The next morning, head down to the docks of your castle and you will find an elf washed ashore. Kirkis will join your party and plead with Tir to help save the elves' forest. Your next destination is Forest Village, but first a few things and some new recruits. Eileen, who joined just recently, comes equipped with your first Earth Rune that you can remove from and place on another character. Likewise, if you still have a Wind Rune you picked up in a chest earlier in the game, or want to remove Luc's, it makes a great rune for Kirkis. Lastly, make sure you buy and take a Holy Rune with you in your inventory. This will be extremely useful for acquiring a rare drop coming up later.
Now that Krin has joined your party, he comes with a very special item to note. He has an Escape Talisman, but this one is different. It can be used an infinite number of times. You can give this to Tir or whomever you like and it will work the same; just do not put it in your vault or it will lose its infinite effect.
Your first new recruit is Gaspar, in the bar of Kaku. If you win 5000 potch from him in Chinchirorin, which you played with Tai Ho earlier, he will join your party. Easy. Just make sure to save first.
With Juppo in your party, talk with Meg outside the Kaku inn. She joins much to the chagrin of Juppo.
Stop by the inn in Seika with Lepant in your party and you will run into his son, Sheena. Lepant will forcefully drag him along to your castle to join the party. Sheena comes equipped with your first Lightning Rune (Unless the Zombie Dragon boss earlier happened to have dropped one). Unfortunately, it cannot be removed from him. Now, onto Forest Village.
Just leaving this here. No, you absolutely cannot get up these stairs. Viki won't fail teleport you there (Like later games); no, nothing. Speaking of Viki, she joins your party toward the very beginning of the Great Forest.
Inside the Great Forest, look for these guys. They've got rare antiques...
They drop Graffiti, Flower Painting, and Lover's Garden ? paintings. All three of these can be gotten from a select few other enemies, but in my opinion, this is the easiest enemy to get them from. You'll need 2 Graffitis for a special bath effect if you're interested. You exit to a Kobold Village where you will meet Kuromimi for the first time. Leaving Kobold Village, directly southeast lays the Village of the Elves; its easy to recognize due to it being visible different than the other trees in the area.
Climbing the rope ladder, watch the scenes, and then visit the shops. There are a few upgrades, but the important thing is to add these items to your castle's inventory as you only have access to this village for a short time.
More scenes inside the elder's house, resulting in you being detained along with Valeria. Eventually, Sylvina will come and free your party with Valeria joining your army. Before you leave for the Dwarf Trail, this is your last chance to view the Village of the Elves' store inventories.
At this point, my Tir was level 25, which means we can recruit another character. Head back through the Great Forest and to Kouan and talk to Lorelai in the inn. If Tir is at least level 25, she will join your party. If you still haven't gotten that Holy Rune with you, I highly advise you go to Kaku and buy one and attach it to a character now to save yourself some headache. Back through the Great Forest, the Dwarf Trail is northeast of the Village of the Elves.
On the Dwarf Trail, you find your first Killer Rune slightly hidden behind a tree. This is absolutely one of the best runes you can give any attacking character. It increases their chance to critical hit considerably. At this point, I stripped Gremio of the Prosperity Rune and gave it to him.
The Dwarf Trail is home to the Death Boar enemy which drops the Boar Rune; the same as Pahn is equipped with. Besides a treasure chest later on, this is the only way to acquire one. Honestly, this is just for the sake of completion as the rune itself is limited to being used by a select few characters and I think a Killer Rune would be a better choice over it anyway.
Arriving at the Village of the Dwarves, check the shops like usual, and stop by the blacksmith and talk to Meese who is eager to join your army. He is an upgraded blacksmith over the previous Maas. Continue the story by talking with the leader of the dwarves who doesn't believe our story about his Burning Mirror plans being stolen...so looks like we have no choice but accept his challenge to prove to him that the Vault can be broken into.
In the Vault, look for the blue Death Machines carrying spears. They drop the Trick Rune that usually belongs to Juppo. Meg is the only other character that can use it, but this is the only place in the game you can get this item. It's decent enough for Meg, but she rounds out good as a mage as well.
In the first puzzle area of the vault, you'll find the Sunbeam Rune. It is one-of-a-kind. When attached, it performs the same 5HP regen every round that a Water Rune Piece does, but also restores the parties' HP with every step you take out on the field. Dump this one in your vault because of the rarity. It's not worth a rune slot.
You'll find your second Thunder Rune Piece in the game in the Dwarves' Vault as well.
There are only two of these Skill Rune Pieces in the game; this is your first. They permanently increase a character's SKL stat when used in the menu. Use them wisely. Not long after this chest, you will find a chest containing an Escape Talisman. Use it immediately and return to the Village of the Dwarves to save your game. The next boss has an extremely rare item to drop and there is no save point before him. This is where the Holy Rune I suggested you get earlier comes into play. It will help you speed to the bottom of the Vault and defeat the boss quicker to try to get the drop.
The boss himself, he's not too bad. I could kill him in about three turns. I had Tir attack, Valeria use her Falcon Rune, Pahn and Gremio use their unite, Camille attack, and Kirkis cast The Shredding. For some heavy devastation, bring Luc and have him cast The Shredding as well.
This is what we're looking for: The Goldlet. There are only two of these in the game and it is one of the best defense-focused accessories in the game (But not the best). In the long run, this probably isn't worth it as it will be outclassed in every way when you can get Crimson Capes at the very end of the game, but the Gigantes boss is your only chance to get more than one of this accessory. After the boss, grab the Running Water Root and return to the dwarf chief's house and then finally hike all the way back to the Village of the Elves.
We were too late..Kwanda torched the village with the Burning Mirror. Guess we should return to the castle.
But first, exit and then reenter the village and talk to Templeton who will join your army. He also provides the extremely useful Suiko Map item that will help you find your way on the world map much easier. Head back to the Kobold Village and watch the scenes which will result in Kuromimi joining your party and the start of your very first war battle. You know the drill. Magic beats Charge, Charge beats Bow, and Bow beats Magic. Use Thieves and Ninjas (Whom you don't have at the current time) to get the enemies next move and act accordingly. If you see a message that a character has DIED in battle, reset your game. If a character dies, they will be lost for the remainder of the game and you will be unable to get your bonuses for recruiting all 108 Stars of Destiny. Once Kwanda's army has been routed, we head inside Pannu Yakuta. Unfortunately, your party will be entirely locked (Pet peeve!)...
Inside the dungeon, you will see walls like these; similar to the ones that were in Grady's mansion back in Rockland. You can walk through these slits to enter rooms.
Outside, on the top floor, you will find your third, and last, Thunder Rune Piece for the game.
Inside, you will find the one-of-a-kind Gale Rune. Attached, it doubles a character's SPD stat. In my opinion, not that useful as all SPD does is determine the order in which you attack. I just dump mine into the vault.
Now for something really good: The Mangosh accessory. The Demon Armor enemies have this as their drop. Besides the Power Ring you will get much later in the game, this is the absolute best accessory you can give your front-line fighters. It gives a +20 boost to SKL (Hit and Dodge%), increases the character's chance to counter an attack, and gives a nifty +12 to defense. Any character can equip it, except the Kobolds, but it being dropped by the Devil Armor is the only way in the game to acquire this accessory. When hunting for Mangoshs, the Devil Shields that often accompany Devil Armors, may also drop Chaos Shields. They can be bought later on, but are the second best shield in the game.
At the top of the castle, you'll have to fight a boss. This is MUCH easier than the Dragon Zombie earlier. His entire-party attack does little in comparison to his. Before you exit out to the roof, make sure Tir is at full health because...
You'll have to duel it out with Kwanda. Duels are really simple. Attack beats Defense, Defense beats Desperate Attack, and Desperate Attack defeats Attack. Just pay attention to what your opponent says, because most of the time they give away what their next move is. When the duel is won, DO NOT choose to kill Kwanda. Select: "Something's wrong" and then "I want you to join us". Kwanda will join your party. If you elect to kill him, you will be unable to obtain all the 108 Stars of Destiny and the rewards that go with it. Afterwards, Sylvina and Stallion also join your army. When asked to return to the castle choose "Wait. I have some unfinished business." and return to the Kobold Village.
Inside the house at the bottom of the village, with Kuromimi in your party, talk to Gon and he will gladly become a part of your army.
At the inn, choose to pay for Fu Su Lu's 10,000 bits meal and he will join your party as well. He is vastly overpowered for this point in the game. Make sure you check out the item shop that is now open here too; it's your first chance to buy Wind and Hazy Runes. When you're ready, head back to your castle to advance the story.
