Tales of Symphonia [Gung Ho Run ‐ New Game subset]

Set developed by Jenettebaghead, guide written by benit149

This guide is an FAQ and a breakdown of the bosses that are encountered in Tales of Symphonia’s Gung Ho Run achievement subset. The FAQs are more like tips and tricks I figured out during my playthrough that can help you out. There will be story spoilers involved, so if you wish not to be spoiled, please play the main game first. First off, I’ll cover the FAQ.

Why is this subset called the Gung Ho run?

The main protagonist Lloyd Irving can gain a title called Gung Ho, which is achieved by having your four active battle party characters’ combined levels add up to 145 by the time you reach a mid-game boss named Rodyle. This only factors in the four characters you’re bringing into the actual battle against Rodyle. The formula is thus 145 / 4, or 36.25, which means each character’s level must not exceed 36 throughout the entire game up to that point to be able to gain the title. This is also why not every boss in the game is covered in this subset, since Rodyle is the cutoff point for the title.

For the subset though, there is the added caveat that every character’s level must remain at or below a specified level for any given boss. Thus there will be some level management, which may require you deliberately killing off characters so they don’t gain experience.

Can I transfer my progress in the main set to cheese the subset with the endgame Grade Shop?

No. The subset will function completely separate from the main set, meaning you have to start a fresh run. You are allowed to clear the subset’s New Game normally to farm Grade, then purchase the Half Experience and Max HP bonuses plus transfer your Gald to make your proper Gung Ho run much easier in New Game+.

This guide was written with the intent that you would be doing this on a New Game run, meaning that certain bosses will spike in difficulty plus you need to balance your experience distribution and shopping. The tradeoff is that you’ll be cutting out an entire playthrough of the story, especially since you need to do it multiple times in the main set to get every achievement there. If you’re looking for a challenge or just want to be efficient with your time, do this subset in New Game. Otherwise, ignore the achievements in your first run and get enough Grade for the two bonuses plus transferring Gald to make your life easier in New Game+.

Are these achievements invalidated if you enter a fight at the proper level, but then gain too high a level after finishing the fight?

No. The achievements only look at what level you enter the battle, not what it is after clearing it. For example, during the Palmacosta and Palmacosta Human Ranch segments, there is a good chance that Kratos will reach level 11 after finishing the Human Ranch, and is likely to reach level 12 after Kilia is defeated. That won’t be a problem because while he may be close to reaching level 12, he still enters the Kilia battle at level 11, which satisfies the requirement for that achievement.

What do you mean by a Tech Tree?

Symphonia has a rather finicky system for learning combat Techs, so let me break it down for you.

There are two paths that the characters can gain new Techs in; Strike (S) and Technical (T). Strike Techs tend to focus on heavy damage and knockback, while Technical Techs deliver more hits and/or cover a wider range. For Genis, his Strike Techs deal heavy damage to a single enemy, while his Technical Techs deliver more hits in a wide range. For Raine, her Strike Techs give her strong single-target healing spells, while her Technical Techs give her wide-ranged healing. Technical Raine is by far the superior version compared to Strike Raine. You could experiment with Genis, but I preferred Technical Genis for handling enemies that are flanking my melee fighters. As I will outline in a later question, he learns the spell Spread in his Technical tree, so I think that’s the way to go for him.

To get a character into a specific Tech Tree, go to the EX Skill menu and set their EX Skills according to whether it is labeled as S-Type or T-Type. For instance, Strong is S-Type, while Magical is T-Type. Once those are set, fight several battles. In the main menu, you’ll notice a bar that looks like this:

T <<<<<<|>>>>>> S

It can only ever point in one direction for any given character, but the more red the meter is, the more aligned they are to that particular Tech Tree. Fighting battles will slowly increase that meter (or decrease it if you’ve set the opposite Type in the EX Skill menu). Once that’s set, you can leave it alone now. As you use Techs and level up in battle, you will gain stronger Techs depending on which Tech Tree you’re following. The number of times you’ve used a given Tech will matter as well.

Do note that you cannot have both Strike Techs and Technical Techs available for a character simultaneously. If you learned Techs from one tree and decide you want to learn Techs from the other, you have to make that character forget the Techs they learned. To do this, go into the Tech menu and go through a character’s list of Techs, then hit the X button. If the Tech cannot be forgotten, you’ll get a notification saying so (typically for basic Level 1 Techs). Just go through every Tech and forget each one until they’re all gone. Then don’t use Techs in battle until you get the character into the other Tech Tree, and you’re good to go.

I prefer playing as magic users rather than melee characters. Are there strategies tailored for mages?

That’s hard to say. The Tales series’ real-time combat style promotes using close-range fighters compared to mages, who tend to be slow, have awful melee attacks, and take a while to cast their spells. Without a late-game EX Skill called Concentrate, they often get interrupted by enemies’ attacks, meaning they have to reposition and attempt casting again. This is not a menu-based combat system a la Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, where mages may be more powerful than fighters. The strategies I’ve written focus on me controlling any one of three specific characters; Lloyd, Kratos, and Zelos, all of whom are strong combatants. Lloyd in particular was my main for the vast majority of the set, so I wrote my strategies based on his play style.

If you’re absolutely stubborn about using a mage, your only option is using Genis as your main. He has strong elemental spells from six of the primary elements (water, fire, wind, lightning, ice, and earth), and the more he uses the basic spells, the more likely he’ll be able to unlock their stronger equivalents, depending on which Tech Tree you’re taking him in. If you’re able to figure out strategies that center around Genis, you’re more than welcome to add your notes to this guide for others to use. I’m afraid I can’t help you any further than that.

What the heck!? I can’t run around on the battlefield freely like in Tales of the Abyss!

Tales of Symphonia was released in Japan in August 2003, while Tales of the Abyss came out two years later in December 2005. Free Run was not implemented in Symphonia because the developers wanted to mimic the more linear combat styles of the earlier 2D games. Thus, Abyss is the first 3D game in the franchise to utilize Free Run. This makes movement in Symphonia’s battles rather clunky compared to Abyss, forcing you to run just straight lines in a 3D field. The best option you have to change your Z-axis is to switch between enemies. Otherwise, just get accustomed to this combat system’s nuances.

What are Memory Gems?

This game’s dungeon save points are not automatically available to you. First you need to find an item called a Memory Gem, which is held by any one of the enemies lurking around within the dungeon. Which monster it is will always be fixed, so as long as you’re aware of which one to hunt down, you can keep your levels sufficiently low while unlocking the save point. The save point itself will look like a broken white circle on the ground, typically near where the boss battle will be (but not always). I will point out any Memory Gems that will be useful to save you a lot of unnecessary backtracking.

What are the elemental pairings?

Knowing which element a boss is weak to will be crucial for dealing heavy damage, thus ensuring your survival. There are four pairings of elemental weaknesses, which are:

Water <-> Lightning

Wind <-> Earth

Fire <-> Ice

Light <-> Darkness

So, I’m interested in giving this a shot. What Techs should I get in advance for certain bosses?

The most important one is Spread for Genis, which is available in his Technical Tech Tree. Not only is it good at juggling enemies in general, you will want it for a potentially dangerous boss that is lighting elemental. For Lloyd, you definitely want Tempest for some strategic usage on taller bosses. It’s a base Tech for him, so it doesn’t really matter which Tech Tree you’re following. You could use the stronger Tempest-based Techs, but they tend to cost too much SP for him compared to just the basic Tempest. Otherwise, I liked using Sword Rain for him. As for which healing Techs you want for Raine, definitely stick to her Technical Tech Tree so she learns area of effect healing like Healing Circle and Nurse. The other characters don’t really matter that much, so play them however you want.

I don’t think there are any further questions that need answering, so without further ado, let’s carry on with the individual boss strategies.

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Martel Temple – Vidarr

Pretty much a freebie, especially after Kratos joins the fight. Vidarr is so slow that you can run from him when he attacks, run back to attack, and just keep doing that until he goes down. I’m going to call this the back-and-forth strategy throughout this guide, as it’s the only solution I can think of for the lack of Free Run in this game.

Exbelua – Iselia

While you don’t have Kratos for healing this time, you should have enough Apple Gels to help you survive, so do the back-and-forth strategy to dodge Exbelua’s arm swipes and stay healed. Maintain a combo after Genis uses a spell on it to stun lock it as much as you can.

Botta – Sylvarant Base

Not much different from Vidarr, to be honest. Get rid of the minions first so they don’t annoy you, then gang up on Botta.

Ktugach – Triet Ruins

This is the first opportunity to run into a Fake chest, which contains an All-Divide item. This halves all damage in battle regardless if it's from an ally or an enemy. To get one, Colette has to have the Item Thief ability equipped, plus a decently high Luck stat. Then you're able to steal an All-Divide from the Fake, flee the battle, encounter it again, steal another one, rinse and repeat. I personally didn't do this and still cleared the subset, but this option is available to you if you're struggling with certain bosses.

This is when the bosses start to get a little scary, but is still doable even with just blitzing through the dungeon and running away from battles. I didn’t bother with the Memory Gem for this dungeon since the entrance isn’t too far from the boss arena. Colette is forced into this battle, so you have two choices; swap out Kratos if you want extra offense with Genis’ magic, or swap out Genis if you want Kratos to function as a second healer alongside Raine. The one attack to watch out for is Ktugach’s rain of spikes that can hit multiple times for some severe damage. Ktugach is also accompanied by two minions, so get rid of them first before concentrating on him.

Clumsy Assassin (Sheena) – Ossa Trail

On my first attempt, I focused on the Guardian. Unfortunately, Lloyd’s attacks aren’t as effective on it due to how tall it is compared to him. This wound up getting my party killed as Clumsy Assassin picked off the others in the background. What I should’ve done was use Tempest on it, but I wasn’t aware of this (I was learning the system as I went). Anyway, on my second attempt, I focused on Clumsy Assassin and left the Guardian for later, with better success. Regardless of which order you defeat them, once one of them goes down, the fight goes much easier from there.

After reaching Palmacosta and doing the initial story events there, head onward to Hakonesia Peak. However, you absolutely want to take a small detour for a world map chest containing a Magic Mist, which increases your escape speed from battles. From Hakonesia, immediately turn left and hug the mountains. The chest is literally right there.

Depending on how much Grade you’ve gained from battles, you may want to invest in a Grab Bag from Palmacosta’s Customization shop. They cost 30 Grade though, so it may be too expensive for you at this point. Grab Bags will give you a single accessory, including a Sephira, which increases the amount of Gald you receive from battle by half. Considering how tight the money route is, it may be a worthwhile investment if you want a little extra padding. I didn’t either do this or get the Magic Mist in my NG run and still cleared the set, so these options are up to you.

Magnius – Palmacosta Human Ranch

Here’s where the bosses start getting dangerous. Magnius is accompanied by two minions, so get rid of them ASAP. However, his attacks hit pretty hard, and your party members’ AI is not the smartest. Keep them healed with Gels and Life Bottles as best as you can so they can chip away Magnius’ HP as best as they can, but they will eventually fall, leaving your character alone to deal with him. If you chose Lloyd or Kratos as your main, stick to the back-and-forth strategy while using Gels or Heal to stay healthy. If Genis is your main, keep your distance and cast spells. Jump over Magnius to run behind him if you’re running out of space, preferably during his brief cooldown phase after an attack. Blocking isn’t particularly useful because he has a habit of breaking your guard with his Techs. Despite him being hard-hitting, he is very slow, so utilizing your running speed to get out of his range is the better course of action.

Kilia – Palmacosta

You will want to upgrade your equipment after clearing the Palmacosta Human Ranch before going into this fight. Despite Kilia being by herself, she still defeated me at least once due to her multi-hit attack that she uses after reaching her second phase. I hadn’t bought better gear yet, so once I did for my second try, I was able to defeat her. The back-and-forth strategy works, as well as Tempest. However, she also has Dark Sphere, the dark-elemental equivalent of Photon, meaning it’s guaranteed to hit one character.

Windmaster – Asgard

This guy can be rather unfair due to his constant stream of attacks, which only get worse as you wear him down. If the back-and-forth strategy doesn’t work for you, the block button is your best friend here. Have Genis’ magic begin a stun lock combo and maintain it as much as you can. Unison Attacks can be helpful as well.

Adulocia – Thoda Geyser

An interesting thing I encountered is that if you want to get the Spiritua Statue from the geyser, Genis needs to learn Icicle at level 11 first. If he doesn’t have it yet, a cutscene will play where Genis tells Lloyd that he doesn’t know ice magic yet. Annoyingly, if you backtrack from Thoda’s ruins and get this cutscene, you can’t go back inside until Genis has Icicle, meaning you’d have potentially wasted 200 Gald coming here if you’re not prepared. Also, it’s a good idea to look for this dungeon’s Memory Gem. It’s in the room to the right of the pedestal where the Sorcerer Ring’s function changes. It’s not on the first fish you see, but on the second one hovering in front of the two treasure chests.

Anyway, Colette is forced into this fight. I swapped out Kratos because I made the mistake of buying the Hydra Dagger in Asgard, which is a water-elemental sword, and this is a water-elemental boss. I used Genis and turned off all of his spells except for Lightning, and put Tiger Blade on Lloyd. In the Unison Attack menu, set those two Techs for them and perform a Unison Attack to get Lighting Tiger Blade off. Adulocia has two minions, so of course dispatch them first.

This battle is really nasty because Adulocia has some strong spells, plus she can blow bubbles that hit multiple times if not blocking. Spread is pretty easy to avoid if it’s targeted on your main, but the AI-controlled characters are guaranteed to get hit by it, if not killed. While Genis and Colette didn’t survive, as long as I kept Raine alive with enough SP, I could distract the boss with Lloyd by blocking her attacks and getting out of the way of the scarier attacks, then slipping in some hits until she was dead. However, beware of when Adulocia uses Aqua Laser at lower health. If your characters are bunched up together, Aqua Laser will practically one shot everyone. I only saw it once in my successful attempt, but it took out three characters simultaneously. For these reasons, don’t be surprised if this boss takes you multiple attempts.

Iapyx and Resolute Assassin (Sheena again) – Balacruf Mausoleum

Hoo boy… I’d say this is the hardest part of the subset due to there being two bosses back-to-back.

First, to find the Memory Gem, go directly left from the entrance and carefully walk over the spike trap. The enemy is directly on the stairs leading up to the block for the wind puzzle. I actually recommend NOT using this save point because whenever you reload here, you wind up automatically getting into a battle because an enemy is always right where your character stands, which means wasting time running away from the fight. The save point is also right near the entrance (which is an extremely poor placement, IMO), so it’s worth it to just go back to the world map and save there.

After doing the dungeon’s puzzles, I strongly recommend going back to either the nearby House of Salvation for an inexpensive inn, or to Asgard if you want an inn and to restock items. You will need a ton of restorative items because you’ll be dealing with a boss gauntlet here. After beating Iapyx and trying to leave Balacruf, the same assassin from Ossa Trail will show up and immediately fight you after. Depending on how well or poorly you do against Iapyx, you may be completely unprepared for this. You have no opportunity to save after beating Iapyx either, so this is a back-to-back series of boss battles.

Another thing that happened to me is that if you have a character at level 14 with about 200 experience needed for level 15, there is the risk of them hitting level 16 after Iapyx, which would invalidate the low level requirement for Resolute Assassin. Kill them off either before or during the Iapyx battle so they don’t get the experience.

Colette is forced into the Iapyx battle, so make your preparations here. The first bit of good news is that there are no minions to worry about. The bad news is that he has a lot more HP to compensate. He attacks either with his claw in midair or does a spinning wing attack on the ground, and throws some feathers for four hits of damage. I chose Kratos as my fourth character and set him to Heal so he could support Raine. With Lloyd as my main, I put the pressure on him with regular hits and Tiger Blade (though Tempest is better). Colette used Angel Feather as much as she could. At half health, Iapyx will throw his feathers two times in a row, making him significantly more nastier than before. It was really close for me, but Kratos with Hydra Dagger is surprisingly effective. I used Lloyd mainly for stun-locking Iapyx so Kratos got some hits in, but you could control Kratos instead and use his Techs if you want.

It took me a couple of tries before I got through this gauntlet, so I experimented with using Kratos as my main against Iapyx, using an offensive strategy rather than a defensive one with Lloyd. It turned out to be a lot more efficient with item usage, and it was quicker to take him down. If Kratos’ AI is set to Heal, he won’t be doing as much damage, which means this fight takes longer, which thus eats up more items that you should save for Resolute Assassin. Although Kratos just has Sonic Thrust as his most useful Tech, whereas Lloyd has multiple Tech options, Kratos’ damage output is much more worth it if you use him in this fight with Hydra Dagger equipped in conjunction with Lloyd stun-locking Iapyx.

For Resolute Assassin, she comes with another Guardian. You get a free party heal after Iapyx, so I swapped Colette out for Genis before this fight. If you lose during this fight, you have to do Iapyx all over again, which absolutely sucks. Just like at Ossa Trail, concentrate on the assassin first and leave the Guardian for later. I got Genis to learn Stalagmite, which helped immensely with keeping either opponent trapped for a short bit.

Kvar – Asgard Human Ranch

Progress the story until you have to split your party into two teams. When controlling Lloyd’s group, the Memory Gem is with the soldier loitering in front of the chest containing the Iron Bracelet. Kvar has three Energy Stones with him, and they can be annoying if they pincer a single character. This gets more difficult because you’re stuck with only three party members. Get rid of the Energy Stones quickly, but even then Kvar is not a free ride. Stay away from his close range Lightning Strike attack since it does multiple heavy hits, and run around to dodge either his Lightning or Spark Wave spells. Attack him when he’s clearly in between attacks, but play it safe and make distance until your next opportunity. You’re going to burn through a lot of items in this battle due to how cheap the Energy Stones’ attacks can be. Each one also has 5500 HP, and Kvar himself has 10000, so it takes a while to defeat them.

The party I chose was Lloyd, Kratos and Genis. I probably could’ve chosen Raine for the healing, but I wanted the two males for a more offensive strategy. First Aid heals the same regardless if it’s Kratos or Raine casting, so I preferred Kratos pitching in with attacks whenever he could. Genis also had Stalagmite, which was as helpful for me here as in the Resolute Assassin battle.

Iubaris – Tower of Mana

The Memory Gem is found on the second enemy running up the stairs while controlling Lloyd’s party. This is the last fight that Colette is forced to partake in. Tempest is fantastic for this battle due to how large Iubaris is. There are also no minions to worry about, so it’s practically about ganging up on him with regular attacks and Tempests. Of course Iubaris will hit hard, and is fast as well, so the back-and-forth strategy from earlier in this guide will not be very helpful for anything except avoiding his tail attack. Blocking isn’t the best either, but it’s better than nothing. When Iubaris starts using Force Ray, he’ll fly into the air and fire a light-elemental breath attack. Your first instinct would be to run away, but it’s actually smarter to get in as close as you can. The attack will still miss you, and Iubaris will be vulnerable upon landing. This is probably one of the easier boss battles at this point of the subset, but still, don’t get cocky.

Undine – Thoda Geyser

Sheena is required for this battle, but at least she’s more useful in combat compared to Colette. Don’t forget to switch Lloyd’s Tempest with Sword Rain. If you don’t upgrade weapons, Kratos will most likely still be equipped with the Hydra Dagger, making him useless for this fight. I use Lloyd, Sheena, Genis and Raine. Turn off all of Genis’ spells except for Lightning and do the Lightning Tiger Blade Unison Attack again. For me, this was the battle where Raine finally learned Photon, making her a little more useful for combat.

Undine loves using Spread on the two melee characters. If they’re bunched up together enough, it will do lethal damage on both of them. At lower health, Undine uses an Aqua Edge-like attack that is difficult to block, so just keep your health topped up as much as possible. She also has a two-hit sword strike, but that’s not as threatening as her magic.

In the main set, this is the point of the story where you could acquire Efreet and Sylph as summons for Sheena. The subset does not require any battles with them, so continue onward to the Tower of Salvation.

Remiel – Tower of Salvation

Don’t be fooled by this guy’s angelic appearance – he’s going to murder you. First of all, upgrade your equipment at the shop in Hima, since it has the best options available at this point in the game. First off, Remiel can teleport around the field and immediately launch an attack. His physical attack has him firing multiple arrows, which will sting regardless of how far away you are from him. For his spells, he uses Photon frequently, and Holy Lance infrequently, both of which are rather annoying. This all only gets worse when he enters the second phase, because he seems to attack much faster and teleports more often. The only strategy I could really rely on was having tons of Life Bottles, since you won’t have many opportunities to actually heal. Otherwise, stun lock Remiel as best as you can. He is nasty, so don’t be surprised if this takes a few attempts.

Once Remiel is down, just let yourself perish to the following two boss battles. Carry on with the story for a good while until you return to Fooji Mountains to retrieve the flying vehicles.

If you have a Sephira from earlier, you can use the Rune Bottle that Remiel drops to change it into a Blue Sephira. This gives you twice the amount of Gald in battle, which is really nice considering how tight the money route is.

Pronyma – Fooji Mountains

First of all, when you reach Meltokio and have access to the shops, I would recommend selling off Apple and Orange Gels and purchasing Lemon and Pineapple Gels in their place. Apple and Orange Gels just don’t heal enough to keep up with the damage at this point in the game. Alternately, you could just use Apple and Orange Gels in the menu, and use the others strictly in battle. You should also start entering every battle with 20 Life Bottles because you’re more than likely going to need all of them for each encounter.

A word of warning; after this battle is over, you’ll have to go to Meltokio and clear the sewers level to gain access to the city. If you’ve consumed a lot of items during the Pronyma battle, you’ll have some difficulty here since the bridge to Sybak is blocked off, meaning you can’t restock there either. Make a separate save file if you’re worried about getting stuck here. The sewers is a long and annoying dungeon, but there are no bosses and the random encounters are easy, with only a forced encounter against the three convicts at the end. If you want to rest up without using items, there is a House of Guidance just northeast of Fooji Mountains that costs 600 Gald (what a rip-off). After finishing the sewers dungeon, don’t rest at the inn – you’ll get a free party heal at Zelos’ house during the story.

Also, since you're cut off from Sylvarant at this point, you can't go back to Triet Ruins to farm more All-Divides from the Fake there. Fortunately, there is now a new Fake available in Meltokio Sewers for you to use after defeating Pronyma. It's much easier to access than the one in Triet Ruins as well.

Anyway, Pronyma is more of a spellcaster than a fighter, and she has no mooks backing her up. She does have 18000 HP though, so she’ll go into Overlimit several times, meaning you’ll want to keep your distance until it cools down. She has the obvious light-elemental weakness, though it might be difficult to exploit since Raine is typically busy healing. Pronyma may be easy pickings on the surface, but beware her Aqua Laser, Ice Tornado, Dark Sphere and Bloody Lance spells since they can hit hard at such low levels. She also has an offensive skill called Leonazium, which is basically Beast, but as long as you gang up on her with three melee characters, she won’t have many opportunities to use it. Later in the battle, she’ll use a ground-based attack called Agarazium that launches your characters into the air. She’s also capable of teleporting around the battlefield like Remiel. Don’t take her lightly, and be generous with your item usage despite the restrictions that will follow after beating her.

Convict (Regal) – Gaoracchia Forest

Compared to Remiel and Pronyma, the Convict is by far one of the easiest boss fights in Tethe’alla. He only does physical attacks, and has no minions to dispatch. He has 12000 HP, so he will Overlimit a couple of times. Other than that, there really isn’t much strategy to discuss here.

Defense System – Toize Valley Mine

Unlike other bosses that just have two or three minions that remain dead after defeating them, this one has mooks that respawn after a short while. Luckily they’re not threatening if you defeat them quickly. Conversely, ignoring them and going for the Defense System is not a good idea since the Orbits and Guard Arms can defeat your characters quickly. Get rid of the Orbits and Auto Repair Unit first before going for the Defense System itself. Lloyd equipped with a Shiden from Mizuho Village is great against the Orbits since it’s a lighting-elemental sword and that element is their weakness. Not a difficult fight, but still pay attention to your allies if they need healing or Life Bottles.

Volt – Temple of Lightning

Sheena is forced into this boss battle. Even in a casual playthrough, Volt is known for being a challenging enemy. If you’re going to use Genis, make sure he knows Spread! If he only knows Aqua Edge, he won’t be of much help because the water discs will just fly beneath Volt unless he’s knocked to the ground. I found this out the hard way, even though I managed to pull through without Spread. You might think that the Card of Water would be a good weapon choice for Sheena due to the element bonus, but it didn’t do much damage for me compared to the Card of Wind, her best weapon available at this time. Lloyd’s Tempest is going to be the key to victory here. He may learn Psi Tempest, but the SP cost is a little too much for the damage being done. Otherwise, keep up the pressure and heal up as needed. Once Volt is down, go back to Ozette and restock before going to the Tethe’alla Base.

Botta and Yuan – Tethe’alla Base

Whomever you decide to target first, they’ll still cause you plenty of headaches. I went for Botta first to eliminate his spells, plus he has lower HP. Botta’s attacks and spells are earth elemental, while Yuan uses lightning. I mostly just switched between them depending on who’s harassing me more. The Card of Ice you get in this dungeon does effective damage against both of them. Yuan’s Thunder Explosion turned out to be the worst part of this fight due to the wide range and high damage it does.

After beating them, you finally have your flying vehicles. I recommend going to Altamira and purchasing a Magic Mist as an accessory, if you didn’t get the one near Hakonesia Peak.

Winged and Baby Dragons – Dragon Den

Take out the Baby Dragons ASAP, no questions asked. While the big head will kill your party members with Ground Dasher, the minions will gang up on you with a wide-ranged wing flap attack that can be devastating if you don’t use your items on time. You have to be as quick and ruthless as them if you want to defeat the Baby Dragons. Once they’re down, the Winged Dragon shouldn’t be too difficult from there.

Celsius and Fenrir – Temple of Ice

You have the option of going to get either Gnome or Celsius first. For the subset, Celsius’ level requirement is 33, whereas Gnome’s is 34, meaning it’s better to go for Celsius first depending on what your current levels are. An annoying thing you need to do is to get three Penguinist Quills from the Penguinist enemies lurking either outside Flanoir or within Temple of Ice. Bring them to an old man in the town, and he will make Penguinist Gloves, allowing you to handle the Celsius’ Tear flower in the temple. This flower is needed to freeze the water to gain access to Celsius’ battle arena. If you’re worried about gaining too much experience here, make a separate save and switch screens within Temple of Ice to respawn the Penguinists. Getting the quills is RNG dependent, so if you’re getting unlucky, just reset and try again.

Yet another battle that Sheena is forced into. Go after Fenrir first. Celsius will try to stymie you, but just ignore her for now. Fenrir has 12000 HP compared to Celsius’ 18000, so eliminating the opponent with less health is the best idea. Fenrir can use some spinning attacks and a freezing breath, but I didn’t find him too problematic. From there, Celsius was surprisingly easy. She just uses martial arts moves that are simple to either dodge or block. Having three melee characters gang up on her while Raine heals will take her down in short order.

As a side note, due to the Penguinist grind, my Lloyd was dangerously close to hitting level 35, which would’ve invalidated the Gnome achievement. In the Temple of Earth, there is a brief segment where you have to escort a Gnomelette down a short path, and you have to protect it from monsters. In my case, I got Lloyd killed off so he didn’t gain any experience during this section.

Gnome – Temple of Earth

This is the second-to-last boss of the subset. Sheena is once again forced to take part in this fight. Gnome has the second-largest amount of HP at 28000, so this is going to take some time. He does a two-strike shovel attack or a belly flop attack for his physical attacks, but they don’t hit too hard. If the belly flop launches you into the air, use the X button to recover in midair. Later in the fight, he’ll use the propeller on his head to do a short charge again. Again, a laughable attack. It’s his magic that you need to worry about more. Luckily, Gnome is such a large target that having three melee characters ganging up on him will more often than not break him out of his spellcasting animation. Overall, a nice easy fight like Celsius was.

Rodyle – Remote Island Human Ranch

While Rodyle is not the final boss of the game, he certainly is of this subset. Even though I say that, he’s actually more disappointing than I expected. Remiel was more of a proper final boss-like encounter compared to Rodyle.

He has 35000 HP, which is the most of any boss for the subset. This means he’ll go into Overlimit a few times, so make a lot more distance between you and him than usual. His attacks may not be ranged in themselves, but they reach surprisingly far enough that the back-and-forth strategy will be a necessity. Later in the battle, he’ll use Insanity Force, where he explodes a blast of light directly on his chest, hitting for about 1100 damage. He also has an Indignation-like move that creates a dark explosion in front of him. As long as you keep your health high, these won’t be any problem. What else can I say? Don’t be shy with your item usage, and give him everything you’ve got.

Once Rodyle is down, congratulations! You’ve cleared the subset and gotten the Gung Ho title for Lloyd!

If I had to give a personal review of this run, it does have its challenges, but it’s certainly not as strict and obnoxious as the David and Goliath achievement in the Final Fantasy VII main set. You will have to be the most careful with the Iapyx and Resolute Assassin bosses at Balacruf Mausoleum, as well as Remiel. Once you can push through those, the remaining bosses shouldn’t pose too much of a problem for you as long as you keep up on your equipment and play intelligently.

Have fun, and happy cheevo hunting!

• benit149, August 2024