The final battle against the Reptites has come, and now that the team has dactyls they need to fly to the Tyranno Lair, headquarters of the Reptites. The lair sticks out like a sore thumb among the jungles of 65,000,000 BC, and you'll find it to the east of Ioka Village. Don't forget to check out the trading post in the village for new equipment, if you didn't do so before visiting the Dactyl Nest.
Inside the entrance of the Tyranno Lair you’ll find two Cave Apes waiting in a boney foyer. Ignore or beat ‘em up as you see fit, then go through the dinosaur skull on the right and down the stairs beyond. There are two Reptites in the next room. Take them down, then free the villagers being held in the cell in the middle of the room by pressing the button beside the ribcage doors. Two more Reptites wait on the right side of the room…
… and three more are down the stairs on the right. They're guarding Kino, whom they've locked in a cell. Free him and Kino will rush back to the entrance of the lair. Check Kino’s cell for a Mid-Ether, then follow him back to the foyer with the dinosaur skulls. He’ll open the skull on the left, granting you access to the rest of the lair.
Upstairs you’ll find a horizontal hallway. On one side of it you’ll find a Cave Ape and a Reptite, and on the other a Terasaur and a Reptite. Like their kin from the Reptite Lair, Terasaurs need to be shocked with Lightning magic before their defenses drop. You can avoid both battles by stepping on the switches on either side of the hallway.
You now have a choice: left or right? We’ll start with the right.
East Wing
Go through the eastern door in this hallway and you'll wind up on a wide balcony. You’ll also be forced to fight an Avian Rex and two Volcanites. Volcanites are similar to the Schists of the Dactyl Nest, though you won’t get in a shot before they turn violent. Reptites will smack Volcanites to prompt them into showering your party with heated embers, but if you hit the Volcanite first it'll instead shower the enemy party with heated embers. Nice tradeoff.
Further east is a doorway guarded by Reptites and an Avian Rex. There are two egg-shaped chests inside the door. The left contains a Hi-Potion, while the right drops you into the jail cell where the Larubans were being held. If you dropped enemies through trap doors earlier, they’ll be waiting down here. Just… don’t open the chest on the right.
West Wing
Back on track. There are three rambling Reptites out here that you can fight or avoid as you see fit. Attempt to go through the left doorway and an Avian Rex will show up and alert the Reptites anyway. Head through the door once you've disposed of the enemies. (You can skip them if you stay very close to the northern wall as you head towards the western door.)
The next darkened room is a bit of a puzzle. Depending on where you step you may warpto different parts of the room, as well as get you into battles with enemies you can’t see until it’s too late. You can usually bypass these battles by staying close to the edges of the room's many pits. Four chests wait inside, and you can get them by doing the following:
- Walk north of the entrance. You'll get into a fight along the way. There are pits on your right, and if you try to walk along the single tile to the north of the second pit you'll be teleported across the room. There's a chest here containing Athenian Water.
- Walk down a few steps, then over to the pit on your right. There's a teleport spot over here that will zip you to the northeast of the room. A chest here contains Mesozoic Mail.
- Walk to the left of the last chest, across the nearest thin walkway. It will teleport you a little ways to the west. (You may need to wiggle around on the walkway to get the teleport to activate.) North of your landing point is a chest containing a Potion.
- Go south through the room, avoiding any side passages. There's a chest containing a Triceratopper on your left.
- Go north from this final chest. You'll run into a battle, and the exit is just past the enemies, in the northwest corner of the room.
Run back outside. The central door is now open, though you have to fight two Reptites and two Volcanites to go through. (And even then, two more Volcanites and another Reptite will pop out to stop you. This place is quite the gauntlet.) Go through the central door and you'll find a familiar enemy waiting - though he won’t attack, at least not yet. Slip behind him and use the nearby save point, then try to use the northern stairs. He doesn't like that.
Nizbel II
HP: 6,500
Remember this guy? He’s a bit different this time around. Nizbel II uses the following attacks:
- A single-target charge attack
- A charge attack against your whole party
- A ground-pounding earthquake attack against your whole party
- A Light attack against the whole party (only after being hit with a Light attack)
Nizbel II begins the battle with a reasonable amount of defense, though each time you strike him physically his defense rises a few points. Eventually you’ll barely make a scratch on his dino hide. Use a Light attack, though, and his defenses will drop back down to normal. You need to alternate between Crono’s Lightning (and possibly Lightning II) attacks and Single or Dual Techs from your other characters. Heal as necessary.
Nizbel II occasionally uses a discharge attack after he’s been hit by electricity, inflicting around 200 points of damage on all of your characters, so keep your HP moderately high. As with the first Nizbel, Thunder Chomp is probably your best weapon for dealing with this dude, since it both reduces his defense and inflicts a ton of damage. If Ayla needs to attack solo, Boulder Toss is a good secondary option. Keep your third party member on healing duty and you'll be fine.
Save and heal once you've dispatched Nizbel II, then head upstairs. Upon hitting the fresh air you’ll get into a fight with a Volcanite and an Avian Rex, then two more Avian Rex, and then a single Avian Rex as you go through the door on the right.
Inside the door is another skull, this one with three switches. The one in the middle makes a save point appear; the one on the left drops out the floor; and the one on the right drops two Terasaurs into the room. (Though they’ll keep falling if you got rid of the floor.) Through the skull, which you can open just by inspecting it, you’ll find a switch that opens the central door outside, as well as a chest containing a Hi-Ether. Make sure you avoid the pits if you drop out the floor, as you’ll get dropped into the previous skull-switch room.
Go back outside and head for the central doorway. You’ll have to face a single Terasaur, followed by two more Terasaurs, to get through. Beyond you'll run into Azala, leader of the Reptites, and she'll rush out a door in the north. Pop open the chests in Azala's throne room to receive a Mid-Ether and a Triceratoper, then give chase. Heal up, if needed, as a major battle is on the way.
Azala and the Black Tyranno
HP:
- 2,700 (Azala)
- 10,500 (Black Tyranno)
This battle isn’t quite as epic as the fight with Magus, but it’s pretty close. Azala is joined in this battle by the massive Black Tyranno, which is, to be honest, the real opponent. Azala and the Black Tyranno use the following attacks:
- Psychokinesis, which damages one party member (Azala)
- Telepathy, which inflicts Sleep on one party member (Azala)
- Summons a rock to crush one party member (Azala)
- Sap, which slowly removes everyone's HP (Azala, upon defeat)
- A Fire attack against one target (Black Tyranno)
- A chomping attack that steals some HP (Black Tyranno)
- A roar that slowly reduces everyone's HP for a short while (Black Tyranno)
- A Fire attack that hits your whole party, used after a countdown (Black Tyranno)
Azala is your first target. She’s a considerable nuisance, using a few single-strike moves to deal a substantial amount of damage. Fortunately, she doesn’t have a whole lot of HP. Have Crono and your third teammate smack Azala down with magic while Ayla either heals or goes after Azala with physical attacks. Techs work best against Azala. While Azala’s still around the Tyranno will either breathe fire at one party member or draw them into its mouth and chomp away a big chunk of HP for itself.
Once Azala is down for the count (or if you take too long) the Black Tyranno, which, to this point, hasn’t done a whole lot, will change tactics. Removing its formidable defenses for a short while, the Tyranno begins a five-round countdown. Once those rounds are up it will use a Fire attack against the whole party that dishes out substantial amounts of damage (300+ HP!) to anyone not supported by Fire resistance, and even with resistance it’s still going to sting.
Use your strongest attacks during the countdown, suffer the Fire hit, bring your health back up, wait for the Black Tyranno's defenses to drop again, and repeat the process until it runs out of HP. Simple, but... painful. The Black Tyranno’s defenses are nigh-impenetrable when it's not performing its countdown, so hold off attacking until that happens. If this attack proves to be too much for your party you may want to equip some Ruby Vests to offset the effects of the Fire.
Defeating Azala and the Black Tyranno will spark a long, important cut scene, one that completely levels the Tyranno Lair. Once that's done you'll need to inspect the crater left behind to push the plot forward, and it will take you to a brand-new era.
Part Twenty-Two: The Kingdom of Zeal, 12,000 BC
Part Twenty-Two: The Kingdom of Zeal, 12,000 BC