Hi there!
Welcome to my guide for Ys I & II! This guide was created to help you get through the games, as there seems to be a fair deal of misinformation concerning certain trouble spots, although this has gotten better recently. Even if you're an experienced player, I hope you'll find something new or interesting buried somewhere in here.

Anyway, allow me to explain just what the differences are between the versions listed above. The "Eternal" versions are remakes of the original Ys I and Ys II (released in 1987 and 1988 respectively), and were released in 1998 and 2000 respectively. In 2001, the Eternal versions received slight touch-ups a couple years later, and were released in 2001 under the name "Complete". For Ys I, most of what was changed was the graphics, although the maps had almost completely identical layouts (a couple of them had minor modifications). Falcom also added text for Ys I when attempting to manually use most items, something the Eternal version of Ys II also did. Speaking of Ys II, there is little difference between the Eternal and Complete versions - mostly, it's just a couple of bug fixes regarding certain bosses. In 2009, the Complete versions were updated again and released to the PSP in Japan under the name "Chronicles", and then localized in the US by XSeed in 2011. This time, a more modern art style and soundtrack were included (as well as an older soundtrack), but the old Complete style art and music could still be selected, if desired. Also, while previous versions of Ys I allowed you to view enemy stats, they were never in an organized place like they were for Ys II, but Chronicles rectified that, also adding a section for the other characters. Lastly, in early 2013, XSeed released a modified version of Chronicles to Steam under the name "Chronicles+", adding features to make them similar to Complete (like the old game screen borders), but also kept the previous PSP content intact. Being a Steam release, the games also included achievements for finding certain easter eggs within the game. There was also another PC version of Chronicles, but it's Japanese-only. From what I hear, it's pretty much a 100% straight port of the PSP version (even moreso than the transition from Complete to Chronicles), so whatever applies to the PSP version throughout this guide likely applies to
that version as well, though I cannot confirm this.

In all, the versions are very similar to one another, the graphical changes between Ys Eternal and Ys Complete aside (Ys II had no noticeable graphics updates between versions, the Chronicles artwork style aside). So, one might wonder why I'm choosing to ignore the DS version of the game, as well as the lesser known Japanese-only PS2 title. The reason is simple: the games are not official Falcom releases. Not only that, but they contain slightly different gameplay from these versions, adding in features not present in official Falcom releases. For example, the DS version supposedly includes a different method of attacking (from what I hear, the bump system can still be used, but it's less fluid), and even a different set of equipment that, if found, makes a certain section of Ys I easier than what Falcom intended. On the other hand, the PS2 primarily adds certain abilities to all of the various weapons (for instance, the Long Sword in Ys I supposedly can randomly take off 1/4 of most enemies' HP when damaged - even most bosses), and even adding a combo system of sorts. Anyway, the point of all this is, it's much easier to write about 4 very similar versions of the games, much moreso than it would be to write about two or more versions with such drastic differences in gameplay. Besides, I have yet to play either the DS or PS2 versions, so I wouldn't be able to accurately write a guide concerning those.

So, one has to wonder what version of the game is preferable to play. My personal favorite is the "Complete" version (followed closely by Eternal), though the Steam or PSP versions are much more accessible to most people. If possible, I would recommend the Steam version, as the PSP is not only small, but it tends to suffer from loading times (certainly not the worst, but definitely not the best). The Steam version in particular offers most of the things that Complete does in addition to the original PSP content, just that it lacks mouse support, as well as a few convenient hotkeys (quicksave/quickload, able to cycle through items, accessories, and magic better). Plus, it's in English, whereas Complete requires applying an English translation patch if you don't understand Japanese, but that's little trouble (however, do not make the mistake of thinking the Complete patches will apply to other versions on the PC - they won't). And of course, there are achievements, though you can still do those things in other versions.

Before we get to the actual walkthrough, let's go over a few basics. By far the most important one is how to attack the various enemies - the bump system the Ys series is famous for. While you can deal damage to them by hitting them head-on, you'll also take a bit of damage yourself, so you should instead try to attack them off-center - that is, a little bit to their sides. You can also attack them directly from the back or sides, but they can turn around to face you at a moment's notice, so I wouldn't recommend that course of action, if it can be helped. What you can sometimes do instead is attack them at a diagonal angle, but this still tends to backfire if your positioning is off (moreso in Ys I). In general, you'll want to try and push them against an obstacle, as your hits will land faster that way. Throughout the course of Ys II, you'll also receive magic, which usually provides a much safer combat alternative, but for Ys I, you're stuck with attacking the enemies off-center (bosses excluded).
With regards to items and the like, weapons, armor, and accessories of course need to be equipped first to be effective at all. And while the majority of other items you come across are used automatically at certain scripted spots, several of them must be used manually, meaning you'll need to equip them first, and then press the appropriate button (this is more of an issue in Ys II than it is in Ys I).

Finally, here's a list of the default controls and what they do (though the Eternal and Complete versions sometimes have more shortcuts than what's listed here); for Steam, the "LH" is the default type 1 keyboard setting ("leftie"), and "RH" is the default type 2 keyboard setting ("rightie"). Unless you play with a controller, these can't be re-assigned except in the Steam version (though a few of them in Eternal and Complete can be switched around in one of the "Options" menus, but it's just the functions of the keys being swapped, not actually being able to assign other keys). Also, not everything is listed, but it's mostly just the subscreen hotkeys being omitted (which are mostly present only in Eternal/Complete):

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Action | Eternal | Complete | Chronicles (PSP) | Steam
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Movement | Arrow keys | Arrow keys, | Directional pad, | Numpad (LH),
| Numpad, | Numpad, | Analog stick | W, S, A, D,
| Left mouse | Left mouse | | Q, E, Z, X
| button | button | | (RH)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walk | Varies | Varies | "Circle" button | Z (LH),
|(change under|(change under| ("X" button for | / (RH)
| "Options") | "Options") | Japan version) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Confirm | Enter | Enter | "X" button | X (LH),
| | | ("Circle" button | . (RH)
| | | for Japan version)|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cancel | Escape | Escape | "Circle" button | Z (LH),
(hold for | | | ("X" button for | / (RH)
fast text in | | | Japan version) |
Chronicles) | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use item | Enter, | Enter | "Triangle" button | C (LH),
| Right mouse | | | _ (RH)
| button | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switch | N/A | N/A | "R" shoulder | S (LH)
accessory | | | button | [ (RH)
(Ys I) | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switch | Q, W | Q, W | "L" shoulder | A (LH)
accessory | | | button | ] (RH)
(Ys II) | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use magic | Ctrl | Ctrl | "X" button | X (LH)
(Ys II) | | | ("Circle" button | . (RH)
| | | for Japan version) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switch magic | 1, 2, 3, | 1, 2, 3, | "R" shoulder | S (LH)
(Ys II) | 4, 5, 6 | 4, 5, 6 | button | [ (RH)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switch | R, T | R, T | N/A | N/A
inventory | | | |
(Ys II) | | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Menu | Escape | Escape | "Start" button | Escape (LH),
| | | | RShift (RH)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status | S | S | "Select" button | Tab (LH/RH)
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Unlike Ys I, Nightmare difficulty isn't quite so unfair in Ys II, so if you're feeling bold enough, feel free to select it, even if it is your first time through the game. It is still somewhat difficult, but this game lets you use magic at a certain point, which makes combat somewhat trivial at times. Speaking of enemies, in addition to dealing collision damage, nearly all of them have a "wind-up" attack; this is indicated by them glowing briefly, then usually charging you (a couple of them shoot projectiles instead, though). That aside, difficulty mostly seems to affect how aggressive the enemies are, but the bosses are the ones most affected, as their attacks tend to take up more of the screen, plus they're faster in general.

Other notable things pertaining to difficulty is that, on Easy, collision damage only happens when an enemy hits you with a "wind-up" or projectile attack. This means that, unlike Ys I, hitting an enemy head-on is perfectly acceptable on that difficulty, but others do require you to be aligned properly. And if you happen to be playing on Hard, you just might find regular combat to be tougher than on Nightmare. The reason? Projectile-shooting enemies actually fire 3 projectiles at a time, whereas on other difficulties (even Nightmare) they only fire 1. I'm guessing this is probably a bug (in regards to it not being present on Nightmare difficulty, at least), but regardless, it can make those enemies a lot more troublesome.

Also, if you find yourself having trouble with the bosses, do note that you won't reach the level cap mid-game like in Ys I (in fact, you may not reach it at all, as the EXP you receive from normal enemies is scaled based on your level), so if a boss is giving you a lot of trouble, you can usually just grind a couple extra levels to make things easier (even on Hard or Nightmare).
Anyway, pick whichever difficulty and close-up artwork style you like, and let's get started.

- Receive Banoa's Letter, and head to the Rall Family Wellness clinic
- Agree to rescue Dr. Flair from the Rasteenie Mine
- Get permission from Elder Cornell to enter the Rasteenie Mine
- Make your way to the Ruins of Moondoria north of Lance Village


- Find 500 gold hidden in a baby duckling's mouth - Receive the Smoked Meat from Theo, as well as the Meat Pie from Lucy - Speak to Lilia near the elder's house, and again in the field outside Lance

(Lance) - Banoa's Letter*, 300 Gold*, Herb, Wing, Apple, Marle Flower, Elixir, Smoked Meat, Meat Pie, 500 Gold, Short Sword, Long Sword, Talwar, Wood Shield, Small Shield, Large Shield, Chain Mail

(Moondoria Field) - Apple x 4, Marle Flower x 3

CHARACTERS (Lance) - Lilia*, Banoa*, Leonor Rall*, Nurse Sarina, Elder Cornell*, Natasha, Guido, Jade, Gila*, Lazlo, Tess, Tran, Larsen, Bohtz, Sheila, Kris, Ceres, Brody, Marina, Beth, Caesaria, Andy, Oseam, Kate, Lucille, Masontorch, Colt, Tita, Esca, Lucy, Theo, Polo, Saffron

ENEMIES
- None

NOTE
- Lilia is not required at this time (even though she's automatically listed due to the intro scenes), but she will be later; the same goes for Gila. As for Nurse Sarina, while she does speak to you during a required cutscene, you need to initiate the close-up scene with her to receive her character entry. Regarding Kris and Ceres (the twin girls), they need to be spoken to separately for their respective entries, even though the same conversation is initiated in both cases. As for Bohtz, he will disappear from Lance at a certain point in the story (along with Lilia), but you'll find him elsewhere as part of the plot, so don't worry if you miss him.

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After the opening scenes, talk to Banoa (for a couple more discussion topics, ask her about Ys, then Moondoria). As you exit the conversation, she'll give you a letter to take to Dr. Flair. He apparently hasn't returned to the village just yet, but she suggests you stop by the clinic anyway, just in case; it's the building in the far northeastern corner of town, just above Lilia's house (speaking of Lilia's house, you can examine one of the trees just outside it to find height markings Lilia made when she was younger - a really nice touch). Enter the clinic, and you'll be greeted by Nurse Sarina and a panicked Leonor, who asks you to rescue Dr. Flair, who's apparently trapped in the Rasteenie Mine. Well, that's no good. Agree to help, and you'll receive 300 gold to buy some equipment. You'll also learn that someone named Astal is guarding the entrance to the Mine, so you'll need to stop by the elder's house to receive permission to enter.

Before visiting the elder, there are a couple points of interest in Lance (or just skip a few paragraphs to continue with the main game). In the clinic, if you talk to Nurse Sarina, you can get healed for 20 gold, though as she says, it's better if you stand still outside and heal, or you can ask Banoa to rest at her place for free. You can also purchase Herbs for 30 gold each (up to a maximum of three), which heal 50 HP, but there are a few places in the game where you can find them for free, so I recommend saving your money, at least for the time being. If you're interested in a Steam achievement, see those apples on the counter flap? Well, open the flap (just push up against it) to scatter them, and you'll receive the "Keep the Doctor Away" achievement. If you want, you can also climb the crates in the bottom right corner of the clinic to see the pigeon loft where Leonor came crashing out of, but there's not much to do up there.

Directly west of the clinic you'll find Jade's Oddities, an item shop. You can buy Apples and Marle Flowers here for 10 gold each (up to a maximum of three each), which restore 15 HP and MP respectively (don't worry, you're not supposed to have MP just yet); as with the Herbs, I recommend saving your money. Additionally, he sells Wings for 100 gold (though you can only carry one at a time), which can warp you to a few different locations this time around, though obviously, it's limited to just Lance Village for the time being. I recommend purchasing one to save you some backtracking later, but it's by no means required. There's also a one-time only Elixir on display for 60,000 gold, which can revive you from death once, but obviously, it'll be quite some time before you can purchase that.

Right next door from Jade is Guido's Armory, where you can purchase some weapons and armor (you need to walk through the counter flap to speak to him). If you want, you can use the remaining 200 gold to purchase a Short Sword from him, but you can actually receive one for free a short time later, so I recommend saving your money. He also sells some other cheap armor, but the only one you can currently afford is the Wooden Shield, so feel free to purchase that, if you want. That's all you can do here at the moment, but the billboard to the left of the elder's house mentions that he's looking to buy some Iron Ore, so if you come across any later, he'll buy it from you for a good price.

If you want a little extra spending money, there's a character named Brody a couple houses west of Lilia's, but you'll need to butter him up with a few gifts before he'll reveal its location. What are gifts? They are the consumable items you find/buy during the course of your adventure, such as Wings, Herbs, Apples, Marle Flowers, and a few others. By equipping these, you can give them to any non-enemy character you come across (after your initial conversation), which will produce additional dialogue, in addition to unlocking character mascots if you gift someone enough (just a little sprite you can position to customize the game screen a tad). If you want, you can even use certain items to feed most of the animals (the pikkards and pigeons are excluded from this, it seems); for example, the ducklings will eat Apples, and later, Cruberries. The easiest gifts to obtain are Apples and Marle Flowers, and while you can buy them from Jade for pretty cheap, there is a location where you can find a few for free outside Lance Village (though if you talk to Lilia near the elder's house, she gives you one Apple for free). Anyway, I recommend waiting a little bit, but if you don't want to, then buy some combination of 5 gifts from Jade or Sarina (remember, you can get a free Apple from Lilia). To give them to a character, equip the respective item, then you'll get an option to give it to them, or talk to them normally. Give 5 gifts to Brody (perhaps up to 2 more, if you shot him with fireballs later in the game), and he'll reveal that the ducklings in the village will eat anything, including gold, apparently. It is crucial that he tells you this, otherwise you will *not* find the hidden gold stash, which as Brody mentioned, is in the bill of one of the ducklings, specifically one of the babies (they can be found wandering around above the clinic). In addition to 500 gold, if you're playing the Steam version, you will also receive the "Bill the Duck" achievement. I recommend using the gold to buy the remaining first level armor from Guido, but alternatively, you can save up to purchase the Long Sword a short while later (though personally, I prefer to skip the Long Sword altogether, and purchase the Talwar later on).

In addition to Brody, you can gift the characters Theo and Lucy a few times to receive some special items. These can also serve as gifts, but they're better used as healing items, and if you're playing the Steam version, receiving and eating these is part of the "No Reservations" achievement, though you can only get 2 of the 4 items right now. If you gift Theo (a brown-haired fellow who is usually found just below the elder's house, the far northwestern building) 4 times, he'll give you the Smoked Meat (for fun, try gifting it back to him =p). If you'd like, this item can actually be used to feed the cats in the village, but it's purely optional; you may want to keep it in mind as part of a later Steam achievement, however. Anyway, Lucy is the little girl supervising the pikkards in the far southwestern corner of the village, and after gifting her 3 times, she'll give you the Meat Pie (in addition to trying to re-gift it to her, try giving it to Theo, who is her brother). Once you use these (whether to heal, or as gifts), you can gift the respective characters again to receive the item again (though for Lucy's item, I think you need to fireball her to lower her affection level, and then re-gift her). Well, that's all the important stuff you can currently do with gifting characters, but feel free to give others gifts as well, if you're feeling generous (or you just want all the character mascots =p).

Anyway, once you're through shopping, do as Sarina advised, and speak to Elder Cornell to receive permission to enter the Mine; you'll find him sitting outside his house, the one in the far northwest corner of town (if he's not there, you need to head to the clinic and agree to help rescue Dr. Flair, or else he won't show up). He'll notice the Books of Ys you're carrying, and suggests that you return them to the Priest statues found within the Sanctuary of Toal, an area you'll find while exploring the Rasteenie Mine. The entrance to the Mine is within the Ruins of Moondoria to the north, so let's head there now.

Before leaving, if you haven't done so already, you can speak to Lilia underneath the tree to the left of the elder's house. She'll give you a free Apple, saying it's good for your health, or as mentioned above, you can gift it to one of the villagers. More importantly, talking to her here will set up an optional scene with her in the field just outside the village, so if you want to see that, be sure to speak with her here first. As an added bonus, speaking to her manually (it doesn't matter when, just so long as you do it; however, there's a rather long period where she's temporarily unable to be found, but you can always do it later in the game) allows you to mess around in her bed back in her house, which is one of the requirements for the "Juuuuust Right" Steam achievement. Her bed is the one you start the game in (the pink checkered one in her house), and to enter, you simply press against one of the sides for a few seconds (the same goes for leaving).

Head northwest of the elder's house to reach the village exit, which leads to the Moondoria Field. Head straight up until you see some stone pillars, at which point you can head west for some optional things, or if you just want to head to the Ruins of Moondoria, it's a little bit to the northeast. Head all the way left past the steps for a nice view of Esteria, where the events of Ys I took place (if you press against the edge (you won't fall =p), you can even see some dirt falling to the surface). Anyway, head back right a little, and head up the first set of steps, then follow the path left past another set of steps to find a few Apples growing on trees, as well as a Marle Flower. Go ahead and grab them, if you want; do note that the Apples take 5 minutes before they'll grow back, but the Marle Flowers around here grow back simply by refreshing the screen. Anyway, head right, and climb the second set of steps; if you want, you can follow this section all the way right to find another Marle Flower. Head back left, and climb the final set of steps, then head northeast a tad to the next screen, where you can find yet another Marle Flower to pick. More importantly, if you talked with Lilia underneath the tree back in Lance Village, heading all the way up on this screen will initiate a small cutscene with her. This is completely optional, but if you want to do it, you need to do it before exploring the Rasteenie Mine at all (technically, it's after you use either transition point on the first Mine screen, so you could still use a Wing to escape, and then fulfill the requirements for this scene), as Lilia then switches locations in Lance Village, and the event no longer triggers (even if you spoke to her under the tree by the elder's house earlier, the cliff scene still won't activate after setting foot in the Mine). Afterwards, you can find her here picking Marle Flowers, at least until you set foot in the Mine; at that point, she can then be found by the well just south of the weapon and item shops back in Lance.

Head back down to where you saw those stone pillars in the field earlier, and northeast a little ways is the entrance to the Ruins of Moondoria.

- Obtain enough strength to kill the rock golems guarding the Rod of Divinity
- Use the Rod at the Goddess Statue to receive the ability to use magic
- Find a Roda Fruit to help make Lilia's Medicine
- Speak to Astal to enter the Sanctuary of Toal / Rasteenie Mine


- Find the Ancient Tablet
- Receive a free Short Sword from Leggs

- Ancient Tablet, Rod of Divinity*, Roda Fruit*, Short
Sword

CHARACTERS
- Astal*, Leggs

ENEMIES
- Chrace, Cauction, Godaago*
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If you didn't buy a weapon back in Lance, you can get a Short Sword here for free. If you already have one, equip it, and start killing some enemies in the northwest section of the ruins. If you don't have one, then from the entrance, move northeast a tad, and then go right, taking the second small opening between the walls (the one near the lake). Head straight up, and right above the alcove the rock golems (Godaago) are guarding, you'll come across another opening in the walls. Enter the opening, then head right and talk to the old man, Leggs. If you don't have a weapon yet, he'll give you a Short Sword for free, but this is just for a limited time, which also awards you the "Revenge of Sworded Details" achievement if you're playing the Steam version. However, do note that the moment you open the chest the rock golems are guarding, you can no longer receive this (and in the event you bought a weapon before this - even if it's just the Long Sword - he won't give it to you regardless).

Speaking to Leggs again reveals that he has a favor to ask of you, but he won't actually tell you what it is until you reach level 6. He wants you to retrieve the contents of the treasure chest you passed on the way here, guarded by the rock golems. Unlike most normal enemies, they are completely immune to attacks at lower levels, so you need a high enough STR stat in order to damage them. With the Short Sword equipped, you can do this as early as level 6, but if you buy the Long Sword early, you can do this as early as level 4. Purchasing the Long Sword requires backtracking to Lance at some point (as you won't have enough gold right away, even with the hidden stash from the duckling), so I prefer leveling to 6 with the Short Sword. Sure, having the Long Sword also makes the first boss reasonably doable a couple levels earlier, but at the same time, you'll need those extra levels later, and besides, I recommend using the Talwar over the Long Sword after the Mine.

Anyway, head back to the bottom of the screen, and then left along the wall until you see some pillars (just ignore that other opening in the wall for the time being; it leads to the Rasteenie Mine, but you won't be strong enough to do much damage to the enemies there just yet). Walk through the opening above them, then head northeast at the fork, and follow the path into a small area with a couple enemies. On the ground near the upper left tree, you'll find a Roda Fruit. As you'll learn later, this is an essential ingredient for making Lilia's Medicine, but you can also use it as another potential gift for someone, or using it on yourself will fully restore your MP (when you have it, at least). You can only carry one at a time, so if you do decide to use it for something else, simply refresh the screen, and you can grab another then.

Head back to where the path forked above the pillars, and head left until you see another opening in the wall (there should be a zombie-like enemy nearby, a Chrace). You might notice a small wooden chest in the area below this opening, but there's no way to get it just yet. So, head up, and follow the path right until you see a Cauction (red goblin-like enemies) near a larger opening. Before heading into that area, if you look along the wall in the bottom right corner (close to where the Cauction was), you should see the Ancient Tablet, so pick it up, if you want to (it's not required). You can read it by equipping and using it, which reveals there's a door that will only open after returning the Books of Ys to their rightful owners. Well, the elder requested you do that anyway, but now you actually have a good reason to do so. If you'd like, you can also show this to Masontorch back in Lance, but it's purely optional.

When you're ready, head back to the opening to the left, and kill some enemies until you reach level 4 - it shouldn't take you very long. In addition, you should've received about 200 gold from killing them, so if you didn't spend any money earlier, you should now have enough to buy the Long Sword from Guido back in Lance Village (if you didn't find the hidden 500 gold, remember to gift Brody 5 times, and *then* search the baby duckling). If you buy and equip that, you should then be able to kill the rock golems guarding that chest, provided you're at least level 4 (200 EXP). As noted above, I prefer skipping the Long Sword, but that means you'll need to be level 6. However, as you may have noticed, the enemies in this game give reduced EXP the more you level, so the enemies out here are hardly worth the effort anymore. So, upon hitting level 4, it's preferable to grind on the enemies within the Sanctuary of Toal in order to hit level 6 (400 EXP).

Head back to the opening with the pillars, and follow the wall down and to the right, and go into the first opening you see. You'll find a man named Astal guarding the door, and assuming you talked to Elder Cornell back in Lance, he'll let you inside (if you haven't talked to the elder yet, you'll need to do so before proceeding). Enter the door, and you'll be in the Sanctuary of Toal. So long as you're at least level 4 with the Short Sword equipped, you should be able to make quick work of the enemies here, so use the enemies in this first room to grind to level 6 (it should only take about 4 complete trips through the room).

Once you have at least 29-30 STR, head back to the rock golems, and you'll now be able to kill them. Open the chest they were guarding, and you'll find the Rod of Divinity inside. Show it to Leggs (if you want to), and he'll say that touching the Rod to the Goddess Statue inside the nearby alcove will allow you the ability to use magic. Go ahead and do as he says, and you'll now have some MP to use. If you speak to Leggs again (as before, it's not required), he reveals that there are 6 forms of magic to be found, but unfortunately, we don't have any just yet (don't worry, we'll find some pretty shortly).

When you're ready, head back to the door Astal's guarding, speak to him if you haven't done so already (remember, you need to have spoken with Elder Cornell back in Lance first), and enter the Sanctuary of Toal.

- Return the Books of Ys to the Priest statues within the Sanctuary of Toal
- Find a Mattock, use it to free Dr. Flair, and give him Banoa's Letter
- Find the Fire Magic within the Rasteenie Mine, and use it to kill Velagunder
- Find a Celceta Flower deep within the Mine to help make Lilia's Medicine
- Find the Light Magic deep within the Mine, and use it to find the Evil Bell
- Give the Roda Fruit and Celceta Flower to Dr. Flair to make Lilia's Medicine
- Give Lilia's Medicine to Banoa, and receive the Warp Magic afterwards
- Agree to investigate Gila's Basement, and ring the Evil Bell downstairs
- Receive the Scroll of Guidance from Priest Fact, and make your way to the Ice Ridge of Noltia


- Find the Cleria Ring
- Find some Iron Ore, and sell it to Guido
- Clear Gila's Basement and the Sanctuary beyond of all enemies

(Rasteenie Mine) - Mattock*, Fire Magic*, Herb, Celceta
Flower*, Light Magic*, Evil Bell*, Iron Ore x 2

(Sanctuary of Toal) - Cleria Ring, Scroll of Guidance*

(Lance) - Lilia's Medicine*, Warp Magic*, Breast Plate,
Plate Mail

CHARACTERS
(Sanctuary of Toal) - Priest Tovah*, Priest Dabbie*, Priest Hadal*,
Priest Mesa*, Priest Gemma*, Priest Fact*

CHARACTERS
(Rasteenie Mine) - Flair Rall*

ENEMIES
(Sanctuary of Toal) - Warrizor, Gnometh, Zolgell

ENEMIES
(Rasteenie Mine) - Ripplet, Tolpi, Puroid, K'nocks, Carly, Orihalcus, Velagunder*

NOTE - The Breast Plate and Plate Mail are only available from Guido if you sell him the Iron Ore. Even then, they're not available immediately, at least not without entering and exiting a few buildings within Lance's walls.

Regarding Dr. Flair, even though rescuing him and making Lilia's Medicine are both required events, in order to get his character entry, you need to speak to him manually, whether it's in the Mine, or back in the clinic in Lance.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow the path through the Sanctuary of Toal, and along the bottom of the screen, you'll come across a sealed door. This is the one the Ancient Tablet mentioned (if you found and read it), and it will only open once you return all the Books of Ys to their respective owners. So, continue following the path, and you'll soon come across a larger door along the top of the screen. This one will open for you, so step inside and investigate the statue to speak to Priest Hadal, who informs you that the source of the evil resides within Solomon Shrine. He'll also fully heal you, both your HP and MP (and as you're indoors, you can't stand still to gradually heal your HP). Anyway, exit the chamber, then head right until you see stairs leading downward, which is the entrance to the Rasteenie Mine.

Follow the tunnels until you arrive in a room with some small plant-like enemies (Ripplets). The stairs on the left-hand side of this room lead to another section of the Sanctuary of Toal, so go ahead and enter. Follow the path, and in the southeastern corner, you'll find another large door, this one leading to Priest Tovah, who tells you that you'll need all 6 forms of the Priests' magic to defeat the evil plaguing Ys (actually, you only need to find 4 of the magics to beat the game =p).

Exit the chamber, and back in the Mine, take the tunnel on the far right. Follow it until you reach a room with 3 tunnels to choose from; you'll want to take the one in the bottom right corner, followed by the middle one in the next room. You should now be in a room with a Puroid (horned pink demon). More importantly, this room contains the only usable Mattock throughout the Mine, and you'll need it to free Dr. Flair, so be sure to pick it up (there's a few broken mattocks scattered about, as well as some unusable shovels, but those are obviously no good).

Before heading off to rescue Dr. Flair, if you want, that other chest in the Ruins of Moondoria can now be obtained, and it contains the Beastiary Potion. If you don't know where it is, it's in a sealed-off area just above the field entrance; you'll need to use the Mattock (equip and use it) on the heavily cracked wall just northeast of the entrance. Be sure to drink it (equip and use it), and you can now learn the stats of the various enemies you come across. Please refer to the Ys II "Enemies" section for more info on how that works.

Anyway, continuing from the room where the usable Mattock was found, exit it and head back to the tunnel on the far left (there's nothing of interest in the other one), then take the far left tunnel in the next room as well. In the next room, take the tunnel on the far right, and you should be in a narrow room with a Puroid. Carefully dispatch the enemy, and after heading through the next tunnel, you'll find yourself in a room with a caved-in passage in the top right corner. Approach it to speak briefly with Dr. Flair, who says you'll need a Mattock to get through. So, assuming you found it earlier, equip and use it to clear away the rubble, which awards you 100 EXP.

Now, you don't actually need to speak to Dr. Flair at this point if you don't want to (as soon as you completely leave the Mine/Sanctuary, he'll automatically return to the clinic regardless), but let's do so anyway. After giving him Banoa's Letter, he'll tell you that both a Roda Fruit and Celceta Flower are needed to make Lilia's Medicine. You should've already found a Roda Fruit, but if not, he mentions that they can be found in the Ruins of Moondoria (in the northern center area, next to a tree). As for the Celceta Flower, he says it only grows in dark areas, close to water. Hmm, we haven't seen anything like that yet, so hopefully there's some deeper in the Mine. Also, you may notice another caved-in passage off to the right, but there's nothing you can do to clear it. Anyway, as mentioned above, Dr. Flair will return to the clinic automatically upon completely exiting the Mine/Sanctuary, but if you're feeling generous, you can actually gift him a Wing so he doesn't have to walk (but then, why can't you slip him the Wing through the hole in the rubble instead of using the Mattock to break through? =p). Of course, doing this means you'll have to walk back to Lance, so do whatever you want. In any event, he won't take the Roda Fruit (or the Celceta Flower, if you're rescuing him a little later) just yet, so let's continue exploring.

Head back to the last room with 3 tunnels, and this time take the one on the far left. You'll be in a room with stairs leading to another portion of the Sanctuary of Toal, and another tunnel at the bottom - take the stairs. On the left-hand side, you'll find a large door leading to Priest Dabbie, who tells you that so long as magic exists, so too will the demons. Well, that's certainly troubling... Exit the chamber, but before heading back to the Mine, there's a chest in the northeastern corner of this part of the Sanctuary, which contains the Cleria Ring. This is one of a few optional equipment accessories you can find throughout the game, and equipping this one will sometimes nullify the damage you'd otherwise take from an enemy. It usually doesn't happen very often, but you may find it useful, so pick it up, if you want.

Head back to the Mine, and take the tunnel in the bottom right corner (be careful of the Ripplet). In the next room, take the bottom right tunnel again, and the bottom left one in the room following that (beware the Puroid). Carefully dispatch of the Tolpi (a larger plant like enemy), and take the tunnel to the next room. Here, you'll find a chest containing the Fire Magic, but the Puroid guarding it is kinda tricky to get around; you'll either need to get lucky with its positioning, or lure it to a wider part of the passage to safely dispatch it (either the part where the passage turns near the bottom, or near the room entrance). This magic is essential to be able to kill the boss down here, so assuming you found and used the Rod of Divinity in the Ruins earlier, you should be able to equip and use this right away (if you haven't already, you first need to find and touch the Rod to the Goddess Statue in the Ruins to acquire MP to use magic, otherwise finding this will do you no good). Obviously, its main use is to kill enemies, but you can also use it to shoot the various townsfolk for various reactions (shooting 50 townsfolk - or maybe even the same person 50 times, I think - gets you the Steam achievement "What the Legends Don't Tell You"), though if you're going for character mascots, you'll need to give them 1 or 2 extra gifts to make up for your abuse. Anyway, in the Eternal/Complete versions, the "Ctrl" button is the default for using magic, but in Chronicles, it's the "confirm" button. For the Fire Magic, you can hold down the button to charge it up; the longer you charge, the more damage you do (until you begin to glow, that is). However, it does drain your MP at a slightly faster rate than using normal fireballs, so be wary of that. To restore your MP, in addition to resting somewhere (no, standing outside doesn't work for MP, just HP), you can use certain consumable items, such as Marle Flowers, a Roda Fruit, and a couple others. Also note that this magic is an extension of your STR stat, so leveling up affects its damage as well (it's not an exact damage conversion, but close enough, I guess), though there are certain enemies that it just won't work for, like the Godaago in the Ruins, for example.

Back in the last room with 3 tunnels (no, there's nothing of interest in those other tunnels), take the one on the far left this time. You'll be in a small room with a body of water, but there's no Celceta Flowers here. There is, however, an Herb, so pick that up if you need it (this one has a 5 minute recharge time before growing back). Ignore the tunnel on the far right (nothing of interest there, either), and take the middle one. You'll be in a room with another Puroid, with tunnels along the bottom, and stairs in the northeastern corner. Take the tunnel on the far left, and in the next room, take the stairs inside to another section of the Sanctuary (be careful of the Tolpi). In the southwestern corner of the Sanctuary, you'll find a large door leading to Priest Mesa, who tells you that to reach Solomon Shrine, you need to scale a mountain of ice, and then pass through a moat of lava. Well, nobody said this would be an easy journey. =p Exit the chamber, and head to the northeastern part of the Sanctuary to find another large door leading to Priest Gemma. Speaking to him reveals that if you could talk to the demons, it might prove helpful. Perhaps so, but how do we go about doing that?

Exit the chamber, and head back to the last room with the Puroid in it. Now, you should have been killing everything in sight during your trek through here, so you should be level 10 or 11 by now. If you have the Long Sword, level 9 or 10 (preferably 10) will be enough for the upcoming boss, but if you only have the Short Sword, then level 11 or 12 (preferably 12) is required to deal additional damage. So if you need to, use the Puroid here to level up some (you'll need to refresh the room each time upon killing it). When you're ready, take the stairs in the northeastern corner, and follow the path southwest to another tunnel. Pass through the doorway in the next room, and you'll find yourself at another large door. This one leads to a boss, so make sure to save your game, get fully healed (use an Herb or some Apples, or re-visit one of the Priests), as well as have a decent amount of MP (at least 15-20 should be good - use a Marle Flower, or re-visit one of the Priests, if needed). Unlike Ys I, you're actually able to use consumable items during boss battles, so long as you have them equipped beforehand (if you're on the Easy difficulty, you can switch items and equipment mid-battle, but not on Normal and above); I recommend equipping either Herbs or Apples. In addition, make sure the Fire Magic is equipped, and when you're ready, head inside the door, and move forward a bit to awaken the first boss.

HP - 160
LVL - 11
STR - 100
DEF - 40
EXP - 400
GOLD - 600

RECOMMENDED LEVEL - 12

STRATEGY - For a first boss, this guy is pretty easy, especially when compared to Jenocres (the first boss of Ys I). That said, he can still be a little troublesome on higher difficulties. The first thing to note is that physical attacks are completely ineffective here, and trying it will likely get you a quick game over. So, in order to damage him, you absolutely need the Fire Magic; that said, having a weapon equipped is still beneficial here, as the Fire Magic's damage is closely linked to your STR stat. Anyway, he'll open up his arms every so often, and shoot a couple waves of projectiles at you (if you're having trouble getting his arms to open, it generally helps to not be directly below him, at least not at first). This is your opportunity to attack, so let loose some fireballs (preferably fully charged ones) between his arms, and then dodge the projectiles as best you can. His arms will serve as shields against the fireballs (you can destroy them, but it's not really worth it, especially on higher difficulties), so you'll want to aim for the center part of his body. If you're on Easy or Normal, this is pretty easy, though on Normal, sometimes the projectiles will clump together if you don't move around very much. On Hard and Nightmare, there will be even more to dodge, so in that case, I recommend shooting a charged fireball, then quickly moving off to the side (you can attempt to slip between them, but it's generally harder to do consistently, especially since they now tend to slant a bit). In either case, you'll want to stick to the bottom of the screen as best you can (but be careful you don't accidentally exit the boss fight, if you have that option turned on in previous versions; for the Steam version, it seems to be enabled by default). Repeat the process a few times until he's dead (for his arms to open, it generally helps to not be directly below him, at least not at first). For your efforts, you'll receive 400 EXP, as well as 600 gold.

If you're having trouble finding an opening to deal damage, as mentioned above, you can destroy his arms. Generally, I advise against doing this, as it not only drains your MP further (the damage they take is tracked separately from the rest of his body), but the arms can take quite a beating, especially on higher difficulties. If you do decide to destroy them, it's probably best to shoot at them diagonally, as the projectiles may otherwise end up pinning you against a wall if attempting to shoot them straight from the side, so this method allows you to damage them while keeping a safe distance away. Even so, you still need to damage him from the front, but destroying them at least allows you to angle your shots, instead of being directly below him.

Do note that in order to deal additional damage, you'll need to be at least level 11 with the Short Sword equipped, though of course, level 12 (or above) is preferred. With the Long Sword, this fight is doable as early as level 9, preferably 10 (or above), but as noted earlier, it effectively puts you behind a couple levels later on; besides, the Talwar can be purchased soon, making the Long Sword quickly outclassed.

After the battle, the door at the top of the room can now be opened, so let's see where it leads. Follow the passage southwest, and once you see the third Carly (pink enemy that kind of looks like a foot), head north, and when that path splits, take the center path. You should come across a small body of water with flowers growing nearby - these are the Celceta Flowers we're looking for. Go ahead and grab one, and as there are 3 to pick, you can use one to fully restore both your HP and MP. Like the Roda Fruit, you can only carry one at a time, but these have a 5 minute recharge time to grow back, so don't use them carelessly.

Anyway, head back to the fork where the third Carly was, and head all the way south. Pass through the small passage to the right, and then follow the path northeast until you see another doorway. Head through this one as well, but in addition to the Orihalcus (headless armored enemies) lurking inside, it's also a bit darker than before, making this section pretty dangerous. Once inside, make your way as far northwest as you can, and then follow the path to the northeast. In the far northeastern corner, you'll find a chest containing the Light Magic. It's probably a good idea to equip this right away, as it'll help you see a bit better down here (but it slowly drains your MP, so be wary of that). Equipping this will also reveal some hidden passages down here, indicated by ripples along the wall once you're within range (though you don't actually need it equipped to enter the passages).

The first hidden passage is just outside this darkened area with the Orihalcus, just to the southeast of the doorway you passed through to enter that area (if you're having trouble finding it, there's a little indentation along the bottom of the wall). Inside, follow the path to the right, and you'll find a chest guarded by a K'nocks (green serpent-like enemy), which contains the Evil Bell. Equipping and using this item will attract the attention of nearby demons and summon them to you. It may seem pointless, but it's necessary to reach Priest Fact's tomb, which is still yet to be found. There's one other hidden passage down here (actually, there's another one a little earlier in the Mine, but it's useless), so exit this room. Head back southeast, and through the small tunnel to the other side of the room. A short ways to the northwest, the Light Magic will reveal another ripple along the bottom of a wall (again, there's a little indentation to help find it). Inside, investigate the box up top, and you'll find a piece of Iron Ore inside. Actually, there are in fact two pieces to be found in this box, but you can't get the second one until you sell the first piece (unfortunately, you can only carry one at a time), so if you want some extra spending money, keep this room in mind.

Well, that's all there is to do here, so assuming you returned all the Books of Ys except for Volume Fact, rescued Dr. Flair, and found both the Celceta Flower and Evil Bell, you can go ahead and return to Lance (if you still have it, now's a good time to use the Wing). Upon arrival, check the billboard if you want (it's just south of the entrance), and assuming you returned the first 5 Books of Ys, there will be a request from Gila regarding demons in his basement. Strange, why would they be down there? You can also talk to the elder about the location of Priest Fact's tomb, who says that Lance was once a part of Moondoria, so it should be somewhere nearby. Hmm, it'd definitely be a good idea to check out Gila's request.

Before doing that, let's go see Dr. Flair about Lilia's Medicine, so head tothe clinic and speak with him. On your way there, you might be tempted to stopby Guido's and sell him the Iron ore immediately for 3,000 gold, but if you dothis a short while later, you can actually get him to up his offer to 6,000gold. Do note that the increased price only applies to the first piece yousell him, so be sure to take advantage of it (if you sell it too soon, he'llalways offer 3,000 gold; plus, even if you got the 6,000 offer for the firstpiece, the second one you sell will always be for 3,000 gold). If you don'tcare about that, selling it to him should still bump your gold up enough topurchase the Talwar, or fairly close to it, at least (again, I recommendagainst purchasing the Long Sword, but it's a decent alternative, for the timebeing). Getting back to Dr. Flair, upon giving him both the Roda Fruit andCelceta Flower, he'll give you Lilia's Medicine, which he instructs you to giveto Banoa (remember, Lilia supposedly doesn't know that she's ill). Head toBanoa's house, and speak with her inside to give her Lilia's Medicine. Goahead and leave, and after the cutscenes, Banoa will give you the Return Magic(it works just like the Wing, at the cost of 20 MP), plus you'll also receive300 EXP for saving Lilia.

Alright, let's go see Gila about his request now. His house is in thesouthwest part of town, right above the pikkard pen. Inside, you'll find himstanding in front of a locked door (if he's not, then you need to return thefirst 5 Books of Ys to the Priests), so talk to him, and agree to search hisbasement for demons. Head downstairs, and examining the exposed brick wallreveals there is indeed an evil presence down here. Ring the Evil Bell (equipand use it), and demons will come crashing through the wall. If you're playingthe Complete version of this game, after ringing the Evil Bell, it is importantthat you do *not* head back upstairs until the demons break down the wall; forsome reason, movement was still allowed between the period the Evil Bell isrung and the wall being destroyed, and walking back upstairs during this periodresults in an unwinnable game (the game basically assumes the wall is brokenthe moment the Evil Bell is first rung down here - even if you don't see ithappen - and so the event will never re-activate). In any case, carefully makeyour way to the tunnel in the north end of this passage (if the enemies areclogging up the passage, ringing the Evil Bell may help lure a few towards you,which should then make it easier to get around them), which actually connectsto another part of the Sanctuary of Toal. This is right next to where we foundDr. Flair earlier (as indicated by the caved-in passage off to the left, whichis unclearable). In the northeast corner, there's a large door leading toPriest Fact. Speak to him, and he'll give you the Scroll of Guidance to use atthe various Goddess Statues, as well as open the sealed door seen in the firstSanctuary area (before speaking to him, you need to have cured Lilia andreceived the Return Magic from Banoa, otherwise the sealed door won't be open).

If you're feeling up to it, you can actually clear Gila's Basement and thisSanctuary room of the demons, but it will take a good deal of kills before thathappens. In addition to the regular EXP you get for killing the enemies, anadditional 400 EXP is awarded for clearing out both areas, as well as the Steamachievement "Gila's Monsters", so it's definitely worth it. If you do decideto do this, it's recommended that you have either the Long Sword or Talwarequipped, so you might consider putting it off shortly (you can clear it at anypoint in the game). For the first room, it's recommended that you don'tactivate screen transitions until it's completely clear, otherwise the demonscould spawn endlessly, regardless of how much you kill (aside from the finalwave, they all don't need to be killed during the same visit). Once the firstarea is clear (about 60 kills, or so), you'll get a message saying there'sstill an evil presence in the area beyond, which then enables the Sanctuaryarea to be cleared, which only consists of a couple of Zolgells (slime enemies).After killing both of them, you'll get a message saying the area is completelyclear, plus you'll receive an extra 400 EXP .

Once you step through the ice-covered doorway at the end of this rather long passage, you'll see a small cutscene involving the two mysterious entities from the game's opening movie.
Watching this scene is the trigger for Guido to buy the first piece of Iron Ore from you for 6,000 gold, so you may wish to do that before continuing; you can then get the second piece from the Mine (same spot as before; while you're down there, you can pick another Celceta Flower for
personal use), but he'll only buy this one for 3,000 gold, regardless of what you do.
At the very least, I recommend buying the Talwar, as well as a 3rd level armor or shield, if you have enough cash for it.
In order to buy the 2nd and 3rd level body armors from here, you first need to activate a screen
transition anytime after selling the first piece of Iron Ore (anything aside from Guido's shop will work).
This gets Lazlo started on the new armor, and at that point, you simply need to enter and exit any 3 buildings within Lance (Guido's shop will work this time, but places like Gila's Basement and the
clinic's pigeon loft won't; oddly, the village entrance will work), and then enter Guido's shop again.
Inside, Lazlo should be standing off to the side,next to some new armor on the stands (even if he's not there, you should at least see the new armor displays), which you can then purchase from Guido.

If you haven't done so yet, now is a good time to go ahead and clear out Gila's
Basement. Otherwise, that's all there is to do here for the moment (though
Lilia has some interesting dialogue if you speak to her after the Ice Ridge
cutscene), so let's explore the Ice Ridge of Noltia.

- Find the Blizzard Bulb, and use it to form a path to the other side of a cave
- Find the Alter Magic, and use it to speak with the demons
- Find the Stone Shoes, and use them to climb up the icy slopes
- Find the Anti-Illusion Mirror, and use it to reveal the true door to
Tyalmath's lair
- Kill Tyalmath, and pass through to the Moat of Burnedbless


- Find both the Spirit Cape and the Hawk Idol
- Find the hidden 1,000 gold stash in Tyalmath's lair

- Blizzard Bulb*, Spirit Cape, Hawk Idol, Alter Magic*,
Marle Flower, Herb x 2, Stone Shoes*, Anti-Illusion Mirror*, 1,000 Gold

CHARACTERS - None

ENEMIES - Neeli, Gercard, Eggnid, Galgata, Gworter, Swoff, Tyalmath*

NOTE - While there are no new characters to encounter at this point, both Lilia and Bohtz will go missing from Lance at a certain point (namely, as soon as you enter the screen where you can find the Hawk Idol, as well as a Goddess Statue), and it'll be some time before you encounter them again.
Thankfully, no character in Ys II is permanently missable, so don't worry if you haven't spoken to them yet (in Lilia's case, this is only important for entering her
bed).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Throughout this whole area, you'll probably notice some icy slopes; for the time being, you can only slide down these, as they're too slippery to climb up with your current equipment. It's also worth noting that, while this is an outdoor area, you can't stand still here to gradually heal - at least, not without finding a certain equipment accessory in the area.
It should also go without saying that Fire Magic is pretty effective for the majority of the
enemies here, but of course, you still need the appropriate strength for it to be of much use.

Anyway, head straight up the first 3 sets of steps, then take the steps to your left, ignoring the icy slope. From there, take the steps just to the northwest, and follow the path all the way left, where you should encounter a Gercard (horned demons with a sword and shield).
Follow a few sets of steps downward until you see some icy monsters (Neeli), and then take the steps to the southwest, where you should see another Gercard.
From the tree it's next to, head left a little ways, then take a couple sets of steps downwards, where you'll find the Blizzard Bulb hovering above an icy stand, so go ahead and grab
it.
Just northwest of here, you may have noticed an area with some more icy slopes; unfortunately, there's no alternative path to go where they lead, so you'll need to re-visit this area once you have the proper tools, so keep it in mind for later.

Make your way back up to where the first Gercard was (just take the steps all the way back up, or if you prefer, you can loop around the bottom of the screen, but that's slightly slower). Head right a little ways, and after going down the first set of steps, follow this path all the way right to reach some more steps (you should encounter another Neeli along the way).
Climb them, and follow the path until you reach a cave. Inside, ignore the eastern section
(there's nothing over there, except a passage that leads to a dead end), and head to the southwestern corner.
You should notice an icy draft coming from the ground near a chasm, similar to how you found the Blizzard Bulb. In order to cross, you'll need to stand where the draft is, and use the Blizzard Bulb (equip and use it) there to form an ice bridge leading to the other side of the cavern.

Upon exiting the cavern, take the steps downward, and you should notice a Gercard at their base, so go ahead and dispatch it.
If you want another equipment accessory, then look closely at where it was standing, and you should notice a set of footprints, so follow them left to enter a hidden cave (if you're having trouble finding it, it's the area just to the right of the base of the steps).
Inside, you'll find a chest containing another optional equipment accessory, this one being the Spirit Cape.
Much like the Heal Ring from Ys I, equipping this will allow you to stand still and recover HP, even in areas (like this one) where you can't normally do so; using it in an area where you can already heal gradually will help speed up the process a little.
Anyway, exit the cave, and take the next set of steps downward. Follow the path all the way left, and take the second set of steps you see (the other set just leads to a dead end; you may also notice a treasure chest along the bottom of this path, but you can't get to it yet).
Follow the steps upward until you see some Eggnids (green winged demons) near a cave.
The other paths here lead to more dead ends, so go ahead and enter it. There's nothing of note inside, so just follow it outside to the left.

On the next screen, take the first set of steps downward, and just to the northwest, you'll notice another icy slope near a Galgata (spiky shelled turtle-like enemy).
There's a Goddess Statue at the top of this one, but as with the other slopes, there's no way to climb up it yet, so keep it in mind for later (well, if you want to - you don't need to visit this one, either).
For now, take the steps to the southeast of the icy slope (the path further left just leads to another dead end) until you see another Galgata, this one near a tree.
The path splits here, and while both lead to the next area, the one off to the left leads to another equipment accessory, so let's head that way. Eventually, you'll come across a group of Gworters (cyclops), as well as another Galgata, so go ahead and dispatch them.
You should notice an icy slope leading downwards, so go ahead and slide down. Before sliding down the second one, grab the chest off to the left, which contains the Hawk Idol. This is
another equipment accessory, and equipping this allows your fireballs to automatically home in on any nearby enemies (though it will still sometimes miss if the fireball has to arc too tightly). I recommend having this accessory equipped when you don't need to use the Spirit Cape to heal, as it allows you to kill enemies safely from afar fairly easily - the downside is that your fireballs won't automatically arc around environmental obstacles (trees, stalactites, etc.), so you still have to be careful to not waste your shots.
Anyway, slide down the other icy slope, and take the steps to the southwest, where you'll find another cave.
As noted above, the path below just loops around to a different section of this screen, but there's nothing of note that way, so go ahead and enter the cave. Inside, you'll find a bunch of ice
clumps, and the only way through is to destroy them with fireballs (which, oddly enough, give 1 or 2 EXP each, depending on your level - as if them giving EXP isn't awkward enough, it's actually scaled, just like normal enemies =p).
In order to minimize MP loss here, I recommend carving a path along the top - this makes it so you only need to destroy a minimum of 5-6 ice clumps, if you're careful.

Upon exiting this cave, head right to find a chest containing the Alter Magic.
Equipping this will turn you into a cute little Roo, which most characters - even most enemies - mistake for a demon.
So, you can use this to speak with the various enemies (it doesn't work on the bosses, unfortunately), who will sometimes give you hints, or you can use it to mess with the various characters you encounter (either way, using it is completely optional at this time, but
it's necessary for later events).
However, as with the Light Magic, this one will slowly drain your MP simply by equipping it, so try not to use it recklessly. Anyway, head back to the left, and take the steps downward.
There's a Swoff here, but before killing it off, use the Alter Magic to speak
with it, if you want (it's not required).
Doing so reveals that it witnessed a pretty female human being carried off by a flying demon. That doesn't sound good... Anyway, you can then turn back to normal and dispatch it, if you want (how heartless of you =p), or you can continue chatting with the other monsters in the area (again, keep an eye on your MP if you do this). Take the steps on the left, and follow them until you reach another icy slope above you.
Again, you can't climb this, but you should be able to see a door up there, so keep it in mind for later. Instead, head off to the right, but before climbing the steps above you, there's a Marle Flower further to the right, so go ahead and grab it, and use it to restore a little MP, if you need to (this has a 5 minute recharge time before growing back).
Head up the steps, and when the path splits, take the steps to the northwest to reach another cave (the other paths are just dead ends again).
Inside, you'll find an Herb growing along the wall, just to the northeast of the entrance, so grab that if you want (as with the Marle Flower, this also has a 5 minute recharge time). There's nothing else to do here, so follow it outside to the right.

Off to the right, you'll find a Gworter, so go ahead and dispatch it, and inside the chest it was guarding, you'll find the Stone Shoes.
Equipping these will allow you to walk up those icy slopes you've likely encountered all
throughout this area. For now, you need to head all the way back to the first screen, and explore the area to the northwest of where the Blizzard Bulb was found.
As it's a few screens back, instead of walking, I recommend using the Return Magic (or a Wing) to warp to Lance, if you can spare the MP. If you do warp to Lance, talking to the villagers reveals that both Lilia and Bohtz have gone missing, even though they probably should have returned by now.
Hmm, that one demon did say it saw a pretty, young female being carried off... Either way, there's nothing you can do about this now, so let's move on. Before leaving, if you're particularly low on MP, you might consider getting healed at the clinic, or resting at Banoa's; you may also wish to purchase some new equipment, preferably either the Large Shield or Plate Mail, if you can afford one (you probably won't be able to afford both yet - at least not without a
fair deal of grinding - but the next boss should be easily doable without them).
Before heading back to the Ice Ridge, now that you have the Alter Magic, you can use it to speak to a certain demon within the Rasteenie Mine to get the Steam achievement "Where's Aldow?". The demon in question is the K'nocks in the top left corner of the room where the Evil Bell was found deep within the Mine. Unless you missed the second piece of Iron Ore from before (same spot where the first piece was found), there's nothing left to do down there, so make your way back to where you first entered the Ice Ridge.

The area just northwest of where you found the Blizzard Bulb is where you want to go (if you're coming from the Sanctuary, it's faster to loop around the bottom of the screen), as you can now equip the Stone Shoes to climb up those icy slopes.
Go ahead and do so, but be careful of the Eggnids as you're climbing up.
Just to the northeast, take the steps leading to that chest you may have seen earlier, which contains the Anti-Illusion Mirror.
This allows you to reach the boss of this area, so be sure to pick it up.
Anyway, back on the screen where the Hawk Idol is found, if you want, you can now climb the icy
slope just southwest of the northeastern cave to reach the Goddess Statue, which reveals that the door seen earlier is a fake, so you need to find a way to dispel the illusion and reveal the real door.
Assuming that you have theAnti-Illusion Mirror in your possession, head back to the screen where the Alter Magic was found, and west of the Marle Flower on that screen (if it's grown back by now, feel free to pick and use it again), there's another icy slope.
Climb up this one, and you'll find a door up top.
Trying to open it just results in your body passing right on through, so equip the Anti-Illusion
Mirror, and use it in front of the door.
The real door will appear off to the left, so go ahead and step inside.
Be sure to save your game, get fully healed (use the Spirit Cape, or just use an Herb from the cave that led to the Stone Shoes), and make sure you have a decent amount of MP (the 15 MP from the Marle Flower should be enough, or if you have one, you can use a Roda Fruit to
completely replenish it), and make sure the Fire Magic is equipped; also, if
you have it, I recommend equipping the Hawk Idol, but it is by no means
necessary.
When you're ready, head to the very top of the screen, and prepare to face the next boss.

HP - 280
LVL - 20
STR - 121
DEF - 74
EXP - 600
GOLD - 1,200

RECOMMENDED LEVEL - 18/19

STRATEGY - This boss is one of the easier ones, though he may still be a little troublesome on higher difficulties. Immediately upon initiating the fight, this guy will attempt to pounce on you, so as soon as you see him leap, move out of the way (he'll track your position temporarily, so even if you immediately move to the bottom of the screen or something, he can still land on you if you're not careful).
Shortly after he lands, he'll send waves of ice along the ground in multiple directions, so you'll need to keep a constant eye out to effectively move between them; naturally, being further away from him gives you a better chance to read their direction, and dodge accordingly.
On higher difficulties, this attack is harder to dodge, as not only will he send out more waves, he tends to clump a few of them together, meaning you'll likely have to move completely out of the way instead of trying to find an opening to move between them.
He'll then either send out more ice waves, or leap in the air and try to land on you again (if he happens to catch you with that attack, it hurts quite a lot, and is likely to outright kill you, even with full HP and good armor).
The best time to attack him is as soon as he lands (as with Velagunder, physical attacks are completely ineffective, so you need to use Fire Magic), as trying to shoot between the waves of ice is tricky, since they can easily block your shots. Having the Hawk Idol equipped makes hitting him a fair deal easier, perhaps even arcing your shots between the ice waves, if you're lucky (of course, that's easier said than done).

After taking off a certain amount of his HP, he starts to leave ice clumps behind (at what HP threshold he does this, and how frequently, is dependent on the difficulty level, I believe), making him a tad trickier to deal with. If you have the Hawk Idol equipped (which I recommend), then your fireballs tend to be directed towards these, instead of the boss. In order to counteract this,
I recommend either firing at him point blank (which obviously tends to be more risky), or destroying the ice clumps as best you can before aiming for the boss again (on higher difficulties, he tends to leave a lot of these behind, so destroying them all may be tricky to do - it's probably better just to take out only the most problematic ones, or avoid them entirely).
Anyway, once you win, you receive 600 EXP and 1,200 gold for your efforts.

For this fight, being at least level 17 with the Talwar equipped is required to do additional damage here, but level 18 or 19 is preferable (perhaps even 1 or 2 levels higher, if he's proving to be too difficult).
Even without clearing Gila's Basement for extra EXP, so long as you clear everything in your path
through the Ice Ridge, you'll probably reach level 17 or 18 naturally. If you still have the Long Sword, you won't do much damage to him until level 20 or 21 (technically, level 18 or 19 with the Long Sword is when you start doing additional damage, but that's still quite a slow battle).

Before heading through the door at the top of the room, you may have noticed a treasure chest where Tyalmath initially leapt down from. So, how to get to it?
In the top left corner of the room, there's a secret passage looping around to it (the entrance is just a little below the top of the room), and it contains 1,000 gold; it's worth noting that this passage is only open after the battle with Tyalmath, not before.

Anyway, head through the northern door, and you'll be in another cavern, one that seems significantly warmer. Head straight up, and if you need it, there's another Herb growing behind the cluster of rocks (this one also has a 5 minute recharge time).
From there, head northwest a little, and you'll find a cave leading to the lava-filled Moat of Burnedbless.

- Find the Colony of Lava, and use the Alter Magic to get Ruba to reveal Tarf's
kidnapping
- Offer to rescue Tarf from the demons, and receive the Whisper Earrings
- Use the Evil Bell to find the hidden Roos' Nest, and use the Roda Leaf within
to traverse the poisonous passage
- Find the Black Pearl, and using the Whisper Earrings, give it to Keith to
free both him and Tarf
- Escort Tarf back to the Colony of Lava, and cross the bridge to the other
side of the Moat of Burnedbless
- Kill Gelaldy, and make your way to Ramia Village


- Find another piece of Iron Ore, and sell it to Guido
- Receive the Raw Meat from Nash

(Moat of Burnedbless) - Iron Ore, Black Pearl*, Herb,
2,000 Gold

(Colony of Lava) - Whisper Earrings*, Raw Meat

(Roos' Nest) - Roda Leaf*, Roda Fruit

CHARACTERS (Colony of Lava) - Ruba*, Tarf*, Fred, Natalie, Noit, Rafa, Rex,
Chelnie, Favre, Elle, Meryl, Carson, Ischt, Kasim, Flonne, Darie, Nash

CHARACTERS (Roos' Nest) - Roodle, Brooce, Tallyroo, Touroose, Prooto, Roo-kie,
Rooroo, Droozy

ENEMIES (Moat of Burnedbless) - Preliguard, Onuman, Scollun, Xelbenoth, Gene,
Dirga, Topus, Magnute, Gelaldy*

NOTE - Tarf's character entry can be obtained outside the Colony of Lava bymanually speaking to him at any time in the prison area during the escortmission, but as it's possible to miss this opportunity, he can be spoken tomanually back inside the village, or at a mandatory point later in the game.
Also, Noit disappears at a certain point later in the story, so he'stemporarily missable, but he's also found as part of the plot later on, sodon't worry if you miss him. As for the Roos, you need to have Alter Magicequipped to receive their entries.
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At this point in the game, if you haven't been grinding a whole lot, the enemies in this area may be a bit troublesome to deal with at first, even with the Talwar equipped. Even though the Ice Ridge boss can be dealt with reasonably a level or two earlier, I recommend starting this area at least at level 20, as it enables you to deal with both the lizard warriors and ape-like
enemies right away (the Preliguard and Onuman respectively - at level 19, you can only do reasonable damage to the Preliguards). Of course, later enemies in the area require even more STR to deal with effectively, so starting off higher than that certainly doesn't hurt.

Anyway, head northwest a little bit, and you'll get a message saying you feel like someone's watching you, but there doesn't seem to be anyone around.
That's definitely odd, but let's keep moving northwest for now (or if you want, you can actually discover what's watching you right away - if so, skip a couple paragraphs for the solution). If you'd like, you can also check out the Goddess Statue here (as with the previous ones, this isn't required), which reveals that there are creatures nearby who may be of help to you. In addition
to some magical items, it's also suggested that there's another magic to be found in this area, but that's not exactly true - the only new magic is the one you should've already obtained from the Ice Ridge (Alter Magic), which will be needed shortly.

At any rate, on the next screen head north past the Preliguards (lizard warriors - be careful around them, as they tend to turn nearly invisible, but you can then use Light Magic to see them better, if you want), and you should see a passage along the eastern wall (it's near the first Onuman, an ape-like enemy).
The passage in the northwest will eventually lead to a poisonous corridor, and there's no point in going that way at the moment (even if you already found the needed item to safely pass through, you won't be able to proceed much further at present), so take the eastern passage. Inside, follow the path, and take the passage in the northeastern corner. On this next screen,
the enemies have some interesting things to say, so equip the Alter Magic and chat with them, if you'd like. In any event, you'll need to loop around the right side of the lava in this room, and take the passage in the northwestern corner.
You should now be on a screen with some Scolluns (scorpion-like enemies), so if you want to (again, it's not required), speaking to them also yields some interesting dialogue about checking up on a bridge guard, Ruba.
What could that be about? In any event, head two screens west, and on the next screen, loop around and enter the northeastern passage (if you noticed, there's also a blocked path in the southwest corner, but there's currently no way through).
Along the way, if you want, speak to one of the Dirgas (shelled enemies), and it'll ask you to check up on Ruba - do keep his request in mind.
Anyway, carefully dispatch the Scolluns on the next screen, and follow the path east.

Head northeast a tad, and you'll come across the Colony of Lava. Step inside the village, and if you'd like, you can stand still to heal for free (but not for the rest of this area, as you probably noticed). Now, most of the villagers here will instantly clam up at the sight of Adol's red hair (and
consequently, you can't give gifts to most of them at this time, but their character entries are still obtainable), but a few of them will still be conversational, mostly the ones outside along the bottom.
Speaking to the fellow just left of the entrance reveals that he too feels watched near the
Goddess Statue, and says there must be a way to lure whatever it is out of hiding.
The guy right next to him says that there used to be sacred animals known as Roos somewhere around here, but they were cursed by the demons, and went into hiding.
In any event, your real destination here is the far northern part of the village, where you'll find a blue-haired man guarding another bridge.
This is Ruba, and if you first attempt to speak to him normally, he'll claim that the bridge was damaged by the demons, and can't be repaired or lowered at the moment. Instead, you'll need to use the Alter Magic, and speak to him as a Roo, who he believes to be a slave of the demons, sent to keep tabs on him.
Doing so reveals that he's not letting you cross in order to have his son, Tarf, returned to him unharmed. After learning of this, change back to normal, and speak to him again; after he explains himself, offer to rescue Tarf, and he'll give you the Whisper Earrings to aid in the task. After doing so, the two villagers near him can now also become a little more friendly, meaning
they can now be gifted, but there's little point in that (unless you want their character mascots right away).

Return to the screen with the Goddess Statue, and if you wear the Whisper Earrings here (it's not required to use them here), you can hear the footsteps of non-humans nearby. So, go ahead and ring the Evil Bell, and you should see a furry little creature come out from the northeastern corner to briefly investigate the noise.
It is essential that you do this, otherwise you will not be able to enter the area he emerges from (if he's not showing up, you need to ring the Evil Bell in the northeastern part of the screen - however, doing it to close to where it appears causes it to head straight back inside, though
you can still enter the passage afterwards).
Go ahead and follow the creature back inside, and you'll be at the Roos' Nest. In order to speak with the creatures (Roos) inside, you'll need to use the Alter Magic, otherwise you won't be able to understand them (as well as receive their "Notes" entries, if you're collecting those; also, note that you are unable to give them gifts).
Of particular note, the one in the southern end mentions he saw demons taking a human boy through the poisonous corridor.
Interesting... Also, if you're low on MP, you can speak to the stationary Roo near the tree in the northern end, and he'll let you rest to fully recover both your HP and MP.
And speaking of the tree, you can grab both a Roda Fruit and Roda Leaf from it. The Roda Fruit
isn't needed at this point (but if you do grab it, note that this location has a 5 minute recharge time, unlike the one from the Ruins of Moondoria), but the Roda Leaf is; speaking to the Roos after grabbing it reveals that it allows safe passage through the poisonous corridor.

Exit the Roos' Nest, and head back to the northwestern passage. On the next screen, take the passage in the northwestern corner this time, and you'll be in a small room with no enemies; there is, however, another piece of Iron Ore lying about in the northwest corner, so pick it up and sell it to Guido, if you'd like. Anyway, take the passage in the southwest, and follow the path
west (be careful of those Dirgas).
Follow the path to the northwestern passage, but before you do, the reptilian enemies in the area (Topus) are a good spot to grind for a bit, if you need to - I recommend at least getting to level 24
before proceeding.
On this next screen, if you don't have the Roda Leaf equipped, you'll get a message saying it's too dangerous to proceed, so make sure you're wearing it before continuing west (as one of the Roos mentioned, just having it with you isn't enough).
As an aside, it is actually possible to make it through here without the Roda Leaf, but you do need some healing items to make it through alive (3 Herbs will just barely work at level 24 or so), but as this place acts similar to the Devil's Corridor in Ys I (in that it delivers more damage the farther you proceed), the timing for when to heal can be tricky, so I don't recommend doing it.

After passing through the poisonous corridor, the path splits, so take the passage directly to the west. The Magnutes (magma creatures) on this screen can shoot projectiles, so it's probably a good idea to finish them off quickly, but you'll need physical attacks to do so, as they are invulnerable to your fireballs.
There's an Herb growing behind the big rock in the northwestern corner (if you can't find it, choosing to make Adol visible behind walls should reveal it), so grab that if you need it. More importantly, there's a statue at the top of this screen, and examining it reveals a Black Pearl in its forehead, so go ahead and grab it.
Upon doing so, a bunch of Magnutes will appear below you, so carefully make your way past them (it may be easier to slip by them with the Alter Magic). Head back to the previous room, and this time take the passage in the northeastern corner, and go northeast again on the next screen.
Along the northern wall of the next room, there's a crack, but as it's too dark to see inside, equip the Whisper Earrings and examine it (if you're still using it, you'll need to un-equip the Alter Magic first). This is where Tarf is imprisoned, and at the request of his friendly demon inmate Keith, he asks you to find an object known as the Black Pearl. Assuming you found it before, you'll automatically hand it over, and Keith will use it to bust down the wall Dogi style, but before you can speak with him, he shies away via another makeshift exit.
After all the dialogue, agree to escort Tarf back to the Colony of Lava, as he can't make it back on his own (whether you initially accept or decline, you can warp back to the Colony of Lava and speak with Ruba for some amusing dialogue - his reaction varies depending on whether or not you agreed to help =p).
If you'd like, there's a message from Keith carved along the wall just left of the prison bars. Also, if you look at his stats, you may notice that, aside from the Black Pearl, he has another random item equipped (such as a Cactus, a Red Bell Pepper, or a couple other possibilities), but I'm
not sure what determines what item he has - not that it matters in any way (or
so I assume =p).
Anyway, you'll want to take the passage in the northeast corner, as trying to go back the other way means passing through the poisonous corridor again, and Tarf won't be able to survive that. Before heading through the passage (make sure Tarf follows you through), it is strongly recommended that you save your game, as the enemies can kill him rather easily, which means
game over for you if that happens.

At this point, you can take Tarf back to the village immediately (unfortunately, warping there won't bring him with you, so you have to walk; if you do warp here during the middle of the escort mission, talk to Ruba for some amusing dialogue =p), but there are a couple optional things you can do with regards to him (if you don't care, then just skip a couple paragraphs to move on). First,
if you have at least 7 gifts on you, you can go ahead and give them to him (after speaking to him manually at least once, and assuming you agreed to escort him), which will bring his level to 2 (also, depending on what you give him, he may use it in the event he gets hurt). Unlike Ys I, you can actually warp somewhere else during the escort mission, so if you need to grab some
gifts, you can go ahead and do so; however, Tarf doesn't warp with you, and will remain where you left him, so be sure not to carelessly leave him in the midst of enemies.
Anyway, gifting him a total of 7 times enables him to fight alongside you (via throwing pebbles at the enemies), but for the moment, he's pretty weak. While you can continue to level him up by giving him gifts for 1 EXP each, that is an extremely slow process, so you'll want him to deliver the
finishing blow to an enemy instead.
Instead of letting Tarf do all the work (aside from being weak, his aim isn't very good, at least not at first), the easiest way to do this is to whittle an enemy's health down until it has a sliver left, and then to transform into a Roo, and speak to it (alternatively, you can transform into a Roo and not speak to the enemies, but still act as a shield - however, this consumes MP, where the previous method doesn't, at least not as quickly). This forces the enemy to stay in place temporarily, meaning Tarf can score a free hit before it moves again, but it's best to clear out the
other enemies nearby, as they'll very likely head straight for him (trust me,
Tarf very likely won't outrun them).
For killing an enemy, he seems to receive 5 times its listed EXP value (while you can only ever get double - what a cheater =p), but he doesn't require nearly as much EXP as you, so he'll hit
level 4 on his first kill (level 5 if you go back and let him kill a Magnute).
You can repeat this process to get him to level 25 (his maximum), at which point you'll also receive the Steam achievement "Personal Trainer".

Well, that's all the optional stuff there is to do with Tarf, so let's get him back to the Colony of Lava. Unless Tarf is fully leveled (he's actually fairly strong then - he even has 1 more STR than your base at that level =p), it's best that you kill the enemies to make a safe path for him, as they will otherwise target him, and believe me, he moves rather slow (plus he tends to
get caught on the terrain rather easily).
Anyway, if you didn't realize it yet, the northeastern passage out of the prison cell area was actually pretty close to his home. So, make sure Tarf's following you, and from there, take the
passage in the northeast again, and follow the next screen back to the Colony of Lava.
As soon as you step foot inside the village, Tarf will be re-united with his father, which gets you 900 EXP. Ruba decides to raise the northern bridge against the demons' wishes, so head to the northern part of the village, and speak to Ruba to have it lowered (that, or just approach the bridge directly to initiate the conversation).
It's worth noting that the remainder of the villagers become friendlier at this point, meaning they'll start taking your gifts now.
Of particular note is Nash, a young man just outside Ruba and Tarf's house (just southwest of the northern bridge), who upon giving him 5 gifts (unless you fireballed him, in which case it'll take 1-2 additional gifts), he'll give you some Raw Meat (unlike Lucy and Theo, he doesn't react
differently if you try and re-gift it to him), which is another one of the items needed to obtain the "No Reservations" Steam achievement.

When you're ready, cross the northern bridge, and take the passage in the northeastern corner. As soon as you enter this passage, if you return to the Colony of Lava, you can talk to Tarf (and later, Ruba) inside his house to fully heal both your HP and MP for free. Anyway, on the screen northeast of the village, head straight down past the first couple Xelbenoths (minotaur-like
enemies), and along the second path to your right, there's a small chest containing 2,000 gold, so pick that up if you want.
Back near the start of the room, follow the path to the right, and loop around to the passage in the southwest corner.
Go ahead and enter, and follow it west, being cautious of the Gene (fire elemental) inside; as you might it expect, it is immune to fireballs, so you'll need to use physical attacks to kill it. This next room is good for a little grinding, so if you need to, I recommend using the Genes here to reach at least level 26 or 27, if you're not already there.
At the very least, you should have bought the Talwar from Lance by now, and probably
both the Large Shield and Plate Mail as well. Anyway, along the northern wall
of this room, you'll find a large door, so save your game, make sure you're fully healed and that you have a decent supply of MP (the Roda Fruit from the Roos' Nest is good for this purpose, or as noted earlier, you can fully recover both your HP and MP for free by speaking to Tarf in his house), and open the door.
Inside, advance to the main part of the platform, and you'll see a giant severed head occupying it, which is the next boss.

HP - 360
LVL - 27
STR - 163
DEF - 99
EXP - 1,000
GOLD - 2,000

RECOMMENDED LEVEL - 26/27

STRATEGY - This guy will immediately start chasing you around the room, and for
the moment, there's nothing to do but evade him. You've probably noticed that your fireballs are ineffective against him in this state, so you need to wait for him to open his mouth, at which point he'll release a strange "worm" of sorts to chase you around the room. Be careful it doesn't trap you, as it will likely kill you quickly (although, if you have an Herb or other consumable item
equipped, you can use it for a brief invulnerability period, and walk right through it safely - this does not work for the head, however).
Anyway, your goal during this period is to try and lead the worm as far away from the head
as best you can, as he'll eventually re-absorb it, and will repeat the cycle again shortly. As he's re-absorbing the worm, that's your chance to strike, by shooting fireballs into his exposed mouth (be careful the worm doesn't block your fireballs as you're doing this). Maximizing the distance between the two of them beforehand allows you more time to attack here, as it takes him longer
to re-absorb it.
In order to do this, you should try luring the worm to one corner of the platform, and the head to the opposite side (preferably with the head being in one of the top corners). On Easy and Normal (not Hard and Nightmare, it seems), shooting charged fireballs at the head is a good way to keep the head away, as they can push it back slightly (though if you fire from a bad angle, it sometimes won't work), but the ends of the worm will block your shots (the rest of it won't, though), so be wary of that.
If you have good aim, you can also sneak in a few fireballs at the corners of his mouth when he's
releasing the worm, but this requires pinpoint accuracy. In order to accomplish this, I recommend having the Hawk Idol equipped, and using it to arc your shots to that point (it's not strictly necessary for this purpose, but it makes things a lot easier).
This is quite tricky to do, because even if you do manage to hit him like this, you still need to be at a good angle for your shots to do full damage.

Once you damage him enough, he'll release a Gene every so often when opening his mouth (if you're playing on the Easy difficulty, you can even use Alter Magic to chat with it, but not the boss itself, unfortunately). As with Tyalmath, I believe difficulty plays a part as to when he does this, as well as how frequently.
On Easy, I think he only ever does this once, but he seems to have an infinite supply of them on higher difficulties, although there can only be a certain amount on-screen at once (I think the number varies depending on the difficulty level). Anyway, as you should know, Genes are immune to Fire Magic, so you'll probably want to dispatch of them as soon as possible (with
both Gelaldy and the worm on-screen, this can be a bit difficult to accomplish), as they will also block your fireballs (especially if you have the Hawk Idol equipped, as your shots may re-direct to them).
Anyway, once you win, you'llreceive 1,000 EXP and 2,000 gold for your efforts.

For this boss, level 25 is when you start to do minimum damage (with the Talwar equipped, which you should definitely have bought from Lance by this point).
However, the additional damage isn't very much, so I recommend being at least level 26 or 27. While the damage output is still on the low end at level 26, this battle is primarily one of patience, so hopefully it won't be too much of an issue, though of course, being a level or two higher certainly doesn't hurt.
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After the battle, head through the door up north, and take the passage in the southeast. Follow the path east, and in the northeastern corner of the next screen, you'll finally see some sunlight again, so exit the cave to reach Ramia Village.