Weapons and You: A Newbie’s Guide to Weapons and Accessories

Hi! Let’s talk about weapons and accessories in Star Ocean Anamnesis.

0. Preface

All this information assumes the english version (referenced as EN) starts at the beginning of Star Ocean Anamnesis’s japanese (referenced as JP) progression. Square Enix may change things up significantly. So be aware that some of the changes mentioned that will ‘come eventually’ or ‘come later’ may be implemented earlier than expected, or maybe even launch with the game.

1. Weapons: The Basics

Every character can equip one type of weapon. A weapon may raise their ATK, their INT or both. It may also apply one or more factors to that character. A factor is a passive ability that may boost stats or add useful effects like critical chance. Needless to say, you’re not going to get very far in SOA without weapons.

You can long press on any weapon in the equip screen to view any stats and talents it may have.

2. Acquiring New Weapons

Early on, you’re going to get your weapons as drops from the story. Story maps can drop up to 3 star rarity weapons. As the game progresses, we’ll start getting events that let you purchase 5 star weapons from their shops. On top of this, there will be a weapon gacha with stronger 5 star weapons that you can pull. There is also weapon transmutation, but we’ll get into that later.

3. Enhancing and Limit-Breaking Weapons

All weapons can be enhanced up to 10 at first. You can do this under the “Items” tab by fusing other weapons to them, or by fusing hammers. It is preferable to fuse hammers, but early on they will be rare, so you may have to farm weapons from the story to do it.

Duplicate weapons are best used in limit breaking. When you enhance your weapon with a duplicate, it will limit break it. Every limit break adds 2 to the weapon’s level cap and may unlock a new factor if the weapon allows for it. A weapon may be limit broken up to 5 times, and it’s highly recommended. The stat difference is significant.

But be careful when enhancing! If you enhance a weapon with a limit broken duplicate, those limit breaks will NOT carry over. Make sure to use the lock function (found on a weapon’s details by long-pressing it in your inventory) to protect limit broken 4-5 star weapons, if you want to keep them.

4. Transmutation

Now we get into one of the more complicated subjects, but one that is very important.

Transmutation is used to upgrade your weapon to a higher rarity. So if you have a 3 star fist, you can make it into a 4 star fist. Here’s what you’ll need.

• Your example 3 star fist must be level 10 or higher. Limit breaks are unnecessary.
• You will need five other 3 star weapons. Type and level are irrelevant, only rarity matters.

So you take your 3 star fist and go to the “Transmute” option under “Items,” then add the other five weapons to it. It’ll upgrade into a random 4 star fist (that is, it will be completely unrelated to the fist you just transmuted).

It doesn’t just stop at 4 stars though. You can transmute all the way up to a 5 star weapon! And you can even transmute that.

But what do you get for transmuting a 5 star weapon? You get… a coin for that weapon’s type. These will be used in special coin shops to purchase 5 star weapons. The shops will start out with a limited–and somewhat short-lived–selection. Eventually they’ll add more, so be sure to stock up on these coins.

5. What Weapons Should I Aim For?

Glad you asked. In Star Ocean Anamnesis, elements are top priority. This is to exploit elemental weakness for damage, and to stun the boss over time. So any weapon with a factor that imbues element is preferred. Secondary would be racial killer factor , which brings one benefit of exploiting weakness (the damage) but does not build stun.

As the game progresses, we’ll get characters that bring their own elements such as Young Sophia with the earth attack Gremlin’s Lair. These characters get the flexibility to use non-elemental weapons with useful factors like +Crit Damage and ATK+15%, or even the racial killers (which stack with elemental damage!).

Keep in mind there is rarely a clear winner among weapons. You’ll be keeping a wide range of weapons and tailoring your builds to the current boss or the character you’re using. It’s just how this game works.

The early events will have important cornerstone elemental/racial killer weapons to farm. Here’s a list of early events and some of their weapons/accessories to aim for.

NOTE: Event shop and drop contents are subject to change in EN version. Will update this as events are released.

• Gerel: Rod of the Feather (Machine Killer Staff) and Fire Armlet IV (100% Fire Resist Acc)
• Frost Tree: Eldar Lord Rapier (INT+20% factor on limit break; VERY IMPORTANT FOR FAIZE)
• Jie Revorse: Serpent Edge (Ice Daggers), Mist Blades (Lightning Daggers), SRF Bow (Wind Bow)
• Valkyrie Profile: Angel Slayer (Light Sword).
• Executioner: Black Diamond (Fire Fists), Stone Slasher (Demon/Human Killer Sheath)
• Harpies: Sacred Tear (Human Killer Sword)
• Armaros: Hurricane Claws (Insect Killer Fists)

There will be other event weapons worth using, but they’ll be few and far between. Of special note is Faize’s event sheath Eldar Lord’s Rapier. Its limit break factor turns him into a caster that rivals–and even surpasses–most Ace casters.

There will be plenty of holes in your elemental repertoire at first–even in JP we don’t have every element available for every weapon at 5 star rarity. There exist 4 star weapons that can fill these holes in the interim, so don’t be in a rush to use them all as fusion or transmutation fodder.

Finally, there’s the weapon gacha. Early on, gacha weapons will not be worth the gems unless you plan on whaling. You are better off synthesizing 5 star weapons or grinding event weapons until the Michael event, which introduces the first strong weapon banner.

6. You talked a lot about weapons. What about Accessories?

Accessories are like weapons in a lot of ways. They provide stats (specifically defense) and factors. You can level and limit break them like weapons too. But they cannot be transmuted, and there is no gacha for them.

You earn accessories through gameplay. Most events will have a couple of accessories to earn, and there will be some given through the story or achievements. Most status resist factors aren’t worth the trouble, but some have significant factors like Grit (chance to survive a lethal attack). Don’t pass these up, because while you do get a second chance at most accessories, you’ll be waiting a while before they’re reprinted.

7. Coin Shop Recommendations

I can help you decide what to buy with coins! Here is a list of notable weapons in the coin shop by type.

• Sword: Cursed Balmung Blade (ATK+15%). Consider Claidheamh Solais for its Imbue Light, but don’t prioritize it–if we get the Valkyrie Profile collab, you will get a Light Sword for free. The Lightning Sword is a signature weapon for Ratix, who is future-proof, but I wouldn’t pursue it until you have him.
• Staff: Winged Scepter (INT+15%), Lightning Wand (Lightning DMG+15%/For Myuria), Holy Rod (Light DMG+15%/For Miki)
• Gun: Storm Bolt (Imbue Wind)
• Knuckles: Raven Talons (ST DMG+15%), Gaia Godfists (Imbue Earth), Bloody Knuckles (ATK+15%)
• Sheath: Murasame (ATK+15%), Searing Sword (Imbue Fire)
• Daggers: Elemental Edge (ATK+15%). Goldenbolt from Jie (Imbue Lightning). Thunder Godblades are also very strong, having been buffed from their JP ver.
• Bows: There’s only one choice, and it’s Ice DMG+15% :P. Don’t bother.

General Tips: Prioritize the elemental imbues and you’ll build a pretty decent starter lineup for bosses. Consider ATK+15% or INT+15% for off-element damage, but keep in mind that 4 star weapons may also have ATK and INT raising factors on them, and the stat difference between a maxed 4 star and a maxed 5 star isn’t that big.

I hope this gives everyone an idea how weapons and accessories work in this game. If you have any questions, Please comment below. 🙂

Special credit: CarbunkleFlux