Lufia: The Legend Returns Ancient Cave Strategy FAQ.
This FAQ is copyright 2003 by Paul Sche. No part of this document may
be altered. Distribution of this document is free of charge and may
not be included as part of a transaction. Posting of this document,
either in part or in its entirety in sites other than gamefaqs.com
requires the consent from the author, whom can be contacted by email at
[email protected].
Version 1.00
March 6, 2003- Although this is the first version, all sections are
completed. However, feel free to email me if there is a mistake
somewhere. Credit will be acknowledged to where it's due.
Lufia: The Legend Returns is the third in the series. The first two
installments were published on the SNES under different publishers.
This sequel is (as well as the next one) continued on the GB family of
systems. Although the battle systems differ wildly among the three, the
feature of a bonus dungeon, the Ancient Cave, is preserved in the
series.
The purpose of this FAQ is not only to provide a description of
strategies against the two bosses of the Ancient Cave, which is at best
vaguely described in other FAQs, but also the preparations required to
traverse the extremely lengthy dungeon en route. This is a serious
challenge because the Ancient Caves in the series are well known to be
devoid of save points.
Contents
I. Preparations
Outside the Ancient Cave
Character Statistics and Abilities
II. Battle Formation / Elemental and Status Protection
Equipment
Battle Formation
AC 1-100
Battle vs. Master (level 100)
Journey down to level 200
AC 101-200
Battle vs. Iris (level 200)
I. Preparations
Outside the Ancient Cave
The undertaking of the challenge to conquer the Ancient Cave depends
mostly on preparations outside of the Ancient Cave. A consistent
feature in the Lufia series is the option to replay the game with
accelerated accumulation of experience and money. This comes in handy
not only in the Ancient Cave, but also outside during the progression
of the main story, for the purpose of gathering the various bonus
items. Having extra levels packed on the characters grants much better
chances against the many "impossibly difficult" enemies whose defeats
net you bonus items unavailable elsewhere. Therefore, the first
preparation is to actually complete the game. The benefit is not
limited to the extra experience of the characters, but that of the
player as well. In addition, although the Ancient Cave is available
halfway through the game, it is essential for all thirteen characters
to join before taking on the bosses as well as acquiring some of the
special items (Gades' Brace, Daos' Ring, Daos' Stone, and the Cat Ring
are the most important ones to acquire, look in various walkthrough
FAQs for the strategies to win those battles).
Character Statistics and Abilities
There are thirteen characters in total that will join the party, which
holds a maximum of nine active members at one time. Deciding which
character to include in your active party, however, is not a trivial
matter. The bench warmers receive only half the experience gained by
an active player. Therefore, to maximize the experience levels of the
active party, characters who are needed to fight the boss should be
kept in the active party without switching them out.
The following list describes the likely stats of each character at
maximum level. It is highly unlikely to reach level 99 in the AC and
the numerical parameters WILL be different for each game, but it is the
relative strength and weakness of each character that determines the
duties and position (if any) in the party. Parameter itself is only
half the story to planning an effective battle formation, as their
individual abilities must also be considered.
Character Wai See Dei Aim Mel Ran Dec Mou Yur Rub Iss Mil Egg
HP 690 420 635 999 553 324 786 774 466 382 596 464 999
MP 468 538 365 0 474 0 0 0 265 386 458 608 999
ATP 446 219 282 672 103 438 534 509 241 243 298 139 999
DFP 257 212 222 348 161 237 171 449 261 185 371 257 999
AGL 154 113 355 245 164 67 233 262 221 303 237 241 999
MAP 148 246 195 43 357 62 133 268 315 325 370 213 999
REG 141 250 240 76 381 100 152 208 376 234 308 327 999
SF(rbgy) r80 b50 y70 g99 b70 r60 r80 g80 b70 y70 y70 g99 r80
Recovery Magic Type
Heal 1 1 1 1 1 1
Heal All 2 2 2
Absorb 3 3 3
Revive 4 4 4 4 4 4
Attack IP Type*
Multihit 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Fraction 6 6 6 6 6
Power 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Character Wai See Dei Aim Mel Ran Dec Mou Yur Rub Iss Mil Egg
Phy Def B C B A C D B A B D B B S (HP/DFP)
Mag Def C B B D A D C B A B A A S (REG)
Mag Off C A C F A F F (0) C A A A (0)(MP/MAP)
Agility C D A B C D B A B A B B S (SPD)
Elemental Magic
Fire F F F F
Ice I I I I I
Lightning L L L L
Holy H H
Dark D D D
Attack IP chart
Ancient Text IP Wai See Dei Aim Mel Ran Dec Yur Rub Iss Mil
Multihit(3 hits min)
Afterimage 95 O O
Card Stream 85 O
CrossMirage 90 O O O
Octostrike 100 O O O
Rapid Hit 70 O O O
Scatter Hit 50* O O O O
ScatterMist 60 O O
ShadowDance 90 O O
Fraction IP Wai See Dei Aim Mel Ran Dec Yur Rub Iss Mil
D-End Flash 100 O
Final Dance 90 O O
Head Crush 50* O
Upright 75 O
Power (DmgX3 min)IP Wai See Dei Aim Mel Ran Dec Yur Rub Iss Mil
Bolt Sword 50* O O O O
Critical 80 O O O O
EnergyPunch 100 O O
FalconDance 80 O O
Hit & Hide 100 O O
Holy Sword 50* O
Jump Slash 64 O O
Shadow Hit 75 O
SolidAttack 36* O O O O
* Economic IP Attack: attack IP that costs less than half the maximum
IP, can be used twice in a row.
From the charts above, the general advantages and disadvantages can be
deduced by comparison.
Wain
(+) Powerful offense and good physical defense.
Can use healing magic with decent magic ability.
Wide variety of attack IP.
(-) Low magic defense, cannot equip elemental absorbers.
Low agility for a fighter.
Seena
(+) Powerful magic offense, with 'Absorb'.
Have access to Fire, Lightning, Holy, and Dark elemental magic.
(equip the Chill Ring or the Chill R S to enable all elements.)
Weapons preventing status ailments can be bought.
Can use healing magic.
High magic defense.
Can equip most element absorbers.
(-) No attack IP.
Low physical defense.
Very slow, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Dei
(+) Decent offense, which can be enhanced by good weapons.
Naturally the fastest controllable character.
Good physical and magic defense.
Wide variety of attack IP.
(-) No healing magic.
Low magic offense limits usefulness of attack magic.
Aima
(+) Powerful offense and physical defense.
Wide variety of attack IP.
Decent agility.
Attack hard monsters effectively.
(-) No MP except from items and formation.
Low magic defense, but can equip some elemental absorbers.
Melphis
(+) HP is high for a magic user.
Powerful magic offense and magic defense.
Has absorb, can heal entire party.
Can equip most elemental absorbers.
(-) No attack IP.
Randolph
(+) Powerful offense.
Decent variety of attack IP.
(-) EVERYTHING ELSE!! Weak magic defense, no spells, lowest HP and
slowest of any character.
Deckard
(+) Powerful offense and good physical defense.
Wide variety of attack IP.
Decent agility.
(-) No spells.
Low magic defense, cannot equip elemental absorbers.
Mousse
(+) Powerful special skills and solid overall parameters.
Allows extra attack beyond three characters per round.
(-) Cannot be controlled.
Cannot prevent status ailments.
Yurist
(+) Most versatile character in the game.
Can heal entire party without consuming MP.
Wide variety of attack IP.
Can equip most elemental absorbers (except for shields)
Decent physical defense for a magic user.
(-) MP is low for a magic user, fortunately doesn't need MP to heal the
party.
Ruby
(+) Can use healing magic with powerful magic offense.
High agility.
Can equip most element absorbers.
Multi-hit weapon increase damage potential beyond parameters.
(-) Weak physical defense and low HP.
Only one attack IP (Card Stream).
Isaac
(+) Weapon attacks all enemies at once and adds status ailments.
Wide variety of attack IP.
Powerful magic offense and magic defense.
HP is high for a magic user.
Helmets preventing status ailments can be bought.
(-) Absolutely no recovery magic.
Milka
(+) Weapon attacks all enemies at once.
Can equip most element absorbers.
Has absorb, can heal entire party.
(-) HP and physical defense are low for a fighter, although it can be
partially remedied by upgrading her S.F.
Egg Dragon
(+) Maximum parameters, highest of all characters.
Powerful special attacks, can even heal itself fully.
Allows extra attack beyond three characters per round.
(-) Cannot be controlled.
Cannot prevent status ailments. Very dangerous if confused.
II. Battle Formation / Elemental and Status Protection
Equipment
The formation of character positions governs its effectiveness in
battle. Obviously different battle formations should be employed in
different situations. The characters and equipment available, as well
as the enemies to be encountered, are all factors contributing to the
effectiveness of a formation. Therefore, there will be several
different battle formations to use during the trek since the completion
of the dungeon requires several trips. It takes at three trips to
acquire all the ultimate items for each character, another trip to open
up the AC to 200 levels (either by defeating the Master or by wishing
it.) And if you were cautious, you'd come out to save after opening up
that option before you try your skills against Iris.
Unlike the previous Lufia games, there are equipment that protect
against elemental attacks and status ailments in this sequel. There
are five elemental properties and six status ailments. Equipments that
either reduce or absorb elemental damage are important to acquire.
Although there are many blue chest treasures in the AC (look up in
Omega-Neo's FAQ if you're interested, even though the list doesn't seem
to be complete), only a handful of them really matter since the bonus
attributes outweighs the ATP and DFP parameters. Physical attacks that
only hit one character at a time is a lot less likely to wipe you out
than specials that target a row or the entire party.
Among the various equipments that offer elemental protection, only a
handful of them allow the character equipped to absorb elemental
attacks. The list of such elemental absorbers is short.
Equipment Weapon Shield Armor Accessory
Fire Wind Flute Flame Amlt
Ice Ice Amulet
Lightning Bunny Blade Thndr Amlt
Holy Iris Shld Fortune D.
Dark Invsbl. Clk
The Wind Flute, Fortune D., and Invsbl. Clk are the ultimate items
(best weapons) for Yurist, Ruby, and Dei. The only items not found
outside the AC are the Thndr Amlt and the Iris Shield. The Flame Amlt
is obtained in the main game by Cooking Salamanda, and the Ice Amlt is
obtained in the main game by Cooking Fr. Salamanda. The Bunny Blade is
obtained 1) from the waitress preparing the Monster Tracks in Azoles
Cave before you clear the story in Elcorano and 2) in the room below
the platform with the Dual Blade in Submerged Daos Shrine, circle
around the platform with the sword before or after fighting Erim to
find the stairs down. The Wind Flute, Fortune D., and Invsbl. Clk are
ultimate items (called best weapons in the game, but also includes
shield, armor, and accessory) that are accessible by choosing the first
wish when you meet the Master.
A female magic user (Seena, Ruby, Melphis, and Milka too but she's got
other roles to fill) can therefore be outfitted to absorb four out of
five elements in the following examples.
Character Any of the four Ruby only
Weapon Bunny Blade Bunny Blade
Shield Iris Shield
Helmet
Armor (Rusi Armor) Fortune D.
Accessory1 Flame Amlt Flame Amlt
Accessory2 Ice Amulet Ice Amulet
The purpose of outfitting a character like this is to prevent ambushes.
If the party is attacked from the side or the back, there will be a
significant chance for the enemy to surprise attack the party. Since
the party is normally oriented to have weak characters in the back, an
ambush by powerful enemies is likely to wipe out the front row in that
case. Having such an outfitted character in the back corner will
protect the party against surprise attacks from two directions. You
would need two characters outfitted this way to have complete
protection. Notice that the Iris Shield is the only elemental
absorbing item that cannot be acquired outside the AC.
Compared to elemental absorbers, the choices and character restrictions
for status protectors are much more flexible.
Status Ailment Confuse Paralyze Sleep Poison Silence Instant-death
Daos' Ring* O O O O O
Ame Ball O
EmrldVisor O
Sanity Rng O
Recv Armor* O O
Nitevision O
Release Rg O
Topaz Ball O O
Wake Ring O
Poison Ring O
G. Charm O
Rusi Armor* O
However, only the items that are marked by a * can be brought in and
out of the AC. Everything else must be acquired or bought inside.
Battle Formation
The battle formation actually refers to two different configurations,
the menu formation and the combat formation. The difference between
the two is not trivial. The menu formation can be configured by
entering the menu and choose position. This allows you to configure
your party according to their S.F. flow. The direct results are
influences on the IP cost of skills and the parameter bonus of each
character depending on the type of S.F. of characters in the same row
or column. Adequate S.F. is essential in learning from an Ancient Text
and required to use the skill at the specified IP consumption.
Inadequate S.F. will result in a penalty of 50% increase (but not above
100IP) of IP cost to use the skill.
The combat formation refers to the actual positioning of characters
during a battle. The front row will inflict and receive increased
damage while the back row experiences the opposite. During a surprise
attack, the battle formation starts out as a rotated variant of the
menu formation. Any repositioning in the combat formation will not
result in a change to either parameter bonuses or IP costs of skills of
any character. That means a character supported by four other
characters with red S.F. will not lose ATP even if moved out of
alignment. Repositioning during battles against Master and Iris is
essential.
AC 1-100
Before you reach the Master for the first time, you will have no access
to any ultimate weapons. The suggested formation to use is as follows:
Red Yellow Red EggD.(r) Isaac(y) Deckard(r)
Green Red Green Aima(g) Wain(r) Mousse(g)
Blue Green Blue Yurist(b) Milka(g) Melphis(b)
The weapons 'Slay Spkr' and 'Music Box' can be purchased when your AC
funds falls in the range 15000-19999. Supported by three characters
with red S.F. and one character with green S.F., let Isaac stand in the
front row using a weapon that attack all enemies. Even if Randolph is
needed in this formation because you haven't recruited the Egg Dragon
yet (look in FAQ to learn how to recruit it. During the battle against
it, you'd do well to equip your characters with Fire absorbing
equipment), you can put him in the center as he will be supported by
three characters with green S.F. and his HP will receive a significant
boost. Also the Prl Brace, which is considered a blue chest treasure,
can be purchased when your AC fund falls in the range 6000-7999. As
far as shields go it's not too shabby. They will be useful before you
find the more sturdy shields in the blue chests.
Once you reach the Master, make the wish to receive the best weapons
(the first selection). When you leave the AC, you can enter the
Parethea Shrine and uncover four items. Make no mistake about the
first four to acquire. They should be the Invsbl. Clk (for Dei),
Capsl. Rng (for Mousse), Wind Flute (for Yurist), and Artea Bow (for
Milka). These four items are the most helpful and therefore should be
collected first. Invsbl. Clk allows Dei to act before most enemies as
long as the party is not surprised. Capsl. Rng powers Mousse's
parameters tremendously, but the real gem is that it allows Mousse to
start with an extra 333 MP from the start. Once you have acquired the
spell Absorb, and that the MAP of the three characters with access to
Absorb (Seena, Melphis, and Milka) exceeds half of Mousse's REG, you
can basically use Mousse as an MP battery by casting Absorb on it.
Equipping items such as Dark Card (for Seena), Alum Staff (for
Melphis), Artea Bow (for Milka), God Robe and Elemental Rings (for any
one) will grant a significant boost in MAP. Equipping the Wind Flute
on Yurist allows him to heal the entire party by selecting to attack
(amount healed equals 1/3 of Yurist's current HP, therefore it is a
good idea to also equip him with Daos' Stone). The Artea Bow allows
Milka to target all enemies at the same time (therefore it is a good
idea to equip her with the Cat Ring. She'll destroy most of the
enemies in the first 100 levels of AC before they can blink.)
Now that Milka can attack the enemy party from the start, switch to
this formation:
Red Green Red EggD.(r) Milka(g) Deckard(r)
Green Red Yellow Aima(g) Wain(r) Dei(y)
Blue Green Blue Yurist(b) Mousse(g) Melphis(b)
Since Milka is supported by three characters with red S.F. and two
characters with green S.F. (counting herself), she can stand in the
front and weaken, if not kill, all enemies present outright. This
eliminates the need to adjust AC funds during the trek.
Once you have made the wish three times, you can acquire all of the
ultimate items in the Parethea Shrine. Notice that up to now I haven't
mention anything about the Ancient Texts. This is because the enemies
in the first 100 levels are easy and IP is not relevant. However, this
time around, there will be a boss at the end of the first 100 levels.
So collect the Ancient Texts on this trip, but don't try to use any of
them until you reach the Master again.
On your way down, it is important to fill up the IP of all your
characters. The easiest way to accomplish this is to encounter a
monster red chest. To do this, find the hidden rooms with four red
chests and defeat the normal monsters in the room. Then switch out
Mousse and Egg Dragon (you should have recruited it by now) for two
controllable characters. Open the chests and see if you have
encountered a monster red chest. If there are none, then switch Mousse
and Egg Dragon back in the active party and try to find another large
hidden room. If you find one, you will encounter four monsters.
Defeat three of them and allow the last one to attack. Now simply
Have Yurist attack with the Wind Flute equipped and have characters in
the other columns defend. The accumulation of IP is not at a constant
rate. The more IP a character already has, the slower that character's
IP accumulates. On the other hand, characters with very low IP levels
and characters that lose a significant portion of HP due to the attack
will accumulate IP faster. Just continue the cycle until everyone have
their IP maxed out, and then defeat the remaining monster. Once you
have received all of the ultimate items, the Master will allow you to
challenge it to a fight.
Battle vs. Master (level 100)
1. The first thing to remember is that the Master will not attack your
party. However, you have only three battle rounds to deplete all of
its 9980 HP. Assuming that the IP of all controllable characters are
at maximum. Choose one, and only one Ancient Text for each character
(obviously the one with the highest damage potential). Even though
there are nine characters with Attack IP Type (Multihit, Fraction, and
Power), it may be difficult to find one for Ruby (Card Stream only) or
Milka (CrossMirage, Critical, or Solid Attack). Pick seven characters
with the highest damage potential to be in the active party. Upgrade
your S.F. (primarily on red, but enough to all others so you can take
advantage of the economical IP attacks). Remember to assign IP wisely
(i.e. if you have both FinalDance and ScatterHit, make sure to assign
the former to Yurist and the latter to Aima and NOT the other way
around.) The Multihit IP and the Power IP should be assigned so that
the Text with the highest damage multiplier is used on the character
with the highest ATP. Pay special attention to characters with
ScatterHit, Head Crush, Bolt Sword, Holy Sword, or Solid Attack as
these five IP attacks consumes 50 IP points or less. Therefore if you
position characters equipped with these IP attacks so that the S.F.
flow is sufficient, you can strike twice with that IP attack. Position
your menu formation to take advantage of these 'economical IP attacks'.
The last two positions are to be occupied by Mousse and Egg Dragon.
2. Once the battle begins, arrange your combat formation as follows:
EggD.(r) Mousse(g) Character1
Character2 Character3 Character4
Character5 Character6 Character7
Positions 5 through 7 are reserved primarily for characters with
Fraction IP (see Attack IP chart) while positions 1 through 4 are for
characters with Multihit and Power IPs, with the character having the
most damage potential occupying position 1. Notice that rearrangement
of position during battle does not affect IP cost, but the characters
moved to the front row will gain a bonus in physical damage.
3. During the fight, allow the characters with Fraction IP to attack in
the first round. The next two rounds are for characters with Multihit
and Power IPs. Characters with 'economical IP attacks' can use the
attack twice. Most of the time, each character can attack using IP
only once, so reposition the character with the highest damage
potential at position 1 at the beginning of each round. The Master
must be depleted of its HP by the third round. It has little DFP, so
you should be able to defeat him as long as you take advantage of
everyone's IP.
Once you have defeated the Master, you will have gained access to the
101-200 levels of the AC, as well as the option to start from floor
100. However, instead of pressing on, it is recommended to exit the AC
by using Providence. Not only because the second boss is difficult to
defeat, but also because the Ancient Texts you need to defeat this
enemy is different from the set you need to defeat Master.
Journey down to level 200
After the Master is defeated, if you talk to the man behind the
counter, he will allow you to use a shortcut that allows you to start
at level 100. There's only one thing to remember about this option,
and that's:
ALWAYS START AT THE FIRST LEVEL!
You need all the experience, spells, items, and Ancient Text you can
collect. You can't afford to miss out on easy experience and half the
treasures. The menu formation should be:
Red Red Green EggD.(r) Deckard(r)Milka(g)
Green Yellow Red Aima(g) Dei(y) Wain(r)
Blue Blue Green Melphis(b)Yurist(b) Mousse(g)
However, this time around, it is very important to utilize the secret
shop in the Ancient Cave. The shop is run by an old man that randomly
appears in levels whose numbers are divisible by 5 (excepts for levels
50, 100, and 200.) The items offered depend on your current AC funds.
The item list is extremely long, so I will list only the more
interesting items and the range of your AC funds necessary to access
them. Be aware that some weapons offered are cursed and using it to
attack will damage your own party members.
Selected Items and AC Fund Range Price
0 - 1999
Rubber Cap (vs. Lightning) 1200
2000 - 3999
Garn Ball (vs. Fire) 1000
Iron Fist (eff. hard type) 1400
Ame Ball (prevents confuse) 1500 (important to buy)
Rubr Mant (vs. Lightning) 1000
Holy Cap (vs. Dark) 1600
4000 - 5999
ColdRapier (eff. Fire) 1800
Holy Mace (eff. Dark) 2200
Holy Fist (eff. Dark) 3000
Multi Bow (attack all) 3000
MultiBlade (2X attacks) 3100
Rub Jacket (vs. Lightning) 2000
Plate Cap (vs. faint) 2500
Red Beret (vs. Fire) 2500
6000 - 7999
Topaz Ball (prevents sleep, paralyze) 4000
ChargStaff (raises charge) 5000
Sleep Rod (use Sleep) 5800
Rub Coat (vs. Lightning) 4000
Nitevision (prevents Paralysis) 5500
Silvr Shld (vs. Dark) 4000
Prl Brace (blue chest item) 4500
IndrTurban (vs. Lightning) 4500
Blue Beret (vs. Ice) 5000
8000 - 9999
Trident (eff. Aquatic) 7500
SlvrRapier (eff. Dark) 6500
Emrld Ball (vs. Bolt) 7000
Fire Bow (eff. Ice) 7500
Gold Shld (vs. Fire) 6000
EmrldVisor (prevents confuse) 7500 (important to buy)
10000 - 14999
Plat Shld (vs. Ice) 8000
Holy Shld (vs. Dark) 9000
15000 - 19999
Saph Ball (vs. Ice) 10000
Slay Spkr (attack all, use sleep) 10000
Music Box (attack all, use confuse) 10000
LightKnife (vs. Dark) 11000
Jet Hammer (eff. hard type) 12000
20000 - 29999
Ruby Ball (prevents misfortune) 15000
Life Blade(heals target, not by much)18000
30000 - 49999
Gauntlets (eff. hard type) 25000
Silver Rod (eff. Dark, hard type) 25000
Holy Card (eff. Dark) 27000
50000 or more
Silver Bow (eff. Dark) 30000
Dragonslay (eff. dragon) 32000
Flash Card (learns Storm) 35000
Hard Glove (eff. hard type) 41000
Gaia Blade (eff. Dark) 42000 (important to buy)
PhoenStaff (learns Fire Dragon) 44000
Hammer Rod (eff. hard type) 45000
Mad Edge (eff. Holy) 50000 (important to buy)
RuneRapier (eff. mage type) 52000
Riveter (eff. hard type) 53000
Zirco Fist (eff. hard type) 55000
Blood Rod (eff. hard type) 55000
The reasons for utilizing the shops are not only to help to battle
Iris, but also to be able to survive through the lower dungeons. Once
you get to level 110 or so, the dungeon is filled with powerful enemies
that use a lot of elemental attacks. Similarly, the enemies also has a
wide variety of elemental weaknesses, so the weapons you use must also
be varied. The Ame Ball and EmrldVisor prevent confusion. While the
Mad Edge (equip on Dei, you need it to fight the sacred metal dragons
and pretty much anything except for the undead) and Gaia Blade (equip
on Deckard, use it to fight the undead.)
When you reach level 100, do a spot check on the following:
1. Your collection of IP includes both 'Cooking' and 'Revive'. You
will need to use Cooking to procure Sanity Rings from Camila, which
appears around levels 166 to 170. Teach it to Aima since she has the
highest damage potential with the Ancient Text. (By the way, her Alum
Staff/Ancnt Brlt combo has higher ATP than any of her fists, provided
that you have the Alum Staff.)
2. Besides the Fortune D., you also have at least one Iris Shield
(absorbs Holy elemental) and a Rusi Armor (prevents Perish and Destroy)
so that you can outfit Melphis to absorb Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Holy
elemental attacks to protect against ambushes. In the menu formation
described above, the ambushes from the left side are protected by the
Egg Dragon (high HP) and Melphis (absorb elementals), the ambushes from
the back sides are protected by Melphis and Mousse (high HP), while
ambushes from the right side is protected by Mousse and Wain (high HP).
AC 101-200
This part features a number of AC only enemies. In order to stand up
to Iris, you will need as much experience as you can possibly get. So
the rules are the same, defeat every enemy before going forth to the
next level. The catch is that many of these enemies are extremely
dangerous and require the correct strategy to defeat if they appear in
numbers.
The first thing to know is that deadly enemies will pursue you in the
dungeon and try to ambush your party. To deal with these enemies, you
can set up a trap and get a preemptive strike. To do this, simply
backtrack into a tunnel and stand at least one space away from the
room. Repeatedly swing your sword. The monster will reach the opening
but will not enter the tunnel. Now simply stun it with the wave and
position your party to the back side of the monster and repeatedly
swing your sword. If you don't get a preemptive strike, just run away
and press the direction pad towards the monster (don't swing your
sword!) to enter the battle and try again. Try to defeat at least one
enemy during the first turn (run if you don't.)
With that said, here are the strategies for tackling the AC only
monsters.
1. Coops- Undead monsters. Use Aima-Deckard-Milka to take care of
them.
2. D. Summoner- Mage enemies with powerful magic, but attacks slowly.
Use Aima-Dei-Milka to kill them both before they can act.
3. Gold Golem- Its special attack is elemental based and can be
absorbed, so it may be wise to reposition Melphis up front. Use Aima-
Dei-Wain and focus all your attacks on one enemy at a time.
4. G. Demon- This enemy has a unique appearance on the map. It will
charge at you so set up the trap as described above. Use Aima-Deckard-
Milka and try to destroy one in the preemptive round. If there is only
one left, go ahead and finish it off in the next round. If there are
two left, run away and try to get another preemptive strike. Only
attempt to finish them if you start a preemptive strike with two of
them or less. Sometimes, defeating them relies on favorable attacks by
Mousse and Egg Dragon.
5. Sky Dragon- Not too dangerous. Use Aima-Dei-Milka to kill them.
Take advantage of their tendency to charge at you and set up the trap.
6. Blk. Dragon- They also charge at you. Go for a preemptive strike
and use Aima-Deckard-Milka. If you kill one in the first round, go
ahead and finish the other. Otherwise, escape and try again.
7. Gld. Dragon- These enemies do not move in the map, so it's not very
likely that you'll get ambushed (still possible if it's sitting just
next to the entrance of a tunnel). Stun it with the wave and run to
its back or its side and keep swinging. Once you get a preemptive
strike, use Aima-Dei-Milka to destroy one per round.
8. Slv. Dragon- They will charge at you in the map, so set up the trap
for a preemptive strike. Use Aima-Dei-Milka and kill one dragon per
round.
9. Behemoth- Finally, we have a tough enemy. They can potentially
appear in threes, have high HP and DFP. It won't move in the map so
approach it in the same way as you do with a Gld. Dragon. Get a
preemptive and use Aima-Dei-Wain and hope that Mousse and Egg Dragon
will help you out. If you don't destroy one in a round, run away and
try again. If you do, and there is only one left, go ahead and finish
it off. Only attempt to finish them if there are no more than two when
you begin a preemptive strike.
10. Mimic Chests- They only use physical attacks, so use them to fill
up your IP. The early ones are no threat if you've collected all event
items outside the AC. For the powerful PandoraBox, immediately switch
positions for Milka and Mousse. Use Aima-Yurist-Wain to attack and
heal every round. The front row characters- Egg Dragon, Deckard, and
Mousse should have enough HP and defense to withstand their attacks.
One enemy that you need to pay special attention to is Camila, which
appears around levels 166-170. Switch out Mousse and Egg Dragon for
two controllable characters, and defeat them with Cooking. Camila will
either summon companion, absorb HP from a character, or absorb MP from
a character. Switching in Seena and Ruby gives it less chance to use
Vampire on characters with low REG, while defeating any monster
summoned to further waste their turns. Optimally, you will need nine
characters with the equipment to resist confusion (eight is OK, seven
is iffy, and you won't stand much chance with six or below.) Besides
the Daos' Ring, Ame Ball, and EmrldVisor (and Recv Armor for Wain if
you found one), you will still need six Sanity Rings- either from
chests or by Cooking, to fully outfit a party of nine.
By the time you reach level 101, you should have already purchased the
marked items from the old man. However, the shopping is not over yet.
Anytime you find the old man offering to sell, spend your AC funds on
as many Espresso as you can possibly afford. This item heals for
around 70 HP and 70 MP. You will need a lot of MP to fight Iris, and
it's doubtful that you have a lot of Miracles.
Battle vs. Iris (level 200)
1. Contrary to the battle vs. Master, do not use IP of Multihit type
(i.e. Octostrike or Afterimage). Fraction and Power IP are your best
offense. Multihit IP tends to miss the target and can be devastating
to your party if reflected. Teach only one Ancient Text to each
character you're going to use in the active party, bearing in mind to
optimize damage as described for the battle vs. Master. Since you've
been collecting them for 200 levels, there shouldn't be a problem in
finding good Ancient Texts to assign. Also, since the boss absorbs
Holy elemental, don't assign anyone with Holy elemental IP (i.e. Holy
Attack, Blind, etc.) Focus S.F. upgrade primarily on green S.F.
(rather than red) but make sure everyone can learn their Ancient Texts
by assigning LP to their S.F.
2. Switch out Mousse and Egg Dragon since they cannot defend against
confusion. Position your menu formation so Melphis has more than 600
HP (601 is OK, 600 is not) by aligning her with Milka and Aima (green
S.F.) Use all Life Seed on Melphis and teach her the Ancient Text of
Revive. Use LP to upgrade S.F. of only the characters you will use.
Then use Espresso to refill any MP to maximum (after healing the HP of
your party to max). If you don't have enough Sanity Rngs, it would be
better to leave out a character rather than to having to deal with a
confused one. Among the nine characters, make sure that Ruby, Melphis,
and anyone else equipping an Iris Shield to be included in the party.
Specifically, the menu formation as well as the items equipped on each
character are as follows. Items with parenthesis means that the choice
is not absolutely necessary. Those without, however, means that there
is little alternative.
Ruby(y) Melphis(b) Milka(g)
(Bunny Blade) (Iris Blade) (Iris Blade)
(Dark Glass) Iris Shld Iris Shld
(Zirco Band) (Zirco Band) (Zirco Band)
Fortune D. (Rusi Armo) (Rusi Armo)
Sanity Rng Sanity Ring Cat Ring
(Flame Amlt) (Tough Ring) Daos' Ring
Wain(r) Aima(g) Dei(y)
Max. Blade (Alum Staff) Mad Edge
Gades' Brace Ancnt Brlt (Fire Shld)
(Pearl Hlmt) (Zirco Band) (Old Helm)
Recv Armor (Bunny Suit) Invsbl.Clk
(Holy Amlt) Sanity Rng Sanity Rng
(-) (-) (Holy Amlt)
Seena(b) Yurist(b) Isaac(y)
Ame Ball Wind Flute (Custom 65)
(Dark Glass) (Bunny Tray) (-)
(Zirco Band) (Bunny Ears) EmrldVisor
(God Robe) (Drgn. Scale) Power Suit
(Flame Amlt) Daos Stone (Holy Amlt)
(-) Sanity Rng (-)
Notice that Melphis and Dei receive the highest HP boost. Both Milka
(equipped with Cat Ring) and Dei (equipped with Invsbl.Clk) should be
able to act before Iris.
3. Begin the battle.
Form 1- Iris starts in this form, her attacks include:
Rainbow- Confuse + Silence + Poison vs. party. If she uses this, have
Milka heal Melphis with Help. Yurist uses Wind Flute, third character
attacks or heal status.
Zap- Holy elemental spell vs. party. If she uses this, cure with Wind
Flute and Champion X. Third person attack or heal status.
Reduce- Dark elemental spell vs. one. Fastest healer cures, two
characters attack.
NoblBlood- Left with 1 HP and 0 MP, vs. one. Milka uses Strongest
(unless she's affected, then let Melphis cast it), person afflicted
uses Espresso, third person attack or heal status.
Conversion attack: DivineWeapon- 7 hits, holy elemental vs.
party. Iris converts to form 2. When this happens, Change formation
to Form 2 while Milka (or Melphis) and Yurist heals the party. Dei
attacks.
In this form, use the following combat formation:
Ruby(y) Melphis(b) Milka(g) - first row interchangeable
Aima(g) Dei(y) Wain(r) - second row interchangeable
Yurist(b) Seena(b) Issac(y) - third row interchangeable
As usual, use any Fraction IP first, followed by Power IP attacks. Use
physical attacks only if IP is too low. Focus primarily on attacks
when Iris is in this form. Also, make it a point to use up attack IP
of characters with max HP of 600 or below.
Form 2- Iris changes into this form. Knock her out of this as you
heal. Her attacks include:
FinalGuardian- Reflects all attacks, self. When she uses this, take
the opportunity to heal and remove status ailments like Poison or
Silence and do not attack. It is very important to use only Dei and
Milka to attack while Iris is in form 2, and this special will be
useless.
Vanish- Powerful attack, vs. one. If she uses this, cast Valor on the
dead person (or Strongest if still alive) if all other members are OK.
Otherwise, have all three healers heal and revive.
Conversion attack: Spiritual Force. This one's a killer. It can do up
to 600 HP worth of damage vs. party. To avoid being caught off guard,
cure any poisoned and silenced characters and heal the HP of every
character to maximum every round. Make sure that you have changed your
combat formation by switching the first and the second rows as the
following to ensure that your first row characters can afford to take
the damage.
Aima(g) Dei(y) Wain(r) - first row interchangeable
Ruby(y) Melphis(b) Milka(g) - second row interchangeable
Yurist(b) Seena(b) Issac(y) - third row interchangeable
After the conversion attack, Iris will revert to form 1. It is
understandable that most of your members will be down. So have Dei use
a Miracle (or Espresso if you run out) on Melphis and Melphis must use
the IP skill Revive to restore all characters (anything Iris throw at
you in form 1 shouldn't be able to stop the Revive). This is the
reason that Melphis must have 601 HP and IP Revive. This is also the
only instance that you need to use a Miracle. Once everyone is alive
again, have all three healers cure the party to full. Commence your
full-scale attack once you've gotten the situation under control again.
In both forms, Iris can use a normal physical attack that is easily
healed.
In general:
1. Use Fraction and Power IP whenever your IP is sufficient and Iris is
in form 1.
2. Yurist should always heal with Wind Flute, unless he's hit by
NoblBlood, in which case he needs an Espresso.
3. In form 2, only characters faster than Iris may attack. Cure any
ailments afflicted from form 1 immediately. Heal the party to full HP
every single round. You never know when a conversion attack is coming.
This is the only time that you should use a Miracle.
4. If the MP of a healer drops below 70 MP, use an Espresso to recover
MP.
It all boils down to whether you have enough MP reserves to outlast
Iris, which shouldn't be a concern if you've bought Espresso by the
bulk. Victory in battle earns you Rainbow, an accessory that makes
regular monsters disappear, and the Ancient Text D-End Flash, which
cuts the current HP of any enemy by half. Not that you would need them
anyway, now that you've beaten the hardest boss in the game.
Lufia: The Legend Returns is licenced by Taito, developed by Neverland,
and published by Natsume. All work done on this FAQ is by the author,
except for sources referenced in the FAQ to reduce redundancy.
