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| Chrono Trigger owned by Square-Enix. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Reptite Lair, 65,000,000 BC
- Upon entering the Lair and moving past the initial antechamber you’ll find a room patrolled by four Aecyto Weevils. These things are a bit resistant to physical attacks, and should be approached with Techs. Once they’re gone you can drop into a hole burrowed into the ground to reach a lower level. That said…
- … don’t attack the Weevils immediately. If you allow the Weevils to mill around on their own they’ll start drilling additional holes. The holes lead to several smaller chambers that contain a variety of items, including:
- Mid-Ether
- Hi-Potion
- Hi-Potion
- Ruby Vest
- Hi-Potion
- Mid-Ether
- Elixir
- One way or another you’ll wind up in a large chamber full of roaming Reptites. Attack or avoid them as you wish. Also here you’ll find two stationary Reptites watching over treasure chests containing a Stone Helm and a Hi-Ether. You can get at the Stone Helm without disrupting the Reptite, but you’ll have to fight for the Hi-Ether. In both cases you’ll have to fight Megasaurs, hefty creatures that you can stun with Crono’s lightning magic.
- To the right is a north-south corridor. To the south is a Bao Bao and a Mossback, and you’ll want to target the Bao Bao first, as killing the Mossbacks will allow the Bao Bao to inflict more damage with its normal attacks. (Mossbacks also don’t do anything on their own, so, y’know.) To the north is another Bao Bao and two more Mossbacks, and past that is a Megasaur and two Reptites. Killing this third group will make a save point appear.
- Choice time. If you want to collect more treasures, you can use the doorway on the left side of this corridor to return to the entrance of the Reptite Lair. If you’re all done with that, save up and head through the doorway in the north. Boss battle awaits!
- (I recommend teaching Ayla Cat Attack before you fight this boss, as she can perform the Dual Tech Thunder Chomp with Crono as a result. Volt Bite will make the subsequent battle a lot easier. It’s not a necessity, but why wait?)
Nizbel
Another bruiser enters the arena. Nizbel is pretty much what you’d expect: he uses a combination of single- and all-hitting physical attacks. The higher your physical defines, the less damage you’ll take. Nizbel is also incredibly resistant to attack, and will take only paltry amounts of damage when you hit him. You’d be whittling away at this guy for hours under normal circumstances.
Fortunately, you have a secret weapon: Crono’s lightning magic. Have Crono use Lightning on Nizbel and his defences will precipitously drop for several rounds, stunning him at the same time. You’ll then have roughly two-and-a-half rounds to inflict as much damage as you can before Nizbel releases the electricity in his body as an all-hitting strike called Electric Discharge. This attack causes around 150 points of damage, and is very dangerous for a softened team. Heal up and prepare for its imminent arrival.
The trick is to use Dual Techs to batter Nizbel as much as possible while he’s stunned, and, as hinted above, Crono and Ayla do best with Thunder Chomp. It’s easily the most effective attack you can use on Nizbel at this level of power (though don’t use it to stun him in the first place, as it will do almost no damage). Dedicate Crono and Ayla to Thunder Chomp while your third character uses their strongest attack Tech or provides healing support to offset the effects of Electric Discharge. It won’t take too many Thunder Chomps to bring Nizbel down. Barring that, use whatever Double Techs you find strongest to do the damage instead. Not that difficult, but a little nerve wracking on your first try.
Part Nineteen: Fiendlord's Keep, 600 AD