The goal of this guide is to thoroughly explain the LGC Alignment System and what it affects, while also providing examples to optimize the choices made during the playthrough.
What is the LGC Alignment System?
The LGC Alignment is a morality system that is affected by Van’s actions during the main story and 4SPGs. It receives its name from the three different elements that compose it – Law, Gray and Chaos. While it doesn’t have a major impact on the story outside of Chapter 5, this system provides several benefits gameplay-wise.
Each Alignment needs points to level up, which are obtained from 4SPG requests and certain story choices.
After completing a 4SPG, Van will automatically gain 1 point towards the Alignments that are shown when accepting a sidequest.
The ‘Investigate a Friend Who Stole’ 4SPG grants 1 Law and 1 Gray point upon completion
Additionally, Van’s choices at the end of some 4SPGs will affect their outcome. These choices give 5 points to one specific Alignment.
’Confess to the store and return the money’ (Law) or ‘Return the money without telling the store’ (Gray)?
This is the cumulative amount of points required to level up each Alignment:
And lastly, the big question: is it possible to max all three Alignments in a single playthrough? According to the information presented in ‘The Complete Guide (日本ファルコム公式 英雄伝説 黎の軌跡 ザ・コンプリートガイド)’ book, the answer is no, it’s not possible. That said, there are several approaches to make the most out of this system that will be explained in more detail down below.
What does it affect?
- In-game achievements and rewards tied to leveling up each Alignment up to Lv5.
- Mare, Van’s exclusive Hollow Core, will get different upgrades upon reaching Lv3 for each Alignment.
- Van’s Alignment will affect the factions the Solutions Office can partner with during the events of Chapter 5.
- These different factions can also aid the Solutions Office right before entering the final dungeon during the Final Chapter if their respective Alignment is at Lv4 or higher.
- One optional boss per Alignment will appear in the final dungeon if they are at Lv5. These bosses drop Jet Black Steel, an alloy variant of the Zemurian Ore that can be used to create the ultimate weapon for every party member.
The most important thing to consider regarding your choices would be whether you want to focus on the story or the gameplay:
- If you want to get everything story-related, then the goal is to get all Alignments to Lv3 by Chapter 5 (all Routes available) and then to Lv4 by the Final Chapter (full cutscene before the final dungeon). Note that doing this will make it difficult, or outright impossible depending on your choices, to get any Alignment to Lv5 for the optional bosses.
- Alternatively, if you are more interested in the gameplay benefits, like unlocking a Mare upgrade early or obtaining extra drops of Jet Black Steel, it is feasible to get Lv5 for both Chaos and Gray while completely ignoring Law, or maximize Law while not focusing on the other two Alignments too much.
Mare Upgrades
Mare will synchronize with Van’s will once any Alignment reaches Lv3, unlocking new potential. While Mare’s S Boost -Multiple Works- gives Van a little bit of everything, these new Cores allow him to have a more defined role during battle.
“Boost to enhance multiple combat parameters”
“Boost to turn your unbreakable will into power”
“Boost to increase mobility and storm the battlefield”
“Boost to turn your impulse of destruction into power”
All versions can be obtained during the same playthrough and these upgrades share their Lv and Exp with the default Mare, there’s no need to level them up separately.
Chapter 5 Route Split
Upon arriving at Oración, the Solutions Office may partner with a different faction to work together during the main events of this Chapter.
All factions and their characters are hidden to avoid spoilers.
- Bracer Guild: requires Law Lv3
- Elaine (playable character during Phase 1)
- Fie (playable character during Phases 2 and 3)
- Zin (AI-controlled guest)
- Heiyue: requires Gray Lv3
- Rixia (playable character)
- Cao (AI-controlled guest)
- Ouroboros: requires Chaos Lv3
- Walter and Lucrezia (AI-controlled guests)
- Ikaruga: requires the sum of Law and Chaos to be 5 or higher
- Shizuna (playable character)
- Kurogane (AI-controlled guest)
Note that if absolutely no LGC requirements are met, the Solutions Office will join forces with the Bracer Guild by default.
List of 4SPGs and Choices
I hope you like tables because oh boy, there are a lot of tables in the next two sections!
All 4SPGs alongside their choices, if there are any, have been compiled and organized using ‘The Complete Guide’ and my own savefiles to double-check the information. These lists include the Japanese names of every sidequest and their translated name, which may differ once the game is localized.
The choices are only in English to save some space but they are ordered as they appear in-game: the first choice corresponds to the Y button while the second one is the X button.
Finally, the total amount of points obtained by completing 4SPGs has been added, while that part of the table is empty for the points that depend on the choices, so that these images can be used as a template for your own playthrough.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Interlude
Chapter 5
To avoid spoilers, I have tried to be as vague as possible regarding the choices you would get after defeating some bosses.
Final Chapter
Sample Templates
So many points and choices can be overwhelming, especially since the game doesn’t offer a way to keep track of your current amount of points per Alignment, but worry not! I have created several templates you can follow to make the most out of the LCG System and achieve specific results during your playthrough.
In a sense, this section is still a WIP since I’m currently playing through a fresh file while following one of these templates to check if my routing is correct or not. So far it tracks with the spreadsheet, but the information below will be updated if anything changes.
Balance
As the name suggests, the goal of this template is to level up all Alignments equally. You will be able to team up with all factions during Chapter 5 and also get the full cutscene just before the final dungeon of the Final Chapter. However, no Alignment can reach Lv5.
Results
- Mare upgrade order: Chaos > Law > Gray
- Law will reach Lv3 (61/60) by Chapter 4 (Basel, Oct 24th) and Lv4 (94/120) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Gray will reach Lv3 (52/50) by Interlude (Edith, Nov 9th) and Lv4 (75/100) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Chaos will reach Lv3 (33/30) by Chapter 4 (Edith, Oct 18th) and Lv4 (52/75) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
Lv5 Chaos & Gray, Lv2 Law and earliest Mare (Chaos)
Both Chaos and Gray can reach max level during the same playthrough at the cost of completely ignoring Law.
There are several benefits gameplay-wise for this path, namely getting 2 extra drops of Jet Black Steel and, most importantly, obtaining Mare (Chaos) as soon as possible, which is near the end of Chapter 3. Storywise, you can partner up with all factions but Law during Chapter 5 and you get 2/3 of the cutscene before the final dungeon of the Final Chapter.
Results
- Mare upgrade order: Chaos > Gray. It is impossible to obtain the Law upgrade
- Law will be at Lv2 (37/60) by Chapter 5 (Edith, Nov 19th) and it will remain at Lv2 (52/60) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Gray will reach Lv3 (51/50) by Chapter 3 (Tharbad, Oct 7th) and Lv5 (104/100) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Chaos will reach Lv3 (32/30) by Chapter 3 (Tharbad, Oct 6th) and Lv5 (77/75) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd). Alternatively, it is possible to achieve Lv5 in Chapter 5 instead if you choose differently after defeating the Phase 3 Boss. I don’t think there is any benefit in doing so but the option is there
Lv5 Law, Lv3 Chaos & Gray and earliest Mare (Chaos)
Since there are so many choices that grant Law points, you can invest in the other Alignments to obtain all Mare upgrades and be able to ally with any faction during Chapter 5 while still getting Law to Lv5. Sadly, it is impossible to max Gray like in the previous template as it would be 11 points short even while completely ignoring Chaos.
Results
- Mare upgrade order: Chaos > Law > Gray
- Law will reach Lv3 (61/60) by Chapter 4 (Basel, Oct 24th) and Lv5 (120/120) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Gray will reach Lv3 (51/50) by Chapter 5 (Edith, Nov 19th) and it will remain at Lv3 (64/75) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Chaos will reach Lv3 (32/30) by Chapter 3 (Tharbad, Oct 6th) and it will remain at Lv3 (37/45) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
Lv5 Law, Lv4 Gray, Lv3 Chaos and earliest Mare (Law)
A variant of the above template that ignores Chaos until Chapter 5 to focus more on Law and Gray. With these extra points, Law reaches Lv4 by Chapter 5 so all factions but Chaos are available. Then, Chaos gets to Lv3 in one fell swoop during the events of Chapter 5 to unlock the last Mare upgrade. And finally, you can view 2/3 of the cutscene before the final dungeon of the Final Chapter since Gray reaches Lv4 by endgame.
Results
- Mare upgrade order: Law > Gray > Chaos
- Law will reach Lv3 (61/60) by Chapter 3 (Tharbad, Oct 5th) and Lv5 (123/120) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Gray will reach Lv3 (52/50) by Interlude (Edith, Nov 9th) and Lv4 (78/100) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd)
- Chaos will be at Lv1 (10/15) by Chapter 5 (Edith, Nov 19th) and it will reach Lv3 (32/45) by the Final Chapter (Edith, Dec 3rd). Mare will be upgraded during Chapter 5 (Oración, Nov 21st)
