General Things to Keep in Mind

Throughout this guide, I will refer to a lot of button inputs, particularly in the team setup menus. I personally find it easier to memorize inputs rather than specific directions, especially in the more complicated menus. I will also use the term Z Mode to refer to pressing Z to open the game's Icon Mode during a mission. This will be your primary means of moving units.

Text boxes can only be advanced by pressing the A button. Not holding it, not pressing any other button, just the A button. Prepare to mash it for the first two minutes of the run.

The more zoomed in the map camera is, the slower your cursor in relation to the map will be. If you need to make movements outside of Z Mode, it may help you to hold R to zoom out the camera fully beforehand. You can also tilt the C-stick up to flatten the camera, allowing a moving cursor to cover more space in less time.

At the start of a battle, the camera will be placed in a random position that can be adjusted with the d-pad. When you target a monster with an attack, the camera has to pan to the target's team and back to its previous position before the attack will be executed. If the camera is behind the target team, this panning is noticeably slow. When the camera starts behind the enemy, you can reduce time loss by moving it left or right to the side, as in not behind either team. If you have to move it more than once, only move it once between attacks. You do not have to wait for the camera change to finish before attacking. You can press the d-pad and immediately choose to attack.

Best guesses on attack accuracy and critical hit rates are about 90% and 5%, respectively. An analysis of the game's code is needed for precise rates.

Monster attacks appear to inflict as little as 75% of their maximum damage. Damage ranges will come into play often. More research needs to be done.

Turn order appears to have a random element to it. All that is known for certain is that every monster will get an opportunity to act in a given “round” of combat. Paying attention to the turn order will be critical in certain fights. More research needs to be done.

Some enemy monsters hold consumable items. Blue Medicine and Red Medicine will be used on any monster on the team that has less than 50% of their maximum Life-Points. I believe priority goes towards monsters with lower health. An enemy monster will use Polymerization if all of the fusion materials are alive and:

1. their Life-Points are below 30%; or
2. they are on their last turn. The only teams you should be running into with Polymerization are the bosses of Mission 18 and Mission 21.

Battle plans generally revolve around defeating enemies before they can take all of their turns, saving on attack animations. Monsters with the most Action-Points/stars are the biggest targets.

A monster that is guarding uses its DEF stat to reduce damage and stays guarded until it is either damaged by a normal attack or they get their next turn. The game will keep track of these turns even if the monster runs out of Action-Points.

Battles that are not decided by a full party wipe are determined via a point system. This should only be relevant early on. Attacking gives you 100 points plus the damage inflicted. Using a SPECIAL attack gives 600 points, instead, per monster involved in the attack. Critical hits add 500 points on top of that. Defending gives you 250 points plus 50 if your monster is attacked while guarding. Dodging an attack gives you 500 points. Knocking out a monster gives you a bonus of at least 25 points, but varies based on multiple factors (monster's remaining Action-Points and Level?). Waiting penalizes you 50 points.

The more Action-Points your monsters have, the more likely they can ESCAPE from battles.

When a cannon goes off, the camera pans to the affected unit, a cutscene plays, and then the camera goes back to its original position. You will want to be focused on that unit to reduce the camera pan time.

The NTSC-U version, by default, has SWAP MODE in the CONFIG turned ON. While ON, units battling in the map will swap positions at the end of the battle. More accurately, this option turned ON allows unit circles to overlap in the map. When this option is turned OFF, units have to wait five seconds before moving again no matter the outcome of the battle. Incidentally, when a unit is pushed back from a base after a battle, the unit will be stopped by any other units immediately behind them. This can be used to reduce the walking distance of a slow unit, potentially leading to faster base re-entry depending on the unit's speed.

Mission 1: WAR CAMPAIGN

PREPARATIONS (after two minutes of mashing a single button)

1. MARK and EDIT Fizdis. REMOVE Horn Imp. (Down, X, A, X, B )
2. EDIT Shimon. REMOVE Zombie Warrior and Beaver Warrior. (Down, X, Right, X, B )
3. EDIT Yugi. REPLACE Kuriboh with Beaver Warrior (R). (Down, A, A, R, A)
4. REPLACE Celtic Guardian with Horn Imp (down). (Left, A, Down, A)
5. REPLACE Feral Imp with Celtic Guardian (up right). (Left, A, Up Right diagonal, A)

Your monsters start out very weak. You will need all of the firepower you can carry to defeat the first boss and this team maximizes your chances of winning in two battles. Horn Imp moves faster in the field than the rest so it goes in the middle. Feral Imp is stronger than Beaver Warrior, but only has two Action-Points compared to the other's three. Zombie Warrior will be used in the next mission by Fizdis so you might as well take it from Shimon now.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to MAKHAD. (Z, A, A)
2. MOVE Fizdis to RUTHUM (up one). FOCUS on Yugi and exit Z Mode. (Down, A, Up, A, R, Z)
3. MOVE Yugi through the top edge of the forest. You might want to adjust the camera first by moving the C-Stick left.
4. When Yugi is halfway through the forest, Z Mode MOVE Yugi to MAKHAD. FOCUS on the boss, Etos. (Z, A, A, Right, R)

This mission teaches you to take unoccupied bases to draw the attention of your enemies. When you take RUTHUM as Shimon directs you (and ONLY RUTHUM), the officer in the main enemy base will leave to take it back, leaving you with only one team to fight at MAKHAD. Going directly there from your base, however, will have you run into an encounter with Silver Fang, a base 1200 ATK Beast. The benefit of using Silver Fang over Kanikabuto in later missions is marginal compared to the time it takes to defeat it in battle.

Etos battles

Defeat in this order: Swordsman From a Foreign Land (X), Basic Insect (Y ), Blackland Fire Dragon (A). Swordsman From a Foreign Land has the most Action-Points and the least Life-Points. This is an example of how you generally prioritize targets.

First battle: If a monster is guarding, move on to the next monster. If everyone is guarding, WAIT. If no attacks miss, you can knock out Swordsman From a Foreign Land and Basic Insect in the first battle.

Second battle: If you have missed at least two attacks in this mission, WAIT if the last enemy is guarding. Adjust this accordingly for any meaningful critical hits you get.

On average, these monsters will go down in 4, 5, and 7 hits respectively.

Mission 2: FURY OF THE EMPIRE

PREPARATIONS

1. EDIT Yugi. Give ITEM Blue Medicine to Horn Imp. REPLACE Horn Imp with Feral Imp (R, down). (A, Z, A, A, B, A, R, Down, A, B )
2. EDIT Fizdis. REPLACE middle with Horn Imp (right). (Down, A, A, Right, A) Remember, this is our speedy monster.
3. REPLACE Kanikabuto with Blackland Fire Dragon (up). (Left, A, Up, A)
4. REPLACE Penguin Soldier with Zombie Warrior (R, down, down). (Left, A, R, Down, Down, A)

Most of Yugi's monsters will be useful, but not yet. Not much point in swapping them out only to swap them back in for the next mission, especially when a second team can be useful here. Shimon should not be given anything for reasons that will be explained later so we'll give the second team to Fizdis to work with. This team of all Night-Adept monsters in this night-based mission is going to go to work and they will need healing to get through it all.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Fizdis (down) to PHOTHWO (down three). (Z, Down, A, Down, Down, Down, A)
2. MOVE Yugi to ASHUTON. Exit Z Mode and move your cursor near PHOTHWO, but not on it. (A, A, Z, Control Stick Up Left)
3. Enter the Konami Code several times until Fizdis gets near PHOTHWO. (WITH D-PAD, Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A)

This mission teaches you to build equipment for your bases and suggests that you take a nearby unoccupied base and build something to fortify it. Since this only serves to get the enemy's attention when we don't need to, we will not do that. Instead, the run is about to make its first of three shopping trips to buy ATK-boosting equipment for your monsters. Boosting your monsters' ATK is the fast-track to success in this game and the trader at PHOTHWO gives you access to boosters that the greatest amount of your monsters can equip. Unfortunately, with all of the equipment you will want to get, you are not going to have enough Gold to buy it all without losing time to capturing extra bases. Enter the Konami Code. Each use of it when you're not highlighting a team or base gets you a “Yu-Gi-Oh!” sound effect and 573 Gold for immediate use. You will only need it a handful of times to get everything that will be bought in this run, but you have a LOT of time to wait for anything to happen in this mission so you might as well do it as much as you can while you wait. We'll be waiting on Fizdis to finish this mission so send her out first.

PHOTHWO battles

Defeat in this order: Uraby (Y ), Stuffed Animal (X), Tiger Axe (A)

You will have time to heal twice before the second battle.

With the right critical hit, it is possible to knock out both Uraby and Stuffed Animal in the first battle.

4. After the last battle, build EQUIPMENT TRADE UNION if not already unlocked (Up twice in Equipment menu), then buy 11 Legendary Swords (13 total items) and 9 Beast Fangs (22 total items).
5. Z Mode MOVE Fizdis (down) to ASHUTON. FOCUS on Sebeckal. (Z, Down, A, A, Right, R)

Yes, we are using this many. For the Legendary Swords, 3 are going onto Beaver Warrior, 3 on Celtic Guardian, 3 on Swordsman From a Foreign Land, and 2 more on Ansatsu when he comes along. The Beast Fangs will get used like this: 3 to Kanikabuto, 3 to Penguin Soldier, and 3 to Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts. Harpie Lady will also want 2 later on, but I found it about one-third of a second faster to unequip 2 items than to buy 2 more. The extra battles will be made up for in spades over the next few missions.

Sebeckal battles

Defeat in this order: Mountain Warrior (X), Armored Lizard (Y ), Axe Raider (A).

Axe Raider has a Legendary Sword, but it tends to take all of its turns before Armored Lizard does or otherwise it would be a better target. Yugi's team will be hard-pressed to defeat Sebeckal in two battles with or without healing, anyway, so you shouldn't worry about their damage. We'll let Fizdis finish this.

Before the second battle, stop Yugi and heal with Fizdis accordingly. Then, MOVE Yugi to ASHUTON so that he enters the base AFTER Fizdis does.

Mission 3: STRATEGY

PREPARATIONS

1. MARK and EDIT Tristan. REMOVE Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Swordsman From a Foreign Land. (Down, X, A, X, Left, X, B )
2. EDIT Yugi. Give ITEM three Legendary Swords to Celtic Guardian. (Up, A, Z, A, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A, B )
3. Give ITEM three Legendary Swords to Beaver Warrior. (Left, Z, A, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A, B )
4. REPLACE Feral Imp with Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (R, down right). (Left, A, R, Down Right diagonal, A)
5. Give ITEM three Beast Fangs to Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts. (Z, scroll to first one, B, B )
6. EDIT Fizdis. REPLACE Horn Imp with Penguin Soldier (R). Give ITEM three Beast Fangs. (Up, Up, A, A, R, A, Z, A, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A, B )
7. REPLACE Blackland Fire Dragon with Kanikabuto (left). Give ITEM three Beast Fangs. (Left, A, Left, A, Z, A, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A, B )
8. REPLACE Zombie Warrior with Swordsman From a Foreign Land (down right). Give ITEM three Legendary Swords. (Left, A, Down Right diagonal, A, Z, scroll up to third sword in list before equipping, B, B )
9. EDIT Tristan. REPLACE Giant Soldier of Stone with Horn Imp. Exit Marshal Select. (Up, A, A, Down Left diagonal, A, B, B )
10. CONFIG change SWAP MODE to OFF. (Y, Up, Right, A)

The next two missions will be sped up tremendously by this equipment. Fizdis's team can even be of use in this mission. Horn Imp's map speed is still useful for the rest of the game, though. Since Shimon still has other plans, Tristan can have Horn Imp. Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts will be used in this mission for multiple battles, but is a slow unit in the map so the SWAP MODE trick mentioned in the opening section will be used to cut the waiting time between battles. It should save, at best, two seconds.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to TELENOES. (Z, A, A)
2. MOVE Tristan (down) to TELENOES. Keep moving Tristan so that he is directly behind Yugi when Yugi enters TELENOES. (Down, A, A)

This mission wants you to wait for multiple minutes until the timer reaches 9:00 for a trap to be set off at the base in the middle. If you did not get the equips from the last mission, you would want to do this and take the base to the south so that the officer in TELENOES leaves after 9:00, putting you alone with the boss, Granus, afterwards. However, since we're so overpowered at this point, we can just power right through the officer and Granus before the trap goes off. Horn Imp is the only thing you have that can move fast enough to serve as a "blocker," of sorts, for the SWAP MODE trick.

TELENOES battles

Officer battle

Celtic Guardian and Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts should be able to take out Shadow Ghoul (Y ) on their own.

Beaver Warrior should weaken Rocket Warrior (X) for Celtic Guardian to defeat next round.

Save Mystic Horseman (A) for last.

Do not attack anyone that is guarding unless you have two attacks to spare.

I have seen Celtic Guardian inflict 410 to close to 500 damage in this battle. I have seen Beaver Warrior inflict 380 to 470 damage in this battle. Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts will likely fall in the same range as Celtic Guardian. None of these KOs are guaranteed as planned. If you missed them both, you will justify Fizdis's presence by needing another battle.

Granus battle:

First round:

If Celtic Guardian moves first, attack Lava Battleguard (X). Otherwise, WAIT.

If Beaver Warrior moves first, attack Zanki (A).

If Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts moves first, attack Lava Battleguard. Otherwise, WAIT.

If Zanki and Lava Battleguard have moved before your team, take out Zanki with all.

If Zanki and Lava Battleguard move before you take two turns, take out the weakened target with all.

If your target is guarding, WAIT.

Otherwise, give all of your monsters the aforementioned battle orders.

Second round:

If Zanki/Lava Battleguard would be knocked into healing range and they have not taken their turn(s), WAIT.

Zanki and Lava Battleguard each have Blue Medicine. If they move early in a round, then the decision is easy. Otherwise, you may have to wait around a lot to avoid healing. Zanki is a damage range to get knocked out against two of your monsters' attacks.

Mission 4: BATTLE FOR TSUGHUT

PREPARATIONS

1. On the world map, CONFIG change SWAP MODE to ON. (Y, Up, Left, A)

SWAP MODE OFF will only slow you down for the rest of the run. The five second wait before resuming movement in between battles only wastes time.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to TSUGHUT. (Z, A, A)
2. MOVE Tristan (down) to TSUGHUT and exit Z Mode. (Down, A, A, Z)
3. Build EQUIPMENT ANTI-GROUND CANNON (down) and BARRICADE (down twice). (A, Down, A, Down, A, A, A, A, Right, Down, Down, A)
4. TEAM COMMAND MOVE Fizdis inside your base to move her to the front. (Up, A, A, A, B )

This is the first mission that has enemies immediately assaulting your base. You could simply ESCAPE every battle if you don't want to deal with them, but if you have a team that can fight them off, you can save minutes on this mission. The ANTI-GROUND CANNON will deal with the Dark Elf unit to shorten that battle considerably. TSUGHUT's cannons will similarly weaken your units so bring either healing or cannon fodder.

Slot Machine battle

Split your first two attacks between Zarigun (Y ) and Phantom Dewan (X) in case you get a critical hit. Use your third attack on whoever one of them has not acted. Save Slot Machine (A) for last.

5. Move your cursor down right to the Dark Elf unit and press Y to focus on it before the cannon goes off.

Dark Elf battle

Take out whoever has not acted, but save Cyber Commander (Y ) for last because its guard is so weak that anyone can break through it and still kill. Anyone can knock out everyone.

6. Z Mode FOCUS on Tristan. (Z, Down, R)
7. After the cannon goes off, MOVE Tristan out of Yugi's way.
8. Z Mode FOCUS on Kepulia. (Z, Right, R)

Kepulia battle(s)

Defeat in this order: Mountain Warrior (X), Axe Raider (Y ), Battle Ox (A)

Do not attack anyone that is guarding.

If Mountain Warrior has moved early in a round, try to get a critical hit on Axe Raider before knocking out Mountain Warrior.

Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Celtic Guardian have the slightest of slight odds to knock out Axe Raider. Even a single miss will likely require a second battle.

Mission 5: TURBULENT WATERS

PREPARATIONS

1. EDIT Bakura. REMOVE Ansatsu. (Down, Down, A, X, B )
2. EDIT Yugi. REPLACE Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts with Ansatsu (R). Give ITEM two Legendary Swords. (Up, Up, A, A, R, A, Z, Down, A, A, Down, A, A)

Ansatsu's value to this run is in its map speed and being a Warrior that can equip the biggest ticket item on the shopping list for this next mission.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to THOR-MOUNT (down twice). (Z, A, Down, Down, A)
2. MOVE Tristan to VAN-LOVA (up twice). (Down, A, Up, Up, A)
3. As soon as Yugi's circle leaves the screen, MOVE Yugi to GIGAN-SYIP (down one). (A, Down, A)
4. Exit Z Mode and move your cursor to VAN-LOVA.
5. When Tristan makes it, build EQUIPMENT TRADE UNION (up two) and buy 2 Electro-Whip, 4 Beast Fangs, and 9 Silver Bow and Arrow. (19 total items) (A, Down, A, Up, Up, A, A, A, Down, Down, start buying)
6. After buying everything and leaving the menus, Z Mode FOCUS on Secmayton. (Z, Right, R)

There is a base directly in the path to GIGAN-SYIP that does not need to be taken and should be avoided. Taking VAN-LOVA not only lets you buy all these items that will primarily get used on a second team that will replace Fizdis as the primary base defender, but also diverts the enemies away from Ansatsu's path. Electro-Whip will make Harpie Lady an important monster in this run, so much so that two of them will be used. Spreading paralysis saves so many minutes over the course of this run.

Secmayton battle(s)

If Fiend Kraken (X) acts first and does not guard, take it out with two attacks. Otherwise: Ansatsu attack Sea King Dragon (A).

Celtic Guardian attack Giant Red Seasnake (Y ).

Beaver Warrior attack Fiend Kraken.

Fiend Kraken has Blue Medicine and is the only reason this battle goes any longer than it should. Beaver Warrior is the least likely to knock it into healing range.

Mission 6: BADLANDS

PREPARATIONS

1. EDIT Yugi. Replace ITEM one Legendary Sword with Silver Bow and Arrow for each monster. (scroll to the third Silver Bow and Arrow in the list before equipping the first one)

Attacks from monsters equipped with Silver Bow and Arrow cannot be dodged. It also carries the same ATK boost as a Legendary Sword. However, it can only be equipped by Warriors and Spirits. With Yugi's all-Warrior team, the next two missions will be made way more consistent. We'll come into possession of suitable Spirits later.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to AIR-SHRINE, then to TOWER-PEGASI (down twice). (Z, A, A, A, Down, Down, A)

2. MOVE Tristan (down) to TOWER-SIRIUS (down three). (Down, A, Down, Down, Down, A).

3. FOCUS on Yugi and exit Z Mode. Move the C-stick right and down until you can see AIR-SHRINE in the distance in the middle of the screen.

4. As soon as a gray cloud appears under Yugi's unit, MOVE Yugi straight up and slightly left to the shelf in the mountain terrain past TOWER-PEGASI.

5. Move your cursor to Tristan and stop him before he enters TOWER-SIRIUS.

6. Make any necessary adjustments to Yugi to avoid the enemy, then Z Mode MOVE Yugi to AIR-SHRINE. Exit Z Mode.

7. Move your cursor to Tristan and turn the camera towards TOWER-PEGASI. At the last moment there is only empty space between the enemy and TOWER-SIRIUS, MOVE Tristan into TOWER-SIRIUS.

8. Build EQUIPMENT TRADE UNION and buy 3 Multiply.

9. Exit the menus and Z Mode FOCUS on Darkness. (Z, Right, R)

Taking the straightest line to the boss in this mission requires threading a needle between encounters with Summoned Skull and The Illusory Gentleman while dodging the enemy teams. This is also the last shopping trip of the run. Thanks to Multiply, Kuriboh unlocks a special attack that hits all enemies and gets a significant power boost, becoming a DPS powerhouse for the second half of the run. Having Tristan enter the base when he does keeps the enemy units from entering TOWER-PEGASI while moving toward him, saving a second.

Darkness battle(s)

Defeat in this order: Reaper of the Cards (Y ), Dark King of the Abyss (X), King of Yamimakai (A)

If your first two attacks get a KO, use the third attack on King of Yamimakai.

If your last attack in a round would knock a monster into healing range, WAIT.

This fight is... problematic, to put it lightly. Reaper of the Cards is holding a Monster Reborn. Knocking out one of the others first will just lead to it getting revived at half-LP. If that happens, you will definitely need another battle. You will not defeat Reaper of the Cards without resistance, however. King of Yamimakai has Blue Medicine and Dark King of the Abyss has Red Medicine, a full-LP heal. Random turn order may screw you over, but this attack progression has gotten me the most consistency.

Mission 7: CRUCIAL BATTLE

PREPARATIONS

1. EDIT Yugi. REPLACE Beaver Warrior with Kuriboh (L, down right). Give ITEM three Multiply. (A, Right, A, L, Down Right diagonal, A, Z, scroll to first Multiply--or flick the control stick down once?)

MISSION START

1. TEAM COMMAND MOVE Tristan up right to right edge of river. (A, A, Right, A, stick up right, A, B )
2. MOVE Yugi to the same spot. (A, A, A, B, B )
3. When Yugi touches the water, Z Mode MOVE Tristan to ENNO and MOVE Yugi to ENNO. Exit Z Mode. (Z, Down, A, A, A, A, Z)
4. Move your cursor back to your base and TEAM COMMAND MOVE a unit to the bridge on the right.
5. Z Mode FOCUS on Tristan. (Z, Down, R)
6. After the cannon, MOVE Tristan up out of Yugi's way. Z Mode FOCUS on Haysheen. (Z, Right, R)

The most direct path to ENNO is blocked not only by PHOSTENN, but also the enemy Millenium Golem unit headed directly to your base. Moving your units more right than up out of your base with this visual cue may run Yugi right into the Millenium Golem. ENNO is guarded by an ANTI-GROUND CANNON so cannon fodder is advised. Millenium Golem will move into PHOSTENN before proceeding towards your base and initiating a battle. Putting a unit in between will stop Millenium Golem from leaving PHOSTENN.

Haysheen battle

If Ansatsu goes first, attack Mystical Elf (A). If left with 610 or less LP, finish it off with Kuriboh. If not and Kuriboh acts next before Axe Raider, WAIT.

If Celtic Guardian goes first, attack Axe Raider (X). Finish off with Kuriboh.

If Kuriboh goes first, multiply (Z). Finish off Zanki (Y ) with Ansatsu. Attack Axe Raider with Celtic Guardian and hope you act before it does.

If Axe Raider goes first, multiply and attack it with all.

Axe Raider has Red Medicine. Kuriboh's normal attack is so strong that it inflicts more than 50% LP to Mystical Elf. Ansatsu, by itself, has enough attacks to overcome any healing that Axe Raider would do.

Mission 8: REFUGEES

IMPORTANT: If you do not follow these instructions, you will likely get into extra battles and either just lose minutes or straight-up game over. Your options here are very limited.

MISSION START

1. IMMEDIATELY MOVE Tea straight up as far as you can within one second.

2. Z Mode prepare to MOVE Tea to CRAW-VALLEY. Time the move at THREE TO FIVE ticks/seconds after the quarter-hour on the mission timer. (8:18-8:20 AM)

3. ???

4. Profit!

This mission has multiple win conditions: -take control of VRAUSON to the east; or -move Tea's team into CRAW-VALLEY. The Wing Eagle team is too fast for Tea to escape to the south, much less the west. You will also get caught as soon as you try to enter BEYZON. There is room to escape to the east and either proceed towards VRAUSON or loop around north and west, but you're really just taking the long way around. North it is. The slower you move Tea north, the longer you will have to wait to time the CRAW-VALLEY move.

Fun fact: I used to use the position of the Berfomet teams as a visual cue on when to move Tea, but with menus in the way, I had to move the camera a specific way in order to see them and my success rate was not that great. I guess my initial testing was just lucky. Thanks to VyseOfLegends9002 for suggesting the timer as a cue, allowing me to hone in on that sweet spot.

Mission 9: BREAK FREE

PREPARATIONS

1. MARK Mai. (Left, Left, X)

The second Harpie Lady is recruited here, but Mai's Harpie Lady has to be in the team that encounters her. Since Mai will explicitly be needed later, it's just most convenient to leave Harpie Lady with her and MARK her for later use.

A previous route did not use the second Harpie Lady and, instead, gave Mai's Harpie Lady to Yugi. Comparing the two routes, recruiting Harpie Lady "2" is about a 20 second detour in the map and expected to lose 15 seconds in the upcoming battle. Mai's Harpie Lady does replace Dancing Elf in the previous route and has a 0.5 second shorter attack animation, cutting 7 seconds over the rest of the run. This leaves 28 seconds of attacks for Harpie Lady to prevent through paralysis before you see time savings. With about a dozen opportunities to prevent attacks, there is ample opportunity to make up this time.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to CHELYUMN. (Z, A, A)
2. MOVE Mai (up two) to CE-REIZO (up one). FOCUS on Yugi and exit Z Mode. (Up, Up, A, Up, A, R, Z)
3. Turn your camera with the C-stick towards the curve in the edge of the forest terrain just to the right of CHELYUMN. Below should be a screenshot highlighting the forest area you should aim for:
4. As soon as Yugi enters the mountain terrain, MOVE Yugi straight up to the dirt below the forest.
5. Move your cursor to Mai, turn your camera so it faces due south, and MOVE Mai straight up to the where the desert terrain widens due west of CE-REIZO. Below is the minimap representation of where Mai should end up:
6. As soon as Yugi starts to leave the desert terrain, MOVE Yugi next to CHELYUMN. Z Mode FOCUS on Atensa. (Z, Right, R)
7. After Harpie Lady (Ocupete) is recruited, MOVE Yugi to CHELYUMN.

There is nothing you can do to keep the enemies from moving away from your base so all you can do is move around them.

Atensa battle

Recommended orders:

-Round 1: Kuriboh multiply, the others attack Giant Mech Soldier

-Round 2: Kuriboh attack Cyber Soldier, the others attack Launcher Spider

Atensa is the joke that the game would lead you to believe he is. Sometimes Kuriboh will not have enough Action-Points to multiply twice.

Mission 10: COUNTERATTACK

PREPARATIONS

1. EDIT Tea. REMOVE Gyakutenno Megami and Dark Witch. (Left, Up Left diagonal, A, Left, X, Left, X, B )
2. EDIT Mai. REPLACE Curse of Dragon with Dark Witch (R, R, down right). Give ITEM three Silver Bow and Arrows. (Down, A, A, R, R, Down Right diagonal, A, Z, A, scroll to first Silver Bow and Arrow, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A, B )
3. REPLACE Harpie's Pet Dragon with Gyakutenno Megami (right). Give ITEM three Silver Bow and Arrows. (Right, A, Right, A, Z, A, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A, B )
4. Give Harpie Lady ITEM two Beast Fangs and Electro-Whip. (Right, Z, A, scroll to third Beast Fangs, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A, B, B )
5. EDIT Yugi. REPLACE Celtic Guardian with Harpie Lady (Ocupete) (down). Give ITEM two Beast Fangs and Electro-Whip. (Down, Left, A, Left, A, Down, A, Z, A, scroll to first Beast Fangs, A, Down, A, A, Down, A, A)

Having a good secondary team to fend off attacks on your base will save time for the rest of the run. Tea's stronger monsters and access to Silver Bow and Arrow fit the bill nicely, but Mai will need to win a later mission so give the team to her. The Harpie Lady you just recruited comes at level 25, higher than anything else you have at this point, and will have almost as much ATK as Ansatsu. It is best in Yugi's hands.

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Mai (up three) to MARYAH-DENN. Exit Z Mode. (Z, Up, Up, Up, A, A)
2. MOVE Yugi to RIZ-PHONN (down one) to put Yugi to the front of your base. Exit Z Mode. (A, Down, A, Z)
3. Build EQUIPMENT BARRICADE on your base. (A, Down, A, Down, Down, A, A, A, B )
4. Move your cursor to Mai and MOVE her to directly between the middle of the forest and the city to the right, SEIRAUNA.
5. As the Kaiser Dragon team is about to reach your base, Z Mode MOVE Mai to MARYAH-DENN. (Z, Up, Up, Up, A, A)

The objective of this mission is to reach Scott at MARYAH-DENN. You do not fight him here. Just get to him with your fastest team. Enemies come at your base from three directions to slow you down, including from MARYAH-DENN. Two of them will reach your base before you can reach Scott because you have to move out of the other's way. It ends up about 15 seconds faster to fight off the first team with Yugi than to ESCAPE from both teams, which itself was 15 seconds faster than fighting off the first team with Mai sans Harpie Lady. Yugi and Mai have roughly the same map speed at this point. The choice of who to send to Scott is clear.

Kaiser Dragon battle

-Round 1: Ansatsu attack Parrot Dragon (Y ) if it is not paralyzed or has not taken their turn. Otherwise, attack Kaiser Dragon (A).

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady attack Kaiser Dragon or Parrot Dragon, in that order, depending on who has not moved.

-Round 2: Kuriboh multiply.

The others should finish off Curse of Dragon (X).

You will learn to HATE Kaiser Dragon's long attack animation.

6. ESCAPE (L) the Labyrinth Tank battle.

7. Z Mode FOCUS on Scott. (Z, Right, R)

Mission 11: SPELLCASTER

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to AIR-SHRINE. FOCUS on Tristan. Exit Z Mode. (Z, A, A, Down, R, Z)
2. Build EQUIPMENT BARRICADE, and TEAM COMMAND MOVE Mai to the front.
3. MOVE Yugi out of the way of the enemy team when they get close. Then Z Mode MOVE Yugi to AIR-SHRINE.
4. ESCAPE the battle at your base.
5. Z Mode FOCUS on Tea. (Z, Right, R)

It's not certain whether BARRICADE helps with running away, but it can't hurt. I used to MOVE Yugi to TOWER-PEGASI before moving him to AIR-SHRINE to avoid movement errors. However, you will get into an extra battle at your base and lose 25 seconds at minimum. Honestly, you have to be not paying attention to get Yugi into a battle while moving him.

Tea battle

Defeat in this order: Dark Elf (A), Embodiment of Apophis (Y ), Garoozis (X) Recommended orders: -Round 1: Ansatsu attack Embodiment of Apophis.

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady attack Dark Elf.

-Round 2: Ansatsu attack Dark Elf.

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady attack Garoozis.

Mission 12: PHANTOM BLAST

MISSION START

1. IMMEDIATELY Z Mode MOVE Shimon to ENNO. FOCUS on Yugi. (Z, Up, A, A, R)

MEMORIZE THESE INPUTS. You have, at best, a second and a half to do this before the approaching Zanki team gets too close to move anyone in that area. If you don't, even if you defeat the Zanki team, another team from PHOSTENN will move towards your base and present the same problem.

This move keeps the second team from leaving their base, saving you the time of a second battle. It also helps that this triggers the cutscene removing all of the cannons from the enemy bases. This is possible because Shimon's lone monster, Shadow Specter, covers a really small area on the map so it doesn't need much room to be dispatched. This is also possible with Horn Imp, which would be ideal, but its larger area and faster speed will trigger the cannons earlier and make it harder to do everything fast in this mission. The FOCUS is almost as important as the move itself. The closer the camera gets to your base, the sooner you can move Yugi. PHOSTENN is too close to your base to move directly to ENNO so a TEAM COMMAND is needed.

2. Move your cursor to your base. TEAM COMMAND MOVE Yugi up right out of your base.

3. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to ENNO. Exit Z Mode. (Z, A, A, Z)

4. (optional) At your base, build EQUIPMENT BARRICADE. (down two)

5. Stop Shimon from moving.

This is the order in which you should try to do everything. The BARRICADE does not help cut out attacks in the next battle, but it doesn't hurt. You may not be able to do all of this before the next battle. You will have plenty of time afterwards.

Zanki battle

Recommended orders:

-Round 1: Harpie Lady paralyze Beaver Warrior, the others attack Zanki (should KO)

-Round 2: Harpie Lady paralyze Kanan the Swordmistress, the others attack Beaver Warrior (should KO)

This ends up at least 30 seconds faster than running away the whole time.

5. Z Mode FOCUS on Joey. (Z, Right, R)

Joey battle

Defeat in this order: Panther Warrior (Y ), Ryu-Kishin Powered (X), Red-Eyes B. Dragon (A) Recommended orders: -Round 1: Ansatsu attack Panther Warrior.

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady attack whoever in the above order has not moved. Otherwise, stick to the order.

-Round 2: Ansatsu attack Ryu-Kishin Powered.

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady attack whoever in the above order has not moved or is not paralyzed. Otherwise, stick to the order.

Mission 13: FOR THAT SOMEONE SPECIAL

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Mai (up two) to VRAUSON. (Z, Up, Up, A, A)
2. MOVE Yugi to VRAUSON. FOCUS on Mai and exit Z Mode. (A, A, Up, Up, R, Z)
3. Turn the camera towards your destination.

Mai has to beat Joey to clear this mission. Anyone else doing it results in a game over. Yugi has one job in this mission... and it's not to fight. This needs to be done kind of quickly.

4. As soon as BEYZON is captured, MOVE Mai to the right away from BEYZON.
5. Move your cursor to the edge of the forest in front of Yugi. As soon as Yugi reaches the spot, stop him.
6. Z Move MOVE Mai to VRAUSON. FOCUS on Joey. (Z, Up, Up, A, A, Right, R)

As in the previous mission, if you stand in front of the enemy's normal exit from a base, the enemy will be stuck. In this case, two enemies are making their way to your base, but have to go through BEYZON in order to do it. As soon as the second team enters BEYZON, the first team will leave for your base. You will need someone fast to keep this from happening. Tristan also works for this purpose, but Yugi is more convenient to select.

Joey battle

Defeat in this order: Panther Warrior (A), Tiger Axe (X), Ryu-Kishin Powered (Y )

Yes, this fight is usually faster with Yugi's team, but not only will you mess with your monsters' compatibility with Yugi, also they won't be as effective with Mai due to that incompatibility. If it weren't for that mechanic, you would probably use Mai as your main attacker for the rest of the run. Even so, after switching Yugi's monsters to Mai and getting through Joey, you're not really coming out ahead. And then you want to switch them back? That would defeat the entire purpose of switching monsters.

Mission 14: SCORCHED

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to TELENOES (down one). (Z, A, Down, A)
2. MOVE Mai (up or down three) to K-SU-YAN (up or down two). (Down, Down, Down, A, Down, Down, A).
3. FOCUS on Yugi and exit Z Mode. Turn your camera towards your destination. (R, Z)
4. When K-SU-YAN is taken, MOVE Yugi up and left out of the enemy's way, then Z Mode MOVE Yugi to TELENOES (down one).
5. FOCUS on Strings. (Z, Right, R)

It's usually a second faster to have Mai redirect the enemies than to maneuver Yugi manually as you have to stop him multiple times or take wide angles to get around the long line. If you don't want to move Yugi multiple times, send Mai first. Tristan is too slow to do it that way.

Strings battle

Defeat in this order: Labyrinth Tank (A), Slot Machine (X), Curse of Dragon (Y ) Recommended orders: -Round 1: Ansatsu attack Curse of Dragon.

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady follow the above order based on who has acted.

-Round 2: Ansatsu attack Harpie Lady's last target.

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady attack Curse of Dragon if still alive. Otherwise, attack Slot Machine.

Mission 15: BETRAYED

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to JAKHUD (down one). FOCUS on Yugi and exit Z Mode. (Z, A, A, R, Z)
2. Turn your camera so that JAKHUD is hidden behind the time limit.
3. MOVE Yugi straight up to the road.

Yami Bakura battle

-Round 1: Ansatsu attack Pumpking the King of Ghosts (A).

Kuriboh multiply.

Harpie Lady attack The Snake Hair (X).

-Round 2: Ansatsu attack Pumpking the King of Ghosts.

Kuriboh multiply if The Snake Hair is still up. Otherwise, attack Reaper of the Cards (Y ).

Harpie Lady attack Pumpking the King of Ghosts or Reaper of the Cards, whoever is alive.

The Snake Hair's normal attack can paralyze so disabling it is a top priority.

Mission 16: A LOST CAUSE

Fitting name.

MISSION START

0. SAFETY OPTION Z Mode MOVE Mai (up three) to ANKER-HILL. (Z, Up, Up, Up, A, A)
1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to ANKER-HILL. (Z, A, A)
2. MOVE Tristan (down twice) to TWIN-RIVERS (down). (Down, Down, A, Down, A)

Dark Magician. Level 99. Three Raigeki, each capable of inflicting over 1,000 LP damage to the entire party when one of Yugi's monsters doesn't even have 1,000 LP. Whether or not you survive this battle depends, in large part, on whether Dark Magician gets paralyzed. This is not guaranteed. If you want to be more sure to get through it, then Mai can weaken Dark Magician and possibly absorb a couple of Raigeki.

Arkana battle

Multiply. Spread paralysis. Otherwise, get rid of Dark Magician #2 ASAP.

Mission 17: SECRET POWER

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to MYILLUNO. FOCUS on Shadi. (Z, A, A, Right, R)

Casually, this would be a place to acquire a lot of monsters and magic. This speedrun has no use for any of it.

Shadi battle

Multiply and paralyze/defeat in this order: Armored Zombie (Y ), Dragon Zombie (X), Pumpking the King of Ghosts (A).

Armored Zombie's normal attack can paralyze. It's the only interesting part of the speedrun of this otherwise uneventful mission.

Mission 18: FACE OFF

MISSION START

1. IMMEDIATELY build EQUIPMENT ANTI-GROUND CANNON (down). (A, Down, A, Down, A, A, A, B )
2. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to SHYI-HAGOU (up three). (Z, A, Up, Up, Up, A)
3. MOVE Mai (up three) to BUSTONN (up one) to move her to the front. (Up, Up, Up, A, Up, A)
4. As soon as Yugi moves outside of the cannon's range, MOVE Yugi to NONNBER. Exit Z Mode. (A, A, Z)
5. Build EQUIPMENT BARRICADE (down two). (A, Down, A, Right, Down, Down, A, A, A)

If you build the ANTI-GROUND CANNON quickly enough, it will hit the invading Insect Queen before it can initiate a battle, shortening that battle a good deal. The window to build the cannon is, at best, a full second long. Going directly to NONNBER will lead you to a battle with Gaia the Fierce Knight and two Curse of Dragon with Polymerization, all at level 99. The extra experience is not worth the time investment. The BARRICADE will be needed to set up two-hit KOs in the first battle.

Kaiser Dragon battle

Dark Witch and Gyakutenno Megami should be able to take out each Giltia the D. Knight (X) (Y ), though it is a damage range.

Harpie Lady should spread paralysis starting with Kaiser Dragon (A).

6. Move your cursor to the Insect Queen team and focus (Y ? TEAM) on it.

Insect Queen battle

Harpie Lady is most likely to take out Dungeon Worm (Y ).

7. Z Mode FOCUS on Kaiba. (Z, Right, R)

Kaiba battle

Multiply, spread paralysis, focus on the middle (A) first. If the dragons fuse, ESCAPE.

Each dragon has a Polymerization so keep an eye on the critical hits you get for managing their health. The middle dragon, Azrael, always has the most LP so it is the least likely to get knocked into Polymerization range with all of your attacks.

Mission 19: BANISHMENT

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Tristan (down twice) to SYGH-VARTHS (down four). (Z, Down, Down, A, Down, Down, Down, Down, A)
2. MOVE Yugi to SYGH-VARTHS (down four). (A, Down, Down, Down, Down, A)
3. MOVE Mai (up three) to PLEASURE-TOWN (up one) to move her to the front. Exit Z Mode. (Up, Up, Up, A, Up, A, Z)
4. Build EQUIPMENT ANTI-GROUND CANNON and BARRICADE.

More cannons guard the main boss. It sure looks like you can get your cannon off before Labyrinth Tank enters your base, doesn't it? No amount of slowing the game down and buffering your inputs makes that possible, unfortunately, at least not by humans.

Illusionist Faceless Mage battle

For the first round, Harpie Lady paralyze Illusionist Faceless Mage (A). The others can gang up on a Saggi the Dark Clown.

Gyakutenno Megami can possibly take out a Saggi the Dark Clown by herself.

Illusionist Faceless Mage is armed with Raimei for paralyzing your entire party and Final Flame for about 1,000 damage on a single monster. Each Saggi the Dark Clown has Germ Infection for poisoning your party. Poison damage will waste your time, but not as much as paralysis would.

5. ESCAPE the first Labyrinth Tank encounter.

6. Move your cursor to the Labyrinth Tank team and focus (Y ? TEAM) on it.

It is still about a minute faster to have Labyrinth Tank trigger the cannon in this way than to fight it straight up.

Labyrinth Tank battle

Harpie Lady can defeat one of the Launcher Spiders. Dark Witch is more likely to one-shot Labyrinth Tank.

7. Z Mode FOCUS on Tristan. Exit Z Mode. (Z, Down, Down, R, Z)
8. After the cannon, MOVE Tristan straight up out of Yugi's way.
9. Z Mode FOCUS on Scott. (Z, Right, R)

Scott battle

-Round 1: Ansatsu and Kuriboh should split their attacks between Cosmo Queen (A) and one of the Barrel Dragons.

Harpie Lady attack the other Barrel Dragon unless the previous Barrel Dragon attack was a critical hit.

If the first attack on Cosmo Queen was a critical hit, attack it with the rest to go for the KO.

-Round 2: If Cosmo Queen is guarding, take out the most damaged Barrel Dragon. Otherwise, take out Cosmo Queen and spread paralysis among the Barrel Dragons.

Cosmo Queen is a fusion monster in this game and, as a powerful one, gets Super Stamina for LP regeneration and Status Guard for immunity to all status, including paralysis. This one also has Red Medicine. As machines, the Barrel Dragons don't like staying paralyzed, either. Proceed with caution.

Mission 20: HALLOWED LAND OF ISHTAR

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to Ishtar Gate (down). Prepare to MOVE Yugi to Ishtar. (Z, A, Down, A, A)
2. When Ishtar Gate is taken, MOVE Yugi to Ishtar. (A, A)
3. FOCUS on Odion. (Right, R)

It's multiple seconds faster to have Ansatsu travel along the roads with his Road-Adept ability than to go in a straight line.

Odion battle

-Round 1: Ansatsu and Kuriboh take out one Embodiment of Apophis (X/Y). If it is knocked out, Harpie Lady attack the other one or Mystical Beast Serket (A), whoever has not attacked. -Round 2: repeat

Each Embodiment of Apophis has Red Medicine. Your biggest attacks will likely inflict more than 50% damage. Ansatsu + Multiply will not kill. Random turn order has a good chance of messing you up no matter what you do.

Mission 21: DREAM WORLD

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to MEMORY-BANK-A2 (down two). FOCUS on MEMORY-BANK-A2. (Z, A, Down, Down, A, Left, Down, Down, R)

Machine King battle

Multiply, paralyze Machine King (A) first.

Jinzo battle

Multiply, paralyze Jinzo (A) first.

1A. If any monsters are dead or near dead, build EQUIPMENT HEALER (down three) and heal up. 2. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to TERMINAL-BUS. FOCUS on Yugi and exit Z Mode. (Z, A, A, R, Z) 3. Navigate the corridor manually and Z Mode MOVE after the last turn. FOCUS on TERMINAL-BUS. (Z, A, A, Left, R)

Gate Guardian battle

-Round 1: Multiply, paralyze Sanga of the Thunder (A), attack Kazejin (Y )

-Round 2: Multiply, finish off Kazejin, spread paralysis

Yup, everyone has a Polymerization in this battle. Gate Guardian ends up underwhelming, but you will still lose time by summoning it.

Mission 22: DARK SPIRIT

MISSION START

1. Z Mode MOVE Yugi to CENTRAL-PROCESSOR-UNIT. (Z, A, A)
2. MOVE Mai (up three) to CENTRAL-PROCESSOR-UNIT. FOCUS on Yugi. (Up, Up, Up, A, A, R)

Mai is only there to clean up for when, more so than if, Obelisk the Tormentor decides to ruin the run.

Scott battle

Multiply, paralyze Skull Knight (A) first. Spread paralysis.

Skull Knight's attack cannot miss. If the next battle goes perfectly, the damage you take in this battle will be irrelevant.

DarkNite battle

Hope for critical hits. Hope for paralysis to stick the entire time.

If Obelisk the Tormentor ever guards, try to paralyze. Otherwise, WAIT.

If you get one attack away from wiping out, ESCAPE. MOVE Yugi back to your base, heal, and try again.

If needed, Mai's team can live long enough to inflict at least 3000 damage of the 9000 LP you need.

This is the final battle against Obelisk the Tormentor itself. Here is how the Egyptian God fights work. In each round, your monsters take their turns before the Egyptian God does. Also, running away is guaranteed. This means that, at any time, you can attack with your first two monsters, then ESCAPE with the third. It's an easy, albeit slow, way to cheese this fight. Something to keep in mind.

Obelisk the Tormentor has two attacks: a single targeting Destruction Flash that will inflict about 800-900 damage on average (8500 ATK) and an all targeting Omni Hand Crusher that will inflict about 1,000 damage. It prefers to Destruction Flash.

In addition to 8500 ATK, Obelisk the Tormentor has 8500 DEF. You will have no chance to inflict damage through that guard.

Closing Thoughts

...What? It's a real-time strategy RPG. Did you expect shorter notes? Kappa

But seriously, special thanks for making this route possible should go to the following people: -VyseOfLegends9002 picked up on the mission 8 visual cue that should be used -MichaelGio reworked the early game to make monster equipment viable -I remember someone on Reddit suggesting me to use Harpie Lady, but I can't find the message anymore... :( -GracefulShutdown first threw out the suggestion of a second Harpie Lady