Watch the A Word in Edgewise skit at the save point and follow the path to a split, heading south and then east to a pod. Head down via the creepy orifice and follow the path to another split, heading into the nearby pod and walking out the other side. Follow the path south, grabbing the Syrup Bottle x2 on the southwest, and then head east into the pod for a foreboding scene.

Continue east to grab the Arcane Bottle in the northeast corner and then head southwest to another pod to watch the Under Observation skit at the save, examine Heart of Stone discovery, gain a Legendary Metal , and watch In Its Clutches skit. Exit west, taking the east path at the split for an Eleth Bottle C , and then enter the large pod to the west.

Activate the pink flower and walk up to the pink pillar for the Touchy Subject skit before you activate both of the blue flowers. Cross the newly opened path to the northwest and activate the pink flower to move the platform, using it to leave to the west.

Keep heading west until you reach a pod with Grape Gel x3 and then hop into the orifice and grab the 780 Unit(s) of Eleth . You can now exit to the east to get sucked back up to the previous level. Exit west to grab the 5200 Gald you passed earlier and then return to the pod and head south to open the chest with Life Bottle x3 .

Enter the nearby pod for a whole new puzzle and start by touching the blue flower to open the paths up. Take the bridge to the southwest and activate the pink flower to move the platform, followed by the blue one next to it.

You can now use the new platform to reach the northwest pink flower to move the second platform and then activate the blue flower next to it to lower the obstacles again. Finally, activate the last pink flower in the top right corner to push the platform into the next area and then the blue to wither all the flowers.

Head outside to make your way to the northwest pod, heading through it to the west, and then take the orifice down in either of the northern pods to reach the platform you previously moved.

Start by activating the nearest blue flower to lower the pillars and then head to the northwest to activate the pink flower, moving the platform. Use the blue flower beside you to retract the branches and then use the southern-most pink flower to push both platforms, followed by the blue flower next to it. You can now head to the west side of the room and use the pink flower, followed by the blue one to wither all the flowers.

Exit to the east to grab the Book of Smithery and then get sucked up and head east, south, and west to get back to the second puzzle room. Stop by the save point to watch the No Matter What! and One for the Road skits. You can now save and follow the path for a scene and the expected boss fight.

Boss: Richard (Transformed)¶

Richard has gotten a lot stronger since you last fought him, with new abilities that can do serious damage. The good news is that this version of Richard is weak to B-Artes, so breaking his Nova barrier and letting Pascal or Malik burn him with B-Artes is a good idea. While you want to be aggressive, Richard has the habit of guarding to break large combos and opens your party up to his close combat attacks.

Your main objective is to avoid Richard’s attacks, which can be deadly and include the following:

• When Richard raises both his arms with a blue light and thrusts downward any ally in the path will be frozen, causing them to usually die from his next hit
• A flaming pinwheel kick attack, which he likes to use in succession for quick damage if unguarded
  And of course you will want to avoid Richard when his Eleth Burst goes off to avoid dangerous Divinity Blade Mystic Arte.

After another scene you will be faced with a “surprising” fight.

Boss: ???¶

I suggest you bench Asbel in this fight, due to his melee fighting style, and set your party up with Sophie, Cheria, Hubert, and Pascal or Malik. You’ll want to control Hubert, using Covering Fire and Cross Mirage to bombard this boss with attacks to interrupt their attacks, while letting Sophie and your caster do the majority of the damage.

The biggest issue with this boss is that they have an aura that will damage anyone that gets close to them, as well as a shockwave blast that will do massive damage and push your party back, and also has the ability to teleport away from combo chains.

In addition, the boss uses a large arsenal of attacks with a focus on ranged attacks by throwing black aura at the party and a whirlwind attack that can kill everyone at once if they are low health, especially if you are unlucky and she uses it back to back. You should also make sure to avoid her Mystic Arte, an area wide Killing Field that is super dangerous.