Old Archades - Archades
(8) You need to leave Old Archades and
Beasley might just (unwittingly) help you do itThe first thing one is likely to think upon reaching - at last! - Archades is.....talk about dellusion of grandeur! Especially after the long and dangerous treck that took you there. Anyway. you'll arrive initially in the Alley of Low Whispers. After the cutscene prompted by your arrival, walk north, then west towards the Alley of Muted Sighs. On the way, you may spot a Stranded Merchant: it's as good as any place to buy some curative items if you're running low, and there are a few very useful accessories you may not have in your inventory yet. Also, you can talk to a Shady Seeq who will mention moogles. You will spot the Moggle Eight just at the beginning of the bridge: if you examine them they'll perform a dance and a song for you - how sweet! When you get to Alley of Muted Sighs, go straight on then turn on your right: there will be an "Archadian Vulgar" talking to a Seeq. Talk to him and he'll reveal he's found a "bag o' money"; from now on, his name will change to "Lucky Man" (who won't remain lucky for long....). Continue further ahead: not far away, another Archadian Vulgar is seated on the floor. If you speak to him, his name is revealed as being Beasley and he'll let you know that he's lof a bag of coins....what a coincidence (not). Memorize Beasly's location as you'll need to go back to him in a moment. Before that, continue all the way west, then south, to reach a save crystal. Beyond it the passage to the Imperial City of Archades, where the Draklor Laboratory is located. Talk to the Imperial there, who will ask you whether you have the credentials required to pass: your answer doesn't matter as you'll be invariably refused entrance. What a surprise! A man named Jules will then approach your party. He certainly seems to know how this place works and agrees to help you....if you pay him. You have no choice but to pay him the 1'500 gils he's asking. After receiving your instructions, go back to Beasley and talk to him again, then return to Jules (you'll find him sitting on some crates). This will trigger an event and the guards will have to intervene and temporarily leave their watch. It's the moment you were waiting for to finally get to the Imperial City of Archades
(9) Now that looks more like a capital!You'll be greeted by another cutscene. As soon as you start taking a few steps in the streets of the capital, Balthier will stop you, announcing he's leaving your party for a while. No worries though, as he'll join you back should you choose to leave Archades at any time before Tsenoble, where he comes back definitely. His absence won't weight on your party in any way since you'll explore the city with Vaan anyway. There are a lot of shops across the city, so it might pay off to wander in the city and make a stop in each. You might not need much in terms of equipment if you've followed my tips in the Extra Hints sections leading up to this chapter, but the new spells available deserve your attention at the very least. Also, if you've talked to July the Streetear back in Nalbina, you can pay her a visit in Charlotte's Magicks to finally get your reward. Note however that you need to keep 2,500 gils or you won't be able to reach Draklor....once you've shoped to your heart's content, approach the cab guide in Nibasse. You won't be able to get a ride from him unless you can collect 9 chops (or pay him 1 million gils....which is a useless information as, even if you had the money, the game won't let you pay up). Luckily (or unluckily), Jules shows up and informs you that Balthier expect you in Central, which can only be reached by air cab. Great. Of course, Jules is only too happy to help you.....if you pay him. As you might have guessed, the 2,500 gils are for him. He'll hint at what you need to do to earn those chops, and that you will need 9 in total to travel to the central part of the city. Essentially, what you need to do is talk to one person who provides you with a story and a keyword. Your job is to memorize it (you'll be prompted to do so by the game) and find the person for whom that bit of information is useful. Pass it on and that will earn you a chop. It's a bit annoying and will mostly get you to do a lot of running around, but it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it and get familiar with what people are saying. Also, the two people connected can always be found in the same district, which simplifies things significantly. You can earn chops in all districts currently accessible: there are 28 chops to earn in total. Molberry however is the one with the most chops to gain, with a total of 9, which happens to be exactly the amount you need, so head there (you will need to collect all 28 chops to unlock an area which you'll need to access for a few sidequests, but you can always return later to do so). You'll find below a table for Molberry, including the keyword and two people associated:
| Keyword | People involved |
| Knack for Magick | Talented Woman and Akademician |
| A trinket from Giza | Daughter-in-law and Man from Giza |
| The Master of Disguise | Look-alike and Look-alike (same name but are found in different places) |
| The Mummer | Reminiscing Lady and Family-minded Girl |
| Eight-and-twenty | Ardent Woman and Ardent Man |
| To be a judge | Would-be-judge and Judge's Wife |
| The Anniversary | Poor Husband and Poor Wife |
| The Traveller | Avid Traveller and Travelling Gentleman |
| The Tutor | Proud Mother and Tutor |
The first person mentioned in the table is the one carrying the information, so you need to talk to that one first, commit the tale to memory, and find the other person to which you will relate the tale. No need to keep track of how many chops you have as the game will conveniently tell you when you have enough to take the cab. Go back to to Nilbasse if you were collecting the chops elsewhere and talk to the cab guide who will agree to take you to Tsenoble this time around. Balflear will greet you when you arrive and rejoins the party. Once up the stairs, there's a Save crystal on your left at the end of the alley. save if you wish then go back all the way until a cutscene starts. Seems like Draklor's guard is on the lookout for someone, which will not make your task any easier :s Go talk to the Docent and the Imperial at the end of the way: they'll tell you you cannot pass- again! Go back on your steps some and Jules will show up - again! - although this time no need to pay him any money. And you've got a way to get into Draklor to boot. You won't be able to come out before completing this dungeon so make sure you're ready (although to be honest it's one of the easier dungeons in this game...). When you feel like it, talk to the cab guide and select "You know where to go" and then "Let's go". Sure enough, you'll get to Draklor in no time
Draklor Laboratory
(10)Apparently, you are not the only ones
interested in Draklor's activities
Draklor Laboratory must be one of the most boring dungeons ever invented. Not a lot to do apart from running around a lot and trying to figure out which way to go and which doors to open, and there aren't even many enemies around to take your frustration on....You arrive at the 66th floor: there are two chests on that level but they aren't accessible for now so just turn left then follow the way up north until you reach the North Lift. When prompted select the 67th floor by pressing on the top arrow. Once up there, go to your left, then turn left. At the end of the corridor is a door that says "C.D.B." when you get close enough: open it to prompt a cutscene, at the end of which you'll get the Lab Access Card Key Item as well as a map of the Draklor Laboratory. Now you can open some of those doors you may have spotted alonf the way, behind which you will find bulkhead controls, treasure chests....or fiends! I usually don't bother much with the chests apart from the one on the 70th floor because they don't contain items of much interest, and the pieces of equipments (or even better ones) can be obtained earlier in the game, but you are free to go back on your steps and try to get to the chests on the 66th and 67th floor. Note also that there is a save crystal in the room on your right immediately upon leaving the "C.D.B" room (Room 6704 East). Exit and go next door: you need to unlock the blue doors in order to access the lift again and go upstairs and the bulkhead controls in the room will allow you to do just that. Go back to the lift and select the 68th floor this time. You will most likely encounter a few Imperials on the way, but nothing you shouldn't be able to dispatch quickly as long as you keep an eye on everyone's HP bar and heal as needed. Level 68 is the most tiedous one so bear with me. Take the exit on your left (the other one is closed) then turn left and enter Room 6803 East. Release the red bulkheads. Exit and go on your left (go north), take the corridor left then turn left once again. Enter the first room on your right (Room 6804 West) and switch the Bulkhead controls once again. Exit, turn left and run all the way down SW: you'll eventually make it to Room 6811 West. Switch the Bulkhead Controls once more, exit, turn left, left then right, and you should get to the South Lift at last, phew! Select the 70th floor. When you get there, a cutscene occurs. Following the man you've just encountered will trigger the boss battle, so look on your right first to find a save crystal. Save your game if you wish. Also, there's a chest in Room 7002 East with a chest possibly containing a Pheasant Netsuke accessory, which conveniently double the effects of all curative items used while wearing it. If money is tight and you'd like to have it, save first then head in and open the chest, and recharge your saved game if you get anything else. When you're ready, take the stairs
(11) There's nothing you can do to prevent
the boss' escape....for now at leastThis particular boss can be dangerous is you don't know what you're doing. There are really two parts to this battle. First, the boss is surrounded by mechanical allies called Rooks: forget about the boss itself, your first battle is against them. Haste is a must in this battle so make sure everyone has it, then try to concentrate all your efforts on one at a time (set your gambits accordingly - otherwise, since they are constantly moving, your characters will tend to hit a different one each round). Forget about using attack magicks in this battle as the Rooks randomly cast Reflect on each other (and the boss): instead, keep your MP for healing and keep bringing their HPs down with physical attacks. Keep an eye on everyone's HPs at the same time because you can easily lose more than 1000 HP in one round, often all on the same character, so if you are still in the 2000-ish, members of your team can still be quickly KOed. Once you've brought a couple of Rooks down (there are four in total), keeping up with the healing should become easier.....for a while. When the last Rook falls, the second part of the battle begins. It's both easier and just as difficult as the first part: it's easier because obviously you just have one enemy left and it so happens that he's incredibly slow (so make sure you keep Haste on at all times for a decisive advantage). He will actually cast Haste early on to improve on that: it's your cue to cast Dispel to remove all favorable statuses he might still be be under, then attack with all you have. For a while, he will essentially back himself into a corner and only deal moderate damage: at this point you might be tempted to get a bit sloppy about healing - that's probably your biggest threat right there during this battle. The boss unleashes a special attack called S-27 Tokamak which can hurt the whole party for a good 1000HP+. Strangely enough, last time I played, only the character away from the boss got hurt by it while the two others who were dealing short-range physical damage, one on each side, didn't get any harm from it. Anyhoo, soon enough, a message telling you that he's preparing yet another Tokamak attack will pop up: however, it will take the boss a while to unleach it, and you should have plenty of time to take his HPs down by 75%, which is when the battle ends. Enjoy the succession of cutscenes, at the end of which you'll fin yourself in a new city, the (in)famous Balfonheim
Coming next: Balfonheim - the Feywood
