Everyone is gathered at the gates of L'Renouille. Jowy and the Beast Rune are waiting for you inside...Pick your favorite characters: this will be the final battle.
Upon entering the castle, the party will find Lucia, once more. We'll have to go through her if we want to continue further.
Normally, you can get by fine with fire resistance when fighting Lucia, but she has a new fire attack that will heavily damage the party, even with resistance. If you don't have a Mother Earth Rune and Guardian Earth, I would recommend casting Silent Lake and trying to take her out quickly with physical attacks. Thankfully, she'll waste a lot of her turns trying to whip you anyway; just always be prepared to heal when she uses magic. When the battle is over, Teresa and Shin will come in and reiterate their promise to investigate the claims of Lucia's father's murder. Teresa will show Lucia the ultimate form of trust, turning her to her when she has a weapon, and Lucia will let the party pass. Don't worry, we'll see Lucia a lot more in Suikoden III. Head back out to rest and save afterwards, we have a long road ahead of us.
Let's go ahead and take a look at the enemies inside of L'Renouille before we continue. You'll fight the above group of Highland soldiers frequently throughout the castle. I'm noting them here because this group also gives the highest amount of XP in the game and this first screen where you fight Lucia the group of Highands show up more frequently than the rest of the dungeon. The pair of Bronzems you will encounter elsewhere in the castle also give an equivalent of XP.
The Commander of the previous group also drops two rare items. The first being your source of Flame Helmets for your party. This is the best helmet in the game, for the most part. While falling short by -5 defense compared to the Horned Helmet, it provides +4 strength and resistance to fire.
Although mundane at this point, the Commander will drop Mega Medicine in bundles of 7, if you are interested. Other than the one extremely rare bundle of 9 you got from the hidden room in Radat Town, this is the highest bundle you can obtain. You'll want these for Tuta, or any Medicine Rune character you may be using as it only works with Medicine items and not food or scrolls.
The giant Bronzem monsters carry Master Garbs with them. They drop these at a much higher rate than the Neclordia's back at the Tinto Mines, so I would farm for them here. Covered several times already, the Master Garb is the best all-around armor for most characters in the game.
Chimera enemies have two rare drops, as well. They have the not-before-seen Lucky Ring accessory. Since luck factors heavily in your chance for a critical hit, this seems like a great accessory at +12 defense and +20 luck, however, only young characters (Riou, Nanami, Tuta, Sasuke, ect...) can equip it. Why? If other characters want an increased critical chance, they'll have to stick with the Skill Ring.
The extremely rare Blood Armor is dropped by Chimeras too. While this light armor exceeds both the Master Garb and Silver Armor in terms of defense at +62, it also eats -15 HP per turn, which is easily offset by attaching a Flowing Rune to the character's weapon or equipment setups like the Silver Hat/Shield. I can't justify using this over the Master Garb's +15 to strength and tech, however, but you make the decision for yourself.
The final dropped item is the Goddess Statue antique held by the Magus enemy. This is another, and thankfully, last, antique that is a pain to acquire. Keep taking your ? Ornaments back to the Castle to appraise to see if you get one, but be prepared for it to take a while. Small note: you will need three of these to view a bath scene. Also, the Magus frequently will drop Hex Dolls as well; in which six are needed for another bath scene.
With all of the enemies encountered at L'Renouille out of the way, I have one final note before we cover the dungeon itself. Watch your potch: it maxes out very quickly from battles here. Don't be afraid to use an Escape Talisman to return to your Castle and use the money to sharpen character's weapons to 16 once you max it out. Saying that it takes a small fortune to sharpen every character's weapon to max is a slight understatement.
On the western-side of the first floor of L'Renouille we can find a chest containing a Fury Rune. If you didn't get one of these from the rare finds in Muse, this will be your first of this rune. It gives a character continual berserk status during battle.
On the eastern-side of the first floor, beside a chest containing a Bolt of Wrath scroll, you can search the three barrels here for two bundles of Medicine and a Mega Medicine.
In the lower-half of the same section, you can acquire a Robe of Mist from a treasure chest. This is the best defensive robe/martial arts-type armor in the game, but doesn't repel magic like it claims to.
Both east and west paths of the first floor lead to a confrontation with Han Cunningham, Genkaku's old friend and former bearer of the Black Sword Rune. Riou will have to duel him to proceed to the second floor.
If you sharpened Riou's weapon to 16, Han is of no threat to you. Read his dialogue carefully and make your selections as things can go badly if you are sloppy.
When Riou defeats Han, he will fall to the floor in defeat; breathing his last breath, and we can continue on to the second floor of L'Renouille.
The second floor is a bit of a jumbled mess. The western-side of the floor leads to the continuation of the dungeon, but the eastern has some chests for us to plunder. Just outside the ceremonial room where Agares Blight was murdered, there are two chests with a Wind Amulet and Champion's Rune. The Champion's Rune, when attached, negates all encounters with enemies that can be "Let Go". At this point in the game, almost totally useless, but it is the only one in the game, so don't throw it out.
Still on the eastern-side, proceed up the stairs here that will eventually end in a storage room and locked doors. In the storage room, you can pick up chests with a Stone of Power and your fourth, and final, Stone of Defense. Head back down the stairs and to the western-side of the second floor and look for the same set of stairs on that side of the castle.
On the third floor, there's not much to note, but you'll find a Journeyman's Crystal inside a waiting room. This is an great place to gain some levels, if you need to. On the path to the east of this room, proceed downwards and outside the castle where you can pick up a chest containing the Goldlet accessory. This is the highest defense-based accessory in the game at +18 that all characters can use. You can get more from the rope-climbing mini-game at your Castle or the Rockaxe armor shop's rare finds.
Taking the stairs back to the north, you will find the last treasure chest in the game holding a Window Set #7. If you've been following along with me from the beginning, this item should bring your Castle to 100% completion when you bring it back to Tenkou.
Shortly afterwards, you will climb one last set of stairs that will lead you to the final save point in the game. This Journeyman Crystal is unique in the fact that it will completely restore your party when touched. Unfortunately, there are no enemy encounters here, so you will have to run back down to the previous section to fight.
The throne room is just beyond, but Seed and Culgan are determined to defend it with their life.
The only issue in this battle is Seed will more than likely cast Silent Lake, preventing magic from being used for several turns. He can also heal, which makes him your primary target. Before Seed gets a chance to use Silent Lake, you may want to cast Revenge Earth on your front-row characters; this will cripple the duo's offense throughout the duration of Silent Lake. Throw everything you have at them since you can return to restore yourself back at the Journeyman Crystal.
With the death of Seed and Culgan, the scene will switch to Jowy saying goodbye to both Pilika and Jillia...
The final boss is just ahead. Are you ready? Make sure you return to rest and save to prepare.
Leon Silverberg is here...This is one tough old dude, shouldn't he have died twice already? He will shed his own blood to release the Beast Rune incarnation on your party...Can you win this time?
The incarnation of the Beast Rune is the final boss of the game. The same that fed on the souls of thousands of Muse citizens. The goal is to defeat both heads of the beast, but the Beast Rune itself prevents it and its legs from taking damage, so we must destroy it first. A minor note, any short-range character that happens to be in the back row can attack normally during this battle.
Start the battle by casting Guardian Earth, followed by Protect Mist to set up your defenses. Recast Protect Mist after every 3 turns and use Canopy Defense after Guardian Earth expires after 5 turns.
Cast Riou's Forgiver Sign immediately, before the party can take damage, to ensure 2000+ damage to the Rune portion of the boss. Followed up by your most powerful single-target spells and attacks. Thunder Storm, Judgment, Falcon Rune, whatever you have at your disposal; focus all your attacks on the Rune until it is destroyed, then switch to spells like Shining Wind, The Shredding, Final Flame, Black Shadow, Charm Arrow, Earthquake, and Pale Palace that target all sections of the boss.
The Beast Rune can attack numerous times in one turn, but nothing that is too overwhelming if you keep your defensive spells cast. While you don't have to defeat them, watch out for the Beast Rune's legs: it can inflict multiple status effects on the entire party. You'll need Great Blessing or Kindness Rain to rid yourself of these on the following turn. If you get silenced, however, it could spell disaster for the party, but hopefully you have some restorative items equipped in case of this.
When both heads of the Beast Rune are defeated, the beast will crack and shatter in a burst of light.
Is this truly the end, though?
