Manolia Cathedral - Enemies
With both Marle and Queen Leene missing - and time itself seemingly to blame for one of the disappearances - Crono and Lucca need to conduct an investigation. Their main stop is Manolia Cathedral, a holy site located to the west of Guardia Castle. There are two things you should do before making the trek over:
- First, get into some battles in Guardia Forest, until Lucca learns the Flamethrower Tech. This combines with Crono's Cyclone Tech to create the Fire Whirl Dual Tech, which should prove useful against a number of enemies in the dungeon to come.
- Second, stop in at the Market in Truce to outfit Lucca with some new weapons and armor. The Peashooter will serve her well. A few Potions, an Athenia Water, and a Shelter or two can't hurt either.
Upon entering Manolia Cathedral you'll find a bunch of suspicious nuns, seemingly at prayer. Speak to the nun at the organ and a blue sparkle will appear nearby. Inspect the sparkle and the nuns will transform into Nagas and attack. The Nagas resist physical attacks, but Lucca's Flamethrower and / or the Fire While Dual Tech will make quick work of them.
After the fight the pair will be joined by a new friend: No less than a sword-wielding amphibian who, by default, is known as Frog. Frog is about even with Crono as a swordsman, sacrificing a little bit of arm strength for slightly-superior speed. Once Frog learns the Slurp Slash Tech (which won't take long) he'll be able to perform the Dual Tech X-Strike with Crono, which will come in very handy when battling this area's boss.
Your party assembled, inspect the organ in the top-left corner of the room. After it's done playing a door will appear. Go through to discover an entire dungeon. Check the map at the top of this guide if you get lost!
Take a left on the other side of the door and you'll find a thin hallway with several patrolling Diablos. They're easily-dispatched with normal attacks or neutral Techs. A bit further down are two chests containing a Potion and an Athenian Water.
The doors at the east and west ends of this corridor lead to the dungeon's main hall. There are enemies to fight on both sides of the hall, including more Diablos and a few Vipers. The Vipers are quite vulnerable to any attack, though Lucca's Flamethrower is the most effective method of disposal. From here the hallway splits into five different doors, two on the east and west sides, and one to the north. The northern door leads deeper into the dungeon, so we'll start with the other doors.
First, to the east:
- In the southeastern room you'll find several monsters enjoying a meal. They will leave you alone, though if you speak to all of them with Diablo will leave the room and head north, revealing a bit of a secret.
- In the northeastern room you'll find a few familiar faces who couldn't possible be here. The chests in this room contain 100 G and an Ether. If you walk through the wall on the right you'll find a group of monsters worshipping a statue, and the chests to the right and left of the statue contain a Speed Belt and a Guardian Bangle. If you lured the Diablo out of the meal room this way the monsters in the statue room will attack as you leave, and the folks in the first room will change into Vipers and attack if you try to return to the main hall.
Then, to the west:
- The southwestern room has three chests, containing a Maiden's Suit, a Potion, and an Ether. If you inspect the mirror on the left side of the room you'll find a Naga Bromide, though snagging it will bring three Underlings into the room. They're quite durable, but a quick Fire Whirl will wipe them out. The Naga Bromide is a key item that will earn you a little prize later in the game.
- The northwestern room is blocked by some spikes. Hit the skull-shaped switch on the left side of the door to get rid of the spikes. Inside you'll find some captured soldiers, and on the left side of the room is a blue sparkle in a bucket. Check the sparkle for a Strength Capsule. Outside this room and to the right is a chest containing a Steel Saber for Crono.
Go through the far northern door in the main hall. On the other side, beside the stairs, you'll find a Save Point. This may be a good time to use a Shelter, which will restore the party's HP and MP. Very handy if you've been fighting a lot. If you don't have a Shelter, you can find one by going up the stairs and taking a left.
Run up the stairs and go right. You'll slide down the next set of stairs and won't be able to ascend on this again. To your right is a Mad Bat, and it'll be joined by an Underling if provoked. Mad Bats are a negligible threat, though they're quite evasive against normal attacks, and should be dispatched with some form of Tech.
Go north. There's a small antechamber here with a Mad Bat and two Diablos. Hit the skull switch on the wall, next to the northern door, to lower some spikes in this area's central chamber. Then head north and go west, fighting or ignoring enemies as you go. West of here you'll find two chests, one containing a Panacea and the other a Potion.
Loop counterclockwise through the rooms until you're back at the beginning. (The switch in the western room just summons more Mad Bats, so you can ignore it.) Thanks to the switch you hit earlier you can now enter the central room, where three Underlings and two Diablos will engage you upon entry. Check the chest to the right for an Iron Sword for Frog, then play the organ on the left to open a door in the far north. Follow the same counterclockwise route you used earlier to find it.
Beyond is a thin walkway patrolled by two Underlings and two Nagas. Two more Underlings wander near the door in the north. If you move quickly you can slip by them all and get to a Save Point on the other end of the walkway without a single fight. Conserving your strength is not a bad idea, as something nasty is waiting on the other side of the door by the Save Point.
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Yakra
HP: 920
Baby's first boss battle! Yakra's a tough customer, but as long as you've been fighting the monsters of Manolia Cathedral you can take him. This lumpy beast uses an array of physical attacks to beat on your characters:
- An iron ball that hits a single target
- Needle Spin, a strong, single-target attack
- A counterattack body slam against your whole party
- An earth-shaking slam attack against your whole prty
For the most part Yakra meanders around the room, smacking your party with a variety of single-target attacks of varying lethality. Needle Spin by far hits the hardest, though the most annoying attack is Yakra's counterattack, which goes off whenever a character uses a normal attack on him. The counterattack only goes off if Yakra isn't too close to the character.
The solution? X-Strike. It does a lot of damage, and will limit the number of times you hit Yakra per turn. Have Lucca heal damaged characters with Potions while Crono and Frog whittle away at Yakra's HP. Frog can jump to healing with Slurp if need be, as well, but you should conserve most of his MP for X-Strike. A handful of X-Strikes should put Yakra down.
See, that wasn't so bad. Check the two chests in Yakra's room for a Mid-Ether, and... a surprise. Speak to Queen Leene, who retreats to the entrance in the south, to return to Guardia Castle. Frog will take his leave upon arrival. Check the bedroom at the top of the castle's eastern tower to get Marle back in the party, putting you back at three people.
Return to Truce Canyon once you've said your goodbyes to the king and queen, as well as to Frog, by the entrance to Guardia Castle. Aside from some minor changes to the enemies, the only new addition to Truce Canyon is a blue orb that Lucca turns into a portal with her new Gate Key. This will allow you to zip back to the Millennial Fair in 1000 AD, none the worse for wear.