Wild Arms - Chapter 20: West Wind of Hope

From Court Seim, fly out north to the Photosphere, then a small distance to the west to find Arctica Castle deep within the mountains.

 

On the world map outside, the Wiseman enemy Jack can steal the Head Gear item from. This outdated Rudy helmet you should already have one of, but stealing it here is the only way to obtain multiple copies.

Within Arctica Castle, the Roar monsters have Mega Berries to steal, as well as drop. Having a healthy supply of these going forward is highly recommend. The Nemesis enemy, that you will encounter later on in the dungeon, carry Mega Berries, too.

 

Enter the castle, and in the second room, collect two Full Revives in treasure chests, then use the stairs to the east.

 

Take the exit south, and you'll find three treasures with a Nectar and two Mega Berries on the overhang of the entrance, before taking the western exit.

Pass the nearby stairwell and use a Duplicator key on the door just past it (You should have three left in your inventory). Within are two chests, both with Secret Signs. Exit back out and follow the path around to outside the castle.

 

Walk gingerly around the ice to reach the platform in the center with an ARMs box. Open it with Rudy to obtain his next-to-last ARM, Wild Bunch. When upgraded, this ARM is highly-damaging, but no matter how much you increase its Hit%, it is only reliable when used with Lock-On or Fury Shot. With it in your possession, navigate the ice to the right-side exit.

Here, you'll find another Duplicator door, and just like the other room, has two Secret Signs to acquire. Return back to the ice-covered roof and use the northern exit, this time.

 

Up the stairs on the right-side of the following room, you can take a Lucky Card from a chest, then exit nearby to the left. Climb the ascending sets of stairs and you will enter into the Arctica throne room.

With Jack in the lead of your party, search the throne, and shades of his former comrades will appear and present a sword, the Black Feral, to him. We haven't had a new weapon for Jack in quite a long time, so quickly switch this with the Eradicator. He will also acquire a new fast draw hint for the skill, Void. Void is basically Soul Breaker on all enemies, and at a cost of 20 MP, you won't get much use out of this. The Black Feral is a one-of-a-kind weapon, so make sure not to sell it when you find something better. Now, make your way back down the stairs outside the throne room, and then, use the stairwell on the far-left to descend the stairs to a save point.

From the save point, continue to descend the stairs, then pass through a long corridor that will eventually lead you to an elevator. If you watched the prologue movie that plays when you are idle on the start screen, you will recognize this. Just off the elevator and into the next room, you'll see Elmina waiting for you, but before taking to her, enter the door to the left to find a treasure chest with the Boom Getter accessory inside. The Boom Getter is the final Jack-only accessory that increases his defense and parry. If you're still using the Gauntlet, go ahead and switch it with this, but if not, stick with what you've got. Make sure Jack is fully healed and prepared for a boss before talking to Elmina.

 

Other than how ridiculously quick she is, the last battle with Lady Harken is simple. Use Magnum Fang each turn, and save Jack's Force to use Accelerator combined with Heal Blade when his HP nears 1200. As usual, try to steal a Secret Sign from her, and you will receive one dropped after the battle, too. If you have any trouble, you may consider equipping Jack with the Talisman accessory and also the Castle Rune.

Having been defeated by Jack, Elmina will finally be able to let go of her bloodstained past as a Quarter Knight. She will see the light of Jack's heart that has finally obtained the "secret power" he has sought after: the power in protecting others. Suddenly, the Lion Idol will shatter and the Guardian of Courage, Justine, will appear before Jack and grant him the Courage Rune, and Elmina will pass away. The Courage Rune is a mixed bag of things. Meant for Jack, I'm not sure I can say that it's better than the Sword Rune. It does raise Strength, Vitality, and Response by respectable numbers, but the Sword Rune provides a much higher boost in Strength; however, the Vit and Res is nice, also. Then there is the Justine summon. It's powerful, but is inherently flawed by being a 7-element attack, like Rainbow, which means if an enemy negates or absorbs an element, the entire attack is a failure. So, what to choose? Personally, I'm using the Courage Rune, mainly because of the additional Vit and Res, but once Jack receives his ultimate weapon, and is near level 80, he will easily max out his attack, but not the other stats. Until then, though, the Sword Rune is superior in offense, and its Guardian Summon is infinitely more useful than the Courage Rune.

 

After the battle with Lady Harken, exit through the right-hand door and follow the long path to the outside. At the exit, Cecilia will feel the Tear Drop beginning to tremble. Zeikfried has found the sealed, evil tower of Ka Dingel.

Ka Dingel, the gateway to the Sea of Stars, and the Malduke colony, rises from the sea in dramatic fashion. The footsteps to the finale are finally in place, but first, we've got several more things to cover.

 

Return to Adlehyde and Mayor Cuthburt's house, and the final donation of 100,000 Gella will be available to be made. Once it's payed, leave, and then reenter the town to see it fully developed.

 

With Adlehyde at maximum restoration, there will be a new customer at the counter of the pub. Talk to him and he will hand over a mysterious Dispellado item.

Remember that mysterious stone circle near Baskar Village? Fly there with the Gull Wing and we need to use the Dispellado on each stone, but in a specific order: northwest, southwest, southeast, northeast, west, south, east, north, and the entrance to the Illusion Temple will open on the center altar. If you're curious, the solution to this puzzle was found inside a book in the Sealed Library.

 

Enter the portal and north to find the Guardian of Timespace. Not only will he give you his Chrono Rune, but he will also save Elmina's life. Jack, not wanting her to have to live with the pain of the atrocities she commited as Lady Harken, will request that she be returned without the memories of her time as a demon, but this will also cause her to lose her memories of Jack, as well. The Chrono Rune has the highest Sorcery boost in the game for runes, but only for it, and not enough to justify it over the Love Rune, in my opinion. Also, with the Necronomicon equipped, she honestly doesn't need it. When summoned, the Chrono Rune produces a heavy amount of non-elemental damage to all enemies.

Head over to Baskar Village next and to the Altar of Wind at the north end. With both the Love and Courage Runes, they will call out to the Guardian of Hope, Zephyr. However, he doesn't answer...The Love and Courage Guardians are, actually, pretty mean to Rudy over the fact the cries from his inhuman heart cannot reach the Hope Guardian. Through Cecilia and Jack's support, though, the Dragon Idol will shatter and the Wind of Hope will emerge for Rudy and bestow the Hope Rune upon him. The Hope Rune is really good, and an argument can be made between giving it to Jack and the Courage Rune to Rudy, but I prefer the Hope Rune due to the Sorcery boost Courage does not have. Sticklers may prefer the Chrono Rune for Rudy, however, but with the armor upgrades now boosting magic resistance as well, it's not as necessary as it was earlier on in the game. So, for me, I stick with the canon rune setup of Rudy: Hope, Cecilia: Love, and Jack: Courage. When the Hope Rune is used with Guardian Summon, it appears to be a fire elemental attack, but is, in fact, non-elemental.

 

After acquiring the Chrono Rune, fly to Milama Village and in the pub you will now find a reborn Elmina working. Talk to her for a scene between her and Jack. She doesn't remember anything, but when Jack gives her the ribbon back she gave him, she can sense a familiarity about him, and perhaps, one day, they will meet again. I'm glad that added this little touch to the game.

Next, we're going to focus on the Ancient Arena, so make your way back there. Here, for 1000 Gella, you can compete in up to four matches, with no chance to rest between; but the ability to stop after each one. Your decision on when to stop determines what prizes you will receive after. If you're not good at keeping Lock State cast every three turns, you may consider equipping Cecilia with the Full Libra for the first battle, but in my opinion, casting Lock State and staying with the Necronomicon is preferred. I also recommend Rudy with the Force Unit and Jack with the Wise Slate for the battle arena.

The first battle is against the witch doctor-like Medea. Its main method of attack is Human Experimentation, so cast Lock State as soon as the battle begins and every third turn. Have Jack use Magnum Fang, while building Force for Sonic Vision, Rudy fire the Phaser, and Cecilia casting Saint for offense should bring it down quickly, if it doesn't heal. Jack can also steal Nectar from it with Trickster. For stopping after the first battle, the party will receive 10 Heal Berries, a Goat Doll, and Lucky Card.

 

The first appearance for the Wild Arms series veteran, Bad News, and is quite a jump in difficult from the last; heavily focusing on physical attacks. First turn: have Rudy use Phaser or Rocket Launcher, Cecilia cast Hi-Shield, and Jack use Divide Shot. Follow up with the same on the second turn. When Rudy has enough Force, he should activate Protector, Cecilia should focus on casting Hi-Heal or Remedy until she can High Summon Raftina, and Jack continuing to use Divide Shot until it starts doing under 9999 damage, then summon Justine or use Sonic Vision. Jack can also use Trickster to try to pilfer a Secret Sign from him. For stopping afterwards, the party can be rewarded with a Power, Mystic, Hardy, and Agile Apple, along with five Potion Berries.

Javawalk, in my opinion, is a lot easier than Bad News. Start the battle with: Rudy using Phaser or Rocket Launcher and building toward Fury Shot with Wild Bunch, Cecilia casting Hi-Shield twice, and Jack using Divide Shot until it begins to do under 9999 damage, then switching to Magnum Fang. Jack can also try to steal an Ambrosia. Between healing, Cecilia should cast Armor Down and prepare for High Summoning Raftina. If you quit after this battle, you will receive three Secret Signs, 10 Magic Carrots, and an Ambrosia.

 

The last fight is MUCH more difficult. Cecilia needs to cast Slow Down immediately, with Rudy using Phaser to build up to activate Protector, and Jack using Divide Shot. With Protector activated, you should only need to worry about Riversiders Brutal Attack that will more-than-likely instantly kill a character. To avoid this, once Cecilia has cast Slow Down, begin to cast Life Guard on each character, which will auto-revive them if they fall. Between healing, if she has a free turn, cast Hi-Shield or Hi-Flame for offense. Once Divide Shot begins to do less than 9999, Jack should switch to Magnum Fang, and Rudy should Fury Shot with Bazooka, this time. The Riversider also holds another Secret Sign, if you are brave enough to try to steal it from him.

After completing all four battles, you will be rewarded with a Duplicator, 3 Nectars, and a Full Libra accessory. Also, all of these Arena battles can be repeatedly any number of times to maximize the results you want. This is a great way to farm Secret Signs to lower Jack's fast draws to 1MP usage as well as the stat-raising Apples.

 

There's one last thing I want to cover before we head off for the final dungeon. To the east of the Ancient Arena, there is a trio of small islands. I'm sure you've heard from several places during the game about a magic key factory on an island that was destroyed. Well, this is the place. At first, it appears there is nothing here but the same enemies from around the Ancient Arena, but...

 

Occasionally, the extremely dangerous, alien-like Hayokontons appear. It is essential either Cecilia cast Lock State every three turns or you equip all your characters with Full Libras to survive these battles. Being immune to their barrage of status effects renders them mostly harmless, however, they have a large amount of HP. The important thing here is Jack can steal Duplicators from them, which they will also drop. This is the only place in the game, outside of treasure or the Ancient Arena, you can obtain extra Duplicators. You'll need to be persistent though: they are difficult to steal and finishing them with Lucky Shot is even more frustrating. Thankfully, you won't need any additional Duplicators for the final two dungeons, however, you will need several to 100% complete the game.

Hayokontons also reward the party with 40,000 EXP and nearly as much Gella. Needless to say, if you're going to get to level 99, farming some Lucky Cards and using them against the Hayokontons is your best spot in the game for leveling up. With that said, make absolutely sure you are prepared, as in the next chapter, the final dungeon and decisive battle with the demons is at hand.