P07E: The Bresha Ruins AF005 Echoes of the Past Tunnels

P07E: The Bresha Ruins AF005 Echoes of the Past Tunnels

You will recall that we just obtained the iron gate key using Moogle Throw and opened the gate that previously blocked off access to the Secure Tunnels to the west of the Excavation Site with that newly acquired key -- and now that we have completed the steps of obtaining the items from the Treasure Spheres, and the Radio that we needed (and used) to complete the related mission, it is time to head back into the Secure Tunnels for some strategic grinding and farming. 

Generally speaking, inside the tunnels we will randomly encounter monsters to battle who typically drop slightly better rewards than the monsters we can encounter in the Ruins areas north of the Excavation Site as well as other areas in this time/zone. 

The average rewards that we obtain from these random battles include from 50 to 800 CP per normal battle -- higher if there is a rarer special Monster in the group we encounter -- and 50 to 2000 Gil -- more if there is a rarer Monster in the group we encounter -- and assuming that you are playing the game on the Normal Mode of difficulty, you should be getting the Rare Drop 200% and Item Drop 200% flags for all of your battles, which means that you absolutely should be seeing a selection of the following items dropping randomly as loot from your battles:

-- Antidote (Consumable)
-- Phoenix Down (Consumable)
-- Pot Shard (Component for Witch's Bracelet Accessory)
-- Potent Bolt (Monster Material)
-- Potent Droplet (Monster Material)
-- Potent Sliver (Monster Material)
-- Radial Bearing (Component for General's Belt)
-- Remedy (Consumable)
-- Thickened Hide (Component for General's Belt and Witch's Bracelet Accessories)
-- Vitality Sliver (Monster Material)

As is always the case with Farming and Grinding opportunities in the game as it is covered by this guide, taking the time to pause in your pursuit of the story in order to do some grinding or farming (well, really it is not either/or since we grind as we farm and farm as we grind anyway) is entirely your call and voluntary.  That being the case, I feel compelled to explain why this is a good spot to do a little farming and so pause our pursuit of the story: the items list for loot above should clue you in as to why this is a good spot, since the battles here are an excellent source for the specific consumable items Remedy and Phoenix Down (the latter while it is a common loot drop in each time/zone is one I think having a stack of is a good idea since it is used to revive your teammates when they fall in battle, and it would totally suck to (a) have to pay for these, and (b) not have an adequate supply when you really need them.

In addition to the consumable items, which are really a bonus more than a reason for doing the farming here, the real reason that we are farming is to work on filling a stack of the Monster Materials that are dropped here -- as they will be very useful in the process of leveling up our Beta Team later and, at least initially, adding some extra oomph to our Alpha Team now (once we have already obtained a full stack of the relative item, the idea being that since you cannot hold more than one stack of each you may as well use them so that you actually get to collect the ones that drop after you cap-off the stack).

In addition to the above reasons there is one more justification for farming this particular area, and that is the presence of rare and hard to find monsters who appear here.  Now you should be aware that just because you encounter a rare and hard to find Monster in battle here does NOT mean you will actually obtain their Crystal when the battle phase ends and the loot is passed out.  In fact the odds of actually obtaining their Crystals are very low, which is why you want to have as many opportunities to do battle with them as you can manage, in the hopes of actually scoring one of the illusive Crystals, which I have to say is something of a rush and a very satisfying conclusion to battle when it happens!

The following rarely encountered monsters appear in this area:

-- Albino Lobo (cat-like varient of the Uridimmu) Organic / Ravager
-- Amanojaku (Gremlin-like variant) Organic / Synergist
-- Notsugo (a Gremlin-like monster) Organic / Ravager

It should interest you that among these tameable monsters is the Albino Lobo, which is one of the monsters in the game that almost always comes with the ability to Poison its victims as a natural consequence of its attack.   Its Rare Drop is the Vitality Sliver, and its common drop is Phoenix Down.  It is wicked cool looking and, if you plan on having a Cat-like Ravager for your team you could do way worse than the Albino Lobo, I am just saying...

Capturing the Rare Albino Lobo Requires Patience and Grinding

-- Monster Notes --

You may also obtain Monster Crystals from battles with Monster types that you do not possess a Crystal for -- just to remind you, you can only possess ONE Crystal for each Monster type at a time, so if you use the Infusion selection to absorb them in order to add their ability to one of your teammates, you can then acquire another Crystal in a subsequent battle.  Certain Monsters will be desirable members of your party and you will want to retain them, while others?  Not so much.

Monsters come in two basic types -- Mechanical and Organic -- the difference being one is actually a machine and the other is a living creature.  Each type of Monster favors a specific Job, and each has its own inherent strengths and weaknesses.  You will eventually want to possess a complete set of Crystals for the in-game quest requiring that.

Just to be clear at this point in your adventures you should -- at a minimum -- possess Monster Crystals for the following Monsters (if you have been following this guide):

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Listing Key:

Monster Name (basic description) Monster Type / Job
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-- Albino Lobo (cat-like varient of the Uridimmu) Organic / Ravager
-- Amanojaku (Gremlin-like variant) Organic / Synergist
-- Cait Sith (the Cat-like hovering monster) Organic / Medic
-- Ceratosaur (a lizard-like monster) Organic / Saboteur
-- Dendrobium (the large flower-like hovering monster) Organic / Saboteur
-- Garchimecora (A more colorful Gremlin) Organic / Ravager
-- Gremlin (a greyish Flying birdball sort of monster) Organic / Ravager
-- Hoplite (the droid-like monster) Mechanical / Commando
-- Miniflan (a tomato-like blob) Organic / Commando
-- Nekton (a smaller insect-like monster) Organic / Ravager
-- Notsugo (a RARE Gremlin-like monster) Organic / Ravager
-- Pulse Knight (a one-armed droid-like monster) Mechanical / Sentinel
-- Sarracenia ( a slug-like plant monster) Organic / Commando
-- Spiceacillan (a lizard-like monster) Organic / Ravager
-- Tabasco Toad (a hot-colored lizard-like monster) Organic / Ravager
-- Uridimmu (A cat-like monster with pointy spikes) Organic / Commando

Of the list above the only one that you may not have -- or perhaps a better way to say this is the only one that you have not had a large number of opportunities to capture -- is the Notsugo, who is likely to be the first Rare-flagged Monster you will add to your collection of Monster Crystals.

Chances are good that the Notsugo you capture will have the Well-Grown trait, and it will be a Level Two Monster (have two of the five cat faces lit) when you capture it.  Upgrading Level Two Monsters requires the rarer materials like Potent Slivers, and since they are rarer you may want to not do that until you have determined what Monsters will be on your Beta Team (that being the team you will complete the bulk of the final third of the story with and all of your adventures that take place after you complete the story) since the cost in terms of time (if you grind for them) and money (if you pay for them) for the materials for raising the level and abilities of Monsters from Level Two up makes it an expensive process.

Unlocking the Strategist Achievement

During the grind to obtain the Monsters for this area as well as to gain materials and CP I was shocked to see the Achievement "Strategist" (18 G) unlock -- I understood that this required 1000 Paradigm Shifts and there is no way that I completed that many in the process of the two grinds and the adventuring that I have completed, but there you have it!