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The Gelid Ruins are an optional dungeon in the Frozen Sea, far to the south on the western continent inRomancing Saga 2: Revenge Of The Seven.They’re home to powerful monsters and tricky traps, but there are some extremely useful treasures to be found if you’re willing to face the challenge.
It can be difficult to navigate the Gelid Ruins thanks to their twisting layout that requires a lot of doubling back, and the ice covering much of the ground makes it even harder. With this guide, you’ll be able to reach the top and face the powerful foe waiting for you there.
How To Find The Gelid Ruins
As you expand the Empire to the south, you’ll get an opportunity tohelp the Saigo Clanby clearing the Southern Subterrane of monsters. Once the way is clear and the quest completed, you canspeak to a woman in the southern Saigo villagewho tells you about mysterious ruins to the east.
Once you know about the Gelid Ruins, you cantravel to them any timefrom the World Map. The monsters here are powerful, so be sure to be prepared.
Recommended Setup
Take the following into account when building your party for an expedition to the Gelid Ruins:
To conserve LP and fine-tune your strategy, it can be a good idea to hit the Gelid Ruins in two trips; one toactivate all the switches and collect chests, and the second to go straight for the boss. You can even make your attempts on two different generations, since a switch stays active forever once it’s turned on.
How To Get To The Top Of The Gelid Ruins
Each level of the ruins requiresfinding a staircase that isn’t frozen over, but the final stairs must be activated usingswitches hidden in rooms throughout.
Ground Level
When the ruins first come into view,turn right;the main stairs are frozen and can’t be climbed. Instead,make your way around to the rear of the building.There, you’ll find a door leading to the first switch. Turn it on, then keep going counter-clockwise around the base of the ziggurat to find some usable stairs.
Don’t forget to pick up the Mr. S climbing the walls when you first turn right, and check the crevasses along the outskirts of the area for extra treasure.
First Tier
Turn left at the top of the stairs andfight or evade the monsterguarding the door to the second switch. Once the switch is on,continue clockwise, but watch out that youdon’t slip onto the frozen stairsas you move along the ice; if you do, you’ll end up back at the bottom of the ziggurat.
When you reach the stairs to the next tier, you may eitherclimb them immediatelyor risk a fight and for the treasure agaisnt the cliff wall beyond.
Second Tier
This floor is full of traps; there are several doors to switch rooms, butthe first two are fakesthat summon monsters instead of opening the roof stairs. Grab the loot in the switch rooms and leave without activating anything.
You’ll need tomake almost a full circuit around the building counterclockwise, including some long slides on the ice. The far side from where you start is particularly dangerous, as it has achest guarded by a powerful Mulion, and if your angle is wrong you can slide down to the bottom even if you get past the fiend. Try to slide on a left-to-right diagonal, either to fight the Mulion for the chest or to glide past it and hit the wall to the right of the frozen staircase on the other side.
Once you’re safely past the Mulion, continue to the true switch room on the left, guarded by a pair of winged enemies. There are no stairs up to the next level, so once the switch is on,go outside and jump down to the floor belowthrough the hole in the guardrail; you’ll find yourself on the opposite side of the previous tier.
Turn left tocontinue counterclockwisearound the building; you’ll see a door, but it’sanother trapped switchthat summons monsters. Keep going and you’ll find the stairs you need. They’re partially crumbled, so you’ll need tojump in order to climb them.
Third Tier
At the top of the stairs aretwo doorson either side of the final staircase. Thedoor on the left contains the true switch, while the one of the right is - you guessed it - a trap. However, there’s stillone more switchthat you need to find to fully extend the stairs to the roof.
Go clockwise around the ziggurat andcarefully jump over the crevasse in the ice.If you fall, you’ll end up in one of the trap rooms below and have to retrace your steps. On the other side, look for the door to the final switch roomon your right.At this point, you’re able to eitherreturn to the centerand climb to the roof for the boss fight, or you canfollow the frozen path clockwiseto fight another Mulion for a treasure first.
How To Beat The Giant
Once all four switches are activated, you can use the stairs to reach the roof.Restore your BP and saveto the left of the staircase, thenapproach the Giantto begin the fight.
The Giant useshard-hitting Greatsword moveshat can take out party members in one shot if they don’t have a sufficiently high Physical Defense. However, if you have the right setup, you cannullify the Giant’s attacks entirely, making him a pushover.
The Giant’s moves are all fairly common;Greatsword Attack, Blunt Strike, Flowing Slash,andWaterfowl Bladeto name a few. It’s not out of the question that you’ll knowone or more of the Evasionsfor these techs by the time you’re able to reach the roof of the Gelid Ruins. Equip them at the Training Hall before you set out, and the Giant won’t be able to touch you with these attacks.
Sword Barrierrenders the caster immune to Sword and Greatsword attacks, essentially making any character who knows it invulnerable for this fight.
If you don’t have access to Evasions or Sword Barrier,cast Water Dance,Air Screen, andSelf-Immolationto boost your team’s Defense and punish the Giant when he attacks. You can also reduce incoming damage by hitting him withStrength debuffslike the Club techBonecrusher.
Even though Fire isn’t one of the Giant’s weaknesses, you shouldcast Fire spells periodicallyto keep the Water leyline suppressed.
The Giant is weak against the following damage types:
Rewards For Beating The Giant
Behind the Giant are two chests. The one on the right contains250,000 crowns, a nice bonus on top of anything else you earned in the ruins. The chest on the left, though contains the real prize; theBook of Light and Wind 3, which lets you synthesize one of the game’s best healing spells,Restoration, at the Incantations Lab in Avalon.
