Spring has come to the Yraal Region and with it an abundance of fruit and animals to Cedar Woods. Teepo, who has somehow managed to contain his excitement for at least one turn of a season, wants to head down to McNeil and soak in the praise from the townsfolk after taking care of the Nue. McNeil is oddly quiet until villagers emerge from their homes, tools in hand, and surround the young heroes! Gotcha! They were only going to bash your skulls in last season! They're grateful for your efforts with the Nue and the fields are plentiful now. When everyone disperses, head for the item shop and purchase a Wooden Rod and a couple of each type of lure (Worms and Sinkers most important). If you haven't already, make sure our trio is outfitted with Cloth Shields and Brass Helms at the equipment shop, but you won't need another Bronze Sword. Any left over zenny you have, spend on Healing Herbs and Antidotes until you are left with as little as possible, but not zero.
With the season change, some trees at the Yraal Road and the path leading to Mt. Glaus have fruits growing on them. Have Teepo deliver a swift kick to, sometimes, drop a Berries item down; which can be done an infinite number of times, however, on occasion you will get stung by a caterpillar and lose some HP. Berries only recover 5 HP and eventually can be purchased, though, but it's free from the trees.
Note: You can now find Float lures on the random battlefields of the world map which is a more advanced version of the sinker-type, but you can buy them later on.
With near-empty pockets, northwest of McNeil, on the world map, is a ? location in a grove of trees. Our first master, Mygas, is loitering here looking to teach spells to whomever is willing to hand over their entire savings. Thankfully, just the gesture of whatever you have on-hand is enough. Here are some important things to know about masters:
- Skills are taught via a number of level gains while apprenticing under them. They must be consecutive and cannot be staggered with other character's levels also under the master. If you leave the master's service, the number of levels needed for the skill will be reset. So, if you leave at 4, and the skill requires 10, and you re-up with the master, those 4 will have to be made up.
- Most masters have a direct effect on your character's statistics upon leveling up; both positive and negative. This is, essentially, how you determine the trajectory of their growth to suit your preference. Although, as stated in the previous chapter, don't let yourself become bogged down in the weight of this as statistical items like the Power Food can be farmed later in the game.
- The positive stat bonuses always occur upon leveling, however, the negative ones are only applied if the character receives a boost in the stat for that level. In other words, in regards to Mygas, if the character doesn't gain any Defense, none is taken. Since stats upon leveling up are always predetermined, it is possible to weave your way through 99 levels and exploit this, but not in any way worth it.
- Some masters also come with both positive and negative traits that effect your characters, but are not communicated. I will cover these with each new master.
- Master skills, like enemy ones, can be swapped between characters with a Skill Ink item from the diary at camp. If you ever find that a master won't teach you their skill despite meeting the prerequisite number of levels, it's often because that character's skill list if full and one needs to be returned to the skill notes.
- Unlike Breath of Fire IV, you must travel to the master itself to apprentice and learn their skills. Likewise, you'll need to visit them to leave their tutelage.
Old wizard Mygas gives a +2 to Int and +1 to AP upon leveling up, but drops your Power and Defense gains by 1. He also adds a +5 bonus to surprise (Which is a hidden stat for each character that calculates whether the party gets the advantage when a random battle occurs), but he also drops the characters dodge (Another hidden stat) by 2. The skills Mygas teaches, plus their required levels in parenthesis:
- Frost (1): Same as Teepo's; a minor, ice-elemental spell. Important Ryu has for an upcoming dungeon.
- Meditation (4): Doubles the character's Intelligence for the next turn, but can be used twice in a row to achieve a 300% increase, then resets after an action is taken. Interesting, but not particularly effective considering you need to expend at least a turn to use when you could just cast the same spell twice, but it would save some AP, I suppose.
- Magic Ball (6): A very odd magic attack that uses both the enemy's Intelligence and Defense to determine damage, so it's not really effective against any type of enemy. Decent early, but later in the game you will find it does almost no damage at all to opponents.
- Typhoon (8): A strong, wind-based spell on all enemies.
You can always see a list of masters and their effect on your character's statistics from the journal in the tent, but keep in mind some masters have hidden traits I will cover when we meet them. A star will also be placed next to the master's name once you have learned all of their skills. For more information on suggestions for masters on each character, see the Character Setups chapter, but I would start by apprenticing Ryu and Teepo to Mygas.
In addition to masters, spring has brought the addition of the fishing mini-game, as well. There are two spots to fish in the Yraal Region: just west of Mygas' grove and west of the McNeil Farm; the latter needing to go around the bottom-left of the fields on the world map to access. Fishing is simple, yet complicated at the same time. Simple in that each type of fish has a lure preference, but a button-tapping sequence (referred to as "tec") is sometimes necessary to draw the rare ones to take the bait. Tec is best outlined by checking out the rules section of the in-game menu and takes plenty of practice, but once you learn to tap in rhythm to the music, it becomes much easier to perform. Thankfully, you rarely need more than a +3 tec if you are using the correct bait.
Generally speaking, the rarest, and harder to catch, fish will have a
faded sprite that blends into the water, as opposed to their easier and darker-sprited counterparts, and are not limited in the position in which they spawn. With the starter Wooden Rod, access to the
further regions of the fishing spots is impossible, but you can leave
and reenter the spot to kind of reshuffle their positions and hopefully bring them to within range of catching, which is often faster than simply waiting for them to swim further inland.
Difficulty of the catch is determined by your equipped rod, the fish, and its size. The red line (The fish's stamina) at the bottom-left of the player side of the gauge is an indication of the rarity of the fish you snagged and, a longer than usual line for that type, often signifies a larger size. If and when the fish fights you and reaches the far-end of its gauge and doesn't want to move, keep hitting right on the directional pad until it starts to move back towards the player side. When reeling, I have always jerked back on the rod with the back/down button, but have no idea if this actually helps or not! I think it's mostly just a habit I have picked up over the decades rather than an effective strategy, but feels nice!
It's important to remember that under most circumstances, if a fish gets away, you lose your lure, and this could mean disaster for certain lures that are rare or limited in number (Like the Coin), but this is not always the case. If the fish is on your side of the gauge, and you move the green cursor far onto their side, the fish will be let go and you get to keep your lure. This is absolutely essential when navigating around all the bottom-feeders and not wanting to waste time luring them in if they manage to snag your line.
A fish's size is very important; at least for a completionist, and is often what keeps most players from obtaining a full 100%. The first time you catch a new type of fish, you are rewarded a large number of points toward your rank, which slightly increases each time you catch a larger size. You need to catch the near-maximum size of almost every type of fish in the game to obtain a one-of-a-kind item. What makes this difficult is the size of each fish is already determined when you enter the fishing spot and the possible spawning of these large sizes for some types are as rare as the hardest enemy drops! Anyway, this is just the beginning of the game, so more will be covered in the final chapter. You will be able to apprentice under a master and obtain the best fishing equipment by raising your rank to reasonable levels, however. Below are the available fish in the Yraal Region along with their preferred bait and maximum size needed for the most points:
West of McNeil Village:
- Jellyfish (Any - 30cm)
- Pirana (Any - 40cm)
- RainbowTrout (Worm/Sinker - 70cm)
West of McNeil Farm:
- Pirana (Any - 40cm)
- Puffer (Popper - 50cm)
- Trout (Worm/Sinker - 70cm)
- Manillo (Coin - 200cm)
At any fishing spot on the world map, you can use the square button to see which fish are available to haul in (Assuming you have caught that type before). The data section of the fishing menu keeps track of your largest catches, but neglects to show if you have caught one that is worth the maximum number of points. Most fish also have a use as items either in or out of battle, but the ones in the Yraal Region are not noteworthy.
Note: A fish's location in the spot has no correlation to their size.
The fishing hole west of the Farm contains the game's first Manillo; a unique catch that is easy to locate by their large sprite that resembles a swimming turtle. Manillos respond only to the Coin bait; and is the only type in the game that it can catch, in fact. Hauling one up provides a special shop where you can trade fish for rare items and their stock varies depending on location. You should get, at least, one Silver Knife for Ryu. Low in weight also, the Silver Knife is holy-elemental and can be combo'd with casting Gloom for some big damage! Personally, a would get three to outfit the entire party since they sell for a huge 700 zenny and the extra money will come in handy a little later.
Iron Helms are much better than Brass ones, but come at the cost of a higher weight, so you might prefer to keep Rei with the latter to supplement Pilfer. You can eventually buy both the Silver Knife and Iron Helms if you don't want to fish for them, but one Silver Knife is HIGHLY recommended. The level 2 lure types also here, which improve your chances of baiting a fish, are fairly easy to trade for, and won't be purchasable for quite a bit of time, but aren't totally necessary. You might get a couple of Skill Inks for the future, though. The two accessories won't be able to be traded until later in the game.
Note: Although Manillos are easy to catch, be careful not to lose your Coin to them! They are in limited supply. Besides that, Coins sink quickly and can be caught on the bottom of the basin and lost also. Until you have a couple in your inventory, I would save often.
Note: At this point, I would have everyone equipped with Silver Knives,
Iron Helms (Brass Helm for Rei is fine), Waistcloth, and the Talisman on
one of the characters for equipment.
Back to the story, you'll probably have noticed a shifty-looking, green-cloaked guy skulking around after you in McNeil. Agree to listen to whatever underhanded job he has for you and he'll want to meet you in the small shack down at the Farm. Make sure you save before you go and I recommend that you bring a couple of hundred zenny with you just in case. At the Farm, Loki thinks you can become even greater heroes to the McNeil tenants if you steal back their tax money. Robin Hood and the like, yeah? Teepo is more than enthusiastic because think of how much more the villagers will like you then when they already promise you free food whenever you need it just from killing that Nue?
That night, the party splits up at the gates of McNeil's manor to find a way in. To the northwest is an obvious, horribly-repaired job in the wall that Rei will put his back into and it gives way. Move along the wall to the lower-left and if you rotate the the camera with R1, you'll spot a fellow thief who will give you 50 zenny to not expose him. Good thing, cause just beyond is a group of hapless guards will take exactly 50 zenny as a bribe to let you in!
Note: After the wall comes down, random encounters are possible outside the manor walls, but it's the usual suspects you have seen before. If you need to rest, Loki is inside the hut that had the Vitamin earlier, but you can't save, unfortunately. If you get caught inside the manor, you'll have to pay another 50 zenny to get past the guards, so use these encounters if you need the zenny or you can try scoring some from cutting the bushes.
Use the stairs past the guards and adjust the camera with R1 to see the Wallet item in the upper-left corner. This appears in the "vital" section of the item menu and is meant to be given to the guard a bit farther to your right to get by, but you can actually skip that entirely and keep it in your inventory for the entire game!
Note: The courtyard and the McNeil manor itself are one-time dungeons. Anything not grabbed will be lost, so don't leave anything behind!
At the bottom of the stairs near the guard that lost the Wallet is a watchman with a lantern that alternates between looking north and south. While he is looking south, inch up to where you are almost beside him, as shown in the screenshot, and hit start. Keep hitting start until the lantern light disappears, which indicates he is about to turn north, then run south to evade him and keep that old, crusty Wallet. Continue south and climb the ladder onto a small platform and strike the bell with Ryu to signal quittin' time to a soldier below.
Follow through the hedges where the soon-to-be unemployed guard left his post and up onto the center area of the courtyard with the fountain. Talk to the soldier smoking a cigarette who wants you to take out the manor's guard dog to free himself of any blame of your impending break-in. Head downward toward the front gate to find the scapegoat. Have Rei use Pilfer to lift a Vitamin from the Pooch while Ryu and Teepo examine to learn the useful Snap ability. Make sure to learn this now since you will not have another chance for quite a long time! Snap does a small amount of physical damage, but drops defense by 12% (If successful) and can be used multiple times to drop their defense by a maximum of 50%. Besides the defense loss from it using Snap, the Pooch is easily defeated.
Able to pass by the remorseless guard now, use the stairs a little to the northeast and wrap around the outside of the manor to the right to find a Firecracker item in a treasure chest. This item casts Fireblast which targets all enemies. Back down below, look for a guy and one of the manor's maids in the middle of a hedge near the bottom-right of the map. Talk to them, then doubleback to relay what's going on to the jealous soldier guarding the small building you past by to send him running after them.
Inside the henhouse, Teepo pockets an Egg (Which stays in your inventory under vital) only to be accosted by a giant rooster named Rocky! Like with the Pooch, have Rei Pilfer to attempt to lift a Life Shard item that permanently increases a character's HP while the other two examine and try to learn the Jump skill. Jump, as you'll likely experience here, is a highly variable physical attack that will likely cause minimal to average damage, but can sometimes produce a surprisingly good number. Prioritize getting the Life Shard, however, since Jump can be gotten inside the manor too. Rocky might turn a character into an egg for three turns with Ovum, also, which if hit with Jump after, could spell disaster, but thankfully Ovum tends to mostly miss. If you get unlucky with Jump, you may need to expend an Ammonia, but otherwise, this is just a simple mini-boss like Pooch.
The battle with Rocky has sent the chickens scurrying around the courtyard (One is even trying to win the heart of Mina, also!) and the guards after them. Move back to the center fountain and you'll see that the lantern-bearing guard that was near the stairs to the west is gone and you can ascend them now. Move around to the right where the party discovers that guards have amassed at the manor's front door. Rei decides to create a diversion while Ryu and Teepo sneak inside, promising to meet them on the roof.
New encounters are found inside the dimly-lit mansion. The giant Roaches continuously perform Jump if you didn't pick it up from Rocky and the Guards love to heal themselves with Healing Herbs. Both are also strong against holy, so the Holy Knife won't deal as much damage as it should, but the difference isn't worth switching back to a Bronze Sword because other enemies in the manor are weak against the element. For fun, you can use Gloom on the Guards and watch them kill themselves with Healing Herbs!
Volts possess one of the best offensive skills in the game: Charge. This physically-based attack is bolstered the more defense you have so damage will further increase throughout the game and never lose effectiveness on the right character; plus requires no AP!
Enter the door to the eastern-wing and Teepo will get spooked by the creepy paintings displayed on the walls which no haunted house is ever complete without. There are actually even more portraits on the opposite-side of the wall containing more handsome McNeil forefathers, but we can't see them. Darn. Slipping through to the lower-right and then north will allow us to rest and save by talking to the butler, which we desperately need. Search the table around the back of the portrait hall for an easy 120 zenny.
One of the dressers we passed, near the staircase, has a Vitamin to plunder. Taking the stairs, we can find a permanently, MP-raising Magic Shard in the dresser next to the beds. The third climb of stairs takes up into an attic where an Eye Drops and Taser items can be taken from the crates. Tasers cast Lightning when used during battle.
Return to the manor's foyer and enter the hidden western-wing door that is directly opposite the other. There's a concealed dresser at the far-end that contains a Life Shard.
Attempting to approach the flight of stairs in the foyer introduces you to the first of several McNeil ancestors that still haunt the halls of the manor. Being a ghost, Torast, and the rest of his upcoming brethren, are very susceptible to Silver Knives and you can even cast Rejuvenate or use a Vitamin for big damage. All it can do is put you to sleep, so hack away.
Once Torast has spirited away, climb to the second floor and head for the eastern-wing. There's a library in the back with some rather uninteresting books on the McNeils, but otherwise, there is a hidden table in the bedroom with a lucrative 40 zenny to collect.
On the western-side, the southern-most bedroom has a dresser harboring Gems. This is another "appears valuable" item that needs to be sold at a special shop to maximize profits. To the north is another dresser with a Vitamin.
Ryu, apparently, has a sixth sense for spotting doppelganger McNeils and the dreaded Kassen challenges you. If you don't kill him in one turn, he might try to steal some HP/AP.
Follow the blue-floored stretch past Kassen and into the room at the end. Collect the Panacea from the hidden dresser, which completely restores a character's status.
Trying to use the stairs brings forth Galtel McNeil. He's got a bit more HP than the previous two, but spends his time trying to lower your stats while you exorcise him.
Down the stairs leads you through a bedroom, where the butler is not nearly as nice as the earlier one and won't offer you rest, but you can rob the MultiVitamin, that completely restores a character's HP, from the dresser as compensation. The linear path takes you through a kitchen where a Healing Herb can be procured from a cabinet. Up the stairs at the end is yet another unrestable bedroom, but has 600 zenny in its dresser.
The next McNeil, Doksen, confronts you when you try to advance south of the stairs. He doesn't even get his name out before you start beating his non-existent pants off. Doksen will counter whatever element you use with the same; which in the case of an attack with the Silver Knife, he will cast Heal on you. Terrific. Afterward, the McNeil patriarchs discuss the situation from their haunted portraits, but don't bother to include the ones across from them you can't see, but I digress...Head through the bottom room and hit the switch on the side of the elevator to activate it. Climb the nearby stairs just after to be able to rest and save before climbing to the roof to look for Rei.
No sign of Rei, so we'll have to do some searching. There are Bats on the roof if you still haven't learned Gloom, but at this point, Burn will likely do too much damage to drop them to 1 HP in order for them to use it, but that's okay .This portion of the roof if barren of items, so you can proceed across the top-portion all the way to the left until you hit a barrier. The green algae of the roof's slope will cause you to slide down if you come into contact with it. At the end of the roof, you must slide down the left-most-side of the last window to come into contact with the grappling hook (Not an actual item) which brings Rei back into the picture. Rei manages to "methodically" cast the grappling hook to the adjacent roof only to have to endure Teepo's incessant nagging.
Now that Rei is back in the party, if he has learned Jolt, there is an opportunity for a great amount of experience. If he casts Jolt on a Volt, they increases in statistics and experience earned; but unlike similar later enemies, this can only be done once. Be wary of doing this with groups of three Volts, however, since they auto-counter with Jolt themselves and three in a row could, potentially, wipe out the party. Along with the free rest below, this is an excellent way to gain levels, but don't get carried away. Rei can Pilfer Tasers from Volts, also, which you can sell for a solid 100 zenny.
Check around back of the steaming grate to the right-hand-side of the newly-accessible roof to pick up a Broad Sword. It's three points of attack higher than the Silver Knife, but also weights more, and the coming boss is weak against holy, so I would stick with it, for now. You can use the ladder next to the billowing steam to descend down into a bathhouse where you can rob another Vitamin from a dresser.
Drop all the way to the lower-portion of the roof and make your way to the far-left to pick up a satchel with a Swallow Eye item that permanently raises a character's agility. Although it will be quite a long time from now, always make sure you have one of these in your inventory due to it being a rare item and one is needed to become a pupil of a master.
Note: Heading down the middle ladder just off to the lower-left of the grappling hook location will take you to the living McNeil. As stated before, this is a one-time dungeon, so make sure you have collected every single item!
The party finds McNeil chasing around some gold-digger who flees the moment they arrive leaving him to grovel at your feet. The humiliated McNeil fab-five show up and merge into an Amalgam to try to put a little respect back on their family name. This unholy thing is quite a bit tougher, but still not much of a threat. Rei can steal a Magic Shard, so put him to thieving while Ryu attacks with the Silver Knife (Or can cast Rejuvenate) and Teepo casting Simoon for your best damage. If using attack formation, casting Protect on the point man may be advisable since its Astral Warp can do a decent amount of damage.
Thankfully, McNeil stores bags of zenny in the back of his bedroom and the trio can walk out without a care in the world, despite McNeil's veiled threats. They leave a bag of money for each home in McNeil village, sure to find the adoration of the tenants the next day; at least Teepo thinks so. Life is about to change, however...
Note: Make sure you have nabbed the three items from the tree house! Last chance.
Before going to McNeil I want to share a strategy I always use at this
point and that is to have Teepo, whom we are about to lose for the
entirety of the game, to learn the rest of Mygas' skills. The reason for
this is because the Yraal Region is about to become closed off to us
for a fairly significant portion of the game and we will be unable to
make it back to him to learn those spells or leave his tutelage. As
stated earlier, if you take on another master before learning those
skills, you have to gain all of those levels back again; so it's best
just to go ahead and take care of this now. You can, of course, use
whomever you want, but I prefer to keep Ryu and Rei's levels for later
masters.
The best way to go about this is to remove all of Ryu and Rei's armor and head for Mt. Glaus with Teepo equipping the Broad Sword and having the Blind skill. You'll recall that Goos run amuck in the area and their experience drastically increases when blinded. Have Ryu and Rei target theirself to kill themselves each battle while Teepo uses Blind. If you find two Puff Goos, you can get well over 100 exp per battle, all going to Teepo: even more if three show up. The EXP from Eye and Mage Goos is decent, too. Once Typhoon is gained from Mygas, you are done. For those that care, Teepo learns his final spell, Iceblast, at level 14, if you want to feel like you learned every ability.
Note: I would remove Rei from Mygas' service unless you are serious about him becoming a mage-type character. When he returns later on in the game, all his levels will be calculated according to his current master and, in my opinion, leaving him with Mygas is not efficient.
Note: If you don't like fishing, I would highly advise you to take some time to steal many, many Waistcloths from the BossGblns and accumulate 5000 zenny from selling them. This will come in extremely handy in the next city, however, this is just suggested, and not totally necessary. A perhaps better idea is to fish up Trouts and RainbowTrouts and cash them in at the Manillo for Silver Knives that sell for 700. If you already have three of them, that's 1400 zenny when you sell the other two.
You'll quickly find by talking to the McNeil tenants that they are not happy, and scared, by the party's actions last night. In fact, the village will refuse to offer you any amenities at all. Look for Loki at the Farm who sounds like he may soil his shoddy cloak at anytime. He asks to talk in the privacy of the barn you met at previously. The coward decides to skip town instead and Bunyan enters to drop some frightening truths on the young heroes: McNeil is in bed with some nasty folks who are likely looking for revenge. Rei suggests that you return to the hideout until all this blows over. At this point, remove all of Teepo and Rei's equipment and give them Bent Swords as weapons. Failure to do so will result in permanently losing those items. You can leave their skills since they will be removed.
The group finds their beloved home engulfed in flames. Two horse-men mock the friends and engage the enraged heroes in a battle that is entirely unwinnable, no matter what anybody tries to say. Both have a set amount of HP, but when depleted, the number instantly resets to max. We can try to salvage some good out of this predestined defeat by stealing, however. Balio (the silver one) has a Defense-raising Protein while Sunder (The green-haired idiot) has a Life Shard. The chances of swiping them are dramatically low, but you might as well give it a shot. If Rei has over 20 agility (And should with no equipment) he will always get an EX turn to help with this. I would prioritize the Protein, if determined.
You can use Influence on Balio to have Sunder target his brother instead of you, taking some pressure off while you Pilfer. Balio will more often than not pound the party with Lightning and Healing Herbs or Vitamins will need to be administered to all afterward, however, the stolen items are simply not worth losing a lot of these resources and I would reset the game if I don't have the Protein before using too many of them.
Ryu awakes, alone, in Bunyan's cabin. Outside, he informs the poor fellow that he was the only one that was found and the other two are likely dead, but this does not deter Ryu from deciding to leave for Wyndia to look for them. Exit Cedar Woods, then reenter, and talk to Bunyan again who will become available as a master, however, I would not recommend becoming his pupil right now for the same reasons I talked about with Mygas a bit earlier: he will be unavailable to return to for quite a bit of time; I don't feel he suits Ryu's growth, either. If you are serious about Ryu becoming a physical powerhouse and neglecting his magic, by all means sign up with the woodsman, though, but know he requires 10 levels to learn all his skills. Upon leveling, Bunyan grants a +2 to HP/Power and a +1 to Defense, while dropping their Intelligence by 3 and AP by 2. The skills he teaches are outlined below:
- Risky Blow (2): Either delivers a critical hit or whiffs completely. Is more favorably skewed towards the latter (25% chance to hit), as you would expect.
- Focus (5): The Power version of Mygas' Meditation. Doubles the character's Power, but can be used twice in a row to achieve a 300% increase, then resets after an action (Even a counter) is taken. Unlike Meditation, however, this is far more useful and can be used before a special ability to increase its damage.
- Super Combo (8): A gimmicky skill where you must quickly enter an input displayed on screen within a semi-random amount of time. More correct inputs equals more damage. One of the strongest physical attacks in the game if you get the maximum amount of time and good coordination, but eats up 12 AP.
- Disembowel (10): Attempts to drop an enemy's HP to 1, which of course is not a percentage in your favor, but regardless of whether it connects, it reduces the user's maximum HP each time and they need to rest at an inn. It's actually a death-based attack so if the enemy has total immunity (like bosses) it won't work at all and the higher the immunity it's even less likely to hit. An awful skill.
