Ancient Ruins Merhl¶
The ancient ruins are split up into a bunch of little rooms and in the northwest corner of the first one, there will be a chest with 2 Ethers. Unfortunately, there’s a door blocking your path to the north, so the only way to continue is to the east. You’ll happen upon your first actual random encounter in the game and there’s a quick thing to discuss. As you will see, all enemies are shown on the map and how you approach them will determine how the battle will begin. If you happen to approach them without them noticing anything, then you will get a pre-emptive.
Pre-emptive allows you to start with one Momentum Charge and a full ATB, which is a huge advantage. You might sometimes see a Side Encounter, when occurs if you approach an enemy from the side. You start the battle with your ATB and Momentum gauges half filled up, so both are ideal and will help in finishing normal battles more quickly. Now, onto the other matter, which involves finishing off an enemy with Momentum. It basically boils down to you getting more spoils after the battles, which will include memories and other things, like equipment even.
(1 of 2) Getting pre-emptives on all normal battles will help them go much quicker
Getting pre-emptives on all normal battles will help them go much quicker (left), as you have a single Momentum Charge and will be able to act before the enemies (right)
After finishing your first fight, go north and up some stairs to the east, leading to another locked door and a room to the south, with more enemies. There’s nothing else in that room, though, so you might be thinking something is wrong. However, look to the right of the locked door to spot a switch, which will open it up, allowing you to proceed. There will be a sparkle item on the ground in the next room, then you’ll come across another locked door blocking your way to the west. Ignore it and continue north, getting rid of the enemies there, then drop off the ledge and snatch the item right above you.
Proceed to the south, clear out the room, then use the lever on the wall to the east to open that previously locked door, making a shortcut. Continue west and when you see the room to the north, enter it to find a chest in the northeast corner, which contains an Autobow, a new weapon for Locke. Keep following the path until it splits again, opting to head west to find a sparkle item in the southeast corner of the room. Back at the fork, it will split again a little to the east, but the door is blocking your way south. Luckily, the switch for this door is right before the entrance to the room and the door will open a shortcut back near the entrance to the ruins. Travel the remaining bit left to come to a save point, which means that a boss battle is coming!
BOSS - Guardian¶
Despite its size, this boss will zip around the battlefield to attack your characters. Punch will be an attack on a single character for some damage, while Rear Punch is a stronger version of the former. Hammer is another physical attack that doesn’t seem to deal much more damage than Punch. Eventually, Guardian will bring out a new move called One-Two Punch, where it will attack a character two times in succession, each hit doing about the same as Punch. It also has Rear One-Two, which hits the same as Rear Punch. To make matters worse, the Guardian has triple versions of both skills, called Triple Strike and Rear Triple, with the latter possibly one-shotting some characters on Hard difficulty.
The biggest problem with this battle is managing your health and spreading your characters, to avoid the small AOE on the Guardian’s attacks (in case there are any). Also, the Guardian can hit a critical, which is even worse once it starts pulling out the double and triple attacks. Don’t forget to use some of your skills, particularly Lumina’s for an extra turn, as well as Locke’s for extra potential damage. Keep your health above 80-90 during the double phase, then at full health during the triple phase, and don’t forget to try and finish off the Guardian with a Momentum Charge!
(1 of 2) The Guardian becomes more dangerous as the battle progresses
The Guardian becomes more dangerous as the battle progresses (left), as he will begin hitting twice (and thrice) with its attacks (right)
You will receive a Passion Memory and a Mech Key as spoils, plus you will be able to inspect the monument. Before you do that, though, check the east side of the room for a sparkle item, as well as the northwest corner for a locked chest, which conveniently opens with the Mech Key, revealing a new weapon for Lumina, the Mech Tekko. Inspect the monument now and when Elgarthe appears, hold down Square to create a memory, the Founder Memory to be exact. You’re done here, so backtrack to the entrance via the one door you opened, and return to Elgarthe.
It looks like military has arrived, who won’t let you inside of the town, but Locke has other plans. Thanks to his distraction, go ahead and use the memories when you have the chance to finally restore Elgarthe back to its former glory. After being accused of sorcery, the commander appears and calms things down. The empire has been sent to investigate the Lost and thanks to Kanata’s powers, Galdra asks for your help. After some touching moments from the other townsfolk, you will be ready to leave to Mistral Gorge, but a soldier comes in and says the gorge has become lost!
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