when I did that, but Total Chaos had Diminish, one of the best debuffs in the game.  Diminish decreases Element damage by half for all combatants, sort of like an All Divide in Tales games.  Radius was weakened to the point where I could easily heal it with RecoverAll.  Sprigg’s physical attacks dealt most of the damage.


 
Radius felt there was “no malice” in Lynx’s attacks and offered to join the party.  I then replaced Harle with him.  Radius barely falls into my low tier ranking at 26th place out of 44.  Sprigg is eligible too, though MKL admits she is an exception to any traditional ranking.
 

(Home) Fossil Valley was previously blocked by imperial Porre soldiers.  Now I could go through as Lynx and visit (Home) Termina.  It was a good time to take a break.


 
Stats and Equipment
 
Lynx
 
HP:  154
STR:  19
ACC:  85
MAG:  14
RES:  15
AGI:  8
M.RES:  10
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  27
DEF:  25
MGC:  14
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  17
 
Weapon:  Sea Swallow (initial)
Armor:  Iron Mail
Accessory1:  Bronze Helmet
Accessory2:  Daemon Charm
Accessory3:  Silver Pendant
 

Sprigg
 
HP:  220
STR:  20
ACC:  85
MAG:  14
RES:  20
AGI:  12
M.RES:  10
ATK:  36
DEF:  28
MGC:  14
HIT%:  87
EVD%:  12
M.DEF:  12
 
Weapon:  Silver Staff (initial)
Armor:  Iron Mail
 

Radius
 
HP:  250
STR:  22
ACC:  90
MAG:  13
RES:  16
AGI:  8
M.RES:  14
STAMINA RECOVERY:  9
ATK:  38
DEF:  24
MGC:  13
HIT%:  91
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  19
 
Weapon:  Silver Staff (initial)
Armor:  Iron Mail

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chrono Cross Low Tier Characters:  The Most Superfluous Party Members Yet


Lynx was infamous in (Home) Termina for making the Acacia Dragoons disappear a few years earlier.  This allowed Porre to conquer the city and turn it into a militaristic dystopia.  The Porre in Chrono Cross is the village from Chrono Trigger, in case you have any doubts.  Supposedly the DS port of Chrono Trigger explains Porre’s expansion by making Dalton a lot more competent for some reason.  Whatever the case, Porre’s soldiers acted deferential towards “Sir Lynx” and said he could use a boat in the docks if he talked to Norris in the Viper Manor ruins.
 

Before visiting (Home) Viper Manor, Lynx recruited a few new allies.  Zappa the blacksmith was out of business in Home World, and offered to join the party because he had nothing better to do.  This gave him an economic opportunity too, since he gave me permission to forge equipment on the world map.  No more running back to Termina every time I need a new weapon!  Zappa is a Red innate, unusual at this point in the game.

 
Van lived in a mansion in (Another) Termina, but the Home World version was almost destitute and living in a shack.  He joined the party hoping to look for the Frozen Flame, and his dad wanted him to see the world anyway.  Van seems to be yet another weak Green innate.
 


Norris and Radius had a chat in (Home) Viper Manor’s basement about the fate of the Acacia Dragoons.  General Viper was looking for the Frozen Flame in the Dead Sea and had never been seen since.   Norris joined the party to investigate.  He’s a physical Yellow innate.
 

More sidequests opened up once I got Home World’s boat.  As a reward for saving a man in Shadow Forest from a Wraith, I got a Mushroom, supposedly a rare Guardia delicacy.  The guy near the campfire in the waterfall cave ate the Mushroom and transformed into one.  He was horrified when he looked at his reflection in the water, and joined the party hoping to find the Frozen Flame and turn back to normal.  Funguy is yet another low tier Green innate.

 
I swapped out Radius for Funguy and sailed to the El Nido Triangle.  After a few annoying fights with fish, Lynx found a Star Fragment in a treasure chest.  Then I went to Sky Dragon Isle, where Starky the alien tried to steal it from me.  This was a boss battle, except with random encounter music and no Star Level to be earned.

 
MegaStarky was as tough as any boss, since he knew powerful White spells like MeteorShower.  Sprigg was the most valuable party member here.  She dealt most of the damage in Lagoonate form, which could hit for well over 100 with each fierce attack.  Total Chaos form cast Diminish to weaken Starky’s spells.  However, Sprigg’s low HP meant I constantly had to heal with Funguy, and once, the mushroom had to Revive her.  Starky joined the party hoping that Another World’s spaceship would be intact.  Sometimes, it seems the developers threw in content just because they could.
 
 
 
Stats and Equipment
 
Lynx
 
HP:  157
STR:  19
ACC:  85
MAG:  14
RES:  15
AGI:  8
M.RES:  10
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  27
DEF:  23
MGC:  14
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  8
M.DEF:  15
 
Weapon:  Sea Swallow
Armor:  Iron Mail
 

Sprigg
 
HP:  222
STR:  20
ACC:  85
MAG:  14
RES:  20
AGI:  12
M.RES:  10
STAMINA RECOVERY:  10
ATK:  36
DEF:  31
MGC:  14
HIT%:  87
EVD%:  12
M.DEF:  18
 
Weapon:  Silver Staff
Armor:  Mythril Mail
 

Funguy
 
HP:  251
STR:  21
ACC:  80
MAG:  13
RES:  19
AGI:  11
M.RES:  11
STAMINA RECOVERY:  11
ATK:  34
DEF:  31
MGC:  13
HIT%:  85
EVD%:  11
M.DEF:  20
 
Weapon:  Iron Axe  (He doesn’t even start with a Mythril weapon?!)
Armor:  Mythril Mail
Accessory1:  Sight Scope
Accessory2:  Silver Pendant
Accessory3:  Knee Pad