The elite gunboat has significantly more power behind it than the mage ship. It still poses no real threat to Delphinus, but can put up a decent fight to soften you up before the main event. The last turn of round one and the first turn of round two are C! icons. Pour a load of gunfire into the first turn of the second round to put a major dent in the ship's hit points. After taking a decent amount of damage, the elite ship will flee. Choose not to pursue it, but rather to wait on your present course to call its bluff and set up an S-cannon shot. After a hit from the moonstone cannon, this fight should be well in hand - just a bit of mop-up and you've won.

Aerial Battle: Galcian and the Hydra

The Hydra, being a floating gun platform, is unrelenting in its attacks. However, you don't want to be too defensive in battle, as you will give it time to use sacres to heal itself. You'll find the attack indicators are yellow quite frequently; suck it up and accept the fact that the Delphinus won't come out of this battle unscathed. The biggest threat is the powerful hydra cannon that's revealed partway into the battle. It's fired on red turns and can inflict upward of 12,000 hit points in a single shot. Try not to let the Delphinus' hit points slip below 20,000, or you could very well lose. As you fight this battle, you'll notice there are two types of decision branches that present themselves. When the flipping indicators include a yellow-green-green-red sequence, choose to "hit the hull" for safety. When the indicators include red-green-yellow-yellow, choose to focus on the upper part for a chance to use your S-cannon. It will take a long time to wear down the Hydra, but once you become familiar with Galcian's attack patterns you can avoid taking too much damage, while dishing out a fair amount of punishment.

The Hydra is unrelenting in its attacks. Expect heavy collateral damage as you chip away at its defenses.

Raid on the Hydra

Items in this area: X cannon, sacrulen crystal x3, moonberry, magic dew x2

The Delphinus will deposit the party at a makeshift entrance on the Hydra; Enrique will wait outside by the save point in case you need healing. Enter the hole in the hull and cross the bridge to your right. There's a chest to the right of the bridge and a pole to the left. Climb the pole and take the ladder on the upper deck to arrive on the top deck of the ship. Hydra is a semicircular vessel with hatches at the 3, 5, 7, and 9 o'clock positions around the perimeter. You emerge topside from the 5 o'clock hatch.

Run counterclockwise to the 3 o'clock hatch and slide down the pole to reach two chests. The bridge leads to dead ends, so return to the exterior deck and follow the curve of the ship to the 7 o'clock hatch. There's a single chest down the pole here and a bridge that has been damaged by the battle, so no further progress is possible.

The hatch at 9 o'clock leads to an exit that's across the bridge and down the pole opposite the access ladder. The door leads to the central hub of the ship, where you'll find a save point beside the Hydra's main reactor. Take the far ladder to the ship's bridge, where you'll finally stand face to face with Valua's finest, Galcian.

Boss Battle: Galcian - 22,000 Hit Points

Galcian is the very definition of "bruiser." He possesses an incredible amount of hit points, he hits hard, he has deadly techniques, and he can negate many of your actions. His most powerful attack is terminal, which strikes one character for possibly fatal amounts of damage. He can cast both eternum and eternes to potentially kill your characters in a single blow; equip your characters with Silvite rings and the silver armor from the silver shrine to improve your chances of surviving these ultra-cheap attacks. You can try using incrulem and quika, but be aware that Galcian's neglora skill will erase all beneficial status effects from your party. He uses a wide and unpredictable range of skills, so the only way to survive this fight is to stay on your toes. Again, Vyse's pirate's wrath S-move will be your most effective attack, although you should continue to chip away at Galcian's hit points with anything at hand. Fina's S-moves will be useful to negate his personal status boosts, and it's impossible to have too many riselem and sacrulen crystals. Fortunately, Galcian uses very few group attacks, but the skills he does possess are deadly enough. When you finally best him, Galcian retreats, but is brought to justice by an unexpected turn of karmic redemption.

At this point, Drachma rejoins the group. You can switch your fourth party member at any time by visiting the Delphinus bridge.

Final Resolution Now is your last chance to see the world before tackling the endgame. Any subquests, battles, or discoveries you want to pursue should be accomplished now. Thanks to the conventions of "plot advancement," time stands still until you enter Soltis and confront the final enemy, so don't feel rushed. If you missed Gordo earlier in the game, you can still acquire kabal meat from him; the Bloodlust is one of the many ships hovering around Soltis. If you want a real challenge, return to the dark rift through the east side and challenge the black looper, Elcian - the single most powerful enemy in the entire game (harder than even the final bosses!). When you're ready and have pumped your characters to sufficient levels, head into battle on the lost continent via Shrine Island.

Before you descend to Soltis, take some time to clear up any unresolved sidequests.

Aerial Battle: Gadianos

This battle could take you by surprise if you don't know what to expect. This automated defense mechanism tries to chase you away from Soltis, but disappears once you reach the landing of Shrine Island. What this means in practical terms is that the battle lasts for a single round until the enemy disengages. Although you don't have to destroy it, you'd be making a mistake to let it flee - defeating Gadianos will reward you with the best ship's armor in the game, making the final aerial battle much less like an impossibility and more like a challenging engagement. Squeeze as much firepower into the fourth turn as possible. If you don't win, reset the game and try again.
 

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