Prologue
Home Town: 10 years later
Mt. Fubi
Coursair
Tag Woods
Coliseum
Mt. Rocko
Windia
The Well
Return to the Hideout
Awakening the Power of the Dragon
Choosing the Carpenter
First of all, search the dresser right by you for a Tree Pole as soon as you get control of your character. Now talk to everyone in town, and search every dresser and book case in the two houses. If you spoke to everyone, there should be a bush that's stirring at the north end of the town. Press A to whack it, and explore the area that you'll now enter until you find Yua.
You'll now have to fight a Beak. You can only do about 2 points of damage per attack, and it has twice as much HP as you do, so it's gonna whup you. Your dad will come by and S. Boom it right before it can finish you off.
If you decide to close your eyes after your dad and sister leave, you'll have a vision of that eye that you saw when you started the game. The music will stop, as well. Go back to town. Oddly enough, no one remembers you or your family. Talk to the priest, and you'll stay the night in the church.
You'll meet Bow, a fellow orphan. Leave Gate, and head north-west until you reach a cave. Go in, and follow the tail. You don't have any choice. Continue following it until its owner decides to confront you.
Barubary, the owner of that eye, will sweep away Bow, and fight you. You'll lose. Next follows a long cinema scene, which ends the prologue.
Ryu and Bow have grown up, and are now full-fledged Rangers. After you take the the assignment to find the pet of Princess Mina of Windia, you've got a few things to check on. 1st, search the book case next to the Elder for a Life Plant. Also, checkyour room at the apartments; the book shelf has some coins (sometimes) while searching Ryu's bed will allow you have a night's rest. Also be sure to search the dressers at the Inn (actually, you should search the dressers at every Inn you come across). You may wish to buy some Herbs, but you can't buy anything else yet. Be sure to talk to the Dragon Idol.
Leave town, and stay near it until Ryu's up to level 4 or so. If Bow can catch a Roast, sell it. You need the money more than the item. If you buy the Stick Rod and some Worms (sell the Tree Pole if you buy the Stick Rod), you can fish with a reasonable amount of success. Sell the Sardines, keep the Unagi. If you can get enough money, upgrade to better weapons and armor. That isn't needed yet, though. Be sure to buy some Antidotes.
If Ryu is level 4, save your game and head south-east to...
Fact: If you get into enough fights on the exterior of Mt. Fubi, monsters will stop appearing there.
Enter the cave. See that pool right there? Drinking from it -- and from any pool like it -- has the same affect as spending the night at an Inn. Hang out there and get experience. I reccomend you keep at until Ryu is level 7 and Bow is level 8. At this point, you should have seen everything Mt. Fubi can throw at you, except for one thing. You can now either press onward, or return to Home Town to stock up, upgrade equipment, and/or save the game. (level building thing is credit Schimmil)
When you press onward, you'll eventually leave the caven. Continue up Mt. Fubi until the Harpies attack. Yes, this is the one thing you haven't faced yet.
The Harpy in the front of the group (Palo) has 90 HP, while the other two (Peach and Puti) have 40 HP. They're going to attack Ryu, so be sure to have Bow cast Defense Up on him. Ryu should just keep attacking. On the 2nd round the Harpies will attack each other; Bow and Ryu can probably kill one, if not both, of the weaker Harpies this round. Bow should cast Cure when it's needed. You should win in around five rounds.
Now continue up Mt. Fubi, and watch our intrepid heroes cause a rock slide. Enter the cave at the top. Go south untul you reach a fork; continue heading south to reach a Salad Bowl, or take the exit to continue thourgh the mountain. Continuing through, make your way south until you reach another fork. Take the west fork to get a Fire Rock, take the east fork to reach a big pit. If you didn't get the Fire Rock, head back and do so. You won't be able to go back for the items if you drop down the hole.
When you drop down the hole, you'll find a cave and the hunter Azusa. Leave the cave, and head west to exit Mt. Fubi.
Head west to the ruins, and enter them. Heal yourself, save at the Dragon Idol, and enter the house. You'll have to save the old beggar Niro from 6 Pests. You'll kill a Pest (10 HP) with every attack, so this is easy. However, their big cousin will then attack.
The Roach isn't particularly hard. Use Cure or a Herb when needed and keep attacking. Sometimes, when you kill it, it will get back up with some of its HP (about 40) and keep fighting. It has only 100 HP, so it'll die in short order. Though it'll sometimes get back up four or five times...
After the cinema scene, you'll have found Mina's pet. Return to Home Town (that rock slide made a nice, convenient path across the face of Mt. Fubi) and go to the Guild. You'll return Mina's pet and get your pay. Once you leave the Guild, Bow will want to take a rest. Say Yes to go on to the next cinema scene. If you say no, then head to Ryu's room when you're ready for the story to advance. Unless you have some level building to do, you might as well say yes.
When Ryu wakes, explore the town, and talk to everyone. Be sure to go to the north-west part of town. Return to your room, and you'll find Bow there. Tell him that you don't think he stole anything, and listen to his story. Now, carry him out of town in the trash can (FYI, the guard that you have to talk to in order to get out will let you pass no matter what you tell him), and go to the ruins (you'll need to go across the Mt. Fubi path). Once you reach the ruins, Bow will remain with Niro, and you now have to prove Bow's innocence by finding the real thief. Return to Home Town, talk to everyone, upgrade your equipment, and head across the bridge. Now make your way along (when you the "Beware of Hoodlums!" sign, head north), and you'll eventually reach...
Long walk, eh? Now that you're here, you've got some business to do. Get what equipment upgrades you can afford. Talk to everyone in town. You can save your game with the Priest of St. Evans. If you go to the Pub at day, talk to the guy at the counter and say yes to his offer; you'll get a rest, and it'll now be night. Once it's night, talk to everyone in the Pub. Your next destination is Tag Woods.
Before you go there, build up your level to at least 10. There's a special fishing site dead north of Coursair -- you have to be north of Coursair (above the red line in the screen shot) in order to trigger it. With the Gold bait found in Tag Woods and about 6000 coins (to completely outfit Ryu & Katt, you need exactly 7190), you can snag Maniro the Fish-man and buy some good equipment. Buy the Silver Dagger and whatever else you can afford; even the stuff Ryu can't equip will come in handy. If you don't have enough coins, don't worry; just save the Gold. You don't actually need this stuff. (credit for this goes to SC or Tyr; I can't remember which). To pull it off, you'll probably need to have Katt catch you about 25 Roasts -- and sell them. It should be noted that this stuff will last you all the way to Sima Fort.
Once you've built up your level, stocked up on healing items, and put your money in the bank (just in case you get wasted), head north to...
The weakest critter here is the Harpy; the worst possible encounter here is with a Bug Bear and an Eaterman. Bug Bears can do a lot of damage, so try to take them out first in any encounter.
Head west for a Herb, then head north for chest containing 100 coins. Continue north, and then take the south-east path for another Herb. Back-track, and go west to reach a tree house. Climb the tree house and take a ride in the bucket to reach the next area of Tag Woods.
Going east a little ways should now bring you to the second tree house ride. Go south, and then south-west, to reach another chest (Gold Bait). Now return to the tree house ride. Take it and beware, because this is where it gets ugly.
The Bug Bear/Eaterman combo seems to be most likely to appear in this area. You saw a chest (Smoke) on the way over; take what's in it. Go south for another chest (100 coins). You'll eventually have to take the western path, which will take you to Babaderu. Heal yourself before you talk to him.
Babaderu isn't tough (169 HP), though he can counter attack. You're faster than he is. Just keep fighting, and heal yourself when your HP gets low. You need enough HP to able to take 2 hits in one round (he does around 10 points per hit).
When you beat him, he'll give you his ax. Your name is now Baba, for the moment. You should now return to Coursair. Talk to Rand at the Pub (use the killing time option to get a rest), replenish your supplies, store all your money in the bank, and save your game. Now it's on to the...
Follow the directions, and have an interview with the Directer or Human Resources (160 HP). Fight him like you did Babaderu, though he's easier (he 's faster then Ryu, but he doesn't hit hard). When you win, heal yourself and go talk to Augus. The fight is rigged.
Now go to your room, and go the open the door at the north wall (ignore the chest). Rand will show up, and after you talk for a bit you'll give him all of your money to buy two antidotes. Now open the chest for 1000 coins, and head through the north door.
Here's how to reach the chest in Katt's room: 1) Open the door to her room, but do not enter. 2) Go into the Ryu's room in the Coliseum, and now continue as normal. Once the fight with Katt is concluded, you can go back to Katt's room and search the chest without getting expelled form the room. (screen shots 1 and 2)
For the record, there is no ultimate weapon or item in that chest. In fact, there's nothing at all in that chest. It can't be opened (rather like a certain chest in Auria, a town in the first Breath of Fire game).
Go through the door, and go along the passage until you reach the entrance to the arena. Enter it.
Katt (220 HP) is faster than you, and has two attacks: she'll smack you (she has a high critical hit rate), or she'll taunt you. Taunting either does nothing to you, or reduces your attack power to one for that round. Depending on how much damage she's doing to you, you might want to use a Herb whenever she hits you. Play it safe (let you HP drop below 35 at your own risk), and you should be able to beat her.
Now that you've beaten her, the poisen needles are going to start flying. You can do two things: 1) Push Katt out of harm's way, or 2) nothing. If you did 1), Katt will join you and you won't get Rand until you go to fight Augus. If you did 2), Rand will join you and you'll get Katt after you defeat Augus. I'll note that the dialog and scenes that occur if Katt was poisoned seem to be better then what results from saving her.
No matter which happened, you need to give your new party member better equipment, and you want to build him/her up to level 10. If you did 1), buy some armor (Bronze Hat and Steel Armlet) to equip Rand with in the battle. Build up whichever party member you have, replenish your supplies and go meet Augus.
When you go to confront him, he'll talk for a while, and then he'll try to kill you in style. (screen shots: 1 or 2)
Once you've beaten him, collected everything (and everyone), and replenished what supplies you could, head back to the ruins, which shall be refered to as the Hide-out. Rand will remain there, and Ryu and Katt shall return to Home Town. Once there, go to the Magic School. You'll see Nina chase off some thugs with a little magic display -- and destroy the school's gates in the process.
Tell Katt that she can learn some magic when she asks, and enter the school. Talk to everyone. Nina's at the right end of the top floor. When you go to into the room where she is, watch the cinema scene. Now you're off to...
Head east across the bridge, head north, and go west when you reach the "Watch Out of Hoodlums!" sign. When you see a mountain range with a cave in it, you're there. It isn't much of a journey.
Enter the cave, and kill the Hood blocking the entrance. Hoods have 82 HP, are slower than Katt, and are easy foes to kill. Talk to the other Hoods; they won't attack. The rightmost northern exit will lead you to where you need to go.
You can get past the first Hood (and gate) by answering him "Pain." You'll have to fight at the second gate. The character that puts his/her hand in the hole will take some damage and get poisoned. The Hood and a P. Spider will fight you.
The P. Spider is the heartier (200 HP) and stronger of the two. Decide which one you want to kill first, and concentrate on it. The Hood isn't a real threat, so I recommend going after the P. Spider -- though getting the Hood out of the way is valid option. Once you've won, perform the appropriate healing measures, and move on.
In the next part of the mountain, there are two chests and an exit. One chest (Luck Candy) is south of you, the other (Silver Dagger) is east of the exit. Going through the exit takes you to a new cavern. Head along the east wall and take the passage to reach another chest (100 coins). You now have all the treasure on this floor. Equip Ryu with the Silver Dagger, if you didn't buy one from Maniro. He'll now be able to do full damage to the Willow Wisps. The Willow Wisps and Blood Suckers (which can cast Sap) are the most dangerous things you'll run into.
The cavern that you're in has some steps in them. Take them. Now, just head for the exit of this new cavern and you'll enter a huge cavern. Ater you kill the Hood that's on guard duty, you'll witness Nina confronting Joker.
Head along the path. Once you go down the steps to the ledge where the action is taking place, Katt will go ahead and kill the Hood standing next to Mina. Ryu and Katt will then fight Joker's Hoods.
Defeat the four Hoods (note: they can summon additional Hoods with the Back Up ability), and go ahead and use up Ryu's remaining AP for healing (if it's actually needed). When you win, you'll automatically be restored to full HP and AP for the next fight.
When you win, Nina will bring the cavern's roof down on Joker. Everyone will assume that that is that. He'll shake it off, and try to pay you back.
When you win, return to the entrance and open the chest (1000 coins) that a Hood was blocking you from. Now, your next stop is...
Getting there is simple. Go north to Coursair, and then keep going west until you reach it. Cross the bridge and enter the maze. There aren't any monsters, and it's fairly easy to navigate. Talking to the people you find in here will give you more info about Nina. When you emerge from the maze, you'll be in the Windia Castle. You'll be promptly kicked out.
You'll now meet Sten. After a cinema scene, he joins you. Give him Ryu's Silver Dagger, and buy new equipment for your party. Be sure to buy some antidotes; you'll need them.
Around Windia you'll meet K. Goblins, Deathpedes, D. Flies, and Kimotos. K. Goblins can cast some hindrance spells, while Deathpedes have 136 HP and can poison the whole party. The only notable thing about D. Flies is the Egg Beater double attack. Kimitos can make Slam attacks, and like to use enhancement spells. There's fishing spot north of Windia, but you won't have much luck there. There's only four or so fish that can be caught with a Stick Rod at that spot.
Your next destination, Capitan, is to the west.
On the way there, you'll see a lone house. Remember it, because you'll have to come back here eventually. It's the home of some monster hunters. Additional note: there's a Help Ball in the dresser.
Once you reach Capitan, get as many healing items as you can afford (try to get a Life Plant or two; you'll need it). Now that you're appraised of the situation, go monster hunting around town (note: there's a fishing spot north of Capitan, but it gets the same verdict as the Windia fishing spot). You want level 12 or 13 for all party members. Once you're there, store all your money at the bank and save at Capitan's Dragon Idol. Now go out, get into a fight, and let your party die. You'll be resurrected at the Idol. When you die, you lose half of the money that you're carrying, and all of the people in your party will now have a condition of Super. You'll need every advantage you can get in order to face your next challenge. If you'd rather not die, that's okay. It isn't necesary.
Once you're ready, go in. Once you arrive at the bottom, you'll see Ray -- a priest of St. Evans; you might have met him at Coursair -- kill a Creon. Another Creon will arrive, knock aside Ray, and attack you. Creons have 280 HP, hit hard, and can Egg Beater -- which gives it an extra attack against the character that it attacked. Nina normally won't survive getting Egg Beatered, so put her on defense. Another reason to put her on defense is that you'll need all of her APs for what's coming. Have the others attack, and heal when necesary. When it dies, Ray will guide you to another part of the well. He'll fight a Creon while you go along the passage he led you to.
Once you reach the main cavern, you can ride the turtles across the water. The first chest that you see contains Van. Extract. The second chest (in the north-west corner) holds a Charm. There's a couple more Creons to fight here.
Don't talk to the kid until you're ready to face the boss. Note: Any surviving Creons in this particular part of the cave complex will vanish after the Terapin is trashed.
When you win, make your way back to Ray and talk to him. He'll block the incoming flood, and ask you to save the villagers. Explore the entire well, and talk to everyone you find.
If the villager attacks, kill the face-hugger thingy (Chiroru), not the villager. It's fast, but it'll die within one round. Killing the Chiroru (60 HP) ends the fight. Also, there are three Creons at large. Once you've got all villagers (there's six), return to Ray and tell him that you saved them. He'll release the barrier, and you'll exit the well.
Ray wants to reward you for your aid. Return to the Hideout (have Sten reach across the gap that's south of Windia). Pick a character to receive the spell he offers. If you saved all of the villagers, the spell is Renew. If you killed or abandoned some of them, it'll be Cure2. I recommend giving it to Nina. Rand and Bow can learn it on their own. Once he bestows his spell, he'll leave.
Notes about the Hideout: The part of your house where the people currently in your party are gathered will be refered to as the den. Also, just entering and exiting the characters' house will give you the benefit of a rest. Note that what a character says in the den and what the character says in his/her/its room are not always the same.
Take Rand, Sten, and one of the ladies, and return to Capitan. You'll need Sten, and Rand's ability to curl up and roll makes the trip faster. Once you're there, talk to the red-head by the Inn. She'll take Ryu to Granny's cabin (note: there's a Life Plant in the dresser). Granny will try to combine the power of Ryu and the red-head, who is Sana the Fire Shaman.
The end result is that Granny's cabin will explode, the surrounding forest will burn to the ground, and Ryu will now be able to cast the Dragon Puppies. Return to Capitan, and talk to the guy by the Inn to instantly return to the Hideout.
Return to Capitan, and choose one of the three carpenters. They'll build some houses similar to the one they're found in, and each carpenter will offer you something unique to each one.
The one in the palatial house will set up a pub, and will raise your condition to Super for a fee. The one in the tree house will set up a gaming house, where you'll use Tolens to try to win prizes. The one in the normal house has a wife that will cook up for you nearly every single freaking item in the game -- and indeed, there are some items that can only be acquired via her cooking. I strongly recommend you get the cook-carpenter. Getting the other two carpenters amounts to screwing yourself over. Note: If you didn't save enough villagers, then one or two of these carpenters won't be available.
This ends Part I of my walkthrough.
