North of Hakonesia Peak are a multitude of diverging paths that branch off to different areas with a House of Salvation planted in the middle. Make a quick stop at the House of Salvation and have Colette name the stray dog, Monmon, and take a rest to view the skit "Human Ranch".
New Monsters in the Asgard/Luin area: Harpy, Velocidragon, Dragon Rider, Wyvern (Plains), Marcroid, Insect Plant (Forests)
While an upcoming dungeon offers a better opportunity to obtain the item, the consistent Harpy in the area drop Green Quartz. Like the other Quartz items, this can only be obtained through a limited amount of methods, and while not particularly useful, it is rare, and this is your best, consistent place to find it.
There are two, fairly rare monster encounters in this area, as well. On the grassy plains, from the large enemy icons, you will sometimes be thrown into a fight with a Wyvern. More difficult than a basic encounter, the Wyvern is only of note for its rarity.
In the forest areas, just as rare, and from the large enemy icon like the Wyvern, you'll occasionally find the massive Insect Plant to add to your Monster List.
Take the pathway continuing north, away from the House of Salvation, and up a small slope to find Lake Umacy. The party can see a unicorn deep beneath the Lake, but Raine speculates we will need a Summoner to reach it.
Back down the slope, move northeast, hugging the shoreline, and you'll find Nova's Caravan in the distance. West of the Caravan, you'll see a light ring for a Raine skit. Have Lloyd answer: "I see..." to increase Raine's affection, or "Don't try to console me." for her values to remain unchanged.
Finding the next light ring can be a bit difficult. Hug the mountains northeast, away from Nova's Caravan. Eventually, there will be a small pathway carved between the mountain range that leads to a small alcove with a Colette skit. Choose: "What's wrong?" to boost her affection with Lloyd, or "I'll just leave her alone." for no change. Our next destination is Luin, the City of Hope. It's southwest of where you found Colette's light circle, passing the Asgard Human Ranch, and surrounded by a lake.
It's important that we visit Luin first as there are a few missable scenes and some items that can be obtained early, but only for a limited amount of time. Stay at the inn, the first nearby building, where the mystery intruder from both Triet and Palmacosta will be after Kratos this time. It's never revealed, but it is widely-speculated that this is Yuan, the leader of the "Desians" from the Sylvarant Base, attempting to either kidnap or assassinate Lloyd, Colette, and Kratos for reasons that will be revealed much later.
Next door to the inn is the weapon/armor shop. Most of these can be gotten elsewhere, but the important item is the Rabbit's Foot accessory that increases a character's Luck; one of the few items in the game that can. You've got a very small window to purchase this item, then it will become unavailable until the end of the game when it can be customized. I recommend equipping one on Colette to increase her chances of stealing items, if you aren't using her EX Skill that guarantees success. If you prefer to buy items than customize them, you may consider a Gold Circlet for Raine; it won't be available to purchase until later in the game, but we can customize for it in the next city. If for whatever reason you want an additional Stun Bracelet, this is also your chance to purchase them until later in the game.
There is also a customization shop here. Create an additional Duel Star, then turn it into a Falling Star weapon for Genis. In addition, customize for two Ruby Wands for Raine. The other items available we'll talk about in the next city. Whatever you do, do NOT create an Osafune or Hydra Dagger as it will result in the loss of the unique weapons Mumei and Stiletto. We will be purchasing these weapons instead.
From the shops, move across the bridge to the southwest to another area of the city. Enter the first building on your right, with the sign outside of it; the item shop. In the corner is a giant pig that reveals the Wonder Chef! He'll teach the group to make the Seafood Stew recipe. While not missable, if you don't get this recipe now, you will have to wait until later on in the game. Seafood Stew not only restores some TP, but also increases the defense of the party, temporarily, for the next battle. The item shop contains just your basic items for sale and is nothing special.
Cross another bridge to the west to find the assassin girl, Sheena, playing with some kids. When approached, Lloyd can say: "You're actually pretty nice." to please Sheena, but upset Raine, with "You're kind of cute." boosting Sheena's affection by more than the first, but lowering Colette's.
That's all we can do in Luin, for now, so back out to the world map. Southwest of Luin, amongst the litter of forests, you'll see a slope that leads to a raised area with more forests. In this area, to the west, you'll find a light circle for a skit with Kratos. Answer: "That's true." for increased affection, or "You're no fun." for no change at all.
Also, to the west of Luin, is a bridge to another part of the continent, but if you look to the north of it you'll find this region's Guidepost Monument to activate.
From the Monument, wrap around the mountain to the northeast to locate the Tower of Mana. Check inside for a scene, but even though this is one of the Seals, the party cannot get in yet, so we'll have to come back later.
Outside the Tower of Mana, on a piece of land jutting out into the ocean, is a chest with an EX Gem Lv2 inside. Now, to continue the story, retrace your steps to the House of Salvation, then a little ways southwest to the city of Asgard.
No relation to THAT Asgard, however...
Lots more shopping to do in Asgard. Climb the stairs next to the inn and enter the first building on your left. New, and old, recipe ingredients are for sale. Of most note are the three colored Satay spices. I highly recommend stocking up on these as not very many shops carry them and they are additions to several recipes.
Up from there, past the mural cave entrance, is the weapon/armor shop. Purchase THREE Slicer Rings and FIVE Hydra Daggers from the weapon dealer. You read that right: three Slicers and five Hydra Daggers. They will be a key weapon materials going forward.
To the right-side is the armory. Pick up Iron Helms for Lloyd and Kratos, but not Ring Mails. We can steal Ring Mails from an enemy in the next dungeon. An extra Mage Cloak that will be used later for customization. An Iron Gauntlet for Lloyd, and Kitchen Mittens for Colette and Raine. You can customize for the Iron Gauntlet later, but in my opinion, it's a waste. Paralysis Charms are available, too, protecting against the paralysis effect and offering slight protection against lightning magic; you'll find one soon, but for a difficult boss later, buy two additional ones.
The old man to the left of the armory, that you need to speak to from the side, is the customization shop. You can exchange Grade for materials at the shop, and the Grab Bag, that contains the exact same items as the one in Palmacosta. We need Black Silver to create a lot of the stuff here, which we'll have access to in the next dungeon. For now, create a Mystic Ring for Colette, Earth Rod for Raine (Which is weaker than the Ruby Wand), three Earth Daggers for Kratos, the Yayoi for a future party member, and one Gold Circlet for Raine. You can make the White Robe for Raine, too, but we'll find one in a treasure chest in an upcoming dungeon. Colette will find a better helmet than the Gold Circlet in the next dungeon, also. Note: With the Earth Dagger equipped, if Kratos knows the Fierce Demon Fang tech and has 200 usages, it will transform into the more powerful, earth elemental Grave Blade when used.
Further north is the Katz team, so take the stone steps you passed down to an item vendor and the dog, Hal, for Colette to give a name. The item shop is basic besides the new Stone Charm for sale that protects against being petrified and slight resistance to earth. You'll find one in a chest eventually, so it's not a required buy. There's a more expensive inn nearby, but nothing to do there at the moment.
Continue to the eastern-end of town, passing a third inn. There's another stray dog running around for Colette, Murry, in the lower-portion of the residential area.
Climb the stone stairs leading to the second level and enter the right-side house; then climb the stairs in the back to the top floor. Examine the record player-looking thing to bring out the Wonder Chef. He'll teach the party to cook Meat Stew. Similar to the Seafood Stew, this recipe recovers a small amount of HP and temporarily boosts attack power for the upcoming battle.
Make your way back to the previous section of Asgard; this time exiting far to the north, and ascending the large set of stairs for a scene. Raine will enter professor mode and start ranting about the importance of the Asgard stone dais and Lloyd will be free to roam around. Around the back he finds two villagers: Harley and Linar, who have create a bomb to blow the dais up! Raine, somehow, manages to overhear the conversation and kicks the crap out of both of them while accidentally arming the bomb! For whatever reason, Lloyd has the skill to disarm it, but Asgard's nameless Mayor will show up and kick everyone out of the dais area. Try to approach the ruin again for a small scene with the crotchety Mayor.
Head back to the eastern-end of town and into the house you learned the Meat Stew recipe. Harley, Linar, and Aisha are inside. Aisha thanks the group for stopping their reckless plan. Apparently, Aisha is to be sacrificed to the Summon Spirit of Wind that inhabits the stone dais, but something smells fishy.
Go back to the stone dais and attempt to talk to the Asgard Mayor again. Raine will nonchalantly volunteer to take Aisha's place as the sacrifice and the group will return to Aisha and Linar's house to prepare for the ceremony. Of course, performing the dance, Raine releases a boss and not the Summon Spirit!
Despite being a Windmaster, this thing isn't weak against earth, for whatever reason, just to get that out of the way. While it can cast Wind Blade, the Windmaster's offense comes primarily from physical attacks; so keep him occupied with Lloyd and Kratos while the others chip away at his HP, avoiding wind spells, of course. The boss being air-bound, Lloyd's Tempest or more powerful versions, Omega/Psi Tempest, is best used, then followed up with a perfectly-timed Unison Attack for a large combo. For winning the party receives the Talisman accessory that increases a character's Defense by 5%. If like me, you got a Guardian Symbol from the Grab Bag and gave it to Colette, the Talisman is a good accessory for Genis to replace his Cape. If you didn't get a Guardian Symbol, equip the Talisman on Colette.
The imposter Spirit having been vanquished, Harley congratulates his fellow "half-elf", Genis, which label doesn't sit too well with our boy wonder. Make your way back to Aisha and Linar's home on the eastern-end of town to find that Raine has already deciphered the Map of Balacruf, that is then added to your inventory. With this in hand, we can enter the Seal of Wind at the Balacruf Mausoleum. The skit "Leave it to Me" will pop-up as the party attempts to leave Asgard.
However, before you leave, stop by the inn to the north of the item shop, costing 400 Gald, and stay the night. Kratos will offer Lloyd another opportunity to train with him. Accept for an increase in relationship, or decline for a drop in affection. Also, to note, if you didn't see the intruder scene with Colette in Palmacosta, you can see it at the inn on the eastern-edge of town here, too, randomly. Having trained with Kratos, the skit "Qualifications as a Teacher" becomes available on the world map, as well.
The Balacruf Mausoleum is far to the east of Asgard and Hakonesia Peak; across a bridge, on a solitary island. Explore the western-side of the island to find a chest with a Strike Ring inside. This one-of-a-kind accessory, for the most part, is fairly useless, but it's the only one in the game. Basically, when equipped, it gives a +1 to a character's tendency to fall to the Strike side of the Tech-Strike line. For example: say the character has two Strike and two Technical EX Skills equipped, with the Strike Ring equipped, instead of the line staying neutral, it will lean to the Strike side.
On the outskirts of the Mausoleum, Raine will be barely able to control her excitement as they approach the ruins. There's a dog here, but it isn't a stray, so Colette won't be able to name it. However, plunder the 1800 Gald chest on the left-side of the area, behind a traveler. To the north, the party will slide the Map of Balacruf into position (Stays in your inventory) and Colette will open the way inside. Note: Before completing the next dungeon, make sure you've been to Luin first.
New Monsters Within the Balacruf Mausoleum: Skeleton, Wind Element, Melting Pot, Gargoyle, Arachnid
If you saved your Gald and didn't purchase Ring Mails in Asgard, you can now get them for free by having Colette pilfer the Skeleton enemies to outfit Lloyd and Kratos. Harpies appear here and Wind Elements also drop Green Quartz in the Mausoleum.
Of most importance is to be on the lookout for the Gargoyle monsters. Not only can they potentially drop White Silvers, but Colette can steal the customization item, Black Silver, from them. Try to pick up at least four of these for future needs.
Note: Like the previous two Seal dungeons, the Balacruf Mausoleum is a
temporarily-available dungeon and you should loot it of its items and
add the monsters to the Monster List as soon as you can. I will,
however, warn you about this later on.
The Balacruf Mausoleum is a rather short dungeon, and the puzzle aspect, consisting of lighting torches to read lithographs, can be largely ignored since it is just clues as to the solution of the preeminent puzzle. Also, you'll need to use Lloyd's Lv2 EX Skill "Personal" to get safely by a few of the spike traps without taking damage. From the entrance, take a right over to a save point, a torch that cannot be lit because of the wind gusts, and a chest with a Beast Fang inside. Move to the far-left-side now, carefully passing over the spiked trap, and defeat the enemy on the nearby stairs to pick up a Memory Gem. If you want, you can push the block from the top down to the bottom floor and use it to obstruct the gust of winds coming from the wall; this allows you to light the torch near the save point.
Once you have the Memory Gem, return right and take the corridor north with the spikes contracting from the walls. Quickly move past them and follow the linear path to a sealed door with two torches on the side that can be lit with the Sorcerer's Ring. This opens the way to the center of the Mausoleum. Don't enter, however, but move down the stairs and to the eastern-end of the dungeon. You can push the nearby block over to stop more wind gusts if you want to light the torches and read the lithographs. To the north of the eastern-side are chests with a Blue Ribbon and Iron Guard for Colette, and to the south, a Beast Hide treasure.
Move back to the sealed door you opened, but search the Sorcerer's Ring altar below the stairs to be able to generate your own gust of wind before exiting through it. You'll see a scene of Sheena hot on your trail; being able to evade Noishe, this time. In the next room are multiple pinwheels of varying colors. To solve the puzzle, we need to use the Sorcerer's Ring's new ability to spin them in a specific order. Use the Sorcerer's Ring on the colored fans in this order: Blue, red, yellow, white, and green. A hole in the wall to the left will be exposed with an enemy and chest with another Blue Ribbon. I wouldn't equip this to Raine, however. Exit the room and then renter to reset.
This time: Red, green, yellow, white, and blue. This reveals another monster and an EX Gem Lv2 item. Lastly: Red, yellow, green, white, and blue. This opens the door to the Seal. Heal yourself up and prepare for a boss on the other side.
Colette's next challenge, The Iapyx, is a bit harder than the Windmaster, but not by much, and is a very similar battle. Since it's semi-aerial, Lloyd's Tempest or Omega/Psi Tempest tech to keep it off-balanced is your best attack. It's not weak against earth, either, but strong against wind and lightning, so keep Genis and/or Kratos from casting spells of that element. Use Lloyd to guard and counterattack efficiently and be prepared to use Guardian if it manages to get off the Air Thrust spell and it's just a matter of whittling down its HP. When defeated, the party gains a Paralysis Charm and Spirit Bangle. The Spirit Bangle is the TP equivalent of the Heal Bracelet: restoring some TP when the equipped character defeats an enemy.
The third Seal released, the angel Remiel grants Colette another piece of the angels' power in the form of the Holy Song spell. This is one of the best spells in the game; albeit uses a lot of TP early on. It boost the entire party's physical attack and defense temporarily during battle and it can be stacked with Raine's boosts, as well! On the way out, look for the skit "Traps in Ruins" to activate. Before we can make it to the save point though, we're going to be pitted against another boss. I highly recommend that Lloyd cooks either Meat or Seafood Stew to give the party a bit of an edge at the beginning of the battle.
Sheena's back, but this time has leveled from a Clumsy Assassin to a Resolute one and is a lot tougher than the last time. Forget about her buddy, the Lightning Guardian, and focus your attacks squarely on Sheena as she is the biggest threat. Have Colette cast Holy Song and Raine use Sharpness/Barrier on everyone; you may even consider a Guard Bottle on anyone targeted by Sheena. Try to get Lloyd to stun her into a Unison Attack starting with Sword Rain: Alpha or Sonic Sword Rain. The sooner you take out Sheena, the better off you will be, but be mindful that she will go into Overlimit mode and become even more powerful when low on HP. When Sheena falls, the Guardian is an easy 4v1. Neither have strengths of weaknesses, to note.
Having lost again, our friendly assassin spouts some nonsense about how if Colette regenerates the world, that her world will be destroyed. Kratos seems to know what she's talking about, but he ain't talkin' right now. Outside the Mausoleum, Colette will have another accident from the ongoing Angel Toxicosis and the group will make camp. That night, Lloyd will trick Colette into revealing that in addition to not being able to eat or sleep, that with the third Seal's release, she can no longer feel anything at all. Not wanting to worry the others, she makes Lloyd promise to keep it a secret. Back on the world map, look for two new skits to become available: "That's Enough" and "Assassin with Kind Eyes" and return to Asgard.
Climb the stairs to the stone dais in Asgard to find the imposters from Palmacosta trying to swindle the Mayor out of money. Linar shows up to confirm that Raine's group is actually the real Chosen's group and the imposters flee, but leave their slow, dim-witted brother behind. Colette wants to let him go, but the choice is Lloyd's. This scene can be done at a variety of different points in the game, with a varying number of party members available. That being said, only the ones in your current party will receive changes in their affections. If Lloyd chooses "Well, all right." this greatly boosts Colette's affection as well as Sheena and Regal's, but drops every other character's, including Kratos/Zelos. Selecting "No." does the exact opposite of the other. After the scene, with Black Silver now, head over to the weapon/armor shop and create a Sinclaire for Lloyd, Silver Sword for Kratos, and buy an additional Kitchen Mittens.
Follow up with a return to Balacruf Mausoleum for yet another scene with the imposter group. No choices this time, though.
Enter Luin and you'll see it has now become the City of Devastation. On the far-side of town, you'll encounter Sheena again; this time, wounded from defending the citizens from a Desian attack. Lloyd asks Raine to please heal her, but she is skeptical that this may be a setup. Suddenly, a priest shows up being pursued by Dorr's monster wife, Clara. Sheena moves in to defend him, but is easily defeated in her already weakened state. Colette manages to ward Clara off once again and Raine reluctantly agrees to heal Sheena. At this point, depending on how high Sheena's affection for Lloyd is, she will ask to join the party in order to save the Luin citizens from the Asgard Human Ranch. Saying "Okay." increases Colette and Sheena's affection, while "No." raises Raine's, but drops Colette and Sheena's. Whether she joins here or not is of not much consequence as she will join regardless in the next area.
After the scene, there will be a skit: "Tragedy in Luin" available. Many new ones with Sheena will begin to pop-up now, too, but I will cover them in the next chapter in case she did not join here for some players. If Sheena did join your party, I recommend equipping her with the Yayoi armor, Blue Ribbon, Kitchen Mittens, a pair of Leather Boots, and the Warrior Symbol Lloyd had equipped, exchanging it for the Spirit Bangle. If you talk to the rescued priest, he also mentions that Clara stole the key to the Tower of Mana from him, but for now, we need to head for the Asgard Human Ranch.
