Breath of Fire IV Cheat Codes & Secrets
Complete collection of cheat codes, passwords, unlockables, and hidden secrets for Breath of Fire IV (2000).
Secret & Optional Party Members
Breath of Fire IV has two characters who can be permanently missed if players don’t meet the right conditions.
| Character | How to Unlock | When Available |
|---|---|---|
| Ursula | Speak to the Imperial soldier in Chamba after the Wychwood events; she joins automatically if you don’t refuse her | Chapter 3 onwards |
| Scias | Cannot be missed — he joins as part of the story in Shikk | Mid-game |
Ursula is the most commonly missed since players can inadvertently skip the trigger conversation. She brings a gun-based attack style unavailable elsewhere, making her valuable for the endgame.
Dragon Gene Combinations
Ryu collects Dragon Genes throughout the world. Equipping three at a time in the transform slot determines which dragon form he assumes. Certain combinations unlock rare or more powerful dragons than the standard forms.
| Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 | Dragon Form | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Fire | Fire | Trance Ryu | Balanced fire-elemental form |
| Wind | Wind | Wind | Serpent | High agility, sweep attacks |
| Earth | Earth | Earth | Kaiser | Highest raw damage output |
| Fire | Wind | Earth | Mammoth | Powerful physical form |
| Empty | Empty | Empty | Whelp | Weak dragon, minimal AP cost |
The Kaiser form (three Earth genes) is generally considered the strongest for boss damage. Genes are found in treasure chests, purchased from specific shops, and dropped by certain enemies — a few are easily missed in dungeons that cannot be revisited.
Hidden Masters & Skill Apprenticeships
The Master system lets characters apprentice to NPCs to gain stat bonuses on level-up and sometimes learn passive abilities. Several Masters are hidden or require specific steps to access.
| Master | Location | Notable Bonus | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fahl | Worent | Def/HP growth | Speak to him twice |
| Yggdrasil | Chek | AP/Magic growth | Available after Wyndia events |
| Abbess | Shikk | Balanced stats | No special condition |
| Deis (via Ershin) | Ershin in party | High magic growth | Keep Ershin in active party |
| Rwolf | Mt. Giga area | Strength focus | Must complete the mountain passage |
To apprentice, open the main menu, select Masters, choose a party member, then select the Master’s name. The stat effects apply on the next level-up, so switching Masters just before gaining a level is a common optimization technique.
Exploits & Beneficial Glitches
AP Recovery Loop (Combo Skill Exploit)
Certain skill combinations in the combo system (chaining two or more compatible skills from different party members) can sometimes generate more AP than they consume if a character has the Meditation passive equipped alongside a low-cost combo trigger. This is particularly effective with Scias’s Shining Blade combo setups.
Infinite Skill Learning via Re-Apprenticing
A character who masters an NPC’s full skill set (reaching max apprenticeship bonus) and then re-apprentices to another Master retains all previously learned passive abilities. Cycling through Masters in the correct order lets a single character accumulate passives from multiple sources, which is not explained anywhere in the game.
Enemy Encounter Manipulation
Walking diagonally on the world map reduces random encounter frequency. This is a consistent, reproducible quirk of the engine — moving at 45-degree angles triggers the encounter counter less often than cardinal directions, useful for crossing long overworld segments.
Fishing Rod Bait-and-Switch
In the fishing mini-game, casting and immediately pressing Circle to cancel resets the RNG seed for the next cast without consuming bait. Rapidly cancelling then casting on the following frame consistently produces a different fish pool, useful for farming rare catches at specific fishing spots.
Post-Game Content: The Infinity Dungeon
After completing the main story, a dungeon called Infinity becomes accessible. It consists of randomly generated floors with escalating difficulty and contains some of the best equipment in the game.
- Access it from the world map after the credits
- Each floor cleared grants rare item drops
- Bosses from the main game reappear with upgraded stats on deeper floors
- The deepest floors contain accessories not obtainable anywhere else in the game
There is no “completion” state — the dungeon is theoretically endless, making it the primary endgame challenge loop.
Easter Eggs & Developer References
Fou-Lu Prologue Mirroring
The game’s dual-narrative structure is built around the fact that Ryu and Fou-Lu share a soul. At several points during Fou-Lu’s chapters, the camera angles, music cues, and even dialogue phrasing mirror Ryu’s chapters exactly — not just thematically but as direct frame-for-frame echoes. This was a deliberate directorial decision by the development team and is noted in Capcom’s internal production documents referenced in Japanese gaming press at the time of release.
The Nameless Village Message
In the settlement near Chamba, speaking to a specific NPC in a back corner of the map in a particular order (exhaust all other NPC dialogue first, then return to them) produces a short text exchange that directly breaks the fourth wall and references the player as a reader rather than a participant. This has been documented by Japanese players since the original 2000 release.
Deis’ Comment on Ryu’s Previous Adventures
Deis (residing inside Ershin) occasionally remarks that she has “met another like you before” when certain dragon forms are equipped, a meta-reference to her role in earlier Breath of Fire titles. This dialogue is only triggered when Ryu transforms while Ershin is in the active party and Deis is at maximum affinity.
Action Replay / GameShark Codes (NTSC-U)
Breath of Fire IV has no native in-game cheat menu or button-sequence codes. The following are the most widely documented Action Replay and GameShark codes for the North American PS1 release. Always back up save data before using cheat devices on original hardware.
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
800A5B6C FFFF | Max ZNY (currency) |
800A5B6E FFFF | Max ZNY (high word) |
80070AAC 270F | Ryu max HP |
80070AB0 270F | Ryu max AP |
80070B38 270F | Nina max HP |
80070B3C 270F | Nina max AP |
80070BC4 270F | Cray max HP |
80070C50 270F | Ershin max HP |
Note: These codes target the NTSC-U (North American) release. PAL and Japanese versions use different memory offsets. Cross-reference codes against a verified database (GameFAQs, Code Breaker archives) before using on original PlayStation hardware to avoid save corruption.
Fishing Mini-Game Rare Catches
Fishing is a recurring optional activity at marked water spots across the world map. Rare fish are used in cooking recipes to produce stat-boosting meals.
| Fish | Location | Bait Required | Effect When Cooked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panga | Shikk river | Worm | HP recovery item |
| Hammerhead | Coastal spots | Fly | Attack boost dish |
| Snapper | Chamba dock | Shrimp | Rare accessory trade item |
| Coelacanth | Deep sea node (late game) | Lure | Major stat-boost meal |
The Coelacanth is the rarest catch and requires a deep-sea fishing location only accessible after obtaining the boat in the late game. Using the cancel-and-recast exploit described above significantly improves the odds of triggering it.