Eternal Blue - The Lemina Bug

The Lemina Bug is a glitch that can be activated in the US version of EB that allows you to access all the items and equipment in the game data, including things that were never meant to be in the actual game. With luck and patience, you can even access items much earlier than they appear (e.g., Ghaleon's Sword), and items that were never meant to be in the final game (e.g., the Dark Scimitar).

The Lemina Bug was discovered in 1999 by a fellow named The Hatless Dezorian, and further explored by both him and another fellow named Evil_C. The original site they set up is no longer active. The guide hosted here by LunarNET is largely based on their findings and descriptions (including the catalog of special items such as the Dark Scimitar). We've added a few additional elements such as screenshots and elaborations on some points.

Background

Since EB was released in the US in 1995, the Dark Scimitar (mentioned in the manual, but not in the game) became something of a holy grail. On the Shrine to Ghaleon message boards (StG being the second-oldest Lunar site), people were tossing around ideas of how to search for it when one person (eh, that would be me, Kizyr) posted an intentionally-ridiculous method of obtaining it. That ridiculous theory brought together both The Hatless Dezorian and Evil_C, who had attempted to follow said ridiculous method and in the process discovered what would eventually be called the Lemina Bug.

After plenty of experimentation, Hatless and Evil_C found that pretty much every item (and some things never meant to be items) could be accessed through this glitch. Eventually, they found the Dark Scimitar and several other items cut from the final version of the game this way. You can see the original thread announcing this discovery archived here:

The two of them set up a site (now defunct, but accessible through web archives) detailing how to activate the bug, and how to get the Dark Scimitar and other items. The original URL was:

LunarNET's Lemina Bug section is basically an extract of that original site, focusing just on activating the bug and a few key features of it.

Lemina Bug - Overview

The Lemina Bug is a glitch in the US version of Lunar: Eternal Blue only; it will not work in the Japanese version or the remakes for the Saturn or Playstation. It is based on three features: (1) the use of Magic Experience (MEXP) points to level up spell groups, such as Ronfar's Soul and Lemina's Mystic spells, (2) the game remembering which spell group you last selected to level up, and (3) the game remembering and letting you level up the spell group last selected even after the corresponding character leaves the party. Activating it lets you access a different part of the game data to pull items from--this lets you get some inaccessible items (such as the Dark Scimitar, or Ghaleon's Sword much earlier in the game), but it also has extremely chaotic results, it can make the game unstable, and it will make Hiro's Wind Magic unusable. While you can accomplish the same thing with save state hacking (without the chaos), you can activate the Lemina Bug with or without an emulator.

As an aside: you usually find yourself leveling up Lemina's Mystic spell group, hence the name the 'Lemina Bug'.

The simple explanation for activating it is: (1) Wait for a point where either Lemina or Ronfar is about to leave the party, (2) Select Lemina Mystic or Ronfar's Soul magic group in the menu to level them up using MEXP, (3) Wait for Lemina or Ronfar to leave the party, and (4) Attempt to level up their magic past level 13, and then level up Hiro's Wind magic group once.

The rest of the guide provides more details on activating it and how to make the most of it.

The first thing you see when you've activated the bug. This means good times are ahead.

Lemina Bug - When to Activate

The following are the conditions which must be met prior to activating the Lemina Bug:

(1) You must have at least 26756 Magic Experience points. This is because you must power up Lemina's "Mystic" spells or Ronfar's "Soul" spells to level 13, which requires exactly 26756 Magic EXP. In addition to this, you should have enough Magic EXP to power up Hiro's "Wind" spells one time. I'll explain why later. And, naturally, you should also have enough Magic EXP to be able to save your game a few times.

(2) Someone whose magic can normally be powered up (Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, or Leo) must have left the party. You must set the Magic Experience Power Up screen on their magic before they leave. For example, if Lemina is about to leave your party, set the Magic Power Up screen to Lemina's Flame or Ice magic.

(3) Lemina cannot be in the party. When the Magic Power Up screen is set to "Mystic", Lemina must not be in the party. However, after it's set to Mystic, Lemina can return.

(4) Ruby is in the party. You need to give items to Ruby, so she needs to be with you.

The two best points in the game for 'Lemina Bug' activation are:

(1) Taben's Peak - After Defeating the Blue Dragon Cult in the Meribian Sewers. When you return to Taben's Peak after saving the children from the sewers, Hiro and Ruby leave the party for a short time. Save the game before entering Nall's hideout. This is the best activation location of all.

(2) Pentagulia - When you first arrive in Pentagulia, Ghaleon will appear. After he leaves, Ronfar, Jean, and Lemina will immediately leave the party. Save the game before stepping off the Dragonship Destiny, and thus before Ghaleon appears.

There are several other points in the game at which the Lemina Bug may be activated, but most of them require you to fight a boss or otherwise play through several minutes of the game every time you want to attempt to use the glitch, and thus are not as good as the two listed above. They also may not work as well as the two locations listed above.

Optimal location: Taben's Peak after defeating the Blue Dragon Cult, after everyone else has left the party, with enough MEXP to level up Lemina's Mystic or Ronfar's Soul spell to Level 13. Also, prior to this, I put the magic level up screen on Jean's "Dance" magic group.

Lemina Bug - How to Activate

After you have reached a 'Lemina Bug' activation location and have saved your game right before it, here is what you must do to actually activate the glitch.

(1) Open up the Magic Power Up menu.

(2) Set the Magic Power up menu to the magic of a person who is about to leave the party. For any of the above activation locations, Lemina's Flame or Ice magic will work.

(3) Exit the Magic Power up menu without powering up magic.

(4) Advance through the game to the point at which the character(s) leaves the party.

(5) Move your party next to a doorway or other location which, if passed through, will cause a different screen to load. You want to be able to reload the screen immediately after making use of the glitch to help prevent the game from crashing. Many graphics glitches which appear on screen during 'Lemina Bug' utilization will disappear after you pass through a doorway.

(6) Open up the Magic Power Up menu. It should be set to Lemina's Flame magic.

After Jean leaves the party, magic level up screen should already be on Lemina's "Flame" magic when you open it up again.

(7) While at the Magic Power Up menu, press "Up" about 18 times, or until the magic being powered up changes from "Flame" to either "Mystic" (most likely) or "Soul" (possible, but unlikely).

After pressing "Up" several times it ended up at Lemina's "Mystic" magic.

(8) Power Up Mystic/Soul just as you would any other spell. Various strange messages will appear on screen as you power up the spells, but just keep powering up Mystic/Soul to level 13.

After levelling up "Mystic" once, this is what you see.

(9) After powering up Mystic/Soul to level 13, you will have created the 'Phantom inventory'. The 'Phantom inventory' is an invisible and highly unstable inventory which contains every item in the game, and it can now be found in place of Hiro's inventory.

After levelling up "Mystic" to level 13, this is what you see.

(10) Exit the Magic Power Up menu, but do not exit all menus. Just press "B" once to exit the Magic Power up menu.

(11) Select Hiro in the main menu.

(12) You want to get to Hiro's inventory, but there are several ways to do this. You should access Hiro's inventory by using the "RUBY" command. Thus you will be able to give items from the 'Phantom inventory' directly to Ruby. Attempting to give these items to anyone else will cause the game to crash.

After opening up Hiro's inventory using the "Ruby" command, the screen will look like this and you can move around the "Phantom Inventory".

(13) Move the cursor around the 'Phantom inventory' and give items to Ruby.

Moving around the "Phantom Inventory", you might see usable or unusable items show up.

(I should note that after you power up Mystic/Soul to level 13, Hiro's magic will become completely unusable for the rest of the game. Sometimes it is possible to fix Hiro's magic by returning to the Magic Power Up screen after you obtain your items from the 'Phantom inventory', but it rarely works. After you're done with the 'Phantom inventory', return to the Magic Power Up screen. Try pressing "Up" a few times. If you are extremely lucky, Hiro's "Wind" magic will appear. Power it up once and Hiro's magic will be fixed. However, most likely, Hiro's "Wind" magic will not show up, and if you keep pressing "Up", the game will crash.)

If you're lucky, you'll be able to highlight Hiro's "Wind" magic after this ordeal, level it up, and set things back to normal.

(14) When done, exit all menus (or attempt to fix Hiro's magic, then exit all menus) and then move through the doorway that you are standing next to.

(15) If you want, save your game. I recommend that you save it in a slot other than the one you just used, or else you will not be able to activate the glitch a second time at this activation location.

These are the basics for activating the 'Lemina Bug' and using it to get items from the 'Phantom inventory'. However, you probably will not get anything useful by just searching around the 'Phantom inventory'. There is something that you must do within the 'Phantom inventory' in order to change it and give you access to all of the items in the game.

Lemina Bug - How to Get Inaccessible Items

At this point, you should have a saved game right before a 'Lemina Bug' activation point. You should also know how to create, access, and get items from the 'Phantom inventory'. If not, this next part will probably not make sense. If so, great.

Now you need to change the 'Phantom inventory' so that it allows you to access every item in the game. Fortunately this is not too complicated, although it is hard to explain.

(1) Search around in the 'Phantom inventory'. Usually the best way to start out is by pressing "Right", and keep on moving to the "Right". Whenever you find an item, press the "C" button. Normally, "C" will turn an item description on or off. It will still have that effect, but now it will actually cause some items in the 'Phantom inventory' to reload.

(2) Eventually, you should come across an item that changes when you press "C". Keep pressing "C", and see what happens.

(3) When you find an item in the 'Phantom inventory' which changes when you press "C", one of two things will be true. One, it will change only between two different items (eg, King's Mail and Graceful Dress, or Ice Blade and Platinum Scimitar), or two, it will change between all of the Keys, Dragon Auras, and other event items found in the game.

(In an attempt to avoid confusion, I will call the places which alternate between two items 'Binary clusters'. The places which alternate between all of the event items found in the game will now be called 'Event item clusters'. 'Event item clusters' will ALWAYS appear two spaces to the "Right" of 'Binary clusters'.)

Example of a "Binary Cluster". Notice how it only cycles between two items, both usable. It's also two spaces to the left of the "Event Item Cluster".

Example of an "Event Item Cluster". Notice how it cycles between 4 event-related items. It's also two spaces to the right of the "Binary Cluster".

Example of a "Globular Cluster". Notice how the stars are gravitationally bound to the galactic core. It's also 32,600 light years up from the "Event Item Cluster".

(4) What you want to do is find a 'Binary cluster'. If you found an 'Event item cluster', press "Left" twice to get to where you need to be.

(5) You should now have the cursor selecting a 'Binary cluster'. Now press "A" to give one of the 'Binary cluster' items (either one, it doesn't matter) to Ruby.

(6) After you take an item from a 'Binary cluster', every 'Event item cluster' in the 'Phantom inventory' will change. They will all now give you access to ALL of the items in the game. So at this point, they will become 'All items clusters'.

(7) Search through the 'Phantom inventory' to find the 'All items clusters'. You should have access to at least three of them. If you are currently selecting an 'All items cluster', then another one should appear one space "Up" and six spaces "Right" from it, or, conversely, one space "Down" and six spaces "Left". Remember that 'Binary clusters' are ALWAYS two spaces to the "Left" of 'Event item clusters' and 'All items clusters'.

(8) 'All items clusters' give you access to every item in the game, in addition to numerous glitched items which typically cause the game to crash. Keep on pressing "C" to cycle through the game's items. Eventually, the "Dark Scimitar" and other inaccessible items will appear. When they do, press "A" to give them to Ruby. You will most likely have to repeat the process many, many times to get any of these items.

Eventually you'll be able to access an "All Items Cluster". The one here has the Dark Scimitar in it. I'll give it to Ruby to hold on to...

To be honest, the Dark Scimitar is a little underwhelming.

Lemina Bug - Inaccessible Items List

These are the inaccessible items which you can get using the 'Lemina Bug'.

Lemina Bug - Magic Power Up List

The following is a complete chart of the effects of powering up Mystic or Soul spells. It is completely unnecessary to power up Mystic or Soul beyond level 13, but here is what happens in case you're curious.