Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished/Darm Tower

Zepik Village
With the third book in hand, you should head to Zepik Village. If you talk to the townspeople, you may notice that they've become quite taken with their new neighbor, Feena. She seems to put everyone in an extremely good mood, despite all of the troubles that the world is facing. You can find Feena standing on the dock staring out at the water. She will explain that she's quite happy in Zepik, but she still cannot remember anything about her past. Head to Jeba's home.

Adol will tell Jeba of Sara's passing. Jeba anticipated this might happen. Talk to her again and choose to speak with her. She will explain that both she and Sara were descended from one of the six priests of Ys. Then ask her to read the books. She will realize that without Sara, she is the only person left who can read them. Have her read all three books, then leave Jeba's home.

At this time, you must leave the Village and return. When you visit Jeba's home again, Feena will be inside, and report that Jeba is teaching her many things and she is feeling much more hopeful. Jeba will explain that the other three books must be in Darm Tower. In order to access the tower, you should go to the Thieves' Den.

Thieves' Den
If you do not speak with Jeba first and get her recommendation that you visit the Thieve's Den, the thieves will not let you pass on to the tower. If you have spoken with Jeba, then Goban will explain that a fellow thief Dogi entered the tower and has not yet returned. He will explain how dangerous the tower is, but he will ultimately agree to let you enter. The door is one way, and he will warn you that if you try to use the Wing, you will be killed, so he takes it from you. When you are ready, step inside.

Darm Tower
The time has come for you to climb Darm Tower. The tower is composed of many floors. However, when you climb stairs on one floor, it leads to the exterior of the tower. From there, you must run around the exterior of the tower to reach another door which gives you access to the next floor.


 * Floor 1: You will encounter an armored enemy known as the Riffligan here. From the entrance, a path to the left leads to the basement level, which you don't need to explore at this time.  There are two paths on the right side.  The closer path leads to the third floor, while the far path leads to the second floor.  Take the far path first.


 * Floor 2: There are more Riffligans here, including two which block entry into the small room. The room contains four treasure chests.  One chest contains a Heal Potion while another contains a Mirror, but you may already be in possession of both items.  If you already possess the Talwar sword, then one chest will be empty.  Otherwise you can find one here.  And finally, the fourth chest contains a cursed item, the Evil Ring.  Make sure you do not equip it or Adol will die, but do make sure you collect it.  Then exit the floor, return to the first floor, and climb up the other path to the third floor.


 * Floor 3: As you pass through this floor, you'll run along a hallway full of statues. There is a new enemy in red armor known as a Jestona, and the floor is guarded by several of them.  Continue running through the floor to reach the fourth floor.


 * Floor 4: Like the previous floor, there are several Jestonas running about. There is a passage to an alcove in the middle of the floor where you will find a treasure chest at the top.  If you already possess the Reflex armor, this chest will be empty.  Otherwise you can obtain one here.  Continue on to the fifth floor.


 * Floor 5: After heading down from the entrance, you must run to the left. There are two paths on this floor, and they both lead to the sixth floor.  However, they lead to different places.  Once you step outside, you will notice that exterior of the tower is split in half on this floor.  Take the closer path first.


 * Floor 6a: The closer path that you come to takes you to a region of the tower guarded by monsters known as Accumates. You'll find a treasure chest here, but the chest will be empty if you already possess a Large Shield.  Otherwise, you will obtain one here.  When you are done, return to the fifth floor, and then take the far path to the other half of Floor 6.


 * Floor 6b: As soon as you run down from the floor entrance, you will encounter a trio of statues. When you stand in the middle of them, it will trigger a trap, and Adol will black out, only to wake up in the...


 * Basement:When you come to, you will be stuck in a prison cell. You will notice that some of your possessions are missing.  They happen to be all of your silver equipment.  At this point, you are unarmed.  Head into your equipment screen and activate the best equipment that you possess.  There's another man in the cell with you, and it turns out to be Luta Gemma.  (Remake only: if you rescued Luta earlier in the game, he will recognize you.  Otherwise, he will introduce himself.)  He was caught as well.  If you speak with Luta a second time, he will explain that he thought he saw someone in the hallway lined with statues. After checking the prison door, and all the walls, you will be unable to find any escape from the cell.  After waiting some time in the cell, someone will suddenly bust through the wall.  He will introduce himself as Dogi.  He will also confirm that a friend of his named Raba is hiding in the statue-lined hallway on the third floor.  As you attempt to leave the cell, Dogi will ask a favor of you.  He will ask you to return an Idol to Raba.  At this point, head straight for the third floor.


 * Floor 3:Once you return to the third floor, you will find the hallway lined with statues. In order to find where Raba is hiding, you should equip the Mask of Eyes.  Then you will be able to see a hidden doorway between two of the statues.  Step through the door and remove the mask.  You will find Raba waiting inside.  Return the Idol to him, and he will explain that he is a scholar who came to research Esteria.  He became trapped in the tower after monsters attacked, but the Idol had been keeping him safe.  Adol will explain why he came, and Raba will tell him all of the history of Ys that he knows.  Then he will give Adol the Blue Necklace which, when worn, can protect Adol from all of the traps in the tower.  When you're done, you'll need to equip the Mask of Eyes to escape.  Once you're through, equip the Blue Necklace, and proceed back to the sixth floor where you triggered the trap.


 * Floor 6b:With the Blue Necklace equipped, you should be able to slip past the trap statues and continue on. You can proceed through the rest of the small passage to climb up to the seventh floor above.


 * Floor 7: Shortly after you arrive on this floor, you will see the path that leads up to the eighth floor. Skip it for now, and continue on to a small room where you'll find Dogi.  You and he will have a chance to chat.  If you speak to him twice, he'll tell you that you should find a Rod.  When you're done, follow the path that leads down from Dogi.  Along the way, you'll pass a small doorway.  The enemies on this floor are a type of cyclops known as Genoids, and one of them will be blocking the path to the treasure chest beyond the narrow hallway.  Fight your way past it to reach the chest to regain possession of the Silver Sword.  Equip the sword, and then retrace your steps to reach floor 8.


 * Floor 8: Once again, as soon as you enter this floor, you will come across the path that leads to Floor 9. Continue past it to explore the rest of the floor.  There are no enemies on this level, and all you will find at the end of the floor is a door.  Pass through the door, and you will arrive in a boss lair.

Pictimos
This giant insect demon serves as the guardian of the fourth book. It's actually one of the easier bosses. Pictimos will throw out three scythe-like blades that fly out into the room in your direction, hover around for a little bit, and then return to him. Depending on what version you are playing, he may tend to throw all three out around the same time, or he may vary the timing considerably. If he throws them close together, you can wait until the third blade is thrown before running up to him, attacking him, and running away before any of the blades boomerang back to him. If the timing of the blades is more scattered, it will be a bit tougher to find an opening to attack him, but you should try to wait for all three blades to be out so that you don't get hit when you're up close. It's best to move around the room in very wide circles, so as to lure the blades farther away from the path you will take to reach him. Approach him from one side, and then run away in the opposite direction before looping back around to hit him from the opposite direction. If all three blades are still out when you strike, you may try to strike multiple times, but don't get greedy. As soon as you seen one of the blades on its way back, get out of there.

Once you hit him enough, he will be destroyed. Head into the back room an check the two treasure chests to find the fourth Book of Ys and a Hammer. Then head out of the lair and through the floor to reach floor 9.


 * Floor 9: This floor is a little more maze-like than the previous floors. You must find your way to the middle of it and double back until you find a Genoid sitting in the middle of a doorway.  Fight your way past him, and you find a treasure chest in the middle of four statues.  The chest contains the Silver Shield.  Once you collect it, however, the statues, known as Normous, will come to life and attack you.  These statues are incredibly fast, so if you can't position yourself to attack them quickly, your best bet is to flee the room as quickly as you can.  The statues aren't likely to follow.  After you collect the shield, equip it, and head to the bottom of the floor, where you will find a door.  Pass through the door to find the path that leads to the next floor.


 * Floor 10: A new enemy appears here, the Xomack. There are two ways to reach the 11th floor here.  One involves going outside, while the other way lets you pass directly to the 11th floor without walking around the exterior.  The direct path to the 11th floor is much further into the floor.  For now, take the immediate path to the exterior and follow it around to the other side of the tower.


 * Floor 11a: Upon arriving here, you won't find any enemies, but you may notice a trail of blood leading to the corner of the room. Follow it, and you'll find Luta.  He was hiding with Raba, but got attacked and hurt his leg.  He'll tell you that he heard about a young woman being taken to the annex, and he will implore you to rescue her.  At this time, you must return to the previous floor, but remember where Luta is, as you will need to return to him shortly.  Once you reach the 10th floor, follow the path down to another set of stairs that lead to the eleventh floor.


 * Floor 11b: Once you arrive, make sure you stop and regenerate all of your health with the Heal Ring before you proceed. The hallway is filled with a horrible eerie sound that will actually drain your life as you listen to it.  At full health, you will only have just enough time to duck into the door in the middle of the hallway.  Inside the room, you'll find Raba.  He'll explain that the hallway is called the Devil's Corridor, and he will allow you to rest and restore your health.  Talk to him again, and he will explain that the music is caused by the wind, which he thinks is fed through one of the pillars on the balcony.  He suggests that it might be possible to stop the music if you could break the pillar.  If you beat Pictimos, then you should have a Hammer in your possession.  Return to the tenth floor.


 * Floor 10: Make your way back to the exterior of the tower which lead you to the room where Luta is staying. Equip the Hammer, and walk up to each pillar.  Try using the Hammer on each pillar until one breaks.  Once you find the right pillar, return to the Devil's Corridor.


 * Floor 11b: With the pillar broken, the music has stopped, and it is safe to travel through the hallway. Raba has already taken note of this and fled from him room.  Continue to the end of the hallway to reach the stairs that lead to the twelfth floor.


 * Floor 12: No enemies will attack you here, and there are no items to find. Simply proceed through the floor to the staircase that leads to the thirteenth floor.


 * Floor 13: This floor will offer an entirely new experience. If you're playing the remake, the music will change, and you can appreciate the view from the tower, although it will start getting dark.  Immediately to the right of the entrance, you will find Raba against a wall.  Speak with him, and he will tell you that three stories up, you'll find a smaller tower known as Rado's Annex, where a young girl is held captive.  But he says that the door can only be opened by someone with an evil heart.  If you explore the left side of the floor, the doorway below leads to a room with a mirror, and the doorway above leads to the 14th floor.  With no way to access the rest of the floor, head upstairs.


 * Floor 14:Follow the path around to the door. Step inside, and you will be in another boss lair.

Khonsclard
Out of all of the bosses, this boss may perhaps require the most luck to defeat. Khonsclard is an orb of energy which attracts a large number of rocks to form around him. The rocks don't really serve as defense as much as offense. Khonsclard attacks by strewing the rocks out in every direction around him. At any time, there is a particular direction where he is not throwing rocks, and therefore theoretically vulnerable to attack, but the direction where you are safe changes so quickly that by the time you identify it, it's already moved. Which leads to two strategies, neither of which are very satisfactory. You can either try to position Adol so that he attacks from the direction where Khonsclard is momentarily not throwing rocks, or you can simply rush it and try to defeat it before it defeats you. Even if you try to fight strategically, the game allows you to move right through Khonsclard, so you won't necessarily stop from running into rocks on the other side, and it's difficult to see Adol when you're standing close to it. If you do decide to rush it, running in very tight circles, or even better, very small figure eights, should help you knock off more hit points from it than it can from you, and defeat him.

Once you defeat it, explore the back room to find two more treasure chests. Inside, you will find the fifth Book of Ys, and the Rod which will be very useful. Return to the thirteenth floor.


 * Floor 13: Raba won't have anything new to say to you. This time, however, if you approach the mirror, something will happen.  Now that you have the rod, you can use the mirrors to transport yourself around the floor.  This leads to a maze puzzle that you must solve, determining which mirrors you are meant to stand before in order to advance.  Once you start using the mirrors, you will encounter two new enemies, the plant-like Vilvans, and the knight-like Wilewarers.  There's one item to obtain on this floor, and it's easy to miss.  Follow the steps below to find the item and escape.
 * Stand before the first mirror below Raba.
 * Head down through two doorways until you come to a choice between two more doorways. Take the left doorway, pass the mirror that you find, and continue down until you reach the bottom.  Stand before the mirror on the left.
 * Pass through the doorway below, and stand before the mirror.
 * Head down through the doorway below you, and back up through the doorway on the right. Stand before the mirror.
 * Defeat the Wilewarer standing guard before the treasure chest, and open it to reobtain the Silver Armor. Then stand before the mirror to be returned to the entrance of the floor.
 * Take the mirror below Raba again, and head down until you have the choice between two doorways again. Take the left door, but this time, stand before the mirror that's to the left.
 * You should be in a tiny room with two mirrors. Stand before the right mirror.
 * Immediately turn around and face the mirror that you just arrived in front of.
 * You will not be able to access the stairs that lead up to the fifteenth floor.


 * Floor 15:After you enter the floor, the path branches. You can either continue down, or head up through a doorway.  Explore the region below first, and you will find a treasure chest which contains the Battle Shield, the most powerful shield in the game.  Equip it, and then return to the doorway above.  By this time, a new enemy, the Irebolgs, should be attacking you.  Head through the doorway and climb a set of stairs that technically takes you to...


 * Floor 16: The sixteenth floor. Continue running to the right.  The path will branch again with the choice of a door above or a path below.  Take the path below, and follow it all the way around until it leads you to a door with light flowing through it.  Pass through the door and you will be standing on the bridge to Rado's Annex.  You heal quickly out here just as you do on the balcony.  Heal up before you proceed.


 * Rado's Annex: The bottom floor of the annex is patrolled by mud-like monsters known as Molfess. Pass through them and the prison cells they guard until you find another entrance near the bottom.  Enter the next room, and you will have to climb a set of stairs to reach a locked door.  The door will not let you pass, as this is the door Raba mentioned when he said only someone with an evil heart can open the door.  The Evil Ring may very well allow you to mimic someone with an evil heart, but wearing it will kill you in the process.  Unless, of course, you are in possession of an item that can break curses.  You happen to have such an item, the Blue Necklace.  Be sure to equip the Blue Necklace first, then try equipping the Evil Ring.  It will turn out that the Blue Necklace protects you from the life-draining effects of the Evil Ring.  Now you can enter the door.


 * Inside, you will find none other than Reah. It turns out that she allowed herself to be captured on purpose just to find you.  She will tell you the name of the man who locked her in the room, Dark Fact.  Dark Fact seeks to take over the world, and he needs the six Books of Ys to do it.  She will give you the Monocle which grants you the ability to read the books for yourself.  So you may now read the fourth and fifth books which you have collected if you like.  If you speak with Reah one more time before you leave, she will warn you that Dark Fact's cape is lined with the mysterious metal known as "Cleria" and that he can only be defeated using equipment made from the same material.  If you read the books, it should become clear what the modern name for Cleria is.


 * When you leave the room, be sure to unequip the Evil Ring before you attempt to remove the Blue Necklace, or you will die. Run down the stairs, through the annex, and across the sky bridge to return to Floor 16.  At this time, you must take an important detour back down to the eleventh floor.  You will need to do this before you can complete the game, and now that you've saved Reah, this is your earliest opportunity.  Return to the thirteenth floor where you will have to find the escape route through the mirror maze.


 * Floor 13: To return to the floor entrance, head down the stairs and follow the path until you reach a mirror. Stand before the mirror to be transported.
 * From where you arrive, head up until you pass through a doorway into a small room with a mirror. Stand before the mirror.
 * You will be transported back to the small room with two mirrors. Stand before the mirror on the left.
 * You will be transported to another corner of the floor. Head down until you can run to the left.  Head all the way to the left and then down through two more doors until you reach another mirror.  Stand before this mirror, and you will return to the floor entrance.  Continue down to the tenth floor and then over to where Luta Gemma was hiding on the eleventh floor.


 * Floor 11a: Once you return to Luta, he will be grateful that you were able to save the girl, even though he's never met her before. You must read (or have read) the fourth and fifth books using the Monocle to trigger the next reaction.  He will notice that among your books, you possess the fifth book, Volume Gemma, which once belonged to his family.  His father told him that whoever collected all six books could save the world.  And with that, he will give you another family heirloom, the Blue Amulet.  Luta's leg is still in pretty bad shape, so he will ask you to leave him behind.  At this time, you must return to Floor 16, and climb the stairs to the seventeenth floor.


 * Floor 17: In this unfortunate floor, you must pass down a very narrow channel on the right side of the floor to reach the bottom. Along the way, you will run into the scorpion-like Kelmarel.  Because the passage is narrow, you actually have little choice but to try to attack head-on.  If you have a Mirror, you may want to consider using it here, as it gives you the best chance of surviving the trip.  When you reach the bottom, the path in the middle leads to a chest which contains a Heal Potion, so if you already have one, you can safely ignore it.  Head back up the left side to continue on to the next floor.


 * Floor 18: An armored enemy known as a Selnarg guards this floor. From the entrance, head down until you can go to the right.  Follow the path around to the right side of the floor, and then start heading up to reach the stairs to the next floor.


 * Floor 19: A new enemy known as the Chryolos wander the halls on this floor. Follow the path down and to the right until you can head back up.  A Chryolos will be guarding access through a doorway above.  Fight your way past it, and continue up.  You will see a series of statues, so make sure you have the Blue Necklace equipped in order to break any curses they might have.  Open the treasure chest that you find at the top to discover the Battle Armor.  Equip this strongest armor, and then make your way back down to the eighteenth floor.


 * Floor 18: Head all the way down, then all the way to the left, and finally all the way back up to find the staircase that leads to the twentieth floor.


 * Floor 20: As you run down to the bottom of this floor and start heading to the right through the hallway, three Twarths will bust through the wall and attack you. Twarths are the most difficult basic enemy that you will encounter in the entire game.  They are extremely fast and have incredibly high defense.  Even though you can defeat them with the Silver Sword, it's considerably difficult.  Rather than trying to strike down these three foes, it is recommended that you slip behind them and enter the hole in the wall that they created.  Inside you'll find a chest guarded by two stationary Twarths.  Though still difficult, you'll have the advantage since you can line yourself up to attack them before they will respond and attack you.  Defeat them and open the chest to obtain the Fire Sword.  A bit stronger than the Silver Sword, the Twarths will still be a challenge to defeat, so don't take them lightly.  If you are trying to obtain every stat from every enemy, these are the most difficult to gather.  Exit the room, and continue down the hallway to the left until you can head up and on to the next floor.


 * Floor 21: This floor presents another mirror maze. The final two basic enemies in the game can be found here, the knight-like Euchreas, and the demonic Bordisch.
 * Pass the through the door below the entrance, step to the right and head up to the mirror above.
 * From the room you arrive in, head down through the door on the far right. Follow that path down, to the right, and back up to the next mirror.
 * You will arrive in a small room with two mirrors. Stand before the left mirror.
 * Head down, to the left, and up through the door. You will reach a shut door which will open when you touch it.  Stop here and heal up, and save your game, before you touch the mirror beyond the door.

Yogleks & Omulgun
It's not clear which head is Yogleks and which head is Omulgun, but it should become rather clear very quickly that only one of them is vulnerable to attack. To make matters worse, as soon as you attack the vulnerable head, they instantly swap places. Each head is surrounded by four rotating objects that damage Adol if he touches them, but they dwindle as the heads' health falls, although the speed at which they rotate increases. If you're playing an easy version of the game the best way to attack is to wait near the middle of the room where the heads converge. If you attack as the heads are passing, you will maximize the damage you deal to them since the vulnerable head will still be close to you after they swap places. However, if you are playing a more difficult version of the game, you will have to be more surgical in your attacks. You'll have to wait for the heads to separate, and hit the vulnerable whenever possible. In order to minimize how much damage you take, you should watch the rotation of the orbs, and slip inside when there's an opening. As the orbs start to disappear, it becomes easier to slip inside their defense and attack, but you'll take a good bit of damage until the first orb disappears.

When you defeat the heads, the giant mirror behind them will shatter, and a doorway will appear. Head through the door, and you'll climb up stairs through the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th to reach the 25th floor. Pass through the final door, and you will find yourself on the roof of the tower. There is a platform in the middle which is inaccessible until you step on a little symbol before the platform. However, before you do this, it would be wise to switch your equipment. You're about to take on Dark Fact himself, and as Reah informed you, he can only be harmed by material that is the same as the material woven into his cape. The same material will even offer you better defense against his dark magic. Heal up and save your game as well.

When you step on the symbol, you will approach Dark Fact. He will congratulate you for getting so far, but he will declare that his plan will succeed because of you, and he will rule the world. Then the battle will begin.

Dark Fact
Dark Fact will begin floating around the platform, moving only in diagonal directions and ricocheting off the sides of the screen. As you fight against him, magic will fly onto the screen from every direction. When it hits the ground, it will burst into fire that splits off in eight different directions. You must try to line up with Fact as he flies around in order to hit him, but you will be unable to harm Fact if you are not armed with the Silver Sword. You will be limited to the space on the platform. More importantly, every time you hit him, a square of the ground you were standing on will disintegrate, and leave a hole behind. If you happen to be standing on that hole, you will instantly lose your life. It is also possible to cut yourself off from another section of the platform by allowing the ground that connects two places to be removed, so it is important that you be strategic about where you strike Fact so that key portions of the ground are not removed later on in the fight. As a strategy, it is much better to try and hit him around the edges of the platform, slowly making your way in towards the center as you run out of room. This will give you more uninterrupted land to dodge attacks and try to line up with Fact. If you manage to reduce his health to nothing, he will perish, leaving only his cap behind.

If you search the cape of the fallen Dark Fact, you will discover the sixth Book of Ys. Holding the last volume, you should equip the Monocle and read its contents. Upon doing so, you will learn more about what became of Ys. Now that all six books have been gathered together, they will begin to act on their own, surround Adol with light, and transport him to a new land. Then the ending of the game will be shown. Congratulations.