The Ancient Cave is a 99 level dungeon that changes every time you enter. There are no save spots or magic recovery points. There are the rare hp recovery points hidden under grass spots. You take none of your regular equipment with you. The only thing you get to take every time is 10 potions. The only exit is found on Level 21 or below is an item called Providence. You get to keep nothing that you find in the Cave except for items found in the rare blue chest. Items found the the blue chests can be taken back into the Cave next time so you can have full equipment when entering the Cave if you find enough blue chests. There are also 10 Iris Treasures in the Cave. These extremely rare treasures are wanted by a lady on the 2nd basement of the cider shop where she displays them. On level 99, is the Juggernaut Slime. You do not have to kill him but you must survive long enough for the Slime to respect your prowess and reward you with the Key which goes to the door behind the old man on the entrance level to the cave. There are 3 treasures behind the locked door ( ).
KILL EVERYTHING! It is very important that you keep your level as close as possible to the dungeon level that you are on. If you avoid monsters too often, you will be too weak to fight a monster should you be unable to avoid a fight. I would try and kill all monsters on the first 70 levels or so. Even if you kill everything, you are going to fall behind in levels vs. the dungeon level you are on. The solution to this is a tactic called harvesting. Some monsters such as Pugs, Wizards, Necromancers and Ghost Ships call companions. Rather than killing these monsters off right away, allow the monster to call companions and keep the fight going. I especially like to fight the Pugs near Level 20 for about 30 for one fight and raise 9-11 levels. Harvesting can be done with quite a few creatures and can really keep you alive. DO NOT take too many chances! You cannot save your game in the Cave so if you find a valuable blue chest item (they are all valuable when you have nothing!)or Iris Treasure, find Providence and get out of the Cave to save your game so you will have that item next time! It may seem a waste but if you are ever going to make it to lower dungeon levels you need to have great equipment which means multiple trips to the Cave to get blue chests! Without many blue chest items or good equipment, Watch out for Mimics and Blue Mimics. They can kill unprepared parties easily. Also even with Full Equipment from blue chests or red chests, AVOID the gold dragons on level 85 and below. They can kill a party in one round with their special attacks regardless of equipment. (If you have learned how to survive a gold attack let me know because I have died too many times fighting gold dragons!) Look for strangely shaped grass patches, they often hide hit point recovery spots. Depending on your philosophy, use and build up the Earth Capsule Monster (strong attack) or the Light Capsule Monster (heal). Feed them any stuff that you are not going to use like extra weapons or armor. Level 99 of the Cave is glitched so do your best to find Juggernaut Slime (I have not made it here so I cannot supply general directions). I personally have never finished the Cave nor collected all 10 treasures. What follows is a list of blue chest items that I have found as well as the Iris Treasures. If you should happen to ever find all 10 Iris Treasures and get the Key to the treasures, PLEASE let me know and I will gladly add your info here as well as include your name on the FAQ.
Mirak Plate (IP = magic rebirth; VERY handy since there are no magic recovery spots)
Ruse Armor Ice Headband (pro vs. ice)
Aqua Helm (pro vs.water)
Agony Helm (pro vs. fire)
Bolt Shield (pro vs. lightning)
Flame Shield(pro vs. fire)
Water Gauntlets (pro vs. water)
Diamond Ring (good pro for Selan)
Engage Ring (charged 1/2 by merchants)
Sea Ring (increase agility)
Sizzle Sword
Snow Sword(Hits all enemies than summons the best ice spell can't remember the name)
Air Whip
Spark Staff(IP=Pheonix Blow-Hits all enemys and then uses firebird on then)
Mega Ax(IP=Thundoro-Hits every one than casts thunder)
Fry Sword
Dragon Spear
Blaze Sword
Earth Jewel
Thundo Jewel
Spido Jewel
Gold Eye(IP=Star Dust Blow-Very powerful agaist the sinistrols)
Black Eye
Silver Eye
Gorgon Rock
Iris Treasures: Sword, Shield, Helmet, Ring, Pot, Tiara, Armor,
- Forfeit Island is another part of the game that is not necessary to do to complete the quest. The casino, however, has at least 2 very important items that you will need. First, however, you must make enough money by gambling or fighting to buy coins to purchase the items. The casino items that I would suggest buying are: ***Jewel Sonar - this item allows you to tell how many chests are in a dungeon. Enter the dungeon and play the Sonar which will ring for the number of chests unopened in the dungeon. If you go back to retrieve a second set of DragonEggs, you must have this item to search caves/dungeons that you have completed without having to find every chest again. ***Dragon Sword - this weapon is VERY powerful and great against dragons. It costs 500,000 coins but I would try and get one for both Guy and Maxim if you have the time and the money. - Ways to make money: The best way is to get the VIP card from the Prince of Auralio after you have saved the Ruby Icon. Then go to the bottom level of the casino and play the slot machine. I used a clip board clamp to press down the controller to play the slots while I went to bed. I woke up 8 hours later to over a million coins. I have not found an easier or quicker way than this. Action bingo also seems to turn a profit but it takes longer and you cannot bet more than 99 coins. - The other important feature of Forfeit Island is that it is a great place to build up your Capsule Monsters. Go to the shop that sells all of your old equip. Buy as many War Rapiers as you can (the number that you can buy depends on how many you have bought before. So if a War Rapier is not on the list, go to Gruberik or Narsysus to buy say 15 or 20. When you go back to Forfeit you can now buy 15 or 20 War Rapiers). Then go to the item shop and buy the cheapest item like Antidotes. Feed the Capsule Monsters the antidotes or other garbage until they want a War Rapier. Pretty soon they will want a War Rapier then something else, then a War Rapier, etc. Buy War Rapiers and garbage as needed until all Capsule Monsters are level 4.
- It is possible to raise all Capsule Monsters to a 5th Master Level. To do this, you will need plenty of Fruits so I suggest collecting 8 DragonEggs and selecting the 20 Fruit option from the Dragon Shrine. Now the Key to raising the Capsule Monsters is to feed them the right fruit at the right level. For example, feed the Earth Capsule Monster 3 Breeze Fruits while at Level 4 and it will transform into a centaur. Follow the chart below to get your Monsters to Master Level. Type of Capsule Monster Fruit to Feed It Level Earth Breeze 4 Wind Earth 4 Water Flame 3 Fire Charm 3 Light Dark 2 Dark Light 2 Neutral Secret 4