⛔ ** NOTE: CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SOLVING ACHIEVEMENT PUZZLES ** ⛔
Spoiler solutions for the achievement strategies and a potential order to earning the achievements will be hidden in a collapsible entry that you must click to expand so that only the solutions you need assistance with will be viewable.
About
This is not an official manual, walkthrough (for the story maps), or critical review. This document is a simple guide for the current achievement set available on RetroAchievements. This guide will give the player tips on earning the achievements, and any other necessary or useful information. Though, tips for how to unlock the post-game achievements basically involve a walkthrough.
Introduction
Phantom Brave is a tactical role-playing video game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software, originally for the PS2 in 2004, and later ported with additional content to the Wii in 2009, and PSP in 2010. It is NIS's fourth entry in the Tactics genre, following Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, La Pucelle: Tactics, and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Notable new additions to the formula include a gridless movement/attack system, a 'Remove' stat limiting the number of turns a unit can be active (preventing reliance on one character to clear a map), and turns taken individually based on the character's speed (rather than per side, as it was in Disgaea). Similar to Disgaea's Item World, Phantom Brave has random dungeons, allowing you to clear randomly generated maps to further strengthen your characters.
Leaderboards
There is one leaderboard currently associated with the game.
Phantom Isle Max Height - The highest altitude reached on Phantom Isle, starting from 15m (the height needed to unlock the Bottlemail).
Achievements
There are a total of 116 achievements, which can be broken down into the following categories:
Story: 24 achievements earned naturally through the course of gameplay. These forbid the use of a New Game+, though it can be used for any other achievements.
Rare Items: 8 achievements (6 are missable) related to collecting certain items. These make up the majority of the missable achievements, as most can only be obtained on your first time playing a map, though some will be on multiple maps, and thus offer multiple chances.
Class Unlocks: 47 achievements (1 is missable) that require defeating either 1 or 20 of that class to unlock them. Many of these will be unlocked while playing the story, though some will require random dungeons. One enemy only shows up on a non-repeatable map, so special steps are needed to get the 20 kills.
Merchant: 7 achievements for reaching the level milestones on a Merchant that add new items to her shop.
Postgame Maps: 18 achievements for clearing the postgame challenges such as the stamp rally and the EX maps.
Postgame Checkpoints: 6 achievements which provide tasks that serve as milestones in postgame character progression.
Miscellaneous: 6 achievements (1 is missable) that are challenges not part of the above, or highlighting other small features of the game.
Out of all of the achievements, 8 are missable
Potential Order
The following is a breakdown of the order of achievements based mostly on when certain enemies appear. Classes can be unlocked in any order via random dungeons, but this guide will mainly track their story appearances.
Each section is grouped under story achievements and hidden under a dropdown to avoid spoilers. If you want to see the achievements, click on the arrow next to each section to reveal the table.
⛔ SPOILER SECTION ⛔
The tables have an expandable section for tips to get the achievement.
General gameplay tips
Taking items home with you isn't done by picking them up; instead, confine a phantom to the item you want to take. When the phantom's turns run out, there's a chance it'll take the item with it (the Obtain rate shown when confining).
Remember to confine your utility characters to get them Exp.
Investing in more Spiritual Exp for your characters at creation also affects their growth rates; aim for at least 5 when making a new character (if you don't have any of the class yet, make one with 1 Exp first, then you'll be allowed to make a character of that class with up to 9 Exp).
Merchants aren't as strong as other characters, but will earn you more money, as well as allowing you to buy stronger items. Using the extra BOR to make a new Merchant with more Spiritual Exp can help offset the strength difference. If you do decide to use a Merchant, make sure to use Profit Punch; they get a skill at level 10 that requires that SP.
As Marona doesn't run out of turns, she has more opportunities to raise her SP. Because of this, giving her a weapon that uses a lower rated skill can still be effective.
Items gain Exp, but don't level on their own; you'll have to use the blacksmith to level them up.
Ally kills won't have an effect on the story, but they will give you Dark points, occasionally causing an event where the character with dark points will attack a random character (and possibly have their title changed). A Granny can cause an event to reduce dark points.
StrategyBefore going to Terra Firma, gather all the characters, including the Mysterious Ghost and Marona, on the roof of the house. Stacking 5 characters and jumping from the top of them will get you the Changebook and the Bottlemail. If you don't do this before the tutorials at Terra Firma, characters will carry each other, and you'll have to use objects like rocks or small trees instead to gain the necessary height. The 4 BOR spots are gotten by jumping in certain areas (directions assume the camera is facing the house): 1. In the bottom left corner of the water. 2. The stone circle in front of the house. 3. The raised grass patch behind the house to the right. 4. The cliff alcove behind the house to the left.
StrategyBefore going to Terra Firma, make sure to talk to Marona and summon the Bottlemail from the achievement above. At Terra Firma, don't skip the tutorial when asked. The second tutorial map has the Snakish; confine your bottle to it, and you'll get the sword when its Remove runs out.
StrategyAfter the tutorial, summon the Changebook if you haven't, pick it up with square, and press start while next to the Mysterious Ghost. Note: pressing start while not holding the Changebook will make you attack, take care.
StrategyAfter the tutorial, you can attack on Phantom Isle with start. Killing the Mysterious Ghost will count towards the 20 needed for unlocking. Talking to Marona, selecting Create, and exiting will respawn the Phantom. Keep in mind you'll need to clear a map and return to Phantom Isle to get the achievement.
The crystals in this episode have an atk-based ice skill that is useful for melee characters, who would otherwise only have fire/wind from a sword or dagger.
StrategyRecommended to get this later, but could be gotten now. The Titlist skill Big Bang ignores defense and does damage based on the user's HP, so it can be used to kill a 9999 Scrabbit in 3-2 if the Titlist has 200 or so HP. Leave only one of the Level Up Scrabbits alive so it takes its turns much faster.
Strategy3 will appear in a revisit to 7-2. You won't get to 20 playing through the story, but now's not a bad time to grind a bit to unlock them if you want another thief-type character to go with your bottle.
StrategyThere will be other chances to get the sword, so you don't have to get it here. Make sure to save before starting 7-5. End turn repeatedly with Marona without moving; eventually Raphael will toss his sword in a random direction. Confine your bottle to the sword; as long as the bottle is at least level 9, you'll have a chance to get the sword (each level past 9 will increase your chance by 7%). Confine Ash nearby and have him throw Raphael far away; he'll continue to do nothing while your bottle's Remove runs out. If you don't get the sword, reload and try again.
StrategyTwo somewhat simple options: 1. Beat the game (or Another Marona) first, and get this in a New Game+. 2. If you can fuse enough items/characters to get 4500 mana on a character with 200+ HP, you can then fuse a Titlist into them to get Big Bang, and use them to do the 3-2 trick. See "That Rabbit's Dynamite" in the section for episode 3, or google 'phantom brave 3-2 trick'. Use the level 100 character you get from that to beat Raphael. Would recommend keeping a separate save to return to afterward, so the game isn't thrown off balance from having a level 100/50m BOR/loss of items or characters to gain mana.
StrategyOne more chance to get the sword after this. A level 49 bottle will have 100% success rate. If your bottle isn't that high, I'd recommend keeping a save here to come back to after you beat the game; the next map has an even harder to steal weapon. With that, you can start the post-game grind from that save, and steal both weapons once you have a 60+ bottle.
StrategyOnly chance to get this achievement. Will need a level 59 bottle to have 100% success rate. Keep a save here to start the post-game grind from if you don't have a high enough bottle.
StrategyOnly the kills in Another Marona battle 3-8, "Final Battle", count for the 20 kills needed. Two appear here, so you'll need to cast Revive on both of them 9 times. Dungeon Monk is unlocked now, so you can use random dungeons to level some healers and build up their Healing SP. After you kill 20 and return to Phantom Isle, you'll get the message (and the achievement), but you won't actually be able to create them, there's just a gap in the wheel of classes where they should appear.
StrategyAppears in 4-1 and the second part of 4-2, this will be the last chance to get it. A level 24 bottle will have a 100% rate on the first; a level 29 bottle will have a 100% rate on the second. Use random dungeons to level if needed.
This is all the missables in the set, with the last chance to get them. This section contains some spoilers, as many missables are tied to certain characters.
WhenOnly the kills in Another Marona map 3-8, "Final Battle" count for the 20 kills needed. Two appear here, so you'll need to cast Revive on both of them 9 times.
WhenLast chance is in Another Marona 4-2 "Island of Evil", but it's pretty easy to do a New Game+, and get the one from Another Marona 1-4, "Another Girl".
Classes
Many of the classes will be unlock throughout the story, this section will focus on the ones that aren't. Enemies may appear in locations other than the ones given.
Here's where the grind gets going. These will be listed in roughly the recommended order, though there's a lot of flexibility in what you do when. All the grind will be listed first, take on the actual post-game maps whenever you feel able. As a general tip, watch out for your characters hitting a level cap, especially your Dungeon Monk and Fusionist; you'll basically always want them to be higher level.
StrategyStarting with this will get you a strong character, but more importantly will get you a lot of BOR for random dungeons. Pick whichever character (with at least 200 HP) you want to level and fuse things into them to get them 4500 mana. (If you don't have a Merchant leveled yet, they make a good choice, as that will get the next achievement as well.) Next, fuse a Titlist into them to get Big Bang; if their max level is still below 250, fuse a bit more to raise it. If Marona has high speed, give her the Failure title and/or a speed-lowering item (rock, pillar, etc.). Go to Monetopia map 2 and kill everything but the Old Man and one of the Level Up Scrabbits. Make sure you're out of range, then pass turns to allow it to level up; as it levels, it'll get more turns and level faster. Once it reaches 9999, throw an item next to it and confine your phantom with Big Bang, which will take out the still 50ish HP Scrabbit.
StrategyEither do the steps described in the achievement above with a Merchant, or buy out the Merchant's stock repeatedly, selling from the bottom of the list when your storage fills, to skip the summon animation. The main goal with this is to get some high-level Dark Wpns, which provide a good entry point into gathering items from random dungeons.
StrategyLevel a Dungeon Monk to at least level 11 (though higher is better for the rest of post-game), then cycle through dungeons until you find one with the 'Weird' enemy type, then go inside and get the 20 kills needed. If the level is too high for you, put the 'Failure' title on it. Make at least two for going forward.
StrategyMake a high level random dungeon with small floor size, few enemies, and no item restriction; if you're using Dark Wpns, around 2x the level of your weapons is a good starting point. Add a few titles to it if it doesn't have many floors, then finish by putting the 'Failure' title on it. Enter the dungeon and confine your bottles along with any others you want to level, then kill the few enemies on the floor. You'll get no exp for the kills, but you should get a good chunk of exp from confining to high level items, increasing as the dungeon level rises and your chain grows. Once your bottles reach level 100 or so, they'll be able to steal items around level 450, so aim for a (failure) dungeon around that level, and look for items inside with a high amount of mana to steal. After you've gathered 24,000 or so mana from items, make a Slime and 22 Dungeon Monks. (Slimes have high compatability, so their fusion costs are lower.) Give the Slime the mana, then fuse the Monks into it and transfer EXP. Riser each time. Once that's done, you can then fuse that Lv 99 EXP. Riser to one of your other characters.
StrategyPick any base item you like; items with high negatives (like skulls) will take longer, but in the end, all items can be made equal, as long as they can have a title. Most of the stats need can be gotten from Mt. Kazan map 4: steal Bread for HP, Rock for DEF, and Skulls for INT, RES, and SPD. Skulls will stop 5% short of the required amount for RES and SPD; get a Star Staff to finish RES, SPD will be handled with the ATK item: Dark Wpns. Dark Wpns will get you to 105% ATK normally; from there, you'll have two options: 1. Fuse several together to make a Dark Wpn with 105%, or 110%, or so on to reach 130%. 2. Leave it at 105% for now, and use the 'over-fishing' glitch described in the section below to steal Star and Demon Axes.
StrategyNot necessary at all, but one neat trick you can do is have the normally title-less character you earn from EX9 kill some allies, on Phantom Isle or a battle map, to gain dark points. With <100 dark, they can gain the Unliked title, and at 100, the Blsphm title, from a 'While you were out' event if they're not used in battle. After that, you can replace the title with anything else you like, though it would be best to have Grannies bring its dark back to 0 before using a good title. Alternately, you can have a created phantom gain the dark points and the title, then fuse them to transfer the Dark Eboreus skill. Ash and Marona with dark points won't trigger the attack event, and thus can't gain the Blsphm title. Note also that the Blsphm title isn't added to your list if you swap it out with a Titlist or banish the phantom.
StrategyCan be done concurrently with the two achievements below. 'Legend' is a title that can spawn on items in a random dungeon alongside other high-rank titles, such as Perfct or Plasma, but it has the added requirement that you be on floor 61+. Just keep an eye out for it as you go deep into high-level dungeons, and it should show up at some point.
StrategyCan be done concurrently with the achievement below. Pick any title you like, put it on a dungeon, and clear floors in the dungeon. Its stats will go up as you clear floors, and at the end you'll get the strengthened title back. Put it on another dungeon to increase it further, until it's fully leveled, including steal. Bear in mind that past a certain point, you'll need higher level dungeons to have a chance at an increase, and it may even weaken if the dungeon is too low-level.
StrategyUsing the steps from "Number Go Up", steal a bunch of high level items with high mana, put the 'Failure' title on your chosen base weapon, and fuse the stolen items into your base, choosing 'Equipment Ability UP' as much as you can afford. Put a positive title on at the end and equip it on Marona. This should let you go to much stronger, non-Failure dungeons to get more mana and Exp. Dungeons with the Beast or Giant enemy type will give more Exp, so look for those, and give the dungeon a title with good EXP%. Pass the weapon to your bottles to get them more Exp to steal stronger items and continue the cycle. At level 1250, bottles can steal level 9999 items that have a steal of 8 (i.e. most normal items).
StrategyFirst, you'll need 3 level 9999 Eggs/Changebooks. They both have a steal of 20, so you'll need a level 1250 bottle with a title that gives at least +96 steal (a higher level bottle can use a worse title, but below 1250 is not possible). Make a dungeon with 11+ (though not too many more) floors, starting level 5000+, and preferably 1 enemy per floor. Clear to the second to last floor, then Return and save. From here you can try to get the items the normal way, or by 'over-fishing'; I'll list the normal way here, over-fishing is described below. So, go back in and clear the next floor. If the next floor doesn't have an Egg or Changebook, reload and try again. If it does have one, steal it, then Return, and put a rank 1 title (e.g. Remiss) on the dungeon to add 3 floors to it. Now you can go back in, get to the second to last floor, and Return and save to try for another. Once you have 3, kill the character you want to reincarnate (use the Mysterious Ghost to kill if you want to avoid dark points). Attack them again to destroy their body. At the healer, select them, then select the Egg/Changebook, and choose Yes to reincarnate. They'll return to level 1, and you'll be able to distribute Spiritual Exp again. After 3 reincarnations with level 9999 items, you'll be given the maximum of 300 points to distribute.
StrategyGetting this is made much easier by 'over-fishing', but here's the full requirements for getting the sword: 1. At least 10 starting level (technically you could go as low as 8, but then only "Self-styled god" could have the sword; at starting level 10, all three boss types can have it). 2. A floors cleared streak of 98. So, if you go into floor 1 and Return without clearing a floor, you can still have a chance at the end. Those are the only two requirements; if you want to put the Failure title on the dungeon, you can, and if you want to do starting level 10 or 9000, neither seem to have an effect on the chance that the Divine Swd appears (though, make sure you're capable of stealing the sword if you choose a higher starting level). If you attempt to get this without over-fishing, best of luck.
StrategyBuild up 4 characters or so using 100% stat titles, full Spiritual Exp (over-fishing highly recommended for stealing 12 Eggs), and leveling to 2000 or so. Giving strong passive skills such as Energy Saver, Quick Attack, Healing Birth, and Healing Steps is also helpful. If using a New Game+ from Another Marona, you can use Carona as one of your built-up characters, who can then confine healers with Quick Attack and Revive if you have any deaths. Regardless, with 100 points in SPD, level 2000, and doubled stats, the enemies shouldn't get too many turns.
StrategyLevel curve of these maps is less severe than the others, though you will likely still need to level a bit to finish. Check the mail to get started; each letter you get will tell you where to go next. If you haven't stolen a Heliotrope yet, your last chance will be on the final map of the Stamp Rally, so be prepared.
StrategyThe Hermuda Island maps start out somewhat reasonable, but ramp up quite a bit by the end. Each gives a new character, so it's worth doing them as you're able, to see if there's anyone you like.
StrategyMuch like the Hermuda Island maps, the EX start out easy, but the final EX maps are the hardest in the game. The first two should be doable without extra grinding; after that, you'll need to start upping your characters' power to make progress. Some of the maps have requirements beyond 'beat the previous map'; they'll be listed below.
StrategyClear EX6, THEN clear a random dungeon with 50+ floors and starting level 500+. This map and all following maps can be done before EX1-5 and 7. Make sure to steal the staff here.
Over-fishing (from the Japanese term, 乱獲) is a known glitch in the Japanese community, but one I hadn't seen discussed on the English side. I'll give specific steps below, but here's how it works: get to a boss in a dungeon, then Return. Store anything you have that can generate a 'While you were out' event, e.g. items generating mana, merchants making money, soldiers doing nothing, etc.. Then, go clear a normal map. This will give you a dungeon streak of 1, and if no events happen when you go back to Phantom Isle, that streak won't be removed. So now, you can go back to that dungeon on the boss floor, and the boss will have a new item. Further, you can Return and re-enter, and the boss will have a new item each time, as no new events are being made to remove your streak. This can be used for all dungeon items, from Eggs to Demon Axes, and even the Divine Swd.
Step-by-step how to use:
Create a dungeon with the appropriate level and floors:
For hunting Eggs, you want starting level 5000+ and as close to 11 floors as you can without going under
For higher-rank items (e.g. Demon Axe, Divine Swd), you need starting level of at least 10, and 91+ floors (yes, even for Divine Swd, 91 is enough).
Clear the dungeon until you get to the second to last floor, then Return and save.
Go back in and clear the floor. If you don't get a boss floor, reload and try again. If you do, steal its item if you like, then Return.
Store any items that are on the island, as well as any characters that have a 'While you were out' event, e.g. Merchant, Old Man, Soldier. If you want to be sure, just store everything except your Dungeon Monk.
Clear a normal map, e.g. Terra Firma 1 (make sure you don't create any events, e.g. Slime getting unlocked, or mana from a new item obtained)
Go back to Phantom Isle. If you didn't get any events, you can now go back into the dungeon, and the boss will have a new item. You can Return and go back in, and the boss will continue to have new items without having to clear a map again.
For Divine Swd, you will need to build a 'streak' of 98 map clears; the achievement "Yoshitsuna" will track your progress in the achievement menu, and the icon will show when you reach 98. Your streak isn't saved; you can save after step 4, but the 98 map clears all have to be in one session. Check back at Phantom Isle occasionally if you want to be sure you don't have any events. Once you have the streak of 98, the process is the same as the other items: enter the dungeon, check for Divine Swd, Return and re-enter if it's not there. Your streak will be maintained until you quit the game or generate an event. (Note: if you clear a dungeon floor, the Dungeon Monk will generate an 'Exp gained' event.)
Secret Skills
How'd They Do That? requires using a secret skill; these are skills that are available when equipping certain classes with certain items, but don't initially show up on the item or class. All usable skills are listed below. Note: secret skills that can be used another way, such as Rainbow Slash or Zombie lite, will not activate the achievement and are not listed below.
Secret Skills
Class
Item
Skill
Boar
Axe
Volcano
Boar
Bomb
Bomb!
Merman, Mermaid
Sword
Spitfire
Merman, Mermaid
Fish
DHA
Merman, Mermaid
Bomb
H2 Oh Yeah
Putty (All types)
Mushroom
Sporedom
Putty, Putty Monk
Trolly
Psy Clone
Putty, Putty Monk
Bomb
Galaxy Shot
Putty Shaman, Putty Mage, Putty Smith
Vase
Vase Cannon
Putty Shaman, Putty Mage, Putty Smith
Pumpkin
Pumpsicle
Funguy
Spear
Mushroom Drill
Funguy
Tree
Eco Gunner
Funguy
Mushroom
Shiitake Soup
Funguy
Stump
Maitake Bomb
Funguy
Vase
Magic Mushroom
Funguy
Crate
Shroom Vendor
Funguy
Bomb
Mush Dance
Dragon
Sword
Breath Slash
Dragon
Spear
Bolt Cannon
Dragon
Tree
Dragon Prayer
Dragon
Vase
Dragon Cannon
Dragon
Skull
Dragon Specter
Dragon
Bone
Dragon Shot
Dragon
Pillar
Dragon Hammer
Golem
Spear
Golem Lance
Golem
Rock
Gaean Punch
Golem
Skull
Lifeless Eyes
Manticore, Fenrir, Death Corgi, Gigabeast, Behemoth
Sword
King Sword
Manticore, Fenrir, Death Corgi, Gigabeast, Behemoth
Spear
King Javelin
Manticore, Fenrir, Death Corgi, Gigabeast, Behemoth
