Golden Sun: Dark Dawn/Condensed Walkthrough

The following is a miniature, spoiler-free walkthrough for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn that is for players who don't want to be led by the hand throughout the entire game, but want to make sure that they're not missing anything important or valuable from the previous dungeon before moving on to the next town or dungeon.

Also see the quick, spoiler-free walkthroughs for Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

Western Angara

 * When starting the game, a very lengthy procession of cutscenes rather strictly guides you along; all terms that are highlighted in red within the dialogue are terms that automatically add themselves to your Encyclopedia menu function, and while the dialogue remains on screen, you can either tap the term with the stylus or press the shoulder buttons to see its Encyclopedia page on the top screen. The first time you take control, as a party comprised entirely of a level 1 Matthew, the "Onward!" message displays on screen, as it will every time you come out of a cutscene. Simply walk up to the roof of the Lookout Cabin to resume the cutscene. Later, after Karis demonstrates the equipment scheme by equipping a Leather Cap on you in the cabin basement, open the chest nearby to get a Short Sword, and open the chest in the small attic to get Padded Gloves; you will need both of these equipped in order for Karis to let you out and join your party. Furthermore, in the cabin's main room, investigate at the area where green books lie on top of a bookcase to gain Sun Saga 1, the first of a series of collectible items that, when used, recap the story of the two GBA games in movie form. These items are Artifacts, so they can be safely sold off.


 * You will be rigidly guided along through the Goma Plateau, the mountain trail between Lookout Cabin and the overworld that branches off into a cave trail, which is where you are going through. Your first battles and first usages of Psynergy as utility effects occur inside here. After emerging out through the other side, the next screen is the first screen of the Tanglewood sub-dungeon. More lengthy cutscenes grant you several temporary Djinn, as well as add Isaac and Garet as computer-controlled "guest" characters to your party in battles, and also demonstrate that progressing through the area requires using the Fireball Psynergy on large flowers to burn up the roots they are connected to. Utility Psynergy, both old like Growth and new like Fireball, have a wider range in Dark Dawn than previous games, but it is important that you and your target to be at the same elevation for it to work. You are eventually guided through the Abandoned Mine, at the end of which is the boss encounter with the Tangle Bloom, which shouldn't be losable because of how powerful Isaac and Garet are. Following the boss battle and resultant cutscene, follow the remaining path back outside.


 * You will eventually be returned to the Lookout Cabin, and will be instructed and made to leave for the world map and head for Patcher's Place to the southwest, with Tyrell now part of your party. You will automatically acquire your first actual Djinni, the Venus Djinni Flint, along the way. Enter the main building, and after another long cutscene, you will be able to buy from the game's first vendors and innkeeper, as well as go around the counter to grab a Power Bread from a chest. The town's lowest-left residence has Sun Saga 2 in its upper-left cupboard. To get the first Mars Djinni, Forge, climb up to the screen above the main town, arrange the three earth pillars so that they can be hopped across from the center tree to the east end of the screen, cast Growth at the screen's bottom right, and climb down it.


 * Beyond the area above the town portion of Patcher's Place is the Psynergy Training Grounds, a series of four large, puzzle-filled screens that have to be completed in a row and on their own ten-minute timers. This is mandatory. In this area, the Adepts' PP meters will refill much faster while running around, which will be useful because throughout each area you will have to cast Fireball to burn billboards representing past games' characters and bosses. Once the two billboards at the top of the fourth area are burned, the boss battle with the Dim Dragon ensues, after which you can open one of two chests for the Gate Card and automatically leave the grounds. It will be the Gate Card whichever chest you choose, but if you go through the Psynergy Training Grounds again to open the other chest, after fighting a stronger version of the boss named the Dim Dragon Plus you will get a Water of Life from the other chest.


 * Leave the south exit of Patcher's Place, and proceed southeast to two wooded locations. The one to the right, Carver's Lumberyard, is a dead-end, so proceed through the location to the top, Goma Highlands Road, where a Jupiter Djinni will run away. The pink flowers can temporarily be set up as elevated hoppable platforms by casting Whirlwind through them, and after using them to get to the gondola at the lower right of the first screen, sit in it and cast Fireball to get to a Mint. In the second screen, rolling the leftmost log a fair distance right puts you on your way to getting your first weapon artifact, the powerful Themis' Axe. The Jupiter Djinni you see in this screen cannot be gotten right away, so proceed right into town.


 * A cutscene that starts as soon as you enter Carver's Camp allows you to Whirlwind a pink flower from across a broken bridge to save a boy. Once you're allowed to explore as normal, climb down the ladder below the bridge and use Growth to find your first Mercury Djinni, Chill. Roll the vertical log left of the shop so that you can drop down the chimney into the locked house on the lower left, and find a Lucky Pepper in its barrels. Walk counterclockwise behind the upper left house, then use Move to remotely move the earth pillar at the left entrance of town two spaces right so you can return to the previous screen in Goma Highlands Road on an elevated trail; there, shoot a fireball into a distant Gondola into the lower left so that you can ride it, and travel clockwise across the screen to fight and earn your first Jupiter Djinni, Gust.


 * Leave the south exit of Carver's Camp. Stop in the wooded overworld location shortly southwest of it to get into the right half of the Carver's Lumberyard; in this screen, you can solve a puzzle to get your first Summon Tablet, Zagan. The gondola here takes you to the earlier left half, where you can get to a field of flowers that can be whirlwinded to uncover a Hard Nut. Take the gondola back and proceed down the overworld; along the dirt road down, you should engage in a random battle with your second Mars Djinni, Fever. Follow the path to the Konpa Gate, and interact with the hanging gold bell so that you can make use of your Gate Card and open the gate up so you can progress. Past the gate, you can get to the Venus Djinni in the flower field, and when it hides under a flower, Whirlwind it to get your second Venus Djinni, Flower. Proceed past Konpa Gate until you get to Konpa Ruins.


 * In the Konpa Ruins dungeon, you see the first of a type of flashing, black Glyph tablet that will be present throughout the ruins. These tablets are present throughout most dungeons in Dark Dawn, and when read, they either give vital hints on how to solve puzzles or sometimes cause important effects to occur in the dungeons themselves. The ability to read their text will be unlocked once you obtain the dungeon's "main" treasure, the Glyph Book. One puzzle room involving glowing light-blue tiles that elevate when Whirlwinded includes a chest containing the extremely useful Elven Shirt. When you get to the roof, you can get the Grip Crystal, which bestows the important Grip Psynergy that either lets you grab remote objects and bring them to you, or propel yourself toward remote spires. Use Grip to trounce the Jupiter Djinni on the top of the roof to fight and earn your second Jupiter Djinni, Jolt. Climb down ivy from the roof to the outdoor entrance to find a chest with a Psy Crystal. Late in the dungeon, in the cave-like basement, a Grip-based puzzle leads to a chest containing the powerful Elven Rapier.


 * When you reach the dungeon's end in its cave-like basement level, a procession of cutscenes will include perhaps the single most dangerous boss battle in the game in terms of being strong in relation to your party's current levels, the three Stealthy Scouts. Following the cutscenes after the bosses, when you follow the path down to the cave's southern exit, you will cross the game's first point-of-no-return - all important things that you may have missed up until this point will no longer be acquirable for the rest of the game. You will eventually gain Rief as a permanent party member, and he comes with the second Mercury Djinni, Sleet. Before leaving for the overworld map, get to the chest containing a Cookie.

The Ei-Jei Region

 * From Konpa Cave's exit, walk south and west in a "J" shape to get to the minor location Konpa Shrine, where casting Rief's Douse Psynergy on fire lets you get to your second Summon tablet, Megaera. Proceed east to the settlement of Harapa, where you can shop and safely sell off your Gate Card. The item shop here sells Khiren Water as a very cheap common item - buying a lot of this now will solve whatever out-of-PP issues you may have down the road. Get an Apple from a barrel on the roof of the building immediately southwest of the sanctum. The ruins north of town cannot be entered at this time, but by entering the town sanctum, you can climb onto the right wall of that screen and earn your third Mars Djinni, Cinder. Leave Harapa's southeast exit.


 * Beyond Harapa, much of the area around the continent's south coast can be explored, and you have access to three new settlements: Passaj, northeast of Harapa and at the base of the continent's central mountains; Ayuthay to the south; and Kaocho east of Passaj. West of Kaocho is an area of forest where you should be able to fight and earn your third Jupiter Djinni, Ether. Your logical first destination is Passaj, but unlike the other two you have to go through the dungeon-like Passaj Mountain Climb to get to it. This area is the first appearance of zol, green cube-like objects that float across chasms when pushed and are temporarily elevated to serve as hoppable platforms when Whirlwinded. Gain the Blow Mace from a chest along the way, and fight and win your third Venus Djinni, Bark. The optional area titled "Passage Mountain Climb 4F" cannot be solved until much later, and you cannot get the Mars Djinni you see as you enter the town.


 * When you enter Passaj, a cutscene eventually leaves you at the Passaj Cloud Platform at its north end. While exploring, enter the inn, follow the hall leading behind it into a room at the top left, and check the barrel next to two bookcases for a Power Bread. Enter the sanctum, and enter the door behind it to get to a room where a giant zol block can be moved, so you can get to to a chest containing a Quality Zol. The forgeable-material system of The Lost Age returns in Dark Dawn, and this is the only new type of forgeable material introduced in the game. However, the ability to forge items out of materials is only unlocked late in the game, so unless you use the game's vendors as "storage" by selling the Quality Zol and buying it back later as an item Artifact, be prepared to carry this for essentially the entire game. To progress, enter the main building, and during the cutscenes move around the giant zol blocks to reconnect the conduits and cast fireball to start the machine. After the long cutscene, go to the mayor's place at the top end of town, check the right bookcase for Sun Saga 3, start another cutscene by going into the room to the left, and talk to Baghi to get the Tree Flute. Leave Passaj; you can now travel between Passaj and the overworld quickly by using a newly opened shortcut connected to the town's large stairwell to the lower right, which is a zol elevator that takes you down to and up from the first screen of the Passaj mountain climb.


 * If you go to Ayuthay, you will be turned back, so you will need to go to Kaocho. In this town, get the Sanan Dress from the chest near the entrance, and find a Mint in an oven in the lower left of the residences at the upper left part of town. In the house above that, accept a grandmother's favor to take the Grandmother's Gift and deliver it to another town late in the game; this will be something you will be carrying for a while. At the front gate to the palace north of town, use Grip on the left flagpole from either the stairs themselves or the area around the right flagpole, so that you can get to the Venus Djinni in the town area, your fourth Venus Djinni, Steel. To progress, enter the palace above town, and in the next cutscene you will obtain Wo's Letter and eventually be deposited in a limited part of the Ouroboros dungeon. Leave the dungeon and Kaocho itself, and go to Ayuthay.


 * In Ayuthay, use Wo's Letter to gain admittance, and use Whirlwind while standing on the various rafts in the area to propel yourself away from the direction you whirlwinded toward in order to get to the other side. The small island to the left of the lake's center has a tall, climbable palm tree that will automatically give you an Apple when you get to its top, and the chest at the left end of the lake contains a Cookie. In the palace, explore until you get to an inner courtyard with a tree that has a face, and use the Tree Flute to trigger more cutscenes that brings you into the actual town area of Ayuthay. These lead to a long cutscene at the throne chamber, only after which you may explore the underground town area and shop. Go into the building above the fountain, then after a cutscene go into the upper right door beyond that, and use the Tree Flute at the rock to trigger the boss battle with the Sand Prince. At the end of the battle, you earn the Sand Prince Stone, which you equip on Tyrell to grant him the Arid Heat Psynergy series, a full Mars-aligned series whose first stage is a Utility effect that can remove small puddles of water.


 * Use the Arid Heat Psynergy on the small water-filled bowl in the previous room to trigger another large cutscene and lower Ayuthay's water level. This opens several areas in and around Ayuthay's palace; for example, go into the door to the immediate lower left of the door to the inn to open the chest next to the innkeeper for Power Bread, and go into the crate-filled room at the upper left of Ayuthay for a Vial. From the main town area, go down the lower-left stairwell and move a pillar into its appropriate slot in the ground so that you can get an elevated chest next time the water level is raised. And when you step out into the lake, the rafts allow you to get the chests that were submerged, including one that contains the Glittering Tiara for Karis, as well as get to a Jupiter Djinni on a lily pad outside the palace, the fourth Jupiter Djinni, Breath. Most importantly, you can reach your next dungeon in the center of the depleted lake, Barai Temple.


 * The Arid Heat Psynergy is the main Psynergy to use throughout Barai Temple; using it on bowls filled with water will lower the water level, and filling those bowls back up with Douse will raise the water level back up. Along the way, you can get the Storm Brand and the Kimono, and if you don't fight and get the third Mercury Djinni, Surge, by shooting fireball at it before the dungeon's end, you will be shown how to do so in an extra cutscene later. At the end of the dungeon, once the elephant statue is made to spout water so that it empties into the center of a pool, simply step onto where the water ride starts to ride the flowing water into the last room, where you can watch a cutscene. If you have the Mercury Djinni Surge, you don't even need to cast Whirlwind to return one room above; just cast Retreat to leave the temple.


 * Return to Ayuthay's palace for more cutscenes, during which Ayuthay's water level is raised back up. From the main town area, go through the leftmost doorway to the room where you had earlier moved a pillar into its appropriate slot, so that you can get the chest containing the Dragon Shield. As you leave Ayuthay palace, you permanently gain Amiti as a party member, who comes with his own three Djinn, the fourth, fifth, and sixth Mercury Djinn: Mist, Mellow, and Claw. He comes with the Insight Psynergy, which shows you what objects on-screen can interact with what Psynergy. As soon as you attempt to leave the palace, you will be forced into a boss battle with Ku-Tsung and Ku-Embra. Win it, and you are allowed to leave Ayuthay with ease.


 * Return to Kaocho, enter the now-open dumpling shop, get a Lucky Pepper from its open jar at the upper left, and puchase a Kaocho Dumpling. Talk to the lone man at the lower left of town and give him the Kaocho Dumpling so that he can move and you can get the fourth Mars Djinni, Lava. Now go up the exit to the town area's upper right, enter the cave you previously exited out of when you were previously in the Ouroboros, and use Arid Heat on the water bowl so that you can reach a wall that will reveal itself to be a door when you use the Tree Flute. You now play through the real Ouroboros labyrinth, along the way collecting the Ixion Mail, the Vulcan Axe, and the fifth Jupiter Djinni, Vortex. At the end of the dungeon, obtain the important item Sol Mask. Retreat and leave the Ouroboros and Kaocho.


 * Return to Passaj by using the zol elevator shortcut, and use the Sol Mask on the machine to trigger a long cutscene in which Passaj' perimeter is transformed. Step onto the Passaj Cloud Platform to trigger another important cutscene. Go to the out-of-business weapon and armor shop and complete a conduit puzzle to open the shop up and obtain one of the items you would normally randomly get from having Quality Zol forged late in the game, a Zol Ring, which has the unbelievably large benefit of multiplying the equipped Adept's Agility by 1.8. Now climb onto the new wall of Passaj and use it to get to the Mars Djinni in the screen below Passaj. It is the fifth Mars Djinni, Brand. And the chests in the vault at the northeast of town may now be opened, giving you a Hard Nut and the Prophet's Hat. Once again, use the zol elevator shortcut to leave Passaj.


 * Return to Harapa, and enter the now-open ruins north of town. Harapa Ruins is a short ice-based dungeon which contains a Lucky Pepper, the Bone Armlet, the Viking Helm, and the seventh Mercury Djinni to fight and earn, Serac. When you encounter disembodied dialogue at the goal of the dungeon, first answer No, then answer Yes, to trigger the boss fight with the Ice Queen. Defeat her, and in a long cutscene, gain the Ice Queen Stone, which bestows the full Cold Snap Psynergy series to whichever Mercury Adept it is equipped on. Cold Snap is usable as a utility Psynergy effect to freeze small puddles of water into ice pillars just like the old games' Frost, and it is usable to both leave the dungeon and get the Mystery Blade along the way.


 * Back at Harapa, you cannot leave until you spend one night at the inn. The next morning, Cold Snap a puddle at the west end of town, then exit just out the southeast gate without actually going into the overworld, Growth a plant to the lower left, and follow the path until you get to the previously inaccessible west building and claim the fifth Venus Djinni, Brick. Leave Harapa.


 * Once more, return to Passaj using the zol elevator shortcut. From Passaj, go back down the Passaj Mountain Climb two screens and get to Passaj Mountain Climb 4f; with both Passaj transformed and the Cold Snap (and Fireball) Psynergy, you can solve the puzzle here for your third Summon tablet, Flora. Go to the town's machine, use Cold Snap on the two puddles, and after a short cutscene, you are allowed to go to the Passaj Cloud Platform. When you select yes when prompted whether to go forward, the next point-of-no-return takes place, in which you will leave Passaj and the Ei-Jei region in general.


 * You will first end up in the Clouds of Passaj, a series of maze-like screens where greenish clouds can be propelled forward with Whirlwind just like the rafts in Ayuthay. The only difference this time is that dark, electric sphere-like objects are harmful to collide into and will make you start over. Then, you will reach the large dungeon Craggy Peak Ruins, which you ultimately enter by using the Grip Psynergy to rotate an orange-and-purple display on the ground - Grip being used for rotating happens many times in this dungeon. At the core of this dungeon is a large, circular chamber with twelve separate small dungeon paths styled after each of the twelve signs of the zodiac, and as you complete the few that are initially open, more open up. Over the course of the dungeon, you get Spiked Armor, Grievous Mace, Lure Cap, and the sixth Jupiter Djinni, Doldrum. To solve the Aries (ram) room, cast Fireball on the middle spot, then on the spot right of that, then on the spot right of that (the rightmost spot), then one more on the middle spot. The Scorpio (scorpion) room takes a lot of moving around, and the Vambrace can be retrieved from the soldier statue in this room. The solution to the Capricorn (goat) room is given to you if you use Insight. After solving the last room of Sagittarius (centaur archer), return outside and use Grip on the arrow that has appeared through the pendulum, opening the path back to the overworld, in the enclosed glacial area of the continent's mountains.

The Morgal Region

 * From your starting point in the snow-covered central area of the continent, go southwest and into an optional cave which contains the fourth summon tablet, Moloch. Return and follow the path north to Te Rya. After a cutscene, you may explore, shop, and trigger more cutscenes. While in town, purchase the Trusty Staff from the artifact menu of the item shopkeeper, find an apple in a jar in the house just below the north exit, find the Nurse's Cap in the left cupboard in the upper right house, and light a torch to get a sheep to move so that you can get your sixth Mars Djinni, Fury. Leave the north to travel to the next dungeon.


 * In the first screen of Teppe Ruins, give the man at the oven in the cabin the Trusty Staff, then cast Fireball on the Mercury Djinni so that he can fish it up and you can gain your eighth Mercury Djinni, Dewdrop. Explore Teppe Ruins, getting the Sword of Dusk along the way, until you trigger a long cutscene in which you gain the Elegant Bag. Afterward, use the ivy to the upper left to make a shortcut to the dungeon's first screen, then leave and return to Te Rya, and give the Elegant Bag. After another cutscene, return to Teppe Ruins and take the same shortcut back, and after another cutscene you will temporarily gain Sveta as a playable character. Easily the most different character yet, Sveta comes with five of her own Jupiter Djinn and a unique Psynergy ability to assume a Djinn-powered Beastform. Her Spirit Sense Psynergy is the game's version of the old games' Mind Read, her Slap Psynergy is needed to clear obstacles like the giant statue heads with big red noses, and her Track Psynergy is needed to find the right way through the dungeon. You can get the Warrior's Helm, Mythril Circlet, and the sixth Venus Djinni, Vine, along the way, and while you are using Track to cross through an exterior grass-filled area, using Track at a circle of plants can get you an often-missed Mint. As soon as you step out the other side, though, Sveta will leave your party for a good portion of the game - she will take her five Jupiter Djinn and any items in her inventory with her, so be careful. Exit out into the upper half of the continent.


 * In the upper half of the continent, the Morgal region, go a short distance northwest to enter the city of Belinsk. Go into the elevated house on the upper left and check the left box for a Power Bread (you can't get the Mercury Djinni here yet). In the residence just down the stairs, inspect a cupboard for the Muni Robe. Down the stairs in the sanctum is a library where you can get Sun Saga 4 from the upper right bookcase, the Assassin Blade in a chest that can be reached by moving a bookcase, and a hidden passage into a limited part of the Belinsk Ruins where you can get your ninth Mercury Djinni, Spout. The upper right exit of town is a port area where your tenth Mercury Djinni, Torrent. To progress, talk to the band in the center of town, then leave town and trigger a cutscene.


 * After leaving Belinsk, head west and north, hugging the coastline until you reach the top of the long stretch of bare green land, and fight until you encounter and get your seventh Venus Djinni, Gears. From there, go southwest and follow along between the mountains and the river until you get to the optional Border Town Cave, which contains a mine cart puzzle and the fifth Summon tablet, Ulysses. Southwest of that is Border Town, which contains a cutscene that gives you Kraden's Letter. After that, enter the stone gate structure to the left and use Grip from its balcony to get onto the small wooden building in the center and enter it from the roof to find the seventh Jupiter Djinni, Sirocco. Incidentally, the region of the continent west of this town does not feature in the game.


 * Next, head all the way east across the continent and walk across the bridge west onto a small, circular island immediately east of where you left Teppe Ruins, and fight until you earn your eighth Venus Djinni, Furrow. Now head to the rightmost edge of the continent and enter Port Rago. The oven in the inn contains a Lucky Pepper. To progress, push the crate from a roof into the water and use it to get to the entrance to Port Rago Canal at the lower right of the town area. From here, you can get a Hard Nut in a chest, and more importantly, Port Rago Docks - use Grip to get to the next important cutscene, in which you gain the Hermes' Water. In this large screen, you can get to a chest with Planet Armor, lower the water level with Arid Heat on a bowl of water, and get your eleventh Mercury Djinni, Coral. Kraden's Letter can safely be sold off at this point.


 * Travel up north to the northeastern part of the continent, and enter Saha Town. A well-hidden Cookie is in a chest behind a movable crate inside the upper right of the four houses in the main town area. On either side is a well you can jump into; jump into the right well and use the Saha Cistern to enter the town one screen beyond Saha, Kolima Village. Enter the lower right tree house's back door to reach a chest containing an Apple, then climb up the same building's stairs, and get Sun Saga 5 from the bookcase the woman is facing. Go out the exit south of her to enter the elevated branch maze above town - you are able to collect the Safety Boots and the Venus Djinni Garland, despite the complexity of the maze. Go back and talk to the aforementioned woman to proceed with the game. Soon, you will be in the Phantasmal Bog.


 * In the Phantasmal Bog, nevermind the dark lizard monster until the end. Much of your progress in this dungeon is dictated by a giant, colorful leaf with a puddle on it; first, you are to use Arid Heat on it to empty the water level, and later you are to fill it back up with water using Douse to raise the water level. Then cast Cold Snap to freeze the water, and cast Fireball to thaw the water as necessary. Treasures you can get include Mint, Faery Vest, the Giant Axe, and the seventh Mars Djinni, Glare. At the end, you fight the boss battle against Sludge and its Skull minions, which come in Shield, Haunt, and Curse variations. You will automatically return to Kolima.


 * Back in Kolima, get the Crush Tusk and equip it on Tyrell to give him the Crush Psynergy, then use the Hermes' Water on the purple tree nearby. After a cutscene, climb through the now-restored tree and get the Ninja Garb from its top floor's cupboard, and take the restored tree's exit into the branch maze above town to claim the one remaining chest, the Virtuous Armlet. Now that you have the Crush Psynergy, go down the open gate into Saha and jump down its upper left well, then its upper right well, to get your eighth Jupiter Djinni, Wisp. Purchase a Dream Leaf from the lower right item shop; while this can allow you to return to Phantasmal Bog if you use Kolima's inn, save it for a more important purpose later. Exit Kolima out of its north end.


 * Enter Kolima Forest. Beforehand, these woods would have prevented you from emerging into new screens no matter what exit you took, but now follow a Venus Djinni through (but get a Hard Nut from the crate to the lower left of the tree house at the right end of the first screen). As soon as you land on a particular bushy clump of leaves, you will engage in a lengthy cutscene, at the end of which you will automaticaly gain your tenth Venus Djinni, Pewter. Then, take the large screen's lower left exit, use Growth to save a man and receive the Yew Bow, and use Grip to get an Apple. Then take the large screen's north exit, trigger another cutscene at Kolima Junction, which will give you the Slap Glove that bestows the Slap Psynergy while Sveta is not in the party (note that this is a glove-class item, not a normal utility-Psynergy item, which will unequip the hand-armor the character was holding beforehand), then take the left junction. This junction connects back out into the overworld and serves as a shortcut between the overworld and Kolima Junction once opened up. Along the way, approach a waterfall at the top end to get your twelfth Mercury Djinni, Teardrop.


 * To make use of the Dream Leaf, head all the way back to Border Town and use the Inn. In the dreamlike realm you emerge in, the gate is open, and you can explore the left half of the location. This allows you to get to the Haures summon tablet. Now return to Kolima junction and take its right junction, and take the overworld path to the next dungeon, Talon Peak. Talon Peak contains a Cookie, the Aura Gloves, and the Sylph Rapier before its top screen. You must use Slap on the magenta-colored wattle of the giant bird twice, then grab the Roc Feather, to trigger cutscenes that will lead up to the boss battle with the Mountain Roc. It is significantly tougher than many other bosses from before, but when you defeat it enter its mouth and grab five Magma Shards. In the cutscene to follow, you will lose both the Slap Gloves and one Magma Shard (re-equip your other hand armor). Then, use Crush at the lower right area of the screen to reach your ninth Jupiter Djinni, Puff. Retreat, then go back down into Kolima, and talk with the Vande, the blue-furred musician.


 * At this point, you may return to Port Rago and go to the ship that is under repair. You can now explore its interior, pick up a Power Bread from the leftmost barrels, grab the Zodiac Wand from a chest in the ship's bottom floor, and engage in an optional cutscene in the captain's quarters. Return to Belinsk.


 * Having gone to Border Town and Port Rago, and having talked to Vande in Kolima, all six band members should be assembled at the center of town. When you are ready to begin the segment of the game that constitutes the game's next point-of-no-return, request the band to play "Arangoa Prelude", then enter the newly opened path underground. Take the left stairwell exit to open the chest at the left end of the town area, which contains the powerful Storm Gear, then proceed with the full Belinsk Ruins dungeon. All four of the Magma Shards in your inventory will be used up throughout the dungeon, and Sveta will permanently join your party early on. Her five Jupiter Djinn from earlier - Fleet, Waft, Bolt, Breeze, and Haze - will bring your total Jupiter Djinn count to 14. Major treasures throughout Belinsk Ruins include a Lucky Pepper, a Quality Zol, the Hagbone Mace, and the eleventh Venus Djinni, Chasm. At the end is a series of story-intensive cutscenes that includes a battle against two bosses. After that, climb up and exit out into the back screen of Belinsk.


 * Immediately reenter the tower and climb to its top to gain the Eclipse summon. Use the raft just southeast of the tower to get a Power Bread. Go into the residence to the left of the center town square and talk to the old people so that a puddle appears in a kitchen, which you can freeze to reach the Mercury Djinni in the structure above it, the thirteenth Mercury Djinni, Pincer. You can now explore the main castle at Belinsk; slap a bell so that you can get the Beast Knuckles on the castle roof. After cutscenes occur at a prison cell in the castle's right wing, search the pot at the lower left of the cell for an Apple. Then go to the left wing, cast Slap from a balcony to make a cage drop, and go down to trigger more cutscenes.


 * Reenter town, and head northwest into the opera house (don't be fooled by how NPCs appear to block off access to the west part of town). Fight what is essentially a "mini-boss battle" against the Dark Devourer, and soon you will gain the Crystallux summon. To progress, head to the pier to the northeast and fight a battle on a ship. The story takes over, during which you will gain the Blue Orb important item, you will gain the sailing ship and be able to explore the upper half of the Great Eastern Sea that the game will allow you to explore (while the entire Morgal region will no longer be explorable for the rest of the game), and Eoleo will permanently join as a party member. He brings along his own five Mars Djinn - Reflux, Wrath, Chili, Glow, and Stoke - that add your Mars Djinn total up to 12.

The Great Eastern Sea

 * You can now sail the ocean surrounding the main continent. While it is similar to sailing in The Lost Age, random enemy encounters are determined by whether you are outside the perimeter of the enormous circular shadow cast down on much of the explorable game world - monsters in the shadow are noticeably stronger than outside it, and also give more experience. Sailing is not necessarily a speedy process, so even though a preliminary exploration can be done, it may be better to go to the relatively large island you start out nearby and do things in an order.


 * In Harun Village, talk with the town head in the center residence, find a Hard Nut in the lone pot at the bottom of town, and enter the lower left cave behind the Crush-able boulder to find a puzzle with the fourteenth Mercury Djinni, Spring. Exit out the left and enter the cyan tower, Warrior's Hill, gain a Cookie, go into the Harun Channel, and move an earth pillar right. Retreat back into the overworld, enter the cave opening west of the tower, use Crush while standing on see-saws to access areas, get the Lucky Cap, get the Coatlicue summon tablet, talk with Kaba, and get the cursed Muramasa. Return to Harun Village and get the Watchtower Key from the town head, then return to Warrior's Hill and solve the rest of the dungeon, first by returning to Harun Channel, making and standing on two ice pillars, and using Crush to make water flow. Get the Dragon Mail, the twelfth Venus Djinni Chain, and the Aegis Shield, and at the end of the dungeon, use the key to get the Third Eye. Leave the island.
 * Rare item drop: If you fell a Sky Dragon with the attack effect of an offensive Jupiter Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Quality Zol, making it the only infinite source of this forgeable material in the game.


 * Go southeast to the islands east of the continent, which players of the previous game would recognize as the island where Izumo was found - now called Nihan. Walk clockwise around the mountain and fight below the mountain until you get your thirteenth Mars Djinni, Sizzle. Enter the town of Yamata, get a Power Bread from the chest in the upper right storage house, move the earth pillar one space right at the upper left part of the town, and Crush the crack underneath the pillar to get to the fifteenth Jupiter Djinni, Kite. Enter the palace, trigger cutscenes, and if you have the Third Eye, when you approach Himi another cutscene will trigger in which she will permanently join as a party member. Unique in being the only "mage"-style Venus Adept, Himi comes with six of her own Djinn: four Venus Djinn, which are Buckle, Clover, Magnet, and Geode; one Mars Djinni, Pepper; and one Jupiter Djinni, Swift. This ought to raise your Venus Djinni total to 16, your Mars Djinni total to 14, and your Jupiter Djinni total to 16. Enter the tomb beneath the palace, and after a cutscene, Move the big rock aside, cast Himi's Search Psynergy to make the swirling sparkles reform into a teleporter, and briefly explore some of the Yamata Ruins, getting the Masamune.


 * Sail directly west toward the continent and enter the seaside town of Tonfon, the capital of the continent's enclosed Sana region. Get a Mint from the chest in the storehouse of the armory. To get to the Mars Djinni on the roof, stand on the lone crate at the lower left of town and cast Slap on a sleeping man so that he will move his boat. It is the fifteenth Mars Djinni, Tinder. Spirit Sense the girl in magenta robes on the central bridge, then give her the Grandmother's Gift, then attempt to leave town to get a Psy Crystal and the Grandchild's Gift. Go into the palace, go into the right room with all the storage, and inspect its right oven for a Hard Nut. Go up the palace's stairs to trigger an important cutscene, after which you can open chests containing Lord Sun's Ring and, more importantly, Umbra Gauntlet - one of five related pieces of lategame equipment exclusive to Sveta called Umbra Gear that the plot requires for the party to collect and for her to wear at the game's end. From the left two-story tower of the palace, it is possible to get to the chest at the upper right of the palace, containing the Dragon Bow. The last important thing to do here is to ring the gong right of the tower so that when you go in the tower, you can get to a chest of drawers on the second floor and gain the Echo Gem. Return out to sea.


 * The Echo Gem points you toward where you want to go next like a compass, which is the ice-ridden area of sea above the continent. Along the way, if you sail toward there by hugging the right coast of Angara, you should pass a small, vaguely purplish shallow that will give you an Old Mace (which will become the Thanatos Mace when reforged) if you inspect it with the A button in enough places. Get to the Iceberg Outpost next to the sunken red ship by navigating an oceanic maze from the left. (The large tower on the continent below is not a dungeon in the game; it represents the first Golden Sun 's Mercury Lighthouse dungeon and is visible purely for the sake of aesthetic continuity.) Iceberg Outpost includes a Mythril Silver forgeable item, the fifteenth Mercury Djinni, Rime, a chest containing the Minerva Helm, a Lucky Pepper in a crate immediately northwest of the cabin, and an important cutscene.


 * When you next return to the overworld, the world map updates with areas circled in red. These are the areas you want to go to in order to find the remaining four pieces of the Umbra Gear. Immediately sail toward the spot to the left of your position, and use Search to open up the cave entrance you find, and explore Snowdrift Shrine. Its various secrets are dependant on sliding down a large snow wall, where you have a little control over which direction you're sliding in. A battle with a Mimic earns a Hard Nut, you can battle and earn your sixteenth Mercury Djinni, Geyser, you can get Phaeton's Blade, and most importantly, the Umbra Goggles. Cast Retreat and leave, and you'll see that the red circle on your position at the world map has been replaced with a red X.
 * Rare item drops: If you fell a Skinwalker with the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Mythril Silver, making it the only infinite source of this forgeable material in the game. And if you fell a Grisly with the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Chronos Mail.


 * Sail back down to Tonfon, and trigger important cutscenes in the palace, then in the left tower, then back in the palace to get the Lady Moon's Ring and, more importantly, Red Orb. The Echo Gem can now be sold. Go southwest of Tonfon and fight in a forested area under some mountains in the darkness until you fight and earn your seventeenth Mercury Djinni, Foam. Now go toward the circled area, and use Search to make the bridge into Lonely Island Cave. Treasures within include the Asura's Armor, and the main puzzle is a rotating face that you must start up by slapping. Then solve each of its subsequent three stages and use Slap to proceed to the next stage, and you will get the Umbra Cowl.


 * Now sail east to the lone, tiny island in the center of the explorable sea, and wait until you can sail into a tornado that picks you up and drops you inside the ring of rocks surrounding it. This is the first screen of Otka Island, an optional dungeon whose later portion is generally done in the postgame. You cannot open the lock right now, but you can get a Quality Zol and the seventeenth Jupiter Djinni, Lull. To leave, board the ship and remain in the same spot until the tornado picks you back up and drops you off outside the ring.


 * Sail to the island at the border of the world east of Nihan that a red circle encloses, and use Search to enter the cave location Gaia Falls Islet, It contains the Umbra Cloak, and using Grip gets you to a Mimic battle that gives you an Apple and the eighteenth and final Mercury Djinni, Shell. Leave the island and sail southwest along the edge of the world, and near the chain of small islands is a shallow spot that should give you a Rusty Sword (which will become the Rune Blade when reforged) if you press A in enough places. Sail west of these islands until you find another spot, where doing the same thing gets you another Rusty Sword (which will become the Kikuichimonji when reforged). West of that is a small island with a single tree at the tip of the stretch of land that stretches out from the bottom of the continent; press A at this tree to find a Mint. Sail west again until you get to the small cluster of sandy islands; dock at the center island and fight until you encounter the eighteenth and final Jupiter Djinni, Simoom.


 * You can visit Harapa, Passaj, Ayuthay, and Kaocho at this point. Enter Harapa from its west entrance, enter its upper left building again, and use Crush on the rock here to get a Mythril Silver. Return to Passaj, trigger some optional cutscenes, go to the upper left room in the interior complex, grab the Old Rag off the table, give it to the woman on the bed at the inn, go back to the upper left room, talk to the upper-left male NPC, have him accompany you, head toward the zol elevator, and before the zol elevator room, inspect the zol cube imbedded diagonally into the cave wall to get your seventeenth Venus Djinni, Ivy. Return to Ayuthay, trigger a cutscene in the inn, and push aside the throne in the throne room to access a secret chamber with Spirit Gloves, a Lucky Pepper, and the Heirloom Ring. And return to Kaocho, go into the upper-left-most residence in the main town area, Spirit Sense the body in red clothing, and use the Grandchild's Gift to get the Ninja Sandals.
 * Rare item drop: If you fell a Cerberus at Passaj Mountain Climb with the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Berserker Claw.


 * Sail to the south island enclosed by a red circle, and use Search to enter a short area called Burning Island Cave. Use Grip and Eoleo's unique Thermal Psynergy to loot the place's following treasures: the Jester's Armlet, the sixteenth Mars Djinni, Flare, and the last piece of the Umbra Gear, the Umbra Knuckles. Equip all five pieces of Umbra Gear on Sveta if you haven't remembered to.
 * Rare item drops: If you fell a Brutal Troll with the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop Titan Gloves. And if you fell a Pyrodra with the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Fire Brand.


 * Sail to the southeast corner of the continent and go to Champa Camp. Shop here for the extremely powerful Mysterious Robe, and get a Cookie from the right jar in the inn. Stand behind the weapon shop to Slap a Mars Djinni off a tree so that you can get to it and add to your collection the seventeenth Mars Djinni, Fugue. West of that is Champa; climb up its main interior path up its mountain, getting the Cave-door Key along the way. After triggering a cutscene at the top of this area, you gain access to this game's blacksmith service, which works exactly like the blacksmith service in The Lost Age - bring the blacksmith either a forgeable item or one of your rusty items, leave the location by creating and climbing down ivy, return by climbing up the ivy, and get a powerful late-game item determined entirely at random. The only difference in this case is that it is entirely free of monetary cost. Find a Mint in the pot in the uppermost bedroom. Enter the cave entrance underneath the bridge and use the Cave-door Key to find an Orihalcon, one of the best pieces of forgeable material.


 * Sail back to Yamata City and reenter the Yamata Ruins. The Red Orb in your party causes the sand level of the dungeon to lower, and therefore allow more of the dungeon to be explored, when you inspect a red-orange glyph tablet. Solve puzzles that involve moving conduit blocks into empty slots in the walls so that you can teleport between specific points, and you can get the cursed Thunder Crown, the eighteenth and final Venus Djinni, Hemlock, a Cookie, and the dungeon's most important reward, the Yellow Orb. Having all three colored orbs and all five pieces of Umbra Gear are what is needed to begin the last legs of the game. Before leaving, go out the room's south exit past the teleporter and search for the Gaia Blade.
 * Rare item drop: If you fell a Wise Gryphon with the attack effect of an offensive Jupiter Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Feathered Robe, an amazingly powerful piece with large boosts to agility and Jupiter power. Also, by now you should have 18 of all four elements of Djinn except Mars.

Late-game and post-game

 * Depart west from Tonfon and head northwest to the Endless Wall. The chest in the first screen contains a Lucky Pepper. When you pass a gate that requires you to have the three colored orbs, you emerge onto a stretch of wall in the overworld lining over half of the mountain range dividing the continent into northern and southern halves. Follow it to the cloud-covered peak to the first part of the game's final two-part dungeon, the Apollo Ascent. Along the way, you can get a Mythril Silver in one Crush-able rock, the Aeolian Cassock and especially powerful Valkyrie Mail in chests in other such rocks.
 * Rare item drops: If you fell a Fury Demon with the attack effect of an offensive Jupiter Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Gloria Helm. And if you fell a Fenrir with the attack effect of an offensive Mars Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop an Atropos Rod.


 * The second part of the two-part final dungeon is Apollo Sanctum, which is mostly comprised of an enormous gate you must solve four bordering screens to open. In each of the large screens you need to solve, the idea is to set up a path so that when you use Crush to lower a brownish pole at the end of a screen, an enormous ring will start rolling into the main gate area. Then you can roll the ring into its appropriate spot so that the next bordering screen is opened. In the first screen, a chest contains a Mint, while in the third screen, a chest contains a Hard Nut. The fourth screen contains the eighteenth and final Mars Djinni, Aurora, and with this, you should have all 72 Djinn in the game. Investigating the rightmost of the line of archer statues also gives you the Zephyr's Bow.


 * Beyond Apollo Sanctum is the game's final area, which includes a mechanic the game thoroughly explains in which if you stand out in the sunlight too long, it is equivalent to losing in a battle, starting back at the Wise One stone, and having lost half your money. Use the three Orbs to set up all the mechanics in the area, including obtaining the Sol Blade, which is used as a key in addition to being the strongest weapon. Eventually, story-intensive cutscenes take over, and the next time you gain control, go to the elevated center of the area to trigger a boss battle with a trio of bosses. Following that, you are allowed to prepare your party before engaging in the game's final boss battle. This boss is much more difficult in regards to your party's levels than most of the previous bosses in the game, but if you lose, you will start back at the Wise One Stone, but you will be able to skip both the cutscenes and the previous boss battle leading up to it. When you win, follow along with the cutscenes.


 * Once you've won the final battle, let the subsequent cutscenes take you back to Belinsk the same way the previous two games took you back to a major town after the final boss was defeated. Spend as much time as you like before exiting off the bottom of the town, which triggers all the rest of the cutscenes that lead to the credits, the epilogue, and the "The End" screen. Following this, you will be asked to save your game, but this is not a Clear Data file like in the previous two games; this is a postgame file in which once you open it up, you will start back in the sanctum of Tonfon with your party status and inventory at the end of the game preserved, and the world is almost entirely unchanged since before you went up to the Apollo Sanctum. It can safely be saved over the normal save file.


 * There are four optional, hard-to-reach areas in the game with four superbosses in them, and five remaining summon tablets to collect - much like in The Lost Age. The first one you should go to is in Burning Island Cave, so return there and use the Sol Blade to unlock a door you would have previously passed by. This secret contains the boss fight against the Ogre Titans, a series of five, differently colored, increasingly large, strong, and sturdy physical enemies that are fought two at a time. Your party should be tough from level-grinding in order to weather their assaults. The reward for winning the fight is the Daedalus summon.


 * Next, return to Otka Island, and use the Sol Blade on its door to access the rest of the dungeon. In stark contrast to the style of dungeon seen in the rest of the game, Otka Island is a maze of over fifty small, square-shaped identical-looking rooms that connect to each other. Consult a map to plot your way through the maze of rooms, and decide whether you want to get to the occasional rooms with treasures in them while exploring - treasures include a Mythril Silver, a Power Bread, and the Triton's Ward. At the end of the dungeon is the boss battle with the Ancient Devil, a potentially very dangerous boss with the unique ability to take one of your party members and put him or her on its side of the field to fight against you. Should you win, you will get the Catastrophe summon.
 * Rare item drops: If you fell a Grand Chimera with the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop an Anpsi Knuckles. And if you fell a Nightmare with the attack effect of an offensive Venus Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop an Orihalcon, making it the only infinite source of this forgeable material in the game.


 * An optional dungeon named the Lost Ship is hidden within the giant layer of fog at the north end of the ocean, but in order to enter it your ship must be on the exact right point. The best way to reach it is to locate a series of five rocks in the northeastern part of the ocean that look like the five fingers of a hand; sail the ship up against the middle finger, then sail directly to the left without pressing any other direction. Once inside the Lost Ship, you can get a Mythril Silver, a Hard Nut, and the Clotho's Distaff. The boss at the end here is the Star Magician returning from The Lost Age. While significantly less powerful with his attacks this time around, he has two new varieties of summonable "Ball" minions, Ghoul Balls and Death Balls. Defeating him allows you to get the Azul summon tablet. Note that it is possible to enter this dungeon before starting Apollo Sanctum.


 * Finally, saving a postgame file causes a whirlpool to appear in the bottom of the ocean in the "bulge" a short ways northeast of Burning Island Cave. Enter it, and you will be able to sail to the skull-shaped island at the far southeast of the world map, Crossbone Isle. Like the original game's Crossbone Isle, it is laid out so that several floors worth of puzzles must be traversed until the bottom floor is reached, but there are fewer floors to traverse. On the first floor, there is a Mythril Silver in its upper level and a Quality Zol in its lower level. On the second floor, there is an Apple in its upper level and the Demon Mail in its lower level. On the third floor, there is a Quality Zol in its upper level and an Orihalcon in its lower level. On the fourth floor, there is the Iris Robe in its upper level and a Dark Matter in its lower level. On the fifth and final floor, a battle with a Mimic gives a Cookie, its upper level has an Orihalcon and the Alastor's Hood, and at the end of the upper level is a room full of chests containing the Cleric's Ring, a Worn Bow that will be reforged into the Sagittarius Bow, the Bloody Claw, and a Dark Matter. The fifth floor's lower level has teleporters to separate chambers. The left chamber gives you the Charon summon sequence. The right chamber contains the game's optional "superboss", Dullahan, exactly the same as he appeared in The Lost Age. Dullahan has all the same moves and HP, but with less attack power and a new ability to use your own Standby Djinn to use your own summons against you (just like the previous game's Valukar). Just like in The Lost Age, the object is to annihilate Dullahan with a mass of summons before he annihilates you (recommended summons to use are Crystallux with the first party and Catastrophe with the second), and also just like in The Lost Age, the reward for beating him is the game's final summon tablet, Iris.
 * Rare item drops: If you fell a Thunder Lizard with the attack effect of an offensive Venus Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Vajra Mace (note that this is not an artifact, so if sold it cannot be bought back). If you fell a Red Wyvern with the attack effect of an offensive Jupiter Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Lachesis' Rule. If you fell a Great Dragon with the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Tisiphone Edge. And if you fell a Minos Knight with the attack effect of an offensive Jupiter Djinni, there is an increased chance it will drop a Dark Matter, making it the only infinite source of this forgeable material in the game.