Breath of Fire III - Chapter 5: Life's a Beach

Before we leave the area, make one more stop in Genmel and visit our previous "captor" in the pub, Fahl. He's willing to apprentice you, but you're going to need to fight 30 battles in a row without resting to earn it. These battles can be anywhere; simply come back when you're done and Fahl will stay sober long enough to be your master. Like Bunyan, Fahl is all about offense and defense with no regard to anything else. Bonuses include: +4 to HP, +3 to Defense, and +1 to Power, but Intelligence and Agility is a staggering -3 reduction. For characters like Peco and Garr that are already diminished in those areas, and extremely hard to overcome for them, Fahl makes sense to further amplify their strengths. Another negative of training under Fahl is the reduction of your chance to dodge by 5. Fahl's taught skills are outlined below, most of which you likely already learned from enemies:

• Charge (2): A physical attack based directly upon your Defense stat, but tends to be dodged a lot due to Agility being a factor in its success. Perfect for a Fahl-trained character, especially Peco, the damage will continue to increase throughout the game and requires 0 AP. Several previous monsters like the Volt and ArmorBot you may have likely learned it from.
• Counter (4): The character takes a defensive stance and a reprisal is guaranteed if they are attacked during that turn. Forget about this, I can't find any scenarios where it would be more useful than taking another action. This actually works for Nina and Momo, too, who normally can never offer a reprisal.
• Resist (6): All damage for that turn is nullified, but can only be used on the casting character, and without the speed to act quicker than your adversaries, it's a waste of a turn. It was possible to learn this from the Stallion boss.

Now that Balio and Sunder aren't hindering out travels, we can freely explore the world again; including the Yraal Region finally. The first thing I recommend doing is heading back to Cedar Woods and apprenticing Peco, who is hopefully still at level 1, under Bunyan. Not only will Bunyan power up our onion knight, but knocking out his required 10 levels of skills while at a low level is ideal. In particular, Super Combo, gained at 8 levels, will make an upcoming, usually very annoying, portion of the game laughable. Head back to the very end of Chapter 2 to learn more about Bunyan and his skills. 

 

Once Peco is finished with Bunyan, feel free to switch him over to Fahl, or even D'lonzo to make up some Agility lost. The same goes for Garr, also, with Mygas being an option to gain some Intelligence for the two fighters with minor loses to their Power/Defense. 

 

Note: While in the Yraal Region, if you were unable to acquire the Gloom skill early in the game, and have learned Backhand from Durandal, now you can. Using Backhand on the Bats inside the Nue cave on Mt. Glaus will lower their HP to 1 and force them to use Gloom.

 

Let's talk about some items we can pick up using Steal we have been unable to optimize due to Balio and Sunder's blockade. At Mt. Boumore, the side near Genmel, or Mt. Myrneg, if you want, we can steal Clay Vases from the Tar Men. Another rather useless "appears valuable" item, it's best acquire by theft here.

 

Still on the Mountain, or outside Momo's Tower, we can lift MultiVitamins from Gongers. Although we saw it for sale at the Arena, which is no longer accessible, we will be unable to buy this item again for a long time, and other monsters rarely possess it, so it would be a good idea to stock up on these as they recovery the entirety of your HP.

 

Back at the Dump, both the Rank and PainWeeds have the Bat Amulet accessory to rob. This is the only place in the game you can obtain more one.

 

I talked about holding off on buying a BronzeShield because we can steal them off Orcs on either the backside of Mt. Boumore or the early floors of Momo's Tower. Saved us some zenny! Speaking of zenny, also in Momo's Tower, you can steal Breastplates from ArmorBots and Curiass from HyperBots. The former will net you a cool 500 zenny when sold, with the latter noted in case you held off on buying one earlier.

 

Still at the Tower, Ice Toads hold precious Life Shards to steal; although without the Speed Boots they can be a pain to swipe, at the moment anyway. Ice Toads are one of only two basic encounters you can steal Life Shards from in the game.

 

West of Eygnock Road, just off Mt. Myrneg, is a new fishing spot to try out. There is only one new fish to catch there, the MartianSquid, and you'll need either a Spirit or a Worm with tec to get it to bite. Below are the spot's catches, as always, with favored lure and sized needed for maximum points in parenthesis:

• Jellyfish (Any - 30cm)
• Bass (Any - 40cm)
• MartianSquid (Worm - 80cm) 

Note: North of Mt. Myrneg is another Yddrasil tree. Peco can speak with it, but it does not function as a master like the one near the Plant.

 

Put Nina into your party and make for Wyndia when ready to continue the story. Stop by the weapon shop and purchase another Claymore; yes it's pricey, but we will earn our money back, I promise. You may consider picking up some Life Sandals as additional character accessories, also. Talk to the guard at the entrance of Wyndia Castle with Nina at the lead of your party to announce her return. A banquet is held for the protectors of the princess that night. Nina almost drops Ryu's secret of being a dragon to her father, who already knows of their frightening history, but Garr interrupts and asks for a Passport to the eastern lands of which the thankful King gladly issues to the party. Her friends having departed, Nina is alone in her room when a shriek and crash is heard downstairs. Search the princess' dresser for 120 zenny and use the stairs to check things out.

 

Move Nina down and to the left onto the blue-colored flooring. Nestled in the alcove are two shelves each holding Gems: don't forget to search both of them! Speak to the maid next to the broken plate to see what looks like Honey dashing past! Keep heading down across the blue rug and ascend the stairs at the end. Search the dressers on the first landing for a Healing Herb and the container in the upper-left-corner for a Coin fishing lure. For a scene, Nina can talk to her exhausted, bed-ridden mother. Up the next flight of stairs is the King's room where another Healing Herb is inside a dresser.

 

Note: The stairs on the opposite side of the Gem shelves lead to a library where you can learn a bit about dragons and the history of Wyndia, if curious.

 

Back down to the central floor, head down and to your left, following the hallway to a bedroom with a dresser containing a Panacea. Returning up the hallway, keep right, passing by the throne room, then the stairs up to Nina's room, and descending the stairs next to the guard who thinks he saw a rat. Continue downward, veering to your right, then down the stairs at the end to find yourself in familiar territory: the prison! Take the Vitamin off the shelf and return up; we still cannot access that treasure chest we saw earlier in the game locked up in the cell. The bottom-left staircase in the basement leads to the kitchen. Try to ignore the unsanitary conditions of mice and live chickens running around near the food preparation and snag another Panacea from the shelf in the corner.

 

Take the downward kitchen stairs into the wine cellar. Off the landing of the first row of casks, rotate the camera to spy a mouse hiding to the bottom-left of the second row. Answer yes and the mouse will give you the Cheese item. Another novelty recovering 20 HP, this is, perhaps, the most missable item in the entire game. Not only is it the only Cheese you can acquire, if you fail to get it now, the mouse will not be here later. Don't leave without this item! To locate Honey, head upward from the Cheese mouse and look behind the last wine cask in the same row to see her hiding.

 

Hurry after Honey back up to Nina's room and out onto the terrace. The scared chrysm robot is teetering on the edge and Nina tries to swoop in and rescue her, only for both of them to plummet off the balcony. Honey's chrysm power is enough to slow their descent, and Nina lands safely below, but Honey appears to be hurt. Cut to Ryu's camp where Momo is searching for Honey when Nina comes running in with her. Thankfully, she's just run out of chyrsm and Momo can recharge her. Garr talks with Ryu about what to expect at Angel Tower: in particular, that he may lose his life. Overhearing, Nina insists that she accompany them in order for Ryu to not be alone in his ordeal and our party is once again reunited. The Passport item has been added to your Vital inventory, to note.

 

Eastward bound, enter the Checkpoint where Garr very dubiously convinces the guards that Nina is, in fact, his daughter and not the princess. On the long bridge crossing into the Rhapala Region, Garr speaks candidly about wanting to Ryu to use his powers, to the dismay of Nina who wants to become stronger to protect him from having to do so. Garr would enjoy Dragon Quarter, I bet. Anyway, we'll talk in-depth about the new region soon, but for now, enter Rhapala to the southeast to pick up some items first.

 

On the left-hand-side, off Rhapala's entrance, next to the inoculation hub, is the weapon/item shop. Search the shelf for a Molotov before indulging. Pick up the Long Spear for Garr, Spiked Claws for Peco, and a QuarterStaff for Nina, however, if you rarely use Nina to physically attack, it's smarter to keep her equipped with the +3 Int Magician Rod, but buy one for your inventory. If you've been following along closely, you should be set for armor already, but if you failed to steal the two Scale Mails during the Contest of Champions, you may need to purchase some. Ryu and Garr should have one equipped, with the third in your inventory for upcoming purposes. If you had the third equipped on Momo, switch back to the Crepe Cape. For reference, here is what my current equipment looks like:

• Ryu: Moon Sword, Buckler, Knight'sHelm, Scale Mail, Speed Boots, Light Bangle
• Nina: Magician Rod/QuarterStaff, Buckler, Glass Domino, Crepe Cape, High Boots, Life Sandals
• Momo: Ammo, Buckler, Glass Domino, Crepe Cape, High Boots/Life Sandals, Artemis' Cap
• Peco: Spiked Claws, Buckler, Glass Domino, Crepe Cape, Dream Ring, Titan Belt
• Garr: Long Spear, Buckler, Knight'sHelm, Scale Mail, Bat Amulet, Life Sandals

 

There are two new fishing spots in the Rhapala Region, so it was important we stop by the item shop to be able to purchase second-level lures of each type.

 

Back out to the world map, hug the shoreline and look for an ? location that is an empty cabin up on a hill. Inside, take the Life Shard out of the chest of drawers, then circle around back and down to the rocky coastline to obtain Ryu's Thunder gene. Same as the Flame/Frost genes, but being electric-based, you can now splice all three genes together to access the special Trygon form. Able to use all three elemental Breaths, but not the Claws, unfortunately, it is also completely immune to the trio of elements, and boosts your HP, Power, and Defense more than the typical dragon form.

 

Down the hill outside the cabin on the world map, continue to follow the shoreline northwest to a fishing hole with two new ones to catch. Below are the hole's prospects:

• Man-o'-War (Any - 30cm)
• Flying Fish (Popper - 20cm)
• Sea Bream (Sinker - 40cm)

The second fishing spot is located on the coastline to the south of the bridge. There is one new fish, the Sea Bass, and it is the toughest one to catch thus far in the game. We need a new rod (Not soon, regretfully)! Catches are as followed:

• Man-o'-War (Any - 30cm)
• Flying (Popper - 20cm)
• Sea Bass (Worm, Sinker, or Popper - 60cm)
• Octopus (Worm - 70cm)

Remember the very first Manillo shop west of the McNeil Farm? If you can fish up 9 Sea Bass, 4 regular Bass, and 3 Black Bass, you can now trade them for the Holy Mantle accessory that reduces encounter rate. You can get basic and Black Bass from the spot northwest of the Plant. You can buy the Holy Mantle, but much later in the game.

 

On the same coast as the fighting spot, is a ? area. Hanging out here is Giotto, a new master, but will only accept you if your fishing class is, at minimum, Rodmaster, which you should be well over if you have caught at least one of each fish by now. Giotto's tutelage grows your HP by 4, AP by 3, but drops the potential of your other statistics by 1. Giotto is a solid master for Ryu, who is well-rounded, and the AP greatly benefits his dragon forms, but in my opinion, I would not apprentice anyone under him until later in the game. Like several times already, we will be locked out of the eastern areas of the game for a long period of time and Giotto will be inaccessible to pick up his skills and then change masters. So, unless you are planning to pick up all eight of his levels in the next few dungeons, I would hold off. Information about Giotto's skills are outlined below:

• Trump (2): If you are at exactly 0 AP, you randomly draw from the same pool of spells as the Recall skill and cast them for free. You're unlikely to reach exactly 0 AP, so it's just another gimmick skill you won't use.
• Berserk (5): The character's Power is tripled, but goes out of control, attacking any target, including allies, at random, then dies after 3 turns. You can, however, use the Influence skill to designate a target.
• Sudden Death (8): This casts the Death spell on a random target on the battlefield, even allies, and is subject, like the spell itself, to the unlucky selection's death immunity. Of no use, whatsoever.

To the southeast of Rhapala is massive Mt. Zublo, but it is inaccessible due to a recent eruption. At the base, you can score a Protein by searching the path off to your right.

 

Locations out of the way, let's talk about the Rhapala Region's random battlefields. New satchels on them include the 20 AP-recovering Wisdom Seed, along with Ammonia, Life and Magic Shards finds. We're going to spend some time here, so search out those bags!

 

You'll undoubtedly encounter countless LizardMn in these areas. They will use either the Double Blow or Wind Strike skills; the latter we haven't seen before. It is a simple wind-based weapon attack, but can do heavy damage to those that heave a weakness to it. With cronies, it will cast Shield, which is a skill, but can't be learned and must be taught by Yggdrasil, bummer. You can steal their Broad Swords off them to pawn, also.

 

Note: LizardMn hold the first of extremely rare, but nearly-impossible odds to get equipment drops: The Flame Shield. Thankfully, there is another way to get this item later in the game, but even that, too, is not optimal, but it is better than this abysmal drop rate.

 

You can lift the "appears valuable" Gems item from the Trickers. It's the only enemy in the game that holds them.

 

Use Blind on the Trickers to have them perform the Target skill to learn. Target nearly guarantees a hit with a weapon attack, but drops the power of the attack by half. Useful for "nut" enemies or those who evade with low HP, but otherwise, has little usefulness. The loss in power does not benefit the accuracy-lacking Momo at all.

 

The Trickers have another "trick" up their sleeve: the Flying Kick skill. This is a very similar skill to Charge, but uses your Agility instead of Defense to apply physical damage; although misses frequently due to the accuracy of the attack based on your Agility stat, as well. Likely won't be of much use to the party until Rei rejoins.

 

Note: I recommend taking time to try to even up Peco and Garr's levels with Nina and Momo's. LizardMn, often accompanied by others, offer the most EXP at this moment. Make use of Monopolize if you want to keep Ryu's levels from getting too far ahead.

 

Back to Rhapala, around the corner and across the bridge from the row of shops is the inn. On the bottom floor is a bar. Speak to the red-vested, bearded man at the table, Sinkar, who directs you to the Wharf to ask his daughter, Shadis, about finding a ship. After, climb the stairs behind him and take the Panacea out of the chest of drawers. Outside the inn, take the stairs down and exit out to the Wharf to the upper-left.

 

How cool is this Dandy? Smooth like silk.

 

On the right-side of the docks you'll easily spot Shadis, the blonde in the short-shorts surrounded by some curious characters. They're involved in a personal squabble with the blowhard, Zig, bulling the four-eyed Beyd. Shadis leaves, but you can talk to Beyd about the boat which is not currently running, and other various topics going on in Rhapala. Shadis is waiting near the entrance of the Wharf, and you can inquire about the same topics, with her suggesting you talk to her father about using the road around Mt. Zublo.

 

Sinkar, in the pub, says that using the road is out of the question since the eruption of Mt. Zublo has made is inaccessible and that you'll just have to wait for the boat. Leave Rhapala to automatically camp. Everyone is concerned about making it to Angel Tower, except Nina who is plotting to stick her nose in the Guild's ongoing love triangle. Nina and Momo are both added to your party when you visit the Wharf. Talk to Beyd with Nina as the party's leader to confront him about his feelings for Shadis. Relocated, Nina proposes that Beyd get stronger, with their help, to be a strong figure for Shadis and the Guild, but he's too insecure and prefers to return to his bookkeeping.

 

Follow Beyd back to the usual location to find out that Zig is headed to the Lighthouse, which is, of course, full of monsters, to get it operational again and win Shadis' hand in marriage from her father in the process. Speak to Beyd with Nina again who this time agrees to the training. He hands over 1000 zenny and asks the group to buy him a weapon and piece of armor, requesting they be as light as possible, but let that go in one ear and out the other. We already have a Claymore and Scale Mail ready for him, so agree to begin training. That night, when he asks for you to give him the equipment, exit out of the equipment menu, then tell him you got nothing for him to receive an additional 1000 zenny! You can only cheat him once, however. I feel bad about it, though.

 

There are two very distinct ways to go about the Beyd situation: the easy way or the hard way. If you have learned Super Combo from Bunyan, I strongly advise you to take the easy way to save yourself some time and skip training Beyd completely by defeating him to end the session. If you do not have Super Combo, or if you want to do this "legit" here is what you need to know about training Beyd to take on that Bluto Zig:

• Make a party of Ryu, Nina, and Momo in the Normal formation. Give Nina the QuarterStaff, Titan Belt, and Backhand skill. If Momo does not know the Might spell, then remove all of Nina's armor. Beyd, with a Claymore, can kill Nina in Attack formation with no armor or with Might cast, so I do not recommend it even though it would be more advantageous.
• You have 20 turns to train, not counting EX turns. Training ends if Beyd's HP reaches 0 regardless of the turn number.
• Beyd's maximum HP raises the more damage he takes. Simply have Nina use Backhand each turn, which cannot defeat him, while Momo casts Heal on him when he is just about out of HP. Casting Protect isn't necessary since we want him to reach low HP. Ryu should never take an action and just select examine since his reprisal will undoubtedly kill Beyd.
• When Beyd's HP gets low, he will take a defensive stance. An attack during this period bolsters his defense. He's kind of inconsistent with this, though.
• The accumulative damage that Beyd makes on the party increases his attack. If Momo has it, cast Might on him to amplify his damage. He will routinely target the character with the lowest defense, namely Nina, but not always, and that is why it's important to have Ryu examining every turn. Without Might, Beyd will do very good damage against an armor-less Nina, but regardless, she will need to be healed. Ryu is perfect for this if he gets an EX turn.
• If you spent two sessions, of all 20 turns following these rules, Beyd will be more than enough of a match for Zig. Of course, even if not, we have some tricks we can use in his support.

This was my result of just one session. You can probably beat Zig with only this and some perfectly-timed interference. Preparation for the party's role in the duel will be nearly identical whether you are doing this the easy or hard way. For the easy way, we only need to equip Ryu with the Claymore, Titan Belt, having the Super Combo skill, and placing him at the spear of the Attack formation. Hard way, you're going to want the same setup, except instead of Super Combo, have Ryu with Double Blow, Nina for Agility, and Momo for potential support magic. During the duel, Zig and Beyd will exchange blows, with Beyd always going first regardless of his weapon or armor. If Zig performs a "Lucky Strike" on Beyd, he will showoff towards Shadis and your party gets a free turn (Possible for more with EX turns) after to attack Zig once or heal/buffer our bookworm squire (The latter needing to come before the attack hits Zig), but only if your characters' Agility is higher than 12 so they act before the duelists. The next attack that hits Zig, whether the party or Beyd, returns his focus back to the battle and you risk disqualification for any actions after.

 

Normally, any action by the party when the brute is not distracted instantly disqualifies Beyd, but, if that attack depletes the remainder of Zig's HP, the battle ends with a Beyd victory regardless. This is why Ryu landing a 7 or 8 hit Super Combo with the recommended setup should easily deal 250+ to Zig on the first turn and we need not train Beyd at all. All that said, when ready to duel, select "To the lighthouse!" when talking to Beyd at the Wharf. Note that you even if Beyd is defeated or disqualified, you can retry an infinite number of times because Zig isn't such a bad guy after all, I guess.

 

Zig: Super Combo'd! The battle is over before it even began. If you're not good at the timing of Super Combo, or just can't break the 250 HP threshold for Zig's defeat, consider using Focus (Another of Bunyan's skills) or having Momo cast Might on Ryu when Zig's goofing before attempting it. If doing things the hard way, keep a tally of the damage Beyd does to Zig and wait for it to reach around 150. Before that, when Zig goofs off after a Lucky Strike, have Ryu cast Protect, Momo cast Might, and Nina use a Vitamin on Beyd. If Momo doesn't have Might, double up with Protect. When Beyd's damage reaches 150, perform a Double Blow with Ryu to drop Zig to his knees, but honestly, after casting Protect and Might (Even more with EX turns), you could just let Beyd finish him off.

 

When Beyd is victorious, he and Shadis will grow a little closer and the game switches to the next day. Talk to the bandaged-up Beyd who won't be physically able to go to the Lighthouse for a while (Wouldn't Zig just go then to try to save face?). Anyway, he'll give you the Guild Badge vital item and request your help since you are in a hurry to get the ship back in port. Inside the two treasure chests are an upgraded weapon and armor based upon the ones you gave to Beyd. The Claymore rewards you with the fire-elemental Flare Sword (Buyable soon), with the Scale Mail, for whatever reason, becoming a Crepe Cape. If you gave a lesser piece of equipment, it is always one-step up from the other. For example: the Moon Sword will become a Claymore and the Breastplate is a Chain Cap, with it being a Scale Mail. The fire element of the Flare Sword is fine for the Lighthouse, with the upcoming boss even being weak against it. The entrance to the Lighthouse is located to the northwest of the Wharf, bringing Momo in your party to make things a bit easier.

 

Note: Be sure you bring the Blind skill with you to the Lighthouse. Also, you may consider Changeblock inoculations, along with the Light Bangle, Life Sandals, and Dream Ring accessories since we will be dealing with a few status-altering monsters and boss.

 

The Lighthouse is a fairly short run, only hampered by a potentially-infuriating puzzle. Most monsters we have already encountered, except for the Ghost and Spectre (The latter inside the Lighthouse itself). Both have Wisdom Seeds you can steal, but the odds are against you with this one. Ghosts will try to put the entire party to sleep and the Spectre will target your AP; both incredibly annoying. Target the Spectre immediately and let Momo cast Silence to try to prevent it from using Depress that after being hit with a number of times, will literally depress you so much you need to return to town to recover your AP.

 

Cross over the bridge onto the Lighthouse grounds and take the stairs up. At the top, you'll notice 3 barrels preventing access across a narrow route to the right, however, Momo can destroy them with her chrysm cannon to provide a shortcut, but is not necessary to complete the dungeon. In fact, we still need to go around to get an item, but the shortcut will be valuable if the Lighthouse's puzzle is failed. Ignoring the shortcut, climb the stairs to your left, then the ones to your upper-left, and move eastward to locate a Coin fishing lure.

 

Return back down the previous stairs, then move right, behind the building, and descend the stairs to see you are on the other side of the shortcut. Keep heading right, down a set of steps, then follow the thin walkway down to a hidden MithrlShield treasure chest equippable by Ryu, Peco, or Garr.

 

At the bottom of the steps, work your way across a series of wooden bridges and platforms further east and up the first stairs you see. In the corner, across from the lined up barrels, is an item bag containing an Agility-increasing Swallow Eye. I reiterate from earlier: always make sure one of these is in your inventory for a later master! To find the entrance into the Lighthouse proper, move up the ladder to your right, then proceed up the stairs and wrap around the corner to your left to locate the door. 

 

Directly inside is a signpost telling you about how to power the boiler and main valves needed to activate the Lighthouse. Descend the stairs, then the next flight to your lower-right, continuing downward flipping the blue switch on the control panel you pass and a staircase after. At the bottom, directly across from the doorway, look in the upper-right-corner for a concealed chest with the sleep-blocking Dream Ring accessory.

 

Enter the before-mentioned doorway to find yourself back outside. Search around for three Flame Chrysm treasure chests. Normally a Momo weapon, these are needed to fire-up the Lighthouse's boiler. Back inside, continue up and around through another doorway. Use the ladder and examine the chute to drop in a Flame Chrysm to start the boiler.

 

The nearby lever starts a precision-based mini-game to start the main valve. Simply put: when the curve hits the top of the graph, and all four points shine, pull the lever. Unfortunately, failure to do this means you have to insert another Flame Chrysm into the boiler. You should have four in your inventory, but if those are exhausted, you are forced to return to Rhapala and purchase them for 500 zenny; this is where the shortcut created by Momo can come in handy. Really though: it shouldn't take more than two tries if you know how it works. Every fifth wave hits the top of the graph; each time, so you only need count off 4, then wait for the fifth and press X when the top is struck. Timing must be precise, however. Leaving the dungeon and saving before attempting is recommended if struggling. 

 

Afterward, you can see the chrysm flowing through the channels. Exit through the door to your left, and pull the lever at the end to direct the flow to the top of the Lighthouse. Use the stairs leading upward, followed by taking a left to open the chest with a Skill Ink. Down and to the right places you near the entrance. If you really struggled with the puzzle, or if the battles have depleted your AP, I recommend leaving to rest and save. A boss is near.

 

Note: If you have a Flame Chrysm left, and using Momo, equip her with it for the boss. 

 

Around the corner from the entrance stair landing, the party spots a weird...thing...just sitting there. Trying to proceed past brings into view the massive Gazer. The giant eye then plops down on the strange figure and it holds the Gazer into battle position. Firstly, steal an extremely valuable Wisdom Fruit, then use the Blind skill on it. It has some immunity, but will eventually land. As with all googly-eyed creatures, blinding it will increase the rewarded experience. If you still have the one from Momo's Tower, use the Ivory Dice, also. Blinded and using an Ivory Dice will give 2000 EXP to each party member upon defeat.

 

The battle itself is fairly easy. The Gazer is weak against fire, so Ryu can Double Blow or Super Combo with the Flare Sword for huge damage, or splice the Flame/Defender genes together and deliver Flame Claw, but should cast Shield on the party before transforming. Garr can strike big with his Pyrokinesis ability and Momo firing Flame Chrysm. Gazer's main threat is using Hypnotize to try to confuse characters. Deal with this swiftly by either applying a Panacea, casting Remedy, or targeting them physically with Nina. Besides damaging yourself, Gazer's Eye Beam hurts the most, but will be completely nulled by a flame-elemental dragon, and it only targets one character unlike its basic attack.

 

With that eye sore gone, climb the long, winding sets of stairs to the top of the Lighthouse. Ryu can pick up the Eldritch gene there that the Guild workers have just let sit here for decades upon end, apparently. Spliced, the Eldritch gene grants healing spells to your dragon form: Remedy, Restore, and Vitalize. Further, when combined with an elemental gene, it adds that element's most powerful spell to your arsenal. Example: Flame/Inferno, Frost/Blizzard, Electric/Myollnir. The downside is that while the form's Intelligence increases by 30%, its power will dropped by 20 to 30% depending on the combination. Bottom line, however, is besides the useful healing abilities, which Ryu can already perform in his human form, magic is almost never a preferred form of dragon offense.

 

Flipping the switch to bring the Lighthouse back to life brings about an unknown shrieking for it to be turned off! A faerie, with a club, of all things, floats in and smashes the control panel! Further angered by it still not shutting off, it throws the Faerie Tiara item at Ryu and demands he come to their world, via the circle of flowers on the world map, and make things right! Well...okay. You'll then have to hike your way back out of the Lighthouse to the world map. Camp to rest and save, adding and preparing Nina and Momo for a boss that occurs in the faerie realm. Pick any circle of flowers and use the Tiara to enter.

 

Note: If you lost all your Flame Chrysm, make sure to purchase a new one for your inventory from the Rhapala equipment shop. You can also view a small scene with Sinkar at the pub where he promises you full use of the ship, or whatever you need from the Guild in the future. Lastly, if you found yourself struggling against Gazer, you may consider Changeblock inoculations for Ryu, Nina, and Momo.

 

You'll quickly find that the faerie world is almost completely barren except for a beach and a small shack. Enter the building to meet Cadis, the violent one with the club, and its two "dummy" friends. They are worked up over a "monster" or "it" coming to eat them because the Lighthouse is back on. Momo suggests we kill it for them, so head down to the beach and select to wait for nightfall (Nina and Momo are required even if you switch them out).

 

That night, the trio spots a shark fin in the water, accompanied by the typical ominous music. The group pounces on it as it emerges from the water, only to find they are clobbering an "innocent" pink dolphin. The girls run off to get the faeries and, left alone with Ryu, the dolphin becomes abusive and Australian (What?). Cadis points out that the dolphin is the cause of all their troubles, with some bravado being backed by Ryu and his friends, but the dolphin lashes out revealing a mechanical-looking form.   

 

The Dolphin is another simple boss, but has an important caveat: It is one of only three enemies in the game, all bosses, that uses the learnable, and very missable Tsunami skill. Have Ryu cast Shield, or Momo allocating Protect, and steal a Fish-head item, that is our first that permanently increases Intelligence, before beginning to examine every third turn to, hopefully, pick up Tsunami. Tsunami is a skill that attempts to cut the entire party's HP by half (Not elemental and may miss those equipped with the Light Bangle, Life Sandals, or Changeblock), so be prepared to cast Vitalize with Ryu if it lands more than once. It also uses the learnable Intimidate skill if you have yet to get it from D'lonzo. Once you have picked up Tsunami, splice the Thunder and Defender genes together and perform Thunder Claw with Ryu to massive effect; Nina can follow suit with Lightning and Momo supporting.

 

Note: In your possession, Tsunami is not likely to be useful for the AP it demands. Being a status-based attack, it will fail against bosses and most strong monsters, but may be of some consideration for large groups in random encounters.

 

Cadis gives Ryu a giant smooch, enough to send him to the floor, for eradicating their nemesis. We'll be spending WAY more time than we prefer at this place later in the game, but for now, we can return to our own world. Having been introduced to the faeries, a new master is available to us. Remember the forest northeast of the Plant in Eastern Wyndia? Put Peco in your party and let's head over there to finally explore.

 

The woods are filled with every type of Goo we've seen before (Including a very powerful one we haven't!). Move forward and have Ryu cut through the bushes in the narrow space to access a small spring. Wrap around to the back of it and take the Protein satchel before returning to the rock innocently before it. With Peco as the party lead, lined up with the rock, back up through the narrow space, all the way to the far-side, then run and bash the rock into the spring. The faerie, Meryleep, will emerge looking for her Flower Jewel that was stolen by a villainous crow. You may recall we picked this up from a tree outside the bandit's hideout in Central Wyndia, but do we want to hand it over yet?

 

Those with severe completionist tendencies have an important decision to make here: we can hand it over and gain Meryleep as a master, losing the item, or we can wait until later on in the game, when we can copy items, and make a duplicate to give Meryleep and keep one in our inventory. Although Meryleep teaches three of the best skills in the game, by far, her statistical bonuses are only for Agility, being a +2, while Power, Defense, and HP drop by 1. Apprentices get a +10 dodge bonus, also. So, unless you are desperate to start growing a character's Agility or picking up Charm, waiting isn't a big deal: we're not too terribly far way from being able to copy items. Meryleep's taught skills are below:

• Charm (2): A godsend for obtaining items, Charm increases the odds the targeted monster drops its item, sometimes by double, depending on that particular item's drop rate. It also boosts the odds of stealing from that creature. You're going to see this animation a million times, I promise.
• Shadowwalk (5): A guaranteed critical hit with perfect precision. One of the best, if not the best, offensive skill in the game, but eats up 8 AP. 
• War Shout (8):  Bolsters the entire party's power by 20%. Can stack with itself or other abilities like Might three times for a maximum 50% bonus. A ridiculously overpowered skill.

Watch out for the incredibly dangerous GooTitan lurking in the woods! Although it is rarely seen, it can overpower even a well-prepared party. If you encounter it, use Super Combo, or attempt to run. If you damage it enough, it will flee, often using the learnable Timed Blow skill just before that.  It fleeing, however, causes it to keep turning up as your next battle, so if you want to keep trying to learn Timed Blow, this presents an opportunity, but we'll be seeing the GooTitan in other areas for this.

 

There are a few other items we can collect around the area. Head left from the entrance, then slightly downward, there Peco can knock a rock over to collect a Vitamin. Move north across the bridge, then follow the path curving to the right to take the Scramasax chest.

 

To the right of the entrance, this time, and upwards Peco can shove over another rock to uncover a Hawk's Ring accessory that adds a +20 Surprise chance to a character; a muddied hidden stat that modifies whether you get first strike during battles. It's quite rare, too, but I'd rather have a Life Sandals equipped for the bare minimum accessory. Further up from there is a bag holding 800 zenny for us to pocket.