Sochen Cave Palace
Take the right branch at the first fork and keep an eye out for a chest again the east wall. Continue north and stay very close to the east wall. There are some very dangerous traps in the middle which can confuse your party members and potentially wipe your entire group.
There may be another chest in the northeast corner that you hit here. From there, go west as much as possible, another two chests may spawn around here as well. At this point your goal is simply to head north. Be sure to heal your party before zoning to the next screen.
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BOSS: Mandragoras - HP: 9069 (each) - LV: 37
What a fun little battle we have here. There are two entirely opposite strategies to consider for this battle depending on how prepared you are. Given that the Mandragoras run around the field and attack at random, it makes it difficult to face this boss as you would any other typical one. The first school of thought is for those of average level, or perhaps a little underpowered. These people need every advantage they can get and thus, don't have a lot of room for error. The best thing you can do in this case is intentionally avoid the enemies and cast Decoy on your main tank (who should be holding a shield). Get yourself into an area as equally distant from every one of them as possible, and wait for them all to come after you at once. Try to get at least four of them as close as possible, then of course, launch your biggest most powerful Quickening attack to nail them all. If you are in a stronger position, capable of dishing out heavy damage quickly, you may find it more advantageous to hunt each one down individually and pound on it as you would any normal foe. Considering that they heal quite often, the intense focus on one will allow you to wear it down before it has any chance to counter. Pick them off one at a time as you run around the field. |
Defeating the Mandragoras not only nets you 1000 Gil and Remedy x 3 from the boy who gave you the Hunt, it also allows you to join the official Hunt Club located back at the Phon Coast Hunter's Camp. Feel free to return there if you wish, though you can certainly wait to do so until later.
Take either the east or west door. Make sure to heal your party. Both paths lead north toward a fake Save Crystal. As you have experienced before, you must defeat the bug in order to transform it into a real Save Crystal. Save your game and proceed east.
Go through the north door and make a right at the first fork. What you want to do is hug the eastern wall and continue in this direction until you reach an urn with the cave's map inside.
Head north from here to reach the next screen. Now, a secret room exists on this map, but it requires you to take a minor detour. From here, head back south to the previous screen. Now, run all the way to the far west side and go north there. Doing so should trigger the message "the course of the waterfalls has changed." You're on your way now.
Run north, a little east, and take the first northern exit you come to. What you want to do now is run east, through the door, and then out the southeast door. Keep going east from this door until you reach the far east side. The exit you want is NOT the furthest east one, but the second-to-furthest east exit. Take that one south to reach the falls of time again, and once again it should say "the course of the falls has changed."
Run DIRECTLY south from here to reach the Mirror of the Soul again. There are a lot of paths leading north from this map. You want the second-to-furthest west one. Take that and again, the falls will change.
Now for the final part. Take the north exit that is almost directly above this one. It is the second-to-furthest west exit leading north to Destiny's March. Once again, go through the room to the east, and this time take the very first exit south on the other side of the room.
This marks the final waterfall change. The door leading south in the middle of this room is finally open. Open the Pilgrim's Door and get the chest. It will contain one of two things, either an Iga Blade or a Koga Blade. Neither is more powerful than the other. Keep in mind that Ninja Swords will combo far more often than normal weapons, so attack power isn't the only variable to consider.
There is a boss battle with no save point coming up soon, so you may want to head back and save before proceeding north. Zoning from Destiny's March to the Hall of Shadowlight will trigger the boss battle.
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BOSS: Ahriman - HP: 62149 - LV: 38
You may find yourself spending much of the battle fighting against your own party rather than the boss itself. Ahriman uses a plethora of status effects on each one of your party members, forcing you into a constant statue of Esuna-casting and defending against confused allies. Make sure you have a full complement of status healing abilities before you begin. The boss himself is able to split up into clones, all but one of which are fake. The fakes will go down in just a couple of hits, so when this occurs just hit everything in sight until only one remains. his other main attack is elemental Magick like Blizzara and Fira, though someone wearing mystic armour and ready with the Cura spell should be sufficient to keep your HP up. This is one of those fights where if you can't seem to win, your best bet is probably to level up more. Given his lack of real weaknesses, much of the outcome is based on your ability to hit hard between heals. |
Following the battle, make sure to heal your party, then take the east door. You need to navigate a final passage filled with both traps and enemies, so healing prior is very important. Examine the pedestal at the top of the hill and ride the lift out of this dungeon.
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