Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals - RetroAchievements/guides GitHub Wiki

• Set Difficulty: 6/10
• Approximate time to master: Between 20-30 hours (Ancient Cave achievements may require some RNG luck)
• Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 complete playthrough -- NG+ may make some achievements significantly easier
• Number of missable achievements: 2
• Does difficulty affect achievements? N/A
• Hardest achievement of the set: R. A. Legend - Lufia II, possibly Millionaire

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (Japanese title Biography of Estopolis II) is a SNES RPG developed by Neverland and published by Natsume, Inc., who are now best known for the Harvest Moon series. A sequel (actually prequel) to the cult classic Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, Lufia II is generally regarded as a substantial improvement over its predecessor, eliminating frustrations like high encounter rates, necessary grinding and random targeting in-battle, and focused more heavily on character development, story themes, and enemy variety (even considering that some of the endgame was cut for development time). Today, Lufia II frequently makes top 50 and top 100 SNES games lists, as well as various RPG rankings.

One major change from the first Lufia game is the removal of random encounters in dungeons -- all enemies can be seen as you move around, and enemies only move when you do (or when you use an item/swing your sword). In most cases, this lets you utilize a little strategy with positioning and tool use to get a free turn at the start of battle. Learning to manipulate enemy positioning is also important for solving puzzles throughout the game. The game also features an early form of Limit Breaks in "IP" attacks, which let you use certain equipment along with a rage meter to perform special attacks or even cast certain spells without MP.

A substantial speedrunning community for Lufia II exists - not for the entire game, but for the "Ancient Cave" minigame, a semi-randomly-generated roguelike 99-floor dungeon, available at roughly the halfway point of the main game and also separately as a bonus play mode after beating the game twice. Several achievements exist surrounding the Ancient Cave, and a player who intends to badge Lufia II will need to become familiar with the unique quirks of an Ancient Cave run.

The set was created by Altomar with help from MrGauss and contains 64 achievements. While the game does have two NG modes (Retry, which grants all characters 4x experience and 4x gold, and GIFT mode which strands the party on the Ancient Cave island but allows you to choose any party you desire), neither is required for a complete badge - the entire set can be completed in a single run.

There are 2 missable achievements, Hey Pretty Lady, I've Got A Weird Thing To Show You! and Beaten By Strangers. Both can be brute-forced with some grinding, but some clever strategies can also be used to bypass this.

Due to the RNG of both the casino achievements and the Ancient Cave achievements, play time may vary, but you can generally expect to complete this badge in around 40 hours of play.

This set contains eight broad categories of achievements, listed below. There are no "rare drop" achievements in the main set, although a bonus set for rare drops in the Ancient Cave does exist.

• Main Story achievements are acquired automatically as you progress through the story. Collecting all of these will earn the silver "Completed" icon for Lufia II.
• Treasure achievements are unlocked by purchasing, or finding in chests, a particular piece of equipment. Two of these are missable, and they are the only missable achievements in the set.
• Casino achievements revolve around the casino on Forfeit Island. The games are RNG, but one in particular is easily farmed.
• Puzzle achievements require you to either complete an optional puzzle, or to do so under certain circumstances.
• Egg Dragon achievements involve the Egg Dragon and her eight eggs, spread around the world.
• Level achievements are a set of 5 achievements requiring you to level the main hero, Maxim, all the way to 99. A standard game with no grinding would end around level 65 for the main party, so some grinding is necessary on a NG run (and is discussed below).
• Capsule Monster achievements involve acquiring, evolving, and mastering the seven Capsule Monsters available in the game. These AI-controlled allies vary in usefulness, but you aren't required to use any particular one, just to feed them equipment/items until they evolve.
• Lastly, Ancient Cave achievements require you to conquer the game's optional roguelike dungeon, including beating the boss at the end without using a common glitch. Strategy and details are found below.

Training Day (5) Complete the training dungeon

This will be your first achievement, and should unlock when you finish the first cave the old man in Elcid summons you to for training. Of note, you obtain your Reset spell here, which only Maxim can use. This lets you reset a blown puzzle (or bad enemy positioning) by warping back to the start of a room. Uniquely, you can cast this spell like a tool from the Select menu.

You also obtain your first normal tool, the Arrow, in this training dungeon. You can use this to stun enemies and get behind them to get that surprise round - remember to always face the enemy!

Hero's Destiny (5) Meet Iris for the first time

This will unlock after the conversation following your first boss battle in the Cave To Sundletan. The Lizardman boss is not difficult for a Maxim that is at least level 4, especially if you went back to Elcid and bought the Strong spell for healing. In general, don't be afraid to heal early in Lufia II -- MP-restoring items are abundant, most dungeons give you a free HP/MP heal room before bosses, and even an enemy that is slower than you can sometimes act first.

There is a room with a gap you cannot cross until you have the Hook tool. Once you do, be sure to return here to net a Dragon Egg.

Fishing Time (5) Defeat Big Catfish in Lake Cave

This is the first serious boss battle in the game, and unfortunately you're still a party of one. Getting the optional Insect Crush sword and Speedy Ring in this dungeon will help, especially since the latter lets you use the Fake spell as an IP to boost your speed past the boss. If you are reliably faster than the Big Catfish, you can probably attack twice between heals. Otherwise, alternate attacking and healing until you win.

Important note: This boss is one of a small handful who drop a rare equipment item. The chances for doing so are determined randomly at the end of battle. This is not required for any achievement, but the Catfish Jewel is tremendously helpful throughout the entire game, since its Mega Quake damage is not resisted by any non-flying enemy. It is also one of the few items you can take with you into the Ancient Cave, and can save you in there. Don't be afraid to reset a few times to obtain the jewel (the drop rate is actually quite high here, being 100/255).

A King Without A Crown (5) Return the crown back to the king of Alunze

(Note: If you haven't done it yet, before you enter Alunze Castle, go west and south on the World Map to reach the first Capsule Monster shrine and obtain Jelze, the non-elemental Capsule Monster. You may wish to avoid feeding him for now -- see Hey Pretty Lady, I've Got A Weird Thing To Show You! for more details on why.)

No boss for Alunze Castle, just explore the dungeon, get to the end, and return safely. Note that, as with the Cave to Sundletan, there is a chest here you cannot obtain yet -- you'll need the Hook tool to reach that post across the water. Once you do get the Hook, be sure to come straight back -- the Water Jewel in that chest is extremely useful.

Be sure to grab the Dragon Egg down here, accessible by solving a bomb-and-box puzzle along the main path.

Your first few serious puzzles happen here, with block pushing and some tile warping and enemy movement puzzles - don't be afraid to use your Reset tool/spell if needed. Don't hesitate to use IP to get through a tough battle - no boss to save up for in here.

The Lost Key (5) Defeat Regal Goblin

Note: There are two chests you'll need to come back to once you have the Hammer tool much later in the game -- those rocks won't succumb to your new Bombs.

The Regal Goblin isn't particularly hard, but he does summon lots of minions, including dangerous Goblin Mages - take them out immediately if summoned. If Jelze stays alive, his special attacks can also help here. Tia should focus on healing, but a single use of Fake from the Speedy Ring is also a good idea at the start of battle (remember you can target both allies with spells by pressing R). Use IP attacks to focus damage on the Regal Goblin and he should go down pretty quickly.

Looking for Hilda (5) Defeat Camu in Tanbel Southeast Tower

Remember to put Tia in the back row once Guy joins your party. Camu is a tough boss, no doubt about it. His Buster Attack will likely kill Jelze in a couple of hits, and will deal heavy magic damage to the rest of your party. He's weak to lighting, so the Kukri IP is very effective for Maxim and Guy to use. Tia is on full-time healing duties - if everyone is completely full, she can try Flash for some extra lightning damage (the Jute Helm IP is also effective). Camu may waste his turn summoning Slaves - kill them to keep that option open, as repeated Buster Attacks are hard to survive.

Camu is another boss who drops a rare item - the Camu Jewel, raising several stats significantly and letting you use the Buster Attack yourself. It's a 24/255 drop rate, but is very powerful and can also be taken into the Ancient Cave later -- the choice is yours.

Important: - Immediately after Camu is dealt with, be sure to re-climb the Southeast Tower and open the three treasure chests in the boss room - one of them contains the almighty Fire Dagger, which will be useful all the way to the halfway point of the game. For now, give it to Guy. Guy should also equip the powerful Camu Armor, whose IP (whole-party healing worth 25% of the wearer's max HP) is a terrific emergency heal.

Arachnophobia (5) Defeat Tarantula in Ruby Cave

The Ruby Cave offers several upgrades for our heroes - your second Capsule Monster, Blaze can be found shortly into the dungeon, and wields the mighty Fire element. He's also a coward who runs away after taking nearly any damage at first, so be warned. You can also obtain powerful Bee Rocks from the Big Bee enemy (40/255 drop rate), which boost your speed and let you use a powerful IP attack (great for Tia in particular). Lastly, you obtain the Aqua Whip in the big lava chamber - this will be Tia's mainstay weapon for a long time, and Water works well against all desert-type enemies in the game.

The Tarantula is easily the hardest boss you face in the first half of the game (barring the first Gades fight, which you don't technically have to win). Fast, with high HP and strong attacks, including attacks that can poison or paralyze the entire party, the Tarantula can wipe you out in just a couple of turns. His weakness to Fire goes a long way towards making the fight manageable, so be sure to use IP attacks with Guy's Fire Dagger and hope that Blaze gets off a Tail or two before running away. Tia probably can't cast Spark, since she'll be busy healing/lifting statuses most turns. Don't be afraid to have Maxim also heal if a particular turn calls for it.

Note: Tarantula is the last of the early-game bosses with a rare drop, the Spido Jewel (24/255 drop rate, identical to the Camu Jewel). The Spido Jewel boasts ATP and GUT boosts, along with the same Spiderweb attack the Tarantula uses (large speed decrease to all foes). This is very useful in the Gades fight, so it might be worth trying for a few times.

For King and Country (5) Defeat Pierre and Danielle in Treasure Sword Shrine

Finally, a full party! Selan's Warp spell is very useful for quickly travelling to previous towns. You should do so as soon as you get her, to purchase all the magic she's missing. Selan mostly belongs in the back row, but occasionally can go in the front if she's using an advantageous elemental weapon. Speaking of which, you should find the Cold Rapier inside the Treasure Shrine -- equip this to Maxim for now, and be sure Guy has the Fire Dagger. Since Pierre is weak to Cold and Danielle to fire, your two main melee attackers will have the advantage in the ensuing boss battle.

As you work your way through the dungeon, pay close attention to the walls - there is a false wall partway through the dungeon that conceals an easy-to-miss treasure chest with a valuable Mind Ring -- Selan can use this to cast the powerful healing spell Stronger.

The colorblock puzzle in this dungeon functions like a miniature version of the game Go - any blocks "captured" between two blocks of a different color change to match that color. The third room has two solutions, so relax and have fun! If you are absolutely stuck, go here for a solution to the last room.

Warning: the next dungeon has the first of two missable achievements. See Gades for more info on strategy and preparation. This guide is written with the assumption that you did not beat Gades or obtain the Gades Blade. If you did, most boss fights until the late game can be ended in one turn by using the Octo-slash IP.

The Prince's Ego (5) Rescue the prince of Bound Kingdom from the North Labyrinth

Warning: Immediately after this achievement pops is your very last chance to get the missable achievement Hey Pretty Lady, I've Got a Weird Thing To Show You!. See that achievement for details if you haven't gotten it already. Once you return to Bound Kingdom, you're locked out for the playthrough.

A quick note: Once you have gotten through the Merix Cave, be sure to return to Merix and speak to the bridge-builder's daughter -- she rewards you with a Dragon Egg.

The North Labyrinth contains several worthwhile treasures, including your first cursed item, the Deadly Sword. Cursed items in Lufia II can be uncursed by first equipping them (cursing the bearer), then visiting a church in any town and asking for the curse to be lifted. The uncursed Deadly Sword will be the strongest non-elemental weapon up to that point in the game, and has the useful Bomb Attack IP letting you hit all enemies at once (this uses less IP than you think, so be liberal with using it). Rarely, the Deadly Sword enemy may also drop these, but they're pretty strong to be grinding on (use ice if you want to anyway).

You may also wish to grind a bit on the Green Clays and Sand Gorems (use fire for the former and water for the latter) until you get a Breeze Fruit and an Earth Fruit as drops. These items will let you evolve two of your Capsule Monsters later.

The Labyrinth also holds the Thunder Axe with its incredibly useful Thunderball IP (3x lightning damage to a single target), so be sure you get that. The Thunder Ring will increase the damage of your lightning spells, but not the basic attacks of lightning weapons - shame.

Deeper into the labyrinth, you will also find Flash, your third Capsule Monster. The Light element is useful against many late-game enemies and bosses, and Flash's later forms also use powerful healing spells on your party, but the be warned - its early forms are relatively weak. There is also a Dragon Egg not far from here.

The "bosses" in this dungeon are just regular enemies from a bit later on in the story -- a few Fireballs will suffice to take them all out. Onward!

Happy Ending...? (5) Escape from the Ancient Tower after Gades is defeated

The main difficulty of the Ancient Tower is that both of your main healers are gone. However, a little strategy here can pay off. The Camu Armor's Divine Cure IP works well with Guy or Dekar's high HP, and Dekar can also wear the Stone Plate for its Reviver IP. Maxim should wear a Mind Ring for this dungeon to benefit from its Stronger healing IP. Otherwise, don't be afraid to use your healing items, even Miracles, as needed.

The dungeon itself isn't hard, just be sure to explore all side rooms to gain hints for the puzzles later on. The Pumkin Jewel's IP, Head Butt, deals double damage to normal enemies and quintuple damage to bosses (and late-game enemies with the "Strong" tag), and in addition to the one you find in a treasure chest, they are dropped fairly often from the Pumpkin Head enemies.

Gades isn't nearly as tough this time around -- those extra levels and gear sure make a difference! Keep up your healing and he'll go down quickly enough.

Note that after Gades triggers his final trap, you may wish to equip Maxim with the Cold Rapier for extra damage against the Deadly Swords and Deadly Armors. If you're feeling brave, grind a little on the latter until they drop their namesake Deadly Armor -- when uncursed, it's the best armor in the game up to this point.

Be sure to grab the missable chest with a Magic Bikini inside before triggering the final trap, since you can't come back to this part of the dungeon again.

Child Abduction (5) Rescue Jeros from Idura

The ground floor of the North Lighthouse contains my favorite puzzle in the game - try to solve it yourself before looking up the answer! If you want a light hint,

A box will stop an open door from closing

Your reward is a Dragon Egg and a powerful shield.

Also in the North Lighthouse, you will encounter a memory puzzle that unlocks Memory Games if solved in fewer than 4 mistakes. You can reset the room if you mess up, so no worries.

The Cancer enemies will drop Cancer Rocks with a 40/255 rate - not super useful compared to other jewels, but they make excellent Capsule Monster food, and are frequently requested by the monsters!

Idura is not difficult, even with a party of two. Ice attacks and some mild healing will see you through. You may wish to let him summon a few Groupies - they have a high chance of dropping Magic Fruit, which always fills a huge amount of Capsule Monster feed meter! Remember that to get the item, the last monster to die must be a Groupie (Idura drops nothing).

The Phantom Tree (5) Find the location of the Phantom Tree

Be sure to buy the Rally spell in Aleyn -- it's a big help for the rest of the game!

Ah, the mountain music at last! Good stuff. Not a lot of surprises here, although the Fire Arrow tool is neat to play with, and integral to solving the puzzles on the mountain. For the large room with the pots and crumbling floor, remember that you can hold R to turn in place while picking up or putting down a jar. If you need more help, go here.

The Skull Lizards in here rarely drop Mage Shields (20/255 drop rate, DFP+50, INT+10), and it's the only way to get them in the game.

The Lions aren't a hard boss, and in fact will be back as regular enemies later on. Just focus them down with IP and magic.

Just a note here - you'll need to sleep several times in the Inn back in Aleyn before the plot will progress, and this isn't super obvious at first.

Important Note: Shortly after this dungeon, you will have the choice of sailing destinations. Narcysus continues the main story, while Gruberik island holds the Ancient Cave and its associated achievements. Most first-time players will want to try entering now, even if only to get some blue chests from the first few sections, as Dekar is a very valuable party member for an AC run. See that section for more details.

This guide is written with the assumption that you did not visit the Ancient Cave or obtain any powerful Blue Chest equipment.

The Mysterious Melody (5) Find out about the missing women of Narcysus

Narcysus has some pretty good equipment - be sure to check it out. By now, your Capsule Monster should be in its 3rd form, potentially even its 4th. If you are using Blaze, you can obtain a Charm Fruit in this tower (60/255 drop from Evil Fish) and evolve him into his Mega form, the Firebird. Firebird is my personal choice for non-Ancient Cave companion, as it nearly always uses its special attacks, one of which (Inferno) deals an incredible 9x INT fire damage to all targets - ending most battles before they begin.

The Tower of Sacrifice is short and sweet, with a couple classic tile puzzles and a lone treasure chest containing an Ice Ring. You will also find your fourth Capsule Monster, Gusto, who boasts the Wind element. Due to a programming oversight, no monster in the game resists the Wind element, but none are weak to it either; it's effectively non-elemental. Gusto is well-balanced in stats, with nothing particularly low, and boasts the highest agility in the game. It also tends to use its special attacks very often in its later forms. If you've been saving equipment/gold, you could potentially obtain Gusto's Mega form, the Sky Dragon, immediately upon recruiting it.

Idura is still Idura, and thus still very easy to beat. Unfortunately, his Followers don't drop Magic Fruit like the Groupies did, so just kill him immediately.

Note: After this dungeon is your last chance to use Dekar in the Ancient Cave.

The Useless Servant (5) Defeat Idura for one last time and find your way out

The Karloon North Shrine is a longer dungeon full of surprisingly tough enemies -- Medusas and Jurahans have high HP and defenses with strong magic, and Dark Skulls are fast and hit hard. Be liberal with healing spells in here. This is also the point in the game where you may want to consider using Flash as your Capsule Monster; from now on, if an enemy isn't weak to Fire, there's a good chance it's weak to Light.

Idura's back, and he's pathetic as ever. At least he summons Groupies again; remember to kill one last if you want that Magic Fruit!

The Priphea (5) Bring a Priphea to Leefa at Treadool

Flower Mountain is your next stop, and veterans of Lufia 1 will understand the importance of this flower and its namesake. Several powerful enemies call this mountain home; Crow Kelp in particular are nasty as they often hit the same target twice, which can KO an unprepared Selan in one turn. Gnomes yield valuable Silver Armor, and make decent XP grinding since they frequently summon more of themselves. Lunar Bears hit hard but hold stat-boosting Power Potions, and Tengus hit even harder but often drop Hi-Magics.

You will obtain the Hammer tool early in this dungeon; once you have it, cast Escape and warp back to Alunze, and dive back into the Alunze NW Cave. An Eron Hat and Tuff Buckler await you, and they're both great equipment at this point. Back at Flower Mountain, make sure you equip the Burn Sword and Flying Ax you'll find -- the latter deals double damage to flying enemies, and we all know how useful the Fire element is.

Also found on the mountainside is your fifth Capsule Monster, Sully of the Earth element. Unfortunately, in practice Sully plays out like a worse Jelze; his high HP and good attacking power can't compensate for his abysmal MGR and low speed, and Earth attacks will always miss flying enemies. Evolve him for the achievement, but I wouldn't recommend actually using him.

The spike maze has two entrances, and changes its shape depending on how you come in. Remember that the hammer works at a distance! A Dragon Egg awaits a clever adventurer.

The Rogue Flower is your boss this time, and while his low HP and Fire weakness should make him an easy kill, his Sneezespreader attack has a chance to confuse your entire party at once, making the fight much more difficult. I recommend stripping Selan and Guy of their weapons for this fight, just in case everyone gets confused. Maxim with a Burn Sword and Selan's Fireball spell should be more than enough.

Preventing A War (5) Recover the Ruby Icon from Dankirk North Dungeon

Note: Once Lexis is in your party, consider taking on the Ancient Cave if you haven't already. Lexis boasts moderate speed and HP but extremely high INT and MP, and many of his weapons inflict status effects on enemies. He's a real champ down there.

Dankirk North Dungeon is large and sprawling, with the main path forward blocked until you activate four blue switches spread around the dungeon. Be sure to find the Figgoru for Lexis, as it inflicts Confusion even with its basic attack (fun detail - you can tell if an enemy is under a status by how its sprite moves when selecting your actions in battle). Stay on your guard, as the lethal Asashin enemy nearly always goes first (Gusto and maybe Blaze are faster) and can inflict instant death with Terminal Blow.

A special note about the Shadow enemy found in here: Shadows use Vile Laughter with a very low chance of instant death, but also rarely (8/255) drop the Gloom Jewel. The Gloom Jewel raises MGR by 50, the highest such boost in the game, and allows you to use Dark Force, which has a 70% chance of inflicting instant death to all enemies. You can also take it into the Ancient Cave, so it may be worth grinding for one or even two (late-floor enemies in the Ancient Cave are almost always vulnerable to instant death).

Be sure to grab the Dragon Egg in here before progressing below -- you've nearly got all 8 now!

The "boss" is just a fight with four Soldiers, who are pathetically weak -- you won't even have to use IP attacks here.

Note: Once you have returned the Ruby Icon, be sure to revisit Aurelio Kingdom and speak to the prince twice. This will unlock VIP Member and allow full access to the casino on Forfeit Island. Speaking of which, you will now have access to Forfeit Island and the Casino achievements. You can also find a store on Forfeit Island that has every item you've ever sold (but not those fed to Capsule Monsters, be warned).

Artea (5) Have Artea join your group

Note: After your first visit to Portravia is your last chance to use Lexis in the Ancient Cave. You may wish to acquire Darbi first (see below).

As soon as you get out of the water gate, head west until you find a triangle-shaped triple island. From there, sail directly south to a small island with a weird shrine on it. This is the Capsule Monster Shrine, and at its peak is Darbi, the Darkness elemental Capsule Monster. Darbi is a very strong option in the Ancient Cave due to his latter form's instant-death attacks, but next to useless in the normal game -- very few enemies are weak to Darkness, and Darbi has both low HP and low GUT, running from most battles after taking any damage.

For some reason, there's no achievement for completing the Northeast Tower, so a quick summary on it. Be sure to buy spells in Ferim, they're powerful! Take care to keep your HP topped up at all times inside the Northeast Tower; Ninjas can attack twice per turn and use Knife Thrower to hit the whole party for high damage -- get unlucky enough and you could get wiped in one round. They also move at double speed on the map, so think before you act (and remember to use your Tools!) Hidoras also hit your whole party at once, but aren't quite as dangerous (plus, they're weak to Ice). Also note that despite appearances, the Bone Gorem is actually weak to Lightning, not Light.

After stopping over in Portravia, you'll head to the Mountain of No Return, so named because of one room in particular that's impossible to backtrack through, I guess? Not much here except a few puzzles and some weak plant enemies, but be sure to pick up the Aqua Sword. The "boss" is another group of normal enemies, Gargoyles in this case. Nothing too strong, but if you want an edge anyway, re-equip Guy with the Flying Ax -- all these flying types go down easy to it.

Farewell Lexis, hello Artea! These four will be your party for the rest of the game, so feel free to try the Ancient Cave whenever if you haven't already. Artea is the fastest party member in the game and the only one who can cast Light magic, but his other stats aren't much to be impressed by. Still, decent as a mage and has useful long-range Bow weapons -- stick him in the back row.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (5) Convert your ship into a submarine

A lot happens between the last story achievement and this one.

• Inside the Divine Shrine, you find the last Dragon Egg. This means as soon as you have the submarine, you can visit Pico Island and the Egg Dragon and start those achievements. It's easier to do this immediately, since there will be fewer unlocked chests to choose from. See that section for details.
• The Shrine itself holds enemies with powerful magic, so keep your HP topped off. Tartonas carry Earth Jewels, and Brinz Lizards have Twist Jewels - a fantastic option for the Ancient Cave, as the high AGL boost virtually guarantees a party member will go first in battle (this also helps you escape battles without taking damage).
• Be sure to get the Holy Whip behind the Dragon Egg chest -- it's Selan's best source for Light damage yet (barring the Ancient Cave), and you'll soon need all the Light damage you can get. It's also an achievement worth 5 points!

Note: As soon as you have the submarine, warp to Sundletan and sink below the waves to access a hidden cave with multiple portals. In addition to a chest, you can find Zeppy, the final Capsule Monster. I never got much use out of Zeppy - high MGR is fine but you need some kind of attack stat, and not a lot of enemies left are weak to Water; try him if you please.

With this, you can now obtain all Capsule Monster achievements.

The Cursed One (5) Defeat Venge Ghost in Shrine of Vengeance

The Shrine of Vengeance introduces you to Fiends, your first truly difficult normal monster. Fiends have very high HP, act twice, cast powerful spells including instant death spells, can inflict status effects with normal attacks, and are only weak to the Light element. In fact, nearly everything here is weak to the Light element, so equip accordingly.

Easy to miss chests: In the room where you drop two pillars into the water to change the water level, try using Bombs on the blue torch against the north wall. You will find two powerful elemental weapons, the Freeze Sword and Boom Sword.

Some people say the Venge Ghost is difficult to beat, but I found he wasted half his turns using Hatred. Still, keep your HP up while using Light attacks to win. Be sure to uncurse both the Evil Jewel (strong ATP boost) and the Cursed Bow (becomes Arty's all-attacking bow) once you return to dry land.

Note: If you haven't already, this is an excellent time to go get the Casino achievements, in particular the Dragon Sword achievement. Dragon-type enemies become a lot more common from this point forward, and the sword itself is extremely powerful. Note that if you have completed the Ancient Cave, the Dragon Ring will provide a similar effect for any weapon on that party member.

The Power of Love (5) Find the Magic Mirror in Tower of Truth

We interrupt this saving of the world to bring you Marital Jealousy: The Sequel.

Be sure to get the Super Sword in here - strong Light damage and a great IP attack. The Tower of Truth has some powerful enemies, including Thunderbeasts (drop Thundo Jewels) and Cyclops. Sea Hidoras can hit the whole party, and Serfaco is one of the few enemies that can outspeed even Gusto. Don't neglect your HP! You also find the only Mimic in the game in here (outside of the Ancient Cave, of course), and it's hilariously underpowered.

The boss encounter is three White Dragons, who are fast and use party-wide ice attacks. Fire, anti-dragon, and anti-flying attacks all work well. They don't have much HP individually, so focus on one at a time.

Note: If you haven't yet gotten a Holy Fruit, this is your best chance to do so without wandering around the World Map (or wasting an Egg Dragon wish). White Dragons have a fairly high drop rate (100/255), so a few tries is all it should take.

Dragon Slayer (5) Defeat Fire Dragon in Dragon Mountain

Dragon Mountain is the last serious dungeon in the game - Gratze Basement is straightforward and the Sealed Towers are kind of unfinished. Chock full of treasures and tough enemies, Dragon Mountain will test your understanding of several Tools as well as providing a tough boss. You can also find The World's Most Difficult Trick here, which rewards you with some of the best equipment in the game. There is a semi-difficult puzzle just before that room, involving preventing plants from growing out of control. Use Fire Arrows and consider every step carefully - remember that you can turn by holding R without wasting a step.

Also found here are Dark Dragons, your only source of Dark Fruit in the game (outside of wasting an Egg Dragon wish), which means you can finally evolve Flash into his powerful Unicorn form.

The Fire Dragon is no joke -- 7500 HP, strong fire and physical attacks, and a special version of Drowsy with a much higher hit rate - you should heal every single round, in case your healers get put to sleep all at once. Anti-dragon and Ice weapons work well here.

Airship (5) Convert your ship into an airship

Again for some reason, there's no achievement for the events of Premearl, so a few notes here:

• After receiving the key item from the Chaed elder, you head for Premearl underwater. Be sure to buy equipment here, as it's among the strongest in the game. A short while later, you'll head underneath Narvick and fight the Ghost Ship. This enemy isn't particularly strong, and spends most of its turns summoning other, weaker enemies. Use group attacks and Arty's Zap spell to make short work of things.
• WARNING: The US version of Lufia 2 has a graphical glitch on one of the screens following the Ghost Ship. Tiles are garbled and it looks like the game crashed. Just move straight up and mash the talk button, and the plot will progress. I don't know if any of the patches which fix this are compatible with RA.

Afterwards, you will be warped to Chaed and some severe plot ensues. Back in Portravia, the heroes come up with a plan, and you'll need to dive underwater near the Dankirk North Dungeon (remember those soldiers you fought?) Now it's dungeon time again.

Gratze dungeon is very straightforward, with only a single Miracle as treasure. White Dragons are prowling down here though, and so are dangerous Warm Eyes which attack in groups with paralysis. Gold Gorems have high defense and are resistant to all elements (but not to instant death or sleep). Sphinxes rarely (8/255) drop Old Helmets, which are the 3rd best headgear in the game, but you may already have the Legend Helm from Dragon Mountain, and you will soon have the Pearl Helm for Maxim which is even better still.

Funny note: It only appears for a second, but the title card "Gratze Kingdom" is screwed up in the US version and garbled text appears instead. They really rushed the final quarter or so of this game, sadly.

The Tank has 10,000 HP and very high defenses, but wastes about half his turns "checking the situation" before acting. Heal consistently and you'll be fine.

Blade of the Gods (5) Obtain the Dual Blade

The home stretch. Be sure to buy equipment in Narvick - it's the best in the game. If you're trying for a one-run badge, this is also the time to grind to level 99 and get the Level achievements -- see that section for an easy strategy. Each tower consists of simple outdoor/indoor sections winding their way towards the top. A few last rings to be found, but nothing super exciting. Leeches (I'm assuming Liches got misspelled) are fast and use top-shelf spells, and rarely (8/255) drop the extremely powerful Old Sword, but it's too late to be of any real use in the game. Mega Cyclopes will also rarely (8/255) drop the Old Armor, which boasts ridiculously high defense and boosts STR -- fine to grind for if you want since Mega Cyclopes aren't hard to kill.

At the top of the first tower, you will fight Gades for the 3rd time (btw, all Sinistrals are weak to Light damage in the endgame) and receive the Pearl Armor, the best armor in the game. At the top of the second tower, you will fight Amon, who is no tougher than Gades but can confuse party members, so be a little careful. His reward is the Pearl Helm, the best helmet in the game.

Warning: The top of the third tower is the point of no return, and will immediately lead into the endgame. Do anything else you want to before touching the final pedestal.

No fight from the third pedestal, but you do receive both the Pearl Shield and the Dual Blade (be sure to equip it!), which deals extra damage to Sinistrals. A lot of plot will happen, and you'll depart for Doom Island.

Final Countdown (25) Bring peace to the world

Doom Island is pretty straightforward, and unlike in Lufia 1 there's no enemies to fight, just the four Sinistrals. Be sure to check side passages for some last-minute Miracles.

• Gades is just like always -- not much but to wear him down. Light elemental attacks will speed things along.
• Amon is a repeat of the Strahda Island Tower fight. Watch for confusion and take him down.
• Erim is a new face, or is she? Probably the hardest fight overall, Erim deals heavy damage and possible instant death to the whole party with Dark Fry, and can also use Devastation Wave for a slightly higher chance of instant death to all. Maxim's Pearl Helm can reflect all attacks for 3 turns, so you might use that as insurance.
• Daos uses Dark Reflector, which works like Maxim's Pearl Helm and reflects everything for a few turns -- use the time to heal and buff. 20,000 HP takes a while to grind down, but he's not particularly strong otherwise.

Enjoy your well-deserved endgame!

I Am Immortal (5) Obtain Jute Helm in Tanbel Southeast Tower

You can obtain this when you first climb the tower in pursuit of the Camu. A hint on the wall tells you that "when the date changes, something happens". In the room with the "clock" puzzle that lets you access the ladder-lowering switch, set the pillar on the 12:00 position and the small block one square south of the pillar (like the long and short hands of an analog watch face). Since this indicates midnight, the "date" has changed, and a hidden door is revealed, leading to the Jute Helm.

Hey Pretty Lady, I've Got a Weird Thing to Show You (5) Obtain Seethru Cape and equip Tia with it

A small, one-room casino exists in an attic in Alunze Kingdom. Large amounts of gold are harder to come by before Tia leaves the party for good, locking you out of this one. My strategy is to forego selling any equipment for the first part of the game, including feeding it to Capsule Monsters, and just wait until you have enough gold/equipment to make a save, sell everything, and just buy the chips necessary to redeem the Seethru Cape (remember the achievement will not pop until you equip it on Tia). I am usually able to do this around the time I finish the Treasure Sword Shrine, but your mileage may vary.

Holy Whip (5) Obtain the Holy Whip at Divine Shrine

You'll get this when visiting the Divine Shrine, shortly after recruiting Artea into the party. In the puzzle room with five musical tiles and a Dragon Egg chest, use Bombs or the Hammer to break the wall directly behind the chest. You will reveal a hidden room with the Holy Whip.

Beaten by Strangers (10) Defeat Gades in Gordovan Tower and obtain his sword

As intimidating as Gades is in his first encounter in West Gordovan Tower, he can be beaten with some strategy. I recommend your party be around level 25 for this, but you can do it lower with a little luck (the Big Shroom on the northeast of the first floor of the tower is an easy grinding enemy, if desired).

More important is your equipment. I use the following setup:

• Maxim uses the Cold Rapier, Anger Brace, Brone Helmet, Muscle Ring, any rock that raises Guts (Catfish Jewel works really well here)

• Tia wears the Holy Wings (Sundletan castle basement), Speedy Ring (Lake Cave), and either the Water Jewel from Alunze Castle basement or a Bee Rock if you were lucky when fighting Big Bees. All other gear to maximize DFP.

• Guy uses Fire Dagger, Kite Shield, Undead Ring (Gades isn't undead but he is weak to Light element which is how the ring works), any rock that raises ATP (Camu Jewel works well)

• Selan needs the Mind Ring, everything else to raise DFP and INT

• On the first turn of battle, and every subsequent turn that she can, Tia should use Holy Healing. That's the bulk of your healing work done. If a turn arrives and she doesn't have the IP needed (likely because Gades attacked a single party member the previous turn), she can cast Strong on the party.

• Maxim should cast Bravery on Tia, then Menace IP (Brone Helm) on Gades. After that, alternate attacking with using the Glacial Blast IP. If Maxim is healing, something has gone wrong.

• On Guy's first turn, he should use Fleet on Tia. Every subsequent round, he should be attacking or using Blaze Attack. If Tia dies and it doesn't end the attempt somehow, he can reapply Fleet on the next turn (Tia needs to be alive to target her with Fleet, so you'll have to wait one turn).

• Selan's job varies the most. Most often she'll be using the Mind Ring IP to cast Stronger on the party. But sometimes she'll need to use a Miracle to revive Guy or Maxim. Sometimes she'll want to try a damaging IP on Gades. If you got the Spido Jewel from the Tarantula, give it to her for some extra damage potential. Otherwise, the Water Jewel works fine.

Notably, Gades's Destructo-Wave is a magic attack, so if someone (Tia probably) is dying to it, you need to bolster MGR through gear.

When Gades does fall, he wipes the party in a cutscene instead, but you receive his sword, the Gades Blade. This massively-powerful sword will be Guy's sole equipment for the majority of the game, even despite the occasional drawbacks of using Dark-elemental equipment. The IP lets him attack eight times in a row, which is usually more than enough to end a boss battle or large group battle before it begins. More importantly, it means that Guy (or Dekar) is able to absolutely smoke the first 30 floors of the Ancient Cave, with only their lower speed holding you back.

Having the Gades Blade is also extremely useful for the fight against the Master Jelly. Properly leveled and with an ATP buff or two, Guy (or Dekar) can shave off around 400 HP per swing, or around 3200 HP in total. That's a third of the fight!

VIP Member (5) Obtain the VIP card for the casino

As soon as you have unlocked Preventing A War by returning the Ruby Icon to Dankirk, warp to Aurelio and speak to the prince (you may have to speak to him twice). He will reward you with his VIP card for the casino (is that why Aurelio is a poorer kingdom?)

Millionaire (10) Have 1.000.000 or more coins from the casino

There are two main methods for achieving this. I do recommend trying each casino game (Bingo, flower slots, normal slots, Blackjack, Stud Poker) at least once; you may have a favorite different from mine. That said, Flower Slots and the turbo button is generally the fastest way to rack up ridiculously high amounts of chips from a game.

I say "from a game" because the other method for achieving 1 million coins is to simply buy that many. Gold is not especially hard to come by in Lufia 2, and late-game enemies drop tens of thousands of gold per fight. If you want to go this route, you might make a save, then sell off all of your equipment except what you actually have on (and that too, if you're close). A full playthrough without skipping optional content will likely get you to around 5 million gold worth of stuff, which means you can buy half the necessary chips just from that.

Dragon Sword (5) Obtain and equip Maxim with the Dragon Blade

You'll have enough to get this after getting Millionaire, but you may wish to grind for this sword legitimately, as it is the 3rd most powerful weapon in the game and deals extra damage to one of the strongest foe types. If you do, keep in mind that the Engage Ring (found in the Ancient Cave and equipable on Selan) will cut all shop prices in half, including the Casino.

Bunny Sword (10) Obtain and equip Selan with the Bunny Sword

Same as above, except you really don't want this - the sword doesn't actually deal great damage despite the ATP rating, and the IP isn't worth wasting an equipment slot. Just reset after spending on this for the achievement.

Memory Games (5) Solve the puzzle at North Lighthouse with at least 1 set of spikes up

You can get this while climbing the North Lighthouse, in the room with the matching tile puzzle. You are allowed up to three mistakes before you need to use the Reset tool, but the puzzle doesn't change so this is pretty easy.

The World's Most Difficult Trick (10) Solve the world's most difficult trick in Dragon Mountain

If you've never seen this puzzle before, it's a famous sliding block puzzle called L'Ane Rouge (The Red Donkey), and a comprehensive solution can be found here.

The basic trick is to get the 2x2 large square around the 2x1 "horizontal" large piece. Once you've done that, you're home free. Don't forget to equip the Brill Helm and the Lizard Blow, they're both fantastic equipment for Guy.

The Wishmaker (10) Obtain all 8 dragon eggs and make a wish

The 8 Dragon Eggs are spread around the world, and bringing them all to Pico Island (accessible by submarine tunnel east of Ferim) earns the right to a wish from the Egg Dragon.

The Dragon Eggs are in the following locations:

• Cave to Sundletan (requires the hook)
• Alunze Basement
• Merix (speak to the bridge builder's daughter after he returns)
• Bound Kingdom North Dungeon
• North Lighthouse
• Flower Mountain
• Dankirk North Cave
• Divine Shrine

Available wishes include:

• 10 of each stat-increasing potion
• 20 of each fruit type (including Magic Fruit)
• An Old Shield
• 1 of each S-Ring

I strongly recommend the Old Shield, as it is easily the best shield in the game, exceeding even the Pearl Shield picked up in the endgame, and the rings are easy to come by.

The Wishmaker 2 (25) Make all 4 wishes

Once the wish is made, the 8 eggs are scattered back across the world into eight already-opened chests to be collected again. You can repeat this process 3 more times for a maximum of 4 wishes.

While collecting the eggs again seems like a gigantic pain, there exists an item to make this task far simpler -- the Jewel Sonar. Purchasable from the Forfeit Island casino, this item is used directly from the item menu. Enter a dungeon, select the Jewel Sonar, and press A. You will hear a tone, potentially followed by additional tones. The number of "return pings" you hear is the number of unopened chests in that dungeon. Thus, if you know you've cleared out the dungeon, any pings must be from re-chested Dragon Eggs!

This is generally easier to do as soon as you can, since you'll be revisiting fewer places as you hunt. A few places to remember to check:

• The Holy Wings chest in Parcelyte Castle
• The Merix Bridge Cave
• The back room of the Ancient Cave (the already-open chest will not fill if you haven't already opened the door, so no worries)
• The underwater shrine where you found Zeppy

You do not have to choose each of the four wishes to get the achievement -- just make your fourth wish and it should pop. I recommend an Old Shield and 3 sets of potions, but do what feels right for your party.

I Need More Wishes (10) Defeat the Egg Dragon

After making your fourth wish, speak to the Egg Dragon again and you can challenge him to a fight. The Egg Dragon is the strongest enemy in the game by miles, having the max of 65,535 HP and high stats all around. He can easily wipe an unprepared party with Sunny-Side Up, but also has group Drowsy, confusion attacks, and strong single-target attacks to contend with.

If you want to fight the dragon legitimately, I suggest being at least level 60 and having any fire defenses you can, as well as plenty of Miracles and MP restoration items. You will need to whittle down his HP slowly over time while keeping your own reserves up. There's no grand strategy to it (although the Dragon Sword and Lizard Blow both deal extra damage), so good luck!

If you don't care about an honorable fight, you can also heal the Egg Dragon once at the start of the fight to trigger an HP underflow, then kill him with measly damage. Ha!

When defeated, the Egg Dragon grants you some of his scales in the form of the Egg Ring (raises all stats to their maximum!) and the Egg Sword (moderate attack, but a 100% instant death IP attack).

You can also refight the Egg Dragon as many times as you want, hint hint.

Scout (5) Reach level 10 with Maxim

Hero (5) Reach level 25 with Maxim

Mighty Hero (10) Reach level 50 with Maxim

Renowned Hero (10) Reach level 75 with Maxim

Legendary Hero (25) Reach level 99 with Maxim

A normal playthrough on NG will likely get your party to around level 60 by the end of the game. To hit 75 and then 99, there are two realistic options.

• Beat the game, then do a quick playthrough on RETRY mode. You will get 4x EXP and Gold, easily enough to hit the cap before the endgame with basically no grinding at all.

• Farm the Egg Dragon fight. You can view the one-turn cheese strat here, and the fight is worth 60,000 EXP each time, more than even the Sinistrals. As a bonus, if you should happen to die, it doesn't end the game (this is more like a friendly sparring match).

A few quick words on Capsule Monsters. Obtainable starting with Jelze in the Alunze region, Capsule Monsters serve as a computer-controlled fifth party member, and depending on your choice of Capsule Monster, certain sections of the game can be made easier. I have left comments on each Capsule Monster as you come across them in this guide (as well as separate strategy recommendations in the Ancient Cave section), but a few general comments here:

• From the Capsule Monster menu, you can feed equipment or items to your Capsule Monster, with stronger/rarer equipment producing a stronger effect. Fill the bar completely, and your monster evolves, gaining better stats and new attacks.
• Starting with the second form, there is usually an attack the monster will randomly learn after several battles (you can see this in the after-battle report if you don't scroll too quickly). Occasionally, this will replace an older attack with an upgrade.
• It's usually wise to feed Capsule Monsters a little at a time -- they will become picky and demand ridiculously valuable equipment if you over-feed them.
• Most items will produce zero effect, except Terror Balls and Miracles which sometimes feed lower-level Capsule Monsters.
• If you feed a Capsule Monster the exact item it wants (and it's not been overfed), you will get triple the usual meter gain from it (and the Capsule Monster will thank you, aww.)
• Fruit of a matching element (flame fruit for Blaze, etc.) will always give exactly one point and the message "Wowee!"

If you really want to evolve a particular Capsule Monster early, there is a technique that never fails (although you'll need some money).

• First, go to Tanbel and buy Long Knives, one for each unfilled slot on your Class 1 Capsule Monster. Next, purchase 3 times that many of the cheapest item you can find (antidotes or basic potions -- you can also warp to Sundletan for Green Tea).
• Now, simply alternate feeding your monster a Long Knife, followed by three of your trash item. Each Long Knife should produce exactly 1 bar of fullness each time. You may get a few bonus bars if your buddy requests a Long Knife!
• Once evolution occurs, you can repeat this process, except this time with Bronze Swords from Bound Kingdom (this will need more gold than the first time, obviously).
• For Class 3 to 4, Silver Swords seem to be the least expensive item that reliably works, but you can also use older rocks or even some fruits.
• Each monster has its own method for evolving into Class 5 - see the monster's description below for specifics. Note that you don't need to evolve Flash or Darbi to Class 4 in order to get them to Class 5, but their fruits are normally found late in the game.

In order to evolve into their Class 5 form, each Capsule Monster must be fed a specific fruit. Most fruits can be found in a treasure chest, but each one also has an enemy that carries it:

• Secret Fruit - Wood Gorems in the Treasure Sword Shrine
• Charm Fruit - Evil Fish in the Tower of Sacrifice
• Flame Fruit - Pugs in the Tower of Sacrifice
• Breeze Fruit - Green Clays in the North Dungeon and surrounding desert
• Earth Fruit - Sand Gorems in the North Dungeon and surrounding desert
• Dark Fruit - Black Dragons in Dragon Mountain or the Sealed Towers
• Holy Fruit - White Dragons on the world map around Dragon Mountain or else boss fight in Tower of Truth (also Snow Gas in Gratze Dungeon, but with a glitched drop rate in the US release)

Note: There is an island just east of Elcid, accessible by boat once you've left the Aurelio water gate. This island is populated only by enemies that drop the seven fruits (no Magic Fruit, sadly). This can be a much earlier way of obtaining Dark and Holy Fruits, but be aware that White and Black Dragons are a significant threat to your party if you go as soon as you can - save beforehand.

Jelze (5) Obtain the Jelze Capsule Monster

Jelze can be found immediately after taking the portal to Alunze from Sundletan. Just head west and south until you find an odd forest tile.

Blaze (5) Obtain the Blaze Capsule Monster

Blaze is found in the Ruby Cave, on the other side of a simple lever puzzle.

Flash (5) Obtain the Flash Capsule Monster

Flash is found in the Bound Kingdom North Dungeon, in the lower basement on the east side of a platform puzzle.

Gusto (5) Obtain the Gusto Capsule Monster

Gusto is found in the Tower of Sacrifice, south of a bomb puzzle.

Sully (5) Obtain the Sully Capsule Monster

Sully is found on Flower Mountain, out in the open.

Darbi (5) Obtain the Darbi Capsule Monster

Darbi is found on the Capsule Monster Shrine south of Narvick (can be accessed as soon as the Aurelio water gate is open).

Zeppy (5) Obtain the Zeppy Capsule Monster

Zeppy is found in an underwater cave directly underneath Parcelyte (so you'll need the submarine).

Capsule Monster Collector (10) Obtain all 7 Capsule Monsters

This unlocks automatically as soon as you pick up your last Capsule Monster (probably Zeppy).

Master Jelze (5) Upgrade Jelze to class 5

Feeding an "I'm not hungry" class 3 Jelze a Secret Fruit will cause the transformation.

Master Blaze (5) Upgrade Blaze to class 5

Feeding an "I'm not hungry" class 3 Blaze a Charm Fruit will cause the transformation.

Master Flash (5) Upgrade Flash to class 5

Feeding an "I'm not hungry" class 2 Flash a Dark Fruit will cause the transformation.

Master Gusto (5) Upgrade Gusto to class 5

Feeding an "I'm not hungry" class 4 Gusto an Earth Fruit will cause the transformation.

Master Sully (5) Upgrade Sully to class 5

Feeding an "I'm not hungry" class 4 Sully a Breeze Fruit will cause the transformation.

Master Darbi (5) Upgrade Darbi to class 5

Feeding an "I'm not hungry" class 2 Darbi a Holy Fruit will cause the transformation.

Master Zeppy (5) Upgrade Zeppy to class 5

Feeding an "I'm not hungry" class 3 Zeppy a Flame Fruit will cause the transformation.

Power House (25) Upgrade all seven capsule monsters to class 5

Again, you can save and just buy a ton of swords to do this towards the end of the game, but you do need all 7 at once to pop the achievement.

Beginner Explorer (5) Reach B21 in the Ancient Dungeon

Spelunker (5) Reach B41 in the Ancient Dungeon

Advanced Hunter (10) Reach B61 in the Ancient Dungeon

Master Adventurer (10) Reach B81 in the Ancient Dungeon

Let's Call Rafael! (25) Reach the final floor of the Ancient Dungeon (take a deep breath)

R. A. Legend - Lufia II (100) Legitimately defeat the Master Jelly in the Ancient Cave reducing its HP to 0

Many comprehensive guides already exist for tackling the Ancient Cave, including ones written by speedrunners and completionists alike. For the sake of brevity, I will provide some broad guidelines here, along with useful tips.

• The Ancient Cave is a semi-randomly generated roguelike dungeon existing entirely optionally in Lufia 2. You can tackle it at any point after obtaining the first ship in Aleyn, right until the end of the game. Normally, you are restricted to your current party, but in GIFT mode (obtained by beating the game on normal and then RETRY modes), you can select your three non-Maxim party members.

• Entering the Ancient cave removes your entire inventory (including all Tools and spells), and strips all your levels away, reducing the entire party (including any Capsule Monsters) to level 1. Your levels and inventory are returned when you leave (or die).

• Each floor of the cave contains from 1-14 rooms of random shape and size (but always connected by doors in some fashion), along with treasure chests containing semi-random equipment, items, and spells, monsters generally appropriate to the level you are on, and a staircase leading down to the next level. There are no stairs up!

• Rarely, HP restoration tiles will appear underneath odd-shaped patches of grass. Cut grass after clearing a room of monsters!

• Every several floors, you are likely to find a "Monster Party", a room packed with treasure and lots of monsters. Take your time in these, and don't get surrounded.

• After about floor 60, monsters will start to appear that do not exist in the main game. Some of these did exist (especially the Genies and Metallic Dragons), but were cut for time. Others were designed specifically for the Ancient Cave. Many of these should not be challenged unless you are prepared, and I will discuss these below.

• At floor 99 (which is glitched just like the Preamarl Shrine), a lone boss awaits - the Master Jelly. You have 3 turns to deplete 9,980 HP off of this monster and win the key to the back of the Ancient Cave (and a fat 100-point cheevo). After that, he self-destructs and you get nothing. Strategy for this boss is discussed below.

• Importantly, certain rare pieces of equipment are not removed from your inventory, and may be taken into (and out of) the dungeon with you. As well, you will sometimes find a blue-colored chest inside the dungeon, containing another such "permanent" equipment piece that can be taken in and out of the cave. I will refer to these as "blue chest" items from here on.

• Somewhere between levels 17-37 inclusive, a chest will contain the item Providence, which allows you to warp out of the Ancient Cave, keeping any blue chest items you found. You must open every chest starting on floor 17 until you find the Providence, or else you will not be able to leave the dungeon and will be forced to die/reset. (Although defeating the Jelly will still get you the achievement, so if that's all you care about, go for it.)

• If you die inside the Cave, you lose any blue chest items you obtained that run, but keep any you walked into the cave with (Notable exception: the blue-chest item Dark Mirror is a powerful dark-elemental shield that is cursed. If you remove the curse inside the dungeon with a Curselifter item, you will lose the shield upon exiting, as the uncursed version of the shield is not tagged as blue-chest!)

• Outside of the Ancient Cave, the only items you will find that can be taken into the cave are Jewels. A few are one-time rare drops from bosses (Catfish Jewel, Camu Jewel, Spido Jewel), while most others are rare drops from enemies (Flame Jewel, Thundo Jewel, Earth Jewel, Gloom Jewel, Twist Jewel). The Water Jewel is found in a chest in Alunze Castle basement (requires the Hook).

• The only non-Jewel blue chest equipment you will find in the normal game is the Gades Blade, obtained by beating Gades during your first fight at Gordovan West Tower (and unlocking Beaten By Strangers). This weapon provides a massive advantage in attempting to kill the Master Jelly at the bottom of the cave, and is the reason I don't recommend waiting for GIFT mode to attempt your AC achievements.

• Generally, you will know by about floor 25 (and definitely by floor 40) whether your run is likely to succeed or not. A successful run generally requires as many of the following as possible:

- At least one healing spell from Strong, Stronger, Champion, Rally, Valor. Strong is great for conserving MP, and Champion is best for in-battle healing. Valor is good but expensive. Stronger/Rally are last-resort options.

- The Dekar Blade (if using Dekar), Gades Blade (if using Dekar or Guy), and either the Old Sword, Myth Blade, or a Deadly Sword and Curselifter (see note below about Deadly Swords)

- A way to inflict instant death. The Destroy Spell is fine, Darbi is fine, but the best method are the cursed weapons Deadly Rod, Fatal Pick, and Deadly Sword (especially Deadly Rod with a 70% chance per hit to inflict instant death). Equip one on Arty and get a free kill at the start of most turns!

- Enough spare equipment to get your Capsule Monster to at least form IV

- The Trick spell, or an IP that raises your ATP (this may be acquired quite late in a run)

- A way to restore MP. This could be an IP (slow but reliable), the Absorb spell (powerful but you need to know whom to cast it on), or just a lot of Miracles and Hi-Magics/Ex-Magics (dicey)

- Generally you should be about level 20 by about floor 20, and about level 35 by about floor 40. If you're very far behind the curve, you will start to have to run from battles around floor 50, and things spiral from there. This restriction doesn't apply on a Darbi run (see below).

Perhaps the most important choice you have to make is which Capsule Monster you want to take with you through the Ancient Cave. There are three broadly good choices, and a fourth situational choice, with three that are more bad than good.

• Flash is the most common choice for an AC run overall. Though weaker at the beginning, those random heals will really help in the early floors (you do not gain HP when your Max HP goes up as you level, so your characters can be near death without you realizing it). Later on, the stronger heals and random Light-elemental attacks take a lot of pressure off the team and let you conserve precious MP. Flash's main drawback is his relative uselessness during the boss fight -- he won't contribute more than a thousand or so HP damage over the three rounds.

• Darbi is the next most common choice. While very weak early on and prone to running away (and thus losing out on precious EXP), Darbi's later forms start using increasingly powerful instant-death attacks, and his Terminate and Eliminator attacks virtually guarantee instant death to any enemy that isn't immune to it. While other parties may do a lot of running away in the last 25 or so floors of an AC run, Darbi parties can instead carefully reap tons of bonus EXP, making the final boss much easier to conquer.

• Blaze is, well, fire elemental, which means he's useful for the majority of the run. If you are lucky enough to get a Charm Fruit off of an Evil Fish or Merman, his Firebird form will help you wipe entire floors with Inferno. Blaze's usefulness sharply drops around floor 70, and ends entirely once the metallic dragons appear.

• Gusto is fast, which is probably the most important thing you can be in the Ancient Cave. He nearly always acts first, which is very important against some of the ludicrously fast enemies like Ninjas, Asashins, Hidoras, and Cores. Being Wind-elemental means nothing will resist him, but nothing will be weak either, so his usefulness will again drop off late-run.

• Sully, Jelze and Zeppy are generally not useful in the Ancient Cave, and have more drawbacks than advantages. Some speedrunners will use Sully just for the predictability of his going last, but we're not speedrunning here.

• Whomever you choose, remember to stop after every level and feed them, rather than saving up for longer bursts. Capsule Monsters start to demand greatly rare/expensive equipment if overfed, and the last thing you want is your equipment not filling them up because you hoarded too long.

I generally do the Ancient Cave as soon as I can reach it, since the advantages of having the Dekar blade are usually too high to ignore in the last fight. Fatal Blow will shave off between 40-58% of the boss's HP (as a gravity attack with RNG), and if combined with Guy using the Gades blade, almost guarantees you will win. Dekar also has the advantage of naturally high HP, making it harder to be surprised to death in the mid levels.

It is easier to list the monsters you shouldn't fight, since most times you will want the EXP. Take all the time you need to position yourself behind enemies - that surprise round is the most important tool in your arsenal. Some enemies, like jellies, tengus, bees, and certain birds, can't surprise you or be surprised since they don't have a front or back side (you'll know because these monsters also don't rotate).

Speaking of rotation, if you find yourself in a room with grass and an enemy, try not to cut the grass until the enemy is dealt with -- grass tiles are useful for getting enemies to present their flank or even back for a surprise attack.

If on any floor you see a monster that looks like a white cube, chase it down at once and kill it with magic spells. These are the Cores, and they work like Metal Slimes from Dragon Quest. Usually they run away on the first turn of battle, but if they stay to attack or cast a spell, they yield massive EXP rewards upon death.

Generally, you want to kill everything from floors 1-20 except Wispys (they look like white sparkles on the map), who deal too much damage for too little reward. Starting in the late 10s, Mimics will appear. These enemies look like chests, except they are slightly dull instead of shiny on top. They will give chase from some distance, and tend to appear in packs of 3 or 4. Mimics are much more of a threat in the Ancient Cave than in the main game, and they can hit your whole party at once for high damage. Remember - a real treasure chest will never spawn next to a wall, north of a grass tile, in front of a door, or on top of the stairs. Two treasure chests will also never be right next to each other, except in a Monster Party room.

Blue Mimics also appear starting around floor 30. These are much, much worse news than the normal Mimics. Even a single Blue Mimic can one-shot Selan or Lexis in a single hit at modest levels, and you may have to face as many as four at a time. Worse still, since they don't obey the normal spawn rules for chests, they can spawn in front of a door or on top of the stairs and force you to fight them. Blue Mimics do not move at all, so there's no baiting them away from a bad spot -- sorry!

Bees are bad news early on, but can drop valuable items (and Bee Rocks, in the case of the Giant Bee). If you have the HP to spare, consider trying one or two fights. Ammonites on floor 28-30 deal extreme damage with Tentacle -- avoid. Speaking of, avoid Evil Fish unless you're going for a Charm Fruit. Asashins appear on 37-39 - be careful walking through doors! They move twice on the map for every step you take, and can easily overtake you if you rush into a room. Avoid birdmen unless you have a Flying Blow or Flying Ax, and try your absolute best to avoid Hydra-shaped monsters (this is especially true after floor 70).

The two biggest run killers are Ninjas on floors 44-46, and the Archfiends appearing any time after floor 70. Ninjas strike hard and fast with Knife Thrower up to twice a turn, and can drop a poorly-armored party from full to death in no time. Don't be afraid to use IPs here, and avoid combat if at all possible. Archfiends have the large blue "winged fiend" sprite and cannot be surprised since they have no front or back. They take three (!) turns for every one of yours, and can cast multiple spells including instant death spells or attack for big damage. Avoid unless you are stacked with holy damage or instant death attacks and lots of HP.

Late in the cave, starting around floor 80, the Metallic Dragons (Copper, Silver, Gold) will appear. You must not let them ambush you, and should try hard to avoid fighting them at all. Copper Dragons can use Cinder Blast for high damage, and Silver and Gold Dragons act multiple times per turn with their own all-striking elemental combo breaths. A fully-prepared, level 99 party can be wiped completely in one turn by a single Gold Dragon that uses Stardust Blow three times, and there's nothing you can do about it. Avoid! If you absolutely must fight one (say, to get to the stairs), always position yourself to attack from behind, and try to use instant death attacks (don't forget any Terror Balls you may have picked up).

When fighting the Master Jelly, preparation is key. He will restore your HP/MP for the first two turns, so no worries there. On the third turn he does nothing, and on the fourth turn he self-destructs. Reducing his almost 10,000 HP in 3 turns is a matter of carefully planning your IP attacks out (be absolutely certain you enter floor 99 with full IP bars). The Old Sword, Myth Blade, Dekar Blade, and the uncursed Deadly Sword and Deadly Rod all have IPs that reduce the boss's HP by a set percentage, and at least one of these will ease your time. The Gorgons that appear on floors 72-84 will drop Gorgon Rocks that also allow a percentage IP. If you have the Gades Blade from the main game, you can spend a turn or two buffing the STR and ATP of its wielder with Gourd items, the Trick spell, or even IPs like Berserker, and then swing with Octo-strike for tremendous damage (be sure you do this after using any percentage-based IPs from other characters).

The Master Jelly has no elemental weaknesses, so use the strongest attacks you have, including IPs that deal 3x damage. Zap or any of the high-level elemental spells are a last resort. Don't be afraid to have Selan or even Artea buff your fighters with Trick or Gourd items on the first or even second turn.

The achievement should pop once you receive the Master Jelly's remains (ew). Don't forget to open the door behind the Ancient Cave attendant on the first floor and claim your prizes!