Part 33: Kombinat and Steel Grave
With Kombinat and Steel Grave out of the way, Ryu and friends find themselves at an ominous, tiered building known only as Colony. Once you complete this area you'll be (temporarily) locked out of Kombinat, so if you have any business back in the city of robots and robot-like humans, now's the time to get it done. That aside, stick Momo in your party and head into Colony for a look around.
Colony
Monsters
- Assassin - Steal Light Clothing, Drop Katzbalger, Learn Disembowel / Target
- Codger - Steal Rare Book, Drop Skill Ink, Learn Flying Kick
- Tank Bot - Steal Wisdom Seed, Drop Wisdom Fruit, Learn Transfer / Sacrifice
- Thrasher - Steal Wisdom Seed, Learn Timed Blow
- Toxic Man
Colony is another small area, similar to Steel Grave, though there's some more important stuff here. Start by climbing the stairs that Momo find so interesting. In the building at the top you'll find an inactive Portal Drive, similar to the ones back on the main continent. There's a Key sitting on the pad that you need to grab.
Go up and over the top of the building containing the Portal Drive, then make your way down the stairs to the west. In the west is a small room where you can find a Deep Diver. Up the stairs near this doorway you'll find the Failure Gene, which makes any Gene combination into a fairly useless Whelp... unless you combine it with a Gene you'll get within a few hours. We'll get to that soon.
Head southeast of the spot where you found the Gene, and keep following this pathway until it brings you to a door. On the other side of the hallway beyond the door you'll find a path leading northeast. Follow it to find a box containing a Wisdom Fruit. South of the box you'll find a ledge, located above a conspicuous window...
... and if you hop off the ledge, you'll smash through the glass and land in a room with a lever, three mirrors, and a machine. Put Momo in front and check the lever to activate the aparatus with the Key you found earlier. Momo will explain what needs to be done - namely, use the mirrors to redirect a laser into the fuse in the northwest of the room. This, presumably, will activate the Portal Drive at the top of Colony.
This puzzle's pretty simple. All you need to do is check the red button at the base of the mirrors to align them, then pull the lever.
- Press the button on the bottom-right mirror once.
- Leave the mirror on the left alone.
- Press the button on the top-right mirror three times.
This will direct the laser into the fuse, activating the Portal Drive. Leave the room via the door in the south, then use the doorway a bit further south when you're back outside to return to the entrance of Colony. Climb the stairs and hop onto the Portal Drive. It will zap you somewhere... vaguely familiar...
Follow Honey when she takes off. The party will find her nearby... and discover that they've been zapped all the way back to Steel Beach. You're inside the Freighter at the moment. Good lord, after all that traveling... still, you do have a path forward inside the Freighter, and now you have a chance to revisit all of your Masters and get caught up on Skills. You can also get two new Masters.
Deis
Assuming you previously told Deis that you prefer her serpentine look, you can now apprentice your characters under her. Head back to Mt. Zublo and check the big monolith in the shrine with Ryu in the lead. This will jump you to Deis. Call her ma'am and she'll enlist your party members as apprentices.
Deis is a powerful Master, with some excellent spells for your party to learn. She'll raise her apprentices' AP, Pwr, Int, and Agl, though at a hard hit to HP and Def. She's great for anyone you want to build up offensively, especially if they need Int to cast magic, though keep in mind they will become glass cannons if they remain under Deis' tutelage for too long. Just about anyone besides perhaps Garr and Peco will benefit from apprenticing under Deis.
Hachio / Haochi
You've trekked through Castle Wyndia's kitchen several times now, and each time you probably spotted Hachio / Haochi, the head chef. Come back this time and he's willing to become a Master - so long as you bring him a few ingredients:
- Beef Jerky - Purchased at the Faerie Village Handyman item vendor, stolen from / dropped by Blue Goblins (Mt. Levett)
- Swallow Eye - Dropped by Rippers (Ogre Road, Mt. Levett)
- Angler - Caught at Fishing Spots near Steel Beach and Cliff using Fish Lures (preferably high-level ones)
- Martian Squid - Caught at Fishing Spots near Maekyss Gorge and Mt. Myrneg using Worm Lures (preferably high-level ones)