Vandal Hearts II Guide: Chapter 1

Set-Up

From here on, I found it easier to have a designated character for each type of weapon.  I generally set it up like this;


James: Sword, shields, L-Armour.
Vlad: Axes, Lances, shields, A-Armour.
Lira: Ballistics, ie, Bows/Throwing Weapons, L-Armour.

Prateau, Mage: Staff, shield, R-Armour.
Gilti, Mage: Staff, shield, R-Armour

Pike, Treasure Hunter: Knives, shields, S-Armour.  Should always have the Unlock and Searchmark skills available.
Maria, Treasure Hunting Support: Special Weapons, S-Armour.  Give Blockmake, Blockbreak, and Terraform as they become available.



Battles

Railroad

4,53 - Halbert

You start this battle without a chance to change your equipment.  Vlad has Clive's stuff, and Pike has Yuri's.

You can ignore the Halbert for now - you'll have to come back once you've gotten some flying armour, anyway.

Visit the shop only, re-equip your characters and head back to the Railroad.

Railroad
4,35 - H-Ring

The Halberd is still here if you haven't gotten it before.  Use this battle to learn new weapon skills.

Luxar Village
04,24 - Cutlass
07,13 - V-cape
15,17 - Bandana
16,24 - Graver

This battle will begin as soon as you enter and exit the tavern.

After this battle, stock up on weapons.  There are also two goblin shields, which you should buy.  Sell the Bullion.

Bahtar Plain
01,12 - Shades
01,28 - Urn
09,29 - Ballast
11,13 - Hint-5

Go after one group at a time.  Be careful when sending your treasure-hunter out by themselves.  I suggest that you work along the side left of where your characters start, where most of the treasures are.

It's easier to go after Godeau with only one character at first.  He'll move first, and if you know who he's going to target, it's pretty easy to dodge until his mp runs out.

Fort Gusta
Return later for treasure.
15,02 - S-coater
15,02 - Runners
15,12 - [I]-ring

If Maria stands on 15,25, the enemies can't get high enough to attack her or Gilti, but they can both rain arrows and thunderbolts down.

The Runners are hidden under the chest with the S-Coater.  Open the chest first, then stand on the spot where it was.

There are a couple of new weapons for sale in Luxar after this battle.  In the Tavern, speak to the man, who mentions Triangle.  Go to the shop, scroll down below 'items', and click on '???' until he sells you Map-3.

Triangle
03,03- Goblin
03,03 - Clump
10,08 - Pipe

If you come here now, you'll only face four enemies.  The clump is hidden underneath the chest with the Goblin Shield, and it's an important piece of the best ending.

Kumenu Canyon
18,08 - Goblin
33,01 - Hint-6
33,08 - L-vase

Use the select button to see where your enemies are able to reach, and dodge the archer and mage.  If you're lucky, the enemy mage will move into attack range and you can take him out early. 

Use your two teams to carefully take out the guys near them while moving together.  That should leave you with only the archer and Thorpe herself to deal with.  Send your treasure hunter over to grab the Goblin at this point, while your team takes out the archer and sends someone to tease Thorpe into using up her MP.

Porta River
01,01 - L-glove
14,17 - Magibook
14,29 - Nailbat

The nice thing about this battle is, you can kill all the enemies and then collect the treasure at your leisure, as long as you keep someone on the wrong side of the bridge.  Give the Magibook to one of your mages, it's a great accessory.

Ghote Plain
01,01 - Balloon

You can get an extra Recovermark here if you prepare properly.  Equip a character with nothing but a Shield with Weapon Trade, and have them swap with Yuri at some point.  You can steal your other allies weapons in a similar way, but those skills are easy to get so I don't usually bother.

This is an easy one.  You can grab the balloon on the first turn, and Yuri and his friends are fully capable of raining down hell on the foot soldiers near them.

Barm Mountain Range
05,14 - Pickaxe
23,08 - Maracas

You can steal Yuri's items in this battle, if you prefer.

With the Pickaxe and Maracas equipped, head back to Fort Gusta.

Fort Gusta
06, 27 - Joule

Use the blockmake ability to help your treasure hunter climb on top of the big post.  The Joule has the 're-move' skill, which lets another character move twice.  This can be useful.

Mine Level 1
09,07 - V-cape
09,13 - Philbook
13,20 - Map-11
15,20 - T-ring

Bring a couple of c-potions along.

Split your team at first; your two mages can take out the two bugs coming up along the [x,0] edge, while your physical attackers can take care of the two on the [23,X] flank.  Your two flyers can take out one of the nearby bugs below you immediately.

Blockmake is essential for getting half of the treasures here, and it'll make getting down off the ledge easier too.

JackBlade
01,38 - Pole-ax
30,38 - Goblin

Make life easier, and move everyone up near the top of the map.

Mine Level 2
21,00 -  Hi-Herb

One of the simpler levels.

Mine Level 3
03,08 - Hi-herb

Mine Level 4
00,24 - B-insect
14,24 - Goblin

This battle becomes easier if you use blockmake to create a path straight up the middle, rather than going down the sides.  As long as you're careful to dodge the mages, you should be fine.  And you get a lovely new Recovermark!

Chamber
07,07 - C-potion

My dilemma here was whether to have Lyra learn the bow or the ballistic.  I went with the bow.  You won't need 'blockmake', so you can always have Maria use the ballistic if you're in the same situation.

After taking out the foot soldiers, use flyers and mages to take out the bosses.  It's much easier trying to dodge with a few people than all of them.