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Prerequisites
Hidden Forest is the second map that appears at the vendor in Initium. It appears after you leave town and return, and won’t cost much to buy (I saw it on sale for 100 St and 150 St on two different occasions). You must buy the map to move on to this area.
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Hidden Forest - Outskirts of Town - Enemies
- Shadowcat
- Warrior Drone
- Wild Familiar
We'll start by discussing the local monsters. They’re pretty much identical to the ones you’ll find in the Forest Ruins this early in the game, the main difference being that there are usually fewer of them. This makes the Hidden Forest a pretty good starter spot for exploration, leveling up stats and Skills, finding chests, and so forth.
Follow the main road. You may find a Sparkle on your left as the path widens into the forest. If you head east from the main road you can find a side path. Skirt along the southern edge of the map and wander back towards the road. You may find a Chest in the midst of a copse of trees.
There’s a large shell in the southeast of the map where you may find a Sparkle. East of here, on the edge of the map, is an exit to... ‘Cat Territory’. Huh. In the northeast you’ll find a large, old fountain. Inspect it to learn about an important mechanic.
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Contracts
It's time to discuss that Singing Shard you found a while ago. The Shard is an equippable item, and using it in battle allows a character to influence the flow of elementals in an area. There are four elements in The Legend of Legacy:
- Water (blue)
- Wind (green)
- Fire (red)
- Shadow (purple)
Use the Singing Shard in battle near Initium, for example, and the elemental monitor on your screen fills up blue. This gives Water spells an advantage, and restores a bit of your health each round. You’ll need to use contracts with elementals throughout the game to give yourself an advantage, as well as to sap enemies of their advantages.
Look on the lower screen and you’ll see the placement of yourself relative to your enemies. On the upper edge of this diagram you’ll see several icons, each related to an element. That element favors whichever side of the diagram it’s on. If you want your team to have the advantage then make sure you use some kind of Skill to shift it over to your side. Letting the enemy hog all four elements is a bad idea, and can get your party KOed. If you activate waypoints like the fountain, mentioned above, you can start battles with an elemental advantage so long as you are within its sphere of influence. The range of this influence varies from object to object.
It is important to note that you need to establish a contract with an elemental type before you try and use any magic associated with that element. If you don't have a contract, whether through using the Singing Shard in battle or other means, the spell will fail - and you'll still be out the SP cost. It's usually wiser for faster characters to have spells, as there will be less of a chance that your foes will steal your contract with the elements away and ruin your spells.
It is important to note that you need to establish a contract with an elemental type before you try and use any magic associated with that element. If you don't have a contract, whether through using the Singing Shard in battle or other means, the spell will fail - and you'll still be out the SP cost. It's usually wiser for faster characters to have spells, as there will be less of a chance that your foes will steal your contract with the elements away and ruin your spells.
One last thing: You cannot contract Shadow elements. These are specific to enemies.
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Besides the fountain there’s not much else to see on this map. There’s another conch shell in the northwest where you may find a Chest, a potential Sparkle in trees near the center of the map, a potential Sparkle in a grove to the southeast (north of the entrance), and three exits:
- In the northwest is a large exit to Path to the Ruins I
- In the northeast corner is a smaller exit to Path to the Ruins I
- Also in the northeast is another path into Cat Territory
Hidden Forest - Cat Territory - Enemies
- Shadowcat
- Warrior Drone
- Wild Familiar
The enemies here are pretty much the same as elsewhere, but there’s one major caveat: You’ll occasionally get ambushed by Shadowcat mobs from the trees. They’re much more difficult in groups of four or five, as they may stunlock you to death. Watch out for rustling trees and steer clear when you can. This won't always be possible, given the tightness of the forest path, but... do what you can.
We’ll start from the lower entrance. Head southeast and you may find a Sparkle against a cluster of rubble. Further east is a ruined fountain, where you you may find another Sparkle. North of the fountain the path connects with the upper area, which we’ll explore in a bit, though if you look on the right side of this northward branch you may find a third Sparkle.
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In the southeast corner of Cat Territory you’ll find a small yellow pad that looks like a save point. The cat that saves your game appears if you inspect the pad, and he’ll give you Mystic Honey. A short distance from this is a singing stone, which you can check for a Whispering Shard. Don't miss this. The Shards are some of the most important items in the game, and are necessary to proceed. This Shard allows you to use the Water Shield charm, one of the most important charms in the game, as it will increase your defense so long as you have Water elements on your side of a fight. You can equip Whispering Shards as accessories in order to use them in combat.
Check east of the singing stone to potentially find a Sparkle and a Chest, then head north. There are several shells hugging the eastern wall where you can find Sparkles. You can find a few more, as well as a potential Chest, by traversing the north and completing the map as you head back west. There are three exits in the north, and they all lead to East of the Ruins. We'll head there next.