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Prerequisites
Howling Valley is available as a map from the moment you set foot in Initium, though the chances that you can afford it (1,000 St) are pretty slim. You’ll need to do a bit of item collecting and general adventuring to pony up the dough. The alternative is to just find the area yourself, by wandering east through the Hidden Woods. The world map exit to Roaring Valley is located in the far east of East of the Ruins.
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Roaring Valley - Valley Entrance - Enemies
- Archwing
- Coatl
- Pale Spiritbeak
- Spectral Soul
- Stormrise Coatl
- Warrior Drone
Ahh, a change of scenery. Roaring Valley is pretty bleak, but at least you get to look at something besides trees for a while. Some of the monsters from Forest Ruins make a return here, but you’ll run into a few stronger creatures as well:
- Coatls. Nothing big - just flying buzzards that will hit one or all members of your party. They’re among the stronger foes in the Roaring Valley, and should be taken out before something else can buff them. Only one of their attacks is really dangerous, and it's pretty rare.
- Pale Spiritbeaks. Can use the powerful, Fire-based Combustion attack, alongside weaker Pecks. Pretty dangerous, but also rare. They only show up if you approach shaking skulls.
- Stormrise Coatls. Rarer, pinker versions of Coatls. They hit a bit stronger and can take more abuse. Not a huge problem.
The important thing to note here is that Water is not favored by your surroundings. If you want to use Water charms you’ll have to use Water Contract first.
Moments after you enter Roaring Valley see a massive monster flying overhead, and if you touch its shadow as it circles you’ll get into a fight. The game makes it sound like you will die immediately if you dare to fight this thing, but it’s fightable if you’ve completed Forest Ruins - assuming you have somebody who knows how to defend.
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Archwing
This creature is much hardier than any of the bosses you’ve fought before. With a few thousand HP and some harsh attacks, Archwing can brutalize your team. You must throw up a strong defense or you’re going to get slaughtered.
Archwing has three attacks, and it will use two per turn:
- Claw, a single hit to one target
- Double Claw, two hits to one target
- Wingslash, damage to everyone
You don’t get anything great for killing an Archwing, because it’s not actually a boss. What you do get is a ton of potential to awaken new Skills, as well as generally improving your stats. Set up your defenses, grind for a while, get as much out of the battle as you can, and vamoose when the fight gets too heated. You’ll retreat to the entrance with a much improved team, making a repeat battle slightly easier the next time. Keep this up until snapping Archwings in half is a piece of cake.
One last thing. Every now and then an Archwing will turn out, instead, to be a Nest Warden. Though aesthetically similar, Nest Wardens are stronger. You're probably not ready to fight one of these just yet. You'll get a more predictable chance to do so later in Roaring Valley.
One last thing. Every now and then an Archwing will turn out, instead, to be a Nest Warden. Though aesthetically similar, Nest Wardens are stronger. You're probably not ready to fight one of these just yet. You'll get a more predictable chance to do so later in Roaring Valley.
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Grind to your heart's content, then start to explore. Head east from the rock with the patrolling Archwings and you’ll find a split in the path. You’ll see a cactus ahead with a flower on top. If you stand near one of these for too long it will explode, and if its spines hit you the health of your characters will be reduced until you need sleep, similar to the effects of getting knocked out. Avoid the cactuses.
The eastern path leads to some potential Sparkles, but it’s otherwise a dead end. Go northeast at the split instead and you’ll find a large, ancient device. You can probably guess what it does, but you can’t do anything about it yet. Continue northeast and you’ll find a ribcage encircled by two Archwings. The rubcage may contain a Sparkle.
The path splits again here. Go southeast and you might find a Sparkle. To the northwest and northeast you can find paths to a new map, the Corridor of Wisdom. Also to the northeast you’ll find ramps rising into the east; these lead to two possible Sparkles, as well as a cave. This is a new area called the Archwing Burrow, and you shouldn't go here yet. The enemies are enough of a step up that you're better off venturing elsewhere first.
The only other thing of note in the Valley Entrance is a set of cliffs in the west. You can access part of them via some jumping rocks along the main road, near the inactive windmill, but there’s really nothing to see besides a potential Sparkle. You can reach the other half of this path via the Corridor of Wisdom, though there’s only another potential Sparkle up here. For the most part you only need to bother with this area if you want to complete the map.
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Roaring Valley - Corridor of Wisdom - Enemies
- Archwing
- Coatl
- Pale Spiritbeak
- Spectral Soul
- Stormrise Coatl
- Warrior Drone
Which northbound route you take onto this map makes little difference, though you might find a Sparkle on the right path. The left path is narrower, and a fair bit safer, but it doesn’t really matter which you take, since they both lead to an ancient monument you can activate for a Water boost in the region.
The path splits in the north. If you go northwest of the Water monument you’ll find hopping rocks that lead up to a southbound path. This leads to the small, otherwise unaccessible cliff edge mentioned in the Valley Entrance. It’s a long trek, and not really worth the effort - though if you look in the northwest corner of this path you can find a singing stone. It yields up a Whispering Shard, and within it the Elven Shot charm.
Head back to the ancient monument. You can potentially find a Sparkle if you take a right, though, again, the path will split, this time to north and south. Go north to follow a thin cliff path to a potential Chest. To the south you can find another exit to the Archwing Burrow, as well as a path to a new map, the Corridor of Hunger. Archwing Burrow remains too dangerous at this point in the game, so we're headed to the Corridor of Hunger.