Arcus Odyssey/Act 4: The Wicked Flame

Part 1: Firewall
New enemies:
 * Fire dragon: Pops out of the lava to throw fire darts in a few directions, or pops out of holes in the ground to be annoying and block passage. They are difficult to kill, but their attacks are slow.
 * Fire ray: Flies slowly, even ignoring the walls that stop your attacks. Easy to kill, but leaves a trail of flame when it dies that is just as deadly as any enemy. It takes awhile to dissipate. If you run into one that is flying over a wall right next to the passage you're walking on, back off and wait for it to come out. Their movement is unpredictable, and you don't want it to pop out and hit you as you're walking past.
 * Fire beast: Charges toward you. Pretty fast, but dies quickly. They have a painful habit of hitting you from the sides or rear. Keep that C button pressing whenever you move forward.

New items:
 * Magical fire ring, at the end of a corridor in the upper right.
 * Magical power crystal, one over from the fire ring.
 * Herb of purification, at the end of a long passage at the far left. You have to go up and slightly to the right of your starting point to get at it, though.
 * Lamp of life, up and to the right, near waterfall.
 * Medicine of regeneration, below the waterfall.
 * Magical power crystal, near the end of the winding corridor leading to the dark lords.

From your starting point, head right (it's not like you have much choice) and then take the first passage heading to the northeast. Follow it straight through, continuing in the same direction until you reach a corridor that is stuffed with fire dragons. Proceed slowly, and watch the ground for holes. At the end, you will find a doorway. Heal yourself if necessary, and enter. The reaction of those inside is the same no matter how you decide to answer.

New enemy: Cyclops

Those two guys are easy, if you know what to do. At the start, simply walk behind the tone block. You will have to approach it at a slant, otherwise you won't fit. Once you do that the Cyclopes are helpless. They're too large to get through, and you can cut them down at your leisure. Once they are both dead, approach the block from the top to get the water gate charm. You will now be able to knock down the various floodgates scattered across this level. The first one is right on the way back. Destroy it, and watch the sweet blue flow. From there, go down and take a left to bring you to the next gate. Knock it down as well.

Take a detour and head up, and grab the lamp of life. You'll need it. Go back down and follow the path, going left and then down, and destroy the third gate. Enemies are very thick around here, so proceed carefully. You can keep going down if you want in order to get the herb of purification, but you're probably getting tired of having to deal with constant waves of enemies. Backtrack a bit.

From your starting point, go all the way left, and then up. You'll find the next gate. Knock it down like all the rest. Return to the first junction yet again, and go up. Congratulations, the door is now accessible. Get the heck out of there.

Boss Battle
The arms will shoot largish energy balls at you, while the mouth hurls spikes in front of it. Moving to the left or right side of the monster protects you from the spikes, but it means confining yourself to a small space. Trying to dodge the energy balls in that condition is suicide.

Watch how the spikes fly a couple of times—it's always the same. Choose a spot between the center pair and the ones on either the left or right. Position your character so that the spikes always go around him/her, and time it so the energy balls and spikes come at different times. Shoot a few times, then move to the side. The boss is large, so you should be able to hit it even when you're not directly in front of it. Alternatively use a couple of magic crystals and blast away.