=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TALES OF LEGENDIA An FAQ/Walkthrough For the Sony PlayStation 2 Copyright 2006 Richard Beast =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =============================================================================== Table of Contents: =============================================================================== -!NOTE!- This guide, as you will soon see, is pretty big. Seeing as how this takes effect, you will most likely be lost in trying to find out what you want to read. There is one way to get to it, instantly. Press Ctrl + F, and then look for whatever you want. Let's say you want to go to the Basics section. Type in "IV. Basics", and then you'll go to the basics section, instantly! Pretty neat, eh? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ -------------------------- * TABLE OF CONTENTS * -------------------------- ~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction II. Legal Disclaimer III. Contact Rules IV. Basics V. Characters VI. Walkthrough (Chapter One) VIa. Prologue VIb. Fallingwater VIc. Werites Beacon VId. Misty Mountains VIe. Bandits Lair VIf. Crystal Forest VIg. Secret Passage VIh. Old Oresoren Village VIi. Mountain Path VII. Walkthrough (Chapter Two) VIIa. Werites Beacon VIIb. Port-on-Rage VIIc. The Crags VIId. Oresoren Village VIIe. Waterways VIII. Walkthrough (Chapter Three) VIIIa. Ruins of Frozen Light VIIIb. Great Hollow VIIIc. Poppo's Workshop VIIId. Ruins of Frozen Light VIIIe. Forest Of No Return IX. Walkthrough (Chapter Four) IXa. Maurits' Hermitage IXb. Man-Eating Ruins IXc. Maurits' Hermitage IXd. Front Line IXe. Bridge Plain IXf. Bridge X. Walkthrough (Chapter Five) Xa. Werites Beacon Xb. Village of the Ferines Xc. Hidden Fortress Xd. Altar of the Sea Xe. Werites Beacon XI. Walkthrough (Chapter Six) XIa. The Quiet Lands XIb. Fire Monument XIc. Coast XId. Ice Monument XIe. Coast XIf. Thunder Monument XIg. Coast XIh. Earth Monument XIi. Coast XIj. Elevator XII. Walkthrough (Chapter Seven) XIIa. Mirage Palace XIIb. Werites Beacon XIIc. Wings of Light XIII. Walkthrough (CQ Introduction) XIIIa. Down the Cliff XIIIb. Werites Beacon XIIIc. Port-On-Rage XIIId. Werites Beacon XIIIe. Fallingwater XIV. Walkthrough (Will's Quest) XIVa. Werites Beacon XIVb. Great Hollow XIVc. Werites Beacon XIVd. Thunder Monument XIVe. Werites Beacon XIVf. Waterways XV. Walkthrough (Norma's Quest) XVa. Werites Beacon XVb. Man-Eating Ruins XVc. Fire Monument XVd. Ice Monument XVe. Werites Beacon XVf. Crystal Forest XVI. Walkthrough (CQ Interlude) XVIa. Werites Beacon XVIb. Village of the Ferines XVII. Walkthrough (Chloe's Quest) XVIIa. Werites Beacon XVIIb. Hidden Fortress XVIIc. Earth Monument XVIId. Werites Beacon XVIIe. Forest of No Return XVIII. Walkthrough (Moses's Quest) XVIIIa. Werites Beacon XVIIIb. Misty Mountains XVIIIc. The Crags XVIIId. Werites Beacon XVIIIe. Bandits Lair XVIX. Walkthrough (Jay's Quest) XVIXa. Werites Beacon XVIXb. Secret Passage XVIXc. Oresoren Village XVIXd. Ruins of Frozen Light XVIXe. Oresoren Village XVIXf. Mirage Palace XX. Walkthrough (Grune's Quest) XXa. Werites Beacon XXb. Bridge XXc. Altar of the Sea XXd. Wings of Light XXe. Werites Beacon XXf. Altar of the Sea XXg. Cradle of Time XXI. Eres XXIa. Senel XXIb. Will XXIc. Chloe XXId. Norma XXIe. Moses XXIf. Jay XXIg. Grune XXIh. Shirley XXII. Equipment XXIIa. Weapons XXIIb. Armor XXIIc. Headgear XXIId. Accessories XXIII. FAQ XXIV. Credits =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ I. Introduction ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- And hence I welcome you to my 39th FAQ. Wow... isn't that so far from being amazing. Contrary to popular belief, however, I do have my experience with time spent in the great outdoors, so don't start accusing me there. =) But that is really beside the point. I welcome you to Tales of Legendia, one of the better RPGs for the PS2 and among the most underrated gems that I've ever had the pleasure of looking on. Hell, I'd go so far as to call this game better than Tales of Symphonia... maybe. Okay, enough talk about the game, and myself, and more about the guide. First you get these lame and very retro amateurish trash introduction, legal disclaimer, and contact rules, then game basics in which I prove my mad skillz in giving you the run down of the game, a section on characters, recommendations and whatnot, then the walkthrough, which is split into fifteen chapters. That many chapters? REALLY? Hell yeah, this game is comprised of the main quest and character quest, which have seven and eight chapters respectively, so weigh that in. Then you witness my new format for eres (techniques) and equipment, shops, items, frequently asked questions, and we're done. Simple enough. Enjoy a guide in which I feel is one of my best ever compared to some. Don't harm the rain forest, - Richard "Gbness" Beast =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ II. Legal Disclaimer ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- You are NOT permitted to put this FAQ on your site without my permission first. All you have to do is email me or IM me saying you want this FAQ on your site, then you can tell me your site and the chance is high that I'll let you. But if you put this FAQ on your site without my permission I swear you will regret it. If I let you, not ONE word should be changed from this FAQ! NOT ONE! Got it? Good. Also, make sure that no money is involved. If you want this FAQ to be sold on eBay, then just forget about it, man. And don't sell this guide either, or pay people to use it, or you'll be in such big trouble you don't want to think. Another little note is that I will not have this guide hosted on many other web sites besides GameNotOver, GameFAQs, IGN, and Neoseeker. You need full-on permission if it's not one of the four above sites. I am sick of people ripping me off (I have been ripped off three times in the past), so if I don't like your site, I won't let my guide be posted on it. I am sorry, but this is how it has to be. If you ask politely and I like your site, you will definitely have the luck of getting it up there. Thank you very much. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ III. Contact Rules ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- First of all, feel free to check out the stuff I've written on GameFAQs. Those include a guide for Mega Man 5, a few other Mega Man games, and tons of random PSX games. Honor to the PSX, yanno? Hopefully, that'll be added with awesome Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Wild Arms guides. As you might be able to guess, I'm a large RPG fan and writer. Alright, enough shameless advertisement about me. You can e-mail me if there is a question you wish to ask that hasn't been answered in the guide, but I REALLY don't want to bother answering questions that have already been done, answered, and done again in the guide, if it isn't too much trouble. Feel free to tell me if there's something I've forgotten, however. My e-mail address is richard_power1000 [at] yahoo [dot] com. Except, replace the [at] and spaces with a "@" symbol and the [dot] and spaces with a period; I have to write like that so I don't get a dozen spam bots e-mailing me and getting me viruses. Just be polite in the e-mail, don't talk like "omg wtf rich ur gides r t3h su><0rz & how du i beat zpher", and don't ask something that's already been answered in the guide, and I'll respond. And don't bother sending things like: "You friggin' idiot. Your guides suck, you suck, and everything about you sucks. DIE DIE DIE!" "BURN IN THE FLAMES OF HELL, YOU STUPID RETARD!!!" "What the hell did you think you were doing writing all that garbage, you piece of crap? "I hope you fall down the stairs and break every bone in your body!" "u su><0rz, eVrYtInG BoUt u sUx, dIe ass!!!!!!1" I will laugh at such e-mails and delete them. So... if you're not just playing a friendly joke on me or something, don't bother with that crap cos I've been through with it too much. Okay, that's enough for that. My AIM name is rbeast288; sorry, I don't have MSN or YIM. The list is closed, but I'll add you if you ask politely via e-mail. I like chatting with people, but try not to overdo it on AIM if I add you to my list. Since I am busy a majority of the time and all. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ IV. Basics ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Honestly, I thought for awhile on what I would possibly include in this section, hence it being incredibly brief. I'll say this, though: if you've played Tales of Symphonia or even one of the earlier Tales, you'll have little to no problem with this game, except for the fact it's on a 2D battlefield. It's all one straight line with enemies on them, and of course, it's an RPG so naturally they attack. Makes sense, right? The name of techs has been changed to eres here, and those can be used with the Circle button, while attacks are done with X. They cost TP, however, so just take that into account. Eres come in two forms: iron, and crystal. Iron eres are physical, and require 50 uses for mastery. Once you've mastered a couple iron eres, you'll get new arcane iron eres, which are a combination of two mastered eres. Also, you can combine these eres for strong compound iron eres. Crystal eres are magic, and cannot be combined or mastered. In fact, they're a huge pain, since to learn crystal eres, you need Eres Stones, which are dropped by various species' of monsters, randomly. The probability, I think, seems to increase when you defeat an enemy quickly with a lot of combos. I've tested it out and find it no coincidence that the probability got a lot higher. Once you've learned a crystal eres, though, you've learned it. No need to conserve it. =) You've got a group of four iron erens and four crystal erens, but since all but one crystal eren has some means of healing, usually the best party consists of four iron erens and one crystal eren. Another means of combat is Climax Mode. You can activate this with the L1 button, and all enemies will be stunned and in a position that allows you to hit them. And from there you can hit them and perform combos, which is an excellent opportunity because all hits in a Climax Mode count towards one combo. And of course, with combos comes EXP. And also, if you have four characters alive and ready, you can perform a Climax Combo, which delivers heavy damage, but on an important factor. If you perform a Climax Combo as soon as you start Climax Mode, you'll remove 1/5 of the enemy's max HP. If you perform it any later, it's 1/20 instead. So make decisions wisely. An important means of healing damage in this game, is bread recipes. You can find Mimi in various different forms, all over the world, and if you talk to her she'll give you a recipe. You can only have ten at a time, but at a bakery, supposing you have the necessary food, you can bake these and on the world map, press Square to bring up the available breads you have. Very useful, and a good means of saving Apple (30% HP), Orange (30% TP), Melange (30% both), Scallop (20% HP, 40% TP), Lemon (60% HP), Pineapple (60% TP), and Miracle (60% both) Gels, of which you can only have 15 of each. And also, since it confuses a lot of people, I'll explain the element system now: there's Fire and Ice, which are opposed to each other. There's Earth and Lightning which are very sadly almost entirely passed up in this game, and Sea and Curse. Because of the overall nature of the game, the sea and ocean are somewhat considered holy and of the light, thus the difference between light and darkness, which is called Curse in this game. Here are some examples of spells: Fire Ice ---- --- Fire Ball Ice Arrows Fire Wall Ice Wall Fire Storm Freeze Lancer Flame Blade Absolute Eruption Icicle Volt Ancient Nova Blizzard Meteor Storm Final Embrace Big Bang Shooting Stars Lightning Earth --------- ----- Lightning Stone Blast Thunder Arrow Grave Thunder Blade Rolling Stone Indignation Ground Dasher Sea Curse --- ----- Aqua Laser Bloody Howling Spread Dark Force Ray Demon Lance Brilliant Lance Negative Blade Maelstrom Black Hole Judgment Tidal Wave (Ultimate) One more important aspect is dungeon design. Remember those puzzles in Tales of Symphonia, or dread them happening here? They don't. Honestly, dungeon design is usually one straight path to the exit, with other paths branching off with treasure on them. And usually, they're guarded by Chaotic Zones. These black fields defend that treasure, and when you go through them you'll usually be greeted by a harder than usual enemy. Other than that, there's Puzzle Booths, which serve as the game's main puzzles. These places will now and then serve to give you puzzles, but it's always pushing blocks and using the Sorcerer's Ring at good opportunities to shoot and hit crystals to open up the exit. Nothing like the evil Latheon Gorge of ToS. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ V. Characters ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ SENEL COOLIDGE ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: 17 || HP: High Weapon: Fists || Strength: High Eres: Iron || Agility: High Height: 5'7" || Defense: Average Weight: 130 lbs || Intelligence: Low Senel is an Alliance marine who came to the Legacy with Shirley to avoid her getting captured, but ends up collapsing at Lumen Spring, meeting Will, and having Moses kidnap Shirley. But anyway, Senel has quite a bit of an attitude, and pretty much the only person he's nice to is Shirley. In fact, despite them being technically brother and sister, he seems to be in love with her. However, Senel has quite a bit of a past. Weighing everyone together, I would have to consider Senel to be the best character in the game. He's got the most HP in the game, really, although Moses comes very close. His physical strength is fantastic, and if you equip him with the Extreme Symbol, he's absolutely unstoppable. He's fast and furious, choosing to attack with his fists rather than a sword. And he has a fair share of defense on him, making a perfect candidate for the battle arena in the character quests. And plus, once you get Beast, Wyrm Crush, and Phoenix Strike, how can you say no to this man? ~-~ SHIRLEY FENNES ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: 15 || HP: Low Weapon: Quill || Strength: Average Eres: Crystal || Agility: High Height: 5'1" || Defense: Low Weight: 90 lbs || Intelligence: Semi-High Shirley is a young girl commonly known as the Merines, and also Senel's sister despite the two having a completely different last name. The Merines is an agent of Nerifes, so she kinda has problems with life, and such. What's more, she has a very allergic reaction to seawater, a gentle and very sweet attitude with some exceptions, and terrible voice acting. And she doesn't actually join your party until the game's second half. The biggest disadvantage that Shirley has, is that her crystal eren spells can be mostly learned by everyone else. And trust me, that's not a great thing, despite in the end it really doesn't matter. Shirley doesn't have the highest intelligence in the game, but she has by far the best physical attack out of the crystal erens, and also the single best spell in the entire game, that being Tidal Wave. Still, she doesn't join your party until later, and she has the typical crystal eren stats despite an awesome physical attack. ~-~ WILL RAYNARD ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: 28 || HP: Average Weapon: Hammer || Strength: Low Eres: Crystal || Agility: Low Height: 6'2" || Defense: Average Weight: 167 lbs || Intelligence: Very High Will Raynard is the self-proclaimed sheriff of Werites Beacon, and also the first person who Senel meets when he comes to the Legacy. He's 28 years old, and despite being a sheriff in the Legacy, is thought to be a criminal in the mainland, but he has his reasons for that, since people make sacrifices for love. He also has a strange connection with a girl named Harriet, who detests his guts, but you'll learn more about that in his character quest. In my opinion, Will is probably the weakest character in the entire game, except for maybe Moses or possibly Shirley if you have issues with her. The reason for this, is that his offensive magic is really not that much better than Norma's, except around the middle of the game when he gets the best spell yet, Indignation, and Norma has Revive and Resurrection making her a far superior healer. And Will can't really stand up to Grune much in offensive magic either, so don't take that the wrong way. He's not terrible, but he's not the best at all times. ~-~ CHLOE VALENS ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: 17 || HP: Average Weapon: Sword || Strength: High Eres: Iron || Agility: High Height: 5'6" || Defense: Low Weight: 108 lbs || Intelligence: Average Chloe Valens is a knight who came to the Legacy to avenge her parents, who were both killed by one of the three Terrors under the Crusand forces of Vaclav, named Stingle. She has a strong sense of justice and fights for that very reason, aside from vengeance for her parents, but at the same time there's a deep feminine side of her that Norma consistently attempts to bring out. And what's more, she's scared of lightning, and can't swim. Weaknesses. One of the better characters in the game, I almost always try to have Chloe in my party, because she's fantastic for racking up combos. Her attacks are quick, and as far as Alpha Tempest, Sword Rain: Omega, and such, which hit an incredible amount of times, you really can't go wrong. You may even wish to control Chloe instead of Senel if you were a ToS player and got too used to Lloyd. I can't entirely praise Chloe though, because she has surprisingly low defense, and not the greatest HP prowess either. ~-~ NORMA BEATTY ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: 16 || HP: Very Low Weapon: Straw || Strength: Low Eres: Crystal || Agility: Average Height: 5'2" || Defense: Low Weight: 95 lbs || Intelligence: High Norma Beatty serves as the game's primary comic relief. Even in the toughest situations (well, except one), she always attempts to be cheerful and get everyone's mind off of it, and you'll see that near the end of Chapter 6. ;) She is, however, a treasure hunter searching for the Everlight, a gem said to make any wish come true, and she apparently ran away from home and has some connection to a man named Zamaran. At the beginning, Norma isn't particularly great, only sporting one very mediocre spell in Grave. However, she quickly becomes one of the better characters in the entire game when she gets Revive and Resurrection, as well as the game's first really good spell, which is Thunder Arrow. While she never gets Cure, she has Rally and Taunt which will serve to increase/decrease stats, and she has the relative same attack power as Will. So all in all, I generally prefer Norma to Will, but it depends on the circumstance. Still, Norma has the lowest HP in the game, and Will has the most of the crystal erens. So... ~-~ MOSES SANDOR ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: 17 || HP: High Weapon: Spears || Strength: Average Eres: Iron || Agility: Low Height: 6'0" || Defense: High Weight: 145 lbs || Intelligence: Low Moses Sandor is a bandit living in a lair close to Werites Beacon. He comes across as a huge savage, being that he wears little clothing, although he's really a very warm hearted person. He's also very emotional, in a family with his dog/beast friend galf Giet, whom he's had an extremely strong bond with since childhood, and his friend Csaba. Still, he isn't exactly the smartest person in the world. Really, Moses isn't my favorite character in the world to use, unless it's really, really late in the game when he gets a series of eres that either hit numerous times, or have unique abilities. The reason for this, is despite the fact he's an iron eren, his attacks are long range via throwing spears, and his AI tends to miss. Plus if you're controlling him, he's unnecessary difficult to get used to. Still, a lot later he's fairly good, plus he has the highest HP in the game besides Senel. ~-~ JAY ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: 16 || HP: Average Weapon: Dagger || Strength: Average Eres: Iron || Agility: High Height: 5'1" || Defense: Low Weight: 103 lbs || Intelligence: Average Very little is known about Jay. Senel first meets him in Werites Beacon, where a nasty prank is pulled on him. However, very few know Jay's true identity. He goes by the name of Jay the Unseen, and knows more about what's going on in the Legacy, than anyone. For some reason, he has a strong bond with the Oresoren, and can't hope to live without them. However, he constantly reflects on his past, and is clearly mysterious, and thus anti-social and disliked. For me, I like Jay quite a lot. Why? Because his style of attacking is almost ninja like; he's fast, furious, my type. He isn't always the heaviest hitting, but behind Chloe, he's probably the best for gathering up combos. What's more, he has the ability to use an attack of any element except Sea, which is a worthwhile advantage. His attacks, however, are incredibly short ranged and you may find Jay dying quicker than anyone, even Chloe. It doesn't help that his HP and defense are both rather mediocre. All the same, it's not difficult to look past those flaws, since they both exist in Chloe also. ~-~ GRUNE ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Age: ?? || HP: Average Weapon: Urn || Strength: Very Low Eres: Crystal || Agility: Low Height: 5'9" || Defense: Low Weight: 117 lbs || Intelligence: High If you thought that you didn't know anything about Jay, you ain't seen nothing yet. The group meets Grune in the bottom of a casket in the Man-Eating Ruins, and she remembers absolutely nothing. She has a very flighty attitude and loves to flirt with various guys, loving just about everything. But can you shake the fact that she seems strange, and despite having lost her memory... she has a great purpose beyond that? Grune is the yang to Norma's yin. For one thing, Grune has absolutely no healing eres whatsoever. At least Shirley has Cure. However, Grune is an extremely powerful crystal eren, and if you're looking for a wide array of Curse/Sea spells later in the game, look no further. She has such Curse spells as Negative Blade and Black Hole; and she also has Ray, Maelstrom, and Judgment for Sea, which becomes extremely useful in the character quests, when half the bosses you fight are weak against Sea. She has nothing to speak of in the Earth/Lightning department, however. And when you get her, she knows only one spell. So overall Grune starts very meh but becomes fantastic later on. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ VI. Walkthrough (Chapter One) ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- And with that, prepare to start a... very remarkable RPG which does a great job standing up to Tales of Symphonia and which is extremely entertaining and full of laughs. Okay, I'm running out of these OH EM GEE original descriptions and crap. Alright, walkthrough begins now. Kthx. Just some notes first: -> Make sure you constantly stock up on items. Apple Gels, Orange Gels, and greater forms of them need to be in good quantities (the max is 15). Also, Life Bottles are necessities. -> Do NOT run away from battles. I'm not perfect, I run away from a lot of them too. But if you don't run away, you'll get more EXP, making character quests far more manageable, Eres Stones so that you can, you know, actually learn crystal eres for half the party, and of course, get Gald to buy items with. Plus mastering iron eres isn't a bad idea either. -> Please try and bear with me, what with my lame jokes and storyline ranting and whatnot. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIa. Prologue -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: N/A After selecting a new game, the game starts on board a ship as two characters are talkiing to each other, and one fights off a large enemy from the sea. He is Senel, and he's the main character... better get used to him. The girl, his sister, is named Shirley, and she has a thing against the sea breeze. And as we all know, that is a very bad thing. Watch some scenes, and then you'll end up fighting an enemy called a Zephyr. It's not hard, as it barely attacks, and what's more, it only has 600 HP. Senel can do about 35 per attack, and he gets practically three per second. So just finish it off quickly, getting a feel for the battle system as it is. This is pretty much kick 'n punch right now, though. Watch the scene and the FMV, and Senel will wash up on a beach. Shirley will be with Senel, practically sick, and a man rushes in and tells Senel there's fresh water up ahead. After Senel and this man argue with each other a bit, a man with wings comes in to grab Shirley. You'll now fight an enemy titled the Mysterious Youth, but you can't win, even though his 1100 HP is reasonable. After a little bit, Shirley will scream and be taken off by a bandit named Moses Sandor. So now Senel has to chase him for his sister. Chapter One truly begins here. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIb. Fallingwater -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Apple Gel, Basket, Toast Recipe, Orange Gel, Apple Gel, 500 Gald, Orange Gel, Life Bottle Not your average music from your (real) first place in an RPG, but I suppose it'll do for what it is, although it's a remix of the game's main theme. With that, grab the chest right over to the right for an APPLE GEL, and feel free to save. Haven't exactly gone through much yet, though. Keep following the path a little bit over to the right, to find a girl named Mimi coming out a pig (wtf) who will give you a BASKET and teach you the recipe for TOAST. Hey, I'll take it. After that scene, keep going to the right. There's a quick fork there, with the bottom being an immediate dead end and the right taking you across the stream, so take the right, for a scene as Will explains everything about this place. There's a legend around here that when a pillar of light arises, a new Merines will arrive, and that's important to this place (the Legacy), so that's why people are after Shirley, whose body glowed in the water, and Merines also happens to mean "Shining One". So that explains that. Keep going to the right and following the path until you reach some stairs over to the left. Take them up for an ORANGE GEL, and then head back down and over to the left. Keep going and following the path downstairs to find a circle that will restore all HP and TP (very useful), and an APPLE GEL. Head just a little bit further for a chest containing 500 GALD, then further still to the right, where you'll come to a left-right fork. The right has an immediate chest for an ORANGE GEL, so get that and then keep going down the hill to the left, grabbing a LIFE BOTTLE along the way. Now just keep going to reach the village. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIc. Werites Beacon -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Holy Bottle, Life Bottle Enter this rather lively village, as Will gives a history lesson about the place. If you've played Symphonia, just think of Will as being very similar to Raine. But anyway, Will will run off to the plaza, leaving Senel no clue as to where the bandits lair is. Oh well. Head across the bridge there, and then start proceeding down. There's a save point on the way, if you want to use that, but otherwise keep going down. On this next screen, continue going down until you find a house on the right. Behind that is a HOLY BOTTLE, and robbing people's backyards is GREAT, man! I digress. Now keep going down and to the right, and on the next screen you'll find the bakery immediately there. While completely optional, you have the Toast recipe now from that Mimi who very unfortunately replaced my favorite Wonder Chef, but anyways, feel free to buy a few Breads and Butters, and turn those into Toast. It could help out in the long run. Anyway, there's not much down below, so head to the right and then up at the fork there, and into the first building you see there. It's the weapons/armor shop, so if you have the money, feel free to buy Senel's Power Bracers, but doing so is totally optional. Now keep going to reach a three way fork. The right goes nowhere, so head over to the left and follow the path straight up and behind the building for a LIFE BOTTLE. Not bad... now return to the fork, and head up this time. This is the fountain plaza, where a man in a dark robe will ask Senel if he's strong. Then he'll pretend to be Senel saying that if you can defeat him, he'll give people 50,000 Gald. A bit of a bad man, then... now scroll through this... errr... song, and then Senel ends up beating the Bantam Bouncers, Curtis and Isabella, up, only to get blasted with lightning by Will, and then thrown into a cell. An old woman named Madam Musette will tell Will to let him out and accompany him to the bandits lair, because someone else, Chloe Valens, also recently went there alone. So... your party is now Senel and Will. Dig it. Will's house is relatively large, but there's nothing in it. Just exit, and then Musette will give Will a world map. To get out of this place, simply head down and to the right, and keep following the path out of Werites Beacon and to the overworld. Out here, Will will tell Senel about how ducts work, and from here, you'll find two paths. Take the one towards 3 o' clock, and keep going to reach the Misty Mountains. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VId. Misty Mountains -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: 500 Gald, Hard Leather, Syrup Bottle, Melange Gel, Life Bottle, Melange Gel, Ham Sandwich Recipe, Life Bottle This place is something you have to go through to get to the Bandits Lair, so quit yer' whinin' and prepare to go through it. ;] Start by taking the bridge and following the path to reach a left-right fork. The right has a Chaotic Zone in front of it, in which stronger enemies supposedly appear. In this one, the most common enemy is an Egg Bear Spirit, which is slightly tougher than what you've fought up this point, but is only 1362 HP... not a terribly hard enemy. After it's gone, get the 500 GALD chest behind it. Now head back to the path on the left, and I know it's a tad long, but just it all the way up, to the left, and to the right for a HARD LEATHER there, as well as a Chaotic Zone right below. Equip the Hard Leather on Senel, and then go through the Chaotic Zone for another blah Egg Bear Spirit, and a SYRUP BOTTLE right behind it. Now head down to the right and follow over for a MELANGE GEL and a Chaotic Zone, but don't bother going through it. Head back up to where you found the Hard Leather, and over to the right. A little bit into this bridge, you'll find a girl above, fighting the bandits, then she uses an attack that cuts the whole bridge down. Hah, classic... and now she'll fight the group based on assumptions. She's relatively strong, each attack doing 15-20 damage or so, but Will will stop the battle a little bit into it, since she does have good intent. Of course Senel takes the opportunity to act like a jackass, but some bandits will chase y'all away. When Senel and Will come to, Chloe is gone. She's a knight, sense of justice, sexy, etc... and the latter could have an impact on Senel later. But I digress. Head down first of all, to immediately reach a left-right fork. Take a right and follow it to collect a LIFE BOTTLE, then back over to the last screen and up this time, and then head to the left and down when you get the opportunity. Here you'll find a Chaotic Zone, then after getting through that, continue down to find a MELANGE GEL at the end of the path. Return to the last screen, and then take the bridge on the right to find that baker, Mimi, again... she'll teach you the recipe for HAM SANDWICH and then disappears, obviously needing help. Now take the bridge on the left for a LIFE BOTTLE, and now keep following the path up, to the right, and then around over to the left, and then past two screens to reach the overworld... yay. Now just follow the path around to the Bandits Lair. Open the duct on the way, too. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIe. Bandits Lair -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Apple Gel, Melange Gel, 800 Gald, Life Bottle, Leather Boots, Climax Bottle, Orange Gel Enter the building right in front of you... and it kicks off to a fairly good step. Moses is found there with his dog Giet, and after some taunting, Senel runs forward only to fall into a trap door. Hah... the way it's played out, the music, and Moses saying "Y'all watch your step now" make this absolutely priceless. Hah... anyway, Senel will now be on his own for a little bit of the lair. But ah well, pick up the APPLE GEL where you land and let's keep going. Just head up in front of yourself and through the Chaotic Zone there. Note that battles may be a slight bit tougher than usual because only Senel is fighting, but you'll manage. Beyond there is a MELANGE GEL; get that and keep going to the right, through another Chaotic Zone, for 800 GALD. As the Lizardman Spirits can rack up damage fairly quickly, make sure that you heal up after battles and such. Apple Gels, yanno. Then keep following the path down and to the right for a new, dark screen. Automatically here, Senel will run into Chloe from the mountains, and after they squabble at each other a bit, Will comes in and finds them. So now you've got Will back in the party, and battles should be a pushover. Open the chest there for a LIFE BOTTLE, and then head up and to the left to get out of the... well, dark part of this area. Then when you come out, Will talks to Chloe about stuff she's done, and then Chloe joins your party, really just to rescue Shirley. As for Shirley meanwhile, Moses is talking to her but she knows nothing. Now, back with Senel and the others, head down into the Chaotic Zone there and beat up some enemy, enjoying Chloe as your new party member, and behind that is a pair of LEATHER BOOTS. Now head left just above that for a down-up fork. All that going down will do is get you out of the bandits lair, and hey, who wants to do that? Head up to immediately be faced with another fork. Head right here, and into the Chaotic Zone for a CLIMAX BOTTLE behind it. Now just return to the fork and keep going up for yet another fork... great. Up leads nowhere, so just take a left this time. Follow the path along the hallways, then go over to the right to find Moses and Giet again, the former of who seems to have taken a lesson in irony lately... gotta love Moses. Anyway, Shirley's on the top floor. Just keep going to find a green duct. Nowhere else to go, so head into it to reach a Puzzle Booth. These are puzzles you'll have to get through in a lot of longer dungeons like this place, but this particular one isn't too bad. If you get stuck, though, just press the Start button. Head down the steps just on your right, and pull/push the green block so that it fills in the empty space over to the left. Now head up the steps again and cross that path, ignoring the block in the middle below you that you'll pass... you can't even move it; it's just there to trick you. Keep on going until you find a green block right by the exit duct above, and pull/push that out to get into the gap at the very far left. Now just head up the steps again, and follow the path to the left, up, and then over to the right to get outta here. See, not too hard, eh? When you re-emerge, you'll find the door that Shirley's behind, and Senel tries to break it down, only to get tired and start bleeding. So... that's not an option; you need to find the key. Feel free to save here, but then head over to the left and into the immediate door, to find Moses and Giet. As for the key, come and get it, yanno? Boss time. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Moses Elements: HP: 2194 N/A Race: Human Weight: Middle Giet Elements: HP: 2852 N/A Race: Galf Weight: Heavy For the first boss battle in the game, this battle is surprisingly hard. You have two opponents who are fairly opposite of each other. Moses is a long ranged attacker, dealing with throwing spears for 25-30 damage and using his Lone Wolf tech for surprising accuracy. However, Giet is the bigger threat. For one thing he has more HP (hey he's a dog/galf and has more HP than a bandit, right?), and he's a close ranged attacker. He tends to charge through your group and head right for Will, so look out for that. The major question is who to go for first, and for that I'd personally choose Moses, even though Giet is the stronger of the two. He has less HP and goes down much faster, plus attacking Giet becomes much more difficult if Moses is around throwing spears at your characters. Even if you have never used it up to this point, this is a great opportunity to use Climax Mode, because especially if Senel and Chloe get spread out, you'll have the opportunity to do about 1000 damage to both Moses and Giet, so make that last. Other than that, there's not really too much more you can hope to do... get Moses out of the way quickly, and for god's sake don't neglect healing. 100 HP or less is nasty, and don't try this one with anything less than level five, level six preferable. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ And after that's done, Moses's pal Csaba comes in to say that the lair is under attack. Some soldiers in red, who are much bigger fish to fry than Senel, come in and start attacking to get Shirley. And even Will has never seen them, but anyhow, Moses gives you the key and runs off to get them guys, led by a woman. Always a good thing, that last bit, right? But anyway, return to the previous hall and into the room Shirley was being held. Shirley will immediately be kidnapped by the flying man from the spring before Fallingwater. Then Csaba will come in and tell you that he's off towards Crystal Forest, so just leave this room and enter the duct that used to be a Puzzle Booth. Just head to the left and down the stairs, and follow the path to the right, reaching that gate that led nowhere earlier. Csaba will let you go out here, and after a rather puzzling question from Chloe, Moses will be seen fighting the soldiers, and we all know how that works out with the woman there. Now back on the world map, the Crystal Forest is towards 12 o' clock. Just follow the path until you reach a hill, and head up that for an ORANGE GEL. Now just keep heading forward to get on the path again, and keep following until you reach the literally Crystal Forest. Make sure you open the duct along the way, for... you know, future need. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIf. Crystal Forest -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Melange Gel, Restraint Charm, Panacea Bottle, Misty Robe, Orange Gel, Chain Mail, Collectors' Book, Shirley's Brooch As soon as you enter, you'll find a girl being chased by a large beast called a crystarantula. What the girl was, was probably a treasure hunter who robbed a nest. Chloe wants to rescue her, but Senel, in the meantime, doesn't care and just wants to rescue Shirley. After Senel and Chloe squabble some more, Moses is shown pretty much wounded, and running away. Apparently he lost to that evil woman, so... bah. With that done, head to the left where the girl came from, and walk through the Chaotic Zone for a MELANGE GEL, then up the hill there for yet another Chaotic Zone, with a RESTRAINT CHARM behind that. Now return to the fork at the entrance, and head up to immediately reach a new screen. Take a left here and open the chest there for a PANACEA BOTTLE, then just up the hill for a MISTY ROBE. Equip that on Will right now. Then keep going up and head to the right for a Chaotic Zone. Notice this place has a lot of treasures and schtuff? Past that Chaotic Zone, head over to the right and keep going until you can fork right over to the left, and save... heh heh heh. Good indication there. Now head up a bit and take the path way over to the left, where you'll find that girl from earlier. She accuses the group of being cruel... hah, that's ironic. But of course she has a point when she attacks Senel on that. But anyway, the Crystarantula shows up to play. Have fun. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Crystarantula Elements: HP: 5055 N/A Race: Dandarantula Weight: Massive This is a very easy battle, especially compared to the one against Moses and Giet. Supposing you fought a few battles between there, Climax Mode should probably be ready to use again, and since there's only one target that doesn't have a really large amount of HP, it's very effective. If you can't use it... screw you. ;] Nah really, just attack and use Climax Bottles to build it up, and then attack to all of your strength. With Senel and Chloe both attacking, you may even manage a 50 hit combo, which will really be worth it, trust me. As for its attacks, it has one rather powerful attack, which is Devour Prey. This might do up to 150 damage to anything that's too close to it, so try and avoid that at all costs. Other than that, it's cold breath isn't much to worry about, so just keep attacking when that's over, and also note that it drops Poison Bracers, which are very effective weapons for Senel. And if you pulled that 50 hit combo off, enjoy a crapload of Grade, EXP, and also the Comboist title, which rocks. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As for the girl, she's very glad that Senel and company fought for "little old her". Haha... of course, she (her name is Norma for future reference) doesn't really believe that a flying man went through here, and after she gets, errr... "punished" by Will, the group goes off on their own. Not a problem as far as battles go. At the fork you immediately come to, the right is just a dead end, so take the left. Also equip the Poison Bracers on Senel and the Comboist title on everyone, if you've got those. Take another left as you take this path, to find an ORANGE GEL there. Now head back up, following the path to find a Chaotic Zone branch along the way. Get the CHAIN MAIL behind that, equip it on Senel, and keep going up for a new and absolutely wonderful screen. Just take either path and head right up, and Norma will follow you and demand to join... but as it appears, the path ahead is blocked. So she destroys it, only to get chastised by Will. But anyway, she joins you after that, with the COLLECTORS' BOOK then being in your possession, and Will getting a new title. Enjoy the Monster Food skit that ensues, and then keep going through that path that just opened. When you reach a fork here, feel free to take a left and save, although that save point IS a little hidden because of the flashy colors and whatnot. Then take a right to end up at the exit of the forest, where Senel will pick up SHIRLEY'S BROOCH, refusing to show it to Norma. Now, onto the world map. While this is all happening, the woman leading the red soldiers, Melanie, joins up with two others to reform the Terrors under Vaclav. Evil, as you can guess. But anyways, with Senel and the others, keep following the path towards 6 o' clock or thereabouts, ignoring the Bow Cottage on the way. When you finally do reach the Secret Passage there, feel free to use the duct to head back to Werites Beacon if supplies are low. But otherwise, enter away. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIg. Secret Passage -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Apple Gel, Gladius, Orange Gel, Life Bottle, Orange Gel, Shell Bottle, Panacea Bottle, FOE1 Charm, Melange Gel, Panacea Bottle As soon as you enter, you'll find the flying man with Shirley, heading inside a ruin. And Senel doesn't exactly catch him, but Norma and the others manage to open the door with their eres. Inside, after Norma gives a little background, or lack thereof, on this place, you're free to continue into this ruin. Head down the stairs there, and pick up an APPLE GEL in the chest along the way. Keep going down to reach a new screen, and trust me that it's just as linear from here on. Head down the stairs and into the Chaotic Zone on the left for a GLADIUS behind it, which is obviously a weapon for Chloe, which rocks. Now keep going down the stairs to find a chest with an ORANGE GEL, and a save point. With those two in hand, enter the room on the right, where you'll find the flying man and Shirley. And the guy fights you, which ends up exactly like the last one. The group gets worn out and you cannot hope to win the fight. But that's when a pillar starts collapsing, and he sacrifices himself to save Shirley. The hell? Of course, he doesn't actually die. How anyone can survive through having a pillar collapse on them is beyond me, but Shirley wakes up and goes with you, plus the flying man goes away. But no, Shirley does NOT join your group. Moving on, the entrance is caved in, but open the treasure chest there for a LIFE BOTTLE, and then just a little bit above, open the chests for an ORANGE GEL, a SHELL BOTTLE, and a PANACEA BOTTLE. Then enter the Chaotic Zone on the right for a FOE1 CHARM behind it. Now keep going into the room in front of you, and head down the stairs here and into the Chaotic Zone on the left for a MELANGE GEL. Then keep going down to reach a Puzzle Booth. Yep... this one is even easier than the last one, though. However, you'll get introduced to the Sorcerer's Ring, which, sorry ToS fans, is only available in Puzzle Booths. To open the exit duct, you need to turn on the switches here, which are in the form of crystals. There's only one here, so that's hardly a difficult issue. Just climb up the steps far above and follow the path over to the right and use the R2 button to fire the Sorcerer's Ring at the switch. So now the exit duct is open, but as for getting there, blocks need to be pulled to form a path. There are three going out to the right from the exit duct as it is, and there are four more on the upper-left, which can be pulled out to form a path from the ledge above the stairs. Staying inside the barrier you create with them, pull the last block out towards the ledge on the right, then climb up and take that path. Outside that Puzzle Booth, the group rests there, with Chloe and Norma discussing the rumors about the Merines, and Will wanting to protect Shirley after they get out. Senel, of course, opposes this, but as Senel and Will fight over it, a talking otter who plays harp, named Pippo of the Oresoren, will want to take you to his village. So... that's that. Get the PANACEA BOTTLE on the right, save, and then head up and outta this here ruin. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIh. Old Oresoren Village -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Bun, Scallop, Hamburger Recipe, Orange Gel, Lettuce, War Hammer, Fire Bolt, Iron Helm, Mythril Circlet, Panacea Bottle, Cape, Life Bottle, Apple Gel, Orange Gel, Panacea Bottle, Apple Gel, Holy Bottle, Orange Gel, Life Bottle, Gemini Shells Outside, Pippo and his friends Quppo will tell you about some general stuff, and also about how they've been to the village and were treated like pets. Of course. Then Will gives his usual historical sermons, including talking about a disaster that occurred thousands of years ago called the Cataclysm. Just remember the Cataclysm for later. Then Senel gives Shirley her brooch back, and we carry on. But anyway, contrary to the name here, this place isn't much of a village. Take the bridge on the right at the very entrance for a BUN and a SCALLOP, then head back to the left and follow the path up to meet Mimi at the top, who will reveal her "secrets" (I echo Senel's thoughts on this), and give you the recipe for HAMBURGER. Not bad. Now head down and across the bridge on the left, to find an ORANGE GEL and LETTUCE in the two chests. Head to the right to save and use the healing orb, then just head north of here. Back to the Secret Passage... well, a different one, regardless. Enter the Chaotic Zone right above, and on the other side collect the WAR HAMMER and FIRE BOLT, which are weapons for Will and Senel respectively. Now head back and over to the left to reach an up-down fork, with down leading to a Chaotic Zone. Go through that for an IRON HELM and a MYTHRIL CIRCLET behind, which are for Senel and Norma. Whoo-hoo, equipment rocks. Head up here and take either path to go forward, ignoring the useless stairs. Take the path on the right and follow it all the way to the end to find a PANACEA BOTTLE and a CAPE. Then head over to the right and open the two chests there for a LIFE BOTTLE and an APPLE GEL. And with that, head down a large set of stairs to the left to find an ORANGE GEL and a PANACEA BOTTLE there. Now head up on the lower layer of the land, until you reach two long, narrow steps leading down. From here, head down past the train tracks here to find an APPLE GEL and a HOLY BOTTLE, then head back up to get outta that place, only to find that the path ahead caved in during the earthquake, but it can be gotten past if you dig... but Norma ain't gonna be using any eres to blast it down. Then Norma, Chloe, and Shirley start talking, with Norma eventually trying to get Shirley to give her her brooch. Of course that doesn't work, and eventually Senel and Will come back from digging. So... carry on. In this next area, head up the ramp on the right, forward a little bit, then use the ramp on the left to get back down. Keep going ahead for another ramp, then head up the stairs on the right, and collect the ORANGE GEL on the way. Now take the path on the left and collect the LIFE BOTTLE there, and then just follow the path down and save. Then head up the stairs, only to get attacked by a monster whom the Oresoren call the "Long Long Demon". Will and Norma try to open the door while Senel and Chloe hold the demon off, but eh, Shirley opens the door, everyone runs out, and the Long Long Demon attacks there too. Yep... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dinowyrm Elements: HP: 6549 N/A Race: Dinowyrm Weight: Special This isn't a tough boss, aside from one rather nasty tactic it has. First of all the defense is very low, so don't worry about the 6549 HP; it succumbs to physical attacks very quickly. However, the Dinowyrm has the ability to emit a red field around it, and when that happens, no matter what Chloe does, RUN THE HELL AWAY. You'll just be poisoned in that red field, and trust me that it sucks. But other than that, this fight is a total pushover... Will and Norma can just help out while Senel and Chloe just punch and slash away. Climax Mode makes it even easier. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ With that fight out of the way, the Oresoren give Senel all the credit, and do a certain dance for him and Shirley, which pretty much mesmerizes both Shirley and Chloe; meanwhile Norma's too busy being jealous and Will's too busy examining the Dinowyrm. Then Will decides to rest, but as everyone is looking the other way, Senel and Shirley just walk away, heading up the mountain path. Also enjoy the GEMINI SHELLS that the Oresoren give you... but anyway, this is really bad. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIi. Mountain Path -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Panacea Bottle, Ring Mail, Apple Gel, Apple Gel, Melange Gel Once again, you're only controlling Senel, since it's not like Shirley would actually help to fight. The sweet Fallingwater music is here, though. Again, be careful with battles, cuz if Senel dies, the game's over. Anyhow, just follow the path in front of you until you reach an upper path and a lower path. Both of them just lead to the same place and don't have any items, so take either one. At the end of those two paths, however, collect the PANACEA BOTTLE and keep on going. Take the upper path there and go through the Chaotic Zone there for a RING MAIL which is for Senel. Head through the next Chaotic Zone until the path breaks up, and then take the lower path down for an APPLE GEL. That's it for treasure here... now head back up and save, use the healing circle, and continue to the left. Senel and Shirley get ambushed by Melanie, Cashel, and Stingle... really awesome. You'll enter an automatic fight against Melanie which you obviously can't win... just hold on until she uses Eruption on ya. After that's done, Commander Vaclav comes in and takes Shirley, who offers to go as long as Senel is left, but in reward for that, Cashel grabs Senel and throws him off a cliff. And of course, that's too much for Shirley, so just watch that, then a quick flashback, and Senel will have survived that fall from the cliff. He meets a girl named Harriet who wants him to take her to Werites Beacon, so... carry on. Collect the APPLE GEL and the MELANGE GEL to the immediate left, and make sure you save. Then head out to the overworld below. Chapter two begins! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ VII. Walkthrough (Chapter Two) ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This chapter is mainly about attempting somewhat of a reunion between the group but that isn't exactly easy considering what Senel just did. It takes place right after you get out from the previous area, after Cashel threw Senel off the mountain path. With that, let's get it onnn. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIa. Werites Beacon -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: N/A Your first destination is Werites Beacon, and to get there, simply head around the mountains towards 9 o' clock, and then just keep going in that general direction until you reach the city. Inside, Senel will mention seeing Will, who seems to be the person whom Harriet is after. Then she requests that Senel go take her to see Will... so you can't exactly say no. To find Will, just head north of where you are right now until you see a wooden bridge going to the left. Just take that to find Will and Chloe talking. After Senel and Harriet argue a bit, Will comes along to meet Senel, the latter of who then gets hit very hard by Chloe and then taken to Will's house. Inside, Will talks about Vaclav, who Senel met on the mountain path, as well as the three "Terrors" -- veterans Melanie the Crimson and Cashel the Phantom, as well as the newcomer Stingle the Vicious. As for Will and Chloe, they're going to try and get information from a man named Jay the Unseen. However, Will doesn't allow Senel to come, and Chloe calls Senel "despicable". So much for that. Head outside, and Norma will come out and request to come with Senel, since she has a bit more of a heart for forgiveness than Will and Chloe, plus Norma is really just after Shirley's brooch anyway. That's good, though, since having Norma is a huge help in addition to just Senel. But anyway, Jay's answers to letters tend to come back at the fountain plaza, so to get there, head to the southeast of here, and then to the very far north from that next screen. And there you meet none other than... You guessed it, those two people from the beginning of the game, Curtis and Isabella, the Bantam Bouncers. They come to an understanding with Senel, though, and give you directions as to where Will and Chloe went -- to Port-on-Rage. Stupid name, but it's your next destination. Exit Werites Beacon, and take the path on the right over to 6 o' clock to immediately find Port-on-Rage there... see, not hard. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIb. Port-on-Rage -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Scallop, Shrimp, Squid, Cod As soon as you get here, Senel and Norma will spy on Will and Chloe who are down below, talking to a very familiar looking kid who is apparently a maintenance worker with the boats, who gives a letter to them. Senel then remembers him as being that jackass from Werites Beacon who offered 50,000 Gald if Senel could be beaten, and then he tries to get up and talk to him. And now the second or third funniest scene in the whole game ensues as Norma tries to grab Senel to get him away, and then Senel ends up touching her on the boobs. Norma then starts screaming at Senel for being a pervert and then him not wanting to touch her, until Will and Chloe end up gone, and then a man comes around and lets them on his boat. Okay, that works. However, before leaving this place, open the chest to the left of where Senel and Norma were for a SCALLOP, then follow the path all the way up for SHRIMP. Now head all the way around to the entrance and then take the lower path forward to find the boat guy, along with a SQUID and a COD in two chests. Talk to that guy to get going, only to hear after Senel and Norma are already gone, that the engine is a little worn out. Dat's bad, yo. Meanwhile Shirley's getting tortured in Vaclav's fortress, but let's not go there, plus Fenimore, Shirley's new "friend", is injured. But anyway, as for Senel, he meets Will, Chloe, and the kid on the other boat, and then the kid challenges him to a boat race. Of course Will objects to this but has relatively little say. And as for Chloe, she apparently isn't feeling well. Hmmm. But as the boat owner said, the engine is crappy and shouldn't be driven too hard, and it starts smoking. Senel and Norma eventually try and patch it up, only to find that Harriet rented this boat. Wow... oh well, she has her reasons. And with that, you'll end up on The Crags, still searching after Will and Chloe, at Raging Bay. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIc. The Crags -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Freeze Charm, Panacea Bottle, Shell Bottle, Sage, Lemon Gel, Pineapple Gel, Syrup Bottle, Apple Gel, Orange Gel, Scallop Gel, Acuity Bottle, Life Bottle, Lemon Gel, Climax Bottle One of the more hideously boring dungeons in the game, this is one of my least favorite places that you will ever venture to in the entire course of this game. Plus you've only got Senel and Norma so battles aren't exactly the easiest thing in the whole world. Just be at level eight or so and you'll survive, though. But anyway, head to the left for a healing circle and a save point, then take the path to the left. You'll immediately find a Chaotic Zone on the left, so enter it for a FREEZE CHARM, then after going through another Chaotic Zone, head for this three-way fork and go down here for a PANACEA BOTTLE. Now take either path over to the next screen, on the left, and you'll eventually come to another three way fork, with a Chaotic Zone in the middle path. Does this look at all... familiar? ;) The middle and lower paths immediately join into two (they're also both littered with Chaotic Zones), and later the middle and upper join, so... take the middle path. On this path, collect a SHELL BOTTLE, a SAGE, and a LEMON GEL. The Sage is the important one, since it increases maximum HP by 5%, but still... might want to be careful when you use it. Now take the lower path over to the left through a Chaotic Zone, and then just keep on going to the left to get outta this screen. In the next area, Senel, Norma, and Harriet will step out to hear an Oresoren saying his usual thing. Gotta love talking otters. It wants you to escort it back, because apparently it got attacked by a goat in the sea... bad. Anyway, head to the left to find a Chaotic Zone above. Nope, you're not done with this place yet... not by a long shot. Head through that Chaotic Zone for a PINEAPPLE GEL right behind, then return to the lower path on the left, only to have the path split in two again, with a Chaotic Zone and a treasure above, and the path down below. Head through the zone for a SYRUP BOTTLE, then head down and grab the APPLE GEL along the way, while keeping on going down the path below. Collect an ORANGE GEL there, then keep on to the left. Proceed to the left to find a healing circle and a save point (premonition, yo!) and then up to find two Chaotic Zones on two off branches. The one on the left has a SCALLOP GEL, and the one on the right has an ACUITY BOTTLE, so make sure you grab both. Keep going up to find yet another fork. ARGH, THE WORLD AND ALL ITS GODDAMN FORKS! Take the Chaotic Zone right above. There's yet ANOTHER split in the path here, and the right only leads to the same path below which has nothing on it, so keep going to the left. In this next screen, which starts fairly uneventfully, you'll come to a three way fork. Up leads to nothing, so start by taking the lowermost path for a LIFE BOTTLE there, then return to the middle path to find yet ANOTHER up-down fork. Geez, this dungeon design is drab and bland. Head down here to find a LEMON GEL there, and return to the upper path. Keep on going, and on the next screen you'll hear... some kind of animal. Then Norma gets all cocky, walks forward, and gets attacked by a worm that makes noises like a goat. Uh huh. Some goat. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dinogorgon Elements: HP: 7181 Weak - Curse ;; Strong - Sea Race: Dinowyrm Weight: Special Notice a similarity? Yeah it looks and is of the same species as the Dinowyrm aka Long Long Demon you fought back in the secret passage. Regardless, it isn't a very hard battle, and if Senel and Norma gang up on it with a Climax mode, you should be able to do along the lines of 1500 damage to it. Plus, its attacks really aren't that strong. When you see it get down to the right, you'll know it's about ready to pull out its Ocean Spray attack, which is around 80 damage, but anyway, when it's not doing that, it'll bite a bit, but you can still just go in and attack. Not much of a challenge. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ That supposedly wore Norma out. Oh come on. Unfortunately for her and us, though, it's still a little bit further. Just head up when you emerge from that fight, and to the first right you find. Go through the Chaotic Zone there for a CLIMAX BOTTLE right behind, then through the zone on the left to return to the path. Now all you need to do is take the upper left path to get out, and meanwhile with Shirley, she and Fenimore are arguing, about how Shirley is Orerines and Fenimore is Ferines, and they're enemies. So that's bad... just as Cashel and the others show up. Meanwhile, with Senel... just head forward. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIId. Oresoren Village -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Hot Dog Bun, Bagel with Lox Recipe, Scallop, Butter Roll Recipe, Miracle Gel No, this is not the REAL Oresoren Village, this miniscule little bridge here. =) There's a boat here, plus Norma will notice that there's a huge island in the distance, but anyway, just talk with Poppo to get on the boat. Meanwhile, Will and Chloe are suspicious of where they are, and the mystery man starts talking about how not to trust someone like that... and tries to surprise them with all the Oresoren being here, but quite unfortunately for him, Will and Chloe have already met them. Hah hah hah. The man immediately accuses Senel of doing something to Poppo, but after some good *Ors*, Harriet will run off, the man will thank Senel for taking care of the Oresoren, and then Will asks the man just who the hell he is... but I bet you already knew that. He's Jay himself... so yeah, no more "mystery man" or "jackass", he's Jay the Unseen himself. ;) With that, just head forward into the next area, Take the bridge on the left forward and then head down the stairs there, following the path to find a HOT DOG BUN. Now go back up and to the screen on the left, where Will explains who Harriet is... his daughter. Then a daughter and father squabble ensues, revealing that Will is a criminal who was exiled on the mainland, that Harriet's mom died and Will didn't even go to her funeral, and she runs off proclaiming that she hates him. And Will receives the title of Old Fighter, but he and Chloe don't join you quite yet. Anyway, with control once more, talk to the Oresoren on the right to rest at this inn for free, then forward to find an Oresoren just on the right there, who sells ingredients. Blah... just head onward and talk to the Oresoren behind the counter there. Now I don't know about you, but I was running a little lower on items than I wanted to be, so you might as well stock up on Apple Gels, Orange Gels, Life Bottles, a Holy Bottle or two, fifteen Magic Lens' because they're so cheap, and about 5-6 Scallop Gels. With that done, take the bridge on the left and examine the... item there, to meet Mimi again. Norma tries to give her nicknames, both of which she hates, and then you'll end up with a BAGEL WITH LOX RECIPE. Hah... not bad. Now keep going to the right, past that Oresoren at the counter, to find the weapons shop. I'd definitely suggest buying at least Scallop Gear for Senel, but an Oresoren Hammer for Will or Broad Sword for Chloe definitely wouldn't hurt. Don't get yourself bankrupt yet, though... Head to the left and talk to that Oresoren, who sells armor. I'd definitely recommend at least Lamellar Leather for Senel, a Peepit Cloak for Norma, a Battle Robe for Will, a Cross Helm for Senel, and a Blue Ribbon for Norma. And if you don't have all that money, feel free to sell stuff like Shell Bottles and Acuity Bottles, since they really aren't that useful, in my opinion. And as of all that, I had 7 Gil left... but oh well, it's worth it. With all the shopping doen, head to the left and in this storage room, examine the junk to the left of the Oresoren for a SCALLOP. Now head back and to the upper right for a new screen. Head all the way forward, ignoring all the locked houses on the way, and feel free to save before going into Jay's house... cuz, you never know. Pick up the RUNE BOTTLE on the right, then enter the house there. Inside, Senel will immediately demand where Shirley is, angering both Chloe and Jay, although the latter makes an exception since Senel helped the Oresoren. Vaclav is southeast of where you are now, with Shirley, and is heading to the Ruins of Frozen Light to find a weapon to use in the Crusand Empire's war with Chloe's homeland. And with that, the Oresoren make Jay come up with a plan to rescue Shirley, so... the group and Oresoren will launch a surprise attack on Vaclav's forces, attempting to rescue Shirley, at the Waterways. With that scene done, head up the stairs and into the second floor, Jay's room, and open the chest for a recipe for BUTTER ROLL. Okay, fair enough. Will and Chloe will join the group once more, somewhat forgiving Senel for what he did on the mountain path. But anyway, head to the main screen with all the shops, then up the path to the left and down the lower left path to reach the overworld. Meanwhile, Shirley and Fenimore are being taken away in dangerous vehicles... oh noes. With that, cross the bridge and keep going in the general 3 o' clock direction. The most frequent enemy to encounter is the Tea Egg, which come in large groups, but the best attack is to link Senel's Demon Blast with Ground Slam. Once you go across a second bridge, head around the mountain and take the immediate 4 o' clock bridge just ahead for a MIRACLE GEL there. Sweet. From there, back up and take the 8 o' clock bridge, and just keep going forward, to find a duct and a dungeon. Prepare for the almighty... waterways! Bahaha. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIe. Waterways -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Apple Gel, Orange Gel, Climax Bottle, Syrup Bottle, Lemon Gel, Pineapple Gel, 3000 Gald, Panacea Bottle, Rabbit's Foot, Melange Gel, Orange Gel, Flare Bottle, Life Bottle, Night Cap, Orange Gel, Scallop Gel, Pineapple Gel I guarantee you that despite my making fun of it at the end of the last section, this place is nothing to scoff at. It's the longest dungeon yet, surpassing the Old Oresoren Village secret passage. And as for levels, I was at level ten here, although nine or eleven are certainly passable. But anyway, just enter and Jay will go over the plan again. Will and Norma are going to unleash every crystal eres they have at Vaclav's force, Poppo will shout at the top of his lungs after that, and then Senel and Chloe come in, secure Shirley, and then escape through the Waterways. Sounds like a doable plan... but are you sure no one will, yanno, interfere? After Will and Norma are about to start, Jay hears "hideous voices"... yep, none other than Csaba appears to attack the enemy forces, followed by Moses delivering possibly the best line in the whole game, "Now where's my horny woman at?". I LOL whenever I hear that... hilarious. Meanwhile, Jay is furious, Senel and Chloe run into Stingle, and Melanie runs into Moses, followed by the awesome, "What's up, horny baby? You miss me?". Hilarious to the max. Anyway, with everyone's cooperation, everyone gets into the Waterways, Jay is still angry, Chloe receives the title of Cranky Knight, and Shirley and Fenimore are deeper into the ruins. So now the dungeon itself finally begins... prepare for the length of this. Head down the stairs below and collect the APPLE GEL there, and follow the long path over to the left. Head up the stairs there, and at the end of the path, take the one on the right. At the end there, go up the stairs to find Shirley and Fenimore at the end of a long path. Some Crusand soldiers come up, but Chloe just slays them with Demon Fang, but it doesn't work out. Shirley is about to get down, but Fenimore refuses because she's an idiot and can't trust the Orerines, and then Melanie shows up. Stupid Fenimore. And then she brings out the reason that this place is called the Waterways... a flood. Shirley is left behind, and Senel helps Chloe, because she apparently can't swim. However, when they wake up, Chloe tells Senel that not being able to swim is a major problem to her, and he can't tell anyone. Girls, I say. Pick up the ORANGE GEL where you land, and then just head up to regroup with Will and Norma. Meanwhile, the flying man, whose name is Walter, is protecting Shirley and Fenimore, summoning a monster to hold off Melanie and Stingle. But as for the group, you'll find a healing circle and a save point there, but this place is not over by a longshot. With that, head forward to find an up-right fork. Grab the LIFE BOTTLE right up ahead, but then just go over to the right to find yet another fork. Head up here and go through the Chaotic Zone there, and grab the CLIMAX BOTTLE right behind. Now just go back to that main path. Head to the right and take that path to a new screen, and collect the SYRUP BOTTLE right there. Then go through the Chaotic Zone for a LEMON GEL, and continue to the left. Head up the path here to come to a fork... ARGH THIS PLACE IS SO FRICKIN' LONG! MY POOR FACE! Head to the right first, and pick up the CLIMAX BOTTLE there, on the other side of the Chaotic Zone. Ignore the lower path and head back to the fork, this time going to the left and following another tediously long path to find yet ANOTHER fork. MY EYES! Enter the Chaotic Zone there for a PINEAPPLE GEL, and now take the path on the left to a new screen, which is immediately met with an up-down fork. Don't worry, this place is a tad bit closer to being finished now. ;) Head down first and go through the Chaotic Zone for 3000 GALD on the other side (yay, now I'm not completely bankrupt), and then head up at that fork to run into none other than Moses and Giet. Heh... Moses makes up for his shortcomings earlier with his lines to Melanie, so it's all good. Will ends up hitting both Senel and Moses on the head, while in the meantime, Shirley and Fenimore end up in the hidden room that Walter took them to. With that, head up the path in front of you to find a Puzzle Booth. Yep, you just knew this place would have one. This one isn't hard, though. There's a crystal to the upper right of where you come in, so with a few attempts, you can hit that with the Sorcerer's Ring, and from the block just left of the one closest to that crystal, try and hit the crystal right below to take care of that. Just one more! Just hit the reflector at the far upper side of the room with the Sorcerer's Ring, and that's it for the crystals. Now just head down the stairs to the right, and because this place just had to be made slightly more artificially difficult, you'll have to go all the way around to the left to get to the exit duct. With that done, Walter meets up with Shirley and Fenimore, and on an extremely bad note, Walter reveals that Shirley is the hope of the Ferines, the Merines, the Shining One, whom the Ferines have waiting for for 4,000 years. Okay Walter, shut up and let's carry on. Head down the path you come into, and open up the chest on the left for a PANACEA BOTTLE, then go a bit over to the right and down the stairs below. Head through yet another Chaotic Zone to the right, and follow the path ahead to find a RABBIT'S FOOT at the end, which is basically an accessory that increases your luck by 30. Now head back up to the path from earlier, and follow a devilishly long path to the right for a MELANGE GEL, and let's go back to that path below. Now take the lower path from earlier, and follow it all the way over to the left, grabbing an ORANGE GEL on the way. Heading forward, go up the stairs there and follow another demonically long path to the left, watch another scene with Shirley, Fenimore, and Walter, and then Senel will feel Shirley with Pippo's shell. Meanwhile, Norma and Moses are dissing each other, the former imitating Jay as usual. With that done, head down the stairs and take a right to come to a bit of a fork. See, the layout doesn't exactly change. Head down the stairs below first for a FLARE BOTTLE, then take the path to the left way up, to find a healing circle and a save point, as well as a scene where Fenimore is the one holding the shell, and Walter is down. Still, Senel asks Moses to have Giet carry Walter on his back, and after some reluctance, name calling from Chloe and Norma, and some explanation that Shirley is Senel's sister, Moses carries Walter. So... that's that. Head outside and do your stuff, then let's keep going. And yes, we are just about done with this place now, so don't worry. Go back down and take the path on the left until you reach the millionth fork this place has to offer. Both left and right go nowhere, so take the stairs below and follow that path to the left, all the way past a couple screens until you reach some other stairs on the left. Keep on going to reach a LIFE BOTTLE and a NIGHT CAP, the latter of which I equipped on Will, but it's your choice. Keep going up to find an ORANGE GEL and a SCALLOP GEL, and then over to the right and down a Chaotic Zone for a PINEAPPLE GEL. Keep going to the right for a save point... oooh. Just continue, and Melanie leaves you a present. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Citadel Turtle Elements: HP: 7609 N/A Race: Base Turtle Weight: Massive Again, nothing particularly special whatsoever, but this is a good opportunity to use a Climax Combo. Simply enter Climax Mode and then immediately press L1 again, and then all four characters will attack, to do 1500+ damage right there, effectively cutting off 20% of the enemy's HP. And with that done, there isn't that much more to say. Sure, the turtle's attacks in front of it are fast and a little furious to boot, but not a big threat. The best strategy is just to have Senel and Chloe get on opposite sides of it, beat it down with Eres, while Will and Norma cast spells to weaken it. Easy fight. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After that's done, exit to the right, and Senel will talk a bit with Fenimore. Apparently Shirley's really proud of him. But anyway, Will and Norma manage to heal Walter, only for him to immediately charge forward and take Fenimore with him. Jackass bastard. Then Moses want to come with you and offers Senel his hand, only to get seriously beaten up. Still, he comes with you no matter what, and as for Shirley, she's with Vaclav at the moment, who leaves Cashel with the task of taking care of some bandits. Ouch. But anyway, Chapter 2 is done. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ VIII. Walkthrough (Chapter Three) ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Chapter 3 begins with a new character joining your party, and he's at a fairly equal level with your group. Personally though, my group was at level thirteen with Moses at level twelve, but it won't make a whole lot of difference. You leave off right outside the Waterways, and your next destination is the Ruins of Frozen Light. To start, head north out of the Waterways. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIIa. Ruins of Frozen Light -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: N/A Getting to the Ruins of Frozen Light in the first place, is the thing you have to worry about first of all. I recommend, again, with Moses in the party to replace Norma, since she's kind of meh until she gets better spells, which is a little later. So with that, you need to cross a canyon to get to the Waterways, but it isn't that bad. All you really have to do is follow the path, going in the general direction of 4 o' clock, where a red dot on the globe at the bottom right indicates the ruins. So... not that hard. When you get in, you'll find a bunch of Crusand soldiers right there, and you can't exactly get in, although Norma and "Red" Moses want to charge in. That's when Jay comes in, asks what the "stupid bandit" is doing with you, and gives you information at the cost of risking your lives. Fair enough. There's another entrance in, from the Great Hollow which is towards 9 o' clock from here. But as everyone walks away after thanking Jay, he talks to himself, apparently about there being a cheaper way in, and plus not being able to wait to see the looks on their faces. Now I can call Jay a jackass again! Meanwhile, Vaclav is with Shirley, showing her something weird inside the Ruins of Frozen Light. Ignore and let's carry on. To get to the Great Hollow, go between the mountains and the sea by pretty much heading forward towards the general 9 o' clock direction, and then head towards 11 o' clock, and then around the sea to reach a path that leads into the Great Hollow itself, which is marked by a red dot. Open the duct, and let's par-tah. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIIb. Great Hollow -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Apple Gel, Poison Sword, Holy Circlet, Orange Gel, Heavy Hands, Magic Lens, Life Bottle, Syrup Bottle, Panacea Bottle, Flare Bottle, Rune Bottle, Orange Gel, Panacea Bottle, Leather Cape, Melange Gel As soon as you enter, Norma will say that there's a dewstone tablet up front, which works for taking you up or down. Yeah, this great hollow has stuff like that in it, don't mind it. Then Giet comes in and gives Moses a letter from Csaba, saying that they got away safe, into a forest campsite. And as for Giet, he chased Moses down because they have a really strong bond, or as Norma suggests, Moses just has a really bad stench. But we won't go there. Just take the thingy in front of you to go to a lower level of Great Hollow. When you emerge here, head just a bit to the left for an APPLE GEL, and then through the Chaotic Zone on the left for a POISON SWORD on the other side. Equip that very effective weapon on Chloe right now, and then return to the three-way fork at the entrance. Head up there and follow the path to the left for a HOLY CIRCLET, which is for Norma, but it's your choice. The Mythril Circlet has more Int offerings, but the Holy Circlet has more for Def, not to mention it restores HP periodically. I choose the Holy Circlet, but eh. Now return to that fork and head to the right this time. Take that path until it splits in two, and then head to the left for an ORANGE GEL. Now head to the right to find the path splitting in two again. Yeah, this place is full of forks like that. Just head up for convenience, to find yet another fork. Up is a Chaotic Zone, though, so head through that. I should also note right now that if you run into Fes Elements, which are frequent in the Chaotic Zones, take them out as fast as possible, since their Spread spell can do upwards of 150-200 damage to more than one character, potentially. Also Ves Elements are dangerous, with the rare Indignation spell which can do 350+ damage. So elements are bad. Collect the HEAVY HANDS behind that Chaotic Zone, and make sure you equip them on Senel, since you can never get enough good weaponry for him. With that, go back down to the last fork and head to the left this time, to reach yet ANOTHER fork, this one three-way. Down leads back to the fork before last, left leads to a dead end, so just head up here. Follow the path, collecting the MAGIC LENS along the way, and take the path all the way down for a LIFE BOTTLE. Feel free to save, and then take the elevator on the left. Lo and behold, a three-way fork as soon as you emerge! Head left for a SYRUP BOTTLE, and down for a PANACEA BOTTLE, then take the path on the right. Just continue all the way to the right to find a FLARE BOTTLE there, and then return to the fork and head down this time, following to find a RUNE BOTTLE, and then take it all the way to the end on the left for an ORANGE GEL. Now head back and keep going all the way up for a PANACEA BOTTLE. Keep on going to the upper right and following that path, until you reach an up-left fork. Nothing to see by going up, so head to the left until you reach a left-right fork. Head to the left and follow to grab a LEATHER CAPE, and then to the left for a MELANGE GEL. And with that, follow the path down to find an elevator leading to pretty much the end of this place. But anyway, you'll find a river in front of you, with Chloe obviously getting scared. Just head to the left, while in the meantime, Vaclav tells Shirley to read some sacred Relares, while being a jackass at the same time. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIIc. Poppo's Workshop -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Turtle Mail, Flare Bottle, Red Bean Bun Recipe When you come here, Will will automatically go into his scholar nerd mode over the bones here, which are that of a grand gaet. Of course, no one quite gets this except Moses, who came to the Legacy to find a grand gaet for sacred eres. Anyway, Poppo shows up after that, and with that all done, head to the right for a TURTLE MAIL and a FLARE BOTTLE. Also talk to the Oresoren on the left of the building there to stock up on items, particularly Apple/Orange/Scallop Gels, Life Bottles, and Holy Bottles. You can rest by talking to the otter on the right, but when you're ready, enter the building. Inside, you'll meet up with Poppo, and his Poppo Mk III, which is "just as durable as the Mk II", which happened to sink. And it's an underwater path to the Ruins of Frozen Light (sorry Chloe), which is what Jay meant by risking their lives. And it has a 10% chance of success... bad, bad, bad. However, the odds can be raised with a grand gaet's horn, so it's off to look for that. First of all, though, examine the cone on the right to meet Mimi again and discuss how special Moses is, as well as acquire a recipe for RED BEAN BUN. Now head to the left, to where the grand gaet bones are, and then Norma will walk over to a grand gaet, which then wakes up without her even realizing it. Hah, gotta love her.... but ironically, she calls Moses stupid when he rushes forward and throws a spear at it. Can't call that an act of genius though... especially when it's an OMG BOSS FIGHT. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Grand Gaet Elements: HP: 22,000 N/A Race: Grand Gaet Weight: Special To be honest with you, I used up my Climax mode in Great Hollow, so I could not use it in this fight, but it was gone so quickly despite that massive amount of HP, that I didn't even need the 4,000+ damage that it would do. First of all, yeah, it's got a lot of HP. However, it can be very easily poisoned, simply by Chloe attacking it with the Poison Sword. When a red exclamation point appears above its head, it's on to something like breathing cold breath or spinning around in circles, so you may want to get away from it then. But it's such a large target that it might not even be necessary. Just whoop it good with the consecutive attacks of Senel, Chloe, and Moses, and it'll go down quick, especially if it's poisoned. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ With that, a particularly funny scene ensues as Moses starts begging it for sacred eres, only to get beaten up by Senel, Chloe, and Norma for being stupid. Gotta love that stupid bandit, I swear he kicks godly amounts of ass. Then Poppo comes around and gets his horn, giving it to the group, plus Moses receives the title of Punching Bag Man, so it's all good. Now head into Poppo's workshop, where you'll meet Jay. Speaking of Jay, Chloe blows up in his face for having them go underwater. After that, the installment is about to begin, so it's just one more night. Moses challenges Senel to a race, in which he beats him at swimming 18-0. Owned, followed by a flashback with Shirley being completely unable to talk about engagement. I mean, she's so obviously talking about sex, it's not even funny. But anyway, with that all done, stock up on stuff if you want, plus rest, then talk to Jay to begin the trip. He'll also tell you to look for a wall with a star on it. 'Kay, that can be done. Meanwhile, Vaclav makes Shirley read some ancient Relares writings, to which she does but it's thought to be lies. Her real task has yet to begin, though. As for the trip, Chloe tries to stay calm while everyone else is themselves, then Moses hears some "weird chanting". A leak appears in the sub, Senel says that calmly, and gets strangled by Norma. The sub keeps flooding, and Chloe ends up collpasing. Poor chick. But anyway, the sub manages to pull into the Ruins of Frozen Light. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIId. Ruins of Frozen Light -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Climax Bottle, Verbena, Elixir, Life Bottle, Miracle Gel, Melange Gel, Orange Gel, Flare Bottle, Guard Bottle, Climax Bottle, Rosemary As everyone pulls in, you'll notice that this place really does look awesome. And that's cool... except Will has to remind Norma to not do anything, which is concurred by Senel, Chloe, Moses, and myself. With that, head into the door in front of you, to find that wall with a star on it that Jay mentioned. Norma tries to open it, only to get dissed by Moses, but then kicks it to open it, which just leads outside. So in other words, Jay took advantage of the group for the Poppo Mk III experiment. Oh well, it's an escape route, although if I were Chloe, I'd have to agree with Norma here, on strangling Jay the jackass. Enter through the wall that you just came out of, and you'll get a feeling for this general place all around: full of forks, just like the Great Hollow. But anyway, from where you come in, head through the door on the right. Also, if you want level updates, my Senel was Level 16 at this point, with everyone else at Level 15. But levels aren't all that much to worry about, so don't start panicking if you're a level or two below me. I also replaced Will with Norma here, since her Fire Wall and Ice Wall settle well with me for this place. You emerge at a fork, in any case, so start by heading to the right and picking up the CLIMAX BOTTLE there, and then heading through the Chaotic Zone. Follow the path up there, and head to the left for another Chaotic Zone, to get a VERBENA on the other side. It raises a character's defense, so that's cool. Now head to the left for yet another Chaotic Zone, and an ELIXIR (!) on the other side. If you didn't catch that, Elixirs are pretty much the best item in the game. Unfortunately you'll have to go all the way back around to get to the main fork again, but hey, it's worth it for an Elixir. There's nothing to see by going up at the entrance fork, so head to the left to meet another three-way fork... oh joy. Both up and down lead nowhere, so head to the left for a LIFE BOTTLE, then head up the path to reach yet another three-way fork! Exciting to the max. Head up first of all and go through the Chaotic Zone to find a MIRACLE GEL, which isn't as fabulous as an Elixir, but it rocks all the same. Return to the fork again, and head left to reach a two-way fork. Gah, this place makes me sick. Down leads nowhere, so take the left path forward for a MELANGE GEL and an ORANGE GEL. Now return to the previous three-way fork and head right this time. Here you'll reach another two-way fork, in which you can head up first for a FLARE BOTTLE and a GUARD BOTTLE, but with that having been done, head to the right this time. Take that path and follow it all the way to a new screen, in which you'll immediately be faced with a two-way fork. This place sure loves those. Head through the Chaotic Zone above for a CLIMAX BOTTLE, then through another Chaotic Zone on the left for a ROSEMARY on the other side, which is a herb that increases accuracy by 1... this look at all familiar? Nope... just head down through another Chaotic Zone to reach a three-way fork. Going right leads back to that entrance two-fork, so that leaves left and down. Head down first, and while it's virtually a dead end, examine the panel on the left to hear something open. That's cool. Return to that fork and head left this time, to find a save point. Oooh... head right up ahead to enter a Puzzle Booth, usually an indication of the end of a dungeon (Bandits Lair anyone?). But I digress. Head up the stairs and then to the left, and fire the Sorcerer's Ring at the reflector on the left, and with good enough aim (try moving up for best results), it'll hit the crystal. That's 1/3. Go downstairs and push the block there above to connect the paths, and then head to the top and downstairs, and move everything out of the way so that you can fire the Sorcerer's Ring at the upper crystal, from the lowest level. With 2/3 out of the way, move one block to the gap just to the right of that crystal, and the other block to the spot at the lower-left of that. And with that having been done, head up the stairs and follow the path you just made, and shoot the crystal at the upper-right to have 3/3 taken care of. Now, as for getting to the exit duct, go around to the left portion of the room, using the stairs, and pull the block out so that it fills in the gap between the middle path and the path on the left with the duct, and then just head up the stairs and to the left to get the hell outta here. And from there, you can barely take a few steps before Vaclav sics a boss at you. You knew it had to happen. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Gigant Elements: HP: 25,916 Weak - Sea ;; Strong - Curse Race: Megant Weight: Special In my opinion this is the hardest boss that the game has thrown at you yet. It isn't a monumentally challenging fight, plus you can start the battle off with a Climax Combo, which did over 5000 damage for me, but don't enter this expecting another Citadel Turtle. Personally my party was all at Level 17, and consisted of Senel, Chloe, Norma, and Moses, but Will is certainly usable in this battle. This is also the first battle in the game in which you really want to keep an eye on your HP, if you know what I mean. When a red exclamation point appears over Gigant's head, he's about to use Destroy Viscera, which is basically a multipunch attack which is very lethal. Especially in the later parts of this fight, I highly suggest keeping an eye on everyone's HP, especially Chloe, who's the main brute force attacker but at the same time isn't very resilient. In the early portions I would also try and surround him, because his attacks in front of him are the real punishers. But keep an eye for the red exclamation point, because that's just plain nasty, plus heal when you get below 300 HP or so. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ With that fight done, head into the room right ahead, and you'll end up in the same place Shirley was at a little bit ago, except Senel is even worse. He runs up to it and completely goes nuts, recognizing the girl inside, and needing Will and Moses to manhandle him. Then Chloe and Norma examine it, to reveal that the girl inside, Stella, is Shirley's sister. Then Vaclav comes in, explains the situation, and fights you himself. You obviously can't win the fight against Vaclav. Just play it out a bit, attacking his puny 7622 HP to your liking, and he'll eventually use his secret technique, God of War, to knock your whole group down. Then Cashel and Stingle come in with Shirley, who has virtually no choice but to unlock the seal if she wants Senel to live. And speaking of which, Shirley isn't Senel's sister by flesh and blood, as is revealed. But anyway, watch ahead as some golden wings break through the seal to knock the Crusands down, and Senel is surrounded in a golden light and escapes with everyone else. Watch the flashback and... -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ VIIIe. Forest of No Return -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Melange Gel, Syrup Bottle, Life Bottle, Orange Gel, Guard Bottle, Aifread's Flag, War Javelin, Shell Bottle, Leather Boots After that's all over, you end up in a place called the Forest of No Return. Will and Norma heal Senel, who then wakes up screaming and knocking Norma right down. Hah, gotta love him. As for the FoNR, it's very easy to lose your sense of direction here, since there are little to no landmarks and it's one similar screen after another. Moses repeats himself about leaving it to him and Giet thrice, only to promptly get told to shut the hell up. But he knows this place, so that's all cool. Anyway, time to inflict pain on thyself. I absolutely loathe this place with a passion, but I'll write as best as I can for it ANYWAY. However, if you want a quick shortcut, you can just wander back and forth and then let Moses take you through the place, but if you get through it on your own, Senel will get the Forest Guru, but either way you'll get that title much later in the game anyway, so it's no big deal, since it isn't all that great. But anyway, from where you start, head over to the right until you can head up, and then do that and go to the left. Grab the MELANGE GEL there and then keep going to the left. On the next screen, head up at the opportunity, and feel free to save and use the healing circle. With that, head to the right, and on the next screen, all you need to do is head up, and then over to the right. Here you'll have a scene with Norma expressing her displeasure with this place and then getting dissed by Moses, and then Cashel shows up and attacks. The group manages to run away, though, so that's no biggie. After that, grab the SYRUP BOTTLE above, and then proceed to the right, grabbing the LIFE BOTTLE on the way. Next screen. Collect the ORANGE GEL there and then at this up-right fork, start by heading right and collecting the GUARD BOTTLE there, and then return to that fork and head up. You'll meet a peddler here who has Melange Gels to sell, so I wholeheartedly recommend taking a venture there and stocking up, since a full collection is only 7500 Gald. Having done that, head to the right and keep going past two screens until you reach a scene. You'll come to the bandits place, which is completely torn down. Moses goes berserk here and charges at Cashel, trying to take him down but being stopped by Senel and Will, while Chloe gets to deal with Stingle, who apparently took down the House of Valens. So yeah, Stingle is the one she came to the Legacy to look for. But anyway, Will tells everyone to escape and they pretty much have no choice. And while you DID reach the bandits place, this place isn't over yet. Head forward until you can go up, and from there, head to the left. In that next screen, head left and then down when you get the opportunity. New screen. In here, head to right through the Chaotic Zone for an AIFREAD'S FLAG, then back to the entrance fork. From here, the directions are down, right, down, right, to get to the new screen. From here, head up and then to the right for a WAR JAVELIN. Equip this on Moses and then head straight to the left. Grab the SHELL BOTTLE there on the next screen, and then head up. On this next screen, head all the way up for LEATHER BOOTS at the top. Now head back down to the beginning of this screen, with the blue butterflies on the right, and take that path over to the right. On this next screen, head down and then to the right to find a save point. You know what that means... head to the screen on the right to reach the end of the forest, but naturally a boss stops you before that happens. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Armored Angler Elements: HP: 14,875 N/A Race: Hill Angler Weight: Special This fight is substantially harder than half the bosses you've fought up to this point, but it's still not as hard as Gigant. For starters, it's only dangerous attack is warned with a red exclamation point above its head, to when it'll charge at you dealing 100 damage to anything in its path, several times. That has the potential to reduce someone with full HP to critical, very quickly. And while the Armored Angler has about ten thousand less HP, it's got a bit of defense on it, so don't be fooled by that. My recommendation for Climax Mode is that you don't immediately start with the Climax Combo, but instead just gang up on it with everything you have until the bar is just about depleted, then hit L1 then for about 700 damage with the combo itself, but as for the whole Climax Mode, I did nearly 4500 damage with it, which is more than the 2800 or so damage that just a Climax Combo will do. But anyway, I'd recommend keeping your distance at times, and being ready to heal. Watch for the exclamation points at ALL periods, and eventually you'll emerge victorious. Also try and surround him so that his charge will only hit one character instead of injuring your whole party. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After that fight, head to the next screen to find "horny baby" Melanie and four Armored Anglers. Haha, I concur with Norma here. Right then a cutscene occurs as a fortress that serves as the Legacy's bridge arises, and the group runs back into the forest to meet more Crusands, who are instantly slain by an unknown force that is in Crusand disguise, led by a man named Maurits, who Senel seems to know. He'll explain things, about how Shirley and Stella are in the Bridge right now, and that Vaclav intends to use the Nerifes Cannon, and your next destination with be Maurits's base. Just head to the left to get out of here and obtain the Forest Guru title, and with that, Chapter 4 begins! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ IX. Walkthrough (Chapter Four) ~-~ ~-~ ~-~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Because of the Bridge making its appearance on the Legacy, much of the land has changed, such as shallow paths across the water being available. But as for Chapter 4, it's one of my favorite chapters in the game, as it ends perfectly. But let's not go on about that, shall we? -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ IXa. Maurits' Hermitage -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Cream Doughnut Recipe, Rosemary To get to this place to start with, head towards 8 o' clock through the trees, and when you get out of there, start heading further towards the 8 o' clock direction and across the shallow water there, until you reach a patch of land. From here, just follow that path (just to let ya know, it WILL go towards 1 o' clockish), and then Maurits' Hermitage is just towards 11 o' clock of there. Enter and... bah, I dunno. When you come in, you'll see that it's just a bunch of trees, and just after Norma complains about having to sleep outside, Maurits takes down the trees, showing that they're just a barrier. Cool... right inside, you'll meet Walter, who happens to be a member of the Ferines. Yep, he's back, as unfriendly as ever, yet Norma calls him "Wally". Maurits tells you to come right inside, but before that, head just a little bit to the right and examine the Christmas tree display to meet Mimi again, who gives you a recipe for CREAM DOUGHNUT. Now head into Maurits's base, where Senel will ask him what's going to happen to Stella and Shirley. Their lives will be used to fire the Nerifes Cannon, apparently... as for Will's question, Maurits and the Ferines want to form an allegiance with the people of the land, and with that, Will serves as the mediator of the alliance but doesn't allow anyone else to participate. Everyone is just too emotional, plus Chloe went off alone to face Stingle, Moses to avenge his boys, and don't even get me started on Senel and Norma. With that, Fenimore escorts you to the sleeping quarters. In that room, just head outside and then out of the base itself, where Senel gets another flashback of Shirley and Stella. After that, Chloe comes out and talks to him, telling him that five years ago, Stingle destroyed the Valens family name by killing both of her parents right before her eyes. But either way, Senel intends to go, plus Norma and Moses show up, followed by Fenimore, who seems to be at least slightly opening up to the group. The next morning when you wake up, everyone except Will is now in the group, so that's good. Head outside, and the party pretty much begs Will to let them join the alliance, but he refuses. That's when Walter shows up, having failed to obtain the Whisper Crystal he was sent to get. So then Norma begs Maurits to let them go get that, and he pretty much has no choice but to let them go, to a place towards 11 o' clock of here called the Man-Eating Ruins. After Norma is incredibly reluctant to that, everyone heads out and then Will joins the party again, since he'd just worry about the group. Riiight... meanwhile, Stella and Shirley are being taken into the Bridge fortress. Ignore that, and then just take the path out of Maurits' Hermitage, and with that, it's time to head for the Man-Eating Ruins. In my opinion this is one of the harder places in the whole game to get to, so listen to directions carefully. Take the lower path out towards 3 o' clock through the trees, and then follow the path all the way to 12 o' clock, to find one of the rare world map treasures, this being a ROSEMARY. Sweet, but you have to go back to find the Man-Eating Ruins. Now head back towards 7 o' clock and then around the mountain, heading towards 11 o' clock and crossing the shallow water on the beach to reach the Man-Eating Ruins. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ IXb. Man-Eating Ruins -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Pizza Recipe, Panacea Bottle, Poison Charm, Lemon Gel, Saffron, Magic Lens, Climax Bottle, Elixir, 2000 Gald, Syrup Bottle, Stone Charm, Talisman Let me start with a level recommendation. I was at Level 20 for my whole group, and I would recommend no less than Level 19 for Senel, so that he has the Coil eres. Plus, Will at Level 20 gets Shield, and Norma at Level 20 gets Thunder Arrow, which is the first really good offensive crystal eres in the game. Not to mention at Level 20 you get new titles for the whole group, so take that into account as well. When you're ready, enter, watch the entrance scene, and proceed into the ruins with a fever for devouring testosterone. This place starts out fairly linear, but trust me it'll get a whole lot worse. Just follow the path when you come in and take all the way to a two-way fork which is easily landmarked by a tree above. That's Mimi, acting as strange as always, especially with that one last line. Still, you get a recipe for PIZZA, so it's all good. Back with the dungeon itself, head left for a PANACEA BOTTLE and then take the right path this time. Here, just take the Chaotic Zone for a POISON CHARM, which makes very good Gald and selling material. Now take the upper path to find a left-right fork, with the left being a Chaotic Zone, so take that for a LEMON GEL and then head to the right this time. Follow this path up to reach a screen which is pretty much a straight line up with nothing much on it. Head up the paths and up to the far upper left, and here you'll reach a screen which is absolutely full of forks every which way. Start by heading up the Chaotic Zone directly above. Behind this Chaotic Zone is a SAFFRON. Now head to the very bottom right for a MAGIC LENS, and then up the first path on the left and all the way up through a Chaotic Zone there for a CLIMAX BOTTLE. Now take the path to the right which is directly below, and first things first, head through the Chaotic Zones and all the way to the right for an ELIXIR at the upper path. Now head through the zone just a bit to the left and then up for 2000 GALD, further up for a SYRUP BOTTLE, and then take the path to the upper left for a STONE CHARM. Now head all the way to the right and through another Chaotic Zone for a TALISMAN. Whew. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that's a crapload of treasure. But anyway, head just a bit over to the left and save, then enter the Puzzle Booth there. Just to let you know, these Puzzle Booths are all optional; you can always have Will or a certain character who joins you a bit later do these for you, but if you do them on your own, you'll get a new title for Senel later, plus a lot more personal satisfaction, since they're kinda fun to begin with. But when you're ready, enter the Puzzle Booth above. Get the ring, and start from the stairs to the right of where you come in. From the second block, fire at the reflector to the bottom-right, and with some luck it'll bounce toward the first crystal. 1/4 already! Now head to the stairs on the left and from the second block there, fire at the upper reflector, and it'll bounce twice to hit that second crystal. Yay, 2/4! The next one's a bit trickier; pull the block between the exit duct and the two blocks below, and from the one on the left, hit the reflector below to bounce toward 3/4. From just below that one block, fire the Sorcerer's Ring at the reflector on the left, and it'll bounce towards the fourth crystal, which is the easily missable one at the far upper left. With some luck, of course, that's 4/4, and you can take the path out to the duct. And in there, Norma finds a bed right there and just falls asleep. Of course, you figure something's wrong with statues everywhere, but it's a trap. I usually like Norma, but I have to say that that is just idiotic. But either way, it's a boss and all. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Diva Elements: HP: 12,000 N/A Race: Diva Weight: Heavy Mimic Bed Elements: HP: 15,000 N/A Race: Mimic Bed Weight: Special By far the greater threat of the two is the Diva. While the Mimic Bed does next to nothing except do a few weak 80-120 damage or thereabouts attacks, the Diva uses Silence to seal Eres, attacks, and worst of all, when the usual red exclamation point appears, can turn your characters into stone. That is the worst danger in this battle, and as such, especially since it has less HP than the Mimic Bed, it should be your first target. However, that's made a little more difficult by the fact the Mimic Bed is blocking it. I suggest using a Climax Mode and trying to focus all efforts on the Diva. Finish that off with a Climax Combo, and then just continue attacking it and running the hell away if the exclamation point appears, not to mention being ready to use a Panacea Bottle if the need arises. It might be a good idea to equip that Stone Charm you found earlier on a character, also. Meanwhile, slay the Diva with everything you've got, and if you were wise enough to have your whole party spread out, by then the Mimic Bed will be severely weakened and can be finished off. All it really does is lower stats of the characters anyway, so it's nothing to go home and cry about. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Norma scoffs at the traps here, but I'd have to agree with Senel that the problem is her falling for something like that. Watch the skit that ensues, and then head upstairs. In here you'll find the Whisper Crystal, in which Moses charges at, only to become horrified when he looks down below, into the casket. And inside, is a living woman who seems to have completely lost her memory. Her name is Grune, and she goes with you. Not in the battle party, but just to get out of here. Fair enough. Will observes that the crystal at the top is the only thing in here that could be the Whisper Crystal, but as they leave, something seems to turn on. Bad sign, am I right? So yeah, just get outta here and take that duct back, then take the lower left path (not the Chaotic Zone path) and follow it on outta here, all the way back to the entrance. As you go outside, Crusands ambush... bad. But a sentinel shows up to defend you, so it's cool. And Grune here is treated like an item and then happy about it... heh, she's lost her memory. Watch the scene with Vaclav and Shirley, then take the duct back to Maurits' Hermitage. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ IXc. Maurits' Hermitage -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: N/A When you come in, you'll meet none other than Jay, whom Chloe is obviously infuriated with. Apparently though, Jay found out that she can't swim, without even talking with Senel. Meanwhile, the wind has changed, and in Werites Beacon the clouds have moved, demonstrating that Vaclav is moving the ship faster than usual. With that, head inside to discuss details about the alliance, which has already been formed, with Jay being its strategical officer. That would explain things. ;) The Whisper Crystal can control the automata/sentinels, so obviously that's the key of the mission. The council of strategy, of Will, Maurits, and Jay then talk to themselves, and you're free to rest. Chloe wants to meet Senel outside at night alone, though... so, there you have it. Head into the room at the upper right and choose to rest, and then Senel will head outside to the spring to talk to Chloe. She's straight to the point, saying she wants to train with him. And in the meantime, Vaclav is charging the Nerifes Cannon with Stella. Dat be bad. Head to the path on the right and take it onto Hermit Hill. And yes, the point of this trip is to train, so that means fighting battles. Encounter rates here are astoundingly high, so you shouldn't have a problem with that. Still, it's just Senel and Chloe; you don't have any healing or rear support, so make sure you stay close to the entrance, with the healing circle. There are no items here, so don't worry about that. However, concentrate on fighting Dandarantulas if you come across them, since their Eres Stones are necessary for Norma's Thunder Arrow ere. After fighting five battles, Senel and Chloe will take a break, and for the first time in the game they're actually friendly with each other. That's a good thing. But anyway, after they express their affection and whatnot, Chloe will want to go another round, so that's five more battles. These battles can give up to 200 EXP or thereabouts, so don't run away from them. Then after that, the two talk about Stella, plus Norma and Moses show up, spying on our two lovebirds. Not like that wouldn't happen... but I have to agree with what Norma says about this being the middle of the night and heating it up would help. ;) Will ends up hitting Norma and Moses on the head to wake them up the next morning, to give you a general idea. Then the council on strategy truly begins, but also note that Jay and Moses have a lot against each other and will for the rest of the game. And it gets quite funny later. =D But anyway, the lake at the northern part of the Legacy is now a plain around the Bridge fortress, now known as the Bridge Plain. The allies will give a nighttime raid, and that's pretty much the first step. Your next destination is Vaclav's front line. Rest up, save, whatever, then leave the base to see the "new" Walter, in his Ferines outfit, and a whole bunch of automaton. With that, leave this place and head outside, watch some more Vaclav and Shirley scenes, and the next place to go will be around the mountains to 1 o' clock, to the front line. It's pretty simple, actually, for getting there. It's just towards the northeast and some mountains. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ IXd. Front Line -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Miracle Gel, Pineapple Gel, Lemon Gel, Life Bottle, Chocolate Cornet Recipe, Scallop Gel, Flare Bottle, Silver Javelin, Syrup Bottle, Magic Lens, Guard Bottle, Melange Gel, FOE2 Charm, Dark Bottle, Shell Bottle, Panacea Bottle, Climax Bottle, Hunter's Beat, Silver Sword As soon as you enter it's still daylight, and Norma wants a nap, but Senel yells at her not to, only to fall asleep himself and dream of Stella and her teriques. Carrying on, a bunch of people are seen ahead, and then Senel and Norma feel... the presence. That's right, Curtis and Isabella show up, and Will reveals the shocking, that Curtis is the chief commanding officer of the Holy Rexalian Empire's Elite Guard. LOL! And just as Curtis is about to sing, he's got duty with Maurits, so... that saved us some brain damage. When you re-emerge, your objective is to bring through the Crusand Empire's rear guard here. First of all, save, and make absolutely positively and to the ultimate degree sure that you stock up with the peddler on the left. That includes getting a full stock of Apple, Orange, and Melange Gels, Life and Holy Bottles, and especially equipment. That means Holy Bracers for Senel, a Claymore for Chloe, a Pile Driver for Will, and a Silver Straw for Norma. Or if you didn't get it in the FoNR, a War Javelin for Moses. Add in two Silver Mails, a Galf Cloak, a Scale Robe, three Duel Helms, and a Striped Ribbon, and then 20,000 Gald later, you'll have the optimum equipment. That will help a lot. And this IS your last chance to shop for a while, since some crazy stuff is going to happen, so make full use of the opportunity. But anyway, what you need to do now is pretty much a mission of stealth, to get to the top of this place and avoid being seen by guards. Can do... 'cept it's five or six screens. Start by heading up and grabbing the MIRACLE GEL on the left, and then take the path on the right for a PINEAPPLE GEL. There's a guard just up ahead, though, so when he heads up, collect the LEMON GEL there. Keep going when it's safe, and get the LIFE BOTTLE on the way. The first thing to do on this new screen is head to the left and examine the yellow disc to meet the "hopeless" Mimi, and acquire a recipe for CHOCOLATE CORNET. Now head around the entrance, and when the guard wanders over to the left, head past him to the right, until you reach an up-right fork. The right leads to some treasure, but can be a bit tricky. Stand near the torch and wait for him to head behind, to the left, and when he does, head over to the right and grab a SCALLOP GEL and a FLARE BOTTLE. Now return to the torch, and when the guard heads down, you can head past him. Easy enough, next screen. Collect the SILVER JAVELIN, and head up, but not to the point where the guard can see you. Wait until he turns the other way, and then head to the right to collect a SYRUP BOTTLE and a MAGIC LENS. Feel free to let him catch you, then just fight some easy enemies and be returned to the beginning of this place. Here, just charge up and then to the upper right for a GUARD BOTTLE and a MELANGE GEL. And here I just let them catch me again, then just stuck at the tent between the two guards, and when the upper guard went to the right, charged through to the next screen. Watch the ensuing scene and laugh at the idea of Walter being on the Bantam Bouncers, then head past the guards to the left and collect the FOE2 CHARM there. From here, just let them catch you, and then head to the upper right below the chest after the fight. Wait for the guard to move, then another guard will come in under him. When that guard starts to move to the right, head all the way around and then up for that DARK BOTTLE. And while you're at it, head up for a SHELL BOTTLE and a PANACEA BOTTLE. Return to the fork below and head to the left when the guard isn't looking, and then that's just another screen. In there, wait for the guard there to head up, and then collect the CLIMAX BOTTLE to the right. From there, I find it easiest to just let the guard catch you, then when you're returned to the entrance, wait for the guard to look in the direction of up, and then sneak by him and go to the left and collect the HUNTER'S BEAT there, which is a weapon for Senel, stronger than the Holy Bracers. Might as well equip 'em. Now just let the guard catch you, and then charge up past the first guard when he isn't looking. There you'll come to a left-right fork, and from here, stand a bit over to the right and wait for the guard to come over in that direction, and face the opposite way. Sneak behind him and take the path to the left for a SILVER SWORD there. Yep, that is stronger than Chloe's Claymore. From there, get caught again and then use the usual technique to get past the first guard. From there it's child's play making your way to the right. Now for the next screen, which is marked halfway by a save point, but it's not _quite_ over yet. The first guard can be gotten past simply by immediately running through and hugging the right, then making it to the save point. The end is a tad bit tricky, though. Start by running through and hiding to the left, and sneaking past the guard when he comes through and looks the opposite way. Then stand a good distance away from the next guard, and then he'll head up. Now go over to the left, and when the guard comes down and looks in the direction of the right, sneak past him to the left and continue. Then you'll immediately be treated to a boss after all that easy work of yours! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Pharaoh Gigant Elements: HP: 37,444 Weak - Sea ;; Strong - Curse Race: Megant Weight: Special This boss is very similar to his "younger brother" from the Ruins of Frozen Light -- while not quite reaching that lofty standard, he's a force to be reckoned with. Start with that massive HP count, for one thing, but as for Climax Mode, I honestly didn't have it when I started this battle, so I just had to play it out. The Pharaoh Gigant has a very dangerous attack, and that will allow him to get all the way from one side of the field to the other instantly, mowing down enemies as he goes. When that red exclamation point appears, I seriously recommend guarding so that you don't withstand that. HP is just as important in this fight as it was against the standard Gigant, since he can easily eliminate you very quickly. However, if you have stuff like the Silver Sword or Silver Javelin equipped, the Pharaoh Gigant is at a huge disadvantage, since those are Sea elemental weapons, in which he's weak against. So make full use of those advantages that are given to you. As for Climax Mode, I recommend simply attacking and then pulling a Climax Combo off at the end, since it will do over 1,500 damage even weakened, after all, while early it'll do 7,500 or so, which is good, but you have better. So in summary, take care of Chloe and Moses to keep their HPs up, use Senel's Coil or Impact Coil to increase your strength, and rock on. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After the gatekeeper is defeated, that marks the 30th platoon's victory, and as Senel remarks, the first time the group has ever won against Vaclav at all. Jay then comes in deeming their job as "acceptable", but Grune is far more loving, giving Senel a nice big hug. Awww... then a large ray of light appears to commemorate your victory. Cool. Meanwhile Vaclav is furious, and orders all troops to move out. Eh... anyway, it's time to head for the Bridge Plain, which is a few steps forward, literally. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ IXe. Bridge Plain -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ - Items: Orange Gel, Life Bottle As soon as you enter, Jay meets you there saying that there's still time before the operation starts, delivering some negative comments that are held back due to a certain "stupid bandit". After Will hits both Moses and Jay over the head for their comments, you can stock up on items. Yep, you do have ONE LAST TIME! Heh heh heh... yeah, I exaggerated earlier. You can also rest by talking to the guy on the right, so feel free to do that as well. When you're ready, head up to talk with Jay. He'll tell you that the battle is lost if Vaclav fires the Nerifes Cannon, so priority is on Stella and Shirley. Watch the scene and FMV, and then head straight ahead. Be prepared to fight lots of battles, by the by. On the screen there, a Radiant will give you an ORANGE GEL, and to proceed you can either go straight or to the left. Take note that whenever you meet a soldier here, that marks 2-3 battles, but it's unavoidable. Head to the left first, fight some battles, then straight ahead. After fighting some more battles, talk to the Rexalian right ahead, and he'll heal you for free... cool. Now head to the next screen, fight some Crusands, and then go around to the right to avoid fighting some more yawn-worthy battles. Keep on going, and you'll have to fight a Lizardman in the form of a general, but that's fairly easy. That marks the halfway point, with your group being fairly exhausted (especially Norma of course), and Maurits and the others observing the fight. Walter is his usual jackass self to Fenimore, and then an "unidentified force of origin" with round bodies and soft fur appears. That's right, the Ores