Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories/Episode 3: Rise of the Beauty Queen

Stage 3-1: Poisonous Swamp
Geo Symbols - Purple panels only
 * Four Purple Symbols 'Encroach' on Purple Panels
 * Null Symbol 'Ally Damage 20%' on Purple Panels

The way this stage is set up, it's easy to just take on one or two Zombies at a time with any number of your forces. If you keep your eyes open for 20% Damage panels and the Zombies' poison attacks, and this should be an easy and simple stage. Buy some Fairy Dusts from the General Shop if you don't have a Healer with the Espoir spell.

Stage 3-2: Dangerous Refuge
Geo Symbols - Yellow panels only
 * Moving Blue Symbol 'HL +50%' on Yellow Panels
 * Moving Red Symbol 'EXP +50%' on Yellow Panels
 * Moving Green Symbol 'Mana +50%' on Yellow Panels

If you use Adell to toss over an attacker to destroy any one of the moving Geo Symbols on your first turn, the resulting chain will kill all eight Mothmen and raise your Bonus Gauge to at least level 6. You won't gain any battle EXP or mana this way, but it's a quick way to clear the stage and earn some nice bonuses. If you choose to clear the stage this way, you'll rank up a geo combo high enough to unlock the "Make a Strange Old Man" Dark Assembly Bill. If you pass this bill, you can create characters of the Geomancer class.

Even if you choose to do this stage the hard way, the enemies shouldn't be difficult to take down, and there aren't many tricks in the stage. You'll only have to fight about half of the forces per turn, and they don't have any equipment to boost their stats. Just be careful of their poison-inducing Hell Pollen special, as it can affect three different panels.

Baiting with a durable character on the first turn is effective, but they're likely to be poisoned. Winged's RES is roughly double their DEF, so magic attacks won't be as effective on these foes, but magic attacks should still be worthwhile if you target elemental weaknesses.

Stage 3-3: Corpse Garden
The enemies are this stage are a step above the other foes you've been facing recently, so you may want to level up or buy advanced equipment before you start this battle. The Aqua Demons on this will often use INT-based special moves, and have comparatively weak physical attacks. If you have Orbs or other items that increase RES, equip them now to help defend against their magical attacks. Avoid ice-based attacks, as Aqua Demons will take no damage from ice elementals.

Like the previous battles in this episode, this stage is fairly straightforward. Just attack hard when you can, and try to draw in as few enemies as possible.

After the Battle
Before moving on to the next stage, you'll have to accept a Subpoena from the Post Officer and gain a Felony by going through the Item World. View the Dark Court and Item World sections of this guide for more information.

Stage 3-4: Tragedyland
If you can somehow manage to defeat Etna in this battle, you're in the wrong part of this guide. If you are victorious, you'll just get a form of Game Over anyway. If you want to finish this up as quickly as possible, toss Etna into your Base Panel. All of your characters that aren't on the field will be killed, and the Base Panel will be destroyed (beware: if you do this, all of your killed allies will be counted as Ally Kills, which could prevent you from getting certain Endings).

There are three Lv9 chests scattered at the corners of this map. Their contents aren't particularly valuable, but you might be able to take them out if you throw your characters in that general direction. If you don't get the chests on the first round, the Prinnies will.

After Etna slaughters your team, several cutscenes will roll and the next Episode will begin.

Return Visits
If you come to this stage later on, Etna and her Prinny crew will be replaced by a team of monsters:

The geography of this map will allow you to only need to take on one or two Wingeds at a time. Just fight defensively to draw in enemies, and then attack with as many long-ranged spells and attacks as possible.

The Winged's Hell Pollen could poison your units, so be sure to have a character ready with the Espoir spell, or stock an Item Bag with several Fairy Dusts before battle.