Before we start, consider reading my presentation of what a perfect save entails right here to familiarize yourself with the very concept. Now armed with the proper vocabulary, I can precise that this guide is going to help you accomplish a soft cap, single perfect save. Single is more interesting in my opinion because you cannot fallback on a New Game+ run to get something you missed and must be thorough immediately. Soft cap is preferred over hard cap since the later is made very painful by the fact that characters will still earn experience even after reaching max level. I believe the hard cap for experience is 10 million, and getting from level 1 to 99 requires 1.7 million. I don’t mind grinding, it’s a perfect save after all, but I have my limits.

If you want to go for a cumulative perfect save, note that on a New Game+ you will check an additional flag—the NG+ flag itself—which gives access to two additional endings. However, you will also lose all the checkmarks resulting from fighting Spekkio, and I really do not see how you could still have access to all of his forms on a New Game+ so that’s a compromise you will have to make. If you want to achieve hard cap perfection, I have included a couple of pointers here and there but the gist of it is to run through New Game+ 98 times (if you are doing a cumulative perfect save), or make a whole lot more money every time I tell you to do so in this guide to buy 99 of each equipment instead of whatever the soft cap is. Do note however than when you start a New Game+ you will lose: all your money, all the fair unlocks, and the in-game time will reset to zero. In addition, a few items will disappear and as such their number can never be increased in subsequent games (check Appendix B for more details about that).

Please understand that this guide is not a walkthrough of the game itself. I expect you to have played the game, know how to defeat bosses and where to go. In any case doing a perfect save for a RPG is not for the faint of heart and will take a fair amount of time. Now let’s break down what a perfect save for Chrono Trigger entails, in details. Note that the hard cap in this game is 99 for every item. For equipment however, the soft cap is 3 for items that can only be worn by female characters, 4 for items that can only be worn by male characters, and 7 for items that both male and female can equip. You can use the checklist in Appendix B to keep track of your inventory.

• Loot every chest
• Complete every side quest
• Trigger all unique cutscenes
• Clear every unique encounters
• Defeat all six forms of Spekkio
• Obtain a perfect trial (fully innocent)
• Reach the soft cap for every item
• Reach maximum level for every character
• Reach maximum PWR for every character
• Unlock all single, double, and triple techniques
• Get a perfect score in Johnny’s race, three times
• Reach maximum value for gold, in-game time, and save counter

Resolving Choices

• Forest Ruins: The Nu will ask you to choose between two sealed chests. I choose the Swallow as it can only be acquired here in the Forest Ruins, while we will be able to charm one Safe Helm per playthrough allowing us to get one of each item.
• Melchior’s Choice: Both Prism Dress and Prism Helm can be acquired exactly 3 times in a single playthrough by charming them from Zeal. This is fortunately enough to reach the soft cap for the Prism Dress, so picking the Prism Helms from Melchior makes more sense (although we are left one short of the soft cap, we still end the run with 6 of them).

Preparation

Before you start you need to keep in mind one thing. The first part of this guide will require that you run through the beginning of the game in a very strict manner so that the level of your party will not exceed 9, allowing you to face Spekkio’s first form when you reach the End of Time. To do so you will need to run from every encounter and bypass as much of them as possible. Most of the time you can easily avoid an encounter by simply not touching an enemy. If you enter an encounter that you cannot run away from, and that encounter is not one of the mandatory fights that I will prepare you to, you will have to reset and try from your latest save. My route will not only allow you to stay under level 10, but also to be exactly level 9 for an easier time, clearing everything in your path while you do so.

Present

Talk to Crono’s mom for an extra 200G and proceed to pay a visit to the Mayor’s Manor. Grab the Tonic from the chest downstairs and speak to the save point guy for a unique cutscene where he moves to the side. Upstairs, speak to the Mayor himself twice for 300G and grab 100G from the chest next to him.

Once in Leene’s Square there are a couple things you must do to prepare for the trial. In a mindset of perfection, we will want the most desirable outcome which is to be proven fully innocent by all 6 judges. So make sure to 1) talk to Marle before interacting with her pendant 2) avoid talking to Melchior or at least refuse to try to persuade Marle to sell her pendant 3) leave the old man’s lunch bag alone 4) bring the lost cat to the little girl without talking to the girl first and 5) wait when Marle wants to buy candies.

While you wait for Lucca to be ready, try to get 30 Silver Points using the bell and the race and exchange them for 150G at the upper left tent on the second screen. If you’re not having any luck with the race don’t waste your time, you can skip this and make your money elsewhere. Do not fight Gato by the way, or you will earn experience.

Middle Ages

The first encounter of the game cannot be skipped. Retrieve the Tonic and PowerGlove from the chests and leave for the forest. Grab the Power Tab in the southeast section of the forest by examining the upper sparkling rock. Do not approach the lower one as it triggers an encounter.

Farm shelters in the middle bush north of the forest. You can sell them at the shop on your way back from the castle for 75G each. I recommend grabbing 22 shelters (24 if you didn’t make money at the fair) and selling 12 of them, allowing you to buy 15 tonics as well as Iron Blade, Dart Gun, and BronzeHelm (×2).

Once in the castle you can find a Tonic on your way to Marle (right path) and an Ether in her apartment. After the cutscene, explore the left path for 100G and a BronzeMail, and the kitchen for an Ether. Take the time to trigger the cutscene with the guard lying face down on the ground. Now, leave for the Cathedral.

The first fight is probably the hardest of this low-level section; do not be afraid of using tonics. The same will hold true for the second inevitable fight in the organ room. Once in the dungeon proper take a left and climb the stairs to grab the Steel Saber near the railing and eventually the Power Tab in the northwest room, but do not explore anywhere else for now. When you reach the fork in the next room, go left to avoid encounters. In the final hallway, save and setup the fade out glitch to skip the Yakra fight. While this glitch is not necessary, Yakra can be quite tricky at low level, and skipping him will still count as a victory, while giving us just enough room in terms of experience to grab items in the Factory later on, so I do recommend doing it.

To perform this glitch you’ll need to enter the door and open the menu during the fade out animation. When you close the menu the animation will start from the top so you can use it to buffer your movement until you reach the save point. In other words, exit the menu and take a couple steps toward the save point before opening it again. Repeat the above as many times as necessary until you are able to save and let the fade out finally complete. You will find yourself in the next room but retain the ability to save. Quickly do so and walk up and right. Keep buffering and saving until you reach the trigger where your characters will place themselves in front of the desk.

Reload your game and you should start immediately at the cutscene trigger. However you should have a couple frames to make a last save before the fight starts. Reload this final save and you should retain control of your character while the cutscene plays out. Grab both chests and hide at the bottom of the room; eventually, the boss will despawn. Don’t forget to clear the cathedral now that the enemies are gone and trigger the cutscene by speaking to Leene at the castle when Marle rejoins the party. Afterwards farm more shelters until you have 1120G total before continuing, which you should already have if you followed this guide to the letter. (If you’re going for a hard cap single perfect save, I’m afraid you will need 54,880G however.)

Present

Buy MaidenSuit (×2) at the market in Truce as they will no longer be sold once the trial starts, and grab the Power Tab in the southeastern part of the forest. In the trial, answer that you started it and that Marle’s fortune never tempted you and you should be found fully innocent. Ether (×6) will await you in the dungeons when you wake up. Do not try to escape by yourself and wait the three days for Lucca to arrive, this will allow you to skip a couple extra fights.

There are inevitable encounters here, one on the bridge with two Soldiers and one with an Omnicrone when leaving the treasure room. With careful positioning you can walk in-between the pair of Sentry enemies and every other guard can be knocked out if interacted with from behind. They also give a Mid Tonic upon inspecting their bodies which is a repeatable way to farm them, although you shouldn’t need to worry about that.

You will also need to take a fight with a Decedent in one of the cells as it counts as a unique trigger as well as examining the dead prisoner. Finally, do not forget to save Fritz from the guillotine while you escape. Also, the body of the guard in the final room with the note has five Ether; since they are unique you should grab them. For the Dragon Tank, start by dispatching the head, and then the grinder using only basic attacks. Once again, do not be afraid to spam regular tonics. During your escape you can grab the Shelter in the castle proper.

Future

Before heading towards Lab 16 sell Crono’s Lode Sword (we are getting a new one in a minute) and use the money to buy Auto Gun, Iron Helm (×2) and Iron Suit (×2) in Trann Dome. Give one suit to Lucca and one helm to Marle, and fully equip Crono. In Lab 16, grab Berserker, Lode Sword, Lode Bow, and the Ether from the chests.

There are two easy-to-find Mid Ether in the basement of Arris Dome. The Guardian encounter shouldn’t pose too much trouble as long as you attack the Bits before the Guardian itself. Have Marle use tonics to heal the party when the Bits are down. You should be able to kill him in 3 cycles and hit level 6 with your party.

Grab the Mid Tonic at the entrance of Lab 32 and race Johnny if you want. Once you reach Proto Dome, you have to fight the first Bugger encounter, but you can skip the second one if you don’t run but walk past them (which you will also have to do on your way out). When given the chance, leave Marle behind and trade Robo’s armor for Lucca’s to balance their protection evenly.

The only encounters you cannot run away from are the one on the conveyor belt and the very first Acid in the entrance. Skip this paragraph if you decided against the Yakra skip otherwise you will earn too much experience. Take the right elevator first and explore the open door in the upper left region. Take the left ladder at the bottom for the bow, then the one on the right. Use codes XA and BB at the crane, and after you complete your loop of the area, come back to the entrance of the factory to take the left elevator and make sure to save.

One last inescapable encounter with Acid and Alkaline awaits you in the laser grid room. After that make sure Lucca and Crono are at maximum HP and that Crono has at least 12 MP. When facing the R Series four Cyclone will be enough to dispatch them while you use your last tonics with Lucca to keep him alive.

End of Time

Your party should be level 9 for Chrono and Lucca, and level 8 for Marle. Leave Robo and learn magic from Spekkio. You should be able to easily defeat his first form (Frog) by using your newly acquired powers, thus earning a Magic Tab. Once this is done you might want to consider going back to the future and get a couple of levels to make up for the lost experience and have an easier time on the next few dungeons; although you can definitely continue at your current level if you like a challenge. If you did not perform the Yakra skip you can go back to at least clear the right part of the Factory for some good items or do that the next time we travel there.

Note that we are not yet free of leveling constraints. I won’t provide an experience route, but if you follow this guide precisely you will always be at an appropriate level for Spekkio. If you want to do some extra levelling on your own, remember that you will need to fight Spekkio while between level 10 and 20 (exclusive), between level 20 and 30 (exclusive), and between level 30 and 40 (exclusive). After that you will need to fight him before reaching level 99 and one last time at level 99 exactly. Also remember that there are times where you may be locked out of the End of Time (between the end of Ocean Palace and the Dalton fight for example) so plan ahead to avoid being trapped and don’t overlevel.

Present

Eat the cake on the friendly imp’s table and talk to both of them for two unique dialogues. Check the Elder’s House to find a Speed Tab and a Magic Tab, on the first and second floor respectively. You should also trigger the cutscene at Medina’s Square and a fight in the market by choosing to plead to the merchant. Kill the Omnicrone in that fight as he won’t respawn. Go to Heckran Cave and in the main room check the southeastern door first. You should find an Ether, a MagicScarf, a Mid Ether, and one last Ether before facing the boss. In Truce, grab the Mid Ether (×10) from Fritz at the market and the Taban Vest by speaking to Taban at Lucca’s place. Go upstairs and wait for the little scene between him and Lara before you can talk to him in the main room.

Middle Ages

Speak to the captain at Zenan Bridge then to the chef in the castle’s kitchens. He will give you the Jerky as well as a Power Tab. Back at the bridge give the Jerky to the captain and talk to him a second time to obtain a Gold Helm by answering his question positively. Stop in Dorino after you defeat Zombor and interact with the sparkle. Once this is done the old man will allow you to take the Magic Tab if you give him the Naga-ette Bromide. Finally, stop by Fiona’s house in the desert for two Mid Ether and Porre’s market for a Power Tab. Once you’ve cleared Denadoro Mts. recover the Hero Medal from Tata and visit the Cursed Woods, where you can grab a Mid Tonic and a Shelter in the chests as well as a MagicScarf in Frog’s hideout.

End of Time

You should be around level 14–16, enough to tackle Spekkio’s second form (Kilwala). While he hits hard you can dispatch him fast with Lucca’s magic and Marle or Robo focusing on healing. He rewards you with a Magic Tab and Ether (×5). Don’t rush to the next part in the hopes of leveling up as you won’t be able to come back immediately.

Prehistoric

Grab the Berserker on your way to the village then proceed to the Hunting Range when you get Ayla. Here we are going to grind to unlock her Charm technique and grab enough resources to buy all the trade items we need before they disappear from the game. The Nu that can appear when it rains will give you 30 technique points per kill on top of trade resources and a Third Eye on the first victory.

I’ve found that the easiest way to farm him is to wait on the southeastern platform. If he doesn’t appear in this spot you have time to check the one just north of here and the far northwestern corner. It might be superstition on my part but if I don’t see him twice in a row I like to reset the area by leaving. Once Charm is unlocked use it on a Nu to obtain a Mop.

Through trading you will also acquire Flint Edge, Ruby Gun, Sage Bow, Stone Arm, Rock Helm (×5) and Ruby Vest (×5). Horns and Feathers will give you Rock Helm while Fangs and Feathers will give you Ruby Vest. In total you will need to trade in 9 Petals, 21 Fangs, 21 Horns, and 33 Feathers. You will have enough even before you finish farming for Charm so don’t worry about keeping track.

In the Reptite Lair, proceed until the corridor with two Cave Apes and take a left to loop back until you have all the items. Now with Charm unlocked you can also steal powerful gear, so make sure you acquire Dream Gun (Evilweevil), Dream Bow (Fly Trap), Magma Hand (Reptite), and Aeon Blade (Megasaur). When you reach Nizbel, remember to charm a Third Eye from him too. Grab some extra Magma Hands without farming for them specifically (charm Reptites as you loop through the dungeon for all the loot) in order to sell them since we are going to need to grind for money in a little while.

Make a final pass at the Hunting Range to farm until you max out on Petal, Horn, Fang, and Feather since we won’t be doing any more trading. Although you can do that at the end of the run, the Nu will also give you tech points which you can put to good use immediately. Because we are not chasing those points however, you can also fight the regular enemies for the resources; clearing the whole area and killing a couple of Nu as you go should be the fastest way to grind.

Middle Ages

Remember to backtrack to teach magic to Frog before going through the Magic Cave. In the lair, you should trigger only the first of Ozzie’s hole traps. It would be better to clear the dungeon without triggering any traps, but we have to go down at least once for the chests. The remaining traps however should not be triggered if we are to remain perfect.

End of Time

You should be around level 25, meaning you can tackle Spekkio’s third phase (Goblin) using level 2 magic. It’s a little tough and relies heavily on which spell he decides to cast at you, but it is doable. You will want him to use fire spells in particular since we have Ruby Vests to help us. You may want to delay the fight until your party is 28–29, but watch out not to overlevel. If you do want some extra levels we are heading toward a long grind in the Tyrano Lair which will help you do so. When the Spekkio fight is over, you will be rewarded with another Magic Tab and Mid Ether (×5).

Prehistoric

You shouldn’t be able to miss the three chests in Dactyl Nest, but for reference you will find a Mid Ether, a Mid Tonic, and a Meso Mail. Do not forget to free the tribesmen in the Tyrano Lair’s dungeons and remember to charm Nizbel II for the last Third Eye as well as both Azala and the BlackTyrano for a Magic Tab and a Power Tab respectively.

While in the Tyrano Lair you will also need to charm Volcano or Terrasaur for Lapis, as you won’t be able to acquire them elsewhere. Technically you could still farm them in the Ocean Palace, but the enemies there will always counterattack your charm attempts which is annoying and slow. The best spot to grind is after the teleporter maze, on the balcony. There are three triggers (top, middle, and bottom) which all spawn relevant enemies. Make sure to have 92 Lapis at least (an extra 8 await us in different chests throughout the game) and to never use a single one after that, or 99 of them which will give you a small margin to use a couple here and there.

Dark Ages

Make sure to complete the following before witnessing the cutscene with Schala and Janus in the bedroom of Zeal Palace as you won’t be able to leave the area once it is triggered, although you will be able to come back at a later time. In Enhansa, start by the cutscene with Janus in the northwest corner and proceed to defeat the six Nu in the secret room (the book order is northeast, northwest, and south) which can be done fairly easily by using Ayla and Crono’s Falcon Hit twice on each row of Nu, healing all the while with Robo or Marle. This fight will net you 90 tech points but more importantly reward you with a Speed Tab and a Magic Tab.

Trigger the cutscene with Dalton at the Blackbird by talking to the guards there and enter Kajar. Grab the Speed Tab from the northeastern room, inspecting the south wall opposite where the sparkling light was in the previous room. Find the secret room (book order here is northwest, southeast, center where the Nu merchant is) and examine the doll for the Black Rock and leave for Zeal Palace. In here, talk to the girl next to the sprout and convince her to plant it in secret so that we can acccess a quest later on, and talk to the Nu on the walkway to learn their secret scratch-point. Proceed with the story, and remember to charm Golem for a Magic Tab.

Future

Leave Proto Dome but don’t forget to fight the Buggers we left behind previously, as they can be considered a unique flag. If you had to skip half of the Factory earlier, now’s the chance to clear out the area. Walk through Lab 32 by transitioning on foot rather than using the bike to find a chest containing the Race Log. As far as racing goes, switch Johnny’s race mode so that you can use the L and R buttons to change the camera angle, making it easier to score. There are rewards depending on the score you get but they are repeatable, so your real goal here is 1,500 or better for a Power Tab and the perfect score of 2,371 if you manage to stay in front of him for the whole race. It’s no small achievement and takes some time so you can wait until the end game to tackle this particular challenge.

Make a quick detour to Arris Dome, in the right basement precisely, to open the sealed door behind which you will find a Power Tab, a Lumin Robe, an Elixir, a Hit Ring, and a Gold Erng. Continue by walking back towards Trann Dome to grab a Gold Stud, a Full Ether, and a Magic Tab, and Bangor Dome to grab a Wallet, a Full Ether, and the very useful Charm Top. Travel through the gate in Bangor to activate the portal in the End of Time and come back.

On your way to the sewers farm some Full Tonic by charming Mutants in Lab 16 or 32. This spot will never disappear so it can be done at the end of the run, but some Full Tonics are clearly recommended for the upcoming Spekkio fight so might as well. In any case I advise farming them now. Go through the sewers, looting 600G, a Rage Band, and a Bolt Sword while you’re there. Once in Keeper’s Dome, do not forget to grab the Magic Tab in the corridor past the sealed door (you need to inspect the Epoch first).

End of Time

Now is probably the time for Spekkio’s fourth form (Omnicrone) if like me you are around level 35 at this point of the run. This is a tough fight, but one that can be done by abusing Crono’s Luminaire and constantly healing with Robo and Frog, using a mid ether in the middle for Crono. If you are not afraid to backtrack you can wait after Mt. Woe but remember to come back before you complete the Ocean Palace or you may be stuck for longer than you’d like. Spekkio will reward you with a Magic Tab and Full Ether (×5).

Dark Ages

In the Beast’s Nest, grab the Power Tab in the lower corner and charm R’bow Helm (×7) from the regular Beast enemy before moving on to the boss. Make sure to charm the Speed Tab from Mud Imp as well as a MermaidCap from Blue Beast. With this done prepare for a little bit of grind in the next area.

You will need to charm a few unique items here: AlloyBlade (Bantam Imp), Big Hand (Gargoyle), and Pearl Edge (Man Eater). You will also need a lot of money right after Mt. Woe is cleared and this is the last, but also best, place to farm. The aforementioned three items sell for about 10,000G each and you will need a total of 213,800G so it shouldn’t be too long. Try to make a bit more so you can also clear the Last Village shop while you’re in the area (119,000G) although you may do it at any point in the run. You should also make sure to clear every Rubble encounter since they do not respawn. The 100 tech points they will give you is a nice boost for the characters that still have techniques to learn. Once you are ready, face Giga Gaia and remember to charm the Speed Tab from its head.

In Algetty, buy CometArrow, Megablast, MegatonArm, and FlashBlade for 50,600G as well as Demon Edge, Lumin Robe (×2), Flash Mail (×4), and Glow Helm (×4) for 73,200G. The second list contains items that you could still buy in Medina later on, but they will be sold at insane prices so might as well do it here. Leave for Kajar where you can talk to the Nu merchant and answer “no” to his question, allowing you to buy Lode Vest (×6) and Lode Helm (×6) for 91,000G. You might as well sell your extra Bolt Sword if you want to have exactly the required amount for the soft cap. Finally, in the northeastern room, scratch the back of the Nu facing the library for a Speed Tab.

If you are short on Lapis for one reason or another they can be charmed from Scouter enemies although it will trigger their counterattack. Another option is to loop through the dungeon using the elevator and clear fights since they usually reward you with one Lapis. This is the very last time you will be able to farm this consumable reliably so make sure you are maxed out before continuing. If you feel like you need Barriers and Shields, they can be charmed from Mage and Red Scout, and Blue Scout, Jinn, and Barghest respectively.

Scouts in the first room of the dungeon do not respawn, so I consider them to be unique flags and must be encountered (kill them or run away it doesn’t matter). This includes the seemingly invisible encounter in the southwest corner that also spawns a Mage. Finally, you will need to charm a Magic Tab from each of the Golem Twin. Remember to unequip any important item from Crono before you temporarily lose him.

Not much to say about the Blackbird except for the cutscene you can trigger in the vents by examining the spot at the very bottom, and the Magic Tab at the very top of the vents. This one only spawns once you have retrieved your items though. Also, make sure to clear every encounter aside from the Bytes, since they do not respawn. Once Dalton is dispatched and Magus has been recruited you can shop in the Last Village right away if you have made enough money (cf. Appendix A), and grab the Magic Tab behind the Nu. You will need to enter the tent and wait for him to move (don’t talk to him).

Future

While you go back and forth to retrieve the clone, stop by Lucca’s for the Taban Suit and Taban Helm. Also make sure to switch off the Nu in Keeper’s Dome, another unique flag. In Death Peak, there is a great spot before the first Lavos Spawn to farm Full Ether by using charm on the two Macabre that spawn at the entrance of the cave. It is technically not required since you can buy them but it’s faster than the alternative in my opinion. Charm Elixir out of the Lavos Spawns’ Head while you progress through the mountain, and make sure you have Marle or Lucca in your party for the summit to witness an extra cutscene. This is not a flag unless proved otherwise, but I consider it important to the story, so might as well.

Side Quests, part 1

From the End of Time start by taking the upper right portal to Guardia 1,000 AD to reach an otherwise unattainable sealed chest containing a Power Ring. Come back and take the Epoch to the Middle Ages and you will arrive near the Magic Cave. The first screen has a sealed chest containing a Magic Ring. Our next stop is in Porre where you should interact with both sealed chests (without taking their content) at the Elder’s House and complete your shopping list if you have the funds.

Jump to the Present and loot the sealed chests in the Mayor’s Manor for a White Mail and a Black Mail as well as a regular chest containing a good old Shelter. Stop by the Snail Stop to buy the Jerky (9,900G) and complete your shopping list. Jump back to the Middle Ages to give the Jerky for free to the woman in the Elder’s House and open the sealed chests for a White Vest and a Black Vest. Make your way to the desert once you are done here.

Clear out all the encounters in the first room and charm the Speed Tab out of Retinite’s core. Once you’re done, talk to Fiona with Robo in your party and save Lara during Lucca’s little escapade; you will be rewarded with a Green Dream. You could also clear the shopping list for Fiona’s Shrine, but you probably do not have enough money at the moment. Still in the Present, make a quick stop in Porre to buy another Jerky and go back to the Middle Ages with Marle in your party to pay a visit to Guardia’s Castle. Here you need to inspect the sealed chest and loot the one in the forest for a Speed Tab. While in this era, make a small detour to Truce Inn to inspect the sealed chest there. In the present, loot the chest for a Blue Mail and complete your shopping list for Truce if you can.

Witness a cutscene with Marle in the castle, but do not talk to the king immediately. Instead, loot the chests including the sealed one, which will reward you with HyperEther, Elixir, Red Mail, Full Ether, HyperEther and MegaElixir. Now you can trigger the second cutscene with the king safely. Check with him and try to offer Jerky for a unique cutscene that will lock you out of his room for the moment. Back in the Middle Ages, the sealed chest of the castle will give you a Red Vest, and the one in Truce Inn will net you a Blue Vest. And we are now off to the present once more where we will travel east to the Forest Ruins to grab a Mid Ether from the chest and choose the sealed chest on the right for the Swallow. Just behind the Black Omen, enter Heckran Cave once more for a Wall Ring and a Dash Ring in the sealed chest at the end of the cave. Come back and travel to the Middle Ages one last time.

You will be required to use charm once again to acquire unique items, namely Slasher 2 (Slash), Flea Vest (Flea), and OzziePants (Ozzie). Note that you must charm them in this order, and that you will need to charm a second OzziePants on the Ice Armor phase of Ozzie. Complete this section by making a small detour to the Sun Keep in the northeast for a Power Tab.

Side Quests, part 2

Still in the middle ages, fly to Choras Café to speak to Toma and the carpenter. Switch to the present to trigger the cutscene at Toma’s Grave and grab the Speed Tab behind the headstone, as well as the carpenter tools (check the inn first, then at the carpenter’s residence). Make a quick encounter with Cyrus’ ghost in the ruins with Frog in your party for an extra cutscene. This one is good story-wise but is not a flag as far as I can tell.

You can now go back to the middle ages to start the repairs, kill some monsters, and repeat until all floors are cleared and all three sealed chests are inspected. Meanwhile you will also open two regular chests containing an HyperEther and an Elixir. Once the repairs are over, power up the Masamune by bringing Frog to Cyrus’ grave. You may now go to the present and retrieve Moon Armor, Shiva Edge, and Valkerye as well as a Power Tab on your way (first room, right stairs) and a Magic Tab next to Cyrus’ grave. Once you’re back in the middle ages the sealed chests will contain Nova Armor, Siren, and Kali Blade. With the ruins done you can finally leave to tackle the Giant’s Claw.

Some of the chests are somewhat hidden by the foreground so beware. When you approach the very first chest you will trigger a repeatable encounter with a Gigasaur. Farm this guy to charm at least seven Ruby Armor from him, perhaps more to sell the extra (each sells for 7,000G). Meanwhile each fight will reward you with a Barrier and a Shield, making it quite worthwhile. This is going to be our grind spot for those consumables. You can do so now or wait until the end of the run. Do not forget to fight the unique encounters of Rubble enemies, and charm Rust Tyrano for a Red Mail.

Side Quests, part 3

Bring Marle with you to interrupt the King’s trial in the Present and loot the chests in the basement for Lapis (×2), Hyper Ether (×2), and Elixir (×2). Note that only three chests can be accessed in each room. Once in the Yakra XIII fight, charm a White Mail, and come back after your victory to retrieve the Yakra Key and open the locked chest containing the real chancellor.

Jump to the Future where we will start by clearing our shopping list for Trann Dome and fight the Son of the Sun, which will give us a Black Mail by charming its core. Place the moon stone in the Sun Keep in the Prehistoric era and talk to the Nu in Laruba Ruins for the SilverRock while you’re there. Travel to the Present to reflect on the stone’s disappearance, retrieve it in Porre, and replace it to obtain the Sun Stone in the future; with Lucca in your party. At the end of this quick quest you will receive the WonderShot and the Sun Shades. After a quick detour in the basement of Guardia Castle in the Present, Melchior will also give you the Rainbow, and the Sun Specs. When given the opportunity choose the Prism Helm (×3).

Side Quests, part 4

Climb Denadoro Mts. in the Present using Frog as your party leader and when you reach the screen where a Free Lancer throws medals at you press A while being hit by the projectile to catch the Gold Rock. Travel to the Future and find the Geno Dome.

Although not particularly fun this is the only opportunity to farm the regular Elixir, by charming Debuggest and Proto 4 so start by doing this. You can use the dust chute after the conveyor belt to restart the dungeon as long as you don’t complete the quest. Once you have your 99 Elixir, make sure to clear the unique encounters that are the Debuggest on the factory floor and trigger the cutscene with the hidden passage by standing at the end of the vertical conveyor belt. At the end of this dungeon, remember to charm a Blue Mail from Mother Brain. Once you’re done you will be rewarded with Terra Arm and Crisis Arm. Finally use the Epoch to travel to 1,999 AD to witness the unique cutscene of the Day of Lavos and turn back when given the chance.

Black Omen (Present)

Before we plunder the last dungeon of the game check that you are not missing anything aside from the items described in the shopping list. You should have 17 Power Tabs, 10 Speed Tabs, and 25 Magic Tabs. You should also have 99 of every consumables beside HyperEther, MegaElixir, and Power Meal.

Beside all the aforementioned chests, you will need to charm quite a few items. Although the Black Omen itself, along with Zeal, exists in three different eras, the chests and bosses will not respawn so charm Vigil Hat (Mega Mutant lower body), Hit Ring and Wall Ring (each part of Giga Mutant), MuscleRing and Power Seal (each part of Terra Mutant), and Haste Helm and Safe Helm (shell and head of Lavos Spawn) during this first run. Panel, Alien, and Blob enemies likewise are unique encounters that will not reappear in other versions of the Black Omen and each need to be charmed for Speed Tab (×13), Magic Tab (×2), and Magic Ring (×2).

Incognito ennemies can be charmed for MuscleRing. You will need 5 more of them for the soft cap and that’s exactly how many you will find in a single run. Interestingly enough, the first two Incognito in the dungeon do not respawn. The following enemies all respawn, and there is actually a great spot for farming all of them where the 30,000G chest is found. Charm Gold Erng (×6) from Synchrite and Gold Stud (×6) from Flyclops. Do note that accessories cannot be sold, so if you want your save to be limited to the soft cap, don’t charm more than you need. One last thing: When you encounter the two Nu, speak to the one on the right. Its first dialogue is unique and as such should be triggered.

Once you have done all that, fight Zeal and charm a Prism Helm from her right hand and a Prism Dress from her left. You will then be facing Lavos itself, or at least its exterior shell. Once destroyed you will find a time gate that will send you back to the End of Time and continue from there.

End of Time

Now before we make our final push you should tackle Spekkio’s penultimate form (Masamune). With all the equipment we have now, and being around level 65 if everything went according to plan, it should be quite a breeze using Crono’s Luminaire and Magus’ Dark Matter. Once victorious you will receive a Magic Tab, a Speed Tab, and a Power Tab along with Elixir (×10).

Black Omen (Middle Ages)

We will use this second run through the Black Omen to farm our consumables. The very first encounter with Martello is a great spot to charm HyperEther, while the Ruminator deeper in the dungeon will give you MegaElixir. The Tubster right after the Nu can be also charmed for a Power Tab each time. A total of 220 tabs will be required here, because we will need to hit the cap for the item in inventory but also to feed 70 tabs to Lucca, and 68 to Marle, the only two characters that will not reach maximum PWR at level 99. Once you’ve done all this, face Zeal and remember to charm an additionnal PrismDress and Prism Helm.

Black Omen (Dark Ages)

Now is the time to reach level 99 with every character. For this purpose I recommend grinding on the 4 Ruminator encounter after the Nu save point, where the Ruminator are endlessly flowing. A single Flare from Lucca is enough to kill them and will net you 1,688 experience. If you still haven’t unlocked all the techniques for each character, you can use the orb enemies in the room right after this one. Once you have all single techniques, simply finish a fight with each combination of party members to make sure all doubles and triples are also unlocked.

As far as money is concerned, this grind will help a lot, but will probably be far from enough. The easiest way to reach the 10 million gold limit is by selling 99 MegaElixir (2.5 million in total) and farm them back on our friends the Ruminators. Make sure to clear your shopping list and reach the cap for cheap consumables (Shelter, Tonic, etc.) while grinding for money. If you are aiming for hard cap perfect save, remember that you will need to keep grinding until you max out experience on each character, which will probably take… a lot of time. When, and only when, you have done all of the above can you complete the Black Omen one last time in the Dark Ages, charming your final PrismDress and Prism Helm from Zeal. Turn back once inside Lavos, because we still have a few things to attend to.

End of Time

With a full party of level 99 characters you can fight Spekkio’s ultimate form (Nu). He hits really hard with powerful spells like Halation and Luminaire and has 20,000 HP. One somewhat safe way to do this fight is to use Magus with a Gold Stud to cast Dark Matter 19 times and Dark Mist once. Meanwhile have Marle and Robo stand at the ready and use Cure Touch immediately after a spell to fully heal everyone. You might need to take the time to throw in an extra Ice 2 or Shock in there at the very end depending on your damage rolls. Note that you can use up to 10 MegaElixir too. Victory will reward you with… Spekkio’s praise. Also, Power Tab (×10), Magic Tab (×10), Speed Tab (×10), and MegaElixir (×10).

The Millenium Fair

We have time to enjoy the fair now, don’t we? Except we are going there to grind, not to have fun… *sigh* We will use Gato to farm the elusive Power Meal item using Ayla’s Charm, and accrue Silver Points at the same time. The points will be used in Bekkler’s tent to unlock a few rewards, but do note that you will be capped at 200 points, so make sure to spend them when appropriate.

In Bekkler’s tent we will play the various mini games, starting with the 10-points game once with each party member as your leader for a unique doll. This doll will appear in each character’s house and play their theme song. Clear the 40-points game with each party member too for a clone of each, also delivered at their house. Clear the 80-points game once for a cat, delivered at Crono’s house.

Now, each successive clear of the 80-points game will reward you with cat food. The more cat food you have; the more your cats will eat and reproduce, until they eventually breed new cats. There is a bit of randomness involved in this process so it’s hard to say how long it takes, but you are going to farm until you have the maximum number of cats, which is 11 total. While you can check how much cat food you currently have by inspecting the pot in Crono’s room you cannot max this counter because above a certain threshold the food will be consumed by the cats anyway. Don’t forget to grind back up to 200 Silver Points once this is done.

Cleaning Up

There are a few things left for us to do. Bring Magus, Robo, and Ayla to Spekkio for his unique dialogue regarding their magic abilities. Also bring Crono plus any party member to his mother for a unique dialogue with each character. Leave your game running until you reach the maximum value for the in-game timer (99:59) and save like a mad man until you reach the maximum number of saves (999). Also check in with Johnny and go for the perfect score of 2,371 by staying in front of him the whole time, and do so not once or twice, but three times so your Race Log is absolutely perfect, like your save. Save anywhere you want, say at the End of the Time for symbolic reasons and congratulations, you are done.

Appendix A: Shopping

• Truce: Red Katana; Titan Vest (×5) = 10,500G
• Porre (Present): Iron Bow; Karate Gi (×6); BronzeMail; BronzeHelm (×4) = 3,970G
• Porre (Middle Ages): Gold Suit (×7); Beret (×3) = 30,100G
• Trann Dome: Iron Suit (×5); Iron Helm (×4) = 6,000G
• Last Village: Hurricane; Aeon Helm (×5); Aeon Suit (×5) = 119,000G
• Fiona’s Shrine: Sight Cap (×5); Memory Cap (×5); Time Hat (×6); Vigil Hat (×4) = 530,000G

Appendix B: Checklist

I will indicate how much of each item you should have in your inventory at the time of your final save. In parenthesis I will also give you with H methods to reach the hard cap on a single playthrough, where the guide previously limited itself to the the soft cap; with S the soft cap in a cumulative playthrough where such a cap is not the the same as the hard cap and not the default of 7 for gear (one for each character); and with X the cumulative hard cap when the limit is not 99 for specific reasons.