Breath of Fire III/Crossing the Outer Sea

Fixing The Ship
Once in Raphala head to the wharf and talk to Shadis. She will tell you that Beyd went to Junk Town to find out what problem the ship had, which broke again. Then head to Junk Town. Once here, upgrade your gear and collect items from the closets if you haven't already. In the southern area of the city you will find Beyd talking to the Guild guardians and will then head to the Dock. Follow him. Finally, you will be able to access the northern part of the Urkan Region. In this area you will find two new fishing spots, where you can catch a new type of fish. In one of these you can also trade your catch with Manillo. You can buy the best lures in the game and a powerful sword for Ryu. At the end of the peninsula you will find a fisherman's cottage. Enter it. You will find the ??? gene behind a curtain and a Swallow Eye in the closet. There is also a place nearby called Steel Beach, but you will not be able to enter for now. Then head to the Dock, south of Junk Town, taking Momo with you. Here you will meet Beyd who is talking to the sailors. They will say they don't have the parts needed to repair the engine. Beyd will then ask you if you know anyone who knows about machines. Put Momo in charge of the group and talk to Beyd again. Beyd will lead her to the engine room. Momo will leave the group to start repairing the engine and she will give you a list of the parts she needs to fix the boat. Speaking with the locals, you'll find that the best place to find the parts is Steel Beach, but only Guild members can access it. You will therefore need to ask permission first. Go back to Junk Town and enter one of the houses on the left to speak to the Guildmaster. He will give you permission to search for parts at Steel Beach. So go on the spot.

Steel Beach
Take Garr with you. If you've already asked the Guildmaster for permission, the guard at the entrance will let you through. You will arrive on the beach. First, go to the north end to find the Mutant gene. Speaking with the people on site, you will discover that to find the necessary parts you will also have to enter the building on the left, but since it is dangerous inside, you will first have to ask the foreman. You will easily recognize him: he is the biggest man, similar to a gorilla. He will ask you if you know someone as strong as he is. Obviously yes, put Garr in charge of the group and talk to him again. You will then have to pass a simple mini-game. Basically, you have to press the X button when the monkey raises the red flag to pull the rope and make sure that the difference between your rope and that of the foreman never exceeds 2 meters. You shouldn't have any problems. When there are only a few meters of rope left, however, you will discover that you have dragged a giant fish to shore. You will then have to fight the Angler.

Boss Fight - Angler
HP: 3000

This boss is relatively easy. His only attack that does decent damage is Thunder Clap, so equip one of your characters with the Thunder Ring. Venom Breath is just a bore. Cast Shield on the party early in the battle if you like, then transform Ryu with the Force, Gross and Thorn genes. Then attack the Angler with simple physical attacks, which should already do a lot of damage. Garr will have to support him with his powerful attacks (if you have the Beast Spear equipped that will be fine), while your third member will essentially have to heal the party and attack when no healing is required. If you follow this strategy anyway, you will defeat the Angler in a few turns.

After defeating the Angler, the foreman will allow you to search for parts wherever you want. Some of them are already on the beach, while for the others you will have to look inside. However, many parts are hidden and you will have to constantly rotate the camera to see them. Inside the building you will also have to act on the switches to move the beams and be able to fully explore this area. Either way, you shouldn't have a problem finding all the parts. In one corner, you will also find a Robe of Wind. In the inner area you can also be attacked by some enemies, but they do not represent a threat at all. You will also notice a door that you cannot open, because it is closed on the other side. After finding all the pieces, return to the Dock, where Momo awaits you.

Give her all the parts and Momo will fix the engine. In case a few pieces are still missing, Momo will tell you. After repairing the ship, you can set sail. Beyd will tell you that before he can give you the ship, you have to go back to Raphala. During the voyage, Beyd will ask the sailors why the ship broke down. They will reply that it broke down following a collision with the Black Ship, a mysterious huge ship that is occasionally spotted in the Outer Sea, but this time it was found by chance in the Inner Sea. You will soon reach Raphala.

Parch
When you arrive in Raphala, Beyd will allow you to use the ship. Zig, the braggart you met in the past, will come forward and take you wherever you want, as he is Raphala's best sailor. Get on board. Ryu will tell Zig that he wants to cross the Outer Sea. Zig will be perplexed and will suggest that you talk to the others first. Do it and then talk to him again, stating that you want to cross the ocean. Zig will agree and you will take control of the ship. Head to the Outer Sea, but you will find that your ship is not suitable for facing the ocean and you will have to go back. Zig will tell you that there is a legend about a man who arrived from the other side of the ocean, the Legendary Mariner. He is probably the only person who can help you cross the ocean. Zig doesn't know much about him, but he knows who knows best: Parch's major. Parch is the village northwest of Raphala, reachable only by boat, which you have certainly already noticed. So go that way.

Parch is a fishing village and fish is their main source of livelihood. Take a tour of the village and talk to the villagers, collecting the items you will find in the closets. In the village there is also a Manillo general store, where you can buy better weapons and protections, in addition to the normal items. You will find the major in the northeastern most house. However, you will find that the major is weak and apathetic and he has no interest in talking to you. He is in fact tired of always eating only fish. He will tell you to throw his ashes into the Maekyss River when he dies. The old man in the room will in fact inform you that the major is a native of Central Wyndia. Then return to Raphala by boat and head to Maekyss Gorge.

The Shisu Quest
Put Peco in the party and enter the Maekyss Gorge. Enter the house next to the bridge and talk to the woman. She will tell you that there is a dish made with fish that has a completely different flavor: the Shisu, a local dish. She will tell you that a Mackerel, Shaly Seeds, Vinegar and Horseradish are needed to prepare it. You can then ask the woman where to find the various ingredients: Mackerel can be fished at a nearby fishing spot on the Maekyss River; Shaly Seeds can be obtained from the tree near her house; Vinegar can be obtained at the Coffee Shop in Eastern Wyndia and Horseradish can be obtained from plants on Ogre Road to the west. The woman will then offer to explain how to prepare the Shisu, but first she will suggest you to find all the ingredients.

Exit the house and reach the tree with white fruits nearby. Use Peco to repeatedly hit the tree and knock out the Shaly Seeds. Collect at least twenty. Then go back to the World Map. You will notice that a new fishing spot has appeared nearby - enter it. Here you can fish for Mackerel. They are the fishes with medium shadows. They are not difficult to fish, a high-level worm-type bait will do just fine. Try to get a good number of them, so that you can also find some large ones. Then go to the Coffee Shop in Eastern Wyndia, taking Garr with you. At the bottom right you will find a well with a hooded man, who will ask you if you know a strong person who can help him extract water from the well. Put Garr in charge of the group and talk to him again. To get the water from the well, you will have to overcome a mini-game. Quickly hit the triangle button to lower the bucket. Then, when you hear a splash noise, stop lowering it and use the directional buttons to move the bucket. When the gurgling water no longer reaches you, it means that the bucket is full and you can pick it up. To do this, you have to quickly press the X button the same number of times you pressed the one the triangle one. If you succeed, you will get water and the hooded person will give you 4 Vinegar. With a little practice, you should succeed without problems and if you make a mistake, you can still try again. Raise the water at least 2 or 3 times. Finally, head to Ogre Road, in the Dauna region. About halfway through, you will find those weird plants that you should have noticed before. By cutting them with Ryu's sword, you will get the Horseradish. Get at least a dozen, exiting and re-entering the Ogre Road to make the plants reappear.

Go back to Maekyss Gorge and talk to the woman again. She will teach you how to assemble and knead the Shisu. She will explain to you that the most important thing is that the Shisu is well proportioned. If the Mackerel is 10, the Shaly Seed must be 8, the Vinegar 2 and the Horseradish 4. Finally, keep in mind that by kneading the Shisu you lose a Shaly Seed. Finally, return to Parch by boat.

By talking to the old man in the major's house, you can start preparing Shisu. First of all, select the Mackerel. Then, add the Shaly Seed, until you have a ball about the same size as the slice of Mackerel. Add the Vinegar, in a dose that is about 1/4 of that of the Shaly Seeds and finally the Horseradish, in a double quantity compared to the Vinegar. If you have done everything correctly, the major will eat the Shisu and be happy again. He will give you a Sea Chart and tell you that the Legendary Mariner is on a nearby island. With the Sea Chart, you can reach him. Before going out, talk again with the old man, who will give you a reward for preparing the Shisu: the better you prepare it, the better the reward. Then exit Parch and return to the ship.

The Legendary Mariner
Head by boat to a nearby island, between the Inner Sea and the Outer Sea. When you reach the right one, a (?) will appear on the map. Go in. At this point, you will have to steer the boat in a kind of labyrinth. You can only sail on the clear water and you will have a maximum time of 25 seconds to reach the house of the Legendary Mariner. If you fail, you will have to start over. The map in the upper right corner of the screen will help you. Use the engine bust wisely: if you use it too long the engine will overheat and you will waste time. Before reaching the Legendary Mariner, however, you can recover three very useful items. In fact, there are also three chests in this area, which you can reach by ship. In particular, you can recover a Heavy Dagger, a Blizzard Mail and an Ice Shield. After you have collected everything, head to the small house on the left, to finally meet the Legendary Mariner, who will invite you inside.

However, the Legendary Mariner turns out to be an ordinary man, named Kukuys. He will tell you that it is impossible for an Inner Sea boat to cross the Outer Sea. He had arrived from across the ocean, but only as a castaway, aboard the Black Ship. The only way to cross the Outer Sea is therefore aboard the Black Ship. You will then return to the World Map. Momo will try to stop the Black Ship by firing a bazooka shot, but to no avail. However, she will have another idea: you can ram the Black Ship from behind. Before proceeding, however, go back to Kukuys's house to find a Protein. Also, you should prepare for the trip. Buy what you need in the shops, optimize your equipment and visit the Masters. You can also find 2 new Masters: Hachio, in the kitchens of Wyndia Castle and Deis, in the cave under Mt. Zublo. When you are finally ready, board the ship again. The Black Ship will be moving in the Inner Sea: approach it carefully and hit it from behind. You can then get on board.

The Black Ship
Choose three party members to begin the exploration of the Black Ship. Keep in mind that you will need Momo to pilot it. However, you can return to your small ship whenever you want to rest or change party members. Then get on the black ship and enter the door. Enemies in this area aren't particularly tough, but some can be annoying, like bolt troops, which are hard to hit with physical attacks, and Sleepy, which can confuse your characters. First take the stairs that go down. Follow the path until you come to a large room with a moving platform. You will have to act on the control panel at the top right to be able to move it after climbing on it. The panel shows many programs, but the only really useful ones are P3 and P4. With the first, you will come to a room with another panel, use it to turn on the crane. The second program will allow you to reach a chest with a Skill Ink and a corridor at the end of which you can take an ID Card from the panel.

Then go back to the first room of the Black Ship and enter the door. You will arrive in a room with many large crates and a crane. Examine the crane's control panel to learn how to use it. In order to proceed, you will have to grab three green containers that are in the space below with the crane, to form a bridge. The crane will position the containers automatically, after grabbing them. In the space below, however, there are 4 green containers that you can grab with the crane (be careful, because one is a bit hidden). Grabbing all 4 of them, after building the bridge, the crane will drop the last one near you, revealing a chest, the contents of which depend on the container. You can find a Protector, an Ascension, a Light Bangle, and a Wisdom Fruit. To have all 4 items, however, simply exit the room after taking the prize and re-enter to reset everything. At this point, repeat the operation, leaving another container for last. After taking everything, cross the bridge of boxes and on the other side enter the door on the left. Follow the path until you find Flash Shells on the crates. Go back, proceed to the right and go down the stairs. Use the blue switch to raise the beam and return to your ship more easily. Then go up the stairs near the switch and follow the path. In the side rooms you can find an Ammonia and 2400 zenny. Use the lift thanks to the ID card you previously obtained to go up to the cockpit. Have Momo analyze the control panel. To activate the pilot system, you will need to go to the boost counter room on the previous floor and activate the machine. You will have to carefully observe the numbers and pay attention to the beeps. You will need to tell Momo when the counter reaches exactly 100. You will then have to return to the cockpit by carefully counting the beeps and speak to Momo at the right time. If you fail, you will have to start over. If, on the other hand, you do everything correctly, the Black Ship will begin to move, crossing the ocean.

You can thus relax while crossing the ocean, but suddenly you will hear a crash and an alarm siren will go on. Momo will tell you that something appears to have hit the ship and will open a passage to reach the front of the ship. Choose 3 party members to investigate. Go downstairs and enter the lower left door, which previously led to a dead end. Now you can instead go through the opening at the end of the corridor. The next area looks like a labyrinth of stairs. Proceed to the right first and follow the path. You will come to the door of a room where you can find an Ivory Dice. Go back and follow the path to the left, entering the door. In the next area continue to the right. When you meet some stairs going down, keep going straight, to find a Soul Gem. Go back and go down the stairs. At this point, follow the path until you reach the open, on the deck of the ship. Proceed towards the front of the ship to meet the monsters that had hit it.

Boss Fight - Ammonites
HP: 2000 (each)

These two sea monsters are formidable adversaries. Their tentacles do a lot of harm and they can cast some powerful spells on you, including Blizzard (equip yourself with the Blizzard Mail, the Ice Shield and the Ice Ring if you have them), Multistrike and Hypnotize, in addition to the devastating Tsunami, which halves your HP. Better therefore to cast Shield on the group 2 or 3 times first. To defeat them, it is advisable to exploit their weakness to thunder. Transform Ryu with the Thunder, Force and Gross genes. Then attack the enemies with physical attacks from him or Thunder Claw. A good strategy for this battle (and for the following ones too), is to use Rei's Weretiger, obviously supported by Influence. The third member of your party will be in charge of healing and support spells. Focus all your attacks on one Ammonite. After killing one, things will get a lot easier. Use the same strategy until you kill the other one as well.

After defeating the Ammonites, the Black Ship will complete the crossing of the Outer Sea and you will land in a distant unknown region.