This is a comprehensive speedrunner’s guide for the current any% route for Legend of Legaia. I assume a general familiarity with the game throughout, but this guide should contain enough information to be accessible to the individual who has casually played through the game without speedrunning exposure.

This guide is freely available to be used for personal & private use, as long as you do not attempt to pass this work off as your own, nor profit from it without my express written consent.

Warning: There is a certain scene which will crash your game if you play on a PS3. PS2’s play the scene just fine, though, so a slim PS2 with fast disc speed is the fastest console for this game.

General Information: Mash text using both the X and the Circle Buttons. When you know a choice with multiple options is coming up, switch to just using Circle, since it will advance text but not select an option. Particularly useful with the Drake Castle sequence, since choosing certain options is required to get some items / equipment.

Magic has long animation times. Avoid it as much as possible. Instead, rely on arts for damage & items for healing. Gimard is useful early on, and Juggernaut has a high enough damage that it is useful in a few battles. You will want to use Vera/Orb frequently out-of-battle to keep your HP up without using items, which are very limited early on. In general, use healing magic out-of-battle, and use healing items in battle.

It’s generally advisable NOT to stay at an inn because Noa may have a dream, which will take a substantial amount of time to mash through. Eating food at Biron, from the monks at Sol Tower, and at Usha Research Center, does not have this risk, so it’s okay to use these as heal points. Same with drinking the water in Rogue’s Tower or the Absolute Fortress. In addition, there are a couple of mandatory triggers which heal you. These triggers include right after Zeto, the forced inn stay at the Ancient Water Cave, having Noa leave the party during the Saryu arc, and staying at the inn in Past Conkram. This route also gets a free heal while getting the Miracle Water from Pepe in Jeremi. It is incumbent upon the runner to manage HP and MP appropriately.

Your chances of escaping are based on your HP, as well as your speed. Higher speed increases the chance of a successful escape. This means that prioritizing leg armor, equipping the Speed Ring, and using Swift Water all help your escape luck. In addition, the lower your party’s HP is, the higher your escape chances are. This creates a tension between having high HP, which lowers your chances of escaping, and having low HP, which increases the chances of dying and losing the run. Ultimately, you will have to gauge your own risk tolerance. I recommend keeping Noa’s HP higher, since she has the highest speed and her being alive will give you chances to run earlier in the turn cycle. Gala’s HP and Vahn’s are less important, but you don’t want to always be walking around at 1 HP. Drake Castle, the first room of Zeto’s Dungeon, and the Ancient Path have, in my experience, been the most treacherous parts of the run from an encounter perspective.

Blue: Items found in chests and in hidden places. Seru Magic to absorb Buying & Selling items Menu stuff (Changing Equipment, Using items, etc.) Safety. Not strictly needed, but doesn’t cost much time and can be helpful.

Rim Elm Default Names are fastest. Unlike many games, there is no 1 character / frame limitation on text. Mash through opening dialogue. When Mei talks about the hunter’s clothes, second option is faster. Vahn’s House – more mashing; Tetsu training. On the first turn, attack with a single command to save a fraction of a second. At dusk, go to Vahn’s house & talk to Val to advance to night. Night: Talk to Village Elder to advance plot Mist arrives: run from first Gimard. This could take multiple tries. (Safety: Talk to Shopkeeper, get Healing Leaf x3) Get Meta at Genesis Tree Talk to Mei at her house. Choose the first option twice (“The Mist is Here”; “Let’s Go to My House”) Healing Leaf in Vahn’s Cupboard (Optional, but highly recommended) Fight Gimard and get the Gimard spell (55% chance). I would reset if you don’t get it by the second try. I recommend using 3x Ra-Seru attack (no Arts or Spirit) Magic Leaf in Cupboard at Village Elder’s House. Talk to Elder, then approach and check the Genesis Tree to revive it. Lots of dialogue (~3 mins) to mash through. Leave Town. Acquire Hunter Clothes & Mei’s Pendant from Mei. Re-enter town. On Second floor of Shop is drawer with Point Card. Then, go to the shop. Sell: Healing Leaf x2, Buy Survival Knife, Warrior Boots. Enter Menu: Equip: Best Equipment, Mei’s Pendant

World Map to Drake Castle. Fight 1-2 battles as needed to reach level 2. Skip Hunter’s Spring. New speedrunners may wish to get the Healing Leaf for safety, but this is a large time loss due to cutscenes (~50 seconds)

Drake Castle Treasure Chest with Door of Light Note: Run from fights with 1x Drake Ghost or 2x Gimard. Skeletons are very difficult to run from. Do not use Gimard magic more than once per fight. Spirit, then Somersault -> Cyclone (^ v ^ ^ ^) works best. Left door on Balcony with Sunrise Key. Enter Sunrise Gate. On Second Floor, right door leads to Lightning Gate. Enter Lightning Gate. On Third Floor, right door leads to room with Star Key. Enter Star Gate. Take either path back into the 4th floor of the castle. Enter center door, then right door to reach the heal room. Acquire Fire Book I, and use it immediately. This can insta-kill Gimards at Vahn Lv. 3 Acquire Mountain Key from room through door to the left of the Throne Room If needed: Healing Leaf in treasure chest top-left of the room with Mountain Gate. Leave the castle. You will ideally have 500 EXP leaving Drake Castle and a max MP of at least 34. (2/3 chance)

Snowdrift Cave: Answers to Terra’s Questions are options 3, 2, and 4 (“Seru and Human”; “Genesis Tree”, “Rikuroa”) I would pick up 2 of the 3 Healing Shrooms in the cave pre-Mist. Will be helpful in the Voz Forests, since money is tight through Zeto. Fight 2x Red Piura and 1x Black Piura. I recommend fighting a Red one first. Spirit, then Rushing Gale (^ ^ < v >), followed by Dolphin Attack the following turn (> > < >) if needed Retreat. 2/3 chance of getting to 123 AGL for 6 art blocks with Spirit at Lv. 2 During Retreat, if you encounter a Mushroom, defeat it with Dolphin Attack. Run from all other fights and all fights in Snowdrift after getting Terra. Keep track of Noa’s EXP. She needs 1,265 EXP to reach Lv. 5, and will get 600 of that from Golem. Level 4 is doable, but risky. Exercise caution and discretion as one’s risk tolerance allows; level 5 is preferred for all but the very top runners; there is more than enough time to save with better RNG / menuing / adaptation to what the game throws at you until going for runs under 8:20:00.

Mt. Rikuroa Noa’s Side: Get Healing Leaf in chest. Not needed, but very helpful safety which costs minimal time. Fight two battles on path to get to Lv. 3 before Golem. Acquire Scarlet Jewel and Power Water in treasure chests in cave. Use Power Water on Noa; Equip Scarlet Jewel Fight Golem (640 HP). 5 turns is optimal, but requires lots of Terra luck. 6-7 turns is good. Use Dolphin Attack (> > < >), spirit -> Tempest Break if AP runs low. Terra will heal/revive you as needed, so do not waste time or items healing. DO NOT Use Guardian Water on Noa; Acquire Phoenix in Treasure Chest; advance to summit. Vahn’s Side: Acquire Shield Elixir in treasure chest. Take left side toward summit. Acquire Healing Bloom in treasure chest. You may use Gimard magic at-will during the climb. Try to absorb Vera (60% chance) (more chances in West Voz if fail) Vahn should be level 4 and have at least 40 MP (23/27 chance) before Caruban. Make sure to heal and restore Vahn’s MP with the Magic Leaf before the fight.

BOSS 1: CARUBAN (1,024 HP) Noa should alternate between Spirit and Tempest Break. Vahn should use Gimard throughout. Noa should heal with Healing Leaves / Shrooms as needed, and can use a Healing Bloom if needed. Don’t get too bogged down in healing; you need to end this fight fairly quickly. Acquire Healing Bloom from Caruban (100% chance)

Revival Scene follows; this is one of the game’s longest input breaks.

After cutscenes finish: Menu: Unequip Scarlet Jewel from Noa, Organize Items, use Door of Light, and return to Drake Castle

Drake Castle (Mist-free) Lots of cutscenes follow. In Drake’s Room, check the top-left corner for the Platinum Card. Head down the castle. 3rd floor, left room: Acquire Survival Knife in chest, hidden Magic Leaf 2nd floor: Healing Leaf in the main hall, hidden Fury Boost and Healing Leaf in chest in the room. 1st floor: Swift Water and Healing Bloom in the side rooms. Courtyard: Let Noa talk to people to get some nice items. Weapons Dealer: Choose 3rd option (Sorry, I don’t know either) to get free Fighting Robe. Items Dealer: Get all three questions wrong (I suggest option 4, then 1, then 1) to get Wisdom Water. After Noa talks to the innkeeper, it’s time to do some shopping: Items Dealer: Sell: Wisdom Water, Scarlet Jewel, Shield Elixir, Survival Knife, Guardian Water; Buy: 3x Defender Chain Weapon Dealer: Buy Electric Shoes and choose to equip them to Noa on shop menu. Going forward, you will always equip immediately on the shop menu

To Biron: Get Wind Book I chest at Water Gate. Skip blockings. Head to Biron.

Biron: Power Elixir in the big statue of Biron After talking to Maya, go to Zopu’s room & get a Healing Bloom there from the pot on the right side. Talk to Zopu to advance. Talk to Gala, then Songi to trigger Zopu’s arrival. Talk to Zopu and say ‘yes’ and ‘West Voz’ to advance.

To West Voz: Ivory Book in the blocking before West Voz. Equip: Defender Chain to All, Fighting Robe & Ivory Book on Noa, Use Swift Water, Wind Book I on Noa.

West Voz: Take some battles here; you want to reach Lv. 6 with Noa and Vahn; Lv. 4 with Gala by the Viguro fight. Try to absorb Vera (60%, 90% with Ivory Book) and Nighto (30%, 60% with Ivory Book) with both Vahn and Noa. Both characters need Nighto for Viguro fight and at least one needs Vera for healing. Move Ivory Book between Vahn and Noa, and heal as needed in the forest. Healing Leaf in first room on left side toward loading zone. Enter room on top left to acquire Fertilizer (key item) & Shield Elixir In third room, take hidden path to the right to acquire a Magic Amulet. The room beyond the Bridge Grass has a Door of Light (straight ahead), Noa Feral (to the north), and Healing Bloom (left after the Feral). Get them. In the Genesis Tree area, get a hidden Deep Sea Jewel by checking the area on the edge just to the north of the Tree. Get the Ra-Seru Egg (key item) during the cutscene. Equip: Ra-Seru Egg on Noa, Noa Feral on Noa, Deep Sea Jewel on Gala, Arrange Items, heal Noa if needed, Door of Light out. Return to Biron.

WARNING: You will not have Gala again until you leave for East Voz. The Gimard Lv. 2 and Theeder Lv. 2 special attacks are quite painful. Exercise discretion and caution in this area.

Go to the kitchen and mash through text. You need to talk to Zopu in the kitchen and see the possessed Maya in order to be able to go to East Voz. In the kitchen, eat to restore your health. Pick up the Medicine in the treasure chest in the bottom-right corner and the Phoenix in the pot just above table. Go see Maya in the bedroom. Get the hidden Guardian Water in the pot on the right side.
Head to East Voz and rendezvous with Gala.

East Voz: If Noa has at least 41 max MP, it may be beneficial to get the Gizam spell here (30% chance, 60% with Ivory Book). This isn’t necessary by any stretch, but it can save time in the Viguro fight. Get the key item Weed Hammer in the room to the top-right. Get the Magic Leaf in the treasure chest. Get the Healing Bloom on the hidden fork to the right in the third room.
In the open room, get the Azure Jewel at the top of the room. Head to the Genesis Tree. Before you get there, make sure both Vahn and Noa have the Nighto spell. Get the hidden Earth Jewel just to the north of the Genesis Tree (between two tree trunks). Equip: Azure Jewel on Gala. Heal all characters to full. Use a Magic Leaf on Vahn to restore his MP to at least 53. Guardian Water on Noa.

Viguro x2 (1,280 HP each) Vahn and Noa should cast Nighto on the two Viguro. You want to get at least 1 confused or annihilated. Chances are 6.25% to kill, 43.75% to confuse, 50% no effect. You may be able to try again on turn 2, but this is not guaranteed, and you will lose a fair bit of time. Beyond that and I would reset. Gala is your healer. Once you have one killed/confused, give Noa a Fury Boost. Vahn should spam Gimard, Noa uses Tempest Break, and Gala heals as needed and defends otherwise; his damage output is minimal. If Noa has Gizam, use it to finish the first Viguro and do ~350 to the second one, saving a turn or so. After fight: Unequip: Azure Jewel, Survival Club. Revive the Genesis Tree and you’ll return to Biron

Biron: Tell Maya you’ll go to the castle (first option). Kitchen: Heal, then talk to Maya for Healing Leaf x10 Items Dealer: Sell: Magic Amulet, Ivory Book, Phoenix, Cure Amulet, Survival Club, Azure Jewel, Earth Jewel, Shield Elixir, Power Elixir; Buy: Healing Leaf x59, Deep Sea Jewel x2 Weapons Dealer: Sell: Healing Leaf x53, Buy: Savior Clothes, Sell: Hunter Clothes, Buy: Power Shoes WARNING: You should have 888 points at this point. If you do not have at least 888 points, you made a routing mistake, and must buy & sell as needed to get to that number. You can head toward Zeto’s Dungeon either from the front entrance or from the West Voz entrance. I recommend the latter.

Zeto’s Dungeon: The first room is particularly dangerous, as Gimard Lv.2’s, Theeder Lv.2’s, and Zenoirs all have nasty attacks that can kill any party member in 1 or 2 hits. I recommend keeping Noa’s HP high throughout the dungeon, and to not worry too much about Vahn’s or Gala’s. Their having less than full health helps make it easier to escape, while Noa should stay healthy since her high speed helps ensure escape chances earlier in the turn cycle. Acquire the Thunder Book I in the treasure chest. Turn left and follow the path for a Fury Boost. At the next fork, go right, and you’ll eventually hit the elevator. Take it down. Get the Short Sword in the hidden treasure chest behind and just to the right of the elevator. Follow the path to the next room. Ignore the side paths and encounter Songi.

Songi 1 (888 HP) Gala uses the Point Card to deal lethal damage. That was a lot easier than the last two boss fights!

Head to the Mist Generator. Before entering the Mist Generator Room: Equip: Short Sword, Deep Sea Jewel on Vahn; Mettle Ring, Deep Sea Jewel on Noa.

Zeto (5,000 HP) Turn 1: Vahn uses Tornado Flame, Noa uses Dolphin Attack, and Gala uses the Fury Boost on Noa. Vahn and Noa should focus on attacking. If either character runs low on AP, have them Spirit to restore it. Gala should stick to Healing Leaves during regular turns, and use a Healing Bloom on the turn after Zeto uses Call Wave (to restore HP after the Big Wave hits). Big Wave’s damage output tops out at about 320, so Vahn and Noa should spirit into a Big Wave if their HP falls below that level. Ultimately, you’ll gain or lose time based on how many Big Waves you see, and when you choose to heal / spirit / play it safe vs. being aggressive. There’s a certain finesse to this fight which comes from experience more than anything. Optimally, Zeto will do attack, Call Wave, Big Wave, and repeat that cycle. Big Wave takes time, but it will restore a lot of AP for Vahn and Noa. Eventually, you’ll do enough damage, and the first Mist Generator Guardian will fall.

Lots of Cutscenes follow. When you regain control in Biron, head toward West Voz, but continue up the river to the Ancient Caves.

Ancient Wind Cave: Pull the lever to open the door to the Water Cave. Get the Silver Compass in the barrels in the back. Get the Wisdom Water in the barrels near the Old Wizard. Buy: Tempest Shoes. (95 pts) Head through the tunnels to the Water Cave. You must watch the dream sequence by staying the night with the Old Witch. After the scene: Unequip: Deep Sea Jewel from all, Mettle Ring from Noa, then Arrange Items. Get the Magic Water in the barrels on the left side of the room (behind the counter) Sell: Deep Sea Jewel x3, Mettle Ring, Electric Shoes, Wisdom Water Buy: Earth Jewel x2, Golden Compass (+350 pts., 445 pts) Equip: Earth Jewel on Noa, Silver Compass on Gala, Golden Compass on Vahn, Use Magic Water on Gala. You’ll get Door of Wind x2 as you leave the cave. Head to Jeremi

Jeremi: Watch the cutscene, then immediately leave. Head to Vidna; we’ll come back later.

Vidna: Acquire 56,000 coins from slots Buy from Coin Dealer: War Soul, Spirit Jewel, Fury Boost x6, Power Elixir x67, Shield Elixir x8, Phoenix x99 (13,650 coins, 42,350 left) Head to Weapons Shop: Sell: Phoenix x99, War Soul Buy: All armor / weapons here for characters except the Short Sword you already have. (+1020 pts., 1465 pts) Items Shop: Buy: Mettle Ring x3, Door of Light x11, Door of Wind x21, Healing Bloom x21, Healing Flower x31, Medicine x11 (+3535 points, 5000 points total) On world map: Arrange Items, then Door of Wind to Jeremi

Jeremi: Head to Sky Gardens Tower. Take the top-left elevator, then the bottom-left elevator, then bottom-right, then bottom-left elevator to reach the top. On Sky Gardens, get the hidden Healing Fruit in the hedge on the right side. Get the Speed Elixir in the top-left chest. Heal if needed, then encounter Berserker.

Berserker (5,000 HP) Noa uses the Point Card to one-shot; Vahn and Gala defend. Cutscenes follow. To get down, take the bottom-left elevator, then bottom right, then top-right elevator. Get the very important Speed Ring. Take the elevator back, then take the bottom-left and top-left elevators to get back to ground level. More cutscenes follow. Get the Power Water in the treasure chest. Then, head to the tavern (just above the inn) and get the hidden Guardian Ring in the cabinets behind the bar. Head to Zalan’s House and get Zalan’s Letter. On the World Map: Equip Speed Ring on Noa, Arrange items, then Fire Book II on Vahn, Power Water on Noa, and Door of Wind to Vidna.

Vidna: Coin Dealer: Buy Phoenix x99 (4950 coins, 37400 left), then sell these at the armor shop. Buy Phoenix x99 (4950 coins, 32,450 left), then sell these at the armor shop. Buy Phoenix x75 (3750 coins, 28,700 left) Head out the back door and go to Pepe’s House. Cutscenes to follow. Get Yuma’s Ring. Leave town and walk toward the peninsula and the town of Octam.

Octam: Head to the shrine, read the four books to get to the elevator room; read the two on the left, then the two on the right. Cutscene with Cara follows. After you have Orb and have viewed the cutscene, leave Octam (by Door of Light if needed). Door of Wind to Jeremi

Jeremi: Talk to Zalan. Get the useless Zalan’s Crown and the Star Pearl. Leave town, Door of Wind to Octam, and from there, walk around to the Shadow Gate

Shadow Gate: Cutscene will play. From 6 o’clock and heading clockwise, the switches to press are ‘Fire’, ‘Earth’, ‘Wind’, and ‘Water’. In the top-right portion of the map along the outside, there is a hidden path leading to a super-powerful Miracle Water. Use it on Noa the next time you open the menu to heal. After you’ve pressed the four switches correctly, throw the Star Pearl in the slime to open the door to the Ancient Path

Ancient Path: Head down the path. Turn right at the first fork. Optional: Get the Healing Flower from the chest on the path. Continue on. Optional, but helpful: At the second path, turn right to get the Life Ring. Double back, and then take the left path. Take the left path at the third fork. (Right leads to a Wonder Elixir, which is very nice, but we just need the 5 others we’ll pick up) Ignore the fork which leads north. (It leads to another Healing Flower) Continue on the path. In the floating tile room, you may choose to get Fury Boost in the treasure. You may also get the Shield Elixir found by taking a fork to the north. Continue on the path and you will eventually reach Underground Octam.

Underground Octam: Short cutscene plays. Head into the inn, where the weapons & items shops are. Weapons Dealer: Buy: Force Blade, Hard Beat, Ironman Armor, Jeweled Clip, Fighting Boots, Fighter’s Band, Olive Shoes, Scarlet Robe (1570 points) Equip Life Ring to Gala, Arrange Items Sell: Phoenix x71, Speed Elixir, Guardian Ring, Mettle Ring x3, all obsolete weapons & armor (DO NOT SELL SPIRIT JEWEL) Buy: Deep Sea Jewel x99, Burning Jewel x19 (+11800 points, 13,370 points) Sell: Deep Sea Jewel x99, Burning Jewel x18 (save 1 for Gi Delilas) Buy: Deep Sea Jewel x58 (+5800 points, 19,170 points) Sell: Deep Sea Jewel x58 Buy: Ebony Jewel x14 (+2800 points, 21,970 points) Sell: Ebony Jewel x11 Buy: Luminous Jewel x2, Magic Leaf x11 (+950 points, 22,920 points) Head toward the Mayor’s Mansion. Another cutscene will play en route. Head to the third floor. Grab the Magic Water in the barrels near the Mayor’s desk. Then talk to the Mayor. Afterwards, head to the Palace of Meditation. In the Palace, get the Life Water in the cabinet on the ground floor, then head into the basement. Speak with the three Haris. It’s irrelevant in which order you do so. Leave the palace and head toward the Fire Path. Another cutscene plays (short input break). Use the Magic Water on Gala and the Life Water on Noa. Heal if needed. Enter the path.

Fire Path: We’ll be skipping the treasure chests along the path. Continue through the path. You’ll hit a short cutscene at the end of this room. Go into the tunnel to reach the lower level. There are some healing items and a Gala Mace in the treasure chest, but none are needed. Pass by the Memory Statue and enter the lava room. WARNING: DO NOT OPEN THE TREASURE CHEST IN THE LAVA ROOM!!! The Phoenix in the chest now is useless, while waiting until after Xain will transform it into a very useful Magic Water. Continue on to Xain.

Xain (9,511 HP) Noa should be able to outspeed Xain as long as she has the Speed Ring equipped. Use the Point Card to one-shot, other characters defend. Cutscenes follow. Optional: Get the Guardian Chain, which sells for 3,000 by taking the path to the right (money isn’t super tight, so I wouldn’t bother). Get the Incense by walking on the ice to the chest at the bottom-right portion of the map. Get the Magic Water by doubling-back to the platform where the Phoenix chest was. Door of Light out.

Underground Octam: Head toward where the Palace of Meditation used to be. Check the red statue twice to get another Miracle Water. Head to the room north of the Mansion to take the elevator back to above-ground Octam. Arrange Items, use the Miracle Water on Noa, the Magic Water on Gala, and Door of Light to the World Map. Head toward Ratayu.

Ratayu: Head to the palace. Take the staircase up on the right side. On the right side of the balcony, you may choose take the first door to get the Swift Water. Head into the Throne Room, talk with Saryu to get the Letona Key. Swift Water on Noa if you got it, Door of Light back to the World Map, re-enter Ratayu, and take the first right and follow the path toward Letona.

Mt. Letona: As soon as you enter the second screen on Letona, use the Incense. Optional: Follow the fork to the left for a Wisdom Ring (sells for 4,000) and Magic Leaf. Take the fork to the right. Take the fork down for a very-important Power Ring (ATK+20%). Double back. At the next fork, go north, then ignore the path leading west and head east. In the next room, you may pick up the Wisdom Water, which sells for 1,000. I advise against it. In the next room, get the treasure chest with a Healing Fruit. Save if desired. On the summit room, view the cutscene, pick up the chest with a Magic Fruit. Equip: Ebony Jewel over Silver Compass on Vahn, Ebony Jewel over Earth Jewel and Power Ring over Speed Ring on Noa, Ebony Jewel over Golden Compass on Gala. Heal everyone to full, Magic Leaf on Gala if needed (below 90 MP). Very Important – Songi can and will one-shot without these! Head down the mountain to trigger the cutscene & fight.

Songi 2 (12,888 HP) Turn 1: Spirit / Spirit / Point Card Turn 2: Spirit / Point Card / Spirit (if Noa is <450 HP, have Vahn use PC instead of her)

More cutscenes follow (very short input break). After the cutscene, Earth Jewel over Ebony Jewel on Vahn, Earth Jewel over Ebony Jewel on Gala, arrange items, Wind Book II on Noa, Thunder Book II on Gala, Door of Light out.

Return to Ratayu, go to the inn, and talk to Eliza (girl in the purple dress) twice and agree to let Noa take her place. (You need not heal / rest first – the game will restore your HP to full before the next sequence begins.) There will be a short input break to follow. Go through the sequence and you’ll gain control of Vahn and Gala. Follow into the laboratory, and you’ll encounter the Kemaro guard dogs.

Kemaro x2 fight (1,400 HP each) These enemies have deceptively high damage output, and can easily one-shot a character if they both attack the same character. With Earth Jewels, this is not much of a problem, so make sure you equipped them before. Basically, Gala should use Healing Blooms each turn until the first one is dead, and Vahn should use Fire Blow to deal ~500 damage per turn. This honestly isn’t a hard fight if you have Earth Jewels on.

Heal up, and swap Vahn and Gala’s Earth Jewels back for Ebony Jewels. Continue down the path, watch some cutscenes, and you’ll encounter Saryu.

Saryu (13,245 HP) Despite the inaptly-named Earthquake attack, Saryu’s attacks are all Dark element. Turns 1-4: Power Elixir Noa / Power Elixir Noa / Healing Bloom Turn 5: Power Elixir Noa / Fury Boost Noa / Healing Bloom Turns 6+ Spirit or Healing Bloom / > > > < ^ ^ ^ / Healing Bloom (Don’t be afraid to have characters spirit and slow down the fight if a character is getting ganged-up on, or if (Note: There is a 38% chance after this fight of acquiring a Lost Grail. If you should be fortunate enough, it will change your coin purchases slightly – I will point it out.) After the fight, more cutscenes. In the throne room, get the Fury Boost in the outside chest on the left side. Now, it’s time to do the Juggernaut Room clip.

I would recommend practicing this on your own, since it’s difficult to explain what to do in words. I personally do the clip from the left, but you can do it from either side. You’ll want to do this in two parts. First, you want to edge yourself on the absolute closest pixel you can to the door in the horizontal (X-axis) direction. You’ll know you’re on the right pixel when you can move straight up and the guard will automatically talk to you without your interacting with him. Next, move slightly down (just a tiny bit), then mash X while moving up+right. If done correctly, you’ll clip into the door’s loading zone and down into the basement. Follow the path all the way to the end to get the secret Evil Talisman item!

Return to Ratayu and head out the West Gate toward Dohati’s castle. Before reaching the world map, a few equipment changes: Vahn: Ebony Jewel -> Evil Talisman; Noa: Ebony Jewel -> Speed Ring, Power Ring -> Silver Compass; Gala: Ebony Jewel -> Golden Compass.

Dohati’s Castle. In the first room, take a left, then the passage down and around to get your second Wonder Elixir. Double back to the center part of the room, then head right. Take the first door to the north to get the Power Elixir. In the second room, after passing the elevators, take a detour to the south to get the War Soul. In the third room, you may choose to get the Magic Fruit by taking a small detour north right near the end of the room. In the fourth room (with the save point, get the Power Water in the left room (can get Shield Elixir if coins were a bit low) Equip: Vahn: Ebony Jewel over Evil Talisman; Noa: Ebony Jewel over Speed Ring, Power Ring over Silver Compass; Gala: Ebony Jewel over Golden Compass, Heal everyone to maximum, Power Water on Noa, Magic Leaf on Gala if needed. (It may be tempting to put a Speed Ring on Vahn or Gala to help them outspeed Dohati, but Dohati’s 102 SPD is high enough such that they won’t be able to do so, even with the +20% bonus; stick to the +HP accessories).

Dohati (17,200 HP) This fight will play out very similar to the last fight. Watch out for Chaos Breath. Unlike Saryu and Songi, Chaos Breath isn’t used randomly, but does follow a somewhat predictable pattern. It will always be used on turn 1, and thereafter whenever Dohati is particularly large – keep an eye on his physical size. He grows slowly each turn, and will grow as he takes more damage, using the Breath when at maximum size. It also has a chance to inflict the Venom or Toxic status on any party members. If Gala’s Orb is level 3 or higher, it will cure these ailments on all characters. Otherwise, use Medicine as needed, and make sure Noa isn’t affected; it will lower her ATK stat considerably, and her HP is the lowest of the party. It might not be a horrible idea to use a Healing Fruit with Gala on the first turn. Otherwise, you’ll be following the same basic strategy of 9 Power Elixirs (59 remaining) + Fury Boost. Counting the two Miracle Waters you’ve used on her thus far, there is a decent chance Noa will have at least 166 AGL for this fight, meaning that she can use 8 art blocks while in Spirit / Fury Boost. Despite the temptation, don’t chain Tempest Break into another Art – conserve your AP instead. 3 Tempest Breaks should be enough to do the job. The fourth will if the third doesn’t.

More cutscenes follow. When you regain control, leave Ratayu Palace and head to the World Map. It is faster to leave Ratayu out of the West Gate than the main entrance. Door of Wind to Jeremi

Jeremi: Go to Zalan’s house and view the scene with Pepe. You’ll get a Miracle Water. Return to the world map: Vahn: Ebony Jewel -> Golden Compass; Noa: Ebony Jewel -> Silver Compass, Power Ring -> Speed Ring; Gala: Ebony Jewel -> Evil Talisman. Check to see if Gala has at least 184 max MP. This will depend on his MP levels / RNG, and is more likely than not (average is 190). Arrange items, use the Miracle Water on Noa, and Door of Wind to Octam.

Octam: Go to the station. Watch cutscenes / mash through text. You’ll arrive at Karisto Station eventually.

Karisto Station: Optional: Get the 3,000G by the tree and the Traveler’s Kit. The money may be useful, but if you have a few hundred extra coins, don’t bother. Traveler’s Kit isn’t particularly helpful either. Head to Sol Tower.

Sol Tower We’re going to be here for a while. Buckle in. Head up to the third floor (two screens up) If Gala’s HP is greater than 184 but less than 192: Enter the door on the third floor, pick up the Magic Water from the Sage’s Treasure Chest (it’s silver & gold instead of red). Leave and head up the stairs. We’ll get it later otherwise. You’ll have a cutscene with Gaza here. Continue on and you’ll get into another cutscene with Cara.
When Noa asks what a pimp is, it is 10 seconds or so faster to choose the option “a man who lives off a woman” than “I don’t know either”. So do that. Watch Noa kick Grantes’s face in. It’s a pretty funny scene casually. Continue to the Muscle Dome (just past the elevator on 4F) After the cutscene, escape from the first round of the beginner, expert, and master courses (in any order) to get the Chicken King (100% escape) (300 coins, 28,400 left) Buy from the coin dealer: Vitality Ring x12, Incense x32, Soru Bread x99, Gold Card (28,350 coins, total spent = 45,080). If you got the Lost Grail from Saryu, instead by Vitality Ring x18 and Soru Bread x39 (Vitality x16 and Bread x59 if Mettle Armband from Dohati; Vitality x21 and Bread x9 if you are lucky enough to get both, you magnificent son-of-a…) Head to the Dance Competition (first room on 5F) Talk to the man in the suit near the stage to enter the Dance Competition (cost = 500 G) Beat both rounds of the Dance Competition to get 10,000G (and the Swimsuit key item which isn’t used). In order to beat the Dance Competition, use triangle on the first two turns and then again on the last one. As long as you didn’t fail any inputs, you should win every time. If your inputs are precise, you may be able to fail one input and still be successful. Mary will score 539 points every time, so you need to score at least that many to be successful. When you win, talk to the Disco King to get the very important Speed Chain (player equipped always takes the first turn in battle.) Head to the item shop on 6F.

Talk to the Bakery and talk to the items dealer (not Soru), Sell: Vitality Ring x12, Soru Bread x91, Buy: Stone Amulet x21

Head to the weapons shop higher on the floor: Buy: Beast Buster, Bloody Claw, Survival Axe, Master Armor, Hero Boots, Royal Crown, Tempest Robe

Head to the top of Sol Tower. Get the Power Elixir on the far-left side slightly down from the staircase (it’s hidden by a pipe), and the Miracle Water in the top-left corner. Attempt to enter the temple, and be stopped by Old Deez. Cutscenes follow.
Equip: Noa: Silver Compass -> Luminous Jewel, Speed Ring -> Speed Chain Gala: Defender Chain -> Spirit Jewel, Life Ring -> Luminous Jewel Arrange Items, Use Miracle Water on Noa, Magic Water (if you got it earlier) on Gala Talk to the top-left monk to get a full HP/MP restore. (Gala MUST have at least 192 MP!)

If Gala doesn’t have at least 192 MP max, then do: Noa: Speed Chain -> Power Ring, Defender Chain -> War Soul; Vahn: Golden Compass -> Luminous Jewel; Gala: Evil Talisman -> Speed Chain Leave the temple, and you will encounter Gaza.

Gaza (12,000 HP) Vahn defends. Noa uses the Point Card. Gala casts Evil Seru Magic (192 MP required). If Gala doesn’t have 192 MP, you’ll have to beat the last 2,001 HP out the hard way. Use Vulture Blade and Fire Blow with Noa and Vahn, and have Gala throw Healing Flowers as needed. It won’t take too long.

After the fight is over, talk to the same monk as before to restore your HP/MP. Head back down toward the basement. When you get to the 7F elevator room, enter it, and take the right elevator down to 4F.

As you enter 3F, Equip: Gala: Luminous Jewel -> Ebony Jewel; (should have Evil Talisman/Spirit Jewel/Ebony Jewel) Vahn: Golden Compass -> Ebony Jewel; (Mei’s Pendant / Defender Chain / Ebony Jewel) Noa: Luminous Jewel -> Ebony Jewel, (Defender Chain / Ebony Jewel / Speed Chain) Use 3x Incense (29 remain)

The optimal path through the downstairs is: Enter the door on 3F. Get the Magic Water chest (you may have already gotten the water before), and put Soru Bread in. Go down the stairs, do the same with the next chest (Guardian Water), down one more set of stairs for chest 3 (Life Water). Leave the room (not via the stairs) and re-enter the main hall and take the door just past the stairs. Go into this room (the Inn) and head down the stairs. Get chest 4 here (Healing Berry), feed it, head back to the previous room, get chest 5 here (Power Water), head up the stairs to get chest 6 (Wisdom Water) in the café. Leave by going out the door (not down the stairs again), and return to the main corridor. Head down and enter the arms shop (it has a sword hanging in front of it). Get chest 7 (Swift Water), then head up the stairs and get the final chest (Wonder Elixir, your third). If you’ve fed all the chests, you’ll hear/feel a short rumble. You may also choose to get the Phoenix here in the regular chest for safety.
Head back to the main hall, and go down to the basement. Enter the room with the gates on it in the basement, and activate the hologram. This will trigger a short cutscene and let you pass down into the lower level.

Walk around, and enter Warrior’s Square. After the short cutscene, flip the switch to pull the first gate down. Then, work through the puzzle (purple, teal, blue, red and yellow, white and red, pass through the white switch to flip the second gate, green, teal, and then through the teal gate to the Square). After passing through the teal gate for the second time, but before triggering the boss fight (who knew, right?) Items: Arrange Items, Magic Water on Gala if you didn’t do so earlier, all other Waters on Noa, and do whatever with the Wisdom Water, since it’s good as useless. Heal (if necessary; you shouldn’t need to) Equip: Noa: Chicken King -> Ebony Jewel Head to the center to encounter Gaza

Gaza 2 (15,000 HP) Despite the element change from Light to Dark and the extra 3,000 HP, this fight is identical to the first. Vahn defends, Noa uses the Point Card, and Gala casts Evil Seru Magic (hereafter ESM). There’s a chance Gala doesn’t quite do 5001 damage with ESM; Noa can throw a couple punches on turn 2 if need be.

Revive Genesis Tree, get Astral Sword, watch cutscene. Backtrack toward the main part of Sol Tower. On the way, get the treasure chests with a Golden Book and a Wonder Amulet. Skip the one with a Speed Elixir in the top of the big room with the books.

Head to the Inn, head downstairs, talk to Etora Ignao Durk de La Micentus the Eighth, Emperor of Sol. Get the password to Usha Research Center (X X Triangle Circle Square). Despite the fact that I just gave you the password, the characters won’t know it, and you won’t be able to input it, without viewing the cutscene. Head to the Armor Shop on the second floor: Sell: Stone Amulet x20 (save 1), Wonder Amulet, Golden Book, Luminous Jewel x2, Earth Jewel x2 Buy: All armor/weapons.

Head back to the exit. It’s finally time to leave Sol Tower! While you are on the bridge (don’t return to the world map): Equip: Noa: Ebony Jewel -> Chicken King, Speed Chain -> Power Ring, Gala: Spirit Jewel -> Speed Chain Arrange Items, Use 2x Incense (27 remaining), Warp to Karisto Station (don’t hit the world map from Sol, this will trigger a cutscene, which you can skip in this manner). Walk to Buma to the Northeast.

Buma Just walk straight out. Don’t trigger this long cutscene, please. We’re only here to set a Door of Wind warp point for later. Head west to the Usha Research Center.

Usha: Talk to the pipe, enter the password (X X Triangle Circle Square) to access the lab. Head to the top floor. En route, get the Magic Fruit in the cabinet/cupboard on the second floor just above the elevator pulleys, and then another Magic Fruit in the chest on the left side of the top floor. Talk to the Doctor and mash through more scenes. Head downstairs, Mrs. Usha will give you a quiz. Answers are 3 (Uru Mais), 2 (Dream Dreams), 4 (The Fire Droplet), 2 (Usha Research Center). Leave Usha, head west to Uru Mais.

Uru Mais: Cutscenes for days! This takes about 20 minutes. Cutscene 1. Can pick up the Healing Berry in the chest here in the house. Not really needed; you’ll be buying plenty later. Go to the top of the temple, view the cutscene.

DREAM SKIP: You’ll be using 3x Incense (24 left) to perform these skips. Make sure the 2 Incense you used before has run out completely before starting the skips:   Vahn’s door: 1 unit of movement at the start, then incense. After membrane, 49 passes, then straight ahead Noa’s door: (0 door movement before incense). 51 passes after membrane, then straight ahead.

Gala’s door: 2 units of movement at the start. The translucent jewel will cover most of Vahn but the top of his head. 18 passes after the membrane, then straight ahead. See video tutorials: Then there’s the Juggernaut cutscene, the Cara cutscene, pick up the Magic Grail in the right-side crevice, then leave Uru Mais with Door of Light. Door of Wind to Usha.

Usha Research Center (again) Talk to Dr. Usha and after yet more cutscenes, you’ll get 4 TimeSpace Bombs (key items) Head back down. Mrs. Usha will give you another quiz. Choose options 4 (Nivora Ravine), 3 (Entrance), 1 (three seconds), and 4 (to Awaken Buma’s Genesis Tree). You’ll get 5 Healing Berries, 5 Healing Fruits, and 5 Magic Fruits for your trouble. Talk to the items dealer: Sell: All armor/weapons, Magic Grail, Spirit Jewel (you get another soon). Buy: Healing Berry x91 Sell: Healing Berry x70 Buy: Magic Fruit x42 (should have at least 30,000 points now) Buy & Sell Magic Fruits to get to 30032 points – total of 42 purchases.

Leave Usha, Door of Wind to Buma, walk up to Nivora Ravine.

Nivora Ravine: Cutscene plays as you check the crevice in the ice just to the left of center. Head into the next room and up to the summit. View another cutscene, head down the steps, get the Warrior’s Icon, and it’s time for the gang to split up.

Use Incense in this dungeon after getting to the tunnels / party split. You should be able to get through in two Incenses at the start (22 left). Getting into a battle here is really not good. Also, the final room of Gala’s tunnel (after the room with the snowball) doesn’t have enemy encounters for some unknown reason. Use that fact to your advantage. In Vahn’s tunnel, the first cave has a Mettle Gem. Head toward the pillar. Switch to Noa. Her first cave has a Rainbow Jewel. Get that too. Step on the insignia. Switch to Gala. His first room has a Spirit Jewel to replace the one you just sold. At the gate, switch back to Vahn, have him push the pillar, and continue on until his path is blocked by spikes. Switch to Noa, hit the gate lever on the other side of the bridge, and have her stop just before Koru (the exit of the room after the one with the bridge leads to Koru) so as not to wear out the time on Incense. Gala pushes the snowball, stops at the start of the next room. Vahn goes to Koru, Noa goes to Koru, then Gala goes to Koru. Cutscenes follow, enter Three Stooges fight.

Heal up and restore Gala’s MP if needed to at least 192. Switch some accessories: Vahn: Silver Compass -> Burning Jewel (should have Mei’s Pendant / Defender Chain / Burning Jewel) Noa: Chicken King -> War Soul, Defender Chain -> Mettle Gem (Mettle Gem / Power Ring / War Soul) Gala: Equip Spirit Jewel (Evil Talisman / Speed Chain / Spirit Jewel)

Che Delilas (12,000 HP) Gala uses Point Card on turn 1, ESM on turn 2. There’s a very small but non-zero risk of death here independent of human error. Ultimately, reducing this risk to zero is untenable short of using the Point Card, which requires another 10,000 points (100,000 G = 4,000 more coins, which is not worth the time given the small risk.)

Lu Delilas (9,500 HP) Noa uses the Point Card. Unlike Che, Lu is not nearly as strong, and cannot one-shot.

Gi Delilas (10,000 HP) Point Card twice. The second time will only do 30 damage or so, but that’s enough. Gi can two-shot Vahn, but that’s not an issue with the Burning Jewel equipped, which will halve Gi’s damage output.

With the Three Stooges down, there will be more cutscenes to follow, and you will get a chance to heal/save. Heal, Magic Fruit on Gala, use Fire/Wind/Thunder Book III on the respective characters. Equip: Vahn: Burning Jewel -> Silver Compass, Defender Chain -> Chicken King Noa should have 100 AP at this point, but double check. As long as she has at least 60, you’re fine. Also check Noa’s AGL in the status screen. Your strategy will depend on whether Noa has at least 188 AGL, or less than that number. It is slightly more likely than not that she does. Unlike the Gaza fight earlier, the accessory setup doesn’t change.

Koru (20,000 HP) You have 5 turns to win this fight. On Koru’s 5th turn, it explodes with Dead End Crisis, dealing 9999 damage to each character. Even if you have a Lost Grail, it won’t matter.
(It is technically possible to go out of one’s way to get a Spikefish Flute from fishing. If you have one, using it on Koru breaks the AI script, giving you 255 turns to defeat Koru. We don’t need them here.)

Turn 1: All characters use Power Elixir on Noa Turn 2: Vahn/Noa use Power Elixir on Noa, Gala heals w/ Healing Flower Turn 3: Vahn: Power Elixir on Noa, Noa Fury Boost self, Gala heals: Turns 4 and 5 depend on Noa’s AGL stat If Noa AGL >= 188 Turn 4 Vahn & Gala: Power Elixir on Noa Noa: Super Tempest (> > < > > < ^ ^ ^) Turn 5 Vahn: Burning Flare (> v < v <), Noa Super Tempest, Gala Power Elixir on Noa

If Noa AGL < 188 Turn 4: Vahn & Gala: Power Elixir on Noa Noa: Frost Breath -> Tempest Break (< < > > < ^ ^ ^) Turn 5: Vahn: Burning Flare, Noa Frost Breath -> Tempest Break, Gala casts ESM.

When Koru goes down, you’ll automatically return to the World Map. Door of Wind to Buma. Buma: Cutscenes play, trees revived. After you get the Sheet Music from Cara, leave for Sol

Sol Tower: Take the 1F elevator to 4F, go down to the Jazz Club, and give the sheet music to the pianist. Cutscenes will play, Grantes will go to Buma, and you can leave out the way you came.

Buma: Go to Cara’s house (left side, behind the inn). More cutscenes. Get the Soren Flute and Light Egg key items. Now head northwest past Nivora and take the path up to Mt. Dhini. After walking a short distance, use Incense x3 (19 left)

Mt. Dhini: Check the shining inscription on Birdman Gate to gain access to Mt. Dhini Optional: At the first fork, head down to pick up an Unholy Icon. Head back to the fork, head up and into the cave. Head down, and then left at the two forks in the next room. Get the Wonder Amulet in the next treasure chest on the path. Optional: Healing Berry in the next treasure chest. Optional: Get the Good Luck Bell in the chest in the next cave. The Evil Talisman already gives you the Encounter Down effect (and they don’t stack), but it sells for 6,000. Head up to the summit, view cutscenes, arrive at Soren Camp.

Soren Camp: Talk to Cructes, the Soren Elder, in the far house past the inn on the left. Get the 4th Wonder Elixir in the treasure chest in the hut. Return to Luctes, who will now take you to the Floating Castle

Zora’s Floating Castle Head straight, slight left, and straight through the first room. You’ve got a total of three incense (16 left) for the dungeon unless you got a 33rd Incense. If you did, use Incense x4, otherwise, you’ll want to spread out Incense x1 over the course of the dungeon. Head down, slight right (optional: enter cave for a Magic Ring which sells for 10,000), and then down into the second room. Follow the path, flip the switch to access the lower level. Get the Evil God Icon by entering the hidden room through the flashing grate in the first room on the lower level. In the next room, head to the left and access the pipe. Defeat the Puera, flip the switch, and head back down (don’t bother attacking with the character with the Speed Chain, since it’s highly likely to use Death Game and waste time. Attack with Vahn and Noa instead – Puera is fast enough that it usually attacks first.) Death Game is pretty easy to follow – there are 13 flips of the card, and they are quite slow to boot. Just pay attention during the battle, and don’t try to get cute or anything. Also, you can’t hit left to cycle from the far left to the far right, either. Skip the next grate room, enter the antechamber, save if need be, fight the two Puera guarding the throne room. Cutscene plays at the throne room. After cutscene:

Switch accessories: Vahn: Silver Compass -> Ebony Jewel, Chicken King -> Stone Amulet (Mei’s Pendant / Ebony Jewel / Stone Amulet) Noa: Chicken King -> Ebony Jewel (Defender Chain / Ebony Jewel / Power Ring) Gala: Evil Talisman -> Ebony Jewel, Spirit Jewel -> Wonder Amulet (Ebony Jewel / Speed Chain / Wonder Amulet) Heal if necessary.

Leave the throne room the way you came and you will encounter Zora

Zora (22,422 HP) Gala’s your healer – have him use Healing Fruits, Healing Flowers/Berries, and Medicine when needed to keep HP’s up. Vahn and Noa chuck Power Elixirs on Noa, then a Fury Boost on her. At 10 elixirs, start beating face with Super Tempests. The fight shouldn’t take too long – 1 or 2 Tempest Breaks at most.

After the fight, Songi makes an unannounced visit. Follow him into the throne room. After the cutscene, it’s time to leave by returning to the entrance. Before you do: Equip: Vahn: Ebony Jewel -> Silver Compass; Stone Amulet -> Defender Chain, Noa: Ebony Jewel -> Chicken King; Gala: Wonder Amulet -> Evil Talisman, Ebony Jewel -> Spirit Jewel; Arrange Items. Don’t worry – the six minutes is plenty of time. You lose a flat 20 seconds per battle, but with the Speed Chain and Chicken King equipped, battles won’t take that long anyway. After you arrive at the entrance, cutscenes will play and you will be back at the Soren Camp. After Cructes tells you to go to Conkram, leave and head to the items / weapons shop for the final purchases in the game.

Weapon Dealer (in the hut at the back-right). Get the Healing Fruit in the chest. Sell: Evil God Icon, Warrior Icon, Mettle Gem, Rainbow Jewel, Wonder Amulet, Stone Amulet Buy: Heavy Strike, Triumph Boots, Pronged Crown, Battle Robe, War God Band, War God Boots Arrange Items Item Dealer: Sell: All obsolete weapons & armor, 25 Magic Fruit Buy: 58 Healing Fruit Sell: 58 Healing Fruit Buy: As many healing fruit as you can. You need at least 17,500 or so points for Rogue.

Talk to Luctes. Fly to Conkram.

Conkram (Present). You should be able to get through Conkram using two Incenses. (14 remaining) After the cutscene, head to the top-left part of the map (don’t go up the second staircase) and open a treasure chest containing your first Lost Grail. Head into the castle. After the short scene, go up the stairs and talk to Queen Minea. After that scene, go down the stairs, talk to the two guards at the top left of the main floor, and head down the stairs to the elevator. King Nebular will give you the Seru Flame. Head back to where the Queen is, and enter the top-right room to go to the Past. Warning: this is the scene which will crash your game if you play on a PS3! So, don’t do that.

Conkram (Past) Head down the stairs and head to the inn (bottom-left part of the main plaza area). Stay the night (which will heal your HP/MP), watch the cutscene, Use Incense (13 left), and head down to the laboratory (where you got the Seru Flame earlier). Jump into the portal, view the scenes, and you’ll be in Rogue’s Tower.

Rogue’s Tower. Enjoy the music – we’ll be here for a bit.

Floor 1: Step on the portal. The next portal is straight ahead. Go through the doors and hit the next portal. Hit the right portal. Left one leads to an unneeded item. Go around to the next portal. Take the bottom-left portal. Step on the large portal to be warped to floor 2.

Floor 2: Go around the near portal and enter the far one; then take the south portal. Go around and into the doorway to the north portal. In the L-shaped room, take other portal, then in the next room, head north and take the top portal. You will encounter Berserker Lv. 2 here.

Berserker Lv. 2 (10,000 HP) Two casts of Juggernaut will do him in. Gala casts, Vahn chucks Magic Fruits, and Noa can heal.

Use a Magic Fruit on Gala after the fight. Take the south portal (the one you came from), then take the left portal in the following room. In the next room, step on the portal you just stepped on. Then take the left portal in the t-shaped room. You’ll be taken to fight Caruban Lv. 2

Caruban Lv. 2 (4,096 HP) One cast of Juggernaut. Easy enough.

Step on the north portal to be warped back to the first room. Step on the lower portal, then take the big portal to Floor 3.

Floor 3: WARNING: While on this floor, stepping on a portal while the room is warped/pulsating will automatically warp you into the ‘penalty box’ and make you start the floor over again. I have found that stepping on a maximum of two portals per cycle is safe, but three will generally not be. Take the only portal you can, then the top-right portal to encounter Berserker Lv. 3

Berserker Lv. 3 (15,000 HP) Three casts of Juggernaut. Unlike the other minibosses in this dungeon, this one is actually rather dangerous. It is possible, though somewhat uncommon, for Berserker 3 to one-shot Vahn or Noa from full HP, so equipping a defender chain and/or a HP increasing accessory may be wise. In addition, you may also wish to put the Speed Ring on Noa so she has a better than 50% chance to act before Berserker; otherwise, she can chuck Healing Fruits. If you have any Earth Jewels, putting one on her isn’t a bad idea. Finally, if Vahn should die, that’s not a bad thing. It will give Noa and Gala an extra level for the final boss (he’ll still reach L25), so the fight will be a bit safer/easier/faster.

Put the Chicken King back on Noa if you took it off for the Speed Ring earlier. Also, heal and restore Gala’s MP. Return to the earlier room. Most of the rooms just have a short walk to the next portal, except for the last room (on the middle-left side of the room). Walk through the hidden doorway, then step on the portal in the top-left room to get to Caruban Lv.3

Caruban Lv. 3 (8,192 HP) Two casts of Juggernaut will do it. However, due to animation length, it might be faster to ‘all-out attack’ with Vahn and Noa both using arts (Tempest Break, Burning Flare, etc.), and try to down Caruban quickly. Caruban’s speed stat isn’t great, but Vahn might not be able to get a move off before Caruban; keep that in mind.

Heal, restore Gala’s MP, and use Miracle Water x4 on Noa (you got one from each miniboss earlier).

Return to the previous room, step on the portal due right from the one you just returned to, and go through the final big portal to be warped to Rogue’s lair.

Switch Noa’s Defender Chain for the Speed Ring. (If you’re going to do the risky strategy, also put on the Power Ring and War Soul – you shouldn’t’ve sold it). Walk down the path to encounter Rogue. Rogue (28,200 HP) Two strategies, a safe one and a risky one which can save 30-40 seconds. Don’t use the risky one unless you have 20,000 or more points on the point card. Otherwise, use whichever one you prefer.

Safe: Turn 1: Vahn: Magic Fruit Gala; Noa: Point Card; Gala: ESM Turn 2: Vahn: Defend; Noa: Point Card; Gala: ESM

Risky: Turn 1: Vahn: Point Card; Noa: Hurricane Kick; Gala: ESM Turn 2: Vahn: Burning Flare; Noa: Point Card; Gala: Lightning Storm (Explosive Fists if he has the AGL)

With the Safe strategy, you need to do at least 17,500 or so damage, and two casts of ESM will do 12,000 damage or so, giving you a buffer of a little over 1,000 damage to work with. If you have at least 18,000 points, you should have no risk of death excepting human error.

The Risky strategy requires doing 20,000 with the Point Card, 6,000 from ESM, and dealing the last 2,200 through an attack from Vahn and from Noa. If you fail to do enough damage, Rogue will one-shot the party with a powerful multi-target spell which does 1,600-1,800 damage to each character. However, you save one cast of ESM, which takes 50+ seconds to cast. The choice is yours.

After you defeat Rogue, some scenes will play, and you’ll return to the Conkram of the Past. You’ll also get the Nemesis Gem from the King. Optional, but recommended: Head into the back-left room and take the stairs to meet Noa’s mother. You’ll get the useful Minea’s Ring (accessory: HP+25%). This is not strictly needed, but the extra HP is a godsend for the final three bosses. Head to the top-right room and return to the present. Put the Chicken King back on Noa if you took it off earlier.

Conkram: Leave the Mirror Room and head to the top-left room. Walk behind the Queen – walking in front of her will trigger some dialogue which you can skip. Optional: Healing Fruit in the chest. Head back up to the balcony where you met Queen Minea in the palace. You’ll find a treasure chest containing your 5th Wonder Elixir here. Now, use two Incense (11 left) and a Door of Light to leave. Head to the Absolute Fortress.

Jette’s Absolute Fortress. View the scene with Noa throwing the Nemesis Gem and destroying the Gate of HELL! Enter the dungeon. Pick up the treasure chest in the path off to the right to get a Life Armband (HP+25% accessory). Another scene plays when you get to the lake of Mist. Go around to the left and follow the path. Yet another scene plays. Continue on. Optional: Golden Claw (weapon for Noa) in a door along the path. Continue on the path. When you get to the room after the room where you can see an upper level, head around the door, up the stairs to the north, and past the room with a save point in front of it. Head to the right side of this room to get the final Wonder Elixir.

Jette Skip: Incense as soon as you enter the room. Up until Vahn’s shoulders are level with the dark bottom of the first stair. Left, then right. 17 passes. On 17th pass, stop when Vahn’s hair is just barely obstructing the right tip of the left railing. Up until Vahn’s toes are touching the top part of the circle. Due left to hit switch. Straight down.

Watch tutorial video for visuals on the exact pixels:

Go to the pedestal, hit the left switch and leave. If done correctly, Incense will wear off on the pixel which triggers the Jette fight, and you skip the boss and can continue on your way.

Note: As a consequence of this glitch, you permanently lose your ability to use Door of Light for the rest of the game. Still faster to skip this boss, nonetheless.

You can use three more Incense here (7 left) to get to Cort. Follow the path, go up when the path branches (going right leads to a Warrior Icon you don’t need).

When you finish with the path and go up the elevator, go around to the back of the elevator to get your second Lost Grail. Leave, head through the next room, into the hall, and through the door into the Mist Generator Room. Once you’re there, equip:

Vahn: (Minea’s Ring / Ebony Jewel / Speed Ring) Noa: (Life Armband / Ebony Jewel / Power Ring) Gala: (Mei’s Pendant / Ebony Jewel / Speed Chain) Heal up, encounter Cort.

Cort (50,000 HP) You get a free turn to stack Elixirs on Noa due to the shield. That’s nice. 12 Elixirs this time (20 left), then a Fury Boost. Then, use Noa’s Miracle Art (< ^ > v ^ < ^ v > ). This should break the shield. One Super Tempest more (> > < > > < ^ ^ ^), or even just some regular punches, should be enough. Cort’s moves: Guilty Cross: 950 – 1,150 non-elemental damage to one character. Ebony Jewels do not reduce this. Mystic Shield: 1,300-1,500 Dark damage to the party. Ebony Jewels will halve this. Evil Seru Magic: 2,500 – 2,800 Dark damage to the party. Ebony Jewels will halve this. Cort cannot use this spell while his shield is still up. Yes, your ESM is non-elemental. Yes, the inconsistency is noted. Yes, this is convenient for you. With HP+ accessories and Ebony Jewels, you can survive this. However, the animation is long as hell. Well over a minute, and close to the length of Sephiroth’s Supernova. So, we don’t want to see it cast. Hence, we want to try to break the shield, and then defeat Cort the following turn. This is why we use 12 elixirs here – this will do enough damage to break the shield all at once, which will prevent the awkwardness of ‘I did 22,000 damage and now need to wait three turns to restore my AP before I can attack again.’ Speaking of the shield: It breaks at 25,000 damage. While active, it negates all attacks from non-Art physical attacks. Damage from magic attacks is cut by 50%. However, Arts, as well as the Point Card (in this route, you won’t have any points on it) will deal their regular damage.

Eventually, Cort will fall. Congratulations, Noa. You just committed fratricide. Since you can’t use Door of Light, wait until 15 seconds left (don’t trigger a short cutscene by moving) and Cara bails you out. After cutscenes, head back to Conkram, then more cutscenes, then return to Rim Elm.

Rim Elm: Talk to Noa at the Village Elder’s House, then talk to Gala in front of the Genesis Tree there. Talking with both of your party members (order doesn’t matter, but this way is slightly faster) will trigger Songi to arrive, with Juggernaut close behind. View a scene, and then the final dungeon appears. When you regain control:

Vahn: Ebony Jewel -> Chicken King; Gala: Ebony Jewel -> Evil Talisman; Noa: Ebony Jewel -> Silver Compass, use two Incense, walk down to world map; Door of Wind to Uru Mais.

Uru Mais: After the scene, head up the stairs to the ruins of the tunnel. Call to Tieg, and He will take you to Noaru Valley in the Seru-kai.

Noaru Valley: Left at the first fork, get the Triumph Armor in the chest by veering off to the left. Right, then left, then through the narrow band of crystals to the right, then past the save point into the next room. Equipment: Vahn: Best Equipment, Equip Life Ring / Minea’s Ring / Ebony Jewel Noa: Defender Chain / Power Ring / Ebony Jewel Gala: Life Armband / Ebony Jewel / Speed Chain Heal up, Head up the path to Encounter Final Songi.

Songi 3 (48,000 HP). Songi’s physical attacks are no joke. They can do as much as 3,400 damage, which can one-shot your party even with Ebony Jewels to halve the damage. Chaos Flare and Genocidal Cannon have longer attack animations, so you don’t exactly want to see those moves get used either. Chaos Flare will do about 1,700 (850 with Ebony Jewels) and Genocidal Cannon deals about 2,200 (1,100 with Ebony Jewels) to everyone. You will know when the Cannon is coming, because Songi will use only a single physical attack (as opposed to a 4-5 hit combo) the turn beforehand. Other than the impressively high damage output and the risk of getting party members killed (you should have a few phoenixes!), it’s pretty much the same fight as Zora, or as Jette would be if we fought him. 10 Power Elixirs on Noa, then a Fury Boost, then go to town.

More cutscenes to follow, you’ll arrive on Mt. Rikuroa: Heal up, change equipment back: When Incense wears off, use 1 (4 left) Take off Ebony Jewels, replace them with Evil Talisman / Chicken King / Silver Compass.

Bio-Castle (Rim Elm) You’ll have a short scene before you start the climb, then another to break the barrier and enter the final dungeon. The first half of the dungeon has no real twists and turns. You’ll pick up Ra-Seru Armor, a Ra-Seru Robe, and a Ra-Seru Plate in the first open room with the villi. Also, you should have four incense remaining. You should use them. When you get to the rapids room (gross), dive in. I am not sure of the exact mechanism to grab on to the… whatever that is… but holding up as you approach and mashing X seems to work. Skip the Crimson Book chest. Great for leveling (2x EXP) and for 100%, but it’s not useful in any%. Continue on, skip diving through the rapids in the next open room, pass the save point, and enter the cavern where the villagers are trapped. You’ll get your final Lost Grail here. There’s also Ra-Seru Boots and Ra-Seru shoes in this room. Talk to Mei and she’ll give you a Life Armband. Talk to Val and you’ll get a Miracle Water (it takes about 10 seconds, so it’s probably worth it). Pass through the room, skip the incredibly-well-hidden Mettle Goblet, and grab the Ra-Seru Thongs (Thong Sandals for Gala, get your head out of The Gutter!) Pass through this room, through the next room. The following room has some forks. Head down at the first fork, down at the second, right at the third to grab the Ra-Seru Fangs, and then left at the final fork to enter the room with the Final Save Point. Step on the two ‘switches’ to open the door.

Use ‘Best Equipment’ on everyone to put on that armor we got, and Noa’s weapon. The accessory setup is as follows: Vahn: Minea’s Ring / Defender Chain / Lost Grail Noa: Life Armband / Defender Chain / Power Ring Gala: Life Armband / Lost Grail / Lost Grail Use the Miracle Water on Noa, heal everyone to full (MP not needed), and pass through the door, view several minutes of text, and the final battle will begin!

JuggerCort (65,535 HP) Not sure why they went with the old 16-bit (2^16 – 1) style of stats on a 32-bit console, but they did, so whatever. The first problem with this fight is that unlike all the bosses we’ve been fighting, Cort is non-elemental. This means that we can’t use the previous strategy of cheesing through bosses by halving their damage, so we have to get creative.

First, Cort’s attacks: Physical attack: 4 hits of 700 damage, for a total of 2,800-3,000. Ultra Charge: Turn 1 Charge, followed by: Final Crisis: 3,000 damage to the party. Doomsday: 2,000 damage to the party. Unlike Final Crisis, this attack can be used without a charge.

Even with HP+25% accessories, your L25 party doesn’t have the HP to withstand Doomsday, and can barely withstand Final Crisis by halving the damage with Spirit (1,350 – 1,600 damage). Thankfully, Cort doesn’t use Doomsday until falling below 50% health. This means that we can avoid that attack completely by dealing enough damage to avoid that phase of the fight. As it turns out, because of how elixirs work, the best way to do it is to deal all 65,535 damage at once.

In addition, Cort’s Physical attacks will one-shot a character unless they get incredibly lucky and get two blocks. So, we can’t rely on that, nor do we want to spend tons of time reviving.

Also, one other thing to note is that Cort’s speed stat (119) is actually quite low – only one point higher than Saryu’s (118). There’s a significant chance that Gala goes before Cort, even without the Speed Chain or even the Speed Ring.

The strategy is as follows: Turn 1: Vahn, Noa, and Gala each use a Wonder Elixir on Noa. After that, your objectives are to, in order:

1. Keep everyone’s HP topped off during the fight with items.
2. Put 1 more Wonder Elixir on Noa
3. Put 4 Shield Elixirs on Vahn
4. Put 3 Shield Elixirs on Gala (You should have bought 8 during the Vidna slot segment)
5. Put 2 more Wonder Elixirs and the last 10 Power Elixirs on Noa.
6. Use Noa’s Miracle Art (< ^ > v ^ < ^ v >) on Cort to finish the fight.

Use Healing Berries to heal characters to full HP, and take advantage of the fact that the first time Vahn dies, and the first two times Gala dies, they will be restored to full HP via the Lost Grail accessory. Sadly, the Lost Grails are consumed when used, so we cannot use them on any previous fights (would be broken if we could). 4 Shield Elixirs on Vahn and 4 on Gala will give them each enough defense to reliably withstand Cort’s Physical attacks without dying. Keep HP’s topped off at all times, due to the risk of Ultra Charge. During this fight, Noa (and sometimes Vahn) will be healing, since they can reliably out-speed Cort without extra accessories. When Cort uses Ultra Charge, everyone spirits. Then, Vahn and Noa use Healing Fruits on the following turn (this heals everyone to full, and takes one fewer character-action than having everyone use a Healing Berry on themselves), while Gala continues with the elixirs. Do note, that every use of Ultra Charge (25% chance per turn) is roughly a 1-minute time loss. Got to love that RNG at the end.

At some point, everyone will have their Elixirs used, and you can use the Miracle Art and win the game. Time stops on the first frame where Cort starts exploding (Cort is looking straight at you from the front).

Endgame cutscenes, choose your ending, then talk to Village Elder twice to leave the village and view the credits! The endgame stat-screen will follow at the very end of the credits.

You just completed a speedrun of Legend of Legaia. Go take a nap and eat something, because you’re probably pretty tired at this point.