Part 24: Ogre Road and Mt. Levett

Main Walkthrough

After a long absence - longer than anyone may ever have expected - Ryu has returned to the Yraall Region, and the village of McNeil. Things are very different this time around, and Ryu is no longer a crybaby orphan, running scared from the mob. Perhaps there are some familiar faces waiting...?

When you first arrive you'll need to have a look at the Yraall Road, which, it turns out, has been blockaded by a familiar knight from Castle Wyndia. The Wyndians are looking into someone in McNeil who is selling food to the black market. Wonder who that could be. You can't continue east to Wyndia, but you're welcome to follow the road north into McNeil.

If you check the Farm and the outskirts of McNeil Manor you'll find Wyndian officials all over the place, speaking to townsfolk and McNeil's guards. You may even notice someone vaguely familiar on the other side of the manor's front gate, though you can't get in there again. Head to McNeil and Garr will mention visiting the inn, and the innkeeper will mention a vicious tiger that's hiding in Cedar Woods.

Head north to Cedar Woods (and, if either Ryu or Garr is apprenticed to Bunyan, check in with him). Proceed to the old tree house where Ryu, Rei, and Teepo used to live. Ryu will leave Garr behind to check out the tree house alone... possibly because Garr is too big to fit up the path, who knows...

... and when you round the corner on the tree house you'll find none other than Rei, who, like Ryu, survived his encounter with Balio and Sunder. He doesn't seem to know that the horse brothers are long dead, however, and before silent protagonist Ryu can get a word in Rei will vow continued revenge on them and take off. 

(Yes, Rei's the Weretiger. There were signs much earlier in the game, too. Remember when Bunyan sent Rei off to fight the Nue alone? That's why.)

Head back to Garr, then return to McNeil. If you check the village you'll find Loki, the schmuck who tricked the kids into raiding McNeil Manor, in a rather sad state. Continue to McNeil Manor and, after a brief conversation, Ryu and Garr will watch as McNeil himself is carted off by Wyndian troops... 

... and they're headed by Nina, who, like Ryu, is all grown up. She's much more officious than before, and, since she's leading the investigation against the folks back in Syn City, she'll rejoin the party. You're back up to the three members. (If you ever apprenticed Nina to Mygas, you might want to check in on him now. He's still sitting on his tree stump, to the west of McNeil.)

Head back to Dauna Hills via Mt. Levett and pay Syn City a visit. Rei beat you here, rampaging through the place and hurting as many people as he could. Head through the town and across the bridge that was raised during your previous visit. Along the northeastern path you'll find a guy who will beg for a Healing Herb, and if you give him one he'll give you 10 zenny. Thanks.

In the room at the end of the path you'll find a man in a blue bandana who will tell you that the boss of Syn City fled already, to the Checkpoint in the northwest. Pop open the chest on the left side of the room for an Old Painting - you can't come back here, so don't forget this - then leave Syn City the way you came in.

Head northeast to the crossroads in the middle of the Dauna Hills, then west to the Checkpoint, resting and saving before you check the area out. Rei will be in the middle of assaulting Mikba, the don of Syn City, when you arrive... though Mikba will find an unusual way to strike back.

Mikba

Steal: Silver Mail
Drop: Nothing
Learn: Multistrike

Hoo boy. Mikba is a tough one. Not only does he have some strong Skills, he has a high Reprisal rate that will push him to lash out almost every time you hit him with a normal attack. Expect the following from Mikba:
  • A normal melee chop with his axe
  • Multistrike, which chops one character three times
  • Quake, which hits everyone in the party with Earth damage
  • Venom Breath, which can Poison the party
  • Resist, which completely negates any incoming attacks for one round
When the battle begins you'll be forced to have Rei in your party, and he'll start out unconscious. You can broadly approach this battle in one of two ways:
  • Revive Rei. He will automatically turn into a Weretiger and go after Mikba - and, unfortunately, he will lash out at your characters as well. If you have the Influence Skill, learned from Boss Goblins, you can use it to force Rei to focus his attacks on Mikba. 
  • Leave Rei unconscious and focus on Ryu as your damage-dealer. Ideally you should turn into a huge dragon with the Miracle Gene, negating the need for three party members, and just thrash Mikba until you run out of AP. Then use your two remaining members to finish Mikba off. If you don't know Influence you should go this route, as Rei's berserker attacks hurt a lot more here than they did on Ogre Road.
Regardless of the course you take, try not to use physical strikes on Mikba, as he'll counterattack constantly and deal a lot of damage in the process. Nina makes a better third party member than Garr if you want to avoid Reprisals. Have Ryu throw Shield up at the beginning of the fight either way, as Mikba likes to slash your characters more often than he does anything else.


Defeat Mikba and the group will have a conversation about the nature of power, and why Garr's God bestowed such might upon the people of the world. Seeking answers, Rei will decide to join the group. He's around for the long haul this time, and before you leave the Checkpoint you can immediately use Rei to open the locked door inside the hut. Beyond it is a chest containing a Deluxe Rod that will making your fishing expeditions much easier.

(At this point you'll likely wonder if you should apprentice Rei under a Master. The answer is... sure, why not? You haven't revisited them all yet, but you do have access to Bunyan, and he helps accentuate Rei's physical prowess without hurting his speed. Rei does decently as a caster, as well, if you'd rather stick him under Mygas, though he has less spell variety than Nina.)

Main Walkthrough