CHAPTER 9: Gaius Trial 3

Town

Kanbalar (Fractured)—Xailen Woods Temple (Fractured)

Skits

Enemies

Auj Oule Lancer

Auj Oule Channeler

Force Your Way into the Castle

Check for new items at the shops and go to the Castle Gaius Gates to attempt to enter Castle Gaius—Central Hall. The guards at the gate will not allow you to enter, but you can force your way in if you want to fight them.

Like most of the creatures in this icy climate, the Auj Oule guards are weak to fire. Use artes like Crimson Fury or Hammer Toss to wipe them out fast. They use a lot of artes like Freeze Lancer, Downward Swing, and Blue Sphere, but their HP is low enough that they shouldn’t pose a big threat.

Sneak into the Castle

Instead of forcing your way past the guards, you can sneak in via the rooftops by going through Xailen Woods Temple. Leave Kanbalar and travel to the northern exit of the temple grounds. When you emerge on the upper level of the Residential Ward—Plaza, jump down to collect 12000 gald.

Continue running on top of the buildings following the path and grab the valuable Battle Suit for Gaius or Alvin. Climb up a ladder and veer to the left to gain access to the upper level of Castle Gaius Gates. It looks like a long drop, but you can safely jump down just past the guards that refused you passage.

Enter the Central Hall, and when you are ready for a boss battle, go into the Audience Chamber.

Kanbalar Fractured

Boss Wingul (Catalyst)

Aim for Combos with Dual Blades

In addition to sword attacks, this boss frequently uses a variety of artes including Gale Fang and Severing Wind. He moves extremely quickly, making it difficult for a lone character to land any attacks. When he attacks you, guard his strikes until one of your allies is able to reach you and begin attacking. Then drop your guard and join in the attack. The three characters who can exploit his weakness to slashing weapons are Ludger, Milla, and Gaius, so have them pummel him with normal attacks whenever his attention is on someone else. On the other hand, Leia can’t exploit his vulnerability to slashing weapons, so order her to serve a healing and support role. Also be sure to link with Gaius to do even more damage with his support ability.

Attacks to Watch Out For

Rising Phoenix: An arte in which the boss strikes diagonally from mid-air, inflicting burn and stun ailments. Wingul can only use this attack in mid-air, so him jumping up is your cue to begin blocking.

Flame Ring: An attack arte that generates a burst of flames in the area around the caster. If you’re hit, you could catch a burn that deals a significant amount of damage. As soon as you see the red casting light, immediately Free Run out of the spell’s range.

Infernal Torrent: An arte that deals heavy damage to a wide area. When the boss’s HP begins running low and he enters Over Limit, he uses this attack to transition into his Lightning Nova mystic arte. If it looks like he’s going to be able to hit with it, cancel it by having Ludger transform.

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Character Episodes

Event Quest

Item Delivery Quests

Monster Hunting Quests

Elite Monster info

*1: If you’ve already cleared Chapter 8/9 A Song Echoes Through the Falls, this occurs in Interval 9-10.

**: Only occurs in Elize Episode 2.

***: Occurs at the end of Leia Episode 3.

§: Appears after completing Leia Report—Part 1.

§§: Appears after completing Leia Report—Part 2.

§§§: Appears after completing the first Hassle at the Tatalian Abyss.

Skits

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Town

Leronde

Leronde

Find Two Felines

New towns usually mean new items, so stock up at the local shops. Continue your cat collection by looking in the northern corner of the port to find Stallone stalking some seagulls.

On Main Street, search for all the hidden items and go into the Leronde Lodge to rest if you need to. Head upstairs and check room 201 to find Rocky trying to get someone’s attention. (And of course Rocky has its precious Item Quest collar.)

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Field

Voltea Woods

Enemies

Zebra Wyvern

Clukkit

Brindle Cat

Filinocta

Peepit

Voltea Woods

The Zebra Wyvern is a Powerful Foe

Look for Monty in a cave in the southeast corner of the Northeast Branch.

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Dungeon

Felgana Mine

Enemies

Bat

Rock Djinn

Shaft Skeleton

Worm Shade

Felgana Mine

Smash the Rocks to Collect High-Resale Materials

Many of the foes who appear in the Felgana Mines are resistant to Earth, so avoid using any Earth-type attacks. Rock Djinns will attack the party with devastating Rock Trine spells, so have the party focus their attacks on wiping them out as soon as they appear.

In addition to gathering points and loot bags, the Felgana Mines has colorful stalagmites that can be examined to reveal special materials. A single stalagmite can contain up to four materials, so keep pressing the button until the rock crumbles.

The mines are a series of winding paths, and it is easy to lose your way if you don’t check the maps often. Speaking of hard to find, Melvin the cat is lurking behind several crates near some glowing mushrooms in Shaft 4.

The other cat to find in Shaft 4 is in the last section before going to Shaft 4 Interior—Monster Nest. Look for the save point in this section to find Croquette (with its Item Quest collar) perched on a large glowing cyan mushroom.

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Dungeon

Old Vicalle Mine

Enemies

Salamander

Tree Crab

Pyro Basilisk

Gentlegnome

Dusk Goblin

Old Vicalle Mine

Attack Pyro Basilisks with Water-Type Artes

With nearly twice the power of the region’s other foes, the Pyro Basilisk stands out as the biggest threat in the Old Vicalle Mine. It has a lot of HP, but you can compensate for that by attacking with Water-type artes, which will deal nearly double damage to the Basilisk. Artes like Blue Sphere are a good choice when battling Pyro Basilisks. Of course, equipping Water-element weapons is also an option, but Water-type enemies do appear in the mine, so sticking with Water-type artes will make it easier to avoid dealing the wrong type of damage to the wrong foe.

Whiskey can be found in the South Region, but it is hiding pretty well. It is easy to overlook this cat if you don’t adjust the camera to peer inside the broken barrel where it is lurking.

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Town

Drellin

Drellin

Lemon and Pineapple Gels Are Now Available to Purchase

At the item shop in Drellin Station, you can buy Lemon and Pineapple Gels that offer far greater recovery power, as well as Melange Gels that restore HP and TP at the same time. They’re a little pricier than the Gels you’ve been using previously, so you’ll probably want to stick with Apple Gels for normal battles and only break out the Lemon Gels for boss fights. However, when you have the gald, make the switch to the upgraded items and don’t forget to change your Auto-Items settings!

Eyna is an unusually colored cat that is sitting on a crate trying to snag a meal from the fish vendor. Pick up this rare blue feline and you will also receive the Tengu Mask that is part of an item quest.

Go into the Auberge Trotha Dining Room and pick up Tartaros, with its Item Quest collar, sitting on a table next to the cook.

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Field

Catamar Heights

Enemies

Withered Treant

Swamp Polwigle

Western Wolf

Striker Crab Man

Use Blades for Slashing Damage

Outside of the Swamp Polwigle, all of the monsters in the Catamar Heights are weak to slashing damage. To exploit this, you’ll want slashers like Milla and Gaius to serve as two of Ludger’s three companions. With the right party, even the Western Wolves that appear in large packs will be easy to best. Just make sure you’re not using weapons with Fire, Wind, Light, or Dark-type elemental properties, as you’ll face foes resistant to each of those damage types.

Catamar Heights

Search the western side of the Northeast Region to find a small secluded area that is connected to the main section by two thin bridges of land. Near the back wall of this easy-to-miss locale is a bunch of large rocks and Nelly the cat.

Debt Repayment Interval 9-10

Dungeon

Epsilla Ruins

Epsilla Ruins

No Passage in the Prime Dimension

There is not much to do at the Epsilla Ruins in the prime dimension. A bunch of boulders bar your way and you must wait until Chapter 10 to get past them.