Ys6 - Ark of Napishtim ==Ys6 - Ark of Napishtim== Walkthrough and Partial Dialogue Translation by CrossSlasher (jiulioku@hotmail.com) Current Version -v1.2 on June 25th, 2004 Previous Version -v1.0 on June 6th, 2004 ================================================================================ DETAILS - Story and Conversation - I'll summarize whatever that may be important and relevant to the gameplay, but I won't be translation word for word. If there are any mistakes due to my limited knowledge of the language, feel free to correct me. Names - I try to stick to whatever the game gives us, not that I sit well with all of them. I looked up the monster names, and as for most of the character and item names, Justus sent me an email with the info, and I double checked them on the Falcom website. I still have doubts about the bosses' names... Bosses/Minibosses - I'll talk about their attacks and good ways to fight them. That of course include the minimal Str and Def you need to effectively fight them to begin with. The damage dealt to and by the bosses recorded are reflected by the corresponding EFFECTIVE STR and DEF. (In other words, I fought them with those exact stats and got those exact results.) After v1.0 The boss tips have been made less verbose - usually people don't have the time to read an essay during a boss fight, and I don't want to force people to pause unnecessarily. I still made up their attack names. I don't tell you the Lv you should be at to face these bosses since you could effectively upgrade your swords and/or equip better gear to obtain similar results in any fight. Items/Sidequests/Etc - I know how to do and where to get most of the stuff, but I just have yet to document all of them in this walkthrough. ================================================================================ TO THE READERS 1. "Dash Jump" - I'll summarize what Justus told me about this. Basically, you do the dash-attack, and right after you press the attack key to execute the dash, hold the directional key and press jump in a nice "mid-tempo waltz" or "um, bah bah bah" rhythm, or "D-key, Attack D-key Jump". What I refer to as the "max-distance jump" is just a normal jump executed so that not even the slightest millimeter of the jump distance is wasted. Most of the time it's much less agony to use the dash jump in place of this. 2. This is a very verbose guide that probably includes way more information than needed to beat the game, but adding in translation, I can't really avoid doing that. 3. From v1.0 on, the character names will be changed to the official names, both seen in previous Ys games and on the Falcom website. ================================================================================ TOC 1. WALKTHROUGH 2. SIDEQUESTS 3. LEVEL-TO-STAT CHART 4. OTHER NOTES 5. CREDITS 6. COPYRIGHT INFO ================================================================================ WALKTHROUGH Note: I think the factor "Luck" in this game refers to the chances for critical hits as well as item drop rates. Does anyone feel like correcting me on that? 1==========The Adventure Begins ================================================ Objectives: 1. Talk to Olha. 2. Get to know this place. Olha and Isha are sitting at Moonset Shore. Olha is playing her flute when Isha all of a sudden interrupts as she feels a certain... omen in the wind. Although Isha tells Olha to continue (plus some flattery of how she loves her sister's music), Olha spots an Eresian that got washed up on the shore. She mentions that no one has ever landed here before and tells Isha to watch the guy as she goes to inform everyone. Isha notes that this guy has no tail, short ears, and fiery red hair. Just then she feels a weird vibe and sees a horrifying vision of a monster. She trembles in fear and wonder why looking at this person would trigger such a vision. Sit back and watch the opening, and if you can, note each of the scenes to get a grasp of what happened before and what will be happening in this game if you have not yet played much of the Ys series (like me). Voices of a male and a female are heard in discussion. The male notes some details about this never-before washed-up warrior-with-a-sword Eresian and also yells at the female for bringing him here. The female says she couldn't just leave him since he seemed near death at the time. The Eresian wakes up and responds positively to Olha when she asks whether or not he can understand the language. The male introduces himself as Chief Ord and then complains about how Eresian names are so weird after he asks our hero his name. It is Adol. Olha also introduces herself. She tells Adol that his wounds have been taken care of and to take all the time he needs to rest. Ord disagrees with that and tells Adol to haul ass as soon as he can move. Before Ord leaves, he reminds Olha to not to forget that she is the successor of the priestesshood of Alma. Before Olha leaves, however, she tells Adol not to mind the Chief. Adol wakes again to see Isha staring at his sword and armor, but she runs off before he could say anything. The next scene, you will gain control of Adol. First things first, check your gear. Adol is currently Lv1, with 60HP, 40Str, 36 Def, no money, and no Emel. At least he has a LongSword (+14 Str?) and a Buckler (+6 Def) - don't complain... Anyway, get out of the building and head up that center archway to run into Olha, who is currently in prayers. (If you don't, she'll stop you before you leave the enclosure anyway.) Olha is kinda spaced out, and Adol gives her a scare as she notices his presence. She tells Adol that he's slept for 3 days, but he looks a lot better now. She reintroduces herself as Priestess Olha of the Rehda Clan. Adol tries to explain to her that he was attacked by Romun ships and his pirate-ship got churned in by the Great Vortex. It's all Greek to her, but she says she will explain anything that you want to ask her. You can ask her about "about the ears and the tail", "about the girl that ran away", and "about the heavy-built man". 3 more options will open up below "The ears and the tail" as you ask her more questions: "Rehda Clan", "Elecians", and "Canaan Islands". The following summarizes her responses. "about the ears and the tail" - The ears are to listen to the winds, and the tail is for balance while running through the forests. "about the girl that ran away" - That's my little sister Isha. I hope you two can get along. "about the heavy-built man" - That's my uncle, the clan chief. Don't worry about what he said before. (The above two will change to "about Isha" and "about Ord" when you have asked the questions) "about Rehda Clan" - We have been here since the ancient times, blessed by Alma, the forests, and the seas. "about Eresians" - We call the people from beyond the Great Vortex "Eresians". Those that were washed in here gathered and built a town north of here, but we can't go there right now. "about Canaan Islands" - Within the Great Vortex, there exist the Canaan Islands. Our forested island is the Quatera Island, and north of here where the Eresians and the plains lies Canaan Island. At the center of the two is the Zemeth Island where the ruins are. These islands are collectively called the Canaan Islands. Exit when you finish, and she'll tell you to come back if you still have questions. Walk south to exit the enclosure. Outside stands Silva, who complains about how he and 'Largo' had to carry you here against his will. He seems to have something against Eresians in general... The townspeople include Milka and Rakshe the twins, their grandma Atori, Tokusa the drunk fisherman, Naarya the housewife, Sebro and his son Roro, Sebro's clumsy wife Wenuka, the oldman Manan, and by the dock is the Eresian merchant Kevin. (There are still more, like Sora, Noi, etc...) Kevin is just doing business here, but unfortunately you have absolutely 0 gold. 2=========Quatera Woods and the Northeast Suspension Bridge ==================== Objectives: 1. Run into Isha at the entrance of the village. 2. Go to the North Suspension Bridge. 3. Go to the Fountain of Prayer to see Olha. 4. Go to Moonset Shore to find Isha. 5. Buy the HardLeather armor. 6. Rescue Isha from the monster at the Fountain of Prayer. 7. Receive the Livart from Chief Ord. 8. Get a Seed of Life from Olha. 9. Get a Carved Wooden Bracelet from Isha. 10. Head to the Mythos Path at the Fountain of Prayer. Nothing else is important here, so exit the village. You will run into Isha, who will again run away. At the gates you will meet that 'Largo' that Silva mentioned; he's much friendlier than Silva. Talk to him and he'll mention that the Chief is currently at the North Suspension Bridge. You can also ask him questions, and he'll answer as follows. "about dangerous places" - It's better if you do not go northwest into the Quatera Woods. Many ferocious monster roam about, and although the area has been sealed off, you could cross it by jumping over the fense. (My trespassing instincts come alive.) "about the Spirit Monoliths" - Touch them when you are tired and you will feel refreshed. (In other words, it's the "save-game-and-recharge station.") Save at the Monolith. From here you can proceed east and go to the bridge, or you can take a detour west. Let's do that. First get used to your weapon: the slash, up-spin, and down-thrust attacks. Up-spin and down-thrust do more damage than the normal slashes, and up or down can hit an enemy multiple times if it is not knocked away after the first impact. There is also the dash- attack that basically just does 2 slashes at the enemy. (Tap the direction you are facing and press attack; make sure to time it right) When you're done practicing, go west beyond the Monolith for some real-combat testing. You will see a Kuia in your way; it'll charge at you but you should be able to kill it with 2 or 3 slashes. You'll run into another one, and then a pair of them. Take them out, then head south at the T-intersection to arrive at Moonset Shore. You'll meet more Rehdas: Marv and her lazy brother Liug. You may notice a treasure chest all the way to the west, but there is no way of getting it right now; just keep it in mind. Head back to the previous map. YOu'll notice that everytime you return to an area, the enemies respawn, so with that said, the pair of Kuia's will probably get in your way again. Further north are a pair of Adamaths and a Leafa. Beware, the Leafas could poison you, and at this moment, that's a pain in the neck since you'd have to run back to the Monolith to get healed. If you get lucky you might find some KamioFlowers to cure the Poison. Up-spin the Adamaths and down-thrust the Leafa a couple of times to get rid of them. Toward the right side are 3 more Leafas, and past them there is a chest containing an Herb. ====== You don't have to do this step if you don't want to yet; the story will take you here anyway later in the game. I'm just jumping the gun for fun. Go northwest and jump past that fence Largo was talking about. In this map, there are a number of nasty enemies including Yuleafas, Borgilums, Ulmts, Elts, and Zadroms. Some Sets will airdrop Borgilumses on you, so look out. Oh by the way, any attack here will kill you in a single shot, and you mostly likely do not have enough str at this point to even itch these enemies. Be EXTRA CAREFUL here... Now, run along and take a right to come to a chest containing a RunePierce (Accessory - Prevents Confusion) at the end. Run toward the left this time and exit this map to the north. Take a right at the next map to reach a chest with a slab of Meat. That's about all the stuff you can get here for now, and you can retrace your steps back and get the hell out of this place. However, if you run back to the left, and take a right at the next split, you will eventually reach Windseeker Heights; take a left and you'll end up at the Gaposdarla Miniboss that we'll come back and beat up later. ====== Now back to the storyline. Go east from the Monoloth. Stick to the northerly path and eventually exit this map. There are plenty of Adamaths, Kuia's, Borgs, and Leafas on the next map. Take your time destroying them if you want and gain a few levels while you're at it. You should have picked up some KamioFlowers to cure the poison status by now. Note that at this point you probably can't damage the Sets dropping the Borgs. As for the tough-shelled Borgs, just slash at it and it shouldn't get a chance to attack, or if it's already charging at you, either time your slashes right or down- thrust a little behind it to avoid getting hit. Exit this map to the northeast. At the next map you will see a severed suspension bridge and Chief Ord plus a blonde Rehda warrior standing next to it. The warrior is Kvar (actually the brother of those two twins you may remember from the village); he'll introduce himself as a hunter and break the news to Adol that it is unlikely that he can get out of these islands because of the Great Vortex. Chief Ord on the other hand is surprised at Adol's speedy recover. Adol thanks him, but Ord tells him to thank Olha and the crew. Ord was going to have Adol cross the bridge to Canaan Island where the rest of the Eresians reside, but a short while ago the bridge was destroyed by... somebody. He gives Adol the permission to stay at the village until the bridge is repaired (while telling him to keep his hands off the cuties as well as the not to bother the rest of the clanspeople). If you talk to Kvar afterwards he'll mention that the Chief's son is actually on the other side and that he is worried about the kid. On the way back, beat up more creatures on the way, You might have managed to pick up a few ChitoNuts (Recovers 20 HP) - equip them in your TOOL slot to use them in an emergency. Exit that map to the next one, and head toward the southerly path to reach the Fountain of Prayer, where you will run into Olha (toting a bow) who is worried that you might have gotten lost. She tells you about the fountain and how it's a holy ground for the Rehdas. She also informs you that the water here has healing properties and that they used that water to clean your wounds. She switches topics and tells you that she coudn't find Isha in the village, and you tell her that you saw the girl run out of the gates. She apologizes for her sister's rudeness but also notes that recently she's been acting weirdly as if she were hiding something. After telling you not to over-exert yourself, she goes to drop by the places at where Isha may be. Oh, incase you didn't see it, in the vicinity of the 2 Leafas in the path to the Fountain of Prayers, there is a relatively hidden path to the lefts side that leads to a chest containing a bucket of Honey. (If you drop by the bridge again, the Chief would have left, and Kvar would tell you that the Chief's son was there while ferrying medicine from an old man.) Head back to the village entrance and talk to Largo; he will tell you that Isha is at Moonset Shore. Head into the village and visit Kevin the merchant now that you have some cash. Buy that HardLeather and put it on. If you want some extra recovery items, go ahead and purchase some. Head over to Moonset Shore and find Isha to tell her that Olha's been looking for her and she'll run off again. Go back to the gates and talk to Largo, and he'll tell you that Isha just came and went to the Fountain of Prayer to look for her sister. He also notes that, recently, the girl has been frightened by... something. Head over to the Fountain and save at the Monolith there. Run up those stairs and you'll see Isha facing a huge dragon-looking thing. Adol runs in just in time to parry an attack and tells Isha to get out of here. A Boss fight ensues. BOSS : WANDERING CALAMITY DEMIGALVA HP : 200 EFFECTIVE COMBAT STR : 56 EFFECTIVE COMBAT DEF : 53 Attacks: I. Flame Breath - 4 damage per half second- Spits flame from its mouth. Evade : -Run out of range to the bottom corners. -Stand a little off to the side under its mouth. II. Arm Swing - 25 damage - Swings either of its arms. Evade : -Jump over the arms. -Run out of range. Tactics: The weak point is the belly, so slash at it - you should do about 4~5 per hit. If you get smacked or burned, use a ChitoNut or two, and it shouldn't be a tough fight. Oh by the way, when the boss falls over, get out of the way or else you'll take more damage as its weight crushes you. CHEAP TACTIC: At this point you may have enough HP to play chicken. Just slash away and Demigalva should run out of HP before you do. After the battle, your sword breaks... Isha comes back to see if you're ok; you are, but so is the boss!! Fortunately, Olha comes in just in time and hits the dragon in the face with an arrow, causing it to disintegrate. Chief Ord tells you that when they heard that beastly roar, the warriors knew to get over here. It's been 10 years since the last "Dragon Hunt" Back in the village, Olha thanks you for saving Isha. Chief Ord informs you that the beast is called the "Bakure Dragon". So far 3 of those have shown up before this and has caused some casualties. Ord is also surprised that your steel weapon was actually able to hurt the dragon since in previous occasions, steel was not hard enough to cut through it. He shows you his spear, the tip of which is a green, transparent crystal that looks like glass. He tells you that it's made of "Emel" ores found around the Cannan Islands and it's tougher than the Eresian metals. The tip of that arrow which Olha shot at the dragon was also made of Emel. Olha also notes that you, at your current wounded state with a steel weapon, by defeating that dragon, must be really really strong. This causes a disgruntled reaction from Ord, and he tells you to follow him into his shack. Ord will tell you how Olha and Isha's parents died 10 years ago fighting off the Bakure Dragon and then sincerely thank you. He also notes that this is the second Eresian that he has become friendly with. He then focuses on the Fountain of Prayers. Beyond the wall the the dragon came out of lies a underground passageway that may lead to Canaan Island. He then asks you whether or not you wish to cross through that way. The game won't progress until you answer "Yes" since Largo won't let you leave the village without a weapon. Hitting "Yes" and Ord will give you the Wind-elemental Elemas sword - the Livart. He also mentions "technique" and "magic" that the sword is capable of, but at this stage you can't use any of them yet until you somehow refine them. Before you leave, he also bestows upon you the task of looking for a stolen mirror. It's called the "Holy Mirror of Zemeth", and it was stolen a month ago at the same time the bridge was destroyed. He suspects the other Eresians and wants you to keep an eye out for that. Leave Ord's shack and head up the center arch again to talk to Olha, who will give you a Seed of Life (MaxHP +5). She also mentions to keep an eye out for her cousin Ur who is staying with and old scholar - remember what Kvar said about the Chief's son? That's the kid. The Rehda villagers will also warm up to you (You did beat up that dragon single-handedly) if you talk to them. Leave the village and head to the Fountain of Prayer. Isha will stop you before you exit the map though and give you her bracelet. She'll call you "onii-chan" and tells you that she and her sister will be waiting for you to come back. How sweet... but first things first: put that bracelet on for an extra +2 to both Str and Def. Not bad for a wooden bracelet crafted by a little girl. When you get to to the Fountain you'll see Kvar and Silva standing guard at the shattered stone wall. Silva still doesn't like you much... Anyway, head into the passageway. 3==========Mythos, Geis, and Port Rimorge ===================================== Objectives: 1. Reach the Canaan Islands through the Mythos Path. 2. Duel with Geis. 3. Talk (x3) with Baslam. 4. Meet Raba and get a Map of Canaan Islands. 5. *Complete Sidequest: Letter To Baslam. The tunnel is called the Mythos Path. Jump down into that hole you see in the first room; trust me, it's a short cut. You'll see some Gilchas drop from the ceiling. Gather them up into a spot and down-thrust to hit them all. They at this point will do about 5~6 damage to you even if you have 64 def, so don't get hit too much. Open up that chest to get a bucket of Honey. Head into the next room to clean up more Gilchas. If you had gone straight instead of jumping down, you'd come down that staircase, and there is nothing up there to get. Head into that archway at the center. Strike that blue crystal with your sword and it'll resonate and open up. In the next room there are some wall murals that could tell you some important information about this entire story. When you do keep walking you'll come across a mercenary-looking guy toting a Halberd. He mentions something about needing a "key" and then turns to notice you. He's relatively surprised that there is anyone else down here and says that he has not seen you around "in town". Adol will tell him his story, and the guy will remember him as the "Redhair Adol" that he's heard rumors about. He challenges you to a duel. BOSS : Geis HP : 141 EFFECTIVE COMBAT STR : 69 EFFECTIVE COMBAT DEF : 67 You can lose this duel, but you can't die here; and it doesn't matter if you win or lose. This guy has 3 types of attacks that all do around 14 points of damage: a spin-strike, a jump spin-strike, and a jump down-swing. He's quite agile, and it makes this fight more annoying than it is difficult. However, if you can catch him off guard once and just keep slashing him for 11 damage per hit, he should be no problem unless you miss and he recovers his stance to strike you again. Win or lose, he'll introduce himself as Geis, an adventurer just like you, but works at the same time as a mercenary. He'll walk off in the direction you came, but you can't catch him. Proceed further to the right and exit at the doorway over there. Proceed through the only path as you cut your way past the Gilcha's to come to the other side of the Mythos Path. Lloyd and Zaxon are standing outside discussion how to get more stone from these ruins for construction purposes. Zaxon is concerned with the bugs down there while Lloyd is more worried about angering the people at Quatera (the Rehdas). Zaxon makes his and Master Baslam's view-point clear about themselves and those "Butt-tails". Lloyd then notices Adol coming out of the ruins, which surprises Zaxon as well. Zaxon does not recognize you and thinks you are that mercenary dude, but Lloyd corrects him and tells him that you must be a "newly-landed". They introduce themselves as employees of Baslam Trading Co., and they identify you as being born in Europe (yeah, that's how it seems to be spelled...) as well. Adol tells them his story, and they must report this to Master Baslam. Zaxon leaves to guard the severed bridge and invites you for a drink at the bar (You don't actually get to do that in the game...). Lloyd tells you to visit Master Baslam in Rimorge, which lies east of here, but you'd have to go around north to get there. Head to Baslam's place, which is the second door to the east. Run in past Lloyd to meet Baslam, a merchant from Altago. He's been stuck here since 10 years ago when this village was just being build. (Also calls himself the greatest figure in town.) After Adol tells him his story, Baslam mentions that the relation with the Rehdas are not going too well. Talk to him a few more times he'll tell you to find a way into Zemeth Island through the under- ground ruins for the purpose of him wanting to solve the mystery behind the Great Vortex. He also says he'll reward you if you do. I'll take the time to introduce the townspeople. In Baslam's kitchen is the maid Maybel. In the bar there is the waitress Tise (Ur's girlfriend...), the poet Olgast, the Rehda Clan hunter Ag, the barkeep Isacc, and the drunk businessman Karman. In the house next to the stairs lives Anis the fisherwoman. The guy at the itemshop is Crola, and infront of the shop is the old man Saud. Inside the stonewall is Crola's sexy sister, Rose's shop. At the center of town is Emilio with his 4 little piccards. All the way to the west side is a straw hut where the Rehda smith Leav works. You can upgrade your weapons there, but she tells you to find your own Emels if you're have what it takes to be a man... You probably have enough Emels to upgrade the Livart twice before you leave. Sha and her mom, Sofia, live in the house to the east. Finally, in the dilapidated wooden shack to the southeast lives our old scholar, Raba. Note : When you upgrade your weapon once, you are now capable of using the sword's technique. For the Livart, it's the Maelstrom. He thought you were Ur coming back, but as he turns around, he recognizes you by your unmistakable redhair to be Adol. Adol also remembers Raba the old man from 6 years ago at "Darm Tower". After Adol tells him the story, Raba gives you the chance to ask questions. "about the Mirror" - Ask Ur, he may have heard more about it. "about the Great Vortex" - It seems to be an Esteria-related phenomenon that creates a distortion in the ocean flows, but whatever it may be, it is hiding these islands within it. "about the Ancient Ruins" - The Canaan Islands may be hiding a treasure in those ruins. Those wall murals down at the Mythos path hold tremendous informational values. Other ruins include those at Zemeth Island and Windseeker Heights. There is also a sword in an altar on top of Mt.Granavallis. Unfortunately, I'm too old to go up there. "about Port Rimorge" - Those who were taken in by the Great Vortex and miraculously survived gather here and eventually established a town. "about Dogi" (Make a note of this name) - Don't worry about him. "about Baslam" - He's a merchant from Altago of North Afroca. How do you think the town got so much stone to build the houses? Baslam destroyed much of the ruins to obtain the stones for construction. That's why the Rehda and Baslam don't get along. "about Chief Ord" - I met him 2 years ago. At that time, the Eresians brought with them diseases that plagued the Rehda. By chance, I knew the method to cure the sickness and made medicine for them. After that, he and I became good friends, and he even let his son stay with me. Ord is a rare caliber who is proficient in both the martial and scholar arts. "about Ur" - He's the only son of Chief Ord. He became my apprentice at that time. A young man of great curiosity. I'll introduce you when he gets back; he is currently at the northern plains gathering herbs. However, his curiosity does often get him into dangerous situations. After you talk, Raba will give you the Map of Canaan Islands that took him 3 years to complete. This is a prime time to complete the Sidequest #1: Letter to Baslam, so refer to the Sidequest section and get it done before we move back to the main storyline itself. 4==========Canaan Plains and Mt.Granavallis===================================== Objectives: 1. Cross the Plains and reach Mt. Granavallis. 2. Ascend the mountain while collecting items. (Accessory Holder, BandedMail, Alma's Feather, RadianShield, Blue Tablet, SilfenBoots.) 3. Rescue Ur. 4. Reach the top of the mountain to the sword altar. 5. Retreive a Mirror Fragment and fight off Jue's Zonplus. 6. Get the Blirante. Note, if Livart is currently at Lv4, you can use the Wind technique. Just swing 3 times and the 4th swing will become a Wind-spin, and if you time it just right you3 can perform 4 additional spins. This comes in very handy fighting in a crowd. Alright, after you shop and refine, head into the Canaan Plain to the east and prepare to fight off a large flock of Shiirams and occasional Shiidrons. First head west to the next map, curve south, and come back to this map to reach that chest containing a slab of Meat. Watch out for the Sets air- dropping Bordoms as you get back; these creatures can cause the Overweight status effect. It'll wear off in a bit, but you're pretty much tied down when it's in effect. If you had headed north before coming back to the first Canaan Plain map you'll end up at Limewater Cave where Gazel (Father of Sha and husband of Sophia) is standing infront of the inner entrance waiting for Ag to come hunting with him. He'll mention that it's very dangerous ahead unless you have a light, and that the apprentice of the old man was chasing something into Mt. Granavallis further up to the north. We'll come back to the cave later - this is not as easy as the dangerous Northwestern section of the Quatera Woods to roam around when you're under- leveled. Anyway, go back to the first Plain map (the one after the Monolith just east outside of Rimorge) and head north; chop up those pesky Shiirams along the way. Exit the map to the north. In the next map, you'll run into the Piana Pias Miniboss if you go one map west and one map north. We'll come back to beat it up later - it's too strong at this point. Just keep heading north. If those Bordoms are giving you any trouble, just find a short ledge and stand above the ledge, they can't come up, so just stand at the edge and down-thrust them. There are also Piskels around, and although they self-destruct when they hit you, they can also inflict Poison. Exit this map to the north as well. Keep going north up these hills. Watch out for that one Ulmt or Elt that may be lurking in the sky. Exit this map by entering the arch way to the north where the ground becomes brown and sandy. Save the game at the Monolith in the entrance. There is a large number of Pyras in the first area. They'll send you flying if they hit you while their tails are red. There are some Dumheads up top tossing Bundagars at you, take care not to get hit by those or you'll go flying too. Head up to the top first and exit the area. Open up that chest to get an Herb. Go back and jump toward the exit to the southeast. Enter the next area. You'll hear some weird noises below you, those are the Krimsaws. Their flying flower blade can hit you as many as 8 times, and even with 99 defense, those do about 15 damage per hit. It's best to avoid them for now, but if you want to fight them, wait until they are spinning or have already tossed their flowers. It is only then are they vulnerable to any attacks. A down- thrust of 2 or 3 bursts at this point should kill one; just becareful not to get surrounded. Cross that bridge and watchout for that airdrop of Bordoms. The Bundagars sitting on the ground will explode when you get close, but you can take them out in a single swing before they go off. Head up the ledges, there is nothing down there except the "escape room" for after the boss fight later on. Enter the next area at the top of the ledges. Head up the path lined with caves while killing the Dumheads sitting in them. Exit that area to the top. You'll run into a crowd Krimsaws face-to-face; be agile about it and destory them quickly. Kill the Dumhead and hop up on the ledge and head east. When you get to the large, flat area, come south to open a chest that increases your Accessory slot by 1. Hop up those set of ledges to the north. Watch out for that one Elt that's roaming the skies. Kill the Dumhead in that cave and keep going upward. Don't get blasted by those 3 Bundagars at the top guarding the archway. Work you way up and past the array of caves to save at the Monolith on the next area. Proceed south, but don't go too far when you come to the next map or you might get caught in the 2 exploding Bundagars. An Ulmt is here somewhere - don't let it snatch your money! Cross the bridge and enter the next area. There are the unappearling Dormen scurrying about. The only thing that'll hurt them are down-thrusts, so do that. Dormens still hurt a lot (27 damage) at 114 defense. Jump up on the right ledge and then cross to the left to reach the chest containing the nifty BandedMail that gives you 10% more Gold as you destory enemies. Head north to the next area. You'll see a chest on top that you can't seem to reach - don't worry about it, we'll come back to it very soon. Go through to the north exit. After all the Bundagars blow up, get that chest with Alma's Feather in there. That gadget can be used infinite times, and it gets you out of a dungeon (back to the entrace) - Comes in handy when you're in a hurry. Go back to the previous area and enter the next area to the west. Prepare for a battle against 4 Dormens. Little Ur is surrounded by 4 Dormens, although he tries to scare the Dormens away, it's no use. Just right when he's about to give up all hopes, Adol comes jumping in to the rescue. Take them out and your HP will be refilled. Looks like curiosity does tend to kill the cat... Ur introduces himself after thanking you while at the same time being amazed. He'll notice that your sword comes from his family, and Adol tells him the story behind that. Adol also mentions that big sister Olha is worried about him. Ur then tells you about a red pixie that he chased when he was picking herbs, and that's how he ended up here. Ur will run back to town after this, but he tells you that since you are the swordsman that you are, you might as well visit the sword altar on the top of the mountain. Exit this area to the south. Fight your way to the platforms, but first jump down and walk to the east to open up a box containing the RadianShield (Increases luck). Go back to where you jumped down and hop across the platforms. Gradually go up the ledge and enter the archway. Take out the Pyras, and then see that edge at the end to the right with no rails? Jump down from there. It'll be a pain climbing back up the mountain, but that's the only way to get that chest mentioned a few paragraphs ago. Take out the 4 Dormens when you land and pick up the Blue Tablet in the chest to the left. Exit the area to the south. Fight your way southward to yet another chest containing the SilfenBoots (Prevents Overweight). Jump down and then work your way back up to where you first hopped off the rail-less edge. When you get there, exit that area to the north instead of jumping off. Cut your way through to the southeast exit. Cross that bridge in the next area and cut down that Elt that's guarding the air above the bridge. Look out for airdrops. Exit throught the arch on the other side of the bridge. Save at the final Monolith in this area and prepare for a bossfight. Equip some Honey instead of the ChitoNuts in case this get to be a longer fight than intended. Exit this area to the east, and head east in the next area and approach the stone tiles. At the altar at the end (Altar of Brillante), you'll find a piece of that mirror that the Rehda is looking for, and you'll hear a voice. You'll see a red pixie name Jue. She tells you that you can take the mirror now that she's already used it. (She also refers to herself in 3rd person... I find that kinda cute.) She summons this creature that looks like a hybrid between a crab and a moth. BOSS : THE FEATHER OF AVARICE ZONPLUS HP : 800 EFFECTIVE COMBAT STR : 130 EFFECTIVE COMBAT DEF : 131 Attacks: I. Clawhammer - 31 damage - Smashes its claw into the ground and sends a shockwave and some debris at you. Evade: -Run towards it when its claw lands and jump over the incoming debris. (This also gets you in range to attack it.) II. Homing-mothpowder - 31 damage - Flaps its wings and sends a stream of mothpowder at you. It only uses this when it's on the edge of the field. Evade: -Run to the opposite side of the field. III. Egg-launch - 31 damage - Spits out eggs that hatch into Pyras that attack you. It will launch 6~18 eggs at you depending on its HP. Effects:-The Pyras will send you flying, as usual. Counter:-Knock the eggs off the field before they hatch. Tactics: The Clawhammer and Homing-mothpowder both do around 31 damage against the effective def rating, and you can do around 5~8 damage per hit in an up-spin (which usually hits 1~3 times). Zonplus is vulnerable before and after the Clawhammer and also when it just so happen to fly low before or after the Homing-mothpowder. Up-spin to hit it. You can also try to attack it when it's launching the Eggs, but I'd suggest getting rid of the eggs first. (Unless it's at low HP and launching 2 dozen eggs at you at once; at that time, just focus on destroying Zonplus) CHEAP TACTIC: Upgrade Livart to over Lv6 and the Maelstrom will reach the skies as well. You can attack Zonplus with that even when your up-spin can't reach it. At Lv6 it also can dish out major damage just by itself and kill Zonplus even before it gets the chance to launch any eggs!! When you destory Zonplus, You'll hit the bottom of the mountain where that "escape room" I mentioned before is located. Jue will be very non-plussed now that her Zonplus is dead. (sorry...) She mentions that she had expected the power of the mirror to overwhelm that "key". She'll fly off, yelling at you that she'll remember this. Tsch... typical villain-speech. Now see that red thing sticking out of the ground? Pull that out and you have yourself a new weapon: the Fire-elemental Emelas sword - the Blirante. Now waft Alma's Feather to get out of this place and head back to Rimorge. 5==========Ur, Returning the Mirror Fragment, and Isha======================= Objectives: 1. Return to Rimorge and meet up with Ur. 2. *Complete Side Quest: Clean up by the Bridge. 3. Go back to the Rehdas to return the mirror fragment and get a Seed of Protection. 4. Talk to Isha at Moonset Shore. When you reach Rimorge, Ur will be waiting for you near the entrance and guides you to old man Raba. Ur does not yet know that Adol and Raba are acquaintances, so Raba tells the story of the Darm Tower to clear up the background. Adol tells Raba about what happened atop Mt.Granavallis, and it hits Raba that the mirror is actually the Holy Mirror of Zemeth. Raba instructs you to return the fragment to the Priestess (Olha, of course) when you get a chance. Go shopping and refining. Leaving the Blirante at Lv1 is a REALLY bad idea. Buy more gear from Rose's place if you have the cash. When you're done, look over to the Sidequest at #2: Clean up by the Bridge to get another nice gadget. When you're done, Drop by the bar and talk to Olgast, who will show a great degree of interest in that Blue Tablet you're holding. You can have him translate the Tablet for you. (You still have to know Japanese...) Now that everything is settled, it's time to visit the Rehda cuties. Go through the Mythos Path again and return to the Rehda's village. Although on the way there you may be tempted to strike that red crystal in the middle of the Path with the Blirante, I suggest we do that part of the game after we return the mirror fragment so that we don't end up missing out on a Seed... Say hi to Largo the gatekeep. He'll tell you that Isha has been coming here everyday asking him whether or not you stopped by. She's now at the Moonset Shore. You can visit Olha first, then Isha, or the other way around. The mirror is more important, so let's go into town first. If you drop by Ord's place, Adol will report to him the incident with Ur. The Chief will end up thanking you again. He will ask you about the mirror, and Adol will show him the fragment. Ord confrims it to be the real thing and tells you to give that to Olha. Go up the prayer area and Adol will report the same thing to Olha. Talk to her again to give her the mirror fragment. She'll be so glad to see it again that she burst into tears. She'll reward you with the Seed of Protection. Talk to her one more time she'll tell you to go see Isha down by the shore. When you meet Isha, she'll tell you that she saw you in her dreams, falling down amidst rocks and fighting against a monster that looks like something between a crab and a moth. That's kinda true..., and Isha tells you that she also foresaw the fight with the Demigalva at the Fountain of Prayers. However, she is not afraid because you are here, and she says you may be stronger than her uncle, Mr.Kvar, etc. Talk to her more and Adol will tell her that he has given Olha a piece of the mirror. Isha will be happy, but she also asks you to please find the rest of the mirror for the sake of her sister. If you go back to talk to Olha, Adol will tell her about Isha's dreams. Olha says that she is aware of Isha's ability but couldn't do anything for her. She feels very bad. Talk to her again and she says she wants you to talk to Isha from now on: the kid seems to be able to talk openly only to you. Head for the Fountain of Prayers when you're done. We got more mirror hunting to do. 6==========Ruins of Amnesia (Forgotten Ruins?) and Zemeth Sanctum=============== Objectives: 1. Investigate the Ruins of Amnesia. 2. Gather items as your fight through the maze. (Meat, Herb, Kapra's Elixir, Accessory Holder, BloodNail, *Black Tablet, HeavyBelt, GalvaHand, *Elder Orb) *The marks indicate that you are unlikely to be able to obtain these in the first run through this place. You'll come back here later in the game and may want to leave those until then. 3. Reach the other side of the Ruins. 4. Retreive a Mirror Fragment and fight off Sera's Udo Meiu. 5. Reach the Zemeth Sactuary. 6. Get the Ericcil. 7. Spy on Geis. Remember that red crystal in the middle of Mythos? Go and knock on it with Blirante. It will resonate and open up like the one with the blue crystal. You can see another wall with crystal on it - it's yellow; we'll get back to it later. Go left, save the game at the Monolith inside and head into the Ruins. After the long flight of stairs, you will run into Sarions and Zenases. The Sarions pack 2 scythes but are not too hard to dispose of. The Zenases, however, can fire off this long range beam at you and knock you off the walkways into the trap below. If you do fall off, it's okay. Just becareful of the large number of enemies down there and climb back up the stairs to get back to where you were. It's not difficult, just annoying. Anyway, Down-thrust these beam turrets and shut them up. Go below and walk west, jump over a gap and get a slab of Meat from the chest. Head back up, go north, and head east, but stop before you exit the area. See that missing segment in the railing to the south one unit from the end of the walkway? Jump down through there. YOu will land at a different part of the trap room where you can get the HeavyBelt from the chest. Head west to the trap -exit room, but go all the way to the left first and grab that Herb sitting in the chest. Blow up those Gadocks jumping up and down while you're at it. When you get back to where you jumped off, exit the room this time into the next area. The next area is a long corridor. Fight your way through to the other side. In the next room, there is a great deal of jumping involved. First, jump over that gap to the east and blow up that Zenas. Then head south then east then north in a U shape, fighting the sentries on your way of course. The flying Giiras are a pain to hit since they tend to hover where there is no ground, and they won't approach you unless you are out of range. If you don't feel like luring and chasing them around, just avoid their shots and get going. If you do fall off here, you'll run into the hopping Geidoirs down below. They are pretty hard to kill since they only give up their defense until after you've continuously attacked them half a dozen times in a row. ====== I must now make a note of the items sitting around here that caused players great agony. In the main room above, there are many items that are painfully difficult to reach. They include the Kapra's Elixir, the GalvaHand, the Elder Orb, and the Black Tablet. -The Elixir requires a success set of 3 max-distance jumps to reach. (The final jump is best made from a diagonal from the platform southeast of the chest.) -The Tablet needs an item called the "Fragment of the Rainbow" and perhaps the Ericcil at Lv4. (As an alternative to jumping) -The GalvaHand needs you to jump into the hole between the 4 pillars in the center of the room. -For the Elder Orb you need to do a dash-jump after reaching the GalvaHand as well as the Fragment of the Rainbow. Plus there is something that is best described by the word DEATH down there guarding the Elder Orb. We'll get back to them later in the game anyway. This is not the last time you will be walking through this place. ====== *However if you insist on getting them, I suggest jumping from the west side *to get to the GalvaHand and jump from the east side to get to Kapra's Elixir. *I also suggest you walk until you are standing at the protruding broken edge *of the walkway and then jump from there to make life easier. When you're done trying, head east to the next area. It's a circular ring that you have to go around with a Geidoir in the middle and a Zecros at the end. The Zecroses are a bit tougher than the Zenas, and they toss a pair of circular rings that comes rolling back after a certain distance. Each pair of rings can do about 22 damage against 151 Def. Deal with the Zecros and enter the next area. This place kinda looks similar to the first area after that long flight of stairs back there, with different layers of walkways. Go east a bit and head up that central staircase and jump off to the second layer through that hole in the left side of the walkway. Stick to the bottom edge of that horizontal walkway and make a leap of faith to get to that treasure chest to the right. The chest contains that BloodNail that gives you vampiric abilities (Recover 5 HP everytime you kill something). If you fall off here, the trap area is just a hill filled with Geidoirs. Hop back to the left side and head into that archway. Blast past 2 Zecroses and exit the small room - slowly. You'll actually end up on the northern edge of that insane-jumping-room, and if you had went a little too far you'd have fallen in to the trap again. Open up that chest to get yet another extra Accessory Holder. To the west side is actually a set of platforms you are to jump on to get to the Black Tablet, but they are invisibile unless you have the "Fragment of the Rainbow". Like I said, we'll come back to it - or if you want to make many leaps of faith to get there... Anyway, return to the room where you got the BloodNail and exit that place to the north beyond the central staircase. The next place is just a passageway guarded by alternating Zecroses with a Geidoir at the end. Head to the archway beyond the bend after you're done playing with them. Oh, and see that glowing yellow light coming from the archway? That's what's on most of the floor in the next room. It looks like glowing acid or maybe a forcefield of somesort. Either way, it'll deal 4 points of damage about 5 times each second that you are bathing in it. If you don't feel like jumping to get to the other side, be cheap and just hug the northern or southern wall to get across. Do as you like with the Giiras and Zecrosses. The next area is kinda the same, but luckily there is a center walkway that is solid. However, you'd have to run through a gauntlet going through that. Be cheap again and hug the western or eastern wall... unless you actually want to pick a fight while surrounded by 3 Giiras and 8 Zecroses. Finally, the next room has a Monolith. Take a break and get some iced tea or something because a boss fight is coming up. Enter the next area, walk up the path in the middle and enter the hexagonal battlefield surrounded by the yellow-stuff to find another Mirror Fragment. When you do, you will be greeted by another, but different, pixie. Sera recognizes you from what Jue has told her. She mentions that there is another guy getting in their way besides you. She says she can't let you get away now that you have yet another "key". She summons her monster. Oh, start running and jump, or else Udo Meiu is going to drop right on your head and deal damage before the fight even starts. BOSS : Guardian of Cradles Udo Meiu HP : 800 EFFECTIVE COMBAT STR : 164 EFFECTIVE COMBAT DEF : 164 Attacks: I. Jump - 18 damage - Jumps and lands, sending a circular shock- wave. Effects:-Destroys floor and exposes more yellow-stuff. -Sends you flying. (Try not to land in the yellow- stuff or you will keep taking damage as Adol tries to get up.) Evade: -Jump over the shockwave. II. Spin - 18 damage - Spins like a WeedWhacker towards Adol. (The feet will still do damage unless they are retracted.) Evade: -Just run away. Tactics: Since the floorspace decreases during combat, this had better not become a long, drawn out battle. The boss does around 18 damage with either of its attacks. Attack its core. You only do 3 if you slash, but if you up-spin you can deal 25 per hit. The best time to attack Udo Meiu is right after it jumps or spins. Up-spin it, Maelstorm it, Explosion it, and if all goes well it'll die before you do... CHEAP TACTICS: Gain a couple more levels or upgrade your sword so that it does about 50 damage to the boss when you spin it. If you time it right you can actually destroy it in about 10 seconds before it gets the chance to do anything at all! Although Sera won't be too happy with the outcome, she'll say that the way to the Sanctum has already been opened, and the release of the seal is but a matter of time. She'll bid you farewell, but warns you that there will not be a next time when you get to live. Oh, and the floor miraculously recovers after battle... After the pixie leaves, head north in to the ridiculously long passage way. Make a note of that eyeball with tentacles sitting in one of those large glass jars that you may recognize from a scene in the opening animation. Once you get to the other side, ascend another long stairway and you will find yourself standng in Zemeth Sanctum. The Sanctum is a nice, peaceful, quiet place with lots of moss on the ground... Anyway, go up the many sets of steps and enter the building at the end. In the area, there is in the center a beautiful statue of the goddess Alma, and around it are 3 pylon-looking pillars in 3 different colors. Head up to the statue and Adol will hear the soft voice of a woman speaking directly into his mind. The voice identifies itself as the goddess Alma, the one who seals the "Ark". She says that to save the people of the world, she will entrust you with the final "key". The wall at the end of the hall will dis- appear. She adds that the "dark key" has been taken, and it is attempting to reach the "Ark". The voice will suddenly fall silent after it says something about "before the nightmare becomes reality." Go into that room that just opened up and grab the Lightning-elemental Emelas sword - the Ericcil. Try to leave the Sanctum and you will run into Geis just arriving at the place. He's a bit disappointed that you got here first, but he also says that he "doesn't have the face to meet that girl anyway." He then proceeds into the room where the statue is. Follow him in and you'll see that he's stuck magical wards on each of those three pylon-pillars. He'll say that the "keyholes" have now been sealed and then turn around to see that you are still around. He'll note that "she" has entrusted you with the "keys" but looks like that is expected of the famous "Redhaired Adol". When he realized that he's talking too much, he'll leave, but he also warns you not to remove the wards under any circumstances. If you do... you'll become more than a nuisance... 7==========Mythos Path, Rimorge, and Windseeker Heights========================= Objectives: 1. Grab the Red Tablet and the Fragment of the Rainbow. 2. Get the Talisman of the Seagod from Baslam. 3. *COmplete Sidequest #3: The Needs of a Hunter. 4. Go to Windseeker Heights to return the mirror fragment and get a Seed of Strength. Either way, since you can't remove the wards in the game anyway, leave the place and go back to Mythos Path; Alma's Feather is a good way to do that. Go and hit the wall that has a yellow crystal on it with the Ericcil, and it'll open up just like the other 2. Inside, the two chests contain the Red Tablet and that Fragment of the Rainbow we needed in the previous section. You could go back into the Ruins to get the items you may have missed, but... I suggest that you actually head back to Rimorge first anyway. The easiest way to get the Black Tablet is with a Lv4+ Ericcil. After you made your way across the set of invisible platforms, there will be a wall that prevents you from jumping. Use the Thunder technique with the Ericcil to dash your way across. Oh, and when you try to open the chest, you will be greeted by 3 ghastly Bituns. They are not too tough, so deal with the before you open the chest (but it scared the crap out of me when I saw it the first time...). If you head into the bar and talk you'll realize that 2 people from the Rehda Village have arrive here. One of whom is Kvar according to Ag, and the other, said barkeep Isacc, is a girl. At this point, if you had gotten your hands on a bottle of Kapra's Elixir, you would have had the opportunity to complete Sidequest #3: The Needs of a Hunter. If not, we'll do that when we make use of Baslam's Talisman that we'll be receiving. If you want to decipher that Red Tablet that you just got (and maybe the Black Tablet), talk to Olgast. Oh, want to guess who that Rehda girl that is? Anyway, before that, now that you've been to Zemeth Island, go talk to Baslam. If you didn't find out yet, Baslam will tell you that the bridge has been fixed, and he will ask you whether or not you were able to get to Zemeth. As Adol tells him the tale, Baslam is considering to consult old man Raba and plan a trip there. He will reward you with the Talisman of the Seagod Glatteos from his homeland. It will allow you to walk underwater (!). Go shop and refine. You wouldn't want your Ericcil to rust from disuse. Kvar is standing next to Leav, who somehow doesn't seem to be glad to see the guy. Talk to Kvar and you'll see that the Isha had came along with him and is now staying at Raba's house. If you go shop and talk to Rose she'll mention that a Blackhaired mercenary has also been frequenting her weapon shop like you are now. By the way, try to get enough dough to buy the White Snake Armlet. You will more than likely need this in the next step in the game. Alright, go to Raba's shack and visit Isha. Both she and Ur will be glad to see you. Isha came to see the Eresian's town as well as to tell Ur about a "festival" coming up. Ur on the other hand gives her a nudge and says that she really came here to see you, which makes her blush quite quickly. After a few more teases, Raba steps in to break it up. Ur leaves to catch a date with the waitress Tise (who if you had ran down to the dock, is standing there waiting). Talk to Isha again and she'll as you whether you like the Rehda Village or Rimorge better. The answer does not matter. If you tell her that you like the Rehda , she'll just be glad. If you answer otherwise, she'll say that she eventually will come to like it as well. So cute... At this point, you can ask old man Raba a couple of questions. "about Isha" - I wasn't expecting Ms. Isha to visit. It has really been a long time; she has grown quite a bit. She looks very much like her sister Olha. - The white skin, the silver hair, these are the features of a Rehda priestess. "about Zemeth Island" - What? You managed to get to that island?! The ocean current around that place is enough of a mystery. Tell me how you did it. (Adol tells him about the wing goddess statue.) That statue is, without mistake, Alma that the Rehdas worship. However, I have seen the same statues at both Esteria and at Selseta. I wonder if there are any relations between them... - You must have heard of the "Ark" by now. There is a legend, according to the Rehdas, that Alma had sealed away a "disaster" in that "Ark". However, since it is taboo, he (probably Chief Ord) did not tell me much about it. "about the pixies" - From my deduction, it is likely that they are the ones that destoryed the bridge and stoled that mirror. However, the problem now is finding out their motive. I wonder if there are any relation between the color of those pixies and the color of your swords... "about Geis" - That man has visited me once. I thought he came to cut my head off. He asked me some questions and was very interested in what I had to say. Oh, he was also carrying some wards with him. He seems to be able to use some magical techniques. Alright, since you are now holding another Mirror Fragment, deliver it to Olha. When you get to gates of the Rehda Village, talk to Largo, and you will find out that Olha had gone to Windseeker Heights. Largo also warns you that it might be better to wait for her to come back since the creatures there are quite difficult to handle. Are we the type to sit around waiting for girls to come back? Before you head off to the Heights, drop by Moonset Shore. Remember that chest all the way to the west that we couldn't get before? Now that you have the Talisman of the Seagod, go for a walk in the sea. You will come to a spot where you usually can walk no further, but with the Talisman, it allows you to continue. The chest contains another Kapra's Elixir. Refer to that small section in the second chapter to navigate through the Quatera Woods west. Mind you that Yuleafas can cause Confusion and Poison while Borgilums can inflict Confusion and Overweight. Oh, and by now you can try to challenge the Miniboss Gaposdarla. MiniBOSS: GAPOSDARLA HP : 1816 EFFECTIVE COMBAT STR: 177 EFFECTIVE COMBAT DEF: 165 The amount of HP that this boss has may look intimidating at first. However, you will find out that it is nothing to be fears once you try to fight it. Attack: I. Bite - 55 damage - Runs up to you and bites you. Effects:-Sends you flying. Evade: -Jump over it. -Dodge to the side. II. Egg-launch - varialbedamage - Spits out eggs that hatch into various plant-base enemies that attack you. Number of eggs depend on the its HP. Counter:-Knock the eggs off the field before they hatch. Tactics: There is really no tricks to play with this boss, but you might want to fight it IN THE CLEARING so that you can knock the eggs in to the waters surrounding the land. Get out of the way at the last second to avoid the Bite. Unload your magics and techniques either right after it tries to Bite, or when it is Egg-launching. The good old down-thrust will also score a full burst on this boss. CHEAP TACTICS: At STR over 180 or so, you can beat this boss in around 20 seconds. Electrocuting it, burning it, and taking it for a spin will drain about 3/4 of its HP, and then just strike it down. However, you would probably have a crapload of cleanup to do afterwards since by doing this, we are completely ignoring the 50 eggs that it would have spat out in the duration. Oh, and you don't get any items for this fight... When you get to Windseeker Heights, you will notice that Olha is playing her flute. Talk to her and she'll be quite shy about you listening in on her. It was a song taught to her by her mother, and she comes here to practice despite the dangerous monsters that she has to plow through every- time. She'll tell you that the island over hither is the Zemeth Island where the ancient ruins are located and that over yonder is Mt.Granavallis. The weather also seems to be always nice because of the Great Vortex - must be Alma's blessing... She says she'll stay here and practice more and tells you to be careful. ...but that's not why we are here. Talk to her again, Adol will show her the Mirror Fragment and she'll burst into tears and blame herself once again. Her mother would have laughed at her for this... After the self-pity, Olha apologizes for saying a bunch of weird things and shows her gratitude by giving you a Seed of Strength. May you be blessed by the gentle Alma... Talk to her one more time and she'll ask you whether or not you saw Isha at Rimorge. She'll ask you again to keep an eye out for her little sister. By the way, merchant Kevin will now be selling Seeds of Life for 20000G apiece. This is probably the best thing to trash your money on later in the game when you end up having no where to spend it. 8==========The Bee, Limewater Cave, The Cave Lake, and the Pirates============== Objectives: 1. Defeat Miniboss Piana Pias and obtain the Soundless Bell. 2. Explore the Limewater Cave and obtain the treasures that lie within (Meat x3. GalvaShield, GalvaArmor, Herb x3, Gold Tablet, Blue Remedy x3, Kapra's Elixir, Seed of Protection, Accessory Holder.) 3. Cross the Cave Lake. 4. Retrieve the final Mirror Fragment and fight off Xisa's Orjugan. 5. Run into your old buddies at Sunrise Inlet. 6. Grab the Pirate's Liquor. Head for Rimorge and talk to the villagers to find out roughly what you are supposed to do from this point on. Lloyd warns you about a certain "hard- shelled" creature in the Limewater Cave that can only be weakened by the sound of a certain bell, but apparently, after he lent it to Raba, the old man's apprentice lost it. Ur on the other hand corresponds to that story and tells about how he dropped the bell when a huge bee chased him around in the plains. That's one hint. Moreover, Isha mentions something about she seeing a "blob of wood" that got washed up and hid itself on the inner side of the island. Tise corresponds to that story as well by talking about how Anis spoke of a ship-like "thing" that was floating around - maybe there are people on it. That's hint number two. Raba reminds you that the "inner side" of Canaan Island is the Sunrise Inlet, the beach opposite to the Moon- set Shore. However, you can only get there through the Limewater Cave since over land, a cliff is in the way. That's the final hint. Well, since Ur seems to have lost that bell with the bee, go and find it. Although you don't Head to the plains. First, take a left before you reach that bridge in the middle of the plains. Keep going and you will eventually run into Miniboss Piana Pias that you may remember from the 4th chapter. Equip yourself with the WhiteSnake Armlet, Silfen Boots, and some very good armor, maybe even charge up all of your swords before you go in to fight it. MiniBOSS: PIANA PIAS HP : 723 EFFECTIVE COMBAT STR: 187 EFFECTIVE COMBAT DEF: 178 Note that although this boss has a relatively small amount of HP, it actually has very high defense. Attacks: I. Tail-stinger - 82 damage - The tail will light up and Piana Pias will charge at you. Effects:-Poison. -Overweight. Evade: -Jump over it. -Run to the side. II. Piskel Swarm - 40 damage - Large swarm of Piskels descend and attack you constantly. Effects:-Poison. Evade: -Wait for the swarm to disperse. Counter:-Down-thrust. III. Tail Missle - 82 damage - Occurs simultaneously with the Piskel Swarm. Shoots off 3~4 high-speed homing missles. Effects:-Poison. -Overweight. Evade: -Jump up and down while running in a circle. -Lure it and run it into the wall in the north. Tactics: The first thing you can do busting in to the place is nail it in the face with an Explosion as it tries to charge at you, then if you want, let lose the Lighting as well. This should take it down to half HP. Even at 187 STR, you are not likely to be able to hurt it with just a normal slash. Use the techniques or the up or down attacks to shave away at the boss's HP. As long as you figure out a way to effectively dodge the Tail Missle, you should be fine. CHEAT TACTICS: There isn't anything cheap enough at this point... Afterwards, a chest will appear up north containing the Soundless Bell. Now head for the Limewater Cave and save at the Monolith. This place is one magnificent maze that, even if you had a map, you'd get lost. My directions may confuse you even more, so if you want, just explore every corner of the cave and you should end up with everything you should have if you had gone with my directions. One other caution before entering - equip the WhiteSnake armlet and, if you bought it, the Curse Reflector. These are the two most often encountered and troublesome status effects you will run into in the caves. Those slimes cause a great deal of agony for those without status defenses. The Green Drons cause poison; the Yellow Drons cause Curse; the Blue Drons cause Over- weight; the Red Drons cause Confusion; the Black Drons can cause everything. You can either use Flame to take them out from a distance, or use the Ericcil to stab at them - it has a farther range then the other two swords. At any rate, Past the area after the save point, go east, and go east again after the next area. Deal with that Nabuut jumping around spitting out Sumes. The Nabuut itself has no attacks and rely on the Sumes to deal damage, so charge right in and destory it before it gets the change to do anything. At the end of that area is an alcove containing a slab of Meat. Retrace your steps to the south and west. Go north in that area and then hug the south/west wall in all the maps thereafter and you should eventually reach a ledge with a chest and a Nabuut on it. Hop on to the ledge by using the stalagmite to the south as a stepping stone. In the chest is an Herb. Enter the next area to the north and take a right. Stop by the alcove in the north wall in the next map to get another Herb. Stick to the north wall and exit to the north to the next map. Go straight east until you and up at the left branch of a T-junction. Keep going straight into right, and past the swarm of rainbow slimes in the alcove lies a chest containing the nifty GalvaShield. Now head back to the T-junction and head south. In the alcove at the end is the the chest with the GalvaArmor. This armor will poison you when you wear it, but combined with the WhiteSnake Armlet, it won't be giving you any trouble. Note: By now you may have run into a White Dron. It's a rare enemy that shows up randomly. It doesn't cause any status effects and drops a large number of small Emels. It's not a graphics error... Alright, head back to the T-junction and go left. Go north in the next area and circle around the cliff area to reach a chest with another slab of Meat. Exit this area to the west and keep going west down the long hall way. When you exit, you have to make a jump on to the central pillar then to the other side. If you fall of, just go south, east, east, and north and you should be back to the Meat-chest area. When you hop across, there is a great water fall in the next area. COntinue west past the falls and through the Drons and enter the arch at the end. Jump down from there and head north. Before you enter the next area, put on that Soundless Bell. You will hear an unfamiliar flapping noise as you enter; that's that "certain hardshelled creature" Lloyd was talking about: the Nilva. There is actually about a score of them in here, and they are capable of dealing significant amounts of damage. Use whatever measures necessary to handle them. Hop up the platforms to reach the alcove above and grab the Gold Tablet. Keep your heads up for the respawned Nilva swarm as you get out. These things are actually extremely good exp, so if you want, kill the swarm a few times to gain some extra levels. They also hold large chunks of Emel. Now, to get out, keep heading south and take the first east you can. That area should be where you got your second Herb. Go past that alcove and head north. Go through the long hall way past where you jumped across up top before and enter the area where the Monolith is. Go west after you enter the next map, and you will find yourself facing more Nilvas and a strange apparition called the Bilandy. If you are not wearing the Fragment of the Rainbow, it will appear as your shadow trying to kill you. Anyway, head west and then north to enter another area with a large waterfall. Oh, and if you're in a dire need to replenish HP, go up to that Nabuut with the BloodNail equipped and keep killing the Sumes that it spits out. Grab the Meat in the chest underneath the falls and head east again. Shatter all the Nilvas in the next area, hop up to the treasure chest using either of the stalagmites, and pick up a Seed of Protection. Head east, note that Nabuut sitting above the cliff. The next area contains the 2 most annoying enemies in the cave - the Black Dron and the Gargil. I suggest Flaming them with the Blirante. Either way, going north will take you to the Cave Lake, but we're not done picking up all the treasures in the cave, so head east and exit. Go south in the next area. In the area after that area, work your way southeast, cut up the Nilvas, and jump up the ledges into the alcove containing an extra Accessory Holder that we have long been waiting for. Leave the alcove and continue heading south past a couple of areas; note the chest and the Nabuut above over a ledge. At the end, there is a chest containing another Herb. Head for the area before this and exit that area to the west. Go north thereafter. That area contains half a dozen Gargils and a chest on a ledge that you can't reach. Don't worry, we'll get it soon enough. Go east instead and then, in the next area, head west into an alcove and get from that chest a Blue Remedy. Leave and head north. Cut through the Gargils and ascend a few steps to get to the place where we saw the chest and the Nabuut. Pick up yet another Blue Remedy, then exit that area to the west. (Don't jump off...) The next area is kinda foggy, so keep an eye out for Gargils hiding in the long ferns. When you get through that place, go south, but careful not to fall of that cliff. To the south there are two ways to go - the alcove to the east takes you back to that half-dozen -Gargil area with the chest-on-the-ledge containing a Kapra's Elixir (need to perform another ever-annoying max-distance jump), and alcove to the south takes you to the Miniboss Nuudron. Wanna fight it? MiniBOSS: Nuudron HP : 1610 E.F.S : <213 E.F.D : <222 Attacks: I. Dron Fling - normal Dron damage. Tosses in all directions all sorts of Drons. Effects:-Depends on Dron colors. Counter:-Destroy them as you would the normal Drons. II. Homing-Bubbles - 24 damage. Tosses bubbles that tracks Adol. Evade: -Do not stop moving. -Stand very close to Nuudron. CHEAT TACTICS ONLY!: There isn't any tactics involved for this boss, just go in, Maelstrom it and Lightning it and it should be near death. There are no items to get for this boss either. Alright, time to get going. Leave the room, go north past the lone Bilandy, and jump off that cliff to the west in the next area.. Head north and you should end up at where we first encountered the Black Drons and the Gargil. Head further north and exit that area. You will enter the Cave Lake area... and who's that standing there at a distance!? It's Geis. He mumbled about something that ran away deeper into the caves. Too bad he doesn't have the Talisman of the Seagod. After he leaves, go for a dip. There are Ballbearers sitting around the bottom of the water. They'll launch homing-exploding black pods at you. At the center is a chest held high by a pillar that you can only get to by performing a successful Dash-Jump - it contains but a bottle of Blue Remedy. Get out of the water at the north side and save at the Monolith in the next area. Equip some pure-battle gear instead of the status-defense accessories for the up-coming boss fight. Walk north and you will pick up the final Mirror Fragment. When you do, you will hear yet another voice. It's Xisa the third pixie, who of course has by now heard of your from her girlfriends Jue and Sera. After angsting about how you're still getting in their way, she giggles and wishes you a fun journey to the underworld. She summons Orjugan. BOSS : ROARING IN THE ABYSS ORJUGAN HP : 1200 E.C.S. : 237 E.C.D. : 230 I. 8 Migun Missles - Minimal damage - Launches single, double, or all 8 Migus at Adol's location. Effects:-Sends you flying. Evade: -Run to the side. Counter:-Hit them and send them back to Orjugan. II. Hammer - 30~60 damage - The two arms come together and impact the center of the field, sending rocks falling from above. Evade: -Watch the shadows and evade the rocks accordingly. III. Swing - 30~60 damage - One arm will sweep across the field. Evade: -Jump over the arms at the wrists or the forearm. -Run to the opposite side, out or range. IV. Smack - 30-60 damage - Both arms will randomly hit the floor. Evade: -Difficult due to randomness of attack. V. Beam - 56 damage per half second - Mouth opens up and fires a linear beam. Evade: -Get away from the center. The variable 30~60 damage, I think, depends on which part of the arm hits you. The hands do the most damage which the wrists and fore- arms do less. Tactics: To damage this boss at a distance, deflect the Miguns back at it by hitting them. Those will do about 27 damage at 237 STR. I suggest temporarily getting rid of one arm and stand amidst its remains to swing away at the Migus to avoid being hit by the other arm. Another way of fighting this boss is to use Explosion or Lightning - they do A LOT of damage. Just aim well. UNCHEAP TACTICS: You can actually try to fight this boss at up to 20 less STR and DEF, but at that point you only do single digit damage with the deflected Miguns, and the damage you receive may go up to 3 digits. (The first time I beat this boss I was at STR=213 and DEF=220. It was a loooong battle...) When you defeat Orjugan, Xisa can't believe that for your sake she wasted a servant of hers. She won't forgive you for this and tells you that she will pay this back a thousand-fold. Anyway, head across the waters on the now dead arms of Orjugan and enter its mouth. When you reach the end, you will see a large collection of boulders blocking your way... you have no way of getting past here. When you try to leave, however, you will hear someone knocking on the boulders and the entire thing will shatter. A man standing on the other side will exclaim how his fists are able to beat up even a thick rock wall. It's Dogi!! (If you remember him from the conversation with Raba in chapter 3. Apparently he's trying to find a way out, but is completely at a loss of words when he sees you. "NAAAAAAAAH!!! ISN'T THAT ADOL?!?!" he says. At first he'll try to see if he's dreaming, then wonders if you're some monster who took your form. Well, Adol tells the tales of whatever happened before, and Dogi is now pretty sure you are the Adol he knows, surviving even the Great- Whirl. He will then inform you that the pirate ship is parked right out side. Although it's pretty much half-destroyed, the crew is alright thanks to Terra. Dogi will take you outside, and if you don't know who Terra is, she's cute... When the screen pans to her, she's still talking to herself about how "at that time, in order to save me..., that guy........" Dogi interrupts her thoughts and asks her what she's doing over here. She has just fixed the boat and asks Dogi whether he has found anything. He saw the cave, but looks like you can't get out through that way. However, more importantly, he's found something else. What something else....? Adol walks up, and now it's Terra's turn to be at a complete loss of words. Hello? It's Adol~. "YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!!" says she, plus other synonyms. This noise reunion is interrupted by Capt. Ladoc. He notes the unexpected guest that Dogi has picked up. He asks what's with all this noise, and Dogi tells him to see for himself - it's pretty self-explanatory...... In the cabin, Terra complains about how nonchalant you are about all this. They catch up on what's going and and connect the dots about what's happened so far. Now to repair the ship, Ladoc tells you to introduce to them that Altago merchant at Rimorge. Terra seems to have something to say to you, but can't quite get it out. Alright, leave the cabin and go in to the other entrance on the ship. At the bottom to the right side is a chest containing the Pirate's Liquor. Run around and check up on the crew if you want. When you're done, go talk to Capt. Ladoc by that little boat to go to Rimorge. 9==========Rimorge, Rehda Village, and Zemeth=================================== Objectives: 1. Talk to Terra and receive a Seed of Strength. 2. Go back to Rehda Village to return the final Mirror Fragment and receive from Olha a Kapra's Elixir. 3. *Complete Sidequest #5. The Wine Dealer. As Terra keeps an eye on the boat, the rest of the guys are talking to Baslam negotiating repairs, food, and water. Ladoc is also offering to take those who wishes to leave this place as well as some Emelas products... Baslam leaves the supplies to Lloyd and tells Ladoc to wait at the bar. Ladoc turns around to say to you that they now have to find a way to deal with the Great Vortex if they wish to get out, and he invites you over to the bar for a drink. Go shop and refine again. By now you should have enough cash to complete Sidequest #4. Buy out Rose's Shop. Head for the docks and talk to Terra. She'll find out from you that her dad is drinking again, and before she rushes off to stop him, she will hand you a Seed of Strength. Don't bother thanking her, she says. If you want, you can go visit old man Raba again. Both Ur and Dogi will be there as well. (Ur wants to see whether this guy whose hobby is break- ing down wanns is stronger than his father.) Raba on the other hand is quite surprised that there is another chance for the three of them to meet again. Oh, note that Kvar and Isha have left. Go and have Olgast read the Gold Tablet for you if you want. When you're done, head back to the Rehdas. Hey, gatekeep Largo is not there this time. Kvar is standing in the middle of the village. Talk to him and he'll tell you that someone one who you seem to know is with the chief right now. Want to guess who? If you want to, you can head to Moonset Shore first to see Isha and a circle of kids practicing their singing skills. If not, it won't matter. Before you head up, you can complete the first half of Sidequest #5. At the arch to the enclosure, there stand Largo and Silva. Largo tells you it's a guy wearing black, and Silva still doesn't have anything good to say about Eresians. Walk in to find Geis, Ord, and Olha. Geis is losing patience since Ord is not telling him what he wants to know... probably something about Zemeth. Olha notices you, and so does Ord. Geis on the other hand is kinda pissed that you had to interrupt this conversation and turns to leave. However, he whispers something about "the little one" not being there and for some reason tells you to be careful. Ord mumbles as Geis leaves that he's not an evil man; he just doesn't have much manners. He welcomes you and then leaves to check on every- one else working to get the festival in order. Olha wonders if that person just so happens to be... someone... She tells you about their once-in-a-year harvest festival dedicated to Alma. she mentions that Isha is teaching the other kids how to sing. She insists that you participate in the festival as well... too bad this is not a dating game. Speaking of which, Adol automatically hands her the final Mirror Fragment. Her tears well up again, and she says that now she can proceed to repair it. She hands you a Kapra's Elixir and tells you she will never forget your kindness. Olha then leads you to the prayer area to repair the mirror. Looks like prayers really do fix things... Isha shows up just then to see that you have come to visit again. She notices that Olha is crying, but she says it is just from joy. Isha thanks you as well, but the scene is interrupted as the mirror starts glowing. The scene switches to the Zemeth Sanctum, and you can see Baslam, Raba, Zaxon, and Emilio standing at where Alma's statue is. Baslam is here to somehow dispel the Great Vortex and asks Raba to hurry up. Raba examines the statue of Alma and notes that there is something weird about the feathers and that it resembles the "twin goddesses". Baslam runs out of patience and turns to see the 3 pillars with papers stuck on them. He asks if Adol had placed them there, but Raba tells him it's Geis. Nevermind the details, Baslam orders Zaxon and Emilio to tear down the wards stuck on the 3 pillars (oh crap...). Although Raba tries to stop them by saying that they don't know why the wards are there and shouldn't disturb them, Baslam tells him study the wards after they are torn down. Back to Rehda Village, Olha recognizes the place in the mirro as Zemeth Sanctum. Isha then gets another bad vibe and goes to her house to rest. Go after Isha and find out what's really going on. She wouldn't say much, but mumbles in doubt about how her sister and her uncle are strong, so everything should be fine... Anyway, you had better go check on those idiots at Zemeth Sanctum. Get to the place through the Ruins of Amnesia - this is your chance to give any items that you may have missed another try. When you reach the building in Zemeth Sanctum, you will see those 4 guys all collapsed on the floor. More importantly, the pixies are there as well. Xisa calls herself the Blue Key Xisa Livart; Jue - the Red Key Jue Blirante; and Sera - the Gold Key Sera Ericcil. That kinda connects the dot between them and your swords, but just what in the world are they doing? They address the "black ark", an "ancient contract", and "preparation for the master". Some- thing happens... Watch the cutscene, and you will see that the Great Vortex has been dispelled, and a large number of ships are heading this way. Looks like they will reach the southern edge first... Geis rushes in to check out what just happened and gets into a verbal war with the pixies. "All that's left is to welcome that person", said they as they left. Looks like Geis failed... whatever he was trying to do. He turns to blame Adol, but Raba, apparently still conscious, clears up the misunder- standing. These four guys on the ground currently seem completely incapable of movement. Raba questions Geis and confirms that those three are actually artificial pixies - Homunculus, and that they also possess specific powers. Geis explains that they were produced with the same powers as the three Emelas swords. He leaves, warning you guys that something unpleasant is going to happen around this place. It is no use trying to get the four guys to get up. Emilio is more worried about his piccards, while Baslam is actually kinda glad that his ambition as a merchant is no longer hindered by the Great Vortex. Leave them behind and head to check on the population. 10====Disaster at Rehda Village, Occupation of Rimorge, and the Romun Fleet===== Objectives: 1. Check on the Rehdas. 2. Check on Rimorge. 3. Board the Romun Fleet. 4. Rescue the Rehdas and obtain the Admiral's Key. 5. Fight off Elizabeth and rescue Olha. 6. Escape the fleet while protecting Terra and Olha. You have two choices at this point. You can either head to Rimorge first or go to Rehda Village. You have to visit both places for the story to move on, but since the ships, as seen during the cutscene, will seem to reach Moonset Shore first, let's check on the Rehdas before anything else. There won't be anyone in sight when you reach the village, but you can see arrows allover the floor and some damage to the buildings. Merchant Kevin is hiding inside Sora's house (the first one to the left), but what we're worried about is the rest of the Rehdas. Head toward the enclosure to find Ord collapsed on the ground bleeding. He informs you that a large number of ships arrives as soon as the Great Vortex disappeared, and steel-toting Eresians came and started capturing villagers. Kvar managed to take half of them, but Olha, Isha, and some others were caught. Adol will take Chief Ord to his house. He continues by telling you about this long-haired man leading the Eresians. He was weilding this black Emelas sword that shattered all of their Emel spears. Ord passes out at this point, but old man Raba gets here. After telling you that the ships are from the Romun fleet, he says he will stay here to look after Ord while you should go to Rimorge - Ur was also taken by the Romuns. They are probably being kept at the same place. Well, you heard the old man. When you get the North Suspension Bridge, you will see some soldiers, and when you reach Rimorge, you will see soldiers standing everywhere. They all seem to be after the Rehdas as if they are animals to be captured. Ag is missing from the bar, while Olgast is now less focused on his lute. You may notice a soldier trying to hit on Tise now that her boyfriend is, probably, locked up in a cage somewhere. Rose on the otherhand is thinking about how to get on one of the Romun ships when they leave to get out of this place. Oh, by the way, the fools that collapsed at Zemeth have returned. Emilio is in a state of panic since all of his precious piccards are gone. He's worried that they are off in some isolated corners of the world, or worse - the soldiers might have ate them! We'll help this poor guy later when we complete Sidequest #6: The Runaway Piccards. To complete the bottom half of Sidequest #5: The Wine Dealer, go find Karman. If you came here before you went to the Rehdas, he would be standing outside the bar, if not, he'll be at the docks. If you talk to Leav, she'll mention that they actually captured her and then released her later because they didn't find a tail on her - what an insult. Either way, she is worried about Quatera. Talk to her again and Adol will brief her on what has happened. She will advise you to talk to Baslam, who is also thinking of a way to deal with the soldiers. Go talk to Baslam, after he rattles off loud insults at the Romun, Terra will show up to tell you about a plan to fight the Romuns. Currently, the Rehdas that escaped are with the pirates on their ship, and they formulated a plan to rescue the captured Rehdas. Baslam worries about being outnumbered, but Terra continues by saying that they will lure the Admiral to a banquet, during which daddy and the pirate will team up with the Rehdas to perform an ambush. While the soldiers are distracted, she and Adol will sneak on to the ships to rescue the captured Rehdas. (Note that if you had tried to board the ships before, a soldier will actually tell you to go hunt for some butt-tails for a bounty...) Baslam agrees to help since in business, no risk = no gain. He will handle the banquet while the young duo do the rest. Terra also tells you to get ready - "There will be no time to shop when we are executing the plan." You can't exit the Romun fleet until you complete this event. When you are done, talk to Terra to signal the go. The scene switches to the Romun fleet. Admiral Agares is reviewing their progress on the capture of the Rehdas as well as thinking about the banquet. He decides to attend despite the fact that Capt.Ernst has not returned yet as the soldier points out. Agares doesn't seem to be too fond of Ernst and jokes about feeding him to "Elizabeth" (We'll meet it later). It is currently guarding his "private room". Just then, another soldier reports that they are being attack by an armed group at the north gate of the town; the guards there are fighting them now. It's the rest of the Rehdas and the pirates. Speaking of pirates, Agares remembers that algae of a pirate, the One-Eye Ladoc, that got swallowed by the Great Vortex. Looks like he's still alive, but Agares is not worried about any trouble since what good are pirates on land... He orders all the soldiers to mobilize and put down this disturbance at once. Capture the Rehdas and kill the pirates, and it had better be done before he gets out from the banquet. A large number of soldiers exit the ships, and you can see Adol and Terra hiding behind some barrels. Alrighty, time to move. Enter the first ship. Note that there is a locked chest sitting outside the bridge as well as one sitting in the storage room. Enter the door at the end of the storage room to spot the captured Rehdas locked in a jailcell. Kill that lone soldier. Try to open the door and Terra will come in to pick the lock her secret technique known to only the family...or something. Anyway, the Rehdas are now freed, but where are Olha and Isha?! Ur mentions that this old man that laughs like "Kuhuhu" took them away, and a guy with long-black here was with him as well. Of course, they are none other than Agares and Ernst. Terra tells them to get out of here, but Silva and his ego won't let Eresians handle the task of rescuing Olha and Isha. Terra yells back at him saying that whatever he's worrying about doesn't matter right now, and Ur back her up on that. Ur runs back in a second to hand you the Admiral's Key. Now exit this ship and enter the one after it (Well, there is only 2 ships...). Note that in the 3rd room from the right there is another locked chest, and that in the bridge there is yet another chest. None of them can be opened with the Admiral's Key. Enter the storage area and save at the Monolith (What in the world is a Spirit Monolith doing in the flagship of the Romun fleet?! Did they steal one from the Rehdas as well?) A Boss fight is coming up, equip yourself with something that prevents Poison. The door at the end of the storage area will open as long as you have the Admiral's Key, enter to find Olha locked in a dangling cage. No girl, it's not a dream; your dear Adol IS REALLY HERE to rescue yout. She warns you of something in those gates just as it comes rolling out. BOSS : Giant Toad from Deep Afroca Lana Luna HP : 2000 E.C.S. : 251 E.C.D. : 218 Attacks - I. Tongue Flail - 96 damage - It holds its tongue like a flail and throws it at where Adol is standing. Evade: -Do not stand at the same spot for too long. -Do not stand in front of Lana Luna. II. Slime Barf - 25 damage - Spits out a spray of mucus. Effects:-Slide -Poison (if it is still glowing) Evade: -Don't step on it. III. Slime - No damage - Slime appears wherever Lana Luna walks. Effects:-Slide Evade: -Don't step on it. IV. Tumble - 96 damage - Rolls up into a ball and tumbles and bounces back and forth on the field. Evade: -Get out of its path. V. Invisibility - No damage - Lana Luna becomes invisible. Counter:-Attack it a few times and it will dispel. Tactics: This boss is pretty slow, so stand under it, behind it, or to its sides, and it won't be able to hit you most of the time. The only thing that may throw you off is the slime. If you Maelstrom on the slime you will spin off to who-knows-where; the same goes for Wind. I suggest you use either Flame or Thunder so that you can hit beyond its hard shell. A direct hit should do about 40 damage. CHEAP TACTICS: Stand under it and just stab and Thunder it with the Ericcil - This does a hell of a lot of damage. One minute should be enough time to bring it down if you do this. When the frog goes down, Olha will be freed. She's kinda in a state of despair right now and runs to embrace Adol. (Aww...) She's also worried about Isha, whose whereabouts are currently unknown; Chief Ord's condition didn't look so well last time she saw him either. Terra then arrives to initiate one of the most hilarious scenes in the game: Terra: "Ah, I figured you'd be here." Terra: "Adol! We have a proble...." Terra: "EH?!" Terra: "wh, wh, wh, ...." (Runs up to Adol) Terra: "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING AT A TIME LIKE THIS!!!" Olha: "Ah! It's not Adol's fault. I was... not myself..." Terra: "That must mean you're Olha." Olha: "Yes..., You are Terra, right? I've heard about you from Adol. Thanks for coming to save me." Terra: "Whoa... she's so pretty....?! I MEAN... NOT!! Anyway, we have no time to hang around here. Agares is coming back from the banquet! We gotta get out of here fast!" Speak of the devil, Agares comes walking in with 2 soldiers. (Terra and Adol switch marching orders.) Agares tries to give his big bad villain speech, but then when he sees his poor baby Elizabeth all beat up, he just forgets every- thing else momentarily. He sics his guards on you three for committing this atrocity on his baby frog. Just then Geis shows up and cuts down the two soldiers. He then turns to ask Agares where Ernst ran off to. He's currently Rehda-hunting with some soldiers, says Agares; he took along with him a white- skinned girl. Olha knows that he's talking about Isha. Agares asks Geis whether he can let him go now that he's answered all his questions; he'll pay Geis too! Geis just cuts him down in one swing and bolts out. Before he exits, he tells you to be careful on your way out - the ships are filled with soldiers. Before you leave, go search Agares to obtain the Romun Key. Now you can go to open the chests sitting around the ships. Alright, what we gotta do here is get to the dock while protecting the two girls. Unfortunately, they don't fight, and you cannot leave a screen unless both of them are in your close vicinity. Fortunately, on the other hand, they are heal-able. You will notice that when you use a healing item, the girls' HP also recover. The Romun soldiers are not tough to kill, but if you stand close to the girls while trying to fight them, it is likely that their spears will go right through you and hit the girls behind you. Run ahead and fight them off at a distance from the girls. Anyway, head up the stairs to the bridge first and open that chest containing an Empirial Starlight Emblem. (Believe me, it sounds much cooler in Japanese...) Remember the other 3 locked chests on these two ships? If you don't want to get them, it's ok. They only contain 10k cash each, and if you're not very confident about being a body guard, it's better to leave them behind. When you get out, the scene will switch to Zemeth Sanctum. It's occupied by numerous soldiers. You will see Ernst standing infront of the statue, and Isha collapsed right next to him. The Homunculi show up to greet Ernst as if they're his lovers or something... They mention that Geis and some red- head swordie named Adol got in the way a few times. They all complain about how that one swordie killed their underlings and got ahold of all three keys. Another voice is heard walking into the place. "How'bout getting through us before you try fighting Adol?" It's One-Eye Ladoc and Wallbreaker Dogi. They exchange insults. The pirate demand that Ernst hand over the girl, and the pixies offer to beat them up for their dear master Ernst. Ernst, however, doesn't feel like dealing with all of this and draws his black Emelas sword. He turns to face the statue and says something about it being the shell of God after she left the mortal world. It is the seal of the Ark. He smashes the statue with one swing, and some cataclysmic event ensues. Behold the power of He-who-has-wings! Behold the resurrection of the weather control system of the seas - The Ark of Napishtim! Watch the cutscene and witness the rise of the black pillars and the demise of the Romun fleet. Oh, and the Great Vortex returns. 11======The Dungeons - Revisited================================================ Note - This is actually an optional chapter that basically gets all the rest of the items and completes the rest of the sidequests in the game before you finish the game. Objectives: 1. Return to check on Rehda Village and obtain the Dragon Medallion 2. Defeat Gaposharsla to obtain the Emelas Crown (+50% HP, +Luck). 3. Defeat Deadron to obtain the Elemas Guard (+5 Def & HP Rec). 4. Defeat Piana Plus to obtain the Elemas Glove (+5 Str & Def). 5. *Complete Sidequest #6: The Runaway Piccards. 6. *Complete Sidequest #7: The Inspiration of a Poet. 7. *Complete Sidequest #8: Trial Item. Back in Rimorge, the guys discuss their current predicament. The Great Vortex reappeared with Napishtim, and you can't get close to the pillars due to the monster that wrecked the Romun fleet swimming around there. Dogi apologizes to Adol that they couldn't get the little girl back, but Ladoc notes that it is already a miracle that they got out on a small boat amidst the collapse of Zemeth Island. On top of everything, just who the hell is this Ernst? Old man Raba comes in to report that Chief Ord is now in stable condition. What to do, what to do, what to do... Exit to the town and you will see everyone staring up at Napishtim; the Romuns that didn't die but are now trapped here are also worried about what is to become of them. Either way, I'm personally more worried about the Rehda cutie. Oh, if you visit Leav (eh, I'm not worried about THIS Rehda cutie, but...), you will find out that she's found some secret recipe of her mother's to forge an Emelas Armor. It will cost 100k Emels though (Sidequest #8). You may do the following in any order, but this is the order I prefer. If you are not planning to obtain every piece of gear, you may actually want to do the first step last. ===I=== Return to the Rehda Village and head for Ord's room. If you talk to the ever stingy Silva, he will say something that kind of resembles... a thanks. Ord is in a way expecting you, and he sends Olha and Ur out in order to have a private word with you. He first sincerely thanks you (again) for saving his people, but now he has a much heavier task to bestow upon you. It's about the Ark. He will tell you a story. Long long ago, to the seas far far in the west, there lies a land where the winged-gods existed. Our esteemed Alma arrived here from that place. In order to defend the sky and the seas, protect the world, and secure the Ark of Napishtim, our ancestors, loyal to Alma, guarded the Ark. It was also the start of a disaster. There was a faction with no tails who stole from Alma a very important treasure. It was the key, shaped as a black sword, used to secure the Ark. The faction used the Ark and acquired great, God-like power. However, they could not manage to control the key as well as the gods could. The Ark went out of control and threatened to destory the world. Alma, to replace the stolen black key, forged three additional keys. They defeated the man- made monsters and successfully supressed the Ark. Alma, before dying, used her remains to seal the Ark once again. (Holy crap that's gotta be the roughest translation in this game.) That long-haired man is the descendant of those who stoled the black key. He is intending to use Alma's powers, passed down through the blood of the priestesses - specifically within Isha, to revive the Ark. He gives you the Dragon Medallion and tells you to put that in the alter at Windseeker Heights. It will give you access to the ruins of the city where their ancestors used to exist. At the bottom, there is a path that was used when the Ark was sealed. Use it to reach the Ark. When you go outside, Ur is eager to know what his dad said to you, but Olha changes the topic by saying that they have to go change his bandages. She seems to have something else to say to you but can't seem to get it out. Leave the village and head for the western Quatera Woods. On your way to Windseeker Heights, drop by and kill Gaposharsla. MiniBOSS: Gaposharsla HP : 2462 E.C.S : 245 E.C.D : 231 Attack: I. Bite - 55 damage - Runs up to you and bites you. Effects:-Sends you flying. Evade: -Jump over it. -Dodge to the side. II. Egg-launch - varialbedamage - Spits out eggs that hatch into various plant-base enemies that attack you. Number of eggs depend on the its HP. Counter:-Knock the eggs off the field before they hatch. Tactics: Use the same tactics you used to defeat Gaposdarla. Don't forget to pick up the Emelas Crown that you came here for. We are getting our hands on it first before all others because this gadget gives Adol a 50% increase in HP. Afterwards, head up to Windseeker Heights and capture the Piccard wandering around there. If you want to enter the Ruined Capital Kishgal, you could do that now to get some gold, exp, Emel, etc. Refer to the next chapter for the dungeon walkthrough. I suggest that you complete 2 things while you are down there. 1. Get 100k Emels; 2. Get the White Tablet. And oh, if you want to beef up on HP by buying eating large amounts of Seeds of Life, fight in Kishgal and get lots and lots of Blue Remedys. Go to Crola to sell it for 6375G apiece. This is probably the fastests way to make money that I can think of... ===II=== If you do get them, Feather out of the place and head to Rimorge. Use this chance to complete Sidequest #7 as well as hand to Emilio one of his precious piccards. Pay Leav 100k to complete Sidequest #8 and get the final piece of armor. Head to Limewater Cave and pay a visit to the mother of all Drons. MiniBOSS: Deadron HP : 1773 E.C.S. : <262 E.C.D. : <265 Attack: I. Dron Fling - normal Dron damage. Tosses in all directions all sorts of Drons. Effects:-Depends on Dron colors. Counter:-Destroy them as you would the normal Drons. II. Homing-Bubbles - 2 damage. Tosses bubbles that tracks Adol. Evade: -Do not stop moving. -Stand very close to Deadron. Tactics: Use the same tactics you used to defeat Nuudron. Pick up the Emelas Guards you came for. Stand still wearing these shin-guards will recover HP. I wish I had those when I played soccer. Head deeper into the caves and come out the other side. Capture the piccard at Sunrise Inlet, then head back to Rimorge again to give it to Emilio. ===III=== Now head to the Canaan Plains and go pick on that bee. MiniBOSS: Piana Plus HP : 952 E.C.S. : 265 E.C.D. : 270 Attacks: I. Tail-stinger - 58 damage - The tail will light up and Piana Pias will charge at you. Effects:-Poison. -Overweight. Evade: -Jump over it. -Run to the side. II. Piskel Swarm - 31 damage - Large swarm of Piskels descend and attack you constantly. Effects:-Poison. Evade: -Wait for the swarm to disperse. Counter:-Down-thrust. III. Tail Missle - 63 damage - Occurs simultaneously with the Piskel Swarm. Shoots off 3~4 high-speed homing missles. Effects:-Poison. -Overweight. Evade: -Jump up and down while running in a circle. -Lure it and run it into the wall in the north. Tactics: Use the same tactics you used to defeat Piana Pias. Grab that Emelas Glove from the chest and you're almost done. Now climb the ever frustrating Mt. Granavalis and capture yet another piccard hanging around the altar area. Head back to Rimorge again and visit Emilio. One more piggy to go. ===IV=== Head to the Ruins of Amnesia and blast your way to the end of the dungeon. The way to Zemeth Island is sealed off, but there is that final piccard! Grab it and... wait a second... If you currently Lv50 and above, you can try challenging the miniboss that lurks around in the place where you got your Elder Orb. Believe me, Only at a STR of about 290 can you actually start to itch this thing with sword magic. MEGABOSS: Majnuun HP : 7610 E.C.S. : ??? E.C.D. : ??? Attack: I. Energy Spray - ??? damage - Fires energy bolts in 16 directions. Evade: -Distance yourself and stand between the bolts. -Jump over the bolts. -Take cover behind the treasure chest. II. Guided Beam - ??? damage - Fires 8 beams in a row that home in on Adol. Evade: -(If distanced) Run toward Majuun. III. Nightmare Wings - ??? damage - A ghastly winged figure shows up and sends out 9 circular shockwaves. Evade: -Run out of range. Tactics: ????? Head back to Rimorge and hand over the piccard to Emilio to finish Sidequest #6. After this, you should have everything in the game except for perhaps 3 maxed out Emelas swords. Head to Kishgal now. 12======Ruined Capital Kishgal (and Last Minute Sidequests)===================== Objectives: 1. Fight your way through the Ruined Capital Kishgal and collect the treasures along the way. (Blue Remedy x3, White Tablet, Seed of Life, Kapra's Elixir, a chunk of 80k(!) Emel, Accessory Holder, Emelas Shield, a chunk of 10k Emel) 2. Activate the switches that give you access to the final area. 3. Meet up with Olha at the Corridor of Wyvern. 4. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE NO REGRETS - THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK! 5. Enter the Ark of Napishtim. Descend the stairs and cut your way down past the 3 flamethrowing Zeparoths. On the bottom you will encounter a couple of flying tablesaw Barions - these things can't be hurt from the front, but they turn very slowly. Either down- thrust them or somehow hit them from behind. Enter the archway on the bottom right to face the first Kishgaron. SubBOSS : Kishgaron HP : 2508 E.C.S. : 256 E.C.D. : 237 Attacks: I. Rock Drop - 17 damage - Hits the floor to send rocks falling from the ceiling. The debris splash from the rocks landing can cause secondary of damage. Evade: -Watch the shadows and evade the rocks accordingly. II. Hammer Punch - 17 damage - Punches rapidly if you are very close to it. Effects:-Sends you flying. Evade: -Keep your distance. Tactics: Dodge the rocks and work you way up to Kishgaron and start slashing at it until it figures that either it should defend or fight back with Hammer Punch. Then distance yourself and start the process over. I suggest dash-attacks - they can hit in bursts of 5. (Down-thrusts for some reason don't work as well against this thing.) Flame also works well. CHEAP TACTICS: First thing that you do running into the place is to walk up to it and Maelstrom it. Afterwards, retreat back a bit and when it starts sending rocks down, nail it in the face with Explosion and Lightning. It should be pretty much dead by then. Past the Kishgaron, there are 4 more Barions and a Klarin - these healers are kinda fun to play with. They will launch a ball of light that heals 50 HP whenever the creatures around it take damage. If you need healing, intercept one of these on its way to one of the creatures. Head deeper into the ruins. The path is very linear, there is no way of getting lost around here. Giirons will start to show up, but at least they are not floating above unreachable areas like their relatives from the Ruins of Amnesia. By the way, they drop the ever expensive Blue Remedy. A few areas later you will see walking bombs called Orchas, they are no problem as long as you don't try to keep one around as a pet - they do tend to run toward you though. (They also drop a lot of honey.) Enter that archway you see on the north wall. This is the first of a couple of similar areas where you have to jump all the way down the broken catwalk-looking platforms to get to something and then jump all the way back up. Anyway, there are only Zeparoths in areas like this, so deal with them. The chest in the middle contains a Blue Remedy. Exit the area at the bottom and reach the chest containing the White Tablet. (If you have not completed Sidequest #7, you can exit now to do it. However, if you have not completed Sidequest #8 either, you might want to continue until you get that large chunk of Emel.) When you come back up to the Orchas area, head to the right and up the broken walls. Cut through more Giirons and Barions, go up the stairs, and pick up the Seed of Life on the left side. Afterwards, exit this area to the east. Go down the stairs past the double Zeparoths and the Klarin and head deeper into the ruins. (There is also this rumored graphics glitch in this area. On the southeast edge of the last platform before you exit the area, you can jump toward the edge and get Adol stuck in midair.) The next area is guarded by some Giirons and periodic Barions. Run the walk- way where you can see the balcony where you got the White Tablet and exit the area to the north. You will encounter the other Kishgaron. Deal with it and move on. It's got some backup though - 2 Giirons. There is an elevator in the next area. Run over and hit that switch, then board the platform to go to the lower level. There is a Monolith in on the right and a chest holding a Kapra's Elixir on the left. Save and head south. The most annoying enemy here is the homocidal Arkis that shows up at this point. With low armor they'll just chop you to death, and when they are spinning, you can only hurt them with a down-thrust. Don't get surrounded unless you know what you are doing. Get some help from the Klarin if you want. The Arkis also drop the most(?) Blue Remedys, so if you want to make money, this area contains the most of them in this dungeon. Further down, there are some mobile gun turrets called Rupinaa. They are not much of a challenge, but do drop some Meats if you need them. Head into that arch to pick up the three chests containing the Elemas Shield, the final Accessory Holder, and that chunk of 80k Emel! (If you still have sidequests to do, feather out at this point... unless you want to spend more time making money.) The next area requires you to find and hit some switches to get a couple of platforms to move into place so you can continue. Go north and enter the arch at the end, and this is another go-to-bottom-come-back-up areas. There is another Blue Remedy in the middle. Hit that switch at the bottom and return to the top. When you come out of the arch, drop down direcly infront of you to get to the second switch. Now since you can't get back up, you have to go to the bottom and head southeast to get back up. Now get to the other side and enter the arch way on that side. It's the third of those areas, go to the bottom, hit the switch, and come back up. Another Blue Remedy sits in the middle. When you come out of that arch, drop down directly infront of you again and get the chest that holds a chunk of 10k Emel. Come back to the top floor again. Now across the 3 lifted platforms and head south to eventually reach the final switch. Hit it and you can now exit this map to the north. You will now enter the Corridor of Wyvern. Save at the Monolith and move forward. At the top, just when you think there are no other roads to walk, Olha, to your surprise, shows up behind you. Looks like a priestess' help is required for anyone to go any further. She first thanks you for going to save Isha, then she proceeds to tell you that once you head into the Ark, there will be no way to return. Be sure you are ready, otherwise, answer No. (If you want, go back to Rimorge, refine your swords, eat some more Seeds of Life, finish sidequests, beat up Majruun, or what-have-you-left-to-do.) When you have no regrets, talk to Olha and answer yes to continue to the end of the game. As Olha plays her flute, a wyvern shows up infront of you. It is the "Dragon of Guidance", as the girl calls it. She then hands you her precious Holy Mirror of Zemeth and tells you that her mother and the ancestors probably wouldn't complain about her lending you this mirror as a protective charm. Just when you are about to depart, who else but Geis comes running in to catch a ride to the Ark. As the two of you proceed, Geis tells you some background that you may have already figured out. He is also one of the descendants of those who stole the "black key"; Capt.Ernst is his older brother. Apparently, Geis had come to halt his brother's evil ambitions. Ernst sent in his pixies to dispel the Great Vortex and used Agares to capture the Rehdas, specifically the ones who carried the blood of the priestess. However, as you can see, Geis failed (thanks to the idiots that were there.) Olha stops playing and thinks to herself how she still lacks training. She prays to Alma and her mother to protect Isha and Adol. The two of you will land in the Ark. Demons may be here, snakes may be here, but nothing will stop Geis from going ahead... considering there is no way back... He charges ahead bravely. Pick up that Seed of Power from the chest and save the game. Oh, and equip that Symbol of the Winged Deity for the upcoming boss fight. When you enter the next area, Geis chants, I think, "Even if I run, I cannot return to the land of joy again." (Or is it, "I run, never again to return to the land of joy."?) The single-ride elevator is activated, and Geis apologizes to you and goes first to the floor above. You know, I've always had this bad vibe about this guy, and at this point, I am proven correct. As the elevator goes up, so does from below this huge ugly beast. I like how the ! pops up on Adol's head as he sees the boss appear. BOSS : THE ORIGINAL GALVARIN GALVA ROI, FIRST FORM HP : 2000 E.C.S. : <280 E.C.D. : <283 Attack: I. Fireball - 42 damage - Fires a burst of 4 fireballs. Evade: -Continuously run to the side. II. Worm - 42 damage - Spits out a long worm. Effects:-All status effects! Evade: -Run in one direction, and run in the opposite direction at the last second before it hits you. III. Tailswing - 42 damage - Swings its tail in a circle. It only does this if you are very closeby. Evade: -Jump over the tail. -Stay out of range. IV. Trample - 42 damage - Stomps toward Adol and shoots fireballs. Evade: -Run to the sides. -Stay out of range. Tactics: Its belly is the only place that hurts when you hit it, so as you dodge the Fireballs and the Worm, work you way toward it. Slash away until it tries to Tailswing or Trample, then run away to start the process over. Galva Roi will also jump to the other side of the map if you are under or behind it. This is kind annoying since once it lands it'll Fireball and Worm until you get in range again. It's not over yet when Galva Roi falls over. BOSS : GALVA ROI, SECOND FORM HP : 1000 Attack: I. Claw - 42 damage - Swings its arm at Adol. Evade: -Stay out of range. II. Shockwave Tail - 42 damage - Slams its tail and sends out a circular shockwave. Evade: -Jump over the shockwave. III. Trample - 42 damage - Crawls towards Adol It only does this if you are very closeby. Tactics: This time you have to aim for the glowing red crystal on its forehead. Most of its attacks are close-range, so a hit-and-run method to strike the crystal should be more than enough to handle the second form. CHEAP TACTICS: Sword Magic Explosion does a hell of a lot of damage to this boss. At 280 STR, a single Explosion can do over 1200 damage to the first form if all the bursts connect. Lightning doesn't do much since it'll bounce unnecessarily over all of Galva Roi's body parts, but Maelstrom is also useful. The elevator comes back once Galva Roi goes down. Ride it to catch up with Geis. Once you get to the top, open that chest on the right for a final Kapra's Elixir and go save at the Monolith. When you head up the stairs you will find Geis collapsed against a wall coughing up blood. He tells you that you are a little late and asks you what tied you up. Adol tells him about the beast he just fought, and Geis informs you that it's the absolute form of a Galvarin, made by the "gray elemas" that his ancestors stole. Anyway, he tells you to hurry up and stop his brother, who may now be stronger than Alma herself. He then passes out. Isha is unconcious on the ground in the next room. Jue asks Ernst whether or not it's alright to not deal the finishing blow to that guy. Sera adds that, although the guy is Ernst's brother, he is still dangerous to have around. Xisa agrees and almost turns to kill Geis but Ernst tells them all not to worry. More importantly, a new guest has arrived. Ernst greets you briefly, considering that his little brother has probably told you what he would be telling you right now. He then goes on to begin a history lecture. "Eldiin, a great civilization that existed before Ys Kingdom and Selseta Dynasty... Winged deities of that civilization held and perfected the technology of Emelas. Emelas! Oh what an item of miracle! The great mystery you see before you is what the gods of the Eldiin created left behind. The gods themselves were able to crystallize life into the mysterious White Emelas. They could have used it to obtain even immortality. Over time, their flesh became the white stone statues. Our ancestors used the power of the Ark in attempt to create White Emelas. However, they failed, and the result was the Gray Emelas." After class, he draws his black Elemas sword Almarion and drains power from Isha to grow wings. BOSS : Ernst HP : 2738 E.C.S. : <284 E.C.D. : <286 Attacks: I. Swordstrike - 42 damage - Swings sword. Evade: -Jump over him. -Run away. II. Charge - 42 - Charges toward you like your Thunder tech. Evade: -Jump over him. -Run to the Sides. III. *Thunderbolt - 5 damage - Sera casts a bolt of lightning at you. Evade: -Don't stand still. IV. *Firebolt - 15 damage - Jue lets off a wave similar to your Flame sword tech. Evade: -Jump over it. -Run to the side. V. *Heal - (+)10 damage - Xisa will cast a ball of light that heals Ernst for 100HP. If you intercept it it will only heal you for 10HP. VI. *Seal - No damage - All 3 pixies will come together and form a triangular seal that will follow and trap Adol and immobolize him. Prevent:-Do not allow the 3 pixies to come together at the center. -Run away from the pursuing seal until it dispels. VII. Energy Bolt - 44 damage - Ernst casts one or multiple bolts of light that, if it misses you, will bounce off the walls and come flying back. Evade: -Stand between the bolts. -Run to the side. VIII. Energy Explosion - 44 damage - It takes Ernst a few seconds to cast. The ground around him will explode and a shock- wave will propagate from his position. Effects:-Sends you flying. Evade: -(The ground explosion) Run out of range. -(The shockwave) Jump over the shockwave. IX. Homing Beams - 56 damage - Fires off a bundle of beams that home in on Adol. Evade: -Run perpendicularly to the beams. The * indicate that these attacks are performed independently of whatever Ernst is doing. Tactics: The one frustrating thing about this fight is that there are 4 targets running all over the place. The 3 pixies will try to support Ernst by distracting you with minimal damage spells and healing spells. The one thing to watch out for is the Seal, which leaves you vulnerable to Ernst who usually can't hit the back of a Galva with his sword. If you just go after the pixies, they will come back to life in a couple of seconds, and you can't kill them. They do give EXP though, and I have actually managed to level up once during this battle by beating them up enough times. Either way, if you observe Ernst as you fight off the pixies, you will start wondering what the phantom he is trying to swing at... Oh, to hurt the pixies, you have to hit them with something that is NOT their element. If you don't feel like chasing them down, use Lightning, and it'll probably knock out Xisa and Jue. As for Ernst himself, if you hit hit consecutively too many times he will just start defending. Tsch... coward... Anyway, ease off at that point and, I suggest hitting him in the face with Explosion as soon as he tries to attack again. CHEAP TACTICS: Surprisingly, if you ignore the pixies, this guy fights kinda like his brother. If you have enough defense and HP, just play chicken with him. It is most likely that you will kill him before he kills you if you are at least Lv51, but you might need a few Meats or Blue Remedies if you are Lv50 or less. When you beat up Ernst, Adol will run up to Isha while Ernst and his pixies sit there not believing what just happened. Isha looks more than ok considering what just happened. Looks like she believed that you will come to save her. Although she was constantly in a nightmare all this time, she was not the least bit scared because onii-chan will definitely come. Ernst on the other hand doesn't think that it's over yet. Geis comes walking in at this moment to try to convince his brother to stop - humans cannot replace gods. He also tells Ernst that he does not have to make the same mistake as their ancestors. Ernst is not convinced. He tries to pull more power from the Ark. What power! What Strength! What...what the hell happened to my sword?! The energy blows the crap out of Almarion and Ernst. Adol and Isha come strolling in as the other four rush up to Ernst. Looks like Ernst lost the bet that he placed everything on. A voice is heard within the Ark, and by no means is it good news. "Confirmed, Ceased Function of the Control Key. Confirmed, Ceased Function of the Control Key. Switching to automatic operation." Ernst explains that this is the worse thing that can happen. The world may be destroyed at this rate. The Ark of Napishtim is a weather control device developed to protect the Eldiin civilization, and when their ancestors tried to use it, it went out of control. It is what becomes of things when one craves too much power. Ernst utters something about how his soul got scorched by those white wings (of Alma) and that destorying the world was not his intention. Ernst starts glowing, and a magical staircase appears. He tells you that the way to the Central Area is now opened. If the holder of the 3 keys has any luck, he may be able to stop the Ark. Ernst coughts up blood again and tells his three pixies their final mission - protect Geis. He also apologizes to his little brother for all this trouble. Farewall, and Ernst disappears. Too bad the only person that can stop the Ark is Adol, and Geis pleads you to end this disaster his brother started. Isha is having second thoughts though; she has a feeling that she will never see you again if you go and wants to go with you. Geis runs over and grabs her. He then turns around to remind the pixies of their mission and leave the place. Isha is still crying as Geis takes her away. Hmm... I wonder how they are getting out - Olha did say that there was no way out once you enter... You can run back out to save now if you want. After that, run up the agonizingly long staircase to face the Ark of Napishtim. It will give you a speech of how it must destroy "false civilization", but are you going to let it? BOSS : 3 Crystals of the Ark of Napishtim HP : 3000 E.C.S. : <287 E.C.P. : <289 Attack: I. Defense Beams - 18 damage - The plates on the 3 rotating rings will each maintain a beam. Evade: -Stand under the highbeams and jump over the lowbeams. Beware of the variable beam in the middle. Tactics: You have to attack each of the floating crystals with their respectively colored elements. The beams are quite the hassle to deal with since you can neither destroy them nor stop them. One of the rings will keep moving up and down to make your life more difficult. Running opposite to the direction of the crystal's rotation would be the easiest way to catch up to any one of them. (The first time I was actually too busy dodging the beams to think about which way to run.) When you destroy all 3 crystals, the Ark will announce that a "water- wall" has been established, and it is capable of destroying the west side of the continent. BOSS : Central Shaft of the Ark of Napishtim HP : 5000 Attack: I. Forcefield - 5 damage x4 per second - Emanates a high or a low forcefield. Evade: -(Low) Jump to the outer ring. -(High) Jump to the inner ring. II. Beam - 98 damage per half second - The "eye" fires a steady beam in the direction it's facing. Evade: -Don't stand infront of it. III. Homing Bubble - 18 - Fired by the black crystal poles that fly around on the field. Prevent:-Destroy the black crystal poles. Evade: -Run away until the bubble dissipates. IV. Energy Bolt - 8 - Fired by the white crystals that fly around on the field. Prevent:-Destroy the white crystals. -Run off to the side of the bolts. Tactics: Well, the only thing you can actually attack is that center "eye" where the large beam is fired. Although it is vulnerable whenever it's visible, I do not suggest hacking away at it while you are bathed in the beams. The support crystals are only within reach if they are above the area of the outer ring. You can up-spin or Lightning them to take them out. I like how Lightning just bounce off and destroy all of them. CHEAT TACTICS: Bring out the Livart and maybe your Kapra's Elixirs. Maelstrom it until it dies. Explosion should work just as well. Now that the Ark is dead, the entire structure begins to collapse. Watch the finishing cutscene. On the pirate's ship, the other people are looking at the collapsing Ark. Ladoc warns the crew not to get caught in it, while Dogi reconfirmed with Geis that Adol is still in there. Terra yells at Geis for giving Adol such a dangerous task to handle. Isha notices something at this point. Amidst the falling rubbles of the Ark, a glowing wing appears and calms the "water-wall" that the Ark mentioned. At Windseeker Heights, Olha answers Ord's question about that wing - it is Alma and their ancestors. Adol gets washed up on the beach again. (Note that Holy Mirror of Zemeth sitting next to him) A couple of voices can be heard approaching the beach, and they are none other than the 3 girls and the wallbreaker. There are more scenes during credits. First is Olha and Isha bringing Adol to the village, probably to give him an award or somethihng. Then it shifts to the ship and them preparing to leave. (Isha runs away when Adol goes to her to say goodbye.) Oh, and I find the scene with Geis sailing off in a tiny boat with the 3 pixies flying behind him a little... funny. Anyway, everyone is standing at the dock in Rimorge to see our hero off. I wonder why Maybel the maid is crying at this point... Olha and Isha are seen running to Moonset Shore to wave goodbye to Adol. I like this part the best - look at Adol's left wrist. He's wearing Isha's bracelet. ================================================================================ SIDEQUESTS: 1.Letter to Baslam. Rewards: 30G and 1 Seed of Strength. Availability: After you arrive at Rimorge and before you defeat Zonplus. Go visit Zaxon by the bridge, he'll note that there are 2 Rehdas on the other side trying to give instructions on how to fix the bridge. You're going to have to play messenger. First, run back through the Mythos Path and around the Fountain of Prayer to get to the North Suspension Bridge. Talk to Kvar when you get there, and he'll tell you that he doesn't think that the Eresians were the ones that destroyed the bridge and asks you to deliver a letter to Baslam. Take that letter to Baslam and you'll get 30G for your troubles. However, that's not all that you get: go back again to the North Suspension Bridge on the Quatera side and talk to Kvar. He'll reward you with a Seed of Strength. 2.Clean up by the Bridge. Rewards: Thief's Gloves. Availability: After you defeat Zonplus and before you defeat Udo Meiu. Exit Rimorge to the west and talk to Zaxon on the Coast Road, who tells you that monsters have appeared around the bridge. Of course, you have to do some clean up. There are 5 Krimfes wandering around the next map over. Their helicopter-blade attacks makes the job extra annoying. Down-thrust them and get it over with... or if you have your Blirante charged, send a burst of flames at them. Report back to Zaxon, and he'll tell you to go to Lloyd to get your reward for getting the job done. Speak to Lloyd and you'll get the Thief's Gloves (Gets your more gold when you fight). 3.The Needs of a Hunter. Rewards: Emel Hammer. Availability: After you defeat Udo Meiu and before you defeat Orjugan. After you get your hands on a Kapra's Elixir, go to the bar in Rimorge and talk to Ag. He will show a particular interest in that bottle of liquid and offers to trade for it. Say yes and he will in return give you the Emel Hammer (Gets you more Emel when you fight). 4.Buy out Rose's Store. Rewards: Big Sister's Authority Be able to sell high at Crola's item shop. Availability: As long as you have the cash... This isn't really a "sidequest", but when you eventually buy out Rose's shop, she'll give you a document called "Big Sister's Authority" to show to her little brother Crola outside. Afterwards, you can sell your items there exclusively at a much higher price than other places. Crola doesn't seem to be too happy with this though... 5.The Wine Dealer. Rewards: 2500G _REAL_ Rewards: Lucky Silver Coin Availability: After you defeat Orjugan; Must trade the Liquor BEFORE the Romuns invade. When you meet up with Adol's pirate buddies, go into the ship and find that chest containing the "Pirate's Liquor". You COULD sell it to Karman the gloomy businessman sitting in the bar in Rimorge for 2500G, but that's really a waste. Instead, go to Rehda Village and find Tokusa the drunken fisherman. He'll trade you a Golden Locket for the Pirate's Liquor. If you want to talk to him after the Holy Mirror of Zemeth is reassembled, you would have to go down to Moonset Shore. Now go back to Rimorge and give the Golden Locket to Karman, and he'll recognize his keepsake with the photo of his family in it. Give him the Locket and he will in return give you a Lucky Silver Coin (Increases Luck). Note that as long as you gave Tokusa the Liquor, you can give the Locket to Karman at anytime later in the game to get the Lucky Silver Coin. 6.The Runaway Piccards. Rewards: Glowing Gemstone of Protection Availability: After the Romuns arrive. After Baslam and the bunch get their rearends handed to them at Zemeth by the pixies, Emilio will start worrying about his little piccards. When he finally gets back to Rimorge, he'll realize that he left the pen open and all his piccards ran away. They are scattered all throughout the Canaan Islands, but worry not, here's where you can find them. 1. At Windseeker Heights (Right where you enter the place) 2. At Ruins of Amnesia (At the final Monolith where the path to Zemeth is sealed off) 3. At Sunrise Inlet (To the very right side of the area) 4. At the top of Mt.Granavallis before where the alter of the sword used to be. Can't believe we have to run through all of the dungeons in the game to find some piccards... Bring in each of the piccards individually (you can only hold one at a time), and when you get them all back in the pen, Emilio will give you his keepsake, the Glowing Gemstone of Protection (Revives you once if you die) that his mother gave him. (...?!) 7.The Inspiration of a Poet. Rewards: Symbol of the Winged Deity. Availability: After the Romun ships are sunk. When you have all 5 Tablets (Blue, Red, Gold, Black, and White) and have had Olgast read them all, he will as you whether or not you will give them those Tablets. Answer yes and he will in return hand you the Symbol of the Winged Deity (Blocks all status effects). If you talk to him afterwards, he'll say that he will now start composing "The Ode to The Red-haired Warrior". 8.Trial Item. Rewards: Emelas Armor Availability: After the Romun ships are sunk. Leav will construct the Elemas Armor for you if you have 100k Emels when you speak to her after the Napishtim event. This nifty armor gives you an extra 10% HP as well as randomly nullifies any enemy attacks. It's only a prototype though, says she. ================================================================================ Level and Stat Chart The chart may not be completely accurate, but I can say that, in general, your HP goes up by 6 and your STR and DEF go up by 3 everytime you level up. Lv HP Str Def 1 60 26 30 2 65 29 33 3 71 32 36 4 77 35 39 5 83 38 42 6 88 42 45 7 94 44 48 8 100 47 51 9 106 50 54 10 111 53 57 11 117 57 60 12 123 60 63 13 129 63 66 14 134 66 69 15 140 69 72 16 146 73 75 17 152 76 78 18 157 79 81 19 161 82 84 20 167 86 87 21 173 89 91 22 181 93 94 23 186 96 97 24 192 100 100 25 198 103 103 26 204 106 106 27 209 109 109 28 215 112 112 29 221 115 115 30 227 118 118 31 232 121 121 32 238 124 124 33 244 127 127 34 250 130 130 35 255 133 133 36 261 136 136 37 267 139 139 38 273 142 142 39 278 145 145 40 284 148 148 41 290 151 152 42 296 155 155 43 301 158 158 44 307 161 161 45 313 164 164 46 319 167 167 47 325 171 170 48 331 174 173 49 337 179 176 50 343 182 179 ================================================================================ OTHER NOTES: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think: - There are only 2 places in the entire game where dash- jumps are required. One is to get to the Elder Orb, and Two is to get to that Blue Remedy in the middle of Cave Lake. - There are only 3 Seeds of Strength and 3 Seeds of Protection in the entire game. - There are only 6 bottles of Kapra's Elixir in the entire game. ================================================================================ CREDITS -The monster and item names are mostly phonetic spellings suggested by names recorded at f21.aaacafe.ne.jp/~adol/ -The character names and item names are corrected by an input from Justus, and I double checked most of them at the Falcom website at www.falcom.co.jp/ -Other corrections are provided by the following individual(s): Bonnie ================================================================================ COPYRIGHT Please observe the copyright information stated by GAMEFAQS. However, I personally will permit any non-profit usage of this document.