Gabomba Catacombs

The Cyclone Psynergy is required to delve any deeper into Gabomba Catacombs. Casting Cyclone at the pictured spot will transport the party to a Venus Djinni.

The Gabomba Catacombs (ガンボマ像内部, Ganboma Statue Interior) are an optional dungeon in Golden Sun: The Lost Age comprising the subterranean cave network underneath the Gabomba Statue in Kibombo. It can be entered once Gabomba Statue has been completed as a dungeon, but it can only be meaningfully explored after the party picks up the Cyclone Chip Utility Psynergy item back in Madra. The Cyclone Psynergy is useful for reaching and collecting the Venus Djinni Mud, though the dungeon's final treasure — the class-changing item Tomegathericon — additionally requires the Reveal Psynergy earned at Air's Rock.

Walkthrough

The Gabomba Statue dungeon is completed by following Akafubu to the end of a long tunnel past its mouth section, where a cutscene shows a ladder leading into Gabomba Catacombs opening up before depositing the party back in Kibombo outside. If the party returns to the ladder and climbs down it, they will find that the first screen of Gabomba Catacombs is a dead-end because they will find masses of weeds and a uniquely shaped hole in the ground. Both the weeds and the hole require using the Cyclone Psynergy gotten a little later, so the party will be forced to travel back from southern Gondowan into Indra.

The entrance ladder to Gabomba Catacombs opens up in the depths of the Gabomba Statue after Akafubu leaves too early.

In order for the party to explore the mandatory "dungeon" at East Indra Shore and fight the Aqua Hydra boss to unlock the Lemurian Ship as a sailing vessel, the party must first trigger a cutscene at the mayor's manor in Madra. This will automatically grant the Cyclone Chip utility Psynergy item, and the player is allowed to make a long trip all the way back to Kibombo and make use of it to begin a proper exploration of the Gabomba Catacombs. Most players will think to earn the ship first and use it to conveniently sail to Kibombo, but making the return trip to Kibombo on foot before going to East Indra Shore allows the catacombs to be explored first; this allows for the Venus Djinni that resides in the catacombs to be collected before fighting the Aqua Hydra. Since this will be the fourth and last possible Venus Djinni the party is capable of collecting prior to the boss battle, it will likely give a party member a valuable stage advancement to their current class series.

Regardless, while half of the dungeon can be explored with the Cyclone Psynergy, the final treasure at the end — the Tomegathericon, which changes the equipped Adept's class series to the Dark Mage class series — additionally requires the Reveal Psynergy to reach. This can be an issue if the player had previously elected to hold off on the notoriously long Air's Rock dungeon during their time in Osenia, which rewards the party with Reveal at the end of it, and then mistakenly try to complete Gabomba Catacombs before going back to complete Air's Rock.

Presuming you have both Cyclone and Reveal handy, climb down the ladder that appeared next to the idol during the cutscene with Akafubu to enter the first floor of Gabomba Catacombs. The funnel-shaped hole visible at the southwest part of this chamber is the earliest-encountered example of a "Cyclone portal" that will transport you into the floor underneath, at the spot directly underneath the portal itself. You will have no choice but to follow the linear route back northeast and climb back up to the first floor.

Navigating this maze of pillars is made harder by the constant flow of water pushing Felix downward.

Three other Cyclone portals are hidden under the weeds covering the floor, and clearing away one of the three main clusters of weeds with Cyclone will automatically transport you through the portal underneath it to bring you to the corresponding position in the floor below. The portal that brings you down to the Venus Djinni is hidden under weeds enclosed within rocks near the northeast corner, but you will be able to transport yourself through it by casting Cyclone at the bare spot just to the lower right of the cluster, past the stone pillar that partially obscures your path to it. Battle and earn the Venus Djinni Mud, then slide down and make the trip back up to the first floor. Make use of the covered Cyclone portal at the northwest corner of the first floor to be deposited at the northwest ledge of the floor below, and follow the trail west and north to a T-intersection; the left route is a featureless dead-end, so follow the east route through a cave door.

The next wide-open cave chamber you come across features a large clump of weeds along your way north to the ladder at the north edge of the room; clearing these away will expose a Mint. When you follow the route southwest from the ladder, you will reach a dead-end with a cross-shaped arrangement of weeds that will expose a puddle of water once cleared away with Cyclone. Cast Piers' Frost Psynergy to turn this into an ice pillar, then backtrack all the way to near the south entrance of this chamber so you can hop west across the pillar. North of this is a set of six weeds arranged in a telltale ring pattern, one that is emphasized by the fact that attempting to clear these away will replace them with standing puddles. Like with other ring patterns in the Golden Sun series, casting Reveal here will expose a hidden doorway leading deeper into the dungeon.

The game's earliest-encountered Mad Plant can be exposed in the latter half of Gabomba Catacombs by casting the Cyclone Psynergy on the weeds it is hiding underneath.

Ignore the four weeds as you head west into a large area where you must navigate a maze of rocks and stone pillars strewn about a large, shallow river that presses you downward if you are not running up against the current. If you head directly west to the bank on the other side, you will find a wall ladder that currently leads to a dead-end, so head up through the river by passing a short ways northeast through the three stone pillars at the center, then heading a short ways northwest behind the top of said three pillars, then heading a long ways northeast behind thepillars north of the three pillars. You should end up at the northeast bank, and now weave through the pillars at the top end of the river to reach the northwest bank. Follow along to several weeds surrounded by rocks left of the elevated "staircase pillar", cast Cyclone to expose a water puddle, and freeze it. Backtrack through the rushing river maze and make it to the southwest bank, and now the wall ladder off to the left will lead you to the ice pillar, which you can hop east across to take the staircase pillar up.

In the final main area of the catacombs, climb down the immediately visible wall ladder and follow along the winding trail, and cast Cyclone on the clump of weeds along the way to cause a unique Mad Plant enemy to pop up and attack you. This is similar to the Mimic series of one-time enemies that can be engaged in scripted encounters and drop something valuable upon defeat; in this Mad Plant's case, it drops a Game Ticket. Head north to the idol at the north end of the area to trigger a cutscene, then interact with the floating black book to acquire the Tomegathericon. You can now cast Retreat to save time leaving the dungeon by warping all the way back to the mouth-entrance of Gabomba Statue.

Enemies

Bestiary of Gabomba Catacombs
Monster Name	LVL	HP	ATK	DEF	AGI	EXP	Coins	Weakness	Drop	Drop Rate
Bone Fighter	17	122	131	35	52	51	63		Sleep Bomb	1/32
Death Head	17	128	130	31	47	55	73		Nut	1/16
Doomsayer	19	107	148	31	77	107	173		Oil Drop	1/32
Red Demon	19	228	173	43	90	129	154		Staff of Anubis	1/64
Salamander	19	212	158	49	50	84	190		Oil Drop	1/16
Spirit	18	116	114	30	48	49	67		Crystal Powder	1/32
Venus Djinni (Mud) (unique)	20	500	153	41	122	360	358			N/A
Mad Plant (unique)	23	449	181	41	87	321	347		Game Ticket	1/1

Enemy Formations

• Group 1: Doomsayer x1-2, Bone Fighter x0-1
• Group 2: Death Head x2
• Group 3: Bone Fighter, Death Head x0-2
• Group 4: Salamander x1-2
• Group 5: Spirit x1, Bone Fighter x1
• Group 6: Death Head x1, Spirit x0-2
• Group 7: Red Demon x1, Doomsayer x1
• Group 8: Red Demon x1-2

Collectables

• Mud: Reached by casting Cyclone as close as possible to the upper-right cluster of weeds enclosed in rocks that you see as you first enter the dungeon. You must then battle it to earn it.
• Mint: Uncovered by casting Cyclone at a large mass of weeds in the large area following the large area with the Venus Djinni.
• Tomegathericon: Acquire by interacting with it at the end of the dungeon.

Story

Spoiler warning: The following section(s) contain plot details that some people may not wish to learn before reaching this point in the game on their own.

The spirit referred to as the "Great Gabomba" upholds its promise to bestow the Tomegathericon to the first Adepts who reach its idol in the depths of the catacombs.

The subterranean cave complex located underneath Kibombo's Gabomba Statue houses one of the idols that the spirit of the "Great Gabomba" may freely possess to commune with those who manage to enter the Gabomba Statue. A similar idol exists closer to the mouth-entrance of the Gabomba Statue itself, and the spirit seemingly starts out inclined to award Kibombo's prospective witch doctor with the badges of their office and the dark magic of the Tomegathericon if said leader manages to make it as far as the first idol. Apparently, if the spirit finds the candidate wanting in some way, it may decide that the candidate must additionally surmount the obstacles of the caverns underneath the Statue — which test one's control of Psynergy — before it will bestow the dark book.

In Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Akafubu manages to make it as far as the first idol with the help of Felix and his traveling company of Adepts, and the spirit confers the traditional adornments to Akafubu's garb that signify his standing as leader of the Kibombo. Before the spirit can then bestow the book, Akafubu waltzes out of the statue, his mind overly preoccupied with the joy of his accomplishment. The spirit remarks that Akafubu is a "hasty fool" for leaving too soon and apparently judges on this basis that he is not ready to wield this magic, and so it instructs Felix to pass the message onto Akafubu that he must enter the Gabomba Catacombs to earn the rights to the magic himself. When asked by Kraden, the spirit explains that Felix's party can feasibly reach the end of the catacombs first and figures that Akafubu might be more inclined to focus on the responsibilities of his office if he has to compete for this power.

At a subsequent point in time, once Felix's party gains the expanded repertoire of Psynergy needed to explore the depths of Gabomba Catacombs, they may elect to enter the catacombs and get a hold of the magic to further the purposes of their own quest. If they reach the end of the cave network and surpass its obstacles, the spirit of the Great Gabomba will keep its promise to bestow the magic tome, but it will concur that Akafubu would lose heart if he were to ever find out that others had earned the magic before he could. Since Kibombo itself depends on Akafubu's leadership in any case, the spirit makes Felix swear a vow not to mention their accomplishment to Akafubu, and it promises that it will teach the magic to Akafubu personally if he should ever reach the end of Gabomba Catacombs through his own efforts.

Spoilers end here.Those who did not want the plot ruined for them may now continue reading as normal.