21. Tales of Symphonia Torent Forest and Mithos' Castle

HEIMDALL

Lloyd has an opportunity to speak with all of his companions in the village before resting. Speaking to Colette progresses the story and gets everyone a full night's rest. During the night, Lloyd will be visited by Colette, or whomever you chose to see during the Flanoir doctor scene.

Before going off to fight Kratos, leave Heimdall and visit Dirk's House. Speak to the dwarf for a scene where Lloyd takes a soaking wet Colette up to his room, alone.

Return to Heimdall, go to the second screen, and the elf elder will give Lloyd permission to enter Torent Forest. If you haven't already, take the time now to complete the Gigolo task here. Heimdall becomes missable after the events in Torent Forest.

There is actually a glitch you can make use of for Gigolo. If you return to Meltokio and speak with Sebastian as Zelos, you can unlock the Gigolo title without actually doing all the work..

• Zelos Impact

  Zelos has obtained 10 titles. He's killing it.

  
  

Now return to Heimdall, and enter the forest.

TORENT FOREST

Similarly to the last forest, most of the enemies here are weak to Fire. Equipping the Garnet and other equipment that adds Fire element to attacks is great here. The Acalanatha weapon for Sheena does just that, and is better than the Money Bags for just that reason.

While adventuring through here you will sometimes encounter the Carnivorous Plant when fighting flower-type enemies. These big guys drop Red Sage. This is the only place to get this item without using Rune Bottles.

Follow the path to the intersection by the stump, then go northwest. At the second intersection, follow the path west, taking the southern branch when it breaks off again to find a chest with a Stardust. Return to the stump and take the path straight east to find another chest witha Crystal Dagger. Start heading back west until you find a path heading north, and folow that path to get to the next screen.

The Acalanatha is in a chest off to the west. Follow the path east, grabbing an Angel's Tear in a second chest that is slightly to the north of the path, until you get to the next screen.

On this screen, keep continuing east until you find a small pond. One of the flower enemies around here has a Memory Gem. Continue east past this point to find the Gold Dragon, an enemy that only exists right here. Get it for the Monster List. It also drops a fair amount of Gald, but money shouldn't be an issue since the Rune Bottle/Blue Talisman trick exists. Return to the pond, and take the northern path that begins to the east of the pond to the next screen.

Take the west path, then the north, for an EX Gem Lv4. Almost straight south from here is a Mana Protector. Now take the path back east, watching for the path that goes under a large tree root. On the other side is an EX Gem Lv3. Continue east and then south to find a Memory Circle. There is an EX Gem Lv4 directly to the east of the save point. From there, take the path south and then east until it wraps around and goes under a waterfall. There is a Shield Ring and some Warlock Garb here.

Backtrack to the save point, use it, and then take the path south again, this time going west at the intersection (it curves immediately to the east). On the next screen, go north and take the second path east that appears; this one has a stump by it.

At this point, prepare Lloyd for a solo fight against Kratos. I find the Holy Symbol is fairly useful. Kratos uses Lightning and Earth elements, so equipment like the Paralysis Charm to mitigate damage.

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Boss: Kratos Aurion

His moves should be fairly predictable by now, as he has been an enemy before, and both Kratos and Zelos have been a member of the party. Keep a block up, and don't be afraid to use various Gels. Anytime Kratos starts casting a spell is a great time to use one.

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Watch the scene, then organize your party appropriately. I had Lloyd, Raine, Sheena, and Regal.

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Boss: Origin

Drops: Reflect Ring

If anything, this fight is just a slightly more challenging version of the Yggdrasill fights. Origin is a very quick spellcaster, so be ready to use a guard tech [cn_square] to successfully avoid taking huge amounts of damage. Other than that, use the same techniques that you have been using against bosses up until this point. He has the same HP as Yggdrasill, but Lloyd and co. should be a bit stronger, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about here.

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You get a Diamond after the fight, and after the scenes, you'll be back at Heimdall.

HEIMDALL

With the Tower collapsing on the village, Lloyd has to free as many elves as possible. There is one trapped under some debris immediately to the west as you gain control. Free him, then enter the elder's house and convince him to leave. As you make your way back to the entrance of the village, Lloyd will free two more elves trapped behind the item shop. Try to leave for more scenes, then head to Dirk's House.

DIRK'S HOUSE

Speak with Dirk for some scenes. During them you will get the Material Blade and the Eternal Ring. Afterward, talk to Dirk to activate his customization shop. There are some good items here, but the only unique one is the Amulet. The rest either drop from a later area, or the Coliseum.

Return to the Tower of Salvation on Tethe'alla and enter. Approach the dais for a scene, and a warp to Derris-Kharlan.

DERRIS-KHARLAN

Lloyd's Eternal Swordsman title is pretty good. Equip the Topaz to add the Light element to physical attacks, which affects most enemies here.

From the start here, take the path southeast in a long circle, nabbing two chests for an EX Gem Lv2 and an EX Gem Lv3. From the second chest, take the path going south and follow it to the next screen.

There is a chest directly across from the entrance here, and it holds a Golden Helm. Take the path northwest next, and follow it all the way around until another intersection. Take this path northwest, then veer northeast to find a chest with a Magical Ribbon near some angel enemies. Return to the second last intersection and continue southeast. At the intersection here, grab the EX Gem Lv4 from the chest at the end of the southwestern path, then head northeast. At the end of this path, make sure to take the southeast option first, as crossing the symbol leading northeast activates a scene and you can't return.

There is a chest with an EX GEm Lv4 off to the northeast. Now take the path southwest until you find the last chest for this area, an EX Gem Lv3. Return to the warp point and cross the threshold for a scene, then take the warp. In the next screen, Colette rejoins the party, and then you can take the next warp to return to Welgaia.

WELGAIA

This place should be familiar. Quickly head west to use the save point, then east to get to the area with all the terminals. Go down the stairs first, and use the eastern lift to find Raine and Genis in a cell. After freeing them and obtaining the Mirror Shard, examine the broken glass to fight a miniboss, The Neglected.

Proceed back west through the two areas and use the moving sidewalk to go south a screen. Here you will retrieve Zelos and Sheena, as well as pick up a Spider Figurine. There is a magic circle on the floor nearby, and if you examine it, there is a fight against a miniboss known as The Fugitive.

Take the warp to the south that used to be blocked off by crates. It will take you back down to the prison area. Move across the gap to find Presea and Regal, gain the Chipped Dagger, and then examine the blood to fight the lasts miniboss, The Judged.

Make your way back to the central area, and approach the glowing glyph in the center. With the Derris Emblem in hand, you could return to the worlds below and do some newly unlocked side content, but for now, take the warp ahead to Mithos' Castle.

MITHOS' CASTLE

Note: the chests containing the Past Stone, Future Stone, and Sacred Stone do not count towards the 270 needed for Sheena's title.

Even though this is a dungeon and there is loot, you can absolutely walk up the stairs here, fight the dragon, and then go through the door to reach the final boss.

Instead of fighting the dragon, go east and through the door. Go around the stairs and fight the angel here. A chest will materialize higher up in this room. The room directly east of this point has a chest you can actually open for some Energy Tablets. Ascend the large staircase and go through the next door on the right. Another chest sits hidden behind the couch here with a Prism Guard. Now go straight west on the upper level to reach the center room again.

The door to the north leads to a stairwell, and at the bottom of the stairs is an EX Gem Lv4 in a chest. Ascend the stairs and enter the third door to find a Spirit Bottle out in the open, and a Mortality Cloak hidden behind the couch. Continue up to the top of the stairs and exit through the mustard-yellow doorway.

The path goes west, but hug the northern wall as you go. There is a hidden space behind the wall when you get to the end of it that has a chest holding the Ninja Sword. As you follow the path west, there will be an identical hidden alcove with another chest, this one with an Elemental Guard. Enter the door nearby to get to the western stairwell.

Start descending the stairs, entering the first door that appears. Defeat the enemy in this room to spawn a chest behind it. This is the Past Stone. The next door down also has an Elixir in it, although there is nothing hidden behind this couch. Continue to descend the stairs, entering the second door that appears to return to the central area. Use the nearby door to find the western copy of the large stair room.

There is a room directly west from here with a Shield Ring. Ascend the stairs and enter the western door for a Demon' Seal, then leave via the eastern door. Follow the path here all the way around until you reach the first chest that materialized after defeating an enemy. This is the Future Stone.

Return west to the stair room, then exit east from the lowest level and take the nearby door to reach the western stairwell. At the bottom of these stairs is a Blue Shield. Ascend the stairs again and enter the next door.

The Past Stone will react to the blue square on the floor, and give you a riddle. Across to the east the Future Stone will have a similar reaction to the red square. and will give another riddle. Two teleporters will also activate in the ground on either side. In order to solve this puzzle, each of the coloured blocks must be matched to the teleporter next to each riddle, in the order of elements mentioned in the riddles. As each block is teleported, you must push it into the gap between platforms to make a bridge. The final block for each side goes onto a button in the center platform.

Starting on the east (Future) side, take the Yellow, Green, Light Blue, and White blocks. At the west teleporter, take the Black, Dark Blue, Red, and Purple blocks up. With the Purple and White blocks in place on the buttons, the force field is lowered and the final chest is revealed. This is the Sacred Stone.

Warp back down to the bottom, set up your best team, and make good use of that save point. Ascend the stairs in the area to fight the dragon.

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Boss: Dark Dragon

Drops: Dragon Mail

This fight took me about 18 seconds. At a whopping 19,000HP, this has to be one of the least impressive boss battles in the entire game.

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Defeating the dragon gets you the Vinheim Key. Go through the door behind where the dragon stood. After the scene, turn around and leave.

With both the Derris Emblem and having viewed the final scene, there is a selection of side content back in Sylvarant and Tethe'alla that needs to be completed before beating the final boss.I am going to keep it all in one entry, but I will also try to keep everything as smooth as possible so that there isn't an excess amount of backtracking.

This is also the ideal time to do a little bit of level grinding; both Presea and Regal need to be level 80 to view a pair of scenes for them. You can also work on maxing out each character's cooking rank with every recipe. The last four recipes are listed below; three of them are in Tethe'all, and the last is in Sylvarant. They are the first things to do in the following section, and I HIGHLY recommend getting them and then returning to Mithos' Castle to level up to 80.

In order to leave Derris-Kharlan, simply use the warp pad nearby. It will return you to Tethe'alla.

If you don't care about side-quests, or you would rather beat the game first and do them later, skip the next page and jump directly to "Clearing Derris-Kharlan."