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/ __ __ | /__ / / ___ | /__ ___/ / _____ |
/ / | / | | / / / / / /__/ / / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / /_/ / / ___/ / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / ____ / / /| | / / / / / /
/ / / / / / / / / / / / | | __/ /__ / /____/ /
/_/ /_/ /_/ /_/ /_/ /_/ |_| /______/ |________/
==============================================
Game: Paper Mario
Platform: Nintendo 64
Version: 1.15
Last updated: 18 January 2008
Written by: Iron Knuckle
Type: FAQ/Walkthrough
GameFAQ status: 100 %
==============================================
=================
Table of contents
=================
Version Updates
FAQ
Controls
Controller
Game Selection / Start Menu
Pause Menu
Field Controls
Basic actions
Partner Abilities
Statistics
Ailments
Combat System
In the field
In battle
Battle Options
Action Command
Damage Calculation
Level Up & Star Points
Post battle
Main Characters
Mario
Princess Peach
Bowser
Mario's partners
Other Important People
Luigi
The 7 Star Spirits
Twink
Kolorado
Jr. Troopa
Story
Walkthrough
Beforehand: A disaster party at Peach's castle
Prologue: A plea from the stars
1. Repairing Goomba Village gate
2. Goomba King's fortress
3. Welcome to Toad Town
Peach intermezzo #1 - Enter Twink
Post prologue events
Chapter 1: Storming Koopa Bros. Fortress
1. Stroll over Pleasant Path
2. Fuzzy havoc in Koopa Village
3. The Ninjakoopa's booby traps
Peach intermezzo #2 - Bowser's diary
Post chapter 1 events
Chapter 2: The Mystery of Dry Dry Ruins
1. Scaling Mt. Rugged
2. Scour the Dry Dry Desert
3. Tutankoopa's Crypt
Peach intermezzo #3 - Sneaking in the library
Post chapter 2 events
Chapter 3: The "Invincible" Tubba Blubba
1. The Forever Forest Maze
2. Ascending Boo's Mansion
3. Discovering Tubba Blubba's Secret
Peach Intermezzo #4 - A short interrogation
Post cha... Oh no, Shy Guys on the loose
Chapter 4: Trials in the Toy Box
1. Blue Station - Storage room key for a toy train
2. Pink Station - Gourmet blockade
3. Green Station - Decipher the mystery note
4. Red Station - The general's army
Peach Intermezzo #5 - Cake cooking crash course
Post chapter 4 events
Chapter 5: Hot Hot Times on Lavalava Island
1. Lost: 5 Yoshi kids!
2. The path to Mt. Lavalava
3. Treasure hunting in the volcano
Peach Intermezzo #6 - The Koopa trivia quiz
Post chapter 5 events
Chapter 6: Dark Days in Flower Fields
1. The magic bean, fertile soil and magic water
2. Return the light to the fields
Peach Intermezzo #7 - Peach; you're going undercover
Post chapter 6 events
Chapter 7: A Star Spirit on Ice
1. Mario's backroom penguin murdering mystery
2. A valley under the stars so blue
3. Cold welcome in the Crystal palace
Peach Intermezzo #8 - The final preparations
Post chapter 7 events (clear all loose ends)
Chapter 8: A Star-Powered Showdown
1. Basement & First Guard Door
2. Second Guard Door
3. Third Guard Door
4. The final encounter
Epilogue: A great party at Peach's Castle
Appendix A:
Making friends during the adventure
The 8 partners of Mario
-Goombario
-Kooper
-Bombette
-Parakarry
-Bow
-Watt
-Sushie
-Lakilester
Appendix B:
Chart Tables
1. Items
I - Attack
II - Status ailment
III - Food
IV - Scenario objects
2. Tayce T. recipes
3. Item shop pricelists
4. Monster compendium
I - Regular enemies
II - Bosses
5. Chuck Quizmo Questions
6. Special Objects
I - Star Pieces
II - Badges
III - Super Blocks
7. Star Power
8. Star Point Experience
Appendix C:
Badge Setups
Introduction
1. General 30 BP Setup
2. "Danger" Mario
3. Jumpman & Hammerman
4. Single boss fights
5. Low BP level setup
Appendix D:
Side Quests & Optional Events
1. Trade Quest Events
2. Old Koopa Koot favors
3. My Li'l Oinky
4. Casino gaming alley
-Jump game
-Smash game
5. Luigi's diary
6. Master the Dojo
7. You've got mail!
8. Letter Delivery Quest
-Normal letters
-Chain letter cycle
9. Toad Town Tunnels
10. The Kent C. Koopa blockade
Appendix E:
Extra
Glitches
Stuff
Credits
Copyrights
E-mail, Questions and Contributions
Unfinished business
===========================================================================
Version Updates
===========================================================================
Version 0.05
1 September 2006:
Started with the walkthrough for this game.
Version 0.1
10 September 2006:
Completed the Prologue and listed some of the early monsters in a table to
be used for the Monster Compendium of Appendix B.
Version 0.15
15 October 2006:
After a delay of a few weeks I started to work on the walkthrough again.
Initialized some of the additional sections such as the Story and the ASCII
art at the top of the FAQ.
Version 0.2
17 October 2006:
Completed Chapter 1 in the Walkthrough (including the additional things
that can be done here).
Version 0.4
20 October 2006:
Finished the first 4 Chapters with all the additional side quests that can
be completed up to that point.
Version 0.5
25 October 2006:
Worked my way up to the beginning of Chapter 6. Started with some sections
of the chart tables; still much to do.
Version 0.6
29 October 2006:
Completed Chapter 7 of the game and added some more hidden items to the
previously completed chapters.
Version 0.7
1 November 2006:
Finally finished the entire game with all Super Blocks, 80 Badges and 160
Star Pieces! Started working on the Appendices, which will take quite some
time to compile completely. There is still much work to do.
Version 0.8
8 November 2006:
Found out about the Star Point Levels and managed to find the underlying
formula determining the amount of Star Points earned from a monster. Added
SPLs to all the monsters in the list and FAQ. Added some additional hidden
items such as the Repel Gel on Yoshi Island's beach. With the permission of
Floogal I included the Refund values for each item in battle in the chart
tables of appendix B.
Version 0.85
12 November 2006:
Completed the Tables for all Badges & Star Pieces including Merluvlee's
hint. Cleared some errors in the FAQ and updates several sections.
Version 0.9
13 November 2006:
Nearly completed the additional descriptions of all the side quests in
appendix D. Added and completed appendices C and E about the Badge setups
and Extra section with many loose ends & additional information.
Version 0.95
[First Released Version]
18 November 2006:
Did some clean up and added some new dropped items using Floogal's monster
FAQ (with his permission, of course). The Monster Compendium in Appendix B
is still a bit messy, but this will be improved in the future.
Version 0.98
21 November 2006:
Corrected some errors and improved the FAQ using some of the suggestions
by Floogal and Spilman. See the credits section for the complete list of
alterations.
Version 1.0
7 January 2007:
With the aid of Prunon the 5th Repel Gel was found in the game. Also fixed
a small counting glitch near the end of the FAQ, there are now 391 items to
be found in this game.
Version 1.1
18 June 2007:
Cleared up a few small errors located by Bruno P. Ferreira and added some
new information to the FAQ.
Version 1.15
18 January 2008:
Fixed a few mistakes pointed out by the readers and added the Dizzy Dial
to the recipes section.
===========================================================================
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
===========================================================================
Q: I can't find item 'x' anywhere. Where is it?
A: This may be difficult to locate. If you have absolutely no idea, then
you can consult Merluvlee the fortune teller at Shooting Star Summit.
She can give directions to missing Star Pieces / Badges / Super Blocks
for a low price. Take note however that she gives you the directions to
a peculiar item only once, so to get the hint again you need to reset
the game.
If she cannot find any items within your reach she will give you a
complete refund. A trick to save money goes as following. Save just
before visiting Merluvlee, get the hints and write them down, reset the
game and get the missing items while having the original amount of
coins! Alternatively just look for the specific item in appendix B,
where I included Merluvlee's description for each and every item.
Q: What are the ??? for on the black board in Mario's house?
A: These are the statistics that appear and they keep track of how much you
have explored and progressed so far. From top to bottom they are:
- Coins Earned
- Badges Collected
- Star Pieces Collected
- Tayce T.'s Recipes
- Chuck Quizmo's Quizzes
- Number of Battles
- Your First Strikes
- Enemies' First Strikes
- Total Power Bounces
Some of the items such as the number of Power Bounces are just included
for fun as there is no maximum value for it. Others like Tayce T.'s
recipes are limited so you can see how far you progressed through the
game.
Q: In Chapter 2; what is the Nomadimouse's favorite food?
A: It is something yellow as you presumably already knew. This yellow
object turns out to be a Lemon, which can be found by whacking the tree
in the oasis in Dry Dry Desert just outside the Outpost. From the
entry point to the outpost just go two screens down.
Q: What is the purpose of the diploma and other rankings from the Dojo?
A: Not much actually; you can consider it more or less like a charm. The
only effect the degrees and the diploma itself have is that one
inhabitant of Toad Town, Dry Dry Outpost & Shiver City will respond
differently depending on your rank.
Q: Who are these Chet Rippo and Rip Cheato guys?
A: As their name suspects there are something fishy things going on here.
Chet Rippo is a strange creature (I dunno what it is) who appears next
to Harry's shop in Toad Town, but only if none of your stats are at the
minimum and neither when you have reached level 27. He tells you that he
can increase any statistic for a mere price of 38 Coins. Basically what
he does is that he increases 1 statistic by two levels and degrades the
other 2 by 1 level (e.g. FP goes up by 10 and HP goes down by 5 and BP
goes down by 5 as well). The only time you need his abilities is if you
want to have a permanent "Danger" mode. As max HP can be lowered 5
points.
Rip Cheato lives in the part of the Toad Town Tunnels sewers accessible
after getting Sushie. This guy offers you a special item at the cost of
64 Coins. You only need the first 10 as everything after that will be a
Dried Shroom, but among the first ten you will get 3 Star Pieces, Life
Shroom and the Bump Attack badge.
Q: I need MORE money! Is there an easy way to get more coins?
A: Getting more money is something almost everybody wants, but aside from
that you could try to equip the cheap Pay-Off badge and get hit several
times during a battle to get more coins. I always keep the Refund badge
equipped in order to receive as many coins as possible from the items
used in battle.
But if you really need loads of money you could either try the Casino
games OR equip the Money Money badge (costs 20 Star Pieces and 7(!) BP).
For the Money Money badge you can also combine it with the Bump Attack
badge on a very high level and walk through Bowser's Castle touching all
enemies. This allows you to collect lots of coins, but not as much as
you would get for defeating them in battle.
If money is required early on in the game your best choice would be to
buy 10 Volt Shroom from Harry's at 10 Coins a piece, cook them all up
into Hot Shrooms and sell them for 15 Coins each. Your profit is 50
Coins each time you do this and you don't have to fight at all. Next to
that scour the Dry Dry Desert (mapped below) as there are over 120 Coins
to be found by hitting all the coin blocks.
Q: Monsters stop giving Star Points, but I need a higher level!
A: Ah, yes the amount of Star Points is limited in such a way that you
cannot get to high levels early on in the game. Each enemy has a certain
level after which it becomes 'weak' and does not yield any Star Points
anymore.
The only way to get a really high level is by beating the Amazy Dayzee
who rarely appears in the Flower Fields (Chapter 6). This is very late
in the game, and Amazy Dayzees can be very difficult to defeat.
Fortunately, I described a perfect method that allows you to take out
the Dayzee with little to no effort so read the section about this enemy
in Appendix E for more details.
Q: What is the maximum level in this game?
A: Mario can achieve level 27, when he reaches this level his statistics
look as following: 50 HP, 50 FP & 30 BP. You cannot pass these limits
even with Chet Rippo's help. Equipping all FP Plus and HP Plus badges
allows you to get 65 HP and 65 FP, but this costs you 18 badge points.
Q: "Danger" Mario... What is it and how can I use it?
A: The term Danger Mario is used, by a specific strategy that allows you to
have Mario in Danger mode (max HP = 5) making the Power Rush badge,
Last Stand and Close Call badges permanently active. It can be achieved
by asking Chet Rippo to raise any statistic other than HP so his HP will
be drained to the minimum amount, which is 5 points (it is even less
that what Mario starts with).
This setup is not as effective as one would have hoped, because there
are only little badges that help Mario out in Danger. In sequel "Paper
Mario: the Thousand Year Door" this setup is much more appealing, since
you can buy an infinite amount of Power Rushes allowing Mario to reach
a standard attack power of 30 or so.
===========================================================================
Controls
===========================================================================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Controller
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analogue Control Stick
----------------------
Use this to move Mario around. This can be done either slowly by touching
it lightly or running be pushing the stick further into the desired
direction. Walking very slowly allows you to pass by some of the sleeping
guarding in Tubba Blubba's fortress for example. There is also a Slow Go
badge which simply prevents you from running... What is the use in that?
The control stick is also used to maneuver the cursor through options (if
available).
Digital-Pad
-----------
Not used in Paper Mario.
A Button
--------
Confirm an option in a menu selection or cause Mario to jump in the field.
If you have upgraded the boots then you can perform a Spin jump by pressing
'A' again in mid-air, this attack may cause loose panels to flip. Later on
when you get the Ultra boots the Spin jump is replaced by the Tornado jump.
The attack acts like the Spin jump, but it also allows Mario to reach
blocks that are very high in the air.
B Button
--------
Cancel the selected option, just the opposite of the 'A' button. In the
field you can let Mario use the Hammer (once he finds one) to smash normal
and yellow blocks. Upgraded hammers are required to break through stone and
metal variants respectively.
C directional Buttons
---------------------
Unlike most N64 games these four buttons are not used to maneuver the
camera, but in this game they are shortcuts to some of the menu options:
C-Left
- - - - - - - - - -
Make a small item menu appear. You can select and use regular healing
items outside a battle with this option. Mario can only carry up to 10
different items, which is not much.
C-Right
- - - - - - - - - -
This button is used for Partner selection, and thus allows you to
interchange your current party member in the field. Handy, if you need
a special ability.
C-Down
- - - - - - - - - -
This operates the special ability of your partner, since each one of the
8 members have a distinct function the result can vary widely. The C-Down
can also be used to scroll down in the small information screens (e.g.
when viewing a badge or item in the menu)
C-Up
- - - - - - - - - -
Toggles the Status bar at the top of the screen for a quick overview of
the most important statistics. If you remain idle for several seconds
it appears automatically. The C-Down can also be used to scroll down in
the small information screens (e.g. when viewing a badge or item in the
menu)
Top L Button
------------
Not used
Top R Button
------------
Not used
Z-trigger
---------
Use it in the field to spin around. If you do this while running you
create a "Spin-dash" which is twice as fast as running. There is however
a small stall after you perform this move. Fortunately, if you jump at
the end of the spin you can prevent the stall all the same. Some of the
badges in your inventory may change the properties of the spin, like
adding more speed or causing enemies to get dizzy at the start of the
battle when they get his by the attack.
Next to the Spin-Dash this button can be used in a dialogue to rewind
some of the text that has already passed by. This allows you to reread
the information if you where just button mashing, while the texts scrolls
over the screen.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Selection / Start Menu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can choose from four different files to play. Select an empty file,
enter your name (up to eight characters) and hit "END" to create your new
save file. The European PAL version has some additional letters that can be
used for the name, as they include several letters with accents for the
German and French. After creating the file it will be marked by "First
Play". Open it and away we go.
There are also options of deleting and copying files to different
locations, but those speak for themselves. Lastly you can adjust the sound
from "Mono" to "Stereo" to "Surround" and back by using the Z-Trigger and
top R button to cycle through options either way.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pause Menu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are five different tabs here that have a specific use on their own.
You can select them by pressing the control stick either left or right,
then 'A' to enter the options of that specific tab. The five tabs are:
Stats, Badges, Items, Party, Spirits and Map, I'll briefly explain them
below. Take note however that not all tabs are available in the beginning,
but only after a certain event.
Stats
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At the top there is Mario's Level ranging from 1 to 27. Below it are the
amount of Heart/Flower and Badge Points you currently have, and for the
first two the maximum amounts are also displayed (the statistics are dealt
with in the next section). To the right of this column there is the boots
and hammer Mario currently possesses (if Mario gets a new piece of
equipment it will automatically replace the weaker variation). Below that
is the Star energy meter, which appears to be empty in the beginning. In
the lower right corner you can see the amounts of Star Points, Coins, Star
Pieces and the total time you spend on this adventure.
Badges
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The badges tab has two different sub tabs, one with all badges and another
which displays only the active ones giving you a rather quick overview of
the badges you currently have equipped. In either of the two tabs you can
select the individual badges and set/reset them. Each badge has an amount
of Badge points it requires to be equipped, if you do not have enough
points you cannot equip the badge so you either need to level-up or unequip
some of the other badges.
Items
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This tab has two subparts as well: Key Items and just Items. The Key Items
section shows you all the important stuff required to complete the game. As
these items are critical to your success there is no limit to the amount of
Key Items you can carry. The Items tab shows you the useable items, which
can either be used to regain HP and FP or have specific uses in battle like
attacking an enemy. Mario can only carry up to 10 of these items, and this
is actually a bit sad as you will probably have to drop items all the time
on your quest.
Possible ways to prevent losing these items is by visiting a town's shop
and hoarding them into the list of 32 items can be stored. Next to that you
can also prevent loss of items simply by not collecting them! That is, if
you jump into a ?-Block, it releases an item then if you leave it be and
exit the field the ?-Block will reset the next time you enter allowing you
to recollect the item when you like. Just make sure you don't touch the
item, because when you do this trick will no longer work.
Party
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After Goombario joins you this tab becomes available. It simply shows all
the party members in the team, and lists their special field / battle
attacks with short summaries. You can also see their rank by looking at the
number of blue circles behind their names. If there are none present they
are normal ranked, 1 equals Super rank and 2 is used for the Ultra rank.
Spirits
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When you beat the Koopa brothers at the end of the first chapter the first
Star Spirit is released. Upon freeing him the Spirits tab appears in the
pause menu showing all the Star Spirits you saved up to now. If a Star
Spirit is rescued he/she will appear instead of a silhouette accompanied by
a description of the properties of their respective Star Power attacks.
Map
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The last tab displays the Map of the Mushroom kingdom in its total. As you
progress through the game new locations get marked and some of the
descriptions are updated to the current status. Other than a pretty sight
this tab is somewhat useless as it doesn't show you how to get to each
location in detail.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statistics
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like any RPG there are several statistics used to determine how strong
your character is. The biggest difference between an ordinary RPG and Paper
Mario is that you cannot directly influence the statistics and most of them
have been simplified to make the game very accessible to people who never
played an RPG before.
Level
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This simply denotes the level of experience Mario has gotten by beating
enemies. The only way to increase your level is by gaining 100 Star Points
from your enemies. Unlike most RPGs the monsters in this game yield a
variable number of Star Points depending on your level and the amount of
enemies at the battle start.
This value is calculated from the Star Point Level of the particular and
when Mario's level is equal or higher then you get no Star Points at all.
The moment this happens the game considers the enemy to be "weak" and Mario
can defeat it in the field with either one of the Spin / First / Bump
Attack badges. For more details on the number of star points read the
section in the Combat System about this matter. Other than that Mario's
level has no use on its own.
HP - Heart Points
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mario starts out with 10 HP and when all ten points are depleted the game
turns into the Game Over screen. Upon a level-up you can choose to increase
this amount, which will boost the maximum amount by 5 points each time.
This can be done until he reaches the limit of 50 HP, but by equipping all
3 HP Plus badges he can get up to 65 HP tops.
Most of the time during game play you only receive damage in the battles,
but when you touch lava or fire in the field Mario's health is also reduced
by 1 point. Heart Points can be restored by using a wide range of edible
items like a standard Mushroom. Other than that Star Powers like "Refresh"
and "Smooch" will recover 5 or 20 HP respectively.
Another important aspect is that partners do not have HP. Most of the time
all attacks are directed to Mario, but some multi attacks hit partners as
well. If a partner gets hit the amount of damage denotes the number of
turns it has to sit out doing nothing. Fortunately for you doing the Action
command will negate any damage to your partner!
FP - Flower Points
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
You get 5 FP at the beginning of the game, which is really not that much.
FP is used to power all special attacks that Mario and his Partner can use.
Most of them require at least 2 FP to perform, hence in the beginning I
would really like to recommend to increase FP at your first level up so you
have some leeway. As with HP the maximum limit that can be reached is 50
without FP Plus badges and 65 with all three equipped.
There are several badges like the Flower Saver badge which decrease the
amount of FP needed by 1, but this badge requires a costly 6 BP. So you
have to make a trade-off. Furthermore Special attacks will always need 1 FP
so you can never get these attacks completely free of charge. Usually you
want to restore FP by devouring either Honey or Maple Syrups. The only Star
Power that lets you regain 5 FP is "Refresh".
BP - Badge Points
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initially Mario has 3 points for badges at his disposal and no badges at
all. After receiving the Power Jump badge from Goompa you get a quick
tutorial about using these. Each time you choose to increase BP at a level
up you get 3 more points, instead of 5. Next to that the total amount of BP
can never exceed 30 which is not that much if you want to equip badges like
Power Plus and Money Money. Each badge has its own unique purpose and
therefore the amount of points required to equip varies between 0 and 7.
Note how some badges like HP Plus (HP +5) cost exactly 3 BP, meaning that
equipping such a badge would be the same as choosing to increase HP at a
level up (the same goes for FP). Hence it is my main motivation to increase
BP as much as possible as you can still increase HP/FP afterwards, but not
the other way around.
ATK - Attack power
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This statistic is actually never displayed in numbers, but it exists
nonetheless. Basically your attack power is the strength your equipment
(like boots/hammer) plus any additional changes made by the badges or
charging. Items have a default ATK, which cannot be changed. The standard
attack power of the equipment and your partners (normal rank) is rather
simple to deduce:
Type ATK ATK (with Action Command)
------------- --------- -------------------------
Boots 1 1 + 1
Super Boots 2 2 + 2
Ultra Boots 3 3 + 3
Hammer 1 2
Super Hammer 3 4
Ultra Hammer 5 6
Goombario 1 1 + 1
Kooper 1 2
Bombette 1 2
Parakarry 1 2
Bow 1 1 + 1 + 1 + 1
Watt 1 3
Sushie 1 2
Lakilester miss 3
This may seem that Hammers are much more effective, but this is not the
case as it depends on the situation. After you get the Star Pendant just
before the beginning of Chapter 1 you can perform an Action command. When
you perform this correctly the jump attack will be repeated (hence the
'+'), but for the hammer its ATK only increases by 1. So if you do the
action command properly, the boots are equally strong as the hammer. Of
course you need to take into account that your enemy may have defense, but
this will be discussed in the Combat System.
DEF - Defensive power
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the other statistic that is never shown in numbers either, but as
with ATK is there. Mario's defense is by default 0 similar to most enemies
and partners. Doing an action command temporarily raises defense by one,
hence it decreases damage you take by 1 point. Other ways to increase
defense is by using the Defense Plus badge and Damage Dodge badges. Apart
from that Sushie's "Water Block" maneuver allows you to temporarily raise
your defense by 1 as well. All your partners have 0 defense (even Kooper),
but this doesn't matter as the damage they receive equals the amount of
turns they are out. If they use the action command all damage is cancelled
out.
Star Energy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other than special attacks powered by Flower Points there is also
something called Star Energy. Each time you rescue a Star Spirit the Star
Energy gauge increases by 1 section and you learn a new Star Power attack.
These attacks require energy coming from the gauge.
Each section consists of nine parts so to replenish this meter you can
either battle 8 turns (each turn 1 part is restored) or use Focus to
recover 4 parts. Each equipped Deep Focus badge you add will restore 2 more
parts, but this will only work for Mario. With all three Deep Focus badges
he can restore 1.25 Star Energy parts using the Focus Command.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Field Controls
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basic actions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the field you can use the 'A' and 'B' buttons to jump and hammer
respectively (of course you need to collect a hammer before you can use
it). With C-Down you can use the ability of the current partner who is
joining you. For specific information of these abilities and partners I
would like to refer you to read Appendix A. Enemies also appear in the
field, but you cannot battle them here. Instead when you make contact with
an enemy Mario and that enemy get warped to a battle arena where they can
fight each other. Note that 1 enemy in the field can actually take part of
a group up to 4 enemies.
An important matter is that you can get a free hit at the beginning of the
battle if you manage to hit them with a jump / hammer attack or Kooper's /
Bombette's special ability. This will net you an extra hit at the start of
the battle. Of course, enemies can get a first strike on you to so you need
to be careful as well. Then again you can wear the Chill Out badge to
prevent them from getting the preemptive strike.
Another method to prevent an enemy to get a First Strike is to equip the
Dizzy Attack badge. If the enemy hits you while spinning, your spin wins
and the enemy gets dizzy instead of Mario getting hit. The badge costs the
same as Chill Out to equip. With one enemy being dizzy running away is much
easier in case of an unwanted battle. Like Chill-Out the Dizzy Attack
doesn't help against projectile first-strikes, but fortunately those are
rare.
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Ailments
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Power / Defense Up
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This is actually a good ailment, which increases your general attack
power. You can get this status by use Charge if use Watt to energize you.
Next to that some badges allow you to charge Jump/Hammer abilities
exclusively. Goombario can also charge up if he reaches the Super rank
level. The same can be applied for defense by using Sushi's Water cube, the
defensive power up is however harder to get since this is the only water to
increase defense in battle.
In combat your enemies can charge up as well (variating with ATK +2 / +6)
and Magikoopas can also induce both Power and Defense up on the long term.
So you'd better take those guys out first.
Power / Defense Down
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If there is a power up, then of course a power down also exists. There are
no enemies that can cause you to loose either defense or offensive power.
Mario in his turn can Muskular's star power Chill Out to lower the ATK of
his enemies. This attack ALWAYS works so use it if you are in a dire
situation. Defense cannot be lowered, but attacks like D-Down Pound ignore
enemy defense and will therefore cause much more damage on heavily armored
enemies. There are however few opponents with a strong defense level so you
rarely need to use this.
HP / FP recovery
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Equipping the Happy Heart or Happy Flower badges, will cause you to regain
some HP or FP at the end of a certain turn. Enemies like Fuzzies can also
recover HP by draining Mario and White Magikoopa & Medi guy can restore the
HPs of their companions making them real nuisances.
Poison
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
As with most RPGs poison inflicts damage on the applied target if it has
success. In this game the victim receives exactly 1 point damage each turn
this status has effect, regardless of his defensive power. You can cure
this status with Tasty Tonic or protect against it with the Feeling Fine
badge.
Sleep
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If this ailment occurs you have to skip the amount of turns displayed
before waking up again. This status is very annoying as there is nothing
you can do about it once it occurs. You just have to wait until the
required amount of turns have passed. The bright side is that only very few
enemies can induce this status on Mario, so you won't come across this
status most of the time. Mario in his turn can use the Sleep Stomp or a
Sleepy Sheep item to induce this ailment. Some bosses such as Kent C. Koopa
are extremely susceptible to this.
Dizzy
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In this game Dizzy has the same effect as Sleep and frost so there is
little difference. As with poison you can protect yourself against this
status with the Feeling Fine badge obtained from Merlow. Mario can use a
Dizzy Dial and the Dizzy Stomp to inflict this status on his opponents as
well. It seems to be that flying enemies are more susceptible to this
status.
Frozen
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Very late in the game you will meet some Frozen Piranha plants who can
induce this status on Mario. Its effect is the same as Sleep, Dizzy or
Paralysis, because the victim just has to skip a turn when it is under this
influence.
Paralysis / Stun
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Similar to Sleep and the others this status simply prevents you from
moving and thus forces you to skip a turn. Anti-Guys are very sensitive to
this Status so make sure you use Watt's special abilities to induce this
status whenever needed.
Electric Charge / Electrify
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you equip Zap Tap or use an Electro Pop then every opponent makes
physical contact with you receives a point damage. Also if the attacker was
supposed to use a multi-hit combo the combo will be broken after the first
strike. This is very effective, when you fight against the Master from the
Dojo.
Transparent
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Repel Gel causes Mario to become completely transparent and therefore
impossible to get hit by enemies. Bow's special ability also causes this
status, but it does cause you to skip an attack in the turn that follows
it. Enemies like Magikoopa can use this status on himself, if this happens
you have no other choice then to wait until it wears off. What you could do
is using Star Beam, but that Star Power is only available in Chapter 8.
Stone
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Stone Cap bought in Harry's Shop near Toad Town's harbor can cause
Mario to petrify. Similar to Transparent it leaves him invulnerable to
attacks, but this item has the side effect that Mario cannot move either.
As far as I know there are no enemies capable of using this status on
themselves.
Shrink
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The status is a bit similar to Power Down, because a shrunken character
can only do half the damage it would normally do. Rendering you (or your
opponent) as a nearly defenseless target as you can hardly damage the
enemies.
Command Loss
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Only Spy Guy's hammer, Fuzzipede's head butt and Bowser's stomp attack
disallow Mario to use a specific battle option. Hammer, Jump and Item can
be removed this way, but will return after 3 or 4 turns. If Mario loses all
three options, he can do very little so take care.
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Combat System
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In the field
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If Mario just makes contact with his enemy in the field the battle start in
a normal manner. For a First Strike at the beginning of the battle you have
to attack your opponent in the field with a Jump / Hammer attack. You can
also use Kooper (Shell Toss) & Bombette (Bomb). These attacks require no FP
so it can be very helpful if you manage to attack your opponent with
Bombette's Bomb attack. On the other hand enemies can attack you, causing
you to take damage before the first turn commences. This can however be
remedied by equipping the "Chill-Out" badge for 2 BP from Merlow for 2 Star
Pieces.
In battle
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Paper Mario has a fixed turn based battle system. This means that Mario
and his partner always have the first attack and that enemies can only
strike afterwards. The battle ends either if all your enemies are gone
(defeated or removed from the battle field). You will receive the Star
Points for all the enemies that were defeated. The other case is when Mario
is defeated / runs away. If Mario's HP is depleted the Game Over screen,
but if he successfully runs away he will only loose some coins.
In battle you can use the Z-trigger to switch the order of Mario and his
Partner, so the partner can attack before Mario does. There are several
tactics Mario can deploy during a battle. The Battle Options subsection
will explain all of them in detail.
Battle Options
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From left to right we have: Strategies, Items, Jump, Hammer and Star
Spirits available. In the beginning of the game not every option can be
used, but later on they will all be usable.
Strategies
----------
Change Party Member -> This allows you to exchange a member for another,
if you have more than one partner
Do Nothing -> If you can't think of anything useful to do in this
turn you can skip it all the same
Run Away -> A Running gauge appears, if the Icon appears over
the safe area you can run away, else it has the
same effect as doing nothing
Items
-----
If you have any items you can select one item to use in battle. If you
have the Douple / Triple Dip badges equipped Mario can even use 2 or 3
items in one turn. Additionally the Refund Badge will refund some coins for
eached item used during the battle.
Jump
----
This default attack is available right from the start. If you have any
special Jump Attack badges equipped you can make a chose between the kind
of Jump attack you wish to use. After this you can select an enemy as a
target. Note that you cannot jump on ceiling enemies or enemies with
Spikes, although the Spike Shields badge will protect you against the
latter group.
Hammer
------
After finding Goompa's Hammer this option can be used. Similar to the Jump
command the type of attack can be selected depending on the badges you have
equipped. Common sense logic tells you that Mario can only attack the front
enemy with the Hammer, unless you use the Hammer Throw via its
corresponding badge.
Star Spirit
-----------
Upon rescuing the first Star Spirit from Bowser's underlings Mario will be
able to use Star Power. These attacks are powered by Star Energy as shown
by the gauge that appears at the top of the screen. Restoring Star Energy
takes quite a while, so in order to speed this up the "Focus" command
allows you to restore it much faster.
Action Command
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you think that this game is just a turn based game where you can just
sit back passively watching how everybody on the screen attacks in a
predetermined order, then you got it pretty much wrong! After obtaining the
Lucky Star from Twink you can use Action Commands forcing you to work for
better results. There are three main types of Action Command that can be
used.
Timing -> Press the key displayed on the screen on the correct
moment
Consecutive -> Hit the required button as much as possible to cause
as much as possible
Hold -> Keep the button / control stick pressed, until the
command tells you to release the button
The timing and hold commands are the easiest to perform, but as expected
most of the stronger attacks require the player to do consecutive tapping
for maximal damage. Most of these attacks however will allow you to stop
once the gauge reaches 100%.
But wait, there's more to it. When your enemies attack you Mario can
reduce the amount of damage by one by pressing 'A' just before the enemies'
attack hits you. Most attacks are pretty slow and can easily be blocked,
but some like Crazee Dayzee's Song and the Master's Combo attack are very
difficult to block. There is a huge lag between the start of the attack and
the moment you need to block, making it rather hard to do this correctly.
Damage Calculation
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As mentioned in the description of ATK in the Statistics section, damage
is dealt by using the base ATK power of an attack. Some enemies however
have some level of defense, causing the attacks to be less effective.
Damage calculation is simple:
attacker ATK - target DEF = Damage
So a jump attack with the normal boots (ATK: 1) on a Goomba (DEF: 0) would
yield 1, or 1 + 1 damage if the Action Command is used. A Koopa however has
DEF: 1, hence Mario cannot damage it with a single jump. The property of a
Koopa however tells you that it falls on his back if you jump on it
exposing its weaker underbelly degenerating his defense to 0, hence with
the Action Command you'd get 0 + 1 damage! This also holds the other way
round as enemies can do 1 point less damage if Mario equips the Defense
Plus badge.
Finally there is a special type of attack which penetrates defense (i.e.
defense is always 0) some examples of these attacks are all the attack-
items (POW-block), Watt's "Electro Dash", Mario's "D-Down Jump" and "Quake
Hammer". They will do the same amount of damage regardless of the defensive
level of your opponent. On the other hand there are no enemy attacks that
can penetrate Mario's DEF.
Level Up & Star Points
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Each time you defeat an enemy you will receive a number of star points
denoting the amount of experience you obtain from that enemy. The enemies
in Paper Mario have a so-called Star Point Level (SPL) associated with
them. Their level is compared to Mario's current level (between 1-27) and
the difference determines the amount of Star points you get from it. This
kind of battle system prevents players from hoarding experience and thus
eliminates the factor of overkill by some degree.
Each time you collect 100 Star Points you can either upgrade your HP by 5,
FP by 5 or BP by 3. In practice this means that 3 BP = 5HP/FP hence the
HP/FP Plus badges have exactly the same effect as leveling up, but then
choosing HP/FP instead of BP. As mentioned above Mario's maximum level is
27 and his statistics will be HP = 50, FP = 50 and BP = 30.
Here are some details about underlying calculation of the Star Points
awarded in battle. Basically fighting a strong enemy with a very low level
will yield huge amounts of star points and weak enemies will give no points
at all! For every two level ups a enemy will give one Star Point less. In
formula shape it looks like this where SPL is the monster's Star Point
Level:
Base SP = (SPL - Mario's Level) / 2
Matters are however a bit more complicated as enemies cannot give 0.5 Star
Points so this value needs to be rounded to the nearest integer number.
Apart from that an enemy will yield more Points if there are more monsters
at the start of the battle. This is a crucial notion as the amount of
enemies on the screen, when the monster dies is NOT taken into account. For
battles with 1 or 2 enemies this number stays the same as the base value,
but when 3 or more enemies are present at the start they give more points
as an individual. It is 10% of the base SP value times an additional factor
which looks like based on the number of enemies present at the start
(E start):
E start factor
---------- ------
1 0
2 0
3 1
4(or more) 3
Again in formula it looks like the following:
factor = max( 0, ( E start * 2 - 5 ))
SP = round(Base SP + (Base SP / 10) * factor )
If this is all to complex for you, then don't mind it at all as the game
takes care of everything. Just look at the SPL values if you wish to know,
when an enemy is vulnerable to the Bump Attack badge, so it can be defeated
