New Monsters in the Temple of Darkness: Pharaoh Knight, Manticore, Coffinmaster, Druid
We've got four new monsters in the Temple of Darkness to add to our Monster List; two of which carry rare items for us. The humanoid Druids will occasionally drop Savory, a TP+ statistical item, and can be transformed into the better Red Savory with a Rune Bottle. This is the only place in the game to regularly acquire the basic Savory item.
Move past the crystal, to your right, and exit through the door. At the end of the first flight of stairs, search underneath them to find the Headband helmet for the guys that I recommend for Regal. It's a one-of-a-kind item and one of the best for him.
Taking the mini-Shadow with you, which can be frustrating at times, descend the stairs, that previously was blocked by a column, and go to your far-right, past the crystal. You'll be underneath an above platform and can plunder the EX Gem Lv3 chest. A nearby monster will also provide a Memory Gem for you.
Go back up towards the stairs, hopefully with your first blob sticking nearby, and pick up the one that was on the block, too. Use the Sorcerer's Ring to put out the glowing crystal on the right-side, and with the two mini-Shadows in tow, walk down the narrow platform to the lower area; extinguishing the crystal at the bottom. Walk toward the center, near the save point, and if Lloyd makes a comment, the mini-Shadows will stay. Don't worry if they still follow you afterward, if you exit the area, they will return to the waiting space by the save point. Note: With different characters, try shooting the blue crystals with the darkness beam for various quotes.
You'll be back in the large stairwell. Climb back to the exit at the top. A pillar will have extended over the lower area allowing you to crack open the chest with a Shadow Dancer weapon for Genis, a unique item, and gather up another shadowy blob. Once you pass back over the column, the mini-Shadow will stay in place on the other side. From there, go back into the stairwell and enter the Lloyd-only passage again and pull the column out, once more. Return to the previous area topside and collect the two mini-Shadows and walk them along to the western-end. Pull the left-most pillar out, removing the one from the stairs, then corral the two blobs to the gathering area.
Using the stairwell, proceed to the exit at the bottom, that comes out by the save point. Move back up to the area where you pushed the block near the ledge, allowing the blob to get off on the platform. There is a narrow walkway to the east nearby. Pass over the column and collect the final blob, then carefully corral it to the gathering spot. With all five mini-Shadows together, make sure to save your game, then descend to the lower depths of the Temple just beyond the gathering area.
Bringing all five of the mini-Shadows to the bottom altar reforms the Summon Spirit of Darkness. It's a Spirit of few words, so the battle is at hand. Shadow isn't weak against light, so you'll have to make due without any weakness to focus upon here. Its favorite spell is Bloody Lance, a dark-based Holy Lance, that is difficult to avoid and Guardian, but arguably, the worst part about Shadow is his perchance to warp around the battlefield and go instantly after your mages physically. If you're desperate for healing, and it targets Raine/Zelos, don't be conservative in using your Energy Tablets. Besides the ability to warp around, Shadow's not that difficult, just solidify yourself with Holy Song and Field Barrier/Permaguard, and protect your mages at all costs. A good tactic is to save your Unison Attack for when it does go after a caster; this will give ample time for the mage to escape to another area of the battlefield. Equipped Drain Charms will go far in resisting Shadow's magic, too. When Shadow falls, the party is rewarded with a Dark Seal accessory. It boosts a character's received EXP by 50%, but comes with some nasty side-effects like perma Curse status and lowered Defense. You can get around the Curse status, however, by also equipping a Drain Charm with it.
Note: Before leaving for Sylvarant, make sure you've completed the second Sword Dancer battle in Gaoracchia Forest. This becomes missable, and thus the third Sword Dancer battle as well, very soon.
I haven't given an equipment update in a bit. So, here's my current recommendations:
- Lloyd: Elemental Brand/Defenser/Paper Fan, Mythril Armor, Duel Helm, Claw Gauntlet, Blue Sephira/Thunder/Flare/Aqua Cape, Emerald Ring
- Colette: Lunar Ring/Tambourine, Mythril Guard, Pretty Ribbon, Katz Mittens, Rune Cape, Rabbit's Foot
- Genis: Shadow Dancer/Phantasmagoria, Mythril Mesh, Pointed Hat, Mythril Bracelet, Spirit Symbol, Blue Talisman
- Raine: Holy Staff, Ancient Robe, Mythril Circlet, Katz Mittens, Yata Mirror, Blue Talisman
- Sheena: Vajra/Money Bag, Minazuki, Pretty Ribbon, Katz Mittens, Black Onyx, Warrior Symbol
- Zelos: Flame Dagger, Mythril Armor, Duel Helm, Mythril Shield, Flare Cape/Blue Talisman, Rabbit's Foot
- Presea: Mythril Ax/Pow Hammer DX, Mythril Guard, Pretty Ribbon, Claw Gauntlet, Aqua Cape/Blue Talisman, Holy Symbol
- Regal: Mythril Greaves/Glory Arts, Holy Cloak, Headband, Mythril Bracelet, Elven Boots, Blue Talisman
In Triet, a new mini-game is available to play from the middle-aged man near the bulletin board. Come prepared with a way to record video; whether a capture device or your phone. In this game of memory, the regular game is easy enough; things are at a fair pace and you can write down the details of the men to place them in the necessary order. Once you speak to one of the men, the timer stops for the dialogue box, and you can review your notes/video. Complete all the rounds and Lloyd gets a pitiful amount of Gald and it unlocks the ridiculous high-speed mode.
When it comes to high-speed mode, I'll just be blunt: unless you have a crazy photographic memory, you don't have a chance to complete this without recording a video to reference. I know of no other tips to give you; the pace is too quick to effectively write details down. Start recording at the beginning of the game, making sure to memorize the first man's details. Then, quickly talk to the first target to bring up the dialogue box and stop the timer. You're then free to review your video between each target. Later, when there are a multitude of men bunched together, be extremely careful in who you talk to. I drove myself crazy accidentally speaking to the one next to the target and having to do this all over again!
If you can manage to complete all the rounds of high-speed mode, Lloyd is rewarded with the title of Midlife Crisis (Int: 60%, TP: 10%). It's an important title for the Intelligence-deficient Lloyd, giving him his best chance to increase the stat upon leveling up. Note: The amount of identified men plays no factor in obtaining the title; it's simply based upon completion of high-speed mode.
Dropping by Hima, the group runs into Yuan. He seems to be searching for something, but rebukes the party and walks off. This begins a short, but unrewarding, side-quest.
Our next goal is to revive the Linkite Tree and meet the Summon Spirit of Light, Aska. To begin, drop by Nova's Caravan, which is near Hakonesia Peak right now. Ask to review the notes on the glowing bird for a scene confirming we have everything we need. To reference, you need: the Linkite Nut from Nova's daughter, May, the Exsphere Shard from Dirk, and pacts with Gnome/Sylph. If you didn't already forge a pact with Efreet, it's not required for the Linkite Tree, but will be to continue afterward.
The Linkite Tree is northeast of Triet, surrounded by cliffs, with a withered tree as its world map representation. Examine the tree and Sheena will heal the desolate earth with the power of Gnome; followed with Raine breathing life into the tree with her Resurrection spell. Lloyd then uses the Linkite Nut (Stays in your inventory, as does the Exsphere Shard) to fashion the Linkite Ocarina overnight. In the morning, Genis plays the Ocarina and the glowing bird, Aska, appears before the party. It cannot form a pact without Luna, so it departs for the Tower of Mana; our next destination. On the world map, look for new skits: "Where Shall We Live? Tethe'alla Team", "Trust", and "Give the Flute to Mithos".
Also, you'll find Yuan scouring the top of the Fooji Mountains where the Rheairds crashed. The party, again, offers their help to find Yuan's missing object, but he gets aggravated by Colette's air-headed suggestions about what the object is and leaves. He does manage to blurt out that it's a ring he's looking for. Lloyd remembers picking up a ring from the scene when Yuan tried to attack Kratos in Hima.
Before we leave for the Tower of Mana to forge the final Summon Spirit pact, we need to talk about a few things. Once the pact with Luna and Aska is formed, several parts of Sylvarant are altered. Palmacosta, the Triet Ruins, Thoda Geyser (Not Dock), Balacruf Mausoleum, and Tower of Mana are all destroyed and can no longer be entered. As a result, many things then become missable. For details on Palmacosta, head back to Chapter 16. For the dungeons, here is a list of noteworthy things:
- Make sure every treasure chest is opened in all three dungeons.
- Fully complete the entries of the enemies for the Monster List there, too.
- Zelos has "hunnies" to collect at the Thoda Geyser and Balacruf Mausoleum.
- Colette has a stray dog to name at the Thoda Geyser.
- Red Quartz, from monsters at the Triet Ruins, becomes a semi-rare item. To get them regularly afterward, you'll need to use a Rune Bottle on a Blue Quartz gotten in the Temple of Ice.
- Aqua and Green Quartz can still be obtained from monsters outside the Geyser and Mausoleum.
- Thoda Geyser is still the best place to farm Mermaid's Tear, for the moment. A little father into the game, we will find a more suitable enemy for them.
- With the Tower of Mana and Mausoleum gone, the ONLY way you can obtain the White Silver item is from exchanging Grade for them at Grade Shops. Black Silver is still carried by a monster in the Gaoracchia Forest.
Aska arrives shortly after the party does to join Luna in the pact battle. Neither Aska or Luna are overpowering, but together, are formidable. Neither has a weakness, with Luna being strong against light and Aska having protection against all elements but darkness! Aska will attack physically, while Luna throws out Photons frequently, along with a short-range, light-based attack and the area-effective, Ray spell; the latter which is easy to predict and evade. I recommend targeting Luna first, whom has the lowest HP, and you can, potentially, stop its magic, however, watch Aska and make sure it doesn't end up next to one of your mages or quickly rush to defend them. Use Flare Bottles, Raine's Acuteness/Keenness, and Colette's Holy Song to increase your damage output to take one of the Summon Spirits out as quickly as possible. When one falls, the other's fate is easily sealed. Lloyd can make the most out of his Tempest-type techs to combo the aerial enemies here, as well. For winning, you receive a Rare Pellets item and the purchasable Moonstone accessory.
The final pact forged, Sheena learns the techs: S. Seal: Light, that temporarily grants light-based attacks to a character's weapon, and Summon: Light she can use in Overlimit mode. Summon: Light is, basically, on-par with Colette's Holy Judgment special tech, but also boosts the entire party's magic attack temporarily. You obtain the one-of-a-kind Topaz accessory, too, that grants the light element consistently to a character's weapon and protects against light-based attacks.
Note: Unlike the rest of the Ranch dungeons, the Iselia one remains open to explore afterward; minus the enemies. As a warning, this is your last chance in the game to encounter the Whip Master, Bowman, Spearman, Evil Sorcerer, and Raybit monsters. Make sure their entries in the Monster List are complete before defeating the boss.
This dungeon is also unique in the fact it is the only chance where you can use both Kratos and Zelos in the same party. They can even use the Compound Unison Attack, Cross Thrust, but that's the only one available to the two.
Once the decision is made, head north between the shop and refresher. To your left is a room with three treasure chests. They hold the unique Muramasa weapon for Lloyd; which is not dark elemental, even though it looks like it should be, the also one-of-a-kind Cor Leonis weapon for Genis, and later-purchasable Solar Spinner for Colette.
Back to the central room, charge the light blue orbs next to the western door with mana from the Sorcerer's Ring to slide it open. After defeating some guard fodder, the party rescues Chocolat and her fellow prisoners. Lloyd's group will continue on to defeat Forcystus and stop the mana flow, while the secondary group will lead the prisoners outside to safety.
From the stairs, use the middle path next, and charge the door's orbs with mana to reach three more treasure chests. A Rune Guard for either Colette or Presea, Rune Gauntlet for Lloyd or Presea, and one-of-a-kind Hairpin headgear for the ladies. The Rune Gauntlet is nice, particularly for Lloyd with the Intelligence bonus, however, I still prefer to stick with the +50 Attack Claw Gauntlet for both characters, but decide for yourself. For the Hairpin, I would save it for Sheena or equip it on Presea.
Next, move down the stairs to the upper-right, then head down the southern corridor, past a save point, and through the door. The guard here will drop a Memory Gem and you can open the chest to obtain a War Hammer weapon for Presea. If you charge the elevator's orb with mana, you can use it to return to the entrance and use the refresher, if need be. To reach Forcystus, return back to the previous room, making sure to save your game and cook Meat Stew for the party. The coming boss uses wind-based attacks, so equipping the Thunder Cape on Lloyd is recommended, but not the Opal due to it changing your attack to wind elemental, also. Feel free, however, to equip the Opal on Genis or Raine who rarely use their weapons. Prepared, supply the northern door's orbs with mana and use the warp point to enter the control room.
After the battle, whomever has the highest affection of the three with Lloyd will disable the mana flow from the control panel. On your way out, if planning to pick Kratos over Zelos, make sure to switch him back to an appropriate title for out-of-party levels (Conqueror, usually). This is also your final chance to fight the Desian enemies.
Outside the Ranch, everyone gathers to give the order for Sheena and the Renegades to fire the Mana Cannon at the Giant Kharlan Tree. Forcystus emerges from the Ranch and blasts Lloyd from behind! He's finally realized Kratos' identity, and that he's broken the trust of Yggdrasill. He targets Chocolat, but Colette throws herself in front of the blast, exposing an Exsphere-ridden body underneath her clothing. An angry Lloyd then skewers Forcystus, sending him to his grave. Colette is disgusted by what's becoming of her body, but Kratos warns we give the order to Sheena before it's too late.
