Golden Sun: Dark Dawn playthrough

[Colonel M]

Kaocha was on top of the Ouroboros. It's the city where King Wo rules and there's 2 Djinni just sitting out in the open (one requires clairvoyance or Insight Glass to be more precise to get).

Yeah I got both of those. The Earth Djinn requires Grip. Enter the city, then go north to where you're taking to the screen with the temple. Climb up around the middle (or the top, can't quite remember) and use Grip on the left pole. This should take you to the Earth Djinn. The other one requires Insight, as you said.

I just got the Venus Adept. I think so far I missed a Water Djinn (which I unfortunately forgot to get... and didn't really figure out how to get it) and I'm curious to if I'm missing Fire Djinns because damn, she thankfully came with some. ^_^;

Also with Amiti's father:

I believe its Alex. During a cutscene with Trent, Trent mentions something that pertains to Rief and Amiti to be relatives.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Tyranel M

[Suichimo]

Then do we know if Sveta is more Ivan/Sheba or Piers? I'd guess she doesn't use normal weapons and instead uses claws or something, but what if the designers tried to make her physical like Piers was clearly intended except they are as bad at it with her as they were with him? Like, if Claws are supposed to duplicate Long Swords. She'll basically end up being bad at fighting and lowish PP for magic like Piers. Like a Wind Adept version of Piers, pretty much.

But then, the trademarks of Wind Adepts are high agi and pp, so hopefully they won't change that.

Among the other problems with Piers, though, were his inability to equip some of the +water power artifacts that boost wish-ing like Clear Bracelet and Pure Circlet. Depending on what +Jupter and Mercury power items exist and what she can use, she might have a similar issue.

In her base class and second special class, she is a physical monster. Those two make her fairly unique to me.

My eyes didn't deceive me, did they? Bows are actually a usable weapon type in Dark Dawn?!

Yep, only a few points lower than the Tisiphone Edge.

And I can't believe that nobody caught the fact that Piers HAS to be Harmony's Dad.

Also with Amiti's father:

I believe its Alex. During a cutscene with Trent, Trent mentions something that pertains to Rief and Amiti to be relatives.

I don't think its Piers at all. Alex seems to be the most likely as I believe Amiti is more referred to as being related to Mia than Rief. Only way for that is through Alex, as they're both part of the same clan.

[Fox]

Is there some kind of Djinn guide out there? I've read that there are as many of thirty permanently skippable Djinn, which is incredibly obnoxious.

[Phoenix Wright]

Is there some kind of Djinn guide out there? I've read that there are as many of thirty permanently skippable Djinn, which is incredibly obnoxious.

I agree. I was just telling my brother that the Djinn system is the only thing I hate in the Golden Sun series.

[Life]

More updates!

An A-maze-ing Mask!

First things first. Grab some outside treasure with the lowered water level. AKA the Glittering Tiara and Breath, a Jupiter Djinni. Then raise the water and get out of Ayuthay.

Remember where Kaocho was? Try northeast. There's two Djinni here and I can't figure out how to get EITHER of them. Wait, maybe the Mars. There's a person standing in the way who wants some Kaocho Dumpling. I know this because of Insight. So Insight works like Mind Read apparently. My reward for feeding this poor shmuck is Lava, a Mars Djinni. There's also a Sanan Dress for the picking.

Anyway, head to the cave that we used to escape the blasted maze in the first place and play the flute in front of the door. Once inside, remember to grab the Ixion Mail (+20 Water and Wind Resist is nice), Vulcan Axe and Vortex (a Jupiter Djinni). Djinni time!

If I check my Djinni guide (1 of the ingame encyclopedias), I see that I'm missing the first possible Mercury Djinni. Sucks but oh well. However, I can still go with Defender!Tyrell and Elder!Karis. Since we now have 4 Jupiter, Scholar!Harmony has dibs on them, giving him Wish along with being in the best class possible. Karis is toss-up between Elder and Diviner (before Harmony got Wish, Diviner was a no contest since otherwise, Defender!Tyrell would have been the only healer and he's got the best psynergy move so far) while Matthew decks himself out in the Ruffian class.

Activate the Temple and grab the Sol Mask as your reward. About freaking time. But it's a rule of RPGs. Whenever you have a seemingly simple task to do (meet Kraden), you can be sure that you'll have to go to Kingda Ka and back just to restore the status quo when something goes wrong.

Whatever. Retreat out and head back for Passaj. Once there, make a beeline for the Alchemy Forge and replace the Sol Mask. And shit, I hope I haven't brought the town to apocalypse by doing that. And wow, the land instantly goes green. Shit, did I do that? Oh and water flows into the Harapa Ruins. Better check them out.

Harmony: "The children of the Warriors of Vale?!"

Umm yeah... About that... You're one of them too. But I like the idea of not turning down a reward. The shops finally work so upgrading time is upon us. And I get a free Zol Ring. It multiplies Agl by 1.8 so it works great with the Safety Boots (they lower Agl).

Supplies: Harmony can equip Bows too! Get both him and Karis Composite Bows. The Psynergy Rod should go to Crown. As for armour, upgrade the best you can.

I'm Walking On Sunshine, WHOA OH!

Grab Brand, the Mars Djinni, from outside of town (must be revitalized to do it) and do a little bit of Djinn changing. Since Tyrell has the best Psynergy move of the bunch right now (I know I've been singing Arid Scorch's prayers but I'm doing 125+ to everything I see and it multihits), Illusionish is a fantastic class for him since it gives him a giant pool of PP. Four Mars on Ascetic!Harmony still give him access to Wish and Karis stays as an Elder. The only change is that Matthew is now a Defender but it's certainly an upgrade from Ruffian. He knows Briar, Cutting Edge and Ply Well along with having some quite good stats. I can't believe I'm saying this but Elder!Karis is the weak link in the party and that's saying something. Now just wait for when she gets Wish. As for the strongest, it's a toss-up between Harmony and Tyrell. If Tyrell didn't know Arid Scorch right now, I'd say Harmony hands down.

Anyway, turns out that we need to toss the Forge into reverse so that it doesn't fuck up on us. Which means... GOD DAMMIT, LET ME GET TO BILIBIN ALREADY. Anyway, turns out that the Sand Prince's opposite, the Ice Queen, is in the Harapa Ruins. Yay.

Get to the middle of the giant ice room and you'll find... shit, that's creepy. Nyunpa of Fushin Temple has been turned to stone. Turns out that the Ice Queen tricked him into taking her out of Passaj. And now, we're going to have to make her come quietly. Oh well...

Boss: Ice Queen

Let's see... Icy Kiss does some water damage to one person and Ice Horn can do some heavy party damage. Illusion Veil sets Delusion and... yeah, that's it. She's got some power behind her moves so make sure that she doesn't catch you napping with a surprise Ice Horn.

Basically, plan an all out assault with Matt and Tyrell. Hit Matt twice with Impact and watch him lay on the hurt with the Vulcan Axe. Tyrell should just stick to Arid Scorch since you will be seeing 165+ on the Ice Queen. As for Harmony and Karis, they can do whatever, just need to make sure that the party stays healed for the most part.

And... Nyunpa lives! And he remembers Isaac and the gang pretty well too. We get the Ice Queen which bestows Cold Snap to Water Adepts. And if it's anything like the Sand Prince, Harmony is about to get really freaking strong. You can retreat out but you'll miss out on some good stuff like the Mystery Blade and Serac, a Mercury Djinni.

Time to head back to Passaj to finally get to... oh. That wall in front of the exit could be a problem. Apparently this happens all the time so might as well just sleep the night away in the inn. The next day, we head back to Passaj and reverse the flow of the forge. The thing is, this is a point of no return so I better hope that I'm ready at this point.

The Zodiac:

Once you ride the cloud, you're forced to make your way to Craggy Peak. Once you do, head down into the building to find a circular room with 12 doors. And yes, there are Zodiac signs above every door. Little subtle, aren't we Camelot?

Anyway, solve each room's puzzle with your available psynergy. Grab Doldrum (Jupiter) while you're at it. Once you've finished Sagitarius (the last room), head back up to the outside and start up the clock. Our reward is safe passage down onto the ground and into the World Map.

Finally!

Ok. Question. Where did the Lamarkan Desert go? And Kalay while we're at it. Head west and north to find another summon: Moloch! Except that I'm missing both Megaera and Flora and I've kept my eyes open for everything. Afterwards, head back east to Te Rya Village.

WAY TO GO TYRELL. SHOW OFF YOUR BULLYING SKILLS! We chat with two guards to the village and then enter. Apparently, one of them was worried that we might be spies from someplace. Walk through the village and you'll see a shadowy figure run away from you. Grab Fury before you chase after her.

And she's not here. But in a house, you'll find some wounded mercenaries. Then the two guards will show up and "kindly" direct you out of the city towards Belinsk. As Karis says, "we can take a hint".

To the north are the Teppe Ruins. Buy a Trusty Staff and give it to the fisherman. Then Fireball Dewdrop (the Mercury Djinni) and the fisherman will hook him for you. Inside the Ruins, the girl will run off. AFTER HER!!!

Eventually, you'll reach a dead end... and how did that girl get behind me? And it's... FUCK NO, I AM NOT CALLING YOU SVETA. Anyway, Stella appears and claims that she's a beastman. If you check Stella's entry in the encyclopedia, she's a true Jupiter Adept. AKA she can read minds ala Ivan and Sheba. Tyrell calls her a "kitty-dog" and Stella responds with Psynergy. She's the one who got Mind Read and not Karis but apparently, Karis is happy that she didn't inherit it from her father.

And I'd like to know how to rename my people in the party. I can't stand the horrible names at this point. Rief, Amiti and now Sveta?

Tyrell: "I knew it! She's a spy or something!"

Crown: "Yes, Tyrell. This is where she just volunteers that she's a spy."

Anyway, Stella's found a bag and she offers to be a guide if we return it to the owner. I vote yes! Doing so has Stella joining the party as soon as you return to the Teppe Ruins. New unit, new stats.

Stella - Level 22 Beastling

212 HP

102 PP

74 Att

39 Def

103 Agl

3 Luck

Beastform (8)

Spirit Sense (1)

Slap (4)

Track (1)

Ray (6)

Storm Ray (10)

Whirlwind (5)

Tornado (14)

Slash (4)

Wind Slash (9)

Boon (4)

Nature's Boon (8)

Cure Poison (2)

Restore (3)

Beastling is Wind Seer on steriods. Also, Stella uses her fists to attack so her weapons are knuckles, similar to monks. Boon heals 1 target and Beastform is some sort of transformation thingy. The only bad thing is Agl since Stella actually gets no bonuses in it from her class. So go figure, a Jupiter Adept has speed problems.

Djinni time! In the last party, Matthew was actually the weakest unit. He's getting the switch right now so my party is now Harmony, Stella, Tyrell and Karis. As for the actual Djinn, I can't believe that I'm saying this but until I get more Venus and Mercury, Shapeshifter!Stella is a fantastic class for the moment. It has power, durability, healing... I'm telling you, it IS Wind Seer on 'roids. It's not Lord!Isaac/Felix great but it's nice.

Alternatively, Enchanter!Matthew has some nice stuff going for him. Astral Blast is combined with a good PP count and high Att (highest in the group) but his durability is exactly the same as Shapeshifter!Stella while she has real mob control (Enchanter!Matthew only has Gaia at this point and that stopped doing good damage in Ei-Jei) with Tornado and Storm Ray. Agl is a major problem for Stella but it's doable.

Continue through the ruins using Track and Slap to move on. Grab Vine for another Venus Djinni and switch your classes if you want.

Brawler!Stella is a new class. It turns Stella into a Wind version of Brute. She loses a lot of PP in return but gains the Speed Punch EPA along with a lot of Att. She keeps Boon and Nature's Boon though and gains Revive.

Ascetic!Stella is probably your best choice now. All around good stats, Volcano series (Stella joins at 22, giving her Eruption ASAP), Plasma series and Beastform for a more physical option. At this point, a Matthew/Tyrell/Karis/Stella party looks fantastic. Sorry Harmony. But don't worry, Tyrell WILL lose his spot to Eoleo. Because Eoleo is that cool and 33 years old. Respect your elders.

And now, we are finally in Morgal. Obviously we need to go to Belinsk but we can't forget about Kolima. I bet Tret and Laurel will be happy to help. And... Ok, getting this stupid feather just got harder with Stella in the party. The bird's sacred to her people. NO WONDER WHY ISAAC AND GARET HAD A HELL OF A TIME TRYING TO FIND IT!

And fuck, Stella leaves the party. She's not going to help with the feather BUT SHE BETTER NOT TAKE MY DJINNI. Well... she takes hers, not mine. So I'm back to having to choose between a weak Defender!Matthew and Shaman!Crown. Since Crown knows Froth Sphere and Wish now, I'm going to take him along instead of Matthew.

[Life]

Briggs, We Have A Problem.

I have a bunch of places where I can go. I'll probably have to go to all of them and end up overleveled so I'll just follow the story for right now. But I will go to Bilibin before Kolima, that is a given. Want to catch up with McCoy.

Anyway, the first town that you will see is Belinsk. Finally. God dammit, that took a long time to get here. Let's find some stuff out from the locals!

- Eoleo has been captured! OH SHIT, I WANT TO SAVE HIM NOW! In all seriousness, Eoleo's taken over from Briggs and is known as the scourge of the Eastern Sea. Man, I loved Briggs and Eoleo...

- Sun Saga 4 is in the basement of the Sanctum. I was worried that I missed it in Ayuthay but nope! There's also an Assassin's Blade in that room.

- A little bit of nostalgia here but Briggs is still kicking. He's also got a gentle side since he still has his favourite old ship. You know, the one he stole from Alhafra right under Felix's nose?

- Belinsk isn't friend with ANYONE around them. They had a war with Sana and Bilibin is... well, yeah.

- THERE'S A DRAGON IN THE OPERA HOUSE! LET'S GET THE IMPRESSARIO AND MARIA! AND FLOAT RINGS! To be honest, the dragon is a chandelier and isn't attacking anyone. So no, this is not Final Fantasy VI.

- Torrent's in the harbour. Grab him to make 8 Mercury Djinni.

- Oh and there's the girl from Te Ryu here. Forgot about that. And Kraden's not here. Geez. He's been kidnapped by Alex... AGAIN! How do you do this to yourself?

- Beastmen are actually animals who got transformed into humans thanks to the Golden Sun. So for the record, they have nothing to do with Maha's clan.

So yeah. Kraden's not here and the Arangoa Prelude (a song that Stella will use as a sign to rejoin) can't be played. The party decides to go to Bilibin (FUCK YES, GOOD) to try to intercept the bastard but my money is on the fact that he isn't there.

So we arrive at Border Town on the way to Bilibin and... wait, why do pirates know my name? I'm going to take a page out of Madra's book... ARE YOU CHAMPA?!

Actually, they are. Sailin' under the command o' Captain Briggs. IS THIS WHAT I HOPE IT IS?! JAILBREAK TIME AGAIN?! Anyways, Briggs heard from Piers that Kraden was in Bilibin. Briggs sent two guys to look for him (Kraden) to help because Eoleo's supposed to get executed soon. They hand us a letter which is from Briggs to Kraden.

I hope everyone here knows what this means. Champa is actually an ally in this game. This is REALLY good. Except the kids are now acting stupid.

Karis: "This Briggs fought Felix and his friends... Do we just forget that and risk our lives to help him?"

Karis, did you forget that without Obaba, Felix and co. wouldn't have made it to Lemuria? And without going to Lemuria, they wouldn't have gotten Grind and been able to make it to Jupiter Lighthouse? I say help. NOW.

So with that, we scrap the idea of finding Kraden and go looking for Briggs instead. Before leaving, take Sirocco with you as well for another Jupiter.

Port Rago is at the eastern edge of Angara. Head there and sneak through the tunnels to get to the docks. Grab the Planet Armour while you're here too. And OH WOW. Briggs, I love you. Grey hair, mustache and you still look cool. And he whips out the fact that Matthew has Jenna's eyes. OH YEAH, JENNA FOUGHT BRIGGS AND WAS IN FELIX'S PARTY.

Speaking of Jenna, she lives in Kalay now. Strange, I figured that she'd be living with Isaac. Anyways, Briggs sends me out to talk to... Tret? Really, you know Tret? Apparently, Tret doesn't like chatting to Briggs and... knows a lot about Belinsk? THE GUY'S A TREE, REMEMBER?!

Tyrell: "I feel like we just fell into a trap."

Briggs: "I prefer the term 'volunteered.'"

Amazing. Briggs also gives us an early reward. Hermes' Water... wait, you went to Imil? When? Oh... Wait a second, Briggs doesn't know that Tret's a tree! And one of the NPCs has a great line.

Repairman: "The great pirate Briggs. Supposedly a sailor without rival, yet his ship is this broken-down tub."

I love this game.

Tret The Treeman, CAN HE DO IT?!

Head north and you'll enter Saha Village. Kolima is actually right behind it. Yeah, Kolima kinda moved since it used to be right near Bilibin but I'm not going to argue the semantics of it. And the people STILL turn into trees. Great. Tret, do you need ANOTHER healing?

Actually, there's a different sick tree here. And it's not Tret or Laurel. Goes by the name of the Dream Tree. Weird but OK, I'll buy it for now. Leave Kolima through the north exit and enter Kolima Forest (still northwest of the village).

And... oh shit. Gaia Rock all over again. If you've played GS2, you know what I'm talking about. Either way, I can't get to Tret yet so I'll head back to Kolima. Maybe the Dream Tree has something to do with it?

So we're going to have to save Kolima. Again. Great. But we're so good that we can do it in our sleep! Literally! That's right, this is a Freddy Krueger style dungeon.

So we wake up and suddenly, there's a lizard trying to Pound our guts into submission. Great... Traverse the dungeon until the lizard traps you. Let's pound it back with some punishment!

Boss: Sludge

Sludge decides to bring his friends along, a Haunt Skull and a Shield Skull. Similar to Star Magician back in GS2. He can also call more skulls which kinda sucks. Haunt Skull can use Witchlight to attack and do some damage while inflicting Haunt on the target. Shield Skull will use Sludge Shield to protect Sludge. Curse Skulls just die. Tail Slap does some hefty party damage too while if he heals himself, the bastard adds 300 more damage that you have to do to him. And lastly, he's got Crush which doesn't do much.

The thing is that he's weak to Wind and strong against Water. Which sucks when you bring in 3 Water users (Crown, Harmony, Elder!Karis). Get rid of his skull buddies and try to get Thor and Procne summoned quickly. It's not a hard battle but it can get annoying if Sludge wants to keep himself healed.

After beating Sludge, you'll be rewarded with the Crush Tusk. Heal the tree with Hermes Water like your dad did 30 years ago. You'll also chat Pewter who decides to insult you for a bit before leaving. He says that Laurel sent him. Head for Kolima Forest but not before grabbing Garland, a Venus Djinni.

Once in the forest, Pewter will direct you to Tret and Laurel. And yeah, party's a bit surprised.

Karis: "You're... a talking tree?"

Laurel: "Ahem. I am usually referred to as a 'holy tree.' On my better days, even a 'tree of wisdom.'"

Looks like 30 years must have given her lessons in sarcasm. And then Harmony bows down to her and Pewter calls him a fishbrain. This game is hilarious.

Also, Sludge was created as an afteraffect of the Golden Sun. Note the fact that Isaac has now fucked up Kolima TWICE. Once by going into Sol Sanctum and once by bringing the Golden Sun. Tret must hate his guts.

Speaking of Tret, the bastard forgot about Garet! And... wait, Harmony is NOT related to Mia! He's Piers's son! Or is he? Whatever. Also, to save Eoleo, we gotta wake up the Mountain Roc. And to wake it up, we gotta get Slap. Two options: Option 1 is grabbing Stella who said that she wasn't gonna help. Option 2 is the Slap Glove, underneath Belinsk Castle. Great... We also get Pewter which is 2 Venus in a very short while. This is actually good.

Djinni Time! 6 Earth means that a Water Adept can go Cavalier, one of my all time favourite classes. Harmony has dibs on it because he's much more physical than Crown. Crown can go Savant with 6 Jupiter anyways, so he's fine too. The problems arise with the original 3. Cavalier!Tyrell's best with 5 Mercury (he's got Arid Scorch which is STILL besting Eruption even on a bad day) meaning that Karis and Matt have to battle it out for the Mars. The thing is, Ascetic!Karis and Barbarian!Matthew don't have much going for themselves except for the obvious stuff (Karis has Eruption, Matt has Planet Diver and Clay Spire but horrible PP). Since Matt just sat out a couple of dungeons, I'm going to bring him in while letting Karis rest her heels.

Anyway, I end up meeting the two guards from Te Rya Village, Ryu Kou and the old guy (forgot his name). They offer the Slap Glove if we in return take them along to the Belinsk Castle Raid. Except that the Slap Glove was UNDER Belinsk Castle which makes no sense unless... yeah, Stella gave it to them. And Stella is apparently the king's sister... Huh. Really. Let me get this straight.

Matthew - Son of Isaac the Legend

Tyrell - Son of Garet the Legend

Karis - Daughter of Ivan the Legend

Crown - Son of Mia the Legend

Harmony - Royalty

Stella - Royalty

Eoleo - Royalty

Himi - Probably Royalty

Really? What the fuck? I liked it when my last party were unknowns in the world... Anyways, grab Teardrop (Mercury) from behind the waterfall in the next screen and then turn around and head for the Mountain Roc.

Big Birdie! Nice Birdie!

Welcome to Talon Peak, home of that bird you've been chasing for. It's about time that we finished our mission for Isaac and Garet, even if we still gotta get Eoleo out of the brig afterwards.

Get to the top and wake this bird up. Slap it once to wake it up, slap it again to put it to sleep. The Roc Feather is your prize. And then... shit. Spade. Great fucking timing. And Heart. This is lovely... These two bozos are starting to get on my nerves. Anyways, they want the Magma Orb, something that starts the Alchemy Furnace. And Laurel doesn't want me to start it up. But if I don't, Eoleo is probably going to boil... Shit. Played into their hands. Spade and Heart then leave and I have to fight a pretty angry Mountain Roc.

Boss: Mountain Roc

This guy is big. He can shriek to drop your attack and hits the party for damage at the same time. Upward Blast has a really cool animation but the thing to note is that it hurts. Fire Breath is fire elemental and hits your party for a decent amount while Stone Molt ups the Mountain Roc's Def by quite a bit. The move that you HAVE to look out for is Seismic Stomp. This one can take out half your party if you're not careful.

Despite Stone Molt, I'd say that EPAs are the way to go in this battle. Tyrell, Matthew and Harmony should all know EPAs (Cavalier!Harmony has Cutting Edge) while Savant!Rief uses High Impact to boost their attacks. If someone goes down, revive them ASAP and restart the assault. Mountain Roc recovers 150 HP a turn but you should able to override it with a properly Impacted Cutting Edge or Planet Diver, never mind having 3 of them a turn.

Afterwards, Ryu Kou steals the Magma Orb. As Crown said, I'm going to make you regret this. Instead of racing him back to Belinsk, book it to Port Rago. It's time to have us another chat with Briggs.

Wake the pirate up, berate him for not having his ship repaired in time and leave without him. Get Coral (Mercury Djinn) before you go by draining the water.

Class switch time! We now have access to the better classes without killing everyone else. This is my set-up for right now.

Cavalier!Rief - 6 Venus

Cavalier!Tyrell - 5 Mercury, 1 Mars

Ninja!Matthew - 3 Mars, 3 Jupiter

Ranger!Harmony - 3 Mars, 3 Jupiter

Savant!Karis - 5 Jupiter

Karis, Rief and Matthew are in some of their best classes while Cavalier!Tyrell and Ranger!Harmony are nothing to sneeze at.

Instead of heading to Belinsk, we're making a stop at Saha and Kolima. Saha has a Jupiter Djinni previously inaccessable but now that we have Crush, we can grab it. Kolima has what we're looking for, the last band member needed to summon Stella. Grab Wisp nice and quicklike and then chat to Vande. He'll head back to Belinsk, making 6 musicians. Now you can summon Stella back to the party!

Edited December 4, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Life]

Jailbreak! Run for it!

As soon as we get to Belinsk, it's the evening of Eoleo's execution. First things first, get the band to play Arangoa Prelude. Everyone starts going crazy thanks to the music and... a passage opens up below the center statue? Huh?

Stella then starts chatting to us psychically. She tells us to enter the ruins before the music ends via the stairs under the statue. Go through the ruins to meet up with Stella who will join you after you explain how everyone got tricked by Spade and Heart. Gotta hurry since if we don't, we might have Champa soup for dinner.

Moving on makes you run into the pair from Te Rya. Everyone will realize how they're screwed but the only path for now is forwards. Continue into the ruins and grab Chasm after he puts up a fight (Venus).

After traversing the ruins, we finally get to the end. Alex, Heart and Spade show up to... congratulate us, I guess? Alex wants us to start up the Alchemy Dynamo, we don't want to, standoff occurs... Wait, I forgot that we're dealing with bad guys here. There is no standoff option.

Boss Battle: Spade & Heart

Here's your usual 4 Adepts vs. 2 bad guys that was so popular in the first two game. Time to beat up Spade and Heart!

Let's start with Spade. Spark Shuriken does weak win damage and stuns. Shadow Shield reduces damage for the turn, similar to Granite and the like. Punish does decent damage to one person but it can randomly OHKO a person which is annoying to say the least and a nightmare if you can't reverse the effects right away.

Heart has Scornful Caress which is slightly powerful but only hits 1 person. She's also got access to Shadow Shield which just makes the fight annoying. Illusion Perfume sets Delusion which is nothing. Psy Grenades should spark your memory but at this point, losing 15-30 PP isn't so bad.

Once again, like Saturos/Menardi and Karst/Agatio, it's a really idea to take out the woman first. However, Heart doesn't heal so if you want Spade gone ASAP, that works too. Heart has less HP so the quicker that you're only dealing with 1 person, the better. If Punish OHKOs someone, make sure that you have a way of reviving them. If not, switch them out. Stella got OHKO'd early and since I had 1 Water of Life on her and 1 on Harmony with no Revive anywhere, I had to play around with my guys to get Stella revived at the right time.

After you defeat the bozos, they'll bitch about how you had numbers on them (you were fighting 17 year old kids and you two are commanders of an army) but how they won the war. Ryu Koh will then activate the Dynamo. Shit. Alex blasts away Tyrell and gives himself a new name, Arcanus. LIKE HELL I'M CALLING YOU THAT, ALEX.

Anyway, escape Luna Tower and go up to the top to gain the Eclipse summon. Head out on the first floor to find yourself in Belinsk. Go to the castle and get to the jail to chat to Hou Ju and rescue her. Volecheck (king of Belinsk, Stella's brother) appears and unlocks the cage and... what the... KRADEN?! FUCK, I WAS HOPING THAT YOU DIED! Anyway, Kraden pisses off Volechek by telling him that activating Luna Tower was a mistake and Volechek kicks us out, his sister included. And lets us take Eoleo with us!

Eoleo is... well, Eoleo. He insults Harmony's clothes... or the fact that he's wearing some. Then he recognizes Kraden even though he was a toddler the last time he saw Kraden. Well shit, he's got a good memory. Suddenly, an eclipse happens and shit goes down at the Opera House. Time to save Volechek's tail! Once we get to the stage, the chandelier turns into a dragon and this game is weird.

Mini Boss: Dark Devourer and Dark Scuttler x2

Another boss and this one is with limited PP thanks to the recent Spade/Heart fight. Dark Scuttlers go down easily but the Devourer has a bit of HP and puts up a fight.

Really, just use EPAs and this fight will be over quick. Stella's Beastform with a couple of Impacts makes it a joke. Toss in Ninja!Matthew and Ninja!Tyrell for added lulz.

After the battle, the Opera House dragon decides to aid Matthew in the form of a new summon: Crystallux! 3 Venus and 2 Mercury are needed to summon him. Get to the pier to escape Belinsk.

And... Rest in peace, Briggs, the greatest pirate of all time. Felix would be quite upset to see you go. Honestly, I feel bad for Eoleo. Eoleo now joins the party officially and I GUESS WE CAN SAY GOODBYE TO TYRELL'S SPOT. And Stella also loses her brother. Geez, this game is a lot more mature than the last two. Oh yeah, stats!

Eoleo - Level 32 Pirate

312 HP

96 PP

132 Att

57 Def

107 Agl

2 Luck

Fireball

Thermal

Keelhaul

Flare

Flare Wall

Flare Storm

Fume

Serpent Fume

Beam

Cycle Beam

Guard

Protect

Impair

Debilitate

So he's a Fire User/Guard hybrid. Also, note the description of Keelhaul, an EPA.

"Damages foes with a war cry of "Hyaa hooo!""

Wow. Nice. Eoleo uses axes and blades which is nice.

I'd Rather Be Sailing...

This title is actually a song from a play called A New Brain. Little bit of trivia for you guys.

Anyways, we get the boat and Eoleo. And enemies get a ridiculous boost in power. Like Shade Skorpnas can and WILL OHKO your guys with Drag Down whenever they feel like it. To avoid this, stay out of the dark areas on the water. The nearest island contains Harun Village and Spring, a Mercury Djinni.

The storyteller, Ikun, won't do shit until his son and grandson are back home. The son's broken his leg and the grandson is just waiting for help. Crown will heal it and the party will start chatting to Ikun back in Harun.

Apparently, there's this tower called Warrior's Hill where warriors who weild "weapons that are not weapons" must go. Sounds like us, eh? Once you get to the final room in the Watchtower, use the key and swipe the rock that's inside.

After that, sail down south. Our next stop looks vaguely familiar... could it be Izumo?

Actually, it is but there's a city named Yamata here. Takeru (son of Susa and Kushinada) has gone off because his sister (Himi and our last adept) had a vision of the world ending. So I was right. Himi IS royalty! Fuck, everyone in this game is either the kid of a legend or of royal blood. I liked it when we were 8 nameless people walking around.

Oh shit. According to one of the kids, Himi keeps saying "Isaac is in danger". This might be a good time to speak to her, in that case. And then book it back to Mt. Aleph.

And... hi there, Kushinada! Still haven't been eaten, I see? And Kraden says hi to Susa since the last time we saw the guy, we had beaten the Earth Serpent in Gaia Rock. And Piers is STILL sailing the seas. Man, I wanna find him now.

Anyways, here's the story. Himi's been knocked out since the eclipse. Kushinada is positive that it's a demon of some sort, considering the last time weird shit happened to her was almost getting eaten by a bigass dragon. Suddenly, Kushinada passes out too and we're left to investigate. Kushinada's just tired but Himi is stone cold... out? And this is when the rock comes in handy. It makes a weird mark on her forehead and Himi ends up coming to... not before Susa yells at us. Weird but... OK.

Now we have to find some Umbra Gear, using Himi. Himi joins the party as Golden Sun's first magic based Earth Adept and... yeah!

Himi - Level 35 Miko

217 HP

201 PP

87 Att

54 Def

175 Agl

6 Luck

Search

Move

Weapon Grace

Roaring Dragon

Thorn

Briar

Growth

Mad Growth

Wild Growth

Cure

Cure Well

Potent Cure

Revive

Miko is exactly what you think it is. Magic based Earth Adept. It's actually probably the third worst mono elemental class in the game (Water Seer and Aqua Squire will always be worst) since she has meh healing moves, meh attacks and Revive. That's about it. As for class changing, YES HIMI CAN GO NINJA EVEN THOUGH SHE WEILDS STAVES. She can hold Light Blades though.

However, Himi does get a fantastic new class of her own, similar to how Stella did. Welcome to the Curse Mage class. It's got the usual terrible shit of Haunt and Curse... along with some pretty sweet moves too. Like Fiery Abyss, Toxic Grit, Fear Puppet (stuns, great if Himi moves first) and Undead Gloom (an EPA). Not to mention incredible stats for the most part.

Also, Uzume (Susa's sister) is unfortunately dead. Kinda sucks. And that stupid dancing doll is still there. Behind her is a dungeon... that has be stumped at the first room. Oh well, I'll return to it later.

Set up your Djinni and your team however you like and get moving. Here's my set-up with my reasons.

Front 4:

Ninja!Matthew

Sage!Karis

Curse Master!Himi (with Zol Ring)

Cavalier!Harmony

Back 4:

Ranger!Stella

Savant!Crown

Ninja!Eoleo

Dragoon!Tyrell

The front 4 are designed to have a great balanced team. Ninja!Matt is pretty much a given, Curse Master!Himi w/ Zol Ring gets first move and can pretty much stop enemies dead in their tracks with Fear Puppet, Sage!Karis is the firepower in the team for multiparty attacks and Cavalier!Harmony exists because of the lack of Revive, despite 2 Earth Adepts.

Head east to an island to grab the Umbra Cloak and then west to the mainland to Tonfon. A little bit of info for the listeners:

- A strange ship just sailed in from Lemuria. Probably Piers so we better go look for him.

Anyway, chat to Emperor Unan and he'll give you the Lord Sun's Ring and Umbra Gauntlet. Head south along the coast to hit the Champa Camp.

Geez, Champa is doing even worse than the last time we saw it. I didn't think that was even possible. But... Obaba is still alive? what is this i dont even... She's Briggs' GRANDMOTHER. Anyway, slap Fugue off of his coconut and snag him. Head out west to Champa properly to find Obaba.

The old hag is still living. Kinda funny how Briggs kicked the bucket before her but yeah. She works the forge now so if you get a forgable item, hand it to her.

To the south is an island with another Umbra item. I don't think I've mentioned it but the Umbra items are all equips for only Stella. Interesting.

Time for some more Djinni finding. Grab the Venus in Kaocho that should have been snagged a long time ago (grip the flagpole). And Soul Siphon!Himi is broken. Her Fear Puppet works almost 100% of the time on enemies and with a Zol Ring, she acts first. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

[Life]

Character time! My reflections on the party:

Matthew: Yeah, he's your only Earth Adept for half of the game. His midgame is horrible and the fact that he's the only Venus won't give him a pass. He starts to shine again once access to Ninja comes but that doesn't happen for a long time.

Tyrell: The opposite of Matt. He starts off powerful, gains Arid Scorch before Harmony even joins and will always be in the party until Eoleo joins up. Problem is, he starts to drop off after that since Eoleo has much better bases (didn't think it was possible but it is) all around. Keep him in the physical classes though.

Karis: Decent. Not your best character but hands down not the worst by a mile. She's got a lot more durability than it seems.

Crown: Water Seer. That is all. Ice Queen solves offensive problems but he's fighting for it with Harmony. White Mage is an option later in the game if you want to swing it.

Harmony: Crown but better thanks to access to bows (he gets the Yew Bow from Kolima Forest and keeps it for a long time). If you have the Djinni to make it work, stick him and Crown in the same party for lulz. He actually works quite well as a Cavalier through midgame but after you escape Belinsk, the weaknesses show.

Stella: She can be fantastic in the right classes and shit in the wrong ones. The problem is that the right ones have her fighting for Djinni (Beastling and Brawler) since Ninja/Samurai!Tyrell/Eoleo want both types of Djinni. Beastform is her saving grace though, no matter what.

Eoleo: An improved version of Tyrell. Big physical warrior who loves Ninja and Samurai.

Himi: Most broken thing since sliced bread. Seriously. If Curse Mage didn't have Fear Puppet, she's be just good thanks to regular Earth classes but a Zol Ring and Fear Pupput immobilizes 90% of the enemies that you face. Try it out for yourself if you don't believe me.

[Life]

Also with Amiti's father:

I believe its Alex. During a cutscene with Trent, Trent mentions something that pertains to Rief and Amiti to be relatives.

Wrong. He says that Harmony has the same... I think it was aura, as the other 4. Which would make more sense if his father was Piers for 2 reasons.

1. Piers has been going around the Eastern Sea and helping people/chatting to others. The proof of this is that Piers gave Briggs some Hermes Water. And that stuff is incredibly rare (you can't access Imil in this game). Not to mention that we're talking about Alex and while it was part of his goal to start the Alchemy Well, the guy never turned it on all the way which makes no sense if it was Alex. That's the problem that I have with that scenario.

2. Piers got hit by the Golden Sun exactly the same as Isaac, Garet, Ivan and Mia. Alex got a much bigger boost thanks to actually being on TOP of Mt. Aleph when it happened. I'd liken Piers' powers to be closer to Mia's and that is what Tret was referring to.

[Colonel M]

If that doesn't help, in the end Amiti thinks of Alex too for some odd reason.

Beat the game, I guess. It felt... empty. I was missing 5 Djinn (1 of them I did know about) and just...

...I guess I expected too much perhaps.

If you want some advice for the final boss, Sveta and Heavy Impact (or Angel Spear) is your best friend. Might not be a bad idea to buff your defenses either. For fucks sake, I only buffed twice I think and my hero was taking 1 damage from single attacks from the boss (not the special attacks, mind you).

Edited December 4, 2010 by Tyranel M

[Life]

Hide And Seek:

Head back to Tonfon. The Emperor mentioned something about an Echo Gem and his sister will do the same. To get it, signal an attack is going on by slapping the gong outside and when Lady Hinechou runs out, grab the Echo Gem in her drawers. Use it to see it pointing to the northwest. That's where Ryu Koh is.

Follow the signal northwest to the top of the map. There you'll find a sunken boat. Find a way through the rocks to reach the Iceberg Outpost. In the house, you'll find... Ryu Koh and Hou Zan! Hou Zan is badly hurt and ends up dying in Ryu Koh's hands. Before leaving, take Rime with you.

Karis will draw approximate spots on the map for where the rest of the Umbra Gear is. If you having gotten the two that I have, don't worry. She'll put those on the map.

Kraden suggests heading back to Tonfon but there's a piece of Umbra Gear very close to where we are right now and heading back towards Mercury Lighthouse after visiting Tonfon is a pain. So sail west and land on the shores of northern Angara. In the Snowdrift Shrine, grab the Umbra Goggles, Geyser and the Phaeton's Blade before getting out of there.

Next stop is Tonfon. For returning the kids, you get the Lady Moon's Ring and Unan wants to talk to you some more. Or actually, another present! It's the Blue Orb! And Alex wanted us to have it? I don't like this idea anymore considering the last time Alex "helped" me. It kinda involved a fight with Karst and Agatio on the top of Jupiter Lighthouse.

So now we have two Orbs and we need a third to open up the Endless Wall. Third one is... yep, Umaze's grave back in Izumo. Go back to the grave and talk to the red gravestone to start the dungeon. Make sure that you pick up Hemlock inside. Other notable grabs are the Masamune (you can get this as soon as you get Himi), Thunder Crown, a Water of Life (same as the Masamune) and a Cookie. At the end, you'll get the Yellow Orb as your prize.

Now Tonfon. Again. This time we're going for the Umbra Gear and the Endless Wall. Grab the Umbra Cowl from the Lonely Island Ruins and we're done! Head for the Endless Wall afterwards and climb it until you reach a gate. The gate needs the three orbs, which you have, so you're good!

Apollo:

Climb to the Apollo Sanctum. It's a long ass climb filled with lots of puzzles but when you get to the top, you'll be happy to know... that there's MORE puzzles! Yay.

Also, let's make a rule here. When in doubt, never mess with ancient machinery that is behind pretty intense locks. AKA puzzles and that sort of stuff. Just don't do it. It cannot end well.

Anyway, light it up and Alex comes along. Perfect... Matthew actually swears at the sight of him. And then Kraden.

Kraden: "Hello, Alex."

'BOUT FUCKING TIME.

Crown: "Alex?! The Mercury Clan's traitor? My mother's betrayer? THAT Alex?!"

No Crown, the Alex that you went to school with. Of course it's that Alex.

And so, Spade and Heart drop in and we get Alex betraying them for whatever the hell he wants. Great! Infighting! Let's let them duke it out and then pummel the winner!

We try going for the switch, that fails and we get a fight. A rather epic one too, mind you.

Boss: Heart, Spade and Chaos Hound

Spade and Heart are back to their old tricks. It's exactly like the battle in Luna Tower except they do a little more damage.

Our new friend is the Chaos Hound. Deadly Gas does shit damage but sets Venom which is actually bad. Dark Blow hits pretty hard and that's never fun to see. Firecrackers hurt pretty badly and target more than one person. Shadow Shield is the usual "cut damage in half" move. Punish and Scornful Caress are nothing new at this point.

Take out Spade first and Heart second. Even though Venom will knock off 20% of your HP every turn, Shadow Shield will prolong the battle much longer than you want it to go. Samurai is a godsend in this battle, along with White Mage. Aim for unleashes since both the Sol Blade (takes a while) and Phaeton's Blade unleash Centurion for amazing damage. If someone gets poisoned and you don't have a healer with Cure Poison or Revive in the front 4, do not be afraid to gimp your offense to switch that healer in. The battle is over if you kill them and not their pet.

After the battle, shit will happen and Spade and Heart will get absorbed into the Chaos Hound. Welcome to the final boss battle of the game (I think).

Final Boss: Chaos Chimera

Here we go. Chaos Chimera has three attacks a turn and all of them are going to hurt.

Djinn Blast is his most annoying and is a throwback to the Doom Dragon. It sets all of a person's Djinn in Recovery, sending that person back to their base class. Retribution hits the entire party for serious damage and will OHKO someone at random (this is not a maybe, it will inflict an auto KO 90% of the time). CC will also toss Psy Grenades (at you) and Vials (at himself). Shadow Shield is the same from the last battle. Shadow Clash is the new Outer Space move, doing incredible damage to the party. Darksol Gasp won't appear until the battle is close to over but it hits hard and sets Haunt. Vicious Embrace is the same without Haunt (appears late, hits hard). Chaos Upheaval is basically Charon. If he hits you with it, say goodbye to your sanity. Wicked Howl will make one of your guys flinch which is not that fun.

Do not fuck around in this battle. If someone gets hit by Djinni Storm, sit them in the back row until they recover all or most of their Djinni. Make sure that your damage output is beating his Vial throwing (Impact boosted Samurai Quick Strikes help). Stella should use Beastform right away since Maul with a 50% boost can take off about 500+ damage in a hit, more than what the CC heals with a Vial. If and when Retribution kills someone, get them healed right away. When the four big moves appear later in the battle (Darksol Gasp, Vicious Embrace, Chaos Upheaval and Wicked Howl), hope and pray that you live since they are pretty cheap. He will go down eventually so just keep plugging away at him.

EDIT: Forget pretty cheap, make that fucking stupid. Seriously Camelot, did you test this guy before you created him? Getting hit by Vicious Embrace, Shadow Clash and Chaos Upheaval in a single turn will kill the party. While I did have a bad set-up (wasn't exactly anticipating the end of the game here), it's still a nightmare to fight against

My team for beating this guy was:

Samurai!Matthew

Samurai!Eoleo

Wild Beast!Stella

Guardian!Himi

Sage!Karis

Pure Mage!Harmony

Berserker!Tyrell

Ascetic!Crown

With the exception of Crown, everyone saw action and was vital to winning. Go figure that the last boss in a pretty easy game (battle wise) turns out to be a fucking nightmare.

After beating Chaos Chimera, congratulate yourself on beating the game and one of the hardest Golden Sun bosses of all time. Seriously. Deadbeard and Doom Dragon don't make me restart the game. This guy did.

EDIT: I finished the game missing 8 Djinni. This doesn't happen... EVER. I'm also positive that I missed a bunch of summons too.

Edited December 4, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Colonel M]

Take out Spade first and Heart second. Even though Venom will knock off 20% of your HP every turn, Shadow Shield will prolong the battle much longer than you want it to go. Samurai is a godsend in this battle, along with White Mage. Aim for unleashes since both the Sol Blade (takes a while) and Phaeton's Blade unleash Centurion for amazing damage. If someone gets poisoned and you don't have a healer with Cure Poison or Revive in the front 4, do not be afraid to gimp your offense to switch that healer in. The battle is over if you kill them and not their pet.

The battle is also over as soon as you kill the Chaos Hound OR both of Blados / Chalis. So actually, it's best to gang up on the Chaos Hound.

As far as the final boss, I found him underwhelming in comparison to Chaos Dragon (and definitely in comparison to Dullahan). It might've helped that I had more Djinn, but my set up was this:

- Paladin!Matthew

- Ronin!Tyrell

- Master!Eoleo

- White Mage!Karis

- Sage!Sveta

Don't ask me why on the last one. Even I don't know. Perhaps it was due to accidental grinding, but I also had Pure Wish with Matthew, which helped a hell of a lot. White Mage was pretty underwhelming, but I fucked around in the Chalis / Blados battle with Sveta. At one point, after casting Protector and using one of my Earth Djinn, Matthew took 1 damage from the final boss's normal attack. No joke. I almost rolled laughing about it until I realized "wait this is the final boss. They fucking serious?" Best friends is Heavy Impact / Impact and beast Sveta. Beast Sveta alone was able to hit over 600 damage PHYSICAL DAMAGE after an Impact. That's fucking ridiculous.

Djinn Storm and Retribution were the two biggest pain in the asses, I agree. Free Auto-kill from Retribution sucked ass.

Edited December 4, 2010 by Tyranel M

[Life]

As far as the final boss, I found him underwhelming in comparison to Chaos Dragon (and definitely in comparison to Dullahan). It might've helped that I had more Djinn, but my set up was this:

- Paladin!Matthew

- Ronin!Tyrell

- Master!Eoleo

- White Mage!Karis

- Sage!Sveta

Don't ask me why on the last one. Even I don't know. Perhaps it was due to accidental grinding, but I also had Pure Wish with Matthew, which helped a hell of a lot. White Mage was pretty underwhelming, but I fucked around in the Chalis / Blados battle with Sveta. At one point, after casting Protector and using one of my Earth Djinn, Matthew took 1 damage from the final boss's normal attack. No joke. I almost rolled laughing about it until I realized "wait this is the final boss. They fucking serious?" Best friends is Heavy Impact / Impact and beast Sveta. Beast Sveta alone was able to hit over 600 damage PHYSICAL DAMAGE after an Impact. That's fucking ridiculous.

I finished the game in my early 40's. Like 38-42. No Pure Wish for anyone, Samurai!Tyrell wouldn't have had Quick Strike, Chaos Upheaval was doing 400+ to everyone... You see a trend here?

I was getting 580 from Impacted Samurai!Matthew's Quick Strike, though. And Wild Beast!Stella was doing just under 500 without Impacts. So I got by. It just took a lot of smart decisions (Himi, Karis, Harmony and Crown were healers while Tyrell chipped in a couple times with Revive) for the most part.

Honestly, Doom Dragon (I think that's what you're referring to) and Deadbeard are jokes compared to this guy. Fusion Dragon is even funnier since while he's got Outer Space, he ain't gonna use it twice in a turn. I have seen Chaos Chimera use Vicious Embrace, Darksol Gasp and Chaos Upheaval in a single turn. That ain't fun to fight against.

Edited December 4, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Life]

Found out some interesting stuff. Like about the summons. Take a gander at the last 2.

1) Zagan (1 Venus + 1 Mars) [PM] (ML-emokhGuk)

Located in the logging area west of Konpa Ruins. You need to "Whirlwind"

flowers, climb some trees and move one log to access this summon tablet.

2) Megaera (1 Mars + 1 Jupiter) (I4rXsoVqzxw)

Located in a cavern south of Konpa Ruins, almost immediately after

Reif joins your team. You need to use Reif's "Douse" to douse out the

flames then "Grip" across the ledge to access this summon tablet.

3) Flora (1 Venus + 2 Jupiter) (Ym7jr_QNJuc)

Located near the end of the Passaj Mountain Climb. Accessible after

getting the Frost/Cold Snap Jewel.

4) Moloch (2 Mercury + 1 Jupiter) [PM] (IOHXxekqYMQ)

Located in a cave northwest of Craggy Peak (the area with the 12 Zodiac

rooms). Cast "Fireball", "Grip" and "Cold Snap" to access this

summon tablet.

5) Ulysses (2 Mars + 2 Mercury) [PM] (6QEO7n2PGCM)

Located inside an abandoned mine northwest of Border Town.

Manipulate the tracks for the mine wagon.

Light the bomb using Tyrell's "Fireball".

6) Haures (3 Venus + 2 Mars) [PM] (cK-7OV8PLvI)

Buy some "Dream Leaf" at Kolima then return to Border Town. Sleep in

the inn at Border Town and you should wake up to find the other half

of the town open. Walk clockwise around the town until you reach a vine.

Cast "Growth" on the vine then head inside to find the summon tablet.

7) Eclipse (2 Mercury + 3 Jupiter) [PM] (IZDrx2haPhk)

Found in the second floor of the Tower at Belinsk after

you defeat Chalis and Blados.

8) Crystal Dragon (3 Venus + 2 Mercury) [PM] (FUIZLpPUcA0)

Found in the opera house of Belinsk after defeating the monsters.

9) Coatlicue (3 Mercury + 3 Jupiter) (SBGx16_ZIv0)

Found in a room in the Harun underground passage (the cave east of Harun)

accessible after clearing Warrior's Hill (the towers north of Harun).

10) Daedalus (3 Venus + 4 Mars)

Use the Sol Blade to unlock the room in Volcano/Burning Island Cave.

Defeat the team of five Ogre Titans to get this summon tablet.

11) Azul (3 Venus + 4 Mercury)

Defeat the Star Magician on board the Ghost Ship. The Ghost Ship is

located in a purple fog-covered area on the north end of the world map.

12) Catastrophe (3 Mars + 5 Jupiter)

Defeat the Ancient Devil at the cave of the Otka Sea Island.

This island is reachable by riding a tornado on the sea.

The navagation for the maze to reach the summon tablet is the following:

up, left, up, up, up, up, left, up, up, left, up, left, up, right,

up, up, right, up, right, right, right, right, right, up, right,

right, down, right, up, right, down, down, right, down, right, down

down, down, down, left, up, left, left, left, up, up.

13) Charon (8 Venus + 2 Jupiter)

Located on the last floor of Crossbone Isle on the left side of the room.

14) Iris (9 Mars + 4 Mercury)

Located on the last floor of Crossbone Isle on the right side of the

room. It is the same room as where you find the Charon summon tablet.

However, Dullahan guards the Iris summon tablet (just like in GS:TLA)

and you must defeat him to get it. Good luck.

Where the fuck is Crossbone Isle?!

Edited December 4, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Colonel M]

Beat all the other sidequest bosses. After that, you'll need to find a Whirlpool who will take you to Crossbone Isle.

[Life]

Thanks.

Also, I think I figured out why this game seemed a bit... lacking compared to its predecessors.

I think we can all agree that both of the GS were incredibly epic without trying to be. You sail both seas and scour all the lands, looking for clues and answers to the numerous riddles and puzzles that block your path. And yet, you start with half the saga already done (Isaac's story).

That's the problem. The developers tried to create an epic saga to pan to the fans (I'm not really complaining, mind you). The problem was that they tried to go from nothing to all 72 Djinn in a single game, along with picking up 8 Adepts. It's just too crowded. In my opinion, they should have taken the Final Fantasy route of releasing it on 2 disks/cartridges. Even if they had to sell them differently, that would have been a better idea even though people would have been pissed off.

Don't get me wrong. From a technical mechanical standpoint, this is probably the best game Camelot's come out with. Real balance between Adepts and classes actually exist (for one, your Earth Adept is the worst in the party for some time while the Water are the best) and Stella's Beastform was a brilliant idea (especially how it works with regards to the number of Djinn on her). But Golden Sun was also known for its story and here, it's kinda lacking. Eoleo really lets me down as a character after considering that I scoured Northern Angara for ways to save the bastard. Himi fades into non-existance after Izumo (can't remember the name of the city so I'm calling it by its old name). There's too many unanswered questions with regards to who Harmony's dad is (until Camelot says otherwise, I will argue for Piers over Alex) and why Jenna was never living with Isaac. How is Obaba still alive? Why hype up Bilibin only to say that we can't get there? These kind of things bother me for the most part. GS1 at least tied stuff up with a nice bow and anything it didn't, it specifically left for the sequel.

[Colonel M]

That's also why it ended with a cliff hanger I think. I'm thinking a sequel will be coming into the scenes. Now let's just hope it's not 7 years away.

I do agree with you. I won't lie: I really thought the game was going to be a little longer. But... it wasn't. I only have slight disappointment though. The game is still great, and I'm going to replay it again and even log it for the hell of it.

[Life]

That's also why it ended with a cliff hanger I think. I'm thinking a sequel will be coming into the scenes. Now let's just hope it's not 7 years away.

I do agree with you. I won't lie: I really thought the game was going to be a little longer. But... it wasn't. I only have slight disappointment though. The game is still great, and I'm going to replay it again and even log it for the hell of it.

I love your avatar. That line always has me saying it out loud in a coarse whisper.

Anyway, I think we might have to only way a year or two for a sequel. You have to remember that this game basically started from the beginning (30 years pass, world's a lot different). GS2 did hint at this game having Eoleo by making him an adept but at the same time, the only thing that developers were starting with were the older character. They had to create an entirely new political scene and entire new world too. GS1 had most of Angara in the boondocks. Kolima and Bilibin talked to each other but not really. Xian traded with Kalay and Tolbi. Lalivero hated Tolbi but was too pussy to do anything about it... You see what I'm getting at? Now you have Morgal and Sana at each other's throats, Volechek is going to boil the prince of Champa alive, Kaocho is in a full out war with Ayuthay...

There's now proper grounds for a sequel. I just hope Camelot is smart enough to realize their mistakes. There's other things they can do too.

1) Create new hybrid classes for Eoleo and Harmony, similar to Stella and Himi.

2) Make Haunt and Curse actually useful FOR you (don't hold your breath on this one). If Curse worked like Edgar's Air Anchor with 100% accuracy on anything that isn't immune to it, I'd use it (situationally).

3) Have the story take its time and let the player dick around as much as GS2 let us (once you get the ship, you are given the goal of getting to Lemuria with no nudging anywhere, allows for a lot of dicking around in the Eastern Sea).

4) Stop the backtracking. I actually have serious issues with this one since this is Golden Sun, not a Tales game. Flying doesn't exist. GS1 managed to require almost no backtracking (Lunpa aside but come on, you know you wanted to bash Dodonpa's head in).

Camelot is smart, though. I wouldn't be surprised if #3 happens since it really should. Same thing with #4 but it's another one that I wouldn't hold my breath for.

Once again, I'll say this. Thank you for not messing with the battle mechanics. Golden Sun has almost no luck involved since if you give me certain stats, I can actually figure out around how much damage attack X will do. Which is nice because if you can't beat someone, it's not luck that killed you. It's smarts.

Edited December 5, 2010 by Cthulhu

[Ether]

You guys seem to be quite a bit more... versed in this than I am... geez.

I was wondering if I could ask you to let me know if I am gunning to run into problems in the future.

I just beat the Mountain Roc a short while ago, and my main party consists of the following at the moment:

Bard!Karis

Templar!Tyrell

Ninja!Matthew

White Mage!Amiti

All level 30 at the moment, do I look as though I'm about to hit any jams? Tyrell has Sand Prince and Amiti has Ice Queen.

[Life]

You guys seem to be quite a bit more... versed in this than I am... geez.

I was wondering if I could ask you to let me know if I am gunning to run into problems in the future.

I just beat the Mountain Roc a short while ago, and my main party consists of the following at the moment:

Bard!Karis

Templar!Tyrell

Ninja!Matthew

White Mage!Amiti

All level 30 at the moment, do I look as though I'm about to hit any jams? Tyrell has Sand Prince and Amiti has Ice Queen.

You're fine.

I guess you could say that I'm more versed but I've also broken down GS1 to a fucking science. Like I can pound 1000 damage onto a boss (Killer Ape) in 3 turns without a summon rush at level 13 (when physical attacks do like 50 damage each).

[Suichimo]

I finally completed my first playthrough, it was blind since I don't have internet at home right now. Finished with my main team of Master!Matthew, Wizard!Karis, Chaos Lord!Eoleo, and Master!Himi mostly in the lower-mid 40's, Matthew was 45. Missed a total of 3 Djinni, I may just not have found them yet. I was going to put Himi into the Samurai series, but that isn't available to her since her secondary class takes its place.

Don't get me wrong. From a technical mechanical standpoint, this is probably the best game Camelot's come out with. Real balance between Adepts and classes actually exist (for one, your Earth Adept is the worst in the party for some time while the Water are the best) and Stella's Beastform was a brilliant idea (especially how it works with regards to the number of Djinn on her). But Golden Sun was also known for its story and here, it's kinda lacking. Eoleo really lets me down as a character after considering that I scoured Northern Angara for ways to save the bastard. Himi fades into non-existance after Izumo (can't remember the name of the city so I'm calling it by its old name). There's too many unanswered questions with regards to who Harmony's dad is (until Camelot says otherwise, I will argue for Piers over Alex) and why Jenna was never living with Isaac. How is Obaba still alive? Why hype up Bilibin only to say that we can't get there? These kind of things bother me for the most part. GS1 at least tied stuff up with a nice bow and anything it didn't, it specifically left for the sequel.

When are Rief or Amiti ever at the top of the party? Matthew is great, along with Karis. Tyrell isn't that hot and Amiti probably is above him. You just get so many Water Djinni so quickly that Karis will be using the Wish series extremely early.

How can you argue for Piers? There is basically nothing linking the two of them together, and with Amiti being related to Mia, as Tret says, its much more likely to be Alex.

Jenna seems to be out traveling, like pretty much every other adept we're informed about with the exception of Ivan who seems to be mostly in one place.

But yeah, the game doesn't even need the huge Psynergy Vortex, probably the start of a Mourning Moon, at the end of the game to have a cliffhanger. There is just so much in it, as you said. The Tuaparang and their goals, the connection between Tuaparang and Anemos(I believe its Tuaparang's encyclopedia entry that hints at that), Alex's goals, the Beastmen turning White/Yellow, Takeru, Nowell and Piers, the Soarwing, Dark and Light Adepts, and quite a bit more.

[Acacia Sgt]

How can you argue for Piers? There is basically nothing linking the two of them together, and with Amiti being related to Mia, as Tret says, its much more likely to be Alex.

Not much more likely, he actually IS:

http://twitpic.com/3foeq0

I suppose that should leave the topic to rest now...