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.
In Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Phoenix
- For the Phoenix Psynergy, see Lich Psynergy set.
A Phoenix (フェニックス) 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 is especially likely to be affected by Attack-lowering effects. Its statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Phoenix | 281 | 80 | 344 | 112 | 243 | 31 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
 193 (Lv 6)  100 (Lv 2)  100 (Lv 2)  25 (Lv 0)
|
3750 | 286 |  Water of Life
|
1/64 | ||
A Phoenix acts twice per turn and uses the following battle commands with high intelligence:
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regen Dance | 100/256 (39%) |
-- | Enemy ability that can only be used if the user had an ally that has been felled earlier. A series of holographic feathers are generated out of the user, and a new copy of the other enemy enters the battle. |
| Fire Dance | 41/256 (16%) |
125 Power
|
Enemy ability that projects a billowing plume of fire at a single target. Deals a Mars-aligned attack equal to its normal physical attack multiplied by 1.3. |
| Supernova | 35/256 (13.7%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 31 PP that generates a huge, extended explosion of fiery energy at the entire party. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 150 base damage that is spread out across 7 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Inferno | 29/256 (11.3%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 23 PP that causes a large group of fire balls to spread out from the user and strike the party. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Fiery Blast | 23/256 (9%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 19 PP which generates a fiery, almost lava-like explosion at the position of the party of Adepts. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 130 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Flee | 17/256 (6.6%) |
-- | Standard Flee command that has a chance to remove the user from the battle without giving the party EXP and Coin rewards. |
| Attack | 11/256 (4.3%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
Fire Bird
A Fire Bird (ファイアバード) is a level 35 variant with violet plumage. In The Lost Age, these enemies 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 who 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 is especially likely to be affected by Attack-lowering effects. Its statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Fire Bird | 303 | 98 | 376 | 124 | 259 | 32 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
| 193 (Lv 6) 100 (Lv 2) 100 (Lv 2) 25 (Lv 0)
|
5838 | 304 | Water of Life
|
1/64 | ||
A Fire Bird acts twice per turn and uses the following battle commands with high intelligence:
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regen Dance | 100/256 (39%) |
-- | Enemy ability that can only be used if the user had an ally that has been felled earlier. A series of holographic feathers are generated out of the user, and a new copy of the other enemy enters the battle. |
| Fire Dance | 41/256 (16%) |
125 Power
|
Enemy ability that projects a billowing plume of fire at a single target. Deals a Mars-aligned attack equal to its normal physical attack multiplied by 1.3. |
| Searing Beam | 35/256 (13.7%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 36 PP that shoots out a large laser-like beam of fire. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 170 base damage that is spread out across 7 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Supernova | 29/256 (11.3%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 31 PP that generates a huge, extended explosion of fiery energy at the entire party. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 150 base damage that is spread out across 7 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Inferno | 23/256 (9%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 23 PP that causes a large group of fire balls to spread out from the user and strike the party. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 140 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Flee | 17/256 (6.6%) |
-- | Standard Flee command that has a chance to remove the user from the battle without giving the party EXP and Coin rewards. |
| Attack | 11/256 (4.3%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
Wonder Bird
A Wonder Bird (ワンダーバード) is a level 38 variant with turquoise plumage. In The Lost Age, these enemies 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 is especially likely to be affected by Attack-lowering effects. Its statistics are as follows:
| Name | HP | PP | Attack | Defense | Agility | Luck |
| Wonder Bird | 424 | 102 | 510 | 190 | 285 | 34 |
| Elemental Resistances and Levels | Exp | Coins | Item Dropped | Drop Rate | ||
| 193 (Lv 6) 100 (Lv 2) 100 (Lv 2) 25 (Lv 0)
|
8622 | 333 |  Dark Matter
|
1/128 | ||
A Wonder Bird acts three times per turn and uses the following battle commands with high intelligence:
| Command | Chance to use |
Elem. Stats used with * |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regen Dance | 100/256 (39%) |
-- | Enemy ability that can only be used if the user had an ally that has been felled earlier. A series of holographic feathers are generated out of the user, and a new copy of the other enemy enters the battle. |
| Fire Dance | 41/256 (16%) |
125 Power
|
Enemy ability that projects a billowing plume of fire at a single target. Deals a Mars-aligned attack equal to its normal physical attack multiplied by 1.3. |
| Pyroclasm | 35/256 (13.7%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 29 PP that deals a Mars-aligned attack with 180 base damage that is spread out across 5 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Searing Beam | 29/256 (11.3%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 36 PP that shoots out a large laser-like beam of fire. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 170 base damage that is spread out across 7 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Supernova | 23/256 (9%) |
125 Power
|
Psynergy costing 31 PP that generates a huge, extended explosion of fiery energy at the entire party. Deals a Mars-aligned attack with 150 base damage that is spread out across 7 enemies with high damage distribution. |
| Flee | 17/256 (6.6%) |
-- | Standard Flee command that has a chance to remove the user from the battle without giving the party EXP and Coin rewards. |
| Attack | 11/256 (4.3%) |
-- | Standard physical attack. |
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 newborn 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.
