13A: The Cradle Will Fall Part I

13A: The Cradle Will Fall Part I

Setting the Stage

Use the save point then take the lift ahead, and after the zone head up the stairs and forward to trigger another CS.

Some failed L'Cie show up - and then things go sideways.  We are now in the Orphan's Cradle!  How about that?  Use the save point in front of you and then work your way over to the next platform to trigger another CS. 

There are now teleport spots to the left and the right that allow you to return to Gran Pulse or Edenhall if there is still anything you have left unfinished or you want to return there.  Remember that once you complete the story mode you still have full access to the world - we will be heading back to the Steppe to complete the Stone Missions after we complete story mode - so this is just an FYI and not a required backtrack.

During the CS you saw the statues moving and changing position - what we need to do is look at the map and see the marked spot behind us on the path that shoots off to the right.  Head to there and touch the statue, which causes it to reconfigure the zone.

There is a Treasure Sphere with 20 Seaking's Beards on the moving platform that connects with the one you are now standing on so grab those, and then work your way along this platform to the other end, grabbing the Shamanic Spear from the Treasure Sphere there, hitting the save point, and then  examining the statue there to once again re-structure the zone.

You will note that the path ahead splits in two directions - left and right - with the right-hand path extending away from the next marker on the screen.  If you take the right hand path first and clear away the mobs there you will find a Tetradic Crown in the Treasure Sphere at the end of the walk.  To get to this though, you are going to have to fight two fairly challenging groups - and keeping your team buffed is a real help in that process.

Once you have the crown head for the marker on the map to automagically reconfigure the zone, and then head down the ramp and hit the save point.  At the far end of the section is another Treasure Sphere - this one has a half-dozen Starblossom Seeds in it.  That prize may or may not be worth the difficulty presented by the two groups of mobs that stand between you and the Sphere - your call...  I thought it was worth having myself.

If you went for the Sphere backtrack to the platform with the save point - use the save point -  and then hop across to the other side to follow the left path up.  If you did not go for the Sphere why then just hop across now.

Mid-way along the left path you will notice a small branching path to the lower left with a Treasure Sphere on it - this Sphere contains Black Mycelium - which according to its description is a fungus that is used for the flavoring of food.  While I am not certain what that means in terms of its use for upgrading, the fact that I can add half-a-dozen little black mushrooms to my inventory for the simple effort of jumping down and taking it makes this a must-have item!

Back on the path now, continue along and face the Sanctum Templar and the Sacrifice - both of which you may need to add facts to in order to fully ID them.  If that is the case, why not take this opportunity to do just that using Libra?  I myself had already ID'd the Sacrifice fully prior to this through fighting them on the platform back when we first entered this zone - but YMMV. 

Indecently if you are wandering whether or not you have fully ID'd a mob you are facing so that you do not use up resources unnecessarily, an easy way to check this is to simply hit the Right bumper, which will bring up your data file on the mob you have currently targeted.  If there are any fields filled with "???" then you have not fully ID'd that particular mob type! 

I know that we have covered this in the past but I want to emphasize that ID'ing mob types is not just a good idea, it is in fact a key factor in increasing your combat effectiveness against them.  A side-effect (or benefit if you will) of fully ID'ing a mob type is that you are now automagically aware of its weaknesses, which allows the AI to better address targeting and damage against them.

Now moving on - ahead and to the left is a branching platform that you can jump to that contains a Treasure Sphere that will yield a nice nugget of Rhodochrosite - a substance that is one of the dozen or so transformational catalysts in the game.  This one in particular is a pink manganese carbonate crystal, that you will find particularly useful in upgrading accessories.  It will soon become necessary to preform a number of upgrades - assuming that you are intent upon unlocking the Trophy/Achievement associated with that process, so stockpiling this type of resource is a given.

Head back to the main path and then jump to the right hand branch to continue towards the marker on the map, and we will face another Templar and a pair of Sacrifices.  You should be able to get the jump on them, and if so it would be an idea to take out the Templar first, as that little bugger is where the debuffs are mostly coming from in this fight.

Once the battle is over head up the ramp and use the save point here, and then move to the statue, target it, and click it (Examine it).  Be aware that doing this will teleport you to the next Boss Fight in the series!