Sandcraft
Sometime about a quarter of the way through your adventure, nearly every RPG will have your party purchasing/building/stealing/trading pepper away for a boat. Wild ARMs 3 is no exception. As you may have noticed while playing the game, Dragon Fossils can be found in numerous treasure chests. Wondering what they do? Well, once you obtain 15 of them, you can build the Sandcraft! The easiest way to get 15 Dragon Fossils is to defeat Diobarg, the enemy near Fortune Gear. Simply get on your horses and run around until you see a green ! mark; Diobarg hates fast-moving things!
When you obtain 15 Dragon Fossils, head to Jolly Roger and speak to Emilia. Hear her out, then choose to help her complete the sandcraft. There you are; a basic Sandcraft! That's your boat for the game; drive it all around the vast "ocean" of Filgaia. There are random encounters along the way though; nobody said the "water" was docile!
Sandcraft Controls
- The Sandcraft can dock at any beach in the game, and can travel across the "ocean" of Filgaia (but not on land). Walk in front of the Sandcraft and press X to board. To land, drive onto a beach, then press Circle.
- Press Triangle to bring up the menu.
- Press Up on the Control Stick or X to move forward, and Left and Right to turn.
- Press Square to have the Sandcraft autopilot back to Jolly Roger. You will not be attacked while doing this, and it is a good idea to return to Jolly Roger when you are first exploring the dunes.
Sandcraft Battling
Sandcraft battling is quite different from normal battling. You still get to input 4 commands (1 per character), but not all at once. Each party member takes a different "position" on the craft; and depending on their RFX (speed) stat, they get their attack sooner. On the bottom right of the Sandcraft battle screen, you'll see a bunch of icons. Read those from left to right, and you'll see the turn order.The following is a list of all of the "positions" and the commands they may use. Note that FP is gathered pretty much the same way as in normal battles (passing turns doing nothing adds a lot of FP). Every "position" has 2 commands to choose from, (aside from Guard, and Wait, which simply pass turns) and one Force Ability command. Force Abilities are indicated by yellow text.
Deckmate Commands Command Name: What it does: Load Ammo (4 FP) Reload gun to full ammo. Assist Piloting (24 FP) Deckmate "helps" another position, increasing amount of turns. Repair Craft (25 FP) Refills some of Sandcraft's HP. Gunner Commands Command Name: What it does: Fire Main Gun (16 FP) Blast enemy with the main cannon. Must reload when ammo is depleted. Prepare Elemental Ammo (24 FP) Adds an elemental property to your next attack. Consumes an elemental ammo item. Fire all Ammo at Once (25 FP) Fires off all ammo in one shot; damage is relative to current ammo load. Harpooner Commands Command Name: What it does: Fire Harpoon and Capture Target (8 FP) Fires out harpoon. If it hits, target's RFX (speed) lowers and your attacks become more effective. Retract Harpoon (8 FP) Retrieves harpoon if you missed hitting the enemy with it; if harpoon is in the enemy, pulls the enemy closer, making your attacks stronger. Fire and Immediately Retract Harpoon (25 FP) Does both harpoon commands at once. Helmsman Commands Command Name: What it does: Move to Advantageous Position (8 FP) Moves the sandcraft to the side of the opponent, so attacks do more damage. If at the monster's side already, this command moves you behind the monster. Divert with Flash Bomb (16 FP) Lowers the enemy's evasion by blinding them with a flash bomb. Feint and Pursue Target (25 FP) Moves behind target, and blinds them with a flash bomb. The ideal battle strategy is incredibly simple; purchase the best Sandcraft gun in the game, put your character with the highest RFX into the Gunner position, your character with the 2nd highest RFX in the Deckmate position, and just Fire all Ammo at any enemy you see. Enemies will rarely (if ever) have a chance.
Below is a list of equipment for the sandcraft, which can be purchased by talking to Emilia in Jolly Roger. Once you buy the equipment, remember that you have to equip it in store! There are 4 types of Equipment: Main Gun, Sub Gun (Harpoon), Armor and Power (Engine). Upgrade to the Ark Smasher (the strongest gun) ASAP; it takes a bit of time, but Dragon Fossils are dropped by nearly EVERY enemy in the game; including low-level Gobs and Balloons.
Main Guns Name Cost (in Dragon Fossils) Shot Power HIT (Accuracy) Bullet Capacity Critical Hit Rate Weight Revolver Cannon 0 (Default) 60 50 2 0.1 4000 Bunker Cannon I 14 90 150 3 0.5 6000 Bunker Cannon II 16 130 120 6 0.3 8000 Bunker Cannon III 18 160 80 2 0.2 11000 Scud Cannon I 30 200 280 6 0.7 10000 Scud Cannon II 32 230 220 8 0.5 12000 Scud Cannon III 34 300 180 4 0.4 15000 Ark Smasher 50 270 250 8 0.7 18000 Harpoons Name Cost (in Dragon Fossils) Shot Power HIT (Accuracy) Critical Hit Rate Weight Singing Swallow 0 (Default) 30 30 0.1 2000 Owl T1 10 40 60 0.2 3000 Owl T2 12 50 40 0.6 4000 Owl T3 14 60 50 0.3 6000 Hawk T1 22 80 100 0.4 5000 Hawk T2 24 90 70 0.8 6500 Hawk T3 26 110 80 0.5 8000 Soaring Falcon 40 100 90 0.7 9000 Armor Name Cost (in Dragon Fossils) Defense Magic Resistance Weight Econo-Frame 0 75 75 6000 Delux-Frame DX 12 200 100 9000 Delux-Frame EX 14 100 200 12000 Delux-Frame FX 16 180 180 18000 Maxx-Frame DX 24 450 200 15000 Maxx-Frame EX 26 200 450 20000 Maxx-Frame FX 28 350 350 24000 Ultra-Frame 45 400 400 27000 Engines Name Cost (in Dragon Fossils) Capacity (HP Value added) Dragon Heart OG 0 (Default) 12000 Dragon Heart G1 20 18000 Dragon Heart G2 25 24000 Dragon Heart G3 30 30000 Dragon Heart G4 35 36000 Dragon Heart G5 40 42000 Dragon Heart G6 45 48000 Dragon Heart NG 50 54000 Elemental ammo is also sold for 1 Dragon Fossil each, but being the vast well of WA3 knowledge that I am, I can safely say you will never need to use anything but Fire all Ammo with the Ark Smasher equipped. Even the big bad Balal Quo Naga will fall in one hit.
Now for a mini-bestiary for all of the enemies you will meet while cruising around on your sandcraft. I don't have EXACT HP values, but what does it matter when you're doing 300000 damage a hit?
Name HP Range: EXP: Gella: Drop: Location: Comments: Botis 35000-44000 540 250 ??? Sandsea around Yggdrasil Attempts to lower your RFX, and physically attacks. Capricorn 33000-73000 720 360 ??? Sandsea around Yggdrasil Uses physical and Ice attacks. Crab Bubbler 34900-39000 540 250 ??? Sandsea around Yggdrasil Casts Quicken on itself. Dinosaur 75000-110000 1030 500 ??? Sandsea around Yggdrasil Uses physical and Earth attacks. Dune King 45600-102000 1200 600 ??? Sandsea around Jolly Roger, north of Boot Hill Boosts it's attack with Hyper, weakens your defense with Fragile, then attacks. Gara Diablo 33000-71000 580 250 ??? Sandsea south of Gunner's Heaven Uses physical and Wind attacks. Garpike 20000-22680 460 250 ??? Sandsea around Jolly Roger Uses physical and Fire attacks. Grodine (flying) 60000-96000 970 480 ??? Inner sandsea Uses physical and Water attacks; increases it's speed. Grodine (walking) 60000-96000 970 480 ??? Inner sandsea Uses physical and Water attacks. Jenny Green Teeth 42000-78000 760 380 ??? Sandsea around Yggdrasil Uses physical and Ice attacks. Jumbo Critter 35000-68000 670 380 ??? Sandsea around Yggdrasil Lowers defense, then attacks. Nak 40000-80000 860 430 Light Ring Sandsea around Yggdrasil Uses physical and Light attacks. Pantagruel 66000-89000 970 480 ??? Inner sandsea Uses physical and Earth attacks. Rufflesia Less than 41000 800 280 Potion Berry Sandsea around Jolly Roger Strong physical attacker. Sand Tentacle 67000-101000 1030 500 ??? Inner sandsea Uses physical and Thunder attacks. Simurgh 36000-52000 580 300 ??? Sandsea around Yggdrasil Casts Turbulence on itself, physically attacks. Yurlungur 41000-72000 800 400 ??? Sandsea near strange rock formation Uses physical and Light attacks. Zazan Bronzo 31000-38000 500 260 ??? Sandsea around Jolly Roger Attempts to raise it's DEF, and physically attacks.
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