Arche joins Cless/Cress and the others. Cless/Cress is attacked on the way to Alvanista.
Alvanista Harbor
Use a Rune Bottle on the ?Weapon that you won in the last battle. It becomes an Ice Scimitar. Don't equip it, but save it for later.
Before you enter Alvanista, explore the docks to find a chest. It contains Lavender. If there is a crab blocking your path, wait for it to get out of the way. The Lavender is worth the wait.
Explore Alvanista
If you have been doing the optional side quest, Elwyn and Nancy are in town, in the supply shop. Talk to them to continue the quest.
In the city, rest at the inn to see a cutscene, but choose not to go into the castle yet. Then visit all of the shops in Alvanista. It is not recommended to buy the Mackerel at the food shop. Upgrade your weapons and armor. If you can't afford the best weapons and armor, sell your old equipment (but don't sell your Mantles).
You can race a child in the eastern part of town. If you win, choose the Cat's Eyes. They are the most valuable prize. After you win the race three times, you will not be able to do the race again.
Be sure to buy some Orange Gummies. Then leave town and save the game.
You can use a Rune Bottle on a Mantle to turn it into a Flame Mantle, then use a Rune Bottle on the Flame Mantle to turn it into an Aqua Mantle. You can buy Rune Bottles from the Item Shop in Alvanista. If you don't have Mantles, you will have to take the ship from Alvanista to Venezzia or Beladum (the Beladum ship is cheaper, but it's one-way) and buy Mantles there. Go to Venezzia and pay the captain of the easternmost ship to return to Alvanista.
When you are ready, rest at the Inn in Alvanista and choose to go to the castle.
Alvanista Castle
To sneak through the castle, wait until the guard walks off of the screen, then run to the east, and wait in front of the door. Before you go in, equip Cless/Cress with Blade Storm and Psion Bolt/Demonic Blade/Demon Fang or Psion Kick, make sure Cless/Cress is NOT equipped with an ice elemental weapon. Equip a Heavy Stone/Gravity Stone on Mint. If you have another Heavy Stone/Gravity Stone, equip it on Klarth/Claus. If you have a third Heavy Stone/Gravity Stone, equip it on Cless/Cress. Have Mint Value HP over TP, but have Arche and Klarth/Claus set not to cast spells, because it will be better to cast them manually. Also, equip Klarth/Claus with the Aquamarine ring, and equip everyone else with an Aqua Mantle (see the previous section for how to get Aqua Mantles). Equip Cless/Cress with a Reverse Doll or two. Change the formation to have everyone at the leftmost side of the screen. Then go into the prince's room.
Jahmir
After the cutscene, the battle will begin. Have Arche repeatedly cast Eruption and have Klarth/Claus repeatedly cast Sylph, targeting Jahmir directly. This should mostly prevent Jahmir from casting powerful spells. Cless/Cress can use skills against the Alices, but should switch to regular attacks if fighting Jahmir directly.
Jahmir can cast Tractor Beam, which will interrupt Mint and Klarth/Claus if they are not equipped with Heavy Stone/Gravity Stone. Be sure to restart their spells if they are interrupted.
If you kill all the Alices before killing Jahmir, keep your distance from Jahmir. If Jahmir puts up a shield, don't let Cless/Cress attack, or he will get hurt by the shield. Wait for a spell to break the shield, then have Cless/Cress attack.
None of your long range attacks will work against Jahmir, so if you kill all of the Alices, change your formation to put Cless/Cress at the rightmost side, with everyone else at the leftmost side. Try to have Cless/Cress keep his distance while using Blade Storm.
Alvanista Castle, part 2
After the cutscene, equip your rewards from Runeglom/Lundgrom and the King. Opuscule is not as strong as Rabionis, however. Now you can explore the castle.
Remember that the Gungnir is best as a stabbing weapon.
Go down the stairs across from the prince's bedroom. In the left room, talk to the woman to buy Thunder Blade if you can afford it, then Tractor Beam. If you can't afford them now, be sure to come back later.
Then talk to the elf in this room and the elf in the room on the right to learn the locations of Ifrit, Undine, and Gnome. You have to talk to these elves to make the game progress.
Exit the room and go north and down the stairs. On this floor of the castle, you can talk to the person standing near the jars near the stairs to play a game to win a valuable Mental Ring. Whoever takes the last stone out of the pot loses. Each player can remove up to three stones per turn. Here is how to win:
| Number of Stones Left In the Pot | What to do |
|---|---|
| 29 | Let the other guy go first |
| 28 | Remove 3 |
| 27 | Remove 2 |
| 26 | Remove 1 |
| 25 | Let the other guy go first - or - Let time run out |
| 24 | Remove 3 |
| 23 | Remove 2 |
| 22 | Remove 1 |
| 21 | Let the other guy go first - or - Let time run out |
| 20 | Remove 3 |
| 19 | Remove 2 |
| 18 | Remove 1 |
| 17 | Let time run out |
| 16 | Remove 3 |
| 15 | Remove 2 |
| 14 | Remove 1 |
| 13 | Let time run out |
| 12 | Remove 3 |
| 11 | Remove 2 |
| 10 | Remove 1 |
| 9 | Let time run out |
| 8 | Remove 3 |
| 7 | Remove 2 |
| 6 | Remove 1 |
| 5 | Let time run out |
| 4 | Remove 3 |
| 3 | Remove 2 |
| 2 | Remove 1 |
Alvanista, Part 2
Now go to the Pharmacy in the southwest part of town, and go left from the counter to go through a passage that leads to the Adventurer's Guild. Talk to the guy to the right of the stairs and buy the Psion Storm combo. If you can't afford it now, just remember to come back and get it later. Then go to the left and talk to the guy behind the counter to get the permission slip to Moria. Don't pay the piano player. He just tells you a password for later, but this guide will tell you the password when you need it.
Before you go to Moria, you should make contracts with Gnome, Ifrit, and Undine. You can do this in any order, but the recommended order is Gnome, then Ifrit, then Undine. Gnome is relatively easy, Ifrit is moderately difficult, and Undine is probably the most difficult of the three.
Prepare for the Journey
Before you go, be sure to buy the Tractor Beam spell for Arche if you haven't already. You can buy it in Alvanista Castle, in the room across from the Prince's room, from the hooded woman in the room on the left.
You can make four Flame Mantles to help in the next battle. If you have a Mantle or Aqua Mantle, just use a Rune Bottle on it to turn it into a Flame Mantle. Mantles can be purchased in Beladum, where you will soon go, so be sure to go to Alvanista's item shop and, if you can afford it, buy however many Rune Bottles you need to turn Mantles/Aqua Mantles into four Flame Mantles.
It can also be helpful to use Rune Bottles on Hourglasses, if you have any, to turn them into Chrono Glasses, but since Hourglasses can't be purchased, and since Chrono Glasses are very useful in a battle much later in the game, you might want to save your Hourglasses for later.
Then go to the Alvanista Harbor and pay the captain of the ship on the right to go to Beladum.
From the dock, you can optionally go southwest to Beladum if you need to heal up at Lenios's house, then go northeast toward the dock. From the dock, go south across the bridge and east into the Cave of Spirits, also known as Gnome's Cave.