Kibombo Mountains

The Kibombo Mountains (ミング山脈, Mingu Mountain Range) are located on the continent of Gondowan and are a unique dungeon found in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. They are unique because they are the only dungeon in The Lost Age that requires stealth, and the second dungeon in the series overall to include stealth, the other dungeon being Lunpa Fortress. They must be passed through in order to reach Piers and progress the story.

Story
Normally the passage is unguarded but with the multiple failures of Akafubu at appeasing the Great Gabomba at the settlement of Kibombo up north, he resorted to attacking Madra and stealing Piers' Black Orb. He has posted guards in the Kibombo Mountains out of fear of retaliation.

When Piers arrives through here in pursuit of his stolen orb, he is able to knock out a few guards at the entrance and sneak his way through the rest of the mountains, causing the Kibombo to be all the more paranoid and strengthen their security. It is this obstacle course that Felix and his party of Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden must stealthily navigate in their subsequent chase after Piers. They eventually succeed as well.

While Felix's party is in Kibombo, Isaac's party supposedly comes here too, also in search of Piers. But they are unable to bypass the Kibombo security like the previous groups and are ultimately turned back.

Walkthrough
When you enter Kibombo Mountains, progress up until the first pair of torches, where a cutscene with Kibombo guards stationed throughout the location indicates that this dungeon is to be played through with stealth in mind, unlike most other dungeons with the exception of the previous game's Lunpa Fortress. Whenever you are caught by any of the patrolling guards of Kibombo Mountains, you are instantly returned to the front entrance here and would have to start all over again.

First, push the crate to the right four spaces right and one space up, and use the Move Psynergy on the second crate to the right of that to shift it one space left. Climb up the ivy and hop across the two crates, and proceed on the linear path until you get to push an earth pillar one space left into a gap on the west side of the area. Proceed upward from there until there is a crate near ivy, a patrolling guard to the right, and a puddle of water to the upper left, and simply push the crate two spaces right; there is no wrong way to time this, because the guard will not suspect anything even if this crate is pushed in his direction at any point in his patrol. Climb up the ivy and proceed right until you get to a coiled rope, and use the Lash Psynergy on it. Before climbing across it, slide down the cliff slide, grab the chest at the upper part of the screen for the powerful Disk Axe weapon artifact, use Move to shift the visible crate down three times and left three times (again, the patrolling guard will not suspect anything), and climb up the ivy to the right of the patrolling guard. Now you can climb across the tied rope and proceed up to the other main screen of the area.

In the second screen, stay on your elevated portion of ground and go to where the movable crate is, and move it one space down and two spaces left. It can be dropped directly onto the patrolling guard on the level below so that he would be trapped inside the crate, but to time it properly the crate needs to be pushed down just as the guard is reaching his rightmost point in his patrol. Once the crate is on him, you can climb down and interact with the shaking crate if you want, but grab the chest containing a Power Bread. Proceed up the left path through the trees.

The next obstacle involves a patrolling dog going up and down, as well as a stationary guard at the upper left part of the area. This part is trickier and less obvious to players without a guide, because the elevated earth pillar visible on screen and the climbable and hoppable logs around you are designed to encourage you to climb up to it and push it right into the area where the dog patrols through, in hopes that the dog is boxed in the area below. But that is the "wrong" way to solve this scenario because that area is where a valuable treasure chest lies. Before doing anything else, simply run straight up into the cave entrance and find a Smoke Bomb in the right of the two wooden boxes inside, then step back outside.

Now position yourself to the left of the small stage upon which a chest with a Bone on top of it reposes; facing the stage, cast the Tremor Psynergy to drop the crate and the bone, and the dog will immediately go over to the bone's position and be no longer a threat (as a matter of fact, the dog can than be talked to and Mind Read). Grab the Tear Stone from the chest near the dog's former patrol zone, then go to the upper right and cast Whirlwind on the bush to expose and enter a cave entrance. This is the start of a lengthy but linear pathway all the way to the location's western exit, which involves climbing ivy and going down several long flights of stairs. Along the way, you might spot a Jupiter Djinni in an unreachable area, but this cannot be gotten until later when you return through Kibombo Mountains after having completed the follow-up Gabomba Statue dungeon.

The trip back
After completing the Gabomba Statue, this area will update in that the guards will no longer be hostile and you can pass through and explore Kibombo Mountains as you please, and the "normal" ground route through the two screens of the area is provides a very straightforward path through the area. Before proceeding back through the location, since Piers will have joined your party, the Jupiter Djinni is accessible; climb up three of the four flights of stairs near the western exit of Kibombo Mountains, go down along the elevated portion of ground and get to a puddle on the ground that Piers' Frost Psynergy can turn into an ice pillar that can be hopped across. Then climb up the fourth flight, walk down past the lone tree to the right of the fourth flight, and hop down and right across the ice pillar.

Near a long stretch of climbable ivy is a small plant which can be turned into its own climbable ivy by granting yourself and making use of the Growth Psynergy (swapping Djinn to change your classes may be necessary). Climb up this ivy to reach the Jupiter Djinni, save your game, and engage it in battle, and defeating it will earn you the Jupiter Djinni Waft. Climb down your grown ivy and climb up the natural ivy to the right of that, because the linear path it connects to leads to a shortcut back to the first screen of the Mountains. From here, going back to the lower entrance/exit of Kibombo Mountains should be a simple affair.

Enemies
Enemy Formations
 * Group 1: Wild Gorilla x1-2, Dirge x0-1


 * Group 2: Wild Gorilla x1-2, Pixie x0-1


 * Group 3: Pixie x1, Spirit x0-1


 * Group 4: Pixie x1-2, Wild Gorilla x0-1


 * Group 5: Dirge x1, Pixie x0-2


 * Group 6: Assassin x1, Pixie x0-2


 * Group 7: Assassin x1-2, Wild Gorilla x0-1


 * Group 8: Pixie x2-3

Collectibles
Jupiter Djinni Waft: On your way out you will probably notice this Djinni but you cannot get him until Piers joins your party. On your way back use Piers' Frost Psynergy to jump across the ledges. You will also need to have access to Growth.

Disk Axe: Found just before the third guard. Power Bread: Found right next to the fourth guard Tear Stone: Found in the alcove that the dog wanders into. Smoke Bomb: Found in a cave to the left of the crate with a bone on top of it.

Trivia

 * This area, along with the Gondowan Cliffs, has several Frost puddles that are unnecessary for the player to use. These are likely here so that Piers could plausibly traverse the area on his own.