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Grandia Xtreme FAQ/Walkthrough (NA) v. 2.2

By Aru Sulato (Steve Bergstrom)
coldfusion7777@cliffhanger.com
Last Updated: 11/06/02
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DISCLAIMER
This document copyright (c) 2002 by Steve Bergstrom.
If you'd like use this document on your website, you may, simply e-mail me
at coldfusion7777@cliffhanger.com letting me know that you're using it.
However - I will only allow use of this walkthrough 100% unaltered.
The latest version can always be found at:
GameFAQs - www.gamefaqs.com
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CONTACT INFO - PLEASE READ BEFORE E-MAILING
Do not email me asking for tips on this game. If you have specific questions
regarding the game, I suggest the GameFAQs message board for this game,
located at http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/boards/gentopic.asp?board=3084
If you wish to make corrections, suggestions, or contributions to this FAQ,
you can email me at coldfusion7777@cliffhanger.com -- dont be surprised if the
reply comes from another address, I've got mail forwarding.
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CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Updates/Revision History
3. Frequently Asked Questions
4. Basics
5. Walkthrough
6. Mana Egg Guide
7. Thanks
===============================================================================
1. INTRODUCTION
===============================================================================
Ok, heres the deal. This walkthrough is mainly for the dungeon portion of
Grandia Xtreme - its fairly simple for me to go through the dungeons again,
whereas it will be some time before I replay the entire game again. If you're
stuck on a portion of the plot, or the town, well, you'll simply have to figure
it out yourself. Locca and Escarre aren't that big, usually if they won't let
you leave the town, you simply have to find the right person to talk to in
order to make the plot continue.
My policy as far as FAQs go is that I won't discuss the plot - not that theres
much of a plot in Grandia Xtreme, but still - I feel there are ways to convey
gameplay information without giving major spoilers. Still, for those of you
who like your plots absolutely unspoiled, be warned that this FAQ may contain
minor spoilers.
===============================================================================
2. UPDATES/REVISION HISTORY
===============================================================================
v.2.2 - 11/06/02 - Added in the necessary info for the plot segments through
most of the game. Also fixed up the portion in the Light Ruins that I had
skipped over (because it isn't replayable later in the game.)
v.2.1 - 10/10/02 - Basic information on the bonus dungeon added. Also fixed a
couple of the boss strategies, thanks to contributions through email. Finally,
I put down a strategy for the level 200 boss at the end of the Dark Ruins.
Next up, a replay of the game to fill in the plot information.
v.2.0 - 10/8/02 - Walkthrough Complete!
Also added information on the boss of the Land Ruins, which I neglected last
update, and on the additional bosses of the Darkness and Light Ruins.
Still a few things here and there to be added, information on the bonus
dungeon, a list of Mana Eggs and skills, and information on beating the
powered-up bosses. But, that's comin.
v.1.2 - 10/7/02 - Walkthrough now through Venom Ruins. Just 3 more dungeons
to go. (plus info on the bonus dungeon, but I'll worry about finishing the
main walkthrough first.)
v.1.1 - 10/6/02 - Added an FAQ for a common plot sticking point, and added in
the next two dungeons, along with the first 10 floors of Starry Corridor.
v.1.0 - 10/4/02 - Created dungeon walkthroughs for the first 2 dungeons, the
next two are coming quite soon.
===============================================================================
3. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
===============================================================================
Q: Is this game any good?
A: Quite frankly, I couldn't tell ya. I enjoyed it, but I have a well-rewarded
love of the series. Read some reviews, check the message board.

Q: Where do I save in the dungeons?

A: Sorry, you won't find any save points in the dungeons. The only - and I mean
only - place you can save is in the Armory in Locca. If you die in the dungeon,
you have to start all over again. This is just one of the ways in which Grandia
Xtreme is a step up in difficulty from Grandia I + II.
There are Geo Gates in the dungeons, however, that will take you back to town
so you can save. Look for a large circle of pink/purple energy, or a blue
glyph if you've already activated the Gate.

Q: I keep getting surprised when I enter battles, even if I was directly facing
the enemy. How do I prevent this?
A: The initiative/surprise system has changed from the previous installments
of the Grandia series. Pressing X now puts you into an attack-ready stance -
in this stance, you'll rarely get surprised, most battles will start even, and
you should get initiative ("Forestall") quite often. Get into that stance
when enemies are nearby.

Q: What does the Xtreme meter do?

A: It beeps and fills up when there are enemies and items nearby. When it turns
red and starts to go wild, it means there is a particularly strong enemy
nearby. Its really only useful to tell your whether there are monsters nearby
before your automap gets filled out.

Q: My Mana Eggs has little letters by its spells, and some of the spell names
are flashing. What does this mean?
A: Those are SFs (Special Forces) attached to those spells. They make them more
powerful. I'll cover this again in the Mana Egg section, but heres what the
letters mean:
MP - The MP cost of the spell decreases.
P - the strength of the spell itself increases.
H - Spells with multiple hits will hit additional times.
W - Spells with an area/fan/around effect will have a wider range.
S - The time it takes to charge the spell will decrease.
IP - The spell will deal more IP damage - in other words, casting it will
delay the enemy's turn.

Q: I've finished the Light Ruins, and now I'm stuck in Escarre looking for
someone. What do I do?
A: A deeply confusing part, I can't imagine how people playing the import
managed to get through this without an FAQ. You basically have to go to
every section of town and talk to everyone - or, at least, as many people
as you have to before someone tells you that the person you are looking for
is waiting for you uptown. Just run around Escarre, be sure to check out
the people in the uptown house, the military base, and in the easy-to-miss
tavern on the docks.

Q: Where do I get the Spirit Equipment? How do I equip it?

A: I haven't confirmed all of these, only a few - credit goes out to various
people on the message boards for these.
Spirit Blade - Get Item on Kings Knights, levels 75-80 of the bonus dungeon
Spirit Armor - Get Item on the giant soldiers, 75-80 of the bonus dungeon
(I'll fill in the actual name when I get down there again)
Spirit Shield - In the Light Ruins, Interior 2, right after the Geo Gate -
destroy the pillars in a counter-clockwise order
Spirit Helm - Purchased at the Skill Shop in Locca - you'll have to sell a lot
of books to get this
Spirit Ring/Shoes - Save, then gamble in the Platinum game at Juston's house,
after you've beaten the game
Its all really good equipment. To equip it, (except the Blade), you'll need to
equip the S Skill Full Armor, maxed out.
===============================================================================
4. BASICS
===============================================================================
** This section is mainly for people new to the Grandia series, if you're not,
feel free to skip down a bit **

- Watch the wheel. See that red part? When a character or enemy reaches the
bottom of that, its their turn to act. If the move requires charging up,
they'll move along that red part and when they reach the top, they'll activate
it.

- Each character has a special that has a "Cancel" effect - Evann's X-Slash,
for instance. If an enemy is hit with a Cancel skill while they're charging
up for a move (or anytime they're still on the red part of the wheel), their
move will get cancelled and they'll be flung back to the blue part of the wheel.
Critical attacks also cancel - though they don't do much damage.

- Whenever you see any enemy stand still and have little lines moving toward
them, they're charging up a move. Some are worthless, some are punishing.
You'll want to attempt to use Cancel skills to cancel the really punishing
ones. I'll try and make a note of these in the boss strategies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- To build up your specials, you have to use em over and over again. This builds
up their levels (indicated by the stars) - as your specials level up, you'll
automatically learn new ones.

- To build up your magic, you need to junction new Mana Eggs at the magician in
Locca. Using magic does nothing to develop it. You can find Mana Eggs lying
around the dungeons.

- To equip your skills, you need to equip skill books to put them in. To build
up your skills, you need to defeat enemies and gain different kinds of skill
experience. You can find new and better skill books lying around the dungeons.
To get more skills, you need to find Vellum papers, dropped by most enemies,
and take them to the skillman in Locca to make them into skills.

- You can only change your Mana Eggs and skills in the armory, skill shop, and
magic shop. You can't do it in the middle of a dungeon.
===============================================================================
5. WALKTHROUGH
===============================================================================
Watch the opening FMV, and the events that follow. When you finally get control
of Evann, head out of the room you're in and out into Locca. Find the Command
Post next to the barracks, head in. After this conversation, head over to the
Armory and rest, then talk to Brandol outside. You'll end up outside the Land
Ruins - go into the HQ and talk to Diene. Now, you can head back and enter
the Land Ruins.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Land Ruins
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NOTES:
- If you're expecting Marna Road or Garmia Tower, you may get your butt
whupped. This dungeon isn't hard, per se, but its not _that_ easy. Sure,
you'll meet plenty of two-hit kill Mottled Spiders, as usual, but there are
also a host of stronger enemies to deal with as well.

- One point that seems to trip up most new players is the initiative/surprise
system - new to Grandia Xtreme. Simply touching an enemy from behind isn't
enough anymore. As I said above, pressing X puts you into a battle-ready
stance, but you'll walk slower. When you get close to enemies, get into that
stance and keep moving, and you won't get surprised. If you aren't getting
surprised every battle, this dungeon gets quite a bit easier.

- Learn to be conservative with your MP - you can't spam your best spells like
you can in Grandia I + II. You won't get a refill before you have to fight the
boss of this dungeon. SP, on the other hand, refills as you use combo attacks
and take damage, and you want to use your special skills often in order to
build them up.

- Items are randomly generated, and will re-spawn if you redo the dungeon.

- Grandia Xtreme doesn't seem to have a compass. (N,S,E,W) This makes giving
directions a hopelessly confusing task, but I'll give it a shot anyway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
From the little base-camp out front, head into the cave straight ahead. Walk
across the plank to the left, ahead a little, then back across the other
plank. Go down the ladder. Walk across the plank ahead of you and down the
hall, under the large fallen pillar. In the octagonal room, walk around
the edge to the hallway on your right. Walk all the way down this hallway,
into a room with a couple enemies. Hang a left, go down this hallway (at the
halfway point, you can go left to find a chest that sometimes spawns Mana Eggs).
Hang a left at the end.
This hallway is trapped - ceiling tiles will fall, Kingdome-style. Hug the left
edge of this hallway to avoid damage. You can tell this is the trapped hallway
by the beams of light coming from the ceiling. Follow the hallway, through the
room with the catwalk and the boxes. Head through the door, watch for the
spider thats not on your radar. Keep following the hallway, up the stairs, left
at the top of the stairs. Another trapped hallway - hug the left wall again.
Turn right, then left, head into another room with enemies.
You should be back in the octagonal room again - go down the ladder to the left,
then down the next ladder. Hang a left and go down the hallway into Land Ruins 2.

Go down either ladder, then straight ahead, up the ramp onto the platform in
the middle. Activate the little switch in the center, this causes the moving
platforms all around this room to activate. Assuming that you're facing so that
the entrance (with the ladders) is behind you, you need to go on the platform
to your left. Its the side that doesn't have a ramp. (Man, giving directions
without a compass is a pain) Ride the two platforms over, head down the hall,
straight through the room with the mushrooms, and into the hall at the other
end. Hang a right at the fork, going down that hall you should find a platform
sitting on the ledge. Push it off, then go back to the moving platforms. From
the central thingie, look for the platform you pushed off, it should be opposite
the entrance with the ladders, head across there and into Land Ruins 3.

In this octagonal room, go around the edge to the left. Head down the hall into
a room where the floor caves in. Go into the room on the right, be ready for a
monster that ain't on the radar. Follow this hallway around, back into the
floor-less room, activate the switch to bring up a little bridge. Go back the
way you came, back into that room, head across the bridge you just made. Head
down this hallway, left down the stairs and back into the octagonal room. Go
straight across the room down into another hallway. Stepping on the tile on the
floor should bring down a wall ahead to your left. Books and Eggs can spawn
there, but watch for the spiders on the ceiling. There should be a long hallway
with a rock tumbling down, Indiana Jones style. Wait til it passes, then head
up the ramp and into one of the side alcoves. Through the left alcove, theres
a door not on the radar that leads to a possible Mana Egg spawn. In the alcove,
wait til the rock passes by and head up again.
Be ready, cause here comes the boss.
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BOSS: MINOTAUR
This guy is fairly tough, especially since you've been worn down a bit from
the long dungeon. Don't be afraid to use your items, its better than having to
redo the whole dungeon.
He's got a decent pack of cronies with him, you'll want to wipe those out
fairly early. If you've got any Howls left on your Wind Egg, use em. Don't
neglect the big boy, though, try and cancel him if he tries to use Tornado
Horn - it does decent damage as well as confusion. Use whatever is left in your
Aqua Egg to heal, if you found a few First Aid Kits in the dungeon, those work
good too. Its not an impossible fight, but it can catch you off-guard.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, now head through, back to the octagonal room, hit the red switch. Go
through the door behind you, up into the Spiritual Atrium. Afterwards, go back
into the HQ and meet your new party members. After all the hoopla, you'll be
back in Locca. Go to the diner. You can now go to the Flame Ruins, once you
pick your party in the Armory, of course.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flame Ruins
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- You have to take Brandol with ya. And Evann, but thats obvious. The last two
party members are up to you, though the general consensus is that Titto and
Myam should be placed in your party and never removed. Titto has Get Item,
which lets you steal all sorts of sweet stuff, and Myam has Recover All, which
lets you heal HP without having to use items or Mana Eggs. Myam's more of a
necessity than Titto, at least for now, and its easier to play around with other
characters now as opposed to later, so, its your choice.

- You probably won't realize it til you're halfway through this dungeon, but
inventory size is limited in this game. Be sure to go to the skillman and make
new skills - Vellums take up quite a bit of space. And head to the item shop
and sell off any useless items you've picked up.
- Wind Eggs still work well here, go ahead and use Howl if you're fighting off
a horde of birds. You don't really need to mess with synthing eggs too much yet,
you don't really have the supplies.

- Item placement is still random, there are lots of places where Mana Eggs can
potentially pop up, but there won't always be Mana Eggs there. Look for dots
on the radar, if you see one, it might be worth going off the main path, you
want all the Mana Eggs you can get your grubby hands on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Head over to the ladder and up. This is a fairly large area here, Mana Eggs
and other items can spawn in the little pits, but to proceed, go right. You
should find a long stretch of land in a big lava pool. Watch yourself - even
though they don't appear on the radar, enemies will pop up out of the lava, so
be ready to hit X if you see or hear a lava spout pop up. Hang a left at the
intersection. At the next, larger intersection, head left, unless you want to
check right for a potential Mana Egg. As you continue up the hill, it'll
zig-zag a bit, with paths off for items/Mana Egg spawns. Just follow the zig-
zag to continue with the dungeon.
When you reach the top, you'll see a cave ahead - watch this path, its trapped,
lava spouts will pop up that can deal damage. Go through the tunnel to the next
area, Volcano-Exterior.

Go right, don't hug the edge of the cliff, the ground can give way and you can
fall. Go all the way over to the second ladder, at the very end, go down. Go
over to the giant green pipe, walk across it. If you want the items and
enemies in the cave behind the rock, go up the ladder here, up again, and
push the rock at the top. Otherwise, just follow the path around the edge,
across another green pipe, and down a ladder. Go left into the green pipe,
around through the cave, and back out the other end of the green pipe. Move
ahead to the monolith, activate it and go inside the big purple thing to
Flame Ruins - Interior.

Theres a Geo Gate to your left, if you want to go back to town and save,
otherwise go around the path and down the elevator. Go straight ahead, step on
blue square. Hang a right and go down the hallway. Jump onto the platform
on the lava spout, keep jumping from platform to platform when the platform
you're standing on gets higher that the platform ahead of you. Go down the
next hall, step on the blue square. Head left, step on another blue square,
but be prepared for a battle. Don't get surprised. Continue on to another
hallway. When you reach the next room, walk down the walkway by the entrance
and go down the ramp, then hit the little switch to the right of the block.
Walk all the way to the other end of this room, push the block into position
then hit the switch. Go through the door you just opened. Step on the blue
square ahead of you. Go left, make your way to the center blue thing, step on
it. Now, go through the opening straight ahead.
Go right, push the block. Go back, go left, through the hallway, push the other
block. Go back, go down the center walkway, but watch for the enemy that'll
appear out of nowhere. Continue on into Flame Ruins - Hall of Flame.

A boss will appear, walk down the walkway and get ready.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: MOTHER CRUSTACEAN
I generally find that with Grandia bosses that have claws or multiple parts,
its better to focus on the main boss rather than its parts. In this case, there
are also multiple little baby crustaceans running around, so it may be worth it
to hit them with a few area-effect spells, take them all out in one swoop.
The only thing you should really cancel is the main boss' Hi-Jump tech - or,
better yet, if you've got Carmyne or Myam, use their Cancel techs, which can
hit all the parts of the boss at once.
Fire, obviously, doesn't work on the Flame Ruins boss. Beyond that, whatever
magic you've got works. If you ain't got magic, just hit it with your basic
special skills, like I said, forget about the claws. It doesn't take too
much to bring this one down.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head into the Spiritual Atrium, take the slab, head back out and there will
be a Geo Gate waiting for ya.
After this, go to the Command Post and talk to Diene - you'll be directed to
take your party to Escarre. Myam and Ulk are in the park, Brandol and Carmyne
are at the diner, Jaid and Titto are on the upper floor of the barracks. Find
them all, then take the train to Escarre, go to the music hall, ask Specto
all the questions, then head back to Locca.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aqua Ruins
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- You have to take Jaid with you. He's both a decent magic user and a good
physical fighter, so its cool.

- If you picked up a few Eggs in the last ruins, you might wanna try synthing
some Lava Eggs - Flare + Stone. Burnflame can make this dungeon go by a little
quicker in the first half, and it can help on the boss in the second.
(Funny. Burnflame always ends up my spam-spell. Welcome to the crematorium!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Go ahead and grab the items around the area, but your eventual goal will be
to head to the corner opposite where you are. So, if you were standing on the
Geo Gate, and the little dead-end path was behind you, it'd be up-left.
Head through the lower area and up the step in the far corner.
Walk down the upper path, all the way to the end. At the end, turn left and
go under the arch. At this point, a Mimic will appear, so don't let it surprise
you. Head into the cave, Tsunami Trough - Ocean Cave.

Head straight down the main tunnel, the offshoots lead to items. You should
enter a circular room, the jellyfish in there are actually traps, run under
when they aren't giving off electricity. Go right, and ride the fish. Head
on down, you should see a Geo Gate ahead of you.
The path closer to where you came from will take you further into the dungeon.
Go right at the first path you come to, past the jellyfish, then left into the
next part, Tsunami Trough, Ocean Temple.

Head down the ramp to your left. Head around the central temple in either
direction, the entrance is on the other side. Head into Aqua Ruins - Interior.

This part can seem confusing, but its actually mostly straightforward. Go up
the stairs on either side. Head across the walkway into the larger room.
Theres only one door open, to your right, head in it and down the hall. Go
up to the color switch and change it to Red. All the red doors will open. Go
back out through the other door. There should be only one door open in the
central room, head through it. Take the elevator at the end down.
Move ahead to the room with the big water sphere in the center. Head around
to the left, past the first door, to the second. Go in and activate the
monolith in order to make the color switch come down. Go back to the room
with the sphere, go left and enter the door you skipped before. You'll see
a red dome in the room ahead of you.
This room is plagued with millions of little dragonfly thingies. They're
annoying, and its hard to avoid fighting at least a couple. Move through
cautiously. The door you want to go through should be just to your right as you
enter. Go in, under the water, and into the room with the color switch. Set it
to Green. Proceed through the opened green door.
In the next room, go through the door directly opposite where you entered. You
should come to a room with lots of water walls that switch on and off. You can't
go straight to the exit - go left, and make your way around the maze. Head out
of this room, and over to the next color switch. Hit Blue. Go through the blue
door, back to the room with the sphere. Go left and go through the open door.
You should reach an elevator down to Aqua Ruins, Energy Conversion Room.

Head through the door, and be ready for the boss.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: DEAVA
Dont be fooled - this boss has two forms, you're only wearing down its outer
shell. Ice isn't effective - Fire and Bomb is. Lightning is also effective -
plus, the parts of this boss are vunerable to Paralysis, if only for a short
time.
He doesn't do his really strong attacks until you open up his shell, so don't
waste your really strong moves on it. Once he does open up, you can cancel
the moves of his parts, though.
Ocean Wave is punishing, try and cancel it. Aqua Splash from the knuckles
hurts too, but its hard to cancel everything and still do damage. Focus your
attacks on the main body, or even better, hit it with spells like Burnflame
and Zap that bop all the parts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go ahead, into the Spiritual Atrium, get the slab, get back out and head on
into the Geo Gate.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gale Ruins
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- You need to take Myam with you here. But she's quite useful, at least at this
point in the game.

- It may be worth your while to make a Mist Egg or two, Alheal is good, and its
not like you need those Wind Eggs in this dungeon anyway. Keep junctioning your
eggs up.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Head down the ramp straight ahead of you. Go through the tunnel, then hang a
quick left and go through the tunnel there. Hang a right at the intersection
there. Move ahead through the canyon, until you reach a ramp up. Walk over to
the house, push the bookshelf if you want the item behind it, try and open
the door and the wall will fall down, allowing you to walk across it. Go
across, then go into the next house you find. Go through the house, across
the land bridge, hang a left. Head across this land bridge, then down the ramp
to the left. Go through the tunnel ahead, turning right at the intersection,
then left at the next. Move ahead to the next area, Ghost Town - Outskirts.
Your first visit here, a cutscene will take place, and you'll end up in the
next area. Subsequent ones, just head into the ruins, Gale Ruins - Interior 1.

Theres only one exit out of this room, head out into the hallway. Head into
the next room, and out the left exit. Head down the long hallway into a room
with a large turbine. Go past the first door on your right, to the second.
Head through this hallway, don't touch the lasers, and you'll find a Geo
Gate. Save if you want, then head through the next door. Walk down this long
hallway, to the next room. Exit from this room is in the opposite corner,
continue through the next hallway to the next room.
Take the top exit out of this room to push a block that helps you get a Mana
Egg. Take the left exit to proceed with the dungeon, follow the hallway past
some lasers to the turbine room again. Skip the first door on your right for
now, take the second. Gargoyles will pop up in this hallway, dont get
surprised.
You'll reach a room with a red switch in the middle that causes the thing in
the center to spin. If you'd just like to continue with the dungeon, make it
stop at the room directly across from you, move forward. Otherwise, the two
hallways on the right side both lead to blocks that can be pushed off to get
that Mana Egg (or other item) I mentioned earlier. Push em, then backtrack
to the room I had you skip a second ago to get it, climbing up the ladder to
push the last block, then hitting the switch.
Anyway, when all is said and done, head through that room directly across from
the entrance and you'll reach Gale Ruins - Exterior - Lower Level.

Head left, up the side, up the ladder, and into Gale Ruins - Interior 2 - 1st
FL Ent.

Ride the rails over to the next room. Go into the hallway. The path to the
right leads to a item spawn. Keep following the hallway, you'll be in a big
room with a red cylinder of energy. Take the top exit out. Ride the platform
until it meets up with the other platform, then get on the other platform.
(If you fall, make your way back to where you started, there will be a ladder
nearby to take you back to the red cylinder room)
Get off the second platform at the second stop, not the first. Go up, through
the next room, up some more stairs, over to another rail ride. Get off to the
right, head through into Gale Ruins - Exterior - Middle Level.

Go right, up into Gale Ruins - Interior 2 - 2nd FL Ent.

Head down the hall, through the room with the red cylinder + platform, down
another hall, and activate the monolith. Head back and ride the now-accessible
platform. Exit to your left, ride the platform to the center island. (Or fall,
and climb up to it.) Go up the platform in the center. Head right through the
door. Go down the hallway and into Gale Ruins - Exterior - Upper Level.

Go right up the side, up the ladder, up the next ladder. At the top, go down
the ramp into Gale Ruins - Equipment Housing Area.

Follow this hallway to Gale Ruins - Great Engine Room, and a boss.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: BONE MANTIS
This guy ain't as tough as the Water Ruins boss was. Bomb/Meteor should work
well, or Fire. Immune to Lightning, I'd imagine Wind as well but I didn't test
it. I don't think he has any real damaging attacks worth noting, but as usual,
canceling stuff that hurts, well, can't hurt.
Focus on the main body, don't sweat the arms, thats usually my policy, though
you're free to disagree.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head into the Spiritual Atrium, grab the slab, head out, and a bunch of events
will take place.

Eventually, you'll end up on a mountain path, and you'll have to fight a series
of soldiers. They aren't too damaging, even if they do have decent HP - go ahead
and use your magic and skills, but save some smashy for their leader. I believe
you have to fight about 4 groups of soldiers, followed by a final group with
their leader.

After that, I believe you're sent off to Escarre with Diene. Go up to the gate
to the military base, head in, and go into the barracks. Talk to the guy there,
and you can leave.

After this, you can go to the Starry Park, which is in Locca, down the path from
where the Geo Gate is, push the pushable block, grab the slab, and head down
into the Starry Corridor.

NOTE:
- At this point, the first 4 dungeons all get a boost in difficulty. The enemies
inside get level boosts, and there are new bosses/level boosts to the current
bosses. You also get a reward at the end consisting of items, books, and most
importantly, level 2 Mana Eggs. And, yes, you can kill these bosses as many
times as you like and get tons of eggs. Just leave the dungeon and come back,
and they'll respawn.
You can either take the time to build up levels or not - at the levels you're
at now, you're most likely capable of handling the next few dungeons. But
eventually, you will want to work towards better Mana Eggs, so, its your choice.
I had an Ether Egg by the time I was done with the final floors of Starry
Corridor, but its not necessary.

All the bosses are the same, except for the Land Ruins gets a new, harder boss,
which I'll go ahead and talk about here:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: GIANT SOLDIERS
These guys can be a PAIN.
Firstoff: GET PARALYSIS PROTECTION. On every party member. You can buy Purify
Bracelets or Paralysis Charms at the shop in Locca.
Secondly: Try and equip maxed Iron Guard skills on every party member. Iron
Guard is a really useful skill in general - here, it reduces the damage of the
boss' most powerful skill, Lightning, to nothing. Quite handy.
If you don't have Iron Guard, cancel Lightning as much as humanly possible.
Beyond that, your most effective bets for damage are Ice, Wind, and Lightning.
Its not hard, so long as you take steps to keep Lightning from taking you out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starry Corridor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- This dungeon is randomly generated. (Yay, I don't have to do a walkthrough)
There are 30 floors, 10 of which are accessible to you now. There are Geo Gates
every 5 floors, and the entrance to another dungeon every 10. Right now, you'll
be headed down to the Venom Ruins.
- Right now is about the point where you should pick a party and stick with it.
Theres no point in leveling up every member of your party, the game won't
require you to use any particular party member.

For a quick overview -

Evann - Required, but you'd use him anyway.
Brandol - A good physical fighter, not so hot on magic, but Victory Roar, which
pumps up your attack power, is mighty useful.
Carmyne - Fairly well-rounded, good fighter, decent magic user. Average, not
a particularly appealing pick, but she won't sink a party either.
Jaid - He's both a good physical fighter and a good magic user. I don't care
much for his special moves, personally, I think they're mostly useless.
Titto - His Get Item is pretty much a necessity if you want the best stuff
in the bonus dungeon. You don't really need him a whole lot before that
point, but most people use him anyway.
Ulk - Much like Brandol, strong, 5 book slots. He's got an all-effect status
restoring skill, I could see why he might be useful.
Myam - Recover All is pretty nice, though it becomes less and less important
later on, as you eventually get enough Mana Eggs for healing. I used her, but
at this point you could probably take her out.
Lutina - Fairly average, I think, she's fairly speedy, average fighter,
decent magic user. I use her, but I couldn't really justify why.

Thats just my opinion as far as character choices go, you're free to disagree.
My first game, I used Evann, Titto, Myam, and Lutina. Not for their 4-way tech,
believe me, it sucks.
My second play through, I used Evann, Brandol, Titto, and Ulk. Having both
guys with 5 Skill Book slots is lots of fun in the bonus dungeon when you've
got uber-skills to throw around.

- Level 1 and 2 Mana Eggs can be found scattered about, its your choice, you
can be meticulous and get everything, or do what I did and just find the exit
to the next floor and proceed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Continue down 10 floors of this randomly generated dungeon until you reach the
next dungeon. On the 10th floor, walk down and into the gate to Illusory
Meadow 1.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illusory Meadow / Venom Ruins
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- The music is so soft and soothing, ain't it?

- You may wanna take the Geo Gate on the 10th floor back, and go level up your
characters and build up your eggs. The boss at the end of this dungeon can be
hard, but if you've gone through a couple of the first 4 dungeons again, you
should be well-equipped to handle it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Kinda like a big hedge maze for the first part here. Move ahead, go left in
this first circle. Right at the next circle. Follow this path along, (watch
for enemies popping out of the grass) its pretty much straightforward.
Eventually, just after the big hill, there will be a path off to the right,
take it. In the next circle, there are two paths, one to the left and one
to the right, take the right one. Keep on until you climb an even bigger hill
in the center, then take the left path. Follow that until it takes you to
Illusory Meadow 2.

Follow this path, going left at the little intersection to a big wall, follow
that wall around. Take a left at the intersection you come to, some huge
plants should pop up in the next little circle. They're not a huge problem,
just use a few of your specials on em. Continue on, head towards the big
center dome, find the entrance on it and head into Venom Ruins - Red Quartz
Park.

Some events will occur, if I remember correctly, anyway, theres a Geo Gate here,
head on into Venom Ruins - Interior.

In the room with the green light gun, go right. Push the green crystal block,
then go back to the green light gun and activate it. A door should open, go
back to the room with the crystal block and head through it, down the ramp.
You should be in a room with a red light gun. Head right, in the direction
the red light gun is pointing. You should reach a room with three crystal
blocks. Push the red crystal block once so it is in the center of the room.
Go back to the red light gun, activate it. Go back and push the now-glowing
red crystal onto the red circle. Push the blue block down, then over. Push
the green block up.
Now, head into the door opposite the one that led you to the red gun room.
Take a left at the first door. You should be in a room with green goop pouring
out, and some enemies, continue on to the right. Go straight through this
hallway, then right at the next room, continue on to the monolith, activate
it. This should bring up the blue gun, go back around the way you came, and
into the blue gun room again. Activate it. Now, go back to the crystal room,
and push the blue block onto the blue circle.
Go into the open door opposite the green crystal. Go left at the first door you
pass. Follow this path around to another monolith, this one should bring the
green gun down. Go back around, and activate the green gun. Go back to the
crystal room and hit the switch in the middle. Go through the door you just
opened to Venom Ruins - Red Quartz Throne.

That music means its boss time. Heal up, and get ready. Walk up to the red
quartz statue, and back down.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: VOLT BEAST
This boss is really only hard if you don't know what you're doing. He can deal
out some decent damage, so be zealous in your canceling of his powerful moves,
like Gust Bazooka. His claws can deal good damage too, but don't waste valuable
time trying to kill them.
And, the most important point:
When he stands, he's immune to magic. (and any physical attacks / skills with
an elemental affinity.)
When he crouches, he's immune to physical attacks.
You really want him to stay in his crouching position - I personally had lots
stronger magic than I did physical attacks.
In other words - Cancel him until he does Metamorphosis, then let him morph
to his crouching form.
From there, he's pretty weak to magic, (CORRECTION: He's not immune to
lightning, as I thought before - thanks to jaybird53@hotmail.com) - so, hit him
with all you've got. If you can't handle him, you probably need to go back and
start working on getting yourself some level 6 or higher eggs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From there, head up, do whatever needs to be done in the room ahead, then head
back out of the ruins, where another event will take place.

If I recall correctly, here is where you take Lutina to Escarre to learn even
more. You will have to fight one battle with her, but its simple, even if you
haven't used Lutina yet. If all else fails, let her die and have Evann cruise
through with Invincible Aura. Its not a hard battle, though.
Anyway, take Lutina to the military base in Escarre, let her open the door
into the Central Facility, fight the battle, and head on out.

After all is said and done, return to Starry Corridor, 10th Floor via the Geo
Gate. Head down another 10 floors, and you'll reach the next dungeon - Darkness
Ruins - Ancient Factory.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darkness Ruins
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- I have absolutely no idea what levels are appropriate for this dungeon. I
had leveled up quite a bit and gotten a level 9 Egg, and for me, the enemies
were wussy and the boss was cake. If you're gettin beat up a bit, well, you're
gonna wanna work on those eggs sometime, if you haven't done so already, no
time like the present.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Go left. Along the left side, you should see a narrow path off the left side on
minimap - take it. Inside the pipe, go right. Follow that path til you reach
a ladder - climb it. There should be another ladder down on the other side,
climb down. Head left, then over to the ladder there. (Just walk around the
pit to the other side, its right there.) Climb up. There should be a ring
elevator down - go down. Go around the corner there to the left, walk down
the long, long path, jumping across a couple pits, down a ladder, then down
another ring elevator. From there, walk around the corner and into Darkness
Ruins - Factory Interior.

Geo Gate here, go ahead and save. Go left, down the ramp that winds all the way
around. You'll reach a room with a big spinning thing, move on through - you'll
reach a hallway with big spinning gear things - just time it right and run
past. The middle of this next hallway is actually an lift - go ahead and let it
take you up. Go straight across the room, and to the left, across the bridge
(if its up, hit that yellow switch). Follow the path around, you'll reach a
room with a big green + red reactor thing keep moving. Take the lift down,
go to the right. You should reach a room with machinery that shoots rings
across the room. Walk across the room, there should be a ramp to the upper
walkway on the other side, head up and over into the next hallway - walk down
the hall into the next room. Head through this room to the next hallway. Go
all the way down the hallway, past the first room to the one at the end.
Go through this room, down a short hallway, and into another room with ring
machinery. Go down the walkway, down the ramp, and into the next room. Walk
around this room (theres a giant spinning thing in the middle) into another
room with that same ring-shooting machinery. Go through this room, into a door,
down a short hall, through a room, into another hallway. (It looks like you're
going back the way you came, but you aren't.) Walk all the way down this hall
to the last room, go through it, down a short hall, into the next room. There
will be a machine that stacks discs - step on those discs after they stack, and
ride them to the next area.
Climb the ladder here. Walk forward, and over into Darkness Ruins - Loading
Area.

Ok, this part can be confusing.

From the entrance, there are 4 carts near where you're standing - the second
one over, you can ride. However, as it is right now, it won't take you any
place useful.
Out where the enemies are, there are little lights on the ground that you can
activate which cause panels to flip - these redirect the path of the cart. You
want to change the path so it takes you to the boss.
Here's a crude map of their placement:

B C

Those are the lights - Flip A, D, E to proceed. Once you've flipped those, go
back to the cart and ride it over. Enter Darkness Ruins - Cold Lab.

Its boss time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: ZENOTHLEE
I found him easy, though I may be eating my words later. He may be harder for
you, depending on your level. Don't bother trying to kill the crystals around
him, they'll regenerate fairly quickly. I ended up taking a few out as I hit
him with Crackle Fang, but mainly focus on Zenothlee himself. I don't remember
if he had magical immunites, but I think Fire and Ice both work fine, I was
able to hit him with Galactic Bang and Crackle Fang just fine.

Zenothlee is immune to both lightning and earth (I apparently got him and the
Volt Beast confused :-) If you don't have the absurdly high levels I did, you
may want to beat each crystal down til they're _almost_ dead - apparently, the
crystals can pin your characters down, at which point you want to be able to
kill them fairly quickly.
Even at low levels, though, he's not all that hard.
(Thanks to marcel_t@yahoo.com for this updated strategy)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Head into the Spiritual Atrium, up into the chamber, grab whatever it is you
need to grab, head out.

Head down another 10 floors, to the bottom of the Starry Corridor, and you'll
reach the next dungeon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground Chasm / Light Ruins
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- I think the enemies here do get a bit tougher - I had probably leveled up a
good deal and the Xtreme meter was still going crazy on occasion for me. Judge
for yourself, you can always go back to the first 4 dungeons, kill some bosses,
get some eggs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Step onto the green platform. When it drops you off, move ahead, then down the
slope to the right. The green platform down here only leads to items - go left,
then up the other narrow slope. Follow this path until the narrow little
intersection - go left. Continue up and across the chasm again, you'll reach
another intersection with a path to the left going up, and a path to the right
going down. They both lead to the same place. Follow either path until you
reach a narrow pipe going down from the top cliff. Right after going down
this pipe, there should be a path to the left and a path to the right. Left
one leads to an item spawn, take the right to proceed. Ride the two green
platforms across the chasm, climb up to another green platform, ride it over.
Keep moving forward, you should see a building with lots of light coming out
of it. There are two paths here, take the right one, then ride the green
platform over, and take the purple platform in the center over to Light Ruins
- Interior 1.

Wow. Pretty. Start going left down the long hallway, until you reach a room
with lots of breakable pillars. Assuming you're standing in the center of the
room, facing the blue circle of light, the pillar you want to break is just
below and to the left of that circle. Break it, and activate the crystal.
Ride the green platform up. You will be in a room with a cylinder of light
in the center, and a green, red, and blue monolith. Blue leads to items,
activate the red monolith to proceed.
The next room has a tempting treasure chest in the middle, but opening it will
cause a couple Armored Slimes to appear. They aren't too tough, once all the
other enemies are dead, you can pretty much cancel them infinitely, so, I
usually take the chest. (At least, I think you have a choice.)
Move ahead into a similar room with a cylinder of light and three monoliths -
Green leads to items, blue ahead.
Another monolith/cylinder thing room - Red leads to a treasure chest down a
weird looking hallway with a treasure chest that appears close, then moves
away - the chest is actually a Mimic. Green to move forward.
Another room with lots of breakable pillars - standing in the center of the
room, facing the blue circle, the pillar to break should be just to your right.
Ride the green platform up. Move forward, then hang a right to enter Light
Ruins - Interior 2.

Geo Gate here. Move on ahead to the next room, you'll see a ring of pillars.
As you enter the room, there is a pillar right in front of you - skip that one,
break the one to the left of it. Then break the rest of them in a counter-
clockwise order. Go into the secret room that opens up, and hit the pedestal.
You'll find the Spirit Shield here. (you cannot equip Spirit equipment, except
the Spirit Blade, without the S Skill Full Armor, which you cannot get until
later.) (Thanks to people on the message boards for the location of this.)
Go back to the room where the pillars were, and move on ahead. In the next
room, go out the door to your left. You should reach a giant elevator.
Enemies will drop down into the elevator, just avoid them, stay in ready stance,
you'll have to fight a few battles no matter what.
When the elevator stops, head out the door, following the path through the
next room and over to another elevator. Same deal.
When you're done, head off the elevator, into the next room. Skip the lift
here - instead, head through the door and over to another room with the lift
in the center. Go down this lift. Walk down this long hallway into Ground
Chasm 2.
Walk along the paths back and forth across the chasm, climb down the ladder
when you reach it. Walk ahead, the path will split in two, take the right path.
Follow that to a ladder up, go up. Walk ahead, there will be a pipe going off
to the right and a narrow ledge left - take the left ledge. Ride the platform
across here, being carefuly to dodge the spikes, or else you'll get pushed off.
If you fall, climb up the ladder back up. Keep riding the platforms across.
The little island in the center has two platforms comin off it - take the right
one. Ride the platform across again, but watch the spikes. Follow this path
around, it should head off towards a cave, Underground Cavern.

Walk ahead until an event takes place. You'll have to do some brief beam-dodging,
then some more excitement. You'll end up falling into another area. Head out
of the room, go left at the intersection, head into the next rubble-filled room,
go right, down this hallway. Take a left into the room with the purple elevator,
head up. Head on up the stairs, through the cave, up the ladder. Prepare for
battle - make your way through the rubble, cause its time for the boss.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: KROITZ
Finally, you fight this dude. He's got a few soldiers around, and he'll call
more. But focus on Kroitz. He's got an incredibly powerful move - Demon Slash.
If you're underleveled, it can kill your characters in one hit, or possibly
reduce them to very low HP at which point his soldiers will pick you off.
CANCEL IT. You can't do damage to the sword, but you can still cancel its moves.
If you don't think you can, then be proactive with your healing. Start casting
Alhealer as he starts charging the move.
Focus on Kroitz, or try and pick off a few soldiers at the same time with some
area-effect magic. He's not too tough if you do a good job healing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After this battle, you can head on in to the big building, some more events
will take place as the plot starts to develop a bit.

Eventually, you'll end up back in Locca, after a few days have passed. You
need to go to Escarre (via the map, not the train) in order to find someone.
(I think Jaid says something about taking him - don't worry, its not required,
I didn't take him and I was fine).

Once in Escarre:
Run around the town, talking to all the little people. Eventually, as they all
spout random nonsense to you, one of them will tell you that the person you are
waiting for is waiting uptown. Check out all parts of the town - downtown, the
two houses downtown, the tavern on the docks, the military base, and uptown.
Go uptown, and more events will take place, after which I think you
need to go into the Escarre Central Facility. More events, and a boss fight.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: BATTLE KROITZ
Same as before, but he's got more HP. Still - cancel or be ready to heal from
his Demon Slash, and focus on Kroitz, not his soldiers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After this, you'll be back in Locca.

NOTE: At this point, the enemies in all 7 dungeons get a boost in levels, and
there are two new bosses to face off with. You still get level 2 Mana Eggs
for winning. The Spiritual Atriums in the Vemon Ruins and Darkness Ruins will
have those Mana Eggs too - I didn't find any in the Light Ruins.
Oh, and these bosses are OPTIONAL - probably not even worth your time.

In the Darkness Ruins, where Zenothlee was before, you can face off with:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: SERPENT
Hmmm. This boss seems very Grandia I-esque.
Use all/area-effect spells to take out the Mega-Beasts lurking around fairly
quickly - they'll only be an annoyance. I didn't find any magic immunities -
Fire, Ice, Lightning all seemed to work fine. Either take out all the heads with
stuff like Inferno and Absolute Zero, or just focus on the center head, with
stuff like Galactic Bang. Either way works, this guy is a push over.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Light Ruins also gets a new boss - you'll find it down where you fell
earlier. You can climb the ladder down from the Underground Cavern section,
make your way to where an item rests, take it, and as you leave, these guys
will attempt to thrash you.
It may not be worth it - you don't actually get Mana Eggs, all I got was a
weapon for Carmyne that I could buy already. But I'm including it for
completeness sake.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: DRAGON RIDER AND DRAGONOIDS
Pathetically easy - doesn't even really seem like a boss - but the boss music
is playing, so...
This is one boss where you do have to take out everyone to win. The Thunder
Dragon ridden by the Dragon Rider is immune to Lightning - but, beyond that,
I didn't have any problems. Take out the Dragonoids with a few well-placed
moves or magics, then proceed to pummel the Rider with, oh, Absolute Zero,
or Galactic Bang, or Inferno, whatever you may have. Simple.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can access the final dungeon by using the Geo Gate to go to Escarre -
Central Facility again, and climbing the ladder up to the Evolution Corridor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evolution Corridor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- Evolution Corridor is a 16-level, randomly generated dungeon, with Geo Gates
on levels 5 and 10, and the final boss on level 16.

- You can find sweet, sweet stuff here, I was getting High Vellum drops all the
time, Mana Eggs, and good weapons for every character. Course, the bonus
dungeon drops are even better...

- There are also lots of tough enemies - once you get past level 10 they get
even tougher, some of them like the Bahamuts are almost like sub-bosses.

- If you haven't went and gotten a couple Ether/Holy/Chaos eggs, now is the
time. You'll want them for the final boss.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALKTHROUGH:
Like I said, this dungeon is randomly generated, Gates on 5 and 10, and a
short no-enemy area on level 13. (I don't think I missed a gate there, did I?)
Once you're up to level 16, move ahead and you'll face the boss.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: QUANLEE
This is only Quanlee's first form - don't waste all your good spells on it.
I personally like to use my Galactic Bangs, which only hit one target, on
this form, and save my Absolute Zeros and Astrea Zaps/Infernos for the next
form. If you've got Iron Guards on, then the wings most likely won't do much
to you - they mostly fling a bunch of little particles, which all did 0 damage
to me.
The main body is capable of a bit more damage - cancel Light Undulation, if
you can - it does good damage along with reducing your stats - not a good
thing. Beyond that, this form isn't too damaging, the real fight starts when
you kill this one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: TRUE QUANLEE
This guy's a bit tougher. He's got like 4 Force Gears around him, and a couple
hard-hitting arms. Unlike other situations, where I'd recommend focusing on
the main body, you want to take out those Force Gears pretty quick. They can
cast Time Evolution, which is basically like giving Quanlee a Silver Feather -
it means that Quanlee can get turn after turn after turn, and makes canceling
him nearly impossible. I'd focus some Absolute Zeros on Quanlee, hope that
takes out a couple Force Gears in the process, or use Astrea Zap to take out a
couple, or hit everything with all-effect skills like Sky Dragon Slash. Quanlee
can summon more Force Gears, but only like 1 at a time.
Once the Gears are gone, pummel Quanlee with your best spells, he does have
some hard-hitting stuff, but I find it easier just to have one character cast
Alhealer every turn, undo the damage of his strong skills like Judgement
Guillotine. He'll go down if you keep up the pressure.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch the ending, then the credits, and you'll be prompted to save after all
of it. Do so.

NOTE:
At this point, all the dungeons get yet another boost in difficulty - all the
enemies and bosses get level boosts, yadda yadda yadda. You're probably better
off leveling up in the first few levels of the bonus dungeon, though - the
loot you can find in there is absolutely insane.

You can access the bonus dungeon from the Geo Gate. Theres also a host of new
equipment in the item shop (yipes at that Rapidfire bow - +4 combo!) and you're
free to take as few characters as you like to the dungeons - you can go it along
with Evann, if that's your style.

To get to the Vortex Corridor, take the Geo Gate to the Underground Cavern,
head into the lab, into Quanlee's Birthplace, and down into the Corridor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vortex Corridor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:
- This dungeon has 100 floors, with Geo Gates every 5 floors.

- Yes, that music is from Grandia (one theme for each disc) and Grandia II.
Even the victory themes are in there, and the surprised battle themes. Nice.

- The Geo Gates in this dungeon are different. There are different options:
Entrance - Creates an entrance into the dungeon for you.
Exit - Lets you leave the dungeon and go back to Locca.
Item - Gives you an item.
Recover - Heals you, just like an old-school Grandia I/II save point.
You can only use one of these options, after which the Geo Gate will disappear.

- So, in other words, in order to actually make any progress in the dungeon,
you have to create an Entrance, go down another 5 floors, then make an Exit.
Two steps forward, one step back.
For example: I could start at the beginning, go down to level 5, make an
Entrance, go down to level 10, make an Exit. When I went back to the Geo Gate
in Locca, the Entrance would take me back to level 5, and I'd have to do levels
5-10 all over again.

- Be warned - only one Entrance to the Vortex Corridor can exist at once - if
you create a new one, it replaces the old one. Shouldn't be a problem, except
if you're redoing the first 5 or 10 floors hunting down weapons and skills,
and you've got an Entrance further down.

- There are sweet items to be had throughout this dungeon. Plenty of Mana Eggs
and high-level Skill Books lying around, but even more important - Bring Titto,
and have him use Get Item on ALL the Fenna Birds and Armadillons on the first
few floors with at least, oh, 4 or more Treasure icons. You can get phenomenal
weapons and armor for all your characters, A and S ranked skills, etc. Milk
those puppies dry.

- On the way through this dungeon, you may run into little pink rat creatures,
called Lucky Minks. These guys are invincible to pretty much every type of
attack - all attacks will do either 0 or 1 damage, randomly. Your best bet is
to use multi-hitting techs/spells, since the more hits you get in, the more
likely they'll do 1 damage. Evann, Titto, and Lutina's triple tech Photon
Shower seems to work well. If you don't use them, try things like Crackle,
Zap All, Diamond Dust, Meteor Fall, Galactic Bang, and anything else that hits
several times.
In order to keep them from running away, you'll need at least 2 maxed out
Coercion skills - this skill is dropped by the Hammerheads in the Flame Ruins
(they can also be found in the Vortex Corridor on certain floors). 2 should
be enough, in theory - each level is 10%, 2 maxed should be 100% - I have three
maxed Coercions equipped and it seems to stop their escape cold every time.
Lucky Minks give incredible amounts of experience, but they can take some
patience to kill.

- Levels 35-40 seem to be prime Mink hunting territory, at least for me.

- Evann's best weapon, the Spirit Blade, can be found by using Get Item on
the King's Knights on levels 76-80. They look like lizards riding bigger
lizards. Put an entrance on 75, and go through 75-80 several times. You
really do want this sword - really. Its +999 attack.
You'll get lots of Curse Blades in the process, no doubt - don't worry, it
will drop eventually.
Thanks to people on the message boards for the location of this.

- Check the FAQ section up top for the rest of the Spirit Equipment.

- If you choose to proceed on level 100, you'll see the second ending - but
you won't be able to save afterward. If you got anything important since the
last time you saved, you may want to take the Geo Gate back (I'm not sure if
it lets you back on level 100 or not, I learned this little fact because I
accidentally went on to the ending myself without saving for 25 floors.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you've completed the bonus dungeon, you might be ready to face the ultimate
challenge, the level 200 Zenothlee. Go through the Darkness Ruins again, but,
uh, read this strategy first, because he may require some special preparation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSS: LV 200 ZENOTHLEE
He's no cakewalk, but he isn't impossible either.
I had all my characters at roughly level 100, but I don't think level matters
all that much - you will want the best equipment you can get from the bonus
dungeon. The Spirit Blade for Evann, with its enormous attack, makes dealing
damage fairly easy.

Zenothlee has a sort of advanced Iron Guard - he's like the opposite of a Lucky
Mink. Multi-hitting stuff like Galactic Bang will do nothing - but spells with
a single, strong hit, like Absolute Zero, can deal some damage. I was able to
do a couple thousand using Absolute Zero with a P attached.
If you can hit hard enough, though, then his defense doesn't mean all that
much. My Evann, with a Triple Attack and a Circle Attack, was able to do about
3000 damage to all parts each time his turn came up. As for your other chars,
who probably don't have +999 attack weapons, I would recommend abandoning
your attack skills like Asura Spirit/Hercules Power, etc, and putting on
Wizardry Chants and other magic-enhancing skills.

Zenothlee can hit fairly hard - Titan Cannon can do 1500-2000 to all your chars,
each crystal can cast Crackle Floe and do 2000 damage to a single character,
or combine together for a triple attack, Neo-Delta Burst, for 2000-3000 to a
char. And he's incredibly fast. But its nothing you can't handle - just be
pre-emptive with your healing, bring lots of Soul Eggs for all your characters.

If you wanted to, you could bring a supply of Silver/Gold/Prism Feathers,

or equip Bonds of Trust, and have any character that has nothing to do give
Evann their turn (this is assuming, as I said before, that you have the Spirit
Blade for Evann)

You can wear him down, so long as you come prepared.

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6. MANA EGG GUIDE
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There are lots of ways to get higher-level Mana Eggs, but I'll try and make
this as simple as possible.

There are 4 base level 1 Mana Eggs - Flare, Stone, Aqua, and Wind.
As the eggs level up, there are essentially 4 'paths' to a level 6 Egg -
Fire/Bomb - Leads to a Cluster Egg
Wind/Lightning - Leads to a Photon Egg
Water/Ice - Leads to a Blizzard Egg
Stone/Forest - Leads to a Soul Egg

Flare + Stone = Lava

Lava + Flare/Stone = Bomb
Bomb + Flare/Stone = Star
Star + Lava/Heat = Volcano
Volcano + Lava/Heat = Cluster

Wind + Flare = Heat

Heat + Wind/Flare = Thunder
Thunder + Wind/Flare = Lightning
Lightning + Heat/Mist = Cyclone
Cyclone + Heat/Mist = Photon

Aqua + Wind = Mist

Mist + Aqua/Wind = Frost
Frost + Aqua/Wind = Icicle
Icicle + Mist/Sand = Rainbow
Rainbow + Mist/Sand = Blizzard

Stone + Aqua = Sand

Sand + Stone/Aqua = Leaf
Leaf + Stone/Aqua = Forest
Forest + Sand/Lava = Gravity
Gravity + Sand/Lava = Soul

'/' denotes that either one would work - Flare/Stone means you can use either
a Flare Egg or a Stone Egg.

If you only have level 2 Eggs, which is understandable, you can also go
straight to a level 4 Egg...

Lava + Heat = Star

Heat + Mist = Lightning
Mist + Sand = Icicle
Sand + Lava = Forest

As I said, there are other combinations, but that's the simplest way to go
about getting level 6 Eggs.

Now, in order to get a level 9 Mana Egg, you need at least 6 level 6 Eggs.
To make Life Eggs, you need to combine level 6 Eggs of opposing elements.

Cluster + Blizzard = Life

Photon + Soul = Life

You'll need to make 2 Life Eggs to get any of the level 9 Eggs. From there,
combine one of the Life Eggs with a Soul Egg in order to get a Crown Egg.

Soul + Life = Crown

Then you need to combine the other Life Egg with either a Cluster, Blizzard,
or Photon, depending on which level 9 Egg you want.

Cluster + Life = Calamity

Calamity + Crown = Ether

Blizzard + Life = Fenrir

Fenrir + Crown = Holy

Photon + Life = Dragon

Dragon + Crown = Chaos

And there you have it.

Now - sometimes, when you combine eggs, little letters will appear by the
spells on the egg, and there may be a star around the egg itself. Those
letters signify the Special Forces on the spells - additional abilities
that make the spells stronger.
Here's that list of the SFs again (its in the FAQ section too):
MP - The MP cost of the spell decreases.
P - the strength of the spell itself increases.
H - Spells with multiple hits will hit additional times.
W - Spells with an area/fan/around effect will have a wider range.
S - The time it takes to charge the spell will decrease.
IP - The spell will deal more IP damage - in other words, casting it will
delay the enemy's turn.

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7. THANKS
===============================================================================
First, thanks to CJayC for hosting this FAQ on GameFAQs.
JL Lee, whose Mana Egg guide helped me figure out the whole Mana Egg thing.
jaybird53@hotmail.com, for a correction regarding the Volt Beast.
marcel_t@yahoo.com, for providing more information on Zenothlee.
rastagard68@yahoo.com, for another Volt Beast correction.

Copyright (c) 2002 by Steve Bergstrom