Likely to be the third or fourth Errantry quest your daughter embarks upon during a playthrough, the Western Desert is a bit unique among the four areas. Dispensing with the bandit usually found in these spots, the Western Desert is instead filled with events - and temptations - that can greatly affect the fate of your daughter. Going here can be a major boon, or... a mistake waiting to happen.
To safely traverse the majority of the Western Desert you'll want to fulfill the following minimum requirements:
- Your daughter's Combat Skill stat should be as close to 100 as you can manage. The 90s are likely enough, but going straight to 100 can't hurt. You should also try to max out your daughter's offensive stats (Attack or Magic Skill / Magic Attack).
- Your daughter's Stamina should be well into the 300 range, if not up near 400. The Western Desert has a lot of powerful monsters, and you'll want lots of HP to make the most of your trip.
- Your daughter should have Plate Mail equipped at a minimum. Mithril Mail is preferable, if you can afford it. If you plan to fight with a sword your daughter should have the Mithril Sword equipped, or, again if you can afford it, the Katana.
Navigation
Traversing the Western Desert is relatively straightforward. The area consists of a few small mazes that take you off to the west. You'll begin in the desert, go through some ruins, wind up in rocky terrain, and then loop back to the lower half of the desert. The enemies change with each shift of the scenery, and they're at their toughest in the far west.
Like the other Errantry locations, you can exit by making a full circuit of the map. You'll find the second exit south of the first, in the second desert area.
Monsters
The monsters start to ramp up in the Western Desert, and you'll have a fair bit more trouble with some of them compared to the Eastern Woodland and the Southern Riverside. Most of the monsters in this area require a Sensitivity of 200 before you speak to them. The exceptions are the Giant Scorpion, which requires 350 Sensitivity; the Dragon, which requires 300 Elegance; and the Skeleton, which requires 600 Faith. Demons are among the easiest monsters to chat up, as they only require a small handful of Faith.
- Demon - Outside the Demon Cave
- Drop: Demon Dress
- Dragon - Center of Ancient Ruins
- Drop: None
- Giant Crow - Rocky canyons
- Drop: Ancient Milk
- Giant Scorpion - Desert
- Drop: None
- Goblin - Deserts, Ancient Ruins
- Drop: Healing Pill
- Harpy - Rocky canyons
- Drop: Fairy Nectar
- Pseudodragon - Rocky canyons
- Drop: Fairy Nectar
- Sand Raiders - Hole in the southern desert
- Drop: None
- Skeleton - Rocky canyons
- Drop: Longsword
These beasts are far more lucrative than enemies in other areas, and you can mine a small fortune by camping out in the western, rocky terrain. If you plan to make money you'll want to target Harpies and Skeletons.
Events
Below is a listing of the events in the Western Desert. A few of them are repeatable if you bring the right items along.
Ancient Ruins
In roughly the center of the Western Desert are the Ancient Ruins, where Dragons live. These enemies are exceptionally difficult, and should be avoided unless you have lots of HP and strong magic.
If you go south through the Ancient Ruins and attempt to reach the central chamber you'll be stopped by a Young Dragon. He'll demand a 200 gold toll before he'll let you through. You can either pay the toll, or... beat him up. The Young Dragon is much easier to defeat than his larger kin, so don't worry too much about it. Defeat the Young Dragon and he won't bar your daughter's path again.
Inside the central chamber you'll find the Old Dragon. This feisty geriatric favors Glamour, and will give your daughter gold equivalent to her Glamour score on each visit after the first, assuming she is fifteen years old or older. If you show up with a Glamour score higher than 100 the Old Dragon will ask her to approach him, and if she does he'll give your daughter the Dragon Tights. He'll also have more to say if your daughter has a high Bust score.
Assuming you defeat the Young Dragon he will eventually show up on your doorstep, transformed into a humanoid, with the Old Dragon. They will propose marriage to your daughter, and if you agree you'll receive a 10,000 gold dowry - though your daughter's Morals will drop. This unlocks a special marriage at the end of the game. If you decline the marriage proposal your daughter's Elegance will rise by 5 instead.
The Spring Spirit
Once you leave the Ancient Ruins you'll be in the rocky area, and you'll find a split in the path. If you take the upper route and head to the northwest corner of the map you'll find an oasis. You can approach the oasis and receive a small bonus to your daughter's Sensitivity.
If you purchased the Spirit Ring from the traveling salesman (1,000 gold), you'll meet the Spring Spirit when you approach the oasis. She'll plead for the Spirit Ring, which is actually her egg. If you decide to hand the ring over the spirit will raise your daughter's Elegance by 50 points, and a year later the spirit's daughter will visit, bringing with her a Sensitivity boost and 2,000 gold. If you turn the spirit down she will cut your daughter's Sensitivity in half.
Ket Shi
If you explore the far west side of the rocky area you'll come to a house, next to a graveyard. The house is unoccupied unless your daughter managed to win a Cat's Eye from one of the Wildcats in the Eastern Woodland. If this is the case then knocking on the door of the cabin will reveal Ket Shi, a mystery cat who wants the Cat's Eye.
Ket Shi will offer you something in exchange for the Cat's Eye:
- Raise your daughter's height
- Lower your daughter's height
- Lower your daughter's weight
Raising your daughter's height also raises the threshold over which she is considered overweight, so the results between that and lowering her weight are similar.
Accepting the offer will result in Ket Shi taking every Cat's Eye from your inventory, with the same results regardless of how many you lost. If you decide to not give Ket Shi the Cat's Eye he will rant and rave at your daughter... and then steal all of the Cat's Eyes from your inventory anyway. Make a different choice.
The Demon's Cave
If you take a right as you head south through the rocky area you'll find a cave. Pop inside the cave and you'll find a meditative demon. Despite its resemblance to other Demons in the area, it won't attack - but it will kick your daughter out of its cave.
This only changes if you purchased the Demon Pendant from the traveling merchant (1,200 gold). The demon wants this jewel, and will make multiple offers:
- First, he'll offer to cast Circe's Charm on your daughter. If you agree her Magic Attack will rise by 10, her Elegance by 100, and her Glamour by 100. This will also reduce your daughter's Morality to zero.
- Second, he'll offer your daughter 1,000 gold.
- And, third, he'll offer your daughter 1,500 gold.
If you refuse all three offers the demon will attack, and if your daughter loses the fight he'll steal the Demon Pendant. At a minimum you should go for the third offer.
Lucifon
If you decide to camp out in front of the demon's cave your daughter will be awoken by a raucous party. Leading the revelry is none other than Lucifon, the demonic lord whom the father defeated before the beginning of the game. Uninterested in fighting, Lucifon will offer liquor to the daughter.
If your daughter has a Faith of 20 or above she will resist the temptation to drink the liquor. In deferrance to her willpower, Lucifon will offer to raise either your daughter's Stamina, Strength, Intelligence, Elegance, or Glamour. The amount raised can be as low as a single point as high as 50 point. In exchange your daughter will lose 10+ Faith and gain 25 Sin. This is an excellent way to quickly raise one of these five stats, as you can repeat the encounter every time you visit the Western Desert.
If your daughter has less than 20 Faith she will accept the drink from Lucifon, gaining 80 Sin. Once you do this your daughter will become a target of Lucifon, and if she ends the game with 200+ Elegance, 300+ Glamour, and at least double as much Sin as Morality, the demon will show up at the end of the game and marry her.
Chests
- Ancient Ruins (head south from the entrance, then go all the way west) - 800 gold
- Ancient Ruins (outside the central chamber, past the Young Dragon) - Dragon's Fang
- Southern desert (behind a rock wall, just after leaving the western canyons) - 600 gold
- Southern desert (along the northern rock walls) - 350 gold