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| Epic Battle Fantasy 4 created by Kupo Games. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Forest-dweller Anna, keen with a bow and ready for action, has some legendary heroes to track down and bring to justice for stealing the Greenwood Jewel. Off into Ashwood Forest it is!
The first screen of Ashwood has a few basic enemies, but nothing worth fretting over. Kill the lot to earn some experience, SP and random items, and check the chest in the northeast for three Seaweed, one Bad Mushroom and two Ogle Berries. You may want to earn enough SP for Anna to learn Renew, via her Skills menu, before you proceed. Your first fight will also earn you the medal First Blood.
Head south. Anna will run into Matt, one of the vicious scoundrels she thinks is responsible for the theft, and chase him down. He's press-ganged onto the team. Matt is a better damage sponge than Anna, and is good for taking down enemies with his weapons. Even better, Matt brings with him the Scanbot summon, which scans the whole enemy group and adds their entries to the Bestiary. These entries can be accessed in battle, and will reveal each foe's strong points and weaknesses. Using Scanbot against a new bunch of enemies will make proper strategic fighting much easier.
Once that's settled, clear the screen of enemies (they're all still fairly basic) and check the chest in the northwest for twelve Bricks, two Dirt Balls and one Iron Ore, the chest in the northeast for two Kiwis, one Honeycomb and one Red Feather, and the two in the south for a Flame Badge, two Beers, two Milks, one Coffee and one Muffin. You can also check the mushroom nearest the exit for a Bad Mushroom and a Red Feather.
The next section to the east reveals why this place is called Ashwood. There are two routes through here, both of which will take you up against some fiery foes. Use Matt's Geyser attack against the Flame Sprites for the quickest kills - you don't want to get burned and have depleting health for several turns. The southern route looks easier, but you'll face a high-level Flame Sprite after beating the first wave. The northern enemies are more par for the course. Check the chests in this area for an Eagle Eye, an Iron Ore, a Sushi, two Tentacles and three Soft Woods.
Your destination is east, but check to the north first. There are two small paths that lead to a fire cave full of lava. You can't access most of it, but you can get to two small stretches of land in the south. On the left side you'll find a Donut, two Garlics and a Coffee; on the right is Bind, five Microcontrollers and two Blank CDs.
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| The group explores Ashwood Forest. |
Wander back south and to the east. You'll find a section of forest filled with people and monsters. Take the southern route through the previous screen and you can get to two treasure chests containing three Bug Wings, a Cheese and an Energy Drink and Bamboo Trap two Seaweed and three Turnips. Take the northern route to chat with NPCs and find another chest, this one containing a Knight Helmet, a Sushi and four Bricks.
Head north. Another cut scene ensues, and when it's done the mage Natalie will be on your team. Two down, one to go, and still no Greenwood Jewel. Nuts. She's good against flying enemies with her Thunder attack, so don't underestimate her usefulness. Check the bucket for a Slime Bunny, the chest to the right for Sushi, a Pumpkin and two Muffins and the chest to the left for a Honeycomb, two Kiwis and one Milk. Blocking the middle section are two waves of enemies, most of them fiery and undead, which can be eliminated with holy weapons or, if you can manage it, Matt's Limit Break. Open the chest north of here for a Cowboy Shirt, nine Wools and Garlic.
North of the lava is an abandoned tree home. You can't access the back of this screen, but you can enter the home and steal an Orange Juice, two Beers, a Flame Skirt, twelve Wools and one Red Feather. If you enter the next area you can loop north and back into this screen to reach the top, its enemies, and its chests: one Honeycomb, one Cheese, six Bricks, a Sushi, three Garlics, and two Bug Wings.
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| Hmmm. Ash. Lava. Ash. Lava. Might be some correlation... |
The first thing you'll probably notice on this next screen is a Slime Cat. If you check it you'll be able to warp back to Greenwood Village to buy new items, though you probably won't have what's necessary to complete any of the quests. The only other things of note here are the two guarded chests in the south, one with a Flame Heart, two Hams and a Fried Chicken, and the other with a Lollipop, a Candycane and three Muffins. The rock near the arrow sign pointing west also has two Iron Ores, a Concrete and two Springy Springs. Last, you can travel south of here, into a fire cave you found previously, and find a Cake, a Lollipop and a Candycane.
To the west of this screen you'll find, among several enemies and seven hidden Bug Wings and two Turnips, a giant block puzzle.
- To get to the first chest containing four Blank CDs, three Iron Ores and two Red LEDs, push the block to its immediate right up one space.
- To get to the second chest containing a Headband, a Donut and Chocolate, push the block north of it to the left and the block in front of it south.
- The third chest is retrieved after resetting the puzzle by leaving the screen and coming back. Move the blocks in the north out of the way to the left, left and south to open a path. This chest contains a Rock Badge, three Cherries and a Cake.
South of here is a path back to the entrance of Ashwood. North is the continued path. In the middle and near the top of the screen is an odd enemy you've never seen before; approach it to get into a fight with the Earth Golem.
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| The Earth Golem, a mini boss of sorts for Ashwood Forest. |
Earth Golem
There are two Green Bushes helping the bad guys, but your primary concern is the Golem. This hefty creature will use all-hitting attacks on your party, typically doing over 100 HP of damage each time. It also has way more HP than you're used to dealing with. Fortunately, your team should be more than strong enough by this point to kill the Golem. It's vulnerable to Ice, Water and Bomb (you're more likely to have the first two) and only completely resists Earth. Bombard it with watery magic and normal attacks from Matt to bring it down in five or six turns. Not too bad, and you get a buttload of experience and fancy items in exchange.
Heal up after beating the Earth Golem and head north. You'll come across something even more imposing: the Mighty Oak, boss of the forest. You need to impress this thing to pass through.
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| The Mighty Oak, lord of Ashwood Forest - and your first legit boss battle. |
Mighty Oak
Woof. With more than 7,000 HP, Mighty Oak is one tough customer, and will take a while to bring down unless you've been overleveling substantially. Take out the three Wooden Idols so you can concentrate on Mighty Oak, whittling down its HP using primarily fire attacks. Mighty Oak will use a buffing move to start that will boost its attacks to great heights, but it will typically focus on one character at a time. This makes healing after attacks fairly easy. Bring him down in health enough and Mighty Oak may stagger everyone and summon another enemy. Focus all attacks on the boss if this happens - you don't want a staggered character getting hit again. Friend Dog and Heal More are quite handy for getting through this fight in one piece. Beating Mighty Oak will earn you a Soft Wood, a Steel Plate, a Lanky Root, a Chain Link and an Emerald.
The fourth member of the party, Lance, still won't appear after the defeat of Mighty Oak. Cast about for items. You'll find an Axe in the first chest, allowing you to chop down trees and get a Destroyer, a Cactus, two Lemons, a Beef, three Soft Wood, a Gaia's Bow, six Dirt Balls, Ham, a Copper Key, three Iron Ores and a Red Jacket. Check behind the large tree near the middle and you'll also find three Ambers.
Now that you have the Axe you can cut your way to Crystal Caverns in the east, your next destination. Or you can backtrack through the woods and collect everything you missed because you didn't have an Axe! We'll do that first, as well as address some of the quests in Greenwood Village.