Chapter 18: Clockwork Castle and the Dweller of Strife

Checklist

The outer walls

1. The main gate is shut. Go west and follow the path up a wall, then east and up again until enemies jump you. Ignore the locked door to the east for now.

2. After the fight take the Berries to the west, flip the switch and go through the door to the east.
3. The hall is only a passage. On the far side, step down for more Berries, go east and beat the Rochecrossideres.
4. Before going north, climb down the wall: the path ends at a chest with a Cog Prototype. Hand it to Teaks later for a story.
5. Now go north to a campfire and a save point. Rest and save, then cross the wall to the west. Ignore the big door for a moment and cross a second wall further west: that chest holds the Sturdy Cog, a weapon for Garl.
6. Return to the big door and try it. A scene starts, and only Valere and Zale take part in the fight that follows.

Boss: Erlina & Brugaves

1. Erlina is the target: she’s the only one who heals. Put everything into her and the fight is as good as over once she drops.
2. Some of her charges have locks you can only clear with a combo, so keep the gauge ready for them and let Zale handle healing. Lunar Shield is the other safe pick after group hits.
3. Brugaves on his own is easy to outlast. You can get through without spending items.
4. Save once more if you like and head through the doors into the castle itself.

The main hall and the first two rooms

1. The entry hall is littered with ingredients of every kind; take a lap to collect them.
2. Clock Zombies just leap at you and go down quickly. Cukoo Monsters fire small, easy cogs, but their charge casts Haste on an ally — kill them first in every group.
3. Three doors lead off the north side. Start with the west one.
4. West room: the cog-block puzzle:
   1. Drop down and win the fight.
   2. Your goal is to slide the block in the lower right (the one with a spinning cog over it) into one of the holes to the north. The small stubs on the floor stop the block and steer it.
   3. Push it left, up, right, down, left, up. It settles in the west hole and a set of platforms comes up.
   4. Climb them and grapple the little pillar to the west. Winding it unlocks a door in the main hall — which still needs a key.
   5. Jump down and pull the ring on the northern block: it shoves whatever sits in the holes back out. Then push the cog block right and up to open your way out.
5. Next, the east door. Drop through the gap and fight a Clock Zombie with a Strife Minion. Remember that only Solstice damage hurts the Minion, so charged skills from Zale and Valere end it fastest.

6. Press the floor button on the north side to extend a bridge east. Climb back up, cross it and open the chest: the Garden Key.

The staircase puzzle

1. Unlock the middle door with the Garden Key and follow the hallway to the next puzzle. Three holes and a pull-ring work as before; the left switch produces a cog block and the right switch raises some of the floor blocks.
2. How to solve it:
   1. Bring out the cog block and slide it left.
   2. Flip the switch on the east to lift the floor blocks, then shove the cog block right and then up so it fills the centre hole. A staircase forms.
   3. Climb it. Up here is a second cog block, and two rings on the north wall that sink the stubs in the central passage for a few seconds.
   4. Pull the right ring and slide the block left. Wait for the stubs to come back up, pull the left ring, then slide the block right and down off the ledge.
   5. Below, pull the ring to pop the first block out of its hole (the small staircase goes down), then fill the left and right holes with the two blocks. A bigger staircase appears in the centre.
3. Climb it into the next area.

The children’s pub

1. The hallway leads into a pub full of children. There’s a save point, a fireplace to rest at, and the boy in glasses runs a shop.

2. Little here is new; a spare Leaf Cape or a second Oaken Armor are the only real options.

3. Speak to Cael in the top right corner. He agrees to help against the Dweller and the Acolytes and opens the route to the Watchmaker.
4. The bridge room:
   1. Drop to the lower floor and pull the ring on the north wall; a platform rises to the south, but only briefly.
   2. Hurry up the ladder, take the bridge south and ride the platform to the switch. This pulls the bridge back in.
   3. Go down and stand on the floor button to extend a bridge running east–west. Climb the ladder and cross west into the elevator room.

The elevator tower: first stop

1. Push the up switch to ride one floor up. The bridge to the north leads to a switch with two buttons: each extends a bridge to one side, and the switch itself resets them.
2. West room — chest 4:
   1. At the bottom is a block with a grapple point on it, and there’s a recess on each side of the room.
   2. Push the block toward one side, climb the ladder in the middle and grapple over to that side’s ring. Pulling it removes one barrier around the central chest.
   3. Repeat on the other side. The chest opens up: Evergreen Leaf, a huge +30 HP.
3. Back at the elevator, extend the east bridge and cross.
4. Deal with the wandering enemies first. Three switches on the north wall raise platforms, but each one also drops another. Counting the switches 1–3 from left to right, flip 3, 2, 1, 2.
5. Climb the ladder, cross the platforms and grapple the small pillar to the west to wind it. That unlocks the next floor: return to the elevator, pull the bridge in and ride up.

The elevator tower: second stop

1. Grapple west and take the north door. Three enemies ambush you on the way in.
2. The ladder-block puzzle — chest 5:
   1. Shove the ladder block as far east as it goes, then use the central switch. The floor rises and the upper switch comes within reach.
   2. Bring the ladder block back west, climb it and flip the upper switch to reveal another one below.
   3. Jump down, flip the bottom switch, then move the ladder block down, left, up to climb to the next switch. It opens the pillar on the east side.
   4. Push the ladder block to the far east and wind the pillar. Platforms appear in the elevator room, and the chest here opens: Rainbow Conch.

3. In the elevator room, use the new platforms to reach the floor button on the east side; it builds a bridge to the elevator, which still won’t go higher.
4. So keep going east: drop onto the narrow platform and pull its ring to open a passage. Cross, climb and shimmy along the ledges into the next room.
5. Grapple over the pit, climb the wall and wind the pillar: the elevator now works. Pulling the ring to the west lifts the whole floor so you can get back — along with a few monsters.
6. Before leaving, climb to the upper left corner for the chest with the Blue Leaf. It raises maximum MP, a good fit for Resh’an and his costly skills.

The Watchmaker and the Master Key

1. Ride the elevator to the top floor and walk north to meet the Watchmaker. She says little, but she gives you the Master Key. There’s also a Wheels table in her room.
2. Ride the elevator back to the ground and return to the pub. Speak with Cael, then use the Master Key on the locked door.

Boss: One, Two, Three, Four

1. This time all four fight together, and it plays like a real boss fight. Order matters:
2. Kill order:
   1. Two first. He’s the healer, and his Todome is the biggest single hit.
   2. Three next. His claws hurt most, and he’s half of the V-Attack pair.
   3. Then Four, then One.
3. Keep the combo gauge for healing rather than damage, and keep everyone topped up; once Two and Three are down the rest is easy.
4. Heal and save afterwards. Leaving the hallway sets off more scenes, and crossing the bridge triggers another.
5. Then you must run: go east through the broken bridge. There are no fights or chests on the way.
6. At the end, Locket has the same goods as before. Stock up if needed, then climb the outside of the tower to the top.

Boss: Dweller of Strife

1. Everyone except Resh’an fights here. As with every Dweller, normal hits do nothing and even Eclipse skills and boosted attacks only deal 12–25.
2. The children’s Crystal Cannon does the real work. Each skill or boosted attack you use is absorbed by it; the crystal grows, and when it’s full the cannon fires an Eclipse Laser for over 5000 damage.
3. How to win:
   1. Your job is to survive. Heal first whenever someone is low — Garl is the best at it.
   2. Otherwise always attack with a skill or a boosted attack, never a plain hit.
   3. Valere and Zale’s sun-and-moon combo charges the cannon twice in one go.
   4. Garl can also hand out boost orbs between heals.
   5. Three cannon shots finish the fight.
4. After the scenes you control Valere or Zale again. Head east to find the other Solstice Warrior already fighting the Dweller. The battle stops after a few turns and a very long, important cutscene plays.
5. When it ends, the story moves to the sky: Chapter 19: Cloud Kingdom.