Phoenix enemy line

The Phoenix, Fire Bird, and Wonder Bird are enemies that are randomly battled in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. These monsters, resembling birds flying very close to the ground, are palette swaps of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the game. It is a very noteworthy enemy line because all three of its variants act multiple times per turn and yield enormously high amounts of experience points.

Phoenix
A Phoenix is a level 33 variant with yellow plumage. In The Lost Age these enemies are battled in Magma Rock and the Northern Reaches, the latter of which can be accessed much earlier than the former.

With the highest Agility rating of the monsters in the Northern Reaches and Magma Rock, two actions per turn, an array of widely damaging area-of-effect Mars Psynergy, and a tendency to revive another monster on its side of the field to full health, the Phoenix is easily the most formidable random monster at Magma Rock. It is even more dangerous if it is fought in the Northern Reaches area as soon as you arrive in the Great Western Sea. There, the Phoenix could be a real threat to your four-member party, but its very high EXP rating means that some players might want to fight it to level up.

A Phoenix's statistics are as follows:

A Phoenix uses these battle commands:

Fire Bird
A Fire Bird is a level 35 variant with violet plumage. Fire Birds are battled in the later portions of Mars Lighthouse.

The Fire Bird is more or less an incremental improvement over the Phoenix, including in EXP, which it yields at least 2000 more of than the Phoenix. As a random monster in Mars Lighthouse, it can easily be considered the most damage-dealing of the monsters even though the Aka Manah has the most durability and the highest physical attack rating. The Fire Bird also has the highest Agility rating of the monsters in Mars Lighthouse. A player that does not bother with optional dungeons will likely view the Fire Bird as the most damaging, yet most rewarding monster to battle. However, it is not as dangerous or rewarding as the Wonder Bird.

A Fire Bird's statistics are as follows:

A Fire Bird uses these battle commands:

Wonder Bird
A Wonder Bird is a level 38 variant with turquoise plumage. Wonder Birds are battled in Islet Cave, in the linear area accessible only by using the Teleport Psynergy found near the end of the game at Mars Lighthouse.

With three separate attacks per turn, this enemy is a much stronger version of the already powerful Fire Bird and can constitute a legitimate danger to the party, depending on what level the party is. But as its EXP yield should indicate, it is also the most desirable random monster in the game to seek out and slay. Players may consider repeatedly seeking out and felling Wonder Birds with the attacks of offensive Mercury Djinn, so that the experience yield will be even higher, and that there is a better chance to obtain extra pieces of Dark Matter. If two Wonder Birds attack your party at the same time, felling one Wonder Bird may cause the other to use Regen Dance and revive it, and you can kill it again for more experience. Felling a Wonder Bird three times can yield upwards of 25000 experience. Of course, that Wonder Birds sometimes run and deny you your experience can be frustrating. If a link transfer or gold password data transfer is used to transfer items from Golden Sun to Golden Sun: Lost Age, it is highly recommended to transfer over the Lure Cap from Golden Sun to decrease the amount of time spent running around for random encounters.

A Wonder Bird's statistics are as follows:

A Wonder Bird uses these battle commands:

Cultural References

 * The phoenix in Egyptian and Greek mythology was a sacred bird. It was said to live for 500 or 1461 years, depending on the author. At the end of its life, it builds a nest made from sticks of cinnamon, frankincense and other spices on the highest palm tree in the city of Heliopolis and then ignites it. The bird and the nest are soon reduced to ashes and a new-born phoenix arises from the ashes.
 * There are several types of fire birds in mythology, but the most noted ones are the Garuda (India), Bennu (Egypt), Phoenix (Greece and Egypt), Zhar-Ptitsa (Russia), and the Huma (Persia). It can also be considered an allusion to the Firebird Suite, a musical composition by the composer Igor Stravinsky.