Elements II: Hearts of Light

[soulcatapult]

"What of their descendants? What of the other Saints? The full story has yet to be told..."
A mysterious little girl. An insidious plot to resurrect a great evil. The legend of a faint and fading Hope. And a band of young heroes desperate for answers. Fans of the original will discover enhanced gameplay, a more beautiful world, a deeper party system, and darker mysteries. To everyone else... welcome.

Download Update Guide

Features:
- Join an all-new cast of characters and unravel a bold and boisterous plot!
- Discover a re-imagined world overflowing with side quests, daunting challenges and hidden secrets!
- Fall in love with yet another tear-jerking soundtrack from the heart of Kenny Zink!
- Buy and decorate your very own Party House!
- Craft weapons, armor and even jewelry!
- Capture monsters, add them to your party, and receive rare items as gifts in return for your affection!
- Acquire perfect knowledge of your enemies via the comprehensive Enemy Encyclopedia!
- Build your friendships to learn new skills and devise powerful Combo Attacks!
- Develop your Attributes carefully to maximize your stats... or utterly ruin them!
- Schedule your plans around the new Weekday system, wherein Elemental powers fluctuate and environments change with the passing of time!
- Turn the action down a notch with the new, approachable Easy Mode... and then right back up if you so desire!
- Unlock an extensive Sketch Gallery complete with concept art, developer commentary and background information.












Five episodes are currently complete, consisting of around 40 hours of gameplay.
Feel free to use this topic to connect with other players and get help if need be.
Well, please enjoy!

[jincyk]

I'm having multiple tech issues with this game, which I'm enjoying but becoming impatient with. First I couldn't complete the Arena because the game crashed; now I can't enter Winstar for the same reason.

I downloaded/purchased the game on Steam because I was unable to download it through your SoulCatapult site--the setup zip file could not be opened.

I have Windows 7 and have never had a problem with games like this.

Please advise.

[soulcatapult]

Replied via PM.

[jincyk]

Great game.

Is there a trick to getting the pumpkin head? I can instill fear in the pumpkins, but Hiram kills them with the reaper every time. How can I not hit the pumpkin too hard?

[soulcatapult]

Great game.

Thank you so much.

Is there a trick to getting the pumpkin head? I can instill fear in the pumpkins, but Hiram kills them with the reaper every time. How can I not hit the pumpkin too hard?

Hmm... that's tough. All I can say is to make sure you don't have any Attack-boosting accessories equipped (other than the weapon itself, of course). Another pretty cheesy thing to do would be to remove everyone from your party but Hiram and go run from a bunch of battles. You'll gain Cowardice, which will lower your Attack (as well as all your other stats, too). Since only Hiram is in the party, only he will be affected, but then you'll have to work to raise him back up. I don't recommend this except as a last resort, though.

EDIT: Just did a little experimenting and found another way, though it's a bit loopy. If you encounter a Pumpkin Head along with Will-o'-the-Wisps, they can burn Hiram with Flameburst, which lowers his Attack. While burned, Hiram can hit a Pumpkin Head afflicted with fear and not kill it in one shot. Unless his Attack has already been built up substantially.

[feyone2]

Hi Jeremy,
I'm at a loss as to where to go next and what I'm supposed to look for - I think I'm missing something? I've been up the top (L13) of Dragonheart and all the areas accessed via the red flames and I've changed to the blue ones now and still can't to beat the arrows in the hall but if you say that is optional, maybe I'll leave it. Where do I go now?
I've gone back and got Map #4 and bought a house etc though there doesn't seem to be any trigger suggesting the next move!
A little please.

[soulcatapult]

The goal of Castle Dragonheart is to collect three Etheric Lights and place them in front of the large dragon head straight up from the entrance (a few floors up). If the flames are blue, you can't reach the room with the braziers, but I don't know how many (and which) Etheric Lights you've already collected. You can get them:

1. On 13F, past the area with the towers connected by chains (it sounds like you've already been here).

2. In the south tower, beyond the cave where you're chased by a wall of lava.

3. On the far eastern edge of the castle, in a basement with four large gargoyles; the southernmost one has no jewel in its pedestal. If you check it, a hidden staircase opens to the lower floor.

Once you place the Etheric Light, it disappears from your inventory, so there's no way to know if you've already taken any to the dragon head room (unless you yourself remember). As for changing the color of the flames, if you're going back there fresh and the flames are already blue, follow these directions:

1. After entering the main hall, go right and take the stairs down.

2. On B1, the southern path will be blocked by blue flames. Go right again and take the stairs up; you'll be in the flame maze. Make your way to the southeast exit.

3. Now you're in the tunnel filled with lava that you have to walk in (unless it's the Day of Water; then there will be no lava). Make your way to the northeast exit.

4. You're in another hall. From here, if you go straight right all the way, you'll be outside and cross a narrow bridge to another stairway going down. This is the room with the gargoyles I talked about; make sure you already got the Etheric Light below, then retrace your steps to the aforementioned hall and take the stairs up this time.

5. You'll be in a small room with a single gargoyle. Just go straight up again.

6. In this hall, there are three other ways to go. If you know that you already got the Etheric Light in the south tower, past the cave with the wall of lava, then go left and walk along the outer wall of the castle; follow it all the way back to the room with the crystal where you can change the flames. From there, you'll have to retrace your steps back through the flame maze (SE exit again), lava tunnel (heading south), and the lava-filled basement with rocks that you skip across. You'll eventually reach the main hall and can now go straight up to the dragon's lair. If you haven't yet gotten the Etheric Light in the south tower past the cave with the chasing wall of lava, then follow the next step.

7. From that small room with the single gargoyle, go down the stairs and take the southwest exit from the hall to return to the tunnel of wading lava. Go south through it and you'll be in the lava-filled basement with skipping rocks. Go immediately left (this way is blocked by red flames if they're active). Skip across the rocks to the extreme southwest end of the chamber, and you'll reach the entrance to the cave I talked about. To minimize frustration, put the game on Easy mode and enter the cave. Meander through and enter the south tower; climb to the top to collect the Etheric Light and step on the emblem outside to warp back to the 1F main hall (west). But the flames are still blue, so you'll have to follow these same directions again (except for step 7) to reach the crystal and change them, then return to the main hall once again and proceed to the dragon's lair.

I strongly advise that it is not the Day of Earth when you fight the boss. Aether is better.

[feyone2]

Thanks a million - I know I was missing something! Didn't think to go across instead of up to the arrow hall. Got the 3 lights now, so off I go!

[jincyk]

I'm confused about integration of elements (so I can upgrade to, say, Shard 2).

Example: Monique has been stuck at 73/100 integration forever, no matter what I do. It says

Water barrier @30, Vapor cloud @60, Mist wave @100

Isn't the point to get everybody's up to 100 integration? Or am I confused?

Also, is there any way to advance the day without getting a sloth hit?

(my character levels are fairly high--Sky is 20).

Any info appreciated.

[soulcatapult]

Once you enter a new episode, enemies encountered in previous areas no longer give you integration points. I don't know where you are, but if you've already entered Episode 6, no enemies will give you integration points anymore (as that's the end of the current content).

As for "Water Barrier @30," etc., that simply means you'll integrate that skill when you hit that many points (meaning you keep the skill even if you unequip the shard). The "Integration: 73/100" is your actual integration level, but you may already know that. You can equip Shard B without having fully integrated Shard A, if that's your concern.

As for advancing the day of the week without gaining Sloth (by staying at an inn),

Spoiler: show

Sky gets a skill from Time Shard C called Daybreak that does just that. But it's hidden somewhere in Episode 6, as a little bonus for the player.

[jincyk]

Thanks for all your help.

How can I get back to Hobo Island? It's not reachable with my ship.

[jincyk]

Also, from whom does Vivian learn Charm? Lance? So far it's not happening.

Bonus question: How can you tell what episode you're in?

[soulcatapult]

Vivian (the Vestal Vixen) learns Charm from the Fire Mink, another monster you can capture in Ashe. You have to use it in battle with the both of them present.

There's actually no concrete way to tell which episode you're in off-hand, aside from the progression of the story. Episode 4 begins after you leave Cambria, and Episode 5 begins when you reach Fiyara Desert.

If you haven't yet gotten the second ship, you can return to Hobo Island the same way you got there the first time: by taking Ginkgo's little boat from the bottom of Poseidon's Ridge. The quickest way to get there is to take the Plutonic Portal near Solomon, go south to Ginkgo's house and take that portal to the middle of the wetlands, and follow the road south from there.

[jincyk]

Okay, I'm in B1 of Dragonheart castle and unable to proceed. It the Day of Fire. I've been here before on another day and gotten 3 etheric lights. Now I'm trying to get through the fireball maze. The first part is fairly easy, but the second--with the fireballs coming out of both sides straight across--is impossible even on Easy mode. I can get through the first three sets but can't even come close to the fourth. Is there some trick I'm missing? (This is exactly what happened to me with your first Elements game, which I loved but which I abandoned most of the way through--both times--because I couldn't do this sort of thing fast enough.)

[soulcatapult]

That corridor only leads to Fire Shard B, so if you can't do it, it can be skipped.

With the three lights in hand, you need to reach the room with the large dragon head; but if the flames are blue, first you need to reach the crystal and change them back to red. Please see the little walkthrough I wrote for Feyone2 a few posts up; it should help.