Ancient Arena Walkthrough & Guide
The Ancient Arena is found on the southern most island on the world map and is one of the very first major side quests in Wild Arms that you'll gain access to. Right after you abolish the Vortex that blocks your path to the Outer Sea you'll be able to access the Ancient Arena. Though, it's very likely that if you attempt it at this time it'll be much too tough for you.
Inside the Ancient Arena you'll find an Inn as well as a save location and an NPC that'll refill Rudy's ARM ammo. If you speak to the man in the north central part of the main room he'll tell you that for 1000 gold you can enter into the Ancient Arena tournament.
The way that this tournament works is you'll get the rewards that correspond to the last round that you beat. For example, if you beat Round 1 then quit you'll get 10 Heal Berries, 1 Goat Doll and 1 Lucky Card. If you beat Round 2 then quit you'll get 1 Power, Hardy, Mystic and Agile Apple as well as 5 Potion Berries. If you beat the entire Ancient Arena you will NOT receive the prizes from the earlier rounds, you'll only receive the Duplicator, Full Libra and 3 Nectar.
This is very important to keep in mind because you might only want rewards from a specific round. For example, beating Badnews and quitting the Ancient Arena each time is the only way you can consistently farm the different types of apples which permanently boost your stats.
Round 1 - Medea
Medea HP: 10,000
This is an extremely easy fight since Medea only has a total of 10,000 HP and doesn't hit very hard. I recommend that you attack using every character of your party during this fight, Cecilia's spell Saint (deals Holy damage) is especially powerful against Medea dealing upwards of 5k damage sometimes.
Round 1 Rewards:
10 Heal Berries
1 Goat Doll
1 Lucky Card
Round 2 - Badnews
Badnews HP: 40,000
Badnews is an extremely difficult fight for parties that are under level 40. He has a total of 40,000 HP and unlike Medea he can hit... HARD. Badnews' normal attacks deal on average 1 - 1.5k and only hit a single target. He has two special attacks, Brutal Attack which can deal over 3,000 damage to a single target and Fatal Blow which deals about 1,000 damage to your entire party.
If you're able to survive his Brutal Attack ability then I recommend that you keep everyone in your party above 3,000 HP at all times. Those of you who have an under leveled party should focus more on offense than defense since Badnews can basically one shot anyone in your group when he feels like there's no point in keeping everyone full health.
Cecilia's Hi-Shield ability does not seem to decrease the physical damage that Badnews inflicts on you which means that your only other way of surviving his deadly attacks is with her Life Guard ability or by equipping your team with Goat Dolls.
Round 2 Rewards:
1 Power Apple
1 Hardy Apple
1 Mystic Apple
1 Agile Apple
5 Potion Berries
Round 3 - Javawalk
Javawalk HP: 40,000
In comparison to Badnews, Javawalk is a total pushover; for the most part he'll only attack one person in your party at a time. You can use Cecilia to slow down his attacks as well as decrease his armor but it's really not necessary to do. The only attack from Javawalk which actually will hurt is his Antimatter Bomb which deals 1,500 damage or so to your entire party.
Javawalk has a total of 40,000 HP which you'll want to keep track of as best you can throughout the fight. The most important part of this fight is heal up & restore your MP before beating Javawalk because the final and toughest boss to fight is next up. You don't want to make the next fight any more difficult than it needs to be.
Round 3 Rewards:
3 Secret Signs
10 Magic Carrots
1 Ambrosia
Round 4 - Riversider
Riversider HP: 65,000
Riversider is the final fight in the Ancient Arena and this guy is an extremely tough boss that has very high response time and extremely high defense. Also, much like Badnews his Brutal Blow ability hits for 5,000 and will likely one shot anyone in your team that it's used on. Unless you cheese the encounter by using Goat Dolls you'll need a party in their upper 40s, maybe even in their lower 50s.
You'll want to have Cecilia on the defensive for this entire fight, have her slow down the boss, debuff him and cast Life Guard on as many people in your group as she can (assuming you aren't using Goat Dolls). Have Rudy and Jack wail away on this boss, Rudy should use his most powerful ARMS while Jack uses Divide Shot or whatever your most powerful skill is that he has.
Depending on the strategy you're using determines how much you want to heal. If you're going to sacrifice 10 - 20 Goat Dolls then I recommend you only spot heal with Cecilia and go full throttle on this boss with everyone else. If you can't afford all those Goat Dolls and you're depending on Cecilia's Life Guard then I recommend you take a bit more reserved approach and heal with both Cecilia and Jack.
Riversider has about 65,000 HP in total so you should be prepared for a long and drawn out fight. If you're struggling with this fight it's recommended that you go and level up more (Best Leveling Location in Wild Arms) and get Cecilia's final force ability, Dual Cast (Heaven Corridor & Cecilia's Ultimate Force Ability Dual Cast). Follow the links provided to learn more about those two side quests.
Round 4 Rewards:
1 Duplicator
3 Nectar
1 Full Libra
The Full Libra is an off hand accessory which any character can equip that nullifies all negative status effects. In my opinion this accessory is best used on Cecilia since she is the only character you have in your team capable of curing all status effects with a single turn. She's also your White Mage which means she's the most important character in your whole group.
If you've beaten the full Arena once and picked up the Saber Fang in Ka Dingel you'll fight Boomerang Flash instead of any of the enemies mentioned on this page. Boomerang Flash is an Optional Boss which you can learn more about by following the link.
Under leveled? Read more on Wild Arm's Best Leveling Location!
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