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The plot is picking up, and the fall of the Mountain of Woe the party needs to chase down Dalton, who has abducted Schala. Speak to Melchior before you leave the village and he’ll give you a Ruby Knife, which you'll need for the next section of the game. Leave Terra Cave and head east across the snow to find the Skyway back up to Zeal.
This next area is the last major section of 12,000 BC as you know it. If you haven’t thoroughly explored Enhasa or Kajar, do not proceed into the Palace until you’ve done so. In particular you should speak to the Nu merchant in Kajar, who will now sell you weapons and armor. It will only agree to sell you things if you tell him that you're not carrying Schala's pendant. (You'll get better weapons for most of your party members in the next dungeon, so don't worry too much about affording all this stuff.)
Head to Zeal Palace once you're done exploring the rest of the kingdom. Your next opponent is waiting in the throne room.
Dalton
HP: 3,500
Charm: Ambrosia
Yep, you finally get to fight this blowhard. Dalton is similar to his Golem in that he reacts to your attacks, though unlike the Golem he always uses the same stupid attack: Iron Sphere. It will cut one target's HP in half. Get him down to zero HP and Dalton will use a burping attack that’ll inflict 150ish HP of damage on everyone, which is only dangerous if you never bothered to heal during the fight. Pull out your strongest, most accurate Techs and go to town on him. He only has 3,500 HP, so this battle won’t take long even if you only use normal attacks.
Behind Dalton is a teleporter that leads to one of the most important dungeons in Chrono Trigger. Make sure you have all the restorative items and gear that you think you'll need, then take the plunge into the waters below Zeal.
The Ocean Palace - Enemies
A massive underwater installation, the Ocean Palace is the ultimate achievement of the Kingdom of Zeal - and a path leading directly to Lavos. You’ll find a save point and a quick cut scene to the south of the entrance, and a familiar face will greet you before you start getting into fights.
The first section of the Ocean Palace is somewhat free-roaming, though you have to see most of it to proceed to the next area. Start by looking to the south of the starting point. There's a chest here containing a Rune Blade for Frog, and it's guarded by two Scouters. Scouters are only vulnerable to magic that matches their colour (Fire for Red, Water for Blue, Light for Yellow), and any other elements will trigger counterattacks. Use neutral attacks if you don't have the appropriate element on hand.
Head back north, then take a right and go through the nearest doorway. Beyond you’ll find a blue button on the floor. Step on it to fight a Djinn and a Ghul. Take out the Ghul first to make the Djinn vulnerable. Next door to the right you’ll find two Red Scouters and a Zealot Mage. The Mages are only middy annoying, and can be destroyed with normal attacks. Check the chest in this room for an Aeonian Helm.
You can walk through the left wall in this room to return to the main area. Wander south, grab the Aeonian Suit along the way, kill the Scouters if you feel like it, and go through the next door you see to the south. There are two Blue Scouters beyond. Head south in this room, check the chest on your left for a Kaiser Arm for Robo, and fight or avoid the Scouters on the horizontal platform further south. To the west is a blue switch, and you can step on it to create a path deeper into the dungeon. Check south as soon as you leave the east-west bridge to find a Sonic Bow for Marle in a chest, near more Scouters.
Head back east to return to the main area. This time check the west side, running west along the south end of the room and heading to the northwest corner. The layout is basically the same as it was in the east. The second smaller room here contains an Empyrean Blade for Crono, the lowest room contains a Shockwave for Lucca, and if you skirt around the western platform in the large, southernmost room you can find a Demonslayer for Frog in a chest, accessible via a hidden passage in the wall. The Demonslayer is weaker than the Rune Blade you picked up earlier, but it does extra damage to magical enemies - and there are lots of those in the Ocean Palace.
Head back to the central chamber and take the southern passage. Now that you hit the switch in the southernmost room you can cross it to access more of the dungeon. Beyond is a room with two Scouters, a Monk, and stairs on the left. Go down the stairs to face two Monks and two Zealot Mages, then keep descending to face (potentially, if you’re not careful) four more Monks. There are scads more Monks, as well as a few Warriors, to face before you hit the bottom of these stairs, and they all counter physical hits with combos. Magic is a good idea here.
A cut scene waits when you hit the bottom of the stairs, and in the next room is a save point guarded by a Djinn and a Ghul. To the south you’ll wind up on a elevator, and when you begin to descend you’ll have to face off against a series of battles against enemies you’ve already seen a few times by now. There are lots of Scouters that require spell-slinging, so you’ll want to use a Shelter on the save point to restore your HP and MP.
Once you reach the bottom of the elevator shaft you can leave the elevator and reenter to find a switch that will send you back up the Ocean Palace. If you check the left wall at the top you'll find a Magic Capsule. This will force you to redo the entire section of stairs, including all the battles, so whether you want to bother getting this Magic Capsule is up to you. (Though keep in mind that you can't come back to the Ocean Palace once you beat it.)
At the bottom of the elevator you'll find a room full of lava, and you’ll be facing a chasm you can’t cross. To the right and the left you’ll find small chambers populated by Scouters. Pull the switches in these rooms to create a bridge across the centre of the middle room which you can cross.
Straight ahead is a chest containing an Elixir, a save point, and a door. Save, heal, choose your strongest element, gird yourself against that element, and step through the door. Time for a very painful battle.
Golem Sisters
HP: 7,000
Charm: Magic Capsule
Remember that Golem you fought back at Zeal Palace? Now there’s two of ‘em. They use the following attacks:
- A neutral magic attack against a single target
- Iron Sphere, which cuts its target HP in half (counter to physical attacks)
- Elemental attacks against your entire party (counter to magic Techs - the nature of the attack matches the attack used by your party)
- A burp which damages the whole party (on defeat)
The Golem Sisters are exactly the same as the previous Golem, using elemental attacks based on your own attacks and otherwise attacking with Iron Sphere (halves HP) and a normal, fire-slinging strike (which is, in fact, non-elemental, despite how it looks). Fighting one can be annoying; fighting two is awful. Fortunately, you can game this battle to your advantage.
The key to defeating the Golem Sisters is to stick with one element throughout the battle. If you haven’t been popping open black chests with Marle's Pendant then you probably only have Ruby Vests, which will do as far as resisting Fire damage goes. Pop them on, put Lucca in your team, use Fire II to get both Golems using fire attacks, then have Lucca perform Dual Techs with a dedicated fighter while your third member handles the healing. Crono and Lucca will potentially know Fire Sword II by now, and several uses of this move can wreck a Golem in short order. When one is gone the other shouldn’t prove to be a huge threat.
If you did collect elemental vests, suit up as appropriate and use your most powerful elemental attack in one field to wreck the Sisters. Crono's Luminaire Tech is great if you have White Vest / White Plate on two of your characters, and there are plenty of Dual Techs that can also rip the Golems apart. As long as you avoid switching attacks from one element, this is not a difficult fight. Keep your HP high enough to handle a burping attack after beating each Golem and survival won’t be a major issue.
Once you beat the Golem Sisters… well… a lot happens. There’s one more boss fight to face in the Ocean Palace, north of this battlefield, though it’s a pretty sure bet that you won’t win.
Lavos
… oh dear. This version of Lavos is designed to be stronger than normal, and the chances of you surviving Lavos’ first attack on a regular play through Chrono Trigger are slim to nil. Don’t worry, the game will continue whether you live or die - though if by some miracle you can beat Lavos, you’ll be on the way to seeing an alternate ending.
Assuming you lose to Lavos the game carries on with a few more traumatizing cut scenes, and, ah... the Black Wind will howl. Needless to say, you're done in the Ocean Palace.