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Back to Part 3: Red Whistle

With the rank of Blue Whistle, there are new benefits. For one thing, you now get to start from the 2nd Layer when you enter the Abyss. What’s more, you get to fast travel from anywhere in the 1st layer, so long as you have the health and fullness for it.

You’ll also have more quests at the guild. Accept them all so your progress towards them will count.

There are new items available at the shop, including Pitons, of which you’ll probably want a few in your kit at any given time. There’s a new Cook armor set, new weapons, and a new, much lighter Lt. Fishing Pole. To increase cost efficiency, it might not be a bad idea to bring 3 or 4 different kinds of Pickax, one of each, and switch between them as they wear down. They get restored each time you return to the surface, so try to avoid breaking any, unless you’re specifically going for a combat mission in which you anticipate needing a stack.

Laffi stocks new items, including Bird Egg, an ingredient to a couple recipes that you’ll be using a lot: Boiled Egg and Crumbled Boiled Egg, which are fantastic in terms of how much you restore your HP and fullness for their cost and weight. Make plenty of them.

You can buy new items at the Caravan Fleet, as well. The Ankle Charm and Wrist Charm are worth equipping, as being injured in the middle of battle would be disastrous. Mio is also getting into the Armor biz, and now stocks a Scarlet armor set.

You also get new options to spend your skill points on, and if you’ve overleveled as a Red Whistle, you’ll probably already have a few to spend. As with Red Whistle, the Cave Raid skills are non-negotiable, and you’ll particularly want Backpack Up 2 and Dash Speed Up. Under Craft, Steamed Dishes gives you access to Crumbled Boiled Egg, one of your best healing items by pound. This also gives you access to upgraded armor. To be honest, I haven’t really bothered much with crafting ammo recipes. It seems like a lot of trouble, and you can just buy ammo at the supply shop, instead.

The armor set I recommend is the Scarlet set. The reason being, it’s upgraded set is comparable to the upgraded Cook set, in that the upgraded Cook set offers a bit more protection for a bit new weight, but with one huge perk: It costs far fewer Limber Scales to upgrade the Scarlet set to the Ocean set. It’s not a great idea to put a lot more work into something that you’re just going to replace when you become a Moon Whistle, so Scarlet set it is. Also, you obtain Marulk’s Hat a little later on, which isn’t bad. If you plan on using a slightly weaker hat with a far better light, then it might be a waste of scales to upgrade the Scarlet hat.

By the way, this is about the time that you can start finding Flash Stones by excavating. There’s a recurring quest at the Orphanage where Kiyui requests a shiny stone, and the Flash Stone fits the description. In return, he’ll give you a random material. He seems to ask for a shiny stone each time you return from a cave raid with a stone you can give him, but only the yellow and blue ones result in rewards. If you want Limber Scales, to save scum for them from Kiyui isn’t a bad way to go about it. Just save the game before talking to him, and reset if you’d rather have a different reward. To stock up on Flash Stones to give to him might not be a bad idea.

Let’s hear it for Jiruo, assigning a fresh Blue Whistle the task of surveying the most dangerous creature on the second layer, and threatening to demote them if anything goes wrong. So anyway, it’s off to the 2nd Layer! And go ahead and pretend it’s your first time here, if it’s not. Aki, acting all innocent.

The first area of the 2nd Layer has the Forest of Temptation. The main quest doesn’t allow you to deviate from the intended path, so go ahead and finish it. Basically it’s going from Forest of Temptation, to the intended spot in Corpse-Weeper Den. That’s all there is to it. A cutscene plays, and you’re automatically taken to the surface.

It’s worth noting that you can now encounter Corpse Weepers in the Forest of Temptation. You’re probably better off avoiding them, because they’ll be well beyond your skill level at this point. On the plus side, they’ll be easy to avoid; if you avoid the elevated plateaus, you shouldn’t catch their attention. If you do go up there for some items, and one spots you, get off there and run away. If you somehow slay one, the drops won’t be that great.

Next Main quest is Investigate the Second Layer. You’re going to want to bring plenty of ropes for this one, about 10 to be safe. I used 8, but you’ll want at least one more for a shortcut on the return trip. And maybe also gather some Rhombus Thorn Plants along the way to craft some more. And maybe a Mail Balloon or two. The route is Forest of Temptation to Inverted Forest to Hell’s Crossing to Seeker Camp. You’ll also want to bring plenty of weapons, as theres a couple fights against groups of Inbyos at Seeker Camp that are part of the story.

Hell’s Crossing is one of the most annoying areas in the game, and it’s not a bad idea to use a Mail Balloon to make yourself a checkpoint in case things go wrong.

It’s possible to cheese the Inbyos with blue poison, so bringing some arrows that can inflict that is a great idea. The poison doesn’t seem to wear off when used on Inbyos, so one blue arrow per will probably do it. First, beat the group of three, then beat two more from the next group. After that, Marulk will tag along for a bit to the gondola. The reward, Marulk’s Hat, is actually pretty nice. It’s defense may not be as high as the Ocean Hat, but it has the benefit of an extra bright light. It’s worth using it.

By the way, Seeker Camp is adjacent to Edge of the Abyss, which has a great fishing spot near the entrance. If you have a fishing rod and an abundance of Lugworms (which can be found near the pond) you can score some Limber Scales. If you leave the area and return, the fish respawn (though the bait doesn’t, and your fishing pole has limited durability).

It’s on you to find your way back to the surface from here, and to backtrack the whole way through Hell’s Crossing isn’t a whole lot of fun. Thankfully, there’s a shortcut back that’ll work for you if you have at least one Rope. When reentering Hell’s Crossing from Seeker Camp, there will be another exit to your right that leads to Inverted Arbor. Carefully navigate the wood platforms, accepting a letter to Laffi from Hablog if you meet him along the way, until you reach Corpse-Weeper Den. The shortcut is one-way, because a Rope is needed to decend in Corpse-Weeper Den. From there, it’s a short trip to Forest of Temptation, and a fast-travel to the surface. Then, if no one is watching, feel free to do a little dance, because you just completed one of the most arduous questlines in the game.

After this, you have just one more Main quest as a Blue Whistle, and that’s to make it to a certain point in Heaven’s Waterfall and make it back alive. Making it through Hell’s Crossing again may not sound like fun, but you should have an idea of how to prepare and what to expect, except this time, no mandatory Inbyo fights.

Bring your best armor, plenty of food (Boiled Egg and Crumbled Boiled Egg recommended), two or three Mail Balloons for convenience (one for about halfway through Hell’s Crossing, and another for just before the boss battle), and plenty of weapons because you might break a few. If your pack is near full, you’re probably overpreparing, but that’s better than not having something that you need.

The route is: Forest of Temptation to Inverted Forest to the slog that is Hell’s Crossing to Seeker Camp to Heaven’s Waterfall. The boss will be in plain sight. Approach it to initiate the battle.

BOSS: Interference Device #2
This one is far more mobile, and it has three main phases of attack. If it charges you, get out of the way. When it stops in place, it will do an obvious wind-up for an attack that does a lot of damage. It also dives into the ground and emerges where you’re standing after a couple seconds. Finally, it will run around the arena in circles, which seems pretty much harmless, even if you collide with it. Once you learn this thing’s attack patterns, you should notice some pretty obvious opportunities to heal or attack, especially as it runs around. You might be doing plenty of running around, but this boss isn’t hard. You might break a weapon or two over it.

As before, no need to scan this boss. Its Notebook entry is added automatically.

Once the boss is defeated, it’ll create an entrance to the 3rd Layer. Enter, then exit, and you’ll have a fast-travel point to enjoy for when you’ve returned to the surface to claim your new Moon Whistle.

The route to the surface is up to you. Similar to before, you’ll want to go from Heaven’s Waterfall to Seeker Camp to briefly in Hell’s Crossing to Inverted Arbor to Corpse-Weeper Den, where you’ll use a rope so you can access Forest of Temptation, then it’s back to the first layer where you can fast travel back to the surface. Of course, if you want to spend some time fishing at Edge of the Abyss first, that’s up to you.

To Part 5: Moon Whistle (Part 1)