P09B: Archylte Steppe AF???

P09B: Archylte Steppe AF???

If you played Final Fantasy XIII this will be familiar ground for you though it looks a bit different here.  After the CS ends and you have control again head towards the marker in the village ahead, grabbing the x2 Remedies, x3 Potions, and x8 Mana Droplets from the Treasure Spheres here.   When you reach the marker you talk to Tipur who gives you a map of the region and asks for your help.  Talk to him again to flag the mission Fragment: Goblin Fragment.  To prove your abilities as a Hunter you need to get rid of the Monsters for them!

You do not need to search -- there is a marker laid down you can head right over to -- but as you approach you will notice a red statue-like Cactaur -- go ahead and examine that now to be teleported back to the camp and obtain the Crimson Crystal Fragment for your effort!  Read the Fragment Page which is about the Tablet of Memory, then grab the 600 Gil from the Treasure Sphere ahead of you and the Grimoire Hat from the Treasure Sphere by the edge of the platform.  Now would be a good time to equip the Grimoire Hat on Serah as her second item now that she can have one since in addition to Kill: Libra it also increases the effectiveness of Potions. 

Now backtrack to the marker for the Goblin battle -- in which you take on both Goblins and a Chocobo and, with any luck, score the Monster Crystals for both as part of your reward!   You also obtain 300 CP and the Goblin Crystal Fragment, and are prompted to return to the village to report your success, so why not do that?  Use the statue to teleport back and head up the stairs to talk to Tipur again.

He thanks you and asks for another favor -- he needs you to help them get wool... Wool... Really?  Head down the stairs and talk to Myta who needs you to collect will from the sheep that are wandering the plains.  This is the Fragment: Wooly Stone mission so go ahead and accept it!  She tells you to target the larger sheep and harvest their wool.

The Goblin Battle

Head out onto the plains and you will see that the larger sheep have chat bubbles and, when you select them you gather their wool, which comes in three types: Rough Wool, Thick Wool, and Fluffy Wool. Once you have all three you can return to turn in the mission and collect 300 CP and the Wooly Stone Fragment -- good on ya mates!

Talk to Myta again to learn about the storm and the weather control device which you should use to bring on a heat wave -- well, after you do a little exploring that is since we want to make the most of the current weather as we can for picking up more Monster Crystals, right?

-- Exploring the Zone --

If you look at your map there should be a small dark area to the southeast -- head over to that to remove it from the map, and then follow the wall south to clear the area along it and the double back to remove that great swath to match the top area.  When you reach the area to the south you will see a large cactus and your Moogle will go a little nuts -- follow her and use Mooglehunt to reveal another Cactaur Statue!  Using this will teleport you back to the village as well as reward you with 300 CP and the Azure Crystal Fragment.  The Fragment Page for this one is called Tablet of Memory as well, and is worth the read.

Backtrack to the statue and resume exploring to find the hidden Treasure Sphere in the southeast corner with x9 Vitality Slivers in it.  In the small alcove to the south is a hidden Treasure Sphere with a Phoenix Down in it that you can grab, and right next to it is a Treasure Sphere with x8 Mana Bolts in it. 

In the trench to the north is a hidden Treasure Sphere with a Single Horn Adornment in it, and at the east end of the trench if you pop-out and head around and over the bridge that spans the trench you will see a whirlwind nearby that if you Mooglehunt it you will reveal another teleport statue that you can now use to teleport to the western center of the map (this was a yellow and not red statue, the red ones go back to the village).  Using the statue rewards you with 300 CP and the Forest Crystal Fragment for your troubles.

Now head back to the east to resume your exploration, grabbing x6 Vitality Chips from the Treasure Sphere on the way back.  In the trench to the north of the main area is a Treasure Sphere with x2 Fractured Horns in it that you should be sure to grab, and then with the main area clear head back to the yellow teleport statue in order to get back over the berm to the west side of the map.

-- The West Side of the Map (Clearwater Marshes) --

Nearby our arrival point is a Treasure Sphere with 700 Gil in it.  On the north cliff is a Treasure Sphere you can toss Moogle at to get a Guardian's Edge -- a weapon for Noel that is better than what we have, so you may want to equip it.

To the northwest is a hidden Treasure Sphere with a Unicorn Horn in it, and to the southwest in the water is another teleport statue that, when used, rewards you with 300 CP and the Amber Crystal Fragment.  No reason not to go ahead and collect that now, then backtrack to the yellow statue and return to the west to complete our exploration.

-- Changing the Weather --

Now that we have revealed the whole area of the west use the statue to return to the village and then head towards the marker on the map and talk to Hunter to learn the details of the weather machine -- she offers you a tutorial on how the machine works.  Pay attention but to make this easier for you here are the combinations:

Lever Settings / Weather
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Up-Up     / Cloudy
Up-Down / Rainy
Down-Down / Sunny
Down-Up / Stormy
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Our task is to make a heatwave, so that means down and down -- and if you are happy that you have obtained all of the Monster Crystals that you can for the current weather, which is Cloudy, then by all means pull the levers!

Head to talk to Tipur, and he will tell you about the massive power of the beast.  You get an LT event and then decide to go check it out, realizing that it is a Paradox.  Bear in mind that this is a boss mob, it has a massive HP pool (over 100K) and a high Chain Resist.  It is immune to Launch and it has a pretty hefty magic ability...

The Faeryl Battle

-- The Faeryl Battle --

Head for the marker on the map and prepare for battle!   Or not...  There is a Long-Gui here blocking your path and while you may be a pretty good fighter, you are not really ready to take this thing on mates...  We need an alternative.  Head back to the village and talk to Tipur, who has some advice and an LT event for you.  Of course!  Change the weather!  Head to the machine and pull the right lever so that it is in the Up position, turning the weather Stormy and driving away the Long-Gui.  Now we can have our battle!

If you are good with picking your moves then selecting electric attacks will rule the day, but if you are not, or you prefer to use the auto-attack system, you will be best served by immediately using a Librascope on the Faeryl to ID its weaknesses and then aggressively use Agression-X (RAV/COM/COM) switching to Diversity (RAV/COM/MED) only if you absolutely must do so.  The reason for this is that as soon as you Stagger it, it will take massive damage from your electric attacks, and you will find that if you Stagger it quickly you will also kill it quickly.

Victory gives you 3500 CP and the Black Hole Gem Fragment, and reveals a Treasure Chest nearby that contains the LT Reward for this part -- I found a Dragon Hide Backpack, but you can also get a Mog Clock from it...

Reading the Fragment Page for the Black Hole Fragment reveals what must have happened here...

With the battle done it will be suggested that you return to hook up with Snow -- we actually do not want to do that just yet as there are some minor tasks to accomplish here first.  We want to collect some more Monster Crystals, and we need to locate the fifth and last teleport statue to collect the Fragment that it will reward us with.

-- Wrapping things Up Here --

Head to the nearby teleport statue and teleport back to the village, then change the settings on the weather machine to Stormy (Down-Up).  With that done, head to the Yellow teleport statue and use it to return to the west side of the map (Clearwater) and you will find the now revealed teleport statue

Warning: In addition to the statue that you are looking for you will also find one just to the southeast of first one we found here that you will need to use Mooglehunt to reveal.  This is a Green Statue, not a Red one, and it does NOT teleport you, it actually summons a Gigantuar -- so don't use it unless you actually want to summon and battle that, right?

The final Red teleport statue is in the southwestern corner of the area, just above the little hook that pops up and to the left at the bottom -- using it rewards you with 300 CP and the Violet Crystal Fragment, whose Page is another Tablet of Memory one.   If you look over the western edge not too far away from the last statue you will notice a ledge below with a Treasure Sphere -- toss your Moogle down there to get the Wild Artifact that it holds.

Now that you have that out of the way it would be a good time to save, and to check the Grinding section below to see what Monsters you have and which you still need, then set the weather accordingly!

-- Grinding Opportunities --

This is actually a very unique area in which you will want to spend some time grinding as there are a number of unique loot items as well as a bunch of different Monsters that you can get here -- the latter being partly dictated by the weather that you have set into the machine. 

Grinding here you can acquire the following Loot Items:

Cie'th Tear (Component)
Chocobo Plume (Component)
Entite Ring (Accessory)
Fractal Pot (Component)
Healer's Emerald (Accessory)
Holy Water (Consumable)
Impeder's Opal (Accessory)
Mana Chip (Material)
Mana Essence (Material)
Molted Tail (Component)
Painkiller (Consumable)
Phoenix Down (Consumable)
Potent Crystal (Material)
Potent Droplet (Material)
Potent Essence (Material)
Potent Generator (Material)
Potent Orb (Material)
Power Bolt (Material)
Power Essence (Material)
Power Orb (Material)
Power Sliver (Material)
Remedy (Consumable)
Ribbon (Accessory)
Sinister Fang (Component)
Sunpetal (Component)
Thrust Bearing (Component)
Vitality Chip (Material)
Vitality Essence (Material)
Vitality Generator (Material)
Vitality Orb (Material)

You can also acquire the Monster Crystals for the following (Note the locations and Weather):

Changing the Weather Changes the Monsters

-- Clearwater Marsh --

Blue Chocobo    (bird-type) Organic / Ravager (Sunny)
Caterchipillar (slug-type) Organic / Medic (Rainy)
Gancanagh (goblin-type) Mechanical / Saboteur (Sunny)   
Gancanagh Ace (goblin-type) Mechanical / Synergist (Cloudy, Sunny)   
Hedge Frog (frog-type) Organic / Saboteur (Sunny, Rainy)
Major Moblin (goblin-type) Mechanical / Sentinel (Sunny)
Mewmao (cat-type) Organic / Synergist (Rainy)
Microchu (plant-type) Organic / Synergist (Stormy)
Moblin (goblin-type) Mechanical / Commando (Cloudy)
Mud Frog (frog-type) Organic / Ravager (Rainy)
Navidon (armadillo type) Organic / Sentinel (Rainy)
Swampmonk (sahagin) Organic / Ravager (Rainy)


-- Grave Ridge --

Barbed Specter (floating-thingy) Organic / Saboteur (Cloudy)
Buccaboo (goblin-type) Mechanical / Ravager (Sunny)
Buccaboo Ace     (goblin-type) Mechanical / Ravager (Sunny)
Debris    (bomb-type) Mechanical / Ravager (Cloudy)
Pulsework Gladiator (robot-type) Mechanical / Sentinel (Cloudy)
Red Chocobo (bird-type) Organic / Commando (Cloudy, Sunny)
Samovira (demon-bird) Organic / Saboteur (Cloudy)
Scutari (robot-type) Mechanical / Commando (Sunny)
Testudo (robot-type) Mechanical / Synergist (Cloudy)
Vodianoi (demon-bird) Organic / Commando (Cloudy)


-- Plains of Eternity --

Cactuar (cactaur type) Organic / Commando (Sunny)
Cactuaroni (cactaur type) Organic / Commando (Cloudy, Rainy, Stormy)
Chelicerata (bug-type) Organic / Saboteur
Chocobo (bird-type) Organic / Commando (Cloudy, Rainy, Stormy)
Clione (bug-type) Organic / Synergist
Flanbanero (tomato-type) Organic / Ravager (Sunny)
Flangonzola (tomato-type) Organic / Commando (Sunny)
Flowering Cactuar (cactaur type) Organic / Medic (Sunny)
Goblin (goblin-type) Mechanical / Commando (Sunny)   
Goblin Chieftain (goblin-type) Mechanical / Sentinel (Sunny)
Miniflan (tomato-type) Organic / Commando (Sunny)
Reaver     (behemoth-type) Organic / Commando (Sunny)
Silver Lobo (cat-type) Organic / Saboteur (Sunny)
Triffid (flower) Organic / Synergist (Sunny)
Voulvre (Wyvern-type) Organic / Commando (Sunny)


-- Stonestump Wastelands --

Barbed Specter (floating-thingy) Organic / Saboteur (Cloudy)
Buccaboo (goblin-type) Mechanical / Ravager (Sunny)
Buccaboo Ace (goblin-type) Mechanical / Ravager (Sunny)   
Cloudburst (bomb-type) Mechanical / Ravager (Cloudy)
Major Moblin (goblin-type) Mechanical / Sentinel (Sunny)
Metal Gigantuar (cactaur-type) Organic / Sentinel (Sunny)
Microchu (plant-type) Organic / Synergist (Rainy)
Moblin (goblin-type) Mechanical / Commando (Sunny)
Pulsework Gladiator (robot-type) Mechanical / Sentinel (Cloudy)
Red Chocobo (bird-type) Organic / Commando (Cloudy, Sunny)
Scutari     (robot-type) Mechanical / Commando (Sunny)
Testudo (robot-type) Mechanical / Synergist (Cloudy)


-- Back on Task --

Speaking frankly and considering how much time and effort it requires -- especially for the really tough monsters (the ones you encounter in Stormy weather) -- you really should just use your best judgment for how long you grind for Monster Crystals and which you go for.  When you feel you have what you want -- and remember to apply all that wonderful CP to your levels -- head for the Historica Crux.