P06D: Continuing into the Bresha Ruins

P06D: Continuing into the Bresha Ruins

As you proceed up the steps and turn left you will see another gate with guards surrounding it -- when you examine it Noel explains that you cannot open this one until you figure out what is needed to open it, and if you select Atlas from the LT menu he adds detail to the idea -- and then Moogle flits off calling for your attention.

Following Moogle leads to a guard who you can talk to, which triggers the Primer Page for The Moogle Hunt -- and reading the page explains how you can collect items and spheres that are out of phase with your time when you encounter their ghostly forms. 

Behind Moogle is a sparking object and, when you step over near it and use RB to reveal it you find a Wild Artifact -- good on ya!  Another guard appears and when you talk to him you flag the mission Defeat the Cie'th -- which you may as well accept unless you do not plan on doing side-missions until after you complete the main story, which you can do if you like -- in fact there are a lot of side-missions that will not be covered in this guide since its main function is to get you through the story mode of the game and not really as a comprehensive everything guide -- but since this mission takes place in the zone there is no reason not to flag it...

A new Gate and Moogle Hunting

Now talk to the nearby Captain who is standing near the Gate and learn about another mission -- Retrieve the two capsules -- that he asks you to help with.  May as well flag it now as well, right?  There is a Chocolina nearby if you need to restock on anything -- and then as you proceed towards the unexplored area to the left and you will notice a Moogle Hunt Sphere that once you reveal it contains a Capsule which you should grab.

On the left as when you reach the turn in the path are tunnels you can go into and explore and in which you will a Moogle Hunt Sphere with a Rune Bracelet in it out on the walkway.  Further inside you find another Gate and have a chat with Noel and Alyssa about it.  To the left is a short passage that leads back to the main path that you should head into far enough to clear on the map, and then backtrack and continue to follow the tunnel path until you reach the end where you will find a Treasure Sphere with 8 Mana Droplets for you to claim.  You get the LT indicator here and the option of chatting with Noel for the LT event -- go ahead and do that to learn a little more about Noel and his past.

Now head back to the right branching tunnel and into it and take the first right down the terraced levels until you find the dead-end walkway with the Treasure Sphere containing the second Capsule you need for the mission.  Once you have that backtrack to the tunnel split and stop for a moment...  You may have noticed that the battles with the Hoplite construct Monsters are yielding some materials that you have not seen before -- materials that are very useful in leveling that type of Monster!  That being the case you may want to do a little grinding here for materials before you move on, and you may want to decide if you want to add a Hoplite to your team?

When you are happy with your Monster Grinding head back along the branching path that runs above and back to the first Gate, and turn in the Capsules to complete that quest obtaining the Unio Mystica Fragment for your reward...

-- Deeper into the Ruins --

Now backtrack along the left path and make the right turn instead of going into the tunnels and follow that towards the unexplored area to get another CS with Atlas --- he has risen.  Before you head towards him to have your battle look at your Map and you will see that just ahead on the left side of the path is a platform that doubles back and heads into the tunnels to the north -- taking that will lead you to another Chocolina if you need to sell or restock, and then just past her take the left path to find the Ghast you need to battle.

Taking out the Ghast earns you 3 Cie'th Tears -- and the Ghast Fragment -- and Moogle tips you to use Moogle Hunt to reveal a Treasure Sphere with a Star Pendant inside!  Now that you have that minor matter out of the way, backtrack and continue along the  eastern tunnel ahead to discover the machine that Noel and Alyssa were talking about before -- and your team gets pulled into a time labyrinth (paradox).

Solving the Temporal Rift Tile Trial

You now get the Primer Page for Temporal Rift -- Tile Trial, and learn that in order to escape you must unravel the mystery in the crystals and resolve the anomaly.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Basically you need to devise routes along the disappearing tiles so that you can collect all of the crystals and reach the gate ahead -- there are several levels to this, which grow progressively more complex, so examining and planning out your route is a good idea before moving.

Resolving the anomaly gains you the Delicate Crystal Fragment and now you can see that the machine is functional -- when you examine it you discover that it has some sort of effect upon Atlas that has slowed it down -- and it just may provide the edge that you need to take him out.  Before you do that however it would be an idea to head back to the main area via the upper tunnel back at the junction that you have not explored.  On the way to that you should find a Treasure Sphere with an Orange Newsboy Cap inside -- so grab that on the way!

When you get outside if you did not already get this, open the Treasure Sphere here and collect the two Gysahl Greens, and then access the Crystarium to spend any CP you have available in upgrading yourself, and use any materials you have available in upgrading your Monsters, and then save your game, because it is time to face Atlas!

-- The Second Atlas Battle --

This battle does not have to be a hard one -- in fact it is sort of a proof-in-concept that the boss battles in the game are only really as difficult as you make them, with the secret to making them easier being to understand your Paradigms and to level-level-level!  By the time that I reached this Atlas battle I had both of Serah and Noel's jobs to Level 50 just from the Monster Grinding I did earlier combined with the battles that I fought up to this point, and I expect you are pretty close to the same...

The strategy that works best here is a simple one -- after you have weakened Atlas by completing the tile crystal puzzle and using the machine (you do NOT want to try to battle him unless you have done that first) your primary goal is to Stagger him as quickly and efficiently as you can.  What I found worked the best was the following Paradigms:

-- Attacks --
Aggression-X: RAV/COM/COM

-- Defensive --
Delta Attack: RAV/DEN/COM
Diversity: RAV/COM/MED

Basically when Atlas is not attacking YOU, use the Attack Paradigm Aggression-X as that very nicely brings on the Staggering damage.

Smashing Atlas a second time with Grace and Poise!

When Atlas IS attacking you, switch to Delta Attack so that you continue to damage him and build the Stagger Meter while at the same time limiting the damage you take, then immediately switch to Diversity AFTER his attack so that you heal whatever damage you took while STILL building the Stagger Meter.

By using these tactics you should very quickly Stagger him -- at which point you trigger the Cinematic Sequence, and as long as you perfectly execute that (if you do not, I would seriously consider restarting this from your save) you will easily end the battle taking out his weak spot and gaining all of the goodness that comes with victory!

If you do well in the battle -- and you should -- you will receive a Silver Bangle, Fragment Crystal, and 10 Potent Bolts for your victory as well as the CP and Gil and unlock the Achievement 'Scarlet Medal' (14 G) Defeated a powerful enemy with graceful poise -- which you get for staggering Atlas and then completing the Cinematic Sequence flawlessly.

After the battle Atlas disappears as does the damage from the paradox and the world reforms around you to the way that it was before the paradox effected the ruins.  You get a CS and then an LT, and then you get the Atlas Fragment notice.  Good on ya mates!  Well done!

You are contacted by Alyssa -- or you contact her -- and share the good news, and then head into the end of the area to the graveyard and examine the stone that Alyssa is interested in.  It commemorates victims of the Purge -- and as you read it Alyssa shows up and you get a CS -- and you learn that Alyssa was present during the Purge.  She sees her friends name and then tells you about the events that lead to her friend's death.