Star Ocean: The Last Hope

OK, here's a simple and sure-fire way to win all of these races. Notice that I didn't mention words like fast or quick. This is still going to take you about 4 hours of monotonous rabbit wrangling.

This strategy is based on having a maxed out bunny at your disposal. Later in this solution I will explain how to max out your bunny, but for those of you who just want to know how to win the damn races, here it is:

Rule #1: Do NOT touch the left stick. You can't control the bunny anyway, and this rule will keep you from getting unduly frustrated and yelling things like, "Why won't this effing rabbit go where the hell I tell it to?!?!?".

Rule #2: Do NOT jump - ever ("B" button). Jumping as an offensive manuever is worthless. It stops your bunny dead in its tracks and it only stuns the other bunnies about half the time. Don't even bother jumping to avoid being stunned by another rabbit. Jumping takes almost as long as getting over being stunned. Also, Rule #3 will let you avoid getting stunned 75-85% of the time anyway.

Rule #3: Hit your dash ("A" button) every second or third hop for the entire race. With a maxed out stamina on your bunny, this will use approximately a third of your stamina bar per lap (races are 3 laps) with a tad extra if you need a burst of speed in the home stretch.

This technique is going to keep your stupid, drunken rabbit in a permanently dashed state. For most of the races the other bunnies will be left in the dust. Don't worry about being behind in the first lap, or even well into the second lap. The other bunnies all poop out during the third lap. Don't worry about getting stunned occasionally either. Your perma-dash will more than make up the difference. Remember that your bunny can only be stunned if he is actually touching the ground when another bunny jumps. By staying continually dashed, your bunny will be spending a goodly amount of his time in the air. Using this technique I earned the 100 victories easily, while only losing maybe 5 races the entire time.

Now, if your drunken rabbit is still a wimp and needs to get his stats boosted, here's what to do:

Note: This is much easier and faster if you do this after completing the game so that you will have access to the transporters. You will also need to discover the recipes for:
Miracle Pie
Stamina Pie
Speed Pie
Acceleration Pie

First go to Peppita's store in Tatroi (the grocery store) and buy 20 of each of the following:
Common Egg
Rich Cheese
Raw Animal Meat
Vegetables

Now head on over to Astral to the first outdoor item stand you come to and buy 20:
Sweet Fruit

Boogey on back to the Calnus and buy 20 of each of the following from L'il Vending Machine 2:
Fresh Cream
Pie Crusts

Head to the back of the ship and visit everyone's favorite purple helper, Welch. Go to Cooking and have Raime whip up all of the following:
6 Acceleration Pies (+3 Acceleration)
20 Speed Pies (+3 Speed)
20 Stamina Pies (+3 Stamina)
20 Miracle Pies (+3 random stat that is not already maxed out)

Note: Only make Speed Pies until you run out of Lemons. Lemons cannot be bought at any store and must be harvested, so after you run out we'll be relying on Miracle Pies.

You will need to return to the Vending Machine for pie crusts as needed.

Now hold hands with everyone and skip back to Tatroi to the Coliseum. Stuff all of these goodies into your already grossly obese bunny and watch his stats grow. Now make the shopping rounds again, have Raime get her bake on, and feed the bunny again. Rinse and repeat until said bunny can eat no more.

Note: Once a stat is maxed out (200 points) there is no need to continue making that pie. If you didn't have enough Lemons to max out the Speed stat, continue making Miracle Pies until you do so.

Came across a really good guide for this at:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/detail.php?board=946860&t...

helped me out a ton.

GL guys.

Rapid Rabbit Wrangler - 20G (Original Achievement)

Difficulty: Hard

Estimated Period of Time: Very Long

Okay i got this one after a while but it was easy to do.
First off you must have unlocked the Colosseum on Roak and you must have completed the Quest to get your bunny.

The Quests needed to open the Colosseum are "Where's the Receptionist?", and "Sore Throat Soother".

The Quest to get your bunny is "Listless Bunny".

You're now ready to enter races but your bunny's stats are horrible. To raise them you need to feed the bunny pies. The 3 stats a bunny has are Speed, Acceleration, and Stamina. So you will need to feed it Speed Pies (Adds 3 points to Speed) Acceleration Pies (Add 3 points to Acceleration), Stamina Pies (Adds 3 points to Stamina), and Miracle Pies (Adds 3 points to a random Stat.) Note that the maximum a stat can be is 200 so if Stamina is at 200 and you feed your bunny a Miracle pie, it will only raise Speed or Acceleration! Miracle Pies are helpful! Now for Pie materials, most can be bought from a store in Tatroi called "Roomy Foods". But the Sweet Fruit for Acceleration Pies can only be bought from a store called "Whole Heart Foods" in Astral. Speed Pies require Lemons which you can only Harvest in Harvesting Spots on Roak (like near the Calnus' original landing spot) I suggest ignoring Speed Pies and using Miracle Pies instead. Lastly you can buy Pie Crusts from Lil Vending Machine No. 2 on board your ship for very cheap assuming you have it created. (This requires Bacchus to have lvl 10 Engineering and he must be in an inventing session with Sarah. After inventing it, it will require 2 Micro Circuits, 4 Iron, 2 Universal Devices, and1 Scrambling Unit to create it.) This trekking back and forth to the Calnus to make pies and then feed them to the bunny will take a while so be prepared. You can only hold 10 of each pie at a time. (I find the trek easier if you have already beaten the game, switching to disc 3 and going to Nox Obscurus is easier than running all over Roak.)

Now I highly suggest you Max all 3 stats at 200 before attempting the races!

The bunny race lobby is downstairs inside the Colosseum and it will cost you Fight Coins to enter a race. 5 for a Rank 5 race, 20 for a rank 20 race, and 100 for a rank 100 race. Seeing as we need to win 100 rank 100 races we need fight coins. So go upstairs and Play Survival at the Arena (if you are very high leveled) or just normal rounds until you have about 300 coins (to be safe).

Now enter the Rank 100 Race. During the race press A to cheer for your bunny and make him move faster, and press B to make your bunny jump to stun other bunnies. Your bunny will move along the course on its own.The trick here is to count to your self 1,2,1,2,1,2 all the way through the race in unison with your bunnies hops. When you say 2 press A to speed up. Ex. 1, Boost, 1, Boost, etc, There are 3 laps needed to finish the race.

Now in the bottom left of the screen you can see all the bunnies positions (yours will always be the Pink one) They will make all sorts of faces to express themselves, BUT if you see one flashing that means it is about to jump and try to stun the others including you. As soon as you see one flashing you need to have your bunny jump as well to avoid being stunned as well as possibly stun the original bunny.

So the goal is to count in your mind and boost every other second, and the whole race you need to watch the position markers in the bottom left and jump when an enemy bunny's marker flashes. This may take a few races to get used to but it will be second nature after 10-15 races in. A Race only counts when you get 1st and it will only be 1/100 races. So prepared for a long grinding session. (Takes breaks every 10 races to relieve stress) If you win 1st place you will get about 300 Coins so don't worry about Fight Coins after winning enough.