Bravely Default/Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Alternis reports Edea's treason to the Council of Six. Now that they know the vestal's group is travelling into Florem, Victor and Victoria, two other members of the council, decide to stop the vestal themselves.

Miasma Woods
The Miasma Woods is located at the northeastern region of Harena. It is previously inaccessible due to the hazardous miasma, but now that the wind is blowing again, the fog is dispersed to bearable levels. However, there are still puddles of poisonous swamp on the ground. Walking into these patches will cause your whole party to be poisoned, so watch your step. If one of your characters have the Dungeon Master support command enabled, you can actually take shortcuts past some swampland to traverse this dungeon faster!

The woods are home to a bunch of new enemies. Great Moths can inflict Confuse status with Wing Scales, which will make the affected character behave unpredictably unless you hit them out of it. Treants are also very annoying, as they can put your whole party to Sleep. Scorpions are more standard enemies that inflict Poison. Lastly, Myconids are unique enemies that can generate copies of themselves whenever they're hit with physical attacks. They are pretty good to grind on, since every new Myconid gives you experience and job points as well.

At the entrance to the forest, there is a talking fox with the same inventory as the one in Yulyana. The first section of the Miasma Woods is pretty straightforward. Head north and go around the large poison swamp, then round the corner and go north again. Near the exit, go west and around the curve to find a Remedy. Head through the exit up north to enter the central region of Miasma Woods.

Here, head east past a blue chest, then north between several poison swamps. Follow the dirt path and you should come across a chest with 2000 pg along the way, and one with a Scimitar at the dead end. Backtrack to the intersection west of the blue chest and head north. Go east into the small branching path to find a Phoenix Down within a chest. Continue north and west to reach the final section of Miasma Woods.

Hug the northern wall to safely reach a chest containing a Hi-Potion. Follow the southern path between two swamps, then do a U-turn toward the east and head into the second eastern exit. You'll be back at the central section, where you can find an X-Potion. Return to the northern region and continue down the path to the west. Head north when you get the chance to reach a chest with an Ether. Head south and continue south at the intersection. Follow the dirt path around to find an Earthing Rod within the chest. Head west again, and carefully travel down the thin passage between the swamp to get to a chest containing a Turbo Ether. Start heading north when you're back on the main path. Make a detour east to a chest for a Remedy, then hurry north. Restock and save with the Adventurer if you want, then exit into the Florem region!

Florem, Land of Radiant Flowers
Somewhere else, Alternis requests the help of the Bloodrose Legion, the Eternian forces operating in Florem. After the cutscene ends, start heading west toward the city of Florem. It lies at the center of a river delta, so you'll have to cross several bridges to get there. Upon arrival, Agnes will state that Florem is a city populated exclusively with women, but some things have changed. While Florem used to be a devout Crystalist city, the locals seem more concerned about beauty and materialism. Perhaps the matriarch of the town knows what caused this change.

The extravagant city of Florem is split into two sections. The City Entrance contains all of the standard amenities: an inn, an armory, an item's shop and a magic shop. You can get scrolls for level 3 White and Black Magic as well as level 2 Time Magic here. Inspect the area to the left of the bush closest to the exit to find an Ether, then check the railing of the bridge to the scroll shop to get a Bomb Fragment. Go north to enter the Florem Plaza. There's an extravagant stage said to be used for the Sacred Flower Festival's fashion show. Head around the right perimeter of the stage until you can Inspect to get a Lilith's Kiss.

More importantly, the Plaza also contains the entrance to the Matriarch's Hall. Go inside. It appears that the Matriarch is aware of the changes in the attitude's of the residents in Florem, but laments that she can do nothing to stop it. Apparently, the water vestal has gone into hiding for a while. No one knows where she is, but you should go to the Temple of Water to look for clues. Once you regain control of the party, inspect the hall's right wall to find a Star Pendant, then check the flower ornament behind the Matriarch for a Tengu Yawn.

Temple of Water
To get to the Temple of Water, simply cross the western bridge from Florem and travel south. The appearance of this temple might look similar to the Temple of Wind. However, there are no enemies at all inside; this place is deserted, not attacked. There are plenty of loot you can get with ease. From the start, go into the narrow corridor to the west and head south to find a chest containing a Remedy. Now, head east to the room you can Inspect. Head to the bottom-left corner and move through the false wall between the two bookshelves. Follow the path east to find a Rebuff Locket.

Where you could find steps in the Temple of Wind, you can now find chests. At the southeastern corner of the temple, there are two chests containing a Hi-Potion and a Phoenix Down respectively. In the northeastern corner, you will find an Ice Charm and an X-Potion within the chests instead. Head west into the northwestern narrow corridor and go down to the dead end to find an Ether. It's time to check out the altar. It appears that the water vestal is gone, but has still left a barrier on the Crystal of Water as protection. It wasn't quite enough seeing as the seas have rotted.

Entering a fashion show?
Return to Florem and talk to the Matriarch again. There's not a single clue about the water vestal's whereabouts, but Ringabel makes a bizarre suggestion: have Agnes join the fashion competition. Hopefully Olivia will realize that the wind vestal is searching for her, but Agnes is too plain looking currently. You must ask around to know about the latest trends.

First, speak to the girl outside the Matriarch's Hall, who says that spirit hairpins are the latest trend. It isn't stocked in the local shops, a fact that you can confirm with the Trader at the City Entrance. She points you to a blue-haired girl. Talk to her and she will tell you about Petalhue dye, then suggests asking the nearby man. The Ancheim citizen wants to see something sexy, and points out another girl as an example. Talk to her and she says an old sage comes to town regularly to sell sexy clothes. Finally, talk to the Matriarch again. Apparently, the old sage is the same one who lives in the Yulyana Needleworks. A dangerous passage connects these two regions together: Mount Fragmentum.

Sub-scenario: Dye to die for
After talking to the Matriarch about the sage, two sub-scenarios become available to you. The first one can be completed pretty quickly. Talk to the girl outside the Matriarch's Hall to hear her rambling on about Petalhue dye. At the City Entrance, you can find the merchant selling Petalhue dye...for a million pg! After talking to the salesgirl, talk to the dye-crazy girl at the plaza again. Now stop by at the item shop. The shopkeeper doesn't want to stock Petalhue dye, but says the merchants come from the east.

To the Twisted Treetop
Exit from Florem and head east past several bridges, then to the northern woods. Move east through a valley between two mountain ranges. You will encounter the dye-seller, who, after some persuasion, tells you about the dye. It is made by extracting a substance from serpentine creatures called orochi living in the woods. The dye also contains a chemical that is extremely addictive, causing the residents of Florem to obsess over it.

After telling you about the dye, the salesgirl realizes she has been tricked, and sics two Bloodrose minions upon you. You'll fight a Bloodrose Mage and a Bloodrose Impaler. The Bloodrose Mage can cast Silence to debuff and Gravity to do damage. The Bloodrose Impaler is more physically-oriented, and she often uses Execution to do extra damage. She is weak to electric magic like Thunder. Both enemies are normal goons, so you'll be able to defeat them with ease. Keep heading east and north until you see a single large tree among a forest of wilted trees. Approach it to enter the Twisted Treetop.

Boss: Artemia Venus
The corpses of dead orochi are strewn about in this small area. It turns out that Artemia Venus, youngest of the Venus sisters, is responsible for causing this. She only listens to her sister Einheria and lives solely to hunt. Telling her to stop only irritates her more, causing her to antagonize the party. The hunt is on...and you're the prey!

Artemia is a skilled Ranger, and uses her bow for her attacks. She is accompanied by a Legion Impaler and a Legion Mage. Her most threatening move is Multiburst, which deals a ton of damage randomly spread out across your party. However, it costs a significant amount of BP, and thus Artemia will use Default very often to build up BP. Artemia can ignore Default defense from your side with Targeting, which she will use very often. Because she wears an animal hide, she is very vulnerable to fire magic.

Your first priority is to defeat Artemia's assistants, as they can be annoying and potentially disruptive if left alive. Some concentrated attacking and electric magic should kill them off quickly. With your focus on Artemia, you should play very defensively. Use Default in anticipation of her Multiburst, and don't worry about getting hit by Targeting. She uses Multiburst very sparingly, and never does another Multiburst within two turns, so you should be more aggressive after blocking a Multiburst. Continue on with this strategy of baiting a Multiburst and then attacking in the aftermath to wear her down. Artemia's liberal use of Default won't make this easy, but you can use the turns she spends Defaulting to heal and cast buffs on your party. A Black Mage or a Spell Fencer with fire magic will be very effective against her, so use these spells liberally to end the fight quickly.

Artemia drops the Ranger asterisk. Rangers are extremely accurate and skilled with Bows and Daggers. Most of the abilities they learn deal extra damage to specific enemy types, but they are powerful physical attackers with just their normal attacks.

Sub-scenario: Secret of the hairpins
This sub-scenario is triggered by talking to the armory shopkeeper. She says that two children went off to Florem Gardens to the west to search for spirit hairpins, and asks you to rescue them. Exit Florem and head northwest, into the field of flowers on the overworld. Suddenly, you'll see two girls surrounded by enemies. It's time for a fight! You'll enter a battle with six Alraunes. Their sheer number makes them a threat, but you can make quick work of them with group cast fire magic.

Florem Gardens
Despite the danger, the kids insist on finding the spirit hairpins. You must follow them northwest to a large rock jutting out of the fields. Enter it to arrive in the Florem Gardens. This dungeon contains a nasty new hazard: Silence pollen. Walking on to patches of purple flowers will cause your entire party to be Silenced. The purple flowers are more subtle than the hazards you've previously encountered, so keep your eyes peeled. As usual, using Dungeon Master not only lets you explore more freely, but also take shortcuts.

Much of the enemies here are members of the Bloodrose Legion. The Legion Archer can inflict Confuse, the Legion Mage does damage with Gravity and disables with Silence, while the Legion Impaler is the strongest damage dealer. Alraunes also attack in groups within here, but the real threat are the Dryads, which can inflict Charm on one of your allies, causing them to turn against the party. Hitting a Charmed character knocks them out of this state. Finally, Poison Moths can be encountered deeper into the dungeon and simply spreads Poison with Poison Scales.

From the start, head north and steer clear of the purple flowers, going up the east passage. 500 pg awaits you at the very end of the passage. Go west then south for a chest containing a Hi-Potion. Continue west until you reach the edge of the river, then move south, carefully avoiding the purple flowers, to find an X-Potion inside a chest on a cape. Go north and you will be presented with a choice of two passages. Either one will let you progress, but you'll have to take the long way around to get every chest unless you want to brave a group Silence from the flowers.

To get all the chests quickly, first go into the eastern exit. Go east until you find a chest within an alcove containing a Tomahawk. Return to the South area and use the western exit. You can get to two chests here, which contain an Ether and 1000 pg respectively. Follow the winding path while avoiding the flowers and you should reach the exit up north. Don't worry about the single remaining chest; it's locked and inaccessible until much later.

You've arrived at the Interior of the gardens, and the flower patches are larger than ever. Head up the western path and make a U-turn around the bend. Go south to reach a chest containing a Remedy. You're forced to walk past some flower patches for the remaining chests. First, there is a chest in an alcove at the center with a Turbo Ether, accessible from the middle-eastern passage. The second chest is located at the southeast, surrounded by a field of purple flowers, and it contains a Tengu Yawn. When you're ready, stock up and save with the Adventurer and venture north.

Boss: Mephilia Venus
You've reached the Florie Dwelling, home to the pixie-like Flories. However, it turns out that one of the Venus sisters, Mephilia the Summoner, has been killing them off to make spirit hairpins. The two children succumb to desire and start fighting with each other for their own hairpins. This twisted poaching must be stopped, and the only way to do this is with an asterisk battle!

Mephilia has a simple fighting style. She doesn't use Braves or Defaults, preferring to just attack and use magic each turn. Her physical attack is actually pretty strong, so it's something you must account for. However, the true threat in battle is Girtablulu, a summoned monster that deals immense Earth elemental damage to your entire party. She will cast it roughly every 3 turns, so you must absolutely be ready for it. Finally, she can use Summon Soldiers to call in a Legion Archer and Legion Impaler to battle.

Your general strategy here is cautious aggression. She doesn't use any defensive abilities and has relatively low defense, so persistent attacking should wear her down with no problem. Girtablulu is a major danger, so you must always make sure your whole party can Default every 3rd turn and heal off the damage immediately. This means careful management of BP, Defaulting often especially before a Girtablulu, then using just enough Braves to make up for lost damage without entering negative BP. When she uses Summon Soldiers, patiently take them out, then resume your focus on her. As long as you can consistently defend against Girtablulu, Mephilia is not too difficult to defeat.

Before she dies, Mephilia makes a curious comment about another soul lying within Tiz. You've obtained the Summoner asterisk! Summoners are mages that can summon monstrous beasts to deal humongous damage, but each cast uses tons of MP. You also get Mephilia's Memo, accessible from the Notes section of D's Journal. The memo contains hints pointing to different areas, which are in fact the locations of powerful wizards that can teach you new summons! The Temple of Wind contains one such wizard, and you will soon meet another as you continue into the main story.

Unfortunately, Mephilia is not the only casualty in this case. Both children lie lifelessly after their own fight. The only way to prevent this tragedy is to spread the word about the hairpins' true nature, which the armory shopkeeper pledges to do.

Mount Fragmentum
Mount Fragmentum is a cave located north of Miasma Woods. This dungeon looks a lot like Norende Ravine, and has a pretty simple layout as well. The enemies are the biggest threat here. Dryads make a return from Florem Gardens, while a new type of Cait called the White Cait can heal, cast defense buffs, Silence and attack with Aerora. Grizzlies are a real danger, as they can do heavy damage to the whole party with Salmon Swipe. Also appearing here are Chompers, which can inflict Poison status. Their high defense and tendency to run away make them annoying to fight, but a Thief can steal valuable Ether from the creatures.

First, go west to a ring of land with a chest containing a Ripper. Go east now and collect the Remedy from the chest along the way. As you head north, go into the branching path and open the chest for 1000 pg. Continue north and east to progress to the next section. Right next to the entrance is a chest that holds 500 pg. You are given a choice of two paths that both lead to your destination. The top path has a chest with a Hi-Potion, while the bottom path includes a chest containing Ether. The Ether chest is close to the east while the Hi-Potion chest is at the center, so you may wish to travel along the top path first, then turning around for the chest on the bottom.

There are two exits at the eastern end of the Slope. Take the northern exit first to enter a ledge with a lone chest containing the Nodachi, a strong katana. Use the southern exit and simply follow the path until you come to an Adventurer. Make your preparations and save, then continue east toward the exit.

Boss: Land Turtle
Just before you can exit the tunnel, you are attacked by a Land Turtle! This lumbering monster is fairly defensive, making liberal use of Default to build BP. It has a very dangerous ability in Spin Attack, which does high damage while ignoring P.Def, and it will not hesitate to use it multiple times in Braves. Fortunately, it has poor M.Def and is weak to water magic. Even so, the Land Turtle can patch up its weakness with Reflection Angle, which reflects any kind of magic back to your party instead.

It does not pay to be heavily aggressive against a turtling Land Turtle. You must always be prepared for the chain Spin Attacks, and always have your healer ready to heal off the damage. Do not hesitate to use Default liberally if you think it might start spamming Spin Attack. Blizzard and Blizzara can target its weakness against water, so a Black Mage or a Spell Fencer is a major help in this battle. Do watch out for Reflection Angle, and wait for it to expire before you continue casting spells. After a long battle, you'll finally be able to return to Yulyana.

The fashion show
At the Needleworks, an amusing cutscene occurs, after which Agnes decide to enter the competition in her vestal garb. Reenter the tunnel through Mount Fragmentum and go through it once more to be sent straight to Florem. It seems like some of the contestants have been culled by Victoria, but the competition continues without a hitch. Agnes manages to get her message out, but finishes dead last. Fortunately, you get a letter saying to search the water vestal at a hidden village west of Florem.

Sub-scenario: An urgent warning
If you exit and reenter the town, you will bump into a girl in a hurry. She drops a note about a planned attack on the hidden village to the north! Go east from Florem and head toward the northern edge of the continent, where the Twisted Treetop is located. The position of the northern hideaway is not very obvious. Keep heading north over a forest of dead trees until you reach a coniferous forest you can enter. Go inside to reach Witherwood!

Witherwood
Witherwood is oddly neat and structured for a wilting forest. It comprises of several large "islands" with narrow bridges connecting them together. It seems that the Bloodrose Legion has already infiltrated this area, and many of its minions roam about. The woods' own beasts are no joke either. D'Gon are mini-dragons whose Fireball attack foes through defenses. Catamounts have a damaging Dual Attack that strikes two of your party members at once. Lastly, Killer Scorpions can summon more of their kind like the Myconids with Pheromones.

Head north to reach the closest island, then go east to reach a chest containing a Remedy. Use the next walkway to continue north, then go east again. Head up the path here, grabbing the 500 pg inside the chest, then use the northern exit. You'll end up in a secluded area of Central Witherwood, where a chest containing a Sleep Blade can be found. This sword has a low chance of inflicting Sleep just by attacking, so it's well worth the trouble. Back at southern Witherwood, take the west path north instead to reach the main area of Central Witherwood. Be sure to get the Phoenix Down from the chest along the way.

This area is a bit more grid-like. Head as far east as you can to find a chest containing an Aeolian Bow. Move north and west to the center island to get a Teleport Stone from the chest. Continue northwest to reach one last chest for 1000 pg. Move to the east to reach the Witherwood Interior. You'll exit into a small square. Go east to get a chest with a Hi-Potion inside, or head south for the Ether inside the chest there. You can go around the square to get both chests. Move south and west for a chest containing an X-Potion. Now, all that's left is to go east and wind around the path until you reach the Adventurer. Do your necessary preparations and venture into the hidden village.

Boss: Einheria Venus
It turns out that the letter was just a simple trap by the Bloodrose Legion laid by Einheria, and now you're surrounded by the legion's soldiers. Edea appears to be good friends with Einheria before, but differing views forces you to fight against the Valkyrie. It's another asterisk fight, this time against the eldest Venus sister!

Einheria is a fearsome physical attacker with equally fearsome abilities. She will use Crescent Moon very often to strike the entire party. She can also make use of Jump, a two turn attack that strikes one of your characters for three times the damage of her regular attack. Both of these moves cost BP, so Einheria will usually Default before using it, and often leaves herself vulnerable after using an ability. Last but not least, Einheria will cast Spirit Barrier when her health drops low enough. When the barrier is up, your attacks drain her MP instead of HP. She won't stop casting it until you drain all of her MP, so it effectively gives her more health than she actually has.

Your strategy here should be to play defensively. Einheria certainly does a lot of damage, but you can dramatically reduce that damage by keeping your BP positive. Use Default regularly to sponge her attacks, especially if you anticipate a Crescent Moon. This will ensure that you will always be able to act when she uses Jump, so you can use Default on the whole party to defend against it. Despite Einheria's own uses of Default, her BP often drops below 0 due to her skills. Use Braves to take advantage of her lost turns, but as mentioned before, keep an eye on your own BP as well. You know Einheria is close to defeat when she casts Spirit Barrier. It's simply there to lengthen the battle, so your strategy should remain unchanged. Once her barrier fails, it won't be long before she will fall as well.

Einheria gives you the Valkyrie asterisk! This job adept at using Spears and have many skills that expend BP instead of MP. She also drops the Valkyrie Halberd, an excellent starting weapon for a beginner Valkyrie. Before she dies, she gives Edea one last request: face her father, the Grand Marshal, herself, without any intermediaries.