Note: Keep your hit points above 54 here whenever you're not fighting.
The Boomerang may've made everything easy up until now, but we've gotten to some harder enemies once again. In addition to hitting harder than all the enemies before them, these guys now have the Babygoyle and Goblin Pixies on their side. The Goblin Pixies each have a 50% chance of casting the Crack spell, which does 12-20 Damage to a single target. And the Babygoyles introduce the game's very first Multi-target attack spell, "Sizz". This spell hits ALL of your party members for 10-18 Damage, and you can find up to four Babygoyles in a single fight!
Fortunately, they at least "only" have a 33.3% chance of casting it, so as long as you have Rex use the Lucida Shard on them and the Goblin Pixies, and are careful to have both him and Carver heal at half HP, you will generally win. In fact, if you are in a Babygoyle fight, and you find that both Rex and Carver are two Sizzes away from dying, you'll generally want Carver to Defend while Rex heals himself; Rex has much higher Agility, so he's much more likely to go before the Babygoyles. Naturally, this strategy is written for those playing the SNES version; all of these fights become much easier with Milly on your side.
Other than those two foes, you should be fine. Another enemy of note is the Metal Slime; this little devil can actually give 1125-1350 EXP for everyone you defeat! Except, it also has 999 Defense, 5 HP, complete immunity to all offensive spells, and a 30% chance of running away per turn; killing it before it runs is extremely unlikely with just Rex and Carver. You can do it, but it's recommended that you give it a miss for now; Rex and Carver do not need the help, and low levels are ideal for later Job Class grinding (more on that later).
In any case, put Carver in the lead, and get the Seed of Resilience first; you'll want to use all of these on Carver, he was the "Forebearance guy" this guide mentioned all the way back at Weaver's Peak. After that, go through the rest of the dungeon while . Be sure to keep your HP above 54 as well; you never know when you could get trolled by some Babygoyles.
VS. Bloodcreeper
And now, for the game's very first official boss fight. You will see a red demon standing in front of a jar of Dream Dew on the bottom floor. Answer "Yes" to him, and he will decide to eat you!
| Recommended Level: | Rex Lvl 7, Carver Lvl 7 |
|---|---|
| HP: | 370 |
| MP: | 18 |
| Item: | Seed of Resilience (1/16 of dropping) |
| Attack: | 53 |
| Defense: | 50 |
| Agility: | 52 |
| EXP: | 260 |
| Gold: | 370 |
| Attack Patterns: | Attack (33.3%), Tail Whip [1.25x normal damage] (16.65%), Dazzleflash (16.65%), Sap (16.65%), Buff (16.65%) |
| Resistances: | No resistance to Sap, 50% resistance to Lucida Shard |
This guy seems more intimidating than Garret at first glance, but you've got a lot more resources to throw around this time. The Lucida Shard, for example, works extremely well against against him. And when you land that, you can strip away all of his Defense with Sap, and wail away at him for 20+ Damage a pop.
In fact, there's a rather significant glitch in the SNES version that works to your advantage. Whenever you re-equip another piece of armour in-battle, the game will recalculate your Defense. More signficantly, it does so in a way that completely overwrites the Sap spell! This is why this guide recommended that you have one spare piece of armour on Rex and Carver; doing so completely nullifies the Bloodcreeper's Sap.
The remakes don't have this, naturally. But they DO have Milly, who knows Buff; so either way, you're good. Once this guy's dead, walk out of the cave, and warp back to Madame Luca's to go through more cutscenes. After THAT happens, you'll have Milly join your party! Now you FINALLY have a spellcaster on your side!
Now if you happen to be playing the remakes, go and kill that Well Wisher that I told you to avoid before! Do that, and you will get a Trailblazing Bandana! This...won't come in very handy, but you can sell it for money at least. Otherwise, you will get nothing for killing it, save for an NPC you can talk to at the bottom of the well. Whatever you do, head back to Port Haven.
Port Haven
Talk to the Mayor inside the house at point B and say "Yes" to all of his questions, go up the stairs, and talk to Johan. And to anyone who's horrified at the implications of this whole plotline, don't worry about Ella; Johan WILL succeed at rescuing her and nothing bad happens to her. So you can move on in peace.
Speaking of moving on, you can finally take that ship to Somnia. If you're playing the SNES version, you can go straight to the Somnia section. But if you're playing the Remakes, well...you've got some pretty scintillating options ahead of you in the next section...