Valukar

Valukar (バルログ Balrog in the Japanese version) is an optional boss monster located and fought at the end of the optional dungeon Yampi Desert Cave in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Valukar awaits players willing for a battling challenge and guards the summon tablet containing the Daedalus summon sequence.

Background and story
Valukar, resembling a hulking large, pink-skinned demon with blue horns and wings and wielding a gold mallet, does not have any bearing on the game's actual story, nor is any background information provided. It is a powerful creature standing guard within the deepest depths of the Yampi Desert Cave, the secret cave-dungeon complex within the Yampi Desert located near Alhafra. For an indeterminable amount of time the Valukar has stood watch over a summon tablet containing a powerful being of fire (the Daedalus summon sequence, in other words).

Should any group of intrepid and capable Adepts battle their way through the cave to reach Valukar's chamber, Valukar and the summon tablet await on an area of ground elevated above a cavernous chasm. Valukar will speak to his challengers to introduce himself before attacking and using his powers to beat up the opposition:


 * "I am the guardian of fire. If you want my power, prove yourself in my crucible of flame."

In The Lost Age, as Isaac and Felix's combined party of capable Adepts nears the end of its quest, they may decide to return to Yampi Desert and explore the desert cave as they have so many other dungeons if they have all the Psynergy powers necessary to do so. Their encounter with Valukar will be a fierce and spectacular battle, but if they defeat him, they will gain the ability to summon a gargantuan embodiment of military firepower, the animated missle-laden statue Daedalus, in future battles.

As a boss
Valukar is one of four "superbosses" located throughout Weyard in The Lost Age, the others being Sentinel, Star Magician, and Dullahan. All of these bosses fight using unique battling setups and are very tough, but Valukar can easily be viewed as the easiest of them to fight. Valukar is encountered at the end of the optional Yampi Desert Cave dungeon, which can only be entered and explored with the Teleport Psynergy found in Mars Lighthouse. Specifically, the battle will automatically begin as soon as you visibly approach Valukar and he steps towards you to attack. After Valukar is defeated, the player will be able to access the stone tablet containing the Daedalus summon.

Arsenal
Valukar's collection of abilities is small compared to most other bosses:

Strategies
Valukar, though one of the four "superbosses" of The Lost Age, is considered fairly easy as an endgame boss and certainly the most manageable of the four. This is because Summon spells in Golden Sun games deal damage proportional to the size of each struck opponent's maximum HP meter, and because Valukar has the second highest HP rating in the games, summon spells do proportionally more damage to Valukar than to most other bosses. Used properly, Valukar's Djinn Stun can assist the player by placing Djinn on Standby for the player, allowing for faster summoning. The key is to ensure that all available summons are used before Valukar can use them via his Crucible ability, which can be done if the player's party has higher Agility ratings.

There are certain things to remember about this battle that will ensure an easier battle. First, summons that used fewer Djinn are safer than summons using many Djinn such as Eclipse and Haures. This is because there is always the risk of Valukar using them against the player's party. If lower power summons are used, they do excellent damage against Valukar (Zagan will do over 700 damage, for example), but are of little risk to the player.

Healing Psynergy such as the Aura Psynergy series or the Wish Psynergy series are useful to heal damage done by Valukar. The Aura series may sometimes be preferable; if the player wishes to take advantage of Valukar's Mercury weakness, then the player's Mercury Adepts may be better off summoning to take advantage of their naturally high Mercury Power as opposed to healing.

Since Djinn Stun always puts one Set Djinni On Standby for each Adept alive in the current battling party, a very safe battle involves the main battling party including one Venus Adept, two Mars Adepts, and one Jupiter Adept, with their Djinn arranged so they are all in their respective mono-elemental classes. In this setup, whenever Djinn Stun is used, the Djinn that are put on Standby will instantly allow for one Zagan summoning and one Megaera summoning. Both do excellent damage and run little risk of backfiring against the player; the entire battle can be fought using only these two summons and four Adept. However, Megaera's ability to raise Valukar's Attack should be kept in mind, should Valukar summon it.

No matter what summon-based strategy is chosen for the battle, make sure never to let there be enough Jupiter and Mercury Djinn On Standby for Valukar to use the regenerating summon Coatlicue on himself. Even if he is near the end of his HP meter, if he uses it his HP will be completely cured after a few turns, since Coatlicue causes its user to regenerate 60% of its maximum HP each turn for five turns.