Part 5: A Lovely Banquet - Narslene Sewers

Main Walkthrough

With a brief journey through the Narslene Sewers behind the party, the action jumps once again to Victor. The poet is now in Farnsport Palace, where a great deal of fun is about to kick off, and after some revelations as to his true nature Victor is given some time to himself. Shall we look around?

There are many people with whom you can speak in the dining room, and added together they provide a great deal of world-building information. None of them give you anything that will help in a fight, however, and when you're done you can excuse yourself by exiting to the east. This will put you in a string of conversations, and you're prompted to respond. Try to get things right:

  • You must be speaking of Taryn's Ruler
  • Isn't it exciting to see so many new faces?
  • ... the High Inquisitor himself. I am honored.

Get all three questions right and you'll receive a Life Thread. Two correct answers will earn you two Angel Wings, one will earn you some Sweets, and no correct answers will earn you, well, nothing. The Life Thread is an accessory that greatly increases one character's Critical Hit percentage, making it by far the best item to aim for. 

Once Victor wraps things up at the banquet you'll jump back to Sienna, who is hiding in a storage room, listening to some soldiers. They will talk about her exploits in Farnsport, and their commander will leave an item in a nearby box based on how many times Sienna was IDed by the townsfolk. You can claim the prize from the chest once they depart. If she's never spotted you'll find a Mystic Ring in the chest, if she's spotted once you'll find two Angel Wings, and if she's spotted all three times you'll find a Snack. (I'll come back to this once I know what else you can find in the chest. Likely nothing.)

Check east of the door where the soldiers went, along the south end of the room, to find a chest containing an Angel Wing, then head to the southeast corner of the room to find another chest, this containing an Attack Overdrive. Head northeast to find a northern section of the storehouse with three rooms.

  • The room in the east contains nothing.
  • The central room contains four Horns. You'll need to shimmy between crates to get at it.
  • Just south of the western room, wedged against a wall and between some crates, is a chest with three Iron Ores.
  • And in the western room...
... well, you'll switch characters, that's what. It turns out that Lenne and Robb are also in Farnsport Palace at the moment, and they will soon run into Glenn and Kylian. What follows is ever-mounting chaos, resulting in all six playable characters meeting up and, at least for now, joining forces against an unexpected foe.

Swapping Team Members

From this point on your will have two party members too many for your team. Normally this would mean that you need to choose your combat party outside battle, but in Chained Echoes you can freely swap between teammates in battle. To do this you need to use the Formation option in the menu, then link characters to each other. Linked characters can be swapped back in forth in combat, granting you access to everyone's abilities. A linked character that is swapped in can act immediately. 

There are a few more things to know about swapping team members:
  • Swapping a team member will lower the Overdrive gauge, much like Defending or using the proper Skill.
  • Staggered characters cannot take their turn, but you can swap them out for someone who isn't staggered. This is true of other status ailments like paralyze, as well.
  • If a character is knocked out you can't swap them for their partner. Make sure you make the trade before the character is reduced to zero HP.

Escaping Farnsport Palace

Monsters
  • Forgotten Larva - Strong to Fire, Weak to Water - Can steal Coconut Fiber - Drops Ashen Bone
  • Forgotten Gold Larva - Stong to Fire, Weak to Water - Can steal Ashen Bone - Drops Ashen Bone, Weathered Bone
Now that you've gotten all that party swapping business out of the way, it's time to run. Head east and you'll run into a Forgotten Larva and a Forgotten Gold Larva. These things can deal a bit of damage, as well as stagger your party members, but aren't a big deal. Water moves are your best weapon.

Head north through the hallways. There are two doors ahead. The door on the right leads to a small room with two more Larvae in it, and on the other side is a chest containing two Angel Wings. The door on the left contains nothing of interest, and just links up with a northern hallway. Ignore this left door and go up the hall in the west, where you'll find a third door. Inside is a chest containing a Titan Helm.

Follow the northern corridor and you'll run into three more Larvae. Defeat them and you'll wind up on a direct path out of the palace, past one very hairy situation and into a storage room. There's a merchant here who will provide healing essentials, which should be a sign of what's to come. Begin the climb up the palace and you'll run into more Larvae.

Past the Larvae and up more stairs you'll find a chest containing two Sweets, and in the room just before the top is a second merchant. This is your last stop, so make sure you save and prep your party.


Forgotten Mantis

Strength: Fire
Weakness: Water
Steal: Sturdy Aketon

Despite its size and gruesome looks, the Forgotten Mantis is not that big a deal. It focuses on single-hitting strikes for the most part, both fiery and normal, and can hit everyone with a fire-based spell. It will do in the 10-to-20 HP range per strike, and a bit higher if everyone is Overheated. The Forgotten mantis can also buff its magic stats, making its fire attacks a bit more potent.

This battle, as with many to come, is all about laying down a thick line of buffs and debuffs. Victor has several handy buffs for the party on hand, while Glenn and Kylian can buff debuff the Mantis with Armor Break and Leg Aim, respectively. Lenne's Water Thrust will do the most damage in this fight, so make liberal use of it whenever her turn comes up (unless the Mantis is buffed, in which case you might want to use Cleanse instead). Glenn's Ultra Move is great in this fight given how many debuffs it applies, though Victor's is also very handy if you need a massive boost to everyone's TP.

You'll gain a Grimoire Shard for defeating the Forgotten Mantis, but the victory will be short lived, as a pair of armor-wearing soldiers blow up the tower beneath your feet. Glenn will have a flashback to a conversation with Kylian, and once he's done reminiscing you'll find everyone back in the Narslene Sewers. Ready to wade through the muck a second time?

Main Walkthrough