Breath of Fire III/Escape from Balio&Sunder

Arena and surroundings
Balio and Sunder will deliver you to Fahl, a bartender friend of theirs. You will still be able to free yourself from the ropes and escape from his tent, since Fahl is too drunk to notice. You can then explore this new city and, if you like, upgrade your equipment in the shops. In the lower left corner of the city you will also find a Manillo who will give you a Flier, thanks to which you can take advantage of a discount in the shops. You will notice that all the people in this city are excited about the imminent start of the "Contest of Champions". After you've explored the city and collected the items in the closets, go out on the world map again.

There is a fishing spot nearby, which you can reach if you want. Near a mountain you will find a hut where some bandits live. Search the closet to get a precious Wisdom Fuit. Then head to Maekyss Gorge, to attempt to return to Wyndia. You will soon discover that the road is blocked and that you will therefore have to take a long detour. Then head to Mount Boumore, east of the city.

Mt. Boumore
Climb the mountain by exploring all the paths and fighting the enemies you encounter. In this area you can find a Panacea, 400 zenny and a buckler. On the top of the mountain you will find a house with two workers. You will have to talk to the fat and bald man to continue the adventure, but it is best to find all the objects first. Mr Mason will host you for the night and pretend to be nice to you. You can also retrieve a Bent Sword from his closet. The next morning, however, you will discover that you have been betrayed: Mason has locked you in and warned Sunder. You will be able to escape aboard the lift in the adjoining room. Once you reach the opposite station, get off the lift and take the path to the right to find a Life Shard. Then take the path that goes up, which you will discover to be a dead end. You will be reached by Sunder and to escape him you will be forced to jump on the side of the mountain. Ryu will transform into a dragon to cushion Nina's fall. After this scene, you will automatically have obtained the Defender Gene. Exit this small area to return to the world map.

Head south of your location to enter a grove. In this area you can find the Reverse Gene. There is also a fishing spot nearby, where you can also catch Manillo and trade your fish with him in exchange for some useful item. It is also advisable to try and catch some Black Porgy in order to restore your AP during battles. Then head to the lonely tower to the northwest.

Momo's Tower
As soon as you enter, you can shop at the merchant you will meet near the pool. After exploring the outdoor area, go inside the Tower. You will find a large crystal, which can be charged with the energy of Nina's magic wand. If you do, you will activate a 30 second timer. You will have to load the other 4 crystals that are outside in the same way before the time runs out in order to reach the chest in the center of the pool. Lasers will block the quickest way out, so you have to take the longer route. If you succeed, the water will drain from the pool and you can reach the chest. The longer the remaining time, the better its content (0 to 5 seconds left: Multivitamin; 5 to 6 seconds: Wisdom Fruit; more than 6 seconds: Ring of Ice).

Then start climbing the tower. You will find a room where you can rest and save your game. A little further on, you will see an explosion coming from one of the rooms. Enter it and you will meet a scientist who will introduce herself as Momo. After explaining the situation to her, the woman will offer to accompany you to Wyndia personally and she will join the group. Since Balio and Sunder's men are still looking for you and have already arrived in front of the tower, the only thing you can do is climb to the top, where Momo will tell you there is an emergency exit. Keep going up. Momo will prove to be a precious ally to defeat enemies, with her bazooka, but unfortunately, she will miss at least one in three shots. The enemies in the tower aren't too hard to defeat, but there are a few called Ice Toads that can damage you heavily with their Icebreath attack. So try to hurt them quickly: the lower their life energy, the less damage they can inflict on you. Also remember not to use thunder element spells on Hyper Bots, as this will only restore their energy.

The path to reach the top of the tower is fairly straightforward, however, you will have to solve several puzzles. In the room with the machines with colored cubes floating above them, to proceed you will have to press the buttons of the second and fourth from the left, otherwise you will fall through the floor. Upstairs, you'll need to move the platforms correctly using the switches in order to proceed, as well as find some items. Higher still, you'll have to repeatedly charge the energy crystal with Nina's wand, to advance the platform and reach the ladder, as well as collect the chests placed on the intermediate platforms. When you are almost at the top, you will have to hit the crystals with Nina's wand to turn off the lasers that will block your path. You will have to move so that the characters are never again in front of the machines that emit the lasers when you activate the crystals, or they will be injured. You will then be able to reach the top floor, where the library of Momo's father is located. In the cupboards at the back of the room you can find some items. Then examine the control panel in the center of the room to release a rocket from the floor. All three of you will then board the rocket and take to the skies.

But you won't go very far: you will crash in the vicinity of the tower. In fact, Momo will discover that that rocket was designed for one person only. First get out of this area though, look behind a tree on the right to find the Thorn Gene.

Coffee Shop
Your next stop is the Coffee Shop to the northwest. Here you will find that the way to Wyndia is blocked by Balio and Sunder’s minions. You will then be joined by an old man, who will start talking to Momo. This is Palet, an old friend of her father's and director of the nearby Plant, where the crops are grown with chrism energy. Palet will tell you that they have had some problems with the machines lately and will then ask Momo if she can help them. Since the road is blocked, Momo will accept. You can now purchase items and rest in the inn. On the hill behind the restaurant you can also find a new teacher, D'lonzo. To take you as an apprentice, however, she will ask you to have at least 15 unequipped weapons in your inventory, which at the moment you most likely will not have yet. Try to get them as soon as possible and let Momo study with her. Then exit and go to the Plant.

The Plant
Take a tour of this large plant by talking to the people you meet to find out what they are doing. You can also buy items in the shop or rest at the inn. To move from one area to another you will sometimes have to reverse the direction of the conveyor belts, using the appropriate switches. At the end of the path you will meet Palet again. Talk to him with Momo as group leader. Palet will inform you that they managed to fix the machines themselves, but they had a problem with a large mutant at the Dump. He will then ask you to take care of it. Use the descent at the bottom left to return to the entrance to the plant and exit again on the world map.

Exploring
Before heading to the Dump, it is advisable to explore a few other areas. To the north you will find the entrance to a forest with a pond, which is said to be the home of fairies. Search this area for some useful items. Be careful though, because in this forest it is also possible to meet Goo Titans, enemies that may be too powerful for your current level. If you meet them, you better run away. You can then head east, to the Checkpoint. Here too, you can find some items in the closets. You will find that you need a passport to proceed east, in fact the guards will not let you proceed further. Finally, west of the forest you will find another fishing spot, where you can catch some big and useful fish. There is also a grove near the Plant, where the legendary Yggdrasil tree is located, but for the moment, you won’t be able to do anything here. Then go to the Dump.

The Dump
The Dump is like a labyrinth. You will have to explore these caves until you find the mutant. There are also some useful objects to collect, to reach some of which you will have to move the conveyor belts you will find in the right way, using the appropriate switches. In the first screen, you will have to activate the switch 3 times to reach a chest containing 1200 zenny. Some enemies you will encounter during random battles may cause you some problems. Fire Slugs can damage you heavily with their Fire Breath, so try to hurt them quickly. Others, like Rank Weed, have a very high counterattack ability, so keep the team's HP always high. On the second screen, you will have to press the red switch next to the lava pool 8 times. In this way, using the crates, you can reach an Artemis' Cap: equip this item in Momo. Near the lava pool you will find a cave full of vines. Restore your energies before entering. When you are ready, go inside to meet the Mutant, that you must defeat.

Boss Fight - Mutant
HP: 500

The Mutant shouldn't bother you too much. At the start of the battle, however, it will regain 250 HP each round. You will have to hit it with fire element attacks to take this ability away. Then equip Momo's bazooka with Flame Chrysms, use Nina's Simoon spell and transform Ryu into a dragon using the Flame and Thorn genes. After that, attack it with Flame Claw. Soon, the Mutant will lose the ability to regenerate. It'll throw Venom Breath and Dream Breath once in a while, but they're more of a nuisance than anything else. Keep using the same attacks, heal yourself when necessary (perhaps using Momo's spells) and you should defeat him in a few turns.

After defeating it, the Mutant will ask you to kill it. Use the red switch to send it into the lava pool. The mutant will die, but a small creature will jump out of the pool. Momo will decide to call him Peco and from now on this creature will join your group. You can then choose which members to use from the menu. For now it is better to leave Peco out. Then exit the caves and return to the World Map.

Caught Again
Before returning to the Plant, put Peco in the party and return to the forest to the north described above. Use Peco to kick the stones. Under one of them, you will find a Hawk’s Ring. Then go to the Yggdrasil grove. If you put Peco at the head of the group, you can talk to the tree. Yggdrasil will ask you to bring him a Wisdom Fruit. Give it to him and he will offer to become your Master.

Go back to the Plant. Palet will thank you for your work and offer to help you get back to Wyndia. So go and rest at the inn. The next morning you will leave for the city hidden in a wagon, but soon after you will discover that Palet's plan was precisely to have you captured, to hide the mutant's existence from everyone. Arrived on Eygnock Road, in fact, Sunder will commandeer the wagon and take you back to the city of Arena.