Tales of Symphonia - Chapter 13: The Lightning Pact

Inside the Toize Valley Mine, the Papal Knight's tampering has caused the Defense System to malfunction and the only way inside is through it. Don't be intimidated by the size and number of enemies; it is a really simple boss battle. First off, make sure Raine distributes Magic Lens around to the Defense System, Orbit, and Auto Repair Unit; the Guard Arm cannot be targeted and dies with the Defense System so it is automatically added to the Monster List. Have everyone target the Repair Unit first, then focus on the Orbits, which are, basically, just Raybits. With those three gone, the rest of your characters will gang up on the Defense Unit itself for big combos. It'll try to send out the Guard Arms to damage you, but it's doubtful to be any serious threat before you deplete the Defense System's HP. Note, however, that a Unite Attack will not work on the Defense System, so use your gauge on one of the other pieces. When the Defense System falls, you'll obtain a Metal Sphere and four pieces of Mythril.

 

New Monsters within the Toize Valley Mine: Red Bat, Rock Golem, Red Roper, Basilisk, Roller Snail, Bacura

 

Red Bats were found outside in the forests, but are commonly found within the Mine, also. It's a bit tricky to time, but Colette can nab Energy Tablets from them. If you choose Kratos over Zelos later on, and "hunny" hunting becomes unavailable, this will be your best place to pick up Energy Tablets.

 

Red Ropers drop the Rosemary item that increases Accuracy +1. They are the only normal enemy in the game that can drop this item, to note. Don't use them, however, and transform them into the better Red Rosemary item (+3 Accuracy) with a Rune Bottle. This will be your source for Red Rosemary, too, since no enemy carries it.

 

Occasionally, from the beholder-looking monster icon, you will encounter the magical, block-like Bacura. They have a total of 255 HP, but every attack, no matter how strong, only deals 1 damage. The issue is, you've only got about 33 seconds to inflict 255 hits or it will escape. You will, however, still receive some Grade even if it escapes. To make matters worse, Unison Attacks won't connect, so you won't be able to rely on those for additional hits. If you want a cheap method just to get it added to the Monster List, use an Hourglass, otherwise, it's going to take some strategy. 

 

Form a party of Lloyd, Colette, Genis, and Sheena. Control Lloyd and make use of his Raining Tiger Blade for the maximum amount of hits; or, if you're high enough level, and on the Technical side of the T/S line, Sword Rain: Beta will work, as well. Set Colette's Torrential Para Ball or Hammer Rain to one of Lloyd's C-button shortcuts, and Genis' Cyclone/Ground Dasher or Thunder Arrow to the other. Continuously perform the above techs, over and over, with Sheena, hopefully, chipping in with her usual high combo count and using Pineapple Gels when needed. You need speed, efficiently, and a bit of luck to defeat it in time. If you do manage to defeat it, you'll get 1000 Gald and 5 Grade. Some like to use this to farm Grade, but I think it's a bit unreliable. When you can return to Sylvarant, quick battles in the Iselia Forest provide more Grade in a timely manner, in my opinion, but you decide which works best for you.

Onto the dungeon, look for new skits "Mine from Ancient Times" and "Machines That Are Still Alive" and return back to the entrance room. To the upper-right is a treasure with a Sage to procure, then to the lower-left, between the two abandoned mining carts, is a semi-hidden one containing a EX Gem Lv1.

 

Beyond the Defense System, examine the large boulder to the upper-left for a small scene with Sheena, then switch on the control panel to the east to activate the lift from the other side. Ride it eastward and enter the room for a scene with Regal explaining we need to find a special item the miners used to remove the giant rocks. Take the lift back to the previous end, then turn the control panel off to slow down the progression of the lift. Back on the lift, with careful precision, use the Sorcerer's Ring's fire to hit the switch on the scaffolding to direct the lift northward. There's a sealed door here, with retinal scanner, that seems to be important, but surprisingly, we can never enter and it is just here for storyline purposes found out later. One of the monsters in the area provides you a Memory Gem, as well.

Descending the piston-driven elevator, to the right-side, there's a hidden treasure at the back of the mine carts with a Crescent Ax for missing Presea. This weapon is unique, so don't sell or customize with it! At the lower-right-end is a Sorcerer's Ring altar that transforms the effect into a bomb of pure mana. This activates the skit "Bomber Ring" and allows us to advance further in the dungeon. Don't let it detonate near you, however, because it deals damage to the entire party.

 

Climb the mound to the western-end of the bottom floor to pick up two great weapons: the light-based Saint Rapier for Lloyd and Sand Saber for Zelos; both of which are one-of-a-kind. The Sand Saber being earth elemental, extends Zelos' Fierce Demon Fang tech into Grave Blade with 200 usages; like the Earth Dagger previously did. Having scooped up the three weapons, take the lift back topside and bomb the boulder you examined earlier. However, you need to go back down and transform the Ring's effect back to fire before crossing the gap. Use it to flip the lift switch one last time, then return to the bottom floor to re-obtain the mana bomb effect.

Back to the eastern-side of the Mine, destroy the boulder to access a new area. A skit will occur here called "I'm Tired of Mines". Search around in the alcove to the left of the slime-looking monster icon to find Iron Greaves for Regal; another unique weapon. Note: None of the control panels in this area do anything, so you can just ignore them.

 

Continue north from the Iron Greaves, take your first right, and down the makeshift slope. Look in the right-hand-corner of the pit for the Battlesuit for Lloyd or Zelos; a unique piece of armor. Use the north path, just off the wooden ramp, follow it a ways, then use another ramp leading down to your right. Plunder the chest in the lower-right-corner to obtain a Silk Robe for either Raine or Sheena; I personally picked Sheena due to the slight Luck increase it provides. It is, yet another, one-of-a-kind armor.

In the same section as the Silk Robe, you'll see a tiny, rather rude, Gnomelette running about. Number 1 in the series, apparently. The little squirt demands the group of "losers" provide him a Potion to eat. Give him either a Palma or Mizuho Potion and he'll devour the entire thing and run home. This is actually required to advance the story later on, so make sure you get him one, despite the bruised ego.

 

Move east, out of the Gnomelette section, then southeast past a save point, and follow the path around to the south. Lloyd will activate an Indiana Jones-esque boulder trap and narrowly avoids being squashed! Thankfully, we can turn it off at the switch below, but not yet! Instead, if you aren't using it, switch to Lloyd's Lv2 Personal EX Skill for quicker movement. You find a Bacura in between you and the end of the corridor; that smacks you around dealing damage if you get too close. To get by, you need to use the boulder trap to eliminate it. Slowly walk back toward the trap; having the Bacura follow closely behind you. Eventually, it will stop following at the position in the screenshot above. Move your character into the position seen above, also; any further and the Bacura will move back to its original position. Rush forward and step on the switch, then quickly hide in the small space to the left of the path. The boulder will collide with the Bacura, if you've moved quick enough, shattering it into pieces in the area down below. Now you can activate the switch on the wall to disarm the trap.

Go back and use the piston elevator located before the boulder trap to go down to the level where the Bacura remains are. There are two treasures here for a Thunder Cape accessory and Super Pellets. The Thunder Cape is a fairly rare accessory, boosting both Def and Eva, while providing protection from wind and lightning elements. I traded this out with Zelos' Water Spider, personally. Then, search the fragmented remains of the Bacura to obtain our first Devil's Arms weapon, Colette's Evil Eye. It's useless until much later in the game, but don't miss it! We need it for a scene.

 

Go down the stairs that the Bacura was guarding to end up in the last section of the Mine. Use the lower path, down a wooden plank, to find a EX Gem Lv3 chest, then cross the bridge above. Use the mana bomb to blow open the crates on the far-right to unveil the chest containing the Inhibitor Ore.

With the Inhibitor Ore in our hands, it's time to backtrack out of the dungeon. At the exit, the party encounters Vharley, an Exsphere broker, who, if you'll recall, was talking to Presea in Meltokio. Vharley knows Regal, too, and accuses him of siding with Lloyd's group over the Pope, but it doesn't matter; the Pope was never going to let a "murderer" like Regal go free even if he captured Colette. The smug villain departs and the group wonders if Regal really did commit murder. Regal confirms it is true, but refuses to elaborate any further; leaving his story for another time. Afterward, the skit "You and I are..." between Genis and Regal is available. Return to the EC and head back to Ozette with Raine if your party for Monster List purposes.

 

Note: If curious, we can access a few other areas with the Elemental Cargo, but there is absolutely nothing to find at any of these places currently. Also, we're about to lose Colette for a length of time, so adjust her title for out-of-party levels accordingly.

You find that the Papal Knights have been waiting for you in Ozette. Make sure Raine uses a Magic Lens on the Commander Knight, for sure, and the Cardinal Knight if you haven't in a previous battle. This is your last chance to do so; we'll fight them again one more time, but Raine will not be available. All of the Knights are still weak against lightning, if you want to make short work out of them.

 

The Pope's goons defeated, Colette suddenly collapses in pain. Presea shows up, in a veiled attempt to help, but betrays everyone by knocking Colette out and swinging her ax at the others! The despicable Desian, Rodyle, swoops in with a pair of dragons and abducts Colette! Sheena sends out Corrine to stop them, but only manages to prevent Presea from escaping with him. Regal asks Lloyd to please save Presea, despite her betrayal of you. The kindhearted Lloyd agrees and places the newly-forged Key Crest upon her and she instantly becomes aware and regains her emotional capabilities. Back at her house, she shrieks at what has become of her father...

The party helps Presea to bury her father outside the house. She explains that Vharley was the one that gave her the Exsphere and the experiments began, under the guise of Rodyle and the Pope, in Sybak. Both Presea and Regal ask Lloyd to go with him to rescue Colette from Rodyle. Lloyd can respond either: "Of course." for slight affection increases for Genis, Raine, Sheena, and Zelos, but large ones for Presea and Regal or "What do you think, guys?" for small boosts for Regal and Presea, but large ones for Genis, Raine, and Zelos. Either choice, Kratos makes his presence known. Rodyle has begun to act outside the wishes of Yggdrasill. He doesn't care what happens to Colette, but suggests Lloyd find the Rheairds and head for the eastern skies if he wants to help her, then departs. You're given the option to do a quick jump to Mizuho, but decline. Note: Equip Presea with the Crescent Ax you recently found and a Pretty Ribbon.

 

Go back inside of Presea's home and a bear carved out of wood has somehow appeared here. It's actually the Wonder Chef! This time, he teaches you to make the recipe Gratin. It boosts the party's Accuracy for the next battle. There are two new skits to view now, as well, "Colette's Secret" and "I'm Not a Kid".

Exit out of Ozette and over to Altessa's House. Talk to Tabatha and she'll teach the party another new recipe, Curry. Believe it or not, this is a required part of the story later. Curry recovers a moderate amount of both HP and TP for the party.

 

Back over to Ozette, stay a night at the inn to view the skit "Pray for Colette's Safety", then talk to the lady near the save point. She says a swordsman has been staying here at the inn searching for a special firewood that can melt a material called Aionis; apparently used to forge equipment for gods. Once she drops the name of Kratos, Lloyd has a decision to make. "I'm concerned about this." boosts affection for Colette (If done later), Raine, Kratos, and Regal, but lowers it for Genis, Sheena, Zelos, and Presea. Selecting "It won't do us any good to worry about it." increases affection for Colette, Genis, Sheena, Zelos, and Presea, while lowering it for Raine and Kratos.

 

On the world map, with Colette gone and Presea emotionally available now, there are a slew of skits to work through; one of which is extremely important to view. We're looking for the skit "Poke Poke" to appear involving Presea, Corrine, and Sheena. From viewing, Presea obtains the title of Paw Mania (Int: 50%, TP: 10%) and will result in an additional title for Regal later. This needs to be done immediately, as the title, and as a result, Regal's later one, become missable after the next dungeon. Additional skits include: "Presea's Wish Tag", "Wish Tag from Sacred Wood", "When the Wish Comes True", "Small Hope", and "Reminiscent". With the Paw Mania title, return to Mizuho.

Enter the Chief's house in Mizuho and speak with Tiga. As Kratos eluded, Mizuho has found the location of the Rheairds, however, if we're to make use of them, Sheena is going to have to undergo the test of forging a pact with the Summon Spirit of Lightning, Volt. Sheena's failure to do so in the past is what has led to the coma condition of the current Chief, Igaguri, and killed countless other Mizuho residents; including the parents of Orochi and Kuchinawa. The thought of this happening again causes Sheena to flee the room and the party separates.

You can talk to your party members around the small hamlet, but it has no bearing on affection values. Sheena is in the northwest of the village, by the Jizuo statues. She's terrified of the past repeating, but both Corrine and Lloyd promise to protect her if things go wrong this time, which eases some of her fears and the party regroups to make the journey to the Temple of Lightning. After the scene, look for the skit "Sheena's Real Name" and on the world map, "Pact with Volt". Make your way to the EC pier near Ozette and sail directly north to the small island the Temple is located on. There are no new monsters on the island, so go ahead and enter the dungeon.

 

A reminder, for those that may care about this sort of thing, at the end of the Temple of Lightning, Sheena loses the Summon: Corrine tech. If you want to maximize its usages, you need to do so now.
 

New Monsters in the Temple of Lightning: Lightning Bird, Gold Slime, Thunder Sword, Gold Skeleton, Lamia

 

Most all of the monsters within the Temple of Lightning carry some form of rare item, however, I'm going to cover them when Colette is back with us to make things easier. I will note here, though, to look for Purple Quartz that are dropped by the Lightning Birds. It's the only monster in the game that carries this item and only as a drop. You can use these to add the thunder element to your weapon in battle.

Upon entering, look for new skits "Do Your Best!" and "Beautiful Mutual Trust" to occur, then move straight forward, climbing the stairs, and step on the button in front of the lightning rod for a scene. Coming in contact with lightning, of course, causes HP damage to the entire party. Use the stairs to the right and activate the lightning rod there to draw the strikes from the middle one; then return to the middle rod and bring it down. Finally, return to the right-sided rod and disable it. Step on the middle button one more time for lightning to strike the left-sided rod that sents out a spark destroying the block allowing you to access the Sorcerer's Ring altar.

 

The altar grants a bluish lightning effect we will be using to solve the puzzles of the dungeon. With it, at the crosswalk before the stairs, move to the eastern-end and use the Ring on the blue-colored blocks to destroy them and acquire the Silver Guard armor in the chest for Presea. Then, use the middle stairs to climb to the next floor.

Using either flight of stairs to the east or west, ascend to the top to discover an altar with three different-colored blocks stacked on top of each other. Use the blue lightning to destroy the bottom block, then, back down the stairs, destroy the block in front of the center door to advance inward.

 

You'll come out in a giant room; the bottom half filled with water and lightning raining down onto a raised spire. Use the stairs to try to go down into the water for a small scene with Raine and Presea. There's also a blue block against the wall to the left-side you can destroy, but it only releases a monster to fight. There's a small opening there, too, but it's inaccessible. Wasn't this the idea Zelos had to use the shrinking effect for outside the Meltokio sewers? Anyway, Climb the western stairs and enter the door. Depending on your TV/monitor's brightness setting, navigating through these dark rooms can be easy or a nuisance waiting for the lightning strikes to light your way. Thankfully, if you slip off the side in the dark, you can tap A to regain your balance. Falling off can create a shortcut to the bottom levels, however.

 

At the top, one of the monsters in the area will drop a Memory Gem, and examine the strange-looking machine to the upper-eastern-side for another small scene. The skit "Beware of Lightning" should occur here afterward, then exit to the southwest. Proceed through this next portion carefully; failure to do so will cause you to have to leave the dungeon and restart. As a point, don't raise the lightning rod on each level until you destroy the aerial blue block, dropping its treasure below. Once you've destroyed the block as seen in the screenshot, activate the spire to destroy the platform and fall to the level below where you can open the chest with an EX Gem Lv3.

Destroy the dangling blue block here, to the left-side this time, and raise the spire to reach the next level. The chest contains a Duel Helm for Lloyd or Zelos. Since Zelos is using the Omega Shield, I decided to give him the Duel Helm over the Cleric's Hat.

 

There are two blocks to destroy on the next level; to the right-side, and lower-left. Blast them, activate the lightning rod to drop down, then raise the spire here to direct the lightning strikes away from the water below. Grab the chest containing a Thunder Scepter for Raine and enter the door to the east.

You're in another dark, lightning-lit room, but there's a treasure chest hidden here. After descending the second set of stairs, use the path to the right, that leads under the walkway you just passed over, and search for a Spirit Bottle item. Once you have it, deliberately fall off the side to easily reach the lower levels.

 

Return to the large room with the water filling the below level. Wade through the water to the elevated platform on the right with another Ring altar. This morphs the lightning effect into a yellow color. Back out of the water, climb the stairs to the left again, cracking open the EX Gem Lv2 chest that dropped from above. Enter the door and you'll need to work your way back to the eastern-side of the dungeon again; across the room with the strange machine, through the dark room that had the Spirit Bottle, then deactivate the lightning rod that drew the strikes out of the water. Once you have, fall off the ledge in the dark room to return to the central room.

Back out to the first room of the Temple, use the yellow lightning effect to destroy the blocks to the lower-left and nab the Shining Star weapon for Genis.

 

In the central room again, climb the stairs to the left-side, destroying the yellow blocks in front of the door on your way to the top. Remove the yellow block from the bottom of the altar, then enter the eastern door just down the stairs to the right. Pass through the lightning-lit room and blast the floating yellow block to drop the lightning rod down on the machine underneath it.

 

The machine is to the right of the save point in the water-floored room. Extend the spire to have lightning strike it, providing power. This also powers the machine on the top floor. Note: If lightning did not strike the rod, you still need to lower the one topside; next to the dark room that held the Spirit Bottle.

The puzzle involving the machine on the top floor can be a bit frustrating if you're unsure of how it works. Basically, starting from the point of the machine itself, it sends out a surge of electricity through the rods that extend upward; the destination is determined by the yellow bricks that hold up conduits connecting the electricity to the next rod. If you destroy the blocks, the conduit is also lost, and the electricity cannot pass through to the rod next to it. So, we have to strategize what blocks to destroy to force the electricity to flow to the top of the rod we want it to.

 

Destroy the set of yellow blocks at the top upper-left, leaving things as seen in the screenshot above. This will drop a treasure chest down that we can't get just yet.

Using the screenshot, set the puzzle up like so, then activate the machine. The surge of electricity will trigger a boulder trap to fall from above, destroying the bridge down below, but allowing us a way to access the lower area. Any of the other puzzle options result in a monster dropping down on your party or them being hit with a lightning strike. Using the broken bridge to move below, grab the Battle Cloak armor for Regal, that is in the chest that dropped down previously, and enter the door at the bottom of the room. Use the Sorcerer's Ring altar to be able to create red lightning.

 

With the reddish lightning, hike back to the entrance room and destroy the red blocks to the lower-right; accessing the Ex Gem Lv3 treasure chest.

 

In the central area with the altar, use the door on the western-side of the stairs, that previously had yellow blocks in front of it. Climb to the top and out of the dark room, blasting the red blocks outside to grab the Power Greaves weapon for Regal.

Make sure to go back and save before preceding to the central altar and destroying the final red block at the top. I highly recommend bringing a party of Lloyd, Raine, Genis, and Sheena and suggest equipping the Thunder Cape and Paralysis Charm accessories to add additional lightning protection for the upcoming boss, also. Lloyd or Regal cooking Meat Stew in preparation is not a bad idea, either.

After removing the three colored blocks, extend the spire to draw out the Summon Spirit, Volt. It speaks an unknown language, but thankfully, Raine can translate for Sheena. Volt had a pact with Mithos, just like the Summon Spirits in Sylvarant did, but it's long since been broken. It's not interested in forging a new pact, either, due to lost faith in humanity. Sheena draws her cards for battle anyway in insistence, but Volt sends the entire party scattering with lightning strikes. Volt goes to attack a stunned Sheena, but Corrine jumps in the path of the lightning; protecting her. Lloyd continues to shield Sheena from Volt's aggression while she says goodbye to her Spirit friend. It looks as if Volt is only going to listen to a show of force.

 

Hopefully you brought along that Thunder Cape and Paralysis Charms because this is going to be a tough boss. Any melee fighter is in perpetual danger of Volt discharging lightning all around him, causing heavy damage to anyone near the Spirit. This is why I suggested bringing Raine and Genis to fight from a distance. Have Raine keep Acuteness or Keenness cast on your frontline fighters at all times. Volt has no elemental weakness, but Genis can rely on spells like Atlas or Ice Tornado. Watch for Sheena to enter Overlimit to get a pick-me-up from summoning Undine, also. 

 

Be mindful in using your Guardian skills; even manually ordering your characters to use them to defend from Volt's magic. This is particularly useful for any melee fighter about to be caught in his close-range, Indignation spell. You can anticipate it by watching for the blue ring underneath him, ordering the Guardian skill, and attempting to backstep out of range with your controlled character. Lloyd can use his Tempest and Tiger Blade series of techs to maximum advantage here, and like always, knowing when to combo and defend is your greatest key to victory. For winning, Volt coughs up an Emerald Ring accessory that cuts a character's TP consumption by 1/3. Excellent! Swap this out with Lloyd's Spirit Bangle when you have the opportunity.

Defeated, Volt speaks for Sheena to make her vow, and on Corrine's sacrifice, she does. Undine appears out of the blue and proclaims that a mana link between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla has been severed. Neither Undine or Volt knows for sure what this means for the future, but it appears inevitable that the two worlds will be split apart if all of the mana links are broken. The party wonders if perhaps this is the way we can save both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla from Yggdrasill's endless cycle.

You then receive the Corrine's Bell item and unique Sardonyx accessory. It provides protection against lighting attacks and unending thunder element to your attack. You can use this to continuously activate Lloyd's Lightning Thrust and Tiger techs, also. Sheena gains the techs T. Seal: Lightning, that imbues temporary lightning element to a character's attack, and Summon: Lightning. Used in Overlimit mode, Volt blasts everything around his summon point with lightning for huge damage and gives the party temporary immunity to physical status effects. Sheena also is credited with the new title of Summoner (Int: 30%, TP:10%).

 

Before leaving, look for the new skit "For Depressed People" to occur. You'll meet Orochi at the Temple entrance who tells you the location of the Rheairds; located at a Renegade Base within an icy fiord to the southeast. On the world map, view the skit "Thank You, Corrine" and sail the Elemental Cargo southeast to the numerous snowy cliffs in the ocean. Navigate around them, very similar to trying to find the White SeeD Ship in Final Fantasy VIII, while looking for a tiny white dot on the map, to find the location of the Rheairds just off a pier: the Tethe'alla Base.