Breath of Fire III - Chapter 3: Dragon & Princess

The road to Wyndia moves through Mt. Myrneg east of the Yraal Road. If Ryu doesn't have Burn, Frost, and Influence, use a Skill Ink to transfer them before continuing on. Have the now-solo hero equipped with the Silver Knife over the Broad Sword and switch to the Bracers and Bandana for agility purposes. Things will go a lot smoother if you have at least 14; otherwise, bring a fresh supply of Healing Herbs. Once you cross Mt. Myrneg, access to the Yraal Region will be lost to you for quite a bit of time, so finish any business you have left, including fishing for Silver Knives and selling them to take 5000 zenny to Wyndia.

 

The small, but convoluted mountain introduces us to a few new enemies. The Tar Man is completely invulnerable to physical attacks, but becomes weak and paralyzed if hit with Frost. Alternately, if you don't have Frost, for whatever reason, you can cast Burn on it to force it to retreat the next turn. They provide a healthy amount of EXP, also.

 

The NutTroop and Mage, which you will find throughout the game from their type, have a ridiculous amount of evasion and most attacks will miss them. Thankfully, they are deathly weak to fire and a single Burn will roast them, however, if you don't have at least 14 agility, the Troop will get its turn before you can cast it. You should also always Burn the Mage first because its Flare spell can do fair damage. You'll want to stick around to learn the NutTroop's Double Blow skill, though. For 2 AP, you'll deliver two consecutive attacks, but power is only 80% of a basic attack, although this adds up nicely if both hits connect.

 

At the foot of Mt. Myrneg, turn right and follow the trees, spotting a Tar Man (Tallman?) beside a treasure chest holding an Icicle item that casts the all-encompassing Blizzard spell. The friendly creature will offer you advise on battling enemies that I've already covered for you. From there, climb the rope ladder just around the corner.

 

Continue right, ignoring the ladder leading upward, and instead use the second one you see that moves back to the foot of the mountain; there's a Protein item in a bag between the trees further in. Back up, ascend the ladder to the upper-right, then the next.

 

On the second ascent, you'll notice a thin path around the back of the mountain; follow it to a chest with the Bat Amulet accessory that prevents blind you should equip. Up the next ladder, then look for a drop-off to your left and down. Follow the linear path around the mountain, passing an upward rope ladder, then just after, move down into an overlook with a bag of 200 zenny inside to add to your, hopefully, sizeable stash.

 

If you want to leave the area, a drop-off point is further to your left from the zenny bag that will take you back to the entrance, however, the ladder you passed leads to the exit. You'll spot an apple tree just after and then the final ladder leading up. You'll notice Sunder hanging out nearby, but instead of hiding and waiting for him to leave, the game forces you to move right up on him. The terrified Sunder, believing him to be a ghost, calls for Balio and plunges a sword straight into Ryu's back. The fallen boy reverts back to his whelp form, adding further confusion, but this gives the treacherous brothers an idea... 

 

Cut to Wyndia where the brothers are trying to pawn dragon Ryu off to the King for some coin, obviously. The King mentions something about dragons having tried to destroy the world...When the veil on the cage is lifted, Ryu has reverted back to his boyish form, exposing the two miscreants for the charlatans they are. All three are then locked away!

 

Poor Ryu is bawling his eyes out, much to the chagrin of the brothers, until the princess of Wyndia, Nina, makes her appearance. She feels bad for Ryu and is going to let him out, but Balio and Sunder manage to take advantage of the princess' naivete and get her to release them: promising not to bully him anymore! The bastards quickly abduct the princess for ransom and make a run for it! Ryu will need to bash the door of the cell twice to escape, although yelling for the guard between hits is a bit humorous. Take the satchel with the Skill Ink from the horse duo's cell next door and save your game. If you were using the Bracers and Bandana for the trek up Mt. Myrneg, switch back to the Cloth Shield and Iron Helm before using the stairs at the bottom of the dungeon.

 

You'll again have to battle Balio and Sunder; a direct copy of the previous battle, but this one is somewhat "winnable". You now have access to Ryu's dragon Ascension, which I will talk about soon, but you can forgo that for now. Use Influence on Balio to take Sunder out of the remainder of the battle, then you simply need to survive Balio's attacks for eight turns. You should have enough MP, if you learned under Mygas, to cast Rejuvenate each turn and keep yourself alive. If not, a Vitamin or Healing Herbs will be fine, too. Of course, you can just allow yourself to be defeated to speed things up, only missing some EXP.

 

After eight turns have passed, Nina will awaken, strike Sunder, then flee. The brothers will also escape soon after earning you 110 EXP. Long-time Breath of Fire III players will, no doubt, have heard about the potential for the two to drop a Broad Sword and AsbestosArmr, but from some serious deep-dives from players into the game's coding, this seems to be a glitch that is unknown how to activate. The two listed items are coded as Balio and Sunder dropping at a guaranteed rate, however, the battle itself is coded as the enemy escaping (Like a solo BossGbn), in which items can never be awarded, but further muddying things is EXP is still gained despite the "escape". There has been evidence from players that show the items dropped for them, but I have, personally, never see it, and countless numbers of players have tried to manipulate the battle to try to find the way, but to no avail. It seems plausible that the game can glitch somehow and alter the battle to change from an "escape" to a "win" and award the items, but regardless, you can purchase Broad Swords and will find an AsbestosArmr later, which you will eventually be able to make copies of, so in the long run, the items dropped here are moot. 

 

Princess Nina returns and thanks you for your help. She then joins the party, but you'll need to venture through the Catacombs below to find your way to the city (I guess Nina yelling for the guard isn't even enough to wake him?). Nina joins with the one-of-a-kind Oaken Staff weapon, so don't sell it. She also has the Soul Gem accessory, which you should remove for later use. It instantly revives the equipper to full HP if they fall during battle, then shatters. Equip her with the Bracers and Bandana for some extra protection, also. Using some Life Shards or Protein on the fragile princess is not a bad idea, either. It's a further strategy to switch to the Attack formation so Ryu can take a majority of the enemy focus away from her and onto himself, too. Have Ryu continue to use the Silver Knife as most of the enemies in the Catacombs are weak against holy.

 

Note: When in the lead of the party, Nina sends a magical volley of light out forward that is used to activate specific switches and the like to solve puzzles. She also has a slight natural resistance to wind-based attacks during battle.

 

Ryu's "awakening' as a dragon has given him the Ascension ability and with it, the Flame gene used for splicing dragon forms. Ryu can now transform into the Whelp form with the Flame gene granting him the Flame Breath and Claw abilities. He becomes immune to fire-based attacks, but weak against ice. As more dragon genes become available, the complexity of the available options is staggering and can be overwhelming in their variations in ability and statistical changes, but I will do my best to highlight the best ones when new genes are acquired. Below I will list some important notes about Ascension:

• When Ryu transforms, he takes all the statistics from his equipment with him, but not the effects. In other words, weapon affinity will not transfer, nor will the effects of his accessories.
• Breath-type attacks are directly tied to your current HP. Most damage is calculated by 33% of the user's current HP, but others go up to 50%, so, to further extend damage, you'll want to increase your maximum HP, however,  I would not go out of your way to prioritize this stat with Ryu since much better dragon abilities become available. Non-elemental breaths (Like Whelp/Dragon) are also physically-based.
• The cumulative of amount of AP needed to transform is further consumed by half after each turn (But not EX turns). This cannot be reduced by accessories, but ability cost while in dragon form is.
• If Ryu loses all his HP or AP during battle, he reverts back to human form, but keeps whatever current HP he had when transformed. You can use this as kind of a "shield" from powerful attacks and keep transforming as long as he has the AP.
• In the splicing menu, you can select data to see a listing of previously-used combinations. You can then press square to save any of them as a favorite and access it later from the best option. 

 

A new enemy in the Catacombs is the Ghoul from whom you can copy the Bone Dart skill from. Bone Dart is a weak, physical attack that attempts to inflict confusion upon the victim. If you become confused, yourself, switch that character to the lead of your party and stagger around a bit to recover the status without items or magic. Thunders, an advanced form of the Volt, appear here, but cannot be powered up for more experience like their counterparts. Volts are here too, however, and when paired with Thunders, who cast Jolt on their own group the first turn, can present a manage problem when Volts, in turn, cast Jolt on you! Be careful of the damage, but with the extra EXP they give too, and try to get Nina through the dungeon at no higher than level 9 for an upcoming master.

 

Ghouls can drop the High Boots accessory and at a reasonable rate, too. You'll find one before long, and they are eventually purchasable, but grant a +5 to defense which is a welcomed addition for Nina if you can score one.

Note: You can return back up to the cells to rest and save your game, if needed. Also, despite technically being able to return to the Catacombs, the areas containing items cannot be accessed (Except for the Wisdom Fruit), so make sure to pick up all the treasure.

 

As soon as you enter the dungeon, if you position yourself near the corner of the platform, you can score the Glass Domino helmet from the chest early. Equip this on Nina!

 

Although short, the Catacombs contain a puzzle to a worthwhile reward that prolongs your stay. Scattered through the top area are headstones that have either a red or green word engraved that can be pressed. The green-worded switch needs to be pressed on each to obtain the item. To the east, press "secrets" "outside" and "that", followed by "above" on the central-most headstone.

 

To the lower-right of the "above" gravestone, leap off the side and press the "green" button on the headstone a bit to the south, then climb the pathway upward to your right to another one you can hit "not" on. Move back down, then look to the left of the flambeau for another drop-off point where you'll need to press the green word "you" on the headstone. From there, you can drop off again to a chest containing a Panacea.

 

With all seven green-worded buttons pressed, return to the top of the room and head west, then down a narrow stone walkway to a massive darkened headstone. Hit the "7" button to be dropped to the Light Bangle treasure below. The Light Bangle is a solid accessory that providers a 75% resistance to all status ailments and is very rare, so equip it immediately. You'll then drop down into a area filled with furnaces and can use the ladder to the upper-left of the otherwise empty room to return above where you found the Glass Domino.

 

In the southeast corner of the Catacombs, on the raised area with two headstones, one of which we ignored, is the key to escaping. Search the gravestone and press the buttons in the order of: "red", "climbing", "I", "is", "look", "beneath", and finally "this" to be dropped below. You'll then need to step on the noticeably dark spot on the floor in the small room to drop down even further, but getting closer to the exit.

Ryu tells Nina that he's searching for Teepo and Rei, in which the kindhearted noble agrees to help him with his pursuit, even if he clearly has reservations. Look behind the lower-left gravestone to find a Wisdom Fruit treasure that recovers 100 AP. Make sure you don't sell or use this! Not only are they precious items, but we need one to apprentice under a master. You can then follow the paved path out of the Catacombs and into Wyndia, proper.

 

Climb the stairs and take the large set of stairs on your left up to the industrial area of the city. Enter the building directly in front and wrap around to the backside of the bakery and search the shelves for a Moxa. Moxas permanently increase a character's willpower, a hidden stat, by 1, and are incredibly rare. Willpower, as you have likely seen by now, determines whether the character will auto-revive when their HP reaches 0. The maximum is 99, of which Ryu's starting willpower is 1 and Nina's is 2, to note.

 

The building next door houses a Bread shop, which is a novelty item that recover 20 HP. Both shelves next to the shopkeeper contain free Bread items, as well. The third, and last bakery to the far-right has two more shelves with Bread items to grab, too.

 

Note: Bread is actually a, potentially, missable item. After the first half of the game, the Bread shop closes and the item becomes unavailable if you have lost the four free ones.

 

Head back down to the lower-portion of Wyndia and to the right, past the inn and through the cafe, then down the stairs at he bottom, stopping at the first house on the left. Raid the dresser for an Ammonia and, if you talk to the residents, you'll hear that a country bumpkin tried to rob the place. Could it have been Teepo? A bit further down is the item shop where Vitamin and Panacea are the only new ones for sale, but if you need to stock up, wait until the next town where prices will be cheaper.

 

At the base of the stairs are Wyndia's shops. The first is a weapon shop where you can pluck a Healing Herb from the bookshelf. The Claymore is one of the reasons why we gathered so much zenny in the Yraal Region. A literal hefty 2500, it will the most powerful sword for the game's first half, but drops your agility considerably so there is a big drawback. The fact that Ryu is the game's healer makes the agility loss a major gamble, in my opinion, so I stick with the Broad Sword, but either one, make sure to switch it out for the Silver Knife. Regardless of whether you use it, we need the Claymore for our weapon collection to apprentice under a master that's not long from now. Don't purchase the Mace for Nina, it will be cheaper for us in the next town.

 

Next door is the armor shop. Pick up the Mage's Robes for Nina, but nothing else. Like with the Mace, all the other items we can purchase cheaper in the next town.

 

The last shop in line has accessories and battle items. The Midas Stone is the other reason we carried so much zenny with us to Wyndia. Equipped, you get a 50% bonus in the amount of zenny obtained from battle, but at the cost of dropping your agility by 10. If you're going to use the Claymore, you might as well equip this too since it can't get lower than 0! You'll want to get the Life Sandals too that are purchase-only. They up your status resistance by 25%. Dynamite is your first earth-elemental attack that casts Quake, and not available outside of stores, but these battle items will also be cheaper next town over.

 

Note: The Midas Stone does NOT improve enemy drop rate nor an increased chance to steal. Also, the effect does not stack with another Midas Stone, so one is all you ever need.

 

In the upper-right-corner of lower Wyndia, beyond the fountain, is the game's first inoculation shop. Each one of these grants a 50% resistance, at base, to their type and stays active until the next time you rest. The price increases the higher your level goes, as well, in case you were thinking the cost was rather cheap. You can also only have one active at a time. This can stack with your equipment and character/master affinities. Mindblock is rather poorly-described and refers to attacks that drop your statistics.

 

Note: If you need some extra zenny, you can sell the Soul Gem for 1500. You can eventually purchase them, and are found on occasion, so don't feel you have to hold it.

 

Talk to the blonde-haired kid in front of the fountain who thinks your questions about Teepo and Rei are a game of hide-and-seek in which you are forced into playing with the local children if you want to question them further. The first kid is in the corner, by the flowerbeds, outside the inoculation shop. To find the second, look in the lower-left corner opposite the clay jars that are outside the accessory shop. The third munchkin is in the upper-right corner outside the weapon shop, below the dog house, near the beggar. Lastly, the fourth is behind the upper-right-most tree at the cafe. You'll need to rotate the camera with R1 to spot all of them. They tell you what you already heard: that a kid broke into one of the local homes and probably ran off down the road outside of the city. Nina suggests we check it out, but it might have been smarter to ask if this kid had purple hair first.

 

Leaving through the Wyndian gates, move between the two giant walls to the right of the city to locate a solitary hut around back. The suspicious master, Durandal, is found here and is more than willing to tutor you even though he self-admits being useless. Durandal offers no change to your statistics upon level, nor any positive/negative traits, and only two feckless abilities mentioned below:

• Feign Swing (1): Wastes your turn with a mock attack.
• Backhand (3): An normal attack, but cannot defeat an enemy (Will do 0 damage if the blow will kill), however, this is not a bad skill to use on sleeping or confused characters to recover them quickly without the threat of a critical hit, or to lower an enemy's HP low enough to force them to use a skill. It's also required to learn first before a later master will accept you.

Hopefully you kept Nina's levels a bit low and she can apprentice under Durandal and knock learning his skills out quickly. Reason being: we are about to be locked out of Wyndia for an extended period of time and it's always best to get this useless master out of the way. You can use the random battlefields in Central Wyndia to pick up those three levels for Nina along with some additional zenny for the town ahead. Volts and Thunders appear here, which are your best bets for EXP, but if you encounter a Thunder and three Volts, turn Ryu into a dragon and have Nina focus Simoon on one of the Volts or else it is extremely likely you will be wiped out on the second turn! Nut Archers make their first appearance here, as well, and introduce you to the potential "Lucky Strike" attack you will see often throughout the game that causes heavy damage and could slay Nina in one hit! Use Burn and Simoon on them as soon as possible like you do their Nut siblings.

 

Look for item bags on the Central Wyndia battlefields to, potentially, find Life Shards, Spirits (2nd-tier worm-type fishing lure), and Panaceas.

 

Finally, there is an ? location through the northern forest and around the side of the castle. Search around to the lower-right, below the castle wall, to pick up a Ginseng that casts Might (+25% attack) during battle. After learning Backhand, head south to Eygnock Road.

 

There's little to Eygnock Road other than a solitary house and some old foes. Rippers are here if you still need to learn Blind, while Eye/Mage Goos are present if needing Burn or Snooze skills. As Ryu enters the lonely home, you'll hear Nina scream from behind you. Raid the dresser for a Clothing before hurrying back outside to find Nina tied up by Deadly & Dumb. Ryu can probably drive them off again, but opts to protect Nina and the two are whisked away to the arena town, Genmel, where they are placed under the watch of a drunken barkeep. Ryu, who apparently has dragon-like teeth in human form, bites through his ropes and the kids walk straight past the inebriated Fahl to freedom.

 

The arena town is filled with former Breath of Fire character lookalikes! In the lower-left-corner of Genmel is a slacking Manillo that will give you the very missable Flier vital item that reduces all the local store's prices! Not spending unnecessarily in Wyndia is about to pay off. If you fail to get the Flier now, it will not be available when you come back later!

 

Inside the nearby tent, the item Manillo has, basically, the same wares as Wyndia, so you may want to get some Dynamite for your inventory, but the equipment seller is where we really need to make some tough decisions that I will try to guide you through. First off: the master that requires a set number of weapons in our inventory becomes available very soon, so it's advised, but not totally necessary, to buy the Mace and the Magician Rod (Int +3) for Nina, with the latter being prioritized, obviously. For Ryu, the Scramasax is a very nice piece if not using the Claymore, but we can actually pick one up for free a bit further on, however, there is a tough dungeon before that. Personally, I would go ahead and put down the money for the Scramasax and opt to not using the Claymore due to healing inevitably being a priority during battle in said dungeon. Even though the character has yet to join us who uses it, pick up the Rippers to add to our collection for the master, too.

 

For armor, even though it is quite good, pass on the Breastplate since we will get one for free before long. If using the Claymore, pick up the Ranger Garb for agility purposes, but I recommend the Cuirass to go with the Scramasax, however, both armors will eventually have to be purchased since they are not found elsewhere. Go ahead get a Gauntlet for Nina, since they can only be purchased, but leave Ryu with the Cloth Shield since a nicer, free one is upcoming in the next dungeon and the BronzeShield can be easily gotten another way to save zenny. You can get an extra Glass Domino for Ryu, also, for the agility boost if you want to go the extra mile, but the Iron Helm is fine for now. Trust me: I know everything is a lot of zenny after dropping 5000+ in Wyndia, but we'll talk about how to gain some extra money in just a second. For reference, my equipment looks like this:

 

Ryu: Scramasax, Cloth Shield, Iron Helm/Glass Domino, Curiass, Talisman, Light Bangle

Nina: Magician Rod, Gauntlet, Glass Domino, Mage's Robes, High Boots/Bat Amulet, Life Sandals 

 

Note: For some extra cash, consider selling your Silver Knife for 700 zenny; there will be one we can pick up for free in an upcoming dungeon to add it back to our collection. Also, once you pass through the next dungeon, you will be stuck in another part of the world and cannot get back to Genmel to purchase items for a bit of time.

 

Across the town, to the east, is an inn where 80 zenny can be pocketed from a chest of drawers before leaving the area. On the world map, you can't reach Wyndia due to a rather silly blockage on the bridge, so head northwest, around the back of the mountain to an ? location. Raid the shelf in the bandit's hideout to score another excellent Wisdom Fruit. Every time I see that bandit with the knife being passed back and forth in his hands, it makes me think of Domino from Beyond the Beyond! I don't know why.

 

South of the bandit's hideout is a new fishing spot, but only contains one new catch: the Bass. Here are the details (Favored lure and size needed for maximum points):

• Puffer (Popper - 50cm)
• RainbowTrout (Worm/Sinker - 70cm)
• Bass (Any - 40cm)

This spot is stocked with RainbowTrouts that we can sell back at Genmel for 80 zenny. Bass sell for 50, too, but they are widely used in Manillo shops so hold on to 'em. If you don't care about your levels, fighting in the random battlefields is a better moneymaker, but selling the RainbowTrouts is a decent enough way to purchase everything we need while keeping our levels low for upcoming masters. In regards to the Bass, make sure you bring at least one with you to the next fishing spot. When you have everything wrapped up, enter Mt. Boumore to the east of Genmel to try to get as far away as possible.

 

The starting portion of Mt. Boumore only contains the new Gonger enemy who likes to poison you, but look out for the Nut Archer and their Lucky Strike you haven't seen them already. Head eastward up the mountain, sticking to the lower path, and grab the Panacea chest around the side before taking the hill upward twice. Move due-west, take the first left, then move down the slope and around the back to snatch a 400 zenny bag.

 

Ignore the next upward slope and use the left-most one that carries you to a ladder to climb. Don't speak to the worker in front of the building, but instead jump off the side to his opposite twice to reach the Buckler treasure that you should equip on Ryu.

 

Work your way back up the mountain and speak to the Mason this time. Nina will explain the situation and the unnerved workers will promise to take you down the backside of the mountain in the morning. Before resting, grab the Bent Sword from the shelf that will help us de-equip Ryu's weapon when we reach the weapon-requiring master. Of course, the door is locked the next day and they have called for Sunder! Run into the next room and attempt to use the control panel to the upper-left. Nina thinks her wand can power it, but Sunder is hot on your heels. The two manage to make a desperate escape on the lift to the other side of the mountain, hopefully away from green-haired menace.

 

The far-side of Mt. Boumore is home to Orcs who possess a new skill to learn: Last Resort. You only get one shot per battle to learn it, as they use it once at the start and not again, so be prepared to endure several battles to add it to your skill notes. Last Resort transfers the entirety of your Defense stat (Leaving it at 0) to your Power to boost attack. Not bad, especially later on in the game, but of course comes with some risk. If you're having any trouble with the Orcs, you can hit them with Bone Dart to easily confuse them or Blind.

 

Note: Orcs can drop Titan Belt accessories (+10 Power), but the chances are very slim, unlike the Ghoul's High Boots, and not worth the effort since they can be purchased later on, but noted for those that want to try.

 

Exit out of the lift platform and move southeast, past a rusted door, and down to a Life Shard item bag. This item is missable because once we continue further, we can never return here! Northeast of the door, at the summit, our heroes are cornered again by Sunder. Choosing to jump rather than be captured again, they tumble down the steep slope, only Ryu's dragon transformation saving them from certain injury. Nina, again, expresses sincere thanks for Ryu's protection and he quietly obtains the Defender dragon gene. Defender boosts the dragon's HP and Defense, but lowers Agility (These stat changes don't effect certain advanced forms). They can also use the Counter skill.

 

Out on the world map, there is a ? area to the southwest of Mt. Boumore where Ryu can pick up another dragon gene, Reverse. As the name implies, it grants the opposite attribute of the paired gene. For example, paired with Flame, an ice-based dragon is created. You can combo Flame and Reverse with Defender to create your first full-grown dragon, also. The Tower to the northeast is our next destination, but you'll notice a new fishing spot below it. We'll find a much better fishing rod inside the Tower, so we'll talk about it after.

Breath of Fire III - Chapter 2: Grand Larceny

Spring has come to the Yraal Region and with it an abundance of fruit and animals to Cedar Woods. Teepo, who has somehow managed to contain his excitement for at least one turn of a season, wants to head down to McNeil and soak in the praise from the townsfolk after taking care of the Nue. McNeil is oddly quiet until villagers emerge from their homes, tools in hand, and surround the young heroes! Gotcha! They were only going to bash your skulls in last season! They're grateful for your efforts with the Nue and the fields are plentiful now. When everyone disperses, head for the item shop and purchase a Wooden Rod and a couple of each type of lure (Worms and Sinkers most important). If you haven't already, make sure our trio is outfitted with Cloth Shields and Brass Helms at the equipment shop, but you won't need another Bronze Sword. Any left over zenny you have, spend on Healing Herbs and Antidotes until you are left with as little as possible, but not zero.

 

With the season change, some trees at the Yraal Road and the path leading to Mt. Glaus have fruits growing on them. Have Teepo deliver a swift kick to, sometimes, drop a Berries item down; which can be done an infinite number of times, however, on occasion you will get stung by a caterpillar and lose some HP. Berries only recover 5 HP and eventually can be purchased, though, but it's free from the trees.

 

Note: You can now find Float lures on the random battlefields of the world map which is a more advanced version of the sinker-type, but you can buy them later on.

 

With near-empty pockets, northwest of McNeil, on the world map, is a ? location in a grove of trees. Our first master, Mygas, is loitering here looking to teach spells to whomever is willing to hand over their entire savings. Thankfully, just the gesture of whatever you have on-hand is enough. Here are some important things to know about masters:

• Skills are taught via a number of level gains while apprenticing under them. They must be consecutive and cannot be staggered with other character's levels also under the master. If you leave the master's service, the number of levels needed for the skill will be reset. So, if you leave at 4, and the skill requires 10, and you re-up with the master, those 4 will have to be made up.
• Most masters have a direct effect on your character's statistics upon leveling up; both positive and negative. This is, essentially, how you determine the trajectory of their growth to suit your preference. Although, as stated in the previous chapter, don't let yourself become bogged down in the weight of this as statistical items like the Power Food can be farmed later in the game.
• The positive stat bonuses always occur upon leveling, however, the negative ones are only applied if the character receives a boost in the stat for that level. In other words, in regards to Mygas, if the character doesn't gain any Defense, none is taken. Since stats upon leveling up are always predetermined, it is possible to weave your way through 99 levels and exploit this, but not in any way worth it.  
• Some masters also come with both positive and negative traits that effect your characters, but are not communicated. I will cover these with each new master.
• Master skills, like enemy ones, can be swapped between characters with a Skill Ink item from the diary at camp. If you ever find that a master won't teach you their skill despite meeting the prerequisite number of levels, it's often because that character's skill list if full and one needs to be returned to the skill notes.
• Unlike Breath of Fire IV, you must travel to the master itself to apprentice and learn their skills. Likewise, you'll need to visit them to leave their tutelage.

Old wizard Mygas gives a +2 to Int and +1 to AP upon leveling up, but drops your Power and Defense gains by 1. He also adds a +5 bonus to surprise (Which is a hidden stat for each character that calculates whether the party gets the advantage when a random battle occurs), but he also drops the characters dodge (Another hidden stat) by 2. The skills Mygas teaches, plus their required levels in parenthesis:

• Frost (1): Same as Teepo's; a minor, ice-elemental spell. Important Ryu has for an upcoming dungeon.
• Meditation (4): Doubles the character's Intelligence for the next turn, but can be used twice in a row to achieve a 300% increase, then resets after an action is taken. Interesting, but not particularly effective considering you need to expend at least a turn to use when you could just cast the same spell twice, but it would save some AP, I suppose.
• Magic Ball (6): A very odd magic attack that uses both the enemy's Intelligence and Defense to determine damage, so it's not really effective against any type of enemy. Decent early, but later in the game you will find it does almost no damage at all to opponents.
• Typhoon (8): A strong, wind-based spell on all enemies.

 

You can always see a list of masters and their effect on your character's statistics from the journal in the tent, but keep in mind some masters have hidden traits I will cover when we meet them. A star will also be placed next to the master's name once you have learned all of their skills. For more information on suggestions for masters on each character, see the Character Setups chapter, but I would start by apprenticing Ryu and Teepo to Mygas.

 

In addition to masters, spring has brought the addition of the fishing mini-game, as well. There are two spots to fish in the Yraal Region: just west of Mygas' grove and west of the McNeil Farm; the latter needing to go around the bottom-left of the fields on the world map to access. Fishing is simple, yet complicated at the same time. Simple in that each type of fish has a lure preference, but a button-tapping sequence (referred to as "tec") is sometimes necessary to draw the rare ones to take the bait. Tec is best outlined by checking out the rules section of the in-game menu and takes plenty of practice, but once you learn to tap in rhythm to the music, it becomes much easier to perform. Thankfully, you rarely need more than a +3 tec if you are using the correct bait.

 

Generally speaking, the rarest, and harder to catch, fish will have a faded sprite that blends into the water, as opposed to their easier and darker-sprited counterparts, and are not limited in the position in which they spawn. With the starter Wooden Rod, access to the further regions of the fishing spots is impossible, but you can leave and reenter the spot to kind of reshuffle their positions and hopefully bring them to within range of catching, which is often faster than simply waiting for them to swim further inland.

 

Difficulty of the catch is determined by your equipped rod, the fish, and its size. The red line (The fish's stamina) at the bottom-left of the player side of the gauge is an indication of the rarity of the fish you snagged and, a longer than usual line for that type, often signifies a larger size. If and when the fish fights you and reaches the far-end of its gauge and doesn't want to move, keep hitting right on the directional pad until it starts to move back towards the player side. When reeling, I have always jerked back on the rod with the back/down button, but have no idea if this actually helps or not! I think it's mostly just a habit I have picked up over the decades rather than an effective strategy, but feels nice!

 

It's important to remember that under most circumstances, if a fish gets away, you lose your lure, and this could mean disaster for certain lures that are rare or limited in number (Like the Coin), but this is not always the case. If the fish is on your side of the gauge, and you move the green cursor far onto their side, the fish will be let go and you get to keep your lure. This is absolutely essential when navigating around all the bottom-feeders and not wanting to waste time luring them in if they manage to snag your line.

 

A fish's size is very important; at least for a completionist, and is often what keeps most players from obtaining a full 100%. The first time you catch a new type of fish, you are rewarded a large number of points toward your rank, which slightly increases each time you catch a larger size. You need to catch the near-maximum size of almost every type of fish in the game to obtain a one-of-a-kind item. What makes this difficult is the size of each fish is already determined when you enter the fishing spot and the possible spawning of these large sizes for some types are as rare as the hardest enemy drops! Anyway, this is just the beginning of the game, so more will be covered in the final chapter. You will be able to apprentice under a master and obtain the best fishing equipment by raising your rank to reasonable levels, however. Below are the available fish in the Yraal Region along with their preferred bait and maximum size needed for the most points:

 

West of McNeil Village:

• Jellyfish (Any - 30cm)
• Pirana (Any - 40cm)
• RainbowTrout (Worm/Sinker - 70cm)

West of McNeil Farm:

• Pirana (Any - 40cm)
• Puffer (Popper - 50cm)
• Trout (Worm/Sinker - 70cm)
• Manillo (Coin - 200cm)

At any fishing spot on the world map, you can use the square button to see which fish are available to haul in (Assuming you have caught that type before). The data section of the fishing menu keeps track of your largest catches, but neglects to show if you have caught one that is worth the maximum number of points. Most fish also have a use as items either in or out of battle, but the ones in the Yraal Region are not noteworthy.

 

Note: A fish's location in the spot has no correlation to their size.

 

The fishing hole west of the Farm contains the game's first Manillo; a unique catch that is easy to locate by their large sprite that resembles a swimming turtle. Manillos respond only to the Coin bait; and is the only type in the game that it can catch, in fact. Hauling one up provides a special shop where you can trade fish for rare items and their stock varies depending on location. You should get, at least, one Silver Knife for Ryu. Low in weight also, the Silver Knife is holy-elemental and can be combo'd with casting Gloom for some big damage! Personally, a would get three to outfit the entire party since they sell for a huge 700 zenny and the extra money will come in handy a little later.

 

Iron Helms are much better than Brass ones, but come at the cost of a higher weight, so you might prefer to keep Rei with the latter to supplement Pilfer. You can eventually buy both the Silver Knife and Iron Helms if you don't want to fish for them, but one Silver Knife is HIGHLY recommended. The level 2 lure types also here, which improve your chances of baiting a fish, are fairly easy to trade for, and won't be purchasable for quite a bit of time, but aren't totally necessary. You might get a couple of Skill Inks for the future, though. The two accessories won't be able to be traded until later in the game.

  

Note: Although Manillos are easy to catch, be careful not to lose your Coin to them! They are in limited supply. Besides that, Coins sink quickly and can be caught on the bottom of the basin and lost also. Until you have a couple in your inventory, I would save often. 

 

Note: At this point, I would have everyone equipped with Silver Knives, Iron Helms (Brass Helm for Rei is fine), Waistcloth, and the Talisman on one of the characters for equipment. 

 

Back to the story, you'll probably have noticed a shifty-looking, green-cloaked guy skulking around after you in McNeil. Agree to listen to whatever underhanded job he has for you and he'll want to meet you in the small shack down at the Farm. Make sure you save before you go and I recommend that you bring a couple of hundred zenny with you just in case. At the Farm, Loki thinks you can become even greater heroes to the McNeil tenants if you steal back their tax money. Robin Hood and the like, yeah? Teepo is more than enthusiastic because think of how much more the villagers will like you then when they already promise you free food whenever you need it just from killing that Nue?

 

That night, the party splits up at the gates of McNeil's manor to find a way in. To the northwest is an obvious, horribly-repaired job in the wall that Rei will put his back into and it gives way. Move along the wall to the lower-left and if you rotate the the camera with R1, you'll spot a fellow thief who will give you 50 zenny to not expose him. Good thing, cause just beyond is a group of hapless guards will take exactly 50 zenny as a bribe to let you in!

 

Note: After the wall comes down, random encounters are possible outside the manor walls, but it's the usual suspects you have seen before. If you need to rest, Loki is inside the hut that had the Vitamin earlier, but you can't save, unfortunately. If you get caught inside the manor, you'll have to pay another 50 zenny to get past the guards, so use these encounters if you need the zenny or you can try scoring some from cutting the bushes.

 

Use the stairs past the guards and adjust the camera with R1 to see the Wallet item in the upper-left corner. This appears in the "vital" section of the item menu and is meant to be given to the guard a bit farther to your right to get by, but you can actually skip that entirely and keep it in your inventory for the entire game!

 

Note: The courtyard and the McNeil manor itself are one-time dungeons. Anything not grabbed will be lost, so don't leave anything behind! 

 

At the bottom of the stairs near the guard that lost the Wallet is a watchman with a lantern that alternates between looking north and south. While he is looking south, inch up to where you are almost beside him, as shown in the screenshot, and hit start. Keep hitting start until the lantern light disappears, which indicates he is about to turn north, then run south to evade him and keep that old, crusty Wallet. Continue south and climb the ladder onto a small platform and strike the bell with Ryu to signal quittin' time to a soldier below.

 

Follow through the hedges where the soon-to-be unemployed guard left his post and up onto the center area of the courtyard with the fountain. Talk to the soldier smoking a cigarette who wants you to take out the manor's guard dog to free himself of any blame of your impending break-in. Head downward toward the front gate to find the scapegoat. Have Rei use Pilfer to lift a Vitamin from the Pooch while Ryu and Teepo examine to learn the useful Snap ability. Make sure to learn this now since you will not have another chance for quite a long time! Snap does a small amount of physical damage, but drops defense by 12% (If successful) and can be used multiple times to drop their defense by a maximum of 50%. Besides the defense loss from it using Snap, the Pooch is easily defeated.

 

Able to pass by the remorseless guard now, use the stairs a little to the northeast and wrap around the outside of the manor to the right to find a Firecracker item in a treasure chest. This item casts Fireblast which targets all enemies. Back down below, look for a guy and one of the manor's maids in the middle of a hedge near the bottom-right of the map. Talk to them, then doubleback to relay what's going on to the jealous soldier guarding the small building you past by to send him running after them.

 

Inside the henhouse, Teepo pockets an Egg (Which stays in your inventory under vital) only to be accosted by a giant rooster named Rocky! Like with the Pooch, have Rei Pilfer to attempt to lift a Life Shard item that permanently increases a character's HP while the other two examine and try to learn the Jump skill. Jump, as you'll likely experience here, is a highly variable physical attack that will likely cause minimal to average damage, but can sometimes produce a surprisingly good number. Prioritize getting the Life Shard, however, since Jump can be gotten inside the manor too. Rocky might turn a character into an egg for three turns with Ovum, also, which if hit with Jump after, could spell disaster, but thankfully Ovum tends to mostly miss. If you get unlucky with Jump, you may need to expend an Ammonia, but otherwise, this is just a simple mini-boss like Pooch.

 

The battle with Rocky has sent the chickens scurrying around the courtyard (One is even trying to win the heart of Mina, also!) and the guards after them. Move back to the center fountain and you'll see that the lantern-bearing guard that was near the stairs to the west is gone and you can ascend them now. Move around to the right where the party discovers that guards have amassed at the manor's front door. Rei decides to create a diversion while Ryu and Teepo sneak inside, promising to meet them on the roof.

 

New encounters are found inside the dimly-lit mansion. The giant Roaches continuously perform Jump if you didn't pick it up from Rocky and the Guards love to heal themselves with Healing Herbs. Both are also strong against holy, so the Holy Knife won't deal as much damage as it should, but the difference isn't worth switching back to a Bronze Sword because other enemies in the manor are weak against the element. For fun, you can use Gloom on the Guards and watch them kill themselves with Healing Herbs! 

 

Volts possess one of the best offensive skills in the game: Charge. This physically-based attack is bolstered the more defense you have so damage will further increase throughout the game and never lose effectiveness on the right character; plus requires no AP! 

 

Enter the door to the eastern-wing and Teepo will get spooked by the creepy paintings displayed on the walls which no haunted house is ever complete without. There are actually even more portraits on the opposite-side of the wall containing more handsome McNeil forefathers, but we can't see them. Darn. Slipping through to the lower-right and then north will allow us to rest and save by talking to the butler, which we desperately need. Search the table around the back of the portrait hall for an easy 120 zenny.

 

One of the dressers we passed, near the staircase, has a Vitamin to plunder. Taking the stairs, we can find a permanently, MP-raising Magic Shard in the dresser next to the beds. The third climb of stairs takes up into an attic where an Eye Drops and Taser items can be taken from the crates. Tasers cast Lightning when used during battle.

 

Return to the manor's foyer and enter the hidden western-wing door that is directly opposite the other. There's a concealed dresser at the far-end that contains a Life Shard.

 

Attempting to approach the flight of stairs in the foyer introduces you to the first of several McNeil ancestors that still haunt the halls of the manor. Being a ghost, Torast, and the rest of his upcoming brethren, are very susceptible to Silver Knives and you can even cast Rejuvenate or use a Vitamin for big damage. All it can do is put you to sleep, so hack away.

 

Once Torast has spirited away, climb to the second floor and head for the eastern-wing. There's a library in the back with some rather uninteresting books on the McNeils, but otherwise, there is a hidden table in the bedroom with a lucrative 40 zenny to collect.

 

On the western-side, the southern-most bedroom has a dresser harboring Gems. This is another "appears valuable" item that needs to be sold at a special shop to maximize profits. To the north is another dresser with a Vitamin.

 

Ryu, apparently, has a sixth sense for spotting doppelganger McNeils and the dreaded Kassen challenges you. If you don't kill him in one turn, he might try to steal some HP/AP.

 

Follow the blue-floored stretch past Kassen and into the room at the end. Collect the Panacea from the hidden dresser, which completely restores a character's status.

 

Trying to use the stairs brings forth Galtel McNeil. He's got a bit more HP than the previous two, but spends his time trying to lower your stats while you exorcise him.

 

Down the stairs leads you through a bedroom, where the butler is not nearly as nice as the earlier one and won't offer you rest, but you can rob the MultiVitamin, that completely restores a character's HP, from the dresser as compensation. The linear path takes you through a kitchen where a Healing Herb can be procured from a cabinet. Up the stairs at the end is yet another unrestable bedroom, but has 600 zenny in its dresser.

 

The next McNeil, Doksen, confronts you when you try to advance south of the stairs. He doesn't even get his name out before you start beating his non-existent pants off. Doksen will counter whatever element you use with the same; which in the case of an attack with the Silver Knife, he will cast Heal on you. Terrific. Afterward, the McNeil patriarchs discuss the situation from their haunted portraits, but don't bother to include the ones across from them you can't see, but I digress...Head through the bottom room and hit the switch on the side of the elevator to activate it. Climb the nearby stairs just after to be able to rest and save before climbing to the roof to look for Rei.

 

No sign of Rei, so we'll have to do some searching. There are Bats on the roof if you still haven't learned Gloom, but at this point, Burn will likely do too much damage to drop them to 1 HP in order for them to use it, but that's okay .This portion of the roof if barren of items, so you can proceed across the top-portion all the way to the left until you hit a barrier. The green algae of the roof's slope will cause you to slide down if you come into contact with it. At the end of the roof, you must slide down the left-most-side of the last window to come into contact with the grappling hook (Not an actual item) which brings Rei back into the picture. Rei manages to "methodically" cast the grappling hook to the adjacent roof only to have to endure Teepo's incessant nagging.

 

Now that Rei is back in the party, if he has learned Jolt, there is an opportunity for a great amount of experience. If he casts Jolt on a Volt, they increases in statistics and experience earned; but unlike similar later enemies, this can only be done once. Be wary of doing this with groups of three Volts, however, since they auto-counter with Jolt themselves and three in a row could, potentially, wipe out the party. Along with the free rest below, this is an excellent way to gain levels, but don't get carried away. Rei can Pilfer Tasers from Volts, also, which you can sell for a solid 100 zenny.

 

Check around back of the steaming grate to the right-hand-side of the newly-accessible roof to pick up a Broad Sword. It's three points of attack higher than the Silver Knife, but also weights more, and the coming boss is weak against holy, so I would stick with it, for now. You can use the ladder next to the billowing steam to descend down into a bathhouse where you can rob another Vitamin from a dresser.

 

Drop all the way to the lower-portion of the roof and make your way to the far-left to pick up a satchel with a Swallow Eye item that permanently raises a character's agility. Although it will be quite a long time from now, always make sure you have one of these in your inventory due to it being a rare item and one is needed to become a pupil of a master.

 

Note: Heading down the middle ladder just off to the lower-left of the grappling hook location will take you to the living McNeil. As stated before, this is a one-time dungeon, so make sure you have collected every single item!

 

The party finds McNeil chasing around some gold-digger who flees the moment they arrive leaving him to grovel at your feet. The humiliated McNeil fab-five show up and merge into an Amalgam to try to put a little respect back on their family name. This unholy thing is quite a bit tougher, but still not much of a threat. Rei can steal a Magic Shard, so put him to thieving while Ryu attacks with the Silver Knife (Or can cast Rejuvenate) and Teepo casting Simoon for your best damage. If using attack formation, casting Protect on the point man may be advisable since its Astral Warp can do a decent amount of damage.

 

Thankfully, McNeil stores bags of zenny in the back of his bedroom and the trio can walk out without a care in the world, despite McNeil's veiled threats. They leave a bag of money for each home in McNeil village, sure to find the adoration of the tenants the next day; at least Teepo thinks so. Life is about to change, however...

 

Note: Make sure you have nabbed the three items from the tree house! Last chance.

 

Before going to McNeil I want to share a strategy I always use at this point and that is to have Teepo, whom we are about to lose for the entirety of the game, to learn the rest of Mygas' skills. The reason for this is because the Yraal Region is about to become closed off to us for a fairly significant portion of the game and we will be unable to make it back to him to learn those spells or leave his tutelage. As stated earlier, if you take on another master before learning those skills, you have to gain all of those levels back again; so it's best just to go ahead and take care of this now. You can, of course, use whomever you want, but I prefer to keep Ryu and Rei's levels for later masters. 

 

The best way to go about this is to remove all of Ryu and Rei's armor and head for Mt. Glaus with Teepo equipping the Broad Sword and having the Blind skill. You'll recall that Goos run amuck in the area and their experience drastically increases when blinded. Have Ryu and Rei target theirself to kill themselves each battle while Teepo uses Blind. If you find two Puff Goos, you can get well over 100 exp per battle, all going to Teepo: even more if three show up. The EXP from Eye and Mage Goos is decent, too. Once Typhoon is gained from Mygas, you are done. For those that care, Teepo learns his final spell, Iceblast, at level 14, if you want to feel like you learned every ability.

 

Note: I would remove Rei from Mygas' service unless you are serious about him becoming a mage-type character. When he returns later on in the game, all his levels will be calculated according to his current master and, in my opinion, leaving him with Mygas is not efficient.

 

Note: If you don't like fishing, I would highly advise you to take some time to steal many, many Waistcloths from the BossGblns and accumulate 5000 zenny from selling them. This will come in extremely handy in the next city, however, this is just suggested, and not totally necessary. A perhaps better idea is to fish up Trouts and RainbowTrouts and cash them in at the Manillo for Silver Knives that sell for 700. If you already have three of them, that's 1400 zenny when you sell the other two.

 

You'll quickly find by talking to the McNeil tenants that they are not happy, and scared, by the party's actions last night. In fact, the village will refuse to offer you any amenities at all. Look for Loki at the Farm who sounds like he may soil his shoddy cloak at anytime. He asks to talk in the privacy of the barn you met at previously. The coward decides to skip town instead and Bunyan enters to drop some frightening truths on the young heroes: McNeil is in bed with some nasty folks who are likely looking for revenge. Rei suggests that you return to the hideout until all this blows over. At this point, remove all of Teepo and Rei's equipment and give them Bent Swords as weapons. Failure to do so will result in permanently losing those items. You can leave their skills since they will be removed.

The group finds their beloved home engulfed in flames. Two horse-men mock the friends and engage the enraged heroes in a battle that is entirely unwinnable, no matter what anybody tries to say. Both have a set amount of HP, but when depleted, the number instantly resets to max. We can try to salvage some good out of this predestined defeat by stealing, however. Balio (the silver one) has a Defense-raising Protein while Sunder (The green-haired idiot) has a Life Shard. The chances of swiping them are dramatically low, but you might as well give it a shot. If Rei has over 20 agility (And should with no equipment) he will always get an EX turn to help with this. I would prioritize the Protein, if determined.

 

You can use Influence on Balio to have Sunder target his brother instead of you, taking some pressure off while you Pilfer. Balio will more often than not pound the party with Lightning and Healing Herbs or Vitamins will need to be administered to all afterward, however, the stolen items are simply not worth losing a lot of these resources and I would reset the game if I don't have the Protein before using too many of them.

 

Ryu awakes, alone, in Bunyan's cabin. Outside, he informs the poor fellow that he was the only one that was found and the other two are likely dead, but this does not deter Ryu from deciding to leave for Wyndia to look for them. Exit Cedar Woods, then reenter, and talk to Bunyan again who will become available as a master, however, I would not recommend becoming his pupil right now for the same reasons I talked about with Mygas a bit earlier: he will be unavailable to return to for quite a bit of time; I don't feel he suits Ryu's growth, either. If you are serious about Ryu becoming a physical powerhouse and neglecting his magic, by all means sign up with the woodsman, though, but know he requires 10 levels to learn all his skills. Upon leveling, Bunyan grants a +2 to HP/Power and a +1 to Defense, while dropping their Intelligence by 3 and AP by 2. The skills he teaches are outlined below:

• Risky Blow (2): Either delivers a critical hit or whiffs completely. Is more favorably skewed towards the latter (25% chance to hit), as you would expect.
• Focus (5): The Power version of Mygas' Meditation. Doubles the character's Power, but can be used twice in a row to achieve a 300% increase, then resets after an action (Even a counter) is taken. Unlike Meditation, however, this is far more useful and can be used before a special ability to increase its damage.
• Super Combo (8): A gimmicky skill where you must quickly enter an input displayed on screen within a semi-random amount of time. More correct inputs equals more damage. One of the strongest physical attacks in the game if you get the maximum amount of time and good coordination, but eats up 12 AP.
• Disembowel (10): Attempts to drop an enemy's HP to 1, which of course is not a percentage in your favor, but regardless of whether it connects, it reduces the user's maximum HP each time and they need to rest at an inn. It's actually a death-based attack so if the enemy has total immunity (like bosses) it won't work at all and the higher the immunity it's even less likely to hit. An awful skill.